was the child of a king and queen who had wished very much to have a
little son, and had begged the gods to send them one. Instead of
this, however, a girl was born to them, and the father was so angry
that he commanded his servants to take the child to a mountain that
was clothed with forests, and leave it there to be devoured by wild
beasts. For a night and a day the child lay in the forest, and it
was {85} nearly dead of starvation when a she-bear came by, who
drooped her head sadly because her little cubs had been taken from
her by some hunters. The child was frightened at the great black
beast and began to cry, but the bear looked kindly at it, and when
she saw what bright eyes the baby had, she growled gently and licked
it with her warm tongue. Soon the child forgot its fear, and when
the bear put her full udder to its mouth, it began to suck, for it
was hungry and thirsty; and from that time the bear came again every
day and gave it food and played with it. After some time had passed,
it happened that some hunters came up the mountain in pursuit of a
deer, and one of them in bending back a bush caught sight of the
beautiful little girl, who was lying on the grass playing with
flowers. He took her up and called to the other hunters to come and
look at her, and they were so delighted at finding her that they let
the deer escape. One of them carried her home in his arms, and they
were as well satisfied as if they had had a most successful hunt.
The house where the hunters lived was in the midst of the green-wood,
and they made a soft bed for the child, and fed her with sweet milk.
At first she cried continually, for she missed her bear sadly, but
the hunters played with her and were so kind to her that she soon
became happy again. The hunters named her Atalanta, and when she
grew bigger, they took her with them when they went out hunting.
Atalanta enjoyed roaming through the woods and running after the wild
animals more than anything else, and she let the hunters have no
peace till they gave her a spear of her own. Her feet became swift
and {86} her arms strong, and she killed many animals and was a very
skilful huntress, but whenever a she-bear came across her path she
took great care to do her no harm. She was taller and stronger than
other maidens, and at the same time very beautiful. When she heard
of the hunt that King Oeneus had proclaimed, she at once set out for
Calydon, expecting greatly to enjoy the dangerous chase.
King Oeneus entertained the heroes for nine days, and they amused
themselves with feasts and all kinds of games. The tenth day was
fixed for the hunt, and it was agreed that whoever should kill the
boar was to receive the skin and the head as the prize of honour.
There were present, however, some brothers of Queen Althaea who were
ill-mannered and discourteous, and who said that Atalanta should not
go with them, for that it would be a disgrace to them all their lives
if they went out hunting with a woman; but Meleager had conceived a
great love for Atalanta, and would not allow her to be excluded. So
she set out with the others for the forest where the boar had his
lair. They were attended by their servants, who roused the wild
beast by making a great clapping with their hands, and drove him out
into an open space in the middle of the forest, while the heroes
stood round among the trees. At first he remained in the middle of
the open space tearing up the earth with his tusks, his eyes burning
like fire and his bristles standing up straight from his back, and
grunting so frightfully that the heart of many a brave hero beat, and
that not altogether for joy. But when the heroes hurled their spears
at him, the boar rushed to where the first spear came {87} from and
ripped open the body of the hero with his tusks, so that he was soon
lying dead in a pool of his own blood. After this he spied another
hero, and with him it fared no better than with the first. Then
another hero aimed at him, but he shot too high, and the spear hit
one of his friends and pierced him through; so three lives were
already sacrificed, and yet the boar had not lost a drop of blood.
It was now the turn of Atalanta to throw her spear, and she hit the
wild boar in the back causing the blood to gush out; then someone
else hit him in the eye, and at last the spear of Meleager pierced
his side at a vital spot and inflicted a mortal wound. He could no
longer stand up, and was obliged to vent his fury on the innocent
earth, and after rolling about in great pain for a little while, he
died.
The heroes cut off his head, and severed his skin from his body and
gave it to Meleager as the prize of honour, because it was he who had
given the wild boar his death-wound. But Meleager said, 'Atalanta
was the first to hit the beast,' and he presented her with the prize
as a token of love and regard. The skin made in truth a splendid
mantle, reaching from the maiden's shoulder right down to her feet,
and as she stood in the forest, radiant with beauty, with the skin
thrown over her left shoulder, and with the bleeding head in one hand
while in the other she held her hunting-spear, she looked like the
goddess Artemis returning from the chase. But the brothers of Queen
Althaea who had wished to prevent Atalanta from going out hunting
with them, were greatly annoyed, and they spoke rudely to her and
snatched away the prize from her. This made Meleager very angry, and
a violent quarrel {88} took place, in which Meleager drew his sword
and slew his uncles: he was quickly roused to anger, and they had
provoked him beyond his power of endurance, but, as soon as they were
dead he felt very sorry for his mother's sake, for he knew that she
was very fond of her brothers, unmannerly fellows though they were.
