Manual of Mythology - Greek, Roman, Norse, Hindu, German, & Egyptian

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(5) MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY..

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(9) :. MANUAL. MYTHOLOGY: GREEK AND ROMAN, NORSE,. AND OLD GERMAN, HINDOO AND EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY.. ALEXANDER. S.. '. MURRAY,. DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM.. ^rronft t!P&ttton, Hr=torittttt,. atiti. (JTonsrtrtraMy ©nlargrtr.. WITH FORTY- FIVE PLATES.. LONDON. ASHER AND 13,. CO.,. BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1874..

(10) Watson. &. Ha*ell, Printers.. London and Aylesbury..

(11) PREFACE.. The. rapid sale of the. Mythology. ". was so. that in preparing the for,. every. standard. effort. signal. added,. in. The. smaller. memorable. works of. art. represented.. Among. the. those of the labours greatly. enlarged.. The Manual. made. to render. now. is. called. efficient. it. as. made more. new. illustrations.. a. descriptions of the Greek deities. type, in. an. at the. end of each has. account. which each deity. legends. of. the. the most. of is. Greek. or. was. heroes,. of Herakles have been re-written and. The. chapters. on. the. Eastern. Northern Mythology are entirely new, and have been ther. of. an assurance of public favour,. have been largely re-written, and. been. of ". second edition, which. has been. text-book.. edition. first. and fur-. readily comprehensible by the addition of.

(12) PREFACE.. VI. With these. now. justify. class-book. Petiscus,. owes. Mythology.. to. as. to. the. splendid. On. the. contrary,. it. masters it. is. Manual. that the. trustworthy and. This much. Welcker.. been an assistance which. models. a. and. but this time as. .. hoped. Preller, less. AVelcker.. them,. for. is. to be. claim. its. it. no longer described. to -be. it. alterations,. it. may. will. complete. also. claim. :. founded on the works of. Not. that. researches. in- its. of. owes more. new form. Preller. than. whose works. and. ever to. have rather. a pride to acknowledge, than. copy with exactness..

(13) CONTENTS.. PAGE. Introduction. i. Greek and Roman Mythology The. —. Creation of the World. Deities of the Highest Order Inferior Deities. Demigods. or. 22 .. .. .. .. Heroes. .26. ...... .. Norse and Old German Mythology. .. Mythology and Religion of the Hindoos. .. .129. .. .. .. Mythology and Religion of Egypt Index. .. 309. —. ........ The Vedic Gods The Brahmanic Gods. 200. .. .. .. .. 328. -337 -341 353.

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(15) OF PLATES.. LIST. Amazon xxxiii., 268. Andromeda: xxxii., 216,. Demeter (Ceres). Aphrodite (Venus):. Diana of Ephesus. viii., ix.,. Dionysos. xxviii., 75, 83, 168.. Apollo. :. xi.,. 88. viii.,. xxviii.,. 75, 168.. :. 56.. xv., 115.. (Bacchus). xiv.,. :. Dioskuri xxxiii., 268. Eos (Aurora) xxvii., 167. :. :. Ariadne xvi., 120. Artemis (Diana) xiv.,. Erato. :. :. ASKLEPIOS. 109.. (AESCULAPIUS). :. Athene (Minerva). :. xi., xii.,. Erinys. xxix., 189.. :. Eros (Cupid). Euterpe Fenris. 88, 94.. :. xxviii.,. xxix.,. :. Freija. xxxii., 216.. Saraswati. See Demeter.. Chloris (Flora). :. Freyr Frigg. xlii.,337-. :. xxi.,. :. :. :. Hades.. 320.. See Tyche.. xxxvii., 314.. xxxix., 317.. xxxvi., 315.. Ganymedes 151.. xxiv., 159.. See Chloris.. Fortuna.. See Dionysos.. Bellerophon Brahma, with. :. xl.,. :. Flora.. See Eos.. Bacchus.. xv., 160.. :. 168, 189.. xxxi., 178.. Ceres.. vi.,. :. 109.. Ares (Mars):. Aurora.. See Eros.. Cupid.. :. :. xxviii., 168.. See Pluto..

(16) LIST OF PLATES.. :. Muses, Mother of. 88.. xi.,. :. Heph/estos (Vulcan). :. viii.,. 75, 121.. x.,. Hera. (Juno). 46, 50.. iv., v.,. :. Herakles (Hercules):. xxx.,. 200. :. x., xvii.,. Hestia (Vesta). Horê Hygiea. Hymen. Isis. Kamadeva. :. xxii., i.,. :. :. :. :. xxi., 151.. xxxi.,. vi.,. :. 56.. Proserpina. Psyche. xxiv., 159.. vi.,. :. Rhea. 339.. Satyr. 157.. i.,. :. ii.,. xix.,. :. Serapis. 29.. 29,. xlv.,. :. n.. 136.. 350.. 70.. Siren. xxxiv., 283.. Siva:. xliii.,. Sol.. See Helios.. See Leto.. Leto (Latona) xviii., Mars. See Ares. :. Meleager xxxiii., Melpomene: xxii., :. v.,. xxix.,. xxviii.,. :. :. 153.. xx., 149.. :. 339.. Terpsichore. 268.. Thalia Themis. 157.. Theseus. :. :. xxii.,. :. xviii., :. 50.. 56.. 189.. 158.. xliii.,. vii.,. 17S,. xxxii.,. Poseidon (Neptune). 132.. xxiii.,. :. 347.. Polyhymnia:. See Zeus.. Kalliope. Latona.. xliv.,. :. xix., 136.. :. Pluto. 350.. Jupiter.. Kronos Kuretes Laokoon. Pan. Frontispiece.. 216.. 329.. See Hera.. :. Osiris. Pegasos. xvii.,. :. :. Perseus:. xli.,. :. Juno.. Klio. 160, 178.. xxvi., 162.. Janus. :. xxxi., 178.. xlv.,. :. :. xxvi., 162.. :. :. 56.. vi.,. :. xxv., xxxi.,. :. :. Neptune. See Poseidon. Nike (Victoria) xxx., 200. Nile god xliv., 347. Niobe xiii., 100. Odin xxxv., 313. "OX.u/x7ro?.. 121, 132.. Iris. xxiii.,. :. 158.. :. Hermes (Mercury). Indra. See Athene.. Minerva.. :. Helios (Sol). See Hermes.. Mercury.. Hebe xxvi., 162. Hecate vii., 70.. xxv., 160.. 157. 153.. xxxiv., 283.. 168,.

(17) LIST OF PLATES.. Thor. :. xxxviii., 315..

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(19) INTRODUCTION.. THERE is. is. a charm. in". the. glory in every page. name. of ancient Greece. of her history. her climate. still,. her works of art. in. and a strange. there. ;. there. mountain, plain, or is. river,. There. not in. is. artists,. all. the land a. Pheidias, Praxiteles,. The names. tale.. Apelles, and Zeuxis. ;. and Demosthenes. Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Archimedes and Euclid, are. We. of her. ;. orators, Pericles. ;. of. of her. ;. Homer, Pindar, /Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus the names of her poets,. men and. We. our poets. ;. nor a fountain, grove, or wood, that. not hallowed by some legend or poetic. her. fas-. a spell in. is. attraction in her ruins.. arc familiar with the praises of her beautiful islands. sing of her lovely genial sky.. a. is. and a sense of un-. cination in the remains of her literature,. approachable beauty. ;. there. ;. states-. of her historians,. ;. of her mathematicians,. familiar to us as. household words.. look back over a period of more than two thousand years. with feelings of wonder at her achievements on the battle-field. and. We. in the arts of peace.. always confess to failure lation,. we. How. are. far. still. ;. emulate her in. many. and when we have no. ways, but. desire of. emu-. ready in most cases to admire.. we may. find just cause for admiration or the coni.

