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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ab95ed --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66192 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66192) diff --git a/old/66192-0.txt b/old/66192-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8111ebc..0000000 --- a/old/66192-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4434 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, by Otto -Rank - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Myth of the Birth of the Hero - A psychological interpretation of mythology - -Author: Otto Rank - -Translator: F. Robbins - Smith Ely Jelliffe - -Release Date: August 31, 2021 [eBook #66192] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Turgut Dincer, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYTH OF THE BIRTH OF THE -HERO *** - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -Footnote 20 is referenced twice several pages apart in the text. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_. - -The cover was prepared by the transcriber and is placed in the public -domain. - - - - - NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE MONOGRAPH - SERIES, NO. 18 - - - The Myth of the Birth of the Hero - - A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology - - - BY - DR. OTTO RANK - of Vienna - - - Authorized Translation by - DRS. F. ROBBINS and SMITH ELY JELLIFFE - - - NEW YORK - - THE JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE - PUBLISHING COMPANY - - 1914 - - - - - NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE MONOGRAPH SERIES - - Edited by - - Drs. SMITH ELY JELLIFFE and WM. A. WHITE - - Numbers Issued - - -1. Outlines of Psychiatry. (4th Edition) $3.00. - By Dr. William A. White. - -2. Studies in Paranoia. - By Drs. N. Gierlich and M. Friedman. - -3. The Psychology of Dementia Praecox. (Out of Print.) - By Dr. C. G Jung. - -4. Selected Papers on Hysteria and other Psychoneuroses. - (2d Edition.) $2.50. By Prof. Sigmund Freud. - -5. The Wassermann Serum Diagnosis in Psychiatry. $2.00. - By Dr. Felix Plaut. - -6. Epidemic Poliomyelitis. New York, 1907. (Out of Print.) - -7. Three Contributions to Sexual Theory. $2.00. - By Prof. Sigmund Freud. - -8. Mental Mechanisms. $2.00. By Dr. Wm. A. White. - -9. Studies in Psychiatry. $2.00. - New York Psychiatrical Society. - -10. Handbook of Mental Examination Methods. $2.00. - By Shepherd Ivory Franz. - -11. The Theory of Schizophrenic Negativism. $0.60. - By Professor E. Bleuler. - -12. Cerebellar Functions. $3.00. - By Dr. André-Thomas. - -13. History of Prison Psychoses. $1.25. - By Drs. P. Nitsche and K. Wilmanns. - -14. General Paresis. $3.00. By Prof. E. Kraepelin. - -15. Dreams and Myths. $1.00. By Dr. Karl Abraham. - -16. Poliomyelitis. $3.00. Dr. I. Wickmann. - -17. Freud’s Theories of the Neuroses. $2.00. - Dr. E. Hitschmann. - -18. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero. $1.00. - Dr. Otto Rank. - - - Copyright, 1914, by - THE JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE - PUBLISHING COMPANY, NEW YORK - - PRESS OF - THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY - LANCASTER, PA. - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - Introduction 1 - - Sargon 12 - - Moses 13 - - Karna 15 - - Œdipus 18 - - Paris 20 - - Telephos 21 - - Perseus 22 - - Gilgamos 23 - - Kyros 24 - - Tristan 38 - - Romulus 40 - - Hercules 44 - - Jesus 47 - - Siegfried 53 - - Lohengrin 55 - - Index 95 - - - - - THE MYTH OF THE BIRTH OF THE HERO - - [A PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF MYTHOLOGY] - - - INTRODUCTION - - -The prominent civilized nations, such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, -Hebrews, and Hindoos, the inhabitants of Iran and of Persia, the -Greeks and the Romans as well as the Teutons and others, all began at -an early stage to glorify their heroes, mythical princes and kings, -founders of religions, dynasties, empires or cities, in brief their -national heroes, in a number of poetic tales and legends. The history -of the birth and of the early life of these personalities came to -be especially invested with fantastic features, which in different -nations even though widely separated by space and entirely independent -of each other present a baffling similarity, or in part a literal -correspondence. Many investigators have long been impressed with this -fact, and one of the chief problems of mythical research still consists -in the elucidation of the reason for the extensive analogies in the -fundamental outlines of mythical tales, which are rendered still more -enigmatical by the unanimity in certain details, and their reappearance -in most of the mythical groupings.[1] - -The mythological theories, aiming at the explanation of these -remarkable phenomena, are, in a general way, as follows: - -(1) The “Idea of the People,” propounded by Adolf Bastian[2] [1868]. -This theory assumes the existence of _elementary thoughts_, so that -the unanimity of the myths is a necessary sequence of the uniform -disposition of the human mind, and the manner of its manifestation, -which within certain limits is identical at all times and in all -places. This interpretation was urgently advocated by Adolf Bauer[3] -[1882], as accounting for the wide distribution of the hero myths. - -(2) The explanation by original community, first applied by Th. Benfey -[Pantschatantra, 1859] to the widely distributed parallel forms of -folklore and fairy tales. Originating in a favorable locality [India] -these tales were first accepted by the primarily related [namely the -Indo-Germanic] peoples, then continued to grow while retaining the -common primary traits, and ultimately radiated over the entire earth. -This mode of explanation was first adapted to the wide distribution of -the hero myths by Rudolf Schubert[4] [1890]. - -(3) The modern theory of migration, or borrowing, according to which -the individual myths originate from definite peoples [especially the -Babylonians], and are accepted by other peoples through oral tradition -[commerce and traffic], or through literary influences.[5] - -The modern theory of migration and borrowing can be readily shown to -be merely a modification of Benfey’s theory, necessitated by newly -discovered and irreconcilable material. The profound and extensive -research of modern investigations has shown that not India, but rather -Babylonia, may be regarded as the first home of the myths. Moreover -the mythic tales presumably did not radiate from a single point, but -travelled over and across the entire inhabited globe. This brings into -prominence the idea of the interdependence of mythical structures, an -idea which was generalized by Braun[6] [1864], as the basic law of -the nature of the human mind: Nothing new is ever discovered as long -as it is possible to copy. The theory of the elementary thoughts, so -strenuously advocated by Bauer over a quarter of a century ago, is -unconditionally declined by the most recent investigators [Winckler,[7] -Stucken], who maintain the migration and purloining theory. - -There is really no such sharp contrast between the various theories, -and their advocates, for the theory of the elementary thoughts does -not interfere with the claims of the primary common possessions and -the migration. Furthermore, the ultimate problem is not whence and -how the material reached a certain people; but the question is, -_where did it come from to begin with?_ All these theories would only -explain the variability and distribution, but not the origin of the -myths. Even Schubert, the most inveterate opponent of Bauer’s view, -acknowledges this truth, by stating that all these manifold sagas date -back to a single very ancient prototype. But he is unable to tell us -anything of the origin of this prototype. Bauer likewise inclines to -this mediating[8] view and points out repeatedly that in spite of -the multiple origin of independent tales, it is necessary to concede -a most extensive and ramified purloining, as well as an original -community of the concepts, in related peoples. The same conciliatory -attitude is maintained by Lessmann, in a recent publication[9] [1908], -in which he rejects the assumption of the elementary thoughts, but -admits that primary relationship and purloining do not exclude one -another. As pointed out by Wundt, it must be kept in mind, however, -that the appropriation of mythical contents always represents at the -same time an independent mythical construction; because only that can -be permanently retained which corresponds to the purloiner’s stage of -mythological ideation. The faint recollections of preceding narratives -would hardly suffice for the re-figuration of the same material, -without the persistent presence of the underlying motives; but -precisely for this reason, such motives may produce new contents, which -agree in their fundamental motives, also in the absence of similar -associations. (Völker-Psychologie, II Vol., 3 Part, 1909). - -Leaving aside for the present the enquiry as to the mode of -distribution of these myths, the origin of the hero myth in general -is now to be investigated, fully anticipating that migration, -or borrowing, will prove to be directly and fairly positively -demonstrable, in a number of the cases. When this is not feasible, -other view points will have to be conceded, at least for the present, -rather than barricade the way to further progress by the somewhat -unscientific attitude of Winckler,[10] who says: When human beings and -products, exactly corresponding to each other, are found at remote -parts of the earth, we must conclude that they have wandered thither; -whether we have knowledge of the how or when makes no difference in -the assumption of the fact itself. Even granting the migration of -all myths, the provenance of the first myth would still have to be -explained.[11] - -Investigations along these lines will necessarily help to provide a -deeper insight into the contents of the myths. Nearly all authors who -have hitherto been engaged upon the interpretation of the myths of -the birth of heroes find therein a personification of the processes -of nature, following the dominant mode of natural mythological -interpretation. The new born hero is the young sun rising from the -waters, first confronted by lowering clouds, but finally triumphing -over all obstacles [Brodbeck, Zoroaster, Leipzig, 1893, p. 138]. -The taking of all natural, chiefly the atmospheric phenomena into -consideration, as was done by the first representatives of this method -of myth interpretation;[12] or the regarding of the myths in a more -restricted sense, as astral myths [Stucken, Winckler and others]—is -not so essentially distinct, as the followers of each individual -direction believe to be the case. Nor does it seem to be an essential -progress when the purely solar interpretation as advocated especially -by Frobenius[13] was no longer accepted and the view was held that -all myths were originally lunar myths, as done by G. Hüsing, in his -“Contributions to the Kyros Myth” [Berlin, 1906], following out the -suggestion of Siecke, who [1908][14] claims this view as the only -legitimate obvious interpretation also for the birth myths of the -heroes, and it is beginning to gain popularity.[15] - -The interpretation of the myths themselves will be taken up in -detail later on, and all detailed critical comments on the above -mode of explanation are here refrained from. Although significant, -and undoubtedly in part correct, the astral theory is not altogether -satisfactory and fails to afford an insight into the motives of myth -formation. The objection may be raised that the tracing to astronomical -processes does not fully represent the content of these myths, and that -much clearer and simpler relations might be established through another -mode of interpretation. The much abused theory of elementary thoughts -indicates a practically neglected aspect of mythological research. At -the beginning as well as at the end of his contribution, Bauer points -out how much more natural and probable it would be to seek the reason -for the general unanimity of these myths in very general traits of -the human psyche, than in a primary community or in migration. This -assumption appears to be more justifiable as such general movements of -the human mind are also expressed in still other forms, and in other -domains, where they can be demonstrated as unanimous. - -Concerning the character of these general movements of the human mind, -the psychological study of the essential contents of these myths might -help to reveal the source from which has uniformly flowed at all times, -and in all places, an identical content of the myths. Such a derivation -of an essential constituent, from a common human source, has already -been successfully attempted with one of these legendary motives. Freud, -in his “Dream Interpretation,”[16] reveals the connection of the Œdipus -fable [where Œdipus is told by the oracle that he will kill his father -and marry his mother, as he unwittingly does later on] with the two -typical dreams of the father’s death, and of sexual intercourse with -the mother, dreams which are dreamed by many now living. Of King Œdipus -he says that “his fate stirs us only because it might have been our -own fate; because the oracle has cursed us prior to our birth, as it -did him. All of us, perhaps, were doomed to direct the first sexual -emotion towards the mother, the first hatred and aggressive desire -against the father; our dreams convince us of this truth. King Œdipus, -who has murdered his father Laios, and married his mother Iokaste, is -merely the wish fulfilment of our childhood.”[17] The manifestation -of the intimate relation between dream and myth,—not only in regard -to the contents, but also as to the form and motor forces of this and -many other, more particularly pathological psyche structures,—entirely -justifies the interpretation of the myth as a dream of the masses of -the people, which I have recently shown elsewhere (“Der Künstler,” -1907). At the same time, the transference of the method, and in part -also of the results, of Freud’s technique of dream interpretation -to the myths would seem to be justifiable, as was defended and -illustrated in an example, by Abraham, in his paper on “Dreams and -Myths” [1909].[18] The intimate relations between dream and myth find -further confirmation in the following circle of myths, with frequent -opportunity for reasoning from analogy. - -The hostile attitude of the most modern mythological tendency [chiefly -represented by the Society for Comparative Mythological Research] -against all attempts at establishing a relation between dream and -myth[19] is for the most part the outcome of the restriction of the -parallelization to the so-called nightmares [Alpträume], as attempted -in Laistner’s notable book, “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” 1889, and -also of ignorance of the relevant teachings of Freud. The latter -help us not only to understand the dreams themselves, but also show -their symbolism and close relationship with all psychic phenomena in -general, especially with the day dreams or phantasies, with artistic -creativeness, and with certain disturbances of the normal psychic -function. A common share in all these productions belongs to a single -psychic function, the human imagination. It is to this imaginative -faculty—of humanity at large rather than individual—that the modern -myth theory is obliged to concede a high rank, perhaps the first, for -the ultimate origin of all myths. The interpretation of the myths in -the astral sense, or more accurately speaking as “almanac tales,” -gives rise to the query, according to Lessmann,—in view of a creative -imagination of humanity,—if the first germ for the origin of such -tales is to be sought precisely in the processes in the heavens;[20] -or if, on the contrary, readymade tales of an entirely different -[but presumably psychic] origin were only subsequently transferred -to the heavenly bodies. Ehrenreich (General Mythology, 1910, p. 104) -makes a more positive admission: The mythologic evolution certainly -begins on a terrestrian soil, in so far as experiences must first be -gathered in the immediate surroundings before they can be projected -into the heavenly universe. And Wundt tells us (loc. cit., p. 282) -that the theory of the evolution of mythology according to which it -first originates in the heavens whence at a later period it descends -to earth, is not only contradictory to the history of the myth, -which is unaware of such a migration, but is likewise contradictory -to the psychology of myth-formation which must repudiate this -translocation as internally impossible. We are also convinced that the -myths,[21] originally at least, are structures of the human faculty -of imagination, which at some time were projected for certain reasons -upon the heavens,[22] and may be secondarily transferred to the -heavenly bodies, with their enigmatical phenomena. The significance of -the unmistakeable traces which this transference has imprinted upon -the myths, as the fixed figures, and so forth, must by no means be -underrated, although the origin of these figures was possibly psychic -in character, and they were subsequently made the basis of the almanac -and firmament calculations, precisely on account of this significance. - -In a general way it would seem as if those investigators who make use -of an exclusively natural mythological mode of interpretation, in any -sense, were unable, in their endeavor to discover the original sense -of the mythical tales, to get entirely away from a psychological -process, such as must be assumed likewise for the creators of the -myths.[23] The motive is identical, and led to the same course in the -myth creators as well as in the myth interpretorsIt is most naïvely -uttered by one of the founders and champions of comparative myth -investigation, and of the natural mythological mode of interpretation, -for Max Müller points out in his “Essays” [1869][20] that this -procedure not only invests meaningless legends with a significance and -beauty of their own, but it helps to remove some of the most revolting -features of classical mythology, and to elucidate their true meaning. -This revolt, the reason for which is readily understood, naturally -prevents the mythologist from assuming that such motives as incest -with the mother, sister or daughter; murder of father, grandfather -or brother could be based upon universal phantasies, which according -to Freud’s teachings have their source in the infantile psyche, with -its peculiar interpretation of the external world and its denizens. -This revolt is therefore only the reaction of the dimly sensed painful -recognition of the actuality of these relations; and this reaction -impels the interpreters of the myths, for their own subconscious -rehabilitation, and that of all mankind, to credit these motives -with an entirely different meaning from their original significance. -The same internal repudiation prevents the myth-creating people from -believing in the possibility of such revolting thoughts, and this -defence probably was the first reason for the projecting of these -relations to the firmament. The psychological pacifying through such -a rehabilitation, by projection upon external and remote objects, can -still be realized, up to a certain degree, by a glance at one of these -interpretations, for instance that of the objectionable Œdipus fable, -as given by a representative of the natural mythological mode of -interpretation. Œdipus, who kills his father, marries his mother, and -dies old and blind, is the solar hero who murders his procreator, the -darkness; shares his couch with the mother, the gloaming, from whose -lap, the dawn, he has been born, and dies blinded, as the setting sun -[Goldziher, 1876].[24] - -It is intelligible that a similar interpretation is more soothing -to the mind than the revelation of the fact that incest and murder -impulses against the nearest relatives are found in the phantasies of -most people, as remnants of the infantile ideation. But this is not -a scientific argument, and revolt of this kind, although it may not -always be equally conscious, is altogether out of place, in view of -existing facts. One must either become reconciled to these indecencies, -provided they are felt to be such, or one must abandon the study of -psychological phenomena. It is evident that human beings, even in the -earliest times, and with a most naïve imagination, never saw incest and -parricide in the firmament on high,[25] but it is far more probable -that these ideas are derived from another source, presumably human. -In what way they came to reach the sky, and what modifications or -additions they received in the process, are questions of a secondary -character, which cannot be settled until the psychic origin of the -myths in general has been established. - -At any rate, besides the astral conception, the claims of the part -played by the psychic life must be credited with the same rights for -myth formation, and this plea will be amply vindicated by the results -of our method of interpretation. With this object we shall first take -up the legendary material on which such a psychological interpretation -is to be attempted for the first time on a large scale; selecting from -the mass[26] of these chiefly biographical hero myths those which are -the best known, and some which are especially characteristic. These -myths will be given in abbreviated form as far as relevant for this -investigation, with statements concerning the provenance. Attention -will be called to the most important, constantly recurrent motives by a -difference in print. - - - - - SARGON - - -Probably the oldest transmitted hero myth in our possession is derived -from the period of the foundation of Babylon (about 2800 B.C.), -and concerns the birth history of its founder, Sargon the First. -The literal translation of the report—which according to the mode -of rendering appears to be an original inscription by King Sargon -himself—is as follows:[27] - -“Sargon, the mighty king, King of Agade, am I. _My mother was a -vestal, my father I knew not_, while my father’s brother dwelt in the -mountains. In my city Azupirani, which is situated on the bank of the -Euphrates, my mother, the vestal, bore me. _In a hidden place she -brought me forth. She laid me in a vessel made of reeds_, closed my -door with pitch, and _dropped me down into the river_, which did not -drown me. The river carried me to Akki, the water carrier. Akki the -water carrier lifted me up in the kindness of his heart, Akki the water -carrier raised me as his own son, Akki the water carrier made of me his -gardener. In my work as a gardener I was beloved by Istar, I became the -king, and for 45 years I held kingly sway.” - - - - - MOSES - - -The biblical birth history of Moses, which is told in Exodus, chapter -2, presents the greatest similarity to the Sargon legend, even an -almost literal correspondence of individual traits.[28] Already the -first chapter (22) relates that Pharaoh commanded his people to throw -into the water all sons which were born to Hebrews, while the daughters -were permitted to live; the reason for this order being referred to -the overfertility of the Israelites. The second chapter continues as -follows: - -“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter -of Levi[29]. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw -him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she -could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and -daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she -laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar -off to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came -down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the -river’s side and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her -maid to fetch it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold -the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, this is one -of the Hebrews’ children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, -Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may -nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And -the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter -said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will -give thee wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the -child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became -her son. And she called his name Moses:[30] and she said, Because I -drew him out of the water.” - -This account is ornamented by Rabbi mythology through an account of -the events preceding Moses’ birth. In the sixtieth year after Joseph’s -death, the reigning Pharaoh saw in his dream an old man, who held a -pair of scales, all the inhabitants of Egypt lay on one side, with -only a sucking lamb on the other, but nevertheless this outweighed all -the Egyptians. The startled king at once consulted the wise men and -astrologers, who declared the dream to mean that a son would be born to -the Israelites, who would destroy all Egypt. The king was frightened, -and at once ordered the death of all newborn children of the Israelites -in the entire country. On account of this tyrannical order, the Levite -Amram, who lived in Goshen, meant to separate from his wife Jocabed, so -as not to foredoom to certain death the children conceived from him. -But this resolution was opposed later on by his daughter Miriam, who -foretold with prophetic assurance that precisely the child suggested -in the king’s dream would come forth from her mother’s womb, and would -become the liberator of his people.[31] - -Amram therefore rejoined his wife, from whom he had been separated for -three years. At the end of three months, she conceived, and later -on bore a boy at whose birth the entire house was illuminated by an -extraordinary luminous radiance, suggesting the truth of the prophecy. -(After Bergel, “Mythology of the Hebrews,” Leipzig, 1882.) - -Similar accounts are given of the birth of the ancestor of the Hebrew -nation, Abraham. He was a son of Therach—Nimrod’s captain—and Amtelai. -Prior to his birth, it was revealed to King Nimrod, from the stars, -that the coming child would overthrow the thrones of powerful princes, -and take possession of their lands. King Nimrod means to have the child -killed immediately after its birth. But when the boy is requested from -Therach, he says: Truly a son was born to me, but he has died. He then -delivers a strange child, concealing his own son in a cave underneath -the ground, where God permits him to suck milk from a finger of the -right hand. In this cave, Abraham is said to have remained until the -third (according to others the tenth) year of his life. (Compare Beer, -“The Life of Abraham,” according to the interpretation of Jewish -traditions, Leipzig, 1859, and Aug. Wünsche, “From Israel’s Temples of -Learning,” Leipzig, 1907.) Also in the next generation, in the story -of _Isaac_, appear the same mythical motives. Prior to his birth King -Abimelech is warned by a _dream_ not to touch Sarah, as this would -cause woe to betide him. After a long period of barrenness, she finally -bears her son, who (in later life, in this report) after having been -destined to be _sacrificed by his own father_ (foster-father) Abraham, -is ultimately _rescued_ by God. But Abraham casts out his own son -Ishmael, with Hagar, the boy’s mother (Genesis 20, 6. See also Bergel, -loc. cit.). - - - - - KARNA - - -A close relationship with the Sargon legend is also shown in certain -features of the ancient Hindu epic[32] Mahâbháràta, of the birth of the -hero Karna. The contents of the legend are briefly rendered by Lassen -(“Indische Altertumskunde,” I, p. 63).[33] - -The princess Pritha, also known as Kunti, bore as a virgin the boy -Karna, whose father was the sun god Surya. The young Karna was born -with the golden ear ornaments of his father and with an unbreakable -coat of mail. The mother in her distress concealed and exposed the -boy. In the adaptation of the myth by A. Holtzmann,[34] verse 1458 -reads: “Then my nurse and I made a large basket of rushes, placed a lid -thereon, and lined it with wax; into this basket I laid the boy and -carried him down to the river Acva.” Floating on the waves, the basket -reaches the river Ganga and travels as far as the city of Campa. “There -was passing along the bank of the river, the charioteer, the noble -friend of Dhrtarastra, and with him was Radha, his beautiful and pious -spouse. She was wrapt in deep sorrow, because no son had been given to -her. On the river she saw the basket, which the waves carried close to -her on the shore; she showed it to Azirath, who went and drew it forth -from the waves.” The two take care of the boy and raise him as their -own child. - -Kunti later on marries King Pandu, who is forced to refrain from -conjugal intercourse by the curse that he is to die in the arms of his -spouse. But Kunti bears three sons, again through divine conception, -one of the children being born in the cave of a wolf. One day Pandu -dies in the embrace of his second wife. The sons grow up, and at a -tournament which they arrange, Karna appears to measure his strength -against the best fighter, Arjuna, the son of Kunti. Arjuna scoffingly -refuses to fight the charioteer’s son. In order to make him a worthy -opponent, one of those present anoints him as king. Meanwhile Kunti -has recognized Karna as her son, by the divine mark, and prays him to -desist from the contest with his brother, revealing to him the secret -of his birth. But he considers her revelation as a fantastic tale, and -insists implacably upon satisfaction. He falls in the combat, struck by -Arjuna’s arrow. (Compare the detailed account in Lefmann’s “History of -Ancient India,” Berlin, 1890, p. 181, et seq.) - -A striking resemblance of the entire structure with the Karna legend is -presented by the birth history of Ion, the ancestor of the Ionians, of -whom a relatively late tradition states the following:[35] - -Apollo, in the grotto of the rock of the Athenian Acropolis, procreated -a son with Kreusa, the daughter of Erechtheus. In this grotto the -boy was also born, and exposed; the mother leaves the child behind -in a woven basket, in the hope that Apollo will not leave his son to -perish. On Apollo’s request, Hermes carries the child the same night to -Delphi, where the priestess finds him on the threshold of the temple -in the morning. She brings the boy up, and when he has grown into a -youth makes him a servant of the temple. Erechtheus later on gave his -daughter Kreusa in marriage to the immigrated Xuthos. As the marriage -long remained childless, they addressed the Delphian oracle, praying to -be blessed with progeny. The god reveals to Xuthos that the first to -meet him on leaving the sanctuary is his son. He hastens outside and -meets the youth, whom he joyfully greets as his own son, giving him -the name Ion, which means “Walker.” Kreusa refuses to accept the youth -as her son; her attempt to poison him fails, and the infuriated people -turn against her. Ion is about to attack her, but Apollo, who did -not wish the son to kill his own mother, enlightened the mind of the -priestess so that she understood the connection. By means of the basket -in which the newborn child had lain, Kreusa recognizes him as her son, -and reveals to him the secret of his birth. - - - - - ŒDIPUS - -The parents of Œdipus, King Laios and his queen, Jocaste, lived for a -long time in childless wedlock. Laios, who is longing for an heir, asks -the Delphic Apollo for advice. The oracle answers that he may have a -son if he so desires; but fate has ordained that his own son will kill -him. Fearing the fulfilment of the oracle, Laios refrains from conjugal -relations, but being intoxicated one day, he nevertheless procreates a -son, whom he causes to be exposed in the river Kithairon, barely three -days after his birth. In order to be quite sure that the child will -perish, Laios orders his ankles to be pierced. According to the account -of Sophocles, which is not the oldest, however, the shepherd who has -been intrusted with the exposure, surrenders the boy to a shepherd of -King Polybos, of Corinth, at whose court he is brought up, according -to the universal statement. Others say that the boy was exposed in a -box on the sea, and was taken from the water by Periböa, the wife of -King Polybos, as she was rinsing her clothes by the shore.[36] Polybos -brought him up as his own son. - -Œdipus, on hearing accidentally that he is a foundling, asks the -Delphian oracle for his own parents, but receives the prophecy that -he will kill his father and marry his mother. In the belief that this -prophecy refers to his foster parents, he flees from Corinth to Thebes, -but on the way unwittingly kills his father Laios. By solving a riddle, -he frees the City from the plague of the Sphinx, a man-devouring -monster, and in reward is given the hand of Jocaste, his mother, as -well as the throne of his father. The revelation of these horrors, -and the subsequent misfortune of Œdipus, were a favorite subject for -spectacular display among the Greek tragedians. - -An entire series of Christian legends have been elaborated on the -pattern of the Œdipus myth,[37] and the summarized contents of the -Judas legend may serve as a paradigm of this group. Before his birth, -his mother Cyboread, is warned by a dream that she will bear a wicked -son, to the ruin of all his people. The parents expose the boy in a box -on the sea. The waves cast the child ashore on the Isle of Scariot, -where the childless queen finds him, and brings him up as her son. -Later on, the royal couple have a son of their own, and the foundling, -who feels himself slighted, kills his foster brother. As a fugitive -from the country, he takes service at the court of Pilate, who made -a confidant of him and placed him above his entire household. In a -fight, Judas kills a neighbor, without knowing that he is his father. -The widow of the murdered man, namely his own mother, then becomes his -wife. After the revelation of these horrors, he repents and seeks the -Saviour, who receives him among his apostles. His betrayal of Jesus is -known from the Gospel. - -The legend of St. Gregory on the Stone—the subject of the narrative of -Hartmann von Aue—represents a more complicated type of this mythical -cycle. Gregory, the child of the incestuous union of royal lovers, -is exposed by his mother in a box on the sea, saved and raised by -fishermen, and is then educated in a convent for the church. But he -prefers the life of a knight, is victorious in combats, and in reward -is given the hand of the princess, his mother. After the discovery of -the incest, Gregory does penance for seventeen years, on a rock in the -midst of the sea, and he is finally made the Pope, at the command of -God. (Compare Cholevicas, “History of German Poetry, According to the -Antique Elements.”) - -A very similar legend is the Iranese legend of King Dârâb, told by -King Firdusi in the Book of Kings, and rendered by Spiegel (Eranische -Altertumskunde, II, 584). The last Kirânian Behmen nominated as his -successor his daughter and simultaneous wife Humâi; so that his son -Sâsân was grieved and withdrew into solitude. A short time after the -death of her husband, Humâi gave birth to a son, whom she resolved to -expose. He was placed in a box, which was put into the Euphrates, and -drifted down stream, until it was held up by a stone, which had been -placed in the water by a tanner. The box with the child was found by -him, and he carried the boy to his wife, who had recently lost her own -child. The couple agreed to raise the foundling, and as the boy grew -up, he soon became so strong that the other children were unable to -resist him. He did not care for the work of his father, but learned to -be a warrior. His foster mother was forced by him to reveal the secret -of his origin, and he joined the army which Humâi was then sending out -to fight the king of Rûm. Her attention being called to him by his -bravery, Humâi readily recognized him as her son, and named him her -successor. - - - - - PARIS - -Apollodorus relates of the birth of Paris: King Priamos had with -his wife Hekabe a son, named Hektor. When Hekabe was about to bear -another child, _she dreamed_ that she brought forth a burning log of -wood, which set fire to the entire city. Priamos asked the advice of -Aisakos, who was his son with his first wife Arisbe, and an expert in -the interpretation of dreams. Aisakos declared that the child would -bring trouble upon the city, and advised that it be exposed. Priamos -gave the little boy to a slave, who carried him to the top of Mount -Ida; this man’s name was Agelaos. _The child was nursed during five -days by a she-bear._ When Agelaos found that he was still alive, he -picked him up, and carried him home to raise him. He named the boy -Paris; but after the child had grown into a strong and handsome youth, -he was called Alexandros, because he fought the robbers and protected -the flocks. Before long he discovered his parents. How this came about -is told by Hyginus, according to whose report the infant is _found by -shepherds_. One day messengers, sent by Priamos, come to these herders -to fetch a bull which is to serve as the prize for the victor in the -combats arranged in commemoration of Paris. They selected a bull which -Paris valued so highly that he followed the men who led the beast away, -assisted in the combats, and won the prize. This aroused the anger -of his brother Deiphobos, who threatened him with his sword, but his -sister Kassandra recognized him as her brother, and Priamos joyfully -received him as his son. The misfortune which Paris later on brought -to his family and his native city, through the abduction of Helena, -is well known from Homer’s poems, as well as their predecessors and -successors, their _prologue_ and _epilogue_. - -A certain resemblance with the story of the birth of Paris is presented -by the poem of Zal, in Firdusi’s Persian hero-myths (translated by -Schack). The first son is born to Sam, king of Sistan, by one of -his consorts. Because he had white hair, _his mother concealed the -birth_. But the nurse reveals the birth of his son to the king. Sam -is disappointed, and commands that the child be exposed. The servants -carry it on the top of Mount Alburs, where it is raised by the Somurgh, -a powerful bird. The full grown youth is seen by a travelling caravan, -whose members speak of him “as whose nurse a bird is sufficient.” King -Sam once _sees his son in a dream_, and sallies forth to seek the -exposed child. He is unable to reach the summit of the elevated rock -where he finally espies the youth. But the Somurgh bears his son down -to him, he receives him joyfully and nominates him as his successor. - - - - - TELEPHOS - -Aleos, King of Tegea, was informed by the _oracle_ that his sons would -perish through a descendant of his daughter. He therefore made his -daughter Auge a priestess of the goddess Athene, and threatened her -with death should she mate with a man. But when Herakles dwelt as a -guest in the sanctuary of Athene, on his expedition against Augias, he -saw the maiden, and when intoxicated he raped her. When Aleos became -aware of her pregnancy, he delivered her to Nauplios, a rough sailor, -with the command to throw her into the sea. But on the way she gave -birth to Telephos, on Mount Parthenios, and Nauplios, unmindful of the -orders he had received, carried both her and the child to Mysia, where -he delivered them to King Teuthras. - -According to another version, Auge secretly brought forth as a -priestess, but kept the child hidden in the temple. When Aleos -discovered the sacrilege, he caused the child to be exposed in the -Parthenian mountains,[38] Nauplios was instructed to sell the mother in -foreign lands, or to kill her. She was delivered by him into the hands -of Teuthras. - -According to the current tradition, _Auge exposes the newborn child_ -and escapes to Mysia, where the childless King Teuthras adopts her as -his daughter. The boy, however, is nursed by a doe, and is found by -shepherds who take him to King Korythos. The king brings him up as his -son. When Telephos has grown into a youth he betakes himself to Mysia, -on the advice of the oracle, to seek his mother. He frees Teuthras, -who is in danger from his enemies, and in reward receives the hand of -the supposed daughter of the king, namely his own mother Auge. But -she refuses to submit to Telephos, and when he in his ire is about -to pierce the disobedient one with his sword, she calls on her lover -Herakles in her distress, and Telephos thus recognizes his mother. -After the death of Teuthras he becomes king of Mysia. - - - - - PERSEUS - -Akrisios, the king of Argos, had already reached an advanced age -without having male progeny. As he desired a son, he consulted the -Delphian oracle, but this warned him against male descendants, and -informed him that his daughter Danae would bear a son through whose -hand he would perish. In order to prevent this, his daughter was locked -up by him in an iron chamber, which he caused to be carefully guarded. -But Zeus penetrated through the roof, in the guise of a golden rain, -and Danae became the mother of a boy.[39] One day Akrisios heard the -voice of young Perseus in his daughter’s room, and in this way learned -that she had given birth to a child. _He killed the nurse_, but carried -his daughter with her son to the domestic altar of Zeus, to have an -oath taken on the true father’s name. But he refuses to believe his -daughter’s statement that Zeus is the father, and _he encloses her with -the child in a box,[40] which is cast into the sea_. The box is carried -by the waves to the coast of Seriphos, where _Diktys, a fisherman_, -usually called a brother of King Polydektes, _saves mother and child -by drawing them out of the sea with his nets_. Diktys leads the two -into his house and keeps them as his relations. Polydektes, however, -becomes enamoured of the beautiful mother, and _as Perseus was in his -way, he tried to remove him_ by sending him forth to fetch the head -of the Gorgon Medusa. But against the king’s anticipations Perseus -accomplishes this difficult task, and a number of heroic deeds besides. -In throwing the discos, at play, he accidentally kills his grandfather, -as foretold by the oracle. He becomes the king of Argos, then of -Tiryath, and the builder of Mykene.[41] - - - - - GILGAMOS - -Aelian, who lived about 200 A.D, relates in his “Animal Stories” the -history of _a boy who was saved by an eagle_.[42] - -“Animals have a characteristic fondness for man. An eagle is known to -have nourished a child. I shall tell the entire story, in proof of my -assertion. When Senechoros reigned over the Babylonians, the Chaldean -fortune-tellers foretold that the son of the king’s daughter would -take the kingdom from his grandfather; this verdict was a prophecy of -the Chaldeans. The king was afraid of this prophecy, and humorously -speaking, he became a second Akrisius for his daughter, over whom -he watched with the greatest severity. But his daughter, fate being -wiser than the Babylonian, conceived secretly from an inconspicuous -man. For fear of the king, the guardians threw the child down from the -Akropolis, where the royal daughter was imprisoned. The eagle, with his -keen eyes, saw the boy’s fall, and before the child struck the earth, -he caught it on his back, bore it into a garden, and set it down with -great care. When the overseer of the place saw the beautiful boy he was -pleased with him and raised him. The boy received the name Gilgamos, -and became the king of Babylonia. If anyone regards this as a fable, -I have nothing to say, although I have investigated the matter to the -best of my ability. Also from Achaemenes, the Persian, from whom the -nobility of the Persians is derived, I learn that he was the pupil of -an eagle.”[43] - - - - - KYROS - -The myth of Kyros, which the majority of investigators place in the -center of this entire mythical circle, without entirely sufficient -grounds, it would appear—has been transmitted to us in several -versions. According to the report of Herodotus (about 450 B.C.), who -states (I, 95) that among four renderings known to him, he selected the -least “glorifying” version, the story of the birth and youth of Kyros -is as follows, I, 107 et seq.[44]. - -Royal sway over the Medes was held, after Kyaxares, by his son -Astyages, who had a daughter named Mandane. Once he saw, in a dream, -so much water passing from her as to fill an entire city, and inundate -all Asia. He related his dream to the dream interpreters among the -magicians, and was in great fear after they had explained it all to -him. When Mandane had grown up, he gave her in marriage, not to a -Mede, his equal in birth, but to a Persian, by name of Kambyses. This -man came of a good family and led a quiet life. The King considered -him of lower rank than a middle class Mede. After Mandane had become -the wife of Kambyses, Astyages saw another dream vision in the first -year. He dreamed that a vine grew from his daughter’s lap, and this -vine overshadowed all Asia. After he had again related this vision to -the dream interpreters, he sent for his daughter, who was with child, -and after her arrival from Persia, he watched her, because he meant -to kill her offspring. For the dream interpreters among the magicians -had prophesied to him that his daughter’s son would become king in his -place. In order to avert this fate, he waited until Kyros was born, and -then sent for Harpagos, who was his relative and his greatest confidant -among the Medes, and whom he had placed over all his affairs. Him he -addressed as follows: “My dear Harpagos, I shall charge thee with an -errand which thou must conscientiously perform. But do not deceive me, -and let no other man attend to it, for all might not go well with thee. -Take this boy, whom Mandane has brought forth, carry him home, and -kill him. Afterwards thou canst bury him, how and in whatsoever manner -thou desirest.” But Harpagos made answer: “Great King, never hast thou -found thy servant disobedient, and also in future I shall beware not to -sin before thee. If such is thy will, it behooves me to carry it out -faithfully.” When Harpagos had thus spoken, and the little boy with all -his ornaments had been delivered into his hands, for death, he went -home weeping. On his arrival he told his wife all that Astyages had -said to him. But she inquired, “What art thou about to do?” He made -reply: “I shall not obey Astyages, even if he raved and stormed ten -times worse than he is doing. I shall not do as he wills, and consent -to such a murder. I have a number of reasons: in the first place, the -boy is my blood relative; then, Astyages is old, and he has no male -heir. Should he die, and the kingdom go to his daughter, whose son he -bids me kill at present, would I not run the greatest danger? But the -boy must die, for the sake of my safety. However, one of Astyages’ men -is to be his murderer, not one of mine.” - -Having thus spoken, he at once despatched a messenger to one of the -king’s cattle herders, by name Mithradates, who, as he happened to -know, was keeping his herd in a very suitable mountain pasturage, full -of wild animals. The herder’s wife was also a slave of Astyages’, by -name Kyno in Greek, or Spako (a bitch) in the Medean language. When the -herder hurriedly arrived, on the command of Harpagos, the latter said -to him: “Astyages bids thee take this boy and expose him in the wildest -mountains, that he may perish as promptly as may be, and the King has -ordered me to say to thee: If thou doest not kill the boy, but let him -live, in whatever way, thou art to die a most disgraceful death. And -I am charged to see to it that the boy is really exposed.” When the -herder had listened to this, he took the boy, went home, and arrived -in his cottage. His wife was with child, and was in labor the entire -day, and it happened that she was just bringing forth, when the herder -had gone to the city. They were greatly worried about each other. But -when he had returned and the woman saw him again so unexpectedly, she -asked in the first place why Harpagos had sent for him so hurriedly. -But he said: “My dear wife, would that I had never seen what I have -seen and heard in the city, and what has happened to our masters. The -house of Harpagos was full of cries and laments. This startled me, but -I entered, and soon after I had entered, I saw a small boy lying before -me, who struggled and cried and was dressed in fine garments and gold. -When Harpagos saw me, he bid me quickly take the boy, and expose him in -the wildest spot of the mountains. He said Astyages had ordered this, -and added awful threats if I failed to do so. I took the child and went -away with it, thinking that it belonged to one of the servants, for it -did not occur to me whence it had come. But on the way, I learned the -entire story from the servant who led me from the city, and placed the -boy in my hands. He is the son of Mandane, daughter of Astyages, and -Kambyses the son of Kyros; and Astyages has ordered his death. Behold, -here is the boy.” - -Having thus spoken, the herder uncovered the child and showed it to -her, and when the woman saw that he was a fine strong child, she wept, -and fell at her husband’s feet, and implored him not to expose it. But -he said he could not do otherwise, for Harpagos would send servants to -see if this had been done; he would have to die a disgraceful death -unless he did so. Then she said again: “If I have failed to move thee, -do as follows, so that they may see an exposed child: I have brought -forth a dead child; take it and expose it, but the son of the daughter -of Astyages we will raise as our own child. In this way, thou wilt not -be found a disobedient servant, nor will we fare ill ourselves. Our -stillborn child will be given a kingly burial, and the living child’s -life will be preserved.” The herder did as his wife had begged and -advised him to do. He placed his own dead boy in a basket, dressed him -in all the finery of the other, and exposed him on the most desert -mountain. Three days later he announced to Harpagos that he was now -enabled to show the boy’s cadaver. Harpagos sent his most faithful body -guardians, and ordered the burial of the cattle herder’s son. The other -boy, however, who was known later on as Kyros, was brought up by the -herder’s wife. They did not call him Kyros, but gave him another name. - -When the boy was twelve years old the truth was revealed, through the -following accident. He was playing on the road, with other boys of his -own age, in the village where the cattle were kept. The boys played -“King,” and elected the supposed son of the cattle herder.[45] But -he commanded some to build houses, others to carry lances; one he -made the king’s watchman, the other was charged with the bearing of -messages; briefly, each received his appointed task. One of the boy’s -playmates, however, was the son of Artembares, a respected man among -the Medes, and when he did not do as Kyros ordained, the latter made -the other boys seize him. The boys obeyed, and Kyros chastised him with -severe blows. After they let him go, he became furiously angry, as if -he had been treated improperly. He ran into the city and complained to -his father of what Kyros had done to him. He did not mention the name -of Kyros for he was not yet called so, but said the cattle herder’s -son. Artembares went wrathfully with his son to Astyages, complained of -the disgraceful treatment, and spoke thus: “Great king, we suffer such -outrageous treatment from thy servant, the herder’s son,” and he showed -him his own son’s shoulders. When Astyages heard and saw this, he -wished to vindicate the boy for the sake of Artembares, and he sent for -the cattle herder with his son. When both were present, Astyages looked -at Kyros and said: “Thou, a lowly man’s son, hast had the effrontery -to treat so disgracefully the son of a man whom I greatly honor!” But -he made answer: “Lord, he has only received his due. For the boys in -the village, he being among them, were at play, and made me their king, -believing me to be the best adapted thereto. And the other boys did as -they were told, but he was disobedient, and did not mind me at all. For -this he has received his reward. If I have deserved punishment, here I -am at your service.” - -When the boy spoke in this way, Astyages knew him at once. For the -features of the face appeared to him as his own, and the answer was -that of a highborn youth; furthermore, it seemed to him that the time -of the exposure agreed with the boy’s age. This smote his heart, and he -remained speechless for a while. Hardly had he regained control over -himself, when he spoke to get rid of Artembares, so as to be able to -question the cattle herder without witnesses. “My dear Artembares,” -he said, “I shall take care that neither thou nor thy son shall have -cause for complaint.” Thus he dismissed Artembares. Kyros, however, was -led into the palace by the servants, on the command of Astyages, and -the cattle herder had to stay behind. When he was all alone with him -Astyages questioned him whence he had obtained the boy, and who had -given the child into his hands. But the herder said that he was his own -son, and that the woman who had borne him was living with him. Astyages -remarked that he was very unwise, to look out for most cruel tortures, -and he beckoned the sword bearers to take hold of him. As he was being -led to torture, the herder confessed the whole story, from beginning to -end, the entire truth, finally beginning to beg and implore forgiveness -and pardon. Meanwhile Astyages was not so incensed against the herder, -who had revealed to him the truth, as against Harpagos; he ordered -the sword bearers to summon him, and when Harpagos stood before him, -Astyages asked him as follows: “My dear Harpagos, in what fashion hast -thou taken the life of my daughter’s son, whom I once delivered over to -thee?” Seeing the cattle herder standing near, Harpagos did not resort -to untruthfulness, for fear that he would be refuted at once, and so he -proceeded to tell the truth. Astyages concealed the anger which he had -aroused in him, and first told him what he had learned from the herder; -then he mentioned that the boy was still living, and that everything -had turned out all right. He said that he had greatly regretted what he -had done to the child, and that his daughter’s reproaches had pierced -his soul. “But as everything has ended so well, send thy son to greet -the newcomer, and then come to eat with me, for I am ready to prepare a -feast in honor of the Gods who have brought all this about.” - -When Harpagos heard this, he prostrated himself on the ground before -the king, and praised himself for his error having turned out well, -and for being invited to the king’s table, in commemoration of a happy -event. So he went home, and when he arrived there, he at once sent -off his only son, a boy of about thirteen years, telling him to go to -Astyages, and to do as he was bid. Then Harpagos joyfully told his wife -what had befallen him. But Astyages butchered the son of Harpagos when -he came, cut him to pieces, and roasted the flesh in part; another -portion of the flesh was cooked, and when everything was prepared he -kept it in readiness. When the hour of the meal had come, Harpagos -and the other guests arrived. A table with sheep’s meat was arranged -in front of Astyages and the others, but Harpagos was served with his -own son’s flesh, without the head, and without the choppings of hands -and feet, but with everything else. These parts were kept hidden in a -basket. When Harpagos seemed to have taken his fill, Astyages asked him -if the meat had tasted good to him, and when Harpagos answered that he -had enjoyed it, the servants, who had been ordered to do so, brought -in his own son’s covered head, with the hands and feet, stepped up to -Harpagos, and told him to uncover and take what he desired. Harpagos -did so, uncovered the basket, and saw the remnants of his son. When he -saw this, he did not give way to his horror, but controlled himself. -Astyages then asked him if he knew of what game he had eaten; and he -replied that he knew it very well, and that whatever the king did was -well done. Thus he spoke, took the flesh that remained, and went home -with it, where he probably meant to bury it together. - -This was the revenge of Astyages upon Harpagos. Concerning Kyros, he -took counsel, and summoned the same magicians who had explained his -dream, then he asked them how they had at one time interpreted his -vision in a dream. But they said that the boy must become a king, if he -remained alive, and did not die prematurely. Astyages made reply: “The -boy is alive, and is here, and as he was staying in the country, the -boys of the village elected him for their king. But he did everything -like the real kings, for he ordained to himself as the master, sword -bearers, gate keepers, messengers, and everything. How do you mean to -interpret this?” The magicians made reply: “If the boy is alive, and -has been made king without the help of anyone, thou canst be at ease -so far as he is concerned, and be of good cheer, for he will not again -be made a king. Already several prophecies of ours have applied to -insignificant trifles, and what rests upon dreams is apt to be vain.” -Astyages made reply: “Ye sorcerers, I am entirely of your opinion that -the dream has been fulfilled when the boy was king in name, and that -I have nothing more to fear from him. Yet counsel me carefully as to -what is safest for my house and for yourselves.” Then the magicians -said: “Send the boy away, that he may get out of thy sight, send him -to the land of the Persians, to his parents.” When Astyages had heard -this, he was greatly pleased. He sent for Kyros, and said to him: “My -son, I have wronged thee greatly, misled by a deceitful dream, but -thy good fortune has saved thee. Now go cheerfully to the land of -the Persians; I shall give thee safe conduct. There wilt thou find a -very different father, and a very different mother than the herders, -Mithradates and his wife.” Thus spake Astyages, and Kyros was sent -away. When he arrived in the house of Kambyses, his parents received -him with great joy when they learned who he was, for they believed him -to have perished at that time, and they desired to know how he had been -preserved. He told them that he had believed himself to be the son -of the cattle herder, but had learned everything on the way from the -companions whom Astyages had sent with him. He related that the cattle -herder’s wife had saved him, and praised her throughout. The bitch -(Spako) played the principal part in his conversation. The parents took -hold of this name, so that the preservation of the child might appear -still more wonderful, and thus was laid the foundation of the myth that -the exposed Kyros was nursed by a bitch. - -Later on, Kyros, on the instigation of Harpagos, stirred up the -Persians against the Medes. War was declared, and Kyros, at the head -of the Persians, conquered the Medes in battle. Astyages was taken a -prisoner alive, but Kyros did not harm him, but kept him with him until -his end. Herodotus’s report concludes with the words: “But from that -time on the Persians and Kyros reigned over Asia. Thus was Kyros born -and raised, and made a king.” - -The report of Pompeius Trogus is preserved only in the extract by -Justinus.