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MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY.

MANUAL

MYTHOLOGY:
GREEK AND ROMAN,
NORSE,

AND OLD GERMAN, HINDOO AND

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.

ALEXANDER

S.

'

MURRAY,

DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM.

^rronft t!P&ttton, Hr=torittttt,

atiti

(JTonsrtrtraMy nlargrtr.

WITH FORTY- FIVE PLATES.

LONDON

ASHER AND
13,

CO.,

BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

1874.

Watson

&

Ha*ell, Printers.

London and Aylesbury.

PREFACE.

The

rapid sale of the

Mythology

"

was so

that in preparing the

for,

every

standard

effort

signal

added,

in

The

smaller

memorable

works of

art

represented.

Among

the

those of the labours

greatly

enlarged.

The Manual

made

to render

now

is

called

efficient

it

as

made more

new

illustrations.

descriptions of the Greek deities

type,
in

an

at the

end of each has

account

which each deity

legends

of

the

the most

of
is

Greek

or

was

heroes,

of Herakles have been re-written and

The

chapters

on

the

Eastern

Northern Mythology are entirely new, and have been

ther

of

an assurance of public favour,

have been largely re-written, and

been

of "

second edition, which

has been

text-book.

edition

first

and
fur-

readily comprehensible by the addition of

PREFACE.

VI

With these

now

justify

class-book

Petiscus,

owes

Mythology.

to

as

to

the

splendid

On

the

contrary,

it

masters
it

is

Manual

that the

trustworthy and

This much

Welcker.

been an assistance which

models

and

but this time as

hoped

Preller,
less

AVelcker.

them,

for

is

to be

claim

its

it

no longer described

to -be

it

alterations,

it

may

will

complete

also

claim

founded on the works of

Not

that

researches

in- its

of

owes more

new form

Preller

than

whose works

and

ever to

have rather

a pride to acknowledge, than

copy with exactness.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction

Greek and Roman Mythology

The

Creation of the World

Deities of the Highest Order

Inferior Deities

Demigods

or

22
.

Heroes

.26

......
.

Norse and Old German Mythology

Mythology and Religion of the Hindoos

.129

Mythology and Religion of Egypt

Index

309

.......

The Vedic Gods

The Brahmanic Gods

200

328

-337
-341
353

OF PLATES.

LIST

Amazon xxxiii., 268.

Andromeda: xxxii., 216,

Demeter (Ceres)

Aphrodite (Venus):

Diana of Ephesus

viii., ix.,

Dionysos

xxviii., 75, 83, 168.

Apollo

xi.,

88.
viii.,

xxviii.,

75, 168.

56.

xv., 115.

(Bacchus)

xiv.,

Dioskuri xxxiii., 268.

Eos (Aurora) xxvii., 167.
:

Ariadne xvi., 120.

Artemis (Diana) xiv.,

Erato

ASKLEPIOS

109.

(AESCULAPIUS)

Athene (Minerva)

xi., xii.,

Erinys

xxix., 189.

Eros (Cupid)

Euterpe
Fenris

88, 94.

xxviii.,

xxix.,

Freija

xxxii., 216.

Saraswati

See Demeter.

Chloris (Flora)

Freyr
Frigg

xlii.,337-

xxi.,

Hades.

320.

See Tyche.

xxxvii., 314.

xxxix., 317.

xxxvi., 315.

Ganymedes
151.

xxiv., 159.

See Chloris.

Fortuna.

See Dionysos.

Bellerophon
Brahma, with

xl.,

Flora.

See Eos.

Bacchus.

xv., 160.

168, 189.

xxxi., 178.

Ceres.

vi.,

109.

Ares (Mars):

Aurora.

See Eros.

Cupid.

xxviii., 168.

See Pluto.

LIST OF PLATES.

Muses, Mother of

88.

xi.,

Heph/estos (Vulcan)

viii.,

75, 121.

x.,

Hera

(Juno)

46, 50.

iv., v.,

Herakles (Hercules):

xxx.,

200.
:

x., xvii.,

Hestia (Vesta)

Hor^e
Hygiea

Hymen

Isis

Kamadeva

xxii.,
i.,

xxi., 151.

xxxi.,

vi.,

56.

Proserpina

Psyche

xxiv., 159.

vi.,

Rhea

339.

Satyr

157.

i.,

ii.,

xix.,

Serapis

29.

29,

xlv.,

n.

136.

350.

70.

Siren

xxxiv., 283.

Siva:

xliii.,

Sol.

See Helios.

See Leto.

Leto (Latona) xviii.,

Mars. See Ares.
:

Meleager xxxiii.,
Melpomene: xxii.,
:

v.,

xxix.,

xxviii.,

153.

xx., 149.

339.

Terpsichore

268.

Thalia
Themis

157.

Theseus

xxii.,

xviii.,
:

50.

56.

189.

158.

xliii.,

vii.,

17S,

xxxii.,

Poseidon (Neptune)

132.

xxiii.,

347.

Polyhymnia:

See Zeus.

Kalliope

Latona.

xliv.,

xix., 136.

Pluto

350.

Jupiter.

Kronos
Kuretes
Laokoon

Pan

Frontispiece.

216.

329.

See Hera.

Osiris

Pegasos

xvii.,

Perseus:

xli.,

Juno.

Klio

160, 178.

xxvi., 162.

Janus

xxxi., 178.

xlv.,

xxvi., 162.

56.

vi.,

xxv., xxxi.,

Neptune. See Poseidon.

Nike (Victoria) xxx., 200.
Nile god xliv., 347.
Niobe xiii., 100.
Odin xxxv., 313.
"OX.u/x7ro?.

121, 132.

Iris

xxiii.,

158.

Hermes (Mercury)

Indra

See Athene.

Minerva.

Helios (Sol)

See Hermes.

Mercury.

Hebe xxvi., 162.

Hecate vii., 70.

xxv., 160.

157.
153.

xxxiv., 283.

168,

LIST OF PLATES.

Thor

xxxviii., 315.

INTRODUCTION.

THERE
is

is

a charm

in"

the

glory in every page

name

of ancient Greece

of her history

her climate

still,

her works of art

in

and a strange

there

there

mountain, plain, or
is

river,

There

not in

is

artists,

all

the land a

Pheidias, Praxiteles,

The names

tale.

Apelles, and Zeuxis

and Demosthenes

Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon

Archimedes and Euclid, are

We

of her

orators, Pericles

of

of her

Homer, Pindar, /Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides

philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus the names of her
poets,

men and

We

our poets

nor a fountain, grove, or wood, that

not hallowed by some legend or poetic

her

fas-

a spell in

is

attraction in her ruins.

arc familiar with the praises of her beautiful islands

sing of her lovely genial sky.

is

and a sense of un-

cination in the remains of her literature,

approachable beauty

there

states-

of her historians,

of her mathematicians,

familiar to us as

household words.

look back over a period of more than two thousand years

with feelings of wonder at her achievements on the battle-field

and

We

in the arts of peace.

always confess to failure

lation,

we

How

are

far

still

emulate her in

many

and when we have no

ways, but

desire of

emu-

ready in most cases to admire.

we may

find just cause for admiration or the coni

INTRODUCTION.
trary with regard to her religion

ever

way

we

be,

it

the intense hold

it

shall at

For

remains to be seen.
rate find

was calculated

it

was

it

vicissitudes of

trader entrusted

life

husbandman sowed

sciously

its

and property

mechanic traced the

their

growth

his seed,

that the sailor

and

The

to the capricious sea.

and handicraft which grew uncon-

skill

upon him by

on

to exercise

in the firm belief of his interests being

the special care of a deity that the

and watched the

But which-

abundant evidence of

had upon the great mass of the people, and of

the important influence

civilization.

any

practice to the direct influence of a god.

Artists ascribed the mysterious evolution of their ideas,

the inspiration of their song, to the

same superior

and poets
Daily

cause.

bread and daily

life,

festal gatherings,

were duly acknowledged as coming from the

same high source.

the joy and gladness that circulated at

Everywhere

of august invisible beings

clouds

on the

the earth, with

that

man

rigid fate

wish

it

all his

deities

were,

it

He

its

plains

and

movements
It

rivers.

was marked out

was indeed

and
;

on

seemed

for

alter,

him by a

should they

free to act, but the con-

actions were settled beforehand.

whom the affairs of the world were enwas believed, immortal, though not eternal

to

we

shall see

concerning their

a story of the

the presence

felt

and everything around him, was upheld by

in their existence, as

legends

peaks,

that his career

on occasion.

These

was

which even the gods could not

sequences of

trusted

its lofty

in nature

in the sky, with its luminaries

sea, with its fickle, changeful

himself,

Divine power

birth.

when we come
In

Crete

to read the

was even

there

death of Zeus, his tomb being pointed out

and, further, the fact that the gods were believed to sustain
their existence

by means of nectar and ambrosia,

is

sufficient

proof of their being usually deemed subject to the infirmities

INTRODUCTION.

of age.

Being immortal, they were next, as a consequence,

supposed to be omnipotent and omniscient.

Their physical

strength was extraordinary, the earth shaking sometimes under

their tread.
Whatever they did was done speedily. They
moved through space almost without the loss of a moment of
time.
They knew all things, saw and heard all things with rare
exceptions.
They were wise, and communicated their wisdom
to men.
They had a most strict sense of justice, punished

crime rigorously, and rewarded noble actions, though

it is

true

that they were less conspicuous for the latter.

Their punish-

ments came quickly, as a

even

the second generation,

who escaped

rule

still

but even

if late,

they came without

retribution in this

life

was sure

if

The

fail.

to obtain

it

not

till

sinner
in the

who died unrewarded enjoyed the

fruit of their good actions in the next life.
To many this did
not appear a satisfactory way of managing human affairs, and
lower world

while the good

hence there frequently arose doubts as to the absolute justice

of the gods, and even the sanctity of their

were reflected in

stories,

lives.

These doubts

which, to the indignation of

men

like

the poet Pindar, represented this or that one of the gods as

guilty of

some offence or

punish.

Philosophers endeavoured

some

mere

as

other, such as they were believed to

explain these stories,

to

fictions of the brain, others as allegories

which lay a profound meaning.

under

But the mass of the people

accepted them as they came, and nevertheless believed in the

perfect sanctity of the gods, being satisfied that

human

wicked-

ness was detested and punished by them.

Whether the gods were supposed

kind, or only such as led

good

to love the

lives, is

whole of man-

not certain.

It

would

seem, however, from the universal practice of offering sacrifice

and expiation on the occasior of any wrong,

that they were be-

INTRODUCTION.

endowed with some deep

lieved to be

feeling of general love,

which even sinners could touch by means of atonement.

all

They hated

events they were merciful.

among

individual men,

and would on such occasions

Satanic power of leading them into sin.

written laws of right

and wrong

in the

and engagements were under

duties

At

excessive prosperity
exercise a

They implanted unhuman breast. Social

their special care, as

were

also the legislative measures of states.

There were

tales of personal visits

and adventures of the gods

among men, taking part in battles, and appearing

They were conceived to possess the form of human
men, subject

to be, like

terized

to love

and

To produce

statues of

them

high ideal was the chief ambition of

of statues in which such success

mind

an awe

felt

But while

this

examples of
Pheidias,

it

art,

as

if

and

artists

had been

that could

be

that would equal this

and

in

presence

attained, the popular

some way the

in

beings,

pain, but always charac-

by the highest qualities and grandest form

imagined.

dreams.

in

was the case with regard

deity were near.

the

to

renowned

such as the statue of Zeus at Olympia, by

was equally true with regard to those very ancient

rude figures of deities which were believed

from heaven,

to

and were on that account most

have

fallen

carefully pre-

served in temples, the removal or loss of such a figure being

considered

an

equivalent to the

deity

whose image

time,

owing

it

was.

to the vast

loss of

the favour of

This was idolatry.

number of

beautiful

the

At the same

and grand

statues

of gods, there gradually arose a feeling of the deification of man,

and a struggle

to become more and more like these beings of

human form and divine presence. For it is one of the
advantages of having gods possessed of human form that man-

nobler

kind can look up to them with the feeling of having something

INTRODUCTION.

in

common, and

This was a

the assurance of pity and favour.

powerful element in the Greek religion, and led more than any
other to the extraordinary piety of the Greek race, in spite of
all

the
It

awkward

stories

which we are accustomed to

would seem that the gods were not looked on,

ridicule.

at

any rate

Perhaps the mass of

popularly, as having created the world.

the people cared nothing for speculation as to the origin of

what actually

existed, their chief thoughts being concentrated

changes that took place in what existed and directly

in the

affected their interests.

In this

spirit

they looked on the gods

maintaining and preserving the existing order and

as only

system of things according to their divine wisdom.

was

that the

eternal

Greeks never arrived

Hence

who

management of

to polytheism

who presided
the world.

may have been

in particular depart-

Their natural tendency

much

by the peculiar

further aggravated

circumstances of their early history as a race.

gested with

in

occasionally exercised control or sove-

reignty over the other gods

in the

it

one absolute

God, though they very nearly approached that idea

the case of Zeus,

ments

at the idea of

plausibility that a

number

It

has been sug-

of their deities, as

Dione, Hera, Gaea, and Demeter, resemble each other so

much

as to warrant the reasonableness of the conclusion that their

separate existence in the mythology was due to a coalescence

at

some remote

early time of distinct tribes of the

Greek

race,

each possessing beforehand a god or gods of their own, with

separate

names and

though

in the

and a common worship.

It is

slightly different attributes,

main capable of

identification

probable

consequence of such amalgamation, some of

that, in

the earliest gods have disappeared altogether

who

while

others,

in after times, as in the case of Dione, held subordinate

positions,

may have

originally

been

deities of the first order.

INTRODUCTION.

At the time with which we

nation inhabited the country

though

its

of the ancient race.

It

was spread

also in colonies over the

on the north

Sea, in the Crimea,

and on the south coast of France.

features the

its

of Greece,

and Mediterranean, along the coasts

Minor and the Black

coast of Africa,

of

known by the name

present population has small claim to be descendants

islands of the Archipelago

of Asia

Greek

are here concerned, the

still

In

many

mainland of Greece may be compared with

England, both having the same comparatively vast extent of sea

coast, very few parts of the country being out of sight of the

Both are well supplied with mountains that invigorate the

sea.

and

climate,

be that

the sea, with

yond

its

desire of

In both cases

the spirit of adventure.

stir

it

may

proximity of the greater part of the population to

this

its

horizon tempting young minds to penetrate be-

ever-receding line, was the main cause of the general

commerce and

distant colonization.

At any

rate, the

natural features of Greece, her beautiful bays, the vivid lines of

her mountain peaks, her delightful groves and valleys,

deep impression on the people

and

spread, retained the warmest recollection of

made

wherever they

colonists,

them

of snow-clad

Olympos, where the gods lived; of the lovely vale of Tempe; of

the smiling banks of the Peneios

of peaceful Arcadia, with

Olympia, with

its

its

of the sacred grove at Delphi

pastoral

life

of the broad plain of

innumerable temples, statues, and treasure-

houses of costly presents to the gods

of Corinth, with

that ruled the sea; of Athens; of Thebes, with

del founded by

We

propose

belief of the

the

But

way for
first

its

its flag

ancient cita-

Cadmus of Eleusis, and many other places.

now to examine more particularly the religious
;

Greeks and Romans, with the view of preparing

the descriptions that follow of the gods individually.

of

all

let

us

explain

the

meaning of the word

INTRODUCTION.

According

"mythology."
mythos, a

tale,

and

logos,

to

derivation from the Greek

its

an account,

it

would mean " an account

to the origin,

of tales," the tales in this case being confined

and functions of the ancient gods,

character,

mankind, and the primitive condition of the

understand these stories we must

try to

to the origin of

To

visible world.

understand the circum-

stances under which they were invented, and must endeavour

comprehend the condition and circumstances of a nation in

For this purpose we can comthe early stage of its existence.
to

pare the early tales relating to the gods of other nations, of the

Indian on the one hand and the

may

also

civilized

German on

compare the condition of races

From

state.

these sources

it

the other

at present in

and fancy

activity of imagination

portion as knowledge

is

least.

or

we

an un-

would seem that the

youth of a nation, like that of an individual,

which the

is

is

the period at

greatest in pro-

The mystery of surrounding

its phenomena on the senses.

nature strikes forcibly on the mind,

There

is

a feeling of alarm

warm

of gladness in the

when thunder

crashes on the ear,

light of day, of terror in the darkness

of night, and of a strange dread at the darkness of death.

accidents of daily

life

bind

men

The

together, and repel the rest of

human superiority soon

know each other when as yet
They know their own passions and in-

the animal creation, over which the

becomes known.
they

know nothing

stincts.

palms,

Men
else.

learn to

They measure everything by themselves, by feet, paces,

and ells and when they seek to fathom or measure the
;

phenomena of nature they have no standard to

hand, except themselves. They might, it is true,

cause of the

employ

at

imagine the cause of the thunder under the form of a great invisible lion but in that case they could not commune with and
;

implore the thunderer for

pity, as

they are

moved

to do.

He

INTRODUCTION.

must therefore be conceived as fashioned

like a

and

civilization advance,

higher.

It

those qualities

seems probable that the

first

man, endowed

As knowledge

with the highest imaginable qualities of a man.

become higher and

phenomena

that ap-

pealed to the mind were those of the change of weather, of

seasons, the revolving

day and the revolving

year.

At any

rate,

we can trace them, appear to be

those who presided over the movements of the celestial sphere.
We seem to recognise the influence of such phenomena in
the chief characteristics of mankind in a primitive stage of
the earliest deities, as well as

existence
fatality,

might

the

sense of order and regularity, the feeling of

the conviction that whatever temporary disturbances

arise, the

course of

coming with bright

light,

human

life

obeyed some fixed law,

and departing

in darkness, but only to

commence another day of happy life

that the name of the highest god of the
"light of the world," in a

elsewhere.

literal sense.

In time, as the per-

ceptive faculties expanded, and the wants of

the other

phenomena of the world became

and were,

The
is,

We know

ancients signified the

men

multiplied,

the subject of inquiry,

as usual, ascribed to the direct influence of deities.

singular part however, of this process of inventing deities

that having,

at

the

commencement, obtained one

powerful god, they did not simply extend his functions to

great
all

the

departments of nature, instead of finding a new god to preside

over each.

It

may be

that the apparent conflict frequently

observed between the elements of nature was hostile to such an

idea, while

on the contrary nothing was more readily imaginable

than a quarrel among different gods as the cause of such pheno-

mena.
ments,

By

a similar process the combination of different ele-

as, for

example, warmth and moisture, was appropriately

described from the

human

point of view as a prolific union or

INTRODUCTION.

marriage of two
brother and

The sun and moon were

deities.

sister.

Another opinion, somewhat

primitive stage of

god

such

all

a belief,

became, they

in the existence of

explaining the

On
the

religions
is

it

use of his arms and

belief

said,

at variance with this,

is

being as natural to

But

legs.

this earliest

say, in course of time

many

speak

of nature as

surrounded by a crowd of lesser

various

phenomena of

notion of one god did

opposed
till

we have

to the other

nature.
arise,

and

we know

It
it

who

spirits,

while

of

the

Spirit is

represent the

was of the one true God as

false gods,

thinking

in

would seem that when the

and

this

did not take place

a high stage of civilization was reached.

of Greece, no doubt,

method of

described.

American Indians the Great

primitive religion of the

as the

debased into a belief

hosts of divine beings

of

man

and pure form of

gods, originating in such a

phenomena

that the

is,

a universal belief in one great

the other hand, the oldest religious records

Vedas

called

In the best times

men acknowledged

but one

supreme being, and looked on the crowd of other gods as

merely his servants, and in no sense really different from our
idea of angels.

In due time the religion of the ancients became a polytheism

on a very extensive scale

earth, every

phase of

every phase of nature, sky, sea, and

human

life, its

habits, accidents,

pulses, being provided with a special guardian

In

deity.

all

the varying circumstances of

one or other of these divine persons

Temples, sanctuaries,

altars,

life

and

men

and im-

controlling-

turned to

in gratitude or for help.

were erected to them everywhere,

one being worshipped with special favour here, and another

there
at

one with special favour

another season.

Many

at

one season of the

of them were only

year, another

known and wor-

INTRODUCTION.

IO

shipped

in particular localities

as, for instance,

among people connected

with the sea.

particular periods of the

national

marine deities

Others belonged to

history.

This limitation,

however, with regard to local differences, applies only to the

vast number of minor deities whose names and attributes have
come down to our times for a belief in the superior order of
;

gods was the

common

property of the whole nation, whether

learned or unlearned, and of whatever occupation.

teries of Eleusis united the

national festivals united

Zeus

at

them

in

the

honour of other gods, as of

Every one believed

Olympia.

The mys-

people in honour of Demeter

in the oracular

power

of Apollo, in the might of Poseidon, in the grim character of

Hades, that Hera was the wife of Zeus, that Athene was his
daughter, that Aphrodite was the goddess of love, Artemis of
the

moon, and Ares the god of war.

It

was believed that these higher

living

deities inhabited

Olympos,

together in a social state which was but a magnified

reflection of the social

system on earth.

Quarrels, love passages,

mutual assistance, and such incidents as characterize human

life,

were ascribed to them.

that these

human

attributes,

It

must however be borne

and the

stories

in

mind

connected with them,

whether they represent admirable qualities or the reverse, were

not in the

make

first

their

instance ascribed to the gods out of a desire to

resemblance to

man more

complete, but were the

natural result of identifying the gods with the elements of nature

over which they were supposed to preside, of conceiving and

representing the combination or conflict of elements visible in

nature as the result of the combination or conflict of invisible

beings of

human

form.

In later times of higher civilization and

when the origin of

phenomena was lost

greater refinement,

the gods as personifica-

tions of natural

sight of,

many

of these

INTRODUCTION.

stories

came

to

be viewed as disgraceful, and by being made

the subject of public ridicule in plays tended largely to uproot

the general faith in the gods. Philosophers attempted to explain

them

way

Others,

as allegories.

who

did not themselves see then-

to believing them, yet advised that the popular faith in

But we who

should not be disturbed.

no need of a

and the source of its long and deep

at them in a calmer

on a great nation, may look

influence

mood.

and de-

religion that has long since passed away,

siring only to trace its origin

them

live in other times, having

It is

our part to admire as

condemn without

first

and not

far as possible,

to

taking into account every extenuating

circumstance.

Turning now

the gods,
fices.

and ceremonies by which the Greeks

and entire dependence on

to the rites

and Romans expressed

we would

their belief in

call attention first to

and wine

the other of animals, which were led

decked with garlands and ribbons,

slain,

and part of the

smell of

it

flesh

after

being supposed to

rise

be spotless and

health)', that the

ceremony should be cleanly

costliness could

The

make

fruits,

cakes,

to the altar

various ceremonies
fire,

the

agreeably to the gods.

It

consumed upon the

was necessary that the animals selected

gods.

the offering of sacri-

These were of two kinds, one consisting of

for this

altar

purpose should

persons participating in the

in person

and

in

mind

for

no

the offering of a sinner acceptable to the

colour, age,

and sex of the animal were determined

to the deity for whom it was

by the feeling of appropriateness

slain.

The

time chosen for the ceremony was the morning in

the case of the gods of heaven, the evening in the case of the

To

gods of the lower world.

always offered entire, as

it

these latter deities the victim was

was not deemed possible that they

could share in a feast in company with men.

The

fire

on the

altar

INTRODUCTION.

was considered

holy,

and special care was taken

be fed with wood that gave a pure flame.

that

it

should

In early times

would seem that even human beings were offered as

it

sacrifices to

certain gods, the victims in such cases being occasionally, to

judge from the instance of Iphigenia, closely connected by

blood and affection with the person required to make the

But these were, perhaps, mostly cases

in

which the

ties

of

sacrifice.

will of the

gods was specially communicated through a seer or prophet

whereas

was a spontaneous

sacrifice generally

the gods,

gift to

either for the purpose of expressing gratitude for the blessings

bestowed by them, or of atoning

person sacrificing was conscious.
intermittently
offered,

and

at

mere

in.

some

sin of

when

which the

were not presented

when occasion

pleasure, but regularly

as at harvest time,

gardens were gathered

for

Sacrifices

the fruits of the fields

The herdsman

and

sacrificed the firstlings

of his flock, the merchant gave part of his gain, and the soldier

a share of his booty in war.

The gods

to

whom

and worldly blessings were due expected such

prosperity

all

offerings,

it

was

thought, and punished every instance of neglect.

There was, however, another

a different motive,

and with a

class of sacrifices, springing

view

different object in

from

for ex-

ample, to obtain by means of an examination of the entrails of

an animal an augury as to the issue of some enterprise,

commence-

of sacrifice which was held of great importance at the

ment

of a battle

or to sanctify the ratification of a treaty, or

some important bargain between man and man

purification for

some

perished together.

In this

crime.

that the victim took the sin

How

a form

upon

Hence no

its

last

own

case

it

or to obtain

was supposed

head, and that both

part of such victims

was eaten.

the gods were supposed to partake of the

sacrifices allotted to

them

is

not always

clear,

though

share of

in the case

INTRODUCTION.

of burnt offerings they

may be imagined

with the smell that rose in the

with the aroma of the wine.

honour of the

13

air,

and

to

With regard

deities of the lower world,

the belief that the blood of the victim,

the ground, would

down

sink

if

it

satisfied

to the sacrifices in

seems

to

have been

poured into a hole

in

and be acceptably

them,

to

have been

in the case of libations

In the same hole, or near by, were buried the ashes

received.
that

remained on the

The

portions assigned to marine or river deities were sunk in

altar

on which the victim was consumed.

deep water.
was the duty of the

It

up the

offering

The

were.

sacrifices

taining the sacrificial knife,

and

to pass

altar

from

it,

perform the ceremony

of

brought to the gods in whose service they

part of the

first

priests to

ceremony was

some

corn,

to take a basket con-

and perhaps

also flowers,

along with a vessel containing water, round the

The water was next purified by dipping

it.
Thereupon the people who had

left to right.

a brand from the altar in

brought the

sacrifice sprinkled

themselves and the

altar,

taking a handful of corn from the basket, scattered

head of the victim as

it

approached.

The

it

and

on the

priest then, after

shearing a lock of hair from the head of the animal,

and

distri-

among the bystanders to be thrown on the altar fire,

commanded silence, prayed that the offering might be acceptbuting

it

able to the god,

and slew the

victim.

The

blood, except in the

case of the deities of the lower world, as has been observed,

and the

entrails,

placed upon the

The

strong

consciousness of
rise also to

on

all

were mixed with wheat, wine, and incense, and

fire.

feelings
guilt,

of piety,

which gave

gratitude,
rise to

dependence,

or

such offerings, gave

a universal habit of prayer, and a desire to frequent

possible occasions the temples

and

altars of the ^ods.

INTRODUCTION.

14

Morning and evening,

beginning of meals, at the

the

at

opening of business in the courts of justice and public assema prayer was offered up,

blies,

no

or, if

for the

now

to

particular deity appeared to

one god, now

Greek prayers, which we must not omit

to mention, that after calling

added

clause was

on a deity by

to save the suppliant

prayer in yEschylus
it

lift

" Zeus, whoever thou

please thee to be named,

I call

art,

and by what-

on thee and pray."

was the custom of the Greeks

it

the hands and turn the face towards the east

Romans,

to turn towards the north.

gods stretched out

his

hands towards the

a prayer was offered up

in a

suppliant would

image,

it,

and a suppliant

sea,

temple the rule was to

branch, or a rod with wool

carry an olive

its

Pythagoras, the

feet.

taught his followers to pray with a loud voice

to

have been customary.

happened not unfrequently

tablets, sealed

his hands.

throw himself on the ground before the sacred

and embrace

do not appear

of the

In cases of great distress the

turn towards the sacred image.

twined round

suppliant of the sea

of the gods of the lower world beat the earth with

When

On

that the prayers

philosopher,

but loud prayers

the contrary,

Here

and deposited beside the image of the god,

usual form

is

that

us,

even

if

in

a specimen of what seems to have been the

" Zeus, our lord, give unto us whatever

whether we ask

it

were written on

no human being might be aware of the request contained

them.

dis-

In praying to the gods above

to

name

name employed for how could man

name of a god ? We have an example of such a

the true

name

his usual

from any possible

pleasure of the deity at the

ever

There was

time and occasion, to the gods generally.

this peculiarity in the

know

to another,

be an appropriate guardian

it

we ask

of thee or not
it

of thee."

whatever

is evil

keep

is

good,

far

from

INTRODUCTION.
Besides sacrifice and prayer there

ceremonies,

Greeks

is

still

another class of

which we recognise the deep piety of the

in

first,

the custom of consulting oracles, especially that

of Apollo at Delphi, in times of great perplexity

the universal

practice,

in

cases

of

emergency, of trying to interpret the

less

or

will of the

and secondly,

more

sudden

gods by means

of augury or divination in a vast variety of ways.

Sometimes

the augury was taken from the direction in which birds were

observed to

fly

overhead.

If to the right of the augur,

who

stood with his face to the north, good luck would attend the
enterprise

in

question

times an animal was

if

slain,

to

the

and

its

the reverse.

At other

entrails carefully

examined,

left,

the propitiousness of the gods being supposed to

depend on

healthy and normal condition of these parts.

But the gods

were also believed to communicate their

will to

men

in

the

dreams,

by sending thunder and lightning, comets, meteors,, eclipses,

earthquakes, prodigies in nature, and the thousands of unex-

pected incidents that occur to men.

As few persons were

to interpret the bearing of these signs

employment

for a large class of

able

and wonders, there was

people who made

this

their

particular business.
Finally,

we must not

forget to

mention as a proof of the wide-

spread religious feeling of the Greeks the national

festivals,

games, as they are called, established and maintained

of certain gods.
it

was necessary

between separate

While these
to

festivals

or

honour

were being celebrated

suspend whatever war might be going on

states,

and

to permit visitors to pass

lested even through hostile territory.

in

in

These

festivals

unmo-

were four

number the Olympian, Pythian, Nemcan, and Isthmian.

The first-mentioned was held in honour of Zeus, on the plain
:

of Olympia, in.Elis.

It

occurred every

fifth

year,

and the usual

INTRODUCTION.

method of reckoning time was according to its re-occurrence,

The games with which it was celeas we say.

by Olympiads,

brated consisted of running, wrestling, boxing, a combination of

the two latter, horse-racing, either with chariots or only with

The

riders.

was simply a wreath of

prize of victory

yet athletes trained themselves laboriously

distances to compete for

Kings sent

it.

and

and

olive,

travelled great

their horses to run in

and counted a victory among the highest honours of

The fellow-townsmen of a victorious athlete would
lives.

the races,
their

raise a statue in his honour.

Occasionally writers, as

we

are

told of Herodotus, took this occasion of a vast assemblage of

countrymen

their

to read to

them

The

part of their writings.

Pythian games were held in honour of Apollo, in the neighbour-

hood of Delphi, and occurred every

music as well as

petitions in

wreath of

in

fifth

year, there being

athletics.

The

prize

com-

was a

At the Nemean games, which were held

laurel.

honour of Zeus, the prize was a wreath of

games were held

ivy.

in

The Isthmian

honour of Poseidon, on the Isthmus of

in

Corinth, and occurred every third year

the prize was a wreath

of pine.
It

is

remarkable and surprising

that,

with

all

the

piety

and religious ceremonies of the ancients, there existed among

them no established means of

instruction for the

mass of the

people, as to the character and functions of the gods

whose duty
up

it

sacrifices,

whose

was

and

whom

There was, indeed, a regular priesthood,

they worshipped.

to

to

conduct the public ceremonies, to

perform other

service they were.

offices peculiar to the

offer

god

in

But there their duties ceased. These

ceremonies had been handed down from time immemorial,

and

that

make

was perhaps

sufficient

guarantee of their importance to

the ordinary Greek assiduous in his observance of them.

INTRODUCTION.

I7

At any

rate,

explicit

knowledge of the character of the gods derived from

assiduity

this

not traceable to

is

In regard

public instruction.

influence of poets like

to

due

existed was unquestionably

Homer and

The

the

whatever unanimity
instance to the

first

Hesiod, and in the second,

connected with the oracle at

to the exertion of the persons

Delphi.

that,

in

a clear and

effect of this state

of things was a great amount

of confusion in the popular mind, and not only in the popular

mind, but also in the minds of

men like

Socrates,

who

confessed

he did not know whether there was one Aphrodite or two, and

wondered why Zeus, who was believed

many names.
The preceding

remarks,

it

to

be one god, had so

should be here observed, apply for

the most part only to the mythology of the Greeks, and

extend to that of the Romans, except so

most primitive

class of myths,

origin of the world.

logies of those
races,

the

it is

true,

human

and

such as those concerning the

For the practice of identifying the mythoin fact.

family,

and from
belief.

that source derived a

But before

this kernel

two nations parted, and formed

isolation, that followed, the

Europe.

common

had developed

for themselves distinct

In the long period of

common seed

of religious belief with

which both started grew up, was propagated under quite

ent circumstances,

in

and assumed a very

different aspect.

differ-

The

the early period of their history a pastoral, agri-

cultural, simple,
of

Both

belonged to one and the same great branch of

isolated settlements in

Romans

do not

they refer to the

two nations has no foundation

kernel of religious
far the

far as

and more or

less

united people

had no need

a various multitude of deities, such as the Greeks found ne.

cessary, scattered

and separated as they were

into a variety of

tribes with a variety of occupations.

2

INTRODUCTION.

From

among

this,

other causes,

happens that many, even

it

of the very early Greek myths, were quite foreign to the

To

conflict

between Uranos and

his sons

Romans.

myths that describe the

this class belong, for instance, the

Kronos devouring

his

children to escape, as he thought, being dethroned by them,

and Zeus placing

No

his father,

Kronos,

less strictly peculiar to the

in

quarrels

among

ment of

certain gods to a period of service

we may add

durance in Tartaros.

Greeks were those accounts of

the gods, wounds,

and occasionally the banishon

earth.

To

these

the carrying off of Persephone by Pluto,

With regard

several other stories.

to the

and

ceremonies which

accompanied the worship of certain gods, we observe the same

great difference between the two nations,

and would

cite as

an

example the wild unrestrained conduct of those who took part

in the festivals of Dionysos,

remarking that when

in later times

of luxury a festival of this kind was introduced into Italy in

honour of Bacchus, the

nysos or Bakchos, the

Roman
new

equivalent for the Greek Dio-

was forbidden, and those

festival

who took part in it were viewed as persons of unbridled desires.

Nor did Mercury ever obtain the wide-spread worship and
honour paid to Hermes in Greece and even Saturnus, in
;

spite of the

Roman

poets,

was a very

different

god from the

Greek Kronos.

At

the time

when

the

Roman

poets began to write, " Greece

captured was leading her captor captive."

was the usual means of education

art,

everything

pertaining

to

the Greek than their

poems

own language

Greek

literature

Greek philosophy, Greek

the Greeks,

principal pursuit of educated men.

ing their

constituted

the

Many would rather employ

in writing.

often in close imitation of

Poets, construct-

Greek models,

re-

placed the names of gods that occurred in the Greek originals

INTRODUCTION.

by names of native

and

acter,

told a

failing such,

the

some

deities possessing

similarity of char-

Greek story of a native

employed the Greek name

same time no

and forms of worship remained

god

Italian

most part

for the

known than

distinct

known than

upon the

of

latter,

Romans

of the
this

confusion

modern notions of Greek mythology

the

confusion

by the

which

century, only

last

we

side of the

was more early and

It

the literature of Greece, and instead

were founded on the statements of the

arose

from

the facts relating to their

ceremonies and forms of worship.

familiarly

At

In modern times, however,

the literature (especially the poetry) of the ancient

familiarly

or,

The Roman ceremonies

the Greek, and peculiar to the race.

was more

a Latin form.

in

coalescence of the two

real adaptation or

systems ever took place.

religious

IQ

our

own

Roman

Hence

poets.

those

especially

poets,

made worse confounded.

To meet

Roman

equivalent

shall give the accredited

Greek gods, throughout our descriptions, and

point out as far as possible the differences between them.

Thus

far

our observations have been confined to the mytho-

logy and religious ceremonies of the Greeks and

pecially of the

We

former.

have had

Romans, because, though equal perhaps

piety

and

deficient

invent

trust in the gods, they

in

some

to the

even

every

As, however,
if

very

brief,

attention here to the fact,

human

races

es-

of the

Greeks in their

now

phenomenon of

it is

our intention

it

may be

well to

clearly ascertained, that

common family or
which he Greeks and Romans belonged, and

are

stock to

say

of the mythology of

the Indian and Teutonic or Germanic races,

these

Romans,

appear to have been very

divine personification for

nature that struck the mind.

call

to

of imagination which could readily

that quality

to include a description,

little

sprung from the same

INTRODUCTION.

that at least certain ideas concerning the origin

common

condition of the world are

From

all.

this

at previous to the separation of this great

were arrived

Germanic

family, as

is

it

traces of a

From
common early

elements of nature
within these limits

men

the

light

and darkness,

same

find

actions

it

the dawn of
we meet with

at

and

feeling

in

to heat

the stormy

invisible,

find that everywhere,

and

phenomena

cold, to rain

and the

life

no

case,

when we

form, but

To

sea,

loftier at-

to con-

should be borne in mind, was any

conveyed.

by which the

find the natural process

Hermes

described as

the cattle (clouds) of Apollo,

tations

we

gies of the

to

were ascribed, such as were sug-

immorality intended to be

idea of criminality which

to

these beings

clouds pour out their rain upon the earth, and are again

from the

and drought,

phenomena which they were supposed

it

among

of nature,

same readiness and power

human

cause of these phenomena.

of morality or

instance,

We

obeyed.

of space and time, there existed

and habits of

gested by the

It

Indo-

development into

belief that the wild features of the

sensitiveness to the

tributes, as the

For

its

whom, though

still

storms and peacefulness,-

we

as

of imagining invisible beings of

trol

them

bad been produced by some long past convulsive conof Titanic beings,

flict

and

the Ganges to Iceland

historical times.

earth

called,

and isolated nations,

distinct

to the mythologies of

reasonable to conclude that these ideas

is

it

and primitive

it

(the

we cannot

god of

filled

rain) stealing

attach to the story the

at first suggests.

Similar interpre-

must be prepared to seek throughout the mytholoIndo-Germanic

may now be

races.

asked, from what source

rived of the mythology of the ancients

is this

To

this

knowledge de-

we

reply,

from

the works of ancient writers, poets, historians, philosophers, and

INTRODUCTION.

whom

others, to

the religious belief of their countrymen was a

subject of great importance, and whose writings have survived to

our times

in the

second place, from the representations of gods

and mythological scenes on the immense number of ancient

works of

art that

still exist,

whether in the form of statues

marble and bronze, painted vases, engraved gems, or

in

coins.

These are the sources of our knowledge, and without becoming

more or

less familiar

stand fully the

to

spirit

with them

perhaps impossible to under-

it is

of these ancient myths

be able to appreciate at

its

real

works, whether in literature or in

and

contrariwise,

worth the beauty of ancient

art, it is

necessary to become

acquainted with the mythology and the religious

guided their authors

and

if

that

be not

sufficient

to follow our descriptions of the various deities

spirit

which

temptation

and heroes of

we can still appeal to this, that a great part of

our grandest modern poetry and works of art can only be
intelligible to those who know the ancient mythology.
Drawing near, as we are now, to the details of our subject,
we become anxious to guard against all feelings of impropriety
in what we may have occasionally to relate.
We would, there-

ancient times,

fore

remind the reader of the principle of interpretation which

we have endeavoured

to explain in the preceding pages.

We

would also repeat that we have here to do with a system of

religious belief which,

may have

whatever

its

apparent or real shortcomings

been, exercised enormous influence on the education

of at least two of the most civilized nations of the earth.

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

of the origin of the world in which they lived, the

IN thinking
Greeks for the most part,
would appear, were satisfied
it

with^ the explanation given

by the poet Hesiod,

that

in the

beginning the world was a great shapeless mass or chaos, out of

which was fashioned

first

the broad-chested earth,

Nyx,

From

night.

Eros

the spirit of love,

Gaea

then

a union of the two latter sprang ./Ether,

the clear sky, and

Hemera,

power by which

was fashioned, produced

it

day.

The

the firmament which covered her with

poets called

the mountains, and

Eros, the oldest

began

to

together,

these

and

Pontos,
at the

agitate the earth

and making

pairs

its

by virtue of the

earth,

in turn,

Uranos,

vault of brass, as the

appearance of eternal duration,

to describe its

it,

(Cupid), and

darkness, and

Erebos,

Thereupon

the unfruitful sea.

same time the youngest of the gods,

and

all

it,

bringing them

First in

importance of

things

pairs of them.

on

were Uranos and Gaea, heaven and

earth,

who

peopled the earth with a host of beings, Titans, Giants, and

Kyklopes, of
races

far greater physical

who succeeded them.

frame and energy than the

It is a beautiful idea, that

making order out of chaos, bringing opposite elements

of love

together,

and preparing a world to receive mankind.

Another apparently older and certainly obscure notion,
that expressed
to

Okeanos,

by Homer, which ascribes the

the ocean.

How

the earth

is

origin of the world

and heavens sprang

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

23

from him, or whether they were conceived as co-existing with

him from the beginning, we

stories,

of

men

rivets

are not told.

The numerous

ancient

however, concerning floods, after which new generations

sprang up, and the fact that the innumerable

and

streams of the earth were believed to

ocean, as they were seen to return to

it,

and

fertilizing

come from

the

that all the river

gods were accounted the offspring of Okeanos, suggest the prevalence of such a form of belief with regard to the origin of the

world

Hesiod.

in times previous to

We

are told that the ocean

encircled the earth with a great stream,

wonders of

Tethys

kinds

all

that

Okeanos

and was a region of

lived there, with his wife

that there were the islands of the blest, the gardens

of the gods, the sources of the nectar and ambrosia on which

Within

the gods lived.

this circle of water the earth lay

out like a disc with mountains rising from

heaven appearing

to rest

on

its

outer edge was supposed to be

might not rush

in

outer edge

spread

and the vault of

it,

all

round.

This

slightly raised, so that the water

and overflow the land.

The space between

the surface of the earth and the heavens was seen to be occu-

pied by

air

and

be pure ether,

clouds,

in

and above the clouds was supposed

which the sun, moon, and

stars

moved.

to

The

sun rising in the eastern sky in the morning, traversing the

celestial arch

west,

during the day, and sinking at evening in the

was thought to be under the guidance of a god

drawn by four splendid

horses.

in a chariot

After sinking into Okeanos,

it

was supposed that he took ship and sailed during the night
round to the

east, so as to

In the region of
order of gods; and

air

be ready

new
moved

to begin a

above the clouds

day.

the higher

when, for the sake of council or intercourse

they met together, the meeting place was the summit of one of
those lofty mountains whose heads were hid in the clouds, but

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

24

chief of

the inaccessible

all,

highest point of

which he
(Iliad

i.

sat in

it

Olympos

Round

in Thessaly.

was the palace of Zeus, with the throne on

majesty to receive such

visits as

those of Thetis

498) when she came to plead for her son.

or in ravines lower

the

down were

-On plateaus

the mansions of the other gods,

provided, as was thought, with the convenience of store-rooms,

stabling,

The

and

deities

all

that

who

was usual

not,

it is

houses of princes on earth.

thus inhabited Olympos,

were styled the Olympian

do

in the

true,

always find

this

and

were twelve

deities,

for that

in

reason

number.

number composed

of the

We
same

may be taken as having been the most

Zeus (Jupiter), Hera (Juno), Poseidon (Neptune),
Demeter (Ceres), Apollo, Artemis (Diana), Hephaeslos
(Vulcan), Pallasj^Athene (Minerva), 0eres (Mars), Aphrogods, but the following
usual

dite

(Venus),

Though

Hermes

and worshipped

(Mercury),

and Hestia (Vesta).

each other by various degrees of relationship,

allied to

in

many

places at altars dedicated to

them

as

a united body, they did not always act together in harmony,

a most memorable instance of their discord being that (Iliad
viii.

13-27) in which Zeus threatened to hurl the others into Tar-

taros,

and challenged them

down

themselves
might.

Should they try

up with earth and sea

top of Olympos, and
of
it

Olympos

claim to the

mountains

move him from Olympos by letting

it,

he

said,

all

their

he could easily draw them

to the bargain, fasten the chain to the

let

the whole hang in

mid

air.

The name

was not confined to theThessalian mountain, though

may have had

cipal,

to

with a golden chain and pulling with

the earliest, as in after times

title,

it

had the

prin-

but was applied to no less than fourteen

in various parts of the

Greek world, each of which

appears to have been regarded as an occasional meeting place,

if

not a permanent seat of the gods.

Finally, the

word was

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

25

used to designate a region above the visible sky, from which,

to express

height,

its

it

was said

that

nine days and nine nights before

it

once a brazen anvil

fell

At

reached the earth.

an equal distance beneath the surface of the earth was Tartaros,

a vast gloomy space walled in with brass, where the Titans
lived in banishment.

The lower

order of deities, having naturally no place

Olympos, were restricted to the

exercised their powers

as, for

localities

in

on earth where they

Naiads, or Nymphs

instance, the

of fountains, to the neighbourhood of fountains and springs

the

Oreads,

or mountain

and the Dryads,

or

Nymphs,

Nymphs

to the

mountains and

of trees, to trees.

hills

With regard

to

the place of residence of the heroes or semi-divine beings after

their translation

from

of opinion, of which

earth, there existed considerable variety

we

shall afterwards

have occasion

Representations of the deities assembled in

occasion

by Pheidias for the sculptures

the

in

figures

British

renders

selected,

or

it

in

a particular

Museum.

impossible to

at

the

now who were

say

whether he even adhered

other

have taken place

moon

the

rides

break of day.

at the

This was the subject chosen

one of the pediments of the Parthenon

The loss, however, of many of the

At one end of the pediment the sun

sea,

for

as at the birth of Athene from the head of her father Zeus occur

not unfrequently on the Greek painted vases.

now

Olympos

to speak.

to the usual
rises

away.

in

his

The

The same

the

deities

number

he

of twelve.

chariot

from the

event must therefore

fact

in the scene at the birth of Aphrodite, in presence of the

is

to

be observed

assembled

deities,

with which Pheidias adorned the base of his statue of Zeus at Olympia, and

we have still the description in Pausanias (v. 403). At one end

was the Sun stepping into his chariot, next to him Zeus and Hera, then
Hephaestos (?) and Charis, then Hermes and Hestia. In the centre was
Eros receiving Aphrodite as she rises from the sea, and Peitho crowning
Aphrodite then Apollo and Artemis, next Athene and Herakles, then
Poseidon and Amphitrite, and lastly the Moon (Selene) riding away.
The
of which

deities are thus

grouped

in pairs of

male and female, those of greater im-

portance being towards either end of the composition.

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

URANOS

IS a personification
stood

its

of the sky as the ancients saw and under-

phenomena, and with him, according

to the ver-

sion of mythology usually accepted by the Greeks, commences

Next succeeded Kronos, and lastly, Zeus.

this triple succession of supreme rulers of the

the race of gods.

With regard
world,

to

we should

notice the different and progressive significa-

Uranos

tion of their three names,

as

husband of the

ducing

life

the light of heaven, as his

the universe.

fruit

Gaea

Uranos,
(the

name

who

it

also

Kronos, his
ripened and

implies, culminated the organi-

just dispensation of the affairs of

we have already observed, was a

as

earth),

viewed

warmth and moisture pro-

while in the person of Zeus, god of

and perfectly wise and

son of

signifying the heavens

his

being the god of harvest,

matured every form of

zation

and by

and vegetation everywhere on

life

successor,

earth,

whom

he afterwards married, the

of that union being the Titans, the Hekatoncheires,

and the Kyklopes.

The Hekatoncheires,

or

hundred hands, were three

beings

Centimani,
in

number

Gyes, and Briareus, and represented

each with

Kottos, Gyges

a
or

the frightful crashing

UkANOS.

of waves and

its

27

resemblance to the convulsion of earthquakes.

The Kyklopes also were three in number: Brontes with his

thunder, Steropes with his lightning, and Arges with his
stream of light. They were represented as having only one
eye,

which was placed

It was,

between nose and brow.

at the juncture

however, a large flashing eye, as became beings

were personifications of the storm-cloud, with

destructive lightning

flashes of

its

From

and peals of thunder.

who

a similarity

observed between the phenomena of storms and those of

volcanic eruptions,

it

was usually supposed that the Kyklopes

lived in the heart of burning mountains,

above

Etna, in Sicily, where they acted as apprentices

(Vulcan), assisting
in other works.

him

make

to

Uranos,

it

was

at their birth

alarmed

at their

promise

Hekatoncheires and

womb

back into the

Mount

in

Zeus, and

thunderbolts for

said,

of fierceness and strength, had cast the

Kyklopes

all,

of Hephaestos

of the earth from

which they had sprung.

The Titans were,

and grouped

for the

like the

Olympian deities, twelve

most part in

pairs

in

number,

Okeanos and Tethys,

Hyperion and Theia, Kreios and Eurybia, Koios and

Phoebe, Kronosand Rhea, Japetos and Themis. Instead
of Euiybia we find frequently

though not

Mnemosyne.

in every case quite intelligible,

personifications of those primary elements

Their names,

show

that they were

and forces of nature

to the operations of which, in the first ages, the present con-

figuration of the earth

was supposed

Mnemosyne, and Japetos may be

to

While Themis,

be due.

singled out as personifications

of a civilizing force in the nature of things, and as conspicuous

for

having offspring

endowed with

the

same

other Titans appear to represent wild, powerful,

forces.

In keeping with

this

character

we

character,

and

find

the

obstructive

them

rising

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

28

in rebellion

first

and afterwards against

against their father

Zeus.

In the former experiment the result was that

Uranos,

Tartaros, where he kept

But Gaea,

them bound.

as

them

learn from the poetic account of the myth, threw

we

into

his wife,

grieving at the hard fate of her offspring, provided the youngest

son,

Kronos,

made
wound

with a sickle or curved knife, which she had

of stubborn adamant, and told

him how and when

his father with

The

irremediably.

it

Titans were set

free,

married their

to

enterprise succeeded, the

sisters,

and begat a numer-

ous family of divine beings, while others of the same class

sprang from the blood of the
ground.

Of

of serpents

these were the

the

wound

of Uranos as

Melian nymphs,

or

nymphs

legs

or Furiae, as the

Megaera, and Alekto,

Romans

called them,

it

nally to avenge the shedding of a parent's blood.

They were a

terror to criminals,

relenting fury.

whom

and the

Tisiphone,

creatures whose function

was that of women, with hair of snakes and

formed

of the oaks,

from which the shafts used in war were fashioned

Erinys,

to the

it fell

Giants, monsters with

was

origi-

Their form

girdles of vipers.

they pursued with un-

The whole of these divine beings, however, with

Erinys, who were worshipped at Athens

the exception of the

under the name of the "venerable

deities,"

were excluded from

the religion of the Greeks, and had a place only in the mythology, while

times,

among

the

Romans

they were

and even then were only introduced

unknown

till

later

as poetic fictions,

with no hold upon the religious belief of the people.

Kronos.

Rhea.

KRONOS.

29

K R O N O
(plate
'

The

I.,)

we have already

ripener, the harvest god,' was, as

U ran os.

marked, a son of
to

be identified with the

That he continued

Roman

which recent research has

Saturnus,

deity,

set right,

for a
is

re-

long time
a mistake

and accordingly we

shall

Uranos, deposed from

by Kronos, who
daughter of Gaea, who bore

devote a separate chapter to each.

the

throne

married his

of the gods, was

own

sister

succeeded

Rhea,

him Pluto, Poseidon (Neptune), and Zeus

(Vesta),

Demeter

and

(Ceres),

Hera

(Jupiter),

Hestia

To

prevent

(Juno).

the fulfilment of a prophecy which had been communicated to

him by

his parents, that, like his father,

throned by his youngest born,

children apparently as each

Kronos

came

he too would be de-

swallowed his

into the world.

first five

But when

the sixth child appeared, Rhea, his wife, determined to save

and succeeded
(perhaps rudely

in

it,

duping her husband by giving him a stone

hewn

into the figure of

an

infant)

wrapped

in

swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, believing he had got

rid of

another danger.

While the husband was being deceived

in this fashion,

Zeus,

the newly-born child, was conveyed to the island of Crete,

there concealed in a cave
rastea

on Mount Ida.

and

The nymphs Ad-

and Ida tended and nursed him, the goat Amalthea

supplied

him with

milk, bees gathered

honey

for him,

and

in

the meantime, lest his infantile cries should reach the ears of

Kronos, Rhea's

servants, the

Kuretes, were appointed

keep up a continual noise and din

in the

dancing and clashing their swords and

to

neighbourhood by

shields.

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

30

When

Zeus had grown to manhood he succeeded by the aid

Gaea,

of

yield

Metis,

or perhaps of

back into the

light the sons

the stone which had been given

in persuading

whom

him

gods joined

their

to

The stone was

The liberated

in deceit.

placed at Delphi as a memorial for

Kronos

he had swallowed and

all

time.

brethren in a league to drive their father

from the throne and

set

Zeus in

This was done

his place.

but the change of government, though acquiesced in by the

principal deities, was not to

the exception of

was Thessaly, with

flict

in

be brooked by the Titans, who with

Okeanos proceeded
its

The

to war.

combat.

The

party of Zeus had

years, all the

bear being useless

had been thrown

position on

its

Olympos, the Titans on Mount Othrys.

many

war

which huge rocks had been torn from mountain sides

and shattered by the violence with which they

in

seat of

wild natural features suggestive of a con-

The

Mount

struggle lasted

might which the Olympians could bring to

until,

on the advice of Gaea, Zeus

Kyklopes and Hekatoncheires, of

whom

set free the

the former fashioned

thunderbolts for him, while the latter advanced on his side with
force equal to the shock of an earthquake.

down

to lowest Tartaros as

The

earth trembled

Zeus now appeared with

weapons and new allies. Old Chaos thought

his

his terrible

hour had come,

as from a continuous blaze of thunderbolts the earth took

and the waters seethed

slain or

in

the sea.

consumed, and partly hurled

rocks and

hills reeling after

beneath the surface of the

rebels were partly

into

deep chasms, with

them, and consigning them to a

earth.

fire

The

The cause

life

of Kronos was

thus lost for ever, and the right of Zeus to rule established for
all

time.

The island of Crete, where civilization appears to have

dawned earlier than elsewhere in Greece, and where the story

SATURNUS.

31

was made the most

of the secret up-bringing of Zeus

and

in Attica, as well as in several

was

less as the

grim god

of,

was

Here, however,

the principal centre of the worship of Kronos.

other districts of Greece,

who had devoured

it

his children that

he was worshipped than as the maturer and ripener, the god

of harvest,

So

ness.

who sends

happened

it

blessings, prosperity

and glad-

that his festivals in Greece, the

Kronia,

and

riches

and the corresponding Saturnalia in Italy, were of that class

which imposed no restraint on the mirth and pleasures of those
reminiscence of an age when under

present,

and seemed

the rule

of Kronos there had been a perpetual harvest time on

As

earth.

like a

the devourer of his children

Kronos bears some resem-

blance to the Phoenician Moloch, and

this

phase of his character originated

fluence of Phoenician settlers

It is also to

times.

it is

had been

be noted that

highly probable that

in Crete,
felt

where the

in-

from very remote

his wife

Rhea enjoyed a

very early and wide-spread worship in Asia Minor.

The

scene where

husband as he

Rhea

on

sits

presents the stone carefully

his throne,

was the

Plataeae by Praxiteles (Pausanias

the relief

now

in

ix.

2,

7),

may have been made which

the

Capitoline

wrapped up

to her

subject of a sculpture executed for

is

from which

it

is

possible that

represented in Plate

The

Museum, Rome.

thoughtful

I,

and

attitude

is

o.

and especially the veiled head, seem to indicate a plotting

left hand is emblematical of his function
as god of harvest, and at the same time a memorial of the deed he
wrought upon his father Uranos. The war with the Titans (Titanomachia)
Kronos,

mind, while the sickle in his

was superseded

popular estimation as early as the time of Euripides by

in

the Gigantomachia, or war of Giants, which will be described in connection

with Zeus.

Artists following the popular taste neglected the former alto-

gether as a source of subjects.

SATURNUS,
According
first

to

Romans, made his

when Janus was reigning

the popular belief of the

appearance

in Italy at a

time

DEITIES OF

32

king of the

region that stretches along the banks of the

fertile

Tiber on either

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

Presenting himself to Janus, and being

side.

kindly received, he proceeded to instruct the subjects of the

latter

quite

in

gardening,

agriculture,

unknown

them

to

as,

and how

nurse the vine,

By such means he

for

and many other

example,

how

to

tend and cultivate

to

at length raised the

and comparatively barbarous condition

arts

then

train

and

fruit-trees.

people from a rude

to

one of order and

peaceful occupations, in consequence of which he was every-

where held in high esteem, and

by Janus

in course of time

was selected

him the government of the kingdom,

to share with

which thereupon assumed the name of Saturnia,

of seed and
in later

The period

fruit.'

a land

of Saturn's government was

times sung of by poets as a happy time when sorrows

and cares of

life

were unknown, when innocence, freedom,

and gladness reigned throughout the

as to deserve the
also has

reign

'

title

golden age,

its

Kronos, and

of

land,

said
this,

to

such a degree

in

Greek mythology

of the golden age.

have occurred during the

perhaps,

more than any other

circumstance, led to the identification of Saturnus and Kronos,

in spite of the real difference

between the two

name of Saturn's wife was Ops.

Once a year, in the month of December,
a festival called

the

in his honour.

The

Romans

held

It

kinds.

During those days the ordinary distinctions were

done away with between master and servant or

assemblies were held to discuss public

ments

lasted from

seven days, and was accompanied by amusements of

five to
all

Saturnalia

deities.

for

dressed
presents.

crime were

like

inflicted.

their masters,

affairs,

slave.

No

and no punish-

Servants or slaves went about

and received from them

costly

Children received from their parents or relatives

II.

Rhea.

Zeus, or Jupiter.

RHEA.

33

presents of pictures, probably of a gaudy type, purchased in

the street where the picture dealers lived.

There was a temple of Saturn

Capitoline

Hill,

in

Rome,

at the foot of the

of him

a figure

containing

with

his

feet

wrapped round with pieces of woollen cloth, which could only

be removed during the

festival

of the

been the

to teach the people

first

In

this

one

as a sign of his having

hand he held a curved garden-knife,

olive.

In

Saturnalia.

how

to trim the vine

and

temple were preserved the state chest and the

standards of the army.

RHEA.
(PLATES

As Uranos,

AND

I.

II.)

the representative of the fertilizing force in nature,

was superseded by Kronos the representative of a ripening

force,

so Gaea, the primitive goddess of the earth with

way

productive plains gave

mountains and

with

its

the

powerful

to Rhea, a

Gaea had been

Rhea was the mother

forests.

Titans.

given to feats of strength,

its

goddess of the earth

the mother of

of gods

but more highly gifted

less

Pluto,

Poseidon, and Zeus, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.

Her titles as for example, Dindumene and Berekuntia

were derived
in

for the

most part from the names of mountains

Asia Minor, particularly those of Phrygia and Lydia, her

worship

having been

intimately associated

civilization of these countries.

or

Kybebe, which

also,

from

There her
its

with

the

early

name was Kybele

being employed to designate

her sanctuaries (Kybela) in caves or mountain sides, points

to her character as a

mountain goddess.
3

DEITIES OF

34

The

lofty

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

of Asia Minor, while sheltering on their

hills

cavernous sides wild animals, such as the panther and

which

was her delight to tame,

it

many

which

flourishing cities

also

was her duty

it

lion,

looked down on
In

to protect.

this latter capacity

she wore a mural crown, and was styled

Mater

But though herself identified with peaceful

turrita.

worship was always distinguished by wild and

civilization, her

and devotees rushing through

fantastic excitement, her priests

the

woods

wounding each
sible

with

night

at

other,

and producing

all

from the clashing of cymbals, the

and the

frantic voice of song.

of her

worship,

To

the din that was posshrill

notes of pipes,

account for this peculiarity

which must have

memorate some great sorrow, the

maiming and

burning,

torches

been intended

story

to

had loved the young Phrygian shepherd, Attis, whose

ordinary beauty had also
of Pessinus

how

how he was

won

com-

was told of how she

extra-

the heart of the king's daughter

destined to marry the princess, and

the goddess, suddenly appearing, spread terror and con-

sternation

mountains,

which

among the marriage guests. Attis escaped to

maimed himself, and died beside a pine tree,

his

violets like

soul

transmigrated,

while from his blood sprang

The goddess implored

This could not be. But so much was

a wreath round the

Zeus to restore her

lover.

the
into

tree.

granted that his body should never decay, that his hair should

always grow, and that his

The

spring and

The

first

its

finger should

always move.

hopeful beauty.

priests

Korybantes, for
the

little

pine was a symbol of winter and sadness, the violet of

first

of

whom

Rhea-Kybele were the Kuretes and

it

beings of mere

appeared on the

earth,

was also claimed that they had been

human form and

capacity that had

having sprung from the mountain side

III.

Zeus, or Jupiter.

ZEUS OR JUPITER.

The

like trees.

35

great centre of her worship was always at

Pessinus in Phrygia, under the shadow of

Mount Dindymon,

on which was a cave containing what was believed

oldest of her sanctuaries.

Within

this

be the

to

sanctuary was the tomb

of Attis, and an ancient image of the goddess in the shape of a

which was said to have

stone,

Midas.
it

The

from heaven.

fallen

temple at Pessinus had been erected,

it

was

said,

first

by King

Successive rulers of Phrygia maintained and endowed

so liberally that

it

continued to be a place of importance

Spreading from

long after Phrygian civilization had sunk.

centre, the worship of

Kybele took hold

in the

first

this

neigh-

bouring towns of Sardis, Magnesia, Smyrna, Ephesus, Lampsakos,

the

and Kyzikos

mountainous

thence to Athens, and in later times to

where

of Arcadia,

district

believed that Zeus had been born

and

was locally

it

that the creation of

man-

kind had taken place.

In Plate
I.

II.

Rhea

is

represented as Mater turrita, or turrigera.

she appears as the goddess of mountain tops, riding on a

ing a sceptre in one hand and a cymbal in the other

moon and a

star.

At other times she

is

lion,

In Plate

and hold-

beside her the

seated on a throne with a lion in

her lap, or with a lion at each side, or in a chariot drawn by lions or panthers.

ZEUS

or JUPITER.

(PLATES

Third and
The fertile

last

AND

III.)

on the throne of the highest god

sat

Zeus.

we have seen,
P it a later
Thessaly.

imagination of early times had, as

placed his abode on

and more

II.

Mount Olympos

in

practical age usually conceived

region above the sky, where the source of

him

as inhabiting a

all light

was supposed

DEITIES OF

36

He was god of the

to be.

had control of
ingly

light

of day, as his

name

and accord-

the heavens,

made

the burst of a thunderstorm

all,

his presence

mankind.

as a supernatural being interested in the affairs of

felt

implies,

sudden changes of weather, the gathering of clouds, and,

more than

Hence such
'

broad

phenomena of

the

all

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

thunderer,'

titles

and

as 'cloud-gatherer,'
'

'

god of the murky

cloud,'

mighty thunderer,' were those by which he

On

was most frequently invoked.

the other hand, the serenity

and boundless extent of the sky over which he

ruled,

combined

with the never-failing recurrence of day, led him to be regarded

as an everlasting

To
or

god

'
:

Zeus who was and

is

and

indicate this feature of his character he was styled

Kronion, a

father Kronos,

which, though apparently derived from his

title

must have assumed even

special significance

shall be.'

Kronides

otherwise

at a very early time a

we should expect

to find

it

applied also to his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades.

The

eagle soaring

beyond

vision

seemed

by

to benefit

its

approach to Zeus, and came to be looked on as sacred to him.

Similarly high

mountain peaks derived a sanctity from

nearness to the region of

light,

and were everywhere

in

their

Greece

many
which he was locally known as,
title derived from Mount yEtna in

of

a mountain in Rhodes.

him and even temples were

associated with his worship,

erected on

hill

Altars to

tops, to reach

them furnishing

for instance,
Sicily, or

which by long

titles

by

Aetnaeos, a

Atabyrios, from

toiling,

and then

to

see the earth spread out small beneath, was perhaps the best

preparation for approaching him in a proper

trast

with

this,

and

Zeus Kronides lived not only

roots of the earth

Dodona

in

spirit.

as testimony to the saying of

and

in

in the

In con-

Hesiod

that

pure air but also at the

men, we find the low ground of

Epiros viewed with peculiar solemnity as a spot

ZEUS OR JUPITER.

37

A wind

where direct communion was to be enjoyed with him.

was heard

to rustle in the

branches of a sacred oak when the

god had any communication

to

make, the task of interpreting

devolving on a priesthood called Selli.

foot of the oak,

and sacred pigeons rested among

story being that

they had

powers of the
importance of

It

tree.

first

drawn attention

leaves, the

its

to the oracular

should here be noted that the real

worship of Zeus at

this

it

spring rose at the

Dodona belonged

to ex-

ceedingly early times, and that in the primitive religion of the

Italian,

German, and Celtic nations the oak was regarded with

similar reverence.

As

and throughout Greece worshipped as

the highest god,

such, he

was styled the father of gods and men, the

preserver of the world.

He

was believed

ruler

and

to be possessed of

every form of power, endued with wisdom, and in his dominion

over the

human

goodness and

race partial to justice, and with no limit to his

succeed at his command, the winds obey

night, the seasons

him,

now he

gentle rain

Zeus orders the alternation of day and

love.

gathers,

fall

now

scatters the clouds,

to fertilize the fields

and bids the

and meadows.

He

over the administration of law and justice in the

watches

state,

lends

majesty to kings, and protects them in the exercise of their

sovereignty.

He

observes attentively the general intercourse

and dealings of men

uprightness,

everywhere

faithfulness,

truth,

demanding and rewarding

and

kindness

everywhere

punishing wrong, falseness, faithlessness, and cruelty.

eternal father of

men, he was believed to be kindly

of the

and most forsaken.

poorest

As the

at the call

The homeless beggar

looked to him as a merciful guardian who punished the heartless,

and delighted

his rule

to

reward pity and sympathy.

on earth we would here give a

To

familiar story.

illustrate

DEITIES OF

38

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

Philemon and Baukis, an

were

class,

living peacefully

cottage in Phrygia,

in their

and

aged couple of the poorer

full

when

of piety towards the gods

who

Zeus,

earth, disguised, to inquire into the

often visited the

behaviour of men, paid a

passing through Phrygia on such a journey, to these

visit, in

poor old people, and was received by them very kindly as a

weary

traveller,

Bidding him

which he pretended to be.

welcome to the house, they set about preparing for their guest,

who was accompanied by Hermes,

as excellent a meal as they

could afford, and for this purpose were about to

goose they had

left,

when Zeus

interfered

by their kindliness and genuine

district

kill

the only

he was touched

more

that all the

the other inhabitants of the

nothing but cruelty of disposition and a habit of

To

proaching and despising the gods.

determined to
save from
to

for

and

piety,

because he had observed among

it

visit

punish

this

re-

conduct he

the country with a destroying flood, but to

Philemon and Baukis, the good aged couple, and

reward them in a striking manner.

To

this

end he revealed

himself to them before opening the gates of the great flood,

transformed their poor cottage on the

hill

into a

splendid

temple, installed the aged pair as his priest and priestess, and

granted their prayer that they might both die together.

after

two

many
trees,

years death overtook

grew side by side

that

When

them they were changed

in the

neighbourhood

into

an

oak and a linden.

While

in adventures of this

Greeks appears on the whole

tion,

it

will

be seen that

labouring under

Zeus was

Okeanos.

many

in

kind the highest god of the

a character worthy of admira-

other narratives represent him as

human weaknesses and

Metis

error.

The

first

wife of

(Cleverness), a daughter of the friendly Titan

But as Fate, a dark and omniscient being, had

ZEUS OR JUPITER.

39

predicted that Metis would bear Zeus a son

Zeus followed

his father in power,

in

surpass

Kronos, by swallowing Metis before she was delivered

his father

own head gave

of her child, and then from his

dess of wisdom, Pallas Athene (Minerva).

Themis

but only for a time,

said,

it is

who should

a manner the example of

the father of

Astraea and

however, always for

Hera

and became

(Justice),

Horae.

the

birth to the god-

Next he married,
His chief love was,

(Juno), with her

many charms, who,

after withstanding his entreaties for a time, at length

and the divine marriage took place amid great

gave way,

rejoicing, not

on

the part of the gods of heaven alone, for those other deities also,
to

whom

the

management of

the world had been in various

departments delegated, had been invited, and went gladly to

the splendid ceremony.

Hera became
Hephaestos
stant

and

mother of Hebe,

the

Ares

(Mars),

and

Zeus did not, however, remain con-

(Vulcan).

true to the marriage with

his

but secretly

sister,

indulged a passion for other goddesses, and often, under the

disguise of various forms

From

found out such doings.

Demeter
Leto

and shapes, approached even the

Hera gave way

daughters of men.

bore

(Ceres)

to indignation

him Persephone

(Latona) became the mother of

Dione,

(Diana);

Mnemosyne,
(Graces)

Hermes

the

mother

of the Muses;

Semele,
(Mercury);

of

(Proserpina)

Apollo and Artemis

Aphrodite (Venus);

Eurynome,

of the

Dionysos (Bacchus)
Alkmene, of Herakles

of

several of the demigods, of

when she

secret intercourse of this kind

whom we

Charites
Maia, of

(Hercules);

shall afterwards

speak

being sons of Zeus by other and different mothers.

These numerous love passages of Zeus (and other gods as

by ancient poets, appear to us, as it is known they

well), related

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

40

men amongst

appeared to the right-thinking

unbecoming of the great

selves,

wonder

how such stories came

is

the ancients them-

ruler of the universe.

be accepted as a satisfactory explanation of their

this

The

into existence; unless indeed

that they are simply the different versions of

origin,

one great myth of

the marriage of Zeus, peculiar in early times to the different

Greece, each version representing him as having

districts of

Her name and

the

would be more or

less

but one wife, and being constant to her.

connected with

stories

of the Greeks
that

In after-times, when the various tribes

each case.

different in

myths

their married life

became united

into

one people, and the various

had sprung up independently concerning Zeus came,

through the influence of poets and by other means, to be

to the

presented

itself of

was by degrading

them

uniting
all

back

now

all

into

one consistent narrative

the wives,, except Hera,, to the position of

temporary acquaintances.
cannot

known

whole nation, we may imagine that the only way that

trace every

It

is,

one of

however, unfortunate that

his

we

acquaintances of this sort

to a primitive position of sufficiently great local import-

At the same time, enough

ance.

is

known

to justify this prin-

ciple of interpretation, not only with regard to

the apparent

improprieties in the conduct of Zeus, but also of the other

deities

one

wherever they occur.

wife,

Of

the

Properly Zeus could have but

such being the limit of marriage

several

in

localities

among

the Greeks.

Greece where the worship of

Zeus was conducted with unusual ceremony and devotion,

the two

most deserving of attention are Athens and Olympia.

In Athens the change of season acting on the temperament of

the

people seemed to produce a change in their

towards the god.

For from

summer they

him the

called

early spring

friendly

feelings

and throughout the

god (Zeus Meilichios),

ZEUS OR JUPITER.

and on three occasions held

offered public sacrifices at his altars,

high festival in his

But as the approach of winter

honour.

made

itself felt,

cruel

god (Zeus Maemaktes), and an endeavour was made

thoughts of his anger returned, he was called the

to propitiate

him by a festival

pia, in Elis,

festival,

Maemakteria. At Olym-

called

which from an early period had assumed

national importance, was held in his honour in the

(Hekatombaeon)

July

of four clear years.

days,

every

fifth

sacrifice at the great altar of Zeus, in

which the deputies from the various

retinues, took part.

and perhaps seven

It lasted at least five

commencing with

month of

year, thatis, after the lapse

with their splendid

states,

This ceremony over, a series of competi-

tions took place in foot-racing, leaping from a raised platform

with weights

(lialtercs)

in the

hands to give impetus, throw-

ing the disk (a circular plate of metal or stone weighing about

81b.),

boxing with leather thongs twisted round the arm and

sometimes with metal rings

in the hands, horse-racing, chariot-

racing with two or four horses, and,

musicians and poets.

The

lists

lastly,

competition of

were open to

all

free-born

Greeks, except such as had been convicted of crime, or such

as had entailed in former contests the penalty of a fine and

had refused

to

pay

it.

Intending competitors were required

to give sureties that they

had gone through a proper course

of training, and that they would abide by the decision of the

judges.

Slaves and foreigners might look on, but the presence

of married

women was

The

forbidden.

entire

management

of the festival was in the hands of a board elected from their

own number by
where

now

the people of Elis.

this national

a waste

description of

The

plain of Olympia,

meeting in honour of Zeus was held,

but some idea

Pausanias of

may
its

still

is

be gathered from the

magnificent temple

and the

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

42

number

vast

of statues

studded

that

in

was

forty feet in height,

was reckoner! one of the

and

for its

grove.

gold and ivory,

work of Pheidias, the most renowned of ancient

the
It

sacred

the

Within the temple was a statue of the god,

sculptors.

beauty and grandeur

Seven Wonders*

of the ancient

world.

As some would have

by Zeus himself

and even the gods

the

in

these

games had been established

his victory over the Titans,

in early times are said to

The people

contests.

have taken part

of Elis maintained that the

had been founded by Pelops, while others ascribed

festival

that

it,

commemorate

to

honour to Herakles.

The

usual

time was by the interval between these

piad being equal

to four years.

The

method of reckoning
festivals,

one

first festival

Olym-

from which

the reckoning started, as ours does from the birth of Christ,

occurred in the year 776

The

and

birth

and

after a long

early
fierce

b.c.

life

up

of Zeus,

to

the period when,

war around Olympos, he defeated the

Titans and established his right to reign in the place of his

Kronos,

father

has already been

whose

brothers, to

related.

That

his

two

he had been greatly indebted

assistance

The seven wonders of the ancient world were (1) The Pyramids of
(2) The Walls of Babylon
(3) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(4) The Temple of Diana at Ephesus
(5) The Statue of Zeus at
Olympia
(6) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
(7) The Colossus at
*

Egypt

Rhodes

all

dimensions.
pia,

monuments of

art

of extraordinary beauty or stupendous

In statues of gold and ivory, such as that of Zeus at Olym-

and many

others, the face

and nude parts of the body were made

of ivory, while the hair and drapery were

worked

in parts

with enamel.

We

reproduced

in

gold,

richly

obtain an idea of the expense of such

splendid statues, from the statement that a single lock of the hair of Zeus at

Olympia

cost about

^250

of our money.

ZEUS OR JUPITER.

43

during the war, might have a share in the management of the

world, lots were cast
sea and rivers, while

and

to

Poseidon

Hades obtained

fell

the control of the

the government of the

Opposition, however, on

world under the earth.

the part

new

of the kindred of Kronos had not yet ceased, and the

dynasty of gods had to encounter a fresh outbreak of war

even more

terrible

enemy being
from

on the peninsula of

position

the

Giants, a race of beings sprung

The

of Uranos.

blood

the

than had been that of the Titans,

in this case the

took

Giants

Pallene, which

is

up

their

separated from

Their king and leader was

Mount Olympos by a bay.
combatant, Alkyoneus,
powerful
Porphyrion, their most
against

whom

Zeus and Athene took up arms in vain.

mother Earth had made the Giants proof against

weapons of the gods

not,

Zeus,

Sun and moon ceased

to

Herakles on the
command of

shine at the

and the herb was cut down which had furnished the

Giants with a charm against wounds.

who had

hurled great rocks at

arrows of Herakles
seizing Hera,

the

The huge Alkyoneus,

Olympians,

and Porphyrion, while

was overpowered.

Enkelados were
fled,

slain

Of

in

the others,

fell

by the

the

act

by Athene, the boisterous Polybotes

but on reaching the island of

Ephialtes had
and Klytios
this

to

Kos was overtaken by

it,

while

Rhoetos to Dionysos,
Hephaestos.
To the popular

to yield to Apollo,

Hecate or

war with the Giants had a greater

Titanomochia.

of

Pallas and

rock hurled at him by Poseidon and buried under

mind

the

all

however, against the weapons of

mortals; and knowing this Athene brought

scene.

Their

interest than the

Ultimately the two were confounded

with

each other.

These wars

over, there succeeded a period

which was called

DEITIES OF

44

Age

the Silver

on

still

Men

earth.

Golden Age under

but

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

were rich then, as

and

the rule of Kronos,

the

in

lived in plenty

they wanted the innocence and contentment which

were the true sources of human happiness in the former age

while living in luxury and delicacy,

accordingly,

and,

became overbearing
were never

in their

manners

and forgot the gods,

satisfied,

they

to the highest degree,

to

whom,

in

their

confidence of prosperity and comfort, they denied the rever-

To

ence they owed.

punish them, and as a warning against

such habits, Zeus swept them away, and concealed them under
the earth, where they continued to live as daemons or

not so powerful as the

but yet respected by those

Then

followed

life

men

of the Golden Age,

who came

after

them.

Bronze Age,

and deeds of

quarrelling

lands and a
there

the

spirits,

of the

spirits

violence.

a period of constant
Instead

of cultivated

of peaceful occupations and orderly habits,

came a day when everywhere might was

big and powerful as they were,

became

right

and men,

worn

physically

and sank into the lower world without leaving a

having existed, and without a claim to a future spiritual

Finally

had

came

the

Iron Age,

overreach each other.

goddess of justice and good

faith,

life.

which enfeebled mankind

in

to toil for bread with their hands, and, bent

their best to

out,

trace of their

Dike

on

gain, did

or Astraea,

modesty and

truth,

the

turned

her back on such scenes, and retired to Olympos, while Zeus

determined to destroy the human race by a great flood.

The

whole of Greece lay under water, and none but Deukalion

and

his

wife

Pyrrha were

saved.

Leaving the summit of

Parnassos, where they had escaped the

commanded by the gods to become

that is, the present race.
race of men

flood,

they were

the founders of a

To

this end,

it is

new
said.

ZEUS OR JUPITER.

45

they cast around them as they advanced stones, which presently

assumed the forms of men, who, when the flood had quite

commenced

disappeared,

spread themselves in

to

cultivate

directions

all

the

but being

again

little

better than

drew down

the race that had been destroyed, they, too, often

the displeasure of Zeus

Among

and

suffered at his hands.

Romans Jupiter

the

held a place of honour cor-

among

responding in some degree to that held by Zeus

Greeks.

His favourite

name being

title

was Optimus Maximus.

god of the broad

weapon of

olive

To

altars

were

to sacrifice,

were erected

raised,

and public

both he and Zeus

both the eagle, the oak, and the

were sacred.

The growth
faculty in

feeling precedes the

of religious

man, and accordingly we

sence of a god was symbolized

case of Zeus this

was an

we have seen,
The first artistic
as

at a distance,

this

find that

development of

artistic

in the earliest ages the pre-

only by some natural

oak-tree, while in the case of

object.

