43 résultats pour "bulfinch"
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Cadmus - anthology.
Milton, describing the serpent which tempted Eve, is reminded of the serpents of the classical stories and says: … '—pleasing was his shape, And lovely: never since the serpent kindLovelier; not those that in Illyria changedHermione and Cadmus, nor the godIn Epidaurus.' Source: Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne. New York: Random House, 1934.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Diana and Actaeon - anthology.
The allusion is probably to Shelley himself. Source: Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne. New York: Random House, 1934.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Beowulf - anthology.
help his aged monarch. Another rush of the dragon shattered Beowulf's sword and the monster's fangs sunk into Beowulf's neck. Wiglaf, rushing into the struggle,helped the dying Beowulf to kill the dragon. Before his death, Beowulf named Wiglaf his successor to the throne of Geatland and ordered that his own ashes be placed in a memorial shrine at the top of a highcliff commanding the sea. Beowulf's body was burned on a vast funeral pyre, while twelve Geats rode around the mound singing their...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Antigone - anthology.
The following is the lamentation of Antigone over Œdipus, when death has at last relieved him from his sufferings: 'Alas! I only wished I might have diedWith my poor father; wherefore should I askFor longer life?O, I was fond of misery with him;E'en what was most unlovely grew belovedWhen he was with me. O my dearest father,Beneath the earth now in deep darkness hid,Worn as thou wert with age, to me thou stillWast dear, and shalt be ever.'Francklin's Sophocles. Source: Bulfinch, Thomas....
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Midas - anthology.
Gordius, being made king, dedicated his wagon to the deity of the oracle, and tied it up in its place with a fast knot. This was the celebrated Gordian knot, which, in after times it was said, whoever should untie should become lord of all Asia. Many tried to untie it, but none succeeded, till Alexander the Great, in his career ofconquest, came to Phrygia. He tried his skill with as ill success as others, till growing impatient he drew his sword and cut the knot. When he afterwards succeeded i...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Niobe - anthology.
The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now:The very sepulchres lie tenantlessOf their heroic dwellers; dost thou flow,Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness?Rise with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress.'Childe Harold, IV. 79. As an illustration of this story there is a celebrated statue in the imperial gallery of Florence. It is the principal figure of a group supposed to have been originallyarranged in the pediment of a temple. The figure of the mother clasped by the arm of her terrifie...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Myrmidons - anthology.
This description of the plague is copied by Ovid from the account which Thucydides, the Greek historian, gives of the plague of Athens. The historian drew from life,and all the poets and writers of fiction since his day, when they have had occasion to describe a similar scene, have borrowed their details from him. Source: Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne. New York: Random House, 1934.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Iona - anthology.
Iona, from its position in the western seas, was exposed to the assaults of the Norwegian and Danish rovers by whom those seas were infested, and by them it wasrepeatedly pillaged, its dwellings burned, and its peaceful inhabitants put to the sword. These unfavourable circumstances led to its gradual decline, which wasexpedited by the subversion of the Culdees throughout Scotland. Under the reign of Popery [the Pope] the island became the seat of a nunnery, the ruins of which arestill seen. At t...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Ibycus - anthology.
The choristers, clad in black, bore in their fleshless hands torches blazing with a pitchy flame. Their cheeks were bloodless, and in place of hair writhing and swellingserpents curled around their brows. Forming a circle, these awful beings sang their hymns, rending the hearts of the guilty, and enchaining all their faculties. It roseand swelled, overpowering the sound of the instruments, stealing the judgment, palsying the heart, curdling the blood. 'Happy the man who keeps his heart pure...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Minerva (Athena) - anthology.
Spenser tells the story of Arachne in his 'Muiopotmos,' adhering very closely to his master Ovid, but improving upon him in the conclusion of the story. The twostanzas which follow tell what was done after the goddess had depicted her creation of the olive tree: 'Amongst these leaves she made a Butterfly, With excellent device and wondrous slight,Fluttering among the olives wantonly,That seemed to live, so like it was in sight;The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie,The silken down with whic...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Hero and Leander - anthology.
That tale is old, but love anewMay nerve young hearts to prove as true.' Source: Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne. New York: Random House, 1934.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Echo and Narcissus - anthology.
So may'st thou be translated to the skies,And give resounding grace to all heaven's harmonies.' Milton has imitated the story of Narcissus in the account which he makes Eve give of the first sight of herself reflected in the fountain. 'That day I oft remember when from sleepI first awaked, and found myself reposedUnder a shade on flowers, much wondering whereAnd what I was, whence thither brought, and howNot distant far from thence a murmuring soundOf waters issued from a cave, and sprea...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Orpheus and Eurydice - anthology.
