Latest / Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome / 016 - Third Dynasty Night and Her Children- Nyx through Eros and Psyche
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- 0:00Speaker 1: Section fifteen of Myths and Legends. This is a LibriVox recording.
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- 0:09Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
- 0:14Speaker 1: by Lucy LaFaro, New South Wales, Australia. Myths and Legends
- 0:20Speaker 1: of Ancient Greece and Rome by E. M. Barons, Section fifteen,
- 0:27Speaker 1: Third Dynasty. Knight and her children Nix through Eros and
- 0:33Speaker 1: Psyche Nix Knox Nicks, the daughter of Chaos, being the
- 0:41Speaker 1: per certification of Knight, was, according to the poetic ideas
- 0:46Speaker 1: of the Greeks, considered to be the mother of everything
- 0:49Speaker 1: mysterious and inexplicable, such as death, sleep, dreams, et cetera.
- 0:57Speaker 1: She became united to Erebus and theirchildren were Ether and
- 1:01Speaker 1: Heimera Heir and Daylight, evidently a simile of the poets
- 1:07Speaker 1: to indicate that darkness always precedes light. Nix inhabited a
- 1:12Speaker 1: palace in the dark regions of the lower world, and
- 1:16Speaker 1: is represented as a beautiful woman seated in a chariot
- 1:20Speaker 1: drawn by two black horses. She is clothed in dark robes,
- 1:25Speaker 1: wears a long veil, and is accompanied by the stars
- 1:29Speaker 1: which follow in her train Thanatos Mors and Hypness Somness.
- 1:38Speaker 1: Thanatos Death and his twin brother Hypness Sleep were the
- 1:43Speaker 1: children of nicks. Their dwelling was in the realm of shades,
- 1:47Speaker 1: and when they appear among mortals, Thanatos is feared and
- 1:52Speaker 1: hated as the enemy of mankind, whose hard heart knows
- 1:56Speaker 1: no pity, while his brother Hypnus is universally loved and
- 2:00Speaker 1: welcomed as their kindest and most beneficent friend. But though
- 2:05Speaker 1: the ancients regarded Thanatos as a gloomy and mournful divinity,
- 2:10Speaker 1: they did not represent him with any exterior repulsiveness. On
- 2:14Speaker 1: the contrary, he appears as a beautiful youth who holds
- 2:19Speaker 1: in his hand an inverted torch emblematical of the light
- 2:24Speaker 1: of life being extinguished, whilst his disengaged arm is thrown
- 2:29Speaker 1: lovingly round the shoulder of his brother Hypnus. Hypness is
- 2:33Speaker 1: sometimes depicted standing erect with closed eyes. At others he
- 2:39Speaker 1: is in a recumbent position beside his brother Thanatos, and
- 2:43Speaker 1: usually bears a poppy stalk in his hand. A most
- 2:46Speaker 1: interesting description of the abode of Hypness is given by
- 2:50Speaker 1: Ovid in his Metamorphosis. He tells us how the God
- 2:54Speaker 1: of Sleep dwelt in a mountain cave near the realm
- 2:57Speaker 1: of the Sumerians, which the sun never pierced with his rays.
- 3:02Speaker 1: No sound disturbed the stillness, no song of birds, not
- 3:06Speaker 1: a branch moved, and no human voice broke the profound
- 3:10Speaker 1: silence which reigned everywhere. From the lowermost rocks of the
- 3:14Speaker 1: cave issued the river Leathy, and one might almost have
- 3:18Speaker 1: supposed that its course was arrested, were it not for
- 3:22Speaker 1: the low, monotonous hum of the water, which invited slumber.