In the

Rhea-Kybele

it

was,

a stone which was believed to have fallen from heaven.

efforts

reproduce the image of a god were called

to

xoana, and consisted of a

Of

As

held in his honour.

delighted most in bulls.

day and armed with

light of

Temples and

lightning.

for the purposes of his worship, statues

festivals

the

His

of the same derivation as that of Zeus, indicates

his function as

the

and

land

the artist's

pillar

rudely shaped like a

human

attention being mostly directed

to

figure seen

the head.

kind was the figure of Zeus Labrandeus as represented on the

coins of Caria, the figure of Zeus with three eyes at Argos,

of

him without

to

be retained

ears at Crete.
till

and the

figure

Piety caused these rude and strange images

long after the art of sculpture had become equal to

the production of imposing figures.

The gold and

ivory statue of Zeus at

Olympia, of which mention has already been made, represented him seated
on his throne, and some small idea may still be gained of it from what is

on the coins of Elis. The bust on plate iii., known

is perhaps the best existing example of the face of
Zeus as conceived by the Greek sculptors. The attributes of Zeus are the
no doubt a copy of

it

as the Zeus of Otricoli,

DEITIES OF

46

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

eagle, a sceptre, a thunderbolt, and, in the case of an ancient

an

He

image

in Caria,

Hera by his side, sometimes

with Athene, or with both, or with Athene and Herakles.
When he
leaves his throne it is generally to rise in might against an enemy such as
the Giants, and in these cases he is always armed with the thunderbolt,
and either stands in the act of hurling it, or drives in a chariot attended by
axe.

is

represented sometimes with

other gods, as he

is frequently to be seen on the ancient painted vases.

Another favourite subject on these vases is the birth of Athene from the
head of Zeus. In works of art no distinction is made between Zeus and

Jupiter, for this reason, that

Plate

Was

Rome had

no

distinctive sculpture of its

own.

represents the infancy of Zeus in Crete.

vii.

HERA,

or

JUNO,

(PLATES

IV.

AND

may be

a divine personification of what

power of the heavens

and yet

that

called the female

the atmosphere, with

is,

fertilizing properties

V.),

Zeus

while

its

fickle

represented those

properties of the heavens that appeared to be of a male order.

To

their marriage

when they met,

was traced
as

all

the blessings of nature,

on Mount Ida

fragrant flowers sprang

in a

up around them.

apples grew up at their marriage

feast,

tree with

to

keep up a recollection of

that

season

in

it,

her honour.

it

golden

and streams of ambrosia

flowed past their couch in the happy island of the west.

marriage ceremony took place,

and

golden cloud, sweet

was believed,

an annual

That

in spring,

festival

and

was held

at

Like the sudden and violent

storms, however, which in certain seasons break the peaceful-

ness of the sky of Greece, the meetings of this divine pair

often resulted in temporary quarrels and wrangling, the blame

of which was usually traced to

Homer,

in the Iliad,

Hera

poets,

and most of

all

describing her as frequently jealous, angry,

IV.

Hera, or Juno.

HERA OR JUNO.
and quarrelsome, her character as

Of these
when (Iliad

47

lofty

and proud,

cold,

not free from bitterness,

scenes of discord

several instances, as

i.

her,

586) Zeus actually beat

and threw her son Hephaestos out of Olympos

xv. 18)

and

we have
or (Iliad

when, vexed at her plotting against Herakles, he hung

her out of Olympos with two great weights (earth and sea)
attached to her
illustration of

feet,

how

and her arms bound by golden

all

the

phenomena

fetters

an

of the visible sky were

thought to hang dependent on the highest god of heaven

again (Iliad

or

396) when Hera, with Poseidon and Athene,

i.

attempted to chain down Zeus, and would have succeeded had

not Thetis brought to his aid the sea giant Aegaeon.
dess of storms,

Hera was

As god-

consistently described as the mother

of Ares, herself taking part in war occasionally, as against the

Trojans,

and enjoying the honour of

by warlike

festivals,

accompanied

where the prize was a sacred

contests, as at Argos,

shield.

Her

favourite companions,

in

periods of peace, were the

Charites (Graces) and the Horae

latter are also

stant attendant

cock, in

its

was Iris, goddess of the rainbow.

pride

and gorgeous

array,

of the spring, were sacred to her.

her principal

(Seasons), of which the

found in company of her husband.

festival, at

Her
The

attire,

pea-

and the cuckoo as herald

In the spring-time occurred

which the ceremony consisted of an

imitation of a wedding, a figure of the goddess being

out in bridal

con-

decked

and placed on a couch of willow branches,

while wreaths and garlands of flowers were scattered about,

because she loved them.

in her

honour every

fifth

Another singular
year atOlympia in

consisting in the presentation

festival
Elis,

was held

the ceremony

of a splendidly embroidered

mantle (pcp/os) to the goddess, and races

in

which only

girls

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

48

and unmarried women took

part,

running with their hair

streaming down, and wearing short dresses,

the judges on the

occasion being sixteen married women.

The

which Hera was most generall)

character, however, in

viewed was that of queen of heaven, and as the

wife

faithful

of Zeus claiming the highest conceivable respect and honour.

made

Herself the ideal of womanly virtues, she

it

a principal

duty to protect them among mortals, punishing with severity

all

against her moral law

trespassers

but, naturally, none so

who had been objects of her husband's affecSemele, the mother of Dionysos, or
instance,
for
tionsas,
Alkmene, the mother of Herakles. Her worship was re-

much

as those

stricted for the

various stages of

some
the

as a bride,

title

of

most part

women, who, according

to

Gamelia, Zygia

or

Teleia

the character of Eileithyia, as helpful

phases of her
the

life

phenomena

and others again

at child-birth.

of the heavens in the spring-time,

and the blooming of new

and

will

its

in

these

when

and warmth spread everywhere

heaven and wife of Zeus she

the legends of Argos

Of

was obviously associable with

that of bride

return of dazzling light

tionate gaiety

to the

womanhood, regarded her in a different light

styling her Parthenia; others as a wife, with

life.

be found,

in

the

affec-

As queen of
connection with

neighbourhood, possessed, from

motives of jealousy, of a hatred towards the nocturnal pheno-

mena

of the sky, and especially the moon, as personified by

the wandering Io,

whom

she placed under the surveillance of

Argos, a being with innumerable eyes, and apparently a personification of the starry system.

The town

of Argos, with

its

ancient legends, which clearly

betray some powerful sensitiveness to the

was the oldest and

phenomena

of light,

always the chief centre of this worship of

HERA, OR JUNO.

Hera.

49

There was her principal temple, and within

it

a statue

of the goddess, by Polykleitos, which almost rivalled in grandeur

and beauty the Zeus

at

Next came

Olympia, by Pheidias.

splendid temple erected for her by

Samos,

with

krates.

In Corinth also, in Euboea, Boeotia, Crete, and even

its

in Lakinion, in Italy, she

Juno,

the

Roman

had temples and devotees.

equivalent of Hera, was mostly regarded

from the maternal point of view, and

frequently styled

Lucina,

were erected and

festivals

that called
1

st

of

in

accordance with that

the helper at child-birth.

held in her honour

Matronalia being

March

Poly-

the chief.

of

It

Temples

the festivals

was held on the

of each year, and could only be participated in

by women, who went with girdles

loose,

and on the occasion

received presents from husbands, lovers, or friends, making

presents in turn to their servants.

over

women were

The image
in

of

The

called in early times

that

spirits

guarded

Junones.

Hera is said to have consisted at first of a long pillar, as

Samos of a plank, and to have assumed a human form

Argos, and in

only in comparatively late times.

The

statue of her

mentioned above, was of gold and ivory and of colossal

by Polykleitos,
size.

It

repre-

sented her seated on a throne, holding in one hand a pomegranate, the

symbol of marriage, and

On

in the other

a sceptre on which sat

"a

cuckoo.

her head was a crown ornamented with figures of the Charites (Graces)

and Horae.

We

can

in

still

statue from the marble head

and from several ancient heads

the coins of Argos,

beauty.

Praxiteles

some measure recall the appearance of the

as the Juno Ludovisi (on plate iv.), from

known

made

in

marble of great

a colossal statue of her in the character of the

protectress of marriage rites, and also a group of her seated, with Athene
and Hebe standing beside her. On the painted vases the scene in which
she most frequently occurs is that where she appears before Paris to be

judged of her beauty.

DEITIES OF

50

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

POSEIDON,

or

(plate

NEPTUNE.
v.)

It has already been told how, when

all

the resources had failed

which the Titans could bring to bear

Kronos

the

to

divided by

lot

among

Hades.

To

Zeus

trol

the

throne,

of the heavens

his three sons,

fell,
;

for the restoration of

government of the world was

Zeus, Poseidon, and

besides a general supremacy, the con-

and we have seen how he and

Hera, representing the phenomena

his consort

of that region, were con-

ceived as divine persons possessed of a character and performing actions such as were suggested

Poseidon

fell

manner was conceived

like

by those phenomena.

To

the control of the element of water, and he in

actions were reflected the

as a god, in

phenomena of

whose character and

that element, whether

as the broad navigable sea, or as the cloud which gives fertility

.

growth to the grain and vine, or as the fountain

to the earth,

which refreshes man,

his power, therefore,

both

for labour

compares

and

cattle,

horses.

symbol of

suitable

as

it

is

movement

battle, whilst its swift springing

finely with the

He

and

was the horse, admirably adapted

advance of a foaming wave of the

sea.

"

"his

swift steeds, with feet of brass

yokes to the chariot," sings

Homer

the Iliad,

in

and manes of

himself, clad in gold, drives over the waves.

The

gold,

and

beasts of

the sea sport round him, leaving their lurking places, for they

know him
for

him.

to

be their

lord.

His horses speed

The

sea rejoices and

lightly,

makes way

and never a drop touches

the brazen axle."

may have been to illustrate a tendency

encroach in many places on the coast, as well
It

of the sea to
as to

show the

Hera, or Juno.

Poseidon, or Neptune.

POSEIDON, OR NEPTUNE.

importance attached to a good supply of water, that the myth

originated which

Athene

tells

us of the dispute between Poseidon and

for the sovereignty of the soil

the dispute,

two should perform the greatest wonder, and

confer the most useful
rule over

gift

on the

With a stroke of

it.

To

of Attika.

settle

was agreed by the gods that whichever of the

it

same time

at the

land, should

be entitled to

Poseidon caused a

his trident

brackish spring to well up on the Acropolis of Athens, a rock

400 feet high, and previously altogether without water. But

Athene in her turn caused the first olive tree to grow from the
same bare rock, and since that was deemed the greatest benefit
that could

be bestowed, obtained

for all

time sovereignty of

the land, which Poseidon thereupon spitefully inundated.

A
was

and ending

similar dispute,
that

Argos.

which he had with

But

in this

also unfavourably for him,

Hera

concerning the

course of causing a perpetual drought.

same nature were

of Corinth, with

his disputes with

Zeus

and with Apollo

district of

case his indignation took the opposite

Other incidents of the

Helios

for ^Egina, with

for Delphi.

for the

Dionysos

The most obvious

possession
for

Naxos,

illustrations,

however, of the encroaching tendency of the sea are the monsters

which Poseidon sent to lay waste coast lands, such as

those which

Hesione and Andromeda

were offered to

appease.

In the Iliad Poseidon appears only in his capacity of ruler

of the sea, inhabiting a brilliant palace in
its

its

depths, traversing

surface in a chariot, or stirring the powerful billows

earth shakes as they crash

upon the

shore.

till

the

This limitation

of his functions, though possibly to be accounted for by the

nature of the poem,

is

remarkable for

this reason, that

among

the earliest myths associated with his worship are those in

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

52

which he

and

is

represented in connection with well-watered plains

valleys.

In the neighbourhood of Lerna, in the parched

district of

Argos, he had struck the earth with his trident, and

caused three springs to well up for love of

he found

in

distress,

Danaos

which her father

Amymone, whom

because she could not obtain the water

had sent her

In Thessaly

to fetch.

a stroke of his trident had broken through the high mountains,

which formerly shut

whole country and caused

in the

By

frequently flooded with water.

pleasant vale of

from the

hills

Tempe,

that stroke he

to

it

be

formed the

through which the water collecting

might flow away.

district well

supplied with

water was favourable to pasture and the rearing of horses, and

in this

way

the horse

came

to

be doubly

his symbol, as

of the water of the sea and on the land.

its

mountainous

land and fine streams and valleys, he was

worshipped side by side with Demeter, with whom,

believed, he begat that winged

Arion.

In

Bceotia,

became

in

and wonderfully

where he was

mother of Arion was said

had appeared

god

In Arcadia, with

also

the form of a horse.

the father of the winged horse

it

With

was

horse

worshipped,

have been Erinys,

to

fleet

the

whom

he

Medusa

he

to

Pegasos, which was

watered at springs by Nymphs, and appeared to poets as the

symbol of poetic
his

And

inspiration.

again,

ram, with the golden fleece for which the

was

as an instance of

double capacity as god of the sea and pasture streams, the

said to have

been

his offspring

been changed into a lamb.

were,

Chief

Argonauts

sailed,

Theophane, who had

among

his other offspring

on the one hand, the giant Antaeos, who derived

from his mother Earth a

cible,

by

till

Herakles

and the Kyklops,

lifting

strength which

him

in the air

Polyphemos

made him

invin-

overpowered him,

on the other hand, Pelias,

POSEIDON, OR NEPTUNE.

who sent
Nestor.

To

out

the

53

and Neleus the

Argonauts,

return to the instances of rebellious conduct

of Poseidon,

father

of

on the part

appears that after the conclusion of the war

it

with the Giants a disagreement arose between him and Zeus,

the result of which was that Poseidon was suspended for the

period of a year from the control of the sea, and was further
obliged during the time to serve, along with Apollo,

don

the

city.

King of Troy, and

Some

Laome-

to help to build the walls of that

say that the building of the walls was voluntary

on the part of both gods, and was done

of Laomedon,

who

afterwards refused to give Poseidon the

reward agreed upon.

land by a flood,

to test the character

Angry

at this, the

and sent a sea-monster,

god devastated the

to

appease which

Laomedon was driven to offer his daughter Hesione as a

sacrifice.
Herakles, however, set the maiden free and slew
the monster.
Thus defeated, Poseidon relented none of his
indignation towards the Trojans,

much

injury in after times,

and would have done them

when they were

at

war with the

Greeks, but for the interference of Zeus.

Though worshipped

generally throughout Greece,

it

was

in

the seaport towns that the most remarkable zeal was displayed
to obtain his favour.

Temples

public rejoicings were to be

in his honour, sanctuaries,

met with

in

and

Thessaly, Bceotia,

Arcadia, at Aegae, and Helike, on the coast of Achaea, at

Pylos in Messenia, at Elis, in the island of Samos, at Corinth,

Nauplia, Troezen, in the islands of Kalauria, Eubcea, Skyros,

and Tenos,

that

belt

at

Mycale, Taenarum, Athens, and on the Isthmus

of land which connects Peloponnesos with the

rest of Greece.

In the island of Tenos an annual

festival

was

held in his honour, at which he was worshipped in the cha-

DEITIES OF

54

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

People crowded to the

racter of a physician.

and

common

honour was

But chief of

council

that held

all

from

festival

neighbouring islands, and spent the time in banquets,

sacrifice,,

the gatherings in his

on the Isthmus of Corinth

in the

autumn,

Olympiada festival which had been established

by Theseus, and in reputation stood next to the Olympian
twice in each

games, like them also serving the purpose of maintaining

among

the Greeks of distant regions the consciousness of their

common

The

origin.

Corinthians had the right of arranging

and managing them, the Athenians having also certain

leges.

was

It

as the

first

festival

in

to train

privi-

double capacity of ruler of the sea and

his-

and employ horses

were paid to him.

that the honours of this

His temple, with other sanctuaries,

stood in a pine grove, a wreath from which was the

awarded

The

to the victors.

of parsley.

In

this

prize

memorial of the

originally

prize

been a wreath

Argo,
Poseidon as a

sacred pine grove was to be seen the

Argonauts,

the ship of the

had

earliest

dedicated to

enterprise at sea

and there also

stood the colossal bronze statue of the god, which the Greeks
raised to

commemorate

the splendid naval victory gained over

the Persians at Salamis.

him, the

them

Horses and

method of performing

into the sea.

It

of shipwreck to hang

bulls

were sacrificed to

the sacrifice being to throw

was the practice of fortunate survivors

up some memento of

their safety in

one

of his temples.

The Romans,
it

had

living mostly as

herdsmen and farmers

in early

little

occasion to propitiate the god of the sea, and

was probably,

therefore, rather as the father of streams that

times,

they erected a temple to

Neptunus

Campus

Martius,

and held a

honour attended with games,

feasting,

festival in his

and enjoyment

like that of a fair.

in the

AMPHITRITE.

55

Between Zeus and Poseidon there is, in works of art, such likeness as
would be expected between two brothers.
But Poseidon is by far the
more powerful of the two physically his build, like that of Herakles,

expressing the

greatest conceivable strength.

But,

unlike Herakles, his

and especially his head, are those of a god, not of an athlete.

features, one by one, resemble those of Zeus, but his hair, instead of

attitudes
I

lis

springing from his brow,

matted from the water.

the sacred figures of

and clad

in the

falls in

His

him

in his

in

and dolphin.

and

is

Possibly

temples represented him seated on a throne,

Ionian chiton.

on promontories and

thick masses over the temples,

attributes are a trident

But

in the colossal statues of

him erected

harbours, to secure his favour, he was always

standing wearing only a slight scarf, which concealed none of his powerful
form, holding out a dolphin in his

left,

and the trident

with one foot raised on the prow of a vessel.

in his right hand, often

In works of art not con-

nected directly with his worship he was figured (as on plate v.) traversing
the sea in a car
sea.

drawn by Hippocamps, or other fabulous

creatures of the

In one of the pediments of the Parthenon the dispute between him

and Athene was represented.

AMPHITRITE,
The

rightful wife of Poseidon,

had the care of

hurl

them

its

was the goddess of the

creatures, could

against rocks

and

cliffs.

stir*

She was a daughter of

Okeanos and Tethys, or, according to another

Nereus and Doris. Usually she was represented
ing hair

sea,

the great waves, and

report, of

with flow-

and the toes of a crab protruding from her temples

sometimes seated on the back of a triton or other creature

of the deep, alone

among

companying Poseidon.

sea-animals

and seaweed, or

She may be compared with the

acsea-

goddess of the Romans, Salacia, Neverita, and Venilia.

the highest order.

deities of

KO

HADES, or PLUTO.
(plate

We

have seen

how

VI.)

Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon

came

to be con-

who between them controlled

sky, and sea, and how a character

ceived as the three great deities

the elements of the heavens,

came

to

be ascribed

suggested by the

to each of

them such as was most

phenomena of

which they respectively

ruled.

naturally

the provinces of the world in

But there

still

remained a

re-

gion which could not escape the observation of people like the
Greeks, gifted with so keen a sense of the various operations of

That region was, however,

nature.

to

be steadily upward, as

The

itself invisible,

The growth

the surface of the earth.

if

being under

of vegetation was seen

impelled by some divine force below.

metals which experience showed to be most precious to

mankind could only be obtained by digging

gion under the earth.

was spent, every form of

be supreme

in the

into that dark re-

Thither returned, after

life.

its

day on earth

In conceiving a god

management of

to attribute a double character to

this region,

him

first,

it

who should

was necessary

as the source of

the treasures and wealth of the earth, as expressed in his

Pluton
by the
of

and secondly,

as

all

name

monarch of the dark realm inhabited

invisible shades of the dead, as expressed in his

name

Aides.
While by virtue of

his

power of giving

fertility to

vegetation,

of swelling the seed cast into the furrows of the earth, and of
yielding treasures of precious metal, he was justly viewed as a

benevolent deity and a true friend of man, there was another

and very grim

side to his character, in

implacable, relentless god,

whom

which he appears as the

no cost of

sacrifice

could per-

VI.

Pluto and Proserpina.

Demeter, or Ceres.

Hestia, or Vesta.

HADES, OR PLUTO.

suade

permit any one

to

For

return.

57

who had once passed

this reason, to die, to

his gates ever to

go to Hades' house,

to pass

out of sight, to be lost in the darkness of the lower world, was

looked forward to as the dismal inevitable

fate awaiting all

Yet there must have been some consolation

thus claimed by him had been originally his

the

life

the

means of comfort and pleasure

times,

when

the benevolent side of his character

robbed death of

To

its terrors.

gift,

as

were

In later

in life thus cut off.

into view, assuring hopes arose concerning a future

that

men.

in the belief that

came more
happy

life

impart such hopes was the

purpose of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

seems

It

site

to

powers

have been

myth concerning

to

make

this

union of two such oppo-

person of one god more explicit that the

in the

his marriage with

Persephone

originated,

we shall afterwards see, a personification of young

blooming life. The grim god of the dead carries off by force
a young goddess full of life.
But no new life issues from the
marriage.
Yet she loved him, it would seem for when her
she being, as

mother,

Demeter

(Ceres), implored her to

come back to

earth,

her answer was that she had accepted from her husband the half
of a pomegranate, or apple of love as

eaten

It is

it.

it

was

called,

and had

apparently in reference to this that both

and Persephone are represented

in

works of

art

Hades

holding each a

fruit.

Hades,
after the

being a son of

dethronement

two brothers,
the world.

Rhea

and Kronos, was

of the latter, to a share

Zeus and Poseidon,

They

the lower world.

in the

entitled,

along with his

management of

and to Hades fell the dominion over

The importance assigned to his dominion

cast lots,

may be judged from

the fact of

its

Zeus, and styled, too, sometimes,

monarch being a brother of

"Zeus of the

lower world.''

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

With regard
be looked

for

representing
crust of the

to the region

we

where the realm of Hades was

find the ancient authorities at variance,

as in the under-world proper

it

that

others in the remote west,

earth,

is,

to

some

under the
Okeanos,

in

where were the gloomy groves of Persephone.

It

irom the upper world by any spot of

sombre or wild

sufficiently

was entered

natural aspect, particularly chasms with dark waters such as in-

The most celebrated place of this kind was Lake

Avernus, at Cumae in Italy, of which it was said, as of the
Dead Sea, that no bird tried to fly across it but fell lifeless in its

spire terror.

waters.
all

Beyond

comers had

these entrances was an

open gate through which

and having passed could not

to pass,

Exceptions to the rule were made

retrace a step.

as a rule

in favour

of

Herakles and Orpheus, who were permitted

home of the dead, and return alive. The entrance

heroes such as
to visit the

was guarded by the dog of Hades, the dreaded Cerberus, a

monster with three heads and a serpent's

who

tail,

fawning on those

entered, but showing his horrible teeth to those

to pass out.

But besides by

this

who

tried

gateway, the lower was separ-

ated from the upper world by rivers with impetuous torrents, of

which the most famous was the Styx, a stream of such

aspect that even the highest gods invoked
truth of their oaths.

Across

this river the

it

terrible

as witness of the

departed were con-

veyed by an aged ferryman appointed by the gods, and called

Charon,

but not until their bodies had been buried in the

earth above with

of affection.
to

wander

all

Till this
listlessly

due ceremony of

sacrifice

and marks

was done, the souls of the departed had

about

the farther

bank of the

prospect which was greatly dreaded by the ancients.

ferry

Charon exacted a

money

toll

(naidon), to

(danake) was placed in the

Styx,

For the

pay which a piece of

mouth of

the dead at burial.

HADES, OR PLUTO.

The
that

named Acheron,
woe"; Pyriphlegethon, the
"fire"; and Kokytos, the river of "weeping and
To these is added, by a later myth, Lethe, the

other rivers of the under-world were

the river of "eternal

is,

stream of
wailing."

" forgetfulness "

of

river

59

so

called because

its

waters were

believed to possess the property of causing the departed

drank of them to forget altogether

in the

and

The

upper world.

their

who

former circumstances

purport of this myth was to explain

establish the idea that the

dead could not take with them

into the realm of everlasting peace the consciousness of the

pains

and sorrows of

their lot

on

and

troubles,

later poets

In the

last

all

an idea of the means of

have made frequent use

book of

the

In the waters of

earth.

Lethe they drank a happy oblivion of

past suffering, wants,

forgetting sorrow

which

of.

Odyssey the souls of the

slain suitors,

conceived as small winged beings, are described as being con-

ducted to the realm of Hades by Hermes

Psychopompos

(see

They pass

gloomy.

Plate VI).

in his capacity

The way

is

of

dark and

the streams of Okeanos, the white rock,

the gates of Helios, the people of dreams,

Asphodel meadow, where the

spirits

and

at last reach the

of the dead inhabit sub-

terraneous caves.

With regard to the condition of the dead under the dominion of Hades, the belief was that they led a shadowy sort
of apparent life, in which, as mere reflections of their former
selves, they

continued as in a dream, at any rate without

tinct consciousness,

to

occupations to which they had been accustomed on earth.

was only
sias, of

to favoured individuals like the

whom we

dis-

perform the labours and carry on the

have more

Theban

seer,

It

Teire-

to say afterwards, that the privi-

lege of complete consciousness was granted.

Such was the sad

6o

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

condition of the dead

from

the

Odyssey

complaint
"

and how they bore

Achilles

of

would rather

toil

it may be guessed
Odysseus, in the

to

as a day-labourer

on the earth

than reign here a prince of dead multitudes."

Occasionally

the shades of the dead were permitted to appear to their friends

on

earth.

It

was also possible

the blood of which,

sciousness

with the

We

to

summon them by

when they had drunk of

and speech, so

it,

restored con-

to

communicate

them

as to enable

a sacrifice,

living.

must, however, clearly distinguish between this under-

world as the abiding place of the great mass of the dead, and

two other regions where

found,

the one

spirits

Elysion

of the blest, and the other

most commonly placed

far
it

of the departed were to be

(the Elysian Fields), with the islands

The former

Tartaros.

in the remotest

below the earth as the heavens are above

appears to have been believed that

Kronos, they

the

happy

and good than

for

There, under the sovereignty of

lived again a kind of second golden age of per-

petual duration. But in later times there spread

more and more

the belief in a happy immortality reserved for

and

latter as

In early times

it.

Elysion and

islands were reserved less for the virtuous

certain favourites of the gods.

region was

West, and the

particularly for those

who had been

sinian Mysteries (see below).

Tartaros, on

was the region where those were condemned

who had committed any crime

What was the misery of their

all

the good,

initiated into the Eleu-

the other hand,

to

punishment

against the gods while on earth.

condition

we

shall

be able to

judge from the following account of a few of the best known of

those

condemned

to such punishment,

Sisyphos, Tityos, and

Tantalos, once

as Tantalos,

Ixion,

the Danai'des.

a king of Phrygia, had given offence to

HADES, OR PLUTO.

the gods by his overbearing

and treachery,

which he had practised on

cruelty

was doomed

to Tartaros,

own

his

and there

to suffer

as well as

For

son.

by the
this

he

from an unceasing

dread of being crushed by a great rock that hung above his

head, he the while standing up to the throat in water, yet

possessed of a terrible thirst which he could never quench, and

a

gnawing hunger which he

tempting

fruits that

hung over

in vain

tried
his

to

with the

allay

head but withdrew

at every

approach he made.

Ixion, once a sovereign of Thessaly, had,

Tantalos,

like

outraged the gods, and was in consequence sentenced to Tartaros,

there to be lashed with serpents to a wheel which a

strong wind drove continually round

Sisyphos, once king of

hostility incurred the

was punished
height,

and round.
had by treachery and

Corinth,

anger of the gods in a high degree, and

in Tartaros

by having

to roll a

huge stone up a

which he had no sooner done, by means of

his

utmost

down again.
Tityos, a giant who once lived in Eubcea, had misused his
strength to outrage Leto (the mother of Apollo and Artemis), and was condemned by Zeus to Tartaros, where two

exertion, than

it

rolled

enormous vultures gnawed continually

his liver,

which always

grew again.

The Danaides, daughters

whom

of

Danaos,

king of Argos (of

see below), were sentenced to Tartaros for the

their husbands.

carry water,

and continue

to

pour

vase, the labour being all in vain,

Hades

murder of

prescribed for them was to

The punishment

it

into a

broken cistern or

and going on

for ever.

and Persephone, however, were not only

rulers

over the souls of the departed, but were also believed to exercise the function of judges of

mankind

after death.

In this task

62

DEITIES OF

'

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

who

they were assisted by three heroes

conspicuous for wisdom and

thys, and j*Eakos, the

Minos, Rhadaman-

justice,

being

last

while on earth had been

also, apart

from

this,

the

gate-keeper of the lower region, according to a later opinion.

Both among the Greeks and Romans the worship of Plutor -

Hades
Greece

was wide-spread, and the honours paid him

his principal temples

pia in Elis.

The

cred to him.

In

in the

were

cypress, narcissus,

Rome

great.

In

and Olyrn-

at Pylos, Athens,

and boxwood were sa

a great festival was held in his honour

month of February,

at

which

sacrifices (februatioties) of

black bulls and goats were offered, and the officiating priests

wore wreaths of cypress, the whole ceremony extending over

The Saccular Games, which were

twelve nights.
in a century,

were in

In works of art Hades

and

his honour,
is

held once

as a tribute to the dead.

represented as having inherited the same type

of face as his brothers Zeus and Poseidon,

differing

only in a certain

His hair shades his brow in heavy masses. In

seated on a throne with Persephone by his side (as on

grimness of expression.
attitude

he

is

either

plate vi.,) or standing in a chariot and carrying her

sceptre like that of Zeus, and a helmet, which,

Siegfried in
is

German mythology, made

the three-headed dog Cerberus.

in Tartaros are not unfrequent

its

On

such,

wearer

memorable

visit to

invisible.

cap of
His attendan t

example, as the Danaides pouring

Herakles carrying

the wheel,

or

Sisyphos

and Orpheus on his

bring back Eurydike, are also represented on the vases
:

PERSEPHONE,

or

(plate

Or Persephoneia,

off Cerberus,

PROSERPINA,
VI.,)

also called

Kora by

by the Romans Libera, was a daughter of

meter, and

His attributes are a

like the cloud

the painted vases scenes of torment

for

water into the broken vase, or Ixion bound to

pushing up the stone

off.

the wife of

Aides,

the Greeks,

and

Zeus and De-

the marriage being childless.

PERSEPHONE, OR PROSERPINA.

Hades had obtained

Struck with the charms of her virgin beauty,

brother Zeus to carry her off

the

sanction of

and

for this purpose, as the

his.

in a flowery

myth

meadow

by force

he suddenly rose up

relates,

in the earth near to

from a dark hole

63

where she was wandering

not far from ytna in

Sicily,

plucking and

gathering the narcissus,seized the lovely flower-gatherer, and

made

off with her to the under-world in a chariot drawn by four swift

Hermes leading

horses,

the transaction let

it

Persephone

the way.

and implored gods and men

to help her

resisted,

begged

but Zeus approving

In vain Demeter searched for her

pass.

daughter, traversing every land, or. as other myths say, pursuing the escaped

of winged serpents,

till

taken place from the all-seeing and

all-

Hades with her yoke

she learned what had

hearing god of the sun.

Then she

to give her daughter back,

and

entreated with tears the gods

this

they promised to do pro-

vided she had not as yet tasted of anything in the under-world.

But by the time that Hermes, who had been sent by Zeus
ascertain this, reached the under-world, she

of a pomegranate which

For

of love.

world

this

Hades had given her

of Hades.

An

as an expression

reason the return of Persephone to the upper

good became impossible.

for

to

had eaten the half

She must remain the wife

arrangement was however come

to,

by which

she was to be allowed to stay with her mother half the year on
earth

and among the gods of Olympos, while the other half of

the year was to be spent with her husband below.

In this

myth of Persephone-Kora, daughter of Zeus,

god of the heavens, which by

fertility,

earth,

warmth and

rain

the

produce

and of Demeter, the maternal goddess of the

we

fertile

see that she was conceived as a divine personification

of the process of vegetation

mother

their

in the light of the

in

summer appearing beside her

upper world, but

in

the

autumn

dis-

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

64

appearing, and in winter passing her time, like the seed, under
the earth with the god of the lower world.

The decay observed

throughout Nature in autumn, the suspension of vegetation in

winter, impressed the ancients, as

modern
life

impresses us and strikes

it

poets, as a moral of the transitoriness of all earthly

and hence the carrying

simply a symbol of death.

Persephone appeared

off of

But the myth

to

be

same time

at the

suggests hope, and proclaims the belief that out of death springs

new

life,

but apparently not a productive

carried off by the

in the unsubstantial region of the shades.

to

and

life,

god of the under-world will not

This

that

for ever
at least

men

remain

appears

have been the sense in which the myth of Persephone and

her mother was presented to those initiated into the Eleusinian

Mysteries, which, as

we have remarked before, held out assurhuman existence, and of

ing hopes of the imperishableness of

an eternal

real life to follow after death.

As queen

of the shades Persephone had control over the

various dreaded

Sirens, was

Erinys

to

beings whose occupation,

men

to beguile

avenge murder and

especially

for her in the

The

Greece occurred

principal
in the

that of the

Temples of

Greek Locri, and

held

festivals

autumn or

She shared

base crimes.

and

in Greece, lower Italy,

in the island of Sicily.

were erected
Propontis.

all

husband

the honours paid to her

like

to their death, or like that of the

at
in

in spring,

great beauty

Kyzikos on the
her honour

in

the visitors at the

former appearing dressed in mourning to commemorate her

being carried off by Pluto, while at the spring
holiday garments to

commemorate her

festival all

wore

return.

There remains, however, the important phase of her character in

which she returns

to the

with her mother Demeter.

But

upper world and

this

it

will

is

associated

be more convenient

DEMETER, OR CERES.

consider in

to

phone were
wife of

The

the next chapter.

ears of corn

In works of

pigs.

of Perse-

attributes

Her

and poppies.

Hades was a pomegranate

cows and

65

attribute as the

her sacrifice consisted of

art she

has a more youthful ap-

pearance, but otherwise closely resembles her mother Demeter.

The Roman Proserpina, though

Roman

belief of the

being Libitina, or

nation,

their

daughter of
its

clearly the

is

same

goddess of the shades

or CERES,

(plate

earth in

name

Lubentina.

DEMETER,

the

appears to have had no hold on the religious

as Persephone,

VI.,)

Kronos and Rhea, was

the goddess of the

capacity of bringing forth countless

nourishing mother, and above

all

fruits,

the divine being

the

all-

who watched

over the growth of grain, and the various products of vegeta-

most important

tion

to

The

man.

first

and grand thought

her worship was the mysterious evolution of

which

is

cast into the

nature which both

St.

ground and suffered

life

in

out of the seed

to rot

a process of

Paul (i Corinthians xv. 35) and

St.

John

(xii. 24) compare with the attainment of a new life through

Christ.
The seed left to rot in the ground was in the keeping

of her daughter Persephone, the goddess of the lower world,

the

new

self

life

which sprang from

and from

this

it

was the

gift

of Demeter her-

point of view the two goddesses, mother and

daughter, were inseparable.

They were regarded

as "

two in

one," and styled " the great deities."

From

being conceived as the cause of growth

Demeter next came

to

be looked on as having

in the grain

first

introduced
5

66

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

the art of agriculture, and as being the source of the wealth

blessings

which attended the

When Hades

carried off her

with a mother's sorrow,

lit

young loved daughter, Demeter,

her torch, and mounting her car

drawn by winged snakes, drove through

her, leaving,

and

diligent practice of that art.

all

lands searching for

wherever she rested and was hospitably received,

traces of her blessing in the form of instruction in the art of

agriculture.

so

But nowhere

in

Greece did her blessing descend

richly as in the district of Attica

Eleusis,

most

for there

Keleos, of

a spot not far from Athens, had received her with

cordial hospitality.

In return for

this

she taught him the

use of the plough, and before departing presented to his son,

Triptolemos, whom she had

nursed, the seed of the barley

along with her snake-drawn car, in order that he might traverse

lands, teaching

all

by the way mankind how

utilize the grain, a task

and so extended the

to

sow and

which Triptolemos performed

art

to

faithfully,

of agriculture to most distant lands.

In Arcadia, Crete, and Samothrace we find her associated

with a mythical hero called Jasion, reputed to have been the
first

sower of grain, to

Plutos shows him

to

whom

she bore a child, whose

name

of

be a personification of the wealth de-

rived from the cultivation of grain.

In Thessaly there was a

legend of her hostility to a hero sometimes called Erysich-

ton, 'the earth upturner' or 'the ploughman,' and sometimes

Aethon,

a personification of famine.

Again we find a

refer-

ence to her function as goddess of agriculture in the story that

once,

when Poseidon threatened with

his superior strength to

mishandle her, Demeter took the form of a horse and fled

from him

but the god, taking the same shape, pursued and

overtook her, the result being that she afterwards bore him

Arion, a wonderful black horse of

incredible

speed, and

DEMETER, OR CERES.
and speech

67

gifted

with intelligence

shame

at the birth of such a creature drove her to hide for a

long time in a cave,

the river

From

at last she

till

Ladon, and

purified

among

Pain and

by a bath

in

the other deities.

the necessities of agriculture originated the custom of

living in settled communities.

mankind with an

who

land,

was

again appeared

a man.

like

It

interest in

was Demeter who

first

inspired

property and the ownership of

created the feeling of patriotism and the maintenance

of law and order.

The

next phase of her character was that which

prominence

when

at .harvest time,

minded her worshippers of the

At

that time

two kinds of

one kind called

Haloa

loss of her

festivals

conducted in the

it
it

at

daughter Persephone.

were held in her honour, the

village of

was held from the 9th

that
that

Thesmophoria.
Halimus

to the 13th of

in Attica,

Of

the

we know

October each year,

could only be participated in by married women, that

one stage of the proceedings Demeter was hailed as the

mother of the beautiful

way

to

and that

child,

this

joy afterwards gave

expressions of the deepest grief at her

daughter.

At night

were held

orgies

at

loss

The Thesmoi

or

'

institutions

Thesmophoros appear

We

'

all sorts.

from which she derived the

have referred

to

of her

which mysterious

ceremonies were mixed with boisterous amusement of

of

into

Thalysia, being apparently mere

or

harvest festivals, the other called

latter, as

came

the bare stubble fields re-

to

married

title

life.

have no means of knowing to what extent the ancient

Greeks based their belief

mysterious evolution of

in

life

a happy existence hereafter on the

from the seed rotting

in the

ground,

which the early Christians adopted as an illustration of the

grand change to which they looked forward.
But that the

myth of

the carrying off of Persephone, her

gloomy existence

68

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

under

the

ground, and her

cheerful

originated

return,

the contemplation of this natural process,

is

in

clear from

the

Demeter and Persephone always retained

fact that at Eleusis

the character of seed goddesses, side by side with their

more

conspicuous character as deities in whose story were reflected

the various scenes through which those mortals would have to

pass

who were

initiated

into the

These mysteries had been

whatever

rites

testimony of

may have

they

men

like

initiated, that they

Mysteries of Eleusis.
by Demeter

instituted

consisted

were well calculated to awaken most pro-

ceremony of

It is believed that the

worthy of her favour, but

in elaborate

and

ations of the various scenes

how

acts

place at night, and

vantage was taken of the darkness to

Those

the final stage of initiation.

Mystae.

it

off of
is

make

the

it

Persephone.

probable that adthe scenes in the

Probably these

Epoptae

or persons in

in the earlier stages

were

Associated with Demeter and Persephone in

the worship at Eleusis

and under

be

on earth and under

lower world more hideous and impressive.

representations were reserved for the

to act to

and prolonged represent-

connected with the myth of the carrying

The ceremony took

in

life

initiation consisted,

not in instruction as to what to believe or

called

the

Pindar and Aeschylos, who had been

found feelings of piety and a cheerful hope of better

future.

and

herself,

we know from

in,

name

took place, whether

of

it

was Dionysos

Jacchos.

was due

to

in his youthful character

But

some

at

what time

this first

affinity in the orgiastic

nature of his worship, or rather to his local connection with

Attica as god of the vine,

Two

the

is

not known.

festivals of this kind,

the greater in the

Eleusinia, were held annually,

when the earliest

month of September.

lesser in spring,

flowers appeared,

The

latter

and

occupied

DEMETER, OR CERES.
nine days,

69

commencing on

the night of the 20th with a torch-

Though

similar festivals existed in various

light procession.

and even of

parts of Greece

Italy, those of

Eleusis in Attica

continued to retain something like national importance, and

from the immense concourse of people who came to take part

were among the principal attractions of Athens.

in them,

duties of high priest were

pidae,

been

vested in

the family of

whose ancestor Eumolpos, according

installed in the office

was brought

to a close

by Demeter

to

The

Eumol-

one account, had

herself.

The

by games, among which was

festival

that of

bull-baiting.

In Italy a

conducted

festival

founded on the Eleusinian Mysteries and

Greek manner was held

the

in

Bacchus and Ceres,

It appears,

called.

same respect

as the

visited Greece,

and

in

honour

of

Liber and Libera as they were

however, to have never commanded the
original.
For we find Romans who had

like

or

Cicero been initiated at Eleusis,

re-

turning with a strong desire to see the Eleusinian ceremonies

transplanted to

Roman

Rome.

Altogether

it

is

probable

Ceres was but a weak counterpart

of

that

the

the

Greek

Demeter.

The

Demeter,

attributes of

ears of corn

and poppies

like those of

corn measure as a symbol of the

sacrifice consisted of

Persephone, were

on her head she wore a modius or

cows and

fertility

of the earth.

Her

pigs.

Statues that can positively be assigned to

Demeter are very rare, the

by far being that found at Cnidus and now in the British Museum,
which represents her seated, draped, and with a veil falling from the back
of her head.
On her head is neither the modius nor the crown which she
best

also wears sometimes.

less rare.

lemos,

who

On
is

On

the painted vases, however, figures of her are

a vase in the British

Museum

she appears beside Tripto-

seated in the winged car which she gave him.

On

another

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

70

vase, also in the national collection,

find the scene at the institution of

we

In the centre

the Eleusinian Mysteries.

is

Triptolemos seated

in the car

him Persephone (here called Pherophatta, a more ancient form of

behind him Demeter and
her name), and a figure called Eleusis
Eumolpos on the other side of the vase are Zeus, Dionysos, Poseidon,
and Amphitrite.
A marble relief, found at Eleusis, represents, it is
believed, Demeter, Persephone, and the youthful Jacchos.
before

HECATE,
(plate

VII.,)

Though, properly speaking, not one of the supreme order of

deities, is entitled

to

be placed here on account of a resem-

blance to Persephone in her mysterious functions both in the

upper and lower world.

daughter of

She

is

a goddess of Titanic origin,

Tartaros and Night, or of Perses and Asteria

Leto, according to other accounts.

(Starry-Night), the sister of

The

stories current

greatly,

among

the ancients concerning her vary

and often confuse her with other

those of the night, such as

moon, while standing

to

Selene

or

Luna,

deities, especially

the goddess of the

Persephone in the relation of servant

or companion. She belongs to the class of torch-bearing deities,

like

Artemis, and was conceived

to suit the belief that she

as carrying a burning torch,

was the nocturnal goddess of the

moon, and a huntress who knew her way

spirits.

also in the realm of

All the secret powers of Nature were at her

A"~was thought.

She had a control over

birth,

life,

command,
and death,

and enjoyed great honour among the gods of Olympos

as in the under-world.

To

as well

express her power in the three

regions of nature, heaven, earth, and the under-world, she was

represented as of triple form, and

were sacred to her.

Her

named Triformis.

Dogs

character being originally that of a

VII.

Kuretes keeping Guard oyer Infant Zens.

HESTIA,

mysterious deity,

it

happened

OR VESTA.

that

71

more prominence was always

given in the conception of her to her gloomy and appalling

features, her chief function

being held to be that of goddess of

the nether world, of night and darkness, mistress of all the witch-

and black

craft

arts

which were believed

as in the middle ages.

night,

in as

Accordingly her

much

festivals

worship was paid her by torchlight, and sacrifices of black

lambs presented with many strange ceremonies.

was mostly

name

in antiquity

were held at

felt

at lonely cross-roads,

Her presence

whence she derived

the

of Trivia.

mysterious festival was held in her honour every year in

the island of iEgina, in the Saronic Gulf.

Avernus, in lower

Italy,

Beside the lake of

was a dark grove sacred to

her.

HESTIA, or VESTA,
(plate
Sister of

VI.,)

Demeter, and daughter of

Kronos and Rhea, was

worshipped both by Greeks and Romans as the goddess of the

home-fire, or hearth,

her own.
life

the

name

She was properly,

of which was

therefore,

with

identical

the guardian of family

her altars were everywhere, the hearth of every house

being her sanctuary, and when the family gathered round

daily

it

was with

the

fire

common enjoyments

at

home

of family

revived a grateful sense of

life.

In every building of

public resort she had a sanctuary in the shape of a

when

in

new and

Every

feelings of regard for that goddess.

meal prepared on the

it

fire

and

Greece a body of colonists were about to emigrate to

distant homes,

take with them

to carry with

one of

their chief considerations

some portion of

them

fire

was to

sacred to Hestia, in order

the favour of the goddess

for the

Greeks

looked upon the

as

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

72

homes

and

a portion of the

colony retained
affairs

state as a great family, with

central point

its

its

thus,

from

fire

an

No

of their parent state.

one of those holy places chanced

in

enterprise was

without sacrifice and prayer at her altar

to

new

the public

commenced

and when the

Hestia

to their

or state hearth, the

that altar,

and participation

interest

altar of

by taking with them

be extinguished,

fire

of

could

it

only be rekindled by a light from some other sanctuary, not

by ordinary and impure

As
and,

fire.

the goddess of a pure element,

Hestia despised

though pressed to consent both by

Apollo, obtained from Zeus the

remaining in a single

Poseidon and
prayed

privilege she

Her

state.

love,

for,

of

spotless purity fitted her

peculiarly to be the guardian of virgin modesty.

Though
no temple

zealously worshipped throughout Greece, there was

specially devoted to her.

Her proper

sanctuary was,

we have said, by the fire of every house where people gathered

She had a share in all the sacrifices offered at the
together.
as

temples of other gods, and at every burnt-offering her presence

was recognised as goddess of the sacred hearth and altar flame,

as it was also in the libations of water, wine, and oil, and in the
prayers addressed to her.

At

the

same time she had her own

peculiar sacrifices, consisting of young

firstfruits

to

shoots of grain, the

of the harvest, and young cows.

remain

Her

In Rome, however, there was a temple to

been

built

priestesses

had

virgins.

by

and contained

Numa

Pompilius.

in its centre her

was never allowed to go out.

It

Vesta

that

had

was of a round shape,

symbol of an

altar,

with a

fire

that

This temple, which stood open by

day but was closed by night, contained, besides other very old
figures of deities, the

Palladium,

a small

wooden image of

HESTIA, OR VESTA.

Minerva
nally

fell

73

(Pallas-Athene), which, according to the myth, origi-

from heaven upon the citadel of Troy, and was carried

thence to Greece, and afterwards to

Upon

Rome.

the preser-

vation of this figure depended, the people believed, the safety

and existence of the Roman empire.

number, were called vestal
sacred

flame

Her

virgins, their

of her temple,

and

duty being to feed the

and

present sacrifices

to

To

prayers for the welfare of the state.

priestesses, six in

they were

this office

chosen by the high-priest, who was styled Pontifex maximus.

They wore robes

veil,

of white, with a

round the

hair,

and a

additional ornaments being permitted in later times.

was necessary that the

between

vow

fillet

six

girls

selected for this service should be

and ten years of

of chastity,

and serve

It

and

age,

in the

that they should take a

temple for thirty years.

that period they were permitted to leave

it,

and even

After

to marry,

though neither proceeding was viewed with pleasure by the

public,

who

feared the goddess to

whom

voted might take offence in either case.

they had been de-

While engaged

in the

services of the temple the vestal virgins enjoyed great esteem

and important

Their person was inviolable, they

privileges.

were free from paternal control, and had the right of disposing
of their

own

streets of
justice),

Rome

who

In their

property.

festal

processions through the

they were preceded by lictors (or officers of

carried with

them the fasces,

that

is,

number of

twigs tied together into a bundle, out of which an axe projected

as a

symbol of sovereign power,

an honour

which, besides

them, only the consuls or highest magistrates of

entitled to.

And

meet a criminal on

his

way

to expiate his crime

had the prerogative of ordering him

With

all

Rome

were

in the course of the procession, should they

this respect

by death, they

to be set free.

and esteem, they were very severely

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

74

when

dealt with

the

guilty of neglect of duty, such as permitting

Vesta

sacred flame of the altar of

to

die

which

out,

could only be rekindled by means of a burning glass held

up

to the rays

condemned

of the sun.

by the

chamber, and there flogged.

goddess

of the

For the crime of

or "criminals' field/'

a dark

to

forfeiting

her chastity she was conveyed to a place called the

Sceleratus,

was

guilty of this

priestess

high-priest

and there placed

Campus

in a sub-

terranean chamber provided with a bed, a lighted lamp, and

some bread and

unfortunate priestess

seducer was publicly

and

sorrowful,

up

The chamber was then closed upon

it
and made smooth, and the
left to die a most agonising death.
Her
scourged to death.
The whole city was

water.

thrown over

the earth

her,

sacrifice

and long earnest prayers were

The

to appease the injured goddess.

the

condemned

on a

litter,

and

priestess

was carried

so closely covered

offered

procession, in which

down

to her crypt, tied

up that even her screams

could not be heard, was a spectacle that raised a shudder, and

caused that day to be remembered as one of the greatest pain

and

grief throughout the city.

At

there were only

first

two

vestal virgins, this

afterwards increased to four, and again by

They were chosen always from

number being

King Servius

If

Rome

be

the legend concerning the foundation of the city of

true,

even

Romulus and Remus,

the founders of that

were sons of a vestal priestess named

Mars.
The sacred
that

shaded

year;
paired.

fire
it,

to six.

the noblest families of Rome.

Rhea Sylvia

on the hearth of the goddess, and the

were renewed on the

city,

ist

of

laurel

March of each

on the 15th of June her temple was cleaned and

But previous

to this,

and

on the 9th of June, a

re-

festival

VIII.

Hephaestos, or Vulcan

Ares, or Mars.

Aphrodite, or Venus.

ARES, OR MARS.

was held

in

75

women

her honour, called the Vestalia, only

being admitted to the temple, and these barefooted, and in the

character of pilgrims.

ARES, or MARS,
(PLATES

Zeus and Hera,

son of

AND

VIII.

XXVIII.,)

according to the belief of the

Greeks, was originally god of the storm and tempest, and more
particularly of the hurricane;

was

lost sight of at

an

but

his natural

this

earlier period,

meaning

and more completely

than in the case of most of the other gods, the character in

which he appears to us being exclusively that of " god of the

turmoil and storms in
of dreadful war," or

and

strife

fierce

In

and
this

Athene,
we

of battle."
terrible,

human

more

Of

the upper gods he was the

all

respect he forms

striking

contrast to

"god
most

Pallas-

the goddess of well-matched chivalrous fights,

fighting she
;

in other words,

" of the wild confusion

taking pleasure in slaughter and massacre.

often find opposed to

victor

affairs,"

correctly,

him

in mythical narratives.

whom
When

was invulnerable, and always on the side of the

while Ares being not only god of battle but also a per-

sonification of war, with

its

double issue of victory and defeat,

was sometimes wounded, and even taken prisoner.

assisting the Trojans in their

war with the Greeks,

of which he took under his

Hector, he was

wounded by

by the goddess Athene.

event in the Iliad

(v.

When

in the course

special protection their leader,

the

He

Greek hero Diomedes, aided

fell

853) with

so

Homer

describes the

a thundering crash to the

ground, like the noise of nine or ten thousand warriors engaged

in battle.

Again

(Iliad xxi. 400)

he was wounded by Athene

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

76

and
fall

his

fell,

armour clanking, and

seven acres of ground,

and destruction attending

by Otos and

body covering with

his

an obvious

a great storm.

He

was once captured

Ephialtes, the giant sons of Aloeus the planter,

kept imprisoned in a great bronze vase (Iliad

thirteen

months

that the

names of the two heroes

seems

space of time which, when

to indicate a

v.

385)

and
for

we remember

are derived from husbandry,

year of peaceful agriculture.

full

his

reference to the roar

Like

himself, his offspring were distinguished for their prowess or

delight in strife; as,

Kalydon,

for example,

who speared

the

Kyknos, whom Herakles

Meleager,

the prince of

Kalydonian boar (see below)

slew,

and

for this

avenged by Ares had not Zeus stopped the

would have been

conflict of his

two

powerful sons by a flash of lightning; then Parthenopaeos,

one of the seven leaders

(see below);

in the assault

Oenomseos, and

others.

on the town of Thebes

The

expression,

"a

son or offshoot of Ares," frequently applied to other heroes,

must not be understood

literally,

physical strength and valour,

but merely as indicating

equal to that of his actual de-

scendants.
Eris, the personification of fatal strife, was usually by his side,
Dread and Alarm (Deimos and Phobos) attended on his steps.

On

the other

xxi. 416),

hand we

where

find him,

even in the Iliad

his general character is that of

(v. 355 and

a huge fierce

combatant, associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In

the Odyssey
her,

(viii.

266) the story

is

told of his secret visit to

when he was detected by Helios, who informed Hephaes-

tos of the fact,

whereupon the

latter

and catching the two together under

devised a cunning net,

it

exhibited them to the

gods of Olympos, and called upon Zeus to bring them to

trial.

This relation of Ares to Aphrodite, who was even worshipped

OR MARS.

ARES,

as his proper wife in

and

77

Thebes, indicates very probably the peace

rest that follow the turmoil of war.

Ares was worshipped

It is true that

Areopagos,

In Athens the

in Greece, but

deemed by

great protecting deity, such as he was

the

not as a

Romans.

or " Mars' Hill," on which was

held a court of justice for the decision of cases involving

and death, derived

its

name from him,

had once appeared before

in a cause against

it

in his

sculptor, a

of him,
zeal.

with
sky.

honour, the Athenians, for

contemporary and

and the Eleans,

But the

real

all

was

It

the

a statue
less

centre of his worship was Thrace,

its
its

stormy tempestuous
conquests and pride

name

of military power, that he enjoyed under the

of

Mars

ranking next to Jupiter as guardian of

the highest honour,

the state.

made

worshipped him with more or

home and

Rome, however, with

in

very ancient

whom Alkamenes

rival of Pheidias,

wild warlike population and

its

The

Poseidon.

who had a

warlike people of Tegea, the Spartans,

temple

life

the story being that he

The Romans considered themselves

to

be actual

descendants of Mars, on the ground of his having been, as was

believed,

the

Marspiter,

father

that

is,

of

Mars

Romulus and Remus,

Pater, their father

styling him
Mars. At Reate,

Rome

there was a field

he had even an

oracle.

consecrated to him, and

named

in Italy,

military exercises

and manoeuvres took

tions, called " martial

were summoned

In

the " Field of Mars,'' where

place, athletic competi-

games," were held, and public assemblies

to consider important questions of the state.

The racecourse and the temples of the god were there

there every four years were held the census
citizens liable to

On

this

be called into the

and

and muster of

field in the

event of war.

occasion a sacrifice was presented to him, consisting of

a bull, a ram, and a goat, which, before being slain, were led

DEITIES OF

78

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

three times round the assembled crowd, while during the cere-

mony
still

as

it

a prayer was offered up that the immortal gods might

enlarge and ennoble the

was expressed

and endurance

Roman

empire more and more, or

in later times, that

Roman

to the

there twice a year, at the beginning of

the

ceremony of

that

won

the race

performed
the

sacrificing to

the

at the latter.

to

in

October

back from campaigns, and no

booty brought

Mars,

March and

the off-horse of the biga

October horse as it was called being

In the " Field of Mars " was dedicated

general went to war without

"

Mars

they might give stability

Chariot races were held

state.

first

Roman

proceeding to the temple of

swing the sacred shield and spear, adding the words,

Watch over us,

Mars

!"

This shield (ancile) was believed

to have fallen from heaven at the time

was king of Rome, and,

like the

when Numa Pompilius

Palladium

Vesta, was looked on with veneration.

in the

Both

it

temple of

and a sacred

spear were preserved in the temple of Mars, under the custody

of priests,

who were

called Salii,

and whose duty

it

was every

year to celebrate a festival of thanksgiving for this important

present from the gods.
offered to

In the earliest times the

Mars consisted of human

who had been taken

sacrifices

beings, particularly those

prisoners in battle

but in later times

this

custom was abandoned, 'and horses, rams, dogs, and a portion

of the booty captured from enemies, offered instead.

Besides

these animals, the wolf, cock, and woodpecker were sacred to

him.

The
such

attributes of

as,

Ares were a spear and a burning torch,

according to ancient custom, his priests carried when

they advanced to give the sign of battle to opposing armies.

The animals chosen

as his

symbols were the dog and the

vulture, the constant visitants of battle-fields.

HEPHAESTOS, OR VULCAN.

In works of art Ares

is

79

represented generally as of a youthful but very

At other times he

powerful build, armed with helmet, shield, and spear.

is

A favourite

bearded and heavily armed.

subject

was

his

meeting with

Aphrodite, as on plate xxviii.

HEPHAESTOS,
(plate

Was

or

VIII.,)

the divine personification of the

earth

and bursts

VULCAN,

fire

that burns within the

forth in volcanic 'eruptions

fire

which has no

connection with the sun or the lightning of heaven

being his
dislike

character,

we can

mutual

which existed between him and the god of the

of heaven.

supreme

He

was indeed the son of

deities of

heaven

quarrel between them,

Once, when he took

heels

and such

readily understand the

and

fell

for

the

but he was born to be a cause of

alternately at enmity with both.

his mother's part,

and tossed him out of Olympos

the air he

light

Zeus and Hera,

one whole day

Zeus seized him by the

(Iliad

i.

Through

560).

at evening, as the

sun went

down, reaching the island of Lemnos, where he was found by

some

Sintian people,

and taken under

where he was found, and where

friendly care.

in after times

The

place

was the principal

centre of his worship, was the neighbourhood of the burning

mountain Mosychlos.
Another version of the myth has

it

that

Hera, ashamed

the decrepit form which he presented at his birth, threw

with her

own hands from Olympos.

was picked up by Thetis and

of

him

Falling into the sea, he

Eurynome,

was cared

for

by

them, remained for nine years in the abode of the sea-gods,

none but they knowing

many

his whereabouts,

and executed there

wonderfully clever examples of handiwork.

It

may be

DEITIES OF

8o

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

that this belief originated in observing the nearness of volcanic

mountains

to the sea-shore,

and the

fact of

whole

islands, like

the modern Santorin, being suddenly thrown up from the sea

by volcanic force. Among the works which he fashioned in the

palace of the sea-gods was a cunningly devised throne, which

he presented to Hera, as a punishment for casting him out of

heaven, knowing that

locked within

when she

This happened, and

could free her.

to her assistance, but

by force

down on

sat

secret chains so firmly that

its

she would be

it

no power but

Ares went

was compelled

to bring

his

him

to retreat in fear

At last
of the fire brand with which Hephaestos assailed him.
conciliatory
soft
Dionysos, the god of wine, succeeded by his
speech

in restoring friendship

between mother and

son,

and

Perhaps

from

this

her bonds were forthwith undone.

intimacy with Dionysos that he

is

it

said to have once appeared

is

Olympos, on which occasion the assembled

as cup-bearer in

deities could not contain themselves with laughter at the

figure limping

from couch to couch.

steady flicker of flame that

the fire-god,

and

it

is

droll

It seems to be the un-

represented in the lameness of

the genial influence of the

may have been

hearth which was the source of the quaint stories about him.
From being originally god of fire, Hephaestos naturally
developed into god of those arts and industries dependent on
fire,

especially the arts of pottery

was the

artist

god who worked

heart of burning

and working

in a

He

in metal.

smoky smithy down

in the

mountains, and produced clever works of

dazzling beauty, which he gave freely

away

to

gods and

to

For Zeus he made the dreaded segis and a

favourite heroes.
and Memnon their armour; for himAchilles
for
sceptre
;

self

two

wonderful handmaidens of gold, who,

beings, would

move about and

assist

him

as

like

he walked

living
;

and

HEPHAESTOS, OR VULCAN.

when Homer has

to describe

The

any bronze work of great beauty,

always that

his highest praise is

throne which he

made

it

was the work of Hephaestos.

Hera, and the net in which he

for

caught Aphrodite and Ares, have already been mentioned.

From being god

of the warmth within the earth

Hephaestos came

fire,

also,

when

became known by experience,

aided the spread of vegetation,

of

volcanic

the fertility of a volcanic soil

to

be looked on as one who

this

function of his being recog-

nised most in the spread of the vine, which thrives and bears
its

best fruit on volcanic

no doubt,

fact,

It

soil.

idea

that the

was from knowledge of

arose of the close

this

friendship

between him and the wine-god Dionysos, which we

find

exemplified partly in the joint worship of these two deities,

and partly

the story already told,

in

Hephaestos back

to

of

how Dionysos

Olympos, and smoothed

led

his differences

with the other gods.

His worship was traceable back

foot of the burning

mountain Mosychlos, which

stood a very ancient temple of the god

was

said,

where

Prometheus

the theft was taken away

every day an eagle sent by Zeus to

afresh.

theft of fire

extinct,

fire,

and

it

for

and compelled

gnaw

to suffer

which daily
somewhat gloomy ceremony of expiating this
his liver,

took place annually in the island,

put out, and forbidden to be

that

had been despatched

fetch

new

fire.

now

the very spot,

the Caucasus mountains, there

nailed alive to a rock by Hephaestos,

grew

on

There, at the
is

stole the heavenly

among

Lemnos

to the earliest times,

being always the place most sacred to him.

Then,

relit

to

all

fires

being

until the return of the ship

the sacred island of Delos to

after being nine

days extinguished,

all

the fires in dwelling-houses and in workshops were rekindled

by the new flame.

6

DEITIES OF

82

Next

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

Lemnos, perhaps the most important

to

worship was Athens, where

unusually

the

large

seat of his

number

ol

persons employed in the potteries and in metal-working recog-

him

nised

Athene,
in

as

and associating him with

patron god,

their

held annually in October a festival called Chalkeia,

In the same month occurred the festival

honour of both.

Apaturia,

at which,

by the side of Zeus and Athene a pro-

minent place was assigned to Hephaestos

in his capacity of

of the hearth, and protector of the domestic

round

On

it.

this

life

occasion sacrifices were

god

which gathered
offered

at

the

hearth,

and a public procession took place of men clad

festival

garments, carrying lighted torches and singing songs in

Again, the torch race, which formed part of the

his praise.

Panathenaic games, was intended to commemorate the

fire

in

by Prometheus.

In connection with this

theft of

community

of worship existing between Athene and Hephaestos at Athens,

it

was said that he once endeavoured to obtain the love of the

goddess, and that even though this failed she had devoted
special care to Erichthonios, the offspring of his intercourse with

Gaea,

the goddess of the earth.

In Sicily Hephaestos had a temple on

was watched by

the pious from the impious

fiercely resisted.

Mount

Etna, which

clogs possessed of the faculty of distinguishing

and profane, whose approach they

His worship had also spread to lower Italy

and the Campania.

In

Rome

it

was said that

Vulcan had

as the time of Romulus, who, in

and

wont

instituted
to

sisting of

the

festival

fact,

called

a temple as early

caused

it

be erected,

to

Vulcanalia, which was

be held on the 23rd of August, the ceremony cona sacrifice for the purpose of averting

that arise from the use of

fire

and

lights

all

the mishaps

for the

days were

IX.

Aphrodite, or Venus.

APHRODITE, OR VENUS.

83

then beginning to be noticeably shorter, and the necessity of

light to

The

work by

in the evenings to

be

felt.

wife of Hephaestos, according to the Iliad,

was Charis.

but the popular belief of later times assigned that place to

Aphrodite.

By

In works of art
with

serious

neither had he any children.

Hephaestos

furrowed

mark

pointed cap or pilos, the

also wears),

hammering

One

a beard.

an

at

On

which the myth speaks.

represented as an aged bearded man,

is

wearing a short chiton

face,

workmen

of

or

exomis and a

or fishermen (which Odysseus

showing the lameness of

anvil, his attitude

the early coins of

Lemnos he appears without

of the favourite subjects both of poets and artists was the

story of his catching Herain the throne

of

it

making

it

which he gave her, the ludicrousness

an attractive subject for the ancient comedy. On a painted

vase in the British

Museum

is

a scene from a

comedy in which Hera appears

seated on the throne, while Ares and Hephaestos are engaged in combat

Another scene which frequently occurs on the painted vases

his way back to Olympos in a
state of intoxication, riding on a mule, or walking, and accompanied by
Dionysos, Sileni, and nymphs.
At the birth of Athene it was he wh
before her.
is

that in

split

which Hephaestos appears on

open the head of Zeus to

frequent representations

hand.

let

the goddess

come

forth,

of this scene on the vases he appears

At other times we

find

him fashioning

the

and

in

th

hammer

e
in

armour of Achilles or

fastening Prometheus to the rock.

APHRODITE,
(PLATES

Was
in

VIII.,

IX.,

or

VENUS,

AND

XXVIII.,)

the goddess of love in that wide sense of the word which

early times

embraced

love which was thought

and unworthy.

to

the love

of

animals, and the

be the cause of productiveness

Accordingly we find in her character, side

throughout nature.

by side with what

also

is

beautiful

and noble, much

that

is

coarse

In the best times of Greece the refined and

beautiful features of her worship

were kept

in

prominence, both

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

84

poetry and

in

art

but

these,

when times

ceeded, had to give way to impurities of

The

would seem, given

it

rise to a divine personifi-

among

cation of love in very remote early times

and

The Phoenicians

the nations of

Astarte,

called this personification

carried her worship with

factories

of luxury suckinds.

awakened by observing the productive power

feelings

of nature had,

the East

many

them wherever they established

or markets in Greece, in the islands of the Mediter-

ranean, and on to Italy.

tact with these traders,

The

early

in con-

and other necessaries of com-

of coinage, weights, measures,

merce and trade

Greeks coming

and obtaining from them a knowledge

including,

it

is

said, a

system of writing

appear to have transferred some of the functions of the oriental

goddess to their own Aphrodite,

of protecting commerce.
those of iEgina

the

The

as, for instance, the

earliest

known Greek

function

coins

weights of which correspond accurately

with the oriental standard, have the figure of a tortoise, the

well-known symbol of Aphrodite.

How much else of the character of their goddess the Greeks

may have derived from the Phoenicians it would be impossible
But the extraordinary zeal with which she continued

to say.
to

be worshipped

Sicily,

in

and wherever

settlements,

may

previous
character

to
is

the

Cytherea,

Corinth,

Carthage,

Phoenicians had

signify that others of her functions

that of protecting

oriental goddess.

Cyprus,

in early times the

made

besides

commerce had been borrowed from the

The older Aphrodite worshipped in Greece

introduction of Phoenician elements in her

described as a daughter of

Zeus

(Iliad

v.

312)

and Dione, and through her mother was associated with

the

ancient worship at Dodona.

The younger goddess, on

the

other

hand,

is

described

APHRODITE, OR VENUS.

(Hesiod, Theogany,

Under

the sea."

Uranos,

188-206) #as the offspring of

born among the foam of the

sea,

the

title

of

stepping on land

first

Anadyomene,

Cyprus, and styled

85

or " she

Urania

who came

in

out of

she was regarded as a

personification of that 'power of love which

was thought

to

unite heaven, earth, and sea into one harmonious system, and as

Aphrodite Pandemos, the peramong men. As the goddess born of the

such was distinguished from

sonification of love

foam of the

she naturally came to be held in veneration by

sea,

the fishermen and sailors on the coast as the goddess of the

Hence

smiling sea, and the cause of prosperous voyages.

was the custom

sacrifice

the island

in

and banquet

great rejoicing

honour of Poseidon with a

and excitement

Knidos she was

peaceful sea

in

styled

of ^Egina to follow

and worshipped

a character which

is

The

name from one

of her

its

belief being that she

as

In

goddess of the

symbolized by the dolphin

frequently given her as an attribute.

(Cerigo) derived

festival of

honour of Aphrodite.

in

it

up the

island of Cytherea
titles,

Cythere, the

had appeared there before landing on

Cyprus.

The
she

is

earlier

and pure Greek phase of her character,

called a daughter of Zeus

goddess

who

accompanied

Charites
of love),

presides over

in

which

and Dione, was that of

human

love

she

is

described as

Eros (Armor or Cupid), the

Horse, Himeros (God of the desire

by her son

(Graces), the

Pothos (God

of the anxieties of love), and

(Suadela, or the soft speech of love).

was the young rosy shepherd

But her

Adonis

Peitho

special favourite

her grief at his death,

which was caused by a wild boar, being so great that she

would not allow the

until the

lifeless

body

to

be taken from her arms

gods consoled her by decreeing that her lover might

86

continue to

on the
in

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

the

live half the year,

during the spring and summer,

earth,

while she might spend the other half with him

lower

world,

Persephone

beside

(Proserpina);

reference to the change of seasons, which finds

in

and

the fact of Aphrodite being also goddess of gardens

Her presence

flowers.

was

in nature

felt in

explanation

its

spring, her absence

This change of the seasons was further observed

in winter.

and celebrated by a

festival in

honour of Adonis,

in the course

of which a figure of him was produced, and the ceremony of

burial, with

weeping and songs of wailing, gone through

which a joyful shout was

again

She was

"

reference

to

this

love

and

lives,

after

is

risen

Adonaia and Adonias,

called

Next

passage.

was Anchises,

favourite

"Adonis

raised,

to

whom

to

she bore

him her

with
chief

iEneas, who

through his son Ascanius, or Julus, became, as story goes,

the founder of the great Julian family in

Rome. With regard

to

Pygmalion,

the

Adonis of Cyprus,

statue of her she breathed

life

on the occasion of one of her

the story of

festivals,

perhaps the same meaning

as in the alternate

life

is

into

whose

intended to be conveyed

and death of Adonis

that

is,

the alter-

nate fervour and coldness of love, or the alternate bloom and

frost of nature.

The husband

of Aphrodite was Hephaestos (Vulcan),

manner of punishing her when he found her

Ares has already been

Among

related.

in the

whose

company

of

her children, but not

by Hephaestos, were Eros (Amor), and Anteros,

Hymen,

and Hermaphroditus.
But

if

she had favours for

for others,

slew

and proved

on Polyphonte,

Arsinoe "whom

some she had strong

this spirit

whom

antipathies

on Hippolytos,

whom

she changed into an owl

she turned to stone

and Myrrha,

whom

she

on
she

X.

Heplisestos, or Vulcan.

m
Eermes, or Mercury.

APHRODITE, OR VENUS.

strife

and competition

for the prize of beauty,

which the Trojan

transformed into a myrtle

with

Hera and Athene

prince, Paris,

awarded

87

Of her

tree.

we

to her,

shall give

an account

later on,

in connection with the narrative of the Trojan war.

As a

result of her

power

to unite

whether in heaven, on earth, or

be viewed

to

island of Cyprus, but

in

the town

came

life

She had a number of temples

and

in the

none of them so splendidly decorated

of Paphos, whither

There also she had an

worshipped jointly with

Ares

that her connection with this

belief of the people.

beings,

in blackest Tartaros, she

streamed to take part in the annual

honour.

all

as a goddess presiding over married

marriage ceremonies.

that

by means of love

At

thousands of

festival

and

as

visitors

rejoicings in her

oracle, and, as

Urania, was

(Mars); the latter fact showing

god was founded

times,

and

in the religious

particularly in her very

ancient sanctuary in the island of Cythere, as also in Sparta,

Argos, and on the Acropolis of Corinth, she was represented

armed.

The worship
till

honour every

Venus

of

later times.

did

in

Rome

Veneralia, was held

in her

r.ot

festival, called

become general

year, a great part of the

among blooming

ceremony consisting of

and passionate enjoyment

nocturnal dances

arbours.

in

and one of the Colline gates was consecrated

month of

gardens and

She had a temple on the Capitol,

to

her.

April was held sacred to her, for then the flowers

and plants shoot

comes back from

The symbols

or,

as the

Greek myth expresses

it,

kinds.

bud

Adonis

the under-world.

of Aphrodite were the dove, ram, hare, dolphin,

swan, and tortoise, with the rose as a flower, the myrtle

and other

The

beautiful plants,

the

apple,

and

fruits

tree,

of various

88

DEITIES OF

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

In Paphos the earliest form or image under which she was worshipped

was

of a ball

that

candelabra, as

is

to

advanced, she took a

till

all

the resources

exhausted.

a pyramid, surrounded with burning torches or

or

be seen on the coins of Cyprus

finer form,

fresh

of expressing

but gradually, as art

charms being continually added,

imperious overpowering beauty were

In the best days of art she was always represented draped,

and in various attitudes. The scene of her birth from

was represented by Pheidias, on the base of the statue of Zeus at
Olympia, as taking place in presence of the gods of Olympos, she being
received first by Eros, who elsewhere is called her son.
One of the most
famous pictures of Apelles represented her as rising out of the sea. To
in later times nude,

the sea

indicate her connection with

Ares she was represented

as

Venus

Victrix,

standing with one foot on a helmet and with both arms raising a shield.

Of

type are the Venus of Capua and

the Venus of Milo.

In

temple erected to her as Euploia or goddess of prosperous voyages,

Knidos, was a statue of her by Praxiteles, which was celebrated above

in

this

her other statues in ancient times

Venus

is

all

and of which the so-called Medicean

believed to be a free copy.

PALLAS- ATHENE, or MINERVA,

(PLATES
Called

Tritogeneia

also

usually described, in the

sprung into

life,

fully

thick black locks,

all

XI.

or

AND

XII.,)

Tritonia and Athenaea,

myths concerning her

birth, as

is

having

armed, from the head of Zeus, with

its

heaven and earth shakingmeanwhile, the sea

tossing in great billows, and the light of day bein'g extinguished.

Zeus,

it

was

said,

had previously swallowed

his wife

The
might come

(Intelligence), to prevent her giving birth to a son.

tion of laying his

head open, that Pallas

Metis
operaforth.

was performed by Hephaestos (Vulcan), or, according to

other versions of the story, Prometheus. There is, however,
another myth, which ascribes her origin to a connection of

Poseidon (Neptune)

with the

nymph Tritonis, adding

that

\*T.

Pallas-Athene, or Minerva.

Apollo.

Helios, or Sol.

PALLAS-ATHENE, OR MINERVA.

Zeus merely adopted her as

have had no foundation
to

his daughter.

have been only an invention of

later times,

become

Tritogeneia, or Tritonia, had

No

But

this

seems

in the general belief of the people,

to

and

when her name,

unintelligible.

being connected with the earth, whether deity or mortal,

had a part

in

She was altogether the issue only of

her birth.

her father, the god of heaven, who, as the myth very plainly
characterizes
pest-cloud,

it,

brought her into being out of the black tem-

and amidst the roar and crash of a storm.

character must therefore be regarded as forming in

complement

to his.

must have been

into existence

plan, but as the

She is

at

once

The purpose

some way a

which she was brought

for

that she

Her

might do what he would

supreme and impartial god, could not carry out.

fearful

and powerful as a storm, and, in

turn, gentle

and pure as the warmth of the sky when a storm has sunk
to rest

To

and an

air of

new

life

moves over the freshened

express both these sides of her character

mighty as compared with open, gentle, and pure

double name of

Pallas-Athene

or storm-shield of her

became

father.

the goddess of battle

terrible

she

she who

And

carried the asgis

further,

as

her,

ning spear.

Pallas,

when they

and even driving Ares before her with her

At the same time the

side of her character took

battle, that desire

she

valiant, conquering, frightening

with the sight of her aegis whole crowds of heroes

vexed

and

had the

the former was applied to

her function of goddess of storms

fields.

soft,

gentle,

light-

and heavenly

from her functions, as goddess of

of confused slaughter and massacre which

distinguished Ares, and formed the contrast

we have

mentioned between the two

Pallas presides

deities of war.

over battles, but only to lead

victory, to

peace and prosperity.

on

to

victory,

already

and through

When

the war has been fought out, and that peace estab-

which whether

lished

it

here on earth, or whether

men

the

goddess

Athene

it

we observe and keep

in

all

life,

in

clearly before our

character, the

wisdom and

minds these two sides

we

relation of these

obvious

in the various

principal of these

we must

we

that this

shall

commit

his keeping.

two sides of her character

myths relating

is

to the goddess.

proceed to narrate.

attention to this point, that

call

shall see

a being into whose hands

the pious Greek could, with due reverence,

sufficiently

in

If

art.

one of the most profound con-

is

ceptions of a deep religious feeling

The mutual

purity,

union of both, and their

inseparable

goddess, Pallas- Athene,

that

is

it

and

and instructing them

enjoy peace,

human

gentleness

action and reaction upon each other,

The

of nations

life

be amid the passions of individual

reigns

that gives beauty to

of her

be amid the political

always the result of conflict and war, then

is

teaching mankind to
all

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

But,

Athene

first,

repre-

is

sented in the myths as for ever remaining a virgin, scorning

the affections which are said to have been frequently offered
to her.

Instead of suggesting her

degree, to earthly passions

ably

that

she was a

unfettered in
time,

order,

liability,

foibles, the

in

the smallest

myth shows admir-

divine personification of mind, always

movements

of the origin of

Divine Being
female

its

and

a personification, at the

mind from

a proof that

mind

is

but a single and

the brain

same

of the supreme

neither of a male nor of a

independent power at work

throughout the whole of nature.

In the course of the war with the Giants Pallas rendered

most valuable assistance

to Zeus,

both by advice and deed

being, in fact, the cause of his calling in the aid of

Herakles,

and thus completing successfully the subjugation of the

rebels.

a1

PALLAS-ATHENE, OR MINERVA.

Single-handed she overpowered the terrible giant

but

she found engaged in destroying the grim creatures and

monsters upon

Herakles

of

In

it.

this

in all his

capacity she was the constant friend

hardships and adventures (see below),

and of Perseus, whom she helped

reason

obtained

the

name

to

Theseus

for this

or

Gorgon

below) overcame and slew monsters of

(see

She stood by the Greeks

shall

after ten years' duration,

But, in times of peace, her

and

all

war against Troy,

their

in

describe afterwards, and devised the scheme

which we

skill

and

Gorgophone,

of

by which,

of

aegis,

Along with Hera she protected the Argonauts,

her assistance was due the success with which

slayer.

kinds.

Gorgon Medusa,

to slay the

whose head she afterwards wore upon her

while

on earth

those heroes

the task of assisting and protecting

whom

Enkelados

Zeus' rule was at last firmly established, she took up

when

it

was brought to a

power as goddess

close.

in all

kinds

and

handicraft, of clearness like that of the sky,

of mental activity, was uniformly exercised, as has been said,

good and

for the general

and weaving
taught

how

to

were

prosperity.

described

of

as

The

arts

her

invention.

tend and nurse newly-born infants

was her invention.

too,

flute,

was her duty

of war,

it

horses,

of bridling and yoking

task which

we

phon,

whom

in

for

the

who

other gods.

