DOCSLIB.ORG

Spenser, and His Poetry

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Spenser, and His Poetry t S P E N S E R AND HIS POETEY. BY G E O. L. UC R A I K, LL D. EEVISED AND CORRECTED. VOL. II. LONDON: HARLES GRIFFIN AND COMPANY, STATIONERS' HALL COURT. 1871. * . > CONTENTS. PAGB Sectiok III. (continued.)—THE FAIRY QUEEN ... 5 - .•••..*•< • . > : . 1 C*4 SPENSER AND HIS POETRY. the eairy queen. Book Third. The Third Book of the Fairy Queen contains the Legend of Britomartis, or of Chastity. Britomartis is one ot the names of Diana but it was no doubt selected ; by Spenser partly also on account of the sound, by which he designs to intimate that his heroine is a Britoness. " As may be supposed, in celebrating that fairest virtue, far above the rest," full advantage is taken by the poet of so fair an opportunity of complimenting his royal patroness, who was almost as vain of her virginity as of her beauty. In a prelude of five stanzas he asks himself what need he has to fetch foreign examples from Fairy Land of what shines forth with such liveliness and per- fection in his sovereign, that ladies, ambitious of distin- guishing themselves in a similar maimer, have no occasion to look any farther—were it not, he ingeniously adds, that her portraiture can be truly expressed neither by "life-resembling pencil," nor artist's "daedal hand," " all were it Zeuxis or Praxiteles,"— Ne poet's wit, that passeth painter far In picturing the parts of beauty daint. He then glides gracefully into a reference to his friend Raleigh's poem written in celebration of Elizabeth, VOL. II. E £71744 SPENSER AND HIS POETRY. [Book III. which we have already found noticed in his letter ex- plaining the plan and allegory of the Fairy Queen — that sweet verse, "with nectar sprinkeled, In which a gracious servant pictured His Cynthia, his heaven's fairest light. " Only, he concludes, let that same delicious poet" per- mit a rustic muse for a little while to appropriate his high theme, and let the fairest Cynthia not refuse to view herself in more mirrors than one— But either Gloriana let her choose, Or in fashioned to be Belphoobe ; In the one her rule, in the other her rare chastity. These introductions to the several Books of the Fairy Queen, we may here observe, have all the appearance of having been written after the poem itself, and inserted, like the Dedicatory Sonnets, by the author when he was preparing it for the press. Canto I. (67 stanzas). —From what is said at the com- mencement of this Canto, Guyon and the Palmer must be supposed to have returned, after their capture of Acrasia, to the house of Alma, and there rejoined Prince Arthur. Soon after the Briton Prince and Fairy Knight take leave of their fair hostess and set out again on their way together, the enchantress being at the same time sent forward by another road, and under a strong guard, to Fairy Court. After long wandering and many adven- tures, they see in an open plain a knight advancing towards them, attended by an aged squire, crouching, as if overladen by the burthen of his years, under his three- " or shield. This shield, bearing a square triangular " lion passant in a golden field (the legendary arms of the old British kings), the stranger knight assumes as soon as he sees the Prince and Guyon approaching, as was in such circumstances but he manifests customary ; no hostile intent. Somewhat remarkably, nevertheless, " Guyon at once proposes to attack him, beseeching the prince, of grace, to let him run that turn;" and upon his companion assenting he sharply spurs forward Canto I.] THE FAIRY QUEEN. 7 His foamy steed, whose fiery feet did burn The verdant grass as he thereon did tread. The issue, however, is that the Fairy Knight, much to his surprise as we.ll as shame and vexation, is in an in- stant thrown from his saddle, and ere well he was aware, Nigh a spear's length behind his crouper fell, although without mischance to life or limb. It is the first time, sith warlike arms he bore, And shivering spear in bloody field first shook, that he has ever suffered such dishonour. But ah, ex- claims the poet, Ah ! gentlest knight, that ever armour bore. Let not thee grieve dismounted to have been, to that never wast before And brought ground, , For not thy fault, but secret power unseen : That spear enchanted was which laid thee on the green ! His grief and shame, in truth, would be much greater if he knew by whom it is that he has been thus discomfited —if he were aware that it is a woman with whom he has fought : for his successful opponent is indeed the famous Britomart, who has come on strange adventure all the way from Britain— To seek her lover (love far sought, alas !) Whose image she had seen in Venus' looking-glass. Upon all this Upton, the most learned of the commenta- tors on the Fairy Queen, has a curious observation. The poem, he remarks, is full of allusions, either moral or his- torical. It is singular conduct in a courteous knight, like Guyon, to attack another by whom he has not been defied, and whom he has not himself defied. Some " In secret history is probably alluded to. Britomart," " I the in says Upton, suppose imaged Virgin Queen ; Sir Guyon the Earl of Essex. Sir Guyon is dismounted, presuming to match himself against Britomart. If Guyon means the Earl historically and covertly (now and then) 8 SPENSEK AND HIS TOETRY. [Book III. of Essex, will it not bear an easy allusion to his presum- ing to match himself with Queen Elizabeth ? And has not the poet with the