Chapter II: Part 2

Bacchus, the youngest of the gods, was the son of Jupiter and Semele. His mother, instigated by the jealous Juno, who appeared to her in disguise, demanded of Jupiter that he should reveal himself to her in all his power and majesty. Jupiter unwillingly complied and, making his thunder bolts milder than usual, appeared before her. The lightning which played about his head set fire to the palace and Semele was consumed. The child, Bacchus, was snatched from the flames by his brother Mercury and borne away to the nymphs, who guarded him most faithfully.

While still a youth Bacchus was appointed god of wine. Spring was a season of gladness for him, winter a time of sorrow. He delighted in roaming over the world borne by his followers or riding in his chariot drawn by wild beasts. His train was composed of men and women, nymphs, fauns and satyrs who drank wine made from water and sunshine, ate grapes, and sang the praises of their leader.

“We follow Bacchus! Bacchus on the wing,
A-conquering!
Bacchus, young Bacchus! good or ill betide,
We dance before him through kingdoms wide.”

--_Keats._

INTERPRETATION.

Semele is the personification of a fertile soil in spring which brings forth the productive vine. Bacchus is regarded as the spiritual form of the new vernal life, the sap of vegetation as manifest in the juice of the grape.

The orgies were but a poetic incarnation of blithe, spiritual youth. The idea of Bacchus is not a simple one. His many titles have given rise to an almost endless number of variations of his story which are in many cases inconsistent and complicated.

ART.

Of the many representations of Bacchus this statue in the Naples Museum is considered one of the most lovely. It is full of gladness and is simple, delicate and beautiful. The child Bacchus is carried on the shoulders of a faun. He holds a bunch of grapes in one hand and clasps the head of the faun with the other. The faun is playing on cymbals and looks back and up at Bacchus with a happy smile.

Apollo and Daphne.

“_Was it not well, Apollo, for revenge
Of thine, my stronghold should imprison me?
Surely thou art content. No dream of thine
For mockery, because I loved thee not,
Could have matched bitterness with this, this spell
That holds me fast in answer to my prayer._

_Then crown thy lyre, if thou wilt so,
With my unwilling leaves. And let them be
Symbol to men, of triumph; nay, but hear;
To thee, memorial that I whisper now:
The eternal thing thou shall not overtake,
Token of Daphne whom thou couldst not thrall,
And Song that hath the sov’reignty,--not thou._”

--J. P. PEABODY.

STORY.

APOLLO’S FIRST LOVE.

One bright morning Daphne, a charming nymph with flowing hair and sparkling eyes, was sporting in the forest. Apollo, passing by, saw the maiden and forthwith fell in love with her. He longed to obtain her, but before he could reach her side she fled. He called to her to dismiss her fears and listen to his love. He assured her of his sincerity, of his standing.

“You fly, alas, not knowing whom you fly,
No ill-bred swain, nor rustic clown am I.”

--_Prior._

But Daphne continued her flight, pausing not a moment to listen to his plea. Apollo pursued and gained upon her in the race. She called upon her father, the river god, for protection. “Help!” she cried, “open the earth to enclose me or change my form which has brought me into this danger.” A moment more and her feet seemed rooted to the ground. A rough bark enclosed her quivering limbs. The woodiness crept upward and by degrees invested her whole body. Her trembling hands were filled with leaves. She was changed into a laurel tree. Apollo, reaching out to embrace her, clasped the still warm tree and showered kisses on its leaves.

“I espouse thee for my tree;
Be thou the prize of honor and renown;
The deathless poet and the poem crown:
Thou shalt the Roman festivals adorn,
But after poets be by victors worn.”

--_Dryden._

INTERPRETATION.

Daphne is a personification of the morning dew which vanishes beneath the sun’s hot rays and leaves no trace of its passage except in luxuriant verdure.

ART.

This remarkable group was executed by Bernini--sometimes called Michael Angelo the second--when he was but eighteen years old, and is now in the Villa Borghese, Rome. Near the close of his long life Bernini declared that he had made little progress after its production.

The flying nymph is seized by the young god and is already being changed into a laurel tree. The upraised hands are terminated by twigs and leaves instead of fingers. The wonderful manner in which the lower limbs are barked about is difficult to describe.

The technical details and mechanical skill of this group excel anything of the kind ever attempted, and the work is such as would beforehand have been pronounced an impossibility.

Proserpine.

“The Maiden.”

“_What ails her that she comes not home?
Demeter seeks her far and wide,
And gloomy browed doth ceaseless roam
From many a morn till eventide.
‘My life, immortal though it be,
Is naught!’ she cried, ‘for want of thee,
Persephone, Persephone.’_”

--JEAN INGELOW.

