ACHELOUS AND HERCULES
The river-god Achelous told the story of Erisichthon to Theseus and his companions, whom he was entertaining at his hospitable1 board, while they were delayed on their journey by the overflow2 of his waters. Having finished his story, he added, “But why should I tell of other persons’ transformations3 when I myself am an instance of the possession of this power? Sometimes I become a serpent, and sometimes a bull, with horns on my head. Or I should say I once could do so; but now I have but one horn, having lost one.” And here he groaned4 and was silent.
Theseus asked him the cause of his grief, and how he lost his horn. To which question the river-god replied as follows: “Who likes to tell of his defeats? Yet I will not hesitate to relate mine, comforting myself with the thought of the greatness of my conqueror5, for it was Hercules. Perhaps you have heard of the fame of Dejanira, the fairest of maidens6, whom a host of suitors strove to win. Hercules and myself were of the number, and the rest yielded to us two. He urged in his behalf his descent from Jove and his labors8 by which he had exceeded the exactions of Juno, his stepmother. I, on the other hand, said to the father of the maiden7, ‘Behold me, the king of the waters that flow through your land. I am no stranger from a foreign shore, but belong to the country, a part of your realm. Let it not stand in my way that royal Juno owes me no enmity nor punishes me with heavy tasks. As for this man, who boasts himself the son of Jove, it is either a false pretence11, or disgraceful to him if true, for it cannot be true except by his mother’s shame.’ As I said this Hercules scowled12 upon me, and with difficulty restrained his rage. ‘My hand will answer better than my tongue,’ said he. ‘I yield to you the victory in words, but trust my cause to the strife13 of deeds.’ With that he advanced towards me, and I was ashamed, after what I had said, to yield. I threw off my green vesture and presented myself for the struggle. He tried to throw me, now attacking my head, now my body. My bulk was my protection, and he assailed14 me in vain. For a time we stopped, then returned to the conflict. We each kept our position, determined15 not to yield, foot to foot, I bending over him, clenching16 his hand in mine, with my forehead almost touching17 his. Thrice Hercules tried to throw me off, and the fourth time he succeeded, brought me to the ground, and himself upon my back. I tell you the truth, it was as if a mountain had fallen on me. I struggled to get my arms at liberty, panting and reeking18 with perspiration19. He gave me no chance to recover, but seized my throat. My knees were on the earth and my mouth in the dust.
“Finding that I was no match for him in the warrior’s art, I resorted to others and glided20 away in the form of a serpent. I curled my body in a coil and hissed21 at him with my forked tongue. He smiled scornfully at this, and said, ‘It was the labor9 of my infancy22 to conquer snakes.’ So saying he clasped my neck with his hands. I was almost choked, and struggled to get my neck out of his grasp. Vanquished23 in this form, I tried what alone remained to me and assumed the form of a bull. He grasped my neck with his arm, and dragging my head down to the ground, overthrew24 me on the sand. Nor was this enough. His ruthless hand rent my horn from my head. The Naiades took it, consecrated25 it, and filled it with fragrant26 flowers. Plenty adopted my horn and made it her own, and called it ‘Cornucopia27.’?”
The ancients were fond of finding a hidden meaning in their mythological28 tales. They explain this fight of Achelous with Hercules by saying Achelous was a river that in seasons of rain overflowed29 its banks. When the fable30 says that Achelous loved Dejanira, and sought a union with her, the meaning is that the river in its windings31 flowed through part of Dejanira’s kingdom. It was said to take the form of a snake because of its winding32, and of a bull because it made a brawling33 or roaring in its course. When the river swelled34, it made itself another channel. Thus its head was horned. Hercules prevented the return of these periodical overflows35 by embankments and canals; and therefore he was said to have vanquished the river-god and cut off his horn. Finally, the lands formerly36 subject to overflow, but now redeemed37, became very fertile, and this is meant by the horn of plenty.
There is another account of the origin of the Cornucopia. Jupiter at his birth was committed by his mother Rhea to the care of the daughters of Melisseus, a Cretan king. They fed the infant deity38 with the milk of the goat Amalthea. Jupiter broke off one of the horns of the goat and gave it to his nurses, and endowed it with the wonderful power of becoming filled with whatever the possessor might wish.
