Greek myths and their art

Front matter

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Preface

Kodaks are now so ingeniously made, that, by means of a thread properly attached to a spring in the instrument, an animal in passing may unconsciously take its own picture. In a like unconscious way, the nations of the earth in their myths have drawn their moral and intellectual photographs. Every historic nation has asked some time in its early history, how this world came to be, whence the gods and what their purpose and power in the world, what the origin of man, what the rules thaf should govern his conduct, what his relation to the gods, what the rewards and punishments that he shall receive in this world and in -the next. These inquiries have been most sincere and absorbing, and their answers make up the myths of a nation. In these myths each people has exhibited its power of thought, its moral code, and its conception of beauty in form and in color, as well as in conduct. It has, all unconsciously, drawn a picture of its inner and most essential life. Like true biography, myths reveal motives and ideals and permit us to see what comes from them. They are not, as some people seem to suppose, merely uetty little stories formed by the wild fancies of an

iii untutored people. They involve some of the profoundest problems of human life. They require, therefore, the most careful study and thoughtful interpretation.

Among no other people of the world have myths possessed such depth and subtlety of meaning, or reached such beauty, as in Greece. To compare Greek myths with the myths of any other nation is like comparing the web woven by Arachne with the divine glory and greatness of the fabric which Athene wove upon an Olympian loom. Many nations have never gone beyond the grotesque and the fantastic in their myths. Others, though they have gained a rugged strength, lack form and completeness. The Greeks, on the contrary, possessed a power of independent thought, a spirit of inquiry and a genius for beauty that enabled them to create a vast body of myths, generally strong in ethics, always suffused with beauty, and occasionally lighted by a spiritual glow not dimmed by comparison with the newer thought of the twentieth Christian century.

Unlike Athene, myths do not spring into being full grown, but, like Zeus, they have a period of infancy and of growth before reaching maturity. Like Zeus, too, they are fed by the divine influences about them, the milk and honey of a just and beautiful world. They pass through a period of rough savagery, and later, one of irrationality incident to a partially civilized people, before reaching their

iv

PREFACE

highest and most enlightened form. It is but natural, then, that myths as we now find them should have fragments from a savage or an irrational time clinging to them. This accounts for many of the harsh and cruel things done by gods and goddesses. Such acts represent, not the moral ideals of the refined Greek, but the ideals of a people on the way toward refinement. These relics of bygone savagery are -still kept as parts of the myths to which they adhere by the respect accorded to age, especially in regard to those things looked upon as sacred.

Since myths are the embodied answers to some great world questions already indicated, it would certainly be altogether irrational to interpret them narrowly or literally. It is safe to anticipate a broad figurative meaning, and it is in this spirit that the myths have been told in this book, wath the hope of making them clear enough to carry their own interpretation.

Another feature in interpretation should be mentioned. A desire to give a divine origin to some of their lesser gods and goddesses, as well as to their heroes, led the Greeks to invent tales by which to establish for such deities or heroes the fatherhood of Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon or some other of the great ones of Olympus. This occurs so frequently that it can not be ignored or eliminated without doing great violence to many of the myths. Taken literally, such conduct would seem to sanction domestic infidelity and social impurity, and this is not consistent with refined Greek thought. It was the early Greeks who invented the myths, and gave the attribute of universal fatherhood to certain of the gods in order to add a larger touch of divinity to the heroes and thus insure for them a greater reverence. Later, the Greeks adopted this interpretation and we will do well to follow their example.

Mythology is not science, and we cannot expect that the mass of knowledge comprehended in myths will take on that logical and orderly arrangement which we demand of scientific truth, yet there is in many cases a necessary sequence, and in almost all cases a natural grouping that greatly aids in understanding and interpreting them. Studied in this way, each successive myth of a group is more easily understood because of the study of those which have preceded it, and it will in turn throw light on those of the same group that follow. So, too, the study of one group of myths will add to the interest in the next and lessen the effort required to understand it. The effect of this cumulative study of any subject has immeasurably more interest and educative value than the study of unrelated bits at odd times. To make such a method of study possible to children is one of the aims of this book.

Among the various kinds of reading matter now offered to children none creates more lively or

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PREFACE

lasting interest than that pertaining to Greek myths. Years of experience in the use of this material in the elementary classes confirm this statement. The meaning does not go over their heads. They enter into them and freely challenge the right and the wrong of what is done, and they make ready application to present-day affairs of the principles involved in the myth. The beauty and delicacy shown by the myths delight them, and nothing can be offered that will furnish better training for the imagination, — a faculty quite as necessary to the business man as to the poet. The golden age of childhood seems peculiarly the time to gain something like an organized knowledge of this subject. If neglected then, no amount of after effort in the use of the classical dictionary or other reference books will quite make good the loss.

