A HAND-BOOK OF MYTHOLOGY.

THE

Myths and Legends

OF

ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.

BY

E. M. BERENS.

ILLUSTRATED FROM ANTIQUE SCULPTURES.

NEW YORK:

Maynard, Merrill, & Co.,

43, 45 and 47 East Tenth Street.

[i]

PREFACE.

The want of an interesting work on Greek and Roman mythology, suitable
for the requirements of both boys and girls, has long been recognized by
the principals of our advanced schools. The study of the classics
themselves, even where the attainments of the pupil have rendered this
feasible, has not been found altogether successful in giving to the
student a clear and succinct idea of the religious beliefs of the
ancients, and it has been suggested that a work which would so deal with
the subject as to render it at once interesting and instructive would be
hailed as a valuable introduction to the study of classic authors, and
would be found to assist materially the labours of both master and
pupil.

In endeavouring to supply this want I have sought to place before the
reader a lifelike picture of the deities of classical times as they were
conceived and worshipped by the ancients themselves, and thereby to
awaken in the minds of young students a desire to become more intimately
acquainted with the noble productions of classical antiquity.

It has been my aim to render the Legends, which form the second
portion of the work, a picture, as it were, of old Greek life; its
customs, its superstitions, and its princely hospitalities, for which
reason they are given at somewhat greater length than is usual in works
of the kind.

In a chapter devoted to the purpose some interesting particulars have
been collected respecting the public worship of the ancient Greeks and
Romans (more especially of the former), to which is subjoined an account
of their principal festivals.

I may add that no pains have been spared in order that, without
passing over details the omission of which would have [ii]marred the
completeness of the work, not a single passage should be found which
could possibly offend the most scrupulous delicacy; and also that I have
purposely treated the subject with that reverence which I consider due to
every religious system, however erroneous.

It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the importance of the study of
Mythology: our poems, our novels, and even our daily journals teem with
classical allusions; nor can a visit to our art galleries and museums be
fully enjoyed without something more than a mere superficial knowledge of
a subject which has in all ages inspired painters, sculptors, and poets.
It therefore only remains for me to express a hope that my little work
may prove useful, not only to teachers and scholars, but also to a large
class of general readers, who, in whiling away a leisure hour, may derive
some pleasure and profit from its perusal.

E. M. BERENS.

[iii]

CONTENTS.

[7]

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.

PART I.—MYTHS.

INTRODUCTION.

Before entering upon the many strange beliefs of the ancient Greeks,
and the extraordinary number of gods they worshipped, we must first
consider what kind of beings these divinities were.

In appearance, the gods were supposed to resemble mortals, whom,
however, they far surpassed in beauty, grandeur, and strength; they were
also more commanding in stature, height being considered by the Greeks an
attribute of beauty in man or woman. They resembled human beings in their
feelings and habits, intermarrying and having children, and requiring
daily nourishment to recruit their strength, and refreshing sleep to
restore their energies. Their blood, a bright ethereal fluid called
Ichor, never engendered disease, and, when shed, had the power of
producing new life.

The Greeks believed that the mental qualifications of their gods were
of a much higher order than those of men, but nevertheless, as we shall
see, they were not considered to be exempt from human passions, and we
frequently behold them actuated by revenge, deceit, and jealousy. They,
however, always punish the evil-doer, and visit with dire calamities any
impious mortal who dares to neglect their worship or despise their rites.
We often hear of them visiting mankind and partaking of their
hospitality, and not unfrequently both gods and goddesses [8]become attached to
mortals, with whom they unite themselves, the offspring of these unions
being called heroes or demi-gods, who were usually renowned for their
great strength and courage. But although there were so many points of
resemblance between gods and men, there remained the one great
characteristic distinction, viz., that the gods enjoyed immortality.
Still, they were not invulnerable, and we often hear of them being
wounded, and suffering in consequence such exquisite torture that they
have earnestly prayed to be deprived of their privilege of
immortality.

The gods knew no limitation of time or space, being able to transport
themselves to incredible distances with the speed of thought. They
possessed the power of rendering themselves invisible at will, and could
assume the forms of men or animals as it suited their convenience. They
could also transform human beings into trees, stones, animals, &c.,
either as a punishment for their misdeeds, or as a means of protecting
the individual, thus transformed, from impending danger. Their robes were
like those worn by mortals, but were perfect in form and much finer in
texture. Their weapons also resembled those used by mankind; we hear of
spears, shields, helmets, bows and arrows, &c., being employed by the
gods. Each deity possessed a beautiful chariot, which, drawn by horses or
other animals of celestial breed, conveyed them rapidly over land and sea
according to their pleasure. Most of these divinities lived on the summit
of Mount Olympus, each possessing his or her individual habitation, and
all meeting together on festive occasions in the council-chamber of the
gods, where their banquets were enlivened by the sweet strains of
Apollo’s lyre, whilst the beautiful voices of the Muses poured forth
their rich melodies to his harmonious accompaniment. Magnificent temples
were erected to their honour, where they were worshipped with the
greatest solemnity; rich gifts were presented to them, and animals, and
indeed sometimes human beings, were sacrificed on their altars.

In the study of Grecian mythology we meet with some [9]curious, and what
may at first sight appear unaccountable notions. Thus we hear of terrible
giants hurling rocks, upheaving mountains, and raising earthquakes which
engulf whole armies; these ideas, however, may be accounted for by the
awful convulsions of nature, which were in operation in pre-historic
times. Again, the daily recurring phenomena, which to us, who know them
to be the result of certain well-ascertained laws of nature, are so
familiar as to excite no remark, were, to the early Greeks, matter of
grave speculation, and not unfrequently of alarm. For instance, when they
heard the awful roar of thunder, and saw vivid flashes of lightning,
accompanied by black clouds and torrents of rain, they believed that the
great god of heaven was angry, and they trembled at his wrath. If the
calm and tranquil sea became suddenly agitated, and the crested billows
rose mountains high, dashing furiously against the rocks, and threatening
destruction to all within their reach, the sea-god was supposed to be in
a furious rage. When they beheld the sky glowing with the hues of coming
day they thought that the goddess of the dawn, with rosy fingers, was
drawing aside the dark veil of night, to allow her brother, the sun-god,
to enter upon his brilliant career. Thus personifying all the powers of
nature, this very imaginative and highly poetical nation beheld a
divinity in every tree that grew, in every stream that flowed, in the
bright beams of the glorious sun, and the clear, cold rays of the silvery
moon; for them the whole universe lived and breathed, peopled by a
thousand forms of grace and beauty.

The most important of these divinities may have been something more
than the mere creations of an active and poetical imagination. They were
possibly human beings who had so distinguished themselves in life by
their preeminence over their fellow-mortals that after death they were
deified by the people among whom they lived, and the poets touched with
their magic wand the details of lives, which, in more prosaic times,
would simply have been recorded as illustrious. [10]

It is highly probable that the reputed actions of these deified beings
were commemorated by bards, who, travelling from one state to another,
celebrated their praise in song; it therefore becomes exceedingly
difficult, nay almost impossible, to separate bare facts from the
exaggerations which never fail to accompany oral traditions.

In order to exemplify this, let us suppose that Orpheus, the son of
Apollo, so renowned for his extraordinary musical powers, had existed at
the present day. We should no doubt have ranked him among the greatest of
our musicians, and honoured him as such; but the Greeks, with their vivid
imagination and poetic license, exaggerated his remarkable gifts, and
attributed to his music supernatural influence over animate and inanimate
nature. Thus we hear of wild beasts tamed, of mighty rivers arrested in
their course, and of mountains being moved by the sweet tones of his
voice. The theory here advanced may possibly prove useful in the future,
in suggesting to the reader the probable basis of many of the
extraordinary accounts we meet with in the study of classical
mythology.

And now a few words will be necessary concerning the religious beliefs
of the Romans. When the Greeks first settled in Italy they found in the
country they colonized a mythology belonging to the Celtic inhabitants,
which, according to the Greek custom of paying reverence to all gods,
known or unknown, they readily adopted, selecting and appropriating those
divinities which had the greatest affinity to their own, and thus they
formed a religious belief which naturally bore the impress of its ancient
Greek source. As the primitive Celts, however, were a less civilized
people than the Greeks, their mythology was of a more barbarous
character, and this circumstance, combined with the fact that the Romans
were not gifted with the vivid imagination of their Greek neighbours,
leaves its mark on the Roman mythology, which is far less fertile in
fanciful conceits, and deficient in all those fairy-like stories and
wonderfully poetic ideas which so strongly characterize that of the
Greeks.

[11]

ORIGIN OF THE WORLD.—FIRST DYNASTY.

URANUS AND GÆA. (Cœlus and Terra.)

The ancient Greeks had several different theories with regard to the
origin of the world, but the generally accepted notion was that before
this world came into existence, there was in its place a confused mass of
shapeless elements called Chaos. These elements becoming at length
consolidated (by what means does not appear), resolved themselves into
two widely different substances, the lighter portion of which, soaring on
high, formed the sky or firmament, and constituted itself into a vast,
overarching vault, which protected the firm and solid mass beneath.

Thus came into being the two first great primeval deities of the
Greeks, Uranus and Ge or Gæa.

Uranus, the more refined deity, represented the light and air of
heaven, possessing the distinguishing qualities of light, heat, purity,
and omnipresence, whilst Gæa, the firm, flat,^[1] life-sustaining earth, was worshipped as
the great all-nourishing mother. Her many titles refer to her more or
less in this character, and she appears to have been universally revered
among the Greeks, there being scarcely a city in Greece which did not
contain a temple erected in her honour; indeed Gæa was held in such
veneration that her name was always invoked whenever the gods took a
solemn oath, made an emphatic declaration, or implored assistance.

Uranus, the heaven, was believed to have united himself in marriage
with Gæa, the earth; and a moment’s reflection will show what a truly
poetical, and also what a logical idea this was; for, taken in a
figurative sense, [12]this union actually does exist. The smiles
of heaven produce the flowers of earth, whereas his long-continued frowns
exercise so depressing an influence upon his loving partner, that she no
longer decks herself in bright and festive robes, but responds with ready
sympathy to his melancholy mood.

The first-born child of Uranus and Gæa was Oceanus,^[2] the ocean stream, that vast expanse of
ever-flowing water which encircled the earth. Here we meet with another
logical though fanciful conclusion, which a very slight knowledge of the
workings of nature proves to have been just and true. The ocean is formed
from the rains which descend from heaven and the streams which flow from
earth. By making Oceanus therefore the offspring of Uranus and Gæa, the
ancients, if we take this notion in its literal sense, merely assert that
the ocean is produced by the combined influence of heaven and earth,
whilst at the same time their fervid and poetical imagination led them to
see in this, as in all manifestations of the powers of nature, an actual,
tangible divinity.

But Uranus, the heaven, the embodiment of light, heat, and the breath
of life, produced offspring who were of a much less material nature than
his son Oceanus. These other children of his were supposed to occupy the
intermediate space which divided him from Gæa. Nearest to Uranus, and
just beneath him, came Aether (Ether), a bright creation representing
that highly rarified atmosphere which immortals alone could breathe. Then
followed Aër (Air), which was in close proximity to Gæa, and represented,
as its name implies, the grosser atmosphere surrounding the earth which
mortals could freely breathe, and without which they would perish. Aether
and Aër were separated from each other by divinities called Nephelae.
These were their restless and wandering sisters, who existed in the form
of clouds, ever [13]floating between Aether and Aër. Gæa also
produced the mountains, and Pontus (the sea). She united herself with the
latter, and their offspring were the sea-deities Nereus, Thaumas,
Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia.

Co-existent with Uranus and Gæa were two mighty powers who were also
the offspring of Chaos. These were Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), who
formed a striking contrast to the cheerful light of heaven and the bright
smiles of earth. Erebus reigned in that mysterious world below where no
ray of sunshine, no gleam of daylight, nor vestige of health-giving
terrestrial life ever appeared. Nyx, the sister of Erebus, represented
Night, and was worshipped by the ancients with the greatest
solemnity.

Uranus was also supposed to have been united to Nyx, but only in his
capacity as god of light, he being considered the source and fountain of
all light, and their children were Eos (Aurora), the Dawn, and Hemera,
the Daylight. Nyx again, on her side was also doubly united, having been
married at some indefinite period to Erebus.

In addition to those children of heaven and earth already enumerated,
Uranus and Gæa produced two distinctly different races of beings called
Giants and Titans. The Giants personified brute strength alone, but the
Titans united to their great physical power intellectual qualifications
variously developed. There were three Giants, Briareus, Cottus, and
Gyges, who each possessed a hundred hands and fifty heads, and were known
collectively by the name of the Hecatoncheires, which signified
hundred-handed. These mighty Giants could shake the universe and produce
earthquakes; it is therefore evident that they represented those active
subterranean forces to which allusion has been made in the opening
chapter. The Titans were twelve in number; their names were: Oceanus,
Ceos, Crios, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne,
Phœbe, and Tethys.

Now Uranus, the chaste light of heaven, the essence of all that is
bright and pleasing, held in abhorrence his [14]crude, rough, and
turbulent offspring, the Giants, and moreover feared that their great
power might eventually prove hurtful to himself. He therefore hurled them
into Tartarus, that portion of the lower world which served as the
subterranean dungeon of the gods. In order to avenge the oppression of
her children, the Giants, Gæa instigated a conspiracy on the part of the
Titans against Uranus, which was carried to a successful issue by her son
Cronus. He wounded his father, and from the blood of the wound which fell
upon the earth sprang a race of monstrous beings also called Giants.
Assisted by his brother-Titans, Cronus succeeded in dethroning his
father, who, enraged at his defeat, cursed his rebellious son, and
foretold to him a similar fate. Cronus now became invested with supreme
power, and assigned to his brothers offices of distinction, subordinate
only to himself. Subsequently, however, when, secure of his position, he
no longer needed their assistance, he basely repaid their former services
with treachery, made war upon his brothers and faithful allies, and,
assisted by the Giants, completely defeated them, sending such as
resisted his all-conquering arm down into the lowest depths of
Tartarus.

SECOND DYNASTY.

CRONUS (Saturn).

Cronus was the god of time in its sense of eternal duration. He
married Rhea, daughter of Uranus and Gæa, a very important divinity, to
whom a special chapter will be devoted hereafter. Their children were,
three sons: Aïdes (Pluto), Poseidon (Neptune), Zeus (Jupiter), and three
daughters: Hestia (Vesta), Demeter (Ceres), and Hera (Juno). Cronus,
having an uneasy conscience, was afraid that his children might one day
rise up against his authority, and thus verify the prediction of his
father [15]Uranus. In order, therefore, to render the
prophecy impossible of fulfilment, Cronus swallowed each child as soon as
it was born,^[3] greatly to
the sorrow and indignation of his wife Rhea. When it came to Zeus, the
sixth and last, Rhea resolved to try and save this one child at least, to
love and cherish, and appealed to her parents, Uranus and Gæa, for
counsel and assistance. By their advice she wrapped a stone in
baby-clothes, and Cronus, in eager haste, swallowed it, without noticing
the deception. The child thus saved, eventually, as we shall see,
dethroned his father Cronus, became supreme god in his stead, and was
universally venerated as the great national god of the Greeks.

Anxious to preserve the secret of his existence from Cronus, Rhea sent
the infant Zeus secretly to Crete, where he was nourished, protected, and
educated. A sacred goat, called Amalthea, supplied the place of his
mother, by providing him with milk; nymphs, called Melissae, fed him with
honey, and eagles and doves brought him nectar and ambrosia.^[4] He was kept concealed in a
cave in the heart of Mount Ida, and the Curetes, or priests of Rhea, by
beating their shields together, kept up a constant noise at the entrance,
which drowned the cries of the child and frightened away all intruders.
Under the watchful care of the Nymphs the infant Zeus throve rapidly,
developing great physical powers, combined with [16]extraordinary wisdom and
intelligence. Grown to manhood, he determined to compel his father to
restore his brothers and sisters to the light of day, and is said to have
been assisted in this difficult task by the goddess Metis, who artfully
persuaded Cronus to drink a potion, which caused him to give back the
children he had swallowed. The stone which had counterfeited Zeus was
placed at Delphi, where it was long exhibited as a sacred relic.

Cronus was so enraged at being circumvented that war between the
father and son became inevitable. The rival forces ranged themselves on
two separate high mountains in Thessaly; Zeus, with his brothers and
sisters, took his stand on Mount Olympus, where he was joined by Oceanus,
and others of the Titans, who had forsaken Cronus on account of his
oppressions. Cronus and his brother-Titans took possession of Mount
Othrys, and prepared for battle. The struggle was long and fierce, and at
length Zeus, finding that he was no nearer victory than before, bethought
himself of the existence of the imprisoned Giants, and knowing that they
would be able to render him most powerful assistance, he hastened to
liberate them. He also called to his aid the Cyclops (sons of Poseidon
and Amphitrite),^[5] who had
only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads, and were called
Brontes (Thunder), Steropes (Lightning), and Pyracmon (Fire-anvil). They
promptly responded to his summons for help, and brought with them
tremendous thunderbolts which the Hecatoncheires, with their hundred
hands, hurled down upon the enemy, at the same time raising mighty
earthquakes, which swallowed up and destroyed all who opposed them. Aided
by these new and powerful allies, Zeus now made a furious onslaught on
his enemies, and so tremendous was the encounter that all nature is said
to have throbbed in accord with this mighty effort of the celestial
deities. The sea rose mountains high, and its angry billows [17]hissed and
foamed; the earth shook to its foundations, the heavens sent forth
rolling thunder, and flash after flash of death-bringing lightning,
whilst a blinding mist enveloped Cronus and his allies.

And now the fortunes of war began to turn, and victory smiled on Zeus.
Cronus and his army were completely overthrown, his brothers despatched
to the gloomy depths of the lower world, and Cronus himself was banished
from his kingdom and deprived for ever of the supreme power, which now
became vested in his son Zeus. This war was called the Titanomachia, and
is most graphically described by the old classic poets.

With the defeat of Cronus and his banishment from his dominions, his
career as a ruling Greek divinity entirely ceases. But being, like all
the gods, immortal, he was supposed to be still in existence, though
possessing no longer either influence or authority, his place being
filled to a certain extent by his descendant and successor, Zeus.

Cronus is often represented as an old man leaning on a scythe, with an
hour-glass in his hand. The hour-glass symbolizes the fast-fleeting
moments as they succeed each other unceasingly; the scythe is
emblematical of time, which mows down all before it.

SATURN.

The Romans, according to their custom of identifying their deities
with those of the Greek gods whose attributes were similar to their own,
declared Cronus to be identical with their old agricultural divinity
Saturn. They believed that after his defeat in the [18]Titanomachia and his
banishment from his dominions by Zeus, he took refuge with Janus, king of
Italy, who received the exiled deity with great kindness, and even shared
his throne with him. Their united reign became so thoroughly peaceful and
happy, and was distinguished by such uninterrupted prosperity, that it
was called the Golden Age.

Saturn is usually represented bearing a sickle in the one hand and a
wheat-sheaf in the other.

A temple was erected to him at the foot of the Capitoline Hill, in
which were deposited the public treasury and the laws of the state.

RHEA (Ops).

Rhea, the wife of Cronus, and mother of Zeus and the other great gods
of Olympus, personified the earth, and was regarded as the Great Mother
and unceasing producer of all plant-life. She was also believed to
exercise unbounded sway over the animal creation, more especially over
the lion, the noble king of beasts. Rhea is generally represented wearing
a crown of turrets or towers and seated on a throne, with lions crouching
at her feet. She is sometimes depicted sitting in a chariot, drawn by
lions.

The principal seat of her worship, which was always of a very riotous
character, was at Crete. At her festivals, which took place at night, the
wildest music of flutes, cymbals, and drums resounded, whilst joyful
shouts and cries, accompanied by dancing and loud stamping of feet,
filled the air.

This divinity was introduced into Crete by its first colonists from
Phrygia, in Asia Minor, in which country she was worshipped under the
name of Cybele. The people of Crete adored her as the Great Mother, more
especially in her signification as the sustainer of the vegetable world.
Seeing, however, that year by year, as winter appears, all her glory
vanishes, her flowers fade, and her trees become leafless, they
poetically expressed this process of nature under the figure of a lost
love. She [19]was said to have been tenderly attached to a
youth of remarkable beauty, named Atys, who, to her grief and
indignation, proved faithless to her. He was about to unite himself to a
nymph called Sagaris, when, in the midst of the wedding feast, the rage
of the incensed goddess suddenly burst forth upon all present. A panic
seized the assembled guests, and Atys, becoming afflicted with temporary
madness, fled to the mountains and destroyed himself. Cybele, moved with
sorrow and regret, instituted a yearly mourning for his loss, when her
priests, the Corybantes, with their usual noisy accompaniments, marched
into the mountains to seek the lost youth. Having discovered him^[6] they gave full vent to their
ecstatic delight by indulging in the most violent gesticulations,
dancing, shouting, and, at the same time, wounding and gashing themselves
in a frightful manner.

OPS.

In Rome the Greek Rhea was identified with Ops, the goddess of plenty,
the wife of Saturn, who had a variety of appellations. She was called
Magna-Mater, Mater-Deorum, Berecynthia-Idea, and also Dindymene. This
latter title she acquired from three high mountains in Phrygia, whence
she was brought to Rome as Cybele during the second Punic war, B.C. 205, in obedience to an injunction contained in
the Sybilline books. She was represented as a matron crowned with towers,
seated in a chariot drawn by lions.

DIVISION OF THE WORLD.

We will now return to Zeus and his brothers, who, having gained a
complete victory over their enemies, began to consider how the world,
which they had [20]conquered, should be divided between them.
At last it was settled by lot that Zeus should reign supreme in Heaven,
whilst Aïdes governed the Lower World, and Poseidon had full command over
the Sea, but the supremacy of Zeus was recognized in all three kingdoms,
in heaven, on earth (in which of course the sea was included), and under
the earth. Zeus held his court on the top of Mount Olympus, whose summit
was beyond the clouds; the dominions of Aïdes were the gloomy unknown
regions below the earth; and Poseidon reigned over the sea. It will be
seen that the realm of each of these gods was enveloped in mystery.
Olympus was shrouded in mists, Hades was wrapt in gloomy darkness, and
the sea was, and indeed still is, a source of wonder and deep interest.
Hence we see that what to other nations were merely strange phenomena,
served this poetical and imaginative people as a foundation upon which to
build the wonderful stories of their mythology.

The division of the world being now satisfactorily arranged, it would
seem that all things ought to have gone on smoothly, but such was not the
case. Trouble arose in an unlooked-for quarter. The Giants, those hideous
monsters (some with legs formed of serpents) who had sprung from the
earth and the blood of Uranus, declared war against the triumphant
deities of Olympus, and a struggle ensued, which, in consequence of Gæa
having made these children of hers invincible as long as they kept their
feet on the ground, was wearisome and protracted. Their mother’s
precaution, however, was rendered unavailing by pieces of rock being
hurled upon them, which threw them down, and their feet being no longer
placed firmly on their mother-earth, they were overcome, and this tedious
war (which was called the Gigantomachia) at last came to an end. Among
the most daring of these earth-born giants were Enceladus, Rhœtus,
and the valiant Mimas, who, with youthful fire and energy, hurled against
heaven great masses of rock and burning oak-trees, and defied the
lightnings of Zeus. One of the most powerful monsters who opposed Zeus in
this [21]war was called Typhon or Typhœus. He
was the youngest son of Tartarus and Gæa, and had a hundred heads, with
eyes which struck terror to the beholders, and awe-inspiring voices
frightful to hear. This dreadful monster resolved to conquer both gods
and men, but his plans were at length defeated by Zeus, who, after a
violent encounter, succeeded in destroying him with a thunderbolt, but
not before he had so terrified the gods that they had fled for refuge to
Egypt, where they metamorphosed themselves into different animals and
thus escaped.

THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OF MAN.

Just as there were several theories concerning the origin of the
world, so there were various accounts of the creation of man.

The first natural belief of the Greek people was that man had sprung
from the earth. They saw the tender plants and flowers force their way
through the ground in the early spring of the year after the frost of
winter had disappeared, and so they naturally concluded that man must
also have issued from the earth in a similar manner. Like the wild plants
and flowers, he was supposed to have had no cultivation, and resembled in
his habits the untamed beasts of the field, having no habitation except
that which nature had provided in the holes of the rocks, and in the
dense forests whose overarching boughs protected him from the inclemency
of the weather.

In the course of time these primitive human beings became tamed and
civilized by the gods and heroes, who taught them to work in metals, to
build houses, and other useful arts of civilization. But the human race
became in the course of time so degenerate that the gods resolved to
destroy all mankind by means of a flood; Deucalion [22](son of Prometheus) and
his wife Pyrrha, being, on account of their piety, the only mortals
saved.

By the command of his father, Deucalion built a ship, in which he and
his wife took refuge during the deluge, which lasted for nine days. When
the waters abated the ship rested on Mount Othrys in Thessaly, or
according to some on Mount Parnassus. Deucalion and his wife now
consulted the oracle of Themis as to how the human race might be
restored. The answer was, that they were to cover their heads, and throw
the bones of their mother behind them. For some time they were perplexed
as to the meaning of the oracular command, but at length both agreed that
by the bones of their mother were meant the stones of the earth. They
accordingly took up stones from the mountain side and cast them over
their shoulders. From those thrown by Deucalion there sprang up men, and
from those thrown by Pyrrha, women.

After the lapse of time the theory of Autochthony (from autos,
self, and chthon, earth) was laid aside. When this belief existed
there were no religious teachers whatever; but in course of time temples
were raised in honour of the different gods, and priests appointed to
offer sacrifices to them and conduct their worship. These priests were
looked upon as authorities in all religious matters, and the doctrine
they taught was, that man had been created by the gods, and that there
had been several successive ages of men, which were called the Golden,
Silver, Brazen, and Iron Ages.

Life in the Golden Age was one unceasing round of ever-recurring
pleasures unmarred by sorrow or care. The favoured mortals living at this
happy time led pure and joyous lives, thinking no evil, and doing no
wrong. The earth brought forth fruits and flowers without toil or labour
in plentiful luxuriance, and war was unknown. This delightful and
god-like existence lasted for hundreds of years, and when at length life
on earth was ended, death laid his hand so gently upon them that they
passed painlessly away in a happy dream, and continued their existence as
ministering spirits in Hades, watching over and [23]protecting those they had
loved and left behind on earth. The men of the Silver Age^[7] were a long time growing up, and during
their childhood, which lasted a hundred years, they suffered from
ill-health and extreme debility. When they at last became men they lived
but a short time, for they would not abstain from mutual injury, nor pay
the service due to the gods, and were therefore banished to Hades. There,
unlike the beings of the Golden Age, they exercised no beneficent
supervision over the dear ones left behind, but wandered about as
restless spirits, always sighing for the lost pleasures they had enjoyed
in life.

The men of the Brazen Age were quite a different race of beings, being
as strong and powerful as those of the Silver Age were weak and
enervated. Everything which surrounded them was of brass; their arms,
their tools, their dwellings, and all that they made. Their characters
seem to have resembled the metal in which they delighted; their minds and
hearts were hard, obdurate, and cruel. They led a life of strife and
contention, introduced into the world, which had hitherto known nothing
but peace and tranquillity, the scourge of war, and were in fact only
happy when fighting and quarrelling with each other. Hitherto Themis, the
goddess of Justice, had been living among mankind, but becoming
disheartened at their evil doings, she abandoned the earth, and winged
her flight back to heaven. At last the gods became so tired of their evil
deeds and continual dissensions, that they removed them from the face of
the earth, and sent them down to Hades to share the fate of their
predecessors.

We now come to the men of the Iron Age. The earth, no longer teeming
with fruitfulness, only yielded her increase after much toil and labour.
The goddess of Justice having abandoned mankind, no influence remained
sufficiently powerful to preserve them from every kind of wickedness and
sin. This condition grew worse as time went on, until at last Zeus in his
anger let loose the water-courses from above, and drowned every [24]individual of
this evil race, except Deucalion and Pyrrha.

The theory of Hesiod,^[8]
the oldest of all the Greek poets, was that the Titan Prometheus, the son
of Iapetus, had formed man out of clay, and that Athene had breathed a
soul into him. Full of love for the beings he had called into existence,
Prometheus determined to elevate their minds and improve their condition
in every way; he therefore taught them astronomy, mathematics, the
alphabet, how to cure diseases, and the art of divination. He created
this race in such great numbers that the gods began to see the necessity
of instituting certain fixed laws with regard to the sacrifices due to
them, and the worship to which they considered themselves entitled from
mankind in return for the protection which they accorded them. An
assembly was therefore convened at Mecone in order to settle these
points. It was decided that Prometheus, as the advocate of man, should
slay an ox, which should be divided into two equal parts, and that the
gods should select one portion which should henceforth, in all future
sacrifices, be set apart for them. Prometheus so divided the ox that one
part consisted of the bones (which formed of course the least valuable
portion of the animal), artfully concealed by the white fat; whilst the
other contained all the edible parts, which he covered with the skin, and
on the top of all he laid the stomach.

Zeus, pretending to be deceived, chose the heap of bones, but he saw
through the stratagem, and was so angry at the deception practised on him
by Prometheus that he avenged himself by refusing to mortals the gift of
fire. [25]Prometheus, however, resolved to brave the
anger of the great ruler of Olympus, and to obtain from heaven the vital
spark so necessary for the further progress and comfort of the human
race. He accordingly contrived to steal some sparks from the chariot of
the sun, which he conveyed to earth hidden in a hollow tube. Furious at
being again outwitted, Zeus determined to be revenged first on mankind,
and then on Prometheus. To punish the former he commanded Hephæstus
(Vulcan) to mould a beautiful woman out of clay, and determined that
through her instrumentality trouble and misery should be brought into the
world.

The gods were so charmed with the graceful and artistic creation of
Hephæstus, that they all determined to endow her with some special gift.
Hermes (Mercury) bestowed on her a smooth persuasive tongue, Aphrodite
gave her beauty and the art of pleasing; the Graces made her fascinating,
and Athene (Minerva) gifted her with the possession of feminine
accomplishments. She was called Pandora, which means all-gifted, having
received every attribute necessary to make her charming and irresistible.
Thus beautifully formed and endowed, this exquisite creature, attired by
the Graces, and crowned with flowers by the Seasons, was conducted to the
house of Epimetheus^[9] by
Hermes the messenger of the gods. Now Epimetheus had been warned by his
brother not to accept any gift whatever from the gods; but he was so
fascinated by the beautiful being who suddenly appeared before him, that
he welcomed her to his home, and made her his wife. It was not long,
however, before he had cause to regret his weakness.

He had in his possession a jar of rare workmanship, containing all the
blessings reserved by the gods for mankind, which he had been expressly
forbidden to open. But woman’s proverbial curiosity could not withstand
so great a temptation, and Pandora determined to solve the mystery at any
cost. Watching her opportunity she raised the lid, and immediately all
the blessings which [26]the gods had thus reserved for mankind took
wing and flew away. But all was not lost. Just as Hope (which lay at the
bottom) was about to escape, Pandora hastily closed the lid of the jar,
and thus preserved to man that never-failing solace which helps him to
bear with courage the many ills which assail him.^[10]

Having punished mankind, Zeus determined to execute vengeance on
Prometheus. He accordingly chained him to a rock in Mount Caucasus, and
sent an eagle every day to gnaw away his liver, which grew again every
night ready for fresh torments. For thirty years Prometheus endured this
fearful punishment; but at length Zeus relented, and permitted his son
Heracles (Hercules) to kill the eagle, and the sufferer was released.

THIRD DYNASTY—OLYMPIAN DIVINITIES.

ZEUS^[11] (Jupiter).

Zeus, the great presiding deity of the universe, the ruler of heaven
and earth, was regarded by the Greeks, first, as the god of all aërial
phenomena; secondly, as the personification of the laws of nature;
thirdly, as lord of state-life; and fourthly, as the father of gods and
men.

As the god of aërial phenomena he could, by shaking his ægis,^[12] produce storms, tempests,
and intense darkness. At his command the mighty thunder rolls, the
lightning flashes, and the clouds open and pour forth their refreshing
streams to fructify the earth.

As the personification of the operations of nature, he represents
those grand laws of unchanging and harmonious order, by which not only
the physical but also [27]the moral world is governed. Hence he is the
god of regulated time as marked by the changing seasons, and by the
regular succession of day and night, in contradistinction to his father
Cronus, who represents time absolutely, i.e. eternity.

As the lord of state-life, he is the founder of kingly power, the
upholder of all institutions connected with the state, and the special
friend and patron of princes, whom he guards and assists with his advice
and counsel. He protects the assembly of the people, and, in fact,
watches over the welfare of the whole community.

As the father of the gods, Zeus sees that each deity performs his or
her individual duty, punishes their misdeeds, settles their disputes, and
acts towards them on all occasions as their all-knowing counsellor and
mighty friend.

As the father of men, he takes a paternal interest in the actions and
well-being of mortals. He watches over them with tender solicitude,
rewarding truth, charity, and uprightness, but severely punishing
perjury, cruelty, and want of hospitality. Even the poorest and most
forlorn wanderer finds in him a powerful advocate, for he, by a wise and
merciful dispensation, ordains that the mighty ones of the earth should
succour their distressed and needy brethren.

The Greeks believed that the home of this their mighty and
all-powerful deity was on the top of Mount Olympus, that high and lofty
mountain between Thessaly and Macedon, whose summit, wrapt in clouds and
mist, was hidden from mortal view. It was supposed that this mysterious
region, which even a bird could not reach, extended beyond the clouds
right into Aether, the realm of the immortal gods. The poets describe
this ethereal atmosphere as bright, glistening, and refreshing,
exercising a peculiar, gladdening influence over the minds and hearts of
those privileged beings permitted to share its delights. Here youth never
ages, and the passing years leave no traces on its favoured inhabitants.
On the cloud-capped summit of Olympus was the palace of [28]Zeus and Hera,
of burnished gold, chased silver, and gleaming ivory. Lower down were the
homes of the other gods, which, though less commanding in position and
size, were yet similar to that of Zeus in design and workmanship, all
being the work of the divine artist Hephæstus. Below these were other
palaces of silver, ebony, ivory, or burnished brass, where the Heroes, or
Demi-gods, resided.

As the worship of Zeus formed so important a feature in the religion
of the Greeks, his statues were necessarily both numerous and
magnificent. He is usually represented as a man of noble and imposing
mien, his countenance expressing all the lofty majesty of the omnipotent
ruler of the universe, combined with the gracious, yet serious, benignity
of the father and friend of mankind. He may be recognized by his rich
flowing beard, and the thick masses of hair, which rise straight from the
high and intellectual forehead and fall to his shoulders in clustering
locks. The nose is large and finely formed, and the slightly-opened lips
impart an air of sympathetic kindliness which invites confidence. He is
always accompanied by an eagle, which either surmounts his sceptre, or
sits at his feet; he generally bears in his uplifted hand a sheaf of
thunder-bolts, just ready to be hurled, whilst in the other he holds the
lightning. The head is frequently encircled with a wreath of
oak-leaves.

The most celebrated statue of the Olympian Zeus was that by the famous
Athenian sculptor Phidias, which was forty feet high, and stood in the
temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was formed of ivory and gold, and was [29]such a
masterpiece of art, that it was reckoned among the seven wonders of the
world. It represented the god, seated on a throne, holding in his right
hand a life-sized image of Nike (the goddess of Victory), and in his left
a royal sceptre, surmounted by an eagle. It is said that the great
sculptor had concentrated all the marvellous powers of his genius on this
sublime conception, and earnestly entreated Zeus to give him a decided
proof that his labours were approved. An answer to his prayer came
through the open roof of the temple in the shape of a flash of lightning,
which Phidias interpreted as a sign that the god of heaven was pleased
with his work.

Zeus was first worshipped at Dodona in Epirus, where, at the foot of
Mount Tomarus, on the woody shore of Lake Joanina, was his famous oracle,
the most ancient in Greece. Here the voice of the eternal and invisible
god was supposed to be heard in the rustling leaves of a giant oak,
announcing to mankind the will of heaven and the destiny of mortals;
these revelations being interpreted to the people by the priests of Zeus,
who were called Selli. Recent excavations which have been made at this
spot have brought to light the ruins of the ancient temple of Zeus, and
also, among other interesting relics, some plates of lead, on which are
engraved inquiries which were evidently made by certain individuals who
consulted the oracle. These little leaden plates speak to us, as it were,
in a curiously homely manner of a by-gone time in the buried past. One
person inquires what god he should apply to for health and fortune;
another asks for advice concerning his child; and a third, evidently a
shepherd, promises a gift to the oracle should a speculation in sheep
turn out successfully. Had these little memorials been of gold instead of
lead, they would doubtless have shared the fate of the numerous treasures
which adorned this and other temples, in the universal pillage which took
place when Greece fell into the hands of barbarians.

Though Dodona was the most ancient of his shrines, the great national
seat of the worship of Zeus was at Olympia in Elis, where there was a
magnificent temple [30]dedicated to him, containing the famous
colossal statue by Phidias above described. Crowds of devout worshippers
flocked to this world-renowned fane from all parts of Greece, not only to
pay homage to their supreme deity, but also to join in the celebrated
games which were held there at intervals of four years. The Olympic games
were such a thoroughly national institution, that even Greeks who had
left their native country made a point of returning on these occasions,
if possible, in order to contend with their fellow-countrymen in the
various athletic sports which took place at these festivals.

It will be seen on reflection that in a country like Greece, which
contained so many petty states, often at variance with each other, these
national gatherings must have been most valuable as a means of uniting
the Greeks in one great bond of brotherhood. On these festive occasions
the whole nation met together, forgetting for the moment all past
differences, and uniting in the enjoyment of the same festivities.

It will doubtless have been remarked that in the representations of
Zeus he is always accompanied by an eagle. This royal bird was sacred to
him, probably from the fact of its being the only creature capable of
gazing at the sun without being dazzled, which may have suggested the
idea that it was able to contemplate the splendour of divine majesty
unshrinkingly.

The oak-tree, and also the summits of mountains, were sacred to Zeus.
His sacrifices consisted of white bulls, cows, and goats.

Zeus had seven immortal wives, whose names were Metis, Themis,
Eurynome, Demeter, Mnemosyne, Leto, and Hera.

METIS, his first wife, was one of the Oceanides or sea-nymphs.
She was the personification of prudence and wisdom, a convincing proof of
which she displayed in her successful administration of the potion which
caused Cronus to yield up his children. She was endowed with the gift of
prophecy, and foretold to Zeus that one of their children would gain
ascendency over [31]him. In order, therefore, to avert the
possibility of the prediction being fulfilled he swallowed her before any
children were born to them. Feeling afterwards violent pains in his head,
he sent for Hephæstus, and ordered him to open it with an axe. His
command was obeyed, and out sprang, with a loud and martial shout, a
beautiful being, clad in armour from head to foot. This was Athene
(Minerva), goddess of Armed Resistance and Wisdom.

THEMIS was the goddess of Justice, Law, and Order.

EURYNOME was one of the Oceanides, and the mother of the
Charites or Graces.

DEMETER,^[13] the
daughter of Cronus and Rhea, was the goddess of Agriculture.

MNEMOSYNE, the daughter of Uranus and Gæa, was the goddess of
Memory and the mother of the nine Muses.

LETO (Latona) was the daughter of Cœus and Phœbe.
She was gifted with wonderful beauty, and was tenderly loved by Zeus, but
her lot was far from being a happy one, for Hera, being extremely jealous
of her, persecuted her with inveterate cruelty, and sent the dreadful
serpent Python^[14] to
terrify and torment her wherever she went. But Zeus, who had observed
with the deepest compassion her weary wanderings and agonized fears,
resolved to create for her some place of refuge, however humble, where
she might feel herself safe from the venomous attacks of the serpent. He
therefore brought her to Delos, a floating island in the Ægean Sea, which
he made stationary by attaching it with chains of adamant to the bottom
of the sea. Here she gave birth to her twin-children, Apollo and Artemis
(Diana), two of the most beautiful of the immortals.

According to some versions of the story of Leto, Zeus transformed her
into a quail, in order that she might thus elude the vigilance of Hera,
and she is said to have [32]resumed her true form when she arrived at
the island of Delos.

HERA, being the principal wife of Zeus and queen of heaven, a
detailed account will be given of her in a special chapter.

In the union of Zeus with most of his immortal wives we shall find
that an allegorical meaning is conveyed. His marriage with Metis, who is
said to have surpassed both gods and men in knowledge, represents supreme
power allied to wisdom and prudence. His union with Themis typifies the
bond which exists between divine majesty and justice, law, and order.
Eurynome, as the mother of the Charites or Graces, supplied the refining
and harmonizing influences of grace and beauty, whilst the marriage of
Zeus with Mnemosyne typifies the union of genius with memory.

In addition to the seven immortal wives of Zeus, he was also allied to
a number of mortal maidens whom he visited under various disguises, as it
was supposed that if he revealed himself in his true form as king of
heaven the splendour of his glory would cause instant destruction to
mortals. The mortal consorts of Zeus have been such a favourite theme
with poets, painters, and sculptors, that it is necessary to give some
account of their individual history. Those best known are Antiope, Leda,
Europa, Callisto, Alcmene, Semele, Io, and Danae.

ANTIOPE, to whom Zeus appeared under the form of a satyr, was
the daughter of Nicteus, king of Thebes. To escape the anger of her
father she fled to Sicyon, where king Epopeus, enraptured with her
wonderful beauty, made her his wife without asking her father’s consent.
This so enraged Nicteus that he declared war against Epopeus, in order to
compel him to restore Antiope. At his death, which took place before he
could succeed in his purpose, Nicteus left his kingdom to his brother
Lycus, commanding him, at the same time, to carry on the war, and execute
his vengeance. Lycus invaded Sicyon, defeated and killed Epopeus, and
brought back [33]Antiope as a prisoner. On the way to Thebes
she gave birth to her twin-sons, Amphion and Zethus, who, by the orders
of Lycus, were at once exposed on Mount Cithaeron, and would have
perished but for the kindness of a shepherd, who took pity on them and
preserved their lives. Antiope was, for many years, held captive by her
uncle Lycus, and compelled to suffer the utmost cruelty at the hands of
his wife Dirce. But one day her bonds were miraculously loosened, and she
flew for shelter and protection to the humble dwelling of her sons on
Mount Cithaeron. During the long period of their mother’s captivity the
babes had grown into sturdy youths, and, as they listened angrily to the
story of her wrongs, they became all impatience to avenge them. Setting
off at once to Thebes they succeeded in possessing themselves of the
town, and after slaying the cruel Lycus they bound Dirce by the hair to
the horns of a wild bull, which dragged her hither and thither until she
expired. Her mangled body was cast into the fount near Thebes, which
still bears her name. Amphion became king of Thebes in his uncle’s stead.
He was a friend of the Muses, and devoted to music and poetry. His
brother, Zethus, was famous for his skill in archery, and was
passionately fond of the chase. It is said that when Amphion wished to
inclose the town of Thebes with walls and towers, he had but to play a
sweet melody on the lyre, given to him by Hermes, and the huge stones
began to move, and obediently fitted themselves together.

The punishment of Dirce at the hands of Amphion and Zethus forms the
subject of the world-renowned marble group in the museum at Naples, known
by the name of the Farnese Bull.

In sculpture Amphion is always represented with a lyre; Zethus with a
club.

LEDA, whose affections Zeus won under the form of a swan, was
the daughter of Thestius, king of Ætolia. Her twin-sons, Castor and
(Polydeuces or) Pollux,^[15]
were [34]renowned for their tender attachment to each
other. They were also famous for their physical accomplishments, Castor
being the most expert charioteer of his day, and Pollux the first of
pugilists. Their names appear both among the hunters of the Calydonian
boar-hunt and the heroes of the Argonautic expedition. The brothers
became attached to the daughters of Leucippus, prince of the Messenians,
who had been betrothed by their father to Idas and Lynceus, sons of
Aphareus. Having persuaded Leucippus to break his promise, the twins
carried off the maidens as their brides. Idas and Lynceus, naturally
furious at this proceeding, challenged the Dioscuri to mortal combat, in
which Castor perished by the hand of Idas, and Lynceus by that of Pollux.
Zeus wished to confer the gift of immortality upon Pollux, but he refused
to accept it unless allowed to share it with Castor. Zeus gave the
desired permission, and the faithful brothers were both allowed to live,
but only on alternate days. The Dioscuri received divine honours
throughout Greece, and were worshipped with special reverence at
Sparta.

