Classicsness ❧ Classical Culture

One day in springtime, some five years after the marriage of Admetus, a stranger youth came to his palace and desired to speak with the king, who received him courteously, after his wont, and asked him his name and errand. “My name is nothing to the purpose, oh, king,” answered the stranger; “I am a poor, homeless lad with my bread to earn, and I come to beg of you to make me one of your hired ser...

There was once a king in Thessaly, named Admetus, whose exemplary life and conversation were renowned throughout the land. His piety towards the gods was only less remarkable than his scrupulous fulfillment of his duties towards his fellowmen. He was an obedient son, a tender husband and father, a kind master to his household slaves and the serfs on his demesnes. 👉 And that's it for now! Subscrib...

The wise princess had her will, and the king’s mood softened in spite of himself as she plied him with the delicate fare and the noble wine set before them. And then she brought him to her chamber, where the great southern moon looked in through casements opening on the sea, and paled the radiance of seven golden lamps fed with ambergris. The lofty walls were covered with row on row of bright-hued...

The galley was no sooner out of sight than Theoclymenus hastened to the women’s quarter of the palace, eager to discuss his new happiness with his sister. He would have sought her before, but in his zeal he had himself superintended the lading of the ship with treasures worthy of his magnificence. With some vexation, he learned from her women that the princess desired to be alone. In this, however...

Menelaus had not sat long beside the tomb, pondering what Helen’s plan was to be, when a train of huntsmen with their hounds descended the flowery terraces of the cliff, headed by the king. Theoclymenus was a young man of fine presence; his features resembled his sister’s, but lacked her serenity of expression; from his lowering brow it might be guessed that the day’s sport had not pleased him. At...

As the palace doors closed behind her, Helen went forward with a beating heart to the tall figure that stood dejectedly by the tomb of Proteus. But — could that be Menelaus — that gaunt, weather-beaten man with unkempt, grizzled hair, and a single discolored garment hanging in tatters around him? Menelaus, who went ever sleek and splendid, loving to deck his florid comeliness in purple and fine li...

Scarcely had Teucer made good his retreat from the Egyptian king's palace, when the great bronze doors swung open, and a small group of persons advanced in procession to the tomb before the chapel. First came four small negro boys, carrying on their heads baskets of woven reeds, heaped with blue lotus flowers. 👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness....

Not knowing in what part of the wide world to seek his fortune, Teucer resolved to ask counsel of Apollo's famous oracle at Delphi. So he sailed first to the port of Cirrha, whence he traveled on foot to the high mountain glen of Delphi and entered the holy temple. When he had duly sacrificed, he made known his request; and the priestess, speaking by inspiration of Apollo, bade him found a city in...

Everyone knows how the Greeks laid siege for ten long years to the city of Troy to win back Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, for her husband, the king of Sparta. It was Paris, a son of the old Trojan king, who stole her away from home; and because of her beauty, neither king nor folk would heed the warnings of the seers and wise men that the wrath of the gods would fall on Troy unless...

Long, long ago, in the land called Pamphylia, a brave man named Er was killed in battle, fighting for his country. The enemy won the field, and it was ten days before the fellow citizens of Er could take up the bodies of their dead to give them burial. And they buried the rest where they lay, for decay had done its work on them — but when they found Er’s body, behold, it was still fresh. So his fr...

But after that day, the chief butler kept away from the tavern and shunned even greetings in the marketplace when he went there, which was as seldom as he could. His fellow servants remarked that, from the most talkative and sociable of men, he had suddenly become the most silent and morose. 👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com . And if you wa...

“What is this outlandish cap,” said one of his tavern friends to the chief butler, “that the king has taken to wearing?” “What is it? Why, it is a cap, to be sure,” replied he, testily. “Other men wear caps, I believe. Cannot the king wear one, but all the idle tongues in the city must begin wagging?” 👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com . And...

Whether Midas ever met Silenus again or not is unknown to the teller of this tale. But another —and an even stranger— adventure was in store for him, as you shall hear. 👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com . And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online , check out LatinFromScratch.com . 📚 Source: Evergreen Stories (...

A very singular change in the temper and habits of King Midas was indeed observable from that time, and one which gave great satisfaction to his subjects. From the most avaricious and grasping of rulers, he suddenly became indifferent to gain and open-handed to the point of lavishness. It was said, moreover, that his fondness for gold, which had been proverbial, had turned to such an aversion that...

The amazing sequel to the visit of the old man called Silenus was quickly bruited in the city, and the most incredulous now agreed that the king had suffered some powerful enchantment. But a rumor soon prevailed, to the great indignation of the chief butler, that he and his fellow servants had been likewise under some kind of spell or glamour when they saw, as they declared, the king’s food and dr...

Sleep, the merciful, came over the exhausted king; and as he slept, he dreamed a dream. He dreamed he was standing on the grassy bank of the river Pactolus, near his city, and looking with longing and despair at the cool, flowing water. Suddenly, a voice hailed him from across the stream; he looked and saw Silenus sitting on the opposite bank, dabbling his bare feet in a shallow, and gravely regar...

Night had fallen once more, and once more the feast was spread in the palace hall of Midas. A great and goodly supper loaded the table before him; and he had need of it, having tasted nothing since breaking his fast at sunrise in the Valley of the Roses. From thence he had hurried back to the palace, silent, and with a strange, rapt countenance; he went straight to his underground treasure chamber...

The huntsmen and beaters of King Midas had gone questing through every covert, every nook, of the Valley of Roses, until the long, golden afternoon had faded into twilight. But he whom the shepherds had yesterday surprised among the rose thickets was nowhere to be found. It could not be hither, as the king fancied, that his strange guest had retreated to sleep off last night’s carouse. 👉 And that...

Next day, nothing was talked of in the city but the extraordinary old man who had bewitched King Midas in his own palace hall. Bewitched was the word used by eyewitnesses — slaves of the royal household who had brought the tale with them to the morning market and few of their listeners could doubt that it was the right word. A little group of elderly townsmen, given to argument and wine bibbing, p...

The old man called Silenus said not another word on the road to the city. The shepherds told him cheerfully that the king would assuredly put him to death, for the Valley of Roses was holy ground. They were sorry for him, but so it would be. They thought it most likely he would be flayed alive; however, he might only have his throat cut. Either way, he would not be able, unluckily, to join them in...

The hush of burning noon had fallen like a spell over the Valley of Roses. The grasshoppers were silent in the long grass; the brown lizards basked motionless on sun-scorched patches of rock; even the bees were asleep, cradled each in the heart of a dreaming flower. Not a leaf stirred in the bronze-green towers of shade that beech and walnut reared, singly or in groups, on the lower slopes; above,...

You have come to understand, by this time, that the Shining People were the greatest magicians that ever came, with their enchantments, among the human beings who walk the world. It would take dozens of books to tell you of even half their deeds. But certainly one of the most wonderful of all was something that Aphrodite did for a king called Pygmalion. This king did not care about fighting, like...

One dark night, a prince, young and handsome, but very worn and weary, lay fast asleep beside a fountain in a wood. The trees waved softly above him; the stars shone like distant jewels; and the sound of the water mingled with the soft stirring of the breeze. But the prince, whose name was Bellerophon, moved uneasily in his sleep. He was dreaming not of the scents and the dews of the forests, but...

Once again, then, Odysseus and his men found themselves sailing the high seas, where the halcyons called to each other across the lonely waves. Presently, all soft and silver-misted on the horizon, they caught sight of a new land; and, by the sudden hush that fell over the ocean, and by a dim sweet echo of far-away music, Odysseus knew that his vessel was drawing near to the sirens’ Enchanted Isle...

After Odysseus had escaped from the cave of the terrible one-eyed giant, he and his companions went sailing onwards, hoping, yet not knowing, that they were on their way to Greece. But Poseidon was very angry, for the Cyclops whose eye had been put out by “Noman” was the son of the sea king. Odysseus, knowing that Poseidon would do all he could to raise storms about his ship, made his way to the i...