{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XVI/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XVI","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XVI","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_XVI","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"XVI. MONSTERS: GIANTS, SPHINX, PEGASUS AND CHIMAERA, CENTAURS, GRIFFIN, AND PYGMIES\n\nMonsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural\nproportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing\nimmense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury\nand annoyance of men. Some of them were supposed to combine the\nmembers of different animals; such were the Sphinx and Chim\u00e6ra;\nand to these all the terrible qualities of wild beasts were\nattributed, together with human sagacity and faculties. Others, as\nthe giants, differed from men chiefly in their size; and in this\nparticular we must recognize a wide distinction among them. The\nhuman giants, if so they may be called, such as the Cyclopes,\nAnt\u00e6us, Orion, and others, must be supposed not to be altogether\ndisproportioned to human beings, for they mingled in love and\nstrife with them. But the superhuman giants, who warred with the\ngods, were of vastly larger dimensions. Tityus, we are told, when\nstretched on the plain, covered nine acres, and Enceladus required\nthe whole of Mount \u00c6tna to be laid upon him to keep him down.\n\nWe have already spoken of the war which the giants waged against\nthe gods, and of its result. While this war lasted the giants\nproved a formidable enemy. Some of them, like Briareus, had a\nhundred arms; others, like Typhon, breathed out fire. At one time\nthey put the gods to such fear that they fled into Egypt and hid\nthemselves under various forms. Jupiter took the form of a ram,\nwhence he was afterwards worshipped in Egypt as the god Ammon,\nwith curved horns. Apollo became a crow, Bacchus a goat, Diana a\ncat, Juno a cow, Venus a fish, Mercury a bird. At another time the\ngiants attempted to climb up into heaven, and for that purpose\ntook up the mountain Ossa and piled it on Pelion. They were at last subdued by\nthunderbolts, which Minerva invented, and taught Vulcan and his\nCyclopes to make for Jupiter.\n\nTHE SPHINX\n\nLaius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that there was\ndanger to his throne and life if his new-born son should be\nsuffered to grow up. He therefore committed the child to the care\nof a herdsman with orders to destroy him; but the herdsman, moved\nwith pity, yet not daring entirely to disobey, tied up the child\nby the feet and left him hanging to the branch of a tree. In this\ncondition the infant was found by a peasant, who carried him to\nhis master and mistress, by whom he was adopted and called\n\u0152dipus, or Swollen-foot.\n\nMany years afterwards Laius being on his way to Delphi,\naccompanied only by one attendant, met in a narrow road a young\nman also driving in a chariot. On his refusal to leave the way at\ntheir command the attendant killed one of his horses, and the\nstranger, filled with rage, slew both Laius and his attendant. The\nyoung man was \u0152dipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of\nhis own father.\n\nShortly after this event the city of Thebes was afflicted with a\nmonster which infested the highroad. It was called the Sphinx. It\nhad the body of a lion and the upper part of a woman. It lay\ncrouched on the top of a rock, and arrested all travellers who\ncame that way proposing to them a riddle, with the condition that\nthose who could solve it should pass safe, but those who failed\nshould be killed. Not one had yet succeeded in solving it, and all\nhad been slain. \u0152dipus was not daunted by these alarming\naccounts, but boldly advanced to the trial. The Sphinx asked him,\n\"What animal is that which in the morning gees on four feet, at\nnoon on two, and in the evening upon three?\" \u0152dipus replied,\n\"Man, who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks\nerect, and in old age with the aid of a staff.\" The Sphinx was so\nmortified at the solving of her riddle that she cast herself down\nfrom the rock and perished.\n\nThe gratitude of the people for their deliverance was so great\nthat they made \u0152dipus their king, giving him in marriage their\nqueen Jocasta. \u0152dipus, ignorant of his parentage, had already\nbecome the slayer of his father; in marrying the queen he became\nthe husband of his mother. These horrors remained undiscovered,\ntill at length Thebes was afflicted with famine and pestilence,\nand the oracle being consulted, the double crime of \u0152dipus came\nto light. Jocasta put an end to her own life, and \u0152dipus, seized\nwith madness, tore out his eyes and wandered away from Thebes,\ndreaded and abandoned by all except his daughters, who faithfully\nadhered to him, till after a tedious period of miserable wandering\nhe found the termination of his wretched life.