Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable

The Druids were the priests or ministers of religion among the ancient Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Our information respecting them is borrowed from notices in...

Jupiter and Juno, although husband and wife, did not live together very happily. Jupiter did not love his wife very much, and Juno distrusted her husband, and was always accusin...

The Roman poet Ovid gives us a connected narrative of creation. Before the earth and sea and the all-covering heaven, one aspect, which we call Chaos, covered all the face of Na...

The teachings of Anchises to AEneas, respecting the nature of the human soul, were in conformity with the doctrines of the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras (born, perhaps, about five hu...

Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, but on one occasion she did a very foolish thing; she entered into competition with Juno and Venus for the prize of beauty. It happened thus....

The Hamadryads were Wood-nymphs. Among them was Pomona, and no one excelled her in love of the garden and the culture of fruit. She cared not for forests and rivers, but loved t...

Bacchus, on a certain occasion, found his old school master and foster father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been drinking, and in that state had wandered away, and was foun...

Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, was the daughter of Jupiter. She, they say, sprang forth from his brain full grown and clad in complete armor. She presided over the useful and o...

In very ancient times there lived in Thessaly a king and queen named Athamas and Nephele. They had two children, a boy and a girl. After a time Athamas grew indifferent to his w...

Pygmalion saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to abhor the sex, and resolved to live unmarried. He was a sculptor, and had made with wonderful skill a statue of i...

During the last fifty years new attention has been paid to the systems of religion of the Eastern world, especially to that of Zoroaster among the Persians, and that which is ca...

The literature of our time, as of all the centuries of Christendom, is full of allusions to the gods and goddesses of the Greeks and Romans. Occasionally, and, in modern days, m...

AEneas, having parted from the Sibyl and rejoined his fleet, coasted along the shores of Italy and cast anchor in the mouth of the Tiber. The poet Virgil, having brought his her...

Ulysses clung to the raft while any of its timbers kept together, and when it no longer yielded him support, binding the girdle around him, he swam. Minerva smoothed the billows...

The story of the Iliad ends with the death of Hector, and it is from the Odyssey and later poems that we learn the fate of the other heroes. After the death of Hector, Troy did...

Minos, king of Crete, made war upon Megara. Nisus was king of Megara, and Scylla was his daughter. The siege had now lasted six months, and the city still held out, for it was d...

The romantic poem of the Odyssey is now to engage our attention. It narrates the wanderings of Ulysses (Odysseus in the Greek language) in his return from Troy to his own kingdo...

At the commencement of our series we have given the pagan account of the creation of the world, so as we approach its conclusion, we present a view of the regions of the dead, d...

Theseus was the son of AEgeus, king of Athens, and of Aethra, daughter of the king of Troezene. He was brought up at Troezene, and, when arrived at manhood, was to proceed to At...

Having reached the close of our series of stories of Pagan mythology, an inquiry suggests itself. "Whence came these stories? Have they a foundation in truth, or are they simply...

The stories which have engaged our attention thus far relate to the mythology of southern regions. But there is another branch of ancient superstitions which ought not to be ent...

Pan, the god of woods and fields, of flocks and shepherds, dwelt in grottos, wandered on the mountains and in valleys, and amused himself with the chase or in leading the dances...

The poets whose adventures compose this chapter were real persons, some of whose works yet remain, and their influence on poets who succeeded them is yet more important than the...

The river-god Achelous told the story of Erisichthon to Theseus and his companions, whom he was entertaining at his hospitable board, while they were delayed on their journey by...

Baldur, the Good, having been tormented with terrible dreams indicating that his life was in peril, told them to the assembled gods, who resolved to conjure all things to avert...

Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope. He was presented by his father with a lyre and taught to play upon it, and he played to such perfection that nothing could w...

We have followed one of the Grecian heroes, Ulysses, in his wanderings, on his return home from Troy, and now we propose to share the fortunes of the remnant of the conquered pe...

One day the god Thor, accompanied by his servant Thialfi, and also by Loki, set out on a journey to the giant's country. Thialfi was of all men the swiftest of foot. He bore Tho...

There is a set of imaginary beings which seem to have been the successors of the "Gorgons, Hydras, and Chimeras dire" of the old superstitions, and, having no connection with th...

Jupiter, under the disguise of a bull, had carried away to the island of Crete, Europa, the daughter of Agenor king of Phoenicia. Agenor commanded his son Cadmus to go in search...

Hercules (in Greek, Heracles) was the son of Jupiter and Alemena. As Juno was always hostile to the offspring of her husband by mortal mothers, she declared war against Hercules...

Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which they empl...

Endymion was a beautiful youth who fed his flock on Mount Latmos. One calm, clear night, Diana, the Moon, looked down and saw him sleeping. The cold heart of the virgin goddess...

Bacchus was the son of Jupiter and Semele. Juno, to gratify her resentment against Semele, contrived a plan for her destruction. Assuming the form of Beroe, her aged nurse, she...

"Bacchus that first from out the purple grape Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine, After the Tuscan mariners transformed, Coasting the Tyrrhene shore as the winds listed On...