- 3:27Speaker 1: The entrance was partially hidden by numberless white and red
- 3:31Speaker 1: poppies which Mother Knight had gathered and planted there, and
- 3:36Speaker 1: from the juice of which she extracts drowsiness, which she
- 3:40Speaker 1: scatters in liquid drops or over the earth as soon
- 3:44Speaker 1: as the sun God has sunk to rest. In the
- 3:48Speaker 1: center of the cave stands a couch of blackest ebony
- 3:51Speaker 1: with a bed of down, over which is laid a
- 3:54Speaker 1: coverlet of sable hue. Here the God himself reposes, surrounded
- 3:59Speaker 1: by innumerable forms. These are idle dreams, more numerous than
- 4:04Speaker 1: the sands of the sea. Chief among them is Morpheus,
- 4:08Speaker 1: that change for God, who may assume any shape or
- 4:12Speaker 1: form he pleases. Nor can the god of sleep resist
- 4:15Speaker 1: his own power, for though he may rouse himself for
- 4:19Speaker 1: a while, he soon succumbs to the drowsy influences which
- 4:23Speaker 1: surround him. Morpheus, Morpheus, the son of Hypnus, was the
- 4:29Speaker 1: god of dreams. He is always represented winged, and appears
- 4:34Speaker 1: sometimes as a youth, sometimes as an old man. In
- 4:38Speaker 1: his hand he bears a cluster of poppies, and as
- 4:41Speaker 1: his steps with noiseless footsteps over the earth, he gently
- 4:45Speaker 1: scatters the seeds of this sleep producing plant over the
- 4:49Speaker 1: eyes of weary mortals. Homer describes the House of Dreams
- 4:53Speaker 1: as having two gates, one whence issue all deceptive and
- 4:58Speaker 1: flattering visions be formed of ivory, the other through which
- 5:03Speaker 1: proceed those dreams which are fulfilled of horn. The Gorgons,
- 5:11Speaker 1: the gorgons, Stheno, Uriale, and Medusa, were the three daughters
- 5:17Speaker 1: of Forces and Cito, and with the personification of those
- 5:22Speaker 1: benumbing and as it were, petrifying sensations which result from
- 5:28Speaker 1: sudden and extreme fear, they were frightful, winged monsters whose
- 5:34Speaker 1: bodies were covered with scales. Hissing wriggling snakes cluttered round
- 5:39Speaker 1: their heads. Instead of hair, their hands were of brass,
- 5:43Speaker 1: their teeth resembled the tusks of a wild boar, and
- 5:47Speaker 1: their whole aspect were so appalling that they are said
- 5:50Speaker 1: to have turned into stone all who beheld them. These
- 5:55Speaker 1: terrible sisters were supposed to dwell in that remote and
- 5:58Speaker 1: mysterious region in the far west, beyond the sacred stream
- 6:03Speaker 1: of Oceanus. The Gorgans were the servants of eighties, who
- 6:08Speaker 1: made use of them to terrify and overawe those shades
- 6:12Speaker 1: doomed to be kept in a constant state of unrest
- 6:15Speaker 1: as a punishment for their misdeeds, whilst the furies, on
- 6:20Speaker 1: their part, scorged them with their whips and tortured them incessantly.
- 6:27Speaker 1: The most celebrated of the three sisters was Medusa, who
- 6:30Speaker 1: alone was mortal. She was originally a golden haired and
- 6:35Speaker 1: very beautiful maiden who, as a priestess of athen was
- 6:39Speaker 1: devoted to a life of celibacy, but being wooed by Poseidon,
- 6:44Speaker 1: whom she loved. In return, she forgot her vows and
- 6:48Speaker 1: became united to him in marriage. For this offense, she
- 6:52Speaker 1: was punished by the goddess in a most terrible manner.
- 6:57Speaker 1: Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair which had so
- 7:01Speaker 1: charmed her husband was changed into a venomous snake. Her
- 7:05Speaker 1: once gentle love and spiring eyes now became bloodshot, furious orbs,
- 7:11Speaker 1: which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the beholder,
- 7:17Speaker 1: whilst her former rosette hue and milk white skin assumed
- 7:21Speaker 1: a loathesome, green tinge. Seeing herself thus transformed into so
- 7:27Speaker 1: repulsive an object, Medusa fled from her home, never to return.
- 7:32Speaker 1: Wandering about abrored, dreaded, and shunned by all the world,
- 7:38Speaker 1: she now developed into a character worthy of her outward appearance.
- 7:43Speaker 1: In her despair, she fled to Africa, where as she
- 7:47Speaker 1: passed restlessly from place to place, infant snakes dropped from
- 7:51Speaker 1: her hair, and thus, according to the belief of the ancients,
- 7:55Speaker 1: that country became the hot bed of these venomous reptiles.
- 8:01Speaker 1: With the curse of Athene upon her, she turned into
- 8:04Speaker 1: stone whomsoever she gazed upon, till at last, after a
- 8:09Speaker 1: life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the
- 8:13Speaker 1: shape of death at the hands of Perseus. It is
- 8:17Speaker 1: well to observe that when the Gorgons are spoken of
- 8:20Speaker 1: in the singular, it is Medusa who is alluded to.
