Page:The Mythology of the Aryan Nations.djvu/510

478 BOOK II.

one story she is tied to the stern of the ship of Minos and drowned in the Saronic gulf; in another she throws herself into the water, as Minos sails away, and is turned into a bird, while her father, who has been changed into an eagle, swoops down after her into the sea. Zeus Po- seidon. Over all these beings of the world of waters Poseidon is in the later mythology exalted as the supreme king. In its Greek form his name, like that of Indra, has been supposed to exhibit him as the god of moisture, the rain-bringer, who makes the thirsty earth drink and yield her fruits.^ Hence in some myths he is the friend and guardian of Dionysos, and the lover of Demeter, who becomes the mother of Despoina and the horse Orion ; and although he can descend to the depths of the sea and there dwell, yet he can appear at will on Olym- pos, and his power is exercised scarcely less in the heavens than in the depths beneath. Like Zeus, he is the gatherer of the clouds, and he can let loose the winds from their prison-house. But his empire was not well defined, and thus the myths relating to him turn chiefly on his contests with other deities, even mth some towards whom he is generally friendly. In the dispute with Zeus for Aigina, Poseidon had been successful, and the island retained one of the many names denoting spots where the waves break. His power and his dwelling were in like manner seen at Aigai and at Helike, spots where the billows curl and dash upon the shore.^ But in the city on the banks of Kephisos he encounters a mightier rival ; and here he fails to give his name to it, although in one version he shows his power and his beneficence by striking his trident into the rock of the Akropolis and causing the waters to leap forth. In her turn Athene produces the olive, and this is adjudged to be the better gift for men. Poseidon here acts in strict accordance with the meaning of his name ; but it is not easy to see on what grounds the claims of Athene are allowed precedence, and hence we may suppose that the more genuine form of this myth is to be found in the other version which makes Poseidon

Natur im weitesten Umfange aus. Die alteren Formen sincl das dorische TloffiSris und IloaeiSrjs (daher das Fest XloatiSeca und Tloa-th-niov), woraus weiter- hin ITocreiSocoi', riccreiSai;', dor. noriSdv, rioTfiSaj', ccol. rioTiSoi', noT«i5a»', ge- werden ist. Die Wurzel ist dieselbe wie in den Vdrlern iriros, irorl^w, irorafx6s." — Prcller, Gr. I^Tyth. i. 443. ^ " ^EgcE und Helike bedeuten ei- gentlich das Meer oder die Rleeres- kiiste, wo sich die Wogen brechen." — Preller, Gr. Myth. i. 443. Thus the name Helikon would denote the up- ward curling or spouting of the water when the soil is dinted by the hoof of Pegasos.
 * " Sein Name driickt die flussige