The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mythology of Greece and Rome, by Otto Seemann, Edited by G. H. (George Henry) Bianchi

Greek and Roman Mythology

Fig. 53.—Head of Niobe. Florence.

THE MYTHOLOGY
OF
GREECE AND ROME
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS USE IN ART

EDITED BY

G. H. BIANCHI, M.A.

LATE SCHOLAR OF ST. PETER’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE BROTHERTON SANSKRIT PRIZEMAN, 1875

WITH SIXTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

New and Revised Edition

LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, Ld.

Made and Printed in Great Britain.

Richard Clay & Sons, Limited.

Printers, Bungay, Suffolk.

PREFACE.

No apology can be needed for introducing to the public a work like the present. There has long been a want of a book which should, in a moderate compass, give a clear and readable account of these legends; for Dictionaries of Mythology do not give a view of the subject as a whole; and the price of most other works on the Greek and Roman myths would prevent their being used as class-books. These considerations have led the publishers to bring out this book in an English dress.

If any should be inclined to ask what Mythology has to do with men of the present day, the reply is plain. The works of art in our galleries and museums require a certain amount of knowledge of the mythology of the Greeks and Romans for the full appreciation of their subjects. There is hardly any literature in Europe which has not been more or less coloured by these legends; and in our own day their power to inspire the poet has by no means ceased. Nay, they have incorporated themselves into our very language: “Herculean strength” is almost as common an expression now as it was two thousand years ago; and we still talk of “chimerical” expectations, describe a man as “tantalised,” and use the Sphinx as the symbol of the mysterious.

The present work, translated from the German of O. Seemann, seems well adapted to convey a knowledge of these myths. It is illustrated with cuts after some of the masterpieces of ancient and modern art. Particular attention has been paid to this branch of the subject, and the principal works of art in each case are mentioned.

The distinction between Greek and Roman deities and heroes has been preserved, but the conventional spelling has been retained. A full index is appended, in which the quantities of the vowels are carefully marked.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Greek and Roman Mythology.

INTRODUCTION.

I.—SUBJECTS OF GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

Myths may be described as poetic narratives of the birth, life, and actions of the old heathen gods and heroes or demigods. Both myth and legend[^[1]] are distinguished from the “Mährchen,” or popular tale, by not being, like the latter, a mere product of the imagination, but always being founded on some preceding reality, whether that be an oft-recurring phase of nature, or a distinct and real occurrence. It is often most difficult to recognise with any precision the true germ of a myth, on account of the numerous additions and alterations made by the poets. And therefore the question, whether a particular tradition be a myth or not, is very hard to answer: on one side we are tempted to view, in the god or demigod, the hero of a tribe magnified to superhuman proportions by the admiration of posterity; and, on the other side, comparison of the legends of different families of nations points us to the operations of nature, not only in the demigod or the hero, but in the animals of fable and the traditions of the nursery.

[1]. The German word “sage” (legend) is really only a translation of the Greek word “mythos,” and is often used in that sense. But lately the custom has tacitly sprung up of employing the term “mythos” when speaking of the life or actions of the gods, and “sage” when speaking of those of heroes.

A large proportion of these myths are due to men’s observations of Nature, and her various active and creative forces, which appeared to their lively Southern fancy as manifestations of single supernatural beings. These were regarded, now as friendly, now as hostile, to man; and men therefore strove as eagerly to gain their favour as to appease their wrath. Of the appearance of the deities who thus manifested themselves in the workings of nature, men necessarily formed at first very crude and fantastic ideas. But later, when men emerged from the simple conditions of the early patriarchal epoch, and began to dwell in regular political communities, they gradually ceased to regard the gods as mere personifications of natural forces. They began to regard them as beings acting in accordance with unchangeable moral laws, and endowed with forms similar to those of men (Anthropomorphism). They brought the gods into connection with each other by means of genealogies in a great measure artificial, and built up a vast political system, which has its centre in Zeus, the “father of gods and men.”

Strange to say, however, it was only among the Greeks that this system of development prevailed. The nations of Italy still continued to regard their gods as mere natural forces—that looked down on them in a cold, strange fashion—of whose form and mode of life they had no clear idea. It was only later, when the Romans came into intellectual contact with their Greek neighbours, and began to study their language and literature, that they adopted the popular Greek conceptions concerning the gods. They now transferred existing myths, and fathered them on those of their own gods and goddesses who bore the closest resemblance to the Greek divinities, and harmonised best with their natural interpretation. Thus it was that the Roman Jupiter was identified with the Greek Zeus, Juno with Hera, Minerva with Athene; though for peculiar deities, such as Janus, they could find no Greek prototype.

II.—POPULAR IDEAS CONCERNING THE GODS.

We learn most concerning the conceptions the ancients formed of their gods from the numerous Greek and Roman poets whose works have come down to us, and who contributed so largely to the construction of the myths. First, both in antiquity and importance, are the poems attributed to Homer, in which we find the whole political system of Olympus, with Zeus at its head, already constructed.

Henceforth the gods, in outward appearance at least, are endowed with forms entirely human; more grand and beautiful and majestic, but still not verging on the monstrous or fantastic.

Not only in beauty and grandeur, but also in strength and vigour, do the gods surpass men. Let but Zeus shake his ambrosial locks, and the whole of Olympus trembles. The other deities are also endowed in proportion with great strength. As corporeal, indeed, they are limited in regard to space, and cannot therefore be omnipresent; but this restriction affects them far less than mortals, for they can compass the greatest distances at lightning speed. In a moment Athene drops from the heights of Olympus down to Ithaca; and Poseidon, the ocean-god, passes in three or four steps from Samothrace to Ægæ in Eubœa. Moreover, the gods can see and hear at a much greater distance than men. In regard to hearing, indeed, they seem to have unlimited powers. Prayers ascend to them from every place, irrespective of their personal presence. In the same manner Zeus, from his high throne in Olympus, sees all that passes among men, and, sitting on the highest summit of Mount Ida, he can follow all the events of the battle that rages before Troy.

On the other hand, the gods are subject to the same bodily wants as men. They refresh themselves in the same way with sleep, and have to support themselves with food and drink. Here again, however, they are far less fettered than mortals, for they can hold out much longer without satisfying these wants. Nor is their food so coarse as that of men; they live on ambrosia and nectar. Another natural necessity is clothing, on the tasteful ordering of which the goddesses even bestow extraordinary care, and in this, as in many other respects, greatly resemble the daughters of Eve. Although later art delights in representing some of the deities either slightly clothed or quite naked, yet we cannot justly conclude from this that the popular belief of the ancients conceived thus of those gods.

Gods endowed with frames like those of mortals must necessarily be born in the same way, and develope gradually both in mind and body. But here, again, everything proceeds with the utmost rapidity. For instance, the new-born Hermes rises from his cradle to steal the cattle of Apollo, and, coming into the world in the morning, he is found in the afternoon playing on the lyre, which he has himself invented. The most important point, however, in which they surpass mortals is that, when once in full possession of bodily and intellectual powers, they never grow old, but remain ever young and beautiful, ever free from disease and death. Compared with the race of men, who are subject to need and pain, they are the “happy,” “blessed” gods, the gods “who live at ease,” who can readily gratify every desire. But this does not by any means prevent their suffering occasionally from the pangs of sorrow and grief; they are vulnerable alike in body and soul, and exposed to every kind of painful sensation. So completely did the Greeks subject their gods to human passions.

As regards mental qualifications they are naturally far superior to men. In the first place, they stand higher morally; they shun all that is evil, impure, and unjust, and visit with punishment the impiety and injustice of man. This, again, does not prevent their giving way to every description of vice and folly, such as deceit, lying, hatred, cruelty, jealousy, &c. They are far from holy, therefore, in the sense in which we speak of the Supreme Being. Still less are they conceived as omniscient or omnipotent. Their powers indeed are great, and so is their knowledge. They are able to interrupt the course of nature—to send sudden storms, pestilences, and other evils—to endow themselves or others with any forms they like, and to do many other things, of which we read in fairy tales. But even Zeus, to whom a far greater measure of power is accorded than to other gods, and on whose will the government of the universe depends, is himself subjected to the immutable decrees of fate; whilst the possibility of deceiving and duping him is by no means excluded.

Where then are we to seek for the explanation of these apparent inconsistencies? We have already said that the active and creative forces of Nature were personified by the imagination of men. Let us take one of the first conceptions likely to spring up—that of the love of the heaven for the earth, from which all nature is born. Different names will be used in different localities; men will at last forget that they all once meant the same, and out of the simple personification will spring a series of divine marriages; or if one be recognised by the whole nation as the wife, the other brides will sink into mistresses.

So with the everlasting war of the sun with the clouds; we shall not only find several gods of the light in Greece, but almost every tribe had a particular hero, whose great deeds we shall generally find to be those of the sun. Yet in the midst of all this confusion, men had a feeling that there was something above them better and holier than they, to which that which is good and holy alone was pleasing. This idea was more and more attached to Zeus himself, as the notion grew that Zeus was the supreme god, the king of heaven.

PART I.—COSMOGONY AND THEOGONY.

By Cosmogony, we understand the legends relating to the creation of the world; by Theogony, those relating to the origin of the gods. On both points we have to deal with the Greeks alone, since the Romans never indulged in any researches of this kind. All that their poets have to say on the subject is, without exception, borrowed from the Greeks.

According to the common account the world was formed out of Chaos. By this, however, we must not understand a huge and shapeless mass, but merely dark, unbounded space. The accounts of the poets vary very materially as to how the world proceeded from Chaos. The most popular view is that according to which Gæa or Ge (the earth) first issued from Chaos; whereupon Tartarus (the abyss beneath the earth) immediately severed itself, and Eros (the love that forms and binds all things) sprang into existence. Gæa then begot of herself Uranus (heaven), the mountains, and Pontus (the sea).

The first gods who peopled this new world were begotten of the earth partly by Uranus and partly by Pontus. From her union with Uranus sprang the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Centimanes; from her union with Pontus various sea-deities.

1. The race of Uranus. According to Hesiod there were twelve Titans: six males—Oceanus, Cœus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Cronus; and six females—Thia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phœbe, and Tethys. The interpretation of these divinities is somewhat difficult, but they doubtless represented the elementary forces of nature. The Cyclopes were three in number—Brontes (thunder), Steropes (lightning), and Arges (sheet-lightning): these, we can clearly see, refer to the phenomena of the storm. The Centimanes (hundred-handed), again, are three in number—Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes. These, too, represent destructive forces of nature—perhaps the earthquake, the tempestuous sea, and the storm-wind.

2. The race of Pontus. By Pontus Gæa became the mother of the fabulous sea-deities—Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. These, again, had numerous descendants. Nereus represents the sea in its quiet state: we shall have to speak of him and his daughters later on. Thaumas represents to us the majesty of the sea. He is the father of Iris (the rainbow), and of the Harpies (storm-winds). Lastly, Phorcys and Ceto, from whose union the frightful Gorgons and Grææ proceeded, typify all the dangers and terrors of the sea.

Many marriages also took place among the Titans themselves. The numerous sea-nymphs are descended from Oceanus and Tethys; from Hyperion and Thia come the deities of the light—Helios (sun), Selene (moon), and Eos (dawn); from Cœus and Phœbe the deities of the night—Leto (dark night) and Asteria (starry night).

The most important of all the Titans, however, are Cronus and Rhea, who pave the way for the universal dominion of their son Zeus.

Uranus, fearing lest his last-born sons, the powerful Cyclopes and Centimanes, might one day seize his power, buried them directly after birth in the deep abyss beneath the earth. This displeased Gæa, their mother, who thereupon prompted the Titans to conspire against their father, and induced Cronus, the youngest and bravest of them, to lay violent hands on Uranus. Uranus was mutilated, cast into chains, and compelled by his sons to abdicate his sovereignty, which now passed to Cronus. But Cronus was not long destined to enjoy the fruits of his crime. The curse of Uranus, who prophesied that he would suffer a like fate at the hands of his own son, was fulfilled. So anxious was he to avert such a catastrophe, that he swallowed his children immediately after their birth. Five had already suffered this fate—Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. But their mother Rhea, grieved at their lot, determined to rescue her next son, Zeus, by a stratagem. In the place of her child, she gave to her suspicious and cruel husband a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed without further examination. Zeus, who was thus rescued, was reared by the nymphs in a grotto on Mount Dicte, in Crete. The she-goat Amalthea served as his nurse, whilst the bees brought him honey to eat. In order that the cries of the child might not betray his presence to his suspicious father, the Curetes, or attendant priests of Rhea, drowned his voice in the clashing of their weapons. Zeus remained thus hidden until he had become a mighty though youthful god. He then attacked and overthrew his father Cronus, whom he also compelled, by means of a device of Gæa, to bring forth the children that he had devoured. One part of the Titans—Oceanus, Themis, Mnemosyne, and Hyperion—submitted without hesitation to the dominion of the new ruler of the world. The others, however, refused allegiance; but Zeus, after a contest of ten years, overthrew them, with the help of the Cyclopes and Centimanes. As a punishment, they were cast into Tartarus, which was then closed by Poseidon with brazen gates. Thessaly, the land which bears the clearest traces of natural convulsions, was supposed to have been the scene of this mighty war. Zeus and his adherents fought from Olympus; the Titans from the opposite mountain of Othrys.

