Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology

by Thomas Bulfinch

  Olympus was dethroned, and the several deities were sent wandering in cold and

  darkness. So Milton in his Hymn to the Nativity: -

  "The lonely mountains o'er,

  And the resounding shore,

  A voice of weeping heard and loud lament;

  From haunted spring and dale,

  Edged with poplar pale,

  The parting Genius is with sighing sent;

  With flower-enwoven tresses torn,

  The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn."

  Erisichthon.

  Erisichthon was a profane person and a despiser of the gods. On one occasion

  he presumed to violate with the axe a grove sacred to Ceres. There stood in this grove

  a venerable oak, so large that it seemed a wood in itself, its ancient trunk towering aloft,

  whereon votive garlands were often hung and inscriptions carved expressing the

  gratitude of suppliants to the nymph of the tree. Often had the Dryads danced round it

  hand in hand. Its trunk measured fifteen cubits round, and it overtopped the other trees

  as they overtopped the shrubbery. But for all that, Erisichthon saw no reason why he

  should spare it, and he ordered his servants to cut it down. When he saw them hesitate,

  he snatched an axe from one, and thus impiously exclaimed: "I care not whether it be a

  tree beloved of the goddess or not; were it the goddess herself it should come down, if it

  stood in my way." So saying he lifted the axe, and the oak seemed to shudder and utter

  a groan. When the first blow fell upon the trunk, blood flowed from the wound. All the

  bystanders were horror-struck, and one of them ventured to remonstrate and hold back

  the fatal axe. Erisichthon, with a scornful look, said to him, "Receive the reward of your

  piety;" and turned against him the weapon which he had held aside from the tree,

  gashed his body with many wounds and cut off his head. Then from the midst of the oak

  came a voice, "I who dwell in this tree am a nymph beloved of Ceres, and dying by your

  hands, forewarn you that punishment awaits you." He desisted not from his crime, and at

  last the tree, sundered by repeated blows and drawn by ropes, fell with a crash, and

  prostrated a great part of the grove in its fall.

  The Dryads in dismay at the loss of their companion, and at seeing the pride of

  the forest laid low, went in a body to Ceres, all clad in garments of mourning, and

  invoked punishment upon Erisichthon. She nodded her assent, and as she bowed her

  head the grain ripe for harvest in the laden fields bowed also. She planned a

  punishment so dire that one would pity him, if such a culprit as he could be pitied, - to

  deliver him over to Famine. As Ceres herself could not approach Famine, for the Fates

  have ordained that these two goddesses shall never come together, she called an Oread

  from her mountain and spoke to her in these words: "There is a place in the farthest part

  of ice-clad Scythia, a sad and sterile region without trees and without crops. Cold dwells

  there, and Fear, and Shuddering, and Famine. Go and tell the last to take possession of

  the bowels of Erisichthon. Let not abundance subdue her, nor the power of my gifts

  drive her away. Be not alarmed at the distance," (for Famine dwells very far from

  Ceres,) "but take my chariot. The dragons are fleet and obey the rein, and will take you

  through the air in a short time." So she gave her the reins, and she drove away and soon

  reached Scythia. On arriving at Mount Caucasus she stopped the dragons and found

  Famine in a stony field, pulling up with teeth and claws the scanty herbage. Her hair was

  rough, her eyes sunk, her face pale, her lips blanched, her jaws covered with dust, and

  her skin drawn tight, so as to show all her bones. As the Oread saw her afar off, (for she

  did not dare to come near,) she delivered the commands of Ceres; and, though she

  stopped as short a time as possible, and kept her distance as well as she could, yet she

  began to feel hungry, and turned the dragons' heads and drove back to Thessaly.

  Famine obeyed the commands of Ceres and sped through the air to the dwelling

  of Erisichthon, entered the bed-chamber of the guilty man, and found him asleep. She

  enfolded him with her wings and breathed herself into him, infusing her poison into his

  veins. Having discharged her task, she hastened to leave the land of plenty and

  returned to her accustomed haunts. Erisichthon still slept, and in his dreams craved

  food, and moved his jaws as if eating. When he awoke his hunger was raging. Without a

  moment's delay he would have food set before him, of whatever kind earth, sea or air

  produces; and complained of hunger even while he ate. What would have sufficed for a

  city or a nation, was not enough for him. The more he ate the more he craved. His

  hunger was like the sea, which receives all the rivers, yet is never filled; or like fire that

  burns all the fuel that is heaped upon it, yet is still voracious for more.

  His property rapidly diminished under the unceasing demands of his appetite, but

  his hunger continued unabated. At length he had spent all, and had only his daughter

  left, a daughter worthy of a better parent. Her too he sold. She scorned to be the slave

  of a purchaser, and as she stood by the sea side, raised her hands in prayer to Neptune.

