d eparted g o d s. - Forgotten Books

D EPARTED G O D S.

THE G O D S O F O U R FATHERS.

REV . J . NQRADENBURGH, Ph . D ., D. D

P a e sm a O F r m : N o a m DAKO TA U m ve n s n v.

C I N C I N N ATI : C R AN STO N 81 . STO VV E.

N EW Y O R K : HUN T EATO N .

1 89 1 .

C o p y r i gh t

B y C R A N S TO N S TO W E ,

1 8 9 1 .

01 0 mg 5 mm,

HD B D B ER YF G RAN 'B AN D C R N ES ’I ‘ (D I N OR ,

Rec ogn i t ion of the i r Pu res t F l l l a l Devot io n , Sta i n les s C ha rac te rs .

AN D

R i pe nmg Sc ho l a rs h i p ,

3 El im i na te th i s vo l u m e.

THE AUTHO R .

p RE F HC E .

N HE present work is a concluding volume of

a series in which are treated in a popular way ,and yet with a fair degree of thoroughness

,the

great rel igions of the world,both living and ex

tinct . “Living Religions possesses peculiar

interes t in that i t discusses the faiths of the

p resent heathen world in fields now mapped out

and occupied for Chris tian miss ionary conquest.“Fi re from Strange Altars ” is no t less im

portant in that it attempts to place in systematic

array many of the ascertained facts con cerning

the archaic li teratures and old cults of Israel ’s

neighbors,from the earlies t period which history

has reached to that when these mighty empires,

which shook the world while i t was yet but

young, dropped in pieces with the advent of

more advanced poli ti cal and religious ideas,

more efficient engines-

of war,and wiser military

organizations and plans for defense or conques t .

The present volume,i t i s beli eved

,will command

an equally generous welcome,both because of its

connection with the class ic nations,and much

3

4 P R EFACE.

more because i t treats of the religions of our own

fathers before.

the light of Christian i ty shot i ts

mild and beneficent rays into the w orld ’s first

gloom .

The student of the Greek and Latin classicshas had his attention too frequently confined to

dry details concerning the genealogies of the

gods or the myths which relate their adventures

and exploits— presenting the moral character of

the d ivinities in a light i n which li ttle,to say

the least,can be found for unqualified oommen

dation ; while th e Germanic and Cel tic nationshave failed to receive any adequate hearing.

While th e author in this work does not neglect

mythology,he endeavors to awaken a more l ively

interest in the religions of the peoples with

whom he has to do . Such a work can not but

give new interest to the studies of the classic

s tuden t,while the general reader will b e i n o

structed and ed ified i n i ts perusal . The Chris

tian scholar also will not fai l to appreciate i ts

value . It will increase h is reverence for h is

fathers,wh o walked by this uncertain but only

light,while he will more and more rej oice that

all other religious ligh ts of the world have been

eclipsed by th e true and gloriou s light of the

Sun of Righteousness .J ULY

,1 891 .

CONTENTS .

I .

THE R EL I G I O N O F G R EECE.

PAG E .

G REAT ZEUS 1 1

G O DS AN D HALF-GO DS 28

N YMPES AN D MO N STERS , PR I ESTS AN D ORACLES 77

I I .

THE R EL I G I O N O F THE ETR USCAN S.

R EL I G I ON O F THE ETRUSCAN S

I I I .

THE R EL I G I ON O F THE R OMAN S.

THE G REAT G O DS .

P RI ESTS AN D FEST I V ALSTHE MO RAL I TY O F STO I C I SM

I V .

THE R EL I G I O N O F THE D R U I D S.

1 . THE CHI EF or THE G O DS AN D THE CU L TU R E

HEROTHE SU N -G OD

THE CLASS I CS AN D THE I N SCRI P T I ON S

CON TEN TS.

V .

THE R EL I G I ON O F THE N O R SE.

THE O F THE WO R L D’

S MO R N I N G

THE WAR R I OR AN D THE THU N DER ERG O DS AN D N O O OD S

TEE D OOM OF THE UN I VERSE

LU ST O I: I nnU STR R T IONS

STATUE O F ZEUS OLYMP I OS ,MO U N T O LYMPUS ,BRON ZE STATUE O F APO LLO ,

STATUE O F PALLAS ATHEN E ,

PALLAS ATHEN E,

ABDUCT I O N O F CASSAN D RA FRO M THE TEMPLEPALLAS ,

TEE PARTHEN O N,

ARES,

ARTEMI S O F THE EPHESI AN S,

TEMPLE O F ARTEM I S,AT EPHESUS

,

FEST I VAL I N HO N O R O P D EMETER,

HERACLES SL AY I N O THE LERN E AN HYD R A,

THESEUS AN D THE M I N OTAUR ,FOOT-RACE

, OLYMP I AN FEST I V AL ,

THE HOMER I C ZEUS,

THE CHO I CE O F HERACLES,

I R E PAN TI I EO N,O R TEMPLE O R AL L THE G ODS

,

J UP I TER ,TEMPLE OF V ESTARUI N S O F T I I E TEMPLE O F SATURN AT ROME

,

J AN U !

8 L I ST OF I L L USTRATI ON S.

STATUE O F A V ESTAL V I RG I N ,

ROMAN PR I EST AN D PR I ESTESS,

STO N EHEN GE (RESTORED) ,D R U I D I OAL STO N ES , CARN AC , BRI TTAN Y ,FAI RI ES

,

O D I N WELCOMES A HERO TO V ALHAL,

FR EY,O R FR I GG ,

SCAN D I N AV I AN RUN ES,

THOR ,THO R ’

S D WELL I N G I N ASGARD,

TY R,SO N O F O D I N AN D FR I GG

,

HEATHEN TEMPLE N EAR STRASB URG, GER MAN Y ,

1 .

G REAT ZEUS.

HE Pelasgians worshiped the Supreme God ,nameless

,and without temple or image , on

high mounta in-tops,the natural al tars erected

and consecrated by the power and presence of

God . Zeus may have meant at one time merely

the heavens,the lumini ferous abode of the i n

visible God . In the mid s t of the idolatrous andpolytheis ti c worship of later times

,the God no t

made with hands or apprehended by the phys

ical senses,s till dwel t on the top s of the sacred

mountains,in th e brightness of his glory, form

less and unapproachable . There was a pious

dread of naming or representing the D ivine

Being ; hence there were altars to the Unknown ,the Great

,the Pure

,and the Merciful . This

early Pelasgian god demanded the sacrifice of

human victims,and the Greek religion was not

emancipated from these bloody rites till after the

lapse of many centuries .

Greek l i terature bears traces of a pre-classicalstage in theology . The three gods wh o‘

sh ar ed

among themselves the dominion of the worldth e earth

,the sea

,and the realm of the

shades— may have been originally the same god .

1 1

1 2 DEPAR TED GOD S.

Persephone,the wife of Hades

,according to an

Orphic myth,was united with Father Zeus in

the form of a snake . In the Pontic cul t there

is li ttle or no distinc tion between the Chthonian

Zeus and the supreme Zeus . Plato also makes

Pluto,the god of wealth

,closely resemble Zeus

abounding in riches . The god is Stil l more

closely connected with the sea . He gives the

fair winds,so welcome to mariners

,and his tem

ples are frequently built on headlands overlook

ing the sea . He also protects the landings of

voyagers . Poseidon occasionally bears the des

ignati on of Zeus Enal i os, or“ Zeus of the Sea .

”

The Pelasgic Zeus was differentiated,and there

resulted three brothers— Zeus,Poseidon

,and

I I ades .

Some of his sons may also have been devel

oped out of his character . He bore epithets by

which he was distinguished as the god of war

the strong one,the helper in the confli ct

,and

the giver of triumph . The Zéu s of the Carians

was represented equipped with a battle-ax,and

clad in the complete armor of a sold ier . Ares,

the god of war,was a later development .

Th i s Zeus became the chief of the O lympicgods

,th e father of gods

,and the god of gods .

Paul quotes from a Greek poet,

“We are his

offspring .

”

(Acts xvii , This clause is from

GREAT ZEUS.1 3

a hymn of Clean thes,a Stoic philosopher , who

was born at Assos in the Troad , about B . C . 264.

This may well be characterized as gne of the

pures t conceptions of God to be found in a l l

heathendom . It does no t descend to th e l ow

pantheism which,more than anything else , d i sfig

ures the Stoic sys tem . We present a translation

of the hymnO thou

,who

,under several names , art

adored,but whose power i s entire and infinite !

O Zeus,first of immortal s , sovereign of nature ,

govei'nor of all , and supreme legislator of a l l

th ings,accept my suppliant prayer ; for to man

is given the right to invoke thee ! Whatever

l ives and moves on this earth drew its being

from thee ; we are a faint Simil itude of thy

divinity .

“ I will address,then , my prayers to thee ,

and never will I cease to praise thy wondrous

power . That universe,suspended over our

heads,and which seems to roll around the earth

,

obeys thee ; i t moves along , and silently sub

mi ts to thy mandate . The thunder,minis ter of

thy laws,rests under thy invincible hands ;

flaming,gifted with an immortal l ife

,i t strikes

,

and all nature is terrified . Thou directest the

universal spirit which animates all things,and

l ives in all beings .

I 4 DEPAR TED GOD S.

Such,O almighty king

,is thy unbounded

sway ! In heaven,on earth

,or in the floods

below,there i s nought performed or produced

without thee,except the evil which springs

from the heart of ~ the wicked . By thee,con

fusion i s changed into order ; by thee , the w ar

ring elements are united . By a happy agree

ment,thou so blendes t good with evil as to

produce a genera l and eternal harmony of the

world . Wretched being,who seeks after good

,

and yet perceives not the universal l aw which

points out the way to render him at once good

and happy. He abandons the pursui t of V irtueand j ustice

,and rove s where each pass ion moves

him . Sordid wealth,fame

,and sensual pleas

ures become , by turns,the obj ec ts of h is

pursuit .“O God

,from whom a l l gifts descend

,wh o s i t

tes t in thick darkness,thunder-ruling Lord

,dispel

th is ignorance from the mind of man ; deign to

enlighten his soul ; draw it to that e ternal rea

son which serves as thy guide and support i n

the government of the world ; so that, honored

with a portion of this ligh t,we may

,i n our

turn,be able to honor thee

,by celebrating thy

great works unceasingly in a hymn ! This i s

the proper duty of man . For,surely

,nothing

can be more delightful to the inhabi tants of the

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join


times undesigned utterances and allusions , which

elsewhere have been denied . Indeed,no portion

of classical literature should be neglected , if we

would unders tand our subj ect . We must no t be

startled i f we find that quite frequently magic ,and other supers titi ons

,had more ii i fluence to

captivate and sway the common mind than all

the great gods and goddesses .

The poets and tragic writers have furnished

us with many noble expressions concerning God .

“No one is free but Zeus,

” says IZEschyl u s .

And again : “He fill s the world , and is above

it.” He is called by Terpander“ the beginning

of all things,and the conductor of all . Pindar

says that “God gover neth all things accordingto his will ; and again : “ Zeus obtained some

thing more than what the gods possessed .

”

Xenophanes gives utterance to the noble though t“ There is but one God

,greatest among men and

gods,and not like mor tals in form or mind .

Hesiod speaks of “ the eye of Zeus,which sees

all and knows all . In Homer,Zeus i s called

“ the father,the most glorious

,the greatest

,who

rules over all— mortals and immortal s .” Soph

oc l es has a pure ideal,when he says : “Courage

,

courage , my child ! There is still in heaven the

great Zeus , who watches over all things and

rules . Commit thy exceeding bitter grief to him,

GREAT ZE US. 1 7

and be not too angry agains t thy enemies,nor

forget them .

There is an approximation to the GoldenRule in Isocrates “Do not to others what youwould not suffer from them

,and be towards

others what you would wish I should be towards

you .

” Hesych i us makes an ancient hero, Bouzy

ges,say more clearly : “Do to others what you

would should be done to you .

” There i s no one

good but God— all men are Sinners . God looksfavorably on the pious , and cherishes them in life

and after death . He delighteth more in a pure

heart than in all sacrifices . Says Menander °

Fini sh your sacrifice to God with faith,being

ju s t and adorned with puri ty of soul as with abrilliant garment . If you hear the thunder

,do

not fly,s ince your conscience makes you no r e

proach ; for God seeth you , and holde th himselfnear you .

” “Good thoughts are the greatestgift of God

,says jEschyl us .

“Worship is due

the gods,

” says Aristotle,

“ because they are

the source of the greatest benefits we have r e

ceived,and we owe them intelligence as well as

life .

”

We present from the tragic wri ters a few more

sentences

“ Look thou on h im who looks on al l from heaven ,G uardian of suffer i ng men ,

I 8 DEPAR TED GOD S.

I V ho, wor n wi th toi l , un to th ei r neigh bors come

AS supplian ts , and r ecei ve not justi ce due.

Zeus,the tr ue supplian t

’

s god ,

Ab ides , by wa i l of su fferer , un appeased .

F or not a subject h asten ing at th e heck

O f str ength above h i s own,

Reigns he subordinate to m igh tier power s ;N or does he pay th is h omage fr om below,

I V h i l e one sits th r oned i n m ajesty above.

Act i s for h im as speech ,

To h asten what h i s teem ing m ind resolves .

“ Zeu s, who leadeth man i n wisdom’

s way,

And fixeth fast the l aw,

Wisdom by pain to gain .

0 Zeus, whate

’

er he be,

I f th at name please h im Well ,By that on h im I call !Weigh ing a l l oth er names , I fa i l to guess

Augh t el se bu t Zeu s , i f I wou ld cas t asideC lear l y i n every deed ,

From off my sou l , th is weigh t of

Socrates taught that “ there i s a Being whose

eye pierces throughout al l nature,and whose ear

is open to every sound ; extending through all

time,extending to all places ; and whose bounty

and care can know no other bounds than those

fixed by his own creation .

“

l'

fi Mi i l l er , Sc i en ce of L angu age, Secon d Ser i es , pp . 460, 46 1 ;

B r ace, Th e Un kn own G od , p p . 90—1 01 .

TXenoPh on , Memorab i l i a i , 4.

GR EAT ZE US.1 9

Zeus is the lord of the upper regions , dwel l

ing especially on the summits of the most lofty

mountains,where he gathers about h im the dark

storm-clouds,shakes the world wi th his thunder

,

and hurls the fiery bol ts in his wrath . The Olympian deiti es form with Zeus a family

,over which

he presid es I n patriarchal dignity . They are

unable to stay the tide of his power, to thwart

his will,or to ruffle the deep sereni ty of his soul .

His tremendous nod confirms decrees which no

power can frustrate . He has established the

eternal“

order of events,and himself submits the

Fates of his own appointment . The destinies of

nations and of men are in his hands . He sets

kings upon their thrones,and he sanctions human

laws . He watches over social rights,secures the

fulfillmen t of contracts,and holds all men to the

observance of their oaths . He . sees the guil tyand the unjus t

,and attends to the punishment of

all wickedness . He is mild and merciful,but

has no respect for the treacherous,the arrogant

,

and the cruel . He is interested in the delibera

tions of assemblies . He is the god of hospital

ity, and regards the s tranger and the poor . He

presides over property,and watches over fences

and landmarks . All suppliants are under his

peculiar protection,and al l dwellings are in his

keeping . He sends weal th or poverty,heal th or

0 DEPAR TED GOD S.

sickness,hunger or plenty .

’

He is the father of

music and song . He is all-seeing,all-knowing

,

all-wise,all-su ffic i ng, all-causing, and all-accom

p l i sh i ng. He is the god of armies,and maintains

liberty among men .

There is another side to the c haracter of Zeus

which mus t have been due to mythology and the

poets . He is subj ect to passion and frailty ; he

feels pleasure and pain ; he is refreshed wi th am

br os i al food ; he inhales the savor of sacrifices .

Zeus me t with many adventures in his loves .

He was often moved by anger,j ealousy

,and

hatred . There were factions i n h is court,and

conspiracies against h is government . He some

times quarrels,i s not always steadfas t in pur

pose,i s controlled by desire

,and harbors resent

ment . He storms at other gods,and resorts to

unseem l v V i ol ence .

The popul ar god was doub tless this Zeus,

with all his very serious imperfections . He is

subj ect to all the i nfirmi ti es of the flesh . He is

not eternal ; his life had a beginning, and , ao

cording to the belief of some,will have an end .

Sometimes he seems to possess l i ttle power, and

other gods can hear d him with a measure of suc

cess . He is not faultless in h is moral character

in any of the relations of l ife . He dethroned

his father,proved unfai thful to hi s wife on re

STATUE O F ZEUS O LY MPI C S(B y P h e i d i a s

22 DEPAR TED GODS.

peated occasions , and abused his own ch ildren .

Together with many n oble traits of character

were combined great"

weakness and monstrous

wickedness . The science of mythology explains,

to be sure,the origin of many of these i ncons i s

ten ci es ; but these explanations do not change

the character of the Zeus in whom the general

popular heart bel ieved .

Zeus did not become the chief of the gods

without a struggle . Accord ing to the oldes t

writers on the origin of things,Uranos and Gaea

,

or Heaven and Earth,gave b irth to th e Titans

,

of whom Cronos was the youngest . Of the sameparentage were also the Cyclopes ; and also

Cottos, B r i ar eos, and Gyes , each of whom hadfifty heads and a hundred arms . Uranos was

displeased when he saw his monstrous offspring,

and thrust them back again into the bosom of

Gaea . The mother,vexed at thi s outrage on the

part of her royal husband,called upon her sons

to avenge her wrongs . Not one dared to raiseh is arm against his father

,except Cr onos . Arm

ing himself with a sickle , or curved sword , Cro

nos waylaid and wounded his father,and from

the drops of blood which fell from the woundssprang the Furies and the Giants . Cronos now

reigned with his wife Rhea,who was als o h i s

s ister .

24 DEPAR TED GOD S.

char acteristically three in number : Thi soa,Neda

,

and Hagno .

On a mountain called Th aumasi um there was,

i n the time of P au san i us,a cave called Rhea’ s

Cave,which only Women sacred to the goddess

may enter . Here i t was that she cheated Cronos,

giving a s tone to swallow in the s tead of a child .

Tradition points to Mount Lycaeus as the place

of his birth .

*

Zeus gave h is father an emetic,by means of

which he was made to disgorge the chi ldren

whom he had swallowed .

The stone which he had swallowed was pre

served at Delphi,anointed every day, and at fes

ti va l s crowned with wool . Pau san i u s says that

stone -worship was the oldest worship among the

Greeks . Almost every temple had its sacred

s tone . The Argives had a rude stone called

Zeus Cappotas . The oldest idol of the Thespians

was a s tone . Another stone was preserved be

neath the pedesta l of Apollo at Delos . In the

Achaean Ph ar ae were thirty square d stones,each

bearing the name of a god .

There are but few traces of the worship of

Cronos . He had a temple at the foot of the

Acropolis in Athens,and sacrifices were offered

to him annually on Olympus .

* Pausan i u s,D esc r i p ti on of G reece, vi i i , 36 .

GR EAT ZEUS. 25

Zeus,with his brothers

,rebelled against hi s

father,and

,after ten years , was victorious , and

thru s t him into Tartarus , where he was gu arded

by the hundred-handers . Another account says

that he went to the Island of the Bles t,where

he ruled over the d eparted,and

,in connection

with Rhadamanthus,judged the shades . Plu

tarch places him on an island i a' the northern

seas,where he i s guarded by the hundred-handed

Briareus . Whatever may have been his des tiny ,he received

,as we have seen

,but small consi d

cration from the religions of the Greeks .

Zeus,in this great war agains t his father

,

had le t loose the Cyclopes,and they furnished

him with thunder-bolts .

Some of the philosophers have li ttle respect

for Hesiod and Homer,who have preserved for

us so many stories of the crimes of the gods .

When Pythagoras descended to the shades,

“he

saw the soul of Hesiod bound to a brazen pillar,

and gnashing its teeth , and that of Homer sus

pended from a tree, and snakes around i t as apunishment for the things that theyhad said of

the gods .“

Legends concerning confli c ts with primitivegiants , sometimes mons ters in form ,

and always

of superhuman strength,are abundant in the

D i ogenes Laer ti us , L i ves of Ph i l osoph ers , p . 347.

26 DEPAR TED GOD S.

early myths of most of the nations of th e earth .

Possibly there may,i n certain cases , be a refer

ence to primordial races ; but doubtless the mean

ing of these legends is largely exhausted When

connect them with the ever-recurring strug

MO UN T OLY MPUS .

gle between the bright and the dark powers of

nature and the later geologic preparation of the

world for i ts present inhabitants .

Speaking of the war of the gods agains t the

Ti tans,L en orman t says : “The localization and

the epic form with which Hes iod has clo thed thisnarrative were influenced by the tradition of a

GR EAT ZEUS. 27

great convulsion of the terrestrial crus t,occa

s i oned by the breaking forth of subterranean

fires,the scene of action being the Grecian coun

tri es,and the witnesses the men al ready inhabit

ing them,— doubtless that convulsion known to

geologis ts as the upheaval of Tenar u s,th e last

of the Plutonian crises which overwhelmed the

ancient world,the effect of which was felt from

the center of France to the coas ts of Syria .

The men who wi tnessed this frightful convulsion

of nature naturally imagined themselves to be in

the midst of a battle of the Titans,issued forth

from the Ch thon i an ‘

Sea against th e celestial pow

ers,combined with the Hecatonch i r s

,other ter

r estr i a l forces.

in conflict with the Ti tans,and

their imagination depictedi

these tremendous ad

ver sar i es,the ones s tationed on the summit of

Oth rys , the Others on the summit of Olympus ,reciprocally endeavoring to crush each other by

hurling burning rocks .”

‘ Len orman t, B egi n n ings of History , pp . 36 1,362.

G O D S AN D HALF -G O D S.

OSEI D ON i s placed by Gladstone among thefive greater gods of Greece . The four r e

maining gods are Zeus,Hera

,Apollo

,and Athene .

“ These five deities are all of them strongly

marked in ind ividual character,widely different

each from all the res t,and yet each effectually

subordinated to the fundamental condi tions of

the system,i n which the poet has assigned to

them commanding positi ons. They are also par

ti cu l ar ly associated in this important respect,that each of them is based upon a single leading

idea . It is not very easy to find,

’

in every case,

an Engl ish word which shal l satisfactor i ly ex

press this idea . For the p resent I would s tatethe case as fol l ows : The leading idea of Zeus is

pol ity,taking this word as the rendering of the

Greek P ol z'

tz'

lté. The leading idea of Poseidon

is physical,not mental force ; of Her é , nation

al i ty ; of Ath en é , mental force ; and of Apollo,obedience

,or conformity to the will of

The god which is the subj ect of Gladstone ’ s

G l adston e, Th e N i neteen th Cen tu r y , Mar ch 1 887, p . 460.

28

GODS AN D HAL F- GODS. 29

study is the Homeri c Poseidon . His ori ginal

character can no t be satisfactori ly determ ined .

A native and perhaps elemental god may have

furnished the basis of this character, but the

supers tructure contains many foreign elements .He is the sea-god

,and possessor of the trident ;

but he i s also the god of the hors e,th e god of

earthquakes,the god of the building art, the

god of special familie s and races,and “ the god

who stands personally related to rebellious pow

ers .” Some of these functions he possesses in

common with other d ivinities . He is the second

of the three brothers of Cronos,among whom

the dominion of the world was dis tributed by

lot . While Zeus has the wide heaven and Aido

neus has the gloomy underworld,to Poseidon

falls the gray sea . The earth is common to

them all . The three brothers originally stood

on an exact equality . Pose idon claims for him

self the same rank with Zeus,and never admi ts

even an advantage in point of age ; but, on the

other hand,he never resists . Zeus calls him

“ the oldest and the best of god s .” Poseidonspeaks as an equal when he says of Zeus : “Let

him not bully me,as i f I were a coward ; but

le t him keep his big words for his own sons

and daughters,who have no choice but to obey

30 DEPAR TED GOD S.

This gray god of the sea i s surpassed by

Zeus alone in his relations with women and

nymphs , and . in his many line s of des cendants .Briareus

,the hundred-handed

,known among

mortals as Aiga i on , is h is son ; and Th oosa,

daughter of Phor cu s , bore him Polyphemus . He

is the father of N au s i th oos and the royal l ine of

Sch er i e by P er i boi a . Turo bears to him Pelias

and Neleus , and from I ph imedei a he h as O tosand Ephialtes .* His paternal feeling seldom

rises higher than brute instinct . His strength

is not of intellect,but of hand ; not of heart,

but of gross physical frame . He seldom does

anything suggestive of real div ini ty .

Nereus was the old elemental god of the sea ,but since the arrival of Poseidon he has been

banished to the deep sea . His greater succes

sor i s confined to the surface of the waters . He

dwells in a palace,and the axle of his chariot i s

not wetted . In his own province his powers

are condi tional and limited,while other de ities ,

unchallenged,invade his realm .

But the god has important relations to the

land . He is the god of earthquakes . The

mountains and the forests tremble under h is

feet . On one o ccas ion he shook the earth so

violently that the god of the underworld leaped”‘ G l adston e, Th e N i n eteen th Cen tur y , Mar ch ,

1 887, p . 463.

32 DEPAR TED GODS.

character as god of the s ea .

“ Even where he

.was worshiped in the interior

,men believed

they heard the salt-waves resounding under his

His temple at Myca l e was the center of the

federal ins ti tutions which originated in Miletus

and Ephesus,and which uni ted twelve citie s .

His most famous fes tival was that celebrated

every second year on the Isthmus of Corin th .

The pine was sacred to him,and a row of these

trees sto od near his temple on the isthmus . A

eath of. pine-leaves was the priz e of victory

at the Is thmian games .

He is represented in works of art holding a

trident,and with a dolphin on his hand or under

his feet . Sometimes he rides a bull,a horse

,or

a sea-horse,or rides in a chariot

,and is often

'

surr ounded by the Nereids and other fabulousinhabitants of the sea .

The character of Apollo is one of the most

attractive of the whole Olympian court and hasbeen studied with almost affectionate reverence .

His worship was probably foreign,and may

have been introduced from Lycia or Crete ; but

it soon became an important part of the Hell en i c system . Apollo was now made the son

and interpreter of Zeus .

Cur ti us , Hi stor y of G reece, V OL I , p . 65.

GODS AN D HAL F—GODS. 33

Apollo ri ses on the vision of one familiar

with Greek antiquity as almos t a pure concep

tion,almos t an angelic d ivinity . To a form of

ideal beauty,combining youthful grace and vigor

with the fulles t perfection of manly strength,he

added unerring wisdom,complete insight into

futurity,an unstained life

,the magic power of

song,abili ty and will to save and heal

,together

with the dread prerogative of dealing out at his

pleasure destruction and death . Compassionate

on occas ions as Mercy herself, he shows at

times the keen and awful severi ty of a destroy

ing archangel . Eirobolos,

‘ s triking from afar,

’

he speeds his fatal shafts from his unfailing bow,

and smites whomsoever he will wi th a death

s troke which there is no escaping . Never of

fended without cause,never moved by caprice

,

he works the will of Zeus in all that he does

dispenses retributive j us tice,and purifies with

wholesome fear the souls of men . Partaker of

all the counsels of his father,and permitted to

use his discretion in communicating them to the

denizens of earth,he delivers h is oracular r e

sponses from the various spots which he has

chosen as his special abodes ; and , though some

times his repl ies may be of doubtful import,he

seldom sends away a vo tary unsatisfied . The

answers which he gives,or

,at any rate

,i s sup

34 DEPAR TED GODS.

posed to give,determine the decis ions of s tates

men and shape the course of history . War and

peace,treaties and alliances

,are made and u n

made as the Delphic and other oracles,inspired

by him,advise ; and the course of Hellenic col

on i zati on is almost entirely determined by his

decrees . Poet,prophe t

,physician

,harper

,god

of victory and angel of death i n one,Apollo

is always on the s ide of right— always true

to Zeus,and not much inferior to him in

An analogy has been traced be tween Apollo

and the Son of God . Gladstone says : “In

Apo l lo are represented the legendary anticipa

tions of a person to come,i n

_whom shoul d be

combined all the great offices in which God theSon i s now made known to man— as the Light

of our paths,the Physician of our disease s

,the

Judge of our misdeeds,and the Conqueror

and D isarmer,but not Abolisher

,of

The character of Apollo is s hown in his active

embracement of the will of Zeus . Returning to

this subj ect,Gladstone says To this most curt

ous and striking feature of the Apollo,I am not

aware that anything analogous has been found

in what are commonly known as Aryan tradi

R awl i n son ,Th e R el igi on s of th e An c i en tWor l d

, p p . 1 88—1 90.

TG l adston e, Hom er an d th e Homer i c Age, V ol . I I , p .

B R O N ZE STATUE O F APO LLO—THE COLO SSUS O P RHO DES .

(O n e of th e Seven W on der s .) 35

36 DEPAR TED GOD S.

tions,or in the results of Egyptian research .

When we approach the Semitic province,there is

a change . In the Assyrian system,as it is s e t

forth in the volume of Professor Sayce,the

character of Merodach appears to be related to

that of the god Hea,his father

,in a manner

much corresponding with the relation between

the Apollo and the Zeus of Homer. We are

now brought upon ground where remarkable co

incidences have already been disclosed,although

it i s impossible to forecast the bearings of future

Assyrian d iscoveries on what has been already

found . But if Merodach exhibits a correspond

ence wi th the Homeric conception,he corre

sponds als o with what may be his Semitic origi

nal ; namely , the undeveloped but most significant

tradition recorded in the book of Genesis r e

specting a future D eliverer, who was to bruisethe serpent’ s head

,and to undo his work by

restoring mankind to that very union with the

highest w ill which had been broken by trans

gr ess i on , and of which the Homeric Apollo ex

h i b i ts an unvarying and finished

This i s a daring comparison,but i t has reason

and weight .

The advent of Apollo-worsh ip marked an

epoch in the history of Greece . “ It resembledf G l adston e, Th e N i n eteen th Cen tu r y , May, 1 887 , p . 751 .


a second day of creation I n the his tory of their

Spiri tual development .” Great advancement was

made in the social order,and improvements i n

all that pertained to Hellenic civil ization were

inaugurated on every hand . Religion became

more spiri tual,music and song gave express ion

to the pure j oys of the heart,man was brought

into a closer and more blessed communion with

the gods,and the voice of great Zeus was heard

in the inspired utterances of the prophe ts . Th e

power of the Er i nnyes was broken , the cry of the

penitent was h eard and his s in pardoned,and a

reign of d ivine grace began .

The religi on of Apollo had i ts different phases .

In the mountain and fores t worship of Hyl ates ,on Cyprus

,and among the Magnetes

,wild cus

toms prevailed . Apollo as Delphinius is a sea

god ; and at Delphi he is “ the god of light andright, who guides the course o f States , the spiri tual center of the whole Hellenic world . In this

Apollo, Hellenic polytheism received i ts harmoni

ous completi on , and the loftiest glori fication ofwhich i t was

There had been , before the days of Homer , a

cult of the sun-god within Achaean terri tory .

The prevailing worship of Ithaca seems to have

been Sun-worship , as Gladstone has made out‘ Curti us , Hi sto ry of G reece . V o l . I . p p . 6 7 . 68.

4

38 DEPAR TED GODS.

with great probabili ty .

* The ruling name of

Phoebus was given to this nature-power,and

this sun -god grows into and forms what may be

called the material and popular basis for the Ho

meric Apollo . The latter is, the god of the i nfluence of the sun on nature

,while

,as his subor

d i nate,Helios guides the orb in his daily course ;

j us t as Artemis per son i fies the power of the moon,While Selene guides her course .

Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto,and

was born on the island of Delos,which Pindar

says had been a barren rock,floating about in

the sea,but was at that time made s tationary by

being fastened down by pillars . The same also

happened to Rhodes,th e center of the worship

of Heli os . The child-god immediately seized a

bow,and announced his purpose to found an

oracle . His father gave h i m a lyre,a miter

wherewith to bind h is hair,and a car drawn by

swans . He set out for Delphi ; but the swanscarried him off to their home among the Hyper

bor eans,when ce he returned not till the succeed

ing summer . The solar character of these myths

is unquestionable . Apoll o gave oracles at other

places bes ides Delphi,and communicated the

prophetic gift to certain mortals . He was the

leader of the Muses,and was j ealous of his gift.

*G l adstone, Th e N i neteen th Cen tur y, May, 1 887.

40 DEPAR TED GODS.

nic s Apollo , when a branch of olive was carried

in procession,hung with three hundred and

sixty-five wreaths , and representations of the

sun,moon, plane ts , and stars .

The worship of Apol l o was introduced in

Rome in B . C . 320,when the city was V i si ted by

a pestilence .

The-

principal symbols of the god were the

how,th e lyre

,the tripod

,the laurel

,the palm

,

the wolf,the deer

,and the raven. Art

,in i ts

ripest period,sough t to combine in h im the

s trength of manhood and the perfection of eter

nal youth . His long hair is usually tied i n a

knot above his forehead . When represented as

the leader'

of th e Muses,h i s tresses fall about

his shoulders,and his long drapery 1 s gl r t at

the wais t

Athene,as a nature-goddess

,may have been

originally a personification of the bright upper

regions of the sky . As Pallas,she was connected

with storms .

Athene,i n the Olympian Assembly

,sat on

the left side of Zeus,Hera sitting on h i s right

side . Sh e was the goddess of war,and was

armed with spear and helmet,and the dread

aegi s of her father . While Apollo sometimes

took the aegi s in hand at the command of Zeus ,she assumed i t spontaneously . She was res ist

STATUE O F PALLAS ATHEN E.

42 DEPAR TED GOD S.

less among heroes,and was

,as we shall see

,

more than a match for Ares himself. She a l so

fostered the arts of peace,and invented spinning

and weaving,the art of taming horses

,the flute

,

and the healing - art . She was the goddess of

pol ity,and of personal discipl ine and super i n

tendence .

Zeus,according to ancient story

,swallowed

his wife Metis,

“ intelligence,

” and Athene sprang

from his head full-grown . Sh e has been called“ a conscious impersonation of th e divine wis

dom .

” By many she has been considered an

almost faultless ideal female character . Homer

ranks her w ith Zeus and Apollo . She combined

purity,wisdom

,and strength ; and her influence

was healthful and ennobling . She was worshiped

with sacrifices,prayers

,and fes tivals .

It is difficult,if not imposs ible

,to describe

in a single Word the base,or leading idea

,of

the Homeric Athene. The shortes t account,per

haps,that can be given of her

,so as to convey

a living idea,is that she is the O lympian r eflec

tion of Odysseus . Like him,she i s p ol utr opos

many-sided,and full of resource . Like his

,her

purpose i s of iron,her methods are of the mate

rial,be i t hard or soft ; bes t adapted to the pur

pose,whatever i t may be . Like him

,she can

not be small, she must be large ; but she may be

GODS AN D HAL F—GODS.43

ei th er true or untrue as the occasion requires .

Like,though even beyond h i m

,she i s ful l of

fore though t,has no waste of power

,i s always in

measure , never in excess . In fact, these types

of character are so wedded to one another that

we may go a long

way with the absolute

parall el before we

reach those points , as

i t were upon the fringe

of each,where the lines

diverge — where the

human would pass

from consummate art

into exaggeration,i f i t

were absolutely assim

i l ated to the divine .

“ In him,as a man

,

limitation is necessary ;in her

,i t i s les s trace

able,as to her relations to the earth and man , than

in any other deity . Though he never fails,yet h e

may put up with a drawn battle,as in the Games .

Her success,from a practical point of V iew , i s

always assured . The cul minating threat of Zeus

to the assembled gods (I 1 . vii i , 1 8- 27) i s forthwi th softened down for her (39, Odysseusi s , in more than one case , carried away by pas

PAL L As ATHEN E

44 DEPAR TED GOD S.

sion into pure error of j udgment,with destruo

tive consequ ences . The neares t approach to

error that I can find in the conduct of Pallas i s

in the eighth Il iad . Sh e has no grace,

but much tact . Sh e is not,except in j ealousy

,

womanish ; but she never wholly ceases to be

feminine— never is she rough or coarse in her

dealings with men . Sh e never enters personally,

like Her é,into collision with Zeus . The reproach

against Here by her husband— that she would

like to eat Priam and his children raw (iv , 35)i s one that would be utterly incongruous if ad

dressed to Athene . Sh e is perpetually

thinking of the affairs and interests of those

she cares for,when they are themselves unmind

ful ; and she makes provision for them by unso

l i c i ted,as well as by sol icited

,in tervention . Sh e

never enters into mere contes ts of the tongue

never wastes a word . Athene,of the flashing

eye,presents to us a marked contrast be tween

the different internal centers of responsible ao

tion . Her intel lect i s a bow always Strung ; i t

i s ever ready,and al ive ; bu t her emotional na

ture i s as cons tantly under bi t and bridle . The

worst threats of Zeu s do not stir any passion,

nor even fear ; they are received with a low

murmur (1 1 . iv, or in silence (viii ,She is only bored or vexed (tetiemené) at the

46 DEPAR TED GOD S.

obstacle placed for th e moment in the way of

her plans . With so much power,and such reg

u l ati on of i t, i t is i n her nature to inspire the

human min d with a degree of faith and confi

dence,of which we have no other equally s trik

ing

He speaks of the Homeric goddess .

Hayman brings a heavy bill of charges against

the character of Athene . She never feels any

tend erness or affection ; She acknowledges no

obligation,and she is absolutely without p ity .

She i s busy and restless , unscrupulous in partner

ship,astute in pol icy

,and profound in dissimula

tion . She is keenly satirical and crafty,and

comprehends I I O motive s excep t th ose which are

base . She mocks the weak,and exults over them .

While fai thful in behalf of a comrade,she i s yet

heartless . She loves Odysseus for his roguery andcunning . Indeed

,these are the qual i ties which

she would doubtless mos t heartily commend .

Withal she would avoid no hazard to back a

friend,and is always ready and prompt . These

considerations can not but seriously deduct from

our admiration for her characters !:

Zeus,Athene

,and Apollo are in several re

spects placed far above all other divinities of the

926G l adston e, Th e N i neteen th Cen tur y , J u l y, 1 887, pp . 81 , 82.

TMah atfy, Soc i a l L i fe i n G reece, pp . 4 1 , 42.

48 DEPAR TED GOD S.

s ide their particular Olympian prerogatives.

Aside from Zeus,they are th e only divini ties dis

tin ctly named as having part i n that providence

which directs the affairs of men . They,too

,ex

bibit to men vi sible manifes tations of their provi den ti a l office . Neither makes use of instrumentsor secondary causes to produce corporal or men

tal effects . Both administer punishment by their

own authority . They s pontaneously recogniz e

and act upon the moral order of the world . In

the exercise of their powers and prerogatives they

overlap the provinces of other duties even in their

mos t pronounced specialties . They are set free

from the limitations of space and sense . Prayer

is addressed to them in all places . There are no

stages recognized in their j ourneys . Neither of

thes e deities is ever s tated to drink,or eat

,or

sleep . They are never wearied,they are never

wounded,and they never suffer pain . No pas

sion ever disturbs their pure h earts . Athene r e

mained the ma iden goddess,and Apollo

,in his

Homeric character,seems never to have been

moved by’

sexual desire . There is a passage in

th e “ Iliad ” which has been understood to signify

that Apollo ravished Marpessa,but the passage

yields to a different explanation . Neither of these

d iviniti es i s associated with any local home,and

thei r worship is not subj ec t to local l imitations.

GODS AN D HAL F- GODS.49

They exercise powers not wi thin the course of

nature or human experience . They assume at

will vari ous forms , and change the processes of

nature . For illustrations of these several pointsthe reader mus t be referred to the brilliant article

of Glads tone,where they are worked out in much

de tail .*

We now come to the discuss ion of the character

of the las t of the greater gods of G reece . Hera ,l ike most of the early Grecian d ivini ties

,was

doubtless at firs t of Pelasgian,or at least of for

ei gn, origin . She seems to have represente d the

fruitful earth,and her divine marriage with Zeus

was the ever-repeated union between Heaven andEa rth .

The ancien t Ayran idea derived all li fe from a

divine pair,whose fertil i ty sugges ted the concep

tion of them as a. bull and a cow . Zeus,i n the

form of a bull,carried off Europa . According to

Hesych i us , Europa is an epi thet o f Hera . She

is sometimes presented to us as the moon-goddess

under the epithe t Eil ei thyia . Euboea is one ofher epithets , the name of one of her nurses , the

name of the island in which she was brought up,

and the name of the mountain at whose foot was

her mos t celebrated temple . But this word,as

G l adsto ne, Th e N i neteen th Cen tu r y , J u l y 1 887 , pp . 92—1 02.

50 DEPAR TED GOD S.

well as her epithet B ounai a,contains the word

meaning cow.

She i s represented at Samos by the simple

symbol of a plank,and at Thespiae by a branch .

In some of the paintings she is hardly to be dis

ti ngu i sh ed from Artemis and Aphrodite . In

Tiryns and Mycenae,Henry Schliemann found

cow-headed figures,which he maintained are

idol s of this goddess . The horns— those of Isis

as well ; there was probably some connection be

tween Egypt and Mycenae— may be the symbolic

horns of the crescent representing the moon . We

may consider her epithet cow-eyed,

” of Homer,

as an interesting survival of her early character . *

In her character as a Greek goddess,she was

queen of heaven,and seemed to exercise all the

authority of her lord . She presided over child

birth,and her daughters

,the Ei l ei thyi ae, act as

her ministers . The patroness of marriages,she

was ever true to her own mari tal relations,and

demanded perfect puri ty among her devotees . Sh e

was strong,haughty

,full of intense hates and

likings,and justly j ealous of her husband . The

poets relate her bitter persecutions of the hero

ines,who becam e the obj ects of her husband ’ s u n

holy pass ion . She was much worshiped , and with

*Sch l i em an n,Mycen ae an d Ti r yn s , pp . V i , V l l , 10—1 3, 1 9

4 22,

362—364.

GODS AN D HAL F—GODS. 5]

tr ue devotion , and had many temples , many stat

ues,and many al tars to which the fai thful resorted .

In the O lympian court,the rank of Hera is

clearly recognized . She i s at once th e sis ter and

wife of Zeus ; the gods rise from their seats as

she enters the counci l ; and she parti cipates in

certain prerogatives of her lord . Like Athene,she

i s permitted to wield the thunder-bolt,she never

exercises any influence by personal contact with

mortals,but by the direct action of the mind

,and

she commands the services of other dei ties . The

nationality of her character gave her a large

place in the heart of Greece .

But her character someti mes descends very

low . She may almost be called a scold and ter

magan t. She i s deceitful,full of mischi evous

tricks,fr acti ons

,and rough-tongued . She l ies

,

and swears to i t ; and overreaches her husband ,no t by intellect

,but by artifice . She loses the

respect of the gods,and Homer is not in love with

her character .

Sh e possesses great energy of character,but

lacks all thos e o ther quali ties which make Athene

great and majes tic . Though occupying so con

sp i cuou s a posi tion , she suffers in compari son wi th

Leto,whose action in Homer i s so insignifican t .

The poet feels the utmost r everence for Leto,and

always treats her wi th honor,and on all occasions

52 DEPAR TED GOD S.

careful ly sh ields her from disparagement . Hera

is treated quite otherwise . A legend is recorded

that she was severely wounded i n the right breast

by Heracles,and yet no punishment seems to

have been accorded for the off ense ; indeed , no

notice whatever seems to have been taken of the

affair . Zeus is repeatedly roused to anger against

his spouse,and launches threats at her again and

again . In connection with Heracles she was sub

jected to severe corporal punishment by her lord .

On one occasion she was suspended from heavenwi th chai ned hands, and anvils attached to her

feet . So terrible is thi s punishment that the res t

of the O lympian coi I r t are roused to indignation .

The respect which she receives from the other

great'

di vi n i ti es i s not so much because of her

personal quali ti es of mind and heart,as because

of her conspicuous position as th e wife of the

king of the gods .*

Her mythological presentation was certainly

not of‘ a nature to improve the character of those

women who might take her for their model ; since ,although she was possessed of certain great qual

ities— pass ion,fervor

,strong affecti on

,self-com

mand,courage

,acuteness— yet she was

,on the

whole,wanting in the main elements of female

* G l ad s ton e,The Contem por ary R evi ew,

Febr uar y 1 888, pp .

1 81 , 1 82.

GODS AN D HAL F - GODS.53

excellence— gentleness,softness

,tenderness , pa

ti ence, submission to wrong , self-renunciation, re t

i cence. She was a proud , grand , haugh ty, pow

er fu l queen ° not a kind,helpful

,pers uasive, lov

ing woman .

Ares,the son of Zeus and Hera

,was the god

of battles— “a personification of the wi ld

,im

petuous spiri t with which battles were fought .”

He was splendidly armed with helme t, shield ,cuirass

,and spear— swift of foot

,great of size

,

unsatiable of war,furious

,raging , murderous . His

companions were Fury,Strife, Dread , and Alarm .

He was largely,however

,u nder the authority of

Apollo and Athene,to whom he was compel led

to yield . His worship i s though t to have been

introduced from Thrace,and the roughness of his

character precluded its general adoption by the

refined Hellenes .

D iomedes,with the assistance of Athene

,

wounded Ares and

The fu r ious godU ttered a c ry as of n ine thousand men ,

O r of ten thousand , r ush i ng to the figh t.

And when to avenge himself,he aimed his

huge spear at Athene

She only stepped

Backwa rd a space , and with her power ful hand

Rawl i n son ,Th e R el igi on s of th e Anc ien t Wor l d, p . 1 96 .

54 DEPAR TED GODS.

Lifted a stone that l ay upon the plain ,

Black , h uge, and jagged,wh i ch th e men of ol d

Had p l aced ther e for a landmar k . Th is she h u r ledAt Mar s

,and str uck h im on the neck ; he fell

With nervous limbs , and cover ed , as he l ay,Seven acres of the field .

”

Hephaestus,was the god of fire, and mos t

skillful in smelting and metallurgy . He was the

AR ES .

ar ti ficer of the gods,forged the thunder-bolts of

Zeus,and provided the gods with armor and war

l ike weapons . In pre-Hellenic t imes he may have

been an elemental god . Zeus cast him out of

heaven . Addressing h i s mother Hera,he says

F or har d i t i s to str ive with J up iter .

Already on ce, wh en I took par t with theeHe sei zed me by the foot and flung me o

’

er

Th e battlemen ts of h eaven . Al l day I fell ,And wi th th e setting sun I str uck the earth

*Hom er,Th e I l i ad— B r yan t’s Tr an sl ati on , V , 1 075

- 1077

56 DEPAR TED GOD S.

bl ing along , sat down upon a splendid throne near

where Theti s

Such was his appearance when consul ted con

cerning the shield of Achilles“ It i s characteris tic of the many-sidedness

of the Greeks,and consequent upon the anthro

pomorph i sm which makes the O lympic community a reflecti on of earthly things

,that there

should be,even in this august conclave

,some

thing provocative of laugh ter,a discord to break

the monotony of the harmony,an element of

grotesqueness and

The marriage of Hephaestus and Aphrod ite ,the goddess of love and beauty, satisfied their

s ense of the humorous and ludicrous .

The ancient Greeks paid Hephaes tus no

worship . Small images of this god,however

,

stood on every hearth at Athens,and “ the

Amphidromia round the hearth-fire was the rite

whereby the newly-born chi ld was adopted into

the family .

” In the old Greek art,he is r epr e

sented as a bearded man in full dress,carrying a

hammer ; but in his later workman’ s clo thes he

has an und ign ified and comic appearance .

Hermes was “ the god of social li fe and i nter cour se in general

,of streets and doorways

,and

*Hom er , Th e I l i ad— B uckl ey ’

s Tr an s l ati on,xvi i i

,41 0—424 .

TR aW I inson , Th eR el i gi on s of th eAn c i en tW or l d, pp . 1 92

, 1 93.


of the palaestra . He is the'

imper sonati on of

cleverness and commercial smartness,the god of

invention,and the patron of thieves . He has

been called “ the Olympian man of business .

”

He carries messages , undertakes important mis

sions,and secures worldly prosperity . He became

the god of wisdom and learning,but hi s wisdom

was stri ctly of a business and worldly character,

and he was far from careful of the means which

he employed,so that he accomplished his pur

poses . He was always “ active,energetic

,frui t

fu l in resource , a keen bargainer, a bold story

teller,and a clever th ief. His practical shrewd

ness and kindness made h im the valued patron

of travelers and the cherishe d friend of the

weary . In his nature there was an element of

humor and drollery,which often served him well .

He invented speech,eloquence

,the alphabe t

,

weights and measures,numbers

,and music . The

representations Show him in his early manhood .

His head and ankl es are winged,to symbolize his

swiftness of movement . He exchanged hi s lyrewith Apo l lo for the caduceus or rod of wealth

,

which served also as a herald ’ s s taff . The statue

of Praxiteles,in the Her a i on at Olympia

,repre

sents the god leaning with his le ft hand on a

rock,and supporting thereon th e infant Bacchus .

The right arm has been los t.

58 DEPAR TED GOD S.

The mythologi cal relations of Hermes are di f

ficu l t to trace,and still more difficul t to explain .

He is sometimes connected w ith the mysterious

Cabiri . In the hymn to Aphrodite,Hermes and

the Sileni are the companions of the mountain

nymphs,and in Arcadia he is the father of Pan by

Penelope . For the ful l treatment of the ques tions suggested

by such relations larger works

must be consu lted .

Artemis,the twin s ister of

Apollo,possessed in a less

pronounced degree the same

attributes with her divine

brother puri ty,chas tity

,maj

esty,skill i n archery

,and

ministry of death . She was

endowed with the sam e exalted

type of beauty,and even took

part with her brother in his

favorite music and dance . In

one respect she differed from

Apollo— she was the goddess of the chase,and

haunted the mountains and forests accompanied

by her hounds,rej oicing in her favorite pursuit .

As Apollo was the god of the sun,she was

the goddess of the moon . This may have

been grafted on her original character . “ The

TEMPLE O F AR TEM I S , AT EPHESUS.

(O n e of th e Seven W on der s .)

60 DEPAR TED GODS.

spread of vegetation from the dew under a

peaceful moonlight was ascribed to her influence .

”

At her annual fes tival on the sixteenth of April,

cakes were made in the form of the moon when

in the full, and stuck over with lights . Her i nfluence was especially felt near springs

,streams

,

on the sea, and in marshy places . Young girls

were under her special protection,and dedicated

to her a l ook of their hair or some other trifle .

She honored youth,innocence

,and modesty

,and

was withal a beauti ful character .

The Asiatic Artemis was quite different .

Ores tes i s said to have brought an image of thegoddess from the Crimea to Sparta

,where her

worship demanded human sacrifices . These sac

r i fices were commuted by Lycurgus,but thi s sur

vi va l still remained in the flogging of youths at

her al tar . The Carians and the L el eges worshiped

Artemis in the form of an image which was be

l i eved to have fallen from heaven . The wealth

and splendor of her temple at Ephesus is cele

br ated in h istory . She was the nature goddess

and an impersonation of fecundity in nature .

When we study her history,we must bear in

mind this double character .

Aphrodite may have been ori ginally an Asiatic

dei ty,introduced from Phoenicia through Cyprus .

She'

was the goddess of love and beauty ; but the

GODS AN D HAL F—GODS.6 1

love was not pure , noble , and divine , but therather sensual ; and so , too , the beauty was phys

ical rather than intellectual and moral . The

Greek was drawn to this goddess and fas

c i nated by her charms , and yet in his heart de

sp i sed her, and was dis contented under her i n

fluence. Silly and childish , easily tricked and

imposed upon,Aphrodi te is mentally contemp ti

ble,while morally she is odious . Tyrannical over

the weak,cowardly before the strong, frail her

self,and the persi sten t s torer up of frailty in

o thers,lazy

,deceitful

,treacherous

,selfish

,Shrink

ing from the least touch of pain, she repels the

moral sentiment with a force almos t equal to

that with which she attracts the lower animal

Her usual symbols were the dove,swan

,

dolphin, hare , goat, and tortois e . In Paphos Shewas worshiped under the form of a ball or pyr~

amid Surrounded by burning torches . “ In the

bes t days of art every charm of beauty was ex

hansted for her statues,

” culminating in the

Aphrod ite at Cnidus,by Praxiteles .

Hestia wa s perhaps the lates t in origin of the

greater gods . She presided over the altar-fireand all sacrifices . and claimed a portion of ever y

offering . Her sacred fire was kept always burn‘ Rawl i n son ,

Th e R e l igion s o f th e An c ien t \V or l d , p . 201 .

6

62 DEPAR TED GODS.

ing,and when by accident it was extinguished

,

i t was rekindled by friction or from the rays of

the sun . Sh e was the goddess of th e fireside,

the hearth,and the home

,and the art of house

building was ascribed to her . Sh e prote cted

suppl iants who fled to her hearth for refuge,and

preserved the purity,sweetness

,peace

,and j oy

of the home . Modesty and virtue Were under

her gracious protection .

“ She upheld among

the Greeks th e i dea of V irginal purity as a transcenden ta l phase of l ife— a moral perfection

whereto the best and purest might not only as

pire,but atta in

,as the result of earnest en

deavor .

”

Hestia presided over not only the domestic,

but also the city,the tribal

,and the national

hearths ; and in the later mystic philosophy this

became the hearth of the universe and the eter

nal fire at the center of the world .

