The Tale of Andromeda and Perseus
Constellations: Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cetus, Pegasus, Perseus
Gods: Zeus, Poseidon, Nereids, Athena, Hermes, Hades, Hesperides, Atlas, Graeae
Mortals:
Danae, Peres, Medusa
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, Danae was the daughter of the king
Acrisius of Argos. When Danae was born the king consulted an oracle to see what the
future would hold for her. Instead of good news the oracle prophesied that the child
would grow up to womanhood and bear a son who would kill his grandfather, Acrisius
himself. To prevent the prophesy from coming true Acrisius shut up his daughter in a tall
tower of brass which he kept guarded day and night so that Danae could see no man, let
alone marry. Although rumors of Danae's beauty spread afar, she remained hidden from
any mortal eye. But not to Zeus who looked with favor on the lovely girl and one night
came to her in a shower of gold. He spoke to her and loved her by moonlight.
In time a child was born whom Danae called Perseus. Danae couldn't convince
her father that Zeus was the father of her son. In spite of his fear, the King could not
bring himself to destroy his daughter and grandson outright. Perseus and his mother were
cast into the sea in a box and set adrift on the Bay of Nauplia with neither food nor
water. Throughout the night the cradle-chest floated on the sea and in the morning
washed up on the shores of the island of Seriphos, which was ruled by the king of
Polydectes. The king's brother, called Dictys, often fished in the sea. It was he who
discovered the stranded crate with its human cargo. Overcome by Danae's beauty he took
her and the child home and cared for them.
Perseus grew up at court to be a brave young man, strong and impressive in his
ability to hunt and fish and excelling at games and in the use of the sword. As time went
by, King Polydectes fell in love with Danae and begged her to marry him and for a long
time wanted to abduct her; but he was a cruel man and Perseus would have none of
him. Polydectes grew to hate Perseus and constantly thought of ways to destroy him.
Perseus, however, remained always by his mother's side. One day, the King tricked the
young man into promising to obtain the head of Medusa, the only mortal among the
Gorgons.
Medusa ("cunning one"), along with her sisters, Stheno ("strong"), and Euryale
("wide roaming") were the daughters of the sea Titans Porcys and Ceto. Medusa (Algol)
was the youngest and most beautiful and she was also the only mortal one of the three.
Once said to have been extremely wise; they all served as priestesses to the virgin
goddess of wisdom, Athena. However, the Seagod Poseidon (Neptune) desperately
desired Medusa. In a moment of raw passion he raped Medusa inside of Athena's temple
of worship. In anger, the three sisters became petty and vindictive toward men. Appalled
either by the sisters pettiness, or by the sacrilegious sexual act in her temple, Athena
transformed Medusa and her sisters (all of whom were now wicked) into hideous beasts
with scaly skin, dragon's wings and hair formed of dozens of coiling snakes. As a result,
all who beheld the Gorgons were instantly turned to stone when their eyes met.
Meanwhile, Zeus, the father of Perseus, watched from Mount Olympus and was
proud of his son's strength and beauty. So he commanded the other Immortals to give
whatever help was in their power. Hermes (Mercury) the messenger-god, presented
Perseus with wings for his sandals so that he could move swiftly through space and the
sickle of Cronus (Saturn) which was the only blade sharp enough to sever the Medusa's
head. Athena (the goddess of wisdom, fertility, the useful arts, and prudent warfare), lent
him her shield and advised him to use its polished surface as a mirror and to only look at
Medusa's head through the mirror, lest he be turned to stone.
Perseus set off on his quest, his wing sandals bearing him northward over land
and sea and along the rim of the sky until he came to a lonely cavern in the frozen wastes
of ice and snow, a land of perpetual night. There the daughters of the Titan Phorcys, the
Graea - Gray Sisters, so called because they were born old and gray and had only one eye
and tooth between them - sat silently passing their one eye from one to the other. They
muttered curses upon all that passed through this barren land. Perseus crept upon them
seizing their eye and would not give it back until they told him where the Gorgons
lived. They told him to go to Atlas, who holds the heavens on his shoulders, his daughters
the Hesperides would tell him.
Perseus returned the eye and winged southward to Mount Atlas and the garden of
the Hesperides who guarded the golden apples of Hera. (The seven sister of Hesperides
are said to be associated with the seven stars in the constellation Ursa Minor and the three
Golden Apples are said to represent the three stars in the tail of Ursa Major). One of the
Hesperides sisters went down to Hades to fetch the cap of dog skin which belonged to
Hades, God of the Underworld, a helmet which conferred invisibility. They also provided
him with a sack which would carry the Medusa's head, for even when it was severed from
her body, it still retained the power to turn men to stone. Their father, Atlas gave him
directions to the island of Gorgon.
Perseus pulled the helmet over his head and sped to the island, littered with stony
statues of travelers and warriors. Holding Athena's shield above him he looked into its
mirrored surface and saw the three loathsome Gorgons below sleeping in the sunlight
with the Medusa's head of vipers writhing and spitting venom even while she slept.
Guided by her reflection in the shield Perseus approached very carefully, holding the
shield of Athena in one hand and the sickle of Cronus in the other. She woke and stared
at the shield, stunned by her own reflection. Perseus seized the chance to behead
her. With one sweep of the blade he severed the hideous head and plunged it into the sack
given to him by the Hesperides sisters. But even as he did so the other Gorgons awoke,
their wings beating the air. They sprang toward Perseus with blood-curdling yells and
flew at him, determined to avenge their sister.
From the blood that spurted from her neck, sprang Pegasus, a winged horse, and
Chrysaor ("He of the Golden Sword") - Medusa's two sons by Poseidon. The winged
horse Pegasus instantly flew out of her body. He had been conceived in the temple of
Athene and Poseidon was his father, but Poseidon had chosen not let Pegasus come into
the world, to placate the goddess. At Medusa's death, Pegasus was now free. Pegasus
then became Perseus' mount. (Pegasus was horselike because Poseidon had been in the
shape of a horse at the time of the seduction).
Cepheus was King of Æthiopia (not present day Ethiopia), and the beautiful
Cassiopeia was his Queen. Soon after their marriage, Cassiopeia bore her husband a
daughter, Andromeda. Cassiopeia was vain and boastful. So great was her beauty and
that of Andromeda, she said, that it surpassed even that of Nereids (the Sea-goddess).
When Nereids overheard Cassiopeia she became very jealous. She complained to
Poseidon, God of the Sea, and demanded that Cassiopeia be punished. Poseidon agreed
and summoned a terrible sea-monster, Cetus. "Go to the coast of Cassiopeia's land,"
Poseidon directed, "and lay waste to the land, and kill the people, and kill the cattle."
Cetus, in the form of a monstrous whale, set upon his mission of destruction and
began the slaughter, working his way up and down the coast. The frightened people
gathered and pleaded to their king to save them. Cepheus consulted an oracle--one with
magical powers who could communicate with the gods when men sought their advice.
The oracle told Cepheus that there was only one way to stop the slaughter: "You must
offer your daughter Andromeda as a sacrifice." She was to be chained to the rocks on the
coast and left for Cetus to devour. He made the bitter choice of sacrificing Andromeda,
whereupon she was chained to the rocks and abandoned to await Cetus.
When Cetus discovered the prize awaiting him, he left off his wholesale
destruction of the land and began swimming toward the ledge where Andromeda was
chained. But then a distant figure appeared in the sky. It was Perseus, the brave son of
Zeus and Danae, just returning from a journey during which he had succeeded in killing
the dreaded Medusa.
It was when Perseus was flow over the coast of Æthiopia that he noticed
Andromeda chained to the rocks by the sea, and not far away he could see Cetus rapidly
nearing her. Down he swept to the girl's side. "Why are you thus bound?" he asked,
overwhelmed by Andromeda's beauty. Andromeda told him the story of her boastful
mother and the advice the oracle had given her father.
Perseus quickly turned to Cepheus and said: "I can save your daughter from the
sea-monster, but for my reward I demand Andromeda's hand in marriage, and a
kingdom." Cepheus promised Perseus that he would have what he asked for, whereupon
Perseus unsheathed his sword and leapt into the air to the attack. One thrust of his sword
found a soft spot between the armored scales of the monster. Wounded, it twisted over
on its side. Perseus then inflicted another deep cut, and another. Blood now colored the
water red and soaked Perseus' winged shoes. Fearful of losing his ability to fly, he settled
on a rock near the shore and waited for the sea-monster to attack again. Quickly turning
his own head aside, he dropped his sword and took out the Gorgon’s head from its sack
and thrust it before the eyes of the deadly creature from the sea. The sea monster stared
at it and turned immediately into stone. When the fearful head had been safely returned to
the protection of the sack, with four quick, powerful blows by the sickle of Cronus he
severed the chains which bound the girl.
Joyful beyond words, Cepheus and Cassiopeia led Perseus and Andromeda to
their house, where a great feast and celebration were prepared. The time came to depart.
Perseus and his bride set sail for Greece and came at last to the island of Seriphos, seven
years after the hero had departed on his quest at the command of Polydectes, who
believed that he was rid of Perseus forever. When Perseus and Andromeda entered the
royal hall he saw that Polydectes was still surrounded by the youths that seven years
before had jeered and mocked him. Dictys, his one true friend, was in prison; his mother
had become a slave of the King. As Perseus approached, the King looked up insolently
and taunted him; "So the hero returns! I see no head of Medusa. Where is the gift I
ordered?" and Perseus replied; "Here, my lord!". Averting his eyes and turning
Andromeda aside, Perseus once more withdrew that deadly head from its hiding
place. The King and his guests didn't have time even to gasp. Each man from the King
down was carved in stone, for all eyes had turned to the giver and the gift.
On the evening of Perseus's return he set Dictys free and ordered a banquet in
honor of his mother. While they feasted Hermes (messenger of the gods) appeared to
recover his winged sandals and to return the helmet of invisibility to Hades, the sickle to
Olympus and the sack to the Hesperides. He also took the head of Medusa, which Athena
was to set in the center of her shield, making it from then on a weapon as well as a
defense.
Perseus proposed Dictys to be king of Seriphos and gladly agreed when Dictys
proposed to make Danae his queen. Then he and Andromeda set sail for Argolis where
they were to rule for many years surrounded by their children.
On their way to Argolis, Perseus and Andromeda stopped off at Larissa so that
Perseus could compete in the games that the king of that land was holding, for Perseus
had already won great renown as a discus thrower, a branch of athletics much admired by
the Greeks. At the games Perseus was the first to throw the discus. The great stadium was
hushed as Perseus hurled the iron disc high into the air where it sped across the cleared
space, to where the noble spectators were seated. A cry from the crowd went up as an old
man slumped forward, felled by the deadly disc. The old man, Acrisius's, who was
Perseus's grandfather, died instantly. He had left Tiryns lest Perseus (on his return)
should seek him out to kill him. But the oracle could not be thwarted, its prophecy was
fulfilled; Acrisius was slain by his daughter's son.
Their first-born son Peres is said to have given rise to those people who became
known as the Persians. His granddaughter, Alcena, would have a son who would one day
be known for his muscular strength and mighty deeds, for his name was Hercules.
Perseus and Andromeda were married and led a long, happy life together. There
first-born son, Peres, is said to have given rise to those people who became known as
Persian. When Perseus and Andromeda died, they were given honored places among the
stars by the goddess Athena. Cetus, the sea-monster, was there waiting for them and
forever chases Andromeda around the sky, but Perseus continues to guard her well.
Meanwhile Cepheus and Cassiopeia had died and were likewise given honored places
among the stars by Poseidon. For her bragging, Cassiopeia was chained to her throne and
placed in the sky to circle the North Star. At times she is hanging upside down in a most
undignified position as a warning to all.
The Twelve Labors of Hercules
Constellations: Hercules, Leo, Hydra, Cancer, Draco, Chiron
Gods: Zeus, Hera
Mortals: Alcmena, Megara, Eurystheus, Iolan
Hercules was perhaps the greatest hero in all mythology. He was the son of Zeus and
Alcmena, and was hounded all his life by Hera. (This is deliciously ironic, because in the
original Greek myths, Hercules is Heracles, which means "glory of Hera.") Hera was
unhappy with Zeus's infidelity, and saw Hercules as a living, breathing symbol of her
shame. She delayed his birth, and when Hercules was a mere baby (but a big one!) sent
two snakes into the crib he shared with his mortal half-twin Iphicles. Hercules killed
them both with his bare hands, marking the beginning of his career as a monster-killer.
After a precocious childhood and adolesence, Hercules married Megara (daughter of
Creon, king of Thebes). Hera succeeded in driving him mad, though, and he killed his
wife and his children. As atonement, he serves the king Eurystheus, performing the
twelve labors for which he is most famed:
1. He wrestled and killed the Nemean Lion (Leo) in its den, then used one of the
beast's teeth to remove the otherwise impenetrable hide. He wore the hide as
protection from then on.
2. He killed the Lernaean Hydra, a poisonous monster which could regenerate its
heads, growing two each time one was lopped off. Hercules managed this by
burning the stump of each before anything could grow back and burying the one
immortal head beneath a rock. While battling the Hydra, his feet were nipped by a
crab sent by Hera.
