Keuka College - Kiondaga Yearbook (Keuka Park, NY)

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6 THE COLLEGE RECORD. ing. It fails to make clear why the artistic nature of poet and artist of later centuries has found something of interest in this legendary material. It falls far short of meeting the de- mands of those whose intuitional natures incline them to be- lieve that elements of truth lie hidden in these self same myths. The philological interpretation of myths is at the present time receiving much favor among another class of scholars. It sees more of the beautiful and the poetic in them. According to this school the key to all mythologies is to be found in lan- guages. The original name of the mythic gods and heroes, as ascertained by comparative philology, reveal the secret in re- gard to the primitive significance of myths and legends. These names are found, as a rule, to denote elemental or physical phenomena ; that is, phenomena of sun, rain, clouds, fire, winds, heat, cold and other aspects of nature. Therefore philologists claim that almost, if not all, myths were originally nature myths. These may be summed up in the following general classes : Myths of the sky, the sun, the dawn, the day, the night, earth, moon, sea, clouds, fire, winds, together with myths of the underworld and of the demons of drought and darkness. Thus it is claimed that myths were originally simple, poetic descriptions of physical processes. These nar- rations of simple fact, oft repeated, came in time to be mis- understood, and were regarded as stories of persons. It is difficult for us, so accustomed to matter-of-fact, prosaic phraseology, to appreciate the poetic expressions of ancients. M tiller, the great authority in philology, tell us that when the inhabitants of ancient Elis wished to convey the idea, It is getting late, they would say, Selene (the Moon) loves and watches Endymion (the setting Sun). If they wished to say, The sun is setting and the moon is rising, they would ex- press it thus: Selene embraces Endymion. Our prosaic, It is night. would be with them, Selene kisses Endymion to sleep. These expressions remained in the language long after their real meaning had ceased to be understood. Then to explain them it was supposed that Endymion must have been a young lad and Selene a young maiden who loved him. This explains the myth of Diana, the goddess of the Moon, (Selene), and hei lover, Endymion. It is interpreted by phil-

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THE COLLEGE RECORD. 0 it is readily seen that this material is very similar in many re- spects. They differ in details as nations and tribes differ in temperament, but in essential points they are much the same. From this fact the anthropologists claim that the myths of different nations resemble each other because they are formed to meet the same needs out of the same materials. This simi- larity exists, they argue, because the different peoples passed through the same intellectual conditions. They indicate a stage of development belonging to all savage tribes — the stage in which the savage considers himself akin to beasts ; beasts, plants, inanimate objects, sun, moon, and star, are to him not only animate beings, but even persons with inclinations similar to his own. Elements in mythology which we consider irrational and even displeasing to a refined taste, according to this school of interpretation, seemed perfectly rational and natural to the savage mind in that state of development. The tales of transformation, which make up a great part of mythic lore, they interpret as an indication of the totemistic belief in descent from beasts. Another phase of belief among the anthropologists is called the theory of Survival. Their argument is stated thus: Beliefs and stories as well as practices tend to survive long after their original meaning has been lost. Instead of reject- ing these myths as absurd and immoral tales, the anthropolo- gists refer them to a period when the people's conception of the gods was much below the standard of later times, a period, moreover, when many of these myths had a different meaning from that attributed to them by later Greek writers. There is much in this system of interpretation to commend itself. Yet from it we must conclude that myths and legends of ancient times are of no particular value except from an his- toric point of view. They give us an idea of the grand progress man has made from savagery. They explain charac- teristics of the race mind and denote stages through which the race mind has passed. This understanding enlarges our view of life and ought to give a more tender touch to our sympathies. Although this explanation is good, and may fully satisfy the distinctly intellectual type of mind concerning the origin of myths, yet it fails to satisfy in regard to their primitive mean-

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THE COLLEGE RECORD. 7 ologists as a sun myth, in which Endymion refers to the dying or setting sun who sinks to rest on Mt. Latmus ( the land of forgetfulness ). Our prosaic minds would find it difficult to weave a story that might describe the rising of the moon and the setting of the sun. So chaste and beautiful is the mythical narrative describing the coming of the night that it may be given in full as an illustration of the topic under consideration. Every evening as the Sun finished his course, Diana mounted her moon car and drove her milk white steeds across the heavens, watched over and loved by the countless stars, which shone their brightest to cheer her on her way ; and as she drove she often bent down to view the sleeping earth, so shadowy and dreamlike, and to breathe the intoxicating per- fume of the distant flowers. It always seemed to her then as if Nature, so beautiful during the day, borrowed additional charms from the witching hours of the night. One evening, as she was driving noiselessly along, she sud- denly checked her steeds ; for there on the hillside she saw a handsome young shepherd, fast asleep, his upturned face illumined by the moon's soft light. Diana wonderingly gazed upon his beauty, and before long felt her heart beat with more than admiration. Gliding gently from her chariot, she floated to his side, bent slowly, and dropped an airy kiss upon his slightly parted lips. ' 'The youth Endymion, only partially awakened by this demonstration, half raised his fringed lips, and, for a moment, his sleep- dimmed eyes rested wonderingly upon the beautiful vision. That one glance, although it drove Diana away in great haste, kindled in his heart an inextinguishable passion. He rose with a start, and rubbed his sleepy eyes ; but when he saw the moon, which he fancied close beside him, sailing away across the deep-blue sky, he felt sure the whole occurence had been but a dream, but so sweet a dream that he cast himself down upon the sward, hopeing to woo it to visit him once more. It did not come again that night, however ; but the next night, as he lay on the self-same spot, it recurred in all its sweetness ; and night after night it was repeated when the pale moonbeams fell athwart his sleeping face.