Chapter II: Part 2

When the boy spoke in this way, Astyages knew him at once. For the features of the face appeared to him as his own, and the answer was that of a highborn youth; furthermore, it seemed to him that the time of the exposure agreed with the boy’s age. This smote his heart, and he remained speechless for a while. Hardly had he regained control over himself, when he spoke to get rid of Artembares, so as to be able to question the cattle herder without witnesses. “My dear Artembares,” he said, “I shall take care that neither thou nor thy son shall have cause for complaint.” Thus he dismissed Artembares. Kyros, however, was led into the palace by the servants, on the command of Astyages, and the cattle herder had to stay behind. When he was all alone with him Astyages questioned him whence he had obtained the boy, and who had given the child into his hands. But the herder said that he was his own son, and that the woman who had borne him was living with him. Astyages remarked that he was very unwise, to look out for most cruel tortures, and he beckoned the sword bearers to take hold of him. As he was being led to torture, the herder confessed the whole story, from beginning to end, the entire truth, finally beginning to beg and implore forgiveness and pardon. Meanwhile Astyages was not so incensed against the herder, who had revealed to him the truth, as against Harpagos; he ordered the sword bearers to summon him, and when Harpagos stood before him, Astyages asked him as follows: “My dear Harpagos, in what fashion hast thou taken the life of my daughter’s son, whom I once delivered over to thee?” Seeing the cattle herder standing near, Harpagos did not resort to untruthfulness, for fear that he would be refuted at once, and so he proceeded to tell the truth. Astyages concealed the anger which he had aroused in him, and first told him what he had learned from the herder; then he mentioned that the boy was still living, and that everything had turned out all right. He said that he had greatly regretted what he had done to the child, and that his daughter’s reproaches had pierced his soul. “But as everything has ended so well, send thy son to greet the newcomer, and then come to eat with me, for I am ready to prepare a feast in honor of the Gods who have brought all this about.”

When Harpagos heard this, he prostrated himself on the ground before the king, and praised himself for his error having turned out well, and for being invited to the king’s table, in commemoration of a happy event. So he went home, and when he arrived there, he at once sent off his only son, a boy of about thirteen years, telling him to go to Astyages, and to do as he was bid. Then Harpagos joyfully told his wife what had befallen him. But Astyages butchered the son of Harpagos when he came, cut him to pieces, and roasted the flesh in part; another portion of the flesh was cooked, and when everything was prepared he kept it in readiness. When the hour of the meal had come, Harpagos and the other guests arrived. A table with sheep’s meat was arranged in front of Astyages and the others, but Harpagos was served with his own son’s flesh, without the head, and without the choppings of hands and feet, but with everything else. These parts were kept hidden in a basket. When Harpagos seemed to have taken his fill, Astyages asked him if the meat had tasted good to him, and when Harpagos answered that he had enjoyed it, the servants, who had been ordered to do so, brought in his own son’s covered head, with the hands and feet, stepped up to Harpagos, and told him to uncover and take what he desired. Harpagos did so, uncovered the basket, and saw the remnants of his son. When he saw this, he did not give way to his horror, but controlled himself. Astyages then asked him if he knew of what game he had eaten; and he replied that he knew it very well, and that whatever the king did was well done. Thus he spoke, took the flesh that remained, and went home with it, where he probably meant to bury it together.

This was the revenge of Astyages upon Harpagos. Concerning Kyros, he took counsel, and summoned the same magicians who had explained his dream, then he asked them how they had at one time interpreted his vision in a dream. But they said that the boy must become a king, if he remained alive, and did not die prematurely. Astyages made reply: “The boy is alive, and is here, and as he was staying in the country, the boys of the village elected him for their king. But he did everything like the real kings, for he ordained to himself as the master, sword bearers, gate keepers, messengers, and everything. How do you mean to interpret this?” The magicians made reply: “If the boy is alive, and has been made king without the help of anyone, thou canst be at ease so far as he is concerned, and be of good cheer, for he will not again be made a king. Already several prophecies of ours have applied to insignificant trifles, and what rests upon dreams is apt to be vain.” Astyages made reply: “Ye sorcerers, I am entirely of your opinion that the dream has been fulfilled when the boy was king in name, and that I have nothing more to fear from him. Yet counsel me carefully as to what is safest for my house and for yourselves.” Then the magicians said: “Send the boy away, that he may get out of thy sight, send him to the land of the Persians, to his parents.” When Astyages had heard this, he was greatly pleased. He sent for Kyros, and said to him: “My son, I have wronged thee greatly, misled by a deceitful dream, but thy good fortune has saved thee. Now go cheerfully to the land of the Persians; I shall give thee safe conduct. There wilt thou find a very different father, and a very different mother than the herders, Mithradates and his wife.” Thus spake Astyages, and Kyros was sent away. When he arrived in the house of Kambyses, his parents received him with great joy when they learned who he was, for they believed him to have perished at that time, and they desired to know how he had been preserved. He told them that he had believed himself to be the son of the cattle herder, but had learned everything on the way from the companions whom Astyages had sent with him. He related that the cattle herder’s wife had saved him, and praised her throughout. The bitch (Spako) played the principal part in his conversation. The parents took hold of this name, so that the preservation of the child might appear still more wonderful, and thus was laid the foundation of the myth that the exposed Kyros was nursed by a bitch.

