CONTENTS
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
I. Introduction
II. Prometheus and Pandora
III. Apollo and Daphne—Pyramus and Thisbe—Cephalus and Procris
IV. Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto—Diana and Actaeon
—Latona and the Rustics
V. Phaeton
VI. Midas—Baucis and Philemon
VII. Proserpine—Glaucus and Scylla
VIII. Pygmalion—Dryope—Venus and Adonis—Apollo and Hyacinthus
IX. Ceyx and Halcyone
X. Vertumnus and Pomona—Iphis and Anaxarete
XI. Cupid and Psyche
XII. Cadmus—The Myrmidons
XIII. Nisus and Scylla—Echo and Narcissus—Clytie—Hero and Leander
XIV. Minerva and Arachne—Niobe
XV. The Graeae and Gorgons—Perseus and Medusa—Atlas—Andromeda
XVI. Monsters: Giants—Sphinx—Pegasus and Chimaera—Centaurs
—Griffin—Pygmies
XVII. The Golden Fleece—Medea
XVIII. Meleager and Atalanta
XIX. Hercules—Hebe and Ganymede
XX. Theseus and Daedalus—Castor and Pollux—Festivals and Games
XXI. Bacchus and Ariadne
XXII. The Rural Deities—The Dryads and Erisichthon
—Rhoecus—Water Deities—Camenae—Winds
XXIII. Achelous and Hercules—Admetus and Alcestis—Antigone—Penelope
XXIV. Orpheus and Eurydice—Aristaeus—Amphion—Linus
—Thamyris—Marsyas—Melampus—Musaeus
XXV. Arion—Ibycus—Simonides—Sappho
XXVI. Endymion—Orion—Aurora and Tithonus—Acis and Galatea
XXVII. The Trojan War
XXVIII. The Fall of Troy—Return of the Greeks—Orestes and Electra
XXIX. Adventures of Ulysses—The Lotus-eaters—The Cyclopes
—Circe—Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—Calypso
XXX. The Phaeacians—Fate of the Suitors
XXXI. Adventures of Aeneas—The Harpies—Dido—Palinurus
XXXII. The Infernal Regions—The Sibyl
XXXIII. Aeneas in Italy—Camilla—Evander—Nisus and Euryalus
—Mezentius—Turnus
XXXIV. Pythagoras—Egyptian Deities—Oracles
XXXV. Origin of Mythology—Statues of Gods and Goddesses
—Poets of Mythology
XXXVI. Monsters (modern)—The Phoenix—Basilisk—Unicorn—Salamander
XXXVII. Eastern Mythology—Zoroaster—Hindu Mythology—Castes—Buddha
—The Grand Lama—Prester John
XXXVIII. Northern Mythology—Valhalla—The Valkyrior
XXXIX. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim
XL. The Death of Baldur—The Elves—Runic Letters—Skalds—Iceland
—Teutonic Mythology—The Nibelungen Lied
—Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
XLI. The Druids—Iona
GLOSSARY
STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so- called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men. They belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of literature and taste. There they still hold their place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion.
We propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come down to us from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern poets, essayists, and orators. Our readers may thus at the same time be entertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has ever created, and put in possession of information indispensable to every one who would read with intelligence the elegant literature of his own day.
In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which prevailed among the Greeks—the people from whom the Romans, and other nations through them, received their science and religion.