Philological theory.
The philologists’ interpretation of myths is not only the most accredited at the present time, but also the most poetical. We therefore give a brief synopsis of their theory, together withan analysis, from their point of view, of the principal myths told at length in the course of this work. According to this school, “myths are the result of a disease of language, as the pearl is the result of a disease of the oyster;” the key to all mythologies lies in language; and the original names of the gods, “ascertained by comparative philology, will be found, as a rule, to denote elemental or physical phenomena,” that is, phenomena of the sunshine, the clouds, rain, winds, fire, etc.
To make their process of reasoning plain, it should be explained, that as French, Spanish, and Italian are derived from the Latin, even so Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit have a common source in a much older language; that, even if Latin were entirely lost, the similarity of the word “bridge,” for instance (ponsin Latin), in French (pont), in Spanish (puente), and in Italian (ponte), would justify the conclusion that these terms had their origin in a common language, and that the people who spoke it were familiar with bridges, which they evidently called by some name phonetically the same.
Further to prove their position, they demonstrate the similarity of the most common words in all the languages of the same family, showing (as is the case with the word “father” in the accompanying table) that they undergo but few changes in sixteen different languages.
Sanskrit,pitri.Zend,paitar.Persian,pader.Erse,athair.Italian,padre.Spanish,padre.French,père.Saxon,fæder.Latin,pater.Greek, pronouncedpätair.Gothic,vatar.German,vater.Dutch,fader.Danish,fader.Swedish,fader.English,father.
Sanskrit,pitri.Zend,paitar.Persian,pader.Erse,athair.Italian,padre.Spanish,padre.French,père.Saxon,fæder.Latin,pater.Greek, pronouncedpätair.Gothic,vatar.German,vater.Dutch,fader.Danish,fader.Swedish,fader.English,father.
The most learned of all these philologists argues that during the first or Rhematic period, there existed a tribe in Central Asia which spoke a monosyllabic language, in which lay the germs of the Turanian, Aryan, and Semitic forms of speech. ThisRhematic period was followed by the Nomadic or Agglutinative age, when, little by little, the languages “received once for all that peculiar impress of their formative system which we still find in all the dialects and national idioms comprised under the name of Aryan or Semitic;” that is to say, in the Hindoo, Persian, Greek, Roman, Celt, Slav, and Teutonic languages, and in some three thousand kindred dialects.
After the Agglutinative period, and previous to the National era and “the appearance of the first traces of literature,” he places “a period represented everywhere by the same characteristic features, called the Mythological or Mythopœic age.”
It was during this period that the main part of the vast fund of mythic lore is supposed to have crystallized; for primitive man, knowing nothing whatever of physical laws, cause and effect, and the “necessary regularity of things,” yet seeking an explanation of the natural phenomena, described them in the only way possible to him, and attributed to all inanimate objects his own sentiments and passions, fancying them influenced by the same things, in the same way. This tendency to personify or animate everything is universal among savages, who are nothing but men in the primitive state; and “in early philosophy throughout the world, the sun, moon, and stars are alive, and, as it were, human in their nature.” “Poetry has so far kept alive in our minds the old animative theory of nature, that it is no great effort in us to fancy the waterspout a huge giant or a sea monster, and to depict, in what we call appropriate metaphor, its march across the field of ocean.”
As the names of the Greek gods and heroes have in a great measure been found to correspond with the Sanskrit names of physical things, we have been able to read some of the first thoughts of primitive man; and “the obvious meaning” of many words “did much to preserve vestiges of plain sense in classic legend, in spite of all the efforts of the commentators.”
According to the philologists, therefore, these thoughts had already assumed a definite form in the remote epoch when manynations, now scattered over the face of the earth, occupied the same country, spoke the same language, and formed but one people. Of course, “as long as such beings as Heaven or Sun are consciously talked of in mythic language, the meaning of their legends is open to no question, and the action ascribed to them will as a rule be natural and appropriate;” but with the gradual diffusion of this one people to various parts of the earth, the original meaning of these words was entirely lost, and they came to be looked upon eventually simply as the names of deities or heroes—very much in the way that the word “good-by” has long survived its original form as a conscious prayer, “God be with you!” and the word “ostracism” has lost all connection with an oyster shell.
The primitive meaning of a myth died away with the original meaning of a word; and it is because “the Greek had forgotten that Zeus (Jupiter) meant ‘the bright sky,’ that he could make him king” over a company of manlike deities on Olympus.
We can best explain how the many anomalies occur, and how the myths got so tangled up together that now it is almost impossible to disentangle them and trace them back to their original meanings, by comparing their descent through the ages to the course of a snowball, which, rolling down a mountain side, gathers to itself snow, earth, rocks, etc., until, in the vast agglomeration of kindred and foreign substances, the original nucleus is entirely lost to sight.
The fact that there are many different myths to explain the same phenomenon can readily be accounted for by the old saying, “circumstances alter cases.” Thus the heat of the sun, for example, so beneficial at certain times, may prove baleful and injurious at others.
The philologists, who believe that all myths (except the imitative myths, of which the tale of Berenice is a fair example) were originally nature myths, have divided them into a few large classes, which include the myths of the sky, the sun, dawn, daylight, night, moon, earth, sea, clouds, fire, wind, and finally those of the underworld and of the demons of drought and darkness.
Uranus.
Taking them in the order in which they are presented in this work, we find among the myths of the sky, Uranus, whose name, like that of the old Hindoo god Varuna, is derived from the Sanskrit rootvar(“to veil, conceal, or cover”). This god was therefore a personification of the heavens, which are spread out like a veil, and cover all the earth; and we are further told that he hurled the thunder and lightning, his Cyclop children, down from his abode into the abyss called Tartarus.
