{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_79300/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_79300","id":"gutenberg_79300","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79300","summary":null,"tags":["Legends -- Greece","Mythology, Greek"],"text":"[Frontispiece: HERA\n_from an Ancient Statue now in the Vatican Museum at Rome_]\n\n\n\n\n\n  MYTHS OF HELLAS\n\n  OR\n\n  GREEK TALES\n\n\n  TOLD IN GERMAN BY\n\n  PROFESSOR C. WITT\n\n  HEAD MASTER OF THE ALTSTADT GYMNASIUM AT K\u00d6NIGSBERG\n\n\n\n  TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH\n  (_with the Author's sanction_)\n  BY\n  FRANCES YOUNGHUSBAND\n\n\n\n  _WITH A PREFACE_\n\n  BY\n\n  ARTHUR SIDGWICK, M.A.\n\n  FELLOW AND TUTOR OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD\n  LATE ASSISTANT-MASTER AT RUGBY SCHOOL\n\n\n  FIFTH EDITION\n\n\n  LONDON\n  LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.\n  AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET\n  1891\n\n\n  _All rights reserved_\n\n\n\n\n  PRINTED BY\n  SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE\n  LONDON\n\n\n\n\n  TO ALL ENGLISH CHILDREN\n  BUT ESPECIALLY TO C. I. W. AND TO E. R. Y. AND O. Y.\n  WHOSE PLEASURE IN THESE STORIES\n  HAS MADE ME WISH\n  TO BRING THEM WITHIN THE REACH OF OTHER CHILDREN\n  I DEDICATE THIS TRANSLATION\n\n  F. M. Y.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\nThe following collection of legends about the Greek gods and heroes,\nto which I have been asked to write a few words of introduction, is a\ntranslation of a little book by Professor C. Witt which has been\nreceived in Germany with great favour by the public and the press.\nThis popularity has been due, not merely to the intrinsic beauty of\nthe stories, but to the skill shown in the selection, and in the\nsimplicity of the style.  The last quality it has been the aim of the\ntranslator to retain in the English version; and the success of the\nbook in Germany suggests a hope that the translation may become a\nfavourite in this country.\n\nThat there still exists a demand for some such book, notwithstanding\nthe deserved popularity of Kingsley's 'Heroes,' Cox's Mythological\nTales, and Church's Stories from Greek and Latin Writers, seems to be\nshown by the large number of encouraging letters received by the\ntranslator from persons engaged or interested in education.\n\nThat Greek stories, simply told, will be acceptable to children,\ncommon sense would tell us, even apart from experience.  Children\nimpartially welcome all tales of incident and wonder, if they can\nunderstand the language in which they are written, and if their\npleasure is not dashed by the medicinal flavour of a moral.  And even\na moral will not deter them if it be not too explicit or obtrusive.\n\nAgain, from the teacher's point of view as well as the child's, there\nseems to be every reason in favour of presenting to them at an early\nage the stories of Greek mythology.  There is first the obvious fact\nthat such reading trains and cultivates the imaginative faculties,\nand that it is good to vary the 'Arabian Nights' and the German and\nNorse fairy-tales with such totally different material as the Greek\nstories.  There are also other reasons arising from the altered\nposition of Greek in education.\n\nWithout entering on any controverted question, it is clear that even\nin classical schools the teaching of Greek will have in the future to\noccupy fewer hours, and probably to begin at a later age, than\nhitherto.  The much greater number of subjects now taught, and\nnecessarily and rightly taught, makes this inevitable.  And if the\nsame good, or anything like the same good, is to be got out of the\nfewer hours, there must be considerable modification of method.  And\none obvious modification is, that much which before was taught slowly\nand painfully by means of the Greek authors, should be learnt quickly\nand pleasurably by means of an English rendering.  To take a very\nhumble example: The present writer would have a much less weary\nmemory of his early struggles with the 'Alcestis' of Euripides at the\nage of twelve, if he had been familiar from the age of six with such\na version of the story as is presented in this volume.  In short, to\nbring to the study of a language--always a difficult and tedious\nbusiness to a beginner--some knowledge of the matter with which the\nliterature deals, and some interest in the people and their life,\nmust tend to lighten and shorten the process of learning.  And to\nthis end the following little book is offered as a small contribution.\n\nThe aim and hope of the translator may be thus summed up in two or\nthree words.  All children will get pleasure out of these stories,\nand that is much.  Many children will perhaps get the elements of\nculture, and that is more.  And some may get at once pleasure,\nculture, and a little real preparation for severer studies; and so\nreceive a benefit, though doubtless of a humbler kind, yet something\nlike that which Pope's 'Homer' has given to so many generations of\nschoolboys.\n\nA. S.\n\nOXFORD: _November_, 1882.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES.\n\nNOTE ON THE SOURCES OF THE STORIES.\n\nThe stories have been taken by the Author from many sources, but\nchiefly from a Greek writer, Apollodorus, who lived in the second\ncentury B.C., and collected the old mythological tales.  A good deal\nhas also been taken from the poems of Hesiod and Homer, and from the\ntragedies of Sophocles; but in these cases it has been necessary to\nexercise some care in the selection of what would be suitable for a\nbook intended to be placed in the hands of children.  Several of the\ndetails have been supplied by the ancient works of art which have\ncome down to us.\n\nNOTE ON THE NAMES OF THE GODS.\n\nAs it is probable that many readers will be more familiar with the\nLatin names of the gods, whilst the stories in this book, being\nderived from Greek sources, give naturally the Greek names, the\nfollowing list will perhaps be useful, which shows the corresponding\nnames of each god in the two languages:--\n\n  _Greek._                   _Latin._\n\n  Aphrod\u012bt\u0113.                 Venus.\n  Apollon.                   Apollo.\n  Artemis.                   Diana.\n  Ath\u0113n\u0113.                    Minerva.\n  Kronos.                    Saturnus.\n  D\u0113m\u0113t\u0113r.                   Ceres.\n  Dionusos or Bacchos.       Bacchus.\n  Hephaistos.                Vulcanus.\n  H\u0113ra.                      Iuno.\n  Hermes.                    Mercurius.\n  Persephon\u0113.                Proserpina.\n  Plouton.                   Pluto.\n  Poseidon.                  Neptunus.\n  Ze\u016bs.                      Iuppiter.\n\nAlso the hero and demi-god Herakles is called Hercules by the Romans.\n\nThe young reader will naturally ask why, if the stories are the same,\nthe names are in most cases so different.  And the answer is briefly\nthis: Each nation had originally its own gods, with different names\nand quite different ideas attaching to them.  But the Greeks were a\nfar more gifted and imaginative people than the Romans, and, when\ncommunication was established between the countries, became in many\nways their teachers.  Many Romans learned Greek, and the Greek\nstories became current.  But as the Romans naturally adhered to the\nold names of their own gods, there arose in this way an\nidentification.  The old Latin ideas about their gods gave way to, or\nwere incorporated with, the much richer and more poetical Greek\nfancies and traditions; and thus the Greek mythology was almost\nbodily adopted by the Roman writers.\n\nFor example, the god Saturnus was originally a Latin rustic god,\npresiding (as the name shows) over the important work of _sowing_\ncorn.  But when the identification took place, all the stories about\nKronos were gradually attached to him, and thus we find him in the\nRoman poets the father of Iuppiter, and the old dispossessed king of\nthe gods.\n\nIn a few cases (as Apollo, Pluto, Bacchus), the name was adopted as\nwell as the story, the termination being Latinised.  Sometimes it was\ncorrupted, as Proserpina from Persephone; and sometimes a chance\nresemblance (as that between the Latin Hercules, originally Herculus,\nand the Greek Herakles) determined the identification.\n\nAccordingly when we say, as is often said, that the Greek Artemis\n(for example) is 'called Diana in Latin,' we are using language\nwhich, without the above explanation, is liable to mislead the\nbeginner.\n\nA. S.\n\n\n\n\n  CONTENTS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER\n\n  I. The Beginning of all Things\n  II. The Golden Age\n  III. Prometheus and Epimetheus\n  IV. Deucalion and Pyrrha\n  V. The Rape of Persephone\n  VI. Marpessa\n  VII. Artemis\n  VIII. The Giants Otus and Ephialtes\n  IX. Endymion\n  X. Io\n  XI. Danaus and Aegyptus\n  XII. Pha\u00ebthon\n  XIII. Salmoneus and Sisyphus\n  XIV. Bellerophon\n  XV. Daedalus and Icarus\n  XVI. Europa and Cadmus\n  XVII. The Building of Thebes\n  XVIII. Semele\n  XIX. Dionysus\n  XX. Melampus and Bias\n  XXI. Tantalus. Pelops\n  XXII. Niobe\n  XXIII. Meleager and Atalanta\n  XXIV. Admetus and Alcestis\n  XXV. Perseus\n  XXVI. Heracles:--\n    1. The War with the Teleboae\n    2. The Birth and Youth of Heracles\n    3. The Madness of Heracles, and his First Six Labours\n    4. The Last Six Labours\n    5. The Murder of Iphitus and the Vengeances of Heracles\n    6. The Marriage of Heracles with Deianira, and his Death\n  XXVII. The Quest of the Argonauts:--\n    1. The Golden Fleece\n    2. The Journey to Colchis\n    3. The Fight for the Golden Fleece\n    4. The Journey Home\n    5. Medea's Revenge\n  XXVIII. Theseus\n  XXIX. Oedipus\n  XXX. The Seven against Thebes\n  XXXI. The Epigoni\n  XXXII. Eros and Psyche\n\n\n\n\n{1}\n\nMYTHS OF HELLAS.\n\n\nI.\n\nTHE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS.\n\nLong ago, in the beginning of time, there was nothing but a huge dark\nmass called Chaos.  In this Chaos were hidden all things that now\nexist, the earth and the sky, light and darkness, fire and water, and\neverything else, but they were not yet severed one from the other,\nand were so mingled and confused that nothing had a separate form of\nits own.  After the Chaos had lasted for a long time it parted\nasunder, and the earth was divided from the heaven.  The sun and the\nmoon and the stars mounted up above into the sky, but the water and\nthe stones and the trees liked better to remain below with the earth.\n\nThere was a god in the sky called Uranus, and on earth there was a\ngoddess called Gaea.  They became husband and wife, and had several\nchildren, of whom six were ugly and twelve were beautiful.  The ugly\nones had, each of them, either a hundred arms, or else only one eye.\nThose who had a hundred arms had also fifty heads, and they were as\nbig as mountains, and very {2} frightful.  The others had only one\neye apiece, and it was placed in the middle of their foreheads and\nwas as large as a cart wheel.  But the beautiful brothers and sisters\nwere formed like men, only they were much larger and grander.  Six of\nthem were gods, and were called Titans; there were also six\ngoddesses, who were called Titanides.\n\nThe gods lived on the summit of a very high mountain called Mount\nOlympus, which almost reached the sky, and Uranus was king over them\nall.  He could not bear the sight of his hundred-armed and one-eyed\nchildren because they were so hideous, so he thrust them into a dark\npit below the earth, called Tartarus, and would not let them come out\nof it again.  But the mother Gaea loved even her ugly children, and\nwas angry with Uranus for banishing them into darkness and misery.\nAnd she said to her son Cronus, who was the youngest of the beautiful\ngods, that if he would promise to fetch up his hundred-armed and\none-eyed brothers out of Tartarus, she would help him to dethrone\nUranus and himself become king of the gods.  Cronus promised that he\nwould do this, and Gaea created the bright cutting steel, and made\nwith it a sharp sickle which she gave to her son, and told him to\nstab Uranus with it when he was asleep.  Cronus did as she desired\nhim, and thus Uranus lost his kingly power.\n\nCronus now ruled over the world in his father's stead, and the other\ngods had to obey him.  He took one of the Titanides called Rhea to be\nhis wife, and made her the queen.  He also fetched up his ugly\nbrothers from Tartarus, but he soon became afraid of them and drove\nthem back into the dark pit.  The {3} mother Gaea now saw how little\nshe had gained by her treachery to her husband, and she told Cronus\nthat he should lose his kingly power through one of his children just\nas Uranus had done.  This frightened him so much that whenever Rhea\nhad a child, he took it and swallowed it.  He swallowed five of them\nin this way, and poor Rhea was very sad because she had no children\nleft.  Then Gaea told her, next time she had a child, to take a stone\nand wrap it in swaddling clothes and give it to Cronus to swallow as\nif it were the baby, but keep the real child in some safe place till\nit was grown up.  Rhea did so, and Cronus swallowed the stone she\ngave him, thinking it was the little boy that had just been born, but\nRhea hid the child in a cave in the island of Crete where a beautiful\ngoat named Amalthea nourished him with her milk.  And there were\narmed men there, who, whenever the baby cried, danced about and\nclashed their shields and spears together as if they were treading a\nwar-dance for their own amusement, but it was really to prevent\nCronus from hearing the crying.  The boy was named Zeus, and in a\nyear he was quite grown up, and was the most beautiful and most\npowerful of all the gods.  When Cronus was asleep, Rhea used to go to\nthe cave and talk to him.\n\nAt last the time came when Zeus was to wage war against his father,\nand then Gaea gave her daughter Rhea a bowl containing a sweet\nmedicine for Cronus to drink.  Rhea went to her husband and said,\n'The mother Gaea is no longer angry with you, and she has sent you\nthis sweet drink.'  Cronus took the bowl and drank it up; it tasted\nvery nice, but after he had {4} swallowed it he began to feel very\nuncomfortable, and presently he was sick.  Then out came the stone\nand the children that he had swallowed, the youngest first, and the\neldest last; there were two gods and three goddesses, and they were\nall quite grown up.  The names of the gods were Poseidon and Pluto,\nand the names of the goddesses were Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.\n\nThen the young gods made war against the old ones, and they sent for\nthe hundred-armed and one-eyed monsters out of Tartarus, that they\nmight help them.  The One-eyed were very skilful at smith's work, and\nthey were so grateful to Zeus for setting them free that they forged\nfor him valuable weapons, thunder and lightning.  The old gods took\ntheir stand on Mount Othrys, and the young ones on Mount Olympus, and\nbetween them was a wide far-stretching valley where they fought.\nWhen there was a battle the whole earth resounded at the tread of the\ngods.  The Hundred-armed always threw a hundred pieces of rock at\nonce, and Zeus hurled thunderbolt after thunderbolt, till the woods\nwere in flames and the rivers boiled.  The war lasted for ten years,\nbut at last the young gods triumphed.  They thrust their enemies into\nTartarus, and set the Hundred-armed and the One-eyed to keep guard\nover them.\n\nZeus was now the king of the gods, and he married his sister Hera and\nmade her the queen.  He also gave an empire to each of his brothers:\nall the sea was made subject to Poseidon, and Pluto became king of\nthe Lower World, where the dead are.  These gods had children, who\nwere also gods, and had each their part in the government of the\nuniverse.  The good goat {5} Amalthea was already dead, but Zeus\nhonoured her by making one of her horns a wonder, which became famous\nall over the world.  Whoever had it might wish for anything he liked\nto eat or drink, and immediately it was there; and for this reason it\nwas called the Horn of Plenty, because it produced in abundance\neverything that could be desired in the way of food.\n\nThe mother Gaea had planned the overthrow of Cronus because he had\ndriven back his hundred-armed and one-eyed brothers into Tartarus.\nBut she found herself worse off than ever, for the only result of her\nrevenge was that now her beautiful children were imprisoned instead\nof the ugly ones.  This made her very angry with the young gods, and\nshe could not bear to see them powerful and happy.  So she brought\ninto the world some hideous monsters to make war against the young\ngods.  They were called Giants, and had enormous strength and\ncourage.  They tore up masses of rock and dashed them up into the air\ntill the vault of heaven rang again, but the gods only laughed at it,\nfor the stones were powerless to hurt them by the time they had\nreached so great a height, and there was no mountain high enough for\nthe Giants to climb from it to the top of Mount Olympus.\n\nThe Giants went on in this way for a long time, but they found that,\ndo what they would, they could not inflict any injury upon the gods,\nand only got laughed at for their pains, so they resolved to try\nanother plan.  They made up their minds to build a ladder by which\nthey might climb up to the abode of the gods, and they set to work to\nuproot a mountain called Ossa, and roll it on to the top of another\nmountain called {6} Pelion.  But whilst they were doing this, Zeus\nhurled a mighty thunderbolt against Ossa and made it fall down again,\nand the gods rushed down to the earth to fight the Giants, shouting\ntheir war-cry.  The fight lasted for a whole day, for the Giants were\nvery strong, but at last the gods gained the victory, and they\ncrushed each of the Giants beneath a huge mountain, which did not\nkill him, but prevented his ever getting up again.  One of them tried\nto escape over the Mediterranean Sea, but the goddess Athene, who was\nthe daughter of Zeus, tore off a great three-cornered piece of land\nand threw it after him.  It hit him just as he was in the middle of\nthe sea, and he fell down and was buried beneath it.  After some time\nthe land became covered with forests and cities, and it is now called\nthe Island of Sicily.  Every now and then the Giants turn on one side\nbeneath their mountains, and then people say, 'It is an earthquake';\nand sometimes they become quite furious with impatience, and then\ntheir fiery breath bursts through the mountains and puffs out molten\niron and stones.\n\nAfter the Giants were conquered, Gaea created a truly terrific being,\nfar worse than they had been.  She brought him out of a great crack\nthat she made in the earth, and she called her son Typh\u00f6eus and was\nquite pleased to see how hideous he was, for she thought that such a\nmonstrous creature would surely be able to conquer the young gods.\nHe could see over the tops of the highest mountains, and when he\nstretched out his hands they reached right round the world.  He had a\nhundred heads, each of them with a different kind of voice, so that\nhe could speak like a {7} man, bellow like a bull, roar like a lion,\nbark like a dog, and hiss like a snake.  All the other gods were\nafraid of him and hid themselves, but Zeus armed himself with\nthunderbolts and went out to fight him.  Typh\u00f6eus threw large masses\nof rock at him, and screamed with all his hundred mouths at once, but\nZeus scorched him with lightning, till at last bright flames burst\nout all over the giant's body.  Then Typh\u00f6eus howled and dashed\nhimself to the ground, rolling over and over to try and put out the\nflames, but he could not succeed in doing so, for Zeus went on\nhurling thunderbolts at him, and the trees all round became red hot.\nAt last Gaea began to fear that the whole earth would melt, and so\nshe seized Typh\u00f6eus and flung him down into Tartarus, where he died.\n\nAfter this Gaea gave up fighting with the young gods, for she knew\nthat they were stronger than she was, but it was a very long time\nbefore she really made friends with them.\n\n\n\n\n{8}\n\nII.\n\nTHE GOLDEN AGE.\n\nIt was during the time when Cronus was reigning over the gods that\nmen were first created, and this was called the Golden Age.  In the\nGolden Age it was always springtime, and beautiful flowers blossomed\nthe whole year round in the woods and meadows.  It was not necessary\nfor men to labour at tilling the ground, for the earth brought forth\nof itself everything they could possibly require: apples and melons\nand grapes and other fruits grew wild everywhere, and in the brooks\nthere flowed a delicious kind of water that tasted like milk.  Men,\ntoo, were good and happy, and they all lived for a long time, for\nthree hundred years and more, and did not get old and grey, but\nalways remained young.  They had no need of houses, but lived out of\ndoors with the beautiful earth for a carpet and the sky for a roof.\nNeither were there any distinctions such as we have now between rich\nand poor, or the upper and lower classes, but all were equal and\nlived together as friends.  When they had lived for a long time and\nhad had enough of life, they fell into a deep sleep and never woke\nagain: that was their death.\n\nThe Golden Age came to an end at last, but those who had lived during\nthat time became guardian spirits who still wander unseen over the\nearth and kind to us who are now alive.\n\n\n\n\n{9}\n\nIII.\n\nPROMETHEUS AND EPIMETHEUS.\n\nAfter the Golden Age was over, the world went on just as it does now;\nsummer and winter followed each other, and there were times of bad\nweather as well as of bright sunshine; there were also many people\nwho had not everything they wanted, but were obliged to struggle\nagainst hunger and cold and other evils.  But they were happy and\ncontented, and had still a spark of the god-like spirit left in them,\nso that under the pressure of need they learnt all kinds of useful\narts.\n\nThere were two brothers of the race of the gods, whose father had\nbeen a Titan and had fought against Zeus.  These brothers were kind\nto men and lived among them; one of them was called Prometheus, or\nthe Fore-thinker, because he was always looking forward and planning\nfor the future; and the other was called Epimetheus, or the\nAfterthinker, because he never thought seriously about things till\nthey had already taken place.  Zeus had not gifted men with fire, but\nPrometheus foresaw that by the help of fire they would be able to\nmake out of bronze and iron many useful tools and weapons which would\nadd to their comfort.  So he begged Zeus to give it to them, but Zeus\nsaid, 'They will become too clever, and at last they will think {10}\nthemselves equal to the gods.'  Prometheus thought it would be a\nnoble thing to scorn the anger of Zeus and bring down fire to the\nearth in order to benefit mankind, and though he knew that Zeus would\npunish him severely for doing so, he was willing to bear that.  He\ntook a reed in which there was a great deal of pith of the same kind\nthat still grows in warm countries and is used for fuel, and he\nclimbed up to the sun with this reed in his hand, and held it in the\nblaze till it caught fire and burned like tinder.  Then he came down\nto earth again, and made a fire which gave out warmth and a clear\nblaze, so that all men wondered at it.  And when it was dark Zeus\nlooked down upon the earth.  There appeared to be a great many stars\nthere, but the lights which he saw were not stars,--they were the\nflickering fires that men had kindled, and Zeus knew it, and was\nvery, very angry.\n\nNow at that time there were no such things as diseases and cares\namong men, so Zeus resolved to send them these unwelcome guests,\nbecause they had obtained fire against his will.  The god Hephaestus\nfashioned a marvellously beautiful woman out of clay, and Zeus gave\nlife to her, and the other gods endowed her with many of those gifts\nthat call forth the love of men.  They gave her goodly gifts\nindeed--good-nature, pleasant speech, and skill in many arts, but no\none gave her an honourable, straightforward mind.  The gods called\nher Pandora, or the All-gifted, because they had all brought her some\ngift.  Hermes, the messenger of the gods, took her to Epimetheus and\nsaid, 'Zeus sends this beautiful woman to be your wife.'  Prometheus\nhad warned his brother not to {11} accept any gift from Zeus, because\nhe knew that he would act treacherously, but when Epimetheus saw the\nlovely woman, he forgot that she had come from Zeus and took her home\nto live with him.  Pandora showed him a golden casket which she said\ncontained her dowry, and as he was very anxious to see the precious\njewels he expected to find in it, he begged her to open it.  But when\nshe had taken off the lid, instead of any jewels, there were a number\nof winged figures inside with corpse-like faces who struggled out and\nflew about all over the world: these were the diseases and cares that\nZeus had said he would send.  They fly into the houses of men and\nnestle beside them without anyone being able to see or hear them come\nin.  Even now it often happens that when a man is seated at dinner\nwith his guests, well and happy, one of the diseases flies in without\nany one knowing it, and in the night it seizes upon him and puts an\nend to all his enjoyment.  Zeus had meant to send into the world a\nstill worse fellow, called Foreboding, so that men might know all\ntheir troubles beforehand, and thus lose all pleasure in life.\nForeboding was in the casket with the others, but when Pandora took\noff the lid, he was in such a hurry to get out that his wings caught\nin the inner edge of the casket, and when Pandora shut down the lid\nagain she did not see that he was left behind.  If Foreboding had\ncome into the world, everyone would have known in childhood of the\ndiseases and troubles in store for him in his old age, and would thus\nhave lost all his spirits, even in his days of health.\n\nThus did Zeus punish men by sending disease and {12} care among them;\nbut for Prometheus, who had taken the fire to them, he reserved a far\nseverer punishment.  He commanded two gods to carry him to Mount\nCaucasus, and the god Hephaestus, who was an excellent smith, bound\nhim to a rock with strong iron chains so that he could neither move\nhand nor foot; but Hephaestus did so very unwillingly, for it seemed\nto him that Prometheus had done a great and god-like thing in braving\nthe wrath of Zeus.  Every morning a huge eagle came and pecked open\nthe body of Prometheus and ate his liver, and every night the liver\ngrew again and the body healed over it.  Prometheus suffered\ninexpressible agony, but he never would beg for mercy from Zeus nor\nsay that he was sorry for having brought down the fire, for he was\nstill of the same mind about it.\n\nBut after many years had passed, there came a great hero named\nHeracles, who shot the eagle with his bow and arrow and delivered\nPrometheus.  Prometheus was now free, but he was still obliged to\nwear on his finger a ring of the chain with which he had been bound\nto remind him of his punishment, and from that time it has always\nbeen the custom for people to wear rings as reminders.\n\n\n\n\n{13}\n\nIV.\n\nDEUCALION AND PYRRHA.\n\nAfter disease and care had come into the world, men became unkind and\nunfriendly; instead of peace there was now constant war, and murder\nand theft were more common every day.  The gods were much displeased\nat these crimes, and Zeus said he would destroy the whole race of men\nby a great flood.  There were, however, one man and one woman,\nDeucalion and Pyrrha, who took no part in the crimes that were\ncommitted, but who lived peacefully and uprightly, fearing the gods.\nDeucalion was the son of Prometheus, who knew everything that the\ngods had resolved upon though he was chained to Mount Caucasus, and\nwhen the great flood was about to take place, he advised Deucalion to\nprovide against it by building a chest that could float on the water,\nso that when the flood began, he and his wife might take shelter in\nit.\n\nThen a mighty rain poured down from heaven which lasted for nine days\nand nine nights.  The valleys were soon filled with water, and the\npeople fled for safety to the tops of the highest mountains; but the\nflood rose higher and higher till at last the waves washed right over\nthe mountains, so that the people perished miserably in the water.\nThe great chest {14} floated about on the top of the waves, and\nDeucalion and Pyrrha who were safely shut up inside it, could hear\nthe pouring rain and the cries of the drowning people.  When they\nwere all drowned, the rain ceased and the waters began to abate, and\non the next day the bottom of the chest grated against dry land.\nThen Deucalion burst it open, and he and Pyrrha came out into the\nsunshine, but all they could see was a wide stretch of sea with only\nthe tops of the highest mountains standing out above it.  The\nmountain where the chest had stranded was called Parnassus, and was\nspecially dedicated to the gods.  Before this time Zeus had once\nwanted to know where the middle of the earth was, and had let fly two\ndoves at the same moment from the two ends of the world to see where\nthey would meet: they met on Mount Parnassus, and thus it was proved\nbeyond a doubt, that this mountain must be the centre of the earth.\n\nDeucalion and Pyrrha were now the only ones remaining of the whole\nhuman race, and it was on account of their piety that Zeus had\nallowed them to save themselves instead of destroying them with the\nothers.  The waters abated until they no longer covered the earth,\nand then the grass and flowers and trees bloomed forth again as they\ndo in spring, and Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to\ntell Deucalion and Pyrrha that they might ask for anything they\npleased, and he would grant it.  They determined to ask that there\nmight again be men on the earth, and Hermes told them to go into the\nvalley where there were a great many stones lying, and to take up the\nstones and throw them over their shoulders.  They did {15} so, and\nthis was what happened: every stone that Deucalion threw became a\nman, and every stone that Pyrrha threw became a woman.  Deucalion was\ntheir king, and he taught them to cultivate the land, and many other\nuseful arts.  And after some time had passed the whole earth was\nfilled with people as before, and no one would have known that the\ngreat Flood had ever taken place.\n\n\n\n\n{16}\n\nV.\n\nTHE RAPE OF PERSEPHONE.\n\nThe goddess Demeter had a daughter named Persephone, who lived in the\nisland of Sicily.  Her mother had given her several maidens to be her\nplayfellows, and she herself often came down from Mount Olympus to\nsee her daughter.  The maidens played and danced together, or\nwandered about over the hills and valleys looking for beautiful\nflowers, and were as happy as the days were long.  One day whilst\nthey were all scattered about looking for flowers, it happened that\nPersephone strayed away from the others and was quite alone.  Then\nsuddenly the earth opened beside her, and out of it there came a\nchariot drawn by fierce coal-black horses, in which was a man with a\npale face and a black beard and a golden circlet round his hair.  He\nput out his hand and took hold of the beautiful Persephone, and drew\nher into the chariot beside him.  She screamed out to her companions,\nbut it was of no use, for the man with the pale face and the black\nbeard held her fast, and the horses ran like lightning till very soon\nthey had disappeared under the earth and she could no longer be seen\nor heard.  Her companions had heard her cries and they ran to look\nfor {17} her, but they could not tell what had become of her.\n\nNow when Demeter found that her daughter had been carried off she was\nvery much distressed, and she lighted a torch and wandered all over\nthe world trying to find her.  She lit up every cranny and cavern\nwith her torch, and climbed all the highest mountains, asking gods\nand men if they had seen her child, but no trace of her could she\nfind.\n\nI must tell you that the pale dark man was the god Pluto, the king of\nthe Lower World.  It was so dismal down there that no woman would\nconsent to be his wife, so he made up his mind to carry off the\nbeautiful Persephone by force, and Zeus had given him leave to do\nthis, but he did not tell Demeter about it.  Demeter wandered about\nfor a whole year, growing every day sadder and sadder, till at last\nthe sun-god, Helios, took pity on her.  Helios could see everything\nthat happened on the earth, and he had been looking on when Pluto ran\naway with Persephone, so he told Demeter that her daughter was in the\nLower World, and that the gods knew all about it and allowed it.\nThen Demeter was angry with Zeus and the other gods for having given\nher so much pain, and she refused to live with them any longer, but\nremained on earth among men.\n\nThe gods were sorry for this, for they honoured and loved Demeter, so\nafter a little while Zeus proposed that a council of all the gods\nshould be held, and that they should judge between Demeter and Pluto.\nA day was appointed, and they all came together, Demeter and Pluto\namong the rest; and it was decided that if {18} Persephone had as yet\neaten nothing since she left the earth she should return to her\nmother, but that otherwise she should remain in the Lower World.  Now\nPersephone had been so sad in the Lower World that during all this\ntime she had neither eaten nor drunk anything but once.  This was one\nday when, as she was walking by the side of the river that flows\nthrough the Lower World and came to some pomegranate trees laden with\nbeautiful red fruit, she plucked a pomegranate and ate it; and Pluto\ntold this in the assembly of the gods, hoping that it would make good\nhis claim to keep her.  But the gods decreed that as she had eaten\nnothing but a pomegranate in the Lower World she should not remain\nthere altogether, but only for a third of the year, and that during\nthe remaining two thirds she should be allowed to live on the earth.\nSo it was arranged in this way: as long as the ears of corn were\nbelow the ground, Persephone had to remain in the Lower World with\nher husband, but as soon as the blades appeared above the soil, she\ntoo came up into the sunlight to her mother.\n\nAt this time corn was already growing upon the earth, for Demeter had\ncreated it for the use of men, and she often wore a wreath of\nwheat-ears round her head.  But when she was wandering over the earth\nlooking for her daughter, she found that no one understood the best\nmeans of making it grow, and as she knew that men would be more\npeaceful and friendly if they cultivated the ground and surrounded\nthemselves with beautiful plants, she determined to teach them how to\ndo so.  Demeter loved all men, but most of all a man named\nTriptolemus, and she gave him a {19} chariot drawn by two winged\ndragons, and put into his hand a quantity of corn, which she told him\nto strew over the earth.  Triptolemus flew through the air in his\nchariot, scattering the grains of corn as he went; and then there\nfell a gentle rain which made them sink into the ground, so that they\nbecame firmly rooted, and soon shot forth little blades.  The people\nwere much pleased when the corn grew up and ripened, and Triptolemus\ntaught them all that he had learnt from Demeter about the best way of\ncultivating it and turning it to good account.  Soon there were\nfields of waving corn all over the earth, and instead of always going\nout hunting, men tilled the ground and waited for the harvest.  When\nit was ripe, they raised altars of earth and green grass, and laid\nthe fresh ears upon them us a thank-offering to the gods for having\nsent rain and sunshine to make the corn grow.  Demeter especially was\nheld in great honour, and they prayed to her when they sowed their\ncrops.\n\n\n\n\n{20}\n\nVI.\n\nMARPESSA.\n\nThere was once a king of Greece named Evenus, who had a beautiful\ndaughter called Marpessa.  There was also a brave and noble hero\ncalled Idas, and he came one day to the king and asked him to let him\nhave Marpessa for his wife.  Marpessa would have been quite willing\nto agree to this, but the old king was very selfish, and he said that\nhe would not let his daughter leave him to marry anyone.  So Idas had\nto go away with a heavy heart, but the sea-god Poseidon was his\nfriend, and he gave him a wonderful chariot in which to carry off the\nbeautiful Marpessa by stealth.  The chariot was drawn by very swift\nhorses, and it had wings on both sides which flapped as the horses\nran, so that nothing on earth could go faster than this chariot.\n\nOne day when Marpessa went to the well to draw water, she found Idas\nwaiting there for her in the winged chariot, and she got up beside\nhim and drove away.  The old king saw them go, and he was very angry\nand said that he would fetch back Marpessa and kill Idas.  He had the\nswiftest team of horses in the whole country, and he drove them\nfuriously along the track of the other chariot, but even at their\nutmost speed {21} they could not go fast enough to please him.  At\nlast he came to a river, and then he knew that it was hopeless to\npursue his daughter and Idas any further, and he stabbed the horses\nand broke the chariot to pieces, and then he threw himself into the\nriver and was drowned.\n\nIdas was far on in front, and he thought there was no fear now of\nanyone attempting to interfere between him and the beautiful\nMarpessa.  But there was a mighty god named Apollo, who loved\nMarpessa, and was not willing that Idas should have her for his wife,\nfor he wanted to marry her himself.  He was very beautiful in face\nand in form, and had the appearance of a youth just reaching the age\nof manhood.  He was the brother of Artemis the goddess of the woods,\nand carried a bow of pure silver, while round his neck there hung a\ngolden quiver full of arrows, and he could always hit whatever he\naimed at, even if it were many miles off.  He came and seized the\nhorses' bridle, and said to Idas that he must either give up the\nmaiden or else fight with him.  Idas was very brave and was always\nquite ready to fight, and he at once jumped down from the chariot and\nprepared to begin the struggle.  But at that moment there fell a\nthunderbolt on the ground between them, and they heard the voice of\nZeus calling to them, and saying, 'The maiden shall decide.'\n\nSo Marpessa had to choose between a god and a hero, and she looked\ndown and thought for a moment.  Then she raised her eyes and held out\nher hand to Idas, and said, 'When I am old, you will be old also, and\nwill honour me and take care of me, but {22} Apollo always remains\nyoung, and in my old age he would thrust me away and would take\nanother wife.'  So Marpessa made her choice and preferred to marry\nthe hero Idas, and Apollo bad to go away without her.\n\n\n\n\n{23}\n\nVII.\n\nARTEMIS\n\nArtemis was the goddess of the woods.  She was the daughter of Zeus\nand of the goddess Leto, who had gone through many troubles before\nArtemis was born.  For Zeus had married the beautiful Leto secretly,\nand when Hera heard of it she was very angry, and drove her away from\nMount Olympus.  Leto took shelter on the earth, but Hera commanded\nthe earth to deny her rest, and whenever she lay down it began to\ntremble under her and quaked horribly.  She fled like a hunted deer\nfrom one end of the world to the other, till after long wanderings\nshe came to the floating island of Delos over which the earth had no\npower, and here at last she could rest.  The island was not fixed to\nthe bottom of the sea, and the waves played roughly with it and\ntossed it about, so the sea-god Poseidon, who was sorry for Leto,\ncaused four granite pillars to spring up and hold it fast, and ever\nsince that time it has stood perfectly still.  Leto had two children,\na boy and a girl, and Zeus named them Apollo and Artemis.  After the\nchildren were born, Hera became kinder, and allowed Leto to come back\nto Mount {24} Olympus, and desired the earth to give her rest\nwherever she wished.  The island of Delos was ever afterwards held in\ngreat esteem by the Greeks, and they came from long distances in\nbeautifully decked ships to honour the island by offering sacrifices\nupon it.\n\nArtemis was a glorious goddess, and she chose the woods for her\ndominion, and the chase for her occupation.  She delighted in\nwandering through the forests with the nymphs who attended her,\nkilling wolves and wild-boars.  But she was kind to the tame animals\nthat she met, and stroked and petted them.  Her favourite creatures\nwere some beautiful hinds, and she punished anyone who killed them.\nArtemis towered a head above all her nymphs, and she was also easily\nto be recognised by her godlike beauty, and by her golden bow and\nquiver of golden arrows.  In the evening she often laid aside her\nweapons and danced in the moonlight with her maidens; their light\nfootsteps did not even bend the grass, only the next morning, traces\nof them could be seen in the dew.  Often too, when the chase led them\npast a clear forest lake overshadowed by sweet-smelling trees, they\nundressed and bathed in the pleasant pool, and the nymphs splashed\nabout in the water and had all kinds of games.  Artemis did not\nmarry, for she said she would neither be the wife of a god nor of a\nman, but would always have her home in the forest among her nymphs.\n\nThere was once a hunter named Actaeon, who loved hunting better than\nanything else, and who honoured Artemis, the goddess of the chase,\nabove all other gods and goddesses.  He had fifty splendid hounds who\nwere very fond of their master, and in the morning when he came out\nof his house they used to crowd {25} round him barking for joy and\nlicking his hands; he had given each of them a special name, and he\npatted them and talked to them as if they could understand him.  They\nalways went out hunting with him, and chased the wild animals which\nhe shot with his arrows.  One day Actaeon was out hunting, and it was\nso hot that about noon he gave his dogs a rest and let them go to\nsleep, whilst he himself strolled about among the cool bushes looking\nfor a spring where he might quench his thirst.  Presently he heard a\nsplashing of water and the laughter of maidens' voices, and going a\nlittle nearer, he pushed aside the branch of a tree and beheld the\nglorious goddess and her nymphs in the bath.  He could not turn away\nhis eyes, and for a little while Artemis did not notice him, but when\nshe looked up and saw the hunter who had so forgotten himself, her\neyes filled with anger at his having dared to watch her.  She raised\nher beautiful hand, and in a moment Actaeon was changed into a stag\nwith long light feet and branching horns, but still able to think\nlike a man.  He shuddered and rushed away to the place where he had\nleft his dogs; they awoke, but they did not know him, and gave chase\nto him.  He tried to make them understand by looking back and calling\nto them, but no words would come out of his mouth, only a sound like\nthe cry of a stag, and at last they overtook him and tore him to\npieces.  Thus he was miserably killed by his own dogs, as a\npunishment for not having turned away his eyes when he came upon the\nsevere goddess at her bath.  The dogs wandered for a long time\nthrough the forest looking for their master, pining {26} because they\ncould not find him, and refusing to eat.  But there was a skilled\nartist who took pity on them, and he made an image of clay so exactly\nlike Actaeon, that the dogs thought it was their master himself, and\nwere comforted.\n\n\n\n\n{27}\n\nVIII.\n\nTHE GIANTS OTUS AND EPHIALTES.\n\nThere was once a woman who had so great a love for the sea that she\nwas never tired of looking at it.  One day, as she was sitting on the\nshore, the god Poseidon came driving over the waves in his chariot,\nfor the sea was subject to him.  When he saw the beautiful woman who\nwas gazing at it so tenderly, a great love for her sprang up in his\nheart, and he took her to be his wife.  Sometime afterwards she had\ntwo children, called Otus and Ephialtes, and by the time they were a\nyear old they were two yards in height and a yard in width.  Every\nyear the children grew two yards in height and a yard in width, so\nthat when they were nine years old they were so big and strong that\nthey could tear up the largest oak trees and break them in two across\ntheir knees.  But they were ignorant and foolish, and instead of\nhonouring the gods, they made a silly plan to get up to Mount\nOlympus, where the gods lived, and overturn everything that they had\narranged.  They settled that Hera, the queen of the gods, should be\nthe wife of Otus, and that Artemis, the goddess of the woods, should\nbe the wife of Ephialtes, and that the other gods should be loaded\nwith chains and imprisoned in dark caves; and they said they would\nchange everything on the earth, {28} and throw all the mountains into\nthe sea till it was choked up, and then make rivers flow where there\nhad been land before.\n\nThe gods could hear this foolish talk, for the giants' voices were as\nloud as the most tremendous gale, and Ares, the god of war, armed\nhimself and went out to fight them.  But the giants were stronger\nthan he, and they fastened him to the ground with two iron rings\nround his body, attached to chains which they held in their hands and\npulled whenever he tried to get up, so that he could not move without\ngreat pain.  They gave him nothing to eat or drink, and at mid-day\nthe sun beat down upon his face and scorched him with its heat.  None\nof the gods dared to try and free Ares by force, so Zeus commanded\nHermes, the Messenger, to get him away by stealth.  Hermes was the\nmost cunning of all the gods, and at night, when the giants were\nasleep, he went and drew Ares out of the iron rings so cautiously\nthat they made no noise, and the giants did not awake.  The two gods\nthen ran away, and the next morning the giants saw that their rings\nwere empty, which made them very angry.\n\nThey went on for some time in their old way, boasting of all the\nwonderful things they were going to do, till one day the goddess\nArtemis changed herself into a little white doe.  The giants were\nlying in the forest side by side, with their great hunting spears in\ntheir hands, when the little doe came running out of the wood and\npassed right between them.  They both raised their spears at the same\nmoment and threw them at her, but she was so swift that they did not\nhit her,--instead of that each giant was stabbed by his brother's\nspear, and they both bled to death.\n\n\n\n\n{29}\n\nIX.\n\nENDYMION.\n\nAs long as Zeus was with the gods on Mount Olympus, Hera, the queen\nof the gods, was his wife, but from time to time he came to live on\nthe earth for a little while, and then he married a noble and\nbeautiful woman who was his wife whilst he remained among men.\n\nOnce Zeus married a very beautiful princess whom he loved dearly, and\nthey had a little boy named Endymion.  When Endymion had grown up to\nbe a young man, his father told him that he might wish for whatever\nhe liked and he would grant it.  Endymion might have chosen to become\na mighty king, but he had no desire for anything of the sort.\nInstead of that, his wish was that he might go to sleep and never\nwake again, but always have pleasant dreams.  And Zeus granted him\nwhat he asked.  There was a lonely valley which no one ever came\nnear.  Soft green grass grew there, and sweet-smelling flowers, and\nthere were shady trees, with birds singing and making their nests\namong the branches, and a brook flowing through it that chattered\npleasantly night and day.  Endymion lay down under a tree beside the\nbrook and went to sleep, and he never grew any older, but slept on\nfor ever, dreaming happily, immortal like the gods.\n\n{30}\n\nNow there was a mild, gentle goddess, the goddess of the moon, whose\nname was Selene.  As she passed along the heaven with the little\nstars by her side, she used to look down upon Endymion lying asleep,\nand she gazed at the beautiful son of Zeus until she felt a deep love\nfor him spring up in her heart, so that he was continually in her\nthoughts.  She shed her softest and mildest rays upon him, and then\nEndymion dreamt more happily than ever.  It was like no other love,\nfor she could neither speak to him nor caress him, she could only\nlook at him from a distance; but she has always remained true to him,\nand has never loved another as she loved the sleeping Endymion.\n\n\n\n\n{31}\n\nX.\n\nIO\n\nThere was once a princess named Io, whose father was king of the town\nof Argos, in Greece.  Zeus loved Io because she was fair and gentle,\nand he often came down to earth in order to be with her.  But Hera\nwas angry with Zeus for going away from her, and one day when he went\nto see the beautiful Io, she followed him.  Then Zeus changed Io into\na white cow, and pretended that he had only come to look at the cow.\nBut Hera knew it was Io, and she begged him so earnestly to make her\na present of the cow that he could not refuse.  Hera gave the white\ncow into the charge of the watchman Argus, who had a hundred eyes\nthat slept by turns so that half of them were always on the watch.\nHe took her to a sacred grove and tied her to an olive tree, and then\nhe climbed a little hill that was close by, and sat there day and\nnight watching her.  Io ate grass and flowers when she was hungry,\nbut she was very sad and lowed mournfully, for she longed to see her\nfather and her playfellows again.\n\nAfter some time Zeus commanded the crafty god Hermes to steal away\nthe cow, and Hermes went into the wood and began to play upon the\nshepherd's flute.  Argus called him to his side for the playing\npleased {32} him well, so Hermes came and played all his most\nbeautiful tunes, whilst Argus stretched himself out on the grass and\nenjoyed himself more than he had ever done in his life before.  Then\nall the hundred eyes fell asleep at once, and Hermes took a sharp\nsickle and cut off his head.  After that he loosed the cow, and was\npreparing to take her home to her father, but Hera, who had seen what\nhe had done, was very angry, and she came down and commanded him to\nlet go the cow.  As Hera was mightier than he, Hermes was obliged to\nobey, and then Hera made a great insect as large as a bat, which\nbuzzed horribly and tormented Io.  She ran away in order to try and\nescape from it, but it pursued her all over the country, and even\nthough she swam across a wide sea and went on through the country on\nthe further side, still the insect kept flying round and round her\nand gave her no peace.  For a whole year she fled from it, till at\nlast when she had reached the land of Egypt in Africa she was so\ntired that she could go no further.  Hera was just then asleep, and\nZeus was able to come quickly down and kill the cruel gad-fly; then\nhe stroked the back of the cow with his hand and she received back\nher human form, but she was pale and wasted, and not so beautiful as\nbefore.  After this she remained in Egypt where the people of the\ncountry were good to her, but Hera was even more unkind than before,\nand when after a time Io had a little son, she caused the child to be\nstolen from her.  Then Io was again in great distress, and she set\nout to seek for her child.  She journeyed from morning to night\nwithout stopping, and she had gone through the whole country without\n{33} being able to find it and was beginning to be terribly afraid\nthat it must have perished, when someone told her that Hera had given\nit to a queen in the land of Syria to take care of.  It was a long\nway off, and the journey was full of danger on account of robbers and\nwild beasts, but Io set off at once for the land of Syria, and when\nshe got there, the queen gave back the child to her.\n\nAfter this, Hera left off persecuting Io, and the King of Egypt asked\nher to be his wife and made her the queen.  But she could never\nforget her past troubles, and as often as she saw a white cow, she\nthought of how she too had once been a cow, and had eaten grass and\nflowers.\n\n\n\n\n{34}\n\nXI.\n\nDANAUS AND AEGYPTUS.\n\nThere were once two kings, called Danaus and Aegyptus, who were\nbrothers, and whose dominions lay side by side.  They lived in\nAfrica, and were descended from Io, who had now been dead a long\ntime.  Aegyptus had fifty sons, and Danaus had fifty daughters.  But\nthe sons of Aegyptus were wicked men, and they tried to kill their\nuncle; so Danaus built a great ship with fifty oars, and when it was\nready, he and his fifty daughters got into it and sailed away; each\ndaughter took an oar, and Danaus steered.  They sailed far away over\nthe sea till they came to the country of Argos in Greece, where the\nfather of Io had been king.  The Argives (as the people of Argos were\ncalled) wondered when they saw the ship with the old man and the\nfifty maidens in it, but they received them kindly and gave them a\nlarge piece of land to live upon, and also a herd of fine cattle.\nDanaus tilled the ground, and his daughters took care of the cattle.\nDanaus was very wise, and he gave the Argives much good counsel, till\nat last they wished he could be their king.  But they had a king\nalready, who though he was not nearly so wise as Danaus, had a great\nmany soldiers to fight {35} for him, and he was by no means willing\nto give up the kingdom.  This led to many disputes among the people,\nand a civil war had nearly broken out, when it happened that the\nking, and Danaus, and many of the Argives, were assembled one day in\na field where there were a number of sheep and cattle feeding, and\nall at once a great wolf rushed out of the forest, who, passing by\nthe sheep and cows, ran straight at the great bull that belonged to\nthe flock and tore him to pieces.  The Argives felt sure that this\nmust be a sign from heaven, for never before had a wolf been able to\nkill a strong bull.  And there was a soothsayer among them who\ndeclared that as the bull had been overcome by the wolf, so would the\nking be overcome by Danaus and deprived of his kingdom.  When the\nking heard that, he was afraid that he might lose his life as well as\nhis dominions, and he fled hastily out of the country.\n\nSo Danaus became king, and lived in the beautiful palace with his\ndaughters.  His brother's sons heard that he was king of Argos, and\nthat his daughters were beautiful maidens, and they thought they\nwould like to be reconciled to their uncle and to have their cousins\nfor their wives.  So they built a ship like the one that Danaus had\nsailed away in, and came to Argos, and when they arrived there, they\nsaid to their uncle that they desired to be at peace with him, and\nbegged him to give them his daughters in marriage.  Danaus agreed to\ndo so, and he called his daughters together and allotted one of them\nto each brother.  A few days afterwards the wedding was celebrated\nwith the greatest magnificence, and many sacrifices were offered to\nthe gods.  But Danaus took his daughters aside and gave to each {36}\none a shining dagger, telling her to hide it in her dress and kill\nher husband with it when he was asleep.  That night the fifty princes\nslept in fifty chambers and their wives with them, and about midnight\neach wife took out her dagger and stabbed her husband with it.  The\nonly one who did not do so was Hypermnestra, the most beautiful of\nall, who was married to one of the brothers named Lynceus.  He was\nnot wicked like the rest, but noble and brave, and Hypermnestra awoke\nhim and said, 'Thy brothers have been killed by their wives, prepare\nto flee for thy life.'  