3. He captured the Cerynean Hind, a stag with golden horns which was famous for
its speed, after a year-long pursuit.
4. He captured the Erymanthian Boar and killed the centaurs Pholus and Chiron who
opposed him.
5. He successfully cleaned the Augean Stables, which had held 3000 oxen for thirty
years without ever having been cleaned, in one night by redirecting the rivers
Alpheus and Peneus through them.
6. He killed the Stymphalian Birds, which fed on human flesh in Arcadia.
7. He captured the Cretan Bull.
8. He captured the mares of Diomedes, which fed on human flesh, by feeding them
their owner.
9. He stole the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons.
10. He stole the man-eating cattle of Geryon.
11. He stole the three-headed guard dog Cerberus from the underworld.
12. He obtained the golden apples of the Hesperides, killing a dragon to do so.
Hercules also accompanied Jason on his quest for the Golden Fleece and assisted in the
war between the gods and the giants. He remarried, and eventually died after accidentally
poisoned by his wife Deineira. He was subsequently immortalized, even though he was
by birth only half immortal.
The constellation Hercules, found between Lyra and Bootes, shows the hero wearing the
skin of the Nemean Lion while holding his characteristic club and Cerberus the threeheaded dog. He also rests his foot atop the head of Draco the dragon. The constellation is
huge--the fifth-largest in the sky--but rather dim, which is an interesting parallel with
Hercules himself. The hero was famed for his brawn, but his wits were rather lacking.
Hercules' first labor was to kill the Nemean lion, a fierce beast who descended to
Earth from the Moon in the form of a meteor and ravaged the countryside of Corinth.
The lion had hide so tough that neither spear nor arrow nor any other weapon could
pierce it. So well known was the beast that Hercules had no trouble finding its lair, a
cave with two entrances. As Hercules approached, the lion showed itself and Hercules
sped an arrow toward its heart. The arrow merely bounced off and fell to the ground.
Hercules now knew that arrows or spears were useless against the beast. He then sealed
off one of the entrances to the cave and pursued the lion inside through the other
entrance. So great was his strength that Hercules seized the lion and strangled it to death
by ramming his fist down its throat. He then flung it over his shoulder and returned to
show King Eurystheus that he had fulfilled his first labor. The cowardly king was
terrified at the sight of the beast and fled. Hercules then skinned the lion and used its
tough hide as a protective shield.
The swamps of Lerna was home of the Hydra, an enormous water snake with nine
heads (one of which was immortal), and with breath that would kill on contact. With the
help of Athene, Hercules located the monster's lair, and the ensuing struggle was a
standoff. When one head was sliced off, another appeared in its place. Hercules solved
this problem by using a torch to cauterize each stump after he cut off that head. Then at
Hydra's plea, a giant crab emerged from the swamp and bit into Hercules' foot. Hercules
promptly killed the crab and then cut off the Hydra's immortal head and placed under a
huge stone where it could do no more harm. He then dipped his arrows in the Hydra's
blood. The slightest scratch from one of these arrows would bring instant death to his
enemies.
Chiron was a famed centaur in Greek mythology. Centaurs were rude,
untrustworthy, cheating, violent, deceptive and they drank too much. But one centaur
named Chiron was different. Chiron was educated by the Sun-god Apollo and Diana,
Goddess of the Moon and Wild Animals. Chiron was as kind, gentle, and wise as the
other centaurs were mean, fierce, and unthinking. Chiron's many skills and wisdom
became so widely known that children of many a famous king were sent to him to be
taught all manner of skills. Among his pupils were the mighty Hercules and Aesculapius,
who became so skilled at medicine.
As the story goes, Hercules had traveled far one day and was very thirsty so he
asked a friend to open a jar of the excellent wine kept in his house but belonging jointly
to all the centaurs. His friend did, and when the aroma of this fine wine flowed out over
the countryside the other centaurs furiously galloped up to the house and demanded to
know how he had dared open the wine without first consulting them.
The centaurs began to attack him and Hercules. This was a mistake, for Hercules
soon settled matters by killing many of them and driving the rest from the countryside,
telling them never to return. Chiron was nearby observing the event, although he has not
taken part. Although Hercules knew Chiron, and deeply respected him, he could not
recognize his friend from a great distance and accidentally shot him with one of his
poisoned arrows. Seeing these events and knowing of his son Hercules' sadness, Zeus
gave the good centaur a resting place among the stars as the constellation Sagittarius, the
Archer.
It is unclear precisely which mythological dragon Draco represents. There are, however,
three main contenders.
One version--the least likely--of the Draco story is that the dragon fought Minerva during
the wars between the giants and the gods. Minerva threw Draco's twisted body into the
heavens before it had time to unwind itself.
Another possibility is that Draco represents the dragon who guarded the golden apples in
the garden of the Hesperides. One of the labors of Hercules was to steal these apples
(some sources state it was his eleventh labor, others it was his twelfth). This was,
the most difficult labor of all..., for Hercules did not know where to find them. These
were the apples which Hera had received at her wedding from the goddess of the Earth,
and which she had entrusted to the keeping of the daughters of Hesperus, assisted by a
watchful dragon. After various adventures, Hercules arrived at Mount Atlas in Africa.
Atlas was one of the Titans who had warred against the gods, and after they were
subdued, Atlas was condemned to bear on his shoulders the weight of the heavens. He
was the father of the Hesperides, and Hercules thought might, if any one could, find the
apples and bring them to him (Bulfinch's Mythology, 136).
Hercules suggested this plan to Atlas, who pointed out two problems: first, he could not
simply drop his burden; second, there was the awful guardian dragon. Hercules
responded by throwing his spear into the garden of the Hesperides and killing the
hundred-headed beast, and then taking the burden on his own shoulders. Atlas retrieved
the apples and, reluctantly taking the burden onto his shoulders once again, gave them to
Hercules. Hera placed the dragon in the heavens as a reward for his faithful service.
By far the most commonly accepted version of Draco's arrival in the heavens, however, is
that Draco was the dragon killed by Cadmus. Cadmus was the brother of Europa, who
was carried off to Crete by Zeus in the form of a bull (Taurus). Cadmus was ordered by
his father to go in search of his sister, and told he could not return unless he brought
Europa back with him. "Cadmus wandered over the whole world: for who can lay hands
on what Jove has stolen away? Driven to avoid his native country and his father's wrath,
he made a pilgrimage to Apollo's oracle, and begged him to say what land he should
dwell in" (Metamorphoses III 9-11).
Cadmus followed Apollo's advice and found a suitable site for his new city. He sent his
attendants to find fresh water to offer as a libation to Zeus, and they wandered into a cave
with springs. As they were getting water, however, they were all killed by "the serpent of
Mars, a creature with a wonderful golden crest; fire flashed from its eyes, its body was all
puffed up from poison, and from its mouth, set with a triple row of teeth, flickered a
three-forked tongue" (Metamorphoses III 31-34). After his companions did not return,
Cadmus himself went into the cave and discovered the dragon. He killed it with his spear,
and then (upon the order of Minerva) sowed the dragon's teeth in the ground. From the
teeth sprung warriors, who battled each other until only five were left. These five, along
with Cadmus himself, were the first people of the city of Thebes.
It is interesting, however, to note that Ovid himself does not equate the dragon of Mars
with Draco. In fact, in book III of Metamorphoses, he describes the dragon killed by
Cadmus in terms of the constellation: "It was as huge as the Serpent that twines between
the two Bears in the sky, if its full length were seen uncoiled" (45-47).
The Serpent described by Ovid is certainly the same one as we see today, twisting past
Cepheus and between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in the north, with its head beneath the
foot of Hercules. Its location therefore seems to fit best with the myth that Draco was the
dragon in the garden of the Hesperides.
Cygnus
Constellations:
Cygnus, Eridanus
Gods: Apollo, Zeus
Mortals:
Phaethon
Phaethon was the son of Clymene, whose husband was the Egyptian King
Merops. One day Phaethon's mother told him that Merops was not his father, that his real
father was the Sun-god Apollo. When Phaethon boasted to his fiends that his real father
was a powerful god, his friends teased him and said that he was not telling that truth.
Hurt, Phaethon questioned his mother, who told him: "Go to the Sun-god and ask him
yourself if you doubt my word."
The Sun-god was delighted to see his son and promised Phaethon anything he
requested in the way of proving to his friends that Apollo was his father.
Phaethon thought for a while and finally said that he wanted permission to drive
the Sun-chariot across the sky for one day. Apollo was shocked and tried to convince his
son that it was a very dangerous thing to do and the boy would reconsider his request.
Phaethon refused to change his mind, so there was nothing for Apollo to do but keep his
word.
Phaethon was inexperienced in driving a chariot and it did not take the horses
long to realize that an unsure hand was on the reins. First they bolted high up in the sky,
far higher than they usually did, in their eagerness to rise above the eastern horizon and
reach the top of the great sky dome. It was here that they scorched a great streak across
the sky, a streak that became the Milky Way. Meanwhile, Earth's surface became cold
because the Sun-chariot was too high in the sky. Next the horses plunged to close to
Earth. As they crossed Africa they scorched the ground, creating a great desert and
drying up rivers, lakes, and watering holes.
Horrified, Phaethon saw ahead a great scorpion (Scorpius) in the sky. Its mighty
tail flashed and stung the lead horse. Up went the chariot again, even more wildly than
before. Poor Phaethon now realized his foolishness, that he should have listened to his
father's warning.
Zeus, King of the Gods, decided that it was time to stop this rash youth from
causing more destruction. He hurled a thunderbolt at Phaethon, killing the boy instantly
and sending his smoldering body tumbling down to Earth. The horses returned to their
stable and Phaethon's body eventually fell into the Eridanus River and sank to the bottom.
Phaethon had a very devoted friend, Cycnus, the Musician-king of the Ligurians.
On hearing of Phaeton's fate, Cycnus plunged into the Eridanus and swam back and forth,
diving repeatedly to try to find the body of his friend. His motions through the water
made him look like a swan searching for food. Apollo took pity on Cycnus, who died of
grief, and raised him to stardom, where he became the constellation Cygnus the Swan.
Aquila and Aquarius
It is also said that at one time that gods were in need of a new waiter, a cupbearer to carry fresh nectar to the gods. It was only fitting that such a privileged position
be held by the most beautiful youth on Earth. So Zeus summoned his faithful Aquila,
saying: "Go down to Earth and sweep your great wings over the land until your jewel-like
eyes find the most beautiful youth in the land, and then deliver him to the Great Hall of
the Gods."
One day he saw a youth tending a flock of sheep on a mountain side, surely the
most beautiful youth in the land. The eagle swiftly dropped out of the sky and ever so
gently clasped the youth, Ganymede, in its claws. In spite of being tired from its long
journey, the eagle sped upward through the sky and carried Ganymede to Zeus. So
delighted was Zeus with Aquila's choice of a cup-bearer for the gods, he reserved a place
among the stars for Aquila on his death.
Theseus and the Minotaur
Constellations:
Corona Borealis
Gods: Dionysius
Mortals
Minos, Theseus, Ariadne
Once each year, Minos demanded that the king of Athens send him the seven
most handsome young men and the seven most beautiful maidens of the land. These
fourteen youths were then forced into the maze where one by one they were found and
devoured by the Minotaur.
When Theseus became of age he told his father that he wanted to be one of the
youths to be sent to the King Minos so that he might slay the Minotaur. His father
agreed.
When King Minos' daughter, Ariadne, saw Theseus, she immediately fell in love
with him. She told him of her love and gave him a small sword and a ball of thread.
As Theseus led the way into the maze, he carefully unwound the ball of thread
step-by-step. Eventually, he heard the ferocious roars of the Minotaur as it came charging
around the corner of the maze to attack him. Theseus dropped the ball of thread and
began slashing at the beast with the sword of Ariadne's. He managed to weaken the
Minotaur and then cut off its head. He then picked up the thread and followed it out of
the maze, on the way leading his thirteen companions to safety also.
Theseus and the others escaped the island with Ariadne. As they sail back to
Athens, they stopped to take on fresh water and rest. As Theseus slept he received a
message from a goddess telling him that Ariadne had been promised to a god and that no
mortal should interfere. So he silently crept back to the ship leaving Ariadne on the
island.
When Ariadne awoke see found herself abandoned and wept. The god Bacchus
came upon her and seeing her great beauty begged her to marry him. Ariadne did not
believe he was a god and refused to marry him. To prove he was a god, Bacchus
produced the most beautiful golden crown she had ever seen. Ariadne did marry Bacchus
and they had a long life of happiness together. When his beloved wife died, Bacchus
placed the golden crown high in the heavens to honor her for her kindness to Theseus and
to him as her husband.
