Books: Classic Myths
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Retold by Mary Catherine Judd >> Classic Myths
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"Then King Aeolus told Ulysses how to fasten it to the mast, and the East
Wind had great frolics with the queer bag in which were his brothers.
"King Aeolus told Ulysses never to sleep unless his faithful watchman was
guarding this treasure. Ulysses thanked him and promised faithfully.
Such beautiful weather had never been known before for so long a time.
The East Wind had no one to quarrel with, and the boat flew like a bird
for nine long days.
"The captain grew weary the tenth night and went to sleep while his
watchman was off duty. That was just the chance the sailors wanted.
Slyly up to the mast crept a strong sailor, thinking he would cut down
this treasure which he thought was gold. As soon as the string snapped,
he found out his mistake, and so did everyone in the boat.
"The mighty North Wind felt the loosening strings and rising from the
corner of the ox-hide bag, into which he had been thrust, rushed past
his brothers and escaped first into the open air. The West Wind came
after, screaming hoarsely, while the South Wind, roused to anger by
such rough treatment, whistled fiercely as his brother, North Wind,
grappled with him. The clouds were twisted into curious shapes as the
winds wrestled above the sea. The strong East Wind strove to drive
back the West Wind, but found that nine days of rest had given his
brother great strength, and the waves rose like mountains under their
feet. For seven hours the winds fought, while the waters were black,
for not one star dared to watch the battle. The boat of Ulysses was
tossed like a seaweed, and the sailors longed for the sunlight that
they might see if the storm had taken anyone from the ship. When the
light came and the fury of the winds grew less, it was found that not
one sailor had been lost; not even the traitor who had cut down the
bag. His punishment was to live.
"The boat drifted back to the land of King Aeolus, and Ulysses begged
for help. 'I cannot help you,' he said. 'You have done this by your
carelessness, and you must now toil at the oars, as before, while I seek
my lost winds.'
"When the winds were tired with their roaming, they came back and were
willing to be led to their cave, but the stout ox-hide bag was lost, and
King Aeolus never made another."
ECHO, THE AIR MAIDEN
_Greek_
"Grace, you should not try to have the last word. It is a bad habit to
get into. Shut your lips and run into another room if you can't stop
yourself by any other means."
"Why, auntie, what a funny way to cure me! But I don't see that I need
any such thing. Johnny was in the wrong and he knows it."
"You see, you are having the last word now. Do you remember what you
heard out by the great rocks the day of the picnic?"
"Oh, that echo! Wasn't it perfect! I said, 'come here,' and it
answered, 'here,' just as plainly as one of the girls, and we talked
with it ever so long."
"Can you call it answering, Grace? Think what it really did."
"Oh, I know now, but I don't like to tell, because--because it seems a
little as you say I do."
"Yes, Grace, and I am going to tell you a story about the very first
echo. Please try to remember it and shut your lips and run away whenever
you feel like having the last word. Will you, dear?"
"I'll remember the story, anyway," said Grace, as she cuddled down on a
footstool at the feet of her aunt.
"This is a sad little story," said her Aunt Kate to her, "and I'm glad
it is only a story.
"The first echo was a pretty girl who had only one fault--she would talk
too much. She not only talked too much and sometimes, I fear, too loud,
but when others tried to say a word, she would begin again and try to
outdo them. She loved to tease and to vex people. Still, she was so
beautiful that no one could bear to punish her.
"One day Queen Juno came down to earth (you see, Grace, this is one of
the old myths) and saucy Echo dared to torment even her. Juno had left
her throne in the sky to search for someone Echo knew.
"'Where is he, Echo?' Juno asked.
"'Is he Echo? Oh, no, I am Echo. Did you want me?' the saucy girl
answered.
"'How dare you do it?' Juno said.
"'Dare you do it? Oh, yes, I dare do anything. Tell me what to do.'
"'You have dared too much already, silly child, and for punishment you
shall lose the use of that tongue of yours, except for the one purpose
of answering back. You shall still have the last word, but never again
shall you speak first.'
"Just then Iris, Juno's maid of honor, came with a shining car drawn by
two peacocks, and away they both went over the rainbow bridge back to
Juno's throne.
"Echo in her sorrow ran and hid herself in a cavern.
[Illustration: From the cover of a drinking cup. Echo is seen in the
branches. Pan is sitting on the rock.]
"She wandered from cave to cave and rock to rock, always answering back
when those who tried to find her called, but never able to tell where
she was. She grew thinner and thinner, till at last nothing was left of
her but her voice.