EUROPA was the beautiful daughter of Agenor, king of
Phœnicia. She was one day gathering flowers with her companions in
a meadow near the sea-shore, when Zeus, charmed with her great beauty,
and wishing to win her love, transformed himself into a beautiful white
bull, and trotted quietly up to the princess, so as not to alarm her.
Surprised at the gentleness of the animal, and admiring its beauty, as it
lay placidly on the grass, she caressed it, crowned it with flowers, and,
at last, playfully seated herself on its back. Hardly had she done so
than the disguised god bounded away with his lovely burden, and swam
across the sea with her to the island of Crete.

Europa was the mother of Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. Minos, who
became king of Crete, was celebrated for his justice and moderation, and
after death he was created one of the judges of the lower world, which
office he held in conjunction with his brothers. [35]

CALLISTO, the daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, was a
huntress in the train of Artemis, devoted to the pleasures of the chase,
who had made a vow never to marry; but Zeus, under the form of the
huntress-goddess, succeeded in obtaining her affections. Hera, being
extremely jealous of her, changed her into a bear, and caused Artemis
(who failed to recognize her attendant under this form) to hunt her in
the chase, and put an end to her existence. After her death she was
placed by Zeus among the stars as a constellation, under the name of
Arctos, or the bear.

ALCMENE, the daughter of Electryon, king of Mycenae, was
betrothed to her cousin Amphytrion; but, during his absence on a perilous
undertaking, Zeus assumed his form, and obtained her affections. Heracles
(whose world-renowned exploits will be related among the legends) was the
son of Alcmene and Zeus.

SEMELE, a beautiful princess, the daughter of Cadmus, king of
Phœnicia, was greatly beloved by Zeus. Like the unfortunate
Callisto, she was hated by Hera with jealous malignity, and the haughty
queen of heaven determined to effect her destruction. Disguising herself,
therefore, as Berœ, Semele’s faithful old nurse, she artfully
persuaded her to insist upon Zeus visiting her, as he appeared to Hera,
in all his power and glory, well knowing that this would cause her
instant death. Semele, suspecting no treachery, followed the advice of
her supposed nurse; and the next time Zeus came to her, she earnestly
entreated him to grant the favour she was about to ask. Zeus swore by the
Styx (which was to the gods an irrevocable oath) to accede to her request
whatsoever it might be. Semele, therefore, secure of gaining her
petition, begged of Zeus to appear to her in all the glory of his divine
power and majesty. As he had sworn to grant whatever she asked of him, he
was compelled to comply with her wish; he therefore revealed himself as
the mighty lord of the universe, accompanied by thunder and lightning,
and she was instantly consumed in the flames. [36]

IO, daughter of Inachus, king of Argos, was a priestess of
Hera. She was very beautiful, and Zeus, who was much attached to her,
transformed her into a white cow, in order to defeat the jealous
intrigues of Hera, who, however, was not to be deceived. Aware of the
stratagem, she contrived to obtain the animal from Zeus, and placed her
under the watchful care of a man called Argus-Panoptes, who fastened her
to an olive-tree in the grove of Hera. He had a hundred eyes, of which,
when asleep, he never closed more than two at a time; being thus always
on the watch, Hera found him extremely useful in keeping guard over Io.
Hermes, however, by the command of Zeus, succeeded in putting all his
eyes to sleep with the sound of his magic lyre, and then, taking
advantage of his helpless condition, slew him. The story goes, that in
commemoration of the services which Argus had rendered her, Hera placed
his eyes on the tail of a peacock, as a lasting memorial of her
gratitude. Ever fertile in resource, Hera now sent a gadfly to worry and
torment the unfortunate Io incessantly, and she wandered all over the
world in hopes of escaping from her tormentor. At length she reached
Egypt, where she found rest and freedom from the persecutions of her
enemy. On the banks of the Nile she resumed her original form and gave
birth to a son called Epaphus, who afterwards became king of Egypt, and
built the famous city of Memphis.

DANAE.—Zeus appeared to Danae under the form of a shower
of gold. (Further details concerning her will be found in the legend of
Perseus.)

The Greeks supposed that the divine ruler of the Universe occasionally
assumed a human form, and descended from his celestial abode, in order to
visit mankind and observe their proceedings, his aim being generally
either to punish the guilty, or to reward the deserving.

On one occasion Zeus, accompanied by Hermes, made a journey through
Phrygia, seeking hospitality and shelter wherever they went. But nowhere
did they receive a [37]kindly welcome till they came to the humble
cottage of an old man and his wife called Philemon and Baucis, who
entertained them with the greatest kindness, setting before them what
frugal fare their humble means permitted, and bidding them welcome with
unaffected cordiality. Observing in the course of their simple repast
that the wine bowl was miraculously replenished, the aged couple became
convinced of the divine nature of their guests. The gods now informed
them that on account of its wickedness their native place was doomed to
destruction, and told them to climb the neighbouring hill with them,
which overlooked the village where they dwelt. What was their dismay on
beholding at their feet, in place of the spot where they had passed so
many happy years together, nothing but a watery plain, the only house to
be seen being their own little cottage, which suddenly changed itself
into a temple before their eyes. Zeus now asked the worthy pair to name
any wish they particularly desired and it should be granted. They
accordingly begged that they might serve the gods in the temple below,
and end life together.

Their wish was granted, for, after spending the remainder of their
lives in the worship of the gods, they both died at the same instant, and
were transformed by Zeus into trees, remaining for ever side by side.

Upon another occasion Zeus, wishing to ascertain for himself the truth
of the reports concerning the atrocious wickedness of mankind, made a
journey through Arcadia. Being recognized by the Arcadians as king of
heaven, he was received by them with becoming respect and veneration; but
Lycaon, their king, who had rendered himself infamous by the gross
impiety of himself and his sons, doubted the divinity of Zeus, ridiculed
his people for being so easily duped, and, according to his custom of
killing all strangers who ventured to trust his hospitality, resolved to
murder him. Before executing this wicked design, however, he decided to
put Zeus to the test, and having killed a boy for the purpose, placed
before him a dish containing human flesh. But Zeus was [38]not to be
deceived. He beheld the revolting dish with horror and loathing, and
angrily upsetting the table upon which it was placed, turned Lycaon into
a wolf, and destroyed all his fifty sons by lightning, except Nyctimus,
who was saved by the intervention of Gæa.

JUPITER.

The Roman Jupiter, who is so frequently confounded with the Greek
Zeus, is identical with him only as being the head of the Olympic gods,
and the presiding deity over Life, Light, and Aërial Phenomena. Jupiter
is lord of life in its widest and most comprehensive signification,
having absolute power over life and death, in which respect he differed
from the Greek Zeus, who was to a certain extent controlled by the
all-potent sway of the Moiræ or Fates. Zeus, as we have seen, often
condescends to visit mankind, either as a mortal, or under various
disguises, whereas Jupiter always remains essentially the supreme god of
heaven, and never appears upon earth.

The most celebrated temple of Jupiter was that on the Capitoline Hill
in the city of Rome, where he was worshipped under the names of
Jupiter-Optimus-Maximus, Capitolinus, and Tarpeius.

The Romans represented him seated on a throne of ivory, holding in his
right hand a sheaf of thunderbolts, and in his left a sceptre, whilst an
eagle stands beside his throne.

HERA (Juno).

Hera, the eldest daughter of Cronus and Rhea, was born at Samos, or,
according to some accounts, at Argos, and was reared by the
sea-divinities Oceanus and Tethys, who were models of conjugal
fidelity.^[16] She was the
[39]principal wife of Zeus, and, as queen of
heaven, participated in the honours paid to him, but her dominion only
extended over the air (the lower aërial regions). Hera appears to be the
sublime embodiment of strict matronly virtue, and is on that account the
protectress of purity and married women. Faultless herself in her
fidelity as a wife, she is essentially the type of the sanctity of the
marriage tie, and holds in abhorrence any violation of its obligations.
So strongly was she imbued with this hatred of any immorality, that,
finding herself so often called upon to punish the failings of both gods
and men in this respect, she became jealous, harsh, and vindictive. Her
exalted position as the wife of the supreme deity, combined with her
extreme beauty, caused her to become exceedingly vain, and she
consequently resented with great severity any infringement on her rights
as queen of heaven, or any apparent slight on her personal
appearance.

The following story will signally illustrate how ready she was to
resent any slight offered to her.

At the marriage of the sea-nymph Thetis with a mortal called Peleus,
all the gods and goddesses were present, except Eris (the goddess of
Discord). Indignant at not being invited, she determined to cause
dissension in the assembly, and for this purpose threw into the midst of
the guests a golden apple with the inscription on it “For the Fairest.”
Now, as all the goddesses were extremely beautiful, each claimed the
apple; but at length, the rest having relinquished their pretensions, the
number of candidates was reduced to three, Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite,
who agreed to appeal to Paris for a settlement of this delicate question,
he being noted for the wisdom he had displayed in his judgment upon
several occasions. Paris was the son of Priam, king of Troy, who,
ignorant of his noble birth, was at this time feeding his flocks on Mount
Ida, in Phrygia. Hermes, as messenger of the gods, conducted the three
rival beauties to the young shepherd, and with breathless anxiety they
awaited his decision. Each fair candidate endeavoured [40]to secure his
favour by the most tempting offers. Hera promised him extensive
dominions; Athene, martial fame and glory; and Aphrodite, the loveliest
woman in the world. But whether he really considered Aphrodite the
fairest of the three, or preferred a beautiful wife to fame and power, we
cannot tell; all we know is that to her he awarded the golden apple, and
she became ever after universally acknowledged as the goddess of beauty.
Hera, having fully expected that Paris would give her the preference, was
so indignant that she never forgave him, and not only persecuted him, but
all the family of Priam, whose dreadful sufferings and misfortunes during
the Trojan war were attributed to her influence. In fact, she carried her
animosity to such an extent that it was often the cause of domestic
disagreements between herself and Zeus, who espoused the cause of the
Trojans.

Among the many stories of these frequent quarrels there is one
connected with Heracles, the favourite son of Zeus, which is as
follows:—Hera having raised a storm at sea in order to drive him
out of his course, Zeus became so angry that he hung her in the clouds by
a golden chain, and attached heavy anvils to her feet. Her son Hephæstus
tried to release his mother from her humiliating position, for which Zeus
threw him out of heaven, and his leg was broken by the fall.

Hera, being deeply offended with Zeus, determined to separate herself
from him for ever, and she accordingly left him and took up her abode in
Eubœa. Surprised and grieved at this unlooked-for desertion, Zeus
resolved to leave no means untried to win her back again. In this
emergency he consulted Cithaeron, king of Platea, who was famed for his
great wisdom and subtlety. Cithaeron advised him to dress up an image in
bridal attire and place it in a chariot, announcing that this was Platea,
his future wife. The artifice succeeded. Hera, incensed at the idea of a
rival, flew to meet the procession in great anger, and seizing the
supposed bride, she furiously attacked her and dragged off her nuptial
attire. Her delight on discovering the deception was so great that a [41]reconciliation took place, and, committing
the image to the flames, with joyful laughter she seated herself in its
place and returned to Olympus.

Hera was the mother of Ares (Mars), Hephæstus, Hebe, and Eileithyia.
Ares was the god of War; Hephæstus, of Fire; Hebe, of Youth; and
Eileithyia presided over the birth of mortals.

Hera dearly loved Greece, and indeed always watched over and protected
Greek interests, her beloved and favourite cities being Argos, Samos,
Sparta, and Mycenæ.

Her principal temples were at Argos and Samos. From a remote period
she was greatly venerated at Olympia, and her temple there, which stood
in the Altis or sacred grove, was five hundred years older than that of
Zeus on the same spot. Some interesting excavations which are now going
on there have brought to light the remains of the ancient edifice, which
contains among other treasures of antiquity several beautiful statues,
the work of the famous sculptors of ancient Greece. At first this temple
was built of wood, then of stone, and the one lately discovered was
formed of conglomerate of shells.

In the Altis races were run by young maidens in honour of Hera, and
the fleetest of foot received in token of her victory an olive-wreath and
a piece of the flesh of the sacrifices. These races, like the Olympic
Games, were celebrated at intervals of four years, and were called Heræ.
A beautiful robe, woven by sixteen women chosen from the sixteen cities
of Elis, was always offered to Hera on these [42]occasions, and choral
songs and sacred dances formed part of the ceremonies.

Hera is usually represented seated on a throne, holding a pomegranate
in one hand and a sceptre surmounted by a cuckoo in the other. She
appears as a calm, dignified matron of majestic beauty, robed in a tunic
and mantle, her forehead is broad and intellectual, her eyes large and
fully opened, and her arms dazzlingly white and finely moulded.

The finest statue of this divinity was that by Polycletus at
Argos.

Her attributes are the diadem, veil, sceptre, and peacock.

The first day of every month a ewe-lamb and sow were sacrificed to
Hera. The hawk, goose, and more particularly the peacock^[17] were sacred to her. Flocks of these
beautiful birds generally surround her throne and draw her chariot, Iris,
the Rainbow, being seated behind her.

Her favourite flowers were the dittany, poppy, and lily.

JUNO.

Juno, the Roman divinity supposed to be identical with the Greek Hera,
differed from her in the most salient points, for whereas Hera invariably
appears as the haughty, unbending queen of heaven, Juno, on the other
hand, is revered and beloved as the type of a matron and housewife. She
was worshipped in Rome under various titles, most of which point to her
vocation as the protectress of married women. Juno was believed to watch
over and guard the life of every woman from her birth to her death. The
principal temples dedicated to her were in Rome, one being erected on the
Aventine, and the other on the Capitoline Hill. She had also a temple on
the Arx, in which she was worshipped as Juno Moneta, or the [43]warning goddess.
Adjacent to this shrine was the public mint.^[18] On the 1st of March a grand annual
festival, called the Matronalia, was celebrated in her honour by all the
married women of Rome, and this religious institution was accompanied
with much solemnity.^[19]

PALLAS-ATHENE (Minerva).

Pallas-Athene, goddess of Wisdom and Armed Resistance, was a purely
Greek divinity; that is to say, no other nation possessed a corresponding
conception. She was supposed, as already related, to have issued from the
head of Zeus himself, clad in armour from head to foot. The miraculous
advent of this maiden goddess is beautifully described by Homer in one of
his hymns: snow-capped Olympus shook to its foundation; the glad earth
re-echoed her martial shout; the billowy sea became agitated; and Helios,
the sun-god, arrested his fiery steeds in their headlong course to
welcome this wonderful emanation from the godhead. Athene was at once
admitted into the assembly of the gods, and henceforth took her place as
the most faithful and sagacious of all her father’s counsellors. This
brave, dauntless maiden, so exactly the essence of all that is noble in
the character of “the father of gods and men,” remained throughout chaste
in word and deed, and kind at heart, without exhibiting any of those
failings which somewhat mar the nobler features in the character of Zeus.
This direct emanation from his own self, justly his favourite child, his
better and purer counterpart, received from him several important
prerogatives. She was permitted to hurl the thunderbolts, to prolong the
life of man, and to bestow the gift of prophecy; in fact Athene was the
only divinity whose authority was equal to that of Zeus himself, and when
he had ceased to visit the earth in person [44]she was empowered by him
to act as his deputy. It was her especial duty to protect the state and
all peaceful associations of mankind, which she possessed the power of
defending when occasion required. She encouraged the maintenance of law
and order, and defended the right on all occasions, for which reason, in
the Trojan war she espouses the cause of the Greeks and exerts all her
influence on their behalf. The Areopagus, a court of justice where
religious causes and murders were tried, was believed to have been
instituted by her, and when both sides happened to have an equal number
of votes she gave the casting-vote in favour of the accused. She was the
patroness of learning, science, and art, more particularly where these
contributed directly towards the welfare of nations. She presided over
all inventions connected with agriculture, invented the plough, and
taught mankind how to use oxen for farming purposes. She also instructed
mankind in the use of numbers, trumpets, chariots, &c., and presided
over the building of the Argo,^[20] thereby encouraging the useful art of
navigation. She also taught the Greeks how to build the wooden horse by
means of which the destruction of Troy was effected.

The safety of cities depended on her care, for which reason her
temples were generally built on the citadels, and she was supposed to
watch over the defence of the walls, fortifications, harbours, &c. A
divinity who so faithfully guarded the best interests of the state, by
not only protecting it from the attacks of enemies, but also by
developing its chief resources of wealth and prosperity, was worthily
chosen as the presiding deity of the state, and in this character as an
essentially political goddess she was called Athene-Polias.

The fact of Athene having been born clad in armour, which merely
signified that her virtue and purity were unassailable, has given rise to
the erroneous supposition that she was the presiding goddess of war; but
a deeper [45]study of her character in all its bearings
proves that, in contradistinction to her brother Ares, the god of war,
who loved strife for its own sake, she only takes up arms to protect the
innocent and deserving against tyrannical oppression. It is true that in
the Iliad we frequently see her on the battlefield fighting valiantly,
and protecting her favourite heroes; but this is always at the command of
Zeus, who even supplies her with arms for the purpose, as it is supposed
that she possessed none of her own. A marked feature in the
representations of this deity is the ægis, that wonderful shield given to
her by her father as a further means of defence, which, when in danger,
she swung so swiftly round and round that it kept at a distance all
antagonistic influences; hence her name Pallas, from pallo, I
swing. In the centre of this shield, which was covered with dragon’s
scales, bordered with serpents, and which she sometimes wore as a
breastplate, was the awe-inspiring head of the Medusa, which had the
effect of turning to stone all beholders.

In addition to the many functions which she exercised in connection
with the state, Athene presided over the two chief departments of
feminine industry, spinning and weaving. In the latter art she herself
displayed unrivalled ability and exquisite taste. She wove her own robe
and that of Hera, which last she is said to have embroidered very richly;
she also gave Jason a cloak wrought by herself, when he set forth in
quest of the Golden Fleece. Being on one occasion challenged to a contest
in this accomplishment by a mortal maiden named Arachne, whom she had
instructed in the art of weaving, she accepted the challenge and was
completely vanquished by her pupil. Angry at her defeat, she struck the
unfortunate maiden on the forehead with the shuttle which she held in her
hand; and Arachne, being of a sensitive nature, was so hurt by this
indignity that she hung herself in despair, and was changed by Athene
into a spider. This goddess is said to have invented the flute,^[21] upon [46]which she played
with considerable talent, until one day, being laughed at by the
assembled gods and goddesses for the contortions which her countenance
assumed during these musical efforts, she hastily ran to a fountain in
order to convince herself whether she deserved their ridicule. Finding to
her intense disgust that such was indeed the fact, she threw the flute
away, and never raised it to her lips again.

Athene is usually represented fully draped; she has a serious and
thoughtful aspect, as though replete with earnestness and wisdom; the
beautiful oval contour of her countenance is adorned by the luxuriance of
her wealth of hair, which is drawn back from the temples and hangs down
in careless grace; she looks the embodiment of strength, grandeur, and
majesty; whilst her broad shoulders and small hips give her a slightly
masculine appearance.

When represented as the war-goddess she appears clad in armour, with a
helmet on her head, from which waves a large plume; she carries the ægis
on her arm, and in her hand a golden staff, which possessed the property
of endowing her chosen favourites with youth and dignity.

Athene was universally worshipped throughout Greece, but was regarded
with special veneration by the Athenians, she being the guardian deity of
Athens. Her most celebrated temple was the Parthenon, which stood on the
[47]Acropolis at Athens, and contained her
world-renowned statue by Phidias, which ranks second only to that of Zeus
by the same great artist. This colossal statue was 39 feet high, and was
composed of ivory and gold; its majestic beauty formed the chief
attraction of the temple. It represented her standing erect, bearing her
spear and shield; in her hand she held an image of Nike, and at her feet
there lay a serpent.

The tree sacred to her was the olive, which she herself produced in a
contest with Poseidon. The olive-tree thus called into existence was
preserved in the temple of Erectheus, on the Acropolis, and is said to
have possessed such marvellous vitality, that when the Persians burned it
after sacking the town it immediately burst forth into new shoots.

The principal festival held in honour of this divinity was the
Panathenæa.

The owl, cock, and serpent were the animals sacred to her, and her
sacrifices were rams, bulls, and cows.

MINERVA.

The Minerva of the Romans was identified with the Pallas-Athene of the
Greeks. Like her she presides over learning and all useful arts, and is
the patroness of the feminine accomplishments of sewing, spinning,
weaving, &c. Schools were under her especial care, and schoolboys,
therefore, had holidays during her festivals (the Greater Quinquatria),
when they always brought a gift to their master, called the Minerval.

It is worthy of notice that the only three divinities [48]worshipped in
the Capitol were Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, and in their joint honour
the Ludi Maximi or great games were held.

THEMIS.

Themis, who has already been alluded to as the wife of Zeus, was the
daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and personified those divine laws of justice
and order by means of which the well-being and morality of communities
are regulated. She presided over the assemblies of the people and the
laws of hospitality. To her was intrusted the office of convoking the
assembly of the gods, and she was also mistress of ritual and ceremony.
On account of her great wisdom Zeus himself frequently sought her counsel
and acted upon her advice. Themis was a prophetic divinity, and had an
oracle near the river Cephissus in Bœotia.

She is usually represented as being in the full maturity of womanhood,
of fair aspect, and wearing a flowing garment, which drapes her noble,
majestic form; in her right hand she holds the sword of justice, and in
her left the scales, which indicate the impartiality with which every
cause is carefully weighed by her, her eyes being bandaged so that the
personality of the individual should carry no weight with respect to the
verdict.

This divinity is sometimes identified with Tyche, sometimes with
Ananke.

Themis, like so many other Greek divinities, takes the place of a more
ancient deity of the same name who was a daughter of Uranus and Gæa. This
elder Themis inherited from her mother the gift of prophecy, and when she
became merged into her younger representative she transmitted to her this
prophetic power.

HESTIA (Vesta).

Hestia was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. She was the goddess of
Fire in its first application to the wants of mankind, hence she was
essentially the presiding deity [49]of the domestic hearth and the guardian
spirit of man, and it was her pure and benign influence which was
supposed to protect the sanctity of domestic life.

Now in these early ages the hearth was regarded as the most important
and most sacred portion of the dwelling, probably because the protection
of the fire was an important consideration, for if once permitted to
become extinct, re-ignition was attended with extreme difficulty. In
fact, the hearth was held so sacred that it constituted the sanctum of
the family, for which reason it was always erected in the centre of every
house. It was a few feet in height and was built of stone; the fire was
placed on the top of it, and served the double purpose of preparing the
daily meals, and consuming the family sacrifices. Round this domestic
hearth or altar were gathered the various members of the family, the head
of the house occupying the place of honour nearest the hearth. Here
prayers were said and sacrifices offered, and here also every kind and
loving feeling was fostered, which even extended to the hunted and guilty
stranger, who, if he once succeeded in touching this sacred altar, was
safe from pursuit and punishment, and was henceforth placed under the
protection of the family. Any crime committed within the sacred precincts
of the domestic hearth was invariably visited by death.

In Grecian cities there was a common hall, called the Prytaneum, in
which the members of the government had their meals at the expense of the
state, and here too was the Hestia, or public hearth, with its fire, by
means of which those meals were prepared. It was customary for emigrants
to take with them a portion of this sacred fire, which they jealously
guarded and brought with them to their new home, where it served as a
connecting link between the young Greek colony and the mother country.
Hestia is generally represented standing, and in accordance with the
dignity and sanctity of her character, always appears fully draped. Her
countenance is distinguished by a serene gravity of expression. [50]

VESTA.

Vesta occupies a distinguished place among the earlier divinities of
the Romans. Her temple in Rome, containing as it were the hearthstone of
the nation, stood close beside the palace of Numa Pompilius.

On her altar burned the never-ceasing fire, which was tended by her
priestesses, the Vestal Virgins.^[22]

The temple of Vesta was circular in form, and contained that sacred
and highly prized treasure the Palladium of Troy.^[23]

The great festival in honour of Vesta, called the Vestalia, was
celebrated on the 9th of June.

DEMETER (Ceres).

Demeter (from Ge-meter, earth-mother) was the daughter of
Cronus and Rhea.^[24] She
represented that portion of Gæa (the whole solid earth) which we call the
earth’s crust, and which produces all vegetation. As goddess of
agriculture, field-fruits, plenty, and productiveness, she was the
sustainer of material life, and was therefore a divinity of great
importance. When ancient Gæa lost, with Uranus, her position as a ruling
divinity, she abdicated her sway in favour of her daughter Rhea, who
henceforth inherited the powers which her mother had previously
possessed, receiving in her place the honour and worship of mankind. In a
very old poem Gæa is accordingly described as retiring to a cavern in the
bowels [51]of the earth, where she sits in the lap of
her daughter, slumbering, moaning, and nodding for ever and ever.

It is necessary to keep clearly in view the distinctive difference
between the three great earth-goddesses Gæa, Rhea, and Demeter. Gæa
represents the earth as a whole, with its mighty subterranean forces;
Rhea is that productive power which causes vegetation to spring forth,
thus sustaining men and animals; Demeter, by presiding over agriculture,
directs and utilizes Rhea’s productive powers. But in later times, when
Rhea, like other ancient divinities, loses her importance as a ruling
deity, Demeter assumes all her functions and attributes, and then becomes
the goddess of the life-producing and life-maintaining earth-crust. We
must bear in mind the fact that man in his primitive state knew neither
how to sow nor how to till the ground; when, therefore, he had exhausted
the pastures which surrounded him he was compelled to seek others which
were as yet unreaped; thus, roaming constantly from one place to another,
settled habitations, and consequently civilizing influences, were
impossible. Demeter, however, by introducing a knowledge of agriculture,
put an end, at once and for ever, to that nomadic life which was now no
longer necessary.

The favour of Demeter was believed to bring mankind rich harvests and
fruitful crops, whereas her displeasure caused blight, drought, and
famine. The island of Sicily was supposed to be under her especial
protection, and there she was regarded with particular veneration, the
Sicilians naturally attributing the wonderful fertility of their country
to the partiality of the goddess.

Demeter is usually represented as a woman of noble [52]bearing and
majestic appearance, tall, matronly, and dignified, with beautiful golden
hair, which falls in rippling curls over her stately shoulders, the
yellow locks being emblematical of the ripened ears of corn. Sometimes
she appears seated in a chariot drawn by winged dragons, at others she
stands erect, her figure drawn up to its full height, and always fully
draped; she bears a sheaf of wheat-ears in one hand and a lighted torch
in the other. The wheat-ears are not unfrequently replaced by a bunch of
poppies, with which her brows are also garlanded, though sometimes she
merely wears a simple riband in her hair.

Demeter, as the wife of Zeus, became the mother of Persephone
(Proserpine), to whom she was so tenderly attached that her whole life
was bound up in her, and she knew no happiness except in her society. One
day, however, whilst Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow,
attended by the ocean-nymphs, she saw to her surprise a beautiful
narcissus, from the stem of which sprang forth a hundred blossoms.
Drawing near to examine this lovely flower, whose exquisite scent
perfumed the air, she stooped down to gather it, suspecting no evil, when
a yawning abyss opened at her feet, and Aïdes, the grim ruler of the
lower world, appeared from its depths, seated in his dazzling chariot
drawn by four black horses. Regardless of her tears and the shrieks of
her female attendants, Aïdes seized the terrified maiden, and bore her
away to the gloomy realms over which he reigned in melancholy grandeur.
Helios, the all-seeing sun-god, and Hecate, a mysterious and very ancient
divinity, alone heard her cries for aid, but were powerless to help her.
When Demeter became conscious of her loss her grief was intense, and she
refused to be comforted. She knew not where to seek for her child, but
feeling that repose and inaction were impossible, she set out on her
weary search, taking with her two torches which she lighted in the flames
of Mount Etna to guide her on her way. For nine long days and nights she
wandered on, inquiring of every one she met for tidings of her child.
[53]But
all was in vain! Neither gods nor men could give her the comfort which
her soul so hungered for. At last, on the tenth day, the disconsolate
mother met Hecate, who informed her that she had heard her daughter’s
cries, but knew not who it was that had borne her away. By Hecate’s
advice Demeter consulted Helios, whose all-seeing eye nothing escapes,
and from him she learnt that it was Zeus himself who had permitted Aïdes
to seize Persephone, and transport her to the lower world in order that
she might become his wife. Indignant with Zeus for having given his
sanction to the abduction of his daughter, and filled with the bitterest
sorrow, she abandoned her home in Olympus, and refused all heavenly food.
Disguising herself as an old woman, she descended upon earth, and
commenced a weary pilgrimage among mankind. One evening she arrived at a
place called Eleusis, in Attica, and sat down to rest herself near a well
beneath the shade of an olive-tree. The youthful daughters of Celeus, the
king of the country, came with their pails of brass to draw water from
this well, and seeing that the tired wayfarer appeared faint and
dispirited, they spoke kindly to her, asking who she was, and whence she
came. Demeter replied that she had made her escape from pirates, who had
captured her, and added that she would feel grateful for a home with any
worthy family, whom she would be willing to serve in a menial capacity.
The princesses, on hearing this, begged Demeter to have a moment’s
patience while they returned home and consulted their mother, Metaneira.
They soon brought the joyful intelligence that she was desirous of
securing her services as nurse to her infant son Demophoon, or
Triptolemus. When Demeter arrived at the house a radiant light suddenly
illumined her, which circumstance so overawed Metaneira that she treated
the unknown stranger with the greatest respect, and hospitably offered
her food and drink. But Demeter, still grief-worn and dejected, refused
her friendly offers, and held herself apart from the social board. At
length, however, the maid-servant Iambe succeeded, by means [54]of playful jests
and merriment, in somewhat dispelling the grief of the sorrowing mother,
causing her at times to smile in spite of herself, and even inducing her
to partake of a mixture of barley-meal, mint, and water, which was
prepared according to the directions of the goddess herself. Time passed
on, and the young child throve amazingly under the care of his kind and
judicious nurse, who, however, gave him no food, but anointed him daily
with ambrosia, and every night laid him secretly in the fire in order to
render him immortal and exempt from old age. But, unfortunately, this
benevolent design on the part of Demeter was frustrated by Metaneira
herself, whose curiosity, one night, impelled her to watch the
proceedings of the mysterious being who nursed her child. When to her
horror she beheld her son placed in the flames, she shrieked aloud.
Demeter, incensed at this untimely interruption, instantly withdrew the
child, and throwing him on the ground, revealed herself in her true
character. The bent and aged form had vanished, and in its place there
stood a bright and beauteous being, whose golden locks streamed over her
shoulders in richest luxuriance, her whole aspect bespeaking dignity and
majesty. She told the awe-struck Metaneira that she was the goddess
Demeter, and had intended to make her son immortal, but that her fatal
curiosity had rendered this impossible, adding, however, that the child,
having slept in her arms, and been nursed on her lap, should ever command
the respect and esteem of mankind. She then desired that a temple and
altar should be erected to her on a neighbouring hill by the people of
Eleusis, promising that she herself would direct them how to perform the
sacred rites and ceremonies, which should be observed in her honour. With
these words she took her departure never to return.

Obedient to her commands, Celeus called together a meeting of his
people, and built the temple on the spot which the goddess had indicated.
It was soon completed, and Demeter took up her abode in it, but her heart
was still sad for the loss of her daughter, and the whole world felt the
influence of her grief and dejection. This was [55]indeed a terrible year
for mankind. Demeter no longer smiled on the earth she was wont to bless,
and though the husbandman sowed the grain, and the groaning oxen ploughed
the fields, no harvest rewarded their labour. All was barren, dreary
desolation. The world was threatened with famine, and the gods with the
loss of their accustomed honours and sacrifices; it became evident,
therefore, to Zeus himself that some measures must be adopted to appease
the anger of the goddess. He accordingly despatched Iris and many of the
other gods and goddesses to implore Demeter to return to Olympus; but all
their prayers were fruitless. The incensed goddess swore that until her
daughter was restored to her she would not allow the grain to spring
forth from the earth. At length Zeus sent Hermes, his faithful messenger,
to the lower world with a petition to Aïdes, urgently entreating him to
restore Persephone to the arms of her disconsolate mother. When he
arrived in the gloomy realms of Aïdes, Hermes found him seated on a
throne with the beautiful Persephone beside him, sorrowfully bewailing
her unhappy fate. On learning his errand, Aïdes consented to resign
Persephone, who joyfully prepared to follow the messenger of the gods to
the abode of life and light. Before taking leave of her husband, he
presented to her a few seeds of pomegranate, which in her excitement she
thoughtlessly swallowed, and this simple act, as the sequel will show,
materially affected her whole future life. The meeting between mother and
child was one of unmixed rapture, and for the moment all the past was
forgotten. The loving mother’s happiness would now have been complete had
not Aïdes asserted his rights. These were, that if any immortal had
tasted food in his realms they were bound to remain there for ever. Of
course the ruler of the lower world had to prove this assertion. This,
however, he found no difficulty in doing, as Ascalaphus, the son of
Acheron and Orphne, was his witness to the fact.^[25] Zeus, pitying the disappointment of
Demeter at finding [56]her hopes thus blighted, succeeded in
effecting a compromise by inducing his brother Aïdes to allow Persephone
to spend six months of the year with the gods above, whilst during the
other six she was to be the joyless companion of her grim lord below.
Accompanied by her daughter, the beautiful Persephone, Demeter now
resumed her long-abandoned dwelling in Olympus; the sympathetic earth
responded gaily to her bright smiles, the corn at once sprang forth from
the ground in fullest plenty, the trees, which late were sered and bare,
now donned their brightest emerald robes, and the flowers, so long
imprisoned in the hard, dry soil, filled the whole air with their
fragrant perfume. Thus ends this charming story, which was a favourite
theme with all the classic authors.

It is very possible that the poets who first created this graceful
myth merely intended it as an allegory to illustrate the change of
seasons; in the course of time, however, a literal meaning became
attached to this and similar poetical fancies, and thus the people of
Greece came to regard as an article of religious belief what, in the
first instance, was nothing more than a poetic simile.

In the temple erected to Demeter at Eleusis, the famous Eleusinian
Mysteries were instituted by the goddess herself. It is exceedingly
difficult, as in the case of all secret societies, to discover anything
with certainty concerning these sacred rites. The most plausible
supposition is that the doctrines taught by the priests to the favoured
few whom they initiated, were religious truths which were deemed unfit
for the uninstructed mind of the multitude. For instance, it is supposed
that the myth of Demeter and Persephone was explained by the teachers of
the Mysteries to signify the temporary loss which mother earth sustains
every year when the icy breath of winter robs her of her flowers and
fruits and grain.

It is believed that in later times a still deeper meaning was conveyed
by this beautiful myth, viz., the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul. The grain, which, as it were, remains dead for a time in the dark
earth, only [57]to rise one day dressed in a newer and
lovelier garb, was supposed to symbolize the soul, which, after death,
frees itself from corruption, to live again under a better and purer
form.

When Demeter instituted the Eleusinian Mysteries, Celeus and his
family were the first to be initiated, Celeus himself being appointed
high-priest. His son Triptolemus and his daughters, who acted as
priestesses, assisted him in the duties of his sacred office. The
Mysteries were celebrated by the Athenians every five years, and were,
for a long time, their exclusive privilege. They took place by
torchlight, and were conducted with the greatest solemnity.

In order to spread abroad the blessings which agriculture confers,
Demeter presented Triptolemus with her chariot drawn by winged dragons,
and, giving him some grains of corn, desired him to journey through the
world, teaching mankind the arts of agriculture and husbandry.

Demeter exercised great severity towards those who incurred her
displeasure. We find examples of this in the stories of Stellio and
Eresicthon. Stellio was a youth who ridiculed the goddess for the
eagerness with which she was eating a bowl of porridge, when weary and
faint in the vain search for her daughter. Resolved that he should never
again have an opportunity of thus offending, she angrily threw into his
face the remainder of the food, and changed him into a spotted
lizard.

Eresicthon, son of Triopas, had drawn upon himself the anger of
Demeter by cutting down her sacred groves, for which she punished him
with a constant and insatiable hunger. He sold all his possessions in
order to satisfy his cravings, and was forced at last to devour his own
limbs. His daughter Metra, who was devotedly attached to him, possessed
the power of transforming herself into a variety of different animals. By
this means she contrived to support her father, who sold her again and
again each time she assumed a different form, and thus he dragged on a
pitiful existence. [58]

CERES.

The Roman Ceres is actually the Greek Demeter under another name, her
attributes, worship, festivals, &c., being precisely identical.

The Romans were indebted to Sicily for this divinity, her worship
having been introduced by the Greek colonists who settled there.

The Cerealia, or festivals in honour of Ceres, commenced on the 12th
of April, and lasted several days.

APHRODITE (Venus).

Aphrodite (from aphros, sea-foam, and dite, issued), the
daughter of Zeus and a sea-nymph called Dione, was the goddess of Love
and Beauty.

Dione, being a sea-nymph, gave birth to her daughter beneath the
waves; but the child of the heaven-inhabiting Zeus was forced to ascend
from the ocean-depths and mount to the snow-capped summits of Olympus, in
order to breathe that ethereal and most refined atmosphere which pertains
to the celestial gods.

Aphrodite was the mother of Eros (Cupid), the god of Love, also of
Æneas, the great Trojan hero and the head of that Greek colony which
settled in Italy, and from which arose the city of Rome. As a mother
Aphrodite claims our sympathy for the tenderness she exhibits towards her
children. Homer tells us in his Iliad, how, when Æneas was wounded in
battle, she came to his assistance, regardless of personal danger, and
was herself severely wounded in attempting to save his life. [59]

Aphrodite was tenderly attached to a lovely youth, called Adonis,
whose exquisite beauty has become proverbial. He was a motherless babe,
and Aphrodite, taking pity on him, placed him in a chest and intrusted
him to the care of Persephone, who became so fond of the beautiful youth
that she refused to part with him. Zeus, being appealed to by the rival
foster-mothers, decided that Adonis should spend four months of every
year with Persephone, four with Aphrodite, whilst during the remaining
four months he should be left to his own devices. He became, however, so
attached to Aphrodite that he voluntarily devoted to her the time at his
own disposal. Adonis was killed, during the chase, by a wild boar, to the
great grief of Aphrodite, who bemoaned his loss so persistently that
Aïdes, moved with pity, permitted him to pass six months of every year
with her, whilst the remaining half of the year was spent by him in the
lower world.

Aphrodite possessed a magic girdle (the famous cestus) which
she frequently lent to unhappy maidens suffering from the pangs of
unrequited love, as it was endowed with the power of inspiring affection
for the wearer, whom it invested with every attribute of grace, beauty,
and fascination.

Her usual attendants are the Charites or Graces (Euphrosyne, Aglaia,
and Thalia), who are represented undraped and intertwined in a loving
embrace.

In Hesiod’s Theogony she is supposed to belong to the more
ancient divinities, and, whilst those of later date are represented as
having descended one from another, and all more or less from Zeus,
Aphrodite has a variously-accounted-for, yet independent origin.

The most poetical version of her birth is that when Uranus was wounded
by his son Cronus, his blood mingled with the foam of the sea, whereupon
the bubbling waters at once assumed a rosy tint, and from their depths
arose, in all the surpassing glory of her loveliness, Aphrodite, goddess
of love and beauty! Shaking her long, fair tresses, the water-drops
rolled down into the beautiful [60]sea-shell in which she stood, and became
transformed into pure glistening pearls. Wafted by the soft and balmy
breezes, she floated on to Cythera, and was thence transported to the
island of Cyprus. Lightly she stepped on shore, and under the gentle
pressure of her delicate foot the dry and rigid sand became transformed
into a verdant meadow, where every varied shade of colour and every sweet
odour charmed the senses. The whole island of Cyprus became clothed with
verdure, and greeted this fairest of all created beings with a glad smile
of friendly welcome. Here she was received by the Seasons, who decked her
with garments of immortal fabric, encircling her fair brow with a wreath
of purest gold, whilst from her ears depended costly rings, and a
glittering chain embraced her swan-like throat. And now, arrayed in all
the panoply of her irresistible charms, the nymphs escort her to the
dazzling halls of Olympus, where she is received with ecstatic enthusiasm
by the admiring gods and goddesses. The gods all vied with each other in
aspiring to the honour of her hand, but Hephæstus became the envied
possessor of this lovely being, who, however, proved as faithless as she
was beautiful, and caused her husband much unhappiness, owing to the
preference she showed at various times for some of the other gods and
also for mortal men.

The celebrated Venus of Milo, now in the Louvre, is an exquisite
statue of this divinity. The head is beautifully formed; the rich waves
of hair descend on her rather low but broad forehead and are caught up
gracefully in a small knot at the back of the head; the expression of the
face is most bewitching, and bespeaks the perfect [61]joyousness of a happy
nature combined with the dignity of a goddess; the drapery falls in
careless folds from the waist downwards, and her whole attitude is the
embodiment of all that is graceful and lovely in womanhood. She is of
medium height, and the form is perfect in its symmetry and faultless
proportions.

Aphrodite is also frequently represented in the act of confining her
dripping locks in a knot, whilst her attendant nymphs envelop her in a
gauzy veil.

The animals sacred to her were the dove, swan, swallow, and sparrow.
Her favourite plants were the myrtle, apple-tree, rose, and poppy.

The worship of Aphrodite is supposed to have been introduced into
Greece from Central Asia. There is no doubt that she was originally
identical with the famous Astarté, the Ashtoreth of the Bible, against
whose idolatrous worship and infamous rites the prophets of old hurled
forth their sublime and powerful anathemas.

VENUS.

The Venus of the Romans was identified with the Aphrodite of the
Greeks. The worship of this divinity was only established in Rome in
comparatively later times. Annual festivals, called Veneralia, were held
in her honour, and the month of April, when flowers and plants spring
forth afresh, was sacred to her. She was worshipped as Venus Cloacina (or
the Purifier), and as Venus Myrtea (or the myrtle goddess), an epithet
derived from the myrtle, the emblem of Love.

HELIOS (Sol).

The worship of Helios was introduced into Greece from Asia. According
to the earliest conceptions of the Greeks he was not only the sun-god,
but also the personification of life and all life-giving power, for light
is well known to be an indispensable condition of all healthy terrestrial
life. The worship of the sun was originally very widely spread, [62]not only
among the early Greeks themselves, but also among other primitive
nations. To us the sun is simply the orb of light, which, high above our
heads, performs each day the functions assigned to it by a mighty and
invisible Power; we can, therefore, form but a faint idea of the
impression which it produced upon the spirit of a people whose intellect
was still in its infancy, and who believed, with child-like simplicity,
that every power of nature was a divinity, which, according as its
character was baleful or beneficent, worked for the destruction or
benefit of the human race.

Helios, who was the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, is described
as rising every morning in the east, preceded by his sister Eos (the
Dawn), who, with her rosy fingers, paints the tips of the mountains, and
draws aside that misty veil through which her brother is about to appear.
When he has burst forth in all the glorious light of day, Eos disappears,
and Helios now drives his flame-darting chariot along the accustomed
track. This chariot, which is of burnished gold, is drawn by four
fire-breathing steeds, behind which the young god stands erect with
flashing eyes, his head surrounded with rays, holding in one hand the
reins of those fiery coursers which in all hands save his are
unmanageable. When towards evening he descends the curve^[26] in order to cool his burning forehead
in the waters of the deep sea, he is followed closely by his sister
Selene (the Moon), who is now prepared to take charge of the world, and
illumine with her silver crescent the dusky night. Helios meanwhile rests
from his labours, and, reclining softly on the cool fragrant couch
prepared for him by the sea-nymphs, recruits himself for another
life-giving, joy-inspiring, and beauteous day.

It may appear strange that, although the Greeks considered the earth
to be a flat circle, no explanation is given of the fact that Helios
sinks down in the far [63]west regularly every evening, and yet
reappears as regularly every morning in the east. Whether he was supposed
to pass through Tartarus, and thus regain the opposite extremity through
the bowels of the earth, or whether they thought he possessed any other
means of making this transit, there is not a line in either Homer or
Hesiod to prove. In later times, however, the poets invented the graceful
fiction, that when Helios had finished his course, and reached the
western side of the curve, a winged-boat, or cup, which had been made for
him by Hephæstus, awaited him there, and conveyed him rapidly, with his
glorious equipage, to the east, where he recommenced his bright and
glowing career.

This divinity was invoked as a witness when a solemn oath was taken,
as it was believed that nothing escaped his all-seeing eye, and it was
this fact which enabled him to inform Demeter of the fate of her
daughter, as already related. He was supposed to possess flocks and herds
in various localities, which may possibly be intended to represent the
days and nights of the year, or the stars of heaven.