Jason and the Argonauts
Constellations: Vela, Carina, Puppis, Saggitarius, Hercules, Gemini, Columba
Gods: Athena, Zeus, Cybele, Diana, Aphrodite, Thetis, Nereids,
Mortals:
Jason, Athamas, Aeson, Pelias, Chiron, Castor, Pollux, Orpheus, Zets,
Calais, Theseus, Glaucus, Hylas, Amycus, Phineas, Harpies, Aeete, Medea,
Creusa, Menelaus
The story of Jason begins with his grandfather. Athamas was the King of Boeotia
and when he died his oldest son, Aeson, inherited his thrown. Pelias, the younger son,
did not like this and set out to steal the kingdom form his older brother. Aeson was a
peaceful man and did not wish to bring a war to the city-state and made his brother the
ruler of the Boeotia. Just after gaining the thrown, an oracle told Pelias that his death
would be caused by one of his cousins and that he should beware of a prince with only
one shoe.
Aeson had a son named Jason and Pelias ordered his soldiers to seize and kill the
boy. His father was smart and had sent to boy to the centaur Chiron where he would be
taught by the smartest creature to ever live. When the soldiers arrived, Aeson told them
the Jason was dead and the soldiers returned to Pelias with the good news.
When Jason was old enough, told him what had happened between his father and
uncle. Jason prepared himself to put the injustice right, and returned home. Aeson was
very glad to see his son again. After speaking with his father, Jason set out to find
Pelias. En route to Boeotia, he had to swim across a river that was swollen with swirling
flood waters. Jason lost one of his shoes crossing the river. Later, as Jason strode
through the market place, Pelias noticed the princely boy and became very afraid when
he discovered that the boy had only one shoe. Jason asked for a crowd and demanded
that Pelias give up his crown to Aeson.
Pelias tried to postpone his decision and told Jason that he would give up his
thrown if Jason could prove himself a hero. Pelias told Jason that there was a curse on
the country because the Golden Fleece was being held in a distant land. If Jason could
return the fleece safely to his own land he would immediately make Aeson King of
Boeotia.
Jason accepted this challenge and set about preparing for the search. A crew of
many heroes, now immortalized in the stars, took part in this journey. Among the heroes
were Hercules, Castor and Pollux (the Gemini Twins), Orpheus, the Singer-Hero (the
constellation Lyra), Zetes and Calais (sons of the North Wind), Theseus, the hero who
slew the Minotaur (the constellation Corona Borealis), and many others, including one
woman, Atlanta, an excellent archer. Castor & Pollux were twin heroes. The two were
born from an egg laid by Leda after she was seduced by Zeus in the disguise of a swan.
Yet it was said that Pollux was the son of Zeus, and Castor was the son of Tyndareus.
The two brothers were good companions and became gods, patrons of athletes and
protectors of sailors at sea. Castor & Pollux had power over the winds and waves.
Castor became famous as a rider of horses while his brother Pollux became equally
skilled at boxing and fighting battles. The helmsman was Glaucus, who is represented in
Argo Navis by the star Canopus, the rudder on the boat. The ship was to be named Argo,
the Swift One. On the advice of the Goddess Athene, a beam made from Zeus' oak tree
that grew in Dodona was placed in the bow of the ship, this magical timber enabled the
ship to speak.
When the ship was ready to be launched it was so heavy that it could not be
moved. Orpheus grabbed his lyre and sang such a wonderful song that the oak beam in
the bow began to move, and so the whole ship set itself into motion and gently lowered
itself into the water without the help of anybody. The power of Orpheus so great that he
could charm the wild beasts of the forest and make the trees come down mountains to
gather around him to listen in awe at his wonderful melodies. Now the journey could
start with Jason in command.
The Argonauts first passed Mount Pelion where Chiron, Jason's teacher, lived.
After a night's rest the Argonauts moved on. To help guide Jason and the Argonauts,
Chiron placed his likeness in the stars, as Sagittarius. Throughout the journey, Jason
would speak to Chiron through the stars.
When the Argo sailed past the coast of Asia Minor, their supply of fresh water
began to run low and the Argonauts decided to cast anchor, go ashore, and obtain a new
supply. Hercules and Hylas volunteered to search for water, and they found a fine water
well, but as they were pulling the pails up, Hylas was suddenly drawn down into the well
by the water nymphs. Hercules decided not to continue with the other Argonauts but to
remain behind and try to find his lost friend. The Argo sailed without Hercules and set
course to the place where Cybele lived. Cybele was a goddess who possessed a chariot
that was not drawn by a horse but, rather, by a lion.
The next point the Argonauts had to pass was a dangerous one. It was somewhere
along the northern coast of Asia Minor where the brutish giant Amycus lived. Amycus
was a born fighter and he would not let anybody pass unless they were prepared to fight
with him. Usually this meant the death of the challenger. Castor and Pollux managed to
overpower this giant and tied him with his arms outspread to a tree.
After dealing with Amycus, the Argonauts sailed on to the island Salmydessus,
the home of King Phineus. This poor man who once could see the future, had been
punished by the gods with blindness because he had abused his divine seeing powers.
Every time the old man tried to eat, great birds, called Harpies, would fly in and steal his
food. The Harpies had iron feathers and were quite safe from threats from mortals.
When the Argonauts arrived, they found Phineus almost starved to death. The heroes
offered their help, and sat as guests at Phineus' table waiting for the birds to come. When
the birds arrived the heroes hacked at them with their swords but to no avail. Then Zetes
and Calais, the sons of the North Wind, flew up into the air and pursued the Harpies. The
birds flew so far from the island that they became exhausted and fell into the sea where
they drowned. Phineus was freed from these monsters. He was so grateful for the
Argonauts' help that he gave them advice for their journey.
The Argo headed to the high seas again and set course toward the huge cliffs
called the Symplegades. The Symplegades had a habit of moving violently against each
other, crushing everything in between, even fish and birds. Whenever the Symplegades
saw a ship that had to pass between them, they waited until the vessel was in the middle
and then came rushing together, breaking up the ship and killing everybody on board.
Afterwards they would recede and leave a wide and seemingly safe passage for the next
victim.
Phineus had given good advice to the Argonauts. As the Argo approached the
rocks they happened to be far apart, but seeing the ship coming nearer they started to
move closer to each other. When they came near to the entrance the Argonauts released a
white dove. They had been told that if any living thing passed alive through the
Symplegades, the rocks would never move again. The white dove, aided by Athene, shot
between the two rocks with such speed that they crashed against each other without
killing the bird -- only depriving it of a few feathers. As the cliffs slid backwards, the
Argo ran full sail between the murderous rocks. The rocks instantly started to move
inwards again, but Orpheus began to play his lyre and slowed their movement with his
soothing music while the Argo sailed safely through the Symplegades. The rocks
discovered too late that they had been under the spell of Orpheus and crashed against
each other for the last time. They have stood still ever since and are now known as the
Dardanells and the Bosporus, the narrows guarding the ends of the passage between the
Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. The heroic dove came back to the ship. Athene later put
her in the stars as the constellation Columba, visible only in the skies of the Southern
Hemisphere.
The last adventure of the Argonauts before reaching Colchis was to slay the wild
boar in Calydon. Diana, the Goddess of the Hunt, had sent this boar to the Calydonians
because it failed to bring the necessary sacrifices to her. This was where Atlanta, the
only woman on board the Argo, came forward as she killed the boar with one of her
arrows.
Finally, the Argonauts reached Colchis. King Aeetes was very upset when he
heard the reason for their visit. He was certainly not going to willingly give up the
Golden Fleece. He hid his fear and told the Argonauts, "You can have the fleece, but
first you must yoke the fire-breathing bulls and plow a field for me to sow some dragons'
teeth."
Aphrodite made Medea, the daughter of King Aeetes, fall in love with Jason and
promise to help him. Medea gave Jason a mighty potion of herbs that would render him
fire and freeze proof if he rubbed it on his hands, face and body. Early in the morning,
King Aeetes went to the field with his daughter and members of the royal assemble.
Everybody tried to get a good view as they made themselves comfortable for a day of
good sport. Jason rubbed himself with the potion, entered the stable where the fire-bulls
lived, untied the chains, and grabbed the bulls with one hand on each horn. The animals
roared as they came out, and fire sprayed form their mouths and nostrils in all directions.
Struggling and pulling, Jason forced the bulls under the yoke of the heavy iron plow.
Jason was forcing the bulls' heads down to the ground so that the fire could not shoot
upwards and then grasped the handle of the plow and let the heads go. Immediately the
bulls lifted their heads and tried to lunge forward. Jason strained at the harness and they
came to a dead stop. Thereafter, the oxen were obliged to plow quietly, and by midday
Jason had finished plowing the field. With the plowing done, the bulls were unyoked.
Terrified by Jason's strong hand, the bulls fled into the mountains and never returned
again.
Jason then went to King Aeetes and asked for the dragons' teeth. The king gave
him a helmet full of little teeth and Jason started to sow these in the furrows, closing the
soil over them as he did so. No sooner had he finished this task than armed skeletons
began to grow out of each furrow. Those whose feet were still in the ground pulled out
their spears and swords, while those already fully grown rushed madly at Jason. Jason
did what Medea had told him to do, he threw a great stone in their midst and all the giants
rushed to it, trying to possess it. A battle ensued among the giants that ended in their
killing each other. Meanwhile Jason went around the field cutting off the heads of those
that had just started to grow.
Jason and Medea were glad that the ordeal was over but Aeetes was furious. The
next morning Jason demanded the fleece because he wanted to go home, but Aeetes said,
"Do stay for a while. It is not everyday that we have such heroes in our midst." Jason
agreed to stay, but in the night Medea woke him up and warned him to leave immediately
with his men because her father had rallied his army and intended to kill them all.
So Jason and Medea fled from the palace while the crew made the Argo ready for
its homeward journey. Medea and Jason went to the tree where the fleece was nailed and
guarded by a never-sleeping dragon who would devour anyone who dared to touch it.
As it was an immortal dragon, there was no sense in trying to kill it. The dragon
had a great liking for sweets, and Medea had made it some honey cakes dipped in a
certain juice that would put the dragon into a deep sleep. These she gave to Jason and he
threw them to the dragon who soon ate them all and fell asleep. Jason pulled the fleece
form the nails and sped back to the ship. Medea joined the Argonauts as they sailed for
home.
The Argonauts did not reach home right away. They had to sail past the Sirens,
creatures that were half human-female and half fish, who lived on rocks and sang
beautiful songs in an attempt to lure sailors toward them. Sailors who became entranced
by the music of the Sirens were doomed because their ships would wreck on the rocks.
Orpheus, with his lyre, could overpower the singing of the Sirens. But still, one of the
crew fell under their influence he slipped overboard. Had it not been for Orpheus' lyre
drowning the Sirens' singing and calming the waves, that sailor would have drowned.
His fellow crewmen were able to haul him aboard again.
The Argonauts encountered more danger with Scylla and Charybdis, two
monsters who lived in the Strait of Messina. Scylla had six long necks and six heads and
it was her sport to attack each passing ship from which she would pluck six sailors.
Charybdis had a different kind of attack. Three times a day she would drink the sea water
in the strait, devouring all the fish for a meal, and spit out the water again. This caused
heavy currents and she often collected an unfortunate ship or two. With the help of
Thetis, the Goddess of the Sea, and the sea nymphs, the Nereids, the Argonauts were led
to safety through this dangerous area.
Medea and Jason married when they arrived in the land of Phaeacians. From
there, the route went past the Peloponnesus. A storm caught the ship and drove it to the
coast of Lybia. Here, a golden steer rose form the sea with three goddesses seated on his
back. These goddesses told the Argonauts that all would end well for them if the advice
they were about to be given were followed. For twelve days, the goddesses said, the
heroes should carry their ship through Lybia to escape the fury of the sea storm. This
they did. During this grueling trip, one of the men was bitten and killed by a scorpion.
Finally the Argonauts reached the sea, lowered the boat into the water again, and arrived
home safely.
The Argonauts discovered that King Pelias had put Jason's entire family to death,
in the hope of forestalling the oracle's prediction that he would be killed by one of his
cousins. Jason, Pelias thought, was as good as dead; he believed that Jason would never
return from his mission to Colchis. Jason was desperate and Medea decided to seek
revenge. She told the daughters of Pelias that she could rejuvenate their old father. To
prove this claim, she cut up a goat in front of the sisters and then boiled it in a secret juice
that brought the goat back to life as a young kid. This convinced the sisters of her powers
and they killed their father. Then at the crucial moment, Medea left them in the lurch and
did not perform the critical part of the rejuvenation rite.
This was Medea's answer to the killing of Jason's family, and she did this in good
faith because she believed in her husband. Jason was upset by her witches' methods,
turned away from Medea and finally married Creusa, the daughter of the King of Corinth.
Medea could not understand her husband's decision and tried to killed the bride by
sending the her a poisoned robe. When this failed, she returned to Colchis in a chariot
drawn by snakes.
Athene commemorated the event by placing their ship, Argo Navis, in the sky as a
giant constellation below and east of Canis Major.
On the way home from Troy, they stopped on the northern coast of Egypt, where
Canopus died. In honor of his ships captain, Menelaus founded a city on the spot of his
death and named it Canopus. The city of Canopus was not far from where Alexandria
was eventually built.
Eventually Castor and Pollux decided to take wives and selected the two beautiful
daughters of the king of Sparta. Now it happened that the two women were already
married to Idas and Lynceus, cousins of the twins. But this seems to have made little
difference to the Twins. They simply carried to girls off and settled down with them.