(20) ;. INTRODUCTION. trary with regard to her religion. ever. way. we. be,. it. the intense hold. it. shall at. For. remains to be seen. rate find. was calculated. it. was. it. vicissitudes of. trader entrusted. life. husbandman sowed. sciously. its. and property. mechanic traced the. their. growth. ;. his seed,. that the sailor. and. The. to the capricious sea.. and handicraft which grew uncon-. skill. upon him by. on. to exercise. in the firm belief of his interests being. the special care of a deity that the. and watched the. But which-. abundant evidence of. had upon the great mass of the people, and of. the important influence civilization.. any. practice to the direct influence of a god.. Artists ascribed the mysterious evolution of their ideas,. the inspiration of their song, to the. same superior. and poets Daily. cause.. bread and daily. life,. festal gatherings,. were duly acknowledged as coming from the. same high source.. the joy and gladness that circulated at. Everywhere. of august invisible beings. clouds. on the. ;. the earth, with that. man. rigid fate. wish. it. all his. deities. were,. it. He. its. plains. and. movements It. rivers.. was marked out. was indeed. and ;. on. seemed. for. alter,. him by a. should they. free to act, but the con-. actions were settled beforehand.. whom the affairs of the world were enwas believed, immortal, though not eternal. to. we. shall see. concerning their. a story of the. the presence. felt. and everything around him, was upheld by. in their existence, as. legends. peaks,. that his career. on occasion.. These. was. which even the gods could not. sequences of. trusted. its lofty. ;. in nature. in the sky, with its luminaries. sea, with its fickle, changeful. himself,. Divine power. :. birth.. when we come In. Crete. to read the. was even. there. death of Zeus, his tomb being pointed out. and, further, the fact that the gods were believed to sustain their existence. by means of nectar and ambrosia,. is. sufficient. proof of their being usually deemed subject to the infirmities.

(21) INTRODUCTION.. of age.. Being immortal, they were next, as a consequence,. supposed to be omnipotent and omniscient.. Their physical. strength was extraordinary, the earth shaking sometimes under their tread. Whatever they did was done speedily. They moved through space almost without the loss of a moment of time. They knew all things, saw and heard all things with rare exceptions. They were wise, and communicated their wisdom to men. They had a most strict sense of justice, punished. crime rigorously, and rewarded noble actions, though. it is. true. that they were less conspicuous for the latter.. Their punish-. ments came quickly, as a. even. the second generation,. who escaped. rule. still. ;. but even. if late,. they came without. retribution in this. life. was sure. if. The. fail.. to obtain. it. not. till. sinner in the. who died unrewarded enjoyed the fruit of their good actions in the next life. To many this did not appear a satisfactory way of managing human affairs, and lower world. ;. while the good. hence there frequently arose doubts as to the absolute justice of the gods, and even the sanctity of their. were reflected in. stories,. lives.. These doubts. which, to the indignation of. men. like. the poet Pindar, represented this or that one of the gods as guilty of. some offence or. punish.. Philosophers endeavoured. some. mere. as. other, such as they were believed to. explain these stories,. to. fictions of the brain, others as allegories. which lay a profound meaning.. under. But the mass of the people. accepted them as they came, and nevertheless believed in the perfect sanctity of the gods, being satisfied that. human. wicked-. ness was detested and punished by them.. Whether the gods were supposed kind, or only such as led. good. to love the. lives, is. whole of man-. not certain.. It. would. seem, however, from the universal practice of offering sacrifice. and expiation on the occasior of any wrong,. that they were be-.

(22) INTRODUCTION.. endowed with some deep. lieved to be. feeling of general love,. which even sinners could touch by means of atonement. all. They hated. events they were merciful.. among. individual men,. and would on such occasions. Satanic power of leading them into sin. written laws of right. and wrong. in the. and engagements were under. duties. At. excessive prosperity exercise a. They implanted unhuman breast. Social. their special care, as. were. also the legislative measures of states.. There were. tales of personal visits. and adventures of the gods. among men, taking part in battles, and appearing They were conceived to possess the form of human men, subject. to be, like. terized. to love. and. To produce. statues of. them. high ideal was the chief ambition of of statues in which such success. mind. an awe. felt. But while. this. examples of Pheidias,. it. art,. as. if. and. artists. had been. that could. be. that would equal this. and. ;. in. presence. attained, the popular. some way the. in. beings,. pain, but always charac-. by the highest qualities and grandest form. imagined.. dreams.. in. was the case with regard. deity were near.. the. to. renowned. such as the statue of Zeus at Olympia, by. was equally true with regard to those very ancient. rude figures of deities which were believed. from heaven,. to. and were on that account most. have. fallen. carefully pre-. served in temples, the removal or loss of such a figure being. considered. an. equivalent to the. deity. whose image. time,. owing. it. was.. to the vast. loss of. the favour of. This was idolatry.. number of. beautiful. the. At the same. and grand. statues. of gods, there gradually arose a feeling of the deification of man,. and a struggle. to become more and more like these beings of human form and divine presence. For it is one of the advantages of having gods possessed of human form that man-. nobler. kind can look up to them with the feeling of having something.

(23) INTRODUCTION.. in. common, and. 5. This was a. the assurance of pity and favour.. powerful element in the Greek religion, and led more than any other to the extraordinary piety of the Greek race, in spite of all. the It. awkward. stories. which we are accustomed to. would seem that the gods were not looked on,. ridicule.. at. any rate. Perhaps the mass of. popularly, as having created the world.. the people cared nothing for speculation as to the origin of. what actually. existed, their chief thoughts being concentrated. changes that took place in what existed and directly. in the. affected their interests.. In this. spirit. they looked on the gods. maintaining and preserving the existing order and. as only. system of things according to their divine wisdom.. was. that the. eternal. Greeks never arrived. Hence. who. management of. to polytheism. who presided the world.. may have been. in particular depart-. Their natural tendency. much. by the peculiar. further aggravated. circumstances of their early history as a race. gested with. in. occasionally exercised control or sove-. reignty over the other gods in the. it. one absolute. God, though they very nearly approached that idea. the case of Zeus,. ments. at the idea of. plausibility that a. number. It. has been sug-. of their deities, as. Dione, Hera, Gaea, and Demeter, resemble each other so. much. as to warrant the reasonableness of the conclusion that their. separate existence in the mythology was due to a coalescence at. some remote. early time of distinct tribes of the. Greek. race,. each possessing beforehand a god or gods of their own, with separate. names and. though. in the. and a common worship.. It is. slightly different attributes,. main capable of. identification. probable. consequence of such amalgamation, some of. that, in. the earliest gods have disappeared altogether. who. ;. while. others,. in after times, as in the case of Dione, held subordinate. positions,. may have. originally. been. deities of the first order..

(24) ;. INTRODUCTION.. At the time with which we nation inhabited the country. though. its. of the ancient race.. It. was spread. also in colonies over the. on the north. Sea, in the Crimea,. and on the south coast of France.. features the. its. of Greece,. and Mediterranean, along the coasts. Minor and the Black. coast of Africa,. of. known by the name. present population has small claim to be descendants. islands of the Archipelago. of Asia. Greek. are here concerned, the. still. In. many. mainland of Greece may be compared with. England, both having the same comparatively vast extent of sea coast, very few parts of the country being out of sight of the. Both are well supplied with mountains that invigorate the. sea.. and. climate,. be that. the sea, with. yond. its. desire of. In both cases. the spirit of adventure.. stir. it. may. proximity of the greater part of the population to. this. its. horizon tempting young minds to penetrate be-. ever-receding line, was the main cause of the general. commerce and. distant colonization.. At any. rate, the. natural features of Greece, her beautiful bays, the vivid lines of. her mountain peaks, her delightful groves and valleys,. deep impression on the people. ;. and. spread, retained the warmest recollection of. made. a. wherever they. colonists,. them. ;. of snow-clad. Olympos, where the gods lived; of the lovely vale of Tempe; of the smiling banks of the Peneios. of peaceful Arcadia, with. Olympia, with. its. its. ;. of the sacred grove at Delphi. pastoral. life. ;. of the broad plain of. innumerable temples, statues, and treasure-. houses of costly presents to the gods. ;. of Corinth, with. that ruled the sea; of Athens; of Thebes, with. del founded by. We. propose. belief of the. the. But. way for first. its. its flag. ancient cita-. Cadmus of Eleusis, and many other places. now to examine more particularly the religious ;. Greeks and Romans, with the view of preparing. the descriptions that follow of the gods individually.. of. all. let. us. explain. the. meaning of the word.

(25) INTRODUCTION.. According. "mythology." mythos, a. tale,. and. logos,. to. derivation from the Greek. its. an account,. it. would mean " an account to the origin,. of tales," the tales in this case being confined. and functions of the ancient gods,. character,. mankind, and the primitive condition of the understand these stories we must. try to. to the origin of. To. visible world.. understand the circum-. stances under which they were invented, and must endeavour. comprehend the condition and circumstances of a nation in For this purpose we can comthe early stage of its existence. to. pare the early tales relating to the gods of other nations, of the. Indian on the one hand and the. may. also. civilized. German on. compare the condition of races. From. state.. these sources. it. the other. at present in. and fancy. activity of imagination. portion as knowledge. is. least.. or. we. an un-. would seem that the. youth of a nation, like that of an individual,. which the. ;. is. is. the period at. greatest in pro-. The mystery of surrounding its phenomena on the senses.. nature strikes forcibly on the mind,. There. is. a feeling of alarm. warm. of gladness in the. when thunder. crashes on the ear,. light of day, of terror in the darkness. of night, and of a strange dread at the darkness of death.. accidents of daily. life. bind. men. The. together, and repel the rest of. human superiority soon know each other when as yet They know their own passions and in-. the animal creation, over which the. becomes known. they. know nothing. stincts.. palms,. Men else.. learn to. They measure everything by themselves, by feet, paces, and ells and when they seek to fathom or measure the ;. phenomena of nature they have no standard to hand, except themselves. They might, it is true,. cause of the. employ. at. imagine the cause of the thunder under the form of a great invisible lion but in that case they could not commune with and ;. implore the thunderer for. pity, as. they are. moved. to do.. He.

