Part 4
“_There too flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh Half buried in the eagle’s down, Sole as a flying star shot through the sky Above the pillared town._”
--TENNYSON.
STORY.
A TROJAN PRINCE.
“Eagle pinions, swift as thought, Ganymede to heaven brought, Stolen from the plains of Troy, Loved of gods, immortal boy! Still a stranger in the skies, Ganymede in heaven sighs.”
--_Edith M. Thomas._
Jupiter was obliged to go in quest of another cup bearer to replace Hebe after she resigned her position. To facilitate this search, he assumed the form of an eagle and winged his flight over the earth. He had not flown far when he beheld Ganymede, a youth of marvelous beauty, alone on Mt. Ida. To swoop down, clutch him in his mighty talons and bear him safely off to Olympus, was the work of but a few moments. There the kidnapped youth, the son of the king of Troy, was carefully taught the duties he was called upon to perform.
INTERPRETATION.
Like Hebe, Ganymede personifies youth. Astronomers place him among the stars under the name of Aquarius. There is but little growth of mythical tradition about his personality.
ART.
This pleasing composition, referred by critics to the Alexandrian period, now in the Naples Museum, shows Ganymede standing by the side of the eagle and passing his arm about the bird’s neck. The eagle is placed on a stump so as to bring his head nearer to a level with the boy’s arm.
Cupid Stung.
“Cupid once upon a bed Of roses laid his weary head; Luckless urchin, not to see Within the leaves a slumbering bee. The bee awaked--with anger wild The bee awaked, and stung the child Loud and piteous are his cries; To Venus quick he runs, he flies; ‘Oh, mother--I am wounded through--I die with pain--in sooth I do! Stung by some little angry thing, Some serpent on a tiny wing--A bee it was--for once I know, I heard a rustic call it so.’ Thus he spoke, and she the while Heard him with a soothing smile; Then said, ‘My infant, if so much Thou feel the little wild-bee’s touch, How must the heart, ah, Cupid, be, The hapless heart that’s stung by thee!’”
--_Moore._ (_Anacreon._)
Cupid and Psyche.
“_Pallas shall sit enthroned in wisdom’s station Cupid and Psyche be forever wed, And still the primal loveliest creation Yield new delight from ancient beauty bred._”
--E. C. STEDMAN.
STORY.
A FAIRY TALE.
“No dulcet sounds escaped her lyre E’en when the summer nights were nigh; Till Cupid came with glance of fire And taught her all the mystery.”
--_Goethe._
Psyche was the youngest of three daughters of a king and by her beauty incurred the jealousy and envy of Venus, who commanded her son, Cupid, to slay her. Cupid prepared to obey the command, but became so stricken with Psyche’s beauty that he fell in love with her and sent a Zephyr to convey her to a splendid palace where he became her husband. He visited her, however, only when the shades of night fell and entreated her to make no attempt to discover his name or see his face, warning her that if she did he would be forced to leave her, never to return.
“Dear, I am with thee only while I keep My visage hidden: and if thou once shouldst see My face, I must forsake thee: the high gods Link Love with Faith, and he withdraws himself From the full gaze of Knowledge.”
--_Lewis Morris._
Psyche promised to respect his wishes and when the first faint streak of dawn appeared he bade her farewell to return at night.
“Now on broad pinions from the realms above Descending, Cupid seeks the Cyprian grove; To his wide arms enamoured Psyche springs And clasps her lover with aurelian wings. A purple sash across his shoulder bends And fringed with gold his quivered shaft suspends.”
--_Darwin._
While the novelty of the situation lasted Psyche was happy, but soon her sisters came and filled her bosom with dark suspicions.
“They told her that he to whose vows she had listened Through night’s fleeting hours was a spirit unblest; Unholy the eyes that beside her had glistened And evil the lips she in darkness had pressed. When next in thy chamber the bridegroom reclineth Bring near him thy lamp when in slumber he lies, And when the light o’er his dark features shineth Thou’ll see what a demon has won all thy sighs.”
--_Moore._
Psyche’s curiosity and suspicions overcame her discretion and accordingly when Cupid was asleep she took a lamp and, bending over him, beheld not a hideous monster, but the most beautiful of the gods. In the excitement of joy and fear, a drop of hot oil fell from the lamp upon his shoulder. He opened his eyes and fixed them full upon her, then spreading his white wings, flew away only stopping long enough to say:
“Farewell--what a dream thy suspicion hath broken! Thus ever affection’s fond vision is crost. Dissolved are her spells when a doubt is but spoken, And love once disturbed forever is lost.”