The two cousins were not bothered by this. A few years later, the cousins, in friendly
company of the Twins, made a joint raid on some cattle. It is said that trouble between
the two pairs of thieves began when the tried to divide the cattle among themselves.
Idas had the solution. He hacked one of the cows into four equal pieces and said that
whichever two individuals completely finished eating their quarters first would divide the
spoils. This took the Twins off guard and they watched helplessly as their two cousins
wolfed down their quarters of the cow. Idas and Lynceus then drove off the entire heard.
Tricked, Castor and Pollux vowed to get even with their cousins. Within a few days
they set out after the two cousins to recover their share of the cattle. During the fight that
followed, Idas killed Castor with a spear. Infuriated over the loss of his twin brother,
Pollux chased his cousins and killed Lynceus with a single blow. Just as Idas was about
to hurl a tombstone at Pollux, Zeus came to Pollux's aid and hurled a thunderbolt at Idas,
killing him on the spot. Pollux, the immortal son of Zeus, begged to die so that he would
not be separated from his brother. Not even the mighty Zeus could do such a thing so he
placed them together in the sky as the constellation Gemini, the twins.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Constellations:
Lyra
Gods: Hermes, Apollo, Calliope, Hymenaeus, Hades, Persephone, Charon, Zeus
Mortals: Orpheus, Eurydice, Chiron
In time Orpheus took a wife, the young and beautiful Eurydice. But soon after the
marriage she was bitten by a serpent and died, where upon she was transported to the
Underworld, where all mortals souls went. Orpheus himself entered Hades, playing the
lyre as he went. Pluto and all the other ruling spirits were so enchanted by Orpheus'
music that they agreed to restore life to Eurydice--but only in one condition--that as
Orpheus left Hades he would not look back to see if his wife were following him. As he
left Hades, he could not understand why he had not heard footsteps behind him if his wife
really were there. Breaking his vow, he looked back. He saw Eurydice, but she was
rapidly faded away into the mists of Hades. Now she was lost to him forever, for once
reborn, a departed soul cannot be reborn a second time.
Utterly sad and lonely, Orpheus spent the rest of his days roaming over the land
playing sweet but sad music to himself in memory of his dear wife. So sweet was the
music that maidens from far and wide came to him and pleaded that he forget his sorrows
and marry one of them. But he would not.
Their pride crushed, the young maidens vowed to kill Orpheus since they could
not have him for their own. They tore him apart limb by limb and threw his remains and
lyre into the river. Zeus knew of these events. Also enchanted by the sweet music of
Orpheus, Zeus rewarded the young man by making his music immortal. He raised the
lyre into the skies and placed it beside the graceful swan, Cygnus. A small but brilliant
constellation, Lyra is crowned with the bright star Vega, also known as the Harp Star.
Asclepius, the Healer
Constellations:
Corvus, Ophiuchus, Serpens, Crater, Hydra
Gods: Apollo
Mortals:
Asclepius, Coronis
Aesculapius, we are told, was the first doctor of medicine, and his expertise led to his
downfall in a very strange way. His career seems to have begun when one day while
visiting a friend and saw a snake in the room and killed it. Then, to the great surprise of
both, a second snake carrying an herb in its mouth crawled into the room. It gave the
herb to the first snake, which immediately recovered. It was this herb, which
Aesculapius took from the revived snake, that taught him the great powers certain herbs
have over life and death. He traveled far and wide over the land, always learning more
about the medicinal use of herbs, and before long his reputation as a saver of lives had
become widely known. So expert had he become that Hades, God of the Underworld,
complained to his brother Zeus that fewer and fewer souls were being sent down to the
Underworld. Hades, of course, was worried about losing his important position.
Aesculapius once is said to have brought Hippolytus back to life by "gluing" him back
together. Hippolytus had been dragged to death and dismembered when his horses were
frightened by a bull. Just as Aesculapius was about to bring the famous hunter, Orion,
back to life after he had been accidentally shot with an arrow by his lover, Hades'
patience ran out. He demanded that Zeus stop this wholesale restoring of life. After all,
only the gods were immortal. If Aesculapius were permitted to increase his skill in
bringing the dead back to life, mankind, too, would have attained immortality. Thus went
Hades' argument to Zeus.
Zeus agreed with his brother and hurled a thunderbolt at Aesculapius, killing him on
the spot. But Zeus could not help but admire the skills of Aesculapius and so raised him
among the stars as Ophiuchus, along with the serpent from which he had learned his
skills.
Aesculapius, as the God of Medicine, is always shown with a staff with a serpent
wound around it. You have seen the symbol in hospitals and doctors' offices. Our words
hygiene (meaning "the science of health") and panacea (meaning "a cure-all medicine")
come from the names of two of Aesculapius' daughters, Hygeia and Panacea.
On day the Sun-god, Apollo, sent his pet raven down to Earth to bring the thirsty
god a cup of fresh water. Apollo's sacred raven was not a very dependable bird. On
arriving at the spring the raven saw that a fig tree was just beginning to bear fruit.
"What matter if I wait only a few days until the fruit ripens?" the raven asked
itself. And it waited. When the fruit ripened the raven then stayed several more days
eating the fruit until it was all gone. He then filled the cup with fresh spring water but
realized that his master would be angry for the long delay. Then he noticed a waterserpent nearby and grasped it in his claws. So with cup in mouth and serpent dangling
from his claws, the raven flew up to Heaven. He explained to Apollo that the serpent had
attacked him and that is what caused the delay.
Apollo was not taken in by the lie. And he was so angry with the bird that he
flung him, cup and serpent out of Heaven. Today we see them together in the sky as
Crater, the Cup, and Corvus, the Raven, perched on the serpent's back. This myth gave
rise to two alternate manes for Corvus as a constellation: Avis Ficarius, or "the Fig
Bird," and Emansor, or "One Who Lingers Too Long." For the Greeks, this story
explains why, of all birds, the raven does not carry water to its young.
The Abduction of Persephone
Constellations:
Virgo
Gods: Demeter, Zeus, Poseidon, Persephone, Aphrodite, Eros, Hades, Cyane
Mortals:
Iason
Named for the Greek goddess Demeter, the Earth-goddess, and is associated with the
arrival of spring and bringer of the growing season. Hades, the God of the Underground,
fell in love with Demeter's daughter, Persephone. He promised himself that he would
marry Persephone, making her his queen. Demeter would not stand for this. One day
Hades, in a black chariot drawn by four great black horses in golden harness and reins,
rode up to Persephone and carried the girl off with him back to the Underworld. Demeter
became worried when her daughter did not return home. She sent out to search for her
daughter. Demeter searched with out food or sleep. When Zeus pleaded with her to
return to Olympus and accept Persephone's marriage to Hades, she refused and continued
her search. People everywhere were starving and could not understand how their Earthgoddess could be so cruel. Zeus sent Hermes, Messenger of the gods, to visit Hades and
tell him that Persephone must return with him. Hades, knowing that the gods of heaven
were stronger than he, agreed to let Persephone go. There was a happy reunion, but
Persephone told her mother that she loved her husband Hades. Zeus solved the problem
by saying that Persephone would spend half of her time in the Underworld with Hades
and the other half on Olympus with her mother. In this way, winter comes when
Persephone goes down to the Underworld to be with Hades. When Persephone returns to
Olympus, the winter cloak of death melts and there is a rebirth of life over the land and
the crops begin to grow.
The Romans invented Libra and gave it importance as a constellation of the Zodiac.
Libra was "the Scales of Justice" held by Julius Caesar. Later the scales became
associated with Virgo, the Goddess of Justice. The Romans choose a scale because when
the zodiac was still in its infancy, some four thousand years ago, the sun passed through
this constellation at the autumnal equinox (September 21). That is, day and night were of
equal length, and the day would begin to lengthen from that day on. The ancient Greeks
did not recognize Libra. Instead they saw it as part of Scorpius. Libra made up the two
claws of the scorpion.
Orion and Scorpius
Constellations:
Orion, Scorpius
Gods: Poseidon, Artemis
Orion was the son of Poseidon, the god of the seas.
Orion boasted that so great was his might and skill as a hunter that he could kill
all the animals on the face of the Earth. Artemis, Goddess of Earth, was alarmed at such
a boastful and inappropriate statement. Artemis decided that Orion must be killed just in
case he might one day decide to carry out his boast. So Artemis sent a giant scorpion to
Orion and ordered the beast to sting Orion. As mighty as Orion was, after only a brief
battle, the scorpion managed to deliver the hunter a deadly sting. Scorpius stung Orion
on the heel (at the star Rigel). Orion and the scorpion were given honored places in the
sky, but they were placed at opposite ends of the great sky dome so that they would never
engage in battle again. Although there are other storied about how Orion met his death,
this one is the most common.
The Tale of Callisto
Constellations:
Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Bootes, Lupus
Gods:
Artemis, Apollo, Cyllene, Zeus, Hera, Tethys
Mortals:
Lycaon, Callisto, Arcas, Maenalus, Nyctiums
Zeus, King of the Gods, fell in love with the beautiful Callisto, a young woman
who was a hunter. When Hera, Zeus' wife, heard of what has happening she was furious
and set out after Callisto. On finding her, Hera said, "Your beauty, of which my husband
speaks so tenderly, is no more!" Whereupon Hera changes Callisto into a bear. Hera left
Callisto with her human feelings rather than those of a bear. Callisto roamed the forest
day and night in constant fear of the hunters and in fear of other wild beasts, although she
was now one.
One day Callisto found herself face-to-face with a young and handsome hunter
and suddenly recognized him as her son, Arcas. She raised up on her hind legs to
embrace her son. Thinking that the bear was about to attack him, Arcas raised his spear
and was about to hurl it and kill his mother. Zeus happened to be looking down on the
scene from his position on Mt. Olympus and instantly turned Arcas into a bear also. Zeus
then grasped each bear by its tail and tugged and tugged until he had managed to lift both
high into the sky, Callisto as Ursa Major and her son Arcas as Ursa Minor. This tugging
of tails over such a long journey through the sky, stretched both tails and explains why
our celestial bears, unlike earthly ones, have long tails. The tail of Arcas became even
longer since he was continuously swung around the sky by the end-star in his tail, Polaris.
On discovering that her husband had given Callisto and Arcas honored places in
heaven, Hera was furious. She went down to Earth to visit her friend the ocean god,
Oceanus. "How dare Zeus give these two an honored place in heaven?" Hera fumed.
"They have now displaced me, Queen of Heaven, from my place in the sky. I ask you
forever keep these two penned so that they may never wander far."
Oceanus was sympathetic and promised that he would grant Hera her wish. He
would see to it that "the couple never would be permitted to enter our water in their
wandering," in other words, that the bears forever would be forbidden to set below the
horizon of the sea as other constellations do. To this day both the Lesser Bear and the
Greater Bear are held high in the sky near the Pole Star, never permitted to sink beneath
the sea horizon.
A Song for Arion
Constellations:
Delphinus
Gods: Zeus, Poseidon
Mortals:
Arion
According to one Greek myth, the musician named Arion was the greatest singer
who ever existed. He was the court musician for the King of Corinth, Periander. So
great was Arion's fame that he made a tour of Sicily.
During his visit to Sicily he was awarded many prizes and given gold and much
money. Now the crew of the vessel waiting to take Arion back to Corinth knew of his
newly acquired wealth. They plotted to steal it from him and then cast him into the sea
sometime during the return voyage. In a dream, Arion was informed by Apollo of the
plot against his life. When the time came and the murderous crew made their move,
Arion made one last request--that he be permitted to sing a farewell song. The crew
could see no danger in that and agreed. So he dressed in his finest court garments and
stood on the bow of the ship and began to sing. So sweet was his song that sea creatures
of many kinds surrounded the ship to listen. Among them was a school of dolphins.
Arion saw that the dolphins seemed very pleased with his song and just before he
reached the end of it he plunged overboard amid the dolphins. One of the animals caught
him before he struck the water and raced off with him towards Corinth. It was with great
difficulty that Arion hung on, so swift was the dolphin's course through the sea. The
startled crew looked on helplessly and believed that surly Arion would fall off the
dolphin and drown.
But the dolphin safely carried Arion to Corinth. Arion told the king of the crew's
plot and when the vessel docked, Periander was waiting for them. The crew said that
Arion had decided to remain in Sicily, so great was the wealth he had acquired there.
When Arion stepped into view and the crew saw him, they were so terrified they
confessed their plot. King Periander crucified them to the last man. So pleased was
Apollo with the good dolphin's role in rescuing Arion that the god gave the dolphin a
place among the stars.
Longer Versions
A Song for Arion
Although the sun beat harshly against the barren rocks of the island of Lesbos, a song of
gentle spring rain echoed through the hills and along the shore, and everyone who
listened could feel its cool breezes. Arion sat in the shade of a sea grape tree, resting
against its trunk. He held his lyre and, strumming idly under the hot afternoon sun, he
sang.
Auster, the south wind comes to life,
She says "Wake up world. It is spring."
Where she blows she brings warm rain
and Mother Earth spreads a carpet
of pastel flowers to show where she has been.
The birds sing as they build their nests.
We listen to their songs and walk among the blooms
while our minds drift and think of love
for from the winter of loneliness
Eros brings the love of spring.