[46] Astyages had a daughter but no male heir. In his dream he -saw a vine grow forth from her lap, the sprouts of which overshadowed -all Asia. The dream interpreters declared that the vision signified the -magnitude of his grandson, whom his daughter was to bear; but also his -own loss of his dominions. In order to banish this dread, Astyages gave -his daughter in marriage neither to a prominent man, nor to a Mede, so -that his grandson’s mind might not be uplifted by the paternal estate -besides the maternal; but he married her to Kambyses, a middle-class -man from the then unknown people of the Persians. But this was not -enough to banish the fears of Astyages, and he summoned his pregnant -daughter, in order to have her infant destroyed before his eyes. When a -boy had been born, he gave him to Harpagos, his friend and confidant, -to kill him. For fear that the daughter of Astyages would take revenge -upon him for the death of her boy, when she came to reign after her -father’s death, he delivered the boy to the king’s herder for exposure. -At the same time when Kyros was born, a son happened to be born also -to the herder. When his wife learned that the king’s child had been -exposed, she urgently prayed for it to be brought to her, that she -might look at it. Moved by her entreaties, the herder returned to the -woods. There he found a bitch standing beside the child, giving it her -teats, and keeping the beasts and birds away from it. At this aspect he -was filled with the same compassion as the bitch; so that he picked -up the boy and carried him home, the bitch following him in great -distress. When his wife took the boy in her arms, he smiled at her as -if he already knew her; and as he was very strong, and ingratiated -himself with her by his pleasant smile, she voluntarily begged the -herder to (expose her own child instead and)[47] permit her to raise -the boy; be it that she was interested in his welfare, or that she -placed her hopes on him. Thus the two boys had to exchange fates; one -was raised in place of the herder’s child, while the other was exposed -instead of the grandson of the king. - -The sequel of this apparently more primitive report agrees essentially -with the relation of Herodotus. - -An altogether different version of the Kyros myth is extant in the -report of a contemporary of Herodotus, Ktesias, the original of -which has been lost, but is replaced by a fragment of Nikolaos of -Damaskos.[48] This fragment from Nikolaos summarizes the narrative -of Ktesias, which comprised more than an entire book in his Persian -history. Astyages is said to have been the worthiest king of the -Medes, after Abakes. Under his rule occurred the great transmutation -through which the rulership passed from the Medes to the Persians, -through the following cause: The Medes had a law that a poor man who -went to a rich man for his support, and surrendered himself to him, -had to be fed and clothed and kept like a slave by the rich man, or in -case the latter refused to do so, the poor man was at liberty to go -elsewhere. In this way a boy by name of Kyros, a Mard by birth, came to -the king’s servant who was at the head of the palace sweepers. Kyros -was the son of Atradates, whose poverty made him live as a robber, -and whose wife, Argoste, Kyros’ mother, made her living by tending -the goats. Kyros surrendered himself for the sake of his daily bread, -and helped to clean the palace. As he was diligent, the foreman gave -him better clothing, and advanced him from the outside sweepers to -those who cleaned the interior of the king’s palace, placing him under -their superintendent. This man was severe, however, and often whipped -Kyros. He left him and went to the lamp-lighter, who liked Kyros, -and approached him to the king, by placing him among the royal torch -bearers. As Kyros distinguished himself also in his new position, he -came to Artembares, who was at the head of the cup bearers, and himself -presented the cup to the king. Artembares gladly accepted Kyros, and -bade him pour the wine for the guests at the king’s table. Not long -afterwards, Astyages noticed the dexterity and nimbleness of Kyros’ -service, and his graceful presentation of the wine cup, so that he -asked of Artembares whence this youth had come who was so skillful a -cup bearer. “O Lord,” spake he, “this boy is thy slave, of Persian -parentage, from the tribe of the Mards, who has surrendered himself to -me to make a living.” Artembares was old, and once on being attacked -by a fever, he prayed the king to let him stay at home until he had -recovered. “In my stead, the youth whom thou hast praised will pour the -wine, and if he should please thee, the king, as a cup bearer, _I, who -am an eunuch, will adopt him as my son_.” Astyages consented, but the -other confided in many ways in Kyros _as in a son_. Kyros thus stood -at the king’s side, and poured his wine by day and by night, showing -great ability and cleverness. Astyages conferred upon him the income of -Artembares, as if he had been his son, adding many presents, and Kyros -became a great man whose name was heard everywhere. - -Astyages had a very noble and beautiful daughter,[49] whom he gave to -the Mede Spitamas, adding all Media as her dowry. Then Kyros sent for -his father and mother, in the land of the Medes, and they rejoiced -in the good fortune of their son, and _his mother told him the dream -which she had at the time that she was bearing him_, while asleep in -the sanctuary as she was tending the goats. _So much water passed away -from her that it became as a large stream, inundating all Asia, and -flowing as far as the sea_. When the father heard this, he ordered the -dream to be placed before the Chaldeans in Babylon. Kyros summoned -the wisest among them, and communicated the dream to him. He declared -that the dream foretold great good fortune to Kyros, and _the highest -dignity in Asia_; but Astyages must not learn of it, “for else he -would disgracefully kill thee, as well as myself the interpreter,” -said the Babylonian. They swore to each other to tell no one of this -great and incomparable vision. _Kyros later on rose to still higher -dignities, created his father a Satrap of Persia, and raised his mother -to the highest rank and possessions among the Persian women._ But when -the Babylonian was killed soon afterwards by Oebares, the confidant -of Kyros, his wife betrayed the fateful dream to the king, when she -learned of Kyros’ expedition to Persia, which he had undertaken in -preparation of the revolt. The king sent his horsemen after Kyros, with -the command to deliver him dead or alive. But Kyros escaped them by a -ruse. Finally a combat took place, terminating in the defeat of the -Medes. Kyros also conquered Egbatana, and here the daughter of Astyages -and her husband Spitamas, with their two sons, were taken prisoners. -But Astyages himself could not be found, for Amytis and Spitamas had -concealed him in the palace, under the rafters of the roof. Kyros then -ordered that Amytis, her husband, and the children should be tortured -until they revealed the hiding place of Astyages, but he came out -voluntarily, that his relatives might not be tortured on his account. -_Kyros commanded the execution of Spitamas_, because he had lied in -affirming to be in ignorance of Astyages’ hiding place; _but Amytis -became the wife of Kyros. He removed the fetters of Astyages_, with -which Oebares had bound him, _honored him as a father_, and made him a -Satrap of the Barkanians. - -A great similarity to Herodotus’ version of the Kyros myth is found in -the early history of the Iranese royal hero, Kaikhosrav, as related by -_Firdusi_, in the Sâh-nâme. This myth is most extensively rendered by -Spiegel (Eranische Altertumskunde, I, 581 et seq.). During the warfare -of King Kaikaus of Baktria and Iran, against King Afrâsiâb of Turan, -_Kaikaus fell out with his son, Siâvaksh_, who applied to Afrâsiâb -for protection and assistance. He was kindly received by Afrâsiâb, -who gave him his daughter Feringis to wife, on the persuasion of his -Wesir, Pirân, _although he had received the prophecy that the son to be -born of this union would bring great misfortune upon him_. Garsevaz, -the king’s brother, and a near relative of Siâvaksh, calumniates the -son-in-law, and Afrâsiâb leads an army against him. _Before the birth -of his son, Siâvaksh is warned by a dream, which foretold destruction -and death to himself, but royalty to his offspring._ He therefore flies -from Afrâsiâb, but is taken prisoner and killed, on the command of the -Sâh. His wife, who is pregnant, is saved by Pirân from the hands of the -murderers. On condition of announcing at once the delivery of Feringis -to the king, Pirân is granted permission to keep her in his house. The -shade of the murdered Siâvaksh once comes to him in a dream, and tells -him that an avenger has been born, and Pirân actually finds in the -room of Feringis a newborn boy, whom he names Kaikhosrav. Afrâsiâb no -longer insisted upon the killing of the boy, but he ordered Pirân _to -surrender the child with a nurse to the herders, who were to raise him -in ignorance of his origin_. But his royal descent is promptly revealed -in his courage and his demeanor; and as Pirân takes the boy back into -his home, Afrâsiâb becomes distrustful, and orders the boy to be led -before him. Instructed by Pirân, Kaikhosvrav plays the fool,[50] and -reassured as to his harmlessness, the Sâh dismisses him to his mother, -Feringis. Finally, Kaikhosvrav is crowned as king by his grandfather, -Kaikaus. After prolonged, complicated, and tedious combats, Afrâsiâb is -at last taken prisoner, with divine assistance. Kaikhosvrav strikes his -head off, and also causes Garsivaz to be decapitated. - -A certain resemblance, although more remote, to the preceding saga, -is presented by the Iranese myth of Feridun, as told by Firdusi in -his “Persian Hero-Myths” (translated by Schack). _Zohâk,[51] the king -of Iran, once sees in a dream three men of royal tribe._ Two of them -are bent with age, but between them is a _younger man_ who holds a -club, with a bull’s head, in his right hand; this man steps up to him, -and _fells him with his club to the ground_. The dream interpreters -declared to the king that the young hero who will dethrone him is -Feridun, a scion of the tribe of Dschemschid. Zohâk at once sets out -to look for the tracks of his dreaded enemy. Feridun is the son of -Abtin, a grandson of Dschemschid. His father hides from the pursuit -of the tyrant, but he is seized and killed. Feridun himself, a boy of -tender age, _is saved by his mother Firânek, who escapes with him and -entrusts him to the care of the guardian of a distant forest. Here he -is suckled by the cow Purmâje._ For three years he remains in this -place, but then his mother no longer believes him safe, and she carries -him to a hermit on the mountain Alburs. Soon afterwards Zohâk comes to -the forest, and kills the guardian as well as the cow. - -When Feridun was sixteen years old, he came down from Mount Alburs, -learned of his origin through his mother, and swore to avenge the death -of his father and of his nurse. On the expedition against Zohâk he is -accompanied by his two older brothers, Purmâje and Kayânuseh. He orders -a club to be forged for his use, and ornaments it with the bull’s head, -in memory of his foster mother the cow. With this club he smites Zohâk, -as foretold by the dream. - - - - - TRISTAN - -The argument of the Feridun story is pursued in the Tristan saga, as -related in the epic poem by Gottfried of Strassburg. This is especially -evident in the prologue of the Tristan-saga, which is repeated later -on in the adventures of the hero himself (duplication). Riwalin, king -in the land of the Parmenians, in an expedition to the court of Marke, -king of Kurnewal and England, had become acquainted with the latter’s -beautiful sister, Blancheflure, and his heart was aflame with love for -her. While assisting Marke in a campaign, Riwalin was mortally wounded -and was carried to Tintajole. Blancheflure, _disguised as a beggar -maid_, hastened to his sick bed, and her devoted love saved the king’s -life. She fled with her lover to his native land (obstacles) and was -there proclaimed as his consort. But Morgan attacked Riwalin’s country, -for the sake of Blancheflure, whom the king entrusted to his _faithful -retainer_ Rual, because she was carrying a child. Rual placed the queen -for safekeeping in the castle of Kaneel. Here _she gave birth to a -son and died, while her husband fell in the battle against Morgan. In -order to protect the king’s offspring from Morgan’s pursuits_, Rual -spread the rumor that the infant had been born dead. The boy was -named Tristan, because he had been conceived and born in sorrow. Under -the care of his _foster-parents_, Tristan grew up, equally straight -in body and mind, until his fourteenth year, when he was kidnapped -by Norwegian merchants, who put him ashore in Kurnewal, because they -feared the wrath of the gods. Here the boy was found by the _soldiers -of King Marke_, who was so well pleased with the brave and handsome -youth that he promptly made him his master of the chase (career), and -held him in great affection. Meanwhile, faithful Rual had set forth -to seek his abducted foster son, whom he found at last in Kurnewal, -where Rual had come begging his way. Rual _revealed Tristan’s descent_ -to the king, who was delighted to see in him the son of his beloved -sister, and raised him to the rank of a knight. In order to _avenge his -father_, Tristan proceeded with Rual to Parmenia, vanquished Morgan, -the usurper, and gave the country to Rual as a liege, while he himself -returned to his uncle Marke. (After Chop: Erläuterungen zu Wagner’s -Tristan, Reclam Bibl.) - -The actual Tristan saga goes on with a repetition of the principal -themes. In the service of Marke, Tristan kills Morald, the bridegroom -of Isolde, and being wounded unto death, he is saved by Isolde. He -asks her hand in marriage, for his uncle Marke, fulfils the condition -of killing a dragon, and she follows him reluctantly to Kurnewal, -where they travel by ship. On the journey they partake unwittingly -of the disastrous love potion, which binds them together in frenzied -passion. They betray the king, Marke, and on the wedding night Isolde’s -faithful serving maid, Brangäne, represents the queen, and sacrifices -her virginity to the king. Next follows the banishment of Tristan, -his several attempts to regain his beloved, although he had meanwhile -married Isolde Whitehand, who resembled her. At last he is again -wounded unto death, and Isolde arrives too late to save him.[52] - -A plainer version of the Tristan-saga, in the sense of the -characteristic features of the myth of the birth of the hero, is found -in the fairy tale, “The True Bride,” quoted by Riklin (“Wunscherfüllung -und Symbolik im Märchen,” p. 56)[53] from Rittershaus’ collection of -fairy tales (XXVII, p. 113). A royal pair have no children. The king -having threatened to kill his wife, unless she bears a child by the -time of his return from his sea-voyage, she is brought to him during -his journey, by his zealous maid-servant, as the fairest of three -promenading ladies, and he takes her into his tent without recognizing -her.[54] She returns home without having been discovered, gives birth -to a daughter, Isol, and dies. Isol later on finds a most beautiful -little boy in a box by the seaside, whose name is Tristram, and she -raises him to become engaged to him. The subsequent story, which -contains the motive of the true bride, is noteworthy for present -purposes only in as far as here again occur the draught of oblivion, -and two Isoldes. The king’s second wife gives a potion to Tristram, -which causes him to forget the fair Isol entirely, so that he wishes to -marry the black Isota. Ultimately he discovers the deception, however, -and becomes united with Isol. - - - - - ROMULUS. - -The original version of the story of Romulus and Remus, as told by the -most ancient Roman annalist, Fabius Pictor, is rendered as follows by -Mommsen.[55] “_The twins_ borne by Ilia, daughter of the preceding -king Numitor, _from the embrace of the war god Mars were condemned by -King Amulius, the present ruler of Alba, to be cast into the river_. -The king’s servants took the children and carried them from Alba as -far as the Tiber on the Palatine Hill; but when they tried to descend -the hill to the river, to carry out the command, they found that the -river had risen, and they were unable to reach its bed. The tub with -the children was therefore thrust by them into the shallow water at the -shore. _It floated_ for a while; _but the water promptly receded_, and -_knocking against a stone, the tub capsized_, and the screaming infants -were upset into the river mud. _They were heard by a she-wolf who had -just brought forth and had her udders full of milk; she came and gave -her teats to the boys, to nurse them_, and as they were drinking she -licked them clean with her tongue. Above them flew a woodpecker, which -guarded the children, and also carried food to them. The father was -providing for his sons: for the wolf and the woodpecker are animals -consecrated to father Mars. This was seen by one of the royal herdsmen, -who was driving his pigs back to the pasture from which the water had -receded. Startled by the spectacle, he summoned his mates, who found -the she-wolf attending like a mother to the children, and the children -treated her as their mother. The men made a loud noise to scare the -animal away; but the wolf was not afraid; she left the children, but -not from fear; slowly, without heeding the herdsmen, she disappeared -into the wilderness of the forest, at the holy site of Faunus, where -the water gushes from a gully of the mountain. Meanwhile the men picked -up the boys and carried them to the chief swineherd of the king, -Faustulus, for they believed that the gods did not wish the children -to perish. _But the wife of Faustulus had just given birth to a dead -child, and was full of sorrow. Her husband gave her the twins, and she -nursed them; the couple raised the children, and named them Romulus -and Remus._ After Rome had been founded, later on, King Romulus built -himself a house not far from the place where his tub had stood. The -gully in which the she-wolf had disappeared has been known since -that time as the Wolf’s Gully, the Lupercal. The image in ore of the -she-wolf with the twins[56] was subsequently erected at this spot, -and the she-wolf herself, the Lupa, was worshipped by the Romans as a -divinity. - -The Romulus saga later on underwent manifold transmutations, -mutilations, additions, and interpretations.[57] It is best known in -the form transmitted by Livy (I, 3 et seq.), where we learn something -about the antecedents and subsequent fate of the twins. - -King Proca bequeaths the royal dignity to his first born son Numitor. -But his _younger brother, Amulius, pushes him from the throne_, and -becomes king himself. So that no scion from Numitor’s family may arise, -as the avenger, he kills the male descendants of his brother. _Rea -Silvia, the daughter, he elects as a vestal, and thus deprives her of -the hope of progeny, through perpetual virginity_ as enjoined upon her -under the semblance of a most honorable distinction. But the vestal -maiden was overcome by violence, and having _brought forth twins_, she -named _Mars_ as the _father of her illegitimate offspring_, be it from -conviction, or because a god appeared more creditable to her as the -perpetrator of the crime. - -The narrative of the exposure in the Tiber goes on as follows: The saga -relates that the floating tub, in which the boys had been exposed, -was left on dry land by the receding waters, and that a thirsty wolf, -attracted from the neighbouring mountains by the children’s cries, -offered them her teats. The boys are said to have been found by the -chief royal herder, supposedly named Faustulus, who took them to the -homestead of his wife, Larentia, where they were raised. Some believe -that Larentia was called Lupa, a she-wolf, by the herders, because she -offered her body, and that this was the origin of the wonderful saga. - -Grown to manhood, the youths Romulus and Remus protect the herds -against the attacks of wild animals and robbers. One day Remus is taken -prisoner by the robbers, who accuse him of having stolen Numitor’s -flocks. But Numitor, to whom he is surrendered for punishment, was -touched by his tender age, and when he learned of the twin brothers, -he suspected that they might be his exposed grandsons. While he was -anxiously pondering the resemblance with the features of his daughter, -and the boy’s age as corresponding to the time of the exposure, -Faustulus arrived with Romulus, and a conspiracy was hatched, when -the descent of the boys had been learned from the herders. The youths -armed themselves for vengeance, while Numitor took up weapons to -defend his claim to the throne he had usurped. After _Amulius had been -assassinated_, Numitor was re-instituted as the ruler, and the youths -resolved to found a city in the region where they had been exposed and -brought up. A furious dispute arose upon the question which brother was -to be the ruler of the newly erected city, for neither twin was favored -by the right of primogeniture, and the outcome of the bird oracle was -equally doubtful. The saga relates that Remus jumped over the new wall, -to deride his twin, and _Romulus became so much enraged that he slew -his brother_. Romulus then usurped the sole mastery, and the city was -named Rome after him. - -The Roman tale of Romulus and Remus has a close counterpart in the -Greek myth of a city foundation by the twin brothers Amphion and -Zethos, who were the first to found the site of Thebes of the Seven -Gates. The enormous rocks which Zethos brought from the mountains were -joined by the music drawn from Amphion’s lute strings to form the walls -which became so famous later on. Amphion and Zethos passed as _the -children of Zeus and Antiope_, daughter of King Nykteus. She escaped -by flight from the punishment of her father, who died of grief; on -his death bed he implored _his brother and successor on the throne, -Lykos_, to punish the wrongdoing of Antiope. Meantime she had married -Epopeus, the king of Sikyon, who was killed by Lykos. Antiope was led -away by him in fetters. She gave birth to twin sons in the Kithairon, -where she left them. A shepherd raised the boys and called them Amphion -and Zethos. Later on, Antiope succeeded in escaping from the torments -of Lykos and his wife, Dirke. She accidentally sought shelter in the -Kithairon, with the twin brothers, now grown up. The shepherd reveals -to the youths the fact that Antiope is their mother. Thereupon they -cruelly kill Dirke, and deprive Lykos of the rulership. - -The remaining twin sagas,[58] which are extremely numerous, cannot -be discussed in detail in this connection. Possibly they represent -a complication of the birth myth by another very ancient and widely -distributed myth complex, that of the hostile brothers, the detailed -discussion of which belongs elsewhere. The apparently late and -secondary character of the twin type in the birth myths justifies -the separation of this part of mythology from the present theme. As -regards the Romulus saga, Mommsen[59] renders it highly probable that -it originally told only of Romulus, while the figure of Remus was added -subsequently, and somewhat disjointedly, when it became desirable to -invest the consulate with a solemnity founded on the old tradition. - - - - - HERCULES[60] - -After the loss of his numerous sons, Elektryon betroths his daughter, -Alkmene, to Amphitryon, the son of his brother, Alkäos. However, -Amphitryon, through an unfortunate accident, causes the death of -Elektryon, and escapes to Thebes with his affianced bride. He has not -enjoyed her love, for she has solemnly pledged him not to touch her -until he has avenged her brothers on the Thebans. An expedition is -therefore started by him, from Thebes, and he conquers the king of the -hostile people, Pterelaos, with all the islands. As he is returning to -Thebes, Zeus in the form of Amphitryon[61] betakes himself to Alkmene, -to whom he presents a golden goblet as evidence of victory. He rests -with the beauteous maiden during three nights, according to the later -poets, holding back the sun one day. In the same night, Amphitryon -arrives, exultant in his victory and aflame with love. In the fulness -of time, the fruit of the divine and the human embrace[62] is brought -forth and Zeus announces to the gods his son, as the most powerful -ruler of the future. But his jealous spouse, Hera, knows how to obtain -from him the pernicious oath, that the first-born grandson of Perseus -is to be the ruler of all the other descendants of Perseus. Hera -hurries to Mykene, to deliver the wife of the third Perside, Sthenelos, -of the seven months child, Eurystheus. At the same time she hinders -and endangers the confinement of Alkmene, through all sorts of wicked -sorcery, precisely as at the birth of the god of light, Apollo. Alkmene -finally gives birth to Herakles and Iphikles, the latter in no way -the former’s equal in courage or in strength, but destined to become -the father of his faithful friend, Iolaos.[63] In this way Eurystheus -became the king in Mykene, in the land of the Argivians, in conformity -with the oath of Zeus, and the after born Herakles was his subject. - -The old legend related the raising of Herakles on the strength giving -waters of the Dirke, the nourishment of all Theban children. Later on, -however, another version arose. Fearing the jealousy of Hera, Alkmene -_exposed the child which she had borne_ in a place which for a long -time after was known as the field of Herakles. About this time, Athene -arrived, in company with Hera. She marvelled at the beautiful form -of the child, and persuaded Hera to put him to her breast. But the -boy took the breast with far greater strength than his age seemed to -warrant; Hera felt pains and angrily flung the child to the ground. -Athene, however, carried him to the neighboring city and _took him -to Queen Alkmene, whose maternity was unknown to her, as a poor -foundling, whom she begged her to raise for the sake of charity_. -This peculiar accident is truly remarkable! The child’s own mother -allows him to perish, disregarding the duty of maternal love, and the -stepmother who is filled with natural hatred against the child, saves -her enemy without knowing it (after Diodor, IV, 9; German translation -by Wurm, Stuttgart, 1831). Herakles had drawn only a few drops from -Hera’s breast, but the divine milk was sufficient to endow him with -immortality. An attempt on Hera’s part to kill the boy, asleep in his -cradle, by means of two serpents, proved a failure, for the child -awakened and crushed the beasts with a single pressure of his hands. -As a boy, Herakles one day killed his tutor, Linos, being incensed -about an unjust chastisement. Amphitryon, fearing the wildness of -the youth, sends him to tend his ox-herds in the mountains, with the -herders, among whom he is said by some to have been raised entirely, -like Amphion and Zethos, Kyros and Romulus. Here he lives from the -hunt, in the freedom of nature (Preller, II, 123). - -The myth of Herakles suggests in certain features the Indian saga of -the hero _Krishna_, who like many heroes escapes a general infanticide, -and is then brought up by a herder’s wife, Iasodha. A wicked she-demon -appears, who has been sent by King Kansa to kill the boy. She takes the -post of wet nurse in the home, but is recognized by Krishna, who bites -her so severely in suckling (like Hera, when nursing Herakles, whom -she also means to destroy), that she dies. (The early history of the -pastoral god Krishna is related in the so-called Kariwamsa.) - - - - - Jesus - -The Gospel according to Luke (1, 26 to 35) relates the prophecy of the -birth of Jesus, as follows: - -“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city -of Galilee named Nazareth, to _a virgin espoused to a man whose name -was Joseph_, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. -And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail! thou that art highly -favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women! And when -she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what -manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear -not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, _thou shalt -conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. -He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest_: and the -Lord God shalt give unto him the throne of his father David. And he -shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there -shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, -_seeing I know not a man_? And the angel answered and said unto her, -the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall -overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of -thee _shall he called the Son of God_.” - -This report is supplemented by the Gospel according to Matthew[64] (1, -18 to 25), in the narrative of the birth and childhood of Jesus: “Now -the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary -was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, _she was found with -child of the Holy Ghost_. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, -and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her -away privily. But, while he thought on these things, behold the _angel -of the Lord appeared to him in a dream_, saying, Joseph, thou son of -David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is -conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, -and thou shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from -their sins. (Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was -spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be -with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name -Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.) Then Joseph, being -raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and -took unto him his wife. _And knew her not, till she had brought forth -her first born son_; and he called his name Jesus.” - -Here we interpolate the detailed account of the birth of Jesus, from -the Gospel of Luke (2, 4 to 20): “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, -out of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called -Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David), to be -taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so -it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that -she should be delivered. And _she brought forth her first born son, -and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger_;[65] -because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the -same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their -flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the -glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. -And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good -tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born -this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. -And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in -swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the -angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory -to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And -it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, -the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem -and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made -known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and -the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it they made known -abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all -they that heard wondered at those things which were told them by the -shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her -heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all -the things which they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” - -We now continue the account after Matthew, in the second chapter: -“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod -the king, behold, there came _wise men from the East_ to Jerusalem, -saying, _Where is he that was born King of the Jews_, for we have seen -his star in the east, and have come to worship him. When _Herod the -king_ had heard these things he was troubled and all Jerusalem with -him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the -people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And -they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by -the prophet, And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least -among the princes of Juda, for out of thee shall come a governor which -shall rule my people Israel. - -Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them -diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, -and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye -have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him -also. When they had heard the king they departed; and lo the star, -which they saw in the east, went before them till it came and stood -over where the young child was. - -When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And -when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary -his mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened -their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, -and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream, that they should not -return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. -And when they were departed, behold, _the angel of the Lord appeared -to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his -mother and flee into Egypt_, and be thou there until I bring thee -word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he -arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed -into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be -fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of -Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked -of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and _slew all the -children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from -two years old and under_, according to the time which he had diligently -enquired of the wise men. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of -the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying arise and take -the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: _for -they are dead which sought the young child’s life_. And he arose and -took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. -But when he heard Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his -father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding being warned -of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he -came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled -which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”[66] - -Similar birth legends to those of Jesus have also been transmitted of -other “founders of religions”; such as Zoroaster, who is said to have -lived about the year 1000 before Christ. His mother Dughda dreams, -_in the sixth month of her pregnancy_, that the wicked and the good -spirits are fighting for the embryonic Zoroaster; a monster tears the -future Zoroaster from the mother’s womb, but a light god fights the -monster with his horn of light, re-encloses the embryo in the mother’s -womb, blows upon Dughda, and she became pregnant. On awakening, she -hurries in her fear to a wise dream interpreter, who is unable to -explain the wonderful dream before the end of three days: The child, -which she is carrying, is destined to become a man of great importance; -the dark cloud and the mountain of light signify, that she and her -son will at first have to undergo numerous trials, through tyrants -and other enemies, but at last they will overcome all perils. Dughda -at once returns to her home, and informs Pourushacpa, her husband, of -everything that has happened. Immediately after his birth, the boy -was seen to laugh: this was the first miracle through which he drew -attention to himself. _The magicians announce the birth of the child -as a portent of disaster to the prince of the realm_, Durânsarûn, who -betakes himself without delay to the dwelling of Pourushacpa, in order -to stab the child. But his hand falls paralyzed, and he must leave with -his errand undone. This was the second miracle. Soon after, the wicked -demons steal the child from his mother and carry him into the desert, -in order to kill him; but Dughda finds the unharmed child, calmly -sleeping. This is the third miracle. Later on, Zoroaster was to be -trampled upon, in a narrow passage way, by a herd of oxen, by command -of the king.[67] But the largest of the cattle took the child between -his feet, and preserved it from harm. This was the fourth miracle. The -fifth is merely a repetition of the preceding. What the cattle had -refused to do, was to be accomplished by horses. But again the child -was protected by a horse from the hoofs of the other horses. Durânsurûn -thereupon had the cubs in a wolf’s den killed during the absence of -the old wolves, and Zoroaster was laid down in their place. But a god -closed the jaws of the furious wolves, so that they could not harm -the child. Two divine cows arrived instead and presented their udders -to the child, giving it to drink. This was the sixth miracle, through -which Zoroaster’s life was preserved. (Compare Spiegel’s Eranische -Altertumskunde, I, pp. 688 et seq., also Brodbeck, Zoroaster, Leipzig, -1893.) - -Related traits are also encountered in the history of Buddha, whose -life is referred to the sixth century before Christ; such as the -long sterility of the parents, the dream, the birth of the boy under -the open sky, the death of the mother and her substitution by a -foster-mother, the announcing of the birth to the ruler of the realm; -later on the losing of the boy in the temple (as in the history of -Jesus; compare Luke 2, 40-52). - - - - - SIEGFRIED - -The old Norse _Thidreksaga_, as registered about the year 1250 by an -Icelander, according to oral traditions and ancient songs, relates -the history of the birth and youth of Siegfried, as follows:[68] King -Sigmund of Tarlungaland, on his return from an expedition, banishes his -wife Sisibe, the daughter of King Nidung of Hispania, who is _accused_ -by Count Hartvin, whose advances she has spurned, of having had -_illicit relations with a menial_. The king’s counsellors advise him -to mutilate instead of kill the innocent queen, and Hartvin is ordered -to cut out her tongue in the forest, so as to bring it to the king as -a pledge. His companion, Count Hermann, opposes the execution of the -cruel command, and proposes to present the tongue of a dog to the king. -While the two men are engaged in a violent quarrel, _Sisibe gives birth -to a remarkably beautiful boy; she then took a glass vessel, and after -having wrapped the boy in linens, she placed him in the glass vessel, -which she_ carefully closed again and placed beside her (Rassmann). -Count Hartvin was conquered in the fight, and in falling kicked the -glass vessel, _so that it fell into the river_. When the queen saw this -she swooned, and died soon afterwards. Hermann went home, told the -king everything, and was banished from the country. The _glass vessel -meantime drifted down stream to the sea_, and it was not long before -the tide turned. _Then the vessel floated on to a rocky cliff_, and the -water ran off so that the place where the vessel was perfectly dry. The -boy inside had grown somewhat, and when the vessel struck the rock, it -broke, and the child began to cry. [Rassmann] The boy’s wailing was -heard _by a doe_, which seized him with her lips, and carried him to -her litter, _where she nursed him together with her young_. After the -child had lived twelve months in the den of the doe, he had grown to -the height and strength of other boys four years of age. One day he ran -into the forest, where dwelt the wise and skilfull _smith, Mimir who -had lived for nine years in childless wedlock_. He saw the boy, who -was followed by the faithful doe, took him to his home, _and resolved -to bring him up as his own son_. He gave him the name of Siegfried. In -Mimir’s home, Siegfried soon attained an enormous stature and strength, -but his wilfulness caused Mimir _to get rid of him_. He sent the youth -into the forest, where it had been arranged that the dragon Regin, -Mimir’s brother, was to kill him. But Siegfried conquers the dragon, -and kills Mimir. He then proceeds to Brynhild, who names his parents to -him. - -Similarly to the early history of Siegfried, an Austrasiatic saga -tells of the birth and youth of _Wolfdietrich_.[69] His mother is -likewise accused of _unfaithfulness_, and intercourse with the devil, -by a vassal whom she has repulsed, and who speaks evil of her to the -returning king, Hugdietrich of Constantinople.[70] - -_The king surrenders the child to the faithful Berchtung, who is to -kill it, but exposes it instead, in the forest, near the water_, in -the hope that it will fall in of its own accord and thus find its -death. But the frolicking child remains unhurt, and even _the wild -animals_, lions, bears, wolves, which come at night to the water, _do -not harm it_. The astonished Berchtung resolves to save the boy, and he -_surrenders him to a game keeper_ who, together with his wife, raises -him and names him Wolfdietrich.[71] - -The following later hero epics may still be quoted in this connection. -In the thirteenth century, the saga of _Horn_, the son of Aluf, who -after having been exposed on the sea, finally reaches the court of -King Hunlaf, and after numerous adventures wins the king’s daughter, -Rimhilt, for his wife. Furthermore, a detail suggestive of Siegfried, -from the saga of the skilfull smith _Wieland_, who, after avenging his -foully murdered father, floats down the river Weser, artfully enclosed -in the trunk of a tree, and loaded with the tools and treasures of -his teachers. Finally the _Arthur_ legend contains the commingling of -divine and human paternity, the exposure and the early life with a -lowly man. - - - - - LOHENGRIN - -The widely distributed group of sagas which have been woven around the -mythic knight with the swan (the old French Chevalier au cigne) can be -traced back to very ancient Keltic traditions. The following is the -version which has been made familiar by Wagner’s dramatisation of this -theme. The story of Lohengrin, the knight with the swan, as transmitted -by the medieval German epic [modernized by Junghaus, Reclam] and -briefly rendered by the Grimm brothers, in their “German Sagas” (Part -II, Berlin, 1818, p. 306) under the title: Lohengrin in Brabant. - -The Duke of Brabant and Limburg died, without leaving other heirs than -a young daughter, Els, or Elsam by name; her he recommended on his -death bed to one of his retainers, Friedrich von Telramund. Friedrich, -the intrepid warrior, became emboldened to demand the youthful duchess’ -hand and lands, under the false claim that she had promised to marry -him. She steadfastly refused to do so. Friedrich complained to Emperor -Heinrich, surnamed the Vogler, and the verdict was that she must defend -herself against him, through some hero, in a so called divine judgment, -in which God would accord the victory to the innocent, and defeat the -guilty. As none were ready to take her part, the young duchess prayed -ardently to God, to save her; and far away in distant Montsalvatsch, -in the Council of the Grail, the sound of the bell was heard, showing -that there was some one in urgent need of help. The Grail therefore -resolved to despatch as a rescuer, Lohengrin the son of Parsifal. Just -as he was about to place his foot in the stirrup _a swan came floating -down the water drawing a skiff behind him_. As soon as Lohengrin set -eyes upon the swan, he exclaimed: “Take the steed back to the manger, I -shall follow this bird wherever he may lead me.” Having faith in God’s -omnipotence he took no food with him in the skiff. After they had been -afloat on the sea five days, the swan dipped his bill in the water, -caught a fish, ate one half of it, and gave the other half to the -prince to eat. _Thus the knight was fed by the swan._ - -Meanwhile Elsa had summoned her chieftains and retainers to a meeting -in Antwerp. Precisely on the day of the assembly, a swan was sighted -swimming up stream (river Schelde) and drawing behind him a skiff, in -which Lohengrin lay asleep on his shield. The swan promptly came to -land at the shore, and the prince was joyfully welcomed. Hardly had -his helmet, shield and sword been taken from the skiff, when the swan -at once swam away again. Lohengrin heard of the wrong which had been -done to the duchess, and willingly consented to become her champion. -Elsa then summoned all her relatives and subjects. The place was -prepared in Mayence, where Lohengrin and Friedrich were to fight in -the emperor’s presence. The hero of the Grail defeated Friedrich, who -confessed having lied to the duchess, and was executed with the axe. -Elsa was alloted to Lohengrin, they having long been lovers; but he -secretly _insisted upon her avoiding all questions as to his ancestry, -or whence he had come_, saying that otherwise he would have to leave -her instantaneously and she would never see him again. - -For some time, the couple lived in peace and happiness. Lohengrin was -a wise and mighty ruler over his land, and also served his emperor -well in his expeditions against the Huns and the heathen. But it came -to pass that one day in throwing the javelin he unhorsed the Duke -of Cleve, so that the latter broke an arm. The Duchess of Cleve was -angry, and spoke out amongst the women, saying: “Lohengrin may be -brave enough, and he seems to be a good Christian; what a pity that -his nobility is not of much account _for no one knows whence he has -come floating to this land_.” These words pierced the heart of the -Duchess of Brabant, and she changed color with emotion. At night, when -her spouse was holding her in his arms, she wept, and he said “What -is the matter, Elsa, my own?” She made answer, “the Duchess of Cleve -has caused me sore pain.” Lohengrin was silent and asked no more. The -second night, the same came to pass. But in the third night, Elsa -could no longer retain herself, and she spoke: “Lord, do not chide -me! _I wish to know, for our children’s sake, whence you were born_; -for my heart tells me that you are of high rank.” When the day broke, -Lohengrin declared in public whence he had come, that Parsifal was his -father, and God had sent him from the Grail. He then asked for his -two children, which the duchess had borne him, kissed them, told them -to take good care of his horn and sword which he would leave behind, -and said: “Now, I must be gone.” To the duchess he left a little -ring which his mother had given him. Then the swan, his friend, came -swimming swiftly, with the skiff behind him; the prince stepped in and -crossed the water, back to the service of the Grail. Elsa sank down in -a faint. The empress resolved _to keep the younger boy Lohengrin, for -his father’s sake, and to bring him up as her own child_. But the widow -wept and mourned[72] the rest of her life for her beloved spouse, who -never came back to her. - -On inverting the Lohengrin saga in such a way that the end is placed -first,—on the basis of the rearrangement, or even transmutation of -motives, not uncommonly found in myths,—we find the type of saga -with which we have now become familiar: The infant Lohengrin, who is -identical with his father of the same name, _floats in a vessel upon -the sea and is carried ashore by a swan. The empress adopts him as her -son, and he becomes a valorous hero._ Having married a noble maiden of -the land, he forbids her to enquire as to his origin. When the command -is broken he is obliged to reveal his miraculous descent and divine -mission, after which the swan carries him back in his skiff to the -Grail. - -Other versions of the saga of the Knight with the Swan have retained -this original arrangement of the motives, although they appear -commingled with elements of fairy tales. The saga of the Knight with -the Swan, as related in the Flemish People’s Book (Deutsche Sagen, -I, 29), contains in the beginning the history of the birth of seven -children,[73] borne by Beatrix, the wife of King Oriant of Flanders. -The wicked mother of the absent king, Matabruna, orders that the -children be killed, and the queen be given seven puppy dogs in their -stead. But the servant contents himself with the exposure of the -children, who are found by a hermit, named Helias, and are nourished by -a goat until they are grown. Beatrix is thrown into a dungeon. Later -on Matabruna learns that the children have been saved and her repeated -command to kill them causes the hunter, who has been charged with the -murder, to bring her as a sign of apparent obedience to her behest, the -silver neck chains which the children wore already at the time of their -birth. One of the boys, named Helias, after his foster father, alone -keeps his chain, and is thereby saved from the fate of his brothers, -who are transformed into swans, as soon as their chains are removed. -Matabruna volunteers to prove the relations of the queen with the dog, -and upon her instigation, Beatrix is to be killed, unless a champion -arises to defend her. In her need, she prays to God, who sends her -son Helias as a rescuer. The brothers are also saved by means of the -other chains, except one, whose chain has already been melted down. -King Oriant now transfers the rulership to his son Helias, who causes -the wicked Matabruna to be burned. One day, Helias sees his brother, -the swan, drawing a skiff on the lake surrounding the castle. This -he regards as a heavenly sign, he arms himself and mounts the skiff. -The swan takes him through rivers and lakes to the place where God -has ordained him to go. Next follows the liberation of an innocently -accused duchess, in analogy with the Lohengrin saga; and his marriage -to her daughter Clarissa, who is forbidden to ask for her husband’s -ancestry. In the seventh year of their marriage she disobeys and puts -the question, after which Helias returns home in the swan’s skiff. -Finally, his lost brother swan is likewise released. - -The characteristic features of the Lohengrin saga,—that the divine -hero disappears again in the same mysterious fashion in which he has -arrived; also the transference of mythical motives from the life -of the older hero, bearing the same name, to a younger one, a very -universal process in myth-formation, are likewise embodied in the -Anglian-Longobard saga of Scëaf, which is mentioned in the introduction -to the Beowulf-Song, the oldest German epic, preserved in the -Anglo-Saxon tongue (translated by H. v. Wolzogen, Reclam). The father -of old Beowulf received his name, Scild Scéfing (meaning the son of -Scëaf), because as a very young boy, he was cast ashore as a stranger, -asleep in a boat on a sheaf of grain (Anglo-saxon, scéaf). The waves of -the sea carried him to the coast of the country which he was destined -to defend. The inhabitants welcomed him as a miracle, raised him, and -later on made him their king, as an emissary of God. (Compare Grimm, -German Mythology, I, p. 306; III, p. 391, and H. Leo: Beowulf, Halle, -1839.) What is told of the ancestor of the royal house, Scaf,[74] or -Scëaf, appears in the Beowulf song transferred to his son, Scëafing -Scild, according to the unanimous statement of Grimm (see above), and -Leo (p. 24): His dead body is exposed at his behest, surrounded by -kingly splendor, upon a ship without a crew, which is sent out into -the sea. Thus he vanishes in the same mysterious manner in which his -father arrived ashore; this trait being accounted for, in analogy with -the Lohengrin saga, by the mythical identity of father and son. - -A cursory review of these variegated hero myths forcibly brings out -a series of uniformly common features, with a typical ground work, -from which a standard saga, as it were, may be constructed. This -schedule corresponds approximately to the ideal human skeleton which is -constantly seen, with minor deviations, on transillumination of figures -which outwardly differ from one another. The individual traits of the -several myths, and especially apparently crude variations from the -prototype, can only be entirely elucidated by the myth-interpretation. -The standard saga itself may be formulated according to the following -scheme: - -The hero is the child of most distinguished parents; usually the son -of a king. His origin is preceded by difficulties, such as continence, -or prolonged barrenness, or secret intercourse of the parents, due to -external prohibition or obstacles. During the pregnancy, or antedating -the same, there is a prophecy, in form of a dream or oracle, cautioning -against his birth, and usually threatening danger to the father, or his -representative. As a rule, he is surrendered to the water, in a box. He -is then saved by animals, or by lowly people (shepherds) and is suckled -by a female animal, or by a humble woman. After he has grown up, he -finds his distinguished parents, in a highly versatile fashion; takes -his revenge on his father, on the one hand, is acknowledged on the -other, and finally achieves rank and honors.[75] - -The normal relations of the hero towards his father and his mother -regularly appearing impaired in all these myths, as shown by the -schedule, there is reason to assume that something in the nature of -the hero must account for such a disturbance, and motives of this -kind are not very difficult to discover. It is readily understood—and -may be noted in the modern epigones of the heroic age—that for the -hero who is exposed to envy, jealousy and calumny to a much higher -degree than all others, the descent from his parents often becomes -the source of the greatest distress and embarrassment. The old saying -that “A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in -his father’s house,” has no other meaning but this, that he whose -parents, brothers and sisters, or playmates, are known to us, is not -so readily conceded to be a prophet (Gospel of St. Mark, VI, 4). There -seems to be a certain necessity for the prophet to deny his parents; -also, the well-known opera of Meyerbeer is based upon the avowal that -the prophetic hero is allowed, in favor of his mission, to abandon and -repudiate even his tenderly beloved mother. - -A number of difficulties arise, however, as we proceed to a deeper -enquiry into the motives which oblige the hero to sever his -family relations. Numerous investigators have emphasized that the -understanding of myth formation requires our going back to their -ultimate source, namely the individual faculty of imagination.