CHAPTER XV.VESTA.

“‘O Arethusa, peerless nymph! why fearSuch tenderness as mine? Great Dian, why,Why didst thou hear her prayer? Oh that IWere rippling round her dainty fairness now,Circling about her waist, and striving howTo entice her to a dive! then stealing inBetween her luscious lips and eyelids thin.’”Keats.

The misty cloud in which Arethusa had been enveloped by Diana’s protecting care was soon blown away by a mischievous breath from Zephyrus; and Alpheus, who was still hovering near there, suddenly beholding a fountain where none had ever existed before, surmised what had happened. Changing himself into an impetuous torrent, he rushed to join his beloved, who sprang out of her mossy bed, and hurried on over sticks and stones, until Diana, seeing her new plight, opened a crevice, through which she glided away from the bright sunlight she loved so well into the depths of Pluto’s realm.

While gliding there in the gloom, Arethusa had caught a glimpse of Proserpina on her sable throne, beside the stern-browed Pluto. She could not, however, pause to inquire how she came there, but hurried on breathlessly, until another crevice offered her the means of returning to the upper world, and seeing once more the blue sky and sun on the Sicilian plains.

The monotonous murmur of the fountain now subsided again into its usual undertone; and Ceres, knowing where to seek her daughter, was about to depart, when she heard the sudden rush and roar of a large body of water. She immediately turned, and beheld the torrent Alpheus, who, after a disconsolate search underground for the lost Arethusa, had found a crevice, through which he passed to join his beloved on the Sicilian plains.

“Alpheus, Elis’ stream, they say,Beneath the seas here found his way,And now his waters interfuseWith thine, O fountain Arethuse,Beneath Sicilian skies.”Virgil(Conington’s tr.).

In spite of her previous efforts to escape him, Arethusa must still have been very glad to see him once more, for Ceres heard her murmur contentedly as she sank into his arms and listened to his louder tones of rapturous love.

Maidens in Greece were wont to throw fresh garlands into the Alpheus River; and it was said the selfsame flowers, carried away by his current, soon reappeared in the Sicilian fountain, carried there as love offerings by the enamored river.

“O my beloved, how divinely sweetIs the pure joy when kindred spirits meet!Like him, the river god, whose waters flow,With love their only light, through caves below,Wafting in triumph all the flowery braidsAnd festal rings, with which Olympic maidsHave decked his current, an offering meetTo lay at Arethusa’s shining feet.Think when at last he meets his fountain brideWhat perfect love must thrill the blended tide!And lost in each, till mingling into one,Their lot the same for shadow or for sun,A type of true love, to the deep they run.”Moore.

Ceres’ mourning.

Now, although poor Ceres had ascertained where to find her missing daughter, her grief was not at all diminished, for she felt convinced that Pluto would never willingly relinquish her. She therefore withdrew into a dark cave to mourn unseen, and still further neglected her wonted duties.

Famine threatened to visit the people, and they prayed and clamored for her aid; but, absorbed in grief, she paid no heed to their distress, and vowed that nothing on earth should grow, with her permission, as long as her daughter was detained in Hades. In despair at this frightful state of affairs, the people then besought Jupiter to pity the sufferings they endured, and to allow Proserpina to revisit the upper world once more.

“Arise, and set the maiden free;Why should the world such sorrow dreeBy reason of Persephone?”Ingelow.

As soon as she became aware of this petition, Ceres hastened to Olympus, to join her supplications to the cries which rose from all parts of the earth; until Jupiter, wearied by these importunities, consented to Proserpina’s return, upon condition, however, that she had not touched any food during the whole time of her sojourn in the Infernal Regions.

“Last, Zeus himself,Pitying the evil that was done, sent forthHis messenger beyond the western rimTo fetch me back to earth.”Lewis Morris.

The pomegranate seeds.

Ceres in person hastened to her daughter’s new abode, and was about to lead her away in spite of Pluto, when a spirit, Ascalaphus, suddenly declared that the queen had partaken of some pomegranate seeds that very day. Proserpina could not refute the charge, and Jupiter decreed that for every seed she had eaten she should spend one month of every year in her husband’s gloomy kingdom.

Thus it came about that Proserpina was condemned to spend one half the year in Hades, and could linger on the bright earth only for six months at a time.

Mercury was chosen to lead her to and from Hades; and, whenever he brought her out of her gloomy prison, the skies became blue and sunny, the grass sprang fresh and green beneath her elastic tread, the flowers bloomed along her way, the birds trilled forth their merry lays, and all was joy and brightness.