The hawks heard his song and stopped in mid-air as they were about to catch mice.
Instead they sought out their mates and, as though it once again was spring, they began
again to rebuild their nests. The wolves stopped hunting lambs and returned to their dens
to lick their pups. The crabs stopped fighting and collected in the tide pools to rub each
other's legs, and the young men and women on the beach stopped arguing and instead,
stroked each other's hair.
The waves, who had lapped up on the shore, sat transfixed and refused to leave. "We will
leave only when we can take you with us. Bring your songs to our other shores," they
said, "there is need of them. We have heard the sadness, anger and fear upon the
mainland. Change their tune, dear Arion. Show them a better way to use their voices.
Hurry, there is no time to lose. Get ready and we will take you there. We'll even bring
you home again when you are through."
"Why not?" thought Arion. "I would like to see something new and I'm sure it would
inspire my music. Besides, I'm too young to just stay here." Arion walked home, packed
and left on his adventure.
He first went to a land where warring brother kings had battled for twenty years. Arion
sang to them a story of the childhood memories of an old man as he died. The brothers
dropped their weapons as they cried in each other's arms. "Thank you, dear Arion," they
said as they put their arms around him. In gratitude they gave him bags of gold.
"Thank you, dear Arion," the people called to him. "We will give you robes and shoes
and feed you like a king."
Word arrived about a town that had been devastated by a storm. The people had given up
and sat weeping among the ruins. "We will take you there," his friends said, "for they
need you more than we do now."
Traveling for two days, Arion arrived in the desolate place. Arion sang a song of the
town's glorious past, of her families and her beauty and her heritage. The people sat up
from where they lay upon the ruins. Their imaginations once again beheld the former
grandeur of their home. They jumped up and went to work, carting away the rubble and
designing their new and splendid city.
"Thank you, dear Arion," they said. They brought him chairs, lamps and candlesticks,
and curtains and cushions for a lavish home.
"There is a place where a plague of illness swept the land and many people died. It has
been two years, yet still the people mourn. Help them, dear Arion. Help them end their
grief." Arion and his band of followers traveled there. He saw the people sadly sitting by
the graves. He sang to them of Hades' Mourning Fields where the spirits of the innocents
would be together for eternity and of the gods who came to visit there. He sang of
Persephone coming back to visit the upper world each spring and when his song had
ended the people dried their tears. Once again they planted their fields and played with
their children.
"Thank you, dear Arion," the people said as they smiled. "Please teach our children how
to play the lyre and sing so they will always be happy." He taught them all and they sang
to their parents every night. The people collected all their jewels and gave them to him.
"You have given us far more than this," they said. "You have brought us hope."
Word spread of Arion the Great. He and his friends wandered from town to town,
delighting everyone who heard his songs. But, finally he tired of traveling. "I miss my
home," he said, "and I want to start my own family." His friends took him to the sea and
hired a ship to take him with his treasure back home to Lesbos.
"Protect our poet as you take him home to Lesbos," they said to the helmsman. "We will
miss him, though his songs will forever live in our hearts."
"The great Arion is with us," the helmsman called out to his crew. "Help him with his
trunks." The men lined up and carried trunk after trunk aboard.
"I wonder what's in those trunks?" the helmsman said as he and his bunkmates lay down
for the night. "They're probably filled with riches he doesn't deserve. After all, he's just a
singer of songs. He doesn't work hard like we do. Why should he be rich and we be so
poor?" The men nodded as they drifted off to sleep.
The following day, Arion's journey turned treacherous. It was not caused by high waves
or a storm at sea, but by the greed of men. The helmsman and sailors armed themselves
with knives and surrounded Arion. "Prepare to die," the helmsman curled his lip and
snarled.
"Please grant me one final wish," Arion calmly said. "Let me sing one last song."
"He wants one last song," the helmsman mocked. "Well, he can't leave. Why not! We'll
give the little singer one last song." The men elbowed each other as they laughed.
Arion dressed in a purple robe and placed a crown upon his head. He tuned his lyre and
began to play and sing.
Poseidon, though the ruler of the seas, was all alone.
No love, no warmth, no gentleness to soothe his savage soul.
Amphitrite was the nymph he loved.
Any wind would bring her scent.
Any dream would hold her voice, her form and
Any time he woke he found that it was but illusion.
Poseidon, though a god, could not confess
His passion or his frailty or his tenderness.
And so she left, the nymph he loved.
She wandered far away from him.
She never saw his gentle side.
She thought his lust was just a rude intrusion.
Poseidon, though so powerful, was but meek.
Fearful of rejection, shame, and fearful of defeat.
A dolphin left to find the nymph,
He told her of Poseidon's love,
He showed her gentleness and care,
He carried her away from self-imposed seclusion.
Poseidon, though so lonely, was so real.
He learned that, god or man, we must say what we feel.
Amphitrite came on dolphin back.
They looked into each others eyes.
They made their vow for all of time and
They loved the dolphin for resolving their confusion.
As Arion played his last note he leaped off the deck and into the sea. "He saved us the
trouble of killing him," the helmsman said. "Come on, let's carve our treasure up." They
dragged out Arion's trunks and rifled through them, grabbing things from the trunks and
from each other as they again pulled out their knives. The deck of the ship erupted in a
bloody fight.
Amid the fighting, no one bothered to look over the edge of the deck and into the sea.
Had they not been overcome with greed they would have seen their ship surrounded by
hundreds of dolphins, all standing on their tails, while one dolphin dived to catch Arion
as he fell into the sea. As the fighting on deck broke out, Arion safely rode the dolphin
away from the ship and across the sea to the kingdom of Taenarum while a hundred
leaping dolphins surrounded them and escorted them to shore.
But the dolphins weren't the only ones who listened to Arion's song. Amphitrite also
heard him. "Darling," she said, placing her hand on Poseidon's, "that was so long ago I
had almost forgotten. He is so dear to remind us. Oh, those dreadful men have stolen
Arion's treasure. Please do something about it."
While the men were fighting, Poseidon blew hard over the sea and a heavy gale raised
waves so high, they smashed against the deck and broke it into splinters. Then the waves
picked up the bodies and Arion's treasure and deposited them on the beach at Taenarum.
"Brother Zeus," Poseidon called, "the noble dolphin has saved our Arion. How can we
show our gratitude?"
Zeus plucked the dolphin out of the water and placed him in the sky over the stars of the
nine muses. "You will now be called Delphinus," Zeus said. "Since you saved Arion and
his celestial song, I will place you near Lyra so you can always hear the music of
heaven."
Callisto
In the evening the moon rose from the forests of Arcadia; it was from there that the
goddess Artemis began her journey as she drove the moon across the sky. During the day,
while her brother Apollo carried the sun in his golden chariot, Artemis and her band of
nymphs roamed the Arcadian mountains hunting the wild creatures who made the forests
their home. But at night, when she loosened the reins on her black stallions and they rose
above the earth carrying the moon high into the sky in her silver chariot, she watched the
people far below and met them in their dreams.
"I'm so unhappy," the goddess overheard Callisto whisper in her sleep. "My father, King
Lycaon of Arcadia, is a tyrant and my fifty brothers are cruel. I am Lycaon's only
daughter and he and my brothers treat me like a slave. Men are horrible creatures. I can't
trust any of them."
Besides being the daughter of evil King Lycaon, Callisto was also the granddaughter of
the nymph Cyllene. Long before she left to raise a family, Cyllene had been one of
Artemis' band of huntress nymphs. Remembering this, Artemis said, "Go to your
granddaughter, she needs your advice." Cyllene, still obedient to Artemis' requests, went
to her granddaughter's dream.
"My favorite grandchild," her grandmother said to Callisto, "you don't need to live in
your father's home. Just as I am a nymph, you are one too. Instead of living with your
father you may join the goddess Artemis and live freely as a nymph with her band in the
Arcadian mountains."
"But how can I do this?" Callisto asked.
"Take my hand, my dear, and I will show you where you need to go," Cyllene reached
out and held her granddaughter's hand. They flew over the mountains to an alpine
meadow where a pool reflected the full moon. As they stepped down upon its north edge,
in the middle of a grove of evergreen trees was a flat moss covered rock. "On the night of
a full moon," Cyllene said to her granddaughter, "you must sit on this rock and wash your
feet in the water of the pool. Then you must say 'I have looked into my heart and,
forsaking all earthly passions, will commit my life to the goddess Artemis.' Soon she will
appear and give you a bow and silver arrows and then you will be free to join the other
nymphs."
"It sounds so easy, grandmother," Callisto said. "But what if Artemis doesn't come?" She
didn't receive an answer, for she opened her eyes and found that she was in bed and her
grandmother had disappeared. For the first time, Callisto felt a lightness in her heart.
Now she had a plan!
On the night of the next full moon, Callisto silently crept out of her room, hiding in the
shadows when she heard voices. As soon as the footsteps grew faint, she continued her
escape into the chilly night air. The night felt fresh and free. Meteors shot across the sky
as the band of the Milky Way spread out before her like a map. As she walked toward the
mountains, the full moon lit a path of white pebbles along her trail. "Oo-how-oo. Oohow-oo," called an owl as he punctuated the music of the crickets and frogs. The owl
followed her as she walked and she felt protected by him.
She reached the crest of the mountain range and, looking down into the meadow, spied
the pool where her grandmother had taken her. The mirror surface of the water reflected
the golden moon, making it look as though the moon rested in the middle of the field. As
she approached the north side, she saw the flat moss-covered rock within the grove of
evergreen trees. She sat upon the rock, just as her grandmother said and, as she gazed into
the clear deep water, the reflection that looked back at her had the moon as a halo around
her head. Then, just as Cyllene told her, she said, "I have looked into my heart and,
forsaking all earthly passions, will commit my life to the goddess Artemis." She wiggled
her feet in the water, rippling its mirror surface. As the water ripples stopped and the
calm surface of the pool returned, she was startled to see faces looking back at her. She
turned her head.
Behind her stood a dozen nymphs. They were dressed in tunics and carried bows and
quivers filled with silver arrows. They stepped aside as the goddess Artemis walked
between them and stood next to Callisto. Artemis had skin the color of the glowing moon
and her hair was in curls as black as the night sky. She was dressed in a silver tunic.
"Your reflection in the water has a golden halo. It means that you are one of us," Artemis
said softly. As she spoke, a breeze whistled through the calm branches of the evergreens.
"Your grandmother, Cyllene, told me you were coming to join us. It seems almost as if
she is with us again, for your eyes look like hers. Tell me, are you like her? Will you
regret not having a child?"
"No, goddess," Callisto said emphatically. "I want nothing to do with men. I wish only to
be free and in your company."
Artemis smiled gently and handed the girl a bow and a quiver filled with silver arrows.
Callisto, now one of the nymphs, joined Artemis and her band as they vanished into the
night.
Years passed happily for Callisto as she roamed the forests while Artemis and her sister
nymphs taught her its secrets. For the first time in her life she felt a sense of belonging.
"How lucky I am," Callisto thought. Her cheerfulness raised the spirits of everyone
around her, making her a favorite of the goddess. But Artemis was not the only Olympian
fond of Callisto. As he looked out from Olympus, Zeus spied the lovely girl and fell in
love with her charm and innocence.
One day, tired from the hunt, Callisto left the other nymphs and stopped by a stream to
take a nap. She found a quiet spot upon the bank where the grass was thick and made a
soft mat. She put down her bow and, using her quiver as a pillow, she fell fast asleep.
Zeus' wife, Hera, was away and the god of heaven had spent the day watching Callisto.
When he saw her fall asleep, he hurried to the stream where Callisto lay. "How can I get
near her?" Zeus asked himself. "With all her time in the woods, she runs fast as a deer
and will escape me." But Zeus was a master of disguises and decided to take the form of
his daughter Artemis to trick the unsuspecting girl. He used his magic and turned his long
white hair to black curls, his face and body became just like his daughter's, and his white
robes became a short silver tunic. He paid attention to the smallest of details, for his wrist
even had the crease that Artemis had developed after years of wearing the silver archer's
guard.
Looking just like Artemis, he kneeled down and placed Callisto's head in his lap. He
stroked her forehead and asked in his daughter's voice, "Where has my favorite one been
hunting today?"
Callisto opened her eyes slowly and smiled as she saw Artemis. "Oh my goddess, I was
hunting in the far north woods and I am very tired. You are so sensitive and kind to be
concerned about me. I'm certain that your empathy has made you wiser than even your
father, Zeus."
"She is such a sweet and foolish girl," thought Zeus. Her naiveté amused him and made
the king of the gods desire her even more. He bent over and kissed the drowsy girl and, as
he did, his disguise disappeared.
"Let me alone," Callisto screamed and tried to jump away from her attacker. It was no
use, for Zeus grabbed her tightly, holding her down. She struggled and cried, but she
couldn't get away. In her terror, she fainted.
As Callisto regained consciousness she heard a voice say, "Where has my favorite one
been hunting today?" and she saw Artemis bending over her. She gathered the torn tunic
around her and dug her heels into the ground, pushing herself away from the bent figure.
