and at the marriage of Pirithous with Hippodamia, they were among the guests. At the
feast, Eurytion, one of the Centaurs, becoming intoxicated with the wine, attempted to
offer violence to the bride; the other Centaurs followed his example, and a dreadful
conflict arose in which several of them were slain. This is the celebrated battle of the
Lapithae and Centaurs, a favorite subject with the sculptors and poets of antiquity.
But not all the Centaurs were like the rude guests of Pirithous. Chiron was
instructed by Apollo and Diana, and was renowned for his skill in hunting, medicine,
music, and the art of prophecy. The most distinguished heroes of Grecian story were his
pupils. Among the rest the infant Aesculapius was intrusted to his charge, by Apollo, his
father. When the sage returned to his home bearing the infant, his daughter Ocyroe
came forth to meet him, and at sight of the child burst forth into a prophetic strain, (for
she was a prophetess,) foretelling the glory that he was to achieve. Aesculapius when
grown up became a renowned physician, and even in one instance succeeded in
restoring the dead to life. Pluto resented this, and Jupiter, at his request, struck the bold
physician with lightning, and killed him, but after his death received him into the number
of the gods.
Chiron was the wisest and justest of all the Centaurs, and at his death Jupiter
placed him among the stars as the constellation Sagittarius.
The Pygmies.
The Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a Greek word which means
the cubit or measure of about thirteen inches, which was said to be the height of these
people. They lived near the sources of the Nile, or according to others, in India. Homer
tells us that the cranes used to migrate every winter to the Pygmies' country, and their
appearance was the signal of bloody warfare to the puny inhabitants, who had to take up
arms to defend their cornfields against the rapacious strangers. The Pygmies and their
enemies the Cranes form the subject of several works of art.
Later writers tell of an army of Pygmies which finding Hercules asleep made
preparations to attack him, as if they were about to attack a city. But the hero awaking
laughed at the little warriors, wrapped some of them up in his lion's-skin, and carried
them to Eurystheus.
Milton uses the Pygmies for a simile, P. L. Book I.: -
" - like that Pygmaean race
Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves
Whose midnight revels by a forest side,
Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
(Or dreams he sees,) while overhead the moon
Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
Wheels her pale course; they on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund music charm his ear.
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds."
The Griffin, Or Gryphon.
The Griffin is a monster with the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle,
and back covered with feathers. Like birds it builds its nest, and instead of an egg lays
an agate therein. It has long claws and talons of such a size that the people of that
country make them into drinking-cups. India was assigned as the native country of the
Griffins. They found gold in the mountains and built their nests of it, for which reason
their nests were very tempting to the hunters and they were forced to keep vigilant guard
over them. Their instinct led them to know where buried treasures lay, and they did their
best to keep plunderers at a distance. The Arimaspians, among whom the Griffins
flourished, were a one-eyed people of Scythia.
Milton borrows a simile from the Griffins, P. L. Book II.: -
"As when a Gryphon through the wilderness,
With winged course, o'er hill and moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian who by stealth
Hath from his wakeful custody purloined
His guarded gold," &c.
Chapter XVII: The Golden Fleece - Medea
The Golden Fleece.
In very ancient times there lived in Thessaly a king and queen named Athamas
and Nephele. They had two children, a boy and a girl. After a time Athamas grew
indifferent to his wife, put her away, and took another. Nephele suspected danger to
her children from the influence of the step- mother, and took measures to send them
out of her reach. Mercury assisted her, and gave her a ram, with a golden fleece, on
which she set the two children, trusting that the ram would convey them to a place of
safety. The ram vaulted into the air with the children on his back, taking his course to
the East, till when crossing the strait that divides Europe and Asia, the girl, whose
name was Helle, fell from his back into the sea, which from her was called the
Hellespont, - now the Dardanelles. The ram continued his career till he reached the
kingdom of Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, where he safely landed the
boy Phryxus, who was hospitably received by Aeetes, the king of the country. Phryxus
sacrificed the ram to Jupiter, and gave the golden fleece to Aeetes, who placed it in a
consecrated grove, under the care of a sleepless dragon.
There was another kingdom in Thessaly near to that of Athamas, and ruled over
by a relative of his. The king Aeson, being tired of the cares of government,
surrendered his crown to his brother Pelias, on condition that he should hold it only
during the minority of Jason, the son of Aeson. When Jason was grown up and came
to demand the crown from his uncle, Pelias pretended to be willing to yield it, but at the
same time suggested to the young man the glorious adventure of going in quest of the
golden fleece, which it was well known was in the kingdom of Colchis, and was, as
Pelias pretended, the rightful property of their family. Jason was pleased with the
thought, and forthwith made preparations for the expedition. At that time the only
species of navigation known to the Greeks consisted of small boats or canoes
hollowed out from trunks of trees, so that when Jason employed Argus to build him a
vessel capable of containing fifty men, it was considered a gigantic undertaking. It was
accomplished, however, and the vessel named Argo, from the name of the builder.
Jason sent his invitation to all the adventurous young men of Greece, and soon found
himself at the head of a band of bold youths, many of whom afterwards were
renowned among the heroes and demigods of Greece. Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus,
and Nestor were among them. They are called the Argonauts, from the name of their
vessel.
The Argo with her crew of heroes left the shores of Thessaly and having touched
at the Island of Lemnos, thence crossed to Mysia and thence to Thrace. Here they
found the sage Phineus, and from him received instruction as to their future course. It
seems the entrance of the Euxine Sea was impeded by two small rocky islands, which
floated on the surface, and in their tossings and heavings occasionally came together,
crushing and grinding to atoms any object that might be caught between them. They
were called the Symplegades, or Clashing Islands. Phineus instructed the Argonauts
how to pass this dangerous strait. When they reached the islands they let go a dove,
which took her way between the rocks, and passed in safety, only losing some
feathers of her tail. Jason and his men seized the favorable moment of the rebound,
plied their oars with vigor, and passed safe through, though the islands closed behind
them, and actually grazed their stern. They now rowed along the shore till they arrived
at the eastern end of the sea, and landed at the kingdom of Colchis.
Jason made known his message to the Colchian king, Aeetes, who consented to
give up the golden fleece if Jason would yoke to the plough two fire- breathing bulls
with brazen feet, and sow the teeth of the dragon, which Cadmus had slain, and from
which it was well known that a crop of armed men would spring up, who would turn
their weapons against their producer. Jason accepted the conditions, and a time was
set for making the experiment. Previously, however, he found means to plead his
cause to Medea, daughter of the king. He promised her marriage, and as they stood
before the altar of Hecate, called the goddess to witness his oath. Medea yielded -
and by her aid, for she was a potent sorceress, he was furnished with a charm, by
which he could encounter safely the breath of the fire-breathing bulls and the weapons
of the armed men.
At the time appointed, the people assembled at the grove of Mars, and the king
assumed his royal seat, while the multitude covered the hill sides. The brazen-footed
bulls rushed in, breathing fire from their nostrils, that burned up the herbage as they
passed. The sound was like the roar of a furnace, and the smoke like that of water
upon quick-lime. Jason advanced boldly to meet them. His friends, the chosen
heroes of Greece, trembled to behold him. Regardless of the burning breath, he
soothed their rage with his voice, patted their necks with fearless hand, and adroitly
slipped over them the yoke, and compelled them to drag the plough. The Colchians
were amazed; the Greeks shouted for joy. Jason next proceeded to sow the dragon's
teeth and plough them in. And soon the crop of armed men sprang up, and wonderful
to relate! no sooner had they reached the surface than they began to brandish their
weapons and rush upon Jason. The Greeks trembled for their hero, and even she
who had provided him a way of safety and taught him how to use it, Medea herself,
grew pale with fear. Jason for a time kept his assailants at bay with his sword and
shield, till finding their numbers overwhelming, he resorted to the charm which Medea
had taught him, seized a stone and threw it in the midst of his foes. They immediately
turned their arms against one another, and soon there was not one of the dragon's
brood left alive. The Greeks embraced their hero, and Medea, if she dared, would
have embraced him, too.
It remained to lull to sleep the dragon that guarded the fleece, and this was done
by scattering over him a few drops of a preparation, which Medea had supplied. At the
smell he relaxed his rage, stood for a moment motionless, then shut those great round
eyes, that had never been known to shut before, and turned over on his side, fast
asleep. Jason seized the fleece, and with his friends and Medea accompanying,
hastened to their vessel, before Aeetes, the king, could arrest their departure, and
made the best of their way back to Thessaly, where they arrived safe, and Jason
delivered the fleece to Pelias, and dedicated the Argo to Neptune. What became of
the fleece afterwards we do not know, but perhaps it was found after all, like many
other golden prizes, not worth the trouble it had cost to procure it.
This is one of those mythological tales, says a late writer, in which there is
reason to believe that a substratum of truth exists, though overlaid by a mass of fiction
It probably was the first important maritime expedition, and like the first attempts of the
kind of all nations, as we know from history, was probably of a half-piratical character.
If rich spoils were the result, it was enough to give rise to the idea of the golden fleece.
