BOOK II.
of Leuktra justified the hopes of Aristomenes, the Argive Epiteles saw a vision which bade him recover the old woman who was well-nigh at her last gasp beneath the sods of Ithomê. His search was rewarded by the discovery of a water-jar, in which was contained a plate of the finest tin. On this plate were inscribed the mystic rites for the worship of the great gods.[1] The same wonderful ewer or goblet of the sun was bestowed in the Persian legend on Jemshid, and explained the glories of his magnificent reign. The same vessel is the divining cup of Joseph;[2] and in late traditions it reappears in the tale which relates how Rehoboam inclosed the book containing his father's supernatural knowledge in an ivory ewer and placed it in his tomb. The fortunes of this vessel are related by Flegetanis, who is said to have traced up his genealogy on the mother's side to Solomon; nor need it be a " matter of surprise to those who remember the talismanic effect of a name in the general history of fiction, that a descendant of this distinguished sovereign should be found to write its history, or that another Joseph should be made the instrument of conveying it to the kingdoms of Western Europe."[3] This mystic vessel, the Sangreal of Arthurian legend, is at once a storehouse of food as inexhaustible as the table of the Ethiopians, and a talismanic test as effectual as the goblets of Oberon and Tristram. The good Joseph of Arimathaea, who had gathered up in it the drops of blood which fell from the side of Jesus when pierced by the centurion's spear, was nourished by it alone through his weary imprisonment of two and forty years; and when at length, having either been brought by him to Britain, or preserved in heaven, it was carried by angels to the pure Titurel and shrined in a magnificent temple, it supplied to its worshippers the most delicious food, and preserved them in perpetual youth. As such, it differs in no way from the horn of
- ↑ Paus. iv. 20, 26. With this may
be compared the legend of the great
wizard Michael Scott. In this case the
Mighty Book is found not in an ewer,
but in the hand of the magician. Still
the boat-shaped vessel is not wanting.
The magic lamp (it is a lamp in the
story of Allah-ud-deen) is at his knee;
and as the sepulchre is opened, the light
bursting forth,
Streamed upward to the chancel roof,
And through the galleries far aloof.
No earthly flame blazed e'er so bright,
It shone like heaven's own blessed light.Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel, ii. 18. - ↑ The same vessel in Taliesin imparts to its possessor the wisdom of Iamos. It healed all the evils to which flesh is heir, and even raised the dead. It was in fact the counterpart of the Sangreal. The cruder form of the myth is seen in the legend of the Caldron of Ceridwen, the Keltic Dêmêtêr. This story is given by Mr. Gould (Curious Myths, ii. 335), who adds that " this vessel of the liquor of wisdom had a prominent place in British mythology" Sir Walter Scott remarks, that in many Scottish legends a drinking horn will prove a cornucopiæ good fortune to any one who can snatch it from the fairies and bear it across a running stream. As an emblem this cup is combined with the serpent in the representations of St. John,
- ↑ Introd. to Warton's Hist, of Eng. Poetry.
