Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-03-02
from Mondays Public LEDGER
MEMPHI PAGEANT.
VOYAGE OF THE ARG0-
.
A Classic Theme LustrOusIy
Illustrated.
Taste, Genius, Beauty, Instruction
and Lavish Expenditure
Combine 10 Make Up Their Ninth
Annual Mardi Gras Display,
And Complete a Picture OF SurPass'
Ing Grandeur,
Combine TO Make Up Their Mint
Annual Mardi Gras Display,
And Complete a Picture OF Surpass
ing Grandeur,
10 be ENROLLED Tomorrow Night

succeeding generations memories Of
herself fer the admiration and benefit
Of mankind. The very Oldest event
recorded in her history, and certainly
one of the very richest in its inlu-
ences was the Argonautic expedition
which went in search of, and captured
the Golden Fleece. Poetry and his.
tory combined to render the story Of
the adventurous voyage, brilliant and
interesting to the ancients, and both
in modern times concur in rendering
it equally entertaining. 1t is celebra-
ted as the first voyage of discovery
ever made upon the sea, and a record
of its remarkable incidents, perils and
results has employed the pen of many
writer's, historians as we'll as poets.
The story belongs to the heroic ages,
the date of its occurrence being set
down as 1868 years before Christ and
eighty-nine before the Trojan war.
An event Of 3l44 years ago, told in SO
many different ways by a host of wri-
ters, is very naturally clouded in some
doubt, in its more minute particu
lars, but the proof of such a voyage
having been made is as certain
as that of any other of the ira
ditioual occurrences of which ac-
counts are imperfect. The story be-
ing this years chosen subject for illus
t~ration in moving tableaux by the
Mystic Memphi briefly explained is as
follows:
TabIeau No. I---Phryxus and
HelIe.
The immortal goddess Nephele sent
down from Mount Olympus ram with
a golden fleece, having called upon
Mercury to save her children from the
Jealous hatred and anger other step
mother Inc. The latter had an ugly
temper, a common trouble with step
mothers in Rncient as well as modern
times, and Tno sought to sacrifice the
children on a flaming altar to get them
out of her way. She had a child Of
her own, hence her desire to make
away with the stepchildren. This tab
leau or float illustrates the flaming
altar upon which the children are to
be placed. Nephele and Mercury
having led the sacred ram down from
Mount Olympus close to the altar
take up the children and place them
on the back of the ram. The animal
suddenly %cleayes the air and flies to-
ward Colchis, a country of Asia on
the eastern shores of the Euxine sea
near Caucasus. In its course the
delicate Helle became dizzy and fell
from the ram while passing over
the narrow strait between Eu-
rope and Asia and connecting the
Mediterranean with the Black sea.
The name Hellespont was afCerward
given in memory of the body Of water
where the accident occurred. All
Greece mourned her untimely end,
and Neptune has a guardian care over
her names, which rest in an urn old
time shall not destroy, while the sor-
rowing waves of the Hellespont chant
her funeral dirge. P%hryxus, however,
arrived safely at the end Of his aerial
excursion in COlchis, where Ketes, the
king. received him cordially and treat
ed him with marked hospitality. The
starting point was near Thebes, in
Thessaly, the most beautiful region
in classic Greece. Phryxus was the
son of King Athanias, ruler of the
province, who first married Nephele,
his mother, afterwards diyorcing her
to unite himself with Inc. The plea
of the latter for sacrificing Bhryxus
and Helle' was that Nepbele had dur
ing a period of frelzy poisoned fields
Of grain, causing a sweeping plague,
and the O%racles had declared the gods
so offended that only the slaughter of
the children would atone for her awful
conduct. Hermes or Mercury and
Nephele are exhibited in the tableau,
and they have Phryxus and Helle on
the back of the ram, which is seen
passing high in the air through the
clouds bearing the children upon its
back.
Tableau No 2.-Betes.
In the beautiful grove of Mars,
where Phryxus had sacrificed the ram
to the God Jupiter, because he had
guarded him safely through his peril
Gus journey, King Het0s nails the
Golden fleece TO a massive oak. A
sleepless and venomous dragon lies
coiled at the roots of the tree, always
on guard. Two brazen bulls, whose
nostrils emit fiery vapOrs Of dreadful
smell, aid in defending the valuable
trophy, while dogs with demon spirits
stand near at hand. Until a priestess,
with her magic charms, had rendered
the beasts powerless, he had not dared
to enter the forest, nor had any man
before him, King Ketes, meantime,
after listening 10 open court to the
strange story of Phryxus and his jour
ney, had influenced him to marry
Glaueus, his daughter, lie later on
killed Phryxus, thereby obtaining
full possession Of the coveted Fleece.
The king had another daughter,
Medea, a sorceress of wonderful gifts,
She does not figure in the Bfesept
picture, but viii appear in a subse-
quent tableau.
Tableaq No, 3~ChIron.
Within a snow covered cavern amidst
9 lovelygardenoffra granthower Stands
Chiron, the most learned of all the
C%entaurs. The Centaurs were a tribe
halt horse and half man, who inhabit-
Cd the wilds Of Mt. Pelion, near the
kingdom Of 1olchos, in Greece. Chi
ron was the son Of Philyra, and Sa-
bina, and famous for his knowledge Of