106 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
residence. In consideration of this pledge Apollo presented him with the 
staff of fortune, appointed him god of herds, and taught him the art of 
divination by lots. 
Hermes gave yet other proofs of his skill in thieving. On the day of his 
birth Hera took him in her arms, and pleased with his sprightliness, suckled 
him ; but learning from Iris whose child he was, she angrily cast him away 
from her. The milk which she spilt streamed across the sky, and formed 
the milky way. Aphrodite now took him in her lap, and in return for her 
caresses he stole her girdle. He afterwards purloined the sceptre of Zeus, 
and while Ares was in the act of recovering it, the sly god took his sword 
from its sheath. As some atonement for his tricks, he performed many 
and valuable services for the gods, and was always prompt in fulfilling 
their commands and requests. He evinced great fondness for the gentle 
sex, and had numerous descendants. While enamored of Herse, daughter 
of Cecrops, his modesty prevented him from declaring his passion. He 
then tried to influence her sister Aglawros in his favor, but incited by envy, 
she increased Herse’s prejudices against him. In revenge for her treachery 
he changed her into a yellow stone, and ever since yellow has been regarded 
as a type of Envy. 
11. Apotto. This god, the son of Zeus and ZLefo, and the twin bro- 
ther of Artemis, fostered the arts of poetry, music, and divination. 
From his skill in archery he received the surnames, the Far-shooting, the 
Dragon-slayer, and others. He was also regarded as the founder of medical 
science, and to him and to his sister were assigned the arrows of pestilence ; 
whence the common opinion that all who died suddenly had fallen by 
the arrows of Apollo. Shepherds revered him as the god of flocks, and 
many cities claimed and honored him as their founder and patron. 
In regard to artistic representation, this god involved the perfect ideal of 
human beauty, and was the personification of manly youth and vigor. He 
belonged to the beardless gods, and none of the Olympians had so oval a 
face, so finely pencilled eyebrows, and so elevated a forehead. His whole 
countenance expressed the height of tranquil inspiration. His long, waving 
hair is usually fastened back, only a few stray locks descending to the 
shoulders, the rest being gathered in a knot on the crown of his head, like 
that of Artemis and Aphrodite. In the best statues his entire figure 
strongly reminds the observer of the Great Father, and might be mistaken 
for a youthful Zeus. 
His many representations exhibited him in varied dress and character. 
Among his symbols occur the bow and arrow, because he kept the arrows 
of sudden death, and joined his sister in the chase; the lyre or some 
other musical instrument; the serpent which typifies his killing of Python, 
and his discovery of medicine ; the shepherd’s crook, the tripod, the laurel, 
the ram, and the hawk. As Delphian Apollo (so named from his cele- 
brated temple at Delphi, in Phocis), he is totally destitute of drapery, and 
leans against an altar, holding in the left hand a laurel twig, the right being 
placed on his head (pl. 27, jig. 15). As Musagetes or leader of the Muses, 
he usually wears a long tunic. In this character he is represented as play- 
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