As became

the goddess

them

in the art of taming

to

the

war-chariot

story of

Erichthonios,

industry,

how

at Athens,

first

and

mortal

to harness horses to chariots.

the protectress of
of those

the

Bellero-

she bridled the winged horse Pegasos

learned from her

and

men

find her performing in the story of

a word, she was

art

to instruct

She

and even

among

the healing art was traced back to her

The

of spinning

all

In

persons employed in

whose business

it

was on earth

to

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

02

instruct

and educate mankind, and therefore

to help forward

the general happiness.

The
Attica,

myth

scene

principal
that

district

her

of

which,

related above, she obtained as

province, after a contest for

liar

it

other deities, and from her was

the land.

The

visible proof

of Attica was

ship

which she created

which

the

the

the

god

all

Poseidon, and from

the

olive

trees of Attica

In the produce of the olives consisted the

Ancient writers relate a touching

on the Acropolis, which reveals

the belief of their

When

minds of her people.

overwhelming

the chief town of

on the Acropolis of Athens,

olive

story concerning this olive tree

firmly

named

in the contest with

chief wealth of the land.

how

Poseidon,

and testimony of her guardian-

Athenians believed

have spread.

to

the

to

and pecu-

her special

with

was

actions

according

There her worship and honour surpassed that of

of the sea.
all

and

influence

Greece

of

forces against

goddess was rooted

in

the

the Persians advanced with their

Greece,

it

said that

is

Athene

presented herself at the throne of her father, and begged for

the preservation of her city.

Athens must
might

rise

perish,

from

its

in

But

fate

had otherwise decreed

ruins,

and accordingly Zeus was obliged

The Athenians

to refuse the prayer of his beloved daughter.

took to their

fleet,

abandoning altogether the

city,

Persians then entered, and destroyed utterly with

which the
fire

sword, not even sparing the sacred olive of the goddess.

lo

as a sign that she

order that a better and nobler city

had not forsaken her

city

even

and
But,
in its

ruins, there sprang suddenly from the root which remained a

new

shoot, which, with wonderful quickness,

of three yards, and was looked on as an

generation of the

city.

With the aid of

grew

to a length

emblem
their

of the re-

goddess the

PALLAS-ATHENE, OR MINERVA.

Athenians fought foremost of

ensued at Salamis,

fight that

all

in

93

the Greeks in the famous sea-

which the Persian

fleet,

troops on the mainland were compelled to escape with

and immense

Among

though

numbers, was wholly destroyed, while the

vastly superior in

losses

shame

from Greece.

the great variety of her

functions as a goddess,

some derived from her

titles,

and others from the

localities

where her

worship had a special hold on the people, we find Athene at

styled " mother," in consequence

Elis

nursing

of

of her care over the

Athens and several other

children; in

Polias, the "protectress of

cities";

places,.

Soteira, the "saviour";

Glaukopis, "blue-eyed goddess"; Parthenos, "the virHippia, "tamer of horses"; Ergane, "mistress ot

gin";

Nike,

industry";
" ingenious."

called

current

Olympiad

it

festival is said to

lea.st

to

it

was a

first

that

every third year of the

is,

have been instituted by Theseus, or at

derived

its

importance from him

festival of very great

antiquity.

banquets took place on a large scale

all

in

any case

Festal processions

were formed, athletic games were held, while

at

and

held in her honour at Athens, to

was celebrated with redoubled splendour.

This

have

Mechanitis,

the part she had taken in the war against the

every fourth year

and

festival lasting several days,

Panathenaea, was

commemorate
Giants

"victorious";

the

Every year a

sacrifices

and

the Athenians, whether

home or abroad in colonies, having the privilege of taking

The prizes in the games consisted of large painted earthen-

part.

ware vases

filled

with pure olive

oil,

the product of the tree

Athene. Of these vases a small number have been

preserved down to our times.
On one side is painted a figure
sacred to

of the goddess striding forward in the attitude of hurling her

spear, with a

column on each

side of her, to indicate the race-

DEITIES OF

94

On

course.

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

the reverse side

a particular vase was won.

is

a view of the contest in which

But perhaps the chief attraction

new robe

of the festival was the procession in which a

woven and embroidered

women and girls

like a sail

in

or peplos,

goddess by a select number of

Athens, was carried through the town spread

on a mast, placed on a waggon

In this procession

ship.

for the

it

appears as

if

in the

form of a

the whole population

of Attica took part, the youth of the nobility on horseback or

and the burgesses with

in chariots, the soldiery in arms,

wives and daughters in holiday

their

The new robe was

attire.

destined for the very ancient statue of Athene which was pre-

served in the Erechtheum.

custom of placing actual

This

drapery on statues appears to have been handed

down from

remote times, when the

to the task

of imitating the

human

art of sculpture
figure,

and

was unequal

not improbable that the

it is

which we are speaking, dated from that

The magistrates of Athens offered sacrifices to her
commencement of spring. The services of her sanctuary

statue of Athene, of

early time.
at the

were conducted by two virgins elected

period of one

for the

year.

In

much

Rome

dess of

Minerva was conducted with as

Athene at Athens, her character as god-

the worship of

zeal as that of

wisdom and

serious thought being admirably calculated

to attract a people like the

and

of their arts

Romans.

industries, of the

She was the protectress

domestic operations of spin-

ning and weaving and embroidering, just as she was

Greeks.

In

Rome

of them being that on the Capitol.

festival

from March igth to 23rd was annually held

But the object connected with

above

all

among the

she had several temples, one of the oldest

things else, was the

her,

which the

Palladium,

in

which lasted
her honour.

Romans venerated

or ancient figure ot

XII.

Pallas-Athene, by Plieidias.

PALLAS-ATHENE, OR MINERVA.

the goddess, th6 story of which was that

had thereupon

from heaven, and

it

had

become

the royal family of Troy, the possession of

it

95

originally fallen

the

property of

being from that

time always considered an assurance of the safety of that

But
it

in the course

city.

of the war between the Greeks and Trojans

was secretly carried

off

by

Diomedes

and Odysseus, upon

which followed the capture of the town by means of the wooden

Another version of the story has

horse.
it

with him

when he

fled

from the city

this inconsistency in the story

more than one

ladium
ever

it

that the

city

it

it

that

and

in

happened

in

iEneas

consequence

was believed

of

later times that

claimed the possession of the real Pal-

example, Argos, Athens, and Rome.

as, for

took

Where-

to be, there the firm conviction existed

endurance of the city depended on the possession of

the image, and so

it

happened afterwards

Palladium was employed

in a

be of similar importance

and when,

" Palladium of

that the expression

wider sense to objects thought to

Freedom being

we hear of the
we understand that

for instance;

carried off,"

the principal provision and security of freedom has been lost.

The symbols

of Athene were the owl, the cock, the snake, and

the olive tree.

In works of art Athene generally appears as a virgin of serious aspect,
armed with helmet, shield, and spear, wearing long full drapery, and on
her breast the aegis, with a border of snakes, and the face of Medusa in the
centre.
She is often accompanied by an owl.
Of the many statues of
her,. the two most famous in antiquity as works of art were those by the
sculptor Pheidias
the one of gold and ivory stood in her great temple at
Athens, the Parthenon.
Some idea is given of it by Plate XII., which
represents a restoration from a presumed copy of the original.
The other was of bronze (Plate XL), colossal in size, and stood on the
Acropolis, towering above the temple just named, the crest of her helmet
and point of her spear being visible from the sea as far away as Cape
Sunium, the most southern point of Attica.
Her attitude was that oi
:

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OK

96

preparing to hurl her spear, and the

"Van

or

of Battle."

she bore, that of Promachos,

title

representation of the statue

coins of Athens on which a view of the Acropolis

The

last

A. D.,

375

attitude

record we have
how and when

of

statuettes, of

On

Athens.

which there

is

is

be seen on the

to

given.

of the statue of gold and ivory

perished remaining

it

bronze statue

the

is

one

exists,

find

is

in the year

mystery.

The

several

small

in

Museum, which was found

in the British

we

the painted vases

believed,

is

it

still

many

in

representations of her birth,

of her contest with the Giants, of her assisting heroes, such as Perseus and

The
Museum, which decorated

now

Herakles, in their exploits.

subjects of the sculptures,

British

the pediments of the Parthenon, were,

and

in the front, her birth,

back, her contest with

at the

in the

Poseidon.

In

the Erechtheum at Athens was an ancient figure of the goddess, believed

have fallen from heaven

to

while another

Palladium properly so called, was preserved

priestly family

heaven.

In

its

named

Byzigi.

ancient figure of her,

the

under the care of a

also was believed to have fallen from

It

in the city

presence was held a court for the

trial

of cases of bloodshed.

PHCEBOS-APOLLO and HELIOS, or SOL.

(plate

From
the

the sun

comes our physical

same time an emblem of

ledge, truth,

and

a distinction was

phenomenon
on

one

side

Phcebos-Apollo
the

of

right,

of

inaccessible.

is

the

darkness

He

is

future,

the

and

phenomenon

that

light

is

at

and

as a mental

the

in this respect

and a physical

Phcebos-Apollo
Accordingly

other.

who throws light on

who slays the Python, that
made the oracle at Delphi

which

god

god of music and song, which are only

from danger.

summer and

it

on

oracular

herds

physical

moral purity

all

Helios

lighj

free

but

light,

mental illumination, of know-

distinction which placed

and

heard where
is

all

made between

dark ways of the

monster

XI.)

security reign,

of

winter, rises

and the possession of

Helios, on the other hand,

light,

and

the

orb of the

sets in the sky.

sun,

is

the

which,

His power o

PHGEBOS-APOLLO AND HELIOS, OR SOL.

97

bringing secrets to light has been already seen in the story of

Vulcan and Venus.

The myth

of

Apollo

like that of

is,

Greek system,

oldest in the

Aphrodite, one of

least partly traceable to oriental influence,

the

No

Greek mind.

is

the

is

at

a pure growth of

doubt certain oriental nations had

sun and of

deities of the

which

but, unlike the latter,

similar

light

some points

in

to

Apollo, but this only proves the simple fact that they viewed
the

movements of

way

general

the sun

and the operations of

similarly to the Greeks.

preceding chapters

how

We

light in a

have seen

in the

the sky, earth, sea, and lower world

were personified by divine beings of a high order, while

same way other

forces

and powers

In the myth of Apollo

beings.

we

in the

were imagined as

in nature

shall find represented the

various operations of the eternal light of the sun.

It is

the sun's rays, or the arrows of

and gardens teach

as the fields

towards ripeness

and

in the

of nature

is

Apollo,

quicken

us,

through them a new

warmth of their

soft,

man

falls

under them

who

represented in the myth of Apollo,

with

all

its

(2) as

dark corners,

character in

Laomedon,

such

and

is

All these ideas are

is

therefore conceived

as the personification of

god of earthly blessings

of the herds that graze on the fields which are

soul.

of plants and

to the genial radiance of the sun,

friendly influences

youth and beauty

life

in southern climates,

capable of reaching to inmost recesses.

ways corresponding

it

around,

kindly light the jubilant voice

Their light penetrates to

as Greece.

in various

foster

all

heard and awakens an echo in the human

even

and

life,

springs

life

At the same time these arrows destroy the

animals

that everywhere,

god

(3) as

warmed by him,

which he appeared herding the

which multiplied largely under

his

cattle

care,
7

of

and

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

98

when alone piping on

from their dens

his flute,

till

the wild beasts were attracted

god of medicine, who provided

(4) as

growth of healing plants;

god

(5) as

were heard happy, joyful

sounds,

when

spread light and warmth over nature

which reveal the secrets of the

dispels

all

darkness,

The sun appears

and so

also

must

and

for the

of music, for everywhere

his

kindly beams

god of

oracles

future, as the light of

heaven

(6) as

detests nocturnal gloom.

ever young and powerful in the heavens,

and endurance be

eternal youth, strength,

ascribed to Apollo.

For this reason he came to be a prowhen engaged in athletic contests, as well as

But summer heat produces plagues, and so it was
in war.
necessary to view Apollo as the cause of the same, as the
tector of youth

god of death, whose unerring arrows carry destruction with

them.

In this latter phase of his character

Karneios, and worshipped with

festival

we

find

him styled

particular zeal in Sparta, a

being held annually in his honour

in the

month of

August, the entire population withdrawing from the town and

for

several

days encamping in tents

like a besieging

army

the

in

the neighbourhood,

object being, by living in tents, to

avoid the injurious effects of the intense heat of the dog-days.

The name
ceremony,

of this

festival

the intention

god, and accordingly

it

was

of

Karneia.

and from thence transplanted

colony

on the

north

Sicily,

coast

and

this

Apollo was

Another phase of

power

is

combined

his

at

Greek

The

Kyrene,
to

the

cities in

in

Greek

islands of

lower Italy

finest of the

temples in

Amyklre.

character,

with

to

of Africa,

to the

such as Tarentum and Sybaris.

honour of

a religious

was attended with great reverence

Sparta,

Rhodes and

As

was to appease the dreaded

it

his

in

which

function

as

his destroying

god

of

youth

PHCEBOS-APOLLO AND HELIOS, OR SOL.

and blooming vegetation,

which he derived the

represented in the myth from

is

of

title

99

Hyakinthios, and enjoyed

most part peculiar

form of worship which was for the

to the

Peloponnesos, the modern Morea, extending over the whole

of the south coast of

it,

Messenia, Amyklse, and

to Sikyon,

It was accompanied by laments sung from place to

and
by poetic competitions, the idea to be conveyed in
place,
the whole ceremony being the transitoriness of nature, and the

Sparta.

return of

of the

life

In

again in course of time.

Hyakinthia was

this spirit the festival

celebrated annually at

Sparta

in

and lasted nine days, commencing with sadness and

July,

expressions of grief, and concluding with joyous excitement.

The myth

to

in

killed,

accidentally

Hyakinthos, whom he

Amyklas
god,

who

or, in

how Apollo

this festival related tells

which

throwing

beautiful

the

disc,

his

the youngest son

dearly loved,

of

another version, how Zephyros, the wind-

also loved the boy, hurled

back the disc

at the

head

The sorrow

of Hyakinthos, out of jealousy towards Apollo.

at

the beginning of the festival of the Hyakinthia was to com-

memorate

his

death,

transformed into
fell,

and bears

his

while

the

belief

myth,

he

been

had

the flower which sprang up where his blood

name, gave occasion afterwards to happy feel-

Clearly the object of the

ings of confidence in his return.

like that of

that

Persephone, was

decay and return of

life

in nature,

to point to the alternating

which

in this instance

is

con-

ceived under the form of a youth, the disc of Apollo being

equally clearly a symbol of the sun, which scorches up vegetation.

similar idea

how Apollo and

seems

to run through the story

Artemis, taking offence at

with a mother's pride, she

had boasted

which

Niobe

relates

because,

herself higher than

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

Leto

as the

children,

When

mother of beautiful children, shot down her

Apollo

one

after

the

and

sons,

Artemis

the

daughters.

another had fallen before the angry deities,

but the youngest daughter, Niobe, with the child cling-

all

ing to her, implored

many

them

anguish to spare the

in

last

struck, her mother's heart

murmur

down which

it

and she refused to

like a stone,

She was transformed,

or complain.

a rugged rock,

became

of her

When

children, but could not avert the fatal shaft.

it

was

said, into

tears trickled silently (see plate

XIII.).

While bringing sometimes a pleasant death with his arrows,

Apollo at other times, as during the Trojan war, when he took
part

against

power with
fall

the

Greeks, appears to

irresistible

fury.

dead when he shakes

Greeks tumble

exercise his destroying

Whole ranks

his aegis,

and the

of fighting

walls raised

men

by the

sand made by children

like structures of

at

play.

As god of the sun in its friendly influence upon the face of

nature, we find Apollo styled Thargelios, and a festival,
called Thargelia, being held in his honour at Athens in the
month of May, to celebrate the ripening of the fruits of the field
under the warmth of the sun, and
a festival of expiation in
ancient days.
called

and

memory

human

at

to serve as

sacrifices

festival at

of

Athens,

which Apollo, as god of harvest

was thought of as entertaining the other gods and

encouraging neighbourly feelings

October the
sacrifice,

same time

of the

In August occurred another

Metageitnia,

plenty,

at the

and

firstfruits

in

among

his worshippers.

In

of the field were presented to him as a

September was held a

festival at

which he was
of

Nomios

he was regarded by herdsmen as their patron god.

But the

invoked as a helper

in battle.

Under

the

title

XIII.

Niobe.

PHOEBOS-APOLLO AND HELIOS OR SOL.

genial influence of the sun

and

land,
this

the

place of refuge and a court for the

annual

was held

festival

memorate the

on the sea

among other places,

Delphinion, was

capacity worshipped,

temple, called

his

felt

is

as well as

on

he was styled Delphinios, and in

for this reason

trial

early times a

in

and seven

tribute of seven boys

Athens had been compelled

An

of capital crimes.

May, called Delphinia,

in

where

at Athens,

com-

to

whom

girls,

remote times to send every

in

year to Crete to be offered as sacrifices to the Minotaur.

As god
to

of the sun in

annual course, Apollo was thought

its

spend the winter away

in

a northern

mythical people called Hyperboreans, with

As

light.

At
car

region,

whom

it

among

was always

the winter approached poets sang farewell to him.

his birth

Zeus had given him a mitra (or cap), a

drawn by swans,

lyre,

and a

which he was to proceed to Delphi,

in

but the swans carried him off to the bright land of the Hyperboreans.

When

summer came
The

the

hailed his return in festal songs.

welcomed him back.

tions of the

Daphnephoria,

year in honour of Apollo

sun,

From

olive

moon,

hung with wreaths and representa-

stars,

and

planets,

the statement that the

365, to indicate the days of the year,

we know

the festival as

symbols so obvious as
the other hand,

it

it

this

may be

was

and called the

number of wreaths was

it

may be

gathered that

not of very high antiquity,

being usually of late origin.

supposed, from

the

Apollo as sun-god, that the ceremony had existed

form

of Delphi

the ceremony consisting of a procession in which

was carried a branch of

Kopo.

priests

peculiar festival, the

was held at Thebes every eighth

Ismenios,

the

voice of the nightingale

in early times.

Sacred swans

made

The number

seven

On

character of
in a simpler

was sacred

to him.

a circle seven times round the island of

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

Delos

at his birth,

From

month.

One
that in

this

which occurred on the seventh day of the

he took the

title

Hebdomeios.

of

of the oldest forms of his worship appears to have been

which he was regarded simply as god of

Lykios,

light,

and styled

the original centre of this worship being Lycia in the

south-west of Asia Minor.

Turning now

to that

phase of his character

which he

in

re-

presents the light of 'the sun as the symbol of an all-seeing

and all-knowing power, we

god of

find

Apollo regarded as the great

Delphi as the principal

oracles, with

centre of his

His oracles were there communicated through a

activity.

priestess, with the title of

Pythia, who

sat aloft

on a sacred

tripod of gold which stood above the opening of a

the

Out of

rock.

chasm

in

chasm rose a continuous stream of

this

cold vapour, which drove the priestess into a state of frenzy

when she

sat

above

Her method

it.

uttering in her frenzy single

educated

for the

purpose caught up and put into verse, generally

cunning way as to have, instead of a clear incontro-

in such a

vertible meaning, a

To

was by

of prophesying

words or sounds, which persons

double and

give one example

Athenians

for

advice as to

easily

the oracle,

how

the Persian forces, returned as

to

mistaken import.

when consulted by

meet

its

answer, "Trust

to

proceeded to have

the

Acropolis

protected

with

wooden

moment resist
younger men of

bulwarks, which naturally could not for a

Themistocles, however, and the

enemy.

day declared
ceeded

your

wood." This the Athenian sages misunderstood, and

citadel of

result of

the

best the approach of

in

that

the words referred to the

persuading the people

to

take

to

fleet,

suc-

the ships, the

which was the glorious victory of Salamis.

interpretation of the sages

and

the
the

Had

the

been accepted generally, the oracle

PHCEBOS-APOLLO AND HELIOS, OR SOL.

would have had the answer ready, that

was only by such

meant the

tion for unerringness

and

its

have maintained

It

fleet.

tricks that the oracle of Delphi, clever

far-seeing as the priests were, could

Of

it

103

its

and

reputa-

vast influence.

the same nature, but apparently older, were the oracles

of Apollo in Asia Minor

as for instance those of

and Didymi near Miletus, the

latter of

which was

Colophon
hands

in the

Sometimes the god

of the priestly family of the Branchidse.

exercised the power of communicating the prophetic

gift

Deiphobe,

to

daughter of Glaukos.

Cassandra, and
The latter lived in

a grotto beside the

town of Cumag,

Campania of

Italy,

and was known by

It

was from her that

mortals,

the

he did to

as

name

in the

of the

Cumaean

Tarquin the Proud, the

Sibylline

king of Rome, acquired the three

Rome, and were held

They were preserved

to the time of Sulla,

also

Sibyl.

books which contained important prophecies concern-

ing the fate of

Romans.

last

to

when

in great reverence

by the

carefully in the Capitol

they perished in a

down

In Greece

fire.

was a famous seer or prophet, and favourite of Apollo,

Epimenides, of whom the myth reports that when a herdsman he fell asleep in a grotto, slept for fifty six years, and on
awakening found himself endowed with the prophetic

gift

in a

high degree.

Connected with

his gift of

prophecy was

his

For not only were the oracles expressed

strains of music,
in

in

power of music.
verse, but

the

when spontaneous, were thought

to originate

As god

of music he

an inspired foresight into the

was leader of the Muses,

a wonderful lyre which

At Delphi he was

future.

Musagetes; and

Hermes had made

styled

himself played on

for him.

Apollo Pythios, and enjoyed

several annual festivals, such as the

Theophania,

to celebrate

DEITIES OF

104

from the Hyperboreans, and the Theoxenia,

his return

which,

it

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

at

being harvest time, he was supposed to receive the

other gods

at his hospitable

These games had been

The principal festival,

Pythian Games were held.

table.

however, was that at which the

commemorate

instituted to

the victory

of Apollo over the dragon Python, which resisted his entrance

upon

his duties as oracular

god

They were held

at Delphi.

at

every seventh, afterwards every ninth, and latterly every

first

fifth year.

As being

himself possessed of eternal youth, and of the finest

conceivable athletic form, Apollo came to be regarded as a

patron of the athletic contests of youth, and in this capacity

He

ranked with Herakles and Hermes.

whom

purification,

home

He

was the god also

to

persons polluted either with disease or crime turned for

and on

this

account his high power was brought

frequently and seriously to a great part of the people.

was, therefore, properly viewed as the father of Asklepios,

the god of medicine.

The story of the birth of Apollo is that he,

Artemis, was a son of Zeus and Leto

with his twin

(or Latona)

sister

that Leto, after

the jealous
in the

wandering long hither and

Hera,

Egean

at last

but that

it

became

fixed in

birth of Apollo

its

light

swans flew round encircling

This was in May, and

in

present position on

and Artemis, an event

which was celebrated by a blaze of golden

Delia, was held

Delos,

was said that

had been only a waste rock driven about

the occasion of the

island, while sacred

It

pursued by

in the island of

and there was delivered.

sea,

hitherto that island

in the sea,

found shelter

thither,

for that

that

shed over the

it

seven times.

reason his festival at Delos, the

month.

But Leto was compelled,

through the pursuit of Hera, to abandon her children.

They

PHCEBOS-APOLLO AND HELIOS, OR SOL.

were entrusted to

Themis,

name which

signifies "justice,"

right present with

and indicates here the indisputable sense of

Apollo from

his birth.

her he was fed on ambrosia and

By

upon which he grew so

nectar,

105

and

strong,

too,

that,

so

was a

quickly, that within only a few hours after his birth he

youth of dazzling appearance, and escaped his divine nurse,

proclaiming that his destiny was to be a bowman, a player on
the lyre,

To

and

to give truthful oracles to

accomplish the end of

to search for a suitable place for

on a pilgrimage

districts of

Greece he arrived

its

and she was

young god.
in

as the desired spot,

Themis

willing to

terrible dragon,

the way, refused entrance,

on

More-

peaceful position in the heart of Greece.

over there had been an oracle of

early time,

through

rocky valley of

at the quiet

Delphi, or Pytho, which he recognised

account of

an oracle,

After searching

neither too public nor too retired.

many

mankind.

ambition he set out at once

his

there from a remote

hand over her

duties to the

however, called Python, stood

and

tried to repel

him

but in

vain, for the young god, confident in the unerring aim of his

arrows, attacked the monster,

In

this

way he acquired

his

and slew

victory over the dragon obtained the

From
mained

that
in

time forward, with

undisputed

oracle at Delphi,

and

it

title

Pythios.

of

one exception,

possession of the

that

combat.

after a short

world-famed oracle, and from his

Apollo

re-

sacred tripod and

was when he had

to take

up

their

defence against Herakles, who, because the acting priestess

did not prophesy as he wished, offered her violence and carried
off the tripod.

and Zeus had

Apollo hastened to the aid of his priestess,

to settle the quarrel

between

his

two sons, who

thereafter lived in the closest friendship.

Amongst

the other incidents of his

life,

it

is

related that

106

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

Apollo once incurred the severe displeasure of Zeus, and was

driven for a time out of Olympos, through having shot at

(yEsculapius), a son of Apollo, with a thunderbolt.

on earth he acted

his exile

metos,

herdsman

as a

capacity to Laomedon, prince of Troy.

banishment he joined with Poseidon

But the scheme

Zeus.

sequence sentenced to

Laomedon

in the

deities

to dethrone

were in con-

in building the walls of

assist

Adsame

In vexation at his

an attempt

and both

failed,

refused to give

in

During

to his friend

and again

the king of Pheras, in Thessaly,

some

Asklepios

of the Kyklopes in revenge for Zeus having struck

Troy.

them the payment agreed on

for

the service, and Apollo avenged himself by sending a dreadful

pestilence which depopulated the

During the time of

Troy.
with

Pan, who

than the

lyre.

town and neighbourhood of

his servitude

insisted that the flute

The

decision,

he had also a quarrel

was a better instrument

which was

left to

Midas, a king

of Lydia, was given in favour of Pan, for which Apollo punished

Midas by causing

Marsyas,

too,

his ears to

had boasted

the art of playing on the

flute,

Rome

In

like those of

an

ass.

he could surpass Apollo

and

punishment of being flayed

cruel

B.C.,

grow long
that

for this

had

in

to suffer the

alive.

the worship of Apollo was not established

till

320

a temple being raised to him in that year in consequence

of a pestilence that had visited the city.

temple

to

narian

No

him was erected on

Games

distinction

Afterwards a second

the Palatine

hill.

was made by the Greek poets of

between Apollo and the sun-god, Helios.

Romans

The Apolli-

were instituted during the second Punic war.

distinguish

between Apollo and

As

Sol.

later times

little

did the

In both cases

the confusion arose from the fact that the fundamental idea of

both deities was that of sun-gods.

The

title

of Phcebos plainly

PHCEBOS-APOLLO AND HELIOS, OR SOL.

designated Apollo as god of pure streaming

of the light of heaven, and this phase

light,

particularly

was

of his character

the fact of his mother's

made more conspicuous by

107

name being
But

Leto, "darkness," strictly " goddess of the dark night."

came

this, his original signification,

in the variety of other functions

lost sight of

be

in time to

Helios,

which he assumed.

or Hyperion, on the contrary, remained, properly speaking,

only the orb of the sun which

The number

only signification he had.

posed

be

Sicily,

was

it

seven herds of lambs,

see them grazing

descended

fifty

in

with

when he

it

to

each herd, which never increased

his

pleasures to

rose in the morning

and when he

most famous

Phaethon, of

is

It

was one of

in the evening.

the sons of Helios

whom

was sacred

he had seven herds of cows and

said,

or diminished in numbers.

Of

That was the

seven

was to Apollo, and in the island of Trinakia, sup-

it

to

heavens by day,

visible in the

in a regular course.

and disappears by night

him, as

is

the

is

said that he once had a dispute about his origin

Epaphos,

begged Helios,

if

Zeus and

a son of

he

really

by granting one request

was

Io, and in consequence

his father, to prove himself

upon which Helios

such

called the river

Styx to witness that he would not refuse to grant

it.

The

request was, that he, Phaethon, should be permitted for one

day

Helios, astonished at the

to drive the chariot of the sun.

boldness

of the

request,

and

threatened his son in such

move him from

alarmed

more

the

danger that

firmly,

and Helios, finding himself

bound by his oath, instructed his son

the horses, and handed over to

to

But Phaethon only clung

his determination.

to the bargain all the

at

an undertaking, endeavoured

how

him the

to drive

and manage

task for one day.

The

youth, however, through being unused to the work, and unac-

Io8

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

'

quainted with the right way, soon became confused, and lost
his strength

and

The

his senses.

spirited horses

wheeled out

of the right course, and brought the chariot of the sun so near

some places

to the earth that in

were dried up,

rivers

became black

in

danger

in

began

fire,

part of the

race

the unexpected

down

and

lightning,

him from the

cast

The

into the river Eridanos.

of Phaethon, Heliades, as they were called

him a long

three

that

is,

Phaethusa, JEgle, and Lampetia,

daughters of Helios,
for

fountains

human

which both heaven and earth were thus placed, slew

chariot of the sun

wept

and

Zeus, alarmed at

colour.

Phaethon with a stroke of

sisters

the latter took

to boil,

and

time,

finally

became transformed

into

larch trees, that overhang the river's banks, the tears that con-

from them being changed by the sun into amber

tinually flowed
(elektron).

Phaethon's

so grieved

Kyknos mourned

friend

and was transformed

deeply,

his

loss

into a swan, while Helios

was

death that only the entreaties of the

at his son's

gods could prevail on him to resume the reins of the chariot

of the sun.

The symbols
rays,

of Helios were horses' heads, a crown of seven

a cornucopia, and a ripened

were the

In works of art Apollo

youthful athlete

is

and

his sister Artemis,

finest existing statue

His hair

in a large

is

long,

representation of
lyre, or resting

and arrows,

as

tresses falling

him

is

that in

from doing

of him being the Apollo

and usually

knot above his forehead.

Musagetes he wears long ample drapery

and long

of Apollo
lyre.

usually represented as having the figure of a

perhaps the

Belvidere of the Vatican.

his head,

The symbols

fruit.

wolf, swan, raven, stag, dolphin, laurel,

so,

on

his

girt at the waist,

shoulders.

which he

as in plate

Sauroktonos, killing a

tied, like

is

lizard,

we

a diadem round

Though

engaged

xi.,

that of

In the character of

find

the general

in playing

him

on the

also with

bow

holding forth his asgis to

destroy his enemies, and present at the flaying of Marsyas.

XIV.

Artemis, or Diana

Dionysos, or Bacchus.

AND SELENE, OR LUNA.

ARTEMIS, OR DIANA;

AND SELENE,

ARTEMIS, or DIANA;

AND

(PLATES XIV.

Artemis was

Originally

or LUNA.

XV.)

divine personification of the

the

Apollo was originally god of

the moon came to be viewed like

moon,

just as her brother

sun.

But by degrees, as

sun,

109

on the one hand as a mere illuminating

orb,

the

the

and on the

other as possessing a real or apparent and generally believed

upon

influence

there grew
kinds,

and on human as well

vegetation,

up a

distinction

corresponding to

as animal

sun-gods

the

one was Selene, or Luna, whose

of two kinds.

signification

The

embraced
the

Artemis,

other was

or

The

was merely

that of goddess of the orb of night, as Helios, the sun,

the orb of day.

life,

between moon-goddesses of two

was of

Diana, who

in her character all the other functions exercised

moon on

earthly

life,

and accordingly,

like Apollo,

by

became

the subject of a largely developed religious belief; while the

myth of
little

Selene,

on the contrary,

like that of Helios,

was but

and sparingly improved upon.

Great as was the variety of the real and fancied influences of

the

moon upon natural

in the

myth of Artemis

life,

proportionately great was the variety

locality of worship sometimes, at other

times a particular point of view of her character determining

the phase of

it.

And

further,

peculiar features in the

fact

of her being

twin-sister

spiritual qualities she

It

it

should be observed that

myths of Artemis are traceable

of Apollo,

was believed

many
to the

whose inner and

to share.

was observed that the vegetation of warm southern lands

spread and flourished most under the quickening influence of

the coolness of night and the

fall

of dew, which often for

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

for the missing rains.

whole months was a substitute

known by experience
the sky
to

is

clear

that the

fall

of

dew

is

and the moon sheds her pure

Artemis was

ascribed the cause of

It

was

most copious when

light

and hence

fertility in this direction.

roam by night through woods and

groves, over hills and valleys, accompanied by the nymphs of
the fountains; beside rivers, fountains, and marshes her presence

Hence

was

she was believed to

felt.

But the presence of the moon

security to travellers

and

of wild animals, whose

Under

be.

the

title

of

in the

heavens gave

to herds, especially from the attacks

enemy Artemis was therefore thought

Agrotora

to

she was the patron goddess

of huntsmen, her favourite hunting-ground being Arcadia, with

many heights and glens well-wooded and well-watered.

Here she was worshipped under the form of a bear, and
its

called Kalliste, the Arcadians, or bear-people, boasting their

descent from her.

sence of the

On

the other hand, the regularly recurring ab-

moon from

the heavens, which could only have been

regarded as due to a voluntary act on the part of the goddess,

showed

that

employ them
this,

though opposed
for the

to wild animals,

she could also

purpose of punishing men, and to

the story was told of her having sent

among

the so-called Kalydonian boar, which laid waste their

after a great

hunt

it

was

slain

by

for her

method of

how

for such a crime on the part of

detained the Greek

Aulis,

fleet,

on

its

way

and exacted from him the

Iphigeneia.

Aktaeon,

its

till

swiftness

capture, which

by bow and speed of foot. As an instance of how

would punish the wanton slaying of the stag, there
of

fields,

Meleager and Atalanta. As

a huntress her favourite animal was the stag, because

gave the best opportunity

illustrate

the ^Etolians

was

severely she
is

the story

Agamemnon

she

to Troy, in the

harbour of

of his

daughter,

sacrifice

the huntsman, had seen the goddess

AND SELENE, OR LUNA.

ARTEMIS, OR DIANA;

and

bathing,

modesty was transformed

for this offence to her

into a stag, and devoured by his

Ill

own hounds

a story

which

appears to illustrate the destructive influence of the dog-star,

whom

Another hunter

Sirius.

she slew with her sweet arrows

was Orion, a personification of the bright constellation, which

at the beginning of summer is seen in early morning in the
east,

where

it

remains until extinguished by the morning

light.

express this in the form of a myth, Orion was said to have

To

been too pressing

and

in his

advances towards Eos, the morning,

goddess of the

for this the

moon

slew him.

From the coincidence observed between the courses of the

moon and the ebb and flow of tides, Artemis came to be
viewed as a goddess who protected the occupation of the
fishermen, not only on the shore and on arms of the sea, but
also

of

on lakes and

Diktynna,

or

rivers.

In

this character

she bore the

name

Britomartis, and was worshipped with

zeal

among

other places in the island of Crete, where, to account

for the

former of her two names, the story was told of her

having, to escape the pursuit of Minos, thrown herself from a

rock into the sea, upon which she was caught in a fisherman's
net.

From

the joyous feelings

awakened by calm moonlight, and

perhaps partly from her relationship to Apollo, she was described as fond of music and the dance

which appears

to

have presented

a view of her character

itself in

a strong light to the

people of Arcadia.

By whatever

process the belief was arrived

at,

whether from

some comparison which suggested itself between the life of man

and the waxing and waning of the moon, or whether because
mankind
of day,

at birth

we

find

seemed

to

come

out of night into the light

Artemis represented as the guardian and helper

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

of child-birth, with

Eleutho.

the

Eileithyia,

of

title

She was throughout looked upon

Ilithyia,* or
as a goddess of

the female productive power in nature, and accordingly the

care and nursing of children through their illnesses were placed

under

her

supervision.

dancing of young

accompanied by

festival,

was held

girls,

the

honour as goddess of

in her

youth, in Messenia, Lakonia, Elis, and elsewhere in Greece.

from the notion that mankind

Similarly,

came

sink into night again, she

after

known cause

cause, such as

ostensible

wound, that Apollo or Artemis had

with a kindly arrow

was ascribed

to

and

laid

an

them low

these cases the death

in

and of women

Apollo,

who were

being said of those

it

stricken suddenly, without an

injury or

death seems to

be viewed as goddess of

manner of death which could not be

death, particularly of that

assigned to a

to

of

men

Artemis,

as a

pure serene

light,

to

rule.

From

the fact that the moon,

naturally suggested, as

pure virgin,

Artemis,

it

does to us
her

as

goddess," came

spotless

with

its

also, the

name

girls,

whom

from

wreaths of flowers in the spring-time.

at

tomary

for

girls

virgin,

them

she received presents

When

girls

'

of

had reached
it

to dedicate their girdles to the goddess.

were sometimes called

and

and modest youths,

which her care was no longer necessary,

an age

"modest,

the

be looked on as a

to

as having under her special care all shy

whether boys or

idea of a modest

implies,

was

cus-

Young

bears/ in allusion to their patron

goddess, and her symbol of a bear.

She was worshipped

Athens, Corinth, and Thebes as goddess of

strict

in

upbringing,

of good fame, of upright mind, and of sensibility in the affairs

* Both

names are

also assigned to

Hera, while Eileithyia herself

described as a daughter of Zeus and Hera.

is

ARTEMIS, OR DIANA; AND SELENE, OR LUNA.

of ordinary

life.

She chased and

and unchecked creatures and

When

only a maiden

fired her

arrows at

II3

tender age

of

she

Athene, continued

and

resolved,

obtained Zeus' consent, to remain always in a single

and, like

wild

all

actions.

state,

constant and true to her resolve,

punishing with great severity every offence against this prin-

on the part of the nymphs who accompanied

ciple

see in the examples of

laurel tree,
It

Daphne, whom

and Kallisto

her, as

we

she transformed into a

into a bear.

may have been from

same motive which assigned the

the

bear as a symbol, that in early times her worship was attended

human sacrifice. Of this kind was the worship of

Tauric Artemis, at first peculiar to the countries on

with

the

the

shores of the Black Sea, the Crimea being the principal centre
of

From

it.

the Crimea,

it

is

said,

Orestes brought an image

of the goddess, and transplanted her worship to Greece, where

among other places, at Sparta. There she was

The sacrifices of human beings
styled Orthia or Orthosia.
were however, in later times, commuted for the well-known cereit

took root,

mony

of flogging youths at her altar, said to have been intro-

duced by the Spartan

legislator

Lykurgos.

As goddess of marshes she was styled Limnaia, and as a river

In this latter capacity she took under her
goddess Potamia.
protection the

nymphs

of fountains, as, for example,

Arethusa,

whose beauty had attracted the river-god Alpheios and made her
the object of his constant pursuit,

till

Artemis

to

elude him, caused

the water of the spring which she represented to flow under-

ground.

As Munychia,

or moon-goddess, she was worshipped

at the harbour of Athens,

and enjoyed an annual

which cakes of the shape of a

them, were presented to her.

full

moon, with

festival, at

lights stuck

As Brauronia, with

in

the symbol

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

114

of a bear, she had a

sanctuary on the Acropolis of Athens.

In Euboea she was styled

Amarynthia, and was worshipped

with great ceremony.

Selene, or Luna,

has already been said, stood as god-

it

dess of the moon, in the same relation to

Helios

to

Artemis as did

inasmuch as she merely repre-

Phcebos-Apollo,

sented the orb of the moon,

while Artemis represented the

nature by night, the symbol of which

influence exercised on

was the moon, as the sun was symbol of day.

compared with Helios, the

as

Accordingly,

Selene

star of day,

rising

evening and night, carrying a torch, and clad in

represents

long heavy robes, with a veil covering the back of her head.

On

her brow she wears a half-moon

and leans forward,

as

drawn by two horses

love

for

scended to him,
her,

is

on a mule.

or she rides

the beautiful young

asleep on a hill-side,

frequently

(less

moving with speed,

if

The

known

horns).

chariot

story of her

Endymion, whom

and, enamoured

the best

in

she found

of his loveliness, de-

of the myths concerning

and may be taken as a symbolical representation of the

gentle

Luna
Tullius,

who watches the

the Romans
founded by King Servius

influence of the goddess of night,

unconscious

slumbers of

creatures.

had a handsome temple,

on the Aventine

hill,

Among

another on the

Capitol, and

a third on the Palatine.

Compared

with the Artemis

whom we

have up to now been

or

Diana of

so very different

and strange

Ephesian Artemis,

so-called

describing,

the

Ephesus,

presents (Plate

XV.)

at first sight we are completely at a loss to

how by any possibility the term of a virgin could
Her appearance altogether wants the
to her.

an aspect, that
understand

be applied

simplicity, humanity,

and

truth to nature

which characterised

XV.

Diana

of Epkesus.

the Greek deities, and, what

signs of maternity.

Il5

AND SELENE, OR LUNA.

ARTEMIS, OR DIANA;

more, bears the most obvious

is

would seem that the Greeks, who

It

settled as colonists in very early times

Minor, found this goddess

on the coast of Asia

being worshipped by

population of that land, and

adopted her

in

native

the

place

the

of

Artemis, who, leaving out the fact of her being a virgin, was

probably identical with the Asiatic goddess in respect of her

divine power over

The worship

never,

grandeur of

moon, and hunting.

extended throughout

however, obtaining a firm footing in

At Ephesus she had a temple, which,

Greece Proper.

was

childbirth, the

Diana of Ephesus

Minor colonized by Greeks, and thence spread

the part of Asia

to other places

fertility,

of

architecture,

its

its

size,

splendour, and wealth,

one of the seven wonders of

reckoned

for the

ancient

the

world.

On

the night

on which Alexander the Great was

born

was

set fire to

and almost completely destroyed' by

it

man named
down his name

Herostratos, whose object, being simply to

in history,

was gained.

ander had acquired renown by

Asia, this coincidence

been an omen of

Afterwards,

his extraordinary

when Alex-

conquests in

was remarked, and accepted

his future lame.

hand

as having

Whether he himself believed

so or not, he gladly assisted in the rebuilding of the temple, so

that

was

when
still

finished

it

was more magnificent than before.

Diana

being worshipped zealously when the Apostle Paul

went to Ephesus

to

preach Christianity, and accordingly he was

received with hostility, especially by the silversmiths and goldsmiths, whose trade consisted largely in the production of small
shrines, or representations of the front of the temple of

to be sold

among

her worshippers and devotees.

Diana,

Peeling that

the success of Paul's preaching would ruin their trade,

raised so great an opposition to

him and

his followers

they

that they

DEITIES OF

Il6

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

were obliged to leave the town.

ligion

new

Nevertheless the

community

Christian

under the

of

title

This Artemis was also worshipped

there.

Leukophryne

had a splendid temple

Among the Romans

at

Asia Minor, and as sucl

in

Magnesia on the Mseander.

the worship of Diana appears to have been

many

of native growth, and not, as was the case with that of

the other deities, imported from Greece.

Rome on

erected to her in

the Aventine

Her

time of King Servius Tullius.

and deer
to

re-

found converts, who from that time forward formed a

and

as early as the

hill

sacrifices consisted of

oxen

these, as well as the fruit presented to her,

be perfectly clean and

virgin goddess.

faultless, as

became

and the

Stags, dogs,

of

temple had been

had

offerings to a

of the fields

firstfruits

were sacred to her.

In works of art Artemis was usually represented as a huntress, either in

game, or resting, and preyoung virgin, fleet of foot, her dress girt high, and
unencumbered except by bow and arrows.
In type of face she resembles

the act of running with speed in pursuit of her

senting the picture of a

her brother Apollo so closely that, from the face alone,

knot above the forehead.

art,

in the British

also she

is

and

in

is

the

is

sometimes

Versailles.

In early

example, a marble statue

her drapery reaches to her feet, but in these cases
later

as, for

represented as in active movement, like the

Of

through the clouds.

is

it

gathered into a large

Diana of

so-called

some of the

Museum

hair, like his,

The' most celebrated of the statues of her that

have come down to us

works of

Her

them.

difficult to distinguish

moon
we

the incidents in which she figured

hastening
find that

of Aktaeon being transformed into a stag and devoured by his hounds, in a

sculptured group, on a painted vase, and on the fragment of a cameo in the

Museum. The hunt of the Kalydonian boar occurs on painted vases.

The Ephesian Artemis was represented (plate xv.) with a mural crown

British

on her head.

Behind the crown

is

a disc, as symbol of the

full

moon

on

her breast, like a necklace, a garland of flowers, as a sign of her influence

in

spring-time,

while above

patronage of young
beasts,

she has

mented with

girls

many

it

lions

breasts

are

figures

cling

to

of maidens,

her arms

her legs are closely

figures of bulls, stags, lions,

to

indicate

her

mother of wild
bandaged and orna-

as

and gryphons

at the

sides

are

MONYSOS, OR BACCHUS.

How

flowers and bees.

far this figure

image of the goddess which had

Selene or

Luna

Museum

it

and

On

a horse.

is

it is

moon

as she departs

is

(Selene) rides

bayed

at

the original

on the

a painted vase in the

:

Helios

seen

is

form of youths, dive headlong

away over

impossible to say.

there occurs a representation of sunrise

rising in his chariot, the stars, in the

the sea, and the

may have resembled

from heaven,

represented as riding on a mule or a horse

is

pediment of the Parthenon

British

fallen

into

the hill-tops on a horse,

by a dog.

DIONYSOS, or BACCHUS,
(plate

Having more

XIV.,)

than any of the other deities, was styled, to

titles

"God of the many names," of these the

Bromios, Lyaeos, Dithyrambos,
The belief in the existence and powers of

increase their number,

most

familiar being,

and Bakchos.
this

god appears

to

have been borrowed by the Greeks in

its

primitive form from oriental mythology, to have been developed

by them, and in
His original

spring

to

the

Romans.

was that of a divine being whose power

might be noticed operating

accordingly,

communicated

later times

signification

in

the

sap of vegetation

and,

was a season of gladness and joy

him, and winter a season of sorrow.

From

double character of god of the vintage and

this

its

for

sprung his

gay accompani-

ments, and god of the ecstatic and mystic ceremonies in which

his sufferings during winter

were deplored.

As time went on

he came to be viewed chiefly as the source of the happiness

and mirth which

of the vine
in

arise

from the enjoyment of the noble

while afterwards, from the fact that his festivals

spring and summer, with

occasion

to

the

first

their

gaiety

attempts at dramatic

added the function of god of the

the vine.

fruit

and

mirth,

gave

performances, he

theatre to that of

god of

DEITIES .OF T(HE HIGHEST ORDER.

He

was born,

was a son of

Poseidon.

nant at

Of

this rival in

get rid of her

to

was commonly believed,

and

in

winning

his birth poets

her husband's affections, determined to

to this

end,

assuming a disguise, went

her

and

confidence,

how

once

in all

how

Zeus, who, without waiting to listen,

"by

the black waters of the

should ask,

visit

god

plenitude of his majesty as

Styx,"

she suc-

took

thereupon

occasion to propose that she should ask Zeus to

the

Kadmos,

Agenor, and grandson

relate how Hera, indig-

Thebes, and presented herself to Semele

ceeded

Thebes, and

at

a daughter of

founder of that town, a son of

the

of

it

Zeus and Semele,

had

her for

of thunder,

sworn

hastily

grant whatever she

to

was vexed when he heard the

foolish request,

from granting which no power could absolve him

how one

day he appeared before the luckless Semele with a display of

thunder and lightning which caused her death.
desire of vengeance

Semele, at the
child,

whose

Bakchos.

on the part of Hera was

moment

life

of her death, gave birth

prevent

its

at the

suffering

far the

to a

But

male

That was the child

Zeus fortunately restored.

To

So

satisfied.

hands of Hera,

Hermes, the messenger of the gods, was secretly despatched

with the infant to a place called Nysa, where were certain

nymphs,

to

whom, along with Silenos,

up the child was entrusted.

said,

His

means " twice born," and

being restored by Zeus.

Methymna was
The childhood

happiness

Dithyrambos,

In after times

it

is

it

was applied

to a

god of wine, of which Arion

the reputed originator.

of

Dionysos was

among the nymphs,

tenders of Nysa.

the charge of bringing

of

refers to the incident of his life

species of song in honour of the

of

title

spent in innocence and

satyrs, sileni,

But when he arrived

herdsmen, and vineat

manhood he

set

DIONYSOS, 'OR BACCHUS.

out on a journey through

all

known

119

countries, even into the

remotest parts of India, instructing the people, as he proceeded,

how

and how

to tend the vine,

peace, besides teaching

He

dealings.

to practise

them the value of

other arts of

and honourable

was praised everywhere as the greatest bene-

mankind. At the same time,

factor of

many

just

it is

apparently with

said,

and stubborn mood which

reference to the fierce

follows copious indulgence in wine, that he

in

some cases

met occasionally

with great resistance on his journey, but always overcame

and punished those who opposed him most

instance of

whom,

this,

we

for his resistance,

As an

severely.

the king of Thrace,

Dionysos drove mad, and caused to

mistaking him for a vine-plant, and afterwards to

fell

his son,

kill

himself in despair.

whom

Lykurgos,

will take

it

Or, again,

Pentheus,

he caused to be torn to pieces by his

her following of

a king of Thebes,

own mother and

women, because he had dared

to look

on

at

their orgiastic rites.

Nowhere was the knowledge of how

preciated
it

to

to

more than

Ikaros,

in Attica,

whose

first

attempt to extend the benefit of

own

others brought about his

manner of rustic enjoyments, was held

honour

in his

features

was a nocturnal and

Then

in the town, at

Lastly

'

from the ninth to the

in the

fifiveenth

in

Lenaea

procession of women.

day of

first
'

pouring

great festival of the year, the

Dionysia, which was held

all

which one of the principal

orgiastic

cask-opening day,' and the second

came the

with

festival,

honour of Dionysos

followed in February the Anthesteria, the

which was called

day.'

in

In January, a festival called

was held

it

death, an event which was

In December a

deeply grieved for afterwards.

the country round Athens.

to utilize the vine ap-

where the god had communicated

town Gf Athens, and

Great
lasted

of March, the religious part of

DEITIES OF

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

the ceremony consisting of a procession in which an ancient

wooden image of
one sanctuary

the god was carried through the streets from

to another,

theatre of Dionysos

was daily the scene of splendid dramatic

performances, and the whole town was

His worship extended

of

and

dolphins,

into

astir

Lemnos,

to

where the story was told

pirates

The

accompanied by excited songs.

his

and

gay.

and Naxos,

Thasos,

turning

the

where he found

Tyrrhenian
beautiful

the

Ariadne, when she had been abandoned by Theseus.

spread to Crete, the

home

It

of Ariadne, and into Asia Minor.

In Phrygia he was worshipped with wild ceremonies, called

Sabazia, and
the god

in

Thrace and Macedonia, called Kottytia. As

who had advanced through Asia Minor and on

accompanied by

India,

his wild

to

and clamorous following, he

was styled the Indian Dionysos, and

was

in this character

re-

presented as advanced in years.

The
winter

sufferings

led

him

which the god was supposed

to

be

associated

with

to

endure in

Demeter

the

in

mysteries of Eleusis, the purpose of which was, as has been

said, to celebrate the grief of the

goddess

in winter,

and her

prospects of joy in the coming spring.

The

vine, ivy,

and pomegranate were sacred

his sacrifices consisted of goats

and

to this

god

pigs.

In works of art Dionysos was represented under a variety of forms

of

two are to be specially noticed. The one called the

" Indian Bakchos" represents him as a man of years, with worthy aspect,
a long beard, a diadem on his brow, and long drapery sweeping to his feet.
these,

however,

In the other figure he

is

represented as a beautiful youth with an almost

feminine appearance (plate

xiv), beardless, his hair falling in

and adorned with a wreath of ivy or vine

tendrils,

long

tresses,

sometimes wearing the

skin of a stag over his shoulders, or with small horns on his brow, and
often in a car

drawn by panthers or

lions, or riding

on one of these

beasts.

XVI.

DIONYSOS, OR BACCHUS.

At other times he appears

and that sometimes when he

as a child,

is

being handed over by Hermes to the care of Silenos and the nymphs of
Nysa. The youthful Dionysos is frequently represented in the company
of Ariadne, while the elder Dionysos

usually accompanied by Sileni and

is

and taught him the use of the vine, a scene

which occurs on several ancient reliefs, of which twoare in the British Museum.
On his journey to India he rides on a camel, and on other occas ons he is
Satyrs, as

when he

visited Ikaros

attended by panthers.

In his hand

top.

of the persons

is

His

a thyrsus

staff is

a rod with a pine cone at the

The movement and excitement

often a drinking cup.

who were

associated with Dionysos

and

Praxiteles and the sculptors of his time,

was a great

it is

attraction to

many

probable that the

which we now possess come from that

sculptures of Dionysiac subjects

school either as originals or direct imitations.

HERMES,
(PLATES

A
in

the

son of
the

X.

Zeus and Maia,

first

MERCURY,

or

AND

XVIJ.,)

a daughter of Atlas, was regarded

whom was

instance as the special deity to

prolificness

and welfare of

due
In

the animal kingdom.

consequence, however, of the fact that in early times the chief

source of wealth consisted in herds of cattle, the prolificness of

which was traced to him,

it

came

considered generally to be the

whence

it

might.

But as

known by experience

to pass in time that

first

cause of

civilization

that there

all

he was

wealth,

advanced, and

it

come

became

was no means of acquiring

wealth so rapidly as by trade, his province was extended to

trade,

and the protection of

condition of prosperity

commerce

by land

and

guardian of commerce.

took part in
interests,

was peace and undisturbed

he came to

sea,

And,

trade were

shrewd

Again, since the main

traders.

in trade

further,

qualified-

and prudent,

to look

the

be viewed

assuming that
after

function of

all

their

as

who
own

protecting

DEITIES OF

prudence,
him.

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

and even cunning, was assigned

shrewdness,

In certain aspects of trade,

reckoned a great point

from

to talk

his protection of this

came

to

if

not in the

best,

to

was

it

over and cajole purchasers, and

method of doing

Hermes

business,

be god of "persuasive speech" or oratory.

Finally,

it

being only a short step from this to cunning and roguery, we

must not be surprised

and

thieves

more

to find

him described

though no doubt

as protector of

was assigned him

this task

joke than in earnest.

in

His

rascals,

office of

messenger and herald of the gods,

in particular

of

Zeus, appears

to

him of protecting commerce, the success of which depends

largely

to

have originated partly

duty assigned

on the messengers and envoys employed

partly in other functions of his

explain.

the

in the

and

it,

far to

As messenger and envoy of Zeus, Hermes conducts

intercourse between heaven

will of

in

which would lead us too

the gods

to

and

and from

men,

earth,
this

derived his character of a god of oracles.

announcing the

was further

office

In the capacity of

messenger or herald he had access even to the under-world,

whither, under the

title

of

Psychopompos,

souls of the departed, crossing in

them before the throne of the deities below.

the

shadowy world of

spirits

short step for the imagination,

described as

for the

Oneiropompos,

guide of dreams.

of

to

From

and dreams

and accordingly we

youth practising in the

title

(Plate VI.)

to that of sleep

messenger of the gods he readily came

had the

he guided the

Charon's bark, and placing

is

find

Hermes

As

the swift

be looked on as a model

palaestra, in

which capacity he

Enagonios.

In proportion to the variety of the tasks which he had to

perform was the variety of mythical stories about his actions

and

life,

some of them taking

us

back

to the very

day of

his

HERMES, OR MERCURY.

For

birth.

it

making age

was not an uncommon practice

to ascribe to the infancy of

the peculiar qualities

So

it

23

myth-

in the early

a god some instance of

by which he was afterwards distinguished.

happened with Hermes.

His birth having taken place on the fourth of the month, that

day became sacred

to him.

Born, as

it

was believed, during

the darkness of night, in an unfrequented, lonesome cave

Mount

on

Kyllene, in Arcadia, and on this account styled Kylle-

nios, he was only a day old when a remarkable example of

cunning and knavery occurred.

the cave where he was

left

his

Slipping out of the couch in

asleep as was supposed, the night

being dark and cloudy, he found a herd of cattle belonging to

his brother

Apollo (as sun-god), and stole a number of them.

When

morning came Apollo searched

the

missing cattle

for the infant

obliterating all traces of

their hoofs,

and

god had

vain

in

the

for

cleverly succeeded in

them by fastening bunches of broom

in this condition driving

them backwards

to

into a

cave at Pylos, so as to produce the impression that they had

left

instead of entered the cave.

back to

his couch,

and feigned

been observed by a

rustic

After this adventure he slunk

be asleep.

to

named

Battos,

He

had, however,

who informed

against

him, whereupon Apollo, angry at such a daring piece of robbery, dragged

him out of

throne of

Zeus

Hermes

was

to

his couch,

and took him

irrepressible,

Apollo,
giving

The

it,

to

and

him

the

amusement and

further

made

and proceeded

delight of both Zeus

own

to

and

ingratiated himself with his brother

the lyre, inventing for his

cattle of the

But

of.

took up a lyre which he had

the day before out of the shell of a tortoise,

play on

off to the

be punished and made an example

by

use a shepherd's pipe.

sun-god were the clouds, and Hermes was a

god who presided over the

fertility

of nature.

The

signification

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

124

of the story of his stealing

some of these

cattle

on a dark night

would therefore seem to be simply that of clouds discharging

showers by night.

fertilizing

The two

brothers having thus

made

their peace,

continued

from that time forward on the best of terms, Apollo attesting

good

his

disposition towards

power of prophecy.
the

gift,

future

that he

Hermes by

giving

him

in return

a golden divining-rod, and also the

for the lyre a present of

This condition, however, was attached to

was not

to

communicate

his revelations of the

by words as did Apollo, but by signs and occurrences.

That

is

their

mind were

that persons revolving

to say,

to

some undertaking

be guided by certain unexpected

or incidents, and were to recognise

accidents,

in

in

sights,

them the

favour or displeasure of the gods with reference to the enterprise in question,

in

modern

a method

superstition.

lieved to be sent

of proceeding

These

common enough

and incidents were be-

signs

by Hermes, whose counsel

in other cases of

doubt, as to whether to do or not do a thing, was sought for by

recourse to dice, the belief being that a high throw signified
his approval,

and a low throw the

The cunning and

adroitness,

reverse.

the

same good humour and

ready answer which he gave proof of

infancy, were often afterwards

in the first

and with

days of his

like success displayed

when he stole the sceptre of Zeus,

Poseidon's
trident, the sword of Ares,
Aphrodite's
the tongs of Hephaestos, or Apollo's bow and arrows, in
each case managing to make up matters, and smooth away the
by him

as, for

example,

girdle,

indignation of his victims.

But the most celebrated instance

were

displayed was the

in

which

of

Argos

to

watch over Io, one of the favourites of Zeus,

his brilliant talents

with the hundred eyes,

fully

whom Hera had

affair

appointed

whom

the

HERMES, OR MERCURY.

latter,

25

she might escape the vengeance of the jealous

that

Hera, had transformed

into a cow, a trick

which the goddess

had perceived.
Well,

Hermes being commanded by Zeus to release Io from

Argos, and in doing so to use no force,

the surveillance of

found the task no easy matter, seeing that the watchman had a

hundred

eyes, of which,

when

only

in his deepest sleep,

fifty

Hermes succeeded, however, and in this fashion.

Presenting himself to Argos, he commenced to amuse him by
telling all kinds of tales, and having by these means fairly gained

were closed.

the watchman's
pipe,

confidence, he

and played on

next

produced a shepherd's

various tunes of such sweetness that

it

they gradually lulled Argos into so deep a sleep that one by

one

all his

The moment

hundred eyes closed.

drooped Hermes slew him, and

For

her away.

at

name

phontes, was

title

the proudest

of Argos, Hera,

it

was

favourite bird, the peacock.

of his knavery

of " Argos-slayer,"

said, set his eyes in the tail of

Hermes

for his skill

who invented Apollo's lyre, as

which the Theban musician, Amphion,
and it was he who taught Palamedes
example,

was also directed

It

was he,

well as that

much

assist.

as courage presented

He

for

one by

did such wonders

to express

And, besides, wherever danger that required

present to

her

But these and such-like instances

frequently to purposes of useful invention.

dexterity as

Argei-

As a memo-

which he bore.

and cunning do not by any means express the

whole character of

writing.

and led

Io,

he rose high in the estimation of

this service

Zeus, and from that time the

rial

the last eyelid

once released

itself,

words
skill

in

and

he was always

acted as guide to heroes in their dan-

gerous enterprises, and in that capacity frequently, as in the

case of

Herakles, was

associated with

Athene.

To

travel-

lers

THE HIGHEST ORDER.

DEITIES OF

126

who had

lost their

way he was

a ready guide, and to exiles

a constant and willing helper in strange lands and

among

ill-

disposed people.

Hermes was,

In the primitive form of his worship

said, the

god who

this character

we

gives prolificness to flocks

find

him

in

what appears

oldest centre of his worship in Greece, that

the neighbouring islands of Imbros and

is

as has

been

and herds.

In

to

have been the

in

Samothrace and

Lemnos, where he bore

Kasmilos.
His usual title among
herdsmen was either Nomios or Epimelios.
A messenger himself, it became his office to aid human mes-

the

title

of Kadrrtiios or

sengers and travellers, and to this end

it

wa& he who

inspired

the idea of erecting sign-posts at cross-roads with directions as

These sign-posts took the form of

to whither each road led.

statues,

if

they

may be

so called, consisting of a pillar running

narrower towards thefoot,and surmounted by ahead of Hermes,

and called Hermae.

one of them

It

was the duty of

to place a stone beside

it,

travellers

on passing

a custom which not only

largely helped towards clearing the fields of stones, but also led
to

improvement

facilities for

in the roads themselves,

commerce.

If

and hence to increased

more than two roads

corresponding number of heads were placed on the

facing each way.
in

Athens

The
is,

for the

purpose of cheering parting

Hermes were

times

is

one

and the

petasos or

a cock or a goat.

and a knotted snake

sacrifice

he delighted in the

tongues of animals, a suitable sacrifice to the

The Roman Mercurius

common with Hermes only the

appears

to

at-

Beside him some-

winged cap.

For

travellers.

the caduceus or kerykeion, that

a short staff with a pair of wings

it,

pillar,

Similar figures were also found outside houses

attributes of

tached to

crossed, a

god of

oratory.

have possessed

in

character of god of trade and

THEMIS.

oratory.

Roman

127

traders held a festival to

him on the 25th of

May.
Hermes appears bearded and about middle

In the earlier works of art

age, frequently carrying a sheep or a kid over his shoulders.

became

we

In more recent works

athletic.

his office as

sometimes wings

find

He

messenger of the gods.

Among

the incidents of his

quently on the painted vases

that in

is

His form

figure,

is

such as

wears the petasos, and

the caduceus, and sometimes, as god

at his heels, carries

of trade, a purse.

him of a youthful

life,

one which occurs

fre-

which he appears presenting the three

who had

to decide their claims as to which of them was

Sometimes he is represented in sculptures as a mere
Many of the Hermse described above have come down to our times.

goddesses to Paris,

the most beautiful.

boy.

THEMIS,
(plate

daughter of

Uranos

that divine law of right

XVIII.,)

and Gaea, was the personification of

which ought

to control all

of that highest and noblest sense of right which

human

In

influences.

this capacity

she

also as goddess of the rights of hospitality.

fication of divine will as

it

bore upon the

is

came

human

affairs,

subject to no
to

be viewed

She was a personiaffairs

of the world,

and accordingly the Delphic oracle had been under her control
before

it

was yielded

to

Apollo,

communicated the prophetic

Zeus

could persuade her to

some myths have

that

Metis was

or Parcae,

it

his

whom,

become

his second,

first.

to

art.

as her successor, she

long time passed before

his wife

his first wife, as

according to others, which say

To him

she bore the Horse,

and Astraea, the goddess of

justice, of

Moerse

whom we

have already told how she forsook the earth during the Bronze
Age.

The proper home

she was styled Urania.

of

Themis was Olympos, and hence

But during the war with the Titans

DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.

128

she descended to earth, and there, throughout the Golden Age,

mankind the

taught

afterwards, the

exercise of right

human

When,

and moderation.

race sank into degradation, she returned

again to Olympos.

In consequence of the profound wisdom and open truthfulness which formed the essential features of the character of

Themis, even
advice

as, for

the supreme gods consulted

and acted on her

example, did Zeus, when he declined to marry

Thetis, because of the prediction of Themis,

that a son

be the issue of the marriage, who would excel even

We

in might.

shall afterwards

given in marriage to Peleus,

have to

relate

altars,

and

centres of
./Egina,

to

statues
it,

many

Thetis was

a mortal, in order that her son

might not be a source of danger to the gods.

Themis extended

how

would

his father

districts

were raised

in

The worship

of

of Greece, where temples,

her honour.

The principal

however, were Athens, Troezene, the island of

Thebes, and Olympia.

Ancient artists represented her as a woman of mature age, with

large

open eyes

be observed

She

is

while

modern

figure her as in

artists

and they alone,

further represented holding a

hand and a balance

sword and chain

must

in

in the other, to indicate the severity

the accuracy with which justice

ministered.

it

Plate XVIII.

is

to

one

and

be meted out and ad-

B.ORJE.

II.

HITHERTO

129

INFERIOR DEITIES.

our descriptions

have been

those deities of the Greeks and

their functions

to

were subordinate to no god but Zeus, were

Olympian

styled of the superior order, or

Persephone

confined

Romans, who, because

being included, though

under-world, not Olympos.

We

deities,

proceed

Hades

and

realm was the

their

now

to the

inferior

order, such as occupied subordinate positions in the system ot

gods,

but

were

worshipped

nevertheless

independently,

it

not so universally as the others.

We

begin with the

HOR^E,
(plate XXV.,)

The goddesses of the " seasons," daughters of Zeus and

Themis. Their number was variously estimated according to
the variety of the divisions of the year into periods,

however, not being reckoned as one, because

of sleep and death in nature.

Thus we

it

winter,

was the season

find the worship of

only two goddesses of seasons in Athens, the one called Thallo,

or goddess of ''blossoming,"

dess

of "harvest

and

fruit."

and the other Karpo, or godBut elsewhere

in

Greece the
9

INFERIOR DEITIES.

I30

usual

number was

works of
seasons

Autumn

Plate

Spring with

with

its

its

as such they were represented in

XXV.), with the

flowers,

grapes and

we

Occasionally

and

three,

(see

art

Summer

attributes of the

with

fruit.

find a fourth season, that of Winter, repre-

sented in the act of returning with booty from the chase

unlike her sisters, she

As

deities

and

grain,

its

but,

nameless.

is

seasons which

of the kindly

bring about

the

budding and growth of nature, they were directly under the

control of the superior deities, especially of Zeus

At times they are

company

in the

Muses

in the

to

and Hera.

be seen along with the Charites (Graces)

of Aphrodite, and sometimes along with the

company

of Apollo

for

it

in

is

In the capacity of goddesses

of the

became

fields, it

who watched over

is

heard.

the blessings

changes

their duty, further, to regulate

now opening and now

of the weather,

happy

the

seasons of the year that the joyous voice of nature

shutting the gates of

heaven, alternately sending rain and sunshine as suited best

Tender and gladsome, moving

the increase of vegetation.

mazy dances, with crowns of gold and of

flowers, they

in

were

always good and faithful to mankind, and, though sometimes

seeming

to the impatient to

them something sweet and

come

late,

always bringing with

beautiful, never proving untrue or

deceitful.

The
with

ruit in

of

figure

(in

Plate

XXXI.)

wreath of palm-leaves
her

left

hand probably

represents a

Hora

dancing,

The

on her head.

indicates that she

is

dish of

the

Hora

Autumn.
Such were their functions

ever, of the great

to flow

in nature.

In consequence, how-

and plenteous blessings

that

were observed

from the unchangeable and orderly succession of the

POMONA.

131

seasons, the Horse were also supposed to watch over

and propriety
to

in

have given

Themis.

Dike

life

they were daughters of

rise to the belief that

Their names, in the cases where the three appear

of their character
(justice),

as,

life,

to suit this metaphorical

Eunomia

and Eirene (peace).

mostly directed to political

(wise

sphere of operations was more

of individuals, informing,

done on

ful of

earth.

it

was

the results being warmly praised

among

her father,

said,

Zeus,

of every

Eirene, finally, being the most cheer-

that

is,

companion of Dionysos,

of riches, the gay

and guardian goddess of songs and

festivities.

The goddess of spring was

Hora (Plate XXI.) under the

of Chloris,

and

Dike's

State.

the incidents of the lives

the three sisters, was said to have been the mother of

Plutos

ponds

legislation),

Eunomia's services were

by poets, and her worship never neglected by the

injustice

good order

and morality a task which seems

have been admirably chosen

together,

notion

human

to the

flowers,

Zephyros,

Roman Flora, She was the

of whom Boreas, the north

worshipped as a

which corres-

goddess of buds
winter wind, and

the west spring wind, were rival lovers.

and became

the latter,

also especially
title

She chose

his faithful wife.

POMONA
Was

goddess of garden

fruits,

and was represented wearing

wreath composed of such, or holding in her hand a horn of

plenty

full

of them, with a

was that of a virgin

had been
tions

to

originally a

dog by her

in rustic

garments.

Hamadryad,

Vertumnus.

side.
It

Her appearance
was said

that she

but had yielded her

Her worship was confined

affec-

to

the

INFERIOR DEITIES.

132

Romans.

She had a

flamen pomonalis,

styled

priest,

specially devoted to her service.

VERTUMNUS,
The husband

Pomona,

of

was worshipped by the Romans

who watched over the

as a deity of the second order,

and was represented with

as well as the garden fruits,

similar to those of

Pomona.

seasons

attributes

In October an annual

festival,

resembling a harvest thanksgiving, was held in his honour, the

him on

offerings brought

that occasion

consisting of firstfruits

from the garden, and wreaths of flowers of

Pomona,

he,

represented, like

a wreath

had a

too,

priest of his

own.

all

Saturn, with a pruning-knife

composed of

Like

kinds.

At times he was
in his

ears of corn on his head.

hand, and

Originally he

was worshipped under the form of a rough wooden

post,

but

had afterwards a beautiful bronze statue made by a Roman

artist.

JANUS,
(plate

Was a

deity

unknown

XVII.,)

to the Greeks,

but from the

earliest

who placed him

Jupiter, even giving his name

times held in high estimation by the Romans,

on almost an equal footing with

precedence

in

their prayers,

and invoking the aid of both

deities previous to every undertaking.

the origin of

all

the change of .season, the ups

civilization of the
arts,

and

To him

things, the introduction of the

religion.

human

and downs of

they ascribed

system of years,
fortune,

and the

race by means, of agriculture, industry,

According

to the popular belief,

Janus was

XVII.

JANUS.

an ancient king who had come

133

in

remote early times from

Greece to Latium, there instituted the worship of the gods

and the erection of temples, and himself deserved high honours

he had conferred the greatest

like a god, for this reason, that

boon upon mankind by

his instructions in

In some of the stories he

others

is

many important

ways.

confounded with Saturn.

In

said that Saturn, driven out of Greece, took refuge

it is

with Janus in Latium, and shared the government with him.

easy to explain the great honour paid to Janus by a

It is

people like the Romans, who, as a

had

rule,

this peculiarity of

pondering well the prospects of an undertaking before entering

upon

The beginning

it.

of everything was a matter of great

importance to them, and Janus was the god of a " good beginIt

ing.''

when

in

is

this spirit that the

Jupiter had consented to

carrying

it

Roman

" Everything depends on

Janus say,

poet, Ovid,

makes

the beginning."

Even

an enterprise, prosperity

in

out was believed to be under the control of Janus,

and, accordingly, great stress was laid on the circumstances

attending the

and closed

commencement

He

all things.

sat,

of any project.

earth, but also at the gates of heaven.

were

hollow of his hands.

in the

hinges at his

Janus opened

not only on the confines of the

Air, sea,

and land

The world moved on

its

he was represented, as

in

command.

In accordance with
Plate XVII.,

this belief,

seated, with

two heads,

one being that of a

youth, to indicate 'beginning,' the other that of an old man,

to indicate the 'end,'

headed).

In his

the beginning,
is

left

whence he was

hand

and shuts

is

styled

Bifrons

(two-

a key, to show that he opens

at the

end

at

the sceptre in his right

a sign that he controls the progress of every undertaking.

The

first

day of January, a month named

after him,

being the

INFERIOR DEITIES.

134

day of a new

first

year,

was the occasion

a celebration in his

01

At the beginning of every month the

honour.
sacrifice

to

him

at

twelve

He

altars.

morning as the beginner of a new day.

priests offered

was invoked every

Even

at the sacrifices

gods he was remembered, and received offerings of

to other

wine and cakes, incense, and other things.

prayed to him

at the

The husbandman

When war

beginning of seed-time.

was declared he was invoked.

The

Rome

god was introduced into

public worship of Janus as a

as early as the time of

for its establishment

reign of

Romulus.

Numa

Pompilius, a foundation

having been previously laid during the

The

story runs, that the Sabines having

once made an assault on the newly built town of Rome, a spring

of boiling water suddenly appeared,

On

stroying these enemies.

this

and was the means of de-

spot a temple was erected in

honour of Janus, the gates of which stood open so long as

was

at war,

and were closed with great ceremony and

only in times of general peace.

ually

engaged in war

that, in the

Rome

Rome

rejoicing

was, however, so contin-

course of the

first

seven hundred

years after the foundation of the city the gates of the temple

were closed only three times

after the first

Hence

the

in the reign of

Numa Pompilius,

Punic war, and during the reign of Augustus.

temple

of Janus with

its

gates shut

came

to

be

a very emphatic symbol of peace.

TERMINUS,
Was

the

god of boundaries, and had, when represented

figure of a

boundary stone or

the case of the figures of

Such

figures of

pillar

in art, the

surmounted by a head, as

Hermes by

in

the wayside in Greece.

Terminus were occasionally surmounted by the

XVIIT.

PRIAPOS.

head or bust of another god,

and

in

Pan

as, for

such cases were styled

and Priapos, both

135

example, of Apollo or Athene,

Hermapollo, Hermathene.

rural

were also frequently

deities,

represented in such a form.

Numa

Pompilius

is

said to

have erected the

boundary god, Terminus, and

among

the

to

To accustom

Romans.

first

altar to this

have instituted his worship

his subjects to respect the

boundaries of their neighbours, he ordered them to be marked

off with figures

of the god, and a festival to be held in his

honour annually

in

February.

It

was called the Terminalia.

Boundary stones were adorned with flowers on the occasion, and

a general sacrifice offered, accompanied by lively songs.

PRIAPOS,
Called also

Lutinus by the Romans, was

He was

and Aphrodite.
in

this

capacity,

cultivated

guardian

also

The

fields.

a god of the

a son of

fertility

Dionysos

of nature, and,

of vineyards, gardens,

idea of representing the productive

power of nature under the form of a god

is

traceable back to

a very great antiquity, but in later and depraved times

to

be misused

sensuality

and

and

it

came

purpose of giving expression to coarse

for the

This accounts for the diversity of his

lust.

representations, of which, however, that

is

the most correct in

which he appears as a man of years holding a pruning-knife

in his

his

hand, and

in

fruit

his

lap.

The

principal

centre of

worship was Lampsakos, a town in Asia Minor, on the

Hellespont, whence

it

spread over Greece.

like those of Dionysos,

At the

festivals in his

honey, and asses.

His symbols were,

a drinking-cup, a thyrsus, or a spear.

honour the

sacrifices consisted

of milk,

I36

INFERIOR DEITIES.

PAN,
(plate

Was looked upon by

the pastoral inhabitants of Greece, par-

ticularly in Arcadia, as the

fields,

now

god who watched over the pasture-

Woods and

herdsmen, and herds.

plains,

hunting and

were under his immediate care and patronage, and on

fishing,

this

XIX.,)

account he was differently described as a son

Hermes,

of

god of green

Dionysos
Kybele.

his

fields

mother being

each case a nymph.

and as mountain god with

that

of

was fond of sportive dances and playing on

the shepherd's pipe,

which afterwards took

its

name

of Pan's

pipe from him, the story being that he was the inventor of
It

As

he was associated with the worship of

(Bacchus),

He

in

now of Zeus,

it.

whom he loved and

that Pan cut it and

seems that a coy nymph named Syrinx,

followed, was transformed into

fashioned

a reed,

when
Apollo to

into a pipe (Syrinx) with such sweet notes

it

skilfully played, that

he once ventured

to challenge

a competition.

The judge

selected was

Midas, who awarded

the prize to

Pan, and was, in consequence, punished by Apollo,

his ears

grow

like those of

an

who made

ass.

As god of herdsmen and country people, he journeyed

through woods and across plains, changing from place to place
like the

nomadic

or pastoral people of early times, with

on

his pipe.

The

Hills, caves, oaks,

feeling of solitude

travellers in wild

no

fixed

by cool streams, and playing

dwelling, resting in shady grottoes,

and

tortoises

were sacred

to him.

and lonesomeness which weighs upon

mountain scenes, when the weather

and no sound of human voices

is

to

is

stormy,

be heard, was ascribed to

XIX.

PAN.

Pan, as a spirit of the mountains, a sort of

And thus anxiety or alarm, arising from no

the presence of

Number

Nip.

came

visible or intelligible cause,

that

such fear as

is,

137

to

produced by

is

be called " Panic

fear,"

the agitating presence of

Pan.

common companions

His

danced

Nymphs and

were

pursued by him with violence.

Oreads,

who

and were not unfrequently

to the strains of his pipe,

he rendered im-

It is said that

portant service to the gods during the war with the Titans, by
the invention of a kind of trumpet

made from

a sea-shell, with

which he raised such a din that the Titans took

treated in the belief that

Another story

against them.

seriously attacked

on

his

way

some

by a

to India,

fright,

and

re-

great monster was approaching

is,

that

Dionysos

being once

and very numerous body of men

hostile

was freed from them by a sudden

terrible

shout raised by Pan, which instantly caused them to retreat in

great alarm. Both stories appear to have

been invented

to give

a foundation for the expression " Panic fear," which has been
explained above.

Pan,

also called

Hylaeos

man

presented as a bearded
the ears
hair,

and horns and

with a shepherd's

or forest god, was usually re-

with a large hooked nose, with

legs of a goat, his

pipe

(syrinx)

shepherd's crook in his hand, as in Plate

From Greece

worship was

his

Romans, by whom he was

them
to

to breed cattle,

employ dogs

The

Pan with

goat's legs,

Paniski.

XIX.

transplanted

among

the

Inuus, because he taught

and Lupercus, because he taught them

for the

wolves.

styled

body covered with

of seven reeds, or a

purpose of protecting the herds against

other forest deities,

who were

represented like

were called JEgip a nes, and sometimes

INFERIOR DEITIES.

