35 Echo and Narcissus

Narcissus was a handsome youth．His lovely face and graceful form were the admiration of all who looked upon him．And he knew it．He was proud that he thought no one buthimself was worthy to see his youthful beauty．Thus given up tosweet thoughts of self，Narcissus avoided all company．Heroamed the wooded little valleys every day，madly in love withhimself．

When he was delightfully wandering through the woods oneday，a wood fairy maiden，Echo by name，caught sight of him．She was excited at once．Joyfully coming down towards Narcissus，she stretched out her loving arms．To her dismay，however，the young man roughly brushed her aside and went by without so much as a glance at her．The poor fairy maiden's face turned red and quickly withdrew to a shady spot ，following the object of her love with her longing eyes．

Presently Narcissus stopped to drink from a little stream．Kneeling down on the bank，he saw a lovely face in the clear water．His ...

34 Venus and Adonis

Aphrodite loved Adonis more than she did anybody else，for he was a brisk，lovely young hunter．She gave up herhome at Olympus and took to the woods．In the woods she dressed herself up like a huntress and kept the youth company all day long．With him she wandered through grounds andgroves and over hills and valleys．She cheered hunting dogs andpursued animals of a harmless sort．They had a great time together．However，she warned him many times not to chase wild beasts like lions and wolves，but the young man just laughed at the idea．

One day，after warning him thus，she left for Olympus inher carriage．Quite by chance Adonis' hunting dogs found aboar，which roused Adonis to enthusiasm．He hit the beast with an arrow，but the boar，turning on him，buried its white tusk deep into his tender side and trampled him to death．When Aphrodite came back to find her lover cold in death，she burst into a passion of tears ．Unable to take him back from th...

33 Hermes

Immediately after he was born，Hermes was appointed godof thieves at Olympus．And a thief he became when he was barely a few hours old．Feeling hungry，the infant left his cradle after nightfall to hunt for food．He chanced uponApollo's oxen grazing on a meadow and drove a number ofthese animals away，tying tree branches around the feet of thecattle to make their footsteps dim．He killed two of these oxenand had a magnificent dinner．Then he slipped back into his littlebed in his mother's house．When Apollo came to question himHermes pretended to be innocent．The angry sungod draggedhim up to Olympus，where he was accused of the stealing andmade to return the cattle to their master．In reconciliation little Hermes gave Apollo the lyre he had made out of a tortoise shell，and Apollo was so pleased with the gift that he presented his little brother with a magic stick．The stick could pacify hostileforces．

In due time Hermes was appointed messenger o...

32 Artemis

Apollo drove his golden carriage across the heavens during the day，admired as the sun-god．Artemis also raced across the sky in solemn style at night，respected as the moon-goddess．Sitting in an airy carriage drawn by milk white horses，“the queen of wide air” gave off silver light all over the sleeping world below．Though she remained single all her life，the maiden heart of the goddess was at least for once excited as she saw the beautiful youth Endymion sleeping．

She was pure and fair and calm．She was the example of maiden modesty and grace．Just as Apollo represents manly beauty，so Artemis stands for feminine purity and virginity ．As their patron goddess she took it as her duty to protect marrying girls and young women in trouble．It was her altar that those maidens turned for love and happiness．

The twin sister of Apollo was also the goddess of hunting and wild life ．Dressed in a short hunting-suit coming up to the knee and ...

31 Arethusa

Arethusa was once a fairy maiden huntress．She carriedbow and arrows for Artemis in her hunting．She was sodevoted to her work that she cared for neither admirationnor love．One sunny summer day，she felt hot and found a coolstream quite attractive．She jumped into the delightful streamand happily started swimming．Presently she heard a bubbling in the stream and was surprised to find it was the thunderingvoice of the rivergod Alpheus．The maiden made for the shore and，fully naked，started running away．Taking a human form，the river-god followed closely in pursuit ．Onward they spedover hill and valley，across dark heights and over broad plains，until the waters of the western sea lay stretched out right before them ．Helplessly the exhausted Arethusa cried to her patronessfor help．Artemis instantly cast a cloud over her body，but the pigheaded Alpheus was not to be tricked．Then a cold sweatbroke from the maiden's arms and legs．The drops of water fe...

