THE FAMILY OF ÆTOLUS AND ITS CONNECTIONS
=168. The Calydonian Hunt.=[244] One of the heroes of the Argonautic
expedition had been Meleager, a son of [OE]neus and Althæa, rulers
of Calydon in Ætolia. His parents were cousins, descended from a son
of Endymion named Ætolus, who had colonized that realm. By ties of
kinship and marriage they were allied with many historic figures. Their
daughter Dejanira had become, as we have already noted, the wife of
Hercules; while Leda, the sister of Althæa, was mother of Castor and
Pollux,[245] and of Clytemnestra and Helen, intimately concerned in the
Trojan War.
When her son Meleager was born, Althæa had beheld the three Destinies,
who, as they spun their fatal thread, foretold that the life of the
child should last no longer than a certain brand then burning upon the
hearth. Althæa seized and quenched the brand, and carefully preserved
it while Meleager grew to boyhood, youth, and man's estate. It chanced,
then, that [OE]neus, offering sacrifices to the gods, omitted to pay
due honors to Diana; wherefore she, indignant at the neglect, sent a
boar of enormous size to lay waste the fields of Calydon. Meleager
called on the heroes of Greece to join in a hunt for the ravenous
monster. Theseus and his friend Pirithoüs,[246] Jason, Peleus the
father of Achilles, Telamon the father of Ajax, Nestor, then a youth,
but who in his age bore arms with Achilles and Ajax in the Trojan
War,[247]--these and many more joined in the enterprise. With them
came, also, Atalanta, the daughter of Iasius, of the race of Callisto,--
Arcadian Atalanta, snowy-souled,
Fair as the snow and footed as the wind.[248]
A buckle of polished gold confined her vest, an ivory quiver hung on
her left shoulder, and her left hand bore the bow. Her face blended
feminine beauty with the graces of martial youth. Meleager saw and,
with chivalric reverence, somewhat thus addressed her:
For thy name's sake and awe toward thy chaste head,
O holiest Atalanta! no man dares
Praise thee, though fairer than whom all men praise,
And godlike for thy grace of hallowed hair
And holy habit of thine eyes, and feet
That make the blown foam neither swift nor white,
Though the wind winnow and whirl it; yet we praise
Gods, found because of thee adorable
And for thy sake praiseworthiest from all men:
Thee therefore we praise also, thee as these,
Pure, and a light lit at the hands of gods.[249]
[Illustration: FIG. 134. MELEAGER ON THE BOAR HUNT]
But there was no time then for love; on to the hunt they pushed. To
the hunt went also Plexippus and Toxeus, brothers of Queen Althæa,
braggarts, envious of Meleager. Speedily the hunters drew near the
monster's lair. They stretched strong nets from tree to tree; they
uncoupled their dogs; they sought the footprints of their quarry in the
grass. From the wood was a descent to marshy ground. Here the boar, as
he lay among the reeds, heard the shouts of his pursuers and rushed
forth against them. One and another is thrown down and slain. Jason,
Nestor, Telamon open the attack, but in vain.
... Then all abode save one,
The Arcadian Atalanta: from her side
Sprang her hounds, laboring at the leash, and slipped,
And plashed ear-deep with plunging feet; but she
Saying, "Speed it as I send it for thy sake,
Goddess," drew bow and loosed; the sudden string
Rang, and sprang inward, and the waterish air
Hissed, and the moist plumes of the songless reeds
Moved as a wave which the wind moves no more.
But the boar heaved half out of ooze and slime,
His tense flank trembling round the barbèd wound,
Hateful; and fiery with invasive eyes,
And bristling with intolerable hair,
Plunged, and the hounds clung, and green flowers and white
Reddened and broke all round them where they came.[1]
It was a slight wound, but Meleager saw and joyfully proclaimed it. The
attack was renewed. Peleus, Amphiaraüs, Theseus, Jason, hurled their
lances. Ancæus was laid low by a mortal wound. But Meleager,--
Rock-rooted, fair with fierce and fastened lips,
Clear eyes and springing muscle and shortening limb--
With chin aslant indrawn to a tightening throat,
Grave, and with gathered sinews, like a god,--
Aimed on the left side his well-handled spear,
Grasped where the ash was knottiest hewn, and smote,
And with no missile wound, the monstrous boar
Right in the hairiest hollow of his hide,
Under the last rib, sheer through bulk and bone,
Deep in; and deeply smitten, and to death,
The heavy horror with his hanging shafts
Leapt, and fell furiously, and from raging lips
Foamed out the latest wrath of all his life.[250]
Then rose a shout from those around; they glorified the
conqueror,--crowded to touch his hand. But he, placing his foot upon
the head of the slain boar, turned to Atalanta, and bestowed on her
the head and the rough hide--trophies of his success. Thereat she
laughed--
Lit with a low blush to the braided hair,
And rose-colored and cold like very dawn,
Golden and godlike, chastely with chaste lips,
A faint grave laugh; and all they held their peace,
And she passed by them. Then one cried, "Lo now,
Shall not the Arcadian shoot out lips at us,
Saying all we were despoiled by this one girl?"
