The Student's Mythology

Ques. How is this fable explained?

Ans. It is supposed that Deucalion and Pyrrha were remarkable for their piety and virtue; and that by precept and example, they subdued the ferocity of their subjects. In this manner they softened those who before were hard like stones, so that gentleness and humanity began to reign among them.

DÆDALUS

Ques. Who was Dæd´alus?

Ans. He is said to have been a native of Athens, eminent for his skill in architecture and statuary. His nephew Perdix wrought with him, and showed much inventive genius. Having observed the teeth of a serpent, or, according to some, the backbone of a fish, Perdix invented the carpenter’s saw, and applied it to the cutting of timber. By this and other efforts of skill, the young man excited the jealousy of Dæd´alus, who killed him by casting him down from the summit of the Acropolis. Perdix was transformed into a partridge, a timid bird which seems still mindful of its fall, and keeps to low coverts, avoiding high places and lofty flights. For this murder, Dæd´alus was sentenced to banishment by the Court of the Areop´agus. He found an asylum with Minos, king of Crete, for whom he constructed the famous Labyrinth. Having incurred the displeasure of Minos, Dæd´alus was imprisoned in a lofty tower. As there seemed no other means of escape, he resolved on attempting a flight through the air. For this purpose, he made wings for himself and his son Ic´arus, which were so skilfully contrived, that, by their aid, they mounted boldly in the air, and directed their flight over the sea. Ic´arus disregarded his father’s instructions, and approached so near the sun that its heat melted the wax which united the feathers of his wings. He could no longer sustain himself, and was drowned in that sea which is called Icarian, from his name. Dæd´alus arrived in Sicily, where he was employed by Coc´alus, king of that island, in the erection of many splendid edifices.

Various explanations have been given of the fable of Dæd´alus. The most probable opinion is that there really existed an architect of that name, whose fame was such that all the improvements made in those early times in architecture and sculpture were attributed to him by popular tradition. He introduced the use of masts and sails in ships, and he is said to have been the first who represented statues in natural and lifelike attitudes, and with open eyes. Dæd´alus is also mentioned as the inventor of the axe, plumb-line and augur.

CEYX—HALCYONE—THE HALCYON BIRDS

Ques. Who was Ceyx?

Ans. He was a king of Trachinia, who married Halcy´one, a daughter of the god Æolus. Ceyx was drowned on his way to consult the oracle of Claros. Halcy´one was apprised of the sad event in a dream, in which she saw her husband stand before her, with pallid countenance and dripping garments. She hastened to the strand at break of day, and gazing over the waters, beheld the body of Ceyx borne towards her by the waves. In her despair, she cast herself into the sea, but the gods took pity on the faithful pair, and transformed them into halcyons. According to the poets, it was decreed that the sea should remain calm while these birds built their nests upon it. Notwithstanding the querulous, lamenting note of the halcyon, it was regarded by the ancients as a symbol of tranquillity, and as it seemed to make its home upon the waters, it was consecrated to Thetis. Pliny tells us that these birds constructed their floating nests during the seven days immediately preceding the winter solstice, and laid their eggs in the seven days succeeding. These are the “halcyon days” of antiquity, and this expression is still used to denote a period of bright and tranquil happiness.

The only bird of modern times which at all resembles the halcyon described by Pliny and Aristotle, is the Alcedo Ispida, a species of martin called by the French, martin-pêcheur. This martin, however, makes its nest on shore, lays its eggs in the spring, and has no connection with calm weather. The large sponge-like ball which was taken by the ancients for the floating nest of the halcyon, was in reality a zoöphyte, of the class named by Linnæus, halcyonium.

CHAPTER XXXII

MELEAGER—THE CALYDONIAN HUNT

Ques. What was the story of this prince?

