268 The Honey-Makers 



Others again deny to Crete the honor of having produced 

 the bees at all, and say they came forth in Thessaly, or on 

 Mount Hyraettus itself. 



Nymphs and bees were very closely related, — nymphs, 

 in fact, being but transformed bees ; and we sometimes find 

 the bees under their protection, as is told in the " Odyssey " 

 in a description of a port in Ithaca : — 



" An olive tree 

 With spreading branches at the farther end 

 Of that fair haven stands, and overbrows 

 A pleasant shady grotto of the nymphs 

 Called Naiads. Cups and jars of stone are ranged 

 Within, and bees lay up their honey there.'' 



As in Hindu mythology, so in that of Greece and Italy, 

 we find the bee intimately connected with the creative 

 force in nature. 



Cybele, or Rhea, the great Earth-mother, is, like Vishnu, 

 though to a less extent, the creator of hving things, and 

 like him she is often represented in company with bees. 

 Her priestesses were termed melissse, they being, accord- 

 ing to some accounts, actually transformed bees. 



Demeter, or Ceres, symbolized the earth's fertility, while 

 her daughter, Persephone, or Proserpine, symbolized one 

 aspect of that fertility, the springing forth of verdure in 

 summer and its disappearance in winter ; and of, them 

 Porphyry says : — 



" The priestesses of Ceres, also, as being initiated into 

 the mysteries of the terrene goddess, were called by the 

 ancients bees ; and Proserpine herself was denominated 

 by them honied." 



To both Ceres and Proserpine honey was ofifered at 

 sacrifices. 



Virgil, exhorting the husbandmen to prepare for the 

 coming of the fruitful season, says, — 