The servants made biers out of green branches and laid the dead men
upon them, and they all, both heroes and servants, went back together
into the city.
But a man who had taken the part of the two brothers went on in front
to the palace and told the queen that her brothers had been murdered
by Meleager. Then the queen's sorrow passed all bounds, and she wept
and tore her hair. It was the custom at that time, that if a man was
murdered his relations should avenge his death upon the murderer, as
this was considered a way of doing honour to his memory, and in the
first burst of her resentment she fetched the piece of stick on which
the life of Meleager depended, and threw it into a fire that happened
to be burning on the hearth. The flames gradually consumed it, and
as the last spark went out, Meleager, who was on his way home with
the other heroes, fell down dead. By the time the queen heard that
her son was dead however, her anger had already passed away, and she
was filled with unspeakable remorse for having cut short his life.
She did not weep as she had done before, but she felt that she could
not bear to live any longer, and she went into her bed-chamber and
hanged herself. When this was known, everyone was deeply grieved;
the old king would not leave his room, and for a long time refused to
eat or drink, and the heroes {89} dispersed to their homes without
caring to stay for the hunting feast.
Atalanta went back to her forest leaving the skin of the boar behind
her, for she would have had no pleasure in keeping what would always
have reminded her of the death of Meleager. She roamed about the
forest as before from morning till night, and was never so happy as
when she was among the green trees. Now the fame of her beauty had
spread far and wide, and many suitors came to ask her to marry them.
But she did not wish to marry, and as her suitors would not leave off
pressing her, she said that anyone who liked might race with her, and
if he beat her he should be her husband, but if she overtook him he
must die. Many of her lovers lost their lives in this manner, for
though Atalanta always gave a good start, she very soon overtook her
competitor and stabbed him in the back with her hunting-spear.
After a time, however, a man named Milanion resolved to try his
chance, who was beloved by the goddess Aphrodite on account of his
great beauty, and as she was unwilling that he should lose his life
like the others, she gave him three golden apples and told him how to
make use of them. He hid them in the folds of his dress, and as soon
as he heard Atalanta coming up behind him, he took out one of the
apples and threw it down on the ground where it glittered so
beautifully in the sunshine that Atalanta could not resist stooping
to pick it up. Milanion thus gained a minute, and the next time he
found that she was close behind him he threw down the second apple,
and again Atalanta allowed him to escape while she stopped for {90}
it. A third time the same thing happened when they were at a very
short distance from the goal, and thus Milanion reached it first and
won the race, and Atalanta became his wife and went home with him.
And he was such a noble hero that she never repented of having
allowed herself to be conquered by the golden apples.
{91}
XXIV.
ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS.
Apollo once displeased Zeus by acting against his wishes, and the
king of the gods said that for a punishment he must serve a mortal
for the space of a year, and that the mortal must not know that he
was a god, but treat him just like any other slave. So Apollo
entered the service of the young king Admetus, who made him the
keeper of his flocks. Admetus was a good master, and Apollo found
himself well-treated, and he repaid the kindness he received by
making the flocks prosper and increase till there were none like them
in the whole country. Admetus had never had such a good herdsman,
and he treated him even better than his other servants. When the
year had passed, Apollo told him who he was, and said that if ever
Admetus was in need and prayed to him, lie would come and help him.
Then Apollo went back to Olympus, and Admetus had another herdsman,
but Apollo still blessed the flocks, so that they continued to
prosper.
Time passed by and Admetus wished to marry, and he travelled through
the country seeking for the fairest and noblest woman in the land to
be his wife. He heard that no one could compare with Alcestis, the
{92} daughter of King Pelias, and he went to her father and asked to
be allowed to marry her. But the king said that his daughter was not
to be won so easily, and that whoever wanted her for his wife must
come and sue for her in a chariot drawn by a lion and a wild boar.