“And when, in springtime, with sweet-smelling flowersOf various kinds the earth doth bloom, thou’lt comeFrom gloomy darkness back—a mighty joyTo gods and mortal men.”Homeric Hymn.

Proserpina’s return.

Ceres, happy once more in the possession of her beloved daughter, cheerfully and diligently attended to all her duties, and blessed the earth with plenty; but when the six months were over, and the skies wept and all nature mourned Proserpina’s departure, she again returned to her cave, whence no entreaties could draw her.

As for the merry, happy-natured Proserpina, the moment Hades’ portals closed behind her, she became pale and melancholy; and none would have dreamed the playful, flower-crowned Goddess of Vegetation was identical with the sad-faced, sable-vested Queen of Hades (now called Hecate), who held a pomegranate in one hand, and a torch in the other. Proserpina, like Adonis, was the personification of vegetation, visibly prosperous during the six favorable months of the year, and lurking hidden under the cold ground during the remainder of the time.

Worship of Ceres.

Many beautiful temples were dedicated to Ceres and Proserpina in Greece and Italy, where yearly festivals, the Thesmophoria and the Cerealia, were celebrated with great pomp.

“To Ceres chief her annual rites be paid,On the green turf, beneath a fragrant shade,When winter ends, and spring serenely shines,Then fat the lambs, then mellow are the wines,Then sweet are slumbers on the flowery ground,Then with thick shades are lofty mountains crown’d.Let all the hinds bend low at Ceres’ shrine;Mix honey sweet, for her, with milk and mellow wine;Thrice lead the victim the new fruits around,And Ceres call, and choral hymns resound:Presume not, swains, the ripen’d grain to reap,Till crown’d with oak in antic dance ye leap,Invoking Ceres, and in solemn lays,Exalt your rural queen’s immortal praise.”Virgil(C. Pitt’s tr.).

To commemorate her long search for her daughter, Ceres returned to Eleusis, taught her former nursling, Triptolemus, the various secrets of agriculture, and gave him her chariot, bidding him travel everywhere, and teach the people how to plow, sow, and reap; and then she instituted the Eleusinia, festivals held in honor of her daughter and herself at Eleusis.

Triptolemus did not fail to carry out the goddess’s instructions, and journeyed far and wide, until he finally reached the court of Lyncus, King of Scythia, where the false monarch would have treacherously slain him had not Ceres by timely interference prevented the execution of his base purpose by changing the traitor into a lynx, the emblem of perfidy.

Ceres was generally represented as a fair, matronly woman, clad in flowing draperies, sometimes crowned with wheat ears, and bearing a sheaf of grain and a sickle, or with a plow and a horn of plenty disgorging its wealth of fruit and flowers at her feet. Groves were frequently dedicated to her; and any mortalrash enough to lay the ax on one of these sacred trees was sure to incur the goddess’s wrath, as is proved by the story of Erisichthon.

Story of Erisichthon.

This man was evidently a freethinker, and, to show his contempt for the superstitious veneration paid to Ceres’ trees, took his ax and cut down one of her sacred oaks. At his first blow, blood began to flow from the tree; but, undeterred by the phenomenon or the entreaties of the bystanders, Erisichthon continued. Finally, annoyed by the importunities of the spectators, he turned and slew one or two, and then completed his sacrilege.

Ceres, incensed by his insolence and cruelty, devised a terrible chastisement for the unfortunate man, and sent Famine to gnaw his vitals, and torment him night and day. The wretch, tortured by a hunger which no amount of food could allay, disposed of all his property to obtain the means of procuring nourishment; but his monstrous appetite continued, and, as he had but one daughter left, he sold her as a slave to obtain food.

The girl’s master left her alone for a moment upon the seashore, and, in answer to her prayer, Neptune delivered her from servitude by changing her into a fisherman. When the master returned and found his slave gone, he questioned the fisherman, and, not obtaining any satisfactory information, departed. Neptune then restored the maiden to her own form, and let her return home; but, as her father sold her again, the god was obliged to interfere once more in her behalf, until at last Erisichthon, deprived of means to procure food, devoured himself.

Ceres and Stellio.

Another anecdote illustrating Ceres’ power is told about a lad, Stellio, who made fun of the goddess when she was journeying, on account of the haste with which she disposed of a bowl of gruel offered by some charitable person. To punish the boy for his rudeness, Ceres flung the remainder of her gruel into his face, and changed him into a lizard.