finest art managed a very danger- ous and secret piece of history ?" snatching his sword, is about to renew the Guyon, " combat, but the Palmer, knowing that Death sate on the point of that enchanted spear," hastens to him and counsels him to desist; and, the Prince also joining in the same advice, and laying the blame, not on his own " carriage, but on his starting steed that swarved aside," and on "the ill purveyance of his page," he is at last pacified. On this they all agree to make friends, and to pursue their journey together. O, goodly usage of those antique times, In which the sword was servant unto right; When not for malice and contentious crimes, But all for praise and proof of manly might, The martial brood accustomed to fight : Then honour was the meed of victory, And yet the vanquished had no despite. They travel through many lands, till at last they enter a forest, in whose gloomy shades they ride a long while " without seeing tract of any living thing, save bears, lions, and bulls, which roamed them around." All suddenly out of the thickest brush, Upon a milk-white palfrey all alone, A goodly lady did foreby them rush, Whose face did seem as clear as crystal stone, And eke, through fear, as white as whales bone : Her garments all were wrought of beaten gold, And all her steed with tinsel trappings shone, Which fled so fast that nothing mote him hold, And scarce them leisure gave her passing to behold. Still as she fled her eye she backward threw, evil her fast As fearing that pursued ; And her fair yellow locks behind her flew, Loosely dispersed with puff of every blast : All as a blazing star doth far outcast His hairy beams, and flaming locks dispread, At sight whereof the people stand aghast; Canto I.] THE FAIRY QUEEN. 9 But the sage wizard tells, as he has read, That it importunes death and doleful drearihead. " They soon perceive that she is pursued by a griesly " * foster," or forester, mounted on a tireling jade," which he fiercely urges on Through thick and thin, both over bank and bush, In hope her to attain by hook or crook, That from his gory sides the blood did gush : Large were his limbs, and terrible his look, And iu his clownish hand a sharp boar-spear he shook. The two gentle knights, seeing this, we are told, instantly set forth together after the lady, in hope to win thereby— Most goodly meed, the fairest dame alive leaving the Prince's squire, Timias, to manage the foul foster. Meanwhile Britomart, — whose constant mind Would not so lightly follow beauty's chase, after waiting for them a short time, sets forward on her way by herself. Having got nearly out of the wood, she perceives fronting her a stately castle, before the of a is wide and gate which spacious plain outspread ; there six knights are fighting with one, who, though sore beset, is yet neither dismayed nor driven back, but, on the contrary, keeps them all at bay and forces them to recoil. Britomart immediately runs to his rescue, at the same time the six to forbear but calling upon ; they do not heed her till she rushes amongst them and soon them to be at The single knight compels peace. " then informs her that he loves a lady, the truest one " — on ground — her name the Errant Damsel and that " the six would force him, by odds of might," to fix his affections on another dame. Certes, says Britomart, ye six are to blame in thus attempting to accomplish by force a thing by no means to be so gone about : * The editors do not explain or notice this word j4 ^ y- \T€ 10 SPESSER AND HIS POETRY.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Xoimi AMERICAN COXCIIOLOGY
    S31ITnS0NIAN MISCEllANEOUS COLLECTIOXS. BIBLIOGIIAPHY XOimi AMERICAN COXCIIOLOGY TREVIOUS TO THE YEAR 18G0. PREPARED FOR THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BY . W. G. BINNEY. PART II. FOKEIGN AUTHORS. WASHINGTON: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. JUNE, 1864. : ADYERTISEMENT, The first part of the Bibliography of American Conchology, prepared for the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. Binuey, was published in March, 1863, and embraced the references to de- scriptions of shells by American authors. The second part of the same work is herewith presented to the public, and relates to species of North American shells referred to by European authors. In foreign works binomial authors alone have been quoted, and no species mentioned which is not referred to North America or some specified locality of it. The third part (in an advanced stage of preparation) will in- clude the General Index of Authors, the Index of Generic and Specific names, and a History of American Conchology, together with any additional references belonging to Part I and II, that may be met with. JOSEPH HENRY, Secretary S. I. Washington, June, 1864. (" ) PHILADELPHIA COLLINS, PRINTER. CO]^TENTS. Advertisement ii 4 PART II.—FOREIGN AUTHORS. Titles of Works and Articles published by Foreign Authors . 1 Appendix II to Part I, Section A 271 Appendix III to Part I, Section C 281 287 Appendix IV .......... • Index of Authors in Part II 295 Errata ' 306 (iii ) PART II. FOEEIGN AUTHORS. ( V ) BIBLIOGRxVPHY NOETH AMERICAN CONCHOLOGY. PART II. Pllipps.—A Voyage towards the North Pole, &c. : by CON- STANTiNE John Phipps. Loudou, ITTJc. Pa. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF [part II. FaliricillS.—Fauna Grcenlandica—systematice sistens ani- malia GrcEulandite occidentalis liactenus iudagata, &c., secun dum proprias observatioues Othonis Fabricii.