The name of Amalthea is also given by some writers to the mother of Bacchus. It is thus used by Milton, “Paradise Lost,” Book IV.:
“. . . That Nyseian isle39,
Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham,
Whom Gentiles Ammon call, and Libyan Jove,
Hid Amalthea and her florid son,
Young Bacchus, from his stepdame Rhea’s eye.”
ADMETUS AND ALCESTIS
?sculapius, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with such skill in the healing art that he even restored the dead to life. At this Pluto40 took alarm, and prevailed on Jupiter to launch a thunderbolt at ?sculapius. Apollo was indignant at the destruction of his son, and wreaked41 his vengeance42 on the innocent workmen who had made the thunderbolt. These were the Cyclopes, who have their workshop under Mount ?tna, from which the smoke and flames of their furnaces are constantly issuing. Apollo shot his arrows at the Cyclopes, which so incensed43 Jupiter that he condemned44 him as a punishment to become the servant of a mortal for the space of one year. Accordingly Apollo went into the service of Admetus, king of Thessaly, and pastured his flocks for him on the verdant45 banks of the river Amphrysos.
Admetus was a suitor, with others, for the hand of Alcestis, the daughter of Pelias, who promised her to him who should come for her in a chariot drawn46 by lions and boars. This task Admetus performed by the assistance of his divine herdsman, and was made happy in the possession of Alcestis. But Admetus fell ill, and being near to death, Apollo prevailed on the Fates to spare him on condition that some one would consent to die in his stead. Admetus, in his joy at this reprieve47, thought little of the ransom48, and perhaps remembering the declarations of attachment49 which he had often heard from his courtiers and dependents fancied that it would be easy to find a substitute. But it was not so. Brave warriors50, who would willingly have perilled51 their lives for their prince, shrunk from the thought of dying for him on the bed of sickness; and old servants who had experienced his bounty52 and that of his house from their childhood up, were not willing to lay down the scanty53 remnant of their days to show their gratitude54. Men asked, “Why does not one of his parents do it? They cannot in the course of nature live much longer, and who can feel like them the call to rescue the life they gave from an untimely end?” But the parents, distressed56 though they were at the thought of losing him, shrunk from the call. Then Alcestis, with a generous self-devotion, proffered57 herself as the substitute. Admetus, fond as he was of life, would not have submitted to receive it at such a cost; but there was no remedy. The condition imposed by the Fates had been met, and the decree was irrevocable. Alcestis sickened as Admetus revived, and she was rapidly sinking to the grave.
Just at this time Hercules arrived at the palace of Admetus, and found all the inmates58 in great distress55 for the impending59 loss of the devoted60 wife and beloved mistress. Hercules, to whom no labor was too arduous61, resolved to attempt her rescue. He went and lay in wait at the door of the chamber62 of the dying queen, and when Death came for his prey63, he seized him and forced him to resign his victim. Alcestis recovered, and was restored to her husband.
Milton alludes64 to the story of Alcestis in his Sonnet65 “on his deceased wife”:
“Methought I saw my late espoused66 saint
Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,
Whom Jove’s great son to her glad husband gave,
Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint.”
J. R. Lowell has chosen the “Shepherd of King Admetus” for the subject of a short poem. He makes that event the first introduction of poetry to men.
“Men called him but a shiftless youth,
In whom no good they saw,
And yet unwittingly, in truth,
They made his careless words their law.
“And day by day more holy grew
Each spot where he had trod,
Till after-poets only knew
Their first-born brother was a god.”
ANTIGONE
A large proportion both of the interesting persons and of the exalted67 acts of legendary68 Greece belongs to the female sex. Antigone was as bright an example of filial and sisterly fidelity69 as was Alcestis of connubial70 devotion. She was the daughter of ?dipus and Jocasta, who with all their descendants were the victims of an unrelenting fate, dooming71 them to destruction. ?dipus in his madness had torn out his eyes, and was driven forth72 from his kingdom Thebes, dreaded73 and abandoned by all men, as an object of divine vengeance. Antigone, his daughter, alone shared his wanderings and remained with him till he died, and then returned to Thebes.
Her brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, had agreed to share the kingdom between them, and reign10 alternately year by year. The first year fell to the lot of Eteocles, who, when his time expired, refused to surrender the kingdom to his brother. Polynices fled to Adrastus, king of Argos, who gave him his daughter in marriage, and aided him with an army to enforce his claim to the kingdom. This led to the celebrated74 expedition of the “Seven against Thebes,” which furnished ample materials for the epic75 and tragic76 poets of Greece.