Worship of Vesta.

Vesta, or Hestia, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, goddess of fire and of the family hearth, and guardian angel of mankind, was worshiped principally throughout Italy, although she also had shrines in Greece and Asia Minor.

The family hearth in ancient times possessed a far different signification from what it does now, and was considered the family altar, for there the father of the family was wont to offer up his daily prayers and sacrifices. “As, according to the old heathen custom, all men were regarded as enemies unless by a special compact they had been made friends, so Vesta presided especially over true and faithful dealing;” and she was therefore generally represented as pure and undefiled.

A beautiful circular temple in Rome was dedicated to Vesta’s service; and here the Palladium of Troy was supposed to be preserved, together with the goddess’s sacred fire, originally kindled by the rays of the sun.

This fire—an emblem of the flame of life, which the ancients fancied was kept burning within each human breast by Vesta, the life-giver—was kept constantly burning, and never allowed to go out for want of fuel or timely care. Its flames were also intended to represent the purity of the goddess, who, although wooed by many lovers,—among whom Apollo and Neptune can justly claim the precedence,—remained always a virgin.

Refer to captionSCHOOL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS.—Le Roux.

SCHOOL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS.—Le Roux.

The Romans fancied that her worship had been introduced in Italy by Æneas, their famous ancestor, who brought thither hishome gods, and who, according to tradition, selected the first Vestal Virgins.

Vestal Virgins.

The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, built a beautiful temple, and instituted various religious ceremonies, in honor of Vesta. The loveliest and noblest among the Roman maidens were chosen to serve this goddess, and were known as Vestals, or Vestal Virgins. Admitted into the temple at the early age of six, they were compelled to serve ten years in fitting themselves to fulfill the duties they would be called upon to perform during the next decade as priestesses and guardians of the sacred fire. The last ten years were spent in instructing the novices; and, when their thirty-years’ service was ended, they were at liberty either to continue in the temple, where they were treated with the greatest respect, or to leave it, and even marry, if such were their pleasure.

During their time of servitude, they were expected to keep their vows of chastity and fidelity to their patroness, and to maintain her sacred fire, under penalty of being buried alive in a vaulted chamber, fashioned for this express purpose by Numa Pompilius’s order. In turn, each of the priestesses watched the fire, renewed the fuel, and fanned the flame, nor lost sight of it night or day; for the Romans considered the extinction of this sacred flame the precursor of some great public calamity.

The Vestals were, however, so pure and vigilant, that during one thousand years only eighteen failed to keep their vows satisfactorily, and suffered punishment. The Vestal Tuccia was accused of breach of faith, but, as proof of her purity, was given power to carry water in a sieve from the Tiber to the temple.

Refer to captionTHE VESTAL TUCCIA.—Le Roux.

THE VESTAL TUCCIA.—Le Roux.

In return for the signal services the Vestals rendered to the state by maintaining this sacred fire, they enjoyed many privileges: among others, that of being preceded by a lictor with fasces when they walked abroad; of occupying the seats of honor in public ceremonies and festivities; of being buried within the city limits (a privilege granted to but very few); and of obtaining thepardon of criminals whom they met by accident on their way to the place of execution. Loved and greatly honored by all, the Vestals have become types of all things pure and lovely in woman.

“By these her trembling fires,Like Vesta’s, ever burning; and, like hers,Sacred to thoughts immaculate and pure.”Young.

The Vestal Virgins were further distinguished by a vesture of pure white linen, with a purple border and a wide purple mantle. In time of war or danger they were answerable for the preservation of the sacred fire, which they were allowed to remove to any place of safety; and on several occasions they therefore carried it out of Rome and down the Tiber, lest it should fall into the enemy’s hands.

The Vestals continued their office until the reign of Theodosius the Great, who, being converted to Christianity A.D. 380, abolished the worship of Vesta, dispersed the Vestals, and extinguished the sacred fire.

Festivals.

Vesta’s services were held with great pomp; and her festivals, the Vestalia, were among the most beautiful and popular in Rome. Statues of this goddess—generally representing a woman of majestic beauty, clad in long robes, holding a lighted torch or lamp in one hand and a votive bowl in the other—were carried through the main streets of the city on all solemn occasions.

In public processions the Vestals had the privilege of carrying their sacred fire; while the Roman matrons, glad to swell their ranks, followed them, barefooted, chanting the praises of the good goddess Vesta.

