LITERATURE 



333 



she had aided her sister, and requested to be allowed to 

 share the same punishment. Denied of this, she is said 

 to have died from grief. The story is told by Sopho- 

 cles, and the modern artist. Teschendorf, has made a 

 i picture of the two sisters. 



1^ ratil. Known among Arabians as the angel of 

 music, who possessed the most melodious voice of all 

 God's creatures. This is the angel who is to sound the 

 Resurrection Trump, and make music for the saints in 

 Paradi.-e. Israfil, Gabriel, and Michael were the three 

 angels that warned Abraham of Sodom's destruction. 



l:li 'aca. In mythology, the island-kingdom of 

 Ulysses. The city of Ithaca, the residence of I 

 was situated on a precipitous, conical hill, now called 

 "eagle's cliff." occupying the whole breadth of the 

 is. Ithaca was also the home of Penelope. 



Ithu'rlel. One of the angels commissioned by 

 Gabriel to search for Satan, who had effected his en- 

 trance into Paradise. 



Ixi'on. A fabled king of Thessaly, who became 

 father of the Centaurs. The story by which he is most 

 noted runs: When Deloneus demanded of Ixion certain 

 gifts he had promised, Ixion treacherously invited him 

 to a banquet, and contrived to make him fall into a pit 

 tilled with fire. Ixion, as a punishment, was chained 

 by Hermes with his hands and feet to a wheel, which 

 is described as winged or fiery, and said to have rolled 

 perpetually. 



.1 niishid'. King of the Genii, famous for a golden 

 cup full of the elixir of life. This cup, hidden by the 

 genii, was discovered while digging the foundations of 

 Persep'olis. 



Ja'nus. One of the superior gods of the Romans. 

 The myths represent him as reigning over the earliest 

 inhabitants of Italy, in the time of Saturn. It was to 

 Janus that Saturn fled, and under them was the "golden 

 age," a period of peace. To Janus, Romulus dedicated 

 that celebrated temple, which was always open in time 

 of war, and was closed with much solemnity, whenever 

 there was general peace in the Roman Empire; a thing 

 which happened but-three times during 700 years. From 

 this deity the month of January was named, and the first 

 day of the month was sacred to him. 



Ja'son. He was a shoot of the heroic stem of JEolva. 

 but not the son of a god ; and Juno, while she persecuted 

 the sons of Jupiter, took him under her especial protec- 

 tion. His father, JEaon, who reigned at lolcus. was de- 

 "f the kingdom by his half-brother Pelias, who 

 attempted to take the life of the infant Jason. He was 

 saved by his friends, and intrusted to the care of the 

 Centaur Chiron. When he had grown up he came to 

 lolcus. and demanded the kingdom, which Pelias prom- 

 ised to surrender to him, provided he brought the golden 

 fleece, which was in the possession of King yEetes in 

 Colchis, and was guarded by an ever-watchful dragon. 

 The greatest feat recorded of him is his voyage in the 

 Argo to Colchis to obtain the golden fleece, which, aided 

 by Juno, he succeeded in doing. He married Medea, 

 daughter of the Kirm <>f Colchis, who was a magician, 

 and on Jason having vowed eternal fidelity to her, she 

 in charms to protect him from danger. 



Jinn. A sort of fairies in Arabian mythology, the off- 

 spring of fire. They are governed by a race of kings 

 named Suleyman, one of whom "built the pyramids." 

 I ii'-.r chief abode is the mountain Kaf, and they appear 

 to men under the forms of serpents, dogs, cats, monsters, 

 human bcmgs, and become invisible at pleasure. 

 The evil jinn are ugly, but the good are beautiful. Ac- 

 cording to fable, they were created from fire two thou- 

 sand years before Adam was made of earth. 



Jord. Daughter of Night and mother of Thor. In 

 nvian mythology the name given to primitive 

 earth. 



Jo\< . Known in classical mythology as the god of 

 thunder. The name Jove is but another appellation, 

 rarely given to Zeus or Jupiter. 



Juggernaut or Jaggrrnaut. A Hindu ^-d. The 

 temple of this god is in a town of the same name in Orissa. 



.In no. The wife and sister of Jupiter, daughter of 



Saturn and Hhea. and as wife of Jupiter mistress of gods 



.. Her birthplace was assigned by the Greeks 



to Argos, or the Inland Samoa, and to other spots in 



Greece, although her story and lii T worship were rather 



i.f Phenician origin. I he chief peculiarities of her char- 



re love of power and jealousy. The worship of 



an far spread, and the number of her temple* 



and festivals was very great. The same goddess was 



-d among the Greeks under the name - 



Ju'pltrr. The highest and most powerful among the 

 I y this god was originally represented nature 

 m general; and finally the supreme existence. The 

 of Jupiter WHS universal, and numerous tem- 

 ples were erected to his honor. The largest and the 



most celebrated in Greece was that in Olympia. remark- 

 able for its own magnificence, and for its statue of Jupiter 

 wrought by Phidias, and for the Olympic games held in 

 its vicinity. His oracle in the grove of oaks at Dodona 

 was renowned, and considered the most ancient in Greece. 