STORY.

THE ABDUCTION.

“’Tis he! ’tis he! he comes to us
From the depths of Tartarus.
For what of evil doth he roam
From his red and gloomy home?”

--_Barry Cornwall._

Pluto, the king of Hades, stole Proserpine from her mother, Ceres, while she was playing in the flowery fields and bore her away to reign with him as his queen in the gloomy regions of the dead. For days the sorrowing mother wandered far and wide searching for her dearly loved child. The earth which had so long obtained her favors was neglected. The cattle died, the seed failed to germinate, there was drought, thistles and brambles were the only growth and famine threatened the people.

One day a water nymph, who heard the lament of Ceres, told her that as she had passed through the lower parts of the earth in her endeavor to escape from a too ardent lover, she had seen Proserpine reigning as the bride of the monarch there.

Ceres hastened to Jupiter and implored him to restore her daughter, promising that when she beheld her again the earth should be restored to fruitfulness, and

“At last Zeus himself
Pitying the evil that was done, sent forth
His messenger beyond the western rim
To fetch me back to earth.”

--_Lewis Morris._

But the release of Proserpine was not complete. Jupiter’s law must be obeyed, but Pluto, before he let her go, persuaded her to eat a morsel of pomegranate by which he cast upon her a spell that would oblige her to return to him, for half of the year, while the other half she could spend with her mother. As soon as Proserpine returned to earth Ceres cheerfully and diligently attended to her duties and all was blessed with plenty. But when six months were gone all nature mourned and wept, for Proserpine left the bright world and returned to the darkness of Hades.

INTERPRETATION.

Pluto, “the unseen,” “the wealth giver,” greedily drew all things down to his dismal abode. Hades was a prison or storehouse containing the germs of all future harvests, and in spite of its darkness was regarded as a land of great riches. Ceres, the earth mother, expresses the gloom which falls on the earth during the cheerless months of winter. Proserpine, spring, typifies the yearly blooming of the flowers and the growth of the corn from the seed, and hence was obliged to dwell in the dismal underworld during the dark days of winter, but could return with each spring to give gladness and fertility to the mourning earth.

ART.

This group, called the “Rape of Proserpine,” the work of Bernini, is in the Villa Ludovisi, Rome. It has received much adverse criticism, but has also been greatly admired. It represents Pluto holding Proserpine in his brawny arms and, in spite of her struggles, carrying her off to Hades. In artistic excellence it does not compare with “Apollo and Daphne,” which Bernini executed much earlier in life.

Cupid.

“The Child Angel of Mythology.”

“_Though little be the God of love,
Yet his arrows mighty are,
And his victories above
What the valiant reach by war.
Nor are his limits with the sky;
O’er the Milky Way he’ll fly,
And sometimes wound a deity._”

--SHIRLEY.

STORY.

THE BOY-GOD OF LOVE.

“For Venus did but boast a son,
The rosy Cupid was that boasted one.
He, uncontrolled thro’ heaven extends his sway,
And gods and goddesses by turns obey.”

--_Eusden._

Cupid was the beautiful but mischievous son of Venus. He was never without his bow and quiver of arrows, and whoever was hit by one of his magic darts straightway fell in love. The wound was at once a pain and a delight. Some traditions say that he shot blindfold, his aim seemed so often at random.

“With bandaged eyes he never sees
Around, below, above.
His blinding light
He flingeth white
On God’s and Satan’s brood,
And reconciles
By mystic wiles
The evil and the good.”

--_Emerson._

Although nursed with tender solicitude, he did not grow as other children, but remained a small, rosy, chubby child with gauzy wings and dimpled face. Alarmed for his health, Venus consulted Themis (Law), who oracularly replied, “He is solitary; if he had a brother he would grow apace.” In vain the goddess strove to catch the subtile significance of the answer. When Anteros, god of passion, was born, the secret was revealed. When with his brother, Cupid grew until he became a graceful, slender youth, but when away from him he always resumed his childlike form and bewildering pranks.

INTERPRETATION.

Cupid was the lord of the dawn. To a youthful race of men love was like a “morn radiating with heavenly splendor over their souls, pervading their hearts with a glowing warmth, purifying their whole being like a fresh breeze, and illuminating the whole world around them with a new light.” To express this feeling, the dawn of love, there was but one similitude,--the blush of day, the rising of the sun. They said “The sun has risen” where we say “I love.”

ART.

Cupid makes one of the most attractive subjects in sculpture. We know him at a glance, whether beside his mother, with Psyche, or alone.

