{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59956/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59956","id":"gutenberg_59956","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59956","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n(This file was produced from images generously made\navailable by The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                        [Illustration: _DIANA_]\n\n                    _Life Stories for Young People_\n\n\n\n\n                            GODS AND HEROES\n\n\n               _Translated and adapted from the German of\n              Ferdinand Schmidt and Carl Friedrich Becker_\n\n                                   BY\n                            GEORGE P. UPTON\n         _Author of \"Musical Memories,\" \"Standard Operas,\" etc.\n              Translator of \"Memories,\" \"Immensee,\" etc._\n\n                           WITH FRONTISPIECE\n\n                    [Illustration: A \u00b7 C \u00b7 M^cCLURG]\n\n                                CHICAGO\n                          A. C. McCLURG & CO.\n                                  1912\n\n                               Copyright\n                          A. C. McClurg & Co.\n                                  1912\n                       Published September, 1912\n\n                           THE\u00b7PLIMPTON\u00b7PRESS\n                                [W\u00b7D\u00b7O]\n                           NORWOOD\u00b7MASS\u00b7U\u00b7S\u00b7A\n\n\n\n\n                          Translator's Preface\n\n\nIn a rare little volume in my possession, written by William Sheldon,\nF.A.S., and published by Isaiah Thomas, Jr., at Worcester, Mass., in\n1810, over a century ago, the author introduces his \"History of the\nHeathen Gods and Heroes of Antiquity\" in the following quaint manner:\n\"People of weak minds and of little learning, who have tasted the\nPierian spring but not drunk deep at it, when they read an account of\nthe Heathen Gods and Goddesses and of the images dedicated to them, and\nhear that the heathens were Idolators, or worshippers of Images, give\ncredit to these stories, without any further inquiry or trouble. It may\nnot, therefore, be unnecessary to inform persons of this description,\nthat the people of all the nations which ever existed under heaven have\nbelieved that there existed one God, who is Almighty and the Maker of\nall things. But there have been people who believed also in inferior or\nsubordinate gods, who were agents or mediators between God and man; and\nwho were employed in carrying on the works of Providence and of the\ncreation or Nature.\"\n\nThis quaint effort to show the impropriety of treating any description\nof religion with unnecessary disrespect applies to this volume, which\nthe translator has adapted from the German. Our old author might have\nadded to his statement that there is rare beauty and fascination in many\nof these Grecian myths and that many a one has wished with Wordsworth\nthat he might\n\n  \"Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,\n  Or hear old Triton blow his wreath\u00e8d horn.\"\n\nThe old gods and minor deities in these \"short stories\" also appeal to\nus by their human qualities, and many an important moral lesson may be\nread in the fate of unfortunate minor deities who offended the higher\ngods. The sketches are in story form and are told in a refined and\nentertaining manner. Several of the higher gods and goddesses are not\nincluded in this volume, as they appear most interesting in the other\nvolumes in this series--\"Achilles,\" \"Ulysses,\" \"Argonauts' Expedition\nand Labors of Hercules.\"\n\n                                                                G. P. U.\n\nChicago, _May_, 1912.\n\n\n\n\n                                Contents\n\n\n  Chapter                                                           Page\n  I Prometheus                                                        13\n  II Deucalion and Pyrrha                                             25\n  III Hermes (Mercury)                                                33\n  IV Pha\u00ebthon                                                         39\n  V Orpheus                                                           49\n  VI Atalanta                                                         53\n  VII Tantalus                                                        57\n  VIII Salmoneus, Sisyphus, Ixion, and Phlegyas                       61\n  IX Niobe                                                            65\n  X Bellerophon                                                       73\n  XI Perseus                                                          77\n  XII Cadmus                                                          83\n  XIII Dionysus (Bacchus)                                             89\n  XIV Act\u00e6on                                                          95\n  XV D\u00e6dalus and Icarus                                              101\n  XVI Philemon and Baucis                                            109\n  XVII Arachne                                                       115\n  XVIII Hyacinthus                                                   121\n\n  _The world is too much with us; late and soon,\n  Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:\n  Little we see in Nature that is ours;\n  We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!\n  This sea that bares her bosom to the moon;\n  The winds that will be howling at all hours,\n  And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;\n  For this, for everything, we are out of tune;\n  It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be\n  A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;\n  So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,\n  Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;\n  Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,\n  Or hear old Triton blow his wreath\u00e8d horn._\n                                                              Wordsworth\n\n\n\n\n                            Gods and Heroes\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter I\n                               Prometheus\n\n\nZeus (Jupiter), the mighty divinity, overcame the Titans[1] and became\nthe master of the heavens and the earth. But notwithstanding his hard\nstruggle, he would not have been victor had not Prometheus, the Titan,\naided him. At last Zeus, ruler in the skies, became the enemy of\nPrometheus, who originated the hated race of the Titans, and only\nawaited an opportunity to punish him. He soon found the opportunity, for\nPrometheus was attached to mankind, whom Zeus intended to destroy, in\norder to people the earth with a race of older creation. Prometheus\nendeavored to dissuade him, but Zeus persisted in his purpose. Then\nPrometheus said: \"Have you forgotten that the curse of the dethroned\nCronus[2] rests upon you and that by the decrees of destiny a mortal\nonly can deliver you from that curse?\"\n\nWhen Zeus heard this, he decided to spare the race of mortals. They were\nleading a wretched life and were unconscious of the spiritual or\nintellectual gifts conferred upon them by their creator. They knew not\nhow to fell the trees and build houses to protect them against wind,\nrain, and the heat of the sun. Like the beasts, they lived in dens and\ncaves which no ray of light penetrated. They knew none of the signs of\nthe approach of the fruit-bringing Autumn, nor of Winter, nor blooming\nSpring. Destitute of purpose or perception, they lived like strangers in\na barren world.\n\nPrometheus pitied them. He explained to them the rising and setting of\nthe stars and taught them how to recognize their orbits. He computed for\nthem their numbers, a marvellous feat, gave them the power of\nrecollection and the gift of writing, that highest of the sciences. He\nmade the ox a useful servant to the race by placing the yoke upon it and\nharnessing it to the cart. He bridled the wild horse and showed them how\nto use it for riding and drawing the wagon. They also learned from him\nhow to build vessels and manage sails. He disclosed the depths of the\nearth to them with its treasures of iron, silver, and gold. Up to this\ntime, men had no knowledge of plants or their healing qualities.\nPrometheus taught them how to avail themselves of this knowledge so as\nto relieve pain and cure disease. He also imparted to them a knowledge\nof what was transacted in the councils of the gods and taught them to\nobserve the flight of the eagle.\n\nOne element of comfortable living, however, was lacking for mankind. It\nwas fire. Prometheus resolved to bring it to them from heaven, but the\nruler of the skies ordered him to desist. Watching his opportunity,\nPrometheus soared aloft, approached the chariot of the sun, and stuck a\nrod which he carried in his hand in its blazing wheels. Then descending\nlike a falling star, he brought to men the blessing of the fire.\n\nHermes (Mercury), the swift messenger of the gods, saw this and at once\nbrought the news to the god father, Zeus. The all-powerful one\nwrathfully directed Hermes: \"Up, hasten to Hephaestus (Vulcan)[3] and\nsay that the ruler of the gods needs his service.\" Vulcan, god of fire,\nwas also god of all the artificers who are engaged with fire. He was\nhonored as the discoverer of all the implements of the chase, the house,\nthe field, and war, and was also famous as the builder of the\ngold-gleaming dwellings of the gods. So great was his skill that he\nconstructed bellows which could make the flame stronger or weaker, as he\nwished, as well as sumptuous couches which, at a sign from him, were\nplaced in the assemblies of the gods for their use.\n\nWhen Hephaestus appeared before the ruler of the skies, he was requested\nto make a maiden of gold. He set about the work at once and when Apollo,\nthe next morning, mounted his flaming chariot to shed the heavenly light\nboth upon gods and men, a splendid image was finished which in\nappearance, speed, and movement resembled a beautiful mortal. Zeus then\nordered the other deities to adorn the maiden, who was called Pandora,\nmost sumptuously. The celestial ones came at once bearing gifts. From\nAthene (Minerva) she received a girdle. The Horae (Hours) crowned her\nwith flowers and the Graces adorned her with exquisite rings and\nbracelets. Mercury brought her a pernicious gift, that of flattery and\nunfaithfulness, which was to bring misfortune to men. Thus fitted out\nwith deluding charms and seductive graces, Pandora was conducted to\nearth by the beautiful winged messenger. From Zeus she had received a\ngolden box, which contained a multitude of evils dangerous to men, and\nfrom which they had suffered before Prometheus relieved them. Pandora\noffered it to him as a gift from Zeus. The watchful son of Titan,\nhowever, rejected the gift of the god. Thereupon Pandora offered it to\nEpimetheus, a brother of Prometheus. He was deluded, forgot his\nbrother's warning, and married the fascinating Pandora. The false one\nimmediately opened the golden box and the multitude of evils from which\nPrometheus had saved mortals spread themselves abroad once more and men\nfound themselves again plunged into the very miseries from which they\nhad been saved by the son of the Titan. Thus it happened that the\nseductive charm of woman brought misery to mortals.[4]\n\nZeus again summoned Hephaestus and the two giants, Kratos and Bia, and\nsaid to them: \"Seize Prometheus, conduct him to the limit of earth, and\nfasten him to one of the loftiest cliff walls of the Caucasus.\" The\ngiants undertook the task willingly, but not so Hephaestus, who had\ncompassion for Prometheus. But at last he had to submit to the will of\nthe ruler of gods and men. Prometheus was seized and taken to the\ndesolate cliff. Reluctantly Hephaestus went to work to fasten the son of\nTitan with adamantine fetters to the cliff, while Kratos and Bia helped\nin the task.\n\n\"Noble Prometheus,\" said Hephaestus, \"it pains my soul to lend my skill\nto such a deed as this. What wretchedness awaits thee! Thousands of\nyears must pass and no end to thy suffering! Never wilt thou have sight\nof one human being to comfort thee. The strength of thy limbs will wane\nin the heat of the sun and longingly thou wilt yearn for the star-sown\nnight to cover thee with its mantle and bring coolness to thy burning\nwounds.\"\n\nThereupon Hephaestus and the two servants of Zeus left the fettered one,\nwho cried out: \"Thou sacred sky! Ye swift-winged winds! Thou billowy\nthundering ocean! Earth, thou all-giver! Sun, thou all-seer, I cry to\nyou. Behold the fate which has overtaken me, a deity. By the decree of\nthe ruler of all I must endure constant bitter pain a thousand years.\nBut I will submit to the decree, knowing that the power of fate is\nirresistible.\"\n\nHis groans were heard by the winged Oceanides in the crystalline grotto\nof their father, Oceanus.[5] They hurried to him and when they witnessed\nthe fate of the son of Titan, they filled the air with lamentation.\nSorrowfully they turned away. Soon appeared their father, the gray\nOceanus, upon his winged sea horse, inquiring what Prometheus had done\nthat he should be exposed to such a dreadful penalty. When he was told,\nhe promised Prometheus to entreat mercy from Zeus. But Prometheus\nadmonished him, saying: \"Well I know you have always been my friend,\nworthy Oceanus, but I pray you do not appeal to Zeus for me. It would\navail me nothing and only prejudice Zeus against you.\"\n\nConcealing his deep grief in his heart, Oceanus left the tortured one.\n\nA long time passed. Zeus, believing that the Titan's obstinate spirit\nhad been broken, sent his winged messenger, Hermes, to him, who said:\n\"Zeus desires to know what you heard from your brother about that\nmarriage which, if he enters into it, will some time precipitate his\nruin. You know it and have found how severely he punishes the theft of\nthe fire. So anger him no longer, but tell him what he wishes to know.