She gave him an unlighted torch, and told\nhim, when he reached the mountain near the city, to light it and hold\nit up in the air, so that she might know that he had not been seized\nby the king's soldiers, but had been able to make his escape.  She\nled him out of the palace and pointed out to him the direction in\nwhich he was to go; then she ascended to the roof, which, like all\nthe roofs of the Greek houses, was not sloping like ours, but flat,\nso that people could walk upon it.  Hypermnestra remained there for a\nlong time with her eyes fixed on the mountain before any light\nappeared, but at last she saw a little flame which came from the\ntorch, and then she knew that Lynceus was safe.  Then she went down\nagain with a brave heart, though she had good reason to fear that her\nfather would be very angry.\n\nThe next morning, Hypermnestra's sisters came to Danaus, each holding\nin her hand the bloody head of her husband which she had seized by\nthe hair, and Danaus praised them for what they had done; but when he\nasked Hypermnestra why she had not also brought him a bloody head,\nshe said, 'I have helped {37} Lynceus to escape.'  Now Hypermnestra\nwas the king's favourite daughter, but he was so angry with her for\nhaving disobeyed him, that he struck her and pushed her away from\nhim, and said that she should be tried publicly, and shut up\nmeanwhile in a dark underground dungeon, as if she had been guilty of\nsome crime.  He called together all the old wise men in the land to\nbe her judges, and they came and sat in the market-place to pass\nsentence.  Danaus declared that whatever they decided on should be\ncertainly carried out, and when the judges asked him if he would\nindeed abide by what they said, he swore that even if they condemned\nHypermnestra to death, the sentence should be executed.  The\nbeautiful Hypermnestra was led into the market-place by the king's\nspearmen, and the judges questioned her.  Then they consulted\ntogether and found that they were all agreed, and they said, 'What\nHypermnestra deserves is that she be the king's best-beloved\ndaughter, and that Lynceus come back and be the king's son-in-law.'\nThat did not please Danaus, for he wished to have Hypermnestra\npunished, but because of his oath, he was obliged to let her go free\nand live in the palace as before.  He also made a sacred treaty with\nLynceus, and he came back to be the husband of Hypermnestra.  As long\nas Danaus lived, he was next to him in power and wealth, and after\nthe death of his father-in-law, he succeeded him as king of Argos.\n\nThe other daughters of Danaus, who had killed their husbands, were\nheld in greater esteem by their father, but the gods caused them to\ndie early, and when they came into the Lower World, they inflicted on\nthem a {38} never-ending punishment.  There was a stream of rushing\nwater, close to which a great vessel had been placed, and each of the\nDana\u00efdes, or daughters of Danaus, was given a bucket and commanded to\nfill the vessel with water from the stream, and was told that she was\nnever to stop pouring in the water till the vessel was quite full.\nThe Dana\u00efdes did as they were required, but the vessel was full of\nholes, so that as fast as they tried to fill it, the water ran back\nagain into the stream, and though they did their utmost by pouring it\nin as fast as possible, it was of no use,--they were never able to\naccomplish their task, and were obliged to go toiling on at it in\nvain for ever.\n\n\n\n\n{39}\n\nXII.\n\nPHA\u00cbTHON.\n\nHelios was the sun-god, and he used to drive along the sky in his\nshining chariot drawn by four milk-white horses, who bathed\nthemselves every evening in the great stream Oceanus that flows right\nround the world.  As he looked down from the sky, he saw a beautiful\nwoman whom he loved and longed to have for his wife, so he came down\nto the earth and was married to her, and they had a son named\nPha\u00ebthon.  When Pha\u00ebthon was a little boy, his mother used to point\nup to the sky where his father was, and teach him to throw up kisses\nto him.  As he grew up to be a young man he was distinguished from\nall others by his brave spirit and remarkable beauty, but though it\nwas evident that he was the son of a god, there were many people who,\nbecause they were jealous of him, tried to vex him by saying that\nthis was not really the case.  This made him very anxious to show\nthat Helios was in truth his father, and he resolved to find some\nmeans of proving it beyond a doubt.  So he set out for the stream\nOceanus, and when Helios brought his horses there in the evening he\nwas rejoiced to find his son waiting for him, and he kissed him many\ntimes.  Then he asked him if he had any special reason for taking\nsuch a long {40} journey in order to see him, and Pha\u00ebthon said it\nwas because he had something to ask him, which he longed for more\nthan anything else in the world.  Helios promised to grant his wish,\nnever suspecting what it was, and to please Pha\u00ebthon, he even sealed\nthe promise by his oath as a god that he would give him whatever he\nshould ask.  The gods swore by the river Styx which flowed through\nthe Lower World, and anyone who ventured to break that oath had to\nsuffer a severe punishment,--for nine years he had to lie on the\nground as if he were dead, and for nine years afterwards he was shut\nout from the company of the other gods.  So when Helios had confirmed\nhis promise by this solemn oath, Pha\u00ebthon was full of joy, and he\nsaid that his wish was that on the following day he might be allowed\nto take his father's place in driving the chariot of the sun.  Helios\nwas terrified at his audacity, and he told him that this was what no\nmortal could do and that he must give up all thought of such a thing.\nBut Pha\u00ebthon was light-hearted, and he delighted in danger and\nthought he could accomplish anything he pleased, however hard it\nmight be.  He thought too, that if he had once driven the chariot of\nthe sun and could tell people of all he had seen whilst he was doing\nthis, everyone would be ready to acknowledge that he was indeed the\nson of Helios.  So he would not give up his wish, and as Helios had\nsworn by the Styx, he was obliged to grant it, though he felt sure\nthat it would be the death of the boy.  The next morning the fiery\nhorses were harnessed as usual, and Pha\u00ebthon clambered up into the\nshining chariot, more proud and happy than he had ever been in his\nlife.  The horses flew along {41} the usual path, and Pha\u00ebthon,\nlooking down, could see the trees and houses and rivers on the earth.\nAs long as he was near the earth he was very happy, but when they had\ngot higher than eagles can fly, his head began to swim, and the\nhorses soon found out that it was not Helios who was guiding them\nwith his godlike wisdom, and they refused to obey the rein and keep\nin the right path, but flew up and down just as they pleased.  First\nthey went too near the heaven, and then they flew down lower and came\ntoo near the earth; and the flowers withered and the streams dried\nup, and it became so hot that the mountains began to melt.  As they\npassed over Africa they came so near to the earth that all the people\nof the land were burnt black by the heat of the sun, and the black\ncolour continued in their children and grandchildren, so that they\nwere given the name of Moors, or black people.  The goddess Gaea, who\nwas queen of the earth, saw the trees and flowers and springs\nperishing miserably from the fierce blaze of the sun, and she begged\nZeus not to let the earth be destroyed.  Then Zeus took a thunderbolt\nand hurled it at Pha\u00ebthon, who fell dead from the chariot.  Helios\nsaw it with deep sorrow.  He rushed forward and seized the reins and\nguided the chariot back into the right path, but for many days after\nthis the heaven was covered with black clouds, and the sun-god would\nnot let his face be seen.\n\n\n\n\n{42}\n\nXIII.\n\nSALMONEUS AND SISYPHUS.\n\nThere was a country of Greece called Elis, and there was once a king\nof Elis named Salmoneus, whom the gods favoured in all manner of\nways.  If he went to war with another king he was sure to gain the\nvictory.  His fields brought forth abundant harvests, and his flocks\nprospered and increased.  Never was there a hailstorm or any other\ndisaster in his country.  But Salmoneus was presumptuous and thought\nhe could get everything he wished by his own cleverness, and at last\nhe came to despise the gods and to consider himself on equal terms\nwith them.  He commanded the people to call him Zeus and to offer\nsacrifices to him, and he had a chariot drawn by fiery horses, with\ndried cows' hides and copper kettles hanging from it, which clashed\nand rumbled together and made a tremendous noise as he drove along,\nand then the people had to shout, 'Zeus is thundering!'  He had also\nburning torches in the chariot which he threw right and left among\nthe people, and then they had to shout, 'Zeus is lightning!'  And\nwhoever was hit by the torches was immediately killed by the king's\nspearmen, that it might seem as if he had been struck dead by his\nlightning.  The gods let Salmoneus go on for {43} some time in this\nfoolish way, but at last when he was one day driving through the\nstreets with his thunder and lightning, a real thunderbolt came down\nfrom heaven which struck the king and killed him in a moment.  Then\nthe people fell to the earth in fear, and one of them said in a\nhalf-whisper, 'Zeus has indeed thundered!'\n\nSalmoneus had a brother named Sisyphus, who was king of the city of\nCorinth, and surpassed all other men in deceit and craftiness.  There\nwas a cunning robber, not far from Corinth, who was very clever in\nstealing cattle, and when he had carried off a herd he took care to\nmake it impossible for it to be recognised again.  He painted over\nany white spots on the bodies or foreheads of the animals, and had\nvarious ways of obliterating all other marks by which they could be\nidentified.  Sisyphus had a beautiful herd on which the robber had\nfor some time cast envious eyes, and one dark night he stole them\naway and painted over all the marks that distinguished them from any\nother animals.  The next day Sisyphus went to the robber's dwelling\nand told him to give up his cattle, but the robber said he had not\ngot them, and that Sisyphus might see for himself whether they were\nthere or not.  Then the king said that he had marked each of his\ncattle with a little notch on the fore foot, and that all the animals\nhe could find marked in that way would be his.  The robber had never\nthought of looking out for such a mark as this, and he was thus\noutwitted by the king and obliged to give back the beautiful herd.\n\nNo one could cheat Sisyphus, but he cheated and robbed many people,\nand was wicked and treacherous.  {44} He lay in wait for those who\nhappened to be passing through his country and spoiled them of their\ngoods, and then he killed them by crushing them beneath a huge stone.\nHe even tried to cheat the gods, for when he died and came into the\nLower World, he begged Pluto to give him leave to go back to the\nUpper World again for one day in order to divide his kingdom between\nhis sons, and as he swore by the most sacred oaths that he would\nreturn at the end of that time, Pluto granted his request; but\nSisyphus did not return until a messenger was sent to fetch him from\nthe earth for the second time.  And because he had been so wicked and\ndeceitful both in life and in death, the gods laid upon him a heavy\npunishment, to which there was no end.  He was told to roll a\nfearfully heavy stone up the side of a mountain, until he had brought\nit to the top and let it fall down the further side.  But it was an\nenchanted stone, and every time that, with the greatest effort,\nSisyphus had at last got it almost to the top of the mountain, it\nsuddenly rolled back with a crash into the depths from which he had\nbrought it, so that he had to begin his work all over again; and thus\nhe never could succeed in accomplishing his task, and his toil was\nnever at an end.\n\n\n\n\n{45}\n\nXIV.\n\nBELLEROPHON.\n\nIn the city of Corinth there were two young brothers, the sons of\nGlaucus, the son of Sisyphus, one of whom was called Bellerophon, and\nwas gifted by the gods with great strength and beauty.  But one day,\nwhen he was out hunting with his brother, he threw his spear at a\nhind, and the spear missed its aim and accidentally hit his brother,\nwho died of the wound.  Bellerophon was very much grieved, and wished\nhe could have been killed himself rather than have done this; but\nnevertheless he had to leave his father's house and the city of\nCorinth, for everyone who killed another by accident was banished.\nHe set out, not knowing who would receive him, but he determined\nfirst of all to seek for someone who would purge him from the stain\nof blood; for the Greeks held that whoever had killed another, even\nthough unintentionally, was defiled, and needed to be purified by\nmeans of sacrifices and baths.  It was not everyone who understood\nhow to do this, but Bellerophon heard that King Proetus was learned\nin these matters, and he went to him and begged him to purify him.\nProetus did what was necessary, and as the young hero pleased him, he\nbegged him to stay with him and be his guest, and {46} treated him as\nhis own son.  But the queen was so much struck with the beauty of\nBellerophon that she longed to have him for her husband, and she had\na secret conversation with him, and proposed that they should both\nflee out of the country and be married.  But Bellerophon could not\nhave acted so ungratefully towards his kind host if the queen had\nbeen the most beautiful woman in the world, and he told her plainly\nthat he would not do as she wished.  Then all her fondness was turned\ninto hatred and a fierce desire to kill him, and she went to her\nhusband and said that Bellerophon had begged her to go away with him\nand be his wife, and that when she had refused, he had got angry and\nhad said he should put the king to death.  The king believed his wife\nand was exceedingly angry, but as Bellerophon was his guest, he would\nnot himself lay hands on him.  He thought of another way of taking\nhis life, and concealing his resentment, asked Bellerophon if he\nwould take a message from him to his father-in-law Iobates, who was\nking of Lycia.  It was a long distance by sea as well as by land to\nthe country of Lycia, but Bellerophon was glad to do anything to\nplease Proetus, and he at once promised to go.  Proetus took a wooden\ntablet, and made signs upon it to signify that his father-in-law was\nto put the messenger to death, and then he covered the tablet with\nanother, and tied a string round it.  This was the way in which all\nletters were sent at that time, for paper and ink were not yet\ninvented.\n\nBellerophon took the letter and set out, suspecting nothing.  He\ntravelled for some time till he came to the sea, where he found a\nship about to sail to the {47} opposite coast, so he got into it, and\nafter a few days' journey, arrived at the country of King Iobates who\nreceived him in a very friendly manner.  It was not then the custom\nto ask a guest his name and his business as soon as he arrived, and\nfor nine days Iobates entertained Bellerophon without knowing who he\nwas, and every day he sacrificed a bull, and feasted with his guest.\nThe Greeks used to cut off the thigh-bones of the animals they\nsacrificed, for the gods; they covered these bones with skin and\nplaced them in the fire to make a pleasant odour for them, and then\nthey consumed the rest of the animal themselves.  On the tenth day,\nKing Iobates asked his guest what his name was and whether he had\nbrought any message, and Bellerophon told his name and delivered the\nletter which Proetus had sent.  But when the king had made out the\nmeaning of the signs, he was greatly troubled, for he had become very\nfond of the young hero, and the idea of killing him had been far from\nhis thoughts.  Still, as his son-in-law urged him to do this, he\nsupposed that Bellerophon must have committed some great crime, and\nhe determined to carry out the wishes of Proetus.  He might have\nmurdered Bellerophon in his sleep, but he would not do that,--he\nwilled rather that he should die like a hero, fighting for his life.\nThere was at that time in the land of Lycia a horrible monster called\nthe Chimaera, whose forepart was like a lion, her back like a dragon,\nand in the middle she was a goat.  At night the Chimaera remained on\nher mountain, but in the daytime she came down and laid waste the\ncornfields and devoured men and cattle, causing great distress all\nover the country.  The king asked Bellerophon {48} whether he had\ncourage enough to encounter the monster, and Bellerophon said yes,\nfor he longed to be a real hero whose exploits men relate in song,\nand he was ready to venture upon any errand however dangerous it\nmight be.  So he armed himself with spear and sword, and set out in\nsearch of the Chimaera.  The gods were pleased with him for his\ncourage, but they knew that he must perish in the fight if they did\nnot help him.  He had not gone far when there came down from heaven a\nbeautiful horse with wings like a bird, which flew round and round\nhim.  This horse was called Pegasus, and belonged to the gods.\nBellerophon was delighted with the beautiful animal, and tried to\nattract him by whistling and coaxing.  At last he persuaded him to\ncome near enough to be stroked, and after that the hero soon\nsucceeded in placing himself on his back, and they flew away together\nthrough the air.  Bellerophon was the first man who had ever ridden\nupon such a horse.  He would have found Pegasus a perfect steed if he\nhad understood what was said to him, but instead of doing as he\nwished, he always went the wrong way.  So he dismounted and continued\nhis journey on foot, and Pegasus flew round him in beautiful curves,\nand was his travelling companion.  By-and-by he met an old man who\nwas a soothsayer, and he asked the hero how he came to possess such a\nbeautiful animal.  Bellerophon told him all about it, and added that\nhe wished he knew how to make the horse obedient to his will, and\nthen the soothsayer said that he would soon come to a place dedicated\nto the goddess Athene, and that if anyone who was in need of counsel\nchose to sleep in the temple, {49} the goddess would often help him\nby a dream.  Bellerophon resolved to try this, and as the stars were\nbeginning to shine, he reached the temple of Athene; and he went in\nand stretched himself on the floor with his head resting on the step\nof the altar for a pillow, while the horse slept outside the door.\nWhen it was nearly morning, the goddess Athene appeared to him in a\ndream and told him that she loved all brave heroes, and was glad to\nhelp him.  She showed him a golden ribbon, and said that if he put it\ninto the mouth of the horse and held the two ends in his hand, it\nwould be a means of communication between them.  She placed the\ngolden ribbon in his hand, and he awoke, still holding it.  It was\nthe first bridle, and had been invented by the goddess Athene.  He\nwent out at once, put the ribbon into the mouth of the horse, and\nswung himself on to his back.  Then they flew away, and the steed\nobeyed the rein, and went just where the hero wished.  Bellerophon\nwas very much pleased at this, and he offered up prayers and thanks\nto Athene for the help she had given him.\n\nAfter this Bellerophon continued his journey through the air, and\nwhen it was evening he came to a mountain by the sea from which he\nsaw a flame of fire ascending, and this showed him where the Chimaera\nwas.  He flew towards the place on the back of Pegasus, and perceived\nthe horrible form of the monster.  Pegasus hovered over her, and\nBellerophon shot an arrow which wounded her in the neck and gave her\ngreat pain; this made her furious, and she stood up on her hind feet\nand puffed out her fiery breath into the air, hoping to scorch\nBellerophon to death.  But he was so {50} high up that he was not\nhurt by it, and he shot her in the back with another arrow, so that\nshe rolled about in pain, howling horribly, and then he sent a third\narrow into her side.  She had now only strength enough to moan, and\nin a little while she was dead.  Then Bellerophon could come down to\nthe mountain which was no longer unsafe for people to set foot upon;\nhe slept there that night, and in the morning he cut off the head of\nthe Chimaera, and set out upon his way home again.\n\nWhen Bellerophon stood before Iobates with the head of the Chimaera\nin his hand, the king was very much astonished, for he had thought\nthere was not a chance that he would escape being killed by her.  But\nhe was still desirous of carrying out the wishes of Proetus, and he\ntherefore sent the hero to fight against a barbarous people on the\noutskirts of his kingdom, who lived by plunder and robbery.  No one\nwho had hitherto been sent against them had ever returned alive, but\nthe gods helped Bellerophon, and he slew a great many of the robbers\nand drove away the rest.\n\nA third time the king sent him away, and now it was to fight against\na still stronger people.  But after a few days had passed, there came\nmessengers to tell him that the hero had put the enemy to flight and\nwas about to return.  Then the king chose out the strongest Lycian\nyouths, and set them in ambush on the road leading to the city.  In\nthe evening, however, Bellerophon entered the palace unhurt.  The\nking thought he must have come by another road, and he asked him if\nhe had met nothing on the way.  Bellerophon answered, 'Near the city\nthere were some {51} cowardly knaves lying in ambush, whom I slew.'\nThen the king knew that Bellerophon must be under the protection of\nthe gods, and he laid aside all thoughts of doing him any injury, and\ntold him that on account of the request of Proetus he had sent him on\nthese expeditions in order that he might meet his death, but that\nfrom henceforth he would be his friend.  He gave him the most\nbeautiful of all his daughters for his wife, and begged him to stay\nwith him and take part in the government of the country.  The wedding\nsoon took place, and from that time Bellerophon had a kingly staff\nlike Iobates, and sat beside him on the throne to give judgment in\nall cases of difficulty.  The Lycians gave him some of their land for\nhis own, of which one part consisted of corn-fields, another part was\na wine country, and the third was planted with beautiful fruit trees.\nThe winged horse Pegasus was well taken care of, and Bellerophon ever\ntreasured him as one of his dearest friends.\n\n\n\n\n{52}\n\nXV.\n\nDAEDALUS AND ICARUS.\n\nThere was once a king of Crete called Minos, who had a great many\nships and soldiers; and there was also a clever artist named\nDaedalus, who had built a wonderful house for Minos with such an\nimmense number of rooms in it that no one who entered it could ever\nfind his way out again.  There lived a monster in the house, and\nevery year prisoners were taken to it, who wandered about trying in\nvain to find their way out again, until at last the monster came and\ndevoured them.  This wonderful house was called the Labyrinth.[1]\nThe king wanted Daedalus to spend his time and skill in inventing\nother wonderful things for him, and when he wished to leave the\nisland he refused to let him go, and placed soldiers all along the\nshore to prevent him from getting to any ship.  Then Daedalus said to\nhimself, 'My art has hitherto served the king,--it shall now serve\nme.'  So he went into his workshop, and made a pair of large wings\nfor himself and a pair of small ones for his little son Icarus, and\nevery night when it was dark they fastened their wings on to their\nshoulders with wax, and practised flying like the birds; and they\nsoon became quite accustomed to using them.  When they had {53}\nlearnt to fly properly, they fastened on their wings early one\nmorning and set off to fly to the island of Sicily, although that is\na good hundred miles from the island of Crete.  On the shore stood\nthe soldiers whom the king had placed there to prevent them from\nleaving, but they could not catch them, and the two flew away\ntogether over the wide sea.  At first Icarus was timid, but when a\ngood stretch of the way lay behind them he became bolder, and began\nto think that flying was very pleasant work.  At mid-day, however,\nthe sun came out very hot, and Daedalus, who was flying on in front\nto show the way, called out to his child to tell him to beware of the\nsun and not go too near it.  But Icarus thought, 'The sun looks so\nkind, I am sure he will do me no harm.'  And he flew higher and\nhigher, for Daedalus was on in front and did not see him, until the\nwax with which his wings were fastened began to melt.  He felt the\nstrokes becoming more feeble, and called to his father for help, but\nthough Daedalus turned quickly round it was too late,--the boy could\nno longer support himself in the air, and he fell into the sea before\nhis father's eyes.  All the great skill of Daedalus was of no avail\nnow, for Icarus was killed by the great fall, and he could do nothing\nto save him, but was obliged to fly on to the end of his journey all\nalone.\n\n\n\n[1] For more about the Labyrinth, see p. 186.\n\n\n\n\n{54}\n\nXVI.\n\nEUROPA AND CADMUS.\n\nIn the land of Phenicia which lies in Asia, there was once a king who\nhad a son named Cadmus and a daughter named Europa, and he was both\nfond and proud of his children, for Cadmus was brave, and Europa was\nbeautiful.  One day Europa was by the sea in a meadow full of lovely\nflowers, when there came a stately bull, who walked round and round\nher.  It was Zeus, who had changed himself into a bull in order to\ncarry off the beautiful maiden to be his wife.  At first Europa was\nafraid of the bull, but he had such nice soft eyes that she could not\nhelp being kind to him.  She stroked him and made friends with him,\nand then she gathered some flowers and twined them into a wreath, and\nwhen the bull stretched himself on the ground, she climbed on to his\nback and placed the beautiful wreath round his horns.  But he\ninstantly sprang up, and ran away with her so fast that she did not\nventure to jump off, but could only hold on to his horns and scream\nwith all her might.  The people in the field heard her cries, and\nsoon they saw the bull run into the sea with her and swim away.  They\nwent and told the old king, and he at once sent off a ship in\npursuit, but though it sailed about in all directions, it came {55}\nback in the evening without having been able to find any trace of\nEuropa.  The old king was very much troubled and would neither eat\nnor drink, and on the third day he called his son Cadmus and\ncommanded him to set out in search of his sister and not to turn back\nuntil he had found her.\n\nCadmus chose companions for his journey, and they launched a ship and\nsailed away.  They passed through many lands inquiring for the\nbeautiful Europa and the bull, but nobody had seen them.  At last\nthey came into the land of Greece, and when Cadmus again inquired for\nhis sister, the people told him that he had better go to Delphi and\nask the priestess of Apollo about her.  The city of Delphi was on\nMount Parnassus, the centre of the earth, and there was a temple of\nApollo there which was an Oracle or prophetic temple.  If anyone\nwished to know something past or future which he could not find out\nin any other way, he went to the temple of Apollo and asked the\npriestess, who was called the Pythia, about it.  There was a narrow\nopening in the floor of the temple which had not been made by man,\nand which went deep down into the earth.  A wonderful odour ascended\nfrom the crevice, and a golden three-legged stool, called a Tripod,\nwas placed over the opening.  When anyone came to ask a question, the\nPythia seated herself upon the Tripod and became inspired by the\nodour, and the god Apollo directed what she should say in answer, so\nthat her predictions were divine utterances.  These predictions were\ncalled Oracles.\n\nCadmus accordingly went to Delphi, and took with him a beautiful\ngolden cup as a present for the god, that {56} he might answer him\ngraciously.  There were many costly vessels of gold and silver and\nother similar things in the temple, which had been given in this way\nas presents.  Cadmus asked the Pythia where Europa had gone, and she\nanswered that it was Zeus who in the form of the bull had carried her\naway and had hidden her from all men, and that Cadmus was no longer\nto seek for her, but to follow the white cow and to found a city in\nthe place where she should lie down.  She also told him that his\nfather was dead and that a stranger had taken possession of his\nkingdom.\n\nCadmus did not understand which was the cow he was to follow, but he\nleft the temple, and when he came outside he saw a spotless white cow\nwho looked at him as if she had been waiting for him.  She started\noff along the road, and he followed her.  They walked on all day and\nall night, and in the morning they found themselves on a beautiful\nhill with a fertile country all round, and there the cow lay down.\nCadmus desired to sacrifice the cow to the gods, and he sent one of\nhis companions to some bushy ground near at hand where he heard a\nspring bubbling, to draw some water for the sacrifice.  But the\ncompanion did not come back, so Cadmus sent another, but he did not\ncome back either.  Then he went himself, and found a hideous dragon\nkeeping watch by the spring, who had devoured his two companions.\nThe dragon started up with the intention of devouring him also, but\nCadmus drew a sharp sword, and thrust it into the neck of the monster\nwith such force that a great stream of blood gushed out and he died.\nCadmus was still standing looking at the dragon when the goddess\nAthene appeared to him and told {57} him that he must take out the\ndragon's teeth and sow them in the ground, and that from this strange\nseed there would spring warriors who would help him to build a city\nand would be his subjects.  Then the goddess disappeared, and Cadmus\ntook out the teeth, of which there were a great many, and put them\ninto his helmet; and as he turned away from the spring, he saw a\nplough standing in the field with two bulls yoked to it.  Cadmus\ndrove the plough up and down, and dropped the teeth one by one into\nthe furrows which it had made.  For a short time they remained just\nwhere he had placed them, but presently they began to disturb the\nsoil by their movements and to rise above it by degrees.  First there\nappeared a row of brazen helmets, and then a row of bearded faces\nunderneath the helmets, and then followed glittering coats of mail,\nand when the warriors got their arms free, they were able to help\nthemselves completely out, and brushed off the dust that was clinging\nto them.  They were clothed in brass from head to foot, and each held\nin his right hand a spear, and in his left a shield.  Cadmus was\nafraid of the armed band, and thought of a plan for making them\nquarrel with one another.  He took up a number of little stones and\nthrew them at the newly-born warriors from behind a bush, and as they\ncould not see where the stones came from, each of them thought that\nhis neighbour had struck him, and hit him back again, so that there\nwas soon a fierce battle raging among them, and man after man was\nkilled.  When there were only five left, Cadmus stepped forward and\nproclaimed peace, and said, 'The gods have given you to me as my\nsubjects; let us build a city.'  They agreed to do as {58} he said,\nand built a city on the hill which they called the Cadmea, after\nCadmus their king, and by degrees many people came to settle in it.\nThe five warriors who had sprung from the dragon's teeth were called\nSparti or Sown Men, and they were the next in power to the king.  The\ngods loved Cadmus, and they gave him a beautiful wife called\nHarmonia, who was the daughter of Ares, the god of war, and of\nAphrodite, the goddess of beauty.  All the gods gave costly wedding\ngifts, and when the marriage was celebrated in the Cadmea, the\nguests, both gods and men, feasted together.\n\nZeus had carried Europa across the Mediterranean Sea to the land\nwhich lies opposite to Asia, and all the country on this side of the\nMediterranean Sea has ever since that time been called Europe.\n\n\n\n\n{59}\n\nXVII.\n\nTHE BUILDING OF THEBES.\n\nAfter the death of Cadmus many more people came to live in the\nCadmea, and when there was no more room on the hill, they established\nthemselves in the plain round it and built more and more houses, till\nthere came to be a great city to which they gave the name of Thebes.\nThe Cadmea then became the castle or citadel of Thebes; the king's\npalace was inside it, and it was fortified with very strong walls, so\nthat it the city were besieged by enemies, the inhabitants could take\nshelter in the citadel and hurl darts and javelins at their enemies\nfrom its walls.\n\nThere was once a king of Thebes named Amphion, who could sing most\nbeautifully, and also play upon the lyre.  When he sang, it was\nimpossible for anyone to resist stopping to listen, however great a\nhurry he might be in, and even the very stones would detach\nthemselves from their places in order to come nearer to him.  Amphion\nknew this, and one day he said to himself, 'Since I have such power\nover the stones, I will make them serve me.'  So he sat down in the\nmiddle of the city, and began to sing in a loud voice which was\nechoed by the distant hills.  Then there was a sound of rumbling and\nscuffling, for every stone {60} that heard the song, no matter how\nfar off it was, came rushing towards Amphion, and they heaped\nthemselves one upon the other till at last a great stone wall was\nbuilt up all round the city; and the Thebans took hatchets and\ncrowbars and broke open seven spaces in it, where they erected seven\ngreat gates.\n\n\n\n\n{61}\n\nXVIII.\n\nSEMELE.\n\nCadmus and Harmonia had two daughters, one of whom was a very\nbeautiful maiden named Semele.  Zeus loved Semele and made her his\nwife secretly, and she was so happy that she wished for nothing else\nthan that the king of the gods should always continue to love her as\nhe did then.  But Hera was very angry about it, and she took the form\nof an old nurse to whom Semele told all her secrets, and came one day\ninto the palace when the nurse had gone to the river to wash clothes.\nShe was the only person who knew that Zeus was the husband of Semele,\nand Hera, who had taken her form, pretended that she had come back in\norder to give her some advice about it.  She told her that she ought\nto make trial of Zeus, and beg him to come to her, if it were only\nfor once, in all the glory and splendour with which he surrounded\n'himself when he was with Hera, and that if he refused to do so, it\nwould prove that he was not really Zeus, but some mortal who had\ndeceived her.  She said this in order to make Semele suspicious and\ndistrustful, and because she wanted to bring about her destruction;\nand when she had finished talking she went quickly back to Mount\nOlympus, and no one knew that she had been in the Cadmea.\n\n{62}\n\nSemele did not for a moment believe that her husband was any other\nthan Zeus, but she was dazzled with the thought that she might\npersuade her lover to come to her surrounded with the glory of the\ngods, and so she took Hera's advice, and next time that Zeus came to\nsee her, she begged him to swear by the Styx that he would grant her\nthe request she was about to make.  Hera had advised her to make him\nswear by the Styx, because that was the oath which the gods could\nnever break if they bound themselves by it.  Zeus swore without any\nmisgiving, for he expected her to wish that suddenly beautiful\nflowers should spring up all round the Cadmea, or that he should fly\nwith her through the air, or perform some other such miracle; but\nwhen Semele begged that he would come to her that evening exactly as\nif he were coming to Hera, he regretted that he had sworn so rashly,\nand told her that the fulfilment of such a wish as that, would cost\nher her life.  But Semele thought that he despised her, and did not\ncare to show himself to her in all his godlike splendour, and she\npersisted in her request; and as he had sworn by the Styx, Zeus was\nobliged to submit to her foolish will.  When the evening came, a\nterrible rumbling sound was heard in the air, and it thundered and\nlightened, and Zeus came down from Mount Olympus in the chariot of\nthe gods.  He entered the Cadmea, and Semele beheld his countenance\nglowing with unspeakable beauty and majesty, but the splendour and\nglory that surrounded him was a sight which no mortal could bear, and\nshe was struck dead by that one look.\n\n\n\n\n{63}\n\nXIX.\n\nDIONYSUS.\n\nDionysus was the son of Zeus and of Semele, and Hera hated him as she\nhad hated his mother, and would have killed him if she could; so as\nsoon as he was born, Zeus commanded Hermes to take him away secretly\nto a king called Athamas, that Hera might not know where he was.\nAthamas promised to take care of him, and the queen, whose name was\nIno, told everyone that he was her own child, and brought him up with\nher two little boys.  But Hera found out where the little Dionysus\nwas, and she was so angry with King Athamas for having consented to\nhide him from her, that she punished him by making him quite mad.\nShe falsified his sight so that everything seemed to him quite\ndifferent from what it really was, and one day when he was coming\nhome from hunting and saw Ino sitting on the grass in front of the\nhouse with her two little boys by her side, he thought she was a doe\nwith two little fawns, and he took an arrow and shot one of the\nchildren right through the heart, so that he was killed instantly.\nIno saw that her husband was mad, and she immediately snatched up the\nother child and fled away with it, but Athamas pursued her with\nanother arrow on his bow-string till they came to the {64} sea, and\nthen, as Ino could flee no farther, she rushed into the sea with her\nlittle boy, and they were both drowned.  They were scarcely dead when\nAthamas regained his right senses and knew what he had done, and he\nwas so grieved and shocked that he left his country altogether, and\nwandered for a long time in strange lands, till at last he settled\ndown again, as you will hear in another story.[1]\n\nMeanwhile Hera was looking everywhere for the little Dionysus, but\nshe could not find him, for she did not know that a young heifer who\nwas grazing in front of the house was the form into which Zeus had\nchanged the child to hide him from her.  In the night Hermes came and\ntook the heifer up into his arms, and it became a child again.  Then\nhe took the boy a long, long journey, almost to the end of the world,\ntill at last he reached a lonely region where seven nymphs lived by a\nbeautiful river far from the dwellings of men, and he gave him into\nthe charge of the nymphs, who promised to bring him up and take great\ncare of him.  Hera was seated on Mount Olympus, the throne of the\ngods, and she cast her eyes all round the world to see what had\nbecome of Dionysus, but as she expected to find him again in the\ncharge of some king, she did not think of looking for him in the\ncountry of the nymphs.\n\nWhen Dionysus grew up to be a young man, he was very beautiful, and\nZeus loved him so much that he gifted him with the might of a god.\nImmediately his face gained a new expression, and his eyes glowed\nwith a fire that is never seen in the eyes of men.  {65} Dionysus\nthought he would like to give proof of his new power by bestowing\nsome precious gift upon men, and he resolved that he would create out\nof water and sunshine a sweet drink that should give them courage and\ncheerfulness, and that a beautiful plant should be the means of\nproducing this drink.  So he created the Vine with its purple grapes,\nin which, ever since that time, the sun has every year brewed the\ndrink bestowed upon men by the god Dionysus.\n\nDionysus did not wish to live in concealment any longer, for Hera had\nno power to injure him now that he had become a god, and he desired\nto be known and honoured like the other gods.  He determined\ntherefore to travel through the whole world, and Zeus gave him a\ntrain of men and women to follow and serve him who were called\nBacchantes, or followers of Bacchus, which is another name for\nDionysus.  He set out on his pleasure-journey, driving in a golden\nchariot drawn by two tame spotted panthers which he guided with a\ngolden rein, and round him danced the Bacchantes, holding in their\nhands wands twined round with ivy, and with ivy wreaths on their\nheads.  Cups of the most delicious wine were passed from mouth to\nmouth, and the whole air was filled with the sounds of singing and\nflute-playing.  There was an old man named Silenus, who had formerly\nlived with the nymphs, and had been accustomed to play with Dionysus\nwhen he was a child, and dance him on his knees.  He now joined in\nthe procession, and he was so fond of the wine that he was always\nintoxicated.  His body became bloated with drinking so much wine, so\nthat he could not walk steadily, but was obliged to ride on an ass,\nand {66} often in his drunken condition, he sate facing the wrong way\nand holding the tail of the ass in his hands as a bridle.\n\nWherever Dionysus went he caused the vine to grow, and he was good to\nthose who honoured him, but he punished all who disobeyed him.  One\nday, while he was on his journey through the world, he halted at\nmid-day in a cool wood near the sea, and when the Bacchantes had\ngiven the thirsty panthers some sweet wine to drink, the whole train\nof followers lay down under the trees and went to sleep.  Dionysus,\nhowever, was filled with a desire to visit the island of Naxos, which\nhe loved above all other lands, and he went down to the shore where\nthere was just then a ship sailing by, and asked the ship-men if they\nwould carry him to Naxos; and they said 'Yes,' and sailed up to the\nland and took him in.  They did not know who he was, but supposed him\nto be a mortal youth, and seeing that he was so beautiful, they made\nup their minds to sell him for a slave, for they were not good men,\nbut thieves.  Dionysus lay down in the ship and went to sleep.  When\nhe awoke, they had already sailed past the island, so he begged them\nto turn back and set him on shore at Naxos, but they laughed and told\nhim they were going to sell him for a slave.  Dionysus had only\nwanted to make trial of them, and now the ship suddenly stood still,\nand though they tried with all their might to row on farther, it was\nas immovable as if it had been fastened to the bottom of the sea with\na hundred chains.  And vines and ivy-bushes sprang up and covered the\nsides of the ship with green foliage, and a spray of ivy twined\nitself round the mast {67} right up to the top, so that the ship\nlooked like a beautiful garden in the middle of the sea.  But the\nsight of it gave no pleasure to the ship-men; their flesh began to\ncreep, and they were seized with an irresistible desire to jump into\nthe sea.  And as they jumped they were changed into dolphins, and for\nthe rest of their lives they swam about in the sea, thieving fishes\nas they had been thieving men.  Then Dionysus clapped his hands, and\nthe panther-drawn chariot came over the sea to him followed by the\nBacchantes, the sea making a pathway for them so that they scarcely\nwetted their feet.  Dionysus got into his chariot and guided it to\nNaxos, and the Bacchantes followed it, skipping along on the crests\nof the waves.\n\nAfter Dionysus had travelled over the whole world, it was fitting\nthat he should take up his abode on Mount Olympus with the other\ngods, and Hera did not make any difficulty about it.  But before he\ndid so, he brought his mother Semele from out of the Lower World, and\nZeus made her immortal, so that she also had a place among the gods,\nand Hera no longer bore her any ill-will.\n\n\n\n[1] See page 150.\n\n\n\n\n{68}\n\nXX.\n\nMELAMPUS AND BIAS.\n\nIn the city of Pylos there lived a man named Melampus, who was very\nrich, and had a great deal of land and many servants.  One day, as\nthe servants were coming home from their work in the fields, they\nfound a nest of snakes in a hollow oak, and they drove out the snakes\nand began to beat them to death with their sticks and cudgels.  Just\nthen Melampus came by, and when he saw what the servants were doing,\nhe let them kill the old snakes, but finding among them two young\nones less than a foot long, he took them up and carried them home.\nThe little snakes were now very well off, for Melampus made them a\nbed of leaves and gave them plenty of food to eat.  They were not\npoisonous snakes, but nice harmless little creatures, and when they\ngrew older they had a great wish to do Melampus some service, as a\nreturn to him for having saved their lives and taken such care of\nthem.  So one day, when he was asleep, the snakes crept up to him,\none on each side, and licked his ears with their fine sharp little\ntongues, and when he awoke he found he could understand what the\nbirds and insects said, and he was ever afterwards able to discover\nthings that were hidden from other men, because the birds told him\nabout them.\n\n{69}\n\nAt this time there reigned over the city of Pylos a king named\nNeleus, who had an only daughter called Pero.  She was so beautiful\nthat no one who had once seen her ever cared to look at any other\nwoman, and many princes came to Pylos to ask for her hand in\nmarriage, but King Neleus said that whoever wished to have her for\nhis wife must first bring him the cattle of Iphiclus, and that he\nwould not part with her on any other condition.  These cattle were\nrenowned for their strength and beauty, and they were always spoken\nof as the cattle of Iphiclus, although Iphiclus himself had been dead\na long time, and his son Phylacus now owned them.  They were guarded\nby a great fierce dog with a terrific voice, and if anyone came to\ntry and steal them, he barked so loudly that all the servants of\nPhylacus came rushing out to seize the thief and carry him off to\nprison.  Nor could Phylacus be induced to part with the cattle for\nany sum of money; so when the suitors heard that the king insisted\nupon having the cattle of Iphiclus, they thought it was a hopeless\ncase and went away home again.\n\nNow amongst those who came to sue for the hand of the beautiful Pero,\nthere was a man named Bias, the brother of Melampus, who loved her so\ndearly and wished so much to have her for his wife, that he lost all\nhis spirits and fell into deep despondency because he could not think\nof any means of obtaining the cattle.  Melampus had a great affection\nfor his brother and longed to help him in this difficulty, so he\nasked the birds if there was any way by which he could succeed in\nprocuring the cattle for Bias.  The birds answered that if he would\nbe willing to be seized {70} by the servants and put into prison for\na year, he would be able to obtain the cattle at the end of that\ntime.  Melarnpus was quite ready to do this for his brother, and he\nset out at once, promising Bias that at the end of the year he would\nreturn with the beautiful herd.  When he came to the field where the\ncattle of Iphiclus were grazing, it happened to him just as the birds\nhad foretold, and he was taken prisoner by the servants and thrust\ninto a dark dungeon.  He could never see the sun there, but he was\nable to count the days, for he could hear the birds singing, and when\nthey began to chirp in the morning, he knew that a new day must have\ndawned upon the earth.  At last, when there was only one day wanting\nto make up the full year, he heard some wood-worms talking together\nin one of the rafters of the house, and he listened to what they were\nsaying.  One asked, 'Have you nearly finished the work?' and the\nothers answered, 'Before the sun goes down, the beam will be eaten\nthrough and the house must fall.'  Then Melampus understood that the\nhouse was not safe, and he called the gaoler and told him that they\nought both to leave it without delay, for that before the setting of\nthe sun it would fall.  The gaoler was not inclined to believe him,\nfor the house appeared to be in perfect condition, but Melampus would\nnot leave off warning and entreating him, and at last he took him to\nanother prison.  They had scarcely left the house when they heard a\ngreat noise, and as they looked back it fell in ruins.  The gaoler\nwas very much astonished that Melampus should have known of this\nbeforehand, and he told King Phylacus about it.\n\nThe old king was at this time in great sorrow on {71} account of his\nson, who was named Iphiclus after his grandfather.  He had been\nmarried for many years, but the gods gave him no children, and the\nold king feared that after his death the kingdom would fall into the\nhands of a stranger instead of being still governed by one of his own\nrace.  He did not know why the gods were angry with his son, and no\none was able to tell him.  When therefore he heard from the gaoler\nhow Melampus had foretold the downfall of the prison, he thought that\nhe must be a wise man, and he asked him whether he could find any\nmeans of freeing him from his anxiety.  Melarnpus answered that he\nwould try to do so if the king would promise him the beautiful cattle\nas his reward, and Phylacus did not think this too great a price, but\nswore to give them to him.  Melampus then begged that the king's\nservants might kill a cow and cut it in pieces, and that they would\ntake him to an open field, and leave him alone with the flesh beside\nhim.  They did as he wished, and when the servants had gone away, a\nnumber of birds of all sizes came flocking towards the pieces of\nflesh.  Melampus, however, would not let them come too near, but kept\nthem off with a stick, and said, 'Whichever of you can tell me why\nthe gods are angry with Iphiclus the Younger, shall have the best\npiece of meat as a reward.'  Then an old raven, nearly a hundred\nyears old, began to croak and said, 'When Iphiclus was a little boy,\nhis father placed a sacrifice under a sacred oak, but found himself\nobliged to return to the house for something he had forgotten.\nMeanwhile the little Iphiclus was left alone, and he took the\nsacrificial knife and thrust it into the oak because he was {72}\nfrightened at the way it glittered.  I was sitting on the tree\nlooking on when he did this.  In the course of time, however, the\nbark has quite grown over the knife, so that it cannot now be seen.'\nMelampus gave the raven a great piece of flesh, and he took it in his\nclaws and flew away with it, and Melampus said, 'Whichever of you can\ntell me how this maybe expiated, shall have the next best piece.'\nThen a vulture came forward who was skilled in medicine, and a\nphysician among the birds, and who knew how to give counsel, and he\nsaid, 'You must dig the knife out of the tree, and when you have\nfound it, scrape off the rust and pour it into a bowl of wine.  Let\nthe king's son drink that, and then the gods will send him an heir.'\nThe vulture received the second best piece, and Melampus went away,\nleaving the birds to feast upon the remainder of the flesh.  He went\nback to the palace and asked for an axe, with which he struck the\noak, and at the first stroke he discovered the knife.  It was quite\nred with rust, and he drew it out and scraped off the rust into a\nbowl of wine and told the king that his son must drink some of this\nevery morning for ten days, and then the gods would be gracious to\nhim.  Some time after this the wife of Iphiclus had a little son,\nwhich was a great joy to the old king.\n\nHe did not fail to give Melampus the reward he had promised, and Bias\ntook the cattle to the palace of Neleus and again asked to be allowed\nto marry the beautiful Pero.  The king made no further objection, and\nthe wedding was celebrated that very same day.\n\n\nThe god Apollo loved Melampus because he was a {73} good man, and he\ngifted him with the art of knowing the future by means of various\nsigns, and of understanding how to propitiate the wrath of the gods.\nMany people came to ask advice of him when they were in trouble or\ndifficulty, and among others, Proetus the king of Argos, sent to beg\nfor his help, for he was in great distress.  This king had three\ndaughters who were beautiful and virtuous, but they refused to offer\nsacrifices to the god Dionysus, and therefore Dionysus punished them\nby taking away their reason, so that they became mad.  They ran about\nthe city, dancing and screaming and tearing their clothes, and if\nanyone tried to restrain them they became wilder still, and foamed at\nthe mouth, so that no one could see them without feeling deeply\ngrieved.  It was on account of this that Proetus sent to Melampus to\nbeg him to make his daughters well again.  Melampus agreed to do so\nif the king would promise him a third of his dominions as a reward;\nbut when Proetus heard of the condition, avarice prevailed over his\nlove for his daughters, and he refused to part with any of his land.\nBut the evil became worse and worse, for all the women in the country\nwere seized with the same disease as the princesses, and ran about\nthe streets and fields, raging as if they were intoxicated.  Many had\ntaken their little children with them, thinking that they were young\ndeer which they must sacrifice to Dionysus, and it was a ghastly\nsight to see them murder their own children, not knowing what they\nwere doing.  The whole land was in such great trouble that the king\nsent a messenger to tell Melampus that he would give him the third\npart of his dominions if he would put an end to the misery, but\nMelampus {74} now said that he must also give his brother Bias a\nthird, or he would do nothing for him.  The king was very loth to\ngive away so much fertile territory, but he feared that he might at\nlast be obliged to win over Melampus at any price, and perhaps lose\nhis whole kingdom, so he promised to give him what he asked.  Then\nMelarnpus went to Argos and placed himself at the head of all the\nyoung men in the city, whom he had told beforehand what they were to\ndo.  They marched out of the city in an orderly band, till they met\nthe raving women who had formed themselves into a sort of wild army\nwith the princesses at their head.  As soon as they saw the army of\nyouths they took flight, and the men pursued them, shouting as if\nthey were at war, till they reached the sea and could go no farther.\nThen Melampus offered many sacrifices, until the gods were\npropitiated and the women had their reason restored.  After this,\nthey all returned to the city.  The eldest princess, who was the most\nafflicted of all, had fallen down dead during the chase, but the\nother two came back to the palace and lived with their father as\nbefore, and from this time they honoured Dionysus and offered\nsacrifices to him.\n\nMelampus and Bias now became princes, and they ruled over the land\nwhich King Proetus gave them according to his promise.\n\n\n\n\n{75}\n\nXXI.\n\nTANTALUS.  PELOPS.\n\nIn the land of Phrygia, which lies in Asia Minor, there was once a\nking named Tantalus, whom the gods loaded with all manner of favours.\nThey gave him great wealth, so that he was richer than any other\nking, and they treated him as a friend and came to his house as\nguests, and sometimes they allowed him to ascend to Mount Olympus in\none of their chariots and to drink nectar and eat ambrosia at their\ntable.  But Tantalus was presumptuous, and turned the friendship with\nwhich the gods honoured him to bad uses, for he stole nectar and\nambrosia and gave them to other men to taste, and he also repeated\nthings that he had heard the gods speak of among themselves, about\nwhich he ought to have kept silence.  