This _Handy Dictionary of Mythology_ is intended to supply the everyday
reader with concise accounts of the gods and goddesses of the ancients
in an accessible form.
Besides confronting us at every turn in the museums and picture
galleries, these deities and heroes are constantly mentioned by poets
and portrayed by painters and sculptors, and they are used for the
purpose of illustration in the literature of the day. Nothing is more
common than to find the comic newspapers resorting to Mythology for
subjects for their pictures; and quite recently _Punch_ has given us
some delightful cartoons by Tenniel, which, apart from the admirable
drawing, are intensely amusing to people who know enough of Mythology
to see the drift of the artist. For example, there is a cartoon
representing Æacus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus sitting in judgment on the
unlucky electioneering bribers, and underneath is the word “Nemesis.”
Again, there was a capital cartoon representing the “Judgment of
Paris,” in which the Duke of Richmond, Earl Cairns, and Lord Salisbury
figure as Juno, Minerva, and Venus. This had reference to the selection
of a Conservative Leader for the House of Lords, and was very popular.
In order fully to enjoy similar works, and to appreciate the allusions,
it is necessary that we should be able to find out readily something
about these mythological beings. But to ascertain this “something” we
do not want to waste time in wading through such a number of volumes
as the compiler has used in making this Dictionary, even if it were
possible to get access to them.
It has been a matter of astonishment to him to find how many different
versions there are of the same fable, and to see how often various
writers attribute the same actions to different gods or heroes. In
fact, it has frequently been a difficult task to decide which version
should be adopted,--which authority accepted. It may therefore be
desirable to state that where doubts have arisen, either the various
versions are given, or else Lempriere’s _Classical Dictionary_ has been
referred to, to decide the questions. Besides Lempriere, the following
works, with many others of less authority, have been consulted in
compiling this Dictionary:--
POETICAL HISTORIES. “Written originally in French by the learned
Jesuit, P. GALTRUCHIUS.” Translated into English by MARIUS D’ASSIGNY,
B.D. Second edition, 1672.
THE PANTHEON. Representing the fabulous histories of the Heathen Gods
in a plain and familiar method. By ANDREW TOOKE, A.M. 1713.
A NEW PANTHEON; or, Fabulous History of Heathen Gods, Heroes, and
Goddesses. By SAMUEL BOYSE, A.M. 1753.
MYTHOLOGICAL, ETYMOLOGICAL, AND HISTORICAL DICTIONARY. By W. HOWELL,
B.D. 1793.