138

F AUNUS, or FATUUS,

Was a purely Roman deity,

as

originally resembling the Greek

implied in the name, which

is

same word.
through

Pan,

only another form of the

In process of time, however, his character passed

many

many

changes, and became different in

from that of the Greek god.

religion

is

It

was not

till

and myths of the Greeks emigrated

respects

when

late times,

the

into Italy, that the

comparison of him with the Arcadian Pan was revived, and the

The Roman poets frequently call the

Roman name of Faunus. But the latter had

identity of both asserted.

Greek Pan by the

myths peculiar

certain

to himself,

and

is

represented by them

Picus, and grandson of Saturnus,

as a son of

to another version, a son of

Mars, and

according

or,

originally

an ancient

king of Latium, who, for the good he did his people, by intro-

ducing agriculture and

his

civilization,

came

to

be worshipped

death as a prophetic deity of forest and

name

field,

His oracles were delivered

of Fatuus.

after

under the

in groves,

and

communicated by means of dreams, which those desiring them

obtained by sleeping in sacred places on the hides of animals
that

had been offered as

oracles,

As god

of the

cattle-rearing,

alia,

offerings

open

It

sacrifice

temples in Rome.

the

agriculture and
Lupercalia, or Faun-

honour by the Romans on the 5th

was accompanied by

of goats,

sacrifices

wine, banquets, and dancing in

meadows and

February also

and not

festival,

in his

of milk and

air in

also delivered

(See below.)

husbandman and patron of

an annual

was celebrated

of December.

Fauna

sacrifices.

but only to women.

at cross-roads.

was presented

Artistic

easily distinguished

the

In the middle of

He

had two

him

are rare,

to him.

representations of

from those of Pan.

The

plural

AND PILUMNUS.

PICUS, PICUMNUS,

form of the word, Fauni,

Roman

merely a

is

139

expression for

what the Greeks called Paniski or Panes.

PICUS, PICUMNUS, and PILUMNUS.

Roman deity, a son and a successor of

Faunus, and husband of Canens. He

Picus was

also a pure

Saturnus,

father of

was an ancient prophet and

that he loved

and married

Another story has

forest god.

Pomona.

it

Circe, the witch, was

attracted by his beauty, and finding her affection not returned,

revenged herself by changing him into a woodpecker

which was held to be a sacred symbol

or

Roman

priests,

observing the

whose

was

office

flight of birds

oi

of a youth with a

coming events by

to foretell

wooden

pillar

which was afterwards exchanged

it,

woodpecker on

his head, the

with a

for a figure

Romans

generally

considering the appearance of that bird to be a sign of

as a prophet

and a god, was

Roman
It

also looked

upon

as one of the

Picum-

kings of Italy, and must not be confounded with

nus, who, with

deities

his

brother

whose

office

was the custom

a child.

Pilumnus, formed
was

to spread a

Pilumnus,

it

was

some

Picus, besides being worshipped

special intention of the gods.

first

bird

and by various other phenomena.

In early times his figure consisted of a

woodpecker on

prophecy by the Augurs

to

couch

said,

pair

watch over married

for

them

of

life.

at the birth of

would drive away

all illness

from the childhood of the newly-born infant with the club [piliim)
with which he used to pound the grain

who had introduced

child growth.

deeds

in

while

the manuring of land,

Picumnus,

would give the

Stories were told of the two brothers, of

war and peace, such as were ascribed

(Castor and Pollux).

famous

to the Dioscuri

INFERIOR DEITIES.

140

FAUNA, or FATUA,
The wife,
was a

or,

according toother myths, the daughter of Faunus,

Roman

goddess, whose

origin

and

She was

identified with the

Semele,

the mother of

have

signification

been rendered very obscure by the variety of

stories

goddess Ops, with

Dionysos (Bacchus),

about

KybSle

with

her.

with

Maia,

the

mother of Hermes, with Gaea, Hekate, and other goddesses.

In the

earliest times she

her proper
mystery.

was called simply the

"

kind goddess,"

name as well as her origin being given out as a

Her festival took place on the first night of May, and

was celebrated with wine, music, merry games, and mysterious

ceremonies, at which only

because, as

girls

were permitted to
" kind goddess"

some thought, her benevolence extended over

whole creation,

be

women and

Fauna obtained the name of the

be present.

in

which case

it

the

was not strange that she should

identified with other deities.

As Fatiia she was

repre-

sented with the appearance sometimes of Juno, sometimes of

Kybele, but commonly as an aged woman, with pointed

ears,

holding a serpent in her hand.

The

offspring of

Fatua and Fatuus were the Fatui, who were

considered to be prophetic deities of the

evil genii,

who were

The name and obscure

have given

we

call

significations of this

rise to the fantastic creations of

Fays that

is,

useful

and sometimes

goddess seem to

modern times, which

beings with the power of witchcraft and

prophecy, and possessed

now

fields,

the cause of nightmares and such like.

now with good, now with bad

to men, now mischievous.

and helping

qualities,

THE SATYRS.

THE

141

SATYRS,

(plate XIX.,)
Like the
deities,

Roman Silvanus,

belong to the order of forest

and are often confounded with the Panes and Fauni,

though quite distinct from them.

luxuriant

life

in

They represented

with the aid of Dionysos (Bacchus), spreads over

and meadows, and were, without doubt, the

As such

company.

his

the genial,

under the protection and

which,

Nature,

appear in the

at least they

woods,

fields,

finest figures in all

art of the

best times, being never figured, like the Panes or Paniski, as

half

man, half animal, but

at

most exhibit only such

an animal form as small goat's horns, and a small

show

was only a

that their nature

that within the divine or pure

The

human

a large

Satyrs constitute

little

signs of

goat's

tail,

to

inferior in nobility to

form.

and may be

family,

distin-

guished into several classes, the highest of which were those

who nearly resembled

their

whose occupation was

god (Dionysos)

either to play

ment, or to pour out his wine.

on the

To

given in Plate
is

is

shaggy

tree,

on

resting
his

name

of Sileni

Satyriski.

The

brow

He

leaning carelessly on the

from playing on a
are

and

figure

that of a satyr of the highest order.

represented as a slender youth

trunk of a
is

XIX.

amuse-

another class belonged

those older figures, distinguished by the

to a third, the very juvenile so-called

appearance, and

in

flute for his

flute.

His

very small goats' horns.

countenance has a touch of animal expression

in

it.

hair

His

He

wears nothing but a nebris or panther's skin thrown over his

shoulder.

The

life

of the Satyrs was spent in woods and on

hills,

INFERIOR DEITIES.

142

in a constant

round of amusements of

company

or in the

the Maenads.

kinds

all

hunting,

and pressing the grapes,

dancing, music, drinking, gathering

whirling in wild dances with

of the god,

Their musical instruments were

the

syrinx,

and cymbals.

flute,

We may

remark

monly applied

to

in passing,

poems of

with the Satyrs, and

that the term

"satire,"

com-

abuse, has nothing whatever to

for this

do

reason should not be written

"satyre," though derived from satura.

The

latter is

an old

Latin word, which signified originally a poetic dialogue or gossip,

which from
criticism

its

and

nature was admirably adapted

indirect abuse,

for

conveying

or satire in our sense

of the

word.

KOMOS,
Was worshipped

as guardian of festal banquets,

enjoyments, of lively humour, fun,

attributes expressing joy in

many

and

ways.

he was represented frequently as an

of mirthful

social pleasure, with

On

the other hand,

illustration of the con-

sequences of nightly orgies, with torch reversed, in drunken

sleep, or leaning against something.

SILVANUS,
Like
also

Faunus, was

purely

was to watch over the

woods and

fields,

and banks of

Roman

interests

and taking care

rivers.

boundary stones to

It

mark

god,

whose function

of herdsmen, living in

to preserve

boundary

was said that he erected the

lines
first

off the fields of different possessors

from each other, and thus became the founder of a regular

system of landowning.

He was

distinguished according to the

M3

PALES.

three departments of his activity, house, field,

figure

In

human

a cheerful aged man holding a shepherd's pipe,

(for he,

art

like the other deities

wood and

of

and carrying a branch of a

tree to

field,

was given

mark him

This branch, which sometimes

the forest.
is

and wood.

Silvanus appears altogether as a purely

works of

to music,)

that of a cypress,

explained as referring to his love for the beautiful

rissus,

whom

There was a

he

is

figure

said to

of Silvanus in

were excluded from his worship.

Some

his origin.

of

Cypa-

have changed into a cypress.

Rome

beside the temple

Women

of Saturn, and two sanctuaries dedicated to him.

about

god of

specially as
is

The myths

are not clear

them describe him

as a son of

Saturn.

PALES,
Was worshipped
Romans,

originally in

Sicily,

and afterwards by the

as a deity of cattle-rearing, being, according to some,

male, according to others, female.

merry

festival, called

Palilia, was held in honour of this deity every year on the

21st of April, the day on which the foundation of the city of

Rome

was said to have been

were presented

to her,

beat round a blazing

through

this

ceremony intended
because of
of the

city,

fire

blazing

its

Offerings of milk

of hay and straw.

fire,

for a

falling

laid.

and must

while pipes were played and cymbals

the

An

ox was driven

herdsmen rushing

symbol of expiation.

after

This

it,

festival,

on the anniversary of the foundation

served also to

commemorate

that event.

This ancient deity was represented as an

aged

woman

leaning on a leafless branch of a tree, or holding a shepherd's

crook

in her

hand, and was frequently identified with

sometimes with Kybele, and even with Vesta.

Fauna,

INFERIOR DEITIES.

144

SILENOS, and
In some of the myths

Hermes

THE

Silenos

is

SILENI.

represented as a son of

Pan

(Mercury), in others, of

and a nymph, the latter

statement accounting for his being figured with the

ears of a goat, while the rest of his form

He

whom,

indeed,

all

Owing

Sileni.

was purely human.

the oldest of the Satyrs,

was usually described as

and

tail

of

those well advanced in years were styled

to his age,

he came

to

be looked upon as a

sort of paternal guardian of the light-headed troops of Satyrs,

though, with regard to mythological signification, he was quite

different

the

One myth

from them.

worship

of

traces his origin, along with

Lydia and Phrygia, the original

particularly to the districts of

In that quarter he

centre of the worship of Kybele (Rhea).

was looked on
streams,

as a sprite

marshy

land,

and

Asia Minor,

Dionysos (Bacchus), to

or daemon of

fertilizing fountains,

and luxuriant gardens,

the

as well as

inventor of such music as was produced by the syrinx (Pan's

pipe)

and the double

flute

which was used

in the

worship of

Rhea and Dionysos.

According

to other stories,

he was born in and was the

king of Nysa, but which of the

remains untold.

It

many

places of that

was most probably Nysa

Silenos, with the help of local

in

first

name

Thrace

for

nymphs, nursed and tended the

infancy of Dionysos, as works of art show, and

this,

according

to the myths, was spent in Thrace.

mind he appeared
of Dionysos, one who knew how

To

the Greek

wine, and so

much loved

specially as a

companion

press the

grapes for

to

that liquid as readily to indulge in

to excess, in which case the Satyrs kept

him steady on

it

his ass,

OKEANOS, TETHYS, PROTEUS.

or else he

would have

character, he

To

fallen.

45

express this feature of his

was figured with a wreath of vine tendrils on

his

head, with a drinking-cup or wine-skin in his hand, or intoxi-

He

cated and supported by two Satyrs.

bellied, hairy old

The

ass or

was a

short, round-

man, with a bald head.

mule he used

was described as a most

to ride

intelligent beast, and said to have distinguished itself at the

time of the war with the Giants, in which

master, as com-

its

panion and body-servant, a sort of Sancho Panza, to Dionysos,

took part, by .braying so loudly as to alarm the Giants, and
help to put them to

flight.

OKEANOS, TETHYS, PROTEUS.

Okeanos, a son of Uranos and Gaea, was god of the sea,
and, like Nereus, was looked upon as the father of a large
family of marine deities who went by the general name of

He

Okeanides (see below).

was figured

like Nereus, but with

the addition of a bull's horn, or two short horns, a sceptre in

his

hand

on a monster of the deep,

to indicate his power, riding

or sitting with his wife,

creatures of the sea.

Tethys, by

He

of his brother Titans,

is

and

said to have

this

reason he retained his

while the other Titans were consigned to

under the care of Okeanos and

and

to

Titans.
streams,

them she turned

So quickly had

his offspring

and fountains of the

in

Tartaros.

his wife that

for safety

reckoned as three thousand

drawn by

been th- most upright

have had no share in the con-

to

For

spiracy against Uranos.

his side in a car

office,

was

It

Hera grew

up,

during the war with the

spread

among

the rivers,

earth, that the sons alone

number.

He

was also

were

identified

with the great stream, Okeanos, which was supposed to flow in

10

INFERIOR DEITIES.

146

a circle round the earth, and to be the source of

running waters.

marine

deities,

corals,

holding

all

represented with crowns of sea-weeds, strings of

shells,

and

riding

human and

on dolphins.

Painters ren-

half fish in shape

described them as beings of purely

human

but poets

form, giving their

differently.

Proteus was

a son

of

Okeanos and Tethys, whose

proper dwelling-place was the depths of the

left for

and

His daughters, the Okeanides, were, like

dered them as half

number very

all rivers

the purpose of taking the sea-calves of

sea,

which he only

Poseidon

on the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean.

to graze

Being an aged

man, he was looked on as possessed of prophetic power and

the secrets of witchcraft, though he would not be persuaded to
exercise the former except

by deceit or under

Even then he made every

effort

to

threat of violence.

evade

his

questioners,

changing himself into a great variety of shapes, such as those

of a lion, panther, swine, or serpent, and, as a last resource, into
the form of

fire

or water.

This faculty of transformation, which

both Proteus and Thetis possessed, corresponds with the

great changeability in the appearance of the sea.

NEREUS
Or Dorides,
confounded
the

in

and

as they were

THE NEREIDES,
sometimes

mythology with

Okeanids,

all

of

called,

are frequently

Okeanos and

his daughters,

them being marine

deities of a

lower

order.

Nereus was looked on as an ancient sea-god, a son of

Pontos and Gaea, who, when

the

dominion of the sea

Poseidon, obtained a position under him, and along with

power of prophecy.
fifty,

or,

With Doris,

his wife,

fell
it

to

the

he had as offspring

according to other accounts, a hundred daughters,

NEREUS AND THE NEREIDES.

called

Nereides

or

Thetis, and next

47

of whom Amphitrite and

Panope and Galatea, were the

Dorides,

them

to

most famous, the first-mentioned having become the wife of

Poseidon, while even Zeus desired to marry the second.
the Fates having
issue a

announced

who would

son

surpass

father

his

in

whom

among

Zeus

might,

Peleus,

relinquished his wish, and gave Thetis in marriage to

to

But
would

that from this marriage

she bore Achilles, and thereafter returned to live

her sisters of the sea.

Nereus

represented in works of art as an old

is

man

with

a look of dignity, his daughters as sweet, beautiful maidens.

Poets described them as modest nymphs dwelling in a splendid

now riding on dolphins or other

now swimming, sporting, splashing about

cave at the bottom of the sea,

creatures of the deep,
in

troops on the sea, sometimes accompanying the sea-born

Aphrodite,
bays and at

or playing in the

rivers'

warm

sunshine on the shores of

mouths, drying their wet

To

places they 'were duly worshipped.

tresses.

the Greeks the whole of nature appeared in

some way

and was accordingly viewed with reverence and

this

spirit

the

phenomena

In such

the pious feeling of

divine,

sanctity.

In

of the sea were viewed under the

form of divine personifications called Nereides, the peaceful

shimmering

light

waves by

Thoe

island shores

its

gently

moving bosom

and Halie, the impetuous rush of billows on

by Pasithea, Erato, and Euneike, the

and impulse of mighty waves by Pherusa and

mene, who
It may be
of mermaids.

being

the play of fantastic

by Nesaie and Aktaee, the fascination of the

gaily rising tide

swell

upon

Galene and Glauke,

represented by

all

followed in the train of

that these

myths gave

Dyna-

Amphitrite.

rise to the

modern legends

INFERIOR DEITIES.

148

TRITON

THE TRITONS.

and

(plate XX.)

sometimes

Triton,

said

Poseidon and

be a son of

to

Amphitrite, sometimes of Okeanos and Tethys, was

marine deity of a lower order, and the herald of

Neptune,

which capacity he was represented using a long twisted

as a horn to blow a loud blast from

When Neptune

rest.

was Triton who announced

The

other marine deities.

and had

similar

him described
and

duties

travelled

to

be

on the waves,

it

approach, and

his

summoned

the

Tritons were like him in figure,

to

in stories as a

perform.

Occasionally

monster who, by

his

voracity, rendered the sea-shore dangerous,

consequence attacked by

shell

the sea was to be

and a gentle note when a storm was

agitated with storms,

hushed into

when

a
in

we

find

wantonness

and was

in

Dionysos and Herakles.

In the war with the Giants he rendered considerable service

to Zeus,
that

by

the

raising such a frightful din with his shrill trumpet,

Giants,

fearing

approach

the

some powerful

of

monster, or some fresh danger, retired.

Triton and the Tritons were represented in works of art as

beings of
scales,

human form down

to the hips,

covered with small

holding a sea-shell in their hands, the lower part of

them formed by

the

body and

also described as driving

Plate

XX.

tail

on the sea

of a dolphin.
in

Triton was

a chariot drawn by horses.

represents a family group of

Tritons

with a

dolphin in the background.

In the early myths concerning Triton, he appears as the
personification

Amphitrite,
ocean.

of

the

roaring

lived in a golden

sea,

and, like

palace

in

Neptune and

the depths of the

XX.

gg^-^X
Siren.

Tritons.

LEUKOTHEA.

THE

SIRENS.

49

LEUKOTHEA
Was

who

regarded by sailors and those

and

their special

played in her timely assistance of

voyage.
the

She

said to have

is

great-grandson

Athamas,

in

of

on the sea as

travelled

friendly goddess, a character

Odysseus

which she

in his

been a daughter of

Poseidon.

Kadmos,

the

Originally

dis-

dangerous

wife

ot

which capacity she bore the name of Ino,

she had incurred the wrath of Hera, because she had suckled
the infant Bakchos, a son of her sister Semele

and

and of Zeus,

was pursued by her raving husband, and thrown,

for this

along with her youngest son, Melikertes, into the sea, from

which both mother and child were saved by a dolphin or

by Nereides.
deity, and,

From

that time she took her place as a marine

under the name of Leukothea, was known as the

protector of

all

travellers

by

sea,

while her son

came

to

be

worshipped as god of harbours, under the name of Palaemon.

Her

worship, especially at Corinth, the oldest maritime town of

importance

and

in Greece,

and

in the islands of

Rhodes, Tenedos,

Crete, as well as in the coast towns generally, was traced

back

to a high antiquity.

THE

SIRENS,

(plate XX.,)

According

to

one version of the myth, were daughters of the

Acheloos (hence
and a Muse.
According
daughters of Phorkys.
river-god

their other
to

In

name, Acheloi'des)
they

were

they had

been

another version,
either

case

nymphs and playmates of Persephone, and for not protecting

when she was carried off by Pluto were transformed by

her

INFERIOR DEITIES.

15

Demeter
latterly

woman and

first,

and

with the lower part of the body in the shape of a

fish,

into beings half

some resemblance

so that they had

half bird at

marine deities such as

to

the Tritons.

Plate

XX.

represents a Siren, half bird and half

on a double

in form, playing

In the Homeric

poems

number

their

names of three of them

later times the

is

are

Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leukosia.

during the time when the greater part of
of a

bird,

not specified.

In

commonly given

It is

their

they challenged the Muses to a

singing, but failed,

woman

flute.

said that once,

body was

that

competition in

and were punished by having the principal

by the Muses, who decked

feathers of their wings plucked

themselves with them.

The common

belief

was that the Sirens inhabited the

cliffs

of the islands lying between Sicily and Italy, and that the sweet-

ness of their voices bewitched passing mariners, compelling

them

to

land only to meet their death.

strewn around their dwelling

to exercise this

cruel

crew succeeded
of

whom more

plish,

power of

in defying their

will

by keeping

Skeletons lay thickly

had obtained the

for they

right

on men so long as no

theirs

This the Argonauts,

charms.

be said hereafter, were the

their attention fixed

first

to

accom-

on the unsurpassably

Orpheus. The next who

Odysseus. He had taken the precaution, on

sweet music of their companion,

passed safely was

approaching, to stop the ears of his crew, so that they might

be deaf

bound
not"

to the bewitching music,

and

to

have himself firmly

to the mast, so that, while hearing the music,

be able to follow

of the Sirens

came

selves into the sea,

to

its

an end, and

way

he would
the

power

in despair they cast

them-

allurements.

and were changed

In this

into

cliffs.

XXI.

Pegasus and the Nymphs.

Chloris, or Flora.

Tyche, or Fortuna.

THE RIVER-GODS.

NYMPHS.

151

This transformation helps to explain the signification of the

myth of the

Sirens,

who were probably

personifications of

hidden banks and shallows, where the sea

inviting to the sailor, but proves in the

The

his ship.
to

the

music ascribed to them

alluring

melodious murmur of waves,

soft

smooth and

is

end the destruction of

may

or

either refer

simply

be

figurative expression for allurement.

THE RIVER-GODS
Were

as a rule looked

upon

dominion over individual

Okeanos, exercising a
They were represented as

as sons of
rivers.

bearded men, crowned with sedge, and often with horns on

their heads, reclining

other on a

and resting one hand on a rudder, the

vase, out of

which water

flows, to indicate the con-

stant flow of a river.

The names

of

cient myths, the

many

of them have been

handed down

Peneis, Asopos, Kephissos. Of Alpheios,

he loved Arethusa, one

mis, and

to

of the

nymphs

it is

said that

in the train of

Arte-

so persistently followed her, though his affections

were not returned, that

nymph,

in an-

most important being Alpheios, Acheloos,

Artemis

interfered,

and changed the

avoid his pursuit, into a fountain, the waters of

which, notwithstanding, were said to join those of

Alpheios.

NYMPHS.
(plate XXI.)

The

restless

and

fertile

imagination of the ancients peopled

with beings of a higher order than themselves every mountain,

valley, plain,

and

forest,

every thicket, bush, and

tree,

every

INFERIOR DEITIES.

152

fountain, stream,

both

Nymphs,

These beings,

lake.

Romans

and resembled

modern

fairies of

and

and

Greeks

firmly

many

in

in

whose existence
were

believed,

respects the

called

mermaids and

superstition.

Generally speaking, the

Nymphs

were a kind of middle

beings between the gods and men, communicating with both,

loved and respected by both

gifted with the

themselves visible or invisible at pleasure

things only permitted to be

the gods, on ambrosia

and

duration,

power of making
able to

done by the gods

leading a cheerful happy

retaining strength

and youthfulness

but not destined to immortality, like the gods.

summoned,

dinary cases they were

hunting with

Dionysos

to

the

in their
valleys,

(Bacchus),

Artemis

who passed through

(Diana), rushing about

making merry with Apollo or

(Mercury), but always in a hostile attitude towards

the wanton

Even

In extraor-

and peaceful

dancing, sporting, or accompanying deities

Hermes

of long

spinning, weaving, bathing, singing sweet songs,

their territories,

with

life

to the last,

was believed,

it

in secluded grottoes

particular spheres,
in

do many

living, like

Olympian gods, but usually remained

councils of the

occupied

and excited Satyrs.

the earliest of the ancient myths

of the various things

later times delighted to play with

the great mass of

abound with accounts

done by nymphs, while poetic fancy

them

at

any

such creations.

rate,

The

in

Greeks,

believed firmly in the exist-

ence of a vast number of nymphs, and attested their belief

by

erecting

the

presence

by

fountains,

frequently very

costly

altars

in

places

and influence of these beings were

or

in

where

felt,

moist meadows, in woods, and on

as
hills.

Grottoes and caves where water dripped or flowed, and where

the bees

hummed, were

sacred to them.

Sanctuaries, called

NYMPHS.

Nymphsea,

I53

were also erected for their special honour

in well

watered valleys, caves, and even in towns, those in towns being

particularly splendid in appearance,

them consisted of

and commonly employed

The

ceremonies of marriage.

for the

goats, lambs, milk,

sacrifices

and

oil,

presented to

wine being

for-

bidden.

As

to the origin of the

and so

different that they

of these beings,

Thetis.

Nymphs,

would seem,

it

many
all given here.
Very many
were the offspring of Zeus and
the stories are so

cannot be

Separating them in the most convenient manner,

according to their local habitations or reputed origin,

the following classes
1.

Dryads,

we have

Hamadryads,

or

also

called

Alseids,

nymphs of woods and trees, inhabiting groves, ravines, and

wooded valleys, fond of making merry with Apollo, Hermes
(Mercury), and Pan, and very attractive to the Satyrs.
Sometimes they appeared as
2.

Oreads,

rustic huntresses or shepherdesses.

or mountain-nymphs,

after the particular

sometimes also named

mountains which they haunted, as Peliads

(from Pelion), Idaean (from Ida), Kithgeronian (from Kithaeron).

etc.
3.

Limoniads,

Leimoniads, nymphs

or

of

meadows and

flowers.
4.

in

Napaese, or Auloniads, jiymphs of the mountain

which herds grazed.

usually found

in

the

The last
company

merrily over hills and valleys,

favourite

vales

nymphs were
Pan, rushing gaily and
through woods and meadows.
three families of

of

and lovely nymph of the vales was Eurydike,

who, being bitten by a snake, and dying in consequence, was

mourned by

her

sisters,

touching melancholy

strains.

all

and sung by

Orpheus

in

most

INFERIOR DEITIES.

154

Okeanids, daughters

5.

of

Okeanos, nymphs

and streams, and named according

ains

of streams,

as Prymno,

of fount-

to the characteristics

" like a cascade

which

falls

over an

Hippo, "like a swift current"; Plexaure,

dashing brook"
Galaxaure, " like the refreshing
of a shady stream"; Kalypso, " like the hidden

abrupt height";
" like

coolness

tide"; Rhodeia, "flowing

" like a beautiful stream "

among

meadows"; Telesto, "nymph

the

rose-trees"; Kallirrhoe,

Melolosis, "

like a river that waters

of the cool springs," which

the Greeks piously used for cleansing and purification.

Nereids, daughters of Nereus, sometimes

6.

Dorids,

after their

Naiads,

also called

mother (see Nereus).

generally

nymphs of the liquid

They were styled " fostering"
nymphs, and for this reason were commonly found in the
company of Zeus, Poseidon, and Dionysos, as well as of
Demeter, Persephone, and Aphrodite, and besides were
7.

element, daughters of

speaking,

Zeus.

looked on as deities of marriage and sacred

rites.

8.

Potamids, nymphs

of the rivers.

9.

Limnads, nymphs

of lakes, marshes, and swamps, most

dangerous beings, who allured and misled travellers by their

songs or mimic screams for help.
10.

of the

Pleiads, seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione,

Hyads.

n. Atlantids,
same order
12.

Hyas.

offspring of

Atlas, and belonging

to

the

as the last mentioned.

Hyads,

./Ethra
of

sisters

according to the myth, daughters of Atlas and

sisters,

or,

according to

other versions, daughters

Languishing of grief at the death of

was caused by

Hyas, which

a wild animal, they were changed into stars,

being the seven stars which form the head in the constellation

ECHO
of the Bull (Taurus).

17th to the 21st of

NARKISSOS.

!55

Their ascension takes place from the

May, and

usually indicates rain, for which

reason they were often called the rainy

stars.
They were also
Dodonids, and described as the nurses of Zeus of
Dodona. One of them was called Thyene.
All the most prominent of the nymphs had names of their

called

own.

They were represented

as damsels of wonderful beauty, with

attributes suitable to their respective avocations.

Plate

XXL

a fountain.
of

them have

represents three of

them tending Pegasos

All three have theit hair

bound with sedge

at

two

vases.

ECHO NARKISSOS.
:

Echo

was a mountain-nymph, and

Hera, according

of

to

at the

same time a servant

one account, but had

distance on account of her talkativeness.

she

is

Pan

described as a beautiful
loved.

Happening

a son of the river-god

to

to

be kept

nymph whom

the forest-god

meet the beautiful Narkissos,

Kephissos, she conceived

a very tender

passion for him, which he unfortunately did not return.

grieved in consequence, and pined
length her voice was

all

that

at a

In other accounts

was

left

away day by day

of her.

Echo
till

She then took

at

to

the mountains
herself in

and woods which Pan frequented, and occupied

mimicking every vocal sound she heard.

Narkissos was
self-conceit in

a personification of the consequences of

the matter of personal appearance, his vanity

being such that he used to idle by the brinks of clear fountains,

and gaze upon the

reflection of his

languished in his unreturned love for

own
it.

face,

Other

till

at last

he

stories affirm

INFERIOR DEITIES.

156

was punished

that he

conduct by the gods, by being

for this

changed into the flower which

still

bears his name.

THE HESPERIDES
Were daughters

of Atlas, an

ancients believed, stood

enormous

who, as the

giant,

upon the western confines of the

and supported the heavens on

his

was Hesperis, a personification of the

" region of the

where the sun continued

he had

and where,
delicious

as

travellers

fruits,

to shine after
tolcj^

was an abundance of choice

The Gardens of the Hesperides

with the golden apples were believed to exist in

in the ocean, or, as

it

was sometimes thought,

the north

or west coast of Africa.

antiquity

for

it

West,"

on Greece,

set

which could only have been produced by a

special divine influence.

some

island

They were

far-famed in

was there that springs of nectar flowed by the

blessings of the gods

it

was another Eden.

increased with regard to western lands,

this

on

in the islands

couch of Zeus, and there that the earth displayed the

move

earth,

Their mother

shoulders.

it

rarest

As knowledge

became necessary

to

paradise farther and farther out into the Western

Ocean.

As

to the origin of these precious

myth which says

that

among

golden apples, there

the deities

is

who attended

the

marriage ceremony of Zeus and Hera, bringing various presents

with them, was Titaea, a goddess of the earth, whose
sisted in her causing a tree to spring
it.

The

wedded

care of this
pair,

could not

tree,

the temptation to pluck

became necessary

con-

which highly pleased the newly-

was entrusted to the Hesperides.

resist

gift

up with golden apples on

to place the serpent

and

But, as they
eat

Ladon

its

to

fruit,

watch

it

it.

XXII.

Klio.

Melpomene.

Thalia.

THE MUSES.
Herakles, among

some of

carried off

157

his other adventures, slew this serpent

Athene.

returned to the Hesperides, through the kindness of

The common

account speaks of only three Hesperides,

Arethusa was

JEgle, Erytheis and Hespere.

afterwards

added, and in time three more, so that they were seven in

THE

Pimpla

MUSES,

Parnassos,

down

nymphs
Mount Helikon
Kastalia, Aganippe, and

called

the sides of

or Pimplea, the waters of which were thought to have

the property of inspiration.

and

all.

as they were also styled, were regarded as

Or Pierides,

of the springs that bickered

and Mount

and

the apples, which, however, were afterwards

the Titanic

Zeus

Their origin was traced to

nymph Mnemosyne,

being applied to them from Pieria,

name of Pierides
on Mount Olympos, the
the

reputed place of their birth, a locality which appears to have

been

originally the principal centre of their worship,

spread
Boeotia,
It

and most conspicuously

first

and

Muses

to a

Thracian named Pieros, of

and challenged the

the upshot of which

and were,

as a

singing-birds.

was
of
art

it

in

and elsewhere.

to ascribe this extension of the worship of the

latter to a

was that

punishment

The worship

was also said

after

one of

competition in music,

his daughters

of the

lost

the award,

Muses on Mount Helikon

which were the sacred fountains

Aganippe and Hippokrene,

to

it

for their daring, transformed into

celebrated in a grove, in

dedicated

whom

named them each

having nine daughters, he

the Muses,

whence

Mount Helikon,

farther to Athens, Sparta, Trcezene,

was usual

that,

to

with

many monuments

the Muses, contests called

associated with the ceremonies.

Museia

of

being

INFERIOR DEITIES.

158

whom we are accustomed to read of in

Roman mythology, were looked upon as the

1 he nine Muses
the Greek and

patron goddesses of music and song, of poetry, and of the fine

tended

arts generally, that

to

promote the

civilization of

man-

Their local habitation was on the summits of Mounts

kind.

They would, however,

Helikon, Parnassos, and Pindos.

quently

Olympos, to gladden the blessed existence of the

visit

gods there by the exercise of their

and the

fre-

recital

especially

arts,

by music

of songs, the burden of which was probably, as

on most other occasions, the glory and omnipotence of Zeus.

Sometimes they would lend

happy incidents

in

the

example, as the marriage of

Peleus and Thetis
sorrow, as at

mourn

in

their

lives

presence

of favourite

also

Kadmos and Harmonia,

and sometimes even

at

enliven

to

mortals such,

for

or that of

moments

of great

the death of Achilles, they would descend to

strains

which drew forth

tears

from gods and men.

Their leader was Apollo, who in that capacity bore the

Musagetes. But though

title

of

generally associated with Apollo, and

probably therefore imbued with the form of inspiration peculiar

to the

god of

nected with

known

to

oracles, they are also

the

found to have been con-

worship of Dionysos,

whose

inspiration

have been of a wild and excited nature.

is

As nymphs

of the sacred streams on the mountains where they lived, their

music and song must,

the rushing

for the sake of

movement

harmony, have repeated

of water, and

their association with Dionysos

is

it

may be

to this that

due.

In addition to the usual nine we hear of three other Muses,

Melete,

Mneme,

and Acedte, whoare described

as daughters

Uranos, and supposed to have existed from the earliest

As, however, both Homer and Hesiod appear to know
times.
only the number nine, we may assume that the belief in the
of

XXIII.

THE MUSES.
of the

existence

other

159

must have

three

originated

the

in

speculations of comparatively later times.

In works of

art of the earlier

period the Muses were always

represented together in company,

and

dress,

all

instruments

all

wearing the same kind of

provided with attributes in the forms of musical

such as the

The custom

manuscript.

and

lyre, harp,

or with rolls of

flute,

of collecting in such rolls literary

works produced under the auspices of the Muses was the

museums,

foundation of libraries and

modern

times,

and thus the word

to the early worship of the

so far as

The

it

was due

" carries us

back

to their inspiration.

nine Muses were represented according to their various

Klio

XXII.),

(Plate

wearing a wreath of

laurel,

scribed parchment roll

ing

museum

Muses, and to the early civilization

avocations in the following manner

1.

"

first

such as they exist in

muse

the

of

History,

seated

and holding out a half-open

in-

beside her a cylindrical box, contain-

more of these manuscripts.

In other cases she appears

standing, holding a roll of manuscript in

one hand, and an

instrument for writing with in the other.

2.

Melpomene

(Plate XXII.),

the

muse of Tragedy, a

serious, dignified figure, standing with her left foot raised

rock, holding in her right

hand a mask, such

as

and

apparently a small

roll

tragedians,

a play

in her left

her long robe or tunic

wide folds

falls

in

falls

carelessly.

is

girt

under her

of a part in
breast,

from her shoulder a mantle

In other cases she wears

on a

was worn by

or

and

peplos

diadem or a

wreath of cypress, and holds a short sword or a club in her

hand.
3.

Thalia

(Plate

XXII.),

the

muse

of

Comedy and

Burlesque, standing, clad in a robe or tunic, over which

is

INFERIOR DEITIES.

l6o

mantle, with a fringe, thrown

wrapped round the

right

Kaliope

and looked on

shoulder,

left

arm

leaving the right

hand a shepherd's crook,

was worn by actors

4.

legs,

over the

free

and

in her

mask, such as

in the other a

in the Satyric plays.

(Plate

XXIII. ), the muse of Heroic Poems,

as the chief of the Muses,

on which account

she sometimes appears as their representative

a writing tablet and a stylus.

seated, holding

In other cases she

is

crowned with a wreath, and holding a manuscript

standing,

roll in

her

hand, or a pipe (tuba) round which a branch of laurel

is

twined.
5.

Urania

(Plate

XXIV.),

muse

the

seated beside a globe, holding a pair

'of

of

Astronomy,

compasses

in

one

hand, while with the other she points upwards towards the
heavens.

lyre,

In other cases she wears a crown of

her eyes turned towards the

stars,

6.

Euterpe

(Plate

on a double

flute.

name

at

her.

XXIV.), the muse of the

the "giver of pleasure," as her

and holds

and pointing out

same time something on a globe beside

the

stars,

art of

Music,

implies, standing, playing

she plays on other

In other cases

in-

struments.
7.

Polyhymnia,

muse of Song and of

or

Polymnia

Oratory, her

(Plate

name

XXIV.),

the

signifying "rich in

song," was also described as the inventor of myths, on which

account she was represented in an attitude of contemplation,

with one finger raised to her lips

In

on her head a

laurel wreath.

other cases she appears in a quiet, attentive, observant

mood, leaning forward on a

pillar,

her drapery, and wearing at times a

truths within the myths, while

her arms concealed under

veil, to

indicate the hidden

her posture was intended to

indicate the process of resolving the

meaning of them.

For

XXIV.

Urania.

Euterpe.

Polyhymnia.

THE MUSES.
this

l6l

reason she was also viewed as the goddess of serious and

poems

sacred

Erato

8.

or hymns.

(Plate

XXV.), the muse of Love and Marriage

Songs, wearing a wreath, and playing on a large lyre with

many

strings.

In other cases she appears holding a lyre by

her side in one hand, and

in

the other an arrow or a wreath

of myrtle and roses.

o.

Terpsichore

(Plate

wearing a wreath, and playing on a

holds cymbals, has

the

muse of Dancing,

lyre.

At other times she

XXV.),

her robe

girt

up,

and appears

in

the

attitude of dancing.

of the Muses was called, as has already been

Mnemosyne, that is, " Memory," and especially the

The mother
stated,

memory

or recollection of great

events, such as the

the Titans, that was said to have occurred at the

ment of the world's

the universe

she

came

is

to

history,

and must continue

brought into perfect harmony.

war with

commence-

to occur until

In later times

be viewed merely as goddess of memory, and

worshipped along with the Muses.

Plate

XXIII. represents her standing

ful attitude,

in a

quiet, thought-

both arms under her drapery, to indicate the

silent

mysterious action of memory.

It

was the custom of the Muses

ship of Apollo, at

among

the

to play,

under the leader-

banquets and marriage ceremonies

the gods, while the Horse, Charites (Graces), Aphrodite,

and other

deities given to mirth

and

gaiety, danced.

In this

fashion the ancients represented under the form of persons the

union of joy, music, poetry, dance, and merriment.

62

INFERIOR DEITIES.

IRIS,
(plate XXVI.,)

Goddess of the Rainbow, was a daughter of

Elektra, a granddaughter of

Thaumas

sister

of the

Harpies.

lived

among

the other deities of Olympos, which she only

for the

and

Okeanos and Gaea, and

As messenger

of

Hera and

Zeus, she
left

purpose of conveying the divine commands to mankind,

by whom she was looked on

velled with the speed of

as a guide

and

Hermes

adviser.

bottom of the

to the other, could penetrate to the

the Styx,

and

She

tra-

wind always, from one end of the world

in this respect

sea, or to

formed a female counterpart of

(Mercury) in his capacity of messenger of the gods,

she holding

much

the

same position towards Hera

as he did

towards Zeus.
It

was

Iris,

the ancients believed,

who charged

the clouds

with water from lakes and rivers, in order that they might
it fall

again upon the earth in gentle fertilizing showers

accordingly,

welcomed

it

when her bow appeared

in the

let

and,

clouds the farmer

as a sign of rain to quicken his fields,

and gladly

paid honours to the goddess whose presence he recognised in

the rainbow with

its

splendid colours.

She was represented as a beautiful virgin with wings of

varied hue, in robes of bright colours, and riding on a rainbow;
at other times with a

nimbus on her head, in which the colours

of the rainbow were reflected.

Plate

XXVI.

gives a figure of her standing, clad in a long

robe, holding in one

carries {cadnceiis),

hand a

and

herald's

staff,

such as Hermes also

in the other a helmet.

XXV.

163

^EOLOS.

^EOLOS
Was

a son of a king

abrupt rocky Lipara

spring, six sons

and made

life

and

named Hippotes, and

six daughters,

merry with

on one of die

lived

islands close to Sicily,

along with his

who were married

off-

in pairs,

In the caves of the

their music.

island were imprisoned the winds, .'Eolos letting

them out

in

gales, or in a soft favouring breeze, at the will of the higher

gods.

The

idea of the winds being thus kept in a cavern under the

restraint of a divine person, appears to

have suggested

the ancients from the strong draught that

cave or subterraneous passage

is felt

itself to

on entering a

but whether the belief in the

existence of such a personage reached back to primitive times,

when mankind
not certain.

lived to a great extent in places of that kind,

The

influence of /Eolos was

and the reverse on land and on

sea,

felt

is

both genially

but principally on sea,

which he could more readily command from the island where

he lived.

As an

we may
Odysseus (Ulysses)
On departing, ^Eolos

instance of his kindliness to travellers by sea,

here mention his hospitable reception of

on that errant homeward voyage of

his.

gave him a great bag containing

the contrary winds, putting

it

on board the

wind.

ship, so that

all

he might reach Ithaca with a

fair

Odysseus himself remained steadily and anxiously

at

the helm for several days, but his native land coming.at length
in sight,

he sank overpowered

witli

sleep.

His followers ob-

serving this proceeded to indulge their curiosity to see the

which they fancied the bag contained, opened

and out burst the imprisoned wind with a roar and a force

costly presents
it,

that drove the ship again far out of her course.

INFERIOR DEITIES.

164

But besides

this

conception of the winds as mere elements in

the hands of JEolos, there was another which represented

as each personified

by

them

a separate divine being, living apart,

and

being directly under the control of Zeus and Poseidon.

THE WIND
Of whom

GODS,

Boreas,

the principal were

Euros,

the north wind,

the south wind,

and Zephyros, the

west wind, were, as we have previously

said, the offspring of

Notos,

the east wind,

Eos

and Astraeos, the parentage of

being assigned to Typhoin.

number

neither the origin nor the

was known, the prevalence

blowing from

fierce destructive

According

in

this or that point

of the deities of the

particular

winds

to another report,

districts

winds

of winds

between the four chief quarters,

naturally giving rise to a set of personifications such as north-

west wind, south-west wind, and others.

The

character and appearance ascribed to each of these

deities was, as usual in

gested by the
strength and

all

of each wind

as, for

example, the

warmth of

fury of the north wind, or the genial

the south-west.

and

Greek mythology, such as was sug-

phenomena

winged.

Some were thought to be male, some female,

Euros, who brought warmth and rain from

the east, was represented holding a vase inverted, as

rain from

jt.

Lips, who from the

south-east wafted

if

pouring

home

the

ships as they neared the harbour of Peireeus at Athens, held

the ornament from a ship's stern in her hands.

coming from the warm, mild

a quantity of flowers in his
wind, carried

fruits

west,

scarf.

was

Zephyros,

lightly clad,

and carried

Apeliotes, the south-east

o f many kinds, wore boots, and was not so

XXVI.

EOS,

OR AURORA

Tower of

Though

the

Winds

"

LUCIFER.

Athens.

at

the winds were looked on as each under the control

of a separate divine being, whose favour

retain

by

165

So they were represented

mentioned.

lightly clad as the last

on the "

was necessary to

it

no particular story or myth

sacrifice,

is

told of

one of these persons excepting Boreas and Zephyros,

lovers of

Chloris

Boreas

carried

(Flora),
off,

Zephyros being the successful

was

it

daughter of Kekrops, king of Attica

the Athenians in their distress,
the

first

the

Oreithyia,

said,

suitor.

beautiful

and remembering

when

the Persians

terrible north wind,

which overtook

the Persian fleet near the promontory of Athos, scattered

largely destroyed
altar to him,

it.

From

and offered

The scene

that time the Athenians

sacrifice at

The wind-god

Museum.

still

at

in the

powerful in form, bearded,

is

his body.

EOS, or

the

represented on

young, and wearing thick high boots, and a mantle

thrown across

Eos was

is

Calymna, and now

at

and

had an

for their preservation.

it

of Boreas carrying off Oreithyia

a beautiful bronze relief found

British

this,

advanced

time against Greece, called upon him for aid, which

he rendered by sending a

but

any

the rival

AURORA

a daughter of the Titan pair,

latter, to

LUCIFER.
Theia and Hyperion

judge from the meaning of his name, having been

one time god of the sun, ''who travels high above earth."

Helios and Selene, the deities of sun and moon, were her
brother and
the

dawn

sister,

while she herself was a personification of

of morning.

the morning star

still

fresh

wind was

lingered in the

" shot the orient through with gold

"

felt at

sky,
;

her approach,

and ruddy beams

and

because

these

INFERIOR DEITIES.

l66

beams appeared

outspread fingers, she was called " rosy-

like

The star and the winds of the morning,

Zephyros, Boreas, Notos, and Euros, were her offspring
by Astraeos, the god of starlight. The moon and the other
fingered Morn/'

stars

vanished gradually as she advanced, but Helios followed

To

her closely.

poets she seemed to

rose-tinted fingers,

and

lift

the veil of night with

to rise in the east out of the

imagined

Others

She loved

on

it

all

fresh

to those persons

morning

to

up

after

young

life,

and showed

active spirit led

hunt or to make war.

special favour

them abroad

When
off,

in the

struck with the

and obtain im-

him, as she did with Kleitos, Orion, Ke-

for

life

Bellerophon's

Olympos.

to

whose

her

given

beauty of a youth she would carry him

mortal

in

earth.

coming riding on the winged horse

her

Pegasos, which Zeus had

failure to ride

ocean

upon the

a car with four white steeds, shedding light

phalos, and Tithonos.

So

appeared to the Greeks, who

it

recognised in the brief duration of the freshness and glow of

morning a comparison with the

youth,

beautiful

construct a

and

from

early death of promising

the

myth which should

comparison

proceeded

trace both to the

and
to

same divine

cause.

Tithonos became
pleasantly beside the
lasted.

her husband, and she lived with him

Okeanos so long

as his youth

and beauty

Unfortunately, in obtaining immortality for him from

Zeus, she had omitted to add to her request,

When

youth."

she was not the same to him as before, though

him with ambrosia and

helpless at

last,

"

and

eternal

white hairs showed themselves on his head

fine raiment.

still

supplying

But he became quite

and, to avoid the sight of his decrepitude, she

shut him up in a chamber, where only his voice was heard like

XXVII.

OR AURORA

EOS,

LUCIFER.

the chirp of a grasshopper, 'into which creature,

By

he became transformed.

understand day, in

its

Of Kephalos

and

at the close.

Prokris,

said that from love to his wife,

it is

said,

we would

eternally returning course, fresh

dawn, wearied and worn

beautiful at

was

it

the story of Tithonos

67

Aura,

he resolutely withstood the advances of

the goddess

of the morning wind, and that the latter in revenge stirred up

him and

discord between
story

that

is,

out on the chase.

Prokris,

Another version of the

his wife.

Aura caused him

to kill his wife

by mistake when

would seem, jealous of her hus-

it

band's meetings with the goddess, had secreted herself in a

thicket to watch

them

but happening to

and suspecting

the noise,

stir,

Kephalos caught

be caused by some lurking

to

it

animal, hurled his spear, and slew his wife.

Eos and Tithonos had two

Memnon and

sons,

the former widely celebrated for his beauty,

his early death at the

carried

by

his

hands of Achilles.

weeping mother

Emathion,

and mourned

for

His dead body was

to ^Ethiopia;

and

at

Thebes, in

Egypt, she erected in his memory, so story goes, that wonderful

monument

touched

it,

which,

when

the

first

gave forth a sound

rays of the

morning sun

snapping of a harp-

like the

string.

In art she was represented as a spirited maiden, with large

wings, clad in robes of dazzling white
in her

four horses, or riding

on Pegasos

floating

down on

in

the

purple, a star or cap

at other times she

appeared

and pouring morning dew from a

vessel

the earth.

In Plate

XXVII.

great speed, as
bulls'

air,

and

hand, and driving in a chariot with

on her head, a torch

is

she

is

figured driving a quadriga with

The

indicated by the flow of her drapery.

heads signify that the

moon and

stars

are

still

in

the

l68

INFERIOR DEITIES.

sky.

Lucifer precedes her with a torch.

quickened by her dew, wake and

Museum

British

is

Flowers and plants,

In the

raise their heads.

gem

a beautiful example of early

engraving,

representing a head of her.

In other representations
her, a

we

find

Hermes advancing

duty which Lucifer, the morning

Hera

of Aphrodite and

also,

EROS, or

Amor,

or

Cupido,

as

AMOR

he was also

was

called,

deity, but

presents

translation

difference in character of these

not,

it

should

had been introduced

from the mythology of the Greeks by poets,

this

before

favourite

PSYCHE.

a direct translation of the Greek Eros.

observed that

and a

most usually performs.

Roman

be noticed, a native

star,

It

an

name being

his

should further be
instance of the

two ancient races

the

"love" among the Greeks being feminine, while

its

word

for

Roman

equivalent was masculine.

We
Eros;

must
first,

at the outset distinguish the

as

we

find

double character of

him described taking part

at the creation

of the world out of Chaos, and secondly, as a mere god of

love, a

is

its

Aphrodite and Zeus, or Ares, as some said,

Uranos. In the former phase of his character he

son of

or even of

represented as sorting the shapeless mass of the world, with

conflicting elements,

confusion,

into

uniting hitherto

order and harmony, dispelling

jarring

ductive what was barren before.

deity

men.

who sways

forces,

and making pro-

In the latter phase he

is

the passions of the heart both of gods

the

and

In the one case he was conceived as having existed

before the other gods, as being the god of that love which

operates in nature

and

in the

other case as the youngest born

XXVIII.

Cupid.

Ganymedes.

Cupid and Psyche.

Mars and Yenus.

OR AMOR

EROS,

of them

men

god of

the

all,

in tyranny.

69

that love which holds the hearts of

seems

It

PSYCHE.

have been as a combination of

to

both characters that Pheidias * represented him at the birth of

Aphrodite, receiving her as she rose out of the sea, in presence
of the assembled deities of Olympos.

The

and oldest centre of

chief

Bceotia,

where a

festival called

his

worship was Thespiae, in

Erotidia was celebrated

honour, and continued to be a source of attraction

Roman

times.

Thence

his

in his

down

to

worship spread to Sparta, Athens,

Samos, and Crete, the Spartans and Cretans having a custom

of sacrificing to him previous to the
the

in

belief that

commencement

or love of country which best unites an army.

there was an altar to

In early times

him and

his counterpart,

worshippers

his

with a rude stone as an image.

contrast with

this,

of a battle,

he was also the god of that patriotism

we

find

In Athens

Anteros.

Thespiae were

at

But

him the most

in later

content

and

times,

attractive figure

in

among

the works of the second Attic school of sculptors, the school of

Scopas and Praxiteles, f both of

talents to

rivalled

artists

zealous

whom

directed their splendid

adding fresh grace and beauty to his form.

in

each other to

singing

this

his praises.

In

daily

became more generally acknowledged.

the

youth practised athletics

Hermes and Herakles

for

limb and graceful of form

went on, however,

the
*

was

set

up between
as lithe of

became more and more

manner of

As time
that of

tricks with the hearts

the base of the statue of Zeus at Olympia.

The famous statue of him by Praxiteles was afterwards carried off

Rome, and is known to us through copies of it made by other sculptors.

+
to

In the gymnasia where

his statue

a model of ripening youth.

all

less

influence

his

he was then represented

his figure

chubby boy who plays

On

life

While

no

poets were

end,

INFERIOR DEITIES.

170

He

of men, with which we are most familiar.

was supposed

to exercise his influence over the hearts of deities as well

show him

to

in this light,

the symbol of one god,

To
art

the

later

age

he was represented at times

now

and,

now

with

of another.

of Hellenistic

Roman

and

Psyche a

belongs the touching story of

poetry and

personification,

as she appears to have been, of a soul filled with the passion of

love,

and

maiden,

name.

under the form of a small winged

as such conceived

other times, as a butterfly which bore the same

or, at

Psyche, the story runs, was a king's daughter, and most

beautiful.

The fame

of her

beauty awoke the jealousy of

Aphrodite, who, to get rid of the

to

the

visit

princess,

common man.

and

rival,

inspire

Cupid obeyed so

charged her son Cupid

love

her with
as to

far

for

pay the

some
but

visit,

being himself struck with the maiden's beauty, carried her off
to a fairy palace in a vale of paradise,

hours together, with only

this

where they spent happy

drawback, that she was not per-

Even

mitted to look upon her lover with her mortal eyes.

this

she would not have considered a drawback, had not her envious sisters stirred up her curiosity in the matter.
to their temptation, she took

the

chamber where the god

covery she had made, she

shoulder.

express
for

He

one night a lamp, and

Alarmed

lay asleep.

let

a drop of hot

oil

Yielding
stole

at

fall

into

the dis-

upon

his

awoke, and charging her with disobedience to his

command,

left

him everywhere

She searched

her alone to her despair.

in vain,

finding her

way

at last to

the

palace of Aphrodite, who, after subjecting her to menial service

of various kinds, finally ordered her to go

down

to the lower

world, and fetch a box of beauty's ointment from Persephone.

This most painful task she accomplished

box, sank overpowered by

its

odour.

but,

on opening the

Cupid could

resist

no

EROS,

OR AMOR

PSYCHE.

ran to her help, and brought her back to

longer,

The

life.

anger of Aphrodite was appeased, and the marriage of Cupid

and Psyche was forthwith celebrated with great

rejoicings, in

presence of the higher gods, Psyche obtaining immortality.

The purpose

of the story

is

obviously to illustrate the three

stages in the existence of a soul,

state, its existence

future state of

arrows

pre-existence in a blessed

its

its trials

and anguish, and

its

happy immortality.

XXVIII.

Plate

Eros has

on earth with

represents

aside his

laid,

the

bow and

roses are strewn

two embracing tenderly.

quiver, with

its

dangerous

on the ground before them, and a

shoot of a rose-tree grows behind to symbolize the sweetness

and beauty of young

and

links

arms.

Psyche has the wings of a

love.

butterfly,

by which she may be chained on her ankles and

Behind her

In the other figure Eros ap-

a mirror.

is

pears riding on a lion, and playing on a lyre, the soft music of

which soothes the savage beast, as love was supposed to soothe

the fiercest temper.

In works of
his

art

he

is

frequently to be seen in the

struggling with his opposite

Anteros,

thos, whose name,

Roman Cupido,

of love," that
a

company

ot

mother Aphrodite, or playing with the Muses and Graces, or

is,

like the

or

accompanied by Posignifies a " desire

a "desire of union in love," and

" soft yearning for love."

In

later times artists

Himeros,
often sur-

rounded Aphrodite, and occasionally also Dionysos, with troops

of

little

winged

figures of children,

Amorettes.
The word

Psyche,

afterwards to

mean

signifying

which we

originally the

also a " butterfly,"

call

Erotes

"soul,"

or

came

likeness being ob-

served between the manner in which a soul and a butterfly,

freed from the

body or

chrysalis in

which they have been con-

INFERIOR DEITIES.

172

fined on earth, rise

The

on wing, and waft themselves

with the torch which attracts the butterfly to

this

in

the light.

flame of love which often scorched the soul was compared

happened, Eros turned away

his face

the meaning of the allegory represented in Plate

hind Eros stands

Nemesis,

When

doom.

its

and wept.

Such

XXIX.

is

Be-

holding a twig from an apple-tree,

her customary attribute, and before him Elpis, or Hope, holding a

lily.

HYMEN,

or

HYMEN.EUS,

(PLATE XXVI.,)

Was worshipped as the god

the

Romans.

His origin

of marriage both by the Greeks and

is

variously stated to have been

now

from Apollo and Kalliope, now from Dionysos and Aphrodite,

while at other times he

and afterwards

said to have

is

deified.

and

deification,

Young, and of a
mistaken for a

girl,

birth a mortal,

is

a personifica-

There are various accounts of

tion of the marriage .song.

life

been by

Properly speaking, he

and among them the following

soft delicate beauty, so

Hymen

whom, however, because of

that

his

he might be

loved a young Athenian maiden,

his poverty,

he could not hope to

To be near her, he once joined a troop of

among whom she was engaged in celebrating a festival

obtain for his wife.

maidens,
to

Demeter

at Eleusis.

Suddenly a band of robbers appeared

from a hiding-place, carried the maidens

set

off to their ship,

distant country.

But landing on the way on a dreary

the robbers indulged so copiously in wine that they

deep slumber.

Hymen,

fellow-captives to take the

seizing the

and

some

out with the intention of selling them as slaves in

island,

all fell

into

opportunity, incited his

weapons from the robbers and

slay

THE GRACES.
them

all,

which they

173

Thereupon he

did.

set off to

Athens in

the ship, and finding the people there in great distress, presented

himself to the parents of the maiden he loved, and undertook

to bring her

him

back unharmed on condition of

their giving her to

This was readily promised.

Finding a crew,

as his wife.

he

at

all

the maidens on board.

once

set sail for the island,

Thalassios,

he himself

in

this

as well as the wife that

wedded
name was on

So happy was
generally his

For

and speedily returned with

his

he obtained the

that

life

came

the company, and

all

be looked on as a god,

to

and the founder and protector of marriage

festivities

of

marriage ceremonies

at

the lips of

course of time

title

had been promised him.

a sacrifice was offered to him,

rights.

festal

At bridal

songs were sung,

and flowers and wreaths strewn.

As a

company

in the

among
story

deity he was placed

the

among

of Aphrodite

the playmates of Eros,

His home,

Muses on Mount Helikon

which says that he

lost his

in

it

and

was believed, was

Bceotia.

voice and his

There

life in

the marriage song of Dionysos and Ariadne or Althaea.

is

singing

He

is

always a picture of youthful beauty, and of the charms of love

and song.

Hymen

was represented as a beautiful youth with a mantle

of a golden colour
in Plate

XXVI.,

sometimes

or a

nude and

THE CHARITES.
Were looked upon by
fulness

or

GRACES,

the Greeks as the goddesses of the grace-

and the charms of beauty, and of

which were observed both

men.

As

carrying a torch, as

veil.

in nature

and

cheerful

amusement,

in the intercourse with

such, their worship dated from a very early time

INFERIOR DEITIES.

1/4

Orchomenos

in

games held

in Boeotia,

in their

in Sparta,

Athens, and Crete

the

being

in the last-mentioned place

honour

said to have existed even in the time of the pre-historic king

Their oldest sanctuary was said to

Minos.

chomenos.

It

at Or-

be that

contained images of them in the form of rude

stones which were supposed to have fallen from heaven.

The manifold beauty which

to

have given

rise in

very

the existence of certain goddesses at

early times to a belief in

first

the works of nature, especially

would seem

in spring-time, display,

simply as guardians of the vernal sweetness and beauty of

nature,

and afterwards

developed.

and protectors of every-

as the friends

thing graceful and beautiful

an idea which

one of

Pindar, in

his

the poets further

delightful songs

most

victory, singing of the Graces, associates with

of decorum,

of purity and

happiness in

beneficence and gratitude

among men.

They were represented

as beautiful

of

them the source

life,

of

good

will,

young modest maidens,

winning and charming, always dancing, singing, and running,

bathing in fountains, or decking

or

flowers, especially with roses

as well as to Aphrodite (Venus), in

her
to

many

themselves with

for the rose

was sacred

early

to them,

whose company, and doing

a service, according to the myth, they were usually

be found.

Their

home was among

the

Muses

in

the

neighbourhood of Olympos, where they often appeared as companions of Aphrodite, and danced before the other

Their origin

is

variously stated,

an Okeanid, being assigned as

and Aphrodite.

There

is

now

deities.

Zeus and Eurynome,

their parents,

now Dionysos

a difference also in the statements of

From Orchomenos, it would seem,

their names and number.
come Aglsea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. In Sparta and in
Athens there were only two, the pair worshipped

in the former

THE GRACES.

Phaenna
Hegemone. In the

town being called Kleta (clang) and

town,

the latter

race of

them

is

Pasithea.

Auxo

and

mentioned, old and young

According

to

75

(glimmer), in
Iliad a

whole

the youngest being

another account, the youngest was

Aglasa, the wife of Hepha^stos

the object in assigning

him

such a wife being probably to indicate the perfect beauty of the

works of
best

art

produced by

charm of

poetry,

Beauty and sweetness, the

that god.

came from

the Graces. Athene (Minerva)

called in their aid in the serious business of

presided, because without gracefulness

They

assisted

capacity of god of oratory.

From

the Greeks believed.

activity

it

will

all

life

over which she

labour was in vain,

Hermes (Mercury)
these instances

be seen how highly the Greeks prized

in his

of their

this quality

of gracefulness.

Greece there was a number of temples and beautiful

In

groups of statuary

sometimes

alone,
as,

for

in their

in

common

with

other deities

example, Aphrodite, Apollo, and the Muses.

festivals, called

Annual

Charitesia, accompanied with games, music,

and dance, were held

to call

honour, sometimes devoted to them

them

to

upon them

in their

in taking

cup of wine was offered

honour.

It

an oath, and

was the custom also

at

banquets the

first

to them.

In early times they were represented in art as draped

figures,

but in later times as quite nude, or but sparingly clothed, and

occupied
myrtle,

in a

and

dance.

dice,

as

Their attributes were the rose,

the

a symbol of cheerful amusement.

At

other times they hold apples or perfume-vases, or ears of corn,

or heads of poppies, or musical instruments
flute,

and

syrinx.

such as the

lyre,

INFERIOR DEITIES.

176

PEITHO,

SUADA,

or

Or Suadela, was the goddess of persuasion, and,

like the

Graces, formed part of the escort of Aphrodite, whose daughter

she was said to be.

Her

worship, along

Athens by Theseus,

with

Aphrodite,

time

at the

was introduced into

when he succeeded

in per-

suading the various isolated tribes inhabiting Attica to unite

into

one people, with Athens as

temples in other places

also,

But she had

their chief town.

and was looked on as a deity

to

whose influence much was due.

HEBE,
(plate XXVI.,)

Or Ganymeda,
district

deity,

or

Dia,

as she

was called

in the

vine-growing

of Phlius, where she was worshipped as the principal

was daughter of Zeus and Hera, and was the goddess of

youth, herself remaining always young,

and warding off

age, like

means of nectar and ambrosia. Her name

among the Romans was Juventas. In Olympos she held the
the other deities, by

office of

cup-bearer to the gods, for which

she was peculiarly adapted,

first,

it is

supposed that

because of her association

with the vine-growers of Phlius, and, secondly, because she

was the youngest daughter of the regal pair of Olympos, and

as such, on the analogy of

human arrangements, would be

ex-

pected to wait upon the divine guests, as Briseis did on Achilles,

or

Hippodameia on Oenomaos or

as, in real life,

Melissa, the

daughter of Prokles, king of Epidauros, poured out wine for

her father's

men

with a grace which captivated Periander.

The

HEBE.

difficulty of explaining

hold the same

to

assume her

office

177

how Hebe and Ganymedes would both

was met

which one was

in various ways, of

have been cup-bearer

to

in general

and him cup-

bearer to Zeus in particular, while another ingeniously supposed

that

Hebe

Ganymedes was absent

only held the office while

from Olympos during the Trojan war, so as to avoid witnessing

she had to assist Hera to yoke her car.

Among her other duties

When Apollo and the

Muses played she danced with other

deities.

the misfortunes of his native country.

accompanied Aphrodite.

But the character

known and most admired was

Herakles, when he was raised

At times she

in

which she was

best

that of the bride

of

to

on

his extraordinary labours

Herakles,

constantly persecuted while on earth,

The

and

wife

in reward for

This union of Hebe, the

earth.

favourite daughter of Hera, with

Olympos

is

whom

unknown

she

had

to the Iliad.

character of the myth, however, appears to point to a

The

very early origin.

singular climax of events, which

made

Herakles the guest of the gods of Olympos and the husband

of the most attractive of the goddesses, was a subject which

was made the most of by the comic poets.

Representations

of the marriage procession, and of Herakles receiving a cup

of wine from Hebe, occur in ancient sculpture.

in the character

giving

it

In other cases

company of her mother Hera, or alone,

of Ganymeda, fondling the eagle of Zeus,

she appears in the

drink from a

or

or

occurs

not infrequently on

in the district

of Argolis, there was,

cup, as

engraved gems.

At the town of Phlius,

in a fine grove, a celebrated

temple in her honour, which served

as a place of refuge or asylum, in

set free

hung up

the soddess.

their chains

which slaves who had been

among

the cypresses sacred to

INFERIOR DEITIES.

178

Rome Juventas had

In

two sanctuaries, one on the Capitol,

the other beside the great racecourse.

dating,
to

was

it

said, as far

back

pay into the temple of Juventas a piece

boy who

of

lived to enter the stage of youth.

Roman assumed
prayed

was the custom

It

as the time of Servius Tullius

the toga

to Jupiter

year sacrifice

youth of the

virilis,

At the beginning of every

both

to

for every

the young

he went up to the Capitol and

and Juventas.

was offered

money

When

deities in behalf

of

the

city.

GANYMEDES,
(plate

Was

XXVIII.,)

Tros and Kallirhoe, and was

Dardanos, the founder of Trow

a son of the Trojan king

therefore great-grandson of

Zeus finding him on Mount Ida, and admiring

carried

Hebe

He

him

off to

Olympos, where he appears

to

his

beauty,

have succeeded

in the office of cup-bearer to the gods.

was represented as possessed of eternal youth and

extraordinary beauty, wearing a Phrygian cap to indicate his

birthplace.

The cup

in his

hand indicates his office of cupby his side shows that that

bearer, while the eagle of Zeus

office

was performed among the gods of Olympos.

ASKLEPIOS, or ^ESCULAPIUS,
(plate XXXI.,)

Was, according

to

the most

common

version of the myth, a

son of Apollo and Koronis, a daughter of a Thessalian prince,

whence

his title

At

Koronides.

struck by the arrows of Artemis

his birth his

mother died,

but the father saved the child,

ASKLEPIOS, OR ^SCULAPIUS.

and taking

to

it

youth onwards
at the

Mount

Pelion, gave

Chiron, who

physician,

in

it

keeping to the famous

boy from

carefully instructed the

early

in the mysteries of the healing art, training

same time

79

to expertness in the chase.

him

In the former

the pupil soon excelled the master, curing the most malignant

and working

diseases,

but one
the

whom

real

miracles with his

his success could injure,

monarch of the lower world, who urged

Zeus.

The

thunderbolt,

to

the

fate, felled

indignation

his death Asklepios

the great doctor with a

for

to him, of

who was

some

was looked upon as a god

Asklepia were

were erected

was Pluto,

complaint before

Apollo,

of

Olympos

silenced by banishment from

vals called

his

There was

art.

that

astonished at the boldness of a mortal in

latter,

thus defying the decrees of

at

and

Greece

in

only
After

time.

festi-

held in his honour, and temples

which the most celebrated was that

Epidauros, in the Peloponnesos.

Thither even the

Romans

sent ten deputies once, to inquire the will of the oracle with

regard to a pestilence that was raging in

Rome.

The

deputies

had hardly entered the temple, when from behind the goldand-ivory statue of the god a serpent appeared, the symbol of

them through the

Asklepios, and followed

on

to the harbour,

fully as

and

into their ship.

a happy portent,

and

set out

Italy the serpent left the ship,

streets of the town,

They received

On

homewards.

and proceeded

it

joy-

reaching

to a

temple

of ^sculapius, in the town of Antium, but afterwards returned

to" the ship,

Tiber,

it

and did not leave

it

stopped at an island.

again

until,

on going up the

Thereupon the

pestilence

ceased, and a temple was erected on the island to ^Esculapius,

to

commemorate

and cured

the event.

Thither patients were conveyed

short statement of the

symptoms of each

and the remedy employed, being inscribed on

tablets,

case,

which

INFERIOR DEITIES.

180

were hung up in the temple, and were found to be a great boon

to posterity.

Besides the
cock,
its

serpent,

that animal

he frequently has as an attribute a

The

being also sacred to him.

as wandering

marks him

while the dish,

from place to place, to give help

which he sometimes holds,

healing potions.

It

was the custom of

cock to him, as Socrates did

is

a symbol of his

invalids to sacrifice

after drinking the

as a cure

Among

cup of poison,

as a token that he did not fear death, but rather looked

it

by

serpent,

periodic change of skin, indicates rejuvenescence; the staff

upon

and a convalescence.

the children of JEsculapius,

Hyglea

is

specially

The name of his wife was Epigone "the

mentioned.
Like many other deities of the lower order, in
soothing."

common

with heroes, he was in after times placed as a star in

the sky.

In Plate

XXXI.

the god of medicine

is

man

represented as a

of years, bearded, gentle, and earnest, draped, and resting on a

staff,

round which a serpent, as emblem of rejuvenescence,

coiled.

is

His type of face resembles that of Zeus so much, that

in the case of the fine marble

head in the British

Museum

absolute agreement has not yet been arrived at as to which ot

gods

the two

it

was intended

to represent.

The head

question was found in the island of Melos r on the

is

site

supposed to have been a temple to Asklepios, from the

covery in

god and

the same place of a native

to his daughter Hygiea.

from a local

illness

of the part that

are a

tablet,

person

in

of what
dis-

dedicated to the

who had recovered

would dedicate a sculptured representation

had been

number of examples

affected.

Of such sculptures
Museum.

in the British

there

MEDITRINA.

HYG1EA.

TELESPHOROS

HYGIEA,
(plate xxxi.,)

Or Hygieia,

Hygea,

or

was,

as

we have

just said,

the

Others said

daughter of Asklepios, and the goddess of health.

she was the wife of Asklepios.

She was represented as a young,

whom

Apollo took a special

active, smiling goddess, in

appears draped, and holding a serpent

of Asklepios,

is

In Plate

interest.

which,

the symbol of health.

XXXI.

she

as in the case

She feeds

it

from a

plate ox patera.

At other times she

figured wearing a wreath of laurel, or

is

of plants known for their medicinal properties

a patera

in her

hand, a serpent coiled round her arm or body.

MEDITRINA
Passed in

Rome

festival called

for a sister of

Hygea and a goddess

of health,

Meditrinalia being annually held

in

her

honour at the beginning of October, the ceremony consisting

drinking some old and some
" I drink the

new and

new wine

the old wine

together,

in

and exclaiming,

with new and old wine

I heal infirmities."

The

distinction

between the two goddesses of health lay

this that while Hygea preserved

restored

it.

good

health,

The Greek goddess Jaso appears

to

in

Meditrina

have been

identical with Meditrina.

TELESPHOROS
Was

looked upon as a genius or deity of that secret and mys-

terious

vitality

which sustains the convalescent.

He

was

re-

INFERIOR DEITIES.

presented (Plate

XXXI.) by

the side of ^Esculapius, or standing

between him and Hygea, as a small barefooted boy, wrapped

hood on

closely in a mantle, with a

his head.

This careful

wrapping-up seems to indicate the secret shrouded nature of

the vital force which he personifies, and

meant

may

also have

been

wrapping-up so essential to con-

to express the care in

valescence.

The

principal centre of his worship

was on the coast of Asia

Minor.

TYCHE,

or

FORTUNA.

(plate XXI.)

The
of

idea that a great part of the incidents and circumstances

life

was du e

early times,

goddess of luck,

Romans

had taken hold of the mind

to chance,

and had come

whom

Fortuna.

be personified

to

in the

Greeks called Tyche and the

the

She was a daughter of Zeus.

or Fates, were her sisters.

It

was believed

The

Parcaj,

that she guided

the career of men, whether prosperously or the reverse

show

in very

form of a

and

to

her in this capacity, she was figured holding a double

rudder in her hands

the one

the other that of the unlucky.

to steer the

barque of the lucky,

In later times she was repre-

sented with wings, or with her eyes bound, standing on a ball

or awheel, to indicate that luck rolls like a ball, without choice,

undoing

all

the efforts of this one, and overwhelming that one

with wealth and prosperity.

Sometimes she was represented

with a ball on her head, or with a cornucopia in her hands.

In Plate XXI. she appears draped, her arms bare, a horn of

plenty in one hand and a rudder in the other,

the

the rudder indicating the rapid turns of fortune.

ball beside

NIKE, OR VICTORIA.

Tyche was worshipped

in

many

places in Greece, but espe-

Athens, where she was popularly believed to reside

cially at

constantly

as

favouring

Italy the worship

In

deity.

Fortuna was wide-spread, and a general

however, were newly-married women.

of

held in her

festival

Her

honour annually on the 24th of June.

pers,

83

principal worship-

She had an oracle

of considerable fame in the towns of Praeneste and Antium.

NIKE, or VICTORIA,
(plate XXX.,)

The goddess

of victory, was a daughter of the giant

Pallas

and the Okeanid nymph Styx, and was regarded by the

Greeks as inseparable from Zeus and Athene.

works of
wings.

art of

Her

an early period,

like that of
air

Sometimes she carried a

pointing the

way

to

victor,

now

sea, suitable

emblems were assigned

XXX.

down

she appears standing on a globe, draped,

commemorate

painted vases, marble

sculptures,

by

to her.

On

victories, or, as

happened, success in the national games,

is

down

of victories

winged, holding a wreath and a palm-branch.

parently struck to

in the

to earth

reaching a wreath

As goddess

to his brow, or driving his horses.

In Plate

staff (caduceus)

Hermes, as a sign of her power, and floated

with outspread wings, or appeared coming

now

Except in

was represented with

were a palm-branch, a wreath, and a

attributes

trophy of armour.

she

figures of

reliefs,

on

it

coins ap-

sometimes

engraved gems,

and among the smaller bronze

Nike are of frequent occurrence.

always draped, and of a youthful appearance

subject, to judge from the repetition of

it

She

a favourite

on gems, seems to

INFERIOR DEITIES.

184

have been that

sacrificing

which she was represented

in

the act of

in

an ox.

EIRENE, or PAX,
The goddess

of peace, was also represented holding a palm-

At other times she stood with armour under her

branch.

or was engaged in closing the temple of Janus.

was reckoned one of the Horse

the three sisters.

In

honour of an annual

Rome

the most

feet,

In Greece she

cheerful, indeed, of

she had a temple, and enjoyed the

on the 30th of January.

festival

FATE,
The Greek name being Ananke,

the

Roman Fatum, was

personification of the unalterable necessity that appeared to

control the career of

mankind and the events of

Gods, as well as men, were subject to

its

This deity was the offspring of Night

the world.

unchanging decrees.

and

Erebos.

Her

sentences were carried out by the Parcae, who, however, were

also looked

upon

as independent deities of fate.

She was

represented standing on a globe, and holding an urn.

MCERA and

the MCER^E, or PARC^E.

In very early times the management of the world

social matters involving right

directly

her

and

reason,

in regard to

was supposed

to

under the control of a goddess called Moera, who,

own

deity, not

be
in

province, acknowledged the superiority of no other

even of Zeus, the ruler of the world, who, as supreme

god, could not be thought to insist on anything unreasonable

or wrong.

In

later times

we

find, instead of this single deity,

;;

MCRRA AND THE MOEIUE, OR PARCJE.

three Moerse (or Parcae)

stages of

human

life

85

answering respectively to the three

and death.

birth, years,

In

this

form,

however, they no longer retained the high position of superiority to Zeus, but, like the other deities,

thus showing that he possessed in

sciousness of right

Mceragetes,

and reason, and was

that

it

entitled to

as daughters of Night

darkness and obscurity of

is,

be called

human

fate

indicate the

Another story has

was they who united Themis and Zeus

same ceremony, according

to

or of Zeus and Themis,

" daughters of the just heavens."

version of the myth,

to another

and

The names of the

To

Atropos.

was

births.

three sisters were

Klotho, Lachesis, and

express the influence which they were believed

on human

life

from birth to death, they were con-

ceived as occupied in spinning a thread of gold,

now

It

and taking

natural to suppose the goddesses of fate present

part at marriages

it,

in marriage, the

having been performed by them to Zeus and Hera.

to exercise

to him,

highest form the con-

or leader of the Moerae.

They were described

that

became subject

its

now

tightening,

slackening,

and

at

last

silver,

or wool

cutting

it

off.

This occupation was so arranged among the three, that Klotho,

the youngest, put the wool round the spindle, Lachesis spun

and Atropos, the

eldest, cut

off,

it

when

man had

Tyche, or Fortuna, has been taken as a fourth

of the similarity of her functions.

They were represented

by

side,

and

in

It is not,

in art as serious

sister,

it,

to die.

on account

however,

so.

maidens, always side

most cases occupied as we have mentioned

there being instances, however, in which Atropos, the 'unalterable,'

is

represented alone.

They were worshipped very

Italy

seriously both in

Greece and

sacrifices of honey and flowers, sometimes of ewes, were

l86

INFERIOR DEITIES.

offered to them, while in Sparta

and

and

in

Rome

they had temples

altars.

NEMESIS,
Adrasteia and Rhamnusia, from Rhamnus

Called also

Attica, the principal centre of her worship,

tion of the

wrong.

vengeance which appeared

was a

to overtake every act of

She was the goddess of punishment, and

figure of her

mysterious power, watching over the propriety of

conceived as shaping the demeanour of

figure of

its

She was represented

equipoise.

men

in

life,

she was

their

times

punishing crime, taking luck away from the

unworthy, tracking every wrong to

in

such a

as

was placed beside the bench of the judges.

of prosperity,

in

personifica-

doer,
as a

and keeping society

thoughtful, beautiful

queenly aspect, with a diadem or crown on her head,

winged, except in the case of early sculptures, or driving in a

car

drawn by gryphons.

Among

her several attributes were a

wheel, to indicate the speed of her punishments, a balance, a

bridle, a yoke, a rudder, a lash, a sword,

Special festivals, called

sacrifices to assure

and

in

her good

is

To

will,

were held annually

in

public

Athens

Smyrna.

Now Erebos, now

Zeus

and an apple-branch.

Nemesia, accompanied by

Okeanos,

is

mentioned as her

said to have been her lover,

and Helena

father, while

their daughter.

commands she had three attendants, Dike,

Poena, and Erinys (respectively justice, punishment, and
execute her

vengeance).

She was a

terror to evil-doers.

At the same time

her endeavours to preserve an equal balance in the attitude of

man

to

man were

recognised as springing from a deep-seated

and therefore she was placed beside the Graces.

In
Smyrna several winged beings of her type were worshipped.

love,

187

ENYO.

ERIS

ERIS,
Called by the

Romans Discordia,

employed by the other gods

among men.

quarrels

to stir

up

the goddess of
fierce disputes

strife,

was

and mortal

was she who caused the dispute

It

between Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite for the possession of the

golden apple, the prize of beauty, which she threw among the

company assembled

at the

marriage of Peleus.

Terrible in form and aspect, with attributes like those of the

Eumenides,

with

whom

she was looked on as the

her

home was

sister

in the realms below,

and companion, sometimes

the wife, of Ares, the god of massacre.

as

Her daughter was

ENYO,

Whom

Romans called Bellona, now believing her to be

Similarly among the
and now the sister of Mars.

the

the wife

Greeks, Enyo, the murderous goddess of war, delighting in devastation,

was associated with Ares, who also bore the

Enyalios,

either driving his

to battle.

