NURSERY TALES AND LULLABIES
The importance of the nurse in Greek life may be judged from the fact
that to her as well as to the mother was entrusted the early education
of the child. Quintilian quoting Chrysippus, whose treatise on Greek
education has unfortunately been lost, says: “Those advise better who
like Chrysippus think that no part of a child’s life should be exempt
from education. For Chrysippus, though he has allowed three years to the
nurses, yet is of the opinion that the minds of children may be imbued
with excellent instruction even by them.”[213] The same author wishes
nurses to be women of some knowledge. At any rate, they should be the
best circumstances allow.[214] If we can judge from Republic, 343 _a_,
the nurse taught the children to distinguish between ordinary words:
εἰπέ μοι, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες, τίτθη σοι ἔστιν;... ὅτι τοί σε, ἔφη,
κορυζῶντα περιορᾷ καὶ οὐκ ἀπομύττει δεόμενον, ὅς γε αὐτῇ οὐδὲ πρόβατα
οὐδὲ ποιμένα γιγνώσκεις.
The first lessons of the nurse were imparted by means of stories and
songs, when children were not of an age to learn gymnastic. Of this
Plato makes mention in the following passage: οὐ μανθάνεις, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ,
ὅτι πρῶτον τοῖς παιδίοις μύθοις λεγόμενον; τοῦτο δέ που ὡς τὸ ὅλον
εἰπεῖν ψεῦδος, ἔνι δὲ καὶ ἀληθῆ. πρότερον δὲ μύθοις πρὸς τὰ παιδία ἢ
γυμνασίοις χρώμεθα.[215] Furthermore, he would have mothers and nurses
mould the minds of the children by means of these tales: πείσομεν τὰς
τροφούς τε καὶ μητέρας πλάττειν τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν τοῖς μύθοις πόλυ μᾶλλον
ἢ τὰ σώματα ταῖς χερσίν.[216]
In ancient literature, however, we find only isolated traces of nursery
tales which may perhaps be accounted for by the contempt with which the
Greeks regarded this form of literature, an inference drawn from
Socrates’ answer to Hippias: σοι χαίρουσιν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἅτε πολλὰ
εἰδότι· καὶ χρῶνται ὥσπερ ταῖς πρεσβύτισιν οἱ παῖδες πρὸς τὸ ἡδέως
μυθολογῆσαι.[217] More emphatic is his answer to Gorgias: τάχα δ’ οὖν
ταῦτα μῦθος σοι δοκεῖ λέγεσθαι, ὥσπερ γραός· καὶ καταφρονεῖς αὐτῶν.[218]
In a similar strain writes Lucian: ἔτι σοι γραῶν μῦθοι τὰ λεγόμενα
ἐστι.[219] Disconnected as are the allusion to nursery tales and
notwithstanding the contempt in which they were held, we have sufficient
evidence to prove their existence and suggest their character.