\"\n\nPrometheus replied: \"Never shall Zeus know what he desires to learn\nuntil I am freed from my fetters and relieved of my torments.\"\n\nHermes returned to the ruler of the skies and told him that Prometheus,\nin spite of his unspeakable torments, still remained obstinate. Zeus\nstormed wrathfully and decided to subject his victim to still more\ndreadful punishment. All at once black clouds gathered over Caucasus,\nfiery thunderbolts, hurled by his hand, shook the lofty jagged cliffs,\nand the roar of the hurricane filled all the space between the sky and\nearth.\n\n\"Wrathful, implacable deity,\" cried Prometheus, \"I know this is the\nmanifestation of thy power, but thou canst not move me.\"\n\nThen he heard a fearful bellowing issuing from the depths, the earth\nshook, and great waves hurled themselves upon him and the cliff to which\nhe was fastened. A year ran its course, and when finished, Zeus again\ndispelled the darkness about the cliff, but with no intention of\nmitigating Prometheus' punishment. On the other hand, he determined to\nmake it harder. He sent a vulture who attacked his body and devoured his\nliver. This torment was renewed daily, for every night his liver grew\nagain. Zeus also vowed that as Prometheus, being a god, could not die,\nhe should hang on the cliffs of Caucasus forever. And thus it happened\nthrough many generations of men.\n\nAt last the spirit of Titan's son was broken and he longed for peace and\nfreedom. The other Titans who were once overcome by Zeus and hurled into\nTartarus, had long regained their freedom. Reconciliation, however,\nseemed impossible, for Zeus had once vowed he would not send away the\nvulture and strike off his fetters unless a deity should undertake to\ndescend into dark Tartarus.\n\nAt this time Heracles (Hercules), a son of Zeus by a mortal, was\ntraversing the world, fighting every monster which was endangering the\nhuman race. In his travels he came to Caucasus. To his utter\nastonishment he saw the son of a god fastened there and asked him why he\nhad to endure such agonies. Thereupon Prometheus told him of his fate\nand Hercules determined to rescue him. Throwing aside his lion skin and\nclub, and taking a poisoned arrow from his quiver, he shot the vulture,\ntore his claws from the Titan's groin, and threw him into an abyss. Then\nHercules released him from his chains and conducted him to Zeus.\nPrometheus unwillingly announced to him that a marriage with the\nbeautiful sea nymph Thetis would be his ruin. The reconciliation,\nhowever, was not complete, for Zeus' vow was not yet satisfied. He gave\nPrometheus a gold ring in which Hephaestus had set a little stone from\nthe Caucasus. \"Promise me always to wear this ring,\" said Zeus, \"and my\nvow may be accomplished.\" Prometheus took the ring and made the promise.\nThen Hercules fetched Cheiron, whom he had unintentionally wounded with\na poisoned arrow, to the deity. Cheiron, who was suffering unspeakable\ntorments and longed to die, gladly descended into Tartarus. Thus the\nconciliation was complete.\n\nWarned by Prometheus, Zeus married Thetis to a mortal, King Peleus. At\nonce a multitude of lovely sea nymphs came to escort the bride and groom\nin festal procession. Zeus and the other divinities also joined in the\nfestivities and celebrated the marriage of the beautiful sea nymph.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter II\n                          Deucalion and Pyrrha\n\n\nThe human race, which had been steadfast under misfortune, could not\nbear good fortune. It became sensual, effeminate, and haughty. Zeus\nheard of this human degeneracy, assumed human form, and betook himself\nto earth to discover how much of truth there was in these evil reports.\nHe found a worse state of things than he had feared. Every kind of\nabomination prevailed. At the close of day he went to the palace of\nLycaon, king of Arcadia. To those assembled there he gave a sign that a\ndeity was present. They immediately began to pray. Then said the king:\n\"Let us see whether this is a deity or a mortal like ourselves.\" If\nmortal, he resolved to slay him in the night. He first of all prepared a\nbanquet for him. He cut the throat of a man who had been sent to him by\nthe people of Molossia to be scourged, took the still quivering members,\nthrew some of them into boiling water, and placed the rest of them upon\na spit and held them over the fire.\n\nWhen Zeus saw this he shook the earth and at once the mighty castle was\nin ruins. The king fled in terror to the fields. He tried to speak, but\nhis voice was an awful howl. And as his voice changed, so did his whole\nbody. He had hair instead of garments and his arms became feet. As a\nwolf, with eyes glaring, with a longing for blood, and with the action\nof the wild beasts, he sprang among the herds and his teeth were covered\nwith the blood of the strangled animals.\n\nZeus not only determined to punish Lycaon, but prepared for the\ndestruction of the whole human race. He betook himself to Olympus,\nentered his golden palace, called the other deities together, and\nannounced his decision to them. Some approved of it; to others the word\nof their master caused pain and they said: \"Who will build us\nsacrificial altars in future if the race of mortals is destroyed?\"\n\nZeus promised to people the earth with another and better race and\nseized his thunderbolts to hurl them over all the earth. But suddenly he\nfeared that the storm of fire might spread through the whole sacred\nfirmament and reduce the universe to ashes. Therefore he dismissed the\none-eyed Cyclops, who forged his bolts, and decided to destroy the world\nby a deluge. He summoned \u00c6olus, god of the winds, and ordered him to\nretain in his grotto the winds which dispel the rain clouds and release\nonly the south wind. This was done. The south wind immediately spread\nits heavy, wet wings over sea and land, its foreboding face was\nconcealed by the night, mists covered its brow, its heavily waving beard\ndripped with rain, and from its curls torrents of water poured down.\nZeus pressed the cloud with his broad hand and at once the thunder\nresounded through immeasurable space. Swiftly the goddess Iris ascended\nand descended her seven-hued rainbow, drawing water from the agitated\nsea and filling the clouds. All growing things were bent to the ground\nand it was not long before the husbandman's hopes disappeared before the\nraging flood.\n\nPoseidon (Neptune), god of the sea, was the ruler in the universe most\nactively engaged in the work of destruction. He ordered the rivers to\nbreak through the dikes and overflow the land. He himself rode over the\nsea in his chariot and excited it so that it hurled its foaming waves\nupon the shore. Then he smote the earth with his golden trident so that\nit trembled and the water covered every place. Trees, houses, and\ntemples fell before the wrath of the flood. The rush of the storm\ndrowned the piteous shrieks of men, who, sitting in the trees or upon\nridge-poles, vainly stretched out their hands to the darkened heavens.\nOthers fled in multitudes to the mountains to save themselves among the\npeaks. But higher and higher rose the flood. Some died of fright, some\nof despair. Others, bereft of reason, rushed aimlessly here and there,\nuntil with horrible shrieks they were swallowed up in the raging flood.\n\nThe waters soon flowed over the tops of the highest mountains and only\nthe sky and water were visible. Here and there men rowed in boats, and\ntigers and lions vainly sought to save their lives by swimming. The\nsheep were in no danger from the wolves when the flood swept among them.\nEvery animal perished. Even the birds, which can remain long in the air,\nat last sank with tired wings into the water.\n\nOnly one place was free from water, the heights of Parnassus, which\ntower among the clouds. There a small boat was caught in which were\nDeucalion, king of Thessaly, and his spouse. They lifted their voices\nand implored a nymph dwelling in a grotto near by to save them. Zeus saw\nthem clinging to the wall of the height, and knowing that they were the\nonly god-fearing ones among the thousands who had perished, decided to\nlet them live. So the winds following the rain clouds were checked and\nthe blue sky smiled once more and Apollo ascended in his flaming\nchariot. Poseidon stilled the sea. He gave a signal with his trident and\nthe vast tide ebbed. Then he called his son Triton, ruler of the depths\nof the sea, who dwelt there in a golden house with his mother\nAmphitrit\u00e9. He was half man and half fish, with a bluish scaly skin.\nTriton appeared and Poseidon ordered him to call back the floods and\nstreams which had swept over the land. In obedience to his father's\nrequest Triton raised his wreathed shell and from sunrise to sunset\nsounded a blast which called all the waters back to their depths. The\nflood receded, mountains and hills appeared above the water, and\ngradually the plains and forests and devastated fields became visible.\n\nDeucalion and Pyrrha left their boat, and as he looked around him at the\nwidespread desolation he said: \"Oh my spouse, bound to me by ties of\nkindred and marriage, behold, we are the only human beings in the wide\nworld. How wretched would it then have been if death also had overtaken\nme! If thou hadst been swept away by the flood I should have followed\nafter thee, for without thee I could not have lived, best beloved! Oh!\nwould that I possessed my father's divine power of creating men and\nbestowing life upon them.\"\n\nTears choked his voice and Pyrrha wept also. At last they decided to\nimplore Themis[6] to have mercy and relieve them in their sore straits,\nand repaired to the temple of the goddess. What a spectacle! The aisles\nwere covered with slime and the fires upon the altars were extinguished.\nThey fell upon their knees, kissed the cold stones, and prayed: \"Divine,\nall-gracious, and merciful one, behold! Empty is the world! We alone\nremain of all its mortals. Oh pity us and let us once more live among\npeople like ourselves.\"\n\nAt once through the halls of the temple resounded these words: \"Leave\nthe temple, cover your heads, loosen your girdles, and throw behind you\nthe bones of your great mother.\"\n\nThey were mute with astonishment for a time, but at last Pyrrha said\nwith trembling voice: \"Be not angry with me, oh goddess, that I cannot\nthrow my mother's bones behind me. Thereby I should disturb the dear one\nnow wandering among the shades in Tartarus.\"\n\nSadly they descended the temple steps, Deucalion meditating over the\nmysterious message to them. At last the shadows of grief in his heart\nwere dissipated and he said: \"Best beloved, the goddess intends no harm\nto us. I believe this is the meaning of her message. The earth is the\nmother, the stones are her bones. So we will throw them.\"\n\nThey began at once to obey the goddess's message. They loosened their\ngirdles, covered their heads, and threw stones behind them. Suddenly\nlife began to manifest itself in the stones. They began to enlarge and\ntake shape. Soon they resembled blocks of marble which the sculptor is\nfashioning in human form. The softer parts were changing to flesh, the\nharder to bones. At last appeared the forms of living persons. The\nstones which Deucalion threw behind him became men and those which\nPyrrha threw became women. Thus was the earth repopulated with beings\nmade of stone--a race of strong minds and stout bodies.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter III\n                            Hermes (Mercury)\n\n\nHermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Atlas the Titan, eldest\nbrother of Prometheus. His divine descent was revealed on the very first\nday by his extraordinary shrewdness and ingenuity, for he arose at noon\nfrom his cradle and hurriedly left the dark grotto of his mother.\nEspying a speckled tortoise feeding in the high grass, and laughing at\nthe sight, he cried out: \"Welcome, pretty one! It is well said where\nthou abidest there is neither anger nor witchcraft, and yet I think I\nwill kill thee to make of thy shell a pleasant plaything.\" Thereupon he\nseized the tortoise with both hands, went back to the grotto, and killed\nthe animal. He perforated the speckled shell, inserted pegs in the\nopenings, covered the whole with ox-hide, added a neck to it, and strung\nseven well-toned strings. It was all accomplished in the twinkling of an\neye. He tested the strings and, behold, they resounded powerfully and\nharmoniously to his song. As he sang, another emotion filled his soul.\nHe bethought himself of flesh, for he already had an appetite for\nwell-prepared tasteful meat.\n\nAs the sun-chariot disappeared beneath the red gleaming waves of\nOceanus, he took his well-toned lute and came at twilight to the shadowy\nmountains of Pireas, where the cattle of the Sun-god feed in luxuriant\nmeadows. The crafty child enticed fifty of the herd to follow him and\nmade them go backwards so that the hoof tracks would be concealed. That\nhis own footsteps should not betray him, he took tamarisk and myrtle\ntwigs and wove magic sandals with them. Thus he wandered, driving the\nherd before him, by many devious ways over blooming meadows and darkly\nwooded heights. At last night waned and the soft light which Selene\n(Luna) sends down when Apollo sinks in Oceanus was dissipated by the\nrosy shimmer of Eos (Aurora) in the smiling eastern sky.