He even once invited the gods\nto a banquet in order to try and deceive them, and for this purpose\nhe killed his beautiful young son Pelops, and cut him in pieces and\nroasted the flesh; and when the gods sat down to the banquet he\nbrought in the flesh and laid it before them, thinking that they\nwould eat it without knowing what it was.  The goddess Demeter was at\nthis time in great trouble because her daughter Persephone had been\nstolen away from her, and as she sat buried in sad thoughts, she eat\na {76} shoulder-piece without paying attention to what she was doing.\nBut the other gods did not eat any of the flesh, for they knew\ndirectly what it was, and they were very angry with Tantalus.  Zeus\ncommanded that Pelops should come to life again, and he was even more\nbeautiful than before, but his right shoulder was missing, for\nDemeter had eaten it.  The goddess could not replace it, but she took\na piece of ivory and cut out a shoulder, which she fitted into the\nright place, so that it looked like the other limbs, only it was more\nwhite and shining.\n\nAfter this the gods would have nothing more to do with Tantalus, and\nas they no longer blessed his fields or flocks, his prosperity was\nnow at an end, for the fields produced miserable crops, and the\nflocks were diminished by plagues and diseases, and also by the\nravages of wolves and lions.  Tantalus became worse and worse, and\ncommitted many other crimes, and after his death the gods laid upon\nhim a never-ending punishment.  He found himself standing in\nbeautiful clear water which reached up to his chin, and close above\nhis head there hung branches of magnificent fruit trees quite weighed\ndown with the quantity of fruit they bore, but whenever he tried to\nsip the water it sank before him till there was nothing to be seen\nbut the black earth, and whenever he tried to gather some fruit the\nbranches raised themselves into the air, so that though he was\nparched with thirst and was perpetually straining to quench it, if\nbut for a moment, he was never able to reach either the water or the\nfruit.[1]\n\n{77}\n\nAfter the death of Tantalus, his son Pelops was king of Phrygia.  But\nthere came another king, with an army of soldiers, who fought against\nhim and drove him away, so that he was obliged to leave his country\nand travel into strange lands.  After some time he came to the city\nof Elis, in Greece, where at that time, there was a king called\nOenomaus who had a lovely daughter named Hippodamia.  A great many\nheroes desired to marry her, and the king had sent to ask the Oracle\nwhich of them he should choose for her husband, but the answer that\nhe received was that when his daughter married, he himself would die.\nHe at once determined that his daughter should never marry; and as he\nhad two horses that could run like the wind and there were none in\nthe whole country that could compare with them in speed, he said that\nanyone who wished to marry his daughter must compete with him in a\nchariot race, and if he won the race he should have the maiden for\nhis wife, but if he failed to do so he must die.  Hippodamia was so\nbeautiful that many heroes were willing to risk their lives for the\nchance of winning her, and agreed to the conditions.  At some\ndistance from the city there stood an altar to Poseidon, which was\nthe goal, and on each occasion the princess drove with the suitor for\nher hand.  Oenomaus used to let them start on in front whilst he\nremained behind to sacrifice a ram to the gods, and when the\nsacrifice was offered, he mounted the chariot with his lance in his\nhand, and urged on the horses to their utmost speed.  The race never\nlasted long, for he very soon overtook the suitor and pierced him\nthrough the back with his lance, so that he fell down dead from the\nchariot.\n\n{78}\n\nThirteen heroes had already lost their lives, and Oenomaus thought\nthat he had found a very good way of preventing his daughter from\never being married.  But Pelops heard of the beautiful Hippodamia,\nand though he heard, too, of the cruel king who put all her suitors\nto death, he resolved to set out for Elis and try his chance of\nwinning the maiden, for he was a true hero, brave and fearless.  It\nwas a prize well worth trying for, for whoever won it would not only\nhave the beautiful princess for his wife, but would also inherit the\nkingdom, for Oenomaus had no other child.  Pelops came to Elis, and\nOenomaus told him, as he had told the others, that he must be\nprepared to race with him, and fixed the race for the following day.\nThe king had outrun many swifter horses than those of Pelops, and if\nthe hero had not set to work cunningly he must have lost his life,\nbut he had thought of a plan by which he might get the better of the\nking, if he could secure the help of the man to whom was entrusted\nthe care of the horses and chariot of Oenomaus.  He watched until\nthis man took the horses to bathe in the river, and he followed him\nthere to have an opportunity of speaking to him privately and\npromised him a great reward if, on the next day, he would leave out\nsome necessary part of the king's equipment, so that he might be\ndelayed in the race.  Oenomaus was such a cruel man that his servants\nhad no affection for him, and the man promised Pelops that he would\nhelp him to win the race.\n\nThe next day, many people came to the open space outside the city\nwhere the race was to be run.  They felt sorry for the hero, for his\nhorses were far less {79} strong and spirited than those of the king,\nwhich pawed the ground with impatience, and snuffed the air in their\neagerness to set out.  Oenomaus told his daughter to get into the\nchariot with Pelops, and when he had the beautiful maiden sitting by\nhis side, Pelops felt how happy he would be if he could obtain her\nfor his wife, and he urged on his horses with all his might.\nMeanwhile Oenomaus took a sacrificial knife and killed a ram, and\nthen he laid a part of the flesh in the flame of the fire that burnt\non the altar, and prayed to the gods to enable him to get the better\nof Pelops and kill him.  When the sacrifice was ended, he mounted his\nchariot, with the reins in his left hand and a sharp-pointed lance in\nhis right hand, and the moment he shook the reins, the horses started\noff at their utmost speed, and the chariot could not be seen for the\ndust that it raised.  He came close to Pelops, and raised his lance\nto smite him.  But the unfaithful servant had taken out the nails\nwhich prevent the wheel from slipping off the axle, and just as\nOenomaus was overtaking the other chariot, the wheel rolled on one\nside, and the chariot turned over.  The king was thrown out, and he\nfell upon a stone and was killed instantly.\n\nSo Pelops was the victor, and the sentence of the Oracle was\nfulfilled.  As soon as the beautiful Hippodamia had ended her\nmourning for her father, she was married to Pelops, who became king\nof Elis and ruled the country well and wisely.  Long after his death\nthe Greeks still remembered him, and named the great peninsula in\nwhich Elis lies, Peloponnesus, or the Island of Pelops.\n\n\n\n[1] From this story comes the English word 'to tantalize.'\n\n\n\n\n{80}\n\nXXII.\n\nNIOBE.\n\nNiobe was the daughter of Tantalus, and the wife of King Amphion, who\nby means of his singing and playing had built a wall round Thebes.[1]\nShe and her husband were rich and prosperous, but beyond all their\nother treasures they prized their twelve noble and beautiful\nchildren.  There were six sons and six daughters, and they were the\npride of Niobe's heart.  She looked down upon all other women because\nthey were none of them so fortunate as herself, and once she even\ndared to say that she was superior to the goddess Leto, for that Leto\nhad only two children, and she had six times as many.  When Leto\nheard this she was stung to the quick, and she went weeping to her\nchildren and told them of it.  These children were the god Apollo and\nthe goddess Artemis, and they were very angry with Niobe for vexing\ntheir mother, and resolved to punish her for her pride.\n\n\nOne day the sons of Niobe were in the courtyard wrestling with each\nother, for they were skilled in wrestling as becomes young heroes,\nand the mother and {81} sisters were standing by, watching them.  All\nat once one of the youths groaned, sank down, and died.  He had been\nhit by one of the arrows of Apollo, which were invisible and deadly,\nkilling instantly whoever was hit by them.  The mother, brothers and\nsisters gathered round the youth, unable to believe that he was dead,\nwhen suddenly a maiden sank upon her knees, heaved a sigh, and died\nalso.  She had been hit by one of the arrows of Artemis, which were\ninvisible like those of Apollo.  Son after son, and daughter after\ndaughter was killed by the unseen arrows, and Niobe knew that this\nwas a punishment for her pride.  The youth who was first struck down\nwas not yet cold when the only one of all her children left to Niobe\nwas the youngest daughter, whom she loved best of all.  The little\ngirl had always found protection in her mother's lap, and now, when\nthe fear that she must die like her brothers and sisters came over\nher, she ran to her mother and clung to her knees for shelter.  Niobe\ntook her up in her arms, and wrapping her veil round her as if it\ncould shield her from the unseen enemy, she looked up to heaven and\ncried from her inmost soul, 'Spare me but this one!'  But at that\nmoment she felt her daughter convulsed in her arms, and the last of\nher children was dead.\n\nThere was great distress throughout the city.  King Amphion tore his\nhair and threw himself on the earth with frantic cries of grief, and\nthe citizens wept and lamented.  But Niobe shed no tears, no word of\nsorrow came out of her mouth, and she kept her eyes fixed on the\nground, still clasping her youngest daughter to her {82} breast,\nwhile the other corpses lay around her.  The night came on and the\nothers went into the house, but Niobe remained standing in the\nstarlight amongst her dead children, and when the people came back in\nthe morning, she had turned to stone.\n\n\n\n[1] See p. 50.\n\n\n\n\n{83}\n\nXXIII.\n\nMELEAGER AND ATALANTA.\n\nKing Oeneus lived in the city of Calydon with his wife Althaea, and\nthey had already several children when another little son was born to\nthem.  When the child was about seven days old, his mother awoke one\nnight and saw a fire burning on the hearth, and by the fire three\nwomen standing, who were taller and statelier than any women she had\never seen before: they were the three Fates, who are the goddesses\nthat decide whether the lives of men shall be brightened by happiness\nor made heavy with misfortune.  One of them said, 'I gift this child\nwith bravery.'  The second said, 'I bestow upon him a generous\nheart.'  The third said, 'I grant him life until the day when this\nfirebrand shall be burnt to ashes.'  Then they all disappeared, and\nAlthaea, to once got up and took the piece of stick from the fire,\nand when she had put it out by pouring water upon it, she stowed it\naway in the chest where she kept her most precious treasures.  The\nparents named their child Meleager, and he grew up to be a strong and\nnoble youth, fond of the chase and of war.\n\nAfter Meleager had become a man, it happened one year that King\nOeneus raised a number of altars of green turf in the fields at\nharvest-time, and placed on {84} each altar some of the corn that was\nfirst cut, in order to show his gratitude to the gods for having\ncaused the fruits of the earth to grow and ripen; every god and every\ngoddess had an altar except Artemis the goddess of the chase, who was\nforgotten.  She was very angry with the king on account of this, and\nsent a fierce wild boar to destroy his land.  This boar was much\nlarger than any other that had ever been seen, and he had two long\npointed tusks which made him very frightful to look at.  He roamed\nabout the country, and wherever he found a newly-sown field he tore\nup the ground and laid it waste, and he ripped open the young trees\nwith his tusks, and broke in among the flocks, killing men and\ncattle.  He was so fierce and powerful that no hunter had courage to\nattack him, and at last the evil became so serious that the king sent\nmessengers to a number of heroes to ask them to come to Calydon, and\nall set out together to hunt the boar.  All who were summoned\npromised to come, and at the appointed time they assembled at\nCalydon.  There came also a maiden who was armed with a\nhunting-spear, and who would not play with the king's daughters, but\nsaid she wished to go to the hunt with the heroes.\n\nThe maiden's name was Atalanta, and she had a strange history.  She\nwas the child of a king and queen who had wished very much to have a\nlittle son, and had begged the gods to send them one.  Instead of\nthis, however, a girl was born to them, and the father was so angry\nthat he commanded his servants to take the child to a mountain that\nwas clothed with forests, and leave it there to be devoured by wild\nbeasts.  For a night and a day the child lay in the forest, and it\nwas {85} nearly dead of starvation when a she-bear came by, who\ndrooped her head sadly because her little cubs had been taken from\nher by some hunters.  The child was frightened at the great black\nbeast and began to cry, but the bear looked kindly at it, and when\nshe saw what bright eyes the baby had, she growled gently and licked\nit with her warm tongue.  Soon the child forgot its fear, and when\nthe bear put her full udder to its mouth, it began to suck, for it\nwas hungry and thirsty; and from that time the bear came again every\nday and gave it food and played with it.  After some time had passed,\nit happened that some hunters came up the mountain in pursuit of a\ndeer, and one of them in bending back a bush caught sight of the\nbeautiful little girl, who was lying on the grass playing with\nflowers.  He took her up and called to the other hunters to come and\nlook at her, and they were so delighted at finding her that they let\nthe deer escape.  One of them carried her home in his arms, and they\nwere as well satisfied as if they had had a most successful hunt.\nThe house where the hunters lived was in the midst of the green-wood,\nand they made a soft bed for the child, and fed her with sweet milk.\nAt first she cried continually, for she missed her bear sadly, but\nthe hunters played with her and were so kind to her that she soon\nbecame happy again.  The hunters named her Atalanta, and when she\ngrew bigger, they took her with them when they went out hunting.\nAtalanta enjoyed roaming through the woods and running after the wild\nanimals more than anything else, and she let the hunters have no\npeace till they gave her a spear of her own.  Her feet became swift\nand {86} her arms strong, and she killed many animals and was a very\nskilful huntress, but whenever a she-bear came across her path she\ntook great care to do her no harm.  She was taller and stronger than\nother maidens, and at the same time very beautiful.  When she heard\nof the hunt that King Oeneus had proclaimed, she at once set out for\nCalydon, expecting greatly to enjoy the dangerous chase.\n\nKing Oeneus entertained the heroes for nine days, and they amused\nthemselves with feasts and all kinds of games.  The tenth day was\nfixed for the hunt, and it was agreed that whoever should kill the\nboar was to receive the skin and the head as the prize of honour.\nThere were present, however, some brothers of Queen Althaea who were\nill-mannered and discourteous, and who said that Atalanta should not\ngo with them, for that it would be a disgrace to them all their lives\nif they went out hunting with a woman; but Meleager had conceived a\ngreat love for Atalanta, and would not allow her to be excluded.  So\nshe set out with the others for the forest where the boar had his\nlair.  They were attended by their servants, who roused the wild\nbeast by making a great clapping with their hands, and drove him out\ninto an open space in the middle of the forest, while the heroes\nstood round among the trees.  At first he remained in the middle of\nthe open space tearing up the earth with his tusks, his eyes burning\nlike fire and his bristles standing up straight from his back, and\ngrunting so frightfully that the heart of many a brave hero beat, and\nthat not altogether for joy.  But when the heroes hurled their spears\nat him, the boar rushed to where the first spear came {87} from and\nripped open the body of the hero with his tusks, so that he was soon\nlying dead in a pool of his own blood.  After this he spied another\nhero, and with him it fared no better than with the first.  Then\nanother hero aimed at him, but he shot too high, and the spear hit\none of his friends and pierced him through; so three lives were\nalready sacrificed, and yet the boar had not lost a drop of blood.\nIt was now the turn of Atalanta to throw her spear, and she hit the\nwild boar in the back causing the blood to gush out; then someone\nelse hit him in the eye, and at last the spear of Meleager pierced\nhis side at a vital spot and inflicted a mortal wound.  He could no\nlonger stand up, and was obliged to vent his fury on the innocent\nearth, and after rolling about in great pain for a little while, he\ndied.\n\nThe heroes cut off his head, and severed his skin from his body and\ngave it to Meleager as the prize of honour, because it was he who had\ngiven the wild boar his death-wound.  But Meleager said, 'Atalanta\nwas the first to hit the beast,' and he presented her with the prize\nas a token of love and regard.  The skin made in truth a splendid\nmantle, reaching from the maiden's shoulder right down to her feet,\nand as she stood in the forest, radiant with beauty, with the skin\nthrown over her left shoulder, and with the bleeding head in one hand\nwhile in the other she held her hunting-spear, she looked like the\ngoddess Artemis returning from the chase.  But the brothers of Queen\nAlthaea who had wished to prevent Atalanta from going out hunting\nwith them, were greatly annoyed, and they spoke rudely to her and\nsnatched away the prize from her.  This made Meleager very angry, and\na violent quarrel {88} took place, in which Meleager drew his sword\nand slew his uncles: he was quickly roused to anger, and they had\nprovoked him beyond his power of endurance, but, as soon as they were\ndead he felt very sorry for his mother's sake, for he knew that she\nwas very fond of her brothers, unmannerly fellows though they were.\nThe servants made biers out of green branches and laid the dead men\nupon them, and they all, both heroes and servants, went back together\ninto the city.\n\nBut a man who had taken the part of the two brothers went on in front\nto the palace and told the queen that her brothers had been murdered\nby Meleager.  Then the queen's sorrow passed all bounds, and she wept\nand tore her hair.  It was the custom at that time, that if a man was\nmurdered his relations should avenge his death upon the murderer, as\nthis was considered a way of doing honour to his memory, and in the\nfirst burst of her resentment she fetched the piece of stick on which\nthe life of Meleager depended, and threw it into a fire that happened\nto be burning on the hearth.  The flames gradually consumed it, and\nas the last spark went out, Meleager, who was on his way home with\nthe other heroes, fell down dead.  By the time the queen heard that\nher son was dead however, her anger had already passed away, and she\nwas filled with unspeakable remorse for having cut short his life.\nShe did not weep as she had done before, but she felt that she could\nnot bear to live any longer, and she went into her bed-chamber and\nhanged herself.  When this was known, everyone was deeply grieved;\nthe old king would not leave his room, and for a long time refused to\neat or drink, and the heroes {89} dispersed to their homes without\ncaring to stay for the hunting feast.\n\nAtalanta went back to her forest leaving the skin of the boar behind\nher, for she would have had no pleasure in keeping what would always\nhave reminded her of the death of Meleager.  She roamed about the\nforest as before from morning till night, and was never so happy as\nwhen she was among the green trees.  Now the fame of her beauty had\nspread far and wide, and many suitors came to ask her to marry them.\nBut she did not wish to marry, and as her suitors would not leave off\npressing her, she said that anyone who liked might race with her, and\nif he beat her he should be her husband, but if she overtook him he\nmust die.  Many of her lovers lost their lives in this manner, for\nthough Atalanta always gave a good start, she very soon overtook her\ncompetitor and stabbed him in the back with her hunting-spear.\n\nAfter a time, however, a man named Milanion resolved to try his\nchance, who was beloved by the goddess Aphrodite on account of his\ngreat beauty, and as she was unwilling that he should lose his life\nlike the others, she gave him three golden apples and told him how to\nmake use of them.  He hid them in the folds of his dress, and as soon\nas he heard Atalanta coming up behind him, he took out one of the\napples and threw it down on the ground where it glittered so\nbeautifully in the sunshine that Atalanta could not resist stooping\nto pick it up.  Milanion thus gained a minute, and the next time he\nfound that she was close behind him he threw down the second apple,\nand again Atalanta allowed him to escape while she stopped for {90}\nit.  A third time the same thing happened when they were at a very\nshort distance from the goal, and thus Milanion reached it first and\nwon the race, and Atalanta became his wife and went home with him.\nAnd he was such a noble hero that she never repented of having\nallowed herself to be conquered by the golden apples.\n\n\n\n\n{91}\n\nXXIV.\n\nADMETUS AND ALCESTIS.\n\nApollo once displeased Zeus by acting against his wishes, and the\nking of the gods said that for a punishment he must serve a mortal\nfor the space of a year, and that the mortal must not know that he\nwas a god, but treat him just like any other slave.  So Apollo\nentered the service of the young king Admetus, who made him the\nkeeper of his flocks.  Admetus was a good master, and Apollo found\nhimself well-treated, and he repaid the kindness he received by\nmaking the flocks prosper and increase till there were none like them\nin the whole country.  Admetus had never had such a good herdsman,\nand he treated him even better than his other servants.  When the\nyear had passed, Apollo told him who he was, and said that if ever\nAdmetus was in need and prayed to him, lie would come and help him.\nThen Apollo went back to Olympus, and Admetus had another herdsman,\nbut Apollo still blessed the flocks, so that they continued to\nprosper.\n\nTime passed by and Admetus wished to marry, and he travelled through\nthe country seeking for the fairest and noblest woman in the land to\nbe his wife.  He heard that no one could compare with Alcestis, the\n{92} daughter of King Pelias, and he went to her father and asked to\nbe allowed to marry her.  But the king said that his daughter was not\nto be won so easily, and that whoever wanted her for his wife must\ncome and sue for her in a chariot drawn by a lion and a wild boar.\nAdmetus was a brave hero and a skilled huntsman, but his heart sank\nwhen he heard this, for he feared he should never be able to procure\nsuch a team as this, and tame them for his service.  Then he\nremembered how Apollo had promised to help him in the time of need,\nand he prayed to him, and Apollo came and asked what he wanted.  When\nhe had been told what it was, he went into the forest with Admetus,\nand gave chase to a lion whom he caught and held fast by the mane,\nalthough the lion roared horribly and tried to snap at him with his\ngreat jaws.  Presently he spied a boar and pursued him also, making\nthe lion run by his side; and when he had caught the boar, he grasped\nhim by the ear and dragged him along too, so that he had the lion on\none side of him and the boar on the other.  The wild animals looked\nat each other angrily and tried to bite one another, but Apollo would\nnot let them do so.  He brought them out of the forest and harnessed\nthem to a magnificent chariot, and he had a goad with which he\npricked them whenever they tried to hurt one another, until at last\nthey were tame and obedient to the rein.  Admetus however would not\nhave been able to keep them under control, so Apollo drove them\nhimself, and thus Admetus arrived at the palace of King Pelias with\nthe god for his charioteer, and with the team that the king had\nrequired, and a second time asked for his daughter's {93} hand in\nmarriage.  The king could no longer refuse, and when he had promised\nthat Admetus should have the beautiful Alcestis for his wife, Apollo\ndrove back into the forest and released the two wild animals.  Soon\nafterwards the wedding was celebrated in the palace with great\nmagnificence, and Apollo was one of the guests.  As a\nwedding-present, he brought a promise from the goddesses of Fate,\nthat if ever Admetus were sick and in danger of death and one of his\nnearest relations would consent to die instead of him, the life thus\noffered would be accepted instead of the life of Admetus, and he\nwould become well again.\n\nAdmetus and Alcestis loved each other dearly, and lived happily\ntogether for many years.  But after some time had passed, Admetus was\nsmitten with a sore sickness, and everyone said that he must die\nunless his life could be saved according to the promise of Apollo.\nThe people thought that as his father and mother were now very old\nand could not hope to live much longer in any case, they would be\nwilling to die instead of Admetus; but they loved life more than they\nloved their son, and would not part with it until they were obliged.\nThen the beautiful Alcestis went into her chamber and prayed to the\ngods that they would allow her to give up her life to save her\nhusband, and when she had ended her prayer, she lay down on the bed\nand died.  At the same moment Admetus became suddenly well, and was\nable to stand up and walk about.  He did not know how it was that he\nhad been so quickly cured until he went into the chamber of Alcestis,\nand saw her lying dead upon the couch; then he understood how it was,\nbut he felt that {94} he would much rather have died himself.  All\nthrough the palace there was loud lamentation, for all the household\nloved Alcestis dearly because she was so good and kind to them.\nAdmetus would not leave her couch, but sat beside it holding her cold\nhand, which was ever wet with his tears.  Night came on, and morning\ndawned again, but he gave no heed to it, and the corpse had already\nbecome quite cold--when suddenly it began to grow warm again, and\npresently Alcestis heaved a deep sigh, opened her eyes, and was once\nmore alive.\n\nNever before had such a wonder taken place, and this was how it came\nto pass.  When Alcestis died, her shade passed into the Lower World,\nand the Shadow-Leader, who conducted the dead thither, told the queen\nof the Lower World the reason of her death.  So many shadows came\ninto their dominions who had had a sad end, that the gods of the\nLower World had at last exhausted all their pity, and ceased to weep\nfor them.  But when the queen heard how Alcestis had died in the full\nbloom of her youth and beauty in order that Admetus might live, she\nwas deeply moved, and commanded the Shadow-Leader to take her back to\nthe Upper World and restore her to life.\n\nSo Alcestis awoke to life again, and she lived with her husband in\nhappiness and prosperity for many years after this; gods and men\nunited to do them honour, and when they had reached a good old age,\nthey both died at the same time.\n\n\n\n\n{95}\n\nXXV.\n\nPERSEUS.\n\nThere was once a king of Argos called Acrisius, who had an only\ndaughter.  Her name was Dana\u00eb and she was very beautiful, but the\nOracle said that she would have a son through whom Acrisius would\nlose his life.  This frightened Acrisius very much, and he had a\nlarge brazen room made for Dana\u00eb to live in under the earth, where\nshe had everything she wished for, but she was never allowed to see\nthe light of day, nor any man.  Her father thought he would thus be\nable to prevent her from marrying secretly and having a son, and for\na time everything went on according to his wishes.  But Zeus, the\nking of the gods, loved Dana\u00eb, and he one day changed himself into a\nbeautiful golden shower of rain, whose shining drops fell down\nthrough the brazen roof.  Thus Zeus was married to Dana\u00eb, and not\nlong afterwards she had a son.  Acrisius was very angry, and he had\nthe mother and son shut up in a wooden chest and cast into the sea.\n\nThe chest was tossed about on the waves, and floated far away.  On\nthe third day it reached an island where there happened to be a man\non the shore fishing, who was the brother of the king of the island.\nHe drew the chest to land and forced open the lid, and when he {96}\nsaw the lovely woman and her child inside it, he took them, just as\nthey were, into the house to show them to the king his brother, who\npromised to protect them and treat them kindly.  Acrisius thought\nthey had perished in the sea, but they were safe on the island, and\nDana\u00eb was quite happy in taking care of her son, whom she named\nPerseus.  In the course of time, Perseus grew up to be a young man,\nand he was beautiful and brave and strong.\n\nThe king of the island wanted to have Dana\u00eb for his wife, but she did\nnot wish to marry him.  Then the king thought that if it were not for\nPerseus he might compel her to do so, and he sought to find some\nexcuse for sending Perseus away on a far journey.  So one day he\ncalled his friends together, and Perseus among the rest.  He told\nthem that he was going to sue for a bride, and that he wished each of\nthem to bring him some present to offer to her father; for it was the\ncustom in those days that anyone who wanted to win a bride should\ngive costly presents to the father of the lady he wished to marry.\nThey all agreed to do as the king desired, and he asked most of his\nfriends to give him splendid horses, but from Perseus he demanded a\ngift that would involve a difficult and dangerous journey to a\ndistant land.  At the far end of the world there lived three sisters\ncalled Gorgons, who instantly turned to stone everyone that looked at\nthem; the only one of the three who was mortal was called Medusa, and\nthe king commanded Perseus to bring him her head, hoping that he\nwould perish in the attempt.\n\nPerseus had no fear, and at once set out in quest of the Gorgon's\nhead.  There were three nymphs who {97} had three precious things\nwithout which it would have been useless for him to try and obtain\nit, but no one knew where these nymphs lived except the three Grey\nSisters, who lived far away from any inhabited land, and would never\nreveal the secret of where the nymphs were to be found unless they\nwere compelled to do so.  They were the sisters of the Gorgons, and\nhad been quite grey ever since their birth, and they had only one\ntooth and one eye between them, which they used in turns.  Perseus\nwent to the cavern where the Grey Sisters lived, and watched till one\nof them took out the eye and the tooth to pass them to her sister,\nwhen he sprang forward and snatched them out of her hand, and said\nthat he would not give them back till they told him where the nymphs\nlived.  So they were obliged to tell him, and then he gave them back\ntheir eye and tooth, and went on to the nymphs who were kind to him\nand gave him the three precious things.  These were,--first, a pouch\nin which to place the head of Medusa after he had cut it off;\nsecondly, a pair of sandals which enabled anyone who put them on to\nfly through the air; and, thirdly the helmet of Pluto, which made\nwhoever wore it invisible.  The gods loved Perseus because he was so\nbrave, and Hermes came down to earth and gave him a sickle of very\nsharp steel with which to cut off the head of the Gorgon.  Perseus\nput on the sandals, and taking the other things with him, he flew to\nthe great stream Oceanus which flows round the world.  There was a\nrocky island in the middle of the stream covered with rank weeds and\nfull of serpents, and here the Gorgons lived in a cave.  When Perseus\nreached them it was about noonday, and {98} they were asleep.  They\nwere larger than mortal women, and had great teeth like tusks and\nbrazen hands and golden wings, and they had live snakes twined among\ntheir hair, and everyone who looked at them was turned to stone.\nPerseus heard them snoring, and he went into the cave on tip-toe so\nas not to wake them.  He was obliged to go backwards, for if he had\nlooked at them he would have been turned to stone; but he had a\npolished shield which he held up before him as a mirror, and he could\nsee them in the mirror without being harmed.  They had stretched\nthemselves out in a row, and lay asleep leaning one against the\nother; Medusa was smaller than the others, and by this he was able to\nrecognise her.  Her head was resting on a stone, and Perseus held up\nthe shield before her and cut through her neck with the sickle till\nthe head fell off, and then he took it up, put it into the pouch\nwithout looking at it, and flew away.  But the bleeding trunk still\npalpitated, and the other two Gorgons awoke and saw it, and they\ndarted out of the cavern after Perseus, that they might seize him and\ntear him to pieces with their iron claws.  They flew through the air\nlooking for him, and they had sharp eyes with which they could see to\na great distance, but they could not find Perseus because he had on\nthe helmet of Pluto which made him invisible, and were obliged to\nreturn without him.  Perseus was meanwhile on his way home with the\ndead head in his pouch.\n\nAfter some days he came to a country in Africa, where there was a\nking whose name was Cepheus.  The queen was called Cassiopea, and she\nwas very beautiful {99} and very proud of her beauty, and every day\nshe went down to the sea that she might have the pleasure of looking\nat her picture in the water.  One day she said that she was more\nbeautiful than the sea-nymphs, and the nymphs heard it and were so\nangry with her that they begged Poseidon, the sea-god, to punish her\nfor her pride.  Then Poseidon created a huge monster which came up\nevery day out of the sea and wasted the land, devouring men and\ncattle, so that there was great distress among the people.  They\nasked the Oracle what they should do, and the Oracle said that they\nmust give the king's daughter to the monster to devour, and then he\nwould not come again any more.  The king's daughter was called\nAndromeda, and she was beautiful like her mother, but she was not\nvain of her beauty, and the king and queen loved her very dearly.\nShe was their only child, and they cherished her as their most\nprecious treasure, and refused to give her up to be food for the\nhorrible monster.  But at last they were obliged to consent to this,\nand the day came when Andromeda was to be taken to a rock in the sea\nand bound fast with iron chains, so that she could not run away when\nthe monster came to devour her.  The king and queen wept bitterly,\nand many people followed them to the shore, weeping also.\n\nThey had just reached the rock when Perseus also approached it, and\nhe took the helmet off his head so that he could be seen, and asked\nwhy the beautiful princess was to be chained to it.  They told him\nall about it, and he said that if they would promise to let him have\nAndromeda for his wife, he would undertake to kill the monster and\ndeliver her.  The king had {100} already promised Andromeda in\nmarriage to a brother of his named Phineus, but though she was in\nsuch great peril, Phineus did not trouble himself much about it, and\nhad no intention of risking his life for her.  Perseus, however, felt\nvery differently; he longed to have her for his wife, and the parents\npromised him that if he slew the monster he should be their\nson-in-law.  Soon afterwards the monster appeared, rising up from the\nbottom of the sea, and making great waves as he swam along.  Perseus\nwaited till he came near the shore, and then flew down and struck him\na mighty blow on the neck with his sword.  The monster snapped at him\nwith his great jaws, but Perseus had already flown up high above him,\nand before the monster could look round he had received another\nwound, and he lashed his tail in fury till the water was quite red\nwith his blood, but he could not reach Perseus who flew round him and\nstruck him again and again, till at last he bled to death.\n\nThen there was great joy among the people: the chains were taken off\nfrom Andromeda, and the king and queen kissed her, feeling as if she\nhad been raised from the dead.  They went back into the city, and\nPerseus walked by the side of Andromeda who liked well the appearance\nof the brave and noble hero.  On the seventh day the marriage took\nplace, and they offered sacrifices, and danced and sang and feasted.\nPhineus however was not there, but in the middle of the marriage\nfeast he came into the hall of the palace at the head of a large band\nof armed servants, and said that he would kill Perseus and all who\nsided with him, for that Andromeda had been promised to him, and\n{101} ought to be his wife.  Then a struggle took place in the hall,\nand Perseus slew several of the servants, but they were twenty to\none, and it was no fair fight.  At last Perseus cried out with a loud\nvoice, 'Let all who are on my side turn away their faces,' and then\nhe thrust his hand into the pouch, drew forth the head of Medusa, and\nheld it out towards Phineus and his servants, and in a moment they\nwere all turned to stone.\n\nThe king gave Perseus a beautiful ship, in which he sailed with\nAndromeda to the island where his mother was.  He found her in sore\ndistress, for the king of the island had tried to compel her to marry\nhim, and she had fled for refuge to the altar.  Those who took refuge\nat an altar were under the protection of the gods as long as they\nremained there, and no one dared to touch them; but the king\ncommanded that no one should bring Dana\u00eb anything to eat, and he\nplaced watchmen all round to see that his orders were obeyed, for he\nthought that when she was absolutely starving the would be compelled\nto leave the altar, and then he would be able to seize her and make\nher his wife.  But at this moment Perseus arrived at the island in\nhis ship, and when he heard where his mother was, he went to her, and\nshe told him everything, which made him very angry.  The treacherous\nking heard that Perseus had come back, and he was afraid, and\nsummoned his servants to go with him to the altar to kill Perseus.\nThen Perseus again drew forth the head of Medusa and turned them all\nto stone, and he gave the kingdom to the king's brother, who had\nalways been kind to Dana\u00eb.\n\n{102}\n\nDana\u00eb had a great love for her father, although he had thrust her\naway from him, and as Perseus also wished very much to see his\ngrandfather, they determined to pay him a visit, and they sailed with\nAndromeda to Argos in the ship that Cepheus had given them.  But when\nthe old Acrisius heard that his daughter and her son were coming, he\nwas afraid, for he remembered what the Oracle had said, and he left\nthe country, telling no one where he was going; so that when the ship\nreached Argos, Acrisius was not there.  And as it happened that a\nrich king had lately died, and that games were to be celebrated in\nhis honour, Perseus thought he would go and take part in these games,\nfor anyone could go that liked, and those who did best would receive\nprizes by which their names would become known and honoured\nthroughout Greece.  Acrisius also went to the games, for he wanted to\nsee what was going on, and he thought that there he would surely be\nsafe from his grandson.  No one knew who Perseus was, but he excelled\nall others and won the best prizes.  One of the things they did was\nto try who could throw farthest a plate of stone called a discus.\nPerseus was just going to take his turn at throwing the discus, when\nit slipped out of his hand, and flying sideways, hit the old Acrisius\non the head and killed him.  Thus it happened that Acrisius was\nrunning to meet his fate at the very moment when he thought he was\nescaping from it.  Perseus was very sorrowful when he heard that it\nwas his grandfather, the king of Argos, whom he had killed\naccidentally, and he had the corpse brought to Argos and buried with\ngreat magnificence.  The kingdom of Argos was now his, but he could\nnever {103} forget that he had killed his grandfather, and this made\nthe country so distasteful to him that he was glad to exchange with\nanother king who ruled over the cities of Mycenae and Tiryns.\n\nPerseus gave the three precious things by means of which he had\nobtained the head of Medusa, to Hermes, to be returned to the nymphs,\nand the Gorgon's head he presented to the goddess Athene, who\nfastened it to her shield.  He lived honoured and esteemed to the end\nof his days, and his wife Andromeda bore him many beautiful children.\n\n\n\n\n{104}\n\nXXVI.\n\nHERACLES.\n\n1. _The War with the Teleboae._\n\nPerseus had been dead a long time, and his son Electryon who\nsucceeded him as king was already an old man, when a dispute arose\nbetween him and a nephew of his named Pterelaus.  Pterelaus was king\nof the Teleboae, who lived on several islands, and he maintained that\nhe had a better right to the cities of Mycenae and Tiryns than\nElectryon, because he was descended from the eldest son of Perseus;\nand one day he sent his sons, and many of the Teleboae with them, in\nships to Mycenae, and told them to say to Electryon that he must be\nprepared to give up the kingdom to him.  Electryon was very angry,\nand sent the Teleboae away without paying any attention to their\nmessage.  They left the city, but on their way back to their ships\nthey came upon the king's droves of cattle which were tended by his\nsons and servants, and they began to fight with them, and the fight\ndid not stop till all the sons of Electryon were killed but one, and\nalso all the sons of Pterelaus except one, who had remained behind\nwith the ships and had taken no part in the fight.  The Teleboae had\nhowever got rather the best {105} of it, and those of them who were\nleft drove the cattle to their ships and sailed away.  Some time\nafterwards it happened that Electryon got back his cattle, for the\nTeleboae had given them as a present to a king who paid them to him\nfor ransom; but the cattle could not make up for the loss of his sons\nfor whom he grieved bitterly, and he determined to be revenged on\nPterelaus and told his servants to prepare to start with him for the\nislands of the Teleboae.\n\nThere was at that time at Mycenae a young hero named Amphitryon, who\nhad come to ask for the hand of Electryon's daughter Alcmene in\nmarriage, and it was arranged that he should have charge of the\nkingdom during the absence of Electryon.  But one day, just before\nthe king was to start on his expedition, it happened that he was\noverlooking his flocks with Amphitryon, when the young hero threw his\nstick at a cow that was leaving the herd, and the stick bounded back\nby accident from the cow's horns and hit the aged Electryon on the\nhead, so that he was killed instantly.  Amphitryon was obliged to\nleave the kingdom on account of this unintentional murder, and he\nwent to Thebes, where King Creon purged him from the stain of blood\nby means of numerous sacrifices.  During his absence, however, a\nbrother of Electryon, named Sthenelus, contrived to gain possession\nof the kingdom for himself, and to banish the two children of\nElectryon,--his daughter Alcmene, and the one son who had not been\nkilled by the Teleboae.  They were obliged to give way to Sthenelus,\nwho was stronger than they, and came to live in Thebes where\nAmphitryon was, but Alcmene said that though she loved him she would\nnever marry {106} him till he had avenged the murder of her brothers.\nAmphitryon accordingly prepared to march against the Teleboae, and\nsought to find brave heroes who would consent to go with him.\n\nHe first of all asked King Creon for his help, but Creon was just\nthen in great trouble at home, for a fox had for some time taken up\nhis abode in the fortress Cadmea, and had devoured numbers of people;\nhe was under the protection of the gods, and it had been decreed by\nthe Fates that he should never be caught.  So the Thebans, finding\nthat they could not get rid of him, had made a truce with him by\nwhich they agreed to give him a boy every month to devour, and on\nthis condition he spared the rest of the people.  Creon therefore\npromised to go with Amphitryon if he would first help him to deliver\nthe country from the terrible fox.  Now Amphitryon had heard that\nthere was a wonderful dog in Athens which was also under the\nprotection of the gods, and that it had been decreed that nothing\nthat he pursued would ever escape him; so he went to the hero who\nowned the dog, and promised him a share of the spoil which he hoped\nto bring back from the islands of the Teleboae if he would lend him\nthe dog for a time, and the hero agreed to do so.  Amphitryon took\nthe dog back to Thebes and set out with him in pursuit of the fox,\nand the dog ran after him as fast as lightning.  The Thebans thought\nthat now one or other of the prophecies must prove false; either the\nfox who was never to be caught would be overtaken, or the dog who was\nnever to pursue in vain would be battled.  But when the dog had got\nso close to the fox that he was on the point of snapping at him, they\nboth {107} remained motionless, and the Thebans saw that they had\nbeen turned to stone.\n\nThen Creon said that he was quite willing to accompany Amphitryon,\nand the hero of Athens agreed to go also, and many other heroes, and\nthey all embarked for the islands of the Teleboae, but they could not\nconquer King Pterelaus, for he had many soldiers and knew well the\nart of war.  The daughter of Pterelaus, however, had seen Amphitryon\nfrom the city walls and had conceived a great love for him which made\nher secretly sorry when the Teleboae conquered, and glad when one day\nthey were the losers; and she resolved to betray her father and her\nfellow-citizens into the hands of Amphitryon, because she thought\nthat if she helped him to gain the victory, he would feel grateful to\nher and would make her his wife.  Now Pterelaus was immortal through\nthe good-will of Poseidon, who had given him a golden hair which he\nkept carefully hidden away under his grey locks, for it had the power\nof keeping him alive.  But one day while he was asleep, his daughter\ncame in on tiptoe, sought for the golden hair and pulled it out,--and\nimmediately his breath stopped short, and Pterelaus was dead.\n\nThe Teleboae could no longer resist their enemies now that they were\ndeprived of the advice of their wise king, and in a short time\nAmphitryon had gained possession of the chief town and of all the\nislands, and had avenged upon the Teleboae the slaughter of the sons\nof Electryon.  The daughter of Pterelaus thought that she would now\nbe the wife of Amphitryon, but things turned out very differently\nfrom her expectations, for as soon as Amphitryon saw her, he drew his\nsword and {108} stabbed her; he knew that she had killed her father,\nbut he did not know why she had done so.  Then the heroes carried the\nbooty to their ships and sailed away home.\n\n\n\n\n2. _The Birth and Youth of Heracles._\n\nAlcmene was so very beautiful that Zeus, the king of the gods, loved\nher, and when Amphitryon was far away with the other heroes, Zeus\ntook his form and went to Alcmene.  He acted and spoke just like\nAmphitryon, and told her all about the battles and how they had won\nthe victory, and he even showed her the helmets and shields of the\nTeleboae, for he had made Hermes, the messenger of the gods, steal\nthem from the booty of Amphitryon.  Alcmene had no suspicion that it\nwas any other than her lover who had come back after fulfilling her\nwishes with regard to the Teleboae, and she promised to marry him\nthat very day; and Zeus kissed her and became her husband.  Some time\nafter this, Amphitryon returned to Thebes and was very much\nastonished when Alcmene told him that she had already been married to\nhim.  They could not understand it, and asked the seer Tiresias what\nit meant.  He told them that it was Zeus in the form of Amphitryon\nwho had been with Alcmene, and the Theban women thought it was a\ngreat honour for her to have been married for a time to the king of\nthe gods.  The wedding was now celebrated over again, and all the\nheroes who had been to the war with the Teleboae feasted with\nAmphitryon and Alcmene till far into the night.  Some time\nafterwards, Alcmene had two children whom she named Heracles and\nIphicles; {109} one was the son of Zeus, and the other the son of\nAmphitryon.  There was no difficulty in knowing which was the child\nof the god, for Heracles was far bigger than such young children\nusually are.  Gods and men took pleasure in the fine strong child,\nall but the goddess Hera, who hated him, and even before his birth\nbegan to do all she could to injure him.  Zeus had decreed that the\nnext child born of the race of Perseus should rule over the cities of\nMycenae and Tiryns, thinking that this would be Heracles, for Alcmene\nwas the granddaughter of Perseus; but Hera persuaded the goddesses\nwho arranged about the birth of children to let a son of Sthenelus,\nAlcmene's uncle, be born first.  His father named him Eurystheus, and\nas he had been born before Heracles, he became king of the two cities\nof Mycenae and Tiryns after the death of Sthenelus.\n\nHeracles was about eight months old, when one morning, just as it was\nbeginning to grow light, Hera sent two great snakes into the room\nwhere he was sleeping, near the bed of Alcmene, in one of the shields\nwhich Amphitryon had brought back from the country of the Teleboae as\npart of the spoil.  The snakes crept into the shield and began to\ntwine themselves round the child.  Just then Alcmene woke, and she\njumped up and ran to call the people of the house to kill the snakes,\nthough she was afraid it was even then too late, and that the child\nmust have already been crushed to death by them.  But when she came\nback with the others, she saw Heracles sitting up in the shield and\nholding one of the snakes in each hand; he had seized them each by\nthe neck, and was squeezing them so tight that their tongues were\nhanging out, and very {110} soon they were dead.  Then he threw them\naway and went to sleep again; and the Thebans knew that a mighty hero\nhad been born in their city.\n\nWhen Heracles grew older, he learned all the things that heroes need\nto know,--how to guide the war-chariot, how to use the spear and bow,\nand how to fight with the fist and the sword.  He was taught all this\nby the noblest heroes, and also by a Centaur named Chiron, who, like\nall the Centaurs, had a curious form--half of their body was that of\na man, and the other half that of a horse.  Chiron had been specially\ngifted with immortality, and he was very wise, and taught Heracles\nmany things, especially how to know the stars, and how to heal\nwounds, and he told him stories of the gods and of the old heroes.\n\nHeracles could easily be distinguished from all other men, for when\nhe was eighteen years old he measured eight feet in height, and he\nhad marvellous strength, and his eyes glittered like coals of fire.\nHe had moreover a generous nature, and was always ready to help all\ntrue and good men.  Amphitryon made him keeper of his flocks which\npastured on Mount Cithaeron, and never before had such a lordly\nherdsman been seen.  It happened once that a lion took up his abode\non the mountain, and broke in among the flocks, and Heracles thought\nto himself, 'If I were to kill the lion, my flocks would not only be\nable to feed in safety, but I should also get a handsome skin to\ndress myself in.'  So he set out for the mountain-passes where the\nlion had his lair, armed with nothing but a strong stick and a knife.\nWhen he came to the lion's cave, the huge beast sprang out upon him,\nbut Heracles gave him a {111} good blow on the nose which made him\nstagger back, and when he had nearly beaten him to death with his\nstick, he finally gave him a mortal blow with the knife.  Then he sat\ndown quietly, and cut open the body of the lion and took off the\nskin, which he put on as a cloak as soon as it was dry.  The jaws\ncovered his head like a helmet, while the rest of the skin fell from\nhis shoulders to his knees, and he twisted the fore-feet into a knot\nover his chest in order to prevent the wind from blowing it off.  In\nthis fashion he came down from the mountain, and anyone who had seen\nhim from behind would have thought that a lion had grown out of his\nshoulders.  It never occurred to him, however, that he had done\nanything out of the way in killing the lion.\n\nSome time afterwards, there came along the road some men who had been\nsent by Erginus, the king of the powerful Minyae, to demand tribute\nfrom the Thebans.  Ten years before this a Theban had thrown a stone\nat the father of Erginus and hit him on the head, so that he was\ncarried home dying.  Before he expired he charged his son to avenge\nhis blood, and Erginus made war upon the Thebans and killed a number\nof them.  He had also made them give him a hundred cows every year\nfor the last nine years, and the messengers were now on their way to\nfetch the tribute for the tenth time.  Heracles asked them who they\nwere and where they were going, and when he heard that they were the\nmessengers of the Minyae, his blood boiled so that he grew quite red\nin the face, for it angered him to think that the city of Thebes, to\nwhich he himself belonged, should pay tribute to a foreign {112}\nking.  He told the messengers to return and never come again, and\nwhen they refused to obey, he threw them on the ground,\nnotwithstanding their numbers, and tied their hands behind their\nbacks; then he cut off their ears and noses, and told them to take\nthese to the king for tribute.  Thus outraged, the messengers\nreturned and entreated the king to avenge them, and Erginus swore\nthat he would not leave a man alive in Thebes, nor one stone upon\nanother.  But Heracles went to Thebes and called the citizens to\narms, saying that he would be their leader.  The gods equipped him\nright gloriously for the fight: Hermes gave him a sword, Apollo a bow\nand arrows, Hephaestus trappings of pure gold, and Athene a coat of\nmail.  But a sword was too light and delicate a weapon for the\npowerful hand of Heracles, so he went out into the forest and tore up\na stout young oaktree, which he trimmed and used as a club.  When the\nbattle began, Heracles looked, in comparison with the Minyae, like a\nlion among a flock of sheep.  He killed King Erginus and put his army\nto flight, and obliged the Minyae to give the Thebans two hundred\ncows every year tor the future.  King Creon had a beautiful daughter\nnamed Megara, and he gave her to Heracles for a wife out of gratitude\nto him for having conquered the Minyae.\n\n\n\n\n3. _The Madness of Heracles, and his First Six Labours._\n\nHeracles loved his wife very dearly, and the gods sent them three\nbeautiful children, all of whom were sons.  They lived a peaceful and\nhappy life together, Heracles went out hunting and killed wild\nbeasts, and when he {113} came home he played with his children.  But\nHera still hated him, and she one day afflicted him with such\nterrible madness that in his delusion he seized his children and\nthrew them into the fire, so that they perished miserably.  