Bulfinchs Mythology | Page 5

Cuchulain, Champion of Ireland Hereward the Wake Robin
Hood
LEGENDS OF CHARLEMAGNE
Introduction The Peers, or Paladins The Tournament The Siege of

Albracca Adventures of Rinaldo and Orlando The Invasion of France
The Invasion of France (Continued)
Bradamante and Rogero Astolpho and the Enchantress The Orc
Astolpho's Adventures continued, and Isabella's begun. Medoro
Orlando Mad Zerbino and Isabella Astolpho in Abyssinia The War in
Africa Rogero and Bradamante The Battle of Roncesvalles Rinaldo and
Bayard Death of Rinaldo Huon of Bordeaux Huon of Bordeaux
(Continued) Huon of Bordeaux (Continued) Ogier, the Dane Ogier, the
Dane (Continued) Ogier, the Dane (Continued)
GLOSSARY

STORIES OF GODS AND HEROES







CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so- called
divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men.
They belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of
literature and taste. There they still hold their place, and will continue
to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions
of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion.
We propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come down
to us from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern poets,
essayists, and orators. Our readers may thus at the same time be
entertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has ever created,
and put in possession of information indispensable to every one who
would read with intelligence the elegant literature of his own day.

In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint
ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which prevailed
among the Greeks--the people from whom the Romans, and other
nations through them, received their science and religion.
The Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country
occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount
Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle.
The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east and divided
into two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and
its continuation the Euxine, the only seas with which they were
acquainted.
Around the earth flowed the River Ocean, its course being from south
to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction on
the eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by
storm or tempest. The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their
waters from it.
The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by a
happy race named the Hyperboreans, dwelling in everlasting bliss and
spring beyond the lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed to
send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the
people of Hellas (Greece). Their country was inaccessible by land or
sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare.
Moore has given us the "Song of a Hyperborean," beginning
"I come from a land in the sun-bright deep, Where golden gardens glow,
Where the winds of the north, becalmed in sleep, Their conch shells
never blow."
On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Ocean, dwelt a
people happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. They were named the
Aethiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they were wont to
leave at times their Olympian abodes and go to share their sacrifices
and banquets.

On the western margin of the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay a
happy place named the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by the
gods were transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality
of bliss. This happy region was also called the "Fortunate Fields," and
the "Isles of the Blessed."
We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any real
people except those to the east and south of their own country, or near
the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagination meantime peopled
the western portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses;
while they placed around the disk of the earth, which they probably
regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying the peculiar favor of the
gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity.
The Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to rise out of the
Ocean, on the eastern side, and to drive through the air, giving light to
gods and men. The stars, also, except those forming the Wain or Bear,
and others near them, rose out of and sank into the stream of Ocean.
There the sun-god embarked in a winged boat, which conveyed him
round by the northern part of the earth, back to his