And all they rode against her violently
And cast the fresh crown from her hair, and now
They had rent her spoil away, dishonoring her,
Save that Meleager, as a tame lion chafed,
Bore on them, broke them, and as fire cleaves wood,
So clove and drove them, smitten in twain; but she
Smote not nor heaved up hand; and this man first,
Plexippus, crying out, "This for love's sake, Sweet,"
Drove at Meleager, who with spear straightening
Pierced his cheek through; then Toxeus made for him,
Dumb, but his spear shake; vain and violent words,
Fruitless; for him, too, stricken through both sides
The earth felt falling....
... And these being slain,
None moved, nor spake.[251]
Of this fearful sequel to the hunt, Althæa has heard nothing. As she
bears thank offering to the temples for the victory of her son, the
bodies of her murdered brothers meet her sight. She shrieks, and beats
her breast, and hastens to change the garments of joy for those of
mourning. But when the author of the deed is known, grief gives way
to the stern desire of vengeance on her son. The fatal brand, which
the Destinies have linked with Meleager's life, she brings forth. She
commands a fire to be prepared. Four times she essays to place the
brand upon the pile; four times draws back, shuddering before the
destruction of her son. The feelings of the mother and the sister
contend within her. Now she is pale at the thought of the purposed
deed, now flushed again with anger at the violence of her offspring.
Finally, the sister prevails over the mother:--turning away her face,
she throws the fatal wood upon the burning pile. Meleager, absent and
unconscious of the cause, feels a sudden pang. He burns; he calls upon
those whom he loves, Atalanta and his mother. But speedily the brand
is ashes, and the life of Meleager is breathed forth to the wandering
winds.
When at last the deed was done, the mother laid violent hands upon
herself.
[Illustration: FIG. 135. THE DEATH OF MELEAGER]
=169. Merope.= A heroine connected by blood with Atalanta was
Merope,[252] daughter of king Cypselus of Arcadia, and descended from
Arcas, the son of Callisto and Jupiter. On account of her relationship
to Atalanta her story may be told here, though she is not a member of
the family of Ætolus. Her husband, Cresphontes the Heraclid, king of
Messenia, had been slain with two of his sons by rebellious nobles;
and one Polyphontes, leader of the revolt, reigned in his stead and
took Merope to wife. But her third son by Cresphontes, Æpytus, had been
concealed by her in Arcadia. Thence, in due season, he returned unknown
to her, with the purpose of wreaking vengeance on the murderers of his
sire. He pretended to have slain Æpytus, and so as a stranger won the
favor of Polyphontes, but came near losing his life at his mother's
hands. A recognition being happily effected, Æpytus, aided by his
mother, put Polyphontes to death and took possession of the kingdom.
This story has been frequently dramatized, first by Euripides in a
lost play called Cresphontes, and most recently by Matthew Arnold,
whose Merope is a masterpiece of classical invention and of poetic
execution.
=170. Castor and Pollux.= Leda, the sister of Althæa and aunt of
Meleager, bore to Tyndareus, king of Sparta, Castor and Clytemnestra.
To Jove she bore Pollux and Helen. Pollux and Castor--one, the son
of a god and immortal, the other, of mortal breed and destiny--are
famous for their fraternal affection. Endowed with various manly
virtues,--Castor a horse-tamer, Pollux a boxer,--they made all
expeditions in common. Together they joined the Calydonian hunt.
Together they accompanied the Argonauts. During the voyage to Colchis
it is said that, a storm arising, Orpheus prayed to the Samothracian
gods and played on his harp, and that when the storm ceased, stars
appeared on the heads of the brothers. Hence they came to be honored as
patrons of voyagers.
They rendered, indeed, noteworthy service to the Argonauts returning
from Colchis with Medea and the Golden Fleece. For when the voyagers
attempted a landing at Crete they were confronted by the gigantic
warder of the island. This was Talus, a form of living brass, fashioned
by Hephæstus (Vulcan) and presented to King Minos, about whose Cretan
domain he made his rounds three times a day. Ordinarily when Talus saw
voyagers nearing the coast he fired himself red-hot and embraced them
as they landed. For some reason he did not welcome the Argonauts in
this warm fashion, but
Whirling with resistless sway
Rocks sheer uprent, repels them from the bay.[1]
Medea, objecting to the volley of stones, resorts to necromantic spells:
Thrice she applies the power of magic prayer,
Thrice, hellward bending, mutters charms in air;
Then, turning toward the foe, bids Mischief fly,
And looks Destruction as she points her eye.[253]
Maddened, as might be surmised, by so insidious and unaccustomed a form
of attack, the Man of Brass "tears up whole hills to crush his foes";
then fleeing in sudden panic, he is overcome by the stupor of the
enchantment and taken captive by Castor and Pollux. He had in his body
only one vein, and that plugged on the crown of his head with a nail.