    [Show full text]
  • Hesiod Theogony.Pdf
    Hesiod (8th or 7th c. BC, composed in Greek) The Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are probably slightly earlier than Hesiod’s two surviving poems, the Works and Days and the Theogony. Yet in many ways Hesiod is the more important author for the study of Greek mythology. While Homer treats cer- tain aspects of the saga of the Trojan War, he makes no attempt at treating myth more generally. He often includes short digressions and tantalizes us with hints of a broader tra- dition, but much of this remains obscure. Hesiod, by contrast, sought in his Theogony to give a connected account of the creation of the universe. For the study of myth he is im- portant precisely because his is the oldest surviving attempt to treat systematically the mythical tradition from the first gods down to the great heroes. Also unlike the legendary Homer, Hesiod is for us an historical figure and a real per- sonality. His Works and Days contains a great deal of autobiographical information, in- cluding his birthplace (Ascra in Boiotia), where his father had come from (Cyme in Asia Minor), and the name of his brother (Perses), with whom he had a dispute that was the inspiration for composing the Works and Days. His exact date cannot be determined with precision, but there is general agreement that he lived in the 8th century or perhaps the early 7th century BC. His life, therefore, was approximately contemporaneous with the beginning of alphabetic writing in the Greek world. Although we do not know whether Hesiod himself employed this new invention in composing his poems, we can be certain that it was soon used to record and pass them on.
    [Show full text]
  • Theogony Translated by Hugh G
    Hesiod: Theogony translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914) [Note: the letters ll refer to lines.) (ll. 1-25) From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night, veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis- holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athene, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon the earth-holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and quick-glancing Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the goddesses said to me -- the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis: (ll. 26-28) `Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.' (ll.
    [Show full text]
  • Greek Mythology / Apollodorus; Translated by Robin Hard
    Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Robin Hard 1997 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as a World’s Classics paperback 1997 Reissued as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Apollodorus. [Bibliotheca. English] The library of Greek mythology / Apollodorus; translated by Robin Hard.