Another suggestion of a learned mythologist, Bryant, is that it is a corrupt
tradition of the story of Noah and the ark. The name Argo seems to countenance this,
and the incident of the dove is another confirmation.
Pope, in his Ode on St. Cecilia's day, thus celebrates the launching of the ship
Argo, and the power of the music of Orpheus, whom he calls the Thracian: -
"So when the first bold vessel dared the seas,
High on the stern the Thracian raised his strain,
While Argo saw her kindred trees
Descend from Pelion to the main.
Transported demigods stood round,
And men grew heroes at the sound."
In Dyer's poem of The Fleece there is an account of the ship Argo and her crew,
which gives a good picture of this primitive maritime adventure: -
"From every region of Aegea's shore
The brave assembled; those illustrious twins
Castor and Pollux; Orpheus, tuneful bard;
Zetes and Calais, as the wind in speed;
Strong Hercules and many a chief renowned.
On deep Iolcos' sandy shore they thronged,
Gleaming in armor, ardent of exploits;
And soon, the laurel cord and the huge stone
Uplifting to the deck, unmoored the bark;
Whose keel of wondrous length the skilful hand
Of Argus fashioned for the proud attempt;
And in the extended keel a lofty mast
Upraised, and sails full swelling; to the chiefs
Unwonted objects. Now first, now they learned
Their bolder steerage over ocean wave,
Led by the golden stars, as Chiron's art
Had marked the sphere celestial," &c.
Hercules left the expedition at Mysia, for Hylas, a youth beloved by him, having
gone for water, was laid hold of and kept by the nymphs of the spring, who were
fascinated by his beauty. Hercules went in quest of the lad, and while he was absent the
Argo put to sea and left him. Moore, in one of his songs, makes a beautiful allusion to
this incident: -
"When Hylas was sent with his urn to the fount,
Through fields full of light and with heart full of play,
Light rambled the boy over meadow and mount,
And neglected his task for the flowers in the way.
"Thus many like me, who in youth should have tasted
The fountain that runs by Philosophy's shrine,
Their time with the flowers on the margin have wasted,
And left their light urns all as empty as mine."
Medea, And Aeson.
Amid the rejoicings for the recovery of the Golden Fleece, Jason felt that one
thing was wanting, the presence of Aeson, his father, who was prevented by his age and
infirmities from taking part in them. Jason said to Medea, "My spouse, would that your
arts, whose power I have seen so mighty for my aid, could do me one further service,
take some years from my life and add them to my father's." Medea replied, "Not at such
a cost shall it be done, but if my art avails me, his life shall be lengthened without
abridging yours." The next full moon she issued forth alone, while all creatures slept; not
a breath stirred the foliage, and all was still. To the stars she addressed her
incantations, and to the moon; to Hecate, ^* the goddess of the underworld, and to
Tellus the goddess of the earth, by whose power plants potent for enchantments are
>
produced. She invoked the gods of the woods and caverns, of mountains and valleys, of
lakes and rivers, of winds and vapors. While she spoke the stars shone brighter, and
presently a chariot descended through the air, drawn by flying serpents. She ascended
it, and borne aloft made her way to distant regions, where potent plants grew which she
knew how to select for her purpose Nine nights she employed in her search, and during
that time came not within the doors of her palace nor under any roof, and shunned all
intercourse with mortals.
[Footnote *: Hecate was a mysterious divinity sometimes identified with Diana
and sometimes with Proserpine. As Diana represents the moonlight splendor of night,
so Hecate represents its darkness and terrors. She was the goddess of sorcery and
witchcraft, and was believed to wander by night along the earth seen only by the dogs,
whose barking told her approach.]
She next erected two altars, the one to Hecate, the other to Hebe, the goddess of
youth, and sacrificed a black sheep, pouring libations of milk and wine. She implored
Pluto and his stolen bride that they would not hasten to take the old man's life. Then she
directed that Aeson should be led forth, and having thrown him into a deep sleep by a
charm, had him laid on a bed of herbs, like one dead. Jason and all others were kept
away from the place, that no profane eyes might look upon her mysteries. Then with
streaming hair, she thrice moved round the altars, dipped flaming twigs in the blood, and
laid them thereon to burn. Meanwhile the caldron with its contents was got ready. In it
she put magic herbs, with seeds and flowers of acrid juice, stones from the distant east,
and sand from the shore of all-surrounding ocean; hoar frost, gathered by moonlight, a
screech owl's head and wings, and the entrails of a wolf. She added fragments of the
shells of tortoises, and the liver of stags, - animals tenacious of life, - and the head and
Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology Page 17