The

title

chariot or rushing in front of

peculiar fierceness

and

fury with

of
it

which she

spread terror and alarm in a battle distinguished her from Pallas-

Athene.
hair,

She was represented as of

rushing wildly hither and thither, with a lash in her hand,

and armed with shield and

was

frightful aspect, with flowing

that at

Komana,

in

spear.

Her most

celebrated temple

Asia Minor.

At the close of the war against the Samnites a temple was

erected to her in

used to

Rome by

meet when they had

Appius Claudius.
to deliberate with

There the Senate

an embassy from

a hostile power, or when they had to decide whether the honour

of a triumphal entry into the city should be bestowed

upon a

INFERIOR DEITIES.

general.

At the entrance

to the temple stood a pillar, which,

on the occasion of declaring war, was viewed as marking the

boundary between Roman and hostile territory. The ceremony
of declaring war was to throw a spear over this pillar

There

the territory of the enemy.

into

that

Her

wild excitement were held in her honour.

priests

is,

and

festivals of din

were

styled Bellonarii.

PHEME,
The goddess
to

or

FAMA,

of fame or report, whether good or bad, was said

be a daughter of Gaea, and born

at the time of her great

Sleepless, always

indignation at the overthrow of the Giants.

prying, swift of foot,

heard

of, at first

Pheme announced whatever

in a whisper addressed only to a

then by degrees louder and to a larger

she saw or

few persons,

circle, until finally

had traversed heaven and earth communicating

she

She was

it.

represented as a tender, gentle figure, winged, and holding a

trumpet.

ATE
Was
men

the goddess of infatuation, mischief,

to actions that involved

them

and

in ruin.

misleading

guilt,

For

this

her father,

Zeus, cast her in anger from Olympos, and from that time she

wandered about the earth

influence.

in search

of victims to her malignant

She was spoken of as powerful

of foot, running before

men

and

swift

sisters

were

in person

to mislead them.

Her

the

LIT^E,
Sweet-natured goddesses, whose special duty was to recom-

pense the persons

whom

Ate had reduced

to distress

and

ruin.

XXIX.

One

of the Erinys.

Eros Grieving for Psyche.

THE ERINYS, OR
Their name

signifies

in this case

is

for

not

FURI^E.

189

"prayers of the penitent," and the allegory

Prayers atone and

far to seek.

what a man does

harm of others

to the

make amends

in thoughtlessness

or from infatuation, without wicked thought or design.

Homeric poems they

squinting

had

in

were

those

In the

and

are described as lame, wrinkled,

by the trouble they

deformities being caused

making good the harm done by Ate.

Penitent prayers

making good the

at best but sorry aid in

done from

evil

infatuation or carelessness.

The

were supposed to be daughters of Zeus, and to

Litse

him the prayers

before

place

of those

who invoked

his

assistance.

THE

ERINYS, or FURI.E,
(plate XXIX.,)

Dirse,

Called also

Eumenides,

or

Semnae that

is,

the

" revered " goddesses, were daughters of Night, or, according to

another myth, of the Earth and Darkness, while a third account

calls

them the

attendants of

offspring of

to the lower world.

Their

lived at the entrance

duty was to see to the punish-

first

ment of those of the departed who, having been

crime on earth, had come

down

the evil-doer with speed

and

sad instance of this

Agamemnon, who
avenge

is

on earth pursuing

their sharp eyes as they followed

fury,

permitting

him no

rest.

the story of Orestes, the son of

slew his mother,

his father's death.

some

At the command of the higher

ing atonement from the gods.

Nothing escaped

guilty of

to the shades without obtain-

gods, sometimes of Nemesis, they appeared

criminals.

They were

Kronos and Eurynome.

Hades and Persephone, and

The

Klytaemnestra,

atrocity of the crime

to

committed

INFERIOR DEITIES.

90

by Klyt?emnestra was held by Zeus and Apollo to be no excuse

and accordingly he was subjected to the

for the act of Orestes,

long and cruel pursuit of the Furies, from which he was at

length freed by bringing, on the advice of an oracle of Apollo,

an image of Artemis from Tauros to Argos.

XXIX.

In Plate
Orestes

represented one of the Erinys pursuing

is

the face reflected on the mirror which she holds

is

perhaps that of Klytsemnestra.

The number

of the Erinys, varying in early times, was afterthree

Tisiphone

(the avenger of murder),

wards fixed

to

Alekto

unwearied persecutor), and

They

(the

Megsera

(the grim).

were represented as female figures of odious aspect, clad

sometimes winged, with hair formed of

in black,

vipers,

carrying a serpent, a knife, or a torch in their hands.

this

grim conception of them

and

In time

away, and they came to be

fell

represented as beautiful serious maidens, clad something like

As

Artemis.

divine

beings,

neglect of duty, breach of

parents, they

came

to

chosen

When

for the

them

was

to

punish

sacrifices

were offered to

occasion was of a wild cha-

time night, and the animals sacrificed, black.

Greece there were several temples

to

it

and were called Eumenides, or the

"well-minded goddesses."

racter, the

office

and crimes committed against

be looked upon as aiding the preserva-

tion of a high morality,

them, the place

whose

faith,

as, for

In

and solemn groves dedicated

example, at Colonos, close by Athens.

THE HARPYS
Also were creatures employed, according to the belief of the

Greeks and Romans, by the higher gods to carry out the

punishment of crime. They were three in number Aello.
:

THE GORGONS.

Okypete, and Kelaeno,

daughters of the giant

Elektra.

or

191

Podarge

Thaumas

and were

be

Their body was that of a bird, their head that of a

woman and
;

it

would seem that they were

originally goddesses

of the storm, which carries everything along with

Their manner of punishing those

punish was to carry off

devour

said to

and the Okeanid nymph

all

who were punished

in this

it

uneatable.

Among

and

others

way was Phineus, a king of Thrace,

been cruelty towards

his crime having

it.

they were sent to

the food set before their victim,

or failing that, to render

it,

whom

his

own son and

con-

For showing the Argonauts the way to

Kolchis he was, however, freed from their persecution by

tempt of the gods.

Kalais and Zetes, the winged sons of Boreas, who,

At other

tude, killed them.

of

Pandareos,

they are described as carrying off their victims

bodily from the earth

the British

while,

on the so-called Harpy tomb

Museum, they appear

of death carrying

in grati-

times, as the case of the daughters

away the

to

in

be represented as daemons

souls of deceased persons.

THE GORGONS,
By name Stheino, Euryale, and Medusa, were daughters
of

Phorkys and Keto.

immortal, while the third,

beautiful

of them,

Two of them were believed to be

Medusa, the youngest and most
She loved Poseidon,

was mortal.

and

having met him once in the temple of Athene, to the desecration of that building, was punished

hair turned

ghastly

than

into
that

snakes,

of her

thus

by having her

beautiful

making her appearance more

sisters.

Her

behold, turning the spectator into stone.

face

At

was
last

terrible

to

Perseus,

finding her asleep, cut off her head with his curved sword,

and

INFERIOR DEITIES.

192

presented
to

to

it

Athene, who had assisted him in the enterprise,

be worn on her

The

cegis

or shield as a terror to her enemies.

ancient poets describe the Gorgons generally as horrid,

aged women, and frequently place them by the side of the

of the three of later times.

Pegasos, was
in

the offspring of her and Poseidon.

XXXI.

In Plate

Perseus

represented standing with sword

is

one hand and the head of Medusa

face

away

off the

Medusa
The winged horse,

In early times there was only one Gorgon

Furies.

instead

to avoid seeing

The

it.

head of Medusa occurs

in

in the other, turning his

subject of Perseus cutting

one of the

earliest

of Greek sculpture

one of the metopes of the oldest

Selinus, in Sicily

and from the conventional manner

her face

the sculpture,
for

represented,

is

it is

some time

to

compared

with the

examples
temple at
in

agreed that the type must have been familiar

Greek

art.

To

possess a representation of a

Gorgon's face was to be provided with a charm against

accordingly

it

was frequently employed

Many hundreds
to be stitched

a priestess of
of

St.

which

other parts of

ills,

and

as a personal ornament.

of such faces worked in thin gold, and intended

down on

Demeter

Petersburg.

garments, were found in the tomb of

in Kertch,

and are now

in the hermitage

representation of Perseus escaping after

cutting off the Gorgon's head,

and being pursued by her

sisters,

occurs on a small vase in the British Museum, where also

be seen, on a fragment of a terra-cotta

relief,

is

to

Athene holding up

the shield, the polished surface of which reflected her face, and

thus guided Perseus to the spot without

deadly

stare.

-his

encountering

its

THE

THE
Daughters of

GRAEME.

193

GRAEME,

Phorkys and Keto, were

Enyo

Deino, Pephredo, and

their

three

number

in

names meaning

re-

spectively "alarm," "dread," and "horror." Sisters and at the

same time guardians of the Gorgons, they were conceived as

misshapen hideous creatures, hoary and withered from their

only one eye and one tooth for the

birth, with

and were supposed

the three,

The

entrance to Tartaros.

to inhabit a

common

use of

dark cavern near the

belief in their existence

seems to

have been originally suggested by the grey fog or mist which

upon the sea and

lies

mariner.

said

It is

a frequent source of danger to the

is

Perseus obtained from them the

that

necessary information as to the dwelling of the Gorgons by

seizing their solitary

them

until they

eye and tooth, and refusing to return

showed him the way.

NYX, or NOX,
be remembered, a daughter of Chaos.

Was,

it

came

the wife of

will

children,
earliest

iEther

Erebos

(the pure air)

and

and bore

Hemera

She be-

him two

to

(day).

In the

form of the myth she was one of the seven elements

that constituted the world

and

(darkness),

fire,

water, earth, sky, sun,

moon,

night.

In time the lively imagination of the ancients associated

with

this

mysterious goddess of night a control over

and death

illness,

dreams, misfortunes, quarrels, war, murder, sleep,

sufferings,
;

everything inexplicable and frightful that befel

men

being personified and described as her offspring.

She was supposed

jointly with

Day.

to inhabit

When

a palace in the lower world

the latter entered the palace, Night

13

INFERIOR DEITIES.

194

rode out in a chariot drawn by two black steeds, and, accom-

panied by

many

traversed the heavens

stars,

till

daybreak,

when

she returned to the palace.

figure clad in long

She was represented as a serious

drapery, on her head a black star-spangled veil

wings,

and carrying two children

in

heavy

with black

her arms (one of them being

white, to personify Sleep, the other black, to personify Death),

holding an extinguished torch

or riding in a black chariot,

inverted.

HYPNOS, or SOMNUS,
Was, as we have

Thanatos

just said, a

son of Night, and twin-brother of

whom

(death), with

he lived

darkness at the entrance to Tartaros.

to

gods as well as men, and by the

giving

benefactor,

special

in

deep subterranean

His influence extended

latter

he was viewed as a

weary refreshing

the

rest,

and

sufferers alleviation of their pain.

He

was represented

different attributes,

standing,

or

in different

now nude, or

striding

forms and attitudes, with

lightly or heavily clad,'

or reposing

hastily,

heavily

or

now
as

powerful youth holding a poppy or a horn, from which sleep

trickled

down on

those reposing

as a

bearded aged man.

hawk

or a night bird,

On

or as a child,

his

and sometimes

head were the wings of a

and beside him frequently a

lizard.

He

was looked on as a favourite of the Muses, apparently because

of the dreams he was supposed to communicate to men.

In the British

Museum

is

a very beautiful bronze head of

Hypnos, with the wings of a hawk growing out from the temples.
In the Iliad, Hera

which

men

call

commands him

a hawk.

wings to the temples,

is

How

to take the

form of the bird

the idea originated of attaching

uncertain.

ONEIROS.

ONEIROS and MORPHEUS

Are two

195

different forms of the

According

god of dreams.

to

the meaning of their names, the office of the latter would be

to fashion dreams, as the

men.

In

this

Phobetor,

that

the

had

all

author of

tasos, who tricked

phenomena.

be sent

to

to

task he was assisted by Ikelos, who fashioned

dreams

those

gods desired them

appearance of

the

alarming dreams,

sleepers with innumerable

Phan-

and

and strange

But we find Morpheus also represented

capacity of a sort of

by

reality,

in the

watchman and guardian of dreams,

as

^Eolos was of the winds.

Oneiros was properly a personification of dreams, whether

idle

class

and deceptive or

Dreams of

really prophetic.

were supposed to issue

the former

from the ivory gate, those of

the latter class from the horn gate, of the palace where they

were kept, beside the Western Okeanos.

children
directly

of Night, sometimes

children

They were
of Sleep,

called

and were

under the control of the superior order of gods,

who, as they pleased, despatched deceptive or prophetic dreams

to

men.

MOMUS
Was

a deity whose delight and occupation was to jeer bitterly

at the actions

both of gods and men, sparing no

his insinuations

whom

except Aphrodite, in

one with

he could

find

nothing to blame, and vexed himself to death in consequence.

As an example
of the

man

that

of his behaviour,

it

Prometheus had

is

said that he complained

made, because there was

not a window in his breast through which his thoughts might

be seen.

INFERIOR DEITIES.

196

THANATOS,
The god

we have

of death, was, as

He

twin-brother of Sleep.

or MORS.

a son of Earth and Tartaros, to

introduce,

some time

a son of Night and

whom

it

was

his

office to

The

or other, the whole of mankind.

relentless severity with

him

said,

was, however, also described as

which he discharged the task caused

to be frequently regarded

with

pain,

and

to

be repre-

sented as of a powerful figure, with shaggy beard and fierce

countenance, with great wings to his shoulders, and resembling,

on the whole, the

figures of Boreas, the

wind of

This form, in the case of both

winter.

god of the wild north

deities,

was

expressive of the violent nature of their functions.

Thanatos

was, however,

more frequently regarded

with

submission, or as coming opportunely, and in such cases was

represented
standing

wreath on

in

with
it,

the

form of a quiet pensive youth, winged,

his legs

crossed, often

beside an urn with a

and holding an extinguished torch

reversed.

Or,

as a personification of endless repose, he appeared in the form

of a beautiful youth leaning against the trunk of a tree, with

one arm thrown up over

artists usually

his

head

an attitude by which ancient

expressed repose.

It

was probably owing

spread of the belief that death was a transition from

to the
life

to

Elysium, that in later times this more attractive representation

of the

god of death took the place of the former repulsive

representations whether, as a powerful and violent god, or as

a black child in the arms of his mother, Night.

figures sculptured

which we have

still

in

the

Pausanias, was that of Night carrying

twin children in her arms

and

Among

on the chest of Kypselos, a description of

the

one white, representing Sleep,

the other black, representing

Death.

On Roman

sarco-

DEMONS, OR

GENII.

phagi, Mors, or the genius of death,

T97

was represented

form

in the

of a winged boy, resembling Cupid, resting and holding a torch.

In the Alcestis of Euripides he

described as armed with a

is

sword.

DAEMONS, or GENII,
Were an order
Zeus

to every

of invisible beings, one of

man,

to attend, protect,

nameless, and, like the

Some

them acted

of

whom was

assigned by

and guide him. They were

multitude of mankind, innumerable.

attendants to deities of a

as personal

higher order, and in that case were represented under particular forms,

and enjoyed

distinctive

names, while others were

believed to watch over particular districts, towns, or nations.

While the Greeks regarded these Daemons

inferior order, the

Romans

believed

them

to

mediate beings linking mankind to the gods.

assigned to

To
itself

every

it

in a wise course,

cheerful
in

endeavoured, throughout his

and

mood, and

The Daemons

life,

be careful of prolonging

obedience to a man's Daemon or Genius.

spirit.

On

life

Identifying

to

at his death died with him.

to

vexed, or to shorten

attendant

sort of inter-

women were supposed to be feminine.

man was assigned a Daemon at his birth.

with him,

of an

as deities

be a

life,

guide him

To be
was

To be

ot

to live

sad and

by recklessness, was to wrong the

birthdays

it

was usual

to offer a sacrifice

of wine, milk, flowers, or incense to the Genius, while at most

meals

some unmixed wine was poured out

Daemon (Agathodaemon).
The usual representation

to the

"

Good

"

of a being of this class was in the

form of a youth holding a horn of plenty and a dish

hand, and some heads of poppies and ears of grain

in

one

in the other.

INFERIOR DEITIES.

198

The presence

of a

Daemon was

also symbolised

by the

figure

of a serpent.

Romans had one

Besides the general family of Genii, the

great Genius

rank,

whom they reckoned among

and esteemed

the gods of the second

had some control

highly, believing that he

over the others.

LARES AND PENATES

Were beings

peculiar to the religion of the

household was supposed

to

Romans.

Every

be under the protection of one

Lar and several Penates, whose presence was symbolised by

images
waist,

or

in the

form of a youth wearing a short

and holding a horn of plenty

in

Such images of the Lares

circular dish, in the other.

flat

and Penates were kept

in

tunic, girt at the

one hand, and a patera,

a particular part of the house called

the Lararium, received constant offerings of incense

tions,

and were decked

When

a slave obtained his freedom,

it

and

liba-

and rosemary.

with garlands of violets

was the custom of

his

former master to halng a chain upon the figures of his Lares.

When
of my
to

you

left

fathers,

and you, Lar,

my

parents, that

and another Lar

Besides

these

public Lares,

whole

the paternal roof he prayed

a youth

states

Rome, and

you may protect them.

must now

private

the

as the third

spirits

of deceased persons

influence the living.

spirit

for the

The

Ye Penates
commend

Other Penates

household deities there were also

added

"

seek."

who were recognised

and towns. Of these

later three,

father of our family, I

as the protecting

spirits

of

there were originally two in

of Julius Csesar having been

Lares were considered to be the

who continued

to

watch over and

other two were, however, regarded

THE MANES.

99

sometimes as sons of Mercury and a nymph called Lara.

Statues and temples were erected in their honour.

and prayers

for the safety of the

which

their altars,

decked with

called

roads,

flowers.

and

travellers,

spring and in

They were

Sacrifice

up

offered

summer were

at

frequently

protectors of highways and

capacity had the honour of a festival

in this

Compitalia, which was annually celebrated

at cross-

a few days after the Saturnalia, and consisted of a

banquet and

by

in

were

state

sacrifice of cakes, the

To

slaves.

the Lares

who

ceremony being conducted

protected the

fields, sacrifices

of

lambs, calves, and pigs were offered.

It

was believed

that the Genii of

good people became

their death kindly Lares, while the Genii of evil-doers

Lemures

or

Larvae

about the earth

there

that

afflicting

is,

evil

mankind with

was no remedy but expiatory

Persons

who

spirits

died without

became

who wandered

illnesses

sacrifices

to

for

in the

which

the gods.

every wrong

expiation for

had done were pursued by these Larvae

after

they

lower world.

THE MANES,
Generally speaking, were the souls of the departed inhabiting
the realm of shadows.

Survivors, however,

who

believed that

departed souls sustained a higher and nobler existence,

re-

garded them as divine beings, calling them Dii Manes, offered

sacrifice

to

them

at

tombs, and thought

them up from the lower world.

it

possible to call

DEMIGODS, OR HEROES.

III.

DEMIGODS,
it

or heroes, were a class of beings peculiar,

were regarded partly as of divine

men

They

would seem, to the mythology of the Greeks.

origin,

were represented as

possessed of godlike form, strength, and courage

believed to have lived on earth in the remote

nation's history

to

have been occupied

were

dim ages of

the

in their lifetime with

thrilling

adventures and extraordinary services in the cause of

human

civilization,

cases

translated

and

to

to

have been

among
They were

life

after

the gods,

death in some

and

entitled to

sacrifice

and worship.

the

sovereigns and legislators of the nation, and as the

first

founders of

all

the kingly

described as having been

and noble

families.

Monsters that

devastated particular localities were destroyed, the oppressed

were

set free,

and everywhere order and peaceful

were established by them.

They

institutions

were, in short, the adven-

turous knights the history of whose deeds formed for the mass
of the people the

first

chapter of the national history, and that

in a

manner worthy both of the

had

attained,

and of the gods

civilization to

to

was due.

The

and

an inexhaustible treasure of

ful

artists

which the nation

whose influence the progress

legends of their adventures furnished to poets

striking figures,

wonder-

deeds, and strange events, while they formed at the

time a most powerful element in the national education.

same

XXX.

Nike, or Victoria.

Herakles (Hercules)

ORIGIN OF THE HEROES.

It

may

has been suggested that the belief in these beings

have originated in

later times, in

an impulse

to people

the

blank early pre-historic age with ideal figures of a sublime

order of men, to
or that

memory
and

in

whom

may have

it

the nation might look back with pride

originated in a desire to dwell on the

of distinguished persons
time,

by so doing,

human

degree quite beyond

who had

actually existed,

exaggerate their actions to a

to

powers.

But

it

far

is

more

probable that, like the gods, the heroes had originally been
divine personifications of certain elements of nature,

legends of adventures ascribed to

and the

them merely a mythical

form of describing the phenomena of these elements.

idea, for

grim enemies, which

is

the

same idea

finally

so characteristic of these adventures,

is

that

which the powers of

and

The

example, of a long struggle and ultimate victory over

we

find pervading the early myths,

light are

in

represented as struggling with,

overcoming, the powers of darkness.

But while

the gods always maintained their relationship to the elements

of nature, of which they were divine personifications

deities

for instance,

celestial deities in the

pure ether

had ceased

the other hand,

marine

dwelling in the depths of the sea, and

to

the heroes or demigods, on

be identified with any particular

element, and though retaining the form, strength, and courage

of gods,
that

came

in time to

be regarded as

men

of a high order

had once inhabited Greece, but had passed away.

legends, which, as

we have

said,

had been intended

to

The
be the

mythical descriptions of certain natural phenomena, were ex-

panded so

as to

imagination with

embrace the new variety of adventures which

its wide scope now assigned to the heroes.

There appears
rally

to

have been a time when the gods gene-

were in danger of being reduced in

this

manner

to the

HEROES.

202

condition of demigods or heroes,

as the
>f

such

events, for instance,

war of Zeus with the Titans and Giants, the contests

Apollo with Tityos and Python, or of Dionysos with his

memies, being calculated, from their adventurous nature, to

more

present their authors

the

in

light

of

than

of heroes

gods, and to form readily subjects for the epic poets, as indeed

This tendency was, however,

the contests of Dionysos did.

arrested

by the

of defining,

necessity

for

the position

of the gods was

became

and

less

From

less distinguishable

than of an ideal character.

victories that

lingered

still

from men, the legends

all

historical

Traditions of early battles and

among

the people, were

round these imaginary heroes, who

centres of

that time

the heroes

determined, while

them assuming gradually more of

concerning

circle

purposes pf

the

worship, the provinces of the various deities.

in time

made

the earliest national recollections, the accredited

founders of most of the elementary institutions of social

and the guides of

It

to

became the

life,

colonists.

does not, however, follow that the particular elements of

nature over which the heroes or demigods had originally presided,

beings.

were

left

For

after this separation

in addition to

Greek national

religion,

whom we

identified with this or that

must have been

deities,

who,

coalesced

in

have appeared

in

the vast

number of gods

department of the universe, there

the tribes to

after

times

many

Greek

one

into

cases

quite

nation,

identical in
in

of the deeds or adventures ascribed to

dispensed

number of

local

which they were peculiar

though probably very often different

who may have be^n

in the

have already described as

the early ages a large

when
in

unrepresented by divine

with

must

character,

regard to the details

them.
as

gods

Thus many
would

be

ORIGIN OF THE HEROES.

retained,

on account of

203

their local adventures,

as heroes or

demigods.

Turning

to the oldest

examples of the Greek epic poetry

which we possess the Iliad and Odyssey

we

represented as hardly distinguishable from men.

ful,

more

beautiful,

than the ordinary

and more courageous they

men

find the heroes

More powercertainly were

of their day, and on this account were

looked on as descendants of the gods

still

their

ways of

life

were distinctly the ways of men, not of gods.

By

the time of

changed.

The

The people

Hesiod we

heroic age

is

find this opinion of the heroes

lamented as a thing of the

looked back with reverent feelings to the happy age

the great heroes stood between the gods
Zeus,

it

past.

of his time, aware of their weakness and wants,

and

in

was taught by Hesiod, had translated the heroes

islands of the blest, far

which

feeble mankind.

removed from men, where they

to the

lived in

a perpetual golden age under the sovereignty of Kronos.

The

people, however, thought otherwise, believing that the ancient

tumuli in Greece and in Asia

heroes.

The imposing tumuli

for instance,

and Ajax.

Minor were the graves of

were viewed as the tombs of Achilles, Patroklos,

Sanctuaries and temples were erected

bones were searched

to heroes,

for,

and when found regarded

great source of strength to the

town that possessed them

their

relics

the

at the entrance to the Hellespont,

of their stay on earth were hallowed,

as a
;

all

and a form of

worship was specially adapted to them.

In later times the heroes

with the Daemons.

individuals who,

came to be identified more or

The consequence of this was that

on account of extraordinary

less
all

strength, courage,

beauty, talent, or self-sacrifice, were supposed to be possessed

of special Daemons,

were reckoned

as heroes.

And

this

was

HEROES.

204

not confined to persons remarkable for their good qualities

much

successful daring entitling a robber to this rank as

the bravery of the

In
soul

still

men who

later times,

at

fell

Marathon and

as the belief gained

ground that every

had something of the nature of a Daemon

destined to a higher and nobler

to almost all the

dead

life,

so that

him
It
in

life

and was

it,

of particular

open of paying him

honours was to regard him as having been,

of Herakles, translated to a

in

heroic honours were paid

when a man

distinction died, the only course left

as did

Platsese.

among

the gods,

and

signal

manner

after the

worship

to

as a god.
is,

however, only with the heroes or demigods that occur

the mythology

and the epic poetry

They may be divided

into

three classes

associated with the creation of

that
l

we have

First,

mankind and the

the

cidents of

civilization,

figure

human history and

among .them being that

of Prometheus.

earlier

heroes properly so called

-such

Minos, Pelops, Perseus, or Bellerophon,

for their

such,

for

the

to do.

demigods

earliest

most

in-

striking

Secondly, the

as Herakles, Theseus,

who were

distinguished

extraordinary adventures, labours, and expeditions,

example,

Thirdly, the

expeditions

as

more recent

for

that

of

the

Argonauts

heroes, the tales of

instance,

those against

to

Kolchis.

whose deeds and

Troy and Thebes

read more like historical traditions magnified by the imagination of the poets, than allegorical narratives such as those of

the two preceding classes.

PROMETHEUS.

205

THE CREATION OF MAN.

PROMETHEUS

AMONG

and the FIRST

DEMIGODS.

the various opinions in ancient times concerning

the origin of mankind, the most generally accepted one

appears to have been that in which

and

all

other forms of

from the

life

common mother

earth.

whole human race could trace

pair

on the contrary,

been created

in all

it

was not supposed

It

its

was believed that a primeval pair had

As

substance from which the

rocks and

As

beings had sprung.

and whether

it

trees

in

In

wooded

they were held to have

valleys,

to the time at

of these

with regard to the exact

districts, for instance,

element of nature.
place,

first

mankind was

the natural features

districts varied, so varied the opinions

sprung from

that the

lineage back to one primeval

the chief districts in which

afterwards found settled.

and mountainous

man

was asserted that

it

had, like the gods, originally sprung

which

from the moist

this creation

took

took place simultaneously throughout

the various inhabited regions,

we have no means of knowing

the current belief.

From

the primitive condition of savages living like animals

in the forests

and caves, they advanced slowly

of civilization,

sometimes

and sometimes
tribes

assisted

becoming

Pelasgic and

in

in the direction

visited with terrible punishments,

by the gods

the different classes or

time united into two great races,

the Hellenic.

The former

traced

its

the

origin to

206

HEROES.

Phoroneus, and

the Argive

mainly

appears to have been resident

the Peloponnesos, while the latter looked back to

in

Deukalion

as

and was resident

founder,

its

According

and round Parnassos.

Thessaly

in

to the story, a great flood

had swept away the whole human race except one

pair,

Deukalion and Pyrrha, who, as the flood abated, landed on

Mount
and

Parnassos, and thence descending, picked up stones,

them round about,

cast

as Zeus

sprang a new race

these stones

Deukalion, and

women from

From

had commanded.

men

from those cast by

From

those cast by his wife.

Hellen, the son of Deukalion, the Hellenic race derived

name, while

four great branches,

its

the ^olians,

its

Dorians,

Achseans, and Ionians, traced their descent and names from

four of his sons.

In such a primitive condition of

life,

perhaps nothing was

regarded as of greater importance, or more mysterious

nature,

and

its

than

fire.

Its

beam

warmth removed the

and weapons were fashioned.

of man, with

its

flash

it

eruptions
it

gods

its

it

At the

fire

of the

forge, tools

the

life

one hand

prolonged blaze on the other.

was seen issuing from the

to

be

and how mankind came

explained in the story of

its

was an emblem of the

was seen descending from the

was readily believed

all

It

life.

and sudden extinction on

and the illumination of

storms

The

of winter.

chill

was the centre of domestic

hearth

in

dispelled the dread of darkness,

sky,

and

In

in volcanic

The source

earth.

of

keeping of the

in the close

to obtain the use of

it

was

Prometheus.

Zeus, foreseeing the arrogance that would arise from the

possession of so great a blessing, had from the

to

transmit any portion of his

deplorable

condition,

however,

sacred

owing

fire

to

to

the

first

refused

men.

Their

want of

it,

HEROES.

found a champion in the

person of Prometheus (a son of

who had

Titan Japetos),

the

207

previously

identified

(Sikyon) as to the rightful share of the gods in

offered to them.

On

that occasion

himself

Mekone

with the cause of humanity in a dispute that arose at

sacrifices

all

an ox had been slaugh-

and Prometheus, having wrapped up

tered as a sacrifice,

all

the eatable parts in the skin of the animal as one portion,

and having
with

covered the bones and worthless parts

cleverly

as the other portion, asked

fat

thought

the

portion

better

Zeus

what he

to select

gods.

the

for

Zeus,

though

perfectly aware of the deceit, chose the worthless parts,

more
men.

and

firmly than ever determined to withhold his fire from

Prometheus, however, resolved to obtain

and succeeded

snatching some of

in

Zeus, or, as another version of the story has

of Hephaestos in

demned

to

As

Lemnos.

it

for

them,

from the hearth of

it

it,

from the forge

a punishment, he was con-

be chained alive to a rock

in the

remote Caucasus

mountains, and to submit while every day a vulture came to

gnaw away

his liver,

which daily grew

time he bore this

suffering,

been released but

for

the

For a long

afresh.

and indeed would never have

secret

which he possessed con-

cerning the ultimate fate of the dominion of Zeus, who, fcr

purpose

the

of learning

the

secret,

permitted Herakles to

shoot the vulture, to free Prometheus, and bring him back to

Olympos.

Meantime the human race enjoyed

fire,

and continued

that their

to

advance

beauty, but possessed of

human

benefits of

But

cup of happiness might be mixed with sorrow, Zeus

ordered Hephsestos to fashion a

of

many

the

in civilization rapidly.

nature.

all

woman

of clay,

of divine

the weaknesses as well as charms

Athene instructed her

in

the

industrial

HEROES.

208

occupations of women, Aphrodite gave her grace of manners,

and taught her the

arts of

a beauty, while

the Graces

Pandora,

flowers, so that,

qualified

With the help of

and Hors, Athene robed her with

and decked her with

robes,

Hermes

and soothing.

her for the part of flattering

costly, beautiful

when

all

was done,

as they called her, might be irrestibly attractive to

Hermes conducted her

gods and men.

though warned by

his

to

Epimetheus, who,

brother Prometheus to accept no

gift

from Zeus, yielded to the besetting weakness from which he

obtained his

He

name

that of being

when

received Pandora into his house, and

She brought with her a vase, the

The

closed.

him

wise

open

to

curiosity
it,

of

free.

We

made

late.

her his wife.

of which was to remain

lid

her husband,

however,

and suddenly there escaped from

weariness, and illnesses, from which

wards

was too

it

it

tempted
troubles,

mankind was never

after-

All that remained was Hope.

have thus, in contrast with the general belief described

above as to the spontaneous origin of

man from

the earth, an

human being directly fashioned by the gods from

From this mean substance it was also asserted the first
clay.
men were made by Prometheus, Athene assisting him by
instance of a

breathing

life

into his figures.

But

learned speculation, indulged in

this

played by Prometheus in the cause of

is

better to account for that zeal

have been originally a god of

employ

was probably only a

to account for the zeal

fire,

human

dis-

civilization.

by assuming Prometheus

It

to

who, asserting his right to

that element for the benefit of mankind,

provoked the

hostility of the other gods, and from that time forward identified

for

himself with the cause of men.

assuming

this in the fact that

There

is

good ground

Prometheus was intimately

associated with Hephaestos in the very ancient worship of that

god

in

Lemnos and

in Attica.

THE FIRST HEROES.

While the progress of civilization,
or

on,

could be symbolized by,

as far as
fire,

Prometheus, the progress of agriculture

reflected in the story of the

20Q

in primitive times

their birth,

was

two giants Otos and Ephialtes,

sons of Aloeus (the planter) and Iphimedeia.

at

had depended

it

was connected with

Small and puny

they grew quickly, living on grain, and soon

became the wonder of men

for

their great size

and beauty.

Finding that war and agriculture could not go together, they

seized Ares, the

god of war, bound and confined him

large brazen vase for thirteen months.

in

it

and

had not Hermes

set

him

free.

at length

in a

He would have perished

heard of his imprisonment,

Becoming more and more arrogant

in

the pride of their strength, the two brothers next determined

to

assail the

immortal gods

in

Olympos

itself,

and

for this

purpose they had placed Mount Ossa on the top of Mount

Olympos, and upon Ossa had heaped Mount Pelion,

the shafts of Apollo felled them.
their

They perished

when

in youth, ere

beards had grown.

THE EARLIER RACE OF HEROES.

IT will be convenient to separate, for the present, the legends
of the adventures of Herakles, together with those that
relate to
tricts,

combined expeditions of heroes from

different dis-

such as the expedition of the Argonauts, from the other

legends of this earlier race of heroes, and to arrange the

class

according to the

localities

assigned as

the

latter

principal

scenes of their actions, beginning with

14

2IO

HEROES.

ARGOS.

(a.)

At the head of the Argive

line of heroes

the river-god, a son of Okeanos, like

With the nymph Melia

Phoroneus and

Io,

legends, was the

of

the earth.

Prometheus was elsewhere believed

civilization,

Inachos.

the former, according to Argive

man upon

first

stands

the other river-gods.

he became the father of

for his wife,

whom

all

to

Such services as

have rendered

He

were there ascribed to Phoroneus.

puted to have founded the town of Argos, and

to

to early

was

re-

have estab-

we have

lished there the worship of Hera.

With regard

already related (in connection with

Hermes) how she was loved

to escape the jealousy of Hera,

by Zeus, and,

by him into a cow

watch over

set a

dred eyes, and

was transformed

how Hera, discovering the transformation,

Io, in the

person of Argos, a giant with a hun-

how Hermes

slew the

watchman and released

Another version of the story says that

Io.

to Io,

it

was Hera who

transformed Io into a cow, for the purpose of thwarting the

Argos had tethered her

love of Zeus for her.

to

an olive-tree

in a grove sacred to Hera, between the towns of Mykenae and

Argos, and was there keeping guard

slew him.

Though

set free,

form, but was compelled to

wander through

the form of a white horned cow,

sent by Hera.

was restored

At

last,

to her

when Hermes

arrived

Io did not yet regain her

distant lands in

goaded by a vexatious

insect

on reaching Egypt, she obtained

human

form,

and

human

rest,

and became the mother of

Epaphos.
Io,

the white horned cow, appears to have been a personifi-

cation of the

was

moon,

goddess Astarte, who

Her wanderings were like
Hera, who punished her, was the

like the Phoenician

also represented in this form.

the wanderings of the

moon.

211

DANAOS.

supreme goddess of the heavens.

reminds us of the

The

stars.

Argos, with his

a favourite subject with ancient

many

artists.

Epaphos became king of Egypt, and had a daughter

Libya

(after the

district

who bore

Mediterranean),

Agenor and Belos.

eyes,

by Hermes was

slaying of Argos

of that

name

called

on the shore of the

to Poseidon, the sea-god,

two sons

While the former became the head of a

race that spread over Phoenicia, Cilicia, and on to Thebes in

Greece, Belos remained in Egypt, succeeded to the throne,

and marrying Anchirrhoe,

sons,

a daughter of the

iEgyptos and Danaos.

The

latter

rule over Arabia, the former over Libya.

sons,

was appointed to

yEgyptos had

and Danaos the same number of daughters.

arose between the two families, and

Danaos

At Argos, the

fifty

dispute

yielding took ship

with his daughters and sailed to Argos, pursued

by the sons of ^Egyptos.

had two

Nile,

home

all

the

way

of his race, he

was kindly received by the reigning king, and protected against

the pursuers.

At that time the

district

of Argos was

drought which Poseidon had angrily caused.

his daughters to

engaged

it

happened

the brake.

Danaos sent out

search for a spring, and while they were so

that

her spear at a stag missed

in

from a

suffering

one of them,
it,

Amymone,

but hit a Satyr

Pursued by the

Satyr,

throwing

who was

asleep

she called on the

name

of Poseidon for help, and the god instantly appeared, drove

off the

Satyr,

and

for love

perennial spring to

Amymone

flow

of the beautiful Danaid caused

at

Lerna,

where he

met

her.

bore to Poseidon Nauplios, the wrecker of Nauwho by false lights misled many ships to their destruction
among rocks, and enriched himself from their cargoes. By
a singular fatality he perished in this way himself at last.
plia,

212

He

HEROES.

had three sons

Palamedes,

celebrated for his inventive

Oiax, the steersman, and Nausimedon, the ship

faculty,

captain.

Meantime
Argos

the sons of yEgyptos,

some

for

time,

and

difference with Danaos,

having besieged

said,

it is

proposed to forget

length

at

relenting in the least, he agreed to give his daughters to

commanded them

them

each daughter he presented a knife, and

in marriage, but to

marriage night.

their

Without

to marry his daughters.

each her own husband on the

to slay

all

Hypermnestra,

All obeyed his order except

who, preferring to be regarded as of weak resolution than as

Lynkeus, and became

a murderess, spared her husband,

mother of the Argive

of kings.

line

the

While Zeus approved

the murderous deed of her forty-nine sisters, and sent Athene

and Hermes
into a

to give

them

expiation,

dungeon by her indignant

saving himself by

On

flight.

however publicly acquitted

succeeded

Danaos on

widely respected,

husband, Lynkeus,

being brought to

and

in

after

in

the

games

that

accompanied

The

that

a shield, not a wreath, as was elsewhere usual

being

that

on the

first

times

was

other things for having founded the

great festival in honour of the Argive Hera.

victory

she was

trial

her husband returning to Argos,

the throne,

among

Hypermnestra was cast

father, her

occasion

of these

prize of

festival

was

the tradition

games Lynkeus

presented his son Abas with the shield which had belonged
to

Danaos.

Whether

it

was

had accomplished
decide

among a

to

obtain husbands for his daughters

their

own widowhood,

or whether

multitude of suitors for their hands,

it

who

was to

Danaos

held a kind of tournament, the victors in which were to be

accepted as husbands.

On

the

morning of the contest he

AKRISIOS

AND

PRCETOS.

213

ranged his daughters together on the course, and by noon

each had been carried off by a victorious athlete, a scion of

some noble house.

was said that

It

after

death the Danai'des, with the ex-

ception of Hypermnestra, were punished in Tartaros by having

continually to carry water, and pour

of

filling

a broken cistern.

ment was selected

who

for

It

them

it

may be
as the

in the vain

endeavour

that this form of punish-

most

suitable for

women,
At the

generally in Greece were the drawers of water.

same time

it

was very suggestive of the dry parched

soil

of

Argos, the streams of which were always dried up in summer.

From Abas,
the

brothers

the son of Hypermnestra and Lynkeus, sprang

Akrisios

and

Prcetos,

famous

hatred of each other from infancy onwards.

grown

up, Prcetos, finding

fraternal

their

for

When

they had

himself constantly defeated in the

encounters, fled to Lycia,

and was there hospitably

received by the king, Iobates, and the queen,

whose daughter, Sthenebcea, he married.

Amphianax,

With the assistance

of a Lycian army he was reinstated in his rights of sovereignty

over Argos and Corinth, fortifying himself in the citadel of

Tiryns, while his brother Akrisios held out in that of Larisa.

Of both

citadels,

the massive structures,

now

in ruins,

bear witness to the fierce assaults which must have been

still

made

upon them.
Prcetos had three daughters,

them

prizes

win.

whose exceeding beauty made

which the noblest youth of the country sought

But they were haughty, despised the

common

to

usages of

the times, scorned to take part in the worship of Dionysos,

and made
shrine.

ridicule of the sanctity of Hera's ancient

For

this

image and

they were punished by a form of insanity

which drove them ever to wander

restlessly

among

the

woods

HEROES.

214

and

hills

of Argos

and Arcadia.

It is

further said that, being

under the hallucination that they were cows, they lowed

summoned Melam-

kine as they wandered about.

The

pos, the prophet and

work a cure upon

priest, to

father

like

his daughters,

but on the prophet's stipulating a third of the kingdom as his

reward, dismissed
other

women

him

The

again.

evil

grew worse,

the

for

of the country began to yield to the infatuation

of abandoning

their

husbands and

slaying

their

children.

Melampos was recalled, and this time demanded

kingdom for his brother, Bias. Prcetos agreed,
and Melampos, collecting a body of active youths, pursued

an additional

third of the

the three princesses over the mountains, and on to Sikyon,

where the eldest of the three died, and the other two,
being

after

were given in marriage to Melampos and Bias

purified,

respectively.

This legend also would seem to have originated in connection with the very ancient worship

heavens, at Argos
Prcetos,

of Hera, as queen of the

the wanderings of the three daughters of

under the imaginary form of cows, having reference,

like the similar

wanderings of

lo, to the

moon.

Returning to Akrisios, we find him troubled

of having no

To

heir to his throne.

at the prospect

his question the oracle at

Delphi replied that a daughter would be born to him, and that

she would bear a son
rule in his stead.

and

The

who would
daughter,

slay his grandfather,

Danae

to prevent the latter part of the oracle

from being

of gold, sent by Zeus, penetrated to her, and she

mother of an
conspicuous

among

the

fulfil

ancient

the oracle

heroes.

fulfilled,

But a shower

she was imprisoned in a subterranean chamber.

infant destined to

and

by name, was born,

became

and

He

to

the

become

was named

Perseus, probably with reference to his being a son of Zeus,

XXXI.

One

of the Horae.

Hygiea.

Perseus.

iEsculapius.

DANAE.

god of

the great
in

light,

which respect, as

and

to his having

in several others,

Leto

Apollo, whose mother was

golden

been born

in darkness,

he may be compared with

(darkness), while his father

of gold would thus signify a

The shower

was Zeus.

215

beam

of

light.

Akrisios,

hearing

the

voice of the

child,

summoned

his

daughter to the altar of Zeus to give a solemn explanation of

the circumstance.

and child

Disbelieving her story, he placed mother

in a closed box,

and committed them

After rocking about on the

carried towards the

last

bosom

to the waves.

of the sea, the

island of

Seriphos,

caught in a net belonging to a fisherman

box was

named Diktys, who

took the waifs to his house, and acted kindly by them.

a very barren island, affording
of fishermen that inhabited

little

it.

at

and was there

It

was

but shelter to the families

The

Polydektes, a brother of Diktys,

chief or king of
just

it

was

mentioned, and as

notorious for the gaiety of his habits as was his brother for

Struck with the beauty of Danae, and finding

his simplicity.

that her son Perseus stood in the

his desires, Polydektes

way of the

became anxious

fulfilment of

to get rid of him,

and

gladly availed himself of the opportunity that presented itself

Perseus, not to be outdone in professions of loyalty,

when
vowed

that

Medusa

he would even fetch

for the king,

the head of the

should he wish

Gorgon

it.

Perseus set forth sadly on his mission, but took courage

when Hermes and Athene, who often lent

adventures, appeared to him, and led him
lived,

in

three

common.

where the Graese

aged women, with only one eye and one tooth

Perseus, seizing the indispensable eye and tooth,

refused to give
the

their aid in heroic

to

them back

nymphs who had

in

until they told

him where

to find

keeping the helmet of Hades, the

HEROES.

2l6

winged shoes, and the pouch necessary

On

ments.

future

for his

move-

arriving at where the nymphs lived, he obtained

from them the objects

knife (harpe) with

in question, to

which Hermes added the

which he had cut

head of Argos.

off the

towards the

Buckling on the winged shoes, he proceeded

Gorgons with the speed of a

making him

of

Hades

but concealing nothing from his

invisible,

It is further said that

the helmet

bird,

Athene instructed him how

sight.

approach

to

Medusa without being petrified, as was usual, by her stare.

To this end she gave him a shield of polished brass, on which,
as in a mirror, he could see the reflection of the Gorgon, while

he himself, unseen, advanced and cut

instant he

had done

this there

The

off her head.

sprang from the trunk of Me-

dusa Pegasos, the winged horse, and Chrysaor, the father of

Perseus, placing the head quickly into the pouch

Geryoneus.

which the nymphs had given him, hastened from the scene,
pursued by the two

Among

sisters of

his adventures

Medusa

for

some

on the way back

distance.

were

to Seriphos

the turning of Atlas into stone because the giant refused to

receive

whom

him

hospitably,

and the

release

he found, on passing over ^Ethiopia,

of

Andromeda,

bound

to a rock

She was a

the sea-share as a victim to a great sea-monster.

daughter of

Kepheus

of Ethiopia.

The

on

and Kassiepeia, the king and queen

latter

having vaunted herself equal in

beauty to the Nereids, gave offence to them and to Poseidon

also,

who thereupon

cattle.

On

and sent

visited the country with a flood,

a dreadful monster from the sea to destroy both

appealing to the oracle of

pheus was told that the

his beautiful daughter,

evil

Amnion

would not abate

Andromeda,

men and

in Libya,

until

Ke-

he exposed

to the monster.

Com-

pelled by his subjects to yield, the luckless father took her to

XXXII.

Bellerophon.

Perseus and Andromeda.

PERSEUS.

17

the shore, and chained her to a rock, in the position in which

Perseus found her.

to save her

Struck with her beauty, Perseus undertook

on condition

Kepheus agreed

and Perseus,

to this,

unchained the maiden.

become

that she should

beforehand to Phineus, her

after slaying the monster,

however, been

She had,

his wife.

father's brother,

engaged

who, arriving

with a strong body of soldiers, burst in upon the marriage feast.

But the sight of the Gorgon's head turned them

and Perseus triumphantly carried

all

to stone,

off his bride.

Arriving at Seriphos, he found that his mother and Diktys

were being persecuted by Polydektes, and obliged to seek pro-

His course was to announce

tection at the altars of the gods.

his arrival to the king,

witness

how

appeared

the

who

young hero

all

had kept

manner

this

Perseus

said

is

island itself into a great barren rock,

Even the

frogs of

the island

the
to

and

the excellent Diktys and the fishing

him.

his

Perseus

word.

Not

his nobles instantly to stone.

content with punishing in

his mother,

once assembled his nobles to

and producing the Gorgon's head,

in the assembly,

turned the king and

cutors of

at

principal perse-

have

turned

the

to have spared only

population attached to

became dumb,

said

an

ancient proverb.

Having

thus fulfilled his promise, and rescued his mother,

Perseus handed over the winged shoes, the pouch, and the

made him invisible, to Hermes, to be restored to

The head of Medusa he gave to Athene, who
wore it on her shield. Accompanied by Danae and

helmet that

the nymphs.

ever after

Andromeda, he

set

out for Argos

Akrisios, who, however,

in

be

in the

to find

consequence of an increasing dread

fulfilled

regarding

his death,

his

grandfather,

meantime having
lest

left

Argos

the oracle should

had established himself

at

2l8

HEROES.

Thither Perseus proceeded, and found,

Larisa in Thessaly.

on

his arrival, the king,

honour of

in

games, and by a

which he threw
his

death.

Teutamias, occupied with public games

deceased

his

which

fatality

fell

After

upon the

burying

Larisa, Perseus returned

Perseus took part in the

father.

justified the oracle,

foot of

grandfather

his

to

Akrisios,

Argos

to

his

the disc

and caused

honourably

mother and

at

wife,

but instead of establishing himself there, exchanged Argos for

was then held by Megapenthes, a son of

Tiryns, which

Prcetos, and soon

its

after

founded the ancient Mykense, with

massive walls,
Perseus and

Andromeda had two

Alkmene,

Alkaeos.

mother

the

of

daughter of the former, and her husband,

son of the

latter.

It

was

of her father, Kepheus,

whom

they called Perses, and

this Perses the

Herakles,

was

Amphitryon,

also said that before

court

From

Elektryon and

sons

behind with

leaving the

Andromeda had born a

left

son,

his grandfather.

Persian kings traced their lineage.

The

kings of Pontos and Cappadocia, claiming the same descent,

introduced a figure of Perseus on their coins.

in

Egypt

also

In Tarsos and

were traditions of ancient benefits derived from

the Greek hero.

While the wanderings of Io remind us of the wanderings of

the moon,

and lead us

to

connect the origin of the legends

concerning her with the worship of Hera at Argos, the adventures of Perseus similarly suggest the apparent

movement

of

the sun, and the effect of his light, particularly in slaying the

dread monsters with which the imagination peoples darkness.

It

would seem,

therefore, that the origin of the belief in these

adventures must have had some connection with the Argive

worship of Zeus and Athene.

SISYPHOS AND ASOPOS.

His adventures, either as an

a most attractive

subject

ancient poets,
art,

many

and were

fre-

we

still

of which

of the earliest examples of Greek sculpture

One

which an approximate date can be assigned,

to

on a temple

formed

entire story or in parts,

to

quently represented in works of

possess.

219

at Selinus in Sicily,

ting off the Gorgon's head,

is

a group

which represents him

and belongs

cut-

to the seventh century

B.C.

In Plate
in

XXXI. he

figured holding the

is

XXXII.

is

the rescue of

In Plate

Andromeda.

(Ik)

Owing
two
of

head of Medusa

one hand and the curved sword in the other.

seas,

to

CORINTH.

convenient situation on the isthmus between

its

Corinth was from very early times an important seat

commerce

and

as such being chiefly

dependent

prosperity on the benignity of the sea-god Poseidon,

early period

established his worship,

its

at

an

as

its

had

and exalted him

In the legends concerning the Corinthian heroes

principal god.

we would

for

therefore

expect

to find

worship, just as in those of Argos

decided traces of

we found

this

traces of the early

worship of Hera.

With regard

to

Sisyphos,

was that he had chanced

daughter of the river-god

the

to see

first

of these heroes, the legend

Zeus carrying

off

yEgina, the

Asopos, and having marked

the

direction of their flight as towards the island of iEgina, deter-

mined

to

make

capital of his knowledge,

of what he had

seen,

by informing Asopos

on condition that the river-god would

create a spring of water on the parched citadel of Corinth

Acrocorinth, as

it

was

called.

The terms were agreed

to,

and

HEROES.

Sisyphos at once secured the afterwards famous fountain

He

pass unpunished.

sent the

god or daemon of death

Instead of yielding, Sisyphos bound

him.

of

But Zeus could not permit the act of treachery to

Peirene.

to claim

the daemon with

strong chains, and retained him, no one dying in the meantime,

Sisyphos was

Ares arrived and broke the chains.

till

then handed over to the daemon, but before departing charged

his wife,

Merope, not to

offer the

sacrifices for the

customary

dead, and thus to disappoint Pluto and Persephone.

Arrived

in Hades, he began to denounce this neglect on the part of

his wife,
last

and repeated

his complaint so often that

of the story has

it

that Herakles carried

he was

at

Another version

allowed to return to the upper world.

him

off

by force from

In either case he returned to Corinth, lived to an

Hades.

and

advanced age,

death was punished, as we have

after

already related, by having to

which when

it

roll

a huge stone

had gained the summit

'

up a

height,

immediately rolled

back.
It

may be

that the idea of such a

by the backward and forward

ous waves on the shore.

punishment was suggested

rolling of stones

At any

rate

we

by the treacher-

find a connection of

Sisyphos with the worship of Poseidon in the statement that

he, at the

command

of the Nereids, received the dead

body

of Melikertes from his mother, and instituted in his honour

the Isthmian games, which afterwards were held in honour of

Poseidon.

More

directly

the legend of
in his
title

of

connected with the worship of the sea-god

Glaukos,

the son of Sisyphos.

name to the colour

Pontios which he

directly,

of the sea
bore,

is

and yet

The

is

reference

strengthened by the
it is

not with the sea

but with horses, the accredited symbols of the waves,

BELLEROPHON.

that he

is

on human

flesh,

and

furious,

For some reason

associated.

-from having been fed

horses became

according to one report

-his

In after times his

master to pieces.

tore their

name was a

221

equestrians

terror to

in

the hippodromes,

current belief being that Glaukos survived as an

the

evil spirit

wandering about and frightening horses.

figure of far

importance than Glaukos

greater

that Corinth

had been

excepting the

for,

to

any extent the scene of

and afterwards

first,

Not

his exploits

incident of the bridling of Pegasos,

memorable adventures were

at

the

in

Bellerophon.

legendary history of Corinth, was his son

all

conducted elsewhere

his

in Argos

His story was, moreover,

in Lycia.

strangely blended with that of the Argive Perseus.

that the proximity of the two towns,

and the

may be

It

political

depend-

ence of Corinth on Argos, wrought in time an assimilation in

the legends of two heroes originally quite distinct.

other hand,

it

may be

a way as

so

much

its

own.

to alter a legend originally

Whichever way

his horse, Pegasos,

With regard

how

it

when Perseus

how
it

it

on

common

to both,

it

may have
in

to that wonderful

had a

figure of

winged horse, we have already

sprang from the neck of the Gorgon Medusa,

cut her head
air,

off.

The legend proceeds

and did not

reached the citadel of Corinth, where

thirst at the

been, the Corinthians

early times

their coins.

flew through the

set foot
it

famous fountain of Peirene.

trying in vain to catch

and was

and

that each might in time fairly claim a separate hero of

were proud of Bellerophon, and

related

on the

two towns acted on the imagination

religious inclinations of the

in such

Or,

that the difference in the pursuits

it,

to

on earth

tell

until

halted to quench

its

Bellerophon, after

applied to the seer Polyidos for advice,

told to lay himself

down

to sleep at night beside the

HEROES.

222

altar of

Athene.

dreamed

This he did, and in the course of his sleep

that the goddess

bidding him show

it

came and gave him a golden

to his father, Poseidon,

time sacrifice a white ox to him.

altar to

Athene.

The

seer,

horse at once took the

that time proved of the utmost service to

its

bridle,

at the

Waking, he found the

on the advice of the

sacrificed the ox, and,

and

same

bridle,

dedicated an

and from

bit,

master.

According to the ancient derivation, the name of Bellerophon

signifies the

"slayer of Belleros," the story being that he had

accidentally caused the death of a person of that name, either

his

own

To

brother, or a Corinthian noble.

obtain the neces-

and was there kindly

sary purification, he repaired to Argos,

received by Prcetos, the reigning king. Unfortunately, however,

wife of Prcetos,

the

Sthenebcea

as

(or,

Homer

calls her,

Anteia), resembled Potiphar's wife in the bent of her passions,

and finding the young hero

solved to accomplish

firm against her temptations, re-

his ruin, to this

end charging him before

the king with an attempt to violate her.

Prcetos,

on hearing

the charge, decided to send the youth to Lycia, to the court of

Iobates, the father of Sthenebcea, with a letter written in strange
characters, in

which the Lycian king was instructed

The

the death of the bearer.

receives the letter, and Sthenebcea

him,

is

to

compass

parting scene, where Bellerophon

still

gazes affectionately on

represented on several ancient painted vases.

Arriving at the Lycian court, Bellerophon was entertained

hospitably for nine days.

On

the tenth day the king inquired

the business of his guest, and received the letter of Prcetos.

Acting on the instructions of the

with orders to slay the

It

was represented

letter,

Chimaera*

in art as a

lion with

(a

Iobates despatched him

monster composed of a

a goat's

head springing from

RELLEROPHON.

and a serpent behind), which

lion in front, a goat in the middle,

and slaughtered

all

master up in the

air

infested the mountains,

But Pegasos carried

his

223

who

attacked

it.

beyond the reach

of the monster, and yet not too far for his spear to have deadly
(Plate

effect.

Though

his

XXXII.)
enemy

got rid of a terrible

second time to
should

Bellerophon

profit

to his subjects,

at

any

rate

and determined a

by the prowess of the young hero,

in causing his death.

fail

returned triumphant.

scheme had not succeeded, the king had

Accordingly he sent him to

if

he

fight

against the Solymi, a hostile neighbouring tribe, from which he

With

again returned victorious.

the

like success

he fought against

Amazons, those warlike women of Asia Minor,

cient poets

and

artists

whom

the an-

delighted to represent as fighting stoutly

against the best heroes of Greece, but always being vanquished.

With

this result

seus,

and afterwards,

Greeks.

they opposed, for example, Herakles and The-

(See Plate

in the

Trojan war, took part against the

XXXIII.)

It

would seem from

nection with the Ephesian Artemis,

among

their con-

other reasons, that

the legends concerning them originated in the worship of the

moon

goddess.

In a

last effort to

king planned an

whom, when
who,

it

a god.

the

him of

his bravest knights, all of

clear,

could be no other than the son of

Instead of being put to further encounters, he received

hand of the

king's daughter in marriage,

and with her the

The grateful Tycians bestowed on him a

wooded and fitted for agriculture. His wife

kingdom.

large estate, well

back.

for

the time came, perished at the hands of the hero,

then became

half of the

its

secure the death of Bellerophon, the Lycian

ambush

The

statement of

canic features of Lycia.

its

spitting fire

may have

reference to the vol-

HEROES.

224

bore him three blooming children

and Laodameia.

Isandros, Hippolochos,

But the gods prepared a catastrophe

happiness.

became

In short, he had reached the pinnacle of

insane,

His son Isandros was

the

company of men.

his

daughter Laodameia, by Artemis.

report, repeated success in

him with

He

for him.

and wandered about sad and alone, avoiding

Olympos on the back of

to

In the attempt he

wonderful horse.

by Ares,

hazardous adventures had inflamed

mount

the desire to

slain

According to another

fell

to earth, smitten

his

by

the thunderbolt of Zeus, and died.

(c.)

It is

THEBES.

a relief to turn from the bloodshed and perilous adven-

and Argive heroes,

tures of the Corinthian

tranquil tone of the

character and

Theban

We

incident.

that the tales of

Thebes

general impression

left,

to the comparatively

legends, with

all

their variety of

would not be understood

to say

are free from horrors, but only that the

especially

by the

cerns the daring and achievements of

earliest of

mind

them, con-

rather than the

exploits of physical courage.

First

among

the heroes of Thebes

is

the Kadmeia,

it

of the ancient city

as

Kadmos,
was called

the founder

who, while

rendering important services to the population gathered round

him there in the management of their public affairs, is said to

have conferred on Greece generally an inestimable blessing in

the form of an alphabet, or means of communicating thoughts
in writing,

previously

alphabet, more

he found the

who

visited

unknown

in

that

land.

It

letters of

Greece

in

it

in

use

is

we stilT employ.
among the Phoenician

or less modified, that

remote early times, establishing

this

That
traders

factories

KADMOS.

many places, among

Thebes, is probable but
in

Kadmos was
civilization

others,

225

neighbourhood of

the

in

to believe, as the

a Phoenician by

and

birth,

which he introduced was,

Greeks did, that

that the system of

like the alphabet, Phoe-

was only another instance of the readiness with which

nician,

the Greeks listened to stories that traced the beginnings of

back

their civilization

to the influence of the

more ancient

nations of the East.

The genealogy
menced with
sons

of

Kadmos, according

Belos (Baal) and Agenor

Egypt, the latter of Phoenicia.

had

it

was

said,

the former

By his

wife,

Europa and

one daughter

Phoenix, and Kilix. The

off,

to the legend,

the sea-god Poseidon and Libya,

sister

becoming king of

Telephassa, Agenor

three

Kadmos,

sons,

having disappeared

on the back of a white

com-

who had two

bull, into

carried

which Zeus

the brothers were

had transformed himself for love of her

to search for her in different directions.

down

wearied of searching in vain, settled

named

after

sent

Phoenix and Kilix,

in

the countries

them, while Kadmos, accompanied by his mother,

proceeded through the Greek islands northwards to the coast

There

of Thrace.

his

his sister.

advice was to search no longer, but to follow a

should

come

found a

city.

in his way,

and where

it

lay

till

it

in

cow which

to rest there to
it

reached the place where Thebes was

afterwards built, and there lay down.

cow

down

pro-

The

Leaving Delphi, he saw a cow, and followed

through Boeotia,

the

He

mother died and was buried.

ceeded to Delphi, to ask the oracle concerning

honour of Athene,

Intending to sacrifice

Kadmos

his protecting goddess,

sent his attendants to a fountain not far off to fetch water.

happened, however, that the fountain was watched by a

dragon, which killed his men.

It

terrible

With the aid of Athene, Kad1

HEROES.

26

mos

command

slew the monster, and, at the

sowed

teeth

its

in

the

of the goddess,

ground, from which

there

sprang a number of wild armed giants, called

among them, Kadmos

throwing a stone
sions that they

fell

that only five of

families of

To

From

survived.

Thebes afterwards traced

fury

and

effect

these five the noblest

their lineage.

appease Ares, whose dragon he had

slain,

Kadmos was

compelled to devote himself to the service of that god

years, or a " long year " as

By

so roused their pas-

upon each other with such

them

instantly

Spartse.

for eight

was

called, the usual period pre-

scribed for penance in such cases.

His term of service having

expired, he

it

was raised by Athene

to the throne of

to complete his happiness Zeus gave

beautiful daughter of Ares

and Aphrodite,

gods of Olympos went to the marriage

The Muses sang

to the pair.

Kadmos
which

to

his wife consisted

Athene had worked

Thebes

feast,

and

The

for his wife.

and made presents

a marriage song.

The

of a splendid dress

for him,

him Harmonia, the

gift

of

{peplos),

and the famous necklace

made by Hephaestos. From the marriage sprang four daughters,

Semele, Ino, Autonoe, Agaue, and one son,
Polydoros.

Autonoe married Aristaeos,

young huntsman who,

to

whom

Artemis bathing, was transformed into a

his

own hounds.

that,

she bore Aktseon, the

having once seen

for the misfortune of

Ino married

stag,

Athamas,

and devoured by

of

whom

it is

said

being seized of a frenzy, he pursued his wife to do her

violence,

and

that she eluded

him by leaping

into the sea, after

which she was regarded as a marine goddess under the name

of

Leukothea.

Dionysos, and at
already

related,

Semele became the mother of the wine-god

the birth of her child was,
struck

as has

been

dead by the thunderbolt of Zeus.

AMPHION AND ZETHOS.

Agaue, marrying Echion, one of the

227

surviving Spartse,

five

became the mother of Pentheus, who,

after

the death of

Polydoros, succeeded to the sovereignty of Thebes.

Semele being dead, her statement that Zeus himself was the
father of her child

by Agaue.

But

was disbelieved by her

sisters, especially

son Dionysos had grown up, and

after her

returned to Thebes from his triumphant journey eastward to

India,

Agaue and the other women of Thebes changed

minds, and embraced his worship with

its

their

extravagant

rites.

Pentheus, then king of Thebes, opposed the introduction of

the

by

new
his

religion, but in the course of his opposition

mother and her excited companions.

son of Polydoros, succeeded to the throne.

recovering her senses under the
Grief at the calamities that

drove

at last

wandered

to

Their bodies,

was

it

the

Meantime Agaue,

affliction, fled to Illyrium.

fell

so thickly on their children

Kadmos and Harmonia from Thebes.

Illyrium,

slain

Labdakos,

and there found peace

in the

was believed, had been transformed

snakes that lay beside their tomb, while their

spirits

They
grave.

into

two

had been

placed in Elysion by Zeus.

After

Kadmos,

brothers

the next figures of importance are the twin-

Amphion

and Zethos, who resemble

respects the "great twin-brethren" Castor

like

them represented

riding

with aid in times of distress.

in

many

and Pollux, being

on white horses, and appearing

Between the two brothers there

was a great difference of character, Amphion being devoted to

music, and excelling in the

skill

with which he played the lyre

given him by Hermes, while Zethos applied himself wholly to

rough

life,

such as hunting and herding.

physical force,
strains, as

Amphion accomplished by

was shown

What Zethos

did by

the persuasion of his

in the case of their building the walls of

228

HEROES.

Thebes, the population of which had so

Kadmos

of the old town iounded by

While Zethos

against invasion.
for this purpose,
lyre,

and

still

like

outgrown the

new

toiled in bringing

limits

barriers

huge stones

Orpheus, had only to strike his

larger stones followed whither

he led the way.

the intention of which

seems to have

Such was the

originally

Amphion,

far

as to require

story,

been to point

to the

combination of actual strength

harmony in placing the blocks required in good masonry.

The same idea recurs in the legend of the building of the
with

Trojan walls by Apollo and Poseidon, the former god corres-

ponding
gates of

to

Amphion and

Thebes answered

The mother

of the two

The seven

the latter to Zethos.

to the seven strings of the lyre.

Theban

Antiope, who,

brothers was

according to an early report, was a daughter of the river-god

Asopos.
as

In the usual genealogy, however, she was described

daughter of

stormy

"),

Thebe

who held

and

Nykteus

the office of regent in

minority of Labdakos.

"dark and

(the

Thebes during the

Zeus having approached Antiope in

the form of a Satyr, she was driven from her father's house,

and forced

to seek refuge,

the king of Sikyon.

time, her father

{"

his protection she

meanwhile demanding

be given up to him.

light ") the brother of

to

twin boys

Eleutherse.

brought up.

remained some

in vain that she

Ultimately she was given up to

Nykteus, but, as his

quite an opposite character.

birth

Epopeus,

which she found with

Under

implies, of

Returning with him, she gave

on the way,

The infants were

The mother was

name

should

Lykos

in

the neighbourhood

of

entrusted to a herdsman to be
carried off to Thebes, where, as

a contrast to the gentle treatment she had experienced from

Lykos, she was subjected by his

cruelty.

wife,

Dirke,

to relentless

After enduring continued persecution for

some

years,

CEDIPOS.

Antiope

fled

Kithseron,

229

from Thebes, and taking the direction of Mount

where her children had been

the house of the

reached

at last

left,

herdsman who had taken care of them.

She

did not, however, recognise him, nor was she aware that the

two youths, who

happened

just

took kindly to her,

were her sons.

who had come

then that Dirke,

It

Mount

to

Kithseron to take part in some Bacchic ceremony, detected

her escaped victim, and ordered the two young herdsmen to

fetch a

wild bull from

and

herd,

their

bind

to

horns, that she might be dragged to death.

her to

They would have

obeyed her command, had not the old herdsman

moment

On

at

the

recognised Antiope, and revealed her as their mother.

hearing the story of her former troubles,

Zethos,

its

in

indignation,

their

seized

the bull which they had brought,

perished miserably.

Amphion and

bound

Dirke,

her

to

and looked on while she

The legend adds

that Dirke

was

trans-

formed into a fountain, which bore her name.

On

the return of Antiope with her sons to Thebes, Lykos

abdicated in their favour, and then

of the walls, of which

we have

commenced

the building

already spoken.

Amphion

married Niobe, the daughter of the Lydian king Tantalos,

and had a family of sons and daughters, whose beauty,

in their

mother's eyes, might measure with that of Apollo and Artemis.

How

she was punished for her pride has already been related.

After the death of

Amphion and

Zethos, caused,

the arrows of Apollo, the sovereignty of

to Labdakos, of

whose reign

chiefly in his being

little is

the father of

Thebes

said, his

it

was

said,

finally

by

passed

fame consisting

Laios and

grandfather of

OEdipos.
This Laios married Jokaste, a daughter of Menoikeus, and

had by her a son, GEdipos.

An

oracle

had

said that the child,

HEROES.

230

on growing

To

to

manhood, would cause the death of

his father.

avert this danger, Laios exposed the newly-born infant on

Mount

Kithaeron, expecting

found by some

and there given over to the

childless,

and took readily

to perish.

it

was, however,

It

conveyed by them

herdsmen,

was

wife

Arriving at years

the castaway.

to

Corinth,

to

Polybos, whose

king,

of manhood, CEdipos inquired at an oracle concerning

his

parentage, and was told in reply to avoid the lands of his

would cause his

ancestors, for otherwise he

thereafter

marry

his father,

about the country.

Laios

and

Puzzled by an answer so

and being uncertain whether Polybos might not

mysterious,

have been

own mother.

his

father's death,

travelling

he

left

with a retinue.

met

men, and was

slain

between

quarrel arose

CEdipos and some of the royal attendants.

part of his

and wandered

the court at Corinth,

the course of his wanderings he

In

in the

fight

Laios took the

by

his

son, who,

unaware of the blackness of the crime he had committed, proceeded on

his

way

prevailing,

in

consequence of the

Sphinx
breast,

There he found great

Thebes.

to

of

monster with the body of a

and arms of a woman.

which she propounded to

failing to resolve

it,

all

The

by a

and the head,

This creature had a riddle

who approached

her,

and on

their

them from the

Not so CEdipos, who read the

upon which the Sphinx

rock, and perished.

lion,

distress

caused

life

as always happened, threw

high rock where she lived.

riddle rightly

loss

cast herself from

prize offered to the

man who

the

should

succeed in getting rid of the Sphinx was the hand of Jokaste,

the

widow of

Laios, along with the throne of Thebes.

married her, and

They had two

daughters,

fulfilled

sons,

CEdipos

the oracle.

Eteokles and Polyneikes, and two

Antigone and Isrnene,

neither being aware of the

THESSALY.

criminality of their marriage, until,

the cause of certain misfortunes that

23

on inquiring

at the oracle

had befallen the country,

they received an answer which revealed the facts in

all their

Jokaste slew herself, while CEdipos, after putting out

horror.

his eyes, forsook

Thebes, and wandered about, accompanied by

his faithful daughter, Antigone.

His two sons succeeded him

government, quarrelled with each other, however, and

in the

ultimately

fell,

both of them, in a personal encounter, as we

shall relate afterwards.

The

various acts of this terrible tragedy were reproduced on

the Athenian stage with

all

the poetic power of ^schylus and

Sophocles.

THESSALY.

(d.)

In harmony with the wild, rocky features of the country, the

early legends of Thessaly tell of furious wars, in

combatants fought with trunks of

hills at

each other.

the Giants

the heavens.
his

hill

place.

There the brothers Otos and

on mountain

There Poseidon

trident,

in their

cleft the

ambition to scale

mountain-range asunder

and formed the pleasant

Mount Olympos, with

which the

hurled rocks and even

was there that the war of the gods against

and Titans took

Ephialte sheaped

with

It

trees, or

its

vale

of

Tempe.

clouded summit, where the gods were

once supposed to dwell, was

there,

and there

the seat of the ancient race of the Minyae.

also

was Iolkos,

Gyrton was the

hold of the Lapithse, and the scene of those combats be-

tween them and the Centaurs which formed

in after

times

so attractive a subject to Greek sculptors.

Among
and

his

the

Lapithse

son Peirithoos.

the two principal figures are

Ixion's wife was

Ixion

Dia, a daughter of

HEROES.

232

Deioneus.
father,

Previous to the marriage he had promised her

many

according to ancient usage,

which he afterwards refused

valuable presents,

Deioneus endeavoured

to give.

to

indemnify himself, but in the course of the attempt perished in

a great hole,
for

him by

of

full

fire,

For

Ixion.

which had been cunningly prepared

this

the

murder of a

first

was believed, that had taken place

world

in the

relation,

Ixion

it

was

punished with frenzy, and wandered about, unable to obtain

expiation from gods or men,
passionately,

and

till

at last

so complete as to prevent

Zeus received him com-

But the purification was not

purified him.

him from conceiving a passion

the goddess Hera, who, knowing his desires, deceived

From

a cloud shaped like herself.

Ixion, being blind

of Centaurs.

this

for

him with

union sprang the race

enough

to boast of his sup-

posed success with Hera, was despatched by Zeus to Tartaros,

and there bound by Hermes

stantly revolved, as

to a

winged wheel, which con-

an eternal example of the punishment due

to such crime.

The same passion for a goddess descended to his son Peirithoos, who tried to carry off Persephone from Hades, for which
he was placed
his

fame

his

invitation,

in chains in Tartaros.

chiefly turns

the

was

his

But the event on which

marriage with

Deidamia.

By

Centaurs of the neighbouring mountains

went to the banquet, and, being unused

wine, could not suppress

excitement.

the influence of

to

The

wild

Eurytion

laid hold of the bride, his fellows rushed towards her maidens,

and a scene

of

grand confusion took place

the Lapithae, with the help of his friend

at last

Peirithoos and

Theseus, from Attica,

succeeding in driving the Centaurs away.

Of Kaineus, another
having been

of the Lapithae,

originally a beautiful virgin, he

it

is

related that,

was changed

into a

THRACE.

man by

Poseidon, and

made

233

invulnerable, as was proved in a

of the rocks and trunks of

fight

with the Centaurs

trees

which they struck him with, and heaped above him, he

for, in- spite

remained unwounded, and sank into the earth

alive,

a scene

represented in several ancient works of sculpture and vasepainting

in existence.

still

With regard

the usual form in which they

to the Centaurs,

were represented was that of the body and legs of a horse, with

body

the head, arms, and

early

works of

art,

of a

man down

to the

In

waist.

man

however, they have the legs of a

in

place of the fore-legs of the horse.

Cheiron seems
but his form

to

have had nothing

he was wise and

for

just,

in

common

with them

well-meaning and kindly,

a friend of gods and heroes, and skilled in medicine, music,

and various
his care

Pelion.
friend

The young

arts.

and

tuition, in the

Achilles was brought up under

cave where he lived, on

He

So also were Jason and Asklepios.

and of Herakles, and

of Peleus

example of the
In trying to

self-sacrifice

his

Mount

was the

death was

which had characterised

make peace between Herakles and

his

an
life.

the Centaurs,

he had been accidentally hit by a poisoned arrow from the

bow

of Herakles.

The wound

baffling

all

his

skill,

and

causing acute pain, he offered himself to die in the room of

Prometheus, and was accepted by the gods.

(e.)

The burden

of

all

THRACE.

the early Thracian legends

divine influence of music and song.

music, which

is

the strange

Whether the passion

for

may be supposed to have given rise to the

among the ungenial northern hills and

legends, originated

HEROES.

234

valleys of Thrace, or whether, as

from

planted thither by immigrants

with

supposed,
the

ancient fountain of the Muses,

its

All

decide.

that

is

certain

of

district

transPieria,

would be hard

it

belief

the

that

is,

was

it

to

concerning

the principal figure in these legends, was

Orpheus,
to

is

common

both regions.

Orpheus was regarded as a son of the muse Kalliope and

the

From

god Apollo.

his

mother he inherited the fascinating

power with which he played the

of the

and

hills,

lyre

and sang, so

listen. The subject of his song

Eurydike, whom he had loved and

gathered round him to

was always the beautiful

She had died through the poisoned

lost.

that the birds

the fish in the streams, wild beasts, even trees, rocks,

air,

bite of a

snake that

lurked in the grass over which she had to run to escape from

Aristaeos, who also loved

her.

Her

panied by Orpheus, wandered over the

sister
hills

the air with plaintive strains to call her

carried his search for

her even down

nymphs, accom-

and

valleys, filling

back again.

to the

Orpheus

gloomy shades of

the lower world, the sweetness of his music soothing the monsters

and wicked

spirits that

dwell there, and otherwise would have

Even

resisted his progress.

the hardened hearts of Persephone

and the merciless Erinys were touched by his passionate grief.

It was agreed that Eurydike should be permitted to return

him

with

to the

upper world,

the only condition attached to

the agreement being that he should not turn to look

face

all

the

way back.

upon her

His patience, however, gave way.

The

bargain became null, and Eurydike must instantly retrace her

steps,

and be

in doleful

open

lost to

mood by

him

for ever.

For seven months he

sat

the banks of the river Strymon, under the

Then he withdrew to the

mountains Rhodope and Haemos,

sky, refusing food or drink.

higher wintry regions of the

ORPHEUS.

235

was discovered by a

to nurse his sorrow in greater solitude, but

band of Maenads out upon some wild Bacchic mission, and torn

The Muses,

by them limb from limb.

the limbs, conveyed

them

Pieria,

to

Hebros, and were carried by the

with the swell and

fall

said, gathering

on Mount Olympos, and

His head and

buried them there.

was

it

lyre

floated

sea, the lyre

down the

sounding sweetly

of the waves, to the island of Lesbos,

celebrated in after times for

its

There

poets and musicians.

the head was buried, and nightingales sang sweeter beside it

But in Thrace also a tomb was
than elsewhere in Greece.

pointed out as being that of Orpheus, while a sanctuary was

established in his honour.

In later times a religious system with mysterious

rites

and

ceremonies, said to have been instituted by Orpheus, and bearing his name, was widely propagated in Greece. It
his

connection with the worship of Dionysos,

may be

that

referred to in the

legends both of Pieria and Thrace, was regarded as sufficient

warrant for associating

having

much

in

common

with his

name

Orpheus accompanied the expedition of the

It is said that

Argonauts, but at what period of his

To

religious institutions

with the Dionysiac mysteries.

life

we do not know.

Thanymph

the same region of Thrace belongs the legend of

myris, a son of the king Philammon and the

Argiope, distinguished for his personal beauty as well as
minstrelsy.
He was, however, inordinately vain, and on
occasion

of a

visit

to the

court of

boasted himself not inferior to

daughters of Zeus.

by them

But on

his

the

Eurytos,
Muses

his

the

at OZchalia,

themselves,

the

way homeward he was met

they put his eyes out, and took away his power of

song and music.

HEROES.

236

ATTICA.

(/.)

The people
first

of Attica, generally speaking, believed that their

ancestors had sprung from the earth, and

been transformed from

into

been

men and women.

direct

ascribed to

man

trees or rocks, or

The change was not supposed

and instantaneous, as we may

Kekrops,

by some process

perhaps from animals,

the

first

to

of the race, which was that of a

with extremities in the shape of snakes in place of

legs.

have

from the form

infer

human

In later times of learned speculation this Kekrops was

Proofs of an

thought to have been an immigrant from Egypt.

early immigration into Attica are certainly not wanting, but they

do not point
Crete,

which

to

Egypt as the source of

in the time of

Minos

it.

They

held Attica, as

it

point to

probably

held other places, as a dependency.

Kekrops,

according to the legend, ruled as king over the

primitive race of Attica, established himself

on the Acropolis of

Athens, and gathered a township round him, which he called

Kekropia.

He

gave his people laws,

worship Zeus and Athene-Polias.

