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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths of Greece and Rome, by H. A. Guerber

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Title: Myths of Greece and Rome
       Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art

Author: H. A. Guerber

Release Date: March 25, 2012 [EBook #39250]

Language: English


*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME ***




Produced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
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MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME

NARRATED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
LITERATURE AND ART

BY

H. A. GUERBER
LECTURER ON MYTHOLOGY

Publisher's logo

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
NEW YORK   CINCINNATI   CHICAGO

Copyright, 1893, by
American Book Company.

Copyright. 1921, by
H. A. Guerber.

—
Guerber’s Myths.

E.P. 44

DEDICATED

TO MY KIND FRIENDS

MISS MACKIE AND MISS MASTERS

IN WHOSE SCHOOLS MY LECTURES WERE FIRST GIVEN

MADE IN U. S. A.

Refer to caption

HOMER.—François Gérard.

PREFACE.

THE aim of this book is to present a complete and entertaining account of Grecian and Roman mythology in such a manner that the student will appreciate its great influence upon literature and art.

These myths, an inexhaustible fund of inspiration for the poets and artists of the past, have also inspired many noted modern works. To impress this fact forcibly upon the student, appropriate quotations from the poetical writings of all ages, from Hesiod’s “Works and Days,” to Tennyson’s “Œnone,” have been inserted in the text, while reproductions of ancient masterpieces and noted examples of modern painting and sculpture are plentifully used as illustrations.

The myths are told as graphically and accurately as possible, great care being taken, however, to avoid the more repulsive features of heathen mythology; and when two or more versions of the same myth occur, the preference has invariably been given to the most popular, that is to say, to the one which has inspired the greatest works.

Both the Latin and the Greek forms of proper names are given, but the Latin names are usually retained throughout the narrative, because more frequently used in poetry and art.

The closing chapter includes an analysis of myths by the light of philology and comparative mythology, and the philological explanation of the stories related in the preceding chapters.

A map, genealogical table, and complete glossary and index adapt this little volume for constant use in the library and art gallery, at home and abroad.

CONTENTS.
    PAGE MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF MYTHS 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 10 CHAP. I. The Beginning of All Things 11 II. Jupiter 39 III. Juno 51 IV. Minerva 55 V. Apollo 61 VI. Diana 93 VII. Venus 103 VIII. Mercury 131 IX. Mars 138 X. Vulcan 144 XI. Neptune 149 XII. Pluto 159 XIII. Bacchus 171 XIV. Ceres and Proserpina 183 XV. Vesta 198 XVI. Janus 205 XVII. Somnus and Mors 208 XVIII. Æolus 213 XIX. Hercules 216 XX. Perseus 240 XXI. Theseus 250 XXII. Jason 263 XXIII. The Calydonian Hunt 275 XXIV. Ĺ’dipus 280 XXV. Bellerophon 291 XXVI. Minor Divinities 297 XXVII. The Trojan War 305 XXVIII. Adventures of Ulysses 337 XXIX. Adventures of Æneas 360 XXX. Analysis of Myths 378 GENEALOGICAL TABLE 402 INDEX TO POETICAL QUOTATIONS 405 GLOSSARY AND INDEX 407

Maps of Greece, the Mediterranean area, and Rome

See larger image

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
  PAGE Homer 2 Amor 14 Fountain of Cybele (Rhea) 19 Minerva and Prometheus 26 Pandora 30 Hope 34 Olympian Zeus 40 Ganymede and the Eagle 42 The Abduction of Europa 46 Juno 50 Iris 53 Minerva 56 Apollo Belvedere 66 Apollo and Daphne 69 Orpheus and Eurydice 78 Farnese Bull 81 Aurora 86 Apollo and the Muses 89 Diana of Versailles 92 Niobe 95 Venus de Milo 102 Fourth Hour of the Night 104 Sleeping Love 109 Hero and Leander 115 Cupid awakening Psyche 125 Charon and Psyche 129 Flying Mercury 133 Venus de Milo and Mars 141 The Forge of Vulcan 146 Fountain of Neptune 150 Father Nile 157 The Furies 162 The Three Fates 164 Bacchus 175 Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne 180 Abduction of Proserpina 185 Ceres 189 A Nymph 191 School of the Vestal Virgins 199 The Vestal Tuccia 201 Genius of Death 209 Hercules an Infant 217 Hercules and Centaur 222 Mounted Amazon going to the Chase 225 Hercules at the Feet of Omphale 231 Fortuna 233 Farnese Hercules 237 Perseus 245 Perseus and Andromeda 247 Dædalus and Icarus 254 Ariadne 258 Theseus 261 Jason and the Dragon 270 Medea 272 Atalanta’s Race 277 Ĺ’dipus and the Sphinx 284 Antigone and Ismene 289 Chimæra 293 Vertumnus and Pomona 302 Paris 309 Abduction of Helen 313 Parting of Hector and Andromache 322 Thetis bearing the Armor of Achilles 327 Laocoon 334 Triumph of Galatea 340 Acis and Galatea (Evening) 342 Circe and the Friends of Ulysses 348 Siren 351 Penelope 356 Æneas at the Court of Dido 368 Cumæan Sibyl 371

MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME.

CHAPTER I.

THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS.

MYTHOLOGY is the science which treats of the early traditions, or myths, relating to the religion of the ancients, and includes, besides a full account of the origin of their gods, their theory concerning the beginning of all things.

Myths of creation.

Among all the nations scattered over the face of the earth, the Hebrews alone were instructed by God, who gave them not only a full account of the creation of the world and of all living creatures, but also a code of laws to regulate their conduct. All the questions they fain would ask were fully answered, and no room remained for conjecture.

It was not so, however, with the other nations. The Greeks and Romans, for instance, lacking the definite knowledge which we obtain from the Scriptures, and still anxious to know everything, were forced to construct, in part, their own theory. As they looked about them for some clue to serve as guide, they could not help but observe and admire the wonders of nature. The succession of day and night, summer and winter, rain and sunshine; the fact that the tallest trees sprang from tiny seeds, the greatest rivers from diminutive streams, and the most beautiful flowers and delicious fruits from small green buds,—all seemed to tell them of a superior Being, who had fashioned them to serve a definite purpose.

They soon came to the conclusion that a hand mighty enough to call all these wonders into life, could also have created the beautiful Earth whereon they dwelt. These thoughts gave rise to others; suppositions became certainties; and soon the following myth or fable was evolved, to be handed down from generation to generation.

At first, when all things lay in a great confused mass,—

“Ere earth, and sea, and covering heavens, were known,
The face of nature, o’er the world, was one;
And men have call’d it Chaos; formless, rude,
The mass; dead matter’s weight, inert, and crude;
Where, in mix’d heap of ill-compounded mold,
The jarring seeds of things confusedly roll’d.”
Ovid (Elton’s tr.).

The Earth did not exist. Land, sea, and air were mixed up together; so that the earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, nor the air transparent.

“No sun yet beam’d from yon cerulean height;
No orbing moon repair’d her horns of light;
No earth, self-poised, on liquid ether hung;
No sea its world-enclasping waters flung;
Earth was half air, half sea, an embryo heap;
Nor earth was fix’d, nor fluid was the deep;
Dark was the void of air; no form was traced;
Obstructing atoms struggled through the waste;
Where cold, and hot, and moist, and dry rebell’d;
Heavy the light, and hard the soft repell’d.”
Ovid (Elton’s tr.).
Chaos and Nyx.

Over this shapeless mass reigned a careless deity called Chaos, whose personal appearance could not be described, as there was no light by which he could be seen. He shared his throne with his wife, the dark goddess of Night, named Nyx or Nox, whose black robes, and still blacker countenance, did not tend to enliven the surrounding gloom.

Erebus, Æther, and Hemera.

These two divinities wearied of their power in the course of time, and called their son Erebus (Darkness) to their assistance. His first act was to dethrone and supplant Chaos; and then, thinking he would be happier with a helpmeet, he married his own mother, Nyx. Of course, with our present views, this marriage was a heinous sin; but the ancients, who at first had no fixed laws, did not consider this union unsuitable, and recounted how Erebus and Nyx ruled over the chaotic world together, until their two beautiful children, Æther (Light) and Hemera (Day), acting in concert, dethroned them, and seized the supreme power.

Creation of Gæa and Uranus.

Space, illumined for the first time by their radiance, revealed itself in all its uncouthness. Æther and Hemera carefully examined the confusion, saw its innumerable possibilities, and decided to evolve from it a “thing of beauty;” but quite conscious of the magnitude of such an undertaking, and feeling that some assistance would be desirable, they summoned Eros (Amor or Love), their own child, to their aid. By their combined efforts, Pontus (the

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