Читать книгу The Mythology of Greece and Rome, With Special Reference to Its Use in Art онлайн

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The present work, translated from the German of O. Seemann, seems well adapted to convey a knowledge of these myths. It is illustrated with cuts after some of the masterpieces of ancient and modern art. Particular attention has been paid to this branch of the subject, and the principal works of art in each case are mentioned.

The distinction between Greek and Roman deities and heroes has been preserved, but the conventional spelling has been retained. A full index is appended, in which the quantities of the vowels are carefully marked.

Greek and Roman Mythology.

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Myths may be described as poetic narratives of the birth, life, and actions of the old heathen gods and heroes or demigods. Both myth and legend^[1] are distinguished from the “Mährchen,” or popular tale, by not being, like the latter, a mere product of the imagination, but always being founded on some preceding reality, whether that be an oft-recurring phase of nature, or a distinct and real occurrence. It is often most difficult to recognise with any precision the true germ of a myth, on account of the numerous additions and alterations made by the poets. And therefore the question, whether a particular tradition be a myth or not, is very hard to answer: on one side we are tempted to view, in the god or demigod, the hero of a tribe magnified to superhuman proportions by the admiration of posterity; and, on the other side, comparison of the legends of different families of nations points us to the operations of nature, not only in the demigod or the hero, but in the animals of fable and the traditions of the nursery.