    [Show full text]
  • Hesiod – Theogony
    Hesiod – Theogony From: Hesiod. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Theogony. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. Source: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1 _______ From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, [5] and, when they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night, [10] veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis-holder, and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals, and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athena, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, [15] and Poseidon the earth holder who shakes the earth, and revered Themis, and quick-glancing1 Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos, and great Helius, and bright Selene, [20] Earth, too, and great Oceanus, and dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon,
    [Show full text]
  • Apollodorus : the Library
    JU\r(^ Qksl 7^ani-hSin THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY EDITED BY E. CAPPS, Ph.D., LL.D. T. E. PAGE, Litt.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, Litt.D. APOLLODORUS THE LIBRARY I APOLLODOEUS THE LIBRARY WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY SIR JAMES GEORGE FRAZER, F.B.A., F.R.S. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE IN TWO VOLUMES I LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS MCMXXI FEB " 3 !940 TO MY OLD TEACHER AND FRIEND HENRY JACKSON, O.M. CONTENTS PAGK INTRODUCTION ix SUMMARY xlv SYMBOLS EMPLOYED IN THE CRITICAL NOTES llX 1 BOOK I • 127 BOOK II 295 BOOK Til Vll ERRATA. , Vol. , 73 For " Thestius " read " Agrius." Vol. II. P. 54. For "later version" read "earlier version." — INTRODUCTION I. The Author and His Book. Nothing is positively known, and little can be conjectured with any degree of probability, con- cerning the author of the Library. Writing in the ninth century of our era the patriarch Photius calls him Apollodorus the Gi'ammarian,^ and in the manu- scripts of his book he is described as Apollodorus the Athenian, Grammarian. Hence we may con- clude that Photius and the copyists identified our author with the eminent Athenian grammarian of that name, who flourished about 140 b.c. and wrote a number of learned works, now lost, including an elaborate treatise On the Gods in twenty-four books, and a poetical, or at all events versified. Chronicle in four books. 2 But in modern times good reasons have been given for rejecting this identification,^ ^ Photius, Bibliotheca, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Hesiod, the Poems and Fragments (8Thc Bc)
    Hesiod_0606 10/14/2005 05:13 PM THE ONLINE LIBRARY OF LIBERTY © Liberty Fund, Inc. 2005 http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/index.php HESIOD, THE POEMS AND FRAGMENTS (8THC BC) URL of this E-Book: http://oll.libertyfund.org/EBooks/Hesiod_0606.pdf URL of original HTML file: http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/HTML.php?recordID=0606 ABOUT THE AUTHOR The early Greek poet Hesiod is credited with the invention of didactic poetry around 700 B.C. His surviving works are the Theogony, relating to the stories of the gods, and the Works and Days, relating to peasant life. Hesiod’s poetry includes passages critical of those aristoi who support themselves on the labors of others rather than through their own exertions. ABOUT THE BOOK A collection of Hesiod’s poems and fragments, including Theogony which are stories of the gods, and the Works and Days which deals with peasant life. THE EDITION USED The Poems and Fragments done into English Prose with Introduction and Appendices by A.W. Mair M.A. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908). COPYRIGHT INFORMATION The text of this edition is in the public domain. FAIR USE STATEMENT This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/EBook.php?recordID=0606 Page 1 of 163 Hesiod_0606 10/14/2005 05:13 PM _______________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION I.
    [Show full text]
  • Hesiodic Theogony 1–115: Translated by Gregory Nagy 116–1022: Translated by J
    Hesiodic Theogony 1–115: Translated by Gregory Nagy 116–1022: Translated by J. Banks Adapted by Gregory Nagy Invocation Let me begin to sing of the Muses of Helikon, who abide on the great and holy Mount Helikon. Around the deep-blue spring, with dainty feet, they dance, and around the altar of the mighty son of Kronos. 5 Washing their tender skin in the waters of the Permessos or of the Horse’s Spring or of holy Olmeios, they set up their choral songs- and-dances on the highest point of Helikon. Beautiful and lovely, these [these songs- and-dances]. They are nimble with their feet. Starting from there [the top of Helikon], covered in plenty of mist [invisible], 10 they go about at night, sending forth a very beautiful voice, singing of Zeus the aegis-bearer and lady Hera of Argos, who walks about in golden sandals, and the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, Athena, and Phoebus Apollo and Artemis who shoots her arrows, 15 and Poseidon, the earth- holder and earth-shaker, and the honorable Themis as well as Aphrodite, whose eyes go from side to side, and Hebe with the golden garland, and beautiful Dione, and Leto, Iapetos, and Kronos with his devious plans, and the Dawn [Eos] and the great Sun [Helios] and the bright Moon [Selene], 20 and the Earth [Gaia] and great Okeanos and dark Night [Nyx], and the sacred genos of all the other immortals, who are forever. 1 22 [It was the Muses] who taught me, Hesiod, their beautiful song. 23 It happened when I was tending flocks of sheep in a valley of Helikon, that holy mountain.
