Myths of Greece and Rome Part 2

Solicitous for the welfare of mankind, Jupiter often visited the earth, taking great care to a.s.sume some disguise which would enable him to ascertain all he wished without any risk of detection. One day he and Mercury, his special messenger and favorite among the G.o.ds, took the forms of needy, belated travelers, and entered the lowly hut of a worthy old couple, Philemon and Baucis.

Eager to offer their best to the strangers, these poor people decided to kill their sole remaining goose; but their efforts to secure it were vain, and finally the persecuted fowl took refuge between Jupiter's knees. Touched with their zeal, yet anxious to prevent the death of the confiding goose, Jupiter revealed himself to his faithful wors.h.i.+pers, and in grat.i.tude for their intended sacrifice bade them ask any boon, promising by the great river Styx--the most binding and solemn oath a G.o.d could utter--to grant their request.

Contrary to the custom current in similar cases, Philemon and Baucis made a modest and judicious choice, and proffered a timid request that they might serve the G.o.ds as long as life and strength endured, and finally die together. This most reasonable wish was immediately granted; and Jupiter, moreover, changed their humble abode into a superb temple, where they could offer daily sacrifices on his altars.

"Their little shed, scarce large enough for two, Seems, from the ground increased, in height and bulk to grow. A stately temple shoots within the skies, The crotches of their cot in columns rise; The pavement polish'd marble they behold, The gates with sculpture grac'd, the spires and tiles of gold."

Ovid (Dryden's tr.).

After many years of faithful service, when age had made them long for death, Philemon and Baucis were transformed into majestic oaks, which stood for many a century in front of the temple, monuments of the love and faith which had bound the pair through life.

Although married to Juno, Jupiter often indulged in love affairs with other G.o.ddesses, and even with mortal maidens. The ancients themselves did not practice polygamy, but their G.o.ds were supposed to be able to indulge all their pa.s.sions with impunity. As the personification of the sky, Jupiter, therefore, consorted at times with Juno (the Atmosphere), with Dione (Moisture), with Themis (Justice), etc., without incurring any reproach; for these marriages, in their estimation, were all symbolical.

But Juno being of a jealous disposition, Jupiter was forced to conduct his courts.h.i.+ps with great secrecy and circ.u.mspection, and therefore generally adopted the precaution of a disguise. To win Europa, the fair daughter of Agenor, for instance, he became a bull.

"The G.o.ds themselves, Humbling their deities to love, have taken The shapes of beasts upon them. Jupiter Became a bull, and bellow'd."

Shakespeare.

[Sidenote: Jupiter kidnaps Europa.]

One day Europa was playing in her father's meadows with her three brothers, Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix, when she suddenly saw a white bull coming towards her; not with fiery eyes and lowered horns, but gently, as if to express a mute request to be petted. The maiden, delighted, stroked the beast, and decked him with bright garlands of meadow-blossoms. Then, seeing him kneel, as if to invite her to mount, she lightly sprang upon his broad back, calling to her companions to follow her example; but, before they could do as she wished, the bull had risen to his feet, and galloped off towards the sea with his fair burden on his back.

Instead of turning when he saw the foam-crested waves, he plunged into the midst of them, and in a few minutes disappeared from view, so rapidly did he swim away. To rea.s.sure the frightened girl, the bull now spoke in gentle accents, bidding her dismiss all fear, for he was the great Jupiter in disguise.

"Take courage, gentle maid! nor fear the tide: I, though near-seen a bull, am heavenly Jove: I change my shape at will."

Moschus (Elton's tr.).

Pleased with the novelty of her situation, and flattered by the G.o.d's evident admiration, Europa ceased to struggle, wound her arms more closely around the bull's neck to prevent the waves from was.h.i.+ng her off her perilous seat, and allowed herself to be carried away.

Jupiter finally deposited his fair burden upon the sh.o.r.es of a new land, to which he gallantly gave her name, Europe. He then resumed his wonted form, explained at length his reasons for so unceremoniously kidnapping her, and finally won her consent to their union. Their three sons were Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. The two former were subsequently appointed judges in the Infernal Regions, while the third found an early but glorious death during the Trojan war.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ABDUCTION OF EUROPA.--Albani. (Uffizi Palace, Florence.)]

[Sidenote: Search for Europa.]