\n\nWhen Hermes reached the river Alpheus with the cattle, he herded them\nand kindled a fire. He then seized two of them by their horns, threw\nthem to the ground with great strength, and killed them with a sharp\nsteel. Then he took the best pieces and spread them on wooden spits, but\nsaved the skins for drying. Next he divided the flesh in twelve parts\nand offered them to the twelve highest Olympian deities. As he saw the\nsmoke of offering rising to the skies, a longing seized him to learn\nfrom the flesh whether he belonged to the divine race which is nourished\nby nectar and ambrosia. But his exalted intelligence restrained him from\nthe experiment. He left the flesh untouched, surrounded it with dry\npieces of wood, and burned it together with the heads and hoofs of the\nanimals. As the smoke rose, he threw his sandals into the Alpheus and\nhastened back to the grotto. Lightly as the breeze he slipped through\nthe oval opening, sprang into his cradle, and like a playful child took\nhis lute in his left hand. But his mother was not deceived and she\nscolded him for his long absence.\n\nThe rosy Aurora spread over the morning sky, and when Apollo rose in his\nchariot with its heavily-maned white steeds he looked down upon the\nlonely meadows and missed the cattle. Amazed, he looked for the tracks\nof their feet, but nowhere found a trace of them, and no sign that man\nor god had been that way. He came to Onchestus, where he found an old\nman, keeper of a vineyard, and asked him about it. The old man replied:\n\"It was a wee child who swung a wand with his hand and drove the herd\naway.\"\n\nApollo thought of Hermes and betook himself to Maia's grotto. When\nHermes saw the Sun-god's dazzling face he buried himself deeper in the\nsnow-white sheets and pretended to be asleep. But Apollo saw through the\ncunning of the child. He searched through the cavern and opened all the\nspacious chambers. In one he saw nectar and ambrosia and plenty of gold,\nin another chests of cedar filled with the purple and snow-white\ngarments of the nymph. But as he nowhere found what he sought, he\nstepped to the cradle and said: \"Cunning boy, arise and show me the\ncattle you carried off. If you do not hasten to obey me, I will hurl you\nwithout mercy into the blackened depths of Tartarus, from which no one\ncan rescue you.\"\n\nAs Hermes struggled to rise, Apollo seized him and took him to Zeus,\nwho, after hearing the Sun-god's complaint, laughed loudly and released\nhis cunning son. After giving some living cattle to the Sun-god, Zeus\nkept Hermes and he became the deity of barter and business and the swift\nmessenger of the gods. All ways were soon known to him and his winged\nfeet bore him with the swiftness of the wind over land and sea.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter IV\n                                Pha\u00ebthon\n\n\nClymene bore a son, named Pha\u00ebthon, who grew up a handsome and stately\nyouth. His father was Phoebus (Apollo), the Sun-god. Once, when he\nboasted of his heavenly descent, his companions laughed at him. Shame\nand anger filled the youth's heart and he resolved, upon the advice of\nhis mother, to ask the Sun-god himself if he were not his father. After\nwandering through Ethiopia and India, he at last reached Apollo's\npalace. Lofty columns, some made of solid gold, others of fire-colored\nrubies, dazzled him. Their splendid pediments were made of polished\nivory and the folding door of lustrous silver, the work of the artistic\ndivinity, Hephaestus. There too were to be seen upon the billows of the\nsea the horn-blowing Triton, near him gray Proteus, whose office it is\nto protect the sea god's seals, and Doris, with her daughters, the\nNereids.[7] Some of these sea maidens were represented as sitting upon\nthe rocks and drying their green hair, others, riding upon dolphins.\nAbove them was the arching firmament.\n\nPha\u00ebthon approached the palace, but for a spell remained in the hall at\na distance, for the brilliancy which emanated from the sparkling crown\nof his progenitor blinded him. Apollo, with a purple robe flowing from\nhis shoulders, sat upon a golden throne gleaming with jewels. To the\nright and left of him stood the year, the month, the day, and the hours.\nGolden-tressed Spring was adorned with a wreath, and Summer, with\nsheaves of corn. Autumn carried a red basket with golden grape clusters\non her head, and Winter could be recognized by his icy beard and silver\nhair.\n\nApollo, delighted with the sight of his blooming son, said: \"What is it,\nPha\u00ebthon, that has brought you here?\"\n\n\"Divine father,\" replied the son, \"they mock at me when I call you\nfather. Give me some proof that I am your son.\"\n\nThereupon Apollo took his sparkling crown from his brow, called his son\nto him, and embracing him said: \"What your mother has told you is true.\nI am Apollo, your father. That you may know it beyond all question, ask\nanything of me. Whatever it may be, it shall be granted. I promise you\nthis by the Stygian Lake, the dark waters of the underworld; and such a\nvow, as you well know, is inviolate for us deities.\"\n\nHardly had his father finished speaking before Pha\u00ebthon, with sparkling\neyes, replied: \"I pray you let me drive your sun-chariot and winged\nsteeds for one day.\"\n\nHow Apollo regretted his vow! With mournful visage he shook his head and\nspoke. \"Woe is me that I must keep my promise. Had I not made it, your\nwish would not have been granted. But now I can do no more than warn\nyou. The fulfilment of your wish will result in dreadful dangers. What\nyou desire is so great a task that your youth and strength are not equal\nto it. You, a mortal, wish to be immortal. None of the Olympian gods\nthemselves would undertake such a task. It is known to them as to\nmortals that I alone can drive the sun-chariot. Zeus himself, mightiest\nof the gods, who holds the thunderbolts in his hand and rules over\nheaven and earth, would not dare to drive it. Learn now the dangers\nwhich threaten you. Only with the greatest exertion can the freshly\nharnessed steeds climb the upward morning-path. It is a fearful sight to\ngaze down from the summit of the sun-course. My own heart trembles when\nI reach that spot. Then the path descends, growing more and more steep.\nTo accomplish it needs a sure hand. Thetis herself, who awaits me in the\nwaves, looks up anxiously, fearing I may not be able to make the\ndownward plunge. And this is not all you must learn. The heavens revolve\naround you constantly, and the high stars weave in circles. The goal\nmust be firmly kept in sight in spite of the furious oscillation and you\nmust not deviate from the course. Oh son, ask yourself seriously if you\ncan do this. Think of this, too. Far otherwise will the sky appear to\nyou than it does from the earth. You will not journey to cities nor to\ngroves with lofty temples, but you will encounter apparitions of wild\nanimals, at sight of which the blood of a mortal will turn to ice. How\ncan you manage these ungovernable fire steeds which I can hardly bridle,\nso great is their strength? Therefore, oh son, abandon your wish. There\nare so many things in heaven and earth better worth the asking which I\ncan give you. The granting of your wish means your destruction.\"\n\nThe deity's warnings were useless. Pha\u00ebthon repeated his request. As\nApollo was bound by his vow, he led the youth to the sun-chariot, which\nwas a gift from Hephaestus. The axles were golden, as well as the shafts\nand the rims of the wheels, but the spokes were of solid silver. The\nshafts and the harness glittered with chrysolite and other precious\nstones. While Pha\u00ebthon was gazing at the chariot in astonishment, Eos\nopened the purple door leading to the halls in which the flowers of\nheaven at all times bloom. The stars disappeared, the morning star, last\nof the gleaming choir, faded and finally was lost to view. When Selene\n(Luna) had sunk beneath the sea, Apollo summoned the blessing-giving\nHours whose duty it was to harness the steeds to the sun-chariot. With\nlight step the rosy divinities betook themselves to the hall, loosed the\nwhite steeds from their marble cribs, filled with ambrosia, led them to\nthe chariot, and placed their trappings on them while Apollo besmeared\nhis son's face with a sacred ointment so that he should not be blinded.\nThen he placed the sparkling crown upon his beautiful tresses and said\nwith a sigh: \"Since I cannot dissuade you, at least take this advice to\nheart. Do not urge the horses with the goad, for they go swiftly enough,\nbut hold the reins securely, try to restrain their fiery snorting and\ngovern them safely. Avoid the South as well as the North Pole and keep\nto the course indicated by the ruts of the wheels. Observe further that\nit is necessary sky and earth should be equally warm. Go neither too\nhigh nor too low, lest you burn either the heavenly mansions or the\ndwellings on earth. May Fortune help you in all other things, so now\ntake the reins and think of my advice. It would be vastly better for you\nto desist from your ruinous folly that I to-day, as usual, may furnish\nlight for men and gods.\"\n\nDuring these last words the headstrong youth mounted the chariot and\ntook the reins from the hands of his sorrowful father. The neighing of\nthe steeds filled the atmosphere. They champed their bits and stamped.\nWhen Pha\u00ebthon pulled the reins they flew with the chariot. They soon\noutran the swift winds, clove asunder the morning clouds, and the vast,\nimmeasurable universe lay before Pha\u00ebthon's gaze. The chariot swung from\nside to side as the load was too light. When the steeds noticed this,\nthey took to wild flight and left the usual course. The youth was\novercome by fear. How could he find the course again? Not once but many\ntimes he sought to free the tangled reins. Upward went the chariot. When\nPha\u00ebthon looked upon the height of the sky, a panic seized him, his\nknees trembled, and all grew dark before his eye. Now he repented that\nhe had not heeded his father's warnings, but it was too late. He was\nhurled about like a dismasted vessel in raging waters. He knew not what\nto do. He had already traversed a great part of the sky, but endless was\nthe expanse which still lay before him. In despair he looked ahead and\nbehind. He still held the reins, but he no longer made any effort to\ndirect the steeds. A great terror awaited him as he suddenly beheld\nfrightful apparitions above him. Terrified by them, the steeds ran still\nfarther from the course, dragging the swaying, cracking chariot after\nthem. The elevated plains of earth took fire. Broad fissures appeared in\nthe ground, the forest disappeared in a furious sea of flame, and a\nluminous dust arose from the meadows and harvest fields. Cities and\ntheir people were destroyed. Fiery clouds swept over places teeming with\nlife shortly before. The mountains were masses of seething fire.\nPha\u00ebthon, gazing about, saw nothing but flames. Higher and higher they\nrose, and at last the sun-chariot was surrounded by clouds of hot\nmoisture. Pha\u00ebthon no longer knew where he was. Then, so says the myth,\nthe terrified nymphs fled, mourning over their fountains and waters\ndestroyed by fire. The earth became such a vast chasm that the glare of\nthe fire was reflected in Tartarus and the gods of the underworld were\nterrified. The sea itself retreated from its shores, its bed rose,\nislands appeared where there had been none, fishes and seals lay dead\nupon the banks. The sea nymphs fled with Doris and Nereus to a cool\ngrotto, where the air was so glowing that Poseidon had to plunge in\nwater the arm with which he raised his trident to try and hurl Pha\u00ebthon\ndown.\n\nWhen Zeus beheld what was happening he pitied the dying world. With a\nthunderbolt he killed the audacious charioteer. A lock of his hair,\ntaking fire, floated down like a falling star. The terrible bolt\nfrightened the steeds. The chariot broke and axles, spokes, and\nfragments of the wheels flew in all directions.\n\nPha\u00ebthon fell into the river Eridanus and the naiads of the stream came\nto bury his body. Apollo, who had seen all that happened to his son,\nsorrowfully veiled his face.[8]\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter V\n                                Orpheus\n\n\nOrpheus was the hero-singer of the Thracians, who in the ancient times\ndwelt at the foot of the mountains Olympus, Parnassus, and Helicon. He\nwas the son of Apollo[9] and the muse Calliope[10] and the husband of\nEurydice. His name became so celebrated among later poets that his power\nof song was said to have produced most marvellous effects. When he\nstruck his lute, the fable says, the lions of the forest fawned upon him\nlike dogs, rivers halted in their course, and the trees and rocks\nlistened to him. He accompanied the Argonauts on their expedition and\naccomplished by his music many marvellous escapes for them. When he\nreturned from the expedition his young wife, Eurydice, and her\ncompanions danced upon a beautiful grass plat one day. While engaged in\ntheir sports a snake stung her in the foot and she died in the very\nbloom of her youth.[11] The inconsolable husband poured out his grief in\ntones that filled all hearts with sorrow. Taking his lute, he ventured\nto the entrance of the underworld, Tartarus, and entreated Persephone,\nspouse of Hades, god of the underworld, to give him back Eurydice. The\nbars of the gate flew back as he sang. With ever tenderer tones he\napproached the place where departed spirits wander. Cerberus, the\nthree-headed dog who guards the entrance, quietly wagged his tail as he\npassed, Ixion's wheel stood still,[12] and Sisyphus stopped his\nfruitless task to listen to him.[13]\n\nPersephone graciously heard Orpheus' entreaty and said: \"Go back whence\nyou came. Eurydice shall silently follow. But have a care that you do\nnot look at her until you have reached the upper world. If you gaze at\nher but an instant she will be lost to you forever.\"\n\nOrpheus turned back. He had not yet seen her. Would she follow him or\nnot? A goddess surely would not deceive him. But he heard no step behind\nhim. Singing, he went his way for a time, and when in the distance he\nsaw the gleam of the upper world, he cried \"Eurydice\" in tender, eager\ntones. No answer was made. Overcome by grief and anxiety, he forgot the\nwarning of the goddess. An irresistible desire to see her caused him to\nturn his head, and behold his wife was quietly and lightly following\nhim. He stretched out his arms to her and in an instant the goddess's\nwarning was realized. Eurydice suddenly went back and was never again\nseen by him.