[76] The -fact has also been pointed out that this imaginative faculty is found -in its active and unchecked exuberance only in childhood. Therefore, -the imaginative life of the child should first be studied, in order -to facilitate the understanding of the far more complex and also more -handicapped mythical and artistic imagination in general. - -Meanwhile the investigation of the juvenile faculty of imagination -has hardly commenced, instead of being sufficiently advanced to -permit the utilization of the findings for the explanation of the -more complicated psychic activities. The reason for this imperfect -understanding of the psychic life of the child is referable to the lack -of a suitable instrument, as well as of a reliable avenue, leading -into the intricacies of this very delicate and rather inaccessible -domain. These juvenile emotions can by no means be studied in the -normal human adult, and it may actually be charged, in view of certain -psychic disturbances, that the normal psychic integrity of normal -subjects consists precisely in their having overcome and forgotten -their childish vagaries and imaginations: so that the way has become -blocked. In children, on the other hand, empirical observation (which -as a rule must remain merely superficial) fails in the investigation -of psychic processes, because we are not as yet enabled to trace all -manifestations correctly to their motive forces: so that we are lacking -the instrument. There is a certain class of persons, the so-called -psychoneurotics, shown by the teachings of Freud to have remained -children, in a sense, although otherwise appearing grown up. These -psychoneurotics may be said not to have given up their juvenile psychic -life, which on the contrary, in the course of maturity, has become -strengthened and fixed, instead of modified. In psychoneurotics, the -emotions of the child are preserved and exaggerated, thus becoming -capable of pathological effects, in which these humble emotions appear -broadened and enormously magnified. The fancies of neurotics are, -as it were, the uniformly exaggerated reproductions of the childish -imaginings. This would point the way to a solution of the problem. -Unfortunately, however, the access is still much more difficult -to establish in these cases than to the child mind. There is only -one known instrument which makes this road practicable, namely the -psychoanalytic method, which has been developed through the work of -Freud. Constant handling of this instrument will clear the observer’s -vision to such a degree that he will be enabled to discover the -identical motive forces, only in delicately shaded manifestations, also -in the psychic life of those who do not become neurotics later on. - -Professor Freud had the amiability to place at the author’s disposal -his highly appreciated experience with the psychology of the neuroses; -and on this material are based the following comments, on the -imaginative faculty of the child as well as the neurotic. - -The detachment of the growing individual from the authority of -the parents is one of the most necessary, but also one of the most -painful achievements of evolution. It is absolutely necessary for -this detachment to take place, and it may be assumed that all normal -grown individuals have accomplished it to a certain extent. Social -progress is essentially based upon this opposition between the two -generations. On the other hand, there exists a class of neurotics -whose condition indicates that they have failed to solve this very -problem. For the young child, the parents are in the first place -the sole authority, and the source of all faith. To resemble them, -_i.e._, the progenitor of the same sex; to grow up like father or -mother, this is the most intense and portentous wish of the child’s -early years. Progressive intellectual development naturally brings it -about that the child gradually becomes acquainted with the category -to which the parents belong. Other parents become known to the child, -who compares these with his own, and thereby becomes justified in -doubting the incomparability and uniqueness with which he had invested -them. Trifling occurrences in the life of the child, which induce a -mood of dissatisfaction, lead up to a criticism of the parents, and -the gathering conviction that other parents are preferable in certain -ways, is utilized for this attitude of the child towards the parents. -From the psychology of the neuroses, we have learned that very intense -emotions of sexual rivalry are also involved in this connection. -The causative factor evidently is the feeling of being neglected. -Opportunities arise only too frequently when the child is neglected, -or at least feels himself neglected, when he misses the entire love -of the parents, or at least regrets having to share the same with the -other children of the family. The feeling that one’s own inclinations -are not entirely reciprocated seeks its relief in the idea,—often -consciously remembered from very early years,—of being a step-child, -or an adopted child. Many persons who have not become neurotics, very -frequently remember occasions of this kind, when the hostile behavior -of the parents was interpreted and reciprocated by them in this -fashion, usually under the influence of story books. The influence -of sex is already evident, in so far as the boy shows a far greater -tendency to harbor hostile feelings against his father than his mother, -with a much stronger inclination to emancipate himself from the father -than from the mother. The imaginative faculty of girls is possibly -much less active in this respect. These consciously remembered psychic -emotions of the years of childhood supply the factor which permits the -interpretation of the myth. What is not often consciously remembered, -but can almost invariably be demonstrated through psychoanalysis, is -the next stage in the development of this incipient alienation from -the parents, which may be designated by the term _Family Romance -of Neurotics_. The essence of neurosis, and of all higher mental -qualifications, comprises a special activity of the imagination which -is primarily manifested in the play of the child, and which from about -the period preceding puberty takes hold of the theme of the family -relations. A characteristic example of this special imaginative faculty -is represented by the familiar _day dreams_,[77] which are continued -until long after puberty. Accurate observation of these day dreams -shows that they serve for the fulfilment of wishes, for the righting -of life, and that they have two essential objects, one erotic, the -other of an ambitious nature (usually with the erotic factor concealed -therein). About the time in question the child’s imagination is engaged -upon the task of getting rid of the parents, who are now despised and -are as a rule to be supplanted by others of a higher social rank. The -child utilizes an accidental coincidence of actual happenings (meetings -with the lord of the manor, or the proprietor of the estate, in the -country; with the reigning prince, in the city. In the United States -with some great statesman, millionaire). Accidental occurrences of -this kind arouse the child’s envy, and this finds its expression in -fancy fabrics which replace the two parents by others of a higher rank. -The technical elaboration of these two imaginings, which of course by -this time have become conscious, depends upon the child’s adroitness, -and also upon the material at his disposal. It likewise enters into -consideration, if these fancies are elaborated with more or less claim -to plausibility. This stage is reached at a time when the child is -still lacking all knowledge of the sexual conditions of descent. With -the added knowledge of the manifold sexual relations of father and -mother; with the child’s realization of the fact that the father is -always uncertain, whereas the mother is very certain—the family romance -undergoes a peculiar restriction; it is satisfied with ennobling the -father, while the descent from the mother is no longer questioned, -but accepted as an unalterable fact. This second (or sexual) stage -of the family romance is moreover supported by another motive, which -did not exist in the first (or asexual) stage. Knowledge of sexual -matters gives rise to the tendency of picturing erotic situations and -relations, impelled by the pleasurable emotion of placing the mother, -or the subject of the greatest sexual curiosity, in the situation of -secret unfaithfulness and clandestine love affairs. In this way the -primary or asexual fantasies are raised to the standard of the improved -later understanding. - -The motive of revenge and retaliation, which was originally to the -front, is again evident. These neurotic children are mostly those who -were punished by the parents, to break them of bad sexual habits, and -they take their revenge upon their parents by their imaginings. The -younger children of a family are particularly inclined to deprive -their predecessors of their advantage by fables of this kind (exactly -as in the intrigues of history). Frequently they do not hesitate in -crediting the mother with as many love affairs as there are rivals. An -interesting variation of this family romance restores the legitimacy -of the plotting hero himself, while the other children are disposed -of in this way as illegitimate. The family romance may be governed -besides by a special interest, all sorts of inclinations being met by -its adaptability and variegated character. The little romancer gets rid -in this fashion for example of the kinship of a sister, who may have -attracted him sexually. - -Those who turn aside with horror from this corruption of the child -mind, or perhaps actually contest the possibility of such matters, -should note that all these apparently hostile imaginings have not such -a very bad significance after all, and that the original affection -of the child for his parents is still preserved under their thin -disguise. The faithlessness and ingratitude on the part of the child -are only apparent, for on investigating in detail the most common of -these romantic fancies, namely the substitution of both parents, or -of the father alone, by more exalted personages—the discovery will -be made that these new and highborn parents are invested throughout -with the qualities which are derived from real memories of the true -lowly parents, so that the child does not actually remove his father -but exalts him. _The entire endeavor to replace the real father by a -more distinguished one is merely the expression of the child’s longing -for the vanished happy time, when his father still appeared to be the -strongest and greatest man, and the mother seemed the dearest and most -beautiful woman._ The child turns away from the father, as he now -knows him, to the father in whom he believed in his earlier years, his -imagination being in truth only the expression of regret for this happy -time having passed away. _Thus the overvaluation of the earliest years -of childhood again claims its own in these fancies._[78] An interesting -contribution to this subject is furnished by the study of the dreams. -Dream-interpretation teaches that even in later years, in the dreams -of the emperor or the empress, these princely persons stand for the -father and the mother.[79] Thus the infantile overvaluation of the -parents is still preserved in the dream of the normal adult. - -As we proceed to fit the above features into our scheme, we feel -justified in analogizing the ego of the child with the hero of the -myth, in view of the unanimous tendency of family romances and hero -myths; keeping in mind that the myth throughout reveals an endeavor to -get rid of the parents, and that the same wish arises in the phantasies -of the individual child at the time when it is trying to establish its -personal independence. The ego of the child behaves in this respect -like the hero of the myth, and as a matter of fact, the hero should -always be interpreted merely as a collective ego, which is equipped -with all the excellences. In a similar manner, the hero in personal -poetic fiction, usually represents the poet himself, or at least one -side of his character. - -Summarizing the essentials of the hero myth, we find the descent from -noble parents, the exposure in a river, and in a box, and the raising -by lowly parents; followed in the further evolution of the story by -the hero’s return to his first parents, with or without punishment -meted out to them. It is very evident that the two parent couples of -the myth correspond to the real and the imaginary parent couple of the -romantic phantasy. Closer inspection reveals the psychological identity -of the humble and the noble parents, precisely as in the infantile and -neurotic phantasies. - -In conformity with the overvaluation of the parents in early childhood, -the myth begins with the noble parents, exactly like the romantic -phantasy, whereas in reality adults soon adapt themselves to the -actual conditions. Thus the phantasy of the family romance is simply -realized in the myth, with a bold reversal to the actual conditions. -The hostility of the father, and the resulting exposure, accentuate the -motive which has caused the ego to indulge in the entire fiction. The -fictitious romance is the excuse, as it were, for the hostile feelings -which the child harbors against his father, and which in this fiction -are projected against the father. The exposure in the myth, therefore, -is equivalent to the repudiation or non-recognition in the romantic -phantasy. The child simply gets rid of the father in the neurotic -romance, while in the myth the father endeavors to lose the child. -Rescue and revenge are the natural terminations, as demanded by the -essence of the phantasy. - -In order to establish the full value of this parallelization, as just -sketched in its general outlines, it must enable us to interpret -certain constantly recurring details of the myth which seem to require -a special explanation. This demand would seem to acquire special -importance in view of the fact that no satisfactory explanation -of these details is forthcoming in the writings of even the most -enthusiastic astral mythologists, or natural philosophers. Such details -are represented by the regular occurrence of dreams (or oracles), and -by the mode of exposure in a box and in the water. These motives do not -at first glance seem to permit a psychologic derivation. Fortunately -the study of dream-symbolisms permits the elucidation of these elements -of the hero-myth. The utilization of the same material in the dreams -of healthy persons and neurotics[80] indicates that the exposure in -the water signifies no more and no less than the _symbolic expression -of birth_. The children come out of the “water.”[81] The basket, -box or receptacle[82] simply means the container, the womb; so that -the exposure directly signifies the process of birth, although it is -represented by its opposite. - -Those who object to this representation by opposites should -remember how often the dream works with the same mechanism (compare -“Traumdeutung,” II edition, p. 238). A confirmation of this -interpretation of the exposure, as taken from the common human -symbolism, is furnished by the material itself, in the dream dreamt by -the grandfather (or still more convincingly by the mother herself)[83] -in the Ktesian version of Kyros before his birth; in this dream, so -much water flows from the lap of the expectant mother as to inundate -all Asia, like an enormous ocean.[84] It is remarkable that in -both cases the Chaldeans correctly interpreted these water dreams -as birth-dreams. In all probability, these dreams themselves are -constructed out of the knowledge of a very ancient and universally -understood symbolism, with a dim foresight of the relations and -connections which are appreciated and presented in Freud’s teachings. -There he says (“Traumdeutung,” 2d edition, p. 199) in referring to a -dream in which the dreamer hurls herself in the dark water of a lake: -Dreams of this sort are birth-dreams, and their interpretation is -accomplished by reversing the fact as communicated in the manifest -dream; namely, instead of hurling oneself into the water, it means -emerging from the water, _i.e._, to be born.[85] The justice of this -interpretation, which renders the water-dream equivalent to the -exposure, is again confirmed by the fact that precisely in the Kyros -saga, which contains the water-dream, the motive of the exposure in the -water is lacking, while only the basket, which does not occur in the -dream, plays a part in the exposure. - -In this interpretation of the exposure as the birth, we must not let -ourselves be disturbed by the discrepancy in the succession of the -individual elements of the symbolized materialization, with the real -birth process. This chronological rearrangement or even reversal -has been explained by Freud as due to the general manner in which -recollections are elaborated into phantasies; the same material -reappears in the phantasies, but in an entirely novel arrangement, and -no attention whatsoever is paid to the natural sequence of the acts.[86] - -Besides this chronological reversal, the reversal of the contents -requires special explanation. The first reason for the representation -of the birth by its opposite,—the life threatening exposure in the -water, is the accentuation of the parental hostility towards the future -hero.[87] The creative influence of this tendency to represent the -parents as the first and most powerful opponents of the hero will be -appreciated, when it is kept in mind that the entire family-romance -in general owes its origin to the feeling of being neglected, namely -the assumed hostility of the parents. In the myth, this hostility -goes so far that the parents refuse to let the child be born, which -is precisely the reason of the hero’s lament, moreover, the myth -plainly reveals the desire to enforce his materialization even against -the will of the parents. The vital peril which is thus concealed in -the representation of birth through exposure, actually exists in the -process of birth itself. The overcoming of all these obstacles also -expresses the idea that the future hero has actually overcome the -greatest difficulties by virtue of his birth, for he has victoriously -thwarted all attempts to prevent it.[88] Or another interpretation -may be admitted, according to which the youthful hero, foreseeing -his destiny to taste more than his share of the bitterness of life, -deplores in pessimistic mood the inimical act which has called him -to earth. He accuses the parents, as it were, for having exposed him -to the struggle of life, for having allowed him to be born.[89] The -refusal to let the son be born, which belongs especially to the father, -is frequently concealed by the contrast motive, the wish for a child -(as in Œdipus, Perseus and others), while the hostile attitude towards -the future successor on the throne and in the kingdom is projected to -the outside, namely it is attributed to an oracular verdict, which is -thereby revealed as the substitute of the ominous dream, or better, as -the equivalent of its interpretation. - -From another point of view, however, the family romance shows that the -phantasies of the child, although apparently estranging the parents, -have nought else to say concerning them besides their confirmation as -the real parents. The exposure myth, translated with the assistance of -symbolism, likewise contains nothing but the assurance: this is my -mother, who has borne me at the command of the father. But on account -of the tendency of the myth, and the resulting transference of the -hostile attitude, from the child to the parents, this assurance of -the real parentage can only be expressed as the repudiation of such -parentage. - -On closer inspection, it is noteworthy in the first place that the -hostile attitude of the hero towards his parents concerns especially -the father. Usually, as in the myth of Œdipus, Paris, and others, the -royal father receives a prophecy of some disaster, threatening him -through the expected son; then it is the father who causes the exposure -of the boy and who pursues and menaces him in all sorts of ways after -his unlooked-for rescue, but finally succumbs to his son, according to -the prophecy. In order to understand this trait, which at first may -appear somewhat startling, it is not necessary to explore the heavens -for some process into which this trait might be laboriously fitted. -Looking with open eyes and unprejudiced minds at the relations between -parents and children, or between brothers such as these exist in -reality[90]—a certain tension is frequently, if not regularly revealed -between father and son, or still more distinctly a competition between -brothers; although this tension may not be obvious and permanent, it is -lurking in the sphere of the unconscious, as it were, with periodical -eruptions. Erotic factors are especially apt to be involved, and as a -rule the deepest, generally unconscious root of the dislike of the son -for the father, or of two brothers for each other, is referable to the -competition for the tender devotion and love of the mother. The Œdipus -myth shows plainly, only in grosser dimensions, the accuracy of this -interpretation, for the parricide is here followed by the incest with -the mother. This erotic relation with the mother, which predominates in -other mythic cycles, is relegated to the background in the myths of the -birth of the hero,[91] while the opposition against the father is more -strongly accentuated. - -The fact that this infantile rebellion against the father is -apparently provoked in the birth myths by the hostile behavior of the -father is due to a reversal of the relation, known as projection, -which is brought about by very peculiar characteristics of the myth -forming psychic activity. The projection mechanism, which also bore -its part in the re-interpretation of the birth act, as well as -certain other characteristics of myth formation, to be discussed -presently,—necessitates the uniform characterisation of the myth -as a paranoid structure, in view of its resemblance to peculiar -processes in the mechanism of certain psychic disturbances. Intimately -connected with the paranoid character is the property of separating -or dissociating what is fused in the imagination. This process, as -illustrated by the two parents couples, provides the foundation for the -myth formation, and together with the projection mechanism supplies the -key to the understanding of an entire series of otherwise inexplicable -configurations of the myth. As the motor power for this projection -of the hero’s hostile attitude on to the father stands revealed the -wish for its justification, arising from the troublesome realization -of these feelings against the father. The displacement process which -begins with the projection of the troublesome sensation is still -further continued, however, and with the assistance of the mechanism -of separation or dissociation, it has found a different expression of -its gradual progress in very characteristic forms of the hero myth. In -the original psychologic setting, the father is still identical with -the king, the tyrannical persecutor. The first attenuation of this -relation is manifested in those myths in which the separation of the -tyrannical persecutor from the real father is already attempted, but -not yet entirely accomplished, the former being still related to the -hero, usually as his grandfather, for example in the Kyros-myth with -all its versions, and in the majority of all hero myths in general. -In the separation of the father’s part from that of the king, this -type signifies the first return step of the descent fantasy toward -the actual conditions, and accordingly the hero’s father appears in -this type mostly as a lowly man: See Kyros, Gilgamos and others. -The hero thus arrives again at an approach toward his parents, the -establishment of a certain kinship, which finds its expression in the -fact that not only the hero himself, but also his father and his mother -represent objects of the tyrant’s persecution. The hero in this way -acquires a more intimate connection with the mother (they are often -exposed together: Perseus, Telephos, Feridun), who is nearer to him on -account of the erotic relation; while the renouncement of his hatred -against the father here attains the expression of its most forcible -reaction,[92] for the hero henceforth appears, as in the Hamlet saga, -not as the persecutor of his father (or grandfather, respectively) -but as the avenger of the persecuted father. This involves a deeper -relation of the Hamlet saga with the Iranese story of Kaikhosrav, -where the hero likewise appears as the avenger of his murdered father -(compare Feridun and others). - -The person of the grandfather himself, who in certain sagas appears -replaced by other relatives (the uncle, in the Hamlet saga), also -possesses a deeper meaning.[93] The myth complex of the incest with -the mother—and the related revolt against the father—is here combined -with the second great complex, which has for its contents the erotic -relations between father and daughter. Under this heading belongs -besides other widely ramified groups of sagas (quoted in the author’s -“Incest Book,” Chapter XI), the story which is told in countless -versions of a _newborn boy_, of whom it is _prophesied_ that he is to -become the _son-in-law_ and _heir_ of a certain ruler or potentate, -and who finally does so in spite of all persecutions (exposure and -so forth) on the part of the latter. Detailed literary references -concerning the wide distribution of this story are found in R. Köhler, -“Kleine Schriften,” II, 357. The father who refuses to give his -daughter to any of her suitors, or who attaches certain conditions -difficult of fulfillment to the winning of the daughter, does this -because he really begrudges her to all others, for when all is told he -wishes to possess her himself. He locks her up in some inaccessible -spot, so as to safeguard her virginity (Perseus, Gilgamos, Telephos, -Romulus), and when his command is disobeyed he pursues the daughter -and her offspring with insatiable hatred. However, the unconscious -sexual motives of his hostile attitude, which is later on avenged by -his grandson, render it evident that again the hero kills in him simply -the man who is trying to rob him of the love of his mother: namely the -father. - -Another attempt at a reversal to a more original type consists in -the following trait: The return to the lowly father, which has been -brought about through the separation of the father’s rôle from that -of the king, is again nullified through the lowly father’s secondary -elevation to the rank of a god, as in Perseus and the other sons of -virgin mothers; Karna, Ion, Romulus, Jesus. The secondary character of -this godly paternity is especially evident in those myths where the -virgin who has been impregnated by divine conception, later on marries -a mortal (Jesus, Karna, Ion) who then appears as the real father, while -the god as the father represents merely the most exalted childish idea -of the magnitude, power and perfection of the father.[94] At the same -time, these myths strictly insist upon the motive of the virginity of -the mother, which elsewhere is merely hinted at. The first impetus is -perhaps supplied by the transcendental tendency, necessitated through -the introduction of the god. At the same time, the birth from the -virgin is the most abrupt repudiation of the father, the consummation -of the entire myth, as illustrated by the Sargon legend, which does not -admit any father, besides the vestal mother. - -The last stage of this progressive attenuation of the hostile relation -to the father is represented by that form of the myth in which the -person of the royal persecutor not only appears entirely detached from -that of the father, but has even lost the remotest kinship with the -hero’s family, which he opposes in the most hostile manner, as its -enemy (in Feridun, Abraham, King Herod against Jesus, and others). -Although of his original threefold character as the father, the king, -and the persecutor, he retains only the part of the royal persecutor -or the tyrant, the entire plan of the myth conveys the impression as -if nothing had been changed, but as if the designation as “father” -had been simply replaced by the term of “tyrant.” This interpretation -of the father as a “tyrant” which is typical of the infantile -ideation,[95] will be found later on to possess the greatest importance -for the interpretation of certain abnormal constellations of this -complex. - -The prototype of this identification of the king with the father, -which regularly recurs also in the dreams of adults, presumably is -the origin of royalty from the patriarchate in the family, which is -still attested by the use of identical words for king and father, in -the Hindoo-Germanic languages[96] (compare the German “Landesvater,” -father of his country, = king). The reversal of the family romance to -actual conditions is almost entirety accomplished in this type of myth. -The lowly parents are acknowledged with a frankness which seems to be -directly contradictory to the tendency of the entire myth. - -Precisely this revelation of the real conditions, which hitherto had -to be left to the interpretation, enables us to prove the accuracy of -the latter from the material itself. The biblical Moses-legend has been -selected, as especially well adapted to this purpose. - -Briefly summarizing the outcome of the previous -interpretation-mechanism, to make matters plainer, we find the two -parent-couples to be identical, after their splitting into the -personalities of the father and the tyrannical persecutor has been -connected; the high born parents being the echo, as it were, of the -exaggerated notions which the child originally harbored concerning -its parents. The Moses-legend actually shows the parents of the hero -divested of all prominent attributes; they are simple people, devotedly -attached to the child, and incapable of harming it. Meanwhile, the -assertion of tender feelings for the child is a confirmation, here -as well as everywhere, of the bodily parentage (compare Akki, the -gardener, in the Gilgamos-legend; the teamster, in the story of Karna; -the fisher, in the Perseus myth, etc.). The amicable utilization of -the exposure motive, which occurs in this type of myth, is referable -to such a relationship. The child is surrendered in a basket to the -water, but not with the object of killing it (as for example the -hostile exposure of Œdipus and many other heroes), but for the purpose -of saving it (compare also Abraham’s early history, p. 15). The danger -fraught warning to the exalted father becomes a hopeful prophecy for -the lowly father (compare, in the birth story of Jesus, the oracle for -Herod and Joseph’s dream), entirely corresponding to the expectations -placed by most parents in the career of their offspring. - -Retaining from the original tendency of the romance, the fact that -Bitiah, Pharaoh’s daughter, drew the child from the water, _i.e._, gave -it birth, the outcome is the familiar theme (grandfather type) of the -king, whose daughter is to bear a son, but who on being warned by the -ill-omened interpretation of a dream, resolves to kill his forthcoming -grandson. The handmaiden of his daughter (who in the biblical story -draws the box from the water, at the behest of the princess), is -charged by the king with the exposure of the newborn child in a box, -in the waters of the river Nile, that it may perish (the exposure -motive, from the viewpoint of the highborn parents, here appearing in -its original disastrous significance). The box with the child is then -found by lowly people, and the poor woman raises the child (as his -wet nurse), and when he is grown up he is recognized by the princess -as her son (just as in the prototype the phantasy concludes with the -recognition by the highborn parents). - -If the Moses-legend were placed before us in this more original form, -as we have reconstructed it from the existing material,[97] the sum of -this interpretation-mechanism would be approximately what is told in -the myth as it is actually transmitted; namely that his true mother was -not a princess, but the poor woman who was introduced as his nurse, her -husband being his father. - -This interpretation is offered as the tradition, in the re-converted -myth; and the fact that this tracing of the progressive mutation -furnishes the familiar type of hero myth, is the proof for the -correctness of our interpretation. - -It has thus been our good fortune to show the full accuracy of our -interpretative technique upon the material itself, and it is now -time to demonstrate the tenability of the general viewpoint upon -which this entire technique is founded. Hitherto, the results of our -interpretation have created the appearance of the entire myth formation -as starting from the hero himself, namely from the youthful hero. At -the start we took this attitude in analogizing the hero of the myth -with the ego of the child. Now we find ourselves confronted with the -obligation to harmonize these assumptions and conclusions with the -other conceptions of myth formation, which they seem to directly -contradict. - -The myths are certainly not constructed by the hero, least of all by -the child hero, but they have long been known to be the product of a -people of adults. The impetus is evidently supplied by the popular -amazement at the apparition of the hero, whose extraordinary life -history the people can only imagine as ushered in by a wonderful -infancy. This extraordinary childhood of the hero, however, is -constructed by the individual myth-makers—to whom the indefinite idea -of the folk-mind must be ultimately traced—from the consciousness of -their own infancy. In investing the hero with their own infantile -history, they identify themselves with him, as it were, claiming to -have been similar heroes in their own personality. The true hero of -the romance is, therefore, the ego, which finds itself in the hero, -by reverting to the time when the ego was itself a hero, through its -first heroic act, _i.e._, the revolt against the father. The ego can -only find its own heroism in the days of infancy, and it is therefore -obliged to invest the hero with its own revolt, crediting him with -the features which made the ego a hero. This object is achieved with -infantile motives and materials, in reverting to the infantile romance -and transferring it to the hero. Myths are, therefore, created by -adults, by means of retrograde childhood fantasies,[98] the hero being -credited with the myth-maker’s personal infantile history. Meanwhile -the tendency of this entire process is the excuse of the individual -units of the people for their own infantile revolt against the father. - -Besides the excuse of the hero for his rebellious revolt, the myth -therefore contains also the excuse of the individual for his revolt -against the father. This revolt had burdened him since his childhood, -as he had failed to become a hero. He is now enabled to excuse himself -by emphasizing that the father has given him grounds for his hostility. -The affectionate feeling for the father is also manifested in the -same fiction, as has been shown above. These myths have therefore -sprung from two opposite motives, both of which are subordinate to -the motive of vindication of the individual through the hero: on the -one hand the motive of affection and gratitude towards the parents; -and on the other hand, the motive of the revolt against the father. -It is not stated outright in these myths, however, that the conflict -with the father arises from the sexual rivalry for the mother, but is -apparently suggested that this conflict dates back primarily to the -concealment of the sexual processes (at childbirth), which in this way -became an enigma for the child. This enigma finds its temporary and -symbolical solution in the infantile sexual theory of the basket and -the water.[99] - -The profound participation of the incest motive in myth formation -is discussed in the author’s special investigation of the Lohengrin -saga, which belongs to the myth of the birth of the hero. The cyclic -character of the Lohengrin saga is referred by him to the _fantasy -of being one’s own son_, as revealed by Freud (p. 131; compare also -pp. 96 and 990). This accounts for the identity of father and son, -in certain myths, the repetition of their careers; the fact that the -hero is sometimes not exposed until he has reached maturity, also the -intimate connection between birth and death, in the exposure-motive. -(Concerning the water as the water of death, compare especially chapter -IV of the Lohengrin saga.) Jung, who regards the typical fate of the -hero as the portrayal of the human libido and its typical vicissitudes, -has made this theme the pivot of his interpretation, as the fantasy -of being born again, to which the incest motive is subordinated. Not -only the birth of the hero, which takes place under peculiar symbolic -circumstances, but also the motive of the two mothers of the hero, are -explained by Jung through the birth of the hero taking place under the -mysterious ceremonials of a re-birth from the mother consort (_l. c._, -p. 356). - -Having thus outlined the contents of the birth myth of the hero it -still remains for us to point out certain complications within the -birth myth itself, which have been explained on the basis of its -paranoid character, as “splits” of the personality of the royal -father and persecutor. In some myths, however, and especially in the -fairy tales which belong to this group,[100] the multiplication of -mythical personages, and with them, of course, the multiplication of -motives, or even of entire stories, are carried so far that sometimes -the original features are altogether overgrown by these addenda. The -multiplication is so variegated and so exuberantly developed, that -the mechanism of the analysis no longer does it justice. Moreover, -the new personalities here do not show the same independence, as it -were, as the new personalities created by splitting, but they rather -present the characteristics of a copy, a duplicate, or a “double,” -which is the proper mythological term. An apparently very complicated -example, namely, Herodotus’ version of the Kyros saga, illustrates that -these doubles are not inserted purely for ornamentation, or to give a -semblance of historical veracity, but that they are insolubly connected -with the myth-formation and its tendency. Also, in the Kyros-myth, as -in the other myths, the royal grandfather, Astyages, and his daughter, -with her husband, are confronted by the cattle-herder and his wife. -A checkered gathering of other personalities which move around them, -are readily grouped at sight: Between the high born parent couple -and their child stand the administrator Harpagos with his wife and -his son, and the noble Artembares with his legitimate offspring. Our -trained sense for the peculiarities of myth-structure recognizes at -once the doubles of the parents in the intermediate parent-couples and -all the participants are seen to be identical personalities of the -parents and their child; this interpretation being suggested by certain -features of the myth itself. Harpagos receives the child from the -king, to expose it; he therefore acts precisely like the royal father -and remains true to his fictitious paternal part in his reluctance to -kill the child himself—because it is related to him—but he delivers it -instead to the herder Mithradates, who is thus again identified with -Harpagos. The noble Artembares, whose son Kyros causes to be whipped, -is also identified with Harpagos; for when Artembares with his whipped -boy stands before the king, to demand retribution, Harpagos at once -is likewise seen standing before the king, to defend himself, and -he also is obliged to present his son to the king. Thus Artembares -himself plays an episodal part as the hero’s father, and this is fully -confirmed by the Ktesian version, which tells us that the nobleman who -adopted the herder’s son, Kyros, as his own son, was named Artembares. - -Even more distinct than the identity of the different fathers is that -of their children, which of course serves to confirm the identity of -the fathers. In the first place, and this would seem to be conclusive, -the _children are all of the same age_. Not only the son of the -princess, and the child of the herder, who are born at the same time; -but Herodotus specially emphasizes that Kyros played the game at -kings, in which he caused the son of Artembares to be whipped, with -boys of the same age. He also points out, perhaps intentionally, that -the _son of Harpagos_, destined to become the playmate of Kyros, -whom the king had recognized, was likewise apparently of the same -age as Kyros. Furthermore, the remains of this boy are placed before -his father, Harpagos, in a basket, it was also a basket in which the -newborn Kyros was to have been exposed, and this actually happened to -his substitute, the herder’s son, whose identity with Kyros is obvious -and tangible in the report of Iustin, p. 34. In this report, Kyros is -actually exchanged with the _living_ child of the herders;, but this -paradoxical parental feeling is reconciled by the consciousness that in -reality nothing at all has been altered by this exchange. It appears -more intelligible, of course, that the herder’s wife should wish to -raise the living child of the king, instead of her own _stillborn_ -boy, as in the Herodotus version; but here the identity of the boys -is again evident, for just as the herder’s son suffered death instead -of Kyros in the past, twelve years later the son of Harpagos (also in -the basket) is killed directly for Kyros, whom Harpagos had allowed to -live.[101] - -The impression is thereby conveyed that all the multiplications of -Kyros, after having been created for a certain purpose, are again -removed, as disturbing elements, once this purpose has been fulfilled. -This purpose is undoubtedly the exalting tendency which is inherent to -the family romance. The hero in the various duplications of himself -and his parents, ascends the social scale from the herder Mithradates, -by way of the noble Artembares, who is high in the king’s favor, and -of the first administrator, Harpagos, who is personally related to the -king—until he has himself become a prince; so his career is exposed in -the Ktesian version, where Kyros advances from the herder’s son to the -king’s administrator.[102] In this way, he constantly removes, as it -were, the last traces of his ascent, the lower Kyros being discarded -after absolving the different stages of his career.[103] - -This complicated myth with its promiscuous array of personages is -thus simplified and reduced to three actors, namely the hero and his -parents. Entirely similar conditions prevail in regard to the “cast” -of many other myths. For example, the duplication may concern the -daughter, as in the Moses myth, in which the princess mother (in order -to establish the identity of the two families)[104] appears among -the poor people as the daughter Miriam, who is merely a split of the -mother, the latter appearing divided into the princess and the poor -woman. In case the duplication concerns the father, his doubles appear -as a rule in the part of relatives, more particularly as his brothers, -as for example in the Hamlet saga, in distinction from the foreign -personages created by the analysis. In a similar way, the grandfather, -who is taking the place of the father, may also appear complemented by -a brother, who is the hero’s grand uncle, and as such his opponent, -as in the myths of Romulus, Perseus and others. Other duplications, -in apparently complicated mythical structures, as for example in -Kaikhosrav, Feridun, and others, are easily recognized when envisaged -from this angle. - -The duplication of the fathers, or the grandfathers, respectively, by -a brother may be continued in the next generation, and concern the -hero himself, thus leading to the _brother myths_, which can only be -hinted at in connection with the present theme. The prototypes of the -boy, who in the Kyros saga vanish into thin air after they have served -their purpose, namely the exaltation of the hero’s descent, if they -were to assume a vitality of their own, would come to confront the hero -as competitors with equal rights, namely as his brothers. The original -sequence is probably better preserved through the interpretation of the -hero’s strange doubles as shadowy brothers, who like the twin brother, -must die for the hero’s sake. Not only the father, who is in the way of -the maturing son, but also the interfering competitor, or the brother, -are removed, in a naïve realization of the childish fantasies, for the -simple reason that the hero does not want a family. - -The complications of the hero myth with other myth cycles include, -besides the myth of the hostile brothers, which has already been -disposed of, also the actual incest myth, such as forms the nucleus -of the Œdipus myth. The mother, and her relation to the hero, appear -relegated to the background in the myth of the birth of the hero. But -there is another conspicuous motive, meaning that the lowly mother -is so often represented by an animal. This motive of the helpful -animals[105] belongs in part to a series of foreign elements, the -explanation of which would far exceed the scope of this essay.[106] - -The animal motive may be fitted into the sequence of our -interpretation, on the basis of the following reflections. In a similar -way as the projection on to the father justifies the hostile attitude -on the part of the son, so the lowering of the mother into an animal -is likewise meant to vindicate the ingratitude of the son, who denies -her. In a similar way as the detachment of the persecuting king from -the father, the exclusive rôle of a wet nurse, alloted to the mother, -in this substitution by an animal, goes back to the separation of -the mother into the parts of the child bearer and the suckler. This -cleavage is again subservient to the exalting tendency, in so far as -the child bearing part is reserved for the high born mother, whereas -the lowly woman, who cannot be eradicated from the early history, must -content herself with the function of a nurse. Animals are especially -appropriate substitutes, because the sexual processes are here plainly -evident also to the child, while the concealment of these processes is -presumably the root of the childish revolt against the parents. The -exposure in the box and in the water asexualizes the birth process, as -it were, in a childlike fashion; the children are fished out of the -water by the stork,[107] who takes them to the parents in a basket. The -animal fable improves upon this idea, by emphasizing the similarity -between human birth and animal birth. - -This introduction of the motive may possibly be interpreted from the -parodistic point of view, if we assume that the child accepts the -story of the stork from the parents, feigning ignorance, but adding -superciliously: If an animal has brought me, it may also have nursed -me.[108] - -When all is said and done, however, and when the cleavage is followed -back, this separation of the child bearer from the suckler—which -really endeavors to remove the bodily mother entirely, by means of her -substitution through an animal or a strange nurse—does not express -anything beyond the fact: The woman who has suckled me is my mother. -This statement is found directly symbolized in the Moses legend, -the retrogressive character of which we have already studied; for -precisely the woman who is his own mother is chosen to be his nurse -[similarly also in the myth of Herakles, and in the Egyptian-Phenician -Osiris-Adonis myth, where Osiris, encased in a chest, floats down the -river to Phenicia, and is finally found under the name Adonis, by Isis, -who is installed by Queen Astarte as the nurse of her own son].[109] - -Only a brief reference can here be made to other motives which seem -to be more loosely related to the entire myth. Such motives include -that of playing the fool, which is suggested in animal fables as the -universal childish attitude towards the grown ups; furthermore, the -physical defects of certain heroes [Zal, Œdipus, Hephaistos], which are -perhaps meant to serve for the vindication of individual imperfections, -in such a way that the reproaches of the father for possible defects -or shortcomings are incorporated in the myth, with the appropriate -accentuation, the hero being endowed with the same weakness which -burdens the self-respect of the individual. - -This explanation of the psychological significance of the myth of -the birth of the hero would not be complete without emphasizing its -relations to certain mental diseases. Also readers without psychiatric -training—or these perhaps more than any others, must have been -struck with these relations. As a matter of fact, the hero myths are -equivalent in many essential features to the delusional ideas of -certain psychotic individuals, who suffer from delusions of persecution -and grandeur,—the so called paranoiacs. Their system of delusions is -constructed very much like the hero myth, and therefore indicates -the same psychogenic motives as the neurotic family romance, which -is analysable, whereas the system of delusions is inaccessible even -for psychoanalytical approaches. For example, the paranoiac is apt to -claim that the people whose name he bears are not his real parents, -but that he is actually the son of a princely personage; he was to be -removed for some mysterious reason, and was therefore surrendered to -his “parents” as a foster child. His enemies, however, wish to maintain -the fiction that he is of lowly descent, in order to suppress his -legitimate pretensions to the crown or to enormous riches.[110] Cases -of this kind often occupy alienists or tribunals.[111] - -This intimate relationship between the hero myth and the delusional -structure of paranoiacs has already been definitely established through -the characterization of the myth as a paranoid structure, which is -here confirmed by its contents. The remarkable fact that paranoiacs -will frankly reveal their entire romance has ceased to be puzzling, -since the profound investigations of Freud have shown that the contents -of hysterical fantasies, which can often be made conscious through -analysis, are identical up to the minutest details with the complaints -of persecuted paranoiacs; moreover, the identical contents are also -encountered as a reality, in the arrangements of perverts for the -gratification of their desires.[112] - -The egotistical character of the entire system is distinctly revealed -by the paranoiac, for whom the exaltation of the parents, as brought -about by him, is merely the means for his own exaltation. As a -rule the pivot for his entire system is simply the culmination of -the family romance, in the apoditic statement: I am the emperor -(or god). Reasoning in the symbolism of dreams and myths, which is -also the symbolism of all fancies, including the “morbid” power of -imagination—all he accomplishes thereby is to put himself in the place -of the father, just as the hero terminates his revolt against the -father. This can be done in both instances, because the conflict with -the father—which dates back to the concealment of the sexual processes, -as suggested by the latest discoveries—is nullified at the instant when -the grown boy himself becomes a father. The persistence with which the -paranoiac puts himself in the father’s place, _i.e._, becomes a father -himself, appears like an illustration to the common answer of little -boys to a scolding or a putting off of their inquisitive curiosity: You -just wait until I am a papa myself, and I’ll know all about it! - -Besides the paranoiac, his equally a-social counterpart must also -be emphasized. In the expression of the identical fantasy contents, -the hysterical individual who has suppressed them, is offset by the -pervert, who realizes them, and even so the diseased and passive -paranoiac—who needs his delusion for the correction of the actuality, -which to him is intolerable—is offset by the active criminal, who -endeavors to change the actuality according to his mind. In this -special sense, this type is represented by the anarchist. The hero -himself, as shown by his detachment from the parents, begins his -career in opposition to the older generation; he is at once a rebel, -a renovator, and a revolutionary. However, every revolutionary is -originally a disobedient son, a rebel against the father.[113] (Compare -the suggestion of Freud, in connection with the interpretation of a -“revolutionary dream.” Traumdeutung, II edition, p. 153. See English -translation by Brill. Macmillan. Annotation.) - -But whereas the paranoiac, in conformity with his passive character, -has to suffer persecutions and wrongs which ultimately proceed from -the father, and which he endeavors to escape by putting himself in -the place of the father or the emperor—the anarchist complies more -faithfully with the heroic character, by promptly himself becoming -the persecutor of kings, and finally killing the king, precisely like -the hero. The remarkable similarity between the career of certain -anarchistic criminals and the family romance of hero and child has -been illustrated by the author, through special instances (Belege zur -Rettungsphantasie, _Zentralblatt f. Psychoanalyse_, I, 1911, p. 331, -and Die Rolle des Familienromans in der Psychologie des Attentäters, -Internationale Zeitschrift für aerztliche Psychoanalyse, I, 1913). -The truly heroic element then consists only in the real justice or -even necessity of the act, which is therefore generally endorsed and -admired;[114] while the morbid trait, also in criminal cases, is the -pathologic transference of the hatred from the father to the real king, -or several kings, when more general and still more distorted. - -As the hero is commended for the same deed, without asking for its -psychic motivation, so the anarchist might claim indulgence from the -severest penalties, for the reason that he has killed an entirely -different person from the one he really intended to destroy, in spite -of an apparently excellent perhaps political motivation of his act.