When the\nmadness left him he could hardly endure life, so distressed was he at\nwhat he had done, and he could not bear to remain in the place where\nsuch a misfortune had happened to him.  He left Thebes and went,\nfirst of all, to a man who knew how to purge him from the stain of\nblood; then he betook himself to Delphi and asked the Pythia where he\nmust live in the future.  The Pythia answered, 'Go to Mycenae and\nserve King Eurystheus for twelve years; allow him to impose upon you\ntwelve hard Labours, and accomplish these to the best of your power.'\nHeracles was well pleased with this sentence, and was quite willing\nto perform the most difficult tasks, even such as would be set him by\na deadly enemy like Eurystheus who hated and feared Heracles,\nthinking that he would some day take away the kingdom from him\nbecause it had belonged to his own grandfather Electryon.  Heracles\nwent to Mycenae and said to Eurystheus that he would serve him for\nthe space of twelve years, and that during that time he would\naccomplish any twelve tasks that Eurystheus might choose to set him.\nThe king was very glad to hear this, and he at once commanded\nHeracles to bring him the skin of the Nemean lion, hoping that he\nwould perish in trying to secure it.\n\nThe Nemean lion had his lair near the town of Nemea, and his fame had\nspread far and wide.  He had never bled from a wound, for his skin\nwas so thick that no steel could pierce it.  Heracles set out in\npursuit of {114} the lion, and when he had found him, he shot at him\nwith his bow and arrows, but they bounded off as if from the hardest\nstone.  Finding that the arrows were of no use, Heracles then\nattacked him with his club, but the lion did not care to fight with\nhim and ran away into the thickest part of the forest.  Heracles ran\nafter him, and chased him from morning till night.  At last he came\nto a great cave and ran in there.  Heracles noticed that the cave had\nanother mouth, and he thought to himself, 'If I were to go in after\nhim, he would still be able to escape.'  So he first of all brought\nstones and blocked up one of the entrances, while the lion, who had\nnever run so far before in one day, lay quietly in the dark inside,\ntired and frightened, and then he went into the cave and wrestled\nwith him.  The roaring of the lion echoed horribly from the walls of\nthe cave, but Heracles was not frightened, and he wound his arm round\nthe neck of the beast and pressed him with all his might against his\nown body until he died.  Heracles could not take off his skin for he\nhad brought no knife with him, so he hoisted the whole lion on to his\nshoulders, and went back to Mycenae.  When he threw the huge beast on\nto the ground before Eurystheus, the king turned pale for his bad\nconscience made him afraid, and he thought, 'If he can strangle a\nlion like this, he would certainly not find it difficult to make an\nend of me.'  So he at once sent him off to perform his second Labour,\nwhich was to destroy the Lernean Hydra, and during his absence he had\nan iron room built under the earth that looked like a cage for wild\nbeasts, for it had a grating of iron bars.  This was for {115}\nEurystheus to get into when Heracles came back, in order that he\nmight speak to him through the grating, so terribly afraid was he of\nthe strong man.\n\nHeracles set out in a war chariot, taking with him his young cousin\nIolaus as his charioteer, and they soon came to the marshy district\nnear the town of Lerne, where the Hydra lived.  The Hydra was a huge\nsnake with one body and nine heads, the centre one of which was\nimmortal.  She devoured any men or beasts that came near her, and\ndestroyed the fields of corn.  She had her den in a cavern close by a\nclear running stream, and when Heracles and Iolaus arrived at the\nplace, she was lying stretched out on the ground, for she had just\nswallowed a few cows.  She looked at the heroes with all her staring\neyes, but did not move, because she was not hungry.  However Heracles\ndid not care to wait, so he threw burning javelins at her, which\nscorched her skin and made her furious with pain.  She crept out of\nthe cavern and glided up a tall oak tree, and all her nine heads shot\ndown venom at Heracles from above him.  But Heracles was on the\nalert; he held his club in his right hand, and twined his left arm\nround the Hydra just at the place where the ninefold neck grew out of\nher body, and when she lashed her tail about, he pressed her still\nmore tightly against himself, so that she would have been only too\nglad to run away if she could.  Now the Hydra had formed a friendship\nwith a great lobster, and he, seeing that his friend was in danger,\ncrept up to Heracles and scratched his foot with his claws.  But he\ngot decidedly the worst of it, for Heracles smote his shell with his\nclub and broke it into a thousand pieces, so that the {116} poor\nlobster died.  Then Heracles heaved a mighty blow on one of the\nHydra's nine heads and struck it off, but two new heads immediately\nsprang from the bleeding neck, and every time he smote off a head,\ntwo more sprang up to replace it.  Heracles now saw that he must set\nto work in a different manner, so he told Iolaus to set the forest on\nfire, and to pass a piece of burning wood over each neck as soon as\nhe had cut off the head.  In this way all the roots from which the\nheads grew were burnt away, and Heracles was thus able to kill all\nthe heads that were mortal.  The last was immortal, but he hewed it\noff also, and buried it, and rolled a huge stone on to the top of it.\nAfter this, there came a rain which extinguished the burning forest.\nThe gall of the Hydra was the worst poison in the world, so Heracles\ncut open the Hydra's body and dipped his arrows into the gall, which\nmade them absolutely deadly: if a man were only scratched even, by an\narrow poisoned in this way, he must die.\n\nEurystheus was in his cage when Heracles came back from his conflict\nwith the Hydra, and he commanded him to catch the Ceryneian hind, and\nbring her alive to Mycenae.  This hind was under the protection of\nArtemis the goddess of the chase, and was very beautiful: her coat\nwas milk-white, and her horns were of the purest gold.  She could run\nso fast that the wind was quite out of breath when he tried to race\nwith her, and, after having run the whole day long, she would skip\nabout quite merrily without being in the least tired.  At the command\nof Eurystheus, Heracles gave chase to her, and they took neither rest\nnor food, nor did they need rain or sunshine, but ran on day and\n{117} night without stopping for a whole year.  At last they came to\na river, and while the hind was hesitating whether she should jump\ninto it, Heracles quickly took an unpoisoned arrow and shot at her.\nThe purple-red blood flowed out over her little white coat, and she\ngroaned with pain.  She forgot to run away, and Heracles was able to\nseize her.  He had only wounded her slightly with the arrow because\nhe did not want to do her any harm, and now he laid cooling herbs\nupon the wound, and placing the hind on his shoulder, he carried her\nto Mycenae, and as soon as Eurystheus had seen her, he set her free\nagain and let her run back into the forest.\n\nThat was the third Labour of Heracles.  For the fourth, Eurystheus\ncommanded him to catch the Erymanthian boar alive.  This boar lived\non Mount Erymanthus, and no huntsman who had tried to kill him had\never come back alive, for the boar had always ripped open his body\nwith his tusks.\n\nOn his way to Mount Erymanthus, Heracles came to the country of the\nCentaurs.  They were a savage, unfriendly race, who had no regard for\nthe duties of hospitality; but one of them, named Pholus, was better\nthan the others, and he gave Heracles shelter in his cave.  He made a\nfire and roasted a calf for his guest, but he himself ate raw meat as\nhe was accustomed to do.  Heracles enjoyed his meal very much for the\nlong journey had made him hungry, and as he was also thirsty, he\nasked the Centaur for a draught of wine.  Pholus said, 'It is true\nthat I have a great cask of wine in my cave, but it belongs to all\nthe Centaurs in common, and if they knew that you had drunk any of\nit, they {118} might kill you.'  But Heracles said he was not afraid,\nso Pholus rolled out the cask and drew some wine from it.  But the\nwine had such a strong odour that the Centaurs smelt it, and they all\ncame to the cavern with clubs and spears to kill Heracles.  At first\nhe defended himself with firebrands only, as he did not wish to do\nmore than drive them away, but finding that they would not leave him\nalone, he seized his bow and shot at them with the poisoned arrows,\nand everyone who was hit fell down dead.  When the others saw that,\nthey took to flight, but Heracles had by this time grown furious, and\nvowing that he would not leave one of them alive, he pursued them,\nand they could not escape from his arrows.  In their distress they\nran to the wise Centaur Chiron who had been the teacher of Heracles,\nand embraced his knees, entreating him to ask Heracles to have mercy\non them.  But Heracles would not stop shooting, and only took care\nnot to hit Chiron, and his eye was so true that he could be sure of\nhitting nothing that he did not aim at.  But an arrow went right\nthrough the arm of one of the Centaurs who had embraced Chiron's\nknees, and its point grazed his skin.  Heracles was very much\ndistressed, he threw his bow down on the ground, and ran to get herbs\nthat heal poisonous wounds.  But no herb had any power to heal the\nHydra's poison, and Chiron suffered horrible torture, so that his\nimmortality was a burden to him.  Then he prayed to Zeus to take away\nhis immortality, and Zeus heard him and allowed him to die.  But\nHeracles did not stay with him till his death, for he was now more\nangry with the Centaurs than ever, and he ran after them and overtook\nthem.  They would all {119} have perished if Poseidon had not had\npity on them and caused a wall of granite to spring up suddenly out\nof the earth round the Centaurs to protect them from him.  Then\nHeracles was obliged to leave them, and he turned back and went on\nhis way with a heavy heart, full of sad thoughts about Chiron.  As\nsoon as he was out of sight, the wall sank back into the earth, and\nthe Centaurs were able to go home in peace.\n\nWhen Heracles reached the foot of Mount Erymanthus he prepared a\nnoose in which to catch the wild boar, and soon afterwards he saw him\nsharpening his tusks against an oak tree.  Heracles raised a cry\nwhich made the whole forest echo, and the strong boar took to flight.\nIt was winter, and the upper part of the mountain was covered with\ndeep snow.  Heracles chased the boar up the mountain till he had\ndriven him into a snow-field, through which the wild beast plodded\npanting, till he was quite tired out and could go no further, and\nthen Heracles slipped the noose over his neck and secured him.  Then\nhe tied his feet together and threw him, feet uppermost, over his\nleft shoulder, putting his arm round his neck to prevent him from\nusing his tusks, and in this manner he journeyed back to Mycenae.\nMost men would not have thought it very cheerful work to travel with\nsuch a companion, but Heracles was not at all concerned; on the\ncontrary, it was the boar who was trembling.  Heracles showed the\nboar to Eurystheus through the grating, and then killed him.\n\nHeracles now set out to perform his fifth Labour, and this time his\ntask was to cleanse the stables of Augeas in a single day.  Augeas\nwas a rich king of {120} Elis, who had three thousand cattle.  At\nnight the cattle always stood in a great court surrounded with walls,\nclose to the king's palace, and as it was quite ten years since the\nservants had cleaned it out, there was enough refuse in the court to\nbuild up a high mountain.  Heracles went to Augeas and asked if he\nwould give him the tenth part of his flocks if he thoroughly cleansed\nhis stables in a single day.  The king looked upon this as such an\nabsolutely impossible feat that he would not have minded promising\nhis kingdom as a reward for it, so he laughed and said, 'Set to work,\nwe shall not quarrel about the wages,' and he further promised\ndistinctly to give Heracles what he asked, and this he did in the\npresence of Phyleus, his eldest son, who happened to be there.  The\nnext morning Heracles set to work, but even his strong arms would\nhave failed to accomplish the task if they had not been aided by his\nmother-wit.  He compelled a mighty torrent to work for him, but you\nwould hardly guess how he did it.  First he opened great gates on two\nopposite sides of the court, and then he went to the stream, and when\nhe had blocked up its regular course with great stones, he conducted\nit to the court that required to be cleansed, so that the water\nstreamed in at one end and streamed out at the other, carrying away\nall the dirt with it.  Before evening the stream had done its work\nand was restored to its usual course.\n\nBut when Heracles demanded his reward, Augeas denied that he had\npromised it.  However he said that he would summon a court of justice\nand would abide by its decision, for he thought to himself, 'The only\none who heard me make the promise is my son, and he {121} will not\nwitness against me.'  A number of wise old men were accordingly\nsummoned to the palace to be judges, and Phyleus was called upon to\nwitness.  But Phyleus cared more for justice than for his father's\nadvantage, and he said that Augeas had promised the tenth part of his\nflocks to Heracles as a reward for cleansing the stables.  Then\nAugeas grew furious, and would not allow the judges to pronounce the\nsentence, but banished both Heracles and Phyleus from the country,\nthreatening that if ever they were caught in his kingdom they would\nforfeit their lives.  Heracles went away without his reward, but he\npromised himself that when the twelve Labours were accomplished, he\nwould come back and punish the king for his faithlessness.\n\nAgain Heracles set out at the command of Eurystheus, and this time he\nhad to drive away the Stymphalian birds,--this was his sixth Labour.\nNear the city of Stymphalus, in the land of Arcadia, there was a\ngreat lake, whose shores were covered with very dense forests where\ncountless birds had built their nests.  These birds were as large as\ncranes, and very thievish, and there was such a number of them that\nif they had all flown out at once and assembled above the water, it\nwould have been pitch-dark all over the great lake.  Heracles went to\nthe edge of the lake and listened to the noise that the birds made,\nbut he could not get at them, for they kept themselves hidden among\nthe thick boughs where no arrow could reach them.  Heracles could not\nthink of any means of chasing them from among the trees, and was\nalmost in despair, when the goddess Athene, who loved all good and\nbrave men, {122} came to his assistance.  She gave him a great iron\nrattle that Hephaestus had made, and when Heracles shook it, it made\nsuch a fearful noise that all the birds flew out screaming.  Then\nHeracles shot arrow after arrow among them; a great many of them fell\ndead into the lake, and the rest were so much frightened that they\nflew far away and never came back again.\n\n\n\n\n4. _The Last Six Labours._\n\nThe seventh Labour that Eurystheus imposed upon Heracles was to bring\nthe Cretan bull to Mycenae.  In the island of Crete lived King Minos,\nwho was very wise, and who was allowed to hold intercourse with the\ngods.  One day, when the Cretans were on the seashore offering\nsacrifices to Poseidon, the king prayed that Poseidon would send him\na bull out of the sea for sacrifice, for he wanted to show the\nCretans what great regard the gods had for him.  Immediately there\ncame, borne to the shore upon the swelling waves, a most beautiful\nbull, and Minos was so fascinated by its beauty that he did not keep\nhis word, but sacrificed another bull and put the one that came out\nof the sea among his flocks.  Poseidon punished him by making the\nbull mad; he killed the herdsmen and escaped into the forest, and did\nso much damage that the king repented of having broken his word.\nWhen Heracles came to him and said that he wanted to catch the bull,\nMinos gladly supplied him with ropes and spears, for he would not\nhave minded paying a heavy price in order to get the plague removed\nfrom the country.  Heracles went into the forest and soon found his\nway to the bull, {123} for he was guided to him by the bellowing he\nmade.  When he came near, he threw a spear at him in order to\nirritate him.  The bull ran at him furiously, lowering his horns to\ntoss him into the air, but Heracles waited quietly till he came up,\nand then he seized his horns and held them fast, so that the bull\ncould not raise his head again.  They went on for some time pulling\nat each other, and the bull dragged Heracles about from place to\nplace, bellowing horribly all the time.  He was a huge powerful\nanimal, but he could not get his horns free, and only tired himself\nto no purpose.  At last he was quite exhausted, and Heracles made a\nhalter out of the rope he had brought with him and wound it round his\nneck, and the bull followed him quite quietly.  The Cretans ran\ntogether to look at the strong man leading the fierce bull, and were\nastonished to see the bull walking so quietly by his side.  Heracles\ngot into his ship and sailed back to Mycenae with the bull, and when\nhe had led him through the city, he let him go free.  You will hear\nmore of him again by-and-by.[1]\n\nThe eighth Labour of Heracles was that of procuring the horses of\nDiomedes.  Diomedes was a king of Thrace, a savage and cruel man, who\ncared for nothing in the world but his fierce horses which he fed\nupon human flesh; and every stranger that came into his country was\nthrown to the horses.  Heracles knew that he would not be able to\nobtain the horses unless he first conquered the king and his people,\nand he therefore took with him a number of brave heroes who were glad\nto accompany him on this expedition.  As soon as the ship landed in\nThrace, the heroes went to the stables, killed {124} the keeper, and\nbrought away the horses; one of them was going to bite, but Heracles\ngave him such a sound blow that he had something else to think of.\nThey had almost reached the shore, when they looked back and saw King\nDiomedes coming after them followed by a number of soldiers, so they\ntied up the horses and turned round again.  Then a fierce battle took\nplace, for the Thracians were a warlike people, but at last they were\nall killed, and their king made prisoner.  Heracles said that he\nshould die by the same death that he had inflicted on others, and he\nloosed the horses of Diomedes and gave him to them to devour.  The\nking cried out in an agony to his horses, 'Have I not been kind to\nyou and taken care of you?'  But they had become so fierce through\neating human flesh that they did not spare even their own master.\nOne tore off his arm, another bit him in the chest, and a third in\nthe thigh, and they soon tore him to pieces, so that he perished\nmiserably.  Heracles then caught the horses again and took them home,\nand when he had shown them to Eurystheus, he drove them to the foot\nof Mount Olympus where they were devoured by wild beasts.\n\nKing Eurystheus had a daughter, who was continually begging him to\nprocure for her the girdle of the Queen of the Amazons.  This\nbeautiful girdle was world-famed; it had been given to the queen by\nAres, the god of war, and she wore it as a mark of royalty.\nEurystheus knew that to secure the queen's girdle would be a task of\ngreat danger and difficulty, and therefore he told Heracles that this\nwas to be his ninth Labour.  So Heracles again set sail with his\ncompanions, and they journeyed for many days till they came to the\n{125} country of the Amazons, who lived in Asia, near the river\nThermodon.  There were no men amongst them, but they were all women,\nand very remarkable women, too.  They liked war better than anything\nelse, and were so well skilled in riding and in shooting with the bow\nthat no army was feared so much as the army of the Amazons.  When\nHeracles reached their country, they happened to be in a meadow near\nthe sea practising with their weapons of war,--all but the queen, who\nwas sitting on the shore looking out over the sea, with her girdle\nglittering in the sunshine.  When she saw the ship coming, she\nwondered who could be the strangers that ventured into her country,\nand most of all she marvelled at the sight of Heracles who was\nstanding in the fore-part of the ship, dressed in his lion's skin and\ngrasping his club.  She asked him who he was and what he wanted, and\nhe answered, 'I am Heracles, the son of Zeus, and I am performing\nhard labours in the service of Eurystheus; he has sent me here to\nfetch your girdle and take it back to Mycenae.'  When the queen heard\nthat it was Heracles, whose deeds were spoken of all over the world,\nshe said that she would make him a present of the girdle, and came\ntowards the ship to greet him, holding out her hand.  But Hera would\nnot allow Heracles to carry off the girdle without a struggle, and\ntaking the form of an Amazon, she went to the meadow where the others\nwere, and called out to them, 'A stranger is going to rob our queen.'\nThey all rushed down to the shore and began to shoot at the\nstrangers, killing many a brave man; but when Heracles saw that they\ntreated him and his followers as enemies, he thought that the queen\nhad meant to act treacherously, {126} and he slew her, and shot at\nthe Amazons with his arrows, and killed so many of them that they\nwere soon obliged to fly.  He took the girdle from off the dead queen\nand laid her corpse on the shore, and after the ship had sailed away,\nthe Amazons came and buried her.\n\nSome days after this, the heroes landed at the city of Troy, where\nthey found all the people very sorrowful because an innocent maiden\nwas to suffer death on account of the crime of her father Laomedon,\nthe king of Troy.  The gods Poseidon and Apollo, in order to try\nLaomedon, had entered into an engagement with him, by which they\nundertook to build a wall round the city that could never be\ndestroyed.  The wall was soon finished, but Laomedon, who was very\nmiserly and who did not know that he had to deal with gods instead of\nmen, refused to give the reward that had been agreed upon.  Both the\ngods punished him for this.  Apollo sent a pestilence into the land\nwhich destroyed both men and cattle, and Poseidon created a monster\nwho came up every day out of the sea, and laid waste the fields\ndevouring every living thing that he met with.  Even after the\npestilence had ceased, the monster still came every day, and took his\nfill of blood.  The Trojans asked the Oracle how they could get rid\nof him, and the Oracle answered that the king's young daughter\nHesione must be given him to eat.  The Trojans were very fond of the\nbeautiful maiden, but as they were all in danger of perishing, they\ndemanded of Laomedon that he should give up his daughter as a victim.\nThe king shed many tears, but at last he consented, and when the\nheroes landed, Hesione had just been brought to the {127} shore, and\nchained to a rock at the spot where the monster was accustomed to\nleave the sea.  Heracles heard from the Trojans how it had all\nhappened, and he went to the king and said that if he would give him\nthe two horses he had received from Zeus, he would slay the monster.\nThese horses had been given to Laomedon by Zeus to make up for the\nloss of his son Ganymede, a most beautiful boy, whom Zeus had caused\nhis sacred eagle to steal away and carry off to Mount Olympus, where\nGanymede lived from that time with the gods, gifted with immortality\nand eternal youth.  When Heracles demanded these horses as his reward\nfor rescuing Hesione, Laomedon did not hesitate to promise them,\nthough they were the most beautiful horses in all the world, for he\nfelt willing to part with anything he possessed in order to save his\ndaughter.  Then Heracles placed himself by the side of Hesione with a\nnaked sword in his hand, and when the horrible monster came out of\nthe sea, opening his huge jaws to devour the maiden, Heracles jumped\ndown his throat and wriggled himself down into his body, and then he\ncut away all his entrails, so that the monster rolled about on the\nground in pain, howling horribly.  When Heracles thought he was dead,\nhe crept up again out of the body and washed himself clean in the\nsea.  The king was very glad that his daughter was saved, but avarice\nagain took possession of him and prevented him from keeping his\npromise to Heracles.  He tried to deceive him with fair speeches, but\nHeracles understood perfectly well that he was a faithless man, and\nhe told him that he would return and punish him.\n\nHeracles sailed back to Mycenae, and gave the girdle {128} of the\nQueen of the Amazons to Eurystheus.  The king gave it to his daughter\nwho was very much pleased with it, and at the same time he told\nHeracles that for his tenth Labour he was to fetch the cattle of\nGeryon.  Wonderful stories had been brought by sailors of an island\nin the stream Oceanus, near the setting sun, where there lived a king\nnamed Geryon who possessed the strength of three men, for he had\nthree bodies, six arms, and six legs.  The sailors also told of the\nking's wonderful reddish-brown cattle which formed the chief part of\nhis riches, and how no one dared to rob his flocks, because they were\nguarded day and night by a dog with two heads, who barked until he\nhad roused a strong herdsman by whom the robber was killed without\nmuch loss of time.\n\nHeracles set out to look for the island, and went on and on towards\nthe West till he came to countries where the people were quite savage\nand barbarous.  By-and-by he reached the extreme end of Europe where\nAfrica is only separated from it by a narrow channel, and as he\nwished to leave some token to show how far he had journeyed, he broke\noff two huge rocks and set them up in the sea, and ever since that\ntime, the sailors who pass through these two mountains of rock look\nup at them and say, 'Those are the Pillars of Heracles.'  At last he\ncame to the end of the land, and as he stood on the shore wondering\nhow he should manage to reach the island of Geryon, the sun, which is\nmuch hotter in those parts than it is here, smote upon his head.\nThis annoyed him very much, and as he was in the habit of paying back\nanyone who did him an injury, he now took his bow and arrows and shot\nat the sun-god.  But {129} instead of being angry with him, Helios\nthe sun-god admired him for his boldness in being so ready to fight\neven with gods, and he came down and gave him the golden shell in\nwhich he travels from West to East in the evening after sunset.  It\nwas an exceedingly large shell, and Heracles sailed over the sea in\nit till he came to the island of Geryon.  The beautiful herd was in a\nmeadow where the grass stood so high that it reached far above their\nknees.  When Heracles came to the herd, the great dog started up,\nbarking out of his two heads, but Heracles quickly put an end to\nthat, for he gave him such a blow with his club that his backbone was\nbroken through.  The herdsman had however already awoke, and he came\nrunning down, intending to kill the robber as he had killed many a\none before, but this time he himself met with his death by a blow\nfrom the fist of Heracles, who then drove off the cattle towards the\nsea.  But someone told King Geryon that his cattle were being stolen,\nand he ran after the robber in a great rage, throwing big stones at\nhim and screaming with all his might.  Heracles waited till he came\nup, and then they wrestled together.  Geryon wound his six arms round\nhim hoping to throw him, but they both fell at the same time, and\nGeryon was the undermost.  Heracles set one knee on his body, but as\nhe leaned over to reach a stone to kill him with, Geryon managed to\nspring up and tried to run away.  Heracles, however, shot three\narrows through his three hearts, and he fell down dead.\n\nThen Heracles went off with the herd, and when he had brought them\nsafely to the mainland he returned the shell to the sun-god, thanking\nhim heartily for his {130} help.  He had to take the cattle through\nmany lands before they finally arrived in Greece, and on his way he\ncame to the part of Italy where Rome was afterwards built.  It\nhappened to be the hot noontide, and Heracles lay down under the\nshade of a tree and let the herd graze.  Now it chanced that in a\ncave under the Mount Aventinus there lived the giant Cacus, who was\nvery hideous to look at, and who could cook his food in his own\nmouth, for fire and flames spouted out of it whenever he liked.\nCacus was a great robber, and when he saw the beautiful cattle he set\nhis mind on having some of them, but Heracles looked so strong that\nhe did not dare to take them by force, so he waited till he was\nasleep, and then he came out of his cave and pulled several of the\ncows backwards into it by their tails, so that the footprints in the\nsand looked like those of cows that had been driven out of the cave\nto pasture.  When it became cooler, Heracles awoke and counted his\ncattle; there were too few of them, but he could not find any traces\nof the direction in which they had gone, and was obliged to pass on\nwithout them.  But just as they were going over Mount Aventinus one\nof the bulls chanced to bellow, and those in the cave of Cacus\nanswered, because they wanted to go on with the others.  Heracles\nimmediately knew what had become of his cattle, and hastened down to\nthe cave.  The giant had shoved a huge fragment of rock in front of\nthe entrance, but Heracles in his anger was even stronger than usual,\nand he threw down the rock with a noise that made the whole mountain\ntremble.  Cacus was afraid of him, and sat cowering in a corner of\nthe cave, spouting out smoke and {131} flames to prevent him from\ncoming near.  But Heracles did not mind the flames, and he seized\nCacus by the neck and strangled him; then he dragged him out to the\nlight, and wondered to see how ugly he was.  The stolen cattle came\nout of the cave of their own accord and joined the others, and\nHeracles drove them on further.\n\nSome time after this, when he had nearly reached Mycenae and was\ntravelling along the sea-shore, Hera sent a great gnat that flew\nabout among the cattle humming and buzzing and stinging first one and\nthen another, till they became quite unmanageable and ran away in\ndifferent directions.  Several jumped into the sea, and Heracles\njumped in after them and brought back all that he could reach,\npulling in some by their horns and driving others in front of him,\nbut the greater number of them swam out into the open sea and\nperished.  Then he set to work to collect those that had escaped into\nthe forest, and tired himself till nightfall with running after them,\nwhich gave Hera great pleasure.  All that he could recover he brought\nto Mycenae, and Eurystheus sacrificed them to Hera.\n\nHeracles had now only two more Labours to accomplish, and Eurystheus\npondered night and day as to what would be the most difficult and\ndangerous task he could set him.  At last he told him that for his\neleventh Labour he was to fetch three apples from the Garden of the\nHesperides, although no mortal knew where the Garden was.  When Zeus\nand Hera were married, the Earth had caused an apple tree to spring\nup, which she gave them as her present, and which was covered with\napples of pure gold.  Hera planted the tree {132} on an island in\nOceanus which had never been trodden by the foot of any mortal, and\nin course of time a whole garden grew from it, in which all the trees\nbore golden apples.  The garden was tended by three nymphs called the\nSinging Hesperides, and it was guarded by a dragon.  Heracles never\nallowed himself to be discouraged, however hard his task might be,\nbut always set about it in good spirits, confident of success, and he\nnow went about asking everyone where the Hesperides lived.  One day\nhe came to a river, and some nymphs who were sitting on the bank\nasked him where he was going.  He said, 'King Eurystheus has sent me\nto fetch him three apples from the Garden of the Hesperides, but I do\nnot know where the Garden is.'  One of the nymphs said, 'We do not\nknow either, but Nereus, the old sea-god, can tell you, for he knows\neverything, both in earth and heaven.'  Then they told Heracles where\nto find Nereus, and what to do in order to oblige him to answer his\nquestions.  Nereus lived in the sea, but about mid-day he came up on\nto the land and lay down in a grotto to sleep.  When he was asleep,\nHeracles came and seized him by the arms, and Nereus, waking up,\nfound himself a prisoner.  He changed himself first into a wolf, and\nthen into a lion, and lastly into a dragon, hoping that Heracles\nwould be frightened and let go, but the nymphs had prepared him for\nthese tricks, and instead of loosening his hold on the sea-god, he on\nthe contrary held him tighter and tighter, till at last Nereus had to\ngive in, and ask him what he wanted.  When he heard what it was, he\ngave Heracles an exact description of where the Hesperides lived, and\nhow to get there; it was a very long {133} way off, even further than\nto the island of King Geryon, but Heracles would not be disheartened,\nand at once began his journey.\n\nOn the way he came to Libya, where there reigned a king named Antaeus\nwho would not allow any stranger to pass through his land without\nwrestling with him; and hitherto he had overcome and killed them all,\nfor he was a son of the Earth, and his mother gave him new strength\nevery time he touched her.  Heracles wrestled with Antaeus and threw\nhim on to the ground three times, but each time the king sprang up\nagain stronger than before.  Then Heracles perceived that the Earth\ngave him strength, and he raised him up in the air so that he did not\ntouch the earth at all, and squeezed him against his own body till he\ndied.\n\nAfter this he continued his journey till he came to Egypt, where King\nBusiris lived, who every year sacrificed a stranger to the gods.\nSome time before this, the land had been unfruitful for nine years,\nso that many people died of hunger, and a soothsayer in a distant\nisland who heard of this and hoped to earn a good reward without much\ntrouble, went to Egypt and told the king that he knew by his art that\nthe only way in which he could be reconciled to the gods was by\nsacrificing a stranger to them every year.  But instead of giving him\nthe reward he looked for, the king offered him up as the first\nsacrifice, and after this he seized a stranger every year for the\nsame purpose.  When Heracles entered the country, the king's servants\nhappened to be on the look-out for a stranger, for the time of the\nyearly sacrifice had come round, and finding Heracles asleep by the\nwayside, they bound him with {134} many strong cords and brought him\nbefore the king.  Heracles acted as if he had no choice but to submit\nto this treatment, but when the priest came with the sacrificial\nknife in his hand to give him the death-blow, he burst asunder the\ncords, and snatching the knife from the priest, stabbed the king whom\nnobody interfered to save, for he was a cruel man and greatly dreaded\nby his subjects.  After this, the Egyptians offered no more human\nsacrifices, and yet their land remained fruitful, for the soothsayer\nwho had commanded the sacrifice was a false prophet.\n\nHeracles passed on through other lands till he came to the extreme\nend of the world where the giant Atlas lived, who had had an irksome\ntask imposed upon him by the gods.  He had to support the vault of\nheaven with his head and hands, and if he had neglected his duty even\nfor a moment, the heaven would have fallen and crushed the earth to\natoms.  Heracles told Atlas of the errand on which he had been sent,\nand Atlas, who was only too glad to have an opportunity of resting\nhis shoulders and stretching his legs, said that he would go and\nfetch the apples, if Heracles would meanwhile take his place in\nsupporting the heaven.  So Atlas went to the Garden, and the nymphs\ngave him the apples because he was their uncle, so that it was not\nlong before he returned with them.  But he found freedom so much more\nagreeable than the fulfilment of his task, that when he came back he\nsaid to Heracles, 'I have supported the heaven quite long enough, and\nnow you must take your turn.  Heracles thought to himself, 'If my\nwits fail me now, there will be no help for me,' so he pretended to\nagree.  {135} and said, 'Very well, but just let me first put my\nlion's skin over my head to keep the heaven from pressing so heavily\nupon it.'  Then Atlas laid down the apples upon the ground and took\nup his burden again, thinking it was just for a minute, but Heracles\ntook up the golden apples and went away and left him, and Atlas has\never since been obliged to support the heaven because he let himself\nbe duped in this way.  Heracles returned to Mycenae and showed\nEurystheus the golden apples, which glittered so brightly that when\nthe sun shone one could hardly bear to look at them; then he gave\nthem to the goddess Athene, who took them back to the Garden of the\nHesperides, for Hera would have been angry if she had kept them.\n\nEurystheus decreed that the twelfth and last Labour of Heracles\nshould be to fetch the hideous dog Cerberus from the Lower World.\nThere was a chain of bare, rugged mountains, in the centre of which\nwas a yawning chasm stretching down far below the earth, and anyone\nwho had the courage to go down it, came at last to the Lower World,\nwhere the shades of the dead go when they leave the earth.  The gate\nof the Land of Shades was guarded by the great dog Cerberus, who\nstood there as watchman, and let everyone go in, but no one pass out\nagain.  His appearance was truly frightful, for he had three heads\nglistening all over with serpents which grew there instead of hair,\nand his tail was also an angry serpent with sharp teeth.  As Heracles\nwent down the chasm, he made up his mind that he would not try and\nsteal the dog, but would tell Pluto that Eurystheus had commanded him\nto fetch him, and beg that he might be allowed to take him away.  At\n{136} last he reached the Land of Shades, where there is neither day\nnor night, but always grey twilight, and he saw many thousand shades\nflitting about like moths in the dusk.  They slipped away as soon as\nhe came near them, but their flight could not be heard but only seen,\nfor their forms were without substance.  They were also without any\npower of thinking, but Heracles knew that they could gain both speech\nand consciousness by drinking blood, and as the flock of Pluto was\ngrazing near, he seized a cow with the intention of killing it; but\nbefore he could do so, the herdsman ran after him in a rage and\nstruck him.  Heracles let go the cow, and turning to the herdsman, he\nrained blows upon him with his fists until he screamed with all his\nmight for help.  Queen Persephone heard his cries, and coming out of\nher palace, she begged Heracles to leave off beating the herdsman,\nwhich he did for her sake.  Then she asked him why he had come into\nthe Lower World, and when he told her, she took him to her husband,\nKing Pluto, who said he would allow him to take the dog to the Upper\nWorld on condition that he captured him without the help of any\nweapons.  Heracles put on a shield that Pluto gave him and went back\nto the gate, where Cerberus greeted him with a growl, showing all his\ngreat teeth.  However Heracles did not mind that, but grasping the\npart of his neck which belonged to the middle head, he pinched it\ntightly with his powerful fingers.  The serpents bit him in the arm\nand the leg, causing him great pain, but instead of letting go the\nhead he only pinched it the harder, so that at last the dog was\nforced to give in, and he led him up the path without any further\ndifficulty.  When they came {137} to the daylight however, Cerberus\nmoaned, and would not have gone any farther if Heracles had not\ncompelled him, being the stronger of the two, for the light of the\nsun struck him just between the eyes, and hurt him so much that foam\ndropped from his mouth; and wherever a drop of it fell on the ground,\nthere sprang up a plant called Nightshade, which still grows, and is\na deadly poison.  When Heracles had taken the dog to Mycenae and\nshown him to Eurystheus, he brought him to the mouth of the chasm,\nand released him.  Then Cerberus rushed back with great bounds into\nhis beloved darkness, and Heracles heard him barking joyfully, long\nafter he was out of sight.\n\n\n\n[1] For the rest of the story of the Cretan bull, see p. 184.\n\n\n\n\n5. _The Murder of Iphitus, and the Vengeances of Heracles._\n\nHeracles had now served Eurystheus for twelve years, and had\nperformed twelve great Labours for him, the hardest that have ever\nbeen accomplished by any man.  During this time Megara had died, and\nHeracles now washed to take another wife.  He heard that in Oechalia\nthere was a beautiful maiden named Iole, the daughter of Eurytus, the\nking of the island of Eubcea, but that Eurytus had proclaimed that no\none should marry her who could not shoot with the bow better than\nhimself and his sons.  They were the best archers in the whole\ncountry, and although many suitors came to Oechalia, yet when they\nsaw how well Eurytus could shoot, they all thought it was useless\neven to string their bows, and went away home again in despair.\nHeracles resolved that he also would go {138} and sue for Iole, and\nhe went out into the open field with Eurytus and his sons, in order\nto contend with them for the prize.  All showed marvellous skill in\nshooting, but the arrow of Heracles pierced the breast of a wild dove\nso far off that the others could scarcely see it till it was brought\ndown, and they were obliged to confess that he had beaten them.  But\nEurytus taunted him and said, 'Would you have me give you my daughter\nfor your wife?  When the gods send you children you throw them into\nthe fire.'  Heracles was enraged with Eurytus for mocking at his\nmisfortune, and he went away vowing that he would one day be revenged\nupon him.\n\nSome time after this, a robber stole twelve of the finest cattle that\nEurytus possessed, and he sent his son Iphitus to look for them.\nIphitus went to several places in search of them, and finally came to\nTiryns where Heracles was.  When Heracles saw Iphitus he was reminded\nof the way in which his father had insulted him, and it made him so\nangry that he struck the boy dead, though afterwards when he became\ncalmer he would gladly have recalled the deed.  He went to Neleus,\nthe king of Pylos, and begged him to purge him from the stain of\nblood, but Neleus, who was a friend of Eurytus, refused to do so, but\non the contrary banished him from the country, blaming him for what\nhe had done.  Heracles found another wise man who consented to purify\nhim, but the gods were, notwithstanding this, still angry with him on\naccount of the murder of Iphitus, and as a punishment, they visited\nhim with a sore sickness, of which he could neither get well nor die,\nand which {139} caused him terrible suffering.  Heracles went to the\nOracle at Delphi and asked the Pythia what he could do to have the\nsickness taken away from him, but Apollo, who inspired the Pythia as\nto what she should say, would not give any answer.  Then Heracles got\ninto a great rage, and he tore up from the ground the sacred Tripod\non which the priestess sat, and carried it away on his back.  Apollo\nsaw the theft, and he came down from heaven and demanded the Tripod\nback again.  No other would have dared to meet his angry look, but\nHeracles was not in the least afraid, and he refused to give it up.\nThey were just going to fight about it, and had already taken their\nplaces for the struggle, when a thunderbolt fell upon the ground\nbetween them.  They knew that this was a warning from their father\nZeus, and they agreed to lay aside their ill-feeling and make peace;\nHeracles gave back the Tripod, and Apollo pronounced the Oracle.  It\nwas that Heracles must serve as a slave for the space of three years\nand give the money for which he was sold to Eurytus, and that then\nhis illness would be at an end.\n\nSo Heracles allowed himself to be sold as a slave by Hermes, the\nmessenger of the gods, and he was bought by the beautiful Omphale,\nqueen of Lydia.  Eurytus refused to take the money, but the gods\ndecided that it was the same as if he had done so, and Heracles was\nfreed from his sickness.  Omphale made use of her strong slave for\nall kinds of service, both in freeing the land from wild beasts, and\nin punishing wicked robbers, so that the Lydians lived in peace and\nsafety; and Heracles loved the beautiful Omphale with all his heart,\nani was ready to do anything in the world in order to {140} please\nher.  She was very proud of being able to command the mighty hero as\nif he were a little child, and in order to show the people how\nobedient he was to her, she made him sit among her maidens in women's\nclothes spinning at the distaff, whilst she dressed herself up in the\nlion's skin, as if she were the man and he the woman, and Heracles\nallowed her to do just as she would with him because of the great\nlove he bore her.\n\nWhen the three years were ended, Heracles left the palace of Omphale,\nand went through the cities of Greece asking if any heroes would set\nout with him for Troy, for he meant to carry out his threat of\npunishing King Laomedon for his faithlessness.  So many heroes came\nthat they filled six large ships, and they sailed to Troy and\nbesieged the city.  They set up ladders with which to climb over the\nwalls, and pressed on notwithstanding the stones and javelins that\nthe Trojans threw down upon them, but they would never have succeeded\nin entering the city without the help of Heracles.  When the city was\ntaken, Heracles passed a sentence of death upon the king and his\nsons, and shot them all together, only sparing the youngest whose\nname was Podarces, because he was too young to have had any part in\nthe treachery of his father.  Heracles gave the beautiful Hesione to\nthe hero Telamon who had been the first to scale the wall, and as she\nwept very much at leaving Troy, he told her that she might take one\nof the prisoners with her.  She did not take long to consider who it\nshould be, but immediately held out her hand to her little brother\nPodarces.  Then Heracles said that she must buy him, so she took off\nher veil, which was the only one she had, {141} and threw it down fur\nthe purchase-money; and from that time her brother was called Priam,\nwhich means Bought.  He came to Greece with his sister Hesione, but\nwhen he grew up to be a man he returned to Troy and became king of\nthe country.\n\nWhen Augeas and the others who had wronged Heracles heard of the\npunishment that had overtaken Laomedon, they were afraid, and\nassembled all their warriors to protect them, for Heracles had\nannounced his intention of marching against them as soon as he\nreturned to Greece.  But Hera, who still hated him, tried to destroy\nhim on his way home.  She commanded the god of Slumber to send Zeus\ninto a deep sleep, and while he lay unconscious, she raised a\ntremendous storm on the sea through which Heracles was sailing.  All\nhis companions were very much frightened, but Heracles was not in the\nleast disturbed, and before the waves could make a wreck of the ship,\nZeus awoke, and seeing his son in danger, calmed the sea so that it\nbecame quite smooth and the fishes came up again from the bottom to\nplay.  Zeus knew that it was Hera who had raised the storm, and he\npunished her for it.  He tied her hands together with a golden chain,\nand attached a heavy weight to each of her feet, and then he\nsuspended her in the clouds, where she was obliged to hang all day\nlong in great pain, with the winds and storms for her only companions.\n\nHeracles was none the worse for the storm, and as soon as he had\nlanded in Greece with the other heroes, he led them against Elis, the\ncity of King Augeas, and conquered it.  Augeas would now have gladly\nparted with his whole herd if that would have saved his life, {142}\nbut Heracles killed him and all his sons except Phyleus, the one who\nhad refused to bear false witness against him and had been banished\nby his father in consequence.  He gave the country into the hands of\nPhyleus, and then he led his followers from Elis to Pylos, where he\npunished King Neleus for having refused to purge him from the stain\nof blood.  Of the whole race of the king, the only one who remained\nalive after the visit of Heracles was a little boy named Nestor, whom\nhis father Neleus had sent to be brought up in a neighbouring\ncountry, and who grew up to be a brave and wise hero.\n\n\n\n\n6. _The Marriage of Heracles with Deianira, and his Death._\n\nThere was still one man left whom Heracles desired to punish, and\nthis was Eurytus.  But he deferred his revenge for a time, in order\nto undertake a pleasanter expedition to the court of King Oeneus, of\nCalydon, whose beautiful daughter Deianira he wished to marry.\nDeianira was a maiden who delighted in driving horses that had never\nbeen broken in, and who knew how to use the lance and the bow.  She\nhad another distinguished lover, the river-god Achelo\u00fcs, and as\nneither he nor Heracles would give way to the other, they determined\nto fight it out, and agreed that whichever conquered should have the\nbride.  Achelo\u00fcs came out of his stream in the form of a bull, and\nHeracles had a hard struggle with him, for his opponent had the\nstrength of a bull, and at the same time the wisdom of a god.\nAchelo\u00fcs ran at him intending to gore him with his horns, and if\nHeracles had not been on his guard, he would have {143} been pierced\nthrough.  For a long time the struggle lasted, each trying to\noverpower the other by strength or by craft, and when the river-god\nlaid his fore-feet upon the shoulders of Heracles who was clothed in\nhis lion's skin, and pressed his strong chest against him in the hope\nof throwing him, it looked as if a lion and a bull had embraced each\nother.  But at last Heracles laid hold of one of the horns of\nAchelo\u00fcs and tore at it with all his might till he succeeded in\nbreaking it off, and then the bull bellowed horribly, and ran back,\nbleeding, into the river.\n\nSo Heracles remained the victor, and Oeneus gave him Deianira to be\nhis wife, and she was glad to have such a noble hero for her husband.\nHeracles wanted to keep the horn as a trophy, but Achelo\u00fcs gave him\ninstead of it the wonderful horn of the goat Amalthea who had been\nthe nurse of Zeus.[1]  This horn had been blessed by Zeus, and anyone\nwho held it in his hand might wish for anything he liked to eat or\ndrink, and immediately it was there.  For this reason it was called\nthe Horn of Plenty, because it produced all kinds of food in\nabundance.\n\nHeracles lived many years in Calydon with Deianira, not spending his\ntime slothfully, but fighting against all the robbers and wicked men\nin the neighbourhood.  But one day it happened that the boy who held\nthe washing-basin and poured water over his hands before meals, was\ncareless and showered the water all over him.  Heracles gave him what\nhe intended to be a little box on the ears, but a blow from him came\nwith such violence that the boy immediately fell down dead.  {144}\nHeracles was very much grieved, and he determined to leave the city\nof Calydon, and set out with Deianira for Trachis where an old friend\nof his lived.  On the way they came to a broad river over which there\nwas no bridge, but the Centaur Nessus used to carry travellers across\non his horse's back for a trifling payment.  Heracles entrusted\nDeianira to him, and said that he himself would follow without help.\nThe Centaur, however, was so greatly charmed with the beauty of\nDeianira, that as he swam with her across the stream he made up his\nmind that he would carry her off.  So when he had reached the other\nside, instead of letting her jump off his back, he held her fast and\nran away with her.  Deianira stretched out her arms to Heracles who\nwas still on the farther bank, and screamed for help.  Then Heracles\ntook his bow and shot a poisoned arrow into the shoulder of the\nCentaur, and he fell down and was obliged to let go his hold of\nDeianira.  Nessus felt that the poison would soon kill him, and he\nlonged to revenge himself on Heracles by doing him some injury.  So\nhe said to Deianira, 'Take a cloth and dip it in my blood, and do not\nlet Heracles see it; but if ever you are afraid that he loves another\nwoman better than you, sprinkle the blood over his clothing, and he\nwill be unable to leave you.  You must take care, however, not to\ntouch it yourself.'  The blood had been poisoned by the arrow of\nHeracles, and anyone whose skin was even touched by it must die, but\nDeianira did not know this; she thought the Centaur was speaking in\ngood faith and determined to follow his advice, for she loved\nHeracles with all her heart, and desired above all things that he\nshould always love her as much in return.\n\n{145}\n\nNessus died soon after he had spoken to Deianira, and Heracles\ncontinued his journey with her.  When they came to Trachis which is\nnot far from Euboea, he remembered the vengeance that he had purposed\nto execute upon Eurytus, and assembling all his companions, he set\nsail for his island.  Eurytus armed his sons and all his men of war,\nand met him outside the walls of Oechalia.  Then a battle was fought\nin which many wounds were given and received, and Heracles slew\nEurytus and his sons, which, when the others saw, they gave up all\nhope and betook themselves to flight.  Heracles entered the city with\nhis companions and gave them leave to take any plunder they chose,\nfor all the people surrendered themselves and their possessions to\nhim, only asking that their lives might be spared.\n\nHeracles now desired to offer a solemn sacrifice to Zeus as a token\nof his gratitude for the victory, and he sent the herald Lichas to\nprocure from Deianira a festal robe suitable for the occasion.\nDeianira was greatly afraid that Heracles might forsake her for the\nbeautiful Iole whom he had formerly wished to marry, and remembering\nwhat the Centaur had told her to do if ever she had any special\nreason for desiring that Heracles should be true to her, she took the\ncloth which had been soaked in his blood, and smeared all the inner\nside of the robe with it.  Lichas took the robe to Heracles, and he\nput it on.  But when the blood had become warmed by the heat of his\nbody, it burst out into flames and burnt Heracles so terribly that in\nhis agony he seized Lichas by the feet and flung him three times\nagainst the rocks, till his face was so battered that none of the\nfeatures could be {146} distinguished.  Then he tried to tear off the\ndress, but it clung so closely to his skin that pieces of his flesh\ncame off with it.  He suffered unspeakable tortures, which made him\ncry out with the pain and roll on the ground in agony, and then he\nmoaned so piteously that the very stones might have felt for him, but\nno one dared to go near him.  For a short time the pain made him\nquite mad; then he controlled himself with a mighty effort and\nresolved what he would do.  He got into a ship that was going to\nGreece, and when he arrived there he ascended Mount Oeta, accompanied\nby some of his friends; the poison still caused him terrible\nsuffering, but he was able to bear it in silence now.  