(26) INTRODUCTION.. must therefore be conceived as fashioned. like a. and. civilization advance,. higher.. It. those qualities. seems probable that the. first. man, endowed. As knowledge. with the highest imaginable qualities of a man.. become higher and. phenomena. that ap-. pealed to the mind were those of the change of weather, of seasons, the revolving. day and the revolving. year.. At any. rate,. we can trace them, appear to be those who presided over the movements of the celestial sphere. We seem to recognise the influence of such phenomena in the chief characteristics of mankind in a primitive stage of the earliest deities, as well as. existence fatality,. might. — the. sense of order and regularity, the feeling of. the conviction that whatever temporary disturbances. arise, the. course of. coming with bright. light,. human. life. obeyed some fixed law,. and departing. in darkness, but only to. commence another day of happy life that the name of the highest god of the "light of the world," in a. elsewhere.. literal sense.. In time, as the per-. ceptive faculties expanded, and the wants of. the other. phenomena of the world became. and were,. The is,. We know. ancients signified the. men. multiplied,. the subject of inquiry,. as usual, ascribed to the direct influence of deities.. singular part however, of this process of inventing deities. that having,. at. the. commencement, obtained one. powerful god, they did not simply extend his functions to. great all. the. departments of nature, instead of finding a new god to preside over each.. It. may be. that the apparent conflict frequently. observed between the elements of nature was hostile to such an idea, while. on the contrary nothing was more readily imaginable. than a quarrel among different gods as the cause of such pheno-. mena. ments,. By. a similar process the combination of different ele-. as, for. example, warmth and moisture, was appropriately. described from the. human. point of view as a prolific union or.

(27) —. INTRODUCTION.. marriage of two brother and. The sun and moon were. deities.. sister.. Another opinion, somewhat primitive stage of. god. — such. all. a belief,. became, they. in the existence of. explaining the. On the. religions is. it. use of his arms and belief. said,. at variance with this, is. being as natural to. But. legs.. this earliest. say, in course of time. many. — speak. of nature as. surrounded by a crowd of lesser various. phenomena of. notion of one god did. opposed till. we have. to the other. nature. arise,. and. we know. ;. It it. who. spirits,. while. of. the. Spirit is. represent the. was of the one true God as. false gods,. thinking. in. would seem that when the and. this. did not take place. a high stage of civilization was reached.. of Greece, no doubt,. method of. described.. American Indians the Great. primitive religion of the. as the. debased into a belief. hosts of divine beings. of. man. and pure form of. gods, originating in such a. phenomena. that the. is,. a universal belief in one great. the other hand, the oldest religious records. Vedas. called. In the best times. men acknowledged. but one. supreme being, and looked on the crowd of other gods as merely his servants, and in no sense really different from our idea of angels.. In due time the religion of the ancients became a polytheism. on a very extensive scale earth, every. phase of. ;. every phase of nature, sky, sea, and. human. life, its. habits, accidents,. pulses, being provided with a special guardian. In. deity.. all. the varying circumstances of. one or other of these divine persons Temples, sanctuaries,. altars,. life. and. men. and im-. controlling-. turned to. in gratitude or for help.. were erected to them everywhere,. one being worshipped with special favour here, and another there at. ;. one with special favour. another season.. Many. at. one season of the. of them were only. year, another. known and wor-.

(28) INTRODUCTION.. IO. shipped. in particular localities. as, for instance,. ;. among people connected. with the sea.. particular periods of the. national. marine deities. Others belonged to. history.. This limitation,. however, with regard to local differences, applies only to the vast number of minor deities whose names and attributes have come down to our times for a belief in the superior order of ;. gods was the. common. property of the whole nation, whether. learned or unlearned, and of whatever occupation. teries of Eleusis united the. national festivals united. Zeus. at. them. in. ;. the. honour of other gods, as of. Every one believed. Olympia.. The mys-. people in honour of Demeter. in the oracular. power. of Apollo, in the might of Poseidon, in the grim character of. Hades, that Hera was the wife of Zeus, that Athene was his daughter, that Aphrodite was the goddess of love, Artemis of the. moon, and Ares the god of war.. It. was believed that these higher. living. deities inhabited. Olympos,. together in a social state which was but a magnified. reflection of the social. system on earth.. Quarrels, love passages,. mutual assistance, and such incidents as characterize human life,. were ascribed to them.. that these. human. attributes,. It. must however be borne. and the. stories. in. mind. connected with them,. whether they represent admirable qualities or the reverse, were not in the. make. first. their. instance ascribed to the gods out of a desire to. resemblance to. man more. complete, but were the. natural result of identifying the gods with the elements of nature. over which they were supposed to preside, of conceiving and representing the combination or conflict of elements visible in. nature as the result of the combination or conflict of invisible. beings of. human. form.. In later times of higher civilization and. when the origin of phenomena was lost. greater refinement,. the gods as personifica-. tions of natural. sight of,. many. of these.

(29) INTRODUCTION.. stories. came. to. be viewed as disgraceful, and by being made. the subject of public ridicule in plays tended largely to uproot the general faith in the gods. Philosophers attempted to explain. them. way. Others,. as allegories.. who. did not themselves see then-. to believing them, yet advised that the popular faith in. But we who. should not be disturbed.. no need of a. and the source of its long and deep at them in a calmer. on a great nation, may look. influence. mood.. and de-. religion that has long since passed away,. siring only to trace its origin. them. live in other times, having. It is. our part to admire as. condemn without. first. and not. far as possible,. to. taking into account every extenuating. circumstance.. Turning now. the gods, fices.. and ceremonies by which the Greeks and entire dependence on. to the rites. and Romans expressed. we would. their belief in. call attention first to. and wine. ;. the other of animals, which were led. decked with garlands and ribbons, slain,. and part of the. smell of. it. flesh. after. being supposed to. rise. be spotless and. health)', that the. ceremony should be cleanly costliness could. The. make. fruits,. cakes,. to the altar. various ceremonies fire,. the. agreeably to the gods.. It. consumed upon the. was necessary that the animals selected. gods.. the offering of sacri-. These were of two kinds, one consisting of. for this. altar. purpose should. persons participating in the. in person. and. in. mind. ;. for. no. the offering of a sinner acceptable to the. colour, age,. and sex of the animal were determined to the deity for whom it was. by the feeling of appropriateness slain.. The. time chosen for the ceremony was the morning in. the case of the gods of heaven, the evening in the case of the. To. gods of the lower world. always offered entire, as. it. these latter deities the victim was. was not deemed possible that they. could share in a feast in company with men.. The. fire. on the. altar.

(30) ;. INTRODUCTION.. was considered. holy,. and special care was taken. be fed with wood that gave a pure flame.. that. it. should. In early times. would seem that even human beings were offered as. it. sacrifices to. certain gods, the victims in such cases being occasionally, to. judge from the instance of Iphigenia, closely connected by. blood and affection with the person required to make the. But these were, perhaps, mostly cases. in. which the. ties. of. sacrifice.. will of the. gods was specially communicated through a seer or prophet whereas. was a spontaneous. sacrifice generally. the gods,. gift to. either for the purpose of expressing gratitude for the blessings. bestowed by them, or of atoning person sacrificing was conscious. intermittently offered,. and. at. mere. in.. some. sin of. when. which the. were not presented. when occasion. pleasure, but regularly. as at harvest time,. gardens were gathered. for. Sacrifices. the fruits of the fields. The herdsman. and. sacrificed the firstlings. of his flock, the merchant gave part of his gain, and the soldier. a share of his booty in war.. The gods. to. whom. and worldly blessings were due expected such. prosperity. all. offerings,. it. was. thought, and punished every instance of neglect.. There was, however, another a different motive,. and with a. class of sacrifices, springing. view. different object in. ;. from. for ex-. ample, to obtain by means of an examination of the entrails of. an animal an augury as to the issue of some enterprise,. commence-. of sacrifice which was held of great importance at the. ment. of a battle. ;. or to sanctify the ratification of a treaty, or. some important bargain between man and man purification for. some. perished together.. In this. crime.. that the victim took the sin. How. —a form. upon. Hence no. its. last. own. case. it. or to obtain. ;. was supposed. head, and that both. part of such victims. was eaten.. the gods were supposed to partake of the. sacrifices allotted to. them. is. not always. clear,. though. share of. in the case.

