Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/136

 complete his task. Now she supposed the sinking of the well to be the lighter task and therefore assigned it to the suitor whom she favoured; but he met with unforeseen difficulties, and his rival meanwhile made steady progress with the walls. At last they were wellnigh built, and it remained only to put in place the keystone over the main gate. Then Aphrodite, marking the danger, went with winning words and smiles and bade the builder lay aside his tools, for the prize was now safely in his grasp, and led him away to a grassy spot where she beguiled him so long with tender words and caresses, that the other suitor meanwhile redoubling his efforts pierced the rock and found water in plenty.

In this story the character, as well as the name, of the queen is that of the ancient goddess; but there are other points too deserving of notice. Perrot points out that in the neighbourhood of the modern monastery at Daphni there stood in antiquity a temple of Aphrodite ; and to this fact Schmidt, in commenting on the story, adds that on the summit of Acro-Corinth also there was a sanctuary of the goddess, while he accounts for the mention of that place in an Attic story by the fact that Corinth was specially famous for the worship of Aphrodite.

No other vestiges of the actual name, so far as I know, are to be found, save that among certain Maniote settlers in Corsica the corrupt derivative, [Greek: Aphrodêtêssa] (which would perhaps be better spelt [Greek: Aphroditissa]) was until recent times at any rate applied to an equally corrupt class of women, votaries of [Greek: Aphroditê Pandêmos]. In a few stories however from Zacynthos the same goddess is prettily described as [Greek: hê mana tou Erôta], 'the Mother of Love,' a title competent in itself to establish her identity.

The first of these stories tells how a poor maiden fell in love with a youth of high degree, and went to the Mother of Love to ask her help. The latter promised to ask the assistance of her son Eros ([Greek: Erôtas]) when he came home. Next morning went Eros with bow and arrows and sat at the maiden's door till the swain passed by. Then suddenly he shot his arrow at him, and the young man loved the maiden and took her to wife.