On the top of\nMount Oeta he built a huge funeral pile and mounted to the top of it;\nthen he asked his friends to set fire to it, but none of them would\ndo so,--they only stood round weeping.  Presently however a herdsman\ncame along the road, and Heracles called out to him, and said that he\nwould give him his bow and arrows if he would set fire to the funeral\npile.  The herdsman consented to do so for the sake of the beautiful\nbow, and he brought a burning torch with which he set the wood\nalight.  The wind fanned the flames and they mounted higher and\nhigher, but before they reached Heracles himself, a sound of thunder\nand lightning was heard, and a cloud came down which covered the\nfuneral pile and in which he was carried up to the top of Mount\nOlympus.  The gods gifted him with immortality as a recompense for\nhis noble deeds, and they said that he should henceforth be as one of\nthemselves.  Even Hera did not grudge him this reward, for her hatred\nhad at last been conquered by his grand {147} and godlike Labours,\nand when Heracles appeared among the Immortals in the form of a god,\nshe led her daughter, the goddess Hebe, towards him, and said that he\nshould have her for his wife.  Poor Deianira was already in the Lower\nWorld, for when she heard of the evil that had been wrought by the\nrobe, she went into her bed-chamber and hanged herself.\n\nHeracles was honoured on the earth as a god, and men built temples to\nhim, and kept his great deeds in constant remembrance.\n\n\n\n[1] See page 3.\n\n\n\n\n{148}\n\nXXVII.\n\nTHE QUEST OF THE ARGONAUTS.\n\n1. _The Golden Fleece._\n\nThere was once a king in the land of Greece called Athamas, and he\nhad a wife and two children, whose names were Phrixus and Helle.  But\nthe king loved another woman better than his wife, and he thrust away\nhis wife and made the other woman queen.  The children had now a\nstep-mother, who at first was very kind to them, but afterwards when\nshe had children of her own it was a different thing, and Phrixus and\nHelle had a bad time of it.  Their own mother remained in the city\nliving on a dole that she received from the king, but she was not\nallowed to enter the palace; sometimes, however, she used to come\nsecretly after dark, and then she kissed the children and gave them\nlittle presents, which made them very happy.  The step-mother was\nalways trying to find some means of getting rid of the children, and\nat last she thought of a plan which she hoped would be successful.\nWhen the time for sowing the corn came round, she ordered all the\nwomen in the country to roast the seed secretly, so that though the\ncorn was sown as usual it did not spring up, for the seeds were dead\nbecause they had been cooked.  Then there was great distress all over\nthe country, and the {149} king sent messengers to Delphi to ask the\nOracle how the land could be made fruitful again.  But the wicked\nqueen took the messengers aside and bribed them by the promise of a\ngreat reward to deceive the king.  They did not go to Delphi at all,\nbut hid themselves outside the city until there would have been time\nto go and come back again, and then they sprinkled their clothes with\ndust as if they had taken a long journey, and went to the king and\ntook him the message that the queen had put into their mouths,--which\nwas that he must sacrifice his son Phrixus to the gods, or else the\nfields would never be fruitful again.  The king was very unwilling to\ndo this, but the people pressed him until he consented to the\nsacrifice, for they were afraid they would all die of hunger.\n\nThe true mother was very sad, and she wept all day and all night\nbecause her son was going to be killed.  And the gods had pity on\nher, and sent Hermes, the messenger, to take her a ram covered all\nover with golden wool that shone like the beautiful sun, and tell her\nthat the ram should carry away her children to a place of safety.\nThen the mother was comforted, and after dark she fetched the\nchildren from the palace by stealth and placed them both on the ram's\nback.  Phrixus sat in front and held on fast by the horns, and Helle\nwas behind with her arms round her brother.  When they had taken\nleave of their mother, the Golden Ram set out on his journey; first\nhe flew up as high as the clouds, and then he trotted along the path\nof the birds, mid-way between heaven and earth, and it seemed to the\nchildren, as they looked down, as if the houses and trees were all\nrunning away from them.  {150} They journeyed on all night in the\nbright star-light, and when the sun rose they were already far from\nhome, and found themselves above the sea which lies between Europe\nand Asia.  Helle wanted to take a last look at the beautiful land of\nGreece and turned round that she might see it better, but in her\neagerness she let go of her brother and fell far down into the sea,\nand even before she touched the water she was dead from the effect of\nthe great fall.  Phrixus was very, very sorry, and he shed so many\ntears that the fishermen below thought it was beginning to rain.\nEver since that time the Greeks have called that sea the Hellespont,\nwhich means the sea of Helle.\n\nThe Golden Ram flew on and on till he had passed over the Black Sea\nand reached the city of Colchis, which was a very long way from the\nkingdom of Athamas.  Phrixus sacrificed the ram to the gods, and he\npresented its golden fleece to Ae\u00ebtes the king of the country, who\nhung it on a tree in a forest near the city and placed beside it a\npowerful dragon that never went to sleep.  Phrixus was kindly treated\nby the king; he lived in his palace and sat at his table, and when he\ngrew up, Ae\u00ebtes gave him his daughter for a wife.\n\nAfter this, a great misfortune befell King Athamas and the wicked\nstep-mother.  He had incurred the anger of Hera,[1] and she afflicted\nhim with madness.  One day as he was returning from hunting, he saw\nhis two young children playing in front of the palace, but they\nseemed to him to be two young deer, and he took his bow and shot the\neldest boy right through the heart.  He was just going to shoot the\nother child, but {151} the mother, who was close by, saw that the\nking was mad, and she took it up in her arms and ran away as fast as\nshe could.  Athamas pursued her with his arrow on the string, until\nthe queen finding that she could not escape, threw herself into the\nsea with her child, and they were both drowned.  Athamas was overcome\nwith grief when his reason returned to him, and he left the kingdom\nand went to the Oracle to ask what he should do.  The answer he\nreceived was that he was to settle in a land where he would be the\nguest of wild beasts.  Athamas did not know how this could be, but\nafter wandering about for a long time he came to an almost\nuninhabited country, where he one day saw two or three wolves\ndevouring a sheep which they had killed.  When Athamas came near them\nthey ran away, and as he had eaten nothing for several days and was\nalmost starving, he cut off a piece of the raw sheep and eat it\nhastily, and then it occurred to him that he had eaten the wolves'\ndinner, and was therefore their guest.  So he wandered no longer, but\nsettled down in that place, and when others came to live in the same\nneighbourhood, Athamas became their king, and ruled over them until\nhis death some years later.\n\n\n\n[1] See page 63.\n\n\n\n\n2. _The Journey to Colchis._\n\nSome time had passed away and Phrixus was already dead, when it\nhappened that the king of Iolcus, in Greece, whose name was Pelias,\nsent one day to the Oracle at Delphi to ask what would befall him in\nthe future, and the Oracle in reply told him to beware of the\nOne-sandalled man: the Greeks did not wear shoes {152} like ours, but\nsandals, which were soles of leather, tied on to the feet with\nstraps.  Many years passed by, and the king never saw a man with only\none sandal on, and had almost forgotten the warning of the Oracle.\nBut one day when he was going to offer a great sacrifice to Poseidon,\nhe invited all his friends to the banquet, and amongst others, Jason\nhis brother's son, who lived at some little distance from the city.\nOn his way to Iolcus, Jason had to pass through a brook which had\nbecome swollen by heavy rain, and one of his sandals got loose in the\nwater and remained sticking in the marshy soil.  He could not get it\nagain because the water was too deep, and was obliged to walk half\nbare-foot into the city.  As soon as Pelias saw him, he was put in\nmind of the Oracle, and he said to him, 'What should you do to get\nrid of a man if you had been told that he was likely to kill you.'\nJason laughed and answered, 'I should send him to fetch the Golden\nFleece.'  For it was a dangerous journey to Colchis, and the powerful\nKing Ae\u00ebtes would have parted with one of his eyes rather than with\nthe Golden Fleece, so there was every chance that anyone who ventured\non such an undertaking as that, would perish.  Then Pelias said, 'The\nOracle has warned me to beware of you; choose your companions and set\nout in search of it.'\n\nJason was a brave and fearless hero, and was quite ready for the\nexpedition.  He sent messengers to summon all the noblest heroes to\ncome with him, and fifty were found willing to undertake the journey,\nbesides the strong Heracles, who also said that he would go with\nthem.  There was a man in Iolcus, named Argus, {153} who was skilled\nin shipbuilding, and he fashioned for them a great vessel with places\nfor fifty rowers.  The goddess Athene sent a beam for it, made of\nsacred oak, which could speak, and it was inserted in the front part\nof the ship.  She was a noble vessel, and all who saw her were filled\nwith wonder and delight.  They called her the Argo, after the name of\nthe builder, and the heroes who sailed in her were called Argonauts.\nWhen she was ready they pushed her out to sea, and each man took his\noar in his hand.  Besides the rowers there was a hero who sat at the\nhelm, and Jason the leader, who had no special place assigned to him\nin the ship.  Many people came down to the shore to watch them sail\naway, and wish them a prosperous journey.  The ship went as fast as a\nbird can fly, the helmsman steered, the rowers rowed, and the Sacred\nBeam warned the heroes of the rocks below the water, so that they\nmight steer the ship clear of them.\n\nAfter sailing for some days, they came to the beautiful island of\nLemnos, and as they were tired of rowing and wanted to rest, they\nwent on shore.  There was not a single man in the island, only women.\nSome time before this, the men had purposed to thrust away their\nwives and take others, and so the women had killed them all, not even\nexcepting the old men and boys, and they determined to be a nation of\nwomen only, like the Amazons.  The only man left alive in the whole\nisland was the father of the Queen, Hypsipele, whom she loved very\ndearly and resolved to save at any cost.  There was a secret room in\nthe palace in which she hid him, and every day she took him food by\nstealth, for if the other women had discovered what {154} she had\ndone they would perhaps have killed her.[1]  The Argonauts were very\nmuch astonished at seeing women do all the things that are usually\nundertaken by men, such as ploughing fields, felling trees in the\nwood, and practising with weapons of war.  The heroes asked where the\nmen were, and they told them why they had killed them.  They did not\nhowever refuse to receive the strange heroes, but entertained them\nhospitably, and the Argonauts enjoyed themselves very much on the\nisland.  Many of them found it much more agreeable than sitting at\ntheir oars in the ship, but after some time had passed, Jason called\nthem together, and they went back to the Argo and continued their\njourney.  They did not stop again till they had reached the country\nof the Doliones, and then they knew that they had left Europe behind\nthem.\n\nThe Doliones always kept watchmen near the sea to give notice of any\nships that were coming, for there were a great many pirates cruising\nabout that sea who fell upon honest folk and robbed them, and the\nDoliones had lately suffered much at their hands.  When the Argo came\nnear their land, a number of the Doliones assembled on the shore and\nasked the heroes what they wanted.  Jason said, 'We are going to\nColchis to fetch the Golden Fleece, and we should like to rest here.'\nOn hearing this the Doliones received them kindly, and their king\ncame down to the shore and sent for several cattle and great skins of\nwine to be brought.  Fires were lighted, the cattle were killed and\nroasted, and the Doliones feasted till the evening with the heroes,\nwho then sailed away.  But a great storm came on, and it was so dark\nthat they could not even see the mast of {155} the ship.  They were\nunable to make head against the high waves, so they pulled in the\noars and let the ship dance to the whistling of the wind, but in this\nway they lost their reckoning, and no longer knew either the\ndirection from which they had come, or that in which they desired to\ngo.  At last the storm subsided, and they made for some land which\nthey could just distinguish not far from where they were, but when\nthey tried to land, the inhabitants came with weapons to drive them\naway, for they thought they were pirates.  The Argonauts killed many\nenemies, but when the day dawned they discovered that they were the\nDoliones,--neither party had recognised the other in the darkness.\nThen there was great weeping for the dead, especially for the king\nwho had entertained the heroes so royally the day before, and had\nbeen slain by them in the night.  The Argonauts remained three days\nlonger in that country and celebrated magnificent games in honour of\nthe king,--running races, wrestling with one another, and measuring\ntheir skill in shooting with the bow and in throwing the lance,--and\nwhoever did the best obtained the prize.\n\nThen for the second time they sailed away from the land of the\nDoliones.  They were now not far from the Black Sea, and were\ncoasting along by the country of Mysia, when it happened that some of\nthe oars broke, and they had to stop and go into a forest to get some\nnew ones.  Heracles went far into the forest to look for the best\ntrees, taking with him a boy named Hylas who served him and whom he\nloved as his own son.  Heracles was thirsty after his work, and he\ntold the boy to go to the nearest stream and draw him some {156}\nwater in a pitcher.  Hylas found a clear transparent pool fringed\nwith lovely flowers, and stooped down to draw the water, but the\nnymphs to whom it belonged saw him and were so struck by his great\nbeauty, for he was the most beautiful boy in all Greece, that they\ncame up from the bottom to draw him down into the pool; and they\nseized him, one by the hand and another by the foot, and said, 'Come\ndown to our house, beautiful boy, and we will play with you.'  Hylas\ndid not want to go, and he screamed and struggled with all his might,\nbut the nymphs were stronger than he, and dragged him down.  When\nHeracles heard his cry, he thought the boy must have been carried off\nby robbers, so he took his oar and ran down to the brook, and not\nfinding him there, he rushed frantically through the forest in search\nof him, saying that he would not go back to the ship without Hylas.\nMeanwhile evening had come on, the other heroes had all returned to\nthe ship, and they sailed away, unmindful of Heracles.  The next\nmorning they saw indeed that he was not there, but they could not\nsail all the way back again, and they trusted that they would be able\nto bring home the Golden Fleece without him.  So Heracles returned to\nGreece, where he accomplished his twelve great Labours.\n\nSome days afterwards the heroes landed again, and this time it was in\na country where the king compelled every stranger who came into his\ndominions to measure his strength with him in boxing, and he was so\npractised a boxer that he had overcome and killed all who had\ncontended with him.  When he heard that a ship with many heroes in it\nhad come to his land, he said {157} that if there was any brave man\namong them, he was prepared to fight with him.  Now there were two\nheroes on board the Argo named Castor and Pollux, who were twin\nbrothers.  Castor was skilled in managing untamed horses, and Pollux\nexcelled in boxing.  Pollux resolved to punish the haughty king, so\nhe accepted his offer of boxing with him and very soon dealt him a\nfatal blow.  A great many of his followers had come to watch the\nfight, expecting to see their king fell the stranger to the ground,\nand when they saw that he was dead, they tried to kill Pollux in\norder to avenge him; but the Argonauts seized their weapons, and soon\na number of their enemies were dead and the rest had taken to flight.\n\nFarther on, the Argonauts came to a country where there lived a seer\nnamed Phineus, who would gladly however have parted with his power of\nreading the future if that would have delivered him from his misery.\nHe had once revealed the future contrary to the will of the gods, and\nas a punishment they made him blind, and prevented him from having\nanything to eat.  Whenever a meal was spread before him, there came\nfrom heaven two monstrous beings with faces and bodies like maidens,\nbut whose feet and wings were those of ravens.  They were called\nHarpies, and their names were Storm-foot and Swift-wing.  They\nsnatched away the best part of the food and gobbled it up, and what\nthey left smelt so badly that Phineus could not eat it for loathing.\nThe old man was wasted away with hunger, and there was nothing left\nof him but skin and bones.  The Argonauts begged him to give them\ngood advice about their journey, and he promised to do so if {158}\nthey would rid him of the Harpies.  It happened that among them were\ntwo sons of Boreas, the god of the north wind; they had wings on\ntheir shoulders and could fly like birds, but it had been decreed by\nfate that if ever they failed to catch what they set out in pursuit\nof, they must die immediately.  They were quite willing to attack the\nHarpies, and next time they came to snatch away the food from\nPhineus, the heroes drew their swords, spread their wings, and set\nout in chase of them.  The Harpies flew backwards and forwards in all\ndirections over both sea and land, but at last Storm-foot was obliged\nto give in, and her pursuer was just going to seize her when her\nwings failed altogether, and she fell down into a river below, where\nshe was drowned.  Swift-wing was still able to flutter a little, but\npresently she also gave in, and fell among some soft grass.  Her\npursuer came after her and pierced her through with his sword, and\nthen the heroes returned, the sword of one of them being still wet\nwith the blood of Swift-wing.  From that time Phineus could eat his\nmeals in peace which was a great comfort to him.  He told the\nArgonauts that they would soon come to two wonderful rocks, and\ninstructed them what to do when they reached them, and he said that\nif they passed these in safety they would arrive at Colchis without\nfurther danger.\n\nAfter rowing for half a day, the heroes came to the rocks of which\nPhineus had told them, and never in their lives had they seen\nanything so wonderful.  They were two huge rocks, not fastened to the\nbottom of the sea, but sailing about separately, and every now and\nthen they clashed together and great waves broke over them, and there\nwas a noise as if the rocks were going {159} to break in pieces, but\nas they were made of the hardest stone, they remained quite sound.\nThey darted about so quickly, and clashed against each other so\nconstantly, that no ship had ever been able to pass them; every\nvessel that had attempted it had been crushed to atoms, with every\nsoul on board.  But the Argo was very swift, being rowed by fifty\nheroes, and Phineus had told them to send out a dove in front of\nthem, and that if the dove passed through the rocks safely, they also\nmight venture; but if it were crushed, they would have to turn back,\nfor the speed of the Argo was just equal to that of a dove.  So when\nthe rocks separated from one another, they sent out the dove, and it\narrived happily at the other side, with only a few of its\ntail-feathers torn out.  Next time the rocks opened a pathway, they\nalso steered through them, rowing with all their might.  The ship\nshot through like an arrow, and just the same thing happened to the\nArgo as to the dove, for the decoration of the hinder-part of the\nvessel was torn off, just as the bird's feathers had been.  And when\nthe heroes looked back, they saw the rocks standing still: they had\nplayed their game for the last time, for it had been decreed by fate\nthat if ever they allowed a ship to pass them, they would become\nrooted to the ground.  So that ever since that time, ships have been\nable to sail past these rocks, as fast or as slowly as they please.\n\n\n\n[1] For what afterwards happened to Hypsipele, see pages 215-17.\n\n\n\n\n3. _The Fight for the Golden Fleece._\n\nSome days after this, the heroes reached Colchis.  Many people came\ntogether to look at them, for never before had a ship reached their\ncountry from Greece, {160} and besides this, the Argo was a noble\nvessel, unlike anything the Colchians had ever seen, and she had a\nnumber of brave heroes on board.  The Argonauts had fastened ropes to\nthe ship with great stones at the end, and these they threw into the\nsea to serve as anchors.  Then Jason said that some one must take him\nto the king, and a number of people accompanied him as far as the\npalace.  Jason was a noble-looking man, and for a mantle he wore the\nskin of a spotted panther that he had killed himself.  When he saw\nking Ae\u00ebtes, he said that he had come from the home of Phrixus, and\nthat King Pelias had sent him to fetch the Golden Fleece.  Now Ae\u00ebtes\nprized the Golden Fleece more than all his other treasures, and had\nno intention of parting with it; but as he was a crafty man, he said\nthat he would give it to Jason if he would be willing to give a proof\nof his real desire for it, by ploughing a piece of land with two wild\nbulls and sowing it with dragon's teeth.  The king thought that if\nJason ventured to undertake this he would certainly perish, for the\nbulls had brazen feet, and out of their mouths issued a stream of\nfire which burnt up everything that came near them; besides this, he\nknew that when the dragon's teeth were sown, armed men would rise up\nfrom them and kill Jason, so that even if he succeeded in managing\nthe wild bulls, it would not be of much avail.  But Ae\u00ebtes did not\ntell Jason all this; and though Jason felt sure that the task which\nthe king assigned to him would be no easy one, he accepted it without\nhesitation and agreed to meet him the next day in a field near the\ncity in order to accomplish it.  When Jason went back to the ship,\nthe heroes asked him what the king had said, and he told {161} them.\nThen as night was coming on, they lay down on the shore, wrapped\nthemselves up in their cloaks, and went to sleep.\n\nKing Ae\u00ebtes had a daughter called Medea who was a powerful\nenchantress, and knew the properties of all kinds of herbs and how to\nmake use of them for good or evil.  She used to go to the mountains\nat night when the moon was shining to pluck herbs, and prepared all\nmanner of magic drinks from them; she also understood other kinds of\nwitchcraft.  When she saw Jason standing in her father's palace, she\nthought he looked like a true hero, and she felt a great love for him\nand longed to help him.  So in the night she left the palace and came\nto the shore where the heroes were asleep.  She at once recognised\nJason and awoke him, and he rubbed his eyes in astonishment at seeing\nthe maiden standing beside him in the moonlight, tall and beautiful,\nwith her long white veil thrown back.  She said to him, 'My father,\nthe king, intends to kill you, but if you will swear to be my friend,\nI will help you.'  She told him all about the bulls and the dragon's\nteeth, and said that it would not be possible for him to overcome\nthem without her help.  The beautiful princess pleased Jason well,\nand he promised that if he obtained the Golden Fleece through her\nassistance, he would take her home with him to be his wife.  Then\nMedea gave him a box containing ointment which protected any one who\nused it from being burnt by fire or wounded by steel for the space of\none whole day.  She told him to anoint his shield, his spear and his\nbody with it the next morning, and then the bulls and the armed men\nwould not be able to do him any harm; she also taught him a trick\n{162} which she said he would find useful as a means of defence\nagainst the armed men.  When they had talked for some time longer,\nMedea wrapped her veil round her and went home; the people in the\npalace were not surprised, for they thought she had been wandering\nabout on the mountain as usual, collecting herbs.\n\nAt day-break the king betook himself to the field with all his\ncourtiers and many other people, and Medea went also, attended by her\nwomen.  Near the field was a sacred forest in which the two bulls\nwere feeding; and in this same forest hung the Golden Fleece, from\nwhich bright rays of light might be seen streaming as the trees were\nswayed backwards and forwards by the wind.  The plough was standing\nready in the field, and one of the king's servants held in his hand a\nhelmet which contained the dragon's teeth.  Soon afterwards Jason\narrived with the Argonauts looking in such good spirits that the king\nand his followers were astonished, for they did not know about the\nointment that had made him proof against fire and steel,--the\nArgonauts knew about it, however, for Jason had told them.  The king\ncommanded Jason to fetch the bulls, and he went into the forest and\nsoon found them.  They came towards him bellowing loudly, with the\nbright fire streaming from their mouths and nostrils, meaning to kick\nhim to death with their hoofs.  But their fiery breath had no effect\non Jason, and their brazen hoofs could not do him any harm.  He\nseized them by the horns and dragged them along, and he was so strong\nthat although they struggled with all their might and tried to pull\nfirst to the right and {163} then to the left, they were obliged to\nfollow him.  It was a strange sight to see him coming out of the\nforest with the fire streaming over his face and body, and the bulls\nkicking him with their brazen hoofs, yet notwithstanding this, whole\nand unscathed.  He dragged the bulls to the plough and laid the yoke\nupon their necks, then he drove them through the field making furrows\nas he went along, and when they were stubborn and refused to go on,\nhe pricked them with a goad that he had in his hand.  He went up and\ndown three times, until the king said it was enough, and then he\nunharnessed the bulls and let them go back into the forest.  The king\nwas very much astonished at his having performed the first part of\nhis task so successfully, but when he gave him the helmet with the\ndragon's teeth in it, he felt sure that the armed men would at all\nevents make an end of him.  Jason walked up and down the furrows, and\nevery here and there he threw in a tooth and stamped down a clod over\nit with his foot.  When he had finished he looked round,--the armed\nmen were already rising out of the ground, and in a little while the\nwhole fifty had sprung up; they were completely covered with brazen\narmour, and had very angry faces.  Then Jason remembered the trick\nthat Medea had taught him, and he took up stones from the ground and\nthrew them among the band of warriors without letting the king see\nwhat he was doing.  Every time one of the armed men felt a stone\nstrike him, he began to fight with his neighbour because he thought\nit was he who had thrown it.  So in a short time there was a fierce\nbattle raging amongst the armed men, and Jason found his task an easy\none: he {164} took his shield and spear, and killed the warriors in\nthe confusion, till at last they all lay dead on the ground, and the\nearth was quite red with their blood.\n\nAll the people were full of admiration of the brave hero, and when\nJason took off his helmet and wiped his forehead, they thronged round\nhim, praising his great achievement.  But the king was angry, and\nwent away with his courtiers without speaking a word to Jason.  He\nwas still determined not to part with the Golden Fleece, and made up\nhis mind to kill the hero who had come to ask for it.  When he\nreached the palace, he chose out the strongest of his soldiers and\ntold them that he would himself lead them to the shore early the next\nmorning while the Argonauts were still asleep, and that they would\nkill the heroes and burn the ship.  Ae\u00ebtes expected to take the\nArgonauts by surprise, but Medea went again that evening to Jason and\ntold him what her father intended.  She also said that she would get\nthe Golden Fleece for him, and that they must flee away that night.\nSo they went together into the forest in which the Fleece hung;--high\nup among the branches shone the golden light, and at the foot of the\ntree was the dragon that never slept.  Jason waited at a little\ndistance while Medea went alone to the dragon, for she was accustomed\nto take him his food every day, and he knew her and allowed her to\nstroke him.  Medea spoke kindly to the dragon, and gave him some\nbread that she had brought with her.  But the bread had been soaked\nin a sweet juice which throws every one who tastes it into the\ndeepest sleep, so when the dragon had swallowed it, his eyes closed\nfor the first time in his life and he fell asleep and snored so\nloudly {165} that all the birds in the wood awoke and flew away.\nThen Jason came forward and climbed up the tall oak and fetched down\nthe Fleece, and when he had done this, they went back to the shore.\nJason had thrown the Fleece over his arm, and the Argonauts, who were\non the look-out for him, could see him coming towards them with his\nshining prize while he was still a long way off, and they pulled up\nthe great stones which had been used as anchors, and made everything\nready for their departure.  But Medea went back once more to her\nfather's palace, and creeping quietly upstairs, she took her little\nbrother Absyrtus gently out of his bed, and then set out on her\nflight.  She took him with her, not because she loved her brother,\nbut because she thought he might be found useful in case her father\nshould pursue them.  You will soon hear what happened to him.\n\n\n\n\n4. _The Journey Home._\n\nWhen they were all in the ship, the heroes pushed off and sailed\naway.  As it was midnight the helmsman had to steer by the stars, but\nhe knew how to guide the ship towards the setting sun which was the\ndirection in which Greece lay, and by daybreak they were already far\nfrom the land.  King Ae\u00ebtes came down to the shore with his\nfollowers, who took with them weapons to fight with, and also torches\nfor burning the ship.  But when they reached it, they stood rubbing\ntheir eyes, for they could see neither the ship nor the heroes, and\nwhen they looked towards the forest, there was the dragon in a deep\nsleep, and the Golden Fleece {166} was gone.  Soon the king heard\nthat Medea had fled and had taken with her the little Absyrtus, and\nthen he knew who it was that had helped the Argonauts, and he was\nmore angry than he had ever been in his life.  He made his men get\nready the swiftest ship they had, and promised to reward them nobly\nif they succeeded in overtaking the Argo.\n\nThey rowed with all their might, and towards evening they came in\nsight of the Argo.  Medea knew that all on board would be killed if\nthey fell into the hands of her father, and when his ship had almost\novertaken the Argo, she took a long knife and stabbed her brother\nAbsyrtus to death, and cut him in pieces before the eyes of Ae\u00ebtes\nand flung the pieces into the sea.  The king who had been so angry,\nnow tore his hair for grief; he no longer cared about the Golden\nFleece, and his only desire was to obtain the corpse of his son in\norder to bury it, for at that time it was believed that those whose\nbodies were not buried had no rest in the Lower World, and the king\nwould not for the world have let his child's body be eaten by the\nfishes.  He commanded his men to stop and look for the pieces, and by\nthe time they had collected them all, the Argo was far out of sight,\nand they were obliged to turn back.  The king grieved bitterly for\nhis dead son, and when he came home he buried him with great\nmagnificence.  When that was done, the wish nearest his heart was to\ncatch the Argo, and he manned three ships with sailors, and told them\nto go in search of her and never to return till they had found her.\nThey sailed about in all directions, but could not find a trace of\nthe ship anywhere, so as they were afraid to go back to the king\n{167} without her, they moored on a strange island, where they\nsettled down and built houses and remained for the rest of their\nlives.  Ae\u00ebtes was meanwhile spending all his days in watching for\ntheir return.\n\nA violent storm now overtook the Argo.  The sea was stirred up and\nrefused to carry peacefully on her bosom the ship in which the sister\nhad murdered her brother, and the waves rose as high as mountains, so\nthat those who were on board the ship had to hold on to the sides and\nmast in order to avoid falling into the sea.  At last the Sacred Beam\nwhich was planted in the fore part of the vessel, spoke, and said\nthat the storm would not cease, nor would they have any prosperity in\ntheir voyage, until Medea and Jason had been purged from the stain of\nblood, and that they had better go to the enchantress Circe and beg\nher to do this for them.  So they sailed to the island where Circe\nlived, and Medea and Jason left the others in the ship and went\nashore to the palace of the enchantress and placed themselves on the\nhearth, which was the place sacred to those who came to sue for help.\nCirce asked what their request was, and Medea told her all that had\nhappened and begged her to atone for their crimes.  At first she\nrefused to do this, for King Ae\u00ebtes was her brother, and it was her\nnephew that they had murdered; but at last she was persuaded, and\npurified them with sacrifices and baths.  When this had been done,\nthey went back to the ship and continued their voyage, and they had\nnow such lovely weather that the fishes came up from the bottom of\nthe sea and played merrily in the sunshine.\n\nAfter some time the Argonauts came to the wicked {168} Sirens, who\nwere treacherous nymphs that lived in the sea.  Their faces were\nmarvellously beautiful, and they sang so enchantingly that every one\nwho heard them was bewitched and could not help going to them.  But\nunder the water they had great ugly claws instead of hands, and their\nbodies ended in a hideous fish-tail.  They clutched those who came to\nthem with their claws and ate them up, and all the reef where they\nlived was strewn with the bones of the men they had eaten.  But even\nthose who knew how cruel and treacherous they were, could no longer\nbelieve it when they heard them sing, and could never resist jumping\ninto the sea and swimming towards them.  When the Sirens saw the ship\napproaching, full of noble heroes, they thought they were going to\nhave a grand feast and began to sing their sweetest songs.  They\nwould have enticed even the Argonauts, and all the witchcraft of\nMedea would have been powerless to save them, if there had not been a\nhero on board, named Orpheus, who was famous all over Greece for his\nsinging and playing, and who had such marvellous power over the\nhearts of men that no one who heard him could refrain from weeping,\nhowever cruel and hard he might be.  So the moment the Sirens began,\nOrpheus took his lyre and sang in opposition to them, and he sang so\ngloriously that the heroes listened to him rather than to the Sirens,\nand the dolphins, who are very fond of music, came and followed the\nship till the song was ended.\n\nThe Argonauts next came to the Wandering Rocks, which swam about in\nthe sea and were shrouded in thick smoke, through which flames of\nfire could be seen coming out of crevices in their sides.  It seemed\nas if {169} it were a sort of amusement to them to give chase to\nships and destroy them, and when they had dashed them to pieces,\nthere was the fire ready at hand to burn them up.  No ship had ever\nyet reached home in safety after passing them.  But the goddess Hera\nwas unwilling to see the brave heroes on board the Argo perish\nmiserably, so she commanded the nymphs who lived at the bottom of the\nsea to protect the vessel; these were not wicked nymphs like the\nSirens, but kind and friendly to brave heroes.  A great splashing was\nheard in the water, and ever so many nymphs came up from the bottom\nof the sea, each one more beautiful than the last.  They swam round\nthe ship, and when one of the rocks came towards her from the right,\nmeaning to crush her, they pushed her away to the left, and when a\nrock came from the left, they pushed the ship to the right, and they\ndid it so fast that the rocks could not overtake her.  This amused\nthem very much, and they laughed out merrily whenever the rocks shot\npast them.  Soon the Argonauts were again out in the open sea, and\nthey thanked the nymphs many times for their help.  Then the nymphs\nwent back to their homes at the bottom of the sea.\n\nAfter rowing for a long time, the heroes came to the island of Crete.\nThey would have liked to go on shore, but there was an iron watchman\nwho refused to allow any one to land without the king's express\npermission.  His name was Talos, and he had been made out of iron by\nthe blacksmith-god Hephaestus, who gave him to Minos the king of\nCrete.  Minos used him as a watchman, and made him run round the\n{170} whole island three times every day and drive away any strangers\nwho might approach it.  He was all iron, excepting a single vein that\nran from his head right down to his feet, and was fastened underneath\nwith iron nails which held in the life blood that ran through the\nvein and kept him alive.  When Talos saw the ship full of heroes\ncoming, he stood still and threw great stones at her.  It would have\nbeen of no use for the Argonauts to shoot spears and arrows at him in\nreturn, for he could not be wounded; so Medea called out to him over\nthe water, 'Talos, if you will be kind to us and let us land, I will\nshow you how you may become immortal.'  Talos was pleased at this,\nand he began to make friendly grimaces, and shouted back his answer\nin a voice that came out of his iron body like the sound of a great\ntrumpet.  He said, 'First tell me how I may become immortal, and then\nI will let you land.'  But Medea answered him deceitfully, and she\ncalled back, 'Draw out the nail that is in your foot, and all that is\nmortal in you will flow out.'  Talos believed her, and he sat down on\nthe shore and drew out the nail with some difficulty, for it had been\nwell hammered in.  Then the red blood flowed out, and Talos was glad,\nfor he thought it was his mortality which was leaving him; but he\nbecame weaker and weaker, and when the last drop of blood had flowed\nout of his body, he was dead, and there was nothing left but a cold\nlump of iron.  The Argonauts could now sail to the land without\nhindrance, and they clambered down out of the ship and hunted some\nwild animals, which they cooked and made a feast of, on the shore.\n\nThe Argonauts sailed from Crete to Greece without {171} stopping, for\nthe gods gave them favourable winds, and when at last they came in\nsight of the Grecian coast, they all rejoiced greatly at seeing their\nbeloved country again.  They landed at that part of it which is\ncalled the Isthmus, and is the road between the peninsula of\nPeloponnesus and the rest of Greece, and there they drew the Argo up\non to the shore.  The brave ship had been beaten against many a rock,\nand had been so long in deep water that she was covered with green\nslime.  The Argonauts said that she should never be used for any\nother journey, and they dedicated her to the sea-god Poseidon as a\nthank-offering to him for having brought them home in safety.  She\nremained for a very long time standing on the Isthmus, and every one\nwho went by, looked at her and thought of the many dangers and\ndifficulties that the Argonauts had passed through.  At last however,\nthe Sacred Beam died, and soon afterwards the Argo herself fell to\npieces, for the boards of which she was made had become quite rotten.\n\n\n\n\n5. _Medea's Revenge._\n\nWhen the heroes arrived in Greece, they separated and returned to\ntheir own homes, and Jason and Medea went to Iolcus where king Pelias\nlived.  Pelias had thought that it would be quite impossible for\nJason ever to return, because of all the dangers he would meet with\nin going to fetch the Golden Fleece, and he had killed his brother,\nJason's father, for fear he should in some way avenge the death of\nhis son,--so that when the young hero walked into the palace with the\nGolden Fleece hanging over his arm, the king turned red and pale by\n{172} turns.  Jason did not know as yet of the injury that Pelias had\ndone him; but when he went to his father's house he found it empty,\nand the people told him that his father had been killed by order of\nthe king.  Jason was very sad at hearing this, and could no longer\ntake any pleasure in the thought of all the great deeds he had done;\nbut Medea told him not to grieve, for she would avenge the wrong he\nhad suffered.  She thought, too, that if Pelias were dead, Jason\nwould be the king of Iolcus and she the queen, and she advised Jason\nto dissemble, and behave as if he had forgiven the king, whilst she\nherself went every day to the palace and made friends with his\ndaughters.  One day she told them that if they had spirit enough to\nventure on it, they could make their old father young again, though\nhis hair was already white and his face was covered with wrinkles.\nThe princesses would not believe Medea, but she said she would prove\nit, and she took an old ram and slew him, and cut him up into several\npieces, and laid the pieces in a great caldron of boiling water, and\nwhen she had poured a magic juice over them, a young lamb jumped out\nof the caldron, and no trace of the ram could be seen.  Then the\ngirls believed Medea, and begged her to give them the magic juice\nwith which to make their old father young again; but Medea gave them\ninstead, a liquid, which looked just like it, but which had no power\nwhatever.  The king's daughters did not delay a single day, but the\nnext time their father was asleep, they went to him and killed him,\nand one struck off his head, while the others cut the rest of his\nbody into pieces.  They had a huge caldron standing ready on the\nfire, into which they threw the pieces, {173} and then they poured\nover them the liquid that Medea had given them, expecting to see\ntheir father come out a young man.  But Pelias was dead, and dead he\nremained.  The princesses watched the caldron for a long time, but at\nlast they were obliged to give up all hope, and then they broke out\ninto bitter wailing and rushed about the streets with dishevelled\nhair, crying out that Medea had deceived them and made them kill\ntheir father without knowing what they were doing.  The people had\nnot cared for Pelias because he had been a cruel and severe man, but\nthey would not sanction the treachery by which he had come to his\nend, and instead of choosing Jason for their new king, they chose the\nson of Pelias, so that things turned out very differently from\nMedea's expectations, and she and Jason had to leave the country.\n\nThey went to the city of Corinth, where King Creon ruled.  He\nreceived them with open arms, for he had heard of Jason's brave deeds\nand was glad that he had come to live in his country, and he gave him\na beautiful house with meadows and vineyards and orchards all round\nit.  Jason and Medea lived there in peace for ten years, and the gods\nsent them two children whom Medea loved dearly; they were the first\nhuman beings she had ever really cared for.  But the king had a\ndaughter named Glauce, who was only a child when Jason first went to\nCorinth but had now grown up to be a very beautiful maiden, and Creon\nwas anxious that she should marry a noble hero, for she was his only\nchild, and her husband would be king of Corinth after his death and\nwould inherit all his riches.  And as Jason pleased him well, he said\nto him that if he would {174} get rid of Medea, he would give him his\ndaughter Glauce for his wife.  Jason no longer cared for Medea as he\nhad once done, because she was of a gloomy, discontented nature, and\nhe thought that if he were rich, he could make up to her for the\nwrong he would do her by taking another wife.  So he told the king\nthat he would agree to his proposal, and he said to Medea that he\nwould give her a great deal of gold and silver, and the most\nbeautiful dresses that could be made, and that she should never want\nfor anything, but live just as if she were the richest queen in the\nworld.  He also told her that he was making this new marriage for the\nsake of his children, in order that they might have a king for their\nfather.  Medea was very angry about it in her heart, but she\npretended to agree, and when the day came on which the marriage was\nto be celebrated, she gave Jason a magnificent robe and begged him to\ntake it to Glauce as a present from herself.  Jason took it without\nany suspicion, and Glauce was very much pleased with it and went into\nher bedchamber to put it on for the wedding.  But the robe had been\ndipped in a poisonous juice, and as soon as it became warm it burst\nout into flames.  Glauce could not tear it off, and she screamed for\nhelp; her father and Jason came running to try and put out the fire,\nbut nothing they could do was of any use, and Glauce perished\nmiserably.  Creon threw himself upon the dead body of his daughter\nand tore his hair and wept bitterly, but Jason drew his sword and\nrushed home to kill Medea.  But as he came near the house, he looked\nup at the sky and saw a chariot drawn by two winged dragons, in which\nMedea was driving away.  Medea had purposed to kill her two {175}\nchildren before she went, because of the pain which she knew this\nwould cause Jason; but when she had taken up the dagger, the\nchildren, who did not know what was in her mind, stood looking at her\nwith their pretty blue eyes, and she had not the heart to carry out\nher intention, but caught them up in her arms and covered them with\nkisses, and then fled away in the enchanted chariot.\n\n\n\n\n{176}\n\nXXVIII.\n\nTHESEUS\n\nThere was a great and famous city in Greece called Athens, about\nwhich, when it was first built, there arose a strife between the\nsea-god Poseidon and the wise goddess Athene, as to which of them\nshould be its protector, for the Greek cities were each under the\nspecial care and guardianship of some god or goddess.  As they could\nnot agree about it, the other gods said that they must each bring a\npresent to the city, and that it should belong to whichever of them\ngave it the best present.  The gods assembled one day in the\nfortress, which had been built on a hill in the middle of the\ncity.[1]  Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and out sprang\na noble animal which was the first horse that had ever been seen, and\nthe gods admired the beautiful creature very much.  Then it was the\nturn of Athene, and she brought forth the olive tree, which bears the\nolives from which oil is made, and explained how the fruit could be\nmade use of.  After this the gods gave their judgment, and they\nsaid:--'This is such a stony land that the citizens would find the\nnoble horse of little service, for the horse cannot go well {177}\nover uneven ground, but the olive-tree would flourish, and would be\nuseful to the citizens in many ways.'  So the city was placed under\nthe guardianship of Athene and was named after her, and the citizens\nplanted olive-trees all over the country and found in these their\nchief wealth.  They took great care of the tree in the fortress from\nwhich all the others had sprung, and it outlived its children and its\ngrandchildren.  But after many years had passed, the country was\ninvaded by some enemies who laid waste all the beautiful houses and\ntemples and even burnt the sacred olive-tree itself down to the\nroots.  On the next day, however, when all round it there was nothing\nto be seen but smoking ruins, behold! a new olive-tree had sprung\nfrom the ashes of the old one, which grew, and became in time a large\ntree.\n\nThe city of Athens was at one time ruled over by a king named Aegeus,\nwho had a wife but no children.  This was a great sorrow to him, but\nhis brother Pallas was very glad of it, for he had fifty sons, and he\nthought that if Aegeus died without children his sons would inherit\nthe kingdom.  After a time however the wife of Aegeus died, and soon\nafterwards he went to stay with a king who lived in the city of\nTroezen, which was several days' journey from Athens; there he was\nsecretly married to the king's beautiful daughter Aethra, and his\ngreat wish was fulfilled, for Aethra had a young son.  Aegeus would\nnot however take him back to Athens with him, for he feared that his\nbrother's sons, the wild Pallantidae, would try to kill him.  So he\nresolved to leave the child to be brought up by his mother in\nTroezen, and before he set out on {178} his journey home he buried\nhis sword and his sandals underneath a huge stone, and told Aethra\nthat when the child was strong enough to heave up the stone and take\nthe sword and sandals from under it, he must leave her and come to\nhim at Athens.  After this he went back to his kingdom without\ntelling any one that the gods had given him a son.  Aethra loved her\nson very dearly; she named him Theseus, and brought him up with great\ncare, and he grew handsome and strong, and delighted above everything\nin listening to his mother whilst she told him stories about all the\nold heroes, and especially about the strong Heracles, who had killed\nso many monsters and driven away all the robbers out of the land.\nTheseus did not know who his father was, but when he had become a\nyoung man and the down was beginning to grow upon his chin, Aethra\nthought he would be strong enough to lift the stone, and she took him\nto the place where it lay, and told him that underneath it were the\nsword and sandals of his father who was Aegeus, the king of Athens.\nWithout much difficulty Theseus heaved up the huge stone, though it\nhad become deeply embedded in the earth; and then Aethra told him\nthat his father was still alive, and that he was to take the sword\nand sandals and go to him at Athens; and Theseus rejoiced at hearing\nthis, and prepared to set off at once.  It was a very dangerous\njourney from Troezen to Athens for there were many robbers on the\nway, and the old king wanted to give Theseus a ship, so that he might\ngo by sea with much less risk.  His mother also was anxious that he\nshould take the easier journey, but Theseus was a brave {179} hero,\nand instead of being afraid of the robbers, he was only eager to meet\nwith them.  So they were obliged to let him have his own way, and\ncomforted themselves by praying to the gods to protect him.\n\nTheseus accordingly set out on his journey, and he had not long left\nTroezen when he came to a savage robber who lurked by the roadside,\nand who was called the Club-carrier.  He had a very ugly face, and\nwas lame, but very strong; and he used to lie on the grass among the\ntrees, and whenever a traveller passed by, he sprang out and struck\nhim down with a heavy iron club which he wielded quite easily, and\nthen he robbed him of his goods.  When Theseus came along the road,\nthe robber sprang out to kill him; but Theseus avoided the blow, so\nthat the heavy club struck the earth beside him, and then he wrestled\nwith the robber.  He at last succeeded in wrenching the club out of\nhis hand, and then he battered his head with it, so that the\nClub-carrier died by the same weapon with which he had killed others.\nThis was the first heroic deed that Theseus had performed, and he\ntook the iron club away with him to serve both for a weapon and a\ntrophy.\n\nSoon afterwards he came to a fir-wood, where there lived a robber\ncalled the Fir-bender.  He was tall and strong, with long bristly\nhair, and he looked very fierce and wild.  It was his delight to\nseize travellers and torture them cruelly: he used to bend two\nflexible fir-trees down to the ground, and tie each of the\ntraveller's feet to one of these trees, and then he let them spring\napart, and broke out into a hideous laugh when he saw the body torn\nin two and one half hanging to each of the trees.  Theseus knew that\nthe robber lived in the {180} forest, and he went straight to his\nhouse.  The Fir-bender came out to seize him, but Theseus wrestled\nwith him and threw him.  He resolved to punish him with the torture\nthat he had himself devised, and he bent down two young fir-trees and\ntore the robber's body in two, though he screamed horribly and\nentreated Theseus to spare him.  The Fir-bender had a daughter called\nPerigune who lived with him in the forest.  She was not at all like\nher father, but was, on the contrary, gentle and good, and she used\nto tend the plants and flowers that grew near their house.  When she\nsaw that Theseus had killed her father, she was afraid and thought he\nwould kill her too, so she hid herself among some large-leaved\nplants, and said to them, just as if they could understand her, that\nif they would shelter her she would never pluck any of them again.\nTheseus looked everywhere for her, but he could not see her on\naccount of the thick leaves.  He guessed that she must have hidden\nherself, and so he called out to her not to be afraid, for he would\nnot do her any harm.  His voice sounded so kind that she was\nencouraged to come out, and they sat and talked together, and\nPerigune gave him some food, after which Theseus took leave of her\nand went away.  The girl never plucked any flowers from the plants\namong which she had hidden herself, nor from any others of the same\nkind, and when she became the wife of a hero she taught her children\nthat they must never do so either, and they in turn brought up their\nchildren in the same way, so that no one who was of the race of the\nrobber ever injured any plants of that kind.\n\nTheseus had heard that there was a fierce she-boar {181} in the\nneighbourhood that did a great deal of damage, and he resolved that\nhe would rid the people of her.  He came upon her footprints in the\ngrass, and followed them till he had tracked her to her den.  She\nstarted up to kill him with her tusks, and a fierce struggle\nfollowed, in which Theseus handled his club valiantly, and at last\nhit the boar a mighty blow on the head which cracked her skull and\nmade an end of her.  Then Theseus wiped the dew from his forehead and\ncontinued his journey.  His road now lay along a rocky path above the\nsea, and he presently came to a rock which was the abode of the\nrobber Sciron.  He was a strong, powerful man, who amused himself in\na very horrible manner.  He used to sit on a rock above the sea,\nblocking up the road so that no one could pass, and he compelled\nevery traveller who came that way to wash his feet, and while they\nwere doing this he kicked them over the cliff, so that they fell down\ninto the sea where there lurked a great tortoise ready to eat them\nup.  Theseus treated the robber just as he had treated others; he was\nthe stronger of the two, and he compelled Sciron to do as he told\nhim, and wash his feet, and then he kicked him over the cliff, and\nthe tortoise seized him by the neck and gobbled him up.