(31) INTRODUCTION.. of burnt offerings they. may be imagined. with the smell that rose in the with the aroma of the wine.. honour of the. 13. air,. and. to. With regard. deities of the lower world,. the belief that the blood of the victim,. the ground, would. down. sink. if. it. satisfied. to the sacrifices in. seems. to. have been. poured into a hole. in. and be acceptably. them,. to. have been. in the case of libations. In the same hole, or near by, were buried the ashes. received. that. remained on the. The. portions assigned to marine or river deities were sunk in. altar. on which the victim was consumed.. deep water. was the duty of the. It. up the. offering. The. were.. sacrifices. taining the sacrificial knife,. and. to pass. altar. from. it,. perform the ceremony. of. brought to the gods in whose service they. part of the. first. priests to. ceremony was. some. corn,. to take a basket con-. and perhaps. also flowers,. along with a vessel containing water, round the. The water was next purified by dipping it. Thereupon the people who had. left to right.. a brand from the altar in. brought the. sacrifice sprinkled. themselves and the. altar,. taking a handful of corn from the basket, scattered. head of the victim as. it. approached.. The. it. and. on the. priest then, after. shearing a lock of hair from the head of the animal,. and. distri-. among the bystanders to be thrown on the altar fire, commanded silence, prayed that the offering might be acceptbuting. it. able to the god,. and slew the. victim.. The. blood, except in the. case of the deities of the lower world, as has been observed,. and the. entrails,. placed upon the. The. strong. consciousness of rise also to. on. all. were mixed with wheat, wine, and incense, and fire.. feelings guilt,. of piety,. which gave. gratitude, rise to. dependence,. or. such offerings, gave. a universal habit of prayer, and a desire to frequent. possible occasions the temples. and. altars of the ôds..

(32) INTRODUCTION.. 14. Morning and evening,. beginning of meals, at the. the. at. opening of business in the courts of justice and public assema prayer was offered up,. blies,. no. or, if. for the. now. to. particular deity appeared to. one god, now. Greek prayers, which we must not omit. to mention, that after calling. added. clause was. on a deity by. to save the suppliant. prayer in yEschylus it. lift. " Zeus, whoever thou. :. please thee to be named,. I call. art,. and by what-. on thee and pray.". was the custom of the Greeks. it. the hands and turn the face towards the east. Romans,. to turn towards the north.. gods stretched out. his. A. hands towards the. a prayer was offered up. in a. suppliant would. image,. it,. and a suppliant. sea,. temple the rule was to. branch, or a rod with wool. carry an olive. its. Pythagoras, the. feet.. taught his followers to pray with a loud voice to. have been customary.. happened not unfrequently tablets, sealed. his hands.. throw himself on the ground before the sacred. and embrace. do not appear. of the. In cases of great distress the. turn towards the sacred image.. twined round. ;. suppliant of the sea. of the gods of the lower world beat the earth with. When. ;. On. that the prayers. philosopher,. but loud prayers the contrary,. Here. and deposited beside the image of the god,. usual form. :. is. that. us,. even. if. in. a specimen of what seems to have been the. " Zeus, our lord, give unto us whatever. whether we ask. it. were written on. no human being might be aware of the request contained them.. a. dis-. ;. In praying to the gods above to. name. name employed for how could man name of a god ? We have an example of such a. the true. name. his usual. from any possible. pleasure of the deity at the. ever. There was. time and occasion, to the gods generally.. this peculiarity in the. know. to another,. be an appropriate guardian. it. we ask. of thee or not it. of thee.". ;. whatever. is evil. keep. is. good,. far. from.

(33) 5. INTRODUCTION. Besides sacrifice and prayer there. ceremonies,. Greeks. :. is. still. another class of. which we recognise the deep piety of the. in. first,. 1. the custom of consulting oracles, especially that. of Apollo at Delphi, in times of great perplexity the universal. practice,. in. cases. of. emergency, of trying to interpret the. less. or. will of the. ;. and secondly,. more. sudden. gods by means. of augury or divination in a vast variety of ways.. Sometimes. the augury was taken from the direction in which birds were. observed to. fly. overhead.. If to the right of the augur,. who. stood with his face to the north, good luck would attend the enterprise. in. question. times an animal was. ;. if. slain,. to. the. and. its. the reverse.. At other. entrails carefully. examined,. left,. the propitiousness of the gods being supposed to. depend on. healthy and normal condition of these parts.. But the gods. were also believed to communicate their. will to. men. in. the. dreams,. by sending thunder and lightning, comets, meteors,, eclipses, earthquakes, prodigies in nature, and the thousands of unex-. pected incidents that occur to men.. As few persons were. to interpret the bearing of these signs. employment. for a large class of. able. and wonders, there was. people who made. this. their. particular business. Finally,. we must not. forget to. mention as a proof of the wide-. spread religious feeling of the Greeks the national. festivals,. games, as they are called, established and maintained of certain gods. it. was necessary. between separate. While these to. festivals. or. honour. were being celebrated. suspend whatever war might be going on. states,. and. to permit visitors to pass. lested even through hostile territory. in. in. These. festivals. unmo-. were four. number the Olympian, Pythian, Nemcan, and Isthmian. The first-mentioned was held in honour of Zeus, on the plain :. of Olympia, in.Elis.. It. occurred every. fifth. year,. and the usual.

(34) 6. INTRODUCTION.. 1. method of reckoning time was according to its re-occurrence, The games with which it was celeas we say.. by Olympiads,. brated consisted of running, wrestling, boxing, a combination of the two latter, horse-racing, either with chariots or only with. The. riders.. was simply a wreath of. prize of victory. yet athletes trained themselves laboriously. distances to compete for. Kings sent. it.. and. and. olive,. travelled great. their horses to run in. and counted a victory among the highest honours of The fellow-townsmen of a victorious athlete would lives.. the races, their. raise a statue in his honour.. Occasionally writers, as. we. are. told of Herodotus, took this occasion of a vast assemblage of. countrymen. their. to read to. them. The. part of their writings.. Pythian games were held in honour of Apollo, in the neighbour-. hood of Delphi, and occurred every music as well as. petitions in. wreath of. in. fifth. year, there being. athletics.. The. prize. com-. was a. At the Nemean games, which were held. laurel.. honour of Zeus, the prize was a wreath of. games were held. ivy.. in. The Isthmian. honour of Poseidon, on the Isthmus of. in. Corinth, and occurred every third year. ;. the prize was a wreath. of pine. It. is. remarkable and surprising. that,. with. all. the. piety. and religious ceremonies of the ancients, there existed among them no established means of. instruction for the. mass of the. people, as to the character and functions of the gods. whose duty up. it. sacrifices,. whose. was. and. whom. There was, indeed, a regular priesthood,. they worshipped.. to. to. conduct the public ceremonies, to. perform other. service they were.. offices peculiar to the. offer. god. in. But there their duties ceased. These. ceremonies had been handed down from time immemorial,. and. that. make. was perhaps. sufficient. guarantee of their importance to. the ordinary Greek assiduous in his observance of them..

(35) INTRODUCTION.. I7. At any. rate,. explicit. knowledge of the character of the gods derived from. assiduity. this. not traceable to. is. In regard. public instruction.. influence of poets like. to. due. existed was unquestionably. Homer and. The. the. whatever unanimity instance to the. first. Hesiod, and in the second,. connected with the oracle at. to the exertion of the persons. Delphi.. that,. in. a clear and. effect of this state. of things was a great amount. of confusion in the popular mind, and not only in the popular. mind, but also in the minds of. men like. Socrates,. who. confessed. he did not know whether there was one Aphrodite or two, and. wondered why Zeus, who was believed. many names. The preceding. remarks,. it. to. be one god, had so. should be here observed, apply for. the most part only to the mythology of the Greeks, and. extend to that of the Romans, except so. most primitive. class of myths,. origin of the world. logies of those races,. the. it is. true,. human. and. such as those concerning the. For the practice of identifying the mythoin fact.. family,. and from belief.. that source derived a. But before. this kernel. two nations parted, and formed. isolation, that followed, the. Europe.. common. had developed. for themselves distinct. In the long period of. common seed. of religious belief with. which both started grew up, was propagated under quite ent circumstances,. —. in. and assumed a very. different aspect.. differ-. The. the early period of their history a pastoral, agri-. cultural, simple, of. Both. belonged to one and the same great branch of. isolated settlements in. Romans. do not. they refer to the. two nations has no foundation. kernel of religious far the. far as. and more or. less. united people. — had no need. a various multitude of deities, such as the Greeks found ne.. cessary, scattered. and separated as they were. into a variety of. tribes with a variety of occupations. 2.

