Page:History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Müller) 2ed.djvu/113

91 LITERATURE OF ANCIENT GREECE. 91 the description of the dreadful abode of Tartara, in which the Titans were imprisoned. This part, it must be confessed, appears to be over- loaded by additions of rhapsodists. An afterpiece to the battle of the Titans is the rebellion of Typhceus (born of the Earth and Tartara) against Zeus. The descendants of Zeus and the Olympian gods, united with him, formed the last part of the original Theogony. Notwithstanding the great simplicity of this plan, we may yet remark a number of refinements which show a maturely considered design on the part of the poet. For instance, Hesiod might have connected the descendants of Night (born without marriage)* with the children which she bore to Erebus, namely iEther and Dayf But he relates first the battle of Cronus against Uranus, and the mutilation of the latter ; whereby the first interruption of the peaceable order of the world is caused, and anger and curses, personified by the Furies, are introduced into the world. The mutilation, however, of Uranus caused the production of the Meliae, or Nymphs of the Ash Trees, that is, the mightiest productions of vegetation ; the Giants, or most powerful beings of human form ; and the Goddess of Love herself. It is not till after this disturbance of the tranquillity of the world that Night produces from her dark bosom those beings, such as Death, and Strife, and Woe, and Blame, which are connected with the sufferings of mankind. Like- wise the race of Pontus, so rich in monsters, with which the heroes were to fight their fiercest battles, are properly introduced after the first deed of violence upon Uranus. It is also evidently by design that the two Titans, Cronus and lapetus, also named together by Homer, are, in the genealogy of their descendants J, arranged in a different order than at the first mention of the Titans §. In the latter passage Cronus is the youngest of all, just as Zeus is in Hesiod the youngest among his brothers; whilst in Homer he reigns by the right of primogeniture. But Hesiod supposes the world to be in a state of perpetual develop- ment ; and as the sons overcome the fathers, so also the youngest sons are the most powerful, as standing at the head of a new order of things. On the other hand, the race of lapetus, which refers exclusively to the attributes and destinies of mankind||, is placed after the de- scendants of Cronus, from whom the Olympic gods proceed ; because the actions and destinies of those human Titans are entirely determined by ancient poem on the lot of mankind. lapetus himself is the " fallen man - ' (from («*T(y, root I All), the human race deprived of their former happiness. Of his sons, Atlas and Menoetius represent the 0uf*.t>s of the human soul : Atlas (from rXtjvai, TAA), the enduring and obstinate spirit, to whom the gods allot the heaviest bur- dens ; and Menoetius (fj-ivos and olro; ), the unconquerable and confident spirit, whom Zeus hurls into Erebus. Prometheus and Epimelheus, on the other hand, personify voi/f ; the former prudent foresight, the latter the worthless knowledge which comes after the deed. And the gods contrive it so that whatever benefits are gained for the human race Ly the former arel ost to it again through his brother.
 * v.211, seq. f v. 124. * v. 453, 507. § v. 132, seq.
 * In the genealogy of lapetus in the Theogony are preserved remains of an