The Cupid of the illustration is the work of Michael Angelo. It was discovered forty years ago hidden away in the cellars of the Ruccelli Palace, Florence, and passed by purchase into the possession of the English nation and is now in the South Kensington Museum.

Cupid is seen in the statue as a well-grown youth, a noble conception of the young god. He seems to stand for a love that is determined, for a love that conquers every obstacle. He has dropped on one knee to take an arrow from the ground. In his raised left hand he holds the bow.

Vulcan.

“The Crippled Artist God.”

“_He made the gods their golden shoes,
And shod their steeds with brass._”

STORY.

THE GOD OF FIRE.

“Those who labor
The sweaty forge, who edge the crooked scythe,
Bend stubborn steel, and harden gleaming armor,
Acknowledge Vulcan’s aid.”

--_Prior._

Vulcan, the son of Jupiter, was born lame. He was flung from Olympus by his mother, Juno, who hated him for his deformity, and he fell into the sea, where the mother of Achilles found him. He made for her son a shield, which was a wonderfully clever piece of handiwork. Many celebrated pieces of metal work were ascribed to Vulcan. In revenge for his mother’s cruel treatment of him, he fashioned a cunningly devised throne which held her by invisible bonds against her will. The thunder bolts of Jupiter, the trident of Neptune and the girdle of Venus all came from his workshop.

INTERPRETATION.

The word Vulcan means the brightness of the flame. Vulcan is represented as lame and puny at birth because the flame comes from a tiny spark. He dwells in the heart of volcanoes where the intense heat keeps the metals malleable so that he can mould them at will.

ART.

“At Venus’ entreaty for Cupid, her son,
These arrows by Vulcan are cunningly done.
The first is Love, as here you may behold,
His feathers, head and body are of gold,
The second shaft is Hate, a foe to Love,
And bitter are his torments for to prove;
The third is Hope, from which our comfort springs,
His feathers they are pulled from fortune’s wings;
Fourth, Jealousy in basest minds doth dwell:
His metal Vulcan’s Cyclops sent from Hell.”

--_Peake._

Thorwaldsen’s favorite branch of sculpture was bas relief, in which he excelled. One of his numerous works in this department shows Vulcan forging arrows for Cupid. He is represented as an aged man hammering at his forge and indicating by his attitude the lameness with which, according to the myth, he was afflicted, but with such delicacy as in no wise to detract from the god-like dignity of his figure.

Perseus.

“Child of the Morning.”

“_For now behind her unseen, Perseus passed,
And silently whirled the great sword round;
And when it fell, she fell upon the ground,
And felt no more of all her bitter pain._”

--WM. MORRIS.

STORY.

THE SLAYING OF THE GORGON.

Perseus was sent by the tyrant, Polydictes, to attempt the conquest of the Gorgon, Medusa, a terrible monster, whose hair was hissing, writhing snakes, and who possessed petrifying power sufficient to turn all beholders into stone.

Perseus, favored by the gods and well equipped by them, sought the home of the Gorgons. He was rendered invisible by Pluto’s helmet, and drew near without detection. Minerva had loaned him her mirror-like shield and, watching in it the reflected form of Medusa, he severed her head and seizing it, bore it swiftly away to Polydictes, who, upon beholding it, turned to stone.

INTERPRETATION.

Perseus, the sun, “destroyer of evil and noxious things,” is forced by Polydictes, darkness, to journey to the home of the Gorgons, gloaming, and conquer Medusa, the star-lit heaven marred by ghastly vapors which stream like dark serpents across it.

ART.

This Perseus, by Canova, is in the Belvedere of the Vatican. It is a beautifully finished statue in which the artist evidently imitated the Apollo Belvedere. The head of Medusa is that of a young and lovely woman, with the serpents arranged about her face like curling hair--yet Canova has succeeded in giving her that expression of “freezing disdain which pierces the very soul.”

Hebe.

“The Ever Young.”

“_Hebe honored them of all
Ministered nectar and from cups of gold
They pledged each other._”

--HOMER.

STORY.

THE CUP-BEARER.

Hebe was the daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She waited upon the gods and filled their cups with nectar with which it was their wont to pledge each other. But one day she awkwardly tripped and fell, and was forced to resign her office to Ganymede.

She married Hercules after he was received among the gods. Later traditions represent her as a divinity who had it in her power to make aged persons young again.

INTERPRETATION.

Hebe, the goddess of youth, embodies the fleeting nature of human existence, particularly the delightful and elusive stage of youth.

“Coy Hebe flies from those that woo
And shuns the hands would seize upon her:
Follow thy life and she will sue
To pour for thee the cup of honor.”

--_Lowell._

ART.

