THE GR AND THE GORGONS
The Gr were three sisters who were gray-haired from their birth, whence their name. The Gorgons were monstrous3 females with huge teeth like those of swine, brazen4 claws, and snaky hair. None of these beings make much figure in mythology5 except Medusa, the Gorgon2, whose story we shall next advert6 to. We mention them chiefly to introduce an ingenious theory of some modern writers, namely, that the Gorgons and Gr were only personifications of the terrors of the sea, the former denoting the strong billows of the wide open main, and the latter the white-crested waves that dash against the rocks of the coast. Their names in Greek signify the above epithets7.
PERSEUS AND MEDUSA
Perseus was the son of Jupiter and Dana?. His grandfather Acrisius, alarmed by an oracle8 which had told him that his daughter’s child would be the instrument of his death, caused the mother and child to be shut up in a chest and set adrift on the sea. The chest floated towards Seriphus, where it was found by a fisherman who conveyed the mother and infant to Polydectes, the king of the country, by whom they were treated with kindness. When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the country. She was once a beautiful maiden9 whose hair was her chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva, the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her beautiful ringlets into hissing10 serpents. She became a cruel monster of so frightful11 an aspect that no living thing could behold12 her without being turned into stone. All around the cavern13 where she dwelt might be seen the stony14 figures of men and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and had been petrified15 with the sight. Perseus, favored by Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she slept, and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed16 it in the middle of her ?gis.
Milton, in his “Comus,” thus alludes17 to the ?gis:
“What was that snaky-headed Gorgon-shield
That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin18,
Wherewith she freezed her foes19 to congealed21 stone,
But rigid22 looks of chaste23 austerity,
And noble grace that dashed brute24 violence
With sudden adoration25 and blank awe26!”
Armstrong, the poet of the “Art of Preserving Health,” thus describes the effect of frost upon the waters:
“Now blows the surly North and chills throughout
The stiffening27 regions, while by stronger charms
Than Circe e’er or fell Medea brewed28,
Each brook29 that wont30 to prattle31 to its banks
Lies all bestilled and wedged betwixt its banks,
Nor moves the withered32 reeds . . .
The surges baited by the fierce North-east,
Tossing with fretful spleen their angry heads,
E’en in the foam33 of all their madness struck
To monumental ice.
. . . . . . .
Such execution,
So stern, so sudden, wrought34 the grisly aspect
Of terrible Medusa,
When wandering through the woods she turned to stone
Their savage35 tenants36; just as the foaming37 Lion
Sprang furious on his prey38, her speedier power
Outran his haste,
And fixed in that fierce attitude he stands
Like Rage in marble!”
—Imitations of Shakspeare.
PERSEUS AND ATLAS
After the slaughter39 of Medusa, Perseus, bearing with him the head of the Gorgon, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came on, he reached the western limit of the earth, where the sun goes down. Here he would gladly have rested till morning. It was the realm of King Atlas, whose bulk surpassed that of all other men. He was rich in flocks and herds40 and had no neighbor or rival to dispute his state. But his chief pride was in his gardens, whose fruit was of gold, hanging from golden branches, half hid with golden leaves. Perseus said to him, “I come as a guest. If you honor illustrious descent, I claim Jupiter for my father; if mighty41 deeds, I plead the conquest of the Gorgon. I seek rest and food.” But Atlas remembered that an ancient prophecy had warned him that a son of Jove should one day rob him of his golden apples. So he answered, “Begone! or neither your false claims of glory nor parentage shall protect you;” and he attempted to thrust him out. Perseus, finding the giant too strong for him, said, “Since you value my friendship so little, deign42 to accept a present;” and turning his face away, he held up the Gorgon’s head. Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His beard and hair became forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his head a summit, and his bones rocks. Each part increased in bulk till he became a mountain, and (such was the pleasure of the gods) heaven with all its stars rests upon his shoulders.