--_Moore._
Psyche, disconsolate, wandered over the earth seeking her lover, and at length came to the palace of Venus. Venus retained her as a slave and imposed upon her the hardest and most humiliating labors. She would have perished but that Cupid, who still loved her in secret, invisibly comforted her. One day he found her asleep by the roadside with the marks of grief upon her lovely face. He softly kissed her and said:
“Dear, unclose thine eyes, Thou mayst look on me now, I go no more, But am thine own forever.”
--_Lewis Morris._
He bore her away to Mt. Olympus where their union was blessed by the gods.
“So now in steadfast love and happy state, They hold for aye their mansion in the sky, And send down heavenly peace on those who mate, In virgin love, to find their joy thereby.”
--_Robert Bridges._
INTERPRETATION.
Cupid is an emblem of the heart. The Greek word for butterfly is Psyche and the same word means soul.
“The butterfly the ancient Grecians made The soul’s fair emblem.”
--_Coleridge._
The purpose of the story is to illustrate the three stages in the existence of a soul--its pre-existence in a blessed state, its existence on earth, its trials and anguish, and its future state of happy immortality.
ART.
One of the most beautiful of the many representations of this fascinating story is Canova’s statue in the Louvre of Cupid awakening Psyche. We cannot fail to have an exalted conception of true beauty after gazing upon it. It has been said that no kiss in modern art is so ideal as the one here enjoyed. The youthful figures show grace of form combined with an exalted spirituality. Only a refined nature could have conceived the subject so purely.
Mercury.
“The Master Thief.”
“_By thy winged cap And winged heels I know thee: thou art Hermes, Captain of thieves! Hast thou again been stealing heifers of Admetus in the sweet Meadows of Asphodel?_”
--LONGFELLOW.
STORY.
THE THEFT.
Mercury was remarkable for his dexterity and cunning. On the day of his birth he stole the “immortal oxen” of Apollo and drove them off to a secluded spot where he concealed them. When Apollo missed his cattle he began to search for some clue to their hiding place or to the thief, but found nothing except a few broken limbs and scattered twigs.
Suddenly he remembered that the babe whose birth had been announced that morning in high Olympus, had been appointed god of thieves. He soon discovered the young rogue hidden away in his cradle. Mercury put on a pretty air of innocence and denied all knowledge of the cattle; but Apollo was not easily deceived. He took the thief to Jupiter, who ordered him to make restitution. Mercury gave his lyre to Apollo who presented him in return with the divining rod, which afterwards became the caduceus, and they were then the best of friends.
Although Mercury in his lowest aspects was an accomplished liar and cunning thief, he was at the same time a swift and trusted messenger of the gods, the fair youth of whom Homer speaks:
“Straightway beneath his feet he bound his fair golden sandals divine that bore him over the wet sea and o’er the boundless land with the breathings of the wind.”
Mercury, when commissioned by the “high thundering Zeus” to perform an errand much to his distaste, thus soliloquizes:
“Much must he toil who serves the Immortal Gods, And I, who am their herald, most of all No rest have I, nor respite. I no sooner Unclasp the winged sandals from my feet, Than I again must clasp them, and depart Upon some foolish errand.”
--_Longfellow._
INTERPRETATION.
Apollo (sun) possessed great herds of cattle (clouds). Mercury (wind), born in the night, after a few hours’ existence waxes sufficiently strong to drive away the clouds and conceal them, leaving no trace of his passage except broken branches and scattered leaves. His swiftness, his strength and his persuasive powers make him an ideal messenger.
ART.
This charming composition by J. A. Delorme, in the Luxembourg, represents Mercury preparing to depart upon some errand for the gods. He is seated upon a rock in an easy, graceful attitude and is binding on his sandals while he seems to be deliberating upon the nature of the task he is about to perform. His limbs give an impression of strength combined with agility.
Mercury.
“_Foot-feathered Mercury appeared sublime Beyond the tall tree-tops, and in less time Than shoots the slanted hailstones down he dropt, One moment from his home; only the sward He with his wand light touched, and heavenward Swifter than the flight was gone._”
--KEATS.
STORY.
THE INVENTOR.
Mercury was not only the swift messenger of the gods, but presided over commerce, wrestling and other gymnastic exercises, and was the giver of sweet sleep. To him was ascribed the invention of the lyre. He found one day a tortoise of which he took the shell, made holes in the opposite edges, drew cords of linen through, and lo, the instrument was complete. The cords were nine in number in honor of the nine Muses.
