The old gods and minor deities in these “short stories” also appeal to us by their human qualities, and many an important moral lesson may be read in the fate of unfortunate minor deities who offended the higher gods. The sketches are in story form and are told in a refined and entertaining manner. Several of the higher gods and goddesses are not included in this volume, as they appear most interesting in the other volumes in this series—“Achilles,” “Ulysses,” “Argonauts’ Expedition and Labors of Hercules.” G. P. U. Chicago, _May_, 1912. Contents Chapter Page I Prometheus 13 II Deucalion and Pyrrha 25 III Hermes (Mercury) 33 IV Phaëthon 39 V Orpheus 49 VI Atalanta 53 VII Tantalus 57 VIII Salmoneus, Sisyphus, Ixion, and Phlegyas 61 IX Niobe 65 X Bellerophon 73 XI Perseus 77 XII Cadmus 83 XIII Dionysus (Bacchus) 89 XIV Actæon 95 XV Dædalus and Icarus 101 XVI Philemon and Baucis 109 XVII Arachne 115 XVIII Hyacinthus 121 _The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be A pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea, Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn._ Wordsworth Gods and Heroes Chapter I Prometheus