- 8:25Speaker 1: Medusa was the mother of Pegasus and Crysail, father of
- 8:30Speaker 1: the three headed winged giant Gerionese who was slain by
- 8:35Speaker 1: Heracles Grie. The grie who acted as servants to their sisters.
- 8:42Speaker 1: The Gorgons were also three in number. Their names were Befrido, Eno,
- 8:49Speaker 1: and Dino. In their original conception, they were merely personifications
- 8:54Speaker 1: of kindly and venerable old age, possessing all its benevolent
- 8:58Speaker 1: attributes without its natural infirmities. They were old and gray
- 9:03Speaker 1: from their birth, and so they ever remained. In later times, however,
- 9:08Speaker 1: they came to be regarded as misshapen females, decrepit and
- 9:12Speaker 1: hideously ugly, having only one eye, one tooth, and one
- 9:18Speaker 1: gray wig between them, which they leant to each other
- 9:21Speaker 1: when one of them wished to appear before the world.
- 9:25Speaker 1: When Percius entered upon this expedition to slay the Medusa,
- 9:29Speaker 1: he repaired to the Adobe of the Greye in the
- 9:32Speaker 1: far west to inquire the way to the Gorgons, and
- 9:36Speaker 1: on their refusing to give any information, he deprived them
- 9:40Speaker 1: of their one eye, tooth, and wig, and did not
- 9:43Speaker 1: restore them until he received the necessary directions. Sphinx the
- 9:50Speaker 1: Sphynx was an ancient Egyptian divinity who personified wisdom and
- 9:54Speaker 1: the fertility of nature. She is represented as a lion
- 9:58Speaker 1: cochant with the head and bust of a woman, and
- 10:02Speaker 1: wears a peculiar sort of hood which completely envelops her
- 10:06Speaker 1: head and falls down on either side of the face.
- 10:10Speaker 1: Transplanted into Greece, this sublime and mysterious Egyptian deity degenerates
- 10:16Speaker 1: into an insignificant and yet malignant power, and though she
- 10:20Speaker 1: also deals in mysteries, they are, as we shall see,
- 10:24Speaker 1: of a totally different character and altogether inimical to human life.
- 10:30Speaker 1: The Sphinx is represented, according to Greek genealogy, as the
- 10:34Speaker 1: offspring of Typhon and Echidna, hera being. Upon one occasion,
- 10:41Speaker 1: displeased with the Thebans, sent them this awful monster as
- 10:45Speaker 1: a punishment for their offenses. Taking her seat on a
- 10:49Speaker 1: rocky eminence near the city of Thebes, commanding a pass
- 10:53Speaker 1: which the Thebans were compelled to traverse in their usual way
- 10:56Speaker 1: of business. She propounded to all comers a riddle, and
- 11:01Speaker 1: if they failed to solve it she tore them in pieces.
- 11:06Speaker 1: During the reign of King Creon, so many people had
- 11:10Speaker 1: fallen a sacrifice to this monster that he determined to
- 11:13Speaker 1: use every effort to read the country of so terrible
- 11:17Speaker 1: a scorge. On consulting the Oracle of Delphi, he was
- 11:21Speaker 1: informed that the only way to destroy the sphinx was
- 11:25Speaker 1: to solve one of her riddles, when she would immediately
- 11:28Speaker 1: precipitate herself from the rock on which she was seated.
- 11:33Speaker 1: Creon accordingly made a public declaration to the effect that
- 11:37Speaker 1: whoever could give the true interpretation of a riddle propounded
- 11:41Speaker 1: by the monster should obtain the crown and the hand
- 11:45Speaker 1: of his sister jackasste Oedipus offered himself as a candidate, and,
- 11:51Speaker 1: proceeding to the spot where she kept guard, received from
- 11:54Speaker 1: her the following riddle For solution, what creature goes in
- 12:00Speaker 1: the morning on four legs, at noon on two, and
- 12:04Speaker 1: in the evening on three. Oedipus replied that it must
- 12:09Speaker 1: be man who, during his infancy creeps on all fours,
- 12:13Speaker 1: in his prime walks erect on two legs, and when
- 12:18Speaker 1: old age has enfeebled his powers, calls a staff to
- 12:22Speaker 1: his assistance and thus has as it were three legs.
