Читать книгу The Mythology of Ancient Greece and Rome - Ultimate Collection - Homer - Страница 23
ОглавлениеI. HERMES (MERCURY)
Hermes was the messenger of Zeus, the conductor of souls to the lower world, the guardian of ambassadors, of travelers and merchants, the patron of trade, skilled in all wiles, deceit and trickery, the mischievous thief; on the other hand, a shepherd and patron of shepherds. He was the son of Zeus by Maia, "a fair-tressed nymph," who gave him birth in a cave in Arcadia "rich in sheep." In the morning he was born, and by mid-day he stealthily left his cradle and set forth to seek adventure. On the threshold of the cave he met a tortoise, waddling along on the grass. At once the ingenious boy saw what use he could make of it. " 'Hail darling and dancer, friend of the feast, welcome art thou! Whence gottest thou that gay garment, a speckled shell, thou, a mountain-dwelling tortoise?' " Then he scooped out the flesh of the tortoise, bored holes through its shell, covered it with ox-hide, put on it two horns, and stretched across it seven strings. Touching the strings he sang gaily to the accompaniment of the newly-invented lyre. When the chariot of Apollo had sunk into the waves of Ocean, this nimble infant left his cave and lyre, and ran to the shadowy hills, where fed the cattle of the sun. From the herd he separated fifty cattle and drove them hither and thither to confuse their tracks. Next, he made sandals of woven twigs and fastened them on his own feet to obscure his tracks, and so drove the cattle backward to the river. Then he made a great,fire and roasted two of the beasts. Carefully covering up the marks of the fire and the feast, and throwing aside his sandals, back to his mother's cave he flew, before the sun-god should rise in the east and catch the thief at his work. Through a hole, like a breath of wind, he entered the cave, and treading noiselessly, climbed into his cradle and wrapped about himself the swaddling-clothes. But Apollo, when morning rose from the stream of Ocean, missed the cattle and questioned an old man who was digging in a vineyard on the hillside. From the old fellow's account of the marvelous child who had stolen the cattle Apollo at once recognized his newborn brother. When that little thief saw Apollo, bent on vengeance, enter the cave, "he sank down within his fragrant swaddling-bands and curled himself up, feet, head, and hands, into small space, though really wide awake, and his tortoise-shell he kept beneath his arm-pit." But Apollo saw through the wiles of the cunning baby and angrily threatened to throw him into Tartarus. In vain did Hermes plead that he knew nothing of the cattle: " 'Other cares have I, sleep and mother's milk, and about my shoulders swaddling-bands, and warmed baths.' " He dared even to add a great oath that he was innocent. As Apollo was far from satisfied, there was nothing for it but to go to Olympus and put their dispute before their father Zeus. Even there the crafty little thief dared to repeat his lies, adding submissively: " 'The Sun I greatly revere, and other gods, and Thee I love, and him I dread . . . but do Thou aid the younger.' " But perhaps because the infant could not refrain from adding a wink to his innocent tale, " Zeus laughed aloud at the sight of his evil-witted child," and bade the brothers be reconciled and Hermes show Apollo his cattle. When Apollo was again roused to anger by the sight of the hides of the slain cattle, Hermes drew forth his lyre and played and sang so bewitchingly that Apollo was pacified and gladly formed a compact with his clever little brother; Hermes was to be keeper of the cattle and give to Apollo the lyre, which was ever afterwards his favorite instrument. In this myth, on the nature side, we see Hermes, a windgod, driving off the clouds, the cattle of the sungod. We see, too, Hermes as the herdsman. the inventor and the cunning thief; perhaps also, in his compact with Apollo, we see him as the trader.
Fig. 24. Hermes in Repose.
Clever and agile, good-humored and young, Hermes was the patron of young men, and to him they prayed, especially for success in athletic contests. His statue was set up in gymnasia; he presided, too, over games of chance. Both by his speed in hastening from land to land, and by his smoothness of address and his nimble wit, he was the natural patron of traders. In the market-place, the commercial and financial center of Athens, statues of Hermes had a prominent place. As he was the guide of travelers, square blocks topped by a head of Hermes marked the cross-roads and the important street-crossings in the city. It was the mutilation of these Hermæ that caused such a panic at the time of the Athenian expedition against Sicily. Alcibiades was recalled from the war to answer to the charge of having impiously destroyed them.