“And from the temple bringsDread Vesta, with her holy things,Her awful fillets, and the fireWhose sacred embers ne’er expire.”Virgil(Conington’s tr.).

On these occasions great banquets were prepared before each house, all daily toil was suspended, the millstones were decked with flowers, and the very asses wont to turn them were covered with garlands and led in the processions.

Among the Romans, Vesta was not the only goddess invoked on the family hearth, for she shared that place of honor with the Lares, Manes, and Penates, who all enjoyed special veneration and sacrifices.

Lares, Manes, and Penates.

The Lares, quite unknown to the Greeks, were two in number, the children of Mercury and Lara, a naiad famous for her beauty as well as for her extreme loquacity, which no one could check. Tradition relates that this fair maiden talked from morning till night, and told all she knew. Upon one occasion she incurred Jupiter’s wrath by relating to Juno a conversation she had overheard between him and one of his numerous ladyloves.

To punish her, and at the same time prevent further tale-bearing, the king of the gods cut off Lara’s tongue, and, summoning Mercury, bade him lead her down to Hades to linger there forever. But on the way to the dismal abode of the dead, the messenger god fell in love with his fair charge, who, being now effectually cured of her sole fault, was irresistibly charming; and, instead of obeying Jupiter, he made love to her, and by pantomime obtained her consent to their union. She bore him two children, who from her were called Lares, and to whom the Romans always paid divine honors, reserving special places for them on the family hearth, for they were supposed to preside over houses and families. Their statues resembled monkeys covered with the skins of dogs; while at their feet a barking dog, the symbol of their care and vigilance, was always represented.

The Manes—a name generally applied to souls when separated from the body—were also reckoned among the Roman divinities, and the illustrious ancestors of different families were often worshiped under this name.

As for the Penates, they presided over the houses and domestic affairs. Each head of a household was wont to choose his own Penates, whom he then invoked as his special patrons. The statues of the Penates were of clay, wax, ivory, silver, or gold, according to the wealth of the family whose hearth they graced, and the offerings generally made to them were a small part of each meal.

Upon removing from one house to another or from one place to another, it was customary for the head of the family to remove his household gods also, and establish them suitably before he thought of his own or his family’s comfort, and in return for this kindly care the Penates blessed him with peace and prosperity.

Janus, god of the past, present, and future, of gates, entrances, war, and peace, and patron of all beginnings, although one of the most important of all the Roman divinities, was entirely unknown to the Greeks.

According to some mythologists, he was the son of Apollo; and, although born in Thessaly, he early in life came to Italy, where he founded a city on the Tiber, to which he gave the name Janiculum. Here he was joined by the exiled Saturn, with whom he generously shared his throne. Together they civilized the wild inhabitants of Italy, and blessed them with such prosperity that their reign has often been called the Age of Gold.

“Saturn fled before victorious Jove,Driven down and banish’d from the realms above.He, by just laws, embodied all the train,Who roam’d the hills, and drew them to the plain;There fixed, and Latium called the new abode,Whose friendly shores concealed the latent god.These realms, in peace, the monarch long controlled,And blessed the nations with an age of gold.”Virgil(C. Pitt’s tr.).

Janus’ two faces.

Janus is generally represented with two faces, turned in opposite directions, because he was acquainted with the past and future as well as with the present, and because he is considered an emblem of the sun, which opens the day at its rising, and closes the day at its setting.

In some statues he is represented with one white-haired and bearded face, and the other quite youthful in appearance, while others represent him with three and even four heads.

“Janus am I; oldest of potentates;Forward I look, and backward, and belowI count, as god of avenues and gates,The years that through my portals come and go.“I block the roads and drift the fields with snow;I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen;My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow;My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.”Longfellow.

“Janus am I; oldest of potentates;Forward I look, and backward, and belowI count, as god of avenues and gates,The years that through my portals come and go.

“I block the roads and drift the fields with snow;I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen;My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow;My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.”Longfellow.

The commencement of every new year, month, and day was held sacred to Janus, and at that time special sacrifices and prayers were offered up at his shrines. He also presided over all gates and avenues, and through him alone prayers were supposed to reach the immortal gods: therefore in all religious ceremonies his name was always the first invoked. From this circumstance he often appears with a key in his right hand, and a rod in his left; or, when he presides over the year, he holds the number 300 in one hand, and 65 in the other.