(36) INTRODUCTION.. From. among. this,. other causes,. happens that many, even. it. of the very early Greek myths, were quite foreign to the. To. conflict. between Uranos and. his sons. Romans.. myths that describe the. this class belong, for instance, the. Kronos devouring. :. his. children to escape, as he thought, being dethroned by them,. and Zeus placing. No. his father,. Kronos,. less strictly peculiar to the. in. quarrels. among. ment of. certain gods to a period of service. we may add. durance in Tartaros.. Greeks were those accounts of. the gods, wounds,. and occasionally the banishon. earth.. To. these. the carrying off of Persephone by Pluto,. With regard. several other stories.. to the. and. ceremonies which. accompanied the worship of certain gods, we observe the same great difference between the two nations,. and would. cite as. an. example the wild unrestrained conduct of those who took part in the festivals of Dionysos,. remarking that when. in later times. of luxury a festival of this kind was introduced into Italy in. honour of Bacchus, the nysos or Bakchos, the. Roman new. equivalent for the Greek Dio-. was forbidden, and those. festival. who took part in it were viewed as persons of unbridled desires. Nor did Mercury ever obtain the wide-spread worship and honour paid to Hermes in Greece and even Saturnus, in ;. spite of the. Roman. poets,. was a very. different. god from the. Greek Kronos.. At. the time. when. the. Roman. poets began to write, " Greece. captured was leading her captor captive.". was the usual means of education art,. — everything. pertaining. to. the Greek than their. poems. own language. Greek. literature. Greek philosophy, Greek. the Greeks,. principal pursuit of educated men.. ing their. ;. — constituted. the. Many would rather employ in writing.. often in close imitation of. Poets, construct-. Greek models,. re-. placed the names of gods that occurred in the Greek originals.

(37) INTRODUCTION.. by names of native. and. acter,. told a. failing such,. the. some. deities possessing. similarity of char-. Greek story of a native. employed the Greek name. same time no. and forms of worship remained. god. Italian. most part. for the. known than. distinct. known than. upon the. of. latter,. Romans. of the this. confusion. a. modern notions of Greek mythology. the. confusion. by the. which. century, only. last. we. side of the. was more early and. It. the literature of Greece, and instead. were founded on the statements of the arose. from. the facts relating to their. ceremonies and forms of worship. familiarly. At. In modern times, however,. the literature (especially the poetry) of the ancient familiarly. or,. The Roman ceremonies. the Greek, and peculiar to the race.. was more. ;. a Latin form.. in. coalescence of the two. real adaptation or. systems ever took place.. religious. IQ. our. own. Roman. Hence. poets.. those. especially. poets,. made worse confounded.. To meet. Roman. equivalent. shall give the accredited. Greek gods, throughout our descriptions, and. point out as far as possible the differences between them.. Thus. far. our observations have been confined to the mytho-. logy and religious ceremonies of the Greeks and pecially of the. We. former.. have had. Romans, because, though equal perhaps piety. and. deficient. invent. trust in the gods, they. in. some. to the. even. every. As, however, if. very. brief,. attention here to the fact,. human. races. es-. of the. Greeks in their. now. phenomenon of. it is. our intention. it. may be. well to. clearly ascertained, that. common family or which he Greeks and Romans belonged, and. are. stock to. say. of the mythology of. the Indian and Teutonic or Germanic races,. these. Romans,. appear to have been very. divine personification for. nature that struck the mind.. call. to. of imagination which could readily. that quality. to include a description,. little. sprung from the same.

(38) INTRODUCTION.. that at least certain ideas concerning the origin. common. condition of the world are. From. all.. this. at previous to the separation of this great. were arrived. Germanic. family, as. is. it. traces of a. From common early. elements of nature within these limits. men. the. light. and darkness,. same. find. actions. it. the dawn of we meet with. at. and. feeling. in. to heat. the stormy. invisible,. find that everywhere,. and. phenomena. cold, to rain. — and the. life. no. case,. when we. form, but. To. sea,. loftier at-. to con-. should be borne in mind, was any. conveyed.. by which the. find the natural process. Hermes. described as. the cattle (clouds) of Apollo,. tations. we. gies of the. to. were ascribed, such as were sug-. immorality intended to be. idea of criminality which. to. these beings. clouds pour out their rain upon the earth, and are again. from the. —. and drought,. phenomena which they were supposed it. among. of nature,. same readiness and power. human. cause of these phenomena.. of morality or. instance,. We. obeyed.. of space and time, there existed. and habits of. gested by the. It. Indo-. development into. belief that the wild features of the. sensitiveness to the. tributes, as the. For. its. whom, though. still. storms and peacefulness,-. ;. we. as. of imagining invisible beings of. trol. them. bad been produced by some long past convulsive conof Titanic beings,. flict. and. the Ganges to Iceland. historical times.. earth. called,. and isolated nations,. distinct. to the mythologies of. reasonable to conclude that these ideas. is. it. and primitive. it. (the. we cannot. god of. filled. rain) stealing. attach to the story the. at first suggests.. Similar interpre-. must be prepared to seek throughout the mytholoIndo-Germanic. may now be. races.. asked, from what source. rived of the mythology of the ancients. ?. is this. To. this. knowledge de-. we. reply,. from. the works of ancient writers, poets, historians, philosophers, and.

(39) INTRODUCTION.. whom. others, to. the religious belief of their countrymen was a. subject of great importance, and whose writings have survived to. our times. ;. in the. second place, from the representations of gods. and mythological scenes on the immense number of ancient works of. art that. still exist,. whether in the form of statues. marble and bronze, painted vases, engraved gems, or. in. coins.. These are the sources of our knowledge, and without becoming. more or. less familiar. stand fully the to. spirit. with them. perhaps impossible to under-. it is. of these ancient myths. be able to appreciate at. its. real. works, whether in literature or in. ;. and. contrariwise,. worth the beauty of ancient. art, it is. necessary to become. acquainted with the mythology and the religious. guided their authors. ;. and. if. that. be not. sufficient. to follow our descriptions of the various deities. spirit. which. temptation. and heroes of. —. we can still appeal to this, that a great part of our grandest modern poetry and works of art can only be intelligible to those who know the ancient mythology. Drawing near, as we are now, to the details of our subject, we become anxious to guard against all feelings of impropriety in what we may have occasionally to relate. We would, there-. ancient times,. fore. remind the reader of the principle of interpretation which. we have endeavoured. to explain in the preceding pages.. We. would also repeat that we have here to do with a system of religious belief which,. may have. whatever. its. apparent or real shortcomings. been, exercised enormous influence on the education. of at least two of the most civilized nations of the earth..

(40) THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.. of the origin of the world in which they lived, the IN thinking Greeks for the most part, would appear, were satisfied it. with^ the explanation given. by the poet Hesiod,. — that. in the. beginning the world was a great shapeless mass or chaos, out of. which was fashioned. first. the broad-chested earth,. Nyx,. From. night.. Eros. the spirit of love,. Gaea. ;. then. a union of the two latter sprang ./Ether,. the clear sky, and. Hemera,. power by which. was fashioned, produced. it. day.. The. the firmament which covered her with. poets called. the mountains, and Eros, the oldest. began. to. together,. these. and. Pontos, at the. agitate the earth. and making. pairs. its. by virtue of the. earth,. in turn,. Uranos,. vault of brass, as the. appearance of eternal duration,. to describe its. it,. (Cupid), and. darkness, and. Erebos,. Thereupon. the unfruitful sea.. same time the youngest of the gods,. and. all. it,. bringing them. First in. importance of. things. pairs of them.. on. were Uranos and Gaea, heaven and. earth,. who. peopled the earth with a host of beings, Titans, Giants, and Kyklopes, of races. far greater physical. who succeeded them.. frame and energy than the. It is a beautiful idea, that. making order out of chaos, bringing opposite elements. of love. together,. and preparing a world to receive mankind. Another apparently older and certainly obscure notion, that expressed to. Okeanos,. by Homer, which ascribes the the ocean.. How. the earth. is. origin of the world. and heavens sprang.

