GRECIAN PEOPLE AND MYTHOLOGY.
The early inhabitants of Greece were the Pelasgians, a people who had
the reputation of being great builders. At Athens, around the Acropolis,
and at other places, remains of huge walls, made of unsquared stones
laid in mud, have been found; these are the remains of the Pelasgian
walls. The oldest historians were not disposed to make any difference
between the Hellenes and the Pelasgians, but see in the former a
continuation merely of the old Pelasgi stock. The Dorians came from the
mountains of Thessaly, and steadily gained an ascendancy over the other
tribes of Greece.
The Ionians in the East gave an Oriental colouring to Hellas, both in
manners, customs, and in art. There were three dialects in the language
of the Greeks: the Doric, broad and soft; the Ionic, melodious and rich;
and the Æolic, a mixture to which nothing of a special character is
given, except that it is the nearest to the Latin.
The Greeks were a light-hearted and joyous race: they worshipped their
gods in everything they did—in running, wrestling and dancing, in
building, carving, and painting, in writing and reciting of poetry;
their whole life was one of intense artistic devotion, and all their
works of art were so many prayers to their gods. Whatever may have been
the racial differences of the Hellenic peoples, they united all their
physical and intellectual efforts to perfect their civilisation. They
emerged from archaic barbarism step by step, to such a refinement of
culture that has had no parallel in the history of nations.
It would be impossible to give an outline of Grecian or Roman art
without describing at least the outlines of their religious beliefs as
shadowed forth in their myths and in their plastic representations of
the same. It would be advisable, therefore, to sketch, in as brief a
manner as possible, some of the superior deities and their attributes,
in order to understand better the art that was the glory of Greece and
the grandeur of Rome.
The Theogony, or myths that relate to the origin of the Greek gods,
includes that of the Romans, since the latter did not trouble themselves
with the inventing of any origins for their gods, but simply borrowed
them, as they did all their art, direct from the Greeks, merely
substituting Latin names for their borrowed deities, instead of the
original Greek ones.
Zeus (Jupiter) was the Supreme god of the Greeks, chief of the Olympian
deities, the “Sky Father,” the ruler and controller of the universe,
dispenser of the thunder and lightning, rain, hail, and fertilising dew.
Before the birth of Zeus, the Greek poets tell us that Ge (the earth)
first emerged from Chaos, and separated itself immediately from Tartarus
(the abyss beneath), and that Eros, or love, then first sprang into
existence. Ge (the earth) then begat Uranus (the mountains and the
heavens), and Pontus (the sea).
By the union of the earth and Uranus, the twelve Titans came into
existence. They represented the elementary forces of nature; there were
also from this union the three Cyclops, thunder, lightning, and
sheet-lightning, and the three Centimanes (hundred-handed), which are
supposed to represent the stormy winds, the stormy sea, and the
earthquakes.
By union with Pontus, the earth became the mother of many fabulous
sea-deities. Other deities, offspring of the Titans, are Helios, the
Sun; Selene, the Moon; Eos, the dawn. From Cœus and Phœbe, deities of
the night, are Leto (dark night) and Asteria, (starry night). Cronus and
Rhea, of the family of the Titans, had six children, the youngest of
whom was the great god Zeus. He was rescued from the fate of being
swallowed by his father, as his five brothers and sisters had been, and
was brought up secretly in a grotto, on Mount Dicte, in Crete, was
nursed by nymphs and the she-goat Amalthea, whilst the bees brought him
honey to eat. Thus the youthful Zeus grew up in secrecy until he became
a mighty god. The first of his exploits was to attack his father, and
compel him to restore to life again his five brothers and sisters. He
then found it was necessary for his supremacy to fight the Titans, who
disputed his authority, which he did from his stand on Mount Olympus, in
Thessaly, while the Titans fought from the opposite Mount Othrys. This
fight lasted for ten years, and ended in the defeat of the Titans.