Greek myths have a content that quite justifies their use as reading matter for children, even if there were no other reason for their sanction ; but other very potent reasons force themselves upon us whether we will or no. The writers of the best literature have used and are still using these myths to illustrate and illuminate their thought, so that one can not read good literature intelligently without a knowledge of the myths when thus used. Beside this, art is filled with creation inspired by these myths. All the best painting and sculpture of the Greeks themselves looked to their myths for

vii inspiration, and in modern art also are to be found works of the highest excellence from the same motives, so that any adequate appreciation of such subjects is quite impossible without a knowledge of Greek myths. The pictures in this book are not offered as mere decorations, but, with the interpretive and biographical matter accompanying them, it is hoped that they may greatly aid in generous and intelligent understanding of the subjects illustrated.

In all appreciative reading, either by adults or children, the right point of view is always important If possible, the point of view should be gained before the matter is read. With children in school, this is not only practical but is absolutely demanded. To help children to gain it is the special function of the teacher. The words used may be fairly familiar, and yet one may not be able to understand the printed page. One must be so in sympathy with the situation and the spirit of the thought that is to be read, that he can not only perceive it intellectually, but feel it emotionally. No thought has become one's own, and consequently no thought can be fully appreciated until both these conditions have been realized.

Modern scholars first came to a knowledge of Greek myths through Latin writers who used the Latin names for the gods, goddesses and heroes. The incongruity of using Latin names for Greek subjects has quite largely been permitted to

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PREFACE

continue. In this book it is intended to use only Greek names, but to avoid confusion when the children read these myths from other sources, the Greek names, with the Roman correlatives in parenthesis, are given in the index. Their pronunciation is also indicated. No teacher need fear that the difficulty of these names will be any serious obstacle to the study of the myths.

Experience has shown also that the geography connected with the myths may become a positive aid, both in fixing the narrative and in increasing the interest of the children. A place should never be named without locating it and having the children know its comparative distance and direction. In this book a double-page map is provided, which, it is believed, will enable the children to do this work adequately.

The most sincere thanks are due to those earnest and loyal assistant teachers without whose aid this little book would never have been published. It is offered to the public with the hope that it may fall into the hands of other equally intelligent and earnest teachers whose lips may have been touched by waters that flow from the sweet fountain in Aphrodite's garden.

IX

Contents

PAGE

PREFACE . . . . o . . c o c iii

COxNTENTS c , = . xi

Introduction

The world has always knelt in happy worship before the good story-teller. When, with a faraway look in his eye, he has said, " Once upon a time," everybody has been pleased to listen ; and it would be very hard to say which is happier, the one who tells the story or those who listen. Age makes little difference. The grandfather with gentle eyes and snowy locks, the busy mother, the eager and impetuous children are charmed alike.

Every good story is a bit of real life and is really true ; not, perhaps, just as the words are spoken, ut as they are meant. Hence, it is sometimes as rd to understand a story rightly as to tell it haply. As the- sweetest music ever played or sung would be lost if it were heard only by dull or silly people, so the most interesting story fails in its purpose unless it is told to those who can understand its meaning.

Of all the different peoples of the earth, the Greeks have given us the greatest number of stories worth the telling. This seems even the more remarkable when we remember that many of these stories were told three thousand years ago, when the people were not so wise in some things as they now are. It is a long time since Columbus

XV discovered the great western world, but it is nearly eight times as many years from Columbus back to the time when the Greek fathers and mothers were telling these tales to their children. If one's grandfather is seventy-five years old to-day, these years would need to be multiplied by forty to reach the time when most of the Greek myths and hero-tales were first told.

But the Greeks were not so wise in everything as they were in the things so beautifully told in their myths. Children of to-day may quite properly smile at geography as taught by the old Greek schoolmasters. Yet, however incorrect it may have been, one needs to know it in order to understand many things in their myths and in the stories of their heroes.

They thought the world w^as flat and shaped like a circle with their own country in the middle, the very center being at their great temple of Delphi, where they went to talk. with their gods. "The Sea " (the Mediterranean and Black Seas) divided the earth into a northern and a southern half; and around all ran the Ocean River, moving in the direction that the hands of a clock move. This great Ocean River fed the Sea and all the rivers of the earth and was never disturbed by storms.