(41) THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.. 23. from him, or whether they were conceived as co-existing with. him from the beginning, we stories,. of. men. rivets. are not told.. The numerous. ancient. however, concerning floods, after which new generations. sprang up, and the fact that the innumerable. and. streams of the earth were believed to. ocean, as they were seen to return to. it,. and. fertilizing. come from. the. that all the river. gods were accounted the offspring of Okeanos, suggest the prevalence of such a form of belief with regard to the origin of the. world. Hesiod.. in times previous to. We. are told that the ocean. encircled the earth with a great stream,. wonders of. Tethys. ;. kinds. all. that. Okeanos. and was a region of. lived there, with his wife. that there were the islands of the blest, the gardens. of the gods, the sources of the nectar and ambrosia on which. Within. the gods lived.. this circle of water the earth lay. out like a disc with mountains rising from. heaven appearing. to rest. on. its. outer edge was supposed to be. might not rush. in. outer edge. spread. and the vault of. it,. all. round.. This. slightly raised, so that the water. and overflow the land.. The space between. the surface of the earth and the heavens was seen to be occu-. pied by. air. and. be pure ether,. clouds,. in. and above the clouds was supposed. which the sun, moon, and. stars. moved.. to. The. sun rising in the eastern sky in the morning, traversing the celestial arch. west,. during the day, and sinking at evening in the. was thought to be under the guidance of a god. drawn by four splendid. horses.. in a chariot. After sinking into Okeanos,. it. was supposed that he took ship and sailed during the night round to the. east, so as to. In the region of order of gods; and. air. be ready. new moved. to begin a. above the clouds. day.. the higher. when, for the sake of council or intercourse. they met together, the meeting place was the summit of one of those lofty mountains whose heads were hid in the clouds, but.

(42) THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.. 24. chief of. the inaccessible. all,. highest point of. which he (Iliad. i.. sat in. it. Olympos. Round. in Thessaly.. was the palace of Zeus, with the throne on. majesty to receive such. visits as. those of Thetis. 498) when she came to plead for her son.. or in ravines lower. the. down were. -On plateaus. the mansions of the other gods,. provided, as was thought, with the convenience of store-rooms, stabling,. The. and. deities. all. that. who. was usual. not,. it is. houses of princes on earth.. thus inhabited Olympos,. were styled the Olympian. do. in the. true,. always find. this. and. were twelve. deities,. for that. in. reason. number.. number composed. of the. We same. may be taken as having been the most Zeus (Jupiter), Hera (Juno), Poseidon (Neptune), Demeter (Ceres), Apollo, Artemis (Diana), Hephaeslos (Vulcan), PallasjÂthene (Minerva), 0eres (Mars), Aphrogods, but the following usual. :. dite. (Venus),. Though. Hermes. and worshipped. (Mercury),. and Hestia (Vesta).. each other by various degrees of relationship,. allied to. in. many. places at altars dedicated to. them. as. a united body, they did not always act together in harmony, a most memorable instance of their discord being that (Iliad viii.. 13-27) in which Zeus threatened to hurl the others into Tar-. taros,. and challenged them. down. themselves might.. Should they try. up with earth and sea top of Olympos, and of it. Olympos. claim to the. mountains. move him from Olympos by letting. it,. he. said,. all. their. he could easily draw them. to the bargain, fasten the chain to the. let. the whole hang in. mid. air.. The name. was not confined to theThessalian mountain, though. may have had. cipal,. to. with a golden chain and pulling with. the earliest, as in after times title,. it. had the. prin-. but was applied to no less than fourteen. in various parts of the. Greek world, each of which. appears to have been regarded as an occasional meeting place, if. not a permanent seat of the gods.. Finally, the. word was.

(43) ;. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.. 25. used to designate a region above the visible sky, from which, to express. height,. its. it. was said. that. nine days and nine nights before. it. once a brazen anvil. fell. At. reached the earth.. an equal distance beneath the surface of the earth was Tartaros, a vast gloomy space walled in with brass, where the Titans lived in banishment.. The lower. order of deities, having naturally no place. Olympos, were restricted to the exercised their powers. —. as, for. localities. in. on earth where they. Naiads, or Nymphs. instance, the. of fountains, to the neighbourhood of fountains and springs the. Oreads,. or mountain. and the Dryads,. or. Nymphs,. Nymphs. to the. mountains and. of trees, to trees.. hills. With regard. ;. to. the place of residence of the heroes or semi-divine beings after their translation. from. of opinion, of which. earth, there existed considerable variety. we. shall afterwards. have occasion. Representations of the deities assembled in occasion. by Pheidias for the sculptures the. in. figures. British. renders. selected,. or. it. in. a particular. Museum.. impossible to. at. the. now who were. say. whether he even adhered other. have taken place. moon. the. rides. break of day.. at the. This was the subject chosen. one of the pediments of the Parthenon The loss, however, of many of the. At one end of the pediment the sun sea,. for. — as at the birth of Athene from the head of her father Zeus — occur. not unfrequently on the Greek painted vases.. now. Olympos. to speak.. to the usual rises. away.. in. his. The. The same. the. deities. number. he. of twelve.. chariot. from the. event must therefore fact. in the scene at the birth of Aphrodite, in presence of the. is. to. be observed. assembled. deities,. with which Pheidias adorned the base of his statue of Zeus at Olympia, and. we have still the description in Pausanias (v. 403). At one end was the Sun stepping into his chariot, next to him Zeus and Hera, then Hephaestos (?) and Charis, then Hermes and Hestia. In the centre was Eros receiving Aphrodite as she rises from the sea, and Peitho crowning Aphrodite then Apollo and Artemis, next Athene and Herakles, then Poseidon and Amphitrite, and lastly the Moon (Selene) riding away. The of which. ;. deities are thus. grouped. in pairs of. male and female, those of greater im-. portance being towards either end of the composition..

(44) THE HIGHEST ORDER.. DEITIES OF. URANOS. IS a personification stood. its. of the sky as the ancients saw and under-. phenomena, and with him, according. to the ver-. sion of mythology usually accepted by the Greeks, commences. Next succeeded Kronos, and lastly, Zeus. this triple succession of supreme rulers of the. the race of gods.. With regard world,. to. we should. notice the different and progressive significa-. Uranos. tion of their three names, as. husband of the. ducing. life. the light of heaven, as his. the universe.. fruit. Gaea. Uranos, (the. name. who. it. ;. also. Kronos, his ripened and. implies, culminated the organi-. just dispensation of the affairs of. we have already observed, was a. as. earth),. viewed. warmth and moisture pro-. while in the person of Zeus, god of. ;. and perfectly wise and. son of. signifying the heavens his. being the god of harvest,. matured every form of. zation. and by. and vegetation everywhere on. life. successor,. earth,. whom. he afterwards married, the. of that union being the Titans, the Hekatoncheires,. and the Kyklopes.. The Hekatoncheires,. or. hundred hands, were three. beings. Centimani, in. number. :. Gyes, and Briareus, and represented. each with. Kottos, Gyges. a or. the frightful crashing.

(45) UkANOS.. of waves and. its. 27. resemblance to the convulsion of earthquakes.. The Kyklopes also were three in number: Brontes with his thunder, Steropes with his lightning, and Arges with his stream of light. They were represented as having only one eye,. which was placed. It was,. between nose and brow.. at the juncture. however, a large flashing eye, as became beings. were personifications of the storm-cloud, with destructive lightning. flashes of. its. From. and peals of thunder.. who. a similarity. observed between the phenomena of storms and those of volcanic eruptions,. it. was usually supposed that the Kyklopes. lived in the heart of burning mountains,. above. Etna, in Sicily, where they acted as apprentices (Vulcan), assisting in other works.. him. make. to. Uranos,. it. was. at their birth. alarmed. at their. promise. Hekatoncheires and. womb. back into the. Mount. in. Zeus, and. thunderbolts for. said,. of fierceness and strength, had cast the. Kyklopes. all,. of Hephaestos. of the earth from. which they had sprung.. The Titans were, and grouped. for the. like the. Olympian deities, twelve. most part in. pairs. in. number,. Okeanos and Tethys,. :. Hyperion and Theia, Kreios and Eurybia, Koios and Phoebe, Kronosand Rhea, Japetos and Themis. Instead of Euiybia we find frequently. though not. Mnemosyne.. in every case quite intelligible,. personifications of those primary elements. Their names,. show. that they were. and forces of nature. to the operations of which, in the first ages, the present con-. figuration of the earth. was supposed. Mnemosyne, and Japetos may be. to. While Themis,. be due.. singled out as personifications. of a civilizing force in the nature of things, and as conspicuous for. having offspring. endowed with. the. same. other Titans appear to represent wild, powerful, forces.. In keeping with. this. character. we. character,. and. find. the. obstructive. them. rising.

