Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology

by Thomas Bulfinch

  Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing

  Such notes as warbled to the string,

  Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek,

  And made Hell grant what love did seek."

  Chapter XXV: Arion - Ibycus - Simonides - Sappho

  The poets whose adventures compose this chapter were real persons some of

  whose works yet remain, and their influence on poets who succeeded them is yet

  more important than their poetical remains. The adventures recorded of them in the

  following stories rest on the same authority as other narratives of the Age of Fable,

  that is, of the poets who have told them. In their present form, the first two are

  translated from the German, Arion from Schlegel and Ibycus from Schiller.

  Arion.

  Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander, king of

  Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was to be a musical contest in

  Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize. He told his wish to Periander, who

  besought him like a brother to give up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and

  be contented. He who strives to win may lose." Arion answered, "A wandering life best

  suits the free heart of a poet. The talent which a god bestowed on me, I would fain

  make a source of pleasure to others. And if I win the prize, how will the enjoyment of it

  be increased by the consciousness of my wide-spread fame!" He went, won the prize,

  and embarked with his wealth in a Corinthian ship for home. On the second morning

  after setting sail, the wind breathed mild and fair. "O Periander," he exclaimed,

  "dismiss your fears! Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish

  offerings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry will we be at the

  festal board!" The wind and sea continued propitious. Not a cloud dimmed the

  firmament. He had not trusted too much to the ocean, - but he had to man. He

  overheard the seamen exchanging hints with one another, and found they were

  plotting to possess themselves of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him loud

  and mutinous, and said, "Arion, you must die! If you would have a grave on shore,

  yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast yourself into the sea." "Will

  nothing satisfy you but my life?" said he. "Take my gold, and welcome. I willingly buy

  my life at that price." "No, no; we cannot spare you. Your life would be too dangerous

  to us. Where could we go to escape from Periander, if he should know that you had

  been robbed by us? Your gold would be of little use to us, if, on returning home, we

  could never more be free from fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last request, since

  nought will avail to save my life, that I may die as I have lived, as becomes a bard.

  When I shall have sung my death song, and my harp-strings shall have ceased to

  vibrate, then I will bid farewell to life, and yield uncomplaining to my fate." This prayer,

  like the others, would have been unheeded, - they thought only of their booty, - but to

  hear so famous a musician, that moved their rude hearts. "Suffer me," he added, "to

  arrange my dress. Apollo will not favor me unless I be clad in my minstrel garb."

  He clothed his well-proportioned limbs in gold and purple fair to see, his tunic fell

  around him in graceful folds jewels adorned his arms, his brow was crowned with a

  golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed his hair perfumed with odors.

  His left hand held the lyre, his right the ivory wand with which he struck its chords.

  Like one inspired, he seemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning ray.

  The seamen gazed with admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side and looked

  down into the blue sea. Addressing his lyre, he sang, "Companion of my voice, come

  with me to the realm of shades. Though Cerberus may growl, we know the power of

  song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed the darkling flood, -

  ye happy souls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can ye relieve my grief? Alas, I leave

  my friend behind me. Thou, who didst find thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon

  as found; when she had vanished like a dream, how didst thou hate the cheerful light!

  I must away, but I will not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who slay me

  unoffending, when I am no more, your time of trembling shall come. Ye Nereids,

  receive your guest, who throws himself upon your mercy!" So saying, he sprang into

  the deep sea. The waves covered him, and the seamen held on their way, fancying

  themselves safe from all danger of detection.

  But the strains of his music had drawn round him the inhabitants of the deep to

  listen, and Dolphins followed the ship as if chained by a spell. While he struggled in the

  waves, a Dolphin offered him his back, and carried him mounted thereon safe to

  shore. At the spot where he landed, a monument of brass was afterwards erected

  upon the rocky shore, to preserve the memory of the event.

  When Arion and the Dolphin parted, each to his own element, Arion thus poured

  forth his tanks. "Farewell thou faithful, friendly fish! Would that I could reward thee;

  but thou canst not wend with me, nor I with thee. Companionship we may not have.

  May Galatea, queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the burden,

  draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep."

  Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers of Corinth.