Comparison of the legends of other nations does not show us any such elaborate genealogy. Zeus has his counterparts almost everywhere, and Uranus himself appears in India; but Cronus, in the sense of the father of Zeus, is probably traceable to the common epithet of Zeus, Cronion, which was assumed in later times to be a patronymic. It was natural to deduce from the idea that one power of nature sprang from another, the expression that the god of the first power was the child of the god of the second; it would perhaps be more correct to say that it was the same thing to the early races of men. As to the wars, which were so great a stumbling-block to the Greek philosophers, we may notice that the supreme god must, of course, have been the son of a supreme god; and yet, if his predecessor were supreme, must have dispossessed him.

Fig. 1.—Bust of Cronus. Vatican Museum.

The Titans, not being actually objects of worship, were not frequently represented in ancient art. Cronus is the only exception, which may be explained by the fact that the Romans identified him with their own Saturn, or harvest-god. He is generally depicted with a severe and gloomy expression of countenance, the back of his head being veiled, as a symbol of his reserved character. In the Vatican Museum at Rome there is a bust of this kind in good preservation, an engraving of which we give (Fig. 1).

After his victory over the Titans, Zeus shared the empire of the world with his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades. The former he made ruler of the ocean and waters; the latter he set over the infernal regions; everything else he retained for himself. This new order of things, however, was by no means securely established. The resentment of Gæa led her to produce with Tartarus, her youngest and most powerful son, the giant Typhoeus, a monster with a hundred fire-breathing dragons’ heads, whom she sent to overthrow the dominion of Zeus. A great battle took place, which shook heaven and earth. Zeus, by means of his never-ceasing thunderbolts, at length overcame Typhoeus, and cast him into Tartarus, or, according to later writers (Pindar and Virgil), buried him beneath Mount Ætna in Sicily, whence at times he still breathes out fire and flames toward heaven.

Some poets tell of another rebellion, that of the Giants, against the dominion of Zeus. These are said to have sprung from the drops of blood which fell on the earth from the mutilated body of Uranus. From the plains of Phlegra, in Thessaly, they sought to storm Olympus by piling Pelion on Ossa. But after a bloody battle, in which all the gods took part, the two were conquered, and sent to share the fate of the vanquished Titans. The dominion of Zeus was now securely established, and no hostile attack ever after disturbed the peaceful ease of the inhabitants of Olympus.

Fig. 2.—Cameo of Athenion.

The early history of Zeus, as well as his contests for the empire of the universe, commonly called the Giganto-machia, was a favourite subject with Greek art. In the more ancient of these works the Giants do not differ, either in form or appearance, from the Gods and Heroes. In later works they are represented with the bodies of dragons, only the upper portion of the body being human. They appear thus on the celebrated cameo of the Naples Museum, where Zeus, in his chariot drawn by four fiery horses, is in the act of charging them (Fig. 2).

PART II.—THE GODS.

I.—THE GODS OF OLYMPUS.

A.—SUPERIOR DEITIES.

1. Zeus (Jupiter).—Chief of the celestial deities is Zeus, called by the Romans Jupiter, the controller and ruler of the universe. As being the god of heaven par excellence, the “Skyfather,” he is to both nations the source of all life in nature, and from his gracious hand are shed blessing and abundance. All the phenomena of the air were supposed to proceed from him. He gathers and disperses the clouds, casts forth his lightning, stirs up his thunder, sends down rain, hail, snow, and fertilising dew on the earth. With his ægis—an impenetrable shield hung with a hundred golden tassels, in the midst of which the fearful head of the Gorgon is fastened—he produces storm and tempest. The ægis, though often meaning shield, is properly a goat-skin fastened to and supporting the true shield; later it appears as a short cloak, and even as a breastplate, covered with scales, and fringed with serpents. It is not often found in representations of Zeus; though a statue of him at Leyden shows it, and in a cameo he is seen with it wrapped around his left arm: similarly it was common to wrap the chlamys or scarf round the left arm, for purposes of defence. The ægis usually belongs to Athene, who borrows it from her father in the Iliad. She is seen wearing it in Fig. 9. In this word we probably see a confusion of two ideas, different, though of similar origin; from the same root that gives us the “springing” goat we have the storm-cloud “tossed” over the sky.

The ancients, however, were not content to regard Zeus merely as a personification of Nature; they regarded him also from an ethical standpoint, from which side he appears far more important and awful. They saw in him a personification, so to speak, of that principle of undeviating order and harmony which pervades both the physical and moral world. The strict unalterable laws by which he rules the community of the gods form a strong contrast to the capricious commands of his father Cronus. Hence Zeus is regarded as the protector and defender of all political order. From him the kings of the earth receive their sovereignty and rights; to him they are responsible for a conscientious fulfilment of their duties. Those among them who unjustly exceed their powers and pervert justice he never fails to punish. Zeus, moreover, also presides over councils and assemblies, keeps watch over their orderly course, and suggests to them wise counsels. One of the most important props of political society is the oath; and accordingly, as Zeus Horkios (ὅρκιος, deus fidius of the Romans), he watches over oaths, and punishes perjury. He also watches over boundaries, and accompanies the youths of the land as they march to the defence of their country’s borders, giving them the victory over the invaders. All civil and political communities enjoy his protection; but he particularly watches over that association which is the basis of the political fabric—the family. The head of every household was therefore, in a certain sense, the priest of Zeus. It was he who presented the offerings to the god in the name of the family. At his altar, which generally stood in the middle of the court (in small households this was represented by the hearth), all strangers, fugitives, and suppliants found shelter. As Zeus Xenius (hospitalis) he protects the wanderer, and punishes those who violate the ancient laws of hospitality by mercilessly turning the helpless stranger from their door.

The superstition of early times saw in all the phenomena of the heavens manifestations of the divine will. Thus the chief deity of heaven was naturally regarded as the highest source of inspiration, and was believed to reveal his will to men in the thunder, the lightning, the flight of birds, or dreams. As the supreme oracular deity, Zeus not only had an oracle of his own at Dodona in Epirus, which was the most ancient in Greece, but also revealed the future by the mouth of his favourite son Apollo. Though he possessed no proper oracle among the Romans, yet the latter looked with all the more care and anxiety on the phenomena of the air and sky, the right interpretation of which formed a special and difficult branch of knowledge.

Zeus was the earliest national god of the Greeks. His worship extended throughout the whole of Greece, though some of his shrines had a special importance. The most ancient of them was that at Dodona, where the Pelasgian Zeus was worshipped at a time prior to the existence of any temples in Greece. He was here represented in the celebrated form of the sacred oak, in the rustling of whose branches the deity revealed himself to the faithful. He was also worshipped on the summit of Mount Tomarus, at the foot of which lay Dodona—mountain-tops being naturally the earliest seats of his worship. But all the earlier shrines were overshadowed by the great national seat of the worship of Hellenic Zeus at Olympia, on the northern banks of the river Alpheus, in Elis, where the renowned Olympian games were celebrated. The magnificent statue of Zeus, by Phidias, was an additional inducement to devotees, who flocked thither from every quarter.

Neither was the worship of Jupiter any less extensive in Italy. The most renowned of all his shrines was undoubtedly the temple erected by Tarquin on the Capitol at Rome. This, after being nearly destroyed by fire in the time of Sulla, was restored to more than its pristine splendour. The original earthen image was replaced by a statue of gold and ivory, the work of the Greek artist Apollonius, after the model of the Olympian Zeus.

Before proceeding to discuss the god as he appears in art, we must take a glance at his numerous family. The mythology of the Greeks stands in notorious contrast to that of the Romans, in attributing to Zeus a great number of mortal as well as immortal spouses, and an unusually numerous posterity. Here we must remark that, in spite of the occasional jokes of the comic poets on the numerous amours of the god, and the consequent jealousy of Hera, there was nothing farther from the intention of the Greeks than to represent the supreme deity of heaven as a sensual and lascivious being. The explanation lies partly in the great number of contemporaneous local forms of worship that existed independently of each other, and partly in the fact that the lively fancy of the Greek pictured every new production under the guise of procreation. In that part of mythology which teaches the genealogy of the gods, the earliest wife of Zeus was Metis (prudence), the daughter of Oceanus. Zeus devoured her, fearing lest she should bear a son, who would deprive him of the empire it had cost him so much to attain. It was soon after this that he produced Pallas Athene from his own head. His second goddess-wife was Themis, one of the Titans, by whom he became the father of the Horæ and the Mœræ (Fates). Dione appears as the wife of Zeus of Dodona, and the mother of Aphrodite; whilst Arcadian Zeus was wedded to Maia, by whom he had Hermes. By Demeter (Ceres) he became the father of Persephone (Proserpine, goddess of vegetation); by Eurynome, a daughter of Oceanus, of the Charites (Graces); by Mnemosyne, of the Muses; by Leto (Latona), of Apollo and Artemis. The youngest of all his divine wives, who was recognised by later mythology as his only legitimate queen, was his sister Hera. By her he became the father of Ares (Mars), Hephæstus (Vulcan), and Hebe.

Among his mortal mistresses the most celebrated is Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes, and mother of Dionysus. The others—Leda, Danaë, Alcmene, Europa, and Io—will be mentioned hereafter.

The mythology of the Romans, as we have already remarked, first depicted Jupiter as devoid of all family ties. It was only after their religion had been Hellenised that men termed him the son of Saturn and Ops, made Juno his wife and Minerva his daughter.

Statues of Zeus were necessarily very numerous, both from the great extent of his worship and the great number of his temples that existed in Greece. Of all these the most renowned was the magnificent statue of Zeus at Olympia, the work of the Athenian sculptor Phidias (500–432 B.C.). The figure was seated on a lofty throne, and was more than 40 feet high. It was made of gold and ivory, or more probably a statue of wood was overlaid with plates of ivory and gold. The uncovered parts—the face, throat, breast, and hands—were of ivory. In his right hand was a figure of Victory, also of gold and ivory; in his left was a royal sceptre, on the top of which perched an eagle. The numerous lengthy descriptions that exist can give us but a faint idea of the lofty majesty that the sculptor diffused over the countenance of the god. The object of Phidias was to represent him to mankind, not only as the omnipotent ruler of Olympus, far superior to all gods and men, both in power and wisdom; but also as the gracious father of all, and the kindly dispenser of all good gifts. The hair, which rose straight from the brow, and then fell in equal divisions on either side, imparted to the face a lion-like expression of conscious power. This was rendered still more effective by the high forehead and strongly-formed nose. At the same time, the expression of the slightly-opened lips lent an idea of kindly benevolence. The story goes that Phidias, after completing the statue, prayed of the god a sign that he was well pleased with his work. Zeus thereupon caused a flash of lightning to descend through the open roof of the temple, and thus acknowledged his own image.

Fig. 3.—Zeus of Otricoli. Vatican Museum.

Fig. 4.—Jupiter Verospi. Vatican Museum.

This sublime masterpiece of Phidias, which was reckoned among the seven wonders of the world, continued in existence, though not without injury, for upwards of 800 years. It appears to have been destroyed by fire in the time of Theodosius III.

Fig. 5.—Coins of Elis with Phidias’ Zeus. (After Overbeck.)

The following are the most important of the existing statues of Zeus by Greek and Roman sculptors. The first in point of artistic worth is a bust of Zeus, in Carrara marble—now in the Vatican Museum at Rome—which was discovered in the last century at Otricoli (Fig. 3). The union of serene majesty and benevolence is the chief feature in the sublime countenance. Next comes a colossal statue in marble, known as the Jupiter of Verospi, also in the Vatican Museum (Fig. 4). Lastly, there is a bust of Zeus, discovered at Pompeii, and now in the Museum at Naples, besides an equally beautiful bronze statue in the British Museum, found at Paramythia in Epirus. On comparing all the extant art monuments of Zeus, we may gather that the object of ancient art was to present him especially as the benign ruler of the universe, sitting enthroned in conscious majesty and blissful ease on the heights of Olympus. His characteristic features are the clustering hair, falling like a mane on either side of his fine arched brow, and the rich wavy beard. His attributes consist of the sceptre, as a symbol of his sovereignty; the thunderbolt; the eagle; the votive bowl, as a symbol of his worship; the ball beneath or near his seat, as a symbol of the universe he rules; and, lastly, a figure of Victory. His head is sometimes adorned with a garland of oak-leaves, the oak being sacred to him; and sometimes with an olive-branch or plain band, the latter being a mark of sovereignty. In Fig. 5 we give an engraving of two coins of Elis, one of which is in the Florentine and the other in the Paris Museum.

2. Hera (Juno).—Hera, according to Homer, was the eldest of the daughters of Cronus and Rhea. She is the feminine counterpart of Zeus, her brother and husband. She represents the air or atmosphere; for which reason she, like Zeus, was supposed to control the phenomena of the air and sky, and, as queen of heaven, shared with him all the honours of his position. Her conjugal relations to Zeus, which form the substance of all the myths that refer to her, afforded the poets a rich and productive material for serious and sportive poetry. They sang of the solemn marriage of Zeus and Hera, the remembrance of which was celebrated at springtide with festive offerings and marriage rites before the shrine of the goddess. Neither did they fail to tell of the conjugal strife of the royal pair, and of the cruel fate which overtook the mortal women who enjoyed the favours of Zeus. It was thus that jealousy and contention became the leading features in the character of the goddess; whereas, both in her worship and in the representations of artists, she appears as a gracious and kindly deity, the especial protectress of her own sex.