Nurses had many ways of acting on the imaginations of their young
charges in order to secure their obedience, to quiet them or put them in
good humor. The choice of the tales depended on the nurse and on the
intelligence of the children whom they nursed διὰ μυθολογίας,[220] and
quieted again by tales after they had beaten them: καθάπερ αἱ τίτθαι τὰ
παιδία, ἐπειδὰν αὐτοῖς πληγὰς ἐμβάλωσι παραμυθούμεναι καὶ χαριζόμεναι
μῦθον αὐτοῖς ὕστερον διηγήσαντο.[221] This recounting of tales is also
mentioned by Philostratus: καὶ καταμυθολόγει με ἡ τίτθη χαριέντως.[222]
As a substitute for the sandal, which according to Lucian[223] was
energetically applied, they sometimes told the children stories of an
awe-inspiring character. The time-honored bogey was always in
requisition to frighten them into good behavior, while there were tales
of a pleasing character for the good children. These two classes of
tales which we may designate as protreptic and apotropaic are clearly
defined by Strabo in the following passage: τοῖς τε γὰρ παισὶ
προσφέρομεν τοὺς ἡδεῖς μύθους εἰς προτροπὴν εἰς ἀποτροπὴν δὲ τοὺς
φοβερούς.[224]
We shall first consider the apotropaic tales, or bogeys. Of these, the
most frequently mentioned is Lamia who is so intimately connected with
the domain of fable that Plutarch called Demetrius Μῦθος because the
name of his mistress was Lamia: Δημοχάρης δὲ ὁ Σόλιος τὸν Δημήτριον
ἐκάλει Μῦθον· εἶναι γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ Λαμίαν (Λάμιαν).[225]
From Diodorus we learn that she was of Libya: τίς τοὔνομα ἐπονείδιστον
βροτοῖς οὐκ οἶδε Λαμίας τῆς Λιβυστικῆς γένος.[226] The Scholiast on
Aristophanes, Peace, 758, says that she was a Libyan woman with whom
Zeus consorted, not without the knowledge of Hera, who being jealous,
destroyed Lamia’s children. When they were killed and she was
overburdened, Lamia killed the children of others.[227] Therefore,
nurses called Lamia to them to frighten children. And the story is told
how she by the counsel of Hera passed her life sleepless, so that day
and night she was in continual pain, until Zeus taking pity on her made
her eyes removable.[228] Plutarch thus speaks of her in De Curiositate:
νῦν δὲ ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ μύθῳ τὴν Λάμιαν λέγουσιν· οἴκοι μὲν ᾄδειν τυφλήν, ἐν
ἀγγείῳ τινι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσαν ἀποκειμένους ἔξω δὲ προιοῦσαν
ἐπιτίθεσθαι καὶ βλέπειν. Her singing would attract children to her abode
but they had a chance to escape when her eyes were ἐν ἀγγείῳ.[229]
The fear which children had for the Lamia is referred to by Lucian in a
passage where he is speaking of the stories told to children: μυθίδια
παίδων ψυχὰς κηλεῖν δυνάμενα ἔτι τὴν Μορμὼ καὶ τὴν Λάμιαν δεδιότων.[230]
She was said to devour children alive. Whence Horace: “Neu pransae Lamia
vivum puerum extrabat alvo.”[231] Philostratus represents her as a
monster, possessing the blood-sucking reputation of the vampire.[232]
Dionysius of Halicarnassus mentions her in a passage in which he is
treating of the fables of earlier historians: Λαμίας τινὰς ἱστοροῦντες
ἐν ὕλαις καὶ νάπαις ἐκ γῆς ἀνιεμένας, καὶ ναΐδας ἀμφιβίους ἐκ ταρτάρων
ἐξιούσας καὶ διὰ πελάγους νηχομένας καὶ μιξόθερας, καὶ ταύτας εἰς
ὁμιλίαν ἀνθρώποις συνερχομένας.[233]
Lamia plays an important part in modern Greek nursery tales, where she
is portrayed as a monster, hideous and deformed, hungry for human flesh,
partaking of the nature of the Harpy, the Gorgon, and the Empusa.[234]
Belief in her is so common in Greece that Wachsmuth says when a child
dies suddenly they say: τὸ παιδὶ τὸ ἔπνιξε ἡ Λάμια.[235]
With Lamia, Strabo groups: Γοργὼ καὶ ὁ Ἐφιάλτης καὶ ἡ Μορμολύκη.[236]
That the hideous aspect of the Gorgon was used as a bugbear, may be
gathered from Aristophanes, Acharnians, 582, where Lammachus is bidden
to take away his shield which has the Gorgon for a device: ἀπένεγκε μου
τὴν μορμόνα. As if the speaker said: “Take away the representation of
the Gorgon which strikes terror into me, as μορμώ does into children.”
