Garfield Junior High School - Gleaner Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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c, « 56 3( 5c. ?5S Melode, queen of Athens, was weeping — weeping over the biers of her four dead hero sons. The king stood sadly by, the courtiers all were sorrowful, but the mother ' s grief seemed more than she could bear. For seven days she had sat thus, and the roses had faded from her cheeks, and her rich brown hair was streaked with gray. Her heart was very bitter toward Eros, goddess of discord, because she, dis- pleased by the happy home life of King Socliones, Queen Melode, and the young princes, had appeared to the latter in the form of a youth, and stirred them to re- marking scornfully that there were no Fates. The wicked goddess was well satis- fied, for the Fates, naturally much incensed, had cut the life threads of the Athen- ian princes short. Hence Melode wailed. Something must be done at oncel thundered Jupiter, shaking the earth with a stamp of the mighty foot. At once! echoed Juno. They were such wise men, and oh, so strong, lamented Mars and Minerva in a breath. Their home life was so cheerful, this from Vesta. Melode was a maid after my own heart, though I do not favor marriage for anyone, declared Diana the chaste. We have already raised the Athenian hero-princes to be demigods, growled Jove, Minerva, my daughter, what remains to be done? One could have heard the slightest sound on Mount Olympus as the gods were silent to let Minerva cast her torch of inspiration on her stores of wisdom, so that it would point out to her the idea she sought. At last, A daughter! she shouted. Bah! this was the War God, a son is better. Diana objected, Men are so stupid. Except Endymion, put in Venus rather maliciously. Apollo chuckled, and composed a song. Each endow her with one gift, dictated Wisdom, and her especial pro- tectress shall be Diana. The queen rejoiced, the king was in transports of joy, the whole of Athens beamed. The queen all but forgot her grief in caring for the young babe. Every day the little one grew wiser and stronger and more beautiful, passing from infancy to childhood, from childhood to virginity. She was a demi-goddess of the earth, and the most beloved of all Cynthia ' s nymphs. She was as near Aphrodite ' s pulchri- tudinal perfection as one of earth could be, with a coil of almost black hair, and a tiny crescent on her forehead where Artemis had kissed her at birth. She had gifts EROS OR DIANA?

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Upper — MISS PETERSOX ' S ADVISORY Center— : IISS BARRY ' S ADVISORY Lower— ; IR. ZIMMERMAN ' S ADVISORY

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of all sorts; musical genius, wisdom and justice, strength and health. All the divin- ities had contributed to her store save Eros, and when Diana had left her seat in the council chamber to take her place in the heavens, he had said that his gift would come later! Ever morn and eve Artemisia (as she was called after her godmother) would go to the forest, and dance with the nymphs. The rest of the day she spent with Melode and Socliones, and was the very apple of their eye. One da} , going to the forest as usual, she was astonished to see all the gods appear before her. Juno began, Artemisia, daughter beloved of the gods, as a half-deity you are to adopt a creature to be sacred to you, and its patroness will be your friend and protector. The deities began to clamor loudly, Choose the peacock, the dove, the ox. Miner ' a and Cynthia alone were silent, the former looking at her from steel- gray eyes which seemed to say Remember your duty, Cynthia regarding her with a half A; istful, half expectant gaze. Eros was pleading, with rosy arms outstretched, Artemisia, daughter of the gods, choose love, love, love. She caught herself — she had nearly chosen his emblem! 0 divines, quoth Artemisia, the honor is great. -Allow me till the retiring of Phoebus tomorrow and I will be ready. Yes, we will wait, said Juno. That night the maiden ' s sleep was fitful and broken, for wondering who, who, who to choose, Diana or Eros — Duty or Love — she was asleep. While wrapped in Somnus ' robe, Cupid appeared. I have solved it, this exultantly, choose the hind. Thus you shall show your gratitude to your patroness, and yet serve me. How? You shall see. She opened her eyes, saw no Eros, and would have deemed the occurence an idle dream, had she not found a ros ' -tipped arrow on the coverlet. When her attend- ants were looking away, she, with a sudden sentimental emotion which she knew virginal Phoebe would censure severely, thrust it in the bosom of her tunic. O gods, I have decided that not to choose the godmother and protectress of my life would be most ungrateful. I know you will approve. With a sudden graceful movement she flung her gold girdle about the neck of the hind. The gods, having praised her for her able and unoffending choice, departed, all except Cupid, who remained invisible, hovering in the shape of a gnarled old oak. As Artemisia sat there, her arm was thrown about the hind. She had not be- fore noticed that it was so beautiful, with its creamy skin and velvety brown eyes. An arrow whizzed through the air. Artemisia, with a horrified exclamation, pulled it from the deer ' s soft hide, and was greatly surprised to find it tipped with rose- color. .Ah-ha, Cupid, she remarked, you are getting a worse shot every day, though I did have a narrow escape. The hinds gentle eyes seemed to be pleading with her. She gently kissed one of its small antlers. Eros brushed against her, and the arrow hid m her timic was pressed into her breast. It, however, gave her no pain, only a rosy, dreamy, deHcious