The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-03-28
THE ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY AND
SOME OF ITS TEACHINGS.
BY G. H. RICHMAl
[CoNTINUED.1

BY G. H. HICKMAN.
[CoNTINUED.]
Having considered, in former article,
some of the sources of mythology, we will
now consider some of its teaching. In doing
this we shall draw on the Greek poets as af-
fording key to the general belief of all the
nations AS their religious notions were bor-
rowed and interchanged we get from this
source a general idea of the theogony and
cosmogony of universal mythology. We
know the attributes the Greeks ascribed to
their god Chronos, the Romans ascribed to
their Saturnus, and the more eastern nations
to their Moloch. We know too the Greeks
offered human sacrifices to Chronos and the
Romans to Saturnus. So also the nations of
the Bible lands sacrificed children to the
Phunician Moloch. We know also the
Greeks worshiped Aphrodite as the goddess
of love, SO also the Romans worshiped their
Venus and the Syrians their Astarte.
The Greek idea respecting the nature of
divinity was exceedingly imperfect. A being
possessing powers of mind and body superior
to those of man, especially in physical
strength, answered to their notions of a god.
Freedom from bodily decay sort of i'm
mortal youth, ability to appear and disappear
at pleasure, to move with wonderful celebrity,
to assume different forms and to exert an i'm
mediate influence upon the condition of NOR
tails constituted some of the superiority which
they ascribed to their divinities. They be-
ieved the gods to be of the same form as
themselves, but possessing greater beauty,
strength and dignity. They also believed
them to be of much larger size than men.
AS largeness of form was esteemed to be q
perfection in man or woman, SO they believed
it to be an attribute of their deities, to whom
they ascribed all perfection They differed
from mortals in this, however, fluid called
ichor supplied the place of blood in their
veins. They were liable to all the casualties
of life, excepting DEATH They stood in need
of food and sleep. and daily dined on am
brosia and nectar, which food and drink
rendered them immortal They often came
among men and partook of their food and
hospitality, as Abraham shared his morsel of
bread with the angels on the plains of Marine.
Like mankind they were divided into two
sexes-gods and goddesses. They married
and were given in marriage and had children,
Just like the mortals Often god became
enamored of a mortal woman, or goddess be-
came smitten with the charms of handsome
youth, and these love tales afforded prolific
themes for the ancient poets. In'order that
the resemblance between gods and men might
be more complete they ascribed to their
divinities all human passions both good and
all the benevolent affections; or on the other
hand they could manifest envy, jealousy and
revenge They exacted due respect and at
tention from mankind; also required to be
honored with temples, prayers, costly sacrl-
fees, splendid professions and rich gifts.
The abode of the celestial gods was on the
snow-clad mountains of Olympus in Thessaly.
ga gate of. Clouds, kept by the goddesses
named the Seasons, unfolded it's valves to per-
NIT the passage#of the eelestials to earth, tor
to receive them on their return" Here they
dwelt in halls of gold whose brilliancy rlvaled
the dazzling splendor of the sun. Here IN
the great hall of the palace of Zeus, the
Olympian king, they Toasted each day on
ambrosia and nectar which last precious
beverage was handed round by the lovely
goddess Hebe, or Youth Here they conversed
of the affairs of heaven and earth, and as they
quaffed their nectar Apollo, the god of
music RECALLED them with the tones of Tyre,
to which the muses. sang in responsive strains.
The gods like mortals stood in need of the
light of the sun, and when darkness spread
over the heavens they retired to sleep in their
respective dwellings, Round the highest
point of Olympus was the throne of Zeus,
on which he sat in majesty, to give counsel to
the gods. On lower plateaus were their re-
spective mansions, provided with all the con-
veniences to be found in the houses of princes
on EARTH Olympus was originally confined to
the Thessalian mountains, but in later times
it came to be considered a region far above
the blue sky. A brazen anvil of Heph@stos
(Vulcan), let fall, was nine days and nine
nights reaching the EARTH corresponding III
space of time to the fall of Millions angels.
The celestial gods, although allied to each
other by ties of consanguinity, did not
always act together in harmony. Contention
and jealousy often led to retaliation and re-
venge. AS an instance, the gods, on account
of the austerity of Zeus formed conspiracy
to move him from Olympus, when he
threatened, should they dare assal his author
ity, to chain them all to the top of Olympus
and swing them out and hang them in mid air.
The naughty, vindictive and jealous Here
(Juno) was the lawful wife of Zeus She
often quarreled with him and was implacable
in her anger On one occasion she SO in
censed her lord he actually beat her and then
siezed her son Heph@stos by the heel and
threw him out of Olympus because esided
with his mother. On another occasion, to
punish her for her secret plotting, he sus
pended her from Olympus by golden chains
bound to her arms, and with great weights
fastened to her feet. Zeus conceived love
for the beautiful goddess 10. Here dis
covered the secret passion that burned IN the
bosom of her lord. In order that 10 might
escape her jealousy he changed her into
beautiful white COW. Discovering this trans
formation, Here set watch over 10 In the
person of Argos, being who had an hundred
eyes. Argos seized 10 and tethered bel