Mormolyke is called the nurse of Acheron, husband of Gorgyce by
Sophron.[237] The significance of the name is derived from μορμολύκεια,
the general term for “bogey” of which Plato, speaking of the fear of
death, says: μὴ δεδιέναι τὸν θάνατον, ὥσπερ τὰ μορμολύκεια.[238]
To the apotropaic nursery tales belong also the stories of Acco and
Alphito which are classed together by Plutarch: τῆς Ἀκκοῦς καὶ τῆς
Ἀλφιτοῦς δ’ ὦν τὰ παιδάρια τοῦ κακοσχολεῖν αἱ γυναῖκες ἀνείργουσιν.[239]
According to Hesychius the word Acco is etymologically connected with
ἀσκός and ἀκκόρ, so that by Acco was originally meant a bugbear which
carried off naughty children in a bag. In a similar manner Alphito, from
ἄλφιτα is explained.
Another favorite of the nurses was Gello: δαίμων ἣν γυναῖκες τὰ νεογνὰ
παιδία φασὶν ἁρπάζειν. (Hesychius.) Zenobius, iii, 3, explaining the
proverb, Γελλὼ παιδοφιλωτέρα, says of her: Γελλὼ γάρ τις ἦν παρθένος,
καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἀώρως ἐτελεύτησε, φασὶν οἱ Λέσβιοι αὐτῆς τὸ φάντασμα
ἐπιφοιτᾶν ἐπὶ τὰ παιδία, καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἀώρων θανάτους αὐτῇ ἀνατιθέασι.
Μέμνηται ταύτης Σαπφώ.[240] Hesychius also styles her εἴδωλον Ἐμπούσης.
The Empusa here referred to is placed in the same category with Lamia
and Mormolyke: ἡ χρηστὴ νύμφη μία τῶν Ἐμπουσῶν ἐστιν, ἃς Λαμίας τε καὶ
μορμολοκίας οἱ πολλοὶ ἡγοῦνται.[241] She possessed the property of
assuming any form she pleased: “For they were travelling by a bright
moonlight when the figure of an empusa or hobgoblin appeared to them
that changed from one form into another until finally it vanished into
nothing.”[242] According to the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, iii,
860, Hecate often sends out ghosts, the so-called Ἑκαταῖρα and often
changes her form, wherefore she is called Empusa. Aeschines’ mother
acquired the nickname Empusa ἐκ τοῦ πάντα ποιεῖν,[243] according to the
Scholiast πάντα τὰ αἰσχρὰ καὶ ἀνόσια.
Another bogey was the Strigla, the Roman Strix (Mod. Greek στρίγλαις),
of which mention is made in a fragment of an ancient nursery song:
Στρίγγ’ ἀποπομπεῖν νυκτιβόαν, στρίγγ’ ἀπὸ λαῶν,
ὄρνιν ἀνωνυμίαν ὠκυπόρους ἐπὶ νῆας.[244]
The wolf had also its place in this literature, since its name was used
in the same manner as the bugbears mentioned above:
Ἄγροικος ἠπείλησε νηπίῳ τίτθη
κλαίοντι ‘Παῦσι· μή σε τῷ λύκῳ ῥίψω.’[245]
A good example of the way in which children were frightened by these
bogeys is given in Theocritus, where Praxinoe who wants to go out to the
Adonis festival says to the child who runs after her crying:
οὐκ ἄξω τυ, τέκνον· Μορμώ, δάκνει ἵππος·
δάκρυε, ὅσσα θέλεις· χωλὸν δ’ οὐ δεῖ σε γένεσθαι.[246]
Another instance is given by Callimachus in the Hymn to Artemis, where
he tells that when a mother in Olympus cannot get her daughter to obey
her, she calls one of the Cyclopes, and the indefatigable Hermes appears
immediately with his face smeared with soot to personate the Cyclops.
Then the child hastens in fright to her mother and puts her head on her
bosom:
ἀλλ’ ὅτε κουράων τις ἀπειθέα μητέρι τεύχε,
μήτηρ μὲν Κύκλωπας ἑῇ ἐπὶ παιδὶ καλιστρεῖ,
Ἄργην, ἢ Στερόπην· ὁ δὲ δώματος ἐκ μυχάτοιο,
ἔρχεται Ἑρμείης σποδίῃ κεχρημένος αἴθῃ.
