Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/88

56 mis passed to the colonies of Phokæa and Milêtus. 1 Th Homeric Artemis snares with her brother Apollo in the dexterous use of the far-striking bow, and sudden death is described by the poet as inflicted by her gentle arrow. The jealousy of the gods at the withholding of honors and sacrifices, or at the presumption of mortals in contending with them, a point of character so frequently recurring in the types of the Grecian gods, mani- fests itself in the legends of Artemis : the memorable Kalydoni- an boar is sent by her as a visitation upon OEneus, because he had omitted to sacrifice to her, while he did honor to other gods. 3 The Arcadian heroine Atalanta is however a reproduction of Artemis, with little or no difference, and the goddess is sometimes confounded even with her attendant nymphs.

The mighty Poseidon, the earth-shaker and the ruler of the sea, is second only to Zeus in power, but has no share in those imperial and superintending capacities which the Father of gods and men exhibits. He numbers a numerous heroic progeny, usually men of great corporeal strength, and many of them belonging to the JEolic race : the great Neleid family of Pylus trace their origin up to him ; and he is also the father of Poly- phemus the Cyclops, whose well-earned suffering he cruelly revenges upon Odysseus. The island of Kalaureia is his Delos. 3 and there was held in it an old local Amphiktyony, for the pur- pose of rendering to him joint honor and sacrifice : the isthmus of Corinth, Helike in Achaia, and Onchestos in Breotia, are also residences which he much affects, and where he is solemnly wor- shipped. But the abode which he originally and specially se- lected for himself was the Acropolis of Athens, where by a blow of his trident he produced a well of water in the rock : Athene came afterwards and claimed the spot for herself, planting in token of possession the olive-tree which stood in the sacred grove of Pandrosos: and the decision either of the autochthonous to hnve been often celebrated in the solitudes of the mountains, which were the favorite resort of Artemis (Kallimach. Hymn. Dian. 19), and these tpEtpuatai were always causes predisposing to fanatical excitement 1 Strabo, iv. p. 179. 2 Iliad, ix. 529. 3 Strabo, viii. p. 3?4. According to the old poem called Eumolpia, as- cribed to Musocus, the oracle of Delphi originally belonged to Poseidon and Gaca, jointly : from Gaea it passed to Themis, and from her to Apollo, tc whom Poseidon also made over his share as a compensation for the sur- render of Kalaureia to him. (Pausan. x. 5, 3).