- 12:28Speaker 1: The sphinx no sooner heard this reply, which was the
- 12:31Speaker 1: correct solution of her riddle, than she flung herself over
- 12:35Speaker 1: the precipice and perished in the abyss below. The Greek
- 12:39Speaker 1: sphinx may be recognized by having wings and by being
- 12:44Speaker 1: of smaller dimensions than the Egyptian sphinx Taichi for tuna
- 12:52Speaker 1: and a nanchi necessitus taichi for tuna. Taikipisified that peculiar
- 13:01Speaker 1: combination of circumstances which we call luck or fortune, and
- 13:07Speaker 1: was considered to be the source of all unexpected events
- 13:10Speaker 1: in human life, whether good or evil. If a person
- 13:15Speaker 1: succeeded in all he undertook without possessing any special merit
- 13:19Speaker 1: of his own, tyche was supposed to have smiled on
- 13:23Speaker 1: his birth. If, on the other hand, undeserved ill luck
- 13:27Speaker 1: followed him through life and all his efforts resulted in failure,
- 13:32Speaker 1: it was ascribed to her adverse influence. This goddess of
- 13:38Speaker 1: fortune is variously represented. Sometimes she is depicted bearing in
- 13:44Speaker 1: her hand to rudders, with one of which she steers
- 13:48Speaker 1: the bark of the fortunate, and with the other that
- 13:51Speaker 1: of the unfortunate. Among mortals. In later times, she appears
- 13:56Speaker 1: blindfolded and stands on a ball or wheel, indicative of
- 14:01Speaker 1: the fickleness of ever revolving changes of fortune. She frequently
- 14:07Speaker 1: bears the scepter and cornucopia or horn of plenty, and
- 14:11Speaker 1: is usually winged. In her temple at Thebes, she is
- 14:16Speaker 1: represented holding infant plutus in her arms to symbolize her
- 14:20Speaker 1: power over riches and prosperity. Tyche was worshiped in various
- 14:27Speaker 1: parts of Greece, but more particularly by the Athenians, who
- 14:32Speaker 1: believed in her special predilection for their city, Fortuna. Tyche
- 14:39Speaker 1: was worshiped in Rome under the name of Fortuna, and
- 14:42Speaker 1: held a position of much greater importance among the Romans
- 14:46Speaker 1: than the Greeks. In later times, Fortuna is never represented
- 14:51Speaker 1: either winged or standing on a ball. She merely bears
- 14:54Speaker 1: the conucopa. It is evident therefore, that she had come
- 14:59Speaker 1: to be regarded as the goddess of good luck only
- 15:02Speaker 1: who brings blessings to man, and not, as with the Greeks,
- 15:06Speaker 1: as the personification of the fluctuations of fortune. In addition
- 15:11Speaker 1: to Fortuna, the Romans worshiped felicitous as the river of
- 15:16Speaker 1: positive good fortune, an anchie necessitous as an ankie Tayche
- 15:24Speaker 1: assumes quite another character and becomes the embodiment of those
- 15:29Speaker 1: immutable laws of nature by which certain causes produce certain
- 15:34Speaker 1: inevitable results. In a statue of this divinity at Athens,
- 15:39Speaker 1: she was represented with hands of bronze and surrounded with
- 15:43Speaker 1: nails and hammers. The hands of bronze probably indicated the
- 15:48Speaker 1: irresistible power of the inevitable, and the hammer and chains
- 15:53Speaker 1: the fetters which she forged for man an Ankee was
- 15:57Speaker 1: worshiped in Rome under the name of Necessitus Kerr. In
- 16:05Speaker 1: addition to the Mouri who presided over the life of mortals,
- 16:10Speaker 1: there was another divinity called Kerr, appointed for each human
- 16:14Speaker 1: being at the moment of his birth. The kur belonging
- 16:18Speaker 1: to an individual was believed to develop with his growth,
- 16:23Speaker 1: either for good or evil, And when the ultimate fate
- 16:27Speaker 1: of a mortal was about to be decided, his cur
- 16:30Speaker 1: was weighed in the balance, and according to the preponderance
- 16:35Speaker 1: of its worth or worthlessness, life or death was awarded
- 16:39Speaker 1: to the human being in question. It becomes evident therefore,
- 16:44Speaker 1: that according to the belief of the early Greeks, each
- 16:47Speaker 1: individual had in his power to a certain extent, to
- 16:52Speaker 1: shorten or prolong his own existence. The Kers, who are
- 16:57Speaker 1: frequently mentioned by Homer, where the goddesses who delighted in
- 17:01Speaker 1: the slaughter of the battlefield. Aiti Ati, the daughter of
- 17:08Speaker 1: Zeus and Heiress, was a divinity who delighted in evil.
