gave thanks to the ever-living powers who had saved them
from the terrors of the deep. After they had feasted and rested from
their long voyage, they turned their faces toward Parnassus; and
Apollo, playing sweeter music than men had ever heard, led the way; and
the folk of Delphi, with choirs of boys and maidens, came to meet them,
singing songs of victory as they helped the Cretans up the steep
pathway to the temple in the cleft of the mountain.

"I leave you now to have sole care of my temple," said Apollo. "I
charge you to keep it well. Deal righteously with all men; let no
unclean thing pass your lips; forget self; guard well your thoughts,
and keep your hearts free from guile. If you do these things, you
shall be blessed with length of days and all that makes life glad. But
if you forget my words, and deal treacherously with men, and cause any
to wander from the path of right, then shall you be driven forth
homeless and accursed, and others shall take your places in the service
of my house."

Then the bright youth left them and hastened away to Mount Olympus.
But every year he came again, and looked into his house, and spoke
words of warning and of hope to his servants; and men say that he has
often been seen on Parnassus, playing his lyre to the listening Muses,
or with his sister, Artemis, chasing the mountain deer.

THE HUNT IN THE WOOD OF CALYDON

RELATED BY AUTOLYCUS[1]

"When I was younger than I am to-day," said the old chief, as they sat
one evening in the light of the blazing brands--"when I was much
younger than now, it was my fortune to take part in the most famous
boar hunt the world has ever known.

"There lived at that time, in Calydon, a mighty chief named
Oineus--and, indeed, I know not but that he still lives. Oineus was
rich in vineyards and in orchards, and no other man in all Greece was
happier or more blessed than he. He had married, early in life, the
Princess Althea, fairest of the maidens of Acarnania; and to them a son
had been born, golden-haired and beautiful, whom they called Meleager.

"When Meleager was yet but one day old, his father held him in his
arms, and prayed to Zeus and the mighty powers above: 'Grant, Father
Zeus, and all ye deathless ones, that this my son may be the foremost
among the men of Greece. And let it come to pass, that when they see
his valiant deeds, his countrymen shall say, "Behold, this youth is
greater than his father," and all of one a