MYTHOLOGY

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 12, 16 January 1928, Page 3

MYTHOLOGY

GODS OF OLYMPUS COMPARATIVE RELIGION THE NEW SCIENCE Mythology lias in comparatively recent times become an exact science; a study interesting not only from a historical, but from a scientific point of view.' The significance of this fascinating study lies principally in its relation to the superstitions, the cults, the'religions of the ancient worlds , (states. a writer in the "Melbourne Argus"). Mythology might be said to represent and- to present the genesis of all aboriginal peoples; to personify and immortalise their beliefs, creed, and customs. In this- regard mythology is none else but folk-lore. In its deeper significance we can trace'to'mythology the basis, the outcoming of all religion. Even in its universality the foundation of religion is to be traced in the parallels that exist between the. myths that have come down to us from various ancient peoples —Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Scandinavians, Britons, .even the Incas and the Aztecs of the ancient Americas. Writing of this aspect of mythology, Lewis Spence, M.A., has said: "If is now recognised that upon mythology arid folk-lore rests the basis of.the new science of comparative religion. The evolution of religion from mythology has now been made plain. It is a law of evolution that, though the parent types which precede certain forms are doomed to perish, they yet bequeath to their descendants certain of their characteristics; and although mythology has perished (in the civilised world at least), it has left an indelible stamp not only upon modern religion, but also upon local and national custom." This phase of mythology is vastly interesting, but its most fascinating aspect is. that of the application and relation of mythology to pagan existence and pagan custom and deities. It was as a literary exercise that the mediaeval peoples most regarded mythology. As late as the eighteenth century the study of mythology of the Greeks, and the Romans was regarded as a necessary adjunct to a polite education, and as a means to reaching a better understanding of classical poetry. And classical poetry —the works of Hesiod, Ovid, Homer, Virgil—took its inspiration from the mythology of pagan peoples. ORIGIN OF MYTHS. Most myths are symbols of some event, some exercise of the pagan gods, some pursuit of the ancient deities, or some service of the seasons or of the elements. Largely, too, myths appear to have had their origin in an actual event or personage. As an instance, there is the myth of Remus and Romulus. They were the sons of Mars, the Roman god, who typified the'strife of battle, and Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgin who, because she broke her virginal vows, was condemned to die with her babies in the Tiber. The babes were carried to the water's edge in a cradle, and their cries heard by a she-wolf who nurtured them. In her lair they were discovered by Faustulus, the King's shepherd, and reared by his wife, Acca Laurentai, whose twelve sons are known as theArval brethren. Ouvreaching man's estate the two brothers set out to found a city, quarrelled as to the site, and de-. signation of the city, and the matter bef> ing settled by augury in.favour of Romulus, he established Rome, slaying Remus because he sneered at the plan of the city. Romulus was taken by his father, Mars, to heaven in a fiery chariot, and he joined the council of the gods,; being deified by the Romans as Quirinus, as was also Mars, with whom niythologically he became identified. There ; are\ many-variants of the Romulus myth, and ako parallels in the mythology of many peoples. The nurturing of the babes by a she-wolf appears in many systems of mythology; even in the Oriental. -It is generally accepted that Romulus was an actual person, deified into a culture hero, and around whom many myths were collected before the era of the written language. It is in its application to different phases of national and communal life that mythology is of paramount importance—to love, war, agriculture, learning. The group that typifies love is of particular interest.' It is significant .of the universality of custom that this and other groups bearing on life have parallels in the myths of many Pagan nations, showing that where man exists under somewhat similar conditions beliefs and customs also will be simile?. Venus is one of the most famous of mythical goddesses. As the mother of Aeneas, she was re-' garded as the founder of the Roman race; Aeneas (who was the son of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, with whom Venus is identified) . having after the Trojan war, in which he and Hector were the greatest Trojan, generals, lived long in Latinium, and being typified by Virgil in his Aeneid as the first of the Romans. Venus was the daughter of Jupiter, the thunder god, pre-eminent among the Roman gods,' as his Grecian prototype, Zeus, was.supreme ruler of the gods and mankind, and Dione, the earliest queen of heaven. She was originally the goddess of horticulture, and as such deified as the goddess of love, was the wife of Vulcan, the Roman fire god, and the mother of Cupid. One of the most beautiful of myths surrounds Cupid (whose Greek prototype is Eros) and Psyche. Cupid was worshipped most in his divine aspect, the philosophical aspect of divine love, the love capable of bringing order out of chaos. It is as illustrating divine love that the myth of Cupid and Psyche was created, Psyche being deified as the soul. Venus, jealous of the beauty of Psyche, sent Cupid to wound her with one of his arrows so that she would conceive a passion for a low, unworthy person. Cupid himself fell in love with her, and visited her under cover of darkness. She was led to believe that her husband was a monster, and never allowed to 'see him. She attempted this, and Cupid fled. She pursued him, and after passing through many trials was made immortal and joined to Cupid. The myth relates to the human soul pursued by love, and after going through the fire of affliction brought to perfect union with divine love. Around the Grecian prototype of Venus (Aphrodite) there are many legends and myths of ncr relations with mortal men and gods. She is personified as the goddess of love, beauty, and wedded bliss; There are many parallels for this' goddess. She is regarded as the Greek form of the Asiatic goddess Astarte, who is Baid to have sprung from the sea foam, and of the Phoenician, goddess Ashtoroth, and as Istar, the wife of Merodach, who was the Jupiter of the Babylonian pantheon. Istar typified the planet Venus, and in the Babylonian signs of the Zodiac stood for the sign of the Virgin. She was also supposed to control the sea. The most celebrated myth concerning Aphrodite is that telling of her love for Adonis. Accidentally wounded by one of Eros's arrows, she' saw Adonis before it was healed, and fell in love with him. She took part with him in the hunt, and when He was slain by a wild boar sprinkled his blood with nectar. From this arose the flower anemone. It is generally accepted that this myth typifies the death of Nature in winter and its rebirth in spring. THE WAR GROUP. The war group is heavily represented in mythology. The most celebrated of the war gods is Mars, who typified the boisterous strife of battle as opposed to ordered ' combat which is typified by Athene. Mars' Greek proteotype is Ares, the cult of which is thought to have originated in the northern parts of Greece. Ares is always depicted as 'being accompanied 'oy Demos (fear), Phuleos (horror), Enyo and Eris (strife and discord), and the Keres, the dark fates of. the battlefield. Athene was the more defied of the Grecian gods of war. She was the patroness of all heroes who combated monsters, greatly assisted the gods' in their wars with giants, in time of peace instructed man in the useful crafts, and was the inventor of the loom and the spindle. She is always depicted as a maiden ,clad in .the .habilaments of war, and attended by emblems of wisdom: the owl and the serpent. She and Poseidon the Roman Neptune contested the right to be called the protector of Athens. It was agreed that whoever gave to the city the best gift should have this right. Poseidon struck a rock with his trident and a spring of water gushed forth; Athene brought an olive tree from the soil and it was adjudged the best gift. Many great wars are immortalised in mythology and many warlike people. The most famous is the siege of Troy. Although because of the many allegories that have grown up about it, this siege can only be regarded as mythical; there is little doubt that it had foundation in fact.