- 17:12Speaker 1: Having instigated her to deprive Heracles of his birthright, her
- 17:17Speaker 1: father seized her by the hair of her head and
- 17:20Speaker 1: hurled her from Olympus, forbidding her, under the most solemn
- 17:23Speaker 1: imprecations ever to return. Henceforth she wandered among mankind, sowing dissension,
- 17:31Speaker 1: working mischief, and luring men to all actions inimical to
- 17:35Speaker 1: their welfare and happiness. Hence, when a reconciliation took place
- 17:40Speaker 1: between friends who had quarreled, Aeti was blamed as the
- 17:44Speaker 1: original cause of disagreement. Momis Momis, the son of Nix,
- 17:53Speaker 1: was the god of rivalry and ridicule, who delighted to
- 17:57Speaker 1: criticize with bitter sarcasm the actions of gods and men,
- 18:02Speaker 1: and contrived to discover in all things some defect or blemish. Thus,
- 18:09Speaker 1: when Prometheus created the first man, Momus considered his work
- 18:14Speaker 1: incomplete because there was no aperture in the breast through
- 18:18Speaker 1: which his inmost thoughts might be read. He also found
- 18:23Speaker 1: fault with the house built by Athene, because, being unprovided
- 18:28Speaker 1: with the means of locomotion, it could never be removed
- 18:32Speaker 1: from an unhealthy locality. Aphrodite alone defied his criticism, for,
- 18:39Speaker 1: to his great chagrin, he could find no fault with
- 18:43Speaker 1: her perfect form. In what manner the ancients represented this
- 18:47Speaker 1: god is unknown. In modern art, he is depicted like
- 18:52Speaker 1: a king's jester, with a fool's cap and bells. Eros, Cupid, Amor,
- 19:00Speaker 1: and Psyche. According to hesiod'sys theogeny, Eros, the divine spirit
- 19:06Speaker 1: of love, sprang forth from chaos while all was still
- 19:11Speaker 1: in confusion, and by his beneficent power, reduced to order
- 19:15Speaker 1: and harmony the shapeless conflicting elements, which under his influence
- 19:20Speaker 1: began to assume distinct forms. This ancient Eros is represented
- 19:26Speaker 1: as a full grown and very beautiful youth, crowned with
- 19:30Speaker 1: flowers and leaning on a shepherd's crook. In the course
- 19:34Speaker 1: of time, this beautiful conception gradually faded away, and though
- 19:39Speaker 1: occasional mention still continues to be made of the Eros
- 19:43Speaker 1: of chaos. He is replaced by the son of Aphrodite,
- 19:47Speaker 1: the popular, mischief loving little god of love so familiar
- 19:51Speaker 1: to us all. In one of the myths concerning Eros,
- 19:56Speaker 1: Aphrodite is described as complaining to themis that her son,
- 20:00Speaker 1: though so beautiful, did not appear to increase in stature,
- 20:05Speaker 1: whereupon themis suggested that his small proportions were probably attributable
- 20:10Speaker 1: to the fact of his being always alone, and advised
- 20:14Speaker 1: his mother to let him have a companion. Aphrodite accordingly
- 20:20Speaker 1: gave him as a playfellow his younger brother and Teros
- 20:23Speaker 1: requited love and soon had the gratification of seeing the
- 20:27Speaker 1: little Eros begin to grow and thrive, but curious to relate,
- 20:32Speaker 1: this desirable result only continued as long as the brothers
- 20:36Speaker 1: remained together. For the moment they were separated, Eros shrank
- 20:40Speaker 1: once more to his original size by degrees. The conception
- 20:45Speaker 1: of Eros became multiplied, and we hear of little love
- 20:48Speaker 1: gods amours, who appear under the most charming and diversified forms.
- 20:54Speaker 1: These love gods, who afforded to artists inexhaustible subjects for
- 20:59Speaker 1: the exercise of their imagination, are represented as being engaged
- 21:03Speaker 1: in various occupations, such as hunting, fishing, rowing, driving chariots,
- 21:09Speaker 1: and even busying themselves in mechanical labor. Perhaps no myth
- 21:14Speaker 1: is more charming and interesting than that of Eros and Psyche,
- 21:19Speaker 1: which is as follows. Psyche, the youngest of three princesses,
- 21:24Speaker 1: was so transcendently beautiful that Aphrodite herself became jealous of her,
- 21:29Speaker 1: and no mortal dared to aspire to the honor of
- 21:32Speaker 1: her hand. As her sisters, who were by no means
- 21:36Speaker 1: equal to her in attractions, were married, and Psyche still
- 21:39Speaker 1: remained unwedded, her father consulted the oracle of Delphi, and,
- 21:44Speaker 1: in obedience to the divine response, caused her to be
- 21:47Speaker 1: dressed as though for the grave, and conducted to the
- 21:51Speaker 1: edge of a yawning precipice. No sooner was she alone
- 21:55Speaker 1: than she felt herself lifted up and wafted away by
- 21:58Speaker 1: the gentle west wind Zephyrs, who transported her to a
- 22:03Speaker 1: verdant meadow, in the midst of which stood a stately
- 22:06Speaker 1: palace surrounded by groves and fountains. Here dwelt Eros, the
- 22:12Speaker 1: god of Love, in whose arms Zephyrus deposited his lovely burden.
- 22:18Speaker 1: Eros himself unseen wooed her in the softest accents of affection,
- 22:23Speaker 1: but warned her, as she valued his love, not to
- 22:27Speaker 1: endeavor to behold his form. For some time, Psyche was
- 22:32Speaker 1: obedient to the injunction of her immortal spouse and made
- 22:36Speaker 1: no effort to gratify her natural curiosity. But unfortunately, in
- 22:42Speaker 1: the midst of her happiness, she was seized with an
- 22:45Speaker 1: unconquerable longing for the society of her sisters, and in
- 22:49Speaker 1: accordance with her desire, they were conducted by zephyrs to
- 22:54Speaker 1: her fairylike abode. Filled with envy. At the side of
- 22:58Speaker 1: her felicity, they poisoned and her mind against her husband,
- 23:02Speaker 1: and telling her that her unseen lover was a frightful monster.
- 23:06Speaker 1: They gave her a sharp dagger, which they persuaded her
- 23:09Speaker 1: to use for the purpose of delivering herself from his power.
- 23:14Speaker 1: After the departure of her sisters, Psyche resolved to take
- 23:18Speaker 1: the first opportunity of following their malicious counsel. She accordingly
- 23:23Speaker 1: rose in the dead of night, and, taking a lamp
- 23:26Speaker 1: in one hand and a dagger in the other, stealthily
- 23:29Speaker 1: approached the couch where Eros was reposing, when instead of
- 23:33Speaker 1: the frightful monster she had expected to see, the beauteous
- 23:37Speaker 1: form of the God of Love greeted her view. Overcome
- 23:41Speaker 1: with surprise and admiration, Psyche stooped down to gaze more
- 23:45Speaker 1: closely on his lovely features, when from the lamp which
- 23:50Speaker 1: she held in her trembling hand, there fell a drop
- 23:53Speaker 1: of burning oil upon the shoulder of the sleeping God,
- 23:56Speaker 1: who instantly awoke, and, seeing Psyche standing over him with
- 24:00Speaker 1: the instrument of death in her hand, sorrowfully reproached her
- 24:04Speaker 1: for her treacherous designs, and, spreading out his wings, flew away.
- 24:11Speaker 1: In despair at having lost her lover, the unhappy Psyche
- 24:14Speaker 1: endeavored to put an end to her existence by throwing
- 24:17Speaker 1: herself into the nearest river, but instead of closing over her,
- 24:21Speaker 1: the waters bore her gently to the opposite bank, where Pan,
- 24:25Speaker 1: the god of shepherds, received her and consoled her with
- 24:29Speaker 1: the hope of becoming eventually reconciled to her husband. Meanwhile,
- 24:34Speaker 1: her wicked sisters, in expectation of meeting with the same
- 24:38Speaker 1: good fortune which had befallen Psyche, placed themselves on the
- 24:42Speaker 1: edge of the rock, but were both precipitated into the
- 24:45Speaker 1: chasm below. Psyche, herself filled with a restless yearning for
- 24:51Speaker 1: her lost love, wandered all over the world in search
- 24:54Speaker 1: of him. At length, she appealed to Aphrodite to take
- 24:58Speaker 1: compassion on her, but the Goddess of Beauty, still jealous
- 25:02Speaker 1: of her charms, imposed upon her the hardest tasks, the
- 25:06Speaker 1: accomplishment of which often appeared impossible. In these, she was
- 25:11Speaker 1: always assisted by invisible, beneficent beings sent to her by Eiros,
- 25:17Speaker 1: who still loved her and continued to watch over her welfare.