Worship of Janus.

He was also supposed to watch over peace and war, and had numerous temples throughout all Italy. One very celebrated temple was called Janus Quadrifons, because it was perfectly square. On each side of the building there was one door and three windows. These apertures were all symbolical,—the doors of the four seasons, and the windows of the twelve months, of the year.

In times of war the temple gates were opened wide, for the people, being in need of aid and comfort, were all anxious to enter and present their offerings; but when peace reigned, the doors were immediately closed, for the god’s intercession was no longer necessary. The Romans, however, were such a belligerent people, that the temple gates were closed but thrice in more than seven centuries, and then only for a very short period.

Festivals in honor of Janus were celebrated on the first day of the new year; and one month bore the god’s name, and was considered sacred to him. It was customary for friends and relatives to exchange calls, good wishes, and gifts on the first day of this month,—a Roman custom in force to this day.

Ancient divisions of time.

Janus is not the only one among the Greek and Latin divinities whose name has been given to a part of the year or week; for in Latin the names of the days aredies Solis(Sun day),dies Lunæ(Moon day),dies Martis(Mars’ day),dies Mercurii(Mercury’s day),dies Jovis(Jove’s day),dies Veneris(Venus’ day),dies Saturni(Saturn’s day); Latin names which are still in use in legislative and judiciary acts, while in English the common nomenclature is derived from the names of the corresponding Saxon divinities.

Cave of sleep.

Afterleaving the joyless regions of Pluto’s realm, and following the even course of the Lethe River, the ancients fancied one reached a large cave in a remote and quiet valley. This cave was the dwelling of Somnus (or Hupnos), god of sleep, and of his twin brother Mors (or Thanatos), god of death; and both were sons of the Goddess of Night, who had once ruled the whole universe. Near the entrance of the cave, shadowy forms kept constant watch, gently shaking great bunches of poppies, and, with finger to lips, enjoining silence on all who ventured near. These forms were the genii of sleep and death, represented in art as crowned with poppies or amaranths, and sometimes holding a funeral urn or a reversed torch.

Somnus and Morpheus.

The cave was divided into chambers, each one darker and more silent than the one which preceded it. In one of the inner rooms, which was all draped with sable curtains, stood a downy couch, upon which reclined the monarch of sleep. His garments were also black, but all strewn with golden stars. He wore a crown of poppies on his head, and held a goblet full of poppy juice in his languid hand. His drowsy head was supported by Morpheus, his prime minister, who watched incessantly over his prolonged slumbers, and hindered any one from troubling his repose.

Refer to captionGENIUS OF DEATH.—Canova. (Tomb of Clement XIII.; St. Peter’s, Rome.)

GENIUS OF DEATH.—Canova. (Tomb of Clement XIII.; St. Peter’s, Rome.)

“Deep in a cavern dwells the drowsy god:Whose gloomy mansion nor the rising sun,Nor setting, visits, nor the lightsome noon:But lazy vapors round the region fly,Perpetual twilight, and a doubtful sky;No crowing cock does there his wings display,Nor with his horny bill provoke the day:Nor watchful dogs, nor the more wakeful geese,Disturb with nightly noise the sacred peace:Nor beast of nature, nor the tame, are nigh,Nor trees with tempest rock’d, nor human cry;But safe repose, without an air of breath,Dwells here, and a dumb quiet next to death.An arm of Lethe, with a gentle flow,Arising upwards from the rock below,The palace moats, and o’er the pebbles creeps,And with soft murmurs calls the coming sleeps;Around its entry nodding poppies grow,And all cool simples that sweet rest bestow;Night from the plants their sleepy virtue drains,And passing, sheds it on the silent plains:No door there was the unguarded house to keep,On creaking hinges turn’d to break his sleep.But in the gloomy court was rais’d a bed,Stuff’d with black plumes, and on an ebon sted:Black was the covering too, where lay the god,And slept supine, his limbs display’d abroad.About his head fantastic visions fly,Which various images of things supply,And mock their forms; the leaves on trees not more,Nor bearded ears in fields, nor sands upon the shore.”Ovid(Dryden’s tr.).

Dreams and Nightmares.

All around the bed and over it hovered throngs of exquisite spirits, the Dreams, who stooped to whisper their pleasant messages in his ear; while in the distant corners of the apartment lurked the hideous Nightmares. The Dreams were often dispatched to earth under Mercury’s charge, to visit mortals.