[115] - -For the present let us stop at the narrow boundary line where the -contents of innocent infantile imaginings, suppressed and unconscious -neurotic fantasies, poetical myth structures, and certain forms of -mental disease and crime lie close together, although far apart as to -their causes and dynamic forces. We resist the temptation to follow one -of these divergent paths which lead to altogether different realms, but -which are as yet unblazed trails in the wilderness. - - - - - INDEX - - PAGE - - Abraham, 15 - - Aleos, 21 - - Alkmene, 45 - - Akrisios, 22 - - Ambivalence, 70 - - Amphion and Zetos, 43 - - Anarchist, 93 - - Animal motives, 88 - - Apollo, 17 - - Artembares, 29 - - Arthurian legends, 55 - - Astyages, 29 - - Attenuation of myth, 78 - - Auge, 22 - - - Babylonian myths, 12 - - Beating, 56 - - Beowulf, 60 - - Birth symbols, 69 - - Blancheflure, 38 - - Borrowing theories, 2 - - Box, 69 - - Bride true, 40 - - Brother myths, 87 - - Brothers, hostility of, 88 - - Buddha, 53 - - - Child psyche and myth formation, 63 - - Childhood of hero, 81 - - Conflict of younger and older generation, 64 - - Content reversals, 72 - - Criminality and myths, 93 - - Criticism of parents, 64 - - - Darab, 19 - - Daughter father, 77 - - Delusion formation, 91 - - Dirke, 46 - - Displacements in myths, 76 - - Dream and myth, 69 - - Dreams of water, 71 - - Dughda, 51 - - Duplication, 87 - - - Egotism motives, 92 - - Elsa, 56 - - Erotic factors, 74 - - Exposure myths, 72, 73 - - - Family relations, 62 - - Family romance of neurotics, 65 - - Father and hero, 61 - - Father and tyrant, 76 - - Father daughter, 77 - - Father replacement, 67 - - Feridun, 37 - - Flood myths, 25, 34 - - Fool motive, 90 - - - Gilgamos, 23, 79 - - Grandfather replacement, 77 - - - Hamlet, 76 - - Harpagos, 26, 27, 28 - - Hekabe, 20 - - Hercules, 44 - - Hero and father, 61 - - Hero and mother, 61 - - Hero myth, summary of, 67 - - Herod, 50 - - Horn, 55 - - Hostile brothers, 88 - - Hostility motives, 74 - - Hysteria and myth, 92 - - Hysterical fantasies, 92 - - - Incest motive in myth, 83 - - Infantile imagination, 62 - - Infantile psyche and myth, 9, 10 - - Infantile sexual theory, 82 - - Interpretation summary, 79 - - Ion, 17 - - Iranese legends, 19, 36, 37 - - Isaac, 15 - - Isolde, 38, 39 - - - Jesus, 47, 48, 49, et seq. - - Judas myth, 19 - - - Kaikaus, 36 - - Kaikhosrav, 35 - - Kamleyses, 25 - - Karna, 15 - - Krishna, 47 - - Kyros, 24, 89 - - Kyros myth, versions of, 24, 32, 33 - - Kunti, 16 - - - Lohengrin, 55, 58 - - Lunar myths, 5 - - - Mandane, 25 - - Migration theories, 2 - - Moses, 13, 79 - - Mother and hero, 61 - - Myth and hysterical fancy, 92 - - Myth and infantile psyche, 9, 10 - - Myths and paranoid mechanisms, 75 - - Myth and race, 11 - - Myth and sex, 65 - - Myth, complications of, 83 - - Myth contents, 4, 6 - - Myth displacements, 76 - - Myth distribution, 4 - - Myth, evolution of, 8 - - Myth formation and child psyche, 63 - - Myth ground plan, 61 - - Myth interpretation, 5 - - Myth of hero, summary of, 67 - - Myth, psychological significance of, 90 - - Myth structure and psychoneuroses, 63 - - Myth, type of, 61 - - Mythological theories, 1, 3 - - - Neurotic family romance, 65 - - Neurotics, 64 - - Nightmares, 7 - - - Œdipus, 74 - - Œdipus myth, 6, 18 - - Old age and youth, 64 - - Opposites, 70 - - Oriant, 56 - - - Paranoid delusions, 91 - - Paranoid mechanism in myths, 75 - - Parental authority, 63 - - Parental criticism, 64 - - Parents, fancied, 73 - - Parents, real, 73 - - Paris, 20 - - Perseus, 22 - - Persian myths, 37 - - Persian war, 32 - - Pharaoh, 80 - - Priamos, 20 - - Pritha, 16 - - Proca, 42 - - Projection, 75 - - Psychological significance of myth, 90 - - Psychoneuroses and myth structure, 63 - - Psychoneurotics, 63 - - - Races and myths, 81 - - Real parents, 73 - - Reformer, 93 - - Remus, 40 - - Replacement of father, 67 - - Retaliation and revenge, 66 - - Revenge and retaliation, 66 - - Reversals, 72 - - Revolt of hero, 82 - - Revolutionary, 93 - - River legends, 46 - - Romulus, 40 - - Romulus, modifications of, 42 - - - St. Gregory, 19 - - Sam, 21 - - Sargon myth, 12 - - Scëaf, 60 - - Scild Scefing, 60 - - Senechoros, 24 - - Sex and myth, 65 - - Siegfried, 93 - - Split personalities, 84 - - Summary interpretation, 79 - - Symbolic expression, 69 - - - Telephos, 21 - - Thebes, 43 - - Theories of myths, 1, 3 - - Tristan, 38, 39 - - True bride, 40 - - Twin myths, 44 - - Types of reversal, 77 - - Typical myth, 61 - - Tyrant and father, 76 - - - Water dreams, 71 - - Water in myth, 34 - - Wieland, 55 - - Wolfdietrich, 54 - - - Youth and old age, 64 - - - Zal, 21 - - Zetos and Amphion, 43 - - Zoroaster, 51 - - - - - FOOTNOTES: - -[1] A short and fairly complete review of the general theories of -mythology and its principal advocates is to be found in Wundt’s -“Völkerpsychologie,” Vol. II, Myths and Religion. Part I [Leipzig, -1905], p. 527. - -[2] “Das Beständige in den Menschenrassen und die Spielweise ihrer -Veränderlichkeit.” Berlin, 1868. - -[3] “Die Kyros Sage und Verwandtes,” _Sitzb. Wien. Akad._, 100, 1882, -p. 495. - -[4] Schubert. Herodots Darstellung der Cyrussage, Breslau, 1890. - -[5] Compare E. Stucken, “Astral mythen,” Leipzig, 1896-1907, especially -Part V, “Moses.” H. Lessmann, “Die Kyrossage in Europe,” _Wiss. beit. -z. Jahresbericht d. städt. Realschule zu Charlottenburg_, 1906. - -[6] “Naturgeschichte d. Sage.” Tracing all religious ideals, legends, -and systems back to their common family tree, and their primary root, 2 -volumes, Munich 1864-65. - -[7] Some of the important writings of Winckler will be mentioned in the -course of this article. - -[8] _Zeitschrift f. d. Oesterr. Gym._, 1891, p. 161, etc. Schubert’s -reply is also found here, p. 594, etc. - -[9] Lessmann, “Object and Aim of Mythological Research,” _Mythol. -Bibliot._, 1, Heft 4, Leipzig. - -[10] Winckler, “Die babylonische Geisteskultur in ihren Beziehungen zur -Kulturentwicklung der Menschheit,” _Wissenschaft u. Bildung_, Vol. 15, -1907, p. 47. - -[11] Of course no time will be wasted on the futile question as to what -this first legend may have been; for in all probability this never had -existence, any more than a “first human couple.” - -[12] As an especially discouraging example of this mode of procedure -may be mentioned a contribution by the well-known natural mythologist -Schwartz, which touches upon this circle of myths, and is entitled: -“Der Ursprung der Stamm und Gründungssage Roms unter dem Reflex -indogermanischer Mythen” [Jena, 1898]. - -[13] Frobenius, Das Zeitalter des Sonnengotten, Berlin, 1904. - -[14] Siecke, “Hermes als Mondgott,” _Myth. Bibl._, Vol. II, Pt. 1, p. -48. - -[15] Compare for example, Paul Koch, “Sagen der Bibel und ihre -Ubereinstimmung mit der Mythologie der Indogermanen,” Berlin, -1907. Compare also the partly lunar, partly solar, but at any rate -entirely one sided conception of the hero myth, in Gustav Friedrich’s -“Grundlage, Entstehung und genaue Einzeldeutung der bekanntesten -germanischen Märchen, Mythen und Sagen” [Leipzig, 1909], p. 118. - -[16] Translated by Dr. A. A. Brill. Macmillan Co. - -[17] The fable of Shakespeare’s Hamlet also permits of a similar -interpretation, according to Freud. It will be seen later on how -mythological investigators bring the Hamlet legend from entirely -different view points into the correlation of the mythical circle. - -[18] In JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE, 1912. Also collected in -this Monograph Series, No. 15. - -[19] Compare Lessmann (Mythol. Bibl., I, 4). Ehrenreich alone (loc. -cit., p. 149) admits the extraordinary significance of dream-life for -the myth-fiction of all times. Wundt does so likewise, for individual -mythical motives. - -[20] Stucken [Mose, p. 432] says in this sense. The myth transmitted -by the ancestors was transferred to natural processes and interpreted -in a naturalistic way, not vice versa. “Interpretation of nature is -a motive in itself” [p. 633, annotation]. In a very similar way, we -read in Meyer’s History of Antiquity, Vol. V, p. 48: In many cases, -the natural symbolism, sought in the myths, is only apparently present -or has been secondarily introduced, as often in the Vedda and in the -Egyptian myths; it is a primary attempt at interpretation, like the -myth-interpretations which arose among the Greeks since the fifth -century. - -[21] For fairy tales, in this as well as in other essential features, -Thimme advocates the same point of view as is here claimed for the -myths. Compare Adolf Thimme, “Das Märchen,” 2d volume of the Handbücher -zur Volkskunde, Leipzig, 1909. - -[22] Volume II of the German translation, Leipzig, 1869, p. 143. - -[23] Of this myth-interpretation, Wundt has well said that it really -should have accompanied the original myth-formation. (Loc. cit., p. -352.) - -[24] See Ignaz Goldziher, “Der Mythus bei den Hebräern und seine -geschichtliche Entwickelung” [Leipzig, 1876], p. 125. According to the -writings of Siecke [“Hermes als Mondgott,” Leipzig, 1908, p. 39], the -incest myths lose all unusual features through being referred to the -moon, and its relation to the sun. The explanation being quite simple: -the daughter, the new moon, is the repetition of the mother [the old -moon], with her the father [the sun] [also the brother, the son] -becomes reunited. - -[25] Is it to be believed? In an article entitled “Urreligion der -Indogermanen” [Berlin, 1897], where Siecke points out that the incest -myths are descriptive narrations of the seen but inconceivable process -of nature, he objects to a statement of Oldenburg [“Religion der Veda,” -p. 5] who assumes a primeval tendency of myths to the incest motive, -with the remark that in the days of yore the motive was thrust upon the -narrator, without an inclination of his own, through the forcefulness -of the witnessed facts. - -[26] The great variability and wide distribution of the birth myths of -the hero results from the above quoted writings of Bauer, Schubert and -others, while their comprehensive contents and fine ramifications were -especially discussed by Husing, Lessmann, and the other representatives -of the modern direction. - -Innumerable fairy tales, stories, and poems of all times, up to the -most recent dramatic and novelistic literature, show very distinct -individual main motives of this myth. The exposure-romance is known to -appear in the following literary productions: The late Greek pastorals, -as told in Heliodor’s “Aethiopika,” in Eustathius’ “Ismenias and -Ismene,” and in the Story of the two exposed children, Daphnis and -Chloe. The more recent Italian pastorals are likewise very frequently -based upon the exposure of children, who are raised as shepherds by -their foster-parents, but are later recognized by the true parents, -through identifying marks which they received at the time of their -exposure. To the same set belong the family history in Grimmelshausen’s -“Limplizissimus” (1665), in Jean Paul’s “Titan” (1800), as well as -certain forms of the Robinson stories and Cavalier romances (compare -Würzbach’s Introduction to the Edition of “Don Quichote” in Hesse’s -edition). - -[27] The various translations of the partly mutilated text differ only -in unessential details. Compare Hommel’s “History of Babylonia and -Assyria” (Berlin, 1885), p. 302, where the sources of the tradition are -likewise found, and A. Jeremias, “The Old Testament in the Light of the -Ancient Orient,” II edition, Leipzig, 1906, p. 410. - -[28] On account of these resemblances, a dependence of the Exodus tale -from the Sargon legend has often been assumed, but apparently not -enough attention has been paid to certain fundamental distinctions, -which will be taken up in detail in the interpretation. - -[29] The parents of Moses were originally nameless, as were all persons -in this, the oldest account. Their names were only conferred upon them -by the priesthood. Chapter 6, 20, says: “And Amram took him Jocabed his -father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses” [and their -sister Miriam, IV, 26, 59]. Also compare Winckler, “History of Israel,” -II, and Jeremias, l. c., p. 408. - -[30] The name, according to Winckler (“Babylonian Mental Culture,” p. -119), means “The Water-Drawer” (see also Winckler, “Ancient Oriental -Studies,” III, 468, etc.), which would still further approach the Moses -legend to the Sargon legend, for the name Akki signifies I have drawn -water. - -[31] Schemot Rabba, fol. 2, 4. Concerning 2, Moses 1, 22, says that -Pharaoh was told by the astrologers of a woman who was pregnant with -the Redeemer of Israel. - -[32] The Hindu birth legend of the mythical king Vikramâdita must also -be mentioned in this connection. Here again occur the barren marriage -of the parents, the miraculous conception, ill-omened warnings, the -exposure of the boy in the forest, his nourishment with honey, finally -the acknowledgment by the father. (See Jülg, “Mongolian Fairy Tales,” -Innsbruck, 1868, p. 73, et seq.) - -[33] “Hindu Legends,” Karlsruhe, 1846, Part II, pp. 117 to 127. - -[34] “Hindu Legends,” l. c. - -[35] See Röscher, concerning the Ion of Euripides. Where no other -source is stated, all Greek and Roman myths are taken from the -Extensive Dictionary of Greek and Roman Mythology, edited by Röscher, -which also contains a list of all sources. - -[36] According to Bethe, “Thebanische Heldenlieder,” the exposure on -the waters was the original rendering. According to other versions, the -boy is found and raised by horse herds; according to a later myth, by a -countryman, Melibios. - -[37] The entire material has been discussed by Rank in Das Inzest-Motiv -in Dichtung und Sage, 1912, Chapter X. - -[38] I. In the version of Euripides, whose tragedies “Auge” and -“Telephos” are extant, _Aleos caused the mother and the child to be -thrown into the sea in a box_, but through the protection of Athene -this box was carried to the end of the Mysian River, Kaikos. There it -was found by Teuthras. who made Auge his wife and took her child into -his house as his foster son. - -[39] Later authors, including Pindar, state that Danae was impregnated, -not by Zeus, but by the brother of her father. - -[40] Simonides of Keos (fr. 37, ed. Bergk), speaks of a casement -strong as ore, in which Danae is said to have been exposed. (Geibel, -Klassisches Liederbuch, page 52.) - -[41] According to Hüsing, the Perseus myth in several versions is -also demonstrable in Japan. Compare also, Sydney Hartland, Legend of -Perseus, 1894-96; 3 volumes. London. - -[42] Claudius Aelianus, “Historia animalium,” XII, 21, translated by -Fr. Jacobs (Stuttgart, 1841). - -[43] It was also told of Ptolemaös, the son of Lagos and Arsinoë, that -an eagle protected the exposed boy with his wings against the sunshine, -the rain and birds of prey (_loc. cit._). - -[44] F. E. Lange, “Herodot’s Geschichten” (Reclam). Compare also -Duncker’s “History of Antiquity” (Leipsig, 1880), N. 5, page 256 et -sequitur. - -[45] The same “playing king” is found in the Hindoo myth of -Candragupta, the founder of the Maurja dynasty, whom his mother exposed -after his birth, in a vessel at the gate of a cowshed, where a herder -found him and raised him. Later on he came to a hunter, where he as -cow-herder played “king” with the other boys, and as king ordered -that the hands and feet of the great criminals be chopped off. [The -mutilation motive occurs also in the Kyros saga, and is generally -widely distributed.] At his command, the separated limbs returned to -their proper position. Kanakja, who once looked on as they were at -play, admired the boy, and bought him from the hunter for one thousand -Kârshâpana; at home he discovered that the boy was a Maurja. (After -Lassen’s Indische Altertumskunde, II, 196, Annotation 1.) - -[46] Justinus, “Extract from Pompeius Trogus’ Philippian History,” I, -4-7. As far as results from Justinus’ extract, Deinon’s Persian tales -(written in the first half of the fourth century before Christ) are -presumably the sources of Trogus’ narrative. - -[47] The words in parenthesis are said to be lacking in certain -manuscripts. - -[48] Nicol. Damasc. Frag. 66, Ctes.; Frag. Pers., 2, 5. - -[49] This daughter’s name is Amytis (not Mandane) in the version of -Ktesias. - -[50] On the basis of this _motive of simulated dementia_ and certain -other corresponding features Jiriczek (“Hamlet in Iran,” in the -_Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, Vol. X, 1900, p. 353) has -represented the _Hamlet Saga_ as a variation of the Iranese myth of -Kaikhosrav. This idea was followed up by H. Lessmann (“Die Kyrossage -in Europa”), who shows that the Hamlet saga strikingly agrees in -certain items, for example, in the simulated folly, with the sagas -of Brutus and of Tell. (Compare also the protestations of Moses.) In -another connection, the deeper roots of these relations have been more -extensively discussed, especially with reference to the Tell saga. -(See: Das Inzest-Motiv in Dichtung und Sage, Chapter VIII.) Attention -is also directed to the story of David, as it is told in the books -of Samuel. Here again, the royal scion, David, is made a shepherd, -who gradually rises in the social scale up to the royal throne. He -likewise is given the king’s (Saul’s) daughter in marriage, and the -king seeks his life, but David is always saved by miraculous means from -the greatest perils. He also evades persecution by simulating dementia -and playing the fool. The relationship between the Hamlet saga and the -David saga has already been pointed out by Jiriczek and Lessmann. The -biblical character of this entire mythical cycle is also emphasized by -Jiriczek, who finds in the tale of Siâvaksh’s death certain features -from the Passion of the Savior. - -[51] The name Zohâk is a mutilation of the original Zend expression -Ashi-dahaka [Azis-dahaka], meaning pernicious serpent. (See “The Myth -of Feridun in India and Iran,” by Dr. R. Roth, in the _Zeitschrift -der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, II, p. 216.) To the -_Iranese Feridum_ corresponds the _Hindoo Trita_, whose Avestian -double is Thraetaona. The last named form is the most predominantly -authenticated; from it was formed, by transition of the aspirated -sounds, first Phreduna, then Frêdûn or Afrêdun; Feridun is a more -recent corruption. Compare F. Spiegel’s “Eranische Altertumskunde,” I, -p. 537 et seq. - -[52] Compare Immermann, “Tristan und Isolde, Ein Gedicht in Romanzen,” -Düsseldorf, 1841. Like the epic of Gottfried of Strassburg, his poem -begins with the preliminary history of the loves of Tristan’s parents, -King Riwalin Kannlengres of Parmenia and Marke’s beautiful sister -Blancheflur. The maiden never reveals her love, which is not sanctioned -by her brother, but she visits the king, who is wounded unto death, -in his chamber, and dying he procreates Tristan, “the son of the most -daring and doleful love.” Grown up as a foundling in the care of Rual -and his wife, Florete, the winsome youth Tristan introduces himself -to Marke in a stag hunt, as an expert huntsman, is recognized as his -nephew by a ring, the king’s gift to his beloved sister, and becomes -his favorite. - -[53] See translation by W. A. White, M.D.., Psychoanalytic Review, Vol. -I, No. 1, et seq. - -[54] Compare the substitution of the bride, through Brangäne. - -[55] Mommsen, Th., “Die echte und die falsche Acca Larentia”; in -Festgaben für G. Homeyer (Berlin, 1891), p. 93, et seq.; and _Römische_ -_Forschungen_ (Berlin, 1879), II, p. 1, et seq. Mommsen reconstructs -the lost narrative of Fabius from the preserved reports of Dionysius -(I, 79-831, and of Plutarch (Romulus)). - -[56] The Capitoline She Wolf is considered as the work of very ancient -Etruscan artists, which was erected at the Lupercal, in the year 296 -B.C., according to Livy (X, 231). Compare picture on title page. - -[57] All these renderings were compiled by Schwegler, in his Roman -History, I, p. 384, et seq. - -[58] Some Greek twin sagas are quoted by Schubert (loc. cit., p. 13, et -seq.) in their essential content. Concerning the extensive distribution -of this legendary form, compare the somewhat confused book of J. H. -Becker, “The Twin Saga as the Key to the Interpretation of Ancient -Tradition. With a Table of the Twin Saga.” Leipsic, 1891. German text. - -[59] Mommsen, “Die Remus Legende,” Hermes, 1881. - -[60] After Preller, Greek Mythology (Leipzig, 1854, II, pp. 120 et -seq.). - -[61] The same transformation of the divine procreator into the form -of the human father is found in the birth history of the Egyptian -queen, Hatshepset (about 1500 before Christ), who believes that the god -Amen cohabited with her mother, Aahames, in the form of her father, -Thothmes the First (see Budge: A History of Egypt, V; Books on Egypt -and Chaldea, Vol. XII, p. 21, etc.). Later on she married her brother, -Thothmes II, presumably the Pharaoh of Exodus, after whose dishonorable -death she endeavored to eradicate his memory, and herself assumed -the rulership, in masculine fashion (cp. the Deuteronium, edited by -Schrader, II ed., 1902). - -[62] A similar mingling of the divine and human posterity is related -in the myth of Theseus, whose mother Aithra, the beloved of Poseidon, -was visited in one night by this god, and by the childless King Aigeus -of Athens, who had been brought under the influence of wine. The boy -was raised in secret, and in ignorance of his father (v. Roscher’s -dictionary, article Aigeus). - -[63] Alkmene bore Herakles as the son of Zeus, and Iphikles as the -offspring of Amphitryon. According to Apollodorus, 2, 4, 8, they were -twin children, born at the same time; according to others Iphikles -was conceived and born one night later than Herakles (see Roscher’s -Lexicon, Amphitryon and Alkmene). The shadowy character of the twin -brother, and his loose connection with the entire myth, is again -evident. In a similar way, Telephos, the son of Auge, was exposed -together with Parthenopaüs, the son of Atalantis, nursed by a doe, and -taken by herders to King Korythos. The external subsequent insertion of -the partner is here again quite obvious. - -[64] For the formal demonstration of the entire identity of the birth -and early history of Jesus with the other hero-myths, the author has -presumed to re-arrange the corresponding paragraphs from the different -versions, in the Gospels, irrespective of the traditional sequence -and the originality of the individual parts. The age, origin and -genuineness of these parts are briefly summarized and discussed in W. -Soltan’s Birth History of Jesus Christ (German text), Leipsic, 1902. -The transmitted versions of the several Gospels,—which according to -Usener (Birth and Childhood of Christ, 1903, in Lectures and Essays -(German text), Leipsic, 1907), contradict and even exclude each -other,—have been placed, or left, in juxtaposition, precisely for -the reason that the apparently contradictory elements in these birth -myths are to be elucidated in the present research, no matter if these -contradictions be encountered within a single uniform saga, or in its -different versions (as, for example, in the Kyros myth). - -[65] Concerning the birth of Jesus in a cave, and the furnishing -of the birth place with the typical animals (ox and ass) compare -Jeremias, Babylonisches im Neuen Testament (Leipzig, 1905), p. 56, and -Preuschen, Jesu Geburt in einer Höhle, Zeitschrift für die Neutest. -Wissenschaften, 1902, P. 359. - -[66] According to recent investigations, the birth history of Christ -is said to have the greatest resemblance with the royal Egyptian myth, -over five thousand years old, which relates the birth of Amenophis III. -Here again recurs the divine prophecy of the birth of a son, to the -waiting queen; her fertilization by the breath of heavenly fire; the -divine cows, which nurse the new born child; the homage of the kings, -and so forth. In this connection, compare A. Malvert, Wissenschaft -und Religion, Frankfort, 1904, pp. 49 et seq, also the suggestion of -Professor Idleib in Bonn (Feuilleton of Frankfurter Zeitung, November -8, 1908). - -[67] Very similar traits are found in the Keltic saga of Habis, as -transmitted by Justin (44,4). Born as the illegitimate son of a king’s -daughter, Habis is persecuted in all sorts of ways by his royal -grandfather, Gargoris, but is always saved by divine providence, until -he is finally recognized by his grandfather, and assumes royal sway. As -in the Zarathustra legend, there occurs an entire series of the most -varied methods of persecution. He is at first exposed, but nursed by -wild animals; then he was to be trampled upon by a herd in a narrow -path; then he was cast before hungry beasts, but they again nursed him, -and finally he is thrown into the sea, but is gently lapped ashore and -nursed by a doe, near which he grows up. - -[68] Compare August Rassmann: Die deutsche Heldensage und ihre Heimat, -Hanover, 1857-8, Vol. II, pp. 7 et seq; for the sources, see Jiriczek, -Die deutsche Heldensage (collection Göschen) and Piper’s introduction -to the volume: Die Nibelungen, in Kürschner’s German National -Literature. - -[69] Compare: Deutsches Heldenbuch, Part III, Vol. I (Berlin, 1871), -edited by Amelung and Jaenicke, which also contains the second version -(B) of the Wolfdietrich saga. - -[70] The motive of calumniation of the wife by a rejected suitor, in -combination with the exposure and nursing by an animal (doe), forms -the nucleus of the story of _Genovefa_ and her son Schmerzenreich, as -told, for example, by the Grimm brothers, in their German Sagas, II, -Berlin, 1818, pp. 280 et seq. Here, again, the faithless calumniator -proposes _to drown the countess with her child in the water_. For -literary and historical orientation, compare _L. Zacher_, Die Historic -von der Pfalzgräfin Genovefa, Koenigsberg, 1860, and _B. Seuffert_, Die -Legende von der Pfalzgräfin Genovefa, Würzburg, 1877. Similar sagas of -wives suspected of infidelity and punished by exposure are discussed in -the XI chapter of my investigation of “Das Inzestmotiv in Dichtung und -Sage” (The Incest Motive in Fiction and Legends). - -[71] The same accentuation of the animal motive is found in the saga -of Schalû, the Hindoo wolf child; compare Jülg, Mongolische Märchen -(Mongolian fairy tales; Innsbruck, 1868). - -[72] The Grimm Brothers, in their German Sagas (part II, p. 206, etc.), -quote six further versions of the saga of the Knight with the Swan. -Certain fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers, such as “The Six Swans” (No. -49), “The Twelve Brothers” (No. 9), and the “Seven Ravens” (No. 25), -with their parallels and variations, mentioned in the 3d volume of the -“Kinder-und Hausmärchen,” also belong to the same mythological cycle. -Further material from this cycle may be found in Leo’s “Beowulf,” and -in Görre’s “Introduction to Lohengrin” (Heidelberg, 1813). - -[73] The ancient Longobard tale of the exposure of King Lamissio, -related by Paulus Diaconus (L, 15), gives a similar incident. A public -woman had thrown her seven newborn infants into a fish pond. King -Agelmund passed by, and looked curiously at the children, turning them -around with his spear. But when one of the children took hold of the -spear, the king considered this as of good augury; he ordered this boy -to be taken out of the pond, and to be given to a wet nurse. As he had -taken him from the pond, which in his language is called “lama,” he -named the boy Lamissio. He grew up into a stalwart champion, and after -Agelmund’s death, became king of the Longobards. - -[74] Scaf is the high German “Schaffing” (barrel), which leads Leo to -assume, in connection with Scild’s being called Scefing, that he had no -father Sceaf or Schaf at all, but was himself the boy cast ashore by -the waves, who was named the “son of the barrel” (Schaffing). The name -Beowulf itself, explained by Grimm as Bienen-wolf (bee-wolf), seems to -mean originally (according to Wolzogen) Bärwelf, namely Jungbär (bear -cub or whelp), which is suggestive of the saga of the origin of the -Guelphs (Ursprung der Welfen, Grimm, II, 233), where the boys are to be -thrown into the water as “whelps.” - -[75] The possibility of further specification of separate items of this -schedule will be seen from the compilation as given by H. Lessmann, at -the conclusion of his work on “The Kyros Saga in Europe.” - -[76] See also Wundt, who psychologically interprets the hero as a -projection of human desires and aspirations (loc. cit., p. 48). - -[77] Compare Freud, “Hysterical Fancies, and their Relation to -Bisexuality,” with references to the literature on this subject. This -contribution is contained in the second series of the “Collection of -Short Articles on the Neurosis Doctrine,” Vienna and Leipsic, 1909. - -[78] For the idealizing of the parents by the children, compare -Maeder’s comments (Jahrb. f. Psychoanalyse, p. 152, and Centralblatt f. -Psychoanalyse, I, p. 51) on Varendonk’s essay, “Les idéals d’enfant,” -Tome VII, 1908. - -[79] Dream Interpretation (Traumdeutung), II ed., p. 200. See Brill’s -Translation, Macmillan & Co., 1913. - -[80] Compare the “birth dreams” in Freud’s “Traumdeutung” (see Brill’s -translation, Macmillan & Co., p. 207 et seq.), also the examples quoted -by the author in the “Lohengrin saga” (p. 27 et seq.). - -[81] In fairy tales, which are adapted to infantile ideation, and -especially to the infantile sexual theories (compare Freud in the -December number of Sexuelle Probleme), the birth of man is frequently -represented as a lifting of the child from a well or a lake (Thimme, -_l. c._, p. 157). The story of “Dame Holle’s Pond” (Grimm, Deutsche -Sagen, I, 7) relates that the newborn children come from her well, -whence she brings them forth. The same interpretation is apparently -expressed in certain national rites; for example, when a Celt had -reason to doubt his paternity, he placed the newborn child on a large -shield and put it adrift in the nearest river. If the waves carried it -ashore, it was considered as legitimate, but if the child was drowned, -this was proof of the contrary and the mother was also put to death -(see Franz Helbing, “History of Feminine Infidelity”). Additional -ethnological material from folklore has been compiled by the author in -his “Lohengrin saga” (p. 20 et seq.). - -[82] The “box” in certain myths is represented by the _cave_, which -also distinctly symbolizes the womb; aside from statements in Abraham, -Ion, and others, especially in case of Zeus, who is born in a cave -of the Ida mountains, and nourished by the goat Amalthea, his mother -concealing him for fear of her husband, Kronos. According to Homer’s -Iliad (XVIII, 396, et seq.), Hephaistos is also cast into the water -by his mother, on account of his lameness, and remains hidden, for -nine years, in a cave surrounded by water. By exchanging the reversal, -the birth (the fall into the water) is here plainly represented -as the termination of the nine months of the intrauterine life. -More common than the cave birth is the exposure in a box, which is -likewise told in the Babylonian Marduk-Tammuz myth, as well as in -the Egyptian-Phoenician Osiris-Adonis myth (compare Winckler, “Die -Weltanschauung des alten Orients, Ex Oriente Lux” I, 1, p. 43, and -Jeremias, loc. cit., p. 41). Bacchus, according to Paus, III, 24, is -also removed from the persecution of the king, through exposure in a -chest on the Nile, and is saved at the age of three months by a king’s -daughter, which is remarkably suggestive of the Moses legend. A similar -story is told of Tennes, the son of Kyknos, who has been mentioned in -another connection (Siecke: Hermes, p. 48, annotation), and of many -others. - -The occurrence of the same symbolic representation among the aborigines -is illustrated by the following examples: Stucken relates the New -Zealand tale of the Polynesian Fire (and Seed) Robber, Mani-tiki-tiki, -who is exposed directly after his birth, his mother throwing him into -the sea, wrapped in an apron (chest, box). A similar story is reported -by Frobenius (_loc. cit._, p. 379) from Betsimisaraka, where the child -is exposed on the water, and is found and raised by a rich childless -woman, but finally resolves to discover his actual parents. According -to a report of Bab (_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, 1906, p. 281) the -wife of the Raja Besurjay was presented with a child floating on a -bubble of water-foam (from Singapore). - -[83] The before-mentioned work of Abraham, “Dreams and Myths,” pp. -22, 23, English translation, Monograph Series, No. 15, contains the -analysis of a very similar although more complicated birth dream, -corresponding to the actual conditions; the dreamer, a young pregnant -woman, who was awaiting her delivery, not without fear, dreamed of the -birth of her son, and the water appeared directly as the amniotic fluid. - -[84] This phantasy of an enormous water is extremely suggestive of the -large and widespread group of the Flood Myths, which actually seem to -be no more than the universal expression of the exposure myth. The -hero is here represented by humanity at large. The wrathful father is -the god; the destruction as well as the rescue of humanity likewise -follow one another in immediate succession. In this parallelization, -it is of interest to note that the ark, or pitched house, in which -Noah floats upon the water is designated in the Old Testament by the -same word (_tebah_) as the receptacle in which the infant Moses is -exposed (_Jeremias_, loc. cit., p. 250). For the motive of the great -flood, compare Jeremias, p. 226, and Lessmann, at the close of his -treatise on the Kyros saga in Europe, where the flood is described as a -possible digression of the exposure in the water. A transition instance -is illustrated by the flood saga told by Bader, in his Badensian folk -legends. When the Sunken Valley was inundated once upon a time by a -cloudburst, a little boy was seen floating upon the waters in a cradle, -who was miraculously saved by a cat (Gustav Friedrichs, loc. cit., p. -265). - -The author has endeavored to explain the psychological relations -between the exposure-myth, the flood legend, and the devouring myth, -in his article on the “Overlying Symbols in Dream Awakening, and -Their Recurrence in Mythical Ideation” (“Die Symbolschichtung in -Wecktraum und ihre Wiederkehr im mythischen Denken” _Jahrbuch für -Psychoanalyse_, V, 1912). - -[85] Compare the same reversal of the meanings in Winckler’s -interpretation of the etymology of the name of Moses (p. 13). - -[86] The same conditions remain in the formation of dreams and in -the transformation of hysterical phantasies into seizures (compare -“Traumdeutung,” p. 238, and the annotation in the same place), -also, Freud, “Allgemeines über den hysterischen Anfall” (“General -Remarks on Hysterical Seizures”) in _Sammlung kleiner Schriften zur -Neurosenlehre_, 2 Series, p. 146 et seq. - -[87] According to a pointed remark of Jung’s, this reversal in its -further mythical sublimation permits the approximation of the hero’s -life to the solar cycle (“Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido,” II Part, -_Jahrb. f. Psychoanalyse_, V, 1912, p. 253). - -[88] The second item of the schedule here enters into consideration: -the voluntary continence or prolonged separation of the parents, which -naturally induces the miraculous conception and virgin birth of the -mother. The abortion phantasies, which are especially distinct in the -Zoroaster legend, also belong under this heading. - -[89] The comparison of birth with a shipwreck, by the Roman poet -Lucretius, seems to be in perfect harmony with this symbolism: “Behold -the infant: Like a shipwrecked sailor, cast ashore by the fury of the -billows, the poor child lies naked on the ground, bereft of all means -for existence, after Nature has dragged him in pain from the mother’s -womb. With plaintive wailing he filleth the place of his birth, and -he is right, for many evils await him in life” (Lucretius, “De Nature -Rerum,” V, 222-227). Similarly, the first version of Schiller’s -“Robbers,” in speaking of Nature, says: “She endowed us with the spirit -of invention, when she exposed us naked and helpless on the shore of -the great Ocean, the World. Let him swim who may, and let the clumsy -perish!” - -[90] Compare the representation of this relation and its psychic -consequences, in Freud’s Significance of Dreams. - -[91] Some myths convey the impression as if the love relation with -the mother had been removed, as being too objectionable to the -consciousness of certain periods or peoples. Traces of this suppression -are still evident in a comparison of different myths or different -versions of the same myth. For example, in the version of Herodotus, -Kyros is a son of the daughter of Astyages, but according to the report -of Ktesias, he makes the daughter of Astyages, whom he conquers, his -wife, and kills her husband, who in the rendering of Herodotus is his -father. Compare Hüsing, “Contributions to the Kyros Legend,” XI. Also -a comparison of the saga of Darab, with the very similar legend of St. -Gregory, serves to show that in the Darab story the incest with the -mother is simply omitted, which otherwise precedes the recognition -of the son; here, on the contrary, the recognition prevents the -incest. This attenuation may be studied in the nascent state, as -it were, in the myth of Telephos, where the hero is married to his -mother, but recognizes her before the consummation of the incest. The -fairy-tale-like setting of the Tristan legend, which makes Isolde draw -the little Tristan from the water (_i.e._, give him birth), thereby -suggests the fundamental incest theme, which is likewise manifested in -the adultery with the wife of the uncle. - -The reader is referred to Rank’s paper, “Das Inzest Motiv in Dichtung -und Sage” (“The incest motive in fiction and legend”), in which the -incest theme, which is here merely mentioned, is discussed in detail, -picking up the many threads which lead to this theme, but which have -been dropped at the present time. - -[92] The mechanism of this defense is discussed in Freud’s “Hamlet -Analysis” (“Traumdeutung,” p. 183, annotation); also by Jones, _Am. Jl. -of Psychology_, 1911. - -[93] In regard to further meanings of the grandfather, compare -Freud, “Analysis of the Phobia of a 5-year-old Boy” (_Jahrbuch f. -Psychoanalyse_, I, 1909, p. 7378); also the contributions by Jones, -Abraham and Ferenzi (_Internat. Zeitschrift f. ärzt. Psychoanalyse_, -Vol. I, 1913, March number). - -[94] A similar identification of the father with God (heavenly -father, etc.) occurs, according to Freud, with the same regularity -in the fantasies of normal and pathological psychic activity as the -identification of the emperor with the father. It is also noteworthy in -this connection that almost all peoples derive their origin from their -god (Abraham, “Dream and Myth,” Monograph Series, No. 15). - -[95] An amusing example of unconscious humor in children recently ran -through the daily press: A politician had explained to his little -son that a tyrant is a man who forces others to do what he commands, -without heeding their wishes in the matter. “Well,” said the child, -“then you and mamma are also tyrants!” - -[96] See Max Müller, “Essais,” Vol. II (Leipzig, 1869), p. 20 et seq. -Concerning the various psychological contingencies of this setting, -compare p. 83 _et al._ of the author’s “Incest Book.” - -[97] Compare E. Meyer (_Bericht d. Kgl. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss._, XXXI, -1905, p. 640). The Moses legends and the Levites: “Presumably Moses -was originally the son of the tyrant’s daughter (who is now his foster -mother), and probably of divine origin.” The subsequent elaboration -into the present form is probably referable to national motives. - -[98] This idea which is derived from the knowledge of the neurotic -fantasy and symptom construction, was applied by Professor Freud to the -interpretation of the romantic and mythical work of poetic imagination, -in a lecture entitled: “Der Dichter und das Phantasieren” (Poets and -Imaginings) (Reprint, 2d series of Collected Short Articles), p. 1970. - -[99] For ethno-psychologic parallels and other infantile sexual -theories which throw some light upon the supplementary myth of the -hero’s procreation compare the author’s treatise in _Zentralblatt für -Psychoanalyse_, II, 1911, pp. 392-425. - -[100] The fairy tales, which have been left out of consideration in -the context, precisely on account of these complications, include -especially: “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs” (Grimm, No. 29), -and the very similar “Saga of Emperor Henry III” (Grimm, Deutsche -Sagen, II, p. 177), “Water-Peter,” with numerous variations (Grimm, -III, p. 103), “Fundevogel,” No. 51, “The Three Birdies” (No. 96), -“The King of the Golden Mountain” (No. 92), with its parallels, as -well as some foreign fairy tales, which are quoted by Bauer, at the -end of his article. Compare also, in Hahn, “Greek and Albanese Fairy -Tales” (Leipsic, 1864), the review of the exposure stories and myths, -especially 20 and 69. - -[101] A connection is here supplied with the motive of the twins, in -which we seem to recognize the two boys born at the same time, one of -which dies for the sake of the other, be it directly after birth, or -later, and whose parents appear divided in our myths into two or more -parent couples. Concerning the probable significance of this shadowy -twin-brother as the after-birth, compare the author’s discussion in his -Incest Book (p. 457, etc.). - -[102] The early history of Sigurd, as it is related in the Völsunga -Saga (compare Rassmann, I, 99), closely resembles the Ktesian version -of the Kyros saga, giving us the tradition of another hero’s wonderful -career, together with its rational rearrangement. For particulars, see -Bauer, p. 554. Also the biblical history of Joseph (1 Moses, 37, et -seq.), with the exposure, the animal sacrifice, the dreams, the sketchy -brethren, and the fabulous career of this hero, seem to belong to this -type of myth. - -[103] In order to avoid misunderstandings, it appears necessary to -emphasize at this point the historical nucleus of certain hero-myths. -Kyros, as is shown by the inscriptions which have been discovered -(compare Duncker, p. 289, Bauer, p. 498), was descended from an -old hereditary royal house. It could not be the object of the myth -to elevate the descent of Kyros, nor must the above interpretation -be regarded as an attempt to establish a lowly descent of Kyros. -Similar conditions prevail in the case of Sargon, whose royal father -is also known (compare Jeremias, p. 410, annotation). Nevertheless, -an historian writes about Sargon as follows (Ungnad, “Die Anfänge -der Staatenbildung in Babylonien” (Beginnings of State Formation in -Babylonia), _Deutsche Rundschau_, July, 1905): “He was evidently -not of noble descent, or no such saga could have been woven about -his birth and his youth.” It would be a gross error to consider our -interpretation as an argument in this sense. Again, the apparent -contradiction which might be held up against our explanation, under -another mode of interpretation, becomes the proof of its correctness, -through the reflection that it is not the hero, but the average man -who makes the myth, and wishes to vindicate himself in the same. The -people imagine the hero in this manner, investing him with their own -infantile fantasies, irrespective of their actual compatibility or -incompatibility with historical facts. This also serves to explain the -transference of the typical motives, be it to several generations of -the same hero family, or be it to historical personalities in general -(concerning Cæsar, Augustus and others, compare Usener, Rhein. Mus. LV, -p. 271). - -[104] This identification of the families is carried through to the -minutest detail in certain myths, as for example in the Œdipus myth, -where one royal couple is offset by another, and where even the -herdsman who receives the infant for exposure has his exact counterpart -in the herdsman to whom he entrusts the rescue of the boy. - -[105] Compare Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, London, 1872 (In German -by Hartmann: Die Tiere in der indogermanischen Mythologie. Leipzig, -1874). Concerning the significance of animals in exposure myths, see -also the contributions by Bauer (p. 574 et seq.), Goldziher (p. 274) -and Liebrecht: Zur Volkskunde (Romulus und die Welfen) (Folk Lore, -Romulus and the Whelps), Heilbronn, 1879. - -[106] Compare Freud’s article on The Infantile Recurrence of Totemism -(Imago, Vol. II, 1913). Concerning the totemistic foundation of the -Roman she-wolf, compare Jones’ Nightmare (Alptraum), p. 59 et seq. The -woodpecker of the Romulus saga was discussed by Jung (_loc. cit._, p. -382 et seq.). - -[107] The stork is known also in mythology as the bringer of children. -Siecke (Liebesgesch. d. Himmels, p. 26) points out the swan as the -player of this part in certain regions and countries. The rescue and -further protection of the hero by a bird is not uncommon; compare -Gilgamos, Zal and Kyknos, who is exposed by his mother near the sea and -is nourished by a swan, while his son Tennes floats in a chest upon -the water. The interpretation of the leading motive of the Lohengrin -saga also enters into present consideration. Its most important motives -belong to this mythical cycle: Lohengrin floats in a skiff upon the -water, and is brought ashore by a swan. No one may ask whence he has -come: the sexual mystery of the origin of man must not be revealed -but it is replaced by the suggestion of the stork fable: the children -are fished from the water by the swan and are taken to the parents -in a box. Corresponding to the prohibition of all enquiries in the -Lohengrin saga, we find in other myths (for example, the Œdipus myth), -a _command to investigate_, or a riddle which must be _solved_. For -the psychological significance of the stork fable, compare Freud, -Infantile Sexual Theories. Concerning the Hero Myth, compare the -author’s extensive contribution to the elaboration of the motives and -the interpretation of the Lohengrin saga (Heft 13 of this collection, -Vienna and Leipzig, 1911). - -[108] Compare Freud: Analysis of the Phobia of a five year old Boy. -_Jahrbuch f. psychoanalyt. u. psychopath. Forschungen_, Vol. I, 1909. - -[109] Usener (Stoff des griechischen Epos, S. 53—Subject Matter of -Greek Epics, p. 53) says that the controversy between the earlier and -the later Greek sagas concerning the mother of a divinity is usually -reconciled by the formula that the mother of the general Greek saga is -recognized as such while the mother of the local tradition is lowered -to the rank of a nurse. There may therefore be unhesitatingly regarded -as the mother, not merely the nurse of the god Ares. - -[110] Abraham, _loc. cit._, p. 40; Riklin, _loc. cit._, p. 74. - -[111] Brief mention is made of a case concerning a Mrs. v. Hervay, -because of a few subtle psychological comments upon the same, by A. -Berger (Feuilleton der Neue Freie Presse, Nov. 6, 1904, No. 14,441) -which in part touch upon our interpretation of the hero myth. Berger -writes as follows: “I am convinced that she seriously believes herself -to be the illegitimate daughter of an aristocratic Russian lady. The -desire to belong through birth to more distinguished and brilliant -circles than her own surroundings probably dates back to her early -years; and her wish to be a princess gave rise to the delusion that she -was not the daughter of her parents, but the child of a noblewoman who -had concealed her illegitimate offspring from the world by letting her -grow up as the daughter of a sleight-of-hand man. Having once become -entangled in these fancies, it was natural for her to interpret any -harsh word that offended her, or any accidental ambiguous remark that -she happened to hear, but especially her reluctance to be the daughter -of this couple, as a confirmation of her romantic delusion. She -therefore made it the task of her life to regain the social position of -which she felt herself to have been defrauded. Her biography manifests -the strenuous insistence upon this idea, with a tragic outcome.” - -The female type of the family romance, as it confronts us in this case -from the a-social side, has also been transmitted as a hero myth in -isolated instances. The story goes of the later Queen Semiramis (in -Diodos, II, 4) that her mother, the goddess Derketo, being ashamed of -her, exposed the child in a barren and rocky land, where she was fed -by doves and found by shepherds, who gave the infant to the overseer -of the royal flocks, the childless Simmas, who raised her as his own -daughter. He named her Semiramis, which means Dove in the Syrian -language. Her further career, up to her autocratic rulership, thanks to -her masculine energy, is a matter of history. - -Other exposure myths are told of Atalante, Kybele, and Aërope (v. -Roscher). - -[112] Freud: Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory, Nervous -and Mental Disease Monograph, No. 7. Also: Psychopathologie des -Altagslebens, II ed., Berlin, 1909. Also: Hysterische Phantasien und -ihre Beziehung zur Bisexualität. - -[113] This is especially evident in the myths of the Greek gods, where -the son (Kronos, Zeus) must first remove the father, before he can -enter upon his rulership. The form of the removal, namely through -castration, obviously the strongest expression of the revolt against -the father, is at the same time the proof of its sexual provenance. -Concerning the revenge character of this castration, as well as the -infantile significance of the entire complex, compare Freud, Infantile -Sexual Theories and Analysis of the Phobia of a five year old Boy -(Jahrbuch f. Psychoanalyse). - -[114] Compare the contrast between Tell and Parricida, in Schiller’s -Wilhelm Tell, which is discussed in detail in the author’s Incest Book. - -[115] Compare in this connection the unsuccessful homicidal attempt of -Tatjana Leontiew, and its subtle psychological illumination in Wittels: -Die sexuelle Not (Vienna and Leipzig, 1909). - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYTH OF THE BIRTH OF THE -HERO *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Myth of the Birth of the Hero</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>A psychological interpretation of mythology</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Otto Rank</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: F. Robbins and Smith Ely Jelliffe</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 31, 2021 [eBook #66192]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Turgut Dincer, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYTH OF THE BIRTH OF THE HERO ***</div> -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="transnote"> -<h3>Transcriber’s Notes</h3> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.</p> - -<p>Footnote 20 is referenced twice several pages apart in the text.</p> - -<p>The cover was prepared by the transcriber and is placed in the public -domain.</p> - -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div> - -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph<br /> -Series, No. 18</span></p> - - -<h1>The Myth of the Birth of the Hero<br /> - -<span class="small">A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology</span></h1> - - -<p class="center"><small>BY</small><br /> -DR. OTTO RANK<br /> -<small>of Vienna</small></p> - - -<p class="center space-below"><small>Authorized Translation by</small><br /> -DRS. F. 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The Myth of the Birth of the Hero. $1.00.</td> -<td class="tdr">Dr. Otto Rank.</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p class="center small"> -Copyright, 1914, by<br /> -<span class="smcap">The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease<br /> -Publishing Company, New York</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Press of<br /> -The New Era Printing Company<br /> -Lancaster, Pa.</span><br /> -</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="TABLE_OF_CONTENTS">TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - - -<table class="standard" summary=""> -<col width="20%"/><col width="10%"/> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a></td> -<td class="tdr">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Sargon">Sargon</a></td> -<td class="tdr">12</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Moses">Moses</a></td> -<td class="tdr">13</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Karna">Karna</a></td> -<td class="tdr">15</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#OEdipus">Œdipus</a></td> -<td class="tdr">18</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Paris">Paris</a></td> -<td class="tdr">20</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Telephos">Telephos</a></td> -<td class="tdr">21</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Perseus">Perseus</a></td> -<td class="tdr">22</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Gilgamos">Gilgamos</a></td> -<td class="tdr">23</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Kyros">Kyros</a></td> -<td class="tdr">24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Tristan">Tristan</a></td> -<td class="tdr">38</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Romulus">Romulus</a></td> -<td class="tdr">40</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Hercules_60">Hercules</a></td> -<td class="tdr">44</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Jesus">Jesus</a></td> -<td class="tdr">47</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Siegfried">Siegfried</a></td> -<td class="tdr">53</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Lohengrin">Lohengrin</a></td> -<td class="tdr">55</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#INDEX">Index</a></td> -<td class="tdr">95</td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> -<p class="half-title">THE MYTH OF THE BIRTH OF THE HERO</p> - - -<p class="center">[<span class="smcap">A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology</span>]</p> - - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Introduction"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The prominent civilized nations, such as the Babylonians, -Egyptians, Hebrews, and Hindoos, the inhabitants of Iran and of -Persia, the Greeks and the Romans as well as the Teutons and -others, all began at an early stage to glorify their heroes, mythical -princes and kings, founders of religions, dynasties, empires or -cities, in brief their national heroes, in a number of poetic tales -and legends. The history of the birth and of the early life of -these personalities came to be especially invested with fantastic -features, which in different nations even though widely separated -by space and entirely independent of each other present a baffling -similarity, or in part a literal correspondence. Many investigators -have long been impressed with this fact, and one of the chief -problems of mythical research still consists in the elucidation of -the reason for the extensive analogies in the fundamental outlines -of mythical tales, which are rendered still more enigmatical -by the unanimity in certain details, and their reappearance in most -of the mythical groupings.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>The mythological theories, aiming at the explanation of these -remarkable phenomena, are, in a general way, as follows:</p> - -<p>(1) The “Idea of the People,” propounded by Adolf Bastian<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>[1868]. This theory assumes the existence of <i>elementary -thoughts</i>, so that the unanimity of the myths is a necessary -sequence of the uniform disposition of the human mind, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> -manner of its manifestation, which within certain limits is identical -at all times and in all places. This interpretation was -urgently advocated by Adolf Bauer<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> [1882], as accounting for -the wide distribution of the hero myths.</p> - -<p>(2) The explanation by original community, first applied by -Th. Benfey [Pantschatantra, 1859] to the widely distributed -parallel forms of folklore and fairy tales. Originating in a -favorable locality [India] these tales were first accepted by the -primarily related [namely the Indo-Germanic] peoples, then continued -to grow while retaining the common primary traits, and -ultimately radiated over the entire earth. This mode of explanation -was first adapted to the wide distribution of the hero myths -by Rudolf Schubert<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> [1890].</p> - -<p>(3) The modern theory of migration, or borrowing, according -to which the individual myths originate from definite peoples -[especially the Babylonians], and are accepted by other peoples -through oral tradition [commerce and traffic], or through literary -influences.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>The modern theory of migration and borrowing can be readily -shown to be merely a modification of Benfey’s theory, necessitated -by newly discovered and irreconcilable material. The profound -and extensive research of modern investigations has shown that -not India, but rather Babylonia, may be regarded as the first -home of the myths. Moreover the mythic tales presumably did -not radiate from a single point, but travelled over and across the -entire inhabited globe. This brings into prominence the idea of -the interdependence of mythical structures, an idea which was -generalized by Braun<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> [1864], as the basic law of the nature of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> -the human mind: Nothing new is ever discovered as long as it is -possible to copy. The theory of the elementary thoughts, so -strenuously advocated by Bauer over a quarter of a century ago, -is unconditionally declined by the most recent investigators -[Winckler,<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Stucken], who maintain the migration and purloining -theory.</p> - -<p>There is really no such sharp contrast between the various -theories, and their advocates, for the theory of the elementary -thoughts does not interfere with the claims of the primary common -possessions and the migration. Furthermore, the ultimate -problem is not whence and how the material reached a certain -people; but the question is, <i>where did it come from to begin with?</i> -All these theories would only explain the variability and distribution, -but not the origin of the myths. Even Schubert, the most -inveterate opponent of Bauer’s view, acknowledges this truth, by -stating that all these manifold sagas date back to a single very -ancient prototype. But he is unable to tell us anything of the -origin of this prototype. Bauer likewise inclines to this mediating<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> -view and points out repeatedly that in spite of the multiple -origin of independent tales, it is necessary to concede a most extensive -and ramified purloining, as well as an original community -of the concepts, in related peoples. The same conciliatory -attitude is maintained by Lessmann, in a recent publication<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> -[1908], in which he rejects the assumption of the elementary -thoughts, but admits that primary relationship and purloining do -not exclude one another. As pointed out by Wundt, it must be -kept in mind, however, that the appropriation of mythical contents -always represents at the same time an independent mythical -construction; because only that can be permanently retained which -corresponds to the purloiner’s stage of mythological ideation. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> -faint recollections of preceding narratives would hardly suffice -for the re-figuration of the same material, without the persistent -presence of the underlying motives; but precisely for this reason, -such motives may produce new contents, which agree in their -fundamental motives, also in the absence of similar associations. -(Völker-Psychologie, II Vol., 3 Part, 1909).</p> - -<p>Leaving aside for the present the enquiry as to the mode of -distribution of these myths, the origin of the hero myth in general -is now to be investigated, fully anticipating that migration, or -borrowing, will prove to be directly and fairly positively demonstrable, -in a number of the cases. When this is not feasible, -other view points will have to be conceded, at least for the present, -rather than barricade the way to further progress by the somewhat -unscientific attitude of Winckler,<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> who says: When human -beings and products, exactly corresponding to each other, are -found at remote parts of the earth, we must conclude that they -have wandered thither; whether we have knowledge of the how -or when makes no difference in the assumption of the fact itself. -Even granting the migration of all myths, the provenance of the -first myth would still have to be explained.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - -<p>Investigations along these lines will necessarily help to provide -a deeper insight into the contents of the myths. Nearly all -authors who have hitherto been engaged upon the interpretation -of the myths of the birth of heroes find therein a personification -of the processes of nature, following the dominant mode of -natural mythological interpretation. The new born hero is the -young sun rising from the waters, first confronted by lowering -clouds, but finally triumphing over all obstacles [Brodbeck, Zoroaster, -Leipzig, 1893, p. 138]. The taking of all natural, chiefly the -atmospheric phenomena into consideration, as was done by the first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> -representatives of this method of myth interpretation;<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> or the -regarding of the myths in a more restricted sense, as astral myths -[Stucken, Winckler and others]—is not so essentially distinct, as -the followers of each individual direction believe to be the case. -Nor does it seem to be an essential progress when the purely -solar interpretation as advocated especially by Frobenius<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> was -no longer accepted and the view was held that all myths were -originally lunar myths, as done by G. Hüsing, in his “Contributions -to the Kyros Myth” [Berlin, 1906], following out the suggestion -of Siecke, who [1908]<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> claims this view as the only legitimate -obvious interpretation also for the birth myths of the heroes, -and it is beginning to gain popularity.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>The interpretation of the myths themselves will be taken up in -detail later on, and all detailed critical comments on the above mode -of explanation are here refrained from. Although significant, and -undoubtedly in part correct, the astral theory is not altogether -satisfactory and fails to afford an insight into the motives of myth -formation. The objection may be raised that the tracing to -astronomical processes does not fully represent the content of -these myths, and that much clearer and simpler relations might -be established through another mode of interpretation. The -much abused theory of elementary thoughts indicates a practically -neglected aspect of mythological research. At the beginning as -well as at the end of his contribution, Bauer points out how much -more natural and probable it would be to seek the reason for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> -general unanimity of these myths in very general traits of the -human psyche, than in a primary community or in migration. -This assumption appears to be more justifiable as such general -movements of the human mind are also expressed in still other -forms, and in other domains, where they can be demonstrated as -unanimous.</p> - -<p>Concerning the character of these general movements of the -human mind, the psychological study of the essential contents of -these myths might help to reveal the source from which has uniformly -flowed at all times, and in all places, an identical content -of the myths. Such a derivation of an essential constituent, from -a common human source, has already been successfully attempted -with one of these legendary motives. Freud, in his “Dream Interpretation,”<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> -reveals the connection of the Œdipus fable -[where Œdipus is told by the oracle that he will kill his father -and marry his mother, as he unwittingly does later on] with the -two typical dreams of the father’s death, and of sexual intercourse -with the mother, dreams which are dreamed by many now living. -Of King Œdipus he says that “his fate stirs us only because it -might have been our own fate; because the oracle has cursed us -prior to our birth, as it did him. All of us, perhaps, were doomed -to direct the first sexual emotion towards the mother, the first -hatred and aggressive desire against the father; our dreams convince -us of this truth. King Œdipus, who has murdered his -father Laios, and married his mother Iokaste, is merely the wish -fulfilment of our childhood.”