Jupiter.
Zeus (or Jupiter), whose name is the same as the Hindoo Dyaus Pitar, the god and personification of the bright sky or the heavens, has likewise been traced to the Sanskrit rootdivordyu, meaning “to shine;” and there is also a noundyuin that language which means either “sky” or “day.” In early times the name was applied to the one God, and was therefore “retained by the Greeks and all other kindred people to express all they felt toward God;” but as the word also meant the visible sky, with its ever-changing aspect, some of the phrases used to describe it came, in the course of time, to denote vile and fickle actions, and apparently inconsistent behavior.
Juno.
The name of Hera (or Juno), the heavenly light, and therefore the complement and consort of the sky, is supposed to be derived from the Sanskritsoar(“the bright sky”) andsurya(“the sun”); and all the manifold changes which at first merely denoted the varying atmosphere, by being personified, gradually gave the impression of the jealous, capricious, vengeful person whom poets and writers have taken pleasure in depicting ever since.
Argus.
Another personification of the sky, this time under the nocturnal and starry aspect, is Argus, whose many bright eyes never closed all at once, but kept constant watch over the moon (Io)—confided to his care by the heavenly light (Juno)—until at last their beams were quenched by the wind and rain (Mercury).
Europa.
The myths of the sun, from which it is almost impossible to separate those of the dawn, are probably more numerous than any others, and have some main features of resemblance in all cases. The first sun myth mentioned in the course of this work is the story of Europa, in which Europa is “the broad spreading light,” born in Phœnicia (the “purple land of morn”), the child of Telephassa (“she who shines from afar”), carried away from her eastern birthplace by the sky (Jupiter), closely pursued by the sun (her brother Cadmus), who, after passing through many lands, slays a dragon (the usual demon of drought or darkness), and sets (dies) at last without having ever overtaken the light of dawn (Europa).
Apollo.
Apollo, whose name of Helios is pure Greek for “the sun,” had therefore not lost all physical significance for the Hellenic race, who worshiped in him the radiant personification of the orb of day. Another of his appellations, Phœbus (“the lord of life and light”), still further emphasizes his character; and we are informed that he was born of the sky (Jupiter) and of the dark night (Leto), in the “bright land” (Delos), whence he daily starts on his westward journey.
Like all other solar heroes, Apollo is beautiful and golden-haired, radiant and genial, armed with unerring weapons, which he wields for good or evil, as the mood sways him. He is forced to labor, against his will at times, for the benefit of man, as, for instance, when he serves Admetus and Laomedon; and the cattle, by which he evidently sets such store, are the fleecy clouds, pasturing “in the infinite meadows of heaven,” whose full udders drop down rain and fatness upon the land, which are stolen away either by the wind (Mercury), or the storm demon (Cacus), or the impious companions of Ulysses, who pay for their sacrilegious temerity with their lives.
Coronis.
The sun’s affinity for the dawn is depicted by his love for Coronis, who, however beloved, falls beneath his bright darts;and, as “the sun was regarded naturally as the restorer of life” after the blighting influence of winter and disease, so their offspring (Æsculapius) was naturally supposed to have been endowed with marvelous curative powers.
The sun, for the same reason, was supposed to wage continual warfare against cold, sickness, and disease, and to use his bright beams or arrows against the demon of drought, darkness, or illness (Python), which in some form or other inevitably appears in every solar myth.
Daphne.
In the story of Daphne, a name derived fromDahana, the Sanskritdawn, we find another version of the same story, where the sun, although enamored with the dawn, causes her death. As some mythologists have interpreted it, Daphne is a personification of the morning dew, which vanishes beneath the sun’s hot breath, and leaves no trace of its passage except in the luxuriant verdure.
Cephalus and Procris.
In Cephalus and Procris the sun again appears, and his unerring spear unwittingly causes the death of his beloved Procris “while she lingers in a thicket (a place where the dew lingers longest).” This interpretation has been further confirmed by philological researches, which prove that the name “Procris” originated from a Sanskrit word meaning “to sprinkle;” and the stories evidently arose from three simple phrases,—“‘the sun loves the dew,’ ‘the morning loves the sun,’ and ‘the sun kills the dew.’”
Orpheus and Eurydice.
In the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, while some mythologists see in him a personification of the winds, which “tear up trees as they course along, chanting their wild music,” others see an emblem of “the morning, with its short-lived beauty.” Eurydice, whose name, like that of Europa, comes from a Sanskrit word denoting “the broad spreading flush of the dawn across the sky,” is, of course, a personification of that light, slain by “the serpent of darkness at twilight.”
Orpheus is also sometimes considered as the sun, plunging into an abyss of darkness, in hopes of overtaking the vanishing dawn,Eurydice; and as the light (Eurydice) reappears opposite the place where he disappeared, but is no more seen after the sun himself has fairly risen, “they say that Orpheus has turned around too soon to look at her, and so was parted from the wife he loved so dearly.”
His death in the forest, when his strength had all forsaken him, and his severed head floated down the stream murmuring “Eurydice,” may also, perchance, have been intended to represent either the last faint breath of the expiring wind, or the setting of the sun in blood-tinged clouds.
Phaeton.
In the story of Phaeton, whose name means “the bright and shining one,” a description of the golden palace and car of the sun is given us. We are told that the venturesome young charioteer, by usurping his father’s place, causes incalculable mischief, and, in punishment for his mismanagement of the solar steeds (the fleecy white clouds), is hurled from his exalted seat by a thunderbolt launched by the hand of Jupiter.
