Heathen mythology Part 7

After frequent adventures, and pa.s.sing into the possession of many, the tripod finally returned to Thales, and was deposited in the temple; where, as we have seen, it served the sibyl for a seat. {47} This story shows us at a glance, the principles and the conduct of the greatest philosophers of Greece. These sages who considered philosophy to consist in the science of practising virtue, and living happily, endeavoured to show by the adventures of the tripod that, though the way was sometimes different, the end was the same.

The sibyl delivered the answer of the G.o.d to such as came to consult the oracle, and while the divine inspiration was on her, her eyes sparkled, her hair stood on end, and a s.h.i.+vering ran through her body. In this convulsive state, she spoke the oracles of the deity, often with loud howlings and cries, and her articulations were taken down by the priest, and set in order. Sometimes the spirit of inspiration was more gentle, and not always violent, yet Plutarch mentions one of the priestesses who was thrown into such excessive fury, that not only those who consulted the oracle, but also the priests who conducted her to the sacred tripod, and attended her during her inspiration, were terrified and forsook the temple; and so violent was the fit, that she continued for some days in the most agonizing situation, and at last died.

It was always required that those who consulted this oracle should make presents to Apollo, and from thence arose the opulence, splendour, and magnificence, of the temple of Delphi.

There were other temples of Apollo more celebrated, such as that at Palmyra, which was constructed of the most gigantic proportions; and for which nothing was spared to give it a magnificence hitherto unknown.

Augustus, who pretended to be the son of Apollo, built a temple to him on Mount Palatine. Delian feasts were those which the Athenian, and the other Greek states celebrated every four years at Delos.

The history of the Muses is so closely allied to that of Apollo that we shall present some of their adventures in this part of our work.

The first is the struggle which the Muses maintained against the nine daughters of Pierus, King of Macedon, who dared to dispute with them the palm of singing; being overcome, they were turned into magpies, and since their transformation, they have preserved the talent so dear to beauty, of being able in many words to express very little.

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One day when the Muses were distant from their place of abode, a storm surprised them, and they took shelter in the palace of Pyrenaeus: but scarcely had they entered, when the tyrant shut the {48} gates, and sought to offer them insult. They immediately spread their wings and flew away.

The king wis.h.i.+ng to fly after them, essayed the daring adventure, and throwing himself from the top of the tower as if he had wings, was killed in the attempt. Notwithstanding the high reputation of the Muses, it is pretended by some, that Rheseus was the son of Terpsich.o.r.e, Linus of Clio, and Orpheus of Calliope. Arion and Pindar were also stated to be the children of the Muses, to whom the Romans built a temple and consecrated a fountain.

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DIANA.

The G.o.ddess Diana was daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and twin sister to Apollo. In heaven she bore another name, and conducted the chariot of the Moon, while on earth she presided over the chase, was the peculiar deity of hunters, and called Diana. In h.e.l.l she is named Hecate and revered by magicians.

-----------"Hecate, loved by Jove, And honour'd by the inhabitants above, Profusely gifted from the almighty hand, With power extensive o'er the sea and land; And great the honour, she, by Jove's high leave, Does from the starry vault of heaven receive.

When to the G.o.ds the sacred flames aspire, Does from the starry vault of heaven receive.

From human offerings, as the laws require, To Hecate the vows are first prefer'd; Happy of men whose prayers are kindly heard, Success attends his every act below, Honour, wealth, power, to him abundant flow."

HESIOD.

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She was also the G.o.ddess of chast.i.ty, and it was in this character that her vengeance fell so heavily on Actaeon, who following the chase one day with all the ardour of his profession, unhappily came {50} suddenly on the retired spot, in which the pure Diana, with her nymphs, was enjoying, in the heat of the summer's day, the luxury of bathing. Horrified by this violation, though unintentional, of her privacy, she changed him into a stag, and inspiring with madness the dogs that accompanied him to the chase, they turned upon their metamorphosed master, who, in horrible dread of the fate he had himself so often inflicted, fled rapidly from them. True to their breed, however, the dogs succeeded in running him down and devouring him.

Calista, nymph of Diana was seduced by Jupiter, who taking one of the innumerable shapes, which he is described as a.s.suming when his pa.s.sions were inflamed towards any particular nymph, introduced himself to her in the form of her mistress, and in this shape, what wonder that the nymph lost her virtue, or that the G.o.d was successful! Diana herself, however, took a very different view, and though Calista concealed the effects of her divine intrigue from her mistress for a long time, the latter noticed the alteration in her person when bathing in

"Such streams as Dian loves, And Naiads of old frequented; when she tripped Amidst her frolic nymphs, laughing, or when Just risen from the bath, she fled in sport, Round oaks and sparkling fountains, Chased by the wanton Orcades."

BARRY CORNWALL.

To evince her detestation of the crime, her divine mistress changed her into a bear. This however was before

"The veiled Dian lost her lonely sphere, And her proud name of chaste, for him whose sleep Drank in Elysium on the Latmos steep."

BULWER.

In great horror at this transformation, Calista fled to the forests and brought forth a son, with whom she dwelt, until one day she was induced to enter a temple at Lycaen (where, with her son Arcas, she had been brought), and which it was not lawful to enter. The dwellers in the city, among whom was Arcas, enraged at the desecration, attacked her, and in all probability, she would have perished by the hands of her son, had not Jupiter s.n.a.t.c.hed both to the sky, and placed them among the constellations, Calista being called "the Great Bear," and Arcas, "the Little Bear." {51}

aeneas, king of Calydon, neglecting the wors.h.i.+p of Diana, the G.o.ddess revenged it by sending into his kingdom a monstrous wild boar; and to rid their country of its ravages, he caused the Greek princes to a.s.semble to the chase. Atalanta, daughter of the king of Arcadia, wounded him first, but she would have fallen beneath the fury of its revenge, had it not been for Meleager, son of aeneas, who slew the boar. A quarrel having arisen for the possession of the head of this monster, Meleager killed his brothers.

Indignant at this crime, the wife of aeneas threw into the flames a brand which bore with it the life of Meleager; a fire immediately spread itself through the vitals of the prince, and he expired in the midst of torments, the most cruel and excruciating, and his mother, stricken with despair at the sight of them, destroyed herself, and the sisters of the unhappy victim were changed into fowls.

Diana is usually represented in the costume of a huntress, with a quiver on her shoulder, and a bow in her hand; her dress is lifted, and her dog is always by her side ready for his prey. Her hair is banded over her brow, while sometimes a crescent is painted on her head, of which the points are turned towards Heaven. Sometimes she is seen in a chariot trained by stags, and in her hand is a torch which serves to frighten away the wild beasts.

The affection of this G.o.ddess for Endymion--

------------------"Whom she, The moonlit Dian on the Latmian hill, When all the woods, and all the winds were still, Kissed with the kiss of immortality"

BARRY CORNWALL.

has been the cause of many an ode, and many a touching story, and is perhaps, one of the most chaste, or at least most chastely told in Mythology:

"He was a poet, sure a lover too Who stood on Latmos top, what time there blew Soft breezes from the Myrtle vale below And brought in faintness, solemn, sweet, and slow A hymn from Dian's Temple; while up-swelling The incense went to her own starry dwelling.

But though her face was clear as infant's eyes, Though she stood smiling o'er the sacrifice, The poet wept at her so piteous fate, Wept that such beauty should be desolate: So in fine wrath some golden sounds he won, And gave meek Cynthia her Endymion."

KEATS.

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The beautiful Endymion, grandchild of Jupiter, having dared to offer his guilty love to Juno, he was condemned to live for ever in the infernal regions. However, smitten with his charms, as Diana saw him sleeping on the mountain of Latmos, she s.n.a.t.c.hed him from the power of Pluto, and placed him in a grotto, where she came down from Heaven every night to enjoy his society.

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----------"Crescented Dian, who 'Tis said once wandered from the wastes of blue, And all for love; filling a shepherd's dreams With beauty and delight. He slept, he slept, And on his eyelids white, the huntress wept Till morning, and looked thro', on nights like this His lashes dark, and left her dewy kiss; But never more upon the Latmos hill May she descend to kiss that forest boy, And give--receive, gentle and innocent joy When clouds are distant far and winds are still: Her bound is circ.u.mscribed, and curbed her will.

Those were immortal stories: are they gone?

The pale queen is dethroned--Endymion Hath vanished--; and the wors.h.i.+p of this earth Is vowed to golden G.o.ds of vulgar birth!"

BARRY CORNWALL.

The fable of Endymion's amours with Diana, or the Moon, arises from his knowledge of astronomy: and as he pa.s.sed the night {53} on some high mountain, to observe the heavenly bodies, it has been reported that he was courted by the Moon.

----------------"Oh! woodland Queen, What smoothest air, thy smoother forehead woos?

Where dost thou listen to the wide halloos Of thy departed nymphs? Through what dark tree Glimmers thy crescent? Whatsoe'er it be 'Tis in the breath of Heaven: thou dost taste Freedom, as none can taste it, nor dost waste Thy loveliness in dismal elements.

But finding in our green earth sweet contents, There livest blissfully."

KEATS.

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The mode of wors.h.i.+p to Diana, differs in different nations. The most celebrated of her temples was that at Ephesus, which from its grandeur and magnificence has been placed among the seven wonders of the world, but was burned by Erostratus, the same day that Alexander the Great was born. This madman had no other end, than to render his name for ever notorious, and he succeeded, notwithstanding the Ephesians having decreed that his name should never be mentioned.

In one of the temples where Diana was wors.h.i.+pped, the presiding priest was always a slave who had slain his predecessor in office, and warned by the fate he had inflicted on others, he never went without a dagger, to protect himself from those who might be ambitious of his office, and reckless of his crime. {54}

In another, she had an altar, whereon they immolated all those whom s.h.i.+pwreck had thrown on their inhospitable sh.o.r.es.