This poetic creation in the National Gallery, London, was executed by Canova. The buoyant Hebe is purely beautiful as she springs away like the joy of youth. The light drapery does not interfere with the floating movement. In one hand she lifts high the vase of ambrosia, and in the other holds a goblet.

Ganymede and the Eagle.

“_There too flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh
Half buried in the eagle’s down,
Sole as a flying star shot through the sky
Above the pillared town._”

--TENNYSON.

STORY.

A TROJAN PRINCE.

“Eagle pinions, swift as thought,
Ganymede to heaven brought,
Stolen from the plains of Troy,
Loved of gods, immortal boy!
Still a stranger in the skies,
Ganymede in heaven sighs.”

--_Edith M. Thomas._

Jupiter was obliged to go in quest of another cup bearer to replace Hebe after she resigned her position. To facilitate this search, he assumed the form of an eagle and winged his flight over the earth. He had not flown far when he beheld Ganymede, a youth of marvelous beauty, alone on Mt. Ida. To swoop down, clutch him in his mighty talons and bear him safely off to Olympus, was the work of but a few moments. There the kidnapped youth, the son of the king of Troy, was carefully taught the duties he was called upon to perform.

INTERPRETATION.

Like Hebe, Ganymede personifies youth. Astronomers place him among the stars under the name of Aquarius. There is but little growth of mythical tradition about his personality.

ART.

This pleasing composition, referred by critics to the Alexandrian period, now in the Naples Museum, shows Ganymede standing by the side of the eagle and passing his arm about the bird’s neck. The eagle is placed on a stump so as to bring his head nearer to a level with the boy’s arm.

Cupid Stung.

“Cupid once upon a bed Of roses laid his weary head; Luckless urchin, not to see Within the leaves a slumbering bee. The bee awaked--with anger wild The bee awaked, and stung the child Loud and piteous are his cries; To Venus quick he runs, he flies; ‘Oh, mother--I am wounded through--I die with pain--in sooth I do! Stung by some little angry thing, Some serpent on a tiny wing--A bee it was--for once I know, I heard a rustic call it so.’ Thus he spoke, and she the while Heard him with a soothing smile; Then said, ‘My infant, if so much Thou feel the little wild-bee’s touch, How must the heart, ah, Cupid, be, The hapless heart that’s stung by thee!’”

--_Moore._ (_Anacreon._)

Cupid and Psyche.

“_Pallas shall sit enthroned in wisdom’s station
Cupid and Psyche be forever wed,
And still the primal loveliest creation
Yield new delight from ancient beauty bred._”

--E. C. STEDMAN.

STORY.

A FAIRY TALE.

“No dulcet sounds escaped her lyre
E’en when the summer nights were nigh;
Till Cupid came with glance of fire
And taught her all the mystery.”

--_Goethe._

Psyche was the youngest of three daughters of a king and by her beauty incurred the jealousy and envy of Venus, who commanded her son, Cupid, to slay her. Cupid prepared to obey the command, but became so stricken with Psyche’s beauty that he fell in love with her and sent a Zephyr to convey her to a splendid palace where he became her husband. He visited her, however, only when the shades of night fell and entreated her to make no attempt to discover his name or see his face, warning her that if she did he would be forced to leave her, never to return.

“Dear, I am with thee only while I keep
My visage hidden: and if thou once shouldst see
My face, I must forsake thee: the high gods
Link Love with Faith, and he withdraws himself
From the full gaze of Knowledge.”

--_Lewis Morris._

Psyche promised to respect his wishes and when the first faint streak of dawn appeared he bade her farewell to return at night.

“Now on broad pinions from the realms above
Descending, Cupid seeks the Cyprian grove;
To his wide arms enamoured Psyche springs
And clasps her lover with aurelian wings.
A purple sash across his shoulder bends
And fringed with gold his quivered shaft suspends.”

--_Darwin._

While the novelty of the situation lasted Psyche was happy, but soon her sisters came and filled her bosom with dark suspicions.

“They told her that he to whose vows she had listened
Through night’s fleeting hours was a spirit unblest;
Unholy the eyes that beside her had glistened
And evil the lips she in darkness had pressed.
When next in thy chamber the bridegroom reclineth
Bring near him thy lamp when in slumber he lies,
And when the light o’er his dark features shineth
Thou’ll see what a demon has won all thy sighs.”

--_Moore._

Psyche’s curiosity and suspicions overcame her discretion and accordingly when Cupid was asleep she took a lamp and, bending over him, beheld not a hideous monster, but the most beautiful of the gods. In the excitement of joy and fear, a drop of hot oil fell from the lamp upon his shoulder. He opened his eyes and fixed them full upon her, then spreading his white wings, flew away only stopping long enough to say:

“Farewell--what a dream thy suspicion hath broken!
Thus ever affection’s fond vision is crost.
Dissolved are her spells when a doubt is but spoken,
And love once disturbed forever is lost.”

