The Student's Mythology Part 9

Thalia, the Muse of comedy, holds in one hand a comic mask, in the other a crooked staff.

Polyhymnia presided over eloquence. She holds her fore-finger to her lips, or carries a scroll.

The Muses are sometimes represented as crowned with palms, and seated in the shade of an arbor, playing upon different instruments; or again, as dancing in a circle with joined hands, while Apollo is seated in their midst.

_Ques._ How have some writers accounted for the number of Muses?

_Ans._ They say that in ancient times there were but three Muses. The citizens of Sicyon employed three sculptors to execute statues of these G.o.ddesses, promising to choose from among the nine images, those which they should consider the most beautiful. When the statues were finished, they were found to be so skillfully wrought, that it was impossible to make a choice. They were all placed in the temple, and the poet Hesiod afterwards a.s.signed them names and attributes.

_Ques._ What punishment did the Muses inflict on the nine daughters of Pierus, king of mathia?

_Ans._ These maidens challenged the Muses to a contest in music; they were defeated and transformed into magpies by the indignant G.o.ddesses.

Thamyris, a musician of Thrace, was struck blind for the same offence.

CHAPTER XX.

G.o.ds of the Woods, and Rural Deities.

PAN.

_Ques._ Who was Pan?

_Ans._ He was a woodland deity, and was honored by the Romans as the G.o.d of shepherds and the patron of fis.h.i.+ng and fowling. The Latins sometimes called him Incubus or the "Nightmare," and at Rome he was wors.h.i.+pped as Lupercus, or Lynceus. His origin is uncertain, but he is said by some authors to have been a son of Mercury and a nymph of Arcadia.

_Ques._ How is Pan represented?

_Ans._ As half man, and half goat, having a human head ornamented with horns, and a garland of pine: he holds in one hand a crooked staff, and in the other a pipe of uneven reeds. The music which he made on this rude instrument was so sweet as to cheer the G.o.ds.

_Ques._ What famous action is related of Pan?

_Ans._ When the Gauls, under their King Brennus, made an irruption into Greece, and were about to plunder the temple of Apollo at Delphi, Pan suddenly showed himself, and so terrified them that they fled in disorder. Hence it comes that any sudden and unreasonable terror which spreads through an a.s.semblage of persons, particularly an army, is called a panic.

_Ques._ What was the origin of Pan's reeds?

_Ans._ A beautiful nymph, named Syrinx, was so persecuted by this G.o.d, that she prayed the water-nymphs to help her, and change her into reeds, which they did. Pan saw the transformation, and was much grieved. He took some of the reeds away for a remembrance. On applying them to his lips, he found they produced the most melodious sounds, so that he formed them into a rustic pipe. Milk and honey were offered to Pan.

SATYRS AND FAUNS.

_Ques._ Who were these?

_Ans._ They were hideous monsters who dwelt in forests, and were, like Pan, half man and half goat.

TERMINUS.

_Ques._ Who was Terminus?

_Ans._ He was the G.o.d of boundaries. His statue was only a square stone, or a painted log of wood. It is probable that the Romans did not suppose Terminus to be a person, but only used the name as another term for justice, which forbids any one to trespa.s.s on another's boundaries.

Landmarks and boundary stones were considered sacred by the Romans; they were crowned with garlands on festivals, offerings were laid upon them, and it was death for any one to remove one. When Constantine embraced Christianity, and placed the cross on his standard, he replaced these Terminal stones by the Christian emblem, and the custom of erecting wayside crosses, which became afterwards almost universal, is said to date from this epoch.

Terminus had a temple on the Tarpeian rock. It is said that when Tarquin the Proud wished to build a temple to Jupiter on the spot, the G.o.d of boundaries refused to give way.

VERTUMNUS.

_Ques._ Who was this deity?

_Ans._ He is generally reckoned as one of the rural divinities, and was wors.h.i.+pped as such by the ancient Sabines. The name comes from the Latin word verto, (to turn or change,) and was bestowed upon him in allusion to his power of taking any form he pleased. Vertumnus presided over the seasons; he was the husband of Pomona. Statues of this G.o.d were erected in every town of Italy. His festival called Vertumnalia, was kept in October.

CHAPTER XXI.

G.o.ddesses of the Woods.

DIANA.

_Ques._ Who was Diana?

_Ans._ She was the daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and the twin-sister of Apollo. This G.o.ddess had three names. On earth she was called Diana, and was honored as the G.o.ddess of woods and hunting; in heaven she was called Luna, and was identified with the moon, as her brother Apollo was with the sun. In h.e.l.l, she was called Hecate, and as spirits were supposed to be subject to her, she was invoked under the latter name in all magical incantations.

_Ques._ What were the habits of Diana?

_Ans._ She shunned the society of men, and frequented the woods, attended by a train of virgins who had resolved, like her, never to marry.

_Ques._ Who were the attendants of Diana?

_Ans._ Sometimes the Oceanides or daughters of Ocea.n.u.s; sometimes the woodland nymphs. Diana often led a chorus of the Muses and Graces, and joined them in singing the praises of her mother Latona.

_Ques._ How is Diana represented?

_Ans._ As a very stately and beautiful woman, dressed in the garb of a huntress; she holds a bow in her hand, and a quiver of arrows is hung across her shoulders. Her feet are covered with buskins, and a bright silver crescent glitters on her forehead. Sometimes she is represented as seated in a silver chariot drawn by hounds.

_Ques._ Who was Chione?

_Ans._ She was a nymph beloved by Apollo. She spoke scornfully of the beauty of Diana, and the G.o.ddess, in revenge, pierced her tongue with an arrow.

_Ques._ Relate the story of Niobe.

_Ans._ She was the daughter of Tantalus, and the wife of Amphion, king of Thebes. She was enriched with all the gifts of nature and fortune, and being made insolent by prosperity, she insulted Latona, and refused to offer incense at her shrine. Niobe had seven beautiful sons, and as many lovely daughters, and had boasted of their number as rendering her superior to Latona. The indignant G.o.ddess called upon Apollo and Diana to revenge the insult offered to their mother, and humble the haughty Niobe. This they effected by slaying, in one day, all the children of the unhappy queen. Her sons expired by the arrows of Apollo, and her daughters by those of Diana. Amphion killed himself in despair, and the wretched Niobe, widowed and childless, wept without ceasing until the pitying G.o.ds changed her into stone.