cow went till
she came into Boeotia, and there fell. Cadmus meant to offer her up, and
went to fetch water from a fountain near, but as he stooped a fierce
dragon rushed on him. He had a hard fight to kill it, but Pallas shone
out in her beauty on him, and bade him sow its teeth in the ground. He
did so, and they sprung up as warriors, who at once began to fight, and
killed one another, all but five, who made friends, and helped Cadmus to
build the famous city called Thebes. It is strange, after so wild a
story as this, to be told that Cadmus first taught writing in Greece, and
brought the alphabet of sixteen letters. The Greek alphabet was really
learnt from the Phoenicians, and most likely the whole is a curious story
of some settlement of that eastern people in Greece. Most likely they
brought in the worship of the wine-god, Bacchus (Dionysos), for he was
called Cadmus's grandson. An orphan at first, he was brought up by the
nymphs and Mercury, and then became a great conqueror, going to India,
and Egypt, and everywhere, carrying the vine and teaching the use of
wine. He was attended by an old fat man, named Silenus, and by
creatures, called Fauns and Satyrs, like men with goats' ears and legs;
his crown was of ivy, and his chariot was drawn by leopards, and he was
at last raised to Olympus. His feasts were called orgies; he-goats were
sacrificed at them, and songs were sung, after which there was much
drinking, and people danced holding sticks wreathed with vine and ivy
leaves. The women who danced were called Bacchanals. The better sort of
Greeks at first would not adopt these shameful rites. There were horrid
stories of women who refused them going mad and leaping into the sea, and
the Bacchanals used to fall upon and destroy all who resisted them.

[Picture: Man in chariot]

CHAP. IV.--THE HERO PERSEUS.

[Picture: Decorative chapter heading]

A hero means a great and glorious man, and the Greeks thought they had
many such among their forefathers--nay, that they were sons of gods, and
themselves, after many trials and troubles, became gods, since these
Greeks of old felt that "we are also His offspring."

Here is a story of one of these heroes. His mother was the daughter of
an Argive king, and was named Danae. He was named Perseus, and had
bright eyes and golden hair like the morning. When he was a little babe,
he and his mother were out at sea,