Later on, Kyros, on the instigation of Harpagos, stirred up the Persians against the Medes. War was declared, and Kyros, at the head of the Persians, conquered the Medes in battle. Astyages was taken a prisoner alive, but Kyros did not harm him, but kept him with him until his end. Herodotus’s report concludes with the words: “But from that time on the Persians and Kyros reigned over Asia. Thus was Kyros born and raised, and made a king.”

The report of Pompeius Trogus is preserved only in the extract by Justinus.[46] Astyages had a daughter but no male heir. In his dream he saw a vine grow forth from her lap, the sprouts of which overshadowed all Asia. The dream interpreters declared that the vision signified the magnitude of his grandson, whom his daughter was to bear; but also his own loss of his dominions. In order to banish this dread, Astyages gave his daughter in marriage neither to a prominent man, nor to a Mede, so that his grandson’s mind might not be uplifted by the paternal estate besides the maternal; but he married her to Kambyses, a middle-class man from the then unknown people of the Persians. But this was not enough to banish the fears of Astyages, and he summoned his pregnant daughter, in order to have her infant destroyed before his eyes. When a boy had been born, he gave him to Harpagos, his friend and confidant, to kill him. For fear that the daughter of Astyages would take revenge upon him for the death of her boy, when she came to reign after her father’s death, he delivered the boy to the king’s herder for exposure. At the same time when Kyros was born, a son happened to be born also to the herder. When his wife learned that the king’s child had been exposed, she urgently prayed for it to be brought to her, that she might look at it. Moved by her entreaties, the herder returned to the woods. There he found a bitch standing beside the child, giving it her teats, and keeping the beasts and birds away from it. At this aspect he was filled with the same compassion as the bitch; so that he picked up the boy and carried him home, the bitch following him in great distress. When his wife took the boy in her arms, he smiled at her as if he already knew her; and as he was very strong, and ingratiated himself with her by his pleasant smile, she voluntarily begged the herder to (expose her own child instead and)[47] permit her to raise the boy; be it that she was interested in his welfare, or that she placed her hopes on him. Thus the two boys had to exchange fates; one was raised in place of the herder’s child, while the other was exposed instead of the grandson of the king.

The sequel of this apparently more primitive report agrees essentially with the relation of Herodotus.

An altogether different version of the Kyros myth is extant in the report of a contemporary of Herodotus, Ktesias, the original of which has been lost, but is replaced by a fragment of Nikolaos of Damaskos.[48] This fragment from Nikolaos summarizes the narrative of Ktesias, which comprised more than an entire book in his Persian history. Astyages is said to have been the worthiest king of the Medes, after Abakes. Under his rule occurred the great transmutation through which the rulership passed from the Medes to the Persians, through the following cause: The Medes had a law that a poor man who went to a rich man for his support, and surrendered himself to him, had to be fed and clothed and kept like a slave by the rich man, or in case the latter refused to do so, the poor man was at liberty to go elsewhere. In this way a boy by name of Kyros, a Mard by birth, came to the king’s servant who was at the head of the palace sweepers. Kyros was the son of Atradates, whose poverty made him live as a robber, and whose wife, Argoste, Kyros’ mother, made her living by tending the goats. Kyros surrendered himself for the sake of his daily bread, and helped to clean the palace. As he was diligent, the foreman gave him better clothing, and advanced him from the outside sweepers to those who cleaned the interior of the king’s palace, placing him under their superintendent. This man was severe, however, and often whipped Kyros. He left him and went to the lamp-lighter, who liked Kyros, and approached him to the king, by placing him among the royal torch bearers. As Kyros distinguished himself also in his new position, he came to Artembares, who was at the head of the cup bearers, and himself presented the cup to the king. Artembares gladly accepted Kyros, and bade him pour the wine for the guests at the king’s table. Not long afterwards, Astyages noticed the dexterity and nimbleness of Kyros’ service, and his graceful presentation of the wine cup, so that he asked of Artembares whence this youth had come who was so skillful a cup bearer. “O Lord,” spake he, “this boy is thy slave, of Persian parentage, from the tribe of the Mards, who has surrendered himself to me to make a living.” Artembares was old, and once on being attacked by a fever, he prayed the king to let him stay at home until he had recovered. “In my stead, the youth whom thou hast praised will pour the wine, and if he should please thee, the king, as a cup bearer, _I, who am an eunuch, will adopt him as my son_.” Astyages consented, but the other confided in many ways in Kyros _as in a son_. Kyros thus stood at the king’s side, and poured his wine by day and by night, showing great ability and cleverness. Astyages conferred upon him the income of Artembares, as if he had been his son, adding many presents, and Kyros became a great man whose name was heard everywhere.