\n\nHis soul was rent with anguish. He wandered despairingly with his lute\nin the Thracian forest, where he found among the rocks a swarm of\nM\u00e6nades, those creatures who foregather at the festivals of Bacchus and,\nexcited with wine and wild debauches, go through the woods inciting\neveryone to attend the revels which are given in honor of that divinity.\nThey made a loud clamor by clashing their cymbals together and blowing\ntrumpets and horns and swung their wands, wound with vine leaves and\nivy, called the thyrsus, crying, \"Evoe, Evoe, Bacchus.\"\n\nThese M\u00e6nades who found Orpheus lamenting for Eurydice, snatched his\nlute away and ordered him to entertain them. With horror he turned from\nthem and rejected their importunities. That was too much for a horde of\nmad women. They stoned him, tore him to pieces, and threw his bleeding\nlimbs into the forest.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter VI\n                                Atalanta\n\n\nSchoeneus married in Arcadia and entreated the gods to send him a son.\nWhen his spouse bore him a daughter, he became so enraged that he took\nthe child from her mother, carried her into the wilderness, and left her\nthere. The child was nourished by a bear until she was found by some\nhunters, who took her away, brought her up, and named her Atalanta.\n\nAtalanta grew in beauty and strength and became a vigorous huntress,\nsurpassing all men and youths in daring, swiftness, and skill. Like\nArtemis, she chose to live unmarried and paid no attention to the youths\nwho solicited her hand. When hard pressed she at last made this\ncondition. He only should have her as wife who surpassed her in running;\nbut those who were defeated should die.\n\nHard as the condition was, the beauty of the maiden attracted a crowd of\nsuitors. Among them was Hippomenes, who came not to take part in the\nrace, but to deride the youths who would risk their lives by such folly.\nBut when the race began and he saw the beautiful huntress, he himself\nwas smitten with love and hoped that none of the youths would win the\nprize, so that he might take Atalanta home as his wife. The race was\nfinished. The maiden returned with the wreath of victory on her head,\nbut the youths were taken away to suffer death.\n\nThen Hippomenes stepped forward and said: \"It was not much glory, O\nAtalanta, to surpass those. Now I wish to race with you. Should fortune\nfavor me, it will be no shame for you to be beaten by one who is great\ngrandson of Poseidon, god of the waters, and whose courage is not\ninferior to his skill. But should you win, your name will be honored in\nfuture days.\"\n\nAtalanta looked upon the bold youth, and as he was pleasing in her sight\nshe was uncertain whether she wished his victory or his defeat. Then she\nsaid: \"What divinity, O youth, seeks your destruction by giving you the\ndesire to race with me? Those foolish ones, they tried and now must die.\nAt least let me warn you to seek some other maiden. If you reject my\nadvice, I bespeak for you the help of the gods that you may be the\nwinner.\"\n\nWhile the beautiful huntress thus spoke, Hippomenes called to Venus, who\nsuddenly stood by his side, unseen by Atalanta. She gave him three\ngolden apples gathered in the gardens of the Hesperides, and told him\nhow to use them. The trumpet sounded and both started swiftly over the\ncourse. What a sight it was to watch the beautiful creature whose feet\nscarcely touched the ground! \"Look,\" said one, \"she could skim over the\nwaving wheat without bending it, or fly over the sea without wetting the\nsoles of her feet.\" The encouraging shouts of his friends greeted the\nyouth.\n\nHippomenes was overjoyed at the greetings, and Atalanta noticed it with\npleasure. It seemed unendurable to her to be beaten, but it was even\nmore painful to beat and thereby sacrifice Hippomenes' life. For a long\ntime they ran side by side. At last Hippomenes threw an apple to the\nground. The maiden saw the rolling gold and stooped to pick it up. The\ndelay threw her back in the race, but she soon caught up with the youth.\nHe threw the second apple. Running out of her course she seized it and\nHippomenes gained further advantage. He was nearing the goal when he\nheard the distant applause of his friends. The maiden put forth all her\npower and soon flew past Hippomenes with burning cheeks, so that his\ndeath seemed inevitable. Then he supplicated the goddess and threw the\nthird apple, which rolled far out of the course. The maiden would have\nleft it, but Aphrodite (Venus) induced her to get it. The goddess made\nthe task so difficult that Hippomenes reached the goal first. The judges\ncrowned him and Atalanta, as she had promised, gave him her hand.\n\nThe day of their marriage was the day of ruin for both, for they wholly\nforgot the goddess and neither made thank-offerings nor remembered her\nkind assistance. Aphrodite therefore decreed a severe penalty. The angry\ngoddess changed them into a pair of lions and harnessed them to her\ngolden chariot.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter VII\n                                Tantalus\n\n\nTantalus, a rich and powerful king, was deemed worthy by Zeus to visit\nthe gold-gleaming mansions of the gods on high Olympus and to partake of\nnectar and ambrosia at their tables. Zeus and the other immortals even\ndeigned to appear under Tantalus' roof, to sit at his table, and\nconverse in his own speech. Such an honor was too great for a mortal to\nbear. Inflated with pride, he made himself hated by gods and men. He not\nonly made sport of the names of the immortals and uttered falsehoods,\nbut he would reveal their decrees to mortals and steal nectar and\nambrosia for his friends. He at last grew so audacious that he was\nwarned and threatened by the gods. Finally his penalty overtook him.\nUpon one occasion when the gods were visiting him and partaking of a\nbanquet, he decided to test just how far they were omniscient. He killed\nhis son Pelops, prepared his flesh as a test, and set the disgusting\nfood before them. All recognized the unnatural deed of the father except\nCeres, whose heart was full of sorrow over the loss of her daughter.[14]\nSo it happened that she partook of the food, and ate of the shoulder of\nPelops. Zeus collected the parts of the body, substituted an ivory\nshoulder, recalled Pelops' soul from Tartarus, restored him to life, and\nthen plunged Tantalus into Hades to suffer endless torment.\n\nWhen Tantalus regained consciousness, he found himself standing up to\nhis chin in water. Overcome with burning thirst, he bent his head to\ndrink. But the more he bent his head the lower the water receded, and at\nlast sunk into the ground, leaving nothing at his feet but dry, black\ndust. As he raised his head the water raised, only to disappear whenever\nhe tried to drink. Over his head hung branches loaded with fruit.\nBetween the green leaves were pomegranates, balsamic pears, olives,\nfigs, and spicy apples, but whenever the victim raised his hands to\npluck them, a wind drove the branches away from him. His torment was\nendless. A restless longing never to be satisfied was the punishment\ninflicted upon him by the revengeful divinity.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter VIII\n                Salmoneus, Sisyphus, Ixion, and Phlegyas\n\n\nSalmoneus was a brother of Tantalus, whom Zeus punished so severely for\nhis audacity. A similar fate overtook him also, for he had a spite\nagainst the gods and strove to be equal to them. He snatched the\nofferings intended for Zeus from his altars and commanded that they\nshould be offered to himself. He imitated Zeus' thunderbolts with\nlighted torches, which he threw down upon the people, and represented\nthunder by the clashing of iron vessels. In fact he imitated the ruler\nof the universe in every way.\n\nWhen he had reached the summit of his insolence his ruin overtook him.\nZeus struck him with one of his bolts and hurled him down to Tartarus.\n\nSisyphus was in the same dreadful place. In the upper world he had been\nguilty of thefts both among men and the gods. In the very hour of his\ndeath he perpetrated an evil deed. He seized and bound Thanatos, the god\nof death, with brazen bands, and for a long time no one died on earth.\nThe gods of the underworld sent to Zeus this message: \"Behold Thanatos,\nwho went to the upper world to bring Sisyphus here, has not returned.\nFor several days no shade has entered our dark kingdom.\" Thereupon Zeus\nsent for the powerful war god, Ares,[15] and ordered him to find the god\nof death. He soon found and released him from his fetters, and Sisyphus\nwas taken to the underworld by Thanatos. Even then he continued his\ndeceitful deeds. He said to his wife: \"Do not bury my body and make the\ncustomary death offering to the gods of the underworld.\" Then he\nappeared before Hades and Persephone and said: \"My wife has not buried\nmy body and has neglected to make the death offering. Let me go to her\nand remind the faithless one of her duty. Then I surely will return.\"\n\nHis wish was granted and he returned to the upper world. As he did not\ncome back, word was again sent to Zeus, who despatched the swift-flying\nHermes to take the deceiver back. When Sisyphus saw the divine\nmessenger, his courage gave way, for he knew that no mortal could outdo\nhim in cunning. Hermes took him back to the dark kingdom, where a\nfearful penalty awaited him. He had to roll a huge block of marble up a\nhigh mountain which no sooner reached the top than it went thundering\ndown. He had to begin his task over again with sweat of toil and anguish\ndropping from his brow to the earth.\n\nIxion, who had offered violence to the goddess Hera,[16] suffered\nanother penalty. He was tied to a wheel which never ceased revolving.\nPhlegyas,[17] who burned the temple of Apollo, was also there. He was\ncontinually threatened by a rock hanging over his head, which exposed\nhim to constant apprehension and unspeakable torture.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter IX\n                                 Niobe\n\n\nAmphion, who married a godlike maiden named Niobe, ruled over Thebes.\nShe became the mother of seven stately sons and seven blooming\ndaughters.\n\nShe would have been esteemed the most blessed of mothers if she could\nhave borne her happiness with moderation. Her husband Amphion was\nwell-nigh equal to the divine singer Orpheus in song and lute playing,\nwhile in possessions and power she surpassed most princesses of her\ntime. But more than all else she prided herself upon her children.\n\nThe prophetess Manto went through the streets and ordered the Theban\nwomen to the altars of Latona. \"Arise, you women,\" she cried; \"twine\nyour tresses with fresh laurel and bring fragrant incense for the mother\nof Apollo and Diane.\"\n\nThe women immediately assembled at the altar of the goddess and\nsupplicatingly scattered incense in the sacred flames. Hardly had they\nbegun the offering song when Niobe appeared, proudly advancing. She wore\na gold-embroidered cloak and on her brow gleamed a diadem. Standing\nbefore the altar, she raised her head proudly and said: \"Foolish ones,\nwould you honor Latona and refuse incense at my altar? Was not my\nfather, Tantalus, a guest at the tables of the gods? Atlas, who carries\nthe world's axle on his shoulders, is my ancestor. Zeus is another. My\npower extends even in far-off Phrygia. The stones with which Cadmus\nbuilt this city and its castle dance to the music of my husband's lute.\nWherever you look in my palace you find inexhaustible treasures. But it\nis my richest fortune to be the mother of seven stately sons and as many\nblooming daughters. And yet you offer to Latona, who has borne but two,\nApollo and Artemis (Diane)! Do you not know, foolish ones, how she was\npersecuted by Juno when the hour of her delivery approached? She could\nfind refuge neither in heaven nor on earth, so contemptuously was she\nregarded! At last the island of Delos pitied the fugitive and said to\nher: 'Thou wanderest about restless, like myself, and so I have\ncompassion for thee and offer thee refuge.' She remained at Delos and\nbore the Twins who are so highly esteemed by mortals--Apollo and Diane.\nBut am not I with my fourteen children more blest than she with two? She\nis almost childless, but I am rich in children. So take the laurels from\nyour brows and leave the altar of the goddess who is far less fortunate\nthan I.\"\n\nThe Theban women reluctantly acceded to her request. Holding their\nwreaths in their hands, they stole away, but did not forget to\nsupplicate their goddess in light murmurs.\n\nLatona was angry at the insult which Niobe offered her. She called her\nchildren, Apollo and Artemis, and said to them: \"Behold, my children,\nhow that woman has dishonored me and how the Theban women have forsaken\nmy altar!\"\n\nWhile the goddess was requesting them to avenge her shameful treatment,\nApollo interposed and said: \"Say no more, divine mother, your wrongs\nshall be speedily righted.\" Artemis said the same. Thereupon they betook\nthemselves to the castle built by Cadmus. Nearby they found the fields\ncovered with the tracks of horses which Niobe's sons were driving about.\nSuddenly Ismenos, the eldest, cried out in agony. Behold, his heart was\npierced with a silver arrow shot by Apollo from a cloud with his\nunerring bow. The youth paled at the sight and his gold-mounted bridle\ndropped from his hands. He raised his head again and fell, dying, from\nhis horse.