\n\nThat same evening Theseus reached the house of the wicked Stretcher,\nwhose custom it was to sit before his door and invite travellers to\nlodge with him for the night.  He always fed them sumptuously, but at\nbed-time he brought out two bedsteads, a big one and a little one,\nand he took the short people to the big bedstead and killed them by\nstretching out their limbs till they were as long as the couch, (for\nwhich reason he was called the {182} Stretcher) and the tall people\nhe laid upon the little bedstead and lopped off as much of their\nlimbs as extended beyond it, and then he left them to bleed to death.\nTheseus behaved as if he did not know about the robber's wicked\npractices: he ate and drank and carried on a cheerful conversation,\nbut when the robber led him into the sleeping-chamber, Theseus seized\nhim round the body, threw him on to the short bedstead, and then drew\nhis sword and hewed off his legs above the knees; then two great\nstreams of blood gushed forth, and the robber died.  Theseus dragged\nthe body out into the open air where it was devoured by wolves,\nvultures, and ravens, but he himself lay down to rest in the house\nand slept till the morning, and when the day dawned, he went on his\nway.  The Stretcher was the last robber he met with, and ever after\nthis journey of his, travellers could go from Troezen to Greece\nwithout fear of being robbed and killed, and as they journeyed they\nthought of the young hero Theseus to whom they owed their safety.\n\nTheseus soon afterwards arrived in Athens.  He first of all bathed\nhimself in a stream near the city, for he was covered with dust and\nblood, and when he was cleansed, he entered the town and was\nconducted to his father's palace.  He went in saying that he was a\nstranger, and begged the king to show him hospitality.  Aegeus was\nnow old, and he was very sorrowful, for he thought that his son must\nbe dead and that the wicked Pallantidae would succeed to the kingdom.\nThe witch Medea was with him, for he had received her when she fled\nfrom Corinth in her chariot drawn by dragons.[2] {183} She was wise\nand crafty in speech, and she had succeeded in gaining so great an\ninfluence over the king that he asked her advice in all things, and\nfollowed it.  No one knew who Theseus was except Medea, but she knew,\nfor she could find out any secret by means of her magic arts.  She\nwas not at all pleased that Theseus had come to Athens, for she\nfeared that the king would set greater store by his son than by her,\nand that her power would now be at an end.  So she told Aegeus that\nthe stranger was a kinsman of the Pallantidae, and that he had come\nfor the purpose of killing him.  The poor old king believed what she\ntold him and was seized with fear, and he asked her what he had\nbetter do to save his life.  Medea answered that she would mix some\npoison with the wine that Theseus was to drink, and Aegeus gave her\nleave to do so.  But while they were at dinner, it happened that\nTheseus wanted to cut off a piece of roasted meat, and he drew his\nsword to cut it, for the Greeks had not at that time learnt the use\nof knives and forks.  Then Aegeus recognised the sword, and he sprang\nup and dashed the goblet from the table; the poisoned wine flowed all\nover the floor, but Aegeus paid no attention to it, for he had flung\nhis arms round Theseus, and was embracing him and crying out, 'My\nson, my son.'  Both the father and son rejoiced greatly at thus\nfinding each other, and they had many things to ask and to tell, and\nwhen Theseus related how he had destroyed the robbers, the joy of the\nold king was doubled at finding that his son was so brave a hero.\nMeanwhile he gave no thought to the wicked Medea who had intended to\npoison Theseus, and she went out and called her dragon-car.  It came\nrushing through {184} the air towards her, and she got into it and\nflew away, and has never been seen again.\n\nThe old king was quite happy now, and he sent a herald to proclaim\nall through the city that Theseus was his son and the heir to his\nkingdom.  No one grudged him his happiness except the wicked Pallas\nand his sons, who till now had been the chief men in the city.  They\nwere rich and had a great many servants, and they assembled them all\nin a little wood near the city, intending to leave some of them there\nin ambush, and to lead the others towards the city and shout to\nTheseus to come out and fight them.  They thought that he would come\nout against them with a few men only, and that after the battle had\nbegun, they would be joined by the servants left in the wood which\nwould make the odds very unequal; and they hoped that they would thus\nbe able to kill Theseus, and then go on into the city and murder the\nold king.  But after they had made all their preparations, one of the\nservants went to Aegeus and revealed the treachery they were\nplanning.  Then Theseus went out towards the wood, followed by a\nnumber of the citizens, and slew the men who were in ambush there,\nand when the rest heard that, they were afraid, and fled from the\ncountry.\n\nTheseus was anxious to perform some heroic deed which would benefit\nthe Athenians and make them love and honour him.  There was at that\ntime a fierce bull in the country who killed men and cattle, and who\nwas called the Bull of Marathon, because he lived near Marathon,\nwhich is close to Athens.  It was the same beast that had formerly\nbeen called the Cretan Bull, and had been brought by Heracles from\nCrete, at the {185} command of Eurystheus, as his seventh Labour.[3]\nEver since that time the savage bull had been at large in Greece,\ndoing much damage.  Theseus went out against him without either sword\nor club, for he wished to overcome the bull by his own hero-strength\nalone, and bring him alive to Athens; some of the citizens went with\nhim, but only to look on at a distance.  When Theseus came in sight\nof the bull, he stood still, and the bull rushed at him, bellowing\nand lowering his head to run his horns into him and toss him up high\ninto the air, as he had tossed many a one before.  But Theseus seized\nhim by the horns and dragged him aside, and then a mighty wrestling\ntook place,--the eyes of the young hero glowed like fire, and the\nveins of his arms were swollen high with the effort he had to make.\nWhen they had wrestled for some time, the bull grew tired and tried\nto get free, but Theseus held him fast and dragged him into the city,\nand all the Athenians came out to meet him, and they praised him and\nsaid that he was like Heracles.  Theseus then took the bull to the\ntemple of Apollo to sacrifice him to the god.  He cut off the hairs\nfrom the animal's forehead, as the custom was, and laid them in the\nflame of the fire that was burning on the altar and prayed to Apollo,\nand then he took up the sacrificial axe, and felled the great bull to\nthe ground with a single blow.  The sacrifice was then performed in\nthe usual manner, and it was the most splendid animal that had ever\nbeen offered to any god.  The Athenians were proud of their strong\nyoung prince, and they loved and honoured him.\n\nNot long after this, the time came round when the {186} Athenians\nwere obliged to send their tribute to the king of Crete; it was,\nindeed, a shameful tribute,--seven youths and seven maidens, who were\nsent to perish there miserably.  Minos, the king of Crete, had had a\nson named Androgeus, who had once happened to come to Athens just\nwhen there was a feast going on, and sports in which all the young\nmen vied with one another in feats of skill and strength; and he had\ntaken part in the sports, and had excelled all others and won the\nprize of honour.  But the Athenians were very angry at his having\nbeaten them, and they lay in wait for him as he was on his way home,\nand fell upon him and killed him.  When his father, King Minos, heard\nof this, he swore that the Athenians should suffer for it, and he\nprepared his ships and sailed with a mighty army to fight against\nAthens.  The gods took the part of Minos and sent a pestilence among\nthe Athenians; they also dried up their rivers and spoiled their\nharvests, so that there was great distress throughout the country.\nAt last the Athenians were obliged to sue for peace, and Minos\ngranted it on condition that every nine years they should give him a\ntribute of seven youths and seven maidens.  There was a wonderful\nhouse in Crete where the youths and maidens who were sent as tribute\nmet with a miserable death.  The house was called the Labyrinth, and\nit was as large as a town, and had countless courts and galleries.\nThose who entered it without being familiar with its passages could\nnever find their way out again, and they hurried from one to another\nof the numberless rooms looking for the entrance door, but all in\nvain,--they only became more and more hopelessly lost in the\nbewildering house, and {187} at last a monster who lived there, came\nand ate them up.  He was called the Minotaur, and he had the form of\na man, excepting his head, which was that of a bull, and he had a\nbull's voice.\n\nWhen the time for paying the tribute came round, all the youths and\nmaidens of Athens had to assemble in the market-place.  Then two\nbrazen vessels were brought out, and they put a number of balls into\neach of them; into one vessel they put as many balls as there were\nyouths in the city, and into the other as many balls as there were\nmaidens; seven of the balls in each vessel were black, and all the\nrest were white.  All the youths and maidens in turn had to put their\nhand into one of the vessels and draw out a ball without looking, and\nthose who drew the black balls had to go on board the ship that was\nwaiting to take them to Crete.  For this sorrowful journey the ship\nalways had black sails instead of white ones.\n\nFor the third time the Athenians were now obliged to pay the tribute\nof seven youths and seven maidens to the king of Crete.  When Theseus\nheard about it, he begged his father to let him sail with them, for\nhe hoped that he would be able to kill the monster and deliver the\nAthenians.  The king was afraid that Theseus would never come back,\nnotwithstanding the great deeds he had already performed, and he\nrefused at first to give his consent; but Theseus said that it would\nbe a disgrace to him if he did not go, and he persisted in his\nrequest till his father granted it.  When the others had been chosen\nby lot, they all went on board the ship which was ready to sail, and\nAegeus and many others went down to the shore to take leave of {188}\nthem.  All were heart-broken at the parting excepting Theseus, but he\nwas in very good spirits, for he hoped this would be the last time\nthat such a journey would have to be made.  The old king gave him a\nwhite sail which he begged him to hoist if he came back in safety,\nsaying, 'If you are alive when the ship returns, let me know it by\nthis signal; but if on the contrary you have perished, the black sail\nwill tell me the sad news as soon as the ship comes in sight.'\nTheseus promised to do as his father wished, and then he went on\nboard the vessel and gave the signal to the sailors, who plied their\noars and pushed off from the land.  And Aegeus returned home and\nprayed to the gods to bring his son back to him in safety.\n\nAfter some time the voyage came to an end, and the ship with the\nblack sails arrived in Crete.  Minos sent his soldiers to conduct the\nyouths and maidens to a dungeon where they were to remain till the\nnext day, and as they passed through the streets many people crowded\nto look at them, lamenting that the young lives should be sacrificed.\nThe procession went past the palace gate where King Minos was\nstanding with his daughter Ariadne, who was a very beautiful girl.\nWhen Ariadne saw Theseus she could not help gazing at him, for she\nthought he looked more like a true hero than any one she had ever\nseen, though many heroes came to her father's court.  She could not\nbear to think that he must perish, and all night long, when every one\nelse was asleep, she lay awake on her couch thinking how she could\nsave him.  In the morning she watched for an opportunity and went to\nthe prison, where she bad no difficulty in getting in because she was\nthe {189} king's daughter.  She called Theseus apart, and told him\nthat she loved him and longed to save him, and she gave him a ball of\nthread and said that he must secretly fasten one end of it to the\nentrance of the Labyrinth and unravel it as he went along, so that he\nmight be able to find his way out again.  She also gave him a sharp\nsword which she had taken from her father's armoury, that he might be\narmed for his struggle with the Minotaur.  Theseus thanked the\nbeautiful Ariadne, and told her that he was the son of the king of\nAthens, and that if he escaped in safety from the Labyrinth he would\ntake her home with him to be his wife.  She willingly consented to\nthis, and then left the prison, and soon afterwards the guards came\nto take the prisoners to the Labyrinth; they did not see the sword\nand the ball of thread which Ariadne had given to Theseus, for he had\nhidden them in his robe.  When they reached the Labyrinth they led\nthe prisoners a long way into it and then left them, thinking that\nthey would never find their way out again, for they did not notice\nthat Theseus had unfastened his ball at the entrance and let the\nthread pass through his fingers as he went along.  When the guards\nhad turned back, the youths and maidens thought they would have to\nwander about hopelessly until the Minotaur came and devoured them,\nbut Theseus spoke to them encouragingly, and said that by the help of\nthe gods he would slay the monster and bring them out of their\ntrouble.  About mid-day they heard the monster bellowing in the\ndistance; he was still some way from them, but he scented human\nblood, and as he came nearer his bellowing grew louder and louder.\nThe {190} others crowded together in a corner, each wanting to be the\nlast to meet him, but Theseus stood forward in the middle of the room\nwith his naked sword raised, waiting for his approach.  He was as\ntall again as a man, and he had powerful fists and a huge mouth, and\non his head were two great horns.  He stretched out his arm to seize\nTheseus and opened his mouth to bite off his head, but Theseus sprang\nbehind him and hewed off one of his legs at the knee joint, and then\nthe huge giant fell down and bellowed until the walls shook with the\nnoise he made.  Theseus measured with his eye to see where his heart\nmust be, and taking careful aim, he stabbed him through the back at\nthat place.  A great stream of blood gushed out, and the monster lay\non the ground groaning and moaning and beating about wildly with his\narms; he did not hit any one, however, and before long he was dead.\nThe youths and maidens all came round Theseus, and they fell down and\nkissed his feet and hands.  They waited till it was dark, and then\nset out to leave the Labyrinth, Theseus going in front and winding up\nthe ball of thread as he went.  They passed through room after room\nand court after court, till at last they reached the door, where they\nfound Ariadne waiting for them; she had stolen away from the palace,\nand was full of joy when she saw them arrive.  Then they all went\ntogether to the ship, which at once put out to sea, and by daybreak\nthey were already far away.  King Minos thought his daughter must\nhave been carried off by robbers, for it never occurred to him that\nshe could have sailed away with the prisoners whom he believed to\nhave been devoured by the Minotaur, and he searched for her all over\nthe island.  When he {191} heard, some time afterwards, what had\nreally happened, he was so amazed at the bravery of Theseus that he\nnever again ventured to demand the tribute from the Athenians.\n\nWhen Theseus and his companions had sailed for some days, they came\nto the island of Naxos, and as it was evening, they went ashore to\nsleep.  Naxos was the favourite country of Dionysus, the wine-god; he\noften used to stay in the island, and he caused the finest vines to\ngrow there.  Theseus and his companions slept on the shore, and\ntowards morning, Dionysus appeared to Theseus in a dream and said to\nhim, 'Rise up and return home at once with your friends, but leave\nAriadne behind you, for I myself have chosen her to be my wife.'\nTheseus awoke very sorrowful at having to leave the beautiful\nAriadne, but he knew that he must do as the god commanded, and he\nroused his companions and told them his dream, and then they went\nsoftly down to the ship and sailed away, leaving Ariadne asleep on\nthe island.  When it was bright daylight, Ariadne awoke and found\nherself alone.  She sprang up and ran down to the shore, and seeing\nthe ship some way out at sea, she thought they had forgotten her, and\nwaved her veil as a signal for them to come back.  The ship's crew\nsaw her, but they sailed on all the same, and then Ariadne sat down\non the shore and wept bitterly, for she thought that Theseus had\nabandoned her because he did not love her, and that she was left to\nperish in misery and distress.  As she sat thus weeping, with her\nbeautiful head resting on her hand, and with her mind full of sad\nthoughts, she heard a sound of flute-playing on the island, which\ncame nearer and nearer, and a {192} crowd of men and women appeared\nbefore her in a strange procession.  The foremost was a marvellously\nbeautiful youth, who had a crown of vine-leaves on his head, and\ndrove in a golden chariot drawn by two spotted panthers.  The youth\nwas Dionysus, and he went up to Ariadne and said, 'Do not be afraid;\nI am the god who created the vine, and I love you, and am going to\nmake you my wife.'  The marriage was celebrated that very day, and\nall the woods and valleys in the island resounded with sweet music;\nthe Bacchantes danced and sang, and the old Silenus who had taken\ncare of Dionysus in his childhood[4] was intoxicated the whole day\nlong by way of doing honour to his master.  Ariadne was now the wife\nof the god Dionysus, and she became immortal, and was gifted with\nperpetual youth.\n\nThe ship that carried away Theseus soon reached Athens, but Theseus\nwas so absorbed in thoughts of Ariadne that he forgot to hoist the\nwhite sails which were to announce his safe return.  The aged Aegeus\nhad passed many long hours since his son had left him in sitting on a\nhigh rock from which he could see far over the sea.  At last he spied\na sail coming towards him, but when it approached a little nearer, he\nsaw that it was a black one.  Then he thought that the ship was\nreturning without Theseus, and he threw himself over into the sea\nbecause he could not bear to live any longer.  Some of the people who\nwere on the shore saw what he had done, and they at once got into a\nboat and sailed to the place where he had disappeared, hoping to save\nhim; but they were too late, for when they found him he was already\ndead.  They laid the {193} corpse on a bier, and were standing sadly\nround it when the ship came sailing in.  The youths on board raised a\nshout of joy at reaching their home again, but the others beckoned to\nthem to be silent, and pointed to the corpse.  When Theseus knew that\nhis father had killed himself at the sight of the black sail, he was\nvery much distressed, and he threw himself upon the corpse shedding\nbitter tears.  In the evening the Athenians carried the bier to the\npalace, and the next day they raised a funeral pyre, and when they\nhad burnt the body, they placed the ashes in a costly urn.  Theseus\nsorrowed long for his father, and bitterly regretted that he had not\nremembered the white sail at the right time.  Theseus was now king,\nand he ruled over the city of Athens for a great number of years, and\nperformed many brave deeds.  The Athenians had never before had such\na noble hero for their king, and they lived in peace and safety, for\ntheir enemies feared Theseus and did not dare to attack them.  It\nhappened once, that in sailing along the coast of Asia, Theseus\narrived at the country of the Amazons,--a nation of warlike\nwomen,[5]--one of whom was standing on the shore when Theseus landed.\nShe was so beautiful that he determined to carry her off to be his\nwife, but the Amazons never welcomed strangers, and when Theseus went\nup to her she raised her lance, intending to pierce him with it.\nTheseus however was not afraid, and putting his arms round the\nmaiden, he carried her off to the ship and his comrades rowed away as\nfast as they could.  The other Amazons came running down to the shore\nwhen they heard the cries of their sister, but they could not {194}\novertake the ship.  The Amazon that Theseus had carried off was named\nHippolyta.  At first she was very angry with him, but soon she came\nto love him with all her heart and had no wish to go home again.\nWhen they reached Athens, Hippolyta became the wife of Theseus, and\nthe gods sent them a little son whom they named Hippolytus.\nHippolyta was now queen of Athens; but the Amazons had made up their\nminds to deliver their sister and punish the stranger who had run\naway with her, and they took ship and sailed to Greece.  It was a\nstrange sight to see women with helmets on their heads and shields at\ntheir sides, managing the vessels; and when they came to Greece every\none was afraid of them.  They did not know who it was that had\ncarried off their sister, so they made inquiries; and when they found\nit was Theseus, they set out for Athens, and as soon as they entered\nhis dominions they began to lay waste the cornfields and kill both\nmen and women.  Some of the people escaped, however, and hastened to\nthe city to warn the king that the Amazons were marching towards it,\nand he armed his people and led them out to the fight.  Then a fierce\nbattle took place, and many of the Athenians were killed.  Queen\nHippolyta stood on the wall of the city watching the battle, full of\nanxiety lest Theseus should be killed by the Amazons, and she longed\nso much to help him that at last she armed herself with a spear and\nshield, and went out to take part in the fray.  The Amazons thought\nat first that she had come to join them, but when they found out what\nwas the real state of the case they became furious.  They were now\nmore angry with her than with Theseus, and they hurled their lances\nat her till one of them hit her in {195} the breast, and she sank\ndown and died.  Theseus was standing by her, and when he saw that she\nwas dead, he was seized with uncontrollable fury, and he struck down\none after another of the Amazons until they were all killed.  It was\na great victory, and the first that any one had ever gained over the\nAmazons, but Theseus could take no pleasure in it because of the loss\nof Hippolyta.\n\nThere was a nation in Greece called the Lapithae, whose king,\nPiritho\u00fcs, was a brave and noble hero.  He had heard so much about\nTheseus that he resolved to try whether he was as much of a hero as\nevery one said.  So he entered his country and stole some cattle and\ncarried them away.  When Theseus heard of it, he set out in pursuit\nof Piritho\u00fcs, who took no pains to escape from him, but rather the\ncontrary, for he had stolen the cattle, not for the sake of having\nthem, but because he wanted to see what Theseus would be like when he\nwas angry.  When Theseus overtook him, Piritho\u00fcs marvelled at his\nstrength and beauty and at the fire of his eyes which were glowing\nwith impatience for the fight, and Theseus on his part was so\ndelighted with the brave and manly appearance of Piritho\u00fcs that he\nquite forgot that he had been angry with him.  Piritho\u00fcs went up to\nhim holding out his hand, and said, 'I will atone for the theft I\nhave committed; you may impose upon me whatever punishment you will.'\nTheseus gave him his hand in return, and said that he would impose no\npunishment, but would rather make a sacred friendship with him.  They\npromised each other that they would be as brothers, and would always\nbe ready to stand by one another, and called upon Zeus {196} to\nwitness their oaths and bless their friendship, and then they\nreturned, each to his own country.\n\nSome time after this, Piritho\u00fcs invited a number of guests to\ncelebrate his marriage with a beautiful princess, and the most\nhonoured of all the guests was Theseus.  All the great men among the\nLapithae were at the wedding, and also the savage Centaurs, who had\nthe lower part of their bodies formed like the bodies of horses.  But\nwhen the fierce Centaurs became intoxicated, they tried to run away\nwith the bride of Piritho\u00fcs and the other women, and the marriage\nfeast ended in a bloody fight.  The vessels that had been used at the\nfeast served for arms, and they threw goblets, dishes, and drinking\ncups at one another.  The Centaurs were stronger than the Lapithae,\nand would certainly have gained the victory if the Lapithae had not\nhad the help of Theseus, who had brought his iron club with him and\nstruck down the Centaurs with it, till the dead bodies of those whom\nhe had killed lay upon the ground in heaps and the few that remained\ntook to flight.  Then peace was restored, though not before a great\nnumber of the Lapithae had perished, and Theseus returned home, glad\nthat he had been able to give this proof of his friendship for\nPiritho\u00fcs.\n\nTheseus was always ready to help those who were in the right, and as\nhis fame spread far and wide, every one who was oppressed came to\nAthens and stood before the Altar of Pity which had been raised in\nthe centre of the market-place.  Then Theseus inquired into his case,\nand if he found that he had been wronged, he took care to see that\njustice was done.  This gained for him the hatred of the wicked\noppressors, but all those who cared for justice honoured and loved\nhim.\n\n{197}\n\nTheseus had reigned for a long time, and his son Hippolytus had grown\nup to be a man, when he resolved to marry again, and asked Minos the\nking of Crete to let him have his daughter Phaedra, the sister of\nAriadne, for his wife.  Minos had long before this forgiven Theseus\nfor having killed the Minotaur and carried off Ariadne, and he\nwillingly consented to give him his younger daughter in marriage.\nPhaedra was many years younger than Theseus and had been quite a\nchild when he was in Crete, but she now became queen of Athens, and\nTheseus loved her dearly and did all he could to please her.  His\nson, who had been named Hippolytus after his mother, did not live at\nAthens, but in Troezen with his grandmother who had brought him up\nsince the death of Hippolyta.  He was noble and virtuous, and he\nloved the chase and all manly pursuits, and honoured, above all other\ngods and goddesses, the huntress-goddess Artemis.  Hippolytus came\none day to Athens on a visit, and when Phaedra saw him, she was so\ndazzled by his youth and beauty that she began to love him\npassionately, and after his return she used to spend many hours every\nday sitting on the city walls and looking towards Troezen.  She used\nto take her old nurse there with her, and talk to her about\nHippolytus, and tell her how willingly she would give up honour and\nriches for his sake.  The next time Hippolytus came to Athens she had\na secret conversation with him, and begged him to flee away and take\nher with him to be his wife.  But Hippolytus was angry with her for\nplotting such treachery against his father, and he was so shocked at\nwhat she had said that he mounted his chariot and drove his spirited\nhorses {198} back towards Troezen.  Phaedra now hated him for having\nspurned her, and she thought of a plan by which she might revenge\nherself upon him.  She went to Theseus and told him with many tears\nthat Hippolytus had proposed to her to run away with him and become\nhis wife, and Theseus believed what she told him, and he was very,\nvery angry, and said that Hippolytus should atone for it with his\nlife.\n\nTheseus was loved by the gods, and especially by Poseidon the\nsea-god, who had once promised him that if ever he prayed to him in\nany time of trouble, he would certainly grant his request, whatever\nit might be.  Many years had passed away since then, and Theseus had\nnever had so great a desire for anything as to think of asking the\nsea-god for it; but now that Phaedra accused his son of this great\ncrime, he entreated Poseidon to fulfil his dearest wish and cause\nHippolytus to die immediately.  At that moment, Hippolytus who was\ndriving along the sea-shore, saw the waves suddenly part asunder and\na hideous monster come out of them, who roared horribly.  The\nfrightful appearance of the monster and the noise he made, rendered\nthe horses quite unmanageable, and Hippolytus could not hold them in.\nThey ran away with the chariot, dragging it over stones and rocks,\ntill at last it was upset, and Hippolytus was thrown out and trampled\nto death.  The people found his body and brought it to Athens, and\nTheseus knew that Poseidon had granted his prayer.  But when Phaedra\nsaw the corpse, she was so grieved and sick at heart that she went\ninto her sleeping chamber and hanged herself, and then the old nurse\ntold the king the whole truth.  When Theseus knew {199} that his\ninnocent son had perished because of his virtue, he was quite\novercome with grief, and threw himself upon the corpse, kissing it\nand weeping passionately, and for many days he shut himself up alone\nin his palace and refused either to eat or drink.\n\nTheseus thought that the best way of regaining his spirits would be\nto undertake some new exploit which would give a fresh turn to his\nthoughts.  The wife of Piritho\u00fcs was also dead, and the two heroes\ndetermined to set out together to seek for two beautiful women whom\nthey might carry off to become their wives.  They had heard that\nTyndareus, the king of Sparta, had a lovely daughter named Helena,\nand they set out for Sparta, and reached it just at the time of the\nfestival of Artemis.  The maidens of the city kept the festival by\ndancing round the altar of the goddess, and Helena was among them,\nand was distinguished from all the others by her marvellous beauty.\nThe two heroes rushed in among the maidens and seized Helena, and\nwhen they had carried her off to a place of safety, they cast lots\nfor her, to see whose wife she should be.  The lot fell to Theseus,\nand he took her to his mother Aethra and begged her to take care of\nthe maiden until he should return for her, for he wanted to go and\nhelp his friend also to carry off a wife by force.  They were so bold\nas to resolve that they would descend into the Land of Shades and\nsteal away the queen of the Lower World, although this was in\nundertaking so daring that nothing like it had ever before been\nattempted by any hero.  They passed through the chasm which was the\nentrance to the Lower World, and went down far below the earth till\nat last they reached the Land of {200} Shades.  They were now very\ntired, and as they expected to have a hard struggle before they could\nget possession of the queen, they thought they would rest a little\nfirst, and sat down on a stone which they saw near them.  But when\nthey wanted to get up again, they found that they had stuck fast to\nthe stone and could not move.  The king of the Lower World, who knew\nfor what purpose they had dared to come into his dominions, had\nprevented their getting up again, and he punished them by obliging\nthem to sit there for ever.\n\nSo the two heroes were kept prisoners in the Lower World; and\nmeanwhile, the brothers of Helena, whose names were Castor and\nPollux, set out to free their sister.  Their mother was the beautiful\nLeda, wife of King Tyndareus, who was sitting one day by the river\nbank when a snow-white swan came sailing by.  Leda was charmed with\nhis beauty and called him to come to her, and the swan came on shore\nand embraced her.  It was not a real swan however, but Zeus, who\nloved the beautiful Leda, and had come to her in this form.  Some\ntime after this, Leda had four children; there were two large eggs,\nand out of each egg there came a little boy and a little girl.  Two\nof them were the children of Zeus, and their names were Pollux and\nHelena; the other two were called Castor and Clytaemnestra.  When\nthey grew up, the two brothers, Castor and Pollux, became glorious\nheroes.  No one understood so well how to tame wild horses as Castor,\nand no one was so skilled in wrestling as Pollux.[6]  They were also\nkind and gentle, and loved one another so dearly that they shared\neverything, and they performed {201} many heroic deeds together, and\nwon great fame.  But in the course of time, Castor died and passed\ninto the Lower World, where he became an unthinking shade.  Pollux\ndid not die, for it was decreed that as he was a son of Zeus he\nshould become immortal and live among the gods.  But his immortality\nwas a burden to him, for he could not bear to live without his\nbrother, and he begged his father Zeus to grant them both the same\nfate, so that they might either be both in Olympus or both in the\nLower World.  Zeus was pleased at their love for one another, and he\nsaid that they should both be in Olympus one day and both be in the\nLower World on the alternate day, and thus they should always remain\ntogether.  The two brothers were named the Dioscuri, or the children\nof Zeus, and two bright stars which stand close to one another in the\nsky are named after them.\n\nAt the time however when Theseus carried off Helena, the brothers\nwere still alive and in the first bloom of their youth.  They set out\nwith their companions for Athens, thinking that Theseus must have\ntaken their sister to his capital; but when they reached it they were\ntold that he had gone away on an adventurous enterprise, and the\nAthenians took a solemn oath that the maiden was not within their\nwalls.  The brothers asked where she was hidden, and one of the\ncitizens who knew, told them; then they went away without doing any\nharm to any one, and marched to Troezen, where they compelled Aethra\nto let them take their beautiful sister home with them.\n\nTheseus and Piritho\u00fcs sat upon the stone for many years, until the\ntime came when Heracles was {202} commanded by Eurystheus to descend\ninto the Lower World and fetch up the three-headed dog Cerberus.[7]\nWhen the captive heroes saw him, they called to him and told him of\ntheir trouble, and begged him to help them.  Then Heracles seized the\nhand of Theseus with such a mighty grasp that the stone was compelled\nto leave go and allow him to get up.  He next seized hold of\nPiritho\u00fcs, but at that moment the earth quaked, and fearful sounds\nwere heard, which signified that the gods would not grant freedom to\nPiritho\u00fcs, but doomed him to sit upon the stone for ever, because he\nhad presumed to desire the queen of the Lower World for his wife.\n\nSo Theseus was obliged to leave his friend in the Land of Shades, and\nhe took leave of him and returned to the Upper World; but in the\nmeanwhile his hair had turned grey, and his appearance had become\nvery much altered.  Now while he was a prisoner in the Lower World, a\nmischief-making person had been telling the people that their king\nspent all his time in going about on daring expeditions, and was of\nno use to his subjects; so when Theseus came back to Athens, he found\nthat the people had no longer any affection or esteem for him.  He\nwould not live amongst those who did not make him welcome, and he\nleft his country and got into a ship and sailed to the island of\nScyros.  Part of the island belonged to a king named Lycomedes, but\nthe rest of it belonged to Theseus, and he had resolved to spend the\nremaining days of his life there, so he went to the king and told him\nso.  The king was by no means pleased, for he was a cowardly man and\nhe thought that Theseus would not leave him in peaceful {203}\npossession of his share, but would make himself king of the whole\nisland.  He pretended, however, to welcome Theseus, and said that he\nwould take him to a mountain where he would have a view of the whole\ncountry.  They both climbed up the mountain, which had a steep\nprecipice on one side of it, and when Theseus was preoccupied in\nlooking at the country, Lycomedes got behind him and pushed him over\nthe cliff.  Theseus died from the great fall, and thus the strong\nhero lost his life at the hands of one cowardly man.  They found his\nbody lying at the foot of the precipice with the bones broken, and\nthey buried him in the island.\n\nMany years passed away, and the age of the heroes and the sons of the\ngods had quite gone by, when the Athenians sent one day to the Oracle\nat Delphi to inquire of the Pythia about the future.  The Pythia told\nthem that they had better fetch the bones of Theseus from Scyros and\nkeep them in their city, because these bones would prove a great\nblessing to them.  They did not fail to attend to this direction, and\nsent ships manned with a large number of Athenians to the island of\nScyros, to seek for the bones of Theseus and bring them home.  But no\none could tell them where the grave of the hero was, for during that\nlong time it had been forgotten.  They went all over the island\nseeking for it, and at last it was revealed to them by a sign from\nheaven: a mighty eagle swooped down on to a hill and pecked the\nground many times with his beak, then he soared up again and\ndisappeared among the clouds.  The Athenians dug into the hill and\nfound a coffin containing bones much larger than the bones of the men\nof that time, and {204} there was also a sword and spear in the same\ncoffin.  They knew by the sign that had been given them from heaven\nthat these were the bones of Theseus, and they carried the coffin to\ntheir finest ship and sailed home with it.  The ship was beautifully\nadorned with garlands and streamers, and when it reached Athens the\ncitizens put on their best clothes and came out to meet it, singing\nand playing on the flute, just as if it were Theseus himself who was\nreturning to his country.  They buried his bones in the middle of the\ncity, and consecrated the spot as a Refuge or place of safety: if,\nfor example, a slave were pursued by his master and he could succeed\nin reaching the tomb of Theseus, the master had no longer any right\nto touch him.  In this manner the Athenians honoured the memory of\nTheseus, who during his lifetime had always been so ready to take the\npart of the weak against the strong.  They also came in time to look\nupon him as a god, and offered sacrifices to him.\n\n\n\n[1] This fortress was afterwards called the Acropolis of Athens.\n\n[2] See page 175.\n\n[3] See page 122.\n\n[4] See page 66.\n\n[5] See page 125.\n\n[6] See page 157.\n\n[7] See page 135.\n\n\n\n\n{205}\n\nXXIX.\n\nOEDIPUS.\n\nThere was once a king of Thebes called La\u00efus, and he had a wife whose\nname was Jocasta.  There was also a soothsayer in Thebes, who said\nthat if the queen had a son it would be a great misfortune, for that\nwhen he grew up, he would kill his father and marry his mother.  Some\ntime afterwards the queen had a little son, a strong child with\nbright merry eyes; but La\u00efus determined to kill it in order to\nprevent the prediction of the soothsayer from coming true, and he\ntold one of his servants to take the little child to a mountain\ncalled Cithaeron, which was covered with forests, and leave it there\nto be devoured by wild beasts; but before he sent it away, the king\ntied a string tightly round its ankles, which made the little feet\nswell.  The servant did as he was told, and left the child lying in\nthe forest.  But it happened that the cattle of Polybus, the king of\nCorinth, were at that time pasturing on the mountain, and one of the\nherdsmen who was in charge of them, chanced, in searching for a cow\nthat had gone astray, to go through the forest and to pass by the\nspot where the child of King La\u00efus had been left to perish.  He was\nsorry for the poor little thing, and he took it up and untied the\nstring round its feet, and laid cooling {206} herbs upon the sore\nplaces.  King Polybus and his wife had no child, though they wished\nvery much for one, and the herdsman, who knew this, thought that they\nmight like to have the little stranger to bring up as their own son.\nHe took the beautiful little boy to Corinth and showed him to the\nking and queen, who were very much pleased, and they said they would\nkeep him for their own, and told the herdsman not to let any one know\nthat he had found him in the forest.  So La\u00efus thought that his child\nhad been devoured by wild beasts, while the Corinthians thought that\nthe gods had granted the wish of their queen and had sent her a\nchild, and nobody, not even the king and queen themselves, knew that\nhe was the son of La\u00efus and Jocasta.  The child's feet were still\nswollen when he was brought to Corinth, so they called him Oedipus,\nwhich means Swollen-Foot.\n\nOedipus grew up to be brave and strong, and the king and queen, who\nwere very fond of him, treated him just as if they were his real\nparents and never told him that he had not been born in Corinth.\nWhen he was a young man, he went one day to Delphi to ask the Oracle\nwhat would happen to him, and the priestess answered, 'You will kill\nyour father and marry your mother.'  Oedipus shuddered, and resolved\nto leave Corinth at once that he might never fulfil such a horrible\nprediction.  He ordered his chariot, and let his horses take\nwhichever road they pleased, for he did not care where he went, so\nlong as it was away from Corinth.  By-and-by he came to a strange\ncountry, and found himself in a narrow lane where there was not even\nroom for two chariots to pass one another, and whilst {207} he was\nstill in this narrow lane, he met a king who was coming in his\nchariot from the opposite direction.  The king commanded Oedipus to\nstand aside and let him pass in such a haughty manner that Oedipus\nrefused to obey him, and after they had exchanged some angry words,\nthey seized their arms, and Oedipus before long struck the king a\ndeadly blow.  The king was La\u00efus, the father of Oedipus, and thus a\npart of the Oracle was already fulfilled; but Oedipus did not know\nthis, and he did not feel at all sorry for having killed the\nstranger, as it was he who had begun the quarrel.  He went on through\nGreece and accomplished many brave deeds, and after some time he came\nto the neighbourhood of Thebes, where he heard a strange story indeed.\n\nOn the mountain near Thebes, there was a monster called the Sphinx,\nwho could speak.  She devoured both men and cattle, and no one had\nbeen able to overcome her.  She asked every one who came near her a\nriddle which she had learnt from the Muses, who are the goddesses of\nsong, and she devoured every one who could not answer it; but it had\nbeen decreed by fate that if any one should ever succeed in guessing\nit, she would be obliged to throw herself down from the mountain and\ndie.  Many people had already tried to do so, but they had all failed\nand had been devoured by the Sphinx in consequence, so that no one\nelse would attempt it, and there was no end to the misery in the\nland.  The Thebans met together to consider what could be done, and\nthey agreed that if any one would answer the riddle and deliver the\ncity from the monster, he should, as a reward, be made king of\nThebes, and have Jocasta for his wife.  King La\u00efus had been found\n{208} dead in the narrow lane some time before, but it was not known\nwho had killed him.\n\nWhen Oedipus heard that the Thebans had agreed to give the kingdom to\nany one who would deliver them from the Sphinx, he said to himself,\n'I dare not return to my father's country, and I will therefore seek\nto win a kingdom for myself,' for he still thought that his father\nwas the king of Corinth.  So he set out for the mountain where the\nSphinx lived.  She was like a gigantic lioness, with a woman's head,\nand powerful wings growing out of her shoulders, and all round her\nlay the bones of the men whom she had devoured.  It was a horrible\nsight, but Oedipus was not afraid, and he desired her to tell him the\nriddle.  Then she began to sing, 'There is a creature of wondrous\nkind; at first it goes on four legs, then on two, and at last it uses\nthree.  There is none like it among all those that walk on the earth,\nor swim in the water, or fly in the air.'  Oedipus put his hand to\nhis forehead and thought for a while.  Then it came into his mind\nthat as a little child, man crawls about on four legs, and that in\nhis old age he uses a stick, which is just like a third leg, and he\nsaid, 'The wonderful creature is man.'  As soon as the words had\npassed his lips, the Sphinx threw herself from the mountain, and fell\ndown dead into the valley below.  The Thebans, who were watching from\nthe city, saw what happened, and they came out to meet Oedipus with\nshouts of joy.  They hailed him as their king and led him into the\npalace, and on the same day he was married to Queen Jocasta.  Thus he\nbecame the husband of his mother, and the whole of the prophecy was\nfulfilled.  But he did not know this, and was very happy.  {209} He\nlived in great riches, and to all seeming, in great honour, so that\nthere was no one who did not look upon him as a very fortunate man.\n\nMany years had passed away, when there came a messenger to Thebes to\ntell Oedipus that King Polybus was dead, and to beg him to return to\nCorinth and be king of the city.  But Oedipus would not return there\non account of the Oracle, for though King Polybus, whom he believed\nto be his father, was dead, the queen was still alive, and he feared\nthat some madness might come over him and make him desire to marry\nhis mother.  He told this to the messenger, who, as it happened, was\nthe old herdsman who had found Oedipus in the forest when he was a\nchild; and he, thinking to do the king a great service, told him in\nreturn that he was not the son of Polybus, but a strange child who\nhad been found on Mount Cithaeron with his feet tied together by a\nstring.  As soon as Jocasta heard this, she knew that Oedipus must be\nher son, and when he began to inquire about his father, he found that\nhe must have been the king whom he had killed in the narrow lane.\nAll his prosperity and all his happiness had now left him at a single\nblow, and there was not a man in Thebes who did not consider himself\nbetter off than the king.  He was so wretched that he put out his own\neyes because he could not bear to face the contemptuous looks of the\nThebans; and as for Jocasta, she went into her bedchamber and hanged\nherself.\n\nThe Greeks believed that the presence of any one who had committed a\ngreat crime, even though he had done so unintentionally, made them\nunholy and brought misfortune upon them, and on account of this, the\n{210} Thebans resolved to banish Oedipus from their city.  He had two\nsons who were strong youths and might have protected their father if\nthey had chosen, but they would not interfere, because they wanted to\nrule over the city themselves.  The blind king was led out of the\ncity, but when he came to the gate he turned round and prayed to the\ngods to punish his sons.  He would have been left quite alone to\nstumble over every stone that lay in his path, if it had not been for\none of his daughters, who resolved to share his misery, and who left\nthe beautiful palace in order to take care of her unhappy father in\nhis distress.  She was his eldest daughter, and her name was\nAntigone.  She and Oedipus wandered from place to place, living on\nthe food that kind people threw to them, and their couch at night was\noften beneath the blue sky with a hard stone for their pillow, for\nthe people were afraid to allow the blind king to come into their\nhouses, because of the crimes that he had committed.  Antigone\nsuffered from hunger and cold, and her feet were torn and bleeding\nfrom the thorns, but she did not think much about that, it was the\nmisery of her father that pierced her heart.\n\nAfter they had wandered for many years, they came at last to Athens\nwhere Theseus, who was always willing to help those who were in\ntrouble was then king.  In the middle of the city was the Altar of\nPity which he had erected,[1] and Oedipus seated himself on one of\nthe steps of the altar as a sign that he sought for help.  Then\nTheseus came and asked who he was, and when he heard his name,\ninstead of turning away from him {211} with a shudder as every one\nelse did, he took him by the hand and led him into the palace, where\nhe lived with Antigone during the rest of his life.  Before long,\nhowever, Oedipus died, and his body was solemnly burnt by the\nAthenians, for the Oracle said that they must take great care of his\nashes, which would prove a blessing to the city.\n\n\n\n[1] See page 196.\n\n\n\n\n{212}\n\nXXX.\n\nTHE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES.\n\nThe sons of Oedipus were twins, and their names were Eteocles and\nPolynices.  When their father was banished from Thebes they succeeded\nto the kingdom, and agreed that they would each reign in turn for one\nyear.  Eteocles had his turn first; but he found it so pleasant to be\nking that when the year came to an end he refused to give up the\nsovereignty and drove his brother from the city.  Polynices was now\nan exile; but he determined that he would take no rest till he had\nfound some friends who would promise to help him to revenge himself\nupon his brother.  He set out for Argos, where King Adrastus lived,\nand arrived there after dark one evening.  In the darkness he\nhappened to jostle against another hero who was also going into the\npalace, and from angry words they soon came to blows, and drew their\nswords to fight one another.  King Adrastus heard the clash of arms\nfrom within the palace, and he took a torch and went out to see what\nwas the matter.  He commanded the heroes to stop fighting, and asked\nthem what they wanted.  Then Polynices explained how he had been\ndriven away from his country by his brother, and how he hoped that\nthe king would help {213} him to claim his rights.  The other hero,\nwhose name was Tydeus, had been driven from his country on account of\na murder that he had committed unintentionally, and he had come to\nrequest the king to help him to return home again.  Whilst the heroes\nwere speaking, the king saw by the light of the torch the shining\nbrazen figures upon their shields.  The Greek heroes used to wear\nvarious kinds of devices on their shields by which they could be\nrecognised, such as serpents, griffins, eagles, and so forth.  Now,\non the shield of Polynices there was a lion, and on that of Tydeus a\nboar's head, and when Adrastus saw these, he remembered that once\nwhen he had asked the Oracle to whom he should give his two daughters\nin marriage, the Oracle had replied, 'To a lion and a wild boar.'\nAdrastus had not understood the answer at the time, but he now\nperceived that it must have referred to the two heroes, and he\ntherefore received them kindly, and said that he would give them his\ndaughters in marriage, and restore them to their homes.  The wedding\nsoon took place, and Tydeus was married to the elder daughter, and\nPolynices to the younger.\n\nThe king said that he would first help Polynices, and he assembled\nhis soldiers, and summoned several brave heroes to march with them.\nThree heroes, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus, promised to do\nso, which made six with the king and his two sons-in-law.  There was\nanother hero in Argos, named Amphiaraus, who was very wise and could\nforetell the future, and the king did not like going to war unless he\nwent too, for he was not only brave and fearless, but he always gave\ngood counsel.  But when Adrastus summoned {214} him to march against\nThebes, he said he would not go, for he knew that they would not\nconquer the city, but would all perish excepting Adrastus, who would\nreturn alone.  Amphiaraus knew this because he could see into the\nfuture, but the others did not believe what he said and thought he\nwas afraid of going to the war, and Capaneus, who was a very\nheadstrong man, said, 'If the gods themselves should declare against\nthe expedition, I am resolved to conquer the city in spite of them.'\nEven Adrastus did not believe that the war would end unhappily, and\nhe said so to Amphiaraus, and pressed him to accompany them.  At last\nit was agreed that Eriphyle, the wife of Amphiaraus, who was also the\nsister of Adrastus, should decide the matter.  There had once been a\nbitter quarrel between Amphiaraus and Adrastus which had led to their\ntaking arms against each other, and when peace was restored, they had\nagreed that if ever any dispute should again arise between them,\nEriphyle should decide about it, and that whatever she determined\nshould be done.  So now Eriphyle had to decide about the going to\nwar.  Amphiaraus foresaw that Polynices would try to bribe her and he\nwarned her to take no present from him, and she promised to obey.\nBut Polynices came to her secretly with a beautiful necklace and\nveil, and said that he would give them to her if she would decide\nthat Amphiaraus should go to the war.  These were no ordinary\nornaments, but had been given by the god Hephaestus to Cadmus and\nHarmonia when they celebrated their marriage in the Cadmea,[1] and\nhad been handed down from father to son in the royal family of {215}\nThebes, till they had been worn, last of all, by Queen Jocasta.  When\nEriphyle saw the glittering necklace and the snow-white veil, she\ncould not overcome her desire to possess them, and although she knew\nquite well that if she counselled war it would cost her husband his\nlife, she promised to do so; and when the heroes came together to\nhear her decision, she said, 'Amphiaraus shall go to the war.'\nAmphiaraus knew that she must have been bribed by Polynices, but he\ndid not dare to make any further difficulty, and accordingly prepared\nto set out; but before he left the city he called aside his two sons,\nwho were still young boys, and told them that when they were grown up\nthey were to kill their mother because she had decided upon his death.\n\nThere were thus seven princes who set out to march against Thebes,\nand they were accompanied by a goodly band of soldiers, and all\nexcept Amphiaraus were merry and in good spirits, for they did not\nknow that they were marching to their death.  It was a long journey\nto Thebes, and they had to travel for several days before they came\nin sight of it.  One day, as they were approaching the city of Nemea,\nthey had to pass through a forest where they met a woman carrying a\nyoung child in her arms.  The woman was a servant of King Lycurgus,\nwho ruled over the city of Nemea, and it was his child that she was\ntaking care of.  Her name was Hypsipele, and her home was in the\nisland of Lemnos, where she had once been a queen herself.[2]  The\nwomen of Lemnos had killed all the men in the island and formed a\nkingdom composed entirely of women, and they had made a law that any\nwoman who {216} should spare even her husband or son and not kill\nhim, should be severely punished.  But Hypsipele loved her old father\ntoo dearly not to be willing to brave the punishment, and she kept\nhim alive secretly, and used to take him food and talk to him when\nthe others were asleep.  This went on for a great many years, but at\nlast the other women found it out, and then they killed the old\nfather, and sold the queen as a slave to some pirates who happened to\nbe sailing past the island at the time.  The pirates sold her again\nin Nemea, and this was how she came to be the slave of King Lycurgus,\nand the nurse of his child.  The heroes were very thirsty, for it was\njust then mid-day, and they asked Hypsipele if she knew of a spring\nwhere they could quench their thirst.  