The magistrates of the city met around the

common hearth-fir e,and there the sacred ri te s

that sanctify the peace of ci ty l ife were per

formed . Since the h earth was the home of th is

goddess,she poss essed few special temples . In

her temple in Hermione the sacred fire was her

only symbol . Sh e may have had another temple

at Olympia .

Demeter,

“ the earth-mother, was the goddess

64 DEPAR TED GOD S.

of fertil i ty . Sh e was a universal dei ty, though

more especially honored in certain places . The

culture of cereals,the work of tillage , and the

making of bread the G reeks learned from this

beneficen t and bountiful goddess . At the Thes

mophor i a, a festival at which only married women

were present,she i s sai d to have insti tuted the

laws of l ife,especially of the married life of

women .

‘ The Eleusinian mysteries , with the ir

pur i ficati ons , sacrifices , process ions , torches, ath

letio games , fas tings , solemn oaths of secrecy,and symbolic r ites

,where i n

,i n profound symbol

ism,were described the r ev iv ifica ti on of the earth

after the death of winter,and the new life into

which the soul is ushered after i ts passage

through the gateway of death,were celebrated

at Eleusis i n her honor . The myth commem

orated in this fes tival i s one of the most inter

esting,and celebrated in the classics . Per

seph one, her daughter, while gathering flowers in

the fields of Enna,in Si cily

,i s caugh t and borne

away by Hades,to become his queen in the i n

fernal regions . Her mother seeks her d i sconso

late,the earth refuses to yield her increase , and

Zeus is compelled to permit the daughter to l ive

half the year on th e earth .

According to a legend,at the time when

Hades was carry ing off Persephone,a swineherd

,

eons AN D HAL F-GODS.65

Eubuleus by name,chanced to be herding his

swine on the very spot,and the whole herd van

iehed down the chasm which received the god

and his prize . To commemorate thi s event, at

the celebration of the Thesmophoria, pigs , branches

of pine,and cakes of symbol ic import were cas t

into the “ chasms of Demeter and Persephone .

A multitude of serpents consumed the flesh of

the pigs ; but at the end of the year certain

women,who had undergone purification for three

days,descended into the vaults

,and

,fr igh tening

the serpents away with the clapping of their hands,

gathered up the remains and placed them on the

al tars . Whoever secured any of the decayed

flesh,and sowed it in the field with his grain

,

was sure of a good crop .

In the sanctuary of Demeter and the Deitiesof the Lower World

,at Cnidus

,a chamber was

discovered which contained the bones of pigs

and marble images of pigs .*

On the fourth day of this festival was ob

served the ceremony of carrying the sacred

baske t in honor of the goddess .

“ B u t r adian t Hesper , from the sta r ry skies ,Beholds the sacr ed basket as i t fl iesBr igh t Hesper on ly cou ld per suade the powerTo q uench her th i rst, i n that u nhappy hour ,

*Frazer , Thesnwp hof

r i u,i n En cycl oped i a B r i tan n i ca , V ol .

XXI I I , pp . 295-297 .

66 DEPAR TED G OD S.

When ,full of gr ief, sh e r oam

’

d from p l ace to place,

Her r avi sh’

d daugh ter’

s l a ten t steps to trace.

How could thy tender feet, 0 goddess ! bearThe pa i n ful jou r ney to th e wester n spher e ?

How cou ldst thou tread black E th i op’

s burn ing climes,

O r that fair soil , i n those dis tr essfu l times,

Where, on the tree, th e golden app l e beam s,

N or eat, nor dr ink , nor bath e i n cooling str eams ?

Ha i l , sacr ed power ! P r eserve th i s h appy townI n peace and safety

,con cor d and r en own

L et r i ch in cr ease o’

er sp r ead the yel l ow plain ;Feed fl ocks and h er ds , and fil l the r i pen ing grainL et wr ea ths of olive sti ll ou r brows ador n ,

And those wh o p l ow’

d the field shall reap the

Pau san i us describes the annual festival called

Ch th on i a as celebrated in Hermione . The priests

of the gods and all the town authoriti es lead the

procession,and the women and the men follow .

Boys,clothed i n white and garlanded with flow

ers of hyacinth,also form a procession . When

they reach the temple,they let inside the sacred

place a heifer,and the doors are immediately

shut . Four old women receive the victim,and

the one who can get a chance cuts the throat

with a sickle . The doors are then opened,and

a s econd,th ird

,and sometimes even a fourth

heifer is let in,and slain in the same manner.

On whichever side the ’

firs t heifer falls,all fall

* Cal l i mach us , Hymn to D emeter , l ytl er’s tran sl ati on , pp .

408, 41 3.


on the same side . The special obj ect of their

worship no one has ever seen . It is a secret

with the four old women .

In Ph iga l i a , Pausan i us sacrificed to Demeterafter the manner of the people of the land . The

only offerings were fruit, honeycomb , and wool

just as i t was taken from the sheep . These they

l ay on an al tar in front of her cave , and pour oil

over them all .*

Initiation into the Greek mysteries— by

which we now mean the greater mysteries :

those of the Cabiri,the Samothracian , the D io

nysi ac'

,the M i thraic

,the Eleusinian

,and possi

bly some others— was counted the highes t honor .

The privilege was granted at the first only to

such of the priests as were prepared by education and quality

,and those fortunate citi zens

who were to enter upon some important office of

s tate . The benefits were of the largest moraland spiritual significance . The doctrines taught

,

either by word or by symbol,were the existence

of one eternal God,the immortali ty of the soul

in some form of exis tence,and the future moral

j udgm ent .

In an ancient hymn the priest says : Go onin the right way

,and contemplate the sole Gov

er nor of the world . He is One and of himself‘ Pausan i us , D escr i pti on of G reece , 1 1 , 35 ; vi i i , 42.


alone , and’

to that one all things owe their

being . He worketh through all,was never

seen by mortal eyes , but doth himself see

every one .

”

Our chief sources of information concerni ngthese mysteries must be the

,early Chris tian

fathers— notably Clement of Alexandria and

Eusebius,whose accounts may be

'

received as

rel iable ; Plutarch , wh o writes as a philosophical

h istorian ; and Apuleius , who Spins out tales

most romantic,and is possibly leas t worthy of

credi t .

It would seem that the mysteries teach,in a

manner highly dramatic,the purest morality .

The candidate passes through certa in stages of

progress during the ini tiation,by which are

symbolized,ei ther in his own personal exper i

ence or by specta cular display, his death,j udgment

,and resurrection to a new life . The life

of the gods in whose honor the mysteries are

celebrated is also represented . By virtue of

the sacred rites and teachings connected with

the service,and the impress ions wrought upon

his mind and the change wrought in h is heart,he may be “ happy both in thi s world and the

world to come .

So much concerning these mysteri es must

forever remain concealed , that we can not pro

GODS AN D HAL F—G OD S. 69

n ounce with confidence as to the details e ither

of ritual or doctrine .We may

,however

,offer one or two criticisms

,

which seem to be fatal to the possibil i ty of anylas ting influence towards the regeneration of

society .

The mysteries were for the few . At a later

period,indeed

,they admi tted all to their secrets ;

but,from the very nature of the initiatory serv

ice,only the few could understand the sacred

meaning . The benefit which they bestowed upon

the great mass of the people mus t have been

exceedingly sl ight . That their influence over

the morals and lives of the initiated was healthful

,while the mysteri es themselves re tained their

purity,we gladly admit ; but such influence was

not,could not be

,abiding . Both the greater and

the lesser mys teries lost their original purity .

They afl'or ded the opportunity for hidden crimes .

They concealed uncleanness . Some of these

fes tivals may have been obscene from the begin

n ing ; others introduced or fos tered , or at leas t

a ll owed and protected,wickedness . The Eleu

s ini a n mysteries main ta ined their purity long

est, but even th is service broke down at the last .

Important among the secondary gods of Greece

was D ionysus , the son of Zeus and Semele, the

god of the vine and of7drunken

n

es

s. He intro

70 DEPAR TED G’OD S.

duced th e vine in Greece, taught its culture , anddiscovered the exhilarating effects of wine . His

worship,whose center was Thebes in Boeotia

,

was connected with drunken orgies,furious and

extravagant revelry, exciting music, wild dances,shrieks

,cries

,yells

,ecs tatic ravings

,and some

times even bloodshed . This god delivered from‘grief

,and furnished the only medicine for

troubles . The frantic ravings of the drunken

devotee were received as indications of special

inspiration,and his bois terous

,senseless

,and

mad utterances were recognized as prophetic .

The god fill ed the heart w ith courage,and the

body with strength . Similar seems to have been

the effect of the gases which rose from pro

pheti c springs, or from crevices of the earth in

prophetic caves— i ts intoxication leading to r e

spouses which were considered oracular,and the

interpretation of which called for special q ual ifi

cations .

The Bacchae believed in the much-abusedprinciple that to the pure all things are pure,and this gave l icense to all uncleanness .

“And let every one with pure lips speak that

which is propitious,for now will I

,according to

custom,celebrate with hymns the god Bacchus .

B l essed is he who, being favored , knows themysteries of the gods , keeps h is life pure

' and

72 DEPAR TED GOD S.

s tructed in the mysteries of wine-making ; but

revealing the secret to the herdsmen and laborers,

they became in toxi cated,and slew him

,throwing

his body into a well,or burying i t under a tree .

His daughter Erigone,finding the spot

,hung her

self i n grief.

There were many D ionysiac festivals .

Crowds of females , clothed i n fawn-skins

and bearing the sacred thyrsus,flocked to the

sol itudes of Parnassus or Cithaeron or Taygeta s,

during the consecrated triennial period,passed

the nigh t there with torches,and abandoned

themselves to demonstrations of frantic excite

ment,with dancing

,and clamorous invocation of

the god . The men yielded to a similar impulse,

with noisy revels in the s tree ts,sounding the

cymbal and tambourine,and carrying the image

of the god in Worsh ip was thought

to be most perfect when accompanied with the

mos t thorough drunkenness .

The active worship of this god extended

widely in Asia . In Phrygia he was connectedwith Cybele

,and followed by Pan

,Silenus ,

Satyrs , and Centaurs . The decay of vegetation

was represented as D ionysus slain,and wi th this

meaning he was connected with the mysteries of

Eleusis . He symbolized also the productiveness" G rote, Hi stor y of G reece, V ol . I , p . 26 .


of nature . His chief symbols , besides the phallus

,were the bull

,th e panther

,the ass

,and the

goat ; and h is insignia were the ivy-wreath , the

thyrsus,the drinking-cup

,and sometimes the

horn of a bull,which he wore on his forehead .

Sometimes his effigy looks ou t of a bush or l ow

tre e . Fruit-growers se t'

up his image in their

orchards as a natural tree-s tump . The Corinth

ians made two images out of a particular pine

tree,and gave them red faces and gil t bodi es .

The image of D ionysus was often nothing morethan an upright pos t

,with leafy boughs proj ect

ing from the head and body . The only res em

blan ce to the human figure was a bearded mask

to represent the head . There were no arms,but

the object was draped in a mantle . The religion

of Greece suffered greatly from this most degrading and licentious worship

Hades ,“ the unseen , was the ruler of the

infernal realm . The “house of Hades ” was a

dark abode,deep down in the earth

,and those

who would invoke him,rapped on the ground to

attract hi s attention . Another view placed h is

realm in the far West,beyond the ocean . He

was a shadowy deity,l i ttle worshiped anywhere .

Pluto,the god of wealth

,usurped his place to

some'extent, but he ever maintained his position

in poetry . His wife,Proserpine

,whom he ab

74 DEPAR TED GOD S.

ducted from the earth— pure,chaste

,and kindly

for one in her unenviable position— was queen

of the dead . Her votaries abs tained from

beans, pomegranates , apples , fish,and domestic

fowls .

Hecate was the goddess of magic,and was

closely connected with Artemis . Her worship

flourished especially among the wild tribes ofSamothrace Thessaly

,and elsewhere . She was

a moon-goddess,and magic rites were performed

by the light of the moon . She l ighted wander

ers on their way by night,and was the patroness

of roads . Pillars,called Hecataea

,s tood at

cross-roads and door-ways,especially in Athens .

Hecate was also the goddess of fertili ty,wealth

,

and power . Dogs,honey

,and black ewe-lambs

were presented to her as offerings . She was

represented in triple form,and her six hands

held torches,with sometimes a snake

,a whip

,a

dagger,or a key . Dogs were often at her side .

o lus was the god of the winds , which he

confined in a vast cavern,or sent forth at

his wil l .

Her e ZEol us , i n caver n vast,With bolt and bar r i er fetter s fastRebel l iou s storm and h owling blast.They

, w i th th e r ock’

s r everber an t r oar ,Chafe, bluster i ng r ound th ei r p r ison door ;

i


He, th roned on h igh ,the scep te r sways ,

Con trols thei r mood s , their wrath allays.Break bu t that scepter , sea and land ,And heaven ’

s ethereal deep ,Before them they would wh ir l like sand ,And th rough the void a i r

He dwelt i n an o l ien Island,which floated

on the sea,and was surrounded by an impreg

nable brazen wall ; and up to this wall ran asmooth rock . He has s ix daughters

,whom he

gives in marriage to his six sons . These signify

the twelve winds : They always banque t near

their dear father and good mother . The sweet

odored dwell ing is charmed with musical sounds

during the day,but at nigh t all sle ep on beds of

richest tapestry .

U lysses during his wanderings visi te d thi sgod

,and was entertained for a month . When at

length he asked for permission to depart,the

god prepared for him an escort . Having slai n

an ox nine years old,he gave the much-traveled

wanderer the bladder,i n which he bound the ways

of the blustering w inds,that they might

‘no t es

cape and make the voyage one of danger . He

bound them in the hollow ship with a shining

silver rope,and “not even a li ttle breath might

escape .

” But when his companions,thinking to

secure treas ures , cut the bag open , the winds es‘ V i rgi l , Th e rEnei d , Con i ngton

’

s Transl ati on 1 52—59.

76 DEPAR TED GODS.

caped,and Ulysses was driven back to the home

of rZEol u s , who, however, spurned him away as

one hated of the gods .Nereus

,the old man of the sea men call

h im old because he is unerring as well as mild ;neither doth he forget the laws

,but knoweth

just and gentle purposes trusty and truthful,

was friendly tomen,and full of wisdom . His fifty

daughters,who presented most valuable gifts to

men,were called Nereids

,and were per son ifica

tions of the quiet,peaceful

,and propi tious sea .

Proteus was another god of the sea,full of

wi sdom and knowledge , which , however, he would

not impart save under compulsion . At noonday,

while he was sleeping in a cave by the sea,he

could be surpris ed,caught

,bound

,and forced to

answer any questions which the inquirer wished

to'

pr opose, though he always tri ed to escape by

assumingrapidly, one after the’

other,a multitude

of forms . He was the subj ect of Poseidon,and

shepherded the droves of fish beneath the b illows .

Themis was th e personificati on of trad i tionalcustom . Homer and others made her a goddess .By command of Zeus

,she calls the gods to an

assembly,and summons or disperses assemblies

of men She possessed several temples andal tars.

I I I .

N Y MPHS AN D MO N STERS : PR I ESTS AN D

O RAC LES.

HE Greeks peopled all nature — woods,

Springs,rivers

,hills

,mountains

,meadows

,

caves , ocean— with nymphs . These strange beings sometimes carried away the souls of men to

dwel l with them,sometimes formed peaceful

unions with men,and sometimes took complete

possession of both soul and body . In such cases

as the las t,the possessed person lost his own

wi t to be sure,but thereby gained a superior wis

dom . Nymphs were worshiped especially by therural populations upon whom they possessed a

strong hold .

The nymphs of rivers and fountains were

call ed Naiads ; those of the sea were Nereids and

Oceanides ; those of the forests , groves , and trees,Dryads and Hamadryads

,and those of the mount

ains,Oreads .The Muses were or i g i nally a variety of

nymphs . They were the daughters of Zeus,and

presided over the nine principal departments of

letters . Upon whomsoever they look at his birth,

on the tongue of such a one they shed a hon77

78 DEPAR TED GOD S.

eyed dew,and from his l ips drop gentle words ;

so then the peoples all look to him as he dec i deth

questions of law with righteous j udgments ; and

he speaketh counsels unerringly .

The O ceanides are daughters of Oceanus andTethys

,and are three thousand in number .

Th r ee thousand nymph sO f ocean i c l i ne, i n beau ty treadW i th amp l e step ,

and,far and wi de d i sper sed ,

Hau n t th e gr een ear th and azu r e depth s of lakes,A bloom i ng r ace of gl or iou s

The Ocean-nymphs,beholding the misery i n

fl i cted on Prometheus by the power of Zeu s , thei r

hearts moved to pity at the sight of his awful

sufferings,cry the prayer

May never the al l -r ul i ngZeu s set h i s r i val powerAgain st my th ough ts

N or may I ever fa i lThe gods, with holy feastsO f sacr i fices, d rawi ng near ,

Beside th e ceasel ess str eam

O f fath er Ocean :

N or may I er r i n wor ds ;

B u t th i s abide wi th me,

And n ever fade away. 1“

Galatea was a sea-nymph,the daughter of

Nereus and Doris . Most unsui tably,as so fre

atHes i od , Th e Th eogon y— El ton’

s Tr an sl ati on , p . 300.

TE schyl us , Prometh eus , 526—535.

80 DEPAR TED GOD S

O f lovely caves , well -spy i ng Argos~sl ayerAnd th e Si l en i m ix i n love. Stra igh t p ines,O r oaks h igh -headed , sp r ing with them upon

The ear th man -feeding, soon as they are bor nTrees fai r and flour ish ing, on the h i gh h il lsLofty th ey stand ; the D eathless’ sacred gr oveMen cal l them , and with ir on never cu t.

B u t when the fate of death i s dr awing near ,

Fir st wi th er on th e ear th the beau teous trees,The bar k arou nd them wastes

,th e br anch es fall ,

And the nymph’

s sou l at the same moment leavesThe sun

’

s fa i r l igh t.”

In the Argonautics of Apollonius R h odi us,

Phineus explains the cause of the poverty ofPer aeb i us

B ut he was pay i ng the penalty la id on

Hi s fath er ’

s cr ime ; for one time, cu tti ng trees

Alone among the h i ll s , h e spu r ned th e p r ayerOf the Hamad ryas nymph , who, weep ing sore,

With ear nest words besough t h im not to cu t

The tr unk of an oak-tr ee, wh i ch , wi th her selfCoeval , had endu red for many a year ;B ut, i n the p r ide of you th , he fooli sh lyCut i t ; and to h im and to h i s r ace the nymphGave ever after a l ot p r ofitl ess .

”

Charon, of Lampsacus , relates that Rhoecus or

dered his slaves to prop up an oak which wasready to fall

,and th ereby saved the life of the

nymph . I n gratitude she desired h im to ask

any reward,and she would bestow upon him the

wi shed-for boon . He besought her love,and i t

N Y MPES AN D MON STER S. 81

was gr anted . In the cours e of time he made arough reply to her messenger

,at which she he

came so incensed that she deprived him of sight .

Calypso,the beautiful nymph who dwelt in

an island,re tained Odysseus seven years in her

fair abode . The divine messenger from Zeus vis

i ted her,and commanded her to release the cap

tive . A large fire was burning on the hearth,

and at a dis tance the smell of cedar and frankin

cense,which were burning

,shed odor through

the island . The nymph was singing with beau

tiful voice while she wove wi th a golden shuttle .

But a flourishing grove of alder,poplar

,and

sweet smel l i ng cypress , had sprung up and surrounded her grot

,wherein birds with spreading

wings,owls

,hawks

,and wide-tongued crows— i n

ter ested in mar i ti ne employments— slept . The

vine in the strength of i ts prime grew about the

hollow grot,loaded with clusters of grapes . Four

founta ins of clear water flowed in different directions

,and around all were soft meadows of

v iolets and parsley . There was every deligh t

to please the eye,charm the ear

,and cap tivate

the heart . Even an immortal,were he to visi t

this beautiful grot and its surroundings,when he

gazed upon i ts charm,would be filled with del ight

at the prospect .

‘ Homer , Th e Odysseus , v, 59- 74.

82 DEPAR TED GOD S.

Calypso,d ivine one of the goddesses,sat on

a shining,brilliant throne

,and entertained Hermes

with ambrosia and ruby nectar . The gift of im

mortality was at her disposal . She offered this

gift to Odysseus,with the hop e of gaini ng his per

manent regard .

Glads tone finds in Homer’ s nymphs of Ithaca

evidences of Phoenician influence . They were

the obj ects of parti cular popular worship . Ith

akos and his brothers constructed their groveand fountain near the city

,and from thence the

city was supplied with water . Here also was

an altar,which rece ived the offerings of those

who chanced to pass the spot . Near the landingplace of Odysseus was a cave

,sacred to the

nymphs,where the hero had formerly wor

sh i ped . This landing-place seems to have been

named by the Phoenicians,and hence it i s sup

posed that the worship had a Phoenician character . These Ithacan nymphs are water-nymphs .

Circe is a Phoenician personage,and her four

servants are born of the fountains,groves

,and

consecrated r i vers . The grove included the

fountain within . Nymphs were also worshiped

in Trinacr i e,th e island of the

’

sun . This also

would suggest an Eastern character .

These nymphs of Ithaca are associated with

Hermes . Over the city rises the hil l of Hermes .

N Y MPES AN D MON STERS. 83

When the pious Eumai os banqueted on the

slaughtered pig,he cut it into seven portions

,

and gave one of these portions to the nymphs

and Hermes . Now Hermes is the son of Maia .

Homer affords no direct evidence of her extrac

ti on , but all Greek tradi ti on places i t within the

Phoenician circle . In Sch er i'

é , Hermes was th e

god to whom was offered the evening libation,

and Sch er ie i s clearly Phoenician . Poseidonseems to have been i ts pres iding deity . Hermes

,

i n the Odysseus,replaces Iris as the messenger

of the gods . Was this because of her Phoeniciancharacter ? Iris i s d istinctively Hellenic

,and

may have been a creation of Homer . It may

al so be that,because of his Phoenician character

,

he became the guide and guardian of Odysseusin his eastern wanderings . Calypso is a Phoen i ci an personage

,and Hermes seems to have

been in general commun i cation with this nymph .

His office as conductor of the dead supp l ies addi

ti onal evidence to the same effect . Such are the

several points made by Glads tone in hi s mostexcell ent article on “Phoenician Afi i ni ti es of

We are constantly meeting with Phoenician’ G l ads tone , Th e N in eteen th Cen tu r y , August, 1 889, p p . 284,

285 ; cf. Homer,Th e Odysseus

,xvi i , 304—31 1 ; xi i i , 103, 347 ,

349 ; xi i i , 104, et a l i bi ; xvi i , 240; K, 348-35 1 ; xvi , 470; xi v, 435V i i , 136 -1 38 ; vi , 266 ; xi i , 390.

84 DEPAR TED GODS.

and other foreign influences in the re li gion of

the Greeks ; and in the early religion it i s frequently a difficul t task to determine how much

is imported and how much indigenous . Glad

stone i s a recognized master in Homeric s tudies,

and , though not always reliable , has done much

toward the e lucidation of old Greek li fe and thesolu tion of hard problem s .

The nymph Arethusa was changed byArtemis

into a fountain,that she might escape the ardent

pursui t of the ri ver-god Alpheus,who aspired to

her hand . But the god,as the story goes

,was

not frustr ated,but passed beneath the sea from

Peloponnesus to the island O r tygi a, whither hisbeloved had taken refuge . Milton

,in his “Ar

cades,

” alludes to the story

That r enowned flood , so often sung,

D ivine Al pheu s , who by sac red slu iceStole under seas to meet h i s Ar ethuse.

The story is celebrated in mythology, and deserves i ts popularity . Perhaps we can do nobetter than to let Arethusa relate her own s tory

as she told it to Ceres,as preserved in Ovid :

“ I was one of the nymphs which ex is t i nAchaia ; nor did any one more eagerly skim along

the glades than myself,nor with more industry

set the nets . But though the reputation for

beauty was never sought by me,although

,too

,

N Y MPHS AN D MON STERS. 85

I was of robus t make ; still I had th e name of

being beau tiful . But my appearan ce,when so

much commended,did not please me ; and I,

like a country lass,blushed at those endowments

of person in which oth er females are wont to

take a pride,and I deemed i t a crime to please .

I remember I was returning weary from the

Stymphalian wood . The weather was hot,and

my toil had redoubled the intense heat . I found

a stream gl iding on without any edd ies,without

any noise,and clear to the bottom

,through which

every pebble,at so great a depth , migh t be

counted,and which you could hardly suppose to

be in motion . The hoary willows and poplars,

nourished by the water,furnished a shade

,spon

taneou sl y produced , along the shelving banks .”

The nymph,having d isrobed

,was enj oying a

refresh i ng bath in the cooling waters of the

beautiful s tream,when the god

,moved with pas

sion . sought her love . She fled over fields and

mountains,until wearied wi th the exertion and

nearly overtaken,when she cried to Artemis for

help .

“The goddess was moved,and

,taking one

of the dense clouds,she threw it over me . The

river looked about for me,concealed in the dark

ness , and , in his ignorance , sought abou t’

the en

ci rcling cloud ; and twice uncons ciously did he

go around the place where the goddess had con

8

86 DEPAR TED GOD S.

ceal ed me,and twice did he cry

,Ho

,Ar ethusa !

’

What,then

,were my feelings

,in my wre tched

ness ? Yet he does no t depart ; for no

further does he trace any prints of myfeet .He watches the cloud and the spo t . A cold per

spiration takes possession of my limbs,thus be

s ieged,and azure-colored drops distill from all my

body . I was changed into a s tream . But

s ti ll the river recognized the waters,the obj ects

of his love ; and , having laid aside the shape of

a mortal,which he had assumed

,he was changed

into his waters,that he migh t mingle with me .

Thereupon the Delian goddess cleaved the ground .

Sinking,I was carried through dark caverns to

Or tygi a, which , being dear to me from the sur

name of my own goddess,was the first to intro

duce me to the upper

The s tories of the loves of the nymphs with

gods and men form many charming pictures,

though often at the expense of the reputation of

bo th for morali ty and conjugal fideli ty . They

were frequently changed into the forms of vari

ous obj ects,both animate and inanimate . They

were generally mild in disposition and friendly

to men,but i t was not well to fall into their

power .

* Ovi d , Th e Metam orp h oses , R i l ey’s Tra n s l ati on , V ol . I I I ,

p p . 1 84, 1 85 ; c f. V i rgi l , fEn eid , 694 ; Ach i l l es Tati us, I .

88 DEPAR TED GOD S.

worship . We must also omit a multitude of d i

vi n i ti es of a still lower rank . They act as at

tendan ts upon the great gods . Many others are

mere shadowy forms,and l i ttle more than per

son ificati on s of phases,acts

,and circumstances

in human l ife , qualiti es of the mind , attributes

of the body,and facts of nature .

Several of the attendants of the gods are

beautiful characters,and patterns of grace and

fidel i ty— full of sunshine and good cheer . Iris

is the messenger of Zeus . She i s called golden

winged and rosy-armed,and often carri es the

herald ’ s s taff. This goddess i s the personi fi ca

tion of the rainbow,which unites heaven and

earth . The Latin poe t has re tained her Greekcharacter

So, down fr om heaven fa i r I r i s flies,

On sa ffron w i ngs impea r l’

d with dew,

That flash aga i n st th e sun lit sk iesFul l many a var ied h ue ;

Then stands at D ido’

s head,and cr ies

Th is lock to D is I bear away,

And free you fr om your load of clay 1’

So shears th e lock— th e vi tal heatsD isperse, and breath i n a i r

Kr atos and Bia are servants of Hephaestus ;and the Hor se

,who

,with the Charites

,work the

garments of Aphrodite with flowers which re ta inf V i rgi l , Th e JEn ei d , i v, 700

- 705 .

N Y MPHS AN D MON STERS . 89

the fragrance of nature,are the attendants of

this goddess of l ove .

Boreas and the other winds are the servan ts

of AEol u s . Boreas,th e north wind , i s rough and

powerful . He carried off Orei thyi a, the beauti

ful daughter of Erechtheus,king of Athens

,and

made her queen of the winds . They dwelt on

Mount Haemus,in Thrace . He had an altar

near Il issus,and a festival was held in h is

honor .

Hebe is the cup-bearer of the gods,and

,like

Aphrodi te,is cal led the most beautiful of the

gods . In Ph l i u s she was worshiped in a temple

on the citadel to which the right of asylum was

attached . She was th e personification of the

blooming freshness and youth of nature,and

again of the eternal youth which belongs to th e

gods . At the apotheosis of Heracles,when he

was reconciled to Hera,he received Hebe as

his wife,and they were worshiped together in

Athens .

Greek mythology is full of monstrous birthsthe Cyclopes

,the Harpies

,the Minotaur

,the

Gorgons,the Nemean Lion

,th e Lernaean Hydra

,

the Dragon of the Hesperides,the Centaurs

,

Echidna,Chimaera

,Cerberus the Dog of Hades

,

Typhoeus , and the li ke . Clas sic s tory has madetheir names famil i ar.

90 DEPAR TED GOD S.

Chimaera i s a monster “breathing resistless

fire , fierce and huge , fleet-footed , as well as strong .

This monster had three heads— one indeed of a

grim-visaged lion,one of a goat

,and another of

a serpent— a fierce dragon ; in front a l ion , a

dragon behind, and in the mids t a goat— breathi ng forth the dread strength of burning fire .

”

Typhoeus is the youngest son of Tartarus

and Gaea .

“Whose hands,indeed

,are apt for

deeds on the score of

strength,and untiring

the feet ‘of the strong

god ; and from his

shoulders there were

a hundred heads of a

serpent,a fierce dragon ,playing with dusky

R en ew s Su m ac; m stongues

,and from the

L ER N M H Y D R A eyes in his wondrous

heads fire sparkled beneath the brows ; whils t

from all hi s heads fire was gleaming,as he looked

keenly . In all h is terrible heads,too

,were voi ces

,

sending forth every kind of sound ineffable . Forone while

,indeed

,they would utter sounds so as

for the gods to understand ; and at another time

again the voice of a loud-bellowing bull,un

tamable in force,and proud in utterance ; at an

other time,again

,that of a lion

,possessing a

THESEUS AN D THE M I N OTAUR.

92 DEPAR TED GOD S.

daring spirit ; at another, yet again, they would

sound l ike to whelps,wondrous to hear ; and at

another,he would hiss

,and the lofty mountains

resound . And,in sooth

,then would there have

been done a deed pas t remedy,and he

,even he

,

would have reigned over mortals and immortals,

unless,I wot

,the sire of gods and men had

quickly observed h im .

” Zeus conquered Ty

ph oeu s, and hurled h im in to wide Tar tar usfi‘

The belief in th ese monstrous forms— we can

not spare our time to describe others— must haveexercised a profound influence upon the popular

religion . Some may have been loved , some wor

sh i ped, many feared , and all respected . They

furnished the material from which many stories

for the nursery were cons tructed . Children were

frightened into obedience by relating to them

stories of bugbears and hobgobl ins— Lamia,

Gorgo,Ephial tes

,Mormolyca , Akko , Al ph i to,

Empou sa . Super sti tion s terrors were created and

fed by such non sensed‘

The Greeks prayed and offered sacri fices,and

in this manner they recognized the bless ings r e

cei ved from the heavenly div inities,and besough t

their continuance . The devoted Greek fi l led h is

" Hes i od , Th e Th eogon y, pp . 1 8, 41 .

TB ecker , Ch ar i c l es , pp . 224, 225 ; L u c i an ,D i al ogues of th e

G ods , p . 37 ; Th eocr i tus , I dyl l xv, 40.

N Y MPES AN D MON STER S. 93

house with shrines,and presented thereon offer

ings to secure the especial favor and protecti on

of his own peculiar patron deities . He prayed

both morning and evening,and did not fail to

conclude each meal with a hymn or prayer .

But this family worship did not su ffice,ex

cept when life was running smoothly . When

sickness or danger was felt to be near,there were

prayers,sacri fices

,and vows to meet the special

emergency .

The rel igious festivals of the Greeks— nati onal

,poli tical

,tribal

,and others— were numer

ous and important . The perfec tion of the musi c

the bril li ancy of the process ions,the theatrical

contes ts,the magnificent equipages

,the splendor

and excitement of the scene,and the many races

and games,made these festivals attracti ve and

j oyous . Sacrifices were offered,and the people

feasted -on the flesh of the sacrificial victims .

The great festivals— the O lympian,the D elphian

,

the Isthmian,and the Nemean— were expected

wi th eagerness,and celebrated with enthusiasm .

The lesser festivals had also their own impor

tance,and all were marked by brightness . cheer

fulness , j oyousness , feasting and dancing , and

general good cheer . This,indeed

,was a dis tin

gu i sh i ngmark of the Greek religion— l ight, grace,pleasure

,gl adness .

94 DEPAR TED GOD S.

The gods,however

,could be offended

,and

then visi ted upon individuals,families

,cities

,and

nation s,calamities great and terrible . The Furies

were sometimes the agents of the gods in their

i nfl i cti ons of punishment . The crimes most

hateful to the gods were blasphemy,sacrilege

,

perjury,treachery

,incest

,and others of similar

character . F ierce demons were sent to torment

FO OT—R ACE , O LY MP I AN FEST I VAL

the guil ty soul,and peace was only possible when

,

by long and tedious ri tes , the gods had been pro

p i ti ated . Some sins seem to have placed the

offender beyond the reach of mercy,and human

sacrifices were the only possible propitiation for

certain national sins .

The general rule,however , was facili ty in se

curing pardon . It could no t be expected that

the people would be be tter than the gods whom

96 DEPAR TED GOD S.

God was considered too sacred to be pronouncedor written . There might also be a fear lest

,i n

the multipl icity of gods to whom sacrifices were

offered,some god might be forgotten . And then

,

too,i t might not be known to what god thanks

were due for some special favor .

When the Athenians were affl icted by a

plague,and were enj oined by the priestess at

Delphi to purify the city,they sent for Epi

menides,a Cretan philosopher

,especial ly be

loved,as they beli eved

,by the gods . This was

in the forty-sixth Olympiad . Coming to the

city,he took some black sheep and some white

ones,and led them up to the Areopagus . There

he set them free,and let them wander abou t at

their pleasure . Attendants followed them,and

as often as one after the other lay down,i t was

sacrificed to the patron dei ty of the spot . In

this manner the deadly plague was stayed .

And,says D iogenes L aer ti u s

,there may sti ll be

found,in the different boroughs , altars without

names . These he considers memorials of the

propitiation of the gods which . then took

place .

*

We may consider these sheep as scapegoats .

In wandering about in the city,they gathered

to themselves the plague or plague-spiri ts,and

*Di ogenes I a er ti ne, L i ves of th e Ph i l osoph ers , p . 51 .

N Y MPHS AN D MON STERS . 97

bore them each to her own special deity,and

there yielded them up with her l i fe .

We may compare another sacrifi ce . Barley

mixed with wheat, or cakes’

made therefrom,

were laid on the altar of Zeus Polieus,on the

Acropolis . Oxen were driven around the al tar,

and the ox which firs t ate of the offering was

thereby designated for the sacrifice . The axand knife to be used were sanctified by being

wet in water brought by certain maidens . The

weapons were sharpened and handed to two

butchers . One felled the ox with his ax,threw

the ax away,and fled . The other ou t th e throat

of the ox with his knife,threw the knife away

,

and fled . The ox was skinned,and all present

j o ined in a sacrificial meal . The hide was s tuffed

with s traw,and yoked to a plow . A trial was

then held to d etermine who murdered the ox .

The maidens charged i t upon those who sharp

ened the weapons ; the latter accused those who

handed them to the butchers ; those who handed

the weapons to the butchers blamed the butchers ;and the butchers blamed the ax and knife

,which

were finally found guil ty,condemned

,and cas t

into the sea . In this case the ox may have rep

resented the corn-spirit , sacrificed at the end of

the harves t to become incarnate,with renewed

vigor,with the beginning of the following season .

98 DEPAR TED GOD S.

Paul , in Acts , mentions an altar to the“U n

known God . Pau san i u s says that at Athens

there were altars to gods whose names were nu

known . Ph i l ostr atu s bears tes timony to the

same fact .“Among the Greeks

,as among the Italicans

,

religion was a matter of personal conscience,and

the full exerci se

of div ine wor

ship a personal

right of every

f r e e m a n . No

privileged caste

stood between

gods and men .

Every Hellene

may offer sacri

fice and prayer

w i t h o u t a n ystranger’ s medi

ation . The mission of religion is to accompany

every public and domestic action,to sanctify

every day,to con secrate every labor and every

pleasure . This obj ect i s achieved by man ’ s

putting himself in communication with the

gods . Sacrifices are nothing but the expression

of the communion of life between gods andmen

, which should constantly be renewed . The

THE Homz a rc ZEU S .

100 DEPAR TED GOD S.

r i fyi ng evil-doers , cursing enemies in the name

of the gods,and solemnly blessing all acts of

State worship . Although the power of the

priests at times was great , they never assertedthemselves as a hierarchy . In fact

,they were

frequently split up into factions,and this would

be a powerful check upon any tendencies danger

ous to the State .

The mantic art,in its origin

,was not con

nected with the priesthood . Gods,men

,and

things were considered,in some sense

,one in

government . Unusual phenomena in earth,air

,

or sky were received as divine hints . Those

whose hearts were nearest the gods and nature

could read these omens . Knowing the d ivine

will,they could demand a hearing

,and insist

upon obedience . Especially in sacrifices the

Greeks looked for divine revelations ; and henceeverything connected with the offering of sacri

fices was subj ected to the closest scrutiny,that

no admonition or notification of the gods might

escape attention . But this low kind of prophecy

could not chain the mind of the intellectual and

cul tured,however migh ty might be i ts influence

among the mass of the people .

With the worship of Apollo the mantic art

finds its highest development . The god speaks

through the mouths of girls and women, whose

N Y MPHS AN D MON STER S. 1 01

own consciousness,in moments of prophetic

fren zy,i s so los t that they have neither will nor

understanding in the words which they pro

nounce . Their words must be interpreted . Here

the mantic art comes into relation with the

priestly . D ivination,in i ts bes t work

,was drawn

to fixed places and special days . There soon

arose influential oracles,consecrated by d ivine

omens and revered associations,and in their ad

m inis tr ation the priests acquired new power and

dignity . These oracles became centers of culture ;and the priests were so well versed in national

affairs,and so schooled by experience

,that the

answers they gave to many questions were char

acter i zed by much wisdom . Certain ques tions,

beyond the reach of their wisdom,they might

refuse to answer as improper ; or the answers

might be worded in a manner so ambiguous that

i t woul d’

be imposs ible thereafter to prove them

fal se . Hence the oracles long maintained their

influence,and especially the Delphic oracle was

a seat of wonderful power . It bound the Hellenes together as a nation

,and i t bound true

worshipers to the will of Zeus,while i t insisted

upon puri ty of life . The priests of DelphicApollo baptized wi th Castal ian water

,but warned

the cand idates “Deceive not you rselves . Forthe good

,indeed; one drop of the sacred spring

1 02 DEPAR TED GODS.

suffices ; but from the bad , no sea of water shal l

wash away the pollution of

The several oracles were maintained in har

mon i ou s relations with themselves and with al l

Greece . The sanctuary wa s the safest place in

which to deposi t money as well as all kinds of

articles of value,and hence became an i nsti tu

tion somewhat similar to modern banking estab

l i shments . The oracle fostered the beginnings of

literature,and exercised a weighty influence over

Greek art and architecture . Every colony was

sent out and planted under the protection of

Apollo,and

,in true missionary spiri t

,carried his

worship to many foreign coasts . The oracle was

also closely connected with markets,trades

,and

all commercial enterprise . The calendar was

placed under the supervision of the priests,and

while the civil year was not forgotten,the sacred

year came into general use . Great nati onal festi val s worked harmoniously with the oracles in

mainta ining a national spirit . The DelphicAmphictyony established a defini te number of

deities,and the priests guarded agains t the i n

tr odu cti on of new gods .

Delphi,in the days of the splendor and great

ness of its power,was the spiritual center of all

arts,and united them all for religious purposes .

Cu rti us, Hi stor y of G r eece, V ol . I I , p . 27.

1 04 DEPAR TED G0OS.

fate were considered quite as responsible for sin

as man himself. Wrong-doing of every kind was

most frequently expressed by ate with its cor

responding verb .

“ The radical signification of

the word seems ‘to be a befool ing— a dep r i v1 ng

one of his senses and his reason,as by unsee

sonable sleep and excess of wine,j o ined with the

influence of evil companions,and the power of

destiny or the dei ty . Hence the Greek imagination

,which impersonated every great power

,

very naturally c onceived of Ate as a person , a

sort of omnipresent and universal cause of folly

and sin,of mischief and misery

,wh o

,

'

th ough the

daughter of Jupiter,yet once fooled or misled

Jupiter himself,and thenceforth

,cas t down from

heaven to earth,walks with light feet over the

heads of men,and makes all things go wrong .

Hence,too

,when men come to their senses

,and

see what folly and wrong they have perpetrated,

they cast the blame on Ate,and

,so

,ultimately

,

on Jupiter and the gods .

”

There was something more than an under

tone of sadness i n many expressions concerning

life . From Homer,onward

,the low lamentation

may be heard . Sophocles says,mournfu lly °

Happ iest beyond compare

N ever to taste of l i fe ;

Ty l er , Th eol ogy of th e G r eek Poets , pp . 1 74,1 75.

N Y MPES AN D MON STERS . 105

Happ iest i n order next ,Being born ,

with q u ickest speedTh ither again to tur n

Fr om whence we came.

Simonides says : “Sorrow follows sorrow so

quickly that not even the air can penetrate between them .

There i s no reli ef i n expectation,in the life

to come . Indeed,the future

,when held in seri

ous contemplation,is,

- i f possible,worse than the

present . “ This world alone was real— alone

offered true happines s ; th e other was the gloomy,j oyless

,lower world . Ulysses

,in Homer

,sees

the dead,as shadows

,greedily drink the blood

which,for a moment at least

,restores to them

real life ; and Achilles would rather linger upon

earth in the lowes t station than be a king

among the shades .” Anacreon sings in sad

strains : “My temples are gray,and white my

head ; beautiful youth is gone . Not much r e

mains of sweet life . Therefore I often sigh,

fearing Tartarus,dreadful abyss of Hades . Full

of horror is the descent thither,and whoever

has once gone down there,never returns .

”

Whether life or death were better was per

haps an evenly-balanced question . Those who

beli eved in a future exis tence,were in fear of

‘ U h l h orn , Con fl i ct of Ch r i s ti an i ty wi th Heath en i sm ,

pp . 72- 74.


death . Those who conceived this l ife to be theall

,sought to escape its evils in death .

The writings of the poets teem with appear

anoes of the dead in visible form , to avenge

themselves on those who did them ill during life .

Much attention was paid to the propitiation of

the shades of the departed . It was bel ieved

that the ghosts of the dead might be summoned

to life to give advice to the living,or to de

nounce before them the criminal . If the mur

derer wiped his weapon on the head of “the v ic

tim,or wore under h is arm a piece of flesh from

the body of the murdered man,he need fear no

injury from the avenging spirit,since his power

for evil would thereby be destroyed . When

Jason,with the aid of the magic wiles of Medea

,

murdered her brother Absyrtus,he three times

licked up the black blood of the hero,and three

times spat i t out from his mouth,and in this

manner made expiation of the bloody treachery .

At a later date the two criminal s resorted to

Circe,to be purified from the unatoned blood

shed . She slew the young of a sow above their

heads , and wetted their han ds in its blood , and

poured out unnamed l ibations . Then she burnt

upon the hearth a soothing Sop of honey, oil,and meal , while she offered up her p r ayer sfi

“

Apol l on i us R h od i us , Argon au ti ca , i v.


The use of the ordeal— handling red-hot iron,

passing through fire,and so on— was common

among the Greeks .*

We gladly record the fact that all the Greekswere not in this case . Many

,with the spirit of

faith and the purpose of righteousness,took a

more cheerful view of life,and saw in the future

a brighter prospect . This was illustrated in the

choice of Heracles . Some of these elect,with

an instinctive faith in the Father-God,trod the

common walks of l ife ; others were those rare

souls whose names are still great in the world ’ s

l iterature . These,however

,only point to oases

in the spiritual desert .

Among those who dwelt nearest the heart of

God,Socrates was pre-eminent. He lived a pure

and noble life ; he met death with philosophic,and we might say Christian

,composure ; and he

lives immorta l in the works of Plato,his illustri

ous disciple . We may recall certain choice pas

sages in his death-discourses“A man who is good for anything

,ought not

to calculate the chance of l iving or dying ; he

JEsch yl u s , Ch eOp h or i , 32, 1 36 , 31 5, 333, 479 ; Eum en i des ,94

,ct seq . Eu r i p i des, Hecuba , i , ci seq . Hel i odor ns , Eth i op i cs,

vi , 1 4 ; Soph ocl es , El ectr a , 443—446 ; An tigon e, 264

—266 ; Tibu l

l us , i , 2, 23; Max im u s Tyr i u s , x i v, 2 ; Pl ato, L aws , x ; Ap u l ei us ,Metam orp h oses , i i ; P l uta rch , Th ose W h o are Pun i sh ed by th eDei ty L ate, 1 7, 22.

N I’MPHS AN D MON STERS. 1 09

ought only to consider whether, in doing any

thing,he is doing righ t or wrong— acting the

part of a good man or of a bad .

“ The d i ffi

cul ty,my friends

,i s not in avoiding death

,but

in avoiding nnr igh teousness ; for that runs fas ter

than death .

“Wherefore,O judges , be of good

cheer about death,and know this of a truth

that no evil can happen to a good man,ei ther in

l ife or after death . He and his are not neglected

by the gods ; nor has my own approaching end

happened by mere chance . But I see clearly

that to die and be released was better for me ;and therefore the oracle gave no sign . Forwhich reason

,also

,I am not angry with my ao

cu ser s or my condemners ; they have done me

no harm,although neither of them mean t to do

me any good ; and for this I may gently blame

them . The hour of departure has ar

rived , and we go our ways— I to die,and you

to l ive . Which is better,God only knows .”

“ I am confident in the belief that there truly is

such a thing as l iving again,and that the living

spring from the dead,and that the souls of the

dead are in exis tence,and that the good souls

have a better portion than the evil .” “0 Sim

mias,h ow s trange that is ! I am not very likely

to persuade other men that I do not regard my

present situation as a misfortune,if I am unable

10

1 1 0 DEPAR TED GOD S.

to persuade you,and you will keep fancying

that I am at all more troubled now than at any

othe r time . Will you not allow that I have as

much of the spiri t of prophecy in me as the

swans ? For they,when they perceive that they

mus t die,having sung all their life long

,do then

s i ng more than ever, rej oicing in the thought

that they are about to go away to the gods

whose ministers they are . And I too,

believing myself to be the consecrated servant

of the same God , and the fellow-servant of the

swans,and thinking that I have received from

my Master gifts of prophecy which are not i n

fer i or to theirs, would not go out of life less

merrily than the swans .” Cr i to asked h ow he

would be buried . Socrates replied : “ In any

way that you like ; only you must get hold of

me,and take care that I do not walk away from

you .

” Then he turned to the other friends who

were with him in his last hour,and added

,with

a smile : “ I can not make Cr i to believe that I

am the same Socrates who have been talking

and conducting the argument ; he fancies that I

am the other Socrates whom he will soon see

a dead body,and he asks

,How shall he bury

me ? And though I have spoken many words

in the endeavor to show that,when I have drunk

the poison,I shall leave you

,and go to the j oys


Livy cal ls the Etruscans a race which,i n

asmu ch as i t excelled in the art of religious oh

servan ces , was more devoted to them than any

other nation .

”Ar nob i u s says that Etruria was

“ the creator and parent of supersti tion .

” The

very name of the nation,Tusc i

,i s derived by

some authorities from thuez’

n ,“ to sacrifice

,

” and

especially “ to make offerings to the gods .

” The

Etruscans were celebrated for the zeal and scr u

pu l ou s care with which they practiced the various Observances of its rites and ceremonies .*

Besides angels and demons,there were three

general classes of div initie s : the deities of

heaven,the dei ties of earth

,and the deities of

the under-world . Archaeological research is sti ll

making revelations of new forms of gods and

Spirits ; but of not a few of these we know not

even the names .

Tina was the chief of the heavenly gods,and

wielded the thunder-bolt . He was the god of

the sky,and may have been originally the

heaven itself— like the Chinese Tien,with whom

in name also he bears a resemblance . He was“ the center of the Etruscan god-world

,the power

wh o speaks in the thunder and descends in the

lightning . To this bright god a temple was

“Rawl in son ,Th e R el igi ons of th e An ci en t Wor l d, pp . 1 60,

R EL I G I ON OF THE ETR USCAN S. 1 1 7

ded icated in every city,and one of the gates of

each city bore his name . An Etruscan family

name and the name of a streamle t were derived

from this god . He sometimes received the ti tle

Summanus ,“ the supreme

Cupra was a heavenly goddess to whom a

temple and a gate were dedicated in every Etr us

can ci ty . She has been identified with Hera

and Junod’ The name has been compared with

the Cybele of Phrygia . Cupra “ expresses the

character of Juno,as pres iding over contrac ts

and obligations of every des cription involving

good faith among mankind,and especially that

of mar r iage .

”

IThalna

,or Thana

,is though t to be the same

goddess . If she be but a mere variant of Tina,

she may be the reflex of the sky-god . Poss ibly

she may be regarded as the personification of

light or day . She I s represented on Etrus can

mirrors as as s isting at the birth of certain divin

i ties,or as an attendant of Latona . She has “ a

coronet,earrings

,necklace

,and tunic

,a fille t or

twig in her hand,and a green branch before her

‘ Tay l o r , Etr uscan R esear ch es , p . 1 32 ; Raw l i n son ,Th e B e

l i gion s of the An c i en t Wor l d, p p . 1 6 1

,1 62 ; D enn i s , C i ties and

Cem eter ies of Etr u r i a , V o l . I I , p . 444 .

TStrabo,V o l . I , p . 357 .

I C rawford and B a l ea r r as , Etr uscan I n sc r i p ti ons , p . 25 1 .

1 1


face . On a mirror from Vulci,Thalna ap

pears as a male god,half nude

,with a corone t

and staff.” The name is found in composition

in Thankvi l u s or Tanaquil .

Al tr i a,who may be compared with the Greek

G races,was represented as a nude and beautiful

woman,with a crown and necklace

,and gener

ally in company with Thalna and Eutu rpa .

*

Men r va had her own temple and gate in each

Etruscan city . The name is of very frequent

occurrence on works of art . We can,however

,

gather very little information whereby to j udge

of her character . According to Taylor,Men rva

denotes the “ red heaven,

” or “ the dawn,

” and

the two Men rvas , which occasionally appear on

the same mirror,denote the morning and the even

i ng twi l igh tj' Sh e i s represented armed

,with

the aegis on her breast,and sometimes with

wings . On one mirror she i s vanquishing thegiant Akr ath e.

“ The goddess,who is armed

with helmet,aegis

,and spear

,has j us t cut or

broken off,i t is not clear which

,the giant’ s right

arm close to the shoulder ; and , grasp ing i t by

the wris t,she brandishes i t over his head

,ao

companying the action with a sardonic grin at

her foe,who

,sinking to his knees

,looks up at

Coop er , Ar ch a i c D i cti on a r y , p p . 31 , 567 .

TTayl or , Etr uscan R esear ch es , pp . 1 37 , 1 38.


D ionysus and Bacchus . “ Pha lans was the

special deity of P op l u na, or (as the Romans

called i t) Populonia . He seems to have been

called als o Vortumnus,or Volturnus , and in thi s

aspect he had a female counterpart, V ol tumna,

whose temple was the place of meeting where

the princes of Etruria discussed the affairs of

the

Turan was the Greek Aphrodite and theRoman Venus . There was also a male Turan

,

who was a youthful god,accompanied by a war

rior,Avun by name

,armed with a spear . Thesau

seems to have been i n nature like the GreekEds and the Roman Aurora . Turms— Hermes

,

Mercury— was the god of boundaries and the

messenger of the underworld . The native name

is thought to have been Camillus,or Kamil .

According to Servius,the Etruscan name of

youthful pries tesses was cami l lae,and the attend

ant minister of th e Flamen D i al i s at the sacrifices was called Cam i l l u s q

L

The goddess Zirna i s represented on E truscan

works of art as s i tting at the s ide of Turan and

Adonis,with a penci l and box of cosmetics

,and

a half-moon hanging from her neck . Mun th ukh

R aw l i n son,Th e Re l igi on s of th e An c i en t W or l d

, p . 1 64.

TR aw l i n son ,Th e Re l igi on s of th e An ci en t Wor l d, p . 1 65 ;

Tay l or , Etr usca n R esear ch es , p . 1 50.

R EL I G I ON OF THE ETR USCAN S. 1 21

i s s im ilarl y represented , but wears also a neck

lace . She seems to have been a goddes s of

heal th . Some times she carried a dove on her

r igh t arm .

