Mythmaking

Having just returned from a fantastic family holiday, I thought I'd ease myself back into blogging with a cheerful fairy tale. This is The Elves and the Shoemaker, a story I treasured as a youngster in the form of a Ladybird 'Read It Yourself' edition. The only notable difference between the Ladybird version of the story and that of the Grimm brothers' is that the Ladybird elves weren't naked!

"There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard and was very honest, but still he could not earn enough to live upon. He had become so poor that all he had left in the world was just leather enough to make one pair of shoes.

As evening fell he cut his leather out, all ready to make up the next day, meaning to rise early in the morning to his work. His conscience was clear and his heart light amidst all his troubles, so he went peaceably to bed, left all his cares to Heaven, and soon fell asleep. In the morning after he had said his prayers, he sat himself down to his work, when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes already made upon the table. The good man knew not what to say or think at such an odd thing happening. He looked at the workmanship. There was not one false stitch in the whole job; all was so neat and true that it was quite a masterpiece.

The same day a customer came in, and the shoes suited him so well that he willingly paid a price higher than usual for them; and so the shoemaker, with the money, bought leather enough to make two pairs more. That evening he cut out the work and went to bed early that he might get up and begin early the next day, but he was saved all the trouble, for when he got up in the morning the work was done ready to his hand. Soon, in came buyers who paid him handsomely for his goods, so that he bought leather enough for four pair more. He cut out the work again overnight and found it done in the morning, as before, and so it went on for some time: what was gotten ready in the evening was always done by daybreak, and the good man soon became thriving and well off again.

One evening, about Christmas time, as he and his wife were sitting over the fire chatting together, he said to her, ’I should like to sit up and watch tonight, that we may see who it is that comes and does my work for me.’ The wife liked the thought, so they left a light burning and hid themselves in a corner of the room behind a curtain that was hung up there, and watched what would happen.

As soon as it was midnight, there came in two little naked dwarfs. They sat themselves upon the shoemaker’s bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply with their little fingers, stitching and rapping and tapping away at such a rate that the shoemaker was all wonder and could not take his eyes off them. And on they went till the job was quite done and the shoes stood ready for use upon the table. This was long before daybreak; and then they bustled away as quick as lightning.

The next day the wife said to the shoemaker. ’These little wights* have made us rich and we ought to be thankful to them and do them a good turn if we can. I am quite sorry to see them run about as they do and indeed it is not very decent, for they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold. I’ll tell you what: I will make each of them a shirt and a coat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the bargain, and you shall make each of them a little pair of shoes.’

The thought pleased the good cobbler very much. When all the presents were ready, the shoemaker and his wife laid them on the table, instead of the work that they used to cut out, and then went and hid themselves to watch what the little elves would do.
About midnight in they came, dancing and skipping, hopping round the room, and then went to sit down to their work as usual, but when they saw the clothes lying for them, they laughed and chuckled and seemed mightily delighted. Then they dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye and danced and capered and sprang about, as merry as could be, till at last they danced out at the door and away over the green.

The good couple saw them no more, but everything went well with them from that time forward, and all their undertakings prospered as long as they lived."

*wight: a supernatural being, as a witch or sprite; a creature.

Labels: elves and the shoemaker, fairy tale, grimm

I'm off on holiday with the family for the next week. Normal service will resume shortly.

See you all soon :)

Perseus is a mythological figure I hold especially dear due to my childhood obsession with Clash of the Titans, the film that first sparked my interest in mythology. With the arrival of August, it seems appropriate to devote some time to him as this is the month in which the spectacular Perseid meteor shower can be seen, peaking this year on the twelfth of August if you're lucky enough to live in the northern hemisphere, where the light show is the most active.

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë and founder of the Perseid dynasty. This is his story:

King Acrisius of Argos had only one child, a daughter named Danaë. She was beautiful above all the other women of the land, but the King was not content because he was desperate for a son and heir. He travelled to the Oracle of Delphi, where he was told by the Pythia that not only would he would never be the father of a boy, his daughter would have a son who would kill him.

In an attempt to escape his fate, he tried to ensure that Danaë would not have any children. He imprisoned her in a house built of bronze and sunk underground. He hoped that in this way she would not come into contact with anyone and so he would not have to kill her, thus sparing his own life.

However, Zeus, King of the Gods, learned of Danae's existance and fell in love with her. In the form of a shower of gold he fell sparkling into the bronze chamber and impregnated her. She gave birth to Perseus thereafter; "Perseus Eurymedon, for by that name his mother called him also", writes Apollonius Rhodius in the Argonautica, 'Eurymodeon' translating as 'far ruling'.

For a time she tried to conceal the child from her father, but the narrow limits of the bronze house made it increasingly difficult and soon Perseus was discovered by his grandfather. Acrisius was very angry but was afraid to kill the boy or his mother because he feared Zeus. Instead, he had a great chest made, placed the two in it and cast it into the sea in the hope that they might drift away to shores so distant that he would never see them again. Zeus learned of Acrisius's plan and instructed Poseidon to protect the chest. Thus, rather than heading for open and more dangerous waters, the tiny boat drifted to the island of Seriphos, the realm of Polydectes. There, Danae and Perseus were saved by Dictys, a fisherman and brother of the King. They lived there for many years, Danaë being content to let her son follow the fisherman's humble trade, but in the end more trouble came.

Polydectes, the king, fell in love with Danaë, but he wanted only her and not her son, who was now a strong, handsome and courageous young man. He set himself to think of a way of getting rid of Perseus; he spoke with him and told him that there was nothing he would rather have than the head of Medusa, the Gorgon. He announced that he was to be married and called his friends and subjects to the celebration. Each guest customarily brought the bride to be a gift, except Perseus who wasn't aware of the custom. Mortified, he stood and declared that he would go off and kill Medusa and bring back her head as his gift. This was exactly what the king had planned. Polydectes fully expected Perseus never to return alive.

