DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0178
ioi6
Appendix F
But whether this egg, like that of Helene, was left in the wilds, we do not know.
Far more familiar is the fate of Romulus and Remus. Amulius, king of Alba
Longa, gave orders that they together with their mother, the Vestal Ilia, should
be thrown into the Tiber. The twins were washed up on the bank, where the
shepherd Faustulus found them, suckled by a she-wolf and attended by a wood-
pecker and a jay. He took them to his wife Acca Laurentia, who reared them.
Their mother Ilia became the wife of the river-god Anien or Tiberis1. According
to another account, Amulius doomed the guilty mother to be flogged to death.
Others again said that, owing to the entreaties of his daughter Antho, Amulius
commuted her punishment into close imprisonment, but that after his death she
was let out2.
(k) Quests undertaken by the children in 'Expulsion' Tales.
The quests undertaken by the children in the 'expulsion' tales are not
regarded by J. G. von Hahn as essential to this type of story ; and in point
of fact they are absent altogether from the Eubcean version (4). Still, where
they are present, they are likely to repay investigation. Indeed, I suspect that
ultimately they will prove to be quite the most interesting portion of the whole.
For purposes of comparison, let us enumerate them in order:
1. (a) A golden apple kept by forty dragons.
(b) A golden bough, on which all the birds of the world meet to sing.
(c) The Tzitzinaina, who knows the language of all birds and can turn
men' into stone.
2. (a) A branch, which makes music and is kept by two dragons.
(b) A mirror, which shows the whole world and is kept by forty dragons.
(c) The bird Dikjeretto, which can turn men into stone.
3. (a) The Winged Horse of the Plain, which swears by its brother.
(b) The Beauty of the Land, who can turn men into stone.
5. (a) The Dancing Water, which is guarded by four giants and four lions.
(b) The Singing Apple, which grows on the top of a wonderful tree with
shears before it.
(c) The Speaking Bird, which is perched on the bason of a fountain in a
garden and can turn men into statues.
6. (a) + (b) + (c) The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Bird of
Truth. The Dancing Water comes from a fountain beneath an apple-
tree. On a branch of the tree grows the Singing Apple. A blackbird
on the tree is the Bird of Truth. Beside the tree is a golden seat.
All these are found in a summery plain on the top of a wintry
mountain, the path up which is bordered by cavaliers turned into
stone.
It will be seen that the last tale gives the most coherent account of the various
objects to be sought. Moreover, it alone makes mention of one detail, the
golden seat, which affords a clue to the meaning of all the rest. Whoever can
sit on that golden throne thereby establishes his claim to be king, the Dancing
Water, the Singing Apple, and the Bird of Truth being in some sort his regalia.
But this is a matter for further investigation. For the moment I content myself
with observing that traces, substantial traces, of similar quests are to be found
sun and moon (supra i. 311). Cp. Plout. defrat. am. 1 rovs !Slo\iovi8as iKeivovs, <rvfj.<pveis
tols cnofxacri yeyovevai SoKovvras.
1 Serv. in Verg. Aen. r. 273.
2 Dion. Hal. ant. Rom. 1. 78f., Plout. v. Rom. 3, Liv. t. 4. 3.
Appendix F
But whether this egg, like that of Helene, was left in the wilds, we do not know.
Far more familiar is the fate of Romulus and Remus. Amulius, king of Alba
Longa, gave orders that they together with their mother, the Vestal Ilia, should
be thrown into the Tiber. The twins were washed up on the bank, where the
shepherd Faustulus found them, suckled by a she-wolf and attended by a wood-
pecker and a jay. He took them to his wife Acca Laurentia, who reared them.
Their mother Ilia became the wife of the river-god Anien or Tiberis1. According
to another account, Amulius doomed the guilty mother to be flogged to death.
Others again said that, owing to the entreaties of his daughter Antho, Amulius
commuted her punishment into close imprisonment, but that after his death she
was let out2.
(k) Quests undertaken by the children in 'Expulsion' Tales.
The quests undertaken by the children in the 'expulsion' tales are not
regarded by J. G. von Hahn as essential to this type of story ; and in point
of fact they are absent altogether from the Eubcean version (4). Still, where
they are present, they are likely to repay investigation. Indeed, I suspect that
ultimately they will prove to be quite the most interesting portion of the whole.
For purposes of comparison, let us enumerate them in order:
1. (a) A golden apple kept by forty dragons.
(b) A golden bough, on which all the birds of the world meet to sing.
(c) The Tzitzinaina, who knows the language of all birds and can turn
men' into stone.
2. (a) A branch, which makes music and is kept by two dragons.
(b) A mirror, which shows the whole world and is kept by forty dragons.
(c) The bird Dikjeretto, which can turn men into stone.
3. (a) The Winged Horse of the Plain, which swears by its brother.
(b) The Beauty of the Land, who can turn men into stone.
5. (a) The Dancing Water, which is guarded by four giants and four lions.
(b) The Singing Apple, which grows on the top of a wonderful tree with
shears before it.
(c) The Speaking Bird, which is perched on the bason of a fountain in a
garden and can turn men into statues.
6. (a) + (b) + (c) The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Bird of
Truth. The Dancing Water comes from a fountain beneath an apple-
tree. On a branch of the tree grows the Singing Apple. A blackbird
on the tree is the Bird of Truth. Beside the tree is a golden seat.
All these are found in a summery plain on the top of a wintry
mountain, the path up which is bordered by cavaliers turned into
stone.
It will be seen that the last tale gives the most coherent account of the various
objects to be sought. Moreover, it alone makes mention of one detail, the
golden seat, which affords a clue to the meaning of all the rest. Whoever can
sit on that golden throne thereby establishes his claim to be king, the Dancing
Water, the Singing Apple, and the Bird of Truth being in some sort his regalia.
But this is a matter for further investigation. For the moment I content myself
with observing that traces, substantial traces, of similar quests are to be found
sun and moon (supra i. 311). Cp. Plout. defrat. am. 1 rovs !Slo\iovi8as iKeivovs, <rvfj.<pveis
tols cnofxacri yeyovevai SoKovvras.
1 Serv. in Verg. Aen. r. 273.
2 Dion. Hal. ant. Rom. 1. 78f., Plout. v. Rom. 3, Liv. t. 4. 3.