Minerva invented the flute, and played upon it to the delight of all the celestial auditors; but the mischievous urchin Cupid having dared to laugh at the queer face which the g...

Virgil's Description of the Region of the Dead.-- Descend into Hades.-- The Black River and Ferryman.-- Cape Palinurus.-- The Three-Headed Dog.-- Regions of Sadness.-- Shades of...

Origin of Greeks and Romans. The Aryan Family. The Divinities of these Nations. Character of the Romans. Greek notion of the World. Dawn, Sun, and Moon. Jupiter and the gods of...

Minerva's Competition.-- Paris's Decision.-- Helen.-- Paris's Elopement.-- Ulysses's Pretence.-- The Apple of Discord.-- Priam, King of Troy.-- Commander of Grecian Armament.--...

Theseus Moves the Fated Stone, and Proceeds to Athens.-- Procrustes's Bedstead.-- Tribute to Minos.-- Ariadne.-- Clew of Thread.-- Encounter with the Minotaur.-- Theseus Becomes...

Juno. Syrinx, or Pandean Pipes. Argus's Eyes. Io. Callisto Constellations of Great and Little Bear. Pole-star. Diana. Actaeon. Latona. Rustics turned to Frogs. Isle of Delos. Ph...

Pan.-- Shepherd's Pipe.-- Panic Terror.-- Signification of the Name Pan.-- Latin Divinities.-- Wood Nymphs.-- Water Nymphs.-- Sea Nymphs. Pleasing Traits of Old Paganism.-- Mrs....

Labors of Hercules.-- Fight with Nemean Lion.-- Slaughter of the Hydra. Cleaning the Augean Stables.-- Girdle of the Queen of the Amazons.-- Oxen of Geryon.-- Golden Apples of H...

Goddess of Wisdom. Arachne. Her Challenge with Minerva. Minerva's Web. Arachne's Web. Transformation. Niobe Queen of Thebes. Mount Cynthus. Death of Niobe's Children. Changed to...

Achilles Captivated by Polyxena.-- Achilles' Claim.-- Bestowal of Achilles' Armor.-- The Hyacinth.-- Arrows of Hercules.-- Death of Paris.-- Celebrated Statue of Minerva.-- Wood...

Orpheus's Lyre.-- Unhappy Prognostics at Orpheus's Marriage.-- Eurydice's Death.-- Orpheus Descends to the Stygian Realm.-- Orpheus Loses Eurydice Forever.-- Thracian Maidens.--...

The Ram with the Golden Fleece. The Hellespont. Jason's Quest. Sowing the Dragon's Teeth. Jason's Father. Incantations of Medea. Ancient Name of Greece. Great Gatherings of the...

The Odyssey.-- The Wanderings of Ulysses.-- Country of the Cyclops.-- The Island of Aeolus.-- The Barbarous Tribe of Laestrygonians.-- Circe.-- The Sirens.-- Scylla and Charybdi...

Transformation of Achelous.-- Origin of the Cornucopia.-- Ancient Meaning of fight of Achelous with Hercules.-- Aesculapius.-- The Cyclops. Antigone.-- Expedition of the "Seven...

Ulysses Abandons the Raft.-- The Country of the Phaeacians.-- Nausicaa's Dream.-- A Game of Ball.-- Ulysses's Dilemma.-- Nausicaa's Courage.-- The Palace of Alcinous.-- Skill of...

Silenus. Midas. Bacchus's Reward to Midas. River Pactolus. Pan Challenges Apollo. Midas's Ears. Gordian Knot. Baucis and Philemon. Aetna. Perpetual Spring. Pluto carries off Pro...

Attributes of Monsters. Laius. Oedipus. The Oracle. Sphinx. The Riddle. Oedipus made King. Jocasta. Origin of Pegasus. Fountain of Hippocrene. The Chimaera. Bellerophontic Lette...

Hamadryads. Pomona. Vertumnus. Iphis. Cupid and Psyche. Zephyr. Temple of Ceres. Temple of Venus. The Ant. Golden Fleece. Pluto. Cerberus. Charon. The Treasure. Stygian Sleep. C...

Pygmalion's Statue. Dryope and Iole. Lotus Tree. Venus and Adonis. Anemone or Wind Flower. Apollo and Hyacinthus. Game of Quoits. Flower Hyacinthus. Ceyx and Halcyone. Palace of...

Minos, King of Crete. Nisus, his purple hair. Scylla's Betrayal. Her Punishment. Echo. Juno's Sentence. Narcissus. Love for his own image. Clytie. Hopeless Love for Apollo. Beco...

Adventures of Real Persons.-- Arion, Famous Musician.-- Description of Ancient Theatres.-- Murder of Ibycus.-- Chorus Personating the Furies.-- Cranes of Ibycus.-- The Murderers...

Endymion.-- Mount Latmos. Gift of Perpetual Youth and Perpetual Sleep.-- Orion.-- Kedalion.-- Orion's Girdle.-- The Fatal Shot The Pleiads.-- Aurora.-- Memnon.-- statue of Memno...