LITERATI-RE 



325 



mythology she was represented with her head bare, her 

 :>en near the heart, holding in her left hand an 

 elm. around which a vine clung, filled with clusters 

 of grapes. 



Am' num. One of the names bestowed on Jupiter. 

 As Jupiter Ammon, he was represented as having the 

 horns of a ram. 



Amphi'on. Son of Jupiter and Antiope. and brother 

 of Zethus. They were born on Mount Citlueron, and 



Sew up among the shepherds. When they had learned 

 eir origin they marched against Thebes, where Lycus 

 reigned, the husband of their mother Antiope. who had 

 married Diree in her stead. They took the city, and 

 killed Lycus and Dirce. because they had treated Antiope 

 with great cruelty. After they had obtained possession 

 of Thebes, they fortified it by a wall. Amphion had 

 rec -ived a lyre from Mercury, on which he played with 

 such magic skill that the stones moved of their own 

 accord and formed the wall. 



AiH'je'us. A son of Neptune who, having left a cup 

 of wine un tasted to pursue a wild boar, was killed by 

 it, which gave rise to the proverb. "There's many a slip 

 between the cup and the lip." 



\MI hi - >. King of Dardanus and father of /Eneas. 

 On the rapture of Troy by the Greeks, /Eneas carried his 

 father on his shoulders from the burning city. 



Androm'ache. Daughter of one of the kings of 

 and wife of Hector. 



Androm'eda. Andromeda, to atone for a crime of 

 which she was guiltless, was to have become the victim 

 of divine anger. The whole country was laid waste 

 with plagues, which, according to the oracle of Jupiter 

 Ammon. were not to cease until Andromeda, swallowed 

 up by a sea-monster, should, by her death, expiate 

 ;ie of her mother. Perseus beheld the maiden 

 fastened with chains to a rock, and a monster rising 

 out of the sea ready to devour her; while her parents 

 stood on the shore in despair. Perseus rushed down 

 upon the monster, struck the deadly blow, delivered 

 the fair maiden and obtained her as his wife. After her 

 death she was placed among the stars. 



\imii rva'del. Frithiofs sword, inscribed with Runic 

 letters, which blazed in time of war, but gleamed with 

 a dim light in time of peace. 



\tit.i- 11 x. One of the giant sons of Neptune whose 

 home was in Libya. His strength was invincible so long 

 as he remained in contact with his mother earth. Once 

 lifted from the earth and allowed again to touch it 

 his ttnogth increased. One of the exploits ascribed to 

 ilea was the exhibition of his strength in over- 

 coming Antaeus. 



Antlg'one. In the story of Oedipus, Antigone ap- 

 pears as a noble maiden, with a truly heroic attachment 

 to her father and brothers. When Oedipus had put out 

 his eyes, and was obliged to quit Thebes, he was accom- 

 panied by Antigone, who remained with him till he died 

 at Colonus. and then returned to Thebes. After her 

 pothers had killed each other in battle, and Creon. 

 niigof Thebes, would not allow Poly nices to be buried. 

 Antigone buried him by night, against the orders of 

 Creon. for which offense he ordered her to be buried alive. 

 She, however, killed herself on hearing of the sen'- 



:.-ath of Antigone is the subject of a tragedy written 

 by Sophocles. (See Eteocles.) 



Vpli n.dite. One of the names under which Venus 



was worshiped. She was said to be the daughter of 

 Zeus, but later poets frequently relate that she was 

 sprung from the foam of the sea, whence they derive her 



name. 



A' pis. One of the Egyptian gods worshiped under 



Apol'lo. According to both Greeks and Romans, 

 Ap)Do was the son of Jupiter and I Batons. \>m on the 

 inland Del on. He was regarded as the god of t h. 

 and the arts, especially poetr. md medi.-me 



They ascribed to him the greatest skill in the use of the 

 bow and arrow, which he proved in killing the serpent 

 the sons of Niobe. and the Cyclops. The Mast 

 nid he was banished from 

 Olympus. Duriof his exile Apollo -abode as a - 



i IK of Thnmaly. All sudden deaths 

 were believed to be the effect of his arrows; n> 



plague into the camp of the Greeks 

 before Troy. As he had the power of pumh 

 so he was also able to del. ..T mm. if dulv propitiated. 

 From h,~ being the god who afforded help, he is the 

 father <>f JSeculapiu*, the god of tin- h.vdmg. A* a god 

 of H, -|.. ; . ,-...!, :u.d prophecy he gave oracle* and com- 

 municated this gift to other gods and to men. The stories 

 in <;reek mythology ." mu h t he same as the 



. in Hindoo mvthology. 



tie. A Mironian maid, named Arachne, proud 

 kill in weaving and embroidery, in which art* 



the goddess of wisdom had instructed her, ventured to 

 deny her obligation, and challenged her patroness to a 

 trial of skill. Minerva accepted the challenge and thev 

 met to try their skill. Arachne produced a piece of cloth 

 in which the amours of the gods were woven, and as the 

 goddess could find no fault with it, she tore the work to 



; pieces. Arachne, in despair, hung herself. Athena 

 loosened the rope a.nd saved her life, but the rope was 

 changed into a cobweb, and Arachne herself into a spider. 