Astyages had a very noble and beautiful daughter,[49] whom he gave to the Mede Spitamas, adding all Media as her dowry. Then Kyros sent for his father and mother, in the land of the Medes, and they rejoiced in the good fortune of their son, and _his mother told him the dream which she had at the time that she was bearing him_, while asleep in the sanctuary as she was tending the goats. _So much water passed away from her that it became as a large stream, inundating all Asia, and flowing as far as the sea_. When the father heard this, he ordered the dream to be placed before the Chaldeans in Babylon. Kyros summoned the wisest among them, and communicated the dream to him. He declared that the dream foretold great good fortune to Kyros, and _the highest dignity in Asia_; but Astyages must not learn of it, “for else he would disgracefully kill thee, as well as myself the interpreter,” said the Babylonian. They swore to each other to tell no one of this great and incomparable vision. _Kyros later on rose to still higher dignities, created his father a Satrap of Persia, and raised his mother to the highest rank and possessions among the Persian women._ But when the Babylonian was killed soon afterwards by Oebares, the confidant of Kyros, his wife betrayed the fateful dream to the king, when she learned of Kyros’ expedition to Persia, which he had undertaken in preparation of the revolt. The king sent his horsemen after Kyros, with the command to deliver him dead or alive. But Kyros escaped them by a ruse. Finally a combat took place, terminating in the defeat of the Medes. Kyros also conquered Egbatana, and here the daughter of Astyages and her husband Spitamas, with their two sons, were taken prisoners. But Astyages himself could not be found, for Amytis and Spitamas had concealed him in the palace, under the rafters of the roof. Kyros then ordered that Amytis, her husband, and the children should be tortured until they revealed the hiding place of Astyages, but he came out voluntarily, that his relatives might not be tortured on his account. _Kyros commanded the execution of Spitamas_, because he had lied in affirming to be in ignorance of Astyages’ hiding place; _but Amytis became the wife of Kyros. He removed the fetters of Astyages_, with which Oebares had bound him, _honored him as a father_, and made him a Satrap of the Barkanians.

A great similarity to Herodotus’ version of the Kyros myth is found in the early history of the Iranese royal hero, Kaikhosrav, as related by _Firdusi_, in the Sâh-nâme. This myth is most extensively rendered by Spiegel (Eranische Altertumskunde, I, 581 et seq.). During the warfare of King Kaikaus of Baktria and Iran, against King Afrâsiâb of Turan, _Kaikaus fell out with his son, Siâvaksh_, who applied to Afrâsiâb for protection and assistance. He was kindly received by Afrâsiâb, who gave him his daughter Feringis to wife, on the persuasion of his Wesir, Pirân, _although he had received the prophecy that the son to be born of this union would bring great misfortune upon him_. Garsevaz, the king’s brother, and a near relative of Siâvaksh, calumniates the son-in-law, and Afrâsiâb leads an army against him. _Before the birth of his son, Siâvaksh is warned by a dream, which foretold destruction and death to himself, but royalty to his offspring._ He therefore flies from Afrâsiâb, but is taken prisoner and killed, on the command of the Sâh. His wife, who is pregnant, is saved by Pirân from the hands of the murderers. On condition of announcing at once the delivery of Feringis to the king, Pirân is granted permission to keep her in his house. The shade of the murdered Siâvaksh once comes to him in a dream, and tells him that an avenger has been born, and Pirân actually finds in the room of Feringis a newborn boy, whom he names Kaikhosrav. Afrâsiâb no longer insisted upon the killing of the boy, but he ordered Pirân _to surrender the child with a nurse to the herders, who were to raise him in ignorance of his origin_. But his royal descent is promptly revealed in his courage and his demeanor; and as Pirân takes the boy back into his home, Afrâsiâb becomes distrustful, and orders the boy to be led before him. Instructed by Pirân, Kaikhosvrav plays the fool,[50] and reassured as to his harmlessness, the Sâh dismisses him to his mother, Feringis. Finally, Kaikhosvrav is crowned as king by his grandfather, Kaikaus. After prolonged, complicated, and tedious combats, Afrâsiâb is at last taken prisoner, with divine assistance. Kaikhosvrav strikes his head off, and also causes Garsivaz to be decapitated.