It

and taught them

was during

to

his reign that

the celebrated contest took place between Poseidon and Athene

for the control of Attica.

arguing that the sea was

Kekrops was chosen

common

to

all,

to decide, and,

while the olive was

peculiarly adapted to the soil of his country, gave his decision

in favour of the goddess.

He had

Aglauros, and Pandrosos,

all

three daughters,

three

Herse,

names apparently

re-

The last-mentioned was

ferring to the fertilizing fall of dew.
Of the other two, Herse became
the first priestess of Athene.
the mother of

Keryx, from whom

in Attica derived their lineage.

divine

herald.

the priestly family of heralds

His father was Hermes, the

Aglauros bore a daughter to the god Ares.

ATTICA.

237

and her

Her name was Alkippe,

For that crime a court called the

to

try the

loved

she

that

story,

slain

by Ares.

Areopagus was

appointed

Halirrhotios, a son of Poseidon, and was

god, and continued thereafter to

sit

on cases of

murder.
successor of Kekrops was

The

Erichthonios, who was

He

described as being altogether of the form of a snake.

was the offspring of Hephaestos and Gaea, was the fondling of

Athene, and when he obtained the throne of Attica, taught his
people to worship the ancient wooden image of the goddess,

and

The

instituted in her

honour the famous Panathenaic games.

story of his infancy

was that Athene handed him

in a

closed box to the three daughters of Kekrops, with orders not

to

open

it.

curiosity,

Two

of the sisters, Herse and Aglauros, yielded to

opened the box, and on seeing a snake within, were

and threw themselves from the rocks

seized with frantic terror

of the Acropolis.

Erichthonios was brought up within the

sanctuary of the goddess.

Erichthonios was succeeded by his son

again by his son
line of

Erechtheus,

with

whom

Pandion, and he
the dynasty of the

Kekrops came to an end, passing over

to Ion, a reputed

son of Apollo, and the ancestor of the Ionian race.

and

all his

family perished in a battle against

prince of Eleusis.

The

result of their death,

Besides his

son

would seem that

Thebes,

to,

in one.

Erechtheus, Pandion had two daughters,

Prokne and Philomela,

It

the

however, was that

and Eleusis was put an end

the old strife between Attica

and the two kingdoms united

Erechtheus

Eumolpos,

of

whom

a touching story

in the course of a

Pandion had obtained

Tereus, a king of Thrace, and

is

told.,

war with Labdakos of

important

assistance

for this offered

from

him the hand

2 3%

HEROES.

of his daughter Prokne.

sister also,

Afterwards the Thracian desired her

and, pretending that Prokne was dead, obtained

To

Philomela as his wife.

prevent the former from revealing

the truth, he tore out her tongue,

wood.

and placed her

But his end was not thus gained;

for

in

a cage in a

Prokne contrived

to send her sister a piece of drapery

on which she had em-

broidered a representation of the

which her

The two

understood.

they killed,

execute

son Itys,

Tereus drew

his

three were changed into

he into a lapwing, Prokne into a swallow, and Philomela

The

into a nightingale.

two

all

till

sister readily

to

flesh of his

before him as a dish.

sword, and pursued the sisters

birds

combined

then

sisters

revenge on Tereus, placing the

terrible

whom

facts,

sisters,

saying that

it

Latin poets reversed the story of the

was Philomela whose tongue was cut

name

out, their object being, since her

is

same

the

as that of

the nightingale, to account for the silence of that bird except in

springtime.

The

Attic legend of

Oreithyia, has

Kephalos and
who,

when

Boreas,

already been

Prokris.

We

male

line of

the

the wind-god,
given,

who

has

as

carried off

also

that

of

on to Ion,

shall therefore pass

Kekrops had become

extinct,

succeeded to the throne of Attica.

Ion was a son of Apollo and

Erechtheus, and

who

mother,
childless.

the god to

meet.
in

his

afterwards

Going

prospects of

at

birth

daughter of

away

Xuthos, and

married

from

his

remained

to Delphi to consult the oracle about their

posterity.

and Kreusa were

Xuthos

adopt as their son the

This happened to be Ion,

the temple of Delphi, and

mand

Kreusa,

was taken

first

told

by

youth they should

who had been brought up

who, agreeably to the com-

of the god, was adopted by the childless pair.

CRETE.

According

to

239

another legend, Pandion was driven from

Attica by the sons of

Metion, and took

the king of Megara,

where he found and adopted yEgeus,

who,

after

upon

advanced

Pandion's death,

refuge with

Pylos,

and,

Attica,

with the assistance of his brothers, Pallas, Nisos, and Lykos,

recovered the kingdom

and became

Athens,

of his
the

adopted
of

father

reigned in

father,

renowned

the

hero,

Theseus, whose exploits we shall relate hereafter.

tg.)

The

island

of Crete,

extent

its

and

fer-

appear to have attracted the early Phoenician traders

tility,

to

position of the

CRETE.

They founded

shores.

its

the

towns of Knosos

and

Gortys, and so developed the resources of the island as to

give

it

a powerful ascendency over the other islands of the

Archipelago, and extending to various districts of the main-

land

of Greece,

They introduced

including

Attica,

as has

when, generations afterwards,

pletely Hellenised,

the

island

been

Moloch

said.
;

and

had become com-

through the successive immigrations

Achaeans and Dorians, there were

still

tion with the religion of the Phoenicians.

Of

settled

in

kind were

this

legends of Talos, Itanos, and the river

The Greek immigrants

of

found current among

could only be explained in connec-

the people legends that

the

just

the worship of Astarte and

Jardanos.

the towns that had been

planted by the Phoenicians, adapting themselves to existing

arrangements,

it

appears,

and accepting the ancient

traditions

of the island as a basis for legends of a purely Greek construction.

These legends commence with Europa,

whom

Zeus saw

HEROES.

240

and loved while she was gathering spring buds near Sidon,
where her

some

(or Phoenix, as

said),

on

his

Gortys and Phasstos,

in the district of

where Asterion was then the reigning king.

Sarpedon, who grew up under

whom

Zeus had commended

may be

the care of Asterion, to

How

their mother.

seen from the ancient coins of

Gortys and Phgestos, with their representations,

alone,

now

oldest traditions describe

with exemplary justice,

among

established

legislation

communicated

it

plane-tree.

Minos

extending

as ruling the island

maritime power and

its

the

island.

when he

people a wise system of laws,

his

was believed,

These

him by

father,

to

to

his

times, the

in after

of Lykurgos.

went every ninth year

in

of a bull

supremacy over the neighbouring islands and countries.

which formed,
the

now

of Europa riding on him, and at other times of

Europa seated among the branches of a

The

familiar

have been with the various

the people of the island must

phases of this legend,

Europa gave

Minos, Rhadamanthys, and

there to three sons,

birth

He

king.

back over the sea towards the south coast of Crete,

and landed with her

its

was

god, transforming himself into a white bull, carried her

The
off

Agenor

father,

laws,

he

basis

said,

Zeus, with

of

were

whom

he

hold communion in a sacred cave

So high was

his reputation

died, so people thought, he

for

justice,

that

was appointed a judge

in the lower world.

The wife of Minos was Pasiphae, a daughter of the sungod Helios and Perseis. It is necessary to bear her parentage in mind for the sake of obtaining a right clue to the
explanation of the legend concerning her.
of

Helios and Perseis, she

may

well have

For, as a daughter

been

originally a

goddess of the moon, and as such represented under the form

MINOS AND PASIPHAE.

Her name,

of a white cow.
for

such an

241

Pasiphae, would be appropriate

She bore to Minos two daughters

office.

Ariadne and Phaedra

of whom

more

be told here-

will

after.

Minos,

it

was

on being chosen king of the

said,

proceeded to the sea-shore to

a

sacrifice

his

to

father,

offer, in

Zeus,

Poseidon to send up a victim

on

calling

ceived

that

sea was

at

however, of sacrificing the white

his

secured.

own herd which browsed near Gortys

it.

The

was pursued by Pasiphae over

finally the great artist

meadow, and

bull

hills

broke from his

intricate

wild,

stall,

and
till

employ

his

Minotauros, a

skill

in

in holding

creature with the

making a

bull.

vast

Within

it

to

who
body

Daedalos had

labyrinth, with

winding passages, from which no one

could find his way out.

him

desires of the queen,

in satisfying the

and limbs of a man, and the head of a

to

become

and through woods,

Dsedalos succeeded

afterwards gave birth to

now

is

Poseidon,

same time inflamed the queen, Pasiphae, with an

unnatural desire towards

the

among

it

herd which

taking offence at the deceit, caused the bull to

at the

this

Instead,

he placed

bull,

elsewhere said to have belonged to the sun-god.

and

sea.

In

bull.

on the part of the sea-god, Minos per-

supremacy

his

sea-god

the

purpose from the

for that

Poseidon heard, and sent a shimmering white

act of compliance

island,

presence of his people,

who

entered

Minotauros was placed, and

received as victims the persons sent to Minos periodically by

tributary states.

seven

girls

Such

tribute, consisting of

seven boys and

of noble families, Minos had levied on Athens as a

satisfaction for the

murder of

his

son

Androgeos by

^Egeus,

the king of Attica.

Every eight years the grievous levy was

despatched to Crete,

till

Theseus,

the son of yEgeus, put an

16

HEROES.

242

end

to

it

manner which we

in a

afterwards have occasion

shall

to relate.

Minos met

his death at

Agrigentum, in

Sicily,

whither he

who had escaped from the labyrinth, into

son Ikaros had been thrown for making a

had pursued Daedalos,

which he and

his

figure of a

cow

the herd.

He

made

for

for Pasiphae, so lifelike as to

be mistaken by

had escaped by means of wings which he had

latter fell into the sea,

and

his father, reaching Sicily in safety,

was

himself and his son.

was drowned, while

The

received under the protection of King Kokalos, whose daughter

Minos by pouring boiling water on

killed
in

a bath.

Minos was buried

his

head while he was

and had a tomb erected

there,

memory.

in his

On

the coins of the town of Phsestos

winged and nude, rushing with great

is

appears to be a stone in each hand.

identified

with the legends of Talos,

having been

made

the figure of a youth,

strides,

and holding what

This figure has been

who

is

described as

of bronze, a remnant of the bronze age, or,

as others said, a living

work of

art

produced by Hephsestos.

He

had been placed

his

duty being to run round the island three times a day, and

see

who landed on

in Crete

the coast.

by Zeus,

When

to

watch over Europa,

the Argonauts arrived, he

opposed their landing, but unsuccessfully; for

it

happened

that

they were aware of the fact that, though apparently altogether

made

of bronze, he

still

had a vein reaching from neck

to heel,

and containing his life-blood. This vein Poeas, the father of

Philoktetes, managed to hit with an arrow from the famous bow
of Herakles.

who
It

Talos

fell,-

and

died.

Others said that Medea,

accompanied the Argonauts, overcame

him by

witchcraft.

had been the practice of Talos, when he caught any one

landing on the coast, to seize his victim in his arms, to leap

PELOPS.

with him into a

fire,

243

and press him

while laughing at the pain.

burning bosom, the

to his

This was the origin of the phrase

"Sardonic laughter."

Though

the appointment of

Rhadamanthys

as a judge in

the lower world was said to have been due to the sense of justice

which he had displayed on

benefited by his decisions

assume

don,

earth, the region or country that

is

not given.

that he acted with his brother

may be

It

Minos

the third of the brothers, passed over to Lycia,

became

right to

in Crete.

Sarpe-

and there

the founder of an illustrious line of heroes.

ELIS and ARGOS.

(k.)

With Pelops commences a lineage of heroes famous

and Argos

for their

that awaited them.

deeds of violence, and

How

Niobe, the

in Elis

for the retribution

sister

punished for her pride, we have already seen.

of Pelops, was

What his

father,

Tantalos, had to endure in Tartaros has also been described.

Tantalos had ruled his kingdom of Phrygia, in Asia Minor,

well,

and on

invited

crown

him
all,

invited

of knowing
of his

that account gained the esteem of the gods,

to a banquet.

all

them

But he betrayed

to a feast, at which, to test their

things that happened,

own son

The

Pelops.

attempt, restored the child to

he

who

their secrets, and, to

set before

power

them the

flesh

gods, perceiving the outrageous

life,

giving

him

in place of the

shoulder that had been eaten, whether by Demeter or Thetis, a

shoulder of ivory.

When
gods
in

His father was despatched to Tartaros.

Pelops had grown to

manhood under

especially of Poseidon, from

managing horses

he

daughter of the king of

whom

skill

Hippodameia, the
CEnomaos, a son of Ares, and

resolved to win

Elis,

the care of the

he learned his

HEROES.

244

owner of horses

the

would be caused by the husband of

the extraordinary

suitor

Those who

race.

oracle

ardent

suitor

he

who should

failed,

was that

This

death

his

Trusting to

freely offered

outstrip

him

was stipulated

it

challenge, should perish at his hands.

many an

story

that

his daughter.

speed of his horses,

daughter's hand to any

chariot

The

swift as the wind.

CEnomaos had been informed by an

fate

in

his
in

the

had befallen

previous to the arrival of Pelops,

who, with a golden chariot and winged horses, given him by

Poseidon,

won

the race.

was rather due

to

however, that his success

It is said,

Hippodameia, who had conceived a great

love for the youth, and gave practical effect to her passion by
bribing her father's charioteer,

Myrtilos,

to take a

spoke out

of his master's wheel.

With the hand of Hippodameia, Pelops obtained the throne of

Elis,

and had, among other

and Thyestes.
the

He

fully

monuments of

two sons, named Atreus

His grave, the house of CEnomaos, and

Olympian games.

other

children,

established, or at least greatly promoted,

his excellent rule,

were afterwards grate-

pointed to at Olympia.

Atreus and Thyestes,

having slain the beautiful

young

Chrysippos, a son of Pelops and a nymph, were compelled to

leave Elis.

They found

refuge in Mykenae, establishing them-

selves in the old fort of Midea, until the death of Eurystheus,

when Atreus obtained

which

still

attest

the government of Mykense, the ruins of

the

power of

married a daughter of Minos

listen to proposals

the

its

Atreus

ancient kings.

^Erope who allowed

herself to

from Thyestes, and assisted him to carry off

ram with the golden

fleece, the possession of which

posed to secure the government of the country.

was sup-

But Zeus

inter-

fered in the cause of Atreus, the elder of the brothers, and, as a

XXXIII.

Meleager.

The Dioskuri.

Combat between Greek and Amazon.

HERAKLES.

245

Thyestes

sign of his will, caused the sun to rise in the west.

returned to his brother's house, asking to be forgiven, and was

Instead of being

received with an appearance of good-will.

forgiven, however,

he was presented, on

with the flesh of his

own

Thyestes

son.

with regard to

Thyestes, and

the

take him

to eat,

fled in horror,

On

thereupon famine stalked over the land.

oracle

down

sitting

and

consulting an

famine, Atreus was told to find

He

back.

did

so,

and moreover

placed him in confinement in Argos, at the same time trying

to persuade ^Egisthos, the son of Thyestes, to kill his father.

But events took a

different course,

a victim of Atreus.

On

Thyestes preferring to make

the death of

Agamemnon

Atreus,

succeeded to the throne of Argos, and his brother Menelaos

to
in

that of Sparta.

Of

these two brothers

more

shall

be said

connection with the war against Troy.

HERAKLES.
(plate XXX.)
Though regarded sometimes
way appointed

for immortals,

as a god,
it

long series of arduous labours,

was

and honoured

in the

chiefly as the hero of a

apparently insur-

difficulties

mountable, and sufferings, that Herakles obtained the numerous honours paid to his

memory throughout

Greece.

In the

gymnasia, where the youth of every town were instructed in

athletic exercises, the statue of

model of what a
his wrestling

Herakles was pointed to as a

perfect athlete should be

while the tales of

with this or that giant were repeated as examples

of fearlessness and extraordinary strength.

battle thought of his fatigues

Soldiers going to

and ultimate triumphs.

Labourers

HEROES.

246

oppressed by

toil

incidents of his

relieved their sorrows

by

recalling the laborious

Even the Athenians valued the rugged,

life.

stubborn endurance of Herakles higher than the litheness and

more

perfect form of their

own Theseus.

So

far,

Herakles was

looked upon merely as an example of extraordinary physical

and patient

strength

came

also to

toiling to the

be held up as an

end

but in later times he

ideal of virtue

and duty,

in

which

capacity a story invented by the sophist Prodikos concerning

That story was

him, found great applause.

"The

entitled

Choice of Herakles," and represented him as being met

at a

Pleasure

and

crossway, while yet a youth, by two figures

Duty

other a

the one promising him

life

of labour

and

possible enjoyments, the

all

trouble,

if

he would follow

He

her.

chose to follow Duty.

According

to the genealogy,

Herakles was a son of

Zeus

and Alkmene, the wife of Amphitryon, a descendant of

On the day on which he
Perseus, and resident in Thebes.
was

to

have been born, Hera, to whose persecution

labours and sufferings of Herakles in

after

life

obtained from Zeus, in presence of the assembled gods, a

that the

boy

to

dominion over

the

all

were due,

vow

be born on that day should have power and

all

Hastening to Argos,

that dwelt about him.

she lent a helping hand to the wife of Sthenelos, and enabled

her to give birth to Eurystheus, a weakly seven-months' child.

Meantime she had delayed

consequence, became the subject of Eurystheus.

this hostility

who,

birth of Herakles,

the

on the part of Hera,

it is

curious to

With

in
all

compare a

scene which not unfrequently occurs on ancient painted vases,

representing

Hera suckling the

was that Hermes,

newly-born

at the

infant

command

child to Olympos,

Herakles.

The

story

of Zeus, had carried the

and put

it

to Hera's

breast,

HERAKLES.

without her knowing whose child

milk Herakles drew

it

From

was.

the

godlike strength,

his

of which was given soon

serpent sent by Hera to

247

by

after his birth,

kill

his

this divine

promise

first

strangling the

him.

His youth was spent under the instruction of the most

cele-

brated heroes of the day, the wise Rhadamanthys teaching him

to

be wise and virtuous, and Linos the practice of music.

Unluckily, Linos had to punish

him

some

for

neglect,

and

in

doing so enraged the boy so much, that he turned and slew his

For

master.
hills,

like

this

Amphitryon carried

his

son away

tojthe

and left him under the care of herdsmen, with whom,

Romulus, or Amphion and Zethos, he enjoyed a wild life

of hunting

and exposure

mous

and

size,

to climate, his

his eyes sparkling with

limbs growing to enor-

unusual

fire.

At the age

of eighteen he slew an enormous lion that infested Mount

Kithgeron, destroying the flocks of his father, Amphitryon, and

Returning to Thebes from

of Thespios, the king of Thespiae.

skin hanging from his shoulders

the lion-hunt, and wearing

its

as a sign of his success, he

met the heralds of the king of the

Minyae, coming from

of a hundred
ears

cattle levied

and noses of the

them home.

to claim the annual tribute

Orchomenos

.Herakles cut off the

on Thebes.

heralds,

war followed,

bound

in

their hands,

and sent

which Amphitryon and

his

two sons, Herakles and Iphikles, did wonders on the part

of Thebes,

of his

of

and were duly honoured

But the part taken by Herakles

the

own

free will

for

Hera, annoyed

young hero, persuaded

authority given

him

Herakles to enter

at
his

Delphic oracle whether

it

for the same.

in that

war was the

Eurystheus to

fame

exercise

his birth

by Zeus, and

service.

Herakles inquired

was possible

last act

at the fast-rising

to

to escape the

the

call

on

at

the

summons,

248

HEROES.

but was told in reply that he must carry out successfully twelve
tasks to be

done

imposed on him by Eurystheus, and

With

mortals.

this

answer

having

mind, he presented himself to

in his

and commenced the serious labour

Eurystheus at Mykena^,
of

that,

he would be reckoned among the number of im-

so,

life.

The Twelve Labours

It

may

be, as has

of Herakles.

been often suggested, that the legend of

the labours of Herakles, like those of Perseus in the service of

Polydektes, or of Bellerophon in that of the Lycian king, or of

Burgundy, was intended to

Siegfried in that of the king of

convey an

His

first

and operations of

illustration of the course

which increases with each new labour that

last, after

the sun.

labours are performed near home, the distance from

is

imposed,

till

at

carrying off the golden apples of the Hesperides in

the remote west, he descends to the lower world,

back with him the hated dog Cerberus.

In

and brings

later times the

twelve labours were openly brought into connection with the

twelve signs of the zodiac.
originally, this

It

however, more likely

is,

number had no more

signification than in

case of the twelve higher deities of Olympos, that

it

became stereotyped both

and

arrows

(v.

395)

is

Herakles

and

art.

In

the

is

and

it

their

number.

hero whose unerring

In the Odyssey

Herakles and Eurytos are described as the most

;

made

Homer, though

no mention of

wounded Hera and Hades.

marksmen of bygone times

first

that through their influence

in poetry

the labours are known, there

In the Iliad

the

was adopted

by the poets, such as Pisander and Stesichoros, who

these labours their theme,

that,

in early

(viii.

224)

celebrated

works of

art,

it is

THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

bowman

his character as a

But

after the time of

The

introduced.

that

is

club becomes his favourite

wrapped round

head
under

crown

like

is

and

he now

lion over his

the

skin

of

its

a cap, and the fore-legs knotted

his chin.

The Nemean

i.

his loins,

hanging down his back

fitting to his

weapon

Nemean

appears either carrying the skin of the

it

represented.

principally

Pisander and Stesichoros, a change

instead of a linen garment

arm, or wearing

249

the offspring of

lion,

had been sent by Hera

to

Typhon and Echidna,

devastate the neighbourhood

of

Nemea, and had succeeded, to the horror of the natives. What

made the matter worse, was that the plain of Nemea was sacred
to Zeus.

The

was known

lion

to

be invulnerable,

against the arrows of Herakles.

adopt novel means

cave where

its lair

resolved to wear
it

Herakles entered the

was, closed the entrance behind him, and at

in his

off with his fingers, and,

legend as

proof even

was therefore necessary to

for its destruction.

once grappling the monster

he tore

It

it

arms strangled

knowing

henceforth in his

it

own

to

The

it.

skin

be impenetrable,

defence.

To

the

and

thus stands was added, by the Alexandrian

Roman poets, the story of Molorchos, a native of the district,

on whom Herakles called on his way to the cave, and who,
when about
was

told

to kill his only goat to

by the

was arranged
Molorchos was
thirty

hero

to desist

that should

make
and

a feast for his guest,

to wait his return.

he not return within

to sacrifice to

him

as to a

dead person.

It

days

The

days had just elapsed when Herakles returned and found

his friend in the act of preparing the sacrifice.

that the thirty days

summer, when the

2.

thirty

may

lion

It

is

possible

refer to the period of greatest heat in

and dog are ascendant.

The Lernean hydra,

also the

offspring of

Typhon and

250

HEROES.

Echidna, and sent by Hera.

Herakles killed

it

with his sword,

The

being assisted in the enterprise by Iolaos and Athene.

given more fully by Apollodorus, whose version, though

legend

is

late, is

proved to have been founded on an

form of

earlier

it

by

The hydra

the remains of poetry and art of high antiquity.

was a monster with nine heads, of which eight were mortal and
the ninth invulnerable.

It lived in the

marshy ground beside

Amymone, and even the smell which spread from

poison was fatal to any one who passed near it.
Herakles

the fountain of
its

and

arrived at the spot in a chariot, attended by Iolaos,

ceeded

upon

in driving the

The

it.

head of

fight

hydra from

It

which he cut two fresh heads started up, and

it

was necessary

to try

came and

him a brand from

the invulnerable head, cut

He

huge rock.

When

it

as

had rendered

it

and

that

miasma whch

The Erymanthian

3.

off also,

and buried

up,

it

one, he at last

was reported to Eurystheus, the

assistance.

district,

sents the

to

it

and

came

to

under a

latter

refused

one of the labours, on the ground that Iolaos

The

that the hydra or water-snake

marshy

and

dipped his arrows in the poison of the hydra.

his success

to reckon

Herakles

fire

cut off a head, to burn

way destroying them one by

this

wood on

to

him by the

with the brand so obtained he pro-

moment he had

ceeded, the
in

it

seized

another form of attack.

ordered Iolaos to set the neighbouring

fetch

suc-

hole by firing his arrows in

began, and Herakles found that for every

increase the difficulty a huge crab

heel.

its

its

interpretation of the legend

is

poison, with

arises

is

a symbol of the horrors of a

from such

boar, like the

its fatal

smell, repre-

districts.

Keryneian Stag and the

Stymphalian Birds, carries us to a mountainous and wild rustic

scene.

Arcadia.

Its

haunt was on Mount Erymanthos,

in the north of

But the name of Erymanthos was also applied to a

THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

down

stream which flowed

the mountain side

251

and

improbable that the wild boar was only a legendary

not

it is

illustration

of the ravages produced in winter and early spring by the

The

descent of this river with swollen torrents.

Mykense

orders of Eurys-

be brought back alive to

theus were that the boar should

but at the sight of Herakles returning with

his shoulders, fear took possession of the king,

a large bronze

himself in

frequently represented

theus

may be

the boar

way

to

is

at

was

which Herakles, as
proceeded to put the

consternation of Eurys-

In connection with the capture of

told the story of a visit

the Centaur, Pholos,

which Herakles paid on his

who

lived in a cave

on Mount

The hero was hungry, and Pholos gave him

Pholoe.

He

imagined.

also thirsty,

hand a

and required some wine.

large vase full of choice wine, but

property of the Centaurs

mountain.

On

who

lived

it

Now

was the common

other parts

in

it

arrived.

vase,

to eat-

Pholos had

of the

the other hand the wine had been a present

from Dionysos, and had been accompanied with the

that

should not be opened

till

his

good

command

friend Herakles

Pholos accordingly had no hesitation in tapping the

and both drank deeply from

it.

The

strong

aroma of the

wine, however, reached the nostrils of the other Centaurs,

now

on

into

The

boar, as the safest possible place.

alive

vases,

ves*sel,

on ancient

it

and he hid

who

flocked towards the cave of Pholos in wild confusion,

armed with pine branches,

upon Herakles.

rocks, axes,

and

torches,

and

fell

violent fight ensued, in which Herakles,

besides with superior numbers, had also to contend with the

disadvantage of a flood of water sent by the clouds,

the mothers of the Centaurs.

who were

Ultimately he succeeded in

wounding many, and dispersing the others into the woods,

the

only melancholy part of the issue being that his friend Pholos

HEROES.

252

lost his

life,

under circumstances which remind us of the death

who

of that other kindly Centaur, Chiron,

and brought up

Pelion,

Centaur who had

striking severely

he

on

effect,

when

it

how

fell

to

after

so small a thing

from

and

his hands,

body and

his foot, its poison entered his

The legend appears

died.

on Mount

by an arrow from Herakles, and

fallen

drawing out the arrow, was wondering

could produce such an

lived

Pholos was stooping over a

Achilles.

have been popular both with

poets and vase painters.

The Keryneian

4.

to

stag,

an animal of wonderful

of gold and hoofs of brass, was

antlers

whom

Pleiads.

it

It

had been dedicated by Taygete, one

took

name from

its

the

hill

it

was called the Maenalian

Herakles was to capture and bring

lasted for a

and meadows, on

and thence back

It

it

back

to

where

it

had

district

at other

on

task imposed

alive.

whole year, Herakles pursuing

plains, ravines

hills.

The

stag.

of the

and hunting

of Keryneia, on the borders of Arcadia and Achaia;

times

with

fleetness,

sacred to Artemis,

The chase

over

it

hills

to the

Hyperborean

started

among

and

region,

the Arcadian

sought shelter in the sanctuary of Artemis, but being

dislodged was overtaken by Herakles at the banks of the river

Ladon.

He

would have

appeared on the scene.

the regions

where

it

had

of the
set out,

slain

The

it

had not Apollo and Artemis

stag running a whole year

to

appears to be a mythical illustration of

the course of the moon, and

may be compared

simpler story of the huntress Arge-

who pursued

on

Hyperboreans, and thence returning to

the

with the

much

"shimmering being"

a stag, crying out, " I will catch you should your

speed equal that of Helios"; for which boast the angry god
transformed her into a deer.
5

The Stymphalian

birds.

The

vale of Stymphalos, lying

THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

among

the mountains in such a

to the floods

and storms of

way

as to be constantly exposed

was described

winter,

253

in a mythical

form as being subject to the ravages of a numberless flock of

which,

birds,

with

their

arrows, delighted in
figures of

like

talons

iron

and feathers sharp

From

flesh.

it

in the sanctuary

appears that they resembled in form the Harpys,

them, too, they were, there

every reason to believe,

is

To

symbols of the cold, destructive storms of winter.

of them, Herakles

first

raised an alarm

by ringing a

get rid

large bell

and when the birds came out from the thick wood where
nests were, many were shot down by
flew

away

as

the description of the

some of them, which were preserved

of Artemis,

and

human

They

in fright.

flew, as

it

his arrows,

their

and the

rest

appears from the story of

the Argonauts, to an island, sacred to Ares, in the inhospitable

Black Sea, where the Argonauts suffered severely from the

heavy
relief

falls

of their sharp biting feathers, and only obtained

by again frightening them by raising a great din.

birds flew over the sea their feathers

storm, the

frequently
feathers.

sun,

flakes
in the

of which,

legends

of this kind,

district of

fell

like a thick

the

snow-

should be remembered, are

of other peoples compared with

Herakles, as a hero representing the influence of the

was very properly called

beings

it

As

more

in

by the myth-makers

to destroy

especially as in the neighbouring

Pheneos he had long been regarded as a beneficent

The statement of his having alarmed the birds by

ringing a bell may have been suggested by a common practice
At the same time it may also
of raising birds from their nests.
refer to a custom which is known at any rate in more recent

hero.

times

that of ringing bells during severe storms, from a belief

that such a proceeding availed against all evil spirits of the

6.

The Augeian

stables.

air.

Augeias, the rich prince of Elis, and

HEROES.

254

his daughter
all

Agamede, the

who knew the potency of

known to the author of the
was at Ephyro, a name which

sorceress

the herbs in the world, were

Iliad

(xi.

His seat

701, 739).

occurs in connection with the worship of the heavenly powers,

while Augeias

means

itself

" a being of streaming light."

streamed from his eyes, and

His daughter Agamede

son of Helios.
in character with

represented by

their witchcraft the occult

story,

obviously identical
all

of

whom

powers of the moon.

which confirms the opinion that

Augeias in some way was intended to

of the sun's

is

Kirke, Medea, and Megamede,

Another feature of the

Light

was said expressly that he was a

it

illustrate the

phenomena

possession of herds of lambs and cattle,

light, is his

fabulous in numbers as are the fleecy clouds, and including

twelve bulls, white as swans, and sacred to Helios

and described

being called Phsethon,

The

one of them

as glittering like a star.

court of Augeias was by the banks of the river Menios,

and the task assigned

line of stalls alone

hero
river

to Herakles

and

in

was

to clear out his endless

To

one day.

accomplish

this,

swept with

it,

as

it

flowed along the stables, their accumulated

Augeias had promised

dung.

tenth of his herds

to

reward Herakles with a

but declined to

fulfil

his

agreement on

hearing that the task had been imposed by Eurystheus.

refusal afterwards led to
7.

the

made an opening through the wall at a part where the

approached it. The stream, rushing in at the opening,

a war between Herakles and

This

Elis.

The Cretan bull had been presented by Poseidon

to

Minos, and by him placed among the herd of cattle sacred to

the sun.

How

it

became

wild,

Minos, conceiving a passion for

and how Pasiphae, the wife of

it,

followed

it

over the island,

has been told in connection with the legends of Crete.

The

task imposed on Herakles was to bring this bull to Mykense.

THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

The

was to capture and subdue

difficulty

first

which he

is

sitting

on

swam, as did Europa with Zeus,

it

As

bull.

to the fate of the bull,

Eurystheus sacrificed

that

in

The

over the sea to Mykenae, which he did

it

back while

its

shape of a

in the

an act

frequently represented on the painted vases.

second was to bring

by

it,

255

it

it

Hera, and, again,

to

said

is

that

it

escaped, roved wildly over the Peloponnesus, and was finally

captured at Marathon by Theseus.

The horses of Diomedes, a king of Thrace, and reputed

8.

to

have been a son of Ares, the god of war and the personification
of storm.

where

He

whom

Like the people

His

fierce in war.

was

seat

in later times the

in the

he

ruled,

Diomedes was

neighbourhood of Abdera,

remains of his citadel was pointed out.

was the owner of certain horses which fed on human

and by

had

that

means became

furious

and so powerful

be fastened with iron chains.

to

flesh,

that they

The human

flesh

on

which they fed was generally that of persons who had been

wrecked on that inhospitable

coast.

bring these horses to Mykense.

and on

away

arriving

to the shore,

fell

at the

games

his

terrible fight ensued, in

In the course of the combat, Abderos,

of

whom

Herakles was very fond,

honour the hero raised a mound, and

in his honour,

continued annually.

fell

instituted

which the people of Abdera afterwards

After the horses had been conveyed to

Mykense and presented

escaped among

the

which the

hands of Herakles, and was himself given as

a beautiful youth,
in

sea;

when he was overtaken by a crowd of

food for his horses.

and

To Abdera he went by

overpowered the guards, and led the horses

subjects of Diomedes.

king

Herakles was ordered to

to

Eurystheus,

the hills of Arcadia,

devoured by wild beasts

probably

it

is

said that

they

and were there ultimately

by the wolves of Zeus

HEROES.

256

Their allegorical signification

Lykaeos.

storms and billows,

that

of

and hence the legend was located

in

we

Thrace, a country with which

is

clearly

are familiar in connection

with other personifications of storm

such as

Ares, Lykurgos,

and Boreas.
The girdle of Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons, had

9.

been a

from Ares, and was a symbol of the power of a

gift

The

rushing headlong storm.

to fetch this girdle for

of

whom we

Argive Hera.

on Herakles was

Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus,

learn elsewhere that she

was a

priestess of the

Herakles slew the Amazon, and returned with

From

the girdle.

task imposed

this

adventure appears to have arisen the

legend of a war conducted by Herakles against the Amazons.

1 o.

saor

77/6'

cattle

and the

of Geryon or Geryoneus,

Okeanide nymph

had three bodies, three heads, three

He

was gigantic

with wings.
the lord of

in size, heavily

The

who was a son

Kallirrhoe.

of Chry-

In one person he

pairs of legs,

and

six arms.

armed, powerful, and provided

great point of his character was that he was

immense herds of

cattle.

Considering that the

possession of herds of cattle was also a prominent feature in

the character of Apollo and Helios, in whose case the cattle

represented the days of the year, and considering further that

the local habitation of Geryon, though
localities, is

with the worship of Helios,

was an

illustration of

of these

assigned to

various

always assigned to a place in some way connected

it

some of

may be
the

inferred that

phenomena

phenomena none but those

also

and

of wintry storms correspond

with his personal appearance and vehemence.

his cattle at night in a

Geryon

of the sky

Geryon keeps

dark cave in the remote west, into which

Herakles penetrates, and drives them away eastward towards

the region of morning light.

The

expedition had three stages

THE TWF.LVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

first,

the journey to Erytheia, where

judged by the meaning of

the red glow of sunset

somewhere

Herakles

and

some

tained,

to reach

and which,

lived,

Geryon

secondly, the contest with

in the

remote west, beyond the

the hero

it

and,

Erytheia was an

cattle.

employed a

pillars

vessel,

of
ob-

from Nereus, while others believed that he

said,

had compelled Helios

vessel in

Geryon

name, seems to be connected with

Mykense with the

thirdly, the return to

island

its

257

to lend

him

for the occasion the

which he was accustomed

world from west to

On

east.

cup or

round the

to sail every night

was alarmed,

the passage Herakles

or at any rate disturbed, by a storm, which was only appeased

by

his

bow on Okeanos. Reaching the island, he

Mount Abas, but was observed by the two-

drawing his

placed himself on

headed dog of Geryon, and attacked by

He

it.

slew the dog,

and was next attacked by the herdsman Eurytion, who

Then

at his hands.
cattle

who was

of Helios, pointed out to

grazing in a
driving

and

Menoitios,

meadow by

them away, when Geryon

fierceness,

ended by a

shaft

fatal

himself,

from Herakles.

fell

Geryon,

cattle of

He was

appeared on the scene.

into the vessel of the sun,

commenced

him the

the river's side.

also

there watching the

in all

in the act of
his strength

The combat was

Shipping the cattle

and landing them

Herakles

safely,

homeward journey on foot, through Iberia,

and down through Italy, with many

his

Gaul, over the Alps,

adventures, in

all

of which he

was successful.

At

Rome

occurred the incident with the robber Cacous, which

Romans

incorporated

the elements of

Phlegroean

it

fields,

among

their

national legends,

were obviously of a Greek

origin.

by the noise of the grasshoppers, and

his rest

At the

On

near Cumae, he fought the Giants.

mountains between Rhegium and Locri,

the

though

the

was disturbed

at his prayer the

i7

gods

HEROES.

258

removed these creatures from the

From

district for ever.

south of Italy one of his bulls escaped across the sea

and

as

it

was necessary to follow

it,

the

to Sicily,

Herakles, holding on by

the horns of another bull, crossed with his herd to that island,

through the length and breadth of which he appears to have

wandered, encountering giants

like Eryx, experiencing

from the nymphs of Himera and Egesta,

kindness

whose warm springs

at

he was refreshed, and everywhere leaving reminiscences of his

Thence he passed up the shores of the

visit.

by

Illyria

and Epirus

Hera, caused his

by

run away in great numbers to the

cattle to

and thence proceeded

to the

to

Mykense, where Eurystheus sacrificed

goddess Hera.

The apples of

11.

round

With the remainder he reached the Hellespont,

mountains.

them

Adriatic,

to Ambracia, where a gadfly, sent

the Hesperides.

According to

later story,

the last labour imposed on Herakles was to procure three of

the golden apples which grew in the garden of the Hesperides

which represent him as

and hence

in

invincible,

he appears holding the apples

works of

art

in his

invictus, the

hand.

As

in

the case of the cattle of Geryon, here also the chief interest of
the legend resides in the adventures on the way.

As

regards

the locality where this wonderful garden was to be found, there

was a difference of opinion; some, apparently under the influence

of Phoenician traditions, believing

it

to

have been in the remote

and others conceived

west, while yEschylos

that Atlas

and the

Hesperides lived in the northern region of the Hyperboreans.

From

the combination of both beliefs

wide scope was given

there

and back.

to take,
to the

is

said to

in later

to the adventures of the

times,

a very

hero on his way

Herakles himself, not knowing what direction

have

first

passed through Macedonia and on

Rhone, where he met certain nymphs who advised him

THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

259

knew the secret, and could be made

many transformations of Nereus,
He then proHerakles compelled him to tell him the way.

that Nereus, the sea-god,

to give

it

In spite of the

up.

ceeded to Libya, where he found Antseos, a giant of enormous

strength,

whose habit was

to kill all travellers

He

waste where he lived.

who

crossed the

was a son of Poseidon and the

Earth, deriving from his mother a strength which rendered

him

who could not lift him from the ground,

which Herakles did. The wrestling scenebetween the two was
a favourite subject in ancient art, and commended itself largely
invincible to

to the

those

Greek youths as they practised

had conquered Antseos, Herakles

little

in the palaestra.

lay

down

to rest,

When
and

he

in a

while found himself covered with a host of creatures called

Pygmies,

who sprang up from

in his lion's skin

and

the waste.

He

wrapped them

From Libya he went

killed them.

into

Egypt, where he was seized by the orders of Busiris and conveyed, as were

all

strangers, to

be

sacrificed.

He

burst his

bonds, and offered up instead Busiris, his son, and retinue.

From Egypt he went

to

India,

and thence returned

in

northerly direction towards the Caucasus mountains, where he

set free

the

Prometheus, and in return for that kindly act was told

way on through Scythia

to the region of the

where lived Atlas and the Hesperides.

Hyperboreans,

Part of the arrange-

ment was

that Atlas should pluck the three apples for him;

to relieve

him

for that

purpose

it

and

was necessary that Herakles

should take the burden of the world on his shoulders.

Atlas

returned with the apples, and naively proposed that he himself

should convey them to Eurystheus.

appreciate the proposal, and only wished

save his head from the weight.

willingly took the world

on

Herakles appeared to
first

to find a

pad

to

Atlas did not see the joke, and

his shoulders again.

Herakles, of

260

HEROES.

Another report has

course, did not return.

it

that Herakles

himself entered the garden, slew the dragon which watched

the

and carried

tree,

and returned with them

off the apples

to Eurystheus.
12.

Cerberus, the three-headed

dog of Hades, which guarded

the entrance to the lower world, was a symbol of the eternal

darkness of Hades.

world was regarded

difficult

The

task of bringing

epic

the earlier

in

of the labours of Herakles.

It

to

it

the upper

poetry as the most

was supposed that he

entered from the upper world through a chasm near Taenarum,

returning by the
terror

friends

the dead fled in

Near the gates he found

Theseus and Peirithoos seated on a rock,

they were attached as

He

trouble.

to

The shades [of

same way.

when they beheld him.

they had grown from

for Peirithoos.

whom

the herdsman.

agreed that

h,e

To

impart

life

in great

to the shades of

fight

with

he reached Pluto,

who

after a

killed

At

last

severe

might take Cerberus provided he could do so

without the assistance of arms of any kind.

and leading the hated dog

in doing,

and

he freed, he obtained blood from one of the

cows of Hades, which he

Menoites,

it,

his

which

freed Theseus, but the earth shook when he tried

do the same

his friends

if

to

This he succeeded

to Eurystheus,

completed

his twelve labours.

The

labours of Herakles were a favourite subject with the

ancient

vase-painters

and

pecially those of later times

sculptors,

and of the

who worked

for

latter

Roman

es-

patrons,

The manner

in

whose estimation the Greek hero stood

in

which each of the labours was represented, seldom varied;

and from
originally

this

it

may be assumed

that the type of each

been established by Greek

whose models

it

high.

artists

had

of celebrity, from

would have been presumption

to depart.

As

1
;;

THE TWELVE LABOURS OF HERAKLES.

an instance of how these labours were represented

we would

cite

26

collectively,

Museum,

a marble sarcophagus in the British

dating probably from the third century a.d.

Without caring to

follow the chronological order usually accepted, the sculptor

has chosen to dispose his groups according to his ideas of

artistic

or perhaps according to his ideas of their im-

effect,

On

portance.

the extreme

we

of the front

left

find Herakles

dragging Cerberus out of Hades, the mouth of which

Among

sented as the rocky entrance to a cave.

hiding a nude diminutive figure, which

may be

the shades of the dead, who, as

it

they beheld the hero.

to this

Next

was

Then we have

said, fled in terror

when

a group of Herakles

is

the scene

is

taken to be one of

removing the girdle of the Amazon Hippolyte, who

at his feet.

repre-

is

the rocks

in

lies

dead

the garden of the

Hesperides, then the taming of the horses of Diomedes, and

the strangling of the

lastly,

Nemean

On

lion.

one end of the

sarcophagus he appears slaying the Lernean hydra, and on the

other capturing the Keryneian stag.

he

while in the others his form has

marked with

tures

from the

hand,

left

next to that

On

toil-.

we

is

find

become

the lid are sculptured

in the fourth

in the fifth

These

five

Herakles,

and on the

he

it

right

figure,

his fea-

on a smaller

first,

beginning

seems, into the wall of the Augeian

he

is

him shooting the Stymphalian

engaged

in

subduing the Cretan bull

fights with the triple-bodied giant,

labours are shut in on the

as an

and

Herakles hard at work with a pickaxe,

stables; the third scene represents

;

colossal,

the bringing of the Erymanthian boar

making an opening, as
birds

groups

last three

and of a youthful

remaining labours, of which the

scale, the five

and

In these

figured represented as beardless

is

infant, strangles

the

left

Geryon.

by the scene where

snake sent by Hera,

by a group representing him seated

after his

HEROES.

262

labours,

and receiving a cup of wine from the goddess Victory,

while Athene stands by.

Herakles as a National Hero.

In addition to the twelve labours imposed by Eurystheus,

and apparently

of his

which caused

to

name

his

to

be surrounded with

Of

glory.

that
feats,

these

has already been mentioned that he wrestled with and van-

quished the Giant Antaeos,

and that
been

in

lived

all

find

all

strangers

that

He

the Titan free.

Admetos,

in his way,

entered his dominions.

him among the Caucasus mountains, where,

having shot the bird that gnawed the

set

Cyrene, on the

in

who came

Egypt he slew Busiris, whose practice had

to sacrifice

Next we

who

and slew

coast of Africa,

north

he

servitude

Herakles performed many other wonderful

monarch,

it

expiry

the

after

saved

liver of

Prometheus,

Alkestis, the wife of

king of Pherae, under the following circumstances

Admetos, being

sick,

had caused an inquiry

an oracle as to the issue of

his illness,

and was

told in reply

that he

would die unless some one could be found

to lay

down

his

offered herself,

life

for

him.

For

and would have been

but for Herakles,

who

arms, and held him

seized the

till

this

be made of

to

to volunteer

Alkestis,

his wife,

carried off to the shades,

god of death

in his strong-

he promised to allow her to remain

with her husband.

He

accompanied the expedition of the Argonauts

of the golden fleece, and took part in the

along with

Telamon,

first

the father of Ajax,

Peleus, the

of Achilles, and Oikles, the father of Amphiaraos.

of this

war was a breach of

faith

in search

war against Troy,

on the part of

father

The cause

Laomedon,

HERAKLES AS A NATIONAL HERO.

263

the king of Troy, who, in consideration of Herakles' having

rescued his daughter

Hesione

had promised her hand

in his citadel, finally
his sons

all

except

Laomedon was besieged

Podarkes, whose

life

slain

along with

was spared on the

Telamon was rewarded with

the

hand

Podarkes assumed the name of Priamos, and,

of Hesione.

to Herakles.

was taken prisoner, and

entreaty of Hesione.

after the

from the jaws of a sea-monster,

withdrawal of Herakles and his expedition, established

new dynasty

in Troy.

On

the

companions were compelled

way home Herakles and

his

from a storm at

to take shelter

For

Kos, but were refused hospitality by the inhabitants.

this

they destroyed the town.

In an expedition against Pylos, Herakles succeeded, with

the assistance of Athene, in overcoming
strange being,

He

pleased.
friend

this

among

it

Tyndareus was

reinstated.

was on the conclusion of the labours imposed on

him by Eurystheus,
said to have

have

it

others of his companions, of the sons

of Kepheus, king of Tegea.

to

expelled,

undertaking being also crowned with success, though

Whether

the rightful ruler of that state, against the

Hippokoontides, by whom he had been

entailed the loss,

is

Periklymenos,

the power of assuming any form he

next proceeded to Lacedaemon, to assist his

Tyndareus,

family of

who had

or at

some other period of

once returned

to

fallen into violent illness, followed

course of which he committed

his

life,

Herakles

Thebes, exhausted by

many

by

toil,

and

raving, in the

unfortunate acts,

among

others attempting to carry off the sacred tripod from the sanc-

tuary of Apollo at Delphi.

Being afterwards informed by the

oracle of Apollo that the crimes he

insanity could be expiated

he offered his services to

had committed through

by a period of three

Omphale, queen of

his

years' servitude,

Lydia, and there,

264

HEROES.

as elsewhere, distinguished himself chiefly for die assistance

he

rendered to the oppressed, and for the valour of his deeds.

The Death and Deification of Herakles.

Herakles,

would seem, had wooed Iole, a daughter of

it

Eurytos, king of (Echalia, but had been ultimately refused her

hand, in spite of his having

down by

fulfilled all

the

conditions laid

Turning elsewhere, he became a

her father.

suitor

Deianeira, a daughter of (Eneus, king of Kalydon, who

of

offered

daughter in marriage to

his

man who

the

vanquish the river-god Acheloos in wrestling.

should

Having proved

himself more than a match for the river-god, Herakles obtained

Deianeira in marriage, and next proceeded to punish the father

of

Iole

for

his

Having taken the slronghold

deceit.

(Echalia, he put the king

whom

exception of Iole,
ing

home

and

he carried

but instead of return-

off;

proceeded with her to a promontory

directly,

Euboea, intending to offer a sacrifice to Zeus.

ing of

this,

and being jealous of a

former love for

accustomed

Iole,

of

his children to death, with the

in

Deianeira, hear-

revival of her husband's

took the white robe in which he had been

to offer sacrifices, steeped

it

in

some preparation

given her by the Centaur Nessos, as a charm to bring back her

husband's love, and sent

it

by her son Lichas

to

Herakles.

She was not aware that the preparation contained the deadliest
poison.

Herakles had hardly put on the robe, when he was

seized with violent pain

Death appeared
to

to

be

the

be erected on Mount (Eta,

over his unerring

mounted the

pyre,

poison entering into his frame.

inevitable.

He

caused a pyre of wood

set fire to

bow and arrows

it,

and

after

to his friend

and was consumed

in its flames.

handing

Philoktetes,

His

spirit,

XXXIV.

Theseus.

Laokoon

HERAKLES AS A NATIONAL HERO.

it

was

to

passed away in a cloud, and was conducted by

said,

and Hermes

Iris

265

to

Olympos, where,

after

being reconciled

Hera, he was married to the goddess Hebe, and enjoyed

immortality and the esteem of

all

Deianeira, mean-

the gods.

time having heard of the calamity she had caused, put herself
to death.

While ancient poets familiarized the people with the exploits

of Herakles,

artists

found

in

them an endless variety of suband painted .vases

as the collections of sculptures

jects,

still

In the schools he was held up as an embodiment of

testify.

heroic virtue, and everywhere honour was done to him.

THESEUS.
(plate XXXI v.)

The

friend,

Herakles, was

and in many respects the counterpart of

Theseus, a son of /Egeus, king of Attica,

and iEthra, a daughter of Pittheus,

While

his

of the

king of Trcezene.

mother was a descendant of Pelops,

line of

Erechtheus.

his father

was

Theseus, brought up under the

whose wisdom and

care of his grandfather, Pittheus,

virtue

were well known, soon gave promise of great strength and

skill

in

athletic

for youths,

^Ethra,

such

as

and moreover became

His

lyre.

exercises,

father,

^Egeus,

Trcezene,

at

were

then

prescribed

a proficient in playing the

on taking leave of

had secreted

his

his mother,

sword and sandals

under a great rock, and told her that when the boy was able
to

move

the rock, he might

the sword

and sandals

teenth year,

out

for

come

to

as a token.

Theseus accomplished

Athens, where

him

at

When
this task,

Medea, who was

Athens, bringing
only in his

and

at

once

six-

set

then living with

HEROES.

266

^Egeus,

tried

compass

to

death,

his

but her

having

plan

failed, fled.

On

way

his

Athens Theseus was the hero of several

to

exploits resembling

more or

less

the

performed

youth.

He

slew

his

in

had been

practice

to crush with a

Epidauros.

On

Periphates, whose

blow of

across the pathless district

travellers

It

to

all

Isthmus of Corinth Theseus met and

the

was

his iron club

between Trcezene and

overcame Sinis, the robber, who was the

bourhood.

which Herakles

feats

commemorate

terror of the neigh-

this feat,

was

it

said, that

At Krommyon he

Theseus established the Isthmian games.

slew the wild boar that was laying waste the country round.

He

threw Skiron from a high

cliff

into the sea

which that robber had doomed many unlucky

Eleusis he slew the powerful

mastes
his

(usually called

victims was

Kerkyon, and

a death to

travellers.

At

afterwards

Da-

Prokrustes), whose manner of

to place

killing

them on a bed which was always

either too long or too short

of the victim to suit the bed

if

too short, he would cut off part

if

too long, he would stretch his

victim to the required length.

Arriving at Athens, Theseus was purified from

shed by the grateful inhabitants.

It

happened

all this

that,

blood-

because of

the long Ionian dress which he wore, and his long hair, which

gave him the appearance of a

girl,

some

scoffed at

him

for

going about alone in public.

To show

far

from

so effeminate as he seemed, he

unyoked a laden waggon

that

was standing
of

by,

and threw

it

up

that he

in the air, to the

was

astonishment

all.

His next exploit was against the family of

number,

called

Pallantides,

were endeavouring to get

sons
rid

of his

giants, fifty in

uncle

of Theseus, in

Pallas,

the

who

hope of

THESEUS.

267

succeeding to the government of Athens at the death of their

uncle yEgeus.

His extraordinary strength enabled him

He

overpower them.
as

we have

where,

then proceeded to Marathon,

already said, in connection with the labours of

Herakles, a furious

captured and led

it

bull

was destroying

who had
XXXIV.)

(See Plate

But the adventure

in

the

where he

off to Athens,

the goddess Athene,

prise.

to

him her

lent

it

to

aid in the enter-

which he gained the greatest glory was

Minotaur, a monster of which

his slaying the

He

plains.

sacrificed

we have given

a description above in connection with the legends of Crete,

where we have also explained why Athens was compelled to

send a tribute of young
Minotaur.

with the others in Crete.

arrived
place,

men and maidens

as victims to

Theseus offered himself as a victim, and

the

in time

Before the sacrifice took

he had won the favour of Ariadne, the

however,

daughter of Minos, and had obtained from her a clue of thread,

by holding on

to

which he might find

way back out of the

his

The

labyrinth in which the Minotaur lived.

intricacies of its

passages would have otherwise been a source of danger against

which

his great strength

Ariadne

Theseus

is

Museum

there

this act freed

Athens

companions

Theseus and

his

accompanied

also

abandoned

is

a picture in which

represented as holding the one end of the clue, while

in the interior of the labyrinth

Having by

On a very

would not have served him.

ancient vase in the British

for ever

set out

But

by Ariadne.

is

slaying the monster.

from the cruel

on the homeward voyage,

at the island of

her, fearing to take a stranger

ler grief on

frequently both

home

awaking and seeing the ship

conveyed her lover was

intense,

by poets and

tribute,

far

Naxos he

as his wife.

away

that

and has been commemorated

artists.

She was found sorrowing

268

HEROES.

by the young wine-god Dionysos, by whose influence her joy

returned.

Meanwhile the
for at

quickly,

arrival of the ship

was being anxiously looked

That the good news might be known more

Athens.

Theseus had promised, when he

when he

white flag

sighted Attica,

if

to hoist a

set out,

In his joy,

successful.

however, he had forgotten the promise, and sailed towards the

port with the black colours with which he had started.
seeing

this, his father,

loss of his son,

Among

^Egeus, gave

and put an end

way

to his

to grief at the

On

supposed

life.

the other adventures in which Theseus

took part

were the expedition of the Argonauts and that of Herakles

against the

Amazons.

said, carried off

In the latter expedition he had,

it

was

Hippolyte, whose girdle Herakles had been

commanded by Eurystheus
their queen, a great

to obtain.

For the carrying

body of the Amazons invaded

off of

Attica,

but

were repulsed by Theseus.

His warm friendship

Theseus
The

was

first

for the

Thessalian prince Peirithoos gave

two opportunities of displaying

his heroic qualities.

at the marriage of his friend

been previously related, the Centaurs present

becoming

fired with

wine, raised a tumult,

at

which, as has

at the banquet,

and would have

carried off the bride, but for the resistance of Theseus.

The

second occasion was when Peirithoos, having conceived a

passion

for

Persephone, audaciously resolved

to

carry

away from the lower world, and was aided by Theseus.

attempt

failed,

lower world
After

the

till

her

The

however, and both were kept in chains in the

Herakles released them.

death of his father, Theseus succeeded to the

government of Athens, lived

and introduced

in splendour, ruled with

institutions of a

most

liberal

prudence,

kind among his

THE HUNT OF THE KALYDONIAN BOAR.

He

people.

269

united the various independent and previously

one

hostile villages of Attica into

state,

with Athens at

head.

its

He

enriched and gave a

new impulse

the

Panathensea,

had been established by Erechtheus.

that

to the great festival of

In the island of Delos he founded an annual

festival

accom-

panied by games, at which the prize was a wreath of the sacred

In Athens the

palm-tree.

festival of

Oschophoria,

of Apollo, and of

in

Pyanepsia,

both said to have been established by him.

it

was

had

said, at the

retired

hands of

in

honour

honour of Dionysos, were

Lykomedes,

on the occasion of a tumult

He met
to

in Athens.

was Phaedra, a daughter of Minos, of Crete

his death,

whose court he

His wife

according to

another report, Antiope.

The memory

of his deeds was preserved by a beautiful

temple in Athens, erected for that purpose, and called the

Theseion.

THE HUNT OF THE KALYDONIAN BOAR.

At the head of

CEneus,

this expedition

neira, the wife of Herakles,

At the

was Meleagros, a son of

the king of Kalydon, and his wife

telling her that her infant

long as a brand which she pointed to on the

consumed.
it

Deia-

pair.

birth of Meleagros the Parcae appeared to Althaea,

would seem, Atropos

hid

Althaea

being a daughter of the same

Althaea snatched

away

her son.

carefully,

On

that

would

live as

remained un-

moment from

the flames,

and thus secured the invulnerability of

growing to manhood he took part

nautic expedition, and

acts of bravery

it

fire

it

is

in the

said to have signalized himself by

Argo-

many

but the enterprise with which his fame was most

associated was the successful hunt of the ferocious boar, that

'

HEROES.

270

was laying waste the country round Kalydon, defying the spears

and hounds of ordinary huntsmen.

Meleagros sent messengers round Greece to invite
bravest heroes to

Kalydon

to join

him

in the hunt.

all

its

There

came Idas and Lynkeus from Messene, Kastor and Poly-

deukes

from Pherse,

from Arcadia,

many
as

Ankaeos and

Jason from

Iolkos,

other well-proved heroes.

was

Theseus

(Pollux) from Lakedaemon,

Admetos

from Athens,

the beautiful

Peleus from

Atalante

Thessaly, and

After enjoying for nine days,

usual, the hospitality of Meleagros, they prepared

on the

tenth for the chase, which, with a few accidents, resulted in the

death of the boar by the spear of Meleagros, to

ingly

fell

the trophy of the monster's head

In Plate XXXIII. he
altar

shaded by a

His dog looks up

represented

is

whom

accord-

skin.

standing beside an

holding two spears in his hand.

laurel-tree,

to him.

and

The head

of the boar lies

on the

altar.

As, however, Atalante had been the

Meleagros made that a pretext

first

to

wound

the boar,

for presenting her with its skin.

But on her way homewards to Arcadia she was met and

forcibly robbed of it by the brothers of Althaea, the mother of
Meleagros, who considered that they had a superior claim

to that- part of the booty.

between Meleagros and

quarrel arose

his uncles

on

that account

they fought, and the end

was that the uncles were slain. To avenge their death,

Althaea cast the brand, which up till then she had carefully
of

it

preserved,

into

the

fire,

and thereupon her brave son was

seized with dreadful pain, and died.

her act caused the mother to

Grief at the rashness of

kill herself.

THE EXPEDITION OF THE ARGONAUTS.

271

THE EXPEDITION OF THE ARGONAUTS.

To understand

the

object of

necessary to go back a
at

whose instance

JEson,

his wife

Alkimede.

this

expedition,

will

it

be

into the genealogy of the person

That person was Jason,

was conducted.

it

a son of

little

the rightful king of Iolkos in Thessaly, and

The

father of

^Eson was ^Eolos

(a son of

Hellen and a grandson of Deukalion), at whose death he

succeeded to the throne, but was driven from

step-brother,

his

at

whose hands he and

suffered cruel persecution.

harm by some of
care

and

by Pelias,

it

his

all

relatives

The boy Jason was saved from

his father's friends,

and placed under the

instruction of the Centaur Cheiron.

At the age of

twenty he was told by an oracle to present himself to Pelias,

and claim

his father's

kingdom.

Pelias also

had learned from

the oracle that a descendant of ^Eolos would dethrone him,

and, moreover, that the descendant in question would appear

to

him

Pelias,

for the

the

first

usurper,

only one sandal to his

time with

the approach of a person in this plight.

river

feet.

was therefore anxiously looking out

It

happened

Enipeus was swollen when Jason reached

to put forth his claim against Pelias.

it,

on

for

that the
his

way

But Hera, the patron

goddess of Iolkos, taking the form of an old woman, conveyed

him

across, with

no

loss except that of

arrival at Iolkos,

Pelias recognised

by the

oracle, but, at the

referred to

to abdicate in his favour.

first

do something

in the

He

as the

same

time,

would prefer

way of

suitable adventure of that kind,

On

his

rightful heir

was unwilling

that Jason should

heroic enterprise, and, as a

proposed that he should fetch

the golden fleece from Kolchis.

set

one sandal.

him

Jason agreed

to this,

and

about building the Argo, the largest ship that had as yet

HEROES.

272

sailed from Greece.

skill

and advice

The goddess Athene aided him

with her

When

the ship

in the work, as did also

was ready, Jason sent messengers

him

of Greece to join

who accepted

in

his invitation

his

to invite the foremost heroes

Among

enterprise.

the

many

were Herakles, Kastor and Pollux,

Meleagros, Orpheus, Peleus,

friend Peirithoos,

Hera.

Neleus, Admetos, Theseus, his.

and the two sons of Boreas,

Kalai's

and

Zetes.

Turning now to the story of the golden fleece, the finding of

which was the object of so powerful an expedition, we must go
back to yEolos, whom we have mentioned above as grandfather of Jason

and son of Hellen.

ALson, another son,

had two

children,

Athamas, who

This .-Eolos had, besides

married Nephele, and

On

Phrixos and Helle.

the death of his

Athamas married a second time Ino, a daughter of

wife,

Kadmos, by whom he had two sons, Learchos and Melikertes. The second wife disliking her two step-children,
made several attempts on their lives. To save them from
further danger, the shade of their mother,
to Phrixos, bringing at the

same time a

it

was

large

said,

appeared

ram with a golden

on which she proposed Phrixos and Helle should escape

They started according to her advice, and
over the sea.

fleece,

Phrixos reached safely the opposite shore, but Helle

the ram's back into the sea and was drowned.

Hellespont was

had

to cross.

to Kolchis,

in

from

strait

of

which they

Phrixos, having reached the other side, proceeded

on the

sacrificed the

consequence given to the

fell

The name

ram

farthest shore of the

to Zeus, in

honour of

Black Sea, and there

his safety.

He hung

the golden fleece up in the temple of Ares.

Previous to starting from Iolkos, Jason offered a sacrifice to

Zeus, calling

upon the god

for a sign of his favour, or dis-

EXPEDITION OF THE ARGONAUTS.

pleasure

if it

lightning,

should be

Zeus answered with thunder and

so.

which was taken as a favourable omen.

dition proceeded

first

and became the

The women

race of heroes.

The

expe-

to Lemnos, where the heroes were kindly

received, remained a long time,

new

273

fathers of a

of the island had,

it

would

seem, at the. instigation of Aphrodite, slain their husbands.

One
and
life,

of the
called

Lemnian women, Hypsipyle, bore a son to Jason,

Leaving Lemnos and its festive
him Euneos.

the Argonauts continued their journey as far as Kyzikos,

where they landed

for a short time,

and were

in the act of

when Herakles, having broken his oar, left the ship,

accompanied by Hylas, to cut a new oar in the wood. But
leaving,

some nymphs, admiring the beauty of young Hylas,

him

off;

was compelled

the expedition

him,

assistance

proceed without the

the neighbourhood of the

where the reigning king,

his

to

and companionship of the great hero.

landing was in

for

carried

and as Herakles would not leave the country without

Amykos,

to all strangers

cruelty

Their next

modern

was famed

who entered

Scutari,

as a boxer,
his

and

territories.

Seeing the Argonauts land for the purpose of obtaining fresh

water, he sent them, as was his custom, a challenge to match
him with a boxer, which Pollux accepted, and proved the
skill by which he earned his fame upon the boastful Amykos.

Proceeding on their journey, they passed through the perilous

entrance to the Black Sea in safety, owing their escape from
its

dangers to the advice of

of the

district,

whom

Phineus,

the blind

and aged king

they had found suffering great distress on

account of his food being always carried off or polluted by the

Harpys,

just as

he

sat

well as his blindness,

consequence of

down

to eat

it.

This punishment, as

had been sent upon him by the gods

his cruelty to his wife (a

in

daughter of Boreas)

HEROES.

274

and

the two sons

in return for this kindness that

was

it

The Harpys were driven away effectually by

of Boreas, who accompanied the Argonauts and

children.

Phineus communicated

his plan for a safe passage through the

great

that

cliffs

moved upon

Symplegades, two
and crushed every-

their bases,

thing that ventured to pass between.

His plan was

fly

the

cliffs,

each

to

having closed upon the pigeon, began to retire to

side, to

row the Argo

was done, and before the

swiftly

cliffs

through the passage.

It

could close upon her, the ship,

From

but her rudder, had got clear of danger.

all

first

a pigeon through between them, and then the moment that

that time

the Symplegades were united into one rock.

After

many other

adventures the expedition at

last

reached

Kolchis, where they found i*Eetes, a reputed son of Helios

and

Persei's,

He

reigning as king.

man who

except to the

fleece,

satisfaction in certain enterprises

was to yoke
fire

to a

plough

and had hoofs of

with them.
teeth,

his

brass,

That done, the

from which armed

The hero who succeeded

fetch, if
in a

refused to give

which he proposed.

unmanageable
and

field

bulls, that

The first
snorted

to plough, the field of

was

men were

to

Ares

be sown with a dragon's

to spring in the furrows.

so far was then to be permitted to

he could, the golden

fleece,

which hung on an oak

grove sacred to Ares, and was watched continually by a

monstrous dragon.

Medea,

the daughter of ^Eetes, having

conceived a passion for Jason, prepared him

for these

ous tasks by means of a witch's mixture which

against

and

up the golden

should acquit himself to his

fire

and sword.

his success

The goddess Athene

danger-

made him proof

also helped him,

was complete.

The Argonauts now commenced

Jason taking with him Medea.

On

their

homeward voyage,

missing his daughter, yEetes

EXPEDITION OF THE ARGONAUTS.

gave

Seeing that he was overtaking them, Medea, to

pursuit.

divert his course,

dismembered her young brother, Absyrtos,

she had taken with her, and cast the limbs about

whom
sea.

275

The

his child, enabled

another report,

and met

whom

in the

delay caused to ^Eetes in collecting the pieces of

his

Medea and Jason

According

to escape.

Absyrtos had by that time grown

to

to

manhood,

death in an encounter with Jason, in pursuit of

he had been sent by his

father.

many

After passing through

other dangers, Jason at

last

reached Iolkos, and, presenting the golden fleece to Pelias,

But Pelias

claimed the throne, as agreed upon-

Jason therefore slew him,

abdicate

ment of

Iolkos, together with that of Corinth,

the father of Medea, had,

it

still

and assumed

where JEetes,

said, ruled before

is

refused' to

the govern-

he went to

Kolchis.

Ten

years of peace followed the accession of Jason to the

The origin

throne.

of the troubles that

fell

upon the royal house

thereafter was an attachment formed by Jason

Kreusa

(or Glauke, as others called her),

wife in Corinth.

Medea, stung with

arts of witchcraft she

had learned

for the beautiful

whom

he made his

jealousy, turned to the

in Kolchis,

and having steeped

a dress and a costly wreath in poison, sent them to her

rival,

and

Not content with

that,

she

by

that

set fire

means caused her death.

to the palace of Kreon, the father of Kreusa; and

finding Jason enraged at

what she had done, she put

the children she herself had borne to him,

and

fled to

where, as we have seen, she lived for a time

Thence
on the

also she
life

had

of Theseus.

believed, in a chariot

Jason,

it

to

is

said,

further,

to death

Athens,

with .^Egeus.

escape, in consequence of an attempt

She

went back

to

Kolchis,

some

drawn by winged dragons.

depressed by his troubles, repaired to the

HEROES.

276

sanctuary on the Isthmus of Corinth, where the Argo had been

On approaching the
consecrated in the grove of Poseidon.
ship, part of the stern

gave way,

fell

upon him, and caused

Another version of the story says that he took his

death.

his

own

life.

THE YOUNGER RACE OF HEROES, AND

THE WARS AGAINST THEBES

AND TROY.

THE

heroes of the succeeding age were regarded as sons or

grandsons of those
events of the period in
against

whom we have just

described, the great

which they lived being the two wars

Thebes and Troy.

It

has already been observed that

the accounts of these wars, though apparently having

some

foundation in historical facts, are altogether mythical in their

form, and

interwoven with incidents of a wholly mythical

character.

These two

events,

more than any of

the other adventures of

heroes, formed the favourite subjects of the national poetry of

Greece, the incidents of each having been, as a whole, or in part,

worked up

into a long series of epic

poems and

tragedies, of

which, with two exceptions, only fragments remain to our times.

These exceptions are the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" the oldest,

it is believed, and at the same time the most celebrated, of the
epic

poems upon

the subject of the war against

Troy, the

THE WARS OF THEBES AND TROY.

The

reputed author of them being Homer.

Thebais,

its

We

author being unknown.

entitled

both

shall relate

come

these great events in the connection in which they have

down

on

principal epic

Thebes was

the expedition of the seven heroes against

the

277

to us.

THE SEVEN HEROES WHO WENT AGAINST

THEBES: THEIR DESCENDANTS, THE EPIGONI.
We

have already alluded to the

which CEdipos,

after killing his father,

throne of Thebes, and married his

will

series of

be remembered that from

this

own

grim events by

Laios, came

to the

mother, Jokaste.

It

union sprang four children,

two of them being sons, Eteokles and Polyneikes, and two

daughters,

Antigone, and Ismene

criminality of the marriage

came

and

that,

when

the

to light, Jokaste killed herself,

while (Edipos, after putting out his eyes, went into voluntary
exile,

accompanied only by

his high-souled

who resolved to share all his adversity.

The sons, remaining in Thebes, soon

fell

daughter Antigone,

into a

concerning the succession to the throne, but at

reign year about,
first

period of

Eteokles, the

office.

not only declined to

so far as to expel

His

retire in

dispute

agreed to

elder of the two, having the

year, however,

him from the

warm
last

having expired, he

behalf of his brother, but went

city.

Polyneikes, brooding revenge, betook himself

to

Ad-

rastos, king of Sikyon, and was there hospitably received,

meeting also under the

same roof another pretender

Tydeus

The two youths became

throne,

of Argos.

to

friends,

HEROES.

278

and bound themselves

in marriage,

to stand

prepared a powerful army to reinstate,

Tydeus

two daughters

his

allied himself

and having thus

Thebes, and next,

in the recovery

by each other

Adrastos gave them

of their sovereignty.

first,

cause,

their

to

Polyneikes

in

in Argos.

Meantime both the young men visited many parts of Greece,

with the view of obtaining companions in arms, and many a

summons such, for example,

Hipponoos, of Argos, Eteoklos,
son of Iphis, and Parthenopseos, a son of Atalanta
These three,
and Melanion (or of Ares), from Arcadia.
stout hero answered to their

as

Kapaneus, a son

of

together with Polyneikes, Tydeus,

Amphiaraos,

the princely seer

Apollo),
Thebes.

the

constituted
It

with

of the

criminal

injustice,

army

it

was

had no

would

warnings,

He

acts.

godless as

had

affair

extreme

all

less

(or of

against

reluctance

he was a

who knew

more or

lastly

that

man

that the other

guilty of

l>een

foresaw that the undertaking, altogether

since

Polyneikes, though he had suffered

right to invade his native

have a disastrous issue

however,

much was thought

heroes

seven

in the expedition; for

of profound piety, and a prophet,

leaders

Oikles

the son of

so-called

however,

was,

Amphiaraos took part

and Adrastos, and

for

town with a foreign

all

of them.

His

were unheeded, and he himself, since

to

depend on

his presence,

was forced

take part in the adventure through the following plot

Amphiaraos and Adrastos, finding themselves greatly

variance in opinion
last

to

at

concerning the projected expedition, at

agreed to intrust the decision of the matter to Eriphyle

(the wife of Amphiaraos),

who was

prevailed on by the costly

presents given her secretly by Polyneikes to

her husband, though

she had

decide against

been informed by him that

THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.

Adrastos

alone, of

On

expedition.

all

the seven,

279

would ever return from the

stepping into his chariot to depart for battle,

Amphiaraos turned round, and called down upon

a curse, which his son,
slaying his

mother

to

Alkmaeon,

We

moment

march under

guidance

of

Attica, where,

end

his
it

faithful

its

its

in

Greece, he at

himself about the

ill-fated

last,

Antigone,

daughter,

had been predicted, he was

to all his woes.

seven leaders.

further adventures, return

After wandering about sad and

to CEdipos.

miserable here and there

ful

to

must, however, before tracing

for a

by-

his father's death.

avenge

The army was now ready

afterwards

his wife

fulfilled

under the
arrived in

to find a peace-

Neither of the sons had troubled

old man, until an oracle announced

that victory in the approaching battle

would be on the

side of

him who brought back CEdipos to Thebes, and had him

in his

Thereupon both sought him out, Polyneikes going in

camp.

person to beg for his blessing on the assault upon their native
town.

CEdipos cursed the unholy enterprise.

the reigning king, despatched his uncle,

Eteokles,

Kreon, a

as

brother of

commands to bring back CEdipos

Kreon attempted to do so,
when
But

his mother's, to Attica, with

by force

if

Theseus

interfered,

land.

necessary.

and expelled him and

CEdipos, after calling

curse, that they

his followers

down upon

his

from the

undutiful sons a

might perish each by the hand of the other,

died in the sacred grove of the Eumenides at Kolonos, near

Athens, and was buried by Theseus with

pomp and ceremony.

Antigone returned in great grief to Thebes.

About the same time the expedition of the seven set out.
On reaching Nemea they found all the springs dry a judgment

sent

upon them by Dionysos,

Thebes.

it

was

said, the

Suffering severely from thirst,

guardian deity of

and looking about

for

HEROES.

280

Hypsipyle

water, the heroes encountered

who, because of Jason's love

for her,

(see Argonauts),

had been sent by the

Lemnos to Nemea, and there sold into slavery

to the king, Lykurgos, her duty being to tend his young child,
Opheltes. They begged her to take them to a well, which

women

other

she did

of

but before going off with them, had, contrary to the

warning of an oracle,

laid

down

the child on the ground in the

Returning from the well, they found the child dead

wood.

within the coils of a snake.

Tydeus and Kaparieus would

had not Amphiaraos announced

it to
be a miraculous creature sent by Zeus as an evil omen.
On this account he re-named the child Archemoros, which
have

slain the reptile at once,

means the "dawn of mystery."

The heroes appeased

the

angry parents by performing splendid obsequies to the child,

the athletic contests and ceremonies of that occasion being
afterwards looked on as the

games

(see above).

her son,

Euneos, who had gone

In spite of this

evil

upon Thebes, and

arrived before

its

celebration of the

Nemean

in search of her.

omen, the army of the seven advanced

after

several

less

important adventures

There they pitched a camp, and as a

settle the matter amicably, sent Tydeus

walls.

preliminary attempt to
into

first

Hypsipyle was taken back to her home by

Thebes with orders

to

require that the government be

ceded to Polyneikes, according to the original terms of agree-

ment between the

brothers.

Tydeus was, however, received with hostility, and would

have perished in the ambush laid for him by Eteokles, contrary to the universal

extraordinary

strength.

usage of war, had

Of

the

fifty

it

not been for his

men who surrounded

him, he spared only one to take back to Eteokles the tidings

of the

affair.

28l

THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.

The

now be decided by

dispute must

Thebes was

each

closely surrounded,

taking up his position before one of

similar

manner Eteokles

its

the

battle

In a

under seven

forces

defence of the gate which his brother was

arms.

seven heroes

seven gates.

distributed his

for himself the

of the gates, reserving

generals within each

of

force

of the

attack.

to-

When

commenced, deeds of extraordinary valour were

but the gods were against the assailants,

the divine good-will in a special
gained
the Thebans having

done on both

sides

degree by the
voluntarily

sacrifice

made

which Kreon's

Mencekeus,

son,

save his native

of himself with a view to

town, as the oracle announced by the seer Teiresias reWhen the last and fatal day of the siege
commended.
arrived,

Amphiaraos warned

his

awaited them, and the death of

tos.

Intrusting to

companions
all

in

arms of what

their leaders except Adras-

him tokens of remembrance

for their friends,

they rushed into battle with all the courage of despair.

Matters

Thebes.

soon began to look grave outside the walls of

fierce Kapaneus, who had boasted that he

The

would take the town

in

spite

of Zeus

and

all

the divine

portents, had reached the parapet of the walls on his storm-

ing ladder,

him

lightning bolt from Zeus struck

when a

to the ground.

this event,

the Argive

and

leaders

their

pierced

each

and hurled

general onset of the Thebans followed

army

being

falling before

slain.

other through

the

them everywhere,

Eteokles and

body

in

Polyneikes

a hand-to-hand

by a lightning bolt on the spot

where Amphiaraos stood, yawned and swallowed him, from
encounter.

The

earth, struck

which time forward he continued

with the

gift

of prophecy.

to exist as

spirit

endowed

Adrastos alone escaped, and that

by means of the winged horse Arion.

HEROES.

282

Kreon, the uncle of the

to the throne of

Thebes, and, as his

with great ceremony

to the

rite

The

it.

this sentence,

duty, buried Eteokles

at the

same time denied

to

betrothed to his son,

was pent

the lower world

and accordingly she

and buried the corpse

be buried alive the

Haemon, and

being of no
in

any one who

secretly, as

but his watchman having observed the

was condemned

latter,

to

kindly heart of Antigone could not

defied Kreon's strict order,

she thought

succeeded

which caused her brother's soul to wander

for ever without rest in

the

first

which he

body of Polyneikes, on pain of death

should perform
bear

fallen sons of CEdipos,

fact

the tears

avail to mitigate her

act,

she

of her being

and

entreaties of

doom.

Antigone

a subterranean chamber, in which, to avoid the

pangs of starvation, she hanged

herself.

Haemon, unwilling

to

outlive her, put an end to his existence, and Kreon's inhuman

cruelty

was punished by the desolation of

the family of

CEdipos became

his house,

by which

extinct.

Thirty years having elapsed since the expedition of the seven,

their sons

undertook to avenge the death of their fathers by a

This was the so-called war of the

second attack on Thebes.

Epigoni
upon

(that

is,

"offspring" or sons), which

with the consent of the gods,

and ended

was entered

in the destruc-

tion of Thebes, which for a long time remained a

space called " Lower Thebes."

mere open

283

THE TROJAN WAR.

THE TROJAN WAR.

THE CAUSE OF THE WAR.
Contemporary with the conquest of Thebes by the Epigoni,
which has been related above, we find on the throne of
Troy, or

a king

Ilion,

named Priamos, whose

chief dis-

tinction consisted in his being the father of a noble race of

Hekabe

His wife was

sons.

for another

approached

(or

When

Hecuba).

Kassandra, on whom Apollo had bestowed

ter

prophecy, announced

that

To

the ruin of his country.

was

at

its

birth

the child

the

would grow up

of

gift

to

be

prevent such a^calamity, the infant

exposed on Mount Ida, where

and brought up by shepherds,

pation Paris, or

the time

son to be born to them, their daugh-

in

it

was found

whose society and occu-

Alexandros, spent

the early part of his

life.

