pare with her, and when she wept, her tears, being too precious to be
lost, formed drops of shining amber.

Phorcys and Ceto personified more especially the hidden perils and terrors
of the ocean. They were the parents of the Gorgons, the Graea, and the
Dragon which guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides.

[Illustration]

LEUCOTHEA.

Leucothea was originally a mortal named Ino, daughter of Cadmus, king of
Thebes. She married Athamas, king of Orchomenus, who, incensed at her
unnatural conduct to her step-children,[43] pursued her and her son to the
sea-shore, when, seeing no hope of escape, she flung herself with her child
into the deep. They were kindly received by the Nereides, and became
sea-divinities under the name of Leucothea and Palaemon.

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THE SIRENS.

The Sirens would appear to have been personifications of those numerous
rocks and unseen dangers, which abound on the S.W. coast of Italy. They
were sea-nymphs, with the upper part of the body that of a maiden and the
lower that of a sea-bird, having wings attached to their shoulders, and
were endowed with such wonderful voices, that their sweet songs are said to
have lured mariners to destruction.

ARES (MARS).

Ares, the son of Zeus and Hera, was the god of war, who gloried in strife
for its own sake; he loved the tumult and havoc of the battlefield, and
delighted in slaughter and extermination; in fact he presents no benevolent
aspect which could possibly react favourably upon human life.

Epic poets, in particular, represent the god of battles as a wild
ungovernable warrior, who passes through the armies like a whirlwind,
hurling to the ground the brave and cowardly alike; destroying chariots and
helmets, and triumphing over the terrible desolation which he produces.

In all the myths concerning Ares, his sister Athene ever appears in
opposition to him, endeavouring by every means in her power to defeat his
bloodthirsty designs. Thus she assists the divine hero Diomedes at the
siege of Troy, to overcome Ares in battle, and so well does he profit by
her timely aid, that he succeeds in wounding the sanguinary war-god, who
makes his exit from the field, roaring like ten thousand bulls.

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Ares appears to have been an object of aversion to all the gods of Olympus,
Aphrodite alone excepted. As the son of Hera, he had inherited from his
mother the strongest feelings of independence and contradiction, and as he
took delight in upsettin