How Perseus beheaded Medusa, chief of the Gorgons, and how everyone who afterwards looked at the head with its hair turned into snakes by the jealous goddess Minerva was then and there transformed into stone is too well known to need repetition at length here. Selene, the moon goddess, usually represented in a chariot drawn by fiery white horses—to some extent this is inconsistent, seeing that from time almost immemorial white horses have notoriously been the least fiery of any—must be mentioned, for the famous cast or model of Selene's horse shown in the British Museum indicates clearly the stamp of animal that was most highly prized about that period. According to Greek mythology, Selene was in love with the setting sun, Endymion, and bore him fifty daughters in addition to those she bore the god Zeus. Achilles' remarkable steed, Xanthos, was, we are told, “human to all intents.” When “severely spoken to” by its master because on the battlefield it had deserted Patroclos, the horse first “looked about him sadly,” and then, according to the “Iliad,” it told Achilles with a reproachful expression in its eyes that he too would soon be dead, for that this was “the inexorable decree of destiny”—a prophecy that came true. Achilles owned also the wonderful horse, Balios, which first of all Neptune had given to Peleus. The sire of Balios, like the sire of Xanthos, was the West Wind, its dam the harpy, Swift Foot. According to Virgil the famous horse of Greek mythology, Cyllaros, belonged to Pollux, and was named after Cylla, in Troas. Ovid, however affirms that it belonged to Castor, for in his “Metamorphose” he says, when speaking of Cyllaros, that “He, O Castor, was a courser worthy thee ... coal-black his colour, but like jet it shone: His legs and flowing tail were white alone.” Then, Adrastos was saved at the siege of Thebes by a horse famous for its speed and given to him by Hercules. Its name was Arion, and Neptune was said to have caused it to rise out of the earth, using his trident as a magic wand. The name is Greek for “martial,” hence the signification, “war horse,” given to it in this instance. We read that “its right feet were those of a human creature,” “it spoke with a human voice,” and “ran with incredible swiftness.” Perhaps one of the most notorious horses of Persian mythology is Reksh, a steed that belonged to Rustam, the Persian Hercules, son of Zal, and Prince of Sedjistan. Rustam became famous chiefly on account of his great battle with the white dragon, Asdeev. The description of Rustam's deadly encounter with his son, Sohrab—it ended in the latter's death—is described in Matthew Arnold's poem, “Sohrab and Rustam” in very fine language. * * * * *