{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XIII/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XIII","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XIII","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XIII","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"NISUS AND SCYLLA \u2014 ECHO AND NARCISSUS \u2014 CLYTIE; HERO AND LEANDER\n\nMinos, king of Crete, made war upon Megara. Nisus was king of\nMegara, and Scylla was his daughter. The siege had now lasted six\nmonths and the city still held out, for it was decreed by fate\nthat it should not be taken so long as a certain purple lock,\nwhich glittered among the hair of King Nisus, remained on his\nhead. There was a tower on the city walls, which overlooked the\nplain where Minos and his army were encamped. To this tower Scylla\nused to repair, and look abroad over the tents of the hostile\narmy. The siege had lasted so long that she had learned to\ndistinguish the persons of the leaders. Minos, in particular,\nexcited her admiration. Arrayed in his helmet, and bearing his\nshield, she admired his graceful deportment; if he threw his\njavelin skill seemed combined with force in the discharge; if he\ndrew his bow Apollo himself could not have done it more\ngracefully. But when he laid aside his helmet, and in his purple\nrobes bestrode his white horse with its gay caparisons, and reined\nin its foaming mouth, the daughter of Nisus was hardly mistress of\nherself; she was almost frantic with admiration. She envied the\nweapon that he grasped, the reins that he held. She felt as if she\ncould, if it were possible, go to him through the hostile ranks;\nshe felt an impulse to cast herself down from the tower into the\nmidst of his camp, or to open the gates to him, or to do anything\nelse, so only it might gratify Minos. As she sat in the tower, she\ntalked thus with herself: \"I know not whether to rejoice or grieve\nat this sad war. I grieve that Minos is our enemy; but I rejoice\nat any cause that brings him to my sight. Perhaps he would be\nwilling to grant us peace, and receive me as a hostage. I would\nfly down, if I could, and alight in his camp, and tell him that we\nyield ourselves to his mercy. But then, to betray my father! No!\nrather would I never see Minos again. And yet no doubt it is\nsometimes the best thing for a city to be conquered, when the\nconqueror is clement and generous. Minos certainly has right on\nhis side. I think we shall be conquered; and if that must be the\nend of it, why should not love unbar the gates to him, instead of\nleaving it to be done by war? Better spare delay and slaughter if\nwe can. And O if any one should wound or kill Minos! No one surely\nwould have the heart to do it; yet ignorantly, not knowing him,\none might. I will, I will surrender myself to him, with my country\nas a dowry, and so put an end to the war. But how? The gates are\nguarded, and my father keeps the keys; he only stands in my way. O\nthat it might please the gods to take him away! But why ask the\ngods to do it? Another woman, loving as I do, would remove with\nher own hands whatever stood in the way of her love. And can any\nother woman dare more than I? I would encounter fire and sword to\ngain my object; but here there is no need of fire and sword. I\nonly need my father's purple lock. More precious than gold to me,\nthat will give me all I wish.\"\n\nWhile she thus reasoned night came on, and soon the whole palace\nwas buried in sleep. She entered her father's bedchamber and cut\noff the fatal lock; then passed out of the city and entered the\nenemy's camp. She demanded to be led to the king, and thus\naddressed him: \"I am Scylla, the daughter of Nisus. I surrender to\nyou my country and my father's house. I ask no reward but\nyourself; for love of you I have done it. See here the purple\nlock! With this I give you my father and his kingdom.\" She held\nout her hand with the fatal spoil. Minos shrunk back and refused\nto touch it. \"The gods destroy thee, infamous woman,\" he\nexclaimed; \"disgrace of our time! May neither earth nor sea yield\nthee a resting-place! Surely, my Crete, where Jove himself was\ncradled, shall not be polluted with such a monster!