- 25:22Speaker 1: Psyche had to undergo a long and severe penance before
- 25:26Speaker 1: she became worthy to regain the happiness which she had
- 25:29Speaker 1: so foolishly trifled away. At last, Aphrodita commanded her to
- 25:34Speaker 1: descend into the underworld and obtain from Persephone a box
- 25:39Speaker 1: containing all the charms of beauty. Psyche's courage now failed her,
- 25:44Speaker 1: for she concluded that death must of necessity precede her
- 25:49Speaker 1: entrance into the realm of shades. About to abandon herself
- 25:53Speaker 1: to despair, she heard a voice which warned her of
- 25:56Speaker 1: every danger to be avoided on her perilous journey, and
- 26:00Speaker 1: instructed her with regard to certain precautions to be observed.
- 26:05Speaker 1: These were as follows, not to omit, to provide herself
- 26:10Speaker 1: with the ferryman's toll for Charon and the cake to
- 26:15Speaker 1: pacify Sebrus, also to refrain from taking any part in
- 26:21Speaker 1: the banquets of ades and posephony, and above all things,
- 26:26Speaker 1: to bring the box of beauty charms unopened to Aphrodite.
- 26:32Speaker 1: In conclusion, the voice assured her that compliance with the
- 26:36Speaker 1: above conditions would ensure for her a safe return to
- 26:41Speaker 1: the realms of light. But alas Psyche, who had implicitly
- 26:47Speaker 1: followed all injunctions, could not withstand the temptation of the
- 26:52Speaker 1: last condition, and hardly had she quitted the lower world,
- 26:57Speaker 1: when unable to resist the curiosity which devoured her, she
- 27:01Speaker 1: raised the lid of the box with eager expectation. But
- 27:07Speaker 1: instead of the wondrous charms of beauty which she expected
- 27:10Speaker 1: to behold, there issued from the casket a dense, black vapor,
- 27:16Speaker 1: which had the effect of throwing her into a deathlike sleep,
- 27:20Speaker 1: out of which Eros, who had long hovered round her unseen,
- 27:25Speaker 1: at length awoke her with the point of one of
- 27:28Speaker 1: his golden arrows. He gently reproached her with this second
- 27:32Speaker 1: proof of her curiosity and folly, and then, having persuaded
- 27:37Speaker 1: Aphrodite to be reconciled to his beloved, he induced Zeus
- 27:42Speaker 1: to admit her among the immortal gods. Their reunion was
- 27:47Speaker 1: celebrated amidst the rejoicings of all the Olympian deities. The
- 27:52Speaker 1: graces shared perfume on their path, The hours sprinkled roses
- 27:58Speaker 1: over the sky. Apollo added the music of his lyre,
- 28:02Speaker 1: and the muses united their voices in a glad chorus
- 28:06Speaker 1: of delight. This myth would appear to be an allegory
- 28:11Speaker 1: which signifies that the soul, before it can be reunited
- 28:14Speaker 1: to its original divine essence, must be purified by the chastening,
- 28:19Speaker 1: sorrows and sufferings of its earthly career. Eros is represented
- 28:24Speaker 1: as a lovely boy with rounded limbs and a merry
- 28:28Speaker 1: roguish expression. He has golden wings and a quiver slung
- 28:33Speaker 1: over his shoulder, which contained his magical and unerring arrows.
- 28:38Speaker 1: In one hand he bears his golden bow and in
- 28:41Speaker 1: the other a torch. He is also frequently depicted riding
- 28:46Speaker 1: on a lion, dolphin, or eagle, or seated in a
- 28:50Speaker 1: chariot drawn by stags or wild boars. Undoubtedly emblematical of
- 28:55Speaker 1: the power of love as the subduer of all nature,
- 28:59Speaker 1: even of the wild animals. In Rome, Eros is worshiped
- 29:04Speaker 1: under the name of Amor or Cupid. End of Section fifteen.