Deucalion And Pyrrha
:
Myths And Legends Of All Nations.
While the men of the Age of Bronze still dwelt upon the earth reports
of their wickedness were carried to Jupiter. The god decided to verify
the reports by coming to earth himself in the form of a man, and
everywhere he went he found that the reports were much milder than the
truth.
One evening in the late twilight he entered the inhospitable shelter
of the Arcadian King Lycaon, who was famed for his wild
conduct. By
several signs he let it be known that he was a god, and the crowd
dropped to their knees; but Lycaon made light of the pious prayers.
"Let us see," he said, "whether he is a mortal or a god."
Thereupon he decided to destroy the guest that night while he lay in
slumber, not expecting death. But before doing so he killed a poor
hostage whom the Molossians had sent to him, cooked the half-living
limbs in boiling water or broiled them over a fire, and placed them on
the table before the guest for his evening meal.
But Jupiter, who knew all this, left the table and sent a raging fire
over the castle of the godless man. Frightened, the king fled into the
open field. The first cry he uttered was a howl; his garments changed
to fur; his arms to legs; he was transformed into a bloodthirsty wolf.
Jupiter returned to Olympus, held counsel with the gods and decided to
destroy the reckless race of men. At first he wanted to turn his
lightnings over all the earth, but the fear that the ether would take
fire and destroy the axle of the universe restrained him. He laid
aside the thunderbolt which the Cyclops had fashioned for him, and
decided to send rain from heaven over all the earth and so destroy the
race of mortals.
Immediately the North Wind and all the other cloud-scattering winds
were locked in the cave of Aeolus, and only the South Wind sent out.
The latter descended upon the earth; his frightful face was covered
with darkness; his beard was heavy with clouds; from his white hair
ran the flood; mists lay upon his brow; from his bosom dropped the
water. The South Wind grasped the heavens, seized in his hands the
surrounding clouds and began to squeeze them. The thunder rolled;
floods of rain burst from the heavens. The standing corn was bent to
the earth; destroyed was the hope of the farmer; destroyed the weary
work of a whole year.
Even Neptune, god of the sea, came to the assistance of his brother
Jupiter in the work of destruction. He called all the rivers together
and said, "Give full rein to your torrents; enter houses; break
through all dams!"
They followed his command, and Neptune himself struck the earth with
his trident and let the flood enter. Then the waters streamed over the
open meadows, covered the fields, dislodged trees, temples and houses.
Wherever a palace stood, its gables were soon covered with water and
the highest turrets were hidden in the torrent. Sea and earth were no
longer divided; all was flood--an unbroken stretch of water.
Men tried to save themselves as best they could; some climbed the high
mountains; others entered boats and rowed, now over the roofs of the
fallen houses, now over the hills of their ruined vineyards. Fish swam
among the branches of the highest trees; the wild boar was caught in
the flood; people were swept away by the water and those whom the
flood spared died of hunger on the barren mountains.
One high mountain in the country of Phocis still raised two peaks
above the surrounding waters. It was the great Mount Parnassus. Toward
this floated a boat containing Deucalion, the son of Prometheus,
and his wife Pyrrha. No man, no woman, had ever been found who
surpassed these in righteousness and piety. When, therefore, Jupiter,
looking down from heaven upon the earth, saw that only a single pair
of mortals remained of the many thousand times a thousand, both
blameless, both devoted servants of the gods, he sent forth the North
Wind, recalled the clouds, and once again separated the earth from the
heavens and the heavens from the earth.
Even Neptune, lord of the sea, laid down his trident and calmed the
flood. The ocean resumed its banks; the rivers returned to their beds;
forests stretched their slime-covered tree-tops out of the deep; hills
followed; finally stretches of level land appeared and the earth was
as before.
Deucalion looked around him. The country was laid waste; it was
wrapped in the silence of the grave. Tears rolled down his cheeks and
he said to his wife, Pyrrha, "Beloved, solitary companion of my life,
as far as I can see through all the surrounding country, I can
discover no living creature. We two must people the earth; all the
rest have been drowned by the flood. But even we are not yet certain
of our lives. Every cloud that I see strikes terror to my soul. And
even if danger is past, what shall we do alone on the forsaken earth?
Oh, that my father Prometheus had taught me the art of creating men
and breathing life into them!"
Then the two began to weep. They threw themselves on their knees
before the half-destroyed altar of the goddess Themis, and began to
pray, saying, "Tell us, O goddess, by what means we can replace the
race that has disappeared? Oh, help the earth to new life."
"Leave my altar," sounded the voice of the goddess. "Uncover your
heads, ungird your garments and cast the bones of your mother behind
you."
For a long time Deucalion and Pyrrha wondered over the puzzling words
of the goddess. Pyrrha was the first to break the silence. "Pardon me,
O noble goddess," she said, "if I do not obey you and cannot consent
to scatter the bones of my mother."
Then Deucalion had a happy thought. He comforted his wife. "Either my
reason deceives me," he said, "or the command of the goddess is good
and involves no impiety. The great mother of all of us is the Earth;
her bones are the stones, and these, Pyrrha, we will cast behind us!"
Both mistrusted this interpretation of the words, but what harm would
it do to try? Thereupon they uncovered their heads, ungirded their
garments and began casting stones behind them.
Then a wonderful thing happened. The stone began to lose its hardness,
became malleable, grew and took form--not definite at once, but rude
figures such as an artist first hews out of the rough marble. Whatever
was moist or earthy in the stones was changed into flesh; the harder
parts became bones; the veins in the rock remained as veins in the
bodies. Thus, in a little while, with the aid of the gods, the stones
which Deucalion threw assumed the form of men; those which Pyrrha
threw, the form of women.
This homely origin the race of men does not deny; they are a hardy
people, accustomed to work. Every moment of the day they remember from
what sturdy stock they have sprung.