\" Thus he said,\nand gave orders that equitable terms should be allowed to the\nconquered city, and that the fleet should immediately sail from\nthe island.\n\nScylla was frantic. \"Ungrateful man,\" she exclaimed, \"is it thus\nyou leave me?\u2014me who have given you victory,\u2014who have sacrificed\nfor you parent and country! I am guilty, I confess, and deserve to\ndie, but not by your hand.\" As the ships left the shore, she\nleaped into the water, and seizing the rudder of the one which\ncarried Minos, she was borne along an unwelcome companion of their\ncourse. A sea-eagle soaring aloft,\u2014it was her father who had been\nchanged into that form,\u2014seeing her, pounced down upon her, and\nstruck her with his beak and claws. In terror she let go the ship\nand would have fallen into the water, but some pitying deity\nchanged her into a bird. The sea-eagle still cherishes the old\nanimosity; and whenever he espies her in his lofty flight you may\nsee him dart down upon her, with beak and claws, to take vengeance\nfor the ancient crime.\n\nECHO AND NARCISSUS\n\nEcho was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she\ndevoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana,\nand attended her in the chase. But Echo had one failing; she was\nfond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the\nlast word. One day Juno was seeking her husband, who, she had\nreason to fear, was amusing himself among the nymphs. Echo by her\ntalk contrived to detain the goddess till the nymphs made their\nescape. When Juno discovered it, she passed sentence upon Echo in\nthese words: \"You shall forfeit the use of that tongue with which\nyou have cheated me, except for that one purpose you are so fond\nof\u2014reply. You shall still have the last word, but no power to\nspeak first.\"\n\nThis nymph saw Narcissus, a beautiful youth, as he pursued the\nchase upon the mountains. She loved him, and followed his\nfootsteps. O how she longed to address him in the softest accents,\nand win him to converse! but it was not in her power. She waited\nwith impatience for him to speak first, and had her answer ready.\nOne day the youth, being separated from his companions, shouted\naloud, \"Who's here?\" Echo replied, \"Here.\" Narcissus looked\naround, but seeing no one called out, \"Come.\" Echo answered,\n\"Come.\" As no one came, Narcissus called again, \"Why do you shun\nme?\" Echo asked the same question. \"Let us join one another,\" said\nthe youth. The maid answered with all her heart in the same words,\nand hastened to the spot, ready to throw her arms about his neck.\nHe started back, exclaiming, \"Hands off! I would rather die than\nyou should have me!\" \"Have me,\" said she; but it was all in vain.\nHe left her, and she went to hide her blushes in the recesses of\nthe woods. From that time forth she lived in caves and among\nmountain cliffs. Her form faded with grief, till at last all her\nflesh shrank away. Her bones were changed into rocks and there was\nnothing left of her but her voice. With that she is still ready to\nreply to any one who calls her, and keeps up her old habit of\nhaving the last word.\n\nNarcissus's cruelty in this case was not the only instance. He\nshunned all the rest of the nymphs, as he had done poor Echo. One\nday a maiden who had in vain endeavored to attract him uttered a\nprayer that he might some time or other feel what it was to love\nand meet no return of affection. The avenging goddess heard and\ngranted the prayer.\n\nThere was a clear fountain, with water like silver, to which the\nshepherds never drove their flocks, nor the mountain goats\nresorted, nor any of the beasts of the forest; neither was it\ndefaced with fallen leaves or branches; but the grass grew fresh\naround it, and the rocks sheltered it from the sun. Hither came\none day the youth, fatigued with hunting, heated and thirsty. He\nstooped down to drink, and saw his own image in the water; he\nthought it was some beautiful water-spirit living in the\nfountain. He stood gazing with admiration at those bright eyes,\nthose locks curled like the locks of Bacchus or Apollo, the\nrounded cheeks, the ivory neck, the parted lips, and the glow of\nhealth and exercise over all. He fell in love with himself. He\nbrought his lips near to take a kiss; he plunged his arms in to\nembrace the beloved object. It fled at the touch, but returned\nagain after a moment and renewed the fascination. He could not\ntear himself away; he lost all thought of food or rest, while he\nhovered over the brink of the fountain gazing upon his own image.