ARTEMIS AND IPHIGENEIA. II. 379 of the West is the golden light stolen away in the evening. The CHAP. weary voyage from the Achaian shores is the long journey of the sunchildren for the stolen treasure, beginning just when the twilight is deepening into night, and when the lagging hours seem likely never to pass away. Iphigeneia is slain at the beginning of this dismal journey-in other words, she dies in the evening that Helen may come back in the morning, when, after ten long hours of mortal strife, the walls of Ilion have fallen. But when Artemis, Helen, and Iphigeneia, had received each her own distinct personality, it was easy to say that the anger of Artemis, offended for some supposed neglect or affront of Agamemnon, was the cause of the death of Iphigeneia. and Brito The distinction between Artemis and Britomartis is as slight as Iphigeneia that which separates her from Iphigeneia. Whatever be the origin martis. of the name, Britomartis is spoken of as a daughter of Lêtô, or of Zeus and Karmê, and as flying from the pursuit of Minos as Artemis flies from that of Alpheios.1 From this pursuit she escapes, like Arethousa and Daphnê, only by throwing herself into the sea-as some said, because she leaped from the heights of Diktynnaion, or, as others would have it, because she fell into the nets (dítva) of the fishermen. Rescued from the water she goes to Aigina, and is reverenced there under the name of Aphaia. The wanderings of Britomartis are simply the journey of the day across the heaven, and the story of the nets must clearly be compared with that of Danaê and the kindly treatment of Diktys of Seriphos, who is contrasted with his gloomy brother Polydektês-a mere reflexion of Hades Polydegmon. When the name of Diktys is further compared with the myth of the Diktaian cave, we can no longer doubt that Artemis Diktynna is simply Artemis the light-giving, and that the nets were brought into the myths by an equivocation similar to that which converted Arkas and Kallistô into bears and Lykâôn into a wolf. SECTION XV.-THE HUNTERS AND DANCERS OF THE HEAVENS. No one will claim a distinctively Hellenic character for such Orion. beings as Astarte, Adonis, or Melikertes; and few, after examining their characteristics, will hesitate to assert that the ideas expressed in these beings belong to the ordering of the Kosmos quite as much as Kallim. Hymn. Art. 192, &c. As the dawn springs fully armed from the forehead of the cloven sky, so the eye first discerns the blue of heaven as the first faint arch of light is seen in the East. This arch is the Diktaian come. BOOK Orion and Kedalion. to the phenomena of the seasons. Every night may be seen the majestic movement of the stars across the heavens; and in the measured steps of the great procession it would need no very vivid imagination to see a mystic dance regulated by the movements of the spheres. It is quite certain that Greek mythology brings before us a number of names which are no more Greek, or even Aryan, than are the names Athamas, or Harpokrates, or Osiris; and whatever else they may be, it is not less certain that these names describe generally beings who are pre-eminently hunters and dancers. At the head of these are the forms of Dionysos and Orion; and among their attendants are the groups of Kourêtes, Korybantes, Telchines, and Daktyloi. If these are neither Greek nor Aryan, the suspicion is justified that they may be creatures who found their way into Hellas by the same road which brought Kadmos and his sister to their Theban home. 1 Orion is pre-eminently the mighty hunter. But is Orîon Greek, or is he even Aryan? In Boiotia, the land where Phenician influence was strongest, he was known not only as Orîon, but also as Kandaon, and Kandaon is closely akin to Kandalos, one of the seven children of Helios and Rhodos, and brother of Makar, that is of Melkarth or Bacchus ; and he thus takes his place in the group to which Kadmos and other undoubtedly Phenician strangers belong. In the Greek versions of the myth, he is sprung from the earth or the waters, as a son whether of Poseidôn and Euryalê, or of Oinopion. He grows up a mighty hunter, doomed to be smitten down in his full strength, and to rise with renewed splendour after his imprisonment in the land of darkness. In short, Orîon is the sun, the racer through the heavens, who wanders alone through the boundless Olympos, in ceaseless pursuit of the beasts whose abode is in the high heaven, and follows the phantoms of the same beasts in his nightly journey across the under world, armed with his mighty club, the glowing torch-mace which is soon to flame with the splendour of the coming day. At Chios he sees the beautiful Aerô; but when he seeks to make her his bride, he is blinded by her father, who, on the advice of Dionysos, comes upon him in his sleep. Orion is now told that he may yet recover his sight if he would go to the east and look toward the rising Thither he is led by the help of Hephaistos, who sends Ke sun. 1 See p. 326. Mr. Brown (Great Dionysiak Myth, ii. 278, 281) regards the name as containing the Semitic root ur, light, whence the Assyrian aon, Heb. aor, the light of day, which shines in the land of Ur. 2 I have borrowed the words of Mr. Brown's eloquent description of the characteristics of Orion (Great Dionysiak Myth, ii. 275). The whole section on the myth of Orion is marked by singular ability, and must carry conviction to every impartial mind as to the origin and significance of the tale. THE DEATH OF ORION. In II. 381 dalion as his guide. On his return he vainly tries to seize and punish CHAP. the man who had blinded him, and then wandering onwards meets and is loved by Artemis. Of his death many stories were told. the Odyssey he is slain in Ortygia, the dawn land, by Arte mis, who is jealous of her rival Eôs. In another version Artemis slays him unwittingly, having aimed at a mark on the sea which Phoibos had declared that she could not hit. This mark was the head of Orîon, who had been swimming in the waters. Asklepios, we are further told, seeks to raise him from the dead, and thus brings on his own doom from the thunderbolts of Zeus. 4 Like Andromeda, Ariadnê, and other mythical beings, Orion was Seirios." after his death placed among the constellations, and his hound became the dog-star Seirios,1 who marks the time of yearly drought. He is thus the deadly star who burns up the fields of Aristaios and destroys his bees, and is stayed from his ravages only by the moistening heaven. The word Seirios itself springs from the same root with the Sanskrit Sûrya and the Greek Helios, Hêrê, and Heraklês; and with Archilochos and Suidas it was still a name for the sun. Orion, then, and Seirios, if not altogether Semitic, are at least only superficially coloured by Aryan thought. Like Dionysos, these are rather Kosmical gods than beings who owe their origin to phrases describing the phenomena of the summer and winter, light and darkness. They are conspicuous members of that mysterious band which moves in march or dance across the heavens, and whose names were for the most part uncouth sounds in Hellenic ears. Some of these names have been so far softened down as to wear an Aryan look; others, like the Kourêtes, Telchînes, and Kabeiroi, are scarcely hidden by the thin disguise. These creatures have no legitimate title to be ranked amongst the mythical creations of the Aryan world; and we can do no more than take some notice of them, as they come before us in the several parts of the Hellenic mythology into which they have been introduced. 1 Mr. Brown regards this name as merely a transliteration of the Egyptian Osiris. It may be so; but I cannot venture to speak positively on this point. As to Aristaios, he regards him as springing from the Horned-sun, the general account being that he is the child of Apollón and the Libyan nymph Kyrene (Ku-re-ne, or Horn).-Great Dionysiak Myth, 402. 2 οὔλιος ἀστήρ. Zevs ikμaîos. Preller, Gr. Myth. i. 358. CHAPTER III. THE LOST TREASURE. BOOK of stolen treasure found among nations. SECTION I.-THE GOLDEN FLEECE. THE idea of wealth is one of the most prominent characteristics in the legends of Helios, Ixîôn, Sisyphos, and Tantalos. The golden The myth palace of Helios, blazing with intolerable splendour, is reflected in the magnificent home of the Phrygian and Corinthian kings. So dazzling indeed is the brilliance of this treasure-house that none may look the Aryan closely upon it and live. Hence Dia the beautiful wife of Ixîôn has never seen her husband's wealth, as the Dawn may never see the sun when high in the heavens and her father Hesioneus who insists on being put into possession of all the glorious things which Ixîôn said should follow his union with Dia, the radiant morning, finds himself plunged into a gulf of fire. These treasures, in the myth of Prokris, Eôs herself bestows on Kephalos that he may beguile the gentle daughter of the dew. They are the beautiful flowers which bloom in the Hyperborean gardens, the wonderful web wrought and unwrought by Penelopê, the riches which the suitors waste in the absence of Odysseus, the herds of cattle which are fed by the glistening nymphs who rise from the ocean stream. They are the light of day in all its varied aspects and with all its wonderful powers. With them is bound up the idea of life, health, and joy and hence, when these treasures are taken away, the very blackness of desolation must follow. What can the sons of men do, when the bright being who has gladdened their eyes is taken from their sight? Must they not either sit still in utter despair or wait with feverish impatience until they see his kindly face again? What again must be the drama of those dark and dreary hours which pass between the setting of the sun and its rising? What must be the history of the silent time ending in the battle which precedes the defeat of the powers of darkness? That mighty conflict they might see every morning in the eastern heavens, as the first light flickers faintly across the sky, only to be driven back, as it would seem, until it returns with fresh THE NIGHTLY SEARCH AND BATTLE, strength and aided by new friends: but the incidents which went before this strife they could not see. All that was before their eyes reminded them of the hosts of vapours, some bright, some murky, which had been marshalled round the dying sun; and the same forms are now seen, the dark clouds being gradually driven away or being even changed from foes into friends as the sunlight turns their blackness into gold. But the bright clouds, sailing along in unsullied purity, are especially the children of Helios, the offspring of the union of Ixiôn and the lovely Nephelê. These then have sought him through the long hours of the night, and at length have rescued him from the gloomy prison-house. There is thus the daily taking away in the West of all that gives life its value, of all on which life itself depends; and it must be taken away by robbers utterly malignant and hateful. Thus there is also the nightly search for these thieves,-a search which must be carried on in darkness amidst many dangers and against almost insurmountable obstacles; and this search must end in a terrible battle, for how should the demons yield up their prey until their strength is utterly broken? But even when the victory is won, the task is but half achieved. The beautiful light must be brought back to the Western home from which the plunderers had stolen it; and there will be new foes to be encountered on the way, storm-clouds and tempests, black vapours glaring down with their single eye, fierce winds, savage whirlpools. But at length all is done, and the radiant maiden, freed from all real or fancied stains of guilt, gladdens her husband's house once more, before the magic drama of plunder, rescue, and return is acted over again; and it is precisely this magic round which furnishes all the materials for what may be called the mythical history not only of Greece but of all the Aryan nations. If the features are the same in all, if there is absolutely no political motive or interest in any one which may not be found more or less prominent in all the rest, if it is everywhere the same tale of treasure stolen, treasure searched for and fought for, treasure recovered and brought back, why are we to suppose that we are dealing in each case with a different story? Why are we to conjure up a hundred local conflicts each from precisely the same causes, each with precisely the same incidents and the same results? Why are we to think that the treasures of Eôs are not the treasures of Helen, that Helen's wealth is not the wealth of Brynhild, and that Brynhild's riches are not the dower of the wife of Walthar of Aquitaine? Why, when myth after myth of the Hellenic tribes exhibits the one ceaseless series of precious things taken away and after fearful toils recovered, and after not less terrible labours brought 383 CHAP. III. |