The Project Gutenberg eBook ofBulfinch's Mythology

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofBulfinch's MythologyThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Bulfinch's MythologyAuthor: Thomas BulfinchRelease date: February 26, 2018 [eBook #56644]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Marcia Brooks, Cindy Beyer, and the onlineProject Gutenberg team athttp://www.pgdpcanada.net with images provided by TheInternet Archives-US.*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Bulfinch's MythologyAuthor: Thomas BulfinchRelease date: February 26, 2018 [eBook #56644]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Marcia Brooks, Cindy Beyer, and the onlineProject Gutenberg team athttp://www.pgdpcanada.net with images provided by TheInternet Archives-US.

Title: Bulfinch's Mythology

Author: Thomas Bulfinch

Release date: February 26, 2018 [eBook #56644]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Marcia Brooks, Cindy Beyer, and the onlineProject Gutenberg team athttp://www.pgdpcanada.net with images provided by TheInternet Archives-US.

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY ***

JOVE (JUPITER).Museum at Naples. Excavated from Pompeii in 1818.

BULFINCH’SMYTHOLOGYThe Age of FableThe Age of ChivalryLegends of CharlemagneBYTHOMAS BULFINCHCOMPLETE IN ONE VOLUMEREVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH ILLUSTRATIONSGROSSET & DUNLAP •Publishers• NEW YORK

BULFINCH’S

MYTHOLOGY

The Age of Fable

The Age of Chivalry

Legends of Charlemagne

THOMAS BULFINCH

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

REVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

GROSSET & DUNLAP •Publishers• NEW YORK

ByTHOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY.

Printed in the United States of America

No new edition of Bulfinch’s classic work can be considered complete without some notice of the American scholar to whose wide erudition and painstaking care it stands as a perpetual monument. “The Age of Fable” has come to be ranked with older books like “Pilgrim’s Progress,” “Gulliver’s Travels,” “The Arabian Nights,” “Robinson Crusoe,” and five or six other productions of world-wide renown as a work with which every one must claim some acquaintance before his education can be called really complete. Many readers of the present edition will probably recall coming in contact with the work as children, and, it may be added, will no doubt discover from a fresh perusal the source of numerous bits of knowledge that have remained stored in their minds since those early years. Yet to the majority of this great circle of readers and students the name Bulfinch in itself has no significance.

Thomas Bulfinch was a native of Boston, Mass., where he was born in 1796. His boyhood was spent in that city, and he prepared for college in the Boston schools. He finished his scholastic training at Harvard College, and after taking his degree was for a period a teacher in his home city. For a long time later in life he was employed as an accountant in the Boston Merchants’ Bank. His leisure time he used for further pursuit of the classical studies which he had begun at Harvard, and his chief pleasure in life lay in writing out the results of his reading, in simple, condensed form for young or busy readers. The plan he followed in this work, to give it the greatest possible usefulness, is set forth in the Author’s Preface.

“The Age of Fable,” First Edition, 1855; “The Age of Chivalry,” 1858; “The Boy Inventor,” 1860; “Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages,” 1863; “Poetry of the Age of Fable,” 1863; “Oregon and Eldorado, or Romance of the Rivers,” 1860.

In this complete edition of his mythological and legendary lore “The Age of Fable,” “The Age of Chivalry,” and “Legends of Charlemagne” are included. Scrupulous care has been taken to follow the original text of Bulfinch, but attention should be called to some additional sections which have been inserted to add to the rounded completeness of the work, and which the publishers believe would meet with the sanction of the author himself, as in no way intruding upon his original plan but simply carrying it out in more complete detail. The section on Northern Mythology has been enlarged by a retelling of the epic of the “Nibelungen Lied,” together with a summary of Wagner’s version of the legend in his series of music-dramas. Under the head of “Hero Myths of the British Race” have been included outlines of the stories of Beowulf, Cuchulain, Hereward the Wake, and Robin Hood. Of the verse extracts which occur throughout the text, thirty or more have been added from literature which has appeared since Bulfinch’s time, extracts that he would have been likely to quote had he personally supervised the new edition.

Finally, the index has been thoroughly overhauled and, indeed, remade. All the proper names in the work have been entered, with references to the pages where they occur, and a concise explanation or definition of each has been given. Thus what was a mere list of names in the original has been enlarged into a small classical and mythological dictionary, which it is hoped will prove valuable for reference purposes not necessarily connected with “The Age of Fable.”

Acknowledgments are due the writings of Dr. Oliver Huckel for information on the point of Wagner’s rendering of the Nibelungen legend, and M. I. Ebbutt’s authoritative volume on “Hero Myths and Legends of the British Race,” from which much of the information concerning the British heroes has been obtained.