Al panu i s an Etruscan goddess,with cor

onet,earrings

,tunic , and mantle , and a s tar be

hind her head wh o i s represen ted on one mirror

as embracing the goddess Akh uvi tr,on anothe r

as embracing the goddess Thaur,and on a third

as attracting the love of a youth called Famu ;while Akbate

,

“an old,bald-headed man

,in a

cloak,warns Famu agains t her bland ishments .

Ti panu and Si pna were attending goddesses , each

with a mirror in her hand .

Uni was a goddess wh o assi sted at the birth

of Athene from the head Of Zeus,and she was

presen t when Hephais tos chained Here . Lalan,

or Laran,was a you th fu l war -god . With him

compare G reek Ares,wh o was represented with

cloak,buskins

,helmet

,spear

,sword

,and shield .

F a i i n may be compared with Orpheus . He

is seated on a rock,wears a necklace a r d a laurel

crown,and plays on a lyre ; while a female

R u tup i s by name , with tunic, mantle , and crown ,is a t his s ide .

Asera is a goddess,armed wi th a hatche t.

Sue tonius says that Ar sar means “ a god .

The nine great gods,or D l i N ovensz

'

l es,pos


sessed the power of hurl ing the thunder-bol t,and

were held i n high honor . The D u Oomp l z'

ces and

the D u Consentes were gen eral names of th e

twelve principal god s of E truria and the coun

sel or s of Tina . The D z’

i I nvol ute were the f ates

wh o ruled both gods and men

O ther names are foun d i n Etruscan my thology ; but so li ttl e is known concerning their na

tures and attributes that they may be neglected

in this account .

But it was i n th e u n seen world beneath theearth

,th e place to which men went after death ,

and where th e so ul s of their ances tors resided ,th at the Etruscan s devoted the chief porti on of

their religious thoughts ; and with th is were con

u s eted the bulk of their religious Observances .

Over th e dark rea lm of the dead ruled Mantusand Mania

,king an d queen of Hades

,the former

rep r esented as an old man,wearing a crown

,and

with wings on his shoulders,and bearing in h is

hands sometimes a torch,sometimes two or three

large nails,which are though t to i nd icate ‘ the

inevi table character of his decrees .

’ Intimately

connected wi th these dei tie s— th eir prime min

is ter and most active agent,cru el

,hideous

,half

human,half an imal

,the chief figure in almost

al l the representations of th e l ower world— i s the

demon Charun,in name no doubt identical with


act under his orders,and infl ict such tortures as

he is pleased to

Instead of hands Charun has s ometimes lion ’ s

paws . He is depicted of a livid hue, like the

demon Eurynomos, who devoured the flesh of

the dead . Sometimes th e sword takes the place

of the mal let,or a rudder or an oar

,wh ich would

suggest the Greek Charon ; or a forked stick ,l ike the caduceus of Mercury ; or a torch or

snakes ; and sometimes th e mallet and the sword

are found together . When eyes are represented

in th e wings of Charun , this may intimate su

per h uman power and intelli gence . The malle t,

in one instance,i s decorated with a fill et ; i n

another i t is encircled by a serpent . We meet

with Charun represented with an eagle ’ s bill for

a nose . His wings are open,gray above and

blue,black

,and red on the pinions ; while his

dress is a white tunic,wi th a red girdle and a

yellow spotted band crossed over his bosom : In

the same representa tion a huge crested and

bearded snake springs from h i s right shoulder,

and a sort of halo surmounts his

" R awl i n son ,Th e R el igi on s of th e An c i en t “

'or l d

, p p . 1 65

1 67 ; D en n i s , C i ties an d Cemeter i es of Etr u r i a,V ol . I

, p p . 287,

288,342.

TD en n is , C i ti es an d Cem eter i es of Etr u r i a,V ol . I , p . 348 °

V ol . I I, p p . 1 91 - 1 93.


Ku l n u,the god of the grave

,is represented

bearing i n one hand the flaming torch,and in

the other th e emblematic shears . V an th was the

angel of death,and has a cap and wings

,and

bears a huge key wherewith to open the tombs

of the depar ted ; N ath uns,an avenging fury

,

whose snake-l ike hair stands on end and whose

tusk-like fangs protrude from h i s mouth,bears a

serpent in either hand . Tukh u l kha has the ears

of an as s,the beak of an enormous eagle , which

serves at once for nose and mouth,and two hiss

ing snakes bound round his brows and mingl ing

with his shaggy locks . He seizes his victims by

the neck,or brandishes huge serpents over their

heads . His open wings have a snake-like bor

der,and the very feathers have caught the hue

of a serpent’ s skin .

”Tu rmukas was one of the

messengers of Hades . Ph ipeke was a lion

headed monster ; an upturned urn is represented

beneath h im,and water pours from his mon th

He engaged in combat with Herakles . If no t the

Hydra,he was perhaps a water- imp .

The Typhon,represented in the Grotto Del

Tifone,was a horrid being .

“ The atti tude of

the body ; the outspread wings ; the dark , massy

coil s of the serpent - l imbs ; the wild twisting of

the serpent locks ; the countenance U pl ifted with

an expression of unutterable woe,as he supports


the cornice with his hands,— make this figure im

posing,mysterious, subl ime .

”

In one representation Ai ta,or Hades , sits

on his throne,the upper part of his body bare ,

but the lower part covered with brown drapery ;his flesh deep red ; his beard black , grand , and

gloomy ; his left hand h olding aloft a snake ; his

righ t hand extended as i f giving orders to the

triple-headed warrior wh o s tands in front, armed

wi th shield and spear . His wife si ts by his side ,and i s wrapped i n whi te drapery ; a deep fringe

i s thrown over her shoulders , and her head is

bound about wi th green snakes .

There are certain mythologi cal figures which

we may consider the representati ons of marine

dei ties . They are generally in th e form of

women from the m iddle u pwards,but wi th fi shes ’

tails instead of l egs . A few are male . Their gen

eral character is that of winged creatures,with

smaller wings springing from their temples . The

wings may symbolize power and intelligence,with

swiftness of thought and action . Sometimes a

pair of snakes are knotted around their brows,up

rearing their crests as in Egyptian gods and kings .

They bear a trident or an anchor,a rudder or an

car, a sword or firebrand , or mass of rock . These

symbolize their power not only on the ocean,but

D en n i s, C i ti es an d Cem eter i es of Etr ur i a

,V ol . I

, p . 330.

1 28 D EPAR TED GOD S.

sess ion of the soul . The evil spirits add a new

horror to their appearance by wreathing their

heads with serpents .

The Etruscans believed that every human be

ing had a protecting genius,who was his constant

companion,guard

,and g uide

,both in the present

world and in the realm of immorta l ity . The

Lemures were the spirits of the dead . The Lares

were the spirits of virtuous ancestors who pre

s ided over the hearths and homes of their chil

dren . The Lar Familiaris was the lord of the

whole family . The Larvae were the spirits of

wicked ancestors,and are banished from the do

mesti c hearth . The Manes were the souls of the

departed . The word is frequently used as synon

ymou s with Lares , and is“ connected likewise

in tradition with the lower world,and wi th the

moon,the souls oof men being supposed to have

emanated from that

The geni i of the Romans were the offspring of

the great gods,and the givers of life i tself

,and

hence they were called D i i Geni tales . These

genii rece ived worship among the Romans,as

among the Etruscans . The maj ority of the Etr u s

can genii were females,and are sometimes called

genus . It is sometimes diffi cult to distinguish

them from.

Fates or Furies . They have many”‘ Cr awford an d B a l car r as

,Etr u scan I n scr i p ti on s , p . 26 1 .

R EL I G I ON OF THE ETR U SCAN S. 1 29

of the same characteris tics . All have wings,high

buskins (often with long flaps) , a short, high-girttunic

,and a double s trap crossing the bosom . The

emblems which they carry reveal their nature .

Fates and Furies carry hammer, sword , snake ,torch

,and shears ; the mild Fates have in their

hands scroll,inkhorn

,s tylus

,and sometimes ham

mer and nail ; the Genii bear a simple wand ornothing .

The nail symbolizes a fixed decree of fate .

N or ti a is the Fortune of Etruscan mythology,and

had a shrine at V ol s i n i i .’

She i s also mentioned

on a votive table t as the goddess of this city .

Her temple was a sort of national calendar ; for a

nail was driven into i t every year,as into the

temple of Jupi ter on the Capitol of Rome . In

one representation,the winged

.

fate Ath rpa or

Atropos— the N or ti a of the Etruscans with a

Greek name— i s about to drive a nail to indicatethe prede termined death of Meleager and of

Adonis . Horace presents a p icture of Necess ity,

the companion of Fortune,bearing such nails

in her hand,and he calls them adamantine .

The goddess probably had a temple also at

F er en ti num .

Horta,an Etruscan goddess

,equivalent to the

Roman Salus is to be dis tinguished from N or ti a .

’ Hor ace, Carm i n a , i , 35, 1 7 ; i i i , 24, 5 .

1 30 DEPAR TED G OD S.

Plutarch says 'that the temple of Horta was a l

ways kep t open .

*

Gerhard connects N or ti a closely with Minerva .

The nail was driven in the right side of the tem

ple of Jupiter,where the temple of Minerva is

,

because number is the invention of that god

dess .

”

1‘ Paul i has shown tha t N u r ti a became

the goddess Ten,Latin Decuma

,Decima

,as

connected with the tenth month of the Etruscan

The Etruscans had nei ther priests nor prophets,

properly so called,but rather what may be con

s i der ed a s no more than mere shamans -fl augu r er s ,

sorcerers and n ecromancers,haruspices and fulgu

r ator s,all m ere “ medicine men — wh o

,by noting

the fligh t of birds,the entrails of animals

,the

path of the lightning,and other signs

,i nterpreted

th e utterance s of the spirits of nature and the souls

of the dead . This l ow and barbarous priesthood

was “ an all-dominating h ierarchy,which assumed

to be a theocracy,and maintained i ts sway by

arrogating to itsel f an intimate acquaintance with

the will of Heaven and the decrees of

* Tac i tu s,An n al s , xv, 53; Pl utarch , Q uaestiones Rom an as ,

x l vi .TL i vy. vi i , 3.

i Tl i e Academ y , N o . 875, p . 970.

D en n i s, C i ti es an d C em eter i es of Etr u r i a

,V ol . I

,I n tr oduc

ti on , p . x l i i .


and guided them in their exposi tions and r e

q u i r emen ts .

”

Tages,according to classi c authors

,was the

son of Genius and the grandson of Jupiter . A

Tuscan plowman discovered him in the form of a

clod His name is not found in the inscriptions ;but he is represented on two gems as a boy

,half

plowed up from the earth,teaching the Etruscan

priests .” 1'

Clemens of Alexandria says that the Carians

were the first wh o divined from the s ta rs,the

Phrygians from the fligh t of birds,and the Etr u s

cans by au ru sp i cy. The Etruscans were es

pec i al ly distinguished for divination by lightning,and in this art were said to have excelled all

other nations Cicero,an acknowledged author

ity on the subj ect of soothsaying,had great con

fidence in their skill . Joannes Lydu s , in his

work “De Osten ti s,

” on the authori ty of Nigi d i u s F i gu l us , gives an Etruscan Thunder Cal

endar for every day in the year . This,he says

,

was taken from the books of Tages , Servius

mentions Etruscan books on lightning . They

gave their system of divination to the Romans

t‘ R awl i n son , Th e R el igi on s of th e An c i en t Wor l d, p p .

1 70,1 7 1 .

TD en n i s , C i ti es and Cemeter i es of Etr u r i a, V o l . I

, pp . 4 1 8,

4 1 9 ; Cooper , Ar ch a i c D i cti on ar y , p . 547 .


a system practiced by the latter nation even

down to the fifth century .

There are many theories concerning the origin

and affinities of the Etruscans . Though scholars

have looked in every direction and ques tioned

almost every languag e,no theory which has been

proposed is entirely satisfactory . Both tradition

and the monuments point,with a goodly degree

of confi dence,to that group of nations of which

the Lydians,Carians

,and Lycians in Asia Minor

are perhaps the best representatives . The Etra s

cans,and the Turanian races generally

,were em

phatically a tomb-build ing people .

“ These cities of the dead are constructed onthe precise model of the cities of the living . The

tombs themselves are exact imitations of the

house . There i s usually an outer vestibule,ap

par ently appropriated to the annual funeral feas t .

From this a passage leads to a large central

chamber,which is lighted by windows cut through

the rock . Thi s central hall i s surrounded by

smaller chambers,in which th e dead repose . On

the roof we see,carved in s tone

,the broad beam

,

or roof-tree,wi th rafters

,imi tated in relief

,on

either s ide,and even imitations of the tiles .

These chambers contain the corpses,and are fur

n i sh ed with al l the implements,ornaments

,and

utensils used in li fe . The tombs are,i n fact

,

1 2


places for the dead to l ive in . The position and

surroundings of the deceased are made to ap

proximate,as closely as possibl e

,to the condi

tions of life . The couches on which the corpses

repose have a tr i c l in a l arrangement, and are fur

n i sh ed with cushions carved in stone ; and imi ta~

tion s of easy chairs and foots tools are careful ly

hewn out of the rock . Everything,i n short

,i s

a rranged as if the dead were recl ining at a ban

que t in their accus tomed dwellings . On thefloor stand win e-j ars

,and the mos t precious be

longings of the deceased— arms,o rnaments

,and

mirrors— hang from the roof,or are suspended

on the walls . The walls themselves are richly

decorated,usually being painted with r ep r esen

tati on s of festive”

scenes . We see fi gures i n

gaily emb roidered garments reclining on couches,

while attendants repleni sh the goble ts or beat

time to the music of the pipers . Nothing is

omitted which can conduce to the amusement or

comfort of th e deceased . Their spiri ts were ev

i den tl y beli eved to inhabi t these house-tombs

after death,j us t as in life they inhabited their

4 .houses .

”

In these tombs— th e real temples of the Etr u s

cans— the whole family assembled,at their an

nual religious feas t,to worship the Lares and

Tayl or,Etr u scan R esea r ch es

, p p . 46,48.

1 36 DEPAR TED G ODS.

acter s in the doorway , descried the urns dimly

through the gloom,beheld the family party at

the ir sepulchral revels,the solemn dreariness of

th e surrounding cells . The figures on the walls

and ceilings strangely stirred my fancy . The

Furies,with their glaring eyes

,gnashing teeth

,

and gastly grins ; the snakes, with which the

walls seemed alive,hissing and darting their

tongues at me ; and , above all , the sol i tary wing ,chilled me with an u ndefinabl e awe

,with a sense

of something mysterious and terrible . The sep

n l ch er i tself,so neatly hewn and decorated

,yet

so gloomy ; fashioned like a house , yet with no

mortal inhabi tant,

-a l l was so strange,so n ovel .

It was like enchantment, not reali ty ; or, rather,i t was the realization of the pictures of su bter

r anean palaces and spell-bound men , which youth

fu l fancy h ad drawn from the Arabian Nights

but which h ad l ong been cast aside into the

lumber-room of the memory,now to be suddenly ‘

restored .

”

The furniture of th e sepulchral houses— i n a

few cases they represent temples— i s su ch as i s

adapted to fun eral banquets and games . There

are also articles to be used by the soul in th e

other world . Sometimes a piece of money was

placed i n the mouth of the deceased,that h e

“D en n i s , C i ti es an d Cem eter i es of Etr u r i a,V ol . I I

, p . 449.


migh t have something wherewi th to pay the ex

penses of the j ourney to the realm of the shades .The paintings represent feasts and games

,such

as were held on funera l occasions,or such as

would symbolize the happy life of the dead .

Cinerary urns and sa rcophagi show that both

burning and burial were practiced in differen t

Etruscan cities and in different ages,but some

times also i n th e same age and ci ty . Arms and

armor have been found as th ey were worn bythese old warriors

,whose dust alone tells the

tale of their mortal i ty . Representations of lions

and panthers are frequent,and may symbolize

the guardians of the tomb . The meaning of the

centaurs , hippogri ffs , h i ppocamps , and other ob

jects. of monstrous form ,has no t been determined .

Common domesti c animals probably only serve

to set off the scene and render i t more li fe-like .

Snakes are very abundant in th e works of Etr us

can artists . They rise from the feet,spring ou t

from the loins,twine about the arms

,and crown

the head . They cling to the spear and mallet,and are carried as scourges by horrid furies .

The symbol ic eye is also of frequent occurrence

on wings and vases .

The eye i s a symbol found in use among

many nations . We have spoken elsewhere of its

occurrence on wings . It i s found also very fre


quently on vases— not only on those of Greekorigin

,but also on o thers which are certa in ly

purely Etruscan . D ennis sugges ts three expl a

nations : It may mark obj ects and scenes as

Bacchic i n the i r i mport . It may be a charm

agains t the evil eye . The Gorgon i on was be

l ieved to possess the power of averting evil .These eyes may be Gorgons ; sometimes thefeatures of a face are represented . Again

,vases

bear a resemblance to boats . Several names of

goble ts and certain names of boats are the same .

Heracles crossed the sea to Spain in a goblet .

Eyes are placed on the prows of boats,ei ther

from a fancied analogy with fish or to intimate

the watchfulness necessary to the good pilo t .

Various compound beings may have symbol

i zed the double life of the soul— the li fe which

now i s and that which is to come . All the sym

bols of Etruscan art may have been originally

full of meaning,but at present we can only con

jectu re as to their mysterious and awful import .

Fu ture study will,i n s ome measure at least

,dis

close their meaning .

Mommsen sums up the character of the relig

ion of the Etruscans as follows “ The rel igion

of the Tuscans in particular presenting a gloomy

fantas ti c character,and delighting in the mystical

handli ng of numbers in wild and horrible speen


(D u I nvol u l e) consul ted by the Etruscan Jupi terh imself ; that World moreover was finite , and, as

i t had come into being,so was i t agai n to pass

w ay after the expiry of a defini te period of

time,whose s ections were the swcu l a . Respecting

the intellectual value which may once have bel onged to this Etruscan cosmogony and philosophy

,

i t i s difficul t to form a j udgment ; they appear,however

,to have been from the very firs t char

acter i zed by a dull fata lism and an insipid play

upon

That the Romans borrowed much from the r e

l igi on of the Etruscans we can n ot doubt ; but

h ow much,i t i s not easy to determine . That the

Etruscans in return received contributions from

Rome i s equally certain .

Momm sen ,Hi story of R om e

,V ol . I , p p . 1 66

,243- 245.


The state and the clan,th e individual phe

nemena of nature as well as the individual oper

atica s of mind,every man

,every place and ob

ject, every act, even falling within the sphere of

Roman law,reappeared in the Roman world of

gods ; and , as earthly things come and go in per

petual flux , the circle of the gods underwent acorresponding fluctuation . The tutelary spirit

,

which presided over the indiv idual act, lasted no

longer than that act itself ; the‘

tutelary spiri t of

the individual man lived and d i ed with the man ;and eternal duration belonged to divini ties of thi s

sort only in so far as similar acts and s imilar constituted men

,and therefore sp irits of a similar

kind,were ever coming into exis tence

There is a divinity for every stage of human

life . Con sevi u s presides over generation , F l uvi ona

promotes the growth of the embryo,V i tumnu s

awakens life,and Sen ti nu s gives sensation . Ops

assisted by Candel i fer a,Pos tverta and Prosa (the

two Carmen tae) , Lucina, Par tu l a, Nona , Decima,and Alcmena, each having her own oth ee— brings

the new soul into the light of day . And now i t

i s necessary that the mother should be guarded

agains t the power of the god Silvanus . This i s

effectually done by the dei ties Intercidona,Pi

l umn u s,and D iverra

,who surround the house

,

Momm sen ,His tor y of R om e

,V ol . I , p p . 53

, 21 8.

THE GR EAT GODS. 1 45

and leave the marks of their callings . If,in ad

dition to these precautions , the god F or cu l us

guards the door,the god L imen ti nu s the thresh

old,and the goddess Cardea the hinges

,we may

consider the inmates comparatively safe . N ow

the goddess Rumina helps the child to take i ts

first food,while Patina and Edu l a assis t in i ts

nourishment i n a more general way . Cunina is

the goddess of the cradle . Statina,or Stati l i nus

,

presides over the babe when i t learns to s tand,

and Levana when i t falls . Adeona helps i t come

to i ts mother,and Abeona watches over i t when

it toddles away fr om maternal arms . Paven ti a,

or Paven ti na,fill s with child ish fear ; and Vati

canns is the god of the crying infant . The gods

F a r i nu s and L ocu tiu s inspire with speech .

Then,we have a mul titude of gods who be

long to early manhood . V en i l ia inspires with

hope Agenor,or Agenor i a , with action ; Peragenor

with perseverance in action ; Stimula furnishes

in tellectual and phys ical s timulus ; Str en i a makes

strenuous ; N umer ia teaches numbers ; Camoenateaches song ; Consus gives good advice ; Sentiahelps to frame sentences ; J u venas, or Juventa ,pres ides over the youth ; Murcia moves to ex

cess ; Ouies makes quiet ; F esson i a i s the goddess

of weariness ; and F ellonia drives away enemies .Another group of d ivini ties preside over fam


ily l ife . V ol up i a is the goddess of pleasure ,and P raes ti ti a of beauty

,while Affer enda attends

to fixing the dower. D om i dueu s leads i n the

bride,Domitius protects her i n the house

,and

the Man tu r nae keep her for her husband . J u

gati nu s i s the god of marriage . Mens gives a

good mind ; and V ol umn us,V ol umna

,or Voleta

,

a good will . The goddess F r u ctesca secures

fruitful ness . Then we have a hos t of gods and

goddesses connected with the bridal chamber

Venus,V i rgi n i en s i s , Mutunus , Tu tunu s , Priapus ,

P er tu nda,Sub igu s , Prema , and P erfica ! Nor

is the list yet complete . There is a d ivinity for

every stage of h uman l ife,from i ts earlies t be

ginnings to the la test moment of existence,and

Naca ia i s the’

goddess of th e funeral dirge .

Food to support life is also abundantly protected by deities . The earth a s a whole

,and

the cul tivated earth,each h as i ts d ivin i ti es

Terra,Tellus

,Tel l umo

,Al ter

,Rusor . Farms are

under the protection of the goddess Rusina,

downs are l ooked after by Collatina,valleys are

sacred to Vallon ia,and ridges and mountains to

the god J ugati nu s . When the grain i s cas t into

the ground,and before the stal k appears above

the soil,th e goddess Seia must bless i t ; as soon

as the blade is seen,Segeti a takes charge of i t ;

and when the ripened grain i s stored Tu ti l i na


which were decked by heathen pie ty with gar

lands and ribbons,and which no one passed by

without some sign of reverence . Laws were

enacted against the introduction of foreign gods

without the sanction of the Senate ; but these

laws seem to have availed l i ttle,especially after

Rome became a world-empire . Al l gods were

THE PAN THEO N , O R TEMPLE O F AL L THE GODS .

(As at p r esen t

tolerated . Upon the conquest of a province,i ts

gods were invite d to Rome .

“ If there be a god

or goddess who has taken this people and city,

N . u ., under i ts protection , Deity, whosoever

thou mayest be,I pray thee

,I adjure thee

,to

forsake this people and city,to withdraw from

this ci ty and i ts temple,and come to Rome to


me and mine,that our city

,our temples and sac

r i fices , may be acceptable to thee . If thou wilt

do this,I vow to thy divini ty temples and

games . Thus,in sol emn formula

,the gods of

al l nati ons were invited to Roman hospi tal i ty .

Rome demanded the recogni tion of her own

gods everywhere,and was willing to extend the

same generous courtesy to the gods of all lands

and peoples .*

But all these god s coul d not permanently sati sfy the Romans . There were

,from time to

time along down the centuries,gigantic efforts to

u phold the religious system of Rome , but they

were fruitless efforts . The dei ficati on of the

emperor— a sort of monothei sm in the mids t of

polythei sm— held together decaying heathenism

for a time,but the respite was brief. By reso

lutien,both foreign men and foreign divini ties

were press ingly invited to the freedom of Rome ,and efforts were made to make these strangers

feel at home . The Romans sometimes gave the

pre ference to foreign gods over their own native

gods,but it availed no thing . The ancient r e

l igion became so obscured by reason of foreign

elements that i t is mos t d ifficul t now to determine what i s native and what i s imported . We

l ‘t U h l h or n,Con fl i ct of Ch r i stian i ty w i th Heath en i sm ,

pp . 30,37.


name several gods which may be regarded as dis

ti ncti vely Roman .

Jupiter,

“ the father of gods and men,the chi ef

god of the Romans,resembles th eGreek Zeus

,wi th

J U P I TER .

whose name his own i s e tymologi cally connected .

He is the god of the sky,th e a i r

,and the firma

ment ; and sends forth th e l igh tning,the thun

der,and the fertili zing rain . He impregnates


foreign deity,sh e was probably E truscan . When

the city of Veii was conquered , i ts patron god

dess was brought to Rome by Camillus,and one

of her chief cults was that of J une Regina, on

the Aventine . When L anuvi um surrendered, th ecultus of Juno Sospita was carried to Rome , and

es tablished on Palatine Hill . The mi nt for the

coining of money was in the temple of J une

Moneta . The Kalends were sacred to J une,as

the Ides to Jupiter . The chief feas t of Juno

was the Matronalia,which was celebrated on the

Kalends of March,when maidens and wives of

stainless character marched in procession to the

temple of Lucina,on the Esquiline . Geese were

her favorite bird,and those which were kept in

the Capitoline temple gave timely warning of the

Gallic attack .

Minerva,l ik e Juno

,may have been originally

a goddess of the Etruscans,though the name

would suggest a true Latin dei ty . She pres ides

over all h andi crafts, ,ar ts

,sciences

,and i nven

tions . She i s especial ly the goddess of i ntel l i

gence,memory

,and literature— “ the th inking

,

cal cu l ati ng,‘

i nven ti ve power personified .

”Po

etry, music , sculpture , and painting were sacred

to Minerva . Besides the temple on the Capi

tol ine Hill,where she was worshiped in conne c

tion wi th Jupiter and June,she had an old


temple on the Aventine . which was a regular

meeting-place for poe ts and actors . The day of

dedication of the temple,and the birthday of

the goddess,was the n ineteenth of March . On

this auspicious day a great festival was cele

br ated,which was called qm

’

nguatr us, because i t

fell on the fifth day after the Ides . This was a

hol iday for al l schools,and when the scholars

again assembled they brought commemorative

fees to thei r teachers . Every home also cele

br ated this holiday ; for Minerva was the patron

of weaving and Spinning,and every craft con

nected with the comfort and happiness of domes

tic l ife . The festival was afterward lengthened

to five days,and games were introduced in an

swer to the G reek concepti on of Minerva as the

goddess of war . As a war goddess she is r epr e

sented in helmet,and wi th shield and coat . of

mail . There was a temple on Caelian Hill where

the lesser gu inq uaz‘r us was cel ebrated from the

thirteenth to the fifteenth of -June,chiefly by

flute-players .“The central obj ect not on ly of Roman

,but

of Ital ian worship generally,in that epoch when

the Ital ian stock still dwel t by i ts elf in the pen i nsu l a

,was

,according to all indications

,th e god

Maurs,or Mars

,th e kill ing god

,pre-eminently

regarded as the divine champion of the burgesses ,


hurl ing the spear,protecting the flock

,and over

throwing the foe .

”

Father Mars,or Marspiter

,was the god of

heaven,giver of light and opener of the new

year,who also sends the fertil iz ing rain and hurls

the fearful thunder-bol t . Mamurius V etu r i us

beaten out of the city on th e fifteenth of March,

was symbol ic of the departure of the old year .

The first month March was named from Mars

and on th e first day,the birthday of the god

,

there were various religious and poli ti cal festi

val s,and the holy fire was renewed in the temple

of Vesta . The sacred spear of Mars may have

been originally the lightning,and his shi eld

,l ike

the aegis of Zeus and that of Athene,may have

been the thunder-bolt . The wolf,the h orse

,and

the woodpecker were sacred to Mars . As the

heaven-god and sender of rain,Mars i s th e giver

of fertil ity and increas e . In some old cu l ts he

is th e god of land,agricul ture

, and flocks . He

also caused drough t,sterility

,and all evil . Like

Jupiter,he had his oracles and pri ests . The

Flamen Martialis presented to h im burnt o fferings . The twelve Palatine Sal ii

,or “Dancers

,

”

danced in armor for many days,beginning with

the first of March,through certain parts of the

city,c l ashing their lances agains t their shields

Mom m sen ,His torv of R om e

,V ol . I

, p . 222.

1 56 DEPAR TED eons .

_pointedfor these serv ices

,was called “ the day

of blood ” These gloomy features in her wor

ship may have been modifications from Asiatic

influence .

Vesta was a most ancient divin ity , and was

the goddess of the hearth , especially the nationalhearth

. She had a temple on Palatine Hill , and

TEMPLE O F VESTA.

(As a t P r esen t

in th e immediate vicini ty was her sacred grove .

R U I N S O F THE TEMPLE O F SATUR N AT R OME.

1 58 DEPAR TED GOD S

the ninth of June,Roman matrons with bare feet

resorted to her temple . The eternal fire burning

i n her temple was her only and suffi cient symbol .

Ceres was the goddess of agricul ture , and was

early connected with Liber,the god of the v ine

yard . Cerus and Cerie were a god and goddess

worshiped by the early Italian s,and may be con

nected with Ceres . Her worship was merged in

that of the Greek Demeter .Saturnus , and his w ife

.

Ops,are among th e

oldest deitie s of Italy . An altar erected to Sat

u r nu s,at the foot of the Capitoline

,i s said to have

preceded the foundation of Rome . Under or be

hind his temple was th e Roman treasury, i n

which were preserved the arch ives and treasures

of the State . The oldes t form of national verse

was called the Saturnian . He is the god of ag

r i cu l tur e, and his hollow statue , fil led with ol iveoil

,speaks of fertil ity and abundance . His sym

bol is a sickle,which he bears in his hand . His

fee t were bound with wool . His festival,the

Saturnalia,las ted from the seventeenth to the

twenty-fourth of December . “ The woolen fet

ters were taken from the feet of the image ofSaturn, and each man offered a pig . During thefestival , schools were closed ; no war was declaredor battle fough t ; no punishment was infl icted . In

place of the toga,an undress garment was worn .

1 60‘

DEPAR TED GODS.

god of the gains which come from adventure,

and of any extraordinary increase of wealth . At

his most holy altar in the cattle market the gen

eral was wont to present to him the tenth of the

spoil,and the ’ merchant the tenth of h is increase .

He became the god of mercantile covenants , gen

er a l ly, which in early times were frequently con

firmed at h is altar by oath . Hence he was the

Deus F i d iu s,

“ the god of good faith .

” The wor

ship of Hercules was from an early date among

the most widely diffused ; he was,to use the

words of an ancient author, adored in every ham

let of Italy,and al tars were everywhere erected

to him in the streets of the ci ti es and along the

country roads .

”

Mercurius was the god of barter,trade

,and

all commercial transactions . There was no trade

at Rome till Italy felt the influence of th e Greekcolonies . All the usages and religious ceremonies

connected with trade were borrowed from the

Greeks . Mercurius was hot officially recognized

till the year B . C . 495,when al so the Greek god

Hermes was introduced into Rome under his name .

It was probably at this time that a regular college

of merchants was insti tuted under the protection

of this god . On the Ides of May the mer cur z'

a l es

celebrated a fes tival in honor of their patron,with

Momm sen ,Hi stor y of R om e

,V ol . I

, p 241 .

THE GREAT GODS. 1 6 1

whom,under Greek influence, Ma ia

,the mother

of Hermes,was associated .

Mercury became the god, not only of the

mer cator es and of the corn-trade,but of buying

and selling in general ; and i t appears that, at

leas t in the stree ts where shops were common,

l i ttle chapels and images of the god were erected .

There was a spring dedicated to Mercury betweenhis temple and the P or ta Cap ena . Every shopman

drew water from this spring on the Ides of May,

and sprinkled i t wi th a laurel twig over his head

and over his goods,at the same time entreating

Mercury to remove from his head and his goods

the guil t of al l his deceits . The art of the R 0

man tradesman was evidently like that of an

Oriental tradesman of modern times,and the word

mer cu r i'

a l i'

s was probably used as equivalent to‘ cheat .’ The posi tion of Mercurius among the

Roman gods was a low one,and his influence in

the nation was not great .

N eptunu s has been identified with the Etruscan

water-god N eth uns . The earl ies t reference to his

worship i s on th e occasion of the firs t l ec l z'

sterm'

um

held in B . C . 399,when the Sibylline Books i n

cluded h im among the gods to whom thi s fes tival

was dedicated . His cul t was fully established inthe second century of the Republi c

,when i t was

united to that of Mercurius . The N eptuna l i a was


celebrated on the twenty-third day of July withgames

,banquets

,and carousals . In earl ier times

the god Portunus was thanked for naval victories .

Several Roman admirals are known to have sac

r ificed to Neptune . The god became completely

identified with the Greek Poseidon .

64 DEPAR TED GOD S.

Flora was the goddess of spring-time and

flowers . A festival of great gayety'

was held in

her honor from the twenty-eighth day of April

to the third of May . She had a temple near the

Circus Maximus,and a Flamen F l or a l i s was at

tached to her worship . Sh e says of herself“ I enj oy perpetual spring . To me the year is

always most beauteous ; th e tree always bears

i ts foliage,the earth its herbage . A fruitful gar

den i a the fields of my dowry is mine . The

breeze cherishes i t ; i t i s irrigated by a spring

of tri ckling water . This my husband has fil led

w ith flowers of the choicest kinds ; and he says ,Do thou

,Goddess

,rule the empire of the flow

ers .’ Ofttimes have I desired to reckon the tintsas they were arranged

,and I could not . Their

multitude exceeded all number . When firs t th e

dewy rime has been dashed from the leaves,and

the variegated flowers warm in th e beams of the

sun,the Season s

,arrayed in painted robes

,assem

ble,and gather my pre sents i nto the i r l ight has

kets . For thw i th to flzem are added the Graces , andthey plai t the chaple ts

,and the garlands desti ned

to bind their heavenly looks . I was the first to

spread the new seed throughout the unlimited

natures . Before then,the earth was of but one

9“Ovi d, Th e F asti , R i l ey ’s Tr an sl ati on

, V ol . I , pp . 1 86 , 1 87.

PR I ESTS AN D FESTI VALS. 1 65

Faunus pres ided over flocks and herds . The

F auna l ia,in honor of Faunus and Fauna

,wa s

celebrated annually in December .Janus was the god of the sun . He was rep

resented with a face in the front,and another

on the back of his head . The month of January

was sacred to him,as also all other beginnings .

He had a temple in theForum

,with two doors op

pos i te to each other,which

in time of war,s tood open

,

and in time of peace were

shut . The temple was

th r i ce closed on this ao

count— once dur ing the

reign of Numa,again after

the first Punic war,and a

third time after the battle

of Actium,when Caesar “N U S

Augus tus became sole ruler of the empire .

Several dei ti es belonged peculiarly to the

home and State . Such were Terminus,the god

of boundaries ; Consus , th e god of secre t counsel ;and the Penates, the gods of property . The

Penates presided over the kitchen and the s tore

r oom . None but pure and chaste persons werepermitted to enter the store-room . The images

of the Penates,two in number

,represented as

1 5


dancing and holding aloft a drinking-horn in

token of j oy and plenty,were placed on the

family hearth . The old Roman,i n company

with his family,offered a morning sacrifice and

prayer to the household gods . “Before meals

the blessing of the gods was asked,and after

the meal,but before dessert

,there was a short

silence,and a portion of food was placed on the

hearth and burned . If the hearth and the im

ages were not i n the eating-room,either the im

ages were brough t and put on the table,or before

the shrine was placed a table,on which were set

a salt-cellar,food

,and a burning lamp ” The

Kalends,the Nones

,and the Ides

,the Car i sti a

held on the twenty-second of February,and the

Saturnalia, were se t apart for special family wor

ship . On these and other j oyous days the images were crowned

,and there were presented

offerings of cakes , honey, wine , incense , and

sometimes a pig . Not only had each family i ts

Penates , but also each clan ; and the State hadits public Penates . These household gods had atemple of their own in Rome

,but were also wor

sh iped in the temple of Vesta . Closely connected with this worship was that of the Lares

,

the deified ancestors s till l iving in their graves

in the house,and worshiped as the guardians

and protectors of the family . On the hearth


attended to the whole worship of the temple to

which he was devoted .

In addition to the Flamen,each temple had

a college of priests,which might consist of all

the males of a particular priestly family,but

was more generally a close corporation,limited

in the number of its members . Vacancies in the

college were filled by ele ction . There was a col

lege of Salii,or “ dancing priests

,

” attached to

the temple of Mars,on the Palatine Hill

,and

another connected with the temple of Q uirinus ,on the Q uirinal .

The Luperci celebrated the Lupercalia on the

fifteenth of February,when goats and a dog

were offered in sacrifice .

“After the sacrifice ,two of the Luperci were led to the altar ; their

foreheads were touched with a bloody sword,

and the blood wiped off with wool dipped in

milk . Then the ritual required that the two

young men shall laugh . The sacrificial feast

followed,after which the Luperci cut thongs

from the skins of the victims,and ran in two

bands round th e walls of the old Palatine city,s triking people wh o crowded near . These thongs

were called F ebr ua , hence the name of the month

February .

” The rite was originally pecu l i ar'

to

the tribe of the Ramses,and was dedicated to

I nuu s,an old Italian deity .

PR I ESTS AN D FESTI VALS. 1 69

Our Roman forefathers called atoning sacrifices by the name of ‘ F ebr ua

,

’

and even now

many traces of i ts mean i ng confirm this s ign ifica

ti on,of the expression . The Pontiffs ask wool

of the king qf the sac r ifices and of the Flamen ,the name of which

,in the ancien t dialect

,was

‘ F ebr ua ;’

and the purifying subs tances which

the li ctor takes for the houses when ascertainedas being imp ur e, the parched spel t

'

w i th the grain

of sa l t, are called by the same name . This,too

,

is the name of the bough which,lopped from a

consecrated tree,covers with i ts foliage the holy

temples of the priests . I myself have seen the

Flamini ca asking for the ‘ F ebr ua ;’ a bough of

pine was presented to her,making this request for

the ‘ F ebru a’

6g name. In a word,whatever

there is by means of which our breasts are puri

fied,i t had with our unshaven ancestors this

name . From these circumstances the month derives i ts name

,ei t/i er because the Luperci

,with

thongs of h ide,purify al l the country

,and con

sider that r i te an expiation ; or because the sea

son is purified,the shades of the dead being ap

peased when the days devoted to their offeri ngshave passed by . Our ancients believed that purification was efli cac i ou s to remove every curse and

every cause of evil .”

’ Ovi d, Th e F as ti , R i l ey’

s Tran s l ati on,V ol . 1 , pp . 46 , 47.


The college of Vestal Virgins,connected with

the worship of Ves ta,having charge of the sa

cred fire,and the “ token s ” of Rome

,awaken

great interest whenever mentioned . The House

of the Vestals ” was discovered by L anc i an i in

1 883,at the foo t of the Palatine Hill . Thi s

mos t brill iant discovery brough t to l igh t many

pedestals,s tatues . busts

,coins

,inscription s

,and

other obj ects of antiquarian interest, and has

added much to our knowledge of this religious

corporation .

The Vesta l Virgi ns,six in number

,

“ clad in

snow-white garments,which reflected

,as i t were,

the purity of their minds and souls ; in the very

prime of beauty,youth , and s trength ; daugh ters

of the noblest familie s ; deposi taries of s tate

secrets ; confidan ts of the imperial household ,and faithful keepers of the secre t tokens of the

Roman Commonwealth,

— were held in r ever en

tial honor,enj oyed many privileges

,and wielded

vast influence .

Zosimus,the his torian

,mentions the fact that

,

after the Virgins had left their house,bearing

doubtless th e sacred tokens,Princess Serena

en tered the building, and took a rich n ecklace

from a statue of the goddess . Rome being be

sieged by Alaric,Serena was suspected of secret

conn i vance with the enemy. She was doubtle ss

1 72 DEPARTED GOD S.

innocent, but was put to death . This was looked

upon as a j ust punishment for her sacrilege .

She had entered the mos t sacred place of Vesta .

Here sh e was so captivated by the beauty of

a necklace that she took i t with her own hands

from the shoulders of the goddess,and fixed i t

on her own neck . An old woman,the las t sur

v i vi ng Vestal , having witnessed by chance th e

profanation,cursed the princess

,and predicted

that,sooner or later

,she would sadly expiate

her crime . Serena,at firs t

,took no notice of

the awful malediction ; bu t the old Vestal had

told the truth— Serena died by strangulation l” *

The college of the Fratres Arvales,twelve in

number,and selected from the highest patrician

families,were devoted to Ceres

,in whose honor

as the Dea D ia they celebrated the great annualfestival

,and off ered publ ic sacrifices for the fer

ti l i ty of the fields . The new grain was blessed

on each of the thre e days of the festival . Onthe second day the ceremonies were performed

in a grove , when two pigs , a whi te cow , and a

fat sheep were sacrificed . The grove where

they assembled was “ at the fifth mil estone of

the Via Campana,on the slope of the hills which

n ow overlook the farm of La Magliana .

” This

L an c i an i,An c i en t R ome i n th e L igh t of R ecent D i scover

i es , p p . 1 33,1 35

,1 76

,1 77.

P R I ESTS AN D FESTI VALS. 1 73

slope was excavated in 1 868 and 1 869,and

richly rewarded the explorer .

The very temple of the Dea D ia was discovered— a round

,marble s tructure

,raised on a

very high platform,on the vertical surface of

which the annals,or yearly records , of the fra

ter n i ty were engraved . To speak of the impor

tance of these annals— which begin with the

reign of Augustus and stop with that of Gordianus II

,a lapse of two centuries and a half

,

and which contain an almos t incredible amount

of archaeological,historical

,and chronological i h

formation— would not be consis tent with the

spiri t of this chapter . I must notice,however

,

one particular,which i s evidently a recollection

of the age of bronze . The annals of each year

were engraved on the marble basement of the

temple during the month of April,and were en

graved,of course

,with iron or steel tools . To

expiate this profanation,i n the same month of

each year,sacrifices were o ff ered

,06 f er r i i n l a

tionem et el ationem,for the introduction and re

moval of iron within the sacred precinc t— a sow

and a sheep were slain over the al tar,and their

flesh was eaten afterwards by attendants and

sacris tans of an inferior order .”

“L an c i an i , An c i en t R ome i n th e L igh t of Recen t D iscov

er i es, pp . 42, 43.


The duties of the Sodal es Ti ti i were quite

s imilar . The thirty Flamines Curiales offeredsacrifices for the preservation of the Curies of the

old Roman people .

Every worshiper migh t address personally

any deity with whom he wished to communicate .

But to hold converse with a god was not,after

all,an easy matter . Only those familiarly ao

q uai n ted with a god could unders tand aright h is

language . The pries t was educated to interpre t

th e divine . He could not only understand,but

also i nfluence the will of the god,and even over

reach him for the good of man . Hence the

importance of the priest in religious worship is

most evident . Still more important were those

men specially skilled in all kinds of religious

learning. These wise men formed the colleges

of sacred lore .

The Roman priests,l ike the priests of the

Greek,and in fact all o ther ancien t religions

,were

compassed about by a great multitude of r estr i c

tions and Observances to which they were com

pel l ed to g i ve most earnest heed . The FlamenD i al i s was not permitted to touch a dead body

or to enter a house where one was burned . He

must not see any work done on holy days,nor

might he venture to uncover in the open air . If

a man were brough t into his house i n bonds,the


the same rules,besides others which were peculiar

to“ The priesthoods were charged with the wor

ship of a specific d ivini ty ; the skilled colleges,on the other hand

,were charged with the pres

er vation of traditional rules regarding those more

general religious Observances,the proper fu l fil l

men t of which implied a certain amount of i a

formation,and rendered i t necessary that the

State , in its own interes t, should provide for the

faithful transmission of that information . These

close corporations supplying their own vacancies,

of course,from the ranks of the burgesses

,became

in this way the depositaries of sk i lled arts andsci ences .”TThe Pon tifices

,under the Ponti fex Maximus

,

who was the highest religious authority in the

State , exercised control over all the priests, and

performed the general functions of the State r e

l i gi on . It is probable that there was no supreme

Pontifex under the emperors,but that the func

tions of the sacred office were discharged by the

emperors in person . The r ex sacr or um,under the

Republic,succeeded to the sacrificial duties which

had been performed by the king,but the P ontif ex

W”‘ F razer

,Th e G ol den I

, p p . cf. th e ref

c r en ees gi ven i n th i s wor k .

TMomm sen ,His tor y of R om e

,V ol . I

, p . 229.

PR I ESTS AN D FESTI VALS . 1 77

Maximus inherited the subs tance of power in sa

cred things . The Pon ti fices claimed to possess

professional knowledge of things human and di

vine .” The supreme Pontiff dwelt close to the

sacred hearth of the State . He appointed the

Flamens and the Vestal Virgins,and had charge of

their cults and those exercises of public religi on

for which no priests were specially provided .

The Pon tifices furnished all technical informati on

and guidance on all great and important religious

occas ions . They controlled the calendar and kept

the pon ti fica l archives or annual chronicles of

public events,and to them was assigned the dec

l ar ati on of the laws of religion . They taught how

to escape the threatenings of omens and prodigies .

The Augurs interpreted,according to the

books of divination,the will of Jupiter on the oc

casion of every public transaction . At first there

seem to have been but two augurs,one from

each of the tribes Ramnes and Tities . Numa

added two more,and again two for the tribe L n

ceres . Sulla made the number fifteen , and Caesaradded one . The offi ce

,like that of the P en

ti fices and Flamines , was for life , and the collegefil led its own vacancies . The augurs observed

the sky,and watched the course of the lightning

and the flight of birds . Such observations could

be made only in the city of Rome,except by con


secr ati ng a spot of earth to represent the hearthof the Eternal Ci ty . The notes of birds

,and their

manner of feeding were not forgotten . Fowlswere kept in cages by a servant that the augurs

might not be without a ready means of reading

the will of heaven . The motions and'

sounds of

quadrupeds and serpents also revealed the will

of th e gods,though this method of divination

was less frequently employed,and had gone out

of use at the time of Cicero . Any unusual phe

nomena were considered timely warnings . Au

spices were taken by casting lots,and by exam

ining the entrails of sacrifices . I n the latter case

Etruscan haruspices were generally employed .

The occasions for the consul tation of augurs were

such as the founding of colonies,the beginning

of a battle,the assembl ing of an army

,the sit

tings of the Senate , th e decis ions of peace andwar

,the election of magis trates

,and their entering

on offi ce .

“And our ancestors were persuaded that

much virtue resides in certain words,and there

fore prefaced their various enterprises with cer

tain auspicious phrases]; such as , May good , and

prosp erous,and happy fortune attend " They

commenced all the public ceremonies of religion

with these words,Keep s ilence and when they

announced any holidays,they commanded that all


The Duumviri,two in number as the name

suggests,were the keepers of the Sibylline

Books,and interpreted their prophecies . These

books were especially consulted in cases of pesti

lence,and upon the occurrence of any extraor d i

nary prodigi es .

These various colleges of priests never could

become dangerous to the State . Their duties

were only to interpret and to advise ; never to

take the initiative,and never to execute . They

coul d only answer questions . “ The Romans,

notwiths tanding all their zeal for religion , ad

hered with unbending strictnes s to the principle

that the pries t ought to remain comple tely

powerless in the State ; and , excluded from

all command,ought

,like any other burgess

,

to render obedience to the humblest magis

The Roman religion was business-like,and

consis ted largely i n songs,games

,dances

,and

banquets . The pig was an offering most accep t

able to the gods . All extravagance in expense

and excess in j oy were sternly rebuked . The

gods,as well as the Roman people, were taught

to practice frugality . These were allowed little

play for the imagination,and little room for en

thu s i asti c fanaticism,unrestrained indulgence

,and

3Mommsen ,Hi stor y of R om e, V ol . I , p . 232.

PR I ESTS AN D FESTI VAL S. 1 81

the frenzy of supersti tion . Si n was considered

a crime agains t the gods , and punishment was

the expiation of guil t . The s l aying of an

enemy in war,and the executi on of a criminal ,

were equally expiatory sacrifices o ffered to of

fended d ivinities . When the guil t which s tirred

the gods to anger could no t be fastened upon any

particular person or persons,they mi gh t still be

appeased by one who volun tarily offered him

sel f as a victim . Thus national calami ty could

be removed,and disaster in battle turned to

victory .

There were several usages which may

have been reminiscences of anci ent human sac

r ifices .

The thirty puppets,plai ted of rushes

,and

thrown annually into the Tiber,may have been

a survival of thirty victims which,i n most

ancient times,were offered annually at the

Lemuralia .

In comparison wi th the religion of the Greeks,

the religion of the Romans was commonplace,

matter-of-fact, unartis tic, bald , barren , dull, tame ,s tupid , and tasteless ; while yet i t was most

sober, business-like , earnest, and practical . Wor

sh ip, prayers , sacrifices , and vows seem to have

been considered mere commercial obligations,to

be punctually met . The old Roman religion1 6


had no images of the gods . As no bargain

could be made by proxy,so no priest could

stand between the worshiper and his gods .

These early gods seem to have had no geneal o

gies and no family relationships . Foreign andlater importations created many changes . The

religion was fruitless in art,poetry

,and a l l im

agi nati ve speculation .


some of the features which characteri ze thesch ooL

The wise man,says the Stoic, li ves according

to nature ; by which is meant not only universal

nature,but also his own nature as a part of

universal nature . This comes to the same thing

as saying that he l ives according to virtue,and

according to the will of the Universal Governorand Ruler of

'

all things . He does n othing which

the common law of mankind or right reason con

demn s . In th is consists his chief good or highest

happiness .

The beautiful is the only good .

“Beauty is

the flower of v i rtue There is no thing inter

mediate between vice and v irtue . He who has

one virtue has all vir tues . All goods are equal,

and each good is to be desired in the highes t

degree . Nothing is good which i t is possible to

use ill . Anything has value only as i t helps man

to l ive according to nature .

The wise man is.

not dis turbed by grief.

This dismisses all p ity,emulation

,and j ealousy

,

all pain,perturbation

,and sorrow

,and all anguish

and confusion .

He is not moved by fear . This banishes all

apprehension,shame

,and hesitation

,and all per

pl ex i ty, trepidation , and anxie ty .

He nei ther feels nor seeks pleasure . This

THE MOR AL I T Y OF S'TOI CI SM. 1 85

destroys all possibil i ty of enj oymen t,

r ejoi c

ing at evil,irrati onal delight

,and ex trava

gant j oy .

The wise man is free from vani ty,and yet

aus tere . He is not moved by clemency ; he would

make a severe punisher of crime .

As to h is emotional nature,the wise man is

barely saved from becoming a gate-pos t by having assigned him three good disposi tions . These

are j oy as opposed to pleasure,caution as 0p

posed to fear,and will as opposed to desire .

These are called rational dispos itions . The firs t

brings delight,mirth

,and good spiri ts ; the sec

ond,reverence and modesty ; and the third ,

good-will,placidity

,salu tation

,and affection .

We follow in the above one of the cl ass i fica

tions brought forward in the school .

The wise man is godlike . He has something

within him which is as i t were a god .

” He is

p ious , and pays p roper reverence to the gods ;he worships the gods and sacrifices to them ; i n

fact,he is the only true priest

,as he is also the

only true king . He is just and holy,and keeps

h imself pure . The gods themselves can not

withhold their admiration . He is the only free

man,and the only man fit to become a magis

trate,j udge

,or orator . Everything belongs to

the wise man,and he is never in error. True


friendship can exist only in the heart of the vi r

tuou s man .

All errors are equal . “ For if one thing thatis true i s not more true than another thing that

i s true,neither is one thing tha t i s false more

fal se than another thing that is false ; so , too ,one decei t is not greater than another, nor one

sin than another . For the man who is a hundred furlongs from Canopus and the man who is

only one,are both equal ly not in Canopus ; and

so,too

,he who commits a greater sin and he

wh o commits a l ess are both equally not in the

right path .

”

The Stoics professed bel ief in one supreme

god,and yet did not break away from the poly

theism of their fathers . Their one god,however

,

was the god of panthei sm,and so remained to

the last . They never emancipated themselves

from superstition,and resorted to divination .

We need not name the many philosophers

wh o helped make the school illustrious . As in

the case of Zeno,their teachings come only to us

second -hand .

Stoicism was never really at home in Greece .

Its greatest expounders were foreigners . But

its adopted country was most congenial . In

Rome it especially flourished . We may study‘ D i ogen es L aerti ne, L i ves of th e Ph i l osop h er s , pp . 301 —31 7.


s tem the tide of corruption and wickedness,and

,

upon suspicion,was banished to Corsica by the

Emperor Claudius. His philosophy failed to sus

tain h im in his exile ; for, while he gave himself

to authorship,his works were not free from the

most sycophan ti c and fulsome flattery of Clau

di u s,whom in his heart he mus t have considered

a monster .

Agrippina,a demoness incarnate, a tigress

gorged with human blood . secured the recall of

Seneca ; and when her son , the if possible more

satanic Nero,ascended the throne of Rome

,the

philosopher became his tutor . He may have de

spai r ed of maintaining his influence over his royal

master i f he were to attempt to teach him the

highest virtue,and hence was content to enforce

the virtue of mere expediency . His own virtue

suffered . He became an accomplice in crime,

and must be even branded as a murderer . Nero

came to the conclusion that he could do withou t

h im,

'

and,suspecting him of being connected with

the conspiracy of Pi so,condemned h im to death .