“So there it lay, through wet and dry, As empty as the last new sonnet, Till by and by came Mercury, And having mused upon it, ‘Why here,’ cried he, ‘the thing of things, In shape, material and dimension, Give it but strings and lo it sings, A wonderful invention.’ So said, so done; the cords he strained And as his fingers o’er them hovered, The shell disdained a soul had gained, The lyre had been discovered. O empty world that round us lies, Dead shell of soul and thought forsaken, Brought we but eyes like Mercury’s, In thee what songs would waken.”
--_Lowell._
INTERPRETATION.
Mercury was the wind, and the music he invented was the “melody of the winds which can awaken feelings of joy and sorrow, of regret and yearning, of fear and hope, of vehement gladness and of utter despair.”
ART.
Chapu has here shown Mercury as a beautiful, vigorous youth with two light wings quivering on his head and winged sandals on his feet, emblematic of his swiftness. He is touching the ground with his magic wand round which two serpents entwine themselves.
The statue is in the Luxembourg.
The Genius of Death.
“_This hour Thou art the shadow of life, and as the tree Stands in the sun and shadows all beneath, So in the light of great eternity Life eminent creates the shadow of death; The shadow passeth when the tree shall fall, But I shall reign forever over all._”
--TENNYSON.
STORY.
THANATOS.
Thanatos, or Mors, the god of Death and twin brother of Sleep dwelt in a dark cavern near the entrance to Tartarus. His office was to introduce all men to the subterranean abode and reveal to them its secrets. Occasionally he was followed with meekness and submission, but more often his approach was regarded with fear. He performed his task with such relentless severity that at the sight of his gloomy figure men’s hearts trembled and their minds were filled with awful thoughts.
ART.
The god of death has often been represented in art as a hideous, cadaverous looking deity, clad in a winding sheet and holding an hour glass and a scythe. We have a more attractive personification in Canova’s “Genius of Death,” a detail of the tomb of Clement XIII., in St. Peter’s, Rome.
The beautiful, pensive youth is sitting in a quiet, restful attitude holding an extinguished torch. The sleeping lion at his feet adds to the general air of repose.
The Graces.
“Goddesses of Gracefulness.”
“_The three on men all gracious gifts bestow Which deck the body or adorn the mind, To make them lovely or well favored show; As comely carriage, entertainment kind, Sweet semblance, friendly offices that bind And all the compliments of courtesy; They teach us how to each degree and kind We should ourselves demean, to low, to high, To friends, to foes; which skill men call Civility._”
--SPENSER.
STORY.
THREE CHARITIES.
Three sisters, Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia, in fair Venus’ train with the “rosy bosomed Hours,” were goddesses who enhanced the enjoyments of life by refinement and gentleness. They were young and modest maidens always dancing, singing or running, or decking themselves with flowers. Their home was on Mt. Olympus where they often danced before the deities. The Greeks believed that labor without gracefulness was in vain, and so Minerva, who presided over the serious business of life, often called in the aid of the Graces. They also assisted Mercury in his capacity of god of oratory.
INTERPRETATION.
The manifold beauty which the works of nature, especially in spring time, display would seem to have given rise in early times to a belief in the existence of certain goddesses at first simply as guardians of the vernal sweetness and beauty of nature, and afterward as the friends and protectors of everything graceful and beautiful. Purity and happiness in life and gratitude among men were associated with them. The name “Gratiæ,” or “Charites,” signifies the exercise of kind affection, or the charities of life.
ART.
These figures of the Graces by Canova, in the Borghese Gallery, Rome, are classic in outline and refined in treatment. They show not a trace of sensuality. Many artists have delighted in reproducing this type of the Graces.
Pan.
“_Who weeps the death of Pan? Pan is not dead, But loves the shepherds still; still leads the fauns In merry dances o’er the grassy lawns, To his own pipes; ... Pan cannot die till Nature’s decease! Full oft the reverent worshiper descries His ruddy face and mischief-glancing eyes Beneath the branches of old forest trees That tower remote from steps of worldly men, Or hear his laugh far echoing down the glen._”
--J. G. SAXE.
STORY.
AN ARCADIAN GOD.
Pan was god of the woods and fields, flocks and shepherds, and his favorite residence was Arcadia. He was fond of music and led the dances of the Hours and Graces.
