Table of Contents | The Outline of Mythology

Introduction

5 pages

Roman Divinities

The preceding are Grecian divinities, though received also by the Romans. Those which follow are peculiar to Roman mythology:

Prometheus and Pandora

4 pages

Apollo and Daphne

THE slime with which the earth was covered by the waters of the flood produced an excessive fertility, which called forth every variety of…

Pyramus and Thisbe

Pyramus was the handsomest youth, and Thisbe the fairest maiden, in all Babylonia, where Semiramis reigned. Their parents occupied…

Cephalus and Procris

Cephalus was a beautiful youth and fond of manly sports. He would rise before the dawn to pursue the chase. Aurora saw him when she first…

Juno and Her Rivals

4 pages

Callisto

Callisto was another maiden who excited the jealousy of Juno, and the goddess changed her into a bear. "I will take away," said she, "that…

Diana and Actaeon

Thus in two instances we have seen Juno's severity to her rivals; now let us learn how a virgin goddess punished an invader of her privacy…

Latona and the Rustics

Some thought the goddess in this instance more severe than was just, while others praised her conduct as strictly consistent with her…

Phaeton

2 pages

Midas

3 pages

Proserpine

2 pages

Glaucus and Scylla

Glaucus was a fisherman. One day he had drawn his nets to land, and had taken a great many fishes of various kinds. So he emptied his net…

Pygmalion

PYGMALION saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to abhor the sex, and resolved to live unmarried. He was a sculptor, and had…

Dryope

Dryope and Iole were sisters. The former was the wife of Andraemon, beloved by her husband, and happy in the birth of her first child. One…

Venus and Adonis

Venus, playing one day with her boy Cupid, wounded her bosom with one of his arrows. She pushed him away, but the wound was deeper than she…

Apollo and Hyacinthus

Apollo was passionately fond of a youth named Hyacinthus. He accompanied him in his sports, carried the nets when he went fishing, led the…

Ceyx and Halcyone: or, the Halcyon Birds

3 pages

Vertumnus and Pomona

THE Hamadryads were Wood-nymphs. Pomona was of this class, and no one excelled her in love of the garden and the culture of fruit. She…

Cupid and Psyche

3 pages

Cadmus

2 pages

The Myrmidons

The Myrmidons were the soldiers of Achilles, in the Trojan war. From them all zealous and unscrupulous followers of a political chief are…

Nisus and Scylla

MINOS, king of Crete, made war upon Megara. Nisus was king of Megara, and Scylla was his daughter. The siege had now lasted six months and…

Echo and Narcissus

Echo was a beautiful nymph, fond of the woods and hills, where she devoted herself to woodland sports. She was a favorite of Diana, and…

Clytie

Clytie was a water-nymph and in love with Apollo, who made her no return. So she pined away, sitting all day long upon the cold ground…

Hero and Leander

Leander was a youth of Abydos, a town of the Asian side of the strait which separates Asia and Europe. On the opposite shore, in the town…

Minerva

3 pages

The Graeae and the Gorgons

The Graeae were three sisters who were gray-haired from their birth, whence their name. The gorgons were monstrous females with huge teeth…

Perseus and Medusa

Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Danae. His grandfather Acrisius, alarmed by an oracle which had told him that is daughter's child would…

Perseus and Atlas

After the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing with him the head of the Gorgon, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came on, he…

The Sea-Monster

Perseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country of the AEthiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia his queen, proud of her…

The Wedding Feast

The joyful parents, with Perseus and Andromeda, repaired to the palace, where a banquet was spread for them, and all was joy and festivity…

Monsters

GIANTS, SPHINX, PEGASUS AND CHIMAERA, CENTAURS, GRIFFIN, AND PYGMIES MONSTERS, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural…

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…

Pegasus and the Chimaera

When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, the blood sinking into the earth produced the winged horse Pegasus. Minerva caught him and tamed him…

The Centaurs

These monsters were represented as men from the head to the loins, while the remainder of the body was that of a horse. The ancients were…