Helios is said to have loved Clytie, a daughter of Oceanus, who
ardently returned his affection; but in the course of time the fickle
sun-god transferred his devotion to Leucothea, the daughter of Orchamus,
king of the eastern countries, which so angered the forsaken Clytie that
she informed Orchamus of his daughter’s attachment, and he punished her
by inhumanly burying her alive. Helios, overcome with grief, endeavoured,
by every means in his power, to recall her to life. At last, finding all
his efforts unavailing, he sprinkled her grave with heavenly nectar, and
immediately there sprang forth from the spot a shoot of frankincense,
which spread around its aromatic perfume.

The jealous Clytie gained nothing by her cruel conduct, for the
sun-god came to her no more. Inconsolable at his loss, she threw herself
upon the ground, and refused all sustenance. For nine long days she
turned her face towards the glorious god of day, as he moved along the
[64]heavens, till at length her limbs became
rooted in the ground, and she was transformed into a flower, which ever
turns towards the sun.

Helios married Perse, daughter of Oceanus, and their children were,
Aëtes, king of Colchis (celebrated in the legend of the Argonauts as the
possessor of the Golden Fleece), and Circe, the renowned sorceress.

Helios had another son named Phaethon, whose mother was Clymene, one
of the Oceanides. The youth was very beautiful, and a great favourite
with Aphrodite, who intrusted him with the care of one of her temples,
which flattering proof of her regard caused him to become vain and
presumptuous. His friend Epaphus, son of Zeus and Io, endeavoured to
check his youthful vanity by pretending to disbelieve his assertion that
the sun-god was his father. Phaethon, full of resentment, and eager to be
able to refute the calumny, hastened to his mother Clymene, and besought
her to tell him whether Helios was really his father. Moved by his
entreaties, and at the same time angry at the reproach of Epaphus,
Clymene pointed to the glorious sun, then shining down upon them, and
assured her son that in that bright orb he beheld the author of his
being, adding that if he had still any doubt, he might visit the radiant
dwelling of the great god of light and inquire for himself. Overjoyed at
his mother’s reassuring words, and following the directions she gave him,
Phaethon quickly wended his way to his father’s palace.

As he entered the palace of the sun-god the dazzling rays almost
blinded him, and prevented him from approaching the throne on which his
father was seated, surrounded by the Hours, Days, Months, Years, and
Seasons. Helios, who with his all-seeing eye had watched him from afar,
removed his crown of glittering rays, and bade him not to be afraid, but
to draw near to his father. Encouraged by this kind reception, Phaethon
entreated him to bestow upon him such a proof of his love, that all the
world might be convinced that he was indeed his son; whereupon Helios
desired him to ask any favour he pleased, [65]and swore by the Styx
that it should be granted. The impetuous youth immediately requested
permission to drive the chariot of the sun for one whole day. His father
listened horror-struck to this presumptuous demand, and by representing
the many dangers which would beset his path, endeavoured to dissuade him
from so perilous an undertaking; but his son, deaf to all advice, pressed
his point with such pertinacity, that Helios was reluctantly compelled to
lead him to the chariot. Phaethon paused for a moment to admire the
beauty of the glittering equipage, the gift of the god of fire, who had
formed it of gold, and ornamented it with precious stones, which
reflected the rays of the sun. And now Helios, seeing his sister, the
Dawn, opening her doors in the rosy east, ordered the Hours to yoke the
horses. The goddesses speedily obeyed the command, and the father then
anointed the face of his son with a sacred balm, to enable him to endure
the burning flames which issued from the nostrils of the steeds, and
sorrowfully placing his crown of rays upon his head, desired him to
ascend the chariot.

The eager youth joyfully took his place and grasped the coveted reins,
but no sooner did the fiery coursers of the sun feel the inexperienced
hand which attempted to guide them, than they became restive and
unmanageable. Wildly they rushed out of their accustomed track, now
soaring so high as to threaten the heavens with destruction, now
descending so low as nearly to set the earth on fire. At last the
unfortunate charioteer, blinded with the glare, and terrified at the
awful devastation he had caused, dropped the reins from his trembling
hands. Mountains and forests were in flames, rivers and streams were
dried up, and a general conflagration was imminent. The scorched earth
now called on Zeus for help, who hurled his thunderbolt at Phaethon, and
with a flash of lightning brought the fiery steeds to a standstill. The
lifeless body of the youth fell headlong into the river Eridanus,^[27] where it was received and
buried by the [66]nymphs of the stream. His sisters mourned so
long for him that they were transformed by Zeus into poplars, and the
tears they shed, falling into the waters, became drops of clear,
transparent amber. Cycnus, the faithful friend of the unhappy Phaethon,
felt such overwhelming grief at his terrible fate, that he pined and
wasted away. The gods, moved with compassion, transformed him into a
swan, which for ever brooded over the fatal spot where the waters had
closed over the head of his unfortunate friend.

The chief seat of the worship of Helios was the island of Rhodes,
which according to the following myth was his especial territory. At the
time of the Titanomachia, when the gods were dividing the world by lot,
Helios happened to be absent, and consequently received no share. He,
therefore, complained to Zeus, who proposed to have a new allotment, but
this Helios would not allow, saying, that as he pursued his daily
journey, his penetrating eye had beheld a lovely, fertile island lying
beneath the waves of the ocean, and that if the immortals would swear to
give him the undisturbed possession of this spot, he would be content to
accept it as his share of the universe. The gods took the oath, whereupon
the island of Rhodes immediately raised itself above the surface of the
waters.

The famous Colossus of Rhodes, which was one of the seven wonders of
the world, was erected in honour of Helios. This wonderful statue was 105
feet high, and was formed entirely of brass; it formed the entrance to
the harbour at Rhodes, and the largest vessel could easily sail between
the legs, which stood on moles, each side of the harbour. Though so
gigantic, it was perfectly proportioned in every part. Some idea of [67]its size
may be gained from the fact that very few people were able to span the
thumb of this statue with their arms. In the interior of the Colossus was
a winding staircase leading to the top, from the summit of which, by
means of a telescope, the coast of Syria, and also the shores of Egypt,
are said to have been visible.^[28]

EOS (Aurora).

Eos, the Dawn, like her brother Helios, whose advent she always
announced, was also deified by the early Greeks. She too had her own
chariot, which she drove across the vast horizon both morning and night,
before and after the sun-god. Hence she is not merely the personification
of the rosy morn, but also of twilight, for which reason her palace is
placed in the west, on the island Ææa. The abode of Eos is a magnificent
structure, surrounded by flowery meads and velvety lawns, where nymphs
and other immortal beings, wind in and out in the mazy figures of the
dance, whilst the music of a sweetly-tuned melody accompanies their
graceful, gliding movements.

Eos is described by the poets as a beautiful maiden with rosy arms and
fingers, and large wings, whose plumage is of an ever-changing hue; she
bears a star on her forehead, and a torch in her hand. Wrapping round her
the rich folds of her violet-tinged mantle, she leaves her couch before
the break of day, and herself yokes her two horses, Lampetus and
Phaethon, to her glorious chariot. She then hastens with active
cheerfulness to open the gates of heaven, in order to herald the approach
of her brother, the god of day, whilst the tender plants and flowers,
revived by the morning dew, lift their heads to welcome her as she
passes.

[68]

Eos first married the Titan Astræus,^[29] and their children were Heosphorus
(Hesperus), the evening star, and the winds. She afterwards became united
to Tithonus, son of Laomedon, king of Troy, who had won her affection by
his unrivalled beauty; and Eos, unhappy at the thought of their being
ever separated by death, obtained for him from Zeus the gift of
immortality, forgetting, however, to add to it that of eternal youth. The
consequence was that when, in the course of time, Tithonus grew old and
decrepid, and lost all the beauty which had won her admiration, Eos
became disgusted with his infirmities, and at last shut him up in a
chamber, where soon little else was left of him but his voice, which had
now sunk into a weak, feeble quaver. According to some of the later
poets, he became so weary of his cheerless and miserable existence, that
he entreated to be allowed to die. This was, however, impossible; but
Eos, pitying his unhappy condition, exerted her divine power, and changed
him into a grasshopper, which is, as it were, all voice, and whose
monotonous, ceaseless chirpings may not inaptly be compared to the
meaningless babble of extreme old age.

PHŒBUS-APOLLO.

Phœbus-Apollo, the god of Light, Prophecy, Music, Poetry, and
the Arts and Sciences, is by far the noblest conception within the whole
range of Greek mythology, and his worship, which not only extended to all
the states of Greece, but also to Asia Minor and to every Greek colony
throughout the world, stands out among the most ancient and
strongly-marked features of Grecian history, and exerted a more decided
influence over the Greek nation, than that of any other deity, not
excepting Zeus himself.

Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and was born beneath the shade of
a palm tree which grew at the foot [69]of Mount Cynthus, on the
barren and rocky island of Delos. The poets tell us that the earth smiled
when the young god first beheld the light of day, and that Delos became
so proud and exultant at the honour thus conferred upon her, that she
covered herself with golden flowers; swans surrounded the island, and the
Delian nymphs celebrated his birth with songs of joy.

The unhappy Leto, driven to Delos by the relentless persecutions of
Hera, was not long permitted to enjoy her haven of refuge. Being still
tormented by her enemy, the young mother was once more obliged to fly;
she therefore resigned the charge of her new-born babe to the goddess
Themis, who carefully wrapped the helpless infant in swaddling-clothes,
and fed him with nectar and ambrosia; but he had no sooner partaken of
the heavenly food than, to the amazement of the goddess, he burst asunder
the bands which confined his infant limbs, and springing to his feet,
appeared before her as a full-grown youth of divine strength and beauty.
He now demanded a lyre and a bow, declaring that henceforth he would
announce to mankind the will of his father Zeus. “The golden lyre,” said
he, “shall be my friend, the bent bow my delight, and in oracles will I
foretell the dark future.” With these words he ascended to Olympus, where
he was received with joyful acclamations into the assembly of the
celestial gods, who acknowledged him as the most beautiful and glorious
of all the sons of Zeus.

Phœbus-Apollo was the god of light in a twofold [70]signification:
first, as representing the great orb of day which illumines the world;
and secondly, as the heavenly light which animates the soul of man. He
inherited his function as sun-god from Helios, with whom, in later times,
he was so completely identified, that the personality of the one became
gradually merged in that of the other. We, accordingly, find Helios
frequently confounded with Apollo, myths belonging to the former
attributed to the latter; and with some tribes—the Ionic, for
instance—so complete is this identification, that Apollo is called
by them Helios-Apollo.

As the divinity whose power is developed in the broad light of day, he
brings joy and delight to nature, and health and prosperity to man. By
the influence of his warm and gentle rays he disperses the noxious
vapours of the night, assists the grain to ripen and the flowers to
bloom.

But although, as god of the sun, he is a life-giving and
life-preserving power, who, by his genial influence, dispels the cold of
winter, he is, at the same time, the god who, by means of his fiercely
darting rays, could spread disease and send sudden death to men and
animals; and it is to this phase of his character that we must look for
the explanation of his being considered, in conjunction with his
twin-sister, Artemis (as moon-goddess), a divinity of death. The brother
and sister share this function between them, he taking man and she woman
as her aim, and those especially who died in the bloom of youth, or at an
advanced age, were believed to have been killed by their gentle arrows.
But Apollo did not always send an easy death. We see in the Iliad
how, when angry with the Greeks, the “god of the silver bow” strode down
from Olympus, with his quiver full of death-bringing darts, and sent a
raging pestilence into their camp. For nine days he let fly his fatal
arrows, first on animals and then on men, till the air became darkened
with the smoke from the funeral pyres.

In his character as god of light, Phœbus-Apollo is the
protecting deity of shepherds, because it is he who warms [71]the fields and
meadows, and gives rich pastures to the flocks, thereby gladdening the
heart of the herdsman.

As the temperate heat of the sun exercises so invigorating an effect
on man and animals, and promotes the growth of those medicinal herbs and
vegetable productions necessary for the cure of diseases,
Phœbus-Apollo was supposed to possess the power of restoring life
and health; hence he was regarded as the god of healing; but this feature
in his character we shall find more particularly developed in his son
Asclepius (Æsculapius), the veritable god of the healing art.

Pursuing our analysis of the various phases in the character of
Phœbus-Apollo, we find that with the first beams of his genial
light, all nature awakens to renewed life, and the woods re-echo with the
jubilant sound of the untaught lays, warbled by thousands of feathered
choristers. Hence, by a natural inference, he is the god of music, and
as, according to the belief of the ancients, the inspirations of genius
were inseparably connected with the glorious light of heaven, he is also
the god of poetry, and acts as the special patron of the arts and
sciences. Apollo is himself the heavenly musician among the Olympic gods,
whose banquets are gladdened by the wondrous strains which he produces
from his favourite instrument, the seven-stringed lyre. In the cultus of
Apollo, music formed a distinguishing feature. All sacred dances, and
even the sacrifices in his honour, were performed to the sound of musical
instruments; and it is, in a great measure, owing to the influence which
the music in his worship exercised on the Greek nation, that Apollo came
to be regarded as the leader of the nine Muses, the legitimate divinities
of poetry and song. In this character he is called Musagetes, and is
always represented robed in a long flowing garment; his lyre, to the
tones of which he appears to be singing, is suspended by a band across
the chest; his head is encircled by a wreath of laurel, and his long
hair, streaming down over his shoulders, gives him a somewhat effeminate
appearance.

And now we must view the glorious god of light under [72]another, and (as
far as regards his influence over the Greek nation) a much more important
aspect; for, in historical times, all the other functions and attributes
of Apollo sink into comparative insignificance before the great power
which he exercised as god of prophecy. It is true that all Greek gods
were endowed, to a certain extent, with the faculty of foretelling future
events; but Apollo, as sun-god, was the concentration of all prophetic
power, as it was supposed that nothing escaped his all-seeing eye, which
penetrated the most hidden recesses, and laid bare the secrets which lay
concealed behind the dark veil of the future.

We have seen that when Apollo assumed his god-like form, he took his
place among the immortals; but he had not long enjoyed the rapturous
delights of Olympus, before he felt within him an ardent desire to fulfil
his great mission of interpreting to mankind the will of his mighty
father. He accordingly descended to earth, and travelled through many
countries, seeking a fitting site upon which to establish an oracle. At
length he reached the southern side of the rocky heights of Parnassus,
beneath which lay the harbour of Crissa. Here, under the overhanging
cliff, he found a secluded spot, where, from the most ancient times,
there had existed an oracle, in which Gæa herself had revealed the future
to man, and which, in Deucalion’s time, she had resigned to Themis. It
was guarded by the huge serpent Python, the scourge of the surrounding
neighbourhood, and the terror alike of men and cattle. The young god,
full of confidence in his unerring aim, attacked and slew the monster
with his arrows, thus freeing land and people from their mighty
enemy.

The grateful inhabitants, anxious to do honour to their deliverer,
flocked round Apollo, who proceeded to mark out a plan for a temple, and,
with the assistance of numbers of eager volunteers, a suitable edifice
was soon erected. It now became necessary to choose ministers, who would
offer up sacrifices, interpret his prophecies to the people, and take
charge of the temple. Looking round, he saw in the far distance a vessel
bound from Crete to the [73]Peloponnesus, and determined to avail
himself of her crew for his service. Assuming the shape of an enormous
dolphin, he agitated the waters to such a degree, that the ship was
tossed violently to and fro, to the great alarm of the mariners; at the
same time he raised a mighty wind, which drove the ship into the harbour
of Crissa, where she ran aground. The terrified sailors dared not set
foot on shore; but Apollo, under the form of a vigorous youth, stepped
down to the vessel, revealed himself in his true character, and informed
them that it was he who had driven them to Crissa, in order that they
might become his priests, and serve him in his temple. Arrived at the
sacred fane, he instructed them how to perform the services in his
honour, and desired them to worship him under the name of
Apollo-Delphinios, because he had first appeared to them under the form
of a dolphin. Thus was established the far-famed oracle of Delphi, the
only institution of the kind which was not exclusively national, for it
was consulted by Lydians, Phrygians, Etruscans, Romans, &c., and, in
fact, was held in the highest repute all over the world. In obedience to
its decrees, the laws of Lycurgus were introduced, and the earliest Greek
colonies founded. No cities were built without first consulting the
Delphic oracle, for it was believed that Apollo took special delight in
the founding of cities, the first stone of which he laid in person; nor
was any enterprise ever undertaken, without inquiring at this sacred fane
as to its probable success.

But that which brought Apollo more closely home to the hearts of the
people, and raised the whole moral tone of the Greek nation, was the
belief, gradually developed with the intelligence of the people, that he
was the god who accepted repentance as an atonement for sin, who pardoned
the contrite sinner, and who acted as the special protector of those,
who, like Orestes, had committed a crime, which required long years of
expiation.

Apollo is represented by the poets as being eternally young; his
countenance, glowing with joyous life, is the embodiment of immortal
beauty; his eyes are of a deep [74]blue; his forehead low, but broad and
intellectual; his hair, which falls over his shoulders in long waving
locks, is of a golden, or warm chestnut hue. He is crowned with laurel,
and wears a purple robe; in his hand he bears his silver bow, which is
unbent when he smiles, but ready for use when he menaces evil-doers.

But Apollo, the eternally beautiful youth, the perfection of all that
is graceful and refined, rarely seems to have been happy in his love;
either his advances met with a repulse, or his union with the object of
his affection was attended with fatal consequences.

His first love was Daphne (daughter of Peneus, the river-god), who was
so averse to marriage that she entreated her father to allow her to lead
a life of celibacy, and devote herself to the chase, which she loved to
the exclusion of all other pursuits. But one day, soon after his victory
over the Python, Apollo happened to see Eros bending his bow, and proud
of his own superior strength and skill, he laughed at the efforts of the
little archer, saying that such a weapon was more suited to the one who
had just killed the terrible serpent. Eros angrily replied that his arrow
should pierce the heart of the mocker himself, and flying off to the
summit of Mount Parnassus, he drew from his quiver two darts of different
workmanship—one of gold, which had the effect of inspiring love;
the other of lead, which created aversion. Taking aim at Apollo, he
pierced his breast with the golden shaft, whilst the leaden one he
discharged into the bosom of the beautiful Daphne. The son of Leto
instantly felt the most ardent affection for the nymph, who, on her part,
evinced the greatest dislike towards her divine lover, and, at his
approach, fled from him like a hunted deer. He called upon her in the
most endearing accents to stay, but she still sped on, until at length,
becoming faint with fatigue, and fearing that she was about to succumb,
she called upon the gods to come to her aid. Hardly had she uttered her
prayer before a heavy torpor seized her limbs, and just as Apollo threw
out his arms to embrace her, she became transformed [75]into a laurel-bush. He
sorrowfully crowned his head with its leaves, and declared, that in
memory of his love, it should henceforth remain evergreen, and be held
sacred to him.

He next sought the love of Marpessa, the daughter of Evenus; but
though her father approved his suit, the maiden preferred a youth named
Idas, who contrived to carry her off in a winged chariot which he had
procured from Poseidon. Apollo pursued the fugitives, whom he quickly
overtook, and forcibly seizing the bride, refused to resign her. Zeus
then interfered, and declared that Marpessa herself must decide which of
her lovers should claim her as his wife. After due reflection she
accepted Idas as her husband, judiciously concluding that although the
attractions of the divine Apollo were superior to those of her lover, it
would be wiser to unite herself to a mortal, who, growing old with
herself, would be less likely to forsake her, when advancing years should
rob her of her charms.

Cassandra, daughter of Priam, king of Troy, was another object of the
love of Apollo. She feigned to return his affection, and promised to
marry him, provided he would confer upon her the gift of prophecy; but
having received the boon she desired, the treacherous maiden refused to
comply with the conditions upon which it had been granted. Incensed at
her breach of faith, Apollo, unable to recall the gift he had bestowed,
rendered it useless by causing her predictions to fail in obtaining
credence. Cassandra became famous in history for her prophetic powers,
but her prophecies were never believed. For instance, she warned her
brother Paris that if he brought back a wife from Greece he would cause
the destruction of his father’s house and kingdom; she also warned the
Trojans not to admit the wooden horse within the walls of the city, and
foretold to Agamemnon all the disasters which afterwards befell him.

Apollo afterwards married Coronis, a nymph of Larissa, and thought
himself happy in the possession of her faithful love; but once more he
was doomed to [76]disappointment, for one day his favourite
bird, the crow, flew to him with the intelligence that his wife had
transferred her affections to a youth of Haemonia. Apollo, burning with
rage, instantly destroyed her with one of his death-bringing darts. Too
late he repented of his rashness, for she had been tenderly beloved by
him, and he would fain have recalled her to life; but, although he
exerted all his healing powers, his efforts were in vain. He punished the
crow for its garrulity by changing the colour of its plumage from pure
white to intense black, and forbade it to fly any longer among the other
birds.

Coronis left an infant son named Asclepius, who afterwards became god
of medicine. His powers were so extraordinary that he could not only cure
the sick, but could even restore the dead to life. At last Aïdes
complained to Zeus that the number of shades conducted to his dominions
was daily decreasing, and the great ruler of Olympus, fearing that
mankind, thus protected against sickness and death, would be able to defy
the gods themselves, killed Asclepius with one of his thunderbolts. The
loss of his highly gifted son so exasperated Apollo that, being unable to
vent his anger on Zeus, he destroyed the Cyclops, who had forged the
fatal thunderbolts. For this offence, Apollo would have been banished by
Zeus to Tartarus, but at the earnest intercession of Leto he partially
relented, and contented himself with depriving him of all power and
dignity, and imposing on him a temporary servitude in the house of
Admetus, king of Thessaly. Apollo faithfully served his royal master for
nine years in the humble capacity of a shepherd, and was treated by him
with every kindness and consideration. During the period of his service
the king sought the hand of Alcestis, the beautiful daughter of Pelias,
son of Poseidon; but her father declared that he would only resign her to
the suitor who should succeed in yoking a lion and a wild boar to his
chariot. By the aid of his divine herdsman, Admetus accomplished this
difficult task, and gained his bride. Nor was this the only favour which
the king received from the exiled god, for Apollo obtained from [77]the Fates the
gift of immortality for his benefactor, on condition that when his last
hour approached, some member of his own family should be willing to die
in his stead. When the fatal hour arrived, and Admetus felt that he was
at the point of death, he implored his aged parents to yield to him their
few remaining days. But “life is sweet” even to old age, and they both
refused to make the sacrifice demanded of them. Alcestis, however, who
had secretly devoted herself to death for her husband, was seized with a
mortal sickness, which kept pace with his rapid recovery. The devoted
wife breathed her last in the arms of Admetus, and he had just consigned
her to the tomb, when Heracles chanced to come to the palace. Admetus
held the rites of hospitality so sacred, that he at first kept silence
with regard to his great bereavement; but as soon as his friend heard
what had occurred, he bravely descended into the tomb, and when death
came to claim his prey, he exerted his marvellous strength, and held him
in his arms, until he promised to restore the beautiful and heroic queen
to the bosom of her family.

Whilst pursuing the peaceful life of a shepherd, Apollo formed a
strong friendship with two youths named Hyacinthus and Cyparissus, but
the great favour shown to them by the god did not suffice to shield them
from misfortune. The former was one day throwing the discus with Apollo,
when, running too eagerly to take up the one thrown by the god, he was
struck on the head with it and killed on the spot. Apollo was overcome
with grief at the sad end of his young favourite, but being unable to
restore him to life, he changed him into the flower called after him the
Hyacinth. Cyparissus had the misfortune to kill by accident one of
Apollo’s favourite stags, which so preyed on his mind that he gradually
pined away, and died of a broken heart. He was transformed by the god
into a cypress-tree, which owes its name to this story.

After these sad occurrences Apollo quitted Thessaly and repaired to
Phrygia, in Asia Minor, where he met Poseidon, who, like himself, was in
exile, and condemned [78]to a temporary servitude on earth. The two
gods now entered the service of Laomedon, king of Troy, Apollo
undertaking to tend his flocks, and Poseidon to build the walls of the
city. But Apollo also contributed his assistance in the erection of those
wonderful walls, and, by the aid of his marvellous musical powers, the
labours of his fellow-worker, Poseidon, were rendered so light and easy
that his otherwise arduous task advanced with astonishing celerity; for,
as the master-hand of the god of music grasped the chords of his lyre,^[30] the huge blocks of stone
moved of their own accord, adjusting themselves with the utmost nicety
into the places designed for them.

But though Apollo was so renowned in the art of music, there were two
individuals who had the effrontery to consider themselves equal to him in
this respect, and, accordingly, each challenged him to compete with them
in a musical contest. These were Marsyas and Pan. Marsyas was a satyr,
who, having picked up the flute which Athene had thrown away in disgust,
discovered, to his great delight and astonishment, that, in consequence
of its having touched the lips of a goddess, it played of itself in the
most charming manner. Marsyas, who was a great lover of music, and much
beloved on this account by all the elf-like denizens of the woods and
glens, was so intoxicated with joy at this discovery, that he foolishly
challenged Apollo to compete with him in a musical contest. The challenge
being accepted, the Muses were chosen umpires, and it was decided that
the unsuccessful candidate should suffer the punishment of being flayed
alive. For a long time the merits of both claimants remained so equally
balanced, that it was impossible to award the palm of victory to either,
seeing which, Apollo, resolved to conquer, added the sweet tones of his
melodious voice to the strains of his lyre, [79]and this at once turned
the scale in his favour. The unhappy Marsyas being defeated, had to
undergo the terrible penalty, and his untimely fate was universally
lamented; indeed the Satyrs and Dryads, his companions, wept so
incessantly at his fate, that their tears, uniting together, formed a
river in Phrygia which is still known by the name of Marsyas.

The result of the contest with Pan was by no means of so serious a
character. The god of shepherds having affirmed that he could play more
skilfully on his flute of seven reeds (the syrinx or Pan’s pipe), than
Apollo on his world-renowned lyre, a contest ensued, in which Apollo was
pronounced the victor by all the judges appointed to decide between the
rival candidates. Midas, king of Phrygia, alone demurred at this
decision, having the bad taste to prefer the uncouth tones of the Pan’s
pipe to the refined melodies of Apollo’s lyre. Incensed at the obstinacy
and stupidity of the Phrygian king, Apollo punished him by giving him the
ears of an ass. Midas, horrified at being thus disfigured, determined to
hide his disgrace from his subjects by means of a cap; his barber,
however, could not be kept in ignorance of the fact, and was therefore
bribed with rich gifts never to reveal it. Finding, however, that he
could not keep the secret any longer, he dug a hole in the ground into
which he whispered it; then closing up the aperture he returned home,
feeling greatly relieved at having thus eased his mind of its burden. But
after all, this very humiliating secret was revealed to the world, for
some reeds which sprung up from the spot murmured incessantly, as they
waved to and fro in the wind: “King Midas has the ears of an ass.”

In the sad and beautiful story of Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, and
wife of Amphion, king of Thebes, we have another instance of the severe
punishments meted out by Apollo to those who in any way incurred his
displeasure. Niobe was the proud mother of seven sons and seven
daughters, and exulting in the number of her children, she, upon one
occasion, ridiculed the worship of Leto, [80]because she had but one
son and daughter, and desired the Thebans, for the future, to give to her
the honours and sacrifices which they had hitherto offered to the mother
of Apollo and Artemis. The sacrilegious words had scarcely passed her
lips before Apollo called upon his sister Artemis to assist him in
avenging the insult offered to their mother, and soon their invisible
arrows sped through the air. Apollo slew all the sons, and Artemis had
already slain all the daughters save one, the youngest and best beloved,
whom Niobe clasped in her arms, when the agonized mother implored the
enraged deities to leave her, at least, one out of all her beautiful
children; but, even as she prayed, the deadly arrow reached the heart of
this child also. Meanwhile the unhappy father, unable to bear the loss of
his children, had destroyed himself, and his dead body lay beside the
lifeless corpse of his favourite son. Widowed and childless, the
heart-broken mother sat among her dead, and the gods, in pity for her
unutterable woe, turned her into a stone, which they transferred to
Siphylus, her native Phrygian mountain, where it still continues to shed
tears.

The punishment of Niobe forms the subject of a magnificent marble
group, which was found at Rome in the year 1553, and is now in the
gallery of Uffizi, at Florence.

The renowned singer Orpheus was the son of Apollo and Calliope, the
muse of epic poetry, and, as might be expected with parents so highly
gifted, was endowed with most distinguished intellectual qualifications.
He was a poet, a teacher of the religious doctrines known as the Orphic
mysteries, and a great musician, having inherited from his father an
extraordinary genius for music. [81]When he sang to the sweet tones of his lyre,
he charmed all nature, and summoned round him the wild beasts of the
forests, who, under the influence of his music, became tame and gentle as
lambs. The madly rushing torrents stopped their rapid course, and the
very mountains and trees moved from their places at the sound of his
entrancing melodies.

Orpheus became united to a lovely nymph named Eurydice, the daughter
of the sea-god Nereus, whom he fondly loved. She was no less attached to
him, and their married life was full of joy and happiness. But it was
only short-lived; for Aristæus,^[31] the half-brother of Orpheus, having
fallen in love with the beautiful Eurydice, forcibly endeavoured to take
her from her husband, and as she fled across some fields to elude his
pursuit, she was bitten in the foot by a venomous snake, which lay
concealed in the long grass. Eurydice died of the wound, and her
sorrowing husband filled the groves and valleys with his piteous and
unceasing lamentations.

His longing to behold her once more became at last so unconquerable,
that he determined to brave the horrors of the lower world, in order to
entreat Aïdes to restore to him his beloved wife. Armed only with his
golden lyre, the gift of Apollo, he descended into the gloomy depths of
Hades, where his heavenly music arrested for a while the torments of the
unhappy sufferers. The stone of Sisyphus remained motionless; Tantalus
forgot his perpetual thirst; the wheel of Ixion ceased to revolve; and
even the Furies shed tears, and withheld for a time their persecutions.
Undismayed at the scenes of horror and suffering which met his view on
every side, he pursued his way until he arrived at the palace of Aïdes.
Presenting himself before the throne on which sat the stony-hearted king
and his consort Persephone, Orpheus recounted his woes to the sound of
his lyre. Moved to pity by his sweet strains, they listened to his [82]melancholy story, and consented to release
Eurydice on condition that he should not look upon her until they reached
the upper world. Orpheus gladly promised to comply with this injunction,
and, followed by Eurydice, ascended the steep and gloomy path which led
to the realms of life and light. All went well until he was just about to
pass the extreme limits of Hades, when, forgetting for the moment the
hard condition, he turned to convince himself that his beloved wife was
really behind him. The glance was fatal, and destroyed all his hopes of
happiness; for, as he yearningly stretched out his arms to embrace her,
she was caught back, and vanished from his sight for ever. The grief of
Orpheus at this second loss was even more intense than before, and he now
avoided all human society. In vain did the nymphs, his once chosen
companions, endeavour to win him back to his accustomed haunts; their
power to charm was gone, and music was now his sole consolation. He
wandered forth alone, choosing the wildest and most secluded paths, and
the hills and vales resounded with his pathetic melodies. At last he
happened to cross the path of some Thracian women, who were performing
the wild rites of Dionysus (Bacchus), and in their mad fury at his
refusing to join them, they furiously attacked him, and tore him in
pieces. In pity for his unhappy fate, the Muses collected his remains,
which they buried at the foot of Mount Olympus, and the nightingale
warbled a funeral dirge over his grave. His head was thrown into the
river Hebrus, and as it floated down the stream, the lips still continued
to murmur the beloved name of Eurydice.

The chief seat of the worship of Apollo was at Delphi, and here was
the most magnificent of all his temples, the foundation of which reaches
far beyond all historical knowledge, and which contained immense riches,
the offerings of kings and private persons, who had received favourable
replies from the oracle. The Greeks believed Delphi to be the central
point of the earth, because two eagles sent forth by Zeus, one from the
east, the other [83]from the west, were said to have arrived
there at the same moment.

The Pythian games, celebrated in honour of the victory of Apollo over
the Python, took place at Delphi every four years. At the first
celebration of these games, gods, goddesses, and heroes contended for the
prizes, which were at first of gold or silver, but consisted, in later
times, of simple laurel wreaths.

On account of its being the place of his birth, the whole island of
Delos was consecrated to Apollo, where he was worshipped with great
solemnity; the greatest care was taken to preserve the sanctity of the
spot, for which reason no one was suffered to be buried there. At the
foot of Mount Cynthus was a splendid temple of Apollo which possessed an
oracle, and was enriched with magnificent offerings from all parts of
Greece. Even foreign nations held this island sacred, for when the
Persians passed it on their way to attack Greece, they not only sailed
by, leaving it uninjured, but sent rich presents to the temple. Games,
called Delia, instituted by Theseus, were celebrated at Delos every four
years.

A festival termed the Gymnopedæa was held at Sparta in honour of
Apollo, in which boys sang the praises of the gods, and of the three
hundred Lacedæmonians who fell at the battle of Thermopylæ.

Wolves and hawks were sacrificed to Apollo, and the birds sacred to
him were the hawk, raven, and swan.

ROMAN APOLLO.

The worship of Apollo never occupied the all-important position in
Rome which it held in Greece, nor was it introduced till a comparatively
late period. There was no sanctuary erected to this divinity until B.C. 430, when the Romans, in order to avert a
plague, built a temple in his honour; but we do not find the worship of
Apollo becoming in any way prominent until the time of Augustus, who,
having called upon this god for aid before the famous battle of Actium,
ascribed the victory which he [84]gained, to his influence, and accordingly
erected a temple there, which he enriched with a portion of the
spoil.

Augustus afterwards built another temple in honour of Apollo, on the
Palatine Hill, in which at the foot of his statue, were deposited two
gilt chests, containing the Sibylline oracles. These oracles were
collected to replace the Sibylline books originally preserved in the
temple of Jupiter, which were destroyed when that edifice was burned.

The Sibyls were maidens who had received the gift of prophecy, and the
privilege of living to an incredible age. One of these Sibyls (known as
the Cumæan) appeared to Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome,
offering for sale nine books, which she informed him had been written by
herself. Not knowing who she was, Tarquin refused to buy them, upon which
she burned three, and returned with six, demanding the same price as
before. Being again driven away as an impostor, she again retired and
burned three more, returning with the remaining three, for which she
still asked the same price as at first. Tarquin, amazed at her
inconsistency, now consulted the Augurs, who blamed him for not having
bought the nine books when they were first offered to him, and desired
him to secure the remaining three, at whatever price they were to be had.
He, accordingly, purchased the volumes, which were found to contain
predictions of great importance to the Romans. After the disposal of the
books, the Sibyl vanished, and was seen no more.

The most beautiful and renowned of all the statues of Apollo now in
existence, is that known as the Apollo Belvedere, which was found in 1503
among the ruins of [85]ancient Antium. It was purchased by Pope
Julius II., who removed it to the Belvedere of the Vatican, from whence
it takes its name, and where it has been, for more than three hundred
years, the admiration of the world. When Rome was taken, and plundered by
the French, this celebrated statue was transported to Paris, and placed
in the museum there, but in 1815 it was restored to its former place in
the Vatican. The attitude of the figure, which is more than seven feet
high, is inimitable in its freedom, grace, and majesty. The forehead is
noble and intellectual, and the whole countenance so exquisite in its
beauty, that one pauses spell-bound to gaze on so perfect a conception.
The god has a very youthful appearance, as is usual in all his
representations, and with the exception of a short mantle which falls
from his shoulders, is unclothed. He stands against the trunk of a tree,
up which a serpent is creeping, and his left arm is outstretched, as
though about to punish.

HECATE.

Hecate would appear to have been originally a moon-goddess worshipped
by the Thracians. She became confounded, and eventually identified with
Selene and Persephone, and is one of those divinities of whom the
ancients had various conflicting accounts.

Hecate was the daughter of Perses and “gold-wreathed” Astræa (the
starry night^[32]), and her
sway extended over earth, heaven, and hell, for which reason she is
represented in works of art as a triple divinity, having three female
bodies, all young and beautiful, and united together.

In later times, when this divinity becomes identified with Persephone,
she is supposed to inhabit the lower world as a malignant deity, and
henceforward it is the gloomy, awe-inspiring side of her character which
alone [86]develops itself. She now presides over all
practices connected with witchcraft and enchantments, haunts sepulchres,
and the point where two roads cross, and lonely spots where murders have
been committed. She was supposed to be connected with the appearance of
ghosts and spectres, to possess unlimited influence over the powers of
the lower world, and to be able to lay to rest unearthly apparitions by
her magic spells and incantations.

Hecate appears as a gigantic woman, bearing a torch and a sword. Her
feet and hair are formed of snakes, and her passage is accompanied by
voices of thunder, weird shrieks and yells, and the deep baying and
howling of dogs.

Her favour was propitiated by offerings and sacrifices, principally
consisting of black lambs. Her festivals were celebrated at night, by
torchlight, when these animals were offered to her, accompanied by many
peculiar ceremonies. These ceremonies were carried out with the minutest
attention to details, as it was believed that the omission of the
slightest particular would afford to her ministers, the evil spirits of
the lower world, who hovered round the worshippers, an opportunity for
entering among them, and exerting their baneful influence. At the end of
every month food was placed wherever two roads met, in readiness for her
and other malignant divinities.

In studying the peculiar characteristics which Hecate assumes when she
usurps the place of Persephone, the rightful mistress of the lower world,
we are reminded of the various superstitions with regard to spectres,
witchcraft, &c., which have, even down to our own times, exerted so
powerful an influence over the minds of the ignorant, and which would
appear to owe their origin to a remote pagan source.

SELENE (Luna).

Just as Helios personified the sun, so his sister Selene represented
the moon, and was supposed to drive her [87]chariot across the sky
whilst her brother was reposing after the toils of the day.

When the shades of evening began to enfold the earth, the two
milk-white steeds of Selene rose out of the mysterious depths of Oceanus.
Seated in a silvery chariot, and accompanied by her daughter Herse, the
goddess of the dew, appeared the mild and gentle queen of the night, with
a crescent on her fair brow, a gauzy veil flowing behind, and a lighted
torch in her hand.

Selene greatly admired a beautiful young shepherd named Endymion, to
whom Zeus had accorded the privilege of eternal youth, combined with the
faculty of sleeping whenever he desired, and as long as he wished. Seeing
this lovely youth fast asleep on Mount Latmus, Selene was so struck with
his beauty, that she came down every night from heaven to watch over and
protect him.

ARTEMIS (Diana).

Artemis was worshipped by the Greeks under various appellations, to
each of which belonged special characteristics. Thus she is known as the
Arcadian, Ephesian and Brauronian Artemis, and also as Selene-Artemis,
and in order fully to comprehend the worship of this divinity, we must
consider her under each aspect.

ARCADIAN ARTEMIS.

The Arcadian Artemis (the real Artemis of the Greeks) was the daughter
of Zeus and Leto, and twin-sister of Apollo. She was the goddess of
Hunting and Chastity, and having obtained from her father permission to
lead a life of celibacy, she ever remained a maiden-divinity. Artemis is
the feminine counterpart of her brother, the glorious god of Light, and,
like him, though she deals out destruction and sudden death to men and
animals, she is also able to alleviate suffering and cure diseases. Like
Apollo also, she is skilled in the use of the bow, but in a far more
eminent degree, for in the character of Artemis, who devoted herself to
the chase with passionate [88]ardour, this becomes an all-distinguishing
feature. Armed with her bow and quiver, and attended by her train of
huntresses, who were nymphs of the woods and springs, she roamed over the
mountains in pursuit of her favourite exercise, destroying in her course
the wild animals of the forest. When the chase was ended, Artemis and her
maidens loved to assemble in a shady grove, or on the banks of a
favourite stream, where they joined in the merry song, or graceful dance,
and made the hills resound with their joyous shouts.

As the type of purity and chastity, Artemis was especially venerated
by young maidens, who, before marrying, sacrificed their hair to her. She
was also the patroness of those vowed to celibacy, and punished severely
any infringement of their obligation.

The huntress-goddess is represented as being a head taller than her
attendant nymphs, and always appears as a youthful and slender maiden.
Her features are beautiful, but wanting in gentleness of expression; her
hair is gathered negligently into a knot at the back of her well-shaped
head; and her figure, though somewhat masculine, is most graceful in its
attitude and proportions. The short robe she wears, leaves her limbs free
for the exercise of the chase, her devotion to which is indicated by the
quiver which is slung over her shoulder, and the bow which she bears in
her hand.

There are many famous statues of this divinity; but the most
celebrated is that known as the Diana of Versailles, now in the Louvre,
which forms a not unworthy companion to the Apollo-Belvedere of the
Vatican. In this statue, the goddess appears in the act of rescuing a
hunted deer from its pursuers, on whom she is turning with angry mien.
One hand is laid protectingly on the head of the stag, whilst with the
other she draws an arrow from the quiver which hangs over her
shoulder.

Her attributes are the bow, quiver, and spear. The animals sacred to
her are the hind, dog, bear, and wild boar.

Artemis promptly resented any disregard or neglect of [89]her worship; a
remarkable instance of this is shown in the story of the Calydonian
boar-hunt, which is as follows:—

Oeneus, king of Calydon in Ætolia, had incurred the displeasure of
Artemis by neglecting to include her in a general sacrifice to the gods
which he had offered up, out of gratitude for a bountiful harvest. The
goddess, enraged at this neglect, sent a wild boar of extraordinary size
and prodigious strength, which destroyed the sprouting grain, laid waste
the fields, and threatened the inhabitants with famine and death. At this
juncture, Meleager, the brave son of Oeneus, returned from the Argonautic
expedition, and finding his country ravaged by this dreadful scourge,
entreated the assistance of all the celebrated heroes of the age to join
him in hunting the ferocious monster. Among the most famous of those who
responded to his call were Jason, Castor and Pollux, Idas and Lynceus,
Peleus, Telamon, Admetus, Perithous, and Theseus. The brothers of Althea,
wife of Oeneus, joined the hunters, and Meleager also enlisted into his
service the fleet-footed huntress Atalanta.

The father of this maiden was Schoeneus, an Arcadian, who,
disappointed at the birth of a daughter when he had particularly desired
a son, had exposed her on the Parthenian Hill, where he left her to
perish. Here she was nursed by a she-bear, and at last found by some
hunters, who reared her, and gave her the name of Atalanta. As the maiden
grew up, she became an ardent [90]lover of the chase, and was alike
distinguished for her beauty and courage. Though often wooed, she led a
life of strict celibacy, an oracle having predicted that inevitable
misfortune awaited her, should she give herself in marriage to any of her
numerous suitors.

Many of the heroes objected to hunt in company with a maiden; but
Meleager, who loved Atalanta, overcame their opposition, and the valiant
band set out on their expedition. Atalanta was the first to wound the
boar with her spear, but not before two of the heroes had met their death
from his fierce tusks. After a long and desperate encounter, Meleager
succeeded in killing the monster, and presented the head and hide to
Atalanta, as trophies of the victory. The uncles of Meleager, however,
forcibly took the hide from the maiden, claiming their right to the spoil
as next of kin, if Meleager resigned it. Artemis, whose anger was still
unappeased, caused a violent quarrel to arise between uncles and nephew,
and, in the struggle which ensued, Meleager killed his mother’s brothers,
and then restored the hide to Atalanta. When Althea beheld the dead
bodies of the slain heroes, her grief and anger knew no bounds. She swore
to revenge the death of her brothers on her own son, and unfortunately
for him, the instrument of vengeance lay ready to her hand.

At the birth of Meleager, the Moirae, or Fates, entered the house of
Oeneus, and pointing to a piece of wood then burning on the hearth,
declared that as soon as it was consumed the babe would surely die. On
hearing this, Althea seized the brand, laid it up carefully in a chest,
and henceforth preserved it as her most precious possession. But now,
love for her son giving place to the resentment she felt against the
murderer of her brothers, she threw the fatal brand into the devouring
flames. As it consumed, the vigour of Meleager wasted away, and when it
was reduced to ashes, he expired. Repenting too late the terrible effects
of her rash deed, Althea, in remorse and despair, took away her own
life.

