登陆注册
25531700000050

第50章

Monsters. Giants. Sphinx. Pegasus and the Chimaera.

Centaurs. Griffin. Pygmies Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury and annoyance of men. Some of them were supposed to combine the members of different animals; such were the Sphinx and the Chimaera; and to these all the terrible qualities of wild beasts were attributed, together with human sagacity and faculties.

Others, as the giants, differed from men chiefly in their size;and in this particular we must recognize a wide distinction among them. The human giants, if so they may be called, such as the Cyclopes, Antaeus, Orion, and others, must be supposed not to be altogether disproportioned to human beings, for they mingled in love and strife with them. But the superhuman giants, who warred with the gods, were of vastly larger dimensions. Tityus, we are told, when stretched on the plain, covered nine acres, and Enceladus required the whole of Mount AEtna to be laid upon him to keep him down.

We have already spoken of the war which the giants waged against the gods, and of its result. While this war lasted the giants proved a formidable enemy. Some of them, like Briareus, had a hundred arms; others, like Typhon, breathed out fire. At one time they put the gods to such fear that they fled into Egypt, and hid themselves under various forms. Jupiter took the form of a ram, whence he was afterwards worshipped in Egypt as the god Ammon, with curved horns. Apollo became a crow, Bacchus a goat, Diana a cat, Juno a cow, Venus a fish, Mercury a bird. At another time the giants attempted to climb up into heaven, and for that purpose took up the mountain Ossa and piled it on Pelion. They were at last subdued by thunderbolts, which Minerva invented, and taught Vulcan and his Cyclopes to make for Jupiter.

THE SPHINX

Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that there was danger to his throne and life if his new-born son should be suffered to grow up. He therefore committed the child to the care of a herdsman, with orders to destroy him; but the herdsman, moved to pity, yet not daring entirely to disobey, tied up the child by the feet, and left him hanging to the branch of a tree.

Here the infant was found by a herdsman of Polybus, king of Corinth, who was pasturing his flock upon Mount Cithaeron.

Polybus and Merope, his wife, adopted the child, whom they called OEdipus, or Swollen-foot, for they had no children themselves, and in Corinth OEdipus grew up. But as OEdipus was at Delphi, the oracle prophesied to him that he should kill his father and marry his own mother. Fighting against Fate, OEdipus resolved to leave Corinth and his parents, for he thought that Polybus and Merope were meant by the oracle.

Soon afterwards, Laius being on his way to Delphi, accompanied only by one attendant, met in a narrow road a young man also driving in a chariot. On his refusal to leave the way at their command, the attendant killed one of his horses, and the stranger, filled with rage, slew both Laius and his attendant.

The young man was OEdipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of his own father.

Shortly after this event the city of Thebes was afflicted with a monster which infested the high-road. It was called the Sphinx.

It had the body of a lion, and the upper part of a woman. It lay crouched on the top of a rock, and stopped all travellers who came that way, proposing to them a riddle, with the condition that those who could solve it should pass safe, but those who failed should be killed. Not one had yet succeeded in solving it, and all had been slain. OEdipus was not daunted by these alarming accounts, but boldly advanced to the trial. The Sphinx asked him, "What animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" OEdipus replied, "Man, who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect, and in old age with the aid of a staff."The Sphinx was so mortified at the solving of her riddle that she cast herself down from the rock and perished.

The gratitude of the people for their deliverance was so great that they made OEdipus their king, giving him in marriage their queen Jocasta. OEdipus, ignorant of his parentage, had already become the slayer of his father; in marrying the queen he became the husband of his mother. These horrors remained undiscovered, till at length Thebes was afflicted with famine and pestilence, and the oracle being consulted, the double crime of OEdipus came to light. Jocasta put an end to her own life, and OEdipus, seized with madness, tore out his eyes, and wandered away from Thebes, dreaded and abandoned hy all except his daughters, who faithfully adhered to him; till after a tedious period of miserable wandering, he found the termination of his wretched life.

PEGASUS AND THE CHIMAERA

When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, the blood sinking into the earth produced the winged horse Pegasus. Minerva caught and tamed him, and presented him to the Muses. The fountain Hippocrene, on the Muses' mountain Helicon, was opened by a kick from his hoof.