The Pygmies

The Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a Greek word which means the cubit or measure of about thirteen inches, which was said…

The Griffin, or Gryphon

The Griffin is a monster with the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and back covered with feathers. Like birds it builds its…

The Golden Fleece

2 pages

Medea and Aeson

2 pages

Meleager and Atalanta

ONE of the heroes of the Argonautic expedition was Meleager, son of OEneus and Althea, king and queen of Calydon. Althea, when her son was…

Atalanta

3 pages

Hercules

5 pages

Hebe and Ganymede

Hebe, the daughter of Juno, and goddess of youth, was cup-bearer to the gods. The usual story is that she resigned her office on becoming…

Theseus

3 pages

Olympic and Other Games

It seems not inappropriate to mention here the other celebrated national games of the Greeks. The first and most distinguished were the…

Daedalus

The labyrinth from which Theseus escaped by means of the clew of Ariadne was built by Daedalus, a most skilful artificer. It was an edifice…

Castor and Pollux

Castor and Pollux were the offspring of Leda and the Swan, under which disguise Jupiter had concealed himself. Leda gave birth to an egg…

Bacchus

3 pages

Ariadne

We have seen in the story of Theseus how Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, after helping Theseus to escape from the labyrinth, was…

The Rural Deities

PAN, the god of woods and fields, of flocks and shepherds, dwelt in grottos, wandered on the mountains and in valleys, and amused himself…

Erisichthon

2 pages

Rhoecus

The Hamadryads could appreciate services as well as punish injuries. The story of Rhoecus proves this. Rhoecus, happening to see an oak…

The Water Deities

Oceanus and Tethys were the Titans who ruled over the watery element. When Jove and his brothers overthrew the Titans and assumed their…

Neptune

Neptune was the chief of the water deities. The symbol of his power was the trident, or spear with three points, with which he used to…

Amphitrite

Amphitrite was the wife of Neptune. She was the daughter of Nereus and Doris, and the mother of Triton. Neptune, to pay his court to…

Nereus and Doris

Nereus and Doris were the parents of the Nereids, the most celebrated of whom were Amphitrite, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, and Galatea…

Triton and Proteus

Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and the poets make him his father's trumpeter. Proteus was also a son of Neptune. He, like…

Thetis

Thetis, the daughter of Nereus and Doris, was so beautiful that Jupiter himself sought her in marriage; but having learned from Prometheus…

Leucothea and Palaemon

Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and wife of Athamas, flying from her frantic husband with her little son Melicertes in her arms, sprang from a…

The Camenae

By this name the Latins designated the Muses, but included under it also some other deities, principally nymphs of fountains. Egeria was…

The Winds

When so many less active agencies were personified, it is not to be supposed that the winds failed to be so. They were Boreas or Aquilo…

Achelous and Hercules

2 pages

Admetus and Alcestis

AEsculapius, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with such skill in the healing art that he even restored the dead to life. At…

Antigone

A large proportion both of the interesting persons and of the exalted acts of legendary Greece belongs to the female sex. Antigone was as…

Penelope

Penelope is another of those mythic heroines whose beauties were rather those of character and conduct than of person. She was the daughter…

Orpheus and Eurydice

ORPHEUS was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was presented by his father with a Lyre and taught to play upon it, which he did to…

Aristaeus, the Bee-Keeper

2 pages

Amphion

Amphion was the son of Jupiter and Antiope, queen of Thebes. With his twin brother Zethus he was exposed at birth on Mount Cithaeron, where…

Thamyris

An ancient Thracian bard, who in his presumption challenged the Muses to a trial of skill, and being overcome in the contest, was deprived…

Marsyas

Minerva invented the flute, and played upon it to the delight of all the celestial auditors; but the mischievous urchin Cupid having dared…

Melampus

Melampus was the first mortal endowed with prophetic powers. Before his house there stood an oak tree containing a serpent's nest. The old…

Musaeus

A semi-mythological personage who was represented by one tradition to be the son of Orpheus. He is said to have written sacred poems and…

Arion

2 pages

Ibycus

2 pages

Simonides

Simonides was one of the most prolific of the early poets of Greece, but only a few fragments of his compositions have descended to us. He…

Sappho

Sappho was a poetess who flourished in a very early age of Greek literature. Of her works few fragments remain, but they are enough to…

Diana and Endymion

3 pages

Aurora and Tithonus

The goddess of the Dawn, like her sister the Moon was at times inspired with the love of mortals. Her greatest favorite was Tithonus, son…

Acis and Galatea

Scylla was a fair virgin of Sicily, a favorite of the Sea-Nymphs. She had many suitors, but repelled them all, and would go to the grotto…

The Trojan War

8 pages

The Fall of Troy

3 pages

Menelaus and Helen

Our readers will be anxious to know the fate of Helen, the fair but guilty occasion of so much slaughter. On the fall of Troy Menelaus…

Agamemnon, Orestes, and Electra

Agamemnon, the general-in-chief of the Greeks, the brother of Menelaus, and who had been drawn into the quarrel to avenge his brother's…

Return of Ulysses

2 pages

The Laestrygonians

2 pages

Scylla and Charybdis

Ulysses had been warned by Circe of the two monsters Scylla and Charbdis. We have already met with Scylla in the story of Glaucus, and…

Calypso

Calypso was a sea-nymph, which name denotes a numerous class of female divinities of lower rank, yet sharing many of the attributes of the…

The Phaeacians

2 pages

Fate of the Suitors

2 pages

Adventures of Aeneas

4 pages

From the Latin

"Unhappy, Dido, was thy fate In first and second married state! One husband caused thy flight by dying. Thy death the other caused by…

Palinurus

After touching at the island of Sicily, where Acestes, a prince of Trojan lineage, bore sway, who gave them a hospitable reception, the…

The Infernal Regions

3 pages

Elysium

Virgil, we have seen, places his Elysium under the earth, and assigns it for a residence to the spirits of the blessed. But in Homer…

The Sibyl

As Aeneas and the Sibyl pursued their way back to earth, he said to her, "Whether thou be a goddess or a mortal beloved of the gods, by me…

Camilla-Evander

AENEAS, having parted from the Sibyl and rejoined his fleet, coasted along the shores of Italy and cast anchor in the mouth of the Tiber…

Opening the Gates of Janus

It was the custom of the country, when war was to be undertaken, for the chief magistrate, clad in his robes of office, with solemn pomp to…

Camilla

Camilla, the favorite of Diana, a huntress and warrior, after the fashion of the Amazons, came with her band of mounted followers…

Evander

Such were the formidable allies that ranged themselves against Aeneas. It was night and he lay stretched in sleep on the bank of the river…

Infant Rome

When the solemnities were ended all moved towards the city. The king, bending with age, walked between his son and AEneas, taking the arm…

Nisus and Euryalus

In the meanwhile Turnus had collected his bands and made all necessary preparations for the war. Juno sent Irish to him with a message…

Mezentius

AEneas, with his Etrurian allies, arrived on the scene of action in time to rescue his beleaguered camp; and now the two armies being…

Pallas, Camilla, Turnus

While these things were doing in one part of the field, in another Turnus encountered the youthful Pallas. The contest between champions so…

Pythagoras

THE teachings of Anchises to AEneas, respecting the nature of the human soul, were in conformity with the doctrines of the Pythagoreans…

Sybaris and Crotona

Sybaris, a neighboring city to Crotona, was as celebrated for luxury and effeminacy as Crotona for the reverse. The name has become…

Egyptian Deities

The Egyptians acknowledged as the highest deity Amun, afterwards called Zeus, or Jupiter Ammon. Amun manifested himself in his word or…

Myth of Osiris and Isis

2 pages

Oracles

Oracle was the name used to denote the place where answers were supposed to be given by any of the divinities to those who consulted them…

Oracle of Trophonius

Besides the oracles of Jupiter and Apollo, at Dodona and Delphi, that of Trophonius in Boeotia was held in high estimation. Trophonius and…