Two gates led out of the valley of sleep,—one of ivory, and the other of horn. The Dreams which passed through the glittering gates of ivory were delusive, while those which passedthrough the homely gate of horn were destined to come true in the course of time.

“Of dreams, O stranger, some are meaninglessAnd idle, and can never be fulfilled.Two portals are there for their shadowy shapes,Of ivory one, and one of horn. The dreamsThat come through the carved ivory deceiveWith promises that never are made good;But those which pass the doors of polished horn,And are beheld of men, are ever true.”Homer(Bryant’s tr.).

Dreams were also frequently sent through the gates of horn to prepare mortals for misfortunes, as in the case of Halcyone.

Story of Ceyx and Halcyone.

Ceyx, King of Thessaly, was once forced to part from his beloved wife, Halcyone, to travel off to Delphi to consult the oracle. With many tears this loving couple parted, and Halcyone watched the lessening sail until it had quite vanished from sight; then she returned to her palace to pray for her husband’s safe return. But, alas! the gods had decreed they should never meet again on earth; and, even while Halcyone prayed, a tempest arose which wrecked Ceyx’s vessel, and caused him and all his crew to perish in the seething waves.

Day after day the queen hastened down to the seashore, followed by her attendants, to watch for the returning sails of her husband’s vessel; and night after night she lay on her couch, anxiously expecting the morrow, which she ever fancied would prove auspicious. The gods, seeing her anxiety, and wishing to prepare her to receive the news of his death, and especially to view with some composure his corpse, which they had decided should be washed ashore, sent a Dream to visit her.

After assuming the face and form of Ceyx, the Dream glided away through the gate of horn, hastened to Halcyone’s bedside, and whispered that her husband was dead, and that his body was even now being cast up on the smooth, sandy beach by the salt sea waves. With a wild cry of terror and grief, Halcyone awoke,and hastened to the seashore to convince herself that the dream had been false; but she had no sooner reached the beach, than the waves washed her husband’s corpse to her feet.

To endure life without him seemed too great a task for poor Halcyone, who immediately cast herself into the sea, to perish beside him. Touched by grief so real and intense, the gods changed both bodies into birds, since known as Halcyon birds, and decreed they should ever live on the waters. These birds were said to build their nests and hatch their young on the heaving billows, and to utter shrill cries of warning to the seamen whenever a storm threatened, bidding them prepare for the blast, and hasten to shelter in port, if they would not encounter the mournful fate of poor Ceyx.

Mors.

Mors, god of death, occupied one of the corners of Somnus’ cave. He was a hideous, cadaverous-looking deity, clad in a winding sheet, and held an hourglass and a scythe in his hand. His hollow eyes were fixed upon the sands of time; and when they had run out, he knew some life was about to end, and sallied forth, scythe in hand, to mow down his prey with relentless joy.

Needless to say, this cruel deity was viewed by the ancients with fear and dislike, and no homage was offered him.

These two divinities were, however, but of slight importance in the general scheme of ancient mythology, in which Proserpina was generally regarded as the emblem of death, and they were therefore more like local divinities. The Lacedæmonians paid the most heed to them, and invariably placed their statues side by side.

Morpheus.

As for Morpheus, the son as well as the prime minister of Somnus, he was also called the god of sleep, and mortals were wont to intercede for his good offices. He is generally represented as a sleeping child of great corpulence, and with wings. Morpheus held a vase in one hand, and poppies in the other, which he gently shook to induce a state of drowsiness,—according to him, the acme of bliss.

Notvery far away from the quiet realm of Somnus and Mors, but on the surface of the earth, were the Æolian Islands, now known as the Lipari Islands, where Æolus, god of the storm and winds, governed a very unruly and turbulent population.

He is said to have received his royal dignity from the fair hands of Juno, and he was therefore specially eager to obey all her behests. He is commonly reputed to have married Aurora, or Eos, who gave him six sons i.e., Boreas, the north wind; Corus, the northwest wind; Aquilo, the west wind; Notus, the southwest wind; Eurus, the east wind; and lastly, Zephyrus, the gentle and lovable south wind, whose mission it was to announce to mortals the return of ever-welcome spring.

Æolus’ children.

Æolus’ five elder sons were of a noisy, roving, mischievous, turbulent disposition, and peace and quiet were utterly impossible to them. To prevent their causing serious disasters, he therefore ruled them with a very strict hand, kept them very closely confined in a great cave, and let them loose only one at a time, to stretch their limbs and take a little exercise.

