Heathen mythology Part 37

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AMPHION AND NIOBE.

Amphion was king of Thebes, the favourite of Apollo and rival of the celebrated Orpheus in the science of music. It is related of him, that in order to build the walls which surrounded his capital, he played upon his lyre, and by its divine power, the stones came and ranged themselves in order.

He married Niobe, by whom he had seven sons and seven daughters; the trials of this princess have been given in the history of Apollo, leaving a touching memorial of the sorrows of maternal love and tenderness.

OEDIPUS,

KING OF THEBES.

Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta; and being descended from Venus, was compelled to endure all the troubles which Juno might choose to inflict on him, from the hatred she bore to the G.o.ddess of beauty.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

No sooner had the marriage of Laius taken place with Jocasta, than it was foretold by the oracle, that he would fall by the hands {215} of his son.

Alarmed at so fearful a prediction, he resolved not to approach his wife.

Having broken this wise resolution, however, he became the father of Oedipus, but to avert the oracle, he ordered Jocasta to destroy the infant immediately he was born. The mother was unable to obey this cruel command, but gave him in charge to one of her domestics, with directions to leave him on the mountains. Instead of obeying this order, the servant bored a hole in the feet of the child, and hung him on a tree on Mount Cithaeron, where he was soon found by one of the shepherds of Polybus, King of Corinth.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The shepherd took him and presented him to Peribaea, the wife of Polybus, who conceived a maternal tenderness for the deserted child, and adopted him as her own.

The accomplishments of the boy, who was named Oedipus, soon became the admiration of the age; he was informed that he was illegitimate, though Peribaea, when he appealed to her, told him, {216} out of kindness, that his suspicions were unfounded. He remained dissatisfied however, and consulted the Delphian oracle, by which he was told not to return home, or he must inevitably become the murderer of his father, and the husband of his mother.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

As he travelled towards Phocis, he met, in a narrow pa.s.sage, Laius, his father, in a chariot with his arm bearer. Laius insolently ordered the youth to move out of his way, which Oedipus, not knowing him, and irritated at his tone and language, refused. A conflict ensued, and Laius with his companion was slain.

----------------------"'His demeanour bold, Imperative, and arrogant: from far He waved his hand, that I should quit the path.

Most narrow was the place, and scarce allowed To one, free pa.s.sage. I was incensed At his deportment, free myself by birth, Hence I advanced with an undaunted step: He, with a terrible accent, cried, "Make way."

I, on the other hand, exclaimed with rage, Returned his menace, and bade him retire.

Already had we met: he from his side, Unsheathed a dagger, and upon me leap'd.

{217} I had no dagger, but I lacked not courage.

Me he a.s.sailed. I combated his onset, Grasp'd him, and in less time than I relate it; Flung him upon the earth: in vain he strove; When to the contest he perceived himself Inadequate, insidiously he feigned Terms of submission: I consented to them: Quitted my grasp, when treacherously a blow, Such as thou sees't here, he aimed at me, And pierced my clothes. The weapon grazed my flesh The wound is slight, but boundless was my rage.

Blind with revenge I s.n.a.t.c.hed the dagger from him, And weltering in his blood he lay transfixed.'"

ALFIERI.

Ignorant of the rank of the man he had killed, he continued his way to Thebes, attracted thither by the noise which had been vented about of the Sphynx, a frightful monster then laying waste the country around Thebes, and devouring all who could not expound the enigma it proposed, which was--"What animal in the morning walks upon four legs, in the afternoon upon two, and in the evening upon three legs." The answer of Oedipus was "That in infancy man goes upon his hands and feet; in manhood he walks upright, and in old age with the a.s.sistance of a staff." Enraged at this solution, the monster dashed its head against a rock, and delivered Thebes from his unwelcome presence.

The prediction, partly fulfilled, was now entirely brought to pa.s.s, for Oedipus mounted the throne, and married Jocasta, his mother, by whom he had two sons, Polynice and Eteocles, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone.

Some years after, a plague visited his territories, and the oracle was consulted, which stated that it would only cease when the murderer of King Laius was banished from the country. The slayer of this king had never been discovered, and the whole of Thebes was in violent excitement, anxious to discover the murderer, to avert the plague which raged; Oedipus himself inst.i.tuted all possible inquiry, resolved to overcome every difficulty.

What was his sorrow at learning as the result of his unwearied zeal, that he himself was the unhappy parricide, and still more, that he was the husband of his own mother.

_Oedipus._ "'Why speak you not according to my charge?

Bring forth the rack, since mildness cannot win you Torment shall force.

_Phorbas._ Hold, hold, Oh! dreadful sir, You will not rack an innocent man.

{218} _Oed._ Speak, then.

_Phor._ Alas! what would you have me say?

_Oed._ Did this old man take from your arms an infant?

_Phor._ He did, and oh! I wish to all the G.o.ds, Phorbas had perished in that very moment.

_Oed._ Moment! thou shalt be hours, days, years undying, Here, bind his hands, he dallies with my fury, But I shall find a way--

_Phor._ By the G.o.ds, I do conjure you to enquire no more.

_Oed._ Furies and h.e.l.l! Haemon bring forth the rack, Fetch hither cords and knives, and sulphurous flames.

He shall be bound and gashed, his skin flead off And burned alive.

_Phor._ O spare my age.

_Oed._ Who gave that infant to thee?

_Phor._ O wretched state! I die, unless I speak; And if I speak most certain death attends me.

_Oed._ Thou shalt not die; speak then, who was it? Speak, While I have sense to understand the horror, For I grow cold.

_Phor._ The Queen, Jocasta told me It was her son by Laius.

_Oed._ O you G.o.ds--break, break not yet my heart, Though my eyes burst, no matter, wilt thou tell me, Or must I ask for ever? For what end?

Why gave she thee her child?

_Phor._ To murder it.

_Oed._ O more than savage! murder her own bowels Without a cause.

_Phor._ There was a dreadful one Which had foretold that most unhappy son Should kill his father, and enjoy his mother.

_Oed._ 'Tis well! I thank you G.o.ds! 'tis wondrous well!

Dagger and poison--O there is no need For my dispatch; and you, ye merciless powers, h.o.a.rd up your thunder stones; keep, keep your bolts For crimes of little note.

_Adrastus._ Help--and bow him gently forward, Chafe, chafe his temples--He breathes again, And vigorous nature breaks through opposition.

How fares my royal friend?

_Oed._ The worse for you.

O barbarous men, and oh! the hated light, What did you force me back to curse the day, To curse my friends, to blast with this dark breath The yet untainted earth and circling air?

To raise new plagues and call new vengeance down, Why did you tempt the G.o.ds, and dare to touch me?

Methinks there's not a hand that grasps thy h.e.l.l, But should run up like flax, all blazing fire.

Stand from this spot, I wish you as my friends, And come not near me, lest the gaping earth Swallow you too.'"