Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome 5

Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome 5

Demeter, as the wife of Zeus, became the mother of Persephone (Proserpine),

to whom she was so tenderly attached that her whole life was bound up in

her, and she knew no happiness except in her society. One day, however,

whilst Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow, attended by the

ocean-nymphs, she saw to her surprise a beautiful narcissus, from the stem

of which sprang forth a hundred blossoms. Drawing near to examine this

lovely flower, whose exquisite scent perfumed the air, she stooped down to

gather it, suspecting no evil, when a yawning abyss opened at her feet, and

Aïdes, the grim ruler of the lower world, appeared from its depths, seated

in his dazzling chariot drawn by four black horses. Regardless of her tears

and the shrieks of her female attendants, Aïdes seized the terrified

maiden, and bore her away to the gloomy realms over which he reigned in

melancholy grandeur. Helios, the all-seeing sun-god, and Hecate, a

mysterious and very ancient divinity, alone heard her cries for aid, but

were powerless to help her. When Demeter became conscious of her loss her

grief was intense, and she refused to be comforted. She knew not where to

seek for her child, but feeling that repose and inaction were impossible,

she set out on her weary search, taking with her two torches which she

lighted in the flames of Mount Etna to guide her on her way. For nine long

days and nights she wandered on, inquiring of every one she met for tidings

of her child. {53} But all was in vain! Neither gods nor men could give her

the comfort which her soul so hungered for. At last, on the tenth day, the

disconsolate mother met Hecate, who informed her that she had heard her

daughter's cries, but knew not who it was that had borne her away. By

Hecate's advice Demeter consulted Helios, whose all-seeing eye nothing

escapes, and from him she learnt that it was Zeus himself who had permitted

Aïdes to seize Persephone, and transport her to the lower world in order

that she might become his wife. Indignant with Zeus for having given his

sanction to the abduction of his daughter, and filled with the bitterest

sorrow, she abandoned her home in Olympus, and refused all heavenly food.

Disguising herself as an old woman, she descended upon earth, and commenced

a weary pilgrimage among mankind. One evening she arrived at a place called

Eleusis, in Attica, and sat down to rest herself near a well beneath the

shade of an olive-tree. The youthful daughters of Celeus, the king of the

country, came with their pails of brass to draw water from this well, and

seeing that the tired wayfarer appeared faint and dispirited, they spoke

kindly to her, asking who she was, and whence she came. Demeter replied

that she had made her escape from pirates, who had captured her, and added

that she would feel grateful for a home with any worthy family, whom she

would be willing to serve in a menial capacity. The princesses, on hearing

this, begged Demeter to have a moment's patience while they returned home

and consulted their mother, Metaneira. They soon brought the joyful

intelligence that she was desirous of securing her services as nurse to her

infant son Demophoon, or Triptolemus. When Demeter arrived at the house a

radiant light suddenly illumined her, which circumstance so overawed

Metaneira that she treated the unknown stranger with the greatest respect,

and hospitably offered her food and drink. But Demeter, still grief-worn

and dejected, refused her friendly offers, and held herself apart from the

social board. At length, however, the maid-servant Iambe succeeded, by

means {54} of playful jests and merriment, in somewhat dispelling the grief

of the sorrowing mother, causing her at times to smile in spite of herself,

and even inducing her to partake of a mixture of barley-meal, mint, and

water, which was prepared according to the directions of the goddess

herself. Time passed on, and the young child throve amazingly under the

care of his kind and judicious nurse, who, however, gave him no food, but

anointed him daily with ambrosia, and every night laid him secretly in the

fire in order to render him immortal and exempt from old age. But,

unfortunately, this benevolent design on the part of Demeter was frustrated

by Metaneira herself, whose curiosity, one night, impelled her to watch the

proceedings of the mysterious being who nursed her child. When to her

horror she beheld her son placed in the flames, she shrieked aloud.

Demeter, incensed at this untimely interruption, instantly withdrew the

child, and throwing him on the ground, revealed herself in her true

character. The bent and aged form had vanished, and in its place there

stood a bright and beauteous being, whose golden locks streamed over her

shoulders in richest luxuriance, her whole aspect bespeaking dignity and

majesty. She told the awe-struck Metaneira that she was the goddess

Demeter, and had intended to make her son immortal, but that her fatal

curiosity had rendered this impossible, adding, however, that the child,

having slept in her arms, and been nursed on her lap, should ever command

the respect and esteem of mankind. She then desired that a temple and altar

should be erected to her on a neighbouring hill by the people of Eleusis,

promising that she herself would direct them how to perform the sacred

rites and ceremonies, which should be observed in her honour. With these

words she took her departure never to return.

