Heathen mythology Part 11

---------"I felt his matchless might, Hurled headlong downward from the ethereal height; Tossed all the day in rapid circles round; Nor till the sun descended, touched the ground; Breathless I fell in giddy motion lost; The Sinthians raised me on the Lemnian coast."

HOMER.

He fell with sufficient velocity to break his thigh, an accident, which, as it made him lame, did not at all tend to render his appearance less ugly than it is usually described.

--------------"His hand was known In heaven, by many a towered structure high, Where sceptred angels held their residence, And sate as princes; Nor was his name unheard, or unadored, In ancient Greece; and in Ausonian land Men called him Mulciber; and how he fell From heaven they fabled, thrown by angry Jove Sheer o'er the chrystal battlements: from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer's day; and with the setting sun, Dropped from the zenith like a falling star, On Lemnos, the aegean isle."

MILTON.

He was educated by the nymphs of the sea, and trained in his {74} youth in the art of working metals, and was able to cultivate those mechanical abilities which he is represented to possess.

-------------------"He taught Man's earth-born race, that, like the b.e.s.t.i.a.l brood, Haunted the rugged cave, or sheltering wood, Th' inventive powers of doedal art to know, And all the joys from social life that flow; In search no more of casual seats to roam, But rear with skilful hand the lasting dome."

HORACE.

In his labours he was a.s.sisted by the Cyclops, who are said by some, to have possessed but one eye, placed in the middle of the forehead. They inhabited the western part of the island of Sicily; but the tradition of their only having one eye originated, in all probability, from their custom of wearing small bucklers of steel which covered their faces, with a small aperture in the middle, corresponding exactly to the eye. They were sometimes reckoned among the G.o.ds, and had a temple at Corinth, where wors.h.i.+p and sacrifices were solemnly offered.

"The Cyclops brethren, arrogant of heart, Who forged the lightning shaft, and gave to Jove His thunder; they were like unto the G.o.ds, Save that a single ball of sight was fixed In their mid forehead. Cyclops was their name, From that round eye-ball in their brow infixed; And strength, and force, and manual craft were theirs."

HESIOD.

"Thou trusty pine!

"Prop of my G.o.d-like steps, I lay thee by-- Bring me a hundred reeds of decent growth To make a pipe for my capacious mouth--"

GAY.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The first fruit of the mechanical skill of Vulcan, was invented as a punishment for Juno, to whom, as it was through her he fell from heaven, he attributed his deformity. This was a throne of gold, with secret springs, on which the G.o.ddess no sooner sate, than she {75} found herself unable to move. In vain the G.o.ds attempted to deliver her; with Vulcan, only rested the secret and the power to disenthral her; and as the price of her freedom, Juno promised to procure him a wife from amongst the heavenly conclave. Vulcan fixed his desires on Minerva; the G.o.ddess of Wisdom, however, laughed his suit to scorn, and Vulcan is represented as having been very violent at his rejection.

Juno then pressed the suit of her son on Venus, whose power was already established at the celestial court. The beautiful G.o.ddess rejected him with horror, and Juno overwhelmed her with supplications; but as these could not subdue the ugliness of the suitor, she implored Jupiter to exercise his power; and with all the determination of a G.o.ddess, poured so many entreaties, accompanied with tears, that the king of heaven must have complied, had it not been for the more touching and feminine attributes of Venus, the soft eyes of whom filled with tears, and whose downy cheek grew pale, at the idea of the union.

But Destiny, the irrevocable, interposed, and p.r.o.nounced the decree by which the most beautiful of the G.o.ddesses, was united to the most unsightly of the G.o.ds. During the festival which followed their union, the altar of Hymen was that which received all the offerings.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A marriage thus a.s.sorted, however, was not likely to prove a happy one, and ere long it was followed by a discovery which {76} created an ecstacy among the scandal-mongers of Olympus. This was no less than an improper liason between Mars, G.o.d of War, and the charming Venus. Vulcan, suspecting the infidelity of his wife, formed an invisible net around them, and drew upon the lovers the laughter of the remaining divinities. Mars, betwixt rage and confusion, retired for a time to Thrace, and Venus took refuge in the isle of Cyprus, where she gave birth to Cupid.

Vulcan, as we have recorded, was celebrated for the ingenious works and automatical figures which he made, and many speak of two golden statues, which not only seemed animated, but which walked by his side, and a.s.sisted him in working metals.