All unconscious of their sister's fate, the young princes had returned in haste to their father's palace to announce her sudden involuntary departure. Agenor, whose favorite she had always been, rent his garments for grief, and bade his sons go forth and seek her, and not to return till they had found her. Accompanied by their mother, Telepha.s.sa, they immediately set out on their journey, inquiring of all they met if they had seen their sister. Search and inquiry proved equally fruitless.

At last, weary of this hopeless quest, Phoenix refused his further aid, and allowed his sorrowing relatives to continue without him, remaining in a land which from him was called Phoenicia. Cilix, too, soon followed his example, and settled in a fertile country which they had reached, hence called Cilicia; and finally Telepha.s.sa, worn out with grief and fatigue, lay down to die, charging her oldest son to go on alone.

Cadmus wandered on till he came to Delphi, where he consulted the oracle; but, to his great dismay, the only reply he received was, "Follow the cow, and settle where she rests."

In deep perplexity he left the temple, and, from force of habit, journeyed on, patiently questioning all he met. Soon he perceived a cow leisurely walking in front of him, and, mindful of the oracle, he ceased his search and followed her. Urged by curiosity, many adventurers joined him on the way, and, when the cow at last lay down in the land since called Boeotia, they all promised to aid Cadmus, their chosen leader, to found their future capital, which was to be called Thebes.

[Sidenote: Founding of Thebes.]

Parched with thirst after their long walk, the men then hastened to a neighboring spring, but, to Cadmus' surprise, time pa.s.sed and still they did not return. Armed with his trusty sword, he finally went down to the spring to discover the cause of their delay, and found that they had all been devoured by a huge dragon, which lived in the hollow. The prince raised his sword to avenge their death, and dealt the dragon such a deadly blow upon the head, that he put an immediate end to its existence.

While Cadmus stood there contemplating his lifeless foe, a voice bade him extract the dragon's teeth, and sow them in the ground already broken for his future city. No human being was within sight: so Cadmus knew the order proceeded from the immortal G.o.ds, and immediately prepared to obey it. The dragon's teeth were no sooner planted, than a crop of giants sprang from the soil, full grown, and armed to the teeth. They were about to fall upon Cadmus, when the same voice bade him cast a stone in the midst of their close-drawn phalanx. Cadmus, seeing the giants were almost upon him, and that no time was to be lost, quickly threw a stone. The effect produced was almost instantaneous; for the giants, each fancying it had been thrown by his neighbor, began fighting among themselves. In a few minutes the number of giants was reduced to five, who sheathed their bloodstained weapons, and humbly tendered their services to Cadmus. With their aid, the foundations of the city were laid; but their labor was not very arduous, as the G.o.ds caused some of the public buildings to rise up out of the ground, all complete, and ready for use.

To reward Cadmus for his loving and painstaking search for Europa, Jupiter gave him the hand of the fair princess Harmonia, a daughter of Mars and Venus, in marriage. Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, is supposed to have invented the alphabet, and introduced its use into Greece. Although his career was very prosperous at first, he finally incurred the wrath of the G.o.ds by forgetting, on a solemn occasion, to offer them a suitable sacrifice; and, in anger at his dereliction, they changed him and Harmonia into huge serpents.

[Sidenote: Wors.h.i.+p of Jupiter.]

Jupiter was, of course, very widely and generally wors.h.i.+ped by the ancients; and his princ.i.p.al temples--the Capitol at Rome, and the shrine of Jupiter Ammon in Libya--have been world-renowned. He also had a noted temple at Dodona, where an oak tree gave forth mysterious prophecies, which were supposed to have been inspired by the king of G.o.ds; this long lost shrine has recently been discovered.

"Oh, where, Dodona! is thine aged grove, Prophetic fount, and oracle divine? What valley echoed the response of Jove? What trace remaineth of the Thunderer's shrine? All, all forgotten!"

Byron.

A magnificent temple at Olympia, on the Peloponnesus, was also dedicated to Jupiter; and here every fifth year the people of Greece were wont to a.s.semble to celebrate games, in honor of Jupiter's great victory over the t.i.tans. These festivals were known as the Olympian Games; and the Greeks generally reckoned time by olympiads, that is to say, by the s.p.a.ce of time between the celebrations. Within the temple at Olympia stood a wonderful statue of gold and ivory, the work of Phidias. Its proportions and beauty were such, that it was counted one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It is said, too, that the artist, having completed this masterpiece, longed for some sign of approval from heaven, and fervently prayed for a token that the G.o.d accepted his labor. Jupiter, in answer to this prayer, sent a vivid flash of lightning, which played about the colossal image, illuminating it, but leaving it quite unharmed.