Hermes is best known as herald of the gods. At Zeus's bidding he binds on his winged sandals, takes his herald's staff in hand, and flies swiftly to earth to carry to men the commands of the father. It is he who conducts to Hades the soul when it leaves the body, and gives it into the charge of the gods of the lower world.
Hermes is represented as a young man with close-cropped curly hair, vivacious look, and agile, vigorous frame. He wears his winged sandals, often a traveler's hat or a winged cap; otherwise he is usually nude. In his hand he carries his caduceus, or herald's staff, winged at the top, with two serpents twined about it. He most -fully expresses the character of the Greek people, as a French writer (Collignon) says, "the inventive genius, the alert intelligence, the physical vigor, developed and made supple by the training of the palestra."
Fig. 25. Hermes from Olympia.
The worship of Hermes under the name of Mercury was introduced into Rome at a time when there was anxiety about the grain trade with South Italy. His function as patron of commerce was, therefore, his most important one in Rome.
II. HESTIA (VESTA)
While the fire of the forge is typified by Hephæstus, Hes’ti a represents another aspect, the fire on the hearth, the natural altar and the spiritual center of family life. About the hearth the gods of the family had their places; here the family celebrated their festivals; here the stranger found protection, and about it every new-born infant was carried as a symbol of his admission to the family life. So, too, the city, as the larger family, had its common hearth whereon the holy fire of Hestia must always be kept lighted. And when a group of citizens, self-exiled from their home, set out under Apollo's sanction to found a colony, the hearth of the new home on the foreign shore must receive a fire kindled at the hearth of Hestia in the mother-city. Thus the spiritual bond between the parted kinsmen remained unbroken, and the same goddess held the new homes under her protection. Moreover, the essential brotherhood of all true Hellenes was symbolized in the great hearth-fire of Hestia at the center of the Greek world, Delphi. So closely is Hestia identified with the fire of the hearth that no further outward form was needed — statues of her are rare. As eldest sister of Zeus she is, how ever, represented as a woman of stately form and calm, benign expression, dressed in the double chiton or tunic of a Greek lady, her head covered with a veil.
Fig. 26. Hestia.
A passage in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite shows the respect that Hestia enjoyed among the gods of Olympus:
Nor to the revered maiden Hestia are the feats of Aphrodite a joy, eldest daughter of crooked-counseled Cronus, that lady whom both Poseidon and Apollo sought to win. But she would not, nay stubbornly she refused; and she swore a great oath fulfilled, with her hand on Father Zeus of the Ægis, to be a maiden forever, that lady goddess. And to her Father Zeus gave a goodly mede of honor, in lieu of wedlock; and in mid-hall she sat her down, choosing the best portion; and in all the temples of the gods is she honored, and among all mortals is chief of gods.
The Roman Vesta is identical with Hestia of the Greeks. At Rome the small round temple of Vesta in the Forum was the religious center of the community. Here no image of the goddess was needed, but her fire, kindled yearly on June 15th from the rays of the sun by means of a burning-glass, was kept always lighted by the Vestal Virgins. These maidens were drawn from the noblest families of Rome, and served the goddess for thirty years under a vow of virginity. Every honor was paid them, and they could extend their protection over whom they would; even a criminal who met a Vestal on his way to execution might thus gain his freedom. Any disrespect to a member of the order was punished by death, and their influence on state affairs was often considerable. On the other hand, as any breaking of the vow of virginity brought pollution to the city hearth and evil to the community, such unfaithfulness was pitilessly punished; the guilty priestess was buried alive. When the Roman emperor wished to demonstrate that he was the center as well of the religious as of the political life of Rome, he transferred the hearth of Vesta from the Forum to the Palatine Hill, where his palace was.
Fig. 27. Genius and Lares.
Associated with the worship of Vesta at the family hearth was the worship of the Lares and Pe na’tes, the gods of home and of the household store. Their images must be guarded jealously by the householder, and must go with him, should he be forced to leave his old home for a new one. So Æ ne’as, when fleeing from Troy, bids his father on the flight to hold fast to the penates. (Æneid, II 717.)
Fig. 28. Ares with Eros.
