The myths and legends of Ancient Greece by E. M. Berens - HTML preview

NOTES

[1] The early Greeks supposed the earth to be a flat circle, in the centre

of which was Greece. Oceanus, the ocean stream, encircled it; the

Mediterranean being supposed to flow into this river on the one side, and

the Euxine, or Black Sea, on the other.

[2] Owing to the vagueness of the various accounts of creation, the origin

of the primeval gods is variously accounted for. Thus, for instance,

Oceanus, with some, becomes the younger brother of Uranus and Gæa.

[3] The myth of Cronus swallowing his children is evidently intended by the

poets to express the melancholy truth that time destroys all things.

[4] Nectar was the drink, and ambrosia the food of the gods.

[5] The Cyclops are generally mentioned as the sons of Uranus and Gæa, but

Homer speaks of Polyphemus, the chief of the Cyclops, as the son of

Poseidon, and states the Cyclops to be his brothers.

[6] Possibly an image of him placed in readiness.

[7] This age was contemporary with the commencement of the dynasty of Zeus.

[8] Hesiod is said to have lived 850 years before the Christian era,

consequently about 200 years after King David. He lived in Boeotia, where

his tomb is still shown at Orchomenus. This ancient writer left behind him

two great poems, one entitled "The Works and Days," in which he gives us

some of the earliest Greek legends, and the other, "The Theogony,"

containing the genealogies of the gods; but, unfortunately, both these

poems have been so interpolated by the writers of the Alexandrian school

that they have lost their value as reliable sources of information with

regard to the early beliefs of the Greek nation.

[9] Epimetheus signifies after-thought, Prometheus fore-thought.

[10] There are various versions of this myth. According to some the jar or

vase was full of all "the ills which flesh is heir to."

[11] From _Diaus_, the sky.

[12] A sacred shield made for Zeus by Hephæstus, which derived its name

from being covered by the skin of the goat Amalthea, the word Ægis

signifying goat's-skin.

[13] See Demeter.

[14] This frightful monster had sprung from the slimy and stagnant waters

which remained on the surface of the earth after the deluge of Deucalion.

[15] Castor and Pollux were known by the name of the Dioscuri, from _dios_,

gods, and _kuroi_, youths.

[16] The ancient Greeks attributed much of the subsequent character of an

individual to early influences; hence Hera, the future queen and mistress

of heaven, is represented as being brought up in a domesticated and orderly

household, where home virtues are carefully inculcated.

[17] In the Homeric age peacocks were unknown; it is therefore the later

poets who describe Hera surrounded with peacocks, which were brought to

Greece from India.

[18] This circumstance has given rise to the erroneous conclusion that Juno

presided over the finances of the state, but the word _moneta_ is derived

from the Latin _monere_, which means to warn or admonish.

[19] See Roman Festivals.

[20] The first large ship possessed by the Greeks fit for more than coast

navigation.

[21] When Perseus, with the help of Athene, had cut off the head of the

Medusa, the two sisters caused a sad dirge-like song to issue from the

mouths of the many snakes of which their hair was composed, whereupon

Athene, pleased with the sound, imitated the melody on a reed, and thus

invented the flute.

[22] For details see Roman Festivals.

[23] See Legend of Troy.

[24] Some, with but little reason, make Demeter the daughter of Uranus and

Gæa.

[25] Demeter transformed Ascalaphus into an owl for revealing the secret.

[26] The course which the sun ran was considered by the ancients to be a

rising and descending curve [drawing of an arc], the centre of which was

supposed to be reached by Helios at mid-day.

[27] The river Po.

[28] This great work of antiquity was destroyed by an earthquake fifty-six

years after its erection, B.C. 256. The fragments remained on the ground

for many centuries, until Rhodes was conquered by the Turks, and they were

eventually sold by one of the generals of Caliph Othman IV. to a merchant

of Emesa for £36,000, A.D. 672.

[29] According to some authorities, Strymon.

[30] This wonderful lyre, which had been given to Apollo by Hermes

(Mercury) in exchange for the Caduceus or rod of wealth, is said to have

possessed such extraordinary powers, that it caused a stone, upon which it

was laid, to become so melodious, that ever afterwards, on being touched,

it emitted a musical sound which resembled that produced by the lyre

itself.

[31] Aristæus was worshipped as a rural divinity in various parts of

Greece, and was supposed to have taught mankind how to catch bees, and to

utilize honey and wax.

[32] Astræa was the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. Perses was son

of the Titans Crios and Eurybia.

[33] Called also Anaitis-Aphroditis.

[34] This occurred during the night Alexander the Great was born.

[35] Another version with regard to the origin of this defect, is that

being born ugly and deformed, his mother Hera, disgusted at his

unsightliness, herself threw him violently from her lap, and it was then

that his leg was broken, producing the lameness from which he suffered ever

after. On this occasion he fell into the sea, and was saved by the

sea-nymphs Thetis and Eurynome, who kept him for nine years in a cavern

beneath the ocean, where he made for them, in gratitude for their kindness,

several beautiful ornaments, and trinkets of rare workmanship.

[36] According to some accounts Chares was the wife of Hephæstus.

[37] The trident resembled the arrow-headed pronged fork, used by the

fishermen of the Mediterranean Sea in the eel-fishery.

[38] Scylla is a dangerous rock, much dreaded by mariners, in the Straits

of Messina.

[39] The island of Rhodes owes its name to her.

[40] It is worthy of notice that the sons of Poseidon were, for the most

part, distinguished by great force and turbulence of character, in keeping

with the element over which their father was the presiding deity. They were

giants in power, and intractable, fiery, and impatient by nature, spurning

all efforts to control them; in all respects, therefore, fitting

representatives of their progenitor, the mighty ruler of the sea.

[41] A cubit is the length from the elbow to the extremity of the middle

finger, and therefore an indefinite measure, but modern usage takes it as

representing a length of seventeen to eighteen inches.

[42] On the Egyptian coast.

[43] See Legend of the Argonauts.

[44] His two sons Deimos and Phobos.

[45] Romulus was deified by the Romans after death, and was worshipped by

them under the name of Quirinus, an appellation which he shared in common

with his father Mars.

[46] Midas was the son of Cybele and Gordius, the king who tied the

celebrated and intricate knot.

[47] The shades of those mortals whose lives had neither been distinguished

by virtue nor vice, were condemned to a monotonous, joyless, existence in

the Asphodel meadows of Hades.

[48] Echidna was a bloodthirsty monster, half maiden, half serpent.

[49] One of the horns of the goat Amalthea, broken off by Zeus, and

supposed to possess the power of filling itself with whatsoever its owner

desired.

[50] According to another account, Momus discovered that Aphrodite made a

noise when she walked.

[51] The word Psyche signifies "butterfly," the emblem of the soul in

ancient art.

[52] Tiresias alone, of all the shades, was in full possession of his

mental vigour.

[53] Most of the words ending in eus may also be pronounced thus:

_Æ´-ge-us_, _[=a]´-tre-us_, _pro-me´-the-us_, etc.

[54] The first e like ei in their.

[55] _Th_ at the beginning of a word has its soft sound, as in _both_.