The Greeks were indebted to Phidias for many of their most exquisite statues of the G.o.ds; but none of the others equaled this figure of Jupiter in size, dignity of att.i.tude, or elaborate finish.

"Wise Phidias, thus his skill to prove, Through many a G.o.d advanc'd to Jove, And taught the polish'd rocks to s.h.i.+ne With airs and lineaments divine; Till Greece, amaz'd, and half afraid, Th' a.s.sembled deities survey'd."

Addison.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JUNO. (Vatican, Rome.)]

CHAPTER III.

JUNO.

[Sidenote: Juno's marriage.]

Juno (Hera, Here), queen of heaven, and G.o.ddess of the atmosphere and of marriage, was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and consequently the sister of Jupiter; but, as soon as the latter had dethroned his parents and seized the scepter, he began to look about him for a suitable helpmate. Juno won his affections by her great beauty; and he immediately began his courts.h.i.+p, which he carried on in the guise of a cuckoo, to infuse a little romance into it. He evidently found favor in her sight, and won her consent to share his throne; for shortly afterward their wedding was celebrated with great pomp on Mount Olympus. It was on this solemn occasion that the immortal conclave of the G.o.ds declared that Juno should be henceforth honored as G.o.ddess of marriage.

"Juno, who presides Supreme o'er bridegrooms and o'er brides."

Virgil (Conington's tr.).

But although in the beginning this union seemed very happy, there soon arose subjects for contention; for unfortunately Jupiter was inclined to be faithless, and Juno jealous, and, like the element she personified, exceedingly variable in her moods. On such occasions she gave way to her violent temper, and bitterly reproached her husband, who, impatient of her censure, punished her severely, and, instead of reforming, merely continued his numerous intrigues with renewed zest.

[Sidenote: Story of Callisto and Arcas.]

On one occasion he fell deeply in love with a maiden named Callisto, gentle, fair, and slender; but, in spite of all the precautions which he took when visiting her, Juno discovered the object of his affections. Night and day she thought and planned, until she devised a species of revenge which seemed adequate. The graceful girl was suddenly bereft of speech, changed into a rough, ungainly bear, and driven out into the solitudes of the great forests, which were from that time forth to be her home. Jupiter vainly sought his missing ladylove, and it was only long afterward that he discovered her and her little bear son Arcas. In pity for all they had suffered, he transferred them both to the sky, where they are still known as the constellations of the Great and Little Bear.

[Sidenote: Juno's attendant.]

Juno, like her husband, had also her special attendant, Iris (the Rainbow), whom she frequently employed as messenger,--a task which this deity accomplished with as much celerity as Mercury. Her flight through the air was so rapid, that she was seldom seen; and no one would have known she had pa.s.sed, had it not been for the brilliant trail her many-colored robe left behind her in the sky.

"Like fiery clouds, that flush with ruddy glare, Or Iris, gliding through the purple air; When loosely girt her dazzling mantle flows, And 'gainst the sun in arching colors glows."

Flaccus (Elton's tr.).

Juno is the mother of Mars, Hebe, and Vulcan, and is always described and represented as a beautiful, majestic woman, clad in flowing robes, with a diadem and scepter. The peac.o.c.k and cuckoo were both sacred to her, and are therefore often seen at her side.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IRIS.--t.i.to Conti.]

[Sidenote: Wors.h.i.+p of Juno.]

Her princ.i.p.al places of wors.h.i.+p were at Mycenae, Sparta, Argos, Rome, and Heraeum. She had also numerous other sanctuaries scattered throughout the ancient world, and was wors.h.i.+ped in the same temples as Jupiter. Many fine statues of this G.o.ddess were found in Greece and Italy, some of which are still extant, and serve to show the ancients' exalted conception of the Queen of Heaven.

[Sidenote: Story of Cleobis and Biton.]