Troy was a city of the Homeric period m Asia' Minor, overlooking the Hellespont. Much has . been . mad.c into its actual location, but no agreement has been reached on any of the sites that hare been Sdyauted. The date of the Actual siege .*Voin which the great wealth of myth j.Vout it has sprung varies from 1335 to 1140 B.C. The siege was foretold by Calchas, the foremost Greek seer of his time, who advised the building of the wooden horse, and also foretold that Troy would not be taken without the aid of Achilles. Hearing this Thettis, the mother of Achilles,, disguised him as a girl. He was discovered by Odysseus (Ulysses), and at his urging joined the Greek hosts which were marching against Troy. ;In th« tenth year of the war Achilles took offence'and shut himself in his'tent. The fortunes, of the siege then went agamst the Greek, who were .so alarmed that Patroclus, his great friend,- begged Achilles to be allowed to wear his golden armour and lead the Myrmidons against the Trftjans. Patroclus was slain by Hector, the Trojan prince, who- also took the wonderful armour. Vowing 'Vengeance, Achilles again took part'in' the war and slew Hector, after chasing him three times around the walls of the city. Achilles is the central figure of Homer's Iliad, and the Homeric conception of his death is j that he was killed by an arrow from the bow of Paris, w^ich struck his only vulnerable spot—the heel.' Paris, it is said, caused the Trojan war by '.eloping; with I Helen, the wife of .'Menelaus,: King; of Sparta. He was a son of Priam, King of Troy, and at his birth his mother dreamed that he was a firebrand that would consume Troy. He took a leading part in the siege, and when. Troy.was captured was wounded by one of the poisoned,arrows of Heracles, the greatest hero in Greek mythology. Ajax the great was one of the foremost of the Greek hosts in the war. He and Ulysses fought for the possession of Achilles's golden armour. It had been decreed that the armour would i become the property, of he who did most ! damage in Troy. ■It was awarded to ! Ulysses, Ajax being defeated in the con- ■ test. This defeat brought on madness, in which state Ajax killed himself, with a sword presented to him by Hector. From his blood sprang the flower Hyacinth. There are many other great figures identified with the siege of Troy;> Agamemnon, who led the hosts opposed to the I Trojans; Helen, the greatest female figure' in myths relating to warfare; Athene, by whose wise counsel the r c'ity was at length taken by the Greeks, and Hercules (or Heracles), the grandest figure in mythology; the personification of strength, whose twelve great labours typify the changes that are wrought by manual labour. '•.•■'