同类推荐
  • 灵应传

    灵应传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 大方等如来藏经

    大方等如来藏经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 妇人崩漏门

    妇人崩漏门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 写像秘诀

    写像秘诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 靖康稗史笺证

    靖康稗史笺证

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 梦逸花开之初雪飘絮

    梦逸花开之初雪飘絮

    一只被植入人工智能的兔子不断逆袭成长,化身倔强女王,引领了一场浩瀚的物种革命,带领军队与人类分庭抗礼,最后在与人类少年的情感羁绊中找到灵魂的归属
  • 潘家园书声

    潘家园书声

    《潘家园书声》是由王曾瑜编写,《潘家园书声》旨在让形形色色、光怪陆离,有着怎样闪光的头衔、动听的言辞、华丽的外衣都显示出本来面目。具体内容包括《忆黎澍先生》《中国古代卖官鬻爵的教训》《康王出使和救援开封的真相》《宋代的绿色革命》等。该书可供从事相关工作的人员作为参考用书使用。
  • 诀夜

    诀夜

    何为道?何为修行?道可道,非常道;名可名,非常名。修体修心修长生。中土大陆,百族林立,七派相争,魔族在南,妖族在北,王朝居中。中土西方荒芜小镇少年,携道心入世。一把木剑,一把长剑,一道八卦,一个锦囊.....
  • 十滴血

    十滴血

    这是一个少年杀了十个人的故事。这是一个少年杀了十个人的故事。
  • 公主抢夫:拖走绝色驸马爷

    公主抢夫:拖走绝色驸马爷

    才穿越就被驸马一箭穿心,皇帝老爹要砍他脑袋,想救他她必须休夫再娶。七公主好色残暴,哪有男子敢和她成亲?府上众多男子都腹黑阴险,不愿招惹他们,她出去抢个俊美如仙的男子回来,却发现他是掌门师叔。从此师叔住在公主府,她对他很好。他们鄙视她:“公主的口味真是不一般,老男人也吃得下。”而师叔见到谁都说:“她每晚让我给她洗脚铺被子,欺负我不把我当长辈,真是无耻败类。”谁说她要一直被他们冷嘲热讽?师叔恶意抹黑她名声更是可恶。她炼丹炼器修炼法术,决定要用强大的力量镇压住他们……
  • 冠心病食疗菜谱

    冠心病食疗菜谱

    《常见病食疗菜谱丛书》精选了近千种常见病的食疗菜谱,内容丰富,科学实用,易学易懂,非常适合于各类常见病患者以及家属使用。
  • 英雄联盟之疾风归来

    英雄联盟之疾风归来

    我是谁?这是···疾风剑么?我是个流浪孤儿还是···浪客杀手···
  • 实用生活小窍门2000例

    实用生活小窍门2000例

    购买的食物应该如何储存?衣饰应该如何搭配才能够看起来大方得体?应该如何制订理财计划?遇到意外伤害应该如何采取应急措施?家居应如何巧妙布置出自己的个性和风格……本书应对生活中繁杂琐碎的难题,全方位为您提供经过实践验证的宝贵经验技巧,本书帮助您快速解决生活中的问题,给您的生活带来更多的欢乐和方便,是您居家必备的得力助手。
  • 重生末世:傲娇BOSS宠妻狂

    重生末世:傲娇BOSS宠妻狂

    虽是孤儿,也知戒备,奈何意外重重。识人不清惨遭出卖,最后惨死于丧尸口中,却意外重生末世爆发一星期前。这一次,沐狄只想低调地收拾人渣,护着挚友,平平安安的渡过末世危机。奈何……“我只是想看着他狼狈度日,没想杀他呀。”“能让你分出注意力的东西都要毁灭,尤其是男人。”“……”“我不想站在你身边,那太引人注目了。”“嗯,把那些人弄瞎就可以了吧?”。“……”霸道男,木撩可成?指定缘分不匹配,性格不合求放过!
  • 韶华若止

    韶华若止

    她,自小即为异类,被父母抛弃,原本此生决定孤独终老,却没想到遇见了他。他,天之骄子,风姿卓然,自从遇见了她,心便在不知不觉中遗落在她身上。讲述二人相知相识,历经磨难,最终执子之手与子偕老。甜宠温馨文,不容错过,希望大家喜欢。