Juno's festivals, the Matronalia, in Rome, were always celebrated with great pomp. Less important feasts were held in each city where a temple was dedicated to her. On one of these occasions an old priestess was very anxious to go to the temple at Argos, where she had ministered to the G.o.ddess for many years, and which she had left only to be married. The way was long and dusty: so the aged woman, who could no longer walk such a distance, bade her sons, Cleobis and Biton, harness her white heifers to her car. The youths hastened to do her bidding; but, although they searched diligently, the heifers could not be found. Rather than disappoint their aged mother, who had set her heart upon attending the services, these kind-hearted sons harnessed themselves to the cart, and drew her through the city to the temple gates, amid the acclamations of all the people, who admired this trait of filial devotion.

The mother was so touched by her sons' affection, that, as she knelt before the altar, she fervently prayed Juno to bestow upon them the greatest boon in her power. At the conclusion of the services the ex-priestess went into the portico, where her sons had thrown themselves to rest after their unwonted exertions; but instead of finding them merely asleep, as she expected, she found them dead. The Queen of Heaven had transported them while asleep to the Elysian Fields, the place of endless bliss, where such as they enjoyed eternal life.

CHAPTER IV.

MINERVA.

[Sidenote: Birth of Minerva.]

Although immortal, the G.o.ds were not exempt from physical pain. One day Jupiter suffered intensely from a sudden headache, and, in hopes that some mode of alleviation would be devised, he summoned all the G.o.ds to Olympus. Their united efforts were vain, however; and even the remedies suggested by Apollo, G.o.d of medicine, proved inefficacious. Unwilling, or perchance unable, to endure the racking pain any longer, Jupiter bade one of his sons, Vulcan, cleave his head open with an ax. With cheerful alacrity the dutiful G.o.d obeyed; and no sooner was the operation performed, than Minerva (Pallas, Athene) sprang out of her father's head, full-grown, clad in glittering armor, with poised spear, and chanting a triumphant song of victory.

"From his awful head Whom Jove brought forth, in warlike armor drest, Golden, all radiant."

Sh.e.l.ley.

The a.s.sembled G.o.ds recoiled in fear before this unexpected apparition, while at the same time a mighty commotion over land and sea proclaimed the advent of a great divinity.

The G.o.ddess, who had thus joined the inhabitants of Olympus, was destined to preside over peace, defensive war, and needlework, to be the incarnation of wisdom, and to put to flight the obscure deity called Dullness, who until then had ruled the world.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MINERVA. (National Museum, Naples.)]

"Ere Pallas issu'd from the Thund'rer's head, Dullness o'er all possess'd her ancient right, Daughter of Chaos and eternal Night."

Pope.

Minerva, having forced her unattractive predecessor to beat an ignominious retreat, quickly seized the scepter, and immediately began to rule in her stead.

[Sidenote: Naming of Athens.]

Not long after her birth, Cecrops, a Phoenician, came to Greece, where he founded a beautiful city in the province since called Attica. All the G.o.ds watched his undertaking with great interest; and finally, seeing the town promised to become a thriving place, each wished the privilege of naming it. A general council was held, and after some deliberation most of the G.o.ds withdrew their claims. Soon none but Minerva and Neptune were left to contend for the coveted honor.

To settle the quarrel without evincing any partiality, Jupiter announced that the city would be intrusted to the protection of the deity who would create the most useful object for the use of man. Raising his trident, Neptune struck the ground, from which a n.o.ble horse sprang forth, amid the exclamations of wonder and admiration of all the spectators. His qualities were duly explained by his proud creator, and all thought it quite impossible for Minerva to surpa.s.s him. Loudly they laughed, and scornfully too, when she, in her turn, produced an olive tree; but when she had told them the manifold uses to which wood, fruit, foliage, twigs, etc., could be applied, and explained that the olive was a sign of peace and prosperity, and therefore far more desirable than the horse, the emblem of war and wretchedness, they could but acknowledge her gift the most serviceable, and award her the prize.

To commemorate this victory over her rival, Minerva gave her own name of Athene to the city, whose inhabitants, from that time forth, were taught to honor her as their tutelary G.o.ddess.

Ever at Jupiter's side, Minerva often aided him by her wise counsels, and in times of war borrowed his terrible s.h.i.+eld, the AEgis, which she flung over her shoulder when she sallied forth to give her support to those whose cause was just.

"Her shoulder bore The dreadful AEgis with its s.h.a.ggy brim Bordered with Terror. There was Strife, and there Was Fort.i.tude, and there was fierce Pursuit, And there the Gorgon's head, a ghastly sight, Deformed and dreadful, and a sign of woe."