A certain resemblance, although more remote, to the preceding saga, is presented by the Iranese myth of Feridun, as told by Firdusi in his “Persian Hero-Myths” (translated by Schack). _Zohâk,[51] the king of Iran, once sees in a dream three men of royal tribe._ Two of them are bent with age, but between them is a _younger man_ who holds a club, with a bull’s head, in his right hand; this man steps up to him, and _fells him with his club to the ground_. The dream interpreters declared to the king that the young hero who will dethrone him is Feridun, a scion of the tribe of Dschemschid. Zohâk at once sets out to look for the tracks of his dreaded enemy. Feridun is the son of Abtin, a grandson of Dschemschid. His father hides from the pursuit of the tyrant, but he is seized and killed. Feridun himself, a boy of tender age, _is saved by his mother Firânek, who escapes with him and entrusts him to the care of the guardian of a distant forest. Here he is suckled by the cow Purmâje._ For three years he remains in this place, but then his mother no longer believes him safe, and she carries him to a hermit on the mountain Alburs. Soon afterwards Zohâk comes to the forest, and kills the guardian as well as the cow.

When Feridun was sixteen years old, he came down from Mount Alburs, learned of his origin through his mother, and swore to avenge the death of his father and of his nurse. On the expedition against Zohâk he is accompanied by his two older brothers, Purmâje and Kayânuseh. He orders a club to be forged for his use, and ornaments it with the bull’s head, in memory of his foster mother the cow. With this club he smites Zohâk, as foretold by the dream.

TRISTAN

The argument of the Feridun story is pursued in the Tristan saga, as related in the epic poem by Gottfried of Strassburg. This is especially evident in the prologue of the Tristan-saga, which is repeated later on in the adventures of the hero himself (duplication). Riwalin, king in the land of the Parmenians, in an expedition to the court of Marke, king of Kurnewal and England, had become acquainted with the latter’s beautiful sister, Blancheflure, and his heart was aflame with love for her. While assisting Marke in a campaign, Riwalin was mortally wounded and was carried to Tintajole. Blancheflure, _disguised as a beggar maid_, hastened to his sick bed, and her devoted love saved the king’s life. She fled with her lover to his native land (obstacles) and was there proclaimed as his consort. But Morgan attacked Riwalin’s country, for the sake of Blancheflure, whom the king entrusted to his _faithful retainer_ Rual, because she was carrying a child. Rual placed the queen for safekeeping in the castle of Kaneel. Here _she gave birth to a son and died, while her husband fell in the battle against Morgan. In order to protect the king’s offspring from Morgan’s pursuits_, Rual spread the rumor that the infant had been born dead. The boy was named Tristan, because he had been conceived and born in sorrow. Under the care of his _foster-parents_, Tristan grew up, equally straight in body and mind, until his fourteenth year, when he was kidnapped by Norwegian merchants, who put him ashore in Kurnewal, because they feared the wrath of the gods. Here the boy was found by the _soldiers of King Marke_, who was so well pleased with the brave and handsome youth that he promptly made him his master of the chase (career), and held him in great affection. Meanwhile, faithful Rual had set forth to seek his abducted foster son, whom he found at last in Kurnewal, where Rual had come begging his way. Rual _revealed Tristan’s descent_ to the king, who was delighted to see in him the son of his beloved sister, and raised him to the rank of a knight. In order to _avenge his father_, Tristan proceeded with Rual to Parmenia, vanquished Morgan, the usurper, and gave the country to Rual as a liege, while he himself returned to his uncle Marke. (After Chop: Erläuterungen zu Wagner’s Tristan, Reclam Bibl.)

The actual Tristan saga goes on with a repetition of the principal themes. In the service of Marke, Tristan kills Morald, the bridegroom of Isolde, and being wounded unto death, he is saved by Isolde. He asks her hand in marriage, for his uncle Marke, fulfils the condition of killing a dragon, and she follows him reluctantly to Kurnewal, where they travel by ship. On the journey they partake unwittingly of the disastrous love potion, which binds them together in frenzied passion. They betray the king, Marke, and on the wedding night Isolde’s faithful serving maid, Brangäne, represents the queen, and sacrifices her virginity to the king. Next follows the banishment of Tristan, his several attempts to regain his beloved, although he had meanwhile married Isolde Whitehand, who resembled her. At last he is again wounded unto death, and Isolde arrives too late to save him.[52]

