The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their waters from it. It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by storm or tempest. The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east and divided into two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine, the only seas with which they were acquainted.Īround the earth flowed the River Ocean, its course being from south to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction on the eastern side. The Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle. In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which prevailed among the Greeks-the people from whom the Romans, and other nations through them, received their science and religion. Our readers may thus at the same time be entertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has ever created, and put in possession of information indispensable to every one who would read with intelligence the elegant literature of his own day. We propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come down to us from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern poets, essayists, and orators. There they still hold their place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion. They belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of literature and taste. The so- called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men. The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct.

Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch