Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



this he suggests the white-haired, white-bearded 

 Vainamoinen. Again there was an Achilleus 

 the son of Zeus and Lamia, so beautiful that 

 Venus became frantic with jealousy. Pan was 

 called upon to judge in this pre-Homeric 

 beauty contest and because he cast his vote for 

 Achilleus the angry goddess changed Pan to a 

 hideous goat-footed creature and made him 

 fall in love with Echo, the nymph who ever 

 mocks and can never be found. There was 

 still another Achilleus who taught the Centaur 

 Cheiron, who in turn was the teacher of the 

 Homeric Achilleus. Finally there was a pris- 

 tine Achilleus, the son of Earth, a primeval 

 eagle of the cloudy firmament, 

 to whom Hera fled when Zeus 

 pursued her in the shape of a 

 cuckoo. This Achilleus per- 

 suaded Hera not to fly from 

 Zeus, who caught her as a cuckoo on the 

 Cuckoo Mountain. He was the eagle coun- 

 sellor of cuckoo gods. 



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