Gods and Heroes; or, The Kingdom of JupiterFrancillon, R. E. (Robert Edward)
General
Gods and Heroes; or, The Kingdom of Jupiter
Francillon, R. E. (Robert Edward)
Mythology, Classical -- Juvenile literature
The Titans made another war. And this time they got the help of the
Giants, who were more terrible even than the Titans. They were
immense monsters, some almost as tall as the tallest mountain,
fearfully strong, and horribly ugly, with hair miles long, and rough
beards down to their middle. One of them had fifty heads and a hundred
hands. Another had serpents instead of legs. Others, called Cyclopes,
had only one eye, which was in the middle of their foreheads. But the
most terrible of all was a giant named Typhon. He had a hundred heads,
each like a dragon's, and darted flames from his mouth and eyes. A
great battle was fought between the gods and the giants. The giants
tried to get into the sky by piling up the mountains one upon another.
They used oak-trees for clubs, and threw hills for stones. They set
whole forests on fire, and tossed them up like torches to set fire to
the sky. And at last Typhon's hundred fiery mouths set up a hundred
different yells and roars all at once, so loud and horrible that
Jupiter and all the gods ran away into Egypt and hid themselves there
in the shapes of animals. Jupiter turned himself into a ram, and Juno
became a cow.
But, when their fright was over, the gods came back into their own
shapes, and fought another battle, greater and more terrible than
before. And this time the gods won. Some of the giants were crushed
under mountains or drowned in the sea. Some were taken prisoners: and
of these some were beaten to death and others were skinned alive.
Atlas, who was the tallest, was ordered to spend all his days in
holding up the sky on his shoulders,--how it was held up before, I do
not know. Some of the Cyclopes were set to work in making thunderbolts
for Jupiter. They became the blacksmiths of the gods, and Mount Ætna,
which is a volcano, was one of their forges.
After this, the gods lived in peace: though Jupiter and Juno never
left off quarreling a good deal. Jupiter made most of his children
gods and goddesses, and they all lived together over Mount Olympus,
ruling the earth and the sky, and the air, the sun, and the stars. You
will read the stories of all of them. They used to eat a delicious
food called Ambrosia, and their wine was a wonderful drink called
Nectar. Hebe, the goddess of Youth, mixed and poured out the Nectar,
and Ganymede was Jupiter's own page and cup-bearer. These gods and
goddesses of the sky were a sort of large family, with Jupiter and
Juno for father and mother. Of course Neptune with his gods of the
sea, and Pluto with his gods of Hades, were like different families,
and lived in their own places.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account