XI. Cupid and PsycheXII. Cadmus—The Myrmidons
XIII. Nisus and Scylla—Echo and Narcissus—Clytie—Hero and Leander
XIV. Minerva and Arachne—Niobe
XV. The Graeae and Gorgons—Perseus and Medusa—Atlas—Andromeda
XVI. Monsters: Giants—Sphinx—Pegasus and Chimaera—Centaurs
—Griffin—Pygmies
XVII. The Golden Fleece—Medea
XVIII. Meleager and Atalanta
XIX. Hercules—Hebe and Ganymede
XX. Theseus and Daedalus—Castor and Pollux—Festivals and Games
XXI. Bacchus and Ariadne
XXII. The Rural Deities—The Dryads and Erisichthon
—Rhoecus—Water Deities—Camenae—Winds
XXIII. Achelous and Hercules—Admetus and Alcestis—Antigone—Penelope
XXIV. Orpheus and Eurydice—Aristaeus—Amphion—Linus
—Thamyris—Marsyas—Melampus—Musaeus
XXV. Arion—Ibycus—Simonides—Sappho
XXVI. Endymion—Orion—Aurora and Tithonus—Acis and Galatea
XXVII. The Trojan War
XXVIII. The Fall of Troy—Return of the Greeks—Orestes and Electra
XXIX. Adventures of Ulysses—The Lotus-eaters—The Cyclopes
—Circe—Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—Calypso
XXX. The Phaeacians—Fate of the Suitors
XXXI. Adventures of Aeneas—The Harpies—Dido—Palinurus
XXXII. The Infernal Regions—The Sibyl
XXXIII. Aeneas in Italy—Camilla—Evander—Nisus and Euryalus
—Mezentius—Turnus
XXXIV. Pythagoras—Egyptian Deities—Oracles
XXXV. Origin of Mythology—Statues of Gods and Goddesses
—Poets of Mythology
XXXVI. Monsters (modern)—The Phoenix—Basilisk—Unicorn—Salamander
XXXVII. Eastern Mythology—Zoroaster—Hindu Mythology—Castes—Buddha
—The Grand Lama—Prester John
XXXVIII. Northern Mythology—Valhalla—The Valkyrior
XXXIX. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim
XL. The Death of Baldur—The Elves—Runic Letters—Skalds—Iceland
—Teutonic Mythology—The Nibelungen Lied
—Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
XLI. The Druids—Iona
GLOSSARY
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so- called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men. They belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of literature and taste. There they still hold their place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion.
We propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come down to us from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern poets, essayists, and orators. Our readers may thus at the same time be entertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has ever created, and put in possession of information indispensable to every one who would read with intelligence the elegant literature of his own day.
In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which prevailed among the Greeks—the people from whom the Romans, and other nations through them, received their science and religion.
The Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle.
The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east and divided into two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine, the only seas with which they were acquainted.
Around the earth flowed the River Ocean, its course being from south to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction on the eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by storm or tempest. The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their waters from it.
The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans, dwelling in everlasting bliss and spring beyond the lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed to send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people of Hellas (Greece). Their country was inaccessible by land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare. Moore has given us the "Song of a Hyperborean," beginning
"I come from a land in the sun-bright deep,
Where golden gardens glow,
Where the winds of the north, becalmed in sleep,
Their conch shells never blow."
On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Ocean, dwelt a people happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. They were named the Aethiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes and go to share their sacrifices and banquets.
On the western margin of the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay a happy place named the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by the gods were transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss. This happy region was also called the "Fortunate Fields," and the "Isles of the Blessed."
We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any real people except those to the east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagination meantime peopled the western portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses; while they placed around the disk of the earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying the peculiar favor of the gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity.
The Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to rise out of the Ocean, on the eastern side, and to drive