If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation. But if that which tends to make us happier and better can be called useful, then we claim that epithet for our subject. For Mythology is the handmaid of literature; and literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of happiness.

Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. When Byron calls Rome “the Niobe of nations,” or says of Venice, “She looks a Sea-Cybele fresh from ocean,” he calls up to the mind of one familiar with our subject, illustrations more vivid and striking than the pencil could furnish, but which are lost to the reader ignorant of mythology. Milton abounds in similar allusions. The short poem “Comus” contains more than thirty such, and the ode “On the Morning of the Nativity” half as many. Through “Paradise Lost” they are scattered profusely. This is one reason why we often hear persons by no means illiterate say that they cannot enjoy Milton. But were these persons to add to their more solid acquirements the easy learning of this little volume, much of the poetry of Milton which has appeared to them “harsh and crabbed” would be found “musical as is Apollo’s lute.” Our citations, taken from more than twenty-five poets, from Spenser to Longfellow, will show how general has been the practice of borrowing illustrations from mythology.

The prose writers also avail themselves of the same source of elegant and suggestive illustration. One can hardly take up a number of the “Edinburgh” or “QuarterlyReview” without meeting with instances. In Macaulay’s article on Milton there are twenty such.

But how is mythology to be taught to one who does not learn it through the medium of the languages of Greece and Rome? To devote study to a species of learning which relates wholly to false marvels and obsolete faiths is not to be expected of the general reader in a practical age like this. The time even of the young is claimed by so many sciences of facts and things that little can be spared for set treatises on a science of mere fancy.

But may not the requisite knowledge of the subject be acquired by reading the ancient poets in translations? We reply, the field is too extensive for a preparatory course; and these very translations require some previous knowledge of the subject to make them intelligible. Let any one who doubts it read the first page of the “Æneid,” and see what he can make of “the hatred of Juno,” the “decree of the Parcæ,” the “judgment of Paris,” and the “honors of Ganymede,” without this knowledge.

Shall we be told that answers to such queries may be found in notes, or by a reference to the Classical Dictionary? We reply, the interruption of one’s reading by either process is so annoying that most readers prefer to let an allusion pass unapprehended rather than submit to it. Moreover, such sources give us only the dry facts without any of the charm of the original narrative; and what is a poetical myth when stripped of its poetry? The story of Ceyx and Halcyone, which fills a chapter in our book, occupies but eight lines in the best (Smith’s) Classical Dictionary; and so of others.

Our work is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference. Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the charmof a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of education. The index at the end will adapt it to the purposes of reference, and make it a Classical Dictionary for the parlor.

Most of the classical legends in “Stories of Gods and Heroes” are derived from Ovid and Virgil. They are not literally translated, for, in the author’s opinion, poetry translated into literal prose is very unattractive reading. Neither are they in verse, as well for other reasons as from a conviction that to translate faithfully under all the embarrassments of rhyme and measure is impossible. The attempt has been made to tell the stories in prose, preserving so much of the poetry as resides in the thoughts and is separable from the language itself, and omitting those amplifications which are not suited to the altered form.

The Northern mythological stories are copied with some abridgment from Mallet’s “Northern Antiquities.” These chapters, with those on Oriental and Egyptian mythology, seemed necessary to complete the subject, though it is believed these topics have not usually been presented in the same volume with the classical fables.

The poetical citations so freely introduced are expected to answer several valuable purposes. They will tend to fix in memory the leading fact of each story, they will help to the attainment of a correct pronunciation of the proper names, and they will enrich the memory with many gems of poetry, some of them such as are most frequently quoted or alluded to in reading and conversation.

Having chosenmythology as connected with literaturefor our province, we have endeavored to omit nothing which the reader of elegant literature is likely to find occasion for. Such stories and parts of stories as are offensive to pure taste and good morals are not given. But such stories are not often referred to, and if they occasionally should be, the English reader need feel no mortification in confessing his ignorance of them.

Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader ofEnglish literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite conversation.

————

In the “Stories of Gods and Heroes” the compiler has endeavored to impart the pleasures of classical learning to the English reader, by presenting the stories of Pagan mythology in a form adapted to modern taste. In “King Arthur and His Knights” and “The Mabinogeon” the attempt has been made to treat in the same way the stories of the second “age of fable,” the age which witnessed the dawn of the several states of Modern Europe.

