Perhaps no other stories have ever been told so often or listened to
with so much pleasure as the classic tales of ancient Greece. For many
ages they have been a source of delight to young people and old, to the
ignorant and the learned, to all who love to hear about and contemplate
things mysterious, beautiful, and grand. They have become so
incorporated into our language and thought, and so interwoven with our
literature, that we could not do away with them now if we would. They
are a portion of our heritage from the distant past, and they form
perhaps as important a part of our intellectual life as they did of that
of the people among whom they originated.
That many of these tales should be read by children at an early age no
intelligent person will deny. Sufficient reason for this is to be found
in the real pleasure that every child derives from their perusal: and in
the preparation of this volume no other reason has been considered. I
have here attempted to tell a few stories of Jupiter and his mighty
company and of some of the old Greek heroes, _simply as stories_,
nothing more. I have carefully avoided every suggestion of
interpretation. Attempts at analysis and explanation will always prove
fatal to a child's appreciation and enjoyment of such stories. To
inculcate the idea that these tales are merely descriptions of certain
natural phenomena expressed in narrative and poetic form, is to deprive
them of their highest charm; it is like turning precious gold into
utilitarian iron: it is changing a delightful romance into a dull
scientific treatise. The wise teacher will take heed not to be guilty of
such an error.
It will be observed that while each of the stories in this volume is
wholly independent of the others and may be read without any knowledge
of those which precede it, there is nevertheless a certain continuity
from the first to the last, giving to the collection a completeness like
that of a single narrative. In order that the children of our own
country and time may be the better able to read these stories in the
light in which they were narrated long ago, I have told them in simple
language, keeping the supernatural element as far as possible in the
background, and nowhere referring to Jupiter and his mighty company as
gods. I have hoped thus to free the narrative still more from everything
that might detract from its interest simply as a story.