The story goes that a coy nymph whom he loved and endeavored to gain was changed into a reed which he cut and fashioned into the Syrinx or Pan’s pipe. With this he charmed trees and flowers as well as men and animals.
“Mad with love, and laden With immortal pain, Pan pursued a maiden-- Pan, the god, in vain.
For when Pan had nearly Touched her wild to plead, She was gone--and clearly In her place a reed!
Long the God unwilling Through the valley strayed, Then at last submitting, Cut the reed and made,
Deftly fashioned seven Pipes, and poured his pain Unto earth and heaven In a piercing strain.”
--_Archibald Lampman._
Although Pan had a pleasant, cheerful face, he was curiously formed, having a man’s body and a goat’s legs and feet. He was supposed to delight in inspiring people with sudden and unfounded fears--hence the word _panic_.
INTERPRETATION.
The character of Pan was symbolic of Nature; the music of his pipes was the gentle, intermittent breeze.
The lower part of his body was that of a goat on account of the rough and rocky nature of his favorite haunts. His leaf-shaped ears--terminating in little peaks like those of some animals--indicate his wild, forest nature.
ART.
The face and figure of Pan as displayed in this statue by Fremiet, in the Luxembourg, give an idea of an easy, amiable creature. It is impossible to gaze long at it without conceiving a kindly sentiment towards it. The nose is almost straight, but curves inward slightly, giving the face a good-humored charm. The mouth seems so nearly to smile outright that one involuntarily smiles in return.
Hope.
“_Oh, may she never, Till life’s lamp is quenched, Turn away from me-- That noble reciter, Comforter--Hope._”
--GOETHE.
STORY.
THE PAGAN EVE.
“Dowered with all celestial gifts, Skilled in every art That ennobles and uplifts And delights the heart, Fair on earth shall be thy fame As thy face is fair, And Pandora be the name Thou henceforth shalt bear.”
--_Longfellow._
To Prometheus, a giant who first inhabited the earth, was attributed the creation of man.
“Prometheus first transmuted Atoms culled from human clay.”
--_Horace._
It is also said that he stole fire from heaven and so cleverly used it for the benefit of humanity that it finally gave man dominion over all the earth.
“Beautiful is the tradition Of that flight through heavenly portals, The old classic superstition Of the theft and the transmission Of the fire of the Immortals.”
--_Longfellow._
Jupiter so grudged fire to mortals that he became furious with anger and in revenge ordered Vulcan to fashion a woman out of clay and send her to man to bring misery upon him.
“The crippled artist god, Illustrious, moulded from the yielding clay A bashful virgin’s image, as advised Saturnian Jove.”
--_Hesiod._
The woman was named Pandora and on her were bestowed all the charms and weaknesses of human nature. Mercury led her to Epimetheus who, though warned by his brother Prometheus not to accept any gifts from the gods, succumbed at once to her beauty and made her his wife. He conveyed her to his home, where all went merrily until Pandora discovered a box hidden away in her husband’s house. She was seized with a curiosity to know its contents, but Epimetheus forbade her to meddle with it.
“Yon mysterious chest Attracts and fascinates me. Would I knew What there lies hidden! but the oracle forbids.”
--_Longfellow._
The allurement proved too great, however. Stealthily she raised the lid to take a peep within and lo, out flew a multitude of plagues and scattered themselves over the earth to forever torment hapless man with diseases, vices and crimes. All that remained was Hope. After many entreaties she came forth to heal the wounds inflicted by her former fellow prisoners. “Thus entered evil into the world bringing untold misery: thus followed Hope to point to a happier future.”
INTERPRETATION.
The progress of civilization is symbolized by fire and its adaptation to the uses of mankind.
Prometheus means forethought or Providence; Epimetheus afterthought. To be wise after an event is often to be wise too late. The temptation of Epimetheus came in the form of Pandora (all gifts), and was too fascinating to be resisted.
Diseases and evils can do no harm until they are let loose.
ART.
Thorwaldsen possessed in a remarkable degree the genuine antique spirit and in this figure of Hope he has embodied the calm simplicity and cheerful repose which make the key note of the best Greek sculpture. There is about it a noble charm which seems to be a reflex of an inward purity. The smile Hope wears is delicately expressive of her name.
Suggestive Readings.
_Jupiter_
Olympian Gods. W. E. Gladstone, _N. A. Review_, April, 1892. Epic of Hades. Wm. Morris. Jupiter and Danaë. J. G. Saxe. Jove to Hercules. Schiller.