He opened his own veins,and thus died sur

rounded by his friends .

The age in which Seneca lived was character

i zed by the purest moral teaching,and yet ex

p l or ed the lowest depths of degradation and i h

famy Whil e many did not believe in the old

THE MORAL I TY OF STO l C l SM. 89

gods at al l,they yet gave themselves up to s u

per s ti ti on , and put their trus t in the fooleries of

sorcerers,astrologers , exorcists , and every im

postor and quack . G ibbon says The common

worship was regarded by the people as equally

true,by the philosophers as equally false

,and

by the magistrates as equally useful Religion

became a pretense and a mockery .

Never were luxury and extravagance carried

to a higher pi tch . Men abandoned manly pur

suits,and resorted to debauchery and gluttony .

They invented and diligently practi ced every

refinement of vice . They sought the arena,i n

which gladiators and beasts tore one another in

pieces,and their con s tant demand was for more

blood . Slaves were treated with the greates t

cruelty and brutali ty . They were tortured,they

were murdered— sometimes for mere pleasure .The great multitude were ground by poverty

,

with the hope of noth ing better,while the

wealthy despoi led whole provinces to satisfy

their tables . This wild extravagance,this un

speakable cruelty,this frantic wickedness

,this

revelry in crimes beyond nature and below na

ture,— all was but an attempt to feed on husks a

soul created for the ambrosia and nectar of the

gods . It is no t a matter for wonder tha t many

sought refuge in suicide


Seneca recommended suicide as the way of

escape from worldly troubles : “ I have placed

every good thing within your own breasts . It

is your good fortune not to need any good for

tune .

‘ Yet many things befall you which are

sad,dreadful

,hard to be borne .

’ Well,as I have

not been able to remove them from your path,I

have given your minds strength to combat all .

Bear them bravely . In this you can surpass Godhimself. He is beyond suffering evil ; you are

above it . Desp ise poverty ; no man lives as pooras he was born . Despise pain ; ei ther i t willcease or you will cease . Desp ise death ; i t e itherends you or takes you elsewhere . Despise fortune ; I have given her no weapon that can reach

the mind . Above all,I have taken care that no

man should hold you captive against your will .

The way of escape l ies open before you ; if you

do not choose to fight,you may

In such words God is represented as address

ing men . Petronius,wh o was an arbiter of ques

tions of taste at the court of Nero,having been

implicated in the P i son i an conspiracy,determined

to destroy himself. His veins were opened,and

while his life-blood was flowing,ludicrous poems

were read to him to excite hi s laughter . When

something especially laughable was read,he . had

Sen eca,M i n or D i al ogues , i , 6 .


ver b ia l resolution The house is smoky,and

I quit it .”

Seneca speaks still more plainly . To him who

complains of opp i ess i on , h e says :“ Madman

,

why do you groan ? for what are you waiting ?

for some enemy to avenge you by the destruo

tion of your entire nation,or for some powerful

king to arrive from a distant land ? Wherever

you turn your eyes you may see an end to your

woes . Do you see that precipice ? down that l iesthe road to liberty . Do you see that sea ? thatriver ? that well ? Liberty sits at the bottom o f

them . Do you see that tree ? Stunted,bli ghted

,

dried up though i t be,ye t liberty hangs from its

branches . Do you see your own throat,your

own neck,your own heart ? They are so many

ways of escape from slavery . Are these modes

which I point out too laborious,and needing much

s trength and courage ? Do you ask what path

leads to l iberty ? I answer,any vein in your

The Stoics bel ieved in the gods,and taught

that they should be reverenced . The gods act

under no restraint,but their own wi l l i s their

sufficient law . They have established an order

which they will never change because they w i ll

*Mar cu s Au rel i us An ton i n us , v, 29.

TSeneca , M i n or D i al ogues , v, 1 5.

THE MORAL I TY OF STOI CI SM. 1 93

never regre t their original decis ion . Their own

force holds them to their purpose,so that they

will never stop short or deser t to the other side .

It is from no weakness that they persevere,but

they choose to continue in the bes t course . Not

onl y d id they have regard for man in the original arrangement of the universe ; but they also

assis t man of set purpose , and hence lay him

under obligation . They may have higher aimsthan the preservation of the human race

,yet

from the beginning their though t has been di

r ected‘ to our comfort

,and the scheme of the

world has been arranged in a fash ion to prove that

our interests were n ei ther their leas t nor las t con

cern . The immortal gods have always held us

most dear,and have bestowed upon us the great

est possible honor,a place neares t to themselves .

The gods send affl ic tion for our good . In the

army the mos t hazardous s ervices are assigned

to the braves t soldiers . We see men who are

good and acceptable to the gods,toiling

,sweat

ing,and painfully s truggling upwards

,while bad

men run rio t and are steeped in pleasures . Let

us reflect that modes ty pleases us in our sons,

but forwardness in our slaves ; the former are

held in check while the boldness of the latter i s

encouraged . God acts in like manner . He does

not pe t the good man ; he tries him ,hardens

1 94 D EPAR TED GODS.

him,and fits him for himself. The government

of the world i s a monarchy ; our l iberty is to

obey God .

”

We owe to the gods a deb t of grati tude which

we should not neglect to pay .

“Avaricious as

you are,i t i s easy for you to give them thanks

,

w i thout expense ; lazy, though you be, you can

do it without labor .”

The soul of man has been placed beyond the

reach of all possible harm . We shall feel our

sorrows,if we be human ; we shall bear them,

if

we be not unmanly . This trumpery body,th e

prison and fetter of the spiri t,may be tossed

about ; upon i t tortures,robberies

,and diseases

may work their will ; but the spiri t i tself is holy

and eternal,and upon i t no one can lay hands .

All that i s bes t for man ’s enj oyment— thi s world,

the greates t and most beautiful of th e produc

tions of God,and the mind which can behold and

admire i t — are our own property and will not de

sert us as l ong as we ourse lves endure . The treasures of thi s world which we so carefully guard

and are ready to defend at the risk of our l ives

treasures for which our fleets dye the seas with

blood,and our armies shake the walls of cities

for which we so often violate all ti es of relation

*Sen eca,D e B en eficn s

, vi , 23; 1 1 , 30; M i n or D i a l ogu es , i , l ,4 ; vu ,

1 5.


comes to ou r door . If we abandon our m inds to

anger or any passion,th e downward tendency of

our vices will carry us off and hurl us in to the

lowest depth s . We should rej ect the firs t i n

cen ti ves to anger, and resis t i ts very begin

n i ngs . It i s hard to hold anger in check when

it has once begun,because then reason goes for

nothing . Passi on will do as much as i t chooses,not merely as much as we would allow .

Fabianus says : “We ought to fight against

the passions by main force,not by skirmi shing

,

and upset their line of battle by a home charge,

not by infl i cting trifl ing wounds . I do not ap

prove of dallying with Sophisms ; they must be

crushed,not merely

L i fe i s not a good thing,but to l ive well .

Keep a good conscience . It. i s of value on the

rack or in the fire . A heart filled wi th a good

conscience will rej oice in the fire,which will

only make i t shine more brightly before the

world . Men should free themselves from all hin

drances to good living . Riches,pleasures

,busi

ness should be counted noth ing when compared

with a virtuous l ife . Men have abandoned all,

and yet have not learned how to live,still less

to liv e as wise men .

Length of l ife is not the greatest blessing .

Sen eca,M i n or D i al ogu es , v, 43 i i i

, 7 , 8 ; x, 1 0.

THE MOR AL I TY OF STOI CI SM. 1 97

The delay of death will make life longer,not

pleasanter. A man should never consider the

cost of being vir tuous . She never allures by

gain nor deters by loss . She never bribes any

one by hopes and promises .

“We must go to

her,trampling what i s merely useful under our

feet . Whithersoever she may call us or send us

we must go,without any regard for our private

fortunes,sometimes wi thout sparing even our

own blood , nor mus t we ever refuse to obey anyof her

Pleasure i s changeable and unreliable . It

dies at the very moment when i t charms us

most . On the other hand,the highes t good is

immortal . It knows no ending ; i t does not

admi t of either satiety or regret . Whatever we

can hold in our hands or see with our eyes 1 s

transitory,but a kindness las ts after that by

means of which i t i s bes towed is gone . We

may make worldly goods really our own only

by giving them away . We should give in the

way in which we ourselves would like to

r eceiver l'

If any one gave you a few acres of land,or

filled your chest with money,or presented you

‘ Sen eca, M i n or D i a l ogues , i i i , 33; i v, 21 ; x , 7 ; D e B enefic i is ,

v, 1 7 ; i v, 1 .

TSen cca , Min or Di a l ogues , vu , 7 ; 1 1 , 1 ; De B en eficns , i , 5.


with a house bright with marble,and i ts roof

beautifully painted with colors and gilding,you

would call these benefits . But God has givenyou the boundles s extent of the earth

,in which

he has buried countless mines,and on which he

has placed countless rivers rolling sands of gold .

He has concealed in every place masses of silver

and a l l kinds of metals,and has enabled you to

discover the hidden treasures . He has built for

you a great man sion,i n which you see vast

blocks of most precious stone,the paltriest frag

m ent of which you admire,and he has covered

it with a roof which glitters by day and by night ;and yet you do not recognize these blessings of

God .

*

Present time i s short,always in motion

,and

runs sw i ftly away . Man can not grasp it ; i ts

unceasing movements brook no delay . Dutiesshould be done now . Postponement i s the great

est was te of life . It s teals our time day after

day . It takes away the present by promising

something hereafter . “ There is no such obstacle

to true living as waiting,which loses to-day

while i t i s depend ing on the mor r ow .

”

TFate decides everything

,public and private .

The length of every man’ s life is decided at his

”Sen eca,D e B en efic i i s , i v, 5.

TSen eca , Mi nor D i al ogues , x, 9, 10.


l ives must contract ; but from thence th ey ri se

to the high heavens and j oin the souls of the

blest,welcomed by a saintly company .

“ Freeto roam through the open

,boundless realms of

the everlasting un i verse,they are not hindered

in their course by intervening seas,lofty mount

ains,impassable valleys

,or the treacherous flats

of the Syrtes . They find a level path every

where,are swift and ready of motion

,and are

permeated,in their turn

,by the stars

,and dwell

together with them .

”

In the writings of Seneca may be found nu

mer ou s and striking resemblances to the sacred

Scriptures . We can not find,however

,that

ei ther b orrowed from the other . There is not

the slightest poss ibil i ty that Seneca ever had

any intercourse with Paul . Several authors

have made large collections of passages which

show that Seneca,as far as his moral doctrines

and precepts are concerned,was not far from the

kingdom of heaven . Farrar has presented someof the most striking of these passages

,from

which we select a few examp l esj“Do you wonder that man goes to the gods ?

God comes to men ; nay, what is yet nearer, he

* Sen eca,Mi n or D i a l ogues , x 1 1 , 9 ; vi , 1 9, 25.

TF ar r a r , Seeker s after G od , pp . 1 74— 1 80.

THE MORAL I TY OF STOI CI SM 201

comes into men . No good mind is holy without

God ”

What advantage i s i t that anything is hid

den from men ? Nothing is closed to God ; hei s present 'to our minds

,and enters into our cen

tral thoughts .“Words must be sown like seed ; which ,

although i t be small,when it hath found a suit

able ground,unfolds i ts s trength

,and from very

small size i s expanded into the largest increase .

“We shall be wise if we desire but little ; if

each man takes count of himself,and at the

same time measures his own body,he will know

how little i t can contain,and for how short a

time .“You must l ive for one another

,if you w ish

to live for yourself.“Do we teach that he should stre tch his

hand to the shipwrecked,show his path to the

wanderer,divide his bread with the hungry ?

When I could briefly deliver to him the formula

of human duty,all this that you see

,in which

things divine and human are in cluded , i s onewe are members of one great body .

”

When we consider the age in which Seneca

’ Sen eca, L etters 73,83, 38 , 1 1 4, 48, 95 ; c f. 1 Co r . i i i

,1 6 ;

Heb . i v,1 3; Matt. x i i i

,8 ; 1 Tim . vi , 8 ; I A N . x ix ,

1 8 ; 1 Cor .

xi i , 27 ; R om . x i i , 5.


li ved,we must place a high es timate upon the

strength and purity of his character. We wouldnot conceal or minify his faults, bu t we would

acknowledge with gratitude his virtues . Godcertainly endowed h i m with a large share of di

vine illumination .

Among the slaves of Epaphrodi tus,the sec

r etary of the Emperor Nero, Seneca must have

noticed a little lame Phrygian lad, Epicte tus by

name,who was des tined to become the most

celebrated of the Stow philosophers . He was

born about the fiftieth year of the Christian

era. We have little information concerning his

life which we may count as historic . He was

doubtless treated with great cruelty,yet

,for the

pleasure of his mas ter,was trained in the Stoic

philosophy by Cai ns Musom u s Rufus . The de

cree of Domi tian,which banished all the philos

oph er s from Italy, sent Epictetus to Nicopolis in

Epirus . We do not know whether he ever r e

turned to Rome . He is said to have died at a

good old age,surrounded by many loving dis

c i p l es . Epicte tus exemplified his philosophy in

his life , so far at leas t as we have any knowledge

of his his tory .

The good man,the perfect man

,the wise man

,

the Stoic l ived in harmony with nature ; hence

it was important to s tudy and unders tand nar


But I have never been hindered in my will,

nor compelled when I d id not will . And how is

this possible ? I have placed my movements to

wards action i n obedience to God . Is i t his

w i ll that I should have fever ? It i s my will

also . Is it his will that I should move towards

anything ? It is my will also . Is i t his will

that I should obtain anything ? It is my wish

also . Does he not will ? I do not wish . Is i t

his will that I die— is it h is will that I be pu t

to the rack ? It is my will,then

,to die— i t is

my will,then

,to be put to the rack . Who

,then

,

i s still able to hinder me contrary to my own

j udgment,or to compel me ? No more than he

can hinder or compel

Here i s perfect resignation to the will of God ;here i s the adopti on of the divine will as h is own .

It i s not possible to conceal from God our acts,

or even our intentions and thoughts . Man should

learn the nature of the gods ; then he should

please and obey them,and with all h is power im

i tate them ,and do and say everything consist

ently with this facts !"

Men are sprung from God in an especial

manner . He is their Maker,their Guardian

,and

their Father . This should save man from sor

rows and fears,and from mean and ignoble

3“Ep i ctetus , 1 1 , 1 6 ; i v, 1 . TEp i ctetus , i i , 1 4.

THE MOR AL I TY OF STO I CI SM. 205

though ts about himself. He has also placed by

every man a guardian— a daemon , to whom he

has committe d his care . This guardian never

sle eps ; this guardian is never deceived . Man

is never alone . God and his daemon are withhim

,and they need no light to enable them to

see what he is doing .

*

No evil can happen to the man who carries

God within . He fears no robber, no earthquake .

Everything is ful l of peace and tranquill ity .

Every way,every city

,every meeting, every

neighbor,every companion

,i s harmless . When

he dies,h is body is resolved into i ts original ele

ments ; his spiri t goes to God , but whether to beabsorbed i nto the d ivine essence

,or to continue

h i s individual and personal exis tence,Epictetus

does not sayr l‘

Epicte tus would s tand by his principles , even

at the ri sk of his l ife .

“ P r i scu s Hel vi d i us also

saw th is,and acted conformably . For when

Vespasian sent and commanded him not to go

into the Senate,he replied : ‘ It is in your power

not to allow me to be a member of the Senate ;but so long as I am

,I must ~ go in .

’ ‘Well,go

in then,

’ says the emperor,

‘ but say nothing .

’

‘ Do not ask my opinion,and I will be silent . ’

‘ But I must ask yo ur opinion .

’ ‘ And I must‘ Ep i ctetus , i , 3, 9, 1 4 ; i i , 8 TEp i cte tus , i i i , 1 3


say what I think right . ’ ‘ But if you do,I shall

put you to death .

’ ‘When,then

,did I tell you

that I am immortal ? You will do your part,

and I wi l l do mine ; it i s your part to kill ; i t is

mine to die,but not in fear ; yours to banish

me,mine to depart without sorrow .

’

The philosopher found his supreme happiness

in praising God— not as a nightingale,not as a

swan,but as a rational creature . He says : “ I

ought to praise God ; this is my work . I do it ;nor will I desert this pos t so long as I am a l

lowed to keep it . And I exhort you to j oin in

this same song .

”

1'

A true Stoic was most difficul t to find . Epic

tetus says that he never saw one— a man who

was happy in sickness,in danger

,in disgrace

,in

exile,dying ; a man ready to think as God does ,

ready to be disappointed,blaming neither God

nor man,angry at no one

,envying no one

, jea l

ous of no one ; desirous from a man to becomea god

,and in this poor mortal body thinking of

his fell owship with Zeu s .

”

j[It i s agreed on the part of all fair-minded

men that Epictetus was one of the choicest spir

i ts of antiquity . If in Epictetus we behold a

man sus tained and exalted i n soul by his philos

Ep i ctetus , i , 2. TEp i ctetus i , 1 6 . i Ep i ctetus i i , 1 9.


of humanity,

— these he considered the highes t da

ties of man . He built but one temple during

his whole reign,and that be dedicated to benef

i cen ce.

So familiar are his life and works , that we

will satisfy ourselves i n writing down a few se

lections from his though ts :“ E very moment think s teadil y as a Roman

and a man,to do what thou hast in hand wi th

perfect and simple digni ty,and feel ing of affec

tion,and freedom

,and j us ti ce

,and to give thy

self relief from all other thoughts . And thou

wilt give thyself relief i f thou dost every act

of thy l ife as if i t were thy las t,laying aside

all carelessness and passionate aversion from the

commands of reason,and al l hypocrisy and self

love and discontent with the portion which has

been given to thee .

“ Never value anything as profitable to thy

self which shall compel thee to break thy prom

ise,to lose thy self-respect

,to hate any man

,to

suspect,to curse

,to act the hypocrite

,to desire

anything which needs walls and curtains .

”

Do not act as if thou wert going to l iveten thousand years . Death hangs over thee .

While thou livest,while i t is in thy power

,be

good f’

“What,then

,is that about which: we ought

THE MOR AL I TY OF STOl C l SM.209

to employ our serious pains ? This one thing

thoughts j ust,and acts social , and words which

never lie,and a disposi tion which gladly accepts

all that happens as necessary, as usual , as flow

ing from a principle and source of the same

kind

Constantly regard the universe as one l ivingbeing

,having one substance and one son].

“ But,on the contrary

,i t is a man

’

s duty to

comfort himself,and to wai t for the natural dis

solution,and not to be vexed at the delay

,but

to res t in these principles only : the one that

nothing wi l l happen to me which is not conform

able to the nature of the universe,and the other

that it i s i n my power never to act contrary to

my God and daemon ; for there is no man wh owill compel me to this .

Such as are thy habi tual thoughts,such

also will be the character of thy mind ; for the

soul is dyed by the thoughts . Dye i t,then

,

with’

a continuous serie s of such thoughts as

these : for instance,that where a man can live

,

there he can live well .”

Whatever any one does or says,I must be

good,jus t as if the gold

,or the emerald

,or the

purple were always saying this : Whatever any

one does or says,I must be emeral d and keep

my color .”


It is pecul iar to man to love even those

who do wrong . And this happens,if when they

do wrong it occurs to thee that they are kins

men,and that they do wrong through i gnorance

and unintentionally,and that soon both of you

will die ; and,above all

,that the wrong-doer has

done thee no harm,for he has not made thy

rul ing faculty worse than i t was before .

”

“Whatever may happen to thee,it was pre

pared for thee from all e ternity .

“No longer talk at all about the k ind of man

that a good man ought to be,but be such .

”

Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou

be able to lay down rules for others before thou

shal t have first learned to obey rules thyself.

Much more i s this so in life .

”

Thus,then

,with respect to the gods : from

what I con stantly experience of their power,from this I comprehend that they exist

,and I

venerate

These three greatest of Stoics should have

made the age in which they lived illustrious .

But their teachings were powerless . They spokefor philosophers

,not for the great

,seeth ing mass

of humani ty . They taught an imperfect morality,as they themselves were painfull y and sadly con

*Mar cus Au r el i us An ton i n us , Medi tati ons , 1 1 , 5 ; i i i , 7 ; iy,1 7, 33, 40; v, 1 0, 1 6 ; vi i , 1 5, 22 ; x , 5, 1 6 ; x i , 29 ; x i i , 28.

DEPAR TED GODS.

been the soul of the universe . The Stoic bel ievedin immortality— Seneca seems to have looked

forward to a personal exis tence after death . Ep

i ctetu s avoids ques tions concerning a future exis t

ence ; Marcus Aurel ius looks for the dissolution

of the body into i ts elements , and the return Of

the immaterial part to i ts original condition . But

thi s is a barren,cold

,and comfortless immor

tality .

Stoicism found no place for repentance and

d ivine forgiveness . There is no place for the i n

dwelling spirit . Indeed there i s frequent men

tion of God with man or within man ; but God i sOf such a nature and character that there is but

indifferent resemblance to the Chris tian doctrine .

Sometimes it would appear that man is a part of

God or equal wi th God ; nay, is even exalted, insome respects

,above God .

In every respect,except as to certain moral

precepts,Stoici sm and Chris tianity are separated

each from the o ther,by an infini te dis tance .

21 6 DEPAR TED GODS

priesthood,the sacred ri te s and symbolism

,have

excited a curiosi ty and an interest thus far but

poorly gratified . The influence of Druidism iss till fel t on both continents

,in popular tales

,tra

d i ti on s and supersti tions .

Our knowledge of the religious system of theDruids

,as far as we are able to ga ther any i n

formation upon the subj ect at all,must be derived

from ancient Cel tic my thologies,venerable tradi

tions,primeval ins titutions

,early supers titions and

their surv ivals in modern times,archaeological

monuments,and the tes timony Of classi c writers .

We shall investigate each of these sources of i n

formation,and gather what seems to us most val

u abl e. We may hope to be able to le t in some

light to relieve the darkness which,after centu

ries of study,still surrounds the subj ect .

We shall not attempt a chronological order in

our studies . After we have tas ted the flavor of

Celtic mythology we may read with clearer vis

ion the class ic and archaeological evidence . There

i s but l ittl e material to assis t us in our study of

early Celti c mythology, but in its l ater stages we

are rather distracted by its abundance than dis

cou r aged by its failure . And then,t oo

,this great

mass of material has no t been digested ; but few

s cholars hav ing s tudied i t with that thoroughness

which the importance of the subj ect demands .

THE CHI EF OF THE GODS. 21 7

Omitting many lesser mythologic characters .we shal l confine our attention largely to those

of the first rank,and select such myths and

legends as pres ent them in the cleares t light .

Perhaps the most frui tful field of all i s Ireland,

and i ts l i terature also may be as ancient. We

there fore give th is island the leading place in our

researches . We may here avail ourselves of the

labors of several distinguished Celtic s cholars,

who, with great enthusiasm and learning, have

done much to elucidate a di fficul t subject.

There are many fabulous legends concerning

the settlement of Ireland . Among the l egends,

we find the mention of four successive colonies .

These are the N emedi ans,the Firbolgs

,th e

Tuath a D é Dananu,and the Milesians . The N e

medians were expel led by the Fomorians,a band

of sea-rovers,and fled from the i sland in three

bodies . Those who went to Britain becameBritons ; those who went to Thrace returned as

Firbo l gs ; and those who went to the north ofEurope returned as the Tuatha D é Dananu .

The Milesian s are said to have come from

the north of Spain . The Tu ath a D é D anann,

“ the tribes of the goddess Danu,

” formed the

group Of divinities bel ieved in by the ancient

Goidel . N uada,who was their king

,lost his

right arm in one of hi s confl ic ts wi th the savage


Firbolgs and their hideous allies . This blemish

made it neces sary for h im to abdicate his thron e .

A clever man of h is court made him a silver

hand,and another man still more clever

,endowed

i t with life and motio’

n . He now,after the space

of seven years,resumed his kingly Office

,and

was th ereafter known as “N uada of the Si lver

Hand . He was a most warl ike king,but was

represented also i n other characters . As N uada

F i nnfai l he was the god of ligh t and of the beav

ens ; and as N uada N ech t he was connected with

the world Of waters . We may compare Nuada

in this threefold character with the Greek Zeus,

but i t must be the primiti ve Zeus . We call to

mind the fact that Zeus also lost his hands

both of them— and we shall learn the s tory of

the Norse god Tyr .

In Welsh we meet with “ L l u th of the Silver

Hand,

” who is doubtless th e same personage as

Nuth . A Welsh name of London is Caer L i i th,

Lud ’ s Fort;” and the name also l i ngers in Ludgate

Hill,where the god doubtless had an early shrine .

In the terri tory of. the ancient Si lures we

meet with inscriptions bearing the name N odeu s .

He seems to have been a kind of Neptune ; and

had a temple at Lydney,on the western bank of

the Severn . But he was not only the Neptune

of the sea,he was also a Mars .


the ins trumenta l ity of outlaws,comi ng from the

sea and following the lead of a sor t of Cyclops

called I ngcé l , said to have been a big, rough ,horrid monster

,with only one eye

,which was

,

however, wider than an ox-hide,blacker than

the back of a beetle,and provided with no less

than three pupils .

”

Conchobar mac Nessa,another similar char

acter,also came to his death in a most extraor

d i nary manner . A ball had been made by mix

ing the brain of a fallen foe,called Mesgr egr a,

with l ime . Cét,another deadly enemy

,secured

possess ion of this ball,and hurled i t against

Conchobar with so accurate an aim as to wound

h im most grievously in th e skull . After some

years,th is wound caused his death .

Nessa i s described as a warlike V irago,with

whom Fergus mac R Oig, king of Ulster, fell inlove

,but was rej ected . N ow,

this Fergus wasendowed with th e strength of seven hundred

men,and wielded a sword which extended

,when

ever h e used i t,to th e dimen sions of a rainbow .

Nessa had,at las t consented to marriage with

Fergus,but only on the cond ition that he should

give up the kingdom for one year to her son

Conchobar . At the end of the year,so success

ful had been the administration of the govern

ment that the people would not consent to a

THE CHI EF OF THE GODS. 221

change . Fergus attempted to assert his cla imsby force of arms

,but was not successful

,and

was compelled to flee from the kingdom .

ZEngus , much devoted to irresis tible mus ic ,was the son of Dagda th e G reat , wh o is

'

described

as old and fond of porridge,and

,withal

,a good

subj ect for comic treatment,and the goddess

Boann,from whom the river Boyne takes i ts

name . As mac (I o,his foster-father

,was Mider

,

the king of the fairies,whose wi fe was Etain

,a

dawn-goddess . A rival separated Mider and

Etain . Mac (I o found the dawn-goddess , clad

in purple,house d in a glass su n-bower, and fed

on fragrance and the bloom O f odoriferous flow

ers . Mac 00 se ized th e bower,and carried i t

with him whenever he traveled . fEngus , by

throwing his magic mantle around her,pro tected

in a sim i lar manner G r a i nne,daughter of Cor

mac mac Airt,who decl ined to wed Finn

,king

of the fairies and of the dead,and eloped with

the solar hero D iarma i t.

According to ancient story,the Tuatha D e

Dananu were defeated by hosti le invaders ofthei r realm

,and then withdrew from mortal ken .

They retreated into the hills and mounds of

Erinn,and there formed an invisible world of

their own . Henc e,i n the popu l ar belief

,the

gods are especially associated with the mounds

222 DEPAR TED GODS.

and cemeteries of the country . The Brugh of the

Boyne was the home of Dagda the Great. This

home,however

,he lost to his crafty son mac Cc,

who was thenceforth known as the ZEngus of

the Brugh . Tradi tion represents himself and

sons as buried there . The place is described in

an old account as most admirable : There are

three trees there,always bearing fruit . There i s

one pig there,always alive

,and another pig a l

ways ready cooked ; and there is a vessel there ,always full of excellent ale .

” This i s the ideal

of these old people concerning the happines s of

those who dwell in the land of the blessed . There

are many myth s connected with [ Engu s, some

Of which do not yield to explanation,as when we

are told that his four kisses were converted into“birds which haunted th e youths of Erinn .

Among the numerous legends furnished by

Irish literature we select one,which we relate

with somewhat of deta i l

One night ZEngu s , the mac Cc, dreamedthat he saw at his bedside a maiden the most

beautiful in Erinn . He made a move to take

hold of her ; but she vanished , he knew not

whither . He remained i n h is bed till the morni ng ; but he was in an evil pligh t on account of

of the maiden leaving him without vouch safinghim a word

,and he tasted no food that day .

DEPAR TED GODS.

recogniz e the lady . The mac Cc did so the

moment he descried her,among her thrice fifty

maiden companions . These,we are told

,were

j oined two and two together by silver chains,

and their mis tress towered head and shoulders

above the res t . Her name was Caer abar,or

,

more shortly,Caer

,daughter of Etal Anbuar

,of

the fairy settlement of Naman,in the land of

Connaught . She wore a silver collar around her

neck and a chain of burnished gold ; ZEngus was

grieved that he had not the power to take her

away,so he returned home ; and the Dagda was

advised to seek the aid of Ai l i l l and Medb,the

king and queen Of th e western kingdom . B u t

Caer’

s father decl ining to answer the summons

that he should appear before them,an attack

was made on his residence , when he himsel f was

taken,and brought before Ai l i l l and Medb . He

then explained to them that he had no power

over his daughter,who

,W i th her companions

,

changed the ir forms every other year into those

of birds . In fact,he added that on the firs t day

of the ensuing winter they would appear as one

hundred and fifty swans on L och be! dr accon oc

cr uz'

t cZz'

ac/z,or the Lake of the Mouths of the

Dragons,near C l i ach

’

s Crowd . Peace was accord

i ngly made with Etal , and fEngu s betook him tothe shore of the lake on the day mentioned .


Recogni zing Caer in the form of a swan,he called

to her and said : ‘ Come to speak to ine,Caer .

’

‘Who calls me ?’

was the reply .

‘ fEngus calls

thee,

’ he said . I will come,’ said she

,

‘ provided

I obtain that thou wilt on thy hono r make for

the lake after me .

’ ‘ I will,

’ said he . She ao

cor d i ngly came to him ,whereupon he placed his

two hands on her . Then they flew Off in the

form of a pair of swans,and they went thrice

round the lake . They afterward took their fl igh t

to the Brugh Of the Boyne,where they made

such enchanting music that i t plunged every

body i n a deep sleep,which lasted three days

and three nights . Caer remained at the Brugh

of the Boyne as the mac Oe’

s consort .”

This i s doubtless th e original of the Welsh

saga called the Dream of Maxen . The follow

ing is an abs tract :“Maxen was emperor of Rome

,and the hand

somes t of men,as well as the wises t

,with whom

none of his predecessors migh t compare . Oneday he and hi s courtiers went forth to hunt

,and

in the course Of the day he sat himsel f down to

rest,while his chamberlains protected him from

the scorch ing rays of the sun with their shields .

Beneath that shelter he slept,and he dreamt

that he was traveling over hill and dale,across

R h ys , Hi bbert Lectures , 1 886 , pp . 1 69- 1 7 1 .


rich lands and fine countries,until at length he

reached a sea-coast . Then he crossed the sea

i n a magnificent ship,and landed in a great ci ty

in an island,which he traversed from the one

shore till he was in sigh t of the othe r ; there wefind him in a dis tri ct remarkable for i ts pr eci pi tou s mountains and lofty cliffs

,from which he

could descry an isle in front of him,surrounded

by the sea. He stayed not hi s course until h e

reached the mouth of a river,where he found a

castle with open gates . He walked in,and there

beheld a fair hall,built of stones precious and

brilliant,and roofed with shingles of gold . To

pass by a great deal more gold and silver and

other preci ous things,Maxen found in the hall

four persons ; namely , two youths, playing at

chess . They were the sons of the lord of the

castle,wh o was a venerable

,gray-haired man

,s it

ting i a an ivory chair adorned with the images

of two eagles of ruddy gold . He had bracelets

of gold on his arms,and many a ring gli ttered

on his fingers ; a massive gold torque adorned

his neck,while a frontlet of the same precious

metal served to restrain his locks . Hard by sat

his daughter,i n a chair of ruddy gold

,and her

beauty was so transcendent that i t would be no

more easy to look at her face than to gaze on

the sun when his rays are most irresi s tible.

228 D EPAR TED GODS.

of his nobles contrived to l et him know that his

conduct,i n neglecting his men and his duties ,

was the cause of growing discontent . There

upon he summoned before him the wise men of

Rome,and told them the state of mind in which

he was . Their advice was that messengers

should be sent On a three years ’ ques t to the

three parts of the world,as they calculated that

the expectation of good news would help to sus

tai n him . But at the end of the firs t year the

messengers returned unsuccessful,which made

Maxen sad ; so o ther messengers were sent forth

to search another th ird of the world . They r e

turned at the end of their year,l ike the others,

unsuccessful . Maxen,now in despair

,took the

advice of one of his courtiers,and resorted to

the fores t where he had firs t dreamt of the

maiden . When the glade was reached,he was

able to give h is messengers a start i n the right

direction . They went on and on,identifying the

country they traverse d with the emperor’ s d e

scription of his march day by day,unti l at las t

they reached the rugged dis trict of Snowdon ,and beheld Mona lying in front Of them flat inthe sea. They proceeded a littl e further

,and

entered a castl e where Caernarvon now stands,

and there beh eld the hall roofed wi th gold ; they

walked i n and found Kynan ahd Adcon playing


at chess,while their father

,Eudav, son of Kara

dawg, sat in his chair of ivory , with his daugh

ter Elen seated near him . They saluted her as

empress of Rome,and proceeded to explain the

meaning of an not she deemed so strange . She

lis tened courteously,but declined to go with

them,th inking i t more appropriate that the em

per or should come in person to fetch h er . In due

time he reached Bri tain,which be conquered from

Bel i the Great and his s ons ; then he proceededto visi t Elen and her father

,and i t was during

his s tay here , after the marriage , that Elen had

Caermarthen built,and the stronghold in Eryr i .

The story adds Caerleon_to them ,

but distin

gu i shes the unnamed Snowdon city as the favor

ite abode of her and her husband . The next

she undertook was to employ the hosts at her

command in the construction of road s between

the three towns which sh e had caused to be buil t

in part payment of her maiden-fee . But Maxen

remained here so many years that the Romans

made an emperor in his s tead . So at length he

and E l en,and her two bro thers and their hosts

,

set ou t for Rome,which they had to besiege and

take by storm . Maxen was now reinstated in

power,and he allowed his bro thers-i n -l aw and

their hosts to se ttle wherever they chose ; so

Adcon and his men came back to Bri tain,while

20


Kynan and his reduced Brittany,and settled

The original of Maxen was probably Merlin

Emrys,who seems to have conquered the country

from the Chthonian god,Bel i th e Great . Elen

is evidently the dawn-goddess . Caer, with her

one hundred and fifty companions with their

si lver chains,may explain the name of the god

dess i n the other s tory— Elen L i iyddawg,“E l en

of the Host The attendants may be an exag

ger ati on of the number of priestesses who were

supposed to have pres ided at her altars . The

virgin priestesses of the Isle of Sein,according to

P ompon i u s Mela, could take any form they chose .

Sometimes they are merely birds, and sometimes

they are designated as swans . The Welsh,i n

corresponding supers ti tions,prefer the goose

,and

treat those who assume this form as witches .“ It was an evil omen to see geese on a lake at

night,

” especially if this were the firs t Thursday

night of the lunar mon th ni‘

There i s a s tory that Zeus spent a part of his

childhood on the summit of one of the Lycaean

mountains in Arcadia,and that there

,once upon

a time,one of th e kings sacrificed his child upon

his altar . On th e same mountain was a sacred

R h ys , Hibber t L ectu r es , 1 886 , p p . 1 02— 1 65 .

TR h ys , Hi bber t L ectu r es , 1 886 , p p . 1 68- 1 75 .

232 DEPAR TED GODS.

D i arma i t and F inn mac Cumai l l were searching for some of the men of the latter

,whom a

wizard chief had carried away . They sailed far

toward the west till they came to a steep cliff,

which seemed to reach to the clouds . With i n

credible d i fficu l ty and danger, D iarmai t alone sur

mounted the cliff,and saw spread before him a

beautiful plain,bordered with pleasant hill s

,

shaded by l eafy groves,and sweet with lovely

flowers . Birds warbled among the trees,bees

were busy among the flowers,winds whi spered

through the foliage,and streams purled and gur

gled as they pursued their course through green

fields . Walking out into the plain , h e saw straigh t

before him a tree overtopping all the others,laden

with much frui t . Near the tree s tood a pillar

s tone,which was surrounded at a li ttle d istance

by a circle of other pillar-stones . Near the ‘ cen

tral s tone was a spring,where water clear as

crystal flowed away towards the middle of theplain . He stooped to drink ; but before his lips

touched the water he was s tartled by the noise

of the heavy tramp of sold iers and the clank of

their arms . He sprang to hi s feet, and looked

around,but saw n othing . A second time he

s tooped to drink , with the same resul t . While he

s tood wondering,he saw on the top of the pillar

stone a most beautiful drinking-horn chased with

THE CHI EF OF THE GODS . 233

gold and enameled wi th precious stones . He

took the ho rn,

filled i t w ith water,and

slaked his thirs t . Scarcely had he taken i t from

his l ips when he saw a gr uagach coming from the

eas t with great s trides and ful l of wrath . He was

clad in mail complete,armed wi th shield and

helmet,and sword and spear

,and wore a beau

tiful scarle t mantle hung over his armor and fast

ened at h is throat wi th a golden brooch,while a

circle t Of ruddy gold confined his yellow hair.

The gr uagach said , with angry voice , that he

thought the green plains Of Erinn,with the sweet

water of their crystal springs,ough t to have sat

i sfied D i armai t, so that he need not have invadedhis island

,and drunk from his well in h is drinking

horn without permiss ion ; and he furthermore de

c l ar ed that he should never leave the spo t till h e

had paid full satisfaction for the insul t . They

fough t all day,and at its close the gr uagach

leaped into the well and disappeared from sigh t .

D iarma i t now went toward the end of the great

fores t,and killed one of a herd of speckled dee r

,

a portion of the flesh of which,together w ith

water from the fountain,formed his supper . He

slept soundly,and prepared a similar breakfas t .

But the gr uagach awaited him at the well , s tillmore angered at h im for a double insult— he had

a l so killed one of his deer . They fough t the sec


ond day,and at i ts close the gr uagach again

leaped into the spring and disappeared . On the

third day they met wi th the same history . But

at the end of the fourth day D i arma i t threw his

arms around his antagonis t,and they both dis

appeared in the well together . They reached the

Land Beneath the Billow,

” where the gruagach

disengaged himself and escaped,and D i arma i t

was left alone . Here he me t with the brother

of h is s trange antagonis t,who had been d i s i n

terested . Forming an alliance wi th this brother,

he made wa r on the gr uaga ch , or Knigh t O f the

Fountain,wh o was ultimately defeated and

slain .

*

The s tones which fill a prominent place in

some of these legendary tales may have originally

represented the deities e specially honored . We

may recall the account which relates that Merlin

advised thos e who consulted h im as to the matter

of building Stonehenge to bring the pillar-s tones,

called the Choir of the G iants,from the place

where they s tood at Ki l l ar an s Mons,in Ireland

,

and se t them up in the same order . They were

considered to have been possessed of various vir

tues,especially of the virtue of healing . The

giants of Ol d had cured grievous maladies by

washing their patien ts wi th the water with which* R h ys

,Hi bber t L ectu r es

,1 886

, pp . 1 87—1 90.

236 DEPAR TE D GOD S.

these stones had first been bathed ; or, again , th ey

made application of certa in medicinal herbs which

had firs t been dipped in the same holy bath .

Thus,according to ancient s tory

,Stonehenge came

into existence . The s i te of this circle of sacred

stones in Ireland was perhaps at U snech,i n the

county of Westmeath . St. Patrick cursed the

sacred stones of U snech on account of the

heathen worship which was performed in the holy

place . I t is related in l ike manner that St. Davidspl it the capstone of the Mean Ketti cromlech i n

Gower,to prove to the people that i t was not

divine .

The hero of these various tales can be no other

than the Celtic Zeus . I n his early his tory he

was the god of light and of the sun . In his

later stages of d evelopment,by expansion of his

nature and mul tiplication of hi s attributes,he

became th e god of the sky and of heaven,the

god of thunder and O f rain,and the god of the sea

and of all wa ters . Hence,holy wells w ith their

worship were,in many cases at leas t

,originally

connected with this Cel tic Zeus . And,the god of

the light and of the sun— and generally of al l the

bright powers of nature— h e fought agains t the

demons of darkness . He was enamored of the

goddesses of the dawn,the morning dew , the

spring-time,and the flowers . He frequently res


cued them from imprisonment,enchantment

,and

tyrannical rule . As the god Of fountains and al l

waters,he marshaled the clouds swollen with

fertiliz ing rains,and bade them drop their treas

ures upon the earth,defeated the giants who pos

sessed the fountains,and controlled for the good

of mortal s the refreshing streams and summer

showers . In an ethical sense the Cel tic Zeus

fights against moral darkness and the giants of

evil, and is the source of all spiri tual ligh t and

blessings .

At midsummer,May first

,the Druids are said

to have caused all fires to be extinguished,and

then rekindled from the sacred fire,which they

never permitted to go out . These fires were

kept burning by Christian priests long after the

Ol d religion had passed away . In 1 220,Loun

dres,Archbishop of Dublin

,ex ti nguished the sa

cred fire kept near the church of Kildare , but it

was afterward rekindled,and continued to burn

ti ll the suppress ion of the monasteries . The sa

cred fire was presided over by St . Brigit, and at

tended by virgins . The Beltane was kindled onMidsummer-eve

,All-hallow-e ’ en

,and Christmas .

Conspicuous places made i t visible to multi tudesof eyes . In the north of Engl and on Mi dsum

mer-eve,bonfires were lighted by corporate au

thor i ty in all market places . At Callander, i n21


Perthshire,the ashes left from the burning of

the Beltane were collected,and a circle formed

therewith,near the circumference of which a stone

was placed for every person who took part in the

bonfire . If a stone were removed from its place

before morning,i t was believed that the person

whom i t represented would d i e within one year .*

In some parts of Scotland , about the begin

ning of the present century,the festival is de

scri bed as follows : “ The young people of a ham

le t meet in the moors on the first of May . They

cut a table in the green sod,of a round figure

,

by cutting a trench in the ground of such circumfer ence as to hold the whole company . They

then kindle a fire,and dress a repast of eggs and

milk in the consistence of a custard . They

knead a cake of oatmeal,which is toasted at

the embers against a stone . After the custard

is eaten up,they divi de the cake in so many

portions,as similar as possible to one another,

i n size and shape,as there are persons in the

company.They daub one of these portions with

charcoal until it i s perfectly black . They then

put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet, and

every one,blindfold

,draws out a portion . The

bonnet-holder is entitle d to the last b i t . Who

An th r opol ogi cal- Revi ew,

1 886 , V ol . I V , _p , 346.


cider durmg the afternoon , prolong the festiviti es

till midnigh t .

As late as 1 795 fires were lighted at midnight

in Ireland i n honor of the sun . According to

Spencer, th e Irish are accustomed to say a prayer

whenever they light a fire . On days sacred tothe sun

,Offerings of milk were presented on the

gr uagach-stone found in every village .

In Scotland there was a practi ce , described

by an eye-witnesss,that after a child was bap

ti zed,and on the return of the party from the

church,the infan t was swayed three times gently

over a flame ; or, according to another authori ty,the child was handed three times across the fire .

In Perthshire,i n cas es of private baptism

,there

was a custom of passing the child three times

around the crook which was suspended over the

center of the

As a rel igious duty,the Highlanders walk

round their fields and flocks with some burning

subs tance in their right handj‘ In Cornwall we

find the same custom,and the torch is carried

with the course of the sun . When diseas e i n

vaded a flock,the cattle were forced to pass

through a fire,and sometimes a calf was burned

as an offering . There are holy wells in Cornwal l,

itsAn th r op ol ogi ca l R evi ew,1 886 , V ol . I V , p . 346 .

TL ogan ,Th e Scottish G ael , p p . 453

,454 .

THE CHI EF OF THE GODS. 24 1

at which wonderful cures are bel ieved to have

been performed ; but the supersti ti ous rites have

also reference to the motion of the sun . A sick

child i s dipped into the water three times,but i t

must be agains t the direction of the sun ’ s mo

tion ; and the child i s passed around the well

nine times,but now i t must be in the same di

rection with the motion of the sun . It was

deemed unlucky to do such work in any other

way . Pans of milk should not be skimmed inan order agains t the sun ’s course

,and cream

must not be stirred against th e sun . But,on

the other hand,to “ back ” a disease

,the motion

must be agains t the sun . Young children are

passed through the Men-an -tol— “ crick-s tones,

”

or hold-s tones— against th e sun nine times,to cure

various diseases . Sometimes a bonfire is kindledon these stones

,and danced around at mi dsum

mer . On the first Wednesday after midsummerthe waters of holy wells are cons idered especially

virtuous . Those guil ty of petty offenses may be

discovered by means of a fire kindled on a holy

s tone . A stick is lighted,and the person who

can not put out the fire of the burning stick byspitting on i t is held to be the guilty one .

* At

Evreux,in 1 683

,bodies of dead were exhumed

,

’ B ottrel l,Trad i tions and Hea r th s ide Sto r i es of W est Cor n

wa l l, Second Ser i es , pp . 76 , 240, 241 , 201 , 242, 283.


and"

found with th eir faces turned to the middaysun .

*

Such are some of the survivals of the worship

of the old Celti c god .

The stones of the circle seem to have been

replaced by the images of the gods which they

represented . I n a life of St. Patrick we read

the following legend

Thereafter went Patrick over the water toMag Sl ech t, a place wherein was the chief i dol

of Ireland— to-wit,Cenu Cr uai ch— covered with

gold and silver,and twelve other idols about it

,

covered with brass . When Patrick saw the idol

from the water,whose name is Guth-ar d (i . e. ele

vated i ts voice) , and when he drew n igh unto

the idol,he raised h is hand to put J esu s ’

s'

cr oz i er

upon it,and did not reach i t ; but i t bowed westward to turn on i ts right side

,for its face was

from the South ; to-wit, to Tara . And the trace

of the croz ier abides on i ts left side s till,and

yet the crozier moved not from Patrick ’ s hand .

And the earth swallowed the twelve other images

as far as their heads,and they are thus in sign of

the miracle, and he cursed the demon , and bani shed him to hell .” i

‘

In the Book of Leinster we find it s tated

’ L ogan . Th e Scotti sh G ael , p . 479.

TR hys , Hibber t L ectu res , 1 886 , p p . 200,201 .


This s tone,called “the Stone of F al

,

”was one

of the four precious things brought to Irelan d

by the Tuath a D é D anan n . One of i ts remarkable properties was that

,wherever i t was placed

,

i t secured the sovereignty of the country to a

Goidel of Milesian descent . While it remained

at Tara,i t recogniz ed every king by a scream .

This stone has been traced from Tara to Scone ,the capital Of the kingdom of Alban . Edward I

brought it to London,where i t now rests in the

coronation chair i n Westminster Abbey . Irish

and Scotch historians beli eve that’ the Stuarts

ar e descended from Goideli c ancestors of the Mil es i an race . Thus prophecy has not failed . Since

Fal was the old god of ligh t and of the sun,this

stone must have originally been connected with

such worship .

The gorsedd,or court

,of the Ei stethvod is

held within a circle of stones,which has been

formed for the purpose,with a larger s tone in

the middle . According to rule,i t is held “ in a

conspi cuous place,within sight and hearing of

the country and the lord i n authori ty,and face

to face with the sun and the eye of ligh t,as

there is no power to hold a gor seth under cover

or at night,but only where and as long as the

sun is vis ible in the heavens .

” The prayer pro

n ounced at the opening of the session by the

THE CHI EF OF THE GODS.245

officiating Druid , according to one account, runs asfollows

0 G od, gran t strength ;

An d from strength ,discretion ;

And from d isc retion ,knowledge ;

And fr om knowledge, the r igh t ;

And from the r igh t, the love of i t ;And from that love, love for al l th i ngs ;

And i n love for a l l th ings , the love of G od !”

This would seem to be but a continuation of the

O l d worship of the Celtic Zeus .*

“A species of d ivination i s still practi ced in

Ar thu r stone by the neighboring rustic maidens ,wh o have li ttle idea that they are perpetuating

(perverted , indeed , i n i ts obj ect) the rites ofDruidism and the mysteries of Eleusis in theirprop i tiatory offering . At midni ght of the full

moon,if a maiden deposi t in the sacr ed wel l be

neath a cake of milk , honey, and barley meal ,and then on hands and knees crawl three times

round the cromlech,she will see

,i f ‘ fancy free

,

’

the v ision of h er future lord . If her affections

are engaged,the form of the favored youth will

s tand before her,fearfully bound to answer truly

her questions as to h is s inceri ty . This cus tom

was preserved unti l wi thin a few years .

The acts of Chris tian councils prove the prev

”‘ R h ys , Hi bbert L ec tu res , 1 886 , pp . 208—210.

246 DEPAR TED GODS.

alence of the former belief in the sacred stones .

A counc i l held in 681 warns the adorers of idols,worshipers of stones

,and those who ligh t torches

in honor of sacred trees and fountains . T he laws

of Canute prohibit the worship of sun and moon,

rocks and fountains . In Brittany two parties

covenant together by clasping hands through per

for ated s tones .

Some of the an c 1 en t sacred inclosures were of

great extent. The temple of Abury,in Wilt

shire,contained more than twenty-eight acres .

It was surrounded by a ditch ; and i ts rampart

was seventy-five feet high,measured from the

bottom of the ditch . Two avenues were con

nected with the temple, and in the temple and

its avenues six hundred and fifty stones were

used . Some of the s tones were of great s 1 ze

one of these was twenty-one feet high and eight

feet nine inches i n breadth . The temple at Car

nac,in Brittany

,was a remarkable structure

,

extending five or six mile s . There are eleven

rows of s tones,forming ten avenues

,and resem

bling a huge serpent . There must have been

originally about ten thousand stones . Tradition

says that,at midsummer of each year

,a stone

was added,so that the age of the world was

represented . Near this place,at a May-day

feast,three hundred unarmed British nobles were


The froli csomeness of children and the idle activ

i ty of youth and manhood , may do something

with no ulterior obj ect beyond temporary amuse

ment . We happen to have known extemporized

plays which might be wonderfully connectedwith old superstitions and primitive religious doc

trines .It would require volumes to record all th e cus

toms s imilar to those given above . They are not

peculiar to D ruidism,but belong to the whole hu

man race . Their meaning is no t exhausted when

we refer them to sun-worship . Many have littl e

reference to this ; many'

more point to magic,

wi tchcraft,and other superstitions which so thor

oughly dominated the primitive mind . There was

a multitude of charms to drive away evil spiri ts,

secure fruitful seasons,and insure the enj oyment

of health . The interested reader who desires to

pursue this subj ect further should consult those

larger works in which it receives special treat

ment .

All these ri tes,traditions

,and cus toms

,doubt

less point to th e same early god . He is not the

most primitive Celtic Zeus,though possess ing cer

tain characteri sti cs of the god of light and of the

sun , but the later expansion of the god of the

sky and of rain . He had his altars and temples,

his sacred trees and holy wells,and was wor

THE CHI EF OF THE GODS.249

sh i ped in high places . Hi s idol was surroundedby the idols of other gods

,who wai ted upon him

as servants . Frequently the sacred tree overshadowing the holy well bore on its branches

bi ts of rags and other tr ifles placed there as

offerings by enthusias tic devotees . Sometimes

modern coins are found among the gifts,showing

the persis tent l ife of the supersti tion .

But a new god of l ight,Lug by name

,was com

ing into notice . He was the fairy who had

prophesied to Conn the Hundred-figh ter the his

tory of Ireland .

The Goidel ic god of Druidism to whom theoak was sacred had his Welsh counterpart in

Math the Ancient. He was able,l ike the Welsh

fairies and demons,to hear every sound of speech

which ever reached the air . He was the firs t of

magicians,and ranked even above Merlin and the

mac Cc . He was also the highest ideal of j us

tice and equi ty associated with the heathenism

of Wales . He taught the arts to Gwydion,son

of D On , the Welsh culture hero , with whose aid

he created a woman out of flowers .

Gwydion was a great warrior and a consum

mate magician . He was also the god of wisdomand eloquence

,and a much traveled personage

,

who presided over ways and paths . The Cel ts

believed that the blessings which they enj oyed


came from their ancestors— i n other words,from

the ne ther world . The culture hero,under vari

ous names, resorted again and again to the world

of sp iri ts,and , either by force or by craft, suc

ceeded in possessing himself of many desirable

gifts,which he brought to the people

,and taught

them to avail themselves of their useful proper

ties . Various domestic animals were procured in

th is manner . The cauldron of the King of

Hades was one of the most priceless of these

treasures . It inspired men with that ski l l l n mu

sic and poetry which ha s led to high triumphs .