Admetus was a brave hero and a skilled huntsman, but his heart sank
when he heard this, for he feared he should never be able to procure
such a team as this, and tame them for his service. Then he
remembered how Apollo had promised to help him in the time of need,
and he prayed to him, and Apollo came and asked what he wanted. When
he had been told what it was, he went into the forest with Admetus,
and gave chase to a lion whom he caught and held fast by the mane,
although the lion roared horribly and tried to snap at him with his
great jaws. Presently he spied a boar and pursued him also, making
the lion run by his side; and when he had caught the boar, he grasped
him by the ear and dragged him along too, so that he had the lion on
one side of him and the boar on the other. The wild animals looked
at each other angrily and tried to bite one another, but Apollo would
not let them do so. He brought them out of the forest and harnessed
them to a magnificent chariot, and he had a goad with which he
pricked them whenever they tried to hurt one another, until at last
they were tame and obedient to the rein. Admetus however would not
have been able to keep them under control, so Apollo drove them
himself, and thus Admetus arrived at the palace of King Pelias with
the god for his charioteer, and with the team that the king had
required, and a second time asked for his daughter's {93} hand in
marriage. The king could no longer refuse, and when he had promised
that Admetus should have the beautiful Alcestis for his wife, Apollo
drove back into the forest and released the two wild animals. Soon
afterwards the wedding was celebrated in the palace with great
magnificence, and Apollo was one of the guests. As a
wedding-present, he brought a promise from the goddesses of Fate,
that if ever Admetus were sick and in danger of death and one of his
nearest relations would consent to die instead of him, the life thus
offered would be accepted instead of the life of Admetus, and he
would become well again.
Admetus and Alcestis loved each other dearly, and lived happily
together for many years. But after some time had passed, Admetus was
smitten with a sore sickness, and everyone said that he must die
unless his life could be saved according to the promise of Apollo.
The people thought that as his father and mother were now very old
and could not hope to live much longer in any case, they would be
willing to die instead of Admetus; but they loved life more than they
loved their son, and would not part with it until they were obliged.
Then the beautiful Alcestis went into her chamber and prayed to the
gods that they would allow her to give up her life to save her
husband, and when she had ended her prayer, she lay down on the bed
and died. At the same moment Admetus became suddenly well, and was
able to stand up and walk about. He did not know how it was that he
had been so quickly cured until he went into the chamber of Alcestis,
and saw her lying dead upon the couch; then he understood how it was,
but he felt that {94} he would much rather have died himself. All
through the palace there was loud lamentation, for all the household
loved Alcestis dearly because she was so good and kind to them.
Admetus would not leave her couch, but sat beside it holding her cold
hand, which was ever wet with his tears. Night came on, and morning
dawned again, but he gave no heed to it, and the corpse had already
become quite cold--when suddenly it began to grow warm again, and
presently Alcestis heaved a deep sigh, opened her eyes, and was once
more alive.
Never before had such a wonder taken place, and this was how it came
to pass. When Alcestis died, her shade passed into the Lower World,
and the Shadow-Leader, who conducted the dead thither, told the queen
of the Lower World the reason of her death. So many shadows came
into their dominions who had had a sad end, that the gods of the
Lower World had at last exhausted all their pity, and ceased to weep
for them. But when the queen heard how Alcestis had died in the full
bloom of her youth and beauty in order that Admetus might live, she
was deeply moved, and commanded the Shadow-Leader to take her back to
the Upper World and restore her to life.
So Alcestis awoke to life again, and she lived with her husband in
happiness and prosperity for many years after this; gods and men
united to do them honour, and when they had reached a good old age,
they both died at the same time.
{95}
XXV.
PERSEUS.
There was once a king of Argos called Acrisius, who had an only
daughter. Her name was Danaë and she was very beautiful, but the
Oracle said that she would have a son through whom Acrisius would
lose his life. This frightened Acrisius very much, and he had a
large brazen room made for Danaë to live in under the earth, where
she had everything she wished for, but she was never allowed to see
the light of day, nor any man. Her father thought he would thus be
able to prevent her from marrying secretly and having a son, and for
a time everything went on according to his wishes. But Zeus, the
king of the gods, loved Danaë, and he one day changed himself into a
beautiful golden shower of rain, whose shining drops fell down
through the brazen roof. Thus Zeus was married to Danaë, and not
long afterwards she had a son. Acrisius was very angry, and he had
the mother and son shut up in a wooden chest and cast into the sea.