    [Show full text]
  • Hesiod the Poems and Fragments
    HESIOD THE POEMS AND FRAGMENTS DONE INTO ENGLISH PROSE WITH INTRODUCTION AND APPENDICES BY A. W. MAIR, M.A. (ABE_. Er CA_TAB.) PROFESSOR OF GRF.RK IN EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY SOMRTIMR FBLLOW OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLRGE CAMBRIDGE OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS x9o8 HENRY FROWDEj M.A. PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON_ EDINBURGH_ NEW YORK TORONTO AND MELBOURNE _.IN'TED IN ENGL/t.NO, '_i__ PREFACE No apology seems needed for a new English trans- lation of Hesiod. I shall be glad if the present rendering lead to a more general study of an author who, if only for his antiquity, must always possess a particular interest. In some few cases of great doubt and difllcuky I have consciously given a merely provisional version. These need not be specified here, and I hope to have an opportunity elsewhere of a fuU discussion. The Introduction aims at no more than supplying a certain amount of information, within definite limits, about the Hesiodic epos and the traditional Hesiod. A critical introduction was clearly beyond the scope of this book. In the Addenda I have given a preliminary and necessarily slight discussion of a few selected topics from the tVork_ and Days. The vexed question of the spdling of Greek proper names is particularly troublesome in Hesiod, since, as Quintilian says, 'magna pars eius in nomini- bus est occupata.' I have preferred some approxima- tion to the Gre& spelling rather than the Romanized forms, but I have not troubled about a too laborious ,J consistency. a2 iv Preface ! have had the privilege o[ consulting my colleague the Astronomer Royal for Scotland (Professor Dyson) on some astronomical matters, and several of my brothers have given me the benefit of their criticism on various points of scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • Anthology of Classical Myth, Second Edition
    Apollodorus (probably 1st or 2nd c. AD , wrote in Greek) The Library (Bibliotheke) is a mythological work attributed to Apollodorus (sometimes he is called Pseudo-Apollodorus because our author is certainly not the famous scholar Apol - lodorus, who had written a work on the gods in the 2nd century BC ). The work is essen - tially a basic handbook of Greek myth that was probably compiled sometime during the first two centuries AD . It is organized by lineage: the first book covers the gods and the fam - ily of Deucalion; the second the lineage of Inachos; the third the lineage of Agenor. The last section of the work is missing (it breaks off in the middle of the accounts of Theseus), but we have an epitome (an abridged version), which covers the remainder of the tale of The - seus and the events surrounding the Trojan War. The Library is a valuable source for mod - ern students of myth both for its usually clear narration and for the amount of material in it that is derived from earlier writers, including such important mythographers as Acusilaus and Pherecydes. One difficulty caused by this is the presence of sometimes conflicting pieces of information where Apollodorus follows or reports different authorities. Included here are extended excerpts of the Library, mostly centered on creation and the major heroes. FROM LIBRARY A1 The Early Gods, the Rise of Zeus, and the Titanomachy (1.1.1–1.2.6) [1.1] Ouranos was the first to rule the entire cosmos. Having married Ge, he first fa - thered the ones called “Hundred-Handers,” namely Briareos, Gyes, and Cottos, who stood unsurpassed in size and power, each with a hundred hands and each with fifty heads.
    [Show full text]
  • (Ναϊάδες). Naiads Were Nymphs of Fresh-Water Rivers, Lakes, Wells And
    N Naiads (Ναϊάδες). Naiads were nymphs of fresh-water rivers, lakes, wells and fountains, belonging to the pantheon of nature deities who represented various features of the natural world. The Naiads tended to personify the particular spring or stretch of water which they inhabited, and became inseparably identified with their specific locality; because every town and village honoured its own particular spring or river, the presiding spirits were important to genealogists in the ancient world. Many ruling families claimed legendary descent from a Naiad, emphasising the connection between a noble house and its locale, and thus its entitlement to the land. In Sparta for example the eponymous Lacedaemon married Sparta, a grand-daughter of the Naiad Cleocharia, in Athens Erichthonius married the Naiad Praxithea by whom he had a son Pandion, and in Argos the ill-fated children of *Thyestes were born of a Naiad. Other mythographers used complex stories to explain geographical puzzles, such as the myth of the Naiad *Arethusa which accounted for the identical names of springs as far apart as Elis and Sicily; the Naiad *Cyrene, beloved of Apollo, was the daughter of the river god Peneius in Thessaly, and eventually gave her name to the city in Libya. In Homer the Naiads are given as the daughters of Zeus, whereas other sources explain them as the daughters of Oceanus or of the river with which they are associated. They lived as long as the lakes and springs with which they were associated continued to flow, and, as might be expected of water nymphs, were often represented as sexually dangerous.
    [Show full text]
  • Mythical Religion Hesiod, Theogony, 1-232 1-25. from The
    1 Mythical Religion Hesiod, Theogony, 1-232 1-25. From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night, veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis-holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals and the daughter of Zeus (the aegis-holder) bright-eyed Athene, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon the earth-holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and quick- glancing Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the goddesses said to me -- the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis: 26-28. `Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.' 29-35.
    [Show full text]