“This story arose from phrases which spoke of drought as caused by the chariot of Helios, when driven by some one who knew not how to guide his horses; and the smiting of Phaeton by the bolt of Zeus is the ending of the time of drought by a sudden storm of thunder.”
Endymion.
The story of Diana and Endymion has also been interpreted as a sun myth, in which the name “Endymion” refers specially to the dying or setting sun, who sinks to rest on Mount Latmus (“the land of forgetfulness,” derived from the same root as “Leto”). Müller, the great authority in philology, tells us, that, in the ancient poetical and proverbial language of Elis, people said, “Selene loves and watches Endymion,” instead of saying, “It is getting late;” “Selene embraces Endymion,” instead of, “The sun is setting and the moon is rising;” “Selene kisses Endymion into sleep,” instead of, “It is night.”
These expressions remained long after their real meaning hadceased to be understood; and, as the human mind is generally as anxious for a reason as ready to invent one, a story arose without any conscious effort, that Endymion must have been a young lad loved by a young maiden, Selene.
Adonis.
In the story of Adonis some mythologists find another sun myth, in which Adonis, the short-lived sun, is slain by the boar, the demon of darkness, and passionately mourned by the dawn or twilight (Venus), who utterly refuses to exist without him.
Tantalus.
In the story of Tantalus (the sun), who in time of drought offers to Jupiter the flesh of his own offspring, Pelops (the withered fruits), and in punishment for his impiety is doomed to hunger and torturing thirst, we have again merely a story founded upon an expression used in time of drought, when the sun’s heat, becoming too intense, burns up the fruit his fostering rays had produced, and men exclaimed, “Tantalus is slaying and roasting his own child!”
Sisyphus.
In the same way the stone which Sisyphus painfully forced up a steep ascent, only to see it go rolling down and plunge into a dark abyss enveloped in a great cloud of dust, has been interpreted to represent the sun, which is no “sooner pushed up to the zenith, than it rolls down to the horizon.”
Ixion.
The name of Ixion has been identified with the Sanskrit wordAkshanah, denoting one who is bound to a wheel, and has been proved akin “to the Greekaxôn, the Latinaxis, and the Englishaxle.” This whirling wheel of fire is the bright orb of day, to which he was bound by order of Jupiter (the sky) because he dared insult Juno (the queen of the blue air); while Dia, his wife, is the dawn, the counterpart of Europa, Coronis, Daphne, Procris, Eurydice, and Venus, in the foregoing illustrations.
Hercules.
One of the greatest of all the solar heroes is doubtless the demigod Hercules, born at Argos (a word signifying “brightness”) from the sky (Jupiter) and the dawn (Alcmene), who, inearly infancy, throttles the serpents of darkness, and who, with untiring strength and patience, plods through life, never resting, and always on his journey performing twelve great tasks, interpreted to represent either the twelve signs of the Zodiac, or the twelve months of the solar year, or the twelve hours of daylight.
Iole.
Like Apollo and Cadmus, Hercules is forced to labor for mankind against his will. We see him early in life united to Megara, and, like Tantalus, slaying his own offspring in a sudden fit of madness. He loves and is soon forced to leave Iole, the violet-colored clouds. He performs great deeds, slays innumerable demons of drought and darkness on his way, and visits the enchanted land of the Hesperides,—a symbol of the western sky and clouds at sunset.
Deianeira.
The main part of his life is spent with Deianeira (“the destroying spouse”), a personification of the daylight; but toward the end of his career he again encounters Iole, now the beautiful twilight. It is then that Deianeira (the daylight), jealous of her rival’s charms, sends him the bloody Nessus robe, which he has no sooner donned, than he tears it from his bleeding limbs, ascends the burning pile, and ends his career in one grand blaze,—the emblem of the sun setting in a framework of flaming crimson clouds.
Like all solar heroes, he too has unerring poisoned weapons (“the wordios, ‘a spear,’ is the same in sound as the wordios, ‘poison’”), of which he is shorn only at death.
Perseus.
Perseus also belongs to this category of myths. Danae, his mother, either the earth (danomeans “burnt earth”) or the dawn, a daughter of Acrisius (darkness), is born in Argos (brightness). Loved by Jupiter, the all-embracing sky, she gives birth to the golden-haired Perseus, a personification of the radiant orb of day; and he, like many another solar hero, is cast adrift immediately after his birth, owing to an ominous prophecy that he will slay the darkness from which he originally sprang.
As soon as Perseus attains manhood, he is forced to journey against his will into the distant land of the mists (the Grææ), and conquer the terrible Medusa, “the starlit night, solemn in its beauty, but doomed to die when the sun rises.” He accomplishes this by means of his irresistible sword, the piercing rays of the sun, and then passes on to encounter the monster of drought, and to marry Andromeda, another personification of the dawn, the offspring of Celeus and Cassiopeia, who also represent night and darkness.
In company with Andromeda, Perseus, whose name also signifies “the destroyer,” revisits his native land, and fulfills the prophecy by slaying Acrisius (the darkness), whence he originally sprang.
Theseus.
In the Athenian solar myth, Theseus is the sun, born of Ægeus (the sea, derived fromaisso, “to move quickly like the waves”) and Æthra (the pure air). He lingers in his birthplace, Trœzene, until he has acquired strength enough to wield his invincible sword, then journeys onward in search of his father, performing countless great deeds for the benefit of mankind. He slays the Minotaur, the terrible monster of darkness, and carries off the dawn (Ariadne); whom he is, however, forced to abandon shortly after on the Island of Naxos.