"That she will always keep, and try as hard as you may, you can never
have the last word with Echo."
IRIS, THE RAINBOW PRINCESS
_Greek_
Queen Juno was the wife of Jupiter, the great king. She lived with her
husband in one of the cloud palaces of the sky, lighted by the moon and
stars at night and the sun by day.
Juno had many followers who were ready to do her bidding, but she loved
best of all her beautiful maid of honor, the princess Iris. No one dared
to use the rainbow but Iris, to whom it had been given by Jupiter.
Whenever Iris was in haste to obey Queen Juno's orders, down from the
palace she would sail in a chariot drawn by two peacocks, and if she
wished she might ride all the way over the rainbow.
[Illustration: IRIS. From an ancient fresco.]
Think of the beautiful Iris, wrapped in a fleecy cloud, gliding over
this wonderful path in the heavens! Wouldn't it have been a lovely
sight to see?
Once Juno sent her all the way to Dreamland to bring to Halcyone,
the daughter of Aeolus, a dream of her husband, who was far away on
the ocean.
Iris loved to help poor mortals, and tears filled her eyes when she
heard how this lonely woman longed to see the one she loved so well.
The clouds caught the tears from the eyes of Iris, and quickly made
ready for her the glorious rainbow bridge, reaching from Dreamland to
the wonderful Garden of the Gods.
She wrapped herself in a cloud chosen from the sunset and, stepping into
her chariot, gave the signal to her birds and drove swiftly down, down
to the dim country of the King of Sleep.
Before she could reach the entrance to his palace, she had to drive
through field after field of poppies, red as the sunset she had just
left in the sky, for poppies give sleep to the people of Dreamland.
Somnus, the King of Sleep, lived in a deep, still cave, so dark that he
had never seen the rainbow or the sun. There was no gate; soft black
plumes and curtains served as doors. Here in the heart of Dreamland Iris
saw all about her strange, beautiful dreams.
There were dreams for children of toys and candies and plays; dreams for
men and women of all that they had ever wished for; dreams, dreams,
everywhere. But Iris did not like darkness any better than you and I do,
and she quickly gave an order for the King of Sleep to send the best
dream possible to the anxious Halcyone. Then back she drove over the
rainbow bridge, up, up to the bright palace in the clouds.
[Illustration: THE HEAD OF IRIS. From a frieze on the Parthenon.]
As soon as she had left the rainbow's track it faded away, but, even
before it was out of sight, a dream of her husband had come to Halcyone,
and Iris was happy.
Iris loved the water best of all things on earth. She always wore a
chain of raindrops for pearls, and a cloud for a robe. She had an army
of soldiers by each river bank. Men called the soldiers plants, but
their swords were always drawn for Iris, and their stately heads were
adorned with her favorite colors.
When you see a group of plants clustered at the water's edge, with their
sword-like leaves pointing to the sky, and their great blue flowers
looking like a crown, remember that is the flower Iris loved.
THE THUNDER-GOD AND HIS BROTHER
_Norse_
Tiu, Ziu, or Tyr, were three names for one of Woden's sons. Tiu was
the brother of Thor, and his mother, Frigga, was always proud of his
courage in war and of his skill and strength in battle. The soldiers
of the Northland cried to him for help as often as they did to his
father, Woden.
Tiu's sign was a sword, and the brave old kings of Norway and their
followers used to engrave his name upon their bright steel blades that
they might please the great warrior who lived in Asgard. It was
thought that if Tiu saw his name written in the strange Runic letters
he would give his help to the man who honored that name and keep his
good sword sharp.
Thor and Tiu went, in the olden time, to the house of a giant to secure
a large kettle which was in the giant's house.
Thor's goats drew with magic swiftness the chariot in which the two
rode, and Thor and Tiu arrived at the house in a few moments.
The giant's wife hid the two huge visitors under one of the many
caldrons she had in her kitchen. When her husband came he broke all the
kettles but one by just glancing at them. He welcomed his visitors in a
very grim way and ordered them to be seated at the table with him. Thor
ate so much that the giant grew angry, but Thor told him he would repay
all by bringing him fish from the sea the next day.
Thor caught two whales and carried them to the giant's house, as he had
promised. The giant laughingly said that he would give him one of the
kettles if he could carry it. Tin tried twice and failed, but Thor,
putting on his magic belt, lifted the kettle and set it on his head
like a cap.