  He heard her prayer, and, though her new master was not far off, and had his eye upon

  her a moment before, Neptune changed her form, and made her assume that of a

  fisherman busy at his occupation. Her master, looking for her and seeing her in her

  altered form, addressed her and said, "Good fisherman, whither went the maiden whom I

  saw just now, with hair dishevelled and in humble garb, standing about where you

  stand? Tell me truly; so may your luck be good, and not a fish nibble at your hook and

  get away." She perceived that her prayer was answered, and rejoiced inwardly at

  hearing herself inquired of about herself. She replied, "Pardon me, stranger, but I have

  been so intent upon my line, that I have seen nothing else; but I wish I may never catch

  another fish if I believe any woman or other person except myself to have been

  hereabouts for some time." He was deceived and went his way, thinking his slave had

  escaped. Then she resumed her own form. Her father was well pleased to find her still

  with him, and the money too that he got by the sale of her; so he sold her again. But she

  was changed by the favor of Neptune as often as she was sold, now into a horse, now a

  bird, now an ox, and now a stag, - got away from her purchasers and came home. By

  this base method the starving father procured food; but not enough for his wants, and at

  last hunger compelled him to devour his limbs, and he strove to nourish his body by

  eating his body, till death relieved him from the vengeance of Ceres.

  Rhoecus.

  The Hamadryads could appreciate services as well as punish injuries. The story

  of Rhoecus proves this. Rhoecus, happening to see an oak just ready to fall, ordered

  his servants to prop it up. The nymph, who had been on the point of perishing with the

  tree, came and expressed her gratitude to him for having saved her life, and bade him

  ask what reward he would. Rhoecus boldly asked her love, and the nymph yielded to his

  desire. She at the same time charged him to be constant, and told him that a bee

  should be her messenger, and l
et him know when she would admit his society. One

  time the bee came to Rhoecus when he was playing at draughts, and he carelessly

  brushed it away. This so incensed the nymph that she deprived him of sight.

  Our countryman J. R. Lowell has taken this story for the subject of one of his

  shorter poems. He introduces it thus: -

  "Hear now this fairy legend of old Greece,

  As full of freedom, youth and beauty still,

  As the immortal freshness of that grace

  Carved for all ages on some Attic frieze."

  The Water Deities.

  Oceanus and Tethys were the Titans who ruled over the watery element. When

  Jove and his brothers overthrew the Titans and assumed their power, Neptune and

  Amphitrite succeeded to the dominion of the waters in place of Oceanus and Tethys.

  Neptune.

  Neptune was the chief of the water deities. The symbol of his power was the

  trident, or spear with three points, with which he used to shatter rocks, to call forth or

  subdue storms, to shake the shores, and the like. He created the horse and was the

  patron of horse races. His own horses had brazen hoofs and golden manes. They drew

  his chariot over the sea, which became smooth before him, while the monsters of the

  deep gambolled about his path.

  Amphitrite.

  Amphitrite was the wife of Neptune. She was the daughter of Nereus and Doris,

  and the mother of Triton. Neptune, to pay his court to Amphitrite, came riding on a

  dolphin. Having won her, he rewarded the dolphin by placing him among the stars.

  Nereus And Doris.

  Nereus and Doris were the parents of the Nereids, the most celebrated of whom

  were Amphitrite, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, and Galatea, who was loved by the

  Cyclops Polyphemus. Nereus was distinguished for his knowledge and his love of truth

  and justice, whence he was termed an elder; the gift of prophecy was also assigned to

  him.

  Triton And Proteus.

  Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and the poets make him his

  father's trumpeter. Proteus was also a son of Neptune. He, like Nereus, is styled a sea-

  elder for his wisdom and knowledge of future events. His peculiar power was that of

  changing his shape at will.

  Thetis.

  Thetis, the daughter of Nereus and Doris, was so beautiful that Jupiter himself

  sought her in marriage; but having learned from Prometheus the Titan, that Thetis

  should bear a son who should be greater than his father, Jupiter desisted from his suit

  and decreed that Thetis should be the wife of a mortal. By the aid of Chiron the Centaur,

  Peleus succeeded in winning the goddess for his bride, and their son was the renowned

  Achilles. In our chapter on the Trojan war it will appear that Thetis was a faithful mother

  to him, aiding him in all difficulties, and watching over his interests from the first to the

  last.

  Leucothea And Palaemon.

  Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and wife of Athamas, flying from her frantic

  husband with her little son Melicertes in her arms, sprang from a cliff into the sea. The

  gods, out of compassion, made her a goddess of the sea, under the name of Leucothea,

  and him a god under that of Palaemon. Both were held powerful to save from shipwreck

  and were invoked by sailors. Palaemon was usually represented riding on a dolphin.

  The Isthmian games were celebrated in his honor. He was called Portunus by the

  Romans, and believed to have jurisdiction of the ports and shores.

  Milton alludes to all these deities in the song at the conclusion of Comus.