Her fear disappeared as she heard the laughter and approaching steps of her sister
nymphs. Although her eyes were red and swollen from tears and her tunic was torn,
Artemis and the nymphs were too naive to suspect that anything was wrong. Ashamed
and afraid, Callisto never told them.
Days passed after the attack. They soon turned into weeks and then into months. Callisto
could not concentrate. Beginning each morning with nausea, her mind daily relived the
painful attack. Her smile was gone. She lost her sense of playful freedom. Nervous
whenever she was alone, she became silent and withdrawn. It was then that she began to
notice changes in her body. Her belly was growing and her feet were swollen and painful,
but in spite of the changes that affected every part of her, she was surprised that none of
her companions noticed. To their eyes, her tunic hid the changes; but their lack of
awareness made her feel lonelier still.
Her secret was discovered one hot afternoon for, as the nymphs rested upon a river bank,
Artemis called them for a swim. "Let's bathe here," the goddess said. "The water is cool
and lovely." The nymphs threw off their tunics and jumped into the stream, joining the
goddess. Only Callisto remained upon the bank. "Join us, Callisto," Artemis said. Callisto
stood nervously upon the bank, her eyes downcast.
"What's the matter, Callisto," yelled one of the nymphs, "don't you bathe anymore?"
Callisto looked out to the stream. All the nymphs were pointing at her and laughing. She
unfastened her tunic, and as it fell to the ground showing her round belly, she heard
horrified gasps from her companions.
"You're pregnant!" exclaimed Artemis. Tears streamed down Callisto's cheeks. She sat
down upon the grassy bank with her arms tight around her. Faulting her, Artemis said
sternly, "You're not one of us anymore. You must leave."
"Please, dear goddess. Please," Callisto begged, "I have nowhere else to go."
"I'm sorry. You cannot stay with us." Artemis said as she and the nymphs climbed out of
the water, dressed themselves and disappeared, leaving Callisto alone in the forest. In a
thicket of blackberry bushes growing along the bank, Callisto made a nest of pine needles
and dried grass. There she curled up and cried herself to sleep.
As Artemis' black stallions lunged forward under the weight of the moon, Callisto awoke
with a tingling in her head. Deep within her she felt a knot, like a fist tightening. When it
was so hard and tight she felt she would break, it released and the pain disappeared as
quickly as it had come. She relaxed and began to return to sleep, only to be jarred awake
with another pain like the last one. Water passed from her body and wet the grass beneath
her. "Oh, I am dying," Callisto cried.
"No," answered Artemis as she watched from her silver chariot, "you are giving birth and
the moon will soon pull another body out of yours. Help her," Artemis commanded the
wind and, as the next pain came to Callisto, the wind blew hard and gradually subsided to
stillness as the pain ceased.
"Do as I do," said the wind to Callisto. "Breathe with me. Puff hard as I blow, then relax
when I do."
As her next pain began, the girl breathed with the wind, then relaxed as the pain subsided.
As the wind came up again, Callisto puffed and relaxed once again as the wind grew
calm. Through the hours, as the moon rose to the treetops and the stars glistened
overhead, Callisto calmed herself with the rhythm of the wind. She watched the moon
cross the sky and, as the hours passed, the wind blew faster and lasted longer. Callisto
quietly followed the rhythm.
Cradled in her nest of pine needles and grass and with her head against the ground,
Callisto heard the earth speak to her. "Your baby has moved," said the earth, "I can feel
it. It is positioned to come out and now you must push."
"Pushhh. Pushhh," said the wind. "Pushhh. Pushhh." Callisto obeyed her. "Pushhh.
Pushhh." Against the dark screen of night, colors appeared; a spot of yellow lit the bark
of a tree and a spot of red glowed upon a rock. "Pushhh. Pushhh." A green light
illuminated a branch overhead and seconds later was joined by blue and purple. The spots
overlaid one another until they illuminated every direction and the woods glowed with
color and light. As Artemis' black steeds set foot once again upon the earth and Apollo's
golden stallions stamped restlessly at Dawn's gate, a boy child emerged from the dark den
in his mother's body, into the light. He cried out and awakened the day.
"What was that?" Hera said awakening with a start. "Ah, so Callisto has finally had her
child. I will not tolerate it," Hera said as she indignantly crossed her arms and watched
jealously while the new mother held her baby and placed him at her breast. "I will not
have it!" she screamed and her screams echoed throughout the Arcadian mountains.
"What was that?" Callisto said to her son as she heard the distant rumble. "I will protect
you from whatever dangers are in this world, my darling," she said and kissed his
forehead. As she looked at him quietly nursing, she noticed that his body was snuggled
against a mat of black fur. Then she noticed that upon the arm that held his tiny body,
shaggy black fur was also growing. "What is happening to me?" she cried. She raised an
arm to heaven. "Zeus, please, this is your son. Help me." But no help came as her fingers
grew into claws and her hands became paws. "Help me Zeus," she cried as her lips turned
into a broad hairy jaw. "Help me!" she begged as her voice turned to a deep growl. Then
Hera played the cruelest trick of all, for though Callisto's body changed into a bear, her
heart remained human and, as the bear cried, her tears fell upon her baby's head.
"What can I do?" she sobbed. "I can't take care of you," she rubbed her wet furry cheek
against his face. "You must be raised with humans. I will take you to my father's home,"
she thought. "Since you are a boy you will probably be treated better than I was. I think
you will be safe there." She licked his body and nudged him onto her tunic, rolling him
until he was wrapped tightly. Then she gathered the folds of cloth in her mouth and
carried her child to her father's door.
The old cook saw a remarkable sight as she was preparing the evening meal. A mother
bear came out of the woods carrying a parcel in her mouth which she laid down gently at
the kitchen door. She licked something inside, then growled and ran back to the woods.
When the cook came to the door and looked down, she spied a baby silently looking back
at her. She took the boy to King Lycaon and told him the story. "We will call you Arcas,"
the king said as he held him, "for it means 'child of the bear.'" Through the years the king
grew fond of the boy, but he never recognized him as his grandson.
Zeus had been watching Lycaon through these growing years. "I'm not sure he's treating
my son well," thought Zeus. "I'll visit the palace and see for myself." Zeus critically
looked at his own hands. "These don't look like the hands of a field worker," he thought
as he turned them rough and callused. Next he turned his white robe into a brown and
torn one held together with an old dirty piece of rope. His beautiful white hair and beard
became a filthy mess streaked with brown and gray. The skin on his face turned weatherworn with etched wrinkles. "Now I'm ready," he said as he descended to Arcadia.
"Your majesty," the servant said to King Lycaon, "there is a laborer at the door who is
asking for food and lodging. I told him that we do not open our doors to field workers,
but he insisted that I tell you directly."
Lycaon greeted the news with suspicion. He had heard that gods occasionally arrived
unannounced to test their mortal hosts. That could be why the stranger had demanded that
he be told. "What should I do?" he asked his eldest son, Maenalus, who sat with him as
the news arrived.
"Invite him in," responded his son. "If he really is a god, you don't want to offend him."
"Show him in," Lycaon instructed his servant. "Prepare a room for him to sleep, draw a
bath and tell him he will be our guest for dinner." The servant left to do what he was told.
Turning back to his son, Lycaon said, "How can we know if he is a god?"
"Gods should know what foods they are served," Maenalus said. "Make a pie of human
meat. We can call it a sacrificial offering to the gods. If our guest identifies what's in the
pie, we will know he's a god."
"A logical solution," Lycaon said. "What human meat should we use?"
Maenalus glanced about the room. His eyes came to rest upon little Arcas, playing in the
corner. "How about him?" he asked his father.
Without a thought they murdered Arcas, cut him into pieces and made a "sacrificial meal"
which they offered to their guest. Word had spread among Lycaon's sons about the
special dish that would be served that evening. They all sat around the room, watching
the stranger as he was presented with his dinner.
Zeus knew something was wrong when he looked at the pie. He quickly glanced around
the room, studying all the eyes that were watching him intently. He jumped to his feet in
anger, suddenly transforming himself back into the white haired god of Olympus
standing tall and stern before them in his white robes embroidered in gold. His eyes
narrowed into slits as thunderbolts appeared in his raised hands. The king and all his sons
recognized the stranger, just as Zeus hurled his angry bolts against them and they fell
upon the floor. Like harpoons, Zeus' thunderbolts pierced their hearts, their clothes
smoldering where the lightning bolts had struck, burning into the bodies of the king and
his sons. Lycaon and forty-nine of his fifty sons lay dead, stacked like cords of wood.
The youngest son, Nyctimus, was spared only because Mother Earth grabbed Zeus' right
hand as he was about to hurl the final thunderbolt. "Don't kill the entire family," she said
quietly. "This one has done nothing. Please spare him." Zeus put down the bolt and it
disappeared as Nyctimus ran away crying with relief that his life had been saved.
"My poor son," Zeus said as he gathered the pieces of Arcas. "I will take care of you
now." As he kissed each part, they grew together again. Arcas looked up at his father and
smiled as though nothing had happened. "Let me take you to your new home," Zeus said
as he gently took his son's little hand. "It will be a happy place for a growing boy." With
that Zeus carried him to the home of Maia, where she raised him as she had her own son
Hermes so many years before. Zeus also restored Lycaon to life again, but changed him
from a human into a wolf. "You will roam alone through the forests of Arcadia," Zeus
commanded, "and be hated as the scavenger you are."
Many years later, when Arcas was fourteen years old, he decided one day to go hunting
in the forests of Arcadia. "This forest must have excellent hunting or Artemis and her
nymphs wouldn't stay here," he thought. He had seen rabbits and quail, but he wished to
test himself on bigger game. He wandered through the forest all morning before coming
to a meadow where birch trees shimmered as the breeze rustled their leaves.
Remembering that Maia had taught him the landmarks of the forest when he was young,
he said, "This must be the Temple of Zeus."
He also remembered her warning, "You must never enter the Temple of Zeus. Zeus built
it for his rests when he travels through the forest," she continued, "and anyone who goes
there surely will die." He approached cautiously but soon was distracted when he heard a
rustle in the bushes to his right. Crouching behind a tree, he carefully surveyed his
surroundings. Then he saw it! A huge black female bear was leaning against a large
moss-covered rock. She cocked her head and fixed her eyes upon him. The bear made no
move to run or to attack, but gazed peacefully into his eyes as though he were familiar.
"How odd," he thought, "I have never seen a bear do that before." She took a few steps
into the open and hesitated. Then again she came toward him until she was so close that
he could see a tear fall from her eye.
"No bear has ever watched me like that before," he thought nervously. "She could attack
at any moment." He picked up his bow and drew an arrow from the quiver.
The bear was his mother, Callisto. "He doesn't recognize me," she thought sadly. "Oh
why can't I talk to him?" Then she had an idea. "I will go to his father's temple. He will
not kill me there and perhaps Zeus will take pity on me and give him a sign that I am his
mother."
Callisto moved slowly toward the temple as Arcas followed, still holding the bow tightly
in his hand. He paid no attention to where they were going and, when the bear entered the
temple, the hunter followed.
Arcas drew his arrow and, just as he was ready to let it go and pierce his mother's heart,
Zeus froze him. "Those who enter my temple must die," Zeus said as he lifted the bear
and her son into his hands and placed both of them in heaven. "You will be Ursa Major,
the big bear," he said to Callisto as he made her stars bright and spread them wide across
the sky. "You, my son, I will place twice by your mother," he said to Arcas. To allow her
to be with a son, Zeus gave her Ursa Minor, her own little bear and to recognize the trials
that had driven her through life, he placed Arcas as Bootes, or Arctophylax, the bear
driver. Together with them, to ensure that cruelty and arrogance do not go unpunished, he
placed Lycaon as Lupus, the wolf.
As Hera saw the new stars light the sky she again felt a jealous rage. Of all the stars in
heaven, the bear was the highest and brightest in the sky, holding a place of honor. "You
shame me," Hera screamed at Zeus. "Everyone will know of your infidelity. Well, I will
do something about this! I'll talk with Tethys."
Tethys had been Hera's nurse and was the wife of Ocean. "It's disgraceful how Zeus
placed that bear in the sky," Hera snidely said to Tethys, "you must never receive her as a
guest or all husbands will think infidelity is acceptable. I just can't have it!" To keep
peace, Tethys agreed; and to this day, when other stars are received into the Ocean, Ursa
Major is not allowed to come there but must always remain outside, visible in the sky.
Demeter’s Daughter
Demeter didn't like anyone telling her what to do, especially her brother Zeus. He had
told her to have children with their brother Poseidon, but Demeter said, "I will choose a
husband for myself, thank you." She chose a mortal man. He was a farmer named Iason.
Zeus was very angry when he saw what she had done. He grabbed a lightning bolt and
hurled it down through the air, killing Iason instantly and impregnating his sister. Nine
months later Demeter gave birth to a daughter. She named her Persephone.
Persephone was as warm and bright as a ray of sunshine and, as the years passed, the
happy child grew into a lovely young woman who brightened the lives of all who crossed
her path. Everyone noticed her, for it was impossible not to. Even Aphrodite watched her
from Olympus.