After this battle Zeus shared the ruling of the world with his two
brothers, Poseidon (Neptune) and Hades (Pluto); the former he set as
ruler over the sea, and the latter as king of the infernal regions.
About this time the earth had produced another enemy to vex the peace of
Zeus—Typhœus, a monster with a hundred fire-breathing dragons’ heads,
which Zeus was obliged to fight also. After a mighty battle the
thunderbolts of Zeus prevailed, and the monster was cast into Tartarus,
or as Virgil and Pindar have it, into Mount Ætna, in Sicily, where he
still shows his anger at times, by breathing out fire and flames against
the majesty of heaven. Another battle still is recorded to the credit of
Zeus before he was able to enjoy his undisputed dominion over the world,
that is the battle with the Giants, when they attempted to scale the
sacred Olympus by “piling Ossa on Pelion.” Zeus and his adherent gods
were again victorious, and remained ever after the undisputed lords of
Olympus.
The story of the battle with the Giants, the Giganto-Machia, formed a
favourite subject for illustration with the Greek sculptors. The cameo
of Athenion depicts Zeus in his chariot, and the Giants attacking,
having snakes for their legs (Fig. 264).
Zeus was the national god of the Greeks, and was first worshipped on
high places and mountain tops long before any temples were raised to his
honour. He was worshipped all over Greece, and one of his earliest
shrines was at Dordona, in Epirus. The greatest of all his shrines was
at Olympia, on the northern banks of the Alpheus. It was here that the
Olympian games were celebrated.
[Illustration: Fig. 264.—Cameo of Athenion.]
It was also here that the great statue of Zeus was set up, which was the
work of the renowned Greek sculptor Phidias (B.C. 500-432). This famous
statue of the supreme god of the Greeks was a seated figure on a lofty
throne, and was more than 40 feet high. It was made of, or probably
covered over with, plates of ivory and gold (chryselephantine); the
ivory plates covered the exposed parts of the flesh. In his right hand
he held a figure of Victory, also made of ivory and gold. The sculptor
sought to give his statue a look of sublime majesty, as the ruler of
gods and men, and, at the same time, a kindly expression of benevolence,
as the gracious father and dispenser of good gifts to mankind. Thousands
are said to have come from great distances in order to gaze on this
masterpiece of the greatest sculptor of Greece. It remained in its place
for more than eight hundred years, and was supposed to have been
destroyed by fire in the time of Theodosius III. The coins of Elis have
a seated figure, and the head of Zeus on them (Fig. 265).
[Illustration: Fig. 265.—Coins of Elis with the Phidian Zeus (after
Overbeck).]
A supposed copy of the head of the god is in the Vatican Museum. It was
found at Otricoli in the last century (Fig. 266).
The worship of Jupiter was also universal in Italy; many temples have
been erected to his honour. The most famous of these was the one erected
by Tarquin on the Capitol at Rome. It had a statue of Jupiter, the work
of the Greek artist Apollonius, made of ivory and gold, and said to be a
copy of the Phidian Zeus.
[Illustration: Fig. 266.—Zeus of Otricoli, Vatican Museum.]
Zeus is credited with a numerous family. He produced Pallas Athene from
his own head; the birth of Athene is supposed to have formed part of the
subject of the sculptures on the pediment of the Parthenon (Temple of
Athene at Athens) the remains of which are in the British Museum, but
unfortunately the central figures of the pediment are wanting which
depicted the event.
One of his goddess-wives was Themis, of the Titan family, whose children
are the Fates. Dione was his Dodonian wife, by whom he had as daughter
Aphrodite (Venus). The Arcadian Zeus had for his wife Maia, who was the
mother of Hermes (Mercury). By Demeter (Ceres) he had a daughter
Persephone (Proserpina), the flower goddess. By Eurynome, the Graces,
and by Leto (Latona) Apollo and Artemis (Diana).
Later mythology recognises Hera (Juno), his sister, to be his only
legitimate wife (Fig. 267), and by her he had his children Ares (Mars),
Hephæstus (Vulcan), and Hebe.