 Ares. The Greek god of war. known as Mars by 



I the Romans. 



Arethu'sa. A wood nymph of Elis, in Greece, who, 

 pursued by the River Alpheus, was changed into a 

 fountain and ran under the sea. The waters of the 

 fountain, mingled with the river, rose again in the foun- 

 tain of Arethusa in the island of Ortygia, near Syra- 

 cuse. ' According to another version of the same legend, 

 it was Diana herself, and not the nymph Arethusa. 



i whom the river-god of the Alpheus pursued; and when 

 this pursuit ended in the bland of Ortygia, then arose 

 the fountain Arethusa. 



Ar'gonauts. One of the most celebrated enterprises 



: of the lieroic ages, one which forms a memorable epoch 

 in Grecian history, a sort of separation-point between 

 the fabulous and the authentic, was the Argonautic 

 expedition. This was a voyage from Greece to Colchis 

 in order to obtain the golden fleece, conducted by Jason. 



I the son of /Eson. King of Thessaly. The undertaking 

 was imposed upon him by his uncle Pelias. He in- 



; vited the most illustrious heros of Greece to unite in the 

 expedition, and among those who joined him were Her- 

 cules, Castor and Pollux, Peleus, Pirithous, and The- 

 seus. The vessel built for the purpose was named Argos. 

 which after various adverse events arrived at /Ea, the 



I capital of Colchis. 



Ar'jrqs. A fifty-oared ship in which Jason and his 

 companions made their voyage to Colchis in search of 

 the golden fleece. This ship was built of pines cut from 

 Mount Pelion, which, although larger than any other 

 previously constructed, moved lightly and easily, and 



! was therefore called the Arges (swift-sailing). From her 

 name, those who embarked in her were called Argonauts. 

 The mast of the Argos was taken from the forest of 

 Dodona, where the oaks were endowed with the power 

 of making predictions; therefore, the ship was regarded 

 as an animated being, in accord with Fate, to which a 

 man might commit himself with confidence. 



Ar'gus. A fabulous beinit of enormou- >t r<-n<.:\ h. 

 who had a hundred eyes, of which only two were asleep 

 at once, whence he was named Panoptes, or the All-seeing. 

 Ari'adne. Daughter of Minos, second king of Crete. 

 and Pa-sinhir, fell in love with Theseus, who was shut up 

 in the labyrinth to be devoured by the Minotaur. She 

 gave Theseus a clew of thread by which he extricated 

 himself from the windings of the labyrinth. 



Ar'ion. A Greek bard, who having thrown himself 

 into the sea to escape from pirates, was taken up by 

 dolphins, and carried on their backs safe to land. 



Ar'temls. Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Leto. 

 or Latona, and twin sister of Apollo, was the goddess of 

 chastity, of the chase and the woods. 



As'gard. In Scandinavian mythology Asgard repre- 

 sents the city of the gods, situated at the center of the 

 universe, and accessible only by the bridge Bifrost, i. e., 

 the rainbow. 



A'sir. In Northern mythology the most powerful, 

 though not the oldest, of the deities: usually reckoned as 

 twelve gods and twelve goddesses. The gods are 



Thor. Maldur. NlOld, Fr-W. Tvr. |U:i K ,. lieimdall. 



Vali. rilur. and l..i.-ti. t he bent-known o the goddesses 

 Frigga. Freyia. Iduna. and Saga. 



Astar'to. Noticed in the Old Testament under the 



Ashteroth. 



an ancient Syrian deity, who was 

 adored as the goddess of the moon; hence Jeremiah 

 calls her " the queen of heaven." Solomon built her a 

 temple on the Mount of < 



Atalan'ta. A maid of An .id ia who was forsaken by her 

 parents and reared in the lulls Found by muiir hunter* 

 she afterward joined in the Calydonian hunt, and at the 

 funeral games of Pelias, she won the price in wrestling 

 vn. in MX. \ d inland m the west. m< 



i i.ito. I'linv and other ancient writers, and said to 

 have sunk beneath the ocean. 



At'lnx. the Titans, son of lapetus and Cly- 



.-d by Jupiter, he was conoV. 

 t.. the i.,>... i ..; bearini < n M- bead and hands the heaven 



rSirE r il *. or PM., *. 

 one thatctit the thread of life. As wife of Pluto, and 

 queen of hell. Proserpine presided over the death of 



.ents, 



-.,. eould .1 e if the goddess herself, or Atropos. the 

 m.niHter. did not cut off ot )C of the hairs from the head. 