\nHe talked with the supposed spirit: \"Why, beautiful being, do you\nshun me? Surely my face is not one to repel you. The nymphs love\nme, and you yourself look not indifferent upon me. When I stretch\nforth my arms you do the same; and you smile upon me and answer my\nbeckonings with the like.\" His tears fell into the water and\ndisturbed the image. As he saw it depart, he exclaimed, \"Stay, I\nentreat you! Let me at least gaze upon you, if I may not touch\nyou.\" With this, and much more of the same kind, he cherished the\nflame that consumed him, so that by degrees he lost his color, his\nvigor, and the beauty which formerly had so charmed the nymph\nEcho. She kept near him, however, and when he exclaimed, \"Alas!\nalas!\" she answered him with the same words. He pined away and\ndied; and when his shade passed the Stygian river, it leaned over\nthe boat to catch a look of itself in the waters. The nymphs\nmourned for him, especially the water-nymphs; and when they smote\ntheir breasts Echo smote hers also. They prepared a funeral pile\nand would have burned the body, but it was nowhere to be found;\nbut in its place a flower, purple within, and surrounded with\nwhite leaves, which bears the name and preserves the memory of\nNarcissus.\n\nMilton alludes to the story of Echo and Narcissus in the Lady's\nsong in \"Comus.\" She is seeking her brothers in the forest, and\nsings to attract their attention:\n\n\"Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen\n\nWithin thy a\u00ebry shell\n\nBy slow Meander's margent green,\n\nAnd in the violet-embroidered vale,\n\nWhere the love-lorn nightingale\n\nNightly to thee her sad song mourneth well;\n\nCanst thou not tell me of a gentle pair\n\nThat likest thy Narcissus are?\n\nO, if thou have\n\nHid them in some flowery cave,\n\nTell me but where,\n\nSweet queen of parly, daughter of the sphere,\n\nSo may'st thou be translated to the skies,\n\nAnd give resounding grace to all heaven's harmonies.\"\n\nMilton has imitated the story of Narcissus in the account which he\nmakes Eve give of the first sight of herself reflected in the\nfountain:\n\n\"That day I oft remember when from sleep\n\nI first awaked, and found myself reposed\n\nUnder a shade on flowers, much wondering where\n\nAnd what I was, whence thither brought, and how.\n\nNot distant far from thence a murmuring sound\n\nOf waters issued from a cave, and spread\n\nInto a liquid plain, then stood unmoved\n\nPure as the expanse of heaven; I thither went\n\nWith unexperienced thought, and laid me down\n\nOn the green bank, to look into the clear\n\nSmooth lake that to me seemed another sky.\n\nAs I bent down to look, just opposite\n\nA shape within the watery gleam appeared,\n\nBending to look on me. I started back;\n\nIt started back; but pleased I soon returned,\n\nPleased it returned as soon with answering looks\n\nOf sympathy and love. There had I fixed\n\nMine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,\n\nHad not a voice thus warned me: 'What thou seest,\n\nWhat there thou seest, fair creature, is thyself;'\" etc.\n\n\u2014Paradise Lost, Book IV.\n\nNo one of the fables of antiquity has been oftener alluded to by\nthe poets than that of Narcissus. Here are two epigrams which\ntreat it in different ways. The first is by Goldsmith:\n\n\"On a Beautiful Youth, struck Blind by Lightning\n\n\"Sure 'twas by Providence designed,\n\nRather in pity than in hate,\n\nThat he should be like Cupid blind,\n\nTo save him from Narcissus' fate.\"\n\nThe other is by Cowper:\n\n\"On an Ugly Fellow\n\n\"Beware, my friend, of crystal brook\n\nOr fountain, lest that hideous hook,\n\nThy nose, thou chance to see;\n\nNarcissus' fate would then be thine,\n\nAnd self-detested thou would'st pine,\n\nAs self-enamoured he.