Ans. Meleager was the son of Œneus and Althea, king and queen of Calydon. After his birth, the Fates entered the chamber of Althea, and foretold that the life of the child should expire with a billet of wood then burning on the hearth. Althea immediately seized and quenched the brand, which she secured in an oaken chest. Meleager had already attained the years of manhood when he took part in the expedition generally known as the Calydonian hunt. Œneus had, upon one occasion, in offering sacrifice to the gods, neglected the honors due to Diana, and the goddess, in revenge, sent a wild boar of enormous size to lay waste the fields of Calydon. The boldest hunters feared to attack the monster, whose eyes shone with fire, while its bristles stood erect like spears, and its tusks resembled those of an Indian elephant. The cornfields and vineyards were trampled down in its path, and the terrified husbandmen everywhere fled in dismay. At length Meleager called on the heroes of Greece to join in a hunt and destroy the common foe. There came on the appointed day, Castor and Pollux, Theseus and his friend Pirothous, Peleus, afterwards father of Achil´les, Telamon, father of Ajax, Nestor, then a youth, and many others of heroic fame. All eyes were, however, attracted by the fair huntress Atalanta. Her girdle was of burnished gold, an ivory quiver hung from her shoulder, and she carried a bow in her left hand.

They soon reached the monster’s lair. Roused by the baying hounds, he rushed forth, trampling down and slaying the nearest huntsmen. In vain Jason threw his spear, praying that Diana might guide his arm. It glanced aside, and the weapon of Telamon proved equally harmless, while Nestor was obliged to seek safety in the branches of a tree. The first wound was inflicted by an arrow from the bow of Atalanta. Meleager, following up this advantage, despatched the monster with his spear. The heroes crowded around to congratulate the victor, who offered the head of the boar and the bristling hide to Atalanta. The huntress accepted the trophies, but the uncles of Meleager, indignant that a woman should bear off the honors of the day, snatched them rudely from her. Meleager forgot, in his anger, the ties of kindred, and slew the offenders on the spot.

As Althea was going to the temple to return thanks for her son’s victory she beheld the bodies of her murdered brothers. When she learned that they had fallen by the hand of Meleager, the Furies took possession of her soul. Entering hastily into the palace, she snatched the fatal brand, so long preserved, and cast it into the flames. At the same moment Meleager started with sudden pain, his strength ebbed away, and as the brand fell to ashes, the soul of the hero was breathed forth on the light winds.

When the deed was accomplished Althea killed herself in despair. The sisters of Meleager wept his loss, until Diana, pitying their sorrow, changed them into birds called Meleagrides.

NISUS AND SCYLLA

Ques. Relate the story of their transformation?

Ans. Nisus was king of Megara; this city was closely besieged by Minos, but all his efforts were vain, as the Fates had decreed that it should not be taken, so long as a purple lock which grew on the head of Nisus, remained uncut. Scylla, the daughter of this prince, admired the majestic person of Minos, and the valor which he displayed. Believing that he would reward her treachery by making her his queen, she cut the fatal lock while her father slept. Minos received the gift with horror, and, when the city was taken, refused to permit Scylla to accompany him to Crete. In despair, she clung to the prow of his ship; but Nisus, who had just been transformed into a hawk, swooped down upon her from the sky. Scylla cast herself into the sea, and was transformed at the same moment into a lark.

ERISICHTHON

Ques. Who was Erisichthon?

Ans. He was a profane person and a despiser of the gods. There stood in a grove sacred to Ceres, a stately oak which overtopped the trees around as they did the garden shrubs. Erisichthon commanded his attendants to fell the tree, and when they hesitated, he snatched an axe himself, and struck the sacred wood. Blood flowed from the wounded trunk, and a voice from the Dryad dwelling in the oak, warned him of the punishment which awaited his impiety. Erisichthon persisted in his crime, and at length the tree, severed by repeated blows, and drawn with ropes, sunk to the ground, prostrating half the grove in its fall. The indignant Dryades went to Ceres in mourning garb, and invoked vengeance on the head of their impious foe. The goddess was moved, and delivered Erisichthon into the power of Famine. As the Fates had decreed that this goddess and Ceres should never meet, an Oread was sent to the ice-clad plains of Scythia, where Famine chiefly dwelt. Arriving at Mount Caucasus, the nymph found her in a stony field, tearing up with teeth and claws the scanty herbage. The pale goddess obeyed the command of Ceres, and visiting the dwelling of Erisichthon, she breathed upon him as he slept. Awaking he craved food, but the more he consumed, the more his hunger raged. In vain the unhappy man spent all his substance to obtain relief; he was reduced to misery and famished as before. He had one daughter called Mestra, an only child, whom he sold to procure food. The maiden scorned to be a slave, and standing with her purchaser on the sea-shore, she lifted her hands, and invoked the aid of Neptune. The god immediately changed her form, so that she appeared to be an aged fisherman mending nets.