We present a tale as the representative of the

rich l i terature which has gathered about this part

of our subj ect .

Kei,son of Kymyr ; Owei n , son of Urien ;

Kynon , son of K l ydno, and other knights of Ar

thur’s Court,were s i tting together and entertain

ing one another w ith stories . When Kynon’

s

turn came,he related the following :

When he was a young man, and travel ingabroad to satisfy hi s curiosi ty and gratify h i s love

of adventure,he came to a s tately cas tle in a

fine valley where he was most hospitably r e

ceived . After he had been refreshed , the lord

of the cas tle asked concerning his name , country,and the obj ect of his visi t . He told his host

truly,and was informed in reply that were i t

52 DEPAR TED GOD S.

tle man said he ; and with his great iron'

staff

he s truck a blow at a stag,at whose bell there

gathered upon the plain beasts,vipers

,and ser

pents as numerous as the s tars of the sky . The

black man then told them to graze,when they

all lowered their heads in obeisance to their lord .

Kynon then inquired his way to th e adventure

which he sought, and was told“ Take the road at the end

,and proceed up

hill until thou r each est the top . From there

thou wilt behold a strath resembling a largeval

l ey,and in the middle of the strath thou wilt

see a large tree,whose foliage i s greener than

the greenest fir -tree . Beneath that tree there is

a fountain close to the fountain there is a marble

slab ; and on the marble slab there is a silver tank

ard,fastened by a silver chain

,so that they can

not be separated . Take the tankard and throw it,

full of the water,over the slab . Then thou wilt

hear a great thunder,and it will seem to thee to

make earth and sky tremble . After the thunder

will come a cold shower,and with d ifficul ty wilt

thou live through the shower . It will be one of

bai l,and afterward the weather will be fair again ;

but thou wil t not find a single leaf left on thetree by the shower . Then a fl ight of b irds willcome and light on the tree . Thou hast never

heard in thy country such good music as they


will make ; but when the music is mos t enter

taining,thou wilt h ear a sighing and a wailing

coming along the valley toward thee . There

upon thou wilt behold ou a j et-black charger a

knight clad in j e t-black satin,with a flag of j et

black silk on h i s spear,making for thee as fas t

as he can . In case thou fleest,h e will overtake

thee ; and in case thou awa i test him,he will

leave thee a pedes trian instead of a rider . Should

es t thou not find trouble there,thou needest not

seek any as long as thou l ivest .

Kynon followed the directions of the black

man,and everything Which he had said came to

pass . The Black Knight overthrew him,and took

away his horse,and he was obliged to trudge

back on foot to meet the mockery of the black

fellow under whose direction he had gone forth

in quest of thi s adventure .

This story sti rred up Owei n , son of U 1 l en , to

try a duel with the Black Knight of the Fountain . He slipped away from the court

,and fol

lowed in the track of Kynon , met with the same

adventures by the way, and fought with the

Black Kn igh t,but succeeded in giving him a

mortal wound . Thereupon the knight turned

and fled to his castle . He was admi tted , and

Owei n pursued so closely that he was caught

between two heavy doors,one of which was let

22

254 DEPAR TED GODS.

down behind so as to cut h is horse in two close

to his spurs . While in this sad plight,he saw

,

through a crevice,an auburn-haired , curly-headed

maiden,with a diadem of gold on her head

,com

ing toward the gate . She asked h im to open

the gate . He said that he would be only too glad

to comply with her request if he were able .

This maiden was Ela net,a dear friend of the

Black Knight’ s wife,and she prov

-

ed herself also

a true friend of Owei n . She praised his gal

lantry,and gave h im a ring which would render

h im invisible,and enable him

"

to escape from the

men whom the Black Knight would send to leadhim to execution . Owei n was successfully con

cea l ed till after the funeral of his antagonis t.Now

,i t happened that no one could hold the do

minions of the Black Knight who could not hold

the fountain,and no one could hold the founta i n

except some of King Arthur ’s knights . El unet

pretended to go to his court to obtain a knight,

but her absence was so brief that the widow detected a deceit . She obtained the confession that

Owei n had kil led her husband,and this proved

that, of all men , he was most fi tted to hold the

fountain . He married the widow,and remained

with her three years .

But Arthur ’ s longing for Owei n was so great

that at las t he and his knights set out in q uest


l ike that related above,make him slay the king

of Hades and marry his widow,thus gaining

control of the whole,with all its priceless

gifts,and making them available for the use

of man .

I I .

THE SU N -G O D .

R l ON RHOD,the ni ece of Math

,and the

mis tress of Gwydion,became the mother

of twin boys . The one,named Dylan

,as soon

as he was christened,made for the waters

,and

could at once swim as easily as a fish . We

know nothing more about h im,except that his

death was caused by a blow dealt by his uncle,G ovan non

,son of D 61 1 .

The other son was brought up by Gwydionand while he was yet in his boyhood h e was

taken to visi t his mother,who h ad never seen

him since h i s birth . She was enraged to learn

that his father had spared his l ife,and laid h im

under a stern destiny that he never should r e

ceive a name till she herself gave him one, and

this she resolutely determined never to do .

Now Gwydion,by the use of magic arts

,i n

which h e was a consummate master,converted

some sedges and sea-weeds into a full-rigged

ship, and at the same time converted himself

and the lad into cordwainers . They sailed forth,

and moored their vessel beneath Ar i on rhod’

s

castle,where they busily plied their trade

,i n

which they used only the most excellent Cordo257


van leather which had ever been seen . Arion

rhod heard of the excellent work of the s trangers,

and sent an order for a pair of shoes . The shoes

were made and brought to her,but found to be

too large . Another pair was ordered,but they

were too small . By request of the cordwainers,

Ar ion r hod repaired to th e ship in person , that

they migh t take her measure . Just then a wren

chanced to light on the sh ip,and the lad took

aim so accurately that he hit the bird . Arion

rhod,pleased at his cleverness

,laughed aloud

,

and said that it was with a s teady hand that the

lion hi t the wren— L l awgyffes Llew hit the wren .

Gwydion,now well-pleased

,declared that such

should thenceforth be the lad ’ s name . The

magic ship immediately returned to its former

elements,and Ar i onr h od saw that she had been

outdone .

‘

Sh e now put h im under another des

tiny,tha t he never should wear arms till she her

self put them on him,and this she resolved that

she would never do .

Some years after this event,Llew and his

father presented themselves at Ar i on r h od’

s gate

as bards from South Wales . They received a

righ t hearty welcome,as was becoming to their

office,and enj oyed much good cheer . Early the

next morning the whole country was seen to be

i n commotion— the sea was full of ships, and


bath were prepared for him ,and placed in the

open air under a thatched roof,and if he stood

with one foot on the s ide of the bath and the

o ther foot on,the back of a h e-goat, any wound

which he might receive while standing in that

pos ition would be mortal . She now persuaded him,

j us t to satis fy her innocent curiosity,to assume

the position which he had described ; and while

he was standing in that fatal position,her lover

cast a spear and inflicted a wound . Llew uttered

an unearthly scream,and flew off in the form of

an eagle . But Gwydion was able to find him,

and healed the wound . The guil ty paramour of

his faithless wife was slain,and B l odened was

changed into the form of an owl .

The story is not difficult to understand . Llew

was the god of the sun,and B l odened was the

goddess of the bright dawn . But the dawn has

relations not only to light,but also to darkness .

When she became unfaithful to Llew,he slew

her paramour ; and Gwydion pursued her— asone account relates the tale— across the face of

the sky,overtook her i n the shades of the West

ern cliffs , and transformed her into a bird ofnight .

The or iginal name of this sun-god was doubt

less not Llew,but rather Lleu

,which maybe

taken to mean light. This god is also related to

THE S UN —G OD. 26 1

the Irish Lug,and we may now compare the ao

count of Lug ’s birth .

Once upon a time there lived on the coas t ofDonegal

,opposite Tory Island

,three brothers

,

whose names were Gav ida,MacSamthai nn

,and

MacKi neely. Gavida was a dis tinguished smith,

and MacKi neel y was the lord of the surrounding

dis trict . The latter owned a valuable gray cow,

and to steal th is cow many attempts had been

made . At the same time Tory Island was the

headquarters of Balor,a mos t notorious robber .

He had one eye in the middle of h is forehead,

and another in the back of his head . Since the

venomous rays of this latter eye would strike

one dead,he usually kep t i t covered . The Druid

who was his attendant and priest,revealed to

him the de stiny that he should die at the hand

of his own grandson . Now he had but one ch ild,

a daughter,Ethnea by name . He made her a

prisoner in a lofty heigh t at the eas tern extrem

i ty of the island,closely guarded by twelve ma

trons,who were s trictly commanded never to

mention to her the o ther sex .

Through tri ckery,Balo r succeeded in steal ing

MacKi neel y’

s wonderful gray cow. A Druidtold the owner that h e never could recover the

cow till Balor was killed . Now this was very

d ifficul t,for the robber was never known to close

23


his basilisk eye . A fairy,called B i roge of the

Mountain,came to the aid of MacKi neely, and

dressing him as a woman,took h imthrough the

air to the height Tor More,where Eth nea was

kept and guarded . She pretended to have res

cued the woman,and asked for shelter. This

was granted, and the fairy pu t the twelve ma

trons to s leep,for they suspected no deceit .

When they awoke , the gues ts were already gone,they knew not whither . Ethnea became the

m other of triplets,which Balor immediately

caused to be wrapped in a sheet,and sent out

to sea to be drowned in a whirlpool . The eldes t

of the children fell into the sea before they

reached the whirlp ool,and was caugh t

~

up by the

fairy . The two others were drowned . The

baby which the fairy had rescued was taken toMacKi neely, who had i t brough t up by his

brother as a smith . Balor, having learned that

MacKi neely was the father of his grandch i l

dren -all of whom he supposed to be dead

took him to a large white stone,and there

chopped off his head , and the blood penetratedthe stone even to i ts center . Lug— for this was

the name of the boy— grew up to manhood ,nursed h is wrath against Balor, worked withGavida d iligently as a smith

,bided h is time ; and

at last,taking from his forge an iron rod

,he

264 DEPAR TED GODS

Lug with peace and plenty,to marry the maiden

E r inn,and to enj oy a well-earned banquet

,at

which the fairy hos t of dead ances tors was prob

ably not forgotten . Marriages were solemnized

on the auspicious occasion ; and no prince wh o

failed to be present on the las t day of the fair

durst l ook forward to prosperity during the

coming year .

On philological grounds,th e cult of Lug may

be shown to have originally prevailed through

out the whole of the Celtic terri tory . The town

of U xama,i n Spain

,furnishes an inscrip tion which

commemorates the build ing of a temple for the

L ugoves , and the presentation of this temple to

a coll ege of cobblers . Avenches,i n Switzerland

,

preserves a legend consis ting of the single word

L ugoves— probably father and son . The tem

ple being dedicated to a college of cobblers r e

minds u s of the magic s tratagem of Gwydion andLlew to overreach Ar i onr hod

,and secure a name

for her son .

Cuchulainn was a sun-hero of wonderful ex

p l oi ts . In some respects he seems to have been

but a' reproduction of his father Lug

,while in

other respects he was more of a human hero .

Like all o ther sun-heroes,his growth was rapid

and h is young manhood precocious . He was

beardles s ; his hair was dark near the skin,

THE SU N —GOD. 265

blood-red in the middle,and yellow at the top ;

and four dimples — i a color yellow,green

,blue

,

and red— adorned both hi s cheeks . He had

bright flashing eyes , the pupils of which wereformed of seven or eigh t gems . When pressed

in battle,the calves of his l egs would twis t

round to the front,his mouth would become

large enough to contain a man’

s head,his l iver

and lungs would come up and become visible so

as to be seen swinging in his throat,each hair

of h i s body would become as sharp as a thorn,

and a drop of blood or a spark of fire would

stand on each,and his eyes would be changed

in a fearful and marvelous manner . One of hiseyes became as small as a needle

’

s eye,or sunk

so far into his head that a heron ’ s beak could

not reach i t,while the other eye became corre

spond i ngly large and protruding . The ladies of

Ulster,who loved him

,are said to have made

themselves blind of one eye while conversing

with him . Analogous case s of acu te l oyal ty are not

unknown in our own country . Whenever engaged

in battle he became gigantic in si ze ; and when

the fighting had ended,i t was necessary to have

three baths ready . He would plunge into the

first,and the water would immediately boi l over ;

he would plunge into the second,and i t would

ins tantly become too hot for anybody else to

DEPAR TED G0DS.

endure,and only the third would suffice to cool

his fiery person . He rode forth to battle in a

scythed chario t drawn by two s teeds,and swifter

than the bl asts *

of spring,and the iron whee l s of

his chariot sunk so deep into the ground that i t

was as though an army had dug di tches and

thrown up dikes for the defense of the country .

He was always d is tinguished for his remarkable

wisdom,sweetness

,speech

,and many other ex

cel l enc i es .

Cuchulainn fought against 'Ai l i l l and Medb,

king and queen of Connaught . Ai l i l l was one of

th e representatives of darkness , while hi s queen

was the goddess of the dawn and the gl eam i ng,and hence frequently showed Cuchulainn

,the sun

god,not a littl e friendship . During these terribl e

confl icts,on one occasi on

,Lug came from fairy

land,took the place of his son for three days

while h e slept,and healed the wound which he

had received .

Cuchulainn was not more famous for hisprowess in the field of battl e than for his con

tests with beasts and fabulous creatures of all

k inds ; and the following story, which has an i nter est of its own

,i s told of him when he was as

yet only six years old . King Conchobar,hap

pening one day to visi t the field where the noble

youths of his kingdom were at their games,was


regret at the death of his hound ; for he declaredthat his los ing the guardian of his house and his

chattels made his home a desolation . Little Setanta, who could not see why so much fuss should

be made about the dog,bade the smith have no

care,as he would h imself guard all his property

on the Plain of Mur th emne till h e had a grown-updog of the same breed .

” "E

He fulfilled his promise,and the Dru i d who

was presen t gave him his name,Cu-Chu l a i nn

,

“Cul ann’

s Hound .

”

Now Cu l ann was a form of the deity of the

other world,and we may compare his hound with

the Cerberus of Greek mythology .

“

The powers

of darkness and the hos tile powers of nature are

the demons and monsters against which the god

of the sun ever fights .

Our sun-hero had many most exciting andperilous adventures in the course of the numer

ous v isits which he made to th e realm of the

dead . It was bel ieved that when the sun sank

below th e western horizon he had gone to dwell

in th e world of s hades . Thither Cu chulainn went

(the place was called the Gardens of Lug) tocarry away the beautiful Emer

,with whom he

was deeply in love . She was'

the daughter of

thedusky king of the nether world,though she

* R h ys,Hi bbert L ectu r es

,1 886

, pp . 445,446 .

THE SUN -GOD. 269

Wa s herself the very perfection of grace and

beauty,and adorned with all attracti ve maidenly

gifts and accomp l ishments . We can not fail to

recognize in her the goddess of the dawn,who

has demanded our attention so many times . It

mus t be remembered that the dawn is not one

but many,so that in th e course of a year C 1

’

1 ch u

laina made lo ve with many fair maidens .

On one occasion a friendly s tranger gave ourhero a wheel and an apple

,which in some way

were to help him as he crossed a di ffi cul t plain .

The wheel— and doubtless the apple or the ball

was a symbol of the sun .

“While the Ultonians were celebrating the

great festival which marked the Calends of

w inter,and the days immediately before and

after them,a flock of wild birds lighted on a

loch near them . The ladies of Conch obar ’

s court

took a fancy to them,and Cfi ch u l a i nn was dis

gus ted to find that they had nothing better for

the men to do than that they should go bird

catching ; but when his gallantry was duly ap

pealed to,with an allusion to the number in

Uls ter of the noble ladies who were one-eyed

out of love for him,he proceeded to catch the

birds,which he dis tributed so li berally that he

found,when he came to his own wife

,he had none

left for her . He was very sorry on that account,

270 DEPAR TED GODS.

and promised that as soon as ever any wild birds

vis ited the plain of Mu r th emne or the ri ver

Boyne,the fines t pair of them should be hers . It

was not long ere two birds were seen swimming

on the loch . They were observed to be j oined

together by a chain of ruddy gold,and they made

a gentle kind of music,which caused the hos t to

fal l asleep . Cuchulainn went towards them ; but

h i s wife and his chariote er cautioned h im to have

n othing to do with them,as i t was l ikely that

there was some hidden power beh ind them . He

would not li sten,but cast a s tone from his s l ing

at them,which

,to his aston ishment

,missed them .

He cast another,with the same resul t . ‘Woe

is me 1’ said he .

‘ From the time when I tookarms to this day my cas t n ever missed ’ He

nex t threw his spear at them,which passed

through the wing of one of the birds,and both

d ived . Cuchulainn,

now i n no happy mood,

went and res ted against a stone that s tood near,and he fel l asleep . He then dreamed that two

women,one in green and the other i n red , came

up to h im . The one i n green smiled at him, and

struck him a blow with a whip ; the one i n red

di d the same thing,and this horsewhipping of

the hero went on til l he was nearly dead . His

friends came,and would have waked him had

not one of them suggested that h e was probably

272 DEPAR TED GODS.

such are the requirements of the fairy reckoning

of time . He did so,and he beheld the woman

in green coming toward him . He reproached

her for what she had done,and sh e explained

that she and her s ister had come,not to harm

him,but to seek his love . Fand

,she said

,had

been forsaken by Manannan mac Lir, and hadse t her heart on him

,Cfichu l a i nn . Moreover

,

she had a message now from her own husband ,L abrai d of the Swift Hand on the Sword , to the

effect that he would give him Fand to wife forone day ’ s assis tance agains t his enemies . Cuch u l ai nn obj e cted that he was not well enoughto fight ; but he was induced to send Loeg , h i scharioteer

,with Liban

,to see the mysterious

land to which he was invited . Loeg,after con

versing with Fand and L abr ai d of the Swift

Hand on the Sword,returned with a glowing

account of what he had seen . This rev ived thedrooping spiri ts of his master

,who passed h i s

hand over his face and rapidly recovered his

s trength . Even then he would not go to La

braid’

s isle on a woman’ s invitation,and Loeg had

to vis it i t again,and assure him that L abrai d

was impatiently expecting him for the war thatwas about to be waged . Then

,at length

,he

went thither in his chariot,and fought . He

abode there a month with Fand,and when he

THE SU N - GOD. 273

l eft her he made an appointment to meet her at

I ber Gi an Thaclzta , or the Yew at the Strand’

s

End,the spot

,according to O

’

Cu r ry, where Newry

now s tands . This came to the ears of Emer,

Cfich u l a i nn’

s wedded wife,and she

,with the la

d ies of Uls ter,repaired there

,provided with

sharp knives,to slay Fand . A touching scene

follows,in which Emer recovers Cuchulainn ’ s

love,and Fand beholds herself about to be for

saken,whereupon she begins to bewai l the happy

days she had spent w ith her husband Manan

nan mac L i r . i n her bower at D an 1 72623, or the

Fort of the Estuary . Nay,Fand ’ s p osi tion in

the unequal confli ct with the ladies of Uls ter'

became known to Manannan,the shape-shifting

Son of the Sea,and he hastened over the plain

to her rescue ‘What is that there ?’ inquired

Cuchulainn ‘ That,

’ said Loeg,

‘ i s Fan d goingaway with Manannan mac Lir

,because she was

not pleasing to thee .

’

At,th ose words Cuchu

l a i nn went ou t of his mind,and leaped the three

high leaps and th e'

th r ee southern leaps of Lua

chair . He remained a long time without food

and without drink,wandering on the mountains

and sleeping nightly on the road of Mi dl uach a i r .

Emer went to consul t the king about him,and it

was resolved to send the poets,the profess ional

men , and the Druids of U ls ter to seek him and


bring h im home to Emai n . He would have sla in

them ; but they chanted spells of Druid ismagainst him

,whereby they were enabled to lay

hold of his arms and legs . When he had r ecov

ered his senses a little, he asked a drink , and

they gave him a drink of forgetfulness,which

made him forget Fand and all his adventures .

As Emer was not i n a much better s tate of mind,

the same drink was also administered to her ;and Manan ne

‘

i n had shaken his cloak between

Fand and Cuchulainn that they might nevermeet again .

*

In this story the world of waters i s identified

w ith the world of the dead . Fand,wh o has

been married to the sea—god Manannan mac Lir,has been thought to be the sparkl ing dew-drop

wooed by the sun . In another,this goddess is

called “ F orgal l’

s Tear and F orgal l i s the

father of Emer,and dwells in the Gardens

of Lug .

Many other legends illu strate the li fe of this

god of the sun,but we have presen ted perhaps

all that is needed to a fair understand ing of the

subj ect .D iarma i t

,another sun-god

,was slain by the

boar of winter,on the last night of the year .

This must have been All-hallow-e ’en . In Ire* R h ys , Hibbert L ectu r es , 1 886 , p p . 459—462.


The sun-god,under the name of Tal i essi n

was represented as a great poet and bard . As

the story goes,Ker r i dwen and her husband

,be

sides other children,had one named Avagdu ,

who was the ugliest man i n the world . Despairing of his ever taking his place among gentle

men,unless he possessed surpass ing qualities of

mind,his mother determined to withhold no ef

fort,and brewed for him a magic cauldron of

poesy and science .

‘Leaving the cauldron in

the charge of bl ind Mor dav and Gwi on 'the Lit

tle she went her way to gather herbs of rare

virtue to place i n the cauldron . Accord ing to

the magic formula,the broth was to boil a whole

year . But,as chance would have it

,three drops

fell on one of Gwi on ’

s fingers,and burned i t so

that he thrust i t in his mouth . Upon doing this,

immediately he knew everyth ing . He knew

that he had everything to fear from Ker r i dwen .

So he fled for his li fe ; and the cauldron burs t,and the broth was wasted . He was pursued ,and to escape

,often changed his form ; but Ker

r i dwen was ever close on his track . At last,when he became a grain

,Ker r i dwen became a

cres ted black hen,and devoured him . Being

born again,he was wrapped in a hide

,and cast

into the sea . The bide was picked up on one of

the stakes of Gwydno’

s fish -net,on the first of

THE S UN - GOD. 277

May . This young adventurer was Ta l i ess i n,

who very soon reci ted three poems,and demon

s tr ated his precocious development in wisdom

and speech .

The magic broth was brewed for Avagdu ,

who was known to the Welsh as a synonym for

Hell . We have already remarked the deriva

tion of poetry and all knowledge from the powers

of the nether world . Without relating the story

of Ta l i ess i n further,we follow the line of thought

sugges ted by the three drops of magic broth .

We may compare the Iri sh Finn with Gw i on .

To guard him from his enemies,he was sent to

be educated by a poet,also named F ir m. The

boy found the poet watching Fiae ’ s Pool,i n the

Boyne,to catch one of the “ Salmon of Knowl

edge .

” There was a prophecy that one of these

would be caugh t by Finn,who

,after eating i t

,

would know everything . At the end of seven

Y ears he caught the fish,and handed i t to his

pu pil to cook . The boy burned his thumb,and

put i t in his mouth . His tutor learned this,and

also that his name was F inn . Recognizing the

fulfillment of prophecy,he gave him the whole

Salmon of Knowledge . Whenever,thereafter,

F inn wished to know anything he had only tochew his thumb

,and all knowledge was immed i

ately present to his mind .

24


Says Professor O’

Cu r ry :“ I n these very

early times there was a certain mystical foun t

ain,which was called Connl a ’

s Well— s i tuated,

so far as we can gather,in Lower Ormond . As

to who this Conn l a was,from whom the well

had i ts name,we are not told ; but the well i t

self appears to have been regarded as another

Helicon by the ancient Irish poets . Over thiswell there grew

,according to the legend

,nine

beautiful mystical hazel-trees,which annually

sent forth their blos soms and frui ts si multane

ous ly. The nuts were of the richest crimson

color, and teemed with the knowledge of all that

was refined in l iterature,poetry

,and ar t. No

sooner,however

,were the beautiful nuts pro

duced on the trees , than th ey always dropped

into the well,raising

,by their fall

,a succession

of shining red bubbles . Now,during this time

,

th e water was always full of salmon ; and no

sooner did the bubbles appear than these salmon

darted to the surface and ate the nuts,after

which they made their way to the river . The

eating of the nuts produced brill iant crimson

spots on the bell ies of the salmon ; and to catchand eat these salmon became an obj ect of more

than mere gastronomic interest among th ose who

were anxious to become distinguished in thearts and in l iterature

,without being at the pains

280 DEPAR TE D GOD S.

i ng the s tars . He was the son of Lir— the

original of Sh akspear e’

s King Lear ; bu t is also

called the son of Allot,of the tribe of the

Tuath a D é D anann .

- I n Irish story he is th e

chief of the fairie s of the Land of Promise .

His Welsh counterpart i s Manawyddan,who

is described as

'

peacefu l , gentle , and j us t . Bran ,the brother of Manawyddan

,gave his sister in

marriage to Math olwch , king of Ireland , but she

was disgraced and driven from the court,and yet

becau seO

Of no fault of her own . Her brother

made an expedi tion to Ireland to avenge her

wrongs . Since no ship could be cons tructed

large enough to receive him,he was compelled

to wade the intervening waters .“As he approached the Irish shore the swine

herds of Erinn hastened to Mathol wch’

s court

wi th the strange s tory that they h ad seen a forest On th e sea

,and near i t a great mountain with

its spur flanked by two lakes ; they added tha t

both fores t and mountain were in motion towards

the land .

’

Nobody could explain thi s unti l Bran

wen was summoned,and she told th em that the

trees were the masts of her cou ntrymen’

s vessels ,that the mountain they had seen mus t be her

brother wading through shallow water,and that

the mountain spur with the two lakes were his

nose and eyes ; she opined that his countenance

THE SU N - GOD . 28 1

betokened anger towards Erinn . Mathol wch and

his host has tened to place a river be tween them

and the invaders . When the latter reached the

stream,they found the

’

bridge over i t gone and

the current impassable,until B rz

'i n laid himself

across i ts bed,and hurdles were placed on his

body,so that his men passed over safely .

Reconcilia tion was effected,and the Irish buil t

for Bran a great palace . But peace continued

not ; for again there was a quarrel , resulting in a

great slaughter in the palace,whence only Bran

and seven of his men escaped a l ive . Having

been wounded he ordered his men to cut off his

head and take i t with them to their own country .

These seven men sat seven years at dinner at

Harlech,i n the socie ty of Brai n

’

s head,lis tening

to th e song of the Birds of Rhiannon ; and then

they feas ted eighty years in the i sland of Gwa l es .

Much is said in Celtic li terature concerning this

wonderful head . Cer nunnos,who may be the

same— of whom we shall have more to say i n a

future chapter— is sometimes represented as a

mere head or as a triple head .

There are several other Celtic gods which

might be mentioned,but the limits of this work

do not permit any detailed s tudy of their

characters .

The key to the solution of this mythological

282 DEPAR TED GODS.

system has already been given— the friendly or

malevolent character of these d ivinities and spir

i ts with reference to the world and man . The

cold mists and baleful fogs which retard vegeta

tion ; the excessive damps so inj urious to crops ,and the processes of corruption so difficult forprimitive peoples to understand ; the consuming

drought of summer ; the early frosts and the late

wintry storms,— these are some of the facts which

our fathers sought to explain . Frequently whatis presented i n ancient story as early wars be

tween hostile tribes i s but the ever repeated confl i ct between good and evil spiri ts .

The cus tom of the Celts of all times concern

i ng the disposition of the dead points to the doc

trine of immortali ty The departed j ourneyed

to some happy home,frequently located in the

west . “A general belief of the Gael was thatthe future s tate of permanent happiness was in

Flath - innis,a remote island in the west ; but they

also though t that parti cular clans had certai n

hills to which the spirits of their departed friendshad a peculiar

Baring-Gould,on the authority of Macpherson

,

relates th e following legend

One day a famous Druid of Skerr sat uponthe rocks by the sea-shore, musing . A storm

5“L ogan ,Th e Scotti sh G ael , p . 463.


seen to rise i n the eas t,but hung as a golden

lamp,ever illuminating the Fortunate . There

,in

radiant halls,dwelt the spirits of the departed

,

ever blooming and beau tiful,ever laughing and

gay .

About the year 575 the learn ed classes of Ire

land were organized by a Parliament,which was

h el di at D r u imceta . Three orders were recog

n i zed— G radh Eona,G r adh Fene

,and G radh F ili .

Ecua means wisdom,and i ts graduate is a Sa i or

sage . The sage who graduates in its highest de

gree is O llamh,and enjoys the rank of a tribe

king . He settle s all questions be tween tribes,

interpre ts laws,decides concerning the success ion

of chiefs,and is th e his torian and genealogis t of

the tribe . The function of judge pas sed from the

Druids to the ch iefs . The j udge was a Sa i,and

kept a k ind of law-school . The chief,when the

office devolved upon him,and he did not wish to

perform its duties personally,appointed another

to the j udgeship . Hence arose the second learned

class,the G radh Fene . The F i li represented the

Ovates,and some of the forms of their incanta

tions have been preserved . The Ollamh F il i -pronounced eulogies in praise of his chief, and earned

for himself various emoluments . The Bards,wh o

recited s tories and poems,were at first distinct

from the Fil i,but the two orders afterward coa

THE S UN - GOD.285

l esced . To the Druidic order probably belonged

the physician,the F fith -Liag . D ian Cech t was

the old god of healing . The influence of Druidism is seen in the organization of the early Chris

tian Churches of England and Ireland . When a

Christian missionary succeeded in leading a chief

and some of the principal'

men of his tribe to

Christ,the missionary h imself was frequently

adopted into the tribe as a Sa i,and enj oyed the

same rank and privileges as a Druid ic pries t . Thelearned orders remained the same

,but Chri s tian

doctrines were added to the s tudies . The organ

i zati on of the early schools of Ireland was i nflu

enced by Druidism . The course of study,called

F z'

l z'

dec lzt,which the Ollamh Fil i pursued

,occupied

twelve years,and included the secre t language

of the poets,the knowledge of numerous tales

and poems,the art of vaticination

,and other

lore .

In Wales each king or prince had a household

bard,called B ar dd Teu l eu

,to whom the functions

of the Irish Sa i and Fil i belonged . There was

also a chief bard,called P en cedd , who was either

an officer of the household or sometimes inde

pendent . Like an Ollamh,he could make a cir

cui t for purposes of song,or keep a school for

the study of poetry . He enj oyed many priv

i l eges and emol uments,and was one of th e four25

286 DEPAR TED GODS.

teen persons who were entitled to a chair a t the

court .

The modern bards of Wales are though t by

some writers to be the religious descendants of

the ancient Druids , or, at least, to be the deposi tar i es of genuine D ruidic lore . The system of

Nc c -Druidism is gigantic and carefully wrought ;bu t the evidence upon which i t i s based is far

from satisfactory . We may,however

,thankfully

admit that i t contains not a few fragments of

ancient wisdom .

Severa l volumes of mystic learning have been

published . A few passages from the teachings

of the modern bards will not be ou t of place“When God pronounced his name

,with the

word sprang the ligh t and the l ife ; for previ

ou s ly there was no l ife except God himself.The form of the light was the unpronounceable

name of God in the three mystic characters bywhich God declared his “ exis tence

,l ife

,knowl

edge,power

,eternity

,and universality .

” “And

in th e declaration was his love ; that is , co-i nstan

taneou s ly with i t sprang , like lightning, all the

universe i nto life and existence,co-vocal ly and

co-j ubilantly with the uttered name of God , inone united song of exultation and j oy . Fromthis revelation of the name of God

,Meaw the


The bards of N ee-Druidism teach both the

pre-exis tence and the transmigration of souls .Existence begins i n the lowest form of li fe

,and

at each success ive death passes into some other

body,till all possible lower existences have been

traversed,when i t enters the bodv of man . He

can choose good or evil . If he choose good,and

good predominate at h is death,he enters Gwyn

vyd, or heaven , from which he can not fall . If

he choose evil,and evil predominate at his death

the soul appears in some lower animal correspond

ing in character to h is own character at death .

He may now rise s tep by step till he again be

comes a man,when he has another opportunity

of choosing . He may fall again and again, but

ultimate success is ass ured,because the same sin

can not be commi tted or can'

not produce the

same evil resul ts the s econd time . So al l l ife

will end in Gwynvyd . The soul begins exis t

ence in lowest Annwn,passes through the irre

sponsible l ives of the circle of Abred below man,in which evil predominates ; passes through theresponsible human circle of existence , in which

good and evi l equiponderate ; and finally e'

n

ters Gwynvyd, where good predominates , and

from which the soul can not fall . Man seems

not to be free to choose precisely the same

THE S U N —G OD. 289

evil the second time ; hence heaven is finally

assured .

‘

The white robe of the Druid is a symbol ofholiness

,the green robe of the Ovate a symbol

of knowledge,and th e blue robe of the Bard a

symbol of peace and love .

‘ W i l l i am s,B a rddas vi.1 . 1

, p p . x l i i,21 3- 21 7 .

THE C LASSIC S AN D THE I N SC R I PTIO N S.

E shall now be prepared to appreciate what

classic writers say concern i ng the relig

ion of the Celts . We may a lso lis ten to the

voice of monumental witnesses .

Caesar i s a very trus tworthy authority . He

speaks frcm personal knowledge in many cases,

as h e always h ad acces s to many rel iable sources

of information . He writes with del iberation and

j udgment,and furnishes the fulles t and most sat

i sfactory account of all the writers who have

treated the subj ect : As to integri ty and hon

es ty,he is an unimpeachable witness . Speaking

of the Druids of Gaul,he says

They preside over sacred things,have the

charge of publi c and private sacrifices,and ex

plain their re l igion . To them a great number of

youths have recourse for the sake of acq u i r ipg

ins tructi on,and they are in

'great honor among

them ; for they generally settl e al l their disputes ,both publi c and private ; and i f there i s any

tran sgressi on perpetrated,anymurder committed ,

or any dispute about inheri tance or boundaries ,290


published,and because they would

'

not have

those who learn them by trusting to letters neg

lect the exercise of memory . In parti cular

they wish to inculcate the idea that sea l s do not

die , but pass, after death , from one body to an

other . They also d i spu te . l argely concerning

the stars and their motion,the magnitude of the

world and the earth,the nature of things

,the

force and power of the immortal gods,and i n

s truct th e youth in their p rmc i p l e'

s .

’

The whol e

nation of the Gauls i s very much given'

to r eligi ous Observances

,and on that account those who

are affl i cted with grievous di seases,and those

who are engaged in battles and perils,either im

molate men as sacrifices or vow that they will

immolate themselves ; and they employ the

Druid s as ministers of those sacrifices,because

they think that if th e l ife of man i s not g1ven

for the l ife of man the immortal gods can not be

appeased . They have also instituted public sac

r i fices of the same kind ; Some have images of

immense size , the limbs of which , interwoven

with twigs,th ey fill with l iving men ; and the

same being set on fire,the men

,surrounded by

the fl ames,are pu t to

For these sacrifices they preferred criminals ;but when these failed

,they did not hes itate to

G al l ic W ar, vi , 1 3

— 1 8.

THE CL ASS I CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S.293

sacrifice the innocent . They worshiped certain

gods which Cae sar identified wi th Mer cury,Apol l o,Mars

,Jupi ter

,and Minerva .

Strabo gives the following account : “Amongst

the Gauls there ar e generally three d 1 v1 s 1ons of

men especially reverenced— the Bards,the Vates

,

and the Druids . The Bards composed and

chanted hymns ; the Vates occupied themselves

with the sacrifices and the study of nature ;while the Druids j oined to the s tudy of naturethat of moral philosophy . The belief in the

jus tice of the Druids is so great that the dec i sion both of public and private disputes i s referred

to them ; and they have before now,by their

decis ion , prevented armies from engaging when

drawn up in battle array against each other .

Al l cases of murder are particularly referred

to them . When there i s plenty of these,they

imagine there will l ikewise be a plentiful harvest .

Both these and the others as sert that the soul is

indes tructible , and likewise the world ; but thatsometimes fire 'and sometimes water have pre

vailed in making great changes .

The Romans put a stop to their modes of sac

r i fice and divination . They would s trike a man

devoted as an offering in his back with a sword ,and divine

,from his convulsive throes . Without

the Druids they never sacrifice . It i s said they

294 DEPAR TED GODS.

have other modes of sacrificing their human v ic

tims ; that they p ierce some of them with ar

rows,and crucify others in their temples ; and

that they prepare a colossus of hay and wood,

into which they put cattle,beasts of al l kinds

,

and men,and then set fire to it .

They say that in the ocean,not far from the

coast,there i s a smal l i sland l ying opposi te to

the outle t of the river Loire,inhabi ted by Sam

n i te women,who are Bacchantes

,and conciliate

and appease that god by mysteries and sacrifices .

No man i s permitted to land on the i sland .

They have a custom of once a year u nr oofing

the whole of the temple,and roofing it again the

same day before sunset,each one bringing some

of the materials . If any one le ts her burden

fall,she i s torn in p ieces by the others

,and her

l imbs carried round the temple with wild shouts,

which they never cease til l their rage is ex

hansted . They say i t always happens that some

one drops her burden , and i s thus sacrificed .

”

The inhabi tants of Ierna,or Hibernia

,are

more savage than th e Britains,feeding on h u

man flesh,and are enormous eaters

,even deeming

i t commendable to devour their deceased fathers .

They are openly impure and incestuous .

“ It is reported that the Cimbri had a pecu l

iar cu stom f They were accompanied “

in their


teemed,whom they call D ruids . They have also

soothsayers,who are held in high estimation ;

and these,by auguries and the sacrifice of v ic

tims,foretell future events

,and hold the com ‘

monal ty in comple te subj ection ; and more es

pec i al ly, when they deliberate on matters of

moment,they practice a strange and incredible

rite; for, having devoted a man for sacrifice ,they strike h im with a sword on a part above

the diaphragm ; the v ictim having fallen,they

augur from his mode of fall ing, the contortion of

h is l imbs,and the flowing of the blood

,what

may come to pass,giving credence concerning

such things according to an ancient and long

standing observance . They have a custom of

performing no sacrifice unattended by a ph i l oso

pher ; for they say that thanksgiving should be

Offered to the gods by men acquainted wi th the

d ivine nature and using th e same language,and

by these they deem i t necessary to ask for good

things ; and not only in the concerns of peace ,but

?

even of war -4 not friends alone,but even

enemies al so— ch i efly defer to them and to the

composers of verses . Frequently,during hos til

i ties , when armies are approaching each other

with swords drawn and lances extended,these

men,rushing between them

,put an end to their

THE CLASS I CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S. 297

contention, taming them as they would tame wild

D iodor us quotes from Hecateus,the Mel es i an

,

who wrote about B . C . 500“Among the Hyperboreans were men— priests

,

as it were,of Apollo— constantly hymning lyric

songs in his praise . Also in that island was a

consecrated precinct of great magnificence,a

temple of corresponding beauty,i n shape spher

ical,adorned with numerous dedicated gifts ; also

a ci ty sacred to the god , the majori ty of i ts i 11habi tants harpers

,who

,continually harping i n

the temple,sung lyrical hymns to the god

,

greatly magnifying his deeds . Every

nineteenth year the god descends into this

island . This was th e great year of the Hellenes .

When the god makes h is periodica l vis i t,he

both plays the harp and dances during the night,

from the vernal equinox to the rising of the

Pleiades,taking great delight in his own success

ful efforts .”

Hecateu s,who makes Britain the land of the

Hyperboreans,may have derived his knowledge

from the reports of Phoenician merchants . What

he says is worthy of some consideration , what

ever we may think of this race , which is at least

" His tory , V ,31 .


semi-fabulous . Pliny gi ves a bri lliant account of

this happy race .

*

We quote several passagesfrom Pliny,whose

testimony i s valuable as presenting truthful ao

cou nts of the beliefs of his time“The Druids— for that i s the name they give

to their magicians— held nothing more sacred

than the mistle toe and the tree that bears it,

supposing always that tree to be the robur . Ofitsel f the robur i s selected by them to form

whole groves,and they perform none of their

religious rite s withou t employing branches of i t ;so much so

,that i t i s very probable that the

priests themselves may have received their name

from the Greek name for that tree . In fact,it

is the notion with them that everything that

grows on i t has been sent immediately from

heaven,and that the mis tletoe upon i t is a proof

that the tree has been sel ected by God himself asan obj ect of hi s especial favor .

“The mistle toe,however

,i s but rarely found

upon the robur,and

,when found

,is gathered

wi th rites replete with religi ous awe . This i s

done mor e particularly on the fifth day of th e

moon,the daywhich is the beginning of their

months and years,as also of thei r ages , which ,

with them,are but thirty years . This day they

" N atu ra l Hi stor y,i v, 26 .

300 DEPAR TED GODS.

not unlike multitudes of o thers related by

Pliny .

An egg,said to be of peculiar formation

,i s

held in great repute among the D ruids .

In summer-time,numberless snakes become

artificially entwined together,and form rings

around their bod ies with the viscous sl ime which

exudes from their mouths,and with the foam se

cr eted by them ; the name given to this sub

stance is angu i nem .

’ The Druids tell us thatthe serpents ej ect these eggs into the air by their

hissing,and that a person must be ready to catch

them in a cl oak,s o as not to let them touch the

ground . They say also that he must instantly

take to fl ight on horseback,as the serpen ts will

be sure to pursue him until some intervening

river has placed a barrier between them . The

test of i ts genuineness,they say

,is its floating

against th e current of a stream,even though i t

be set in gold . But as it i s th e way with ma

gi c i an s to be dexterous and cunning in casting aveil about their frauds

,they pretend that these

eggs can only be taken on a certa in day of the

moon ; as though , forsooth , i t depended entirely

upon the human will to make the moon and th e

serpents accord as to the moment of th is Oper

ation .

9" N atu r al Hi stor y,xxi v, 62, 63.

THE CLASSI CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S. 301

I myself, however, have seen one of these

eggs ; i t was round , and about as large as an ap

ple of moderate size ; the shell o f i t was formed

of a cartilaginous subs tance,and i t was sur

rounded w ith numerous cupules,as i t were

,r e

sembling those upon the arms of the polypus .”

The Annals of Tacitus contains this account

of the Druids of Bri tai nWhen Mona

,or Anglesey

,was invaded by

Suetonius Paulinus , there stood i n the dis tance

on the strand an army in battle array,thick with

armed men . Women with disheveled hair,clad

in fun eral garments,like furies ran to and fro

,

holding aloft flaming torches . There were Druids also

,wi th hands uplifted to heaven

,pouring

forth terribl e imprecations . The soldiers were

struck with awe and terror at the novel ty of the

sight ; so that, as if their l imbs clung to the ground ,they presented their umn oved bodies to the

wounds which the enemy might infl ict . When

the i sland was taken,the religi ous groves, ded

i cated to superstiti on and barbarous rites , were

leveled to the ground . In their recesses the na

ti ves imbrued their altars with the blood of the

prisoners,and in the entrails of men explored the

will of the gode.

”

i'

Ammianus Marcellinus says Throughout

’ N atu ra l His tory , xx i x , 1 2. TTac i tns , An n a l s , x i v, 31 .

26


these provinces,the people gradually becoming

civiliz ed,th e study of liberal accomplishments

flourish ed,having been first introduced by the

Bards,the Euhages

,and the Druids . The Bards

were accus tomed to employ themselves in cele

br ati ng the brave achievements of their illustri

ous men,i n epic vers e , accompanied with sweet

airs on the lyre . The Eubages inves tigated the

system and subl ime secrets of nature,and sought

to explain them to the ir followers . Between

these two came the Druids,men of loftier gen

ius,bound in brotherhoods according to the pre

cep ts and example of Pythagoras ; and their

minds were elevated by investigations into secret

and sublime matters,and from the contempt

which they entertained for human affairs they

pronounced the soul immortal .”

Lucan con tains several passages of interest

You , too , ye Bards , who, as poets hand down

in your praises to remote ages spiri ts valiant,and

cut off in war,freed from alarm

,did then pour

forth full many a strain ; and you, Druids , afterarms were laid aside

,sought once again your bar

barous ceremonial s and the ruthless usages of

your sacred rites . To you alone has it been

granted to know the gods and the divinities of

Hi story , xv, 9.


stand unsightly,formed from hewn trunks . The

very moldiness and paleness of the ro tting wood

now renders people stricken with awe ; not thus do

they dread the deities consecrated with ordinary

forms ; so much does i t add to the terror no t to

know what gods they are in dr ead'

of . Fame,

too,reported that full oft the hollow caverns

roared amid the earthquake,and that yews that

had fallen rose again,and that flames shone from

a grove that did no t burn,and that serpents em

bracing the oaks entwined around them . The

people throng that place with no approaching

worsh ip,but have left i t to the gods . When

Phoebus i s in the mid-sky,or dark night pos

sesses the heavens,the priest h imself dreads the

approach,and is afraid to mee t with

,the guar

dian of the grove .

”

This author even mentions the Celtic names

of certa i n deities : “ The relentless Teu tates,

”

appeased by direful bloodshed ; Hesu s ,dreadful with his merci less al tars ; and the

shrine of Taranis,not more.h uman than that of

Scythian D i ana .

”

jL

D iogenes L aer ti u s call s the Druids ph i l oso

ph er s , and compare s them with the Magi among

the Persians,the Chaldaei among the B abyl o

f ‘ Ph ar sal i a , pp . 29, 30, 1 1 2, 1 1 3. TI b ., p . 29.

THE CL ASS I CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S.305

ninus and Assyrians , and the Gymnosoph i s tze

among the Indians .

*

There are several o ther classical allusions,

bu t they afford little new information . Pompo

nius Mela says that th e Druids are eloquent inspeech and masters of w isdom

,and teach that

men should be brave,especially in war . Accord

i ng to this authori ty , the business accounts of

men are sent with them to the o ther world for

inspection and se ttlement . Some immolate them

selves ou the funeral pyres of their friends,that

they may accompany them to the world of spirits .

Q uintus , the bro ther of Cicero , was intimately

acquainted with D ivi tiacus the Druid , an E duan,

who professed an intimate knowledge of the sys

tem of nature,and fore told future events . Lam

pr i d i us and V op i scus make ment ion of prophetic

women,one of whom is said to have foretold the

death of D iocle tian .

Scholars are no t agreed as to the e tymology

of the name D ruid D r u i dh i s s til l used in

Gael ic for “ wise men,and dr u i th n i ch

,or drui

,

for “ servants of truth .

”

Menage, derives the

word from drus,a magician and according

,to

Keys l er dr aoi means“a magician

,an enchanter .”

The Abbe Pierre d e Chin iac derives from de,

god and r ouyd ,“ speaking ; hence the word

" The L i ves an d Op i n ion s of Em i n en t Ph i l osop h ers , i , 1 .


would mean speaking of God . The ancient

Highlanders cal led the tille r of the soil “drao

naich,

” which is thought to be a genuine name of

the Picts . In Ireland dr aoneach means “ an

The common derivation is from the

Greek “ an oak Welsh,derw ; Armorican,

dero,derv ; Cornish , dar ; Gaelic, dar achjfl John

Rhys,our late s t and greatest authority

,ag rees

w ith Pl iny in deriving the word from the Greek,

i nd refers to D r unemeton,the sacred oak g r ove

,

where Strabo says the Galatians were wont toassemble :From our c l a ss 1 c quotations we may also

learn that the religion of the Druids was so fardeveloped as to provide for an order of pries t

hood presided over by an Arch-Druid . The

pries ts were learned,influential

,and privi leged

,

and wer e '

judges in most important public and

private cases . They were devoted to the acqui

sitiou and dissemination of learning . Their mys

ter i es were unwri tten , and were transmi tted by

memory alone . They offered sacr i fices— some

times human sacr i fices— i a a sacred shrine .

They prophesied concerning the future . They

believed in the immortal i ty and the transmigra

f L ogan ,Scotti sh G ael , p p . 448

,295, 296 .

TZeuss , G ramm at i ca Cel ti ca ,V ol . I

, p . 7 .

i R hys , Hi bber t L ectu res , 1 886 , pp : 221 , 222.


tion . This lays the foundation of Pantheism .

Al l life is a part of The Life . In th is doctrine

i s also recognized moral desert . The differences

which exis t between individuals in the present

l ife are the resul t of the earnings of previous

lives . There are in thi s w orld u nfitness and

imperfection . Life is no t what i t ought to be

not what i t must be before there can be rest .

Hence there are numerous l ives in numerous

bodies till there resul t fitness,perfection

,and

purity . We may compare the same doctrine as

developed i n Hinduism .

The reasonableness of sacr i fice— and,i ndeed

of human sacr ifice— must have been very obvi

ous to primitive races,so widely did the custom

extend in all lands . I t is founded in this same

principle of the unity of l ife,or

,at least , i n the

uni ty of the source of life . All li fe is e i ther of

God in its essence , or is derived from him ,and

hence to h im belongs . There is some portion

of d ivine life in everything vis ible— the largest

portion in man . In sacrifice there is given back

to God what is his own . The dearest"

possession,

the most valuable sacrifice,i s most acceptable to

him as containing the most of his own divini ty,

and as carrying to h im the most of the heart of

the worshiper . Hence human sacrifices . Then,

too,the gods must be propitiated

,that they may

THE CL ASSI CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S. 309

deal merci fully with the unworthy and the trans

gr essor . Life alone can atone for sin— l ife alone

can ransom life . The human life offered to the

gods was not destroyed ; i t was saved ; i t went

to the gods . The victim,i n being sacrificed ,

was sanctified,and became spotless and pure .

Christ is the world’

s one great sacr i fice— the

life given for li fe . And now accep table sacrifice

is a broken heart and a contri te spiri t,which

God will not despise .

The plentiful harvest corresponding to abun

dance of murders can not be explained,unless the

killing be considered as sacrificing to the gods

in some sense,and hence a religious act .

The u nr oofing and r e-r oofing of the temple of

the Bacchantes may have some reference to sun

worship .

In the ascribing of occul t powers to certain

obj ects,the Druids recognized the presence of i n

visi ble forces,and an invisible spiri tual realm .

They also seemed to recognize the basal uni ty

of force and law . Such occul t powers were no t

always necessary to the existence of the obj ect,for they migh t be los t if the pries t were not

careful in the observance of mys tic ceremonies .

Sometimes such powers were invi ted by prayers

and invocations to make certain obj ects their

h ome . Each obj ect seemed to possess a spiritual37


part . They sought to secure the friendship of

these invisible powers,and to use them against

their enemies,or to secure good fortune

,or again

to drive away disease . There migh t result fe

ti sh i sm ; there might result magic . The associ

ation of ideas may be the key to the under

s tanding of occul t s cience . Man,as yet in a

low intellectual condition,having come to associ

ate i n thought those things which he found in

experience to be connected in fact,proceeded er

r oneou s ly to invert thi s action , and to conclude

that association in thought must involve similar

connection in reality .

”

The reasoning was not wholly erroneous .

There is some connection between all exi stencesa connection which has i ts basis in the Supreme

Mind ; but it i s n ot such a connection as magic

demands . The Druids bel ieved in the power ofinvocations

,imprecations

,incantations

,and

charms . Thus to will was to accomplish . The

will i s the supreme of man . Mind is the mon

arch Of matter . Invisible agents go at the com

mand of will . Words themselves are deified as

possessing inherent and wonderful powers .

Thus s tarting from what i s true,the end is

false .

There eas i ly results divination or prophecy .

’“Ty l or , Pr i m i ti ve Cu l tu re, V ol . I , p . 1 1 6 .


li c gods which have been assimilated to t h e

Roman divinities which are named in the

classics .

An inscrip tion found near Beaucroissant,at a

place which was once called Ar tay, con tains

the name of the god Mercurius Ar ta i u s, wh o

would seem to have been connected with agr i cu l

ture, and especially with plowing . Another i a

scription found at Hieres would connect this di

v inity with war or kingship . He had temples,

most of which belonged to the god in h i s native

character,in no less than twenty-s ix places in

the territory of the Allobroges alone . Many

names of places prove the wide extent of the

worship of Mercury . He affected high places,

for his temples were frequently situated in con

spi cuou s positions . The Greek artis t Zenodor u smade a colossal Mercury for the great temple

of the Arverni on Puy de D Ome. It was one

hundred and twenty feet high,and was th e

work of ten years .

This god is also the discoverer of roads and

paths .

