Herakles, the Hero of Thebes, and Other Heroes of the Myth

CHAPTER XXVI
PERSEUS FINDS THE GORGONS

Medusa was the youngest of three sisters known as the Gorgons, who lived somewhere in the far west by the ocean. She was the fairest of the three and in her youth had been a famous beauty. But having insulted Athena in her holy temple, that goddess punished her by spoiling her beauty in a most ghastly way. She changed her beautiful locks into living snakes. A great horror settled on the face of the poor girl, and it became so terrible in its look of agony, with its frightful frame of snakes, that no one could bear the sight. Whoever looked at her turned to stone.

Perseus set forth to find Medusa with the courage of a youth who has never known defeat. The goddess, Athena, who particularly despised the Gorgon, lent him her aid. She advised him to go to three aged women, who lived in a dark cavern near the entrance to the infernal regions. They were old women from their birth, gray-haired, misshapen, and had but one eye and a single tooth for the three. These they exchanged, each taking a turn at using the tooth and eye, while the other two sat toothless and blind.

Perseus approached them quietly, for they were easily alarmed and always on the lookout for something to dread. As they were passing the eye from one to the other, Perseus seized it, and they pleaded piteously for him to restore it. This Perseus refused to do until they should tell him the way to the home of the nymphs who took care of the invisible helmet of Hades and the winged shoes of Hermes, messenger of the gods. The three miserable old women were glad to get back their eye and tooth, although they were loath to give Perseus the information he wanted. But they told him the way to find the home of the nymphs, and he went on with a happier heart.

Perseus received the winged sandals from the nymphs and bound them to his own feet. They gave him a mantle, too, which he threw over his shoulders. It made him invisible, just as the darkness of night hides everything from human eyes. They put the helmet of Hades on his head. Whoever wore this helmet could see others, but no one could see him. Moreover, Hermes gave him a two-edged sword and Athena gave him a shield of brass, which was polished on the inside until it glittered like a mirror and reflected the image of everything back of the person using it.

Perseus, being thus armed, went flying toward the ocean and found the Gorgons lying on the shore. There were three of them and they were sisters. Medusa alone was immortal. The other Gorgons, as well as Medusa, had snakes on their heads instead of hair, and large teeth like wild beasts, and iron hands with golden nails. Athena had taught Perseus how to approach them without being the victim of Medusa’s deadly stare. Instead of facing her, he kept his face turned toward his shield and looked at her image only.

In this way, guarded by his cloak and helmet of invisibility, he came close to Medusa, and with one blow from his two-edged sword cut off the monster’s head. As the blood flowed down over the sand, there sprang from it a beautiful white-winged horse. Perseus had brought a large pouch which the nymphs had given him; a magic pocket that could be distended to almost any size. He hurried the head into the pouch without looking at it and flew away as fast as his winged sandals would carry him; the other Gorgons followed him in vain, for he was invisible to them.

CHAPTER XXVII
PERSEUS RESCUES ANDROMEDA

On his way back to the island of Seriphos, Perseus met with many adventures. He visited Atlas, expecting the hospitality which the Greeks consider due to all strangers. But Atlas did not receive him with courtesy, and Perseus in return held up the Gorgon’s head for Atlas to gaze at. Atlas was turned into a rocky mountain, and there he stands and always will stand with the firmament resting on his head.

In his flight Perseus reached Ætheopia, where King Kepheus reigned. There he saw an immense rock on the coast and a charming maiden was chained to the rock. Perseus approached her in pity and said, “Tell me, oh maiden, why thou art bound to this rock! What is thy name and which is thy country?” “I am a princess, the daughter of King Kepheus,” answered the girl, “and my name is Andromeda. My mother praised my beauty above that of the daughters of Nereus, displeasing the nymphs themselves and offending the god.

“The Nereids complained to Poseidon, and in his wrath he sent a sea-monster on shore to destroy the people and their flocks and herds and devastate the country. The king, my father, inquired of the Oracle how the country might be freed from this calamity. The Oracle made reply that the country would be delivered if the king would give up his own daughter to be devoured by the monster. When the people of Ætheopia heard of the answer of the Oracle they forced my father to accede to the terms. They themselves chained me to this rock, and every moment I expect the monster to come and tear me to pieces.”

No sooner had Andromeda finished her tale than the monster appeared in the distance. Her father and mother saw him too and wept in despair. Crying out to their beloved child, with extended hands they bewailed her fate.