In his subsequent career we find him the involuntary cause of his father’s death, then warring against the Centaurs (personifications of the clouds, through which the victorious sun is sometimes forced to fight his way), then again plunging for a short space of time into the depths of Tartarus, whence he emerges once more; and finally we see him uniting his fate to Phædra (the twilight), a sister of the beautiful dawn he loved in his youth. He ends his eventful career by being hurled headlong from a cliff into the sea,—an emblem of the sun, which often seems to plunge into the waves at eventide.
Argonauts.
In the story of the Argonautic expedition we have Athamas, who marries Nephele (the mist). Their children are Phryxus and Helle (the cold and warm air, or personifications of theclouds), carried off to the far east by the ram—whose golden fleece was but an emblem of the rays of the sun—to enable them to escape from the baleful influence of their stepmother Ino (the broad daylight), who would fain encompass their destruction.
Medea.
Helle, an emblem of the condensation of vapor, falls from her exalted seat into the sea, where she is lost. The ship Argo “is a symbol of the earth as a parent, which contains in itself the germs of all living things.” Its crew is composed mainly of solar heroes, all in quest of the golden fleece (the rays of the sun), which Jason recovers by the aid of Medea (the dawn), after slaying the dragon (the demon of drought). Æetes, Medea’s father, is a personification of the darkness, which vainly attempts to recover his children, the dawn and light (?), after they have been borne away by the all-conquering sun.
Glauce.
Glauce (the broad daylight) next charms Jason; and the poisoned robe which causes her death is woven by Medea, now the evening twilight, who mounts her dragon car and flies to the far east, forsaking her husband (the sun) in his old age, when he is about to sink into the sleep of death.
Meleager.
Meleager is also a solar hero. After joining the Argonautic expedition, and wandering far and wide, he returns home, slays the boar (or drought fiend), loves, but parts from, Atalanta (the dawn maiden), and is finally slain by his own mother, who casts into the flames the brand upon which his existence depends.
Œdipus.
In the Theban solar myth, Laius (derived from the same root as “Leto” and “Latmus”) is the emblem of darkness, who, after marrying Jocasta (like Iole, a personification of the violet-tinted clouds of dawn), becomes the father of Œdipus, doomed by fate to be the murderer of his father. Early in life Œdipus is exposed on the barren hillside to perish,—an emblem of the horizontal rays of the rising sun, whichseem to lie for a while upon the mountain slopes, ere they rise to begin their journey.
He too, like Cadmus, Apollo, Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, and Jason, is forced to wander far from home, and, after a prolonged journey, encounters and slays Laius (the darkness), from whom he derived his existence, and kills the dread monster of drought, the Sphinx, whose very name means “one who binds fast,”—a creature who had imprisoned the rain in the clouds, and thus caused great distress.
Urged on by unrelenting fate, he marries his own mother, Jocasta, now the violet-tinted twilight, and ends his life amid lightning flashes and rolls of thunder, after being accompanied to the end of his course by Antigone (“the pale light which springs up opposite the sun at his setting”). This story—which at first was merely intended to signify that the sun (Œdipus) must slay the darkness (Laius) and linger for a while beside the violet-colored clouds (Jocasta)—having lost its physical meaning, the Thebans added the tragic sequel, for it seemed but poetic justice that the author of such crimes should receive signal punishment.
Eumenides.
As the Eumenides, or Erinnyes, were at first merely the searching light of day, from which nothing can be hidden, they came gradually to be considered the detectives and avengers of crime, and were therefore said to take possession of a criminal at the end of his course, and hurry him down into darkness to inflict horrible torments upon him.
Bellerophon.
In the story of Bellerophon, although the name originally came fromBellero(some “power of darkness, drought, winter, or moral evil”) and fromphonorphontes(a word derived from the Sanskrithan-tâ, “the killer”), the Greeks, having forgotten the signification of the first part of the word, declared this hero was the murderer of Bellero, his brother, for which involuntary crime he was driven from home, and forced to wander about in search of shelter.
We find this hero, although enticed by Anteia (the dawn), virtuously hastening away, then sent against his will to fightthe Chimæra (the monster of drought), whom he overcomes, thanks to his weapon and to Pegasus (the clouds), born from the mist of the sea, beneath whose hoofs fresh fountains were wont to spring.
Bellerophon, after many journeys, is finally united to Philonoe, a personification of the twilight, and ends his career by being hurled from the zenith into utter darkness by one of Jupiter’s deadly thunderbolts.
“The fall of Bellerophon is the rapid descent of the sun toward evening, and the Alein plain is that broad expanse of somber light through which the sun sometimes seems to travel sullenly and alone to his setting.”
Trojan war.
In the story of the Trojan war there are several sun myths; for Paris, Menelaus, Agamemnon, and Achilles have equal claims to be considered personifications of the sun. They love Œnone, Helen, Clytæmnestra, Briseis, various impersonations of the dawn, and forsake, or are forsaken by, their ladyloves, whom they meet again at the end of their career: for Paris sees Œnone, and expires with her on the burning pile; Menelaus recovers Helen, with whom he vanishes in the far west; Agamemnon rejoins Clytæmnestra, and dies by her hand in a bloody bath; while Achilles, after a period of sullen gloom, meets with an untimely death shortly after recovering the beautiful Briseis.
Like Perseus and Œdipus, Paris is exposed in early infancy, and lives to fulfill his destiny, and cause, though indirectly, the death of his parents.