\n\nWhen Sipylus saw this, terror seized him and he sought to escape. But\nhis fate overtook him. The arrow was shot at him with such skill that it\npierced his throat. Plunging forward, his blood ran down his steed's\nwhite neck and a moment after he fell lifeless to the earth.\n\nTwo sons skilled in the ring stood breast to breast and the same fatal\narrow pierced both. Alphenor, seeing them fall, threw himself upon them\nwith loud lamentation. His death came quickly, for his body was also\npierced by an arrow. His moans had hardly ceased when Damasichthos fell\nwounded in the knee. While trying to stanch the wound, a second arrow\npierced him and he sank dead to the earth. The youngest of the sons,\nIlioneus, alone remained. The beautiful boy fell upon his knees and thus\nimplored: \"All ye gods, spare me!\" Apollo was touched, but it was too\nlate, for the fatal arrow was already on its way and reached its\nmark--the heart of the supplicating one.\n\nA cry of anguish ran through the city. When the king learned what had\nhappened, despair seized him and he ran his sword through his body.\nNiobe also heard of the horror, but could not believe it. She hurried to\nthe field and found the bleeding bodies. How everything had changed for\nher who but a short time before had been so boastful! Her face was\npitiful to look upon. Even her enemies felt compassion.\n\nShe threw herself down, now upon this body, now upon that, and covered\nthem with kisses and tears. Her hair hung down and the blood of her sons\nstained it and her garments. She raised her arms and wildly cried:\n\"Revengeful Latona, now satisfy your delight in my sufferings. My sons'\ndeath is my death. Triumph, dreadful one, for thou hast overcome me. But\nno, for I am still richer than thou.\"\n\nHardly had these words escaped her lips before the dismal twang of the\nbow was heard anew. Horror seized upon the people and the seven\ndaughters who were rushing to the spot. Niobe did not quail. Misfortune\nhad stupefied her. One of the daughters, while seeking to draw the arrow\nfrom the heart of Ilioneus, was pierced and fell upon his body. Another,\nwhile consoling her mother, fell dead. Thus one after the other was\nkilled until only the youngest was left. She fled to the lap of her\nmother, who covered her with her cloak. \"Only this one is left to me,\nImplacable One, only this one,\" exclaimed Niobe in despair. The death\ncry was heard, and she held in her arms a bleeding body.\n\nThe mother sat amidst her murdered children, rigid with sorrow. Her face\nwas like white marble. Her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth. The\nblood stood still in her veins. Her whole body turned to stone. A storm\nswept past with a frightful roar. Lo, tears of stone fell from her eyes.\nSuddenly the hurricane carried her upon its wings and left her among the\nrocky crags of Sipylus.[18]\n\nA marble block is there to-day and every morning the cold marble weeps.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter X\n                              Bellerophon\n\n\nBellerophon, grandson of Sisyphus, received from the gods both beauty\nand manliness, but the heavenly gifts wrought his ruin. Hardly had Queen\nAntia looked upon him before she forgot her duty to the king and tried\nto win him for a husband. When Bellerophon learned her purpose, he\nturned from her with abhorrence. Thereupon she determined to destroy\nhim, and said to her husband: \"Kill that profligate who has tried to\nmake me faithless to thee.\"\n\nThe king's heart was filled with anger when he learned this, and yet he\nwas reluctant to kill the youth himself. So he wrote a letter and sent\nBellerophon with it to his father-in-law, the prince of the rich country\nof Lycia, who extended hospitalities to him and gave a feast in his\nhonor, which lasted several days. Bellerophon then took the letter,\nwhose contents he did not understand, and gave it to the prince. He was\namazed when he read that Bellerophon must die, and disliked to deprive\nso handsome a youth of his life.\n\nFinally he ordered him to fight with the dreadful Chim\u00e6ra, a monster\nhaving the fore part that of a lion, the middle that of a goat, and the\nhind part that of a dragon, which continually emitted fire from its\njaws. The gods, compassionating the innocent one, sent Pegasus, the\nwinged horse, to him, so that he could raise himself in the air. But he\ncould not catch the horse. Wearied with his exertions, he slept by the\nedge of a spring. Athene appeared to him there, gave him a golden\nbridle, and said: \"Make an offering to Poseidon, the sea god, and he\nwill aid thee.\" When the youth awoke he was holding the bridle in his\nhand. He at once made the offering and erected an altar to Athene. Then\nhe started to catch the horse, which came to him of its own accord. He\nplaced the golden bridle on it and in his brazen armor vaulted upon the\nback of the divine steed. It extended its wings at once and took him to\nthe lair of the Chim\u00e6ra.\n\nNow the battle began. His steed sinking towards the earth, Bellerophon\nhurled a lance at the animal which penetrated deep into its back.\nRoaring with rage and pain, the monster reared its dragon body and\nemitted flames. But its exertions were useless, for Pegasus flew still\nfarther upwards with the youth. It writhed upon the ground and sought to\npull out the bronze spear with its jaws. Then it crawled over the\nfields, streaking them with blood. Bellerophon followed it, when\nsuddenly it coiled itself up as if dead. But it did not deceive him.\nFrom on high he shot down a deadly arrow which pierced through its mane\ninto its neck. It sprang up again, but could not reach the youth. Hardly\nhad it sunk down to the ground before another arrow was driven through\nits eyes. Fearful was its roar. Men and beasts fled far away in terror,\nbut Bellerophon was not afraid. Unerringly he shot the third arrow,\nwhich struck the monster between the vertebr\u00e6 and pierced the marrow.\nSpouting fire and blood, it died.\n\nWhen Bellerophon returned from his battle, still harder tasks awaited\nhim. He had first to encounter the famous Solymi and then the bold\nAmazons. With the aid of the gods he was victorious, but on his homeward\nway new danger awaited him. The king sent out a troop of his most\nvaliant men against him and they approached the unsuspecting Bellerophon\nfrom an ambush. But it was of no avail, for after a short battle he\novercame them. When he appeared before the prince, the latter said:\n\"Surely thou art innocent and a favorite of the gods, else thou couldst\nnot have escaped all these dangers.\" He loved him from that moment and\ngave him his daughter to wife.\n\nRich in possessions and honors, Bellerophon lived in Lycia. But his good\nfortune did not last long. He attempted to fly to heaven with Pegasus to\nparticipate in the assemblies of the gods. His efforts were useless and\nhe lost their favor. Pegasus was frightened and threw his rider to the\nearth, who fell into a field called Aleius because he wandered in it\nblind the rest of his life. Joyless were his days and at last he died,\nhis heart broken by sorrow. But Pegasus was placed among the stars.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XI\n                                Perseus\n\n\nAcrisius was king in Argos. It was once foretold that he would be killed\nby the son of his daughter, Dana\u00eb. Thereupon he shut up his daughter and\nher son, Perseus by name, in a chest and threw it into a raging flood.\nThe gods pitied the innocent ones and directed it to the island of\nSeriphus.\n\nThe kings of the island, Dictys and Polydectes, were one day drawing a\nnet from the sea. Great was their astonishment when they found a chest\nin the net and heard sorrowful moanings in its interior. They opened it\nand the noble Dana\u00eb stepped out with her beautiful son. Dictys took them\nhome with him and cared for them as if they had been his own brother and\nsister.\n\nWhen Perseus reached his young manhood, he surpassed everyone in skill\nand dexterity in martial sports. Polydectes conceived evil designs\nagainst the innocent Dana\u00eb, and as he feared Perseus he decided to send\nhim out of the country. He soon found the opportunity. He gave a banquet\nto the leading men of the island, at which he announced that he was\ngoing to take a wife. He also required each one of them to procure a\nbeautiful horse for a wedding gift. In his youthful presumptuousness\nPerseus said: \"Whatever you wish I promise to do. Even should you\nrequest the head of the Gorgon, I would procure it for you.\"\n\nThe king replied: \"Bring me the Gorgon's head, but know this: If you do\nnot keep your word, your mother Dana\u00eb shall make compensation.\"\n\nTroubled in mind, Perseus went to the seashore and confided his fears to\nthe waves. Hermes, the divine messenger, at once appeared and promised\nhis assistance. He conducted him to the house of Night in the extreme\nlimits of the earth, where there is neither the golden light of the sun\nnor the mild lustre of the moon. The daughters of Phorcus, the monster,\nwho were gray at birth, dwelt in that fearful darkness. They had but one\neye and one tooth, common to them all. The fearless Perseus snatched\nfrom them both eye and tooth. They raised a frightful clamor and\nimplored the youth to restore them. \"It shall be done,\" said Perseus,\n\"if you will show me the way to the nymphs.\" They did so, and he\nreturned them.\n\nFrom the nymphs he received the cloak of Pluto, the winged shoes of\nMercury, and the shield of Minerva. He donned the cloak which rendered\nhim invisible, and fastened the winged shoes to his feet. Hermes gave\nhim a sword. Then he rose in the air with his winged feet and in a trice\nreached Oceanus. There dwelt the sisters, the terrible Gorgons, whose\nheads were covered with snakes. The chill of death struck those who\nlooked upon them, their breath left them, and they turned to stone. The\nmonsters slept with their faces turned downwards.\n\nAs Perseus courageously approached with his drawn sword, Hermes and\nAthene suddenly stood at his side, instructing him how to begin so as to\nkeep his word. \"Advance so you do not see the faces,\" said they, \"lest\nthey turn you to stone. Draw your sword only against the middle one of\nthe Gorgons, the Medusa, for she alone is mortal. When you have\nrecognized her, raise this gleaming shield in which her face will be\nmirrored.\"\n\nAfter these words, the immortals left the youth. Approaching nearer, he\nsaw the figure of the Gorgon on his shield. He raised his sword and\nstruck off her head. He then seized it by the snaky hair, fastened it to\nhis shield, and hurried away. The two living Gorgons awoke and swept the\nair with their wings, but could not catch the youth, as the cloak of\nPluto hid him from their sight.\n\nOn his way back, Perseus came to Ethiopia. The people there were in\ngreat trouble, for a dreadful calamity had happened to them. The water\nof the sea was in flood and had brought with it a monster which devoured\nmen and animals. The oracle was consulted and gave this answer: \"Only\nwhen Andromeda, the king's daughter, is given to the sea monster for\nfood will the flood abate.\" Although the noble maiden was greatly\nbeloved, there was a universal demand to offer her up and save the\ncountry. Andromeda was thereupon taken to a rock and securely bound to\nit.\n\nFlying through the air, Perseus saw the maiden. He immediately descended\nand ascertained her fate. Then he hastened to the king and asked him if\nhe would give his daughter to him for wife if he freed the country from\nthe monster. The king promised that he would.\n\nPerseus betook himself to the shore and awaited the appearance of the\nmonster. It soon emerged from the water and made for the rocks to devour\nthe maiden. Perseus attacked and killed it after a hard fight. The waves\nof the sea at once receded and the country was freed from the pest. The\nking gave the victor his daughter for wife and a great festival was held\nin his honor.\n\nAfter some time had elapsed, Perseus bethought himself of the promise he\nhad made King Polydectes to bring him the Gorgon's head, and therefore\nmade his way with his wife to the island of Seriphus, where Polydectes\nruled in common with his brother.\n\nHow astonished Polydectes was when he saw the hero returning whose death\nhe had wished! Perseus held the head of Medusa before the king. The\nsight of it turned him to stone instantly. When Polydectes had thus been\npunished, Perseus gave the Medusa's head to Athene, who fastened it in\nthe middle of her breastplate. The shield, cloak, and shoes he gave to\nHermes, who returned them to the nymphs.\n\nPerseus now went back to Argos, his homeland. When Acrisius heard he was\napproaching the castle, he fled to the Pelasgians. Perseus followed him\nand found him there. He implored him to return with him to Argos and\npromised that he would do him no harm. This reassured Acrisius and he\nagreed to follow him.\n\nOn the day fixed for their departure a contest was arranged by the\nPelasgians in which Perseus took part. He engaged in disk throwing and\nPerseus struck his grandfather upon the foot with the disk, which led to\nhis illness and death. Thus the prophecy was fulfilled.\n\nPerseus lived long and happily with his wife Andromeda, who bore him six\nsons and two daughters.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XII\n                                 Cadmus\n\n\nAgenor, hearing of the extraordinary abduction of Europa,[19] called his\nson Cadmus to him and ordered him to bring back the maiden or never\nagain enter his house. Cadmus wandered over the earth for a long time,\nbut could nowhere find his sister. As he did not dare to venture home\nwithout her, he consulted the oracle and asked where she might dwell.\n\nThe oracle replied: \"In a lonely field you will find a young steer which\nhas never worn a yoke. Follow it, and where it lies down in the soft\ngrass to rest, there build a city. It shall be called Thebes, and the\ncountry round about, Boeotia.