The news of the courage and intrepidity displayed by [91]Atalanta in the
famous boar-hunt, being carried to the ears of her father, caused him to
acknowledge his long-lost child. Urged by him to choose one of her
numerous suitors, she consented to do so, but made it a condition that he
alone, who could outstrip her in the race, should become her husband,
whilst those she defeated should be put to death by her, with the lance
which she bore in her hand. Thus many suitors had perished, for the
maiden was unequalled for swiftness of foot, but at last a beautiful
youth, named Hippomenes, who had vainly endeavoured to win her love by
his assiduous attentions in the chase, ventured to enter the fatal lists.
Knowing that only by stratagem could he hope to be successful, he
obtained, by the help of Aphrodite, three golden apples from the garden
of the Hesperides, which he threw down at intervals during his course.
Atalanta, secure of victory, stooped to pick up the tempting fruit, and,
in the meantime, Hippomenes arrived at the goal. He became the husband of
the lovely Atalanta, but forgot, in his newly found happiness, the
gratitude which he owed to Aphrodite, and the goddess withdrew her favour
from the pair. Not long after, the prediction which foretold misfortune
to Atalanta, in the event of her marriage, was verified, for she and her
husband, having strayed unsanctioned into a sacred grove of Zeus, were
both transformed into lions.

The trophies of the ever-memorable boar-hunt had been carried by
Atalanta into Arcadia, and, for many centuries, the identical hide and
enormous tusks of the Calydonian boar hung in the temple of Athene at
Tegea. The tusks were afterwards conveyed to Rome, and shown there among
other curiosities.

A forcible instance of the manner in which Artemis resented any
intrusion on her retirement, is seen in the fate which befell the famous
hunter Actaeon, who happening one day to see Artemis and her attendants
bathing, imprudently ventured to approach the spot. The goddess, incensed
at his audacity, sprinkled him with water, and transformed him into a
stag, whereupon he was torn in pieces and devoured by his own dogs. [92]

EPHESIAN ARTEMIS.

The Ephesian Artemis, known to us as “Diana of the Ephesians,” was a
very ancient Asiatic divinity of Persian origin called Metra,^[33] whose worship the Greek
colonists found already established, when they first settled in Asia
Minor, and whom they identified with their own Greek Artemis, though she
really possessed but one single attribute in common with their home
deity.

Metra was a twofold divinity, and represented, in one phase of her
character, all-pervading love; in the other she was the light of heaven;
and as Artemis, in her character as Selene, was the only Greek female
divinity who represented celestial light, the Greek settlers, according
to their custom of fusing foreign deities into their own, seized at once
upon this point of resemblance, and decided that Metra should henceforth
be regarded as identical with Artemis.

In her character as the love which pervades all nature, and penetrates
everywhere, they believed her also to be present in the mysterious Realm
of Shades, where she exercised her benign sway, replacing to a certain
extent that ancient divinity Hecate, and partly usurping also the place
of Persephone, as mistress of the lower world. Thus they believed that it
was she who permitted the spirits of the departed to revisit the earth,
in order to communicate with those they loved, and to give them timely
warning of coming evil. In fact, this great, mighty, and omnipresent
power of love, as embodied in the Ephesian Artemis, was believed by the
great thinkers of old, to be the ruling spirit of the universe, and it
was to her influence, that all the mysterious and beneficent workings of
nature were ascribed.

There was a magnificent temple erected to this divinity at Ephesus (a
city of Asia Minor), which was ranked among the seven wonders of the
world, and was unequalled in beauty and grandeur. The interior of this
[93]edifice was adorned with statues and
paintings, and contained one hundred and twenty-seven columns, sixty feet
in height, each column having been placed there by a different king. The
wealth deposited in this temple was enormous, and the goddess was here
worshipped with particular awe and solemnity. In the interior of the
edifice stood a statue of her, formed of ebony, with lions on her arms
and turrets on her head, whilst a number of breasts indicated the
fruitfulness of the earth and of nature. Ctesiphon was the principal
architect of this world-renowned structure, which, however, was not
entirely completed till two hundred and twenty years after the
foundation-stone was laid. But the labour of centuries was destroyed in a
single night; for a man called Herostratus, seized with the insane desire
of making his name famous to all succeeding generations, set fire to it
and completely destroyed it.^[34] So great was the indignation and sorrow
of the Ephesians at this calamity, that they enacted a law, forbidding
the incendiary’s name to be mentioned, thereby however, defeating their
own object, for thus the name of Herostratus has been handed down to
posterity, and will live as long as the memory of the famous temple of
Ephesus.

BRAURONIAN ARTEMIS.

In ancient times, the country which we now call the Crimea, was known
by the name of the Taurica Chersonnesus. It was colonized by Greek
settlers, who, finding that the Scythian inhabitants had a native
divinity somewhat resembling their own Artemis, identified her with the
huntress-goddess of the mother-country. The worship of this Taurian
Artemis was attended with the most barbarous practices, for, in
accordance with a law which she had enacted, all strangers, whether male
or female, landing, or shipwrecked on her shores, were sacrificed upon
her altars. It is supposed that this decree was [94]issued by the Taurian
goddess of Chastity, to protect the purity of her followers, by keeping
them apart from foreign influences.

The interesting story of Iphigenia, a priestess in the temple of
Artemis at Tauris, forms the subject of one of Schiller’s most beautiful
plays. The circumstances occurred at the commencement of the Trojan war,
and are as follows:—The fleet, collected by the Greeks for the
siege of Troy, had assembled at Aulis, in Bœotia, and was about to
set sail, when Agamemnon, the commander-in-chief, had the misfortune to
kill accidentally a stag which was grazing in a grove, sacred to Artemis.
The offended goddess sent continuous calms that delayed the departure of
the fleet, and Calchas, the soothsayer, who had accompanied the
expedition, declared that nothing less than the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s
favorite daughter, Iphigenia, would appease the wrath of the goddess. At
these words, the heroic heart of the brave leader sank within him, and he
declared that rather than consent to so fearful an alternative, he would
give up his share in the expedition and return to Argos. In this dilemma
Odysseus and other great generals called a council to discuss the matter,
and, after much deliberation, it was decided that private feeling must
yield to the welfare of the state. For a long time the unhappy Agamemnon
turned a deaf ear to their arguments, but at last they succeeded in
persuading him that it was his duty to make the sacrifice. He,
accordingly, despatched a messenger to his wife, Clytemnæstra, begging
her to send Iphigenia to him, alleging as a pretext that the great hero
Achilles desired to make her his wife. Rejoicing at the brilliant destiny
which awaited her beautiful daughter, the fond mother at once obeyed the
command, and sent her to Aulis. When the maiden arrived at her
destination, and discovered, to her horror, the dreadful fate which
awaited her, she threw herself in an agony of grief at her father’s feet,
and with sobs and tears entreated him to have mercy on her, and to spare
her young life. But alas! her doom was sealed, and her now repentant and
[95]heart-broken father was powerless to avert
it. The unfortunate victim was bound to the altar, and already the fatal
knife was raised to deal the death-blow, when suddenly Iphigenia
disappeared from view, and in her place on the altar, lay a beautiful
deer ready to be sacrificed. It was Artemis herself, who, pitying the
youth and beauty of her victim, caused her to be conveyed in a cloud to
Taurica, where she became one of her priestesses, and intrusted with the
charge of her temple; a dignity, however, which necessitated the offering
of those human sacrifices presented to Artemis.

Many years passed away, during which time the long and wearisome siege
of Troy had come to an end, and the brave Agamemnon had returned home to
meet death at the hands of his wife and Aegisthus. But his daughter,
Iphigenia, was still an exile from her native country, and continued to
perform the terrible duties which her office involved. She had long given
up all hopes of ever being restored to her friends, when one day two
Greek strangers landed on Taurica’s inhospitable shores. These were
Orestes and Pylades, whose romantic attachment to each other has made
their names synonymous for devoted self-sacrificing friendship. Orestes
was Iphigenia’s brother, and Pylades her cousin, and their object in
undertaking an expedition fraught with so much peril, was to obtain the
statue of the Taurian Artemis. Orestes, having incurred the anger of the
Furies for avenging the murder of his father Agamemnon, was pursued by
them wherever he went, until at last he was informed by the oracle of
Delphi that, in order to pacify them, he must convey the image of the
Taurian Artemis from Tauris to Attica. This he at once resolved to do,
and accompanied by his faithful friend Pylades, who insisted on sharing
the dangers of the undertaking, he set out for Taurica. But the
unfortunate youths had hardly stepped on shore before they were seized by
the natives, who, as usual, conveyed them for sacrifice to the temple of
Artemis. Iphigenia, discovering that they were Greeks, though unaware of
their near relationship to herself, thought the [96]opportunity a favourable
one for sending tidings of her existence to her native country, and,
accordingly, requested one of the strangers to be the bearer of a letter
from her to her family. A magnanimous dispute now arose between the
friends, and each besought the other to accept the precious privilege of
life and freedom. Pylades, at length overcome by the urgent entreaties of
Orestes, agreed to be the bearer of the missive, but on looking more
closely at the superscription, he observed, to his intense surprise, that
it was addressed to Orestes. Hereupon an explanation followed; the
brother and sister recognized each other, amid joyful tears and loving
embraces, and assisted by her friends and kinsmen, Iphigenia escaped with
them from a country where she had spent so many unhappy days, and
witnessed so many scenes of horror and anguish.

The fugitives, having contrived to obtain the image of the Taurian
Artemis, carried it with them to Brauron in Attica. This divinity was
henceforth known as the Brauronian Artemis, and the rites which had
rendered her worship so infamous in Taurica were now introduced into
Greece, and human victims bled freely under the sacrificial knife, both
in Athens and Sparta. The revolting practice of offering human sacrifices
to her, was continued until the time of Lycurgus, the great Spartan
lawgiver, who put an end to it by substituting in its place one, which
was hardly less barbarous, namely, the scourging of youths, who were
whipped on the altars of the Brauronian Artemis in the most cruel manner;
sometimes indeed they expired under the lash, in which case their
mothers, far from lamenting their fate, are said to have rejoiced,
considering this an honourable death for their sons.

SELENE-ARTEMIS.

Hitherto we have seen Artemis only in the various phases of her
terrestrial character; but just as her brother Apollo drew into himself
by degrees the attributes of that more ancient divinity Helios, the
sun-god, so, in like manner, she came to be identified in later times
[97]with Selene, the moon-goddess, in which
character she is always represented as wearing on her forehead a
glittering crescent, whilst a flowing veil, bespangled with stars,
reaches to her feet, and a long robe completely envelops her.

DIANA.

The Diana of the Romans was identified with the Greek Artemis, with
whom she shares that peculiar tripartite character, which so strongly
marks the individuality of the Greek goddess. In heaven she was Luna (the
moon), on earth Diana (the huntress-goddess), and in the lower world
Proserpine; but, unlike the Ephesian Artemis, Diana, in her character as
Proserpine, carries with her into the lower world no element of love or
sympathy; she is, on the contrary, characterized by practices altogether
hostile to man, such as the exercise of witchcraft, evil charms, and
other antagonistic influences, and is, in fact, the Greek Hecate, in her
later development.

The statues of Diana were generally erected at a point where three
roads met, for which reason she is called Trivia (from tri, three,
and via, way).

A temple was dedicated to her on the Aventine hill by Servius Tullius,
who is said to have first introduced the worship of this divinity into
Rome.

The Nemoralia, or Grove Festivals, were celebrated in her honour on
the 13th of August, on the Lacus Nemorensis, or forest-buried lake, near
Aricia. The priest who officiated in her temple on this spot, was always
a fugitive slave, who had gained his office by murdering his predecessor,
and hence was constantly armed, in order that he might thus be prepared
to encounter a new aspirant.

HEPHÆSTUS (Vulcan).

Hephæstus, the son of Zeus and Hera, was the god of fire in its
beneficial aspect, and the presiding deity over all workmanship
accomplished by means of this useful element. He was universally
honoured, not only as the [98]god of all mechanical arts, but also as a
house and hearth divinity, who exercised a beneficial influence on
civilized society in general. Unlike the other Greek divinities, he was
ugly and deformed, being awkward in his movements, and limping in his
gait. This latter defect originated, as we have already seen, in the
wrath of his father Zeus, who hurled him down from heaven^[35] in consequence of his taking the part
of Hera, in one of the domestic disagreements, which so frequently arose
between this royal pair. Hephæstus was a whole day falling from Olympus
to the earth, where he at length alighted on the island of Lemnos. The
inhabitants of the country, seeing him descending through the air,
received him in their arms; but in spite of their care, his leg was
broken by the fall, and he remained ever afterwards lame in one foot.
Grateful for the kindness of the Lemnians, he henceforth took up his
abode in their island, and there built for himself a superb palace, and
forges for the pursuit of his avocation. He instructed the people how to
work in metals, and also taught them other valuable and useful arts.

It is said that the first work of Hephæstus was a most ingenious
throne of gold, with secret springs, which he presented to Hera. It was
arranged in such a manner that, once seated, she found herself unable to
move, and though all the gods endeavoured to extricate her, their efforts
were unavailing. Hephæstus thus revenged himself on his mother for the
cruelty she had always displayed towards him, on account of his want of
comeliness and grace. Dionysus, the wine god, contrived, however, to
intoxicate Hephæstus, and then induced him to return to Olympus, where,
after having released the [99]queen of heaven from her very undignified
position, he became reconciled to his parents.

He now built for himself a glorious palace on Olympus, of shining
gold, and made for the other deities those magnificent edifices which
they inhabited. He was assisted in his various and exquisitely skilful
works of art, by two female statues of pure gold, formed by his own hand,
which possessed the power of motion, and always accompanied him wherever
he went. With the assistance of the Cyclops, he forged for Zeus his
wonderful thunderbolts, thus investing his mighty father with a new power
of terrible import. Zeus testified his appreciation of this precious
gift, by bestowing upon Hephæstus the beautiful Aphrodite in marriage,^[36] but this was a
questionable boon; for the lovely Aphrodite, who was the personification
of all grace and beauty, felt no affection for her ungainly and
unattractive spouse, and amused herself by ridiculing his awkward
movements and unsightly person. On one occasion especially, when
Hephæstus good-naturedly took upon himself the office of cup-bearer to
the gods, his hobbling gait and extreme awkwardness created the greatest
mirth amongst the celestials, in which his disloyal partner was the first
to join, with unconcealed merriment.

Aphrodite greatly preferred Ares to her husband, and this preference
naturally gave rise to much jealousy on the part of Hephæstus, and caused
them great unhappiness.

Hephæstus appears to have been an indispensable member of the Olympic
Assembly, where he plays the part of smith, armourer, chariot-builder,
&c. As already mentioned, he constructed the palaces where the gods
resided, fashioned the golden shoes with which they trod the air or
water, built for them their wonderful chariots, and shod with brass the
horses of celestial breed, which conveyed these glittering equipages over
land and sea. He also made the tripods which moved of themselves in and
out of the celestial halls, formed for Zeus the [100]far-famed ægis, and
erected the magnificent palace of the sun. He also created the
brazen-footed bulls of Aetes, which breathed flames from their nostrils,
sent forth clouds of smoke, and filled the air with their roaring.

Among his most renowned works of art for the use of mortals were: the
armour of Achilles and Æneas, the beautiful necklace of Harmonia, and the
crown of Ariadne; but his masterpiece was Pandora, of whom a detailed
account has already been given.

There was a temple on Mount Etna erected in his honour, which none but
the pure and virtuous were permitted to enter. The entrance to this
temple was guarded by dogs, which possessed the extraordinary faculty of
being able to discriminate between the righteous and the unrighteous,
fawning upon and caressing the good, whilst they rushed upon all
evil-doers and drove them away.

Hephæstus is usually represented as a powerful, brawny, and very
muscular man of middle height and mature age; his strong uplifted arm is
raised in the act of striking the anvil with a hammer, which he holds in
one hand, whilst with the other he is turning a thunderbolt, which an
eagle beside him is waiting to carry to Zeus. The principal seat of his
worship was the island of Lemnos, where he was regarded with peculiar
veneration.

VULCAN.

The Roman Vulcan was merely an importation from Greece, which never at
any time took firm root in Rome, nor entered largely into the actual life
and sympathies of the nation, his worship being unattended by the
devotional feeling and enthusiasm which characterized the religious rites
of the other deities. He still, however, retained in Rome his [101]Greek
attributes as god of fire, and unrivalled master of the art of working in
metals, and was ranked among the twelve great gods of Olympus, whose
gilded statues were arranged consecutively along the Forum. His Roman
name, Vulcan, would seem to indicate a connection with the first great
metal-working artificer of Biblical history, Tubal-Cain.

POSEIDON (Neptune).

Poseidon was the son of Kronos and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus. He
was god of the sea, more particularly of the Mediterranean, and, like the
element over which he presided, was of a variable disposition, now
violently agitated, and now calm and placid, for which reason he is
sometimes represented by the poets as quiet and composed, and at others
as disturbed and angry.

In the earliest ages of Greek mythology, he merely symbolized the
watery element; but in later times, as navigation and intercourse with
other nations engendered greater traffic by sea, Poseidon gained in
importance, and came to be regarded as a distinct divinity, holding
indisputable dominion over the sea, and over all sea-divinities, who
acknowledged him as their sovereign ruler. He possessed the power of
causing at will, mighty and destructive tempests, in which the billows
rise mountains high, the wind becomes a hurricane, land and sea being
enveloped in thick mists, whilst destruction assails the unfortunate
mariners exposed to their fury. On the other hand, his alone was the
power of stilling the angry [102]waves, of soothing the troubled waters,
and granting safe voyages to mariners. For this reason, Poseidon was
always invoked and propitiated by a libation before a voyage was
undertaken, and sacrifices and thanksgivings were gratefully offered to
him after a safe and prosperous journey by sea.

The symbol of his power was the fisherman’s fork or trident,^[37] by means of which he
produced earthquakes, raised up islands from the bottom of the sea, and
caused wells to spring forth out of the earth.

Poseidon was essentially the presiding deity over fishermen, and was
on that account, more particularly worshipped and revered in countries
bordering on the sea-coast, where fish naturally formed a staple
commodity of trade. He was supposed to vent his displeasure by sending
disastrous inundations, which completely destroyed whole countries, and
were usually accompanied by terrible marine monsters, who swallowed up
and devoured those whom the floods had spared. It is probable that these
sea-monsters are the poetical figures which represent the demons of
hunger and famine, necessarily accompanying a general inundation.

Poseidon is generally represented as resembling his brother Zeus in
features, height, and general aspect; but we miss in the countenance of
the sea-god the kindness and benignity which so pleasingly distinguish
his mighty brother. The eyes are bright and piercing, and the contour of
the face somewhat sharper in its outline than that of Zeus, thus
corresponding, as it were, with his more angry and violent nature. His
hair waves in dark, disorderly masses over his shoulders; his chest is
broad, and his frame powerful and stalwart; he wears a short, curling
beard, and a band round his head. He usually appears standing erect in a
graceful shell-chariot, drawn by hippocamps, or sea-horses, with golden
manes and brazen hoofs, who bound over the dancing waves with such
wonderful swiftness, that the chariot scarcely touches [103]the water. The
monsters of the deep, acknowledging their mighty lord, gambol playfully
around him, whilst the sea joyfully smooths a path for the passage of its
all-powerful ruler.

He inhabited a beautiful palace at the bottom of the sea at Ægea in
Eubœa, and also possessed a royal residence on Mount Olympus,
which, however, he only visited when his presence was required at the
council of the gods.

His wonderful palace beneath the waters was of vast extent; in its
lofty and capacious halls thousands of his followers could assemble. The
exterior of the building was of bright gold, which the continual wash of
the waters preserved untarnished; in the interior, lofty and graceful
columns supported the gleaming dome. Everywhere fountains of glistening,
silvery water played; everywhere groves and arbours of feathery-leaved
sea-plants appeared, whilst rocks of pure crystal glistened with all the
varied colours of the rainbow. Some of the paths were strewn with white
sparkling sand, interspersed with jewels, pearls, and amber. This
delightful abode was surrounded on all sides by wide fields, where there
were whole groves of dark purple coralline, and tufts of beautiful
scarlet-leaved plants, and sea-anemones of every tint. Here grew bright,
pinky sea-weeds, mosses of all hues and shades, and tall grasses, which,
growing upwards, formed emerald caves and grottoes such as the Nereides
love, whilst fish of various kinds playfully darted in and out, in the
full enjoyment of their native element. Nor was illumination wanting in
this fairy-like region, which at night was lit up by the glow-worms of
the deep.

But although Poseidon ruled with absolute power over the ocean and its
inhabitants, he nevertheless bowed submissively to the will of the great
ruler of Olympus, and appeared at all times desirous of conciliating him.
We [104]find him coming to his aid when emergency
demanded, and frequently rendering him valuable assistance against his
opponents. At the time when Zeus was harassed by the attacks of the
Giants, he proved himself a most powerful ally, engaging in single combat
with a hideous giant named Polybotes, whom he followed over the sea, and
at last succeeded in destroying, by hurling upon him the island of
Cos.

These amicable relations between the brothers were, however, sometimes
interrupted. Thus, for instance, upon one occasion Poseidon joined Hera
and Athene in a secret conspiracy to seize upon the ruler of heaven,
place him in fetters, and deprive him of the sovereign power. The
conspiracy being discovered, Hera, as the chief instigator of this
sacrilegious attempt on the divine person of Zeus, was severely
chastised, and even beaten, by her enraged spouse, as a punishment for
her rebellion and treachery, whilst Poseidon was condemned, for the space
of a whole year, to forego his dominion over the sea, and it was at this
time that, in conjunction with Apollo, he built for Laomedon the walls of
Troy.

Poseidon married a sea-nymph named Amphitrite, whom he wooed under the
form of a dolphin. She afterwards became jealous of a beautiful maiden
called Scylla, who was beloved by Poseidon, and in order to revenge
herself she threw some herbs into a well where Scylla was bathing, which
had the effect of metamorphosing her into a monster of terrible aspect,
having twelve feet, six heads with six long necks, and a voice which
resembled the bark of a dog. This awful monster is said to have inhabited
a cave at a very great height in the famous rock which still bears her
name,^[38] and was supposed
to swoop down from her rocky eminence upon every ship that passed, and
with each of her six heads to secure a victim.

Amphitrite is often represented assisting Poseidon in attaching the
sea-horses to his chariot.

[105]

The Cyclops, who have been already alluded to in the history of
Cronus, were the sons of Poseidon and Amphitrite. They were a wild race
of gigantic growth, similar in their nature to the earth-born Giants, and
had only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads. They led a
lawless life, possessing neither social manners nor fear of the gods, and
were the workmen of Hephæstus, whose workshop was supposed to be in the
heart of the volcanic mountain Ætna.

Here we have another striking instance of the manner in which the
Greeks personified the powers of nature, which they saw in active
operation around them. They beheld with awe, mingled with astonishment,
the fire, stones, and ashes which poured forth from the summit of this
and other volcanic mountains, and, with their vivacity of imagination,
found a solution of the mystery in the supposition, that the god of Fire
must be busy at work with his men in the depths of the earth, and that
the mighty flames which they beheld, issued in this manner from his
subterranean forge.

The chief representative of the Cyclops was the man-eating monster
Polyphemus, described by Homer as having been blinded and outwitted at
last by Odysseus. This monster fell in love with a beautiful nymph called
Galatea; but, as may be supposed, his addresses were not acceptable to
the fair maiden, who rejected them in favour of a youth named Acis, upon
which Polyphemus, with his usual barbarity, destroyed the life of his
rival by throwing upon him a gigantic rock. The blood of the murdered
Acis, gushing out of the rock, formed a stream which still bears his
name.

Triton, Rhoda,^[39] and
Benthesicyme were also children of Poseidon and Amphitrite.

The sea-god was the father of two giant sons called Otus and
Ephialtes.^[40] When only
nine years old they [106]were said to be twenty-seven cubits^[41] in height and nine in
breadth. These youthful giants were as rebellious as they were powerful,
even presuming to threaten the gods themselves with hostilities. During
the war of the Gigantomachia, they endeavoured to scale heaven by piling
mighty mountains one upon another. Already had they succeeded in placing
Mount Ossa on Olympus and Pelion on Ossa, when this impious project was
frustrated by Apollo, who destroyed them with his arrows. It was supposed
that had not their lives been thus cut off before reaching maturity,
their sacrilegious designs would have been carried into effect.

Pelias and Neleus were also sons of Poseidon. Their mother Tyro was
attached to the river-god Enipeus, whose form Poseidon assumed, and thus
won her love. Pelias became afterwards famous in the story of the
Argonauts, and Neleus was the father of Nestor, who was distinguished in
the Trojan War.

The Greeks believed that it was to Poseidon they were indebted for the
existence of the horse, which he is said to have produced in the
following manner: Athene and Poseidon both claiming the right to name
Cecropia (the ancient name of Athens), a violent dispute arose, which was
finally settled by an assembly of the Olympian gods, who decided that
whichever of the contending parties presented mankind with the most
useful gift, should obtain the privilege of naming the city. Upon this
Poseidon struck the ground with his trident, and the horse sprang forth
in all his untamed strength and graceful beauty. From the spot which
Athene touched with her wand, issued the olive-tree, whereupon the gods
unanimously awarded to her the victory, declaring her gift to be the
emblem of peace and plenty, whilst that of Poseidon was thought to be the
symbol of war and [107]bloodshed. Athene accordingly called the
city Athens, after herself, and it has ever since retained this name.

Poseidon tamed the horse for the use of mankind, and was believed to
have taught men the art of managing horses by the bridle. The Isthmian
games (so named because they were held on the Isthmus of Corinth), in
which horse and chariot races were a distinguishing feature, were
instituted in honour of Poseidon.

He was more especially worshipped in the Peloponnesus, though
universally revered throughout Greece and in the south of Italy. His
sacrifices were generally black and white bulls, also wild boars and
rams. His usual attributes are the trident, horse, and dolphin.

In some parts of Greece this divinity was identified with the sea-god
Nereus, for which reason the Nereides, or daughters of Nereus, are
represented as accompanying him.

NEPTUNE.

The Romans worshipped Poseidon under the name of Neptune, and invested
him with all the attributes which belong to the Greek divinity.

The Roman commanders never undertook any naval expedition without
propitiating Neptune by a sacrifice.

His temple at Rome was in the Campus Martius, and the festivals
commemorated in his honour were called Neptunalia.

SEA DIVINITIES.

OCEANUS.

Oceanus was the son of Uranus and Gæa. He was the personification of
the ever-flowing stream, which, according to the primitive notions of the
early Greeks, encircled the world, and from which sprang all the rivers
and streams that watered the earth. He was married to Tethys, one of the
Titans, and was the father of a [108]numerous progeny called the Oceanides, who
are said to have been three thousand in number. He alone, of all the
Titans, refrained from taking part against Zeus in the Titanomachia, and
was, on that account, the only one of the primeval divinities permitted
to retain his dominion under the new dynasty.

NEREUS.

Nereus appears to have been the personification of the sea in its calm
and placid moods, and was, after Poseidon, the most important of the
sea-deities. He is represented as a kind and benevolent old man,
possessing the gift of prophecy, and presiding more particularly over the
Ægean Sea, of which he was considered to be the protecting spirit. There
he dwelt with his wife Doris and their fifty blooming daughters, the
Nereides, beneath the waves in a beautiful grotto-palace, and was ever
ready to assist distressed mariners in the hour of danger.

PROTEUS.

Proteus, more familiarly known as “The Old Man of the Sea,” was a son
of Poseidon, and gifted with prophetic power. But he had an invincible
objection to being consulted in his capacity as seer, and those who
wished him to foretell events, watched for the hour of noon, when he was
in the habit of coming up to the island of Pharos,^[42] with Poseidon’s flock of seals, which
he tended at the bottom of the sea. Surrounded by these creatures of the
deep, he used to slumber beneath the grateful shade of the rocks. This
was the favourable moment to seize the prophet, who, in order to avoid
importunities, would change himself into an infinite variety of forms.
But patience gained the day; for if he were only held long enough, he
became wearied at last, and, resuming his true form, gave the information
desired, after which he dived down again to the bottom of the sea,
accompanied by the animals he tended.

[109]

TRITON and the TRITONS.

Triton was the only son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, but he possessed
little influence, being altogether a minor divinity. He is usually
represented as preceding his father and acting as his trumpeter, using a
conch-shell for this purpose. He lived with his parents in their
beautiful golden palace beneath the sea at Ægea, and his favourite
pastime was to ride over the billows on horses or sea-monsters. Triton is
always represented as half man, half fish, the body below the waist
terminating in the tail of a dolphin. We frequently find mention of
Tritons who are either the offspring or kindred of Triton.

GLAUCUS.

Glaucus is said to have become a sea-divinity in the following manner.
While angling one day, he observed that the fish he caught and threw on
the bank, at once nibbled at the grass and then leaped back into the
water. His curiosity was naturally excited, and he proceeded to gratify
it by taking up a few blades and tasting them. No sooner was this done
than, obeying an irresistible impulse, he precipitated himself into the
deep, and became a sea-god.

Like most sea-divinities he was gifted with prophetic power, and each
year visited all the islands and coasts with a train of marine monsters,
foretelling all kinds of evil. Hence fishermen dreaded his approach, and
endeavoured, by prayer and fasting, to avert the misfortunes which he
prophesied. He is often represented floating on the billows, his body
covered with mussels, sea-weed, and shells, wearing a full beard and long
flowing hair, and bitterly bewailing his immortality.

[110]

THETIS.

The silver-footed, fair-haired Thetis, who plays an important part in
the mythology of Greece, was the daughter of Nereus, or, as some assert,
of Poseidon. Her grace and beauty were so remarkable that Zeus and
Poseidon both sought an alliance with her; but, as it had been foretold
that a son of hers would gain supremacy over his father, they
relinquished their intentions, and she became the wife of Peleus, son of
Æacus. Like Proteus, Thetis possessed the power of transforming herself
into a variety of different shapes, and when wooed by Peleus she exerted
this power in order to elude him. But, knowing that persistence would
eventually succeed, he held her fast until she assumed her true form.
Their nuptials were celebrated with the utmost pomp and magnificence, and
were honoured by the presence of all the gods and goddesses, with the
exception of Eris. How the goddess of discord resented her exclusion from
the marriage festivities has already been shown.

Thetis ever retained great influence over the mighty lord of heaven,
which, as we shall see hereafter, she used in favour of her renowned son,
Achilles, in the Trojan War.

When Halcyone plunged into the sea in despair after the shipwreck and
death of her husband King Ceyx, Thetis transformed both husband and wife
into the birds called kingfishers (halcyones), which, with the tender
affection which characterized the unfortunate couple, always fly in
pairs. The idea of the ancients was that these birds brought forth their
young in nests, which float on the surface of the sea in calm weather,
before and after the shortest day, when Thetis was said to keep the
waters smooth and tranquil for their especial benefit; hence the term
“halcyon-days,” which signifies a period of rest and untroubled
felicity.

[111]

THAUMAS, PHORCYS, and CETO.

The early Greeks, with their extraordinary power of personifying all
and every attribute of Nature, gave a distinct personality to those
mighty wonders of the deep, which, in all ages, have afforded matter of
speculation to educated and uneducated alike. Among these
personifications we find Thaumas, Phorcys, and their sister Ceto, who
were the offspring of Pontus.

Thaumas (whose name signifies Wonder) typifies that peculiar,
translucent condition of the surface of the sea when it reflects,
mirror-like, various images, and appears to hold in its transparent
embrace the flaming stars and illuminated cities, which are so frequently
reflected on its glassy bosom.

Thaumas married the lovely Electra (whose name signifies the sparkling
light produced by electricity), daughter of Oceanus. Her amber-coloured
hair was of such rare beauty that none of her fair-haired sisters could
compare with her, and when she wept, her tears, being too precious to be
lost, formed drops of shining amber.

Phorcys and Ceto personified more especially the hidden perils and
terrors of the ocean. They were the parents of the Gorgons, the Græa, and
the Dragon which guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides.

LEUCOTHEA.

Leucothea was originally a mortal named Ino, daughter of Cadmus, king
of Thebes. She married Athamas, king of Orchomenus, who, incensed at her
unnatural conduct to her step-children,^[43] pursued her and her son to the
sea-shore, when, seeing no hope of escape, she flung herself with her
child into the deep. They were kindly received by the Nereides, and
became sea-divinities under the name of Leucothea and Palæmon.

[112]

THE SIRENS.

The Sirens would appear to have been personifications of those
numerous rocks and unseen dangers, which abound on the S.W. coast of
Italy. They were sea-nymphs, with the upper part of the body that of a
maiden and the lower that of a sea-bird, having wings attached to their
shoulders, and were endowed with such wonderful voices, that their sweet
songs are said to have lured mariners to destruction.

ARES (Mars).

Ares, the son of Zeus and Hera, was the god of war, who gloried in
strife for its own sake; he loved the tumult and havoc of the
battlefield, and delighted in slaughter and extermination; in fact he
presents no benevolent aspect which could possibly react favourably upon
human life.

Epic poets, in particular, represent the god of battles as a wild
ungovernable warrior, who passes through the armies like a whirlwind,
hurling to the ground the brave and cowardly alike; destroying chariots
and helmets, and triumphing over the terrible desolation which he
produces.

In all the myths concerning Ares, his sister Athene ever appears in
opposition to him, endeavouring by every means in her power to defeat his
bloodthirsty designs. Thus she assists the divine hero Diomedes at the
siege of Troy, to overcome Ares in battle, and so well does he profit by
her timely aid, that he succeeds in wounding the sanguinary war-god, who
makes his exit from the field, roaring like ten thousand bulls.

[113]

Ares appears to have been an object of aversion to all the gods of
Olympus, Aphrodite alone excepted. As the son of Hera, he had inherited
from his mother the strongest feelings of independence and contradiction,
and as he took delight in upsetting that peaceful course of state-life
which it was pre-eminently the care of Zeus to establish, he was
naturally disliked and even hated by him.

When wounded by Diomedes, as above related, he complains to his
father, but receives no sympathy from the otherwise kindly and beneficent
ruler of Olympus, who thus angrily addresses him: “Do not trouble me with
thy complaints, thou who art of all the gods of Olympus most hateful to
me, for thou delightest in nought save war and strife. The very spirit of
thy mother lives in thee, and wert thou not my son, long ago wouldst thou
have lain deeper down in the bowels of the earth than the son of
Uranus.”

Ares, upon one occasion, incurred the anger of Poseidon by slaying his
son Halirrhothios, who had insulted Alcippe, the daughter of the war-god.
For this deed, Poseidon summoned Ares to appear before the tribunal of
the Olympic gods, which was held upon a hill in Athens. Ares was
acquitted, and this event is supposed to have given rise to the name
Areopagus (or Hill of Ares), which afterwards became so famous as a court
of justice. In the Gigantomachia, Ares was defeated by the Aloidæ, the
two giant-sons of Poseidon, who put him in chains, and kept him in prison
for thirteen months.

Ares is represented as a man of youthful appearance; his tall muscular
form combines great strength with wonderful agility. In his right hand he
bears a sword or a mighty lance, while on the left arm he carries his
round shield (see next page). His demoniacal surroundings are Terror and
Fear;^[44] Enyo, the goddess
of the war-cry; Keidomos, the demon of the noise of battles; and Eris
(Contention), his twin-sister and companion, who always [114]precedes his
chariot when he rushes to the fight, the latter being evidently a simile
of the poets to express the fact that war follows contention.

Eris is represented as a woman of florid complexion, with dishevelled
hair, and her whole appearance angry and menacing. In one hand she
brandishes a poniard and a hissing adder, whilst in the other she carries
a burning torch. Her dress is torn and disorderly, and her hair
intertwined with venomous snakes. This divinity was never invoked by
mortals, except when they desired her assistance for the accomplishment
of evil purposes.

MARS.

The Roman divinity most closely resembling the Greek Ares, and
identified with him, was called Mars, Mamers, and Marspiter or Father
Mars.

The earliest Italian tribes, who were mostly engaged in the pursuit of
husbandry, regarded this deity more especially as the god of spring, who
vanquished the powers of winter, and encouraged the peaceful arts of
agriculture. But with the Romans, who were an essentially warlike nation,
Mars gradually loses his peaceful character, and, as god of war, attains,
after Jupiter, the highest position among the Olympic gods. The Romans
looked upon him as their special protector, and declared him to have been
the father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of their city. But although
he was especially [115]worshipped in Rome as god of war, he still
continued to preside over agriculture, and was also the protecting deity
who watched over the welfare of the state.

As the god who strode with warlike step to the battlefield, he was
called Gradivus (from gradus, a step), it being popularly believed
by the Romans that he himself marched before them to battle, and acted as
their invisible protector. As the presiding deity over agriculture, he
was styled Sylvanus, whilst in his character as guardian of the state, he
bore the name of Quirinus.^[45]

The priests of Mars were twelve in number, and were called Salii, or
the dancers, from the fact that sacred dances, in full armour, formed an
important item in their peculiar ceremonial. This religious order, the
members of which were always chosen from the noblest families in Rome,
was first instituted by Numa Pompilius, who intrusted to their special
charge the Anciliæ, or sacred shields. It is said that one morning, when
Numa was imploring the protection of Jupiter for the newly-founded city
of Rome, the god of heaven, as though in answer to his prayer, sent down
an oblong brazen shield, and, as it fell at the feet of the king, a voice
was heard announcing that on its preservation depended the future safety
and prosperity of Rome. In order, therefore, to lessen the chances of
this sacred treasure being abstracted, Numa caused eleven more to be made
exactly like it, which were then given into the care of the Salii.

The assistance and protection of the god of war was always solemnly
invoked before the departure of a Roman army for the field of battle, and
any reverses of fortune were invariably ascribed to his anger, which was
accordingly propitiated by means of extraordinary sin-offerings and
prayers.

In Rome a field, called the Campus Martius, was dedicated to Mars. It
was a large, open space, in which armies were collected and reviewed,
general assemblies of [116]the people held, and the young nobility
trained to martial exercises.

The most celebrated and magnificent of the numerous temples built by
the Romans in honour of this deity was the one erected by Augustus in the
Forum, to commemorate the overthrow of the murderers of Cæsar.

Of all existing statues of Mars the most renowned is that in the Villa
Ludovisi at Rome, in which he is represented as a powerful, muscular man
in the full vigour of youth. The attitude is that of thoughtful repose,
but the short, curly hair, dilated nostrils, and strongly marked features
leave no doubt as to the force and turbulence of his character. At his
feet, the sculptor has placed the little god of love, who looks up all
undaunted at the mighty war-god, as though mischievously conscious that
this unusually quiet mood is attributable to his influence.

Religious festivals in honour of Mars were generally held in the month
of March; but he had also a festival on the Ides of October, when
chariot-races took place, after which, the right-hand horse of the team
which had drawn the victorious chariot, was sacrificed to him. In ancient
times, human sacrifices, more especially prisoners of war, were offered
to him; but, at a later period, this cruel practice was discontinued.

The attributes of this divinity are the helmet, shield, and spear. The
animals consecrated to him were the wolf, horse, vulture, and
woodpecker.

Intimately associated with Mars in his character as god of war, was a
goddess called BELLONA, who was evidently the female divinity of
battle with one or other of the primitive nations of Italy (most probably
the Sabines), and is usually seen accompanying Mars, whose war-chariot
she guides. Bellona appears on the battle-field, inspired with mad rage,
cruelty, and the love of extermination. She is in full armour, her hair
is dishevelled, and she bears a scourge in one hand, and a lance in the
other.

A temple was erected to her on the Campus Martius. Before the entrance
to this edifice stood a pillar, over which a spear was thrown when war
was publicly declared. [117]

NIKE (Victoria).

Nike, the goddess of victory, was the daughter of the Titan Pallas,
and of Styx, the presiding nymph of the river of that name in the lower
world.

In her statues, Nike somewhat resembles Athene, but may easily be
recognized by her large, graceful wings and flowing drapery, which is
negligently fastened on the right shoulder, and only partially conceals
her lovely form. In her left hand, she holds aloft a crown of laurel, and
in the right, a palm-branch. In ancient sculpture, Nike is usually
represented in connection with colossal statues of Zeus or Pallas-Athene,
in which case she is life-sized, and stands on a ball, held in the open
palm of the deity she accompanies. Sometimes she is represented engaged
in inscribing the victory of a conqueror on his shield, her right foot
being slightly raised and placed on a ball.

A celebrated temple was erected to this divinity on the Acropolis at
Athens, which is still to be seen, and is in excellent preservation.

VICTORIA.

Under the name of Victoria, Nike was highly honoured by the Romans,
with whom love of conquest was an all-absorbing characteristic. There
were several sanctuaries in Rome dedicated to her, the principal of which
was on the Capitol, where it was the custom of generals, after success
had attended their arms, to erect statues of the goddess in commemoration
of their victories. The most magnificent of these statues, was that
raised by Augustus after the battle of Actium. A festival was celebrated
in honour of Nike on the 12th of April.

HERMES (Mercury).

Hermes was the swift-footed messenger, and trusted ambassador of all
the gods, and conductor of shades to Hades. He presided over the rearing
and education of [118]the young, and encouraged gymnastic
exercises and athletic pursuits, for which reason, all gymnasiums and
wrestling schools throughout Greece were adorned with his statues. He is
said to have invented the alphabet, and to have taught the art of
interpreting foreign languages, and his versatility, sagacity, and
cunning were so extraordinary, that Zeus invariably chose him as his
attendant, when, disguised as a mortal, he journeyed on earth.

Hermes was worshipped as god of eloquence, most probably from the fact
that, in his office as ambassador, this faculty was indispensable to the
successful issue of the negotiations with which he was intrusted. He was
regarded as the god who granted increase and prosperity to flocks and
herds, and, on this account, was worshipped with special veneration by
herdsmen.

In ancient times, trade was conducted chiefly by means of the exchange
of cattle. Hermes, therefore, as god of herdsmen, came to be regarded as
the protector of merchants, and, as ready wit and adroitness are valuable
qualities both in buying and selling, he was also looked upon as the
patron of artifice and cunning. Indeed, so deeply was this notion rooted
in the minds of the Greek people, that he was popularly believed to be
also god of thieves, and of all persons who live by their wits.

As the patron of commerce, Hermes was naturally supposed to be the
promoter of intercourse among nations; hence, he is essentially the god
of travellers, over whose safety he presided, and he severely punished
those who refused assistance to the lost or weary wayfarer. He was also
guardian of streets and roads, and his statues, called Hermæ (which were
pillars of stone surmounted by a head of Hermes), were placed at
cross-roads, and frequently in streets and public squares.

Being the god of all undertakings in which gain was a feature, he was
worshipped as the giver of wealth and [119]good luck, and any
unexpected stroke of fortune was attributed to his influence. He also
presided over the game of dice, in which he is said to have been
instructed by Apollo.

Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, the eldest and most beautiful of
the seven Pleiades (daughters of Atlas), and was born in a cave of Mount
Cyllene in Arcadia. As a mere babe, he exhibited an extraordinary faculty
for cunning and dissimulation; in fact, he was a thief from his cradle,
for, not many hours after his birth, we find him creeping stealthily out
of the cave in which he was born, in order to steal some oxen belonging
to his brother Apollo, who was at this time feeding the flocks of
Admetus. But he had not proceeded very far on his expedition before he
found a tortoise, which he killed, and, stretching seven strings across
the empty shell, invented a lyre, upon which he at once began to play
with exquisite skill. When he had sufficiently amused himself with the
instrument, he placed it in his cradle, and then resumed his journey to
Pieria, where the cattle of Admetus were grazing. Arriving at sunset at
his destination, he succeeded in separating fifty oxen from his brother’s
herd, which he now drove before him, taking the precaution to cover his
feet with sandals made of twigs of myrtle, in order to escape detection.
But the little rogue was not unobserved, for the theft had been witnessed
by an old shepherd named Battus, who was tending the flocks of Neleus,
king of Pylos (father of Nestor). Hermes, frightened at being discovered,
bribed him with the finest cow in the herd not to betray him, and Battus
promised to keep the secret. But Hermes, astute as he was dishonest,
determined to test the shepherd’s integrity. Feigning to go away, he
assumed the form of Admetus, and then returning to the spot offered the
old man two of his best oxen if he would disclose the author of the
theft. The ruse succeeded, for the avaricious shepherd, unable to resist
the tempting bait, gave the desired information, upon which Hermes,
exerting his divine power, changed him into a lump of touchstone, as a
[120]punishment for his treachery and avarice.
Hermes now killed two of the oxen, which he sacrificed to himself and the
other gods, concealing the remainder in the cave. He then carefully
extinguished the fire, and, after throwing his twig shoes into the river
Alpheus, returned to Cyllene.

