Page:Herodotus and the Empires of the East.djvu/53

Rh at Ascalon and later was worshiped as a goddess in that locality. (Diodorus II., 4.) Exposed in infancy, Semiramis was miraculously nurtured by the doves of the goddess Derceto. Through her beauty, wisdom, and energy she attained to the Assyrian throne. Her reign was characterized by uninterrupted victorious expeditions as far as India. She built Babylon, its mighty walls, and its citadels; but her sensual nature forms a striking contrast to her warlike disposition. In her later life she was enamored of all beautiful youth, but finally killed those to whom she had been devoted. Her end was as miraculous as her birth and early years: she was metamorphosed, and took her flight to heaven amid a flock of doves.

Max Duncker has shown that Ctesias drew this story from Medo- Persian sources. We cannot, however, accept his hypothesis that the Medo-Persian bards changed the myth of a goddess, who was worshiped in Assyria and whose service flourished in Syria, into a heroine who founded the Assyrian power. Duncker regards the prehistorical references to Semiramis as a later secondary element. But rather is the reverse true; the historical Semiramis forms the nucleus of the mythical narrative. Of course, as Duncker says, "the Assyrians served Ishtar-Belit, a female divinity, who was goddess of war as well as goddess of love." Ishtar, the goddess of the planet Venus, has a double character: as goddess of the morning star she is a war goddess, for the morning star calls men to activity and battle; as the evening star she is the goddess of sensual love, for the evening