\"\n\nCadmus left the cave in which he had heard the voice of the deity and\nsoon found the steer which had never worn a yoke. He followed it with\nhis companions, humbly supplicating Apollo. The steer led him afar, but\nat last stopped, turned its head towards him and his companions, and\nloudly lowed. Then it laid down in the soft grass.\n\nCadmus knelt down, kissed the soil, and greeted the surrounding fields,\nmountains, and forests. Then turning to his companions he said: \"Arise,\nand bring water that we may make an offering to Zeus, the all-powerful.\"\n\nThere was a forest nearby which had never been touched by the axe. In\nthe centre of this forest they found a cavern, grown round about with\nbushes, from which an abundance of water gushed. This cavern was the\nlair of a dragon. The body of the monster was swollen with poison. Fire\ndarted from its eyes, its crest gleamed golden, its tongue was thrice\ncloven, and there were triple rows of teeth in its jaws.\n\nAs the men, suspecting no danger, made their way through the forest,\nthey heard the plashing of water. Joyously they hastened towards it and\ncame to the cavern. But hardly had they dipped their buckets into the\nwater before the dragon awoke from its sleep. It raised itself and\nbeheld the victims who had approached it so unsuspectingly. Suddenly the\nmen heard a frightful hissing, and as they looked around they saw the\ndragon's bluish head emerging from the cavern. They dropped their\nbuckets. Their faces grew deadly pale and their limbs trembled. In the\nmeantime the dragon coiled its scaly body and arched itself over the men\nso that they could not fly. Not one of them escaped. The monster tore\nsome with its teeth, killed some by strangling them in its coils, and\nthe rest were killed by the poisonous breath from its throat.\n\nIt was already midday, and as the men had not returned, Cadmus decided\nto search for them. He threw around him the shaggy lion's skin which\nserved for a cloak and donned his glittering helmet. He took two spears\nwith him. He had not gone far before he saw the dragon and under it his\ndead companions, whose wounds the horrible monster was licking.\n\n\"I will have revenge or die like you,\" he cried. He seized a huge rock\nand hurled it at the dragon with such force that it might have shattered\na tower, but it did not harm the monster. The rock glanced from its\nscaly hide and fell heavily to the ground. Deep into its back he hurled\na spear, the point of which penetrated its entrails. The monster reared,\nbent its neck, and seized the spear with its teeth. It jerked it one\nside and the other powerfully and at last tore it out. But it had only\ntaken out the handle. The iron remained sticking in the entrails. In its\nfury its eyes flashed fire terribly, its veins and throat swelled, and\nwhite foam flew from its poisonous jaws. Next it coiled itself, with a\nterrible rattling of its scales, and hurled itself at Cadmus with the\nswiftness of lightning. Cadmus sprang to one side and plunged his second\nspear into the dragon's neck. The spear glanced, the dragon turned its\nneck, seized it, and broke it to pieces. Cadmus thereupon drew his sword\nand drove it into its neck with such force that it not only ran it\nthrough, but also penetrated an oak, thus holding the dragon fastened to\nthe tree. It coiled itself around the trunk and lashed it with its tail\nuntil it shook. Cadmus sprang back, for the air was poisonous near the\nmonster. Blood and foam streamed from its neck and at last it died.\n\nAs Cadmus advanced to look at the monster, Athene suddenly appeared at\nhis side and said: \"Cadmus, make a circle in the ground with your sword\nand furrow it and sow in the furrows the teeth of the dead dragon.\"\n\nAthene disappeared and Cadmus set about the work. He furrowed the soil\nwith his strong arms, took the dragon's teeth, scattered them in the\nfurrows, and covered them with earth. Lo, instantly the clods stirred,\nspear points pierced upwards, followed by glittering helmets, bearded\nheads, and at last the bodies of armed men. The human crop increased\nuntil at last a troop of warriors stood before him. Cadmus sprang to his\nweapons, but one of the warriors said: \"Do not arm yourself, Cadmus, but\navoid the contest.\"\n\nThereupon the warriors began to attack each other and a mighty struggle\nensued. Only five of them survived. Their weapons were thrown to the\nground and they made peace with each other. The five followed the brave\nCadmus and helped him to build the city upon the spot designated by the\noracle. He named it Thebes, as Apollo had ordered.[20]\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIII\n                           Dionysus (Bacchus)\n\n\nDionysus (Bacchus) was the son of Zeus and Semele, daughter of Cadmus of\nThebes. By the orders of Zeus the child was intrusted to Hermes, to be\ntaken to Nysa, a majestic island with clear flowing streams and ever\ngreen meadows. The fruit-bearing trees are covered with vine clusters\nand the ocean breezes temper the sun's heat. In the midst of this island\nis a beautiful valley. The tops of the trees are so closely interwoven\nthat neither a sun ray nor a drop of rain can penetrate them. There is a\ncavern there, whose rocky arches gleam with variegated colors. Upon\neither side are lofty trees, some in continual blossom, others loaded\nwith spicy fruit. Brilliantly plumaged birds nest in the trees and their\nsongs are wonderfully melodious. Flowers grow beneath the trees, filling\nthe air with perennial perfume. There are also resting places for the\nnymphs there; not made by men, but fashioned by nature. One never sees a\nwithered flower there, nor a dry leaf, nor a trace of decay.\n\nHermes took the child there to be brought up by the nymphs. The boy,\nnamed Dionysus (Bacchus), grew rapidly and travelled over various\ncountries to teach men vine growing. He went to Egypt and Syria and\nreceived from Rhea, mother of Zeus, his India coat, variegated deerskin,\nand thyrsus. He next passed through the golden vales of Lydia, the sunny\nplains of Phrygia and Persia, and the rough country of Media. He visited\nArabia the blest and nearly all Asia paid him reverence. He rode in a\ngold-gleaming chariot, drawn by leopards. A multitude of cupids, nymphs,\nfauns, and satyrs followed him. The old and continually drunken Silenus\nalso belonged to his retinue, which accompanied its p\u00e6ans with the clash\nof cymbals and the music of Phrygian flutes.\n\nOnce it happened that Silenus fell asleep in a wood and was left behind.\nSome Lydian peasants found the old man and carried him upon a litter of\nbranches to their king, Midas, at whose palace Bacchus later arrived.\nFinding that Silenus had been hospitably entertained, Bacchus assured\nMidas that any wish of his should be granted. Midas requested that\nwhatever he touched might turn to gold. The request was granted, but\nMidas soon found that his wish would prove fatal, for not only water and\nwine, but fruit and all kinds of food, turned to gold when he touched\nthem. Repenting his folly, he implored Bacchus to recall the gift.\nTaking pity upon him, Bacchus ordered him to bathe in the river\nPactolus, having done which, he was soon relieved. From that time the\nsands of that river became gold.\n\nDionysus next came to the country of Edoni, free passage through which\nhad been promised him by Lycurgus, its prince. When he encamped in the\nwoods with his train he was suddenly attacked by the treacherous prince.\nHe placed himself under the protection of the sea goddess, Thetis, but\nhe and his retinue were taken prisoners and fettered. The punishment of\nthis misdeed came quickly. Lycurgus was seized by an incurable madness,\nand thinking his own son was a vine he cut off his hands and feet with\nan axe. But when he saw the bleeding body lying upon the earth he\nrealized what he had done and released Bacchus. But retribution was not\nyet complete. The earth bore nothing for his people a whole year long.\nThe Edonians in despair consulted the oracle, which announced that full\ncompensation could be rendered only by the death of the king. He was\nseized and taken to the mountain of Pangaeus where he was torn to pieces\nby wild horses.\n\nBacchus next went to Thebes, the city of his birth. The palace was in\nashes and his mother had perished in it, struck down by Zeus'\nthunderbolts. The gray Cadmus was still living, but no longer ruled the\ncity. Pentheus was its prince and to him came the blind seer Tiresias\nannouncing the approach of Bacchus. He was enraged at the words of the\nseer and rebuked the Thebans when he saw them arraying themselves to\nmeet him. \"Is it possible,\" he exclaimed, \"that you have forgotten your\norigin? Your fathers were heroes and you would bow before a boy who\nsmears his tresses with balsams, wears a wreath of vine leaves in place\nof a helmet, and a purple cloak in place of armor?\"\n\nThereupon he despatched his servants with orders to seize Bacchus and\nbind him. His friends were alarmed when they heard this order. Their\nentreaties were useless; he only adhered more firmly to his purpose. It\nwas not long before the servants returned, bringing Bacchus in fetters.\nPentheus said to his people jubilantly: \"Now, you know what fools you\nwere,\" and ordered Bacchus to be imprisoned. Then he sent his servants\nto arrest the whole train, when something wonderful occurred. The earth\nshook, flames played about the columns of the palace, and Bacchus rose\nin majesty from his prison. The king was terrified and tried to escape.\nBut he could not avoid his punishment. He was suddenly seized with a\nlonging to witness the revels of Bacchus' followers. Bacchus ordered\nthat he should appear to them as a wild animal. With fearful cries the\nBacchantes rushed upon him and killed him.\n\nFrom Thebes Bacchus went to Argos, and from thence he decided to cross\nover to Naxos, and made his arrangements with some sea robbers. Not\nknowing him, they decided to sell him as a slave and pass by Naxos.\nSuddenly they beheld a stream of wine flowing over the deck and filling\nthe whole vessel with its perfume. Red clusters of grapes hung from the\nsails. Wreaths of flowers and fruits extended up the mast to the\npennant. The crew were overcome with astonishment. \"A divinity directs\nthe ship,\" cried the most sensible of them; \"let us sail to Naxos.\" But\nit was too late. Bacchus suddenly stood on the deck in the form of a\nlion, seized the leader of the pirates, and tore him to pieces. When the\nothers saw his fate, they sprang into the sea and were changed to\ndolphins. Thus Bacchus punished their misdeeds. After founding many\ntemples he took his mother Semele to Olympus.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIV\n                                 Act\u00e6on\n\n\nAct\u00e6on was the son of the hunt-loving deity, Arist\u00e6us, and Autono\u00eb,\ndaughter of Cadmus. When he had passed the childhood age he was taken to\nthe woody mountain of Pelion by the wise centaur, Chiron, and trained as\na robust hunter. It was his greatest pleasure to hunt in the valleys and\nmountains. One day he hunted with some jovial companions in the forests\nof Mount Cith\u00e6ron until midday, when it grew so hot that he rested in\nthe cool shade of the trees. While reposing, he called his companions to\nhim and said: \"We have game enough. Our steel and traps are drenched\nwith blood. Let us end hunting for to-day. When the sun rises in the\nmorning we will resume the joyous sport.\" Thus he spoke and dismissed\nhis willing companions. Then he went with his hounds deeper into the\nforest to find a cool, shadowy spot where he could sleep through the\nheat of the noon and rest his wearied limbs.\n\nHe reached a valley full of fir trees and lofty cypresses, called\nGargaphia, which was sacred to Artemis. Deep in a corner of the valley\nhe found a leafy grotto. The rocky arch seemed to be the product of\nhuman skill, but was the work of nature. A stream murmured gently along,\nwhose clear water, bordered by green turf, broadened out into a wide\npool. This was the spot where the goddess, tired with the chase, bathed\nher sacred limbs. She was in the grotto, attended by her nymphs, one of\nwhom took her hunting spear and bow. Another relieved the goddess of her\ncloak, and two of them unloosed her sandals. The beautiful Crocale,\ncleverest of them all, fastened her tresses together in a knot. Then her\nattendants filled urns with water and poured it over the goddess.\n\nWhile the goddess was thus enjoying her bath, Act\u00e6on approached through\nthe bushes by an untrodden way. Evil destiny led him to the sacred haunt\nof Artemis' grotto. Unsuspecting any harm, he entered, delighted to have\nfound such a cool resting place. When the nymphs beheld a man, they\ncried aloud and crowded about their mistress to conceal her with their\nbodies; but being a head taller, the goddess towered above them all. Her\nglowing face wore a wrathful look, and her eyes were sternly fixed upon\nthe intruder, who stood motionless, surprised, and dazzled by the\nwondrous sight.\n\nIt would have been better for the unfortunate Act\u00e6on had he fled at\nonce, for the goddess suddenly bent her head, dipped up water with her\nhand, sprinkled it over the face and hair of the youth, and said in a\nthreatening tone: \"What thou hast seen, now tell to men, if thou canst.\"\nHardly had the last word been uttered when unspeakable distress seized\nhim. Swiftly he dashed off, and in his running was amazed by his speed.\nThe unfortunate one did not notice that antlers sprang from his head,\nthat his neck was longer, that his ears were pointed, his arms changed\nto legs, and his hands to hoofs. His limbs were covered with a dappled\nskin. He was no longer a man, but had been changed by the wrathful\ngoddess to a stag. As he fled, he saw his image mirrored in the water.\n\"Woe is me,\" he would have cried, but his voice was mute and no word\nescaped from his groaning breast. He could only utter a sigh of despair.