The natural signification of Hera appears to have quickly disappeared among the Greeks, and she seems to have been chiefly honoured as the guardian of the marriage tie. The nobleness of the woman who preserves inviolate the sanctity of this bond finds in her its most sublime expression. As the special patroness of marriage, she was supposed to watch over its sanctity, to vouchsafe the blessing of children, and to protect women in childbirth.

Fig. 6.—Barberini Juno. Vatican Museum.

The worship of Hera was originally not very extensive. The cradle of her worship was Argos, on which account she is often termed Argive. Argos, Mycenæ, and Sparta are pointed out in the time of Homer as her favourite towns. Her worship naturally extended as her new character of goddess of marriage became more prominent. In Bœotia and Eubœa her worship was very ancient, but her chief shrine was the Heræum, between Argos and Mycenæ. Here was a most magnificent statue of the goddess, made of ivory and gold, the work of the Sicyonian artist, Polycletus.[^[2]]

[2]. Polycletus, a native of Sicyon, was a sculptor, architect, and caster in bronze. He was a contemporary of Phidias, and, next to him, the most celebrated artist of antiquity.

Juno (properly Jovino) takes the same place as goddess of childbirth and patroness of marriage among the Romans as Hera did among the Greeks. In addition to this she was venerated, under the name of Juno Regina, as the tutelary deity of the city and empire of Rome. Her chief shrine was on the Capitol, where she had a separate chapel in the temple of Jupiter. The Matronalia, the chief festival of the goddess, was celebrated on the first day of March, when all the matrons of the city marched in procession to her temple on the Esquiline, and there offered her flowers and libations. The victims usually sacrificed to Juno were young heifers: her sacred birds were the goose and the crow, to which the peacock of the Greek Hera was afterwards added.

Fig. 7.—Head of Hera, perhaps after Polycletus. Naples.

The most celebrated of the art monuments that relate to Juno is the Juno Ludovisi, a colossal marble bust of remarkable beauty, which, thanks to casts and photographs, is tolerably well known. Her lofty and commanding countenance is the ideal of perfect womanly beauty, combining in a rare degree woman’s chief ornaments—dignity and grace.

After this comes the Juno Barberini of the Vatican Museum, an entire and upright figure of great size (Fig. 6), distinguished by the admirable draping of the garments. The Farnese Juno, now in the Naples Museum, also deserves mention. In the same museum there is a singularly beautiful head of Hera (Fig. 7), which perhaps lays claim to reflect the conception of Polycletus.

The characteristic features of Juno are a somewhat prominent chin, expressing unbending determination of will; somewhat curling lips, well-defined nostrils, large full eyes, and a high and noble forehead. The attributes of the goddess consist of the sceptre and diadem, significant of her power; the veil (often omitted in the statues of later artists), as a symbol of the married woman; the votive bowl in the hand, the pomegranate as a symbol of love, and the peacock or goose at her feet, also at times the cuckoo, as herald of spring.

3. Pallas Athene (Minerva).—The accounts which the Greeks gave of the birth of Pallas vary considerably. The most common is that which has been already mentioned. According to this, Zeus produced her from his head, which he had ordered Hephæstus to cleave open. The great goddess of war, in full armour, with poised spear, then sprang forth from her father’s head, chanting a war-song, whilst a mighty commotion both on sea and land announced the great event to the world. In her physical character Pallas appears as the goddess of the dawn. The birth of the dawn from the forehead of the sky is not only a natural idea, but one which can be traced in the legends of other nations. Several of the other stories of her birth are connected with the name Tritogenia, the daughter of Tritos, a god, whose name, though not actually found in Greek mythology, may be traced in Amphitrite, Triton, and the Lake Tritonis. This name, which originally expressed the birth of the dawn from the water, was afterwards explained in various ways, and the first part was even derived from a provincial Greek word meaning head. Looked at from her ethical side, she appears as the goddess of wisdom, a reflection and personification of that profound wisdom and sagacity with which Father Zeus controls the destinies of the world. Hence we may easily gather the other features of her character. She is, in the first place, the protectress of states; and all that their welfare requires in peace or war proceeds from her. Thus she appears as goddess of peace as well as war. In the latter capacity she accompanies the army on its march, inspires the soldiers with ardour for the fray, and rewards them with victory and rich spoils; she also affords her mighty protection to towns and cities at home. In Homer she figures, besides, as the kindly guide and protectress of individual heroes, such as Odysseus, Achilles, Diomedes. It was she who first taught mankind to manage the horse, and to build ships and chariots; she also invented the war-trumpet and flute. As goddess of war she usually wears, besides helmet, shield, and spear, the dreadful ægis. The latter, in art monuments, is represented as a breastplate covered with dragon’s scales, and surrounded with serpents, in the midst of which is the dreadful head of Medusa, which has the effect of turning every one that looks on it into stone.

As goddess of peace, Athene is equally lavish in blessing. Everything necessary either to the physical or intellectual welfare of mankind was believed to proceed from her, and to be subject to her influence. Accordingly, useful inventions of all kinds are ascribed to her. It was she who first gave men the rake and the plough; it was she who invented the distaff and loom, as well as the art of dyeing woven stuffs, and many other feminine accomplishments.

By later writers this skill in art is extended to other things, and she is represented as the patroness of every branch of science, art, and manufacture.

She is also called Athene Hygiea, because she was believed to send pure atmosphere, to ward off pestilence, and to promote the growth and health of the youth of the land.

We cannot wonder, therefore, that the worship of a goddess so benevolent, and exercising such an important influence on human life, was very extensive in Greece. Nowhere did she receive a higher degree of veneration than at Athens, of which city she was really the tutelary deity. Her most important shrine was the Parthenon (temple of the virgin goddess), which was erected by Pericles on the Acropolis, and the remains of which, even in the present day, excite the wonder and admiration of the world. The whole land of Attica was, indeed, in a certain measure, the peculiar property of the goddess, which she won after her well-known contest with Poseidon. Zeus had decreed the sovereignty over Attica to that deity who should bestow on the land the most useful present. Poseidon thereupon created the horse; but Athene caused the olive-tree to grow, and was thus held to have won the victory. The sacred olive-tree, which was thus called into existence, was shown in the Temple of Erechtheus on the Acropolis, and possessed such a wonderful vitality that, when the Persians burnt it after capturing the town, it immediately put forth a fresh shoot. Argos and Corinth were also renowned seats of the worship of Pallas Athene; and she also enjoyed the highest veneration in Sparta, Bœotia, Thessaly, Arcadia, and Rhodes.

The Roman Minerva, whose name was derived from a root meaning “to think,” was Hellenised at a very early period, and identified with the Greek Pallas. In Rome, however, the warlike character of the goddess was completely merged in that of the peaceful inventress and patroness of the art and sciences, and of all handiwork of women. She was here worshipped, in company with Jupiter and Juno, as the tutelary deity of the city and empire, and had, in consequence, her own shrine in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. She also had temples on the Aventine and Cœlian hills, to which a third was added by Pompey, in 61 B.C., in the Campus Martius.

Festivals of the goddess.—The Panathenæa, the chief festival of the Greek Pallas, were celebrated with great pomp every four years. A solemn procession passed through the streets of Athens up to the Acropolis; and an offering was made to the goddess in the shape of a costly garment (peplus), artistically embroidered by the Athenian maidens. Horse races, athletic and musical contests, took place at the same time. Another festival of less importance, called the Lesser Panathenæa, was celebrated every year at Athens in honour of the goddess.

At Rome the chief festival of Minerva, the Quinquatrus Majores, was held on the 19th of March, and was, in later times, extended to five days. It was especially observed by all engaged in intellectual pursuits, and by artists and artisans. As Minerva was also patroness of schools, the schoolboys also took part in the celebration, and enjoyed a welcome holiday.

Fig. 8.—Pallas Giustiniani. Vatican.

The virgin goddess was at all times a favourite subject with ancient art. Even in the earliest times, before casting in bronze or marble sculpture was known, while the images of the gods were as yet rudely carved in wood, Pallas was a frequent subject of delineation. These wooden images usually represented the goddess as standing upright with poised spear in front of the battle, and were then called Palladia. Men delighted to believe them to have fallen from heaven, and to be a sure means of protection against hostile attack. When Greek art was in its prime, the first masters vied with each other in the representation of the goddess. Phidias outdid them all in his renowned statue of Athene Parthenos, which stood in the temple on the Acropolis. The figure was 39 feet high, and was constructed of ivory and gold. Its majestic beauty naturally formed one of the chief attractions of the magnificent temple. It disappeared, without leaving any clue behind it, during the stormy period of the invasion of the nomadic tribes. In proceeding to give an account of the most important existing statues of the goddess, we must first mention a magnificent marble bust which King Ludwig I. of Bavaria procured for the Munich collection, and which was formerly in the Villa Albani, at Rome. The goddess here wears a tight-fitting helmet, the top of which is decorated with a serpent, the emblem of wisdom. Her breastplate, which is bordered with serpents, falls like a cape over her shoulders, and is fastened in the middle by the Gorgon’s head, a terrible but striking contrast to the pure and noble countenance of the goddess. A fine bust, with a delicate and youthful expression of countenance, is preserved in the Vatican Museum at Rome.

Another, not less beautiful, but with grave and almost masculine features, was discovered in the excavations of Pompeii, and is now in the Naples Museum.

Among existing (full-length) statues, the Pallas Giustiniani, of the Vatican Museum at Rome, is held to be the finest (Fig. 8). This probably once stood in a Roman temple, having been found in a place where there was formerly a temple of Minerva. This statue, in accordance with the Roman conception, bears a more peaceable character, although neither the spear nor helmet are wanting. Next come two statues found near Velletri, one of which is in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, whilst the other forms a chief ornament of the Louvre collection in Paris. Both represent the goddess in the character of a benign deity fostering all peaceful works, with a gentle but earnest expression of countenance.

Fig. 9.—Athene Polias. Villa Albani.

Fig. 10.—Pallas Athene. Naples.

The Farnese Minerva of the Naples Museum and the “Hope” copy in London betray similar characteristics. On the other hand, in a statue discovered at Herculaneum (now at Naples), Minerva appears as a warlike goddess, in an evidently hostile attitude (Fig. 10). This is also the case with the celebrated statue at the Louvre, which, on account of the necklace worn by the goddess, is generally called Minerve au Collier; and again in a statue of the Villa Albani, in which a lion’s skin thrown over the head takes the place of the helmet (Fig. 9).

On combining the characteristic features of Minerva, we may gather that her most prominent trait is a lofty seriousness, well befitting the chaste, grave character of the virgin goddess. The closed lips and the prominent chin betray a determined and resolute disposition, whilst her mien and bearing give token of strength and dignity.

Among the favourite animals of Minerva we may mention the serpent, the owl, and the cock. The first is a symbol of wisdom, the second of profound meditation, and the last of eager desire for the fray. The attributes of Minerva consist of the ægis, which serves as a shield, the spear, and the helmet. The helmet is sometimes adorned with the figures of griffins, significant of the overpowering might of the wearer. The statues are all fully clothed, in accordance with the chaste character of the goddess.

4. Apollo.—As Athene is the favourite daughter of Zeus, so Apollo ranks as the most glorious and beautiful of his sons. Like other sons of Zeus, he is a god of light, and, indeed, the purest and highest representative of this mighty power in nature. His mother, Leto (Latona), is a representative of the darkness of the night. According to the sacred legend, she was compelled when pregnant to wander about, because mankind, dreading the appearance of the mighty god, refused to receive her. This myth was afterwards altered by later writers, who assign the jealousy of Hera as the cause of her wanderings. Leto at length found a refuge on Delos, which was once a floating island, and had to be fastened to the bottom of the sea by means of lofty columns. As the bright god of heaven, to whom everything impure and unholy is hateful, we find Apollo, soon after his birth, preparing to do battle with the evil powers of darkness. With his arrows he slew both the giant Tityus and the serpent Python, the latter a monster that inhabited the valley of the Plistus, near Delphi, and destroyed both men and cattle. These and similar myths are merely a panegyric on the conquering power exercised by the genial warmth of Spring over the dark gloom of Winter.

But though Apollo thus appears as the foe of all that is evil and impure, ancient myths, nevertheless, represent him also as a terrible god of death, sending virulent pestilences and dealing out destruction to men and animals by means of his unerring arrows. This may be easily explained, however, by glancing at the natural signification of the god. The rays of the sun do indeed put to flight the cold of winter, but as their heat increases they themselves ultimately become the cause of disease and death. This is beautifully portrayed in the fable of the death of Hyacinthus.

To proceed further in the analysis of his character as god of light, Apollo next appears as the protector of streets and houses. A conical pillar was usually erected at the side of the doors of houses as a symbol of him, and a defence against all sorceries. Connected with this is his repute as a god of health; one who is indeed able to send disease and death, but who, on the other hand, is all-powerful to protect against physical maladies. This feature in his character, however, is more extensively developed in the person of his son, Asclepius (Æsculapius). But it is not only outward ills that this wonder-working deity can cure: as the true redeemer from sin and crime, he alone can afford consolation to guilty souls. Even those pursued by the Furies he sometimes receives in tenderness and pity, a fine instance of which is found in the story of Orestes. It is here that we must seek the explanation of his character as god of music; in the fact that it exercises so soothing and tranquillising an influence on the soul of man. His favourite instrument was the lyre, which he was wont to play with masterly skill at the banquets of the gods, whilst the Muses accompanied him with their wondrous strains. Apollo was therefore regarded as the leader of the Muses (Musagetes); and all the great singers of antiquity, such as Orpheus and Linus, are mythically represented as his sons.