 

Obedient to her commands, Celeus called together a meeting of his people,

and built the temple on the spot which the goddess had indicated. It was

soon completed, and Demeter took up her abode in it, but her heart was

still sad for the loss of her daughter, and the whole world felt the

influence of her grief and dejection. This was {55} indeed a terrible year

for mankind. Demeter no longer smiled on the earth she was wont to bless,

and though the husbandman sowed the grain, and the groaning oxen ploughed

the fields, no harvest rewarded their labour. All was barren, dreary

desolation. The world was threatened with famine, and the gods with the

loss of their accustomed honours and sacrifices; it became evident,

therefore, to Zeus himself that some measures must be adopted to appease

the anger of the goddess. He accordingly despatched Iris and many of the

other gods and goddesses to implore Demeter to return to Olympus; but all

their prayers were fruitless. The incensed goddess swore that until her

daughter was restored to her she would not allow the grain to spring forth

from the earth. At length Zeus sent Hermes, his faithful messenger, to the

lower world with a petition to Aïdes, urgently entreating him to restore

Persephone to the arms of her disconsolate mother. When he arrived in the

gloomy realms of Aïdes, Hermes found him seated on a throne with the

beautiful Persephone beside him, sorrowfully bewailing her unhappy fate. On

learning his errand, Aïdes consented to resign Persephone, who joyfully

prepared to follow the messenger of the gods to the abode of life and

light. Before taking leave of her husband, he presented to her a few seeds

of pomegranate, which in her excitement she thoughtlessly swallowed, and

this simple act, as the sequel will show, materially affected her whole

future life. The meeting between mother and child was one of unmixed

rapture, and for the moment all the past was forgotten. The loving mother's

happiness would now have been complete had not Aïdes asserted his rights.

These were, that if any immortal had tasted food in his realms they were

bound to remain there for ever. Of course the ruler of the lower world had

to prove this assertion. This, however, he found no difficulty in doing, as

Ascalaphus, the son of Acheron and Orphne, was his witness to the fact.[25]

Zeus, pitying the disappointment of Demeter at finding {56} her hopes thus

blighted, succeeded in effecting a compromise by inducing his brother Aïdes

to allow Persephone to spend six months of the year with the gods above,

whilst during the other six she was to be the joyless companion of her grim

lord below. Accompanied by her daughter, the beautiful Persephone, Demeter

now resumed her long-abandoned dwelling in Olympus; the sympathetic earth

responded gaily to her bright smiles, the corn at once sprang forth from

the ground in fullest plenty, the trees, which late were sered and bare,

now donned their brightest emerald robes, and the flowers, so long

imprisoned in the hard, dry soil, filled the whole air with their fragrant

perfume. Thus ends this charming story, which was a favourite theme with

all the classic authors.

 

It is very possible that the poets who first created this graceful myth

merely intended it as an allegory to illustrate the change of seasons; in

the course of time, however, a literal meaning became attached to this and

similar poetical fancies, and thus the people of Greece came to regard as

an article of religious belief what, in the first instance, was nothing

more than a poetic simile.

 

In the temple erected to Demeter at Eleusis, the famous Eleusinian

Mysteries were instituted by the goddess herself. It is exceedingly

difficult, as in the case of all secret societies, to discover anything

with certainty concerning these sacred rites. The most plausible

supposition is that the doctrines taught by the priests to the favoured few

whom they initiated, were religious truths which were deemed unfit for the

uninstructed mind of the multitude. For instance, it is supposed that the

myth of Demeter and Persephone was explained by the teachers of the

Mysteries to signify the temporary loss which mother earth sustains every

year when the icy breath of winter robs her of her flowers and fruits and

grain.

 

It is believed that in later times a still deeper meaning was conveyed by

this beautiful myth, viz., the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The

grain, which, as it were, remains dead for a time in the dark earth, only

{57} to rise one day dressed in a newer and lovelier garb, was supposed to

symbolize the soul, which, after death, frees itself from corruption, to

live again under a better and purer form.

 

When Demeter instituted the Eleusinian Mysteries, Celeus and his family

were the first to be initiated, Celeus himself being appointed high-priest.