Perseus sailed off to Greece to learn where the Gorgons were to be found. As he wandered, he met Hermes and Athena. The goddess Athena took off her shield of polished bronze and gave it to him. She told him he would be able to see Medusa in it as in a mirror and so avoid her deadly power. Hermes allowed Perseus the use of his winged sandals so he would be able to fly to the island where Medusa lived with her sisters, and he crafted an adamantine sword that would cut through the Gorgon's neck with one blow.

The deities told Perseus that to find the island of the Gorgons, he must consult the nymphs of the North. To find the nymph's abode, he must go to the land of the Graeae, where all was dim and shrouded in twilight. These three crone sisters were grey and withered as in extreme age. They had but one eye for the three, which they would take turns with, each removing it from her forehead after she had used it for a time and then handing it to another. Hermes told Perseus to remain hidden until one of them took their eye out of their forehead to pass it on. At that moment, he would rush forward and seize the eye and refuse to give it back until they told him how to reach the nymphs of the North.

When he found the Graeae, Perseus carried out Hermes' plan and was successful in learning where the nymphs of the North lived. And so he now was bound for the country of the Hesperides. No one had ever been able to reach their land, but wearing the winged sandals, the road was open to Perseus. There he found the Hesperidae banqueting and holding joyful revelry. They welcomed him kindly and gave him gifts of the helm of Hades, which made the wearer invisible and the Kibisis, a bag into which he could place the head of Medusa. Finally, they also told him how to get to the island of the Gorgons.

Perseus thanked the Hesperidae and flew back across the ocean and over the sea to the island. The Gorgons were asleep when Perseus found them. In the mirror of the shield, he saw a creature with great wings, a body covered with golden scales and hair a mass of twisting snakes. Perseus approached the sleeping Medusa backwards, watching her reflection in Athena's shield. When he could hear her breath and the hissing of the serpents in her hair, he drew his sword and with one blow swiftly decapitated her. As her blood flowed, the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor, offspring from Medusa's coupling with Poseidon, sprang from her neck. The other two Gorgons were unsurprisingly awoken by the clamour and were horrified at the sight of their slain sister. They tried to pursue the slayer, but Perseus had on the helm of Hades and they could not see him.

After the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing her head, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came on, he reached the western limit of the earth where the sun goes down. Here he would gladly have rested till morning. It was the realm of King Atlas whose bulk surpassed that of all other men. He was rich in flocks and herds and had no neighbour or rival to dispute his state. His chief pride was in his gardens whose fruit was of gold, hanging from golden branches, half hid with golden leaves. Perseus said to him, "I come as a guest. If you honour illustrious descent, I claim Zeus for my father; if mighty deeds, I plead the conquest of the Gorgon. I seek rest and food." But Atlas remembered that an ancient prophecy had warned him that a son of Zeus should one day rob him of his golden apples. So he answered, "Begone! or neither your false claims of glory nor parentage shall protect you!" and he attempted to thrust him out. Perseus, finding the giant too strong for him turned his face away and held up the Gorgon's head. Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His beard and hair became forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his head a summit, and his bones rocks. Each part increased in bulk until he became a mountain, and, such was the pleasure of the gods, heaven with all its stars rests upon his shoulders.

Perseus continued on his journey and eventually arrived at the country of the Aethiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia, his queen, proud of her beauty, had dared to compare herself to the sea-nymphs, the Nereids, which roused their indignation to such a degree that they sent a prodigious monster, Ceto, to ravage the coast. Cepheus consulted the oracle in order to find out how to appease the sea-nymphs and was directed to expose his daughter Andromeda as a sacrifice to be devoured by the monster. Perseus offered to kill Ceto on the condition that he be allowed to marry Andromeda, should she be spared. The king and queen agreed and Perseus turned Ceto to stone, using the head of Medusa. Perseus married Andromeda and returned to Seriphos with her

When he returned to the island where he was raised, he found no one. Dictys and Danaë had fled from the furious Polydectes when she refused to marry him. They had taken refuge in the temple. The king was having a banquet at the palace, and Perseus seized the opportunity. He walked into the palace and took out the head of Medusa and all the guests and the King were turned into stone.

Having completed his tasks, Perseus returned his magical gifts to their owners and gifted the head of Medusa to Athena, who set it in her shield. He made Dictys king of the island of Sephiros whilst he and his mother returned with Andromeda to Greece to reconcile with Acrisius.

When they reached Argos, they discovered that Acrisius had been driven away. Perseus heard that the King of Larissa was holding a great athletic banquet and he journeyed to take part. In the discus-throwing competition, when his turn came and he hurled the heavy missile, it swerved and fell among the spectators. Acrisius, who was amongst the crowd, was struck by the discus and killed instantly. The oracle was fulfilled. Having killed Acrisius, Perseus was now entitled to the throne of Argos, but his grief and shame at killing the king prevented him from accepting the honour. Instead, he gave the kingdom to Megapenthes, nephew of Acrisius, in exchange for Megapenthes' kingdom of Tiryns.

Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons and two daughters. They eventually took up official residence in Mycenae, where they lived happily until their deaths, when they were placed amongst the stars.

"...to perpetuate the story of his courage, I command that from henceforth, he will be set among the stars and constellations. He, Perseus, the lovely Andromeda, the noble Pegasus, and even the vain Cassiopeia. Let the stars be named after then forever. As long as man shall walk the Earth and search the night sky in wonder, they will remember the courage of Perseus forever. Even if we, the gods, are abandoned or forgotten, the stars will never fade. Never. They will burn till the end of the time."

--Zeus, Clash of the Titans

Labels: clash of the titans, greek, mythology, perseids, perseus