Apollo, by means of his all-seeing power, soon discovered who it was
that had robbed him, and hastening to Cyllene, demanded restitution of
his property. On his complaining to Maia of her son’s conduct, she
pointed to the innocent babe then lying, apparently fast asleep, in his
cradle, whereupon, Apollo angrily aroused the pretended sleeper, and
charged him with the theft; but the child stoutly denied all knowledge of
it, and so cleverly did he play his part, that he even inquired in the
most naive manner what sort of animals cows were. Apollo threatened to
throw him into Tartarus if he would not confess the truth, but all to no
purpose. At last, he seized the babe in his arms, and brought him into
the presence of his august father, who was seated in the council chamber
of the gods. Zeus listened to the charge made by Apollo, and then sternly
desired Hermes to say where he had hidden the cattle. The child, who was
still in swaddling-clothes, looked up bravely into his father’s face and
said, “Now, do I look capable of driving away a herd of cattle; I, who
was only born yesterday, and whose feet are much too soft and tender to
tread in rough places? Until this moment, I lay in sweet sleep on my
mother’s bosom, and have never even crossed the threshold of our
dwelling. You know well that I am not guilty; but, if you wish, I will
affirm it by the most solemn oaths.” As the child stood before him,
looking the picture of innocence, Zeus could not refrain from smiling at
his cleverness and cunning, but, being perfectly aware of his guilt, he
commanded him to conduct Apollo to the cave where he had concealed the
herd, and Hermes, seeing that further subterfuge was useless,
unhesitatingly obeyed. But when the divine shepherd was about to drive
his cattle back into Pieria, Hermes, as though by chance, touched the
chords of his [121]lyre. Hitherto Apollo had heard nothing
but the music of his own three-stringed lyre and the syrinx, or Pan’s
pipe, and, as he listened entranced to the delightful strains of this new
instrument, his longing to possess it became so great, that he gladly
offered the oxen in exchange, promising at the same time, to give Hermes
full dominion over flocks and herds, as well as over horses, and all the
wild animals of the woods and forests. The offer was accepted, and, a
reconciliation being thus effected between the brothers, Hermes became
henceforth god of herdsmen, whilst Apollo devoted himself
enthusiastically to the art of music.

They now proceeded together to Olympus, where Apollo introduced Hermes
as his chosen friend and companion, and, having made him swear by the
Styx, that he would never steal his lyre or bow, nor invade his sanctuary
at Delphi, he presented him with the Caduceus, or golden wand. This wand
was surmounted by wings, and on presenting it to Hermes, Apollo informed
him that it possessed the faculty of uniting in love, all beings divided
by hate. Wishing to prove the truth of this assertion, Hermes threw it
down between two snakes which were fighting, whereupon the angry
combatants clasped each other in a loving embrace, and curling round the
staff, remained ever after permanently attached to it. The wand itself
typified power; the serpents, wisdom; and the wings, despatch—all
qualities characteristic of a trustworthy ambassador.

The young god was now presented by his father with a winged silver cap
(Petasus), and also with silver wings for his feet (Talaria), and was
forthwith appointed herald of the gods, and conductor of shades to Hades,
which office had hitherto been filled by Aïdes.

As messenger of the gods, we find him employed on all occasions
requiring special skill, tact, or despatch. Thus he conducts Hera,
Athene, and Aphrodite to Paris, leads Priam to Achilles to demand the
body of Hector, [122]binds Prometheus to Mount Caucasus,
secures Ixion to the eternally revolving wheel, destroys Argus, the
hundred-eyed guardian of Io, &c. &c.

As conductor of shades, Hermes was always invoked by the dying to
grant them a safe and speedy passage across the Styx. He also possessed
the power of bringing back departed spirits to the upper world, and was,
therefore, the mediator between the living and the dead.

The poets relate many amusing stories of the youthful tricks played by
this mischief-loving god upon the other immortals. For instance, he had
the audacity to extract the Medusa’s head from the shield of Athene,
which he playfully attached to the back of Hephæstus; he also stole the
girdle of Aphrodite; deprived Artemis of her arrows, and Ares of his
spear, but these acts were always performed with such graceful dexterity,
combined with such perfect good humour, that even the gods and goddesses
he thus provoked, were fain to pardon him, and he became a universal
favourite with them all.

It is said that Hermes was one day flying over Athens, when, looking
down into the city, he beheld a number of maidens returning in solemn
procession from the temple of Pallas-Athene. Foremost among them was
Herse, the beautiful daughter of king Cecrops, and Hermes was so struck
with her exceeding loveliness that he determined to seek an interview
with her. He accordingly presented himself at the royal palace, and
begged her sister Agraulos to favour his suit; but, being of an
avaricious turn of mind, she refused to do so without the payment of an
enormous sum of money. It did not take the messenger of the gods long to
obtain the means of fulfilling this condition, and he soon returned with
a well-filled purse. But meanwhile Athene, to punish the cupidity of
Agraulos, had caused the demon of envy to take possession of her, and the
consequence was, that, being unable to contemplate the happiness of her
sister, she sat down before the door, and resolutely refused to allow
Hermes to enter. He tried every persuasion and blandishment in his power,
but she still remained obstinate. At last, his patience [123]being
exhausted, he changed her into a mass of black stone, and, the obstacle
to his wishes being removed, he succeeded in persuading Herse to become
his wife.

In his statues, Hermes is represented as a beardless youth, with broad
chest and graceful but muscular limbs; the face is handsome and
intelligent, and a genial smile of kindly benevolence plays round the
delicately chiselled lips.

As messenger of the gods he wears the Petasus and Talaria, and bears
in his hand the Caduceus or herald’s staff.

As god of eloquence, he is often represented with chains of gold
hanging from his lips, whilst, as the patron of merchants, he bears a
purse in his hand.

The wonderful excavations in Olympia, to which allusion has already
been made, have brought to light an exquisite marble group of Hermes and
the infant Bacchus, by Praxiteles. In this great work of art, Hermes is
represented as a young and handsome man, who is looking down kindly and
affectionately at the child resting on his arm, but unfortunately nothing
remains of the infant save the right hand, which is laid lovingly on the
shoulder of his protector.

The sacrifices to Hermes consisted of incense, honey, cakes, pigs, and
especially lambs and young goats. As god of eloquence, the tongues of
animals were sacrificed to him.

MERCURY.

Mercury was the Roman god of commerce and gain. We find mention of a
temple having been erected to him [124]near the Circus Maximus
as early as B.C. 495; and he had also a temple
and a sacred fount near the Porta Capena. Magic powers were ascribed to
the latter, and on the festival of Mercury, which took place on the 25th
of May, it was the custom for merchants to sprinkle themselves and their
merchandise with this holy water, in order to insure large profits from
their wares.

The Fetiales (Roman priests whose duty it was to act as guardians of
the public faith) refused to recognize the identity of Mercury with
Hermes, and ordered him to be represented with a sacred branch as the
emblem of peace, instead of the Caduceus. In later times, however, he was
completely identified with the Greek Hermes.

DIONYSUS (Bacchus).

Dionysus, also called Bacchus (from bacca, berry), was the god
of wine, and the personification of the blessings of Nature in
general.

The worship of this divinity, which is supposed to have been
introduced into Greece from Asia (in all probability from India), first
took root in Thrace, whence it gradually spread into other parts of
Greece.

Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, and was snatched by Zeus from
the devouring flames in which his mother perished, when he appeared to
her in all the splendour of his divine glory. The motherless child was
intrusted to the charge of Hermes, who conveyed him to Semele’s sister,
Ino. But Hera, still implacable in her vengeance, visited Athamas, the
husband of Ino, with madness, [125]and the child’s life being no longer safe,
he was transferred to the fostering care of the nymphs of Mount Nysa. An
aged satyr named Silenus, the son of Pan, took upon himself the office of
guardian and preceptor to the young god, who, in his turn, became much
attached to his kind tutor; hence we see Silenus always figuring as one
of the chief personages in the various expeditions of the wine-god.

Dionysus passed an innocent and uneventful childhood, roaming through
the woods and forests, surrounded by nymphs, satyrs, and shepherds.
During one of these rambles, he found a fruit growing wild, of a most
refreshing and cooling nature. This was the vine, from which he
subsequently learnt to extract a juice which formed a most exhilarating
beverage. After his companions had partaken freely of it, they felt their
whole being pervaded by an unwonted sense of pleasurable excitement, and
gave full vent to their overflowing exuberance, by shouting, singing, and
dancing. Their numbers were soon swelled by a crowd, eager to taste a
beverage productive of such extraordinary results, and anxious to join in
the worship of a divinity to whom they were indebted for this new
enjoyment. Dionysus, on his part, seeing how agreeably his discovery had
affected his immediate followers, resolved to extend the boon to mankind
in general. He saw that wine, used in moderation, would enable man to
enjoy a happier, and more sociable existence, and that, under its
invigorating influence, the sorrowful might, for a while, forget their
grief and the sick their pain. He accordingly gathered round him his
zealous followers, and they set forth on their travels, planting the vine
and teaching its cultivation wherever they went.

We now behold Dionysus at the head of a large army composed of men,
women, fauns, and satyrs, all bearing in their hands the Thyrsus (a staff
entwined with vine-branches surmounted by a fir-cone), and clashing
together cymbals and other musical instruments. Seated in a chariot drawn
by panthers, and accompanied by thousands of enthusiastic followers,
Dionysus made a triumphal [126]progress through Syria, Egypt, Arabia,
India, &c., conquering all before him, founding cities, and
establishing on every side a more civilized and sociable mode of life
among the inhabitants of the various countries through which he
passed.

When Dionysus returned to Greece from his Eastern expedition, he
encountered great opposition from Lycurgus, king of Thrace, and Pentheus,
king of Thebes. The former, highly disapproving of the wild revels which
attended the worship of the wine-god, drove away his attendants, the
nymphs of Nysa, from that sacred mountain, and so effectually intimidated
Dionysus, that he precipitated himself into the sea, where he was
received into the arms of the ocean-nymph, Thetis. But the impious king
bitterly expiated his sacrilegious conduct. He was punished with the loss
of his reason, and, during one of his mad paroxysms, killed his own son
Dryas, whom he mistook for a vine.

Pentheus, king of Thebes, seeing his subjects so completely infatuated
by the riotous worship of this new divinity, and fearing the demoralizing
effects of the unseemly nocturnal orgies held in honour of the wine-god,
strictly prohibited his people from taking any part in the wild
Bacchanalian revels. Anxious to save him from the consequences of his
impiety, Dionysus appeared to him under the form of a youth in the king’s
train, and earnestly warned him to desist from his denunciations. But the
well-meant admonition failed in its purpose, for Pentheus only became
more incensed at this interference, and, commanding Dionysus to be cast
into prison, caused the most cruel preparations to be made for his
immediate execution. But the god soon freed himself from his ignoble
confinement, for scarcely had his jailers departed, ere the prison-doors
opened of themselves, and, bursting asunder his iron chains, he escaped
to rejoin his devoted followers.

Meanwhile, the mother of the king and her sisters, inspired with
Bacchanalian fury, had repaired to Mount Cithæron, in order to join the
worshippers of the [127]wine-god in those dreadful orgies which
were solemnized exclusively by women, and at which no man was allowed to
be present. Enraged at finding his commands thus openly disregarded by
the members of his own family, Pentheus resolved to witness for himself
the excesses of which he had heard such terrible reports, and for this
purpose, concealed himself behind a tree on Mount Cithæron; but his
hiding-place being discovered, he was dragged out by the half-maddened
crew of Bacchantes and, horrible to relate, he was torn in pieces by his
own mother Agave and her two sisters.

An incident which occurred to Dionysus on one of his travels has been
a favourite subject with the classic poets. One day, as some Tyrrhenian
pirates approached the shores of Greece, they beheld Dionysus, in the
form of a beautiful youth, attired in radiant garments. Thinking to
secure a rich prize, they seized him, bound him, and conveyed him on
board their vessel, resolved to carry him with them to Asia and there
sell him as a slave. But the fetters dropped from his limbs, and the
pilot, who was the first to perceive the miracle, called upon his
companions to restore the youth carefully to the spot whence they had
taken him, assuring them that he was a god, and that adverse winds and
storms would, in all probability, result from their impious conduct. But,
refusing to part with their prisoner, they set sail for the open sea.
Suddenly, to the alarm of all on board, the ship stood still, masts and
sails were covered with clustering vines and wreaths of ivy-leaves,
streams of fragrant wine inundated the vessel, and heavenly strains of
music were heard around. The terrified crew, too late repentant, crowded
round the pilot for protection, and entreated him to steer for the shore.
But the hour of retribution had arrived. Dionysus assumed the form of a
lion, whilst beside him appeared a bear, which, with a terrific roar,
rushed upon the captain and tore him in pieces; the sailors, in an agony
of terror, leaped overboard, and were changed into dolphins. The discreet
and pious steersman was alone permitted to escape the fate of his
companions, [128]and to him Dionysus, who had resumed his
true form, addressed words of kind and affectionate encouragement, and
announced his name and dignity. They now set sail, and Dionysus desired
the pilot to land him at the island of Naxos, where he found the lovely
Ariadne, daughter of Minos, king of Crete. She had been abandoned by
Theseus on this lonely spot, and, when Dionysus now beheld her, was lying
fast asleep on a rock, worn out with sorrow and weeping. Wrapt in
admiration, the god stood gazing at the beautiful vision before him, and
when she at length unclosed her eyes, he revealed himself to her, and, in
gentle tones, sought to banish her grief. Grateful for his kind sympathy,
coming as it did at a moment when she had deemed herself forsaken and
friendless, she gradually regained her former serenity, and, yielding to
his entreaties, consented to become his wife.

Dionysus, having established his worship in various parts of the
world, descended to the realm of shades in search of his ill-fated
mother, whom he conducted to Olympus, where, under the name of Thyone,
she was admitted into the assembly of the immortal gods.

Among the most noted worshippers of Dionysus was Midas,^[46] the wealthy king of
Phrygia, the same who, as already related, gave judgment against Apollo.
Upon one occasion Silenus, the preceptor and friend of Dionysus, being in
an intoxicated condition, strayed into the rose-gardens of this monarch,
where he was found by some of the king’s attendants, who bound him with
roses and conducted him to the presence of their royal master. Midas
treated the aged satyr with the greatest consideration, and, after
entertaining him hospitably for ten days, led him back to Dionysus, who
was so grateful for the kind attention shown to his old friend, that he
offered to grant Midas any favour he chose to demand; whereupon the
avaricious monarch, not content with his boundless wealth, and still
thirsting for more, desired that everything he touched might turn to
gold. The request was [129]complied with in so literal a sense, that
the now wretched Midas bitterly repented his folly and cupidity, for,
when the pangs of hunger assailed him, and he essayed to appease his
cravings, the food became gold ere he could swallow it; as he raised the
cup of wine to his parched lips, the sparkling draught was changed into
the metal he had so coveted, and when at length, wearied and faint, he
stretched his aching frame on his hitherto luxurious couch, this also was
transformed into the substance which had now become the curse of his
existence. The despairing king at last implored the god to take back the
fatal gift, and Dionysus, pitying his unhappy plight, desired him to
bathe in the river Pactolus, a small stream in Lydia, in order to lose
the power which had become the bane of his life. Midas joyfully obeying
the injunction, was at once freed from the consequences of his avaricious
demand, and from this time forth the sands of the river Pactolus have
ever contained grains of gold.

Representations of Dionysus are of two kinds. According to the
earliest conceptions, he appears as a grave and dignified man in the
prime of life; his countenance is earnest, thoughtful, and benevolent; he
wears a full beard, and is draped from head to foot in the garb of an
Eastern monarch. But the sculptors of a later period represent him as a
youth of singular beauty, though of somewhat effeminate appearance; the
expression of the countenance is gentle and winning; the limbs are supple
and gracefully moulded; and the hair, which is adorned by a wreath of
vine or ivy leaves, falls over the shoulders in long curls. In one hand
he bears the Thyrsus, and in the other a drinking-cup with two handles,
these being his distinguishing attributes. He is often represented riding
on a panther, or seated in a chariot drawn by lions, tigers, panthers, or
lynxes.

Being the god of wine, which is calculated to promote sociability, he
rarely appears alone, but is usually accompanied by Bacchantes, satyrs,
and mountain-nymphs.

The finest modern representation of Ariadne is that by Danneker, at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine. In this statue she [130]appears riding on a
panther; the beautiful upturned face inclines slightly over the left
shoulder; the features are regular and finely cut, and a wreath of
ivy-leaves encircles the well-shaped head. With her right hand she
gracefully clasps the folds of drapery which fall away negligently from
her rounded form, whilst the other rests lightly and caressingly on the
head of the animal.

Dionysus was regarded as the patron of the drama, and at the state
festival of the Dionysia, which was celebrated with great pomp in the
city of Athens, dramatic entertainments took place in his honour, for
which all the renowned Greek dramatists of antiquity composed their
immortal tragedies and comedies.

He was also a prophetic divinity, and possessed oracles, the principal
of which was that on Mount Rhodope in Thrace.

The tiger, lynx, panther, dolphin, serpent, and ass were sacred to
this god. His favourite plants were the vine, ivy, laurel, and asphodel.
His sacrifices consisted of goats, probably on account of their being
destructive to vineyards.

BACCHUS OR LIBER.

The Romans had a divinity called Liber who presided over vegetation,
and was, on this account, identified with the Greek Dionysus, and
worshipped under the name of Bacchus.

The festival of Liber, called the Liberalia, was celebrated on the
17th of March.

AÏDES (Pluto).

Aïdes, Aïdoneus, or Hades, was the son of Cronus and Rhea, and the
youngest brother of Zeus and Poseidon. He was the ruler of that
subterranean region called Erebus, which was inhabited by the shades or
spirits of the dead, and also by those dethroned and exiled deities who
had been vanquished by Zeus and his allies. Aïdes, the grim and gloomy
monarch of this lower world, was the [131]successor of Erebus,
that ancient primeval divinity after whom these realms were called.

The early Greeks regarded Aïdes in the light of their greatest foe,
and Homer tells us that he was “of all the gods the most detested,” being
in their eyes the grim robber who stole from them their nearest and
dearest, and eventually deprived each of them of their share in
terrestrial existence. His name was so feared that it was never mentioned
by mortals, who, when they invoked him, struck the earth with their
hands, and in sacrificing to him turned away their faces.

The belief of the people with regard to a future state was, in the
Homeric age, a sad and cheerless one. It was supposed that when a mortal
ceased to exist, his spirit tenanted the shadowy outline of the human
form it had quitted. These shadows, or shades as they were called, were
driven by Aïdes into his dominions, where they passed their time, some in
brooding over the vicissitudes of fortune which they had experienced on
earth, others in regretting the lost pleasures they had enjoyed in life,
but all in a condition of semi-consciousness, from which the intellect
could only be roused to full activity by drinking of the blood of the
sacrifices offered to their shades by living friends, which, for a time,
endowed them with their former mental vigour. The only beings supposed to
enjoy any happiness in a future state were the heroes, whose acts of
daring and deeds of prowess had, during their life, reflected honour on
the land of their birth; and even these, according to Homer, pined after
their career of earthly activity. He tells us that when Odysseus visited
the lower world at the command of Circe, and held communion with the
shades of the heroes of the Trojan war, Achilles assured him that he
would rather be the poorest day-labourer on earth than reign supreme over
the realm of shades.

The early Greek poets offer but scanty allusions to Erebus. Homer
appears purposely to envelop these realms in vagueness and mystery, in
order, probably, to heighten the sensation of awe inseparably connected
with [132]the lower world. In the Odyssey he
describes the entrance to Erebus as being beyond the furthermost edge of
Oceanus, in the far west, where dwelt the Cimmerians, enveloped in
eternal mists and darkness.

In later times, however, in consequence of extended intercourse with
foreign nations, new ideas became gradually introduced, and we find
Egyptian theories with regard to a future state taking root in Greece,
which become eventually the religious belief of the whole nation. It is
now that the poets and philosophers, and more especially the teachers of
the Eleusinian Mysteries, begin to inculcate the doctrine of the future
reward and punishment of good and bad deeds. Aïdes, who had hitherto been
regarded as the dread enemy of mankind, who delights in his grim office,
and keeps the shades imprisoned in his dominions after withdrawing them
from the joys of existence, now receives them with hospitality and
friendship, and Hermes replaces him as conductor of shades to Hades.
Under this new aspect Aïdes usurps the functions of a totally different
divinity called Plutus (the god of riches), and is henceforth regarded as
the giver of wealth to mankind, in the shape of those precious metals
which lie concealed in the bowels of the earth.

The later poets mention various entrances to Erebus, which were for
the most part caves and fissures. There was one in the mountain of
Taenarum, another in Thesprotia, and a third, the most celebrated of all,
in Italy, near the pestiferous Lake Avernus, over which it is said no
bird could fly, so noxious were its exhalations.

In the dominions of Aïdes there were four great rivers, three of which
had to be crossed by all the shades. These three were Acheron (sorrow),
Cocytus (lamentation), and Styx (intense darkness), the sacred stream
which flowed nine times round these realms.

The shades were ferried over the Styx by the grim, unshaven old
boatman Charon, who, however, only took those whose bodies had received
funereal rites on earth, and who had brought with them his indispensable
toll, which was a small coin or obolus, usually placed under the [133]tongue of a dead person for this purpose.
If these conditions had not been fulfilled, the unhappy shades were left
behind to wander up and down the banks for a hundred years as restless
spirits.

On the opposite bank of the Styx was the tribunal of Minos, the
supreme judge, before whom all shades had to appear, and who, after
hearing full confession of their actions whilst on earth, pronounced the
sentence of happiness or misery to which their deeds had entitled them.
This tribunal was guarded by the terrible triple-headed dog Cerberus,
who, with his three necks bristling with snakes, lay at full length on
the ground;—a formidable sentinel, who permitted all shades to
enter, but none to return.

The happy spirits, destined to enjoy the delights of Elysium, passed
out on the right, and proceeded to the golden palace where Aïdes and
Persephone held their royal court, from whom they received a kindly
greeting, ere they set out for the Elysian Fields which lay beyond.^[47] This blissful region was
replete with all that could charm the senses or please the imagination;
the air was balmy and fragrant, rippling brooks flowed peacefully through
the smiling meadows, which glowed with the varied hues of a thousand
flowers, whilst the groves resounded with the joyous songs of birds. The
occupations and amusements of the happy shades were of the same nature as
those which they had delighted in whilst on earth. Here the warrior found
his horses, chariots, and arms, the musician his lyre, and the hunter his
quiver and bow.

In a secluded vale of Elysium there flowed a gentle, silent stream,
called Lethe (oblivion), whose waters had the effect of dispelling care,
and producing utter forgetfulness of former events. According to the
Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls, it was supposed that
after the shades had inhabited Elysium for a thousand years they were
destined to animate other bodies on [134]earth, and before
leaving Elysium they drank of the river Lethe, in order that they might
enter upon their new career without any remembrance of the past.

The guilty souls, after leaving the presence of Minos, were conducted
to the great judgment-hall of Hades, whose massive walls of solid adamant
were surrounded by the river Phlegethon, the waves of which rolled flames
of fire, and lit up, with their lurid glare, these awful realms. In the
interior sat the dread judge Rhadamanthus, who declared to each comer the
precise torments which awaited him in Tartarus. The wretched sinners were
then seized by the Furies, who scourged them with their whips, and
dragged them along to the great gate, which closed the opening to
Tartarus, into whose awful depths they were hurled, to suffer endless
torture.

Tartarus was a vast and gloomy expanse, as far below Hades as the
earth is distant from the skies. There the Titans, fallen from their high
estate, dragged out a dreary and monotonous existence; there also were
Otus and Ephialtes, those giant sons of Poseidon, who, with impious
hands, had attempted to scale Olympus and dethrone its mighty ruler.
Principal among the sufferers in this abode of gloom were Tityus,
Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, and the Danaïdes.

TITYUS, one of the earth-born giants, had insulted Hera on her
way to Peitho, for which offence Zeus flung him into Tartarus, where he
suffered dreadful torture, inflicted by two vultures, which perpetually
gnawed his liver.

TANTALUS was a wise and wealthy king of Lydia, with whom the
gods themselves condescended to associate; he was even permitted to sit
at table with Zeus, who delighted in his conversation, and listened with
interest to the wisdom of his observations. Tantalus, however, elated at
these distinguished marks of divine favour, presumed upon his position,
and used unbecoming language to Zeus himself; he also stole nectar and
ambrosia from the table of the gods, with which he regaled his friends;
but his greatest crime consisted in killing his own son, [135]Pelops, and
serving him up at one of the banquets to the gods, in order to test their
omniscience. For these heinous offences he was condemned by Zeus to
eternal punishment in Tartarus, where, tortured with an ever-burning
thirst, he was plunged up to the chin in water, which, as he stooped to
drink, always receded from his parched lips. Tall trees, with spreading
branches laden with delicious fruits, hung temptingly over his head; but
no sooner did he raise himself to grasp them, than a wind arose, and
carried them beyond his reach.

SISYPHUS was a great tyrant who, according to some accounts,
barbarously murdered all travellers who came into his dominions, by
hurling upon them enormous pieces of rock. In punishment for his crimes
he was condemned to roll incessantly a huge block of stone up a steep
hill, which, as soon as it reached the summit, always rolled back again
to the plain below.

IXION was a king of Thessaly to whom Zeus accorded the
privilege of joining the festive banquets of the gods; but, taking
advantage of his exalted position, he presumed to aspire to the favour of
Hera, which so greatly incensed Zeus, that he struck him with his
thunderbolts, and commanded Hermes to throw him into Tartarus, and bind
him to an ever-revolving wheel.

The DANAÏDES were the fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Argos,
who had married their fifty cousins, the sons of Ægyptus. By the command
of their father, who had been warned by an oracle that his son-in-law
would cause his death, they all killed their husbands in one night,
Hypermnestra alone excepted. Their punishment in the lower world was to
fill with water a vessel full of holes,—a never-ending and useless
task.

Aïdes is usually represented as a man of mature years and stern
majestic mien, bearing a striking resemblance to his brother Zeus; but
the gloomy and inexorable expression of the face contrasts forcibly with
that peculiar benignity which so characterizes the countenance of the
mighty ruler of heaven. He is seated on a throne of ebony, with his
queen, the grave and sad Persephone, [136]beside him, and wears a
full beard, and long flowing black hair, which hangs straight down over
his forehead; in his hand he either bears a two-pronged fork or the keys
of the lower world, and at his feet sits Cerberus. He is sometimes seen
in a chariot of gold, drawn by four black horses, and wearing on his head
a helmet made for him by the Cyclops, which rendered the wearer
invisible. This helmet he frequently lent to mortals and immortals.

Aïdes, who was universally worshipped throughout Greece, had temples
erected to his honour in Elis, Olympia, and also at Athens.

His sacrifices, which took place at night, consisted of black sheep,
and the blood, instead of being sprinkled on the altars or received in
vessels, as at other sacrifices, was permitted to run down into a trench,
dug for this purpose. The officiating priests wore black robes, and were
crowned with cypress.

The narcissus, maiden-hair, and cypress were sacred to this
divinity.

PLUTO.

Before the introduction into Rome of the religion and literature of
Greece, the Romans had no belief in a realm of future happiness or
misery, corresponding to the Greek Hades; hence they had no god of the
lower world identical with Aïdes. They supposed that there was, in the
centre of the earth, a vast, gloomy, and impenetrably dark cavity called
Orcus, which formed a place of eternal rest for the dead. But with the
introduction of Greek mythology, the Roman Orcus became the Greek Hades,
and [137]all the Greek notions with regard to a
future state now obtained with the Romans, who worshipped Aïdes under the
name of Pluto, his other appellations being Dis (from dives, rich)
and Orcus from the dominions over which he ruled. In Rome there were no
temples erected to this divinity.

PLUTUS.

Plutus, the son of Demeter and a mortal called Iasion, was the god of
wealth, and is represented as being lame when he makes his appearance,
and winged when he takes his departure. He was supposed to be both blind
and foolish, because he bestows his gifts without discrimination, and
frequently upon the most unworthy objects.

Plutus was believed to have his abode in the bowels of the earth,
which was probably the reason why, in later times, Aïdes became
confounded with this divinity.

MINOR DIVINITIES.

THE HARPIES.

The Harpies, who, like the Furies, were employed by the gods as
instruments for the punishment of the guilty, were three female
divinities, daughters of Thaumas and Electra, called Aello, Ocypete, and
Celæno.

They were represented with the head of a fair-haired maiden and the
body of a vulture, and were perpetually devoured by the pangs of
insatiable hunger, which caused them to torment their victims by robbing
them of their food; this they either devoured with great [138]gluttony, or
defiled in such a manner as to render it unfit to be eaten.

Their wonderfully rapid flight far surpassed that of birds, or even of
the winds themselves. If any mortal suddenly and unaccountably
disappeared, the Harpies were believed to have carried him off. Thus they
were supposed to have borne away the daughters of King Pandareos to act
as servants to the Erinyes.

The Harpies would appear to be personifications of sudden tempests,
which, with ruthless violence, sweep over whole districts, carrying off
or injuring all before them.

ERINYES, EUMENIDES (Furiæ, Diræ).

The Erinyes or Furies were female divinities who personified the
torturing pangs of an evil conscience, and the remorse which inevitably
follows wrong-doing.

Their names were Alecto, Megæra, and Tisiphone, and their origin was
variously accounted for. According to Hesiod, they sprang from the blood
of Uranus, when wounded by Cronus, and were hence supposed to be the
embodiment of all the terrible imprecations, which the defeated deity
called down upon the head of his rebellious son. According to other
accounts they were the daughters of Night.

Their place of abode was the lower world, where they were employed by
Aïdes and Persephone to chastise and torment those shades who, during
their earthly career, had committed crimes, and had not been reconciled
to the gods before descending to Hades.

But their sphere of action was not confined to the realm of shades,
for they appeared upon earth as the avenging deities who relentlessly
pursued and punished murderers, perjurers, those who had failed in duty
to their parents, in hospitality to strangers, or in the respect due to
old age. Nothing escaped the piercing glance of these terrible
divinities, from whom flight was unavailing, for no corner of the earth
was so remote as [139]to be beyond their reach, nor did any
mortal dare to offer to their victims an asylum from their
persecutions.

The Furies are frequently represented with wings; their bodies are
black, blood drips from their eyes, and snakes twine in their hair. In
their hands they bear either a dagger, scourge, torch, or serpent.

When they pursued Orestes they constantly held up a mirror to his
horrified gaze, in which he beheld the face of his murdered mother.

These divinities were also called Eumenides, which signifies the
“well-meaning” or “soothed goddesses;” This appellation was given to them
because they were so feared and dreaded that people dared not call them
by their proper title, and hoped by this means to propitiate their
wrath.

In later times the Furies came to be regarded as salutary agencies,
who, by severely punishing sin, upheld the cause of morality and social
order, and thus contributed to the welfare of mankind. They now lose
their awe-inspiring aspect, and are represented, more especially in
Athens, as earnest maidens, dressed, like Artemis, in short tunics
suitable for the chase, but still retaining, in their hands, the wand of
office in the form of a snake.

Their sacrifices consisted of black sheep and a libation composed of a
mixture of honey and water, called Nephalia. A celebrated temple was
erected to the Eumenides at Athens, near the Areopagus.

MOIRÆ or FATES (Parcæ).

The ancients believed that the duration of human existence and the
destinies of mortals were regulated by three sister-goddesses, called
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who were the daughters of Zeus and
Themis.

The power which they wielded over the fate of man was significantly
indicated under the figure of a thread, which they spun out for the life
of each human being from his birth to the grave. This occupation they
divided between them. Clotho wound the flax round the distaff, [140]ready for
her sister Lachesis, who span out the thread of life, which Atropos, with
her scissors, relentlessly snapt asunder, when the career of an
individual was about to terminate.

Homer speaks of one Moira only, the daughter of Night, who represents
the moral force by which the universe is governed, and to whom both
mortals and immortals were forced to submit, Zeus himself being powerless
to avert her decrees; but in later times this conception of one
inexorable, all-conquering fate became amplified by the poets into that
above described, and the Moiræ are henceforth the special presiding
deities over the life and death of mortals.

The Moiræ are represented by the poets as stern, inexorable female
divinities, aged, hideous, and also lame, which is evidently meant to
indicate the slow and halting march of destiny, which they controlled.
Painters and sculptors, on the other hand, depicted them as beautiful
maidens of a grave but kindly aspect.

There is a charming representation of Lachesis, which depicts her in
all the grace of youth and beauty. She is sitting spinning, and at her
feet lie two masks, one comic, the other tragic, as though to convey the
idea, that, to a divinity of fate, the brightest and saddest scenes of
earthly existence are alike indifferent, and that she quietly and
steadily pursues her occupation, regardless of human weal or woe.

When represented at the feet of Aïdes in the lower world they are clad
in dark robes; but when they appear in Olympus they wear bright garments,
bespangled with stars, and are seated on radiant thrones, with crowns on
their heads.

It was considered the function of the Moiræ to indicate to the Furies
the precise torture which the wicked should undergo for their crimes.

They were regarded as prophetic divinities, and had sanctuaries in
many parts of Greece.

The Moiræ are mentioned as assisting the Charites to conduct
Persephone to the upper world at her periodical [141]reunion with her mother
Demeter. They also appear in company with Eileithyia, goddess of
birth.

NEMESIS.

Nemesis, the daughter of Nyx, represents that power which adjusts the
balance of human affairs, by awarding to each individual the fate which
his actions deserve. She rewards, humble, unacknowledged merit, punishes
crime, deprives the worthless of undeserved good fortune, humiliates the
proud and overbearing, and visits all evil on the wrong-doer; thus
maintaining that proper balance of things, which the Greeks recognized as
a necessary condition of all civilized life. But though Nemesis, in her
original character, was the distributor of rewards as well as
punishments, the world was so full of sin, that she found but little
occupation in her first capacity, and hence became finally regarded as
the avenging goddess only.

We have seen a striking instance of the manner in which this divinity
punishes the proud and arrogant in the history of Niobe. Apollo and
Artemis were merely the instruments for avenging the insult offered to
their mother; but it was Nemesis who prompted the deed, and presided over
its execution.

Homer makes no mention of Nemesis; it is therefore evident that she
was a conception of later times, when higher views of morality had
obtained among the Greek nation.

Nemesis is represented as a beautiful woman of thoughtful and benign
aspect and regal bearing; a diadem crowns her majestic brow, and she
bears in her hand a rudder, balance, and cubit;—fitting emblems of
the manner in which she guides, weighs, and measures all human events.
She is also sometimes seen with a wheel, to symbolize the rapidity with
which she executes justice. As the avenger of evil she appears winged,
bearing in her hand either a scourge or a sword, and seated in a chariot
drawn by griffins. [142]

Nemesis is frequently called Adrastia, and also Rhamnusia, from
Rhamnus in Attica, the chief seat of her worship, which contained a
celebrated statue of the goddess.

Nemesis was worshipped by the Romans, (who invoked her on the
Capitol), as a divinity who possessed the power of averting the
pernicious consequences of envy.

NIGHT AND HER CHILDREN.
DEATH, SLEEP, AND DREAMS.

NYX (Nox).

Nyx, the daughter of Chaos, being the personification of Night, was,
according to the poetic ideas of the Greeks, considered to be the mother
of everything mysterious and inexplicable, such as death, sleep, dreams,
&c. She became united to Erebus, and their children were Aether and
Hemera (Air and Daylight), evidently a simile of the poets, to indicate
that darkness always precedes light.

Nyx inhabited a palace in the dark regions of the lower world, and is
represented as a beautiful woman, seated in a chariot, drawn by two black
horses. She is clothed in dark robes, wears a long veil, and is
accompanied by the stars, which follow in her train.

THANATOS (Mors) AND HYPNUS (Somnus).

Thanatos (Death) and his twin-brother Hypnus (Sleep) were the children
of Nyx.

Their dwelling was in the realm of shades, and when they appear among
mortals, Thanatos is feared and hated as the enemy of mankind, whose hard
heart knows no pity, whilst his brother Hypnus is universally loved and
welcomed as their kindest and most beneficent friend.

But though the ancients regarded Thanatos as a gloomy and mournful
divinity, they did not represent him with any exterior repulsiveness. On
the contrary, he appears as a beautiful youth, who holds in his hand an
inverted [143]torch, emblematical of the light of life
being extinguished, whilst his disengaged arm is thrown lovingly round
the shoulder of his brother Hypnus.

Hypnus is sometimes depicted standing erect with closed eyes; at
others he is in a recumbent position beside his brother Thanatos, and
usually bears a poppy-stalk in his hand.

A most interesting description of the abode of Hypnus is given by Ovid
in his Metamorphoses. He tells us how the god of Sleep dwelt in a
mountain-cave near the realm of the Cimmerians, which the sun never
pierced with his rays. No sound disturbed the stillness, no song of
birds, not a branch moved, and no human voice broke the profound silence
which reigned everywhere. From the lowermost rocks of the cave issued the
river Lethe, and one might almost have supposed that its course was
arrested, were it not for the low, monotonous hum of the water, which
invited slumber. The entrance was partially hidden by numberless white
and red poppies, which Mother Night had gathered and planted there, and
from the juice of which she extracts drowsiness, which she scatters in
liquid drops all over the earth, as soon as the sun-god has sunk to rest.
In the centre of the cave stands a couch of blackest ebony, with a bed of
down, over which is laid a coverlet of sable hue. Here the god himself
reposes, surrounded by innumerable forms. These are idle dreams, more
numerous than the sands of the sea. Chief among them is Morpheus, that
changeful god, who may assume any shape or form he pleases. Nor can the
god of Sleep resist his own power; for though he may rouse himself for a
while, he soon succumbs to the drowsy influences which surround him.

MORPHEUS.

Morpheus, the son of Hypnus, was the god of Dreams.

He is always represented winged, and appears sometimes as a youth,
sometimes as an old man. In his hand he bears a cluster of poppies, and
as he steps with [144]noiseless footsteps over the earth, he
gently scatters the seeds of this sleep-producing plant over the eyes of
weary mortals.

Homer describes the House of Dreams as having two gates: one, whence
issue all deceptive and flattering visions, being formed of ivory; the
other, through which proceed those dreams which are fulfilled, of
horn.

THE GORGONS.

The Gorgons, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, were the three daughters of
Phorcys and Ceto, and were the personification of those benumbing, and,
as it were, petrifying sensations, which result from sudden and extreme
fear.

They were frightful winged monsters, whose bodies were covered with
scales; hissing, wriggling snakes clustered round their heads instead of
hair; their hands were of brass; their teeth resembled the tusks of a
wild boar; and their whole aspect was so appalling, that they are said to
have turned into stone all who beheld them.

These terrible sisters were supposed to dwell in that remote and
mysterious region in the far West, beyond the sacred stream of
Oceanus.

The Gorgons were the servants of Aïdes, who made use of them to
terrify and overawe those shades, doomed to be kept in a constant state
of unrest as a punishment for their misdeeds, whilst the Furies, on their
part, scourged them with their whips and tortured them incessantly.

The most celebrated of the three sisters was Medusa, who alone was
mortal. She was originally a golden-haired and very beautiful maiden,
who, as a priestess of Athene, was devoted to a life of celibacy; but,
being wooed by Poseidon, whom she loved in return, she forgot her vows,
and became united to him in marriage. For this offence she was punished
by the goddess in a most terrible manner. Each wavy lock of the beautiful
hair which had so charmed her husband, was changed into a [145]venomous
snake; her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes now became blood-shot,
furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the beholder;
whilst her former roseate hue and milk-white skin assumed a loathsome
greenish tinge. Seeing herself thus transformed into so repulsive an
object, Medusa fled from her home, never to return. Wandering about,
abhorred, dreaded, and shunned by all the world, she now developed into a
character, worthy of her outward appearance. In her despair she fled to
Africa, where, as she passed restlessly from place to place, infant
snakes dropped from her hair, and thus, according to the belief of the
ancients, that country became the hotbed of these venomous reptiles. With
the curse of Athene upon her, she turned into stone whomsoever she gazed
upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to
her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus.

It is well to observe that when the Gorgons are spoken of in the
singular, it is Medusa who is alluded to.

Medusa was the mother of Pegasus and Chrysaor, father of the
three-headed, winged giant Geryones, who was slain by Heracles.

GRÆÆ.

The Grææ, who acted as servants to their sisters the Gorgons, were
also three in number; their names were Pephredo, Enyo, and Dino.

In their original conception they were merely personifications of
kindly and venerable old age, possessing all its benevolent attributes
without its natural infirmities. They were old and gray from their birth,
and so they ever remained. In later times, however, they came to be
regarded as misshapen females, decrepid, and hideously ugly, having only
one eye, one tooth, and one gray wig between them, which they lent to
each other, when one of them wished to appear before the world.

When Perseus entered upon his expedition to slay the Medusa, he
repaired to the abode of the Grææ, in the far [146]west, to inquire the
way to the Gorgons, and on their refusing to give any information, he
deprived them of their one eye, tooth, and wig, and did not restore them
until he received the necessary directions.

SPHINX.

The Sphinx was an ancient Egyptian divinity, who personified wisdom,
and the fertility of nature. She is represented as a lion-couchant, with
the head and bust of a woman, and wears a peculiar sort of hood, which
completely envelops her head, and falls down on either side of the
face.

Transplanted into Greece, this sublime and mysterious Egyptian deity
degenerates into an insignificant, and yet malignant power, and though
she also deals in mysteries, they are, as we shall see, of a totally
different character, and altogether inimical to human life.

The Sphinx is represented, according to Greek genealogy, as the
offspring of Typhon and Echidna.^[48] Hera, being upon one occasion
displeased with the Thebans, sent them this awful monster, as a
punishment for their offences. Taking her seat on a rocky eminence near
the city of Thebes, commanding a pass which the Thebans were compelled to
traverse in their usual way of business, she propounded to all comers a
riddle, and if they failed to solve it, she tore them in pieces.

During the reign of King Creon, so many people had fallen a sacrifice
to this monster, that he determined to use every effort to rid the
country of so terrible a scourge. On consulting the oracle of Delphi, he
was informed that the only way to destroy the Sphinx was to solve one of
her riddles, when she would immediately precipitate herself from the rock
on which she was seated.

Creon, accordingly, made a public declaration to the effect, that
whoever could give the true interpretation of a riddle propounded by the
monster, should obtain the crown, and the hand of his sister Jocaste.
Œdipus offered [147]himself as a candidate, and proceeding to
the spot where she kept guard, received from her the following riddle for
solution: “What creature goes in the morning on four legs, at noon on
two, and in the evening on three?” Œdipus replied, that it must be
man, who during his infancy creeps on all fours, in his prime walks erect
on two legs, and when old age has enfeebled his powers, calls a staff to
his assistance, and thus has, as it were, three legs.

The Sphinx no sooner heard this reply, which was the correct solution
of her riddle, than she flung herself over the precipice, and perished in
the abyss below.

The Greek Sphinx may be recognized by having wings and by being of
smaller dimensions than the Egyptian Sphinx.

TYCHE (Fortuna) AND ANANKE (Necessitas).

TYCHE (Fortuna).

Tyche personified that peculiar combination of circumstances which we
call luck or fortune, and was considered to be the source of all
unexpected events in human life, whether good or evil. If a person
succeeded in all he undertook without possessing any special merit of his
own, Tyche was supposed to have smiled on his birth. If, on the other
hand, undeserved ill-luck followed him through life, and all his efforts
resulted in failure, it was ascribed to her adverse influence.

This goddess of Fortune is variously represented. Sometimes she is
depicted bearing in her hand two rudders, with one of which she steers
the bark of the fortunate, and with the other that of the unfortunate
among mortals. In later times she appears blindfolded, and stands on a
ball or wheel, indicative of the fickleness and ever-revolving [148]changes of
fortune. She frequently bears the sceptre and cornucopia^[49] or horn of plenty, and is usually
winged. In her temple at Thebes, she is represented holding the infant
Plutus in her arms, to symbolize her power over riches and
prosperity.

Tyche was worshipped in various parts of Greece, but more particularly
by the Athenians, who believed in her special predilection for their
city.

FORTUNA.

Tyche was worshipped in Rome under the name of Fortuna, and held a
position of much greater importance among the Romans than the Greeks.

In later times Fortuna is never represented either winged or standing
on a ball; she merely bears the cornucopia. It is evident, therefore,
that she had come to be regarded as the goddess of good luck only, who
brings blessings to man, and not, as with the Greeks, as the
personification of the fluctuations of fortune.

In addition to Fortuna, the Romans worshipped Felicitas as the giver
of positive good fortune.