Then the goats took the two sons of Woden back to their home in Asgard.
If anyone should tell you that the giant was winter, and his kettles the
strangely shaped icebergs of the arctic North, would you believe it?
Thor was the god of thunder riding in the clouds with his brother, the
god of bravery and of the strong winds.
Tiu's name has been given to the day before Woden's day, and when
Tuesday comes, try to be as true, brave, and swift as Tiu, the
son of Woden.
NEPTUNE, KING OF THE SEAS
_Greek_
"Mother, when papa came back from South America, he told us a queer
story about the sailors dressing up in masks. What holiday was it? And
what did they do it for?"
"That must have been, Charlie, when the ship crossed the line, or the
equator, as you call it in the geography class. I remember his telling
about King Neptune and his trident."
[Illustration: NEPTUNE]
"What did the sailors do, mother?"
"Why, one dressed to represent Neptune, a famous ocean god, and the rest
masked as his followers. They were given presents by the passengers on
the ship, and it was a grand holiday."
"But who is King Neptune, and where does this ocean god live, mother?"
"People used to believe that Neptune was really king of all the waters
on the earth, Charlie. Doesn't that seem strange? I'll tell you a story
that I heard about Neptune and some of the other gods whom the Greeks
used to worship. Perhaps you will find more stories about him sometime."
"Wait a minute, mother, till I get that easy chair for you. Now we are
ready to begin."
"Once on a time, Juno, the wife of Jupiter, while watching from the sky,
saw some ships on the sea beneath her.
"After looking closely, she found they were the seven ships of Aeneas,
who was trying to reach the land of Italy and was now only a few miles
from its shore.
"Juno, for reasons of her own, did not want Aeneas to reach the land.
Knowing something must be done in the shortest possible time she went to
King Aeolus and asked his help. She promised him all manner of beautiful
gifts if he would only send his winds against the ships of Aeneas.
"King Aeolus knew he was doing wrong, but he would not refuse Juno. He
went to the mountain cave where he kept the storm winds, and, taking his
heavy war spear, burst open the massive door of the cavern and let all
the mad crew out at once.
"The storm they made was terrible. Great waves like mountains came
sweeping over the land, carrying trees and everything away.
"The ships of Aeneas were only playthings in such a hurricane, and the
winds seemed to know for what they had been let loose.
"The great cables that fastened heavy anchors to the ships were snapped
like stalks of corn. The winds roared like wild animals. The sky was as
black as night, and great waterspouts went whirling by like huge tops
set spinning by the blasts.
"One fierce wind blew against the ship of Aeneas and overturned it.
"A whirlwind caught three other ships and tossed them lightly on the
great rocks, on the shore. Another whirlwind sent three more ships into
the terrible quicksands and they were swallowed up.
"Aeneas, swimming in the water, saw around him his trusty sailors
clinging, like himself, to broken planks and pieces of timber. All about
them floated concave shields, outspread mantles, and overturned helmets.
Treasures, too, in the shape of precious home gifts, and robes covered
with jewels, drifted past them.
"But the only thing anyone wanted then was life, and it seemed as if the
winds and waters were ready and able to destroy every man of them.
"Aeneas called to Neptune, king of the seas, and Neptune heard him and
came riding up out of the bottom of the ocean.
"He held his golden-maned horses firmly in check, while his voice roared
over the waters, asking:
"'What is this, you winds, that you dare to trouble earth and sky
without leave from me? Who let you free from your rock prison?'
"The waves were afraid and quieted down. The clouds scattered like
naughty children caught in mischief. The winds flew home and, hurrying
back into their cave, blew the door tight-shut with a bang. Then
everybody waited to see what King Neptune would do.
"He ordered some of his ocean train to pry the three ships off the
rocks, but they could not, and he had to help them with his trident, or
three-pointed spear. Then King Neptune opened the quicksands and the
other three ships sailed out on the water again.
"Neptune knew Aeneas was a brave man and always quick to answer a call
for help, so the boat of Aeneas had been taken care of first, and he and
his men were put back safely into it.
[Illustration: A GREEK COIN. Made about 510 B.C. representing Neptune,
or Poseidon, as the Greeks called him]
"King Neptune, seeing everything was quiet again, showed Aeneas a
beautiful harbor where he and his sailors could rest. The brazen-hoofed
steeds that drew Neptune's chariot were tossing their heads and growing
restive. So Neptune called his followers, and in a flash they all
disappeared into the depths of the sea.
