2 These mythic personages are usually denominated Heroes (pwes),—a word in Homer only indicative of civil rank and preeminence. It afterwards became significative of beings of a class superior to common men; and many of those to whom Homer and Hésiod apply the term hero, in its primary sense, were in after-times honoured as deities, with temples, sacrifices, and prayers, becoming in fact the Saints of heathen Greece. In general, however, they only resumed their pristine rank; for the hero of one period was not unfrequently the god of a preceding one, and he thus became a god once more in the eyes of posterity. The whole mythic history of Greece is genealogic; all the personifications which we have just noticed are woven through one another in a most marvellous manner, and the gods also bear a conspicuous part in the history as progenitors of various Heroic families. Any attempt therefore at introducing the accuracy of chronology into such a chaos is absurd in the extreme;1 and it is only with the glimmer of the dawn of real Grecian history,—of which the first or mytho-historic portion, as we have said, commences with the Dórian migration,—that the regular succession of events can be traced with any appearance of probability. The mythic portion of a nation's annals must be always regarded as a world in itself,5 the creation of fancy, where the real assumes the garb of the imaginary, and becomes indistinguishable from it; where no event can be pronounced to be absolutely true; where fancy and ingenuity are ever at liberty to sport and to lead the inquirer an eager and a delightful chase after the forms which float before him in the distance, but fade into mist when he attempts to grasp them. It is a region of sunshine and fragrance in which the song of the bard evermore resounds, pleasant to view and curious to explore; where the search after truth is rewarded by insight into the powers and operations of the human mind, and the fancy is continually nourished and inspired by gay and magnificent imagery. Though chronology, properly so called, cannot be introduced into mythic history, it has however a chronology of its own, and may be divided into distinct periods. In the mythic history of Greece, for instance, we find an indefinite period, in which are to 1 The Greek pws is plainly the Latin herus, German herr, i. e. master :— hpwiva, and the German herrinn, mistress, are nearly the same. 2 Pind. Ol. ii. 2. Hor. Carm. i. 12, 1. Hérodotos (iii. 122) thus distinguishes between Minos and Polykrates. Ηρως ἐστὶ ὅ μήτε ἀνθρωπός εστί, μήτε θεός, καὶ συναμφότερος ἐστί. Luc. Dial. Mort. 3. 3 See Lobeck, p. 1233. Comp. Buttmann, Mythol. ii. 226. Müller, Orchom. 136; Proleg. 330. 5 Comp. Müller, Proleg. 103. be placed Kadmos, Kekrops, Perseus, and other heroes; then follow the times of Héraklés and Théseus and the Argonautic expedition; this period is succeeded by that of the Théban Wars, after which come the War of Troy and the Returns of the Heroes, with which the mythic portion of Grecian history terminates. Two courses present themselves to the narrator of this mythic history. He may either take the genealogical one, and relate the history of each mythic family consecutively; or he may pursue the subject geographically, and distribute the mythes according to the regions which are assigned as the scenes of them. Without venturing to assert that it is the best, we have given the preference to the latter mode, and shall commence at Thessaly, the most northerly portion of Greece. It must be previously stated, that the genealogists make Deukalion the father of Hellén, who was the father of Dóros, Æolos, and Xuthos, which last had two sons, Achæos and Ión.1 Of these personified races Eolos alone occupies any space in mythology. His sons were Krétheus, Athamas, Sisyphos, Salmóneus and Periéres; some of whom belong to the mythology of Thessaly, others to that of the Peloponnése, and thus seem to indicate a close connection in the mythic period between these extremes of Hellas. 2 CHAPTER II. MYTHES OF THESSALY. THE legends of which Thessaly is the scene are few in number, and are nearly all confined to the district about Pelion and the bay of Pagasæ; their subjects are chiefly the Eolids, or heroes of the race of Eolos, and the ancient Minyans. "Αδμητος καὶ Αλκηστις. Admetus et Alcestis. Krétheus the son of Molos married Tyró, the daughter of his brother Salmóneus. By her he had three sons, namely Æsón, Amytháón and Pherés. This last built the city of Phere, which was named from him: his son Admétos married Alkéstis the daughter of Pelias, a son of Tyró by Poseidón.* When Apolló was banished from Olympos, the legend says, he 1 Thus according to Abulgazi (Gen. Hist. of Tatars, ch. 2 and 3) Japhet the son of Noah had a son named Turk, who had two sons named, the one Tatar, and the other Mongol. 2 Hés. Fr. 23. Eurip. Fr. Eolos, 23. names several other children of Eolos. Apollod. i. 7, 3. This last writer became the servant of Admétos,1 and it was during the period of his service that Admétos sought the hand of Alkéstis. Pelias would only give her to him who should yoke a lion and a wild boar to his chariot, and this Admétos effected by the aid of his divine herdsman. Apolló also obtained from the Fates that, when the day appointed for the life of Admétos to terminate should come, he might defer it if any one would die in his place. When the fatal day arrived Admétos implored his aged father and mother to lay down their small remnant of life for his sake, but they were deaf to his prayers. With a generous self-devotion Alkéstis then proffered herself as the substitute. She therefore died, and was laid in the tomb; but Héraklés happening to come just at this time to the house of Admétos, and hearing what had occurred, went and sat at the tomb, and when Death (or according to others Hadés himself) came, he seized him, and forced him to resign his victim, whom he then restored to her husband. It was also said that Héraklés fetched Alkéstis back out of Erebos.2 If, as has been hinted above, Admétos was Hadés, Alkéstis the Strong-one (aλ) may have been Persephoné. Her name would then answer to Strong (pipos), one of his epithets, and to Awful (éπavý), one of those of his queen. On this however we would lay no stress; for we are inclined to regard the mythe just related as one devised in honour of the female sex, and without any mystic or recondite meaning. Whatever the circumstance may have been that caused an epithet of Hadés to be made the hero of itperhaps some connection with the mythology of Héraklés-it was but natural to select a corresponding term for the name of his wife. 3 Iason et Medea. Ιάσων καὶ Μήδεια. Krétheus was succeeded in the dominion over Iolkos, which he had founded, by his son són. This prince married Alkimédé daughter of Phylakos, or, as others said, Polymédé or Polyphémé daughter of Autolykos, or Theagnoté daughter of Labdakos, by whom he had a son named Iasón. By force or fraud he was deprived of his kingdom by his half-brother Pelias," who sought the life of the infant Iasón; and to save him his parents gave out 1 Above, p. 108. 2 Eur. Alkestis. Apollod. i. 9, 15. Hygin. 50, 51. Fulgent. i. 27. 3 Few persons, we believe, are aware of the fact that Thomson's drama of Edward and Eleanora is an imitation, in one scene nearly a translation, of the Alkéstis of Euripidés. Apollod. i. 9, 16. Sch. Apoll. Rh. i. 46. Tzetz. Lyc. 175. 5 Pind. Pyth. iv. 109 (193) seq. Others said that on the death of Æsón Pelias reigned as guardian to the infant lasón. Sch. Od. xii. 69. that he was dead, and meantime conveyed him by night to the cave of the Kentaur Cheirón, to whose care they committed him.' An oracle had told Pelias to beware of the 'one-sandalled man,' but during many years none such appeared to disturb his repose. At length, when Iasón had attained the age of twenty, he proceeded unknown to Cheirón to Iolkos, to claim the rights of his family. He bore, says the Theban poet, two spears; he wore the closefitting Magnésian dress, and a pard-skin to throw off the rain, and his long unshorn locks waved on his back. He entered the marketplace, and the people, who knew him not, marvelled if he were Apolló or the 'brazen-carred spouse of Aphrodíté,' i.e. Arés. Just then Pelias came by in his mule-car; and the moment he looked on him, and perceived that he had but one sandal, he shuddered. He asked him who he was, and Iasón mildly answered his question, telling him that he was come to demand the kingdom of his fathers which Zeus had given to Æolos. He then went into the house of his father, by whom he was joyfully recognised. On the intelligence of the arrival of Iasón, his uncles Pherés and Amytháón, with their sons Admétos and Melampus, hastened to Iolkos. Five days they feasted and enjoyed themselves; on the sixth Iasón disclosed to them his wishes, and went accompanied by them to the dwelling of Pelias, who at once proposed to resign the kingdom, retaining the herds and pastures, at the same time stimulating Iasón to the expedition of the Golden Fleece.2 Another account is that Pelias, being about to offer a sacrifice on the shore of the sea to his sire Poseidón, invited all his subjects. Iasón, who was ploughing on the other side of the Anauros, crossed that stream to come to it, and in so doing lost one of his sandals. It is said that Héra, out of enmity to Pelias, who had neglected to sacrifice to her, took the form of an old woman, and asked Iasón to carry her over, which caused him to leave one of his sandals in the mud; her object was to give occasion for Médeia's coming to Iolkos and destroying Pelias. When Pelias perceived Iasón with but one sandal, he saw the accomplishment of the oracle, and sending for him next day, asked him what he would do, if he had the power, had it been predicted to him that he should be slain by one of his citizens. Iasón replied, that he would order him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece. Pelias took him at his word, and imposed this task on himself.* Iasón proclaimed his enterprise throughout Greece, and the 1 Apollod. i. 9. 16. Apoll. Rh. i. 10. Hygin. 12, 13. 2 Pind. ut sup. 3 Apollónios (iii. 67 seq.) makes her say that her object was to make trial of the humanity of men. Pherekýdés ap. Sch. Pind. Pyth. iv. 75 (133). bravest heroes hastened to share in the glory. The fleece was gained by the aid of Médeia the daughter of the king of Kolchis, and the Argó, as the vessel in which they sailed was named, returned to Iolkos in safety.1 But during the absence of Iasón, Pelias had driven his father and mother to self-destruction, and put to death their remaining child. Desirous of revenge, Iasón, after he had delivered the fleece to Pelias, entreated Médeia to exercise her art in his behalf. He sailed with his companions to the Isthmos, and there dedicated the Argó to Poseidón; and Médeia shortly afterwards ingratiated herself with the daughters of Pelias, and by vaunting her art of restoring youth, and proving it by cutting up an old ram, and putting him into a pot whence issued a bleating lamb, she persuaded them to treat their father in the same manner.2 Pelias was buried with great splendour by his son Akastos, and the most renowned heroes of the time in Greece contended at the games celebrated on the occasion. Akastos drove Iasón and Médeia from Iolkos, and they retired to Corinth, where they lived happily for ten years; till Iasón, wishing to marry Glauké or Kreüsa, the daughter of Kreón king of that place, put away Médeia. The Kolchian princess, enraged at the ingratitude of her husband, called on the gods for vengeance, sent a poisoned robe as a gift to the bride, and then killing her own children mounted a chariot drawn by winged serpents, and fled to Athens, where she married king Egeus, by whom she had a son named Médos; but being detected in an attempt to destroy Théseus, she fled with her son. Médos conquered several barbarous tribes, and the country which he named after himself, and finally fell in battle against the Indians. Médeia, returning unknown to Kolchis, found that her father Æétés had been robbed of his throne by his brother Persés: she restored him, and deprived the usurper of life.3 In narrating the adventures of Iasón and Médeia we have followed Apollodóros, who seems to have adhered closely to the versions of the legend given by the Attic tragedians, in whose hands the hero and heroine have undergone the same fate with those of other places whose people were politically opposed to the sovereign democracy of Athens. We will now give the more trustworthy accounts of others. In the Theogony Médeia is classed with the goddesses who honoured mortal men with their love. Iasón brought her from 1 The particulars of this voyage will be related below. 2 Apollod. i. 9, 27. 3 Id. ib. 4 Médeia is said to be immortal by Pindar (Pyth. iv. 18) and Musæos (ap Sch. Eurip. Med. 9). T |