  ". . . Sabrina fair,

  Listen and appear to us,

  In name of great Oceanus;

  By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace,

  And Tethys' grave, majestic pace,

  By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,

  And the Carpathian wizard's hook, ^*

  By scaly Triton's winding shell,

  And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell,

  By Leucothea's lovely hands,

  And her son who rules the strands

  By Thetis' tinsel-slippered feet,

  And the songs of Sirens sweet;" &c.

  [Footnote *: Proteus.]

  Armstrong, the poet of the Art of preserving Health, under the inspiration of

  Hygeia, the goddess of health, thus celebrates the Naiads. Paeon is a name both of

  Apollo and Aesculapius

  "Come, ye Naiads! to the fountains lead!

  Propitious maids! the task remains to sing

  Your gifts, (so Paeon, so the powers of Health

  Command,) to praise your crystal element.

  O comfortable streams! with eager lips

  And trembling hands the languid thirsty quaff

  New life in you; fresh vigor fills their veins.

  No warmer cups the rural ages knew,

  None warmer sought the sires of humankind;

  Happy in temperate peace their equal days

  Felt not the alternate fits of feverish mirth

  And sick dejection; still serene and pleased,

  Blessed with divine immunity from ills,

  Long centuries they lived; their only fate

  Was ripe old age, and rather sleep than death."

  The Camenae.

  By this name the Latins designated the Muses, but included under it also some

  other deities, principally nymphs of fountains. Egeria was one of them, whose fountain

  and grotto are still shown. It was said that Numa, the second king of Rome, was favored

  by this nymph with secret interviews, in which she taught him those lessons of wisdom

  and of law which he imbodied in the institutions of his rising nation. After the death of

  Numa the nymph pined away and was changed into a fountain.

  Byron in Childe Harold, Canto IV., thus alludes to Egeria and her grotto: -

  "Here didst thou dwell, in this enchanted cover,

  Egeria! all thy heavenly bosom beating

  For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover;

  The purple midnight veiled that mystic meeting

  With her most starry canopy;" &c.

  Tennyson, also, in his Palace of Art, gives us a glimpse of the royal lover

  expecting the interview.

  "Holding one hand against his ear,

  To list a footfall ere he saw

  The wood-nymph, stayed the Tuscan king to hear

  Of wisdom and of law."

  The Winds.

  When so many less active agencies were personified, it is not to be supposed

  that the winds failed to be so. They were Boreas or Aquilo, the north wind, Zephyrus or

  Favonius, the west, Notus or Auster, the south, and Eurus, the east. The first two have

  been chiefly celebrated by the poets, the former as the type of rudeness, the latter of

  gentleness. Boreas loved the nymph Orithyia, and tried to play the lover's part, but met

  with poor success. It was hard for him to breathe gently, and sighing was out of the

  question. Weary at last of fruitless endeavors, he acted out his true character, seized the

  maiden and carried her off. Their children were Zetes and Calais, winged warriors, who

  accompanied the Argonautic expedition, and did good service in an encounter with those

  monstrous birds the Harpies.

  Zephyrus was the lover of Flora. Milton alludes to them in Paradise Lost, where

  he describes Adam waking and contemplating Eve still asleep.

  ". . . He on his side

  Leaning half raised, with looks of cordial love,

  Hung over
her enamored, and beheld

  Beauty which, whether waking or asleep,

  Shot forth peculiar graces; then with voice,

  Mild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,

  Her hand soft touching, whispered thus: 'Awake!

  My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,

  Heaven's last, best gift, my ever-new delight.'"

  Dr. Young, the poet of the Night Thoughts, addressing the idle and luxurious,

  says, -

  "Ye delicate! who nothing can support,

  (Yourselves most insupportable,) for whom

  The winter rose must blow, . . .

  . . . and silky soft

  Favonius breathe still softer or be child!"

  Chapter XXIII: Achelous - Hercules, Admetus - Alcestis, Antigone,

  Penelope

  Achelous And Hercules.

  The river-god Achelous told the story of Erisichthon to Theseus and his

  companions, whom he was entertaining at his hospitable board, while they were

  delayed on their journey by the overflow of his waters. Having finished his story he

  added, "But why should I tell of other persons' transformations, when I myself am an

  instance of the possession of this power. Sometimes I become a serpent, and

  sometimes a bull, with horns on my head. Or I should say, I once could do so; but now

  I have but one horn, having lost one." And here he groaned and was silent.

  Theseus asked him the cause of his grief, and how he lost his horn. To which

  question the river-god replied as follows: "Who likes to tell of his defeats? Yet I will not

  hesitate to relate mine, comforting myself with the thought of the greatness of my

  conqueror, for it was Hercules. Perhaps you have heard of the fame of Dejanira, the

  fairest of maidens, whom a host of suitors strove to win. Hercules and myself were of

  the number, and the rest yielded to us two. He urged in his behalf his descent from