--_Moore._

Psyche, disconsolate, wandered over the earth seeking her lover, and at length came to the palace of Venus. Venus retained her as a slave and imposed upon her the hardest and most humiliating labors. She would have perished but that Cupid, who still loved her in secret, invisibly comforted her. One day he found her asleep by the roadside with the marks of grief upon her lovely face. He softly kissed her and said:

“Dear, unclose thine eyes,
Thou mayst look on me now, I go no more,
But am thine own forever.”

--_Lewis Morris._

He bore her away to Mt. Olympus where their union was blessed by the gods.

“So now in steadfast love and happy state,
They hold for aye their mansion in the sky,
And send down heavenly peace on those who mate,
In virgin love, to find their joy thereby.”

--_Robert Bridges._

INTERPRETATION.

Cupid is an emblem of the heart. The Greek word for butterfly is Psyche and the same word means soul.

“The butterfly the ancient Grecians made
The soul’s fair emblem.”

--_Coleridge._

The purpose of the story is to illustrate the three stages in the existence of a soul--its pre-existence in a blessed state, its existence on earth, its trials and anguish, and its future state of happy immortality.

ART.

One of the most beautiful of the many representations of this fascinating story is Canova’s statue in the Louvre of Cupid awakening Psyche. We cannot fail to have an exalted conception of true beauty after gazing upon it. It has been said that no kiss in modern art is so ideal as the one here enjoyed. The youthful figures show grace of form combined with an exalted spirituality. Only a refined nature could have conceived the subject so purely.

Mercury.

“The Master Thief.”

“_By thy winged cap
And winged heels I know thee: thou art Hermes,
Captain of thieves! Hast thou again been stealing
heifers of Admetus in the sweet
Meadows of Asphodel?_”

--LONGFELLOW.

STORY.

THE THEFT.

Mercury was remarkable for his dexterity and cunning. On the day of his birth he stole the “immortal oxen” of Apollo and drove them off to a secluded spot where he concealed them. When Apollo missed his cattle he began to search for some clue to their hiding place or to the thief, but found nothing except a few broken limbs and scattered twigs.

Suddenly he remembered that the babe whose birth had been announced that morning in high Olympus, had been appointed god of thieves. He soon discovered the young rogue hidden away in his cradle. Mercury put on a pretty air of innocence and denied all knowledge of the cattle; but Apollo was not easily deceived. He took the thief to Jupiter, who ordered him to make restitution. Mercury gave his lyre to Apollo who presented him in return with the divining rod, which afterwards became the caduceus, and they were then the best of friends.

Although Mercury in his lowest aspects was an accomplished liar and cunning thief, he was at the same time a swift and trusted messenger of the gods, the fair youth of whom Homer speaks:

“Straightway beneath his feet he bound his fair golden sandals divine that bore him over the wet sea and o’er the boundless land with the breathings of the wind.”

Mercury, when commissioned by the “high thundering Zeus” to perform an errand much to his distaste, thus soliloquizes:

“Much must he toil who serves the Immortal Gods,
And I, who am their herald, most of all
No rest have I, nor respite. I no sooner
Unclasp the winged sandals from my feet,
Than I again must clasp them, and depart
Upon some foolish errand.”

--_Longfellow._

INTERPRETATION.

Apollo (sun) possessed great herds of cattle (clouds). Mercury (wind), born in the night, after a few hours’ existence waxes sufficiently strong to drive away the clouds and conceal them, leaving no trace of his passage except broken branches and scattered leaves. His swiftness, his strength and his persuasive powers make him an ideal messenger.

ART.

This charming composition by J. A. Delorme, in the Luxembourg, represents Mercury preparing to depart upon some errand for the gods. He is seated upon a rock in an easy, graceful attitude and is binding on his sandals while he seems to be deliberating upon the nature of the task he is about to perform. His limbs give an impression of strength combined with agility.

Mercury.

“_Foot-feathered Mercury appeared sublime
Beyond the tall tree-tops, and in less time
Than shoots the slanted hailstones down he dropt,
One moment from his home; only the sward
He with his wand light touched, and heavenward
Swifter than the flight was gone._”

--KEATS.

STORY.

THE INVENTOR.

Mercury was not only the swift messenger of the gods, but presided over commerce, wrestling and other gymnastic exercises, and was the giver of sweet sleep. To him was ascribed the invention of the lyre. He found one day a tortoise of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite edges, drew cords of linen through, and lo, the instrument was complete. The cords were nine in number in honor of the nine Muses.