She told them that farther\ndown in the valley there was a spring of beautiful clear water, and\nsaid that she would show them the way to it.  The child was\nfrightened at their shining armour and clanging weapons, so she left\nit playing on the grass, and went alone with the men.  They soon\nreached the spring and quenched their thirst, and then they returned\nto the place where they had left the child.  But the child was gone,\nand on a tree close by, there sat a great ugly serpent who had eaten\nhim up.  The serpent was soon punished for his wickedness, for one of\nthe heroes pierced him through and through with his lance and killed\nhim, but Hypsipele wept and sobbed, for she felt sure that King\nLycurgus would kill her.  The heroes were very sorry for her, and\nthey went with her to Nemea in the hope that they might be able to\nsave her from being punished.  King Lycurgus thought at first that\nthey were enemies who were coming to attack the {217} city, but\nAdrastus explained why they had come, and begged him not to be angry\nwith Hypsipele, as it was really they who were the cause of the\nchild's death.  Lycurgus was very sorrowful at hearing about it, so\nthe heroes tried to comfort him, and said that they would honour his\nchild as no child had ever been honoured before, by celebrating\nmagnificent funeral games over its tomb.  They took the child out of\nthe snake's body and burnt it on a pyre, and then they put the ashes\ninto a beautiful urn and buried them and heaped up a mound over them.\nAfter this they held games near the mound, and vied with each other\nin all kinds of sports such as heroes take pleasure in.  Such games\nas these were at that time only celebrated in memory of rich and\nfamous kings, and Lycurgus thanked the heroes for honouring his child\nin this manner.  From that time games were celebrated every third\nyear at Nemea, which were called the Nemean Games, and were famed far\nand wide.  Numbers of people came to them from all countries, and\nwhoever did best in any trial of skill received a crown as a prize.\n\nWhen the funeral festivities were at an end, the heroes took leave of\nLycurgus, who promised that for their sake he would not do any harm\nto Hypsipele.  Amphiaraus warned them once again that they had better\nreturn home, and said that the death of the child was a bad omen.\nBut when the gods meant to let misfortune overtake people, they\nblinded their eyes and prevented them from listening to any warning\nor good counsel, and thus the heroes rejected the advice of\nAmphiaraus, and continued their march.  After some days they came to\na mountain from which they could {218} see Thebes in the distance,\nand there they halted and held a council, at which it was resolved\nthat before they began the war, Tydeus should go to Thebes and tell\nEteocles that he had better give up the kingdom to his brother\npeaceably, for if he did not, the Argives would take possession of\nthe city by force.  Tydeus set out for Thebes, and finding the Theban\nheroes at a banquet, he delivered his message to them there.\nEteocles answered that he hated his brother and would rather die than\nshare the kingdom with him, and that he was not afraid of the\nArgives, but was quite ready to fight them.  On hearing this, Tydeus\nprepared to return to the camp, but as Eteocles asked him to stay and\nfeast with him, he accepted the invitation, and they talked together\nin a friendly manner as host and guest, although they were just going\nto meet one another in deadly conflict.  In those days when heroes\nmet they always took the opportunity of vying with one another in\nfeats of strength, and so when the banquet was over, Tydeus\nchallenged the Thebans to wrestle with him.  First one presented\nhimself, and then another, but Tydeus was stronger than any of them,\nand overcame them all.  The Thebans were ashamed of themselves and\nfurious with Tydeus, and they placed an ambush of fifty youths in a\ncopse not far from the city, who rushed out and fell upon him as he\nwas returning home.  It was an unequal struggle, but Tydeus killed\nthem all except one, who fled back into the city and told the Thebans\nwhat had become of the others, and then they wondered still more at\nthe extraordinary strength of Tydeus.\n\nWhen the princes understood that Eteocles would not give up the\nkingdom peaceably, they led their army {219} against the city in\norder to get possession of it by force.  The gates were fastened with\nstrong bars, and on the walls stood the Thebans in arms, prepared to\nbeat off the enemy.  There were seven gates in the walls of the city,\nand Adrastus allotted one gate to each of the princes to attack with\nhis band of followers.  The Thebans, on their side, had also placed\nthe seven gates under the special charge of their seven most valiant\nheroes, each of whom had a band of men to fight under him.  Then a\nfierce battle took place,--the Argives tried to scale the walls by\nmeans of ladders, and hurled javelins and arrows at their enemies,\nwhile the Thebans rolled great stones to the top of the walls, and\njust when there were a number of Argives upon one of the ladders and\nthey were hoping that in another moment they would have gained\npossession of the wall, the Thebans let fall a huge stone, which\nbroke the ladder and crushed to death all those who were upon it.\nCapaneus was the most impetuous of all the Argives, and wherever he\nfought the Thebans gave way before him.  He set up a ladder against\nthe wall and had climbed almost to the top of it, when, thinking that\nthe city was already in his hands, he looked up at the sky and cried\nout in a mocking tone, 'The strength of heroes is mightier than the\nwill of the gods.'  But as the presumptuous hero raised his foot to\nplace it upon the wall, there came a flash of lightning which\ndestroyed him in a moment, and the Thebans, who were inspired by this\nwith fresh courage, drove back the band of soldiers that he had been\nleading.  All day long the Argives fought against the city, but at\nlast the sun went down, and they were obliged to give over for the\ntime.\n\n{220}\n\nThe next day Eteocles ascended a tower, and took with him a herald\nwhom he caused to make a proclamation to the Argives in the following\nwords: 'Ye heroes of Argos, Eteocles offers to fight alone with\nPolynices, on the understanding that whichever of them gets the\nbetter of the other shall be king of Thebes.'  Polynices on his part\nwas also eager to fight with his brother, and readily accepted the\nchallenge to single combat.  Then the Thebans came and encamped\noutside the city to watch the fight; and the Argives in the plain\nbeyond planted their spears in the ground by their side, thinking\nthey would have no more use for them.  Between the two armies was a\nfield, where the brothers were to engage in the deadly struggle.  As\neach of them took his shield and sword from his friends, he eyed the\nother angrily, longing to begin the fight, and as soon as they were\narmed they both rushed at one another, each of them so intent on\nkilling his brother that he forgot to cover himself with his shield.\nAnd thus, at the same moment, each of the brothers ran his spear\nthrough the body of his opponent, and they both sank down dead.  But\nthis did not end the quarrel, for the two armies rose up, each\ndesirous of avenging the death of its champion upon the enemy, and a\nfierce battle took place.  Zeus gave the victory to the Thebans, and\nall the Argives,--heroes and followers alike,--were slain: and thus\nthe prophecy of Amphiaraus was fulfilled.  As for the seer himself,\nhe was standing in his war-chariot, urging on his horses that he\nmight not be overtaken by the enemy, when a Theban hero pursued him\nhotly and gained steadily upon him till he had almost come up with\nhim.  But Zeus, who loved Amphiaraus, hurled a {221} thunder-bolt\nwhich clove the ground asunder in front of him, and he sank far down\ninto the earth.  It closed over him before the eyes of his pursuer\nwho was thus unable to reach him, and Zeus granted him immortality\nand took him to live among the gods on Mount Olympus.  All the rest\nof the Argives had by this time perished, excepting only Adrastus.\nHe had a horse, named Arion, who was of divine origin and was swifter\nthan any other horse in the world, so when the king took to flight,\nthe Thebans could not overtake him, and he returned alone to Argos,\nas Amphiaraus had foretold.\n\nA brother of Jocasta's, whose name was Creon, now became king of\nThebes, and he commanded that the fallen Thebans should be buried\nwith great honour, but that Polynices and the Argives should be left\nunburied on the field of battle, to be food for dogs and vultures.\nThe Greeks believed that those whose bodies were not buried found no\nrest in the Lower World, and they never offered such an insult as\nthis to the memory of any but their most deadly enemies.  A herald\nwent through the city, proclaiming to the Thebans that if any one\ndared to give burial to Polynices or any of the Argives, he would\nhave to answer for it with his life.  Every one was afraid to disobey\nexcepting one, and that one was a woman,--Antigone, the sister of\nPolynices.  She had been very angry with her brothers for casting off\ntheir father Oedipus in his time of need, but now that they were\ndead, she wept for them and could not bear that either of them should\nbe dishonoured.  So in the night she went to the field where the\ncorpses lay, and sought for that of her brother.  It {222} was\ndisfigured with dust and blood, but she recognised it, and she\ncovered it over with loose sand and poured out the libations for the\ndead which consisted of wine, milk, and honey, over the mound.  When\na corpse had been covered over in this manner and had received the\ndue libations for the dead, the gods accepted it as if it had been\nproperly buried,--so that everything that was necessary had now been\ndone for the corpse of Polynices.  But Creon had set watchmen round\nthe field to catch any one who should come to disobey his orders, and\njust as Antigone had finished her work, the watch-men seized her and\ntook her as a prisoner to Creon, although they were loth to do this,\nfor every one loved the noble maiden.  The king was very angry when\nhe heard what she had done, but nevertheless, if she would have\nconsented to admit that she had done wrong in disobeying his orders\nand to beg for mercy, he would have been willing to spare her life.\nBut she scorned to save her life by such means, and instead of\nbegging for forgiveness, she spoke out boldly, and said: 'Higher than\nthy commands do I esteem those laws which set before us that which is\nnoble and right.'  Then the king was still more angry with her for\nnot being afraid of him, and he condemned her to a cruel death.\nThere was a cave outside the city, and the king commanded that she\nshould be shut up there and left to die of hunger.  Her friends\naccompanied her as far as the cave, weeping bitterly, but Antigone\nherself shed no tears.  A pitcher of water and a little bread had\nbeen placed in the cave, and when Antigone had taken leave of her\nfriends, she went inside, and the workmen piled up stones against the\nmouth of the cave and {223} walled her in.  Thus the noble Antigone\ndied; but she did not wait for the lingering death of\nstarvation,--instead of that she made her veil into a noose and\nhanged herself.\n\nKing Adrastus heard with grief and anger that Creon had refused to\nallow the Argives to be buried, but as all the heroes of Argos had\ndied in the war and there were none but young boys left in the city,\nhe was unable to raise an army in order to compel him to do so.  So\nhe went to Athens with a twig in his hand (which it was the custom\nfor those who wanted help to carry) and seated himself on the steps\nof the Altar of Pity.[3]  Theseus came and asked what he wanted, and\nAdrastus told him of his misfortune and begged him to procure an\nhonourable burial for the Argives.  When Theseus heard about it all,\nhe was very sorry for him, and he marched to Thebes at the head of a\nband of heroes, and said that unless Creon at once countermanded his\nwicked orders, he would destroy the city.  Creon was afraid of\nTheseus, so he granted all that he required, and the heroes were\nburied with due honours.\n\n\n\n[1] See page 58.\n\n[2] See page 153.\n\n[3] See page 196.\n\n\n\n\n{224}\n\nXXXI.\n\nTHE EPIGONI.\n\nKing Adrastus never ceased to grieve over his heroes who had been\nslain by the Thebans, and when ten years had gone by, and the boys\nwho were then quite young had grown up to be men, he assembled them\nand proposed to them to march against Thebes in order to avenge their\nfathers.  They were quite ready to do this, for they were true\nheroes, with strong arms and brave hearts.  Each of the seven heroes\nwho had accompanied Adrastus on the former expedition had left a son,\nand these young men were called the Epigoni, or 'Those who come\nafter.'  They chose a strong band of followers from among the youths\nof Argos, and when they were all armed in readiness for the war, they\nsent to the Oracle at Delphi to ask whom they should take for their\nleader, for Adrastus was now too old and grey to head them himself.\nThe Oracle said that they had better choose the son of Amphiaraus,\nwho was named Alcmaeon, and who was wise and brave.  Adrastus was\nfull of joy at seeing the army of young men set out on its march, and\ntrusted that the gods would give them the victory.  The Epigoni took\nthe same road by which their fathers had gone ten years before, {225}\nbut instead of meeting with bad omens on the way, everything was now\nmost prosperous.\n\nCreon was by this time dead, and the son of Eteocles, whose name was\nLaodamas, was king of Thebes.  When he heard that the Epigoni were\ncoming to avenge their fathers, he armed the citizens and marched out\nto meet them, and a battle took place in front of the city gates, in\nthe very same field where the heroes who accompanied Adrastus had\nfallen.  The Epigoni thought of their fathers and fought the more\nbravely, and though the Thebans held their ground steadily at first,\ntheir courage gave way after their king, Laodamas, had been slain by\nAlcmaeon, and they fled back into the city.  The Epigoni encamped\nbefore Thebes, saying that they would not raise the siege until they\nhad conquered it, and the Thebans meanwhile held counsel as to how\nthey might best save themselves from their vengeance.  Among them was\nthe blind seer, Tiresias, who had long ago foretold to La\u00efus that if\na child were born to him, he would sin against both his father and\nmother.  He was now very old, with hair as white as snow, and he had\nlived through all the prosperity and all the calamities of the\nThebans, and was greatly honoured by them, so they went to him to ask\nhis advice as to what they had better do.  He said that they could\nonly hope to save their lives by artifice, and told them how to set\nto work.  According to his directions they sent a herald the next day\nto the Epigoni, to announce that the Thebans were willing to make\nsome atonement for the slaughter of their fathers.  The Epigoni did\nnot suspect any trick, and began to negotiate with the herald as to\nwhat form the atonement should take, without {226} perceiving what\nwas going on in the city.  But meanwhile the Thebans were pouring out\nof it on the further side and taking with them whatever they regarded\nas the most precious of their possessions, and they succeeded in\ncarrying off, not only their children, but also a good deal of\ntreasure.  When the Epigoni had announced what they would demand as\nan atonement, the herald returned to the city; but he only entered it\nby one gate in order to pass out on the further side by the gate\nthrough which the Thebans had fled, and he was not long in overtaking\nthem.  Tiresias had accompanied the Thebans, led by a boy; on the way\nhe asked for something to drink, and the boy took him to a cool\nspring, but as soon as he had tasted the water he sank down and died.\nThe Thebans buried him by the roadside, and then they marched on till\nthey came to a strange land, where they built another city.\n\nMeanwhile a day went by, and then another, and still the Epigoni\nwaited for the herald to return.  But when two days had passed\nwithout any further sign of him, and no one appeared upon the city\nwalls, neither was there any smoke to be seen rising from the houses,\nthey began to suspect that the Thebans had fled.  They climbed over\nthe walls without any resistance and entered the city, but they found\nno one there.  There was, however, a great deal of treasure in the\nhouses, for the Thebans had not been able to carry everything away\nwith them, and the heroes took an enormous booty.  They chose out the\nbest things and sent them to Delphi as a present to Apollo, and the\nremainder they divided among themselves.  They made Thersander, the\nson of Polynices, king of Thebes, and {227} proclaimed that those\namong the Argives who chose to remain in Thebes instead of returning\nhome with Alcmaeon might settle there and have portions of the land\nassigned to them for their own.  Many people from the neighbourhood\ncame also into the city with their wives and children, so that before\nlong all the houses were once more inhabited.  Alcmaeon led back the\nremainder of the Argives to their own homes, for the Epigoni had now\navenged their fathers, and had won for themselves glory and renown.\n\nAlcmaeon now remembered the oath that he had once sworn to his\nfather, before he set out with the other princes to march against\nThebes.  Amphiaraus had then made both his sons swear that they would\navenge him upon Eriphyle for having allowed herself to be bribed by\nthe veil and necklace to give her voice in favour of what she knew\nwould cost him his life.[1]  But it was a hard task for Alcmaeon, for\nEriphyle was his mother.  He did not know what to do, so he went to\nDelphi and asked the Oracle whether he should keep his promise to his\nfather or not.  The Oracle said yes, that he must do this; and so he\nreturned home and killed his mother.  When Eriphyle was dying, she\ncursed every country that should shelter her murderer, and the curse\nof the dying mother had such power that everything must needs carry\nit into effect.  Alcmaeon became mad, and wandered about from one\ncountry to another till he came to a king named Phegeus, who knew how\nto purify murderers, and who had compassion on him and purged him\nfrom the stain of blood.  Then the madness left him, and he was able\nto rest once {228} more.  Phegeus gave him his daughter in marriage,\nand said that he should live in his country and have an honourable\nposition there.  Alcmaeon was very glad of this, and he presented the\nveil and necklace to his wife who was very much pleased with them.\nIn the spring however, the seed did not come up, which caused a\ndearth throughout the land,--and this was owing to the curse of\nEriphyle.  The king consulted a seer about it, and he said that the\nland would not bear fruit so long as Alcmaeon remained in the kingdom.\n\nSo Alcmaeon had to take leave of his wife and quit the country, and\nhe set out not knowing whither to go.  He went to Delphi and asked\nthe Pythia if there was any land that could receive him without\nsuffering for it; and she answered that he must go to the river-god\nAchelo\u00fcs and ask him to help him, for that no one else could do so.\nAlcmaeon therefore went to the river and called to Achelo\u00fcs, who came\nup out of the water and asked what he wanted.  Alcmaeon told him of\nhis distress and begged for his help, and the river-god took pity on\nhim and made his stream bring down sand and silt from the heights\nabove, until a new and fruitful country was formed by the side of the\nriver; and as it had not been in existence when Eriphyle cursed the\nland that should give her son rest, Alcmaeon was able to remain\nthere, and he ploughed and sowed seed, and the earth brought forth\nfruit.  Achelo\u00fcs had a very beautiful daughter, and Alcmaeon became\nso much attached to her, that he was unfaithful to his wife, and\nmarried the daughter of the river-god.  Several years passed by in\npeace and prosperity; the gods sent them two sons, and Alcmaeon had\nno thought of ever leaving his place of shelter.  {229} But the\ndaughter of Achelo\u00fcs had heard of the beautiful veil and necklace,\nand she never ceased to beg her husband to go and fetch them for her,\ntill at last he was obliged to yield, and set out for the country of\nKing Phegeus.  He did not tell Phegeus the truth however, but said\nthat he was still obliged to wander about, and could only obtain rest\nby taking the veil and necklace to Delphi and dedicating them to\nApollo.  The daughter of Phegeus did not doubt his sincerity, and\nreadily parted with the precious ornaments for the sake of her\nhusband whom she loved dearly.  But before Alcmaeon had reached home\nagain, King Phegeus heard that he had been unfaithful and had married\nthe daughter of Achelo\u00fcs, and he was very angry, and commanded his\nsons to go after him and kill him.  They were wild headstrong youths\nwho delighted in deeds of blood, and they overtook Alcmaeon and\nkilled him and took away both the treasures.  Then they returned\nhome, thinking that their sister would rejoice at the vengeance that\nhad overtaken her husband; but though he had married another woman,\nshe was very sorry for his death and was angry with her brothers for\nhaving killed him.\n\nThe daughter of Achelo\u00fcs waited long for Alcmaeon to return home; but\na good while afterwards, a stranger who happened to be passing that\nway told her that he had been put to death by the sons of Phegeus.\nThen it was her greatest wish to avenge his death, and she begged\nZeus that her two sons might at once become grown-up men.  In that\nsame night the children grew up to be men, and their mother provided\nthem with weapons, and told them that their father had been murdered\nby the sons of Phegeus, and that they were {230} to avenge him.  They\nset off for the country of Phegeus, but on their way they stopped to\nrest at the house of a prince where it happened that the sons of\nPhegeus were also staying, for they too were on a journey, and they\nhad with them the veil and the necklace.  The young men did not know\neach other, but as they were talking together at the feast, the sons\nof Phegeus brought out the precious ornaments and showed them to the\nothers who thus recognised the murderers of their father, and they\ndrew their swords and killed them.  Then they returned home to their\nmother with the precious treasures.  But the wise river-god said that\nthey were no real treasures, for they brought misfortune to whoever\npossessed them; and he made his grandsons carry them to Delphi, and\npresent them as an offering to the god Apollo.\n\n\n\n[1] See p. 215.\n\n\n\n\n{231}\n\nXXXII.\n\nEROS AND PSYCHE.\n\nThere lived once a king and queen who had three daughters.  The\nyoungest of them was named Psyche, and she was so wonderfully\nbeautiful that when she went through the streets, the people threw\nflowers before her and kissed their hands to her, as they used to do\nto the statues of the gods.  The only one who did not delight in her\nwas the goddess Aphrodite.  She was accustomed to drive through the\ncity in a chariot drawn by doves, and every time she did so it vexed\nher afresh to see that the townspeople neglected her worship in order\nto pay homage to the lovely Psyche, as if it were she and not\nAphrodite who was the goddess of beauty.  And she called her son\nEros, who was the god of love, and commanded him to cause the\nprincess whom she hated to set her love upon the most unworthy of all\nmortals.\n\nNot long afterwards the old king asked the Oracle to whom he should\ngive his daughter Psyche in marriage, and the answer he received was\nthat she must be dressed as a bride and led to the top of a rocky\ncliff that stood up high above the city, and that then all her\nfriends must say good-bye to her for ever, and leave her there alone\nto be taken to the house of the husband {232} appointed for her.  And\nthat if he refused to obey the Oracle, grievous misfortune would\nbefall him and all his household.  The king and queen were greatly\ndistressed at this sentence, and the whole land mourned with them,\nfor why should the Oracle speak so mysteriously if it did not mean\nthat the appointed husband was some horrible monster?  But they were\nobliged to obey, lest some worse misfortune should overtake them.\nPsyche was dressed as a bride and led to the rock, in a procession of\nthe citizens.  The flutes and other musical instruments gave forth\njoyous sounds; but louder still was heard the sound of mourning and\nlamentation.  The grey-haired father and mother wept bitterly as they\nkissed their child for the last time, and then the wedding torches\nwere put out, and the procession wound sadly and silently back to the\ncity.\n\nPsyche meanwhile was left alone upon the desolate rock; but very soon\na Wind-god came, who seized her in his arms and flew through the air\nwith her, till at last he put her down in a valley on the further\nside of the hill.  Psyche hid her face in her hands at first that she\nmight not see the horrible things she expected to find all round her;\nbut when she did venture timidly to open her eyes, she could scarcely\nbelieve what she saw.  She found herself seated in a meadow full of\nflowers, with a clear stream running through it, and a wood near by,\nin front of which there stood a most beautiful palace; its roof was\nsupported by pillars of pure gold, and its walls were covered with\nsculptures wrought in silver.  Full of astonishment, Psyche rose and\nwent towards the palace.  As she approached it, she noticed that the\nair was filled with a delicious scent, and when {233} she entered the\npalace, she met with some new splendour at every step.  The rooms\nwere furnished with great magnificence, and were filled with\nbeautiful ornaments of gold and silver.  Then there fell upon her ear\nthe sweet voice of a nymph, which said, 'We are at your service, and\nprepared to carry out your wishes, whatever they may be.'  Psyche\nthought she would like to refresh herself with some cool water, and\nin a moment a beautiful bath was drawn forward by unseen hands and\nplaced before her.  After she had bathed and anointed herself, she\nwent into the next room where she found a table spread with a\ntempting meal, and all the while she was eating, sounds of sweet\nmusic were heard and songs were sung by unseen nymphs.  When Psyche\nhad finished, she felt in need of rest, and she lay down on a couch\nand went to sleep.  Meanwhile it became quite dark, and by-and-by she\nwas awakened by a gentle movement, and a sweet voice said to her, 'I\nam thy husband, and this house is thine and mine,--all its splendours\nare for thy pleasure,--but never seek to see my face, for then I\nshould be obliged to leave thee for ever.'  The husband remained with\nher until the day was about to dawn, and then he vanished.\n\nThe next day, and each following day, everything happened as before:\nthe unseen nymphs waited on Psyche and shortened the hours by singing\nand playing to her, and with the darkness came the husband who\nremained in the palace until morning.\n\nThe heart of Psyche was divided between joy and sorrow.  Her kind\nhusband and the wonders and delights of the palace filled her with\njoy, but tears often came to her eyes in thinking of her parents and\nher {234} play-fellows.  Once when she was looking towards the high\nrock from which she had been brought by the Wind-god, she saw her two\nsisters there, and she was filled with so great a longing to see them\nagain that when next her husband came to her, she begged him to send\nfor them.  For a moment he hesitated, but then he promised to do as\nshe wished, and told her also that she might give them anything she\nliked out of the treasures of the palace to take away with them as\npresents; 'but,' he added, 'take care not to let them delude you into\nmaking any attempt to see my face.'  Psyche promised without any\nmisgiving, for she felt herself perfectly free from curiosity.\n\nOn the following day when the two sisters again appeared on the rock,\nthe Wind-god took them up on his shoulders and carried them into the\nbeautiful valley.  Psyche received them with many embraces, and asked\nthem endless questions about her parents and play-fellows.  Then she\nled them into the palace and desired the music to sound, whilst she\nshowed them all the beautiful things.  They were dumb with amazement,\nand stood looking at one another; and then Psyche asked them to\nchoose whatever they liked best to take away with them, for they were\nquite welcome to it.  But the two sisters had wicked, envious\ndispositions, and were not pleased that Psyche should be so much\nbetter off than they were.  They asked who was her husband, and when\nshe told them that he was kind and good, but that she had never seen\nhim and that she was forbidden ever to seek to do so, they made a\nsign one to the other, and one of them pretended to cry, and said,\n'Ah, dear sister, it must {235} then be true what the people say.\nThey say that every evening a hideous monster is seen to creep into\nthis valley,--a horrible serpent with bloody jaws.'  And the other\nsister pretended to weep also, and she said, 'When he gets to the\npalace he takes the form of a man; but no doubt his countenance bears\nthe traces of his cruel nature, and that is the reason why he will\nnot let you look at him.  Alas! only too soon shall we have to\ndeplore your miserable death.'\n\nPsyche was herself so entirely free from falseness that she had no\nsuspicion of the treachery of her sisters.  She was horror-struck at\nwhat they said, and though at first she refused to believe that the\ngentle voice she had so often heard could come from the jaws of a\nmonster, yet they so persisted in tormenting her with their crafty\nspeeches, that at last she ended by believing them, and was only\nanxious to escape from the dreadful creature.  When the eldest sister\nsaw this, she said to her, 'There is just one means of saving your\nlife.  You must summon up your courage, and to-night, when the\nmonster is asleep, take your lamp in your hand and a sharp knife, and\ngo to his couch and pierce him through the heart with the knife.'\nShe said this because she thought that if Psyche disobeyed her\nhusband by looking at him when he was asleep, all her happiness would\nbe at an end.  The two sisters gave Psyche no peace till she had made\nup her mind to do as they said.  Then they took as many of the\ntreasures of the palace as they could carry, and Psyche called to the\nWind-god to come and take them away again.\n\nWhen it was dark, her husband came as usual; but she was afraid of\nhim, and could hardly find a word to {236} say in answer to his\nfriendly greeting.  And at midnight, when he was fast asleep, she lit\na lamp, and taking a knife in her hand, went to his couch with the\nintention of killing him.  The light fell upon the couch, and there\nshe saw,--no monster, but Eros himself, the winged god of love,\nradiant with beauty.  The knife fell from her hand, and she felt that\nshe could never be weary of gazing at his glorious form.  But as she\nbent over him she forgot to take care that the lamp in her hand was\nheld straight, and a drop of hot oil was spilt, which fell upon his\nshoulder and awoke him.  He opened his eyes and saw Psyche bending\nover him with the lamp in her hand.  He looked at her very\nsorrowfully, and said, 'Thou hast mistrusted me and transgressed my\ncommand; my dwelling is no longer here.  I am Eros, as thou hast\ndiscovered.  My mother Aphrodite is angry with thee, and she\ncommanded me to cause thee to love the most unworthy of men.  But\nwhen I saw thee, I was myself filled with love for thee, and\ndetermined to hide thee from my mother that thou mightest be my wife.\nOnly in the deepest secrecy have I dared to act against her will.\nAnd now thou hast disobeyed my command, and I must leave thee for\never.'  When he had said this, he took up his bow and quiver which\nstood by the side of the couch, and flew away.\n\nPsyche was filled with the bitterest remorse, and desired to live no\nlonger.  When the day dawned, she went to the river and threw herself\ninto it.  But the river-god was unwilling to kill anything so\nbeautiful, and he carried her on the top of his waters to the farther\nshore, and set her down there.  The birds were chirping in the trees,\nand the morning sun looked down {237} so pleasantly on the river and\nthe meadows that a ray of hope sprang up in her heart, and she\nthought, 'How if I could succeed in winning him back?  They say that\nhe is the kindest of all the gods.  I will go all over the world\nseeking him.'  So she set out, and took no heed of the roughness of\nthe way or of the thorns that pierced her feet, and wandered into all\ncorners of the world, hoping to find some trace of him.\n\nAfter she had wandered for a long time, she came to the palace of\nAphrodite, and she said to herself, 'The goddess is indeed angry with\nme, but is her anger mightier than my grief?  I will enter her\nservice, and it may be that I shall succeed in gaining her good\nwill.'  So she went into the palace, and offered herself as servant\nto the goddess.  Now Aphrodite knew that instead of doing Psyche any\ninjury, Eros had secretly married her, for a sea-gull that had made\nits nest for a time in the valley had told her about it.  She felt\ntherefore a grim joy when the unhappy girl put herself into her\npower, and in a haughty tone she said to her, 'If your mind is set on\nbeing beloved by a god, you will have to accomplish hard tasks, and\nit will be the worse for you if you fail to perform them.'  Then she\nset her the first task.  She piled up in front of the palace a great\nheap of seeds,--wheat, beans, poppies, and peas,--all mixed together,\nand saying, 'Before night comes all the seeds must be sorted,' she\nwent away.  Psyche could not have done it in ten days.  She sat down\nby the heap, buried her face in her hands, and wept bitterly.  But\nthere lived close by a great nation of ants, and one of them saw the\nbeautiful girl crying, and was sorry for her, and called {238} the\nothers to come and help her.  Then there came an endless array of\nants, who set to work and soon sorted the seeds, though some of them\nwere so large that it took four, eight, or even ten ants to roll a\nsingle seed to its place, and when Psyche looked up, the work was\ndone and the ants were marching away again.  She kissed her hands to\nthem, and thanked them prettily for their kindness.  When Aphrodite\ncame home in the evening and saw the seeds laid out in order, she\ncould find no fault with her industrious servant, but she gave her a\nlook that was far from friendly, for she would much rather have had\nsome excuse for blaming her.\n\nThe next morning she said to Psyche, 'There is a copse near by, where\nthere graze some sheep with golden fleeces.  Go and fetch me three\ntufts of their wool.'  Psyche set out, and went slowly along the\nriver-side towards the wood.  On the bank stood some reeds which\nrustled in the morning breeze, and the rustling turned into words\nlike these, 'Take care what you do, for the golden-fleeced sheep are\nfierce animals, and their bite is poisonous.  Wait till mid-day, and\nthen go into the copse and look at the bushes.'  So said the reeds,\nand then they rustled again as before.  Psyche thanked them, and sat\ndown by the side of the river until the shadows were at their\nshortest.  Then she knew it was mid-day, and she went into the copse\nand found the sheep all lying asleep.  She trod gently so as not to\nwake them, and looked at the bushes which were covered with tufts of\ngolden wool, for the sheep had rubbed themselves against the bushes\nand left part of their fleeces sticking to the thorns.  Psyche took\nthe three best tufts and left the copse.  When she came back {239}\nand gave them to her mistress, Aphrodite was surprised, for she had\nexpected that Psyche would be bitten to death by the fierce sheep.\nShe said to her with an angry look, 'You have not yet finished your\nday's work.  Take your pitcher and ascend that hill.  At the top of\nit there is some black water.  Fetch me some.'\n\nPsyche started off obediently with her pitcher.  When she reached the\nhill, she saw before her a steep path leading up to the spring, but\nnear it were two dreadful dragons who looked as if they would not let\nany one pass them alive.  The water fell into a dark ravine by the\nside of the path, and flowed deep down into the Lower World.  It\nbubbled angrily in the hollow, and called out to Psyche, 'What do you\nwant here?  Go away, and be quick about it, or your life is not worth\nmuch.'  Psyche put down her pitcher and stood still, weeping\nbitterly.  But she had not been there long when there appeared a\ngreat eagle, which circled round her several times and then seized\nthe handle of her pitcher in his beak and flew off with it to the\nspring.  The dragons howled, and raised themselves as high as they\ncould in the air that they might be the better able to shoot out\nflames at him from their mouths, but their fiery breath was powerless\nto scorch him.  He came back with the filled pitcher which he set\ndown beside Psyche, and then he spread his wings again and had soon\ndisappeared among the clouds.  Psyche cast a grateful glance after\nhim, took up her pitcher, and set out joyfully on her way home.  When\nAphrodite saw her returning, she felt sure that she had come with an\nempty pitcher, for she knew that if she {240} had attempted to pass\nthe dragons they would have killed her, and she thought that she\nwould now be able to imprison her in a damp dungeon and keep her\nwithout sufficient food or sunshine.  But when she looked into the\nvessel, she saw that it was full of the black water which Psyche had\nbeen desired to fetch.  She was very angry, and poured it out upon\nthe ground, for it was of no use to her, and began to ponder what\ntask she could impose upon Psyche which would bring about her death\nwithout fail.\n\nThe next morning Psyche was summoned to the presence of her harsh\nmistress, who said to her, 'Take this golden casket to the Queen of\nthe Lower World, and ask her to send me some of the Salve of Beauty.'\nPsyche left the palace, but she made up her mind that she would kill\nherself at once rather than attempt to take the message, for she\nshuddered at the horrors of the Lower World, and moreover she could\nnot hope that if she once entered its gates she would ever be allowed\nto come out again.  She ascended a high tower which was grey with old\nage, meaning to throw herself down from it; but as she stood on the\ntop, the stones began to utter sounds, and the aged tower said, 'Do\nnot despair, I will give you good counsel.  Go to Mount Taenarus, and\nthere you will find a dark chasm that leads down to the Lower World.\nThe ferry-man who will row you across the river Acheron demands\npassage money; put two copper coins between your teeth, and hold out\nyour mouth to him, so that he may take his fare for himself.  At the\ngate of the Land of Shades there stands the hideous dog Cerberus.\nFor him take a honey-cake in each of your hands, and throw him one\n{241} when you go in at the gate, and the other when you come out\nagain.  And beware of letting either of the cakes out of your hand,\nfor then you would find yourself imprisoned for ever in the Lower\nWorld.  Persephone will fill the casket for you.  Do not let anything\ninduce you to open it.'  Then the tower ceased speaking, and Psyche\nresolved to summon her courage and undertake the dreadful journey.\nShe put two copper coins between her teeth, and taking a honey-cake\nin each hand, she went along the dark road until she reached the\ngloomy twilight of the Lower World.  Presently she met a lame man,\nwho was driving a lame, heavily-laden ass.  He was holding up the\nburden which was falling from off the ass, and he called out to\nPsyche in a piteous voice, begging her to pick up a piece of rope\nfrom the ground for him that he might tie the burden on with it.  The\ntender-hearted Psyche found it difficult to refuse, but she could not\nhave done what he wanted without neglecting the warning of the tower\non no account to let go of her honey-cakes; so she passed on without\nanswering, and immediately the man and the ass vanished.  Psyche next\ncame to the river Acheron, and the surly ferryman Charon rowed her\nover it in his boat after he had taken one of the copper coins from\nher mouth.  Close to the boat there swam an old man whose appearance\nwas most pitiful,--his strength was evidently failing him, and he\nseemed about to sink.  He stretched out one of his thin arms towards\nPsyche, and begged her with beseeching gestures to hold out her hand\nto him.  But Psyche remembered the warning, and immediately the old\nman disappeared.  When they reached the further {242} shore, there\nsat three old women by the road-side, spinning, who called out to her\nin a pleasant voice and asked her to cut their thread for them.  They\nwere nice, kind-looking old women, but Psyche remembered the warning,\nand immediately they disappeared as the others had done.\n\nAfter this, Psyche soon arrived at the gate of the Land of Shades, in\nfront of which stood the three-headed dog Cerberus.  She threw him a\ncake, and he let her go by.  Then she saw flitting about her on all\nsides, pale, silent shades, and she was seized with horror, but she\novercame it, and went on bravely to the palace of Queen Persephone\nand delivered her message.  Persephone filled the box and gave it\nback to her.  The fierce dog let her pass out when she gave him the\nsecond honey-cake, Charon took the second coin out of her mouth and\nrowed her back across the river, and at last she found herself in the\nsunshine once more.  She was very tired and sat down on a stone to\nrest a little, and she thought to herself, 'I have gone through the\nhorrors of the Lower World, and have fulfilled the command of the\ncruel goddess.  But will she give me any thanks for it?'  For some\ntime she sat buried in sad thoughts; then she said, 'How if I were to\nopen the casket and test the power of the wonderful salve?  Perhaps\nit would give me such beauty that Eros would come back to me.'\nQuickly she lifted the cover, but there came out of the casket a\ncloud of stupefying vapour which threw her into a deep sleep.  Before\nPsyche entered the Lower World, Aphrodite had sent a messenger to the\nQueen to beg her, instead of filling the casket with the Salve of\nBeauty, to put into it a {243} narcotic vapour, for she thought that\neven if Psyche surmounted all the other difficulties in her path, she\nmight at last be conquered by the temptation of curiosity and open\nthe casket.\n\nBut Eros was not far off.  He had seen how Psyche had gone through so\nmany dangers and horrors for love of him, and now he came and wiped\naway the magic vapour which had settled on her face, and shut it up\nagain in the casket.  Then he soared up to Olympus, the abode of the\ngods, and entreated Zeus to gift Psyche with immortality, and allow\nhim to be married to her.  Zeus granted his request, and sent down\nHermes, the messenger, to raise Psyche from the earth and bring her\ninto the assembly of the gods.  Before them all, Zeus held out to her\na shell filled with nectar, the drink of the gods, and said to her,\n'Drink immortality.'  Even Aphrodite kissed her and blessed the\nmarriage, for her anger had been overcome by Psyche's faithful love.\nThe marriage was celebrated with great joyfulness,--Apollo and the\nMuses sang, the Graces danced, and the whole vault of heaven\nresounded with the mirth of the wedding guests.\n\nThe envious sisters were already dead.  After they had plunged Psyche\ninto misery, they each hoped to become the bride of the unknown\nhusband, and each in turn went to the rock and threw herself from it,\nexpecting the Wind-god to carry her into the valley as he had done\nbefore, but instead of that, they both fell down among sharp stones\nand perished miserably.  Thus did they come to a bad end; but Psyche\nwas enthroned as a goddess beside her Love, in the unending joy of\nthe blessed Immortals.\n\n\n\n\n{245}\n\nINDEX\n\n\n_ABSYRTUS_.  Son of Ae\u00ebtes king of Colchis.  Is taken on board the\nArgo by his sister Medea, 165.  Is killed by Medea in order to delay\nAe\u00ebtes in his pursuit of the Argonauts, 166.\n\nAchel\u014dus.  A river-god.  Fights with Heracles for Deianira,\nand is conquered by him, 142 and 143.  Helps Alcmaeon in his distress\nand gives him his daughter in marriage, 228.\n\n_Acheron_.  One of the rivers of the Lower World.  Psyche is rowed\nacross it by Charon, 241.\n\n_Acrisius_.  King of Argos.  Builds a brazen room for his daughter\nDana\u00eb, and afterwards shuts her up with her child in a chest and\nturns them adrift, 95.  Is accidentally killed by his grandson\nPerseus, 102.\n\n_Actaeon_.  Is turned into a stag as a punishment fur looking at the\ngoddess Artemis when bathing, 24 and 25.\n\nAdm\u0113tus.  Is helped by Apollo to win the hand of Alcestis,\n91 to 93.  Is restored to life through the sacrifice of Alcestis, 93\nand 94.\n\n_Adrastus_.  King of Argos.  Receives Polynices when banished by\nEteocles, 212 and 213.  Marches with him against Thebes, 213 to 221.\nEscapes through the speed of his horse Arion, 221.  Begs Theseus to\nprocure an honourable burial for the Argives, 223.  Sends the Epigoni\nto avenge their fathers, 224.\n\n_Ax\u0113t\u0113s_.  King of Colchis.  Receives Phrixus when\nbrought to his country by the Golden Ram, 150.  Promises to let Jason\nhave the Golden Fleece on certain conditions, 160.  Plots to kill\nhim, 164 and 165.  Pursues Jason and Medea, but turns back to bury\nhis son Absyrtus, 166.\n\n_Aege\u016bs_.  King of Athens.  Marries Aethra and becomes the\nfather of Theseus, 177.  Receives Theseus at Athens, 182 and 183.\nParts unwillingly with Theseus that he may go to Crete to slay the\nMinotaur, 187 and 188.  Kills himself at sight of the black sail\nwhich he believes to be the announcement of his son's death, 192.\n\n_Aegyptus_.  Brother of Danaus and king of a part of Africa, 34.\n\n_Aethra_.  Marries Aegeus and becomes the mother of Theseus, 177.\nKeeps her son at Troezen till he is grown up, and then sends him to\nhis father at Athens, 177 to 179.  Takes charge of Helena for a time,\ntill she is rescued by her brothers, 199 and 201.\n\n_Africa_.  Io is kindly received in Africa by the king of Egypt, 32\nand 33.  Danaus, her descendant, leaves the country for Argos, 34.\nThe inhabitants are burnt black by Pha\u00ebthon, 41.  Cassiopea, wife of\nCepheus, king of a part of Africa, is punished by Poseidon for her\npride, 98 and 99.  Perseus arrives and delivers Andromeda from the\nmonster, 99 and 100.\n\n_Alcestis_.  Daughter of King Pelias, 91.  Is sued for by Admetus, 92\nand 93.  Dies in order that her husband may live, 93.  Is restored to\nlife by Persephone, 94.\n\n_Alcmaeon_.  Son of Amphiaraus.  Leads the Epigoni against Thebes,\n224 to 226.  Returns home and kills his mother in obedience to the\ncommand of his father, 227.  Goes to King Phegeus to be purified, and\nmarries his daughter, 227; but is obliged to leave the country, 228.\nAsks the help of Achelo\u00fcs, who has pity on him and forms an island on\nwhich he can live, 228.  Marries the daughter of Achelo\u00fcs, 228.  Is\nkilled by the brothers of his former wife, 229.\n\n_Alcm\u0113n\u0113_.  Daughter of Electryon.  Is driven away\nfrom Mycenae after her father's death by her uncle Sthenelus, and\ntakes refuge in Thebes, 105.  Induces Amphitryon to make war upon the\nTeleboae, 105 and 106.  Is married to Zeus during his absence, but\nafterwards marries Amphitryon.  108.  Becomes the mother of Heracles\nand Iphicles, 108.  Finds Heracles attacked by serpents, 109.\n\n_Altar of Pity_.  Erected by Theseus in the market-place of Athens,\n196.  Oedipus goes there to sue for help, 210.  Also Adrastus, 223.\n\n_Althaea_.  Wife of Oeneus king of Calydon, and mother of Meleager,\nwhose death she hastens by burning the brand on which his life\ndepends, 83 and 88.\n\n_Amalthea_.  The goat that nourished Zeus, 3.  Her horn is converted\ninto the Horn of Plenty, 5; and becomes the property of Heracles, 143.\n\n_Amazons_.  A nation of women-soldiers.  Heracles is sent by\nEurystheus to fetch the girdle of the Queen of the Amazons, 124 to\n126.  The women of Lemnos try to imitate them, 153.  Theseus carries\noff Hippolyta to be his wife, 193; and is in consequence attacked by\nthe Amazons, 194.  He wins the first victory ever gained over them,\n195.\n\n_Amphiarus_.  A seer, brother-in-law of Adrastus king of\nArgos, 213.  Advises against the expedition to Thebes, 214 and 217;\nbut is over-ruled by his wife Eriphyle, 214 and 215.  Zeus interposes\nto prevent his being killed in the battle, and takes him to dwell\namong the gods, 220 and 221.\n\n_Amph\u012bon_.  King of Thebes, and husband of Niobe, 59 and 80.\nBuilds a wall round the city by singing to the stones, 59 and 60.\nGrieves for his children slain by Apollo and Artemis, 81.\n\n_Amphitryon_.  Comes to Mycenae to sue for the hand of Alcmene.  and\naccidentally kills her father, Electryon, 105.  Takes refuge with\nCreon, king of Thebes, 105; and delivers the city from a destroying\nFox, 106.  Makes war upon the Teleboae at the desire of Alcmene, 105\nto 108.  Marries Alcmene, 108.\n\n_Androgeus_.  Son of Minos king of Crete.  Goes to Athens to take\npart in some games, and is killed by the Athenians on his way home,\n186.\n\n_Andromeda_.  Daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopea, 98.  Is delivered by\nPerseus from the monster who was to have devoured her, 99.  Is\nmarried to him, 100.\n\n_Antaeus_.  King of Libya.  Compels Heracles to wrestle with him,\n133.  His mother the Earth gives him new strength each time he\ntouches her, but Heracles raises him in his arms, and strangles him\nto death, 133.\n\n_Antigon\u0113_.  Daughter of Oedipus, 210.  Chooses to share her\nfather's fate when he is banished from Thebes, and accompanies him\nthrough all his wanderings, 210 and 211.  Buries her brother\nPolynices notwithstanding the prohibition of Creon, and is immured\nfor having dared to disobey him, 221 to 223.\n\n_Aphrodit\u0113_.  Goddess of beauty, 231.  Gives her daughter\nHarmonia to be the wife of Cadmus, 68.  Gives Milanion three golden\napples that he may conquer Atalanta in the race, 89.  Is angry with\nPsyche, 231; and treats her cruelly, 237 to 243; but is afterwards\nreconciled to her marriage with Eros, 243.\n\n_Apollo_.  Son of Zeus and Leto, and brother of Artemis, 23.\nDisputes with Idas for Marpessa, 21.  Gifts Melampus with the power\nof knowing the future, 72.  Punishes the pride of Niobe, 80 and 81.\nBecomes for a time the slave of Admetus, 91.  Helps Admetus to win\nAlcestis, 92 and 93.  Helps to arm Heracles for his fight with the\nMinyae, 112.  Refuses to pronounce the oracle demanded by Heracles,\n139.  Blesses the marriage of Eros and Psyche, 243.  Theseus\nsacrifices the Cretan Bull to Apollo, 185.--For the Temple of Apollo\nat Delphi see page 55,--also _Delphi_.\n\n_Arcadia_.  Heracles drives the Stymphalian birds out of the country,\n121 and 122.\n\n_Ar\u0113s_.  The god of war.  Is made prisoner by Otus and\nEphialtes, 28.  Gives his daughter Harmonia to be the wife of Cadmus,\n58.  Gives a beautiful girdle to the Queen of the Amazons, 124.\n\n_Argo_.  The vessel in which Jason and his friends sail to fetch the\nGolden Fleece, 153.  She is dedicated to Poseidon, 171.\n\n_Argonauts_.  The heroes who sailed in the Argo.  For their\nadventures, see pages 153 to 171.\n\n_Argos_.  The home of Io, 31.  Her descendant Danaus finds a refuge\nin Argos when obliged to flee from Egypt, and becomes king, 34 and\n35.  Lynceus succeeds him, 37.  Melampus is sent for to Argos to\ndeliver the daughters of King Proetus from their mania, 73 and 74.\nDana\u00eb is driven away from Argos by her father, King Acrisius, 95.\nPerseus becomes king of Argos, but exchanges it for the cities of\nMycenae and Tiryns, 103.  Polynices comes to Argos to ask for help,\n212.  King Adrastus leads the Argives against Thebes, 213 to 223.\nTheir defeat is afterwards avenged by the Epigoni, 224 to 227.\n\n_Argus_.  (1) The hundred-eyed watchman placed by Hera in charge of\nIo; 31.  (2) The builder of the Argo, 152 and 153.\n\n_Ariadn\u0113_.  Daughter of Minos, king of Crete.  Helps Theseus\nto overcome the Minotaur, and flees away with him, 188 to 190.  At\nNaxos, Theseus is commanded to abandon her, 191; and she becomes the\nwife of the god Dionysus, 192.\n\n_Ar\u012bon_.  A horse of divine origin.  Carries Adrastus back\nto Argos after his defeat before Thebes, 221.\n\n_Artemis_.  Goddess of the chase, 24.  Daughter of Zeus and Leto, and\nsister of Apollo, 23.  Punishes Actaeon for looking at her when\nbathing, 25.  Causes the death of Otus and Ephialtes, 28.  Punishes\nNiobe for her pride, 80 and 81.  Sends a wild-boar to lay waste the\ncountry round Calydon, 84.--Festival of Artemis celebrated at Sparta,\n199.\n\n_Asia_.  The home of Europa and Cadmus, 54.  The country of the\nAmazons lies in Asia, 125 and 193.  Phrixus is brought to the city of\nColchis in Asia by the Golden Ram, 150.\n\n_Atalanta_.  Is exposed in a forest and brought up by hunters, 84 to\n86.  Takes part in the Calydonian boar-hunt, 86 to 89.  Allows\nherself to be conquered by the golden apples in the race with\nMilanion, 89 and 90.\n\n_Athamas, King_.  Father of Phrixus and Helle, 148.  Dionysus is\nplaced under his charge by Zeus, 63.  Hera is angry at this and\npunishes Athamas by making him mad, 63 and 150.  He kills his wife\nand children in his madness, and is condemned to wander about till he\nbecomes the guest of wild beasts, 150 and 151.\n\n_Ath\u0113n\u0113_.  Daughter of Zeus, and goddess of wisdom.\nBuries one of the Giants beneath the island of Sicily, 6.  Teaches\nBellerophon how to control the winged horse Pegasus, 49.  Directs\nCadmus to sow the dragon's teeth and build a city with the help of\nthe warriors who should spring from them, 56 and 57.  Received from\nPerseus the Gorgon's head and fastens it to her shield, 103.  Helps\nto arm Heracles for his fight with the Minyae, 112.  Helps Heracles\nto drive away the Stymphalian birds, 121 and 122.  Returns the apples\nprocured by Heracles from the Garden of the Hesperides, 135.  Sends a\nSacred Beam for the Argo, 153.  Claims the guardianship of the city\nof Athens, 176 and 177.\n\n_Athens_.  Is named after Athene, 176 and 177.  Amphitryon goes there\nto fetch the dog who could not be baffled of his prey, 106.  The city\nis ruled over by Aegeus, 177.  Theseus arrives at Athens, 182;\ndelivers the land from the Bull of Marathon, 184 and 185; and from\nthe tribute imposed by Minos, 185 to 191; succeeds his father as king\nof Athens, 193; defeats the Amazons, 195; sets up an Altar of Pity in\nthe market-place, 196.  Hippolytus comes to stay at Athens, 197 and\n198.  Oedipus finds a refuge there, 210.  Adrastus comes to sue for\nhelp, 223.  The bones of Theseus are brought to Athens, 203 and 204.\n\n_Atlas_.  Is compelled to support the vault of heaven, 134.  Fetches\nthe golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides fur Heracles, 134\nand 135.\n\n_Augeas_.  King of Elis.  Has his stables cleansed by Heracles in a\nsingle day, 119 and 120.  Refuses to give the reward agreed upon, 120\nand 121.  Is punished by Heracles for his treachery, 141 and 142.\n\n_Avent\u012bnus, Mt_.  A mountain in Italy over which Heracles is\ndriving the cattle of Geryon when they are stolen by the Giant Cacus,\n130.\n\n\n\n_BACCHANTES_.  Followers of Dionysus or Bacchus, 65 to 67.\n\n_Beam, The Sacred_.  