\n\nPEGASUS AND THE CHIMAERA\n\nWhen Perseus cut off Medusa's head, the blood sinking into the\nearth produced the winged horse Pegasus. Minerva caught him and\ntamed him and presented him to the Muses. The fountain Hippocrene,\non the Muses' mountain Helicon, was opened by a kick from his\nhoof.\n\nThe Chim\u00e6ra was a fearful monster, breathing fire. The fore part\nof its body was a compound of the lion and the goat, and the hind\npart a dragon's. It made great havoc in Lycia, so that the king,\nIobates, sought for some hero to destroy it. At that time there\narrived at his court a gallant young warrior, whose name was\nBellerophon. He brought letters from Pr\u0153tus, the son-in-law of\nIobates, recommending Bellerophon in the warmest terms as an\nunconquerable hero, but added at the close a request to his\nfather-in-law to put him to death. The reason was that Pr\u0153tus was\njealous of him, suspecting that his wife Antea looked with too\nmuch admiration on the young warrior. From this instance of\nBellerophon being unconsciously the bearer of his own death\nwarrant, the expression \"Bellerophontic letters\" arose, to\ndescribe any species of communication which a person is made the\nbearer of, containing matter prejudicial to himself.\n\nIobates, on perusing the letters, was puzzled what to do, not\nwilling to violate the claims of hospitality, yet wishing to\noblige his son-in-law. A lucky thought occurred to him, to send\nBellerophon to combat with the Chim\u00e6ra. Bellerophon accepted the\nproposal, but before proceeding to the combat consulted the\nsoothsayer Polyidus, who advised him to procure if possible the\nhorse Pegasus for the conflict. For this purpose he directed him\nto pass the night in the temple of Minerva. He did so, and as he\nslept Minerva came to him and gave him a golden bridle. When he\nawoke the bridle remained in his hand. Minerva also showed him\nPegasus drinking at the well of Pirene, and at sight of the bridle\nthe winged steed came willingly and suffered himself to be taken.\nBellerophon mounted him, rose with him into the air, soon found\nthe Chim\u00e6ra, and gained an easy victory over the monster.\n\nAfter the conquest of the Chim\u00e6ra Bellerophon was exposed to\nfurther trials and labors by his unfriendly host, but by the aid\nof Pegasus he triumphed in them all, till at length Iobates,\nseeing that the hero was a special favorite of the gods, gave him\nhis daughter in marriage and made him his successor on the throne.\nAt last Bellerophon by his pride and presumption drew upon himself\nthe anger of the gods; it is said he even attempted to fly up into\nheaven on his winged steed, but Jupiter sent a gadfly which stung\nPegasus and made him throw his rider, who became lame and blind in\nconsequence. After this Bellerophon wandered lonely through the\nAleian field, avoiding the paths of men, and died miserably.\n\n\u00a0\n\nMilton alludes to Bellerophon in the beginning of the seventh book of \"Paradise Lost\":\n\n\"Descend from Heaven, Urania, by that name\n\nIf rightly thou art called, whose voice divine\n\nFollowing above the Olympian hill I soar,\n\nAbove the flight of Pegasean wing\n\nUpled by thee,\n\nInto the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,\n\nAn earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air\n\n(Thy tempering); with like safety guided down\n\nReturn me to my native element;\n\nLest from this flying steed unreined (as once\n\nBellerophon, though from a lower sphere),\n\nDismounted on the Aleian field I fall,\n\nErroneous there to wander and forlorn.\"\n\nYoung, in his \"Night Thoughts,\" speaking of the sceptic, says:\n\n\"He whose blind thought futurity denies,\n\nUnconscious bears, Bellerophon, like thee\n\nHis own indictment, he condemns himself.\n\nWho reads his bosom reads immortal life,\n\nOr nature there, imposing on her sons,\n\nHas written fables; man was made a lie.\"\n\nVol. II, p 12\n\nPegasus, being the horse of the Muses, has always been at the\nservice of the poets. Schiller tells a pretty story of his having\nbeen sold by a needy poet and put to the cart and the plough. He\nwas not fit for such service, and his clownish master could make\nnothing of him But a youth stepped forth and asked leave to try\nhim As soon as he was seated on his back the horse, which had\nappeared at first vicious, and afterwards spirit-broken, rose\nkingly, a spirit, a god, unfolded the splendor of his wings, and\nsoared towards heaven. Our own poet Longfellow also records an\nadventure of this famous steed in his \"Pegasus in Pound.