“So there it lay, through wet and dry,
As empty as the last new sonnet,
Till by and by came Mercury,
And having mused upon it,
‘Why here,’ cried he, ‘the thing of things,
In shape, material and dimension,
Give it but strings and lo it sings,
A wonderful invention.’
So said, so done; the cords he strained
And as his fingers o’er them hovered,
The shell disdained a soul had gained,
The lyre had been discovered.
O empty world that round us lies,
Dead shell of soul and thought forsaken,
Brought we but eyes like Mercury’s,
In thee what songs would waken.”

--_Lowell._

INTERPRETATION.

Mercury was the wind, and the music he invented was the “melody of the winds which can awaken feelings of joy and sorrow, of regret and yearning, of fear and hope, of vehement gladness and of utter despair.”

ART.

Chapu has here shown Mercury as a beautiful, vigorous youth with two light wings quivering on his head and winged sandals on his feet, emblematic of his swiftness. He is touching the ground with his magic wand round which two serpents entwine themselves.

The statue is in the Luxembourg.

The Genius of Death.

“_This hour
Thou art the shadow of life, and as the tree
Stands in the sun and shadows all beneath,
So in the light of great eternity
Life eminent creates the shadow of death;
The shadow passeth when the tree shall fall,
But I shall reign forever over all._”

--TENNYSON.

STORY.

THANATOS.

Thanatos, or Mors, the god of Death and twin brother of Sleep dwelt in a dark cavern near the entrance to Tartarus. His office was to introduce all men to the subterranean abode and reveal to them its secrets. Occasionally he was followed with meekness and submission, but more often his approach was regarded with fear. He performed his task with such relentless severity that at the sight of his gloomy figure men’s hearts trembled and their minds were filled with awful thoughts.

ART.

The god of death has often been represented in art as a hideous, cadaverous looking deity, clad in a winding sheet and holding an hour glass and a scythe. We have a more attractive personification in Canova’s “Genius of Death,” a detail of the tomb of Clement XIII., in St. Peter’s, Rome.

The beautiful, pensive youth is sitting in a quiet, restful attitude holding an extinguished torch. The sleeping lion at his feet adds to the general air of repose.

The Graces.

“Goddesses of Gracefulness.”

“_The three on men all gracious gifts bestow
Which deck the body or adorn the mind,
To make them lovely or well favored show;
As comely carriage, entertainment kind,
Sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind
And all the compliments of courtesy;
They teach us how to each degree and kind
We should ourselves demean, to low, to high,
To friends, to foes; which skill men call Civility._”

--SPENSER.

STORY.

THREE CHARITIES.

Three sisters, Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia, in fair Venus’ train with the “rosy bosomed Hours,” were goddesses who enhanced the enjoyments of life by refinement and gentleness. They were young and modest maidens always dancing, singing or running, or decking themselves with flowers. Their home was on Mt. Olympus where they often danced before the deities. The Greeks believed that labor without gracefulness was in vain, and so Minerva, who presided over the serious business of life, often called in the aid of the Graces. They also assisted Mercury in his capacity of god of oratory.

INTERPRETATION.

The manifold beauty which the works of nature, especially in spring time, display would seem to have given rise in early times to a belief in the existence of certain goddesses at first simply as guardians of the vernal sweetness and beauty of nature, and afterward as the friends and protectors of everything graceful and beautiful. Purity and happiness in life and gratitude among men were associated with them. The name “Gratiæ,” or “Charites,” signifies the exercise of kind affection, or the charities of life.

ART.

These figures of the Graces by Canova, in the Borghese Gallery, Rome, are classic in outline and refined in treatment. They show not a trace of sensuality. Many artists have delighted in reproducing this type of the Graces.

Pan.

“_Who weeps the death of Pan? Pan is not dead,
But loves the shepherds still; still leads the fauns
In merry dances o’er the grassy lawns,
To his own pipes; ...
Pan cannot die till Nature’s decease!
Full oft the reverent worshiper descries
His ruddy face and mischief-glancing eyes
Beneath the branches of old forest trees
That tower remote from steps of worldly men,
Or hear his laugh far echoing down the glen._”

--J. G. SAXE.

STORY.

AN ARCADIAN GOD.

Pan was god of the woods and fields, flocks and shepherds, and his favorite residence was Arcadia. He was fond of music and led the dances of the Hours and Graces.

The story goes that a coy nymph whom he loved and endeavored to gain was changed into a reed which he cut and fashioned into the Syrinx or Pan’s pipe. With this he charmed trees and flowers as well as men and animals.