But Apollo attained his greatest importance among the Greeks as god of prophecy. His oracles continued to exercise an important influence on social and political life, even down to the latest times. The inspiration of Apollo was distinguished by the fact that the god revealed the future less by means of outward signs than by inducing an ecstatic condition of mind bordering on madness in those persons through whom he wished to proclaim his oracles. These were generally women and maidens, who, either at oracular shrines proper, or dwelling alone as Sibyls, gave forth the responses of the god. In early times they were somewhat numerous. There was an oracle at Clarus, near Colophon; an oracle at Didyma, near Miletus; and an oracle on the Ismenus, near Thebes. These were eventually all thrown into the shade by that of Delphi. The responses of this oracle exercised, during a long period of Grecian history, an all-powerful influence, especially on the Dorian tribes. The convulsions of the Pythia, or priestess of Apollo, were brought about partly by the chewing of laurel leaves, and partly by the gaseous vapours that issued from a cleft in the earth beneath the sacred tripod. The ecstatic condition in which she gave the responses, which were comprehensible only to the initiated priests, manifested itself in a foaming at the mouth and in convulsions of the body.

Delphi naturally became the chief seat of the worship of Apollo. The gorgeous temple was rebuilt in the time of the Pisistratidæ, after the destruction of the old one by fire. Its wealth from offerings became so great that their value was computed at 10,000 talents (more than £2,000,000). In the neighbourhood of Delphi the Pythian games were celebrated in the third year of every Olympiad.

The shrine of the god at Delos, his birthplace, was little less renowned. The sanctuary itself was situated at the foot of Mount Cynthus; but the whole island was sacred to the god, for which reason no one was buried there. Here, too, games, said to have been instituted by Theseus, were celebrated every four years in honour of the god. Apollo had, besides, a great number of less celebrated shrines and temples, not only in Greece, but also in Asia Minor, and wherever the Greek colonies extended.

The Apollo of the Romans, as his name indicates, was transferred to Rome from Greece. At a comparatively early period men began to feel the want of a prophetic deity, as the Roman gods, although they vouchsafed hints as to the future, confined their responses to a mere Yea or Nay. Moreover, in the character of god of healing, he was early admitted into the Roman system, as we gather from the fact that the first temple really dedicated to Apollo was erected in 429 B.C., under the pressure of a grievous pestilence. The worship of Apollo was especially exalted by the Emperor Augustus, who ascribed his victory at Actium chiefly to the assistance of the god. He accordingly erected a magnificent temple to Apollo on the Palatine, which was embellished with the celebrated statue of Apollo Citharœdus, by Scopas.

Fig. 11.—Apollo Belvedere. Vatican.

Fig. 12.—Head of Apollo Belvedere.

This remark leads us to contemplate the different statues of the god. Apollo constantly bears a very youthful appearance, and is always beardless. His figure is strong and handsome, his head covered with fair clustering locks, and his face expressive of majesty, but marked withal by a cheerful serenity. Such is the original and fundamental type, which was usually followed in the representation of the god. It was principally developed by Scopas and Praxiteles, who belonged to the later Attic school, which flourished from the end of the Peloponnesian war to the reign of Alexander the Great. The principal creation of Scopas was a marble statue, representing the god as a Pythian Citharœdus with the lyre in his hand, clothed in a long robe reaching to the feet.

This invaluable work was procured by Augustus for the temple he erected to Apollo on the Palatine. Praxiteles, a younger contemporary of Scopas, acquired considerable renown by his bronze figure of a youthful Apollo pursuing a lizard (Apollo Sauroctonus).

In existing art monuments sometimes the conception of a warlike, vengeful deity obtains, in which case the god is represented as nude, or nearly so, and armed with quiver and bow. At other times he wears a mild and benevolent aspect; he is then distinguished by his lute, and completely enveloped in a chlamys. Of the former kind is the most beautiful and celebrated of all his existing statues, the Apollo Belvedere, which was discovered in 1503, near Nettuno, the ancient Antium, and is now in the Vatican. The proud self-consciousness of a conquering deity is inimitably expressed in his whole attitude. He stands with his right hand and leg against the trunk of a tree, his left arm outstretched, with the ægis, probably as a symbol of fear and terror, in his hand. The serpent creeping up the tree is a symbol of the powers of darkness vanquished by the god (Fig. 11). It may also be taken as the symbol of life and healing, like the serpent of Asclepius (see p. [96]). We have also given a larger engraving of the head of the Belvedere Apollo, in order to afford a clearer idea of its wondrous beauty (Fig. 12).

The so-called Apollino, of the Florence gallery, a youthful figure resting after battle, is a work of scarcely less beauty. The shape of the body, which is entirely nude, is wonderfully soft and delicate. With his left arm the god leans upon a tree; in his left hand he negligently holds the bow, whilst his right hand is raised to his head in a meditative fashion. The Farnese Apollo of the Naples Museum possesses an equally graceful form. The god is here represented as a musician; in his left hand he holds the lyre, whilst his right glides over the strings. The animated expression of his face, indicating his entire devotion to his art, is exquisitely beautiful. The goose at his feet, which was regarded even by the ancients as a music-loving bird, appears to drink in with rapture the heavenly tones.

In those works which represent the god as a Pythian lute-player in a long Ionian garment, we perceive an almost feminine figure and a visionary expression of face. The most important works of this kind are the Apollo Citharœdus of the Munich collection (Fig. 13), formerly called the Muse of Barberini, which is marked by a somewhat quieter attitude; and the so-called Apollo Musagetes of the Vatican collection, which is characterised by a lively dancing movement of the figure, and is generally regarded as an imitation of the masterpiece of Scopas already mentioned. A pure and heavenly inspiration seems to pervade the features of the laurel-crowned god; his mighty lyre, to the tones of which he appears to be singing, is suspended from a band across the chest, and is aptly adorned with the portrait of Marsyas, his vanquished rival.

Fig. 13.—Apollo Citharœdus. Munich.

Lastly, the graceful statue of Apollo Sauroctonus (Lizard-slayer) deserves mention. Many copies of it still exist, the chief of which is a marble statue in the Vatican collection. The delicate figure of the god, midway between youth and boyhood, leans carelessly against the trunk of a tree, up which a lizard is creeping. The god is eagerly watching its movements, in order to seize a favourable moment to nail it to the tree with his arrow.

The principle attributes of Apollo are the bow, arrows, quiver, laurel crown, and lyre. To these may be added, as symbols of his prophetic power, the tripod and the omphalos (navel), the latter being a representation of the earth’s centre in the temple at Delphi, on which he is often depicted as sitting. The god also appears standing on the omphalos; as in the case of a marble statue lately found in the theatre of Dionysus. His sacred animals were the wolf, the hind, the bat, the swan, the goose, and the dolphin; the three last being music-loving creatures.

5. Artemis (Diana).—Artemis is the feminine counterpart of her twin brother Apollo, with whom she entirely harmonises when regarded from her physical aspect. Like him, she is a beautiful and propitious deity; but like him, too, she can deal out, at times, death and destruction among mankind. Like Apollo, she promotes the growth of the young plant, and is equally the foe of all that is evil and impure. Like him, she is skilled in the use of the bow, of which she avails herself, however, not only for the destruction of monsters, but also at times to chastise the insolence of man—witness the death of the children of Niobe. Her favourite amusement is the chase; armed with quiver and bow she ranges mountain and valley, accompanied by a band of nymphs. The chase ended, she delights to bathe in some fresh spring, or to lead off some favourite dance on the flowery meadows, surrounded by her nymphs, all of whom she overtops by a head. Then the heart of her mother, Leto, rejoices as she gazes on the innocent sports of her lovely daughter.

As a virgin goddess she was especially venerated by young maidens, whose patroness she remained till their marriage, and to whom she afforded an example of chastity. The story of Actæon, who was changed into a stag and then torn to pieces by his own dogs, shows that she did not suffer any injury to her virgin modesty to go unpunished. (For this story see the Theban legends.)

Originally, Artemis appears to have been the goddess of the moon, just as her brother Apollo is unmistakably identical with the sun. This conception, however, continued to grow fainter and fainter, until, in the later days of confusion of religions, it was again revived. Artemis was frequently confounded with Selene or Phœbe (Luna).

The national Artemis of the Greeks was originally quite distinct from the Artemis Orthia, a dark and cruel deity, to whom human sacrifices were offered in Laconia. Lycurgus abolished this barbarous custom, but caused instead a number of boys to be cruelly whipped before the image of the goddess on the occasion of her annual festival. This is the same Artemis to whom Agamemnon was about to offer, in Aulis, his daughter Iphigenia, previous to the departure of the Greeks for Troy. The Scythians in Tauris likewise had a goddess whom they propitiated with human sacrifices. This caused her to be confounded with Artemis Orthia, and the story arose that Iphigenia was conveyed by the goddess to Tauris, from which place she subsequently, assisted by her brother Orestes, brought the image of the goddess to Greece.

The Ephesian Artemis, known to us as “Diana of the Ephesians,” was distinct from all that have been mentioned. She was, in fact, an Asiatic, not a Hellenic deity.

The Roman Diana, who was early identified with the Greek Artemis, was likewise originally a goddess of the moon. As such, she possessed a very ancient shrine on Mount Algidus, near Tusculum. Like the Greek Artemis, she was also regarded as the tutelary goddess of women, and was invoked by women in childbirth. This was also the case with Artemis, although the matrons of Greece looked for more protection in this respect at the hands of Hera. She gained, however, a certain political importance in Rome after having been made by Servius Tullius the tutelary deity of the Latin League. As such, she possessed a sacred grove and temple on the Aventine.

Fig. 14.—Diana of Versailles.

Artemis is a favourite subject with the masters of the later Attic school. She is always represented as youthful, slender and light of foot, and without womanly fulness. Her devotion to the chase is clearly betokened by the quiver and bow which she generally bears, and by the high girt robe and Cretan shoes, which allow her to pass unencumbered through the thickets of the forest.

Among existing statues, the most celebrated is the so-called Diana of Versailles, which came from the Villa of Hadrian, at Tibur (Fig. 14). It is now a chief ornament of the Louvre collection, and is a worthy companion to the Belvedere Apollo, although it does not quite equal this in beauty. In this statue the goddess does not appear as a huntress, but rather as the protectress of wild animals. She is conceived as having just come to the rescue of a hunted deer, and is in the act of turning with angry mien on the pursuers. With her right hand she grasps an arrow from the quiver that hangs at her back, and in her left she holds the bow.

A really beautiful statue of the Vatican collection depicts the goddess in a most striking attitude. She has just sent forth her deadly arrow, and is eagerly watching its effect. The hound at her side is just about to start in eager pursuit of the mark, which was evidently therefore a wild animal. In her left hand is the bow, still strung, from which her right hand has just directed the arrow. Her foot is likewise upraised in triumph, and her whole deportment expresses the proud joy of victory. The chief attributes of Diana are bow, quiver, and spear, and also a torch, as an emblem of her power to dispense light and life. The hind, the dog, the bear, and the wild boar were esteemed sacred to her.

6. Ares (Mars).—Ares, the son of Zeus and Hera, represents war from its fatal and destructive side, by which he is clearly distinguished from Athene, the wise disposer of battles. He was, it is probable, originally a personification of the angry clouded sky. His home, according to Homer, was in Thrace, the land of boisterous, wintry storms, among whose warlike inhabitants he was held in high esteem, although his worship was not so extensive in Greece. Homer, in the Iliad, paints in particularly lively colours the picture of the rude “manslaying” god of war. He here appears as a deity who delights only in the wild din of battle, and is never weary of strife and slaughter. Clad in brazen armour from head to foot, with waving plume, helmet, and high-poised spear, his bull’s hide shield on his left arm, he ranges the battlefield, casting down all before him in his impetuous fury. With strength he combines great agility, and is, according to Homer, the fleetest of the gods. Strong though he be, however, he is overmatched in battle by Athene; a palpable indication that prudent courage often accomplishes more than impetuous violence.

The usual attendants and servants of Ares are Fear and Terror. By some writers they are described as his sons, yet in Homer they fight against him. There is little to be said of the principal seats of his worship in Greece. In Thebes he was regarded as the god of pestilence; and Aphrodite, who elsewhere appears as the wife of Hephæstus, was given him to wife. By her he became the father of Harmonia, who married Cadmus, and thus became the ancestress of the Cadmean race in Thebes. According to an Athenian local legend, his having slain a son of Poseidon gave rise to the institution of the Areopagus. He was here regarded as the god of vengeance. A celebrated statue by Alcamenes adorned his temple at Athens. Among the warlike people of Sparta the worship of Ares was also extensive.

This deity was regarded with a far greater degree of veneration in Rome, under the appellation of Mars, or Mavors. He seems to have occupied an important position even among the earliest Italian tribes. It was not as god of war, however—for which, amid the peaceful pursuits of cattle-rearing and husbandry, they cared little—but as the god of the spring triumphing over the powers of winter that he was worshipped. It was from his bounty that the primitive people looked for the prosperous growth of their flocks and the fruits of their fields; it was Mars on whom they called for protection against bad weather and destructive pestilence.