His son Triptolemus and his daughters, who acted as priestesses, assisted

him in the duties of his sacred office. The Mysteries were celebrated by

the Athenians every five years, and were, for a long time, their exclusive

privilege. They took place by torchlight, and were conducted with the

greatest solemnity.

 

In order to spread abroad the blessings which agriculture confers, Demeter

presented Triptolemus with her chariot drawn by winged dragons, and, giving

him some grains of corn, desired him to journey through the world, teaching

mankind the arts of agriculture and husbandry.

 

[Illustration]

 

Demeter exercised great severity towards those who incurred her

displeasure. We find examples of this in the stories of Stellio and

Eresicthon. Stellio was a youth who ridiculed the goddess for the eagerness

with which she was eating a bowl of porridge, when weary and faint in the

vain search for her daughter. Resolved that he should never again have an

opportunity of thus offending, she angrily threw into his face the

remainder of the food, and changed him into a spotted lizard.

 

Eresicthon, son of Triopas, had drawn upon himself the anger of Demeter by

cutting down her sacred groves, for which she punished him with a constant

and insatiable hunger. He sold all his possessions in order to satisfy his

cravings, and was forced at last to devour his own limbs. His daughter

Metra, who was devotedly attached to him, possessed the power of

transforming herself into a variety of different animals. By this means she

contrived to support her father, who sold her again and again each time she

assumed a different form, and thus he dragged on a pitiful existence. {58}

 

CERES.

 

The Roman Ceres is actually the Greek Demeter under another name, her

attributes, worship, festivals, &c., being precisely identical.

 

The Romans were indebted to Sicily for this divinity, her worship having

been introduced by the Greek colonists who settled there.

 

The Cerealia, or festivals in honour of Ceres, commenced on the 12th of

April, and lasted several days.

 

APHRODITE (VENUS).

 

Aphrodite (from _aphros_, sea-foam, and _dite_, issued), the daughter of

Zeus and a sea-nymph called Dione, was the goddess of Love and Beauty.

 

Dione, being a sea-nymph, gave birth to her daughter beneath the waves; but

the child of the heaven-inhabiting Zeus was forced to ascend from the

ocean-depths and mount to the snow-capped summits of Olympus, in order to

breathe that ethereal and most refined atmosphere which pertains to the

celestial gods.

 

Aphrodite was the mother of Eros (Cupid), the god of Love, also of Æneas,

the great Trojan hero and the head of that Greek colony which settled in

Italy, and from which arose the city of Rome. As a mother Aphrodite claims

our sympathy for the tenderness she exhibits towards her children. Homer

tells us in his Iliad, how, when Æneas was wounded in battle, she came to

his assistance, regardless of personal danger, and was herself severely

wounded in attempting to save his life. {59}

 

Aphrodite was tenderly attached to a lovely youth, called Adonis, whose

exquisite beauty has become proverbial. He was a motherless babe, and

Aphrodite, taking pity on him, placed him in a chest and intrusted him to

the care of Persephone, who became so fond of the beautiful youth that she

refused to part with him. Zeus, being appealed to by the rival

foster-mothers, decided that Adonis should spend four months of every year

with Persephone, four with Aphrodite, whilst during the remaining four

months he should be left to his own devices. He became, however, so

attached to Aphrodite that he voluntarily devoted to her the time at his

own disposal. Adonis was killed, during the chase, by a wild boar, to the

great grief of Aphrodite, who bemoaned his loss so persistently that Aïdes,

moved with pity, permitted him to pass six months of every year with her,

whilst the remaining half of the year was spent by him in the lower world.

 

Aphrodite possessed a magic girdle (the famous _cestus_) which she

frequently lent to unhappy maidens suffering from the pangs of unrequited

love, as it was endowed with the power of inspiring affection for the

wearer, whom it invested with every attribute of grace, beauty, and

fascination.

 

Her usual attendants are the Charites or Graces (Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and

Thalia), who are represented undraped and intertwined in a loving embrace.

 

In Hesiod's _Theogony_ she is supposed to belong to the more ancient

divinities, and, whilst those of later date are represented as having

descended one from another, and all more or less from Zeus, Aphrodite has a

variously-accounted-for, yet independent origin.