"Jupiter, ruler of the sky, praised Neptune for his skill in checking
the furious winds and maddened waves, and Pluto, ruler of the center of
the earth, said he was proud to call him brother."
"Well, that must have made King Aeolus ashamed of himself. Don't you
think so, mother?"
WHY RIVERS HAVE GOLDEN SANDS
_Greek_
Once a poor peasant named Gordius thought he would give himself and his
family a holiday in the city. He had no horses, but his yoke of oxen
could draw the heavy wagon very well. He fastened them to his cart and,
putting in his wife and boy, climbed in himself.
When near the city, the capital of Phrygia, he thought it would look
better for him to walk and drive his oxen. This he did. As he approached
the city he heard a great noise in the marketplace. He hurried his oxen
to find out what it was all about. He had to jump into his wagon to
avoid the crowd that was following him, and so drove to a great oak in
the public square.
Such a welcome as this poor countryman had!
"Here comes our king!" was the cry from everyone. "We were told he
should come this day in a wagon drawn by oxen, and here he is!"
Gordius could not believe what he heard. But the chief men brought the
crown and put it on his head and declared him king, and he agreed to do
his best to deserve the honor.
The oak near which he had stopped was in front of a temple. Gordius gave
away his oxen and, taking a heavy rope, tied his wagon with a tremendous
knot to the oak. The priest came out and declared that whoever in times
to come should be able to untie that knot would be king of all Asia. No
one ever did untie it. But Alexander the Great came to Phrygia many
years after and, failing to untie it, he took his sword and dealt the
rope such a blow that one stroke cut through the magic knot.
A short time after he left Phrygia all Asia owned Alexander the Great as
king, and maybe that was the way the knot was to be undone. Anyway, he
did not give it up, and that is a good thing for us to remember. Cut the
Gordian knots if they will not be untied.
The little boy who rode in the wagon with Gordius was Midas. After his
father Gordius died, Midas was chosen King of Phrygia. He was kind and
just to the people, as Gordius must have been, or they would not have
chosen his son Midas to be their king.
[Illustration: Silenus Holding Bacchus. From a statue in Rome]
One day while Midas was king some peasants found an old man wandering
about in the woods. The forest was strange to him and he had lost his
way. Midas knew him as soon as the peasants had brought him to the
king's palace. It was Silenus, a teacher whose fame had gone through all
the world. Midas treated Silenus with the greatest respect. For ten days
there was feasting and games in the palace in honor of Silenus. On the
eleventh day Midas took him back to the house of his greatest pupil.
This pupil was more than mortal, so the story goes. His name was
Bacchus. Midas told him all about the finding of Silenus, and Silenus
told all about the pleasant time he had at the king's palace. Then the
wonderful Bacchus told Midas he might have anything he should wish for
as a reward.
Now Gordius, his father, had always wished for more money, though he had
been made king and there was more gold for him and his good queen to
spend than you would think he could manage. Midas, too, had wished for
money. Yet all his life, since that lucky wagon ride, Midas had seen
riches and jewels enough to make him grow tired of such things. But, no;
when Bacchus asked him what he would have, Midas said, "Let everything I
touch turn into gold."
If you had been there and could have had your choice, what would you
have wished for? Can you tell? Never wish for anything quite so foolish
as King Midas did, for see what trouble it made him.
After making the wish, King Midas leaped into his chariot to return
home. As soon as his feet touched the chariot floor, it turned into
solid gold. The reins in his hands became gold. He returned to his
palace and the people thought it must be Apollo come to earth,
everything was so glorious. His wife met him in the palace halls. One
touch and she was turned into a golden statue. No help, no rescue! Midas
went out into his garden and reached for the fruit that hung on the
trees. Nothing but gold after he had touched it. Gold, gold, gold! How
he hated the sight of it! His food and drink were gold. His friends, his
home, even his pillow was cold hard gold.
In a few hours he raised his arms, glittering with cloth of gold,
in prayer, beseeching Bacchus to take his gift away. Bacchus was
kind and said:
"Go to the river Pactolus, find its fountain head, plunge in, and when
your body is covered your fault will be washed away."
Poor King Midas did just as he was told. When he touched the water the
strange power went into the river. The river sands changed into gold,
and to this day grains of gold are found by the river Pactolus.
