“Seven-chorded shell.” Tradition tells that the first lyre was made by Mercury, out of the shell of a tortoise, which he caught a few hours after his birth. Lyres were employed in recitations of epic poetry, and consisted of a tortoise shell sounding bottom, from which arose two horns, joined near the top by a transverse piece of wood, to which the upper ends of the strings, usually seven in number, which were stretched perpendicularly from the bottom, were fastened.
“Carnean feast.” One of the great national festivals of Sparta, held in honor of Apollo, who had for a surname Carneus, which was derived by some from Carnus, a son of Jupiter and Latona, and by others from Carnus, a soothsayer.
P. 199.—“Lustral bath.” In their early history the only rite of purification observed by the Greeks was that of ablution in water, but afterward sacrifices and other ceremonies were added. These were used to purify individuals, armies and states, and to secure the blessing of the gods. The word lustral is derived from the Latin verb lustro and signifies to purify by means of propitiatory offerings.
P. 200.—“Othrys.” A range of mountains in Thessaly.
“Pythian’s sake.” Apollo’s sake.
P. 205.—The lines at the top of the page, spoken by Hercules, contain the same sentiment that runs all through “Rubáiyát,” the poem written by Omar Khayyám. Compare the extracts from this book given in the “Talk About Books,” in The Chautauquan for February, 1885, with these stanzas. To further show the similarity in thought, we select one stanza from the poem:
“Waste not your hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of this and that, endeavor and dispute;
Better be jocund with the fruitful grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter fruit.”