PREFACE
My
Dear Children,Some
of you have heard already of the old Greeks; and all of you, as you
grow up, will hear more and more of them. Those of you who are
boys will, perhaps, spend a great deal of time in reading Greek
books; and the girls, though they may not learn Greek, will be sure
to come across a great many stories taken from Greek history, and to
see, I may say every day, things which we should not have had if it
had not been for these old Greeks. You can hardly find a
well-written book which has not in it Greek names, and words, and
proverbs; you cannot walk through a great town without passing Greek
buildings; you cannot go into a well-furnished room without seeing
Greek statues and ornaments, even Greek patterns of furniture and
paper; so strangely have these old Greeks left their mark behind them
upon this modern world in which we now live. And as you grow
up, and read more and more, you will find that we owe to these old
Greeks the beginners of all our mathematics and geometry—that is,
the science and knowledge of numbers, and of the shapes of things,
and of the forces which make things move and stand at rest; and the
beginnings of our geography and astronomy; and of our laws, and
freedom, and politics—that is, the science of how to rule a
country, and make it peaceful and strong. And we owe to them,
too, the beginning of our logic—that is, the study of words and of
reasoning; and of our metaphysics—that is, the study of our own
thoughts and souls. And last of all, they made their language
so beautiful that foreigners used to take to it instead of their own;
and at last Greek became the common language of educated people all
over the old world, from Persia and Egypt even to Spain and Britain.
And therefore it was that the New Testament was written in Greek,
that it might be read and understood by all the nations of the Roman
empire; so that, next to the Jews, and the Bible which the Jews
handed down to us, we owe more to these old Greeks than to any people
upon earth.Now
you must remember one thing—that ‘Greeks’ was not their real
name. They called themselves always ‘Hellens,’ but the
Romans miscalled them Greeks; and we have taken that wrong name from
the Romans—it would take a long time to tell you why. They
were made up of many tribes and many small separate states; and when
you hear in this book of Minuai, and Athenians, and other such names,
you must remember that they were all different tribes and peoples of
the one great Hellen race, who lived in what we now call Greece, in
the islands of the Archipelago, and along the coast of Asia Minor
(Ionia, as they call it), from the Hellespont to Rhodes, and had
afterwards colonies and cities in Sicily, and South Italy (which was
called Great Greece), and along the shores of the Black Sea at
Sinope, and Kertch, and at Sevastopol. And after that, again,
they spread under Alexander the Great, and conquered Egypt, and
Syria, and Persia, and the whole East. But that was many
hundred years after my stories; for then there were no Greeks on the
Black Sea shores, nor in Sicily, or Italy, or anywhere but in Greece
and in Ionia. And if you are puzzled by the names of places in
this book, you must take the maps and find them out. It will be
a pleasanter way of learning geography than out of a dull
lesson-book.Now,
I love these old Hellens heartily; and I should be very ungrateful to
them if I did not, considering all that they have taught me; and they
seem to me like brothers, though they have all been dead and gone
many hundred years ago. So as you must learn about them,
whether you choose or not, I wish to be the first to introduce you to
them, and to say, ‘Come hither, children, at this blessed Christmas
time, when all God’s creatures should rejoice together, and bless
Him who redeemed them all. Come and see old friends of mine,
whom I knew long ere you were born. They are come to visit us
at Christmas, out of the world where all live to God; and to tell you
some of their old fairy tales, which they loved when they were young
like you.’For
nations begin at first by being children like you, though they are
made up of grown men. They are children at first like you—men
and women with children’s hearts; frank, and affectionate, and full
of trust, and teachable, and loving to see and learn all the wonders
round them; and greedy also, too often, and passionate and silly, as
children are.Thus
these old Greeks were teachable, and learnt from all the nations
round. From the Phoenicians they learnt shipbuilding, and some
say letters beside; and from the Assyrians they learnt painting, and
carving, and building in wood and stone; and from the Egyptians they
learnt astronomy, and many things which you would not understand.