_Juno_
Hymn of Terpander to Juno. Landor. Marble Faun, Chap. I. Hawthorne.
_Apollo Belvedere_
Apollo and the Fates. R. Browning. Fable for Critics. Lowell. Apollo. E. C. Stedman. Apollo Pythias. R. W. Dixon. The Sun’s Darling. Dekker.
_Niobe_
Songs Unsung. Morris. Childe Harold. Byron. Daphne and Other Poems. Tennyson.
_Mars_
Secular Masque. Dryden. Faery Queen. Spenser.
_Laocoon_
Laocoon. Lessing. Laocoon. James Sadolet.
_Venus_
Birth of Venus, New Symbols. Hake. Venus Victrix. D. G. Rossetti. Venus and Vulcan. J. D. Saxe.
_Hercules_
Hercules Spinning. J. D. Saxe. Jove to Hercules. Schiller.
_Neptune_
Song of the Sirens. Lowell. Hymn in Praise of Neptune. Campion.
_Three Fates_
Parcæ. T. B. Aldrich.
_Meleager_
Death of Meleager. Swinburne.
_Muses_
Prayer to the Muses. E. Arnold. Spring. Pope.
_Diana_
Hymn of the Priestess, Diana. To Artemis. A. Lang. Endymion. Longfellow.
_Ariadne_
How Bacchus finds Ariadne. E. B. Browning. Hanging of the Crane. Longfellow.
_Minerva_
Queen of the Air. Ruskin. On an Intaglio Head of Minerva. T. B. Aldrich.
_Orpheus_
Orpheus: A Masque. Mrs. Jas. T. Fields. Orpheus. Shelley. Waking of Eurydice. Gosse.
_Daphne_
Daphne. Swift. Daphne. Tennyson.
_Proserpine_
The Search for Proserpine. R. H. Stoddard. The Appeasement of Demeter. Geo. Meredith.
_Cupid and Psyche_
Marius the Epicurean. Walter Pater. Eros and Psyche. Dr. Paul Carus. Marriage of Cupid and Psyche. E. B. Browning.
_Cupid_
Cupid’s Birth. _Cosmopolitan_, XX., 189. Death and Cupid. J. G. Saxe. Cupid Stung. E. Arnold.
_Perseus_
Wonder Book--Gorgon Head. Hawthorne.
_Bacchus_
Bacchus. Bacchus--Poems. Emerson. Praise of Dionysus. Gosse. Dionysus--Greek Studies. Walter Pater.
_Hebe_
Hebe. Lowell. Fall of Hebe. Moore.
_Ganymede_
Palace of Art. Tennyson.
_Mercury_
Mercury. Boyesen. Phœbus and Hermes. Goethe.
_Pan_
The Dead Pan. E. B. Browning. Pan in Love. W. W. Story. Pan and Pitys. Landor.
Bibliography.
Books recommended should further study be desired:
Studies of the Gods in Greece. Dyer. Juventus Mundi. Gladstone. Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome. Berens. Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece. Blackie. Manual of Mythology in its Relation to Greek Art. Collignon. Manual of Mythology. Cox. Classic Myths. Gayley. History of Sculpture. Lübke. Age of Fable; or Beauties of Mythology. Bulfinch. Handbook of Greek Sculpture. Gardner. Studies in Greek Art. Harrison. Greek Studies. Pater. Myths of Old Greece, I., II., III. Pratt.
Synonymous Deities.
_Greek._ _Roman._ Zeus (zūs) Jupiter (jö´pi-ter) Hera (hē´rä) Juno (jö´nō) Ares (ā´rēz) Mars (märz) Aphrodite (af-rō-dī´tē) Venus (vē´nus) Artemis (är´tē-mis) Diana (dī-an´ä) Athene (a-thē´nē) Minerva (mi-ner´vä) Demeter (de-mē´ter) Ceres (sē´rēz) Dionysus (dī-ō-nī´sus) Bacchus (bak´us) Eros (ē´ros) Cupid (kū´pid) Hades (hā´dēz) Pluto (plö´tō) Hephæstus (he-fes´tus) Vulcan (vul´kan) Hermes (her´mēz) Mercury (mer-kū-ri) Leto (lē´to) Latona (lā-tō´nä) Nike (nī´-kē) Victoria (vik-tō´ri-ä) Persephone (per-sef´ō-nē) Proserpine (pros´er-pin) Poseidon (pō-sī´don) Neptune (nep´tūn)
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note: