, Cadmus
introduced among them several arts, which, in that part of the
country, had been before unknown. One of these arts was the use of
copper, which metal he taught his new subjects to procure from the ore
obtained in mines. There were several others; but the most important
of all was that he taught them sixteen letters representing elementary
vocal sounds, by means of which inscriptions of words could be carved
upon monuments, or upon tablets of metal or of stone.

It is not supposed that the idea of representing the elements of vocal
sounds by characters _originated_ with Cadmus, or that he invented the
characters himself. He brought them with him undoubtedly, but whether
from Egypt or Phenicia, can not now be known.

Such are the facts of the case, as now generally understood and
believed. Let us now compare this simple narration with the romantic
tale which the early story-tellers made from it. The legend, as they
relate it, is as follows.

Jupiter was a prince born and bred among the summits of Mount Ida, in
Crete. His father's name was Saturn. Saturn had made an agreement that
he would cause all his sons to be slain, as soon as they were born.
This was to appease his brother, who was his rival, and who consented
that Saturn should continue to reign only on that condition.

Jupiter's mother, however, was very unwilling that her boys should be
thus cruelly put to death, and she contrived to conceal three of them,
and save them. The three thus preserved were brought up among the
solitudes of the mountains, watched and attended by nymphs, and nursed
by a goat. After they grew up, they engaged from time to time in
various wars, and met with various wonderful adventures, until at
length Jupiter, the oldest of them, succeeded, by means of
thunderbolts which he caused to be forged for his use, in vast
subterranean caverns beneath Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius, conquered
all his enemies, and became universal king. He, however, divided his
empire between himself and his brothers, giving to them respectively
the command of the sea and of the subterranean regions, while he
reserved the earth and the heavenly regions for himself.

[Illustration: JUPITER AND EUROPA.]

He established his usual abode among the mountains of Northern Greece,
but he often made excursions to and fro upon the earth, appearing in
various disguises, and meeting with a great number of strange and
marvelous adventures. In the course of these wa