In this they were like our own forefathers the Northmen, of whom you
love to hear, who, though they were wild and rough themselves, were
humble, and glad to learn from every one. Therefore God
rewarded these Greeks, as He rewarded our forefathers, and made them
wiser than the people who taught them in everything they learnt; for
He loves to see men and children open-hearted, and willing to be
taught; and to him who uses what he has got, He gives more and more
day by day. So these Greeks grew wise and powerful, and wrote
poems which will live till the world’s end, which you must read for
yourselves some day, in English at least, if not in Greek. And
they learnt to carve statues, and build temples, which are still
among the wonders of the world; and many another wondrous thing God
taught them, for which we are the wiser this day.For
you must not fancy, children, that because these old Greeks were
heathens, therefore God did not care for them, and taught them
nothing.The
Bible tells us that it was not so, but that God’s mercy is over all
His works, and that He understands the hearts of all people, and
fashions all their works. And St. Paul told these old Greeks in
after times, when they had grown wicked and fallen low, that they
ought to have known better, because they were God’s offspring, as
their own poets had said; and that the good God had put them where
they were, to seek the Lord, and feel after Him, and find Him, though
He was not far from any one of them. And Clement of Alexandria,
a great Father of the Church, who was as wise as he was good, said
that God had sent down Philosophy to the Greeks from heaven, as He
sent down the Gospel to the Jews.For
Jesus Christ, remember, is the Light who lights every man who comes
into the world. And no one can think a right thought, or feel a
right feeling, or understand the real truth of anything in earth and
heaven, unless the good Lord Jesus teaches him by His Spirit, which
gives man understanding.But
these Greeks, as St. Paul told them, forgot what God had taught them,
and, though they were God’s offspring, worshipped idols of wood and
stone, and fell at last into sin and shame, and then, of course, into
cowardice and slavery, till they perished out of that beautiful land
which God had given them for so many years.For,
like all nations who have left anything behind them, beside mere
mounds of earth, they believed at first in the One True God who made
all heaven and earth. But after a while, like all other nations, they
began to worship other gods, or rather angels and spirits, who (so
they fancied) lived about their land. Zeus, the Father of gods
and men (who was some dim remembrance of the blessed true God), and
Hera his wife, and Phoebus Apollo the Sun-god, and Pallas Athené who
taught men wisdom and useful arts, and Aphrodite the Queen of Beauty,
and Poseidon the Ruler of the Sea, and Hephaistos the King of the
Fire, who taught men to work in metals. And they honoured the
Gods of the Rivers, and the Nymph-maids, who they fancied lived in
the caves, and the fountains, and the glens of the forest, and all
beautiful wild places. And they honoured the Erinnues, the
dreadful sisters, who, they thought, haunted guilty men until their
sins were purged away. And many other dreams they had, which
parted the One God into many; and they said, too, that these gods did
things which would be a shame and sin for any man to do. And
when their philosophers arose, and told them that God was One, they
would not listen, but loved their idols, and their wicked idol
feasts, till they all came to ruin. But we will talk of such
sad things no more.But,
at the time of which this little book speaks, they had not fallen as
low as that. They worshipped no idols, as far as I can find;
and they still believed in the last six of the ten commandments, and
knew well what was right and what was wrong. And they believed
(and that was what gave them courage) that the gods loved men, and
taught them, and that without the gods men were sure to come to
ruin. And in that they were right enough, as we know—more
right even than they thought; for without God we can do nothing, and
all wisdom comes from Him.Now,
you must not think of them in this book as learned men, living in
great cities, such as they were afterwards, when they wrought all
