Heathen mythology, Illustrated by extracts from the most celebrated writers, both ancient and modern
to both animals and vegetables.
Typhon, who thus, by his mere appearance, seemed to turn the tide of war, is thus described:
————————"Typhon, whose hands
Of strength are fitted to tremendous deeds;
And indefatigable are the feet
Of the strong God: and from his shoulders rise
A hundred snaky heads of dragon growth."
Hesiod.
Notwithstanding the dire appearance of this monster, Bacchus fought bravely against the foes of Heaven, and took the form of a Lion, while animated by the cries of Jupiter, who shouted "Courage, courage!" his bravery turned the tide of war.
"And now the murmur of incitement flies,
All ranged in martial order, through the skies;
Here Jove above the rest conspicuous shined,
In valour equal to his strength his mind;
Erect and dauntless see the thunderer stand,
The bolts red hissing from his vengeful hand;
He walks majestic round the starry frame;
And now the lightnings from Olympus flame.
The earth wide blazes with the fires of Jove,
Nor the flash spares the verdure of the grove."
Hesiod.
The invaders, at length, were overthrown, and crushed beneath the mountains which they themselves had prepared to execute their vengeance on Jupiter. Many times, though vainly, the Titans sought to avenge their defeat; and Olympus, from this time, was only troubled by internal dissensions.
———————"The bruised Titans mourned
Within a den where no insulting light
Could glimmer on their tears; where their own groans
They felt, but heard not; hard flint they sat upon,
Couches of rugged stone and slaty ridge,
Stubborned with iron.
Cœus and Gyges and Briareus,
With many more, the brawniest in assault,
Were pent in regions of laborious breath;
Dungeoned in opague element to keep
Their clenched teeth still clenched, and all their limbs
Locked up like veins of metal cramped and screwed:
Without a motion save of their big hearts,
Heaving in pain."
Keats' Hyperion.
After his victory, Jupiter, who had driven Saturn from Heaven, and was in consequence its undisputed king, espoused Juno his sister. The commencement of their union was a happy one, and was called the age of silver, being an era of virtue, less pure, however, than that of the age of gold.
"But when good Saturn banished from above
Was driven to hell, the world was under Jove.
Succeeding times a silver age behold,
Excelling brass, but more excelled by gold;
Then summer, autumn, winter did appear,
And spring was but a season of the year.
The sun his annual course obliquely made,
Good days contracted and enlarged the bad.
Then air with sultry heat began to glow;
The wings of winds were clogged with ice and snow;
And shivering mortals into houses driven,
Sought shelter from the inclemency of heaven.
Those houses then were caves or homely sheds,
With twining osiers fenced, and moss their beds:
Then ploughs for seed the fruitful farrows broke,
And oxen laboured first beneath the yoke."
Ovid.
Nor was crime long in making its appearance. Hyacon, King of Arcadia, violated all the laws of hospitality by the massacre of his guests. He had the cruelty to offer up to Jupiter, in one of the high festivals, the members of a slave, as an offering to the God. But his punishment was as swift as his conduct had been atrocious: his palace was reduced to ashes, and his form was changed into that of a wolf. From this Jupiter took the name which denotes him an avenger of the laws of hospitality.
Jupiter is also distinguished by the name of Ammon from the following circumstance:
Bacchus being in the midst of the sands of Arabia, was seized with a thirst so burning, that he was reduced to long even for a drop of water. Jupiter presented himself to him under the form of a battering-ram, and striking the earth, caused the grateful liquid to spring forth in abundance. Bacchus, to commemorate the deed, erected a temple to his benefactor in the deserts of Lybia, under the name of Jupiter Ammon, i.e.—sandy.
By this time mankind had owed their creation to the King of the Gods. Prometheus, grand-son of Uranus, having deceived Jupiter, he was punished by being withheld from the element of fire; and to enrage his sovereign, he formed a being of clay, of workmanship so exquisite, that it scarcely seemed to need life to add to its beauty, and to complete his performance, assisted by Minerva, he stole fire from the chariot of the sun, wherewith to animate his image.
Enraged at this daring, Jupiter had him conveyed to Mount Caucasus, where being chained to the rock, a vulture preyed upon his entrails, which grew as fast as they were devoured, thus subjecting him to a never dying torture.
—————————"Awful sufferer!
To thee unwilling, most unwillingly
I come, by the great Father's will driven down,
To execute a doom of new revenge.
Alas! I pity thee, and hate myself,
That I can do no more: aye from thy sight
Returning, for a season, heaven seems hell,
So thy worn form pursues me night and day,
Smiling reproach. Wise art thou, firm and good,
But vainly wouldst stand forth alone in strife
Against the Omnipotent: as yon clear lamps,
That measure and divide the weary years
From which there is no refuge, long have taught
And long must teach. Even now the Torturer arms
With the strange might of unimagined pains
The powers who scheme slow agonies in hell;
And my commission is to lead them here,
Or what more subtle, foul, or savage fiends
People the abyss, and leave them to their task.
Oh that we might be spared: I to inflict,
And thou to suffer! once more answer me:
Thou knowest not the period of Jove's power?
Prometheus. I know but this, that it must come.
First Fury. Prometheus!
Second Fury. Immortal Titan!
Third