\"\n\n\u00a0\n\nShakspeare alludes to Pegasus in \"Henry IV.,\" where Vernon\ndescribes Prince Henry:\n\n\"I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,\n\nHis cuishes on his thighs, gallantly armed,\n\nRise from the ground like feathered Mercury,\n\nAnd vaulted with such ease into his seat,\n\nAs if an angel dropped down from the clouds,\n\nTo turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,\n\nAnd witch the world with noble horsemanship\"\n\nTHE CENTAURS\n\n\u00a0\n\nThese monsters were represented as men from the head to the loins,\nwhile the remainder of the body was that of a horse. The ancients\nwere too fond of a horse to consider the union of his nature with\nman's as forming a very degraded compound, and accordingly the\nCentaur is the only one of the fancied monsters of antiquity to\nwhich any good traits are assigned. The Centaurs were admitted to\nthe companionship of man, and at the marriage of Pirithous with\nHippodamia they were among the guests. At the feast Eurytion, one\nof the Centaurs, becoming intoxicated with the wine, attempted to\noffer violence to the bride; the other Centaurs followed his\nexample, and a dreadful conflict arose in which several of them\nwere slain. This is the celebrated battle of the Lapith\u00e6 and\nCentaurs, a favorite subject with the sculptors and poets of\nantiquity.\n\nBut not all the Centaurs were like the rude guests of Pirithous.\nChiron was instructed by Apollo and Diana, and was renowned for\nhis skill in hunting, medicine, music, and the art of prophecy.\nThe most distinguished heroes of Grecian story were his pupils.\nAmong the rest the infant\u2014\u00c6sculapius was intrusted to his charge\nby Apollo, his father. When the sage returned to his home bearing\nthe infant, his daughter Ocyroe came forth to meet him, and at\nsight of the child burst forth into a prophetic strain (for she\nwas a prophetess), foretelling the glory that he was to achieve\nAesculapius when grown up became a renowned physician, and even in\none instance succeeded in restoring the dead to life. Pluto\nresented this, and Jupiter, at his request, struck the bold\nphysician with lightning, and killed him, but after his death\nreceived him into the number of the gods.\n\nChiron was the wisest and justest of all the Centaurs, and at his\ndeath Jupiter placed him among the stars as the constellation\nSagittarius.\n\nTHE PYGMIES\n\n\u00a0\n\nThe Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a Greek word\nwhich means the cubit or measure of about thirteen inches, which\nwas said to be the height of these people. They lived near the\nsources of the Nile, or according to others, in India. Homer tells\nus that the cranes used to migrate every winter to the Pygmies'\ncountry, and their appearance was the signal of bloody warfare to\nthe puny inhabitants, who had to take up arms to defend their\ncornfields against the rapacious strangers. The Pygmies and their\nenemies the Cranes form the subject of several works of art.\n\nLater writers tell of an army of Pygmies which finding Hercules\nasleep made preparations to attack him, as if they were about to\nattack a city. But the hero, awaking, laughed at the little\nwarriors, wrapped some of them up in his lion's skin, and carried\nthem to Eurystheus.\n\nMilton uses the Pygmies for a simile, \"Paradise Lost,\" Book I.:\n\n\"... like that Pygm\u00e6an race\n\nBeyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves\n\nWhose midnight revels by a forest side,\n\nOr fountain, some belated peasant sees\n\n(Or dreams he sees), while overhead the moon\n\nSits arbitress, and nearer to the earth\n\nWheels her pale course; they on their mirth and dance\n\nIntent, with jocund music charm his ear.\n\nAt once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.\"\n\nTHE GRIFFIN, OR GRYPHON\n\n\u00a0\n\nThe Griffin is a monster with the body of a lion, the head and\nwings of an eagle, and back covered with feathers. Like birds it\nbuilds its nest, and instead of an egg lays an agate therein. It\nhas long claws and talons of such a size that the people of that\ncountry make them into drinking-cups. India was assigned as the\nnative country of the Griffins. They found gold in the mountains\nand built their nests of it, for which reason their nests were\nvery tempting to the hunters, and they were forced to keep\nvigilant guard over them. Their instinct led them to know where\nburied treasures lay, and they did their best to keep plunderers\nat a distance. The Arimaspians, among whom the Griffins\nflourished, were a one-eyed people of Scythia.\n\n\u00a0\n\nMilton borrows a simile from the Griffins, \"Paradise Lost,\" Book\nII,:\n\n\"As when a Gryphon through the wilderness,\n\nWith winged course, o'er hill and moory dale,\n\nPursues the Arimaspian who by stealth\n\nHath from his wakeful custody purloined\n\nHis guarded gold,\" etc.","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XVI","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2370}