30 Laodamia

When the Greek ships reached the Trojan land at the outbreak of the war，a prophet declared that the first Greek setting foot on the enemy soil was doomed to die ．Protesilaus，a Greek chief，seeing that there was a gooddeal of hesitation among his comrades，leapt overboard and fellinstantly，pierced through by Hector's spear ．When his wife Laodamia heard of this she was simply inconsolable ．She offered rich sacrifice to the gods and begged Zeus to restore herslaughtered lord to her．Moved by her fidelity ，Zeus sent Hermes to escort the shade of Protesilaus back to the upper air tostay with his wife for three hours．Laodamia's joy knew nobounds when she held her slain lord once more in her arms．Protesilaus told her the story of his selfsacrifice，and Laodamiawas happy to become a bride for a second time．However，shegave a sharp cry when she saw Hermes coming at the fixed hourto take Protesilaus back to the lower world．So sad was she at the second p...

29 The Golden Touch

Midas，son of the Great Goddess of Ida，by a hero whosename is not remembered ，was a pleasureloving King of Macedonian Bromium，where he ruled over the Brigians and planted his famous rose gardens．

One day，the old hero Silenus，Dionysus' former teacher，happened to straggle from the main body of the Dionysian army as it marched out of Thrace into Boeotia，and was found sleeping and drunken in the rose gardens．The gardeners tied him and ledhim before Midas，to whom he told wonderful tales of a big continent lying beyond the Ocean's stream ——altogether separatefrom the united mass of Europe，Asia，or Africa——where gigantic，happy，and longlived people lived in splendid cities，enjoying a wonderful law system．Midas，delighted with Silenus' fictions，entertained him for five days and nights，and then ordered a guide to lead him to Dionysus' headquarters．

Dionysus，who had been worrying about Silenus，sent toask how Midas wis...

28 Atlas and Perseus

After the killing of Medusa，Perseus，carrying her head with him，flew far and wide，over land and sea．As night came on，he reached the western limit of the earth ，where the sun goes down．Here he would gladly have rested till morning．It was the kingdom of King Atlas，who was bigger than all other men．He was rich in flocks and herds and had no neighbor or rival to invade his country．But his chiefpride was in his gardens，whose fruit was of gold，hanging fromg olden branches，half hid with golden leaves．Perseus said tohim，“I come as a guest．I claim Zeus for my father and I killedMedusa．I seek rest and food．”But Atlas remembered that anancient prophecy had warned him that a son of Zeus should one day rob him of his golden apples ．So he answered，“Go away！Or neither your false claims of glory or parentage shall protect you” ；and he attempted to drive him out．Perseus，finding thegiant too strong for him，said，“Since you value my ...

27 Actaeon

When she was tired with hunting Artemis used to take abath in a little mountain spring．One hot summer afternoon she was playing in the cool，quiet water with hermaidens when she heard a rustle behind the bushes ．She feltquite angry to find that a young hunter was peeping admiringlyat her naked body ．Her maidens gave a sharp cry and crowded around the goddess．But young Actaeon had seen the huntress．

Actaeon loved the hunting．He had been searching the woods every day．On this particular afternoon he felt so tired with running about that he，by accident，came over to the springin search of water．He was thus surprised to find Artemisba thing．The angry goddess was not to be calmed．She splashed water in the hunter's face．As soon as the water drops fell on Actaeon，he was changed into a stag ．Just at that moment he heard the barking of his team of fifty hunting dogs．They were coming up to him．He was suddenly seized with fear ，and presently ...

26 Tantalus

Tantalus was the rich and mighty king of Lydia．Son ofZeus by a fairy maiden，he was greatly favored by the gods．He was invited to share wine and food with them at their banquets，and he was let into their secrets ．But ever the latter end of joy is woe ．Either because he had stolen wine orgave away the secrets of Zeus，or because he had become so proud as to test the gods by serving up the flesh of his son Pelopsto them，he incurred the wrath of Zeus and was hurled down to the everlasting darkness of Tartarus ．There he was made tostand up to his chin in a little lake，with clusters of luscious fruits hanging over and around his head．He strove eternally to drink the ever-evading water and to clutch at the delicious fruits which were ever tossed out of his reach by blasts of wind．Thus he was doomed to endure endless burning thirst and bitter hunger in the world of the shades．The whole occurrence has given rise to the expression“tantalizing”，meani...