"Then from the anvil the lame artist rose, Wide with distorted leg, oblique he goes; And stills the bellows, and in order laid, Locks in their chests his instruments of trade: With his huge sceptre graced, and red attire, Came halting forth the sovereign of the fire: The monarch's steps two female forms uphold, That moved and breathed in animated gold.

To whom was voice, and sense, and science given Of works divine, such wonders are in heaven!"

VIRGIL.

The most known of the works of Vulcan, which were presented to mortals, are the arms of Achilles, those of aeneas, and the s.h.i.+eld of Hercules described by Hesiod. The chariot of the sun was also by this deity.

"A golden axle did the work uphold, Gold was the beam, the wheels were orbed with gold: The spokes in rows of silver pleased the sight, The seat with parti-coloured gems was bright."

OVID.

The wors.h.i.+p of Vulcan was well established, particularly in Egypt, at Athens, and at Rome. It was customary to burn the whole victim to him and not reserve part of it, as in the immolations to the remainder of the G.o.ds.

He was represented as blowing with his nervous arm the fires of his forges.

His vast breast hairy, and his forehead blackened with smoke; while his enormous shoulders seemed borrowed from the Cyclops. Some represent him lame and deformed, holding a hammer in his hand, ready to strike; while with the other, he turns a thunderbolt on his anvil, for which an eagle waits by his side to carry it to Jupiter. {77}

He appears on some monuments with a long beard, dishevelled hair, half naked, and a small round cap on his head, while he holds a hammer and pincers in his hand.

"------The Vulcanean dome, eternal frame, High, eminent, amidst the works divine, Where Heavens far beaming mansions s.h.i.+ne, There the lame architect the G.o.ddess found Obscure in smoke, his forges flaming round; While bathed in sweat, from fire to fire he flew, And puffing loud, the roaring bellows blew."

HOMER.

It is stated that Bacchus made him intoxicated after he had been expelled from Olympus, and then prevailed on him to return, where he was reconciled to his parents. He seems, however, to have been retained there more for ridicule than any other purpose; and was indeed the great b.u.t.t of Olympus, even his wife laughing at his deformities, and mimicking his lameness to gain the smiles of her lovers.

"Vulcan with awkward grace, his office plies, And unextinguished laughter shakes the skies."

HOMER.

In the month of August, the Vulca.n.a.lia took place at Rome, streets were illuminated, fires kindled, and animals thrown into the flames as a sacrifice. Romulus caused a temple to be erected in his honour, and Tarquin presented to him the arms and spoils of the conquered; and to him also, was dedicated the lion.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

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CUPID.

This Deity, "the boy-G.o.d," as poets love to call him, was the offspring of Venus and Mars; when Venus had given birth to him, Jupiter foresaw the mischief he would create in the world, as well as in his more immediate kingdom; he therefore banished him from his court, and menaced him with his wrath, should he return. The G.o.ddess conveyed him to the isle of Cyprus, where he was suckled by the wild beasts of the forest.

No sooner had strength come with years, than Cupid, forming a bow of the ash tree, and arrows of the cypress, ungratefully turned against the animals who had supported him.

"His quiver, sparkling bright with gems and gold, From his fair plumed shoulder graceful hung, And from its top in brilliant chords enrolled, Each little vase resplendently was slung, Still as he flew, around him sportive clung His frolic train of winged Zephyrs light, Wafting the fragrance which his tresses flung: While odours dropped from every ringlet bright, And from his blue eyes beamed ineffable delight."

MRS. TIGHE.

Experience gave confidence to the youthful deity, and when an opportunity offered, he sent his arrows to the hearts of men, so bold did he even become, that he ventured to dart one, dipped in the subtle poison against his mother.

"Love! oh! he breathes and rambles round the world An idol and idolator: he flies Touching, with pa.s.sing beauty, ringlets curled, Ripe lips, and bosoms white, and starry eyes, And wheresoe'er his colours are unfurled, Full many a young and panting spirit lies."

BARRY CORNWALL.

The nymph Perestere felt his vengeance in a different manner. Cupid was wandering with his mother over a meadow, beautifully enamelled with flowers "all fragrance and of various hues," when, in a playful mood, the youthful deity challenged Venus to see which could gather the greatest number in the least time. Cupid would have been triumphant, had not Perestere, who accompanied them, attempted to win the favour of the G.o.ddess, by a.s.sisting to fill her basket. In revenge, Cupid changed her into a dove.

The beautiful fable of the winged deity's love for Psyche, is the most pleasing of those related of him. {79}