In this myth, Helen (the beautiful dawn or twilight), whose name corresponds phonetically with the SanskritSarama, born of the sky (Jupiter) and of the night (Leda, derived from the same root as “Leto,” “Latmus,” and “Laius”), is carried away by Paris, whom some mythologists identify with the HindooPanis(or “night demons”) instead of the sun. In this character he entices away the fickle twilight (Helen) during her husband’s temporary absence, and bears her off to the far east, where, after strugglingfor a while to retain possession of her and her treasures, he is finally forced to relinquish her, and she returns to her husband and her allegiance.
The siege of Troy has thus been interpreted to signify “a repetition of the daily siege of the east by the solar powers, that every evening are robbed of their brightest treasures in the west.”
Achilles, like several of his brother heroes, “fights in no quarrel of his own; his wrath is the sun hiding his face behind the clouds; the Myrmidons are his attendant beams, who no longer appear when the sun is hidden; Patroclus is the feeble reflection of the sun’s splendor, and stands to him in precisely the same relation as Phaeton to Helios,” and, like him, meets with an early death.
Ulysses.
In the story of Ulysses we find a reproduction of the story of Hercules and Perseus: for Ulysses, early in life, after wedding Penelope, is forced to leave her to fight for another; and on his return, although longing to rejoin his morning bride, he cannot turn aside from the course marked out for him. He is detained by Circe (the moon), who weaves airy tissues, and by Calypso (the nymph of darkness); but neither can keep him forever, and he returns home enveloped in an impenetrable disguise, after having visited the Phæacian land (the land of clouds or mists). It is only after he has slain the suitors of Penelope (the weaver of bright evening clouds) that he casts aside his beggar’s garb to linger for a short time beside her ere he vanishes in the west.
Minerva.
The greater part of the dawn myths have been explained simultaneously with the sun myths, with which they are inextricably interwoven. One personification of the dawn, however, stands apart. It is Minerva, whose Greek name, Athene, is derived, like Daphne, from the SanskritDahana, orahana(meaning “the light of daybreak”), and we are thus enabled to understand why the Greeks described her as sprung from the forehead of Zeus (the heavens). She gradually became the impersonation of the illuminating and knowledge-givinglight of the sky; for in Sanskrit the same word also means “to wake” and “to know,” while the Latins connected her name of Minerva withmens, the same as the Greekménosand the Englishmind.
Diana, Io, and Circe.
In the moon myths the most important personification is first Diana, the horned huntress, “for to the ancients the moon was not a lifeless ball of stones and clods.” Diana, like Apollo, her twin brother, was also a child of the sky (Jupiter) and of night (Latona), and, like him, was born in the “bright land” (Delos). She also possessed bright and unerring arrows, and in the course of her nightly journey she looked lovingly down upon the sleeping face of the setting sun (Endymion).
Io and Circe, already mentioned, are also personifications of the moon, and Io’s wanderings represent its journeys across the sky.
Gæa and Rhea.
In the earth myths, beside those already mentioned in connection with the sun myths, we have Gæa and Rhea, the mothers and consorts of the Sky and of Time, who swallows his own children, “the Days, as they come each in order.”
Ceres and Proserpina.
We have also Ceres or Demeter, “the mother of all things,” and more particularly of “the maiden” Cora (or Proserpina), whose loss she grievously mourned; for she had been carried away by Pluto to the underworld, whence she could only emerge at the command of Jupiter. During the time of Ceres’ mourning, the earth remained barren, and it seemed as though all mortal things must die. But when Proserpina (the spring or vegetation) returned from her sojourn under the ground, people said “that the daughter of the earth was returning in all her beauty; and when summer faded into winter, they said that the beautiful child had been stolen awayfrom her mother by dark beings, who kept her imprisoned beneath the earth.” The sorrow of Ceres was therefore merely a poetical way of expressing “the gloom which falls on the earth during the cheerless months of winter.”
Danae and Semele.
Danae, as a personification of the earth, was quickened by the golden shower, the light of the morning, which streamed in upon the darkness of the night. Semele has also been interpreted as the earth, the chosen bride of the sky, who brings forth her offspring in the midst of the thunder and lightning of a summer storm.
Oceanus and Neptune.
The myths of the sea comprise, of course, Oceanus and Neptune (the earth-shaker), whose name is connected with such words as “potent” and “despot,” and whose “green hair circles all the earth.” We are further informed that he loves the earth (Ceres), whom he embraces, and that he marries the graceful undulating Amphitrite, whose gliding charms appeal to him. Neptune’s palace is beneath the deep waters near Greece, and he is said to ride about his realm in a swift chariot drawn by golden or white maned steeds.
Nereus.
Nereus, another personification of the sea, whose name is derived fromnao(“to flow”), is quite inseparable from his native element, even in the Greeks’ conception of him, as are also the Tritons, Oceanides, Nereides, and the alluring Sirens; who, however, have also been viewed as personifications of the winds.
Charon.
The cloud myths, to which frequent allusion has already been made, comprise not only the cattle of the sun, the Centaurs, Nephele, Phryxus, Helle, and Pegasus, but as, “in primitive Aryan lore, the sky itself was a blue sea, and the clouds were ships sailing over it,” so Charon’s boat was supposed to be one of these vessels, and the gilded shallopin which the sun daily made his pilgrimage back to the far east, another.
Niobe.
As the ancient Aryan had the same word to denote cloud and mountain (“for the piles of vapor on the horizon were so like Alpine ranges”), the cloud and mountain myths are often the same. In the story of Niobe we have one of the cloud myths. According to some mythologists, Niobe herself is a personification of the clouds. Her many children, the mists, are fully as beautiful as Apollo and Diana, by whose bright darts they are ruthlessly slain. Niobe grieves so sorely at their untimely death, that she dissolves in a rain of tears, which turns into hard ice on the mountain summit. According to other authorities, she was a personification of winter, and her tears represented the thaw occasioned by the sunbeams (Apollo’s arrows).