“Æolus in a cavern vastWith bolt and barrier fetters fastRebellious storm and howling blast.They with the rock’s reverberant roarChafe blustering round their prison doorHe, throned on high, the scepter sways,Controls their moods, their wrath allays.”Virgil(Conington’s tr.).

Although very unruly indeed, the winds always obeyed their father’s voice, and at his command, however reluctant, returned to their gloomy prison, where they expended their impotent rage in trying to shake its strong walls.

According to his own mood, or in conformity with the gods’ request, Æolus either sent the gentler winds to play among the flowers, or, recalling them, let the fiercest of all his children free, with orders to pile up the waves mountain-high, lash them to foam, tear the sails of all the vessels at sea, break their masts, uproot the trees, tear the roofs off the houses, etc.,—in short, to do all the harm they possibly could.

“Now rising all at once, and unconfin’d,From every quarter roars the rushing wind:First, from the wide Atlantic Ocean’s bed,Tempestuous Corus rears his dreadful head,Th’ obedient deep his potent breath controls,And, mountain-high, the foamy flood he rolls;Him the Northeast encountering fierce, defied,And back rebuffeted the yielding tide.The curling surges loud conflicting meet,Dash their proud heads, and bellow as they beat;While piercing Boreas, from the Scythian strand,Plows up the waves and scoops the lowest sand.Nor Eurus then, I ween, was left to dwell,Nor showery Notus in th’ Æolian cell,But each from every side, his power to boast,Ranged his proud forces to defend the coast.”Lucan.

Æolus, king of the winds, shared with Dædalus the honor of inventing the sails which propel the ships so swiftly over the tide. It was he, too, who, according to Homer, bound all his children but one in a leather bag, which he gave to Ulysses when the latter visited Æolia. Thanks to this gift, Ulysses reached the shores of Ithaca, and would have landed in safety, had not his men, in view of port, untied the sack to investigate its contents, and thusset free the angry winds, who stirred up the most frightful tempest in mythic annals.

Temple of Æolus.

The ancients, and especially the Athenians, paid particular attention to the winds, to whom they dedicated a temple, which is still extant, and generally known as the Tower of the Winds, or the Temple of Æolus. This temple is hexagonal, and on each side a flying figure of one of the winds is represented.

Eurus, the east wind, was generally depicted “as a young man flying with great impetuosity, and often appearing in a playful and wanton humor.” Notus, or Auster, the southwest wind, “appeared generally as an old man, with gray hair, a gloomy countenance, a head covered with clouds, a sable vesture, and dusky wings,” for he was considered the dispenser of rain and of all sudden and heavy showers. Zephyrus, mild and gentle, had a lapful of flowers, and, according to the Athenian belief, was wedded to Flora, with whom he was perfectly happy, and visited every land in turn. Corus, the northwest wind, drove clouds of snow before him; while Aquilo, dreadful in appearance, caused cold shivers to run down one’s back at his mere sight. Boreas, rough and shivering too, was the father of rain, snow, hail, and tempests, and was therefore generally represented as veiled in impenetrable clouds. His favorite place of abode was in the Hyperborean Mountains, from whence he sallied forth on wild raids. During one of these excursions he carried off Orithyia, who always fled at his approach. But all her fleetness could not save her: she was overtaken, and borne away to the inaccessible regions of snow and ice, where he detained her, and made her his wife. She became the mother of Zetes and Calais,—who took part in the Argonautic expedition, and drove away the Harpies (p.267),—and of two daughters, Cleopatra and Chione.

On another occasion, Boreas, having changed himself into a horse and united himself to the mares of Dardanus, King of Troy, became the father of twelve steeds so swift that none could overtake them.

“Unto this thy son it shall be given,With his broad heart to win his way to heaven;Twelve labors shall he work; and all accurstAnd brutal things o’erthrow, brute men the worst;And in Trachinia shall the funeral pyrePurge his mortalities away with fire;And he shall mount amid the stars, and beAcknowledg’d kin to those who envied thee,And sent these den-born shapes to crush his destiny.”Theocritus(Hunt’s tr.).

Theancients were not content to worship the gods only, but also offered up sacrifices to a few mortals, who, by their heroic deeds and virtuous lives, had won both admiration and respect. Foremost among these heroes—generally designated by the title of demigods—is Hercules (Heracles, Alcides), son of Jupiter and Alcmene, a mortal princess.

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