\nTears poured from his eyes, but not upon human cheeks. Only his heart,\nhis old recollection, remained.\n\nWhat should he do now? Return to his grandfather's palace? Conceal\nhimself in the depths of the forest? While thus torn by the conflicting\nemotions of fear and shame, his hounds saw him. The whole pack, fifty in\nnumber, rushed upon the imaginary stag. Eager for their prey, they\nchased him over mountain and valley, jagged rocks and yawning abysses.\nThus the despairing one, himself the hunted, fled over well-known\nregions where he had often hunted wild animals. Twice he would have\nturned and cried, \"Spare me! I am Act\u00e6on.\" But he was speechless. Baying\nfuriously, the leader of the pack overtook him and seized him by the\nneck, while all the others rushed upon him and tore him with their sharp\nteeth. The victim groaned heavily; no stag ever groaned that way, and\nyet it was not a human groan. Like one praying he fell upon his knees,\nand in mute anguish turned his face towards his assailants. At this\ninstant his companions, hearing the baying of the hounds, came up. With\ntheir usual call they incited the hounds and then shouted for their\nmaster, whom they believed was not far away. \"Act\u00e6on,\" rang through the\nforest, \"where art thou? Come and behold this wonderful capture.\" Thus\nthey cried as the unfortunate victim was killed by the spears of his own\nfriends.\n\nAfter Act\u00e6on had thus wretchedly perished, his hounds began to miss\ntheir loved master. Baying and whining, they sought the lost one\neverywhere, until at last they came to Chiron's cavern. Chiron made a\nbronze image of Act\u00e6on so much like him that it deceived them. When the\nhounds saw it they sprang upon it, licked the hands and feet, and acted\nas joyfully as if they had found their real master again.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XV\n                           D\u00e6dalus and Icarus\n\n\nD\u00e6dalus of Athens was a son of Metion, grandson of Erectheus. He was the\nmost skilful man of his time--an architect, sculptor, and stone worker.\nHis works were admired in various parts of the world, and his statues\nwere said to live, move, and see; for while the statues of earlier\nartists had their eyes closed and the hands not separated from the body,\nhe was the first one who gave open eyes to his statues, extended the\nhands, and represented the feet as walking. But skilful, zealous, and\nactive as he was in his work, he had vices which brought him into\ntrouble. He had a nephew, named Talos, who was his pupil, and who\ndisplayed even more skill than his uncle and master. He discovered the\npotter's wheel. He also took the jaw of a snake and copied it in iron,\ncutting into it a row of continuous teeth, thus inventing the saw. He\nalso invented the lathe and many useful instruments without assistance\nfrom his teacher, which made him famous.\n\nD\u00e6dalus, fearing that the name of his scholar might become more renowned\nthan his own, grew so jealous that he killed the boy by hurling him down\nfrom the castle at Athens. While engaged in burying him, he was\nsurprised by the authorities and pretended he was burying a snake. At\nlast he was brought before the Areopagus, charged with murder, and was\nfound guilty. He managed to escape, however, and at first wandered about\nin Attica, but finally fled to the island of Crete. There he met King\nMinos, became his friend, and was highly esteemed as a renowned artist.\nHe was chosen to make a house for the Minotaur, a monster resembling a\nbull from its head to its shoulders, the remainder of its body being\nlike a man, and to construct it so that the monster would be entirely\nremoved from human sight. The inventive genius of D\u00e6dalus produced the\nLabyrinth, a structure full of complicated windings, confusing both to\nthe eyes and feet of those who entered it. When it was finished and\nD\u00e6dalus began to look it over, the builder himself found his way back to\nthe opening only with the greatest difficulty. The Minotaur was kept in\nthe very centre of this Labyrinth, its food being seven youths and seven\nmaidens sent to it periodically from Athens.\n\nIn the meantime D\u00e6dalus began to weary of his long banishment from home.\nIt vexed him that he must spend his life upon an island exposed to the\ncaprices of a tyrannical and cruel king. After long consideration, he at\nlast joyfully exclaimed: \"I have found the way to escape. Minos may be\nmaster of land and water, but the sky is free to me. He has no power\nover that. Through the air I will escape.\" No sooner said than done. He\nbegan by arranging bird feathers of different sizes in regular order.\nThese feathers he fastened in the middle with waxed linen cords. He then\nbent the joined feathers in such perfect curves that they clearly\nresembled wings. D\u00e6dalus had a boy, named Icarus, who stood by him and\neagerly meddled, childlike, with his father's work. All of a sudden he\ntook some of the feathers and deftly kneaded the wax, which his father\nhad been using, with his thumb and forefinger. The father smiled at the\nunassisted exertions of the child. After his work was finished D\u00e6dalus\nfastened the wings to his body, balanced them equally, and sailed\nthrough the air as lightly as a bird. Then, descending to earth, he\nconstructed a smaller pair for his son and instructed him how to use\nthem. \"Always fly, my dear son, in the middle course,\" he said. \"If you\nfly too low your wings may become so dampened by the sea air that they\nwill grow heavy and you may fall into the waves, and if you mount too\nhigh and go too near the sunbeams your feathers may suddenly take fire.\nFly between sea and sky and always follow in my course.\" After these\nwarnings D\u00e6dalus fastened his wings on Icarus' shoulders, though the old\nman's hands trembled as he did so, and anxious tears dropped upon them.\nHe then embraced his son and kissed him for the last time.\n\nThe two rose in air. The father led the way, flying as natural as a\nbird. He moved his wings easily and skilfully and from time to time\nlooked back to see how his son was succeeding. They soon passed the\nisland of Samos at the left and flew by the islands of Delos and Paros.\nSeveral other localities were left behind them when suddenly Icarus, who\nhad grown over-confident, forsook his paternal guide to reach a higher\naltitude. He soon encountered the danger his father predicted. The\nproximity of the sun weakened the wax which held his wings together and\nthey became detached from his shoulders. The unfortunate youth tried to\nkeep in air with his bare arms, but it was in vain and he suddenly\nplunged downwards with the name of his father on his lips; but before he\ncould call for help he sank in the sea's blue depths. It all happened so\nquickly that D\u00e6dalus, when he looked back for his son, could see nothing\nof him. \"Icarus, Icarus,\" he shouted in the vacant sky, \"where and in\nwhat region of air shall I seek thee?\" At last he cast an anxious glance\ndownward and saw the feathers floating on the water. He descended and\nwandered from shore to shore seeking the body of his unfortunate child,\nand at last found it. The murder of Talos was avenged. The despairing\nfather attended to the burial of his son, upon an island which in\nlasting memory of the tragic event is called Icaria.\n\nAfter D\u00e6dalus had buried his son he went to the large island of Sicily,\nwhere King Cocalus ruled. He met with the same hospitable reception\nwhich Minos once extended to him, and his skill created universal\nastonishment. He constructed an artificial lake from which issued a\nbroad river emptying into the neighboring sea. Upon a barren and almost\ninsurmountable cliff, which had hardly room for a couple of trees, he\nbuilt a strong fortress approached by a winding way which could be\ndefended by three or four men. King Cocalus used this impregnable castle\nas a storehouse for his treasures. The third work of D\u00e6dalus was a deep\ncavern on the island of Sicily. Here he overcame the reek of internal\nfires so skilfully that a visit to the cavern, which was usually so\ndamp, became as agreeable as if it were a mildly warmed room and the\nbody experienced a gentle perspiration without being overheated. He also\nenlarged the temple of Aphrodite (Venus) upon Mount Eryx[21] and\ndedicated to the goddess a golden honeycomb so skilfully made that it\nwas difficult to tell it from a real one.\n\nWhen King Minos, whose island D\u00e6dalus forsook, learned that he had fled\nto Sicily he resolved to follow him with a strong force. He organized a\nfleet and set out from Crete to Agrigentum. There he disembarked his\ntroops and sent messengers to King Cocalus, demanding the surrender of\nthe fugitive. But Cocalus was enraged at this invasion by a foreign\ntyrant and determined to find some way of destroying him. He pretended\nto consent, promised to comply with his wishes in every way, and invited\nhim to an interview. Minos came and was received by Cocalus with the\ngreatest hospitality. A warm bath was prepared to relieve him of\nfatigue, but when he sat in the tub it was so soon overheated that Minos\nwas suffocated. The king sent his body to the Cretans who came with him,\ninforming them that Minos had slipped and fallen into the hot water in\nthe tub. Minos was taken with great pomp by his warriors to Agrigentum\nand above his grave a temple of Venus was built. D\u00e6dalus remained in the\ncontinuous favor of Cocalus, educated many famous artists, and was the\nfounder of art in Sicily. But he was never happy after the death of his\nson, and while he enriched the country which had given him refuge, with\nbeautiful art works, his old age was sorrowful and full of troubles. He\ndied upon the island and was buried there.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XVI\n                          Philemon and Baucis\n\n\nUpon a hill in the land of Phrygia stands a thousand year old oak, and\nclose by it a linden of the same age, both surrounded by a low wall.\nMany a wreath has been hung upon the boughs of the neighborly pair. Not\nfar from them extends a swampy lake into which empties a shallow stream.\nWhere in former times people dwelt, now only herons and ducks rove\nabout. Once Father Zeus came to this spot with his son Hermes carrying\nonly his wand, but not his winged cap. They were seeking hospitality in\nhuman form. They knocked at a thousand doors praying shelter for the\nnight. But the people were so disobliging that the heavenly visitants\ncould not anywhere find lodging. At the end of the village was a hut,\nhumble and small, covered with straw and rushes. In this poor house\nlived a happy couple, honest Philemon and Baucis, his wife, of the same\nage. They had spent their joyous youth together there, and there they\nhad grown white-haired. They made no complaint of their poverty, but\nquietly bore their hard lot, united in love, and although childless,\nthey were content in the mean little house which they alone occupied\ntogether.\n\nAs the high deities approached this humble roof and entered the low\npassageway with bowed heads, the honest couple met them with a hearty\ngreeting. The old man placed seats for them, and Baucis, clad in a\ncoarse dress, begged them to rest themselves. The little mother busied\nherself about the hearth, stirred up the ashes, piled up dry leaves and\nbrushwood, and kindled a fire. Then she brought split wood and placed it\nunder the little kettle hanging over the fire. In the meantime Philemon\nbrought cabbage from his well-watered garden, deftly unleaved it, took\ndown a side of smoked pork with his two-tined fork from the ceiling, and\ncut a huge piece from the shoulder to put into the boiling water. That\nthe time might not seem too long to the strangers, they exerted\nthemselves to entertain them with light conversation. They also poured\nwater into the wooden tub so that they could enjoy a foot bath. Smiling\nin a friendly way, the gods accepted these proffers, and while they were\nstretching their feet comfortably in the water their gracious host\nprepared the couch-bed, which stood in the middle of the room. The\ncushions were stuffed with rushes and the feet and frame were made of\nwoven willow. Philemon brought carpetings which were only kept for feast\ndays,--how old and poor they were!--and the divine guests prepared to\nenjoy the meal which was now ready. The little mother, in her neat\napron, placed with trembling hands the three-legged table before the\ncouch, and as it would not stand very securely, she raised it slightly\nby placing something under it. Then she rubbed the plates with fresh\nmint and food was set before them. There were olives, cornelian\ncherries, preserved in clear thick sirup, also radishes, endives, fine\ncheese, and eggs cooked in the ashes. Baucis brought all these in\nearthen dishes, besides a showily colored pitcher and neat cups of\nbeechwood, glazed on the inside with yellow wax, filled with milk, for\nthey had no wine. Nuts, figs, and dates were brought for desert, and two\ndishes filled with plums and spicy apples. In the middle of the table\nwas a whitish honeycomb. But the finest seasoning of the meal was the\ngood friendly faces of the honest old couple, testifying to their\nhonesty and generosity.\n\nAs all were enjoying the food and drink, Philemon observed that the\npitcher contained wine instead of milk and that in spite of emptying of\nthe cups they were continually refilled. Then he recognized with\nsurprise and fear whom he was entertaining. In distress he flew to his\nold companion with upraised arms and downcast eyes and implored her to\nknow what they should offer to their heavenly guests. Suddenly it\noccurred to them that they might offer their only goose. Both ran out,\nbut the goose was faster than they. Hissing and flapping its wings, it\nran here and there, outdistancing the old people. Finally it ran into\nthe house and crouched behind the guests, as if seeking divine\nprotection. And it did not seek in vain.