The master, strangely surprised at the sudden disappearance of his slave, questioned the supposed fisherman. Mestra replied that she had seen no one, and he proceeded to search for the fugitive elsewhere. She then resumed her own form, and returned to her father, who was well pleased to find that he had still both his daughter and the money for which he had sold her. He again resorted to this base expedient, but as often as Mestra was sold, she was transformed, by the favor of Neptune, now into a horse, now an ox, and now a stag; and so escaped from her purchaser.

All means proved insufficient to supply the wants of the unhappy Erisichthon, who was compelled by hunger to devour his own flesh before death came to end his misery.

CHAPTER XXXIII

Poets of Classic FableHOMER—HESIOD—VIRGIL—OVID

Ques. Who was Homer?

Ans. Everything relating to this poet is involved in obscurity. The two biographies of him which were formerly attributed to Herodotus and Plutarch, are evidently fabulous; their real authors are not known. Nothing is known certainly regarding Homer’s parentage, his birth-place, or even the exact era in which he lived. Seven cities contended for the honor of having given this great poet to the world; these were Smyrna, Chios, Col´ophon, Sal´amis, Rhodes, Argos and Athens.

Smyrna appears to have the best claim, and it is considered certain that the poet was by birth an Ionian; the Ionic is the dialect employed in his works, with a slight mixture, however, of the Æolic, and other forms. With regard to the time in which Homer lived, there is much difference of opinion among the learned, some placing him in the ninth, others in the tenth century before our era. The latter opinion is the more probable.

According to the account generally given, Homer was for many years a schoolmaster in Smyrna. He afterwards abandoned this occupation, and spent some time in travelling.

He made several voyages in the company of a sea captain named Mentes; but at length his sight became so much affected that he was obliged to remain on shore at Ithaca. While in this island, he was kindly entertained by a wealthy man named Mentor, who related to him the traditionary tales on which he afterwards founded the Odyssey.

Becoming totally blind, Homer returned to Smyrna, where he probably composed the greater part of his poems. He afterwards led a wandering life, gaining wealth and fame by the recitation of his verses. He died at Ios, one of the Cyclades, where he was buried. The fame of Homer is founded on his two great poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The first of these has been always considered among the finest productions of human genius. Homer is distinguished not only for his sublimity, but for the high moral tone which pervades his works.

Ques. Who was Hesiod?

Ans. This poet flourished about half a century later than Homer. He was a Bœotian, and in his youth tended sheep upon Mount Helicon. He emigrated afterwards to Orchomenos, in western Bœotia, where he died.

The only complete works of Hesiod now extant are the “Works and Days,” and the Theogony, or “Birth of the Gods.” The latter work consists of a long and rather tedious catalogue of the gods and goddesses; it is valued as containing an accurate account of the Grecian deities. The description of the Battle of the Titans and the Gods, at the close of the work, is considered one of the most sublime passages in classic poetry; Milton has borrowed from it in his Battle of the Angels.

Ques. When did Virgil flourish?

Ans. Publius Virgilius Maro was born near Mantua in the year 70, B. C. He received a liberal education, and inherited from his father a considerable estate. Of this he was deprived during the civil troubles which distracted Italy, but it was afterwards restored at the intercession of a powerful friend. His gratitude towards this kind benefactor, and the happiness felt by the poet in the peaceful possession of his patrimony, form the subject of his first pastoral poem or Eclogue. Virgil enjoyed the favor of Augustus, with the friendship of Mæcenas and other generous and powerful patrons; his life was, therefore, spent in ease and prosperity. He died at Brundusium, in the year 19, B. C.

The Eclogues, sometimes called also Bucolica or Bucolics, are ten short pastoral poems. The fourth, entitled Pollio, has given rise to much speculation on account of its striking coincidence with Scripture. Many suppose that the poet was acquainted with the prophecies of Isaiah.

The Georgics treat of agriculture, the care of cattle, the raising of bees, etc. These peaceful arts had been much neglected in Italy during the civil wars; Virgil hoped to revive the taste for rural pursuits, by his beautiful descriptions of country life. The Æneid, the last and greatest of his works, is an epic poem in twelve books. It is a history of the wanderings of Æneas, and the settlement of the Trojans in Italy.