(46) —. THE HIGHEST ORDER.. DEITIES OF. 28. in rebellion. first. and afterwards against. against their father. Zeus.. In the former experiment the result was that. Uranos,. Tartaros, where he kept. But Gaea,. them bound.. as. them. learn from the poetic account of the myth, threw. we. into. his wife,. grieving at the hard fate of her offspring, provided the youngest son,. Kronos,. made wound. with a sickle or curved knife, which she had. of stubborn adamant, and told. him how and when. his father with. The. irremediably.. it. Titans were set. free,. married their. to. enterprise succeeded, the. sisters,. and begat a numer-. ous family of divine beings, while others of the same class sprang from the blood of the ground.. Of. of serpents. these were the the. ;. wound. of Uranos as. Melian nymphs,. or. nymphs. legs. or Furiae, as the. Megaera, and Alekto,. Romans. called them,. it. nally to avenge the shedding of a parent's blood.. They were a. terror to criminals,. relenting fury.. whom. ;. and the. Tisiphone,. — creatures whose function. was that of women, with hair of snakes and. formed. of the oaks,. from which the shafts used in war were fashioned. Erinys,. to the. it fell. Giants, monsters with. was. origi-. Their form. girdles of vipers.. they pursued with un-. The whole of these divine beings, however, with Erinys, who were worshipped at Athens. the exception of the. under the name of the "venerable. deities,". were excluded from. the religion of the Greeks, and had a place only in the mythology, while. times,. among. the. Romans. they were. and even then were only introduced. unknown. till. later. as poetic fictions,. with no hold upon the religious belief of the people..

(47) Kronos.. Rhea..

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(49) KRONOS.. 29. K R O N O (plate '. The. ,. I.,). we have already. ripener, the harvest god,' was, as. U ran os.. marked, a son of to. S. be identified with the. That he continued. Roman. which recent research has. Saturnus,. deity,. set right,. for a is. re-. long time a mistake. and accordingly we. shall. Uranos, deposed from by Kronos, who daughter of Gaea, who bore. devote a separate chapter to each. the. throne. married his. of the gods, was. own. sister. succeeded. Rhea,. a. him Pluto, Poseidon (Neptune), and Zeus (Vesta),. Demeter. and. (Ceres),. Hera. (Jupiter),. Hestia. To. prevent. (Juno).. the fulfilment of a prophecy which had been communicated to. him by. his parents, that, like his father,. throned by his youngest born, children apparently as each. Kronos. came. he too would be de-. swallowed his. into the world.. first five. But when. the sixth child appeared, Rhea, his wife, determined to save. and succeeded (perhaps rudely. in. it,. duping her husband by giving him a stone. hewn. into the figure of. an. infant). wrapped. in. swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, believing he had got rid of. another danger.. While the husband was being deceived. in this fashion,. Zeus,. the newly-born child, was conveyed to the island of Crete, there concealed in a cave rastea. on Mount Ida.. and. The nymphs Ad-. and Ida tended and nursed him, the goat Amalthea. supplied. him with. milk, bees gathered. honey. for him,. and. in. the meantime, lest his infantile cries should reach the ears of. Kronos, Rhea's. servants, the. Kuretes, were appointed. keep up a continual noise and din. in the. dancing and clashing their swords and. to. neighbourhood by. shields..

(50) ;. DEITIES OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.. 30. When. Zeus had grown to manhood he succeeded by the aid. Gaea,. of. yield. Metis,. or perhaps of. back into the. light the sons. the stone which had been given. in persuading. whom. him. gods joined. their. to. The stone was The liberated. in deceit.. placed at Delphi as a memorial for. Kronos. he had swallowed and. all. time.. brethren in a league to drive their father. from the throne and. set. Zeus in. This was done. his place.. but the change of government, though acquiesced in by the principal deities, was not to. the exception of. was Thessaly, with flict. in. be brooked by the Titans, who with. Okeanos proceeded its. The. to war.. combat.. The. party of Zeus had. years, all the. bear being useless. had been thrown. position on. its. Olympos, the Titans on Mount Othrys.. many. war. which huge rocks had been torn from mountain sides. and shattered by the violence with which they in. seat of. wild natural features suggestive of a con-. The. Mount. struggle lasted. might which the Olympians could bring to. until,. on the advice of Gaea, Zeus. Kyklopes and Hekatoncheires, of. whom. set free the. the former fashioned. thunderbolts for him, while the latter advanced on his side with force equal to the shock of an earthquake.. down. to lowest Tartaros as. The. earth trembled. Zeus now appeared with. weapons and new allies. Old Chaos thought. his. his terrible. hour had come,. as from a continuous blaze of thunderbolts the earth took. and the waters seethed slain or. in. the sea.. consumed, and partly hurled. rocks and. hills reeling after. beneath the surface of the. rebels were partly. into. deep chasms, with. them, and consigning them to a earth.. fire. The. The cause. life. of Kronos was. thus lost for ever, and the right of Zeus to rule established for all. time.. The island of Crete, where civilization appears to have dawned earlier than elsewhere in Greece, and where the story.

(51) SATURNUS.. 31. was made the most. of the secret up-bringing of Zeus. and. in Attica, as well as in several. was. less as the. grim god. of,. was. Here, however,. the principal centre of the worship of Kronos.. other districts of Greece,. who had devoured. it. his children that. he was worshipped than as the maturer and ripener, the god of harvest,. So. ness.. who sends. happened. it. blessings, prosperity. and glad-. that his festivals in Greece, the. Kronia,. and. riches. and the corresponding Saturnalia in Italy, were of that class which imposed no restraint on the mirth and pleasures of those reminiscence of an age when under. present,. and seemed. the rule. of Kronos there had been a perpetual harvest time on. As. earth.. like a. the devourer of his children. Kronos bears some resem-. blance to the Phoenician Moloch, and this. phase of his character originated. fluence of Phoenician settlers It is also to. times.. it is. had been. be noted that. highly probable that. in Crete, felt. where the. in-. from very remote. his wife. Rhea enjoyed a. very early and wide-spread worship in Asia Minor.. The. scene where. husband as he. Rhea. on. sits. presents the stone carefully. his throne,. was the. Plataeae by Praxiteles (Pausanias the relief. now. in. ix.. 2,. 7),. may have been made which. the. Capitoline. wrapped up. to her. subject of a sculpture executed for. is. from which. it. is. possible that. represented in Plate. The. Museum, Rome.. thoughtful. I,. and. attitude. is. o.. and especially the veiled head, seem to indicate a plotting left hand is emblematical of his function as god of harvest, and at the same time a memorial of the deed he wrought upon his father Uranos. The war with the Titans (Titanomachia) Kronos,. mind, while the sickle in his. was superseded. popular estimation as early as the time of Euripides by. in. the Gigantomachia, or war of Giants, which will be described in connection. with Zeus.. Artists following the popular taste neglected the former alto-. gether as a source of subjects.. SATURNUS, According first. to. Romans, made his when Janus was reigning. the popular belief of the. appearance. in Italy at a. time.

(52) DEITIES OF. 32. king of the. region that stretches along the banks of the. fertile. Tiber on either. THE HIGHEST ORDER.. Presenting himself to Janus, and being. side.. kindly received, he proceeded to instruct the subjects of the latter. quite. in. gardening,. agriculture,. unknown. them. to. :. as,. and how. nurse the vine,. By such means he. for. and many other example,. how. to. tend and cultivate. to. at length raised the. and comparatively barbarous condition. arts. then. train. and. fruit-trees.. people from a rude to. one of order and. peaceful occupations, in consequence of which he was every-. where held in high esteem, and. by Janus. in course of time. was selected. him the government of the kingdom,. to share with. which thereupon assumed the name of Saturnia, of seed and in later. The period. fruit.'. a land. of Saturn's government was. times sung of by poets as a happy time when sorrows. and cares of. life. were unknown, when innocence, freedom,. and gladness reigned throughout the as to deserve the also has. reign. '. title. golden age,. its. Kronos, and. of. land,. said this,. to. such a degree. in. Greek mythology. of the golden age.. have occurred during the. perhaps,. more than any other. circumstance, led to the identification of Saturnus and Kronos, in spite of the real difference. between the two. name of Saturn's wife was Ops. Once a year, in the month of December, a festival called. the. in his honour.. The. Romans. held. It. kinds.. During those days the ordinary distinctions were. done away with between master and servant or assemblies were held to discuss public. ments. lasted from. seven days, and was accompanied by amusements of. five to all. Saturnalia. deities.. for. dressed presents.. crime were. like. inflicted.. their masters,. affairs,. slave.. No. and no punish-. Servants or slaves went about. and received from them. costly. Children received from their parents or relatives.

