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021 - Chapter 6 Part IV - Myths of the Sky and Air · Guide to Mythology

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Speaker 1: Chapter six, Part four of A Guide to Mythology by
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Speaker 1: Helen Clark. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: Chapter six, Part four, Myths of the Sky and Air.
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Speaker 1: How Zeus came to be King of Gods. The story
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Speaker 1: told of Zeus is that he had not always been
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Speaker 1: the supreme god. Before him reigned his father Cronus, and
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Speaker 1: before Cronus his grandfather Uranus. Cronus deposed Uranus, and having
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Speaker 1: heard that he was destined to be deposed by one
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Speaker 1: of his own children, he indulged in the queer habit
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Speaker 1: of swallowing them all. His wife Rhea, however, when Zeus
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Speaker 1: was born, thought of the happy expedient of giving Cronus
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Speaker 1: a stone to swallow, which he, unsuspecting did. The little
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Speaker 1: Zeus was hidden in the island of Crete, where he
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Speaker 1: was tended by nymphsen, brought up on goat's milk. When
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Speaker 1: he became a full grown god, he made his father
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Speaker 1: disgorge the brothers and sisters he had swallowed, namely Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pluto,
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Speaker 1: and Neptune, and then went to war against his cruel father.
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Speaker 1: This war is a battle of the powers of light
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Speaker 1: against the powers of darkness. Cronus is helped by his brothers,
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Speaker 1: the Titans, and Zeus is helped by the Cyclops, one
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Speaker 1: eyed giants and the Hecatunciris, hundred handed monsters who had
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Speaker 1: been confined for ages in Artis. Zeus and his hosts
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Speaker 1: held Mount Olympus for ages, victory wavered in the balance,
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Speaker 1: until by the advice of Rhea, Zeus released the Cyclops
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Speaker 1: and the Hecatunciris. Instantly they hastened to the battle field
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Speaker 1: of Thessaly. The Cyclops to support Zeus with their thunders
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Speaker 1: and lightnings, the hundred handed monsters, with the shock of
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Speaker 1: the earthquake, provided with such artillery, shaking earth and sea,
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Speaker 1: Zeus issued to the onslaught with the gleam of the lightning.
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Speaker 1: The Titans were blinded by the earthquake, they were laid
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Speaker 1: low with the flames. They were well nigh consumed, overpowered,
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Speaker 1: and fettered by the hands of the Hecatunciris. They were
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Speaker 1: consigned to the yawning cave of tar Artarus. In the
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Speaker 1: Council of the Gods, following this great battle, Zeus was
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Speaker 1: chosen sovereign of the world. He delegated to his brother
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Speaker 1: Poseidon or Neptune, the kingdom of the Sea and all
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Speaker 1: the waters to his brother Hades or Pluto, the government
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Speaker 1: of the underworld, dark unseen, mysterious, where the spirits of
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Speaker 1: the dead should dwell, and of Tartarus, the prison of
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Speaker 1: the subdued Titans. For himself, Zeus retained heaven and Earth.
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Speaker 1: His dwelling and that of the gods, was on the
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Speaker 1: summit of an ideal mountain called Olympus. The gods all
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Speaker 1: had their separate dwellings, but all, when summoned, assembled in
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Speaker 1: the palace of Zeus, there to feast upon Ambrosia and nectar.
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Speaker 1: Their duties consisted in discussing the affairs of heaven and Earth,
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Speaker 1: while for amusement they had the melodies of Apollo's Leer
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Speaker 1: and the songs of the Muses. There was a gate
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Speaker 1: of clouds to this heavenly city, kept by goddesses the
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Speaker 1: hours or seasons, and through these gates the celestials passed,
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Speaker 1: when bent upon any errand to earth. Hermes Roman name
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Speaker 1: Mercury was the personification of the wind and the messenger
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Speaker 1: of Zeus, and like the Valkyries, he had the office
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Speaker 1: of conducting the souls of the dead to Hades. His
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Speaker 1: summoning of the souls of the dead is beautifully described
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Speaker 1: in this passage from the Odyssey, translated by the poet Bryant.