αὐτίκα τὴν κούρην μορμύσσεται.[247]
The Scholion on this passage says: καταπληκτικὰ φοβερά. ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῆς
μορμοῦς τὰ βρέφη φοβούσης.[248] The μορμώ here spoken of was a woman of
horrible and monstrous aspect which Hesychius calls τὸ φόβητρον τοῖς
παιδίοις. Xenophon likens the fear of the allies to that which young
children have for μορμώ: οἱ μὲν Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐπισκώπτειν ἐτόλμων ὡς οἱ
σύμμαχοι φοβοῖντο τοὺς πελταστὰς, ὥσπερ μορμόνας παιδάρια.[249]
Aristophanes also makes use of this word:
οὐδὲν δέομεθ’, ὦνθρωπε, τῆς σῆς μόρμονος.[250]
ὀφρῦς ἔχοντα καὶ λόφους, δείν’ ἄττα μορμορωπὰ.[251]
ὡς δὴ καταπιόμενός με. μορμὼ τοῦ θράσους.[252]
Such were the tales told by nurses to frighten children into good
behavior. We cannot but think that these stories, although they secured
obedience for the time being, must have had a deleterious effect on the
children. This view is substantiated by a passage of Lucian: “If you do
not want to fill these boys’ heads with ghosts and hobgoblins, postpone
your grotesque horrors for a more suitable occasion. Have some mercy on
the lads: do not accustom them to listen to a tangle of superstitious
stuff that will cling to them for the rest of their lives and make them
start at their own shadow.”[253]
What the children naturally preferred to these threats were the stories
told to put them to sleep or to amuse them—the protreptic tales. The
nurses had a store of such tales, and γραῶν or τιτθῶν μῦθοι have grown
into a proverb.[254]
The subject matter of these tales was the actions of the gods and heroes
of mythology: γεγονὼς αὐτὸς ἐκ Διός τε καὶ τῆς τοῦ δήμου ἀρχηγέτου
θυγατρός· ἅπερ αἱ γραῖαι ᾄδουσι.[255] Hence the telling of them might
have the greatest influence on the moral education of the children.
Plato, therefore, enlarges on the care to be taken in their selection,
so that the children might not receive immoral impressions and false
ideas: ἆρ’ οὖν ῥᾳδίως οὕτω παρήσομεν τοὺς ἐπιτυχόντας ὑπὸ τῶν
ἐπιτυχόντων μύθους πλασθέντας ἀκούειν τοὺς παῖδας καὶ λαμβάνειν ἐν ταῖς
ψυχαῖς ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ ἐναντίας δόξας ἐκείναις, ἄς ἐπειδὰν τελεωθῶσιν,
ἔχειν οἰησόμεθα δεῖν αὐτούς;[256] He therefore establishes a censorship
of the writers of fiction, and rejects even Hesiod and Homer: πρῶτον δὴ
ἡμῖν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐπιστατητέον τοῖς μυθοποιοῖς, καὶ ὃν μὲν ἂν καλὸν
ποιήσωσιν, ἐγκριτέον, ὃν δ’ ἂν μή, ἀποκριτέον. τοὺς δ’ ἐγκριθέντας
πείσομεν τὰς τροφούς τε καὶ μητέρας λέγειν τοῖς παισί.[257] As a matter
of fact, all sins that men could commit were imputed to the gods by
these poets.[258]
The story of Zeus who thrust his father from the throne would teach