On
came
him

a beautiful day, as he tended his flocks, three goddesses

him

to

to decide

must explain.
from

Hera,

his

Athene, and Aphrodite

which of them was the most

When

commanding

beautiful.

Here we

Zeus withdrew, as we have already seen,

proposed marriage with Thetis,

on account of a

prophecy communicated by Themis, that the issue of such a

union would be a son who would surpass his father

in might,

it

was agreed to give the sea-goddess in marriage to Peleus, a

young prince of Phthia,

him

to

the gods.

"

as they did to that of

goddess of

strife.

in Thessaly,

whose piety had endeared

The gods came

to their marriage feast,"

Kadmos and Harmonia,

Angry

at not

all

but Eris, the

being invited, she determined

HEROES.

mar the pleasantness of the company, and to this end threw

among them a golden apple, on which was written, " To the
Hereupon the three goddesses mentioned
most beautiful."
above claimed each the prize, and Zeus referred them to Paris,
to

on Mount Ida,

the shepherd

take upon himself

to

first

so

Unwilling at

for a decision.

much

was

responsibility, Paris

at

on being promised the throne of

Asia by Hera, immortal fame as a hero by Athene, and the

length persuaded to decide,

loveliest wife

He

on earth by Aphrodite.

assigned the prize

last-mentioned goddess, and by so doing drew upon

to the

himself and his native country the most bitter enmity of the
other two.

In the meantime
offered

happened

it

up,

and followed

it

to

Paris

would have

Then

to

be

of the

herd on

who

boldly refused to give

demand

its

But a quarrel ensued on the way,

fallen at his brothers' hands, but for the

timely appearance of Kassandra,

birth.

to the

the town, intending to

restoration from the king.

and

Paris,

Two

Their choice included

Ida, to select fitting animals.

one that was a favourite of

was

that a sacrifice

Hektor and Helenos, were sent

king's sons,

Mount

it

Troy, for which oxen were wanted.

in

who

revealed the story of his

there was joy in the king's palace at the return of

the lost son, grown up as he was, to be beautiful, handsome,

and brave.

The untoward prophecy was

The sudden change from

the

life

forgotten.

of a herdsman to that of a

prince surrounded by the pleasures of court and town,

Paris oblivious of the visit
that

made

of the goddesses and the promise

had been made him of the most

beautiful wife

on

earth.

But Aphrodite meant to fulfil the promise, and to this end

commanded him to have ships built to sail to Hellas, and
proceed to Sparta, where, in the person of Helena, he would

THE TROJAN WAR.

285

Paris obeyed,

and was accompanied

find the wife in question.

on the journey by iEneas, a son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite.

Arriving at Amyklse, he was

met and kindly welcomed by

Kastor and Polydeukes (Pollux), the brothers

of Helena. To the same family (of which Zeus and Leda were
the parents) belonged Klytaemnestra, the wife of Agathe Dioscuri,

memnon,

who,

like her brother Kastor,

was mortal, while the

other two, Helena and Pollux, were immortal.

Of

the close

attachment of the two brothers to each other there

instance which

we

did not take place

shall here relate,

till

Phoebe and Hilaeeira,

of

became enamoured of
off.

fell

at the

prayer with

live

whom

and attempted

to carry

them

Lynkeus,

after slaying

Pollux next slew to avenge

life,

proposing as a compensation that

only on alternate days.

Zeus granted the

In after times the twin-brothers

condition.

its

and Idas with

Pollux then prayed to Zeus that he might

restore his brother to

both should

Lynkeus

which Kastor,

hands of Idas,

it

daughters of Leukippos, they

the brides,

fight ensued, in

his brother's death.

the

a fine

Being present, according

little later.

to invitation, at the nuptials

is

though in point of time

were regarded as divine beings, and supposed

to ride

on white

horses in the sky, with dazzling spears, and each with a star

above

his brow.

in the air,

In storms,

when a mariner saw a

ball of fire

he was assured that the Dioscuri were near to help

him.
After spending

panied by JEneas,
the king,

some time with the

set out for Sparta,

Menelaos, and

his wife,

Dioscuri, Paris, accom-

where he was received by

Helena, in the same

spirit

of kindly hospitality as the brothers of the latter had displayed

at

Amyklse.

Of Menelaos we have

already mentioned

his

HEROES.

286

consequences
Such,

The

Atreus.

descent from

as follows

is

the hearts of men, and,

The

off.

its

would seem, had been the astonishing beauty and

it

grace of Helena, that even as a young

her

marriage and

story of his

among

girl

she had captivated

others, of Theseus,

Dioscuri, however, soon found

who

carried

and brought her

back, taking with them as a prisoner, yEthra, the mother of

Theseus, and presenting her as a servant to Helena. As Helena

grew to womanhood, so numerous and so pressing were the

noble suitors for her hand, that

became alarmed
so many,
therefore,

called

be

at the prospect of

by choosing one of them

after in

all to

her foster-father,

provoking the

He

for her.

choose for

to allow her to

upon them

satisfied

and

Tyndareus,

herself.

hostility of

determined,

But

first

he

take an oath, not only that they would

with her choice, but would assist her husband then

whatever danger or

difficulty

he might be placed.

She chose Menelaos, the brother of Agamemnon, her

sister's

husband, and the marriage was celebrated with great pomp.

Tyndareus, however, had omitted to
rodite,

offer a

sacrifice to

who, to punish him, made the heart of his

Aph-

foster-

daughter readily accessible to unbridled love.

Paris, as has

and
wife,

freely

been

said,

was kindly received by Menelaos,

admitted to his hospitality and the society of his

Helena, with

whom

he soon formed an attachment which

deepened with time, and under the influence of the costly presents of Asiatic wares which he gave her. Menelaos, meanwhile
suspecting nothing, prepared to pay a
Crete, leaving his

husband

safely at a distance,

elope with Paris to Troy, to

oriental luxury

visit to

wife under the care of his

Idomeneus

guest.

Helena was readily persuaded

become

and splendour.

his wife,

of

With her

and there

to

live in

Reaching the coast under the

THE TROJAN WAR.

287

cover of night, they embarked, and after weathering a storm

by Hera, the goddess of marriage

sent

To

troth,

reached Troy in

and were married with great pomp and magnificence.

safety,

Menelaos, at the court of Idomeneus in Crete,

the

Iris,

divine messenger, carried the intelligence of the disgrace that

had

fallen

sulted

on

Returning at once, and having con-

his house.

powerful brother,

his

Agamemnon, he proceeded

Pylos, to seek the advice of the aged Nestor,

whose reputa-

prudence and wisdom throughout Greece had been

tion for

acquired by his services in

two

to

preceding

generations,

many wars

in the course of the

such was his great age.

His

counsel on this occasion was that nothing short of a combination

of

all

the armies of Greece would be sufficient to

punish the crime that had been committed, and recover the
possession of Helena.

Acting on

this advice,

Menelaos and Agamemnon

the princes

and heroes of the land,

assistance.

Those who had been

bound by an oath
him

to

ment.

do

so,

to assist

visited all

to obtain pledges of their

suitors of

Helena had been

Menelaos whenever called upon by

and were now ready

to carry out their engage-

Others promptly offered their services, from feelings of

resentment at the vileness of the act of Paris.

Only

in

two

cases was any difficulty experienced, but they were very im-

portant cases, as

it

proved.

The

first

was that of Odysseus

(Ulysses), son of Laertes, the king of the island of Ithaka. His

beautiful

and

faithful wife,

Telemachos, and
felicity,

issue of

Penelope, had borne him

a son,

being in the enjoyment of perfect domestic

he was unwilling to exchange

it

which appeared very dubious.

for a part in a war, the

But instead of return-

ing a blunt answer, he pretended insanity, put on a fisherman's

hat,

yoked a horse and an ox together, and commenced

to

HEROES.

288

But Palamedes, detecting the sham,

plough.

Telemachos on the ground

Odysseus revealed the sobriety of

the child

was

set the infant

In saving

in front of the plough.

his senses,

The

compelled to join the expedition.

and

other case was

Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis, a nymph of

that of

the sea.

Thetis having been offered by the gods the choice in behalf of

her son, of either a long

life

spent in obscurity and retirement,

or a few years of dazzling martial fame, chose the

and

with that view

court of

Lykomedes,

rity,

brought up

among

was known

to

and gained the love

who bore him

a son, Neoptolemos,

be of the highest importance

Meantime

and

was sent

to enlist his services.

For

that purpose

and character of a trader

in the dress

Trojan

for the

concealment of the young son of

expedition to discover the

Thetis,

to the

the king's daughters,

afterwards took part in the war against Troy.

who

of obscu-

girl,

There he was

in the island of Skyros.

of one of them, De'idamia,

it

life

conveyed him, dressed as a

Odysseus

to Skyros.

On

the pretext of offering his trinkets and wares for sale to the
king's daughters, he obtained admittance to the palace,

discovered Achilles, disguised as

he was.

and

Odysseus ordered a

magnificent suit of armour to be displayed before the youth,

and a

call to

arms

to

scheme was successful

seized

upon

projected

Achilles,

expedition.

Menoetios, to

had

and

all

an

who

The

impulse to achieve military glory

forthwith offered his services to the

Peleus sent

be a companion

The harbour
ships

be sounded on a military horn.

Patroklos,

the

son of

for his son.

of Aulis was where the various contingents of

soldiery were appointed to assemble

and when they

arrived-more than 1,000 ships, each with at least 150

men it was

a sight such as had never been seen in Greece

THE TROJAN WAR.

Agamemnon,

before.

the most powerful prince in Greece,

elected to the position of

While the
itself

fleet. .lay in

commander

was

of the expedition.

was observed coiling

Aulis, a serpent

round a plane-tree, on which was a sparrow's nest with

The

nine young birds.

serpent devoured the young ones, but

was instantly changed into stone.

on turning

to the mother-bird

Kalchas,

the high priest, was

summoned

He

strange occurrence might betoken.

we must

round

fight

Thereafter the

to divine

replied

what the

"Nine years

and on the tenth take the town."

Ilion,

crossed the ^Egean, and landed by

fleet sailed,

mistake in Mysia, which the Greeks prepared to lay waste. They

were, however, stoutly opposed by the king

Telephos,
proved

In

son of Herakles.

by

his bravery, fighting side

received a wound, which Achilles

the

of the country,

contest

Patroklos

He

side with Achilles.

thanks

to his early training

under the Centaur Cheiron, and the knowledge of medicine

then obtained

was able

wound from

the spear of Achilles in

finding that
it.

The

it

to cure.

would not

Telephos also had received a

reply of the oracle was that

by him who had caused

communicated

to

the

the

heal, consulted
it

engagement, and,

an oracle regarding

could be healed only

Meantime another

it.

oracle

was

Greeks, to the intent that Telephos

should lead them to Troy.

How

this

came about we

shall

see presently.

The Greek
While lying

fleet

there,

had returned again

to the

harbour of Aulis.

Agamemnon had chanced

to see a beautiful

stag, sacred to

Artemis.

draw upon the

stag,

and

His passion
kill

it,

for the chase led

him

to

while in the pride of his success

he dared to boast that he could excel the goddess of the chase

herself.

befel him.

This was the cause of a series of misfortunes that then

The

injured goddess

first

sent a calm which detained

i9

HEROES.

290

week after week. In spite of Palamedes' invention

game of draughts and other means of amusement, the
prolonged inactivity began to tell upon the force, and to create
At last Kalchas, being ordered to discover
serious discontent.

the fleet

of the

what the gods desired, explained that Artemis required, on the

Agamemnon,

part of

His

fatherly feelings

mander of the

to

come

be married, he

He

com-

sent a message to his wife,

to Aulis, bringing Iphigeneia with her,

They came

said, to Achilles.

as a victim, not as a bride, that

The

to the altar of Artemis.

tion,

Iphigeneia.

to yield to his sense of duty as

expedition.

Klytaemnestra, to

the sacrifice of his daughter

had

Agamemnon

but

it

was

led his daughter

goddess, satisfied with his inten-

suddenly appeared on the scene, provided a goat for the

carried off Iphigeneia in a

sacrifice,

cloud to Taurus, and

Klytsemnestra

appointed her to the care of her temple there.

could

not forgive her husband

How

practised.

for

the

avenged herself

she

deception he
shall

be

had

afterwards

related.

In conseqence of the oracle concerning the

wound which

he had received from the spear of Achilles, Telephos proceeded

to Aulis,

where the Greek

disguise to

Agamemnon,

fleet lay,

and presenting himself

seized his infant son,

Orestes,

in

whom

Klytaemnestra had brought with her, and threatened to slay the

child, if healing

scraping
to the

were refused him.

some of the

rust

wound, and healed

Odysseus interposed, and

from the spear of Achilles, applied

it.

Thereupon Telephos

services in leading the expedition to Troy,

thus fulfilled,

on

their

way

the Greeks
at

Lemnos,

Herakles, Philoktetes,

set sail a

and the oracle being

second time

to sacrifice at

who had

an

for Troy.

Landing

altar raised there

inherited the

of Herakles, was bitten in the foot

it

offered his

bow and

by a snake, and

by

arrows
suffered

THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR.

agony that made him scream continually.

wound, and unwilling to endure

him behind, and proceeded on

2QI

Unable

to heal the

the Greeks

his screams,

left

their journey, reaching at last

the Trojan shore.

The

First Years of the War.

The Trojans having

received intelligence of the hostile pre-

parations of the Greeks, prepared on their part also to meet the

enemy, assembling

in

and around the

city of

they could obtain from neighbours and

hero,

whom

Troy

allies,.

all

they chose to lead them in assaults, was

The

the eldest son of the king.

first

the forces

Their foremost

Hektor,

engagement of the two

forces occurred while the Greeks were in the act of landing

their ships, the result of

back within
loss

on

it

from

being that the Trojans were driven

their walls, but not without inflicting considerable

their

enemy.

The

first

attempt of the Greeks to take

the town by storm entirely failed, and, finding that the Trojans

would not surrender Helena

mander could
so than

by a

see

to her husband, the

no other means

siege.

of compelling

Greek com-

them

to

do

Accordingly a well-fortified camp was

constructed round the ships, which had been hauled up on the

shore,

and with

proceeded
bourhood.

that

to lay

camp

to

fall

back upon, the Greek army

waste the territory and towns in the neigh-

The Trojan

forces,

acknowledging the superiority

of the besiegers, did not seek a battle, and excepting such inci-

when Achilles and Hektor fought in single combat,

when Troilos, the youngest son of Priam, was captured and
put to death by Achilles, nothing of moment transpired.
dents as

or

In the course of the raids made by the Greeks

in the neigh-

HEROES.

292

bourhood,

the spoils,

to divide

town of Pedasos,

that having taken the

happened

it

and come

Agamemnon

obtained as his

captive Chryseis, a daughter of Chryses, the

priest of

Apollo in the island of Chryse, while to the lot of Achilles

maiden

Brisei's, a

entreated

fell

as beautiful as the priest's daughter. Chryses

Agamemnon

to

him

restore

his

daughter, offering

a heavy ransom for her, but was met with refusal and con-

in

whose

was

service he

who, being
'

an appeal to the god

Chryses implored the aid of Apollo,

Having one other resource

tumely.

for other reasons also hostile to

them with a plague which carried them

Agamemnon

the Greeks, visited

off in great

numbers.

called a muster of the army, and inquired of the

high-priest, Kalchas,

by what the apgry god could be appeased.

Kalchas, being assured of the protection of Achilles, boldly

declared that the wrath of Apollo had been caused by the

unjust detention of Chryseis, a daughter of one of his priests.

Upon

this,

Agamemnon, who had borne a grudge

Kalchas ever since the

sacrifice of Iphigeneia, rated the priest

in reproachful terms, charging

him

also in the present instance

with being in league with Achilles

would have resented with

interposed.

mander

Brisei's,

Agamemnon

of the

demanded

army

force,

felt his

insulted

as satisfaction for

by

a charge which

compelled

warned by Athene

to

to

dignity as king

the

this the

give

threat

and com-

of Achilles, and

person of the beautiful

up.

be calm, confessed

the demand, and from

the latter

had not the goddess Athene

apparently to take the place of Chryseis,

had been

against

Achilles

whom

he

having been

his inability to resist

that time withdrew with all his

men

from the camp.

Thetis having beseeched Zeus to take measures to compel
Agamemnon to atone for this insult to her son, obtained a

THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR.

293

divine decree setting forth that so long as Achilles held aloof

the Greeks would be defeated in every engagement with the

Emboldened by

Trojans.

by

Achilles,

numerous

the Trojans

the intelligence of the step taken

from their

sallied

battles, skirmishes,

and

walls,

after

and personal encounters, always

attended with serious loss to the enemy, drove the Greeks

back

to the shelter of their fortified

abased and humiliated by

last,

embassy
to

camp

disasters,

Agamemnon

to Achilles, offering to restore Briseis,

bestow on him

and

sent an

in addition

seven towns for a

his daughter's hand, with

But the wrath of Achilles would not

dowry.

At

beside the ships.

relent,

and

still

the need of his countrymen grew worse.

The end seemed

to

be near when Hektor,

at the

and

the Trojans, had stormed the wall of the camp,

of the ships

on

fire.

Seeing

this,

to the

men

The

back.

terror,

Not content with thus deciding

disregarding

sudden reappear-

battle, their

ance striking the Trojan army with

Myrmidons

Patroklos and his

request being granted,

were soon in the heat of the

and causing

it to fall

the battle, Patroklos,

the advice of Achilles, pursued

enemy

the

Hektor, turning round, engaged him in a hand-to-hand

the issue of which was the death of the Greek hero.
stripped

the

body

him of the armour of

for the

of

Patroklos begged Achilles to

lend him his armour, and allow him to lead the

fight.

head

set several

Achilles,

Hektor

which he wore, but

Greeks to take possession

of.

The

till

fight,

left

grief of

Achilles at the loss of his friend was as violent as had been

his anger against

Agamemnon.

He

called for vengeance

Hektor, and with the object in view of obtaining

a reconciliation which

all

the sufferings

could not previously induce him to submit

of his
to.

it,

on

yielded to

countrymen

With armour

more dazzling and superb than had ever been seen before, forged

HEROES.

294

by the god Hephsestos, and brought by Thetis

in the

hour of

her son's need, he went forth to battle, seeking Hektor in the

Trojan ranks, which everywhere hurried back

The Trojan hero stepped

a wolf.

He

but not without sad misgivings.

Andromache, and

his faithful wife,

when

the

his adversary,

had said

to his boy,

But even the strong sense of duty to

supported him

meet

forth to

sheep before

like

farewell

to

Astyanax.

his country,

which had

domestic scene, deserted him utterly

in this

young Greek hero approached with the dauntless

Hektor

bearing of the god of war himself.

having a faster step, cut off

his retreat,

The combat

with the courage of despair.

fled

but Achilles,

and thus imbued him

did not

the

last long,

victory of Achilles being easily won.

Unappeased by the death of Hektor,

outrage his

body

lifeless

After dragging

it

by binding

cast

it

war-chariot.

his

to

it

thus three times round the walls of Troy in

the face of the people, he returned with

and there

Achilles proceeded to

among

dust and

to the

it

Greek camp,

Displeased by such

dirt.

excess of passion, the gods took care of Hektor's body, and

saved

from corruption, while Zeus

it

the heart of Achilles, and prepared

an act of generosity which was

his previous cruelty.

On

the other hand,

in the night

tent,

for the

of

sent to bid Priam go stealthily

and beg the body of

besought him, as he valued his own

rites

memory

his son

of Troy obeyed, and coming to the young hero's

leave to take away the

tomary

performance of
the

up the body without a ransom.

Hermes was

to Achilles' tent,

The aged king

him

to blot out

the one hand, Thetis was employed

to persuade her son to give

On

meantime softened

in the

of burial.

lifeless

Achilles

father, to give

body, and pay to

it

him

the cus-

was touched by the gentleness

of his beseeching, raised the old

man from

his knees, shared

THE DEATH OF ACHILLES.

295

with him the hospitality of his tent, and,

the morning,

in

having given up the body, sent him back under a safe escort.
In the pause of hostilities that took place then, the Greeks
buried the body of Patroklos with great ceremony.

The Death of
The

loss of

Hektor had so

Achilles.
Trojans, that

the

dispirited

enemy

without fresh succours they could not face the

again.

Such succours, however, consisting of an army of Amazons,

under the command of the beautiful Penthesilea, arrived
mourning

in the interval of
for

Patroklos

again,

the

in

the valiant

strength

for

Hektor

When

other.

Penthesilea,

one camp and

in the

commenced

hostilities

being eager to measure her

with that of Achilles, and to avenge the death of

army

Hektor, led the Trojan

The

into battle.

leaders of the

While

Greeks were Achilles and Ajax, the son of Telamon.

the latter hero was engaged in driving back the Trojan ranks,
Achilles

and Penthesilea met

have spared her

with

defence, strike

all

wounded, and as she

his

not,

might.

He

would

compelled

in self-

combat.

in single

and did

willingly,

till

Then

fell

mortally

fate of

Hektor's

she

remembering the

fell,

body, implored Achilles to spare hers that disgrace.

was no need of

this

for he, to save her

moments,

not, to soothe her last

there held her

till

a combined rush
Achilles

made

she died.
to

lifted

still if

her

in

possible,

There

and

if

and

his arms,

The Trojans and Amazons made

rescue the

body of

their leader

but

a sign to them to halt, and praising her valour,

youth, and beauty, gave

touched friends and foes

it

to

them

alike.

freely

Among

kindly act which

the Greeks, however,

HEROES.

296

there was one

Thersites, mean and deformed

who not

as body,

All

as well

his spear

sudden blow from Achilles

laid

him

on the ground.

who saw

Diomedes,
sites,

mind

Amazon, struck

Achilles, but, approaching the fallen

into her lightless eye.

lifeless

in

only dared to impute a scandalous motive to

this

punishment

inflicted

approved of

except

it,

the son of Tydeus, a relation by blood of Ther-

who stepped forward and demanded

reparation, consisting of a

sum

of Achilles the usual

of money.

Feeling himself

deeply wronged because his countrymen, and especially Aga-

memnon, did not

Achilles

unconditionally take his part in the matter,

abandoned

and took ship

for a

second time the cause of the Greeks,

Odysseus was sent

to Lesbos.

by dint of smooth words, cleverly

directed,

after him,

succeeded

and
in

bringing him back to the camp.

What made

the

return

time was the arrival of a

person of

who

Memnon,

of Achilles

new

ally to

more urgent

at that

the Trojans,

in

the

a son of Eos (Aurora) and Tithonos,

besides being the son

of a goddess, as well as Achilles,

appeared further to be a proper match for him, inasmuch as

he also carried armour fashioned by Heph?estos.

two heroes met, and were fighting

Olympos a simultaneous

visit

fiercely,

When

from their respective mothers,

Thetis and Eos, both imploring him to spare their sons.

answered that the issue must abide the

and

will

which he took the golden balance

and death, and placing in one scale the

to discover
life

in the other that of

Memnon, saw

his death.

Eos made haste

son dead.

She carried away

the

Zeus received in

He

of Fate, Mcera,
for

weighing out

fate of Achilles

the latter sink to denote

to the battle-field, but found her

native land, in the distant east.

his

body, and buried

it

in his

THE DEATH OF ACHILLES.

Achilles did not long enjoy his triumph

297

for,

animated by

he led on the Greeks, and would have captured Troy,

success,

however

clearly the Fates

might have decreed the contrary,

had not Apollo given unerring

By

Paris.

that shaft from

be judged, Achilles

it

seized his body,

back to the camp, where

with extraordinary

an arrow drawn by
far as

could

Ajax, the stout hero, and Odysseus,

fell.

clever as well as brave,

way, carried

flight to

an unworthy source, as

pomp and

its

and

was attended

Muses chanting

ceremonial, the

dolorous lays, and the heroes

fighting all the

burial

who had known him

personally

taking part, as was the custom on such occasions, in athletic

The armour which he had worn

competitions.
offered

by Thetis

was

Only two claims

most deserving.

to the

in the fight

were preferred, and those were on behalf of the two heroes who

had rescued

The award

his body.

being given in favour of

Odysseus, Ajax, from grief at what he deemed neglect, sank

into a state of insanity, in the course of
fell

upon

his sword,

cessation

Achilles

and

which he intentionally

died.

of hostilities was

obtained on the death of

and Ajax, the two foremost of the Greek heroes. This

period of peace having expired, and the former conditions of

war having been resumed, the

first

event of importance that

Helenos, a son of Priam, who,

like his sister,
Kassandra, was endowed with the gift of
prophecy.
Odysseus, who had made the capture, compelled
occurred was the capture of

Helenos to disclose the measures by which

it

was decreed that

the siege should be brought to a determination.

The answer

was, that to take the city of Troy, and thus close the siege,
three things were necessary
Achilles,
3,

Neoptolemos

2,

i,

the

the assistance of the son of

bow and

arrows of Herakles;

the possession of the Palladium (an image of the goddess

29S

HEROES.

Pallas-Athene), which was carefully preserved in the citadel of

Troy.

In satisfying the

Odysseus, always ready to be of service for the

perienced.

common

condition no difficulty was ex-

first

good, proceeded to Skyros, where he found Neop-

tolemos grown to manhood, and thirsting for martial renown.

present of the splendid armour which his father, Achilles, had

now magnanimously

worn, and which Odysseus

and led him

fired the youth's ambition,

he distinguished himself in a combat with

of Telephos),

more

who had

in the possession of

said, the

Eurypylos

was the

bow and

fulfilment of the

second con-

arrows of Herakles were then

at

to

endure

His

feelings

Lemnos, not caring

wound

in his foot.

were known to be rancorous towards the Greeks.

standing that, Odysseus,

Philoktetes into following

wound was healed by Machaeon,

first

on

whom

Notwith-

accompanied by Diomedes

others say, by Neoptolemos), went to

reconciliation

son

Philoktetes, whom, as we have already

Greeks abandoned

the screams caused by the

tricked

where
(a

joined the Trojan ranks.

serious matter

dition, seeing that the

parted with,

easily to Troy,

Lemnos, and

him

to

(or,

as

successfully

Troy,

where

his

a son of Asklepios, and a

was effected between him and Agamemnon. The

his fatal arrows

were

death Helena married his brother,

tried

was

Paris, after

whose

Deiphobos. The Trojans

were now completely shut up within the town, no one daring

to face the arrows of Philoktetes.

There, remained, however, a third condition

the Palladium.

Odysseus,

undaunted by the greater

posed to

steal

the

successful in the other

difficulty of the

new

seizure of

two,

and

adventure, pro-

alone within the walls of Troy in the disguise of

a beggar, and as a

first

dium was preserved.

measure to find out where the Palla-

He

did so, and remained unrecognised

THE CAPTURE OF TROY.

except by Helena, who, having

felt

299

ever since the death of

Paris a yearning for Menelaos, proved to be a valuable

ally.

camp to
The two having made

Odysseus, in the meantime, returned to the Greek

obtain the assistance of Diomedes.
their

way back

carrying

The

it

to Troy,

Palladium, and,

hold of the

laid

off in safety, fulfilled the third

and

last condition.

next difficulty was the plan of assault to be adopted.

It

was proposed by Odysseus, on the suggestion of the goddess

Athene, that Epeios, a famous sculptor, should

wooden

horse, sufficiently large to

the bravest Greeks,

make

that the horse being ready,

and

beyond

it

army should embark and

set sail, as if

Trojans when they saw the

to,

and the

whole Greek

detection, the

heroes concealed within

plan of Odysseus was agreed

a great

hold inside a number of

making homeward. The

and great was the joy of the

fleet set sail.

The

people, scarcely

abandoned camp,

trusting their eyes, flocked to the

to

make

There they found nothing remaining but a great wooden

sure.

horse, about the use of

thinking

it

an

destruction.

engine

which various opinions arose

its

But the opinion that prevailed most was

must have been an object of

ought to be taken into the
otherwise was

and demanding

of war,

Laokoon,

religious veneration,

Among

city.

his

instant
that

and

if

it

so,

who thought
who had arrived

those

a priest of Apollo,

on the scene, accompanied by

some

two young sons,

to offer a

sacrifice to the god in whose service he was. Laokoon warned

his countrymen in no case to accept this gift of the Greeks, and

went so

far as to thrust his spear into the belly of the horse,

upon which the weapons of the heroes within were heard

clash,

and the bystanders were

of the priest's opinion.

and

all

to

but convinced of the justice

But the gods had willed

to turn the opinion of the people against

it

otherwise,

Laokoon, sent a

HEROES.

judgment upon him

in the

shape of two enormous serpents,

which, while he and his two sons were engaged in sacrificing

an

at

altar

by the shore, issued from the

round the two boys

coils

came

Vatican,

The
a

is

their

who

sea,

now

represented in a marble group

from which the

mysterious fate of

punishment

and casting

then round the father,

caused him to die in great agony.

to their assistance,

The scene

first,

figure in

Plate

Laokoon was

for the violence

XXXIV.

is

the

in

taken.

readily believed to

be

he had done to the sacred

horse.

But to carry out effectually the stratagem of the horse,

Odysseus had

left

behind on the shore

hands bound, and presenting

his

Sinon, with

his friend

all

the

appearance of a

who had escaped sacrifice, which he professed to be.

The good king Priam was touched by the piteous story which

victim

Sinon

told,

ordered his bonds to be struck

the purpose of the horse.

object,

and would,

if

taken into the

city,

protection of the gods, as the Palladium

in

was a sacred

it

be a guarantee of the

had been

city gates being too small, part of the wall

and the horse conducted

and inquired

off,

Sinon replied that

before.

The

was broken through,

triumph towards the

This

citadel.

done, the Trojans, believing that the Greeks had abandoned

the siege in despair, gave

way to

which lasted well into the

night.

When

the town had

become

festivity

and general

rejoicing,

perfectly quiet, the inhabitants,

exhausted by the unusual excitement, being

fast asleep,

approached the horse, and opened a secret door

Sinon

in its side.

The

heroes then stepped out, and

fleet,

which lay concealed behind the neighbouring island of

made

fire

Tenedos, and now advanced quietly to the shore.

having disembarked and made their way

signal to

The

the

troops

silently to the city,

THE DEATH OF AGAMEMNON.

there

ensued a

was

set

on

fire

not

of Hektor

anything

for

and

who escaped were

utterly destroyed.

The same

that,

might not grow up to avenge his

Trojans

Finally the town

well-armed Greeks.

in every corner,

by the hand of Neoptolemos.

fell

surprised inhabitants

the

slaughter,

fearful

falling thickly before the

30I

son

he had done, but that he

Of

father's death.

^Eneas, his father Anchises,

infant son Askanios. Carrying his

Priam

fate befel the

aged father on

the few

and

his

his shoulders,

Mount Ida, and thence to Italy, where he

became the founder of a new race.
Menelaos became reconciled to his now penitent wife,
Helena, and took her back with him. The Trojan women of
rank and beauty were distributed among the Greek heroes as
./Eneas fled towards

captives in war, Neoptolemos obtaining

Agamemnon

of Hektor, and

The

Kassandra.
having been

home.

divided, preparations

Diomedes,

as,

Philoktetes,

for

and

were made

example,

daughter,

for returning

Nestor,

Neoptolemos

voyages, and reached their respective

like

off Priam's

booty from the king's palaces

extensive

While some

Andromache, the widow

carrying

Idomeneus,

had

homes

favourable

in safety, others,

Menelaos, were driven hither and thither by storms, which

delayed their passage for years.

return the greatest

interest

But the heroes

attaches,

were

to

whose

Agamemnon and

Odysseus.

Agamemnon,

returning after an absence of ten years, found

that his wife, Klytsemnestra,

had

in the

meantime accepted as

her husband ./Egisthos, a son of Thyestes, and therefore of

an accursed

Agamemnon

line.
;

and

These two proposed

he, though

to

compass the death of

warned of

their

designs

by

Kassandra, whose prophetic power enabled her to foresee the

issue, lent

himself easily to their purpose, innocently accepting

HEROES.

302

He

as genuine his wife's expressions of joy.

entered the

warm

bath that had been prepared for him, but on coming out of

it,

found himself entangled in a piece of cloth which his wife

threw over his head.

In this helpless condition he was slain

by her and ^Egisthos, Kassandra and many of

perishing with him.

his followers

His young son Orestes contriving to

escape, with the help of his sister Elektra, fled to Phokis,

where he was received hospitably, and remained several years,

during which ./Egisthos ruled over Argos

on the throne of

Agamemnon.

few years after the murder of

Agamemnon an

oracle of

Apollo was communicated to Orestes, commanding him to

venge that

foul deed,

Without being recognised he arrived

by

his faithful friend

re-

and promising the assistance of the god.

at

Pylades, and

his sister Elektra, while to his

Mykense, accompanied

there revealed himself to

mother he professed

be a

to

messenger come with intelligence of the death of her son

Orestes.

Seeing her and ^gisthos rejoice at the news, he was

enraged, and slew her, while her husband

fell

at the

hands of

Pylades.

The shedding

of a mother's blood was regarded as the

blackest crime on earth

and though the

fact that Orestes

had

perpetrated the deed to avenge the murder of his father, and

at the instigation of Apollo,

went

far to

exculpate him,

not satisfy the malignant Erinys (Furies),

it

did

who pursued him

from land to land, permitting no peace to his throbbing heart.

Arriving,

in the course of his wanderings, at Delphi,

complained to Apollo of his

sufferings,

that he might expect relief

if

this,

that

it

told

Orestes

by the god

he could fetch the ancient statue

of the goddess Artemis from Taurus.

consisted in

and was

The

difficulty of the task

was the practice of the Tauric Artemis

ORESTES.

immolation of

to secure the

303

strangers that approached her

all

Fortunately for Orestes, as

temple.

Iphigeneia held
carried away, as

moment when
memnon. On

the

office

we have

it

happened,

of priestess there,

his

sister

having been

already seen, by the goddess at the

she was to be sacrificed by her father Agaarriving at the temple, Orestes,

who was accom-

panied by Pylades, was seized, and would have been sacrificed

by the hand of

his

relationship.

He

own

had not an accident revealed the

With the

had happened, and how

that

all

commanded him

Apollo had
goddess.

sister,

told her

to carry

assistance

possession of the image, and in her

away the

statue of the

Iphigeneia he

of

obtained

company returned with

it

to Greece.

The
the

task

imposed by Apollo was accomplished, but

relentless

youth.

still

continued to persecute the unhappy

Furies

Apollo then advised him to proceed to Athens, and

there to call for a

trial in

the Areopagus, a court appointed to

hear causes of murder, especially the murder of a relative.

his behalf.

The goddess Athene appealed

Apollo defended him at the trial.

appeared as

plaintiffs.

(See "Ares.")

When

be equally divided

casting vote

for

and

to

Erinys

be taken, they were found

against.

was reserved on

The

the pleadings had been heard,

and the votes of the judges came

to

for justice in

this

The

right of giving the

occasion for Athene, who,

stepping forward, took up a white voting-stone, and placing

among

it

the votes favourable to Orestes, declared his lawful

acquittal.

The Erinys

professed themselves appeased, desisted

from persecution, and from that time enjoyed the

title

Eumenides.

purified

(See "Erinys.")

Thus

acquitted,

and

from the stains of crime, Orestes ascended the throne of

father

Agamemnon,

in

Mykense, married

Hermione,

of

his

the

HEROES.

304

daughter of Helena and Menelaos, and at their death suc-

ceeded to the dominion of Sparta

Turning now

to Odysseus,

we

also.

find him, long after the other

heroes of the Trojan expedition had reached their homes,

still

being tossed about by storms, passing through great perils,

and

encountering strange beings,

ultimately

succeeding in

many unhopeful adventures. He had left Troy with a wellmanned fleet richly laden with spoil, and after several adventures of less moment, in which, however, he lost a

of men,

reached the

one

giants with only

of one of them,

number

enormous

country of the Kyklopes

In a cave which was the habitation

eye.

Polyphemos

by name, a son of the sea-god

Poseidon, Odysseus and his fellow-travellers took shelter, while

their ships lay

anchored beside a neighbouring

phemos, who was

absent at the time of their

The

with his sheep to the cave.

ing was to close

first

Polyreturned

thing he did on enter-

up the entrance with a

hundred men could not have moved.

island.
arrival,

great stone, which a

The next

thing was,

having discovered the strangers, to eat two of them for his

supper, after which he slept soundly.
after driving out his sheep,

The

following morning,

he replaced the stone

at the

mouth

of the cave, to prevent the escape of his victims, and the con-

The

sequent loss of several suppers.

having repeated

itself

supper, Odysseus offered him

The

Polyphemos

intoxication.

Seeing

giant having

had

day

his usual

some wine, which had the

at last
this,

effect

His goblet being constantly

of creating a desire for more.

and

first

on the two following days, a plan of

escape occurred to Odysseus.

replenished,

history of the

sank helpless, through sleep

Odysseus, with the help of his

companions, laid hold of a great pole, and having made the

end of

it

red hot,

let

it

clown on the giant's eye, and burned

it

THE ADVENTURES

out.

Polyphemos- sprang up

stone, .and sat

and

in great fury,

made for
down in

vain for his supple enemies,

removed the

ODYSSEUS.

OF<

305

groping in

after

the doorway of the cave,

its

place, determined to

But Odysseus and his companions

permit no one to escape^

fastened themselves each under the- belly of one of the great

sheep within the cave, knowing that the giant would

And

pass out unmolested.

so

they passed, he was quite

it

was

Ms crew

the cave, and with what remained of

name.

don, to punish Odysseus

in

answer to

thither,

the'

Kyklops,

Polyphemos then implored

this

for' what

them

let

the fleece as

Odysseus once outside

satisfied.

shouted jeeringly back to

for, feeling

safe in the ship,

telling

him

his father, the

he had

also his

god Posei-

just done.

It

was

prayer that Odysseus was- driven hither and

detained here and there, and at

wandering, and the loss of

all his

last, after

ten years'

men, reached home

in a

miserable plight.

Of the adventures

that befel

him

after leaving the

country of

the Kyklopes, the most important were the following

After

leaving yolos, the king of the winds, and suffering the misfortune already related (see "^Eolos"), he reached the habita-

Circe

tion of the sorceress

whose

first

act

was

(a sister of

to transform his

Medea,

it

was

said),

companions into swine.

For Odysseus himself her charms had no potency.

He compelled

men to their proper human form. Changing her

manner, Circe now exhibited a cordial feeling towards Odysseus,
her to restore his

entertaining

him and

his

companions very hospitably

for the

period of a year, on the expiry of which she advised him to

make a journey

to the lower world, to question the

the seer Teiresias as to the fate in store for him.

shade of

Acting on her

advice, Odysseus penetrated to the region of Hades, saw

and

conversed with the shades of some of his former companions

20

HEROES.

306

in the siege of

Troy, and then returned to Circe,

who gave him

good counsel

in regard to his future journey.

On

homeward he passed

Sirens

the

Scylla the sea-monster, with loss of six

in spite of the

voyage

"),

passed

men, and afterwards,

warnings both of Teiresias and Circe, landed

on the island ofTrinakia, where

companions plundered

his

As

the sun-god.

of

sacred flocks

the

his

safely (see "Sirens

punishment

for

this

they were afterwards overtaken by a fearful storm at sea,

and

all

perished except Odysseus, who, clinging to a piece of

was

his ship for nine days,

island belonging to the

kindly,

on shore on the

at length driven

nymph Kalypso, who

and out of love detained him

received him

as her prisoner for seven

years.

Despising her love and her offer of immortality, Odysseus

by the

sat disconsolate

Ithaka,

and yearning

sea-shore,

to see

it

thinking of his

again before he died.

home in
The gods,

taking compassion on him, prevailed on Kalypso to let

He made

go.

appeased

for the

raft,

and put

wrong done

to sea

to his son

Leukothea.

for

Swimming

island of the Phseakians,

him

but Poseidon, not yet

Polyphemos, raised a

and would have caused

the timely aid of the sea-nymph

storm which shattered the small

Odysseus to perish but

to

craft,

land,

he found himself

in the

was discovered on the shore by the

and entertained hospitably by the

king's daughter, Nausikaa,

king, Alkinoos, to

ceiving
in a
still

whom

many costly

well-manned

he related his adventures.

presents, he

ship.

was conveyed home

There he found

his wife,

faithful to him, in spite of the incessant

princes

of the

neighbouring

islands

in

After reto Ithaka

Penelope,

wooing of

the

all

the

course of her

husband's long absence.

His son, Telemachos,

whom

he

left

an

infant,

had now

ROMULUS AND REMUS.

grown

manhood, and having

to

in search of intelligence

just arrived

how

when Odysseus

among them

in disguise,

with the help of Athene, slew them

by the

rest of his

life

was

and

all.

Odysseus and

raised a quarrel,

Then took

his

and

place the

After crushing an insurrection

touching meeting with his wife.

raised

father,

arrived,

the suitors of Penelope were vexing her

and consuming her husband's possessions.

son appeared

from a journey

concerning his missing

staying in the house of a shepherd

heard the story of

307

friends of the slain suitors,

Odysseus spent the

in reigning peacefully over his island

kingdom of

Ithaka.

ROMULUS AND REMUS.

The Romans had no heroes in the sense in which we have
come to regard that word from a study of the Greek legends.

Romulus

and

Remus,

it is

which may be compared

Greek heroes.
vestal virgin.

in

true,

some

have a legendary character,

respects with that of several

They were the offspring of a god (Mars) and a

They were exposed to death at their birth, were

suckled by a she-wolf, were preserved and brought up

herdsmen.
their

On

arriving at

and founded the

inheritance,

naming

it

after himself.

and Lupercalia

the

been nourished by a
Arval Brothers.

manhood, they returned

They

Remus,

They

the Palilia

commemorate

their

having

established the priesthood of

less fortunate in his adventures,

slain.

His brother Romulus was

heaven

in the presence of the people,

storm of thunder and lightning.

tine hill

Rome, Romulus

instituted festivals

latter to

wolf.

city of

among

to claim

at last carried

and

was

up bodily

to

in the course of a

simple hut on the Pala-

was preserved with veneration as the sanctuary of

HEROES.

308

Romulus.
ance of

it,

But the demand

was too strong

ment of the

story,

in

such

for historical truth, or the appear-

Rome
as

it

to permit a poetic embellish-

would have experienced

in

Greece.

HORAT1US COCLES.
The

ancient -Roman ballads sang of the brave Horatius,

had fought so well

family and their partisans.

:

the market-place,

memory.

who

wars -raised by the exiled Royal

in the old

A' golden statue of him stood in

and beside

it

sacrifice

was offered

in his

Such honours were the same as were appointed

Greek heroes.

for

But the story of the deeds of Horatius wanted,

nevertheless, the true legendary character,

and was probably

accepted by- the people with more.of .pride than pious

feeling.

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN

MYTHOLOGY.

UNLIKE

their

were not a

Aryan kinsfolk

the Greeks the Teutons

Their mythical tales were

literary people.

And

preserved not in books, but in memory.

Christianity, as

represented alike by the missionaries and by Charlemagne himself,

did

Hence

its

it

best to destroy Teutonic paganism root

and branch.

happens that of the myths of the gods and heroes of

those great nations who, in pre-Christian times, inhabited the

territories

now

included under the general

name Germany, no

complete and systematic account has been transmitted to

modern

times.

But the old Germans were of the same race with the people
of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

They had

the same.

tially

customs, and the same religion.

that exodus of the

also

social

and domestic

Further, during the time

when

was spreading over Germany and Scandinavia,

Christianity

ended

Their speech was essen-

same

the

Norsemen was

likewise taking place which

in the colonization of Iceland

named by

its

or

Snowland, as

it

was

discoverers in the middle of the ninth century.

There, " on the verge," as Dr. Dasent says, " of the polar circle,"
the Vikings established their
or republics

little

independent principalities

unmeddled with by Christian

priests,

and disdaining

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

the continental kings

who were aping

times, the Icelandic

Norsemen

more, the pure

Lastly, there appears to

have been

rival religions

have

felt

less

antagonism, less

friction,

Odinism and Christianity

Iceland than in other countries.

to

new

preserved, for five centuries

faith of their forefathers.

between the two

seem

the customs of the

in

would

Its Christian priests

the loyalty of children towards their old faith,

then dying away.

Hence,

complete and

in a measure, the

systematic form in which the Icelanders were able to leave a

permanent record of

Sigmund
century,

their

Sigfusson

mythology.

who,

in

the

was a Christian

It

priest

middle of the eleventh

composed the compilation of mythical poems known

as

the elder Edda.

To

Edda, which

merely a prose rendering of those portions of

the

is

the succeeding century belongs the younger

work which narrate the creation of the world and man,

first

and the generation, adventures,

functions,

As a cosmogony and theogony

the gods.

and ultimate
this

Edda,

fate of

or, as the

word might be paraphrased, " Tales of a Grandmother,"

its

And

and expression of the

as a record

Teutons,
is,

who

also

is

as

Greek prototype, the Theogony ofHesiod.

complete even as

spiritual life of those

were the progenitors of our English

or surely ought to be, incomparably

more

race,

it

interesting.

THE CREATION.
In the prose Edda, Ginki, the wise king, travels in search of

knowledge
each of

to the

whom

information.

them

home

of the

The cosmogonic

closely corresponds in

the Hesiodic

Asa

folk

supplies the visitor with

poem

while

its

the

Norse gods

some piece of

history thus patched

special

up between

main points with that contained

special details, tone,

in

and colouring

3H

THE CREATION.

Where

are the expression of special climatic conditions.

now

earth

was

there

is

sand, sea, or grass, but only an

whose north
and on

its

empty space (Ginnunga-gap), on

and snow (Niflheim),

side lay the region of mist, ice,

south side the region of warmth and sunlight (Muspel-

The warm

heim).

breaths from the sun-land caused the ice to

and topple over into Ginnunga-gap ; and from the matter

melt,

so accumulated sprang the huge Ymir, ancestor of the

Rime, or Frost,

thursen,

the

the

Edda, no

in the beginning, says the

cow Audhumbla, whose name,

Zendavesta, stands

The cow

consequence of the

it

indifferently for

herself lived

by

may be observed, in the

"cow" or mother-earth.

licking the ice-blocks

licking,

was produced

from which, in

who is alike
Bor, who was

Bori,

fashioner of the world, and the father of

Odin's brothers were Wili and

father of Odin.

Reim-

Ymir fed on the milk of

giants.

We

and

the

the
just

as in Hesiod the deities Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades supplant

Kronos, so the sons of Bori overthrow and succeed the primitive dynasty of

Ymir
His

Ymir and the Frost

Also, the dead

Giants.

turned to account similarly with the dead Kronos.

is

becomes

flesh

mountains

earth

his teeth, cliffs

wherein his brains

are supported

his blood, the sea

and crags

float in the

form of clouds.

by four Dwarves

Austri

Nordri (north), and Sudri (south)

his bones, the

his skull, the heavens,

(east),

and the

The

heavens,

Westri (west)

stars in

it

are the

The new world thus

being placed midway between

sparks from the fire-land of Muspelheim.

fashioned was called Midgard, as

the lands of frost and

from the

giants,

surrounded
Ymir.

The

it

who

fire.

To

dwelt in

with a fence

preserve

it

and

its

Jotunheim, Odinand

made from

inhabitants
his brother

the eyebrows of the

inhabitants themselves were said to have been

produced from two pieces of wood which the brothers found

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

312

floating

on the

sea,

Ash, and a woman,

and changed into a man,

whom

From this middle world,

they

whom

they

named

named Embla.

or Midgard, arose the Norse Olympos,

Odin and the twelve

folk
for the gods,
mansions^Gladsheim
It contained two
Aesir.
Walhalla,
was
and Vingolf for the goddesses. There also
or Asgard,

whereon dwelt the Asa

wherein Odin placed one-half of the heroes slain in

battle, the

Besides

other half being received by Freija, the wife of Odin.

those already

named

there were, as the

Edda

says, other

steads, such as Elfheim, where the elves dwelt

beautiful, far-seeing Baldur

where dwelt the bright and

home-

Breidablick,
;

Himin-

biorg, or the Heaven-tower of the thunder-god Thor; and

The
Valaskialf, whence Odin could' watch all gods and men.

gods also met in daily council beneath the branches of the tree
Yggdrasil, one of whose roots grew in Asgard, the second in
Niflheim, and the third in the realm of Hela, or Death
their

way

and

thither lay over the bright Asa-bridge, or Bifraust, or

Rainbow, which was said to burn all a-ftre, so

the Frost giants of Jotunheim. 'Lastly, the

as;

to

keep away

LOWER WORLD
was ruled by the goddess Hel

who had not

died in battle.

It

and

to

was so

horse Sleipnir took nine nights to reach

;the

Norse Styx

surrounded

Nastrand was the name

Its roofs

and

this

were consigned those

it

far

away that Odin's

it.

The

swift

river Gioll

lower world on every side.

of the worst spot in the Norse

hell.

doors were wattled with hissing snakes, ejecting

poison, through which perjurers and murderers were forced to

wade by way of punishment.

XXXV.

Odin.

THE

AESIR.

THE
Whose

ODIN.

313

AESIR,

thrones were in Gladsheim, were twelve in number.

There names were

Thor,

Baldr, Freyr, Tyr, Bragi,

Hodr,

Thus, with Odin,

Heimdall, Vithar, Vali, Ullr, Ve, Forseti.

the "All-father," whose throne rose above the other twelve,

the gread gods of the Norse Pantheon were thirteen in number.

ODIN.
(plate XXXV.)

The

physical origin of the idea of

meaning of

the

Odin

is

evident,

first,

from

name, and, secondly, from the various

his

The word Odin is simply another

Wuotan, which Grimm connects with the

attributes assigned to. him.

form of Woden, or
Latin vadere.

He

thus the moving, life-giving breath or air

is

and as such corresponds to the Hindoo Brahman

of heaven

=Atman

(German, Athem), or ever-present

His Greek correlative

of as All-father.

is,

of course, Zeus,

The name Zeus

signifying " to shine,"

life

and energy.

likewise spoken

derived from

is

a root

and thus the King of the Greek Asgard

originally " the glistening ether."

was

who is

It

was but natural that

Odin, as the personification of the blue sky, should rule the

rain-clouds

and the sunlight

hence as Odin the rain-giver

he corresponds with Zeus Ombrios (the showery Zeus), while

as

the light-god he

whose spear
god,

the

is

merely. a Norse

sun rays

disperses

and god of the moving

or inevitably, invoked as the

air,

Phoebos or Apollo,

the darkness.

he was, no

As

sky-

less naturally

protector of sailors.

In

this

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

314

respect he corresponds or

of functions

of Norse as of Greek mythology.

sical into spiritual beings.

comes the ever-present and

And

as Zeus

Odin, the ever-present ether, be-

knowing

ever-

him news of what was passing

and Munin

Odin

The two

ravens that

Thought

in

the

world, were

Odin

one of the Orkney

called

Memory,

and Memory.

Mnemosyne, was the mother of the Greek Muses.

of the worship of

the

is

of Odin, and every morning brought

on the shoulders

Hunin

the Father of

spirit,

the father of the Muses, so

is

father of Saga, the goddess of poetry.

sat

as distinctive

is

Zeus and Odin

Finally,

each other in their development from purely phy-

resemble

all.

But

interchangeable with Thor.

is

this interchange, or overlapping,

or

trace

survives even to the present day.

islands

is

In

an Odin stone, into a hollow

way of
The island of Heligoland
name from Odin, who was also

of which superstitious people thrust their hands, by

testifying
is

on

said to

their

have derived

named Helgi
as

we now

its

oath.

" Charles's Wain,"

(der Hcilige), or the Holy.

call

it,

Way "

was

Greek

All-father

was

most solemn

was named Odin's Wain

known

also

Odin

as

was

that, as already observed,

also a

and the " Milky

Odin's Way.

Unlike Zeus

the

Hence

god of war.

it

he received into Walhalla one-

half of the heroes slain in battle.

The two goddesses Frigg and

Frcija,

who were

at different

times believed to be each the wife of Odin, appear to be the

one simply a development of the

other.

Frigg was the best and dearest to Odin.

beside him, and

surveyed the

world.

Of

all

She

the goddesses,
sat

exercised control over the whole face of nature.

XXXVI.

she

is

enthroned

She knew

all,

and

In Plate'

represented seated with the golden spindle by

her side, with which she used to spin.

She

is

attended by

XXXVI.

Trigg.

THOR.

315

who

Freija was also a goddess

her handmaiden Full or Fulla.

sending sunshine,

and

presided

over smiling nature,

harvest.

She was further a goddess into whose charge the

dead passed.

who

in

fell

Plate

In

As has been

XXXVII.
Plate

belonged to

battle

driving in a car

XXXV.

Odin

is

number of heroes

half the

said,

She

her.

rain,

is

drawn by two

figured seated

represented in
cats.

on

throne,

his

and attended by the ravens, Hunin and Munin, and the two
dogs.

THOR,
(plate XXXVIII.,)

Or Donar, simply meant

he dwelt

the

Thundererd?r Donnerer ; and

As he was likewise said to

of heaven.

in the vault

be the son of Odin, or of Heaven,

it is

evident that, as in the

case of the All-father, he had a purely physical origin.

As

god of thunder and lightning Trior resembles Zeus

and

thunderbolts

the

Hephsestos,

of Zeus

were

forged

who dwelt below ground,

Odin was smithied by the Dwarves

who

dwelt within the

through the clouds

in

earth.

the
as

by the smith-god
the

so

hammer

of

(zwerge), or black elves,

Thor

is

represented driving

Among

a car drawn by two goats.

the pagan Norsemen, Thor's hammer was held in as much

It was carved
reverence as Christ's cross among Christians.

on

their gravestones

suspended

hammer, was invoked

He

and, wrought of wood, or of iron,

in their temples.

it

was

Thor, under the symbol of the

as the deity

who made

was also the god of the hearth and of

marriages

fruitful.

fire.

As a sky-god Thor is identical with Odin much in

way as Vishnu is with Indra. While the other Asa

the
folk

same
ride

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

316

to their trysting-place,

god, as Vishnu
is

is,

who

Thor goes on

foot

he

is

the striding

Thor

traverses heaven in three steps.

perhaps identical with the Gallic god Taranis, whose

name
Thor

resembles in sound the Scottish Celtic word for thunder.

has also been identified with the Slavonic god Perkunes, or

Perune, whose name, according to a well-known law of phonetic
change,

thunder

is

thought to be connected with the Greek word for

Keraunos.
XXXVIII. Thor

In Plate

drawn by two

goats, with his

is

represented driving in his car

hammer

raised to strike.

BALDR
Means

the shining god.

the

Anglo-Saxon

blick

the

far or

His son Brono means

His home

theogony.

wide-shining; and the

is

daylight, in

called

name

Breida-

evidently con-

veys an idea similar to that suggested by such Greek words

as

in

the

most lovely and pathetic not only

any mythology

and

origin

sical

The

and Eurydike.

Eurynome,

Euryphassa,

Baldr

leaves

no doubt whatever

The

significance.

in

story

of

Norse but

as to

its

phy-

joy of the world in the

presence of Baldr means only the gladness inspired by sunlight.

The solemn

oath sworn by

and

bright god,

things not to hurt the

all living

their speechless

dismay

at his death, only

mean

the gloom of the northern climes during the winter months,

when,

in the purely concrete

language of the primitive race,

Baldr, or the sun, was dead.

The myth
hurt Baldr

Hodr

says that only the mistletoe

had not sworn not

that Loki discovered the fact,

the blind god of the winter months

a twig of

it.

This mistletoe-bough

is

to

and then directed

to shoot

him with

another form of the

XXXVII.

Freija.

FREYR.

Odin puts

thorn with which

Brynhild

was

which

said, fled

or of the

the bright, spring-like Adonis.

kills

the

until

Loki,

from the wrath of the gods, changed himself

by them

into a salmon, was then caught

fast

maiden

spring

the

sleep

to

of the thorn of the Persian Isfeudyar;

boar's tusk
it

317

in a net,

gods or,

twilight of the

and bound

Christian termi-

in

The unlucky Hbdr was killed

whose home was among the willows and in

nology, until the judgment-day.

by Odin's

son, Bali,

the dry grass.

FREYR,
(plate XXXIX.,)
Is likewise

named

The

Fro.

functions ascribed to

him

are

another instance of that interchange or overlapping to which

we have

referred above,

by the hypothesis
reality

Thus

and which seems

is

for

but personified epithets of one and the same

thing.

merely the

sun-lit

Freyr, as the cause of fruitfulness,

and air-breathing heaven

he

be accounted

to

that whole groups of mythical beings are in

as represented

servant, Skirnir

in the

or

by Odin.

Like Odin

Not only is Freyr repeated, so

the patron of seafarers.

speak, in Odin, but also

is

if

to

not the god himself, then his

Volsung and Niblung heroes, Sigurd,

Sigmund, and Gunnar.

And

win the maiden

as Sigurd can

Brynhild only by riding through the flaming

fire

which

sur-

rounded and guarded her dwelling, so by the same exploit must

Skirnir win
religion

Gerda

for his master.

had given way before

In later times, when the old

Christianity,

and

being explained on the Euhemerist method,

that Freyr

had only been a Swedish

subjects buried his

body

king,

in a magnificent

its
it

myths were
was alleged

whose sorrowing

tomb, to which,

for

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

318

three whole years, they continued to bring their presents, as

Freyr were

This Euhemerism

Edda" Freyr

inconsistent with the most

however,

is,

authoritative source of

fruits

all

the

In Dasent's "Prose

Eddas.

described as the god of rain, sunshine, and

is

as Odin,
as

His wife was Gredr,

in fact, in another shape.

whose beauty

he saw her leaving her

air

allowed him no rest

he won her.

XXXIX.

through the

air,

at

till

Freyr

is

the god,

and
and

represented riding on a wild boar

a speed greater than that of the swiftest

Sometimes he was drawn by

horse.

father's house,

captivated

and sea

shedding a lustre over

In Plate

if

alive.

it

In crossing

in a car.

the sea he also used a boat.

TYR
Is likewise

named

morial of his name.

Ziu,

Once more,

of personifying an epithet.

this

Ziu

meaning "shine"

of the

the Latin Dcus.

Tyr, therefore,

is

Our word Tuesday is a me-

and Saxnot.

is

god seems

Sanscrit Dyaus, the

is

to

be an instance

identical with the root

Greek

Zeus,

another glistening god.

pre-eminently the god of war and of athletic sports.

him

it is

good

"

and

He
On

Tyr had only one hand,

for wrestlers to call."

the other having been bitten off by the wolf Fenris, into whose

mouth the god had placed

it

as a pledge of security,

when

the

wolf allowed himself to be bound in the net that shall hold

him

fast

till

the judgment-day.

BRAGI
Is the

god of poetry and eloquence.

"

He

is

famous

for

wisdom,

XXXVIII.

Tlior.

HEIMDALL.

and best

god was

She

is

spoken of

of Ushas

is

who dwelt in the under-world.

recall the Hindoo description

his wife Iduna,

in terms that

Eos or the

Dawn makes

A sort of counter-

and cunning speech."

in tongue-wit

part of this

319

said to preserve in a

For as Ushas

Daure goddess.

new morning,

the world young every

the

so Iduna

box the golden apples which the gods ate,

and so made themselves young

again.

HEIMDALL
Was

the

and

watchman of the bridge

The sound

world.

shall

Bifrost, leading to the

of Heimdall's horn

be the signal

is

for the great battle

heard over the world,

between the gods on

The name

the day of their ending, or twilight.

under-

of his horse,

Gulltopr (Goldropf, or golden mare), connects

him with the

sun-gods and sun jhorses of classical mythology.

Heimdall was

so sharp a

watchman

that he could even hear the grass

the earth, and the wool on the backs of sheep

Vithar was next

As

the " twilight," or

destroy the

wolf Fenris, the

in strength to Thor.

GottcrdLimmerung, Vithar shall

grow on

devourer of the gods, by placing one foot on the monster's lower

jaw,

thus

and pushing up the upper one

Ulle

asunder.

and a

fast

the god of the chase;

runner on

the deity of
tree,

is

skilful

Like Bragi and Iduna,

wisdom and knowledge.

Yggdrasil,

of wisdom,

stilts.

wrenching them

He

bowman,

Mimir

is

dwelt by the ash-

beneath whose roots bubbled forth the well

Mimir's well,

from whose waters Mimir drank

his daily draught.

Loki

dwelt in the land of the dead.

giant Farbanti,

whose duty

waters of the lower world.

it

was

He

was the son of the

to ferry the

dead over the

Loki had three children as cruel

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

320

and

hateful as

he himself was

full

wolf Fenris (Plate XL.), who, at the

last day, shall

to the scene of battle, with his lower

and

nose scraping the sky

his

Midgard

the

Odin threw

the monster grew to such length that

world in

The

its folds.

half black

and

third

hurry gaping

it

the serpent of

into the sea,

where

embraced the whole

was the goddess Hel, who was

and lived

half blue,

the huge

jaw scraping the earth

The second was

serpent which

One was

of mischief.

on the brains and

daintily

marrow of men.

Hel
these

is,

in fact, that dreadful

modern

Hind6o goddess Kali, who, in

Doorga of quite a

days, has degenerated 'into a

Loki was

pathetic and interesting character.

all

at the

the mischief that ever happened in the society of the gods.

The

character of this god, and his close relationship with a

personage

who

modern

figures conspicuously in

pretty well indicated in the following adage, with

in

bottom of

German and English

frei

gelassen the

devil

Loki

is

er or

bondum

theology, are
its

equivalents

der Teufel

ist

loose.

Of the almost countless beings who figure in Norse mythology

we must say but very little. Like the great gods, they appear
to

be representative of the good and

Among them

are

the

Elves

Their

Allheimr (Elf-home).

evil

(Alfen,

king

is

powers of nature.

Elfen),

the

who

Erlkonig

live

in

(Elfen

In the night hours they come in troops to dance

Konig).

in the grass, leaving, according to popular belief, their traces

in

the

father

form of
is

named

fairy-rings.

them belong precious

prove their

skill

The dwarves

Ivaldr, dwell in

in

stones

and metals,

workmanship.

(Zvverge),

the heart of the

whose

hills.

To

on which they

As guardians of hidden

treasures they were propitiated by the seekers of the same

with a black goat or a black cock.

An

echo

is

called

by the

XXXIX.

Freyr.

THE TALE OF THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS.

Dwergmaal-Zwergsprache

Icelanders

beings

evil

who

dwarf-voice.

who brought

The

and the summer

stole the light every evening,

Such were the Reifriesen

every year, were called giants.

(Hrimthursen)

or

32 I

The

the winter.

had a head of stone, and a heart of stone

giant Hrungnir

and a

giantess,

mother of Gmir, as many as nine hundred heads.

Another

up

to heaven,

giant was Thiassi,

who

slew

Thor and

where they shone thereafter as

cast his eyes

stars.

In the extreme north

dwelt the giant Hresvelgr, the motion of whose wings caused

wind and tempest,

in

which respect he resembles the gigantic

bird of the Buddhist play,

the sea

was

by the flapping of

Surtr,

heim.

Nagananda, who
his wings.

raises the

On

whose flaming sword guarded the bounds of Muspel

Besides these there were the Trollweiber

phantoms from the land of the dead, who

The

Valkyrien were

Nornen were

the Norse Fates.

who hovered

over the field of battle,

kiss,

and led away

(troll arvis),

woke up

The
fair

the dead heroes

and drink

their souls to fight

three

maidens

ale as of

old in the happy Valhalla.

THE TALE OF THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS.

The
the

to

common

known under
in

The one

is

merely the Norse, the other

German, form of one and the same nature myth, or

According
the

differ in any-

Volsunga Saga and Nibelungenlied hardly

thing but the name.

Greece

as

the

Solar

purpose of
the
the

myth"
all

Iliad

Aryan nations

and the

this

theorists,

names of Ramayana

in the dark nights

rode to the earth on a wolf bridled with snakes.

with a

waves on

the extreme south

in

epic

epic.

serves

India being

and Mahabharata;

Odyssey;

in

our
21

more

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

32 2

northern lands as the Tale of the Volsungs, and the Nibe-

lungen Lay
his

and

Knights of the

in

England as the

Round

tale of

King Arthur and

Whatever objections may be

Table.

urged against the "Solar myths'" explanation of these

it is

quite indisputable that the

completely coincide.

Indeed

fully to appreciate the spirit

main incidents

it is

not too

stories,

them

in all of

much

to affirm that

of any one of these great epics of

the world, the student must possess

some acquaintance with

But not only do the main incidents

co-ordinate ones.

its

in the

Northern Epics coincide with those in the Iliad and Odyssey,

but they even contain episodes which correspond'
except the

name

example,

only a Norse Medea.

is

slight sketch of the

We now

Volsung

everything

Gudrun,

for

proceed to give a

Volsunga Saga.

Volsung was the son of Rerir, the son of the

Odin.

in

with plots in Greek tragedy.

Sigi,

lay for seven years in his mother's

the son of

womb

and

they said the youngling kissed his mother or ever she died.

Volsung had a daughter called Signy, who was married

geir,

King of Gothland.

During the marriage

to Sig-

festivities

in

Volsung's house, and as the good folk sat round the evening

man wrapped in a cloak, who drove

wood
right up to the hilt, predicted
a sword
great things of the hero who should be able to draw it out again,
and immediately disappeared. The old man was Odin and

fire,

there entered an old

into a log of

the sword was the sword Gram, which has

its

counterpart in

the sword of Chrysaor, in Roland's Durandal, and in

Arthur's Excalibur.
stone,

And

as only

Theseus could

and none but Ulysses could draw

the assembled heroes only

pull out

his

lift

own bow,

King

the huge
so

among

Sigmund the son of Volsung could

Gram.

Volsung was afterwards murdered

in

the land of Siggeir;

XL.

The Wolf Fenris.

THE TALE OP THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS.

323

wherefore Sigmund avenged the death of his father by killing

After that he re-

the children of his brother-in-law, Siggeir.

own

turned to his

land,

and married Borghild, by

whom we

constant in his loves than other heroes of

He

classical literature.

fell

in love with

beloved by the son of King Hunding.

was

and a

bill in his

preserve

it

my

grow weary with

in a blue

his wife Hjordis,

sword Gram, wishing her to

"And

unborn boy.
wounds, and

have gone before me."

at the

man

hand, appeared; whereupon Sigmund

to her charge his

for their

read in

Between the two heroes

The dying Sigmund comforted

slain.

and entrusted

he had

who was

Hjordis,

there ensued a fight, during which the one-eyed

cloak,

whom

But Sigmund was no more

two children, Helgi and Hamund.

go to see our kin that

I will

So Hjordis

now," said he, "I

sat over

him.

he died

till

day dawning.

Hjordis after that married Hialprek, King of Denmark, a

who corresponds

character

to the

Grecian Laios and Akrisios.

At Hialprek's court was born Sigurd, the son of Hjordis and

Sigmund

the

taught in
smith,

all

favourite hero of

Norse mythology.

the arts and sciences

who was

Sigurd was

by Regin, the cunning black-

also the brother of the otter killed

or

worm

Fafnir,

by Odin,

who guarded

those

golden treasures which, according to the Solar theory,

mean

and of the serpent

the gladdening and revivifying sunlight, Fafnir himself being

the

evil

the

light.

power,

the

and forged a sword

it

cloud,

the

darkness which

for Sigurd to slay the

shivered into pieces on

contempt

or

Regin wished to secure the treasure

at Regin's

its

very

first

trial

worm
;

with.

test.

But

and Sigurd,

in

smithying, procures the fragments of his

paternal sword Gram, and Regin welds them together.

stood every

steals

for himself,

Sigurd drove

it,

Gram

right to the hilt, into Regin's

NORSE AND OLD GERMAN MYTHOLOGY.

324

anvil

and

after that,

a lock of wool, borne on the surface of

the stream, divided into two against the motionless edge.

slew Fafnir, and procured the treasure

who wished
that Sigurd

the Solar
earth

is

weapon had

went to

myth

the

Sigurd

and next he slew Regin,

whole of the prize on the plea that

to possess the

his forging of the

won

really

the victory.

After

free the Valkyrie Brynhild, according to

Maiden of

Spring,

whom

for

the cold

Brynhild lay in the sleep into which she had

longing.

been thrown by the thorn of Odin

that

by the

is,

thorn, or

cold, or frost of winter.

Sigurd, like his mythical relatives in Norse and Greek stories,

was unfaithful
sister

He

his loves.

in

fell

in love with

Gudrun, the

of Gunnar, and that, too, in spite of those love scenes and

speeches of his with Brynhild, for the beauty of which the

Volsung Saga
whatever.

is

perhaps unequalled by any other epic story

Brynhild had sworn to marry only the

could ride through

the

fire

This Gunnar could not do

man who

which surrounded her dwelling.

but Sigurd did

it

in

whereafter Brynhild agreed to marry Gunnar.

her triumph, revealed the secret

and

just as

Gunnafs shape,
But Gudrun, in

CEnone procured

the death of the unfaithful Paris, and Deianeira that of the

fickle

Herakles, so Brynhild compassed the death of Sigurd.

Brynhild also, like another Deianeira, dies, in

funeral pile of her husband.
Sigurd,

leaves

Hunland.

name

for

It

her

home; but she

would seem

grief,

on the

Next, Gudrun, also grieving for

marries Atli,

that this Atli

King of

must be another

the powers of darkness, for he invited his wife's

brothers to his court, in order that he might seize the golden

treasure,

" the

sunlight,"

which they had received from the

dead Sigurd. These treasures the brothers buried

river,

and went on

their

way

to

in the

Rhine

Hunland, though they well

THE TALE OF THE VOLSUNGS AND NIBLUNGS.

knew they were destined never
brothers are slain by the

the
for

power and

terror

that one in the

on the
venge
said,

by any

treacherous Atli

a Norse Medea, she slew her

the various kinsfolk die by

seems

in

Atli's children.

final tragedies in

which

each other's hands, and in

stern, inevitable fate

be personified

to

re-

have already

like, as \ye

own and

by

final struggle

Next follows Gudrun's

Hastmapur.

death of her brothers

obedience to that

which

fighting story, except, perhaps,

But we cannot further pursue those

all

in

unsurpassed

is

Mahabharata which describes the

battle-field of

for the

The scene

to return.

325

which

in

these tales

Odin, and looms so terribly in the

background of the dramas of Sophocles and ^Eschylus.

We

would

in conclusion

translation of the

recommend

the student to read the

Volsung Saga, recently published by Messrs.

Morris and Magnusson, as also Dr. Dasent's translation of the

prose

Edda.

Those who know German may

Wilhelm Mannhardt's Die

Volker,

published

in

general,

myth

der dcutschen

i860.

Berlin,

position of the " Solar

embraced

G'dtter

"

For an exhaustive ex-

theory, alike of the subjects

in *the foregoing sketch,

we recommend

also consult

und Nordischen

and of Aryan myths

in

the student to the work of the Rev.

George W. Cox on " The Mythology of the Aryan Nations."

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION

OF THE HINDOOS.
the myths

the Sanscrit language

IN nations
are presented

Hence

the special value of

But

common

Aryan

to the

perhaps, their simplest form.

in,

Hindoo myths

in a study of

Com-

would be an error to suppose

parative

Mythology.

that the

myths of the Greeks, Latins, Slavonians, Norsemen,

it

old Germans, and Celts were derived from those of the Hindoos.

For the myths,

races, of the

primitive

Asia, to form

new

away from

nationalities

Europe, Central Europe,

etc.

not the mother, but the elder

:

sister of the

common

in

The
sister

India,

early

in Central

Greece,

Northern

Sanscrit language

For example, many names

is

thus

of Greek and the kindred

common origin

been enabled

"Aryans"

home

their original

in like

other Aryan mythologies.

reason of the discovery of this

that scholars have

these various

are but modifications of a

and Sanscrit or Hindoo mythology is,

only the elder

ally.

etc.,

Aryan language that was spoken by the

before they branched

tongues

all

are derived from one

Hindoos included,

Greek, Latin, Sanscrit,

source.

languages, of

like the

to treat

manner,
It is

by

of these languages

mythology

unintelligible in

scientific-

Greek are

at

once explained by the meaning

Thus, the name of the chief Greek god, Zeus, conveys no
of their Sanscrit equivalents.

meaning

in

itself.

But the Greek sky-god

Zeus

evidently

MYTHOLOGY AND RE&IGION OF THE HINDOOS.

corresponds to the Hindoo sky-god
derived from a root
the Greek

this

" to shine."

word

is

Zeus then,

originally

"the

Greek names are explained

Similarly other

their counterparts, or

name

Dyaus, and

theos, and the Latin -deus, meant

glistening ether."

by

dyu meaning

327

cognate words in Sanscrit.

Thus

the

of Zeus's wife, Hera, belongs to a Sanscrit root svar,

and originally meant the bright sky

primarily the bright

meaning the
Sanscrit

gods

the

is

the. goddess herself being

referred to Sanscrit

the

names

is

explained by the

Hindoo Pantheon

there are two great

dawn, and Erinys

light of

Saranyn. In

classes of

Athene

air.

The Vedic

Vedic and the Brahmanic.

gods belong to the very

earliest

times, appear obviously as

elemental powers, and are such as would have been worshipped

by a simple, uninstructed,

agricultural people.

The Brahmanic

religion was, in great part at least, a refined development of

the former; and was gradually displacing the simpler worship

of Vedism as early as fifteen centuries

birth of Christ.

or

more before the

Five or six centuries before the

Dissent, under the

name and form

chief religion of India

of Buddhism,

last event,

became the

but in about ten centuries Brahmanism

Buddhism now

recovered

its

paratively

few followers in India.

old position.

Its

retains but

chief

com-

holds are in

Burmah, Siam, Japan, Thibet, Nepaul, China, and Mongolia

and
of

its

all

followers, in the present day, perhaps

other religions put together.

outnumber those

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

328

THE VEDIC

GODS.

DYAUS
Was, as we have already indicated, the god of the bright
his

name
As such Dyaus was

dyu.

the

rily,

the sky from which the rain

Hindoo

rain-god,

in Greek,

the sky rains),

and the meaning of the

like those of the

of

Dyaus, however, was occasionally

myth.

a<

spoken of as an overruling
simply Zeus pater

Zeus

title

of Zeus

The

spirit.

the father

Another of

Latin, Jupiter.

finally

evident from such

{i.e.,

names Ouranos and Kronos

always remained too transparent for it to become

the nucleus

genetor, a

prima-

In such expressions there

hardly any mythological suggestion

name Dyaus,

is

"Zeus rains"

and meaning a damp atmosphere.

i.e.,

That the god-name and

fell.

the sky-name were thus interchangeable

classical expressions as that

is

sky,

being connected with that of Zeus through the root

his

or,

as

names, Janita,

as the

Dyaus

epithet,

it is

is

pitar,

spelled

the Sanscrit for

or producer.

father

is

in

Dyaus

gave place to his son Indra.

VARUNA
Is also a sky-god

The name
so far

is

according to another account, a water-god.

derived from Var, to cover, or to overarch

Varuna means the

to find a clue to the

already

know

meaning of the Greek Ouranos,

to have

been a sky-god

coverer, but, as observed above, the

unintelligible apart

The myth

from

of Varuna

is

its

and

Here, then, we seem

vault of heaven.

whom we

Ouranos means the

name would have remained

reference to the Sanscrit name.

a wonderful instance of the readiness

XLI.

Trinmrrti, or Hindoo Trinity.

Indra.

THE VEDIC GODS.

329

and completeness with which the Hindoo genius

its

the

From

sense impressions.

who overlooked

thousand-eyed (or starred) Varuna

men and

things, the Indian

spiritualized

the conception of air (or breath),

Aryans passed to the

loftier

all

con-

ception of Varuna as an all-Seeing god or providence, whose

spies, or angels,

saw

all

Varuna
of

is

which

addressed

Midler's " Rigveda"

"Let me

not yet,

"

If I

as in the following verses

of the finest

for

pathetic

its

the

second

from

beauty

Varuna, enter into the house of clay

Almighty, have mercy

have mercy,

go along trembling

Almighty, have mercy

Some

are those in which the all-seeing

remarkable

so

is

that took place.

hymns

passages in the Vedic

like a cloud driven

by the wind

have mercy,

" Through want of strength, thou strong and bright god, have I gone to
wrong shore have mercy, Almighty, have mercy
" Thirst came upon the worshipper, tho' he stood in the midst of the
waters have mercy, Almighty, have mercy
" Whenever we men, O Varuna, commit an offence before the heavenly
the

whenever we break thy law through thoughtlessness

Almighty, have mercy "

host,

have mercy,

This complete transition from the physical to the

spiritual, this

Hindoo mind, is curiously

instanced in the name Aditi. Originally it meant the illimitable
space of sky beyond the far east, whence the bright light gods
sprang.
Then Aditi became a name for the mother in whose
abstract or contemplative bias of the

lap the gods were nursed

and

finally,

it

seems a name

for the

incomprehensible and Infinite and Absolute of the metaphysicians.

INDRA.

(plate xli.)
The

connection, or identity, between Zeus and Dyaus seems

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

330

There

to be chiefly a philological one.

Indra and Zeus

blance between

Dyaus.

than

a greater resem-

is

between Zeus and

Indra, as the hurler of the thunderbolts,

and

as

" cloud compeller," coincides with Zeus and Thor.

The myth

of Indra

the

Vedic god

favourite

is

a further

instance of that transition from the physical to spiritual meaning

to

which we have referred

spiritual

though Indra

a being as Varuna.

It is also

by no means so

is

a good instance of

the fact that, as the comparative mythologists express

further

the gods become.

First, of the merely physical Indra.

name

is

rain.

The name parjanya means

and

His purely physical origin

an

thus the god of

Indra shatters

releases the imprisoned waters.

moved

by the mythical

Indra as the winds in

in

expression implying that Indra was a

name

for the

Also, the stories told of him correspond closely with

sky.

some

do

His

is

further indicated

is

expression that the clouds

"

rain-bringer.

derived from indu, drop- sap.

the cloud with his bolt,

Dyaus

He

the

it,

back the myths are traced the more " atmospheric

in classical

Like Hermes, and Herakles, he

mythology.

was endowed with precocious strength

Hermes he goes

like

in

search of the cattle, the clouds which the evil powers have
driven away

though

in the

like Hermes he is assisted by

Hindoo myth by the storms rather

and

His beard of lightning

or the crushers.

among an

agricultural people,

fertilizing

it

the red beard of

was but natural

"He who

as

soon as born

honour to the gods by

are alarmed,

Indra.

that the

god

showers brought the corn and wine to maturity

should be regarded as the greatest of

is

is

In a land with the climatic conditions of India, and

Thor.

whose

the breezes

the Maruts,

and who

is

his exploits

is

known by

the
;

he

all.

of the deities, who has done

whose might heaven and earth

first

at

the greatness of his strength

he,

men,

"

THE VEDIC GODS.

