Favorite Greek Myths (Yesterday's Classics)

Yesterday's Classics republishes classic books for children from the golden age of children's literature, the era from 1880 to 1920. Many of our titles are offered in high-quality paperback editions, with text cast in modern easy-to-read type for today's readers. The illustrations from the original volumes are included except in those few cases where the quality of the original images is too low to make their reproduction feasible. Unless specified otherwise, color illustrations in the original volumes are rendered in black and white in our print editions.

Preface

Introduction

Prometheus

How Troubles Came to the World

The Great Deluge

Apollo and Daphine

How Apollo Got His Lyre

Mercury and Argus

Ceres and Proserpine

Phaethon

Clytie

The Seven Sisters

Endymion's Sleep

Why Cadmus Founded a City

Echo

Narcissus

Hyacinthus

Perseus

Arachne

Jason and the Fleece

Hylas

Procne and Philomela

Bellerophon

Tithonus

Comatas and the Honey-Bees

Adonis

King Midas

The King and the Oak

Juno and Halcyone

Hercules

Theseus

Philemon and Baucis

Orpheus and Eurydice

Ganymede

The Bag of Winds

Circe

Arion and the Dolphin

Psyche

Many thousands of years ago there lived a race of people whom we call the Aryans. To this people everything seemed alive. When they looked up into the blue sky, where there were white clouds moving, they fancied that they saw a sea on which ships were sailing. Or, if the clouds were numerous and moved swiftly in one direction, driven by the wind, they believed that they saw cows driven by an invisible herdsman. In their eyes the dark storm-clouds were gigantic birds which flew over the sky carrying worms in their beaks. The lightning flashes were the worms, which these birds sometimes let fall. Or, the lightning was a fish, darting through the sea of cloud; or a spear, or a serpent. The storm-cloud was a dragon.

These people never tired of looking at the sky. They sometimes called the clouds treasure mountains, and the lightning an opening in the rock, which gave a glimpse of the bright treasure within. In time they came to think that the bright blue sky of day was a person, to whom they gave the name Father Dyaus (which means Father Sky), saying, because the sky seemed so high above everything else, that Father Dyaus ruled over all things. They also called the sun a shining wanderer, the golden-eyed and golden-handed god, and said that the darkness of night was a serpent, slain by their sun-god's arrows.

A time came when many tribes of this Aryan race moved on to other lands. Some of them settled in the land we now call Greece, taking with them their quaint stories of the sky and the clouds, of Father Dyaus, and the herdsman of the cloud-cattle, and the golden-eyed sun-god.

In Greece these stories and others were handed down from one generation to another through thousands of years; and while those who told these stories undoubtedly believed that every word was true, and took great pains to tell them exactly as they had heard them, yet in time the stories changed and grew.

After the Aryan tribes who moved into Greece had lived in that country for a long time, they forgot that Father Dyaus (
Dyaus pitar
) was the blue sky. Instead of calling him by his old name of Father Dyaus, they called him Father Zeus (
Zeus-pater
), the king and father of gods and men, while other Aryan tribes, who were afterward called Romans, knew him as Jupiter (
Ju-piter
). In the same way these people forgot, in time, that the herdsman who drove the cloud-cattle was the wind; they thought him a real person, or a god, and called him Hermes, or Mercury. In this way the old Greeks (that is, the descendants of the Aryans who had settled in Greece) came to believe in many gods, and it was a long, long time after this before they knew anything about the true God.

As time went on, every little kingdom in Greece had its own version of these old stories, or myths. They were told again and again, in the twilight, by the firesides of the people, and were often sung or chanted in kings' houses to the music of the lyre. In comparatively modern times, but still some thousands of years ago, the poets wrote them down, some writing one version and some another. Many of the books they wrote may still be read to-day.

According to the old Greek myths, Jupiter was the king and father of gods and men. He, with the other gods, lived high up on Mount Olympus, above the clouds. He was by far the strongest of the gods. His weapon was the thunderbolt; for the Greeks believed that the lightning flash was a kind of magic stone, shaped like a spear or an arrow, which Jupiter threw at his enemies, or at wrongdoers among men. The storm-loving eagle was Jupiter's bird, and it carried the thunderbolts in its claw.

Neptune and Pluto were brothers of Jupiter. Neptune ruled the sea, and Pluto was the king of the underworld, a dark, gloomy place where people were supposed to go after death. Juno was Jupiter's queen, and therefore the most powerful of the goddesses.

Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, of war for a right cause, and of the arts of peace. She gave the olive tree to the Greeks, and taught the Greek women how to spin and weave. She was the special protectress and helper of heroes.

Apollo was the god of prophecy, music, and poetry. Later, he was the god of the sun, especially of the light which comes from the sun, while Helios was the god of the sun itself. The rays of sunlight, which might sometimes be seen across a dark cloud, were Apollo's golden arrows. These arrows might bring death to mortals.