In warlike Rome, however, this deity soon laid aside his peaceful character, and donned the bright armour of the god of war. He was even regarded as being, after Jupiter, the most important god of the state and people of Rome. Numa himself gave him a flamen of his own, and created or restored in his honour the priesthood of the Salii. The occasion, according to the sacred legend, was on this wise. As King Numa one morning, from the ancient palace at the foot of the Palatine, raised his hands in prayer to Jove, beseeching his protection and favour for the infant state of Rome, the god let fall from heaven, as a mark of his favour, an oblong brazen shield (ancile). At the same time a voice was heard declaring that Rome should endure as long as this shield was preserved. Numa then caused the sacred shield, which was recognised as that of Mars, to be carefully preserved. The better to prevent its abstraction, he ordered an artist to make eleven others exactly similar, and instituted for their protection the college of the Salii, twelve in number, like the shields, who were selected from the noblest families in Rome. Every year in the month of March, which was sacred to Mars, they bore the sacred shields in solemn procession through the streets of Rome, executing warlike dances and chanting ancient war-songs. From the days of Numa the worship of “Father Mars” continued to acquire an ever-increasing popularity. Before the departure of a Roman army on any expedition, the imperator retired to the sanctuary of the god in the old palace, and there touched the sacred shields and the spear of the statue of Mars, crying aloud at the same time, “Mars, watch over us!” According to popular belief, the god himself went unseen before the host as it marched to battle, whence he was called “Gradivus.” In the war with the Lucanians and Bruttians (282 B.C.), when the consuls were hesitating whether to begin the attack, an unknown youth of extraordinary stature and beauty encouraged the troops to begin the assault on the enemy’s camp, and was himself the first to scale the wall. When he was afterwards sought for, in order that he might receive his richly merited reward, he had disappeared, leaving no trace behind him. As it could have been none other than Father Mars, the consul, Fabricius, decreed him a thanksgiving of three days’ duration.

Mars naturally received a due share of all booty taken in war. Defeat was ascribed to his wrath, which men strove to avert by extraordinary sin-offerings.

Popular belief made Mars the father, by a vestal virgin, of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of the city. His wife appears to have been Nerio; but she enjoyed no honours at Rome.

In attendance on Mars we find Metus and Pallor, who answer to the Greek deities already mentioned; and also his sister Bellona, corresponding to the Enyo, who was worshipped in Pontus and Cappadocia, though not in Greece proper. Bellona had a temple in the Campus Martius.

Fig. 15—Mars Ludovisi.

The Campus Martius (Field of Mars), the celebrated place of exercise of the Roman youth, stretched from the Quirinal westwards to the Tiber, and was dedicated to the god of war. Augustus, after the overthrow of the murderers of Cæsar, his adoptive father, erected a temple to Mars, which was built in Greek style, and far surpassed in grandeur and splendour all the other temples of the god. Three columns of it are still standing, mute witnesses of vanished splendour. A large number of religious festivities were celebrated in the month of March in honour of Mars. The procession of the Salii formed the chief feature of the festival; but there were also races and games. On the Ides of October also a chariot race took place in honour of Mars, at which the singular custom prevailed of offering the near horse of the victorious team to the god. The inhabitants of the two oldest quarters of the city contended for the head of the slaughtered animal, and whoever got it was supposed to reap great blessings from its possession.

Ancient artists represented Mars as a tall and powerful young man, whose activity, however, is as apparent as his strength. His characteristic features are short curly hair, small eyes, and broad nostrils, significant of the violence and passionateness of his nature. The most celebrated of existing statues is the Mars Ludovisi of the Villa Ludovisi, at Rome. It has often been conjectured that this is an imitation of the renowned work of Scopas. The deity is depicted as resting after battle; and, in spite of the usual turbulence of his disposition, he here appears to have surrendered himself to a more gentle frame of mind. The little god of love crouching at his feet gazes into his face with a roguish, triumphant smile, as though rejoiced to see that even the wildest and most untameable must submit to his sway, and thus shows us what has called forth this gentle mood. (Fig. 15.) The Mars Ludovisi is an original work, Greek in its origin, though belonging to a somewhat late period. The Borghese Mars of the Louvre, on the other hand, is undoubtedly of Roman origin. It is supposed to represent Ares bound by the craft of Hephæstus.

Fig. 16.—Bust of Ares. Sculpture Gallery at Munich.

Besides these two principal statues, the bust of Mars of the Munich collection deserves mention. It is distinguished by a peculiarly expressive head, of which we give an engraving (Fig. 16).

The attributes of Mars are the helmet (decorated with the figures of wolf-hounds and griffins), shield, and spear. The animals sacred to him were the wolf, the horse, and the woodpecker.

7. Aphrodite (Venus).—In the Iliad, Aphrodite is represented as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the goddess of moisture, who, as the wife of the god of heaven, was held in high esteem among the old Pelasgians. The same notion of the goddess being produced from moisture is seen in the legend, which relates that Aphrodite was born of the foam of the sea, and first touched land on the island of Cyprus, which was henceforth held sacred to her. She was probably a personification of the creative and generative forces of nature, and figured among the Greeks as goddess of beauty and sexual love. We must not forget that this conception does not cover the whole character of the goddess. She not only appears as Aphrodite Pandemus (the earthly Aphrodite), a goddess of the spring, by whose wondrous power all germs in the natural and vegetable world are quickened, but we also hear of Aphrodite Urania, a celestial deity, who was venerated as the dispenser of prosperity and fertility; and also an Aphrodite Pontia (of the sea), the tutelary deity of ships and mariners, who controlled the winds and the waves, and granted to ships a fair and prosperous passage. As the worship of Aphrodite was extremely popular among the numerous islands and ports of the Grecian seas, we can well imagine that it was in this latter character that she received her greatest share of honour.

The poets paint Aphrodite as the most beautiful of all the goddesses, whose magic power not even the wisest could withstand. Even wild animals were conscious of her influence, and pressed round her like lambs. She was endowed with the celebrated love-begetting magic girdle, which she could lay aside at will and lend to others. And as she thus gave rise to passion in others, she herself was not free from its influence. This is evidenced by the numerous stories of her amours with the gods or favoured mortals, which it is so difficult to bring into harmony with each other. Sometimes Ares, sometimes Hephæstus, is said to be her husband. The latter account, which originated in Lemnos, was the more popular; doubtless because its very strangeness in mating the sweetest and most lovely of the goddesses with the lame and ugly god of fire had a certain charm. No children are mentioned as springing from the union of Aphrodite with Hephæstus; but Eros and Anteros, as well as Demus and Phobus, are said to be her children by Ares. Other legends, generally of a local character, unite her to Dionysus, or to Hermes.

The story of her love for the beautiful Adonis clearly represents the decay of nature in autumn, and its resuscitation in spring. Adonis, whom Aphrodite tenderly loved, was killed, when hunting, by a wild boar. Inconsolable at her loss, Aphrodite piteously entreated Father Zeus to restore his life. Zeus at length consented that Adonis should spend one part of the year in the world of shadows, and the other in the upper world. Clearly the monster that deprived Adonis of life is only a symbol of the frosty winter, before whose freezing blast all life in nature decays.

In the story of Troy, Aphrodite plays an important part. She was the original cause of the war, having assisted Paris in his elopement with Helen. This was his reward for his celebrated judgment, in which he awarded the prize of beauty to Aphrodite in preference to Hera or Athene. Besides the Trojan prince Anchises enjoyed her favours, and she became by him the mother of the pious hero Æneas.

The goddess appears ever ready to assist unfortunate lovers; thus she aided the hero Peleus to obtain the beautiful sea-nymph Thetis. On the other hand, she punishes with the utmost severity those who from pride or disdain resist her power. This appears in the legend of Hippolytus, son of Theseus, King of Athens, whom she ruined through the love of his step-mother Phædra; also in the story of the beautiful youth Narcissus, whom she punished by an ungratified self-love, because he had despised the love of the nymph Echo.

The Seasons and the Graces appear in attendance on Aphrodite. Their office is to dress and adorn her. She is also accompanied by Eros, Pothus, and Himerus (Love, Longing, and Desire), besides Hymen, or Hymenæus, the god of marriage.

The Roman Venus (the Lovely One) was regarded by the earlier Italian tribes as the goddess of spring, for which reason April, the month of buds, was held sacred to her. She early acquired a certain social importance, by having ascribed to her a beneficent influence in promoting civil harmony and sociability among men.

After her identification with the Aphrodite of the Greeks, she became more and more a goddess merely of sensual love and desire. She had three principal shrines—those of Venus Murcia, Venus Cloacina, and Libitina. The first of these surnames points to Venus as the myrtle goddess (the myrtle being an emblem of chaste love); her temple was situated on the brow of the Aventine, and was supposed to have been erected by the Latins, who were planted there by Ancus Marcius.

The temple of Venus Cloacina (the Purifier) was said to have been erected in memory of the reconciliation of the Romans and Sabines, after the rape of the Sabine women. The surname of Libitina points to her as goddess of corpses. All the apparatus of funerals were kept in this temple, and her attendants were at the same time the public undertakers of the city.

To these ancient shrines was added another in the time of Julius Cæsar, who erected a temple to Venus Genetrix, the goddess of wedlock, in fulfilment of a vow made at the battle of Pharsalus.

Fig. 17.—Venus of Milo. Louvre.

Aphrodite, or Venus, is notoriously an especially common subject of representation among the artists of antiquity. The task of giving expression to the most perfect female beauty, arrayed in all the charms of love, by means of chisel or brush, continually spurs the artist to fresh endeavours. It was especially among the masters of the later Attic school, who devoted themselves to the representation of the youthful and beautiful among the gods in whom the nude appeared least offensive, that statues of Venus were attempted. The Venus of Cnidus, by Praxiteles, was the most important work of that master; and the people of Cnidus were so proud of it that they engraved her image on their coins. The fact that they ventured to portray the goddess as entirely nude may be regarded as a sign both of the falling away of the popular faith and of the decay of art. Henceforth, except in the case of statues for the temples, it became an established custom to represent Venus and other kindred deities as nude. Venus is further distinguished by a fulness of form, which is, nevertheless, combined with slenderness and grace. The countenance is oval; the eyes are not large, and have a languishing expression; the mouth is small, and the cheeks and chin full and round.

Of the numerous existing statues we can here mention only the most important. First among them in artistic worth is a marble statue larger than life, which was found in 1820 on the island of Melos (Milo), and is now in the Louvre at Paris (Fig. 17). In this statue only the upper part of the body is nude, the lower portions, from the hips downward, being covered with a light garment. One scarcely knows which to admire most in this splendid statue—the singularly dignified expression of the head, or the charming fulness and magnificent proportions of the limbs. The arms are quite broken off, so that we cannot determine the conception of the artist with any certainty. It is supposed that the goddess held in her hand either an apple, which was a symbol of the Isle of Melos, or the bronze shield of Ares. Her looks express proud and joyous self-consciousness.

In the Venus of Capua (so called because found among the ruins of the Amphitheatre) she again appears as a victorious goddess (Venus Victrix). This statue is now in the Museum at Naples. The shape of the nude body is not so vigorous or fresh as that of the Venus of Milo, but somewhat soft and ill-defined.

Fig. 18.—Venus Genetrix. Villa Borghese.

The Medicean Venus, formerly in the Villa Medici at Rome, is better known. It is a work of the later Attic school, in which, at the end of the second century B.C., Greek art once more blooms for a while. It is the work of the Athenian artist Cleomenes, though probably chiselled in Rome. As Venus Anadyomene (rising from the sea) the goddess appears entirely nude. This is the most youthful in appearance of all her statues, and is distinguished by the perfect regularity and beauty of its form, though there is no trace of the lofty dignity of the goddess. “What a descent,” says Kraus in his Christian Art, “is there from the Venus of Milo to this coquette, whose apparently bashful posture is only meant to challenge the notice of the beholder.”

The “Venus crouching in the bath” of the Vatican collection, and the “Venus loosing her sandal” of the Munich Gallery, are creations similar in style. In some imitations of the Cnidian Venus, the most important of which are in Rome and Munich, the goddess wears a more dignified demeanour; and also in the wonderfully graceful Venus Genetrix of the Villa Borghese, at Rome (Fig. 18).

The attributes of Venus vary much according to the prevailing conception of the goddess. The dove, the sparrow, and the dolphin, and among plants the myrtle, the rose, the apple, the poppy, and the lime-tree, were sacred to her.

8. Hermes (Mercurius).—Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, a daughter of Atlas. He was born in a grotto of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, whence he is called Cyllenius. We know the stories of his youth chiefly from the so-called Homeric Hymn.

From this we learn how Hermes, soon after his birth, sprang from his mother’s lap to seek the oxen of Apollo. Finding outside the cave a tortoise, he stretched strings across its shell, and thus made a lyre, to which he sung the loves of Zeus and Maia. Then hiding the lyre in his cradle, he went out to seek for food. Coming to Pieria in the evening, he stole thence fifty cows from the herds of Apollo, and drove them to the river Alpheüs. Here he slew two of them, and roasted the flesh, but could not swallow it. Then returning home in the early morning, he passed through the key-hole like the morning breeze, and lay down in his cradle. Apollo, however, soon remarked the theft, and hurried after the impudent robber. Hermes now played the innocent, and obstinately denied the charge; but Apollo was not to be deceived, and forced the young thief to accompany him to the throne of Zeus to have their quarrel decided. Zeus ordered Hermes to restore the cattle, but Apollo gladly made them over to Hermes on receiving the newly-invented lyre. Thus Hermes became the god of shepherds and pastures, whilst Apollo henceforth zealously devoted himself to the art of music.