Oracle of Aesculapius

There were numerous oracles of AEsculapius, but the most celebrated one was at Epidaurus. Here the sick sought responses and the recovery…

Oracle of Apis

At Memphis the sacred bull Apis gave answer to those who consulted him by the manner in which he received or rejected what was presented to…

Origin of Mythology

HAVING reached the close of our series of stories of Pagan mythology, an inquiry suggests itself. "Whence came these stories? Have they a…

Statues of the Gods

To adequately represent to the eye the ideas intended to be conveyed to the mind under the several names of deities was a task which called…

The Olympian Jupiter

The statue of the Olympian Jupiter by Phidias was considered the highest achievement of this department of Grecian art. It was of colossal…

The Minerva of the Parthenon

This was also the work of Phidias. It stood in the Parthenon, or temple of Minerva at Athens. The goddess was represented standing. In one…

The Venus De' Medici

The Venus of the Medici is so called from its having been in the possession of the princes of that name in Rome when it first attracted…

The Apollo Belvedere

The most highly esteemed of all the remains of ancient sculpture is the statue of Apollo, called the Belvedere, from the name of the…

The Diana a La Biche

The Diana of the Hind, in the palace of the Louvre, may be considered the counterpart to the Apollo Belvedere. The attitude much resembles…

The Poets of Mythology

Homer, from whose poems of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" we have taken the chief part of our chapters of the Trojan war and the return of the…

Virgil

Virgil, called also by his surname, Maro, from whose poem of the "AEneid" we have taken the story of AEneas, was one of the great poets who…

Modern Monsters

THERE is a set of imaginary beings which seem to have been the successors of the "Gorgons, Hydras, and Chimeras dire" of the old…

The Phoenix

Ovid tells the story of the Phoenix as follows: "Most beings spring from other individuals; but there is a certain kind which reproduces…

The Cockatrice, or Basilisk

This animal was called the king of the serpents. In confirmation of his royalty, he was said to be endowed with 2 crest, or comb upon the…

The Unicorn

Pliny, the Roman naturalist, out of whose account of the unicorn most of the modern unicorns have been described and figured, records it as…

The Salamander

The following is from the "Life of Benvenuto Cellini," an Italian artist of the sixteenth century, written by himself: "When I was about…

Zoroaster

OUR knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians is principally derived from the Zendavesta, or sacred books of that people. Zoroaster…

Hindu Mythology

The religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on the Vedas. To these books of their scripture they attach the greatest sanctity, and…

Vishnu

Vishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the Hindus, and is the personification of the preserving principle. To protect the world…

Juggernaut

Whether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reckoned among the followers of Vishnu or Siva, our authorities differ. The temple stands…

Castes

The division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with fixed occupations, existed from the earliest times. It is supposed by some to have…

Buddha

Buddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, is said by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose name was…

The Grand Lama

It is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and of the Buddhist sect that the confinement of the human soul, an emanation of the…

Prester John

An early account, communicated probably by travelling merchants, of a Lama or spiritual chief among the Tartars, seems to have occasioned…

Northern Mythology

THE stories which have engaged our attention thus far relate to the mythology of southern regions. But there is another branch of ancient…

Of the Joys of Valhalla

Valhalla is the great hall of Odin, wherein he feasts with his chosen heroes, all those who have fallen bravely in battle, for all who die…

The Valkyrie

The Valkyrie are warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed with helmets and spears. Odin, who is desirous to collect a great many…

Of Thor and the Other Gods

Thor, the thunderer, Odin's eldest son, is the strongest of gods and men, and possesses three very precious things. The first is a hammer…

Of Loki and His Progeny

There is another deity who is described as the calumniator of the gods and the contriver of all fraud and mischief. His name is Loki. He is…

The Recovery of the Hammer

Once upon a time it happened that Thor's hammer fell into the possession of the giant Thrym, who buried it eight fathoms deep under the…