  He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of love and happiness, for

  getting his losses, and mindful only of what remained, his friend and his lyre. He

  entered the hospitable halls, and was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. "I

  come back to thee, my friend," he said. "The talent which a god bestowed has been

  the delight of thousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my well-earned

  treasure; yet I retain the consciousness of wide-spread fame." Then he told Periander

  all the wonderful events that had befallen him, who heard him with amazement. "Shall

  such wickedness triumph?" said he. "Then in vain is power lodged in my hands. That

  we may discover the criminals, you must remain here in concealment, and so they will

  approach without suspicion." When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the

  mariners before him. "Have you heard any thing of Arion?" he inquired. "I anxiously

  look for his return." They replied, "We left him well and prosperous in Tarentum." As

  they said these words, Arion stepped forth and faced them. His well-proportioned

  limbs were arrayed in gold and purple fair to see, his tunic fell around him in graceful

  folds, jewels adorned his arms, his brow was crowned with a golden wreath, and over

  his neck and shoulders flowed his hair perfumed with odors; his left hand held the lyre,

  his right the ivory wand with which he struck its chords. They fell prostrate at his feet,

  as if a lightning bolt had struck them. "We meant to murder him, and he has become a

  god. O Earth, open and receive us!" Then Periander spoke. "He lives, the master of

  the lay! Kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I invoke not the spirit of

  vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye slaves of avarice, begone! Seek some

  barbarous land, and never may aught beautiful delight your souls!"

  Spenser represents Arion, mounted on his dolphin, accompanying the train of
/>
  Neptune and Amphitrite: -

  "Then was there heard a most celestial sound

  Of dainty music which did next ensue,

  And, on the floating waters as enthroned,

  Arion with his harp unto him drew

  The ears and hearts of all that goodly crew;

  Even when as yet the dolphin which him bore

  Through the Aegean Seas from pirates' view,

  Stood still, by him astonished at his lore,

  And all the raging seas for joy forgot to roar."

  Byron, in his Childe Harold, Canto II., alludes to the story of Arion, when,

  describing his voyage, he represents one of the seamen making music to entertain the

  rest: -

  "The moon is up; by Heaven a lovely eve!

  Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand;

  Now lads on shore may sigh and maids believe;

  Such be our fate when we return to land!

  Meantime some rude Arion's restless hand

  Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love;

  A circle there of merry listeners stand,

  Or to some well-known measure featly move

  Thoughtless, as if on shore they still were free to rove."

  Ibycus.

  In order to understand the story of Ibycus which follows it is necessary to

  remember, first, that the theatres of the ancients were immense fabrics capable of

  containing from ten to thirty thousand spectators, and as they were used only on festal

  occasions, and admission was free to all, they were usually filled. They were without

  roofs and open to the sky, and the performances were in the daytime. Secondly, the

  appalling representation of the Furies is not exaggerated in the story. It is recorded that

  Aeschylus, the tragic poet, having on one occasion represented the Furies in a chorus of

  fifty performers, the terror of the spectators was such that many fainted and were thrown

  into convulsions, and the magistrates forbade a like representation for the future.

  Ibycus, the pious poet, was on his way to the chariot races and musical

  competitions held at the Isthmus of Corinth, which attracted all of Grecian lineage.

  Apollo had bestowed on him the gift of song, the honeyed lips of the poet, and he

  pursued his way with lightsome step, full of the god. Already the towers of Corinth

  crowning the height appeared in view, and he had entered with pious awe the sacred

  grove of Neptune. No living object was in sight, only a flock of cranes flew overhead

  taking the same course as himself in their migration to a southern clime. "Good luck to

  you, ye friendly squadrons," he exclaimed, "my companions from across the sea. I take

  your company for a good omen. We come from far and fly in search of hospitality. May

  both of us meet that kind reception which shields the stranger guest from harm!"

  He paced briskly on, and soon was in the middle of the wood. There suddenly,

  at a narrow pass, two robbers stepped forth and barred his way. He must yield or fight.

  But his hand, accustomed to the lyre, and not to the strife of arms, sank powerless. He

  called for help on men and gods, but his cry reached no defender's ear. "Then here

  must I die," said he, "in a strange land, unlamented, cut off by the hand of outlaws, and

  see none to avenge my cause." Sore wounded he sank to the earth, when hoarse

  screamed the cranes overhead. "Take up my cause, ye cranes," he said, "since no

  voice but yours answers to my cry." So saying he closed his eyes in death.

  The body despoiled and mangled was found, and though disfigured with wounds,

  was recognized by the friend in Corinth who had expected him as a guest. "Is it thus I

  find you restored to me?" he exclaimed; "I who hoped to entwine your temples with the

  wreath of triumph in the strife of song!"

  The guests assembled at the festival heard the tidings with dismay. All Greece

  felt the wound, every heart owned its loss. They crowded round the tribunal of the

  magistrates, and demanded vengeance on the murderers and expiation with their blood.