On the northern edge of the earth were very high mountains with vast caverns from which were sent the fierce, cold blasts of winter. Still further

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INTRODUCTION

north was a peaceful, sunny land which no man could reach. Here, free from pain and sickness, lived a happy people called the Hyperboreans, who were never forced to work and never grew old.

On the south side of the earth lived another happy people, the y^thiopians, so loved by the gods

HYPERBOREANS

MOUNTAINS FROM WHICH COLD

BLASTS CAME AETHIOPIANS

PEOPLE THE GREEKS KNEW ISLES OF THE BLESSED

6 MT. OLYMPUS

7 DELPHI

8 OCEAN RIVER

9 PILLARS OF HERACLES FOREST OF DODONA

The World as understood by the Ancient Greeks From a sketch by a third-grade pupil.

that the latter became their guests and joined with them in songs and banquets.

On the eastern side were many people with whom the Greeks traded, and against whom they sometimes fought.

On the western margin were the Elysian Fields, or Isles of the Blessed, where the balmy air was

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GREEK MYTHS AND THEIR ART .

filled with sweet odors, and the pure water of the streams reflected the blue of an unclouded sky. There, flowery plains, laced by silvery, singing streams, shaded by groves, and made delightful by the music of birds, everywhere filled and satisfied the view. Added to these were gardens of sweet flowers and mellow fruits. No scorching heats or wintry chills ever visited the Isles of the Blessed, where fear nor hate, pain nor tears were ever known. There lived the worthy ones who had passed from earth ; the unselfish, the pure in heart, the noble, and such heroes as had not been especially favored and taken directly to Olympus to live with the gods.

But the parts below the surface of the earth were just as real to the Greeks as the things visible upon the surface, and were frequently the scenes of their tales and myths. In the lower region was the kingdom of Hades, or Hell, to which all the dead went, but where no living person was permitted to dwell. The entrance to this kingdom was through a great cavern, by some said to be in southern Greece, near the promontory of Taenarus, but by others placed in southern Italy near the poisonous lake Avernus, not far from Mount Vesuvius.

In this region was a great city, guarded by a wall that none could climb, and entered through a great gateway ever watched by the sleepless dog, Cerberus. Outside the city were two rivers: the Styx, by which the gods took their oaths, and the Acheron,

xviii

INTRODUCTION the river of sighing and of tears. The souls of the dead could cross these rivers only in the frail boat of the ferryman, Charon, and he would take none who could not pay him his fee and none whose body had not been honored by proper burial. For this reason, the Greeks were very careful to

ACHERON STYX COCYTUS LETHE ENTRANCE TO C1TY< 6 TARTARUS ■pHLEGETHON

8 HALLOFJUDGMENT

9 PALACE OF HADEST

10 WAY TO TARTARUS

11 WAY TO LETHE

12 WAY TO

ELYSIAN FIELDS

From a sketch by a third-grade pupil.

bury their dead, and to place a small coin under the tongue of each. If this were not done, the soul must wait and wander for a hundred years before being taken over those two rivers. A third river, Cocytus, flowed from the Styx, and its waters gave out sounds of weeping and groaning, most dismal to hear.

In the midst of the city stood the great palace of Hades, its king. This palace was built of the

XIX hardest stone, beautifully polished, and was lighted within by great gems and brilliant diamonds. At one end of the grand hall of this palace stood a yellow throne, resplendent with the luster of the rock and the fineness of its polish. Another great building of the city was the Hall of Judgment, where each soul must speak fully and truly of its life on earth and be judged accordingly.

Just beyond the Hall of Judgment, the roadway divided into three branches, one of which led to the great brass prison called Tartarus, so strong that it could not be broken and so deep that it seemed bottomless. This way must be taken by those who had lived unworthily. From this pit, or prison, could be heard the rattle of the chains that bound the wicked, and the fearful cries uttered by them in their misery. Escape from Tartarus w^as made impossible by a river of fire, called Phlegethon, which sent up a wall of flame as it slowly flowed around the pit.

The second way led out of the city into trackless plains and dark forests, through which wound the sluggish river of Forgetfulness, called Lethe. Those who took this way had done little that was worthy of praise in life, either because they were not naturally thoughtful and kind, or because they had never been taught the value of kindness. They were permitted to bathe in Lethe and wash away the memory of their former selfishness and folly,

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INTRODUCTION

forget the pains and wrongs of the past, and to resume an earthly Hfe with brighter hope and larger promise of success.