A plainer version of the Tristan-saga, in the sense of the characteristic features of the myth of the birth of the hero, is found in the fairy tale, “The True Bride,” quoted by Riklin (“Wunscherfüllung und Symbolik im Märchen,” p. 56)[53] from Rittershaus’ collection of fairy tales (XXVII, p. 113). A royal pair have no children. The king having threatened to kill his wife, unless she bears a child by the time of his return from his sea-voyage, she is brought to him during his journey, by his zealous maid-servant, as the fairest of three promenading ladies, and he takes her into his tent without recognizing her.[54] She returns home without having been discovered, gives birth to a daughter, Isol, and dies. Isol later on finds a most beautiful little boy in a box by the seaside, whose name is Tristram, and she raises him to become engaged to him. The subsequent story, which contains the motive of the true bride, is noteworthy for present purposes only in as far as here again occur the draught of oblivion, and two Isoldes. The king’s second wife gives a potion to Tristram, which causes him to forget the fair Isol entirely, so that he wishes to marry the black Isota. Ultimately he discovers the deception, however, and becomes united with Isol.

ROMULUS.

The original version of the story of Romulus and Remus, as told by the most ancient Roman annalist, Fabius Pictor, is rendered as follows by Mommsen.[55] “_The twins_ borne by Ilia, daughter of the preceding king Numitor, _from the embrace of the war god Mars were condemned by King Amulius, the present ruler of Alba, to be cast into the river_. The king’s servants took the children and carried them from Alba as far as the Tiber on the Palatine Hill; but when they tried to descend the hill to the river, to carry out the command, they found that the river had risen, and they were unable to reach its bed. The tub with the children was therefore thrust by them into the shallow water at the shore. _It floated_ for a while; _but the water promptly receded_, and _knocking against a stone, the tub capsized_, and the screaming infants were upset into the river mud. _They were heard by a she-wolf who had just brought forth and had her udders full of milk; she came and gave her teats to the boys, to nurse them_, and as they were drinking she licked them clean with her tongue. Above them flew a woodpecker, which guarded the children, and also carried food to them. The father was providing for his sons: for the wolf and the woodpecker are animals consecrated to father Mars. This was seen by one of the royal herdsmen, who was driving his pigs back to the pasture from which the water had receded. Startled by the spectacle, he summoned his mates, who found the she-wolf attending like a mother to the children, and the children treated her as their mother. The men made a loud noise to scare the animal away; but the wolf was not afraid; she left the children, but not from fear; slowly, without heeding the herdsmen, she disappeared into the wilderness of the forest, at the holy site of Faunus, where the water gushes from a gully of the mountain. Meanwhile the men picked up the boys and carried them to the chief swineherd of the king, Faustulus, for they believed that the gods did not wish the children to perish. _But the wife of Faustulus had just given birth to a dead child, and was full of sorrow. Her husband gave her the twins, and she nursed them; the couple raised the children, and named them Romulus and Remus._ After Rome had been founded, later on, King Romulus built himself a house not far from the place where his tub had stood. The gully in which the she-wolf had disappeared has been known since that time as the Wolf’s Gully, the Lupercal. The image in ore of the she-wolf with the twins[56] was subsequently erected at this spot, and the she-wolf herself, the Lupa, was worshipped by the Romans as a divinity.

The Romulus saga later on underwent manifold transmutations, mutilations, additions, and interpretations.[57] It is best known in the form transmitted by Livy (I, 3 et seq.), where we learn something about the antecedents and subsequent fate of the twins.

King Proca bequeaths the royal dignity to his first born son Numitor. But his _younger brother, Amulius, pushes him from the throne_, and becomes king himself. So that no scion from Numitor’s family may arise, as the avenger, he kills the male descendants of his brother. _Rea Silvia, the daughter, he elects as a vestal, and thus deprives her of the hope of progeny, through perpetual virginity_ as enjoined upon her under the semblance of a most honorable distinction. But the vestal maiden was overcome by violence, and having _brought forth twins_, she named _Mars_ as the _father of her illegitimate offspring_, be it from conviction, or because a god appeared more creditable to her as the perpetrator of the crime.

The narrative of the exposure in the Tiber goes on as follows: The saga relates that the floating tub, in which the boys had been exposed, was left on dry land by the receding waters, and that a thirsty wolf, attracted from the neighbouring mountains by the children’s cries, offered them her teats. The boys are said to have been found by the chief royal herder, supposedly named Faustulus, who took them to the homestead of his wife, Larentia, where they were raised. Some believe that Larentia was called Lupa, a she-wolf, by the herders, because she offered her body, and that this was the origin of the wonderful saga.