[Illustration: Fig. 267.—Head of Hera, perhaps after Polycletus.]
His earthly mistresses were Semele, daughter of Cadmus, King of the
Greek Thebes, and mother of Dionysus (Bacchus) and others; Leda, Danaë,
Alcmene, Europa, and Io.
The Roman Jupiter had at first no family, nor wives, but later, when the
Greek influences were more strongly developed in Roman mythology, he was
made to be the son of Saturn, and had Juno for his wife, and Minerva
(Athene) for his daughter.
Hera (Juno) is the feminine counterpart of Zeus (Jupiter). She
represents air or atmosphere, is the queen of heaven, and is the
guardian goddess of marriage ties with both Greeks and Romans. The
peacock, goose, and the cuckoo as the herald of spring, are sacred to
her. The beautiful head (Fig. 267) of Hera is supposed to be the work of
Polycletus, a celebrated Greek sculptor.
Pallas Athene (Minerva) is the great virgin goddess of wisdom, of the
dawn, and of war. According to some Greek accounts she sprang forth to
life from her father’s head (Zeus) fully armed with helmet and spear,
chanting a war song, at which event the whole earth and sea trembled
with commotion. She is represented in sculpture as the war goddess, in
flowing robes with helmet and spear, and wearing the dreadful ægis, the
breastplate of mail, with the snakes and head of Medusa, that “turned
all men to stone who gazed on it” (Fig. 268). The serpent, the owl, and
the cock are sacred to her.
Apollo was the favourite son of Zeus, and was a great god with both
Greeks and Romans. He is the god of light, of music, and of healing. He
is sometimes the god of death, sending out his arrows of sunshine that
often breeds pestilence, as well as giving health. His favourite
instrument is the lyre, which he plays at the feasts of the gods. His
sons were Orpheus, the god of music, and Asclepius (Æsculapius), god of
healing. Delphi was the chief seat of his worship, where a gorgeous
temple was erected to him.
There the priestess Pythia uttered the oracles that were supposed to
come to her ears alone, from out of a cleft in the rock under the sacred
tripod, from which also issued gaseous vapours. These oracles were
sacred words of advice or warning for those who came to consult them.
Other oracles of Apollo were at Didyma near Miletus, at Clarus, and at
Thebes.
[Illustration: Fig. 268.—Athene Polias (Villa Albani).]
The Roman Emperor Augustus erected a great temple to Apollo on the
Palatine Hill, in which was placed the celebrated statue of Apollo
Citharædus (Apollo with the lyre), a work by the famous Greek sculptor
Scopas. The statues of Apollo are of two kinds: one represents him as a
conquering deity, strong and handsome, of youthful beauty both in face
and body (Fig. 270); the other is in the more benign character of the
Pythian lute player, with long flowing garments of a feminine nature,
and with a pleasing expression. Scopas and Praxiteles made many statues
of Apollo; copies of some of these are still in existence. These
sculptors flourished about B.C. 400. The celebrated statue of the
youthful Apollo known as the Apollo Sauroctonus (the lizard slayer) is a
work of Praxiteles.
[Illustration: Fig. 269.—Pallas Athene, Naples.]
[Illustration: Fig. 270.—Apollo Belvedere, Vatican.]
Aphrodite (Venus) was “born of the sea foam,” as some say near to the
island of Cyprus, where she was first supposed to touch the land; many
temples were built to her worship in this island. She was the goddess of
love and beauty, and of the generative and creative forces in nature;
the goddess of spring, and all kinds of fertility, both in celestial and
terrestrial regions. She was the favourite deity of the Grecian
mariners, and was worshipped in Cyprus and the isles of Greece more than
any other divinity. Iris in the _Tempest_, in referring to Venus, says—
“I met her deity
Cutting the clouds towards Paphos, and her son
Dove-drawn with her.”