Virgil is considered inferior to Homer in sublimity, but he exceeds him in sweetness and in the beauty of his descriptions. The moral, and even to a certain extent the religious spirit which pervades his writings is beyond praise, and places him almost alone among the poets of antiquity.

Ques. When did Ovid write?

Ans. Ovidius Naso was born in the year 43, B. C., at Sulmo (now Sulmona), a town about ninety miles distant from Rome. The date of his birth is rendered memorable in history by the murder of the great Cicero. Ovid belonged to an equestrian family; he was educated at Rome, and enjoyed every advantage that splendid capital afforded. He showed his taste for poetry at an early age, but was dissuaded from cultivating this art by his father, who wished him to apply exclusively to the study of eloquence. Ovid gained some distinction as an orator; but when the death of his elder brother left him sole heir to an ample fortune, his natural inclination prevailed, and he gave himself up to literary pursuits. A career of unexampled prosperity was now opened to the poet. He enjoyed the favor of Augustus, and the friendship of the most distinguished men in Rome; his verses were universally admired, they were sung in the streets and at entertainments, or were recited in the theatre amid bursts of applause. Ovid was not content with the nobler pleasures of fame and friendship, but plunged without restraint into all the vices and follies of which the Roman capital was the centre. This career of prosperity and pleasure was brought suddenly to a close. Ovid was banished by Augustus to Tomi, (now Temiswar) on the shores of the Euxine.

The decree was executed with the utmost severity. But one wretched night was allowed to the poet to deplore his fate, and take leave of his friends. His wife begged in vain to be allowed to accompany her husband in his exile. It is not known by what crime the unfortunate poet merited so severe a punishment. The immoral tendency of some of his poems, was the ostensible reason set forth by the emperor; but these verses had been written many years before. It is evident, therefore, that he must have offended Augustus in some manner which the latter did not choose to make public. Ovid wrote, in his exile, poems appropriately named “Tristia,” in which he bewails his hard fate, and describes the scenes by which he was surrounded. From the severity of the climate, and the inroads of the barbarians, the fields were without grain, the hills without vines; no stately oaks clothed the mountain-side, no willows drooped along the banks; a scanty growth of wormwood alone covered the desolate plains. Spring brought with it neither birds nor flowers. In Summer, the sun was obscured by clouds; the Autumn shed no fruits, but through every season of the year, the wintry winds blew with prodigious violence, and lashed the waves of the boisterous Euxine on its desert shore. The only animated object was the wild Sarmatian driving his car, yoked with oxen, across the icy waste, himself wrapped in furs, his shaggy hair and beard sparkling with the hoar frost and flakes of snow. Such was the abode for which the poet was compelled to exchange the theatres, the porticoes and gardens of Rome, the court of Augustus, and the sunny skies of Italy. He died in the ninth year of his exile, and the sixty-first of his age.

The poems of Ovid, however beautiful otherwise, are all more or less objectionable on account of their immoral tendency; the corruption of the author’s private character has left its impress on all his works.

The claim of Ovid to be numbered among the poets of mythology, rests chiefly on his Metamorphoses. This is a collection of legends of all the transformations said to have taken place in heathen mythology, beginning with the earliest times, and closing with the changing of Julius Cæsar into a star. The stories are not themselves original; they are principally Greek and Oriental fictions, interspersed, perhaps, with a few Latin or Etruscan fables. There are, in all, two hundred and fifty of these stories. Ovid was engaged in correcting this, his greatest work, when he was surprised by the sentence of banishment. In a fit of impatience and despair, he threw it into the flames. Some of his friends possessed copies, and the poem was thus preserved.

If the Metamorphoses had been destroyed by this rash act, we would have lost many interesting fables which have been rendered immortal by the beauty of Ovid’s verse and his graceful fancy.

The Tristia are not so generally admired. They turn principally on the poet’s personal misfortunes; and this subject, however absorbing to himself, soon becomes wearisome to the reader. Ovid composed a poem in the harsh dialect spoken by the Getæ who dwelt on the borders of the Euxine Sea. The barbarians listened with delight to his recitations, until their anger was excited by his constant complaints of their rude manners and inhospitable climate.