As a token of their thorough reconciliation, Apollo gave his brother god the golden Caduceus, or magic wand, by means of which he could bestow happiness on whomsoever he would; and henceforth both dwelt together in the utmost harmony and love, the favourite sons of their father Zeus.

Various interpretations have been given of the nature of Hermes. Some have seen in him the thunderstorm, some the dawn, and some the morning breeze. The name Hermes, compared with the corresponding Indian words, seems to make his connection with the morning certain. Several points in the legend just related guide us to the breeze rather than the dawn; the invention of music, the kine carried off—which, nevertheless, he cannot eat (the wind cannot consume as fire does what it breaks down and carries off)—and the passing through the key-hole “like the morning breeze.” So also his function of guide and conductor of the soul, which we shall speak of presently.

The following are the most important features in the character of Hermes:—Not only does he promote the fruitfulness of flocks and herds, but he also bestows prosperity and success on all undertakings, especially those of trade and commerce. As the guardian of the streets and roads, and the friendly guide of those travelling on business, Hermes must have appeared especially worthy of honour among the Greeks, who were at all times sharp and greedy men of business. Accordingly, men erected in his honour, on the roads, what were called Hermæ—mere blocks of stone, or posts, with one or more heads: these latter were at cross-roads, and also served as finger-posts. Hermæ[^[3]] were also often to be seen in the streets of towns and in public squares. Not only did Hermes protect and guide merchants whilst travelling, but he also endowed them with shrewdness and cunning to outwit others. And as a god who had himself commenced his career by a dexterous theft, he was fain to allow thieves and rogues to invoke his protection before entering on their operations; just as in the present day robbers and bandits in Italy or Greece see nothing strange in asking their patron saint to bestow on them a rich prey. Every chance gain—in gambling, for instance—and every fortunate discovery were attributed to Hermes.

[3]. In this meaning, however, some have derived the word from a different root, and supposed it to mean originally only “pillars.”

Though playing such an important part in human life, Hermes also appears as the fleet messenger and dexterous agent of Zeus. It is in this guise that the epic poets love to depict him. With his golden-winged shoes he passes more swiftly than the wind over land and sea, executing the commissions of his father Zeus or the other inhabitants of Olympus. Thus he is sent by Zeus to command the nymph Calypso to release Odysseus, and to warn Ægisthus against the murder of Agamemnon. At times, difficult tasks are allotted to him; for instance, the destruction of the hundred-eyed guardian of Io, on which account Homer calls him the Argus-slayer. Doubtless in this myth the hundred-eyed Argus represents the starry heavens; Argus is slain by Hermes, that is, in the morning the stars cease to be visible. As messenger and herald of the gods, he is a model for all earthly heralds, who, in ancient times, were the indispensable agents of kings in every difficult business. Hence he bears the herald’s staff, or caduceus. This is the same wand once given him by Apollo, consisting of three branches, one of which forms the handle, whilst the other two branch off like a fork, and are joined in a knot. The origin of this herald’s staff appears to have been the olive branch wreathed with fillets of wool. It was only at a later period that the two last were converted into serpents. By means of this wand Hermes can either induce deep sleep or rouse a slumberer, but he uses it chiefly in guiding souls to the infernal regions. This leads us to speak of the important office of Hermes as Psychopompus, or conductor of the soul. Every soul, after death, commenced its journey to the region of shadows under the guidance of the god. On extraordinary occasions, where, for instance, the spirits were summoned in the oracles of the dead, Hermes had to reconduct the souls of the departed to the upper world, thus becoming a mediator between these two regions, in other respects so far divided.

As dreams come from the lower world, Hermes was naturally regarded as the deity from whom they proceeded; on which account people were wont to ask him for good dreams before going to sleep.

The highest conception of Hermes, however, is that of the god who presides over the bringing up of children; and, indeed, what god was more fitted to be presented as an example to Grecian youth than the messenger of the gods, equally dexterous in mind and body? He is the fleetest of runners and the most skilful of disc-throwers and boxers; and though he does not, like Apollo, represent any of the higher forms of intellectual life, still he possesses in the highest degree that practical common sense which was so greatly valued among the Greeks. The wrestling school and the gymnasium were consequently regarded as his institutions, and adorned with his statues. In further development of his relation to the education of the young, later poets even made him the inventor of speech, of the alphabet, and of the art of interpreting languages. The custom which prevailed among the Greeks of offering him the tongues of the slaughtered animals, shows clearly that they also considered him as the patron of eloquence.

There is little to be said of the Roman Mercury. As his name (from mercari, to trade) signifies, he was considered by the Romans solely as god of trade. His worship was introduced at the same time as that of Ceres—some years after the expulsion of the Tarquins, at a season of great scarcity—but appears to have become confined to the plebeians. The guild of merchants regarded him as their tutelary deity, and offered sacrifices to him and his mother Maia on the Ides of May.

The plastic representation of Hermes made equal progress with his ideal development. The first statues of the god, founded on the ancient Hermæ already mentioned, represented him as a shepherd, sometimes as the herald and messenger of the gods, always as a powerful, bearded man. Later, he assumed a more youthful appearance, and was represented as a beardless youth in the very prime of strength, with broad chest, lithe but powerful limbs, curly hair, and small ears, mouth, and eyes; altogether a wonderful combination of grace and vigour. If we add to this the expression of kindly benevolence which plays around his finely-cut lips, and the inquiring look of his face as he bends forward thoughtfully, we have the principal characteristic features of the god.

Fig. 19.—Resting Hermes. Bronze Statue at Naples.

Among existing statues, a full-sized “Hermes at rest,” in bronze, which was found at Herculaneum, and is now in the Naples Museum, is perhaps most worthy of mention. He here appears as the messenger of the gods, and has just sat down on a rock to rest. The winged sandals form his only clothing, and these are, strictly speaking, not really sandals, but simply straps covering the foot, to which wings are fastened close to the ankles (Fig. 19).

Fig. 20.—Statue of Hermes. Capitoline Collection.

A splendid marble statue of the Vatican collection, which, was once taken for Antinous, portrays the god as the patron of wrestling; the Caduceus which he holds in his left hand is, however, a modern addition. In the Hermes Ludovisi of Rome we have a graceful representation of Hermes Logius, the patron of the art of rhetoric. The wings are here not placed on the feet, or even directly on the head, as is often the case, but are fastened to a low round travelling-hat.

A pretty bronze statuette in the British Museum depicts Hermes as the god of trade and commerce, with a well-filled purse in his hand. Such is also the conception of a fine statue of the Capitoline collection at Rome (Fig. 20). The principal attributes of the god have already been incidentally mentioned: they are wings on the feet, head, or cap; the herald’s staff, the votive bowl, and the purse.

9. Hephæstus (Vulcan).—Hephæstus, the god of fire and the forge, was commonly regarded as a son of Zeus and Hera. He was so lame and ugly that his mother in shame cast him from heaven into the sea. But Eurynome and Thetis, the Oceanids, took pity on him, and tended him for nine years in a deep grotto of the sea, in return for which he made them many ornaments. After being reconciled to his mother, he returned to Olympus under the guidance of Dionysus. According to another not less popular account, it was not his mother who treated him so cruelly, but Zeus. Hephæstus, on the occasion of a quarrel between Zeus and Hera, came to the help of his mother, whereupon the angry god of heaven seized him by the foot and hurled him from Olympus. The unfortunate Hephæstus fell for a whole day, but alighted at sundown on the isle of Lemnos with but little breath in his body. Here the Sintians, who inhabited the island, tended him till his recovery. Later writers say that it was from this fall that he became lame. The same fundamental idea lies at the root of these various legends, viz., that fire first came down from heaven in the form of lightning. Hephæstus originally represented the element of fire, and all the effects of fire are accordingly referred to him. The fires of the earth break forth from the open craters of volcanoes; it must therefore be Hephæstus who is working in the midst of the fiery mountain, where he has his forges and his smithies. So says the legend of Mount Mosychlus, in Lemnos, the chief seat of his worship. Scarcely less celebrated, from its connection with him, was Mount Ætna, in Sicily. After it was observed that the wine was particularly good in the neighbourhood of volcanic mountains, the story of the intimate friendship between Hephæstus and Dionysus was concocted.

The most beneficial action of fire is manifested in its power to melt metals and render them useful to man in the shape of implements and tools of all kinds. Hence the conception of the character of Hephæstus tended ever more and more to represent him as the master of all ingenious working in metals, and as the patron of artificers and craftsmen using fire. In this character he was brought into close connection with the art-loving goddess Athene, and hence we see why both these divinities enjoyed so many kindred honours and had so many festivals in common at Athens, the chief seat of Greek science and art. It was also chiefly in the character of artificer that Hephæstus was treated of by the poets, who delight to describe the gorgeous brazen palace which he built himself on Olympus, in which was a huge workshop with twenty cunningly-devised pairs of bellows. He also constructed there the imperishable dwellings of the gods. Many also were the ingenious implements which he constructed, such as the walking tables, or tripods, which moved of their own accord into the banqueting-chamber of the gods, and then returned to their places after the meal was over. He also made himself two golden statues of maidens, to assist him in walking, and bestowed on them speech and motion. Among the other works of his mentioned by the poets are the ægis and sceptre of Zeus, the trident of Poseidon, the shield of Heracles, and the armour of Achilles, among which, also, was a shield of extraordinary beauty.

Fig. 21.—Hephæstus. Bronze Figure in the British Museum.

The worship of Hephæstus was not very extensive in Greece. The most important seat of his worship was the isle of Lemnos, where he was supposed to dwell on Mount Mosychlus with his workmen, the Cabiri, who answer to the Cyclopes of Ætna. He was held in great esteem at Athens, where, at different festivals, torch races were held in his honour. Young men ran with burning torches, and whoever first reached the goal with his torch alight received the prize. He was, moreover, highly venerated by the Greeks in Campania and Sicily, a fact which may be easily explained by the fiery mountains of these places.

The Romans called this god Vulcanus, or, according to its more ancient spelling, Volcanus. They honoured in him the blessings and beneficial action of fire. They also sought his protection against conflagrations. Under the influence of the Greek writers, the original and more common conception of the god gave place to the popular image of the smith-god, or Mulciber, who had his forges in Ætna, or on the Lipari Isles, and who vied with his comrades in wielding the hammer. In correspondence with the Greek myths, Venus was given him to wife; by this men doubtless sought to convey the idea that truly artistic works can only be created in harmony with beauty.

The chief shrine of the god in Rome was the Volcanal, in the Comitium, which was not really a temple, but merely a covered fire-place. In the Campus Martius, however, was a real temple close to the Flaminian Circus, where the festival of the Volcanalia was celebrated with every kind of game on the 23rd day of August.

Greek and Roman artists generally represented this god as a powerful, bearded man of full age. He is distinguished by the shortness of his left leg, by the sharp, shrewd glance of his cunning eye, and his firm mouth. His attributes are the smith’s tools, the pointed oval workman’s cap, and the short upper garment of the craftsman or humble citizen.

With the exception of some small bronzes in London and Berlin, and a newly discovered marble bust of the Vatican collection, we possess no antique statues of the god worth mentioning. The engraving (Fig. 21) is from a bronze in the British Museum.

10. Hestia (Vesta).—It must have been at a comparatively late period that Hestia, the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, attained a general veneration, as her name is not mentioned either in the Iliad or Odyssey. Hestia is the guardian angel of mankind, who guards the security of the dwelling, and is, in consequence, regarded as the goddess of the family hearth, the centre of domestic life. The hearth possessed among the ancients a far higher significance than it does in modern life. It not only served for the preparation of meals, but was also esteemed the sacred altar of the house; there the images of the household gods were placed, and thither, after the old patriarchal fashion, the father and priest of the family offered sacrifice on all the important occasions of domestic life. No offering was made in which Hestia, the very centre of all domestic life, had not her share.

And as the state is composed of families, the goddess of the domestic circle naturally becomes the protectress of every political community. On this account, in Greek states the Prytaneum, or seat of the governing body, was dedicated to Hestia; there she had an altar, on which a fire was ever kept burning. From this altar colonists, who were about to leave their native land in search of new homes, always took some fire—a pleasing figurative indication of the moral ties between the colony and the mother country.

As the hearth-fire of the Prytaneum was an outward and visible sign to the members of a state that they were one great family, so the Hestia of the temple at Delphi signified to the Greeks their national connection and the unity of their worship. Her altar in this temple was placed in the hall before the cave of the oracle; on it was placed the celebrated omphalus (navel of the earth, likewise an emblem of the goddess), Delphi being regarded by the Greeks as the centre of the whole earth. Here, too, a fire was kept ever burning in honour of Hestia. The character of the goddess was as pure and untarnished as flame itself. Not only did she herself remain a virgin, though wooed by both Poseidon and Apollo, but her service could be performed only by chaste virgins. She does not appear to have had a separate temple of her own in Greece, since she had a place in every temple.