Amphiaraus, the brother-in-law of Adrastus, opposed the enterprise, for he was a soothsayer, and knew by his art that no one of the leaders except Adrastus would live to return. But Amphiaraus, on his marriage to Eriphyle, the king’s sister, had agreed that whenever he and Adrastus should differ in opinion, the decision should be left to Eriphyle. Polynices, knowing this, gave Eriphyle the collar of Harmonia, and thereby77 gained her to his interest. This collar or necklace was a present which Vulcan had given to Harmonia on her marriage with Cadmus, and Polynices had taken it with him on his flight from Thebes. Eriphyle could not resist so tempting78 a bribe79, and by her decision the war was resolved on, and Amphiaraus went to his certain fate. He bore his part bravely in the contest, but could not avert80 his destiny. Pursued by the enemy, he fled along the river, when a thunderbolt launched by Jupiter opened the ground, and he, his chariot, and his charioteer were swallowed up.
It would not be in place here to detail all the acts of heroism81 or atrocity82 which marked the contest; but we must not omit to record the fidelity of Evadne as an offset83 to the weakness of Eriphyle. Capaneus, the husband of Evadne, in the ardor84 of the fight declared that he would force his way into the city in spite of Jove himself. Placing a ladder against the wall he mounted, but Jupiter, offended at his impious language, struck him with a thunderbolt. When his obsequies were celebrated, Evadne cast herself on his funeral pile and perished.
Early in the contest Eteocles consulted the soothsayer Tiresias as to the issue. Tiresias in his youth had by chance seen Minerva bathing. The goddess in her wrath85 deprived him of his sight, but afterwards relenting gave him in compensation the knowledge of future events. When consulted by Eteocles, he declared that victory should fall to Thebes if Men?ceus, the son of Creon, gave himself a voluntary victim. The heroic youth, learning the response, threw away his life in the first encounter.
The siege continued long, with various success. At length both hosts agreed that the brothers should decide their quarrel by single combat. They fought and fell by each other’s hands. The armies then renewed the fight, and at last the invaders86 were forced to yield, and fled, leaving their dead unburied. Creon, the uncle of the fallen princes, now become king, caused Eteocles to be buried with distinguished87 honor, but suffered the body of Polynices to lie where it fell, forbidding every one on pain of death to give it burial.
Antigone, the sister of Polynices, heard with indignation the revolting edict which consigned88 her brother’s body to the dogs and vultures, depriving it of those rites89 which were considered essential to the repose90 of the dead. Unmoved by the dissuading91 counsel of an affectionate but timid sister, and unable to procure92 assistance, she determined to brave the hazard, and to bury the body with her own hands. She was detected in the act, and Creon gave orders that she should be buried alive, as having deliberately93 set at naught94 the solemn edict of the city. Her lover, H?mon, the son of Creon, unable to avert her fate, would not survive her, and fell by his own hand.
Antigone forms the subject of two fine tragedies of the Grecian poet Sophocles. Mrs. Jameson, in her “Characteristics of Women,” has compared her character with that of Cordelia, in Shakspeare’s “King Lear.” The perusal95 of her remarks cannot fail to gratify our readers.
The following is the lamentation96 of Antigone over ?dipus, when death has at last relieved him from his sufferings:
“Alas! I only wished I might have died
With my poor father; wherefore should I ask
For longer life?
O, I was fond of misery97 with him;
E’en what was most unlovely grew beloved
When he was with me. O my dearest father,
Beneath the earth now in deep darkness hid,
Worn as thou wert with age, to me thou still
Wast dear, and shalt be ever.”
—Francklin’s Sophocles.
PENELOPE
Penelope is another of those mythic heroines whose beauties were rather those of character and conduct than of person. She was the daughter of Icarius, a Spartan98 prince. Ulysses, king of Ithaca, sought her in marriage, and won her, over all competitors. When the moment came for the bride to leave her father’s house, Icarius, unable to bear the thoughts of parting with his daughter, tried to persuade her to remain with him, and not accompany her husband to Ithaca. Ulysses gave Penelope her choice, to stay or go with him. Penelope made no reply, but dropped her veil over her face. Icarius urged her no further, but when she was gone erected99 a statue to Modesty100 on the spot where they parted.
Ulysses and Penelope had not enjoyed their union more than a year when it was interrupted by the events which called Ulysses to the Trojan war. During his long absence, and when it was doubtful whether he still lived, and highly improbable that he would ever return, Penelope was importuned101 by numerous suitors, from whom there seemed no refuge but in choosing one of them for her husband. Penelope, however, employed every art to gain time, still hoping for Ulysses’ return. One of her arts of delay was engaging in the preparation of a robe for the funeral canopy102 of Laertes, her husband’s father. She pledged herself to make her choice among the suitors when the robe was finished. During the day she worked at the robe, but in the night she undid103 the work of the day. This is the famous Penelope’s web, which is used as a proverbial expression for anything which is perpetually doing but never done. The rest of Penelope’s history will be told when we give an account of her husband’s adventures.
点击收听单词发音
1 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 overflow | |
v.(使)外溢,(使)溢出;溢出,流出,漫出 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 transformations | |
n.变化( transformation的名词复数 );转换;转换;变换 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 conqueror | |
n.征服者,胜利者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 pretence | |
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 scowled | |
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 assailed | |
v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 clenching | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 reeking | |
v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 );散发臭气;发出难闻的气味 (of sth);明显带有(令人不快或生疑的跡象) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 hissed | |
发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 ); 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 infancy | |
n.婴儿期;幼年期;初期 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 vanquished | |
v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 overthrew | |
overthrow的过去式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 cornucopia | |
n.象征丰收的羊角 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 mythological | |
adj.神话的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 overflowed | |
溢出的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 windings | |
(道路、河流等)蜿蜒的,弯曲的( winding的名词复数 ); 缠绕( wind的现在分词 ); 卷绕; 转动(把手) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 brawling | |
n.争吵,喧嚷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 swelled | |
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 overflows | |
v.溢出,淹没( overflow的第三人称单数 );充满;挤满了人;扩展出界,过度延伸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 redeemed | |
adj. 可赎回的,可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 Pluto | |
n.冥王星 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 wreaked | |
诉诸(武力),施行(暴力),发(脾气)( wreak的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 incensed | |
盛怒的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 verdant | |
adj.翠绿的,青翠的,生疏的,不老练的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 reprieve | |
n.暂缓执行(死刑);v.缓期执行;给…带来缓解 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 ransom | |
n.赎金,赎身;v.赎回,解救 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 perilled | |
置…于危险中(peril的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 bounty | |
n.慷慨的赠予物,奖金;慷慨,大方;施与 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 distressed | |
痛苦的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 proffered | |
v.提供,贡献,提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 inmates | |
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 arduous | |
adj.艰苦的,费力的,陡峭的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 alludes | |
提及,暗指( allude的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 sonnet | |
n.十四行诗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 espoused | |
v.(决定)支持,拥护(目标、主张等)( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 legendary | |
adj.传奇(中)的,闻名遐迩的;n.传奇(文学) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 fidelity | |
n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 connubial | |
adj.婚姻的,夫妇的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 dooming | |
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 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 dreaded | |
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 epic | |
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 tempting | |
a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 bribe | |
n.贿赂;v.向…行贿,买通 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 avert | |
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 heroism | |
n.大无畏精神,英勇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 atrocity | |
n.残暴,暴行 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 offset | |
n.分支,补偿;v.抵消,补偿 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 ardor | |
n.热情,狂热 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 consigned | |
v.把…置于(令人不快的境地)( consign的过去式和过去分词 );把…托付给;把…托人代售;丟弃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 dissuading | |
劝(某人)勿做某事,劝阻( dissuade的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
93 deliberately | |
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
94 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
参考例句: |
|
|
95 perusal | |
n.细读,熟读;目测 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
96 lamentation | |
n.悲叹,哀悼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
97 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
98 spartan | |
adj.简朴的,刻苦的;n.斯巴达;斯巴达式的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
99 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
100 modesty | |
n.谦逊,虚心,端庄,稳重,羞怯,朴素 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
101 importuned | |
v.纠缠,向(某人)不断要求( importune的过去式和过去分词 );(妓女)拉(客) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
102 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
103 Undid | |
v. 解开, 复原 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |