ogos, or Word, in the kosmos, secondarily embodies the
life of one who is an incarnation of the Logos, or is one of His
ambassadors. The Hero of the myth is usually represented as a God, or
Demi-God, and his life, as will be understood by what has been said
above, must be outlined by the course of the Sun, as the shadow of the
Logos. The part of the course lived out during the human life is that
which falls between the winter solstice and the reaching of the zenith
in summer. The Hero is born at the winter solstice, dies at the spring
equinox, and, conquering death, rises into mid-heaven.

The following remarks are interesting in this connection, though looking
at myth in a more general way, as an allegory, picturing inner truths:
"Alfred de Vigny has said that legend is frequently more true than
history, because legend recounts not acts which are often incomplete
and abortive, but the genius itself of great men and great nations. It
is pre-eminently to the Gospel that this beautiful thought is
applicable, for the Gospel is not merely the narration of what has been;
it is the sublime narration of what is and what always will be. Ever
will the Saviour of the world be adored by the kings of intelligence,
represented by the Magi; ever will He multiply the eucharistic bread, to
nourish and comfort our souls; ever, when we invoke Him in the night and
the tempest, will He come to us walking on the waters, ever will He
stretch forth His hand and make us pass over the crests of the billows;
ever will He cure our distempers and give back light to our eyes; ever
will He appear to His faithful, luminous and transfigured upon Tabor,
interpreting the law of Moses and moderating the zeal of Elias."[179]

We shall find that myths are very closely related to the Mysteries, for
part of the Mysteries consisted in showing living pictures of the
occurrences in the higher worlds that became embodied in myths. In fact
in the Pseudo-Mysteries, mutilated fragments of the living pictures of
the true Mysteries were represented by actors who acted out a drama, and
many secondary myths are these dramas put into words.

The broad outlines of the story of the Sun-God are very clear, the
eventful life of the Sun-God being spanned within the first six months
of the solar year, the other six being employed in the general
protecting and preserving. He is always born at the winter solstice,
after the shortest day in the year, at the midnight of the 24th