A beam with the power of speech,--sent by Athene\nto be inserted in the Argo, 153.  It reproves Jason and Medea for\ntheir crime, 167.  Dies of old age, 171.\n\n_Bellerophon_.  Son of Glaucus, and grandson of Sisyphus, kings of\nCorinth.  45.  Kills his brother unintentionally, and goes to King\nProetus to be purged from the stain of blood, 45.  Is sent by Proetus\nto Iobates king of Lycia, 46.  Slays the Chimaera by the help of the\nwinged horse Pegasus, 47 to 50.  Marries the king's daughter and\nsettles in the country, 51.\n\n_Bias_.  Brother of Melampus.  Obtains the hand of Pero, daughter of\nking Neleus, through the kindness of his brother, 69 to 72.  Obtains\nalso a third part of the dominions of Proetus, king of Argos, 73 and\n74.\n\n_Black Sea_.  Crossed by Phrixus when carried by the Golden Ram to\nColchis, 150.  Passed through by the Argonauts on their way to\nColchis, 155.\n\n_Boreas_.  The god of the North Wind, 158.\n\n_Bull of Crete or of Marathon_.  Sent by Poseidon to Minos for\nsacrifice, 122.  Taken to Mycenae by Heracles, 123.  Captured by\nTheseus and sacrificed to Apollo, 184 and 185.\n\n_Bus\u012bris_.  A king of Egypt who sacrificed a stranger every\nyear to the gods.  Is killed by Heracles, 133 and 134.\n\n\n\n_CACUS_.  A giant living on Mt. Aventinus.  Steals the cattle of\nHeracles and is killed by him, 130 and 131.\n\n_Cadm\u0113a_.  The fortress of Thebes.  Named after Cadmus, 58.\nHera enters and gives bad advice to Semele, 61.  It is visited by a\ndevastating Fox, whom Amphitryon overcomes with the help of the\nAthenian Dog, 106.\n\n_Cadmus_.  Sets off in search of his sister Europa, 50.  Is directed\nto found a city, 56.  Sows dragon's teeth, from which spring warriors\nwho help him to build the Cadmea, 57 and 58.  Marries Harmonia, 58.\nIs the father of Semele, 61.\n\n_Calydon_.  The country of Oeneus and the scene of the great\nboar-hunt in which Meleager and Atalanta take part, 83-89.  Heracles\ngoes there to sue for Deianira, 142, and spends some years there, 143.\n\n_Capane\u016bs_.  One of the Seven Heroes who march against\nThebes, 213 and 214.  Is killed by lightning, 219.\n\n_Cassiop\u0113a_.  Wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda.\nPunished by Poseidon for her pride, 98 and 99.\n\n_Castor._  Son of Tyndareus and Leda, and twin-brother of Pollux,\n200.  Takes part in the expedition of the Argonauts, 157.  Rescues\nhis sister Helena, 201.  Shares the fate of his brother Pollux after\ndeath as well as through life, 201.\n\n_Caucasus, Mt_.  Prometheus is chained there, 12.\n\n_Centaurs_.  Monstrous creatures, half men, half horses.  Quarrel\nwith Heracles, 117 to 119.  Fight with the Lapithae, who overcome\nthem with the help of Theseus, 196.  (See also _Chiron, Nessus, and\nPholus_.)\n\n_Cepheus_.  King of a part of Africa.  Husband of Cassiopea and\nfather of Andromeda, 99 and 100.\n\n_Cerberus_.  A three-headed dog who stood as watchman at the gate of\nthe land of Shades.  Heracles is sent to fetch him to the Upper\nWorld, 135.  He allows Psyche to pass him, 242.\n\n_Ceryneian Hind_.  A hind under the protection of Artemis, captured\nby Heracles as his third Labour, 116 and 117\n\n_Chaos_.  The state of the universe before the creation of the heaven\nand the earth, 1.\n\n_Charon_.  The ferryman who conducted mortals to the Lower World.\nRows Psyche across the river Acheron, 241.\n\n_Chimaera_.  A monster half-lion, half-goat, with a serpent's tail,\n47.  Killed by Bellerophon, 48 to 50.\n\n_Ch\u012bron_.  The wisest and best of the Centaurs.  Instructs\nHeracles, 100.  Is killed by him unintentionally, 118 and 119.\n\n_Circ\u0113_.  An enchantress, sister of King Ae\u00ebtes.  Purges\nJason and Medea from the blood of Absyrtus, 167.\n\n_Cithaeron, Mt_.  Heracles pastures the flocks of Amphitryon on this\nmountain, and slays the lion whose skin he afterwards wears, 110 and\n111.  Oedipus is left there to perish by his parents, 205.\n\n_Club-carrier_.  One of the robbers killed by Theseus on his journey\nto Athens, 179.\n\n_Clytaemnestra_.  Daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, 200.\n\n_Colchis_.  The city of King Ae\u00ebtes.  Phrixus is brought there by the\nGolden Ram, 150.  The Argonauts reach Colchis, 159.\n\n_Corinth_.  The country of Sisyphus, 43.  Bellerophon is obliged to\nleave Corinth on account of the murder of his brother, 45.  Jason and\nMedea settle there, 173.  Oedipus is brought there and adopted by\nKing Polybus, 205 and 206.\n\n_Creon_ (1).  King of Corinth.  Receives Jason and Medea, and offers\nhis daughter Glauce to Jason for a wife, 173 and 174.  (2).  King of\nThebes.  Purges Amphitryon from the blood of Electryon, 105.\nAccompanies him on his expedition against the Teleboae, 106 & 107.\nGives his daughter Megara to Heracles for a wife, 112.  (3).  Brother\nJocasta.  Becomes King of Thebes, 221.  Refuses burial to the Argives\nand condemns Antigone to death for disobeying his orders, 221 to 223.\nIs compelled by Theseus to rescind them, 223.\n\n_Crete_.  Zeus is hidden in this island from his father when a child,\n3.  Daedalus makes the Labyrinth for King Minos, 52.  Daedalus\nescapes from Crete with his son Icarus, 52 and 53.  Heracles is sent\nby Eurystheus to fetch the Cretan bull to Mycenae, 122 and 123.  The\nArgonauts land after having caused Talos to kill himself, 169 and\n170.  Theseus goes to Crete as part of the tribute given by the\nAthenians, kills the Minotaur and escapes with Ariadne, 187 to 190.\n\n_Cronus_.  Son of Uranus and Gala.  Dethrones his father and succeeds\nhim as king of the gods, 2.  Marries Rhea, 2.  Is dispossessed by his\nson Zeus, 3 and 4.\n\n\n\n_DAEDALUS_.  An artist employed by Minos king of Crete.  Builds the\nLabyrinth, 52.  Escapes with his son Icarus, 52 and 53.\n\n_Dana\u0113_.  Daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos.  Is married\nto Zeus, and becomes the mother of Perseus, 95 and 96.  Is shut up in\na chest by her father and cast adrift, 95.  Is allowed to take refuge\non an island, 96.  Is delivered by Perseus from the king, 101.\n\n_Dana\u00efdes_.  The daughters of Danaus.  They sail to Argos with their\nfather, 34.  Kill their husbands at his command, 35 and 36.  Are\ncondemned to unending punishment in the Lower World, 37 and 38.\n\nDanaus.  A descendant of Io.  Flees from his home in Africa with his\ndaughters, and settles in Argos, 34.  Becomes king of Argos, 35.\nCommands his daughters to kill their husbands, and wishes to punish\nHypermnestra for failing to obey him, 36 and 37.\n\n_Deian\u012bra_.  Daughter of Oeneus king of Calydon.  Is wooed\nby both Heracles and the river-god Achelo\u00fcs, who agree to fight for\nher, 142.  Marries Heracles, 143.  Receives from the Centaur Nessus a\ncloth dipped in his blood, 144.  Smears with this cloth the robe of\nHeracles, and thus causes his death, 145 and 146.  Hangs herself in\ndespair, 147.\n\nD\u0113os.  A floating island.  Leto takes refuge on it, and\nPoseidon causes four pillars to spring up and hold it fast, 23.\nApollo and Artemis are born there, 23.  The island is honoured by the\nGreeks, 24.\n\n_Delphi_.  A city of Greece in which there was an oracle of Apollo,\n55.  (See _Oracle_.)  Heracles carries off the sacred Tripod, 139.\nThe Epigoni present to Apollo the best of the spoil taken from\nThebes, 226.  Achelo\u00fcs advises his grand-children to offer the veil\nand necklace of Harmonia to Apollo at Delphi, 230.\n\n_D\u0113m\u0113t\u0113r_.  Daughter of Cronus, 4.  Seeks\nfor her daughter Persephone, 16 to 18.  Creates corn and teaches\nTriptolemus how to cultivate it, 18 and 19.  Eats by mistake the\nshoulder of Pelops, 75 and 76.\n\n_Deucalion_.  Son of Prometheus.  Saves himself and his wife Pyrrha\nin a wooden chest at the time of the great Flood, 13 and 14.  They\nre-people the earth by throwing stones behind them which become men\nand women, 15.\n\n_Diom\u0113d\u0113s_.  A king of Thrace who fed his horses on\nhuman flesh.  Heracles is sent by Eurystheus to fetch the horses to\nMycenae; he conquers the king and throws him to be eaten by his own\nhorses, 123 and 124.\n\n_Dion\u0233sus_.  Son of Zeus and Semele.  Is placed under the\ncharge of Athamas, 63; then under that of some nymphs, 64.  Is gifted\nby Zeus with divine power, 64 and 65.  Creates the Vine, 65.  Sets\nout upon a triumphal journey round the world, 65.  Punishes the\nsailors who refuse to take him to Naxos, 66 and 67.  Punishes the\ndaughters of Proetus who refuse to honour him, 73.  Is received into\nthe abode of the gods, 67.  Marries Ariadne, 192.\n\n_Diosc\u016bri_.  The brothers Castor and Pollux, 201.\n\n_Doli\u014dnes_.  A people in whose country the Argonauts land on\ntheir way to Colchis, 154 and 155.\n\n\n\n_EARTH, The_.  Gives a golden apple-tree to Hera on her marriage with\nZeus, 131.  Gives her son Antaeus new strength every time he touches\nher, 133.\n\n_Egypt_.  Io is kindly received by the king, and becomes his wife, 32\nand 33.  Danaus leaves Egypt for Argos, 34.  Heracles kills King\nBusiris, 133 and 134.\n\n_Electryon_.  Son and successor of Perseus.  His right is disputed by\nPterelaus king of the Teleboae, 104.  He prepares to make an\nexpedition against the Teleboae, but is killed accidentally by\nAmphitryon, 105.\n\n_Elis_.  A country of Greece.  Ruled over by Salmoneus, 42.  Pelops\ngoes to Elis to sue for Hippodamia, conquers her father in the\nchariot-race, and becomes king, 77 to 79.  Heracles cleanses the\nstables of Augeas, king of Elis, 119 and 120.  He marches against\nElis to punish Augeas for his faithlessness, and transfers the\nkingdom to Phyleus, 141 and 142.\n\n_Endymion_.  A son of Zeus.  Asks that he may sleep for ever, 29.  Is\nbeloved by the goddess Selene, 30.\n\nEphialt\u0113s.  Brother of Otus, and son of Poseidon, 27.  The\nbrothers fight against the gods, and make Ares prisoner, 28.  They\nare killed through a device of the goddess Artemis, 28.\n\n_Epigoni_.  The sons of the Seven Heroes defeated before Thebes.\nThey march against Thebes to avenge the death of their fathers, and\ntake possession of the city, 224 to 227.\n\n_Epim\u0113th\u0113us_.  Brother of Prometheus, 9.  Zeus\nsends Pandora to be his wife, 10 and 11.\n\nErg\u012bnus.  King of the Minyae.  Demands tribute from the\nThebans, 111.  Is attacked and conquered by Heracles, 112.\n\n_Eriph\u0233l\u0113_.  Wife of Amphiaraus and sister of\nAdrastus, 214.  Decides that Amphiaraus shall march against Thebes,\n215.  Is killed by her son Alcmaeon, 227.\n\n_Er\u014ds_.  The god of Love--son of Aphrodite, 231.  Is\ncommanded by his mother to do Psyche an injury, but instead of that,\nmarries her secretly, 231 to 236.  Is obliged to leave her, 236.\nObtains the gift of immortality for Psyche, and the sanction of the\ngods to his marriage with her, 243.\n\n_Erymanthus, Mt_.  The home of the boar captured by Heracles as his\nFourth Labour, 117 to 119.\n\n_Et\u0113ocl\u0113s_.  Son of Oedipus and Jocasta.  Banishes\nhis brother Polynices from Thebes, 212.  Defies the summons of the\nArgives to surrender the kingdom, 218.  Challenges Polynices to a\nsingle combat, in which each brother kills the other, 220.\n\n_Euboea_.  The country of Eurytus.  Heracles goes there to sue for\nIole, 137.  Heracles conquers the city and kills Eurytus and his\nsons, 145.\n\n_Eur\u014dpa_.  Sister of Cadmus.  Is carried off by Zeus in the\nform of a bull, 54 and 58.\n\n_Europe_.  The country to which Europa was carried by the bull, and\nwhich was called after her, 58.  Heracles reaches the extreme limit\nof Europe, 128.  Phrixus and Helle are carried away from it into Asia\nby the Golden Ram, 150.\n\n_Eur\u0233sthe\u016bs_.  Son of Sthenalus.  Becomes king of\nMycenae and Tiryns, 109.  Is served for twelve years by Heracles who\nperforms twelve Labours at his command, 113 to 137.\n\n_Eurytus_.  King of Euboea.  Refuses to give his daughter Iole in\nmarriage to Heracles and taunts him with his former madness, 137.  He\nand his sons are killed by Heracles, 145.\n\n_Ev\u0113nus_.  Father of Marpessa.  Refuses to let his daughter\nmarry Idas, 20.  Pursues Idas and Marpessa, and being unable to\novertake them, drowns himself, 21.\n\n\n\n_FATES_.  Three goddesses who determine the course of men's lives.\nThey are present at the birth of Meleager, 83.  They promise that\nAdmetus shall recover if one of his relatives will die for him, 93.\nThey decree that the Theban Fox shall never be caught, and that the\nAthenian Dog shall never pursue in vain, 106.\n\n_Fir-bender_.  One of the robbers killed by Theseus on his journey to\nAthens, 170 and 180.\n\n_Flood_.  Zeus destroys the whole race of men by a great Flood,\nexcepting Deucalion and Pyrrha, 13 to 15.\n\n\n\n_GAEA_.  Wife of Uranus and goddess of the earth, 1.  Helps her son\nCronus to dethrone his father, 2.  Plans the overthrow of Cronus, 3.\nCreates Giants to fight against the gods, 5; also a monster named\nTyph\u00f6eus, 6.  Interferes to prevent Pha\u00ebthon from burning up the\nearth, 41.\n\n_Ganymede_.  Son of Laomedon king of Troy.  Is carried off to Olympus\nby the sacred eagle of Zeus, 127.\n\n_Garden of the Hesperides_.  A garden in Oceanus where Hera planted\nthe golden apple-tree, given her by the Earth at her marriage with\nZeus.  Heracles is sent by Eurystheus to fetch three golden apples\nfrom it, 131 to 135.\n\n_Geryon_, A three-headed king in the far West, possessor of a\nbeautiful herd of red-brown cattle.  He loses his life in defending\nthem against Heracles, 128 and 129.\n\n_Giants_.  Huge monsters created by Gaea to fight against the gods.\nThey are defeated in a great battle, and buried beneath volcanic\nmountains, 6.\n\n_Glauc\u0113_.  Daughter of Creon king of Corinth.  Is offered to\nJason as a bride, 173 and 174.  Her death is caused by Medea, 174.\n\n_Glaucus_.  Son of Sisyphus, and father of Bellerophon, 45.\n\n_Golden Age_.  The time when men were first created, and lived long\nand happy lives, 8.\n\n_Golden Fleece_.  The fleece of the ram who carried Phrixus to\nColchis.  It is hung up on a tree in a forest near Colchis, 150.\nJason is sent to fetch it, 152.  He carries it off from the forest,\n165; and brings it safely to Iolcus, 171.\n\n_Gorgons_.  Three sisters with iron claws and golden wings and live\nserpents instead of hair, who turned to stone everyone that looked at\nthem, 96 and 98.  Perseus cuts off the head of Medusa, the youngest\nGorgon, 98.\n\n_Graces_.  Three beautiful daughters of Zeus.  They dance at the\nwedding of Eros and Psyche, 243.\n\n_Grey Sisters_.  Sisters of the Gorgons who had only one eye and one\ntooth between them.  Perseus goes to their cave and obliges them to\ntell him where to find the nymphs who can help him obtain the head of\nMedusa, 97.\n\n\n\n_HARMONIA_.  Daughter of Ares and Aphrodite.  Is married to Cadmus,\n58.  Is presented by Hephaestus with a beautiful veil and necklace,\n214\n\n_Harpies_.  Creatures with the bodies of maidens and the feet and\nwings of ravens.  They torment Phineus until they are killed by the\nArgonauts, 157 and 158.\n\n_H\u0113b\u0113_.  A goddess,--daughter of Hera.  Is given by\nher in marriage to Heracles, 147.\n\n_Helena_.  Daughter of Zeus and Leda, 200.  Is carried off by Theseus\nand Piritho\u00fcs, 199.  Is rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux,\n201.\n\n_H\u0113lios_.  The sun-god.  Tells Demeter that Pluto has\ncarried off her daughter, 17.  Unwillingly grants the request of his\nson Pha\u00ebthon to be allowed to drive the chariot of the sun, 39 to 41.\nLends Heracles his golden shell that he may sail in it to the island\nof Geryon, 129.\n\n_Hell\u0113_.  Daughter of King Athamas and sister of Phrixus.\nIs carried away, with her brother, by the Golden Ram, but falls off\nhis back into the sea and is drowned, 148 to 150.\n\n_Hellespont_.  The sea which lies between Europe and Asia.  Called\nafter Helle, 150.\n\n_Hephaestus_.  Fashions Pandora out of clay, 10.  Binds Prometheus to\na rock on Mt. Caucasus, 12.  Helps to arm Heracles for his fight with\nthe Minyae, 112.  Makes the rattle which Heracles uses to drive away\nthe Stymphalian birds, 122.  Makes an iron watchman for Minos king of\nCrete, 169.  Presents a beautiful veil and necklace to Cadmus and\nHarmonia, 214.\n\n_H\u0113ra_.  Daughter of Cronus, 4.  Becomes the wife of Zeus\nand queen of the gods, 4.  Is presented by the Earth at her marriage\nwith a golden apple-tree, 131.  Persecutes Leto, 23; and Io, 31 to\n33.  Gives treacherous advice to Semele, 61.  Punishes Athamas for\nreceiving Dionysus, 63 and 150.  Is reconciled to Dionysus and\nSemele, 67.  Causes Eurystheus to be born before Heracles and thus\nbecome heir to the cities of Mycenae and Tiryns, 109.  Sends serpents\nto kill Heracles when a child, 109.  Afflicts him with madness, 113.\nTakes the form of an Amazon and leads an attack upon Heracles, 125.\nSends a great gnat to torment his cattle, 131.  Raises a storm to\ndestroy him, 141; and is punished for this by Zeus, 141.  Is\nreconciled to Heracles and welcomes him among the gods, 147.\nProtects the Argonauts in their passage through the Wandering Rocks,\n169.\n\n_H\u0113racl\u0113s._  Son of Zeus and Alcmene, 108 and 109.\nStrangles two serpents sent by Hera to kill him in his sleep, 109.\nIs taught by the Centaur Chiron, 110.  Kills a lion on Mt. Cithaeron\nand dresses himself in the skin, 110 and 111.  Conquers the Minyae\nand kills their king, Erginus, 111 and 112.  Marries Megara, 112.\nBecomes mad, and throws his children into the fire, 113.  Leaves\nThebes in consequence, and enters the service of Eurystheus for whom\nhe performs twelve Labours:--\n\n1st Labour.  Killing the Nemean Lion, 113 and 114.\n\n2nd Labour.  Killing the Lernean Hydra, 114 to 116.\n\n3rd Labour.  Capturing the Ceryneian Hind, 116 and 117.\n\n4th Labour.  Bringing the Erymanthian Boar to Mycenae, 117 and 119.\n\n5th Labour.  Cleansing the stables of Augeas in a single day, 119 to\n121.\n\n6th Labour.  Driving away the Stymphalian Birds, 121 and 122.\n\n7th Labour.  Bringing the Cretan Bull to Mycenae, 122 and 123.\n\n8th Labour.  Bringing to Mycenae the fierce horses of Diomedes, 123\nand 124.\n\n9th Labour.  Obtaining the girdle of the Queen of the Amazons, 124 to\n126.\n\n10th Labour.  Fetching the cattle of Geryon, 128 to 131.\n\n11th Labour.  Procuring three golden apples from the Garden of the\nHesperides, 131 to 135.\n\n12th Labour.  Fetching the three-headed dog Cerberus from the Lower\nWorld, 135 to 137.\n\nHeracles delivers Prometheus from the eagle, 12.  Fights with the\nCentaurs and causes the death of Chiron unintentionally, 117 to 119.\nDelivers Hesione from the monster, 126 and 127.  Punishes Laomedon\nher father for breaking his word to him, 140.  Kills the giant Cacus\nfor stealing his cattle, 130 and 131.  Wrestles with Nereus the\nsea-god, 132.  Wrestles with Antaeus, son of the Earth, and squeezes\nhim to death, 133.  Kills Busiris who had been accustomed to\nsacrifice a stranger every year to the gods, 133 and 134.  Visits\nAtlas, and takes his place for a time in supporting the heaven, 134\nand 135.  Goes to Oechalia to sue for Iole daughter of King Eurytus,\nand is taunted by her father with his former madness, 137 and 138.\nPunishes Eurytus for this, 145.  Kills Iphitus, son of Eurytus, 138.\nIs smitten with sickness, and when he asks the Oracle what he shall\ndo, is refused an answer, 139.  Quarrels with Apollo about this and\ncarries off the sacred Tripod, 139.  Enters the service of Omphale\nqueen of Lydia, with whom he remains for three years, 139 and 140.\nPunishes Augeas for his faithlessness, 141 and 142.  Goes to Calydon\nto sue for Deianira, and wins her in a contest with the river-god\nAchelo\u00fcs, 142 and 143.  Marries Deianira and lives with her for some\ntime in Calydon, 143.  Accidentally kills his servant-boy and has to\nleave, and go to Trachin to be purified, 143 and 144.  Is about to\ncelebrate his victory over Eurytus when he receives from Deianira a\nrobe poisoned with the blood of the Centaur Nessus, which causes him\nsuch terrible suffering that he resolves to die, 145 and 146.\nAscends Mt. Oeta and builds a funeral pile which he causes to be set\nalight, 146.  But before the flames reach him, he is carried up to\nMt. Olympus and enthroned among the gods, 146 and 147.  The goddess\nHebe is given to him for a wife, 147.\n\n_Herm\u0113s_.  The Messenger of the gods.  Takes Pandora to\nEpimetheus, 10.  Is sent to tell Deucalion and Pyrrha that they may\nmake any request they like, 14.  Helps Ares to escape from captivity,\n28.  Kills the watchman Argus, and rescues Io, 31 and 32.  Takes\nDionysus to King Athamus, 63; and afterwards to be brought up by some\nnymphs, 64.  Gives Perseus a sickle with which to cut off the head of\nMedusa, 97.  Returns to the nymphs the three Precious Things they had\nlent to Perseus, 103.  Steals part of the booty of Amphitryon for\nZeus, 108.  Helps to arm Heracles for his fight with the Minyae, 112.\nBrings the Golden Ram to carry away Phrixus and Helle, 149.  Brings\nPsyche into the assembly of the gods, 243.\n\n_Hers\u012bon\u0113_.  Daughter of Laomedon king of Troy.  Is\nrescued by Heracles from the monster, 126.  Is given to the hero\nTelamon after the conquest of Troy, and allowed to take her little\nbrother Podarces or Priam with her, 140 and 141.\n\n_Hesperides_.  Three nymphs who tended the garden of golden\napple-trees, 132.  (See _Garden of Hesperides_.)\n\n_Hestia_.  Daughter of Cronus, 4.\n\n_Hippodam\u012ba_.  Daughter of Oenamaus king of Elis.  Her\nfather compels nil her suitors to compete with him in a chariot-race,\n77.  Pelops wins, and marries Hippodamia, 78 and 79.\n\n_Hippolyta_.  An Amazon carried off by Theseus to be his wife, 193\nand 194.  She is killed, fighting for him against her country-women,\n195.\n\n_Hippolytus_.  Son of Theseus and Hippolyta, 194.  Is beloved by\nPhaedra, wife of Theseus, 197.  She causes his death, 198.\n\n_Hippomedon_.  One of the Seven Heroes who march against Thebes, 213.\n\n_Horn of Plenty_.  The horn of the goat Amalthea, converted by Zeus\ninto a miraculous horn, 5.  Is given to Heracles in exchange for the\nhorn of Achelo\u00fcs, 143.\n\n_Hundred-armed_.  Monsters, children of Uranus and Gaea, 1.  Are\nthrust into Tartarus, 2 and 3.  Are released by Zeus and help him to\nfight against the old gods, 4.\n\n_Hydra_.  A monster killed by Heracles, 114 to 116.  Heracles poisons\nhis arrows with the Hydra's gall, 116; and uses them in shooting at\nthe Centaurs, 118; and 144.\n\n_Hylas_.  The most beautiful boy in Greece.  Is dragged down into a\nforest pool by the nymphs who live there, and never seen again, 155\nand 156.\n\n_Hypsipele_.  Queen of Lemnos.  Saves the life of her father when all\nthe other men in the island are killed, 153 and 154.  Is banished in\nconsequence, and becomes nurse to the child of Lycurgus king of\nNemea, 215 to 217.\n\n\n\n_[I-macro]CARUS_.  Son of Daedalus.  Flies away from Crete with his\nfather, but falls into the sea and is drowned, 52 and 53.\n\n_Idas_.  Carries off Marpessa in a winged chariot, 20.  Is preferred\nby her to the god Apollo, 21 and 22.\n\n_Ino_.  Wife of Athamas, and stepmother of Phrixus and Helle, 63 and\n148.  Tries to get Phrixus put to death, 148 and 149.  Is killed in\ntrying to escape from her husband, in his madness, 63 and 150.\n\n_Io_.  Daughter of a king of Argos.  Is beloved by Zeus, and changed\nby him into a white cow to save her from Hera, 31.  Hera gets\npossession of the cow and puts her under the charge of the watchman\nArgus, 31.  She is rescued by Hermes, 31 and 32.  Hera however\ncontinues to torment her till she is protected by the king of Egypt\nwho marries her, 32 and 33.\n\n_Iobat\u0113s_.  King of Lycia.  Receives Bellerophon kindly, 47;\nbut at the request of Proetus, sends him on dangerous missions in the\nhope of his being killed, 47 to 50; until, finding that he is under\nthe protection of the gods, he begs him to settle in the country and\ngives him his daughter in marriage, 51.\n\n_Iolus_.  A cousin of Heracles.  Accompanies him on his\nexpedition to destroy the Lernean Hydra, 115 and 116.\n\n_Iolcus_.  The city of King Pelias, 151.  Jason sets out from Iolcus\nin quest of the Golden Fleece, 152 and 153.  Returns with the Fleece,\n171.  Is obliged to leave the city, 173.\n\n_Iol\u0113_.  Daughter of Eurytus king of Oechalia.  Is sought in\nmarriage by Heracles, but refused to him by her father, 137 and 138.\n\n_Iphicl\u0113s_.  Son of Amphitryon and Alcmene, and half-brother\nof Heracles, 108 and 109.\n\n_Iphiclus_.  (1) The owner of a famous herd of cattle demanded by\nNeleus king of Pylos in return for the hand of his daughter Pero, 69.\n(2) Grandson of the above.  Melampus instructs him how to propitiate\nthe gods and obtain an heir, 71 and 72.\n\n_Iphitus_.  Son of Eurytus, king of Oechalia.  Is killed by Heracles\nin a fit of anger, 138.\n\n_Isthmus_.  The neck of land which connects the peninsula of\nPeloponnesus with the rest of Greece.  The Argonauts land there on\ntheir return from Colchis, 171.\n\n_Italy_.  Heracles passes through the country when driving home the\ncattle of Geryon to Mycenae, 130.\n\n\n\n_JASON_.  Nephew of Pelias, king of Iolcus, by whom he is sent to\nfetch the Golden Fleece, 152.  Reaches Colchis, 159; and accomplishes\nthe tasks demanded by Ae\u00ebtes, 160 to 164.  Obtains possession of the\nFleece by the help of Medea, and escapes with her, 165.  Is purified\nby Circe from the blood of Absyrtus, 167.  Arrives at Iolcus and\nshows Pelias the Golden Fleece, 171.  Goes to Corinth, where King\nCreon offers him Glauce for his wife, 173.  Presents her with a\nmarriage-robe which, unknown to him, has been poisoned by Medea, 174.\nSees Medea drive away in her dragon-car, 175.\n\n_Jocasta_.  Wife of La\u00efus king of Thebes, and mother of Oedipus, 205.\nMarries Oedipus, not knowing who he is, 207 and 208.  When it is\ndiscovered, she hangs herself in her despair and grief, 209.\n\n\n\n_LABYRINTH_.  A wonderful house made for Minos king of Crete by the\nartist Daedalus, 52 and 186.  Theseus enters it and kills the\nMinotaur, 189 and 190.\n\n_L\u00efus_.  King of Thebes and husband of Jocasta.  Exposes\nhis son Oedipus on Mt. Cithaeron, 205.  Is killed by his son\nunknowingly, 206 and 207.\n\n_Land of Shades_.  See _Lower World_.\n\n_Laodamas_.  Son of Eteocles.  Succeeds his father as king of Thebes,\nand is killed in fighting against the Epigoni, 225.\n\n_Laomedon_.  King of Troy, and father of Ganymede, Hesione and Priam.\nTries to cheat the gods Apollo and Poseidon, and is punished by them,\n126.  Receives from Zeus two horses of the gods to console him for\nthe loss of Ganymede, 127.  Promises the horses to Heracles if he\nwill deliver Hesione from the monster, but fails to keep his word,\n126 and 127.  Is punished by Heracles for his faithlessness, 140.\n\n_Lapithae_.  The subjects of Piritho\u00fcs the friend of Theseus, 195.\nThey conquer the Centaurs with the help of Theseus, 196.\n\n_L\u0113da_.  Wife of Tyndareus king of Sparta.  Marries Zeus in\nthe form of a swan, and becomes the mother of Pollux and Helena, as\nwell as of Castor and Clytaemnestra, 200.\n\n_Lemnos_.  An island inhabited by women only.  The Argonauts rest\nthere on their way to Colchis, 153 and 154.\n\n_Lern\u0113_.  The city near which was the abode of the Lernean\nHydra destroyed by Heracles, 115.\n\n_L\u0113to_.  Marries Zeus, and becomes the mother of Apollo and\nArtemis, 23 and 24.  Begs her children to punish Niobe, 80.\n\n_Libya_.  The country of Antaeus.  Heracles wrestles with him, 133.\n\n_Lichas_.  A herald.  Brings to Heracles the robe poisoned by\nDeianira which causes him such agony that he beats Lichas to death\nagainst the rocks, 145 and 146.\n\n_Lower World_.  Pluto is made king of the Lower World, 5.  Persephone\nis carried off to it by Pluto, 16 to 18.  The Dana\u00efdes are condemned\nto never-ending punishment, 37 and 38.  Tantalus is condemned to a\nsimilar punishment, 76.  Alcestis is allowed to return from the Lower\nWorld, 94.  Heracles goes there to fetch Cerberus, 135 to 137.\nTheseus and Piritho\u00fcs descend with the intention of carrying off\nPersephone, 199 to 202.  Castor and Pollux spend alternate days in\nOlympus and in the Lower World, 201.  The helmet of Pluto is lent to\nPerseus, 97.\n\n_Lycia_.  The country of King Iobates.  Bellerophon slays the\nChimaera, and afterwards settles in the country, 47 to 51.\n\n_Lycom\u0113d\u0113s_.  King of part of the island of Scyros,\n202.  Kills Theseus by treachery, 203.\n\n_Lycurgus_.  King of Nemea.  The Nemean games are instituted in\nmemory of his child by the heroes marching through his country on\ntheir way to Thebes, 215 to 217.\n\n_Lydia_.  The country of Queen Omphale, whom Heracles serves as a\nslave for three years, 139 and 140.\n\n_Lynce\u016bs_.  Son of Aegyptus.  Is saved from death by his\nwife Hypermnestra, 36.  Succeeds Danaus as king of Argos, 37.\n\n\n\n_MARPESSA_.  Daughter of Evenus.  Runs away with Idas, 20.  Prefers\nhim to the god Apollo, 21 and 22.\n\n_Med\u0113a_.  Daughter of Ae\u00ebtes king of Colchis.  Helps Jason\nto win the Golden Fleece, and escapes with him, 161 to 165.  Kills\nher brother Absyrtus, 166.  Is purged by Circe from the stain of\nblood, 167.  Deceives Talos and makes him destroy himself, 169 and\n170.  Deludes the daughters of Pelias into killing their father, 172\nand 173.  Sends a poisoned robe to Glauce, 174.  Flees away from\nCorinth in her dragon-car, 175.  Is at the court of Aegeus at Athens\nwhen Theseus arrives, 183.  Her plan for poisoning him fails, and she\nflees away in her winged car, 183 and 184.\n\n_Mediterranean_.  The sea which one of the Giants is in the act of\ncrossing when buried by Athene under the island of Sicily, 6.  Europa\nis carried across it by Zeus, 58.\n\nMed\u016bsa.  One of the three Gorgons.  Is killed by Perseus, 96\nto 98.  Her head turns his enemies to stone, 101.\n\n_Megara_.  Daughter of Creon, king of Thebes.  Becomes the wife of\nHeracles, 112.  Dies, 137.\n\n_Melampus_.  Learns the language of birds and insects, 68; and the\nart of knowing the future, 72.  Obtains the cattle of Iphiclus for\nhis brother Bias, 69 to 72.  Restores the reason of the daughters of\nProetus, 73 and 74.\n\n_Meleager_.  Son of Oeneus and Althaea, king and queen of Calydon.\nTakes part in the great boar-hunt which Atalanta also attends, and\ndies in consequence of a quarrel with his uncles, 83 to 88.\n\n_M\u012blanion_.  Wins the race with Atalanta by the help of\nthree golden apples which he drops at intervals, 89 and 90.\n\n_Minos_.  King of Crete.  Father of Ariadne and Phaedra.  Refuses to\nlet Daedalus leave his country, 52.  Is sent a bull for sacrifice by\nPoseidon, but fails to kill it, 122.  Receives Heracles who delivers\nhim from the mad bull, 122 and 123.  Is furnished by Hephaestus with\nan iron watchman, 169.  Demands from the Athenians a tribute of seven\nyouths and seven maidens, 186.  Hears that Theseus has slain the\nMinotaur and carried off his daughter Ariadne, 190 and 191.  Gives\nhis daughter Phaedra in marriage to Theseus, 197.\n\n_Minotaur_.  A monster, half man, half bull, who lived in the\nLabyrinth of Crete, 187.  Is killed by Theseus, 189 and 190.\n\n_Minyae_.  The subjects of King Erginus.  They are conquered by\nHeracles and obliged to pay tribute to the Thebans, 112.\n\n_Moors_.  Name given to the people of Africa, burnt black by\nPha\u00ebthon, 41.\n\n_Muses_.  Nine beautiful goddesses of poetry, art and science.  They\nteach a riddle to the Sphinx, 207.  They sing at the marriage of Eros\nand Psyche, 243.\n\n_Myc\u0113nae_.  A city of Greece.  Perseus exchanges his kingdom\nof Argos for the cities of Mycenae and Tiryns, 103.  The right of his\nson Electryon to succeed is disputed by Pterelaus, 104.  Amphitryon\ncomes to Mycenae to sue for Alcmene, but is obliged to leave on\naccount of the unintentional murder of Electryon, 105.  Sthenelus\ndrives away Alcmene and seizes the kingdom, 105.  His son Eurystheus\nsucceeds him as king, 109.  Heracles goes to Mycenae and serves\nEurystheus for twelve years, 113.\n\n_Mysia_.  A country of Asia Minor.  The Argonauts land on their way\nto Colchis, and leave Heracles and Hylas behind when they sail away,\n155 and 156.\n\n\n\n_NAXOS_.  An island, the favourite land of the god Dionysus, 66 and\n67.  He finds Ariadne on the island and marries her, 191 and 192.\n\n_N\u0113le\u016bs_.  King of Pylos.  Demands the cattle of\nIphiclus in return for the hand of his daughter Pero, 69.  Gives her\nin marriage to Bias, 72.  Refuses to purge Heracles from the murder\nof Iphitus, 138.  Heracles marches against him and kills him and all\nhis family, 142.\n\n_Nemea_.  A city of Greece.  Heracles goes there to kill the Nemean\nlion, 113.  The Nemean Games are instituted in memory of the child of\nKing Lycurgus, 215 to 217.\n\n_N\u0113re\u016bs_.  A sea-god.  Is compelled by Heracles to\ntell him how to obtain the golden apples from the Garden of the\nHesperides, 132.\n\n_Nessus_.  A Centaur.  Carries Deianira across the river and tries to\nrun away with her, but is shot by Heracles with a poisoned arrow, 144.\n\n_Nestor_.  Son of Neleus king of Pylos.  The only member of the\nfamily of Neleus left alive after the revenge of Heracles, 142.\n\n_Niob\u0113_.  Daughter of Tantalus, and wife of Amphion king of\nThebes.  Boasts of her superiority to the goddess Leto, and is\npunished by having all her children taken from her at once, 80 to 83.\n\n\n\n_OCEANUS_.  The great stream that flows right round the world.  The\nhorses of Helios bathe in it every evening, 39.  The Gorgons live on\nan island in Oceanus, 97.  On an island in Oceanus lives the\nthree-headed king Geryon, whose cattle Heracles is sent to fetch,\n128.  The golden apple-tree from which the Garden of the Hesperides\ngrows, is planted by Hera in Oceanus, 131 and 132.\n\n_Oechalia_.  The capital of Eurytus king of Euboea.  The city is\ndestroyed by Heracles, 145.\n\n_Oedipus_.  Son of La\u00efus and Jocasta, king and queen of Thebes.  Is\nexposed by his parents on Mt. Cithaeron because of the prediction\nthat he shall kill his father and marry his mother, 205.  Is found by\na herdsman and taken to Polybus king of Corinth who adopts him, 206.\nKills his father not knowing who he is, 207.  Goes to Thebes where he\ndelivers the country from the Sphinx, and is rewarded with the\nkingdom and the hand of Jocasta, 207 and 208.  Puts out his eyes in\ndespair, on discovering his parentage, 209.  Is banished from Thebes,\nand finds a refuge at Athens, where he dies, 210 and 211.\n\n_Oene\u016bs_.  King of Calydon, and father of Meleager and\nDeianira.  Inaugurates the great Calydonian boar-hunt, 83 to 88.\nReceives Heracles, who comes to sue for Deianira, 142.\n\n_Oenomus_.  King of Elis.  Makes all the suitors of his\ndaughter Hippodamia, vie with him in a chariot-race, and is killed in\nracing with Pelops, 77 to 79.\n\n_Oeta, Mt_.  Heracles ascends the mountain and builds his funeral\npile upon it, 146.\n\n_Olympus, Mt_.  The abode of the gods, 2.  The Giants try to climb up\ninto it, 5 and 6.  Demeter comes down from it to the earth, 16 and\n17.  Hera drives Leto from it, 23; but afterwards receives her back\nagain, 24.  Hera descends from it to give bad advice to Semele, 61.\nZeus descends and shows himself to Semele in god-like splendour, 62.\nDionysus and Semele are received among the gods, 67.  Tantalus is\nallowed sometimes to ascend to Mt. Olympus, 75.  Ganymede is brought\nto Mt. Olympus by the sacred eagle of Zeus, 127.  Heracles is\nenthroned as a god, 147.  Psyche is received among the Immortals,\n243.  Heracles drives the horses of Diomedes to the foot of Mt.\nOlympus, 124.\n\n_Omphal\u0113_.  Queen of Lydia.  Heracles sells himself to her\nas a slave for three years, 139 and 140.\n\n_One-eyed, The_.  Monstrous children of Uranus and Gaea, 1.  Are\nthrust into Tartarus, 2 and 3.  Are released by Zeus, and forge\nweapons for him, 4.\n\n_Oracle_.  A temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the god vouchsafed\nprophetic answers (also called Oracles) to those who came to enquire\nconcerning the future.  Answers are given to Cadmus, 56; Oenomaus,\n77; Acrisius, 95; the parents of Andromeda, 99; Heracles, 113 and\n139; the Trojans, 126; Pelias, 151; the Athenians, 203; Oedipus, 206;\nAdrastus, 213; Alcmaeon, 227; the parents of Psyche, 231.\n\n_Orphe\u016bs_.  Delivers the Argonauts from the Sirens by\noverpowering their song, 168.\n\n_Ossa, Mt_.  The Giants propose to set up this mountain on the top of\nMt. Pelion, and so climb up to Olympus, 6.\n\n_Othrys, Mt_.  The mountain from which the old gods fight with the\nyounger ones, 4.\n\n_Otus_.  Son of Poseidon and brother of Ephialtes, 27.  He and his\nbrother fight against the gods and make Ares prisoner, 28.  They are\nkilled through a device of Artemis, 28.\n\n\n\n_PALLANTIDAE_.  Sons of Pallas, the brother of Aegeus, 177.  They lay\na plot to kill their Uncle and Theseus, 184.\n\n_Pallas_.  Brother of Aegeus king of Athens, 177.\n\n_Pand\u014dra_.  Is fashioned by Hephaestus out of clay, and\nendowed with gifts by all the gods, 10.  Is sent to be the wife of\nEpimetheus, anil takes with her, as her dowry, a casket full of\nDiseases and Cares, 10 and 11.\n\n_Parnassus_.  A mountain sacred to the gods.  Zeus proves it to be\nthe centre of the earth, 14.  The chest in which Deucalion and Pyrrha\nhave been preserved during the Flood, strands there, 14.  The sacred\nOracle of Apollo is located in Delphi, a city on Mt. Parnassus, 55.\n\n_Parthenopaeus_.  One of the Seven Heroes who marched against Thebes,\n213.\n\n_Pegasus_.  A beautiful winged horse.  Bellerophon becomes his\nmaster, is taught by the goddess Athene how to control him, and by\nhis help overcomes the Chimaera, 48 to 50.\n\n_Pelias_.  King of Iolcus, 151; and father of Alcestis, 92.  Gives\nhis daughter in marriage to Admetus, 92 and 93.  Sends Jason to fetch\nthe Golden Fleece, 152.  Kills the father of Jason during his\nabsence, 171.  Is put to death by his own daughters, through the\ntreachery of Medea, 172 and 173.\n\n_P\u0113lion, Mt_.  The Giants propose to climb up from this\nmountain to Olympus, 6.\n\n_Peloponnesus_.  A peninsula of Greece, named after Pelops, 79.\n\n_Pelops_.  Is killed by his father, and served up to the gods at a\nbanquet, 75; but is brought to life again by Zeus, 76.  Is\ndispossessed of his kingdom of Phrygia, 77.  Travels to Elis, and\nthrough craft conquers Oenomaus in the chariot-race, 77 to 79.\nMarries Hippodamia, and becomes king of Elis, 79.\n\n_Perigun\u0113_.  Daughter of the Fir-bender, one of the robbers\nslain by Theseus on his way to Athens, 180.\n\nP\u0113ro.  Daughter of Neleus, king of Pylos, 69.  Becomes the\nwife of Bias, 72.\n\n_Persephon\u0113_.  Daughter of Demeter.  Is carried off by Pluto\nto be queen of the Lower World, 16 to 18.  Sends back Alcestis to\nlive again for a time in the Upper World, 94.  Receives Heracles when\nhe visits the Lower World, 136.  Gives Psyche the casket for which\nshe has been sent by Aphrodite, 212.\n\n_Perse\u016bs_.  Son of Zeus and Dana\u00eb, 95 and 96.  Is sent by\nthe king of the island where his mother has taken refuge, to fetch\nthe head of Medusa, 96 to 98.  Rescues Andromeda from the monster,\nand is married to her, 99 to 101.  Returns with the head of Medusa,\nand rescues his mother from the king, who wants to marry her, 101.\nKills his grandfather unintentionally, and succeeds to the kingdom of\nArgos, 102; but exchanges it for the cities of Mycenae and Tiryns,\n103.\n\n_Phaedra_.  Daughter of Minos king of Crete.  Is married to Theseus,\n197.  Loves Hippolytus and asks him to marry her, 197.  Causes his\ndeath when he refuses, and then hangs herself in despair, 198.\n\n_Pha\u00ebthon_.  Son of Helios, 39.  Obtains leave from his father to\ndrive the chariot of the sun for a single day, 40.  Falls from it,\nand is killed by a thunderbolt, 41.\n\n_Ph\u0113ge\u016bs_.  Purges Alcmaeon from the stain of\nblood, and gives him his daughter in marriage, 227.  Sends his sons\nto kill Alcmaeon on account of his faithlessness, 229.\n\n_Phenicia_.  The home of Europa and Cadmus, 54.\n\n_Phine\u016bs_.  (1) Brother of Cepheus.  Disputes the right of\nPerseus to marry Andromeda, and is turned to stone, 100 and 101.  (2)\nA seer whom the Argonauts deliver from the Harpies, 157 and 158.\n\n_Pholus_.  One of the Centaurs.  Entertains Heracles in his cave, 117\nand 118.\n\n_Phrixus_.  Son of King Athamas, and brother of Helle.  His\nstepmother lays a plot to kill him, hut he is rescued by a Golden Ram\nand carried away to Colchis, where he marries the daughter of King\nAe\u00ebtes, 148 to 150.\n\n_Phrygia_.  The country of Tantalus, 75.  His son Pelops is driven\naway from his kingdom, 77.\n\n_Phylacus_.  Inherits the cattle of his father Iphiclus, 69.  Agrees\nto give them to Melampus if he will teach him how his son may\npropitiate the gods and obtain an heir, 70 to 72.\n\n_Phyle\u016bs_.  Son of Augeas king of Elis.  Refuses to bear\nfalse witness against Heracles, and is banished by his father, 120\nand 121.  Heracles restores him, and makes him king, 142.\n\n_Pillars of Heracles_.  Two mountains of rock set up by Heracles in\nthe sea between Europe and Africa, 128.\n\n_P\u012britho\u00fcs_.  King of the Lapithae.  Forms a friendship with\nTheseus, 195; who helps him to defeat the Centaurs, 196.  Piritho\u00fcs\nis compelled to sit for ever on an iron seat in the Lower World, 200\nand 202.\n\n_Pluto_.  Son of Cronus, 4.  Is made king of the Lower World, 5.\nCarries off Persephone, 16 to 18.  Allows Sisyphus to return to the\nearth for a single day, 44.  Allows Heracles to take Cerberus to the\nUpper World on condition that he captures him without weapons, 136.\n\n_Podarces_.  Son of Laomedon king of Troy.  Is rescued by his sister\nHesione when the town is sacked by Heracles, 140.  Receives the name\nof Priam, 141.\n\n_Pollux_.  Son of Zeus and Leda, and brother of Castor, 200 and 201.\nRescues his sister Helena, 201.  Takes part in the expedition of the\nArgonauts, 157.  Petitions Zeus that he and his brother Castor may be\nallowed to share the same fate, 201.\n\n_Polybus_.  King of Corinth, 205.  Adopts Oedipus, 206.\n\n_Polyn\u012bces_.  Son of Oedipus and Jocasta.  Is banished from\nThebes by his brother Eteocles, and takes refuge with Adrastus king\nof Argos, 212 and 213.  Induces Adrastus to march an army against\nThebes, 213.  Accepts his brother's challenge to single combat, in\nwhich he gives and receives a mortal blow, 220.\n\n_Poseidon_.  Son of Cronus, 4.  The sea is made subject to him, 4 and\n5.  Gives Idas a winged chariot in which to carry off Marpessa, 20.\nBecomes the father of Otus and Ephialtes, 27.  Punishes Cassiopea for\nbeing vain of her beauty, 99.  Gives Pterelaus a golden hair which\npreserves him from death, 107.  Sends Minos a bull for sacrifice, and\npunishes him for keeping it back, 122.  Punishes Laomedon for his\nfaithlessness, 126.  The Argo is dedicated to Poseidon, 171.\nPoseidon disputes with Athene the guardianship of Athens, 176.  At\nthe request of Theseus, he creates the monster that destroys\nHippolytus, 198.\n\n_Priam_.  See _Podarces_.\n\n_Proetus_.  King of Argos.  Cleanses Bellerophon from the murder of\nhis brother, 45; but thinking he has done him an injury, sends him to\nIobates, whom he desires to kill him, 46.  Sends to beg Melampus to\nrestore his daughters to their right minds, 73 and 74.\n\n_Prom\u0113th\u0113us_.  Brings down fire to the earth\nagainst the will of Zeus, 9 and 10.  Is chained, as a punishment, to\nMt. Caucasus where an eagle preys upon his liver, 12.  Is delivered\nby Heracles, 12.  Warns his son Deucalion of the great flood about to\ntake place, 13.\n\nPs\u0233ch\u0113.  Is hated by Aphrodite on account of her\nbeauty, 231.  Is carried away by the Wind-god, and secretly married\nto Eros, 232 and 233.  She disobeys his command that she shall never\nseek to see him, and he is obliged to leave her, 236.  Psyche enters\nthe service of Aphrodite, who requires her to accomplish hard tasks,\n237 to 242.  Zeus gifts Psyche with immortality, and sanctions her\nmarriage with Eros, 243.\n\n_Pterelus_.  Grandson of Perseus and king of the Teleboae.\nDisputes the right of Electryon to the cities of Mycenae and Tiryns,\n104.  Amphitryon leads an expedition against him, and conquers him\nthrough the treachery of his daughter, 106 and 107.\n\n_Pylos_.  The home of Melampus, 68; also of King Neleus and his\ndaughter Pero, 69.  Heracles conquers the city, 142.\n\n_Pyrrha_.  Wife of Deucalion, who is saved with him in a wooden chest\nat the time of the great Flood, 13 to 15.\n\n_Pythia_.  The Priestess of Apollo, through whom the prophetic\nanswers vouchsafed by the god were transmitted, 55.  Answers are\ngiven by her to Cadmus, 56; to Heracles, 113; to the Athenians, 203;\nto Oedipus, 206.  An answer is refused to Heracles, 139.\n\n\n\n_RHEA_.  Wife of Cronus, 2.  Saves her son Zeus from being devoured\nby his father, 3.\n\n_Rome_.  Heracles passes the spot where Rome was afterwards built, in\nbringing the cattle of Geryon to Mycenae, 130.\n\n\n\n_SALMONEUS_.  King of Elis.  Tries to imitate Zeus, and is destroyed\nby a thunderbolt, 42 and 43.\n\n_Sciron_.  One of the robbers killed by Theseus on his journey to\nAthens, 181.\n\nScyros.  The island where Theseus proposed to spend the last days of\nhis life, 202.  He is treacherously killed there by Lycomedes, 203.\nThe Athenians fetch his bones from the island, 203 and 204.\n\n_Sel\u0113n\u0113_.  Goddess of the moon.  Loves Endymion, 30.\n\n_Semel\u0113_.  Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia.  Is secretly\nmarried to Zeus, 61.  Prevails on him to come to her clothed in the\nglory of the gods, and dies at the sight, 61 and 62.  Is gifted by\nZeus with immortality, 67.\n\n_Shadow-leader_.  The conductor of dead souls to the Lower World.  He\ntakes Alcestis thither, 94.\n\n_Sicily_.  The goddess Athene buries one of the Giants beneath the\nisland, 6.  Persephone is carried off from it by the god Pluto, 16.\nDaedalus flies to it from the island of Crete, 53.\n\n_Sil\u0113nus_.  Plays with Dionysus when a child, 64.  Follows\nhim in his journey through the world, 65 and 66; and helps to\ncelebrate his marriage with Ariadne, 192.\n\n_Sirens_.  Treacherous sea-nymphs, who attract sailors by their magic\nsinging and then tear them to pieces.  The Argonauts escape them\nthrough listening to the song of Orpheus, 168.\n\n_S\u012bsyphus_.  King of Corinth.  Tries to cheat gods as well\nas men, and is tormented in the Lower World with an unending\npunishment, 43 and 44.\n\n_Sparta_.  The country of King Tyndareus, husband of Leda.  Theseus\nand Piritho\u00fcs go there and carry off Helena, 199.\n\n_Sparti_.  The warriors who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by\nCadmus, 58.\n\n_Sphinx_.  A monster with the head of a woman and the body of a\nlioness.  She propounds a riddle and devours everyone who fails to\nanswer it, 207 and 208.  Oedipus guesses the riddle, and the Sphinx\ndies, 208.\n\n_Sthenelus_.  Brother of Electryon.  Drives his niece Alcmene and her\nbrother from Mycenae, and seizes the kingdom, 105.  Becomes the\nfather of Eurystheus, 109.\n\n_Storm-foot_.  One of the Harpies from whom the Argonauts deliver\nPhineus, 167 and 158.\n\n_Stretcher, The_.  One of the robbers killed by Theseus on his way to\nAthens, 181 and 182.\n\n_Stymphlus_.  A city in Arcadia.  Heracles drives away the\nbirds that infest the Stymphalian lake, 121 and 122.\n\n_Styx_.  A river of the Lower World, by which the gods swore an\ninviolable oath, 40; 62.\n\n_Swift-wing_.  One of the Harpies from whom Phineus is delivered by\nthe Argonauts, 157 and 158.\n\n_Syria_.  Io travels to Syria to find her child, 33.\n\n\n\n_TAENARUS, MT_.  Psyche is directed to go there to find an entrance\nto the Lower World, 240.\n\n_Tal\u014ds_.  An iron watchman, made by Hephaestus for Minos\nking of Crete.  Medea deludes him into killing himself, 169 and 170.\n\n_Tantalus_.  King of Phrygia, 65; and father of Niobe, 80.  Kills his\nson Pelops and offers the flesh to the gods at a banquet, 75.  Is\ncondemned in the Lower World to an unending punishment, 76.\n\n_Tartarus_.  A dark pit below the earth into which the hundred-armed\nand one-eyed monsters are banished by Uranus, 2.  They are released\nby Zeus, and the old gods whom he has defeated, take their place, 4.\nTyph\u00f6eus is thrust into Tartarus, 7.\n\n_Telam\u014dn_.  Receives the beautiful Hesione as a reward for\nhaving been the first to scale the walls of Troy, 140.\n\n_T\u0113leboae_.  The subjects of King Pterelaus.  They are sent\non an embassy to Electryon, and a quarrel takes place, 104.\nAmphitryon marches against them at the desire of Alcmene, and\nconquers their land, 105 to 107.\n\n_Thebes_.  Built by the descendants of Cadmus, 59.  A wall is built\nround it by means of the song of Amphion, 59 and 60.  Alcmene takes\nshelter there when driven by Sthenelus from Mycenae, 105.  Amphitryon\ndelivers the city from the destroying Fox, 106.  Heracles is born in\nThebes, 108 and 110.  He delivers the land from the tribute imposed\nby the Minyae, 111 and 112; but leaves the city after his madness,\n113.  La\u00efus and Jocasta are king and queen of Thebes, and Oedipus is\nborn there, 205.  Oedipus delivers the land from the Sphinx, and\nbecomes king, 207 and 208; but on the discovery of his parentage, he\nis banished, 209 and 210.  His sons Eteocles and Polynices succeed\nhim, but Polynices is banished by his brother, 212.  Polynices goes\nto Argos, 212; and persuades Adrastus to lead an army against Thebes,\n213.  The Argives are defeated before Thebes, 218 to 220.  Creon king\nof Thebes refuses burial to the Argives, and immures Antigone for\ndisobeying his orders, 221 to 223.  The Epigoni march against Thebes,\n224 and 225.  The Thebans decide to abandon the city, 225 and 226.\nThe Epigoni and others re-people it, 226 and 227.\n\n_Therm\u014ddon_.  A river in Asia, near which was the country of\nthe Amazons, 125.\n\n_Thersander_.  Son of Polynices.  Made king of Thebes by the Epigoni,\non their taking possession of the city, 226.\n\n_Th\u0113se\u016bs_.  Son of Aegeus king of Athens.  Is\nbrought up at Troezen by his mother Aethra, 177 and 178.  Is sent by\nher to the court of his father at Athens, 179.  Or: his way there, he\nkills many robbers,--the Club-carrier, 179; the Fir-bender, 179 and\n130; Sciron, 181; the Stretcher, 181 and 182.  Reaches Athens, 182;\nand is recognised by Aegeus, 183.  Medea's attempt to poison him\nfails, 183.  The Pallantidae are foiled in their plan to murder him,\n184.  Theseus captures the Bull of Marathon, 184 and 185.  Goes to\nCrete as part of the tribute of seven youths and seven maidens, kills\nthe Minotaur, and escapes with Ariadne, 187 to 190.  Is compelled to\nleave Ariadne at Naxos, 191.  Forgets to hoist the white sail, and\nthus causes the death of his father, 192 and 193.  Carries off\nHippolyta to be his wife, 193.  Conquers the Amazons, 194 and 195.\nMakes a friendship with Piritho\u00fcs, and helps him to defeat the\nCentaurs, 195 and 196.  Erects an Altar of Pity in the market-place\nof Athens, 196.  Marries Phaedra, 197.  Prays for the death of\nHippolytus, 198.  Joins Piritho\u00fcs in carrying off the beautiful\nHelena, 199; and descends with him to the Lower World to try and get\npossession of Persephone, 199.  Finds himself unable to leave a stone\non which he had sat down for a moment, 200; but after many years is\nreleased by Heracles, 201 and 202.  On his return to Athens, finds\nhimself forgotten, and retires to Scyros, 202.  Is there killed\ntreacherously by Lycomedes, 203.  His bones are transferred to\nAthens, 203 and 204.\n\n_Thrace_.  The country of Diomedes, whose fierce horses Heracles goes\nto fetch, at the command of Eurystheus, 123.\n\n_Tiresias_.  A blind seer of Thebes.  Explains the visit of Zeus to\nAlcmene, 108.  Foretells the fate of Oedipus, 205; and 225.  Advises\nthe Thebans to abandon the city, 225.  Goes with them, and dies\nduring the flight, 226.\n\n_Tiryns_.  Perseus exchanges his kingdom of Argos for the cities of\nMycenae and Tiryns, 103.  The right of his son Electryon to succeed\nis disputed by Pterelaus, 104.  Sthenelus takes possession of the\nkingdom, 105.  He is succeeded by Eurystheus, 109.\n\n_Titans, Titanides_.  Children of Uranus and Gaea, 2.  The father of\nPrometheus was a Titan, 9.\n\n_Trchis_.  A city of Greece.  Heracles leaves Calydon for\nTrachis, 144; and goes from Trachis to Euboea, 145.\n\n_Tripod_.  A three-legged stool on which the Priestess of Apollo sat\nwhen uttering her divine predictions, 55.  Heracles carries off the\nsacred Tripod from Delphi, 139.\n\n_Triptolemus_.  Is taught by Demeter how to sow corn and cultivate\nthe land, 19.\n\n_Troez\u0113n_.  The home of Aethra, wife of King Aegeus, 177.\nTheseus is brought up by her at Troezen, 177 and 178.  Helena is\nplaced there under her care for a time, but is rescued by her\nbrothers, 199 and 201.\n\n_Troy_.  The country of King Laomedon, father of Ganymede.  Apollo\nand Poseidon build a wall round Troy, and punish Laomedon for\nwithholding the reward he has promised, 126.  Heracles lands at Troy,\nand rescues Hesione from the monster, 126 and 127.  Returns to punish\nLaomedon for his faithlessness, and conquers the city, 140.\n\n_T\u0233de\u016bs_.  Is driven from his country on account of\nan unintentional murder, and goes for refuge to Adrastus king of\nArgos, 212 and 213.  Takes part in the expedition against Thebes,\n213.  Bears a message to Eteocles, and distinguishes himself by feats\nof strength, 218.  Is killed before Thebes, with all the other\nheroes, 220.\n\n_Tyndare\u016bs_.  King of Sparta, 199; and husband of Leda, 200.\n\n_Typh\u014de\u016bs_.  A monster created by Gaea to fight\nagainst the gods, 6.  Is conquered by Zeus, and flung into Tartarus,\n7.\n\n\n\n_URANUS_.  God of the sky, 1.  Is killed by his son Cronus, 2.\n\n\n\n_WANDERING ROCKS_.  The Argonauts pass through them in safety by the\nhelp of Hera, 168 and 169.\n\n_Wind-god_.  Carries Psyche into the beautiful valley, 232.  Brings\nher two sisters to see her, 234; and takes them home again, 235.\n\n\n\n_ZE\u016aS_.  Son of Cronus and Rhea.  Is hidden in the island of\nCrete and nourished by the goat Amalthea, 3.  Makes war against his\nfather and thrusts him into Tartarus, 4.  Marries Hera, 4.  Conquers\nthe Giants, 6; and Typh\u00f6eus, 7.  Sends Pandora to bring Disease and\nCare into the world, 10 and 11.  Punishes Prometheus for bringing\ndown fire to the earth, 12.  Destroys the world by a Flood, 13 and\n14; and allows Deucalion and Pyrrha to re-people it, 14 and 15.\nStops the fight about to take place between Apollo and Idas, 21.\nMarries Leto and becomes the father of Apollo and Artemis, 23.\nBecomes the father of Endymion whom he gifts with perpetual sleep,\n29.  Hurls a thunderbolt at Pha\u00ebthon to prevent him from destroying\nthe earth, 41.  Carries off Europa in the form of a bull, 54 and 58.\nMarries Semele, and at her wish goes to her surrounded with the glory\nof the gods, 62.  Raises her from the Lower World to Olympus, 67.\nConceals his son Dionysus from Hera, 63; and gifts him with divine\npower, 64 and 65.  Imposes a punishment upon Apollo, 81.  Marries\nDana\u00eb in the form of a golden shower, and becomes the father of\nPerseus, 95 and 96.  Marries Alcmene, and becomes the father of\nHeracles, 108 and 100.  Decrees that the next child born of the race\nof Perseus shall rule over the cities of Mycenae anil Tiryns, 109.\nSends his sacred eagle to steal away Ganymede, 127.  Interposes\nbetween Heracles and Apollo, 139.  Punishes Hera for trying to\ndestroy Heracles, 141.  Marries Leda in the form of a swan, and\nbecomes the father of Pollux and Helena, 200.  Grants the wish of\nPollux to share the fate of his brother Castor, 201.  Causes the two\nsons of Alcmaeon to grow up to manhood in a single night, 229.\n\n\n\n  PRINTED BY\n  SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE\n  LONDON","title":"Myths of Hellas : $b or, Greek tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":82264}