Aphrodite's golden hair cascaded across her robes as she lounged upon the cushions of
her chaise. The only flaw to her beauty was a pout upon her bored face as she
occasionally nibbled on the purple plum she had been idly polishing. She looked at Eros
as he sat on a cloud near her feet, toying with his silver quiver. "No one pays attention to
us anymore" she said. "Even the other gods in Olympus don't care about love. Athena
ignores us. 'I have more important things to do than fall in love,' she says. Artemis leads a
pack of virgins who only want to hunt. Then there's Hades," she shook her head in
frustration. "He's hateful and humorless and scares away affection. Our power is slipping.
What can we do?" She took another bite of the plum and glanced below, on Earth. From
the corner of her eye she noticed Persephone and immediately brightened. "Eros, I've got
a plan! Grab your bow and arrows." Then she whispered in his ear and off he flew to
carry out his orders. Aphrodite lay back upon her couch, slyly smiling.
Hades, Prince of Darkness, rode across the land, looking for spots where the land would
collapse. The sun refused to shine off his black chariot as it sped behind four sable
horses. Eros saw Hades and lay in wait. He pulled his sharpest arrow from the silver
quiver and dipped its point in the ointment of desire. Taking aim, he shot Hades right in
the heart.
"What was that?" Hades asked. For the first time ever, he slowed his chariot down to
listen to the sounds around him. Sunlight sparkled off the mirror surface of the pond, and
he stopped to look. The winds gently moved the wildflowers, spreading their seeds across
the meadow. Near the bank of the pool and under an awning of branches heavy with fruit,
he spied a beautiful young woman. She held her skirt like a basket and carefully placed
violets and lilies inside. Hades watched her as she lay down in the shade and took a nap.
He wanted her. He had never felt this way before and he couldn't bear to return to his
world without her. "Take her with you," said a voice in his heart.
Hades slapped the reigns on the necks of his horses and they began to trot. He clicked his
tongue and they cantered, then he used his whip and his horses broke into a gallop, as
across the field he sped. The horses didn't break stride when the Prince of Darkness
reached out and grabbed Persephone around the waist, lifting her into his chariot and the
flowers spilling from her skirt to the ground, where they were crushed by the wheels.
Hades stood tall and dark against the sky. Slapping his whip side to side against his
horses, he urged them to run even faster. The wheels caught the ruts in the fields and
jarred the chariot roughly as it crushed the grain. He charged across rivers as shooting
sprays of water looked like fountains and the animals who lived along the banks ran for
their lives. He raced to the edge of the world where boiling pits of red hot lava spewed
out from the center of the earth, stagnant pools reeked of sulfur and steam rose from the
lava tubes. This was the entrance to Hell.
"Stop!" commanded a voice from the shallow bay. "You can't take Persephone against
her will." The nymph Cyane rose from the water. His horses reared up, then stamped
their feet as the chariot screeched to a halt. Staring into the dark, unflinching eyes of
Hades, Cyane said, "If you want Persephone, you must treat her well or she will never
love you. Marriages come from love, not from fear." Hades angrily turned away. "Treat
Persephone well or you will regret this." She stretched her arms to block him, but her
fragile arms couldn't stop him. He curled his lip in anger and, raising his scepter, he
cracked it hard against the shore as the earth rumbled and shook. A long black split
opened in the earth, revealing the road to Hell. Hades' black stallions reared up, then
lunged forward as the chariot plunged into the cavernous darkness.
Smoke and flames shot out from the dark angry world of Inner Earth. It glowed amber
and scarlet like the embers of a fire. Sulfur singed Cyane's nostrils and her eyes burned
and teared. "Stop," she cried, but all she heard in return was her own echo. The heat of
Hell's furnace burned through the cave and seared the delicate skin of the nymph. "You
can't do this," she cried as she watched her inlet bubble and boil, killing her beautiful fish.
The furnaces of Hell, stoked by Hades rage, shot flames through the crack in the surface
and seared the flesh from Cyane's body as she melted in the bubbling pool and
disappeared.
"Persephone. Persephone," Demeter called, searching for her daughter; but her daughter
did not come. She had never stayed away before. Days passed, but still Persephone did
not return. Demeter set out to find her child. She searched the fields by day and by night
she crossed the mountains guided only by the stars. Weeks passed and slowly turned into
months, but Demeter could find no trace of her daughter. Finally, she saw a thatched hut
and knocked faintly at the door as she collapsed.
An old woman opened the door and looked down to find Demeter limp upon the ground.
She brought Demeter a cup of water, gently lifted her head and helped her to drink.
Demeter looked into the kind woman's eyes and said, "How good you are to be unafraid
and help a stranger."
As she drank, Demeter heard a young boy laugh. "You dirty old homeless woman," he
said meanly, "drink in the trough with the rest of the animals."
"I'll make him pay for his cruelty" she said to herself as she sat up and threw the rest of
the water in his face. Where the water touched his skin, spots appeared. His arms changed
to legs, and a tail grew as he shrank to a size so tiny he almost disappeared. "You can't
harm anyone now," she said. The boy turned into a spotted lizard. Frightened, he ran
behind a rock to hide.
Again she sleeplessly traveled day and night, but again she found no trace of her
daughter. When there were no more places to look, she came home to Sicily. As she
walked by the ruined bay of Cyane, she sat down to rest. The poor melted nymph saw
Demeter sitting sadly, sobbing for her daughter. Cyane no longer had lips to speak with.
In the only way she could send a message, she floated Persephone's belt to the surface of
the water. The belt had fallen from the chariot as it raced to the center of the earth. As
Demeter sadly looked into the water, she saw her daughter's belt floating to the top.
When she leaned over the water to pick up the belt, she gazed into the mirror surface of
the bay and Cyane projected what had happened like pictures on the surface. Demeter
saw the earth open and Hades and his horses carry her captive daughter through the
crevice to deepest Hell.
Demeter jumped to her feet. "How dare you help him!" she yelled at the earth. "I have
been your protector and you repay me by letting that thief steal my daughter. And you,
Sicily, are the worst of all for you were the doorway to Hell." Angrily she broke the
plows, bloated the cattle and killed the seeds. The once fertile fields became barren.
Crops died from too much heat and too much rain. The wind blew away fertile topsoil.
Birds ate seeds as soon as they were planted and thorns choked the wheat. Famine was
everywhere.
Another nymph lifted her head from the bay and said, "Demeter, the land is innocent.
Hades forced it open. Please be kind. I have news about your daughter. I peeped through
a crevice in the earth and I saw Persephone. She seemed sad and although she still looked
afraid, it was obvious she was a queen and was very powerful." Demeter was stiff as
stone, but she listened and became calmer. Then she began to cry. Throwing open her
arms, a golden chariot appeared. It flew her to Olympus.
"I have come about our daughter, Persephone," she said to Zeus as he helped her from the
chariot. "Our brother Hades stole her. Our daughter does not deserve to live in Hell."
"She's fine. He just fell in love with her," Zeus said. "He won't be a bad son in law, after
all, he's not only our brother, he's the ruler of a great kingdom." But Demeter only shook
her head.
"All right," Zeus relented. "Persephone shall return to you only if she has not eaten
anything while she was held captive."
While Demeter and Zeus spoke, Persephone wandered through Hades' gardens and spied
a ripe pomegranate as it bent a branch in front of her. She picked the fruit and peeled off
the red rind, then she ate six of the tiny seeds. As soon as she ate the seeds, Hades guards
called her. They took her to a room where Hades, Demeter and Zeus were waiting.
"Have you eaten since you came here?" Zeus asked.
All eyes were on her. "No," she said.
"Liar," shrieked a high voice from the back of the room. "She ate six pomegranate seeds.
I was watching from behind a tree in the garden." It was the voice of the boy that
Demeter had changed into a lizard. While hiding behind a rock, someone rolled it over
the little lizard and he died and went straight to Hell.
Demeter seethed as the naughty tattling boy doomed her lovely daughter. She raised her
hand to hurt him with her magic but it didn't matter. Zeus had already heard the story.
To be fair to both his lovesick brother and grieving sister, Zeus divided each year into
two parts. Persephone spends six months with her husband for the six seeds she ate, while
spending the remaining months with her mother on the surface of the earth. When she
joins her mother, gardens grow, but when she joins her husband, her mother kills the
plants.
"I'm still not pleased," Demeter said to Zeus. "How can I know if Hades is treating my
daughter well?" In order to make peace with his angry, stubborn sister, Zeus placed an
image of Persephone in the sky now known as the constellation Virgo so Demeter can
watch her daughter while she lives with Hades deep within the earth.
Aesculpis
"I am so lonely," confessed Apollo as he sat by the fire in the Temple of Delphi. "I have
no one to love and there is no one who loves me." The god was sad, for though he was
young he had already learned that being a god did not guarantee happiness.
"Why can't someone see that a god needs love too?" he said to Corvus, his pet crow.
Corvus cocked his head in sympathy, listening to his master's sadness.
"Caw cause you look invincible people are afraid to approach you," offered the honest
crow in an attempt at helpfulness. Corvus was the voice of the oracle at Delphi. The crow
could fly above everything and it was through this ability of his that Apollo could see the
past, the present and the future; for when the crow allowed Apollo to inhabit his body, the
god could see through time. The crow glided effortlessly through the clouds as the sun
glinted off his silvery white feathers, as this was before crow's feathers turned black.
"My sister and I are doomed to lives of loneliness," Apollo said. He bowed his head and
began to cry. Corvus shifted his weight from leg to leg. He had never seen his fearless
master cry before and it made him nervous.
"It makes me so sad to see my master this way," thought the crow. "He and his sister
Artemis bring the world its light, yet they are both alone. I wonder, what can I do to
help?"
"Wait, master," the crow said, turning to face the temple fire. "I see something in the
flames. I see a beautiful young woman in the town of Larisa. Yes, I see her more clearly
now, her black curly hair is billowing across her back. She has a crown resting on her
lovely head." The crow now had Apollo's attention. He stopped sobbing and sat up,
intently watching his companion's every move. The crow, seeing his success, narrowed
his eyes pretending rapt attention as he gazed into the fire. "Someone calls her. 'Come
here Coronis,' they say. Ah, it is her father, King Phlegyas."
Full of fantasy and longing, Apollo asked, "Does she love me?"
"I cannot tell," said Corvus. "I think that is up to you to find out."
Apollo lost no time as he raced off to Larisa. It didn't take him long to find and seduce
Coronis. He had no time to waste wooing her. After all, time was of the essence. "Now
she will love me," thought the god, "for she will have my child."
Returning to Olympus, Apollo could only think of his love for Coronis and that soon she
would bear his child. "I will never feel alone and unloved again," he said smiling, pleased
with himself. As the evening grew long he started wondering what Coronis was doing.
"Maybe she misses me," he happily mused. Then he stiffened, "maybe she doesn't.
Maybe she is with another man. Maybe she doesn't even care about me at all." This idea
bothered him all night, and kept him from sleeping. For the first time in his life, Apollo
was jealous. "Corvus, come!" He commanded. His trusty crow obediently rushed to his
master's side. "I want you to go to Larisa and watch Coronis. Report to me everything she
does." As Corvus flew away, Apollo confidently went to sleep.
In Larisa there was a young man named Ischys who was also very much in love with
Coronis. He had been in love with her since they were children and he spent time trying
to win her favor. He took her to see wonderful things. He gave her flowers and told her
how much he cared. He was gentle and loving and, in turn, her love had grown to equal
his. She went to her father and told him about Ischys and Apollo's love for her.
"But you have been chosen by Apollo," King Phlegyas said with concern. "Gods are not
usually very understanding about being rejected," he warned. Coronis didn't care. She left
her father in search of Ischys and they peacefully fell asleep in each other's arms.
In the meantime, unknown to the two lovers, Corvus had been watching all of this.
Swiftly he flew back to Delphi and told Apollo. "Caw Coronis loves someone else!"
Apollo's face reddened and his hands shook as he listened to the crow's tale. He cursed
her unfaithfulness and shouted, "Curse you for letting it happen." He grabbed a handful
of ashes from the temple fire, throwing them on the crow and turning his feathers black.
Crazy with rage Apollo grabbed his bow and arrows and sought revenge. Standing high
on Mt. Olympus he spied Coronis resting in her lover's arms. His heart was fierce with
anger as he grabbed an arrow from his golden quiver and released it straight into her
heart. As soon as he saw her body soaked in blood his rage melted away and he raced to
earth where he knelt and lifted her lifeless body into his arms. She was so fragile. He
tenderly withdrew the arrow from her breast and bent over his dying Coronis. Resting his
face against hers he heard her whisper faintly, "Oh Apollo, couldn't I have first borne our
child? Now both of us will die." Those were her final words before she died. Ischys died
too, for Zeus killed him with a lightning bolt.
Apollo shook her body. He rocked her and he cried. Although he tried desperately to
revive her, it was too late. There was nothing he could do to change what he had done.
