Old Greek Stories — James Baldwin
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : Old Greek Stories Author : James Baldwin Release date : March 1, 2004 [eBook #11582] Most recently updated: October 28, 2024 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11582 Credits : Produced by Ted Garvin and PG Distributed Proofreaders *** START OF Perhaps no other stories have ever been told so often or listened to with so much pleasure as the classic tales of ancient Greece. For many ages they have been a source of delight to young people and old, to the ignorant and the learned, to all who love to hear about and contemplate things mysterious, beautiful, and grand. They have become so incorporated into our language and thought, and so interwoven with our literature, that we could not do away with them now if we would. They are a portion of our heritage from the distant past, and they form perhaps as important a part of our intellectual life as they did of that of the people among whom they originated. That many of these tales should be read by children at an early age no intelligent person will deny. Sufficient reason for this is to be found in the real pleasure that every child derives from their perusal: and in the preparation of this volume no other reason has been considered. I have here attempted to tell a few stories of Jupiter and his mighty company and of some of the old Greek heroes, simply as stories , nothing more. I have carefully avoided every suggestion of interpretation. Attempts at analysis and explanation will always prove fatal to a child's appreciation and enjoyment of such stories. To inculcate the idea that these tales are merely descriptions of certain natural phenomena expressed in narrative and poetic form, is to deprive them of their highest charm; it is like turning precious gold into utilitarian iron: it is changing a delightful romance into a dull scientific treatise. The wise teacher will take heed not to be guilty of such an error. It will be observed that while each of the stories in this volume is wholly independent of the others and may be read without any knowledge of those which precede it, there is nevertheless a certain continuity from the first to the last, giving to the collection a completeness like that of a single narrative. In order that the children of our own country and time may be the better able to read these stories in the light in which they were narrated long ago, I have told them in simple language, keeping the supernatural element as far as possible in the background, and nowhere referring to Jupiter and his mighty company as gods. I have hoped thus to free the narrative still more from everything that might detract from its interest simply as a story. J.B. CONTENTS. JUPITER AND HIS MIGHTY COMPANY. THE GOLDEN AGE. THE STORY OF PROMETHEUS. THE FLOOD. THE STORY OF IO. THE WONDERFUL WEAVER. THE LORD OF THE SILVER BOW. ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS. CADMUS AND EUROPA. THE QUEST OF MEDUSA'S HEAD. THE STORY OF ATALANTA THE HORSE AND THE OLIVE THE ADVENTURES OF THESEUS. THE WONDERFUL ARTISAN. THE CRUEL TRIBUTE. PERSONS AND PLACES MENTIONED. Adme'tus AEge'an Sea AE'geus (jus) AEgi'na AEscula'pius Ae'thra Aido'neus Alces'tis Althe'a Andro'geos Androm'eda Apol'lo Araech'ne Arca'dia Ar'gos Ar'gus Ariad'ne Ar'temis A'sia Atalan'ta Athe'na Ath'ens At'ropos Bac'chus Bos'phorus Cadme'ia Cad'mus Cal'ydon Cau'casus Ce'crops Cer'cyon Ce'res Chei'ron Clo'tho Coro'nis Cran'aë Crete Cyclo'pes Cy'prus Dae'dalus Dan'aë Daph'ne De'los Del'phi Deuca'lion Dian'a E'gypt Eleu'sis Epime'theus (thus) Euro'pa Eu'rope Gor'gons Greece Ha'des Härmo'nia He'lios Hel'las Hel'len Hel'lenes Her'cules Ica'rian Sea Ic'arus I'o Iol'cus Ju'no Ju'piter Lab'yrinth Lach'esis Le'to Mars Mede'a Medu'sa Meg'ara Meila'nion Melea'ger Mer'cury Miner'va Mi'nos Min'otaur Myce'nae Nep'tune Nile Oe'neus (nus) Os'sa Pando'ra Pärnas'sus Par'nes Pe'lias Pene'us Per'dix Perigu'ne Per'seus (sus) Pit'theus Plu'to Posei'don Procrus'tes Prome'theus (thus) Pros'erpine Pyr'rha Pyth'ia Py'thon Saron'ic Sea Sat'urn Sci'ron Sic'ily Si'nis Tem'pe Thebes The'seus (sus) Thes'saly Ti'ryns Ti'tans Troe'zen Ve'nus Ves'ta Vul'can Zeus (zus) OLD GREEK STORIES. JUPITER AND HIS MIGHTY COMPANY. A long time ago, when the world was much younger than it is now, people told and believed a great many wonderful stories about wonderful things which neither you nor I have ever seen. They often talked about a certain Mighty Being called Jupiter, or Zeus, who was king of the sky and the earth; and they said that he sat most of the time amid the clouds on the top of a very high mountain where he could look down and see everything that was going on in the earth beneath. He liked to ride on the storm-clouds and hurl burning thunderbolts right and left among the trees and rocks; and he was so very, very mighty that when he nodded, the earth quaked, the mountains trembled and smoked, the sky grew black, and the sun hid his face. Jupiter had two brothers, both of them terrible fellows, but not nearly so great as himself. The name of one of them was Neptune, or Poseidon, and he was the king of the sea. He had a glittering, golden palace far down in the deep sea-caves where the fishes live and the red coral grows; and whenever he was angry the waves would rise mountain high, and the storm-winds would howl fearfully, and the sea would try to break over the land; and men called him the Shaker of the Earth. The other brother of Jupiter was a sad pale-faced being, whose kingdom was underneath the earth, where the sun never shone and where there was darkness and weeping and sorrow all the time. His name was Pluto, or Aidoneus, and his country was called the Lower World, or the Land of Shadows, or Hades. Men said that