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Speaker 1: In his hand he bore the beautiful golden wand with
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Speaker 1: which at will he shuts the eye eyes of men,
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Speaker 1: or opens them from sleep. With this he guided on
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Speaker 1: their way. The ghostly route they followed, uttering a shrilly wail,
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Speaker 1: as when a flock of bats deep in a dismal
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Speaker 1: cavern fly about and squeak if one have fallen from
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Speaker 1: the place where, clinging to each other and the rock,
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Speaker 1: they rested, so that crowd of ghosts went forth with
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Speaker 1: shrill and plaintive cries. Before them moved beneficient hermes through
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Speaker 1: those dreary ways and passed the ocean stream. They went
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Speaker 1: and passed Leucadia's Rock, the portals of the Sun, and
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Speaker 1: people of the land of Dreams, until they reached the
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Speaker 1: fields of Asphodol, where dwell the souls, the bodyless forms
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Speaker 1: of those who die among the loveliest of the sky.
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Speaker 1: Deities are the goddesses of the dawn. Besides bringing light
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Speaker 1: and joy to mankind, they are his kind helpers when
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Speaker 1: he is in trouble, and the givers of all good things,
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Speaker 1: We have already made the acquaintance of the Hindu dawn
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Speaker 1: goddess Ushes, and give here another Vedic hymn in her praise.
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Speaker 1: The counterpart of Ushes in Greek mythology is Aurora, the
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Speaker 1: goddess of the dawn, who is pictured flying before the
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Speaker 1: car of Apollo. A more developed dawn goddess is pallas Athene,
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Speaker 1: Roman name Minerva. She is represented as having sprung fully
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Speaker 1: armed from the head of her father Zeus as the
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Speaker 1: dawn springs up in the morning sky. But she has
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Speaker 1: a warlike as well as a beneficient side when she
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Speaker 1: wields the lightning and the thunderbolts. When pallis Athene decided
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Speaker 1: to give her aid to any human being, she sometimes
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Speaker 1: took the form of Mentze or of a young shepherd,
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Speaker 1: as she does in different scenes in the Odyssey. When
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Speaker 1: she descends to Earth, she is described as fastening underneath
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Speaker 1: her feet the fair ambrosial golden sandals worn to bear
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Speaker 1: her over ocean like the wind and o'er the boundless land.
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Speaker 1: In hand she took, well tipped with trenchant brass, the
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Speaker 1: mighty spear, heavy and huge and strong, with which she
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Speaker 1: bears whole phalanxes of heroes to earth. When she, the
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Speaker 1: daughter of a mighty sire, is angry from the Olympian heights,
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Speaker 1: she plunged and stood among the men of Ithaca. In
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Speaker 1: her hand she bore the spear and seemed the stranger mentes.
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Speaker 1: When Pallas returned to heaven, she passed like an eagle
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Speaker 1: out of sight, and all were seized with deep amazement
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Speaker 1: as they saw another time, Pallas appears to Odysseus or
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Speaker 1: Ulysses in the shape of a young shepherd, delicately formed
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Speaker 1: as are the sons of kings. A mantle lay upon
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Speaker 1: her shoulder in rich folds, her feet shone in their sandals.
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Speaker 1: In her hand she bore a javelin as Ulysses saw,
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Speaker 1: his heart was glad within him, and he hastened on
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Speaker 1: and thus accost her with winged words, Fair youth, who
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Speaker 1: art the first whom I have met upon the shore?
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Speaker 1: I bid thee hail, and hope thou meetest me with
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Speaker 1: no unkind intent. Protect what thou beholdest here, and me
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Speaker 1: I make my suit to thee as to a god,
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Speaker 1: and come to thy, dear Niees. After a little talk
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Speaker 1: with Odysseus. The blue eyed goddess Pallace smiled and touched
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Speaker 1: the chief caressingly. She seem'd a beautiful and stately woman.