Now under hanging mountains,Beside the falls of fountains,Or where Hebrus wanders,Rolling in meanders,All alone,He makes his moan,And calls her ghost,For ever, ever, ever lost!Now with furies surrounded,Despairing, confounded,He trembles, he glows,Amidst Rhodope's snows.See, wild as the winds o'er the desert he flies;Hark! Hæmus resounds with the Bacchanals' cries.Ah, see, he dies!Yet even in death Eurydice he sung,Eurydice still trembled on his tongue:Eurydice the woodsEurydice the floodsEurydi...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Pyramus and Thisbe - anthology.
In Mickle's translation of the 'Lusiad' occurs the following allusion to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and the metamorphosis of the mulberries. The poet isdescribing the Island of Love: '… here each gift of Pomona's hand bestows In cultured garden, free uncultured flows,The flavour sweeter and the hue more fairThan e'er was fostered by the hand of care.The cherry here in shining crimson glows,And stained with lovers' blood, in pendent rows,The mulberries o'erload the bending boughs.' If...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Baucis and Philemon - anthology.
But with the upside down, to showIts inclination for below;In vain, for a superior force,Applied at bottom, stops its course;Doomed ever in suspense to dwell,'Tis now no kettle, but a bell.A wooden jack, which had almostLost by disuse the art to roast,A sudden alteration feels.Increased by new intestine wheels;And, what exalts the wonder more,The number made the motion slower;The flier, though 't had leaden feet,Turned round so quick you scarce could see 't;But slackened by some secret power,Now...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Apollo and Daphne - anthology.
know no decay.' The nymph, now changed into a Laurel tree, bowed its head in grateful acknowledgment. That Apollo should be the god both of music and poetry will not appear strange, but that medicine should also be assigned to his province, may. The [18th-centuryScottish] poet [John] Armstrong, himself a physician, thus accounts for it: 'Music exalts each joy, allays each grief, Expels diseases, softens every pain;And hence the wise of ancient days adoredOne power of physic, melody, and son...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Adventures of Aeneas - anthology.
out of his way. Hearing the oars, Polyphemus shouted after them, so that the shores resounded, and at the noise the other Cyclopses came forth from their caves andwoods and lined the shore, like a row of lofty pine trees. The Trojans plied their oars and soon left them out of sight. Æneas had been cautioned by Helenus to avoid the strait guarded by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. There Ulysses, the reader will remember, had lost six of hismen, seized by Scylla while the navigators were wh...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Trojan War - anthology.
As in a dream. Dimly I could descryThe stern black-bearded kings, with wolfish eyes,Waiting to see me die. 'The tall masts quivered as they lay afloat,The temples and the people and the shore;One drew a sharp knife through my tender throatSlowly,—and—nothing more.' The wind now proving fair the fleet made sail and brought the forces to the coast of Troy. The Trojans came to oppose their landing, and at the first onset Protesilaus[mythological king of Phylace, in Thessaly] fell by the hand of...
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Pygmalion - anthology.
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Daedalus - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Proserpine - anthology.
the furrow, the seed failed to come up; there was too much sun, there was too much rain; the birds stole the seeds—thistles and brambles were the only growth.Seeing this, the fountain Arethusa interceded for the land. 'Goddess,' said she, 'blame not the land; it opened unwillingly to yield a passage to your daughter. I can tellyou of her fate, for I have seen her. This is not my native country; I came hither from Elis. I was a woodland nymph, and delighted in the chase. They praised mybeauty, bu...
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Penelope - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Theseus - anthology.
One of the most celebrated of the adventures of Theseus is his expedition against the Amazons. He assailed them before they had recovered from the attack ofHercules, and carried off their queen Antiope. The Amazons in their turn invaded the country of Athens and penetrated into the city itself; and the final battle inwhich Theseus overcame them was fought in the very midst of the city. This battle was one of the favourite subjects of the ancient sculptors, and is commemorated inseveral works of...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Arthur - anthology.
It must not be concealed, that the very existence of Arthur has been denied by some. Milton [17th-century English poet John Milton] says of him: 'As to Arthur, morerenowned in songs and romances than in true stories, who he was, and whether ever any such reigned in Britain, hath been doubted heretofore, and may again, withgood reason.' Modern critics, however, admit that there was a prince of this name, and find proof of it in the frequent mention of him in the writings of the Welshbards. But th...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Charlemagne - anthology.
