THOMAS BULFINCH

Thomas Bulfinch

Peru 

Urubamba 

Machu Picchu 

 

 

 

John 3:5
“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” 

 

 

 

 

Sullivan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chess: "Thomas Bulfinch" "Perú" "Urubamba" "Machu Picchu" 

 

 

 

THOMAS BULFINCH  SAYS OF THE ORIGIN OF MYTHOLOGY: 

Having reached the close of our series of stories of Pagan
mythology, an inquiry suggests itself. "Whence came these
stories? Have they a foundation in truth, or are they simply
dreams of the imagination?" Philosophers have suggested various
theories on the subject of which we shall give three or four.
𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲; according to which all mythological
legends are derived from the narratives of Scripture, though the
real facts have been disguised and altered. Thus Deucalion is
only another name for Noah, Hercules for Samson, Arion for Jonah,
etc. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World, says,
"Jubal, Tubal, and Tubal-Cain were Mercury, Vulcan, and Apollo,
inventors of Pasturage, Smithing, and Music. The Dragon which
kept the golden apples was the serpent that beguiled Eve.
Nimrod's tower was the attempt of the Giants against Heaven.
There are doubtless many curious coincidences like these, but the
theory cannot without extravagance be pushed so far as to account
for any great proportion of the stories.
𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲; according to which all the persons
mentioned in mythology were once real human beings, and the
legends and fabulous traditions relating to them are merely the
additions and embellishments of later times. Thus the story of
AEolus, the king and god of the winds, is supposed to have risen
from the fact that AEolus was the ruler of some islands in the
Tyrrhenian Sea, where he reigned as a just and pious king, and
taught the natives the use of sails for ships, and how to tell
from the signs of the atmosphere the changes of the weather and
the winds. Cadmus, who, the legend says, sowed the earth with
dragon's teeth, from which sprang a crop of armed men, was in
fact an emigrant from Phoenicia, and brought with him into Greece
the knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, which he taught to
the natives. From these rudiments of learning sprung
civilization, which the poets have always been prone to describe
as a deterioration of man's first estate, the Golden Age of
innocence and simplicity.
𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 supposes that all the myths of the
ancients were allegorical and symbolical, and contained some
moral, religious, or philosophical truth or historical fact,
under the form of an allegory, but came in process of time to be
understood literally. Thus Saturn, who devours his own children,
is the same power whom the Greeks called Kronos (Time), which may
truly be said to destroy whatever it has brought into existence.
The story of Io is interpreted in a similar manner. Io is the
moon, and Argus the starry sky, which, as it were, keeps
sleepless watch over her. The fabulous wanderings of Io
represent the continual revolutions of the moon, which also
suggested to Milton the same idea.
"𝑇𝑜 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛
𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛,
𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦
𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑦."
𝐼𝑙 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑜
𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 supposes that the different stories
are corrupted versions of astronomical statements, of which the
true meaning was forgotten. This theory is pushed to its extreme
by Dupuis, in his treatise "Sur tous les cultes."
𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲, according to which the elements of air,
fire, and water, were originally the objects of religious
adoration, and the principal deities were personifications of the
powers of nature. The transition was easy from a personification
of the elements to the notion of supernatural beings presiding
over and governing the different objects of nature. The Greeks,
whose imagination was lively, peopled all nature with invisible
beings, and supposed that every object, from the sun and sea to
the smallest fountain and rivulet, was under the care of some
particular divinity. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, has
beautifully developed 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲.

"𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑
𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑦,
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑙𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒;
𝐴𝑛𝑑, 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒,
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟
𝐴 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑
𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑛
𝐴 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒,
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠
𝑇𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡
𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡;
𝐴𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑠
𝐴𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒
(𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝐵𝑦 𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑒)
𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠
𝐺𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑑
𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑑
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑎𝑑. 𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠
𝐺𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛,
𝑀𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦, 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑂𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑍𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑠, 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠,
𝐿𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑒𝑑
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟. 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑒,
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑔𝑠 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑒,

𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ
𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒;
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑠
𝑂𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑟, 𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑;
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑦𝑟𝑠, 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑑
𝑂𝑓 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠; 𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓,
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑑'𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑒-𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑜𝑑."
All the theories which have bene mentioned are true to a certain
extent. It would therefore be more correct to say that the
mythology of a nation has sprung from all these sources combined
than from any one in particular. We may add also that there are
many myths which have risen from the desire of man to account for
those natural phenomena which he cannot understand; and not a few
have had their rise from a similar desire of giving a reason for
the names of places and persons.