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Speaker 1: Now such as are skilled in works of rare device.
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Speaker 1: She advises Odysseus and says to him, hither am I
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Speaker 1: come to frame for thee wise counsels, and to hide
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Speaker 1: away the stores given by the opulent fia Aatian chiefs
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Speaker 1: at thy departure. I shall also tell what thou must
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Speaker 1: yet endure beneath the roof of thine own palace by
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Speaker 1: the will of fate. Yet bear it bravely, since thou
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Speaker 1: must nor speak to any man or woman of thyself
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Speaker 1: and of thy wandering hither, but submit to many things
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Speaker 1: that grieve thee silently and bear indignities from violent men. Thus,
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Speaker 1: this beneficent, dawned goddess is always helping mankind in their troubles,
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Speaker 1: and scattering abroad so much wisdom that she came to
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Speaker 1: be called in Greek mythology the Goddess of Wisdom. The
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Speaker 1: Indian and the Japanese stories following show other fancies about
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Speaker 1: gods of the sky and air. The lovers vision of
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Speaker 1: the Happy Land gives a picture of the home of
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Speaker 1: departed spirits in the sky. The message bearers is related
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Speaker 1: to the idea that the wind is a messenger of
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Speaker 1: the gods, but it is the wind in the form
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Speaker 1: of the repeated sounds in echoes. The Indians were in
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Speaker 1: the habit of frequenting rivers with high wooded banks, or
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Speaker 1: ravines with precipitous sides, where reverberations could be heard for
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Speaker 1: miles until they would die away in the distance. There
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Speaker 1: they would stand for hours, shouting and listening to the
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Speaker 1: echoing shouts as they leaped from shore to shore, or
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Speaker 1: from hill to mountain, and from mountain to valley, on
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Speaker 1: and on into silence, always firmly believing that the words
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Speaker 1: were called from one to another of the faithful spirits,
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Speaker 1: until they reached the ears of their loved ones, and
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Speaker 1: finally the great Spirit himself. The Way of the Gods
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Speaker 1: describes a god of the infinite sky as the beginning
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Speaker 1: of all things, him to the dawn. From the rig Veda,
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Speaker 1: the radiant dawns have risen up for glory. In their
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Speaker 1: white splendor, live the waves of waters. She make it
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Speaker 1: paths all easy, fair to travel, and rich. Hath shown
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Speaker 1: herself benign and friendly. We see that Thou art good
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Speaker 1: far shines thy luster, Thy beams, thy splendors have flown
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Speaker 1: up to Heaven, decking thyself. Thou makest bear thy bosom,
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Speaker 1: shining in majesty, Thou goddest mourning red are the kine
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Speaker 1: and luminous that bear her. The blessed one who spreadeth
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Speaker 1: through the distance the foes. She chaseth like a valiant archer,
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Speaker 1: like a swift warrior. She repelleth darkness. Thy ways are
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Speaker 1: easy on the hills. Thou passest in windless, calm, self
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Speaker 1: luminous through waters, So lofty Goddess, with thine ample pathway,
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Speaker 1: daughter of Heaven, bring wealth to give us courage. Dawn,
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Speaker 1: bring me wealth untroubled with thine oxen, Thou bearest riches
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Speaker 1: at thy will and pleasure. Thou, who a goddess, child
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Speaker 1: of Heaven, hast shown thee lovely through bounty. When we
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Speaker 1: call'd thee early as the birds fly forth from their
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Speaker 1: resting places, so men with store of food rise at
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Speaker 1: thy dawn. Yea to the liberal mortal who remaineth at home.
