“Hail, gentle Dawn! mild blushing goddess, hail!
Rejoiced I see thy purple mantle spread
O’er half the skies; gems pave thy radiant way,
And orient pearls from every shrub depend.”
Somerville.
Story of Aurora and Tithonus.
This dainty goddess loved and married Tithonus, Prince of Troy, and won from the gods the boon of everlasting life to confer upon him. Alas! however, she forgot to ask at the same time for continued youth; and her husband grew older and older, and finally became so decrepit, that he was a burden to her. Knowing he would never die, and wishing to rid herself of his burdensome presence, she changed him into a grasshopper.
At this time the goddess fell in love with Cephalus, the young hunter, and frequently visited him on Mount Hymettus.
“‘Come,’ Phœbus cries, ‘Aurora, come—too late
Thou linger’st slumbering with thy wither’d mate!
Leave him, and to Hymettus’ top repair!
Thy darling Cephalus expects thee there!’
The goddess, with a blush, her love betrays,
But mounts, and, driving rapidly, obeys.”
Keats.
Worship of Apollo.
The principal temples dedicated to the worship of Apollo were at Delos, his birthplace, and at Delphi, where a priestess called Pythia gave out mysterious oracles purporting to have come from the god. The ancients everywhere could not fail to recognize the sun’s kindly influence and beneficent power, and were therefore ever ready to worship Apollo.
“I marvel not, O sun! that unto thee
In adoration man should bow the knee,
And pour his prayers of mingled awe and love;
For like a God thou art, and on thy way
Of glory sheddest with benignant ray,
Beauty, and life, and joyance from above.”
Southey.
The most renowned among the numerous festivals held in honor of Apollo were, without exception, the Pythian Games, celebrated at Delphi every three years.
A manly, beardless youth of great beauty, Apollo is generally crowned with laurels, and bears either a bow or a lyre.