Mythology

[*زهره*]

ADMETUS AND THE SHEPHERD

ADMETUS AND THE SHEPHERD

[SIZE=-1]Apollo did not live always free of care, though he was the most [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]glorious of the gods. One day, in anger with the Cyclopes who work at [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the forges of Vulcan, he sent his arrows after them, to the wrath of [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]all the gods, but especially of Zeus. (For the Cyclopes always make his [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]thunderbolts, and make them well.) Even the divine archer could not go [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]unpunished, and as a penalty he was sent to serve some mortal for a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]year. Some say one year and some say nine, but in those days time [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]passed quickly; and as for the gods, they took no heed of it.[/SIZE]
​

[SIZE=-1]Now there was a certain king in Thessaly, Admetus by name, and there [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]came to him one day a stranger, who asked leave to serve about the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]palace. None knew his name, but he was very comely, and moreover, when [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]they questioned him he said that he had come from a position of high [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]trust. So without further delay they made him chief shepherd of the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]royal flocks.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]Every day thereafter, he drove his sheep to the banks of the river [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Amphrysus, and there he sat to watch them browse. The country-folk that [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]passed drew near to wonder at him, without daring to ask questions. He [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]seemed to have a knowledge of leech-craft, and knew how to cure the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]ills of any wayfarer with any weed that grew near by; and he would pipe [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]for hours in the sun. A simple-spoken man he was, yet he seemed to know [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]much more than he would say, and he smiled with a kindly mirth when the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]people wished him sunny weather.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]Indeed, as days went by, it seemed as if summer had come to stay, and, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]like the shepherd, found the place friendly. Nowhere else were the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]flocks so white and fair to see, like clouds loitering along a bright [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]sky; and sometimes, when he chose, their keeper sang to them. Then the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]grasshoppers drew near and the swans sailed close to the river banks, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]and the country-men gathered about to hear wonderful tales of the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]slaying of the monster Python, and of a king with ass's ears, and of a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]lovely maiden, Daphne, who grew into a laurel-tree. In time the rumor [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]of these things drew the king himself to listen; and Admetus, who had [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]been to see the world in the ship Argo, knew at once that this was no [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]earthly shepherd, but a god. From that day, like a true king, he [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]treated his guest with reverence and friendliness, asking no questions; [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]and the god was well pleased.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]Now it came to pass that Admetus fell in love with a beautiful maiden, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Alcestis, and, because of the strange condition that her father Pelias [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]had laid upon all suitors, he was heavy-hearted. Only that man who [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]should come to woo her in a chariot drawn by a wild boar and a lion [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]might ever marry Alcestis; and this task was enough to puzzle even a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]king.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]As for the shepherd, when he heard of it he rose, one fine morning, and [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]left the sheep and went his way,--no one knew whither. If the sun had [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]gone out, the people could not have been more dismayed. The king [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]himself went, late in the day, to walk by the river Amphrysus, and [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]wonder if his gracious keeper of the flocks had deserted him in a time [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]of need. But at that very moment, whom should he see returning from the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]woods but the shepherd, glorious as sunset, and leading side by side a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]lion and a boar, as gentle as two sheep! The very next morning, with [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]joy and gratitude, Admetus set out in his chariot for the kingdom of [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Pelias, and there he wooed and won Alcestis, the most loving wife that [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]was ever heard of.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]It was well for Admetus that he came home with such a comrade, for the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]year was at an end, and he was to lose his shepherd. The strange man [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]came to take leave of the king and queen whom he had befriended.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]"Blessed be your flocks, Admetus," he said, smiling. "They shall [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]prosper even though I leave them. And, because you can discern the gods [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]that come to you in the guise of wayfarers, happiness shall never go [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]far from your home, but ever return to be your guest. No man may live [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]on earth forever, but this one gift have I obtained for you. When your [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]last hour draws near, if any one shall be willing to meet it in your [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]stead, he shall die, and you shall live on, more than the mortal length [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]of days. Such kings deserve long life."[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=-1]So ended the happy year when Apollo tended sheep.[/SIZE]​

 

[navid_sixtysix]

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[*زهره*]