THE SEA-MONSTER
Perseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country of the ?thiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia his queen, proud of her beauty, had dared to compare herself to the Sea-Nymphs, which roused their indignation to such a degree that they sent a prodigious43 sea-monster to ravage44 the coast. To appease45 the deities46, Cepheus was directed by the oracle to expose his daughter Andromeda to be devoured47 by the monster. As Perseus looked down from his aerial height he beheld48 the virgin chained to a rock, and waiting the approach of the serpent. She was so pale and motionless that if it had not been for her flowing tears and her hair that moved in the breeze, he would have taken her for a marble statue. He was so startled at the sight that he almost forgot to wave his wings. As he hovered49 over her he said, “O virgin, undeserving of those chains, but rather of such as bind50 fond lovers together, tell me, I beseech51 you, your name, and the name of your country, and why you are thus bound.” At first she was silent from modesty52, and, if she could, would have hid her face with her hands; but when he repeated his questions, for fear she might be thought guilty of some fault which she dared not tell, she disclosed her name and that of her country, and her mother’s pride of beauty. Before she had done speaking, a sound was heard off upon the water, and the sea-monster appeared, with his head raised above the surface, cleaving53 the waves with his broad breast. The virgin shrieked54, the father and mother who had now arrived at the scene, wretched both, but the mother more justly so, stood by, not able to afford protection, but only to pour forth55 lamentations and to embrace the victim. Then spoke56 Perseus: “There will be time enough for tears; this hour is all we have for rescue. My rank as the son of Jove and my renown57 as the slayer58 of the Gorgon might make me acceptable as a suitor; but I will try to win her by services rendered, if the gods will only be propitious59. If she be rescued by my valor60, I demand that she be my reward.” The parents consent (how could they hesitate?) and promise a royal dowry with her.
And now the monster was within the range of a stone thrown by a skilful61 slinger62, when with a sudden bound the youth soared into the air. As an eagle, when from his lofty flight he sees a serpent basking63 in the sun, pounces64 upon him and seizes him by the neck to prevent him from turning his head round and using his fangs65, so the youth darted66 down upon the back of the monster and plunged67 his sword into its shoulder. Irritated by the wound, the monster raised himself in the air, then plunged into the depth; then, like a wild boar surrounded by a pack of barking dogs, turned swiftly from side to side, while the youth eluded69 its attacks by means of his wings. Wherever he can find a passage for his sword between the scales he makes a wound, piercing now the side, now the flank, as it slopes towards the tail. The brute spouts71 from his nostrils72 water mixed with blood. The wings of the hero are wet with it, and he dares no longer trust to them. Alighting on a rock which rose above the waves, and holding on by a projecting fragment, as the monster floated near he gave him a death stroke. The people who had gathered on the shore shouted so that the hills re?choed the sound. The parents, transported with joy, embraced their future son-in-law, calling him their deliverer and the savior of their house, and the virgin, both cause and reward of the contest, descended73 from the rock.
Cassiopeia was an ?thiopian, and consequently, in spite of her boasted beauty, black; at least so Milton seems to have thought, who alludes to this story in his “Penseroso,” where he addresses Melancholy74 as the
“. . . . goddess, sage70 and holy,
Whose saintly visage is too bright
To hit the sense of human sight,
And, therefore, to our weaker view
O’erlaid with black, staid Wisdom’s hue75.
Black, but such as in esteem76
Prince Memnon’s sister might beseem,
Or that starred ?thiop queen that strove
To set her beauty’s praise above
The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.”
Cassiopeia is called “the starred ?thiop queen” because after her death she was placed among the stars, forming the constellation77 of that name. Though she attained78 this honor, yet the Sea-Nymphs, her old enemies, prevailed so far as to cause her to be placed in that part of the heaven near the pole, where every night she is half the time held with her head downward, to give her a lesson of humility79.
Memnon was an ?thiopian prince, of whom we shall tell in a future chapter.
THE WEDDING FEAST
The joyful80 parents, with Perseus and Andromeda, repaired to the palace, where a banquet was spread for them, and all was joy and festivity. But suddenly a noise was heard of warlike clamor, and Phineus, the betrothed81 of the virgin, with a party of his adherents82, burst in, demanding the maiden as his own. It was in vain that Cepheus remonstrated—“You should have claimed her when she lay bound to the rock, the monster’s victim. The sentence of the gods dooming83 her to such a fate dissolved all engagements, as death itself would have done.” Phineus made no reply, but hurled84 his javelin85 at Perseus, but it missed its mark and fell harmless. Perseus would have thrown his in turn, but the cowardly assailant ran and took shelter behind the altar. But his act was a signal for an onset86 by his band upon the guests of Cepheus. They defended themselves and a general conflict ensued, the old king retreating from the scene after fruitless expostulations, calling the gods to witness that he was guiltless of this outrage87 on the rights of hospitality.
Perseus and his friends maintained for some time the unequal contest; but the numbers of the assailants were too great for them, and destruction seemed inevitable88, when a sudden thought struck Perseus,—“I will make my enemy defend me.” Then with a loud voice he exclaimed, “If I have any friend here let him turn away his eyes!” and held aloft the Gorgon’s head. “Seek not to frighten us with your jugglery,” said Thescelus, and raised his javelin in act to throw, and became stone in the very attitude. Ampyx was about to plunge68 his sword into the body of a prostrate89 foe20, but his arm stiffened90 and he could neither thrust forward nor withdraw it. Another, in the midst of a vociferous91 challenge, stopped, his mouth open, but no sound issuing. One of Perseus’s friends, Aconteus, caught sight of the Gorgon and stiffened like the rest. Astyages struck him with his sword, but instead of wounding, it recoiled92 with a ringing noise.
Phineus beheld this dreadful result of his unjust aggression93, and felt confounded. He called aloud to his friends, but got no answer; he touched them and found them stone. Falling on his knees and stretching out his hands to Perseus, but turning his head away he begged for mercy. “Take all,” said he, “give me but my life.” “Base coward,” said Perseus, “thus much I will grant you; no weapon shall touch you; moreover, you shall be preserved in my house as a memorial of these events.” So saying, he held the Gorgon’s head to the side where Phineus was looking, and in the very form in which he knelt, with his hands outstretched and face averted94, he became fixed immovably, a mass of stone!
The following allusion95 to Perseus is from Milman’s “Samor”:
“As ’mid the fabled96 Libyan bridal stood
Perseus in stern tranquillity97 of wrath98,
Half stood, half floated on his ankle-plumes
Out-swelling, while the bright face on his shield
Looked into stone the raging fray99; so rose,
But with no magic arms, wearing alone
Th’ appalling100 and control of his firm look,
The Briton Samor; at his rising awe
Went abroad, and the riotous101 hall was mute.”
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1
atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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2
gorgon
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| n.丑陋女人，蛇发女怪 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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6
advert
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| vi.注意，留意，言及；n.广告 | |
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epithets
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| n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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9
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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11
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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15
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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16
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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17
alludes
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| 提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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19
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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20
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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21
congealed
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| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的过去式和过去分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
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22
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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23
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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24
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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25
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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26
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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27
stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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28
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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29
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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30
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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31
prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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32
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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33
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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34
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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35
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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36
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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37
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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38
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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39
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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40
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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41
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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42
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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43
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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44
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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45
appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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46
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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52
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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cleaving
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| v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的现在分词 ) | |
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54
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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slayer
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| n. 杀人者，凶手 | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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slinger
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| 投石者，吊物工人； 吊索 | |
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basking
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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pounces
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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spouts
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| n.管口( spout的名词复数 )；（喷出的）水柱；（容器的）嘴；在困难中v.（指液体）喷出( spout的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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constellation
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| n.星座n.灿烂的一群 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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81
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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dooming
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| v.注定( doom的现在分词 )；判定；使…的失败（或灭亡、毁灭、坏结局）成为必然；宣判 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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javelin
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| n.标枪，投枪 | |
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onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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vociferous
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| adj.喧哗的，大叫大嚷的 | |
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recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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fabled
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| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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