“A truce to tears!” cried Perseus. “The brave man sheds no tears in the face of danger! He wastes no words but dares! Shall Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danäe, having slain Medusa, quail before a sea-serpent? I will save thy daughter, but thou must give her to me to be my wife!”

“Thou shalt have our daughter for thy wife and our kingdom as well,” cried the king, “if thou wilt save her!”

The waves rose higher and higher around the cliff and the sea-monster came roaring and hissing, with open jaws showing his savage teeth, his neck outstretched, and his head reared high above the breakers. Over the waves rose his tremendous back covered with thick, heavy scales, and he lashed the waters to a foam with his coiling tail.

Then Perseus, with the aid of his winged sandals, rose up into the air and attacked the monster from above. The beast plunged this way and that, leaping up and striking at Perseus with his fangs, diving again into the water and springing out, bellowing in a frightful manner.

Time after time Perseus thrust his sword into the monster, until a stream of black blood ran from its throat, and it grew motionless and died. Perseus quickly flew to Andromeda and took off the chains that bound her, and she sprang into her father’s arms with a cry of joy. The king and queen threw their arms around their beloved daughter and covered her with kisses, and they clasped the hand of Perseus with gratitude which they could not express.

Then they returned to the grand castle of Kepheus, promising to celebrate the nuptials of Perseus and Andromeda. The wedding took place amidst great pomp and splendor, but while they were in the midst of their festivities the din of arms and battle-cries resounded through the hall. Phineus, the brother of the king, had come with a crowd of warriors to steal the bride. For Andromeda, before her misfortunes, had been promised to him in marriage, but in the hour of danger he had left her to her fate, a prey to the sea-monster.

Now that she was safe again and in favor, Phineus had come to claim her. He said petulantly to Perseus, “Andromeda belongs to me. I come to get her. Neither thy winged sandals nor thy father Zeus shall save thee from my wrath. Thou art a robber trying to take my bride from me.”

Then the king answered him angrily. “Phineus,” he said, “thou art a boastful coward. In no way does Perseus rob thee of Andromeda. Thou hast lost her through thine own fault, for when she was in peril thou didst desert her like a coward, and she would have been devoured by the sea-monster before now if this noble youth had not saved her. My daughter shall wed the man who has saved her from a terrible death.”

But Phineus would not yield. Wishing to kill Perseus, he shot an arrow at him. At the same time he ordered his band of followers to rush upon him. The arrow did not hit Perseus, who fought single-handed against them all, but as soon as he struck down one foe a new one sprang up in his place. Perseus saw that he could keep on fighting for all time, and never conquer this army, which could furnish a new warrior as often as one was slain. Having thus fought alone against great numbers until he saw it was hopeless, Perseus took the head of Medusa out of the pouch where he had kept it and held it up for Phineus and his warriors to gaze upon. Instantly everyone of them was changed to stone, and Perseus, taking his bride, returned to the island of Seriphos.

CHAPTER XXVIII
PERSEUS BECOMES KING OF TIRYNS

When Perseus reached home he did not find the glad welcome to which he had looked forward with all the ardor of a youth who has been for the first time on an important errand. His mother had taken refuge in a temple at the altar of Zeus to escape the persecutions of King Polydektes, who had begun to ill-treat her as soon as Perseus had departed in search of Medusa. His brother, the fisherman, had tried to protect her and had used hot words in warning the king to desist from his unmanly purpose. But Polydektes turned his wrath upon his brother also, and he, too, could find no refuge save the sacred altars.

Perseus went at once to the king and announced his arrival. The king was uneasy, and yet he did not believe that Perseus had been able to keep his word. He called all the nobles of his court together to listen to what Perseus had to say. Perseus came before them, and taking the fearful head from its covering, held it up for them to look at. At once they became stone images, a ghastly court of petrified men. Even the frogs and beetles and other animals in the castle and its grounds were turned to stone.

Then Perseus flew to his mother, who was still a beautiful woman in spite of all her sorrows. She had long prayed for her son’s return, almost without hope, and now that he had really come her joy was boundless. Perseus established the fisherman as king of the island in his brother’s place, and the people rejoiced that they had been freed from the tyrant, Polydektes.

Perseus now gave up his winged sandals to Hermes, and asked him to carry the helmet and mantle to the nymphs, but the head of Medusa he gave to Athena, who wore it on her shield ever after.

Perseus could not remain idle at Seriphos. He set out for Argos to visit his grandfather, taking his mother and Andromeda. Akrisios, suspecting that he would come, for the words of the Oracle often came to his mind, had gone to Thessaly. There at Larissa he had built a home and established himself, hoping that his grandson would be contented to remain in Argos.

But Perseus went on until he came to Thessaly, and finding some games going on he took part in them. He threw a discus which accidentally struck his grandfather’s foot, giving him a painful wound which could not be cured. Thus the Oracle was fulfilled. Learning whom he had killed and that Akrisios had died according to an old prophecy, he mourned for him and buried him with honors outside of the city.

Perseus then returned to Argos, where he had left his wife and mother, and he became king of the country in the place of his grandfather, Akrisios. But the thought of sitting on a throne whose rightful king he had accidentally killed was distasteful to him, so he exchanged kingdoms with Megapenthes of Tiryns.

It is said that the Persian kings claimed to be descendants from Perses, a son of Perseus and Andromeda. However this may be, Perseus has certainly inspired many a poet and artist and hero to express great actions and courage in word and deed.

CHAPTER XXIX
TRIPTOLEMOS, THE HERO OF ELEUSIS, AND DEMETER, THE EARTH-MOTHER

Twelve miles to the west of Athens is a beautiful hill which ends abruptly close to the sea. It is the acropolis or highest point of Eleusis and is covered with splendid blocks of marble, the ruins of wonderful temples which stood there in ancient times. The greatest of these temples was called The Temple of the Mysteries. Demeter, the Earth-Mother, was worshipped there.

The principal road leading to the acropolis of Eleusis begins at the acropolis at Athens and is called The Sacred Way. Over this road, thousands of years ago, went the stately processions of loose-robed Greeks, their beautiful garments fluttering in the winds. Their heavy chariot-wheels left deep prints in the rocks, and there they are at the present time. There are ruins of temples to the gods along The Sacred Way, and the little lambs and kids skip playfully about among them.

A narrow pass between the hills admits you into a flowery meadow. It was here that Persephone played when a child. There are two salt lakes in the plain in which only priests were allowed to fish in the olden times. There, too, is a well where you stop for a cup of water as people have done through the long ages.

The plain of Eleusis is separated from Attica by a range of low hills clad with fields of wheat and barley. At the foot of the acropolis is the sickly little village of Eleusis, but the Island of Salamis rises across the blue waters of the bay like a fairyland shining through a delicate atmosphere of violet tint. This was the kingdom of Keleos and his son Triptolemos, the Hero of Agriculture, and it was the scene of the story of Demeter and Persephone, the story which brings us to the Hero of Eleusis.

It is said that Kronos and Rhea were the father and mother of the greatest of the gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades or (Pluto) and their sister Demeter, the mother of fertility. Though men might plough the fields and the rain moisten the swelling seed-grains, it was Demeter who gave the vital touch which caused the new life to spring up.

Demeter had one beloved daughter, Persephone, on whom she bestowed all the tenderness of her divine mother-heart. One day Persephone went out into the blooming meadows to play with her companions. The fields were gay with roses, violets, and lilies. The yellow crocus, the asphodel, and the purple and pink narcissus made bank and by-path seem like a soft carpet and filled the air with sweet fragrance.

Persephone stooped to pluck a flower of unusual beauty, when the earth suddenly opened and Hades appeared with a splendid chariot drawn by fiery black horses. He seized Persephone, and placing her on his chariot, drove away to his kingdom under the earth. Persephone uttered piercing cries, praying to the gods and imploring men to come to her rescue. But all in vain. Zeus looked on with approval, for he knew that his good brother ought not to be condemned to reign alone in the dread realms of darkness.

Now there was a goddess of the night, a torch-bearer who lived in a dark cave. Her name was Hekate and she knew the secrets of lonely forests and cross-roads and the gloomy underground world. She heard the shrieks of the maiden when Hades seized her; and Helios, too, the sun-god who sees everything, saw him bear her away.

The mother, Demeter, also, heard the cries of her daughter, and an unspeakable grief took possession of her. She wandered from place to place, taking neither food nor sleep, beseeching everyone to tell her where she could find her child. But no one could give her any information. She yoked her winged snakes to her car and drove with lighted torch through every country. Wherever she went she was received gladly by the people, for she stopped to teach them something of agriculture and left her blessing with them when she departed.

CHAPTER XXX
DEMETER’S GRIEF

On the tenth day of her wanderings she met Hekate, who said: “Lovable Demeter, who hath robbed thee of thy daughter and plunged thee into sorrow? I heard her cries when she was carried off, but I could not see who it was that took her. There is one, however, who sees everything, Helios, and he may tell thee where thy daughter is concealed.”