Homer (Bryant's tr.).

The din of battle had no terrors for this doughty G.o.ddess, and on every occasion she was wont to plunge into the thickest of the fray with the utmost valor.

[Sidenote: Story of Arachne.]

These virile tastes were, however, fully counterbalanced by some exclusively feminine, for Minerva was as deft with her needle as with her sword. In Greece there lived in those olden times a maiden by the name of Arachne. Pretty, young, and winsome, she would have been loved by all had it not been for her inordinate pride, not in her personal advantages, but in her skill as a needlewoman.

Arachne, in her conceit, fancied that no one could equal the work done by her deft fingers, so she boasted far and wide that she would have no fear to match her skill with Minerva's. She made this remark so loudly and so frequently, that the G.o.ddess was finally annoyed, and left her seat in high Olympus to come down upon earth and punish the maiden. In the guise of an old crone, she entered Arachne's house, seated herself, and began a conversation. In a few minutes the maiden had resumed her usual strain, and renewed her rash boast. Minerva gently advised her to be more modest, lest she should incur the wrath of the G.o.ds by her presumptuous words; but Arachne was so blinded by her conceit, that she scorned the well-meant warning, saucily tossed her head, and declared she wished the G.o.ddess would hear her, and propose a contest, in which she would surely be able to prove the truth of her a.s.sertions. This insolent speech so incensed Minerva, that she cast aside her disguise and accepted the challenge.

Both set up their looms, and began to weave exquisite designs in tapestry: Minerva choosing as her subject her contest with Neptune; and Arachne, the kidnapping of Europa. In silence the fair weavers worked, and their webs grew apace under their practiced fingers. The a.s.sembled G.o.ds, the horse, the olive tree, seemed to live and move under Minerva's flas.h.i.+ng shuttle.

"Emongst these leaves she made a b.u.t.terflie, With excellent device and wondrous slight, Fluttring among the Olives wantonly, That seem'd to live, so like it was in sight: The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie, The silken downe with which his backe is dight, His broad outstretched hornes, his hayrie thies, His glorious colours, and his glistering eies."

Spenser.

Arachne, in the mean while, was intent upon her swimming bull, against whose broad breast the waves splashed, and upon a half-laughing, half-frightened girl, who clung to the bull's horns, while the wind played with her flowing tresses and garments.

"Sweet Europa's mantle blew unclasp'd, From off her shoulder backward borne: From one hand droop'd a crocus: one hand grasp'd The mild bull's golden horn."

Tennyson.

The finis.h.i.+ng touches all given, each turned to view her rival's work, and at the very first glance Arachne was forced to acknowledge her failure. To be thus outstripped, after all her proud boasts, was humiliating indeed. Bitterly did Arachne now repent of her folly; and in her despair she bound a rope about her neck, and hung herself. Minerva saw her discomfited rival was about to escape: so she quickly changed her dangling body into a spider, and condemned her to weave and spin without ceasing,--a warning to all conceited mortals.

[Sidenote: Wors.h.i.+p of Minerva.]

Minerva, the G.o.ddess of wisdom, was widely wors.h.i.+ped. Temples and altars without number were dedicated to her service, the most celebrated of all being the Parthenon at Athens. Naught but the ruins of this mighty pile now exist; but they suffice to testify to the beauty of the edifice, which served, in turn, as temple, church, mosque, and finally as powder magazine.

"Fair Parthenon! yet still must Fancy weep For thee, thou work of n.o.bler spirits flown. Bright, as of old, the sunbeams o'er thee sleep In all their beauty still--and thine is gone! Empires have sunk since thou wert first revered. And varying rites have sanctified thy shrine. The dust is round thee of the race that rear'd Thy walls; and thou--their fate must soon be thine!"

Hemans.

Statues of Minerva--a beautiful, majestic woman, fully clothed and armed--were very numerous. The most celebrated of all, by the renowned Greek sculptor Phidias, measured full forty feet in height. Festivals were celebrated in honor of Minerva wherever her wors.h.i.+p was held,--some, the Greek Panathenaea, for instance, only every four years; others, such as the Minervalia and Quinquatria, every year. At these festivals the Palladium, a statue of the G.o.ddess, said to have fallen from heaven, was carried in procession through the city, where the people hailed its appearance with joyful cries and songs of praise.