(53) II.. Rhea.. Zeus, or Jupiter..

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(55) RHEA.. 33. presents of pictures, probably of a gaudy type, purchased in the street where the picture dealers lived.. There was a temple of Saturn Capitoline. Hill,. in. Rome,. at the foot of the. of him. a figure. containing. with. his. feet. wrapped round with pieces of woollen cloth, which could only be removed during the. festival. of the. been the. to teach the people. first. In. this. one. as a sign of his having. hand he held a curved garden-knife,. olive.. In. Saturnalia.. how. to trim the vine. and. temple were preserved the state chest and the. standards of the army.. RHEA. (PLATES. As Uranos,. AND. I.. II.). the representative of the fertilizing force in nature,. was superseded by Kronos the representative of a ripening force,. so Gaea, the primitive goddess of the earth with. way. productive plains gave. mountains and. with. its. the. powerful. to Rhea, a. Gaea had been Rhea was the mother. forests.. Titans.. given to feats of strength,. its. goddess of the earth the mother of. of gods. but more highly gifted. :. less. Pluto,. Poseidon, and Zeus, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Her titles— as for example, Dindumene and Berekuntia. —. were derived in. for the. most part from the names of mountains. Asia Minor, particularly those of Phrygia and Lydia, her. worship. having been. intimately associated. civilization of these countries.. or. Kybebe, which. also,. from. There her its. with. the. early. name was Kybele. being employed to designate. her sanctuaries (Kybela) in caves or mountain sides, points to her character as a. mountain goddess. 3.

(56) DEITIES OF. 34. The. lofty. THE HIGHEST ORDER.. of Asia Minor, while sheltering on their. hills. cavernous sides wild animals, such as the panther and. which. was her delight to tame,. it. many. which. flourishing cities. also. was her duty. it. lion,. looked down on In. to protect.. this latter capacity. she wore a mural crown, and was styled. Mater. But though herself identified with peaceful. turrita.. worship was always distinguished by wild and. civilization, her. and devotees rushing through. fantastic excitement, her priests. the. woods. wounding each sible. with. night. at. other,. and producing. all. from the clashing of cymbals, the. and the. frantic voice of song.. of her. worship,. To. the din that was posshrill. notes of pipes,. account for this peculiarity. which must have. memorate some great sorrow, the. maiming and. burning,. torches. been intended. story. to. had loved the young Phrygian shepherd, Attis, whose ordinary beauty had also of Pessinus. how. how he was. ;. won. com-. was told of how she extra-. the heart of the king's daughter. destined to marry the princess, and. the goddess, suddenly appearing, spread terror and con-. sternation. mountains,. which. among the marriage guests. Attis escaped to maimed himself, and died beside a pine tree,. his. violets like. soul. transmigrated,. while from his blood sprang. The goddess implored This could not be. But so much was. a wreath round the. Zeus to restore her. lover.. the into. tree.. granted that his body should never decay, that his hair should. always grow, and that his. The. spring and. The. first. its. finger should. always move.. hopeful beauty.. priests. Korybantes, for the. little. pine was a symbol of winter and sadness, the violet of. first. of. whom. Rhea-Kybele were the Kuretes and. it. beings of mere. appeared on the. earth,. was also claimed that they had been. human form and. capacity that had. having sprung from the mountain side.

(57) III.. Zeus, or Jupiter..

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(59) ZEUS OR JUPITER.. The. like trees.. 35. great centre of her worship was always at. Pessinus in Phrygia, under the shadow of. Mount Dindymon,. on which was a cave containing what was believed oldest of her sanctuaries.. Within. this. be the. to. sanctuary was the tomb. of Attis, and an ancient image of the goddess in the shape of a. which was said to have. stone,. Midas. it. The. from heaven.. fallen. temple at Pessinus had been erected,. it. was. said,. first. by King. Successive rulers of Phrygia maintained and endowed. so liberally that. it. continued to be a place of importance. Spreading from. long after Phrygian civilization had sunk. centre, the worship of. Kybele took hold. in the. first. this. neigh-. bouring towns of Sardis, Magnesia, Smyrna, Ephesus, Lampsakos,. the. and Kyzikos. mountainous. thence to Athens, and in later times to. ;. where. of Arcadia,. district. believed that Zeus had been born. and. was locally. it. that the creation of. man-. kind had taken place. In Plate I.. II.. Rhea. is. represented as Mater turrita, or turrigera.. she appears as the goddess of mountain tops, riding on a. ing a sceptre in one hand and a cymbal in the other. moon and a. star.. At other times she. is. ;. lion,. In Plate. and hold-. beside her the. seated on a throne with a lion in. her lap, or with a lion at each side, or in a chariot drawn by lions or panthers.. ZEUS. or JUPITER.. (PLATES. Third and The fertile. last. AND. III.). on the throne of the highest god. sat. Zeus.. we have seen, P it a later Thessaly.. imagination of early times had, as. placed his abode on. and more. II.. Mount Olympos. in. practical age usually conceived. region above the sky, where the source of. him. as inhabiting a. all light. was supposed.

(60) DEITIES OF. 36. He was god of the. to be.. had control of ingly. light. of day, as his. name. and accord-. the heavens,. made. the burst of a thunderstorm. all,. his presence. mankind.. as a supernatural being interested in the affairs of. felt. implies,. sudden changes of weather, the gathering of clouds, and,. more than. Hence such '. broad. phenomena of. the. all. THE HIGHEST ORDER.. thunderer,'. titles. and. as 'cloud-gatherer,' '. '. god of the murky. cloud,'. mighty thunderer,' were those by which he. On. was most frequently invoked.. the other hand, the serenity. and boundless extent of the sky over which he. ruled,. combined. with the never-failing recurrence of day, led him to be regarded as an everlasting. To or. god. ' :. Zeus who was and. is. and. indicate this feature of his character he was styled. Kronion, a. father Kronos,. which, though apparently derived from his. title. must have assumed even. special significance. shall be.'. Kronides. ;. otherwise. at a very early time a. we should expect. to find. it. applied also to his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades.. The. eagle soaring. beyond. vision. seemed. by. to benefit. its. approach to Zeus, and came to be looked on as sacred to him. Similarly high. mountain peaks derived a sanctity from. nearness to the region of. light,. and were everywhere. in. their. Greece. many which he was locally known as, title derived from Mount yEtna in. of. a mountain in Rhodes.. him and even temples were. associated with his worship,. —. erected on. hill. Altars to. tops, to reach. them furnishing. for instance, Sicily, or. which by long. titles. by. Aetnaeos, a. Atabyrios, from. toiling,. and then. to. see the earth spread out small beneath, was perhaps the best. preparation for approaching him in a proper trast. with. this,. and. Zeus Kronides lived not only roots of the earth. Dodona. in. spirit.. as testimony to the saying of. and. in. in the. In con-. Hesiod. that. pure air but also at the. men, we find the low ground of. Epiros viewed with peculiar solemnity as a spot.

(61) ZEUS OR JUPITER.. 37. A wind. where direct communion was to be enjoyed with him.. was heard. to rustle in the. branches of a sacred oak when the. god had any communication. to. make, the task of interpreting. A. devolving on a priesthood called Selli. foot of the oak,. and sacred pigeons rested among. story being that. they had. powers of the importance of. It. tree.. first. drawn attention. leaves, the. its. to the oracular. should here be noted that the real. worship of Zeus at. this. it. spring rose at the. Dodona belonged. to ex-. ceedingly early times, and that in the primitive religion of the Italian,. German, and Celtic nations the oak was regarded with. similar reverence.. As. and throughout Greece worshipped as. the highest god,. such, he. was styled the father of gods and men, the. preserver of the world.. He. was believed. ruler. and. to be possessed of. every form of power, endued with wisdom, and in his dominion. over the. human. goodness and. race partial to justice, and with no limit to his. succeed at his command, the winds obey. night, the seasons. him,. now he. gentle rain. Zeus orders the alternation of day and. love.. gathers,. fall. now. scatters the clouds,. to fertilize the fields. and bids the. and meadows.. He. over the administration of law and justice in the. watches. state,. lends. majesty to kings, and protects them in the exercise of their sovereignty.. He. observes attentively the general intercourse. and dealings of men uprightness,. — everywhere. faithfulness,. truth,. demanding and rewarding. and. kindness. everywhere. ;. punishing wrong, falseness, faithlessness, and cruelty. eternal father of. men, he was believed to be kindly. of the. and most forsaken.. poorest. As the. at the call. The homeless beggar. looked to him as a merciful guardian who punished the heartless,. and delighted. his rule. to. reward pity and sympathy.. on earth we would here give a. To. familiar story.. illustrate.

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