CHAPTER XXXII
TRIPTOLEMOS BECOMES A HERO. DEMETER’S GIFT
Demeter returned to her home among the gods on Mount Olympos. But before she went she called Triptolemos, an older son of King Keleos to her and gave him her car which was drawn by winged dragons. There is nothing more precious to the gods than open, benevolent hearts and generous hospitality. The poorest and meanest man may be god-like in generosity, sharing his goods with open hand, as sunshine is poured out from the heavens. King Keleos had shown himself a most royal-hearted man in his princely generosity toward the goddess when she came in the guise of a poor old woman, and Demeter resolved to bestow upon him and upon mankind, for his sake, a blessing proportionate to her power and rank.
So she gave to Triptolemos something far better than her magic car and serpent-steeds. She taught him how to make the plough of iron. Heretofore men had ploughed the fields with the crudest of ploughs—a pointed stick, or an iron bar. She taught him how to turn a furrow and put the seed into it, and cover it up so that the birds should not eat it.
And when summer came she showed him how to cut the grain, to bring it in wagons to the barn where he was to thrash it, and to store it away, keeping each kind separate.
Triptolemos, being carried on his wagon through the air, sowed the precious grain all over the inhabited world and turned many a barren waste into a cultivated field. He taught the people everywhere, as Demeter had taught him, how to cultivate the soil. Thus he became a great benefactor to all mankind and induced a better way of living. For when people had farms to take care of, they ceased to roam aimlessly about the world. They built homes and learned to be friendly, and from this sprang up the government which should protect the home and make men happy and comfortable.
Triptolemos received the honors of a god, and the people of Eleusis built a temple to him close to the acropolis, where some of the stones of the temple may still be seen. But his best monument is the cultivated fields of barley, rye, and oats, and all the grains which from Demeter (Ceres) we call cereals.
CHAPTER XXXIII
PROMETHEUS, THE CHAMPION OF MANKIND
Heaven and earth were created. The sea rolled its waves against the shore and played around the islands. The fishes sported in the waters in lively gambols. On the land the birds flew from tree to tree singing with sweetest voices; wild beasts were peaceable; flowers threw out delicious odors; nature beamed with loveliness.
But mankind could not notice the beauty of nature. Men walked as in a dream, for they were not awakened to delicate odors or sweet sounds or beautiful forms and colors. They were barbarous and rude; they did not know any of the arts of civilization; they were not even able to build homes; they lived in caves like wild beasts and fed on nuts and fruit.
The cultivation of the soil was unknown. Men made no difference between the blooming spring and fruitful summer and the cold winter. They did not know how to cut stone. Like the wild creatures they lived in constant fear, crawling about miserably.