“Mad with love, and laden
With immortal pain,
Pan pursued a maiden--
Pan, the god, in vain.

For when Pan had nearly
Touched her wild to plead,
She was gone--and clearly
In her place a reed!

Long the God unwilling
Through the valley strayed,
Then at last submitting,
Cut the reed and made,

Deftly fashioned seven
Pipes, and poured his pain
Unto earth and heaven
In a piercing strain.”

--_Archibald Lampman._

Although Pan had a pleasant, cheerful face, he was curiously formed, having a man’s body and a goat’s legs and feet. He was supposed to delight in inspiring people with sudden and unfounded fears--hence the word _panic_.

INTERPRETATION.

The character of Pan was symbolic of Nature; the music of his pipes was the gentle, intermittent breeze.

The lower part of his body was that of a goat on account of the rough and rocky nature of his favorite haunts. His leaf-shaped ears--terminating in little peaks like those of some animals--indicate his wild, forest nature.

ART.

The face and figure of Pan as displayed in this statue by Fremiet, in the Luxembourg, give an idea of an easy, amiable creature. It is impossible to gaze long at it without conceiving a kindly sentiment towards it. The nose is almost straight, but curves inward slightly, giving the face a good-humored charm. The mouth seems so nearly to smile outright that one involuntarily smiles in return.

Hope.

“_Oh, may she never,
Till life’s lamp is quenched,
Turn away from me--
That noble reciter,
Comforter--Hope._”

--GOETHE.

STORY.

THE PAGAN EVE.

“Dowered with all celestial gifts,
Skilled in every art
That ennobles and uplifts
And delights the heart,
Fair on earth shall be thy fame
As thy face is fair,
And Pandora be the name
Thou henceforth shalt bear.”

--_Longfellow._

To Prometheus, a giant who first inhabited the earth, was attributed the creation of man.

“Prometheus first transmuted
Atoms culled from human clay.”

--_Horace._

It is also said that he stole fire from heaven and so cleverly used it for the benefit of humanity that it finally gave man dominion over all the earth.

“Beautiful is the tradition
Of that flight through heavenly portals,
The old classic superstition
Of the theft and the transmission
Of the fire of the Immortals.”

--_Longfellow._

Jupiter so grudged fire to mortals that he became furious with anger and in revenge ordered Vulcan to fashion a woman out of clay and send her to man to bring misery upon him.

“The crippled artist god,
Illustrious, moulded from the yielding clay
A bashful virgin’s image, as advised
Saturnian Jove.”

--_Hesiod._

The woman was named Pandora and on her were bestowed all the charms and weaknesses of human nature. Mercury led her to Epimetheus who, though warned by his brother Prometheus not to accept any gifts from the gods, succumbed at once to her beauty and made her his wife. He conveyed her to his home, where all went merrily until Pandora discovered a box hidden away in her husband’s house. She was seized with a curiosity to know its contents, but Epimetheus forbade her to meddle with it.

“Yon mysterious chest
Attracts and fascinates me. Would I knew
What there lies hidden! but the oracle forbids.”

--_Longfellow._

The allurement proved too great, however. Stealthily she raised the lid to take a peep within and lo, out flew a multitude of plagues and scattered themselves over the earth to forever torment hapless man with diseases, vices and crimes. All that remained was Hope. After many entreaties she came forth to heal the wounds inflicted by her former fellow prisoners. “Thus entered evil into the world bringing untold misery: thus followed Hope to point to a happier future.”

INTERPRETATION.

The progress of civilization is symbolized by fire and its adaptation to the uses of mankind.

Prometheus means forethought or Providence; Epimetheus afterthought. To be wise after an event is often to be wise too late. The temptation of Epimetheus came in the form of Pandora (all gifts), and was too fascinating to be resisted.

Diseases and evils can do no harm until they are let loose.

ART.

Thorwaldsen possessed in a remarkable degree the genuine antique spirit and in this figure of Hope he has embodied the calm simplicity and cheerful repose which make the key note of the best Greek sculpture. There is about it a noble charm which seems to be a reflex of an inward purity. The smile Hope wears is delicately expressive of her name.

Suggestive Readings.

_Jupiter_

Olympian Gods. W. E. Gladstone, _N. A. Review_, April, 1892.
Epic of Hades. Wm. Morris.
Jupiter and Danaë. J. G. Saxe.
Jove to Hercules. Schiller.

_Juno_

Hymn of Terpander to Juno. Landor.
Marble Faun, Chap. I. Hawthorne.

_Apollo Belvedere_

Apollo and the Fates. R. Browning.
Fable for Critics. Lowell.
Apollo. E. C. Stedman.
Apollo Pythias. R. W. Dixon.
The Sun’s Darling. Dekker.