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Speaker 1: O Goddess Dawn, much good, Thou bringest the lover's vision
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Speaker 1: of the Happy Island. There was once a very beautiful girl,
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Speaker 1: more beautiful than all the Indian maidens of her tribe,
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Speaker 1: who died suddenly on the eve of her marriage to
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Speaker 1: a handsome young chief. And although her lover was brave,
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Speaker 1: his heart was not proof against his loss. He mourned
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Speaker 1: as one without hope. After her burial, he sat near
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Speaker 1: the spot where her remains were deposited, without speaking, musing
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Speaker 1: and dreaming of her. He had lost war, and hunting
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Speaker 1: had no charms for him. He pushed aside his bow
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Speaker 1: and arrow, for his heart was dead within him. He
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Speaker 1: had heard the old people say that there was a
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Speaker 1: path that led to the land of souls, and he
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Speaker 1: determined to follow it. With this resolution, he left the
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Speaker 1: remains of his beloved, and, after making some preparation for
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Speaker 1: the journey, set out at an early hour of the morning.
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Speaker 1: At first, he hardly knew which direction to take, for
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Speaker 1: he was guided only by the tradition that he must
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Speaker 1: go southward. For a while, he could discover no change
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Speaker 1: in the appearance of the country. Forests, hills, valleys, and
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Speaker 1: streams had the same familiar look that they wore around
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Speaker 1: his native home. There was snow upon the ground. However,
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Speaker 1: when he set out, and it was some time seen
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Speaker 1: clinging in thick mats upon the trees and bushes. But
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Speaker 1: at length it began to diminish, and finally, as he
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Speaker 1: traveled swiftly along, totally disappeared. When the forest assumed a
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Speaker 1: more cheerful appearance, the trees appeared to be putting forth
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Speaker 1: their leaves, and suddenly, as if by enchantment, as he
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Speaker 1: walked onward, he found himself surrounded by the budding flowers
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Speaker 1: of spring. The air seemed warm upon his cheek, while overhead,
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Speaker 1: instead of wintry clouds, the sky was clear, and his
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Speaker 1: ears were saluted with songs of birds. The lover's heart
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Speaker 1: beat quickly at these changes, for he knew he was
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Speaker 1: in the right path, as appearances agreed with the traditions
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Speaker 1: of his tribe. As he sped along, he discovered a footpath,
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Speaker 1: which he followed, and was led through a dark grove,
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Speaker 1: then up a long precipitous ridge on the extreme summit
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Speaker 1: of which he came to a lodge. In the doorway
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Speaker 1: of this lodge stood an old man whose hair was
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Speaker 1: white as snow, and whose eyes, though deeply sunken, had
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Speaker 1: a wonderful brilliancy. He had a long robe of skins
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Speaker 1: thrown loosely around his shoulders and a staff in his hand.
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Speaker 1: The young lover accosted him and began to tell his story,
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Speaker 1: when the old man interrupted him by saying, I have
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Speaker 1: expected you, and have just risen to bid you welcome.
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Speaker 1: She whom you seek passed here a few days since.
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Speaker 1: Enter my lodge, for therein she rested being fatigued, and
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Speaker 1: I will answer all your inquiries and give you direction
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Speaker 1: for your journey from this point. Having entered and rested
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Speaker 1: within the lodge according to the old man's invitation, the
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Speaker 1: young lover, impatient of delay, soon issued forth from the
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Speaker 1: lodge door, accompanied by the venerable Chief. You see yonder gulf,
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Speaker 1: said the Chief, and the wide stretching blue plains beyond
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Speaker 1: it is the land of souls. You stand upon its borders,
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Speaker 1: and my lodge is its gate of entrance. But you
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Speaker 1: cannot take your body along with you. Leave it here
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Speaker 1: with your bow and arrows, your bundle, and your dog.
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Speaker 1: You will find it safe on your return. So saying,
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Speaker 1: he turned and re entered his lodge, and the freed
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Speaker 1: traveler bounded forward as if his feet were winged. He found,
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Speaker 1: as he thus sped forward, that all things retained their
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Speaker 1: natural colors in shapes, except that they seemed more beautiful,
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Speaker 1: the colors being richer and shapes more comely. And he
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Speaker 1: would have thought that everything was the same as heretofore,
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Speaker 1: had he not seen that the animals bounded across his
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Speaker 1: path with the utmost freedom and confidence, and birds of
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Speaker 1: beautiful plumage inhabited the groves and sported in the waters
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Speaker 1: in fearless and undisturbed enjoyment. As he passed on, however,
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Speaker 1: he noticed that his passage was not impeded by trees
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Speaker 1: or other objects. He appeared to walk directly through them.
