The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911): Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855) — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911): Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855)
John Stuart Mill · en
=20. Deucalion and Pyrrha.= Parnassus alone, of the mountains,
overtopped the waves; and there Deucalion, son of Prometheus, and
his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus, found refuge--he a just man
and she a faithful worshiper of the gods. Jupiter, remembering the
harmless lives and pious demeanor of this pair, caused the waters to
recede,--the sea to return to its shores, and the rivers to their
channels. Then Deucalion and Pyrrha, entering a temple defaced with
slime, approached the unkindled altar and, falling prostrate, prayed
for guidance and aid. The oracle[15] answered, "Depart from the temple
with head veiled and garments unbound, and cast behind you the bones
of your mother." They heard the words with astonishment. Pyrrha first
broke silence: "We cannot obey; we dare not profane the remains of
our parents." They sought the woods, and revolved the oracle in their
minds. At last Deucalion spoke: "Either my wit fails me or the command
is one we may obey without impiety. The earth is the great parent of
all; the stones are her bones; these we may cast behind us; this, I
think, the oracle means. At least, to try will harm us not." They
veiled their faces, unbound their garments, and, picking up stones,
cast them behind them. The stones began to grow soft and to assume
shape. By degrees they put on a rude resemblance to the human form.
Those thrown by Deucalion became men; those by Pyrrha, women. It was a
hard race that sprang up, and well adapted to labor.
=21. The Demigods and Heroes.= As preceding the Age of Iron, Hesiod
mentions an _Age of Demigods and Heroes_. Since, however, these
demigods and heroes were, many of them, reputed to have been directly
descended from Deucalion, their epoch must be regarded as subsequent
to the deluge. The hero, Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, became
the ancestor of the Hellenes, or Greeks. The Æolians and Dorians were,
according to legend, descended from his sons Æolus and Dorus; from his
son Xuthus, the Achæans and Ionians derived their origin.
Another great division of the Greek people, the Pelasgic, resident in
the Peloponnesus or southern portion of the peninsula, was said to have
sprung from a different stock of heroes, that of Pelasgus, son of
Phoroneus of Argos and grandson of the river-god Inachus.