Page:Greek and Roman Mythology.djvu/45

THE GREEK GODS 31 The generous Indra took the missile, the destructive thunderbolt, he smote the firstborn of dragons. 15. Indra is king of him who goes, of him who rests, and of the tame, of the horned beast, (Indra) possessing the thunderbolt on his arm. | That king rules the busy folk. He has surrounded them as a felly the spokes. Hesiod, Theog. 72 ; Homer, II. i. passim, xiv. 203 : tire re Kp6vov evpvoira Zei>s yat'rjs vtp0e KaQeiffe Kal drpvy^roio 0aaW?;s. Ovid, Met. i. 113, Ars Amat. i. 635; Vergil, Aen. vii. 219; Hy- ginus, Fab. civ. ; (As the Sky, Horace, Od. i. 22, 20, iii. 10, 8 ;) Pope, Thebais i. 357 : When Jove descended in almighty gold ; Rape of the Lock v. 49 : Jove's thunder roars, heaven trembles all around. Shak., Cymbeline v. 4, 32 : With Mars fall out, with Juno chide ; The Tempest v. 1, 45, Measure for Measure ii. 2, 111, Hamlet iii. 4, 56; Spenser, F. Q. i. i. 6, iv. 11; Chaucer, Knight's Tale 2177, et passim. Uranus : Varuna (root VR = 'cover ') was an early deification of the expanse. A hymn in the Atharva Veda praises the god as the all-knowing divine presence. The stars which studded the heavens at night became, in the poetic imagination, the thousand eyes of Varuna looking down upon the world. A portion of the hymn is translated here. Atharva Veda iv. 16 : 1. The great one, lord of these worlds, sees, as if close at hand. | Whoever thinks he is acting stealthily, the gods know it all. 2. Whoever stands, and goes, and whoever stoops, whoever hides, whoever withdraws, | Whatever two (persons) sitting together de- vise, Varuna the king knows it (for he is there) as a third. 3. The earth is of Varuna the king and yonder heaven, great, pos- sessing distant ends. | And the two oceans are Varuna's stomach and in this little water he is hidden. 4. Who would go far beyond heaven will not escape from Varuna the king. | His spies from heaven traverse the world. Thousand- eyed they look upon the earth. 5. All this Varuna the king knows, what is between heaven and earth (and) what is beyond. | Numbered by him are the winkings of men's eyes. As a gamester knows his dice, he takes note of them.