_Niobe_

Songs Unsung. Morris.
Childe Harold. Byron.
Daphne and Other Poems. Tennyson.

_Mars_

Secular Masque. Dryden.
Faery Queen. Spenser.

_Laocoon_

Laocoon. Lessing.
Laocoon. James Sadolet.

_Venus_

Birth of Venus, New Symbols. Hake.
Venus Victrix. D. G. Rossetti.
Venus and Vulcan. J. D. Saxe.

_Hercules_

Hercules Spinning. J. D. Saxe.
Jove to Hercules. Schiller.

_Neptune_

Song of the Sirens. Lowell.
Hymn in Praise of Neptune. Campion.

_Three Fates_

Parcæ. T. B. Aldrich.

_Meleager_

Death of Meleager. Swinburne.

_Muses_

Prayer to the Muses. E. Arnold.
Spring. Pope.

_Diana_

Hymn of the Priestess, Diana.
To Artemis. A. Lang.
Endymion. Longfellow.

_Ariadne_

How Bacchus finds Ariadne. E. B. Browning.
Hanging of the Crane. Longfellow.

_Minerva_

Queen of the Air. Ruskin.
On an Intaglio Head of Minerva. T. B. Aldrich.

_Orpheus_

Orpheus: A Masque. Mrs. Jas. T. Fields.
Orpheus. Shelley.
Waking of Eurydice. Gosse.

_Daphne_

Daphne. Swift.
Daphne. Tennyson.

_Proserpine_

The Search for Proserpine. R. H. Stoddard.
The Appeasement of Demeter. Geo. Meredith.

_Cupid and Psyche_

Marius the Epicurean. Walter Pater.
Eros and Psyche. Dr. Paul Carus.
Marriage of Cupid and Psyche. E. B. Browning.

_Cupid_

Cupid’s Birth. _Cosmopolitan_, XX., 189.
Death and Cupid. J. G. Saxe.
Cupid Stung. E. Arnold.

_Perseus_

Wonder Book--Gorgon Head. Hawthorne.

_Bacchus_

Bacchus.
Bacchus--Poems. Emerson.
Praise of Dionysus. Gosse.
Dionysus--Greek Studies. Walter Pater.

_Hebe_

Hebe. Lowell.
Fall of Hebe. Moore.

_Ganymede_

Palace of Art. Tennyson.

_Mercury_

Mercury. Boyesen.
Phœbus and Hermes. Goethe.

_Pan_

The Dead Pan. E. B. Browning.
Pan in Love. W. W. Story.
Pan and Pitys. Landor.

Bibliography.

Books recommended should further study be desired:

Studies of the Gods in Greece. Dyer.
Juventus Mundi. Gladstone.
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome. Berens.
Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece. Blackie.
Manual of Mythology in its Relation to Greek Art. Collignon.
Manual of Mythology. Cox.
Classic Myths. Gayley.
History of Sculpture. Lübke.
Age of Fable; or Beauties of Mythology. Bulfinch.
Handbook of Greek Sculpture. Gardner.
Studies in Greek Art. Harrison.
Greek Studies. Pater.
Myths of Old Greece, I., II., III. Pratt.

Synonymous Deities.

_Greek._ _Roman._
Zeus (zūs) Jupiter (jö´pi-ter)
Hera (hē´rä) Juno (jö´nō)
Ares (ā´rēz) Mars (märz)
Aphrodite (af-rō-dī´tē) Venus (vē´nus)
Artemis (är´tē-mis) Diana (dī-an´ä)
Athene (a-thē´nē) Minerva (mi-ner´vä)
Demeter (de-mē´ter) Ceres (sē´rēz)
Dionysus (dī-ō-nī´sus) Bacchus (bak´us)
Eros (ē´ros) Cupid (kū´pid)
Hades (hā´dēz) Pluto (plö´tō)
Hephæstus (he-fes´tus) Vulcan (vul´kan)
Hermes (her´mēz) Mercury (mer-kū-ri)
Leto (lē´to) Latona (lā-tō´nä)
Nike (nī´-kē) Victoria (vik-tō´ri-ä)
Persephone (per-sef´ō-nē) Proserpine (pros´er-pin)
Poseidon (pō-sī´don) Neptune (nep´tūn)

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s note:

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unpaired quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unpaired.

Page 63: “unparalleled” was printed as “unparalled”; corrected here.

Page 73: The poem attributed to Ben Johnson was written by John Keates, and differs from standard versions of the poem.

Page 167: “Hephæstus” was printed without the “t”, but the pronunciation was printed with it.