Demeter gladly took the hint, and with Hekate she set out to find Helios, and when they saw his horses and chariot they stationed themselves where they could speak to him. The venerable goddess said to him: “If ever, oh, Helios, I have pleased thee in word or deed, I pray thee look down from the heavens and tell me truly whether it is a god or a mortal that hath stolen my daughter.”

“Honored Queen,” replied Helios, “I willingly tell thee all I know. Hades hath taken thy daughter and led her into the gloomy kingdom below. But Zeus is the author of this deed, for he gave his permission to Hades to make Persephone his wife. Yet thou hast no need to grieve, for Hades is a loving husband and hath given thy daughter an honorable place as queen of his realm.”

When Demeter heard this her grief was unbounded and her anger terrible. She left the abode of the gods on Mount Olympos and went down to earth, where she assumed the form of a mortal woman. In her travels on the earth she reached Eleusis, and sat down on a stone near a spring, from which the people drew water.

As she sat there two beautiful maidens, daughters of Keleos, the King of Eleusis, came to the spring to fill their bronze pitchers with water. They saw the stately woman in garments of mourning, and, approaching her, asked with sympathy whence she came and why she sat alone so far from the city instead of coming to the houses, where the women would gladly show her every kindness in word and deed.

Demeter replied: “May the Olympian gods bestow all good gifts upon you, my daughters. Have pity on me and lead me to the house of some chief, where I may be a servant, doing such work as an old woman can perform. I can take care of a new-born babe, guard the house, tend the beds, and teach serving-women housework.”

“Venerable lady,” answered one of the daughters, “I thank thee for thy good wishes, and I will tell thee the names of the foremost men of the city. There are several chiefs of note in Eleusis, but our father is the king and he will give thee royal welcome. Let us take thee to our mother, Metaneira, and she will not let thee go into a strange house. She has a little son, and if thou wilt bring him up well she will give thee rich gifts.”

Demeter consented to go, and the girls, after filling their jugs, hastened home, where they told the queen, their mother, what they had seen and heard. The beautiful Metaneira sent them to call in the aged woman, and they ran back to the spot where they had left her. They took her by the hand and led her to their home, where they presented her to their mother.

Metaneira had her baby in her arms and received Demeter kindly. “Welcome, my dear woman,” she said, “thou hast come in good time. But I cannot treat thee as a servant, for thou dost appear like a princess.

“The gods often visit us with misfortunes, which we must bear as best we can. Let this home be thine and I will trust this babe of mine to thee, that thou mayst rear him. We had no hope of his living when he was born, but the gods had pity on me and let him live. For this reason he is much dearer to me. Care for him most lovingly and I will give thee a fitting reward.”

“My greeting I give to thee, too, dear lady,” answered Demeter. “May the gods give thee all thy desires. I will tend thy child with affection as if he were my own.”

Demeter made herself at home in the large hall of Keleos and undertook the bringing up of the boy. She gave him no other food but ambrosia, that he might never grow feeble with old age. The child throve wonderfully and was a joy to everybody. The father and mother were astonished at his rapid growth and handsome face.

But one night Metaneira wished to see how her son was getting along, and, going into the room where Demeter was tending him, saw a strange sight, for the supposed old woman held him over a fire like a brand. Metaneira, terribly frightened, cried out, “Oh, my child, the stranger is burning thee!”

But the goddess grew angry, took the child out of the fire, and setting it down on the ground, made reply: “Surely mortals are blind and incapable of telling good from evil. I vow to thee by the waters of the Styx that I have rendered thy beloved son immortal. I put him on the fire that it should render his mortal flesh impervious to the ills of men. For thee it is an eternal honor that I have lived in thy house and let thee sit in my presence.”

At that instant Demeter threw off her disguise as an old woman and appeared in all her glory as a goddess. Her face shone like the sun, and a heavenly odor was shed from her robe, and her golden hair glittered as it fell over her shoulders.

“Know that I am the goddess Demeter,” she said, “who am honored by mortals and immortals. Thou shalt hasten to bid the whole populace of Eleusis to build me a great temple above the spring on the mountain.”

Metaneira was speechless with astonishment at what she had heard and seen. She began to tremble and did not even take heed of her child, who sat on the floor looking at them with wonder. She went at once to her husband and told him all that had happened. King Keleos called his people together in a general assembly and ordered a beautiful temple to be built on the acropolis in honor of Demeter.

The people loved their king and believed his words, and they went to work at once to build the temple. They set about it with such zeal that it was finished in one day, for the goddess gave them divine strength and directed the work. Demeter took up her abode in the temple and remained away from the other gods, still mourning over the loss of her daughter.