Grown to manhood, the youths Romulus and Remus protect the herds against the attacks of wild animals and robbers. One day Remus is taken prisoner by the robbers, who accuse him of having stolen Numitor’s flocks. But Numitor, to whom he is surrendered for punishment, was touched by his tender age, and when he learned of the twin brothers, he suspected that they might be his exposed grandsons. While he was anxiously pondering the resemblance with the features of his daughter, and the boy’s age as corresponding to the time of the exposure, Faustulus arrived with Romulus, and a conspiracy was hatched, when the descent of the boys had been learned from the herders. The youths armed themselves for vengeance, while Numitor took up weapons to defend his claim to the throne he had usurped. After _Amulius had been assassinated_, Numitor was re-instituted as the ruler, and the youths resolved to found a city in the region where they had been exposed and brought up. A furious dispute arose upon the question which brother was to be the ruler of the newly erected city, for neither twin was favored by the right of primogeniture, and the outcome of the bird oracle was equally doubtful. The saga relates that Remus jumped over the new wall, to deride his twin, and _Romulus became so much enraged that he slew his brother_. Romulus then usurped the sole mastery, and the city was named Rome after him.

The Roman tale of Romulus and Remus has a close counterpart in the Greek myth of a city foundation by the twin brothers Amphion and Zethos, who were the first to found the site of Thebes of the Seven Gates. The enormous rocks which Zethos brought from the mountains were joined by the music drawn from Amphion’s lute strings to form the walls which became so famous later on. Amphion and Zethos passed as _the children of Zeus and Antiope_, daughter of King Nykteus. She escaped by flight from the punishment of her father, who died of grief; on his death bed he implored _his brother and successor on the throne, Lykos_, to punish the wrongdoing of Antiope. Meantime she had married Epopeus, the king of Sikyon, who was killed by Lykos. Antiope was led away by him in fetters. She gave birth to twin sons in the Kithairon, where she left them. A shepherd raised the boys and called them Amphion and Zethos. Later on, Antiope succeeded in escaping from the torments of Lykos and his wife, Dirke. She accidentally sought shelter in the Kithairon, with the twin brothers, now grown up. The shepherd reveals to the youths the fact that Antiope is their mother. Thereupon they cruelly kill Dirke, and deprive Lykos of the rulership.

The remaining twin sagas,[58] which are extremely numerous, cannot be discussed in detail in this connection. Possibly they represent a complication of the birth myth by another very ancient and widely distributed myth complex, that of the hostile brothers, the detailed discussion of which belongs elsewhere. The apparently late and secondary character of the twin type in the birth myths justifies the separation of this part of mythology from the present theme. As regards the Romulus saga, Mommsen[59] renders it highly probable that it originally told only of Romulus, while the figure of Remus was added subsequently, and somewhat disjointedly, when it became desirable to invest the consulate with a solemnity founded on the old tradition.

HERCULES[60]

After the loss of his numerous sons, Elektryon betroths his daughter, Alkmene, to Amphitryon, the son of his brother, Alkäos. However, Amphitryon, through an unfortunate accident, causes the death of Elektryon, and escapes to Thebes with his affianced bride. He has not enjoyed her love, for she has solemnly pledged him not to touch her until he has avenged her brothers on the Thebans. An expedition is therefore started by him, from Thebes, and he conquers the king of the hostile people, Pterelaos, with all the islands. As he is returning to Thebes, Zeus in the form of Amphitryon[61] betakes himself to Alkmene, to whom he presents a golden goblet as evidence of victory. He rests with the beauteous maiden during three nights, according to the later poets, holding back the sun one day. In the same night, Amphitryon arrives, exultant in his victory and aflame with love. In the fulness of time, the fruit of the divine and the human embrace[62] is brought forth and Zeus announces to the gods his son, as the most powerful ruler of the future. But his jealous spouse, Hera, knows how to obtain from him the pernicious oath, that the first-born grandson of Perseus is to be the ruler of all the other descendants of Perseus. Hera hurries to Mykene, to deliver the wife of the third Perside, Sthenelos, of the seven months child, Eurystheus. At the same time she hinders and endangers the confinement of Alkmene, through all sorts of wicked sorcery, precisely as at the birth of the god of light, Apollo. Alkmene finally gives birth to Herakles and Iphikles, the latter in no way the former’s equal in courage or in strength, but destined to become the father of his faithful friend, Iolaos.[63] In this way Eurystheus became the king in Mykene, in the land of the Argivians, in conformity with the oath of Zeus, and the after born Herakles was his subject.

