Illustrative. - W. S. Landor, Hymn of Terpander to Juno; Lewis Morris, Heré, in the Epic of Hades. In Art. Of the statues of Juno the most celebrated was that made by Polyclitus for her temple between Argos and Mycena. It was of gold and ivory. (See Paus. 2. 17. 4.) The goddess was seated on a throne of magnificent proportions; she wore a crown upon which were figured the Graces and the Hours; in one hand she held a pomegranate, in the other a sceptre surmounted by a cuckoo. Of the extant representations of Juno the most famous are the torso in Vienna from Ephesus, the Barberini in the Vatican at Rome, the bronze statuette in the Cabinet of Coins and Antiquities in Vienna, the Farnese bust in the National Museum in Naples, the Ludovisi bust in the villa of that name in Rome (reproduced in the text), the Pompeian wall-painting of the marriage of Zeus and Hera (given by Baumeister, Denkmäler I. 649; see also Roscher 13: 2127), and the Juno of Lanuvium. § 35. Athene has some characteristics of the warlike kind in common with the Norse Valkyries, but she is altogether a more ideal conception. The best description of the goddess will be found in Homer's Iliad, Bk. 5:730 et seq. The derivation of Athene is uncertain (Preller). Related, say some, to ather, alonp, the clear upper air; say others, to the word anthos, ǎvoos, a flower virgin bloom; or (see Roscher, 684) to ather, ȧ0hp, spear point. Max Müller derives Athene from the root ah, which yields the Sanskrit Ahana and the Greek Daphne, the Dawn. Hence Athene is the Dawn-goddess; but she is also the goddess of wisdom, because "the goddess who caused people to wake was involuntarily conceived as the goddess who caused people to know" (Science of Language, I: 548-551). Epithets applied to Athene are the bright-eyed, the gray-eyed, the ægisbearing, the unwearied daughter of Zeus. The festival of the Panathenæa was celebrated at Athens, yearly, in commemoration of the goddess's victory over the giants. (See §§ 152-157 C.) The name Pallas characterizes the goddess as the brandisher of lightnings. Her Palladium or sacred image-holds always high in air the brandished lance. Minerva, or Menerva, is connected with Latin mens, Greek ménos, Sanskrit manas, mind; also with the Latin mane, morning. The relation is here again possible between the awakening of the day and the awakening of thought (Max Müller, as above, I : 552). For the meaning of the Gorgon, see Commentary on the myth of Perseus. Illustrative. Byron, Childe Harold 4: 96, the eloquent passage beginning, "Can tyrants but by tyrants conquered be, And Freedom find no champion and no child, Sprung forth a Pallas, armed and undefiled?" Shakespeare, Tempest 4:1; As You Like It 1:3; Winter's Tale 4:3; Pericles 2:3; Milton, P. L. 4: 500; Comus 701; Arcades 23; Lewis Morris' Athene, in the Epic of Hades; Byron's Childe Harold 2:1-15, 87, 91; Ruskin's Lectures entitled "The Queen of the Air" (Athene) Thos. Woolner's Pallas Athene, in Tiresias. In Art. — The finest of the statues of this goddess was by Phidias, in the Parthenon, or temple of Minerva, at Athens. The Minerva of the Parthenon has disappeared; but there is good ground to believe that we have, in several extant statues and busts, the artist's conception. The figure is characterized by grave and dignified beauty, and freedom from any transient expression; in other words, by repose. The most important copy extant is of the Roman period. The goddess was represented standing; in one hand a spear, in the other a statue of Victory. Her helmet, highly decorated, was surmounted by a Sphinx. (See figure, § 172.) The statue was forty feet in height, and, like the Jupiter, composed of ivory and gold. The eyes were of marble, and probably painted to represent the iris and pupil. The Parthenon, in which this statue stood, was also constructed under the direction and superintendence of Phidias. Its exterior was enriched with sculptures, many of them from the hand of the same artist. The Elgin Marbles now in the British Museum are a part of them. Also remarkable are the Minerva Bellica (Capitol, Rome); the Athene of the Acropolis Museum; the Minerva of the Ægina Marbles (Glyptothek, Munich); the Minerva Medica (Vatican); the Athene of Velletri in the Louvre. (See § 35, figure 2.) In modern sculpture, especially excellent are Thorwaldsen's Minerva and Prometheus, and Cellini's Minerva (on the base of his Perseus). In modern painting, Tintoretto's Minerva defeating Mars. § 36. While the Latin god Mars corresponds with Ares, he has also not a few points of similarity with the Greek Phoebus; for both names, Mars and Phoebus, indicate the quality shining. In Rome, the Campus Martius (field of Mars) was sacred to this deity. Here military manoeuvres and athletic contests took place; here Mars was adored by sacrifice, and here stood his temple, where his priests, the Salii, watched over the sacred spear and the shield, Ancile, that fell from heaven in the reign of Numa Pompilius. Generals supplicated Mars for victory, and dedicated to him the spoils of war. See Roscher, 478, 486, on the fundamental significance, philosophical and physical, of Ares. On the derivation of the Latin name Mars, see Roscher (end of article on Apollo). Illustrative, in Art. — Of archaic figures, that upon the so-called FançoisVase in Florence represents Ares bearded and with the armor of an Homeric warrior. In the art of the second half of the fifth century B.C., he is refresented as beardless, standing with spear and helmet and generally chlamys (short warrior's cloak); so the marble Ares statue (called the Borghese Achilles) in the Louvre. There is a later type (preferred in Rome) of the god in Corinthian helmet pushed back from the forehead, the right hand leaning on a spear, in the left a sword with point upturned, over the left arm a chlamys. The finest representation of the deity extant is the Ares Ludovisi in Rome, probably of the second half of the fourth century B.C., - - a sitting figure, beautiful in form and feature, with an Eros playing at his feet. (See § 36.) Modern sculpture: Thorwaldsen's relief, Mars and Cupid. § 37. On the derivation of Hephæstus, see Roscher, 2037. From Greek aphe, to kindle, or pha, to shine, or spha, to burn. The Latin Vulcan, while a god of fire, is not represented by the Romans as possessed of technical skill. It is said that Romulus built him a temple in Rome, and instituted the Vulcanalia - -a festival in honor of the god. The name Vulcanus, or Volcanus, is probably connected with the Latin fulgere, to flash or lighten, fulgur, a flash of lightning, etc. It is quite natural that, in many legends, fire should play an active part in the creation of man. The primitive belief of the Indo-Germanic race was that the fire-god, descending to earth, became the first man; and that, therefore, the spirit of man was composed of fire. Vulcan is also called by the Romans Mulciber, from mulceo, to soften. Illustrative. Shakespeare, Twelfth N. 5: 1; Much Ado 1:1; Troil. and Cressida 1:3; Hamlet 3: 2; Milton, P. L. 1: 740: In Art. - Various antique illustrations are extant of the god as a smith with hammer, or at the forge, one of him working with the Cyclopes; a vase-painting of him adorning Pandora; one of him assisting at the birth of Minerva; and one of his return to Olympus led by Bacchus and Comus. Of modern paintings the following are noteworthy: J. A. Wiertz's Forge of Vulcan; Velasquez, Forge of Vulcan (Museum, Madrid); the Forge of Vulcan by Tintoretto. Thorwaldsen's piece of statuary, Vulcan forging arrows for Cupid, is justly famous. § 38. Castalia: on the slopes of Parnassus, sacred to Apollo and the Muses. Cephissus in Phocis and Boeotia. (Another Cephissus flows near Athens.) Interpretative. - The birth, wanderings, return of Apollo, and his strug gle with the Python, etc., are explained by many scholars as symbolic of the annual course of the sun. Apollo is born of Leto, who is, according to hypothesis, the Night from which the morning sun issues. His conflict with the dragon reminds one of Siegfried's combat and that of St. George. The dragon is variously interpreted as symbolical of darkness, mephitic vapors, or the forces of winter, which are overcome by the rays of the springtide sun. The dragon is called Delphynë, or Python. The latter name may be derived simply from that part of Phocis (Pytho) where the town of Delphi was situate, or that again from the Greek root puth, to rot, because there the serpent was left by Apollo to decay; or from the Greek puth, to inquire, with reference to the consultation of the Delphian or Pythian oracle. "It is open to students to regard the dolphin as only one of the many animals whose earlier worship is concentrated in Apollo, or to take the creature for the symbol of spring when seafaring becomes easier to mortals, or to interpret the dolphin as the result of a volks-etymologie (popular derivation), in which the name Delphi (meaning originally a hollow in the hills) was connected with delphis, the dolphin."— LANG, Myth, Ritual, etc., 2: 197. Apollo is also called Lycius, which means, not the wolf-slayer, as is sometimes stated, for the wolf is sacred to Apollo, but either the wolf-god (as inheriting an earlier wolf-cult) or the golden god of Light. (See Preller and Roscher.) This derivation is more probable than that from Lycia in Asia Minor, where the god was said originally to have been worshipped. To explain certain rational myths of Apollo as referring to the annual and diurnal journeys of the sun is justifiable. To explain the savage and senseless survivals of the Apollo-myth in that way is impossible. Festivals. The most important were as follows: (1) the Delphinia, in May, to celebrate the genial influence of the young sun upon the waters, in opening navigation, in restoring warmth and life to the creatures of the wave, especially to the dolphins, which were highly esteemed by the superstitious seafarers, fishermen, merchants, etc. (2) The Thargelia, in the Greek month of that name, our May, which heralded the approach of the hot season. The purpose of this festival was twofold: to propitiate the deity of the sun and forefend the sickness of summer; to celebrate the ripening of vegetation and return thanks for first-fruits. These festivals were held in Athens, Delos, and elsewhere. (3) The Hyacinthian fast and feast of Sparta, corresponding in both features to the Thargelian. It was held in July, in the oppressive days of the dogstar, Sirius. (4) The Carnean of Sparta, celebrated in August. It added to the propitiatory features of the Hyacinthian, a thanksgiving for the vintage. (5) Another vintage-festival was the Pyanepsian, in Athens. (6) The Daphnephoria: "Familiar to many Engiish people from Sir Frederick Leighton's picture. This feast is believed to have symbolized the year. . . An olive-branch supported a central ball of brass, beneath which was a smaller ball, and thence little globes were hung." "The greater ball means the sun, the smaller the moon, the tiny globes the stars, and the three hundred and sixty-five laurel garlands used in the feast are understood to symbolize the days." (Proclus and Pausanias.) — LANG, Myth, Ritual, etc., 2:194, 195. Apollo is also called the Sminthian, or Mouse-god, because he was regarded either as the protector or as the destroyer of mice. In the Troad mice were fed in his temple; elsewhere he was honored as freeing the country from them. As Mr. Lang says (Myth, Ritual, etc., 2: 201), this is intelligible, "if the vermin which had once been sacred became a pest in the eyes of later generations." Oracle of Delphi. - It had been observed at a very early period that the goats feeding on Parnassus were thrown into convulsions when they approached a certain long deep cleft in the side of the mountain. This was owing to a peculiar vapor arising out of the cavern, and a certain goatherd is said to have tried its effects upon himself. Inhaling the intoxicating air, he was affected in the same manner as the cattle had been; and the inhabitants of the surrounding country, unable to explain the circumstance, imputed the convulsive ravings to which he gave utterance while under the power of the exhalations to a divine inspiration. The fact was speedily spread abroad, and a temple was erected on the spot. The prophetic influence was at first variously attributed to the goddess Earth, to Neptune, Themis, and others, but it was at length assigned to Apollo, and to him alone. A priestess was appointed whose office it was to inhale the hallowed air, and who was named the Pythia. She was prepared for this duty by previous ablution at the fountain of Castalia, and being crowned with laurel was seated upon a tripod similarly adorned, which was placed over the chasm whence the divine afflatus proceeded. Her inspired words while thus situated were interpreted by the priests. Other famous oracles were that of Trophonius in Boeotia and that of the Egyptian Apis. Since those who descended into the cave at Lebadea to consult the oracle of Trophonius were noticed to return dejected and melancholy, the proverb arose which was applied to a low-spirited person, “He has been consulting the oracle of Trophonius." At Memphis the sacred bull Apis gave answer to those who consulted him, by the manner in which he received or rejected what was presented to him. If the bull refused food from the hand of the inquirer, it was considered an unfavorable sign, and the contrary when he received it. It used to be questioned whether oracular responses ought to be ascribed to mere human contrivance or to the agency of evil spirits. The latter opinion would of course obtain during ages of superstition, when evil spirits were credited with an influence over human affairs. A third theory has been ad |