Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/42

 risen like a cloud of steam leaving a drear, unfertile waste of land good for naught. The poor African people fared even worse, for while gazing bewildered at the wild antics of the sun, their faces were scorched and their bodies were scorched and they transmitted forever after to all succeeding generations the scourge of being hopelessly black! As a memorial of this famous adventure, the name of the river Eridanus, into which Phaethon had fallen, was given to one of the star groups in the sky. This was also supposed to be a consolation to Apollo, who grieved so deeply at the death of his son and all the unfortunate consequences of his adventure that he offered to allow any other god on Olympus the privilege of driving the sun on its daily course from east to west, but no other god could do this, nor were any willing to try.

Apollo had a twin sister named Diana who owned a chariot as wonderful as his own, only it was wrought of pure silver and made to carry the earth's night light, called the moon. But Diana did not spend all of her time in the sky, for she loved to hunt and would often leave her chariot at home, take out her bow and arrow and spend whole nights upon the mountains with her nymphs. She was wondrously fair and full of grace but not as faithful as her brother, and at such times as she chooses to enjoy herself, earth-beings must do without a moon.

Besides the gods and the goddesses who dwelt in ancient Greece, there were many heroes who were semi-divine. One recalls Perseus, Hercules, the twins Castor and Pollux and others. Perseus was a son of Jupiter and a very noted hero. One of his adventures was so thrilling that the early people of this little country impressed its story on six constellations!

Hercules, the hero famed for his wonderful strength, patience and endurance, was a grandson of Perseus. He was also rewarded with a constellation. So was Orion, the giant, who has the most conspicuous figure of stars in all the sky. The twins, Castor and