The chest was tossed about on the waves, and floated far away. On
the third day it reached an island where there happened to be a man
on the shore fishing, who was the brother of the king of the island.
He drew the chest to land and forced open the lid, and when he {96}
saw the lovely woman and her child inside it, he took them, just as
they were, into the house to show them to the king his brother, who
promised to protect them and treat them kindly. Acrisius thought
they had perished in the sea, but they were safe on the island, and
Danaë was quite happy in taking care of her son, whom she named
Perseus. In the course of time, Perseus grew up to be a young man,
and he was beautiful and brave and strong.
The king of the island wanted to have Danaë for his wife, but she did
not wish to marry him. Then the king thought that if it were not for
Perseus he might compel her to do so, and he sought to find some
excuse for sending Perseus away on a far journey. So one day he
called his friends together, and Perseus among the rest. He told
them that he was going to sue for a bride, and that he wished each of
them to bring him some present to offer to her father; for it was the
custom in those days that anyone who wanted to win a bride should
give costly presents to the father of the lady he wished to marry.
They all agreed to do as the king desired, and he asked most of his
friends to give him splendid horses, but from Perseus he demanded a
gift that would involve a difficult and dangerous journey to a
distant land. At the far end of the world there lived three sisters
called Gorgons, who instantly turned to stone everyone that looked at
them; the only one of the three who was mortal was called Medusa, and
the king commanded Perseus to bring him her head, hoping that he
would perish in the attempt.
Perseus had no fear, and at once set out in quest of the Gorgon's
head. There were three nymphs who {97} had three precious things
without which it would have been useless for him to try and obtain
it, but no one knew where these nymphs lived except the three Grey
Sisters, who lived far away from any inhabited land, and would never
reveal the secret of where the nymphs were to be found unless they
were compelled to do so. They were the sisters of the Gorgons, and
had been quite grey ever since their birth, and they had only one
tooth and one eye between them, which they used in turns. Perseus
went to the cavern where the Grey Sisters lived, and watched till one
of them took out the eye and the tooth to pass them to her sister,
when he sprang forward and snatched them out of her hand, and said
that he would not give them back till they told him where the nymphs
lived. So they were obliged to tell him, and then he gave them back
their eye and tooth, and went on to the nymphs who were kind to him
and gave him the three precious things. These were,--first, a pouch
in which to place the head of Medusa after he had cut it off;
secondly, a pair of sandals which enabled anyone who put them on to
fly through the air; and, thirdly the helmet of Pluto, which made
whoever wore it invisible. The gods loved Perseus because he was so
brave, and Hermes came down to earth and gave him a sickle of very
sharp steel with which to cut off the head of the Gorgon. Perseus
put on the sandals, and taking the other things with him, he flew to
the great stream Oceanus which flows round the world. There was a
rocky island in the middle of the stream covered with rank weeds and
full of serpents, and here the Gorgons lived in a cave. When Perseus
reached them it was about noonday, and {98} they were asleep. They
were larger than mortal women, and had great teeth like tusks and
brazen hands and golden wings, and they had live snakes twined among
their hair, and everyone who looked at them was turned to stone.
Perseus heard them snoring, and he went into the cave on tip-toe so
as not to wake them. He was obliged to go backwards, for if he had
looked at them he would have been turned to stone; but he had a
polished shield which he held up before him as a mirror, and he could
see them in the mirror without being harmed. They had stretched
themselves out in a row, and lay asleep leaning one against the
other; Medusa was smaller than the others, and by this he was able to
recognise her. Her head was resting on a stone, and Perseus held up
the shield before her and cut through her neck with the sickle till
the head fell off, and then he took it up, put it into the pouch
without looking at it, and flew away. But the bleeding trunk still
palpitated, and the other two Gorgons awoke and saw it, and they
darted out of the cavern after Perseus, that they might seize him and
tear him to pieces with their iron claws. They flew through the air
looking for him, and they had sharp eyes with which they could see to
a great distance, but they could not find Perseus because he had on
the helmet of Pluto which made him invisible, and were obliged to
return without him. Perseus was meanwhile on his way home with the
dead head in his pouch.
After some days he came to a country in Africa, where there was a
king whose name was Cepheus. The queen was called Cassiopea, and she
was very beautiful {99} and very proud of her beauty, and every day
she went down to the sea that she might have the pleasure of looking
at her picture in the water. One day she said that she was more
beautiful than the sea-nymphs, and the nymphs heard it and were so
angry with her that they begged Poseidon, the sea-god, to punish her
for her pride. Then Poseidon created a huge monster which came up
every day out of the sea and wasted the land, devouring men and
cattle, so that there was great distress among the people. They
asked the Oracle what they should do, and the Oracle said that they
must give the king's daughter to the monster to devour, and then he
would not come again any more. The king's daughter was called
Andromeda, and she was beautiful like her mother, but she was not
vain of her beauty, and the king and queen loved her very dearly.
She was their only child, and they cherished her as their most
precious treasure, and refused to give her up to be food for the
horrible monster. But at last they were obliged to consent to this,
and the day came when Andromeda was to be taken to a rock in the sea
and bound fast with iron chains, so that she could not run away when
the monster came to devour her. The king and queen wept bitterly,
and many people followed them to the shore, weeping also.
They had just reached the rock when Perseus also approached it, and
he took the helmet off his head so that he could be seen, and asked
why the beautiful princess was to be chained to it. They told him
all about it, and he said that if they would promise to let him have
Andromeda for his wife, he would undertake to kill the monster and
deliver her. The king had {100} already promised Andromeda in
marriage to a brother of his named Phineus, but though she was in
such great peril, Phineus did not trouble himself much about it, and
had no intention of risking his life for her. Perseus, however, felt
very differently; he longed to have her for his wife, and the parents
promised him that if he slew the monster he should be their
son-in-law. Soon afterwards the monster appeared, rising up from the
bottom of the sea, and making great waves as he swam along. Perseus
waited till he came near the shore, and then flew down and struck him
a mighty blow on the neck with his sword. The monster snapped at him
with his great jaws, but Perseus had already flown up high above him,
and before the monster could look round he had received another
wound, and he lashed his tail in fury till the water was quite red
with his blood, but he could not reach Perseus who flew round him and
struck him again and again, till at last he bled to death.
Then there was great joy among the people: the chains were taken off
from Andromeda, and the king and queen kissed her, feeling as if she
had been raised from the dead. They went back into the city, and
Perseus walked by the side of Andromeda who liked well the appearance
of the brave and noble hero. On the seventh day the marriage took
place, and they offered sacrifices, and danced and sang and feasted.
Phineus however was not there, but in the middle of the marriage
feast he came into the hall of the palace at the head of a large band
of armed servants, and said that he would kill Perseus and all who
sided with him, for that Andromeda had been promised to him, and
{101} ought to be his wife. Then a struggle took place in the hall,
and Perseus slew several of the servants, but they were twenty to
one, and it was no fair fight. At last Perseus cried out with a loud
voice, 'Let all who are on my side turn away their faces,' and then
he thrust his hand into the pouch, drew forth the head of Medusa, and
held it out towards Phineus and his servants, and in a moment they
were all turned to stone.
The king gave Perseus a beautiful ship, in which he sailed with
Andromeda to the island where his mother was. He found her in sore
distress, for the king of the island had tried to compel her to marry
him, and she had fled for refuge to the altar. Those who took refuge
at an altar were under the protection of the gods as long as they
remained there, and no one dared to touch them; but the king
commanded that no one should bring Danaë anything to eat, and he
placed watchmen all round to see that his orders were obeyed, for he
thought that when she was absolutely starving the would be compelled
to leave the altar, and then he would be able to seize her and make
her his wife. But at this moment Perseus arrived at the island in
his ship, and when he heard where his mother was, he went to her, and
she told him everything, which made him very angry. The treacherous
king heard that Perseus had come back, and he was afraid, and
summoned his servants to go with him to the altar to kill Perseus.
Then Perseus again drew forth the head of Medusa and turned them all
to stone, and he gave the kingdom to the king's brother, who had
always been kind to Danaë.
{102}