The titles of some of Archbishop Turpin's chapters will show the nature of his history. They are these: 'Of the Walls of Pampeluna, that fell of themselves.' 'Of theWar of the holy Facundus, where the Spears grew.' (Certain of the Christians fixed their spears, in the evening, erect in the ground, before the castle; and found them,in the morning, covered with bark and branches.) 'How the Sun stood still for Three Days, and the Slaughter of Four Thousand Saracens.' Turpin's history has perhap...
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Simonides - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Druids - anthology.
Besides these two great annual festivals, the Druids were in the habit of observing the full moon, and especially the sixth day of the moon. On the latter they soughtthe Mistletoe, which grew on their favourite oaks, and to which, as well as to the oak itself, they ascribed a peculiar virtue and sacredness. The discovery of it was anoccasion of rejoicing and solemn worship. 'They call it,' says [1st-century Roman encyclopedist] Pliny [the Elder], 'by a word in their language, which means 'heal-a...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Hercules - anthology.
'…amidst the gardens fairOf Hesperus and his daughters three,That sing about the golden tree.' The poets, led by the analogy of the lovely appearance of the western sky at sunset, viewed the west as a region of brightness and glory. Hence they placed in it theIsles of the Blest, the ruddy Isle Erytheia, on which the bright oxen of Geryon were pastured, and the Isle of the Hesperides. The apples are supposed by some to bethe oranges of Spain, of which the Greeks had heard some obscure account...
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Phoenix - anthology.
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Centaurs - anthology.
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Unicorn - anthology.
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Castor and Pollux - anthology.
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- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Hebe and Ganymede - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Bacchus (Dionysus) - anthology.
me their fishing rods and nets and their fisherman's trade. This I followed for some time, till growing weary of remaining in one place, I learned the pilot's art and howto guide my course by the stars. It happened as I was sailing for Delos we touched at the island of Dia and went ashore. Next morning I sent the men for fresh water,and myself mounted the hill to observe the wind; when my men returned bringing with them a prize, as they thought, a boy of delicate appearance, whom they hadfound a...
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Pegasus and the Chimera - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Golden Fleece - anthology.
It remained to lull to sleep the dragon that guarded the fleece, and this was done by scattering over him a few drops of a preparation which Medea had supplied. Atthe smell he relaxed his rage, stood for a moment motionless, then shut those great round eyes, that had never been known to shut before, and turned over on his side,fast asleep. Jason seized the fleece and with his friends and Medea accompanying, hastened to their vessel before Æetes the king could arrest their departure, andmade the...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Meleager and Atalanta - anthology.
Althea, when the deed was done, laid violent hands upon herself. The sisters of Meleager mourned their brother with uncontrollable grief; till Diana, pitying thesorrows of the house that once had aroused her anger, turned them into birds. Atalanta The innocent cause of so much sorrow was a maiden whose face you might truly say was boyish for a girl, yet too girlish for a boy. Her fortune had been told, and itwas to this effect: 'Atalanta, do not marry; marriage will be your ruin.' Terrified...
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Prometheus and Pandora - anthology.
The world being thus furnished with inhabitants, the first age was an age of innocence and happiness, called the Golden Age. Truth and right prevailed, though not enforced by law, nor was there any magistrate to threaten or punish. The forest had not yet been robbed of its trees to furnish timbers for vessels, nor had men builtfortifications round their towns. There were no such things as swords, spears, or helmets. The earth brought forth all things necessary for man, without his labour inplo...
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Apollo and Hyacinthus - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Cupid and Psyche - anthology.
waters, and fast by, a magnificent palace whose august front impressed the spectator that it was not the work of mortal hands, but the happy retreat of some god.Drawn by admiration and wonder, she approached the building and ventured to enter. Every object she met filled her with pleasure and amazement. Golden pillarssupported the vaulted roof, and the walls were enriched with carvings and paintings representing beasts of the chase and rural scenes, adapted to delight the eye of thebeholder. Pro...
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- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Venus and Adonis - anthology.
- From Bulfinch's Mythology: Admetus and Alcestis - anthology.
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From Bulfinch's Mythology: Perseus and Medusa - anthology.
The Sea-monster Perseus, continuing his flight, arrived at the country of the Æthiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia his queen, proud of her beauty, had dared to compareherself to the Sea-Nymphs, which roused their indignation to such a degree that they sent a prodigious sea-monster to ravage the coast. To appease the deities,Cepheus was directed by the oracle to expose his daughter Andromeda to be devoured by the monster. As Perseus looked down from his aerial height he beheld thev...