The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch (autobiographies to read TXT) 📕

In the “Stories of Gods and Heroes” the compiler has endeavored to impart the pleasures of classical learning to the English reader, by presenting the stories of Pagan mythology in a form adapted to modern taste. In “King Arthur and His Knights” and “The Mabinogeon” the attempt has been made to treat in the same way the stories of the second “age of fable,” the age which witnessed the dawn of the several states of Modern Europe.

It is believed that this presentation of a literature which held unrivalled sway over the imaginations of our ancestors, for many centuries, will not be without benefit to the reader, in addition to the amusement it may afford. The tales, though not to be trusted for their facts, are worthy of all credit as pictures of manners; and it is beginning to be held that the manners and modes of thinking of an age are a more important part of its history than the conflicts of its peoples, generally leading to no result. Besides this, the literature of romance is a treasure-house of poetical material, to which modern poets frequently resort. The Italian poets, Dante and Ariosto, the English, Spenser, Scott, and Tennyson, and our own Longfellow and Lowell, are examples of this.

These legends are so connected with each other, so consistently adapted to a group of characters strongly individualized in Arthur, Launcelot, and their compeers, and so lighted up by the fires of imagination and invention, that they seem as well adapted to the poet’s purpose as the legends of the Greek and Roman mythology. And if every well-educated young person is expected to know the story of the Golden Fleece, why is the quest of the Sangreal less worthy of his acquaintance? Or if an allusion to the shield of Achilles ought not to pass unapprehended, why should one to Excalibar, the famous sword of Arthur?—

“Of Arthur, who, to upper light restored, With that terrific sword, Which yet he brandishes for future war, Shall lift his country’s fame above the polar star.”

[Footnote: Wordsworth]

It is an additional recommendation of our subject, that it tends to cherish in our minds the idea of the source from which we sprung. We are entitled to our full share in the glories and recollections of the land of our forefathers, down to the time of colonization thence. The associations which spring from this source must be fruitful of good influences; among which not the least valuable is the increased enjoyment which such associations afford to the American traveller when he visits England, and sets his foot upon any of her renowned localities.

The legends of Charlemagne and his peers are necessary to complete the subject.

In an age when intellectual darkness enveloped Western Europe, a constellation of brilliant writers arose in Italy. Of these, Pulci (born in 1432), Boiardo (1434), and Ariosto (1474) took for their subjects the romantic fables which had for many ages been transmitted in the lays of bards and the legends of monkish chroniclers. These fables they arranged in order, adorned with the embellishments of fancy, amplified from their own invention, and stamped with immortality. It may safely be asserted that as long as civilization shall endure these productions will retain their place among the most cherished creations of human genius.

In “Stories of Gods and Heroes,” “King Arthur and His Knights” and “The Mabinogeon” the aim has been to supply to the modern reader such knowledge of the fables of classical and mediaeval literature as is needed to render intelligible the allusions which occur in reading and conversation. The “Legends of Charlemagne” is intended to carry out the same design. Like the earlier portions of the work, it aspires to a higher character than that of a piece of mere amusement. It claims to be useful, in acquainting its readers with the subjects of the productions of the great poets of Italy. Some knowledge of these is expected of every well-educated young person.

In reading these romances, we cannot fail to observe how the primitive inventions have been used, again and again, by successive generations of fabulists. The Siren of Ulysses is the prototype of the Siren of Orlando, and the character of Circe reappears in Alcina. The fountains of Love and Hatred may be traced to the story of Cupid and Psyche; and similar effects produced by a magic draught appear in the tale of Tristram and Isoude, and, substituting a flower for the draught, in Shakspeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” There are many other instances of the same kind which the reader will recognize without our assistance.

The sources whence we derive these stories are, first, the Italian poets named above; next, the “Romans de Chevalerie” of the Comte de Tressan; lastly, certain German collections of popular tales. Some chapters have been borrowed from Leigh Hunt’s Translations from the Italian Poets. It seemed unnecessary to do over again what he had already done so well; yet, on the other hand, those stories could not be omitted from the series without leaving it incomplete.

THOMAS BULFINCH.

CONTENTS

STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES

I. Introduction II. Prometheus and Pandora III. Apollo and Daphne—Pyramus and Thisbe—Cephalus and Procris IV. Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto—Diana and Actaeon —Latona and the Rustics V. Phaeton VI. Midas—Baucis and Philemon VII. Proserpine—Glaucus and Scylla VIII. Pygmalion—Dryope—Venus and Adonis—Apollo and Hyacinthus IX. Ceyx and Halcyone X. Vertumnus and Pomona—Iphis and Anaxarete XI. Cupid and Psyche XII. 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

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 through the air, giving light to gods and men. The stars, also, except those forming the Wain or Bear, and others near them, rose out of and sank into the stream of Ocean. There the sun-god embarked in a winged boat, which conveyed him round by the northern part of the earth, back to his place of rising in the east. Milton alludes to this in his “Comus”:

“Now the gilded car of day His golden axle doth allay In the steep Atlantic stream, And the slope Sun his upward beam Shoots against the dusky pole, Pacing towards the other goal Of his chamber in the east”

The abode of the gods was on the summit of Mount Olympus, in Thessaly. A gate of clouds, kept by the goddesses named the Seasons, opened to permit the passage of the Celestials to earth, and to receive them on their return. The gods had their separate dwellings; but all, when summoned, repaired to the palace of Jupiter, as did also those deities whose usual abode was the earth, the waters, or the underworld. It was also in the great hall of the palace of the Olympian king that the gods feasted each day on ambrosia and nectar, their food and drink, the latter being handed round by the lovely goddess Hebe. Here they conversed of the affairs of heaven and earth; and as they quaffed their nectar, Apollo, the god of music, delighted them with the tones