ANANKE (Necessitas).

As Ananke, Tyche assumes quite another character, and becomes the
embodiment of those immutable laws of nature, by which certain causes
produce certain inevitable results.

In a statue of this divinity at Athens she was represented with hands
of bronze, and surrounded with nails and hammers. The hands of bronze
probably indicated the irresistible power of the inevitable, and the
hammer and chains the fetters which she forged for man.

Ananke was worshipped in Rome under the name of Necessitas.

[149]

KER.

In addition to the Moiræ, who presided over the life of mortals, there
was another divinity, called Ker, appointed for each human being at the
moment of his birth. The Ker belonging to an individual was believed to
develop with his growth, either for good or evil; and when the ultimate
fate of a mortal was about to be decided, his Ker was weighed in the
balance, and, according to the preponderance of its worth or
worthlessness, life or death was awarded to the human being in question.
It becomes evident, therefore, that according to the belief of the early
Greeks, each individual had it in his power, to a certain extent, to
shorten or prolong his own existence.

The Keres, who are frequently mentioned by Homer, were the goddesses
who delighted in the slaughter of the battle-field.

ATE.

Ate, the daughter of Zeus and Eris, was a divinity who delighted in
evil.

Having instigated Hera to deprive Heracles of his birthright, her
father seized her by the hair of her head, and hurled her from Olympus,
forbidding her, under the most solemn imprecations, ever to return.
Henceforth she wandered among mankind, sowing dissension, working
mischief, and luring men to all actions inimical to their welfare and
happiness. Hence, when a reconciliation took place between friends who
had quarrelled, Ate was blamed as the original cause of disagreement.

MOMUS.

Momus, the son of Nyx, was the god of raillery and ridicule, who
delighted to criticise, with bitter sarcasm, the actions of gods and men,
and contrived to discover in all things some defect or blemish. Thus when
Prometheus created the first man, Momus considered his work incomplete
because there was no aperture in the breast through which his inmost
thoughts might be read. He [150]also found fault with a house built by
Athene because, being unprovided with the means of locomotion, it could
never be removed from an unhealthy locality. Aphrodite alone defied his
criticism, for, to his great chagrin, he could find no fault with her
perfect form.^[50]

In what manner the ancients represented this god is unknown. In modern
art he is depicted like a king’s jester, with a fool’s cap and bells.

EROS (Cupid, Amor) AND PSYCHE.

According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Eros, the divine spirit of Love,
sprang forth from Chaos, while all was still in confusion, and by his
beneficent power reduced to order and harmony the shapeless, conflicting
elements, which, under his influence, began to assume distinct forms.
This ancient Eros is represented as a full-grown and very beautiful
youth, crowned with flowers, and leaning on a shepherd’s crook.

In the course of time, this beautiful conception gradually faded away,
and though occasional mention still continues to be made of the Eros of
Chaos, he is replaced by the son of Aphrodite, the popular,
mischief-loving little god of Love, so familiar to us all.

In one of the myths concerning Eros, Aphrodite is described as
complaining to Themis, that her son, though so beautiful, did not appear
to increase in stature; whereupon Themis suggested that his small
proportions were probably attributable to the fact of his being always
alone, and advised his mother to let him have a companion. Aphrodite
accordingly gave him, as a playfellow, his younger brother Anteros
(requited love), and soon had the gratification of seeing the little Eros
begin to grow and thrive; but, curious to relate, this desirable result
only continued as long as the brothers remained together, for the moment
they were separated, Eros shrank once more to his original size.

[151]

By degrees the conception of Eros became multiplied and we hear of
little love-gods (Amors), who appear under the most charming and
diversified forms. These love-gods, who afforded to artists inexhaustible
subjects for the exercise of their imagination, are represented as being
engaged in various occupations, such as hunting, fishing, rowing, driving
chariots, and even busying themselves in mechanical labour.

Perhaps no myth is more charming and interesting than that of Eros and
Psyche, which is as follows:—Psyche, the youngest of three
princesses, was so transcendently beautiful that Aphrodite herself became
jealous of her, and no mortal dared to aspire to the honour of her hand.
As her sisters, who were by no means equal to her in attractions, were
married, and Psyche still remained unwedded, her father consulted the
oracle of Delphi, and, in obedience to the divine response, caused her to
be dressed as though for the grave, and conducted to the edge of a
yawning precipice. No sooner was she alone than she felt herself lifted
up, and wafted away by the gentle west wind Zephyrus, who transported her
to a verdant meadow, in the midst of which stood a stately palace,
surrounded by groves and fountains.

Here dwelt Eros, the god of Love, in whose arms Zephyrus deposited his
lovely burden. Eros, himself unseen, wooed her in the softest accents of
affection; but warned her, as she valued his love, not to endeavour to
behold his form. For some time Psyche was obedient to the injunction of
her immortal spouse, and made no effort to gratify her natural curiosity;
but, unfortunately, in the midst of her happiness she was seized with an
unconquerable longing for the society of her [152]sisters, and, in
accordance with her desire, they were conducted by Zephyrus to her
fairy-like abode. Filled with envy at the sight of her felicity, they
poisoned her mind against her husband, and telling her that her unseen
lover was a frightful monster, they gave her a sharp dagger, which they
persuaded her to use for the purpose of delivering herself from his
power.

After the departure of her sisters, Psyche resolved to take the first
opportunity of following their malicious counsel. She accordingly rose in
the dead of night, and taking a lamp in one hand and a dagger in the
other, stealthily approached the couch where Eros was reposing, when,
instead of the frightful monster she had expected to see, the beauteous
form of the god of Love greeted her view. Overcome with surprise and
admiration, Psyche stooped down to gaze more closely on his lovely
features, when, from the lamp which she held in her trembling hand, there
fell a drop of burning oil upon the shoulder of the sleeping god, who
instantly awoke, and seeing Psyche standing over him with the instrument
of death in her hand, sorrowfully reproached her for her treacherous
designs, and, spreading out his wings, flew away.

In despair at having lost her lover, the unhappy Psyche endeavoured to
put an end to her existence by throwing herself into the nearest river;
but instead of closing over her, the waters bore her gently to the
opposite bank, where Pan (the god of shepherds) received her, and
consoled her with the hope of becoming eventually reconciled to her
husband.

Meanwhile her wicked sisters, in expectation of meeting with the same
good fortune which had befallen Psyche, placed themselves on the edge of
the rock, but were both precipitated into the chasm below.

Psyche herself, filled with a restless yearning for her lost love,
wandered all over the world in search of him. At length she appealed to
Aphrodite to take compassion on her; but the goddess of Beauty, still
jealous of her charms, imposed upon her the hardest tasks, the
accomplishment of which often appeared impossible. In these [153]she was always
assisted by invisible, beneficent beings, sent to her by Eros, who still
loved her, and continued to watch over her welfare.

Psyche had to undergo a long and severe penance before she became
worthy to regain the happiness, which she had so foolishly trifled away.
At last Aphrodite commanded her to descend into the under world, and
obtain from Persephone a box containing all the charms of beauty.
Psyche’s courage now failed her, for she concluded that death must of
necessity precede her entrance into the realm of shades. About to abandon
herself to despair, she heard a voice which warned her of every danger to
be avoided on her perilous journey, and instructed her with regard to
certain precautions to be observed. These were as follows:—not to
omit to provide herself with the ferryman’s toll for Charon, and the cake
to pacify Cerberus, also to refrain from taking any part in the banquets
of Aïdes and Persephone, and, above all things, to bring the box of
beauty charms unopened to Aphrodite. In conclusion, the voice assured
her, that compliance with the above conditions would insure for her a
safe return to the realms of light. But, alas, Psyche, who had implicitly
followed all injunctions, could not withstand the temptation of the last
condition; and, hardly had she quitted the lower world, when, unable to
resist the curiosity which devoured her, she raised the lid of the box
with eager expectation. But, instead of the wondrous charms of beauty
which she expected to behold, there issued from the casket a dense black
vapour, which had the effect of throwing her into a death-like sleep, out
of which Eros, who had long hovered round her unseen, at length awoke her
with the point of one of his golden arrows. He gently reproached her with
this second proof of her curiosity and folly, and then, having persuaded
Aphrodite to be reconciled to his beloved, he induced Zeus to admit her
among the immortal gods.

Their reunion was celebrated amidst the rejoicings of all the Olympian
deities. The Graces shed perfume on [154]their path, the Hours
sprinkled roses over the sky, Apollo added the music of his lyre, and the
Muses united their voices in a glad chorus of delight.

This myth would appear to be an allegory, which signifies that the
soul, before it can be reunited to its original divine essence, must be
purified by the chastening sorrows and sufferings of its earthly
career.^[51]

Eros is represented as a lovely boy, with rounded limbs, and a merry,
roguish expression. He has golden wings, and a quiver slung over his
shoulder, which contained his magical and unerring arrows; in one hand he
bears his golden bow, and in the other a torch.

He is also frequently depicted riding on a lion, dolphin, or eagle, or
seated in a chariot drawn by stags or wild boars, undoubtedly
emblematical of the power of love as the subduer of all nature, even of
the wild animals.

In Rome, Eros was worshipped under the name of Amor or Cupid.

HYMEN.

Hymen or Hymenæus, the son of Apollo and the muse Urania, was the god
who presided over marriage and nuptial solemnities, and was hence invoked
at all marriage festivities.

There is a myth concerning this divinity, which tells us that Hymen
was a beautiful youth of very poor parents, who fell in love with a
wealthy maiden, so far above him in rank, that he dared not cherish the
hope of ever becoming united to her. Still he missed no opportunity of
seeing her, and, upon one occasion, disguised himself as [155]a girl, and
joined a troop of maidens, who, in company with his beloved, were
proceeding from Athens to Eleusis, in order to attend a festival of
Demeter. On their way thither they were surprised by pirates, who carried
them off to a desert island, where the ruffians, after drinking deeply,
fell into a heavy sleep. Hymen, seizing the opportunity, slew them all,
and then set sail for Athens, where he found the parents of the maidens
in the greatest distress at their unaccountable disappearance. He
comforted them with the assurance that their children should be restored
to them, provided they would promise to give him in marriage the maiden
he loved. The condition being gladly complied with, he at once returned
to the island, and brought back the maidens in safety to Athens,
whereupon he became united to the object of his love; and their union
proved so remarkably happy, that henceforth the name of Hymen became
synonymous with conjugal felicity.

IRIS (The Rainbow).

Iris, the daughter of Thaumas and Electra, personified the rainbow,
and was the special attendant and messenger of the queen of heaven, whose
commands she executed with singular tact, intelligence, and
swiftness.

Most primitive nations have regarded the rainbow as a bridge of
communication between heaven and earth, and this is doubtless the reason
why Iris, who represented that beautiful phenomenon of nature, should
have been invested by the Greeks with the office of communicating between
gods and men.

Iris is usually represented seated behind the chariot of Hera, ready
to do the bidding of her royal mistress. She appears under the form of a
slender maiden of great beauty, robed in an airy fabric of variegated
hues, resembling mother-of-pearl; her sandals are bright as burnished
silver, she has golden wings, and wherever she appears, a radiance of
light, and a sweet odour, as of delicate spring flowers, pervades the
air. [156]

HEBE (Juventas).

Hebe was the personification of eternal youth under its most
attractive and joyous aspect.

She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and though of such
distinguished rank, is nevertheless represented as cup-bearer to the
gods; a forcible exemplification of the old patriarchal custom, in
accordance with which the daughters of the house, even when of the
highest lineage, personally assisted in serving the guests.

Hebe is represented as a comely, modest maiden, small, of a
beautifully rounded contour, with nut-brown tresses and sparkling eyes.
She is often depicted pouring out nectar from an upraised vessel, or
bearing in her hand a shallow dish, supposed to contain ambrosia, the
ever youth-renewing food of the immortals.

In consequence of an act of awkwardness, which caused her to slip
while serving the gods, Hebe was deprived of her office, which was
henceforth delegated to Ganymedes, son of Tros.

Hebe afterwards became the bride of Heracles, when, after his
apotheosis, he was received among the immortals.

JUVENTAS.

Juventas was the Roman divinity identified with Hebe, whose
attributes, however, were regarded by the Romans as applying more
particularly to the imperishable vigour and immortal glory of the
state.

In Rome, several temples were erected in honour of this goddess. [157]

GANYMEDES.

Ganymedes, the youngest son of Tros, king of Troy, was one day drawing
water from a well on Mount Ida, when he was observed by Zeus, who, struck
with his wonderful beauty, sent his eagle to transport him to Olympus,
where he was endowed with immortality, and appointed cup-bearer to the
gods.

Ganymedes is represented as a youth of exquisite beauty, with short
golden locks, delicately chiselled features, beaming blue eyes, and
pouting lips.

THE MUSES.

Of all the Olympic deities, none occupy a more distinguished position
than the Muses, the nine beautiful daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne.

In their original signification, they presided merely over music,
song, and dance; but with the progress of civilization the arts and
sciences claimed their special presiding divinities, and we see these
graceful creations, in later times, sharing among them various functions,
such as poetry, astronomy, &c.

The Muses were honoured alike by mortals and immortals. In Olympus,
where Apollo acted as their leader, no banquet or festivity was
considered complete without their joy-inspiring presence, and on earth no
social gathering was celebrated without libations being poured out to
them; nor was any task involving intellectual effort ever undertaken,
without earnestly supplicating their assistance. They endowed their
chosen favourites with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding; they
bestowed upon the orator the gift of eloquence, inspired the poet with
his noblest thoughts, and the musician with his sweetest harmonies.

Like so many of the Greek divinities, however, the refined conception
of the Muses is somewhat marred by the acerbity with which they punished
any effort on the part [158]of mortals to rival them in their divine
powers. An instance of this is seen in the case of Thamyris, a Thracian
bard, who presumed to invite them to a trial of skill in music. Having
vanquished him, they not only afflicted him with blindness, but deprived
him also of the power of song.

Another example of the manner in which the gods punished presumption
and vanity is seen in the story of the daughters of King Pierus. Proud of
the perfection to which they had brought their skill in music, they
presumed to challenge the Muses themselves in the art over which they
specially presided. The contest took place on Mount Helicon, and it is
said that when the mortal maidens commenced their song, the sky became
dark and misty, whereas when the Muses raised their heavenly voices, all
nature seemed to rejoice, and Mount Helicon itself moved with exultation.
The Pierides were signally defeated, and were transformed by the Muses
into singing birds, as a punishment for having dared to challenge
comparison with the immortals.

Undeterred by the above example, the Sirens also entered into a
similar contest. The songs of the Muses were loyal and true, whilst those
of the Sirens were the false and deceptive strains with which so many
unfortunate mariners had been lured to their death. The Sirens were
defeated by the Muses, and as a mark of humiliation, were deprived of the
feathers with which their bodies were adorned.

The oldest seat of the worship of the Muses was Pieria in Thrace,
where they were supposed to have first seen the light of day. Pieria is a
district on one of the sloping declivities of Mount Olympus, whence a
number of rivulets, as they flow towards the plains beneath, produce
those sweet, soothing sounds, which may possibly have suggested this spot
as a fitting home for the presiding divinities of song.

They dwelt on the summits of Mounts Helicon, Parnassus, and Pindus,
and loved to haunt the springs and fountains which gushed forth amidst
these rocky [159]heights, all of which were sacred to them
and to poetic inspiration. Aganippe and Hippocrene on Mount Helicon, and
the Castalian spring on Mount Parnassus, were sacred to the Muses. The
latter flowed between two lofty rocks above the city of Delphi, and in
ancient times its waters were introduced into a square stone basin, where
they were retained for the use of the Pythia and the priests of
Apollo.

Calliope.

The libations to these divinities consisted of water, milk, and honey,
but never of wine.

Their names and functions are as follows:—

CALLIOPE, the most honoured of the Muses, presided over heroic
song and epic poetry, and is represented with a pencil in her hand, and a
slate upon her knee.

CLIO, the muse of History, holds in her hand a roll of
parchment, and wears a wreath of laurel.

MELPOMENE, the muse of Tragedy, bears a tragic mask.

THALIA, the muse of Comedy, carries in her right hand a
shepherd’s crook, and has a comic mask beside her.

POLYHYMNIA, the muse of Sacred Hymns, is crowned with a wreath
of laurel. She is always represented in a thoughtful attitude, and
entirely enveloped in rich folds of drapery.

TERPSICHORE, the muse of Dance and Roundelay, is represented in
the act of playing on a seven-stringed lyre.

URANIA, the muse of Astronomy, stands erect, and bears in her
left hand a celestial globe.

EUTERPE, the muse of Harmony, is represented bearing a musical
instrument, usually a flute.

ERATO, the muse of Love and hymeneal songs, wears a wreath of
laurel, and is striking the chords of a lyre. [160]

Erato.

Euterpe.

Terpsichore.

Clio.

With regard to the origin of the Muses, it is said that they were
created by Zeus in answer to a request on the part of the victorious
deities, after the war with the [161]Titans, that some special divinities
should be called into existence, in order to commemorate in song the
glorious deeds of the Olympian gods.

Polyhymnia.

Thalia.

Melpomene.

Urania.

[162]

PEGASUS.

Pegasus was a beautiful winged horse who sprang from the body of
Medusa when she was slain by the hero Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danaë.
Spreading out his wings he immediately flew to the top of Mount Olympus,
where he was received with delight and admiration by all the immortals. A
place in his palace was assigned to him by Zeus, who employed him to
carry his thunder and lightning. Pegasus permitted none but the gods to
mount him, except in the case of Bellerophon, whom, at the command of
Athene, he carried aloft, in order that he might slay the Chimæra with
his arrows.

The later poets represent Pegasus as being at the service of the
Muses, and for this reason he is more celebrated in modern times than in
antiquity. He would appear to represent that poetical inspiration, which
tends to develop man’s higher nature, and causes the mind to soar
heavenwards. The only mention by the ancients of Pegasus in connection
with the Muses, is the story of his having produced with his hoofs, the
famous fountain Hippocrene.

It is said that during their contest with the Pierides, the Muses
played and sang on the summit of Mount Helicon with such extraordinary
power and sweetness, that heaven and earth stood still to listen, whilst
the mountain raised itself in joyous ecstasy towards the abode of the
celestial gods. Poseidon, seeing his special function thus interfered
with, sent Pegasus to check the boldness of the mountain, in daring to
move without his permission. When Pegasus reached the summit, he stamped
the ground with his hoofs, and out gushed the waters of Hippocrene,
afterwards so renowned as the sacred fount, whence the Muses quaffed
their richest draughts of inspiration.

THE HESPERIDES.

The Hesperides, the daughters of Atlas, dwelt in an island in the far
west, whence they derived their name. [163]

They were appointed by Hera to act as guardians to a tree bearing
golden apples, which had been presented to her by Gæa on the occasion of
her marriage with Zeus.

It is said that the Hesperides, being unable to withstand the
temptation of tasting the golden fruit confided to their care, were
deprived of their office, which was henceforth delegated to the terrible
dragon Ladon, who now became the ever-watchful sentinel of these precious
treasures.

The names of the Hesperides were Aegle, Arethusa, and Hesperia.

CHARITES (Gratiæ) GRACES.

All those gentler attributes which beautify and refine human existence
were personified by the Greeks under the form of three lovely sisters,
Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia, the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome (or,
according to later writers, of Dionysus and Aphrodite).

They are represented as beautiful, slender maidens in the full bloom
of youth, with hands and arms lovingly intertwined, and are either
undraped, or wear a fleecy, transparent garment of an ethereal
fabric.

They portray every gentle emotion of the heart, which vents itself in
friendship and benevolence, and were believed to preside over those
qualities which constitute grace, modesty, unconscious beauty,
gentleness, kindliness, innocent joy, purity of mind and body, and
eternal youth.

They not only possessed the most perfect beauty themselves, but also
conferred this gift upon others. All the enjoyments of life were enhanced
by their presence, and were deemed incomplete without them; and wherever
joy or pleasure, grace and gaiety reigned, there they were supposed to be
present.

Temples and altars were everywhere erected in their honour, and people
of all ages and of every rank in life entreated their favour. Incense was
burnt daily upon their altars, and at every banquet they were invoked,
[164]and a libation poured out to them, as they
not only heightened all enjoyment, but also by their refining influence
moderated the exciting effects of wine.

Music, eloquence, poetry, and art, though the direct work of the
Muses, received at the hands of the Graces an additional touch of
refinement and beauty; for which reason they are always regarded as the
friends of the Muses, with whom they lived on Mount Olympus.

Their special function was to act, in conjunction with the Seasons, as
attendants upon Aphrodite, whom they adorned with wreaths of flowers, and
she emerges from their hands like the Queen of Spring, perfumed with the
odour of roses and violets, and all sweet-scented blossoms.

The Graces are frequently seen in attendance on other divinities; thus
they carry music for Apollo, myrtles for Aphrodite, &c., and
frequently accompany the Muses, Eros, or Dionysus.

HORÆ (Seasons).

Closely allied to the Graces were the Horæ, or Seasons, who were also
represented as three beautiful maidens, daughters of Zeus and Themis.
Their names were Eunomia, Dice, and Irene.

It may appear strange that these divinities, presiding over the
seasons, should be but three in number, but this is quite in accordance
with the notions of the ancient Greeks, who only recognized spring,
summer, and autumn as seasons; nature being supposed to be wrapt in death
or slumber, during that cheerless and unproductive portion of the year
which we call winter. In some parts of Greece there were but two Horæ,
Thallo, goddess of the bloom, and Carpo, of the corn and fruit-bearing
season.

The Horæ are always regarded as friendly towards mankind, and totally
devoid of guile or subtlety; they are represented as joyous, but gentle
maidens, crowned with flowers, and holding each other by the hand in a
round dance. When they are depicted separately as personifications of the
different seasons, the Hora [165]representing spring appears laden with
flowers, that of summer bears a sheaf of corn, whilst the personification
of autumn has her hands filled with clusters of grapes and other fruits.
They also appear in company with the Graces in the train of Aphrodite,
and are seen with Apollo and the Muses.

They are inseparably connected with all that is good and beautiful in
nature, and as the regular alternation of the seasons, like all her other
operations, demands the most perfect order and regularity, the Horæ,
being the daughters of Themis, came to be regarded as the representatives
of order, and the just administration of human affairs in civilized
communities. Each of these graceful maidens took upon herself a separate
function: Eunomia presided more especially over state life, Dice guarded
the interests of individuals, whilst Irene, the gayest and brightest of
the three sisters, was the light-hearted companion of Dionysus.

The Horæ were also the deities of the fast-fleeting hours, and thus
presided over the smaller, as well as the larger divisions of time. In
this capacity they assist every morning in yoking the celestial horses to
the glorious chariot of the sun, which they again help to unyoke when he
sinks to rest.

In their original conception they were personifications of the clouds,
and are described as opening and closing the gates of heaven, and causing
fruits and flowers to spring forth, when they pour down upon them their
refreshing and life-giving streams.

THE NYMPHS.

The graceful beings called the Nymphs were the presiding deities of
the woods, grottoes, streams, meadows, &c.

These divinities were supposed to be beautiful maidens of fairy-like
form, and robed in more or less shadowy garments. They were held in the
greatest veneration, though, being minor divinities, they had no temples
[166]dedicated to them, but were worshipped in
caves or grottoes, with libations of milk, honey, oil, &c.

They may be divided into three distinct classes, viz., water,
mountain, and tree or wood nymphs.

WATER NYMPHS.

OCEANIDES, NEREIDES, AND NAIADES.

The worship of water-deities is common to most primitive nations. The
streams, springs, and fountains of a country bear the same relation to it
which the blood, coursing through the numberless arteries of a human
being, bears to the body; both represent the living, moving,
life-awakening element, without which existence would be impossible.
Hence we find among most nations a deep feeling of attachment to the
streams and waters of their native land, the remembrance of which, when
absent in foreign climes, is always treasured with peculiar fondness.
Thus among the early Greeks, each tribe came to regard the rivers and
springs of its individual state as beneficent powers, which brought
blessing and prosperity to the country. It is probable also that the
charm which ever accompanies the sound of running water exercised its
power over their imagination. They heard with delight the gentle whisper
of the fountain, lulling the senses with its low, rippling tones; the
soft purling of the brook as it rushes over the pebbles, or the mighty
voice of the waterfall as it dashes on in its headlong course; and the
beings which they pictured to themselves as presiding over all these
charming sights and sounds of nature, corresponded, in their graceful
appearance, with the scenes with which they were associated.

OCEANIDES.

The Oceanides, or Ocean Nymphs, were the
daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, and, like most sea divinities, were
endowed with the gift of prophecy.

They are personifications of those delicate vapour-like [167]exhalations,
which, in warm climates, are emitted from the surface of the sea, more
especially at sunset, and are impelled forwards by the evening breeze.
They are accordingly represented as misty, shadowy beings, with graceful
swaying forms, and robed in pale blue, gauze-like fabrics.

THE NEREIDES.

The Nereides were the daughters of Nereus and
Doris, and were nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea.

They are similar in appearance to the Oceanides, but their beauty is
of a less shadowy order, and is more like that of mortals. They wear a
flowing, pale green robe; their liquid eyes resemble, in their clear
depths, the lucid waters of the sea they inhabit; their hair floats
carelessly over their shoulders, and assumes the greenish tint of the
water itself, which, far from deteriorating from their beauty, greatly
adds to its effect. The Nereides either accompany the chariot of the
mighty ruler of the sea, or follow in his train.

We are told by the poets that the lonely mariner watches the Nereides
with silent awe and wondering delight, as they rise from their
grotto-palaces in the deep, and dance, in joyful groups, over the
sleeping waves. Some, with arms entwined, follow with their movements the
melodies which seem to hover over the sea, whilst others scatter liquid
gems around, these being emblematical of the phosphorescent light, so
frequently observed at night by the traveller in southern waters.

The best known of the Nereides were Thetis, the wife of Peleus,
Amphitrite, the spouse of Poseidon, and Galatea, the beloved of Acis.

THE NAIADES.

The Naiades were the nymphs of fresh-water
springs, lakes, brooks, rivers, &c.

As the trees, plants, and flowers owed their nourishment to their
genial, fostering care, these divinities were [168]regarded by the Greeks
as special benefactors to mankind. Like all the nymphs, they possessed
the gift of prophecy, for which reason many of the springs and fountains
over which they presided were believed to inspire mortals who drank of
their waters with the power of foretelling future events. The Naiades are
intimately connected in idea with those flowers which are called after
them Nymphæ, or water-lilies, whose broad, green leaves and yellow cups
float upon the surface of the water, as though proudly conscious of their
own grace and beauty.

We often hear of the Naiades forming alliances with mortals, and also
of their being wooed by the sylvan deities of the woods and dales.

DRYADES, OR TREE NYMPHS.

The tree nymphs partook of the distinguishing characteristics of the
particular tree to whose life they were wedded, and were known
collectively by the name of the Dryades.

The Hamadryades, or oak nymphs, represent in
their peculiar individuality the quiet, self-reliant power which appears
to belong essentially to the grand and lordly king of the forest.

The Birch Nymph is a melancholy maiden with
floating hair, resembling the branches of the pale and fragile-looking
tree which she inhabits.

The Beech Nymph is strong and sturdy, full of
life and joyousness, and appears to give promise of faithful love and
undisturbed repose, whilst her rosy cheeks, deep brown eyes, and graceful
form bespeak health, vigour, and vitality.

The nymph of the Linden Tree is represented as
a little coy maiden, whose short silver-gray dress reaches a little below
the knee, and displays to advantage her delicately formed limbs. The
sweet face, which is partly averted, reveals a pair of large blue eyes,
which appear to look at you with wondering surprise and shy mistrust;
[169]her pale, golden hair is bound by the
faintest streak of rose-coloured ribbon.

The tree nymph, being wedded to the life of the tree she inhabited,
ceased to exist when it was either felled, or so injured as to wither
away and die.

NYMPHS OF THE VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINS.

NAPÆÆ AND OREADES.

The Napææ were the kind and gentle nymphs of the valleys and glens who
appear in the train of Artemis. They are represented as lovely maidens
with short tunics, which, reaching only to the knee, do not impede their
swift and graceful movements in the exercise of the chase. Their pale
brown tresses are fastened in a knot at the back of the head, whence a
few stray curls escape over their shoulders. The Napææ are shy as the
fawns, and quite as frolicsome.

The Oreades, or mountain nymphs, who are the
principal and constant companions of Artemis, are tall, graceful maidens,
attired as huntresses. They are ardent followers of the chase, and spare
neither the gentle deer nor the timid hare, nor indeed any animal they
meet with in their rapid course. Wherever their wild hunt goes the shy
Napææ are represented as hiding behind the leaves, whilst their
favourites, the fawns, kneel tremblingly beside them, looking up
beseechingly for protection from the wild huntresses; and even the bold
Satyrs dart away at their approach, and seek safety in flight.

There is a myth connected with one of these mountain nymphs, the
unfortunate Echo. She became enamoured of a beautiful youth named
Narcissus, son of the river-god Cephissus, who, however, failed to return
her love, which so grieved her that she gradually pined away, becoming a
mere shadow of her former self, till, at length, nothing remained of her
except her voice, which henceforth gave back, with unerring fidelity,
every sound that was uttered in the hills and dales. Narcissus himself
[170]also met with an unhappy fate, for
Aphrodite punished him by causing him to fall in love with his own image,
which he beheld in a neighbouring fountain, whereupon, consumed with
unrequited love, he wasted away, and was changed into the flower which
bears his name.

The Limoniades, or meadow nymphs, resemble the
Naiades, and are usually represented dancing hand in hand in a
circle.

The Hyades, who in appearance are somewhat
similar to the Oceanides, are cloudy divinities, and, from the fact of
their being invariably accompanied by rain, are represented as
incessantly weeping.

The Meliades were the nymphs who presided over
fruit-trees.

Before concluding this subject, attention should be drawn to the fact
that, in more modern times, this beautiful idea of animating all nature
in detail reappears under the various local traditions extant in
different countries. Thus do the Oceanides and Nereides live again in the
mermaids, whose existence is still believed in by mariners, whilst the
flower and meadow nymphs assume the shape of those tiny elves and
fairies, who were formerly believed to hold their midnight revels in
every wood and on every common; indeed, even at the present day, the
Irish peasantry, especially in the west, firmly believe in the existence
of the fairies, or “good people,” as they are called.

THE WINDS.

According to the oldest accounts, Æolus was a king of the Æolian
Islands, to whom Zeus gave the command of the winds, which he kept shut
up in a deep cave, and which he freed at his pleasure, or at the command
of the gods.

In later times the above belief underwent a change, and the winds came
to be regarded as distinct divinities, whose aspect accorded with the
respective winds with which they were identified. They were depicted as
[171]winged youths in full vigour in the act of
flying through the air.

The principal winds were: Boreas (the north wind), Eurus (the east
wind), Zephyrus (the west wind), and Notus (the south wind), who were
said to be the children of Eos and Astræus.

There are no myths of interest connected with these divinities.
Zephyrus was united to Chloris (Flora), the goddess of flowers. Of Boreas
it is related that while flying over the river Ilissus, he beheld on the
banks Oreithyia, the charming daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens,
whom he carried off to his native Thrace, and there made her his bride.
Boreas and Oreithyia were the parents of Zetes and Calais, afterwards
famous in the expedition of the Argonauts.

There was an altar erected at Athens in honour of Boreas, in
commemoration of his having destroyed the Persian fleet sent to attack
the Greeks.

On the Acropolis at Athens there was a celebrated octagonal temple,
built by Pericles, which was dedicated to the winds, and on its sides
were their various representations. The ruins of this temple are still to
be seen.

PAN (Faunus).

Pan was the god of fertility, and the special patron of shepherds and
huntsmen; he presided over all rural occupations, was chief of the
Satyrs, and head of all rural divinities.

According to the common belief, he was the son of Hermes and a wood
nymph, and came into the world with horns sprouting from his forehead, a
goat’s beard and a crooked nose, pointed ears, and the tail and feet of a
goat, and presented altogether so repulsive [172]an appearance that, at
the sight of him, his mother fled in dismay.

Hermes, however, took up his curious little offspring, wrapt him in a
hare skin, and carried him in his arms to Olympus. The grotesque form and
merry antics of the little stranger made him a great favourite with all
the immortals, especially Dionysus; and they bestowed upon him the name
of Pan (all), because he had delighted them all.

His favourite haunts were grottoes, and his delight was to wander in
uncontrolled freedom over rocks and mountains, following his various
pursuits, ever cheerful, and usually very noisy. He was a great lover of
music, singing, dancing, and all pursuits which enhance the pleasures of
life; and hence, in spite of his repulsive appearance, we see him
surrounded with nymphs of the forests and dales, who love to dance round
him to the cheerful music of his pipe, the syrinx. The myth concerning
the origin of Pan’s pipe is as follows:—Pan became enamoured of a
beautiful nymph, called Syrinx, who, appalled at his terrible appearance,
fled from the pertinacious attentions of her unwelcome suitor. He pursued
her to the banks of the river Ladon, when, seeing his near approach, and
feeling escape impossible, she called on the gods for assistance, who, in
answer to her prayer, transformed her into a reed, just as Pan was about
to seize her. Whilst the love-sick Pan was sighing and lamenting his
unfortunate fate, the winds gently swayed the reeds, and produced a
murmuring sound as of one complaining. Charmed with the soothing tones,
he endeavoured to reproduce them himself, and after cutting seven of the
reeds of unequal length, he joined them together, and succeeded in
producing the pipe, which he called the syrinx, in memory of his lost
love.

Pan was regarded by shepherds as their most valiant protector, who
defended their flocks from the attacks of wolves. The shepherds of these
early times, having no penfolds, were in the habit of gathering together
their flocks in mountain caves, to protect them against the [173]inclemency of
the weather, and also to secure them at night against the attacks of wild
animals; these caves, therefore, which were very numerous in the mountain
districts of Arcadia, Bœotia, &c., were all consecrated to
Pan.

As it is customary in all tropical climates to repose during the heat
of the day, Pan is represented as greatly enjoying his afternoon sleep in
the cool shelter of a tree or cave, and also as being highly displeased
at any sound which disturbed his slumbers, for which reason the shepherds
were always particularly careful to keep unbroken silence during these
hours, whilst they themselves indulged in a quiet siesta.

Pan was equally beloved by huntsmen, being himself a great lover of
the woods, which afforded to his cheerful and active disposition full
scope, and in which he loved to range at will. He was regarded as the
patron of the chase, and the rural sportsmen, returning from an
unsuccessful day’s sport, beat, in token of their displeasure, the wooden
image of Pan, which always occupied a prominent place in their
dwellings.

All sudden and unaccountable sounds which startle travellers in lonely
spots, were attributed to Pan, who possessed a frightful and most
discordant voice; hence the term panic terror, to indicate sudden
fear. The Athenians ascribed their victory at Marathon to the alarm which
he created among the Persians by his terrible voice.

Pan was gifted with the power of prophecy, which he is said to have
imparted to Apollo, and he possessed a well-known and very ancient oracle
in Arcadia, in which state he was more especially worshipped.

The artists of later times have somewhat toned down the original very
unattractive conception of Pan, as above described, and merely represent
him as a young man, hardened by the exposure to all weathers which a
rural life involves, and bearing in his hand the shepherd’s crook and
syrinx—these being his usual attributes—whilst small horns
project from his forehead. He is either undraped, or wears merely the
light cloak called the chlamys.

The usual offerings to Pan were milk and honey in [174]shepherds’
bowls. Cows, lambs, and rams were also sacrificed to him.

After the introduction of Pan into the worship of Dionysus, we hear of
a number of little Pans (Panisci), who are sometimes confounded with the
Satyrs.

FAUNUS.

The Romans had an old Italian divinity called Faunus, who, as the god
of shepherds, was identified with the Greek Pan, and represented in a
similar manner.

Faunus is frequently called Inuus or the fertilizer, and Lupercus or
the one who wards off wolves. Like Pan, he possessed the gift of
prophecy, and was the presiding spirit of the woods and fields; he also
shared with his Greek prototype the faculty of alarming travellers in
solitary places. Bad dreams and evil apparitions were attributed to
Faunus, and he was believed to enter houses stealthily at night for this
purpose.

Fauna was the wife of Faunus, and participated in his functions.

THE SATYRS.

The Satyrs were a race of woodland spirits, who evidently personified
the free, wild, and untrammelled life of the forest. Their appearance was
both grotesque and repulsive; they had flat broad noses, pointed ears,
and little horns sprouting from their foreheads, a rough shaggy skin, and
small goat’s tails. They led a life of pleasure and self-indulgence,
followed the chase, revelled in every description of wild music and
dancing, were terrible wine-bibbers, and addicted to the deep slumbers
which follow heavy potations. They were no less dreaded by mortals than
by the gentle woodland nymphs, who always avoided their coarse rough
sports.

The Satyrs were conspicuous figures in the train of Dionysus, and, as
we have seen, Silenus their chief was tutor to the wine god. The older
Satyrs were called Silens, and are represented in antique sculpture, as
more nearly approaching the human form.

[175]

In addition to the ordinary Satyrs, artists delighted in depicting
little Satyrs, young imps, frolicking about the woods in a marvellous
variety of droll attitudes. These little fellows greatly resemble their
friends and companions, the Panisci.

In rural districts it was customary for the shepherds and peasants who
attended the festivals of Dionysus, to dress themselves in the skins of
goats and other animals, and, under this disguise, they permitted
themselves all kinds of playful tricks and excesses, to which
circumstance the conception of the Satyrs is by some authorities
attributed.

In Rome the old Italian wood-divinities, the FAUNS, who had goats’
feet and all other characteristics of the Satyrs greatly exaggerated,
were identified with them.

PRIAPUS.

Priapus, the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, was regarded as the god of
fruitfulness, the protector of flocks, sheep, goats, bees, the fruit of
the vine, and all garden produce.

His statues, which were set up in gardens and vineyards, acted not
only as objects of worship, but also as scarecrows, the appearance of
this god being especially repulsive and unsightly. These statues were
formed of wood or stone, and from the hips downwards were merely rude
columns. They represent him as having a red and very ugly face; he bears
in his hand a pruning knife, and his head is crowned with a wreath of
vine and laurel. He usually carries fruit in his garments or a cornucopia
in his hand, always, however, retaining his singularly revolting aspect.
It is said that Hera, wishing [176]to punish Aphrodite, sent her this
misshapen and unsightly son, and that when he was born, his mother was so
horrified at the sight of him, that she ordered him to be exposed on the
mountains, where he was found by some shepherds, who, taking pity on him,
saved his life.

This divinity was chiefly worshipped at Lampsacus, his birthplace.
Asses were sacrificed to him, and he received the first-fruits of the
fields and gardens, with a libation of milk and honey.

The worship of Priapus was introduced into Rome at the same time as
that of Aphrodite, and was identified with a native Italian divinity
named Mutunus.

ASCLEPIAS (Æsculapius).

Asclepias, the god of the healing art, was the son of Apollo and the
nymph Coronis. He was educated by the noble Centaur Chiron, who
instructed him in all knowledge, but more especially in that of the
properties of herbs. Asclepias searched out the hidden powers of plants,
and discovered cures for the various diseases which afflict the human
body. He brought his art to such perfection, that he not only succeeded
in warding off death, but also restored the dead to life. It was
popularly believed that he was materially assisted in his wonderful cures
by the blood of the Medusa, given to him by Pallas-Athene.

It is well to observe that the shrines of this divinity, which were
usually built in healthy places, on hills outside the town, or near wells
which were believed to have healing powers, offered at the same time
means of cure for the sick and suffering, thus combining religious with
sanitary influences. It was the custom for the sufferer to sleep in the
temple, when, if he had been earnest in his devotions, Asclepias appeared
to him in a dream, and revealed the means to be employed for the cure of
his malady. On the walls of these temples were hung tablets, inscribed by
the different pilgrims with the particulars of their maladies, the
remedies practised, and the cures [177]worked by the
god:—a custom undoubtedly productive of most beneficial
results.

Groves, temples, and altars were dedicated to Asclepias in many parts
of Greece, but Epidaurus, the chief seat of his worship,—where,
indeed, it is said to have originated,—contained his principal
temple, which served at the same time as a hospital.

The statue of Asclepias in the temple at Epidaurus was formed of ivory
and gold, and represented him as an old man with a full beard, leaning on
a staff round which a serpent is climbing. The serpent was the
distinguishing symbol of this divinity, partly because these reptiles
were greatly used by the ancients in the cure of diseases, and partly
also because all the prudence and wisdom of the serpent were deemed
indispensable to the judicious physician.

His usual attributes are a staff, a bowl, a bunch of herbs, a
pineapple, a dog, and a serpent.

His children inherited, for the most part, the distinguished talents
of their father. Two of his sons, Machaon and Podalirius, accompanied
Agamemnon to the Trojan war, in which expedition they became renowned,
not only as military heroes, but also as skilful physicians.

Their sisters, HYGEIA (health), and PANACEA
(all-healing), had temples dedicated to them, and received divine
honours. The function of Hygeia was to maintain the health of the
community, which great blessing was supposed to be brought by her as a
direct and beneficent gift from the gods.

ÆSCULAPIUS.

The worship of Æsculapius was introduced into Rome from Epidaurus,
whence the statue of the god of healing [178]was brought at the time
of a great pestilence. Grateful for their deliverance from this plague,
the Romans erected a temple in his honour, on an island near the mouth of
the Tiber.

ROMAN DIVINITIES.

JANUS.

From the earliest ages Janus was regarded by the Romans with the
utmost affection and veneration, as a divinity who ranked only second to
Jupiter himself, and through whom all prayers and petitions were
transmitted to the other gods.

He was believed to preside over the beginnings of all things, hence it
was he who inaugurated the years, months, and seasons, and in course of
time came to be considered as specially protecting the beginnings of all
human enterprises. The great importance which the Romans attached to an
auspicious commencement, as contributing to the ultimate success of an
enterprise, accounts for the high estimation in which Janus was held as
the god of beginnings.

This divinity would appear to have been the ancient sun-god of the
Italian tribes, in which capacity he opens and closes the gates of heaven
every morning and evening. Hence he was regarded as the door-keeper of
heaven, and also as the presiding deity over all gates, entrances,
&c., on earth.

The fact of his being the god of city gates, which were called Jani
after him, is ascribed, however, to the following myth:—After the
abduction of their women by the Romans, the Sabines, in revenge, invaded
the Roman state, and were already about to enter the gates of the city,
when suddenly a hot sulphur spring, which was believed to have been sent
by Janus for their special preservation, gushed forth from the earth, and
arrested the progress of the enemy.

[179]

In his character as guardian of gates and doors, he was also regarded
as a protecting deity of the home, for which reason little shrines were
erected to him over the doors of houses, which contained an image of the
god, having two faces.

Janus possessed no temples in the ordinary acceptation of the word,
but all the gates of cities were dedicated to him. Close to the Forum of
Rome stood the so-called temple of Janus, which, however, was merely an
arched passage, closed by massive gates. This temple was open only in
time of war, as it was supposed that the god had then taken his departure
with the Roman army, over whose welfare he personally presided. It is
worthy of notice, as an evidence of the many wars in which the Romans
were engaged, that the gates of this sanctuary were only closed three
times during 700 years.

As the god who ushers in the new year, the first month was called
after him, and on the 1st of January his most important festival was
celebrated, on which occasion all entrances of public and private
buildings were decorated with laurel branches and garlands of
flowers.

His sacrifices, consisting of cakes, wine, and barley, were offered to
him at the beginning of every month; and before sacrificing to the other
gods his name was always invoked, and a libation poured out to him.

Janus is usually represented with two faces; in his special function
as door-keeper of heaven he stands erect, bearing a key in one hand, and
a rod or sceptre in the other.

It is supposed that Janus was the most ancient king of Italy, who,
during his life, governed his subjects with such wisdom and moderation
that, in gratitude for the benefits conferred upon them, his people
deified him after death and placed him in the foremost rank among their
divinities. We have already seen in the history of Cronus that Saturn,
who was identified with the Greek Cronus (god of time), was the friend
and colleague of Janus. Anxious to prove his gratitude to his benefactor,
Cronus endowed him with the knowledge of past and future [180]events, which
enabled him to adopt the wisest measures for the welfare of his subjects,
and it is on this account that Janus is represented with two faces
looking in opposite directions, the one to the past, the other to the
future.

FLORA.

Flora was the goddess of flowers, and was regarded as a beneficent
power, who watched over and protected the early blossoms.