The third was a shining way which led to the Isles of the Blessed and was taken by all who had lived noble lives and kept their hearts pure.

Above the earth were the blue sky, the pure air, and the bright sunshine. Far beyond the sky these Greek people believed was yet a clearer blue, where the air was softer and the sunshine more kindly and full of life. There, peace and beauty and great joy were always present, and there lived the gods on Mount Olympus. Each of the greater gods lived in a beautiful palace of his own, situated within his particular kingdom, but all obeyed the dread and powerful Zeus, and at his command met in the great hall of his palace. The highway along which they travelled could be easily traced by the many lights which they and their attendants carried, and is now known as the Milky Way.

Thus did the Greeks divide the world. These divisions may not agree with the geographies of today, but many things about their myths are beautifully true, and are as well suited to our own thought as they were to the thought of the Greeks. If we are to understand the myths and hero-tales of this w^onderful people, these things must be remembered.

Greek stories may be divided into two classes. One class tells of the gods and goddesses, what

xxi part they took in the management of their domestic affairs, how they sometimes concerned themselves with human interests, and of their doings and adventures on the earth as well as in their own realm where no mortal was permitted to enter. Such stories are called myths. The other class deals with real or legendary heroes, those who have done great deeds, and of whose lives we have heard in story and in song. Though many stories of famous old Greeks represent the gods as taking a prominent part in directing affairs, it is the real hero who interests us most, notwithstanding the occasional intervention of their gods.

Judged by present day standards these heroes did not always do the wisest or most noble thing. Sometimes they acted very cruelly, yet they did so many good deeds, and left behind them so many happy people, that we of the present day can read about them and think about them with profit and pleasure. Neither need we be shocked if their gods do not always act as we would have them act. They were, as the gods of other people ever are, very human, and it is quite remarkable that their acts seldom fall to a low or unworthy level.

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THE CREATION

The Greeks thought that the world had not always been as they found it, full of music and beauty, which, when put to good uses, helps human beings to live pure and gentle lives. They thought that once there was no earth, no sea, no sky, no light; that everything was spread through the world like the blackest and thickest fog and so remained until some power strong enough and kind enough should appear and change it for the better. This power finally came to the center of the black world and was called Love.

Love sent its strength through the darkness like arrows of light, and gradually there came the dry land and the waters, the blue sky, the soft air, the sun, the moon and the stars. Life appeared. Plants on the land and in the water grew and multiplied, bringing the flowers with their wondrous colors and sweet odors. On the land and in the water were countless animals ; .birds flew in and out among the trees, giving to the world the beauty of their plumage and the charm of their song, but no human beings yet appeared.

Over all reigned the great god Uranus and his queen, Gaea. Whence and how they came no one knows, and how long they ruled the world we can only guess. They were succeeded by their son Kronos and his queen Rhea; but trouble came to these rulers, and finally war, of which we shall learn in the story of Zeus.

II Zeus

Although queen of the world, Rhea had sorrow, and not without cause. Two sons and three daughters had come to her and might have brought her joy, but each was early taken from her and she could learn nothing of them. She feared they were dead and yet she knew that children of a god and goddess should live forever. What made it still worse was that Rhea believed it was their father, Kronos, who had either concealed or destroyed them.

So, when the baby Zeus was born, she determined to hide him with the Qrreatest care. After Iouq- and careful search she found a cave on the island of Crete which seemed just what she wished. Trees, shrubs and vines concealed its entrance, and inside were large, high rooms, which she caused to be lighted by sparkling gems. She arranged for him a dainty bed and formed cosy nooks, cushioned with the softest moss. It is said, too, that some unknown power very secretly sent Amalthea, a goat, each day to furnish fresh milk for this wonderful baby.

As time went on the baby grew rapidly. As soon as he was old enough to understand, his mother told him of the loss of his brothers and sisters, and together they planned how it would be possible to find them if they were alive, and how Kronos might be prevented from causing further sorrow.

When Kronos learned what they were doing he was angry, and said Zeus should be punished ; but that was not easily done, for Zeus had become strong and wise, and found powerful helpers. He went to the Cyclops, a race of one-eyed giants that lived under the earth. They were very cunning workmen, and forged thunderbolts for him. He went also to the Titans, who were almost as powerful as the gods, and succeeded in gaining the help of Prometheus. When Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, learned that he was to aid Zeus, he readily consented to join him. Atlas, another brother, refused his aid and fought for Kronos. Best of all, Zeus discovered his brothers and sisters, and found that they were ready to help him.