The story of her love for Adonis, and of his death and coming to life
again, is but the decay of nature in autumn, and its resuscitation in
the spring. The Seasons and the Graces are her attendants, who dress and
adorn her. She is accompanied by Eros and Hymen, the gods of love and
marriage. Venus of the Romans is the goddess of spring, and the month of
April was held sacred to her by the early Italians. She was also, with
them, the goddess of love and marriage.
The best artists of Greece put forth all their powers in painting and
sculpture in their representations of the seaborn Aphrodite, and if we
except Zeus himself, there is no other divinity of the Greek mythology
that has served so much as a model for the loveliest creations of the
plastic genius of the Greeks. The grandest conception of the goddess as
a work of art is the Venus of Milo, found in 1820 in the island of Melos
(Milo) (Fig. 271), and now in the Louvre. The grandeur and majesty of
this famous piece of sculpture is beyond praise. It ought to be seen in
the Louvre, to be appreciated at its worth, as drawings and casts do not
give an adequate idea of its beauty. The Medicean Venus is a work of the
Athenian artist Cleomenes, of the later Attic school, in the second
century B.C. A statue of Venus Anadyomene (rising from the sea), of
“Venus crouching in the Bath” (Vatican collection), and of “Venus
loosing her Sandal,” are all of this later and declining period of Greek
sculpture, where the goddess is represented undraped and more realistic
in conception. Venus had many attributes. The dove, sparrow, and the
dolphin, and in plants the myrtle, rose, apple, poppy, and lime-tree,
were sacred to her, but varied according to the locality and times.
[Illustration: Fig. 271.—Venus of Milo.]
[Illustration: Fig. 272.—Statue of Hermes, Capitol.]
Hermes (Mercury) is the god of shepherds and of pastures, and also of
commerce and trade. When a child he invented the lyre from a
tortoise-shell which he was forced to give up to Apollo. He is
represented with wings on his cap and feet, and a herald’s staff as the
messenger of the gods, and with a well-filled purse as an emblem of
trade (Fig. 272).
[Illustration: Fig. 273.—Diana of Versailles.]
Artemis (Diana) was the twin-sister of Apollo, and was at first the
goddess of the moon. Her favourite amusement is the chase, but in the
statue (Fig. 273) from the Villa Hadrian, now in the Louvre, she is
represented as the protectress of wild animals.
[Illustration: Fig. 274.—Melpomene, Vatican.]
Mnemosyne (Memory) is the mother of the Muses. The nine Muses are—Clio
(history), Melpomene (tragedy) (Fig. 274), Terpsichore (dancing),
Polyhymnia (religious service), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy),
Euterpe (lyric poetry), Erato (erotic poetry and geometry), and Calliope
(epic poetry and science generally).
[Illustration: Fig. 275.—Dionysus and the Lion, from the Monument of
Lysikrates.]
Dionysus or Bacchus is, with both Greeks and Romans, the god of wine, of
vineyards, and of autumn blessings. Naxos was the chief seat of his
worship. It was on this island that he met and married Ariadne, the
daughter of Minos, King of Crete, who had been deserted here by Theseus,
her former lover. The story of Dionysus punishing the Tyrrhenian pirates
who took him prisoner, intending to sell him as a slave, and of his
changing himself to a lion and so terrifying the sailors, who jumped
overboard and were changed into dolphins, is the subject of the fine
relief on the frieze of the Lysikrates monument (Fig. 275 and
Frontispiece).
The lion, tiger, bull, and ram are his favourite animal attributes.
Among plants, the vine, the ivy, and the laurel were sacred to him.
Bacchanalian subjects and festivals of Dionysus occupy a large and
important place in the art of Greece, Rome, and Pompeii.
[Illustration: Fig. 276.—Victory, Munich Collection.]
Nice, Victoria, or Victory is always represented with wings, a palm
branch, and holding a laurel wreath, and, as would be expected, was more
extensively venerated at Rome than in Greece. In the latter country her
statues are generally of a small size, and she is an accompanying
goddess to Athene and Zeus (Fig. 276).