their beautiful works, but as country people, living in farms and
walled villages, in a simple, hard-working way; so that the greatest
kings and heroes cooked their own meals, and thought it no shame, and
made their own ships and weapons, and fed and harnessed their own
horses; and the queens worked with their maid-servants, and did all
the business of the house, and spun, and wove, and embroidered, and
made their husbands’ clothes and their own. So that a man was
honoured among them, not because he happened to be rich, but
according to his skill, and his strength, and courage, and the number
of things which he could do. For they were but grown-up
children, though they were right noble children too; and it was with
them as it is now at school—the strongest and cleverest boy, though
he be poor, leads all the rest.Now,
while they were young and simple they loved fairy tales, as you do
now. All nations do so when they are young: our old forefathers
did, and called their stories ‘Sagas.’ I will read you some
of them some day—some of the Eddas, and the Voluspà, and Beowulf,
and the noble old Romances. The old Arabs, again, had their
tales, which we now call the ‘Arabian Nights.’ The old
Romans had theirs, and they called them ‘Fabulæ,’ from which our
word ‘fable’ comes; but the old Hellens called theirs ‘Muthoi,’
from which our new word ‘myth’ is taken. But next to those
old Romances, which were written in the Christian middle age, there
are no fairy tales like these old Greek ones, for beauty, and wisdom,
and truth, and for making children love noble deeds, and trust in God
to help them through.Now,
why have I called this book ‘The Heroes’? Because that was
the name which the Hellens gave to men who were brave and skilful,
and dare do more than other men. At first, I think, that was
all it meant: but after a time it came to mean something more; it
came to mean men who helped their country; men in those old times,
when the country was half-wild, who killed fierce beasts and evil
men, and drained swamps, and founded towns, and therefore after they
were dead, were honoured, because they had left their country better
than they found it. And we call such a man a hero in English to
this day, and call it a ‘heroic’ thing to suffer pain and grief,
that we may do good to our fellow-men. We may all do that, my
children, boys and girls alike; and we ought to do it, for it is
easier now than ever, and safer, and the path more clear. But
you shall hear how the Hellens said their heroes worked, three
thousand years ago. The stories are not all true, of course,
nor half of them; you are not simple enough to fancy that; but the
meaning of them is true, and true for ever, and that is—Do right,
and God will help you.’
PART I HOW PERSEUS AND HIS MOTHER CAME TO SERIPHOS
Once
upon a time there were two princes who were twins. Their names
were Acrisius and Prœtus, and they lived in the pleasant vale of
Argos, far away in Hellas. They had fruitful meadows and
vineyards, sheep and oxen, great herds of horses feeding down in
Lerna Fen, and all that men could need to make them blest: and yet
they were wretched, because they were jealous of each other.
From the moment they were born they began to quarrel; and when they
grew up each tried to take away the other’s share of the kingdom,
and keep all for himself. So first Acrisius drove out Prœtus;
and he went across the seas, and brought home a foreign princess for
his wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who were called Cyclopes;
and drove out Acrisius in his turn; and then they fought a long while
up and down the land, till the quarrel was settled, and Acrisius took
Argos and one half the land, and Prœtus took Tiryns and the other
half. And Prœtus and his Cyclopes built around Tiryns great
walls of unhewn stone, which are standing to this day.But
there came a prophet to that hard-hearted Acrisius and prophesied
against him, and said, ‘Because you have risen up against your own
blood, your own blood shall rise up against you; because you have
sinned against your kindred, by your kindred you shall be punished.
Your daughter Danae shall bear a son, and by that son’s hands you
shall die. So the Gods have ordained, and it will surely come
to pass.’And
at that Acrisius was very much afraid; but he did not mend his ways.