It is believed that this presentation of a literature which held unrivalled sway over the imaginations of our ancestors, for many centuries, will not be without benefit to the reader, in addition to the amusement it may afford. The tales, though not to be trusted for their facts, are worthy of all credit as pictures of manners; and it is beginning to be held that the manners and modes of thinking of an age are a more important part of its history than the conflicts of its peoples, generally leading to no result. Besides this, the literature of romance is a treasure-house of poetical material, to which modern poets frequently resort. The Italian poets, Dante and Ariosto, the English, Spenser, Scott, and Tennyson, and our own Longfellow and Lowell, are examples of this.

These legends are so connected with each other, so consistently adapted to a group of characters strongly individualized in Arthur, Launcelot, and their compeers, and so lighted up by the fires of imagination and invention, that they seem as well adapted to the poet’s purpose as the legends of the Greek and Roman mythology. And if every well-educated young person is expected to know the story of the Golden Fleece, why is the quest of the Sangreal less worthy of his acquaintance? Or if an allusion to the shield of Achilles ought not to passunapprehended, why should one to Excalibar, the famous sword of Arthur?—

“Of Arthur, who, to upper light restored,With that terrific sword,Which yet he brandishes for future war,Shall lift his country’s fame above the polar star.”[1]

“Of Arthur, who, to upper light restored,

With that terrific sword,

Which yet he brandishes for future war,

Shall lift his country’s fame above the polar star.”[1]

It is an additional recommendation of our subject, that it tends to cherish in our minds the idea of the source from which we sprung. We are entitled to our full share in the glories and recollections of the land of our forefathers, down to the time of colonization thence. The associations which spring from this source must be fruitful of good influences; among which not the least valuable is the increased enjoyment which such associations afford to the American traveller when he visits England, and sets his foot upon any of her renowned localities.

————

The legends of Charlemagne and his peers are necessary to complete the subject.

In an age when intellectual darkness enveloped Western Europe, a constellation of brilliant writers arose in Italy. Of these, Pulci (born in 1432), Boiardo (1434), and Ariosto (1474) took for their subjects the romantic fables which had for many ages been transmitted in the lays of bards and the legends of monkish chroniclers. These fables they arranged in order, adorned with the embellishments of fancy, amplified from their own invention, and stamped with immortality. It may safely be asserted that as long as civilization shall endure these productions will retain their place among the most cherished creations of human genius.

In “Stories of Gods and Heroes,” “King Arthur and His Knights” and “The Mabinogeon” the aim has been to supply to the modern reader such knowledge of the fables of classical and mediæval literature as is needed to render intelligible the allusions which occur in reading and conversation. The “Legends of Charlemagne” isintended to carry out the same design. Like the earlier portions of the work, it aspires to a higher character than that of a piece of mere amusement. It claims to be useful, in acquainting its readers with the subjects of the productions of the great poets of Italy. Some knowledge of these is expected of every well-educated young person.

In reading these romances, we cannot fail to observe how the primitive inventions have been used, again and again, by successive generations of fabulists. The Siren of Ulysses is the prototype of the Siren of Orlando, and the character of Circe reappears in Alcina. The fountains of Love and Hatred may be traced to the story of Cupid and Psyche; and similar effects produced by a magic draught appear in the tale of Tristram and Isoude, and, substituting a flower for the draught, in Shakspeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” There are many other instances of the same kind which the reader will recognize without our assistance.

The sources whence we derive these stories are, first, the Italian poets named above; next, the “Romans de Chevalerie” of the Comte de Tressan; lastly, certain German collections of popular tales. Some chapters have been borrowed from Leigh Hunt’s Translations from the Italian Poets. It seemed unnecessary to do over again what he had already done so well; yet, on the other hand, those stories could not be omitted from the series without leaving it incomplete.

Thomas Bulfinch.