<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The manifestation of the intimate -relation between dream and myth,—not only in regard to the -contents, but also as to the form and motor forces of this and -many other, more particularly pathological psyche structures,—entirely -justifies the interpretation of the myth as a dream of -the masses of the people, which I have recently shown elsewhere<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> -(“Der Künstler,” 1907). At the same time, the transference -of the method, and in part also of the results, of Freud’s technique -of dream interpretation to the myths would seem to be -justifiable, as was defended and illustrated in an example, by -Abraham, in his paper on “Dreams and Myths” [1909].<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> The -intimate relations between dream and myth find further confirmation -in the following circle of myths, with frequent opportunity -for reasoning from analogy.</p> - -<p>The hostile attitude of the most modern mythological tendency -[chiefly represented by the Society for Comparative Mythological -Research] against all attempts at establishing a relation between -dream and myth<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> is for the most part the outcome of the restriction -of the parallelization to the so-called nightmares -[Alpträume], as attempted in Laistner’s notable book, “The -Riddle of the Sphinx,” 1889, and also of ignorance of the relevant -teachings of Freud. The latter help us not only to understand -the dreams themselves, but also show their symbolism and close -relationship with all psychic phenomena in general, especially with -the day dreams or phantasies, with artistic creativeness, and with -certain disturbances of the normal psychic function. A common -share in all these productions belongs to a single psychic function, -the human imagination. It is to this imaginative faculty—of -humanity at large rather than individual—that the modern myth -theory is obliged to concede a high rank, perhaps the first, for the -ultimate origin of all myths. The interpretation of the myths in -the astral sense, or more accurately speaking as “almanac tales,” -gives rise to the query, according to Lessmann,—in view of a -creative imagination of humanity,—if the first germ for the origin -of such tales is to be sought precisely in the processes in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> -heavens;<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> or if, on the contrary, readymade tales of an entirely -different [but presumably psychic] origin were only subsequently -transferred to the heavenly bodies. Ehrenreich (General Mythology, -1910, p. 104) makes a more positive admission: The mythologic -evolution certainly begins on a terrestrian soil, in so far as -experiences must first be gathered in the immediate surroundings -before they can be projected into the heavenly universe. And -Wundt tells us (loc. cit., p. 282) that the theory of the evolution -of mythology according to which it first originates in the -heavens whence at a later period it descends to earth, is not -only contradictory to the history of the myth, which is unaware -of such a migration, but is likewise contradictory to the psychology -of myth-formation which must repudiate this translocation -as internally impossible. We are also convinced that the -myths,<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> originally at least, are structures of the human faculty of -imagination, which at some time were projected for certain reasons -upon the heavens,<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> and may be secondarily transferred to the -heavenly bodies, with their enigmatical phenomena. The significance -of the unmistakeable traces which this transference has imprinted -upon the myths, as the fixed figures, and so forth, must by -no means be underrated, although the origin of these figures was -possibly psychic in character, and they were subsequently made -the basis of the almanac and firmament calculations, precisely on -account of this significance.</p> - -<p>In a general way it would seem as if those investigators who -make use of an exclusively natural mythological mode of interpretation, -in any sense, were unable, in their endeavor to discover -the original sense of the mythical tales, to get entirely away -from a psychological process, such as must be assumed likewise -for the creators of the myths.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> The motive is identical, and led<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> -to the same course in the myth creators as well as in the myth -interpretorsIt is most naïvely uttered by one of the founders -and champions of comparative myth investigation, and of the -natural mythological mode of interpretation, for Max Müller -points out in his “Essays” [1869] [20] that this procedure not only -invests meaningless legends with a significance and beauty of their -own, but it helps to remove some of the most revolting features -of classical mythology, and to elucidate their true meaning. This -revolt, the reason for which is readily understood, naturally -prevents the mythologist from assuming that such motives as -incest with the mother, sister or daughter; murder of father, -grandfather or brother could be based upon universal phantasies, -which according to Freud’s teachings have their source in the -infantile psyche, with its peculiar interpretation of the external -world and its denizens. This revolt is therefore only the reaction -of the dimly sensed painful recognition of the actuality of these -relations; and this reaction impels the interpreters of the myths, -for their own subconscious rehabilitation, and that of all mankind, -to credit these motives with an entirely different meaning from -their original significance. The same internal repudiation prevents -the myth-creating people from believing in the possibility of such -revolting thoughts, and this defence probably was the first reason -for the projecting of these relations to the firmament. The -psychological pacifying through such a rehabilitation, by projection -upon external and remote objects, can still be realized, up -to a certain degree, by a glance at one of these interpretations, -for instance that of the objectionable Œdipus fable, as given by a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> -representative of the natural mythological mode of interpretation. -Œdipus, who kills his father, marries his mother, and dies old -and blind, is the solar hero who murders his procreator, the -darkness; shares his couch with the mother, the gloaming, from -whose lap, the dawn, he has been born, and dies blinded, as the -setting sun [Goldziher, 1876]. <a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -<p>It is intelligible that a similar interpretation is more soothing -to the mind than the revelation of the fact that incest and murder -impulses against the nearest relatives are found in the phantasies -of most people, as remnants of the infantile ideation. But this is -not a scientific argument, and revolt of this kind, although it may -not always be equally conscious, is altogether out of place, in view -of existing facts. One must either become reconciled to these -indecencies, provided they are felt to be such, or one must -abandon the study of psychological phenomena. It is evident that -human beings, even in the earliest times, and with a most naïve -imagination, never saw incest and parricide in the firmament on -high, <a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> but it is far more probable that these ideas are derived -from another source, presumably human. In what way they -came to reach the sky, and what modifications or additions they -received in the process, are questions of a secondary character, -which cannot be settled until the psychic origin of the myths in -general has been established.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> - -<p>At any rate, besides the astral conception, the claims of the -part played by the psychic life must be credited with the same -rights for myth formation, and this plea will be amply vindicated -by the results of our method of interpretation. With this object -we shall first take up the legendary material on which such a -psychological interpretation is to be attempted for the first time -on a large scale; selecting from the mass <a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> of these chiefly biographical -hero myths those which are the best known, and some -which are especially characteristic. These myths will be given -in abbreviated form as far as relevant for this investigation, with -statements concerning the provenance. Attention will be called -to the most important, constantly recurrent motives by a difference -in print.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Sargon"><span class="smcap">Sargon</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Probably the oldest transmitted hero myth in our possession is -derived from the period of the foundation of Babylon (about -2800 B.C.), and concerns the birth history of its founder, Sargon -the First. The literal translation of the report—which according -to the mode of rendering appears to be an original inscription by -King Sargon himself—is as follows: <a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p>“Sargon, the mighty king, King of Agade, am I. <i>My mother -was a vestal, my father I knew not</i>, while my father’s brother -dwelt in the mountains. In my city Azupirani, which is situated on -the bank of the Euphrates, my mother, the vestal, bore me. <i>In a -hidden place she brought me forth. She laid me in a vessel made -of reeds</i>, closed my door with pitch, and <i>dropped me down into -the river</i>, which did not drown me. The river carried me to Akki,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> -the water carrier. Akki the water carrier lifted me up in the -kindness of his heart, Akki the water carrier raised me as his own -son, Akki the water carrier made of me his gardener. In my -work as a gardener I was beloved by Istar, I became the king, and -for 45 years I held kingly sway.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Moses"><span class="smcap">Moses</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The biblical birth history of Moses, which is told in Exodus, -chapter 2, presents the greatest similarity to the Sargon legend, even -an almost literal correspondence of individual traits. <a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> Already the -first chapter (22) relates that Pharaoh commanded his people to -throw into the water all sons which were born to Hebrews, while -the daughters were permitted to live; the reason for this order -being referred to the overfertility of the Israelites. The second -chapter continues as follows:</p> - -<p>“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife -a daughter of Levi <a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: -and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him -three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she took -for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with -pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the -river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off to wit what would -be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to -wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the -river’s side and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent -her maid to fetch it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, -and behold the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> -said, this is one of the Hebrews’ children. Then said his sister to -Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the -Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And -Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and -called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, -Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee -wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the -child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he -became her son. And she called his name Moses: <a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> and she said, -Because I drew him out of the water.”</p> - -<p>This account is ornamented by Rabbi mythology through an -account of the events preceding Moses’ birth. In the sixtieth year -after Joseph’s death, the reigning Pharaoh saw in his dream an old -man, who held a pair of scales, all the inhabitants of Egypt lay on -one side, with only a sucking lamb on the other, but nevertheless -this outweighed all the Egyptians. The startled king at once -consulted the wise men and astrologers, who declared the dream -to mean that a son would be born to the Israelites, who would -destroy all Egypt. The king was frightened, and at once ordered -the death of all newborn children of the Israelites in the entire -country. On account of this tyrannical order, the Levite Amram, -who lived in Goshen, meant to separate from his wife Jocabed, -so as not to foredoom to certain death the children conceived from -him. But this resolution was opposed later on by his daughter -Miriam, who foretold with prophetic assurance that precisely the -child suggested in the king’s dream would come forth from her -mother’s womb, and would become the liberator of his people. <a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>Amram therefore rejoined his wife, from whom he had been -separated for three years. At the end of three months, she con<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>ceived, -and later on bore a boy at whose birth the entire house was -illuminated by an extraordinary luminous radiance, suggesting the -truth of the prophecy. (After Bergel, “Mythology of the Hebrews,” -Leipzig, 1882.)</p> - -<p>Similar accounts are given of the birth of the ancestor of the -Hebrew nation, Abraham. He was a son of Therach—Nimrod’s -captain—and Amtelai. Prior to his birth, it was revealed to King -Nimrod, from the stars, that the coming child would overthrow -the thrones of powerful princes, and take possession of their -lands. King Nimrod means to have the child killed immediately -after its birth. But when the boy is requested from Therach, he -says: Truly a son was born to me, but he has died. He then -delivers a strange child, concealing his own son in a cave underneath -the ground, where God permits him to suck milk from a -finger of the right hand. In this cave, Abraham is said to have -remained until the third (according to others the tenth) year of -his life. (Compare Beer, “The Life of Abraham,” according to -the interpretation of Jewish traditions, Leipzig, 1859, and Aug. -Wünsche, “From Israel’s Temples of Learning,” Leipzig, 1907.) -Also in the next generation, in the story of <i>Isaac</i>, appear the same -mythical motives. Prior to his birth King Abimelech is warned -by a <i>dream</i> not to touch Sarah, as this would cause woe to betide -him. After a long period of barrenness, she finally bears her son, -who (in later life, in this report) after having been destined to be -<i>sacrificed by his own father</i> (foster-father) Abraham, is ultimately -<i>rescued</i> by God. But Abraham casts out his own son -Ishmael, with Hagar, the boy’s mother (Genesis 20, 6. See also -Bergel, loc. cit.).</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Karna"><span class="smcap">Karna</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>A close relationship with the Sargon legend is also shown in -certain features of the ancient Hindu epic <a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> Mahâbháràta, of the -birth of the hero Karna. The contents of the legend are briefly -rendered by Lassen (“Indische Altertumskunde,” I, p. 63). <a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> - -<p>The princess Pritha, also known as Kunti, bore as a virgin the -boy Karna, whose father was the sun god Surya. The young -Karna was born with the golden ear ornaments of his father and -with an unbreakable coat of mail. The mother in her distress -concealed and exposed the boy. In the adaptation of the myth by -A. Holtzmann, <a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> verse 1458 reads: “Then my nurse and I made a -large basket of rushes, placed a lid thereon, and lined it with wax; -into this basket I laid the boy and carried him down to the river -Acva.” Floating on the waves, the basket reaches the river Ganga -and travels as far as the city of Campa. “There was passing -along the bank of the river, the charioteer, the noble friend of -Dhrtarastra, and with him was Radha, his beautiful and pious -spouse. She was wrapt in deep sorrow, because no son had been -given to her. On the river she saw the basket, which the waves -carried close to her on the shore; she showed it to Azirath, who -went and drew it forth from the waves.” The two take care of -the boy and raise him as their own child.</p> - -<p>Kunti later on marries King Pandu, who is forced to refrain -from conjugal intercourse by the curse that he is to die in the -arms of his spouse. But Kunti bears three sons, again through -divine conception, one of the children being born in the cave of a -wolf. One day Pandu dies in the embrace of his second wife. -The sons grow up, and at a tournament which they arrange, -Karna appears to measure his strength against the best fighter, -Arjuna, the son of Kunti. Arjuna scoffingly refuses to fight the -charioteer’s son. In order to make him a worthy opponent, one of -those present anoints him as king. Meanwhile Kunti has recognized -Karna as her son, by the divine mark, and prays him to -desist from the contest with his brother, revealing to him the -secret of his birth. But he considers her revelation as a fantastic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> -tale, and insists implacably upon satisfaction. He falls in the -combat, struck by Arjuna’s arrow. (Compare the detailed account -in Lefmann’s “History of Ancient India,” Berlin, 1890, -p. 181, et seq.)</p> - -<p>A striking resemblance of the entire structure with the Karna -legend is presented by the birth history of Ion, the ancestor of -the Ionians, of whom a relatively late tradition states the following: <a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p>Apollo, in the grotto of the rock of the Athenian Acropolis, -procreated a son with Kreusa, the daughter of Erechtheus. In -this grotto the boy was also born, and exposed; the mother leaves -the child behind in a woven basket, in the hope that Apollo will -not leave his son to perish. On Apollo’s request, Hermes carries -the child the same night to Delphi, where the priestess finds him -on the threshold of the temple in the morning. She brings the -boy up, and when he has grown into a youth makes him a servant -of the temple. Erechtheus later on gave his daughter Kreusa in -marriage to the immigrated Xuthos. As the marriage long remained -childless, they addressed the Delphian oracle, praying to -be blessed with progeny. The god reveals to Xuthos that the first -to meet him on leaving the sanctuary is his son. He hastens outside -and meets the youth, whom he joyfully greets as his own son, -giving him the name Ion, which means “Walker.” Kreusa refuses -to accept the youth as her son; her attempt to poison him -fails, and the infuriated people turn against her. Ion is about to -attack her, but Apollo, who did not wish the son to kill his own -mother, enlightened the mind of the priestess so that she understood -the connection. By means of the basket in which the newborn -child had lain, Kreusa recognizes him as her son, and reveals -to him the secret of his birth.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="OEdipus"><span class="smcap">Œdipus</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The parents of Œdipus, King Laios and his queen, Jocaste, -lived for a long time in childless wedlock. Laios, who is longing -for an heir, asks the Delphic Apollo for advice. The oracle -answers that he may have a son if he so desires; but fate has -ordained that his own son will kill him. Fearing the fulfilment of -the oracle, Laios refrains from conjugal relations, but being -intoxicated one day, he nevertheless procreates a son, whom he -causes to be exposed in the river Kithairon, barely three days -after his birth. In order to be quite sure that the child will perish, -Laios orders his ankles to be pierced. According to the account -of Sophocles, which is not the oldest, however, the shepherd who -has been intrusted with the exposure, surrenders the boy to a -shepherd of King Polybos, of Corinth, at whose court he is -brought up, according to the universal statement. Others say -that the boy was exposed in a box on the sea, and was taken from -the water by Periböa, the wife of King Polybos, as she was -rinsing her clothes by the shore. <a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> Polybos brought him up as -his own son.</p> - -<p>Œdipus, on hearing accidentally that he is a foundling, asks -the Delphian oracle for his own parents, but receives the prophecy -that he will kill his father and marry his mother. In the belief -that this prophecy refers to his foster parents, he flees from -Corinth to Thebes, but on the way unwittingly kills his father -Laios. By solving a riddle, he frees the City from the plague of -the Sphinx, a man-devouring monster, and in reward is given the -hand of Jocaste, his mother, as well as the throne of his father. -The revelation of these horrors, and the subsequent misfortune of -Œdipus, were a favorite subject for spectacular display among -the Greek tragedians.</p> - -<p>An entire series of Christian legends have been elaborated on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> -the pattern of the Œdipus myth, <a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> and the summarized contents of -the Judas legend may serve as a paradigm of this group. Before -his birth, his mother Cyboread, is warned by a dream that she will -bear a wicked son, to the ruin of all his people. The parents -expose the boy in a box on the sea. The waves cast the child -ashore on the Isle of Scariot, where the childless queen finds him, -and brings him up as her son. Later on, the royal couple have a -son of their own, and the foundling, who feels himself slighted, -kills his foster brother. As a fugitive from the country, he takes -service at the court of Pilate, who made a confidant of him and -placed him above his entire household. In a fight, Judas kills a -neighbor, without knowing that he is his father. The widow of -the murdered man, namely his own mother, then becomes his wife. -After the revelation of these horrors, he repents and seeks the -Saviour, who receives him among his apostles. His betrayal of -Jesus is known from the Gospel.</p> - -<p>The legend of St. Gregory on the Stone—the subject of the -narrative of Hartmann von Aue—represents a more complicated -type of this mythical cycle. Gregory, the child of the incestuous -union of royal lovers, is exposed by his mother in a box on the -sea, saved and raised by fishermen, and is then educated in a convent -for the church. But he prefers the life of a knight, is -victorious in combats, and in reward is given the hand of the -princess, his mother. After the discovery of the incest, Gregory -does penance for seventeen years, on a rock in the midst of the -sea, and he is finally made the Pope, at the command of God. -(Compare Cholevicas, “History of German Poetry, According to -the Antique Elements.”)</p> - -<p>A very similar legend is the Iranese legend of King Dârâb, -told by King Firdusi in the Book of Kings, and rendered by -Spiegel (Eranische Altertumskunde, II, 584). The last Kirânian -Behmen nominated as his successor his daughter and simultaneous -wife Humâi; so that his son Sâsân was grieved and withdrew into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> -solitude. A short time after the death of her husband, Humâi -gave birth to a son, whom she resolved to expose. He was placed -in a box, which was put into the Euphrates, and drifted down -stream, until it was held up by a stone, which had been placed in -the water by a tanner. The box with the child was found by him, -and he carried the boy to his wife, who had recently lost her own -child. The couple agreed to raise the foundling, and as the boy -grew up, he soon became so strong that the other children were -unable to resist him. He did not care for the work of his -father, but learned to be a warrior. His foster mother was forced -by him to reveal the secret of his origin, and he joined the army -which Humâi was then sending out to fight the king of Rûm. Her -attention being called to him by his bravery, Humâi readily recognized -him as her son, and named him her successor.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Paris"><span class="smcap">Paris</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Apollodorus relates of the birth of Paris: King Priamos had -with his wife Hekabe a son, named Hektor. When Hekabe was -about to bear another child, <i>she dreamed</i> that she brought forth -a burning log of wood, which set fire to the entire city. Priamos -asked the advice of Aisakos, who was his son with his first wife -Arisbe, and an expert in the interpretation of dreams. Aisakos -declared that the child would bring trouble upon the city, and -advised that it be exposed. Priamos gave the little boy to a -slave, who carried him to the top of Mount Ida; this man’s name -was Agelaos. <i>The child was nursed during five days by a she-bear.</i> -When Agelaos found that he was still alive, he picked him -up, and carried him home to raise him. He named the boy Paris; -but after the child had grown into a strong and handsome youth, -he was called Alexandros, because he fought the robbers and protected -the flocks. Before long he discovered his parents. How -this came about is told by Hyginus, according to whose report -the infant is <i>found by shepherds</i>. One day messengers, sent by -Priamos, come to these herders to fetch a bull which is to serve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> -as the prize for the victor in the combats arranged in commemoration -of Paris. They selected a bull which Paris valued so -highly that he followed the men who led the beast away, assisted -in the combats, and won the prize. This aroused the anger of -his brother Deiphobos, who threatened him with his sword, but -his sister Kassandra recognized him as her brother, and Priamos -joyfully received him as his son. The misfortune which Paris -later on brought to his family and his native city, through the -abduction of Helena, is well known from Homer’s poems, as well -as their predecessors and successors, their <i>prologue</i> and <i>epilogue</i>.</p> - -<p>A certain resemblance with the story of the birth of Paris is -presented by the poem of Zal, in Firdusi’s Persian hero-myths -(translated by Schack). The first son is born to Sam, king of -Sistan, by one of his consorts. Because he had white hair, <i>his -mother concealed the birth</i>. But the nurse reveals the birth of -his son to the king. Sam is disappointed, and commands that the -child be exposed. The servants carry it on the top of Mount -Alburs, where it is raised by the Somurgh, a powerful bird. The -full grown youth is seen by a travelling caravan, whose members -speak of him “as whose nurse a bird is sufficient.” King Sam -once <i>sees his son in a dream</i>, and sallies forth to seek the exposed -child. He is unable to reach the summit of the elevated rock -where he finally espies the youth. But the Somurgh bears his -son down to him, he receives him joyfully and nominates him as -his successor.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Telephos"><span class="smcap">Telephos</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Aleos, King of Tegea, was informed by the <i>oracle</i> that his -sons would perish through a descendant of his daughter. He -therefore made his daughter Auge a priestess of the goddess -Athene, and threatened her with death should she mate with a -man. But when Herakles dwelt as a guest in the sanctuary of -Athene, on his expedition against Augias, he saw the maiden, and -when intoxicated he raped her. When Aleos became aware of -her pregnancy, he delivered her to Nauplios, a rough sailor, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> -the command to throw her into the sea. But on the way she -gave birth to Telephos, on Mount Parthenios, and Nauplios, unmindful -of the orders he had received, carried both her and the -child to Mysia, where he delivered them to King Teuthras.</p> - -<p>According to another version, Auge secretly brought forth as -a priestess, but kept the child hidden in the temple. When Aleos -discovered the sacrilege, he caused the child to be exposed in -the Parthenian mountains, <a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Nauplios was instructed to sell the -mother in foreign lands, or to kill her. She was delivered by him -into the hands of Teuthras.</p> - -<p>According to the current tradition, <i>Auge exposes the newborn -child</i> and escapes to Mysia, where the childless King Teuthras -adopts her as his daughter. The boy, however, is nursed by a -doe, and is found by shepherds who take him to King Korythos. -The king brings him up as his son. When Telephos has grown -into a youth he betakes himself to Mysia, on the advice of the -oracle, to seek his mother. He frees Teuthras, who is in danger -from his enemies, and in reward receives the hand of the supposed -daughter of the king, namely his own mother Auge. But -she refuses to submit to Telephos, and when he in his ire is about -to pierce the disobedient one with his sword, she calls on her -lover Herakles in her distress, and Telephos thus recognizes his -mother. After the death of Teuthras he becomes king of Mysia.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Perseus"><span class="smcap">Perseus</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Akrisios, the king of Argos, had already reached an advanced -age without having male progeny. As he desired a son, he consulted -the Delphian oracle, but this warned him against male -descendants, and informed him that his daughter Danae would -bear a son through whose hand he would perish. In order to -prevent this, his daughter was locked up by him in an iron cham<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>ber, -which he caused to be carefully guarded. But Zeus penetrated -through the roof, in the guise of a golden rain, and Danae -became the mother of a boy. <a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> One day Akrisios heard the voice -of young Perseus in his daughter’s room, and in this way learned -that she had given birth to a child. <i>He killed the nurse</i>, but carried -his daughter with her son to the domestic altar of Zeus, to -have an oath taken on the true father’s name. But he refuses -to believe his daughter’s statement that Zeus is the father, and -<i>he encloses her with the child in a box, <a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> which is cast into the sea</i>. -The box is carried by the waves to the coast of Seriphos, where -<i>Diktys, a fisherman</i>, usually called a brother of King Polydektes, -<i>saves mother and child by drawing them out of the sea with his -nets</i>. Diktys leads the two into his house and keeps them as his -relations. Polydektes, however, becomes enamoured of the beautiful -mother, and <i>as Perseus was in his way, he tried to remove -him</i> by sending him forth to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa. -But against the king’s anticipations Perseus accomplishes this -difficult task, and a number of heroic deeds besides. In throwing -the discos, at play, he accidentally kills his grandfather, as foretold -by the oracle. He becomes the king of Argos, then of Tiryath, -and the builder of Mykene. <a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Gilgamos"><span class="smcap">Gilgamos</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Aelian, who lived about 200 A.D, relates in his “Animal -Stories” the history of <i>a boy who was saved by an eagle</i>. <a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p>“Animals have a characteristic fondness for man. An eagle -is known to have nourished a child. I shall tell the entire story,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> -in proof of my assertion. When Senechoros reigned over the -Babylonians, the Chaldean fortune-tellers foretold that the son -of the king’s daughter would take the kingdom from his grandfather; -this verdict was a prophecy of the Chaldeans. The king -was afraid of this prophecy, and humorously speaking, he became -a second Akrisius for his daughter, over whom he watched with -the greatest severity. But his daughter, fate being wiser than the -Babylonian, conceived secretly from an inconspicuous man. For -fear of the king, the guardians threw the child down from the -Akropolis, where the royal daughter was imprisoned. The eagle, -with his keen eyes, saw the boy’s fall, and before the child struck -the earth, he caught it on his back, bore it into a garden, and set -it down with great care. When the overseer of the place saw the -beautiful boy he was pleased with him and raised him. The boy -received the name Gilgamos, and became the king of Babylonia. -If anyone regards this as a fable, I have nothing to say, although -I have investigated the matter to the best of my ability. Also -from Achaemenes, the Persian, from whom the nobility of the -Persians is derived, I learn that he was the pupil of an eagle.” <a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Kyros"><span class="smcap">Kyros</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The myth of Kyros, which the majority of investigators place -in the center of this entire mythical circle, without entirely sufficient -grounds, it would appear—has been transmitted to us in -several versions. According to the report of Herodotus (about -450 B.C.), who states (I, 95) that among four renderings known -to him, he selected the least “glorifying” version, the story of -the birth and youth of Kyros is as follows, I, 107 et seq. <a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a>.</p> - -<p>Royal sway over the Medes was held, after Kyaxares, by his -son Astyages, who had a daughter named Mandane. Once he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> -saw, in a dream, so much water passing from her as to fill an -entire city, and inundate all Asia. He related his dream to the -dream interpreters among the magicians, and was in great fear -after they had explained it all to him. When Mandane had -grown up, he gave her in marriage, not to a Mede, his equal in -birth, but to a Persian, by name of Kambyses. This man came -of a good family and led a quiet life. The King considered him -of lower rank than a middle class Mede. After Mandane had -become the wife of Kambyses, Astyages saw another dream vision -in the first year. He dreamed that a vine grew from his daughter’s -lap, and this vine overshadowed all Asia. After he had again -related this vision to the dream interpreters, he sent for his -daughter, who was with child, and after her arrival from Persia, -he watched her, because he meant to kill her offspring. For the -dream interpreters among the magicians had prophesied to him -that his daughter’s son would become king in his place. In order -to avert this fate, he waited until Kyros was born, and then sent -for Harpagos, who was his relative and his greatest confidant -among the Medes, and whom he had placed over all his affairs. -Him he addressed as follows: “My dear Harpagos, I shall charge -thee with an errand which thou must conscientiously perform. -But do not deceive me, and let no other man attend to it, for all -might not go well with thee. Take this boy, whom Mandane has -brought forth, carry him home, and kill him. Afterwards thou -canst bury him, how and in whatsoever manner thou desirest.” -But Harpagos made answer: “Great King, never hast thou found -thy servant disobedient, and also in future I shall beware not to -sin before thee. If such is thy will, it behooves me to carry it -out faithfully.” When Harpagos had thus spoken, and the little -boy with all his ornaments had been delivered into his hands, for -death, he went home weeping. On his arrival he told his wife -all that Astyages had said to him. But she inquired, “What art -thou about to do?” He made reply: “I shall not obey Astyages, -even if he raved and stormed ten times worse than he is doing. -I shall not do as he wills, and consent to such a murder. I have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> -a number of reasons: in the first place, the boy is my blood relative; -then, Astyages is old, and he has no male heir. Should he -die, and the kingdom go to his daughter, whose son he bids me -kill at present, would I not run the greatest danger? But the -boy must die, for the sake of my safety. However, one of Astyages’ -men is to be his murderer, not one of mine.”</p> - -<p>Having thus spoken, he at once despatched a messenger to one -of the king’s cattle herders, by name Mithradates, who, as he happened -to know, was keeping his herd in a very suitable mountain -pasturage, full of wild animals. The herder’s wife was also a -slave of Astyages’, by name Kyno in Greek, or Spako (a bitch) -in the Medean language. When the herder hurriedly arrived, -on the command of Harpagos, the latter said to him: “Astyages -bids thee take this boy and expose him in the wildest mountains, -that he may perish as promptly as may be, and the King has -ordered me to say to thee: If thou doest not kill the boy, but let -him live, in whatever way, thou art to die a most disgraceful -death. And I am charged to see to it that the boy is really exposed.” -When the herder had listened to this, he took the boy, -went home, and arrived in his cottage. His wife was with child, -and was in labor the entire day, and it happened that she was just -bringing forth, when the herder had gone to the city. They were -greatly worried about each other. But when he had returned and -the woman saw him again so unexpectedly, she asked in the first -place why Harpagos had sent for him so hurriedly. But he said: -“My dear wife, would that I had never seen what I have seen -and heard in the city, and what has happened to our masters. -The house of Harpagos was full of cries and laments. This -startled me, but I entered, and soon after I had entered, I saw a -small boy lying before me, who struggled and cried and was -dressed in fine garments and gold. When Harpagos saw me, he -bid me quickly take the boy, and expose him in the wildest spot -of the mountains. He said Astyages had ordered this, and added -awful threats if I failed to do so. I took the child and went away -with it, thinking that it belonged to one of the servants, for it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> -did not occur to me whence it had come. But on the way, I -learned the entire story from the servant who led me from the -city, and placed the boy in my hands. He is the son of Mandane, -daughter of Astyages, and Kambyses the son of Kyros; and -Astyages has ordered his death. Behold, here is the boy.”</p> - -<p>Having thus spoken, the herder uncovered the child and showed -it to her, and when the woman saw that he was a fine strong child, -she wept, and fell at her husband’s feet, and implored him not to -expose it. But he said he could not do otherwise, for Harpagos -would send servants to see if this had been done; he would have -to die a disgraceful death unless he did so. Then she said again: -“If I have failed to move thee, do as follows, so that they may -see an exposed child: I have brought forth a dead child; take it -and expose it, but the son of the daughter of Astyages we will -raise as our own child. In this way, thou wilt not be found a -disobedient servant, nor will we fare ill ourselves. Our stillborn -child will be given a kingly burial, and the living child’s life will -be preserved.” The herder did as his wife had begged and -advised him to do. He placed his own dead boy in a basket, -dressed him in all the finery of the other, and exposed him on -the most desert mountain. Three days later he announced to Harpagos -that he was now enabled to show the boy’s cadaver. Harpagos -sent his most faithful body guardians, and ordered the -burial of the cattle herder’s son. The other boy, however, who -was known later on as Kyros, was brought up by the herder’s -wife. They did not call him Kyros, but gave him another name.</p> - -<p>When the boy was twelve years old the truth was revealed, -through the following accident. He was playing on the road, with -other boys of his own age, in the village where the cattle were -kept. The boys played “King,” and elected the supposed son of the -cattle herder. <a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> But he commanded some to build houses, others<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> -to carry lances; one he made the king’s watchman, the other was -charged with the bearing of messages; briefly, each received his -appointed task. One of the boy’s playmates, however, was the son -of Artembares, a respected man among the Medes, and when he -did not do as Kyros ordained, the latter made the other boys seize -him. The boys obeyed, and Kyros chastised him with severe -blows. After they let him go, he became furiously angry, as if -he had been treated improperly. He ran into the city and complained -to his father of what Kyros had done to him. He did -not mention the name of Kyros for he was not yet called so, but -said the cattle herder’s son. Artembares went wrathfully with -his son to Astyages, complained of the disgraceful treatment, and -spoke thus: “Great king, we suffer such outrageous treatment -from thy servant, the herder’s son,” and he showed him his own -son’s shoulders. When Astyages heard and saw this, he wished -to vindicate the boy for the sake of Artembares, and he sent for -the cattle herder with his son. When both were present, Astyages -looked at Kyros and said: “Thou, a lowly man’s son, hast had -the effrontery to treat so disgracefully the son of a man whom I -greatly honor!” But he made answer: “Lord, he has only received -his due. For the boys in the village, he being among them, -were at play, and made me their king, believing me to be the best -adapted thereto. And the other boys did as they were told, but -he was disobedient, and did not mind me at all. For this he has -received his reward. If I have deserved punishment, here I am -at your service.”</p> - -<p>When the boy spoke in this way, Astyages knew him at once. -For the features of the face appeared to him as his own, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> -answer was that of a highborn youth; furthermore, it seemed to -him that the time of the exposure agreed with the boy’s age. -This smote his heart, and he remained speechless for a while. -Hardly had he regained control over himself, when he spoke to -get rid of Artembares, so as to be able to question the cattle -herder without witnesses. “My dear Artembares,” he said, “I -shall take care that neither thou nor thy son shall have cause for -complaint.” Thus he dismissed Artembares. Kyros, however, was -led into the palace by the servants, on the command of Astyages, -and the cattle herder had to stay behind. When he was all alone -with him Astyages questioned him whence he had obtained the -boy, and who had given the child into his hands. But the herder -said that he was his own son, and that the woman who had borne -him was living with him. Astyages remarked that he was very -unwise, to look out for most cruel tortures, and he beckoned the -sword bearers to take hold of him. As he was being led to -torture, the herder confessed the whole story, from beginning to -end, the entire truth, finally beginning to beg and implore forgiveness -and pardon. Meanwhile Astyages was not so incensed -against the herder, who had revealed to him the truth, as against -Harpagos; he ordered the sword bearers to summon him, and -when Harpagos stood before him, Astyages asked him as follows: -“My dear Harpagos, in what fashion hast thou taken the life of -my daughter’s son, whom I once delivered over to thee?” Seeing -the cattle herder standing near, Harpagos did not resort to untruthfulness, -for fear that he would be refuted at once, and so he -proceeded to tell the truth. Astyages concealed the anger which -he had aroused in him, and first told him what he had learned -from the herder; then he mentioned that the boy was still living, -and that everything had turned out all right. He said that he had -greatly regretted what he had done to the child, and that his -daughter’s reproaches had pierced his soul. “But as everything -has ended so well, send thy son to greet the newcomer, and then -come to eat with me, for I am ready to prepare a feast in honor -of the Gods who have brought all this about.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span></p> - -<p>When Harpagos heard this, he prostrated himself on the -ground before the king, and praised himself for his error having -turned out well, and for being invited to the king’s table, in commemoration -of a happy event. So he went home, and when he -arrived there, he at once sent off his only son, a boy of about -thirteen years, telling him to go to Astyages, and to do as he was -bid. Then Harpagos joyfully told his wife what had befallen -him. But Astyages butchered the son of Harpagos when he -came, cut him to pieces, and roasted the flesh in part; another -portion of the flesh was cooked, and when everything was prepared -he kept it in readiness. When the hour of the meal had -come, Harpagos and the other guests arrived. A table with -sheep’s meat was arranged in front of Astyages and the others, -but Harpagos was served with his own son’s flesh, without the -head, and without the choppings of hands and feet, but with -everything else. These parts were kept hidden in a basket. -When Harpagos seemed to have taken his fill, Astyages asked -him if the meat had tasted good to him, and when Harpagos answered -that he had enjoyed it, the servants, who had been ordered -to do so, brought in his own son’s covered head, with the hands -and feet, stepped up to Harpagos, and told him to uncover and -take what he desired. Harpagos did so, uncovered the basket, -and saw the remnants of his son. When he saw this, he did not -give way to his horror, but controlled himself. Astyages then -asked him if he knew of what game he had eaten; and he replied -that he knew it very well, and that whatever the king did was -well done. Thus he spoke, took the flesh that remained, and -went home with it, where he probably meant to bury it together.</p> - -<p>This was the revenge of Astyages upon Harpagos. Concerning -Kyros, he took counsel, and summoned the same magicians -who had explained his dream, then he asked them how they had -at one time interpreted his vision in a dream. But they said that -the boy must become a king, if he remained alive, and did not -die prematurely. Astyages made reply: “The boy is alive, and -is here, and as he was staying in the country, the boys of the vil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>lage -elected him for their king. But he did everything like the -real kings, for he ordained to himself as the master, sword bearers, -gate keepers, messengers, and everything. How do you mean to -interpret this?” The magicians made reply: “If the boy is alive, -and has been made king without the help of anyone, thou canst -be at ease so far as he is concerned, and be of good cheer, for he -will not again be made a king. Already several prophecies of -ours have applied to insignificant trifles, and what rests upon -dreams is apt to be vain.” Astyages made reply: “Ye sorcerers, -I am entirely of your opinion that the dream has been fulfilled -when the boy was king in name, and that I have nothing more to -fear from him. Yet counsel me carefully as to what is safest -for my house and for yourselves.” Then the magicians said: -“Send the boy away, that he may get out of thy sight, send him -to the land of the Persians, to his parents.” When Astyages had -heard this, he was greatly pleased. He sent for Kyros, and said -to him: “My son, I have wronged thee greatly, misled by a -deceitful dream, but thy good fortune has saved thee. Now go -cheerfully to the land of the Persians; I shall give thee safe conduct. -There wilt thou find a very different father, and a very -different mother than the herders, Mithradates and his wife.” -Thus spake Astyages, and Kyros was sent away. When he arrived -in the house of Kambyses, his parents received him with -great joy when they learned who he was, for they believed him -to have perished at that time, and they desired to know how he -had been preserved. He told them that he had believed himself -to be the son of the cattle herder, but had learned everything on -the way from the companions whom Astyages had sent with him. -He related that the cattle herder’s wife had saved him, and praised -her throughout. The bitch (Spako) played the principal part in -his conversation. The parents took hold of this name, so that -the preservation of the child might appear still more wonderful, -and thus was laid the foundation of the myth that the exposed -Kyros was nursed by a bitch.</p> - -<p>Later on, Kyros, on the instigation of Harpagos, stirred up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> -the Persians against the Medes. War was declared, and Kyros, -at the head of the Persians, conquered the Medes in battle. Astyages -was taken a prisoner alive, but Kyros did not harm him, -but kept him with him until his end. Herodotus’s report concludes -with the words: “But from that time on the Persians and -Kyros reigned over Asia. Thus was Kyros born and raised, and -made a king.”</p> - -<p>The report of Pompeius Trogus is preserved only in the extract -by Justinus. <a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> Astyages had a daughter but no male heir. -In his dream he saw a vine grow forth from her lap, the sprouts -of which overshadowed all Asia. The dream interpreters declared -that the vision signified the magnitude of his grandson, -whom his daughter was to bear; but also his own loss of his -dominions. In order to banish this dread, Astyages gave his -daughter in marriage neither to a prominent man, nor to a Mede, -so that his grandson’s mind might not be uplifted by the paternal -estate besides the maternal; but he married her to Kambyses, a -middle-class man from the then unknown people of the Persians. -But this was not enough to banish the fears of Astyages, and he -summoned his pregnant daughter, in order to have her infant -destroyed before his eyes. When a boy had been born, he gave -him to Harpagos, his friend and confidant, to kill him. For fear -that the daughter of Astyages would take revenge upon him for -the death of her boy, when she came to reign after her father’s -death, he delivered the boy to the king’s herder for exposure. At -the same time when Kyros was born, a son happened to be born -also to the herder. When his wife learned that the king’s child -had been exposed, she urgently prayed for it to be brought to her, -that she might look at it. Moved by her entreaties, the herder -returned to the woods. There he found a bitch standing beside -the child, giving it her teats, and keeping the beasts and birds -away from it. At this aspect he was filled with the same com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>passion -as the bitch; so that he picked up the boy and carried him -home, the bitch following him in great distress. When his wife -took the boy in her arms, he smiled at her as if he already knew -her; and as he was very strong, and ingratiated himself with her -by his pleasant smile, she voluntarily begged the herder to (expose -her own child instead and) <a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> permit her to raise the boy; be it -that she was interested in his welfare, or that she placed her hopes -on him. Thus the two boys had to exchange fates; one was raised -in place of the herder’s child, while the other was exposed instead -of the grandson of the king.</p> - -<p>The sequel of this apparently more primitive report agrees -essentially with the relation of Herodotus.</p> - -<p>An altogether different version of the Kyros myth is extant -in the report of a contemporary of Herodotus, Ktesias, the original -of which has been lost, but is replaced by a fragment of -Nikolaos of Damaskos. <a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> This fragment from Nikolaos summarizes -the narrative of Ktesias, which comprised more than an -entire book in his Persian history. Astyages is said to have been -the worthiest king of the Medes, after Abakes. Under his rule -occurred the great transmutation through which the rulership -passed from the Medes to the Persians, through the following -cause: The Medes had a law that a poor man who went to a rich -man for his support, and surrendered himself to him, had to be -fed and clothed and kept like a slave by the rich man, or in case -the latter refused to do so, the poor man was at liberty to go elsewhere. -In this way a boy by name of Kyros, a Mard by birth, -came to the king’s servant who was at the head of the palace -sweepers. Kyros was the son of Atradates, whose poverty made -him live as a robber, and whose wife, Argoste, Kyros’ mother, -made her living by tending the goats. Kyros surrendered himself -for the sake of his daily bread, and helped to clean the palace. -As he was diligent, the foreman gave him better clothing, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> -advanced him from the outside sweepers to those who cleaned the -interior of the king’s palace, placing him under their superintendent. -This man was severe, however, and often whipped -Kyros. He left him and went to the lamp-lighter, who liked -Kyros, and approached him to the king, by placing him among -the royal torch bearers. As Kyros distinguished himself also in -his new position, he came to Artembares, who was at the head of -the cup bearers, and himself presented the cup to the king. Artembares -gladly accepted Kyros, and bade him pour the wine for -the guests at the king’s table. Not long afterwards, Astyages -noticed the dexterity and nimbleness of Kyros’ service, and his -graceful presentation of the wine cup, so that he asked of Artembares -whence this youth had come who was so skillful a cup -bearer. “O Lord,” spake he, “this boy is thy slave, of Persian -parentage, from the tribe of the Mards, who has surrendered -himself to me to make a living.” Artembares was old, and once -on being attacked by a fever, he prayed the king to let him stay -at home until he had recovered. “In my stead, the youth whom -thou hast praised will pour the wine, and if he should please thee, -the king, as a cup bearer, <i>I, who am an eunuch, will adopt him as -my son</i>.” Astyages consented, but the other confided in many -ways in Kyros <i>as in a son</i>. Kyros thus stood at the king’s side, -and poured his wine by day and by night, showing great ability -and cleverness. Astyages conferred upon him the income of -Artembares, as if he had been his son, adding many presents, and -Kyros became a great man whose name was heard everywhere.</p> - -<p>Astyages had a very noble and beautiful daughter, <a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> whom he -gave to the Mede Spitamas, adding all Media as her dowry. -Then Kyros sent for his father and mother, in the land of the -Medes, and they rejoiced in the good fortune of their son, and -<i>his mother told him the dream which she had at the time that she -was bearing him</i>, while asleep in the sanctuary as she was tending -the goats. <i>So much water passed away from her that it became<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> -as a large stream, inundating all Asia, and flowing as far as the -sea</i>. When the father heard this, he ordered the dream to be -placed before the Chaldeans in Babylon. Kyros summoned the -wisest among them, and communicated the dream to him. He -declared that the dream foretold great good fortune to Kyros, -and <i>the highest dignity in Asia</i>; but Astyages must not learn of -it, “for else he would disgracefully kill thee, as well as myself -the interpreter,” said the Babylonian. They swore to each other -to tell no one of this great and incomparable vision. <i>Kyros later -on rose to still higher dignities, created his father a Satrap of -Persia, and raised his mother to the highest rank and possessions -among the Persian women.</i> But when the Babylonian was killed -soon afterwards by Oebares, the confidant of Kyros, his wife -betrayed the fateful dream to the king, when she learned of -Kyros’ expedition to Persia, which he had undertaken in preparation -of the revolt. The king sent his horsemen after Kyros, -with the command to deliver him dead or alive. But Kyros -escaped them by a ruse. Finally a combat took place, terminating -in the defeat of the Medes. Kyros also conquered Egbatana, -and here the daughter of Astyages and her husband Spitamas, -with their two sons, were taken prisoners. But Astyages himself -could not be found, for Amytis and Spitamas had concealed him -in the palace, under the rafters of the roof. Kyros then ordered -that Amytis, her husband, and the children should be tortured -until they revealed the hiding place of Astyages, but he came out -voluntarily, that his relatives might not be tortured on his account. -<i>Kyros commanded the execution of Spitamas</i>, because he had lied -in affirming to be in ignorance of Astyages’ hiding place; <i>but -Amytis became the wife of Kyros. He removed the fetters of -Astyages</i>, with which Oebares had bound him, <i>honored him as a -father</i>, and made him a Satrap of the Barkanians.</p> - -<p>A great similarity to Herodotus’ version of the Kyros myth -is found in the early history of the Iranese royal hero, Kaikhosrav, -as related by <i>Firdusi</i>, in the Sâh-nâme. This myth is most ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>tensively -rendered by Spiegel (Eranische Altertumskunde, I, 581 -et seq.). During the warfare of King Kaikaus of Baktria and -Iran, against King Afrâsiâb of Turan, <i>Kaikaus fell out with his -son, Siâvaksh</i>, who applied to Afrâsiâb for protection and assistance. -He was kindly received by Afrâsiâb, who gave him his -daughter Feringis to wife, on the persuasion of his Wesir, Pirân, -<i>although he had received the prophecy that the son to be born of -this union would bring great misfortune upon him</i>. Garsevaz, -the king’s brother, and a near relative of Siâvaksh, calumniates -the son-in-law, and Afrâsiâb leads an army against him. <i>Before -the birth of his son, Siâvaksh is warned by a dream, which foretold -destruction and death to himself, but royalty to his offspring.</i> -He therefore flies from Afrâsiâb, but is taken prisoner and killed, -on the command of the Sâh. His wife, who is pregnant, is saved -by Pirân from the hands of the murderers. On condition of -announcing at once the delivery of Feringis to the king, Pirân -is granted permission to keep her in his house. The shade of the -murdered Siâvaksh once comes to him in a dream, and tells him -that an avenger has been born, and Pirân actually finds in the -room of Feringis a newborn boy, whom he names Kaikhosrav. -Afrâsiâb no longer insisted upon the killing of the boy, but he -ordered Pirân <i>to surrender the child with a nurse to the herders, -who were to raise him in ignorance of his origin</i>. But his royal -descent is promptly revealed in his courage and his demeanor; -and as Pirân takes the boy back into his home, Afrâsiâb becomes -distrustful, and orders the boy to be led before him. Instructed -by Pirân, Kaikhosvrav plays the fool, <a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> and reassured as to his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> -harmlessness, the Sâh dismisses him to his mother, Feringis. -Finally, Kaikhosvrav is crowned as king by his grandfather, -Kaikaus. After prolonged, complicated, and tedious combats, -Afrâsiâb is at last taken prisoner, with divine assistance. Kaikhosvrav -strikes his head off, and also causes Garsivaz to be -decapitated.</p> - -<p>A certain resemblance, although more remote, to the preceding -saga, is presented by the Iranese myth of Feridun, as told by -Firdusi in his “Persian Hero-Myths” (translated by Schack). -<i>Zohâk, <a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> the king of Iran, once sees in a dream three men of royal -tribe.</i> Two of them are bent with age, but between them is a -<i>younger man</i> who holds a club, with a bull’s head, in his right -hand; this man steps up to him, and <i>fells him with his club to -the ground</i>. The dream interpreters declared to the king that -the young hero who will dethrone him is Feridun, a scion of the -tribe of Dschemschid. Zohâk at once sets out to look for the -tracks of his dreaded enemy. Feridun is the son of Abtin, a -grandson of Dschemschid. His father hides from the pursuit of -the tyrant, but he is seized and killed. Feridun himself, a boy -of tender age, <i>is saved by his mother Firânek, who escapes with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> -him and entrusts him to the care of the guardian of a distant -forest. Here he is suckled by the cow Purmâje.</i> For three years -he remains in this place, but then his mother no longer believes -him safe, and she carries him to a hermit on the mountain Alburs. -Soon afterwards Zohâk comes to the forest, and kills the guardian -as well as the cow.</p> - -<p>When Feridun was sixteen years old, he came down from -Mount Alburs, learned of his origin through his mother, and -swore to avenge the death of his father and of his nurse. On -the expedition against Zohâk he is accompanied by his two older -brothers, Purmâje and Kayânuseh. He orders a club to be forged -for his use, and ornaments it with the bull’s head, in memory of -his foster mother the cow. With this club he smites Zohâk, as -foretold by the dream.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Tristan"><span class="smcap">Tristan</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The argument of the Feridun story is pursued in the Tristan -saga, as related in the epic poem by Gottfried of Strassburg. -This is especially evident in the prologue of the Tristan-saga, -which is repeated later on in the adventures of the hero himself -(duplication). Riwalin, king in the land of the Parmenians, in -an expedition to the court of Marke, king of Kurnewal and England, -had become acquainted with the latter’s beautiful sister, -Blancheflure, and his heart was aflame with love for her. While -assisting Marke in a campaign, Riwalin was mortally wounded -and was carried to Tintajole. Blancheflure, <i>disguised as a beggar -maid</i>, hastened to his sick bed, and her devoted love saved the -king’s life. She fled with her lover to his native land (obstacles) -and was there proclaimed as his consort. But Morgan attacked -Riwalin’s country, for the sake of Blancheflure, whom the king -entrusted to his <i>faithful retainer</i> Rual, because she was carrying -a child. Rual placed the queen for safekeeping in the castle of -Kaneel. Here <i>she gave birth to a son and died, while her husband -fell in the battle against Morgan. In order to protect the -king’s offspring from Morgan’s pursuits</i>, Rual spread the rumor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> -that the infant had been born dead. The boy was named Tristan, -because he had been conceived and born in sorrow. Under the -care of his <i>foster-parents</i>, Tristan grew up, equally straight in -body and mind, until his fourteenth year, when he was kidnapped -by Norwegian merchants, who put him ashore in Kurnewal, because -they feared the wrath of the gods. Here the boy was -found by the <i>soldiers of King Marke</i>, who was so well pleased -with the brave and handsome youth that he promptly made him -his master of the chase (career), and held him in great affection. -Meanwhile, faithful Rual had set forth to seek his abducted foster -son, whom he found at last in Kurnewal, where Rual had come -begging his way. Rual <i>revealed Tristan’s descent</i> to the king, -who was delighted to see in him the son of his beloved sister, and -raised him to the rank of a knight. In order to <i>avenge his -father</i>, Tristan proceeded with Rual to Parmenia, vanquished -Morgan, the usurper, and gave the country to Rual as a liege, -while he himself returned to his uncle Marke. (After Chop: -Erläuterungen zu Wagner’s Tristan, Reclam Bibl.)</p> - -<p>The actual Tristan saga goes on with a repetition of the -principal themes. In the service of Marke, Tristan kills Morald, -the bridegroom of Isolde, and being wounded unto death, he is -saved by Isolde. He asks her hand in marriage, for his uncle -Marke, fulfils the condition of killing a dragon, and she follows -him reluctantly to Kurnewal, where they travel by ship. On the -journey they partake unwittingly of the disastrous love potion, -which binds them together in frenzied passion. They betray the -king, Marke, and on the wedding night Isolde’s faithful serving -maid, Brangäne, represents the queen, and sacrifices her virginity -to the king. Next follows the banishment of Tristan, his several -attempts to regain his beloved, although he had meanwhile -married Isolde Whitehand, who resembled her. At last he is -again wounded unto death, and Isolde arrives too late to save -him. <a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></p> - -<p>A plainer version of the Tristan-saga, in the sense of the -characteristic features of the myth of the birth of the hero, is -found in the fairy tale, “The True Bride,” quoted by Riklin -(“Wunscherfüllung und Symbolik im Märchen,” p. 56) <a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> from -Rittershaus’ collection of fairy tales (XXVII, p. 113). A royal -pair have no children. The king having threatened to kill his -wife, unless she bears a child by the time of his return from his -sea-voyage, she is brought to him during his journey, by his -zealous maid-servant, as the fairest of three promenading ladies, -and he takes her into his tent without recognizing her. <a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> She returns -home without having been discovered, gives birth to a -daughter, Isol, and dies. Isol later on finds a most beautiful little -boy in a box by the seaside, whose name is Tristram, and she -raises him to become engaged to him. The subsequent story, -which contains the motive of the true bride, is noteworthy for -present purposes only in as far as here again occur the draught of -oblivion, and two Isoldes. The king’s second wife gives a potion -to Tristram, which causes him to forget the fair Isol entirely, so -that he wishes to marry the black Isota. Ultimately he discovers -the deception, however, and becomes united with Isol.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Romulus"><span class="smcap">Romulus.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The original version of the story of Romulus and Remus, as -told by the most ancient Roman annalist, Fabius Pictor, is rendered -as follows by Mommsen. <a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> “<i>The twins</i> borne by Ilia,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> -daughter of the preceding king Numitor, <i>from the embrace of the -war god Mars were condemned by King Amulius, the present -ruler of Alba, to be cast into the river</i>. The king’s servants took -the children and carried them from Alba as far as the Tiber on -the Palatine Hill; but when they tried to descend the hill to the -river, to carry out the command, they found that the river had -risen, and they were unable to reach its bed. The tub with the -children was therefore thrust by them into the shallow water at -the shore. <i>It floated</i> for a while; <i>but the water promptly receded</i>, -and <i>knocking against a stone, the tub capsized</i>, and the screaming -infants were upset into the river mud. <i>They were heard by a -she-wolf who had just brought forth and had her udders full of -milk; she came and gave her teats to the boys, to nurse them</i>, and -as they were drinking she licked them clean with her tongue. -Above them flew a woodpecker, which guarded the children, and -also carried food to them. The father was providing for his -sons: for the wolf and the woodpecker are animals consecrated -to father Mars. This was seen by one of the royal herdsmen, -who was driving his pigs back to the pasture from which the -water had receded. Startled by the spectacle, he summoned his -mates, who found the she-wolf attending like a mother to the -children, and the children treated her as their mother. The men -made a loud noise to scare the animal away; but the wolf was not -afraid; she left the children, but not from fear; slowly, without -heeding the herdsmen, she disappeared into the wilderness of the -forest, at the holy site of Faunus, where the water gushes from a -gully of the mountain. Meanwhile the men picked up the boys -and carried them to the chief swineherd of the king, Faustulus, -for they believed that the gods did not wish the children to -perish. <i>But the wife of Faustulus had just given birth to a -dead child, and was full of sorrow. Her husband gave her the -twins, and she nursed them; the couple raised the children, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> -named them Romulus and Remus.</i> After Rome had been -founded, later on, King Romulus built himself a house not far -from the place where his tub had stood. The gully in which the -she-wolf had disappeared has been known since that time as the -Wolf’s Gully, the Lupercal. The image in ore of the she-wolf -with the twins <a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> was subsequently erected at this spot, and the -she-wolf herself, the Lupa, was worshipped by the Romans as a -divinity.</p> - -<p>The Romulus saga later on underwent manifold transmutations, -mutilations, additions, and interpretations. <a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> It is best -known in the form transmitted by Livy (I, 3 et seq.), where we -learn something about the antecedents and subsequent fate of the -twins.</p> - -<p>King Proca bequeaths the royal dignity to his first born son -Numitor. But his <i>younger brother, Amulius, pushes him from -the throne</i>, and becomes king himself. So that no scion from -Numitor’s family may arise, as the avenger, he kills the male -descendants of his brother. <i>Rea Silvia, the daughter, he elects -as a vestal, and thus deprives her of the hope of progeny, through -perpetual virginity</i> as enjoined upon her under the semblance of -a most honorable distinction. But the vestal maiden was overcome -by violence, and having <i>brought forth twins</i>, she named -<i>Mars</i> as the <i>father of her illegitimate offspring</i>, be it from conviction, -or because a god appeared more creditable to her as the -perpetrator of the crime.</p> - -<p>The narrative of the exposure in the Tiber goes on as follows: -The saga relates that the floating tub, in which the boys -had been exposed, was left on dry land by the receding waters, -and that a thirsty wolf, attracted from the neighbouring mountains -by the children’s cries, offered them her teats. The boys are said -to have been found by the chief royal herder, supposedly named<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> -Faustulus, who took them to the homestead of his wife, Larentia, -where they were raised. Some believe that Larentia was called -Lupa, a she-wolf, by the herders, because she offered her body, -and that this was the origin of the wonderful saga.</p> - -<p>Grown to manhood, the youths Romulus and Remus protect -the herds against the attacks of wild animals and robbers. One -day Remus is taken prisoner by the robbers, who accuse him of -having stolen Numitor’s flocks. But Numitor, to whom he is -surrendered for punishment, was touched by his tender age, and -when he learned of the twin brothers, he suspected that they -might be his exposed grandsons. While he was anxiously pondering -the resemblance with the features of his daughter, and the -boy’s age as corresponding to the time of the exposure, Faustulus -arrived with Romulus, and a conspiracy was hatched, when the -descent of the boys had been learned from the herders. The -youths armed themselves for vengeance, while Numitor took up -weapons to defend his claim to the throne he had usurped. After -<i>Amulius had been assassinated</i>, Numitor was re-instituted as the -ruler, and the youths resolved to found a city in the region where -they had been exposed and brought up. A furious dispute arose -upon the question which brother was to be the ruler of the newly -erected city, for neither twin was favored by the right of primogeniture, -and the outcome of the bird oracle was equally doubtful. -The saga relates that Remus jumped over the new wall, to deride -his twin, and <i>Romulus became so much enraged that he slew his -brother</i>. Romulus then usurped the sole mastery, and the city -was named Rome after him.</p> - -<p>The Roman tale of Romulus and Remus has a close counterpart -in the Greek myth of a city foundation by the twin brothers -Amphion and Zethos, who were the first to found the site of -Thebes of the Seven Gates. The enormous rocks which Zethos -brought from the mountains were joined by the music drawn -from Amphion’s lute strings to form the walls which became so -famous later on. Amphion and Zethos passed as <i>the children of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> -Zeus and Antiope</i>, daughter of King Nykteus. She escaped -by flight from the punishment of her father, who died of grief; -on his death bed he implored <i>his brother and successor on the -throne, Lykos</i>, to punish the wrongdoing of Antiope. Meantime -she had married Epopeus, the king of Sikyon, who was killed by -Lykos. Antiope was led away by him in fetters. She gave birth -to twin sons in the Kithairon, where she left them. A shepherd -raised the boys and called them Amphion and Zethos. Later on, -Antiope succeeded in escaping from the torments of Lykos and -his wife, Dirke. She accidentally sought shelter in the Kithairon, -with the twin brothers, now grown up. The shepherd reveals -to the youths the fact that Antiope is their mother. Thereupon -they cruelly kill Dirke, and deprive Lykos of the rulership.</p> - -<p>The remaining twin sagas, <a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> which are extremely numerous, -cannot be discussed in detail in this connection. Possibly they -represent a complication of the birth myth by another very -ancient and widely distributed myth complex, that of the hostile -brothers, the detailed discussion of which belongs elsewhere. -The apparently late and secondary character of the twin type in -the birth myths justifies the separation of this part of mythology -from the present theme. As regards the Romulus saga, -Mommsen <a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> renders it highly probable that it originally told only -of Romulus, while the figure of Remus was added subsequently, -and somewhat disjointedly, when it became desirable to invest the -consulate with a solemnity founded on the old tradition.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Hercules_60"><span class="smcap">Hercules</span> <a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></h2> -</div> - - -<p>After the loss of his numerous sons, Elektryon betroths his -daughter, Alkmene, to Amphitryon, the son of his brother, Alkäos.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> -However, Amphitryon, through an unfortunate accident, causes -the death of Elektryon, and escapes to Thebes with his affianced -bride. He has not enjoyed her love, for she has solemnly pledged -him not to touch her until he has avenged her brothers on the -Thebans. An expedition is therefore started by him, from -Thebes, and he conquers the king of the hostile people, Pterelaos, -with all the islands. As he is returning to Thebes, Zeus in the -form of Amphitryon <a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> betakes himself to Alkmene, to whom he -presents a golden goblet as evidence of victory. He rests with -the beauteous maiden during three nights, according to the later -poets, holding back the sun one day. In the same night, Amphitryon -arrives, exultant in his victory and aflame with love. In the -fulness of time, the fruit of the divine and the human embrace <a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> is -brought forth and Zeus announces to the gods his son, as the most -powerful ruler of the future. But his jealous spouse, Hera, -knows how to obtain from him the pernicious oath, that the first-born -grandson of Perseus is to be the ruler of all the other descendants -of Perseus. Hera hurries to Mykene, to deliver the -wife of the third Perside, Sthenelos, of the seven months child, -Eurystheus. At the same time she hinders and endangers the -confinement of Alkmene, through all sorts of wicked sorcery, precisely -as at the birth of the god of light, Apollo. Alkmene finally -gives birth to Herakles and Iphikles, the latter in no way the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> -former’s equal in courage or in strength, but destined to become -the father of his faithful friend, Iolaos. <a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> In this way Eurystheus -became the king in Mykene, in the land of the Argivians, in conformity -with the oath of Zeus, and the after born Herakles was -his subject.</p> - -<p>The old legend related the raising of Herakles on the strength -giving waters of the Dirke, the nourishment of all Theban children. -Later on, however, another version arose. Fearing the -jealousy of Hera, Alkmene <i>exposed the child which she had borne</i> -in a place which for a long time after was known as the field of -Herakles. About this time, Athene arrived, in company with -Hera. She marvelled at the beautiful form of the child, and persuaded -Hera to put him to her breast. But the boy took the -breast with far greater strength than his age seemed to warrant; -Hera felt pains and angrily flung the child to the ground. Athene, -however, carried him to the neighboring city and <i>took him to -Queen Alkmene, whose maternity was unknown to her, as a -poor foundling, whom she begged her to raise for the sake of -charity</i>. This peculiar accident is truly remarkable! The child’s -own mother allows him to perish, disregarding the duty of maternal -love, and the stepmother who is filled with natural hatred -against the child, saves her enemy without knowing it (after -Diodor, IV, 9; German translation by Wurm, Stuttgart, 1831). -Herakles had drawn only a few drops from Hera’s breast, but -the divine milk was sufficient to endow him with immortality. -An attempt on Hera’s part to kill the boy, asleep in his cradle, -by means of two serpents, proved a failure, for the child awak<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>ened -and crushed the beasts with a single pressure of his hands. -As a boy, Herakles one day killed his tutor, Linos, being incensed -about an unjust chastisement. Amphitryon, fearing the -wildness of the youth, sends him to tend his ox-herds in the -mountains, with the herders, among whom he is said by some to -have been raised entirely, like Amphion and Zethos, Kyros and -Romulus. Here he lives from the hunt, in the freedom of nature -(Preller, II, 123).</p> - -<p>The myth of Herakles suggests in certain features the Indian -saga of the hero <i>Krishna</i>, who like many heroes escapes a general -infanticide, and is then brought up by a herder’s wife, Iasodha. -A wicked she-demon appears, who has been sent by King Kansa -to kill the boy. She takes the post of wet nurse in the home, but -is recognized by Krishna, who bites her so severely in suckling -(like Hera, when nursing Herakles, whom she also means to -destroy), that she dies. (The early history of the pastoral god -Krishna is related in the so-called Kariwamsa.)</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Jesus">Jesus</h2> -</div> - - -<p>The Gospel according to Luke (1, 26 to 35) relates the prophecy -of the birth of Jesus, as follows:</p> - -<p>“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from -God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to <i>a virgin espoused -to a man whose name was Joseph</i>, of the house of David; and the -virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and -said, Hail! thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: -blessed art thou among women! And when she saw him, she was -troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation -this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, -Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, <i>thou -shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son and call his -name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the -Highest</i>: and the Lord God shalt give unto him the throne of his -father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> -ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary -unto the angel, How shall this be, <i>seeing I know not a man</i>? -And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall -come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow -thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee -<i>shall he called the Son of God</i>.”</p> - -<p>This report is supplemented by the Gospel according to Matthew <a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> -(1, 18 to 25), in the narrative of the birth and childhood of -Jesus: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as -his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, -<i>she was found with child of the Holy Ghost</i>. Then Joseph, her -husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public -example, was minded to put her away privily. But, while he -thought on these things, behold the <i>angel of the Lord appeared to -him in a dream</i>, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to -take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her -is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou -shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their -sins. (Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was -spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall -be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his -name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.) -Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord -had bidden him, and took unto him his wife. <i>And knew her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> -not, till she had brought forth her first born son</i>; and he called his -name Jesus.”</p> - -<p>Here we interpolate the detailed account of the birth of Jesus, -from the Gospel of Luke (2, 4 to 20): “And Joseph also went up -from Galilee, out of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, -which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and -lineage of David), to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, -being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, -the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And <i>she -brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling -clothes, and laid him in a manger</i>; <a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> because there was no room -for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds -abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. -And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of -the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. -And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you -good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you -is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ -the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the -babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly -there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host -praising God and saying, Glory to God in the Highest, and on -earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass as the -angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said -one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this -thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known -unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, -and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it they -made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning -this child. And all they that heard wondered at those things -which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> -things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned -glorifying and praising God for all the things which they -had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”</p> - -<p>We now continue the account after Matthew, in the second -chapter: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in -the days of Herod the king, behold, there came <i>wise men from -the East</i> to Jerusalem, saying, <i>Where is he that was born King -of the Jews</i>, for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to -worship him. When <i>Herod the king</i> had heard these things -he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had -gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, -he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they -said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by -the prophet, And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the -least among the princes of Juda, for out of thee shall come a -governor which shall rule my people Israel.</p> - -<p>Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired -of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent -them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the -young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, -that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the -king they departed; and lo the star, which they saw in the east, -went before them till it came and stood over where the young -child was.</p> - -<p>When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great -joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the -young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped -him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented -unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being -warned of God in a dream, that they should not return to Herod, -they departed into their own country another way. And when -they were departed, behold, <i>the angel of the Lord appeared to -Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and -his mother and flee into Egypt</i>, and be thou there until I bring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> -thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. -When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, -and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; -that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the -prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then -Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was -exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and <i>slew all the children that -were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years -old and under</i>, according to the time which he had diligently enquired -of the wise men. But when Herod was dead, behold, an -angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying -arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land -of Israel: <i>for they are dead which sought the young child’s life</i>. -And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came -into the land of Israel. But when he heard Archelaus did reign -in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go -thither: notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream, he -turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in -a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken -by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” <a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> - -<p>Similar birth legends to those of Jesus have also been transmitted -of other “founders of religions”; such as Zoroaster, who -is said to have lived about the year 1000 before Christ. His -mother Dughda dreams, <i>in the sixth month of her pregnancy</i>, that -the wicked and the good spirits are fighting for the embryonic -Zoroaster; a monster tears the future Zoroaster from the mother’s -womb, but a light god fights the monster with his horn of light, -re-encloses the embryo in the mother’s womb, blows upon Dughda,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> -and she became pregnant. On awakening, she hurries in her -fear to a wise dream interpreter, who is unable to explain the wonderful -dream before the end of three days: The child, which she -is carrying, is destined to become a man of great importance; -the dark cloud and the mountain of light signify, that she and her -son will at first have to undergo numerous trials, through tyrants -and other enemies, but at last they will overcome all perils. -Dughda at once returns to her home, and informs Pourushacpa, -her husband, of everything that has happened. Immediately -after his birth, the boy was seen to laugh: this was the first miracle -through which he drew attention to himself. <i>The magicians announce -the birth of the child as a portent of disaster to the prince -of the realm</i>, Durânsarûn, who betakes himself without delay to -the dwelling of Pourushacpa, in order to stab the child. But his -hand falls paralyzed, and he must leave with his errand undone. -This was the second miracle. Soon after, the wicked demons -steal the child from his mother and carry him into the desert, in -order to kill him; but Dughda finds the unharmed child, calmly -sleeping. This is the third miracle. Later on, Zoroaster was to -be trampled upon, in a narrow passage way, by a herd of oxen, -by command of the king. <a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> But the largest of the cattle took the -child between his feet, and preserved it from harm. This was the -fourth miracle. The fifth is merely a repetition of the preceding. -What the cattle had refused to do, was to be accomplished by -horses. But again the child was protected by a horse from the -hoofs of the other horses. Durânsurûn thereupon had the cubs -in a wolf’s den killed during the absence of the old wolves, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> -Zoroaster was laid down in their place. But a god closed the -jaws of the furious wolves, so that they could not harm the child. -Two divine cows arrived instead and presented their udders to -the child, giving it to drink. This was the sixth miracle, through -which Zoroaster’s life was preserved. (Compare Spiegel’s Eranische -Altertumskunde, I, pp. 688 et seq., also Brodbeck, Zoroaster, -Leipzig, 1893.)</p> - -<p>Related traits are also encountered in the history of Buddha, -whose life is referred to the sixth century before Christ; such as -the long sterility of the parents, the dream, the birth of the boy -under the open sky, the death of the mother and her substitution -by a foster-mother, the announcing of the birth to the ruler -of the realm; later on the losing of the boy in the temple (as in -the history of Jesus; compare Luke 2, 40-52).</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Siegfried"><span class="smcap">Siegfried</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The old Norse <i>Thidreksaga</i>, as registered about the year 1250 -by an Icelander, according to oral traditions and ancient songs, -relates the history of the birth and youth of Siegfried, as follows: <a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> -King Sigmund of Tarlungaland, on his return from an -expedition, banishes his wife Sisibe, the daughter of King Nidung -of Hispania, who is <i>accused</i> by Count Hartvin, whose advances -she has spurned, of having had <i>illicit relations with a menial</i>. -The king’s counsellors advise him to mutilate instead of kill the -innocent queen, and Hartvin is ordered to cut out her tongue in the -forest, so as to bring it to the king as a pledge. His companion, -Count Hermann, opposes the execution of the cruel command, -and proposes to present the tongue of a dog to the king. While -the two men are engaged in a violent quarrel, <i>Sisibe gives birth to -a remarkably beautiful boy; she then took a glass vessel, and after -having wrapped the boy in linens, she placed him in the glass<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> -vessel, which she</i> carefully closed again and placed beside her -(Rassmann). Count Hartvin was conquered in the fight, and -in falling kicked the glass vessel, <i>so that it fell into the river</i>. -When the queen saw this she swooned, and died soon afterwards. -Hermann went home, told the king everything, and was banished -from the country. The <i>glass vessel meantime drifted down -stream to the sea</i>, and it was not long before the tide turned. -<i>Then the vessel floated on to a rocky cliff</i>, and the water ran off -so that the place where the vessel was perfectly dry. The -boy inside had grown somewhat, and when the vessel struck the -rock, it broke, and the child began to cry. [Rassmann] The boy’s -wailing was heard <i>by a doe</i>, which seized him with her lips, and -carried him to her litter, <i>where she nursed him together with her -young</i>. After the child had lived twelve months in the den of -the doe, he had grown to the height and strength of other boys -four years of age. One day he ran into the forest, where dwelt -the wise and skilfull <i>smith, Mimir who had lived for nine years -in childless wedlock</i>. He saw the boy, who was followed by the -faithful doe, took him to his home, <i>and resolved to bring him up -as his own son</i>. He gave him the name of Siegfried. In Mimir’s -home, Siegfried soon attained an enormous stature and strength, -but his wilfulness caused Mimir <i>to get rid of him</i>. He sent the -youth into the forest, where it had been arranged that the dragon -Regin, Mimir’s brother, was to kill him. But Siegfried conquers -the dragon, and kills Mimir. He then proceeds to Brynhild, who -names his parents to him.</p> - -<p>Similarly to the early history of Siegfried, an Austrasiatic saga -tells of the birth and youth of <i>Wolfdietrich</i>. <a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> His mother is -likewise accused of <i>unfaithfulness</i>, and intercourse with the devil, -by a vassal whom she has repulsed, and who speaks evil of her -to the returning king, Hugdietrich of Constantinople. <a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span></p> - -<p><i>The king surrenders the child to the faithful Berchtung, who is -to kill it, but exposes it instead, in the forest, near the water</i>, in -the hope that it will fall in of its own accord and thus find its -death. But the frolicking child remains unhurt, and even <i>the -wild animals</i>, lions, bears, wolves, which come at night to the -water, <i>do not harm it</i>. The astonished Berchtung resolves to save -the boy, and he <i>surrenders him to a game keeper</i> who, together -with his wife, raises him and names him Wolfdietrich. <a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> - -<p>The following later hero epics may still be quoted in this connection. -In the thirteenth century, the saga of <i>Horn</i>, the son of -Aluf, who after having been exposed on the sea, finally reaches -the court of King Hunlaf, and after numerous adventures wins -the king’s daughter, Rimhilt, for his wife. Furthermore, a detail -suggestive of Siegfried, from the saga of the skilfull smith <i>Wieland</i>, -who, after avenging his foully murdered father, floats down -the river Weser, artfully enclosed in the trunk of a tree, and -loaded with the tools and treasures of his teachers. Finally the -<i>Arthur</i> legend contains the commingling of divine and human -paternity, the exposure and the early life with a lowly man.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Lohengrin"><span class="smcap">Lohengrin</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The widely distributed group of sagas which have been woven -around the mythic knight with the swan (the old French Chevalier -au cigne) can be traced back to very ancient Keltic traditions. -The following is the version which has been made familiar by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> -Wagner’s dramatisation of this theme. The story of Lohengrin, -the knight with the swan, as transmitted by the medieval German -epic [modernized by Junghaus, Reclam] and briefly rendered by -the Grimm brothers, in their “German Sagas” (Part II, Berlin, -1818, p. 306) under the title: Lohengrin in Brabant.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Brabant and Limburg died, without leaving -other heirs than a young daughter, Els, or Elsam by name; her he -recommended on his death bed to one of his retainers, Friedrich -von Telramund. Friedrich, the intrepid warrior, became emboldened -to demand the youthful duchess’ hand and lands, under -the false claim that she had promised to marry him. She steadfastly -refused to do so. Friedrich complained to Emperor Heinrich, -surnamed the Vogler, and the verdict was that she must defend -herself against him, through some hero, in a so called divine -judgment, in which God would accord the victory to the innocent, -and defeat the guilty. As none were ready to take her part, the -young duchess prayed ardently to God, to save her; and far away -in distant Montsalvatsch, in the Council of the Grail, the sound -of the bell was heard, showing that there was some one in urgent -need of help. The Grail therefore resolved to despatch as a -rescuer, Lohengrin the son of Parsifal. Just as he was about -to place his foot in the stirrup <i>a swan came floating down the -water drawing a skiff behind him</i>. As soon as Lohengrin set eyes -upon the swan, he exclaimed: “Take the steed back to the manger, -I shall follow this bird wherever he may lead me.” Having faith -in God’s omnipotence he took no food with him in the skiff. -After they had been afloat on the sea five days, the swan dipped -his bill in the water, caught a fish, ate one half of it, and gave the -other half to the prince to eat. <i>Thus the knight was fed by the -swan.</i></p> - -<p>Meanwhile Elsa had summoned her chieftains and retainers -to a meeting in Antwerp. Precisely on the day of the assembly, -a swan was sighted swimming up stream (river Schelde) and -drawing behind him a skiff, in which Lohengrin lay asleep on his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> -shield. The swan promptly came to land at the shore, and the -prince was joyfully welcomed. Hardly had his helmet, shield -and sword been taken from the skiff, when the swan at once swam -away again. Lohengrin heard of the wrong which had been done -to the duchess, and willingly consented to become her champion. -Elsa then summoned all her relatives and subjects. The place was -prepared in Mayence, where Lohengrin and Friedrich were to -fight in the emperor’s presence. The hero of the Grail defeated -Friedrich, who confessed having lied to the duchess, and was -executed with the axe. Elsa was alloted to Lohengrin, they -having long been lovers; but he secretly <i>insisted upon her avoiding -all questions as to his ancestry, or whence he had come</i>, saying -that otherwise he would have to leave her instantaneously and -she would never see him again.</p> - -<p>For some time, the couple lived in peace and happiness. Lohengrin -was a wise and mighty ruler over his land, and also served -his emperor well in his expeditions against the Huns and the -heathen. But it came to pass that one day in throwing the javelin -he unhorsed the Duke of Cleve, so that the latter broke an arm. -The Duchess of Cleve was angry, and spoke out amongst the -women, saying: “Lohengrin may be brave enough, and he seems -to be a good Christian; what a pity that his nobility is not of -much account <i>for no one knows whence he has come floating to -this land</i>.” These words pierced the heart of the Duchess of -Brabant, and she changed color with emotion. At night, when -her spouse was holding her in his arms, she wept, and he said -“What is the matter, Elsa, my own?” She made answer, “the -Duchess of Cleve has caused me sore pain.” Lohengrin was -silent and asked no more. The second night, the same came to -pass. But in the third night, Elsa could no longer retain herself, -and she spoke: “Lord, do not chide me! <i>I wish to know, for our -children’s sake, whence you were born</i>; for my heart tells me that -you are of high rank.” When the day broke, Lohengrin declared -in public whence he had come, that Parsifal was his father, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> -God had sent him from the Grail. He then asked for his two -children, which the duchess had borne him, kissed them, told -them to take good care of his horn and sword which he would -leave behind, and said: “Now, I must be gone.” To the duchess -he left a little ring which his mother had given him. Then the -swan, his friend, came swimming swiftly, with the skiff behind -him; the prince stepped in and crossed the water, back to the -service of the Grail. Elsa sank down in a faint. The empress -resolved <i>to keep the younger boy Lohengrin, for his father’s sake, -and to bring him up as her own child</i>. But the widow wept and -mourned <a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> the rest of her life for her beloved spouse, who never -came back to her.</p> - -<p>On inverting the Lohengrin saga in such a way that the end is -placed first,—on the basis of the rearrangement, or even transmutation -of motives, not uncommonly found in myths,—we find -the type of saga with which we have now become familiar: The -infant Lohengrin, who is identical with his father of the same -name, <i>floats in a vessel upon the sea and is carried ashore by a -swan. The empress adopts him as her son, and he becomes a -valorous hero.</i> Having married a noble maiden of the land, he -forbids her to enquire as to his origin. When the command is -broken he is obliged to reveal his miraculous descent and divine -mission, after which the swan carries him back in his skiff to the -Grail.</p> - -<p>Other versions of the saga of the Knight with the Swan have -retained this original arrangement of the motives, although they -appear commingled with elements of fairy tales. The saga of the -Knight with the Swan, as related in the Flemish People’s Book<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> -(Deutsche Sagen, I, 29), contains in the beginning the history -of the birth of seven children, <a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> borne by Beatrix, the wife of -King Oriant of Flanders. The wicked mother of the absent -king, Matabruna, orders that the children be killed, and the queen -be given seven puppy dogs in their stead. But the servant contents -himself with the exposure of the children, who are found by -a hermit, named Helias, and are nourished by a goat until they -are grown. Beatrix is thrown into a dungeon. Later on Matabruna -learns that the children have been saved and her repeated -command to kill them causes the hunter, who has been charged -with the murder, to bring her as a sign of apparent obedience to -her behest, the silver neck chains which the children wore already -at the time of their birth. One of the boys, named Helias, after -his foster father, alone keeps his chain, and is thereby saved from -the fate of his brothers, who are transformed into swans, as soon -as their chains are removed. Matabruna volunteers to prove the -relations of the queen with the dog, and upon her instigation, -Beatrix is to be killed, unless a champion arises to defend her. -In her need, she prays to God, who sends her son Helias as a -rescuer. The brothers are also saved by means of the other -chains, except one, whose chain has already been melted down. -King Oriant now transfers the rulership to his son Helias, who -causes the wicked Matabruna to be burned. One day, Helias sees -his brother, the swan, drawing a skiff on the lake surrounding the -castle. This he regards as a heavenly sign, he arms himself and -mounts the skiff. The swan takes him through rivers and lakes -to the place where God has ordained him to go. Next follows<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> -the liberation of an innocently accused duchess, in analogy with -the Lohengrin saga; and his marriage to her daughter Clarissa, -who is forbidden to ask for her husband’s ancestry. In the seventh -year of their marriage she disobeys and puts the question, -after which Helias returns home in the swan’s skiff. Finally, his -lost brother swan is likewise released.</p> - -<p>The characteristic features of the Lohengrin saga,—that the -divine hero disappears again in the same mysterious fashion in -which he has arrived; also the transference of mythical motives -from the life of the older hero, bearing the same name, to a -younger one, a very universal process in myth-formation, are -likewise embodied in the Anglian-Longobard saga of Scëaf, which -is mentioned in the introduction to the Beowulf-Song, the oldest -German epic, preserved in the Anglo-Saxon tongue (translated by -H. v. Wolzogen, Reclam). The father of old Beowulf received -his name, Scild Scéfing (meaning the son of Scëaf), because as -a very young boy, he was cast ashore as a stranger, asleep in a -boat on a sheaf of grain (Anglo-saxon, scéaf). The waves of -the sea carried him to the coast of the country which he was destined -to defend. The inhabitants welcomed him as a miracle, -raised him, and later on made him their king, as an emissary of -God. (Compare Grimm, German Mythology, I, p. 306; III, p. -391, and H. Leo: Beowulf, Halle, 1839.) What is told of the -ancestor of the royal house, Scaf, <a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> or Scëaf, appears in the Beowulf -song transferred to his son, Scëafing Scild, according to the -unanimous statement of Grimm (see above), and Leo (p. 24): -His dead body is exposed at his behest, surrounded by kingly -splendor, upon a ship without a crew, which is sent out into the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> -sea. Thus he vanishes in the same mysterious manner in which his -father arrived ashore; this trait being accounted for, in analogy -with the Lohengrin saga, by the mythical identity of father and son.</p> - -<p>A cursory review of these variegated hero myths forcibly brings -out a series of uniformly common features, with a typical ground -work, from which a standard saga, as it were, may be constructed. -This schedule corresponds approximately to the ideal human -skeleton which is constantly seen, with minor deviations, on transillumination -of figures which outwardly differ from one another. -The individual traits of the several myths, and especially apparently -crude variations from the prototype, can only be entirely -elucidated by the myth-interpretation. The standard saga itself -may be formulated according to the following scheme:</p> - -<p>The hero is the child of most distinguished parents; usually -the son of a king. His origin is preceded by difficulties, such as -continence, or prolonged barrenness, or secret intercourse of the -parents, due to external prohibition or obstacles. During the -pregnancy, or antedating the same, there is a prophecy, in form -of a dream or oracle, cautioning against his birth, and usually -threatening danger to the father, or his representative. As a rule, -he is surrendered to the water, in a box. He is then saved by -animals, or by lowly people (shepherds) and is suckled by a -female animal, or by a humble woman. After he has grown up, -he finds his distinguished parents, in a highly versatile fashion; -takes his revenge on his father, on the one hand, is acknowledged -on the other, and finally achieves rank and honors. <a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> - -<p>The normal relations of the hero towards his father and his -mother regularly appearing impaired in all these myths, as shown -by the schedule, there is reason to assume that something in the -nature of the hero must account for such a disturbance, and -motives of this kind are not very difficult to discover. It is -readily understood—and may be noted in the modern epigones of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> -the heroic age—that for the hero who is exposed to envy, jealousy -and calumny to a much higher degree than all others, the descent -from his parents often becomes the source of the greatest distress -and embarrassment. The old saying that “A prophet is not without -honor save in his own country and in his father’s house,” has -no other meaning but this, that he whose parents, brothers and -sisters, or playmates, are known to us, is not so readily conceded -to be a prophet (Gospel of St. Mark, VI, 4). There seems to be -a certain necessity for the prophet to deny his parents; also, the -well-known opera of Meyerbeer is based upon the avowal that the -prophetic hero is allowed, in favor of his mission, to abandon -and repudiate even his tenderly beloved mother.</p> - -<p>A number of difficulties arise, however, as we proceed to a -deeper enquiry into the motives which oblige the hero to sever -his family relations. Numerous investigators have emphasized -that the understanding of myth formation requires our going -back to their ultimate source, namely the individual faculty of -imagination. <a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> The fact has also been pointed out that this -imaginative faculty is found in its active and unchecked exuberance -only in childhood. Therefore, the imaginative life of the -child should first be studied, in order to facilitate the understanding -of the far more complex and also more handicapped -mythical and artistic imagination in general.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the investigation of the juvenile faculty of imagination -has hardly commenced, instead of being sufficiently -advanced to permit the utilization of the findings for the explanation -of the more complicated psychic activities. The -reason for this imperfect understanding of the psychic life of -the child is referable to the lack of a suitable instrument, as well -as of a reliable avenue, leading into the intricacies of this very -delicate and rather inaccessible domain. These juvenile emotions -can by no means be studied in the normal human adult, and -it may actually be charged, in view of certain psychic dis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>turbances, -that the normal psychic integrity of normal subjects -consists precisely in their having overcome and forgotten their -childish vagaries and imaginations: so that the way has become -blocked. In children, on the other hand, empirical observation -(which as a rule must remain merely superficial) fails in the -investigation of psychic processes, because we are not as yet -enabled to trace all manifestations correctly to their motive -forces: so that we are lacking the instrument. There is a certain -class of persons, the so-called psychoneurotics, shown by the -teachings of Freud to have remained children, in a sense, although -otherwise appearing grown up. These psychoneurotics may be -said not to have given up their juvenile psychic life, which on -the contrary, in the course of maturity, has become strengthened -and fixed, instead of modified. In psychoneurotics, the emotions -of the child are preserved and exaggerated, thus becoming -capable of pathological effects, in which these humble emotions -appear broadened and enormously magnified. The fancies of -neurotics are, as it were, the uniformly exaggerated reproductions -of the childish imaginings. This would point the way to a -solution of the problem. Unfortunately, however, the access is -still much more difficult to establish in these cases than to the -child mind. There is only one known instrument which makes -this road practicable, namely the psychoanalytic method, which -has been developed through the work of Freud. Constant -handling of this instrument will clear the observer’s vision to such -a degree that he will be enabled to discover the identical motive -forces, only in delicately shaded manifestations, also in the psychic -life of those who do not become neurotics later on.</p> - -<p>Professor Freud had the amiability to place at the author’s -disposal his highly appreciated experience with the psychology of -the neuroses; and on this material are based the following comments, -on the imaginative faculty of the child as well as the -neurotic.</p> - -<p>The detachment of the growing individual from the authority<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> -of the parents is one of the most necessary, but also one of -the most painful achievements of evolution. It is absolutely -necessary for this detachment to take place, and it may be assumed -that all normal grown individuals have accomplished it -to a certain extent. Social progress is essentially based upon -this opposition between the two generations. On the other hand, -there exists a class of neurotics whose condition indicates that -they have failed to solve this very problem. For the young child, -the parents are in the first place the sole authority, and the -source of all faith. To resemble them, <i>i.e.</i>, the progenitor of the -same sex; to grow up like father or mother, this is the most -intense and portentous wish of the child’s early years. Progressive -intellectual development naturally brings it about that -the child gradually becomes acquainted with the category to -which the parents belong. Other parents become known to the -child, who compares these with his own, and thereby becomes -justified in doubting the incomparability and uniqueness with -which he had invested them. Trifling occurrences in the life of -the child, which induce a mood of dissatisfaction, lead up to a -criticism of the parents, and the gathering conviction that other -parents are preferable in certain ways, is utilized for this attitude -of the child towards the parents. From the psychology of the -neuroses, we have learned that very intense emotions of sexual -rivalry are also involved in this connection. The causative factor -evidently is the feeling of being neglected. Opportunities arise -only too frequently when the child is neglected, or at least feels -himself neglected, when he misses the entire love of the parents, -or at least regrets having to share the same with the other -children of the family. The feeling that one’s own inclinations -are not entirely reciprocated seeks its relief in the idea,—often -consciously remembered from very early years,—of being a step-child, -or an adopted child. Many persons who have not become -neurotics, very frequently remember occasions of this kind, when -the hostile behavior of the parents was interpreted and recipro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>cated -by them in this fashion, usually under the influence of -story books. The influence of sex is already evident, in so far -as the boy shows a far greater tendency to harbor hostile feelings -against his father than his mother, with a much stronger inclination -to emancipate himself from the father than from the mother. -The imaginative faculty of girls is possibly much less active in -this respect. These consciously remembered psychic emotions -of the years of childhood supply the factor which permits the -interpretation of the myth. What is not often consciously remembered, -but can almost invariably be demonstrated through -psychoanalysis, is the next stage in the development of this -incipient alienation from the parents, which may be designated -by the term <i>Family Romance of Neurotics</i>. The essence of -neurosis, and of all higher mental qualifications, comprises a -special activity of the imagination which is primarily manifested -in the play of the child, and which from about the period preceding -puberty takes hold of the theme of the family relations. -A characteristic example of this special imaginative faculty is -represented by the familiar <i>day dreams</i>, <a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> which are continued -until long after puberty. Accurate observation of these day -dreams shows that they serve for the fulfilment of wishes, for -the righting of life, and that they have two essential objects, one -erotic, the other of an ambitious nature (usually with the erotic -factor concealed therein). About the time in question the child’s -imagination is engaged upon the task of getting rid of the parents, -who are now despised and are as a rule to be supplanted by others -of a higher social rank. The child utilizes an accidental coincidence -of actual happenings (meetings with the lord of the manor, -or the proprietor of the estate, in the country; with the reigning -prince, in the city. In the United States with some great statesman, -millionaire). Accidental occurrences of this kind arouse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> -the child’s envy, and this finds its expression in fancy fabrics -which replace the two parents by others of a higher rank. The -technical elaboration of these two imaginings, which of course by -this time have become conscious, depends upon the child’s adroitness, -and also upon the material at his disposal. It likewise -enters into consideration, if these fancies are elaborated with -more or less claim to plausibility. This stage is reached at a time -when the child is still lacking all knowledge of the sexual conditions -of descent. With the added knowledge of the manifold -sexual relations of father and mother; with the child’s realization -of the fact that the father is always uncertain, whereas the -mother is very certain—the family romance undergoes a peculiar -restriction; it is satisfied with ennobling the father, while the -descent from the mother is no longer questioned, but accepted -as an unalterable fact. This second (or sexual) stage of the -family romance is moreover supported by another motive, which -did not exist in the first (or asexual) stage. Knowledge of -sexual matters gives rise to the tendency of picturing erotic situations -and relations, impelled by the pleasurable emotion of placing -the mother, or the subject of the greatest sexual curiosity, in -the situation of secret unfaithfulness and clandestine love affairs. -In this way the primary or asexual fantasies are raised to the -standard of the improved later understanding.