Ogmios was one of his principal Gallic names .Rhys quotes from Lucian as follows

The Cel ts,he says

,call Heracles in the lan

guage of their country Ogmios,and they make

THE CLASSI CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S.31 3

very strange representations of the god . With

them he is an extremely old man,with a ba ld

forehead and his few remaining hairs qui te gray ;his skin is wrinkled and embrowned by the sun

to that degree of swarthiness which i s character

i s ti c of men who have grown old in a seafaringl ife ; i n fact, you would fancy him rather to be a

Charon or Jape tus,one of the dwellers in Tar

tarus,or anybody rather than Heracles . But a l

though h e i s of this descrip tion,he is

,never the

less attired like Heracles,for he has on him the

lion s skin,and he has a club i n his righ t hand ;

he is duly equipped with a quiver,and his left

hand displays a bow s tre tched out ; i n these r e

spects he is quite Heracles . It struck me,then

,

that the Celts took such liberties with the appear

ance of Heracles in order to i nsul t the gods of

the Greeks and avenge themselves on him in theirpainting

,because he once made a raid on their

terri tory,when in search of the herds of Geryon

h e harassed most of the western people . I have

not yet,however

,mentioned the most whimsical

part of the picture ; for this old man Heracles

draws after him a great number of men bound by

their ears,and the bonds are slender cords wrough t

of gold and amber,l ike necklaces of the most

beautiful make ; and although they are dragged

on by such weak ties,they never try to run


away,though they could eas ily do it ; nor do they

at a l l resist or struggle against them,planting

the ir fee t on the ground and throwing their weigh t

back in the direction contrary to that in wh ich

they are being led . Q uite the revers e ; they fol

low with j oyful countenance in a merry mood,

and praising him who leads them,press ing on one

and all,and slackening their chains in their eager

ness to proceed ; in fact, they look like men wh o

would be grieved should they be se t free . But

that which seemed to me the most absurd thing

of all I will not hes itate also to tel l you ; the

painter,you see

,had nowhere to fix the ends of

the cords,s ince the right hand of the god held

the club and his left the bow ; so he pierced the

tip of his tongue,and represented the people as

drawn on from it,and the god turns a sm i ling

countenance towards those whom he is leading .

Now I stood a long time looking at these things,

and wondered,perplexed and indignant . But a

certain Celt s tanding by,wh o knew someth ing

about our ways,as he showed by speaking good

Greek— a man wh o was qui te a philosopher,I

take it,in local matters— said to me

, Stranger, I

will tell you the s ecret of the painting,for you

seem very much troubled about i t . We Cel ts do

not consider the power of speech to be Hermes,as you Greeks do

,but we represent it by means


mind ; and you too say that words have wings .

Thus far the Celt .”

The word Ogmios i s found in the Celtic la’

na

guages in several forms . Ogma is an Irish god,

skil l ed in dialects and poetry . He it was who

invented the Ogam mode of writing .

‘ The m ost important Gallic appellations of

Apollo were Maponos , G r ann u s , and Tou ti or ix .

Three inscriptions of Apollo Maponos have been

d iscovered in the north of England . In Daciawe meet with Bonus Puer Phosphorus

,

“ the light

bringi ng good boy - the Ol d Welsh map on

means “ boy .

” The Apollo G r annu s Magounu s ,

found near Horburg,h as the same meaning . In

the dis tric ts inhabi ted by Belgic tribes we meet

with Apollo G r annu s —the youthful god . Apollo

was the god of heal ing , and affected places cele

br ated for warm springs possessed of medicinal

v irtues . D ion Cassius tel l s'

u s that G r annu s was

invoked by Caracalla as the equal of E scu l ap i u s

and Serapis .

The god and goddess B ormanu s and Bor

mana— found also in other forms- may be con

nected with this Apollo .

There was a female divinity associated with

Apollo,concerning whom something must be said .

Her name is Sirona, and she is represented i n" R h ys, Hi bbert L ectur es , 1 886, pp . 1 4- 1 6 .

THE CLASSI CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S.31 7

has -relief on a monument which is preserved in

the Mus eum of Munich . She is clo thed in a

long dress,and resembles in general appearance

the Gaulish divini ties called mothers or matrons .With her righ t hand she holds up ears of corn

,

and i n her left she has a bunch of fruit . Onanother face of the monument i s represented

Apollo G r an nus . In his right hand he holds

something like a plectrum,and in his left a very

large lyre . It i s no t possible to determine what

relation these d ivini tie s sus tain to each other .

We might take Sirona to be the wife of Apollo

G r an nu s , but there is absolutely nothing to sug

gest their relation . Rhys thinks that the names

Maponos and Magounu s render such a suppos i

tion inadmiss ible . He suggests that she may

have been regarded as his mother . There are

monuments i n honor of herself alone,showing

that she maintained an independent position .

One of these monuments,with her bus t i n has

relief,gives her the appearance of extreme

old age .

*

The third epithet of the god i s Tou ti or i x,

which can mean nothing else than “ king of the

people ”-a name connected at several poin ts

with German mythology and history .

Mars i s the third god which Caesar mentions .’ R h ys , Hi bber t Lectu res , 1 886 , p . 27.


Among his ep i the ts we find most prominently

named Catu r i x,which may be interpreted “king

of war— lord of battles .

” As Mars V i n ti u s he

was god of the winds,but as god of the pr op i

tious winds he was assimilated with Pollux .

He had many temples and altars along the

Rhone . As Mars Camulos he was the god of

the sky and of heaven,and corresponded with

the Jupi ter of the Latins . Many epithets prove

h im to have been the chief of the Celtic gods .

He was “most kingly,

” and “ king of the uni

verse,

” and his associate— as on a monument at

Bath— was called N emetona ; and Nemon , ao

cording to Irish tradition,was the wife of N et

,

the war -god . Lucan speaks of the bloody rites

of Teu ta tes,Hesus

,and Taranis

,and describes a

consecrated grove near Marseilles“An ol d

,i nviola ted

,sacred wood ,

Whose gloomy boughs , th i ck i n terwoven ,made

A chi l ly , cheer less , ever lasting shade.

”

This Teu tates i s found in an inscription in theform Tou tates . According to Caesar

,the Gauls

,

before engaging in battle,vowed to Mars the

spoils of war,and presented i n sacred places a l l

the remainder of the booty,and few had the

temeri ty to withhold any part of the spoils,so

severe was the penalty inflicted .

There are in the inscriptions Jupiter Bagin


give h im as h is attributes a hammer and a goble t ; but in some instances the goblet is absent,while i n o thers the hammer has smaller ham

mers growing as i t were out of i t in tree-like

fashion— a remarkable specimen of this k ind has

been d iscovered at Vienne . The goble t and

hammer sometimes accompany dedications to Si l

vanns by name,but the variations are too numer

ous to be enumerated . One of the most remarkable i s an al tar at Lyons

,which brings the

hammer and the bill-hook toge ther ; i t shows

the god using a bill-hook with h is right hand,

and supporting himself wi th the other on a ham

mer'

with a‘ long handle,while the goblet s tands

at his feet .”

Caesar ascribes the initiation of the various

trades and arts to Minerva . We find in the i n

scr i pti ons Minerva B a l i sama . Corresponding with

the character whi ch Caesar ascribes to Minerva,

the Irish had a goddess Brigi t - poetess andseeress— daughter of Dagda the Great ; and shehad two daughters

,also called Brigit

,one the

patroness of the healing art,and the o ther

of smith -work . The inscriptions furnish the

Gaulish Brigands the probable counterpart ofBrigit .

An 'a l tar dug up in Paris contains a figure of

’ R h ys , Hi bbert L ectu res , 1 886 , pp . 64,65 .

THE CLASS I CS AN D THE I N SCR I PTI ON S.321

the god Cer n unnos . This may be th e god D iswho

,according to Caesar

,was father of the Gal

l i o gods . An examination of the Paris altar

shows that this name suits the god . There is

the word Cer nunnus,and underneath this name a

divini ty is represented . This figure is bearded

and clothed . The forehead is adorned with the

horns of a stag,from each of which hangs a

tongue . Although the monumen t i s i n a bad

sta te of preservation,the figure i s so large in

comparison with the others of the block as to

show that the god could not have been r epr e

sented s tand ing or even si tting on a seat . The

only posture suited to the whole scene would

be the cross-legged position characteristic of the

Buddha .

This connects the whole figure with certain

sculptures representing squatting,horned divin

i ties . One of these,found at Vendoeuvres-en

Brenne,represents the god wi th a f ol h

'

s,or

sack,i n h i s lap . On either side of the god

stand two geni i o f diminutive size . Their feet

rest upon the coils of a serpent . Each grasps

one of the horns of the central god . Wi th the

other hand one holds a torque and the other

a purse .

An adjoining face of the monument shows an

Apollo Ci tharoedus . His posture i s that illus


trated by his colossal s tatue at Entrain,in the

Nievre . On the Rheims monument th'

e horned

god is squatting on a seat between Apollo and

Mercury,who are s tanding . The left arm of

Cer nu n nos rests on his knee,and on this arm is

held a bag With his right hand he helps to

pour from the bag a profusion of acorns or beech

nuts . An ox and a stag are also figured,and

the nuts drop down between them . On the tympanum of the ped iment

,above the head of the

god,a rat has been carved . Since the rat is an

animal which dwells underground,i ts representa

tion on the monument is thought to have sig

n i fican ce.

The block of saints displays two groups onopposite s ides of the stone . In each case the

squatting god holds in his righ t hand a torque,and in his left a bag or purse . The lat ter is sup

ported on his knee . The monument being imper

feet,the horns are wanting

,yet the god is prob

ably Cer n u nnos .

The goddess in the principal group,seated

near h im,holds a cornucopia

,which rests on her

left arm,while close to her stands another li ttle

female divinity . On ‘ the Opposite face of the

block the god squats on a base,which has been

ornamented with two bu cr ar i a . On a base toth e left, ornamented with a bucrar ia , a naked

324 DEPAR TED GODS.

posture,with fruit on their laps

,and occas ional ly

an infant on their knees . An altar i n the Mu

seum of Vienne shows the mother with a baske t

of frui t on her lap,si tting

,while her two sisters

,

with long robes which cover their heads,s tand

on either s ide . A monument,found at Me tz

,

r epr esen ts'

th e three s tanding and holding in

their hands fruit or flowers . There was also in

Gaul the similar worship of holy virgins .

The imagination peopled Celtic lands with a

multitude of malevolent spiri ts,all kinds of gob

lins and ogresses,insp i ring terror i n th e hearts

of the humble worshipers . There is but one

monument in recogni tion of these shadowy be

ings . It i s found at Benwell,near Newcastle on

Tyne,and is

,briefly

,To the witches three .

These minor divini ties were local,and included

the spirits of forests,s treams

,lakes

,springs

,and

mountains . Remains of this lower Celtic wor

ship exis t to-day in local seats,as we shal l learn

in the next chapter,while the greater and more

noble gods are forgotten .

The classi c and archaeologi cal remains har

mon i ze with the mythology of the Celts wh er

ever i t i s possible for,us to make a fair compar

ison . Each assi s ts to a correct understanding of

the others,and yet the whole body of informa

tion is far from being what could he wished .

LITTLE PEO PLE.

‘ HE fairies occupy a prominent place in the

modern mythology of Ireland . They were

once angels , according to the popular belief, and

formed a large part of the original population of

heaven . When the rebellion headed by Satan

drew away from their allegiance multitudes ofwarlike spiri ts

,the fairies remained neutral . As

a punishment they were banished from heaven,

and condemned to dwell i n the earth,yet cher

i sh i ng the hope of final pardon and admiss ion to

thei r former celestial abodes .

They dwell in large socie ties,labor on the cc

operative plan,and own property in common .

They are well-disposed,though capable of doing

much harm .

“ Though,he naeher

,they ’ re not

the length av yer finger,they can make thim

selves the bigness av a tower when i t p l azes thim ,

an’

. av that ugliness that ye ’

d faint w i d the

looks o ’ thim,as know i n ’ they can s th r i ke ye

dead on the shpot, or change ye into a dog, or a

pig,or a unicorn

,or any other d i r thy haste they

pl aze .

” Their bodies are quite ethereal in sub

stance,so that the light can easily shine through

,

28 325

328 DEPAR TED G0DS.

still ther e,

'

th at they call the fairy glen,to this

blessed

To enter a house sel ected for their frolic,the

li ttle people send one of their number through

the key-hole,wh o carries with him a thread .

This i s made fast to some article of furni ture

near the floor . Upon i t,first of all

,steps the

piper,who plays with might and main a lively

air,and one by one the whole fairy company

mount the bridge and pass into the room . This

account from Ulster can refer only to beings most

minute .

The Pooka is an evil Spiri t . “Old peopleused to say th at the Pookas were very numerous

in the times long ago . They were wicked

minded black-looking,bad things

,that would

come i n the form of wild colts , with chains hang

ing about them They did great harm to be

nighted travelers .

The Leprechauns are peculiar to Ireland .

This being is in the form of a li ttle old man,and

i s r eputed to be very rich . He may be com

pel l ed,i f caught, to reveal the place where hehas h idden his gold ; but you must not take youreyes off the prison er for a single instant

,or 'be

will vanish .

The Leprechauns did a great deal of traveling“McAn a l ly, I r i sh Won ders . p . 99.

L I TTL E PEOPL E.329

over the country,and their brogues often wore

out and brough t their feet to the ground .

When this occurred they would si t down

and mend them in the firs t convenient place .

They were qui te solitary i n their habi ts , and

seldom was more than one seen at the same

time .

The fairies of the Scottish Highlands are veryhandsome in person

,and are usually dressed in

green . They enjoy themselves in dancing and

singing,and make shoes and clothes in an i ncr ed

i bl y short space of time . They borrow from the

human race,whenever people are kindly disposed

toward them,and are equally ready to lend from

their own possessions . But they are,never the

less,to be dreaded ; for they sometimes carry off

women and children— especially those who may

be remarkable for their beauty— to their own

fairy abodes . Here they are treated with the

utmost kindness,if they are respectful and obe

dient . Mortals who have spent what seemed

but a night at their fairy revels,have found the

next morning that their night has extended to ahundred years .

“ One Highlander,in passing a mountain

,

hears the tramp of horses,the music of the

horn,and the cheering of the huntsmen

,

when suddenly a gallant crew of th irteen fairy

330 DEPAR TED GOD S .

hunters,dressed in green, sweep by him,

the

si l ver bosses of their bridles j ingling in the night

br eezef’

These fairies dwell in turrets,i n di sti n

gu i sh abl e in the day, but at night frequently

lighted up with great brilliancy . The h ownest

Brownies are also found in Scotland,and the

Water-kelp ie,i n the form of a horse

,decoys the

unwary to mount him,and then plunges with

them into the lake or river .

A favorite amusement of the Leprechauns of

Ireland was to ride a sheep or goat,or even a

dog,when they had long j ourneys to make . But

the fairies of the Isle of Man prefer large horses,

which they ride at utmost speed,so as sometimes

to endanger their l ives .

Among the fairy legends of Wales we select

one located in the mountains near Brecknock,

where there was a lake : “ In ancient times a

door in a rock near th is lake was found open

upon a certain day every year. I think it was

May-day . Those who had the curiosity and

resolution to enter were conducted by a secret

passage,which terminated i n a small island in

the center of the lake . Here the visitors were

surprised wi th the prospect of a most enchanting

garden,s tored with the choicest fruits and flow

ers,and inhabi ted by the Tyl wyth Teg, or Fair


place to place with the rapidi ty of thought,cure

d iseases by the aid of charms,and predict the

future . They are about two fee t in height,and

have long,flowing hair . Their only dress i s a

long,white veil

,which they wind round their body .

They are most beautiful in the evening ; but by

daylight their eyes appear red,their hair white

,

and their faces wrinkled . They are fond of

music and the dance,and have excellent voices .

They haunt Springs,and may be seen s itting on

their edge and combing their hair . “ They are

said to celebrate there,every re turning spring

,a

great nocturnal festival . On the sod,at i ts

brink,i s spread a table-cloth

,white as the driven

snow,covered with the most del icious viands .

In the center is a crys ta l cup,which emits such

light that there i s no need of lamps . At the end

of the banque t a cup goes round fi ll ed with a

liquor,one drop of which would . make one as wise

as God himself. At the approach of a mortal the

whole vanishes .

”

‘

The.

Kor r ed are dwarfs,with shaggy hair

,

wrinkled faces , deep-se t bright eyes, cracked

voices , hands like the claws of a cat, and feet

like a goat . They are skillful smiths,and possess

vast weal th .

A number of l ittle men . not more than a*Keigh tl ey, Fa i r y Myth ol ogy, p p . 431

,432.

L I TTL E PEOPL E. 333

foot high,dwell under the cas tle of Morlaix .

They l ive in holes in the ground,whither they

may often be seen going,and beating on basins .

They possess great treasures,which th ey

'

some

times bring ou t ; and if any one pass by at the

time, al low him to take one handful,but no

more . Should any one attempt to fill h is

pocke ts , the monev vanishes , and he is ins tantly

assailed by a shower of boxe s in the ear from i n

visible hands .”

We can consider none of the beings of the

Celtic fai ry world as essentially evil,except

,

perhaps,the Pookas . Though frequently mis

ch i evous,and enj oying in full measure laughable

pranks and vexatious j okes,they are

,when well

tr eated , kindly disposed . They are l iving in this

world on their good behavior,and commend

themselves to kind and charitable hearts . But

so superior ar e they to the human race i n wis

dom and power that they become most formidable

enemi es to those who do not respec t their libertyand other rights .

In estimating the influence these fairy crea

ti ons had upon the religious faith of our fathers ,we must remember that they did not repeat

their stories,as we do now

,as mere literary

curiosities,affording indeed a weird and fasci

‘ Keigh tl ey , Fa i ry Myth o l ogy, p .

29


nating pleasure,bu t awakening no emotions more

sacred, and s tirring to no grave deeds i n the

l ine of virtue and duty ; but, on the other hand ,they saw in these airy forms

,veritable beings

,

l iving and acting a l l about them,w i th whom

,in

spite of themselves,they held most importan t

relations , and who were capable of working in

this world at least,i f not indeed also i n the

world to come , their bliss or woe . In some sec

tions, certain of the fairies have acquired a bad

name,possibly

,at firs t

,from some accidental

circumstances . We can see how that in acci

dental drowning primitive people migh t think

the unfortunate v ictim had been seized by the

water-sp iri t .

Tweed sa id to Till ,‘Wh at gar s ye r in sae sti ll ?’

Ti l l sa i d to Tweed ,

‘ Though ye r i n wi’

speed ,

And I r i n slaw,

Y et, wher e ye drown ae man ,

I dr own twa .

’

We can not fail to remark the close simi

l ar i ty between ancient and more modern Cel tic

mythologic beings . These fairies are but the

degenerate descendants of the gods and spirits

wh i ch .h ave occupied our attention in previous

chapters— degenerate in some respects,and yet

340 DEPAR TED GODS.

laugh . It wil l be found to be very genuine and

manly in i ts utterances .

It i s thought, the genuine thought of deep ,rude

,earnest minds

,fairly opened to the things

about them,a face-to-face and heart-to-heart i n

specti on of the th ings— the fi rs t characteristic of

al l good thought in all

In Iceland the religion of the Germanic n a

tions has been preserved in written records . In

that s trange island— Iceland— burs t up,the geol

ogi s ts say , by fire from the bottom of the sea ; a

wild land of barrenness and lava ; swallowed

many months of the year in black tempes ts,yet

with a‘ wild gleaming beauty in summer-time ;towering up there

,stern and grim

,i n the North

Ocean ; with i ts snow j6ku l s, roaring geysers , sulphur-pools

,and horrid volcanic chasms

,l ike the

waste chaotic battle-fiel d of frost and fir e— where,

of all places,we least looked for a literature or

wri tten memorials the record of these things

was written down .

J

r

This rel igion formerly extended its sway notonly over Norway

,Sweden

,Denmark and Ice

land,but also

.

over much of Germany,England

,

and France . It gave way gradually and relue

tautly before Chris tianity,the Lithuanians r e

Car l y l e,Her oes an d Her o-wor sh i p , p . 1 8.

TCar lyl e, Her oes an d Her o-wor sh i p , p p . 1 4,1 5 .

THE MI STS OF THE WOR LD'S MOR N I N G . 34 1

maining pagans , even up to the beginning of the

fifteenth century .

Jacob Grimm gives cogent reasons for the belie fwhich he holds that a common religion formerly

extended over all these lands the undisputed

and very close affinity of speech be tween the

two races , and the identity of form in their old

est poetry ; the j oin t possession by all Teutonic

tongues of many terms relating to religious wor

ship ; the identity of mythic no tions and nomen

c l atu r e, which ever and anon breaks out ; the

precisely similar way in which the religious

mythus tacks i tself on to the heroic legend,the

m ingling of the mythic element with the names

of plants and constellations,and the undeniable

admixture of the old religious doctrine with the

systems of law .

”

The prime mythology has been preserved

only in Iceland . There the people cherished

their native speech,sung the hero ic deeds of their

fathers,and held in memory the ancient fa i th .

Christiani ty swept away the mythologic lore of

o ther Germanic countries,leaving only bizarre

fragments di ffi cult to unite into any sys tem . The

main features,however

,of their religion has been

preserved i n the l iterary treasures of Iceland .

The German Niebelungen-l ied and the AngloSaxon Beowulf are but semi-mythological .

42 DEPAR TED GOD S.

The religion and mythology of Icela nd have

been preserved in their greates t purity in the

two Eddas— the Elder and the Younger . The

former is written in poetry,the latter in prose .

Edda is said to mean “ great-grandmother,and

refers to the very ancient origin of the contents .

The myths of the E l der Edda were collected

from the mouths of the people by Saemu nd the

Wise,who died in A . D . 1 1 33, at the advanced

age of seventy-seven years . The essential ele

ment of Icelandic poe try even a t the present day,

as i n thi s old Edda,i s all iteration .

The Younger Edda may be considered a kind

of'commentary on the older and more important

work . It was written by Snor r i Stu r l eson , wh o

died in A. D . 1 24l at the age of s ixty-three years .

Bes ides the works wh ich have been men

ti on ed,the student of the Norse religion should

consul t the many Icelandic sagas and the abun

dant folklore of the Gothic race .It mus t no t be forgo tten

,however

,that the

distinguished scholar and master of the l i tera

ture of the O ld Norse,Professor Soph u s Bugge ,

has put forth views as to the legends of gods and

heroes wh ich powerfully controvert the rece ived

Opinions . While h e admits the antiqui ty and i n

digenous character of certa in mythical beings , he

holds that the poems and sagas have been pro


A fi rmer fr iendN o m an ever getsThan great sagac i ty .

A wor se p r ovi s i on

On th e way h e can n ot car ryTh an too-m uch beer -bi bb i ng ;So good i s not

,

As i t i s sai d ,

Beer for the s’

on s of men .

A gar r u lous tongue,I f i t be n ot ch ecked ,Si ngs often to i ts own harm .

Speak sen s ibly or be si l en t.

A cowar dl y m an

Th inks h e w i l l ever l i veI f war fare h e avoi ds

B u t ol d age wi l l

G i ve h im n o peace,

Though spear s m ay spa re h im .

A fool i sh m an,

W ho among peop l e comes ,

Had best be s i l en t ;

F or no one knowsThat h e kn ows n oth i ng

U n less he ta l ks too m u ch .

He who p rev i ou sl y knew noth i ng,

W il l sti l l know noth i ng,

Talk he ever so m u ch .

The welcome becomes u nwel come

I f he too long con tin uesI n another

’

s h ou se.

The m i nd on l y knowsWhat l ies n ea r the h ea r t.

THE MI STS OF THE WOR L D’

S MOR N I N G 345

O ne’

s own house i s bes t,

Smal l though i t be ,

At home i s everyone h is own mas ter .

Man i s the joy of man .

Moderately wiseShould each one be ,

B ut never overwi se

O f those men

The lives a r e fairestWho know m u ch well

Seldom a sluggi sh wolfG ets p rey ,

O r a s l eep ing man vi ctory.

L et one on ly know ,

A second may not ;

I f th ree, al l the wor ld knows.

N o man lacks everyth ing.

Cattle d i e,Kindred d ie,W e ou r selves al so d i eB ut th e fair fameN ever d iesO f h im who h as ear ned i t.

Full stor eh ou ses I saw

At D ives’

sons’

N ow hea r th ey the beggar's staff.

Such a re r iches,

As i s the twi nkling of an eye

O f fr iends th ey a re most fickle.

I f thou kn owest th ou has t a fr iend ,Whom thou well canst tr ust,


G o oft to vi si t h im ;

F or w i th br u shwood overgr ownAnd w i th h i gh gr ass

I s the way th at n o one treads.

N o on e gets good from a cor pse.

Th e tongue i s th e bane of th e head .

W i th thy fr iendB e thou n ever

F i r st to q uar r el.Ca r e gnaws the hear t,

I f thou to n o one can st

Thywh ole m ind d i sclose.

He i s n ot anoth er’

s fr iend

W ho never says as he says .

Rejo i ced at evi l

B e thou never ,B u t l et good gi ve thee pleasu r e.

N o one i s so good

That n o fa i ling attends h im ,

N or so bad as to be good for noth i ng.

At a hoar y speakerLaugh thou never .

O ften i s good th at wh i ch the aged u tter .

From such sources the Scandinavian nations

drew the bes t part of their intellectual life . A

great people was educated,and such precepts as

these had their share in the work . It i s poss i

ble that we owe as much of our sol idi ty,enter

prise , and freedom to the hardy Norse as we do

to the Celt or Roman .

DEPAR TED GOD S.

We may compare the account of Tacitus,in

which the picture is doubtless fully as fair as

more careful investigation would justify .

“ But i t was not permitted to,

put to death,

nor to bind,and not even to infli ct blows

,unless

by the authority of the priests— not in the ligh t

of a j udicial sentence,nor by order of a mil itary

leader, but as by the command of God , who ,they believed, was present with those engaged in

battle . And effigi es of animals and certain ban

ners,taken from th e ir sacred groves

,were borne

with them on the field .

”

Nay,they even think that there i s some

thing sacred and prescient in the female sex .

Neither do they rej ect their advice,nor neglect

thei r responses,when consulted . We have seen

in the reign of the now deified Vespasian,

Veleda,reverenced for a long time as a div inity

by most of her countrymen . But before her

time,Aurinia

,and many other women

,were held

in veneration— not as a mere sentiment, nor as if

theywould make them divini ties .”

Most especially among the gods they wor

ship Mercury,to whom

,on s tated days , they

deem it right to offer human victims also as sac

r ifices . They sacrifice to Hercules and Mars

such animals as are usually slain in honor of the

gods . Part of the Suevi sacrifice also to Isis .

THE MI STS OF THE WOR L D'S MOR N I N G. 349

We have too l ittle information to enable us to

determine whence are the origin and i n troduc

tion of this worship,unless the symbol i ts elf of

the goddess,figured after the manner of a Li

burniau galley,shows that the religion came from

a foreign source . B u t they think that it i s no t

consistent with the greatness of celes tial beings

to confine them within walls , or to give them

any resemblance to the human form . They

consecrate g roves and woodlands,and call by

the names of different dei ties that secre t power

which they see with the eye of reverential faith

alone .

”

“ They attend to auguries,and the art of di

v ining by lots,as much as any people whatever .

The usual mode of taking lots is s imple . They

cut into small twigs a branch taken from a fruit

tree , and these ,'dis tinguished by certain marks

,

they throw , without meditation and at random ,

upon a whi te garment . Then,i f the lots are

consulted by public authority,the priest of the

canton— but if by private ci tizens,the master of

the family— having prayed the gods and raising

his eyes to heaven,takes up three sl ips success

i vel y, and hold ing them aloft, interprets accord

ing to the markings before mentioned . If the

lots a r e unfavorable,there is no further consul

tati on concerni ng the same matter on this day ;30

350 DEPAR TED GODS.

but if the lots are propitious,to this is added th e

sanction of auspices . They are also acquainted

wi th that o ther well-known custom indeed— to

consult the notes and fligh ts of birds ; but i t i s

a peculiarity of this race to receive also presages

and admonitions from horses . White s tuds are

maintained at public expense,i n these same

groves and sacred places which we have before

mentioned , and profaned by no human labor and

harnessed to a sacred chariot,the priest and

king,or chief of the State

,attend and watch the

motion s and neighings . Greater faith is givento no other kind of augury

,not only among the

common people,but also among the nobili ty and

priesthood ; for they cons ider themselves during

the ceremony as the minis ters of the gods,and

th e horses as privy to their will . There is also

another mode of taking auspices,by which they

seek to ascertain the i ssues of important wars .

They seize,by any way within their power, a

cap tive of the nation with which they are at

war,and match him with a chosen champion of

their own people— each provided with weapons

after the manner of his country— and the victory

of this one or that one is received as the sure

prognostic of th e event .“ The Semnones consider themselves the most

ancient and respectable of the Suevian nations .

DEPAR TED GOD S.

says : “ There is nothing worthy of special note

among these several tribes,unless i t be that they

worship,in common

,Hertha

,or Mother Earth ,

and bel ieve that she takes part in the affairs of

men,and that she vi sits the different nations .

There is in an island of the ocean an unpolluted

grove,and in this her Sacred chariot, covered by

a vestment,permitted to be touched by her

priest alone . He becomes conscious of the en

trance of the goddess into her sacred dwelling,and follows the chario t drawn by cows yoked to

gether . Then there are days of publi : rej oicingand general festivals in all places which she

deems worthy of visi ting,and which she honors

wi th the privilege of her entertainment . No

wars are carried on,no arms assumed

,and every

sword is sheathed . Then peace and quiet are so

much known,then so much relished

,until the

same pr i est returns the goddess,satisfied with

her visi tation among mortals,to her sanctuary .

Soon the chariot and the vestment and,if we

may believe report, the goddess hersel f, are purified in a secret lake . Slaves offic i ate i n this ahl u ti on

,and the same lake immediately swallows

them up . Hence there ar e supersti tious terror

and ignorance as to what those sacred mysterie s

can be , which those only see who are doomedto die .

”

THE MI STS OF THE WOR L D ’

S MOR N I N G . 353

Among the Naharval i is shown a grove connected with ancient rel igious rites . The priest

presides in a female dress ; but they say that

the gods worshiped there are,according to R o

man interpre ta tion,Cas tor and 'Pol l ux . Such are

the attributes assigned to their godhead . Their

name is Alci . There are no images,and no traces

of foreign supers ti tion ; but they worship them as

brothers,as youths .”

The Ai styans worship the mother of the gods .As a dis tinctive mark of this supers titi on

,they

wear,as amulets

,images in the form of wild boars .

This,ins tead of arms and a l l defense

,keeps the

worshiper of the goddess safe even in the mids t

of

The author elsewhere mentions a sacred grove

and an al tar devoted to the worship of the god

Tafnan . The name of this deity is found only

in thi s passage and in one inscription . Another

grove is mentioned which was a sanctuary of

Hercules . The god Tu i sco i s found and may be

the same as the native Tyr or perhaps Thor .

The latter has been identified with Mars , as the

god Odin also with Mercury . There is mention

of the sacred fores t of Baduhenna and other

similar sanctuaries . Isis may be the moon-god

dess,as Hertha is certainly one of the earth god

1“Tac i tus , G erm an i a , vi i—x , x x x i x , x1 , x l i i i , xl v.


desses . The worship of Castor and Pollux may

be compared wi th that of th e earth-mo ther as con

du c ted by the Corybantes , the I daei Dactyli , andother pries tly classes

,in Thrace

,Phrygia

,and

elsewhere . The Germans hymned Heracles insong when about to engage in bat tl e

,and an

altar had been found at Asc i burgi um consecrated

to Ulysses . Odin may have reminded the R omans of both the god and the hero .

*

The figures of certain savage animals were

deemed religi ous symbols . It was also a custom

to deposi t in their sacre d groves the standards

taken from the enemy,which they carried with

them in their wars . In the battle between the

Catti and the Hermundur i,both armies devoted

prisoners and spoils of war as a sacrifice to Mars

and Mercury . Mars would seem to have been

reckoned as the chief deity .

‘

l‘

Caesar,contrasting the Gauls and German s

,

says “ The Germans d iffer greatly from this

custom,for they nei ther have Druids wh o pre

side over sacred things,nor do they regard sac

r i fices . Of the gods they acknowledge none savethose whom th ev can see and by whose power

they are apparently benefited— Sol,V u l can

,Luna ;

“7Tac i tu s , G erm an i a , 1 1 , i i i ; An n al s , i , 5 1 ; 1 1 , 1 2 ; i v, 73; Hi s

tor y , i v,1 4.

TTac i tus , Hi story , i v, 1 2, 64 ; An n a l s 1 59 ; x i i i , 57.


But if,as has been suggested

,this religion had

an underlying basis of monotheism,i t was soon

concealed by a rich polytheism . The forces of

nature were deified . The process is no t unl ike that

met with elsewhere again and again,and need not

be particularly dwel t upon in this connection .

The Norse myths,like others

,must be translated

in order to be understood .

The myth of the creation i s worthy of carefulstudy and comparison with the accounts found

in other religions and mythologies . In the be

ginning was a yawning gulf yclep t G i nungagap .

As is said i n the Vala ’ s Prophecy

I t was Time’

s mor n i ng,

When the noth ing was ;N or sand

,nor sea

,

N or cooling billowsEar th there was not,

N or heaven above.

The G i n ungagap was ,

B u t grass nowhere.

”

On the north of G i nu ngagap was a nebulousworld N i flheim, and on the south a fir e-world

Muspelheim . I n the middle of N i flheim was a

spring Hvergel mer , from which flowed twel ve i ce

cold streams call ed El i vagar . Surt reigned in

the midst of the fierce heat of the fir e-world .

The El i vagar froz e over, and ice was formed i n

th e northern part of the yawning gulf. Vapor

THE MI STS OF THE WOR L D’

S MOR N I N G . 357

which rose above this ice became frost . The

heated blas t from Muspelheim thawed this r ims ,and the drops were quickened into a man or

giant called Ymer,but whom the fros t giants

called Au rgelmer . While Ymer slept,from the

sweat of the pi t of his left arm were born a man

and a woman,and one foo t begat with the other

a s ix-headed son,from whom sprang the fros t

giants .

From the drops of rime sprang also a cow,

Audhumbla . This cow licked sal t-rime stones

and on the third day these stones gave birth to

a man named Bu re,whose son was Bor . Bor

married B estl a, the daughter of B ol thor n , and to

this married pair were born three sons— Odin,

Vile,and V e

,the rulers of heaven and earth .

The three brothers now killed the giant Ymer

and his blood caused a deluge in which a l l the

fros t giants,save B ergelmer , were drowned .

The latter saved himself in a boat . The giant’

s

body was thrown into G i nu ngagap . His blood

made all waters,his flesh all lands

,and his bones

all mountains,whi le his teeth and j aws became

stones,hi s hair forests

,and his skull the arch of

heaven . His brains scattered in the air became

clouds,and from his eyebrows they formed Mid

gard as a bulwark against the giants . Sparks

from Muspelheim were se t i n the heavens to give31


light to the world . Says G r immer ’

s Lay in the

Elder Edda

O f Y mer’

s fleshThe ear th was made,

And of h i s sweat th e seas ;

Rocks of h i s bones,Trees of h i s h air ,And th e sky of h is skull ;B u t of h i s eyebr owsThe bl i th e power sMade Midgard for the sons of men .

O f h i s br a i n sAl l the mel an ch olyC louds wer e

Asgard is th e divine abode in which the gods

buil t a most magnificent golden palace called

Gladsheim ,

“home of gladness,and for the

goddesses they buil t Vingolf,

“ friend ’ s floor .”

The three beneficen t gods while walking on

the sea-shore discovered two trees,an ash

and an elm,and made from them the firs t h u

man pair,and named them from the trees Ask

and Embla . They also gave them Midgard for

their abode .

Ida,situate d in Asgard

,is the assembling

place of the gods . From Hl i dskja l f, Odin s ittingon his lofty seat looks out upon the whole world .

Far above,brighter than the highest splen dors

”’ Th e tr an s l ation s ar e from An derson ,N orse Myth ol ogy ,

an d th e Y ou nger Edda .


Odin , Vile, and V e, which , if we may suppose

the Norse thought of the ethical import,we

may interpre t as Spiri t,Will

,and Holiness

.

After this firs t creation , the places of Vile andV e i n the div ine trini ty are supplied 'by Hoener

and Loder .

When the firs t human pair,Ask and Embla

,

were created , Odin breathed into their nostrilsthe breath of l ife, Hoener blessed them with

light and unders tanding,and their warm blood

and the keenness of the ir senses they owed to

the endowment of Loder . From B ergelmer and

his wife,the giant and gian tess who escaped

from the flood,were descended the whole race

of the frost giants . They were banished to

Jotunheim and Utgard,whence they visi t Mid

gard,and seek to inj ure men . They are r epre

sented as dwelling in mountains and the desert

places of the earth,and are the unconquered

and hostil e influences of nature . They love

darkness rather than light,and are greatly terri

fied at the cheering light of day and the swift

lightning of the sky. They are said to possess

abundance of wealth and many priceless treas

ures . They are good natured and boastful,but

may easily be moved to anger ; frequently they

prove themselves to'

be powerful,wise

,and stern .

The bright gods wage war against them,conquer

THE MI STS OF THE WOR L D'S MOR N I N G . 36 1

them,and slay them— being ever victorious at

th e las t .

The ash-tree Ygdrasil,beneath which the gods

assemble every day in council,i s one of the

grandes t figures in any mythology . Its branches

spread over a l l worlds , and reach above the

heavens Three roots susta in the tree— one

reaches Asgard,the home of the gods ; the sec

ond extends to the world of the fros t giants,

where G i nungagap was formerly situated ; and

the third reaches N i flh eim Under the third

r oot i s Hvergelmer , where live s the hag Nidhug

and gnaws th e root . Under the secbnd roo t is

the well of Mimer,wherein are concealed all

wisdom and a l l knowledge .

“ The owner of the

well hight Mimer . He is full of wisdom,for

he drinks from the wel l with the Gja l l ar hor n .

All-father once came there , and asked for a drink ,but he did not get i t before he left one of his

eyes as a pledge .

” Thus says the El der Edda

Full well I know,

G rea t Od i n, where

Th i ne eye thou lost ;I n Mimer ’

s wel l,

The foun tain pu re,Mead Mimer d r inksEach mor n i ng new ,

With Odin ’

s pledgeConceive ye th i s ?


Beneath the root in Asgard is the most sacred

fountain of Urd,where the gods

,r iding over

Bifros t,or the Rainbow

,every day,

'

hol d the ir

doomstead .

At this fountain,in a beautiful h al l

,dwell

three maids— Urd,U r dande

,and Skuld

,or Past

,

Presen t,and Future— call ed norns

,fa tes that fix

the lifetime of men,the originals of the weird

sis ters of Shakspear e. These norns draw water

from the foun tain,and mingling i t w ith clay

,

sprinkle the leaves and branches of the tree to

prevent withering . The water is most holy .

The dew which falls from the tree becomes

honey for the bees . On one of the boughs sits

a wise eagle,and between his eyes s its a hawk

,

called V edfol ner . A squirrel,called R atatosk ,

runs up and down the trunk . causing s trife be

tween the eagle and Nidhug . Four stags leapabout in the branches , and feed upon the leaves .

“More serpents than tongue can tell are with

Nidhug .

This sacred tree symbolizes all existences . It

carries l ife to every part of the univers e . It is

the his tory of the world .

“ Its boughs,with their buddings and disleaf

ings— events,things suffered

,th ings done

,catas

tr oph es— s tre tch through a l l lands and times .

Is not every leaf of it a biography,every fiber

I I .

THE WARR IO R AN D THE THUN D ERER .

DIN is the chief of the gods of the Norse .

He is especially the god of war,wh o

watches over the brave , helps them in battle , and

receives them at las t i n V al h a l . He is the su

preme ruler of the universe,the fountain of al l

knowledge , and the inventor of poetry and the

runes . Odin has twelve names in Asgardforty-nine names are given in the Younger Edda

,

and nearly two hundred are mentioned in the

poets . He is represented as a ta l l,old man

,

with one eye,and a long beard . He wears a

many-colored coat and a broad-brimmed hat,and

has a spear in his hand and a ring on his finger .

Two ravens s i t on h is shoulders , and two wolves

crouch at his feet . He sits upon his lofty thron e,

or,mounted on his flee t steed Sleipner, rides

swiftly as the wind .

Odin has been interpreted as the ever-moving,working

,d ivine spirit of the universe . His h at

represents the vaul t of heaven ; h is coat, the

blue sky ; and the ravens, Hugin and Munin are

reflection and memory . They fly over the world ,and in the evening of each day whisper i n

Odin ’ s ear all that they have seen and heard .

364


The marvelous ring was named D raupner , and

was the work of the dwarfs . Eight rings of

equal weight drop from D raupner every ninth

night . It symbolizes fertili ty of vegetable and

animal l ife,and fertil ity of thought . Ideas drop

one from the other,and form a golden chain of

many links . If any man,however

,will drink at

the fountain Of Mimer,as did Odin

,he must pur

chase the draugh t at the price of some th ing dear .Wisdom has a price

,which he mus t pay wh o

would secure the possession .

Those who live life bravely are conducted by

maidens— the va l kyr z’

eS— to Odin ’ s Ha l l . Here

every day they ride into the court,and fight and

hew one another in pieces,after which they r e

sort to the Hal l,and drink mead from the skulls

of their enemies . After Ragnarok they will be

admitted to golden G imle,while the wicked and

a l l cowards will leave Hel and go to N aastr and,

“ the strand of corpses .” This is a cave , with

its entrance far from the sun,and facing th e

North . It i s built of wattled serpents, with

their heads turned inwards . They fill the roomwith streams of poison

,in which the unhappy

dead ever wade— gory heads hanging outside

their breasts,faces a l l horrid and bloody, poison

dragons,

piercing and dark ravens tearing their

hearts,and their hands riveted together with


golden hair which would grow the same as’

though it were natural . The dwarfs made for

him not only the golden hair,but also the ship

S ir idbl ad ner,which would insure fair w ind to the

owner,and could be folded like a napkin and

placed’

in the pocket ; and the spear Gu ngner ,which would cause anything which i t s truck to

tremble . Loke,who must have been in a merry

mood,now wagered his head with Brok that his

brother Si ndr e could not make three treasure s

of equal value . Sindr e threw into the furnace

a pigskin,and Brok worked at the bellows . The

boar with golden bris tles was made . It could

run swiftly,day and night

,i n the air or on the

sea,and i t would be always light along its

course . He then threw in gold,and there came

out the ring D r au pn er . The third time he threw

i n iron . N ow,Loke had tried to compel Brok to

leave the bellows,changing himself into a fly

,

and biting the hand and the neck of the dwarf

while at hi s labor . N ow he placed himself be

tween Brok ’s eyes,and s tung his eyelids till he

was bl inded by the blood . Brok le t go the bel

lows only a moment to brush the fly away,but

i t nearly destroyed the work . There came out

the hammer MjOl ner , with which the owner

could strike as large an obje ct as he pleas ed,and

it would never fail ; and he might throw it to

THE WAR R I OR AN D THE THUN DER ER . 369

any dis tance,and i t would always return to his

hand . Brok took the treasures to Asgard for

the decision of the gods,and Odin

,Thor

,and

Frey were appointed j udges . Loke gave Odinthe spear ; Thor the golden hair, which immed iately grew fas t to Sif ’ s head ; and Frey the ship .

Brok gave Odin the ring, Thor the hammer , andFrey the boar . The j udges voted the hammer

the best of all the treasures,though the handle

was a li ttle short . Loke saved his head,h ow

ever,by pleading that the wager did not include

any part of h i s neck ; but the dwarf sewed hislips toge ther .

Odin had three wives— J or d,representing the

original inhabi ted earth ; Frigg , the earth cultivated by man ; and Rind , the earth held fas t in

the frosts of winter . Frigg was the firs t among

the goddesses,the queen of the asas and asynjes ,

and most dear to her husband . She possessed

a magnificent mansion,F en sa l ; and a falcon

disguise,which

,on one occasion

,Loke borrowed .

Sh e has several maid-servants . Fulla cares forthe slippers of her mistress

,assis ts her at her

toile t,and is a confidant to whom she intrusts

al l her secrets . She i s“

represented with hair

flowing over her beautiful shoulders , and a golden

ribbon adorning her head . Hlyn has the care

of those whom Frigg wishes to del iver from


peril . Gnaa,riding on her horse Hofvar pner ,

which can run through air or Water,carries the

messages of the goddess . Var,wise and pru

FR EY A , O R FR I G G .

dent l is tens to oaths , and punishes those who

keep not their promises . Lofn,mild and gra

cions,can remove every obstacle which prevents


Strove to wi nCon tumely of ever y ki ndThat wi ly gi r lHeaped upon me ;

N or of that damsel ga i ned I augh t.

This i s noth ing more than the beneficen t

heaven trying to woo the cold,wintry world of

the north into the warmth and cheer and frui tful

ness of spring and summer .

We have seen that Odin i s a poet,and must

now relate h ow he chanced to become endowed

with this rare gi ft . There had been a long and

bitter war between the asas and the vans . At

last peace was declared,i ts terms agr eeed upon ,

and the treaty ratified by each party spitting

into a jar . To commemorate the event,the gods

formed out of the spittle a being named Kvaser,

who was so w ise that he could answer any ques

tion . While j ourneying through the world to

teach men wisdom he was treacherously mur

dered by the dwarfs,Fjal ar and Galar . By mixing

h is blood with honey, the dwarfs formed a pre

cions drink which would inspire with the gift of

song .

While the giant G il ling and his wife werevisi ting the dwarfs upon their special invi tation ,they invited G i l ling to the further entertainmentof a boat-ride , but capsiz ed the boat by running


against a rock . The giant was drowned,and his

wife when she heard the sad news became i n

consolable . Fja l ar suggested to her that she

migh t find some consolation,if sh e would look

out upon the waters where her husband met his

death . When she passed out of the door,Galar

threw down a millstone upon her head and killed

her,saying that he was sick and disgusted with

her crying . Such a crime was not to remain n u

avenged . Su ttung, the son of the giant . took the

dwarfs out to sea and left them on a shoal where

at high tide they would be drowned,but rescued

them for the inspiring beverage .

Odin learned of its exis tence and determinedto Obtain i ts possession . Journeying towards

Jotunheim,he came to a meadow in which nine

thralls were mowing . He whet . their scy thes

with a Whetstone which he carried in his bel t .

He gave the knives so keen an edge that the

thra l l s wished to purchase i t, but Odin threw i tup into the air that i t might become the property

of the one who caught i t . I n attempting to catch

i t,each thral l turned in such a manner that his

scythe cut off the head of one of his comrades .

So th e nine laborers died . The owner of the

meadow was Su ttung’

s brother,and Odin lodged

with him that night,and soon engaged to do for

h im the work of nine men provided he— Bauge32


was his name— would assist h im in procuring

from his bro ther the wonderful drink . When win

ter se t in Odin and Bauge visited Su ttung, andexplained to h im the n ature of the agreement as

to work , but he could not be prevailed upon

to part with a drop of the precious verse-inspiring

beverage .

The drink was preserved in a cavern under the

RSCAN D I N AV I AN R UN ES .

(I n s c r i p t i on i n th e C h u r c h a t F l add ah l en .)

guardianship of Gun l ad , Su ttung’

s daughter.

Odin had an auger called Rate , and with thisBauge bored through the rock into the cave and

the god entered in the form of a worm . Assum

ing his 'natural shape he succeeded in winning

the heart of the daughter,who was induced to

let him\drink of the mead . He drank so deep

that the kettle Odr oer er and the cups Son and

Bodn were all exhausted . Transforming himself


Then I began to bear fr u itAnd to know many th i ngs ,To growand well th r i ve.

The runes of Odin were r i sted everywhere,

and then scraped off,and mixed with the holy

mead,sent to asas

,elves

,and sons of men in a l l

parts of the world .

V a l hal,which we have already mentioned

,i s

s i tuated in Gladsheim . It is a great and spa

cions hall,all resplendent with gold . The roof

i s formed wi th sh ield s ; th e cei ling is supported

by spears ; coats of mai l adorn its benches ;swords serve the purposes of l ight and fire .

Outside is th e grove Glaser, the leaves of whosetrees are red gold The boar Sah r imner i s

cooked by An dh r imn er i n the kettle El dh r imn er

every morning,and served up to the heroes of

V al hal ; but becomes whole every night, and is

ready to be cooked again . The goat Heidrun,

which stands above Odin ’ s Hall and feeds on the

wonderful tree Lerad,furnishes the whole host

with rich drink . The stag Eikthyr ner feeds on

the leaves of the same tree,and from his broad

antl ers fall drops into Hvergelmer sufficient to

fill th e thirty-six rivers which flow thence

twelve . to the home of the gods,twelve to the

abodes of men,and twelve to N i flheim .

Thor,th e son of Odin by J ord

,i s the god of


thunder, and ranks nex t to the chief god . He

dwells in gloomy Th r u dheim,in hi s shining pal

ace B i l sker n i r , with i ts five hundred and forty

floors, whence he sends forth upon the world his

swift lightnings . He fights ever V i ctoriouslyagainst the frost-giants

,though sometimes sub

jected to temporary defeat . Strong, beneficent ,mighty agains t all enemies

,his exploits full of

marvels, his victories many and signal , he fills a

large place in the mythologic system of the

Norse . He has three valuable treasures— his

hammer MjOl ner , wherewith the skulls of many

frost-gian ts and mountain-giants have been split

asunder ; his bel t of strength Megi ng-jar der ,

with which being girded his strength i s doubled ;and hi s iron gloves

,with which he holds his

hammer’ s haft. When he swings his hammer,

and sends i t crash ing along th e mountain-tops,

and when his chariot wheels rumble,

— this is the

voice of thunder . When he blows through his

hear d,i t i s the roar of the storm . When he

kni ts his brows,i t i s the dark and threatening

storm-cloud . When his hammer strikes fire , as

i t crashes along from rock to rock ; when the

goats which draw his chariot s trike fire with

their hoofs,or by grinding their tee th together

,

th is i s the lightning When his eyes blaze and

flash,i t i s the scarl et cloud . The mythology of

380 DEPAR TED GODS.

get out of the difficul ty by making him stay away

fighting giants ; his uncouth migh t i s scarcely

needed,when Woden has a hos t of chosen

warriors ever ready to defend himself and his

Odin,riding on his wonderful horse Sleipner

,

had reached the home of a mighty giant,

Hr ungner , who'

dwelt in Jotunh eim . The latter

paid a high compliment to the horse,when Odin

,

i n his pride,said that he would wager his head

that no such horse could be found i n Jotunheim .

The giant admitted the excellent qualities of thehorse

,but said that his own horse

,Gol dfax

,was

superior ; and mounting the fleet s teed,s tarted

in pursuit of Odin,who galloped away toward

Asgard . The god kep t ahead,but th e giant

worked up so great a momentum of speed and

excitement that,before he was awar e

'

of i t,he

found himself in Asgard . The gods entertained

him magnificently,and when he became mel

lowed with the mead,which he drank in enor

mous quantities,he took to vain boasting— threat

en i ng to drink up all the mead,

‘

demol i sh Asgard,

and kill all the gods except Freyj a and Si f,

whom he would take home . The gods became

tired of his arrogance,and called Thor

,who had

gone eas tward to crush trolls . Thor came,and

*‘ R h ys , Th e Hibbert Lectu res, p p . 645, 646 .

DEPAR TED GOD S.

s eeing the condition of affairs, blazed with anger .He would have slain the giant with his hammer

but would not take advantage of the fact that his

foe was unarmed . Hrungner challenged him to

a fair duel,and went home to get his weapons .

The gods,i t would appear

,feared that if Thor

were victorious,he would

,i n the freshness of his

rage,i ll-treat all the gods of Asgard . So they

made a man of clay of vast proportions, and

placed in his breas t the heart of a,mare

,which

,

however,fluttered and trembled at the appear

ance of Thor . Hr ungner had a sharp , three-cor

n ered heart, as hard as a stone . His head was

equally hard,and so was hi s sh ield . The clay

giant,which stood at his side

,was so terrified

that sweat poured from his body . Thor was

accompanied by his servan t Thja l fe, who per

suaded the giant to pu t 'his shield beneath his

fee t,saying that Thor would attack h im from

that direction . Amid flashing ligh tning and roll

ing thunder Thor rushed forward and hurled

h is hammer . At the same time Hr ungner threw

his immense fl i nt-s tone . The two weapons met

in mid-air . The stone broke into two pieces ;one piece fell to the ground

,and the o ther piece

s truck the head of Thor and knocked him flat

to the ground . The hammer crushed the skull

of the gian t into small pieces,and he fel l i n

384 DEPAR TED GODS.

drawn by his two goats . At night they stepped at

a peasant’

s cottage and cooked the goats for sup

per . This peasant had a son and a daughterThjal fe and R oskva . Thor directed them 'to putth e bones of the goats into their skins . In themorning he raised the goats by the use of his

hammer, but one of them was lame,for Thjal fe

had broken the shank bone to obta in the marrow .

The peasant appeased the anger of the god by

giving his children to become the servants of

the Thunderer forever . They journeyed al l day,

and at night found lodging in an empty house,

the door of which took up the whole of one

side . At m idnight there was a great earthquake,

and the company fled for safety into an inner

room,Thor s tanding in the doorway with his

hammer in his hand . In the morning they went

out and saw a great giant lying near,whose snor

ing had caused the rumbling and roaring and dis

tur ban ce of the n ight . The giant awoke,and , to

a ques tion,an swered that hi s name was Skrymer .

He at once recognized the Thunder-god . The

house in which the company had lodged was h i s

mitten,the thumb of which was th e inner cham

ber . They all traveled together during this dayand at. night selected a place to sleep beneath anoak . Skrymer had carried the provisions in his

own Sack . He had eaten his supper and had


fallen asleep , when Thor attemp ted to open the

sack,but was not abl e to un tie the s tring. Angry

at h is failure he struck the giant on the head with

his hammer . Skrymer awoke , and as ked whether

a leaf had not fallen on his head . Agai n sleeping,

he snored so outrageously that the noise filledthe whole fores t . Thor gave him another blow

,

this time the hammer sinking into h i s foreheadup to the very handle . He again awoke and i a

quired whether an acorn had not fa llen . Toward

morning the Thunder-god struck him a third

time,and he though t that birds mus t have been

roos ting in the tree and had loosened s ome moss .