 

The most poetical version of her birth is that when Uranus was wounded by

his son Cronus, his blood mingled with the foam of the sea, whereupon the

bubbling waters at once assumed a rosy tint, and from their depths arose,

in all the surpassing glory of her loveliness, Aphrodite, goddess of love

and beauty! Shaking her long, fair tresses, the water-drops rolled down

into the beautiful {60} sea-shell in which she stood, and became

transformed into pure glistening pearls. Wafted by the soft and balmy

breezes, she floated on to Cythera, and was thence transported to the

island of Cyprus. Lightly she stepped on shore, and under the gentle

pressure of her delicate foot the dry and rigid sand became transformed

into a verdant meadow, where every varied shade of colour and every sweet

odour charmed the senses. The whole island of Cyprus became clothed with

verdure, and greeted this fairest of all created beings with a glad smile

of friendly welcome. Here she was received by the Seasons, who decked her

with garments of immortal fabric, encircling her fair brow with a wreath of

purest gold, whilst from her ears depended costly rings, and a glittering

chain embraced her swan-like throat. And now, arrayed in all the panoply of

her irresistible charms, the nymphs escort her to the dazzling halls of

Olympus, where she is received with ecstatic enthusiasm by the admiring

gods and goddesses. The gods all vied with each other in aspiring to the

honour of her hand, but Hephæstus became the envied possessor of this

lovely being, who, however, proved as faithless as she was beautiful, and

caused her husband much unhappiness, owing to the preference she showed at

various times for some of the other gods and also for mortal men.

 

[Illustration]

 

The celebrated Venus of Milo, now in the Louvre, is an exquisite statue of

this divinity. The head is beautifully formed; the rich waves of hair

descend on her rather low but broad forehead and are caught up gracefully

in a small knot at the back of the head; the __EXPRESSION__ of the face is most

bewitching, and bespeaks the perfect {61} joyousness of a happy nature

combined with the dignity of a goddess; the drapery falls in careless folds

from the waist downwards, and her whole attitude is the embodiment of all

that is graceful and lovely in womanhood. She is of medium height, and the

form is perfect in its symmetry and faultless proportions.

 

Aphrodite is also frequently represented in the act of confining her

dripping locks in a knot, whilst her attendant nymphs envelop her in a

gauzy veil.

 

The animals sacred to her were the dove, swan, swallow, and sparrow. Her

favourite plants were the myrtle, apple-tree, rose, and poppy.

 

The worship of Aphrodite is supposed to have been introduced into Greece

from Central Asia. There is no doubt that she was originally identical with

the famous Astarté, the Ashtoreth of the Bible, against whose idolatrous

worship and infamous rites the prophets of old hurled forth their sublime

and powerful anathemas.

 

VENUS.

 

The Venus of the Romans was identified with the Aphrodite of the Greeks.

The worship of this divinity was only established in Rome in comparatively

later times. Annual festivals, called Veneralia, were held in her honour,

and the month of April, when flowers and plants spring forth afresh, was

sacred to her. She was worshipped as Venus Cloacina (or the Purifier), and

as Venus Myrtea (or the myrtle goddess), an epithet derived from the

myrtle, the emblem of Love.

 

HELIOS (SOL).

 

The worship of Helios was introduced into Greece from Asia. According to

the earliest conceptions of the Greeks he was not only the sun-god, but

also the personification of life and all life-giving power, for light is

well known to be an indispensable condition of all healthy terrestrial

life. The worship of the sun was originally very widely spread, {62} not

only among the early Greeks themselves, but also among other primitive

nations. To us the sun is simply the orb of light, which, high above our

heads, performs each day the functions assigned to it by a mighty and

invisible Power; we can, therefore, form but a faint idea of the impression

which it produced upon the spirit of a people whose intellect was still in

its infancy, and who believed, with child-like simplicity, that every power

of nature was a divinity, which, according as its character was baleful or

beneficent, worked for the destruction or benefit of the human race.

 

Helios, who was the son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, is described as

rising every morning in the east, preceded by his sister Eos (the Dawn),

who, with her rosy fingers, paints the tips of the mountains, and draws

aside that misty veil through which her brother is about to appear. When he

has burst forth in all the glorious light of day, Eos disappears, and

Helios now drives his flame-darting chariot along the accustomed track.

This chariot, which is of burnished gold, is drawn by four fire-breathing

steeds, behind which the young god stands erect with flashing eyes, his

head surrounded with rays, holding in one hand the reins of those fiery

coursers which in all hands save his are unmanageable. When towards evening

he descends the curve[26] in order to cool his burning forehead in the

waters of the deep sea, he is followed closely by his sister Selene (the

Moon), who is now prepared to take charge of the world, and illumine with

her silver crescent the dusky night. Helios meanwhile rests from his

labours, and, reclining softly on the cool fragrant couch prepared for him

by the sea-nymphs, recruits himself for another life-giving, joy-inspiring,

and beauteous day.