Cyclopes.
The fire myths also form quite a large class, and comprise the Cyclopes (the thunder and lightning), children of Heaven and Earth, whose single blazing eye has been considered an emblem of the sun. They forge the terrible thunderbolts, the weapons of the sky (Jupiter), by means of which he is enabled to triumph over all his enemies, and rule supreme.
Titans.
The Titans are emblems of the subterranean fires and the volcanic forces of nature, which, hidden deep underground, occasionally emerge, heave up great masses of rock, and hurl them about with an accompaniment of deafening roars, while their ponderous tread causes the very earth beneath them to tremble.
Prometheus.
In this group we also find Prometheus, whose name has been traced to the Sanskritpramantha(or “fire drill”). Learned men have therefore proved that the “beneficent Titan, who stole fire from heaven and bestowed it upon mankind as the richest of boons,” was originally nothing butthe lightning (“the celestial drill which churns fire out of the clouds”); but the Greeks had so entirely forgotten this etymological meaning, that they interpreted his name as the “fore-thinker,” and considered him endowed with extraordinary prophetic powers.
Vulcan.
Vulcan (or Hephæstus), strictly “the brightness of the flame,” another fire hero, is represented as very puny at birth, because the flame comes from a tiny spark. His name is derived from the Hindooagni, whence come the Latinignisand the English verbto ignite. Vulcan dwells by preference in the heart of volcanoes, where the intense heat keeps the metals in fusion, and so malleable that he can mold them at will; and, as “the association of the heavenly fire with the life-giving forces of nature is very common,” the Hindoo Agni was considered the patron of marriage as well as of fire; and the Greeks, to carry out this idea, united their fire god, Hephæstus, to the goddess of marriage, Aphrodite.
Vesta.
The Greek Hestia (or Latin Vesta) was also a personification of fire; and, her name having retained its primitive meaning to a great extent, “she continued to the end, as she had been from the beginning, the household altar, the sanctuary of peace and equity, and the source of all happiness and wealth.” Her office was not limited merely to the hearths of households and cities, for it was supposed “that in the center of the earth there was a hearth which answered to the hearth placed in the center of the universe.”
Mercury.
In the myths of the wind, Mercury (or Hermes) was one of the principal personifications. According to the ancients, he was born of the sky (Jupiter) and the plains (Maia), and after a very few hours’ existence assumed gigantic proportions, stole away the cattle of the sun (the clouds), and, after fanning up a great fire in which he consumed some of the herd, glided back into his cradle at dawn. With a low,mocking chuckle at the recollection of the pranks he had played, he sank finally into rest. His name, derived from the SanskritSarameias, means “the breeze of a summer morning;” and it is in his capacity of god of the wind that he is supposed to waft away the souls of the dead; for “the ancients held that in the wind were the souls of the dead.” Mercury is the “lying, tricksome wind god who invented music,” for his music is but “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 utter despair.”
Mars.
Another personification of the wind was Mars (or Ares), born of the sky (Jupiter) and of the heavenly light (Juno) in the bleak land of Thrace, rejoicing in din and in the noise of warfare. His nature is further revealed by his inconstancy and capriciousness; and whenever he is overcome, he is noted for his great roar. His name comes from the same root as Maruts, the Indian god, and means the “grinder” or “crusher.” It was first applied “to the storms which throw heaven and earth into confusion, and hence the idea of Ares is confined to mere disorder and tumult.”
Otus and Ephialtes.
Otus and Ephialtes, the gigantic sons of Neptune, were also at first merely personifications of the wind and hurricanes. The name of the latter indicates “one who leaps.” Although very short-lived, these giants were supposed to increase rapidly in size, and assume colossal proportions, which inspired the hearts of men and gods with terror, until they saw them finally slain by the unfailing arrows of the sun.
Pan, Æolus, and the Harpies.
Pan, Æolus, his numerous progeny, and the Harpies, were also wind divinities who never entirely lost their original character with the Greeks, and were therefore worshiped merely as personifications of the elements.
Cerberus and Pluto.
The myths of drought, darkness, and of the underworld have sufficiently been dwelt upon as personified by Python, the Hydra,Geryones, the Gorgons, Grææ, Minotaur, Sphinx, Chimæra, etc.; but their main personifications were Cerberus (the grim three-headed guardian of the nether world) and Pluto (or Aïdes), whose name means “the wealth-giver,” or “the unseen,” who greedily drew all things down into his realm, never to relinquish his grasp upon them.
Such is the physical explanation of the various poetical myths which form the staple of classic literature, and which have been a fount of inspiration for poets and artists of all ages.
Genealogical table showing relationships between mythological figures
See larger image
{Transcription:
Chaos (M) married Nyx (F).Their child was Erebus (M).
Erebus (M) married Nyx (F).Their children were Hemera (F), Æther (M), Charon (M), Eris (F), Somnus (M) and Mors (M).
Hemera (F) married Æther (M).Their children were Gæa (F), Eros (M) and Pontus (M).
Gæa (F) had a child, Uranus (M).
Uranus (M) married Gæa (F).Their children were Oceanus (M), Thetis (F), Cœus (M), Phœbe (F), Iapetus (M), Hyperion (M), Crius (M), Themis (F), Ilia (F), Cronus (M), Rhea (F), Mnemosyne (F), Brontes (M), Steropes (M), Arges (M), Briareus (M), Cottus (M), Gyes (M), Typhœus (M), Enceladus (M), Antæus (M), Harpies (F), Tityus (M) and Nereus (M).