Diana was the twin sister of Apollo. Just as Apollo was the god of the light of the sun, she was the goddess of the light of the moon, while Selene, the real moon-goddess, was the goddess of the moon itself. Diana was a huntress who wandered over the mountains, carrying a bow and a quiverful of silver arrows. Her silver arrows, like Apollo's golden ones, were sometimes used to punish the guilty. She wore a crown shaped like the new moon, and her favorite animal was the stag.

Venus was the goddess of love and beauty. She was born from the foam of the sea, and was the most beautiful of all the goddesses. When she went abroad, her chariot was drawn by doves and surrounded by flocks of little singing birds.

Mars was the god of war in a bad sense. He loved fighting and bloodshed for its own sake.

Mercury was the herald and swift-footed messenger of the gods. He was the patron of herdsmen, travellers, and rogues. He wore a winged cap and winged sandals, and carried, as the sign of his office, a golden wand or staff, which had two wings at the top and two golden snakes twined around it. This staff was called the caduceus.

Ceres was the goddess of all that grows out of the earth, and was called the Great Mother.

Besides these great ones, there were others, not so strong and wonderful, who instead of living on Mount Olympus, above the clouds, had their homes in certain quiet places of the earth. These humbler ones were called nymphs, fauns, satyrs, river gods, and Tritons. The nymphs were everywhere; they haunted the meadows, groves, and mountains, and one of them was sure to be found at the bottom of every spring and fountain; they inhabited the trees; they lived in the sea. Fauns were the followers of Pan, the god of shepherds and other country folk. Like Pan, the fauns had little horns, pointed ears, and legs like a goat. Satyrs were the followers of Bacchus, the god of the vine. They had pointed ears, and little horns among their curls, but otherwise were very much like men. Tritons were said to have the upper part of the body like that of a man and the lower part like that of a fish. They lived in the sea, and could quiet its waters by blowing on their shell-trumpets.

In those days there were no solitary places; even the desert had its giants and its pygmies. That time of which the old myths tell us must have been wonderful indeed.

T
HERE
once lived a race of huge giants called Titans. These giants were fierce, turbulent, and lawless—always fighting among themselves and against Jupiter, the king of the gods.

One of the Titans, whose name was Prometheus, was wiser than the rest. He often thought about what would be likely to happen in the future.

One day, Prometheus said to his brother Titans: "What is the use of wasting so much strength? In the end, wisdom and forethought will win. If we are going to fight against the gods, let us choose a leader and stop quarrelling among ourselves."

The Titans answered him by a shower of great rocks and uprooted trees.

Prometheus, after escaping unhurt, said to his younger brother: "Come, Epimetheus, we can do nothing among these Titans. If they keep on, they will tear the earth to pieces. Let us go and help Jupiter to overcome them."

Epimetheus agreed to this, and the two brothers went over to Jupiter, who called the gods together and began a terrible battle. The Titans tore up enormous boulders and cast them at the gods, while Jupiter hurled his thunderbolts and his lightnings in all directions. Soon the sky was a sheet of flame, the sea boiled, the earth trembled, and the forests took fire and began to burn.

At last the gods—partly by the help of the wise counsel of Prometheus—conquered the Titans, took them to the ends of the earth, and imprisoned them in a deep underground cavern. Neptune, the sea-god, made strong bronze gates with heavy bolts and bars, to keep the giants down, while Jupiter sent Briareus and his brothers, three giants with fifty heads and a hundred hands each, to stand guard over them.

All but one of the Titans who had fought against the gods were imprisoned in this cavern. This one who was not shut in with the others was Atlas, whose enormous strength was greater than that of his brothers, while his disposition was less quarrelsome. He was made to stand and hold up the sky on his head and hands.

As the Titans could now make no more trouble, there was comparative peace and quiet on the earth. Nevertheless, Jupiter said that, although the men who remained on the earth were not so strong as the Titans, they were a foolish and wicked race. He declared that he would destroy them—sweep them away, and have done with them, forever.

When their king said this, none of the gods dared to say a word in defence of mankind. But Prometheus, the Titan, who was earth-born himself, and loved these men of the earth, begged Jupiter so earnestly to spare them, that Jupiter consented to do so.

At this time, men lived in dark, gloomy caves. Their friend, Prometheus, taught them to build simple houses, which were much more comfortable than the caves had been. This was a great step forward, but men needed more help yet from the Titan. The beasts in the forests, and the great birds that built their nests on the rocks, were strong; but men were weak. The lion had sharp claws and teeth; the eagle had wings; the turtle had a hard shell; but man, although he stood upright with his face toward the stars, had no weapon with which he could defend himself.