 

It may appear strange that, although the Greeks considered the earth to be

a flat circle, no explanation is given of the fact that Helios sinks down

in the far {63} west regularly every evening, and yet reappears as

regularly every morning in the east. Whether he was supposed to pass

through Tartarus, and thus regain the opposite extremity through the bowels

of the earth, or whether they thought he possessed any other means of

making this transit, there is not a line in either Homer or Hesiod to

prove. In later times, however, the poets invented the graceful fiction,

that when Helios had finished his course, and reached the western side of

the curve, a winged-boat, or cup, which had been made for him by Hephæstus,

awaited him there, and conveyed him rapidly, with his glorious equipage, to

the east, where he recommenced his bright and glowing career.

 

This divinity was invoked as a witness when a solemn oath was taken, as it

was believed that nothing escaped his all-seeing eye, and it was this fact

which enabled him to inform Demeter of the fate of her daughter, as already

related. He was supposed to possess flocks and herds in various localities,

which may possibly be intended to represent the days and nights of the

year, or the stars of heaven.

 

Helios is said to have loved Clytie, a daughter of Oceanus, who ardently

returned his affection; but in the course of time the fickle sun-god

transferred his devotion to Leucothea, the daughter of Orchamus, king of

the eastern countries, which so angered the forsaken Clytie that she

informed Orchamus of his daughter's attachment, and he punished her by

inhumanly burying her alive. Helios, overcome with grief, endeavoured, by

every means in his power, to recall her to life. At last, finding all his

efforts unavailing, he sprinkled her grave with heavenly nectar, and

immediately there sprang forth from the spot a shoot of frankincense, which

spread around its aromatic perfume.

 

The jealous Clytie gained nothing by her cruel conduct, for the sun-god

came to her no more. Inconsolable at his loss, she threw herself upon the

ground, and refused all sustenance. For nine long days she turned her face

towards the glorious god of day, as he moved along the {64} heavens, till

at length her limbs became rooted in the ground, and she was transformed

into a flower, which ever turns towards the sun.

 

Helios married Perse, daughter of Oceanus, and their children were, Aëtes,

king of Colchis (celebrated in the legend of the Argonauts as the possessor

of the Golden Fleece), and Circe, the renowned sorceress.

 

Helios had another son named Phaethon, whose mother was Clymene, one of the

Oceanides. The youth was very beautiful, and a great favourite with

Aphrodite, who intrusted him with the care of one of her temples, which

flattering proof of her regard caused him to become vain and presumptuous.

His friend Epaphus, son of Zeus and Io, endeavoured to check his youthful

vanity by pretending to disbelieve his assertion that the sun-god was his

father. Phaethon, full of resentment, and eager to be able to refute the

calumny, hastened to his mother Clymene, and besought her to tell him

whether Helios was really his father. Moved by his entreaties, and at the

same time angry at the reproach of Epaphus, Clymene pointed to the glorious

sun, then shining down upon them, and assured her son that in that bright

orb he beheld the author of his being, adding that if he had still any

doubt, he might visit the radiant dwelling of the great god of light and

inquire for himself. Overjoyed at his mother's reassuring words, and

following the directions she gave him, Phaethon quickly wended his way to

his father's palace.

 

As he entered the palace of the sun-god the dazzling rays almost blinded

him, and prevented him from approaching the throne on which his father was

seated, surrounded by the Hours, Days, Months, Years, and Seasons. Helios,

who with his all-seeing eye had watched him from afar, removed his crown of

glittering rays, and bade him not to be afraid, but to draw near to his

father. Encouraged by this kind reception, Phaethon entreated him to bestow

upon him such a proof of his love, that all the world might be convinced

that he was indeed his son; whereupon Helios desired him to ask any favour

he pleased, {65} and swore by the Styx that it should be granted. The

impetuous youth immediately requested permission to drive the chariot of

the sun for one whole day. His father listened horror-struck to this

presumptuous demand, and by representing the many dangers which would beset

his path, endeavoured to dissuade him from so perilous an undertaking; but

his son, deaf to all advice, pressed his point with such pertinacity, that

Helios was reluctantly compelled to lead hi