PYGMALION AND GALATEA

PYGMALION AND GALATEA

[SIZE=-1]The island of Cyprus was dear to the heart of Venus. There her temples [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]were kept with honor, and there, some say, she watched with the Loves [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]and Graces over the long enchanted sleep of Adonis. This youth, a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]hunter whom she had dearly loved, had died of a wound from the tusk of [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]a wild boar; but the bitter grief of Venus had won over even the powers [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]of Hades. For six months of every year, Adonis had to live as a Shade [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]in the world of the dead; but for the rest of time he was free to [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]breathe the upper air. Here in Cyprus the people came to worship him as [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]a god, for the sake of Venus who loved him; and here, if any called [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]upon her, she was like to listen.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]Now there once lived in Cyprus a young sculptor, Pygmalion by name, who [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]thought nothing on earth so beautiful as the white marble folk that [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]live without faults and never grow old. Indeed, he said that he would [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]never marry a mortal woman, and people began to think that his daily [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]life among marble creatures was hardening his heart altogether.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]But it chanced that Pygmalion fell to work upon an ivory statue of a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]maiden, so lovely that it must have moved to envy every breathing [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]creature that came to look upon it. With a happy heart the sculptor [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]wrought day by day, giving it all the beauty of his dreams, until, when [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the work was completed, he felt powerless to leave it. He was bound to [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]it by the tie of his highest aspiration, his most perfect ideal, his [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]most patient work.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Day after day the ivory maiden looked down at him silently, and he [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]looked back at her until he felt that he loved her more than anything [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]else in the world. He thought of her no longer as a statue, but as the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]dear companion of his life; and the whim grew upon him like an [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]enchantment. He named her Galatea, and arrayed her like a princess; he [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]hung jewels about her neck, and made all his home beautiful and fit for [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]such a presence.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Now the festival of Venus was at hand, and Pygmalion, like all who [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]loved Beauty, joined the worshippers. In the temple victims were [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]offered, solemn rites were held, and votaries from many lands came to [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]pray the favor of the goddess. At length Pygmalion himself approached [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the altar and made his prayer.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]"Goddess," he said, "who hast vouchsafed to me this gift of beauty, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]give me a perfect love, likewise, and let me have for bride, one like [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]my ivory maiden." And Venus heard.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Home to his house of dreams went the sculptor, loath to be parted for a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]day from his statue, Galatea. There she stood, looking down upon him [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]silently, and he looked back at her. Surely the sunset had shed a flush [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]of life upon her whiteness.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]He drew near in wonder and delight, and felt, instead of the chill air [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]that was wont to wake him out of his spell, a gentle warmth around her, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]like the breath of a plant. He touched her hand, and it yielded like [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the hand of one living! Doubting his senses, yet fearing to reassure [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]himself, Pygmalion kissed the statue.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]In an instant the maiden's face bloomed like a waking rose, her hair [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]shone golden as returning sunlight; she lifted her ivory eyelids and [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]smiled at him. The statue herself had awakened, and she stepped down [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]from the pedestal, into the arms of her creator, alive![/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]There was a dream that came true.[/SIZE]

​

 

[*زهره*]

ICARUS AND DAEDALUS

ICARUS AND DAEDALUS

[SIZE=-1]Among all those mortals who grew so wise that they learned the secrets [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]of the gods, none was more cunning than Daedalus.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]He once built, for King Minos of Crete, a wonderful Labyrinth of [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]winding ways so cunningly tangled up and twisted around that, once [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]inside, you could never find your way out again without a magic clue. [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]But the king's favor veered with the wind, and one day he had his [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]master architect imprisoned in a tower. Daedalus managed to escape from [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]his cell; but it seemed impossible to leave the island, since every [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]ship that came or went was well guarded by order of the king.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]At length, watching the sea-gulls in the air,--the only creatures that [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]were sure of liberty,--he thought of a plan for himself and his young [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]son Icarus, who was captive with him.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Little by little, he gathered a store of feathers great and small. He [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]fastened these together with thread, moulded them in with wax, and so [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]fashioned two great wings like those of a bird. When they were done, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Daedalus fitted them to his own shoulders, and after one or two [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]efforts, he found that by waving his arms he could winnow the air and [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]cleave it, as a swimmer does the sea. He held himself aloft, wavered [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]this way and that with the wind, and at last, like a great fledgling, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]he learned to fly.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Without delay, he fell to work on a pair of wings for the boy Icarus, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]and taught him carefully how to use them, bidding him beware of rash [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]adventures among the stars. "Remember," said the father, "never to fly [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]very low or very high, for the fogs about the earth would weigh you [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]down, but the blaze of the sun will surely melt your feathers apart if [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]you go too near."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]For Icarus, these cautions went in at one ear and out by the other. Who [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]could remember to be careful when he was to fly for the first time? Are [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]birds careful? Not they! And not an idea remained in the boy's head but [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the one joy of escape.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The day came, and the fair wind that was to set them free. The father [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]bird put on his wings, and, while the light urged them to be gone, he [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]waited to see that all was well with Icarus, for the two could not fly [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]hand in hand. Up they rose, the boy after his father. The hateful [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]ground of Crete sank beneath them; and the country folk, who caught a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]glimpse of them when they were high above the tree-tops, took it for a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]vision of the gods,--Apollo, perhaps, with Cupid after him.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]At first there was a terror in the joy. The wide vacancy of the air [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]dazed them,--a glance downward made their brains reel. But when a great [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]wind filled their wings, and Icarus felt himself sustained, like a [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]halcyon-bird in the hollow of a wave, like a child uplifted by his [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]mother, he forgot everything in the world but joy. He forgot Crete and [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the other islands that he had passed over: he saw but vaguely that [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]winged thing in the distance before him that was his father Daedalus. [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]He longed for one draught of flight to quench the thirst of his [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]captivity: he stretched out his arms to the sky and made towards the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]highest heavens.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Alas for him! Warmer and warmer grew the air. Those arms, that had [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]seemed to uphold him, relaxed. His wings wavered, drooped. He fluttered [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]his young hands vainly,--he was falling,--and in that terror he [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]remembered. The heat of the sun had melted the wax from his wings; the [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]feathers were falling, one by one, like snowflakes; and there was none [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]to help.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]He fell like a leaf tossed down the wind, down, down, with one cry that [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]overtook Daedalus far away. When he returned, and sought high and low [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]for the poor boy, he saw nothing but the bird-like feathers afloat on [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]the water, and he knew that Icarus was drowned.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The nearest island he named Icaria, in memory of the child; but he, in [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]heavy grief, went to the temple of Apollo in Sicily, and there hung up [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]his wings as an offering. Never again did he attempt to fly.[/SIZE]
​