The old legend related the raising of Herakles on the strength giving waters of the Dirke, the nourishment of all Theban children. Later on, however, another version arose. Fearing the jealousy of Hera, Alkmene _exposed the child which she had borne_ in a place which for a long time after was known as the field of Herakles. About this time, Athene arrived, in company with Hera. She marvelled at the beautiful form of the child, and persuaded Hera to put him to her breast. But the boy took the breast with far greater strength than his age seemed to warrant; Hera felt pains and angrily flung the child to the ground. Athene, however, carried him to the neighboring city and _took him to Queen Alkmene, whose maternity was unknown to her, as a poor foundling, whom she begged her to raise for the sake of charity_. This peculiar accident is truly remarkable! The child’s own mother allows him to perish, disregarding the duty of maternal love, and the stepmother who is filled with natural hatred against the child, saves her enemy without knowing it (after Diodor, IV, 9; German translation by Wurm, Stuttgart, 1831). Herakles had drawn only a few drops from Hera’s breast, but the divine milk was sufficient to endow him with immortality. An attempt on Hera’s part to kill the boy, asleep in his cradle, by means of two serpents, proved a failure, for the child awakened and crushed the beasts with a single pressure of his hands. As a boy, Herakles one day killed his tutor, Linos, being incensed about an unjust chastisement. Amphitryon, fearing the wildness of the youth, sends him to tend his ox-herds in the mountains, with the herders, among whom he is said by some to have been raised entirely, like Amphion and Zethos, Kyros and Romulus. Here he lives from the hunt, in the freedom of nature (Preller, II, 123).

The myth of Herakles suggests in certain features the Indian saga of the hero _Krishna_, who like many heroes escapes a general infanticide, and is then brought up by a herder’s wife, Iasodha. A wicked she-demon appears, who has been sent by King Kansa to kill the boy. She takes the post of wet nurse in the home, but is recognized by Krishna, who bites her so severely in suckling (like Hera, when nursing Herakles, whom she also means to destroy), that she dies. (The early history of the pastoral god Krishna is related in the so-called Kariwamsa.)

Jesus

The Gospel according to Luke (1, 26 to 35) relates the prophecy of the birth of Jesus, as follows:

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to _a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph_, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail! thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women! And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, _thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest_: and the Lord God shalt give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, _seeing I know not a man_? And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee _shall he called the Son of God_.”

This report is supplemented by the Gospel according to Matthew[64] (1, 18 to 25), in the narrative of the birth and childhood of Jesus: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, _she was found with child of the Holy Ghost_. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But, while he thought on these things, behold the _angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream_, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins. (Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.) Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife. _And knew her not, till she had brought forth her first born son_; and he called his name Jesus.”

Here we interpolate the detailed account of the birth of Jesus, from the Gospel of Luke (2, 4 to 20): “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David), to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And _she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger_;[65] because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things which they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”

We now continue the account after Matthew, in the second chapter: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came _wise men from the East_ to Jerusalem, saying, _Where is he that was born King of the Jews_, for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him. When _Herod the king_ had heard these things he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda, for out of thee shall come a governor which shall rule my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king they departed; and lo the star, which they saw in the east, went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream, that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, _the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt_, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and _slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under_, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: _for they are dead which sought the young child’s life_. And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”[66]

Similar birth legends to those of Jesus have also been transmitted of other “founders of religions”; such as Zoroaster, who is said to have lived about the year 1000 before Christ. His mother Dughda dreams, _in the sixth month of her pregnancy_, that the wicked and the good spirits are fighting for the embryonic Zoroaster; a monster tears the future Zoroaster from the mother’s womb, but a light god fights the monster with his horn of light, re-encloses the embryo in the mother’s womb, blows upon Dughda, and she became pregnant. On awakening, she hurries in her fear to a wise dream interpreter, who is unable to explain the wonderful dream before the end of three days: The child, which she is carrying, is destined to become a man of great importance; the dark cloud and the mountain of light signify, that she and her son will at first have to undergo numerous trials, through tyrants and other enemies, but at last they will overcome all perils. Dughda at once returns to her home, and informs Pourushacpa, her husband, of everything that has happened. Immediately after his birth, the boy was seen to laugh: this was the first miracle through which he drew attention to himself. _The magicians announce the birth of the child as a portent of disaster to the prince of the realm_, Durânsarûn, who betakes himself without delay to the dwelling of Pourushacpa, in order to stab the child. But his hand falls paralyzed, and he must leave with his errand undone. This was the second miracle. Soon after, the wicked demons steal the child from his mother and carry him into the desert, in order to kill him; but Dughda finds the unharmed child, calmly sleeping. This is the third miracle. Later on, Zoroaster was to be trampled upon, in a narrow passage way, by a herd of oxen, by command of the king.[67] But the largest of the cattle took the child between his feet, and preserved it from harm. This was the fourth miracle. The fifth is merely a repetition of the preceding. What the cattle had refused to do, was to be accomplished by horses. But again the child was protected by a horse from the hoofs of the other horses. Durânsurûn thereupon had the cubs in a wolf’s den killed during the absence of the old wolves, and Zoroaster was laid down in their place. But a god closed the jaws of the furious wolves, so that they could not harm the child. Two divine cows arrived instead and presented their udders to the child, giving it to drink. This was the sixth miracle, through which Zoroaster’s life was preserved. (Compare Spiegel’s Eranische Altertumskunde, I, pp. 688 et seq., also Brodbeck, Zoroaster, Leipzig, 1893.)