</p> - -<p>The motive of revenge and retaliation, which was originally -to the front, is again evident. These neurotic children are mostly -those who were punished by the parents, to break them of bad -sexual habits, and they take their revenge upon their parents by -their imaginings. The younger children of a family are particularly -inclined to deprive their predecessors of their advantage -by fables of this kind (exactly as in the intrigues of history). -Frequently they do not hesitate in crediting the mother with as -many love affairs as there are rivals. An interesting variation -of this family romance restores the legitimacy of the plotting -hero himself, while the other children are disposed of in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> -way as illegitimate. The family romance may be governed besides -by a special interest, all sorts of inclinations being met by -its adaptability and variegated character. The little romancer -gets rid in this fashion for example of the kinship of a sister, -who may have attracted him sexually.</p> - -<p>Those who turn aside with horror from this corruption of -the child mind, or perhaps actually contest the possibility of such -matters, should note that all these apparently hostile imaginings -have not such a very bad significance after all, and that the -original affection of the child for his parents is still preserved -under their thin disguise. The faithlessness and ingratitude on -the part of the child are only apparent, for on investigating in -detail the most common of these romantic fancies, namely the -substitution of both parents, or of the father alone, by more -exalted personages—the discovery will be made that these new -and highborn parents are invested throughout with the qualities -which are derived from real memories of the true lowly parents, -so that the child does not actually remove his father but exalts -him. <i>The entire endeavor to replace the real father by a more -distinguished one is merely the expression of the child’s longing -for the vanished happy time, when his father still appeared to be -the strongest and greatest man, and the mother seemed the dearest -and most beautiful woman.</i> The child turns away from the -father, as he now knows him, to the father in whom he believed -in his earlier years, his imagination being in truth only the expression -of regret for this happy time having passed away. <i>Thus -the overvaluation of the earliest years of childhood again claims -its own in these fancies.</i> <a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> An interesting contribution to this -subject is furnished by the study of the dreams. Dream-interpretation -teaches that even in later years, in the dreams of the -emperor or the empress, these princely persons stand for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> -father and the mother. <a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> Thus the infantile overvaluation of the -parents is still preserved in the dream of the normal adult.</p> - -<p>As we proceed to fit the above features into our scheme, we -feel justified in analogizing the ego of the child with the hero -of the myth, in view of the unanimous tendency of family -romances and hero myths; keeping in mind that the myth throughout -reveals an endeavor to get rid of the parents, and that the -same wish arises in the phantasies of the individual child at the -time when it is trying to establish its personal independence. -The ego of the child behaves in this respect like the hero of the -myth, and as a matter of fact, the hero should always be interpreted -merely as a collective ego, which is equipped with all the -excellences. In a similar manner, the hero in personal poetic -fiction, usually represents the poet himself, or at least one side -of his character.</p> - -<p>Summarizing the essentials of the hero myth, we find the -descent from noble parents, the exposure in a river, and in a box, -and the raising by lowly parents; followed in the further evolution -of the story by the hero’s return to his first parents, with or -without punishment meted out to them. It is very evident that -the two parent couples of the myth correspond to the real and the -imaginary parent couple of the romantic phantasy. Closer inspection -reveals the psychological identity of the humble and the -noble parents, precisely as in the infantile and neurotic phantasies.</p> - -<p>In conformity with the overvaluation of the parents in early -childhood, the myth begins with the noble parents, exactly like the -romantic phantasy, whereas in reality adults soon adapt themselves -to the actual conditions. Thus the phantasy of the family -romance is simply realized in the myth, with a bold reversal to -the actual conditions. The hostility of the father, and the resulting -exposure, accentuate the motive which has caused the ego -to indulge in the entire fiction. The fictitious romance is the -excuse, as it were, for the hostile feelings which the child harbors<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> -against his father, and which in this fiction are projected against -the father. The exposure in the myth, therefore, is equivalent -to the repudiation or non-recognition in the romantic phantasy. -The child simply gets rid of the father in the neurotic romance, -while in the myth the father endeavors to lose the child. Rescue -and revenge are the natural terminations, as demanded by the -essence of the phantasy.</p> - -<p>In order to establish the full value of this parallelization, as -just sketched in its general outlines, it must enable us to interpret -certain constantly recurring details of the myth which seem to -require a special explanation. This demand would seem to acquire -special importance in view of the fact that no satisfactory -explanation of these details is forthcoming in the writings of even -the most enthusiastic astral mythologists, or natural philosophers. -Such details are represented by the regular occurrence of dreams -(or oracles), and by the mode of exposure in a box and in the -water. These motives do not at first glance seem to permit a -psychologic derivation. Fortunately the study of dream-symbolisms -permits the elucidation of these elements of the hero-myth. -The utilization of the same material in the dreams of -healthy persons and neurotics <a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> indicates that the exposure in the -water signifies no more and no less than the <i>symbolic expression -of birth</i>. The children come out of the “water.” <a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> The basket,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> -box or receptacle <a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> simply means the container, the womb; so -that the exposure directly signifies the process of birth, although -it is represented by its opposite.</p> - -<p>Those who object to this representation by opposites should -remember how often the dream works with the same mechanism -(compare “Traumdeutung,” II edition, p. 238). A confirmation -of this interpretation of the exposure, as taken from the common -human symbolism, is furnished by the material itself, in the dream -dreamt by the grandfather (or still more convincingly by the -mother herself) <a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> in the Ktesian version of Kyros before his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> -birth; in this dream, so much water flows from the lap of the -expectant mother as to inundate all Asia, like an enormous ocean. <a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> -It is remarkable that in both cases the Chaldeans correctly interpreted -these water dreams as birth-dreams. In all probability, -these dreams themselves are constructed out of the knowledge of -a very ancient and universally understood symbolism, with a dim -foresight of the relations and connections which are appreciated -and presented in Freud’s teachings. There he says (“Traumdeutung,” -2d edition, p. 199) in referring to a dream in which -the dreamer hurls herself in the dark water of a lake: Dreams of -this sort are birth-dreams, and their interpretation is accomplished -by reversing the fact as communicated in the manifest dream; -namely, instead of hurling oneself into the water, it means emerging -from the water, <i>i.e.</i>, to be born. <a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> The justice of this inter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>pretation, -which renders the water-dream equivalent to the exposure, -is again confirmed by the fact that precisely in the -Kyros saga, which contains the water-dream, the motive of the -exposure in the water is lacking, while only the basket, which -does not occur in the dream, plays a part in the exposure.</p> - -<p>In this interpretation of the exposure as the birth, we must -not let ourselves be disturbed by the discrepancy in the succession -of the individual elements of the symbolized materialization, with -the real birth process. This chronological rearrangement or even -reversal has been explained by Freud as due to the general manner -in which recollections are elaborated into phantasies; the same -material reappears in the phantasies, but in an entirely novel -arrangement, and no attention whatsoever is paid to the natural -sequence of the acts. <a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></p> - -<p>Besides this chronological reversal, the reversal of the contents -requires special explanation. The first reason for the representation -of the birth by its opposite,—the life threatening exposure in -the water, is the accentuation of the parental hostility towards the -future hero. <a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> The creative influence of this tendency to represent -the parents as the first and most powerful opponents of the hero -will be appreciated, when it is kept in mind that the entire family-romance -in general owes its origin to the feeling of being neglected, -namely the assumed hostility of the parents. In the myth, -this hostility goes so far that the parents refuse to let the child be -born, which is precisely the reason of the hero’s lament, moreover, -the myth plainly reveals the desire to enforce his materialization -even against the will of the parents. The vital peril which is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> -thus concealed in the representation of birth through exposure, -actually exists in the process of birth itself. The overcoming of -all these obstacles also expresses the idea that the future hero has -actually overcome the greatest difficulties by virtue of his birth, -for he has victoriously thwarted all attempts to prevent it. <a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> Or -another interpretation may be admitted, according to which the -youthful hero, foreseeing his destiny to taste more than his share -of the bitterness of life, deplores in pessimistic mood the inimical -act which has called him to earth. He accuses the parents, as it -were, for having exposed him to the struggle of life, for having -allowed him to be born. <a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> The refusal to let the son be born, -which belongs especially to the father, is frequently concealed by -the contrast motive, the wish for a child (as in Œdipus, Perseus -and others), while the hostile attitude towards the future successor -on the throne and in the kingdom is projected to the outside, -namely it is attributed to an oracular verdict, which is thereby -revealed as the substitute of the ominous dream, or better, as the -equivalent of its interpretation.</p> - -<p>From another point of view, however, the family romance -shows that the phantasies of the child, although apparently -estranging the parents, have nought else to say concerning them -besides their confirmation as the real parents. The exposure -myth, translated with the assistance of symbolism, likewise con<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>tains -nothing but the assurance: this is my mother, who has borne -me at the command of the father. But on account of the tendency -of the myth, and the resulting transference of the hostile attitude, -from the child to the parents, this assurance of the real parentage -can only be expressed as the repudiation of such parentage.</p> - -<p>On closer inspection, it is noteworthy in the first place that the -hostile attitude of the hero towards his parents concerns especially -the father. Usually, as in the myth of Œdipus, Paris, and others, -the royal father receives a prophecy of some disaster, threatening -him through the expected son; then it is the father who causes -the exposure of the boy and who pursues and menaces him in all -sorts of ways after his unlooked-for rescue, but finally succumbs -to his son, according to the prophecy. In order to understand this -trait, which at first may appear somewhat startling, it is not necessary -to explore the heavens for some process into which this trait -might be laboriously fitted. Looking with open eyes and unprejudiced -minds at the relations between parents and children, -or between brothers such as these exist in reality <a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a>—a certain -tension is frequently, if not regularly revealed between father -and son, or still more distinctly a competition between brothers; -although this tension may not be obvious and permanent, it is -lurking in the sphere of the unconscious, as it were, with periodical -eruptions. Erotic factors are especially apt to be involved, -and as a rule the deepest, generally unconscious root of the dislike -of the son for the father, or of two brothers for each other, is -referable to the competition for the tender devotion and love of -the mother. The Œdipus myth shows plainly, only in grosser -dimensions, the accuracy of this interpretation, for the parricide -is here followed by the incest with the mother. This erotic relation -with the mother, which predominates in other mythic cycles, -is relegated to the background in the myths of the birth of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> -hero, <a id="FNanchor_91" href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> while the opposition against the father is more strongly -accentuated.</p> - -<p>The fact that this infantile rebellion against the father is apparently -provoked in the birth myths by the hostile behavior of -the father is due to a reversal of the relation, known as projection, -which is brought about by very peculiar characteristics of the -myth forming psychic activity. The projection mechanism, which -also bore its part in the re-interpretation of the birth act, as well -as certain other characteristics of myth formation, to be discussed -presently,—necessitates the uniform characterisation of the myth as -a paranoid structure, in view of its resemblance to peculiar processes -in the mechanism of certain psychic disturbances. Intimately -connected with the paranoid character is the property of separating -or dissociating what is fused in the imagination. This process, -as illustrated by the two parents couples, provides the foundation -for the myth formation, and together with the projection mechanism -supplies the key to the understanding of an entire series of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> -otherwise inexplicable configurations of the myth. As the motor -power for this projection of the hero’s hostile attitude on to the -father stands revealed the wish for its justification, arising from -the troublesome realization of these feelings against the father. -The displacement process which begins with the projection of the -troublesome sensation is still further continued, however, and -with the assistance of the mechanism of separation or dissociation, -it has found a different expression of its gradual progress in -very characteristic forms of the hero myth. In the original psychologic -setting, the father is still identical with the king, the -tyrannical persecutor. The first attenuation of this relation is -manifested in those myths in which the separation of the tyrannical -persecutor from the real father is already attempted, but not -yet entirely accomplished, the former being still related to the -hero, usually as his grandfather, for example in the Kyros-myth -with all its versions, and in the majority of all hero myths in general. -In the separation of the father’s part from that of the king, -this type signifies the first return step of the descent fantasy -toward the actual conditions, and accordingly the hero’s father -appears in this type mostly as a lowly man: See Kyros, Gilgamos -and others. The hero thus arrives again at an approach toward -his parents, the establishment of a certain kinship, which finds its -expression in the fact that not only the hero himself, but also his -father and his mother represent objects of the tyrant’s persecution. -The hero in this way acquires a more intimate connection -with the mother (they are often exposed together: Perseus, Telephos, -Feridun), who is nearer to him on account of the erotic -relation; while the renouncement of his hatred against the father -here attains the expression of its most forcible reaction, <a id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> for the -hero henceforth appears, as in the Hamlet saga, not as the persecutor -of his father (or grandfather, respectively) but as the -avenger of the persecuted father. This involves a deeper rela<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>tion -of the Hamlet saga with the Iranese story of Kaikhosrav, -where the hero likewise appears as the avenger of his murdered -father (compare Feridun and others).</p> - -<p>The person of the grandfather himself, who in certain sagas -appears replaced by other relatives (the uncle, in the Hamlet -saga), also possesses a deeper meaning. <a id="FNanchor_93" href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> The myth complex of -the incest with the mother—and the related revolt against the father—is -here combined with the second great complex, which has for -its contents the erotic relations between father and daughter. -Under this heading belongs besides other widely ramified groups -of sagas (quoted in the author’s “Incest Book,” Chapter XI), -the story which is told in countless versions of a <i>newborn boy</i>, of -whom it is <i>prophesied</i> that he is to become the <i>son-in-law</i> and -<i>heir</i> of a certain ruler or potentate, and who finally does so in spite -of all persecutions (exposure and so forth) on the part of the -latter. Detailed literary references concerning the wide distribution -of this story are found in R. Köhler, “Kleine Schriften,” -II, 357. The father who refuses to give his daughter to any of -her suitors, or who attaches certain conditions difficult of fulfillment -to the winning of the daughter, does this because he really -begrudges her to all others, for when all is told he wishes to -possess her himself. He locks her up in some inaccessible spot, -so as to safeguard her virginity (Perseus, Gilgamos, Telephos, -Romulus), and when his command is disobeyed he pursues the -daughter and her offspring with insatiable hatred. However, the -unconscious sexual motives of his hostile attitude, which is later -on avenged by his grandson, render it evident that again the hero -kills in him simply the man who is trying to rob him of the love -of his mother: namely the father.</p> - -<p>Another attempt at a reversal to a more original type consists -in the following trait: The return to the lowly father, which has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> -been brought about through the separation of the father’s rôle -from that of the king, is again nullified through the lowly father’s -secondary elevation to the rank of a god, as in Perseus and the -other sons of virgin mothers; Karna, Ion, Romulus, Jesus. The -secondary character of this godly paternity is especially evident -in those myths where the virgin who has been impregnated by -divine conception, later on marries a mortal (Jesus, Karna, Ion) -who then appears as the real father, while the god as the father -represents merely the most exalted childish idea of the magnitude, -power and perfection of the father. <a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> At the same time, -these myths strictly insist upon the motive of the virginity of the -mother, which elsewhere is merely hinted at. The first impetus -is perhaps supplied by the transcendental tendency, necessitated -through the introduction of the god. At the same time, the birth -from the virgin is the most abrupt repudiation of the father, the -consummation of the entire myth, as illustrated by the Sargon -legend, which does not admit any father, besides the vestal mother.</p> - -<p>The last stage of this progressive attenuation of the hostile -relation to the father is represented by that form of the myth in -which the person of the royal persecutor not only appears entirely -detached from that of the father, but has even lost the remotest -kinship with the hero’s family, which he opposes in the most -hostile manner, as its enemy (in Feridun, Abraham, King Herod -against Jesus, and others). Although of his original threefold -character as the father, the king, and the persecutor, he retains -only the part of the royal persecutor or the tyrant, the entire plan -of the myth conveys the impression as if nothing had been -changed, but as if the designation as “father” had been simply -replaced by the term of “tyrant.” This interpretation of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> -father as a “tyrant” which is typical of the infantile ideation, <a id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> -will be found later on to possess the greatest importance for the -interpretation of certain abnormal constellations of this complex.</p> - -<p>The prototype of this identification of the king with the father, -which regularly recurs also in the dreams of adults, presumably -is the origin of royalty from the patriarchate in the family, which -is still attested by the use of identical words for king and father, -in the Hindoo-Germanic languages <a id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> (compare the German -“Landesvater,” father of his country, = king). The reversal of -the family romance to actual conditions is almost entirety accomplished -in this type of myth. The lowly parents are acknowledged -with a frankness which seems to be directly contradictory -to the tendency of the entire myth.</p> - -<p>Precisely this revelation of the real conditions, which hitherto -had to be left to the interpretation, enables us to prove the -accuracy of the latter from the material itself. The biblical -Moses-legend has been selected, as especially well adapted to this -purpose.</p> - -<p>Briefly summarizing the outcome of the previous interpretation-mechanism, -to make matters plainer, we find the two parent-couples -to be identical, after their splitting into the personalities -of the father and the tyrannical persecutor has been connected; -the high born parents being the echo, as it were, of the exaggerated -notions which the child originally harbored concerning its parents. -The Moses-legend actually shows the parents of the hero divested -of all prominent attributes; they are simple people, devotedly attached -to the child, and incapable of harming it. Meanwhile, the -assertion of tender feelings for the child is a confirmation, here as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> -well as everywhere, of the bodily parentage (compare Akki, the -gardener, in the Gilgamos-legend; the teamster, in the story of -Karna; the fisher, in the Perseus myth, etc.). The amicable -utilization of the exposure motive, which occurs in this type of -myth, is referable to such a relationship. The child is surrendered -in a basket to the water, but not with the object of killing it (as -for example the hostile exposure of Œdipus and many other -heroes), but for the purpose of saving it (compare also Abraham’s -early history, p. 15). The danger fraught warning to the -exalted father becomes a hopeful prophecy for the lowly father -(compare, in the birth story of Jesus, the oracle for Herod and -Joseph’s dream), entirely corresponding to the expectations placed -by most parents in the career of their offspring.</p> - -<p>Retaining from the original tendency of the romance, the fact -that Bitiah, Pharaoh’s daughter, drew the child from the water, -<i>i.e.</i>, gave it birth, the outcome is the familiar theme (grandfather -type) of the king, whose daughter is to bear a son, but who -on being warned by the ill-omened interpretation of a dream, -resolves to kill his forthcoming grandson. The handmaiden of -his daughter (who in the biblical story draws the box from the -water, at the behest of the princess), is charged by the king with -the exposure of the newborn child in a box, in the waters of the -river Nile, that it may perish (the exposure motive, from the -viewpoint of the highborn parents, here appearing in its original -disastrous significance). The box with the child is then found by -lowly people, and the poor woman raises the child (as his wet -nurse), and when he is grown up he is recognized by the princess -as her son (just as in the prototype the phantasy concludes with -the recognition by the highborn parents).</p> - -<p>If the Moses-legend were placed before us in this more original -form, as we have reconstructed it from the existing material, <a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> -the sum of this interpretation-mechanism would be approximately -what is told in the myth as it is actually transmitted; namely that -his true mother was not a princess, but the poor woman who was -introduced as his nurse, her husband being his father.</p> - -<p>This interpretation is offered as the tradition, in the re-converted -myth; and the fact that this tracing of the progressive -mutation furnishes the familiar type of hero myth, is the proof -for the correctness of our interpretation.</p> - -<p>It has thus been our good fortune to show the full accuracy -of our interpretative technique upon the material itself, and it is -now time to demonstrate the tenability of the general viewpoint -upon which this entire technique is founded. Hitherto, the -results of our interpretation have created the appearance of the -entire myth formation as starting from the hero himself, namely -from the youthful hero. At the start we took this attitude in -analogizing the hero of the myth with the ego of the child. Now -we find ourselves confronted with the obligation to harmonize -these assumptions and conclusions with the other conceptions of -myth formation, which they seem to directly contradict.</p> - -<p>The myths are certainly not constructed by the hero, least -of all by the child hero, but they have long been known to be -the product of a people of adults. The impetus is evidently supplied -by the popular amazement at the apparition of the hero, -whose extraordinary life history the people can only imagine as -ushered in by a wonderful infancy. This extraordinary childhood -of the hero, however, is constructed by the individual myth-makers—to -whom the indefinite idea of the folk-mind must be -ultimately traced—from the consciousness of their own infancy. -In investing the hero with their own infantile history, they -identify themselves with him, as it were, claiming to have been -similar heroes in their own personality. The true hero of the -romance is, therefore, the ego, which finds itself in the hero, by -reverting to the time when the ego was itself a hero, through its -first heroic act, <i>i.e.</i>, the revolt against the father. The ego can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> -only find its own heroism in the days of infancy, and it is therefore -obliged to invest the hero with its own revolt, crediting him with -the features which made the ego a hero. This object is achieved -with infantile motives and materials, in reverting to the infantile -romance and transferring it to the hero. Myths are, therefore, -created by adults, by means of retrograde childhood fantasies, <a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> -the hero being credited with the myth-maker’s personal infantile -history. Meanwhile the tendency of this entire process is the -excuse of the individual units of the people for their own infantile -revolt against the father.</p> - -<p>Besides the excuse of the hero for his rebellious revolt, the -myth therefore contains also the excuse of the individual for his -revolt against the father. This revolt had burdened him since -his childhood, as he had failed to become a hero. He is now -enabled to excuse himself by emphasizing that the father has -given him grounds for his hostility. The affectionate feeling for -the father is also manifested in the same fiction, as has been -shown above. These myths have therefore sprung from two -opposite motives, both of which are subordinate to the motive -of vindication of the individual through the hero: on the one -hand the motive of affection and gratitude towards the parents; -and on the other hand, the motive of the revolt against the -father. It is not stated outright in these myths, however, that the -conflict with the father arises from the sexual rivalry for the -mother, but is apparently suggested that this conflict dates back -primarily to the concealment of the sexual processes (at childbirth), -which in this way became an enigma for the child. This -enigma finds its temporary and symbolical solution in the infantile -sexual theory of the basket and the water. <a id="FNanchor_99" href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span></p> - -<p>The profound participation of the incest motive in myth -formation is discussed in the author’s special investigation of -the Lohengrin saga, which belongs to the myth of the birth of the -hero. The cyclic character of the Lohengrin saga is referred -by him to the <i>fantasy of being one’s own son</i>, as revealed by -Freud (p. 131; compare also pp. 96 and 990). This accounts -for the identity of father and son, in certain myths, the repetition -of their careers; the fact that the hero is sometimes not -exposed until he has reached maturity, also the intimate connection -between birth and death, in the exposure-motive. (Concerning -the water as the water of death, compare especially -chapter IV of the Lohengrin saga.) Jung, who regards the -typical fate of the hero as the portrayal of the human libido and -its typical vicissitudes, has made this theme the pivot of his interpretation, -as the fantasy of being born again, to which the -incest motive is subordinated. Not only the birth of the hero, -which takes place under peculiar symbolic circumstances, but also -the motive of the two mothers of the hero, are explained by -Jung through the birth of the hero taking place under the -mysterious ceremonials of a re-birth from the mother consort -(<i>l. c.</i>, p. 356).</p> - -<p>Having thus outlined the contents of the birth myth of the -hero it still remains for us to point out certain complications -within the birth myth itself, which have been explained on the -basis of its paranoid character, as “splits” of the personality of -the royal father and persecutor. In some myths, however, and -especially in the fairy tales which belong to this group, <a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> -multiplication of mythical personages, and with them, of course, -the multiplication of motives, or even of entire stories, are carried -so far that sometimes the original features are altogether overgrown -by these addenda. The multiplication is so variegated -and so exuberantly developed, that the mechanism of the analysis -no longer does it justice. Moreover, the new personalities here -do not show the same independence, as it were, as the new personalities -created by splitting, but they rather present the characteristics -of a copy, a duplicate, or a “double,” which is the proper -mythological term. An apparently very complicated example, -namely, Herodotus’ version of the Kyros saga, illustrates that -these doubles are not inserted purely for ornamentation, or to -give a semblance of historical veracity, but that they are insolubly -connected with the myth-formation and its tendency. Also, in -the Kyros-myth, as in the other myths, the royal grandfather, -Astyages, and his daughter, with her husband, are confronted by -the cattle-herder and his wife. A checkered gathering of other -personalities which move around them, are readily grouped at -sight: Between the high born parent couple and their child stand -the administrator Harpagos with his wife and his son, and the -noble Artembares with his legitimate offspring. Our trained -sense for the peculiarities of myth-structure recognizes at once -the doubles of the parents in the intermediate parent-couples and -all the participants are seen to be identical personalities of the -parents and their child; this interpretation being suggested by -certain features of the myth itself. Harpagos receives the child -from the king, to expose it; he therefore acts precisely like the -royal father and remains true to his fictitious paternal part in his -reluctance to kill the child himself—because it is related to him—but -he delivers it instead to the herder Mithradates, who is thus -again identified with Harpagos. The noble Artembares, whose -son Kyros causes to be whipped, is also identified with Harpagos; -for when Artembares with his whipped boy stands before the -king, to demand retribution, Harpagos at once is likewise seen -standing before the king, to defend himself, and he also is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> -obliged to present his son to the king. Thus Artembares himself -plays an episodal part as the hero’s father, and this is fully confirmed -by the Ktesian version, which tells us that the nobleman -who adopted the herder’s son, Kyros, as his own son, was named -Artembares.</p> - -<p>Even more distinct than the identity of the different fathers is -that of their children, which of course serves to confirm the -identity of the fathers. In the first place, and this would seem to -be conclusive, the <i>children are all of the same age</i>. Not only the -son of the princess, and the child of the herder, who are born -at the same time; but Herodotus specially emphasizes that Kyros -played the game at kings, in which he caused the son of Artembares -to be whipped, with boys of the same age. He also points -out, perhaps intentionally, that the <i>son of Harpagos</i>, destined to -become the playmate of Kyros, whom the king had recognized, -was likewise apparently of the same age as Kyros. Furthermore, -the remains of this boy are placed before his father, Harpagos, -in a basket, it was also a basket in which the newborn Kyros was -to have been exposed, and this actually happened to his substitute, -the herder’s son, whose identity with Kyros is obvious and -tangible in the report of Iustin, p. 34. In this report, Kyros is -actually exchanged with the <i>living</i> child of the herders;, but this -paradoxical parental feeling is reconciled by the consciousness -that in reality nothing at all has been altered by this exchange. -It appears more intelligible, of course, that the herder’s wife -should wish to raise the living child of the king, instead of her -own <i>stillborn</i> boy, as in the Herodotus version; but here the -identity of the boys is again evident, for just as the herder’s son -suffered death instead of Kyros in the past, twelve years later -the son of Harpagos (also in the basket) is killed directly for -Kyros, whom Harpagos had allowed to live. <a id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span></p> - -<p>The impression is thereby conveyed that all the multiplications -of Kyros, after having been created for a certain purpose, -are again removed, as disturbing elements, once this purpose has -been fulfilled. This purpose is undoubtedly the exalting tendency -which is inherent to the family romance. The hero in the -various duplications of himself and his parents, ascends the social -scale from the herder Mithradates, by way of the noble Artembares, -who is high in the king’s favor, and of the first administrator, -Harpagos, who is personally related to the king—until -he has himself become a prince; so his career is exposed in the -Ktesian version, where Kyros advances from the herder’s son to -the king’s administrator. <a id="FNanchor_102" href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> In this way, he constantly removes, -as it were, the last traces of his ascent, the lower Kyros being discarded -after absolving the different stages of his career. <a id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span></p> - -<p>This complicated myth with its promiscuous array of personages -is thus simplified and reduced to three actors, namely the -hero and his parents. Entirely similar conditions prevail in regard -to the “cast” of many other myths. For example, the -duplication may concern the daughter, as in the Moses myth, in -which the princess mother (in order to establish the identity of -the two families) <a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> appears among the poor people as the daughter -Miriam, who is merely a split of the mother, the latter appearing -divided into the princess and the poor woman. In case the -duplication concerns the father, his doubles appear as a rule in -the part of relatives, more particularly as his brothers, as for -example in the Hamlet saga, in distinction from the foreign -personages created by the analysis. In a similar way, the grandfather, -who is taking the place of the father, may also appear -complemented by a brother, who is the hero’s grand uncle, and as -such his opponent, as in the myths of Romulus, Perseus and -others. Other duplications, in apparently complicated mythical -structures, as for example in Kaikhosrav, Feridun, and others, -are easily recognized when envisaged from this angle.</p> - -<p>The duplication of the fathers, or the grandfathers, respectively, -by a brother may be continued in the next generation, and -concern the hero himself, thus leading to the <i>brother myths</i>, -which can only be hinted at in connection with the present theme. -The prototypes of the boy, who in the Kyros saga vanish into -thin air after they have served their purpose, namely the exaltation -of the hero’s descent, if they were to assume a vitality of -their own, would come to confront the hero as competitors with -equal rights, namely as his brothers. The original sequence is -probably better preserved through the interpretation of the hero’s -strange doubles as shadowy brothers, who like the twin brother,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> -must die for the hero’s sake. Not only the father, who is in the -way of the maturing son, but also the interfering competitor, or -the brother, are removed, in a naïve realization of the childish -fantasies, for the simple reason that the hero does not want a -family.</p> - -<p>The complications of the hero myth with other myth cycles -include, besides the myth of the hostile brothers, which has -already been disposed of, also the actual incest myth, such as -forms the nucleus of the Œdipus myth. The mother, and her -relation to the hero, appear relegated to the background in the -myth of the birth of the hero. But there is another conspicuous -motive, meaning that the lowly mother is so often represented by -an animal. This motive of the helpful animals <a id="FNanchor_105" href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> belongs in part to -a series of foreign elements, the explanation of which would far -exceed the scope of this essay. <a id="FNanchor_106" href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></p> - -<p>The animal motive may be fitted into the sequence of our -interpretation, on the basis of the following reflections. In a -similar way as the projection on to the father justifies the hostile -attitude on the part of the son, so the lowering of the mother into -an animal is likewise meant to vindicate the ingratitude of the -son, who denies her. In a similar way as the detachment of -the persecuting king from the father, the exclusive rôle of a wet -nurse, alloted to the mother, in this substitution by an animal, -goes back to the separation of the mother into the parts of the -child bearer and the suckler. This cleavage is again subservient -to the exalting tendency, in so far as the child bearing part is -reserved for the high born mother, whereas the lowly woman,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> -who cannot be eradicated from the early history, must content -herself with the function of a nurse. Animals are especially -appropriate substitutes, because the sexual processes are here -plainly evident also to the child, while the concealment of these -processes is presumably the root of the childish revolt against the -parents. The exposure in the box and in the water asexualizes -the birth process, as it were, in a childlike fashion; the children -are fished out of the water by the stork, <a id="FNanchor_107" href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> who takes them to -the parents in a basket. The animal fable improves upon this -idea, by emphasizing the similarity between human birth and -animal birth.</p> - -<p>This introduction of the motive may possibly be interpreted -from the parodistic point of view, if we assume that the child -accepts the story of the stork from the parents, feigning ignorance, -but adding superciliously: If an animal has brought me, it -may also have nursed me. <a id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> - -<p>When all is said and done, however, and when the cleavage is -followed back, this separation of the child bearer from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> -suckler—which really endeavors to remove the bodily mother -entirely, by means of her substitution through an animal or a -strange nurse—does not express anything beyond the fact: The -woman who has suckled me is my mother. This statement is -found directly symbolized in the Moses legend, the retrogressive -character of which we have already studied; for precisely the -woman who is his own mother is chosen to be his nurse [similarly -also in the myth of Herakles, and in the Egyptian-Phenician -Osiris-Adonis myth, where Osiris, encased in a chest, floats down -the river to Phenicia, and is finally found under the name Adonis, -by Isis, who is installed by Queen Astarte as the nurse of her -own son]. <a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> - -<p>Only a brief reference can here be made to other motives -which seem to be more loosely related to the entire myth. Such -motives include that of playing the fool, which is suggested in -animal fables as the universal childish attitude towards the grown -ups; furthermore, the physical defects of certain heroes [Zal, -Œdipus, Hephaistos], which are perhaps meant to serve for the -vindication of individual imperfections, in such a way that the -reproaches of the father for possible defects or shortcomings are -incorporated in the myth, with the appropriate accentuation, the -hero being endowed with the same weakness which burdens the -self-respect of the individual.</p> - -<p>This explanation of the psychological significance of the myth -of the birth of the hero would not be complete without emphasizing -its relations to certain mental diseases. Also readers without -psychiatric training—or these perhaps more than any others, -must have been struck with these relations. As a matter of fact, -the hero myths are equivalent in many essential features to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> -delusional ideas of certain psychotic individuals, who suffer from -delusions of persecution and grandeur,—the so called paranoiacs. -Their system of delusions is constructed very much like the hero -myth, and therefore indicates the same psychogenic motives as -the neurotic family romance, which is analysable, whereas the -system of delusions is inaccessible even for psychoanalytical approaches. -For example, the paranoiac is apt to claim that the -people whose name he bears are not his real parents, but that he -is actually the son of a princely personage; he was to be removed -for some mysterious reason, and was therefore surrendered to his -“parents” as a foster child. His enemies, however, wish to -maintain the fiction that he is of lowly descent, in order to suppress -his legitimate pretensions to the crown or to enormous -riches. <a id="FNanchor_110" href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> Cases of this kind often occupy alienists or tribunals. <a id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span></p> - -<p>This intimate relationship between the hero myth and the delusional -structure of paranoiacs has already been definitely established -through the characterization of the myth as a paranoid -structure, which is here confirmed by its contents. The remarkable -fact that paranoiacs will frankly reveal their entire romance -has ceased to be puzzling, since the profound investigations of -Freud have shown that the contents of hysterical fantasies, which -can often be made conscious through analysis, are identical up -to the minutest details with the complaints of persecuted paranoiacs; -moreover, the identical contents are also encountered as -a reality, in the arrangements of perverts for the gratification -of their desires. <a id="FNanchor_112" href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></p> - -<p>The egotistical character of the entire system is distinctly revealed -by the paranoiac, for whom the exaltation of the parents, -as brought about by him, is merely the means for his own exaltation. -As a rule the pivot for his entire system is simply the -culmination of the family romance, in the apoditic statement: I -am the emperor (or god). Reasoning in the symbolism of -dreams and myths, which is also the symbolism of all fancies, including -the “morbid” power of imagination—all he accomplishes -thereby is to put himself in the place of the father, just as the -hero terminates his revolt against the father. This can be done -in both instances, because the conflict with the father—which -dates back to the concealment of the sexual processes, as suggested -by the latest discoveries—is nullified at the instant when -the grown boy himself becomes a father. The persistence with -which the paranoiac puts himself in the father’s place, <i>i.e.</i>, becomes -a father himself, appears like an illustration to the common<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> -answer of little boys to a scolding or a putting off of their inquisitive -curiosity: You just wait until I am a papa myself, and I’ll -know all about it!</p> - -<p>Besides the paranoiac, his equally a-social counterpart must -also be emphasized. In the expression of the identical fantasy -contents, the hysterical individual who has suppressed them, is -offset by the pervert, who realizes them, and even so the diseased -and passive paranoiac—who needs his delusion for the correction -of the actuality, which to him is intolerable—is offset by the -active criminal, who endeavors to change the actuality according -to his mind. In this special sense, this type is represented by -the anarchist. The hero himself, as shown by his detachment -from the parents, begins his career in opposition to the older -generation; he is at once a rebel, a renovator, and a revolutionary. -However, every revolutionary is originally a disobedient son, a -rebel against the father. <a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> (Compare the suggestion of Freud, -in connection with the interpretation of a “revolutionary dream.” -Traumdeutung, II edition, p. 153. See English translation by -Brill. Macmillan. Annotation.)</p> - -<p>But whereas the paranoiac, in conformity with his passive -character, has to suffer persecutions and wrongs which ultimately -proceed from the father, and which he endeavors to escape by -putting himself in the place of the father or the emperor—the -anarchist complies more faithfully with the heroic character, by -promptly himself becoming the persecutor of kings, and finally -killing the king, precisely like the hero. The remarkable similarity -between the career of certain anarchistic criminals and the -family romance of hero and child has been illustrated by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> -author, through special instances (Belege zur Rettungsphantasie, -<i>Zentralblatt f. Psychoanalyse</i>, I, 1911, p. 331, and Die Rolle des -Familienromans in der Psychologie des Attentäters, Internationale -Zeitschrift für aerztliche Psychoanalyse, I, 1913). The truly -heroic element then consists only in the real justice or even -necessity of the act, which is therefore generally endorsed and -admired; <a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> while the morbid trait, also in criminal cases, is the -pathologic transference of the hatred from the father to the real -king, or several kings, when more general and still more distorted.</p> - -<p>As the hero is commended for the same deed, without asking -for its psychic motivation, so the anarchist might claim indulgence -from the severest penalties, for the reason that he has killed an -entirely different person from the one he really intended to destroy, -in spite of an apparently excellent perhaps political motivation -of his act. <a id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></p> - -<p>For the present let us stop at the narrow boundary line where -the contents of innocent infantile imaginings, suppressed and unconscious -neurotic fantasies, poetical myth structures, and certain -forms of mental disease and crime lie close together, although -far apart as to their causes and dynamic forces. We resist the -temptation to follow one of these divergent paths which lead to -altogether different realms, but which are as yet unblazed trails -in the wilderness.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<div class="index"> -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Abraham, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aleos, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alkmene, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Akrisios, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ambivalence, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Amphion and Zetos, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Anarchist, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Animal motives, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Apollo, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Artembares, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arthurian legends, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Astyages, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attenuation of myth, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Auge, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Babylonian myths, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beating, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beowulf, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Birth symbols, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blancheflure, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Borrowing theories, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Box, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bride true, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brother myths, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brothers, hostility of, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Buddha, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Child psyche and myth formation, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Childhood of hero, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Conflict of younger and older generations, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Content reversals, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Criminality and myths, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Criticism of parents, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Darab, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Daughter father, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Delusion formation, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dirke, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Displacements in myths, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dream and myth, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dreams of water, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dughda, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Duplication, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Egotism motives, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elsa, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Erotic factors, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Exposure myths, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Family relations, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Family romance of neurotics, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Father and hero, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Father and tyrant, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Father daughter, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Father replacement, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Feridun, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flood myths, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fool motive, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Gilgamos, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grandfather replacement, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Hamlet, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harpagos, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hekabe, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hercules, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hero and father, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hero and mother, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hero myth, summary of, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herod, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Horn, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hostile brothers, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hostility motives, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span></li> -<li class="indx">Hysteria and myth, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hysterical fantasies, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Incest motive in myth, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Infantile imagination, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Infantile psyche and myth, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Infantile sexual theory, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Interpretation summary, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ion, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Iranese legends, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Isaac, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Isolde, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jesus, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>, et seq.