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The old Arabs, again, had their tales, which we now call the 'Arabian Nights. The old Romans had theirs, and they called them 'Fabulae, from which our word 'fable' comes; but the old Hellens called theirs 'Muthoi, from which our new word 'myth' is taken.
Then the King said to Perseus, "Hero of the Hellens, stay here with me and be my son-in-law, and I will give you the half of my kingdom." "I will be your son-in-law," said Perseus, "but of your kingdom will I have none, for I long after the pleasant land of Greece, and my mother who waits for me at home."
Surely thou art one of the Immortals; and they would have worshipped him then and there; but Perseus said 'I am not one of the Immortals; but I am a hero of the Hellens. And I have slain the Gorgon in the wilderness, and bear her head with me. Give me food, therefore, that I may go forward and finish my work. Then they gave him food, and fruit, and wine; but they would not let him go.
Then Cepheus said, 'Hero of the Hellens, stay here with me and be my son-in-law, and I will give you the half of my kingdom. 'I will be your son-in-law, said Perseus, 'but of your kingdom I will have none, for I long after the pleasant land of Greece, and my mother who waits for me at home.
Now, why have I called this book 'The Heroes'? Because that was the name which the Hellens gave to men who were brave and skilful, and dare do more than other men.
So those narrow straits are called 'Hellespont, after her; and they bear that name until this day. Then the ram flew on with Phrixus to the north-east across the sea which we call the Black Sea now; but the Hellens call it Euxine.
Surely thou art one of the Immortals"; and they would have worshipped him then and there; but Perseus said: "I am not one of the Immortals; but I am a hero of the Hellens. And I have slain the Gorgon in the wilderness, and bear her head with me. Give me food, therefore, that I may go forward and finish my work." Then they gave him food, and fruit, but they would not let him go.
The old Hellens said that it hung in Colchis, which we call the Circassian coast, nailed to a beech-tree in the war-God's wood; and that it was the fleece of the wondrous ram who bore Phrixus and Helle across the Euxine sea. For Phrixus and Helle were the children of the cloud-nymph, and of Athamas the Minuan king.
So they came down to Iolcos, and all the city came out to meet them, and were never tired with looking at their height, and their beauty, and their gallant bearing and the glitter of their inlaid arms. And some said, 'Never was such a gathering of the heroes since the Hellens conquered the land. But the women sighed over them, and whispered, 'Alas! they are all going to their death!
They called themselves always 'Hellens, but the Romans miscalled them Greeks; and we have taken that wrong name from the Romans it would take a long time to tell you why. And after that, again, they spread under Alexander the Great, and conquered Egypt, and Syria, and Persia, and the whole East.
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