Medea drew out the stopper.
At a later period when Theseus and his friend Pirithoüs had carried off
Helen from Sparta, the youthful heroes, Castor and Pollux, with their
followers hasted to the rescue. Theseus being absent from Attica, the
brothers recovered their sister. Later still, we find Castor and Pollux
engaged in a combat with Idas and Lynceus of Messene, some say over the
daughters of Leucippus, others, over a herd of oxen. Castor was slain;
but Pollux, inconsolable for the loss of his brother, besought Jupiter
to be permitted to give his own life as a ransom for him. Jupiter so
far consented as to allow the two brothers to enjoy the boon of life
alternately, each spending one day under the earth and the next in the
heavenly abodes. According to another version, Jupiter rewarded the
attachment of the brothers by placing them among the stars as Gemini,
the Twins. They received heroic honors as the _Tyndaridæ_ (sons of
Tyndareus); divine honors they received under the name of _Dioscuri_
(sons of Jove).[254]
=171. The Twin Brethren among the Romans.= In Rome they were honored
with a temple in the Forum and made the patrons of knighthood because
of the assistance they rendered in the battle of Lake Regillus. In the
moment of dire distress they had appeared, a princely pair:
So like they were, no mortal
Might one from other know;
White as snow their armor was,
Their steeds were white as snow.
Never on earthly anvil
Did such rare armor gleam,
And never did such gallant steeds
Drink of an earthly stream.
And all who saw them trembled,
And pale grew every cheek;
And Aulus the Dictator
Scarce gathered voice to speak:
"Say by what name men call you?
What city is your home?
And wherefore ride ye in such guise
Before the ranks of Rome?"
[Illustration: FIG. 136. CASTOR AND POLLUX CAPTURING THE GIANT TALUS
(Left portion)]
"By many names," they answered,--
"By many names men call us;
In many lands we dwell:
Well Samothracia knows us;
Cyrene knows us well;
Our house in gay Tarentum
Is hung each morn with flowers;
High o'er the masts of Syracuse
Our marble portal towers;
But by the brave Eurotas
Is our dear native home;
And for the right we come to fight
Before the ranks of Rome."
After the battle was won they were the first to bear the tidings to the
city. With joy the people acclaimed them,--
But on rode these strange horsemen,
With slow and lordly pace;
And none who saw their bearing
Durst ask their name or race.
On rode they to the Forum,
While laurel boughs and flowers,
From housetops and from windows,
Fell on their crests in showers.
When they drew nigh to Vesta,
They vaulted down amain,
And washed their horses in the well
That springs by Vesta's fane.
And straight again they mounted,
And rode to Vesta's door;
Then, like a blast, away they passed,
And no man saw them more....
And Sergius the High Pontiff
Alone found voice to speak:
"The gods who live forever
Have fought for Rome to-day!
These be the Great Twin Brethren
To whom the Dorians pray.
Back comes the chief in triumph
Who, in the hour of fight,
Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren
In harness on his right.
Safe comes the ship to haven,
Through billows and through gales
If once the Great Twin Brethren
Sit shining on the sails....
Here, hard by Vesta's temple,
Build we a stately dome
Unto the Great Twin Brethren
Who fought so well for Rome!"[255]
[Illustration: FIG. 137. CASTOR AND POLLUX CAPTURING THE GIANT TALUS
(Right portion)]
For many a year the procession, in which the knights, olive-wreathed
and purple-robed, marched in honor of the Twin Brethren, continued to
be held; and still there stand three columns of their temple above the
pool of Juturna and Vesta's ruined shrine.
FOOTNOTES:
[244] Ovid, Metam. 8, 260-546.
[245] § 170.
[246] § 180.
[247] Chapter XXI.
[248] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon.
[249] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon.
[250] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon.
[251] From Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon.
[252] Hyginus, Fab. 184; Apollodorus, 2, 8; Pausanias, 2, 18; 4, 3,
etc.; Aristotle, Poetics, 14, 9.
[253] Apollonius Rhodius, 4, 1629 (Broome's translation). See also
Apollodorus, 1; 9, 26.
[254] Hyginus, Fab. 80; Ovid, Fasti, 100. Theocritus, Idyl XXII, gives
a different version.
[255] Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome, The Battle of Lake Regillus.