Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch (best ebook reader for chromebook TXT) 📕

constellation of the Virgin, representing Astraea, goddess of innocence and purity. Vishnu

(Vishˈnu), the Preserver, second of the three chief Hindu gods.

Viviane

(Vivˈi-ane), lady of magical powers, who allured the sage Merlin and imprisoned him in an enchanted wood.

Volscens

(Volˈscens), Rutulian troop leader who killed Nisus and Euryalus.

Volsunga Saga

(Volˈsung-a Saˈga), an Icelandic poem, giving about the same legends as the Nibelungen Lied.

Vortigern

(Vorˈti-gern), usurping King of Britain, defeated by Pendragon.

Vulcan

(Vulˈcan) (Greek Haephestus), god of fire and metalworking, with forges under Aetna, husband of Venus.

Vyasa

(Vy-aˈsa), Hindu sage.

W Wain

(Wain), the, constellation.

Wellgunda

(Well-gunˈda), one of the Rhine-daughters.

Woden

(Woˈden), chief god in the Norse mythology; Anglo-Saxon for Odin.

Woglinda

(Wog-linˈda), one of the Rhine-daughters.

Wooden Horse

(Wooden Horse), the, filled with armed men, but left outside of Troy as a pretended offering to Minerva when the Greeks feigned to sail away; accepted by the Trojans (see Sinon and Laocoön), brought into the city, and at night emptied of the hidden Greek soldiers, who destroyed the town.

Wotan

(Woˈtan), Old High German form of Odin.

X Xanthus

(Xanˈthus), river of Asia Minor.

Y Yama

(Yaˈma), Hindu god of the Infernal Regions.

Ygdrasil

(Yg-draˈsil), great ash tree, supposed by Norse mythology to support the universe.

Ymir

(Yˈmir), giant, slain by Odin.

Ynywl

(Ynˈywl), Earl, host of Geraint, father of Enid.

York

(York), Britain.

Yserone

(Y-se-roˈne), niece of Arthur, mother of Caradoc.

Yspadaden Penkawr

(Ysˈpa-da-den Penˈkawr), father of Olwen.

Z Zendavesta

(Zendˈa-vesˈta), Persian sacred Scriptures.

Zephyrus

(Zephˈy-rus), god of the South wind.

Zerbino

(Zer-biˈno), a knight, son of the king of Scotland.

Zetes

(Zeˈtes), winged warrior, companion of Theseus.

Zethus

(Zeˈthus), son of Jupiter and Antiope, brother of Amphion. See Dirce.

Zeus

(Zeus), see Jupiter.

Zoroaster

(Zo-ro-asˈter), founder of the Persian religion, which was dominant in Western Asia from about 550 BC to about 650 AD, and is still held by many thousands in Persia and in India.

List of Illustrations

Genealogical chart showing the descent of the gods.

Endnotes

Wordsworth. ↩

The names included in parentheses are the Greek, the others being the Roman or Latin names. ↩

This inconsistency arises from considering the Saturn of the Romans the same with the Grecian deity Cronos (Time), which, as it brings an end to all things which have had a beginning, may be said to devour its own offspring. ↩

From this origin of the instrument, the word “shell” is often used as synonymous with “lyre,” and figuratively for music and poetry. Thus Gray, in his ode on the “Progress of Poesy,” says:

“O Sovereign of the willing Soul,
Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs,
Enchanting shell! the sullen Cares
And frantic Passions hear thy soft control.”

↩

There was also a goddess called Fauna, or Bona Dea. ↩

The goddess of innocence and purity. After leaving earth, she was placed among the stars, where she became the constellation Virgo⁠—the Virgin. Themis (Justice) was the mother of Astraea. She is represented as holding aloft a pair of scales, in which she weighs the claims of opposing parties.

It was a favorite idea of the old poets that these goddesses would one day return, and bring back the Golden Age. Even in a Christian hymn, the “Messiah” of Pope, this idea occurs:

“All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail,
Returning Justice lift aloft her scale,
Peace o’er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend.”

See, also, Milton’s Hymn on the Nativity, stanzas xiv and xv. ↩

Materiem superabat opus. —⁠Ovid

The workmanship surpassed the material. ↩

Facies non omnibus una,
Nec diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum.

—⁠Ovid

Their faces were not all alike, nor yet unlike, but such as those of sisters ought to be. ↩

Medio tutissimus ibis. —⁠Ovid

You will go most safely in the middle. ↩

Hic situs est Phaëton, currus auriga paterni,
Quem si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis.

—⁠Ovid

Here lies Phaëton, the driver of his father’s chariot, which if he failed to manage, yet he fell in a great undertaking. ↩

See The Laestrygonians. ↩

It is evidently not our modern hyacinth that is here described. It is perhaps some species of iris, or perhaps of larkspur or of pansy. ↩

The sunflower. ↩

This correct description of the rainbow is literally translated from Ovid. ↩

Sir James Mackintosh says of this, “Do you think that even a Chinese could paint the gay colors of a butterfly with more minute exactness than the following lines: ‘The velvet nap,’ etc.?” —⁠Life, Vol. II, 246 ↩

Imponere Pelio Ossam. —⁠Virgil

To pile Ossa upon Pelion. ↩

Hecate was a mysterious divinity sometimes identified with Diana and sometimes with Proserpine. As Diana represents the moonlight splendor of night, so Hecate represents its darkness and terrors. She was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft, and was believed to wander by night along the earth, seen only by the dogs, whose barking told her approach. ↩

Alcides, a name of Hercules. ↩

One of the finest pieces of sculpture in Italy, the recumbent Ariadne of the Vatican, represents this incident. A copy is owned by the Athenaeum, Boston, and deposited in the Museum of Fine Arts. ↩

Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin’s grandfather. [Editor] ↩

Proteus. ↩

The story of the invulnerability