\n\nThe guests restrained the ardor of the old people and said with a laugh:\n\"We are gods who have come to earth to test the generosity of men. We\nfound your neighbors wicked and they shall be punished. But you shall\nleave this house and follow us to the summit of the mountain, so that\nyou shall not suffer with the guilty ones.\" Both obeyed, and leaning\nupon their staffs they wearisomely climbed the mountain. They were not\nan arrow's flight from the highest peak when they anxiously looked down\nand saw the whole place changed into a raging waste of waters, and of\nall the houses only their own little one remained. While they stood\nastonished and bewailed the fate of the others, behold the poor old hut\ntowered above the waters as a temple. A golden roof was supported on its\ncolumns and its floors were of marble. Zeus turned to the trembling old\npeople and said: \"Tell me, honest old man and worthy wife of the honest\nold man, what do you most wish?\" Philemon exchanged a few words with his\nwife and then said: \"We would be your priests. Permit us to serve in\nthat temple. And as we have so long lived together, let us die at the\nsame hour. Then I shall never see the grave of my dear wife nor will she\nhave to bury me.\"\n\nTheir wish was granted. As long as they lived they served in the temple.\nAnd once, when weary with the weight of age and years, they were\nstanding on the sacred steps, thinking of their wonderful fate, Baucis\nsaw her Philemon and Philemon his Baucis disappearing and floating away\nto the distant height. \"Farewell, dear one. Farewell, beloved one,\" said\neach as long as they could speak. Thus ended the worthy pair. He was\nturned into an oak and she into a linden, and thus they remained as\nclose together in death as they had been in life. Goodness is prized by\nthe gods. They bestow honors upon those who prove themselves worthy.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XVII\n                                Arachne\n\n\nIn Hypaipa, a little city of Lydia, dwelt a maiden of lowly birth named\nArachne. Idmon, her father, was a dyer at Colophon and her mother, who\ndied early, was born of poor parents. The name of Arachne was famous in\nLydia, for she surpassed all human women in skill and industry in\nweaving. The nymphs of the vine-clad mountain of Tmolus and of the river\nPactolus came to her poor cottage to watch her work. Never were skill\nand grace more closely united. Whether she was first preparing the\ncoarse wool, or drawing the threads finer and finer, or revolving the\nspindle with nimble thumbs, or stitching with the needle, it always\nseemed as if Pallas Athene herself must have instructed her. Arachne\nknew nothing about it, but she often declared in an offended tone: \"I\ndid not get my skill from the goddess. Let her come and try her skill\nwith me. If she defeats me I will bear any penalty.\"\n\nAthene was very angry when she heard this boast, assumed the form of a\nlittle old woman, covered her brow with gray hair, and leaning for\nsupport upon a staff, came to Arachne's cottage and thus began: \"The\nyears bring experience to gray old age. Therefore despise not my advice.\nSeek for the glory of surpassing all mortals with your skill, but meekly\nsubmit to the gods. Implore pardon for your haughty words and all will\nbe forgiven you.\" Arachne's countenance darkened, and she angrily\nreplied: \"Thou art foolish, old one. The burden of the years has\nweakened thy senses. It is not good to live long. Preach such silliness\nto thy daughter. I need none of thy advice and spurn thy admonitions.\nWhy does not Pallas herself come? Why does she avoid the trial with me?\"\nThe goddess could not longer restrain herself. \"She is here now,\" she\ncried, as she threw off her disguise and stood before her in her own\nimage.\n\nThe nymphs and the Lydian women who were present fell humbly at her\nfeet, but Arachne did not tremble. A fleeting blush reddened her face\nand she resolutely adhered to her purpose. Urged on by her foolish\nvanity, she exposed herself to the penalty of which she had been warned.\nThe daughter of Zeus lost no time in further attempts to dissuade her,\nbut undertook the trial. Seating themselves, the weaving began. Purple\nand a thousand other colors, distracting to eyes not used to them, were\nskilfully woven together. Threads of gold ran through the webs, and\nwonderful pictures astonished the eyes of the spectators. Athene\nfashioned the cliffs of the Athenian mount and their contest with the\nsea god for possession of the land. Twelve gods with Zeus in the centre\nsat there, serious and dignified. Here stood Poseidon as he struck the\nrocks with his trident. There appeared the goddess herself, the divine\nartist, armed with shield and lance, her helmet on her head, the\nterrible \u00e6gis on her breast, teaching men for the first time the culture\nof the olive tree, and causing it to spring from the unfruitful earth\nwith the point of her spear. Thus Athene wove her own victory in the\nweb. In the four corners she worked four examples of human pride which\nhave tragic results from the vengeance of the gods. In the first corner\nwere the Thracian king, Harnus, and his wife Rhodope, who called\nthemselves Zeus and Hera and were changed into mountain peaks. In\nanother corner was the unhappy mother of the Pygm\u00e6i, who, overcome by\nHera, was changed to a crane, and fought her own children. In the third\ncorner was Antigone, the charming daughter of Laomedon, who was so proud\nof her beauty and her tresses that she likened herself to Hera. The\ngoddess changed her tresses to snakes which bit and tormented her until\nZeus, pitying her, turned her into a stork. In the last Pallas pictured\nEinyras, weeping over the fate of his daughter, who because of her pride\nwas changed by Hera to a stone step before one of her temples. All these\npictures Athene wove and surrounded them with a wreath of olive leaves.\n\nArachne wove in her web many pictures illustrating the disreputable\nactions of Zeus and surrounded them with a wreath of ivy and blossoms.\nWhen she had finished her work Athene could not find fault with the\nskill of the maiden, but she was enraged with the sacrilege of the\nweaver. She suddenly tore the web to pieces and struck the maiden three\ntimes on the forehead with the spindle which she held in her hand. The\nunfortunate one could not endure this. Madness seized her and she hanged\nherself with a rope. As she was suspended in the air, the goddess had\ncompassion upon her and said: \"Live, but hang there, thou audacious one.\nAnd so shall thy whole race to the latest generation be punished.\" With\nthese words she sprinkled Arachne with a few magic drops and went away.\nThe hair, nose, and ears of the maiden disappeared and she shrank into a\nsmall and noxious insect. And the spider to-day still weaves its\nweb--the old art.\n\n\n\n\n                             Chapter XVIII\n                               Hyacinthus\n\n\nThe youngest of the sons of the Laconian king, Amyclas, was Hyacinthus.\nPhoebus Apollo beheld the beautiful boy, who soon became his favorite.\nHe sought at first to elevate him to Olympus that he might be ever near\nhim; but a sad fate prevented this and cut him down in the very flower\nof his youth.\n\nApollo often forsook sacred Delphi in order to enjoy the company of his\nfavorite at the river of Eurotas in the neighborhood of the unwalled\ncity of Sparta. He left his lyre and bow and joined Hyacinthus in\nhunting among the hills of Taygetus. Once at noontime, when the sun was\nsending down its hottest rays, both threw aside their garments, anointed\ntheir bodies with oil, and began throwing the discus.\n\nApollo was the first to take the heavy weight and hurled it so\npowerfully that it pierced the clouds. He waited long for the discus to\nfall to earth again. Eager to imitate his teacher, the boy sprang\nforward to make his throw, but suddenly was felled to the earth by\nApollo's discus. Apollo rushed to him and sought to animate his\nstiffened limbs. He wiped the blood from the dreadful wounds, applied\nhealing balms, and sought to stay the fleeing spirit of his favorite.\nBut it was in vain. Like a broken flower in the garden, the poor boy's\nhead drooped, exhausted, upon Apollo's breast. Apollo called him tender\nnames and bedewed his face with bitter tears. Oh, that he were not a god\nso that he might die for him!\n\nAt last he cried out: \"No, sweet child, thou shalt not wholly die. As a\nflower thou shalt tell of my sorrow.\" As Apollo said this, lo, from the\nstreaming blood which reddened the grass sprang a flower of dark lustre\nlike Tyrian purple, lily formed upon a stalk rich in blossoms, and\nshowing upon its little leaves in clear form the sigh of the god: \"A I,\nA I\"; that is, \"Alas! Alas!\"\n\nThus originated the Spring flower which bears the name of the favorite\nof the god and speedily dies as did he--a type of the transitoriness of\nall beautiful things on earth. In Laconia when the Summer came they\nalways had a great festival in honor of Hyacinthus and his divine\nfriends, the hyacinths, whereby they kept the boy in\nmemory--sorrowfully, as one who perished early, but joyously, as one\nbeloved of the gods and deified.\n\n\n\n\n                               Footnotes\n\n\n[1]The Titans in Greek mythology were descended from Uranus and Gaea\n   (Heaven and Earth). In the latest legends, Titan, father of the\n   Titans, gave up supreme power to Cronus, his younger brother, but\n   finally regained it. He in turn was overcome by Zeus.\n\n[2]Cronus, father of Zeus, was a Titan, and was dethroned by Zeus after\n   he had usurped the government of the world. The Romans identified him\n   with Saturn.\n\n[3]Vulcan, in mythology, was the son of Jupiter and Juno.\n\n[4]The legend also states that hope remained in the box.\n\n[5]Oceanus in Greek mythology is typical of the ocean and stream earlier\n   than Poseidon.\n\n[6]Themis in mythology was the goddess of justice and peace.\n\n[7]Doris in mythology was the wife of Nereus, a seer dwelling in the\n   \u00c6gean Sea, and had fifty daughters, called Nereids.\n\n[8]The myth also states that Pha\u00ebthon had three sisters--Pha\u00ebthusa,\n   Lampeti\u00e9, and Phoeb\u00e9--and that while they were lamenting Pha\u00ebthon's\n   death, Zeus turned them into poplar trees, weeping amber instead of\n   tears.\n\n[9]He is also said in another myth to have been the son of Oeagrus, a\n   Thracian river god.\n\n[10]The muse of epic poetry.\n\n[11]Another version of the myth relates that Arist\u00e6us, son of Apollo and\n   Cyrene, loved Eurydice and when she repulsed him he pushed her into a\n   wood where the serpent stung her, and that the nymphs revenged her\n   death by the destruction of his bees.\n\n[12]Ixion is said to have been punished by Jupiter for insulting Juno.\n   He was struck by a thunderbolt and sent to Tartarus, where he was\n   tied to a wheel which never ceased revolving.\n\n[13]Sisyphus was a famous robber killed by Theseus. His punishment was\n   to roll a great rock to the top of a hill which no sooner reached the\n   top than it rolled down again.\n\n[14]Ceres' daughter was Persephone, who was stolen by Pluto.\n\n[15]In the Roman mythology, Mars.\n\n[16]Hera is Juno in the Roman mythology.\n\n[17]Phlegyas was the father of Ixion, and a Thessalian king.\n\n[18]Mount Sipylus is near Smyrna.\n\n[19]Europa, daughter of Agenor and sister of Cadmus, was abducted by\n   Zeus, who took her to Crete. She was the mother of Minos and\n   Rhadamanthus, judges in the lower world.\n\n[20]Cadmus is also reputed to have been the introducer of the letters of\n   the Greek alphabet.\n\n[21]Eryx, a city and mountain in western Sicily, now known as Monte San\n   Giuliano, near Palermo.\n\n\n\n\n                     LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE\n\n                    _Translated from the German by_\n                            GEORGE P. UPTON\n\n                          44 Volumes Now Ready\n\n                          _American Explorers_\n\n  Columbus\n  Francisco Pizarro\n  Cortes\n  Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky, and Other Pre-Columbian Discoverers\n          of America\n\n                     _Historical and Biographical_\n\n  Washington\n  Franklin\n  Penn\n  Maximilian\n  Barbarossa\n  William of Orange\n  Maria Theresa\n  The Maid of Orleans\n  Frederick the Great\n  The Little Dauphin\n  Herman and Thusnelda\n  The Swiss Heroes\n  Marie Antoinette's Youth\n  The Duke of Brittany\n  Louise, Queen of Prussia\n  The Youth of the Great Elector\n  Emperor William First\n  Elizabeth, Empress of Austria\n  Charlemagne\n  Prince Eugene\n  Eugenie, Empress of the French\n  Queen Maria Sophia of Naples\n  Emin Pasha\n  General (\"Chinese\") Gordon\n  David Livingstone\n  Stanley's Journey through the Dark Continent\n\n                          _Musical Biography_\n\n  Beethoven\n  Mozart\n  Johann Sebastian Bach\n  Joseph Haydn\n\n                              _Legendary_\n\n  Frithjof Saga\n  Gudrun\n  The Nibelungs\n  William Tell\n  Arnold of Winkelried\n  Undine\n  Ulysses of Ithaca\n  Achilles\n  Gods and Heroes\n  The Argonautic Expedition and the Labors of Hercules\n\n                    Illustrated. Each 50 cents _net_\n                      A. C. McCLURG & CO., Chicago\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber's Notes\n\n\n--Copyright notice provided as in the original--this e-text is public\n  domain in the country of publication.\n\n--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the\n  HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)\n\n--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and\n  dialect unchanged.","title":"Gods and Heroes","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":18808}