Sexual life in ancient Greece : with thirty-two full-page plates

RELIGION AND EROTIC

the goddess sends a scorpion which kills the giant with its poisonous sting (Aratus, Phen., 636 ff. ; Nicander, Ther., 13 ff.; Horace, Odes, iui, 4, 70). According to another story, told by Pindar (frag. 74), Pleione with her daughter had excited the lust of Orion; he persecuted them for five years, after which Zeus placed the whole group among the stars—the oppressed women as the Pleiades, the giant as Orion, and his dog as the dog-star Sirius. If beauty appeared the highest thing to the Greeks, and they continually paid homage to it, it is conceivable that there were some among the varied throng of their divinities who were thought of and revered as bestowers and dispensers of beauty. ‘T’o enter in greater detail into the enchanting fables which Hellenic sensual joy and fancy has invented concerning these divinities would swell the extent of this book beyond all measure. In our brief selection, chosen for a definite purpose, it is only possible for us to touch lightly upon what is absolutely necessary. Hence we must be content with the bare mention of the Hore, who were regarded as the symbols of the seasons of the year, in so far as they bring forth flowers, blossoms, and fruits, all at the right time. Poets and artists represented them as charming girlish forms, adorned with golden jewels, flowers, and fruits, but otherwise clad only lightly, in transparent attire. Especially graceful among the Hore, who are generally thought of as three in number, is the goddess of spring, among the Greeks called Chloris, among the Romans Flora. Boreas, the mighty god of the north wind, and Zephyrus, the delightful west wind, had both fallen in love with her, but she gave her affection to Zephyrus, to whom she remains constant in her touching love. A beautiful picture in Pompeii, unfortunately partly destroyed, represents the lovely youthful Zephyrus crowned with myrtles, holding a branch in blossom in his left hand, and accompanied by two Erotes, drawing near to his sleeping loved one,

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