Oceanus (M) married Thetis (F).Their children were Achelous (M), Alpheus (M), Peneus (M), Inachus (M), Proteus (M), Doris (F), Metis (F), Clymene (F), Æthra (F), Calypso (F), Clytie (F) and Electra (F).
Achelous (M) married Calliope (F).Their children were Sirens (F).
Alpheus (M) married Arethusa (F).
Peneus (M) married Gæa (F).Their child was Daphne (F).
Inachus (M) had a child, Io (F).
Doris (F) married Nereus (M).Their children were Amphitrite (F), Dione (F), Arethusa (F), Galatea (F), Thetis (F) and Clymene (F).
Amphitrite (F) married Neptune (M).Their child was Triton (M).
Dione (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Venus (F).
Galatea (F) married Acis (M).
Thetis (F) married Peleus (M).Their child was Achilles (M).
Achilles (M) had a child, Pyrrhus (M).
Pyrrhus (M) married Hermione (F).Hermione’s parents were Menelaus (M) and Helen (F).Menelaus (M) had a sibling, Agamemnon (M).Their parent was Atreus (M).Atreus’ (M) parent was Pelops (M).Pelops (M) had a sibling, Niobe (F).Their parent was Tantalus (M).Niobe (F) married Amphion (M).Amphion (M) had a sibling, Zethus (M).Their parents were Jupiter (M) and Antiope (F).Antiope (F) also married Lycus (M), and Lycus (M) also married Dirce (F).Agamemnon (M) married Clytæmnestra (F).Their children were Iphigenia (F), Electra (F) and Orestes (M).Electra (F) married Pylades (M).Clytæmnestra (F) had three siblings, Helen (F), Castor (M) and Pollux (M)Their parents were Tyndareus (M) and Leda (F).Leda (F) also married Jupiter (M).
Clymene (F) married Apollo (M).Their children were Heliades (F) and Phaeton (M).
Metis (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Minerva (F).
Clymene (F) married Iapetus (M).
Æthra (F) married Atlas (M).Their children were Pleiades (F) and Maia (F).
Maia (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Mercury (M).
Mercury (M) married Penelope (F).Their child was Pan (M).Penelope (F) also married Ulysses (M).Their child was Telemachus (M).
Calypso (F) married Ulysses (M).
Electra (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Dardanus (M).
Dardanus (M) married Batea (F), whose parent was Teucer (M).Their descendants were Laomedon (M) and Themis (F).
Laomedon (M) had three children, Priam (M), Hesione (F) and Tithonus (M).
Priam (M) married Hecuba (F).Their children were Hector (M), Paris (M), Cassandra (F), Polites (M), Polyxena (F) and Deiphobus (M).
Hector (M) married Andromache (F).
Paris (M) married Helen (F).
Deiphobus (M) married Helen (F).
Hesione (F) married Telamon (M).Their child was Ajax (M).
Tithonus (M) married Aurora (F).
Themis (F) married Capys (M).Their child was Anchises (M).
Anchises (M) married Venus (F).Their child was Æneas (M).
Æneas (M) married Lavinia (F).Their child was Æneas Silvia (M).Æneas (M) also married Creusa (F).Their child was Iulus (M).
Æneas Silvia’s (M) descendant was Numitor (M).
Numitor (M) had a child, Ilia (F).
Ilia (F) married Mars (M).Their children were Remus (M) and Romulus (M).
Cœus (M) married Phœbe (F).Their child was Latona (F).
Latona (F) married Jupiter (M).Their children were Apollo (M) and Diana (F).
Apollo (M) married Diana (F).Apollo (M) also married Coronis (F).Their child was Æsculapius (M).Coronis (F) had a sibling, Ixion (M)Their parent was Mars (M).Ixion (M) married Dia (F).Their children were Centaurs (M) and Pirithous (M).
Æsculapius (M) had two children, Machaon (M) and Hygeia (F).
Pirithous married Hippodamia (F).
Iapetus (M) married Clymene (F).Their children were Menetius (M), Atlas (M), Hesperus (M), Epimetheus (M) and Prometheus (M).
Hesperus (M) had a child, Hesperides (F).
Epimetheus (M) married Pandora (F).Their child was Pyrrha (F).
Prometheus (M) had a child, Deucalion (M).
Pyrrha (F) married Deucalion (M).Their child was Hellen (M).
Hellen (M) had three children, Æolus (M), Dorus (M) and Xuthus (M).
Æolus (M) had two children, Salmoneus (M) and Sisyphus (M).
Salmoneus (M) had a child, Tyro (F).
Tyro (F) married Neptune (M).Their children were Æson (M), Pelias (M) and Neleus (M).
Æson (M) had a child, Jason (M).
Jason (M) married Medea (F).Medea (F) had a sibling, Absyrtus (M).Their parent was Æetes (M).Æetes (M) had two siblings, Pasiphæ (F) and Circe (F).Their parent was Sol (M).
Neleus (M) had a child, Nestor (M).
Sisyphus (M) had a child, Glaucus (M).
Glaucus (M) had a child, Bellerophon (M).
Bellerophon (M) married Philonoë (F).
Xuthus (M) had two children, Ion (M) and Achæus (M).
Hyperion (M) married Gæa (F).Their child was Aurora (F).
Aurora (F) married Æolus (M).Their children were Boreas (M), Corus (M), Eurus (M), Notus (M), Aquilo (M) and Zephyrus (M).