The service of Vesta occupied a far more important place in the public life of the Romans. Her most ancient temple, which was supposed to have been built by Numa Pompilius, was situated on the slope of the Palatine opposite the Forum. It was built in a circle, and was of moderate dimensions, being, indeed, little more than a covered fire-place. In it the eternal fire, a symbol of the life of the state, was kept burning. Here, too, the service was performed by virgins, whose number was at first four, but was afterwards increased to six. Their chief occupation was to maintain the sacred fire, and to offer up daily prayers at the altar of the goddess for the welfare of the Roman people. The extinction of the sacred flame was esteemed an omen of coming misfortune, and brought severe punishment on the negligent priestess. The choice of vestals lay with the Pontifex Maximus. They were chosen between the ages of six and ten years, always out of the best Roman families. For thirty years they remained bound to their sacred office, during which time they had to preserve the strictest chastity. After the lapse of thirty years they returned to civil life, and were permitted to marry if they liked.

Another sanctuary of Vesta existed in Lavinium, the metropolis of the Latins, where the Roman consuls, after entering on their office, had to perform a solemn sacrifice. The festival of Vesta was celebrated on the 9th of June, on which occasion the Roman women were wont to make a pilgrimage barefooted to the temple of the goddess, and place before her offerings of food.

In the domestic life of the Romans the hearth and the hearth-goddess Vesta occupied as important a position as among the Greeks. The worship of Vesta is closely connected with that of the Penates, the kindly, protecting, household gods, who provided for the daily wants of life, and about whom we shall have more to say before concluding the subject of the gods.

Fig. 22.—Vesta Giustiniani. Torlonia Collection.

Agreeably to the chaste, pure character of the goddess, she could only be represented in art with an expression of the strictest moral purity; she generally appears either sitting or standing, her countenance characterised by a thoughtful gravity of expression. Her principal attributes consist of the votive bowl, the torch, the simpulum, or small cup, which was used in making libations, and the sceptre. In consequence of the dignity and sanctity of her character, she was always represented as fully clothed, which may account for the fact that the ancients had so few statues of the goddess. We may, therefore, consider it fortunate that such a splendid example as the Vesta Giustiniani, which belongs to the private collection of Prince Torlonia, at Rome, has come down to us. It is supposed to be an original work of the best period of Greek art. The goddess is represented as standing in a calm posture, her right hand pressed against her side, whilst with the left she points significantly towards heaven, as though wishing to impress on mankind where to direct their prayers and thoughts (Fig. 22).

11. Janus.—Among the most important gods of the Romans was the celebrated Janus, a deity quite unknown to the Greeks. In his original character he was probably a god of the light and sun—the male counterpart, in fact, of Jana, or Diana, and thus very similar to the Greek Apollo. As long as he maintained this original character, derived from nature, he was regarded as the god of all germs and first beginnings, and possessed, in consequence, an important influence both on the public and private life of the Romans. We must confine ourselves to mentioning some of the most important traits resulting from this view of his character. First, Janus is the god of all beginnings of time. He begins the new year, whose first month was called January after him, and was dedicated to him. Thus, New Year’s Day (Kalendæ Januariæ) was the most important festival of the god; on this occasion the houses and doors were adorned with garlands and laurel boughs, the laurel being supposed to exercise a potent influence against all magic and diseases. Relatives and friends exchanged small presents (principally sweets; for example, dates and figs wrapped in laurel leaves) and good wishes for the coming year. The god himself received offerings of cake, wine, and incense, and his statue was adorned with fresh laurel boughs. This offering was repeated on the first day of every month, for Janus opened up every month; and as the Kalends were sacred to Juno, he was therefore called Junonius. In the same way Janus was supposed to begin every new day, and called Matutinus Pater. He also appears as the doorkeeper of heaven, whose gates he opened in the morning and closed in the evening.

From being the god of all temporal beginnings, he soon became the patron and protector of all the beginnings of human activity. The Romans had a most superstitious belief in the importance of a good commencement for everything, concluding that this had a magical influence on the good or evil result of every undertaking. Thus, neither in public nor private life did they ever undertake anything of importance without first confiding the beginning to the protection of Janus. Among the most important events of political life was the departure of the youth of the country to war. An offering was therefore made to the god by the departing general, and the temple, or covered passage sacred to the god, was left open during the continuance of the war, as a sign that the god had departed with the troops and had them under his protection. The consul never neglected, when he entered on his office, to ask the blessing of Janus, and the assemblies never began their consultations without invoking Janus. In the same way the private citizen, in all important occurrences and undertakings, sought by prayers and vows to acquire the favour of Janus. The husbandman, before he commenced either to sow or to reap, brought to Janus Consivius an offering of cake and wine. The merchant, when he entered on a journey of business, and the sailor, when he weighed anchor and started on a long and dangerous voyage, never omitted to invoke the blessing of the god. This view of the god also explains the custom of calling on Janus first in every prayer and at every sacrifice, since, as keeper of the gates of heaven, he also appeared to give admittance to the prayers of men.

As the god of all first beginnings, Janus is also the source of all springs, rivers, and streams of the earth. On this account the fountain nymphs were generally looked on as his wives, and Fontus and Tiberinus as his sons.

The power of Janus in causing springs to rise suddenly from the earth was experienced, to their cost, by the Sabines. The latter, in consequence of the rape of their women, had overrun the infant state of Rome, and were about to introduce themselves into the town on the Palatine through an open gate, when they suddenly found themselves drenched by a hot sulphur spring that gushed violently from the earth, and were obliged to retire.

In the legend alluded to, Janus appears as the protector of the gates of the city. As the god who presided over the fortunate entrance to and exit from all houses, streets, and towns, Janus was held in high honour among the people. His character as guardian of gates and doors brought him into close connection with the Penates and other household gods; hence the custom of erecting over the doors an image of the deity with the well-known two faces, one of which looked out and the other in.

Janus had no temple, in the proper sense of the word, at Rome. His shrines consisted of gateways in common places of resort and at cross-roads, or of arched passages, in which the image of the god was erected. The Temple of Janus in the Forum at Rome, which has been already alluded to, was a sanctuary of this kind closed with doors, and was probably the most ancient in the city. Its doors stood open only in time of war.

Roman art never succeeded in executing a plastic representation peculiar to Janus, the double head being only an imitation of the Greek double Hermæ. In course of time entire figures of Janus appeared, but these always had a double face. They were generally bearded, but in later times one face was bearded, the other youthful. Not one specimen of these works of art has been preserved, so that we only know these forms from coins. The usual attributes of Janus were keys and staff.

12. Quirinus.—Quirinus was also a purely Roman divinity, but having been reckoned among the great deities of heaven, he must therefore be mentioned here. In his symbolic meaning he bore a great resemblance to Mars; and as Mars was the national god of the Latin population of Rome, so Quirinus was the national god of the Sabines who came to Rome with Titus Tatius. Together with Jupiter and Mars, he formed the tutelary Trinity of the Roman empire. His shrine was on the Quirinal, which was originally inhabited by the Sabines, and which was named after him. Numa gave Quirinus a priest of his own. He had a special feast on the 17th of February, but his worship appears to have assimilated itself more and more to that of Mars. He was subsequently identified with Romulus.

B.—SECONDARY DEITIES.

1. Attendant and Ministering Deities.

Fig. 23.—Head of Eros. Vatican.

1. Eros (Amor).—Of the deities who appear in the train of Aphrodite, Eros alone seems to have enjoyed divine honours; Longing and Desire being no more than allegorical figures typifying some of the influences that emanate from the goddess of love. Eros was commonly reputed the son of Aphrodite and Ares, and was generally depicted as a boy of wondrous beauty, on the verge of youth. His characteristic weapon is a golden bow, with which he shoots forth his arrows from secret lurking-places, with an unfailing effect that represents the sweet but consuming pangs of love. Zeus himself is represented as unable to withstand his influence—an intimation that love is one of the most terrible and mighty forces of nature.

As unrequited love is aimless, Anteros was conceived by the imagination of the poets as the brother and companion of Eros, and consequently a son of Aphrodite. As the little Eros, says the myth, would neither grow nor thrive, his mother, by the advice of Themis, gave him this brother as a playfellow; after which the boy was glad so long as his brother was with him, but sad in his absence.

Eros was not only venerated as the god who kindles love between the sexes, but was also regarded as the author of love and friendship between youths and men. On this account his statue was generally placed in the gymnasia between those of Hermes and Heracles; and the Spartans sacrificed to him before battle, binding themselves to hold together faithfully in battle, and to stand by one another in the hour of need.

Fig. 24.—Eros trying his Bow. Capitoline Museum.

This deity was termed by the Romans Amor, or Cupido, but this was solely in imitation of the Greek Eros, since he never enjoyed among them any public veneration.

The significant fable of the love of Cupid for Psyche, a personification of the human soul, is of comparatively late origin, though it was a very favourite subject in art.

Artists followed the poets in the delineation of Eros, in so far as they generally depicted him as a boy on the confines of youth. An Eros by the renowned artist Praxiteles was esteemed one of the best works of antiquity. It was brought to Rome by Nero, but was destroyed by fire in the reign of Titus. In later times the god of love was represented as much younger, because the mischievous pranks attributed to him by the poets were more adapted to the age of childhood.

Fig. 25.—Polyhymnia. Berlin Museum.

A considerable number of statues or statuettes of Eros have come down to us from antiquity. Among the most celebrated is the Torso (mutilated statue) of the Vatican, of the glorious head of which we give an engraving (Fig. 23). There is also an “Eros trying his bow” (Fig. 24) in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, and an “Eros playing with dice” in the Berlin Museum. Lastly, there is the celebrated group of the Capitoline Museum, which represents the embraces of Cupid and Psyche.

Eros generally appears with wings in the art monuments of antiquity. His insignia are bow and arrows, in addition to a burning torch. The rose was held especially sacred to him, for which reason he often appears crowned with roses.

In connection with Venus and in company with Amor we find Hymenæus, a personification of the joys of marriage, who was, however, only recognised by later writers and by later art. He is portrayed as a beautiful youth, winged like Eros, but taller, and of a more serious aspect. His indispensable attribute is the marriage torch.

Fig. 26—Melpomene. Vatican.

2. The Muses.—Pindar gives the following account of the origin of the Muses. After the defeat of the Titans, the celestials besought Zeus to create some beings who might perpetuate in song the mighty deeds of the gods. In answer to this prayer, Zeus begot with Mnemosyne (Memory) the nine Muses. They sing of the present, the past, and the future, while Apollo’s lute accompanies their sweet strains, which gladden the hearts of the gods as they sit assembled in the lofty palace of Father Zeus, in Olympus. Looked at in connection with nature, there is little doubt but that the Muses were originally nymphs of the fountains. The veneration of the Muses first arose in Pieria, a district on the eastern declivity of Mount Olympus in Thessaly, from whose steep and rocky heights a number of sweet rippling brooks descend to the plains. The perception of this natural music led at once to a belief in the existence of such song-loving goddesses. Their seat was subsequently transferred from the declivities of Olympus to Mount Helicon in Bœotia, or to Mount Parnassus, at the foot of which the Castalian fountain, which was sacred to them, had its source. Originally the Muses were only goddesses of song, though they are sometimes represented with instruments on vases. In early times, too, they only appear as a chorus or company, but at a later period separate functions were assigned to each, as presiding over this or that branch of art. Their names were Clio, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Urania, Euterpe, Erato, and Calliope.

Fig. 27.—Euterpe. Vatican.

According to the art-distribution made, probably, at the time of the Alexandrine school, Calliope represents epic poetry and science generally, her attributes being a roll of parchment and a pen. Clio is the muse of history, and is likewise characterised by a roll and pen, so that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish her from Calliope. Euterpe represents lyric poetry, and is distinguished by her double flute. Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, generally appears with a tragic mask, a club or sword, and a garland of vine leaves. Terpsichore is the muse of dancing, and has a lyre and plectrum. To Erato is assigned erotic poetry, together with geometry and the mimic art; she generally bears a large stringed instrument. Thalia, the muse of comedy, is distinguished by a comic mask, an ivy garland, and a crook. Polyhymnia presides over the graver chant of religious service; she may be recognised by her dress, wrapped closely round her, and her grave, thoughtful countenance, but is without attribute of any kind. Lastly, Urania, the muse of astronomy, holds in one hand a celestial globe, and in the other a small wand.

Several European museums possess ancient groups of the Muses, among which, perhaps, the finest is that preserved in the Vatican. From this group are copied our engravings of Melpomene and Euterpe (Figs. 26 and 27). The original of Polyhymnia (Fig. 25) is in the Berlin Museum.

The Romans venerated a number of fountain-nymphs of song and prophecy under the name of Camenæ, among whom the Egeria of the history of Numa is well known. The Roman writers seem to have identified these goddesses with the Muses at pleasure.

3. The Charites (Gratiæ).—The Charites generally appear in the train of the goddess of love, whom it was their duty to clothe and adorn. They are often found, however, in attendance on other gods, since all that is charming and graceful, either to the senses or the intellect, was supposed to proceed from them.

Their names are Aglaïa, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. They were commonly represented as the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, the Oceanid. Later writers, however, make them the daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite. They were venerated as the source of all that makes human life more beautiful and pleasant, without whom there could be no real enjoyment of life. Thus, even the gods would not sit down to banquets without the Charites; and whenever men came together to feast, they first called on them and offered them the first bowl. Music, eloquence, art, and poetry received the higher consecration only at their hands; whence Pindar terms his songs a gift from them. Wisdom, bravery, kindly benevolence, and gratitude—in fine, all those qualities which become men most, and make them agreeable in the eyes of their fellow-men, were supposed to proceed from the Charites.

The Graces of the Romans were simply transferred from the mythology of the Greeks, and have, therefore, the same meaning as the Charites.

Art represented the Charites or Graces as blooming maidens, of slender, comely form, characterised by an expression of joyous innocence. In their hands they often hold flowers, either roses or myrtles. They are less often distinguished by definite attributes than by a mutual intertwining of arms. In earlier Greek art they always appear fully clothed; but gradually their clothing became less and less, until at length, in the age of Scopas and Praxiteles, when nude figures had become common, it entirely disappeared. There are, however, few ancient statues of the Charites in existence.

4. Themis and the Horæ (Seasons).—In intimate connection with the Charites we find the Horæ, the daughters of Zeus and Themis. They were generally represented as three in number—Eunomia, Dice, and Irene. They represent the regular march of nature in the changes of the seasons, and Themis, who personifies the eternal laws of nature, and as the daughter of Uranus and Gæa ranks among the most ancient deities, is consequently their mother. Themis is the representative of the reign of law among gods and men; at Zeus’ command she calls together the assemblies of the gods. She also occupies a similar position on earth, as presiding over national assemblies and the laws of hospitality. Her daughters, the Horæ, appear in a similar though in a subordinate and attendant character. In Homer they figure as the servants of Zeus, who watch the gates of heaven, now closing them with thick clouds, now clearing the clouds away. They also appear as the servants and attendants of other divinities, such as Hera, Aphrodite, Apollo, and the Muses. Like their mother, they preside over all law and order in human affairs; and under their protection thrives all that is noble and beautiful and good.

We know but little concerning the worship of the Horæ among the Greeks. The Athenians celebrated a special festival in their honour, but they recognised only two—Thallo, the season of blossom, and Carpo, the season of the ripened fruit. The adoption of four Horæ, corresponding to the four seasons of the year, appears to have arisen at a later period.

Fig. 28.—The Horæ. Relief from the Villa Albani.

In plastic art Themis is generally represented with a balance in one hand and a palm branch in the other. The Horæ generally appear as lovely girls dancing with their garments tucked up, and adorned with flowers, fruit, and garlands. Subsequently they were distinguished by various attributes, typical of the different seasons. Such is the case in the engraving (Fig. 28), after a relief in the Villa Albani.

5. Nice (Victoria).—Nice is nothing but a personification of the irresistible and invincible power exercised by the god of heaven by means of his lightning. She also appears in the company of Pallas Athene, who was herself honoured by the Athenians as the goddess of victory. Victory does not seem to have had many separate temples or festivals, since she generally appears only in attendance on her superior deities.

Fig. 29.—Victoria. United Collections in Munich.

Far more extensive was the veneration of Victoria at Rome, a fact for which the warlike character of the people easily accounts. Her chief shrine was on the Capitol, where successful generals were wont to erect statues of the goddess in remembrance of their exploits. The most magnificent statue of this kind was one erected by Augustus in fulfilment of a vow after his victory at Actium. The proper festival of the goddess took place on the 12th of April.

In both Greek and Roman art Victory was represented as a winged goddess. She is distinguished by a palm branch and laurel garland, which were the customary rewards of bravery among the ancients. Large statues of the goddess are seldom met with, though she is often depicted on vases, coins, and small bronzes. The museum of Cassel has a small bronze statue of the goddess, whilst a fine alto-relievo in terra-cotta exists in the Royal Collection at Munich (Fig. 29).

6. Iris.—Iris was originally a personification of the rainbow, but she was afterwards converted into the swift messenger of the gods, the rainbow being, as it were, a bridge between earth and heaven. In this character she makes her appearance in Homer, but, later still, she was again transformed into a special attendant of Hera. Her swiftness was astounding; “Like hail or snow,” says Homer, “that falls from the clouds,” she darts from one end of the world to the other—nay, dives to the hidden depths of the ocean and into the recesses of the lower world, executing the commands of the gods.

In art Iris was represented with wings, like Nice, to whom she, in many respects, bears a strong resemblance. She may be distinguished from the latter, however, by her herald’s staff (Caduceus). A very much injured specimen, from the east pediment of the Parthenon at Athens, is now preserved in the British Museum.

7. Hebe (Juventas).—Hebe was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and, according to her natural interpretation, represented the youthful bloom of Nature. In the fully developed mythology of the Greeks she appears as the cupbearer of the gods, to whom, at meals, she presents the sweet nectar. It may at first seem strange that the daughter of the greatest of the divinities of Greece should be relegated to so inferior a position. This, however, is easily explained by the old patriarchal custom of the Greeks, by which the young unmarried daughters, even in royal palaces, waited at table on the men of the family and the guests.

In post-Homeric poetry and legend Hebe no longer appears as cupbearer of the gods, the office having been assigned to Ganymedes. This was either in consequence of the promotion of the son of the King of Troy, or on account of Hebe’s marriage with the deified Heracles.

Hebe occupies no important place in the religious system of the Greeks; she seems to have been chiefly honoured in connection with her mother Hera, or now and then with Heracles.

Fig. 30.—Hebe. From Antonio Canova.

Juventas, or Juventus, is the corresponding deity of the Romans; but, as was the case with so many others, they contrived to bring her into a more intimate connection with their political life by honouring in her the undying and unfading vigour of the state. She had a separate chapel in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

With regard to the artistic representation of Hebe, statues of this goddess appear to have been very rare in ancient times; at least, among all the numerous statues that have been discovered, none can be safely identified with Hebe. She is the more often met with on ornamental vases and reliefs, on which the marriage of Heracles and Hebe is a favourite subject. She is usually depicted as a highly-graceful, modest maiden, pouring out nectar from an upraised vessel. She appears thus in the world-renowned masterpiece of the Italian sculptor Canova, so well known from casts. In default of an ancient statue, we give an engraving of this work (Fig. 30).

8. Ganymedes.—A similar office in Olympus was filled by the son of Tros, the King of Troy, Ganymedes, who was made immortal by Zeus, and installed as cupbearer of the gods. Neither Homer nor Pindar, however, relate the episode of Zeus sending his eagle to carry off Ganymedes. This feature of the story, which is a favourite subject of artistic representation, is first found in Apollodorus. The Roman poet, Ovid, then went a step farther, and made the ruler of Olympus transform himself into an eagle, in order to carry off his favourite.

Fig. 31.—Ganymedes and the Eagle. From Thorwaldsen.

The rape of the beautiful boy is often portrayed in ancient art. The most famous monument is a bronze group of Leochares, an artist who flourished in the fourth century B.C. A copy of it still exists in the celebrated statue of Ganymedes in the Vatican collection. In modern art the story has been treated with still greater frequency. There is an extremely beautiful group of this kind by Thorwaldsen, in which Ganymedes is represented as giving the eagle drink out of a bowl (Fig. 31).

2. The Phenomena of the Heavens.

1. Helios (Sol).—Helios (Latin Sol), the sun-god, belongs to that small class of deities who have preserved their physical meaning intact. His worship was confined to a few places, the most important of which was the island of Rhodes. An annual festival, attended with musical and athletic contests, was here celebrated with great pomp in honour of the sun-god. He is portrayed by the poets as a handsome youth with flashing eyes and shining hair covered with a golden helmet. His daily office was to bring the light of day to gods and men, which he performed by rising from Oceanus in the east, where the Ethiopians live, and completing his course along the firmament. For this purpose the post-Homeric poets endow him with a sun-chariot drawn by four fiery horses; and though Homer and Hesiod do not attempt to explain how he passed from the west where he sets, to the east where he rises, later poets obviate the difficulty by making him sail round half the world in a golden boat (according to others a golden bed); and thus he was supposed again to arrive at the east. In the far west Helios had a splendid palace, and also a celebrated garden, which was under the charge of the Hesperides. He is described as the son of the Titans Hyperion and Thea, whence he himself is called a Titan. By his wife Perse, a daughter of Oceanus, he became the father of Æëtes, King of Colchis, celebrated in the legend of the Argonauts, and of the still more celebrated sorceress Circe. Another son of Helios was Phaëthon, who, in attempting to drive his father’s horses, came to an untimely end.

Helios sees and hears every thing; whence he was believed to bring hidden crimes to light, and was invoked as a witness at all solemn declarations and oaths.

All the stories relating to Helios were gradually transferred to the Roman Sol, who was originally a Sabine deity, chiefly by means of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. The untiring charioteer of the heavens was also honoured as the patron of the race-course; but he never attained a prominent position in religious worship.

Helios, or Sol, is depicted as a handsome youth, his head encircled by a crown, which gives forth twelve bright rays corresponding to the number of the months, his mantle flying about his shoulders as he stands in his chariot. It was chiefly in Rhodes, however, that Helios was made the subject of the sculptor’s art. Here, in 280 B.C., was erected in his honour the celebrated colossal statue which has acquired a world-wide celebrity under the name of the Colossus of Rhodes, and which was reckoned as one of the seven “wonders of the world.” It was the work of Chares of Lindus, and was 105 feet in height.

2. Selene (Luna).—As Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, so is Selene the twin sister of Helios; he representing the sun, she the moon. Selene, however, never really enjoyed divine honours in Greece. The poets depict her as a white-armed goddess, whose beautiful tresses are crowned with a brilliant diadem. In the evening she rises from the sacred river of Oceanus, and pursues her course along the firmament of heaven in her chariot drawn by two white horses. She is gentle and timid, and it is only in secret that she loves beautiful youths and kisses them in sleep. Poets delight to sing of the secret love she cherished for the beautiful Endymion, the son of the King of Elis. She caused him to fall into an eternal sleep, and he now reposes in a rocky grotto on Mount Latmus, where Selene nightly visits him, and gazes with rapture on his countenance.

In later times she was often confounded with Artemis, Hecate, and Persephone. The same remarks apply to the Roman Luna. The latter, however, had a temple of her own on the Aventine, which was supposed to have been dedicated to her by Servius Tullius. Like her brother Sol, she was honoured in Rome in connection with the circus, and was held to preside over the public games.

In sculpture, Selene, or Luna, may be recognised by the half moon on her forehead, and by the veil over the back of her head; she also bears in her hand a torch. The sleeping Endymion was a frequent subject of representation on sarcophagi and monuments.

3. Eos (Aurora).—Eos, the goddess of the dawn, was also a daughter of Hyperion and Thea, and a sister of Selene and Helios. She was first married to the Titan Astræus, by whom she became the mother of the winds—Boreas, Zephyrus, Eurus, and Notus (north, west, east, and south winds). This is a mythological mode of intimating the fact that the wind generally rises at dawn. After Astræus, who, like most of the Titans, had rebelled against the sovereignty of Zeus, and had been cast into Tartarus, Eos chose the handsome hunter Orion for her husband. The gods, however, would not consent to their union, and Orion was slain by the arrows of Artemis, after which Eos married Tithonus, the son of the King of Troy. She begged Zeus to bestow on him immortality, but, having forgotten to ask for eternal youth, the gift was of doubtful value, since Tithonus at last became a shrivelled-up, decrepid old man, in whom the goddess took no pleasure.

Memnon, King of Æthiopia, celebrated in the story of the Trojan war, was a son of Eos and Tithonus. He came to the assistance of Troy, and was slain by Achilles. Since then, Eos has wept without ceasing for her darling son, and her tears fall to the earth in the shape of dew.

Eos is represented by the poets as a glorious goddess, with beautiful hair, rosy arms and fingers—a true picture of the invigorating freshness of the early morning. Cheerful and active, she rises early from her couch, and, enveloped in a saffron-coloured mantle, she harnesses her horses Lampus and Phaëthon (Brightness and Lustre), in order that she may hasten on in front of the sun-god and announce the day.

The views and fables connected with Eos were transferred by the Roman writers to the person of their goddess Aurora[^[4]] without undergoing any alteration.

[4]. The Mater Matuta of the Romans was a deity very similar to the Eos of the Greeks. She was the goddess of the early dawn, and was held in high estimation among the Roman women as a deity who assisted them in childbirth. Like the Greek Leucothea, she was also regarded as a goddess of the sea and harbours, who assisted those in peril.

Representations of this goddess are found now and then on vases and gems. She either appears driving a chariot and four horses, as harnessing the steeds of Helios, or as gliding through the air on wings and sprinkling the earth with her dew.

4. The Stars.—Only a few of the stars are of any importance in mythology. Phosphorus and Hesperus, the morning star and the evening star, which were formerly regarded as two distinct beings, were represented in art in the guise of beautiful boys with torches in their hands. There were also several legends relating to Orion, whom we have already alluded to as the husband of Eos. He himself was made a constellation after having been slain by the arrows of Artemis, while his dog was Sirius, whose rising announces the hottest season of the year. All kinds of myths were invented about other constellations; among others, the Hyades, whose rising betokened the advent of the stormy, rainy season, during which the sailor avoids going to sea. The story went that they were placed among the constellations by the gods out of pity, because they were inconsolable at the death of their brother Hyas, who was killed by a lion whilst hunting. Connected with them are the Pleiades, i.e., the stars of mariners, so called because on their rising in May the favourable season for voyages begins. They were seven in number, and were likewise set in the heavens by the gods. Finally, we must not forget to mention Arctus, the Bear. Tradition asserted that this was none other than the Arcadian nymph Callisto, who had been placed among the constellations by Zeus when slain in the form of a she-bear by Artemis. She had broken her vows of chastity, and borne a son, Arcas, to Zeus.