children disloyalty to parents,[259] while his amorous connections with
goddesses and mortals could not but have a pernicious effect on young
minds. Plutarch thinks nurses should be restrained in the selection of
these tales: μὴ τοὺς τυχόντας μύθους τοῖς παιδίοις λέγειν, ἵνα μὴ τὰς
τούτων ψυχὰς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀνοίας καὶ διαφθορᾶς ἀναπίμπλασθαι συμβαίνῃ,[260]
and Aristotle wishes to place these matters under the supervision of the
Paedonomoi: καὶ περὶ λόγων τε καὶ μύθων ποίους τινὰς ἀκούειν δεῖ τοὺς
τηλικούτους ἐπιμελὲς ἔστω τοῖς ἄρχουσιν, οὓς καλοῦσι παιδονόμους.[261]
On the other hand, ancient mythology is so full of humor and imagination
and so rich in amusing adventures, that many of these same stories might
do excellent service to-day as nursery tales. For example, the story of
the inventiveness of Hermes even in his cradle, the adventures of
Odysseus, the labors of Hercules, and many others would furnish
enjoyment to many a child.[262]
Philostratus records that nurses made use of the tale of Theseus and
Ariadne: ὅτι τὴν Ἀριάδνην ὁ Θησεὺς ἄδικα δρῶν κατέλιπεν ἐν Δίᾳ τῇ νήσῳ
καθεύδουσα τάχαν, του καὶ τίτθης διάκησας, σοφαὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖναι τὰ τοιαῦτα
καὶ δακρύουσεν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς ὅταν ἐθελωσιν.[263]
The magic rings which Timolous wishes for in Lucian, seem to have been
borrowed from a nursery tale,[264] and the story of the ring of Gyges,
which rendered its wearer invisible, contains elements of the nursery
tale.[265] Stories told for comfort and consolation are alluded to by
Euripides, where Amphitryon counsels Megara to tell tales to the
children disturbed over their father’s absence:
ἀλλ’ ἡσύχαζε καὶ δακρυρρόους τέκνων
πηγὰς ἀφαίρει καὶ παρευκήλαι λόγοις,
κλέπτουσα μύθοις ἀθλίνους κλοπὰς ὅμως.[266]
At the festival of the Oschophoria, the telling of old fables and tales
to children was part of the ritual.[267]
The style characteristic of modern nursery tales was in vogue in
classical times, as we learn from Aristophanes where the first words of
a tale correspond to our well-known “Once upon a time.”
οὕτω ποτ’ ἦν μῦς καὶ γαλῆ.[268]
The Scholiast commenting on this line says: πρὸς τὴν συνήθειαν, ὅτι τὸν
μῦθον προέταττον οὕτως, οἷον, ἦν οὕτω γέρων καὶ γραῦς. καὶ Πλάτων ἐν
Φαίδρῳ (237 B) ἦν οὕτω δὴ παῖς μᾶλλον δὲ μειρακίσκος· τούτῳ δ’ ἦσαν
ἐράσται πάνυ πολλοί. There is another instance in Lysistrata, where the
semi-choruses, telling each other a little nursery tale begin:
οὕτως ἦν πότε ......
οὕτω ........[269]
The purpose of all these tales is training to virtue, and is well
expressed by the Scholiast on Hermogenes, Progymnasmata, i.e.: τὸν μῦθον
ἀξιοῦσι προσάγειν τοῖς νεοῖς ὅτι τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον
ῥυθμίζειν δύναται.
We conclude that there was at Athens a store of popular tales for the
amusement of children, many of which were attributed to Aesop whom
Herodotus calls λογοποιός.[270] The word λογοποιός seems to indicate
that a prose version of his fables may have circulated in Athens in the
time of Socrates.[271] What is certain, however, is that these tales
were very much enjoyed and that Socrates himself versified some of
them.[272] The so-called Aesopic tales began “Aesop said.”[273] Other
tales were classified as Libyan, Cyprian and Sybaritic, distinguishable
by the opening words: “A man (or a woman) of Sybaris (or of Libya or of
Cypris) said.”[274] A further distinction between the fables of Aesop
and those of Sybaris is that the latter were political and about men;
the former, ethical and about animals.[275] A Λιβυκὸς μῦθος is mentioned
by Dion Chrysostom employed to calm children after they had been
chastised.[276]
LULLABIES
Allied to the nursery tales are the lullabies of the nurses “aussi vieux
que le monde et qui dureront autant que lui,”[277] which Athenaeus calls
καταβαυκαλήσεις: αἱ δὲ τῶν τιτθενουσῶν ᾠδαὶ καταβαυκαλήσεις
ὀνομάζονται.[278] They are also called βαυκαλήματα[279] from βαυκαλάω
“to lull to sleep” onomatopoetically formed from the nurse’s song. Plato
refers to them in the Laws where he says that when mothers and nurses
are desirous to put their children to sleep, they do not bring them to a
state of quiet, but on the contrary of motion, καὶ οὐ σιγήν, ἀλλά τινα
μελῳδίαν.[280]
The following passage from Aristotle seems to indicate that they were
simple melodies without words, sung to a certain rhythm: διὰ τί ῥυθμῷ
καὶ μέλει καὶ ὅλως ταῖς συμφωνίαις χαίρουσι πάντες; ἢ ὅτι ταῖς κατὰ
φύσιν κινήσεσι χαίρομεν κατὰ φύσιν; σημεῖον δὲ τὸ τὰ παιδία εὐθὺς
γεγόμενα χαίρειν αὐτοῖς.[281]
Chrysippus assigns a peculiar tune for the lullabies of nurses.[282]
Sextus Empiricus very appropriately styles them a metrical humming
(ἐμμέλης μινύρισμα).[283] It is probable also that to these melodies,
the nurses adapted improvised words, as we do. This view is borne out by
the fact that certain specimens exist which are imitations or
elaborations of those really in use at the time they were written. The
Lullaby of Alcmena in Theocritus is an instance:
εὕδετ’ ἐμὰ βρέφεα γλυκερὸν καὶ ἐγέρσιμον ὕπνον·
εὕδετ’ ἐμὰ ψυχὰ, δύ’ ἀδελφεὼ, εὔσοα τέκνα·
ὄλβιοι εὐνάζοισθε, καὶ ὄλβιοι ᾀῶ ἵκεσθαι.[284]
The melody of these lines is beautiful; the crooning sound of the open
vowels in the first two, the rounded refrain of the last, with its
repeated ὄλβιοι and rhyming halves give it all the characteristics of a
lullaby.[285]
Not less beautiful are Simonides’ lines in the fragment called “The
Lament of Danae.” While tossed about by the waves, she sings her child
to sleep with these words:
κέλομαι εὗδε βρέφος, εὑδέτω, δὲ πόντος,
εὑδέτω δ’ ἀμέτερον κακόν.
μεταβολία δὲ τὶς φανείῃ Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἐκ σέο.
ὅττι δέ θαρσαλέον ἔπος
εὔχομαι καὶ νόσφι δίκας, συγγνωθί μοι.[286]
The spirit of rest which pervades the song of the chorus to the
sorely-suffering Philoctetes suggests the lullaby:
ὕπν’ ὀδύνας ἀδαὴς, ὕπνε δ’ ἀλγέων,
εὐαδὲς ἡμῖν ἔλθοις,
εὐαίων, εὐαίων, ὦναξ·
ὄμμασι δ’ ἀντίσχοις
τὰν δ’ αἴγλαν, ἃ τέταται τὰ νῦν.[287]
Finally, we have another recollection of the nurse’s song in Orestes:
πότνια, πότνια νύξ,
ὑπνοδότειρα τῶν πολυτόνων βροτῶν,
ἐρεβόθεν ἴθι, μόλε μόλε κατάπτερος
τὸν Ἀγαμεμνόνιον ἐπὶ δόμον.
ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀλγέων ὑπό τε συμφορᾶς
δ’ διοιχόμεθ’, οἰχόμεθα. κτύπον ἠγάγετ’· οὐχὶ σῖγα
σῖγα φυλασσομένα στόματος
ἄνα κέλαδον ἀπὸ λέχεος ἥ-
συχον ὕπνου χάριν παρέξεις, φίλα;[288]
These are but the traces of a class of songs, which without doubt were
employed by the Greek mothers and nurses to lull the children to sleep.
From the very nature of these songs, it is highly improbable that any
lullaby should survive in the literature.