Boreas (M) married Orithyia (F).Their children were Zetus (M), Calais (M), Cleopatra (F) and Chione (F).
Zephyrus (M) married Flora (F).
Themis (F) married Jupiter (M).Their children were Parcæ (F) and Horæ (F).
Cronus (M) married Rhea (F).Their children were Vesta (F), Juno (F), Jupiter (M), Neptune (M), Ceres (F) and Pluto (M).
Juno (F) married Jupiter (M).Their children were Mars (M), Vulcan (M) and Hebe (F).
Mars (M) married Venus (F).Their children were Anteros (M), Cupid (M) and Harmonia (F).
Cupid (M) married Psyche (F).
Harmonia (F) married Cadmus (M).
Vulcan (M) married Medusa (F).Their children were Cacus (M), Periphetes (M) and Cercyon (M).
Hebe (F) married Hercules (M).
Jupiter (M) married Io (F).Their child was Epaphus (M).
Epaphus (M) had a child, Libya (F).
Libya (F) married Neptune (M).Their children were Agenor (M) and Belus (M).
Agenor (M) married Telephassa (F).Their children were Cadmus (M), Cilix (M), Phœnix (M) and Europa (F).
Cadmus (M) married Harmonia (F).Their children were Ino (F), Autonoe (F), Agave (F), Semele (F) and Polydorus (M).
Ino (F) married Athamas (M).Their children were Palæmon (M) and Learchus (M).Athamas (M) also married Nephele (F).Their children were Phryxus (M) and Helle (F).
Autonoe (F) married Aristæus (M).Their child was Actæon (M).
Agave (F) had a child, Pentheus (M).
Semele (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Bacchus (M).
Bacchus (M) married Ariadne (F).
Polydorus (M) had a child, Labdacus (M).
Labdacus (M) had a child, Laius (M).
Laius (M) married Jocasta (F).Their child was Œdipus (M).
Œdipus married Jocasta (F).Their children were Eteocles (M), Polynices (M), Antigone (F) and Ismene (F).
Europa (F) married Jupiter (M).Their children were Sarpedon (M), Rhadamanthus (M) and Minos (M).
Minos’ (M) descendant was Minos (M).
Minos (M) married Pasiphae (F).Their children were Phædra (F) and Ariadne (F).
Phaedra (F) married Theseus (M), whose parents were Ægeus (M) and Æthra (F).Theseus (M) also married Hippolyte (F).Their child was Hippolytus (M).
Ariadne (F) married Bacchus (M).
Belus (M) had four children, Pygmalion (M), Dido (F), Danaus (M) and Ægyptus (M).
Dido (F) married Sychæus (M).
Danaus’ (M) children were the Danaides (F).
Ægyptus (M) had 50 sons.
The Danaides (F) married the 50 sons.Their descendant was Acrisius (M).
Acrisius (M) had a child, Danae (F).
Danae (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Perseus (M).
Perseus (M) married Andromeda (F), whose parents were Celeus (M) and Cassiopeia (F).Their children were Alcæus (M), Electryon (M) and Sthenelus (M).
Alcæus (M) had a child, Amphitryon (M).
Electryon (M) had a child, Alcmene (F).
Amphitryon (M) married Alcmene (F).Their child was Iphicles (M).
Iphicles (M) had a child, Iolaus (M).
Alcmene (F) also married Jupiter (M).Their child was Hercules (M).
Hercules (M) married Deianeira (F), whose sibling was Meleager (M), and whose parents were Œneus (M) and Althæa (F).Their child was Hyllus (M), who married Iole (F).
Sthenelus (M) had a child, Eurystheus (M).
Eurystheus (M) had a child, Admete (F).
Neptune (M) married Amphitrite (F).Their child was Triton (M).
Ceres (F) married Jupiter (M).Their child was Proserpina (F).
Pluto (M) married Proserpina (F).
Mnemosyne (F) married Jupiter (M).Their children were Clio (F), Calliope (F), Thalia (F), Euterpe (F), Urania (F), Melpomene (F), Terpsichore (F), Polyhymnia (F) and Erato (F).
Clio (F) had a child, Hymen (M).
Calliope (F) had a child, Orpheus (M).
Orpheus (M) married Eurydice (F).
Typhœus (M) had three children, Hydra (M), Cerberus (M) and Chimæra (M).
Chimæra (M) had two children, Nemean Lion (M) and Sphinx (F).
Pontus (M) had a child, Phorcys (M).
Phorcys (M) had four children, Bellona (F), Stheno (F), Euryale (F) and Medusa (F).
Medusa (F) married Neptune (M).Their children were Pegasus (M) and Polyphemus (M).
Somnus (M) had a child, Morpheus (M).}
ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQSTVWY
Addison,24,49,83,85,165,172,173.
Æschylus,246.
Akenside,163.
Apollonius,126.
Apollonius Rhodius,181,269.
Arion,158.
Aristophanes,15.
Arnold, Edwin,111,112,114.
Arnold, Matthew,74.
Beaumont and Fletcher,300.
Bion,108,110.
Boyesen,97,137.
Browning, E. B.,22,108,137.
Bryant,41,43,58,94,145,153,172,211,305,315,318,319,320,321,323,324,325,326,328,329,336,338,344,345,346,349,352,354,355,357,358,359.
Byron,49,91,93,116.
Catullus,226,255,257,259,306.
Chapman,149.
Coluthus,308,312.
Conington,41,51,64,142,193,202,213,224,333,360,361,362,363,364,365,366,367,369,370,373,376,377.
Cornwall,184.