After that, Midas lived in the country and dressed as plainly as the
poorest peasant. He was so thankful to be free from his terrible gift
that he never wanted anyone to remind him of the time when everything
he touched turned to gold. But even in the country, the yellow plums,
pears, and apples reminded Midas of the fruit he had touched in his
own garden.
In autumn, when golden leaves are falling everywhere and the grain is
waving in the field, one may fancy King Midas is in our own land.
OLD GRASSHOPPER GRAY
_Greek_
"O, grasshopper, grasshopper gray,
Give me molasses and then hop away."
That is what Bessie Allen said to the little creature she held between
her thumb and fingers. Did you ever say that rhyme? I should not wonder
if you had said it an hundred times.
The grasshopper in Bessie's fingers seemed very ready to give her brown
molasses from his little mouth and then she let him hop away while she
went to catch another. She did not want that molasses; all she wanted
was the fun of catching the little "hoppity-hops," as she sometimes
called them.
"Come, catch me! I'm a hopper," called her five-year-old brother Willie.
And she saw the little fellow hopping through the grass.
Bessie had so much fun trying to catch this new "grasshopper gray," that
she forgot all about the little creatures she had been pinching.
At last she had her arms around her brother Willie.
"Now you are caught," she said. "Give me some molasses."
And then they both laughed so hard that their mother heard as she came
to the door to look for them.
That night their mother said to their father:
"I have a new name for Willie."
"What is it?" asked their father.
"Tithonus," said their mother.
[Illustration: AURORA, THE GODDESS OF THE DAWN. From a painting on an
old vase.]
"When I was in school one of my lessons was about the beautiful goddess
Aurora. She was said to open the rosy gates of dawn with her own
fingers, so that the wonderful horses of Apollo might pass through to
follow their shining track through the sky. She was so beautiful that
Tithonus, who lived on the earth, always watched for the sunrise, that
he might see Aurora. After a while she began to watch for him, too. She
looked down every morning on the wakening world and found that he was
almost the only one among mortals who enjoyed the glorious colors Apollo
painted in the sky with his arrows of light. One morning she dared to
sing to him, and then he answered that it was Aurora, and not Apollo,
for whom he was watching each morning at sunrise. She loved him for this
and became his wife.
"Being a goddess, she could live for ever, and she wanted Tithonus to
live forever, too. The gods and goddesses never drink wine or water, but
ambrosia from golden goblets. She brought a golden goblet of ambrosia to
Tithonus on the earth, and, after he had taken a drink, told him the
happy news that now he should live forever. But she had forgotten to ask
of the gods for him the gift of eternal youth.
"For many years they loved each other dearly. Then Aurora saw that
Tithonus was growing into a little old man.
"When he was one hundred years old he was shrunken to the size of a
boy of ten.
"When he was two hundred years old he was no larger than a baby, only he
was very lively, and could run as fast as a man.
"When he was three hundred years old Aurora could scarcely find him,
save as his song told her where he was. With his head bent down to the
ground he did not look like a man, and he made his home by the dusty
roadside. But every sunrise he sat upon the tallest spear of grass he
could find and chirped to Aurora as she opened the gates of dawn for
Apollo. After years and years Aurora forgot all about the little gray
grasshopper, but I don't think Tithonus has forgotten her, for he and
all his grasshopper friends chirp the same song as when he first came to
live among them."
"Poor old Tithonus!" said Bessie.
"Why, no," said her father; "mother said he could never die. Maybe it
was Tithonus who gave you molasses to-day. Yes, perhaps that was
ambrosia instead of molasses that the gray grasshopper dropped from
his lips."
"Oh, don't tell any more!" laughed both Willie and Bessie. "We won't
catch another grasshopper."
WHERE THE FROGS CAME FROM
_Roman_
You see the sun every bright day, don't you?
And you see the moon every moonshiny night.
Now, listen, and I'll tell you a story about their mother. No, not about
their mother, but about the mother of the god of the sun, and of the
goddess of the moon, whose names were Apollo and Diana.
It is about Apollo's and Diana's mother this story is to be.
Once when they were little twin babies their mother was in great
trouble. She had to wander around and around, and get food and drink
wherever she could find them.
One day she went to a pond for water, for the people in the houses were
cross and would not give her any.
And just think of it! These people, careless about soiling their green
coats and white vests, ran down to the pond ahead of her, jumped in and
stirred the water so that it was black with mud.
And they called out, "Come and drink, Latona! Come and drink water, pure
and sweet, Latona!"
[Illustration: LATONA. Fleeing with her children]
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