E. Berens - Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

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London SE1 9GF

www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com

This eBook published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016

Life & Times section © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Silvia Crompton asserts her moral rights as author of the Life & Times section

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from Collins English Dictionary

Cover by e-Digital Design

Cover illustration: Theseus slays the Minotaur in the labyrinth below the palace of King Minos , H M Brock/Mullan Collection/Mary Evans

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780008180553

Ebook Edition © September 2016 ISBN: 9780008180560

Version: 2016-09-23

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

History of William Collins

Preface

PART I.—MYTHS.

Introduction

FIRST DYNASTY. ORIGIN OF THE WORLD—

URANUS AND GÆA (Cœlus and Terra)

SECOND DYNASTY.

CRONUS (Saturn)

RHEA (Ops)

DIVISION OF THE WORLD

THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OF MAN

THIRD DYNASTY. OLYMPIAN DIVINITIES—

ZEUS (Jupiter)

HERA (Juno)

PALLAS-ATHENE (Minerva)

THEMIS

HESTIA (Vesta)

DEMETER (Ceres)

APHRODITE (Venus)

HELIOS (Sol)

EOS (Aurora)

PHŒBUS-APOLLO

HECATE

SELENE (Luna)

ARTEMIS (Diana)

HEPHÆSTUS (Vulcan)

POSEIDON (Neptune)

SEA DIVINITIES—

OCEANUS

NEREUS

PROTEUS

TRITON AND THE TRITONS

GLAUCUS

THETIS

THAUMAS, PHORCYS, AND CETO

LEUCOTHEA

THE SIRENS

ARES (Mars)

NIKE (Victoria)

HERMES (Mercury)

DIONYSUS (Bacchus or Liber)

AÏDES (Pluto)

PLUTUS

MINOR DIVINITIES—

THE HARPIES

ERINYES, EUMENIDES (Furiæ, Diræ)

MOIRÆ OR FATES (Parcæ)

NEMESIS

NIGHT AND HER CHILDREN—

NYX (Nox)

THANATOS (Mors), HYPNUS (Somnus)

MORPHEUS

THE GORGONS

GRÆÆ

SPHINX

TYCHE (Fortuna) and ANANKE (Necessitas)

KER

ATE

MOMUS

EROS (Cupid, Amor) and PSYCHE

HYMEN

IRIS

HEBE (Juventas)

GANYMEDES

THE MUSES

PEGASUS

THE HESPERIDES

CHARITES OR GRACES

HORÆ (Seasons)

THE NYMPHS

WATER NYMPHS

DRYADES, OR TREE NYMPHS

NYMPHS OF THE VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINS

THE WINDS

PAN (Faunus)

THE SATYRS

PRIAPUS

ASCLEPIAS (Æsculapius)

ROMAN DIVINITIES—

JANUS

FLORA

ROBIGUS

POMONA

VERTUMNUS

PALES

PICUS

PICUMNUS AND PILUMNUS

SILVANUS

TERMINUS

CONSUS

LIBITINA

LAVERNA

COMUS

CAMENÆ

GENII

MANES

PENATES

PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS—

TEMPLES

STATUES

ALTARS

PRIESTS

SACRIFICES

ORACLES

SOOTHSAYERS (Augurs)

FESTIVALS

GREEK FESTIVALS—

ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES

THESMOPHORIA

DIONYSIA

PANATHENÆA

DAPHNEPHORIA

ROMAN FESTIVALS—

SATURNALIA

CEREALIA

VESTALIA

PART II. —LEGENDS.

CADMUS

PERSEUS

ION

DÆDALUS AND ICARUS

THE ARGONAUTS

PELOPS

HERACLES

BELLEROPHON

THESEUS

ŒDIPUS

THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES

THE EPIGONI

ALCMÆON AND THE NECKLACE

THE HERACLIDÆ

THE SIEGE OF TROY

RETURN OF THE GREEKS FROM TROY

NOTES

CLASSIC LITERATURE: WORDS AND PHRASES

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William co-published in 1825, Greek and English Lexicon . Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

Soon after, William published the first Collins novel; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

Aged 30, William’s son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly “Victorian” in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and The Pilgrim’s Progress , making them available to the masses for the first time.

A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopedias and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of “books for the millions” was developed, although the phrase wasn’t coined until 1907. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics, and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition – publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible, and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.

The want of an interesting work on Greek and Roman mythology, suitable for the requirements of both boys and girls, has long been recognized by the principals of our advanced schools. The study of the classics themselves, even where the attainments of the pupil have rendered this feasible, has not been found altogether successful in giving to the student a clear and succinct idea of the religious beliefs of the ancients, and it has been suggested that a work which would so deal with the subject as to render it at once interesting and instructive would be hailed as a valuable introduction to the study of classic authors, and would be found to assist materially the labours of both master and pupil.