"

He who

mountains
heavens

"

He

moving earth

fixed firm the

who

"

He

who

consolidated the

men,

he,

who generated

is

seven rivers

set free the

who, having destroyed Abi,

invincible in battle

Indra.

is

covered the cows detained by Bale

is

tranquillized the incensed

spread the spacious firmament

men,

he,

who

33

fire in

of the waters

"He

to

he,

whom

men,

is

villages,

who

he

who

is

bow down; he

the drinker of the

at

and

all

the leader

whose might the

Soma

juice, the firm

adamant armed, the wielder of the thunderbolt

of frame, the

is

Indra.

heaven and earth

mountains are appalled

Indra.

under whose control are horses and cattle, and

who gave birth to the sun and to the dawn ; and

chariots

who rewho

the clouds

men,

he,

is

Indra.

" May we envelop thee with acceptable

braced by their wives

The

verse in the preceding

first

praises as husbands

are em-

hymn from

"
the " Rigveda

perhaps refers to Indra as a sun-god, and to the rapidity with

which, in tropical climates, the newly-born sun grows in heat-

The

giving powers.
verse,

and

is

is

the

same

Abi,

as the

or throttling snakes, of the third

Greek Echidna, or the Hindoo Vritra

multiplied in the Rakhshasas

against

or

He

which the sky-god Indra wages deadly war.

likewise spoken

of in the

same hymn

powers of darkness

much

in

the

is

same kind

of language that would naturally be applied to the creator and

sustainer of the world.

But so

is

almost every Hindoo deity.

Absolute supremacy was attributed to each and every god

whenever

it

came

to his turn to be praised or propitiated.

SURYA
Corresponds to the Greek Helios.
the god of light as the special god
the sun.

The same

Nereus; the one

That

is,

he was not so

who dwelt

distinction exists

being the god of

in the

much

body of

between Poseidon and

all

waters,

and even a

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

332

in the sea.

Olympos, the other a dweller

visitor at

Surya

is

described as the husband of the dawn, and also as her son.

SAVITAR
His name means the

Is another personification of the sun.

" Inspirer," and

is

derived from the root

As the sun-god he

stimulate.

is

golden-tongued, and golden-handed

process of time those epithets
sense

physical
ing,

so

came

Savitar

that

possessed a hand

to

came

made

lose
to

account

Savitar cut off his

hand

the

and

if

we suppose

that in

purely physical mean-

their
signify

of real gold,

Thus

or

drive

quite appropriate in a purely

and others must have exercised

for the fact.

to

sa,

spoken of as the golden-eyed,

it is

an actual person who

evident that the priests

their ingenuity in trying

Hindoo commentators say

and

at a sacrifice,

to

that

that the priests gave

Savitar thus corresponds to the

him a golden one instead.

Teutonic god Tyr, whose hand was cut off by the wolf
Like other gods in the Hindoo and Norse mythologies,
is

regarded as all-powerful.

That Savitar

is

" Shining forth he

"

He

my

god

"

"

from the lap of the dawn, praised by singers

Savitar, stepped forth,

who

never misses the same place.

steps forth, the splendour of the sky, the wide-seeing, the far-shining,
surely enlivened by the sun do men go to their tasks,

the shining wanderer

and do

rises

Savitar

a sun-god appears

from the following passages from the " Rigveda

he, he,

Fenris.

their

May

work.

the golden-eyed Savitri arise hither

the golden-handed, life-bestowing, well guarding, exhilarating, and

"
affluent Savitri be present at the sacrifice

" May

The second

passage seems to identify Savitar with Odin,

was also " the wanderer

Savitar was one-handed.

" Wegtam,

and who

who

was one-eyed, as

THE VEDIC GODS.

333

SOMA.
Soma

In some respects the myth of

the most curious of

is

Soma, as the intoxicating juice of the Soma

any.

plant, cor-

responds to that mixture of honey and blood of the Qoasir,

which, in the Norse mythology, imparts prolonged

In the Rigveda the

gods.

the process

But

by which

it is

is

is

also described as

to

conquer his enemy Vritra, the snake of darkness.

heaven and
as

the

if

Vishnu, Indra,

and of gods and men

earth,

adduced

to

The

show

and as a mere plant

" Where

there

is

" Where

And

thus

it

is

of

would seem

human kind

during which

and energy

what terms Soma was spoken of as a god,

in
:

eternal light, in the world

in the third

life is free,

He

supporter

to whatever hurt or
following passages from the "Rigveda "
life

that immortal, imperishable world, place me,

radiant, there

the

but an instance of that

is

the history of the

attributed conscious

benefited them.
are

and Varuna,

myth of the god Soma

fetishistic stage in

men

as also

an all-power-

god.

further, like

he who gives strength to Indra, and enables him

ful

It is

to the

life

similarly described

converted into an intoxicating liquid.

hymns Soma

the same

in

Soma

where the sun

O Soma

is

placed, in

heaven of heavens, where the worlds are

make me immortal."

again,

" In

filter,

which

is

the support of the world, thou, pure Soma, art puri-

The

fied for the gods.

Usijas

first

gathered thee.

In thee

all their

worlds

are contained.

" The

honeyed

Soma flowed
Vayu "

for

into the vessel for Indra, for

Vishnu

may

it

be

AGNI
Is the

god of

fire,

his

name

evidently being connected with the

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

334
Latin

ignis.

He corresponds

to the

Of

Greek Hephaestos.

this

god Mr. Wheeler, in his introduction to his History of India, thus

writes

of

fire

"

To man

in a primitive state of existence the presence

excites feelings of reverence.

Its

rank of a deity whose operations are

and

consumes.

it

powers

and

felt

It dispels the darkness*

raise

to the

it

seen.

It

and with

burns
drives

it

away, not only the imaginary horrors which the mind associates
with darkness, but also the real horrors
prey.

...

moon

It

becomes

with the lightning which

shatters the loftiest trees

with the deity

harvest

and

who

it

as beasts of

and

shoots

down

strikes

and

from the sky and

the strong

man

covers the field with grain and ripens the

with the divine messenger

carries

such

identified with the light of the sun

who

licks

up the

sacrifice

to the gods,"

As another curious instance of the sort of fetishism to which

we have referred, there is a Vedic description of Agni as
being generated from the rubbing of
burst forth from the

wood

sticks,

after

like a fleet courser.

which he

Again,

when

excited by the wind he rushes amongst the trees like a bull,

and consumes the

forest as a raja destroys his enemies.

Such

sentiments of course prove the purely physical origin of the

god Agni; and it is hardly necessary to observe that, like

Indra, Varuna, Soma, Vishnu, etc., he is an all-powerful god,
and supporter of the universe.

VAYU
Is the

god of the winds, or of the

Maruts,

Allied to

air.

the storm-gods, or " crushers," whose

from a root meaning to grind, and

with such names as Mars and Ares.

is

him

name

is

are the

derived

obviously connected

The same

root appears in

THE VEDIC GODS.

335

Miolnir, an epithet of Thor, conceived as the crashing,

The Maruts

crushing god.

Norse Ogres

the

fierce

Hindoo counterparts

are the

storm-beings

who

or

of the

toss the sea into

foam, and who, in the Norse Tales, are represented as being

armed with

iron

clubs,

which they send

at every stroke of

many yards into, the air. The primary

the name is clean from the Vedic passages which
Maruts as roaring among the forest trees, and tearing

the earth flying so

meaning of
describe the

up the clouds

Of

for rain.

the personifications of

all

Hindoo mythology, by

purest and most touching and beautiful

far the

is

USHAS,
Whose name
name Ushas
same

same

Greek Eos

is

the

is

derived from a root

as the

us, to

or the Dawn.
burn.

She

is

The

also the

Ahoma, or Dahana, and the Greek Athene,

The language in which the physical Ushas was

as the Sanscrit

and Daphne.

spoken of was especially capable of easy transformation into

The

a purely spiritual meaning.

men, barbarous or

civilized

and

dawn-light
it

is

beautiful to

all

did not require any great

stretch of poetic fancy to represent Ushas as a young wife

awakening her children, and giving them new strength for the
toils

of the

new

day.

It

happens that the word which,

awake," also means " to

in

Sanscrit,

means

like the

Greek Athene, Ushas became a goddess of wisdom.

show how Ushas was regarded by the

The

" to

know

"

and

thus,

following passages

Vedic worshippers.
" Ushas, daughter of heaven, dawn upon us with

dawn upon

us with abundant food

wealth of cattle.

riches

beautiful goddess,

diffuser of light,

dawn upon

us with

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

336

" This auspicious

rising of the sun,

Ushas has harnessed her vehicles from afar, above the

and she comes gloriously upon men with a hundred

chariots.

"

First of all the world

the mighty, the giver of

is

youthful, ever reviving, she

Had we

she awake, trampling over transitory darkness

light,

from on high she beholds

comes

first

all

things

to the invocation."

space for discussion of so interesting a subject,

would be easy

to

show how

ever

it

naturally the language in which

the Vedic gods are described must ultimately have suggested a

monotheistic conception.

Meantime we content

the following monotheistic hymn,

translated

ourselves with

by Dr.

Max Midler.

" In the beginning there rose the source of golden light.

he established this earth and this sky
all that is

only lord of

god
"

whom we shall offer our sacrifice ?

He who gives life, he who gives strength
whose shadow

whom we

the god to

"

He was

the

who

the

is

to

gods desire
is

is

immortality

whose blessings all the bright

whose shadow is death who

shall offer our sacrifice ?

through his power is the only king of all the breathing and
He who governs all, men and beasts who is the god

He who

awakening world.

whom we shall offer our sacrifice ?

" He whose power these snowy mountains, whose power the sea proHe whose these regions are as it were
claims, with the distant river.
his two arms
who is the god to whom we shall offer our sacrifice ?
" He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm.
He through
whom the heaven was established nay, the highest heaven he who
measured out the light in the air who is the god to whom we shall offer
to

our sacrifice

"He

to

whom

trembling inwardly

god

"

who
who

to

whom we

May

heaven and earth, standing firm by

;

he not destroy

the god to

whom

us,

his will,

the rising sun shines forth

shall offer our sacrifice

look up,

who

he

is

the

he the creator of the earth

or he the righteous,

who also created the bright and mighty

"
whom we shall offer our sacrifice ?

created heaven
is

he over

waters

XLII.

"Visnnu.

Braluna with Saraswati.

THE BRAHMANIC GODS.

THE BRAHMANIC
Of

Hindoo

the later

337

GODS.
Brahma,

religion the chief deities are

forming

Hindoo

Trinity, or Trimurrti.

These gods, however, are not regarded as

separate, independent

Vishnu, and Siva

the

gods, but merely as three manifestations or revelations or phases

of the

or energy of the supreme incomprehensible being

spirit

Brahm.

That the

Yaska.

Yaska's trinity

known

it

was unknown to the commentator

composed of the

is

Agni, Vayu, and Surya.

appears to be

a comparatively late formation

trinity is

appears from the fact that

three Vedic gods

Agni, in such trinity as the Brahmanic,

in the

Mahabharata, which represents

Brahma, Vishnu, and Indra as being the sons of Mahadeva, or

Siva.

Perhaps, however, the reason of this

mutual jealousy of the two great

Hindoo

into which the

Brahm

as

the self-existent

of

be found

to

in the

Vaishnavas and Saivas,

sects,

came

religion

is

whom

be

to

there

divided.

is

To

no image

As signifying, among
name Brahm is of the neuter

there existed neither temples nor altars.

other things, impersonality, the

gender, and the divine essence

illumines

they live

all,

delights

when

all,

whence

is

described as

all

that

which

proceeds, that of which

born, and that to which

all

must

return.

BRAHMA
(plate
Is that

member

xlii.)

of the triad whose

name

that

familiar to

themselves..

in the temples of other gods, but

has neither temples nor altars of his own.

is

most

Hindoos

Englishmen, and best familiar to the

Images of him are found

is

Brahma, as the creative energy,

is

The

he

reason of this

quiescent,

and
22

will

338

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

remain so

end of the present age of the world

until the

Kali Yuga, that

is

of the

only a small portion of whose 432,000

years has already passed.

It appears,

the spirit

spirit

Brahm

of

moving on the

Brahma

his toe in his

is

for the

Narayana

waters.

to represent

god Narayana means

on a snake couch which

graceful youth lying

and holding

made

however, that an attempt was

even the divine

is

floats

figured

as a

on the water,

mouth.

figured as a four-headed god, bearing in one

hand

a copy of the Vedas, in another a spoon for pouring out the

.

lustral

water contained in a vessel which he holds in a third

The

hand, while the fourth, hand holds a rosary.

used by the Hindoos

to

aid

them

being dropped on the silent pronunciation of each

god, while the deyotee

mused .on

rosary was

in contemplation, a

name

bead
of the

the attribute signified by the

name.
Brahma,
counterpart,

Brahma's

like

each

and

sacti is

god,,

had

vahan,

his

or

his sacti,

or wife, or female

vehicle,

whereon he rode.

Saraswati, the goddess of

eloquence, and fine art

poetry, wisdom,

His vahan was the goose

hanasa,

in Latin, gans.,

VISHNU
(plate

xlii.)

Is the

personification of the preserving

spirit.

The Vaishnavas

god, because there

is

no

allege that

power of the divine

Vishnu

is

the paramount

distinction in the sense of annihilation,

but only change or preservation.

But of course the argument

would cut

might as well be said that

all

three ways, for

creation, preservation,

and the same thing

it

and destruction are

at

bottom only one

fact thus pointing to the unity of

God.

XLITI.

Kamadeva.

Siva.

THE BRAHMANIC GODS.

Of

Hindoo

the two

numerous.

vahan

and

is

is

represented as being of a blue colour

Garuda, the winged half-man,

or wife,

to have four hands

more

sects the Vaishnaivas are perhaps the

"Vishnu

his sacti,

339

He

the goddess Lakshmi.

is

one holding a chank, or

his

king of birds,

half-bird,

shell,

is

said

the second

a chakra or quoit, the third a club, and the fourth a lotus,

PlateXLII. represents Vishnu lying asleep on Ananta, the serpent

At the end of the Kali Yuga, Vishnu

of eternity.
that position

top of which

from his navel

a lotus

will spring

will rest in

on the

stalk,

above the surface of the waters, which

time will cover the world

Brahma

that

at

appear to create the

will

earth anew.

SIVA
(plate
Is the destroyer

the

xliii.)

third phase of

Pracriti, the terrible

Sometimes Siva

bull.

and

Doorga or

tiger's

and

is

Bhavani or

vahan a white

his

one hand,

another a rope or pasha, with which he, or his wife

in

His necklace

Kali, strangles evil-doers.

skulls

Kali,

sacti is

figured with a trident in

is

He

Brahm's energy.

His

represented as of a white colour.

serpents are his earrings

skin

and from

is

made

his loins

head the sacred

his

are

of

human

wrapped

in

Ganga

is

river

represented as springing.

Among

the minor deities

may be mentioned Kuvera,

god of worth; Lakshmi being the goddess of wealth

deva, the god of

riding

bow

who

is

son of Siva and

is

invoked

is

formed of bees

Prithivi,

especially the
at the

who

Kama-

represented (see Plate XLIII.) as

on a dove, and armed with an arrow of

Avhose string

gods,

love,

the

is

and

flowers,

regarded as the wisest of

god of prudence and

opening of Hindoo

and a

Ganesa,

thirdly,

policy,

literary works.

all

and

the
the
is

340

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS.

AVATARS OF VISHNU.
evident sense,

Descent that

from the world of the gods to the world of men.

In these des-

The word Avatar means,

in

its

cents, or incarnations, the purpose of

His

beneficent one.

first

during the reign of King

named Matsya,

is

wherein,

Satyavrate, Vishnu appeared in the

For the world had been deluged by water for

wickedness, and its inhabitants, except the king and seven

form of a
its

avatar

Vishnu has always been a

fish.

sages, with their families,

who, together with pairs of

all

species

of animals entered into an ark prepared for them, and of which

the fish took care, by having

second, or

Kurma

tortoise, supporting

churned the sea

cable tied to

Mount Mandara on

fished the earth out

peared as Narasingha,

monarch who,

on

god who

is

In the

form of a

In the

gods

Varaha,

to save the earth

The boar went

or

when

into the sea

In the fourth he ap-

his tusks.

for his austerities,

In

had been endowed by the

shape Vishnu tore the

this

Subsequently he appeared as a dwarf; then as

Rama, the hero of

ficent being.

horn.

in the

the man-lion, to free the world from

gods with universal dominion.

king to pieces.

its

his back, while the

for the divine ambrosia.

had been drowned a second time.

and
a

its

Vishnu appeared

Vishnu appeared as a boar

third avatar,
it

avatar,

the

Ramayana, who

likewise

His chief incarnation appears

Buddha, the founder

most loved by the Hindoos.

of the Buddhist religion, was

was a bene-

in Krishna, the

also said to be an incarnation of

Nine of these avatars have already passed. In the

tenth, or Kalki Avatara, he will appear armed with a
scimitar, and riding on a white horse, when he will end the

Vishnu.

present age

after

which he

Brahma, and so inaugurate a

will sleep

new

on the

world.

waters, produce

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF

EGYPT.

EGYPTIAN

myths undoubtedly originated and were de-

veloped similarly to the myths of

which we are acquainted.

stages of that development,

as a whole,

and as

it is

all

other nations with

Yet an indication of the various

and an understanding of the system

now known

more

to us, are far

Hindoo mythology.

The reason

of this

Egyptian religion seems to have reached

is

and as

its

abstract or meta-

its earliest

Indeed,

it

and

its latest

would appear as

difference existed

as between the

we have

records belong wholly to that stage, there

means of enabling the student

between

The

very evident.

its

physical stage long before any of the religions to which

referred

are no

difficult

case of Egyptian than of Greek, Norse, Germanic, or

in the

to bridge over the

gap

formations.

if

precisely the

same kind of

between the Egyptian and the Greek genius

Greek genius and that of the Hindoos.

temperament of the Greek was open, joyous, sensuous

The
that of

the other two races was self-repressive, brooding, and mystical.

The

bias or mental bent of these

what was

was not so much towards

artistically or logically preventable, as

elusive, mysterious spirit of which they

and

tangible to be merely the

sensuous

the

Hindoo was

veil.

imagined

all

towards the
things visible

The Greek was

artistically

mystically religious. Or, the difference

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF EGYPT.

342

between them may be said to resemble that between form and

colour.

and

The

contrast in intellectual bias between the Egyptians

their adversaries, the Greeks, is sufficiently indicated in

Herodotus says of the Egyptian contempt

by the Greeks of descent from the gods.

for the claims

The

what

made
Egypt

priests of

could only laugh at the absurdity of the belief according to which

a god was said to be the sixteenth ancestor of Hecatseus.

Our

gods, said they, never lived on earth.

However,

appears as

it

if

a comparison of

shows that the mythology of Egypt

it

with other systems

in great

is,

measure

explicable by the general doctrines implied in the

at least,

title

" Solar

Myth." Even that very readiness with which the Greeks identified

own

the Egyptian gods with their

events

not proof, at

affords, if

some countenance, to the supposition

were, so to speak, peopled after the

that both

same manner.

all

Pantheons
Again, the

functions and characters of the Egyptian gods interchange like

Their names have in both

those of the Greek and Norse gods.

In both cases also

meanings.

physical

cases

similar

birth

and genealogy of the

gods appears to

We

expression of physical, visible sequences.

cases the

and

same confusion, or

his sister

identity,

and what appears

German

religion

than that of Egypt.

is,

perhaps, of a

Yet there

is

conflict

more

between

no doubt that the idea of

Ormuzd and

originally only the idea of the contest

between

the sunlight, Indra, and the clouds or darkness, Vritra.

seems a strong indirect proof that

same

as Indra

succession

and

Vritra.

common

to the

The

The

spiritual character

the contest between the purely spiritual powers

Ahriman was

an

find in both

the light-giving and the light-stealing powers of nature.

old

the

between a god's mother

be the same

to

be but

Osiris

This

and Typho are the

idea of dynastic overthrow and

Aryan

religions,

and presented with

PTHAH.

NEPH.

343

such weird and pathetic grandeur in Norse mythology,

all,

but faintly defined in the religion of Egypt.

to

be implied

in such phrases as

"three orders of the gods."

Yet

seems

it

and

" Osirian divinities,''

Lastly,

it

at

if

is,

many

appears that

of

and

the Egyptian deities are only personified attributes of one

the same thing or person.

The eight great gods of Egypt were, Neph, Amun,

Pthah, Khem, Sati, Maut, and Bubastis.

NEPH
Is

also

named Num, Nu,

Now Nef

means

retained in Arabic.

He

is

and

Cnouphis,

" the spirit of

Therefore in

face of the waters."

Neph

Nef,

Cenubis.

or breath, in which sense

spirit

is

it

God moving on

still

the

sense

this special, physical

corresponds to the Teutonic Woden, or Wuotan (see

p.

Neph was worshipped in

313) ; as also to Brahma and Zeus.
He is represented as having a
Ethiopia and the Thebais.
ram's head with curved horns.

ology

sacti,

His

wife, or in

Hindoo

phrase-

was named Auka.

PTHAH
Is

only

Neph under

new name

or,

to express

creator, or the universal life in action.

the

demionrgos,

or artisan

of the

Jamblichus

world;

regarded him as the counterpart of their

Hephrestos or Vulcan.
father
in

As

He

appears as a

also as the pigmy-god.

is

the

calls

him

and the Greeks

own

artisan

god,

the creator he was thought of as the-

and sovereign of the gods.

Memphis.

other-

it

He

wise, he represents a special energy of that god.

He

was worshipped

mummy-shaped male

chiefly
figure

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF EGYPT.

344

KHEM,
Like the former god,
of the universal

He

is

Pan by the Greeks, who

as

Chemmis,
Khem

a personified attribute, or epithet.

is

god of generation and reproduction,

the

identified

only a special energy or activity

is

He

life.

in the

Thebais

by the

usurps the functions

Ranno.

It

of,

or

of Panopolis.

Num

same

the

is

called his chief city

name

not only merges into the god

and was
But

or Neph, he also

as,

the garden-god

was but natural that the god of reproduction

This garden-god, Ranno, was

should also be a garden-god.

represented under the form of an asp, whose figure

is

wine-presses and garden and agricultural implements.

found on
It

should

here be observed that Priapus, the classical counterpart of the

procreative

Khem, was

the tutelary deity of gardens.

AMUN
Was

the.

tion

of the

god of Upper Egypt.

chief

name" hidden

"

it

From

was a deity of a highly spiritual character.

instances, he
e.g.,

he

is

is

identified or

named

as

the

would appear

As in

significa-

that

Amun

the preceding

connected with various other gods,

Amun-ra (Ra being the

sun-god),

and

Amun-num (Num, the living breath or spirit). His companion

goddess was Mut or Maut and the two deities, with their son
;

Khuns, formed the Trinity of Upper Egypt.

SATI
The Greeks imagined

to

be the same as Hera.

would be the queen of heaven

between her and

'

As such she
made

but a distinction was

NEITH.

MAUT. BUBASTIS. RA.

345

NEITH,
be the goddess of the upper heaven (or
ether), whereas Sati was the goddess of the lower heaven (or
If Neith be a sky-deity, and if she be also the mother of
air).

Who

was said

to

the sun-god, the facts are another instance from Egyptian

my-

thology of that same process through which the Greeks peopled

Olympos and the Norsemen their Asgard. But further,

the functions attributed to Neith seem to show that the idea
of this goddess was developed much in the same way as that of
As Athene in Greek, and Ahana in Sansthe Greek Athene.

their

originally the light of the

crit,

meant

and

intellectual light, so

we

dawn, and

find that Neith also

finally,

came

moral

to

be a

This goddess was worshipped especially

deity of wisdom.

at

Sais in the Nile delta.

MAUT,
To whom we have
the

Theban

Trinity,

already referred as the second person of

meant the Mother, Mother Nature, and

thus corresponded to the Greek Demeter.

BUBASTIS
Was

worshipped in the town of Bubastus.in Lower

She was said to be the daughter of the great goddess

chiefly

Egypt.
Isis.

She was represented with the head of a

cat, the

animal

specially sacred to her.

RA
Comes

first

identified

in

the second

him with

their

own

class

of deities.

The Greeks

sun-god, Helios, and called the

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF EGYPT.

346

city in
is

His purely physical

that

origin

Mut (Demeter)

was

mother

his

while

Precisely the

Mu

same

that

who was

means physical
transition in

But again,

Mu, and Mat.

for children Athor,

identified with Aphrodite,

of light

and

goddess

originally the

and Mat moral

light,

meaning happens

this god's

Ra

Athor

light.

in the story

The

of Neith, and in that of Athene, Ahana, Ushas, and Eos.

wide prevalence of

he

merely signifying the interaction

this

of earth and sunlight in producing vegetation.

was said to have

a solar disc.

is

seems to be proved by the myths

or the upper air,

Neith,

married

was

He

which he was principally worshipped Heliopolis.

represented with a hawk's head, over which

worship shows in what importance

he was held, an importance naturally attaching to the sun-god

among

From Ra, with

name Phrah, or, in

nations given to elemental worship.

all

the prefixed syllable Pi, was derived the

Old Testament

Every Pharaoh was thus

spelling, Pharaoh.

entitled son of the sun.

All this suggests that Sabseism, or

Ra

worship, was originally practised in Egypt.

with Baal, a

name implying

Baalbek means "

Greeks

is

fire-

also identical

" lord," and applied to the sun.

city of the

sun,"

and was so named by the

Heliopolis.
SEB

Is

said

Kronos,

to

be the son of Ra.

father of the gods.

functions

is

sort of

Egyptian

for

it

has been seen that Neph, Pthah,

Also, like other gods in

Greek mythology, Seb marries

at the

the

Here again we have an interchange of

been similarly described.

two were

He

being represented in the hieroglyphics to be

his

own

head of the "Osirian

sister,

etc.,

Nutpe.

divinities"

have

and out of
These

Osiris, Isis,

XLIV.

Osiris.

Nilegod.

osiris.

Nutpe or Nepte has been

Seth, Nephthys.

She

Rhea.

is

supposed

side over births

and

Osiris, she

347

and

identified with

to coincide with Lucina,

nursing.

As being

and

to pre-

the mother of Isis

was called the mother of the gods.

OSIRIS,
(plate

The

xliv.,)

great deity of the Egyptians, has been

by some

identified

with the sun, or sunlight, or the vivifying powers in nature.

According

to

this

the

of

the

sleep

view the sleep or death of Osiris means

spring-maiden

Brynhild (see

p.

324),

or

the imprisonment of Persephone in the dark realm of Hades.

His contest with Seb (by the Greeks called Typho) would

seem

certainly
least,

to

be another instance of the

At any

of this view.

rate,

became the judge of the under-world.

life,

plausibility, at

being restored to

Osiris,

There he

listens

Thoth's tale of the character of the disembodied souls,

to

who

are introduced to the judge by

after their

Horus

(the son of Osiris),

good and bad deeds have been weighed by Anubis

in the scale of truth.

These

trials in

the under-world were attended by forty officers,

called Assessors of the

Gardner Wilkinson

"

Dead, who are thus described by Sir

These assessors were similar to the

bench of judges who attended

at the ordinary tribunals of the

Egyptians, and whose president, or arch-judge, corresponded to

Osiris.

The

assessors were represented in a

different heads.

The

first

human form

with

had the head of a hawk, the second

of a man, the third of a hare, the fourth of a hippopotamus,

the

fifth

of a man, the sixth of a hawk, the seventh of a fox,

the eighth of a man, the ninth of a ram, the tenth of a snake,

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF EGYPT.

34

and the others according

to their peculiar character.

They

are supposed to represent the forty-two crimes from which a

man was

virtuous
state

expected to be free when judged in a future

whom examined

or rather the accusing spirits, each of

the deceased was guilty of the peculiar evil which

it

was

if

his

province to avenge."

The worship

and

universal

throughout Egypt,

gratefully regarded as the great

where he was
sacrifice,

of Osiris was

example of

self-

as the manifestor of good, as the opener of truth,

as being full of goodness

personification of physical

and

truth.

As

and moral good, so

(Typho) was the personification of

evil.

all

was the

Osiris

his brother

Of

Seb

the analogy

between these two on the one hand, and the old Persian
deities of

good and

evil,

we have

already spoken.

Another explanation of the Osirian myth has thus been

given
its

Osiris

was the Nile god.

periodical inundations,

(Isis,

Rhea),

and in

its

giant of Sterility (Seb, or

was

(Plate
said to

retreat to

The

XLIV.)

river, in

have married the earth

have been killed by the

Typhon), who was jealous, perhaps,

of the wondrous fruitfulness of the marriage between the soil

and the great

river.

APIS
Was

the great

known

as

beast-god

Apis at

at Heliopolis.

of Egypt.

Memphis, and

as

was

This sacred

bull

Mnevis,

Onuphis,

or

His worship was so prevalent and popular,

because he was regarded as an avatar, or incarnation, of the

favourite deity Osiris,

body of a
more than

bull.

The

whose soul had transmigrated

into the

sacred bull was allowed to live for no

twenty-five years, at the

end of which

it

was taken

to

apis.

the Nile, and

drowned

349

one of the sacred

in

wells.

His death was

followed by national mournings, which, however, gave place to

new

national thanksgivings as soon as a

Avatar, or sacred bull

discovered himself by the following marks

triangular spot
right side,

and under

its

a black coat, a white

like a

on the forehead, a spot

half-moon on

its

The

tongue a knot like a beetle.

following quotation from ./Elian, as given in Wilkinson, narrates

the ceremonies consequent on the re-discovery of Osiris

"As soon

as a report

god

circulated that the Egyptian

is

has manifested himself, certain of the sacred scribes, well versed

in the mystical marks,

spot where the divine

known to them by tradition, approach the

cow has desposited her calf, and there,

following the ancient ordinance of Hermes, feed

during four months, in a house facing the

rising sun.

period has passed the sacred scribes and

dwelling of Apis, at the time of the

it

with milk

When

this

prophets resort to the

new moon, and placing him

convey him to Memphis,

in a boat prepared for the purpose,

where he has a convenient and agreeable abode, with pleasure

grounds and ample space for wholesome exercise. Female

companions of

his

own

species are provided for him, the

most

beautiful that can be found, kept in apartments to which he

has access

when he

tain of clear water

for

it is

water of the Nile, which

man from whose herd

is

Cambyses,

said,

new sacred

bull,

is

drinks out of a well, or foun-

not thought right to give him the

considered too fattening.

the divine beast has sprung

is

looked upon with admiration by

of mortals, and
it is

He

wishes.

found a

The

the happiest
all

people."

set of villagers rejoicing

over a

and fancying they were making merry over

his

recent defeat in Ethiopia, the king of kings at once ran the

bull through the body,

considered a

good omen

and had the

if

priests flogged.

the bull ate food offered to

It
it.

was

Men

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF EGYPT.

35

hands

also listened at the ears of Apis, then put their

own

ears to prevent the escape of the secret,

terpreted according to the nature of the

first

to their

which they

in-

words they chanced

to hear uttered.

SERAPIS
(plate

Was

another

worship

his

name

xlv.)

of Osiris, although the Greeks said that

was not known

Ptolemy Philadelphus, when

under the name of Serapis.

Egypt

in

until

time

the

of

was introduced from Sinope,

it

Serapis was

known

as the judge of

the under-world.

ISIS
(plate xlv.)

Was

the wife of Osiris, also a counterpart of

he was judge of the dead, so she

She

of death.

is

is

identified with Ceres

mourning
declare
all

for the loss

"lam

as

for,

and Persephone, and,

husband may be regarded

in this view, the grief of Isis for her

as an Egyptian version of the

him

described as the giver

myth representing Demeter

of her daughter.

nature, the parent of

all

as

Apuleius makes her

the gods, mistress of

the elements, the beginning of the ages, sovereign of the

gods, queen of the manes, and the

But as the mother of

Nutpe

(see pp. 346, 347)-

divinity,

various
pians,

uniform in

rites,

and

she

all

And

itself, is

different

first

of heavenly beings."

convertible with

is

Mat and

then Apuleius proceeds

"

My

honoured under numerous forms,

names

and the Egyptians renowned

but the sun-illumed Ethiofor ancient lore,

worship

XLV.

Serapis.

ANUBIS.

me

with due ceremonies,

and

call

351

me by my

real

name,

'

Queen

Plutarch considers Isis to be the earth, the feminine

Isis.'"

part of nature, while Diodorus says that the Egyptians, considering the earth to be the parent of

things born, called her

all

Mother, just as the Greeks called earth Demeter.

ANUBIS,
With Hor, or Horus, and Har-pi-chruti, or Harpocrates,
The first was a
were the children of Osiris and Isis.
jackal-headed god

and, according to another myth, was the

son of Osiris and Nephthys, a

the jealousy of

The
to

abode

sponded

to

presided

over

sculpture

as

concealed the child by

in

the

the

fearing

the sea-shore.

tombs

standing

of his father Osiris,

Hermes' Psychopompos.

and he

is

who was

the

sun-god

slain

He

Ra,

corre-

Anubis

frequently introduced

a bier on

over

by the Greeks as Apollo.

to

As such he

unseen world.

Greek

As

is

the avenger

by Typhon, he was
also

in

which a corpse

Horus was a hawk-headed god.

deposited.

degree

who,

Isis,

of Anubis was to superintend the passage of souls

office

their

Isis,

of

sister

identified

corresponded

some

in

and was worshipped by the

Egyptians as representing the vivifying power of

the

sun.

Harpocrates seems to be merely another version of Horus

he

is

a personification of the sun.

sitting

on a

this figure

He

lotus-flower, with his

is

represented as a child

finger

on

his lips.

he was thought of as the god of silence.

placing a representation of

him

in front of

Under

Perhaps in

each of their temples,

the wise Egyptians meant to symbolise the fact that worship

ought to be conducted with

silence.

THE MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION OF EGYPT.

352

THOTH
Was

the

god

is

for

sacred ibis was held

ibis,

and bearing a

So great was the respect

on

venomous

in destroying

under-world, and

the great judge Osiris.

represented with the head of an

pen, and palm-branch.

it

of the

of letters, the clerk

the keeper of the records

account, no doubt, of

reptiles

that any one

He
tablet,

in

which the

its

usefulness

guilty of killing

was himself punished with death.

ANOUKE
Was

the third

the other two

member

of the trinity of Northern Ethiopia,

members being

THE

SPHINX,

Unlike her Greek representative

born of the
ficent

being

evil

who

who

was

head and breast of a

we have named above, was a deity

Her figure lion-bodied, with the

woman

was

placed before every temple.

Cerberus, or hell watch-dog, must have been a

more forbidding and strange-looking animal than

brother.

He

a bene-

personified the fruit-bearing earth, and, like

wisdom and knowledge.

The Egyptian

was a cruel monster

powers Typhon and Echidna

the sun and sky powers

of

and Neph.

Sati

had the trunk and

the head of a crocodile.

legs of a

his

Greek

hippopotamus, with

N D EX
/Ether, 22, 193
/Ethiopia, 216

Abas, 212, 213

Abi, 331
Abdera, 255
Abderos, 255
Absyrtos, 275

/Ethon, 66
/Ethra, 154, 265, 286
^Etna, 82

Agamemnon, no,

189, 245, 285,

286, 287, 289, 290, 292, 293, 296,
298, 3 OI 32, 33

Achreans, 206, 239

Acheloi'des, 149
Acheloos, 149, 151, 264

>

Acheron, 59
Achilles, 60, 80, I47, 158, 167, 176,
203, 233, 252, 289, 290, 291, 292,

Aglaea, 174, 175

Aglauros, 236, 237
Agni. 333. 334. 337
Agriegentum, 242
Agrotera, no

293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298

Aditi, 329

Admetos, 106, 262, 270, 272

Adonaea, Adonias, 86
Adonis, 85, 86, 87, 317
Adrastea, 29, 186
Adrastos, 277, 278, 279, 281
.Eakos, 62
-Eetes, 274,

Ahoma, Dahana, 335, 345, 346

Ahriman, 342

275

,-Egeus, 238, 241, 261, 266, 268, 275

JEgina, 71, 84, 85, 128, 219
^Egipanes, 137
.Egisthos, 245, 301, 302
^Egle, 108, 157
.Egyptos, 211, 212
Aello, 190
,Eneas, 86, 95, 285, 301

(wind god), described, 163

195
.Eolos, 271, 305

/Erope, 244
.Eschyhrs, 1, 14, 68, 198, 231, 325
Esculapius, see Asklepios
.

/Esir, 312,

313

/Eson, 271, 272

Aides, Aidoneus, see Hades

Ais, Aides, Aidoneus, see Hades
Ajax, 203, 295, 297
Akrisios, 213, 215, 217, 218, 323
Aktaee, 147
Aktaeon, no, 226
Alekto, 28, 190
Alexander the Great, 1 15
Alexandras, see Paris
Alkeeos, 218

Alkamenes, 77

vEolians, 206
.liolos

Aganippe, 157
Agathodaemon, 197
Agaue, 226, 227
Agenor, 1 18, 211, 225, 240

Alkestis, 262

Alkinoos, 306
Alkippe, 237

Alkma:on, 278
Alkmene, 39, 48, 2l8, 246
Alkyoneus, 43
Aloeus, 76, 209
Alphabet (Phoenician), 224

23

INDEX.

354

Apis, Mnevis, Onuphis, 348, 350

Apollinarian games, 106
Apollo, 10, 15, 16, 20, 24, 39, 43,
described, 96 ; 108,
53, 61, 72
109, in, 112, 123, 124, 125, 127,

Alpheios, 113, 151

Alseids, 153
Althrea; 173, 269, 270
Amalthea, 29
Amarynthia, 114

Amazons, 223, 256, 268, 295

Amnion, Amum, 216
Amor, see Eros

130, 135, 136, 152, 153, 158, 161,

172, 177, 178, 179, 181, 190, 202,

Amorettes, Erotes, 171

Amphianax, 213

Amphiaraos, 278, 280, 281

Amphion, 125
Amphitrite,
148

legend

of,

described,

227, 247

55

147,

Archemoros, 280
Archimedes, 1
Areopagus, 77, 237, 303
Ares, Mars, 10, 39, 47,

Amphitryon, 218, 246, 247

Amun,

see

Amnion

Amyklae, 98, 99, 285

Amyklas, 99
Amykos, 273
Amymone, 52, 211, 250
Anadyomene, 85
Ananke, see Fate
Ananta, 339
Anar, see Onar
Anchirrhoe, 211

74, ; described, 75 ; 80, 86, 87, 89, 124,

138, 168, 187, 209, 220, 224, 226,

236, 243, 253, 256, 307, 334

Anchises, 86, 301

Ancile, 78
Androgeos, 241
Andromache, 294, 301
Andromeda, 51, 216, 217, 218, 219

Ankoeos, 270

Anouke, 352
Antceos, 52, 262
Anteia, 222
Anteros, 86, 169, 171
Anthesteria, 119
Antigone, 230, 231, 277, 279, 282
Antiope, 228, 229, 269

Antium,

179, 183
Anubis, 347, 351
Acede, 158
Apaturia, 82
Apeliotes, 164

Apelles,

169,

170,

173, 174, 175.

195, 208, 226,
177,
285,
286, 346
284,
283,

273,

147,
172,
187,

161,

Arethusa, 113, 15 1, 157

Argeiphontes, 125
Arges, 27
Argiope, 235
Argo, 54, 271
Argolis, 177
Argonauts, 52, 54, 91, 150, 191,
204, 209, 242, 253, 268
Argonautic expedition, 235, 269
Argos, 124, 125, 210, 211
Argos, district of, 47, 48, 51, 52,
87, 190, 221,

222

Argos, heroes of, 210; 219, 245, 246

Ariadne, 120, 173, 241, 267
Arion, 52, 66, 118, 281
Arista'os, 226,

234

Arsinoe, 86
Artemis, Diana, 10, 24, 39, 61, 70,
99, 100, 104; described, 109; 151,
152, 178, 190, 224, 226, 229, 252,
253* 290, 302
Arval brothers, 307
Asa Bridge, 312

Aphrodite, Venus, 10, I7> 2 4> 39.

76 ; described, 83 97, 124, 130,
135,
171,

209, 215, 228, 229, 234, 238, 252,

256, 263, 269, 278, 283, 292, 297,
299, 302, 303, 313, 351
Appius Claudius, 187
Arabia, 211
Arcadia, 6, 52, 66, no, ill, 136,
214, 250, 252

168,

Aphrodite Pandemos, 85

!76,

Asa folk, 310, 312, 315

Asgard, 312, 313, 345
Ask, 312
Askanios, 86, 301
Asklepia, 179
Asklepios, /Esculapius, 104, 106
described, 178 ; 181, 182, 233

INDEX.

35 6

Danaos,

Carthage, 84
Cassandra, 93
Caucasus, 81, 207, 287
Centaurs, 231, 232, 233, 268
Cerberus, 58, 248, 352
Ceres, see Demeter
Cerigo, see Cytherea
Chalkeia, 82
Chaos, 30, 193
Charis, 83
Charites, Graces, 39, 47, 85,
described, 173 ;
161, 171
"

Dei'aneria, 264, 265,

30,

176,

Cheiron, Chiron, 179, 233, 252, 289

Chimaera, 222
Chiron, see Cheiron
Chloris, Flora, 131, 165
Chrysaor, 216
Chryse, 292
Chryseis, 292
Chryses, 292
Chrysippos, 244
Circe, 139, 305

Compitalia, 199
Corinth, 6, 16, 49, 84, 87, 101, 112,
legends of, 219; 230
120, 213
Cretan Bull, 254
;

Crete, 29, 30, 31, 49, 66, III, 149.

169, 174, 236; legends ot, 239;
1

Delos, 81, 102, 104, 269

Delphi, 6, 15, 16, 17, 30, 96, 101,
102, 103, 104, 105, 214, 225, 238,

Delphinia, 101
Delphinion, 101
Delphinios, 101

Demeter, Ceres,
65

5, 10, 24, 29, 33,

57> 61, 63 ; described,
71, 120, 150, 172, 192, 243,

5 2>

39>
;

345, 35, 35i

Demigods, 200
Demosthenes, I
Deukalion, 44, 206, 27
Dia, 176, 231
Diana, see Artemis
Diana of Ephesus, 114, 115, 223
Dike, Astrsea, 42, 131, 186

Diktynna,

in

Diktys, 214, 217

Dindumene, 33
Diomedes, 75,

95,

255,

298, 299,

301
Dione, 5, 39, 84, 85
Dionysia, 1 19
Dionysos, 18, 43, 48, 68, 80, 81 ;
described, 117; 135, 136, 137,

13

Curnee, 57, 103

Cumaean Sibyl, -103
Cupid, see Eros
Cyparissus, 143

140, 141, 144, 145, I48> 149. I S 2 '

154, 155, 171, 172, 173, 202,213,

Cyprus, 84, 85, 87

Cyrene, Kyrene, 98, 262
Cytherea, island of, 85
Cythere, 84, 85, 87

226, 227, 235

Dioskuri, 189, 285, 286
Dirre, see Erinys
Dirke, 228, 229
Discordia, see Eris
Dithyrambos, 117, 118

D.
Daedalos, 241, 242
Daemons or Genii,

324

Deidamia, 232, 288

Deimos, 76
Deino, 193
Deioneus, 232
Deiphobe, 103
Delia, 104

263, 302

Charlemagne, 309
Charon, 58, 122

6,

212

Dardanos, 177

186, 208
Charitesia, 175

293
Crimea,

52, 211,

Daphne, 113, 335

Daphnephoria, 101

197,

204
Damastes, 266
Danae, 214, 215, 217
Danaides, 60, 61, 213

198,

203,

Dodona,

36, 84, 155

Dodonids, 155
Donar, see Thor
Doorga, Kali, 320, 339
Dorides, 146, 147, 154

INDEX.

357

Dorians, 206, 239

Doris, 55, 146

Epimelios, 126
Epimenides, 103

Dryads, 25, 153

Epimetheus, 208
Epopeus, 228

Dwarves, 315, 320

Dwergmaal-Zwergsprache, 3 2 1
Dyaus, 326 described, 328 329,
336
;

Erato, 147, 161

Erebos, 22, 184, 186, 193
Erechtheum, 94, 237, 238, 265, 269

Ergane, 93

Dynamene, 147

Erichthonios, 82, 91, 237

Eridanus, 108
Erinys, Eumenides, Semnae, Furise,
described, 189
28, 52, 64, 186

E.

Echidna, 249, 331, 352

Echion, 227
Echo, 155
Edda, 310, 312, 325
Egypt, Religion of, 339

in

Eileithyia, Eleutho, 48,

described, 184
Eirene, Pax, 131
Elektra, 162, 191, 302
;

Elektryon, 218
Eleusinia, 68
Eleusinian Mysteries,

190, 192, 234, 303, 327

Eriphyle, 278
Eris, Discordia, 76, 187, 283

64,

57,

68,

69, 120
Eleusis, 6, 10, 66, 68, 69, 172, 237,

266

Erl-Konig, 320
Eros, Cupid, Amor, 21, 85, 86
described, 168 ; 173
Erotidia, 169

Erymanthian boar, 250

Erymanthos, 250
Erysichthon, 66
Erytheis, 157
Eteokles, 230, 277, 278, 281
Eteoklos, 278

Eleutherre, 228
Eleutho, see Eileithyia

Euboea, 49, 114

Elfheim, 312, 320

Eumenides, see Erinys, 187, 190,

279, 303
Eumolpos, 69, 237
Euneike, 147
Euneos, 273, 280
Eunomia, 131
Euphrosyne, 174

Euclid,

Elis, 15, 44, 47, 93, 112,

Elis and Argos, legends

Elpis, 172
Elves, 123, 320

283
243

of,

Elysion, 60, 196, 227

Emathion, 167
Embla, 312
Enagonios, 122
Endymion, 114
Enipeus, 271
Enkelados, 43, 9
Enyalios, 187

Enyo, Bellonia, 187, 193

Eos, Aurora, ill, 164; described,
165
318, 325, 335, 346
Epaphos, 107, 210, 211
Epeios, 299
;

Euripides, 1, 197
Europa, 225, 239, 240, 242
Euros, 164, 166
Euryale, 19

Eurybia, 27
Eurydike, 153, 234, 316

Eurynome,

39, 79, 174, 1S9,

Euryphassa, 316
Eurypylos, 298
Eurystheus, 244,

Ephialtes, 43, 76, 209, 231

Epicurus, 1

246,
250, 251, 254, 255
Eurytion, 232
Eurytos, 235, 248
Euterpe, 160

Epidauros, 179, 266

Epigoni, wife of Asklepios, 180
Epigoni, 277, 282

Fafnir, 323,

Ephesus,

324

247,

316

248,

INDEX.

35

Farbanti, 319
Fate, 38 ; described, 184
Fatuus, see Faunus
Fauna, Fatua, 138 ; described, 140

Graeas, 193, 215

Gram, 322, 323

142, 143
Faunalia, 138
Faunus, Fatuus, 138, 139, 140, 141
Fays, 140

Gredr, 318
Gudrun, 322, 324
Gulltopr, 319
Gunnar, 317, 324
Gyes, see Gyges
Gyges, Gyes, 26

Fenris, 318, 319, 320, 332

Gyrton, 231

Flamen pomonalis, 132

flora, see Chloris
Forseti, 313

H.

Fortuna, see Tyche

Hades, Aides, Pluto, 10, 36, 43,'

50 described, 56
62, 63, 66,

Freija, Frigg, 312, 314, 315

Freyr, Fro, 313, 317, 318

Frigg, see Freija
Fulla, Volla, 315
Furiae, see Erinys

Hsemon, 282
Hsemos, 234

Gaea, Ge, Tellus, Terra,

Halie, 147
Halirrhotios, 237
Haloa, Thalysia, 67
Hamadryads, 131, 153

129, 189, 215, 216, 220, 232, 305,

347

5,

22, 26,

28, 29, 30, 33, 82, 127, 140, 145,

146, 162, 188, 237

Galatea, 147

Galaxaure, 154
Galene, 147
Gamelia, 48
Ganesa, 339
Ganges, 20, 339
Ganymeda, 176

Ganymedes, 177; described, 178

Ge, see Gaea
Gerda, 317
Geryon, 256
Geryoneus, 216, 256

Hamund, 323
Harmonia, 158, 226, 2S3
Harpe, 216
Harpokrates, 351
Harpys, 162 described, 190 ; 253
Hastmapur, 325
Hebdomeios, 102
Hebe, Juventas, 39; described, 176;
265
Hebros, 235
Hecate, 43
described, 71 140
;

Hegemone, 175

(lortys, 239, 240, 241

Heimdall, 313, 319

Hekabe, Hekuba, 283
Hekate, see Hecate
Hekatombseon, 41
Hekatoncheires, 26, 27, 30
Hektor, 75, 84, 291, 293, 294, 295,
301
Hel, 312, 320
Hela, 312
Helena, 187, 284, 285, 286, 287,
291, 298, 301
Helenos, 284, 297
Helgi, 314, 323
Heliades, 108
Heligoland, 314
Helikon, 157, 158, 173

Graces, see Charites

Heliopolis, 346, 348

(Wants, 22, 28, 43, 53, 90, 93, 145,

148, 188, 202, 231
Ginki, 310

Ginnunga-gap, 31
Gioll, 312
Gladsheim, 312
Glauke, 147, 275
Glaukopis, 93
Glaukos, 103 described, 220
Gmir, 321
Golden Age, 44, 127
Gorgons, 91, 191, 193, 216
Gorgophone, 91
;

INDEX.

Helios, Sol, 51, 76 ; described, 96;

109, 114, 165, 166, 240, 274, 331,

345

22, 193

Hephsestos, Vulcan, 24, 27, 39, 43,

47, 76 ; described, 79; 86, 88, 97,
124, 175, 207, 208, 226, 237, 242,
294, 296, 315, 334, 343, 348

Hera, Here, Juno,

5, 10, 24, 29, 33,

39, 40, 43 ; described, 46-49; 50,
5 1 , 56, 75, 79, 87, 91, 104, 118,
124, 125, 130, 140, 149, 156, 162,
168, 176, 177, 185, 2IO, 212 ;

image

of, 213; 214, 218, 219, 232,

246, 247, 249, 255, 256, 271, 272,
283, 284, 344
Herakles, Hercules, 39, 42, 43, 47,
52, 58, 76, 90, 91, 104, 105, 125,
148, 157, 169, 177, 204, 207, 209,
218, 220, 223, 233, 242, 245, 246 ;
the choice of, 246; 247 ; legends
of, 248; 265, 266, 267, 268, 272,

273, 289, 290, 297, 324, 327, 330

Hercules, see Herakles
Hermse, 126
Hermaphroditos, 86, 151

Hermapollo, 135
Hermathene, 135
Hermes, Mercury,

18, 20,24,38, 39,

63, 103, 104, 118; described, 121
134, 136, 140, 144, 152, 153, 162,
1

Hilde, 364

Himeros, 85, 171

Himinbiorg, 312
Hippia, 93
Hippo, 154

Helle, 272
Hellen, 206, 271, 272
Hellespont, 135, 203

Hemera,

359

68, 169, 175, 183, 198, 208, 209,

210, 2ii, 212, 215, 217, 227, 232,

236, 246, 294, 330, 351

Hippodameia, 76, 243, 244

Hippodromes, 221
Hippokbontides, 263
Hippokrene, 157
Hippolochos, 224
Hippolyte, 256, 268
Hippolytos, 86
Hipponoos, 278
Hippotes, 163
Hjordis, 323
Hbdr, 313, 316, 317

Homer,

1,

17, 22, 46, 50, 75, 81, 158,

248
Horae, 39, 47, 85, 127

described,

129; 161, 184, 208

Horatius Codes, 307

Horus, 347, 351
Hresvelgr, 321
Hrimthursen, 321
Hrungnir, 321
Hunding, 323
Hunin, 314, 315

Hunland, 324
Hyads, 154
Hyakinthia, 98
Hyakinthios, 98
Hyakinthos, 98
Hyas, 154
Hygiea, Hygieia, Hygea, 180

Hymen, Hymenteos, 86

Herostratos, 115
Herse, 236, 237
Hesiod, 17,22, 23, 36, 158, 203,310

Hyperboreans, 101, 104, 252

Hyperion, 27, 107 165
Hypermnestra, 212, 213
Hypnos, Somnus, 194
Hypsipyle, 273, 280

[esperides,

Garden

of,

described,

172

Hesione, 51, 53, 288

Hespere, 157
Hesperides, 156, 248
156,

258

I.

llesperis, 156

Hestia, Vesta, 24, 29, 33

7i; 78, 143
llialprek, 323
IlilsEeira,

285

described,

de-

Hylaeos, 137
Hylas, 273

Herodotus, 1, 16, 342

Heroes, described, 200

scribed, 181; 182

Iceland, 20, 309, 310

Ida, 46, 51, 153, 178, 2S3, 301

Ida (nymph), 29
Idas, 270, 285

36

INDEX.

Idomeneus, 286, 301

Iduna, 319
Ikaros, 119, 242

Jaso, 1S1

Jason, 233, 270, 271, 2S0

Jokaste, 229, 230, 231, 277

Ikelos, 195
Iliad, 46, 50, 51,

194,

177,
I

lion, see

203,

75,

83,

175,

321,

322,

76,

276,

Troy

Jotunheim, 311, 312

Julius Caesar, 198
Julius, see Askanios
Juno, see Hera
Junones, 49
Jupiter, see Zeus
Juventas, see Hebe

Ilithyia, see Eileithyia

Illyrium, 227

Imbros, 126
Inachos, 210
India, 328 ; described,

329

330,

33 l 333' 334> 337> 34 2

Ino, 149, 226, 272
Inuus, 137
i

Io,

107,

48,

124,

125

described,

2IO ; 214, 2l8

Iobates, 213, 222
Iolaos, 250

264

Iole,

Iolkos, 231, 270, 271, 272, 275

Ion, 237; legend of, 238
Ionians, 206
Iphigeneia, 12, no, 290, 292, 303
Iphikles, 247

Iphimedeia, 209

278
47 described, 162 ; 265, 287
Iron Age, 44
Isandros, 224
Isfeudyar, 317
Isis, Mut, 344, 345, 346,
347; described, 350
Ismene, 230, 277
Iphis,

Iris,

Ismenios, 101
Isthmian Games, 16, 220, 292
Isthmus of Corinth, 16, 54, 266, 276
Itanos,

239

Ithaka, 163, 306, 307

Itys,

238

Kadmilos, Kasmilos, 126

6, 118, 148, 158; legend
of, 224
228
Kaineus, 232

Kadmos,

Kala'is, 191

Kalchas, 289, 290, 292

Kali Yuga, 337, 338
Kalki Avatara, 340
Kalliope, 160, 172, 234
Kallirrhoe, 153, 178
Kalliste,

no

Kallisto, 113

Kalydon, 76, 264, 269

Kalydonian Hunt, 76, 269
Kalydonian Boar, 76, no, 269
Kalypso, 154, 305, 306
Kamadeva, 339
Kapaneus, 278, 2S0
Karneia, 98
Kameios, 98
Karpo, 129
Kassandra, 283, 284, 297, 301, 302
Kassiepeia, 216
Kastalia, 157
Kastor, 227, 270, 272, 285
Kekropia, 236
Kekrops, 165
legend of, 236
238
;

Ixion, 30, 60, 61, 231, 232

Kelreno, 191
Kelecs, 66

Jacchos, see Dionysos

Janita, see

Dyaus

Janus, 32
described, 132
Janus, Temple of, 184
Japetos, 27, 207
Jardanos, 239
;

Jasion,

66

Kephalos, 166, 167

Kepheus, 216, 217, 218, 263
Xephissos, 151, 155
Kerberos, see Cerberus
Kerkyon, 266
Keryneian Stag, 250, 252,
Keryx, 236
Keto. 191, 193

361

INDEX.

Khem, 344
Khuns, 344

Labyrinth, 241, 267

Lachesis, 185

Kilix, 225
Kirke, see Circe

Ladon, 87, 156, 252

Laertes, 287

Kithaeron, 153, 229, 230, 247

Laios, 229, 230, 277, 323

Kleitos, 166

Lakedsemon, 270

Kleta, 175
Klio, 150

Lakonia, 112

Klotho, 185
Klytcemnestra, 189, 190, 285, 290,
301
Klytios, 43

53, 97, 106, 262

Lapithse, 231, 232

Laomedon,

Knidos, 85
Knosos, 239
Koios, 27
Kokalos, 242
Kolchis, 191, 204, 271, 274, 275

Kolonos, 190, 279

Komana, 187
Komos, 142

Kopo, 101
Kora, see Persephone, 62
Koronides, 178
Koronis, 124, 178
Korybantes, 34
Kos, 43, 263
Kottos, 26
Kreios, 27
Kreon, 275, 279, 281, 282
Kreta, see Crete
Kreusa, 238
Krishna, 340

Krommyon, The Boar

Lakshmi, 339
Lampetia, 108 Lampsakos, 135
Laodamia, 224
Laokoon, 299, 300

of,

Kronia, 31
Kronion, Kronides, 36
Kronos, 18, 26, 27, 28

Lara, 199
Lar, Lares, 198, 199
Lararium, 198
Larisa, 213, 218
Larvse, 199
Latona. see Leto
Latium, 133, 138
Learchos, 272

Leda, 285
Leimoniads, 153
79, 81, 82, 120, 126, 207,
208, 273, 280, 290, 298

Lemnos,

Lemures, 199
Lenaea, 119
Lerna, 52, 211

266

described,

29, 3> 3 1 5 3 2 . 33, 39- 42, 44. 5.

57, 60, 65, 71, 189, 203, 328, 346
Kuretes, 29, 34

Kurma, 340
Kuvera, 339
Kybele, Kybebe, 33, 136, 140, 143
Kyklopes, 22, 26, 27, 30, 106, 304,
306
Kyknos, 76, 108
Kyllenios, 123
Kypselos, 196
Kyzikos, 273

Labdakos, 227, 228, 229, 237

Lernaean Hydra, 249, 250

Lesbos, 235
Lethe, 59
Leto, Latona, 39, 61, 70, 100, 104,
107, 215
Leukippos, 285
Leukophryne, 1 16
Leukosia, 150
Leukothea, described, 149 226, 306
Libera, 62, 69
Libitina, Lubentina, 65
Libya, 211, 216, 225
Lichas, 264
Ligeia, 150
Limnads, 154
Limnaia, 113
Limoniads, 153
Linos, 247
Lipara Islands, 163
Lips, 164
Litae, 188, 189
Loki, 316, 3 1 7, 319, 320
;

362

INDEX.

Lucifer, 168

Memnon,

Lucina, 49, 347

Luna, see Selene

Memphis, 343

Lupercalia, 138, 307

Lupercus, 137
Lyaeos,

Lydia, 144, 263

Lykia, Lycia, 102, 213, 221, 222, 243
Lykios, 102

Lykomedes, 269, 288

Lykos, 228, 229, 239
Lykurgos, (legislator), 113,240
Lykurgos, (king), 119, 256, 280
Lynkeus, 212, 213, 270, 285

80, 167,

296

Menelaos, 245, 285, 286, 287, 299,

301
Menoetios, 288
Menoikeus, 229, 281
Mercury, see Hermes

Merope, 220
Messene, 270
Messenia, 99, 112
Metageitnia, 100
Methymna, 118
Metion, 239
Metis, 30, 38, 88, 127

Midas, 35, 106, 136

Midea, 244
Midgard, 311, 312, 320
Miletus, 103
Mimir, 319
Minerva, see Athene
Minos, 62, in, 174, 204;

M.
Machason, 298
Maenads, 147, 235
Mahabharata, 321, 325,337
Maia, 39, 121, 140
Manes, 199
Marathon, 204, 255, 267
Mars, see Ares
Marspiter (Mars Pater) 77
Marsyas, 106

legend
of, 240 ; 244, 254, 267, 269
Minotaur, 101, 241, 267
Minyse, 231, 247
Miolnir, 335

Maruts, 330, 334, 335

Mneme, 158

Mat, 346, 350

Mnemosyne,

Mater Turrita, 34
Matronalia, 49
Matsya, 340
Maut, 345

Mnevis, see Apis, 348

Mechanitis, 93
Medea, 242, 265,

Mcera,

Mcerse,

scribed, 184;

274,

275,

322,

325
Meditrinalia, 181
52, 91, 191, 192, 215, 216,

217, 219, 221

Megsera, 28, 190

Megapenthes, 218
Megara, 238
Mekone, 207
Melampos, 214
Melanion, 278
Meleagros, 76, no, 269, 270, 272
Melete, 158
Melia, 210
Melian Nymphs, 28
Melikertes, 149, 220, 272
Melolosis, 154

Melpomene, 159

314

Moloch, 31, 239

Molorchos, 249

Meditrina, 181

Medusa,

27, 39, 157, 161,

Parca?,

127

de-

296

Mceragetes, 185
Momus, 195
Morpheus, 195

Mors, see Thanatos

Mosychlos, 79, 81
Mu, 346
Munin, 314
Munychia, 113
MiiNagetes, 103, 158
Mnseia, 157
Muses, 130, 149, 150

described,

171, 174, 175, 177, 194,226,

157
234, 235, 297
Museums, 159
Mnspelheim, 311, 321
;

Mut, see Isis

Mutinus, 135
Mykense, 210, 21S, 244, 24S, 251,
254, 255, 302

363

INDEX.

Myrmidons, 293
Myrrha, 86
Myrtilos, 244

Nutpe, 346, 347, 350

Nykteus, 228

Nymphrea, 153

Nymphs,
N.

28,

137; described,

113,

151

Nagananda, 321

Nysa, 118, 144

Naiads, 125, 154

Napseae, 153

Nyx, Nox, Night,

189

22, 70, 184, 185,

described, 193

Naranaya, 338
Narasingha, 340

196

O.

Nastrand, 312
Nauplia, 211
Nauplios, 21

October horse, 78
Odin, 311, 312; described,
3*7, 3 22 3 2 3> 324, 325
Odinand, 31

Nausikiia, 306

Odysseus, Ulysses, 60, 95, 149, 150,

Narkissos, 155

Nausimedon, 212
Naxos, 120, 267

296, 297,
163, 287, 288, 290,
298, 299, 300, 301 ; wanderings

Neith, Neitha, 345, 346

Neleus, 52, 272

Nemea, 249
Nemean Games,

16

Lion, 249
Nemesia, 186
Nemesis, 172; described, 186; 189
Neoptolemos, 288, 297, 301
Neph, Nuin, Nu, Nef, Cnouphis,

Nephele, 272
Nephthys, 347, 351
Neptune, see Poseidon

64; described,
216, 220

149, 154,

Nereus, 55,

145

described,

146;

146

Nike, Victoria, 93 ; described, 183

Nile, 211, 339
Niobe, 99, 229, 243
Nisos, 239
Nomios, 100, 126
Nordri, 311
Nornen, 321
Notos, 164, 166

Nox, see Nyx

135

203,

248,

276,

277,

279,

282
CEneus, 264, 269
CEnomaeos, 76, 176, 243, 244

(Enone, 324
Ogres, 335
Oiax, 212

154. 257, 331

Nesaie, 147
Nessos, 264
Nestor, 53, 287, 301
Neverita, 55
Niblungs, 317, 321
Niflheim, 311, 312

Numa

76,

CEchalia, 235, 264

CEdipos, 229, 230, 231,

Qita, 264

Cenubis, 343, 344

60,

304

of,

Odyssey, 59,
321, 322

Nemean

Nereids,

313;

Pompilius, 72, 7S, 92, 134,

Oikles, 262, 278

Oi'leus, see Ajax

Okeanids, 146, 154, 174

Okeanos, 22, 23, 27, 30, 38, 55,
described, 145 ; 148, 150,
58
;

210
Okypete, 191
Olympia, 4, 6, 10, 40, 41, 47, 49,
128, 244
Olympiads, 16, 42
Olympian Games, 16, 244
Olympos, 6, 10, 24, 25, 30, 42, 43,
154, 162, 186, 195,

44, 47, 70, 76, 78, 80,

128, 157, 158, 162, 166,
176, 177, 178, 179, 188,
224, 226, 231, 235, 246,

332, 345

Omphale, 263
Oneiropompos, 122
Oneiros, 195
Onuphis, see Apis
Opheltes, 280

81,

127,

169, 174,
207, 209,
248, 296,

INDEX.

364
Ops, 32, 140

Orchomenos,

173, 174, 247

Oreads, 25, 137, 153
Oreithyia, 165, 238
Orestes, 113, 189, 190, 290, 302, 303

Orion,

m,

166

Ormuzd, 342
Orpheus, 58, 150, 153, 228 ; legend
of, 234; 272
Oschophoria, 269
Osiris, 342, 346
described, 347
348, 349, 35o, 35 J 35 2
Ossa, 209
Othrys, 30
Otos, 76, 209, 231
Ovid, 133
;

>

Pax, see Eirene

Pedasos, 292
Pegasos, 52, 91, 155, 166, 167, 192,
216, 221, 223
Peirene, 220, 221
Peirithoos, 231, 232, 268, 272
Peitho, Suada, Suadela, 85, 176
Peleus, 128, 147, 158,' 187,233, 262,
270, 272, 283, 288
Peliads, 153
Pelias, 52, 271,

275

Pelion, 153, 179, 209, 233, 251

Peloponnesos, 99, 179, 206
Pelops, 42, 204, 243, 244
Penates, 198
Peneios, 6, 151

Penelope, 306, 307

Penthesilea, 295

Palasmon, 149
Palamedes, 125, 212, 288, 290
Pales, 143
Palilia, 143, 307
Palladium, 72, 78, 94, 95, 29S, 300

Periphates, 266

Pallantides, 266
Pallas- Athene, see Athene
Pallas, brother of yEgeus, 239, 266
Pallas, the Giant, 43, 183

274
Persephone, Proserpina, Kora, 18,
described, 62
32, 57, 61
65,

Pan, 106, 135

described, 136; 138,

'44. 153, 155,

344

Panathenrea, 82, 93, 269

Pericles,

Periklymenos, 263
Perkunes, Perune, 316
Persei's, 240,

67, 68, 69, 70, 86, 99, 129, 149,

170, 189, 220, 232, 234, 347, 350

Perses, 70, 218

Perseus, gi, 191,

Panathenaic prize vases, 93

Pandareos, 191
Pandion, 237, 239
Pandora, 208
Pandrosos, 236
Panes, Paniski, 137, 139, 141
Panic fear, 137
Panope, 147
Paphos, 87
Parcae, 127, 182, 184, 269
Paris, 87, 283,284, 285, 286, 287,
Parnassos, 44, 157, 158, 206

Pentheus, 119, 227

Pephredo, 193

legend

192,

193,

204

214; 221, 246, 248

Persians, 92, 102, 165
of,

Pessinus, 35
Phseakians, 306
Phaedra, 241, 269

Phaenna, 175
Phrestos, 240, 242
Phaethon, 107, 108
Phaethusa, 108

324

Phantasos, 195
Pheidias,

I, 4,

41, 49, 77, 169

Parthenia, 48
Parthenos, 93

Pheme, Fama, 188

Phera;, 106, 262, 270

Parthenope, 150
Parthenopseos, 76, 278
Pasiphae, 240, 241, 242

Pherusa, 147

Pasithea, 147, 175

Patroklos, 203, 2S8, 2S9, 293, 295
Paul, St., 115
Pausanias, 41, 196

Philoktetes, 242, 290, 298, 301

Philomela, 237, 238
Phineus, 191, 217, 273
Phlius, 176, 177

Philammon, 235
Philemon, 38

;6s

Pontios, 220
Pontos, 22, 146, 218

Phobetor, 195
Phobos, 76
Phoebe, 27, 285
Phoebos, see Apollo

Porphyrion, 43
Poseidon, Neptune,

191,
222,

Phorkys, 149, 191, 193

Phoroneus, 205, 210
Phrah, Pharaoh, 346
Phrixos, 272
Picumnus, 139
Picus, 138, 139
Pierides, 157
Pieria, 157, 234, 235

216,
23I,

219,

220.

233,

2j-

243,

244,

254,

305,

Prcetos, 213, 214, 218,

204

222

Prokne, 237, 238

Prokris, 167
Prokrustes, 266

Pleiads, 154, 252

Pleione, 154

Plexaure, 154
Pluto, see Hades,

and

18,

29,

33,

149, 179, 220

Plutos, 66, 131
Podarge, 191

Podarkes, 263
Poeas, 242

Poena, 186
Polias, 93
Pollux, see

Polydeukes

Polybos, 230
Polybotes, 43
Polydektes, 214, 217, 248
Polydeukes, Pollux, 227, 270, 272,
273, 285
Polydoros, 226, 227

Polyhymnia, Polymnia, 160

Polyidos, 221
Polykleitos, 49
Polykrates, 49
Polyneikes, 230, 277, 278, 279, 280,

281

Polyphemos,

52, 305,

306

Polyphonte, 86

Pomona,

211,
228,

Potamia, 1 13
Potamids, 154
Pothos, 85, 171
Potiphar, 222
Praeneste, 183
Praxiteles, 1, 169
Priamos, 263, 283, 294, 297, 300,
301
Priapos, Lutinus, 135
Prithivi, 339
Prodikos, 246

Pilumnus, 139
Piinpla, Pimplea, 157
Pindar, 1, 3, 68, 174
Pindos, 158
Pittheus, 265
Plataeae,

192,

225,
241,

237,
306, 331

Pieros, 157

Plato,

10, 16, 24, 29,

33> 3. 43; described, 50; 57, 66,

72, 85, 88, 92, 106, 118, 124,
146, 147, 148, 149, 154, 164,

Phoenicians, 31, 84, 239

Phoenix, 225, 240
Phokis, 302
Pholos, 251

131, 132, 139

Prometheus, 81, 82, 88, 195, 204

described, 205; 210, 233, 262
Proserpina, see Persephone
Proteus, 145, 146
Prymno, 154
Psyche, 170, 171
Psychopompos, 122
Pthah, 343, 346
Pyanepsia, 269
Pygmalion, 86
Pylades, 302, 303
Pylos, 238
Pylos, Town of, 123, 263, 287
Pyrrha, 44, 206
Pythagoras, 14
Pythia, 102
Pythian Games, 1 6, 59, 104
Pythios, 103, 105
Python, 96, 104, 105, 202

Q.
Qoasir, 333

R.
Ra, Phra, 344, 345, 351
Rakhshasas, 331

3 66

INDEX.

Ramayana, 321, 340

Ranno, 344
Reate, 77
Regin, 323, 324
Reifriesen, 321
Reimthursen, Rime, or Frost, 311
Remus, 74, 77, 307
Rerir,

322
Rhadamanthys, 62, 240, 243, 247
Rhamnusia, 186
Rhea, Kybele, 27, 29, 31 described,
;

Silvia,

74

Rhodeia, 154
Rhodes, 98, 149

Serapis, Sarapis, 350

Seriphos, 215, 216, 217
Servius Tullius, 74, 114, 116, 178
Seth, 347

143,

163,

192,

219,

Sidon, 240

74, 77, 134, 247,

307

Sigi,

322

Sigmund, 317, 322, 323

Sigmund, Sigfusson, 310
Signi, 322
Sigurd, 317, 323, 324
Sikyon, 99, 207, 214, 228

S.

Games, 62

Saga^ 314
Sais, 345
Saivas, 337
Salacia, 55

Silenos, Sileni, 11S, 141

Salamis, 54, 93, 102

78
Samnites, 187
Samos, 49, 169
Samothrace, 126

Sintians, 79

Saranyn, 327

Sirens, described, 149

Sarapis, see Serapis

Saraswati, 338

Sirius,

Sinis,

266

Skirnir, 317

Skyros, 288, 298

18, 29
described,
32; 132, 133, 137, 139, 143
Satyavrate, 340
;

31,

Scutari, 273

306

Seb, 346, 347, 348

312
Smyrna, 187

Socrates,

1,

17,

1S0

Sol, see Helios

Satyriski, 141

Scopas, 169

305

Sisyphos, 60, 61
described, 219
Siva,IMahadeva, 337; described, 339

Sleipnir,

152, 153
Savitar, 332

in

Saturnalia, 31, 32, 199

Saturnia, 32

described,

described,

Sinon, 300
Sinope, 350

Sarpedon, 240, 243

Sati, 344, 345, 352

Saturnus,

144
Silvanus, 140, 142, 143
Silver Age, 44

Salii,

Scylla,

Ancient

the

Siegfried, 248
Siggeir, 322

Sabseism, 346
Sabines, 134

Satyrs,

109;

242

River Gods, 151

Saccular

described,

Selli, 37
Semele, 39, 48, 11S, 140, 149, 226,
227
Semnoe, see Erinys

Sicily, 84, 98,

Rhodope, 234
Rhoetos, 43
Romulus,

Seven Wonders of
World, 42
Sibyl, see Cumtean

33; 57. 65, 71, 144, 347

Rhea

Selene, Luna, 70
165
Selinus, 192, 219

Solymi, 223
141

144.

145,

Soma, 333, 334

Somnus, see Hypnos
Sophocles, 1, 231, 325
Soteira, 93
Sparta, 87, 9S, 99, 113, 157, 169,
173, 245, 2S4, 2S5
Spartse, 226, 227

367

INDEX.

Sphinx, 230
Steropes, 27

(Egyptian), 352

Stheino, 191
Stheneboea, 213, 222
Sthenelos, 246

Strymon, 234
Stymphalian Birds, 250, 252
Stymphalos, 252
Styx, 58, 107, 162, 183
Suada, Suadela, see Peitho
Sudri, 311
Sulla, 103

Surtr, 321
Surya, 331, 332, 337

Sybaris, 9S
Symplegades, 274

Syrinx, 136

Talos, 239, 242

Tantalos, 60, 61, 229, 243
Taranis, 376

Tarentum, 98
Tarquin, 103
Tarsos, 218

Thamyris, 235
Thanatos, Mors, 194, 196, 197
Thargelia, 100
Thargelios, 100
Thasos, 120

Thaumas,

162, 191

Thebais, 276

Thebe, 228
Thebes, 6,

76, 77, 101, 112, 118,

119, 128, 167, 224; legends of,
224, 247, 263
Thebes, War against, 277

Thebes, Destruction of, 282

Theia, 27, 165
Themis, 27, 39, 104 ; described,
127; 129, 131, 185, 283
Themistocles, 102
Theophane, 52
Theophania, 103
Theoxenia, 104
Thersites, 296
Theseium, 269
Theseus, 54, 91, 93. !7 6 204, 223,
legend
232, 239, 241, 246, 255
>

Tartaros, 18, 24, 25, 30, 60, 70, 87,

145, 193. 194, '95. 2I 3, 232,

243
Tauric Artemis, 113
Tauros, 190, 290, 302
Taygete, 252
Tegea, 77
Teiresias, 59, 306
Telamon, 262, 295

48
Telemachos, 287, 306
Telephassa, 225
Telephos, 289, 290, 298
Teleia, Teleios,

Telesphoros, 181
Telesto, 154

Tempe,

6, 52, 231
Tenedos, 149, 300
Tereus, 237, 238

Terminalia, 135
Terminus, 134
Terpsichore, 161
Terra, sec Gaea
Tethys, 23, 27, 55
146
Teutamias, 218
Thalassios, 173

Thalia, 159, 174

Thallo, 129

of,

265, 270, 272, 275, 279, 286,

322
Thesmophoria, 67
Thesmophoros, 67
Thespiae, 169, 247
Thespios, 247
Thessaly, 24, 30, 52, 66,
legends of, 231
217

106, 206,

Thetis, 24, 47, 79, 128, I47

158, 243, 283, 288, 294, 296
Thiassi, 321

Thoe, 147
Thor, Donar, 312, 313
3i5> 321, 330, 335
Thoth, 347, 352

5 2>

described,

Thrace, 77, 1 18, 144, 225; legends

of, 233; 255
Thucydides, 1
Thyene, 155
Thyestes, 244, 245, 301

described, 145;

Tiryns, 2 1 3, 218
Tisiphone, 28, 190
Titaea,

156

Titans, 22, 25, 26, 27, 33, 42,

127, 137, x 45> 200, 231

50,

3 68

INDEX.

Tithonos, 1 66, 167, 296

Tityos, 60, 61, 202
Trifonnis, 70
Trimurrti, 337
Trinakia, 107, 305

Vikings, 309
Vingolf, 312

Vishnu, 315,

316, 333, 334,

described, 338
Vithar, 313, 319
Volsungs, 317, 321, 322
Volsung Saga, 324,1:325

Triptolemos, 66
Tritogeneia, Tritonia, 88, 89
Triton, 60, 63 ; described, 148;
Tritonis,

50

88

Vritra, 331, 333,

Ilion, 91,
;

342

W.

Troezene, 128, 157, 265

Troilos, 291
Trollweiber, 321
Tros, 178
204, 245

..

Vulcanalia, 82

Trivia, 71

Troy,

337

106,

95,

war

of,

10,

78,

282

Tyche, Fortuna, 182, 185

Tydeus, 277, 280, 296
Tyndareus, 263, 286

Typho, 342, 347

Typhon, Typhosus,

Walhalla, 312, 321

We, 311
Wegtam, 332
Westri, 311
Wili, 311
Wind Gods, 164
Winds, Tower of, 165

Wodan, Wuotan,

313, 343

X.
164,

249,

351,

Xenophon,

Xuthos, 238

382
Tyr, Ziu, 313, 318, 332

U.
Ullr, 313, 319
Ulysses, see Odysseus

Urania, 85, 87, 127, 160

Uranos, 18, 22; described, 26; 27,
28, 29, 33, 43, 85, 127, 145, 158,
168, 328

Ushas. 319, 335, 346

V.
Vaishnavas, 337, 338
Valaskialf, 312
Vali, 313

Valkyrien, 32

Varuha, 340
Varuna, 328, 330, 333, 334
Vayu, 334, 337
Ye, 313
Vedas, 9, 338
Vedism, 327
Veneralia, 87
Venilia, 55
Venus, see Aphrodite
Vertumnus, 1 3 1, 132
Vesta, see Hestia
Vestalia, 75
Vestal Virgins, 73
Victoria, see Nike

Y.
Yggdrasil, 312, 319
Ymir, 311, 357
Z.

Zendavesta, 311
Zephyros, 99, 131, 164, 165, 166
Zetes, 191, 272
Zethos, 227, 228, 229, 247
Zeus, Jupiter, 2, 4, 10, 14, 16, 17,
18, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34 ;
described, 35-45 ; 46, 47, 48, 50,
5i, 53, 56, 57, 63, 72, 75, 76, 77,
79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 88, 90, 92
101,
iol
104, 105, 106, 107,

113, 118, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125

127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 136
147, 148, 149, 153, 154, 156, 157
158, 162, 164, 166, 168, 176, 177
178, 179, 180, 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 188, 189, 190, 197, 200, 203.
206, 207, 208,210, 212, 214, 215,

218, 219, 220,

232, 235, 236,
244, 246, 247,
3i5> 329, 33o
Zeuxis, I
Ziu, see Tyr
Zygia, 48

224, 226, 227, 228

239, 240, 241, 242,
249, 255, 313, 314,

343

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Manual of mythology

Greek and Roman,

Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library

1012 00162 7571

;i