He had been cruel to his own family, and, instead of repenting and
being kind to them, he went on to be more cruel than ever: for he
shut up his fair daughter Danae in a cavern underground, lined with
brass, that no one might come near her. So he fancied himself
more cunning than the Gods: but you will see presently whether he was
able to escape them.Now
it came to pass that in time Danae bore a son; so beautiful a babe
that any but King Acrisius would have had pity on it. But he
had no pity; for he took Danae and her babe down to the seashore, and
put them into a great chest and thrust them out to sea, for the winds
and the waves to carry them whithersoever they would.The
north-west wind blew freshly out of the blue mountains, and down the
pleasant vale of Argos, and away and out to sea. And away and
out to sea before it floated the mother and her babe, while all who
watched them wept, save that cruel father, King Acrisius.So
they floated on and on, and the chest danced up and down upon the
billows, and the baby slept upon its mother’s breast: but the poor
mother could not sleep, but watched and wept, and she sang to her
baby as they floated; and the song which she sang you shall learn
yourselves some day.And
now they are past the last blue headland, and in the open sea; and
there is nothing round them but the waves, and the sky, and the
wind. But the waves are gentle, and the sky is clear, and the
breeze is tender and low; for these are the days when Halcyone and
Ceyx build their nests, and no storms ever ruffle the pleasant summer
sea.And
who were Halcyone and Ceyx? You shall hear while the chest
floats on. Halcyone was a fairy maiden, the daughter of the
beach and of the wind. And she loved a sailor-boy, and married
him; and none on earth were so happy as they. But at last Ceyx
was wrecked; and before he could swim to the shore the billows
swallowed him up. And Halcyone saw him drowning, and leapt into
the sea to him; but in vain. Then the Immortals took pity on
them both, and changed them into two fair sea-birds; and now they
build a floating nest every year, and sail up and down happily for
ever upon the pleasant seas of Greece.So
a night passed, and a day, and a long day it was for Danae; and
another night and day beside, till Danae was faint with hunger and
weeping, and yet no land appeared. And all the while the babe
slept quietly; and at last poor Danae drooped her head and fell
asleep likewise with her cheek against the babe’s.After
a while she was awakened suddenly; for the chest was jarring and
grinding, and the air was full of sound. She looked up, and
over her head were mighty cliffs, all red in the setting sun, and
around her rocks and breakers, and flying flakes of foam. She
clasped her hands together, and shrieked aloud for help. And
when she cried, help met her: for now there came over the rocks a
tall and stately man, and looked down wondering upon poor Danae
tossing about in the chest among the waves.He
wore a rough cloak of frieze, and on his head a broad hat to shade
his face; in his hand he carried a trident for spearing fish, and
over his shoulder was a casting-net; but Danae could see that he was
no common man by his stature, and his walk, and his flowing golden
hair and beard; and by the two servants who came behind him, carrying
baskets for his fish. But she had hardly time to look at him,
before he had laid aside his trident and leapt down the rocks, and
thrown his casting-net so surely over Danae and the chest, that he
drew it, and her, and the baby, safe upon a ledge of rock.Then
the fisherman took Danae by the hand, and lifted her out of the
chest, and said—
‘O
beautiful damsel, what strange chance has brought you to this island
in so flail a ship? Who are you, and whence? Surely you
are some king’s daughter; and this boy has somewhat more than
mortal.’And
as he spoke he pointed to the babe; for its face shone like the
morning star.But
Danae only held down her head, and sobbed out—
‘Tell
me to what land I have come, unhappy that I am; and among what men I
have fallen!’And
he said, ‘This isle is called Seriphos, and I am a Hellen, and
dwell in it. I am the brother of Polydectes the king; and men
call me Dictys the netter, because I catch the fish of the shore.’Then
Danae fell down at his feet, and embraced his knees, and cried—
‘Oh,
sir, have pity upon a stranger, whom a cruel doom has driven to your
land; and let me live in your house as a servant; but treat me
honourably, for I was once a king’s daughter, and this my boy (as
you have truly said) is of no common race. I will not be a
charge to you, or eat the bread of idleness; for I am more skilful in
weaving and embroidery than all the maidens of my land.’And
she was going on; but Dictys stopped her, and raised her up, and
said—
‘My
daughter, I am old, and my hairs are growing gray; while I have no
children to make my home cheerful. Come with me then, and you
shall be a daughter to me and to my wife, and this babe shall be our
grandchild. For I fear the Gods, and show hospitality to all
strangers; knowing that good deeds, like evil ones, always return to
those who do them.’So
Danae was comforted, and went home with Dictys the good fisherman,
and was a daughter to him and to his wife, till fifteen years were
past.