Thor's Visit to Jotunheim, the Giant's Country

4 pages

The Death of Baldur

3 pages

The Funeral of Baldur

The gods took up the dead body and bore it to the seashore where stood Baldur's ship "Hringham," which passed for the largest in the world…

Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods

It was a firm belief of the northern nations that a time would come when all the visible creation, the gods of Valhalla and Niffleheim, the…

Runic Letters

One cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden without meeting with great stones of different forms, engraven with characters called…

The Skalds

The Skalds were the bards and poets of the nation, a very important class of men in all communities in an early stage of civilization. They…

Iceland

The Eddas and Sagas have come to us from Iceland. The following extract from Carlyle's lectures on "Heroes and Hero Worship" gives an…

Teutonic Mythology

In the mythology of Germany proper, the name of Odin appears as Wotan; Freya and Frigga are regarded as one and the same divinity, and the…

The Nibelungen Lied

One of the oldest myths of the Teutonic race is found in the great national epic of the Nibelungen Lied, which dates back to the…

The Nibelungen Hoard

This was a mythical mass of gold and precious stones which Siegfried obtained from the Nibelungs, the people of the north whom he had…

Wagner's Nibelungen Ring

4 pages

Druids

3 pages

The Age of Chivalry

ON the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a…

The Training of a Knight

The preparatory education of candidates for knight-hood was long and arduous. At seven years of age the noble children were usually removed…

Freemen, Villains, Serfs, and Clerks

The other classes of which society was composed were, first, freemen, owners of small portions of land independent, though they sometimes…

Tournaments

The splendid pageant of a tournament between knights, its gaudy accessories and trappings, and its chivalrous regulations, originated in…

Mail Armor

Mail armor, of which the hauberk is a species, and which derived its name from maille, a French word for mesh, was of two kinds, plate or…

Helmets

The helmet was composed of two parts: the head-piece, which was strengthened within by several circles of iron, and the visor, which, as…

Romances

2 pages

Metrical Romances

The earliest form in which romances appear is that of a rude kind of verse. In this form it is supposed they were sung or recited at the…

The Mythical History of England

5 pages

Bladud

Bladud built the city of Bath, and dedicated the medicinal waters to Minerva. He was a man of great invention, and practised the arts of…

Ferrex and Porrex

Ferrex and Porrex were brothers, who held the kingdom after Leir. They quarrelled about the supremacy, and Porrex expelled his brother…

Dunwallo Molmutius

This is the next name of note. Molmutius established the Molmutine laws, which bestowed the privilege of sanctuary on temples, cities, and…

Brennus and Belinus,

the sons of Molmutius, succeeded him. They quarrelled, and Brennus was driven out of the island, and took refuge in Gaul, where he met with…

Elidure

After Belinus and Brennus there reigned several kings of little note, and then came Elidure. Arthgallo, his brother, being king, gave great…

Cassibellaunus

About this time it happened (as is found in the Roman histories) that Julius Caesar, having subdued Gaul, came to the shore opposite…

Kymbelinus, or Cymbeline

Caesar, on a second invasion of the island, was more fortunate, and compelled the Britons to pay tribute. Cymbeline, the nephew of the…

11 pages

Sir Tristram's Battle with Sir Launcelot

SIR TRISTRAM rode through a forest and saw ten men fighting, and one man did battle against nine. So he rode to the knights and cried to…

IT has been well known to the literati and antiquarians of Europe that there exist in the great public libraries voluminous manuscripts of…

The Britons

THE earliest inhabitants of Britain are supposed to have been a branch of that great family known in history by the designation of Celts…

The Welsh Language and Literature

The Welsh language is one of the oldest in Europe. It possesses poems the origin of which is referred with probability to the sixth…

The Welsh Bards

The authors to whom the oldest Welsh poems are attributed are Aneurin, who is supposed to have lived A.D. 500 to 550, and Taliesin…

3 pages

Death of Rinaldo

4 pages

Huon of Bordeaux

14 pages

Ogier, the Dane

14 pages