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Speaker 1: They were, in fact, but the souls of trees, And
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Speaker 1: he then became sensible that he was in the land
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Speaker 1: of the shadows. When he had traveled some distance through
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Speaker 1: the country which continually became more and more attract he
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Speaker 1: came to the banks of a broad lake, in the
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Speaker 1: center of which was a beautiful island, And tied upon
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Speaker 1: the shore of this lake, he found a canoe of
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Speaker 1: white shining stone, within which were white paddles that seemed
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Speaker 1: to be of the same shining material. He immediately entered
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Speaker 1: the canoe and took the paddles in his hands, when,
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Speaker 1: to his joy and surprise, on turning around, he discovered
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Speaker 1: the object of his search, the young maiden in another canoe,
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Speaker 1: exactly the counterpart of his, who, having imitated his motions
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Speaker 1: and gathering up the paddles and making preparations for embarking,
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Speaker 1: followed him. As he pushed off from shore. The waves
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Speaker 1: of the lake soon began to rise, and at a
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Speaker 1: distance looked ready to submerge them in their watery embrace.
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Speaker 1: But yet on approaching their white edges, they seemed to
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Speaker 1: melt away still. As these enormous waves followed each other
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Speaker 1: in quick succession, it kept them in continual fear, for
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Speaker 1: they felt no certainty but that some one of them
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Speaker 1: might break upon their canoes and bring them to destruction.
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Speaker 1: While added to this perpetual fear, the water of the
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Speaker 1: lake was so clear that it disclosed to their affrighted
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Speaker 1: gaze large heaps of bones of human beings who had
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Speaker 1: perished before. And as they moved on they saw many
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Speaker 1: persons struggling and sinking in the waves. Old men and women,
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Speaker 1: and young men and maidens were there, and but few
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Speaker 1: were able to pass over the children alone were seen
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Speaker 1: to glide on without fear. However, notwithstanding their terror, the
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Speaker 1: young man and maiden moved unharmed along, for their deeds
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Speaker 1: in life had been free from evil, and the Master
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Speaker 1: of life had decreed their safety. And at length they
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Speaker 1: leaped out upon the shore of the Happy Island, the
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Speaker 1: place of their destination, and wandered together over the blissful fields,
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Speaker 1: where everything was formed to delight the eye and please
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Speaker 1: the ear. The air itself was like food, and nourished
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Speaker 1: and strengthened them. There were no tempests. No one shivered
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Speaker 1: for the want of warm clothes, no one suffered from hunger,
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Speaker 1: no one mourned for the dead. They saw no graves,
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Speaker 1: they heard of no wars, there was no hunting of animals. Gladly,
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Speaker 1: the young lover would have remained forever with his beloved
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Speaker 1: in this beautiful land, but this was not permitted, for
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Speaker 1: although he did not see the Master of Life, he
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Speaker 1: heard his voice in a soft breeze, which commanded his return.
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Speaker 1: Go back, said the voice to the land from whence
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Speaker 1: you came. Your time has not yet come. Your work
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Speaker 1: is not finished, and the duties for which I made
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Speaker 1: you are not completed. Return to your people and accomplish
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Speaker 1: all the duties of a brave man. You will be
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Speaker 1: the ruler of your tribe for many years. My messenger
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Speaker 1: at the gate shall instruct you in your future work.
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Speaker 1: When he surrenders your body, listen to him, and you
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Speaker 1: shall afterwards rejoin the spirit which you must now leave behind.
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Speaker 1: She is accepted and will dwell here forever, as young
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Speaker 1: and as happy as when I called her from the
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Speaker 1: land of snows. And with this the Lover's Vision closed.
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Speaker 1: End of Chapter six, Part four,