  But what trace or mark shall point out the perpetrator from amidst the vast

  multitude attracted by the splendor of the feast? Did he fall by the hands of robbers or

  did some private enemy slay him? The all-discerning sun alone can tell, for no other eye

  beheld it. Yet not improbably the murderer even now walks in the midst of the throng,

  and enjoys the fruits of his crime, while vengeance seeks for him in vain. Perhaps in

  their own temple's enclosure he defies the gods, mingling freely in this throng of men

  that now presses into the amphitheatre.

  For now crowded together, row on row, the multitude fill the seats till it seems as

  if the very fabric would give way. The murmur of voices sounds like the roar of the sea,

  while the circles widening in their ascent rise, tier on tier, as if they would reach the sky.

  And now the vast assemblage listens to the awful voice of the chorus

  personating the Furies, which in solemn guise advances with measured step, and moves

  around the circuit of the theatre. Can they be mortal women who compose that awful

  group, and can that vast concourse of silent forms be living beings!

  The Choristers, clad in black, bore in their fleshless hands torches blazing with a

  pitchy flame. Their cheeks were bloodless, and in place of hair, writhing and swelling

  serpents curled around their brows. Forming a circle, these awful beings sang their

  hymn, rending the hearts of the guilty, and enchaining all their faculties. It rose and

  swelled, overpowering the sound of the instruments, stealing the judgment, palsying the

  heart, curdling the blood.

  "Happy the man who keeps his heart pure from guilt and crime! Him we

  avengers touch not; he treads the path of life secure from us. But woe! woe! to him who

  has done the deed of secret murder. We the fearful family of Night fasten ourselves

  upon his whole being. Thinks he by flight to escape us? We fly still faster in pursuit,

  twine our snakes around his feet and bring him to the ground. Unwearied we pursue; no

  pity checks our course; still on and on to the end of life, we give him no peace nor rest."

  Thus the Eumenides sang, and moved in solemn cadence, while stillness like the

  stillness of death sat over the whole assembly as if in the presence of superhuman

  beings; and then in solemn march completing the circuit of the theatre, they passed out

  at the back of the stage.

  Every heart fluttered between illusion and reality, and every breast panted with

  undefined terror, quailing before the awful power that watches secret crimes and winds

  unseen the skein of destiny. At that moment a cry burst forth from one of the uppermost

  benches - "Look! look! comrade, yonder are the cranes of Ibycus!" And suddenly there

  appeared sailing across the sky a dark object which a moment's inspection showed to be

  a flock of cranes flying directly over the theatre. "Of Ibycus! did he say?" The beloved

  name revived the sorrow in every breast. As wave follows wave over the face of the

  sea, so ran from mouth to mouth the words, "Of Ibycus! him whom we all lament, whom

  some murderer's hand laid low! What have the cranes to do with him?" And louder grew

  the swell of voices, while like a lightning's flash the thought sped through every heart,

  "Observe the power of the Eumenides! The pious poet shall be avenged! the murderer

  has informed against
himself. Seize the man who uttered that cry and the other to whom

  he spoke!"

  The culprit would gladly have recalled his words, but it was too late. The faces of

  the murderers pale with terror betrayed their guilt. The people took them before the

  judge, they confessed their crime and suffered the punishment they deserved.

  Simonides.

  Simonides was one of the most prolific of the early poets of Greece, but only a

  few fragments of his compositions have descended to us. He wrote hymns, triumphal

  odes, and elegies. In the last species of composition he particularly excelled. His

  genius was inclined to the pathetic, and none could touch with truer effect the chords of

  human sympathy. The Lamentation of Danae, the most important of the fragments

  which remain of his poetry is based upon the tradition that Danae and her infant son

  were confined by order of her father Acrisius in a chest and set adrift on the sea. The

  chest floated towards the island of Seriphus, where both were rescued by Dictys, a

  fisherman, and carried to Polydectes, king of the country, who received and protected

  them. The child Perseus when grown up became a famous hero, whose adventures

  have been recorded in a previous chapter.

  Simonides passed much of his life at the courts of princes and often employed

  his talents in panegyric and festal odes, receiving his reward from the munificence of

  those whose exploits he celebrated. This employment was not derogatory, but closely

  resembles that of the earliest bards, such as Demodocus, described by Homer, or of

  Homer himself as recorded by tradition.

  On one occasion when residing at the court of Scopas, king of Thessaly, the

  prince desired him to prepare a poem in celebration of his exploits, to be recited at a

  banquet. In order to diversify his theme, Simonides who was celebrated for his piety

  introduced into his poem the exploits of Castor and Pollux. Such digressions were not