She was held in the highest estimation by the Romans, and a festival,
called the Floralia, was celebrated in her honour from the 28th of April
to the 1st of May. This festival was a season of universal merriment, in
which flowers were used profusely in adorning houses, streets, &c.,
and were worn by young girls in their hair.

Flora, who typified the season of Spring, is generally represented as
a lovely maiden, garlanded with flowers.

ROBIGUS.

In opposition to Flora we find an antagonistic divinity, called
Robigus, a worker of evil, who delighted in the destruction of the tender
herbs by mildew, and whose wrath could only be averted by prayers and
sacrifices, when he was invoked under the title of Averuncus, or the
Avertor.

The festival of Robigus (the Robigalia) was celebrated on the 25th of
April.

POMONA.

Pomona was the goddess of orchards and fruit-trees, who, according to
Ovid, cares not for woods or streams, but loves her gardens and the
boughs that bear the thriving fruit.

Pomona, who typifies Autumn, is represented as a lovely maiden, laden
with branches of fruit-trees.

[181]

VERTUMNUS.

Vertumnus was the god of garden and field produce. He personifies the
change of seasons, and that process of transformation in nature by means
of which the leaf-buds become developed into blossoms, and the blossoms
into fruit.

The change of seasons is symbolized in a myth which represents
Vertumnus as metamorphosing himself into a variety of different forms in
order to gain the affection of Pomona, who so loved her vocation that she
abjured all thoughts of marriage. He first appears to her as a ploughman,
typifying Spring; then as a reaper, to represent Summer; afterwards as a
vine-gatherer, to indicate Autumn; and finally as a gray-haired old
woman, symbolical of the snows of Winter; but it was not until he assumed
his true form, that of a beautiful youth, that he succeeded in his
suit.

Vertumnus is generally represented crowned with wheat-sheaves, and
bearing in his hand a cornucopia.

PALES.

Pales, a very ancient Italian divinity, is represented sometimes as a
male, sometimes as a female power.

As a male divinity he is more particularly the god of shepherds and
flocks.

As a female deity, Pales presides over husbandry and the fruitfulness
of herds. Her festivals, the Palilia, were celebrated on the 21st of
April, the day on which the city of Rome was founded. During this
festival it was customary for shepherds to ignite a mass of straw,
through which they rushed with their flocks, believing that this ordeal
would purify them from sin.

The name Palatine, which originally signified a pastoral colony, is
derived from this divinity. Her offerings were cakes and milk.

[182]

PICUS.

Picus, the son of Saturn and father of Faunus, was a woodland
divinity, gifted with prophetic powers.

An ancient myth relates that Picus was a beautiful youth, united to a
nymph called Canens. The sorceress Circe, infatuated by his beauty,
endeavoured to secure his love, but he rejected her advances, and she, in
revenge, changed him into a woodpecker, under which form he still
retained his powers of prophecy.

Picus is represented as a youth, with a woodpecker perched upon his
head, which bird became henceforth regarded as possessed of the power of
prophecy.

PICUMNUS AND PILUMNUS.

Picumnus and Pilumnus were two household divinities of the Romans, who
were the special presiding deities of new-born infants.

SILVANUS.

Silvanus was a woodland divinity, who, like Faunus, greatly resembled
the Greek Pan. He was the presiding deity of plantations and forests, and
specially protected the boundaries of fields.

Silvanus is represented as a hale old man, carrying a cypress-tree,
for, according to Roman mythology, the transformation of the youth
Cyparissus into the tree which bears his name was attributed to him.

His sacrifices consisted of milk, meat, wine, grapes, wheat-ears, and
pigs.

TERMINUS.

Terminus was the god who presided over all boundaries and
landmarks.

He was originally represented by a simple block of stone, which in
later times became surmounted by a [183]head of this divinity.
Numa Pompilius, the great benefactor of his people, anxious to inculcate
respect for the rights of property, specially enjoined the erection of
these blocks of stone, as a durable monument to mark the line dividing
one property from another. He also caused altars to be raised to
Terminus, and instituted his festival (the Terminalia), which was
celebrated on the 23rd of February.

Upon one occasion, when Tarquin wished to remove the altars of several
deities, in order to build a new temple, it is said that Terminus and
Juventas alone objected to being displaced. This obstinate refusal on
their part was interpreted as a good omen, signifying that the city of
Rome would never lose her boundaries, and would remain ever young and
vigorous.

CONSUS.

Consus was the god of secret counsel.

The Romans believed that when an idea developed itself spontaneously
within the mind of an individual, it was Consus who had prompted the
suggestion. This applied, however, more particularly to plans which
resulted satisfactorily.

An altar was erected to this divinity on the Circus Maximus, which was
kept always covered, except during his festival, the Consualia, which was
celebrated on the 18th of August.

LIBITINA.

Libitina was the goddess who presided over funerals. This divinity was
identified with Venus, possibly because the ancients considered that the
power of love extended even to the realms of death.

Her temple in Rome, which was erected by Servius Tullius, contained
all the requisites for funerals, and these could either be bought or
hired there. A register of all deaths which occurred in the city of Rome
was kept in [184]this temple, and in order to ascertain the
rate of mortality, a piece of money was paid by command of Servius
Tullius, on the demise of each person.

LAVERNA.

Laverna was the presiding goddess of thieves, and of all artifice and
fraud. There was an altar erected to her near the Porta Lavernalis, which
was called after her, and she possessed a sacred grove on the Via
Salavia.

COMUS.

Comus was the presiding genius of banquets, festive scenes, revelry,
and all joyous pleasures and reckless gaiety.

He is represented as a young man crowned with flowers, his face heated
and flushed with wine, leaning against a post in a half-sleepy and
drunken attitude, with a torch falling from his hand.

THE CAMENÆ.

The Camenæ were prophetic nymphs held in high veneration by the
ancient Italians. They were four in number, the best known of whom are
Carmenta and Egeria.

Carmenta was celebrated as being the mother of Evander, who led an
Arcadian colony into Italy, and founded a town on the river Tiber, which
became afterwards incorporated with the city of Rome. Evander is said to
have been the first who introduced Greek art and civilization into Italy,
and also the worship of Greek divinities.

A temple was erected to Carmenta on the Capitoline Hill, and a
festival, called the Carmentalia, was celebrated in her honour on the
11th of January.

Egeria is said to have initiated Numa Pompilius in the forms of
religious worship, which he introduced among his people. She was regarded
as the giver of [185]life, and was therefore invoked by women
before the birth of their children.

The Camenæ are frequently identified by Roman writers with the
Muses.

GENII.

A comforting and assuring belief existed among the Romans, that each
individual was accompanied through life, from the hour of his birth to
that of his death, by a protecting spirit, called his genius, who
prompted him to good and noble deeds, and acted towards him as a guardian
angel, comforting him in sorrow, and guiding him throughout his earthly
career.

In the course of time a second genius was believed to exist, of an
evil nature, who, as the instigator of all wrong-doing, was ever at war
with the beneficent genius; and on the issue of the conflict between
these antagonistic influences, depended the fate of the individual. The
genii were depicted as winged beings, greatly resembling our modern
representations of guardian angels.

Every state, town, or city, (as well as every man), possessed its
special genius. The sacrifices to the genii consisted of wine, cakes, and
incense, which were offered to them on birthdays.

The genius which guided a woman was called, after the queen of heaven,
Juno.

Among the Greeks, beings called Dæmons were regarded as exercising
similar functions to those of the Roman genii. They were believed to be
the spirits of the righteous race which existed in the Golden Age, who
watched over mankind, carrying their prayers to the gods, and the gifts
of the gods to them.

MANES.

LEMURES (LARVÆ) AND LARES.

The Manes were the spirits of the departed, and were of two kinds,
viz., Lemures (or Larvæ) and Lares. [186]

The Lemures were those Manes who haunted their former abodes on earth
as evil spirits, appearing at night under awful forms and hideous shapes,
greatly to the alarm of their friends and relatives. They were so feared
that a festival, called the Lemuralia, was celebrated in order to
propitiate them.

It appears extremely probable that the superstitions with regard to
ghosts, haunted houses, &c., which exist even at the present day, owe
their origin to this very ancient pagan source.

The Lares Familiares were a much more pleasing conception. They were
the spirits of the ancestors of each family, who exercised after death a
protecting power over the well-being and prosperity of the family to
which they had in life belonged. The place of honour beside the hearth
was occupied by the statue of the Lar of the house, who was supposed to
have been the founder of the family. This statue was the object of
profound veneration, and was honoured on all occasions by every member of
the family; a portion of each meal was laid before it, and it was
believed to take an active part in all family affairs and domestic
events, whether of a sad or joyful nature. Before starting on any
expedition the master of the house saluted the statue of the Lar, and, on
his return, a solemn thanksgiving was offered to this, the presiding
deity of his hearth and home, in grateful acknowledgment of his
protection; whereupon the statue was crowned with garlands of flowers,
these being the favourite offerings to the Lares on all occasions of
especial family rejoicing.

The first act of a bride on entering her new abode was to do homage to
the Lar, in the belief that he would exercise over her a protecting
influence and shield her from evil.

In addition to those above enumerated there were also public Lares,
who were guardians of the state, highroads, country, and sea. Their
temples were always open for any pious worshipper to enter, and on their
altars public sacrifices were offered for the welfare of the state or
city. [187]

PENATES.

The Penates were deities selected by each family, and frequently by
its individual members, as a special protector. Various causes led to
this selection. If, for instance, a child were born on the festival of
Vesta, it was thought that that deity would henceforward act as its
special guardian. If a youth possessed great business talents he adopted
Mercury as his tutelary deity; should he, on the other hand, develop a
passion for music, Apollo was selected as his patron god, and so forth.
These became regarded as the special divinities of the household, small
images of them adorned the surroundings of the hearth, and honours
similar to those paid to the Lares were accorded to them.

Just as there were public Lares so there were public Penates, which
were worshipped by the Roman people under the form of two youthful
warriors, who, in later times, were regarded as identical with Castor and
Pollux. They are generally represented on horseback, with conical caps on
their heads, and bearing long spears in their hands.

[188]

PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS
AND ROMANS.

TEMPLES.

In very remote times the Greeks had no shrines or sanctuaries devoted
to public worship, but performed their devotions beneath the vast and
boundless canopy of heaven, in the great temple of nature itself.
Believing that their divinities throned above the clouds, pious
worshippers naturally sought the highest available points, in order to
place themselves in the closest communion possible with their gods; hence
the summits of high mountains were selected for devotional purposes, and
the more exalted the rank and importance of the divinity invoked, the
more elevated was the site selected for his or her worship. But the
inconvenience attending this mode of worship gradually suggested the idea
of erecting edifices which would afford means of shelter from the
inclemency of the weather.

These structures were, in the first instance, of the most simple form,
and without decoration; but when, with the progress of civilization, the
Greeks became a [189]wealthy and powerful people, temples were
built and adorned with the greatest splendour and magnificence, talent,
labour, and wealth being lavished unsparingly on their erection and
decoration; indeed so massively were they constructed, that some of them
have, to a certain extent, withstood the ravages of time. The city of
Athens especially contains numerous remains of these buildings of
antiquity. On the Acropolis we may still behold, among other monuments of
ancient art, the temple of Athene-Polias, and that of Theseus, the latter
of which is the most entire ancient edifice in the world. In the island
of Delos, also, are to be seen the ruins of the temples of Apollo and
Artemis, both of which are in a wonderful state of preservation. These
ruins are most valuable, being sufficiently complete to enable us to
study, by their aid, the plan and character of the original
structure.

Among the Lacedæmonians, however, we find no vestiges of these stately
temples, for they were specially enjoined by a law of Lycurgus to serve
the gods with as little outlay as possible. When the great lawgiver was
asked the reason of this injunction, he replied that the Lacedæmonians,
being a poor nation, might otherwise abstain altogether from the
observance of their religious duties, and wisely added that magnificent
edifices and costly sacrifices were not so pleasing to the gods, as the
true piety and unfeigned devotion of their worshippers.

The most ancient temples known to us served a double purpose: they
were not only consecrated to the service of the gods, but were at the
same time venerable monuments in honour of the dead. Thus, for instance,
the temple of Pallas-Athene, in the tower of the city of Larissa, served
as the sepulchre of Acrisius, and the Acropolis at Athens received the
ashes of Cecrops, founder of the city.

A temple was frequently dedicated to two or more gods, and was always
built after the manner considered most acceptable to the particular
divinities to whom it was consecrated; for just as trees, birds, and
animals of [190]every description were held to be sacred
to certain deities, so almost every god had a form of building peculiar
to himself, which was deemed more acceptable to him than any other. Thus
the Doric style of architecture was sacred to Zeus, Ares, and Heracles;
the Ionic to Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus; and the Corinthian to
Hestia.

In the porch of the temple stood a vessel of stone or brass,
containing holy water (which had been consecrated by putting into it a
burning torch, taken from the altar), with which all those admitted to
take part in the sacrifices were besprinkled. In the inmost recess of the
sanctuary was the most holy place, into which none but the priests were
suffered to enter.

Temples in the country were usually surrounded with groves of trees.
The solitude of these shady retreats naturally tended to inspire the
worshipper with awe and reverence, added to which the delightful shade
and coolness afforded by tall leafy trees is peculiarly grateful in hot
countries. Indeed so general did this custom of building temples in
groves become, that all places devoted to sacred purposes, even where no
trees existed, were called groves. That this practice must be of very
remote antiquity is proved by the Biblical injunction, having for its
object the separation of the Jews from all idolatrous practices: “Thou
shalt not plant thee a grove of trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy
God.”

STATUES.

The Greeks worshipped their gods without any visible representations
of them until the time of Cecrops. The most ancient of these
representations consisted of square blocks of stone, upon which the name
of the deity intended to be represented was engraved. The first attempts
at sculpture were rude stocks, with a head at one end and a shapeless
trunk at the other, tapering slightly down to the feet, which, however,
were not divided, the limbs being in no way defined. But the artists of
later times devoted all their genius to the [191]successful production
of the highest ideals of their gods, some of which are preserved to this
day, and are regarded as examples of purest art.

On a pedestal in the centre of the edifice stood the statue of the
divinity to whom the temple was dedicated, surrounded by images of other
gods, all of which were fenced off by rails.

ALTARS.

The altar in a Greek temple, which stood in the centre of the building
and in front of the statue of the presiding deity, was generally of a
circular form, and constructed of stone. It was customary to engrave upon
it the name or distinguishing symbol of the divinity to whom it was
dedicated; and it was held so sacred that if any malefactor fled to it
his life was safe from his pursuers, and it was considered one of the
greatest acts of sacrilege to force him from this asylum.

The most ancient altars were adorned with horns, which in former times
were emblems of power and dignity, as wealth, and consequently
importance, consisted among most primitive nations in flocks and
herds.

In addition to those erected in places of public worship, altars were
frequently raised in groves, on highways, or in the market-places of
cities.

The gods of the lower world had no altars whatever, ditches or
trenches being dug for the reception of the blood of the sacrifices
offered to them.

PRIESTS.

In ancient times the priests were recognized as a special social
caste, and were distinguished not only by their sacerdotal vestments, but
also by their piety, wisdom, and blameless life. They were the chosen
mediators between gods and men, and offered prayers and sacrifices in the
name of the people, whom they also instructed as to what vows, gifts, and
offerings would be most acceptable to the gods.

[192]

Every deity had a different order of priests consecrated to his
worship, and in every place a high-priest was appointed, whose duty it
was to superintend the rest of his order, and also to carry out the more
sacred rites and religious observances.

Priests and priestesses were permitted to marry, but not a second
time; some, however, voluntarily adopted a life of celibacy.

SACRIFICES.

There is no doubt that a feeling of gratitude to the gods for their
protecting care, and the abundance with which they were believed to bless
mankind, has induced men of all nations and in all countries to feel a
desire to sacrifice to their divinities some portion of the gifts so
generously lavished upon them.

Among the Greeks, sacrifices were of various kinds. They consisted of
free-will offerings, propitiatory offerings, &c.

Free-will offerings were grateful acknowledgments for benefits
received, and usually consisted of the first-fruits of the field, or the
finest of the flocks and herds, which were required to be without spot or
blemish.

Propitiatory offerings were brought with the object of
appeasing the anger of the gods.

In addition to those above enumerated, sacrifices were made, either
with a view of obtaining success in an enterprise about to be undertaken,
or in fulfilment of a vow, or at the command of an oracle.

Every sacrifice was accompanied by salt and also by a libation, which
usually consisted of wine, the cup being always filled to the brim,
indicating that the offering was made without stint. When sacrificing to
the infernal gods the cup containing the libation was filled with
blood.

The animals offered to the Olympian divinities were white, whilst
those to the gods of the lower world were black. When a man offered a
special sacrifice for himself or his family it partook of the nature of
his [193]occupation; thus a shepherd brought a
sheep, a vine-grower his grapes, and so forth. But in the case of public
sacrifices, the supposed individuality of the deity was always consulted.
For instance, to Demeter a sow was offered, because that animal is apt to
root up the seed-corn; to Dionysus a goat, on account of its being
destructive to vineyards, &c.

The value of offerings depended greatly upon the position of the
individual; it being regarded as a contempt of the gods for a rich man to
bring a sordid offering, whilst from a poor man the smallest oblation was
considered acceptable.

Hecatombs consisted of a hundred animals, and were offered by entire
communities, or by wealthy individuals who either desired, or had
obtained some special favour from the gods.

When a sacrifice was to be offered, a fire was kindled on the altar,
into which wine and frankincense were poured, in order to increase the
flame. In very ancient times, the victim was laid upon the altar and
burned whole; but after the time of Prometheus portions only of the
shoulders, thighs, entrails, &c., were sacrificed, the remainder
becoming the perquisites of the priests.

The officiating priests wore a crown composed of the leaves of the
tree sacred to the deity they invoked. Thus when sacrificing to Apollo
the crowns were of laurel; when to Heracles, of poplar. This practice of
wearing crowns was, at a later period, adopted by the general public at
banquets and other festivities.

On occasions of special solemnity the horns of the victim were
overlaid with gold, and the altars decked with flowers and sacred
herbs.

The mode of conducting the sacrifices was as follows:—All things
being prepared, a salt cake, the sacrificial knife, and the crowns, were
placed in a small basket, and carried to the sanctuary by a young maiden,
whereupon the victim was conducted into the temple, frequently to the
accompaniment of music. If a small animal, it was driven loose to the
altar; if a large one, it was led by a [194]long trailing rope, in
order to indicate that it was not an unwilling sacrifice.

When all were assembled, the priest, after walking in solemn state
round the altar, besprinkled it with a mixture of meal and holy water,
after which he also besprinkled the assembled worshippers, and exhorted
them to join with him in prayer. The service being ended, the priest
first tasted the libation, and after causing the congregation to do the
like, poured the remainder between the horns of the victim, after which
frankincense was strewn upon the altar, and a portion of the meal and
water poured upon the animal, which was then killed. If by any chance the
victim escaped the stroke, or became in any way restless, it was regarded
as an evil omen; if, on the contrary, it expired without a struggle, it
was considered auspicious.

At the sacrifices to the aërial divinities music was added, whilst
dances were performed round the altar, and sacred hymns sung. These hymns
were generally composed in honour of the gods, and contained an account
of their famous actions, their clemency and beneficence, and the gifts
conferred by them on mankind. In conclusion, the gods were invoked for a
continuance of their favour, and when the service was ended a feast was
held.

ORACLES.

The desire to penetrate the dark veil of futurity, and thereby to
avert, if possible, threatened danger, has animated mankind in all ages
of the world. Prophetic knowledge was sought by the Greeks at the mouth
of oracles, whose predictions were interpreted to the people by priests,
specially appointed for the purpose.

The most famous of these institutions was the oracle of Apollo at
Delphi, which was held in general repute all over the world. People
flocked from far and near to consult this wonderful mouth-piece of the
gods, one month in the year being specially set apart for the
purpose.

[195]

The priestess who delivered the oracles was called the Pythia, after
the serpent Python, which was killed by Apollo. Having first bathed in
the waters of the Castalian spring, she was conducted into the temple by
the priests, and was seated on a sort of three-legged stool or table,
called a tripod, which was placed over the mouth of a cave whence issued
sulphurous vapours. Here she gradually became affected in a remarkable
manner, and fell into an ecstatic condition, in which she uttered wild
and extraordinary phrases, which were held to be the utterance of Apollo
himself; these the priests interpreted to the people, but in most cases
in so ambiguous a manner that the fulfilment of the prediction could not
easily be disputed. During the ceremony, clouds of incense filled the
temple, and hid the priestess from the view of the uninitiated, and at
its conclusion she was reconducted, in a fainting condition, to her
cell.

The following is a striking instance of the ambiguity of oracular
predictions:—Crœsus, the rich king of Lydia, before going to
war with Cyrus, king of Persia, consulted an oracle as to the probable
success of the expedition. The reply he received was, that if he crossed
a certain river he would destroy a great empire. Interpreting the
response as being favourable to his design, Crœsus crossed the
river, and encountered the Persian king, by whom he was entirely
defeated; and his own empire being destroyed, the prediction of the
oracle was said to have been fulfilled.

SOOTHSAYERS (Augurs).

In addition to the manifestation of the will of the gods by means of
oracles, the Greeks also believed that certain men, called soothsayers,
were gifted with the power of foretelling future events from dreams, from
observing the flight of birds, the entrails of sacrificed animals, and
even the direction of the flames and smoke from the altar, &c. [196]

AUGURS.

The Roman soothsayers were called augurs, and played an important part
in the history of the Romans, as no enterprise was ever undertaken
without first consulting them with regard to its ultimate success.

FESTIVALS.

Festivals were instituted as seasons of rest, rejoicing, and
thanksgiving, and also as anniversaries to commemorate events of national
importance. The most ancient festivals were those held after the
ingathering of the harvest or vintage, and were celebrated with
rejoicings and merry-makings, which lasted many days, during which time
the first-fruits of the fields were offered to the gods, accompanied by
prayers and thanksgiving.

The festivals held in cities in honour of special divinities, or in
commemoration of particular events, were conducted with an elaborate
ceremonial. Gorgeous processions, games, chariot races, &c., were
conspicuous features on these occasions, and dramatic performances,
representing particular episodes in the lives of the gods and heroes,
frequently took place.

We subjoin a few of the most interesting of the Greek and Roman
festivals.

GREEK FESTIVALS.

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES.

One of the most ancient and important among the festivals observed by
the Greeks was that of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which was celebrated in
honour of Demeter and Persephone. The name was derived from Eleusis, a
town in Attica, where the Mysteries were first introduced by the goddess
herself. They were divided into the [197]Greater and Lesser
Mysteries, and, according to the general account, were held every five
years. The Greater, which were celebrated in honour of Demeter, and
lasted nine days, were held in autumn; the Lesser, dedicated to
Persephone (who at these festivals was affectionately called Cora, or the
maiden), were held in spring.

It is supposed that the secrets taught to the initiated by the
priests—the expounders of the Mysteries—were moral meanings,
elucidated from the myths concerning Demeter and Persephone; but the most
important belief inculcated was the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul. That the lessons taught were of the highest moral character is
universally admitted. “The souls of those who participated in them were
filled with the sweetest hopes both as to this and the future world;” and
it was a common saying among the Athenians: “In the Mysteries no one is
sad.”

The initiation into these solemn rites (which was originally the
exclusive privilege of the Athenians) was accompanied with awe-inspiring
ceremonies; and secrecy was so strictly enjoined that its violation was
punished by death. At the conclusion of the initiation great rejoicings
took place, chariot-races, wrestling matches, &c., were held, and
solemn sacrifices offered.

The initiation into the Lesser Mysteries served as a preparation for
the Greater.

THESMOPHORIA.

The Thesmophoria was another festival held in honour of Demeter, in
her character as presiding over marriage and social institutions
resulting from the spread of agriculture.

This festival was celebrated exclusively by women.

DIONYSIA.

A joyous spring festival was held in honour of Dionysus, in the month
of March, and lasted several days.

[198]

This festival, which was called the Greater Dionysia, was celebrated
with particular splendour at Athens, when strangers flocked from all
parts of the world to take part in the ceremonies. The city was gaily
decorated, the houses were garlanded with ivy-leaves, crowds perambulated
the streets, everything wore its holiday garb, and wine was freely
indulged in.

In the processions which took place during these festivities, the
statue of Dionysus was carried, and men and women, crowned with ivy and
bearing the thyrsus, were dressed in every description of grotesque
costume, and played on drums, pipes, flutes, cymbals, &c. Some
representing Silenus rode on asses, others wearing fawn-skins appeared as
Pan or the Satyrs, and the whole multitude sang pæans in honour of the
wine-god. Public shows, games, and sports took place, and the entire city
was full of revelry.

What lent additional interest to these festivals was the custom of
introducing new comedies and tragedies to the public, representations of
which were given, and prizes awarded to those which elicited the greatest
admiration.

The Lesser Dionysia were vintage festivals, celebrated in rural
districts in the month of November, and were characterized by drinking,
feasting, and joviality of all kinds.

In connection with some of the festivals in honour of Dionysus were
certain mystic observances, into which only women, called Menades or
Bacchantes, were initiated. Clad in fawn-skins, they assembled by night
on the mountain sides, [199]some carrying blazing torches, others
thyrsi, and all animated with religious enthusiasm and frenzy. They
shouted, clapped their hands, danced wildly, and worked themselves up to
such a pitch of excitement and fury that in their mad frenzy they tore in
pieces the animal brought as a sacrifice to Dionysus.

Under the name of Bacchanalia, these mystic rites were introduced into
Rome, where men also were allowed to participate in them; but they were
attended with such frightful excesses that the state authorities at
length interfered and prohibited them.

PANATHENÆA.

The Panathenæa was a famous festival celebrated in Athens in honour of
Athene-Polias, the guardian of the state. There were two festivals of
this name, the Lesser and the Greater Panathenæa. The former was held
annually, and the latter, which lasted several days, was celebrated every
fourth year.

For the Greater Panathenæa a garment, embroidered with gold, called
the Peplus, was specially woven by Athenian maidens, on which was
represented the victory gained by Athene over the Giants. This garment
was suspended to the mast of a ship which stood outside the city; and
during the festival, which was characterized by a grand procession, the
ship (with the Peplus on its mast) was impelled forward by means of
invisible machinery, and formed the most conspicuous feature of the
pageant. The whole population, bearing olive branches in their hands,
took part in the procession; and amidst music and rejoicings this
imposing pageant wended its way to the temple of Athene-Polias, where the
Peplus was deposited on the statue of the goddess.

At this festival, Homer’s poems were declaimed aloud, and poets also
introduced their own works to the public. Musical contests, foot and
horse races, and wrestling matches were held, and dances were performed
by boys in armour.

[200]

Men who had deserved well of their country were presented at the
festival with a crown of gold, and the name of the person so
distinguished was announced publicly by a herald.

The victors in the races and athletic games received, as a prize, a
vase of oil, supposed to have been extracted from the fruit of the sacred
olive-tree of Athene.

DAPHNEPHORIA.

The Daphnephoria was celebrated at Thebes in honour of Apollo every
ninth year.

The distinguishing feature of this festival was a procession to the
temple of Apollo, in which a young priest (the Daphnephorus) of noble
descent, splendidly attired and wearing a crown of gold, was preceded by
a youth, carrying an emblematical representation of the sun, moon, stars,
and days of the year, and followed by beautiful maidens bearing laurel
branches, and singing hymns in honour of the god.

ROMAN FESTIVALS.

SATURNALIA.

The Saturnalia, a national festival held in December in honour of
Saturn, was celebrated after the ingathering of the harvest, and lasted
several days.

It was a time of universal rejoicing, cessation from labour, and
merry-making. School children had holidays, friends sent presents to each
other, the law-courts were closed, and no business was transacted.

Crowds of people from the surrounding country flocked to Rome for this
festival attired in every variety of masquerade dress; practical jokes
were given and received with the utmost good humour, shouts of exultation
filled [201]the air, all classes abandoned themselves
to enjoyment, and unrestrained hilarity reigned supreme. Social
distinctions were for a time suspended, or even reversed; and so heartily
was the spirit of this festival entered into, that masters waited upon
their slaves at banquets which they provided for them; the slaves being
dressed upon these occasions in the garments of their masters.

There appears little doubt that the modern Carnival is a survival of
the ancient Saturnalia.

CEREALIA.

This festival was celebrated in honour of Ceres. It was solemnized
exclusively by women, who, dressed in white garments, wandered about with
torches in their hands, to represent the search of the goddess for her
daughter Proserpine.

During this festival, games were celebrated in the Circus Maximus, to
which none were admitted unless clothed in white.

VESTALIA.

The Vestalia was a festival held in honour of Vesta on the 9th of
June, and was celebrated exclusively by women, who walked barefooted in
procession to the temple of the goddess.

The priestesses of Vesta, called Vestales or Vestal Virgins, played a
conspicuous part in these festivals. They were six in number, and were
chosen—between the ages of six and ten—from the noblest
families in Rome. Their term of office was thirty years. During the first
ten years, they were initiated in their religious duties, during the
second ten they performed them, and during the third they instructed
novices. Their chief duty was to watch and feed the ever-burning flame on
the altar of Vesta, the extinction of which was regarded as a national
calamity of ominous import.

[202]

Great honours and privileges were accorded to them; the best seats
were reserved for their use at all public spectacles, and even the
consuls and prætors made way for them to pass. If they met a criminal on
his way to execution they had the power to pardon him, provided it could
be proved that the meeting was accidental.

The Vestales were vowed to chastity, a violation of which was visited
by the frightful punishment of being buried alive.

[203]

PART II.—LEGENDS.

CADMUS.

The following is the legendary account of the founding of
Thebes:—

After the abduction of his daughter Europa by Zeus, Agenor, king of
Phœnicia, unable to reconcile himself to her loss, despatched his
son Cadmus in search of her, desiring him not to return without his
sister.

For many years Cadmus pursued his search through various countries,
but without success. Not daring to return home without her, he consulted
the oracle of Apollo at Delphi; and the reply was that he must desist
from his task, and take upon himself a new duty, i.e. that of
founding a city, the site of which would be indicated to him by a heifer
which had never borne the yoke, and which would lie down on the spot
whereon the city was to be built.

Scarcely had Cadmus left the sacred fane, when he observed a heifer
who bore no marks of servitude on her neck, walking slowly in front of
him. He followed the animal for a considerable distance, until at length,
on the site where Thebes afterwards stood, she looked towards heaven and,
gently lowing, lay down in the long grass. Grateful for this mark of
divine favour, Cadmus resolved to offer up the animal as a sacrifice, and
accordingly sent his followers to fetch water for the libation from a
neighbouring spring. This spring, which was sacred to Ares, was situated
in a wood, and guarded by a fierce dragon, who, at the approach of the
retainers of Cadmus, suddenly pounced upon them and killed them.

After waiting some time for the return of his servants [204]Cadmus grew
impatient, and hastily arming himself with his lance and spear, set out
to seek them. On reaching the spot, the mangled remains of his
unfortunate followers met his view, and near them he beheld the frightful
monster, dripping with the blood of his victims. Seizing a huge rock, the
hero hurled it with all his might upon the dragon; but protected by his
tough black skin and steely scales as by a coat of mail, he remained
unhurt. Cadmus now tried his lance, and with more success, for it pierced
the side of the beast, who, furious with pain, sprang at his adversary,
when Cadmus, leaping aside, succeeded in fixing the point of his spear
within his jaws, which final stroke put an end to the encounter.

While Cadmus stood surveying his vanquished foe Pallas-Athene appeared
to him, and commanded him to sow the teeth of the dead dragon in the
ground. He obeyed; and out of the furrows there arose a band of armed
men, who at once commenced to fight with each other, until all except
five were killed. These last surviving warriors made peace with each
other, and it was with their assistance that Cadmus now built the famous
city of Thebes. In later times the noblest Theban families proudly
claimed their descent from these mighty earth-born warriors.

Ares was furious with rage when he discovered that Cadmus had slain
his dragon, and would have killed him had not Zeus interfered, and
induced him to mitigate his punishment to that of servitude for the term
of eight years. At the end of that time the god of war became reconciled
to Cadmus, and, in token of his forgiveness, bestowed upon him the hand
of his daughter Harmonia in marriage. Their nuptials were almost as
celebrated as those of Peleus and Thetis. All the gods honoured them with
their presence, and offered rich gifts and congratulations. Cadmus
himself presented his lovely bride with a splendid necklace fashioned by
Hephæstus, which, however, after the death of Harmonia, always proved
fatal to its possessor.

The children of Cadmus and Harmonia were one son, [205]Polydorus, and
four daughters, Autonoe, Ino, Semele, and Agave.

For many years the founder of Thebes reigned happily, but at length a
conspiracy was formed against him, and he was deprived of his throne by
his grandson Pentheus. Accompanied by his faithful wife Harmonia, he
retired into Illyria, and after death they were both changed by Zeus into
serpents, and transferred to Elysium.

PERSEUS.

Perseus, one of the most renowned of the legendary heroes of
antiquity, was the son of Zeus and Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, king of
Argos.

An oracle having foretold to Acrisius that a son of Danaë would be the
cause of his death, he imprisoned her in a tower of brass in order to
keep her secluded from the world. Zeus, however, descended through the
roof of the tower in the form of a shower of gold, and the lovely Danaë
became his bride.

For four years Acrisius remained in ignorance of this union, but one
evening as he chanced to pass by the brazen chamber, he heard the cry of
a young child proceeding from within, which led to the discovery of his
daughter’s marriage with Zeus. Enraged at finding all his precautions
unavailing, Acrisius commanded the mother and child to be placed in a
chest and thrown into the sea.

But it was not the will of Zeus that they should perish. He directed
Poseidon to calm the troubled waters, and caused the chest to float
safely to the island of Seriphus. Dictys, brother of Polydectes, king of
the island, was fishing on the sea-shore when he saw the chest stranded
on the beach; and pitying the helpless condition of its unhappy
occupants, he conducted them to the palace of the king, where they were
treated with the greatest kindness.

Polydectes eventually became united to Danaë, and [206]bestowed upon
Perseus an education befitting a hero. When he saw his stepson develop
into a noble and manly youth he endeavoured to instil into his mind a
desire to signalize himself by the achievement of some great and heroic
deed, and after mature deliberation it was decided that the slaying of
the Gorgon, Medusa, would bring him the greatest renown.

For the successful accomplishment of his object it was necessary for
him to be provided with a pair of winged sandals, a magic wallet, and the
helmet of Aïdes, which rendered the wearer invisible, all of which were
in the keeping of the Nymphs, the place of whose abode was known only to
the Grææ. Perseus started on his expedition, and, guided by Hermes and
Pallas-Athene, arrived, after a long journey, in the far-off region, on
the borders of Oceanus, where dwelt the Grææ, daughters of Phorcys and
Ceto. He at once applied to them for the necessary information, and on
their refusing to grant it he deprived them of their single eye and
tooth, which he only restored to them when they gave him full directions
with regard to his route. He then proceeded to the abode of the Nymphs,
from whom he obtained the objects indispensable for his purpose.

Equipped with the magic helmet and wallet, and armed with a sickle,
the gift of Hermes, he attached to his feet the winged sandals, and flew
to the abode of the Gorgons, whom he found fast asleep. Now as Perseus
had been warned by his celestial guides that whoever looked upon these
weird sisters would be transformed into stone, he stood with averted face
before the sleepers, and caught on his bright metal shield their triple
image. Then, guided by Pallas-Athene, he cut off the head of the Medusa,
which he placed in his wallet. No sooner had he done so than from the
headless trunk there sprang forth the winged steed Pegasus, and Chrysaor,
the father of the winged giant Geryon. He now hastened to elude the
pursuit of the two surviving sisters, who, aroused from their slumbers,
eagerly rushed to avenge the death of their sister.

[207]

His invisible helmet and winged sandals here stood him in good stead;
for the former concealed him from the view of the Gorgons, whilst the
latter bore him swiftly over land and sea, far beyond the reach of
pursuit. In passing over the burning plains of Libya the drops of blood
from the head of the Medusa oozed through the wallet, and falling on the
hot sands below produced a brood of many-coloured snakes, which spread
all over the country.

Perseus continued his flight until he reached the kingdom of Atlas, of
whom he begged rest and shelter. But as this king possessed a valuable
orchard, in which every tree bore golden fruit, he was fearful lest the
slayer of the Medusa might destroy the dragon which guarded it, and then
rob him of his treasures. He therefore refused to grant the hospitality
which the hero demanded, whereupon Perseus, exasperated at the churlish
repulse, produced from his wallet the head of the Medusa, and holding it
towards the king, transformed him into a stony mountain. Beard and hair
erected themselves into forests; shoulders, hands, and limbs became huge
rocks, and the head grew up into a craggy peak which reached into the
clouds.

Perseus then resumed his travels. His winged sandals bore him over
deserts and mountains, until he arrived at Æthiopia, the kingdom of King
Cepheus. Here he found the country inundated with disastrous floods,
towns and villages destroyed, and everywhere signs of desolation and
ruin. On a projecting cliff close to the shore he beheld a lovely maiden
chained to a rock. This was Andromeda, the king’s daughter. Her mother
Cassiopea, having boasted that her beauty surpassed that of the Nereides,
the angry sea-nymphs appealed to Poseidon to avenge their wrongs,
whereupon the sea-god devastated the country with a terrible inundation,
which brought with it a huge monster who devoured all that came in his
way.

In their distress the unfortunate Æthiopians applied to the oracle of
Jupiter-Ammon, in the Libyan desert, [208]and obtained the
response, that only by the sacrifice of the king’s daughter to the
monster could the country and people be saved.

Cepheus, who was tenderly attached to his child, at first refused to
listen to this dreadful proposal; but overcome at length by the prayers
and solicitations of his unhappy subjects, the heart-broken father gave
up his child for the welfare of his country. Andromeda was accordingly
chained to a rock on the sea-shore to serve as a prey to the monster,
whilst her unhappy parents bewailed her sad fate on the beach below.

On being informed of the meaning of this tragic scene, Perseus
proposed to Cepheus to slay the dragon, on condition that the lovely
victim should become his bride. Overjoyed at the prospect of Andromeda’s
release, the king gladly acceded to the stipulation, and Perseus hastened
to the rock, to breathe words of hope and comfort to the trembling
maiden. Then assuming once more the helmet of Aïdes, he mounted into the
air, and awaited the approach of the monster.

Presently the sea opened, and the shark’s head of the gigantic beast
of the deep raised itself above the waves. Lashing his tail furiously
from side to side, he leaped forward to seize his victim; but the gallant
hero, watching his opportunity, suddenly darted down, and producing the
head of the Medusa from his wallet, held it before the eyes of the
dragon, whose hideous body became gradually transformed into a huge black
rock, which remained for ever a silent witness of the miraculous
deliverance of Andromeda. Perseus then led the maiden to her now happy
parents, who, anxious to evince their gratitude to her deliverer ordered
immediate preparations to be made for the nuptial feast. But the young
hero was not to bear away his lovely bride uncontested; for in the midst
of the banquet, Phineus, the king’s brother, to whom Andromeda had
previously been betrothed, returned to claim his bride. Followed by a
band of armed warriors he forced his way into the hall, and a desperate
encounter took place between the rivals, [209]which might have
terminated fatally for Perseus, had he not suddenly bethought himself of
the Medusa’s head. Calling to his friends to avert their faces, he drew
it from his wallet, and held it before Phineus and his formidable
body-guard, whereupon they all stiffened into stone.

Perseus now took leave of the Æthiopian king, and, accompanied by his
beautiful bride, returned to Seriphus, where a joyful meeting took place
between Danaë and her son. He then sent a messenger to his grandfather,
informing him that he intended returning to Argos; but Acrisius, fearing
the fulfilment of the oracular prediction, fled for protection to his
friend Teutemias, king of Larissa. Anxious to induce the aged monarch to
return to Argos, Perseus followed him thither. But here a strange
fatality occurred. Whilst taking part in some funereal games, celebrated
in honour of the king’s father, Perseus, by an unfortunate throw of the
discus, accidentally struck his grandfather, and thereby was the innocent
cause of his death.

After celebrating the funereal rites of Acrisius with due solemnity,
Perseus returned to Argos; but feeling loath to occupy the throne of one
whose death he had caused, he exchanged kingdoms with Megapenthes, king
of Tiryns, and in course of time founded the cities of Mycenæ and
Midea.

The head of the Medusa he presented to his divine patroness,
Pallas-Athene, who placed it in the centre of her shield.

Many great heroes were descended from Perseus and Andromeda, foremost
among whom was Heracles, whose mother, Alcmene, was their
granddaughter.

Heroic honours were paid to Perseus, not only [210]throughout Argos, but
also at Athens and in the island of Seriphus.

ION.

Ion was the son of Crëusa (the beauteous daughter of Erechtheus, king
of Athens) and the sun-god Phœbus-Apollo, to whom she was united
without the knowledge of her father.

Fearing the anger of Erechtheus, Crëusa placed her new-born babe in a
little wicker basket, and hanging some golden charms round his neck,
invoked for him the protection of the gods, and concealed him in a lonely
cave. Apollo, pitying his deserted child, sent Hermes to convey him to
Delphi, where he deposited his charge on the steps of the temple. Next
morning the Delphic priestess discovered the infant, and was so charmed
by his engaging appearance that she adopted him as her own son. The young
child was carefully tended and reared by his kind foster-mother, and was
brought up in the service of the temple, where he was intrusted with some
of the minor duties of the holy edifice.

And now to return to Crëusa. During a war with the Eubœans, in
which the latter were signally defeated, Xuthus, son of Æolus, greatly
distinguished himself on the side of the Athenians, and as a reward for
his valuable services, the hand of Crëusa, the king’s daughter, was
bestowed upon him in marriage. Their union, however, was not blest with
children, and as this was a source of great grief to both of them, they
repaired to Delphi in order to consult the oracle. The response was, that
Xuthus should regard the first person who met him on leaving the
sanctuary as his son. Now it happened that Ion, the young guardian of the
temple, was the first to greet his view, and when Xuthus beheld the
beautiful youth, he gladly welcomed him as his son, declaring that the
gods had sent him to be a blessing and comfort to his old age. Crëusa,
however, who concluded that the youth was the offspring of a secret
marriage on the part of her husband, was filled with suspicion and
jealousy; [211]when an old servant, observing her grief,
begged her to be comforted, assuring her that the cause of her distress
should be speedily removed.

When, upon the occasion of the public adoption of his son, Xuthus gave
a grand banquet, the old servant of Crëusa contrived to mix a strong
poison in the wine of the unsuspecting Ion. But the youth—according
to the pious custom of the ancients, of offering a libation to the gods
before partaking of any repast—poured upon the ground a portion of
the wine before putting it to his lips, when suddenly, as if by a
miracle, a dove flew into the banquet-hall, and sipped of the wine of the
libation; whereupon the poor little creature began to quiver in every
limb, and in a few moments expired.

Ion’s suspicions at once fell upon the obsequious servant of Crëusa,
who with such officious attention had filled his cup. He violently seized
the old man, and accused him of his murderous intentions. Unprepared for
this sudden attack he admitted his guilt, but pointed to the wife of
Xuthus as the instigator of the crime. Ion was about to avenge himself
upon Crëusa, when, by means of the divine intervention of Apollo, his
foster-mother, the Delphic priestess appeared on the scene, and explained
the true relationship which existed between Crëusa and Ion. In order to
set all doubts at rest, she produced the charms which she had found round
the neck of the infant, and also the wicker basket in which he had been
conveyed to Delphi.

Mother and son now became reconciled to each other, and Crëusa
revealed to Ion the secret of his divine origin. The priestess of Delphi
foretold that he would become the father of a great nation, called after
him the Ionians, and also that Xuthus and Crëusa would have a son called
Dorus, who would be the progenitor of the Dorian people, both of which
predictions were in due time verified.

DÆDALUS and ICARUS.

Dædalus, a descendant of Erechtheus, was an Athenian architect,
sculptor, and mechanician. He was the first [212]to introduce the art of
sculpture in its higher development, for before his time statues were
merely rude representations, having the limbs altogether undefined.

But great as was his genius, still greater was his vanity, and he
could brook no rival. Now his nephew and pupil, Talus, exhibited great
talent, having invented both the saw and the compass, and Dædalus,
fearing lest he might overshadow his own fame, secretly killed him by
throwing him down from the citadel of Pallas-Athene. The murder being
discovered, Dædalus was summoned before the court of the Areopagus and
condemned to death; but he made his escape to the island of Crete, where
he was received by king Minos in a manner worthy of his great
reputation.