CONTENTSSTORIES OF GODS AND HEROESCHAPTERPAGEI.Introduction1II.Prometheus and Pandora12III.Apollo and Daphne—Pyramus and Thisbe—Cephalus and Procris19IV.Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto—Diana and Actæon—Latona and the Rustics28V.Phaëton38VI.Midas—Baucis and Philemon46VII.Proserpine—Glaucus and Scylla52VIII.Pygmalion—Dryope—Venus and Adonis—Apollo and Hyacinthus62IX.Ceyx and Halcyone69X.Vertumnus and Pomona—Iphis and Anaxarete76XI.Cupid and Psyche80XII.Cadmus—The Myrmidons91XIII.Nisus and Scylla—Echo and Narcissus—Clytie—Hero and Leander98XIV.Minerva and Arachne—Niobe107XV.The Grææ and Gorgons—Perseus and Medusa—Atlas—Andromeda115XVI.Monsters: Giants—Sphinx—Pegasus and Chimæra—Centaurs—Griffin—Pygmies122XVII.The Golden Fleece—Medea129XVIII.Meleager and Atalanta138XIX.Hercules—Hebe and Ganymede143XX.Theseus and Dædalus—Castor and Pollux—Festivals and Games150XXI.Bacchus and Ariadne160XXII.The Rural Deities—The Dryads and Erisichthon—Rhœcus—Water Deities—Camenæ—Winds166XXIII.Achelous and Hercules—Admetus and Alcestis—Antigone—Penelope177XXIV.Orpheus and Eurydice—Aristæus—Amphion—Linus—Thamyris—Marsyas—Melampus—Musæus185XXV.Arion—Ibycus—Simonides—Sappho194XXVI.Endymion—Orion—Aurora and Tithonus—Acis and Galatea204XXVII.The Trojan War211XXVIII.The Fall of Troy—Return of the Greeks—Orestes and Electra227XXIX.Adventures of Ulysses—The Lotus-eaters—The Cyclopes—Circe—Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—Calypso236XXX.The Phæacians—Fate of the Suitors247XXXI.Adventures of Æneas—The Harpies—Dido—Palinurus258XXXII.The Infernal Regions—The Sibyl266XXXIII.Æneas in Italy—Camilla—Evander—Nisus and Euryalus—Mezentius—Turnus276XXXIV.Pythagoras—Egyptian Deities—Oracles288XXXV.Origin of Mythology—Statues of Gods and Goddesses—Poets of Mythology300XXXVI.Monsters (modern)—The Phœnix—Basilisk—Unicorn—Salamander310XXXVII.Eastern Mythology—Zoroaster—Hindu Mythology—Castes—Buddha—The Grand Lama—Prester John318XXXVIII.Northern Mythology—Valhalla—The Valkyrior328XXXIX.Thor’s Visit to Jotunheim337XL.The Death of Baldur—The Elves—Runic Letters—Skalds—Iceland—Teutonic Mythology—The Nibelungen Lied—Wagner’s Nibelungen Ring343XLI.The Druids—Iona358KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTSCHAPTERPAGEI.Introduction367II.The Mythical History of England378III.Merlin389IV.Arthur394V.Arthur (Continued)405VI.Sir Gawain414VII.Caradoc Briefbras; or, Caradoc with the Shrunken Arm418VIII.Launcelot of the Lake424IX.The Adventure of the Cart435X.The Lady of Shalott441XI.Queen Guenever’s Peril445XII.Tristram and Isoude449XIII.Tristram and Isoude (Continued)457XIV.Sir Tristram’s Battle with Sir Launcelot464XV.The Round Table467XVI.Sir Palamedes472XVII.Sir Tristram475XVIII.Perceval479XIX.The Sangreal, or Holy Graal486XX.The Sangreal (Continued)491XXI.The Sangreal (Continued)497XXII.Sir Agrivain’s Treason507XXIII.Morte d’Arthur515THE MABINOGEONCHAPTERPAGEIntroductory Note527I.The Britons529II.The Lady of the Fountain534III.The Lady of the Fountain (Continued)539IV.The Lady of the Fountain (Continued)546V.Geraint, the Son of Erbin553VI.Geraint, the Son of Erbin (Continued)564VII.Geraint, the Son of Erbin (Continued)572VIII.Pwyll, Prince of Dyved583IX.Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr589X.Manawyddan597XI.Kilwich and Olwen608XII.Kilwich and Olwen (Continued)620XIII.Taliesin626HERO MYTHS OF THE BRITISH RACEBeowulf635Cuchulain, Champion of Ireland637Hereward the Wake641Robin Hood643LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNEIntroduction647The Peers, or Paladins656The Tournament664The Siege of Albracca672Adventures of Rinaldo and Orlando683The Invasion of France693The Invasion of France (Continued)702Bradamante and Rogero712Astolpho and the Enchantress721The Orc732Astolpho’s Adventures continued, and Isabella’s begun739Medoro745Orlando Mad753Zerbino and Isabella760Astolpho in Abyssinia769The War in Africa777Rogero and Bradamante788The Battle of Roncesvalles801Rinaldo and Bayard814Death of Rinaldo819Huon of Bordeaux825Huon of Bordeaux (Continued)832Huon of Bordeaux (Continued)842Ogier, the Dane848Ogier, the Dane (Continued)856Ogier, the Dane (Continued)863————Proverbial Expressions873List of Illustrative Passages Quoted from the Poets875Index and Dictionary877

CONTENTS

STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES

KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS

THE MABINOGEON

HERO MYTHS OF THE BRITISH RACE

LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNE

————

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

(Added for convenience)

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