For the first time he knew what it was to be powerless. He built the funeral pyre, poured
fragrant incense on her body and gave her a final embrace. The flames shot up and
surrounded her. It was then that he heard a baby's cries. Reaching into the flames, he
snatched the fetus from its mother's womb and cradled the child gently in his arms. It was
a boy. As Apollo drew his son close to his chest, the baby felt the warmth emanating
from the sun god and he ceased crying and looked with the same clear blue azure eyes
into those of his father. As Apollo looked at his son, he thought of his own helplessness
watching Coronis die. "I will dedicate my son to saving lives," the god said. Then Apollo
raised his boy over his head and showed him to the stars. "Father Zeus in heaven, I
present you with a healer. He is your grandson Asclepius." A crack of thunder answered
him and tore open the sky as raindrops baptized the newborn.
Chiron, the centaur, was one of the few on earth who knew the healing arts, so Apollo
brought Asclepius to him to raise. For eighteen years the centaur taught the boy and then,
one day Athena, clothed in golden armor, materialized before them. "I've come to honor
my nephew," she said, placing her hands upon Asclepius' face, and kissing his cheeks.
She settled into a carved log chair, looking like a queen upon her throne. Asclepius saw a
vial appear in each of her outstretched hands. "These are my gifts to you," she said.
"They are filled with Gorgon blood. The blood in my left hand will kill, that in my right
will heal."
Asclepius carefully picked up the vial from her right hand and tied a white cloth around
it. Then he took the poisoned vial and tied it into a black cloth and placed them in the bag
with herbs and potions that Chiron had given him. Asclepius' excitement changed to
sadness as he realized that it was time for him to leave. Chiron had given him a
suggestion to join the adventures of his former pupil Jason on a ship called the Argo in
search of the Golden Fleece. Asclepius took Chiron's advice and, for a few years, was
one of the Argonauts. Finally he tired of the ship, the men and the routine so, when the
ship docked near Epidaurus, he left to live there and practice medicine. There he met and
married Epione, had four sons and two daughters and happily spent his time with his
work and his family.
Through the years he was well known for his good work. First the people of Epidaurus
came to him to be healed, then those from other nearby cities, and travelers whom he had
healed took word home until people came from far away to seek his help. One day old
Asclepius answered a knock at his door. It was two armor clad guards. "We are from the
battalions of King Minos of Crete," one of the two men said. "We were ordered to bring
you back to him. Prepare yourself." Asclepius had no choice but to go. The guards led
him to a magnificent ship and, as the evening wind came up, they sailed. The ship finally
landed in Crete and the guards led Asclepius to a crypt. They followed a smoking torch
through a narrow hall and, as the light reflected off the whitewashed thick stone block
walls, it cast a faint glow upon a bent and grayed figure. "Forgive me, your majesty," the
guard said as he fell to his knees and bowed his head. "I did not know that you were
here."
As Asclepius approached the king, he noted that his eyes appeared dark and hollow; like
he had been crying for a long time and the king's hands never left the arm of the body in
front of him. It was as if he were protecting the dead young man. The king sadly shook
his head and said, "This was my son, Glaucus. He had always been strong and healthy.
Then, about a year ago, his muscles began to deteriorate. No matter how much he ate, he
kept losing weight and he seemed to get sick constantly. Little by little, he became so
weak that he couldn't even walk. He just wasted away to nothing. He finally caught a
cold and died." Minos looked into the doctor's eyes and sadly said, "Bring him back to
me."
"I'm so sorry," Asclepius said gently. "I wish there were something I could do, but even if
I could bring him back to life, his condition would be unchanged and he would just catch
another disease and die again. Unfortunately, there appears to be no cure. Indeed, I am
very sorry."
Asclepius saw the king's body stiffen and his face changed from grief to anger. "What do
you think I brought you here for?" King Minos demanded. "You have a job, sir, and you
will perform it." The king turned to his guards. "Take him to the dungeon until he is
willing to do something."
This time the guards threw Asclepius into a dark and damp infested hole. The old man
felt helpless and wondered if he would ever again see his beloved family or feel the sun
or breathe the fresh air. He watched as a snake entered his cell through a small hole in the
wall. The snake had its freedom, yet it imposed itself on him in his miserable quarters. He
was angry and frustrated. He grabbed his walking stick and struck the snake again and
again until it was dead and its pieces were scattered on the floor. "Why did I do that?" he
asked himself, for it was unlike him to harm another creature. "I'll die in this cell just like
that snake."
As he sat, sadly concerned about his sanity, he noticed a small pointed head with a
darting tongue as it poked out from the hole where the snake had entered. A second snake
slithered through the hole and into Asclepius' cell. This snake looked like the last one, but
it carried an herb in its mouth. Asclepius watched as the snake spread the herb on what
remained of its brother. More amazing still, the parts of the first snake began to heal and
grow together again. After a few minutes, the first snake was whole and healthy again
and both snakes fled back through the hole, but not before the second snake dropped what
remained of the healing herb.
Asclepius called the guards to take him to Glaucus and, as he spread the herb upon his
body, not only did the prince return to life, but his illness was cured as well. King Minos
was overjoyed and Asclepius collected a large supply of the magic herb before he
returned home.
By now, the gods of Olympus had heard of Asclepius' powers and they too sought his
help. Poseidon, king of the sea, had him bring Theseus' son, Hippolytus, back to life.
Regretting his complicity in his own grandson's death, Poseidon remembered when he
sent the bull from the sea to frighten Hippolytus' horses so they would drag him to his
death. Asclepius, responded to the request just as he did for any patient.
Meanwhile Hades, the king of darkness, had also heard about Asclepius. Returning
people from death made him angry and Poseidon's request was the final insult. "Brother
Zeus," Hades shouted up to Olympus, "you must do something about that doctor. He's
undermining my authority and soon I won't have a kingdom or subjects to rule." Zeus
knew his brother was right. He grabbed his thunderbolt, hurling it at Asclepius and
striking him in the heart.
"Asclepius," Zeus called to his grandson's soul, "I had no choice but to remove you. My
brother would have lost his kingdom and all of the mortals you helped would have
become gods themselves. But since you were a good man I will put you in heaven and I'll
place the snake in your hands, since he showed you the secret of revival and displays
many lives by growing and discarding many skins." Zeus picked up the body of
Asclepius and breathed immortality into him. His body began to glow and Zeus placed
the glittering body in the sky. Then the king of heaven picked up the snake and placed
him in the old man's hands. "You will be called Ophiuchus, the snake holder,"
proclaimed Zeus, "and the snake will be called Serpens." The constellations have been
known by those names ever since.
"Take this gold cup and fetch some water from the river at the foot of Mount Olympus;
then give it to Zeus," Apollo said as he handed a gold cup to Corvis, his crow.
But Corvus, after being punished for telling the truth, lost any desire to respond to his
master's commands. "Oh sh-sure, send the caw crow," muttered Corvus as he flew off
with the cup dangling loosely from his beak. He took his time, lazily circling the
mountain. Corvus loved to fly. From so high above the earth, the mountain range looked
like a soft veil of pastels and beige, while thick velvet foliage punctuated by the fiery red
and yellow flowers took his breath away.
"I forgot how hungry I am," the crow said to himself. Looking down, he spied a fig tree
on the riverbank. "I love fresh figs." He grabbed one. "It's OK, but not yet quite ripe. If I
wait for a few days they will be perfect. It's much better to eat perfect fruit. I'll wait for
them to ripen," so Corvus lounged by the river for two days until the figs became
perfectly ripe, then he ate his fill. "I suppose I should fill the caw cup," he lazily yawned
after a big burp. "I'll just take a little nap first."
He awoke with a start, realizing that he needed to prepare an excuse for being so late. He
looked around for ideas. In the river, a water snake swam by. "Ah-ha," he exclaimed as
he grabbed the little creature. Carrying the cup in one foot and with the water snake held
firmly in the other, he flew to Olympus and dropped the dead snake at Apollo's feet.
"Oh master, I am lucky to be alive," he said, carefully watching for Apollo's reaction.
"The snake kept me from getting water. I risked my life in a battle to the death before I
could fill the cup. It was a terrible struggle."
Apollo knew a lie when he heard one. "And how were the figs?" he growled. Corvus
gulped as he waited for Apollo to strike him. But Apollo had learned to keep his temper
in check. Instead of hitting the crow, Apollo chose a more fitting punishment. He placed
the crow in the sky with the cup full of water. Then he placed the snake between the cup
and crow so the snake would stop the crow from ever quenching his thirst. To this day,
Corvus, the crow, Crater, the cup, and Hydra, the water snake, sparkle their warning that
we are bound to our lies.
Orpheus
Hermes, Messenger of the Gods, one day came upon an empty tortoise shell on
the beach and out of it fashioned a small harp like instrument, the lyre. When in the right
hands the instrument produced the most beautiful music ever heard by either gods or
mortals. Hermes traded his invention with the Sun-god Apollo.
Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was presented by his
father with a lyre and taught to play upon it, which he did to such perfection that nothing
could withstand the charm of his music. Not only his fellow mortals, but wild beasts were
softened by his strains, and gathering around him laid by their fierceness and stood
entranced. Nay, the very trees and rocks were sensible to the charm. The trees crowded
around him and the rocks relaxed somewhat of their hardness, softened by his notes.
Hymenaeus (the god of marriage, son of Dionysus and Aphrodite) had been called to
bless with his presence the nuptials of Orpheus with Eurydice; but though he attended, he
brought no happy omens with him. His very torch smoked and brought tears into their
eyes.
In accordance with such prognostics, Eurydice, shortly after her marriage, while
wandering with the nymphs, her companions (and sisters), was seen by the shepherd
Aristaeus, who was struck by her beauty and made advances to her. She fled, and in
fleeing trod upon a snake in the grass, was bitten in the foot and died.
Orpheus sang his grief to all who breathed the upper air, both gods and men, and finding
it all unavailing resolved to seek his wife in the regions of the dead. He descended by a
cave situated on the side of the promontory of Taenarus and arrived at the Stygian realm.
He passed through crowds and ghosts and presented himself before the throne of Hades
and Persephone.
Accompanying the words with the lyre, he sung, "O deities of the underworld, to
whom all we who live must come, hear my words, for they are true. I come not to spy out
the secrets of Tartarus, nor to try my strength against Cerberus, the three-headed dog with
snaky hair who guards the entrance. I come to seek my wife, whose opening years the
poisonous viper's fang has brought to an untimely end. Love has led me here, Love, a god
all powerful with us who dwell on the earth, and, if old traditions say true, not less so
here. I implore you by these abodes full of terror, these realms of silence and uncreated
things, unite again the thread of Eurydice's life. We all are destined to you, and sooner or
later must pass to your domain. She too, when she shall have filled her term of life, will
rightly be yours. But 'til then grant her to me, I beseech you. If you deny one, I cannot
return alone; you shall triumph in the death of us both."
As he sang these tender strains, the very ghosts shed tears. Tantalus, in spite of his thirst,
stopped for a moment his efforts for water; Ixion's wheel stood still; the vulture ceased to
tear the giant's liver; the daughters of Danaus rested from their task of drawing water in a
sieve; and Sisyphus sat on his rock to listen. Then for the first time, it is said, the cheeks
of the Furies were wet with tears. Persephone could not resist, and Hades himself gave
way.
Eurydice was called. She came from among the newly-arrived ghosts, limping
with her wounded foot. Orpheus was permitted to take her away with him on one
condition, that he should not turn around to look at her 'til they should have reached the
upper air. Under this condition they proceeded on their way, he leading, she following,
through passages dark and steep, in total silence, 'til they had nearly reached the outlet
into the cheerful upper world, when Orpheus, in a moment of forgetfulness, to assure
himself that she was still following, cast a glance behind him, when instantly she was
borne away.
Stretching out their arms to embrace each other, they grasped only the air! Dying
now a second time, she yet cannot reproach her husband, for how can she blame his
impatience to behold her? "Farewell," she said, "a last farewell," -- and was hurried away,
so fast that the sound hardly reached his ears.
Orpheus endeavoured to follow her, and besought permission to return and try
once more for her release, but the stern ferryman Charon repulsed him and refused
passage. Seven days he lingered about the brink, without food or sleep; then bitterly
accusing of cruelty the powers of Erebus, he sang his complaints to the rocks and
mountains, melting the hearts of tigers and moving the oaks from their stations.
He held himself aloof from womankind, dwelling constantly on the recollection of
his sad mischance. The Thracian maidens tried their best to captivate him, but he repulsed
their advances. They bore with him as long as they could; but finding him insensible one
day, excited by the rites of the Dionysius, one of them exclaimed, "See yonder our
despiser!" and threw at him her javelin. The weapon, as soon as it came within the sound
of his lyre, fell harmless at his feet. So did the stones that they threw at him. But the
women raised a scream and downed the voice of the music, and then the missiles reached
him and soon were stained with his blood. The maniacs tore him limb from limb and
threw his head and his lyre into the river Hebrus, down which they floated, murmuring
sad music, to which the shores responded a plaintive symphony. The Muses gathered up
the fragments of his body and buried them at Libethra, where the nightingale is said to
sing over his grave more sweetly than in any other part of Greece. His lyre was placed by
Zeus among the stars.
His shade passed a second time into Tartarus, where he sought out his Eurydice
and embraced her with eager arms. They roam the happy fields together now, sometimes
he leading, sometimes she; and Orpheus gazes as much as he will upon her, no longer
incurring a penalty for a thoughtless glance.