CHAPTER XXXIV

Heroes Celebrated by the PoetsAGAMEMNON

Ques. Who was Agamemnon?

Ans. He was king of Mycenæ, and commander-in-chief of the Grecian forces during the siege of Troy. The combined fleet was detained for a long time at Aulis, owing to the wrath of Diana, whom Agamemnon had offended by killing one of her favorite deer. Calchas, the soothsayer, was consulted; he declared that the goddess could only be appeased by the sacrifice of Iphige´nia, the oldest daughter of the monarch. She was accordingly led to the altar, but Diana was moved with pity, and carried the maiden with her to Tauris, leaving a hind in her place. The quarrel of Agamemnon with Achil´les, and the troubles that resulted, form the principal subject of Homer’s Iliad. In the division of captives, after the taking of Troy, Cassandra, one of the daughters of Priam, fell to the lot of Agamemnon. This princess had been endowed by Apollo with the gift of prophecy, but as she refused afterwards to listen to the suit of that god, he decreed that no one should attach any credit to her predictions. It was so in the present instance. Clytemnestra, the queen of Agamemnon, believing, and perhaps hoping, that her husband would not return, had given a promise of marriage to Ægisthus, who already considered himself king of Mycenæ. Cassandra warned Agamemnon against returning thither, but her prediction was disregarded. Agamemnon was assassinated immediately on his arrival at Mycenæ; according to the tragic poets, it was Clytemnestra who dealt the fatal blow.

ACHILLES

Ques. Who was Achil´les?

Ans. He was the son of Peleus, king of Phthio´tis in Thessaly; his mother was Thetis, a sea-goddess. Many incredible stories are told concerning the manner in which the hero was nursed in his infancy. According to one account, his mother designed to make him immortal, and for that purpose anointed him with ambrosia during the day, and laid him in the fire at night. The fears of Peleus interrupted this strange treatment, and Achil´les remained subject to death. Calchas had declared that Troy could not be taken without his aid, and Thetis, who was aware that her son was destined to perish if he joined the expedition, disguised him in female attire, and concealed him among the daughters of King Lycome´des. Ulysses was sent to discover his retreat, which he effected by the following stratagem. Attired as a travelling merchant, he presented himself at court, and displayed before the queen and her maidens, various articles of female attire. Some pieces of armor were disposed among the merchandise; by the order of Ulys´ses, a trumpet was suddenly blown, when the disguised Achil´les betrayed himself by seizing the armor. The young warrior was then obliged to join the expedition. During the siege, Achil´les had a dispute with Agamemnon, concerning some female captives; considering himself wronged, he withdrew from the contest, and no entreaties could induce him to return to the field. The death of his friend Patroclus, who fell by the hand of Hector, at length aroused him to action. Achil´les’ armor, which he had lent to Patroclus, had become the spoil of Hector, and it was upon this occasion that Vulcan fabricated for the hero, the famous suit which is described in the Iliad. Arrayed in this Achil´les performed prodigies of valor, and at length killed Hector, after a desperate combat. According to Homer, Achil´les took an ignoble revenge on the dead body of his foe, which he dragged at his chariot-wheels, three times around the tomb of Patroclus. The corpse of the Trojan hero was yielded at last, to the tears and supplications of Priam, and a truce was granted to the Trojans, for the performance of the funeral rites. Achil´les was himself slain soon after; his ashes were mingled in a golden urn with those of Patroclus, and a tomb was erected to both heroes, on the promontory of Sigœum.

The vindictive spirit of Achil´les knew no repose, even in death. After the fall of Troy, his ghost appeared to the Greeks, and commanded them, with fearful menaces in case of refusal, to sacrifice on his tomb, Polyxena, one of the daughters of Priam. The unhappy maiden was torn from her mother’s arms, and immolated by Pyrrhus, the son of Achil´les. Hec´uba learned soon after the sad fate of her son Polydorus. This young prince, who had been commended by Priam to the care of Polymnestor, king of Thrace, was treacherously murdered by that monarch. The bereaved mother planned a terrible revenge. Promising disclosures with regard to hidden treasures, she induced Polymnestor and his children to visit her in secret. Then, aided by her fellow captives, Hec´uba murdered the young princes and put out the father’s eyes. While endeavoring to escape from the vengeance of the Thracians, she was suddenly transformed into a dog.