 In Rome the capitol was specially dedicated to him, and 

 he had in that city many temples. Among the Greeks 

 he was known as Zeus. 



Kama. The Hindu god of love. His wife is Rati 

 (voluptuousness), and he is represented as riding on a 

 sparrow, holding in his hand a bow of flowers and five 

 arrows, each tipped with the bloom of a flower supposed 

 to conquer one of the senses. His power is so much 

 exalted that even the god Brahma is said to succumb 

 i to it. 



Ka'mi. The gods of ancient Japan. The name, in 

 modern times, designates any spiritual saint and may 

 also be applied to a prince. 



Kaswa. The camel admitted into Moslem paradise, 



the favorite camel of Mahomet which fell on its knees 



in adoration when "the prophet" delivered the last 



clause of the Koran to the assembled multitude at Mecca. 



Kelpie. In mythology of Scotland, a spirit of the 



i water seen in the form of a horse. Each lake has its 



; Kelpie. 



Kobold. A house-spirit in German superstition. In 

 northern lands the name is sometimes used in place of 

 j elf or dwarf representing an under-ground spirit. Prob- 

 ! ably the same as the Scotch brownie. 



Koppelborg. The hill which miraculously opened 



to receive the children who followed the Pied Piper. 



i This belongs to mythology, as people in the Middle 



' Ages considered Odin as the leader of disembodied 



spirits, and from this came the Pied Piper. The rats 



v, -ere the restless souls of the dead, which the Pied Piper 



released by drowning. 



Krish'na. In Hindu mythology, the eighth incar- 

 nation of Vishnu. According to some authorities he is 

 considered distinct from all the Avatars, as these had 

 only a portion of the divinity, and Krishna was Vishnu 

 himself in form of "the Black One." 



Kro'nos. Kronos (Time) was the youngest of the 

 Titans, and as the heavens measure out time to us. and 

 earth is considered its beginning, he is said to be born 

 of r ratios and (Je. He was generally worshiped under 

 the name of Saturn. 



Kuve'ra. In Hindu mythology, the god of riches, 

 .represented as frightfully deformed, and as riding in a 

 1 car drawn by hobgoblins. 



Lach'e-sis. One of the three fates; the one that 

 spun the thread of life. 



Ladon. The dragon who guarded the apples of the 

 Hesperides, and was slain by Hercules. Ladon is also the 

 name of the father of Daphne and Metope. 



Lse'dlng. In Norse mythology the strong chain with 



which the wolf, Fenris, was bound. He easily broke the 



chain and from this legend has grown the saying, "to 



get loose out of Lseding." A stronger chain was known 



, as Droma. 



Laer'tes. Mythical King of Ithaca and father of 

 Ulysses. Laertes took part in the Calydonian hunt, and 

 in the expedition of the Argonauts. He was still alive 

 when Ulysses returned to Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. 

 During the absence of Ulysses he had withdrawn to the 

 country in grief and bowed with age, and Penelope, tin 

 wife of Ulysses, is represented as weaving the shroud of 

 her father-in-law, the work with which she put aside her 

 many suitors. 



La'lus. King of Thebes, son of Labdacus, husband 

 of Jocasta. and father of Oedipus, by whom he was 

 sl&in* 



La' ml a. A monstrous specter, which was believed 

 to devour human beings. 



Laoc'oon. Son of Priam and priest of Apollo. He 

 opposed the reception of the Wooden Horse into Troy. 

 thinking it some artifice of the deceitful Greeks. He and 

 his two sons were killed by two monstrous serpents which 

 came f rom the sea. The people believed that they were 

 struck by the gods because of their interference. The 

 death of Laocoon is the subject of one of the most mag- 

 nificent and celebrated works of ancient sculpture still 

 in existence: it was discovered in 1500 at Rome, and is 

 in the Vatican. It is a sincte block of 

 and was the work of Agesander of Rhodes and 



t \MI i >t IKT sculpti >p 



Laodam a. The wife of Protesilaus. who was slain 

 before Troy. She begged to be allowed to converse with 

 her dead husband for only three hours, and her request 

 was granted. Hermes (Mercury) led Protesilaus back 

 to the upper world; and when Protesilaus died a second 



tim* I^nrUmA died With him. 



LaomVdoo. The king who built the walla of Troy 

 assisted by Neptune an<f Apollo, who had displeased 