</li> - -<li class="indx">Judas myth, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kaikaus, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kaikhosrav, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kamleyses, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Karna, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Krishna, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kyros, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kyros myth, versions of, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kunti, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Lohengrin, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lunar myths, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Mandane, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Migration theories, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Moses, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mother and hero, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth and hysterical fancy, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth and infantile psyche, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myths and paranoid mechanisms, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth and race, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth and sex, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth, complications of, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth contents, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span></li> -<li class="indx">Myth displacements, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth distribution, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth, evolution of, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth formation and child psyche, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth ground plan, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth interpretation, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth of hero, summary of, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth, psychological significance of, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth structure and psychoneuroses, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myth, type of, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mythological theories, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Neurotic family romance, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Neurotics, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nightmares, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Œdipus, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Œdipus myth, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Old age and youth, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Opposites, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oriant, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Paranoid delusions, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paranoid mechanism in myths, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parental authority, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parental criticism, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parents, fancied, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parents, real, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paris, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Perseus, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Persian myths, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Persian war, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pharaoh, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Priamos, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pritha, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Proca, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Projection, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Psychological significance of myth, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></li> -<li class="indx">Psychoneuroses and myth structure, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Psychoneurotics, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Races and myths, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Real parents, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Reformer, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Remus, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Replacement of father, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Retaliation and revenge, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Revenge and retaliation, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Reversals, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Revolt of hero, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Revolutionary, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">River legends, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Romulus, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Romulus, modifications of, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">St. Gregory, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sam, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sargon myth, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scëaf, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scild Scefing, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Senechoros, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sex and myth, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Siegfried, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Split personalities, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Summary interpretation, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Symbolic expression, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Telephos, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thebes, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theories of myths, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tristan, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">True bride, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Twin myths, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Types of reversal, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Typical myth, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyrant and father, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Water dreams, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Water in myth, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wieland, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wolfdietrich, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Youth and old age, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Zal, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zetos and Amphion, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zoroaster, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a></li> - -</ul> -</div> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> A short and fairly complete review of the general theories of mythology -and its principal advocates is to be found in Wundt’s “Völkerpsychologie,” -Vol. II, Myths and Religion. Part I [Leipzig, 1905], p. 527.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> “Das Beständige in den Menschenrassen und die Spielweise ihrer -Veränderlichkeit.” Berlin, 1868.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> “Die Kyros Sage und Verwandtes,” <i>Sitzb. Wien. Akad.</i>, 100, 1882, -p. 495.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> Schubert. Herodots Darstellung der Cyrussage, Breslau, 1890.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Compare E. Stucken, “Astral mythen,” Leipzig, 1896-1907, especially -Part V, “Moses.” H. Lessmann, “Die Kyrossage in Europe,” <i>Wiss. beit. -z. Jahresbericht d. städt. Realschule zu Charlottenburg</i>, 1906.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> “Naturgeschichte d. Sage.” Tracing all religious ideals, legends, and -systems back to their common family tree, and their primary root, 2 -volumes, Munich 1864-65.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Some of the important writings of Winckler will be mentioned in the -course of this article.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> <i>Zeitschrift f. d. Oesterr. Gym.</i>, 1891, p. 161, etc. Schubert’s reply is -also found here, p. 594, etc.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> Lessmann, “Object and Aim of Mythological Research,” <i>Mythol. -Bibliot.</i>, 1, Heft 4, Leipzig.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> Winckler, “Die babylonische Geisteskultur in ihren Beziehungen zur -Kulturentwicklung der Menschheit,” <i>Wissenschaft u. Bildung</i>, Vol. 15, -1907, p. 47.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Of course no time will be wasted on the futile question as to what -this first legend may have been; for in all probability this never had -existence, any more than a “first human couple.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> As an especially discouraging example of this mode of procedure -may be mentioned a contribution by the well-known natural mythologist -Schwartz, which touches upon this circle of myths, and is entitled: “Der -Ursprung der Stamm und Gründungssage Roms unter dem Reflex indogermanischer -Mythen” [Jena, 1898].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Frobenius, Das Zeitalter des Sonnengotten, Berlin, 1904.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> Siecke, -“Hermes als Mondgott,” <i>Myth. Bibl.</i>, Vol. II, Pt. 1, p. 48.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Compare for example, Paul Koch, “Sagen der Bibel und ihre Ubereinstimmung -mit der Mythologie der Indogermanen,” Berlin, 1907. Compare -also the partly lunar, partly solar, but at any rate entirely one sided -conception of the hero myth, in Gustav Friedrich’s “Grundlage, Entstehung -und genaue Einzeldeutung der bekanntesten germanischen Märchen, -Mythen und Sagen” [Leipzig, 1909], p. 118.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Translated by Dr. A. A. Brill. Macmillan Co.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> The fable of Shakespeare’s Hamlet also permits of a similar interpretation, -according to Freud. It will be seen later on how mythological -investigators bring the Hamlet legend from entirely different view points -into the correlation of the mythical circle.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> In <span class="smcap">Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease</span>, 1912. Also collected -in this Monograph Series, No. 15.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> Compare Lessmann (Mythol. Bibl., I, 4). Ehrenreich alone (loc. -cit., p. 149) admits the extraordinary significance of dream-life for the -myth-fiction of all times. Wundt does so likewise, for individual mythical -motives.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Stucken [Mose, p. 432] says in this sense. The myth transmitted -by the ancestors was transferred to natural processes and interpreted in a -naturalistic way, not vice versa. “Interpretation of nature is a motive -in itself” [p. 633, annotation]. In a very similar way, we read in Meyer’s -History of Antiquity, Vol. V, p. 48: In many cases, the natural symbolism, -sought in the myths, is only apparently present or has been secondarily -introduced, as often in the Vedda and in the Egyptian myths; it is a -primary attempt at interpretation, like the myth-interpretations which -arose among the Greeks since the fifth century.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> For fairy tales, in this as well as in other essential features, Thimme -advocates the same point of view as is here claimed for the myths. Compare -Adolf Thimme, “Das Märchen,” 2d volume of the Handbücher zur -Volkskunde, Leipzig, 1909.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> Volume II of the German translation, Leipzig, 1869, p. 143.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> Of this myth-interpretation, Wundt has well said that it really -should have accompanied the original myth-formation. (Loc. cit., p. 352.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> See Ignaz Goldziher, “Der Mythus bei den Hebräern und seine -geschichtliche Entwickelung” [Leipzig, 1876], p. 125. According to the -writings of Siecke [“Hermes als Mondgott,” Leipzig, 1908, p. 39], the -incest myths lose all unusual features through being referred to the moon, -and its relation to the sun. The explanation being quite simple: the -daughter, the new moon, is the repetition of the mother [the old moon], -with her the father [the sun] [also the brother, the son] becomes reunited.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> Is it to be believed? In an article entitled “Urreligion der Indogermanen” -[Berlin, 1897], where Siecke points out that the incest myths are -descriptive narrations of the seen but inconceivable process of nature, he -objects to a statement of Oldenburg [“Religion der Veda,” p. 5] who -assumes a primeval tendency of myths to the incest motive, with the -remark that in the days of yore the motive was thrust upon the narrator, -without an inclination of his own, through the forcefulness of the witnessed -facts.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> The great variability and wide distribution of the birth myths of the -hero results from the above quoted writings of Bauer, Schubert and -others, while their comprehensive contents and fine ramifications were -especially discussed by Husing, Lessmann, and the other representatives of -the modern direction.</p> - -<p>Innumerable fairy tales, stories, and poems of all times, up to the -most recent dramatic and novelistic literature, show very distinct individual -main motives of this myth. The exposure-romance is known to -appear in the following literary productions: The late Greek pastorals, -as told in Heliodor’s “Aethiopika,” in Eustathius’ “Ismenias and Ismene,” -and in the Story of the two exposed children, Daphnis and Chloe. The -more recent Italian pastorals are likewise very frequently based upon the -exposure of children, who are raised as shepherds by their foster-parents, -but are later recognized by the true parents, through identifying marks -which they received at the time of their exposure. To the same set -belong the family history in Grimmelshausen’s “Limplizissimus” (1665), -in Jean Paul’s “Titan” (1800), as well as certain forms of the Robinson -stories and Cavalier romances (compare Würzbach’s Introduction to the -Edition of “Don Quichote” in Hesse’s edition).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> The various translations of the partly mutilated text differ only in -unessential details. Compare Hommel’s “History of Babylonia and -Assyria” (Berlin, 1885), p. 302, where the sources of the tradition are -likewise found, and A. Jeremias, “The Old Testament in the Light of -the Ancient Orient,” II edition, Leipzig, 1906, p. 410.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> On account of these resemblances, a dependence of the Exodus tale -from the Sargon legend has often been assumed, but apparently not -enough attention has been paid to certain fundamental distinctions, which -will be taken up in detail in the interpretation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> The parents of Moses were originally nameless, as were all persons -in this, the oldest account. Their names were only conferred upon them -by the priesthood. Chapter 6, 20, says: “And Amram took him -Jocabed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses” -[and their sister Miriam, IV, 26, 59]. Also compare Winckler, “History -of Israel,” II, and Jeremias, l. c., p. 408.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> The name, according to Winckler (“Babylonian Mental Culture,” -p. 119), means “The Water-Drawer” (see also Winckler, “Ancient -Oriental Studies,” III, 468, etc.), which would still further approach the -Moses legend to the Sargon legend, for the name Akki signifies I have -drawn water.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> Schemot Rabba, fol. 2, 4. Concerning 2, Moses 1, 22, says that -Pharaoh was told by the astrologers of a woman who was pregnant with -the Redeemer of Israel.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> The Hindu birth legend of the mythical king Vikramâdita must also -be mentioned in this connection. Here again occur the barren marriage -of the parents, the miraculous conception, ill-omened warnings, the exposure -of the boy in the forest, his nourishment with honey, finally the -acknowledgment by the father. (See Jülg, “Mongolian Fairy Tales,” -Innsbruck, 1868, p. 73, et seq.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> “Hindu Legends,” Karlsruhe, 1846, Part II, pp. 117 to 127.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> “Hindu Legends,” l. c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> See Röscher, concerning the Ion of Euripides. Where no other -source is stated, all Greek and Roman myths are taken from the Extensive -Dictionary of Greek and Roman Mythology, edited by Röscher, -which also contains a list of all sources.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> According to Bethe, “Thebanische Heldenlieder,” the exposure on -the waters was the original rendering. According to other versions, the -boy is found and raised by horse herds; according to a later myth, by a -countryman, Melibios.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> The entire material has been discussed by Rank in Das Inzest-Motiv -in Dichtung und Sage, 1912, Chapter X.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> I. In the version of Euripides, whose tragedies “Auge” and “Telephos” -are extant, <i>Aleos caused the mother and the child to be thrown into -the sea in a box</i>, but through the protection of Athene this box was carried -to the end of the Mysian River, Kaikos. There it was found by Teuthras. -who made Auge his wife and took her child into his house as his foster son.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> Later authors, including Pindar, state that Danae was impregnated, -not by Zeus, but by the brother of her father.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> Simonides of Keos (fr. 37, ed. Bergk), speaks of a casement strong -as ore, in which Danae is said to have been exposed. (Geibel, Klassisches -Liederbuch, page 52.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> According to Hüsing, the Perseus myth in several versions is also -demonstrable in Japan. Compare also, Sydney Hartland, Legend of Perseus, -1894-96; 3 volumes. London.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> Claudius Aelianus, “Historia animalium,” XII, 21, translated by Fr. -Jacobs (Stuttgart, 1841).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> It was also told of Ptolemaös, the son of Lagos and Arsinoë, that an -eagle protected the exposed boy with his wings against the sunshine, the -rain and birds of prey (<i>loc. cit.</i>).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> F. E. Lange, “Herodot’s Geschichten” (Reclam). Compare also -Duncker’s “History of Antiquity” (Leipsig, 1880), N. 5, page 256 et -sequitur.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> The same “playing king” is found in the Hindoo myth of Candragupta, -the founder of the Maurja dynasty, whom his mother exposed after -his birth, in a vessel at the gate of a cowshed, where a herder found him -and raised him. Later on he came to a hunter, where he as cow-herder -played “king” with the other boys, and as king ordered that the -hands and feet of the great criminals be chopped off. [The mutilation -motive occurs also in the Kyros saga, and is generally widely distributed.] -At his command, the separated limbs returned to their proper position. -Kanakja, who once looked on as they were at play, admired the boy, and -bought him from the hunter for one thousand Kârshâpana; at home he -discovered that the boy was a Maurja. (After Lassen’s Indische Altertumskunde, -II, 196, Annotation 1.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> Justinus, “Extract from Pompeius Trogus’ Philippian History,” I, -4-7. As far as results from Justinus’ extract, Deinon’s Persian tales -(written in the first half of the fourth century before Christ) are presumably -the sources of Trogus’ narrative.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> The words in parenthesis are said to be lacking in certain manuscripts.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> Nicol. Damasc. Frag. 66, Ctes.; Frag. Pers., 2, 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> This daughter’s name is Amytis (not Mandane) in the version of -Ktesias.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> On the basis of this <i>motive of simulated dementia</i> and certain other -corresponding features Jiriczek (“Hamlet in Iran,” in the <i>Zeitschrift des -Vereins für Volkskunde</i>, Vol. X, 1900, p. 353) has represented the <i>Hamlet -Saga</i> as a variation of the Iranese myth of Kaikhosrav. This idea was -followed up by H. Lessmann (“Die Kyrossage in Europa”), who shows -that the Hamlet saga strikingly agrees in certain items, for example, in -the simulated folly, with the sagas of Brutus and of Tell. (Compare also -the protestations of Moses.) In another connection, the deeper roots of -these relations have been more extensively discussed, especially with -reference to the Tell saga. (See: Das Inzest-Motiv in Dichtung und Sage, -Chapter VIII.) Attention is also directed to the story of David, as it is -told in the books of Samuel. Here again, the royal scion, David, is made -a shepherd, who gradually rises in the social scale up to the royal throne. -He likewise is given the king’s (Saul’s) daughter in marriage, and the -king seeks his life, but David is always saved by miraculous means from -the greatest perils. He also evades persecution by simulating dementia -and playing the fool. The relationship between the Hamlet saga and the -David saga has already been pointed out by Jiriczek and Lessmann. The -biblical character of this entire mythical cycle is also emphasized by Jiriczek, -who finds in the tale of Siâvaksh’s death certain features from the Passion -of the Savior.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> The name Zohâk is a mutilation of the original Zend expression -Ashi-dahaka [Azis-dahaka], meaning pernicious serpent. (See “The Myth -of Feridun in India and Iran,” by Dr. R. Roth, in the <i>Zeitschrift der -Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft</i>, II, p. 216.) To the <i>Iranese -Feridum</i> corresponds the <i>Hindoo Trita</i>, whose Avestian double is Thraetaona. -The last named form is the most predominantly authenticated; -from it was formed, by transition of the aspirated sounds, first Phreduna, -then Frêdûn or Afrêdun; Feridun is a more recent corruption. Compare -F. Spiegel’s “Eranische Altertumskunde,” I, p. 537 et seq.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> Compare Immermann, “Tristan und Isolde, Ein Gedicht in Romanzen,” -Düsseldorf, 1841. Like the epic of Gottfried of Strassburg, his -poem begins with the preliminary history of the loves of Tristan’s parents, -King Riwalin Kannlengres of Parmenia and Marke’s beautiful sister -Blancheflur. The maiden never reveals her love, which is not sanctioned -by her brother, but she visits the king, who is wounded unto death, in his -chamber, and dying he procreates Tristan, “the son of the most daring -and doleful love.” Grown up as a foundling in the care of Rual and his -wife, Florete, the winsome youth Tristan introduces himself to Marke in -a stag hunt, as an expert huntsman, is recognized as his nephew by a -ring, the king’s gift to his beloved sister, and becomes his favorite.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> See translation by W. A. White, M.D.., Psychoanalytic Review, Vol. -I, No. 1, et seq.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> Compare the substitution of the bride, through Brangäne.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> Mommsen, Th., “Die echte und die falsche Acca Larentia”; in -Festgaben für G. Homeyer (Berlin, 1891), p. 93, et seq.; and <i>Römische</i> -<i>Forschungen</i> (Berlin, 1879), II, p. 1, et seq. Mommsen reconstructs the -lost narrative of Fabius from the preserved reports of Dionysius (I, 79-831, -and of Plutarch (Romulus)).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> The Capitoline She Wolf is considered as the work of very ancient -Etruscan artists, which was erected at the Lupercal, in the year 296 B.C., -according to Livy (X, 231). Compare picture on title page.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> All these renderings were compiled by Schwegler, in his Roman -History, I, p. 384, et seq.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> Some Greek twin sagas are quoted by Schubert (loc. cit., p. 13, et -seq.) in their essential content. Concerning the extensive distribution of -this legendary form, compare the somewhat confused book of J. H. -Becker, “The Twin Saga as the Key to the Interpretation of Ancient -Tradition. With a Table of the Twin Saga.” Leipsic, 1891. German text.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> Mommsen, “Die Remus Legende,” Hermes, 1881.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> After Preller, Greek Mythology (Leipzig, 1854, II, pp. 120 et seq.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> The same transformation of the divine procreator into the form of -the human father is found in the birth history of the Egyptian queen, -Hatshepset (about 1500 before Christ), who believes that the god Amen -cohabited with her mother, Aahames, in the form of her father, Thothmes -the First (see Budge: A History of Egypt, V; Books on Egypt and -Chaldea, Vol. XII, p. 21, etc.). Later on she married her brother, Thothmes -II, presumably the Pharaoh of Exodus, after whose dishonorable death -she endeavored to eradicate his memory, and herself assumed the rulership, -in masculine fashion (cp. the Deuteronium, edited by Schrader, II -ed., 1902).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> A similar mingling of the divine and human posterity is related in the -myth of Theseus, whose mother Aithra, the beloved of Poseidon, was -visited in one night by this god, and by the childless King Aigeus of -Athens, who had been brought under the influence of wine. The boy was -raised in secret, and in ignorance of his father (v. Roscher’s dictionary, -article Aigeus).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> Alkmene bore Herakles as the son of Zeus, and Iphikles as the offspring -of Amphitryon. According to Apollodorus, 2, 4, 8, they were twin -children, born at the same time; according to others Iphikles was conceived -and born one night later than Herakles (see Roscher’s Lexicon, -Amphitryon and Alkmene). The shadowy character of the twin brother, -and his loose connection with the entire myth, is again evident. In a -similar way, Telephos, the son of Auge, was exposed together with Parthenopaüs, -the son of Atalantis, nursed by a doe, and taken by herders to -King Korythos. The external subsequent insertion of the partner is here -again quite obvious.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> For the formal demonstration of the entire identity of the birth -and early history of Jesus with the other hero-myths, the author has presumed -to re-arrange the corresponding paragraphs from the different -versions, in the Gospels, irrespective of the traditional sequence and the -originality of the individual parts. The age, origin and genuineness of -these parts are briefly summarized and discussed in W. Soltan’s Birth -History of Jesus Christ (German text), Leipsic, 1902. The transmitted -versions of the several Gospels,—which according to Usener (Birth and -Childhood of Christ, 1903, in Lectures and Essays (German text), Leipsic, -1907), contradict and even exclude each other,—have been placed, or left, -in juxtaposition, precisely for the reason that the apparently contradictory -elements in these birth myths are to be elucidated in the present research, -no matter if these contradictions be encountered within a single uniform -saga, or in its different versions (as, for example, in the Kyros myth).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> Concerning the birth of Jesus in a cave, and the furnishing of the -birth place with the typical animals (ox and ass) compare Jeremias, Babylonisches -im Neuen Testament (Leipzig, 1905), p. 56, and Preuschen, Jesu -Geburt in einer Höhle, Zeitschrift für die Neutest. Wissenschaften, 1902, -P. 359.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> According to recent investigations, the birth history of Christ is said -to have the greatest resemblance with the royal Egyptian myth, over five -thousand years old, which relates the birth of Amenophis III. Here -again recurs the divine prophecy of the birth of a son, to the waiting -queen; her fertilization by the breath of heavenly fire; the divine cows, -which nurse the new born child; the homage of the kings, and so forth. -In this connection, compare A. Malvert, Wissenschaft und Religion, Frankfort, -1904, pp. 49 et seq, also the suggestion of Professor Idleib in Bonn -(Feuilleton of Frankfurter Zeitung, November 8, 1908).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> Very similar traits are found in the Keltic saga of Habis, as transmitted -by Justin (44,4). Born as the illegitimate son of a king’s daughter, -Habis is persecuted in all sorts of ways by his royal grandfather, Gargoris, -but is always saved by divine providence, until he is finally recognized by -his grandfather, and assumes royal sway. As in the Zarathustra legend, -there occurs an entire series of the most varied methods of persecution. -He is at first exposed, but nursed by wild animals; then he was to be -trampled upon by a herd in a narrow path; then he was cast before hungry -beasts, but they again nursed him, and finally he is thrown into the sea, -but is gently lapped ashore and nursed by a doe, near which he grows up.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> Compare August Rassmann: Die deutsche Heldensage und ihre Heimat, -Hanover, 1857-8, Vol. II, pp. 7 et seq; for the sources, see Jiriczek, -Die deutsche Heldensage (collection Göschen) and Piper’s introduction to -the volume: Die Nibelungen, in Kürschner’s German National Literature.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> Compare: Deutsches Heldenbuch, Part III, Vol. I (Berlin, 1871), -edited by Amelung and Jaenicke, which also contains the second version -(B) of the Wolfdietrich saga.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> The motive of calumniation of the wife by a rejected suitor, in combination -with the exposure and nursing by an animal (doe), forms the -nucleus of the story of <i>Genovefa</i> and her son Schmerzenreich, as told, for -example, by the Grimm brothers, in their German Sagas, II, Berlin, 1818, -pp. 280 et seq. Here, again, the faithless calumniator proposes <i>to drown -the countess with her child in the water</i>. For literary and historical -orientation, compare <i>L. Zacher</i>, Die Historic von der Pfalzgräfin Genovefa, -Koenigsberg, 1860, and <i>B. Seuffert</i>, Die Legende von der Pfalzgräfin -Genovefa, Würzburg, 1877. Similar sagas of wives suspected of -infidelity and punished by exposure are discussed in the XI chapter of my -investigation of “Das Inzestmotiv in Dichtung und Sage” (The Incest -Motive in Fiction and Legends).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> The same accentuation of the animal motive is found in the saga -of Schalû, the Hindoo wolf child; compare Jülg, Mongolische Märchen -(Mongolian fairy tales; Innsbruck, 1868).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> The Grimm Brothers, in their German Sagas (part II, p. 206, etc.), -quote six further versions of the saga of the Knight with the Swan. Certain -fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers, such as “The Six Swans” (No. -49), “The Twelve Brothers” (No. 9), and the “Seven Ravens” (No. 25), -with their parallels and variations, mentioned in the 3d volume of the -“Kinder-und Hausmärchen,” also belong to the same mythological cycle. -Further material from this cycle may be found in Leo’s “Beowulf,” and -in Görre’s “Introduction to Lohengrin” (Heidelberg, 1813).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> The ancient Longobard tale of the exposure of King Lamissio, related -by Paulus Diaconus (L, 15), gives a similar incident. A public -woman had thrown her seven newborn infants into a fish pond. King -Agelmund passed by, and looked curiously at the children, turning them -around with his spear. But when one of the children took hold of the -spear, the king considered this as of good augury; he ordered this boy -to be taken out of the pond, and to be given to a wet nurse. As he had -taken him from the pond, which in his language is called “lama,” he -named the boy Lamissio. He grew up into a stalwart champion, and after -Agelmund’s death, became king of the Longobards.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Scaf is the high German “Schaffing” (barrel), which leads Leo to -assume, in connection with Scild’s being called Scefing, that he had no -father Sceaf or Schaf at all, but was himself the boy cast ashore by the -waves, who was named the “son of the barrel” (Schaffing). The name -Beowulf itself, explained by Grimm as Bienen-wolf (bee-wolf), seems to -mean originally (according to Wolzogen) Bärwelf, namely Jungbär (bear -cub or whelp), which is suggestive of the saga of the origin of the Guelphs -(Ursprung der Welfen, Grimm, II, 233), where the boys are to be thrown -into the water as “whelps.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> The possibility of further specification of separate items of this -schedule will be seen from the compilation as given by H. Lessmann, at -the conclusion of his work on “The Kyros Saga in Europe.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> See also Wundt, who psychologically interprets the hero as a projection -of human desires and aspirations (loc. cit., p. 48).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> Compare Freud, “Hysterical Fancies, and their Relation to Bisexuality,” -with references to the literature on this subject. This contribution -is contained in the second series of the “Collection of Short Articles -on the Neurosis Doctrine,” Vienna and Leipsic, 1909.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> For the idealizing of the parents by the children, compare Maeder’s -comments (Jahrb. f. Psychoanalyse, p. 152, and Centralblatt f. Psychoanalyse, -I, p. 51) on Varendonk’s essay, “Les idéals d’enfant,” Tome VII, -1908.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> Dream Interpretation (Traumdeutung), II ed., p. 200. See Brill’s -Translation, Macmillan & Co., 1913.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> Compare the “birth dreams” in Freud’s “Traumdeutung” (see -Brill’s translation, Macmillan & Co., p. 207 et seq.), also the examples -quoted by the author in the “Lohengrin saga” (p. 27 et seq.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> In fairy tales, which are adapted to infantile ideation, and especially -to the infantile sexual theories (compare Freud in the December number -of Sexuelle Probleme), the birth of man is frequently represented as a -lifting of the child from a well or a lake (Thimme, <i>l. c.</i>, p. 157). The -story of “Dame Holle’s Pond” (Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, I, 7) relates -that the newborn children come from her well, whence she brings them -forth. The same interpretation is apparently expressed in certain national -rites; for example, when a Celt had reason to doubt his paternity, he -placed the newborn child on a large shield and put it adrift in the nearest -river. If the waves carried it ashore, it was considered as legitimate, but -if the child was drowned, this was proof of the contrary and the mother -was also put to death (see Franz Helbing, “History of Feminine Infidelity”). -Additional ethnological material from folklore has been compiled -by the author in his “Lohengrin saga” (p. 20 et seq.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> The “box” in certain myths is represented by the <i>cave</i>, which also -distinctly symbolizes the womb; aside from statements in Abraham, Ion, -and others, especially in case of Zeus, who is born in a cave of the Ida -mountains, and nourished by the goat Amalthea, his mother concealing him -for fear of her husband, Kronos. According to Homer’s Iliad (XVIII, 396, -et seq.), Hephaistos is also cast into the water by his mother, on account -of his lameness, and remains hidden, for nine years, in a cave surrounded -by water. By exchanging the reversal, the birth (the fall into the water) -is here plainly represented as the termination of the nine months of the -intrauterine life. More common than the cave birth is the exposure in -a box, which is likewise told in the Babylonian Marduk-Tammuz myth, -as well as in the Egyptian-Phoenician Osiris-Adonis myth (compare -Winckler, “Die Weltanschauung des alten Orients, Ex Oriente Lux” I, -1, p. 43, and Jeremias, loc. cit., p. 41). Bacchus, according to Paus, III, -24, is also removed from the persecution of the king, through exposure in -a chest on the Nile, and is saved at the age of three months by a king’s -daughter, which is remarkably suggestive of the Moses legend. A similar -story is told of Tennes, the son of Kyknos, who has been mentioned in -another connection (Siecke: Hermes, p. 48, annotation), and of many -others.</p> - -<p>The occurrence of the same symbolic representation among the aborigines -is illustrated by the following examples: Stucken relates the New -Zealand tale of the Polynesian Fire (and Seed) Robber, Mani-tiki-tiki, -who is exposed directly after his birth, his mother throwing him into the -sea, wrapped in an apron (chest, box). A similar story is reported by -Frobenius (<i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 379) from Betsimisaraka, where the child is exposed -on the water, and is found and raised by a rich childless woman, -but finally resolves to discover his actual parents. According to a report -of Bab (<i>Zeitschrift für Ethnologie</i>, 1906, p. 281) the wife of the Raja -Besurjay was presented with a child floating on a bubble of water-foam -(from Singapore).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> The before-mentioned work of Abraham, “Dreams and Myths,” -pp. 22, 23, English translation, Monograph Series, No. 15, contains the -analysis of a very similar although more complicated birth dream, -corresponding to the actual conditions; the dreamer, a young pregnant woman, -who was awaiting her delivery, not without fear, dreamed of the -birth of her son, and the water appeared directly as the amniotic fluid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> This phantasy of an enormous water is extremely suggestive of the -large and widespread group of the Flood Myths, which actually seem to -be no more than the universal expression of the exposure myth. The -hero is here represented by humanity at large. The wrathful father is -the god; the destruction as well as the rescue of humanity likewise follow -one another in immediate succession. In this parallelization, it is of -interest to note that the ark, or pitched house, in which Noah floats upon -the water is designated in the Old Testament by the same word (<i>tebah</i>) -as the receptacle in which the infant Moses is exposed (<i>Jeremias</i>, loc. cit., -p. 250). For the motive of the great flood, compare Jeremias, p. 226, and -Lessmann, at the close of his treatise on the Kyros saga in Europe, where -the flood is described as a possible digression of the exposure in the water. -A transition instance is illustrated by the flood saga told by Bader, in his -Badensian folk legends. When the Sunken Valley was inundated once -upon a time by a cloudburst, a little boy was seen floating upon the waters -in a cradle, who was miraculously saved by a cat (Gustav Friedrichs, loc. -cit., p. 265).</p> - -<p>The author has endeavored to explain the psychological relations between -the exposure-myth, the flood legend, and the devouring myth, in -his article on the “Overlying Symbols in Dream Awakening, and Their -Recurrence in Mythical Ideation” (“Die Symbolschichtung in Wecktraum -und ihre Wiederkehr im mythischen Denken” <i>Jahrbuch für Psychoanalyse</i>, -V, 1912).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> Compare the same reversal of the meanings in Winckler’s interpretation -of the etymology of the name of Moses (p. 13).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> The same conditions remain in the formation of dreams and in the -transformation of hysterical phantasies into seizures (compare “Traumdeutung,” -p. 238, and the annotation in the same place), also, Freud, “Allgemeines -über den hysterischen Anfall” (“General Remarks on Hysterical -Seizures”) in <i>Sammlung kleiner Schriften zur Neurosenlehre</i>, 2 Series, -p. 146 et seq.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> According to a pointed remark of Jung’s, this reversal in its further -mythical sublimation permits the approximation of the hero’s life to the -solar cycle (“Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido,” II Part, <i>Jahrb. f. -Psychoanalyse</i>, V, 1912, p. 253).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> The second item of the schedule here enters into consideration: the -voluntary continence or prolonged separation of the parents, which naturally -induces the miraculous conception and virgin birth of the mother. The -abortion phantasies, which are especially distinct in the Zoroaster legend, -also belong under this heading.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> The comparison of birth with a shipwreck, by the Roman poet -Lucretius, seems to be in perfect harmony with this symbolism: “Behold -the infant: Like a shipwrecked sailor, cast ashore by the fury of the billows, -the poor child lies naked on the ground, bereft of all means for -existence, after Nature has dragged him in pain from the mother’s womb. -With plaintive wailing he filleth the place of his birth, and he is right, for -many evils await him in life” (Lucretius, “De Nature Rerum,” V, 222-227). -Similarly, the first version of Schiller’s “Robbers,” in speaking of -Nature, says: “She endowed us with the spirit of invention, when she -exposed us naked and helpless on the shore of the great Ocean, the World. -Let him swim who may, and let the clumsy perish!”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_90" href="#FNanchor_90" class="label">[90]</a> Compare the representation of this relation and its psychic consequences, -in Freud’s Significance of Dreams.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_91" href="#FNanchor_91" class="label">[91]</a> Some myths convey the impression as if the love relation with the -mother had been removed, as being too objectionable to the consciousness -of certain periods or peoples. Traces of this suppression are still evident -in a comparison of different myths or different versions of the same myth. -For example, in the version of Herodotus, Kyros is a son of the daughter -of Astyages, but according to the report of Ktesias, he makes the daughter -of Astyages, whom he conquers, his wife, and kills her husband, who in -the rendering of Herodotus is his father. Compare Hüsing, “Contributions -to the Kyros Legend,” XI. Also a comparison of the saga of Darab, -with the very similar legend of St. Gregory, serves to show that in the -Darab story the incest with the mother is simply omitted, which otherwise -precedes the recognition of the son; here, on the contrary, the recognition -prevents the incest. This attenuation may be studied in the nascent state, -as it were, in the myth of Telephos, where the hero is married to his -mother, but recognizes her before the consummation of the incest. The -fairy-tale-like setting of the Tristan legend, which makes Isolde draw the -little Tristan from the water (<i>i.e.</i>, give him birth), thereby suggests the -fundamental incest theme, which is likewise manifested in the adultery -with the wife of the uncle.</p> - -<p>The reader is referred to Rank’s paper, “Das Inzest Motiv in Dichtung -und Sage” (“The incest motive in fiction and legend”), in which the -incest theme, which is here merely mentioned, is discussed in detail, picking -up the many threads which lead to this theme, but which have been -dropped at the present time.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_92" href="#FNanchor_92" class="label">[92]</a> The mechanism of this defense is discussed in Freud’s “Hamlet -Analysis” (“Traumdeutung,” p. 183, annotation); also by Jones, <i>Am. Jl. -of Psychology</i>, 1911.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_93" href="#FNanchor_93" class="label">[93]</a> In regard to further meanings of the grandfather, compare Freud, -“Analysis of the Phobia of a 5-year-old Boy” (<i>Jahrbuch f. Psychoanalyse</i>, -I, 1909, p. 7378); also the contributions by Jones, Abraham and -Ferenzi (<i>Internat. Zeitschrift f. ärzt. Psychoanalyse</i>, Vol. I, 1913, March -number).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_94" href="#FNanchor_94" class="label">[94]</a> A similar identification of the father with God (heavenly father, -etc.) occurs, according to Freud, with the same regularity in the fantasies -of normal and pathological psychic activity as the identification of the -emperor with the father. It is also noteworthy in this connection that -almost all peoples derive their origin from their god (Abraham, “Dream -and Myth,” Monograph Series, No. 15).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_95" href="#FNanchor_95" class="label">[95]</a> An amusing example of unconscious humor in children recently -ran through the daily press: A politician had explained to his little son -that a tyrant is a man who forces others to do what he commands, without -heeding their wishes in the matter. “Well,” said the child, “then you and -mamma are also tyrants!”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_96" href="#FNanchor_96" class="label">[96]</a> See Max Müller, “Essais,” Vol. II (Leipzig, 1869), p. 20 et seq. -Concerning the various psychological contingencies of this setting, compare -p. 83 <i>et al.</i> of the author’s “Incest Book.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_97" href="#FNanchor_97" class="label">[97]</a> Compare E. Meyer (<i>Bericht d. Kgl. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss.</i>, XXXI, -1905, p. 640). The Moses legends and the Levites: “Presumably Moses -was originally the son of the tyrant’s daughter (who is now his foster -mother), and probably of divine origin.” The subsequent elaboration into -the present form is probably referable to national motives.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_98" href="#FNanchor_98" class="label">[98]</a> This idea which is derived from the knowledge of the neurotic -fantasy and symptom construction, was applied by Professor Freud to the -interpretation of the romantic and mythical work of poetic imagination, -in a lecture entitled: “Der Dichter und das Phantasieren” (Poets and -Imaginings) (Reprint, 2d series of Collected Short Articles), p. 1970.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_99" href="#FNanchor_99" class="label">[99]</a> For ethno-psychologic parallels and other infantile sexual theories -which throw some light upon the supplementary myth of the hero’s procreation -compare the author’s treatise in <i>Zentralblatt für Psychoanalyse</i>, -II, 1911, pp. 392-425.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_100" href="#FNanchor_100" class="label">[100]</a> The fairy tales, which have been left out of consideration in the -context, precisely on account of these complications, include especially: -“The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs” (Grimm, No. 29), and the -very similar “Saga of Emperor Henry III” (Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, II, -p. 177), “Water-Peter,” with numerous variations (Grimm, III, p. 103), -“Fundevogel,” No. 51, “The Three Birdies” (No. 96), “The King of -the Golden Mountain” (No. 92), with its parallels, as well as some foreign -fairy tales, which are quoted by Bauer, at the end of his article. -Compare also, in Hahn, “Greek and Albanese Fairy Tales” (Leipsic, -1864), the review of the exposure stories and myths, especially 20 and 69.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_101" href="#FNanchor_101" class="label">[101]</a> A connection is here supplied with the motive of the twins, in which -we seem to recognize the two boys born at the same time, one of which -dies for the sake of the other, be it directly after birth, or later, and whose -parents appear divided in our myths into two or more parent couples. -Concerning the probable significance of this shadowy twin-brother as the -after-birth, compare the author’s discussion in his Incest Book (p. 457, etc.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_102" href="#FNanchor_102" class="label">[102]</a> The early history of Sigurd, as it is related in the Völsunga Saga -(compare Rassmann, I, 99), closely resembles the Ktesian version of the -Kyros saga, giving us the tradition of another hero’s wonderful career, -together with its rational rearrangement. For particulars, see Bauer, p. -554. Also the biblical history of Joseph (1 Moses, 37, et seq.), with the -exposure, the animal sacrifice, the dreams, the sketchy brethren, and the -fabulous career of this hero, seem to belong to this type of myth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_103" href="#FNanchor_103" class="label">[103]</a> In order to avoid misunderstandings, it appears necessary to emphasize -at this point the historical nucleus of certain hero-myths. Kyros, -as is shown by the inscriptions which have been discovered (compare -Duncker, p. 289, Bauer, p. 498), was descended from an old hereditary -royal house. It could not be the object of the myth to elevate the descent -of Kyros, nor must the above interpretation be regarded as an attempt -to establish a lowly descent of Kyros. Similar conditions prevail in the -case of Sargon, whose royal father is also known (compare Jeremias, p. -410, annotation). Nevertheless, an historian writes about Sargon as follows -(Ungnad, “Die Anfänge der Staatenbildung in Babylonien” (Beginnings -of State Formation in Babylonia), <i>Deutsche Rundschau</i>, July, 1905): “He -was evidently not of noble descent, or no such saga could have been woven -about his birth and his youth.” It would be a gross error to consider our -interpretation as an argument in this sense. Again, the apparent contradiction -which might be held up against our explanation, under another -mode of interpretation, becomes the proof of its correctness, through the -reflection that it is not the hero, but the average man who makes the myth, -and wishes to vindicate himself in the same. The people imagine the hero -in this manner, investing him with their own infantile fantasies, irrespective -of their actual compatibility or incompatibility with historical -facts. This also serves to explain the transference of the typical motives, -be it to several generations of the same hero family, or be it to historical -personalities in general (concerning Cæsar, Augustus and others, compare -Usener, Rhein. Mus. LV, p. 271).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_104" href="#FNanchor_104" class="label">[104]</a> This identification of the families is carried through to the minutest -detail in certain myths, as for example in the Œdipus myth, where one -royal couple is offset by another, and where even the herdsman who receives -the infant for exposure has his exact counterpart in the herdsman to -whom he entrusts the rescue of the boy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_105" href="#FNanchor_105" class="label">[105]</a> Compare Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, London, 1872 (In German -by Hartmann: Die Tiere in der indogermanischen Mythologie. Leipzig, -1874). Concerning the significance of animals in exposure myths, see -also the contributions by Bauer (p. 574 et seq.), Goldziher (p. 274) and -Liebrecht: Zur Volkskunde (Romulus und die Welfen) (Folk Lore, Romulus -and the Whelps), Heilbronn, 1879.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_106" href="#FNanchor_106" class="label">[106]</a> Compare Freud’s article on The Infantile Recurrence of Totemism -(Imago, Vol. II, 1913). Concerning the totemistic foundation of the Roman -she-wolf, compare Jones’ Nightmare (Alptraum), p. 59 et seq. The woodpecker -of the Romulus saga was discussed by Jung (<i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 382 et seq.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_107" href="#FNanchor_107" class="label">[107]</a> The stork is known also in mythology as the bringer of children. -Siecke (Liebesgesch. d. Himmels, p. 26) points out the swan as the player -of this part in certain regions and countries. The rescue and further protection -of the hero by a bird is not uncommon; compare Gilgamos, Zal and -Kyknos, who is exposed by his mother near the sea and is nourished by a -swan, while his son Tennes floats in a chest upon the water. The interpretation -of the leading motive of the Lohengrin saga also enters into present -consideration. Its most important motives belong to this mythical cycle: -Lohengrin floats in a skiff upon the water, and is brought ashore by a -swan. No one may ask whence he has come: the sexual mystery of the -origin of man must not be revealed but it is replaced by the suggestion of -the stork fable: the children are fished from the water by the swan and are -taken to the parents in a box. Corresponding to the prohibition of all -enquiries in the Lohengrin saga, we find in other myths (for example, the -Œdipus myth), a <i>command to investigate</i>, or a riddle which must be -<i>solved</i>. For the psychological significance of the stork fable, compare -Freud, Infantile Sexual Theories. Concerning the Hero Myth, compare -the author’s extensive contribution to the elaboration of the motives and -the interpretation of the Lohengrin saga (Heft 13 of this collection, Vienna -and Leipzig, 1911).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_108" href="#FNanchor_108" class="label">[108]</a> Compare Freud: Analysis of the Phobia of a five year old Boy. -<i>Jahrbuch f. psychoanalyt. u. psychopath. Forschungen</i>, Vol. I, 1909.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_109" href="#FNanchor_109" class="label">[109]</a> Usener (Stoff des griechischen Epos, S. 53—Subject Matter of Greek -Epics, p. 53) says that the controversy between the earlier and the later -Greek sagas concerning the mother of a divinity is usually reconciled by -the formula that the mother of the general Greek saga is recognized as -such while the mother of the local tradition is lowered to the rank of a -nurse. There may therefore be unhesitatingly regarded as the mother, -not merely the nurse of the god Ares.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_110" href="#FNanchor_110" class="label">[110]</a> Abraham, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 40; Riklin, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 74.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_111" href="#FNanchor_111" class="label">[111]</a> Brief mention is made of a case concerning a Mrs. v. Hervay, because -of a few subtle psychological comments upon the same, by A. Berger -(Feuilleton der Neue Freie Presse, Nov. 6, 1904, No. 14,441) which in -part touch upon our interpretation of the hero myth. Berger writes as -follows: “I am convinced that she seriously believes herself to be the illegitimate -daughter of an aristocratic Russian lady. The desire to belong -through birth to more distinguished and brilliant circles than her own surroundings -probably dates back to her early years; and her wish to be a -princess gave rise to the delusion that she was not the daughter of her -parents, but the child of a noblewoman who had concealed her illegitimate -offspring from the world by letting her grow up as the daughter of a -sleight-of-hand man. Having once become entangled in these fancies, it -was natural for her to interpret any harsh word that offended her, or any -accidental ambiguous remark that she happened to hear, but especially her -reluctance to be the daughter of this couple, as a confirmation of her -romantic delusion. She therefore made it the task of her life to regain -the social position of which she felt herself to have been defrauded. Her -biography manifests the strenuous insistence upon this idea, with a tragic -outcome.”</p> - -<p>The female type of the family romance, as it confronts us in this case -from the a-social side, has also been transmitted as a hero myth in isolated -instances. The story goes of the later Queen Semiramis (in Diodos, II, -4) that her mother, the goddess Derketo, being ashamed of her, exposed -the child in a barren and rocky land, where she was fed by doves and -found by shepherds, who gave the infant to the overseer of the royal -flocks, the childless Simmas, who raised her as his own daughter. He -named her Semiramis, which means Dove in the Syrian language. Her -further career, up to her autocratic rulership, thanks to her masculine -energy, is a matter of history.</p> - -<p>Other exposure myths are told of Atalante, Kybele, and Aërope (v. -Roscher).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_112" href="#FNanchor_112" class="label">[112]</a> Freud: Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory, Nervous and -Mental Disease Monograph, No. 7. Also: Psychopathologie des Altagslebens, -II ed., Berlin, 1909. Also: Hysterische Phantasien und ihre Beziehung -zur Bisexualität.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_113" href="#FNanchor_113" class="label">[113]</a> This is especially evident in the myths of the Greek gods, where the -son (Kronos, Zeus) must first remove the father, before he can enter -upon his rulership. The form of the removal, namely through castration, -obviously the strongest expression of the revolt against the father, is at the -same time the proof of its sexual provenance. Concerning the revenge -character of this castration, as well as the infantile significance of the -entire complex, compare Freud, Infantile Sexual Theories and Analysis -of the Phobia of a five year old Boy (Jahrbuch f. Psychoanalyse).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_114" href="#FNanchor_114" class="label">[114]</a> Compare the contrast between Tell and Parricida, in Schiller’s Wilhelm -Tell, which is discussed in detail in the author’s Incest Book.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_115" href="#FNanchor_115" class="label">[115]</a> Compare in this connection the unsuccessful homicidal attempt of -Tatjana Leontiew, and its subtle psychological illumination in Wittels: -Die sexuelle Not (Vienna and Leipzig, 1909).</p> - -</div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYTH OF THE BIRTH OF THE HERO ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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