\"\n\nCLYTIE\n\nClytie was a water-nymph and in love with Apollo, who made her no\nreturn. So she pined away, sitting all day long upon the cold\nground, with her unbound tresses streaming over her shoulders.\nNine days she sat and tasted neither food nor drink, her own tears\nand the chilly dew her only food. She gazed on the sun when he\nrose, and as he passed through his daily course to his setting;\nshe saw no other object, her face turned constantly on him. At\nlast, they say, her limbs rooted in the ground, her face became a\nflower [Footnote: The sunflower.] which turns on its stem so as\nalways to face the sun throughout its daily course; for it retains\nto that extent the feeling of the nymph from whom it sprang.\n\nHood, in his \"Flowers,\" thus alludes to Clytie:\n\n\"I will not have the mad Clytie,\n\nWhose head is turned by the sun;\n\nThe tulip is a courtly quean,\n\nWhom therefore I will shun;\n\nThe cowslip is a country wench,\n\nThe violet is a nun;\u2014\n\nBut I will woo the dainty rose,\n\nThe queen of every one.\"\n\nThe sunflower is a favorite emblem of constancy. Thus Moore uses\nit:\n\n\"The heart that has truly loved never forgets,\n\nBut as truly loves on to the close;\n\nAs the sunflower turns on her god when he sets\n\nThe same look that she turned when he rose.\"\n\nHERO AND LEANDER\n\nLeander was a youth of Abydos, a town of the Asian side of the\nstrait which separates Asia and Europe. On the opposite shore, in\nthe town of Sestos, lived the maiden Hero, a priestess of Venus.\nLeander loved her, and used to swim the strait nightly to enjoy\nthe company of his mistress, guided by a torch which she reared\nupon the tower for the purpose. But one night a tempest arose and\nthe sea was rough; his strength failed, and he was drowned. The\nwaves bore his body to the European shore, where Hero became aware\nof his death, and in her despair cast herself down from the tower\ninto the sea and perished.\n\nThe following sonnet is by Keats:\n\n\"On A Picture Of Leander\n\n\"Come hither all sweet maidens soberly,\n\nDown looking aye, and with a chasten'd light\n\nHid in the fringes of your eyelids white,\n\nAnd meekly let your fair hands joined be\n\nAs if so gentle that ye could not see,\n\nUntouch'd, a victim of your beauty bright,\n\nSinking away to his young spirit's night,\n\nSinking bewilder'd'mid the dreary sea.\n\n'Tis young Leander toiling to his death\n\nNigh swooning he doth purse his weary lips\n\nFor Hero's cheek, and smiles against her smile\n\nO horrid dream! see how his body dips\n\nDead-heavy; arms and shoulders gleam awhile;\n\nHe's gone; up bubbles all his amorous breath!\"\n\nThe story of Leander's swimming the Hellespont was looked upon as\nfabulous, and the feat considered impossible, till Lord Byron\nproved its possibility by performing it himself. In the \"Bride of Abydos\" he says,\n\n\"These limbs that buoyant wave hath borne.\"\n\nThe distance in the narrowest part is almost a mile, and there is\na constant current setting out from the Sea of Marmora into the\nArchipelago. Since Byron's time the feat has been achieved by\nothers; but it yet remains a test of strength and skill in the art\nof swimming sufficient to give a wide and lasting celebrity to any\none of our readers who may dare to make the attempt and succeed in\naccomplishing it.\n\nIn the beginning of the second canto of the same poem, Byron thus\nalludes to this story:\n\n\"The winds are high on Helle's wave,\n\nAs on that night of stormiest water,\n\nWhen Love, who sent, forgot to save\n\nThe young, the beautiful, the brave,\n\nThe lonely hope of Sestos' daughter.\n\nO, when alone along the sky\n\nThe turret-torch was blazing high,\n\nThough rising gale and breaking foam,\n\nAnd shrieking sea-birds warned him home;\n\nAnd clouds aloft and tides below,\n\nWith signs and sounds forbade to go,\n\nHe could not see, he would not hear\n\nOr sound or sight foreboding fear.\n\nHis eye but saw that light of love,\n\nThe only star it hailed above;\n\nHis ear but rang with Hero's song,\n\n'Ye waves, divide not lovers long.'\n\nThat tale is old, but love anew\n\nMay nerve young hearts to prove as true.\"","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XIII","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2944}