Dædalus constructed for the king the world-renowned labyrinth, which
was an immense building, full of intricate passages, intersecting each
other in such a manner, that even Dædalus himself is said, upon one
occasion, to have nearly lost his way in it; and it was in this building
the king placed the Minotaur, a monster with the head and shoulders of a
bull and the body of a man.

In the course of time the great artist became weary of his long exile,
more especially as the king, under the guise of friendship, kept him
almost a prisoner. He therefore resolved to make his escape, and for this
purpose ingeniously contrived wings for himself and his young son Icarus,
whom he diligently trained how to use them. Having awaited a favourable
opportunity, father and son commenced their flight, and were well on
their way when Icarus, pleased with the novel sensation, forgot
altogether his father’s oft-repeated injunction not to approach too near
the sun. The consequence was that the wax, by means of which his wings
were attached, melted, and he fell into the sea and was drowned. The body
of the unfortunate Icarus was washed up by the tide, and was buried by
the bereaved father on an island which he called after his son,
Icaria.

After this sad event, Dædalus winged his flight to the island of
Sicily, where he met with a kind welcome from [213]king Cocalus, for whom
he constructed several important public works. But no sooner did Minos
receive the intelligence that his great architect had found an asylum
with Cocalus than he sailed over to Sicily with a large army, and sent
messengers to the Sicilian king demanding the surrender of his guest.
Cocalus feigned compliance and invited Minos to his palace, where he was
treacherously put to death in a warm bath. The body of their king was
brought to Agrigent by the Cretans, where it was buried with great pomp,
and over his tomb a temple to Aphrodite was erected.

Dædalus passed the remainder of his life tranquilly in the island of
Sicily, where he occupied himself in the construction of various
beautiful works of art.

THE ARGONAUTS.

Aeson, king of Iolcus, was forced to fly from his dominions, which had
been usurped by his younger brother, Pelias, and with difficulty
succeeded in saving the life of his young son, Jason, who was at that
time only ten years of age. He intrusted him to the care of the Centaur
Chiron, by whom he was carefully trained in company with other noble
youths, who, like himself, afterwards signalized themselves by their
bravery and heroic exploits. For ten years Jason remained in the cave of
the Centaur, by whom he was instructed in all useful and warlike arts.
But as he approached manhood he became filled with an unconquerable
desire to regain his paternal inheritance. He therefore took leave of his
kind friend and preceptor, and set out for Iolcus to demand from his
uncle Pelias the kingdom which he had so unjustly usurped.

In the course of his journey he came to a broad and foaming river, on
the banks of which he perceived an old woman, who implored him to help
her across. At first he hesitated, knowing that even alone he would find
some difficulty in stemming the fierce torrent; but, [214]pitying her
forlorn condition, he raised her in his arms, and succeeded, with a great
effort, in reaching the opposite shore. But as soon as her feet had
touched the earth she became transformed into a beautiful woman, who,
looking kindly at the bewildered youth, informed him that she was the
goddess Hera, and that she would henceforth guide and protect him
throughout his career. She then disappeared, and, full of hope and
courage at this divine manifestation, Jason pursued his journey. He now
perceived that in crossing the river he had lost one of his sandals, but
as it could not be recovered he was obliged to proceed without it.

On his arrival at Iolcus he found his uncle in the market-place,
offering up a public sacrifice to Poseidon. When the king had concluded
his offering, his eye fell upon the distinguished stranger, whose manly
beauty and heroic bearing had already attracted the attention of his
people. Observing that one foot was unshod, he was reminded of an
oracular prediction which foretold to him the loss of his kingdom by a
man wearing only one sandal. He, however, disguised his fears, conversed
kindly with the youth, and drew from him his name and errand. Then
pretending to be highly pleased with his nephew, Pelias entertained him
sumptuously for five days, during which time all was festivity and
rejoicing. On the sixth, Jason appeared before his uncle, and with manly
firmness demanded from him the throne and kingdom which were his by
right. Pelias, dissembling his true feelings, smilingly consented to
grant his request, provided that, in return, Jason would undertake an
expedition for him, which his advanced age prevented him from
accomplishing himself. He informed his nephew that the shade of Phryxus
had appeared to him in his dreams, and entreated him to bring back from
Colchis his mortal remains and the Golden Fleece; and added that if Jason
succeeded in obtaining for him these sacred relics, throne, kingdom, and
sceptre should be his.

[215]

STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE.

Athamas, king of Bœotia, had married Nephele, a cloud-nymph, and
their children were Helle and Phryxus. The restless and wandering nature
of Nephele, however, soon wearied her husband, who, being a mortal, had
little sympathy with his ethereal consort; so he divorced her, and
married the beautiful but wicked Ino (sister of Semele), who hated her
step-children, and even planned their destruction. But the watchful
Nephele contrived to circumvent her cruel designs, and succeeded in
getting the children out of the palace. She then placed them both on the
back of a winged ram, with a fleece of pure gold, which had been given to
her by Hermes; and on this wonderful animal brother and sister rode
through the air over land and sea; but on the way Helle, becoming seized
with giddiness, fell into the sea (called after her the Hellespont) and
was drowned.

Phryxus arrived safely at Colchis, where he was hospitably received by
king Aëtes, who gave him one of his daughters in marriage. In gratitude
to Zeus for the protection accorded him during his flight, Phryxus
sacrificed to him the golden ram, whilst the fleece he presented to
Aëtes, who nailed it up in the Grove of Ares, and dedicated it to the god
of War. An oracle having declared that the life of Aëtes depended on the
safe-keeping of the fleece, he carefully guarded the entrance to the
grove by placing before it an immense dragon, which never slept.

Building and Launch of the Argo.—We will now return to
Jason, who eagerly undertook the perilous expedition proposed to him by
his uncle, who, well aware of the dangers attending such an enterprise,
hoped by this means to rid himself for ever of the unwelcome
intruder.

Jason accordingly began to arrange his plans without delay, and
invited the young heroes whose friendship he [216]had formed whilst under
the care of Chiron, to join him in the perilous expedition. None refused
the invitation, all feeling honoured at being allowed the privilege of
taking part in so noble and heroic an undertaking.

Jason now applied to Argos, one of the cleverest ship-builders of his
time, who, under the guidance of Pallas-Athene, built for him a splendid
fifty-oared galley, which was called the Argo, after the builder. In the
upper deck of the vessel the goddess had imbedded a board from the
speaking oak of the oracle of Zeus at Dodona, which ever retained its
powers of prophecy. The exterior of the ship was ornamented with
magnificent carvings, and the whole vessel was so strongly built that it
defied the power of the winds and waves, and was, nevertheless, so light
that the heroes, when necessary, were able to carry it on their
shoulders. When the vessel was completed, the Argonauts (so called after
their ship) assembled, and their places were distributed by lot.

Jason was appointed commander-in-chief of the expedition, Tiphys acted
as steersman, Lynceus as pilot. In the bow of the vessel sat the renowned
hero Heracles; in the stern, Peleus (father of Achilles) and Telamon (the
father of Ajax the Great). In the inner space were Castor and Pollux,
Neleus (the father of Nestor), Admetus (the husband of Alcestes),
Meleager (the slayer of the Calydonian boar), Orpheus (the renowned
singer), Menoctius (the father of Patroclus), Theseus (afterwards king of
Athens) and his friend Pirithöus (the son of Ixion), Hylas (the adopted
son of Heracles), Euphemus (the son of Poseidon), Oileus (father of Ajax
the Lesser), Zetes and Calais (the winged sons of Boreas), Idmon the Seer
(the son of Apollo), Mopsus (the Thessalian prophet), &c. &c.

Before their departure Jason offered a solemn sacrifice to Poseidon
and all the other sea-deities; he also invoked the protection of Zeus and
the Fates, and then, Mopsus having taken the auguries, and found them
auspicious, the heroes stepped on board. And now a favourable breeze
having sprung up, they take their allotted places, [217]the anchor is weighed,
and the ship glides like a bird out of the harbour into the waters of the
great sea.

Arrival at Lemnos.—The Argo, with her brave crew of fifty
heroes, was soon out of sight, and the sea-breeze only wafted to the
shore a faint echo of the sweet strains of Orpheus.

For a time all went smoothly, but the vessel was soon driven, by
stress of weather, to take refuge in a harbour in the island of Lemnos.
This island was inhabited by women only, who, the year before, in a fit
of mad jealousy, had killed all the male population of the island, with
the exception of the father of their queen, Hypsipyle. As the protection
of their island now devolved upon themselves they were always on the
look-out for danger. When, therefore, they sighted the Argo from afar
they armed themselves and rushed to the shore, determined to repel any
invasion of their territory.

On arriving in port the Argonauts, astonished at beholding an armed
crowd of women, despatched a herald in one of their boats, bearing the
staff of peace and friendship. Hypsipyle, the queen, proposed that food
and presents should be sent to the strangers, in order to prevent their
landing; but her old nurse, who stood beside her, suggested that this
would be a good opportunity to provide themselves with noble husbands,
who would act as their defenders, and thus put an end to their constant
fears. Hypsipyle listened attentively to the advice of her nurse, and
after some consultation, decided to invite the strangers into the city.
Robed in his purple mantle, the gift of Pallas-Athene, Jason, accompanied
by some of his companions, stepped on shore, where he was met by a
deputation consisting of the most beautiful of the Lemnian women, and, as
commander of the expedition, was invited into the palace of the
queen.

When he appeared before Hypsipyle, she was so struck with his godlike
and heroic presence that she presented him with her father’s sceptre, and
invited him to seat himself on the throne beside her. Jason thereupon
[218]took up his residence in the royal castle,
whilst his companions scattered themselves through the town, spending
their time in feasting and pleasure. Heracles, with a few chosen
comrades, alone remained on board.

From day to day their departure was delayed, and the Argonauts, in
their new life of dissipation, had almost forgotten the object of the
expedition, when Heracles suddenly appeared amongst them, and at last
recalled them to a sense of their duty.

Giants and Doliones.—The Argonauts now pursued their
voyage, till contrary winds drove them towards an island, inhabited by
the Doliones, whose king Cyzicus received them with great kindness and
hospitality. The Doliones were descendants of Poseidon, who protected
them against the frequent attacks of their fierce and formidable
neighbours, the earth-born Giants—monsters with six arms.

Whilst his companions were attending a banquet given by king Cyzicus,
Heracles, who, as usual, had remained behind to guard the ship, observed
that these Giants were busy blocking up the harbour with huge rocks. He
at once realized the danger, and, attacking them with his arrows,
succeeded in considerably thinning their numbers; then, assisted by the
heroes, who at length came to his aid, he effectually destroyed the
remainder.

The Argo now steered out of the harbour and set sail; but in
consequence of a severe storm which arose at night, was driven back once
more to the shores of the kindly Doliones. Unfortunately, however, owing
to the darkness of the night, the inhabitants failed to recognize their
former guests, and, mistaking them for enemies, commenced to attack them.
Those who had so recently parted as friends were now engaged in mortal
combat, and in the battle which ensued, Jason himself pierced to the
heart his friend king Cyzicus; whereupon the Doliones, being deprived of
their leader, fled to their city and closed the gates. When morning
dawned, and both sides perceived their error, they were filled with [219]the
deepest sorrow and remorse; and for three days the heroes remained with
the Doliones, celebrating the funereal rites of the slain, with every
demonstration of mourning and solemnity.

Heracles left behind.—The Argonauts once more set sail,
and after a stormy voyage arrived at Mysia, where they were hospitably
received by the inhabitants, who spread before them plentiful banquets
and sumptuously regaled them.

While his friends were feasting, Heracles, who had declined to join
them, went into the forest to seek a fir-tree which he required for an
oar, and was missed by his adopted son Hylas, who set out to seek him.
When the youth arrived at a spring, in the most secluded part of the
forest, the nymph of the fountain was so struck by his beauty that she
drew him down beneath the waters, and he was seen no more. Polyphemus,
one of the heroes, who happened to be also in the forest, heard his cry
for help, and on meeting Heracles informed him of the circumstance. They
at once set out in search of the missing youth, no traces of whom were to
be found, and whilst they were engaged looking for him, the Argo set sail
and left them behind.

The ship had proceeded some distance before the absence of Heracles
was observed. Some of the heroes were in favour of returning for him,
others wished to proceed on their journey, when, in the midst of the
dispute, the sea-god Glaucus arose from the waves, and informed them that
it was the will of Zeus that Heracles, having another mission to perform,
should remain behind. The Argonauts continued their voyage without their
companions; Heracles returned to Argos, whilst Polyphemus remained with
the Mysians, where he founded a city and became its king.

Contest with Amycus.—Next morning the Argo touched at the
country of the Bebrycians, whose king Amycus was a famous pugilist, and
permitted no strangers to leave his shores without matching their [220]strength with his. When the heroes,
therefore, demanded permission to land, they were informed that they
could only do so provided that one of their number should engage in a
boxing-match with the king. Pollux, who was the best pugilist in Greece,
was selected as their champion, and a contest took place, which, after a
tremendous struggle, proved fatal to Amycus, who had hitherto been
victorious in all similar encounters.

Phineus and the Harpies.—They now proceeded towards
Bithynia, where reigned the blind old prophet-king Phineus, son of
Agenor. Phineus had been punished by the gods with premature old age and
blindness for having abused the gift of prophecy. He was also tormented
by the Harpies, who swooped down upon his food, which they either
devoured or so defiled as to render it unfit to be eaten. This poor old
man, trembling with the weakness of age, and faint with hunger, appeared
before the Argonauts, and implored their assistance against his fiendish
tormentors, whereupon Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of Boreas,
recognizing in him the husband of their sister Cleopatra, affectionately
embraced him, and promised to rescue him from his painful position.

The heroes prepared a banquet on the sea-shore, to which they invited
Phineus; but no sooner had he taken his place, than the Harpies appeared
and devoured all the viands. Zetes and Calais now rose up into the air,
drove the Harpies away, and were pursuing them with drawn swords, when
Iris, the swift-footed messenger of the gods, appeared, and desired them
to desist from their work of vengeance, promising that Phineus should be
no longer molested.

Freed at length from his tormentors the old man sat down and enjoyed a
plentiful repast with his kind friends the Argonauts, who now informed
him of the object of their voyage. In gratitude for his deliverance
Phineus gave them much useful information concerning their journey, and
not only warned them of the manifold [221]dangers awaiting them,
but also instructed them how they might be overcome.

Passage of the Symplegades.—After a fortnight’s sojourn
in Bithynia the Argonauts once more set sail, but had not proceeded far
on their course, when they heard a fearful and tremendous crash. This was
caused by the meeting of two great rocky islands, called the Symplegades,
which floated about in the sea, and constantly met and separated.

Before leaving Bithynia, the blind old seer, Phineus, had informed
them that they would be compelled to pass between these terrible rocks,
and he instructed them how to do so with safety. As they now approached
the scene of danger they remembered his advice, and acted upon it.
Typhus, the steersman, stood at the helm, whilst Euphemus held in his
hand a dove ready to be let loose; for Phineus had told them that if the
dove ventured to fly through, they might safely follow. Euphemus now
despatched the bird, which passed swiftly through the islands, yet not
without losing some of the feathers of her tail, so speedily did they
reunite. Seizing the moment when the rocks once more separated, the
Argonauts worked at their oars with all their might, and achieved the
perilous passage in safety.

After the miraculous passage of the Argo, the Symplegades became
permanently united, and attached to the bottom of the sea.

The Stymphalides.—The Argo pursued her course along the
southern coast of the Pontus, and arrived at the island of Aretias, which
was inhabited by birds, who, as they flew through the air, discharged
from their wings feathers sharp as arrows.

As the ship was gliding along, Oileus was wounded by one of these
birds, whereupon the Argonauts held a council, and by the advice of
Amphidamas, an experienced hero, all put on their helmets, and held up
their glittering shields, uttering, at the same time, such fearful cries
that [222]the birds flew away in terror, and the
Argonauts were enabled to land with safety on the island.

Here they found four shipwrecked youths, who proved to be the sons of
Phryxus, and were greeted by Jason as his cousins. On ascertaining the
object of the expedition they volunteered to accompany the Argo, and to
show the heroes the way to Colchis. They also informed them that the
Golden Fleece was guarded by a fearful dragon, that king Aëtes was
extremely cruel, and, as the son of Apollo, was possessed of superhuman
strength.

Arrival at Colchis.—Taking with them the four new-comers
they journeyed on, and soon came in sight of the snow-capped peaks of the
Caucasus, when, towards evening, the loud flapping of wings was heard
overhead. It was the giant eagle of Prometheus on his way to torture the
noble and long-suffering Titan, whose fearful groans soon afterwards fell
upon their ears. That night they reached their journey’s end, and
anchored in the smooth waters of the river Phases. On the left bank of
this river they beheld Ceuta, the capital of Colchis; and on their right
a wide field, and the sacred grove of Ares, where the Golden Fleece,
suspended from a magnificent oak-tree, was glittering in the sun. Jason
now filled a golden cup with wine, and offered a libation to
mother-earth, the gods of the country, and the shades of those of the
heroes who had died on the voyage.

Next morning a council was held, in which it was decided, that before
resorting to forcible measures kind and conciliatory overtures should
first be made to king Aëtes in order to induce him to resign the Golden
Fleece. It was arranged that Jason, with a few chosen companions, should
proceed to the royal castle, leaving the remainder of the crew to guard
the Argo. Accompanied, therefore, by Telamon and Augeas, and the four
sons of Phryxus, he set out for the palace.

When they arrived in sight of the castle they were struck by the
vastness and massiveness of the building, at the entrance to which
sparkling fountains played in [223]the midst of luxuriant and park-like
gardens. Here the king’s daughters, Chalciope and Medea, who were walking
in the grounds of the palace, met them. The former, to her great joy,
recognized in the youths who accompanied the hero her own long-lost sons,
whom she had mourned as dead, whilst the young and lovely Medea was
struck with the noble and manly form of Jason.

The news of the return of the sons of Phryxus soon spread through the
palace, and brought Aëtes himself to the scene, whereupon the strangers
were presented to him, and were invited to a banquet which the king
ordered to be prepared in their honour. All the most beautiful ladies of
the court were present at this entertainment; but in the eyes of Jason
none could compare with the king’s daughter, the young and lovely
Medea.

When the banquet was ended, Jason related to the king his various
adventures, and also the object of his expedition, with the circumstances
which had led to his undertaking it. Aëtes listened, in silent
indignation, to this recital, and then burst out into a torrent of
invectives against the Argonauts and his grand-children, declaring that
the Fleece was his rightful property, and that on no consideration would
he consent to relinquish it. Jason, however, with mild and persuasive
words, contrived so far to conciliate him, that he was induced to promise
that if the heroes could succeed in demonstrating their divine origin by
the performance of some task requiring superhuman power, the Fleece
should be theirs.

The task proposed by Aëtes to Jason was that he should yoke the two
brazen-footed, fire-breathing oxen of the king (which had been made for
him by Hephæstus) to his ponderous iron plough. Having done this he must
till with them the stony field of Ares, and then sow in the furrows the
poisonous teeth of a dragon, from which armed men would arise. These he
must destroy to a man, or he himself would perish at their hands.

When Jason heard what was expected of him, his heart for a moment sank
within him; but he determined, nevertheless, not to flinch from his task,
but to trust to the [224]assistance of the gods, and to his own
courage and energy.

Jason ploughs the Field of Ares.—Accompanied by his two
friends, Telamon and Augeas, and also by Argus, the son of Chalciope,
Jason returned to the vessel for the purpose of holding a consultation as
to the best means of accomplishing these perilous feats.

Argus explained to Jason all the difficulties of the superhuman task
which lay before him, and pronounced it as his opinion that the only
means by which success was possible was to enlist the assistance of the
Princess Medea, who was a priestess of Hecate, and a great enchantress.
His suggestion meeting with approval, he returned to the palace, and by
the aid of his mother an interview was arranged between Jason and Medea,
which took place, at an early hour next morning, in the temple of
Hecate.

A confession of mutual attachment took place, and Medea, trembling for
her lover’s safety, presented him with a magic salve, which possessed the
property of rendering any person anointed with it invulnerable for the
space of one day against fire and steel, and invincible against any
adversary however powerful. With this salve she instructed him to anoint
his spear and shield on the day of his great undertaking. She further
added that when, after having ploughed the field and sown the teeth,
armed men should arise from the furrows, he must on no account lose
heart, but remember to throw among them a huge rock, over the possession
of which they would fight among themselves, and their attention being
thus diverted he would find it an easy task to destroy them. Overwhelmed
with gratitude, Jason thanked her, in the most earnest manner, for her
wise counsel and timely aid; at the same time he offered her his hand,
and promised her he would not return to Greece without taking her with
him as his wife.

Next morning Aëtes, in all the pomp of state, surrounded by his family
and the members of his court, [225]repaired to a spot whence a full view of
the approaching spectacle could be obtained. Soon Jason appeared in the
field of Ares, looking as noble and majestic as the god of war himself.
In a distant part of the field the brazen yokes and the massive plough
met his view, but as yet the dread animals themselves were nowhere to be
seen. He was about to go in quest of them, when they suddenly rushed out
from a subterranean cave, breathing flames of fire, and enveloped in a
thick smoke.

The friends of Jason trembled; but the undaunted hero, relying on the
magic powers with which he was imbued by Medea, seized the oxen, one
after the other, by the horns, and forced them to the yoke. Near the
plough was a helmet full of dragon’s teeth, which he sowed as he ploughed
the field, whilst with sharp pricks from his lance he compelled the
monstrous creatures to draw the plough over the stony ground, which was
thus speedily tilled.

While Jason was engaged sowing the dragon’s teeth in the deep furrows
of the field, he kept a cautious look-out lest the germinating giant
brood might grow too quickly for him, and as soon as the four acres of
land had been tilled he unyoked the oxen, and succeeded in frightening
them so effectually with his weapons, that they rushed back in terror to
their subterranean stables. Meanwhile armed men had sprung up out of the
furrows, and the whole field now bristled with lances; but Jason,
remembering the instructions of Medea, seized an immense rock and hurled
it into the midst of these earth-born warriors, who immediately began to
attack each other. Jason then rushed furiously upon them, and after a
terrible struggle not one of the giants remained alive.

Furious at seeing his murderous schemes thus defeated, Aëtes not only
perfidiously refused to give Jason the Fleece which he had so bravely
earned, but, in his anger, determined to destroy all the Argonauts, and
to burn their vessel.

Jason secures the Golden Fleece.—Becoming aware of the
treacherous designs of her father, Medea at [226]once took measures to
baffle them. In the darkness of night she went on board the Argo, and
warned the heroes of their approaching danger. She then advised Jason to
accompany her without loss of time to the sacred grove, in order to
possess himself of the long-coveted treasure. They set out together, and
Medea, followed by Jason, led the way, and advanced boldly into the
grove. The tall oak-tree was soon discovered, from the topmost boughs of
which hung the beautiful Golden Fleece. At the foot of this tree, keeping
his ever-wakeful watch, lay the dreadful, sleepless dragon, who at sight
of them bounded forward, opening his huge jaws.

Medea now called into play her magic powers, and quietly approaching
the monster, threw over him a few drops of a potion, which soon took
effect, and sent him into a deep sleep; whereupon Jason, seizing the
opportunity, climbed the tree and secured the Fleece. Their perilous task
being now accomplished, Jason and Medea quitted the grove, and hastened
on board the Argo, which immediately put to sea.

Murder of Absyrtus.—Meanwhile Aëtes, having discovered
the loss of his daughter and the Golden Fleece, despatched a large fleet,
under the command of his son Absyrtus, in pursuit of the fugitives. After
some days’ sail they arrived at an island at the mouth of the river
Ister, where they found the Argo at anchor, and surrounded her with their
numerous ships. They then despatched a herald on board of her, demanding
the surrender of Medea and the Fleece.

Medea now consulted Jason, and, with his consent, carried out the
following stratagem. She sent a message to her brother Absyrtus, to the
effect that she had been carried off against her will, and promised that
if he would meet her, in the darkness of night, in the temple of Artemis,
she would assist him in regaining possession of the Golden Fleece.
Relying on the good faith of his sister, Absyrtus fell into the snare,
and duly appeared at the appointed trysting-place; and whilst Medea kept
her [227]brother engaged in conversation, Jason
rushed forward and slew him. Then, according to a preconcerted signal, he
held aloft a lighted torch, whereupon the Argonauts attacked the
Colchians, put them to flight, and entirely defeated them.

The Argonauts now returned to their ship, when the prophetic board
from the Dodonean oak thus addressed them: “The cruel murder of Absyrtus
was witnessed by the Erinyes, and you will not escape the wrath of Zeus
until the goddess Circe has purified you from your crime. Let Castor and
Pollux pray to the gods that you may be enabled to find the abode of the
sorceress.” In obedience to the voice, the twin-brothers invoked divine
assistance, and the heroes set out in search of the isle of Circe.

They arrive at the Island of Circe.—The good ship Argo
sped on her way, and, after passing safely through the foaming waters of
the river Eridanus, at length arrived in the harbour of the island of
Circe, where she cast anchor.

Commanding his companions to remain on board, Jason landed with Medea,
and conducted her to the palace of the sorceress. The goddess of charms
and magic arts received them kindly, and invited them to be seated; but
instead of doing so they assumed a supplicating attitude, and humbly
besought her protection. They then informed her of the dreadful crime
which they had committed, and implored her to purify them from it. This
Circe promised to do. She forthwith commanded her attendant Naiads to
kindle the fire on the altar, and to prepare everything necessary for the
performance of the mystic rites, after which a dog was sacrificed, and
the sacred cakes were burned. Having thus duly purified the criminals,
she severely reprimanded them for the horrible murder of which they had
been guilty; whereupon Medea, with veiled head, and weeping bitterly, was
reconducted by Jason to the Argo.

Further Adventures of the Argonauts.—Having left the
island of Circe they were wafted by gentle [228]zephyrs towards the
abode of the Sirens, whose enticing strains soon fell upon their ears.
The Argonauts, powerfully affected by the melody, were making ready to
land, when Orpheus perceived the danger, and, to the accompaniment of his
magic lyre, commenced one of his enchanting songs, which so completely
absorbed his listeners that they passed the island in safety; but not
before Butes, one of their number, lured by the seductive music of the
Sirens, had sprung from the vessel into the waves below. Aphrodite,
however, in pity for his youth, landed him gently on the island of
Libibaon before the Sirens could reach him, and there he remained for
many years.

And now the Argonauts approached new dangers, for on one side of them
seethed and foamed the whirlpool of Charybdis, whilst on the other
towered the mighty rock whence the monster Scylla swooped down upon
unfortunate mariners; but here the goddess Hera came to their assistance,
and sent to them the sea-nymph Thetis, who guided them safely through
these dangerous straits.

The Argo next arrived at the island of the Phæaces, where they were
hospitably entertained by King Alcinous and his queen Arete. But the
banquet prepared for them by their kind host was unexpectedly interrupted
by the appearance of a large army of Colchians, sent by Aëtes to demand
the restoration of his daughter.

Medea threw herself at the feet of the queen, and implored her to save
her from the anger of her father, and Arete, in her kindness of heart,
promised her her protection. Next morning, in an assembly of the people
at which the Colchians were invited to be present, the latter were
informed that as Medea was the lawful wife of Jason they could not
consent to deliver her up; whereupon the Colchians, seeing that the
resolution of the king was not to be shaken, and fearing to face the
anger of Aëtes should they return to Colchis without her, sought
permission of Alcinous to settle in his kingdom, which request was
accorded them.

[229]

After these events the Argonauts once more set sail, and steered for
Iolcus; but, in the course of a terrible and fearful night, a mighty
storm arose, and in the morning they found themselves stranded on the
treacherous quicksands of Syrtes, on the shores of Libya. Here all was a
waste and barren desert, untenanted by any living creature, save the
venomous snakes which had sprung from the blood of the Medusa when borne
by Perseus over these arid plains.

They had already passed several days in this abode of desolation,
beneath the rays of the scorching sun, and had abandoned themselves to
the deepest despair, when the Libyan queen, who was a prophetess of
divine origin, appeared to Jason, and informed him that a sea-horse would
be sent by the gods to act as his guide.

Scarcely had she departed when a gigantic hippocamp was seen in the
distance, making its way towards the Argo. Jason now related to his
companions the particulars of his interview with the Libyan prophetess,
and after some deliberation it was decided to carry the Argo on their
shoulders, and to follow wherever the sea-horse should lead them. They
then commenced a long and weary journey through the desert, and at last,
after twelve days of severe toil and terrible suffering, the welcome
sight of the sea greeted their view. In gratitude for having been saved
from their manifold dangers they offered up sacrifices to the gods, and
launched their ship once more into the deep waters of the ocean.

Arrival at Crete.—With heartfelt joy and gladness they
proceeded on their homeward voyage, and after some days arrived at the
island of Crete, where they purposed to furnish themselves with fresh
provisions and water. Their landing, however, was opposed by a terrible
giant who guarded the island against all intruders. This giant, whose
name was Talus, was the last of the Brazen race, and being formed of
brass, was invulnerable, except in his right ankle, where there was a
sinew of flesh and a vein of blood. As he saw the Argo [230]nearing the
coast, he hurled huge rocks at her, which would inevitably have sunk the
vessel had not the crew beat a hasty retreat. Although sadly in want of
food and water, the Argonauts had decided to proceed on their journey
rather than face so powerful an opponent, when Medea came forward and
assured them that if they would trust to her she would destroy the
giant.

Enveloped in the folds of a rich purple mantle, she stepped on deck,
and after invoking the aid of the Fates, uttered a magic incantation,
which had the effect of throwing Talus into a deep sleep. He stretched
himself at full length upon the ground, and in doing so grazed his
vulnerable ankle against the point of a sharp rock, whereupon a mighty
stream of blood gushed forth from the wound. Awakened by the pain, he
tried to rise, but in vain, and with a mighty groan of anguish the giant
fell dead, and his enormous body rolled heavily over into the deep. The
heroes being now able to land, provisioned their vessel, after which they
resumed their homeward voyage.

Arrival at Iolcus.—After a terrible night of storm and
darkness they passed the island of Ægina, and at length reached in safety
the port of Iolcus, where the recital of their numerous adventures and
hair-breadth escapes was listened to with wondering admiration by their
fellow-countrymen.

The Argo was consecrated to Poseidon, and was carefully preserved for
many generations till no vestige of it remained, when it was placed in
the heavens as a brilliant constellation.

On his arrival at Iolcus, Jason conducted his beautiful bride to the
palace of his uncle Pelias, taking with him the Golden Fleece, for the
sake of which this perilous expedition had been undertaken. But the old
king, who had never expected that Jason would return alive, basely
refused to fulfil his part of the compact, and declined to abdicate the
throne.

[231]

Indignant at the wrongs of her husband, Medea avenged them in a most
shocking manner. She made friends with the daughters of the king, and
feigned great interest in all their concerns. Having gained their
confidence, she informed them, that among her numerous magic arts, she
possessed the power of restoring to the aged all the vigour and strength
of youth, and in order to give them a convincing proof of the truth of
her assertion, she cut up an old ram, which she boiled in a cauldron,
whereupon, after uttering various mystic incantations, there came forth
from the vessel a beautiful young lamb. She then assured them, that in a
similar manner they could restore to their old father his former youthful
frame and vigour. The fond and credulous daughters of Pelias lent an all
too willing ear to the wicked sorceress, and thus the old king perished
at the hands of his innocent children.

Death of Jason.—Medea and Jason now fled to Corinth,
where at length they found, for a time, peace and tranquillity, their
happiness being completed by the birth of three children.

As time passed on, however, and Medea began to lose the beauty which
had won the love of her husband, he grew weary of her, and became
attracted by the youthful charms of Glauce, the beautiful daughter of
Creon, king of Corinth. Jason had obtained her father’s consent to their
union, and the wedding-day was already fixed, before he disclosed to
Medea the treachery which he meditated against her. He used all his
persuasive powers in order to induce her to consent to his union with
Glauce, assuring her that his affection had in no way diminished, but
that for the sake of the advantages which would thereby accrue to their
children, he had decided on forming this alliance with the royal house.
Though justly enraged at his deceitful conduct, Medea dissembled her
wrath, and, feigning to be satisfied with this explanation, sent, as a
wedding-gift to her rival, a magnificent robe of cloth-of-gold. This robe
was imbued with a deadly [232]poison which penetrated to the flesh and
bone of the wearer, and burned them as though with a consuming fire.
Pleased with the beauty and costliness of the garment, the unsuspecting
Glauce lost no time in donning it; but no sooner had she done so than the
fell poison began to take effect. In vain she tried to tear the robe
away; it defied all efforts to be removed, and after horrible and
protracted sufferings, she expired.

Maddened at the loss of her husband’s love Medea next put to death her
three sons, and when Jason, thirsting for revenge, left the chamber of
his dead bride, and flew to his own house in search of Medea, the ghastly
spectacle of his murdered children met his view. He rushed frantically to
seek the murderess, but nowhere could she be found. At length, hearing a
sound above his head, he looked up, and beheld Medea gliding through the
air in a golden chariot drawn by dragons.

In a fit of despair Jason threw himself on his own sword, and perished
on the threshold of his desolate and deserted home.

PELOPS.

Pelops, the son of the cruel Tantalus, was a pious and virtuous
prince. After his father was banished into Tartarus, a war ensued between
Pelops and the king of Troy, in which the former was vanquished and
forced to fly from his dominions in Phrygia. He emigrated into Greece,
where, at the court of Œnomaus, king of Elis, he beheld Hippodamia,
the king’s daughter, whose beauty won his heart. But an oracle having
foretold to Œnomaus that he would die on the day of his daughter’s
marriage, he threw every obstacle in the way of her suitors, and declared
that he would only give her to him who succeeded in vanquishing him in a
chariot race, but that all unsuccessful competitors should suffer death
at his hands.

The conditions of the contest were as follows:—The race was to
be run from a given point at Pisa to the altar of Poseidon at Corinth;
the suitor was allowed to start [233]on his course whilst Œnomaus
performed his sacrifice to Zeus, and only on its completion did the king
mount his chariot, guided by the skilful Myrtilus, and drawn by his two
famous horses, Phylla and Harpinna, who surpassed in swiftness the winds
themselves. In this manner many a gallant young prince had perished; for
although a considerable start was given to all competitors, still
Œnomaus, with his swift team, always overtook them before they
reached the goal, and killed them with his spear. But the love of Pelops
for Hippodamia overcame all fears, and, undeterred by the terrible fate
of his predecessors, he announced himself to Œnomaus as a suitor
for the hand of his daughter.

On the eve of the race, Pelops repaired to the sea-shore and earnestly
implored Poseidon to assist him in his perilous undertaking. The sea-god
heard his prayer, and sent him out of the deep a chariot drawn by two
winged horses.

When Pelops appeared on the course, the king at once recognized the
horses of Poseidon; but, nothing daunted, he relied on his own
supernatural team, and the contest was allowed to proceed.

Whilst the king was offering his sacrifice to Zeus Pelops set out on
the race, and had nearly reached the goal, when, turning round, he beheld
Œnomaus, spear in hand, who, with his magic steeds, had nearly
overtaken him. But in this emergency Poseidon came to the aid of the son
of Tantalus. He caused the wheels of the royal chariot to fly off,
whereupon the king was thrown out violently, and killed on the spot, just
as Pelops arrived at the altar of Poseidon.

As the hero was about to return to Pisa to claim his bride, he beheld,
in the distance, flames issuing from the royal castle, which at that
instant had been struck by lightning. With his winged horses he flew to
rescue his lovely bride, and succeeded in extricating her uninjured from
the burning building. They soon afterwards became united, and Pelops
reigned in Pisa for many years in great splendour.

[234]

HERACLES (Hercules).

Heracles, the most renowned hero of antiquity, was the son of Zeus and
Alcmene, and the great grandson of Perseus.

At the time of his birth Alcmene was living at Thebes with her husband
Amphitryon, and thus the infant Heracles was born in the palace of his
stepfather.

Aware of the animosity with which Hera persecuted all those who
rivalled her in the affections of Zeus, Alcmene, fearful lest this hatred
should be visited on her innocent child, intrusted him, soon after his
birth, to the care of a faithful servant, with instructions to expose him
in a certain field, and there leave him, feeling assured that the divine
offspring of Zeus would not long remain without the protection of the
gods.

Soon after the child had been thus abandoned, Hera and Pallas-Athene
happened to pass by the field, and were attracted by its cries. Athene
pityingly took up the infant in her arms, and prevailed upon the queen of
heaven to put it to her breast; but no sooner had she done so, than the
child, causing her pain, she angrily threw him to the ground, and left
the spot. Athene, moved with compassion, carried him to Alcmene, and
entreated her kind offices on behalf of the poor little foundling.
Alcmene at once recognized her child, and joyfully accepted the
charge.

Soon afterwards Hera, to her extreme annoyance, discovered whom she
had nursed, and became filled with jealous rage. She now sent two
venomous snakes into the chamber of Alcmene, which crept, unperceived by
the nurses, to the cradle of the sleeping child. He awoke with a cry, and
grasping a snake in each hand, strangled them both. Alcmene and her
attendants, whom the cry of the child had awakened, rushed to the cradle,
where, to their astonishment and terror, they beheld the two reptiles
dead in the hands of the infant Heracles. Amphitryon was also attracted
to the chamber by the [235]commotion, and when he beheld this
astounding proof of supernatural strength, he declared that the child
must have been sent to him as a special gift from Zeus. He accordingly
consulted the famous seer Tiresias, who now informed him of the divine
origin of his stepson, and prognosticated for him a great and
distinguished future.

When Amphitryon heard the noble destiny which awaited the child
intrusted to his care, he resolved to educate him in a manner worthy of
his future career. At a suitable age he himself taught him how to guide a
chariot; Eurytus, how to handle the bow; Autolycus, dexterity in
wrestling and boxing; and Castor, the art of armed warfare; whilst Linus,
the son of Apollo, instructed him in music and letters.

Heracles was an apt pupil; but undue harshness was intolerable to his
high spirit, and old Linus, who was not the gentlest of teachers, one day
corrected him with blows, whereupon the boy angrily took up his lyre,
and, with one stroke of his powerful arm, killed his tutor on the
spot.

Apprehensive lest the ungovernable temper of the youth might again
involve him in similar acts of violence, Amphitryon sent him into the
country, where he placed him under the charge of one of his most trusted
herdsmen. Here, as he grew up to manhood, his extraordinary stature and
strength became the wonder and admiration of all beholders. His aim,
whether with spear, lance, or bow, was unerring, and at the age of
eighteen he was considered to be the strongest as well as the most
beautiful youth in all Greece.

The Choice of Heracles.—Heracles felt that the time had
now arrived when it became necessary to decide for himself how to make
use of the extraordinary powers with which he had been endowed by the
gods; and in order to meditate in solitude on this all-important subject,
he repaired to a lonely and secluded spot in the heart of the forest.

Here two females of great beauty appeared to him. [236]One was Vice,
the other Virtue. The former was full of artificial wiles and fascinating
arts, her face painted and her dress gaudy and attractive; whilst the
latter was of noble bearing and modest mien, her robes of spotless
purity.

Vice stepped forward and thus addressed him: “If you will walk in my
paths, and make me your friend, your life shall be one round of pleasure
and enjoyment. You shall taste of every delight which can be procured on
earth; the choicest viands, the most delicious wines, the most luxuriant
of couches shall be ever at your disposal; and all this without any
exertion on your part, either physical or mental.”

Virtue now spoke in her turn: “If you will follow me and be my friend,
I promise you the reward of a good conscience, and the love and respect
of your fellowmen. I cannot undertake to smooth your path with roses, or
to give you a life of idleness and pleasure; for you must know that the
gods grant no good and desirable thing that is not earned by labour; and
as you sow, so must you reap.”

Heracles listened patiently and attentively to both speakers, and
then, after mature deliberation, decided to follow in the paths of
virtue, and henceforth to honour the gods, and to devote his life to the
service of his country.

Full of these noble resolves he sought once more his rural home, where
he was informed that on Mount Cithæron, at the foot of which the herds of
Amphitryon were grazing, a ferocious lion had fixed his lair, and was
committing such frightful ravages among the flocks and herds that he had
become the scourge and terror of the whole neighbourhood. Heracles at
once armed himself and ascended the mountain, where he soon caught sight
of the lion, and rushing at him with his sword succeeded in killing him.
The hide of the animal he wore ever afterwards over his shoulders, and
the head served him as a helmet.

As he was returning from this, his first exploit, he met [237]the heralds of
Erginus, king of the Minyans, who were proceeding to Thebes to demand
their annual tribute of 100 oxen. Indignant at this humiliation of his
native city, Heracles mutilated the heralds, and sent them back, with
ropes round their necks, to their royal master.

Erginus was so incensed at the ill-treatment of his messengers that he
collected an army and appeared before the gates of Thebes, demanding the
surrender of Heracles. Creon, who was at this time king of Thebes,
fearing the consequences of a refusal, was about to yield, when the hero,
with the assistance of Amphitryon and a band of brave youths, advanced
against the Minyans.

Heracles took possession of a narrow defile through which the enemy
were compelled to pass, and as they entered the pass the Thebans fell
upon them, killed their king Erginus, and completely routed them. In this
engagement Amphitryon, the kind friend and foster-father of Heracles,
lost his life. The hero now advanced upon Orchomenus, the capital of the
Minyans, where he burned the royal castle and sacked the town.

After this signal victory all Greece rang with the fame of the young
hero, and Creon, in gratitude for his great services, bestowed upon him
his daughter Megara in marriage. The Olympian gods testified their
appreciation of his valour by sending him presents; Hermes gave him a
sword, Phœbus-Apollo a bundle of arrows, Hephæstus a golden quiver,
and Athene a coat of leather.

Heracles and Eurystheus.—And now it will be necessary to
retrace our steps. Just before the birth of Heracles, Zeus, in an
assembly of the gods, exultingly declared that the child who should be
born on that day to the house of Perseus should rule over all his race.
When Hera heard her lord’s boastful announcement she knew well that it
was for the child of the hated Alcmene that this brilliant destiny was
designed; and in order to rob the son of her rival of his rights, she
called to her aid the goddess Eilithyia, who retarded the birth of [238]Heracles, and caused his cousin Eurystheus
(another grandson of Perseus) to precede him into the world. And thus, as
the word of the mighty Zeus was irrevocable, Heracles became the subject
and servant of his cousin Eurystheus.

When, after his splendid victory over Erginus, the fame of Heracles
spread throughout Greece, Eurystheus (who had become king of Mycenæ),
jealous of the reputation of the young hero, asserted his rights, and
commanded him to undertake for him various difficult tasks. But the proud
spirit of the hero rebelled against this humiliation, and he was about to
refuse compliance, when Zeus appeared to him and desired him not to rebel
against the Fates. Heracles now repaired to Delphi in order to consult
the oracle, and received the answer that after performing ten tasks for
his cousin Eurystheus his servitude would be at an end.

Soon afterwards Heracles fell into a state of the deepest melancholy,
and through the influence of his inveterate enemy, the goddess Hera, this
despondency developed into raving madness, in which condition he killed
his own children. When he at length regained his reason he was so
horrified and grieved at what he had done, that he shut himself up in his
chamber and avoided all intercourse with men. But in his loneliness and
seclusion the conviction that work would be the best means of procuring
oblivion of the past decided him to enter, without delay, upon the tasks
appointed him by Eurystheus.

1. The Nemean Lion.—His first task was to bring to
Eurystheus the skin of the much-dreaded Nemean lion, which ravaged the
territory between Cleone and Nemea, and whose hide was invulnerable
against any mortal weapon.

Heracles proceeded to the forest of Nemea, where, having discovered
the lion’s lair, he attempted to pierce him with his arrows; but finding
these of no avail he felled him to the ground with his club, and before
the animal had time to recover from the terrible blow, [239]Heracles
seized him by the neck and, with a mighty effort, succeeded in strangling
him. He then made himself a coat of mail of the skin, and a new helmet of
the head of the animal. Thus attired, he so alarmed Eurystheus by
appearing suddenly before him, that the king concealed himself in his
palace, and henceforth forbade Heracles to enter his presence, but
commanded him to receive his behests, for the future, through his
messenger Copreus.

2. The Hydra.—His second task was to slay the Hydra, a
monster serpent (the offspring of Typhon and Echidna), bristling with
nine heads, one of which was immortal. This monster infested the
neighbourhood of Lerna, where she committed great depredations among the
herds.