That morning he bade Thor good-bye,and d i sap

pear ed in the woods .

Thor and his companions s til l j ourn eyed

towards Utgard and at noon came to a vast cas

tle,which they entered by creeping between the

bars of the gate . A multi tude of men of im

mense size were s itting on two benches ; and

Utgard-Loke,their king

,addressed Thor scorn

fully,calling him a “ l i ttle s tripling . A trial of

feats was preposed . A trough full of meat was

brough t in,and Loke placed at one end , and Loge

at the other . They met in the m i dd l e, but Loge

had eaten not on ly a l l the bones , but even the

trough itself,and was declared the winner . Then

Thjal fe ran three races with Huge , but lost each


race . Thor now suggested that he could dosomething wonderful in the way of drinking .

Utgard-Loke gave him a horn,which he should

have emptied at one draught ; but though he

drank as long as his breath would last three sep

arate times,he seemed scarcely to have dimin

i sh ed the contents . The king of the giants could

not restrain his supreme contempt for such puny

strength . He said that,for th e amusement of

children,he had sometimes asked the l i ttle ones

to l ift his cat,but a young man would consider i t

nothing but p l ay . He,however

,proposed i t to

Thor ; but the god , though exerting himself to

the uttermost,was able to raise but one foot of

the cat from the floor . The anger of Thor was

now thoroughly roused,and he challenged any of

the company to a bout with him at wrestl ing .

The king of the giants call ed in Elle,his nurse

,

a toothless old h ag, wh o, after a v iolent struggle,brought Thor to his knee s

,and was declared the

w inner . Thus ended the trials of strength,and

mos t humiliating were these to th e Thunderer

and his companions .

Utgard-Loke accompanied Thor and his friends

out of the castle , and in parting with them said:

“ N ow,I will tel l you the truth

,s ince you are

out of my castle , where as long as I l ive and

reign you shall never re-enter,and you may rest

388 DEPAR TED GODS.

self,I should never have bel ieved i t . The one

end of the horn stood in the s ea,which you did

not perceive,and when you come to the shore

you w i l l see h ow much the ocean has diminishedby what you drank . This is now called the ebb.You performed a feat no less wonderful when

you l i fted the cat . To tell the truth , when we saw

that one of his paws was off the floor we wereall of us terror-stricken ; for what you took for a

cat was'

in reali ty the great Midgard- serpent,that

encompasses th e whole earth,and he was then

barely long enough to inclose i t be tween his head

and tail , so high had your hand raised h im up

toward heaven . Your wrestl ing with Elle was

also a most astonish ing feat,for there never yet

was,nor will there ever be

,a man for whom Old

Age— for such in fact was Elle— will not sooner

or later lay low,if he abides her

E ger,the terrible, the god of the raging sea,

visited the asa-gods,and invited them to pay him

a visi t in re turn . It i s h is custom to entertain

the gods each harvest . They enter his hall

which is lighted up with gold as V a l hal i s lighted

up wi th swords . E ger has no kettle large

enough to hold all the ale which will be needed

at this feas t of the gods . Tyr says : “East of

the rivers El i vagar fnear the borders of heaven,An der son , N orse Myth ol ogy, pp . 320—322.


dwells the dogw i se Hymer, and th is my fatherhas a kettle which is s trong and one ras t (mile)deep .

” This he thinks can be secured by s trat

agem . Together with Thor,he goes to Hymer

’

s

h al l,where he finds his grandmother

,an evil

giantess,with nine hundred heads also hi s mother

,

a beautiful woman,who brings h im a drink . By

advice,the guests conceal themselves under the

kettle s in th e hall .

Hymer comes home late from fishing,and his

wife informs him of the presence of the guests .

He glances towards the place where they are con

cea l ed, and the post is broken at h is look , the

great beam fa l l s,and the kettles are all dashed

i n pieces— all save one,hard and strong

,which

remained still unharmed . Three steers are killed,

and served on the table ; and Thor eats two of

these .

Next morning Hymer and Thor go fish ing,and

row so far from the shore that the heart of the

giant i s filled with terror ; but he soon has the for

tune to catch two whales . Meantime Thor h as

baited h is book with the head which he had

wrung from the great bull Him i nbrjoter , or

Heaven-breaker The Midgard-serpent,which

has grown so l arge as to enci rcle the whole earth ,takes the bait

,and the hook strikes into his pal

ate . Thor puts on his d ivi ne strength, and pulls


so hard at the line that his feet go through the

bottom of the boat,and he stands on the ground

at the bottom of the sea . The awful serpent i s

drawn up to the side of the boat,and spouts floods

of venom at the god,wh o

,in turn

,darts looks of

divine wrath at the eyes of his enemy . Thor

raises his hammer ; but the giant cuts the l ine , and

the serpent sinks out of sigh t . Thor,enraged at

the cowardice of Hymer,gives h im so sound a

blow on the ear wi th his fis t that he falls head

long into the sea .

Thor now takes up the boat,and carries i t to

the house of the giant . Hymer chal lenges the

god to other exhibitions of strength,and requests

h im to break his goble t . Thor throws i t through

some large posts,but i t receives no harm . He

is told to try i t against Hymer’

s forehead . He

hurls i t with all h is strength . It i s broken,but

Hymer’

s forehead i s uninjured . Another tr i a l'

of

strength is to bring the ke ttle out of the hall .

Thor lifts it,and hi s feet cr ash through the

’

floorof the hall . He puts i t on his head l ike a hat,and walks off with it

,the rings hanging down to

his heels . The giants pursue him,but h e slays

them with his hammer . Now ZEger can brewale for th e gods .


his m ind . His worst fears were confirmed .

Loke was to become the bane of Balder . But

already every precaution had been taken,and

nothing more could be done .

When the gods knew that Balder had been

rendered invulnerable , as a sport they tried all

k inds of weapons upon him in vain . Thus they

thought they were doing him special honor .

Some hurled darts at him,others hurled s tones ;

some hewed at him with swords,others with

battle-axes . Loke became j ealous and angry.

Under the disguis e of a woman,he visited Frigg

in her palace,and learned from her the secret

of the mistletoe . This he procured,and

,placing

i t in the hand of bl ind Hoder,directed his aim

in the sport of the gods,and Balder was slain .

Loud and long were the lamentations called forth

at the death of the mild and beneficen t god .

His body was placed in hi s own ship R i ngh or n ,and

,with the help of a giantess

,Hyr r oken , who

was summoned from Jotunheim,the ship was

launched . Nanna,

’

the wife of Balder,died of

grief,and her body was placed on the same pile .

A vast concourse attended the funeral . At the

reques t of Frigg,Hermod

,the son of Odin

,j our

neyed to Hel , to endeavor to p r ocur e'

perm i ss i on

for Balder to returnt o Asgard . He rode nine

days and nine nights through deep , dark valleys,

GODS AN D N O—GODS. 393

when he reached a bridge,covered with gli ttering

gold,which spanned the river Gj ol . From Mod

gud,a maiden who kept the bridge

,he learned

that Balder had crossed,and that the road led

northward and downward . Hastening ever ou

ward,he reached Hel at last

,and hi s hors e

Nimble cleared the wall at a single bound . Eu

tering the palace of He],he found his brother

,

who occupied an honorable pos ition in this

gloomy realm . He made known his mission .

Hel replied that if every thing in the world

would weep for Balder,she would permit him to

return to Asgard . All things,animate and i n

animate,wept except one giantess

,Thok by

name— she may have been Loke in d isguise

who said

Thok wi l l weepWith d ry tear sF or Balder ’

s death .

N either i n l ife nor i n death

G ave be me gladness.

L et Hel keep what she has .

The myth of Balder i s easily understood . Balder

i s the sun,Loke is fire

,and Hoder i s darkness .

Al l nature loves light, is attracted towards it ,and weeps when i t is gone . In an e thical sense

Balder may be the heavenly l igh t of the soul .

The ligh t of innocence i s invulnerable save only


when touched by the cruel darts of slander andjealousy .

Nanna,the wife of Balder

,is the goddess of

flowers,and dies with the summer .

Anderson,whose interpretations we are fol

lowing,says : “Upon . the whole we may say

that a sun-myth firs t represents the death of the

day at sunset,when the sky i s radiant as if

dyed in blood . I n the flushing morn,l ight wins

its v ictory again . Then the same myth became

transferred to th e death and birth of summer .

Once more it i s l ifted into a higher sphere,while

still hold ing on to i ts physical interpretation,

and is appl ied to the world year . Finally,i t i s

clothed with ethical attributes,becomes thor

oughly anthropomorphiz ed,and typifies th e good

and the evil,the virtues and the vices (ligh t and

darkness) in the character and life of gods andmen . Thus we get four s tages in the develop

ment of the

Such is the beautiful myth of Balder . It

may be well doubted whether many of the sturdy

Norse saw all thi s in the myth , yet it may have

been the secret of the few .

F or sette,the son of Balder and Nanna

,dwells

in the heavenly mansion G l i tner,with i ts golden

column s and silver roof. Most important cases3“‘ An der son ,

Th e Y ou nger Edda , pp . 265, 266 .


for his w isdom,eloquence

,and gracefulness of

speech . He is a skillful poet,and runes are r i sted

on his tongue . His wife is Idun,and she i t i s who

keeps the golden apples which the gods have only

to taste to insure to them perpetual youth . Oneday when Odin

,Loke, and Hoener were on a jour

n ey, they came to a herd of cattle grazing in a val

ley,and killed one for their supper. But boil i t

however much they might,the flesh ever r e

mained r aw . An eagle from an oak-tree told them

that if she could have a share in the feast the

ox would soon boil . They consented,and the

eagle flew down and snatched the two thighs

and the two shoulders . Loke,angry at this greed

,

s truck the bird on the back with a pole . The

pole stuck fas t to the eagle,and he was not able

to let go his hold,and so was borne away

,over

mountains and forests,un ti l he was seriously man

gled and torn by this rough usage . The eaglewas the giant Thjasse in his eagle plumage . Now

,

to secure his release , Loke agreed to procure for

the giant the golden apples . Upon returning to

Asgard,he prevailed upon Idun to take her ap

ples into the fOr est,to compare them with apples

which he said he found growing there,and which

he considered much fairer than her own . Thjasse,i n eagle form

,caught up Idun and bore her away

to Jotunh eim . The apple s being gone, the gods

GODS AN D N O-GODS. 397

began to grow old . When inquiry was made,

Loke was found to be the cause of their d ire

misfortune,and they threatened him with instant

torture and death . He promised to return the

apples,and borrowed from F reyja her eagle plu

mage . Thus clad,he flew away to Jotunheim ,

and transforming Idun into a nut,he brought her

in h i s claws to Asgard . Thjasse was in hot pur

sui t,but the gods lighted a fire on the walls of

Asgard,which caught his plumage . He fell into

their power and was slain. His daughter Skade

came to avenge his death,but the gods were able

to appease her wrath and make atonement for

the deed . Part of the arrangement was tha t she

was to select from the gods a husband,their fee t

alone being vis ible . She p icked out a beautiful

pair of feet and thought that they could belong

to none other than Balder,but she was deceived .

They were the fee t of Nj ord,and he became her

husband .

Tyr is the god of martial honor— brave,val

or ou s,i ntrepid

,wise . He is a l l courage and fai th

fulness,a worthy son of Odin .

Vidar is the son of Odin and the giantessGrid . This god rivals in strength Thor himself.

He has an iron shoe which is very thick,the ma

ter i a l for which has been gathered through all

the ages . Waste scraps of leather have been util34

398 DEPAR TED GODS.

i zed i n making this shoe . The shoemaker confers

a benefit on the gods,who throws away pie ces

of leather whereby this wonderful shoe can be

kep t in repair . Vidar is surnamed the Silent,

and represents the wild desert and impenetrable

TY R , SON O F O D I N AN D FR I GG.

forest,all untrodden by man . Vidar and Vale

alone survive the general destruction at the las t

day . Vale is a valiant warri or .Uller is the son of Si f and the stepson of

Thor . He is skillful in the use of the bow,swift

on his snow-skates beauti ful in person,and a

great warrior . He dwells in his mansion call ed

Y da l er or “Valleys of Rain .

”

400 DEPAR TED '

G OD S.

play around the‘

r ocky i slands , or, in calm weather,sleep upon the s tones and rocks beneath the

waters . IZEger wears a helmet of dense dark

ness and awful breakers,and Ran

'

i s the p l un

derer of the deep— the daughters are the most

happy in the mos t dangerous s torm .

Njord is a van born and bred i n Vanaheim,

but given to the asas as a hostage i n exchange

for Honer . Thus peace was r e-established be

tween the asas and the vans . Njord is god of

the sea,of fishing, and of commerce

,and is es

pec i al ly invoked by fishermen and sailors . He

dwells,i n a heaven l y region

,Noatun , rules the

winds and the tempes ts,and checks the fury of

the raging conflagrati on . We have seen h ow h e

married Skade,the daughter of the giant Thjasse.

She loves the rocky mountains o f Thrymheim,

the r oar i ng home, at the thundering waterfall .”

By agreement, Njor d and Skade dwel l nine nights

in Thrymheim and then three in Noatun . This

god ruled over many temples and high places,

and possessed vas t wealth,which he could confer

on his worshipers .

N j ord h as two children— Frey and Freyja .

Frey is the god of rain and sunshine and of allthe fruits of the earth

,and

,l ike his father

,dis

penses among men riches and peace . In his

eal ry boyhood the gods made him a present of


Alfheim , the home of the elves . His ship Skidbl adner

, made by the sons of I val d , has been

mentioned . It was so large that all the gods,

with their weapons and war-s tores,could find ac‘

commodation therein . Frey had a fine reputa

tion among the gods . Nj ord could boast

I t is my consolationFor I was from a far -off place,

Sen t as a h ostage to the gods

That I begat tha t sonWhom no one h ates ,

And who i s rega rded

Ch ief among the gods.

”

And Tyr says

Fr ey’

i s the bestO f a l l the ch iefs

Among th e gods .

He causes not tear s

To ma ids or mothers ;

Hi s des i r e i s to loosen the fettersO f those ench ained .

”

Frey was extensively worshiped in all Northern countries

,received many sacrifices

,and had

many temples and images . “On Ju l -eve (Chris tmas eve) i t was customary to lead out a boar,which was consecrated to Frey

,and which was

called the atonement boar. On this the personspresen t laid their hands

,and made solemn vows ;

and at the feas t,where the flesh of the sacri

402 DEPAR TED GODS.

ficed animal was eaten by the assembled guests,

there was d runk,among o ther horns

,a horn to

Njord and Frey for prosp erous seasons and forpeace . There are still survivals of these pagan

sacrifices .“A highly-valued wooden statue or image of

Frey was found in a temple at Trondhj em,which

King Olaf Tryggvesson hewed in pieces in thepresence of the people . Kjotve the Rich , king

of Agder i n Norway, one of the ch iefs who

fough t agains t Harald F a i rh a i r,had a weight

upon which the god Frey was sculptured insilver . This treasure

,which he held in great

veneration,fell

,after the battle

,in to the hands

of King Harald,and he presented i t to his

friend,the ch iefta in I ngemu nd Thorstenson , who

afterwards carried the image in a purse,and

held i t in very high esteem . This last-mentioned

image was probably borne as an amulet,as was

often the case,no doubt w ith the gold bracteates

which are found in the '

gr ave-hows and in the

earth,having upon them the images of men and

animals,and which are furnished with a clasp for

fastening to a

Frey one day sat in Hl i dskja l f, and lookingaway to Jotunheim

,saw a maid enter a large

palace,and as she raised the latch of the door ,

An derson ,N orse Myth ol ogy, p . 363.


all worlds were illuminated by the matchless

radiancy of her hand . The god was enamored,

and upon inquiry found that the wonderful

maiden was Gerd,a daughter of Gymer and

Au rboda, who were relatives of Thjasse. He

sen t his messenger Ski r ner to press for h im his

suit,who won the heart of the maiden ; not,

however,without the employment of irresis tible

incantations,in which he seems to have been

well skilled . Many Norse romances are connected with this s tory of Frey and Gerd . The

most celebrated is the Nibelungen Lay . That

charming favorite of the children,

“Sleeping

Beauty,may be placed in the same class .

*

Freyj a i s the si ster of Frey,and i s the god

dess of love . From her mansion Sessrymner,

she rides forth in a ’car drawn by two cats .

She married Oder , ,by whom she had two daugh

ters— Hnos and Ger seme,beauti ful and precious .

Her husband,wishing to travel abroad

,left her

,

and since that time she continually weeps , andher tears are drops of pure gold . She i s a god

dess of great beauty,grace

,modesty , and puri ty :

The most beautiful things ar e named after her .

Not only is gold called her “ tears”or the

“ rain ” of her brows and cheeks , but also the

i ‘ F or estier , Ech oes from Mi st-l an d ; I n tr oducti on , pp .

xl i i i — xl vi i .

GODS AN D N OL G OD S. 405

mos t beautiful flowers are named from her hair

and eye-dew,and the butterfly is Freyj a’ s hen .

”

She gives name to Friday,as Tyr to Tuesday

,

Odin to Wednesday,and Thor to Thursday .

Freyja rides to the field of battl e,and claims half

of the slain .

Folkvang ’

t i s called ,Where Freyja has r ightTo dispose of the hall-seats .

Every dayof the slainShe ch ooses the h alf

,

An d leaves h alf to Odin .

The Scandinavian race,l ike every other

,

s truggled with the problem of evil,but s truggled

in vain . At firs t they may have thought only

of physical evil,but soon their attention was

directed to moral evil . The darkest spiritual

evil is represented in Utgard-L oke . Asa-Loke“ i s th e same evil principle in all i ts various

manifes ta tions ; but, as he makes his appearance

among the gods,he represents evil in the seduc

tive and seemingly beautiful form in which i t

gl ides abou t through the world . We find him

flowing i n the veins of the human race , and call

h im sin,or passion . In nature he is the cor

r up ti ng element in air, fire,and water . In the

bowels of the earth he is the volcanic flame ,in the sea he appears as the fierce serpent, and

35


in the lower world we recognize h im as pale

We have seen how Loke procured the death

of Balder . In like manner,by his strength and

deceit,i n connection wi th the j

'

Otuns, he brought

the gods into peril time and again,though the

evil which he intended was frequently overruledfor good .

Loke had not been evi l from the first . He

was one of the second trinity,and

,under the

name of Loder,ass isted Odin and Honer in the

creation of man .

From Augerbode, a migh ty giantess of Jotunheim

,Loke had three monstrous children— the

Fenris-wolf,the Midgard-serpent

,and Hel .

When the gods learned of the exi s tence of thesemonsters

,mortal terror seized upon the court of

Asgard . The three children were brought from

Jotunheim,and their destruction decreed . The

Midgard-serp ent was cast head long into the sea,

but soon grew to such a size as to encircle the

whole earth . Hel was cast into N i flh eim,but

there extended her influence till she ruled over

nine worlds . Her hall i s called El vi dner ,‘ place of storm ;

’ hunger is her table,starvation

her knife,delay her man-servant

,slowness her

maid-servant, precipice her threshold , care her9“An derson ,

N orse Myth ol ogy, p . 372.


The servants are praised for their attentiveness,

but this excites the wrath of: Loke,who slays

one of the number, and flees to the woods.He

soon returns and begins to abuse the other gods .

Th i r sty I h itherTo the hall cameLong way I jou rneyedThe gods to ask

Wh ether one wou ld gr an t me

A dr ink of the p reciou s mead .

W hy ar e ye silen t, gods ,And s i t so stubborn ?Have ye lost you r tongues ?G i ve me a seat

And place at th e ban q uet,O r tu rn me away.

”

He continues his abuse,and before he drinks

the mead,the mounta ins quake and tremble . It

is the footsteps of Thor,who soon enters the

hall,and threatens to crush every bone in Loke ’ s

body . With an awful curse upon n er,Loke

flees,and hides h imself in the mountains . A

house is built,with every side Open

,so that he

may watch the approach of the offended gods .

During the daytime he changes into the form ofa salmon

,and hides under the waters of a cas

cade . One day while Odin was seated in loftyHl i dskjal f, h e discovered Loke knitting flax and

yarn into a fish -net,and the gods came upon him

GODS AN D N O—G OD S. 409

so suddenly that he had barely time to throw

the ne t into the fire and escape . Kvaser the

Wise discovers in the ashes the traces of thenet

,and the gods are enabled to kni t one after

the same pattern . They fish for Loke,for

,i n

the form of a salmon , he has taken his hiding

place i n the water . With much difficulty Thor

at length catches him in his hand,as he attempts

to leap over the net . He is caught in his own

device .

They drag him into a cavern,wherein they

have placed three pointed rocks . They bore a

hole into each of these rocks . They seize his

chi ldren— Vale and Nare . They change Vale

into a wolf,and compel him to tear i n pieces

and devour h is brother . They make bands of

the intestines,with which they bind the evi l god

to the points of the rocks . The giantess Skade

suspends a serpent over him,so that the venom

fa l l s full into h is face,drop by drop . His wife

,

Sigyn,fai thful to him in his mi sfortune

,catches

the venom in a cup,which she empties when

fil led ; but while she empties the cup, the drops

fa l l on Loke,and he shrieks with anguish

,and

twists h is body in his agony so that the whole

earth quakes . There this evil god— so terrible

a character that the Black Death of the fourteen th century assumed his form i n the minds

410 DEPAR TED GODS.

of the Norsemen— there he will remain till th eEnd .

We have named several lesser obj ects of

supersti tion,and they deserve further attention .

Both giants and dwarfs shun the l ight of day,

and turn into s tone at its approach . Dwarfs aredeformed and diminutive

,dusky

,and coarsely

clad— “a l ittle black man

,

” “a li ttle gray man .

The women spin and weave ; the men are smiths .In Norway, rock-crystals are call ed dwarf-s tones ,and certain s tones in D enmark are called dwarfhammers . The dwarfs are extremely rich

,and

have fine dwell ings,decorated with crys tal and

gold . They are neighborly and obliging, but will

lame cattle and steal,and even carry to their

homes young mai dens .

In Iceland they use for their dwellings rocks,

hills,and even seas . They keep their homes

neat , and all th eir domestic utensil s clean and

orderly . In Shetland the Trows are small, and

usually dress e d in gay green garments . When

they travel,they ride on bulru shes through the

air. “ If a person should happen to meet them

when On these j ourneys,he should

,i f he has not

a Bibl e i n his pocket,draw a circle round him

on the ground,and in God ’ s name

,forbid their

approach .

”

The white elves are fair and lively, dwell i n


of too del i cate'

a texture for mortal eyes to di s

cern . Thus they pass the winter ; but no sooner

does the spring return than they abandon their

recesses,and li ve through all the summer above

ground,in sunshine and starl ight

,in un i n ter

r u pted revelry and enj oyment . The moment the

trees and flowers begin to sprout and bud in

the early days of spring,they emerge from the

h i l l s , and get among the stocks and branches , and

thence to the blossoms and flowers,where they

sit and gaze around them . In the night,when

mortals sleep,the White Dwarfs come forth

,and

dance their j oyous roundels in the green grass,

about the hills and brooks and springs,making

the sweetest and most delicate music,bewilder

ing travelers,who hear and wonder at the strains

of the invi sible musicians . They may,i f they

will,go out by

’

day,but never in company ;

these daylight rambles being allowed them only

when al one and under some assumed form . They

therefore frequently fly about in the shape of

party-colored li ttle birds,or butterflies

,or snow

white doves,showing kindness and benevolence

to the good who meri t their favor.

The Brown Dwarfs,the next in order

,are

less than eighteen inches high . They wear little

brown coats and j acke ts,and a brown cap on

their head,with a littl e s ilver bell in i t . Some


of them wear black shoes,with red strings in

them ; in general , however , they wear fine glass

ones ; at their dances none of them wear any

other . They.

are very handsome in their per

sons, with clear, light-colored eyes , and sma l l

and mos t beautiful hands and feet . They are,

on the whole,of a cheerful

,good-natured dispo

s itiou , mingled with some roguish traits . Like

the White Dwarfs,they are great artis ts in gold

and silver , working so curiously as to astonish

those who happen to see their performances .At night they come out of their b i l l s and dance

hy'the light of the moon and stars . They also

glide invis ibly into people ’ s houses,their caps

rendering them imperceptible by all who have

not s imilar caps . They are said to play a l l

kinds of tricks,to change the children in the

cradles,and take them away . This charge i s

perhaps unfounded ; but certainly children who

fal l into their hauds must serve them for fifty

years . They possess an unlimited power of

transformation,and can pass through the smallest

key-holes . Frequently they bring with thempresents for children

,or lay gold rings and

ducats,and the like

,in their way , and often are

invisibly present,and save them from the perils

of fi re and water . They plague and annoy lazy

men-servants and untidy maids with frightful


dreams ; oppress them as the nightmare ; bite

them as fleas ; and scratch and tea r them likecats and dogs ; and often in the night frighten ,i n the shape of owls

,th ieves

,and lovers

,or

,l ike

will-O’-the-wisps

,lead them as tray i nto hogs and

marshes, and perhaps up to those who are in

pu r s i l i t of them .

The Black Dwarfs wear black jackets and

caps,are not handsome like the others

,but

,on

the contrary are horribly ugly,with weeping

eyes,l ike blacksmiths and colliers . They are

most expert w orkmen,especially in steel

,to

which they can give a degree at once of hard

ness and flexibility which no human smith can

imitate ; for the swords they make will bend like

rushes,and are as hard as d iamonds . In old

times arms and armor made by them were in

great request ; shirts of mail manufactured by

them were as fine as cobwebs and yet no bulletwoul d penetrate them ,

and no helm or corsele t

could resis t the swords they fash ioned ; but a l l

these things are now gone out of use .

These Dwarfs are of a malicious, i ll d i sposition

,and delight in doing mischief to mankind ;

they are unsocial,and there are seldom more

than two or three of them seen together ; they

keep mostly in their b i l l s,and seldom come out

in the daytime,nor do they ever go far from home .


l ike a horse ; at other times as an old man witha long beard

,out of which he rings the water as

he s its on the cliffs . The neck is very severe

agains t any haughty maiden who makes an i l l r eturn to th e love of her wooer ; but should he

himself fall in love with a maid of human kind,

he is the most poli te and attentive suitor in the

world . The neck is also a great musician ; he

sits on the water,and plays on his gold harp

,

the harmony of which Operates on all nature .

To learn music of h im,a person must present

him wi th a black lamb,and also promise him res

u r recti on and redemption .

”

These li ttle people are found under various

names,throughout Germany

,but are there more

kindly and,we may almost say

,more Chris tian .

O therwis e they differ~ l ittl e from those in thenorth . The little wights are especially numer

ous in Southern Germany . They are about threequarters of an ell high

,and are represented as

old men with long beards . They haunt the

mines,dressed as miners and provided with I an

terns,mallets

,and hammers . They do no inj ury

whil e they are treated well,yet they sometimes

find amusement in pelting the miners with small

stones . They appear to be very busy in all

k inds of work connected with the mines . They9"An der son ,

N or se Myth ol ogy, pp . 203, 204.

GODS AN D N O-GODS. 41 7

show themselves especially where there i s abun

dance of ore , and miners who are wise are alwaysglad to see them and to make them their friends

.

The conquerors of Great Bri tain brought theirinheri tance of religious ideas which lived long in

their new home . We meet with frequent mention of l ittl e people of various names .

A pious curate was annoyed near Ch i ppenham while coming home in the night . The

wri ter of the account says : Comm i ng over the

downes , i t being near darke , and approaching one

of the fa i ery dances , as the common people call

them in these parts,viz .

,the greene circles made

by those spiri ts on the grasse,he all at once

saw an innumerable q uan ti ti e of pigmies, or very

small people,dancing rounde and rounde

,and

singing and making all maner of small,odd

noyses . He,being very greatly amazed

,and yet

not being able,as he says

,to run away from

them,being

,as he supposes

,kept there in a kinde

of enchantment,they no sooner per ceave h im

but they surround him on all s ides,and what

betwi xte feare and amazement he fell down ,scarcely knowing what he did ; and thereupon

these l i ttle creatures pinched him all over, and

made a quick humming noyse all the tyme ; but

at length they left h im,and when the sun rose

he found himself exactly in the midst of one of

4 1 8 DEPAR TED GODS.

these fa i ery dances . This relation I had from

h i m mysel fe a few days after he was so tor

men ted ; but when I and my bed-fellow, Stump ,wente soon afterwards

,at night time

,to the dances

on the downes,we sawe none ,

of the elves or

fa i er i es . But, indeed , i t i s saide , they seldom ap

peare to any persons who go to seeke for

them .

”

The fairies have found their way into English

poetry,and receive just treatment

,excep t where

the poe t i s too much tied to classic mythology .

It is concerning the Pixies that Brown writes in

Britannia’ s Pastorals

N ear to th e wood th ere l ay a pleasan t mead ,Where fair i es often d id th ei r measu res tread ,

Wh ich i n the meadows made such c i r c l es green ,

As i f with gar lands i t had cr owned been ;O r like the c i rc l e where th e signs we tr ack ,And lear ned shepher ds ca l l

’

t th e zod iac ;

Wi th i n one of th ese r ounds was to be seen

A h i l l ock r i se, wher e oft the fa i ry-q ueenAt twili gh t sate, and d i d command h er elvesTo p i nch those maids th at h ad not swep t thei r shel ves ;

And , fur ther , i f, by m ai den’

s over sigh t,

With in door s water was not br ough t at n igh t,O r i f they sp read no table, set no br ead ,They shou ld h ave n i ps f rom toe u n to the head

An d for the ma id who h ad per formed eac h th i ng,

She i n th e water -pa i l bade leave a r i ng.

”

" Keigh tl ey, Fa i ry Myth ol ogy , pp . 292, 293.

420 D EPAR TED GOD S.

sess immense weal th and many wonder-workingcharms . They give fre ely

,and any trifle r e

cei ved from them is sure to possess great value .

To secure any article belonging to a fa iry places

the l i ttle wight within the power of the one who

keeps the treasure . They seem not to be immortal, but to live to a great age— perhaps thou

sands of years . They have great power over

nature,and are endowed with great wisdom . A

man may see them if h e can ge t one of their

caps and put it on his head,or if he puts a four

leaf clover in his own cap . When several per

sons s tand near the fairy ring while the li ttle

people are dancing, if one place his foot at the

edge of the ring,and the next place his foot on

this one,and so on till all are thus j oined foot to

foot,the fairies become visible . The unwary

who gets ins ide the ring is ‘ within their power

and rendered invis ibl e ; and they compel him to

da ii ce till exhausted,or pinch hi s body till black

and blue,or play him some other uncanny trick .

A certain salve— which not only the fairies but

certain “w ise women ” can make— placed upon

the eyes makes the V ision so clear that the l i ttle

people can be seen quite easily . But he who

possesses thi s power of sight must not recognize

any inhabi tant of the fairy world , for a breath from

one of these s trange beings will make him blind .

GODS AN D N O~ G OD S. 421

According to story , there are few fairies now

in the countrie s where they were formerly so

numerous . The sound of church-bells has com

pel l ed them to emigrate— and whither they have

gone,none can tell .

THE D O OM O F THE UN I VERSE.

HE scenes of Ragnarok,

“ th e twilight of

the gods,

” the destruction of the world and

the regeneration of gods and men,are grand

,

awful, and gigantic beyond descrip tion . The

giant Ymer gave birth to the gods,and they

must die . The germ of death grows,and their

strength wastes away . The conflic t between the

gods and the giants,which has been waged so

long,must have an end . The warfare so evi

dent in nature and in the soul of man must

cease . Good,and not evil

,must triumph at last .

Nothing less than this will fully satisfy the

Gothi c fai th .

The last days shal l be days of evil times .

Depravity shall become of a deeper dye ; crime

and terror shall s talk abroad over the earth,and

war shall glut his ravenous appeti te to th e full .

There shall be snow,frosts , piercing winds , tem

pests,and clouded sun s through three F imbu l

winters,with no summer . During three other

similar winters war and discord shall rage .422

424 DEPAR TED GODS.

is on the earth his upper jaw reaches heaven .

Flames of fire flash from his eyes and nostrils .

The Midgard-serpent is by his s ide,and vomits

poisonous venom,which fills all the air and all

the waters . The heavens are rent in twain,and

on the path thus formed ride the dark sons of

Muspel , in glittering array, Surt at their head ,his sword outshining the sun , a flaming fire be

hind him and before . They resort to the battle

field called Vigri d ; and Loke , with all the fol

lowers of Hel,i s there

,and Hrym, with all the

frost-giants,i s there .

But the gods too are awake . Heimdal blows

his B l as th or n,and the sound fills all the uni

verse . The gods assemble . Odin consul ts Mimerat the founta in . Ygdrasil

,and all things on earth

and in heaven,tremble . The gods and ei nh erjes

march forth,Odin

,with golden helmet

,respl en

dent cuirass,and terrible spear

,at their head .

The world-battle is fought . Surt slays Frey .

The dog Garm engages Tyr,and they slay one

another . Thor ki l l s th e Midgard-serpent,but i s

himself suffocated by its venom . The Fenriswolf swallows Odin ; but Vidar comes to therescue

,though too late

,and

,placing his foot on

the wolf’ s lower jaw,seizes the upper j aw wi th

his hands and rends the mon ster in pieces .

Heimdal and Loke slay each other . Surt fill s

THE DOOM OF THE UN I VERSE. 425

th e world with fire , th e flames of which reach toheaven . The earth is consumed

,and sinks into

the sea .

“ Thus is Ragnarok ! The great antagonism

pervading the world is removed in a final strug

gle,i n which the contending powers mutually

destroy each other . Ragnarok is an outbreak of

al l th e chaotic powers— a conflict between themand the es tablished order of creation . Fire

,

water,darkness

,and death work together to de

stroy the world . The gods and their enemies

mee t in a universal,world-embracing wrestle and

duel,and mutually destroy each other . The

flames of Surt,the supreme fir e-god , complete

the overthrow,and the last remnant of the con

sumed earth sinks into the

But thi s end i s also the beginning . The vala

looks again

She sees ar i se

The second time, 1

From the sea , the ear th

Completely green ;Cascades do fall ,The eagle soar s ,

From lofty moun tsP u rsues i ts prey .

The gods conveneOn I da

’

s pla ins ,

Anderson ,N orse Myth ol ogy , p . 42 7.

426 DEPAR TED GODS.

And talk of the power fulMidgard-serpen tTh ey cal l to m ind

The Fcur i s-wolfAnd the anci en t r unes

O f the m i gh ty Od in .

Then aga in

The wonder ful

G olden tabletsAr e found i n the grass

I n time’

s mor n ingThe lead er of the gods

And Odin ’

s r ace

Possessed them .

Th e fields u n sown

Y i eld their growth ;Al l il l s cease ;

Bal der comes.

Hoder and Balder ,Those h eaven l y gods ,D well together i n Hr Op t

’

s hal l s.

Conceive ye th is , or not ?”

While Surt’s fire rages

,a woman

,Lif by

name,and a man

,hight L i fth r aser

,l i e concealed

in Hodmi‘

mer’

s fores t,fed by the early dew .

They shall give birth to a new race .

There is to be a general judgment at the endof all things .

Then comes th e m i gh ty one

To th e great judgmen t ;


Lif and L i fth r aser,th e principles of life

,become

the parents of the new race . The good alone

survive the awful confli ct . The righteous r e

j oice in heavenly G imle ; the wicked , in Naastrand

,wade i n s treams of venom

,and i t wOu l d

seem,are finally washed down to Hvergel mer ,

“ that horrible old kettle,where their bodies are

torn by Nidhug,th e dragon of the uttermost

darkness .

The account of the creation is a sort of evo

l u ti on,which may be

'

a wreck of the primitive

revelation sadly dis torted by the wild fancy of

thes e stern old warriors . The gods correspond

with their wild scenery and wild life,and the

retributions of the future satisfy their id eal s of

happines s and misery . They have fi ll ed the

world with elves and fairies,which have fur

h ished the material for the most charming house

hold tales and the most beautiful pictures for

the poet,while the giant forms in their mythol

ogy fill the mind - wi th awe and amazement .

Many modern customs,some of them most beau

tiful,may be traced to primitive recogni tions of

these various classes of beings .

The old Norse were given much to sorcery

and divination . The diviners were male or

female,but the latter were by far the most nu

mer ou s . Some had familiar spiri ts,whom they


consulted in the form of li ttle idols ; others

dragged the ghos ts of the departed from their

tombs , and compelled them to speak . Someti mes,

as we shall see , the dead walked forth of thei rown accord , when they had not been treated wel lin this l ife , or when their las t wishes had been

disregarded .

Tacitus says that the Germans supposed thatsome div ine and prophe tic quality resided in

women , and were careful neither to disregard

their admonitions nor to neglect their answers .“Nothing was formerly more common in the

North than to meet w ith women who del ivered

oracular information,cured the most inveterate

maladies , assumed whatever shape they pleased ,rai sed storms

,chained up the winds

,traveled

through the air,and

,in one word

,performed

every function of the fairy art . Thus endowed

with supernatural powers , these prophetesses

being converted as i t were into fairies or de

mons,influenced the events they had predicted

,

and al l nature became subj ect to their com

They resorted to supernatural means to d i s

cover the truth . They would tie the accused

with cords , and cast him i nto the water . If he

sank,he was considered innocent ; if he floated ,

‘ Mal let, N orth ern An ti q u i ties, p . 200.

37

430 DEPAR TED GODS.

he was held to be guil ty . They would compelhim to handle hot iron

,put on red-hot gauntlets

,

or Walk blindfolded over burning plowshares .

If,at the end of a certain number of days

,marks

of the fire remained on his hands,he was guilty ;

i f no t,he was innocent . They generally al

lowed champions to undergo the ordeal when

women were the accused . The elements were

thought to have been animated by an intelligent

spiri t,as j ust and righteous as th e God whence

it has sprung . This spiri t would declare the

truth by the treatment i t extended to the ao

cused .

There were famous oracles connected with

the chief temples . Saxo the Grammarian tellsus that i t was the custom of the ancient Danesto consul t the oracles of the Fates concerningthe future destiny of ch ildren . F r i dl i ef entered

the temple of the gods to pray,and to learn the

destiny of his son O laus . In the sanctuary h e

saw three goddesses seated . The first goddess

was most kindly disposed,and granted the child

both beauty and the gift of pleasing . The sec

ond endowed him with a noble heart . But thethird was an evil goddess

,moved by envy and

spite,and determined to des troy the work of her

sisters . To this end she cursed him with covetousness .


before the operation . At the solicitation of

Thor finn, Egil took her case in charge . He or

dered her to be taken out of the bed and clean

clothes to be placed under her . Upon exam i n

ing the bed he found i n i t a pie ce of whalebone,

with runes cut thereon . He read them,cut

them off, and scraped the chips into the fire .

He then burned the whalebone,and h ad the

woman’ s clothes carried out into the open air .

Then he sang :

As man sh al l n ot trace r unes

Excep t he can r ead them well,

I t i s thus wi th many a man

That the dar k letter s bewilder h im .

I saw on the c u t wh aleboneTen h idden letter s ca r ved ,

That h ave cau sed to the leek-linden (woman )A very l ong sor row.

Egil himself now traced new runes,and

placed them under the pillow in the bed where

the s ick woman lay . The effect was magical .

Sh.

e said that i t seemed as though she had jus t

awoke from a sleep ; and sh e was healed , though

for some time she continued weak . The father

and the mother rej oiced greatly at her r e

covery.

*

When Thw i ed was taken down to the sea

* D u Ch a i l l u ,Th e V i k i ng Age, V ol . I , p p . 1 64, 1 65 ; Egi l

’

s

Saga , 0. 75.


she found a stump of a tree with the roots . It

was as large as a man could well carry . Upon

care fully examining , she found evidences tha tone side had been burned and rubbed . On thiss ide she smoothed a small spot with a knife

,and

carved runes thereon . Then she reddened i t

with her blood,chanting over i t an incan tation .

Many other powerful incan tations d id she pr o

nounce,while she walked backward in a d i rec

tion opposite to the course of the sun around the

s tump . Then she had i t pushed out to sea,that

it migh t be driven to D rangey and he a source

of mischief to G retti r . Her object was aecom

p l i shed ; for, behold , i t came to pass that while

G r etti r was cutting the s tump to procure wood

for the fire,he wounded himsel f severely above

the knee with his ax'And thus,most surely

,

the curs e holds sternly on its way and does itswork .

*

Snor ro and Thorol f B aegi fot were enga ged invarious quarre l s for a long time . At last Thor

ol f was found dead at table , s i tti ng in his chair,and was buried in a strong gr ave , with such ceremon i es as the occasion demanded . But the

grave could no t hold i ts victim .

“He appeared

in the dis trict by day and by nigh t, slew men

‘ D u Ch a i l l u ,The V i k i ng Age, V ol . I , pp . 1 66 , 1 67 ; of.

G retti’

s Saga , c . 81 .


and cattle, and harrowed the country so muchby his frequent apparition and mischievous ex

pl oi ts, that his s on Ar nki l l , on the repeated com

plaints of the inhab itants,resolved to change the

place of his sepulture . Some opposi tion was

threatened by the sons of Th orbrand,who r e

fused to permit the corpse to be carried through

their domains , until reminded by their father that

it was illegal to refuse passage to those who were

travel ing in d ischarge of a duty imposed by l aw,

and such was the burial of the dead . The body

of Thorol f was found on opening the tomb,but

his aspect was fearful and gri sly to a pr eter nat

ural degree . He was placed on a bier,between

two strong oxen,which

,nevertheless

,were worn

ou t by fatigue ere th ey had transported himmany miles . O th ers were subs ti tuted in theirroom ; but when they attained the summit of ab i l l

,at some dis tance from . the destined place of

sepul ture,they became frantic

,and

,breaking

their yokes,rush ed down the precipice and per

i sh ed . The corpse,too

,became of such ponder

ous weight that i t could by no means be trans

ported any farther,so that Ar nki l l was fain to

consign i t to the earth on the ridge of the hill

where it lay,and which took i ts name thence

forth from that of B aegi fot. Ar nki l l caused a

mound of immense heigh t to be piled above the

436 D EPAR TED GOD S.

the chief and the honored guest were the retain

ers of the court and the o ther guests of lesser

digni ty and worth . The flesh of the sacrificialanimal was boiled in a huge kettle over the fire

and served to the company,who amused them

selves by throwing the bones,s tripped of their

flesh,at one another across the hall . They vied

w i th one another drinking ale,and skalds were

always pr e sent to charm or inspi re them with

their poetic lays .

The sacri fices Offered to the gods seem at first

to h ave been the simple productions of the earth .

At a later period animal sacrifices,and even

human victims,were thought to be most ao

ceptabl e.

At the beginning of the battle of Hakon,the

Norwegian Jarl,against the sea-rovers of J om s

burg,victory seemed to be turning to the side

of h is enemies . The Jarl called his sons ashore

for a consultation .

“Hakon Jarl said : ‘ I th ink

I see that the battle begins to turn against us ;and

'

I disl ike to fight agains t these men,for I

believe that none are their equal s ; and I s ee

that i t will fare ill,unless we hit upon some

plan ; you must s tay here with the host, for it is

imprudent for all the ch iefs to leave it,i f the

J or nsvi ki ngs attack , as we may at any moment

expect . I will go ashore with some men,and


see what can be done .

’ The Jarl went ashore

north to the island . He entered a glade in the

forest,sank down on both his knees

,and prayed ;

he looked northwards , and spoke what he thought

was mos t to the purpose ; and in his prayers he

called upon his fully trus ted Thorgerd HOrda

trOff ; but she turned a deaf ear to his prayer,and he thought that she must have become angry

with him . He offered to sacrifice several things,

but she would not accept them,and i t seemed to

him the case was hopeless . At las t he offered

human sacrifices,but she would not accep t them .

The Jarl considered his case most hopeless,if

he could not please her ; he began to increasethe offer

,and at las t included al l his men ex

cept himself and his sons Eirik and Svein . He

had a son,Erling

,who was seven winters old

,

and a very promising youth . Th orger d accepted

h is offer,and chose Erling

,his son . When the

Jarl found that his prayers and vows were heard ,he though t the matters were better, and there

u’

pon gave the boy to Skop ti sKu rk, his thrall,

who put him to death in Hakon’

s usual way as

taught byMen

,particularly those slain in battle , were

given to Odin for victory ; and the altars were

‘ D u Ch a i l l u ,Th e V i king Age, V ol . I , p . 367 . Q uoted from

F or nmanna Segu r , xi , 134.

438 DEPAR TED GODS.

s tained with the blood of fallen chiefs . Prison

ers of war were sacrificed,their blood placed in

bowls , and their bodies thrown into the bogs

or a sacrificing spring at the door of the

temple .

“Thorgr im Godi was a great sacr ificer . He

had a large temple raised in his grass-plot,one

hundred feet in length and sixty in breadth,and

every man was to pay temple-tax to i t. Thor

was mos t worshiped there ; the inmost part of i t

was made round,as if i t were a dome ; i t was

all covered with hangings,and had windows ;

Thor stood in the middle,and other gods on both

sides . There was an al tar in front,made with

great skill,and covered above with iron ; on i t

there was to b e a fire,which should never die

out,which they called holy fire . On the al tar

was to l ie a large ring of silver,which the tem

ple pries t was to wear on his arm at all meet

ings . Upon i t all oath s were to be taken in

cases of circumstantial evidence . On the al tarwas to s tand a large bowl of copper, in whichwas to be put the blood which came from the

cattle or men given to Thor'; th ese they called

h l aut (sacr ifice-blood) , and h l aut-bol h'

(sacr i ficebowl) . The h l aut was to be sprinkled on men

and cattle,and the cattle were to be used for the

people (to eat) when the sacrificing feasts were

440 DEPAR TED GODS.

Sacrifices were renewed every ninth monthfor nine days

,and nine victims

,e i ther animal or

human,were offered . Every n in th year the

most solemn sacrifices were performed . On th is

occasion the king and all important ci ti zens were

obliged to appear with offerings . Those who

could not come in person sent their presents or

their value in money . Many strangers thronged

the city,and none with unstained honor were

excluded ; but no man accused of cowardice

dared appear at thi s sacred assembly of heroes .

They chose n ine persons to be sacrificed . These

were selected from captives in time of war,and

from slaves in time of peace . The method of

selection was the lot,and yet the Opinions of

the bys tanders had much to do with determi n

ing the choice . When the occasion was one of

the greatest importance n oble victims were r e

quired . The firs t king of V ermal and was burned

as a sacrifice to Odin,to put an end to a dearth .

Aun, king of Sweden , d evoted to Odin nine sons

that h i s own l ife might be prolonged .

We have several accounts of the rites to beobserved in offering sacrifices . The sacred fireupon the altar was kept burning day and night .

It was surrounded by all sorts of iron and brazenvessels . Among them was one conspicuous for

i ts si ze,which was destined for the reception of

THE DOOM OF THE UN I VERSE. 44 1

the blood of the victims . The victim having

been chosen , i t was conducted to the a l tar,at

the foot of which i t was speed i l v killed . The

en trails were examined , and auguries drawn

therefrom the same as among the classic nations .

The flesh was dressed and served up to crown

the feas t prepared for the assembly . The people

were not fas tidious in their ta stes,but partook of

even horse with pleasure— the chiefs as well as

the people not rej ecting this uncommon article of

d i e t . When human sacrifices were offered,the

vi ctim which had been sele cted was la id upon a

flat stone,and in this position ei ther strangled

or knocked on the head . The bodies were some

times burned and sometimes suspended in a sa

cred grove not far from the temple . The blood

which had been caught was used to sanctify the

place and the people . A portion was sprinkled

upon the people and a portion upon the sacred

grove . The images of the gods and their altars

were also sprinkled upon by the blood of the

sacrifice . The benche s wi thin the temple werebedewed

,and the walls of the temple , both

w i thin and without,were sprinkled .

*

We have ceased to be startled when we meet

with human sacrifices,ei ther in the religions of

ancien t peoples or among savage tribes of mod

Ma l l et, N orth er n An ti q u i ti es , p . 1 13.


ern times . The subj ect of human sacrifices,

though an i nteres ting one,i s too large for treat

ment here ; but we hope to return to its d iscus

sion i n a future work .

When F r i dthjof entered the great temple inMoeri

,the k ings at the dz

'

sablbt sat drinking .

There was fire on the floor,and their wives sat

at the fires ide and warmed the gods,and some

besmeared th em with greas e and wiped them

with a Though idols were not known

in the early r el igi on , ‘

th ey had already become

greatly multipli ed when Christianity came into

contact with this form of heathendom .

Sigmond was ready to start on an expedition

to avenge his father,and Hakon Jarl went out

with h im,and asked concerning his rel igious be

l ief. “Sigmond answered :‘ I believe i n my

might and strength .

’ The Jarl repl ied : It must

not be so . Thou must seek for help where I

put all my trust,which is in Th orgerd Ho

'

rda

brud . Let us go to her,and try to get luck for

thee from her .’ Sigmond told him to do as he

liked . They went to the woods,and then , by a

li ttle by-path,to an Open space in the forest

,

where there was a house with a fence around i t.

This house was very fine,and the carvings were

ornamented with gold and silver . Hakon andF r i dthjof

’s Saga , 9.


goats , as well as the chario t, rested on wheels .Around the horns of the goats was a rope of

twisted silver The whole was a wo r k of wonder fu l skill .*

D i thmar was bishop of Merseburg in the elevcuth century . He tells us that th ere was in h is

day, in Zealand , a place which was the capital

of Denmark, named L eder un . To this place the

Danes resor t in multitudes every nine years,in

th e month of January,to offer sacrifices . Upon

this most sacred occasion ninety-nine men,and

the same number each of horses,dogs

,and cocks

,

were sacrificed to appease the gods .

Arngrim Jonas,an Icelandic author of great

learning,says that there were two temples in

Iceland i n which human sacrifices were offered,

and a famous pit or well into which they were

thrown headlong .

- I n each of these temples of Iceland “ there

was a pri vate chapel,which was regarded as a

holy place . There they placed the idol s upon a

kind of altar,around which they ranged the vic

tims that were to be offered up . Another altars tood opposi te to it

,p l ated with iron

,i n order

that the fire,which was to burn there perpet

ual ly, should not damage i t. Upon this altar

D u Ch a i l l u ,Th e V i k i ng Age, V ol . I , pp . 376 , 377 : F aerey

i nga Saga ,ch . 23; F l ateyjar b ék, i , p . 31 9.


was placed a vase of brass,in which they re

ceived the blood of the victims . Beside it s tood

a brush , which they made use of to sprinkle the

blood upon the bystanders . There hung up like

wise a great si lver ring,which they stained with

blood,and which whoever took an oath on any

occasion was required to hold in his hand . In

one of these temples there was also,near the

chapel,a deep pi t or well

,i nto which they cast

the

The Thingstead of Iceland “was always near

the temple,i n which one of the sacerdotal mag

i strates performed a sacrifice and sprink l ed the

wa l l s of the edifice , as well as the bystanders ,with the blood of the victims— holding in his

hand,on this as on every other solemn occasion

,

a massive silver ring,with which the altar of

every temple was furnished . The Things were

held in the Open air,and served both for the dis

cuss i on of public affairs and the administration

of justice . For the latter purpose,a circle called

the doom-ring,démhr z

'

ngr , was formed with hazel

twigs,to which were attached cords called z'cbhnd .

Within this circle sat the j udges,the people stand

ing on the outside,and in th e middle stood the

blOts tei nn , a huge stone wi th a sharp ridge, on

Mal l et , N or th ern An ti q u i ti es , p 109 .

38


which the backs of criminals condemned to death

were br oken .

” E

There were three great religious festivals .

The firs t was celebrated at the w in ter solstice .

The nigh t on which i t was observed was called

Mother-night,because i t marked the beginning

of the year . The feas t was called Jul,and was

held in honor of Frey,from whom they suppli

os ted a fruitful and ' prop itious season . There

were sacrifices,feasting

,nocturnal assemblies

,

and demonstrations of most d issolute j oy .

The second festival was held at the first

quarter of the second moon of the year,and

was sacred to certain female divini ties . It was

to secure pleasure,fruitfulnes s

,and victory over

all enemies .

The th ird festival was celebrated in honor of

Odin at the beginning of the year,to welcome

the beautiful season,and to insure success in all

warl ike expeditions .

This old religion,though i t has long ago

passed away,has left a fragrance in the homes

and hearts of all descendants of the hardy and

earnest Norse in whatever part of the worlddestiny has fixed their habi tations

,and wherever

to-day they how the knee in the presence of

brighter and holier gods .‘ Mal l et, N orth er n An ti q u i ti es , p . 291 .

448

i n tr od u ced i n R ome, 40 ;

p er h aps forei gn i n or i gi n ,32.

Apo l l o Ci th ar oedu s ,321 .Apo l l o I smen i os , 39, 40.

Apol lon i u s R h egi us , 80, 1 06

Ap u l ei us , 68“Ar cades , of M i l ton , 84.

Ar cad i a , 58, 230.

Ar ch aeol ogi ca l D i cti onar y ,” of Cooper1 1 8, 132.

Ar ch -Dr u i d, 306Ar es , 1 21 ch a r ac ter , 53 ; god of

battl es , 53 ; wounded . 53, 54 ; yi el dsto Apol lo and Ath ene, 53.

Ar eopagus , 96 .

Areth usa , 84

Argai on , 30.

Argonau t i cs ,” 80, 106 .

Ar i on h r od , 257 , 264.

Ar i stotl e, 31 .

Ar ngr i m , Jon as , 444, 445 .

Ar nk i l l,434, 435

Ar nob i us , u pon th e Etr u scan Rel igi on ,

106 .

Ar ts y,31 2.

Artem i dor us,295.

Ar tem i s , 38 , 50 ; an n ual fest i va l , 60 ;ch ar acter , 58, 59 ; goddess o t th e

moon , 58 ; h er i m age sa i d to h ave

fal l en from h ea ven , 60 ; h um an saer i

fices, 60 image b r ough t from th e C r i

mea to Sp ar ta , 60 same a ttr i bu tes as

Apol l o, 58 , tem p l e at Eph esu s , 60;

worsh i ped h v Ca i i an s and I .e |eges ,60Ar th u rs tone,

d i v i nat i on at 245.

Ar ver n i , 312.

Asa-Lo i re, evi l , 405 , 406Asas . 359

Asc i bu rgi um , 354.

Asgar d , 358. 360, 36 1 . 369, 375, 380 fear ,becau se of Loke, 406 .

Ask , 358 , 360.

Assos , 1 3.

Al e, 1 04 .

Ath ene, 40, ch ar acter . 4 1 - 46 ;

compa i ed wi th Ap o l l o . 47-49 , com

p ar ed w i th Odysseu s 42—46 ; defec tsi n ch ar acter , 46 ; goddess of war , 40 ;i nven t i on s , 42 l ead i ng i dea , 28 ; p l acei n O l ym p i an assemb l y , 40 r an k42 sp r ang fr om Zeu s , fu l l -grown

, 42.

Ath ens , 74, 87, 89 ; festi va l s to Apoi lo

at, 39.

wor sh i p

I N DEX.

Ath r h a , 1 29.

Ath rys , 27.

Atropos , 1 29.

Atti ca , 7 1 .

Aud l i r i mni er , 376 .

Audh umb l a , 357, 359.

Auger bode, th e gi antess , 406 .

Augur s , 1 77 ; wh en consu l ted, 1 78.

Augu sti ne, 147.

Augu stus , 1 73.

An n , 440.

Au rbode, 404.

Au i gelmer , 357.

Au r i n i a, 348

Au rora , 1 20.

An tu n , figu re at, 324,Avagd u , 276 , 277 .

Aven c l i es,26-1

Aven ti ne H i l l , 1 52, 1 53.

Avun,1 20.

B ACCHE ,

"th e, 7 1

B acch u s , 57 , 70, 7 1 , 1 20.

B adu h en na, 353.

B a l der ,391 , 427 a l l th e gods and th i ngsweep for h im excep t Th ok , 393c h a r ac te r , 391 ; d ream , 391 ; m yth sexp l a i ned , 393, 394 ; r ender ed i nvu lne i ab l e, 392 ; s l a i n by b l i nd Hoder392.

B ar an ton , fou nta i n , 231 p r oc u r es r a i n

231 .

B a rdd as , 287,289

B ar dd Teu l en , 285

B ards of W al es , 285 , 286

B ar i ng-Gou l d , r el ates l egen d of th e

“Happ y I s l e,

" 282.

B a th .31 8

B at tl e. l ast of th e N or se,424, 425

B a uge, 373, 374

B eau cr oi ssan t , 312.

Beau ty i n Sto i c i sm ,1 84

B ecker , 92.

B egi nn i ngs of H i s tor y ,” 26 , 27B el i 229.

B el l ona 1 55

B el l on ar i i , 1 55.

B el or , th e r obber w i th on e eye,26 1 —263.

B el tane. wh en ki nd led ,237 .

B eow u l f, 34 1 .B ergel mer ,357, 360.

B estl a , 357.

B i a, 88.

I N DEX. 449

B i i rus t, 362. C i c ra bar , 224 .

B i l sker n i r , 378. Ca re, 1 39, 1 63.

Bi rds of Rh i annon , 28 1 . O r r i son , 229.

B i roge, the fa i r y , 262. Car er L i i th , name of London , 218.B l ack Dea th ,

"

409, 410. Ca'r i u ar then , 229.B l ack Dwar fs , 41 4. 41 5. Cmrmar r ou , 228.“ B l ack Kn igh t, s tory of th e 252-255. Caesa r , 1 77 , 31 7. 31 8, 355 ; uponB l as th o rn , 395 , 424. th e Dr u i ds of (Sau l , 290-293 ; uponB l odened , attemp ts to k i l l Llew, 259 , the Ga l l i c gods , 854.855.250; c h anged i n to an owl , 260; fas h Ca i ns Mu somus Ru fus , 202.i oned fr om flowers , 259. Ca l abr i a , ”9,

Boan n , 221 , 21 3, 279, Ca l enda r , u nder the s u per vi s i on ot th eM t) , th e B ed .2280 O R l ’ S 0 ‘ AI N HO , "71 .Bod " m Ca l l ander , 237 .

B TW“.341 ( a l l i i uach tts , 66 .

B o l th orn , 357. Cal ypso, l’ h am i c ian personage.83, re

B onna i n, 50, 51 . ta i ns t l dysseus , 81 her dwel l i ng

B ouzyges , 1 7. 8 1 , 82.

B ook of Lei ns ter , 242. Cam i l l us , 120, 1 52.B or , 357. Camu'na , 1 45 .

B oreas, 89, a l ta r at I l i ssus 89. (‘

ani pan i a, 1 47.B orman s , 31 6 . Camp us Ma r ti ns , 1 55B o rman us

, 31 6. Cande l i fera , 1 44.

B ottrel l , 24 1 . Can n i ba l s among th e Dr u i ds , 294.B oyne, 221 , 270, 277 ; or i gi n ,

279. Ca nop us. 1 36B raoe, 1 8. Canute. 246 .

B r age, va r i ous adventu res , 395, 397. Cap i tol i ne Hi l l , 1 52.Br i n, 280, 28 1 . Car aca l l a , 31 6 .B r anwen , 280. Ca r dea , 1 45.

B rec i l i en , 231 . Car i a, 31 .Brecknock , 330. Car is ti a , 1 66 .

B r i areus . 22, 25 ; son of Posei don , 30. Car l y l e, 340, 363.

Brei dabl i k.391 . Carman , 263.

Br i gi t, 320. Carmen t ie , 1 44.

B r i si nga neck l ace ,395. Ca rm i na ,” ofHorace, 1 29.

B r i ta i n , 21 5, 21 7 , 229, 295 , 297. Carnoi s , fes ti va l , 39,B r i tan n i a

’

s Pastora l s, 41 8. Castor , 353,354.

B r i ttan y , 246 . Catti , 354.

B r i to ns , 21 7. Catu r i a as Mars , 31 8.

B rok, 368, 369. Cel t i c fa i r i es , 325 , e! seq .

B ron te, 23. Cel ti c gods , myth o l ogi ca l system ex

B rown i es , 330. p l a i ned , 281 , 282.

B rown dwar fs , 412-4 1 4. Cel ti c i nscr i p t ions , 31 2, d seq .

B r ugh ,of th e B oyne, 222. Ce l ti c My thol ogy , 21 6B ugge, vi ews on N orse l i terature, 342, Ce l t i c Zeus , 248 ; ch aracter , 236, 237.843. Ccun Cr ua i ch , 242, 243.

B u l i sai ua 320. Cen ta u r s , 72, 89.

B ure, 357 , 359. Cer ber us , 89, 286 ,Cer es , 84, 1 58, 295 ; temp le, l 73.

CA B I N , Cer i e, 1 58.

Cael i an Hi l l 1 53. Cer n unnos , 291 ; rep resented , 321Caer 224, 230 ; and s i sters transi or ni ed Cerus 1 58.

i n to swans , 221 , 222. Get, 220.

450 I N DEX.

Ch a l daei , 304Ch ar i c l es ,

"92.

Ch ar i s , 87.

Ch a r i tes , 88 ; i n l a te r ar t , 87 ; n um ber ,87 ; Or ch omen us , t h e i r sea t of wor

sh i p , 87 ; sym bo l i sm , 87.

Cha r on , 80, 1 24 ,31 3.

Ch ar un , 1 22, 1 23 ; ch ar acter , 1 23, 1 24

rep r esen tati on ,1 24

Ch eop hor i ,”1 08 .

Ch i me ra, 89 ; ch ar acter , 90.

Ch i ppenh am , 41 7.

Ch oi r of th e G i an ts , 224.

Ch th on i a , fest i va l , 66 ,67.

Ci cero, 1 32, 1 79, 1 86 , 305 .

Ci mbr i,desc r i bed , 294, 295 di vi nati on

Ci r ce, 82, 1 06 .

Ci r cu s Max i m u s,1 64.

Ci th a ron , 72.

C i th ar ced u s , 321 .

Ci ti es an d Cem ete r i es of B i t uma ,"

1 26 , 1 35, 1 36 .

Ci ti um , 1 83.

Ci ty of G od of Augu s t i n e, 1 47.

C l audi us , 1 88.

Cl ench 's Crowd , 224.

C l ean th es , h ym n , 1 3.

C l emen t of Al exan dr i a, 68, 132.

Cn i du s , 6 1 , 65.

Col l at i n a , 1 46 .

Conai re th e G rea t, 21 9.

Conch oba r mac N essa ,220

, 266 , 269.

Con fl i ct of Ch r i sti an i ty W i th Hea

t i i endom ,

"1 05 .

Con n ,21 9, 249.

Con naugh t, 224.Con n l a , 278

Con n l a’s W el l , 278.

Con sus , 1 45 , 1 65 .

Con tempor a r y R evi ew, 52.

Cooper , 1 1 8, 1 32.

Cor nwa l l , 240.

Cormac m ac Ai r t , 21 9, 221 .

Cor s i ca, 1 88.

Cor yba ntes , 25 1 .

Coi tos , 22.

Crawford and B a l car r as , 1 1 7, 1 28.

Crete, 23, 32.

Cr onos , 22, 1 59 ; swa l l ows h i s own ch i l

dr en , 23 ; temp l e at Ath en s , 24 ; war

agai ns t th e Cyc l opes , 23.

i i

Cr uach an , 263.

Cu ch u l a i n,the su n - 1 i er o, 264 ; ap

pe ui a nce, 26 1 - 266 ; fough t A i l i l l

and Med b , 266 ; great exp l m ts , 266 ;

v i s i t th e r ea l m of th e dead .

Cu l ann,th e sm i th dei ty of th e u nder

wor l d,26 7, 268.

Cu n i na , 1 45.Cup ra ,

1 1 7 .

Cu r t i us , 32, 37, 99 , 1 02, 1 03.

Cybe l e, 1 1 7.

Cyc l Opes , 22, 89 ; fu r n i sh ed Jup i terw i th th u nder bo l ts , 25 ; i m p r i sonedbeneath th e ea r th , 23 ; th ei r n ames ,

23 war w i th Cr onos .

Cyp r us ,37, 60.

DAC I A, 31 6.

Dagda , th e G r eat, 221 , 223, 320.Dun u , 323.

Dap h nep h or i a , fes ti va l , 39.Da r tm oor

,239.

Dead , Etr uscan fate, 1 27 , 1 28 ; G reekappear an ce of , 1 06 ; h u r t th e l l Vn ,

106 .

D e B en efic i i s ,"of Seneca , 1 94, 1 97

—1 99.

Dec ima, 1 30, 1 44.

Decuma, 1 30.

D ea D i a , 1 72.

D e D i vi nati one,”of Ci cero, 1 79.

Del os , 24, 38.

Del p h i , 24 , 38 , 96 , 102, 103 ; cen ter of

ar ts , 1 02.

Del p h i c Am ph i ctyon y , 1 02.Del p h i c or ac l es , 34, 1 01 —1 03.

Demete r , 23, 1 78 fes ti va l s , 64 goddessof fer ti l i ty , 64 ; h ym n to

,65 , 66 ; of

fer i ngs , 65—6 7 ; taugh t ti l l age, 64.

Den n i s , 1 1 7 , 1 1 9, 1 24,1 35 , 136 , 1 38 .

D e Osten ti s ,”of Ci cero, 1 32.

D esC i i p t i on of G reece,” by Pau san i as ,24.

D i ana, 1 1 9.

Di an Cec h t, god of h ea l i ng, 285.

D i ar ma i t, sea-

god 221 , 274, 275 ad r entu res wi th a G r u agach , 232

—234.

Di do, 88.

D i i Comp l i ces , 1 22.

D i i Con sen tes , 1 22.

D i i Gen i ta l es , 1 28 .

D i i I nvol u t i , 1 22, 1 40.

D i i N oven si l es , 1 21 , 1 22.

452 I N DEX.

Er ebu s, 303Er ech th eus , 89.

Er i gone. 72.

Er i nn,21 9, 221 .222, 223, 264, 280.

Er i nnyes , 37 ; ca l l ed Eumen i des 87.

Er l i ng, 437.

E1 yr i , 229,

Esqu i l i ne. 1 52.

B s u s , desc r i bed , 31 9, 320.

Eta i n,221 .

Eth i op i cs ,

"1 08.

Eth nen , stor y of. 261 —263.

Etr u r i a , 1 05 . 1 20, 1 22.

Etr uscan gen i i , 1 28, 1 29.

Etr uscan I n scr i p ti on s ," 1 1 7 ,

Etr usc an r el i gi on . d i vi n i ti es , 1 1 6 ; i nn

m an sacr i fices,1 31 p r i es ts . 1 30 ;

sac r i fices , 1 31 ; s igns , 1 31 , u nseen

wor l d , 1 22, cl seq .

Etr uscan R esea r c h es , 1 1 7—1 1 9. 1 34.

Etr u sca ns , feas ts 1 11 tom bs , 1 34, 1 35 ,fu r n i tu re o i tom bs . 1 36 , 1 37 ; o fferi ngs, 135 : or i gi n an d a ffi n i ti es . 1 33

p a i n ti ngs i n tombs , 1 37 sym bol i sm,

1 36—1 38 : tombs , 1 33, cl seq .

Euh ages , 302

Euboea , 49.End av , 229,

Euma i os , 83.

Eumen i des , 87, 1 08.Eu r i p i des, 71 , 1 08.Eu ronomos , 1 24.

Eu r opa , 49.

Euseb l n s 68.

En tr a i n . statue at, 322.

Eu tu r pa , 1 1 8

Evreu x , 241 .

Ezek i el .355.

FA B I A N U S, 1 96F aereyi nga Saga . 444.

Fa i r i es . Ce l ti c. 325 ch ar a cter ,

41 9-421 desc r i bed ,327 , 328 ; Engl i sh ,

41 8 ; i n fl uen ce on th e r el i gi on of ou r

fath er s . 333—335 ' Lu ge fa i r i es , 41 9420; of I s l e of Man , 322, 323 330 ,

of Scotti sh H i gh l ands , on ce

angel s , 325.

F a i ry l egeud s of W a l es, 330-331 .

Fa i r y Myth o l ogy ," 331—333, 41 5, 41 8.

F a], 244 .

Famu , 1 21 .

Fand, 271 - 274.

F ar i n u s , 1 45.

Fa r r ar , 200.

F ates , 1 28, 1 29.

Fate, Stow , 1 98, 1 99.

l ath -Li ag, 285.

Fas ti ," th e, Ovi d ,

Faun ,1 21 .

F au na , 1 65.

Fau n u s , fes t i va l to, 1 65 .

b ebr ua , 1 68, 1 69.

Fenr i s'wol f, 406 bou n d , 407 br eaksever y ch a i n , 407 : sh a l l 1 1 1 th e end de

vou r th e sun , 423.

Fene, 284.

F ensa l , 369.

F 1 en t i n um , 1 29.

Fergu s , 21 9.

Fergu s m ac R o ig, 220.

F esson i a , 1 45 .

Fest i va l s , 69, 93 ; Agr on l a , 81 a nn ua l

to Cer es , 1 72 Car ne i a , 39 Dap hnep h on a , 39 ; D i ony s i ac , 72 ; F auma

l i a , 1 65 ; Hyan c i n th i a , 39 ; L u pei ca

h a , 1 68 ; Mer c u r i a l es , 1 60, 1 6 1 Met

age l tn l a . 39 ; N ep tu na l i a , 1 6 1 , 1 62

N or se, 446 Sa tu r n a l i a , 1 58, 1 59

Th arge l i a , 39.

Festus , 1 1 9Fet i a l es , du ti es , 1 79. 1 80.Feti sh i sm ,

Cel ti c , 310.

F i ac‘s Pool , 277.

F 1 1 1 , 284.

F i l i dech t, 285.

F l mbu l -wi n ter s , 422.

F i n n,221 , 277

F i l l l l mac Cuma i l l , 232

B i l bo lgs , 21 7 ; defeated , 263,264

F J a l ar , 372, 373.

F l amen ,d i a l as , 1 20, 1 54, 1 74.

F l am en F l or a l i s , 1 64.

F l am en Ma r ti a l i s, 1 54.

F l am i nes Cu r i al es , 1 74.

Fl am i n es , 1 77 n um ber , 1 67 .

F l am i n i ca , 1 69.F l u teyja r bok ,

" 444.

F l ath -i n n i s , Gael i c e l ys i um ,282.

F 10r a . l 46, 1 64.

F l uvi ona , 1 44 .

Fol k-l or e, con necti on w i th rel i gi ou s

bel i efs , 247 , 248.

Pomo l i , defeated , 263, 264.F or cu l u s . 1 45.

F or esti er , 404.

I N DEX.

F orga l l’s tear ,

” 274.

F orsette, 304.

Fr ance, 27 .Fr atres Ar val es , 1 72.

fi sser , 66 , 1 76 .

Frey , assume, 400, 401 , 439 l unar-sac r i

ti ce, 401 , 402 ; ch arac ter , 401 ; exten tof wor sh i p, 401 4 04 ; fes ti val , 446 ;mar r i es Ger t, 404 ; sta tue, 402.

Fr eyja, goddess of l ove, 380, 400;

char ac ter , c l aims ha l l 01 th e

s la i n i n battle.Freyja

’

s h en ,"405.

F r i d l i ef , 430.

l‘

r i gg, 369, 391 .

fi nctesea . 1 46 .

Fu l la, 369.

Fu r i es, 128, 1 29, 1 36 ; agents 0 1

the gods to pun i s h , 94.Fu tur e l i i e, G reek, 1 05 , 1 06 .

90.

Gal a ti a. 78 ; loved by Pol yphemus, 79.

Ga l a ti an s, 306.Gal l i c War

"of Ce sar , 292, 355.

Gar den s of L ug,” 268, 274.Garm , 424.

Gan i , 21 7 , 21 8 ; gods ass im i l ated to th eR oman gods, 31 1 , 31 2.Gavi da ,

Gener al judgmen t, N on e, 426 ; G iml e,428 ; gods r etur n , 427 , 428 ; N i dh ug,

Genesi s , 36 .

Ger h ard , 1 30.

German ia of Taci tus , 353, 354.Germa ns , di vi m ng by twi gs , 355 ; se

cr ed grove, 354.G erseme, 404.

G ian ts , G reek , 22 ; con fl i cts exp l ai ned26.27 .

G i l l i ng th e gi ant, 872.

G im l e, 347, 359.366.G i n ungaga p , 356 .

G ja l l er h or n .36 1 .

Gjol R i ver , 393.

G l ads h eim ,358, 376.

G l adstone, 28, 30, 36 458, 46 , 47

49, 52, 82—84.G laser , 376.

453

G l ei pner , 407.

G i l tner , th e hea ven l y mans i on , 394.G naa ,

370.

Go i de l dei ti es , 21 7.Go l den B ough ,

" by Fraser , 1 76.G ord ianus i i

,1 73.

Gorgo, 92.Gorgon i an , 138.

Gorgons , 89.

G ovannon , 257.

Gower , 236 .

G races ,G ra i nne, 221 .

G ramma tl ea Cel ti ca," 806.G ran nus .31 6.

G rann us Magounos , 81 6 .

Greece, th e flve gr eat gods , 28G reek gods , i n poetry and tragedy ,1 6-1 8 ; at lower rank , 88.Greek myster i es , attr ac ti veness, 95 °

cr i ti c i sms. 69 ; for th e wi se few, 69 ,

l ost thei r or i gi n al pur i ty , 69 ; sou rcesoi i n formation , 68 ; stages of p rogr es s

i n i n i ti at i ons, 68 ; sym bol i sm , 95 ;

teach i ng of th e grea ter m yster i es67-69 ; val ue, 68.

G reek re l i gi on , d i vi n ati on , too-1 03

forei gn i n fluen ce, 83, 84 ; gods t e

sponsi bl e for s i n , 103, 104 ; no media tor requ i r ed , 98 ; ordea l s, 108 ;

p rayers p r i esth ood , 99, 100,

p rop i ti a tm th e sh ades of th e dead ,

1 06 ; sacr i fices , 93; speci a l emer

genees , 93 ; worsh i p th e personal

r i gh t of ever y freeman , 98.

G r immer’

s L ay," 358.

Gr imm , Jacob , 341 .G retti r

,433.

G r etti ’s S aga , 433.

Gr i d, th e gi an tess, 397 .

Groa , 383.Grote, 72.

Grotto del Ti fone, 1 25.

Grotto V ol un na, 1 35.Groves , Dr u i di c , 803, 304.G u ngner , 868.

G un l ad , 874.

G wal es.281 .

Gwyd ion , 257, 259, 260, 264 ; cu l tu re

h er o, 249 ; mas ter i n magi c , 257-260;obta i ns treas u res for man , 255, 256 ;sto ry , 249, 250.

Gwydno, 276.

454

G wynvyd , 288.

Gwyon th e L i ttl e, 276 , 277.Gyes , 22.

G yl fe, 399,

G ym er , 404.

G ym nosop h i stae, 305.

HAD ES, 1 2, 1 22,1 25, 1 26 ; ch ar

acter , 73, 74, 1 05.

Hagno , 24Hakon ,h i s batt l e, 436.

Hamadr yads , 77 , 80, 81 .“Happy I s l e,

" 282.

Har a l d F a i r h a i r , 402.Har l ech , 281 .Harp i es , 89.

Hayman ,46

Hea , 36 .

Hebe, 87 ;ter , 89.

Hecataea, 74

Hecataeu s , 297.Hecate . goddess of m agi c , 74 ; ch ar ac

ter and wor sh i p , 74 ; ofi’

er i ngs , 74 ;

r ep r esentati on , 74.

Hecu ba,” 1 08.

Hei dr u n ,376 .

Hei mdal , 395 , 424.

Hel , 347 , 366 , 392, 424, 427 ;dog of 391 ,

1 1 al l of, 406 .

Hel ga, h ea l ed by Runes , 431 , 432.

Hel i con , 278.

Hel i odor ns , 1 08.

Hel i os , 38.

Hel vi a , ] 87.

Hengi st, 247 .

Heph aestus , 23, 54, 88, 1 1 9, 1 21 ; ar t i ficer of th e gods , 54 ; cast ou t of

h eaven ,54 , 55 ; descr i p ti on , 55, 56 ;

for ged th e th u nder bol ts of Zeu s, 54 ;m ar r i es Aph rod i te, 56 ; i mages on

h ear th s at Ath en s , 56 ; r ecei ves no

wor sh i p , 56 ; r epr esen tati on 1 0

ar t, 56 .

Her a , 23, 28, 49, 87, 89, 1 1 7 ; ch ar acter50-52 ; cow

-h eaded i dol s , 50; defects ,51 ; l ead i ng i dea , 28 ; m ar r i es Zeu s ,49 ; m yth ol ogy , Pel asgi an or

forei gn i n or i gi n ,49 ; p r er ogati ves ,

51 ; r ep r esen ted at Samos , 50 : r ep r e

sen ts th e fr u i ts of ea i th ,49 ; su b

jected to p u n i shm en t by Zeus , 52.Hei ac l es, 1 08, 31 2. 354.

h er beauty , 89 ; ch a i ac

.I I V1 ?JE$YZ

Her a i on , 57.Her cu l es , 1 38, 1 59, 348, 353 ; r ecei ves

t i th es , 1 60.

Herm es , 1 20, 31 4 ; ch ar ac ter , 57 ; con

n ec ted W i th Cabi r i , 58 ; en ter ta i n edby Ca l yp so, 82 m yth ol ogi ca l r el a

t ions , 58 r ep r esen tati ons , 55 statue

byPr ax i tel es , 57.

Herm i on e, 62.

Hermod , 367, 392Herm u ndu r i

,354

Herodotus , 355 .

Heroes an d Her o-wor sh i p , 340, 363.

Her th a , 352, 353.

Heswd , 1 6 , 25 , 78, 92.

Hesper i des , 89.

Hes ti a ,23 ; goddess of th e fir es i de, 62 ;

ch ar acter , 62 ; sac red fir e h er symb ol , 62.

B esu s , 304, 31 8, 31 9.

Hesych i us , 1 7 , 49, 1 1 9.

Hi bber t Lectu res ," 21 9, 225 , 230, 234,

242, 245 , 255, 268, 275 , 279, 323.

H i ber n i a , 294.

H i span i a , 1 87.

H i stor y of G r eece, by Cur ti u s , 22, 99,“H i stor y of Gr eece,” by G r ote, 72.

H i stor y of R om e,” by Momm sen

1 40,1 54, 1 60, 1 76 .

Hl i d skja l f, 358, 402, 408.Haos , 404 .

Hoder , 393, 427 ; b l i nd , 399 ; s l ay s B alder , 392.

Hodm imer’s for est, 426.

Hoener 427 .

Hofvar pn er , 370.

Hol ne, 239.

Hol y stones , Dr u i d i c , 242, 243—246

h eal i ng V i r tues, 234—236 ; wons l u p for

.

h i dden ,246 .

Hom er , 1 6 , 25, 36 ,37 , 50,

—56 , 76 ,

81 - 83, 104, 1 05.

Homer an d Homer i c Age," 34.

Honer , 360.

l l or ace, 1 91 .

Hor se, 88.

Hor bu rg, 81 6 .

Hor ta 1 29, 1 30.

Hosea , 355 .

“ Hou se of th e Vesta l s ," 1 70.

Hr u ngner , 380—383.

456 I N DEX.

Lear , Ki ng, of Sh akspear e, 280L eder un ,

444.

Lemnos , 23, 55.Lem ur al i a, 1 81 .Lemu r es , 1 28, 1 67.

L en orm an t, 26.27.Lep r ech aun s , 328—330.

Lerad , 376.Ler n tean Hyd ra , 89.

Levana, 1 45.

L i ban ,271 .

Li ber , 1 58.

L i l , 426, 428.

Li fe, Ar yan i dea ,49.

L i fth raser , 426 , 428.

L i men ti nus , 1 45.

Li par a I sl an ds, 23.

L i r,279 ; or i gi n a l of Sh akspear e

’s Lear

Li ttl e Peop l e," 325 ,41 6 , 4 1 7.

“Li ves an d Op i n i on s of Em i nen t P h i

l osop h er s,” 25. 96 . 1 83, 1 84, 305.

Li vy , 1 30; on Etr u scan r el igi on , 1 06 .

L l awgyfl'

es Lew , stor y , 258—26 1 .Ll eu , ori gi nal name of Dru i d i c su n

god , 260.Ll ew , 264

L l nth of th e s i l ver h and ," 21 8.

L oen ti us, 1 45.

Loder , 360.

Loeg, 272.

Lofn , 370.

Loge, eats a r ace wi th Loke, 385 , 388.

Logan , 240, 242, 282, 306 .

Lo i re, 294.Loi re, 367, 369, 393, 395, 424 ; abu ses th egods, 408 ; br i ngs per i l to th e gods,406 ; destr u c ti on of h i s ch i l dren decr eed by th e god s, 406 ; h i s th ree

ch i l d r en , 406 ; jou r neys w i th Th or ,383-388 ; l ear ns th e sec r et con nectedwi th th e i n vu l nerab i l i ty of B a l der ,392 ; not a l ways evi l , 406 ; p r ocu r es

th e gol den ap p l es , 396 , 397 ; p u r suedby th e gods, 408, 409 ; r etu r ns th e

gol den app l es , 397 ; seeks gol den h a i rfor Si l , 368, 369 ; th e b an e of B a l der ,392 ; th e gods fish for Loke

,409 ;

tor tu r ed by th e gods , 409, 41 0; wrest l es w i th Loge a t ea ti ng, 385-387.Losna

,1 1 9.

Lou n d res. 237.

Lower Ormon d,278.

L uach ai r , 273.

Lu can , 31 8, 31 9 ; upon th e Dr u i ds and

thei r gl oves , 302—304 .

Luceres , 1 77Lu c i an , 92 ; on Her cu l es or Ogmos ,31 2—31 6 .

Lu c i n a, 1 52.

Ludgate H i l l , 21 8.

L ug, 249, 266—274 ; cu l tu re p reva i l ed ,264 ; feast i n st i tu ted , 263; stor y ,26 1 -263.

L ugnassad , 263.

L ugoves, th ei r templ e, 264.Lun a, 1 1 9, 354.

Lunet, 255.

Luperca l i a , 1 68.

Lu per c i ,Lycurgu sLydney, 21 8.

Mac Ki neel y, 261 , 262.

Mac 00,221 , 249.

Macp h er son , 282.

Mac 8amth a i nn , 261 .

Maen Ki tti , 236 .Magi , 304.

Magi c , 31 0; broth , 276, 277 ; cau l dronof poetr y and sc i en ce, 273; i nflu

en ce, 1 6.

Magne, 383, 427.Magnetes , 37.Mag Sl ec h t, 242.

Ma i a , 83.

Ma l l et, 429, 435 , 441 , 445 , 446 .

Mam u r i us V etu r i u s , 1 54.

Manan na n , god of th e sea , 297 ; Wel sh

Man awyddan , 280.

Manan nan mac L i r,272-274.

Manawyddan , 280.

Manes ,Man i a , 1 22, 1 31 .

Mau ti c a rt , 1 00 ; i n Apol l o-worsh i p ,

100-1 03

Mantu r n se, 1 46 .

Muu tus,1 22

,1 31

Mapon es , 31 6 .

Mar cus An naeus Seneca , 1 87.Mar cus Au rel i u s

, ch aracter , 207, 210;

sel ecti on s, 208—21 0.

Mar i ne de i ti es i n Etr ur i a, 1 26 , 1 27.

Mar pessa ,48.

Mar s , 1 67, 1 68, 21 8, 219, 293, 31 7, 348,353; cen tr a l objec t of wor shi p , 1 53;

I N DEX.457

char acter , 1 54 ; gave name to Mar ch , Mi nor D i al ogues "oi Sean , no. 1 92.

1 54.

Ma rse i l les , Dr u i d grove near , 81 6.Mars pi ter , 1 54 .

Mm yns , 39.

Math o lwch , 280; adven tu res,Math th e An c i en t, 249, 257 , 259.

Matu ta, 1 46 .

Mau ra, 1 67 , 1 68.

Maxen ,h i s dream , 228

-230.

Max i mus Tyr i na, 108.McAnal l y, 828.

Mean , 1 27 .

Meath , 263.

Modh , 224.

Medea , 106 .

Med i ta ti ons ”01 Marcus Au rel i us.

207, 210.

Megi ng-jar der , 878.

Mel a, 331 .Memorabi l i a "

oi Xeq h on , 1 8.

Menage, 805.

Menrva, 1 1 8.

Mens , 1 46 .

Meaw ,286 .

Meuwd , 287.Mer cur y , 1 20, 1 24, 1 60, 1 6 1 , 293, 848,

Mer cu r i us Ar ta i us - Ogm i os, th e Gal l i cn am e, 812

Mer l i n , 234, 249.

Mer l i n Emr ys, 230.

Merma i d , 41 5.Men uan , 41 5.

Merodach , 36 .

Mer sb urg, 444.

Metamor ph oses , 79, 86 .

Met i s , 42.

Metz , Gau l i sh figu re at, 824.M i das , 89.Mi der , 221M i dga r d , 360.

M i dgard-serpen t, 888 ; cast i nto th e

sea, 406 ; caugh t by Th or 889, 890;

l oose i n the l as t days , 423.

Mi d l u ach a i r .273.

Mi l es ian s , 21 7.

M i l etus , 32.M i l ton , 8 1 .

Mi mer's foun ta i n , 279, 86 1 , 866 , 424.

Mi ner va , ch aracter , 1 52 ;

l esti val , 1 53.

1 94-1 97 , 1 99.

Mi nota u r , 89.

Mi nyas , 7 1 .M i stl etoe , sacred i n Dru i d ism, 298, 299

Mjol ner , 368 , 878.Mode.427.Modgud , 898.

Mommsen , 1 88, 1 89, 1 54, 1 60, 1 76 .

Mona , 228.

Moongarm , swal l ows the moon , 428.

Morda r , 276.

Mor la i x , la tr i es u nder i ts cas tle, $ 13.

Mormol ca , 92.

Mother goddess , Ce l ti c , worsh i ped , 828.

Mount Etna , 23.

Moun t Hz m us , 89.

Mount Lyce us, 24.

M. Robt. Mowat, 8 19.Mi i l l er ,Max, 1 8.Mu n in ,

864.

Munster , 228.

Mun th ukh ,1 20, 1 21 .

Mur cia , 1 45.

Mu r themne, 268, 270.

Mapel , 424.

Muses, 38, 103; daugh ters 01 b us , 77.

Museum of V i enne, Ce l ti c al ta r , 824.Muspel h ei m ,

356 , 357 , 859.

Myca l e, 82

Mycenaz, 50

Mycen e and T i ryns ," so.

Myth ol ogy , Ce l ti c , 21 6 ; N orse oi th e

Creation , 356 , d seq .

N s am sxn , 428 ; desc r i bed , 306 .

Ma n i a, 1 46 .

N agl far , sh i p made of the na i l s oi the

dead , 423.

N ah arval i , 852.

N ai ads , 76 , 77.N smnn ,

224.

N ame oi God , too sac red to p ro nounce,95 , 96 .

N orm s , goddess of flowers . 892, 894.

N ew ,409.

N atura l H i s tor y oi Pl i ny , 298-801 .N aus i th oos , 80.

N ech t, 21 8.

N ecks , 41 5 , 41 6.N eda, 24.N el eus, 80.

458

N emean Li on , 89.

N emedi an s , 21 7.

N emeton a , 31 8.

N emon , 31 8.

N ep tu na l i a , 1 6 1 .

N eptu ne, 21 8, 21 9.

N eptu n us , 1 6 1 , 1 62.

N er ei ds , 32.

N ereus , 78 ; ch ar acter 76 ; ol d god of

th e sea , 30.

N er o, 202 ; con demned Senecato death ,

1 88 .

N estor , 31 5.

N et, 31 8.

N eth u n s , 1 1 9, 1 61 .

N ew Cas tl e, 324.N i copo l i s , 202.

N i dh ug,N i ebel u ngen-l i ed , 341 .N i éve i 322

N i fi h ei m ,347

,356 , 376 , 391 .

N i m bl e,th e h or se

,393.

N i n eteenth Cen tu r y , Th e," 28,

49.

N i sses , fa i n es , 4 1 5.

N jor d, 359, 397 ; ch ar a cter , 400; gi ven

to th e Asas i n exch ange for Hoener ,N oatu n , abode of N jor d , 400.

N odatus , 1 46

N odena, 21 8N ona, 1 44.

N ones , 1 66

N or n s,th e th r ee, 362.

x

N or se Myth ol ogy ,” 358 , 363, 367 , 388

41 6 , 425

N or se R el i gi on , accoun t of Tac i tus , 347 ;augu r i es , 349, 350; ch ar acter , 340,

343; decay , 340, 341 ; ear l y h ad n o

i dol s , 430; fa i r i es an d el ves , Q 8 ;former exten t, 340; gr eat gods , 369 ;h ow m uch we owe to i t, 346 ; i m

p or tan ce, 339 ; mon oth ei st i c an d pol

yth ei sti c , 356 ; m yth s of cr eati on ,

356,c l seq . ; or ac l es , 430; or dea l s

,

429, 430; pur est r emai ns fou nd i nI cel and, 341 , 342 ; r u n es , 431 , el seq

sacr i fices , 436 ; sor cer y an d d i vi nati on ,

428, 429 ; tea ch i ngs , 343; tem p l e

435, 436 ; tr i n i ty , 359.

N or th er n An ti qu i ti es ,” 429, 435 , 441

N orti a, 1 29, 1 30.

I N DEX.

N or way,410.

N u ad a,21 7 ; s i l ver b and , 21 8.

N uma , 1 65 , 1 77.

N nmer i a , 1 45 .

N ymp h s, assoc i at i on w i th Herm es , 82,

83; grove desc r i bed , 79, 80 ; I th acan ,

82; l oves, 86 ; wor sh i p , 77.

OCEAN I D ES,77 ; daugh te r s of Ocean

an d Teth ys, 78 ; n um ber , 78 ; p r ay

for Pr ometh eu s , 78.

O’Cu r ry, 273, 278.

Oder , 404 .

Odi n , god of war , 279, 353, 354, 357, 358,

364, 439, 440; adven tu r es w i th th e

gi ant Hr ungner , 380-383; adven tur eswi th th e gi ant Skr ymer , 383-388 ; ap

pearance, 364 ; bl esses h i s su bjects ,367 ; d i scover s r u nes

,375 ; festi va ls ,

446 ; h i s h al l, 366 , 376 ; jou r ney toJotu nh ei m ,

373 ; jour n ey wi th Loi re,383- 388 ; jou r ney w i th Loke .and

Hoener , 396 ; l ost on e eye, 36 1 ;n ames, 364 ; r ecei ves a stone i n h i s

for eh ead , 380; r ecei ves th e gi ft of

p oetry , 372—375 ; stone r emoved fr omh i s for eh ead , 383; vi s i ts N i fl h ei m ,

391 wi ves , 369.

Odr oer er , 374.

Odysseus , 31 , 42, 43, 46 , 81 , 82.

Ogam , 31 6.

Ogma, 31 6

Ogm i os , 31 2.

O l af Tr yggvason , 402, 443.

Ol ana, 430.

O l l amh , 284, 285.

O l ymp us , 24.

O l ymp i a, 57 , 62.

Ops , 1 58 ; san ctu ar y , 1 59.

O r ac l es , 1 01 - 1 03; cen ter s of cu l tu re,1 01 co l on i es u nder p r otec t i on of

Apo l l o, 1 02 foster l i ter atu re, 1 02.

O r ch omen u s , seat of wor sh i p of th e

Ch ar i tes , 87.O r deal , 1 08O r eads

,77.

O r ei th yi a , 89

Or estes , 60.

O r i en ta l Recor ds Mon umen tal ,”1 5.

O r i gi n of th i ngs , Gr eek, 22.O r ph eus , 1 21 .

O r tygi a , 84 , 86 .

O r vandel th e W i se , 383.

460 I N DEX.

Q U ESTI ON ES R ow s .

"of Pl utar ch . Sac r ed fou nta i n s , 230—234, 252.

1 30,Sac r ed fish , 278, 279.

Ou i es, 1 45. Sac red trees , 278, 279.Sacr ed wel l s , 278, 279 ; Cor nwa l l 240

241 cu r es at, 240.

R AG N A R OK , 366 , 422, et seq . Sacr i fice, Dr u i d i c , 292—294.R an ,

w i fe of E ger , 399. Sacr i fice , Etr uscan , 1 31 .

R atatosk , th e squ i r r el , 362. Sacr i fice, R oman , da i l y , 1 66 .

Ra te , 374 . Sacr i fices exp r ess commu n i ty of l i feR awh n son , 34, 53, 56 , 6 1 , 1 24 wi th gods , 98 ; h um an , 1 1 , 1 81 ; h u

1 82, 355. m an sacr i fice i s gues t of th e gods ,Rh adama n th u s, 25. 99 ; r ep resen ts cor n -sp i r i ts , 97 ; su rRh ea, vi vai s of h uman ,1 68 ; to Cer es , 1 72Rh ea ’

s cave, 24. to u n kn own gods , 95, 96 .

Rh eim s’ mon umen t, 321

-323. S udn i ca T i ti i , 1 74.Rh odes, 38. Sath r immer , 376.

R h aacu s , 80. Saemund th e Wi se, 342.

Rh one, 31 8. Saga, 375.

Rh ys,21 9, 225 , 230, 234, 242, 268, Sa i , 284, 285 .

275 , 306 , 31 2, 81 7 , 328, 380, 395 . Sa i n t B r i gi t attends th e sacr ed fir es,Rel igi on ,i ts study , 21 5. 237.

Rel i gi on of th e common peop l e. 1 5 , 1 6 Stunt Davi d , 236 .

R el i gi on of th e Etr usca n s , 1 1 5. Sa i n t Germa i n , 323.

Rel i gi ons of th e An c i en t Wor l d ,” 34, Sai n t Patr i ck, 236 , 242.

53, 56 , 6 1 , 1 1 6 , 1 20, 1 24 , 1 32. Sa l i i , 1 54 , 1 68.

B i g, 395 . Sa l mon of knowl edge, 277.Ri nd, 369, 371 . Sa l us, 1 29.

R i ngh orn , 392. Samos , 50.

Roman r el i gi on , ch ar acte r , 1 43; dei fi Samoth r ace, 74.

cati on of th e emp er or , 1 48 ; effor ts to Samoth rac i an,67.

uph ol d th e r el i gi on , 1 48 ; for ei gn el San ctuar i es , Gr eek, depos i tor i es of

smen t, 1 49 ; gods i n vi ted to R ow e, money , 102.

1 48, 1 49 ; l aws aga in st for ei gn gods, Satur na l i a, 1 58 ,1 59, 1 66 .

1 48 ; n umber of di vi n i ti es, 1 44- 1 48 ; Sa tu r nu s , 1 58 ; ch ar ac ter , 1 58, 1 59.

sur vi val s, 1 43; tu tel ar y sp i r i ts , 1 44. Sa tyr s , 72.

R oskva, 384. Saxo th eG rammari an , 430.

R ub i gu s , 1 46 . Sayce, 36.R ‘

ugen , 41 1 . Scapegoat, 96 .

Rum in a, 1 44. Sch l i emann , 50.

R nn c i na, 1 46 . Schor i e, 30, 83.

Runes for d i vi nati on 481 , a reg. Sc i en ce of La ngu age," 1 8.

B u s in a , 1 46 . Scone, 244.

Rusor, 1 46 . Scor d 1sc i . 355.

Scotti sh Gael,

”th e of L 0gan , 240, 242,

Saenan m a, B el tan e, 287 bon fi r es ,237 ; cerem on i es i n Scotl and, 240; Scotti sh H i gh l an d fai r i es , 329, 330.

Cor nwa l l , 240; fes ti vi ti es i n Engl and , Scy th i ans .355.

239, 240 ; fes ti vi ti es i n I r el and , 240; Seeker s after G od ,

" 200.

festi vi ti es i n Scotl and. Hi gh Segetin ,1 46 .

l anders wa l k around th ei r fiel ds W 1 th Sei a, 1 46 .

flame, 240. Sel en e, 38.

Sacred fire, Dr u i di c, 237 ; attended by Semel e 69.

St. B r i gi t, 237. Sem nones , 350, 351 .

I N DEX.

Seneca, 1 9-4

l i fe, 1 87- 1 89 ; opens h is own vei ns.

1 88 ; reca l l ed fr om bun tsbmsnt, 1 88 ;

recommends su i c i de, 1 90 ; si ns of h i sage, 1 88, 1 89 ; takes pub l i c 06 013, 1 87.

1 88 ; teach i ngs, 1 90-302 ; tu tor to

N ero . wr i ti ngs resemb l e th e Scr i p

tu res , 200, 201 .

Sen ti a , 1 42i

Sen ti n us. 1 44.

Ser aph , 31 6 .

Sen na . 1 70.

Ser vi us , 1 20. 132.

Sessrym ner , 404.

Setanti a exp l oi ts, 266 , 267 ; namedCn ch u l ai n , 268.

Seth l aus. 1 1 9.

Severn ,21 8.

Sh ades , p rop i t iati on 01 , 106.Sh akspeare. 362 ; abou t fa i r i es , 41 8.Shannon , 279.

Shetl and .410.

Si by l l i ne books , 1 6 1 , 1 80.

Si c i l y , 64.B i t, 36 7. 880.

Sigmond, 367 , 442, 443.Sigyn , 409.

Si l en i , 58

Si l enu s , 72.

Si l u res , 21 8

Si l vanu s .god oi woods and boundar i es ,1 44 , 1 63, 31 9.

Simm i as , 109.

S imon i des , 105 .

S i n among Greeks , 94 , 1 03,1 04 ; th ei r

par don , 94, 95 ; among Romans1 81 .

Si nan u,279.

Si nd re, 368.

Si nt ians , 55 .

Si pna, 1 21 .

Si r ona, goddess , 31 6 ; r ep r esen ted , 31 7.Sjofn , 37 1 .

Skade, 397. 400, 409.

Sker r , 282.

Ski db l ad ner . sh i p 01 Frey , 368. 401 .

St i rn er .404.

Skrymer , adven tu re wi th Th or , 384

S l ei pner . 364, 380, 391 .

Sn or ro. 433.

Snorr i Stu r l eson , 342.

Sa ntr a. 37 1 .

46 1

Snowdon .229, 229.281 .Socrates , 1 8 ; passages trom Pi s to , 108

1 1 1 .

Soph oc l es. 1 6 , 104, 108.

Spurtu .39, 87.

Spencer .240.

Sp i n i ens is. 1 46.

Sta ti l i nus. 1 45.

Stutl ns , 1 44.

Sterope.23.

Stimu l a, 1 46 .

Stoi c i sm : a l l er r ors are eq ua l , 1 86

beau ty . 1 34 ; bel ief i n one god , 1 86 :

b rave [or v i r tue. 1 95 ; debt 01 gr atitude to the gods . 1 94 ; defec ts immor

tal , 212 ; detec ts oi th e s ystem 210

212 ; d i vi nati on , 1 86 : l ate, 1 98. 1 99 ;

l ounded by Zeus . 1 83 ; free wi l l , 1 99 ;

h as no tee l i ng, h ol y th ough ts,1 86 : i dea l im poss i bl e. 21 1 : moral i ty ,1 83; no repen tance ava i l s , 212 : not

at h ome i n G r eece . 1 86 ; panthe

i sm ,1 86 : pl eas u res u n rel i ab le,

1 97 :

p romp tness i n du ty. 1 98 : r everence

to th e gods. 1 924 94 ; sou r ce 01 i n

formati on , 193. 1 94 ; teach i ngs . 1 84

1 86 ; the dead ar e sa le. the

futu re,1 99. 200 ; the god s love men ,

1 93 : th e gods send afii i cti ons to th e

good , 1 93 ; th e good are immorta l

1 97 : th e sou l beyond h arm , 1 94, 1 95

th e sou l i s a l l man possesses . 1 94 ; the

sto i c i s a l most equal to god , 1 85, 1 86 ;

the tr ue sto i c h ard to find , 206 ; th e

wi se man , 1 84 ; v i r tue, 1 84.

Stoneh enge. 234 . 236 .

Stone of F a l , 244.

Stone wors h i p , 24.

Str abo. 1 1 7, 295 , 306 ; on Ga l l i c Dr u i ds,

Stran i a , 1 45

Stromkar l , 41 5 .

Sub igus , 1 46

Suevi , 348.

Su i ci de, recommended by Ep i ctetus .1 91 ; by Mar cus Au re l i us. 1 92

by Petron i u s. by Pl i ny , 1 91by Seneca , 1 90, 1 92.

Su l l a. 1 77 .

Summanu s , 1 1 7.

Sun-god . cu l t. 37. 257 , r l seq .

Sup reme god , worsh i ped by the Pe l eegl ans , 1 1 .

462 I N DEX.

TAC I TC S, 429 ;u accou n t of Germ an s ,

347—354 ; on Dr u i d i sm 301 Hi s

tor y ,” 354 .

Ta i n an . 353

Tages , 1 32Ta i l l t i n . feas t i n h on or of, 263.

Ta l i essm . s un-god , s tor y , 276 , 277.Tan aqu i l , 1 1 8.Tan ta l u s . 99.

Tar a . 21 9, 242.

Ta r an i s , 304Tar q u i m i 1 39Tar ta r us . 25 90 92, 1 05 , 31 3.

Taygetu s, 72.

Tay l or . 1 1 7—1 20, 1 34.

Tel l us , 1 46 . 1 59.

Tel nmo . 1 46 .

Ten . 130.

Tena r us 27.

Teu tates . 304 , 31 8.

Term i n u s , 1 65 .

Ter pan der . 1 6 .

Ter r a . 1 46

Ter tu l l i an . 1 47

Th a l na , r ep r esen tati on , 1 1 7 , 1 1 8.

Th ana,1 1 7. 1 1 8

Th ankvfl u s 1 1 8

Th aum as i um . 24

Th ebes ,Th eoc r i tu s , 92.

Th eogony ,

"th e of Hes i od . 78, 92Th eo l ogy of G r eek Poets, " 1 04 .

Th esa n . 1 1 9, 1 20.

Th esni Op h or i a ,64 , 65

Th esp i i e. 50

Th es p i an s , 24.

Th essa l y . 7

Th eti s , 56Th i ngs , I cel and , desc r i bed 445

Th i ngs tead . 445 .

Th i son a,24

Th jasse 382. 383, 384 396 . 400 ; sec u r es

the gol den app l es 396 , 397 r ace W i th

Huge 355, 386 , 387 .

Th ok r efu ses to weep for B a l der , 393.

Th ond hjetn , 402.

Th oosa , 30.

Th or , 353, 369, 376 , 380, 438 , 439 , 443 ,

ch ar acter , 378 ; con tr ast w i th Od i n ,

del i vered by Utgar d Loke ,

386-388,duel W i th Hr u ngner , 380

383 ; fish es W i th Hymer . 389, 390 :

gets Hym er'a ki tt l e.390; h ooks th e

M i dgar d-ser pen t, 389. 390 : th reat

en s Loke. 408 ; wr estles W l l h El l a .

Th or b ran d , 434 .

Th or fin n . 431 . 432.

Th orgetd Hor dab r ud , 442.

Th orger d Hol d at i ofi"

. 437.

Th ongr i ui G od t, h i s tem p l e. 438 , 439

Th oro l f B aegi fot ap pear s aftei death

Th r ace. 53 354.

Th r a nkh ei m tem p l e oi , 443, 444.

Th r u d he im 378

Th i ymh ei m , 400.

Th yr s u s 7 1T i ber 1 81

T i en , 1 1 6

T i na god oi the sky, 1 1 6 . 1 1 7 1 22 ; tem

p l e i n ever y c i ty , 1 1 6 . 1 1 7 .

Ti p an u , 1 21 .

Ti ryns ,50.

Th tu s , 1 77

Tl ac h tga 275

Tom bs o i th e Etr u scan s 1 33 ; feasts ,

1 34,1 35 , fu r n i tu re, 1 36 , 1 37 , ofier

i ngs ,1 35 . p a i n t i ngs , 137 ; sym bol i sm ,

1 36—138

Tor y I s l and ,26 1

Tomtates , 31 8.

Tou t i or i x , 31 6

T r ad i t i ons and Hear th s ton e Stor i esof W est Cor n wa l l ," 24 1

Tree 01 Know l edge, Cel t i c , 279.

Tr i naC i ie. 82

Tr i ton s . 21 9.

Trows o f Sh et l and , 40

Tu ath a De D an an n ,21 7 , 280.

Tu i sco 353

Tukh u l k l i a . 1 25

Tu ran 1 20'l u r i n s 1 20.

Tu r o,30

Tu rm ukas ,1 25 .

Tu sc i , 1 1 6

Tn t i l i na,1 46

Tu tu a ne, 1 46 .

Tyl er . 1 04 . 310.

Tyl wyth Teg, 330.

464 I N DEX.

conquer s Typh oeus, 92 ; ch aracter , l asgi c d i ffer en ti ated , 1 2 ; th e stone

1 9-22 ; ch i l d ren sacr i ficed to, 230; h i s fath er swa l l owed p r eser ved at

dwel l s on m oun ta i n s 1 9 ; ep i th ets , De l p h i , 24 ; th r u sts h i s fath er i n to1 2 ; tau l ts , 20, 21 ; h i s nod , 1 9 ; i n a tar u s

,25 ,

V i ctor y over l i i s fa th er ’s

str u cted by n ymph s , 23 ; l oves , 20 ; weakness , 50poss i b l e p r i m i t i ve m ean i ng, 1 1 ; Zeus Cappotus , 24.

power ,1 9 p res i des over th e O l ym Zeus Ena l i os . 1 2.

p i an gods , 1 9 ; p rov1 de i i t1 al car e, 1 5 ; Zeu s Po l i eus 97.

p u n i sh es Li m a,52 ; r ebel l ed agai ns t Zeu ss , 306

h i s fath er , str uggl e t o becom e ch i ef , Z i r na , 1 20.

22-24 ; swa l l ows Meti s , 42 ; th e Pe Zosim us , 1 70.

d eparted g o d s. - Forgotten Books

Documents

Transcript of d eparted g o d s. - Forgotten Books