Then came fearful wars between Kronos and Zeus. The lightnings, or thunderbolts, were Zeus's most terrible weapons. He was carried with the speed of thought from place to place on the back of a very powerful eagle, or drawn in a golden chariot by a pair of eagles, while he hurled his bolts at his enemies. Some tell us that the warfare lasted for ten years, but however long it continued, Kronos was finally defeated and Zeus became the mighty king of the world. Then he punished some of his enemies by placing them in the lowest dungeons

ZEUS

of Tartarus. From Kronos was taken the power of ruling the world, although he was not put into prison ; and Atlas was made to hold the sky on his shoulders as his punishment.

Of course, Zeus did not forget his friends. He asked Hera to be his queen, and it must have been a proud day for this haughty daughter of Rhea, when the merry bells were rung on Olympus to announce the happy marriage. We do not know just what the bride wore on this very interesting occasion, nor what music was played, nor who were the musicians, but it is quite certain that the nectar and ambrosia used at the marriage feast were of the best, and that her wedding presents were very valuable. The most valued of all were some very remarkable apples. Those who ate them never suffered from hunger afterward, and forever retained the strength, freshness, and beauty of their youth. These apples, with other wonderful fruit, grew in one of the gardens of the Elysian Fields and they were cared for by three beautiful maidens called the Hesperides.

To Hestia, a sister of Zeus, was given the care of all that makes the home happy and sw^eet, and no good Greek ever asked help of, or gave thanks to, any god or goddess without first offering some choice tribute to Hestia.

Another sister, Demeter, cared for all the fruits and the grains, and must have been a very busy and useful person indeed.

His brother, Poseidon, who was next in power to Zeus himself, was given rule over the great waters of the earth. He went from place to place in a boat made from a beautiful great sea-shell drawn by very swift, fish-like horses. His chief weapon was a three-pointed spear, called a trident. If all things in Poseidon's kingdom moved along pleasantly he was happy, and the waters of the sea slept calmly, but when anything went contrary to his wishes, Poseidon was angry, and the waters rolled and tossed their foam and lashed the shore with great violence.

His other brother, Hades, was given the control of the kingdom of the dead.

Prometheus and Epimetheus, the Titans, although not so powerful as the gods, were rewarded for their help to Zeus by being permitted to live with the gods on Olympus, to partake of nectar and ambrosia, and to eat of the apples of the Hesperides and remain forever young.

THE VV^ONDERFUL STATUE OF ZEUS

By PJieidtas, the Great Sctdptor

About four hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, Athens had become the richest and most important city among all the states of Greece. There lived at that time one of her citizens so honest, so broadminded, and so wise that the people

Olympian Zeus — Pheidias Drawing by Flaxinan

ZEUS

gladly gave him control of their city, and so successfully did he manage affairs that he remained in power as long as he lived. That man was Pericles.

He did many things for the good of Athens, but the most important was to use a part of its wealth to make the city beautiful. On the Acropolis, a rocky hill, once the home of the founders of the city, had been built some temples, but they w^ere now old and were never beautiful. These were torn down and the best architects were employed to plan new temples as beautiful as they were able to imagine. But buildings might be constructed of the finest material and be satisfactory in form and yet lack the touch of real beauty in finish. To secure this finish, Pericles sought the greatest sculptor the world had to offer and found him in Pheidias.

This sculptor was given charge of all the decorations to be placed on the buildings planned for the Acropolis. He obtained helpers and did his work so well, that since that day nothing in art can compare with it in beauty.

The greatest of these temples was the Parthenon, the temple of Athene, described on page 46. The carvings on this temple comprised thousands of different figures, yet each is done with as much care as if it were to be studied for itself alone. Even those parts which could not be seen from the level of the base of the temple w^ere just as carefully done as those which could be seen by all observers. The marble slabs on which were carved the decorations of the Parthenon, if they were arranged in a straight line, would reach a distance of several city blocks. The figures of the Panathenaic procession carved on the frieze of the cella of this temple would reach the distance of one and one half city blocks, yet, if but one of these marble slabs were placed in a museum today it would command greater interest among art-loving people than would any other ancient relic now known.

But the fame of such work did not remain in Athens alone. One of the cities that heard of it was Olympia, in Elis, and later, Pheidias was induced to go there and make a statue of Zeus.