[120] Heroes were often indebted to dogs for kind offices. The Hindu Saramâ is the bitch which aids such when lost in the forests, grottoes, or darkness. See De Gubernatis’ Zoological Mythology, p. 98. Grimm even says: “A widely-prevalent mark of the hero-race is their being suckled by beasts or fed by birds.” Teutonic Mythology, p. 390.
[121] Itinerary of Greece (translation), vol. ii, p. 210.
[122] Ibid.
[123] Pythian Ode, iii.
[124] Leech was formerly a common name for the physician; such was the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon læce and the Gothic leikeis.
[125] History of Greece, vol. i, p. 179.
[126] Lenormant says that the Oriental Gandarvas, or celestial horses, which represented the rays of the sun, gave the name and the first idea of the Grecian Centaurs. Ancient History of the East, vol. ii, p. 13. Mr. Sayce holds that “Hea-bani, the confidant and adviser of Gisdhubar, is the Kentaur Kheiron.” The Ancient Empires of the East, p. 156. New York, 1884.
[127] Iliad, xi.
[128] Pythian Ode, vi.
[129] This may have been a fraxinus, or true ash,—a famous tree in mythical history. The mountain-ash, or rowan-tree (Pyrus aucuparia), however, has been believed from time immemorial to possess great magical powers. It averted fascination, evil spirits, and diseases. Faith in it is still wide-spread. See Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore, by Walter K. Kelly, p. 158 et seq. London, 1863.