Related traits are also encountered in the history of Buddha, whose life is referred to the sixth century before Christ; such as the long sterility of the parents, the dream, the birth of the boy under the open sky, the death of the mother and her substitution by a foster-mother, the announcing of the birth to the ruler of the realm; later on the losing of the boy in the temple (as in the history of Jesus; compare Luke 2, 40-52).

SIEGFRIED

The old Norse _Thidreksaga_, as registered about the year 1250 by an Icelander, according to oral traditions and ancient songs, relates the history of the birth and youth of Siegfried, as follows:[68] King Sigmund of Tarlungaland, on his return from an expedition, banishes his wife Sisibe, the daughter of King Nidung of Hispania, who is _accused_ by Count Hartvin, whose advances she has spurned, of having had _illicit relations with a menial_. The king’s counsellors advise him to mutilate instead of kill the innocent queen, and Hartvin is ordered to cut out her tongue in the forest, so as to bring it to the king as a pledge. His companion, Count Hermann, opposes the execution of the cruel command, and proposes to present the tongue of a dog to the king. While the two men are engaged in a violent quarrel, _Sisibe gives birth to a remarkably beautiful boy; she then took a glass vessel, and after having wrapped the boy in linens, she placed him in the glass vessel, which she_ carefully closed again and placed beside her (Rassmann). Count Hartvin was conquered in the fight, and in falling kicked the glass vessel, _so that it fell into the river_. When the queen saw this she swooned, and died soon afterwards. Hermann went home, told the king everything, and was banished from the country. The _glass vessel meantime drifted down stream to the sea_, and it was not long before the tide turned. _Then the vessel floated on to a rocky cliff_, and the water ran off so that the place where the vessel was perfectly dry. The boy inside had grown somewhat, and when the vessel struck the rock, it broke, and the child began to cry. [Rassmann] The boy’s wailing was heard _by a doe_, which seized him with her lips, and carried him to her litter, _where she nursed him together with her young_. After the child had lived twelve months in the den of the doe, he had grown to the height and strength of other boys four years of age. One day he ran into the forest, where dwelt the wise and skilfull _smith, Mimir who had lived for nine years in childless wedlock_. He saw the boy, who was followed by the faithful doe, took him to his home, _and resolved to bring him up as his own son_. He gave him the name of Siegfried. In Mimir’s home, Siegfried soon attained an enormous stature and strength, but his wilfulness caused Mimir _to get rid of him_. He sent the youth into the forest, where it had been arranged that the dragon Regin, Mimir’s brother, was to kill him. But Siegfried conquers the dragon, and kills Mimir. He then proceeds to Brynhild, who names his parents to him.

Similarly to the early history of Siegfried, an Austrasiatic saga tells of the birth and youth of _Wolfdietrich_.[69] His mother is likewise accused of _unfaithfulness_, and intercourse with the devil, by a vassal whom she has repulsed, and who speaks evil of her to the returning king, Hugdietrich of Constantinople.[70]

_The king surrenders the child to the faithful Berchtung, who is to kill it, but exposes it instead, in the forest, near the water_, in the hope that it will fall in of its own accord and thus find its death. But the frolicking child remains unhurt, and even _the wild animals_, lions, bears, wolves, which come at night to the water, _do not harm it_. The astonished Berchtung resolves to save the boy, and he _surrenders him to a game keeper_ who, together with his wife, raises him and names him Wolfdietrich.[71]

The following later hero epics may still be quoted in this connection. In the thirteenth century, the saga of _Horn_, the son of Aluf, who after having been exposed on the sea, finally reaches the court of King Hunlaf, and after numerous adventures wins the king’s daughter, Rimhilt, for his wife. Furthermore, a detail suggestive of Siegfried, from the saga of the skilfull smith _Wieland_, who, after avenging his foully murdered father, floats down the river Weser, artfully enclosed in the trunk of a tree, and loaded with the tools and treasures of his teachers. Finally the _Arthur_ legend contains the commingling of divine and human paternity, the exposure and the early life with a lowly man.

LOHENGRIN