Glaucus was a fisherman. One day he had drawn
his nets to land, and had taken a great many fishes of various
kinds. So he emptied his net, and. proceeded
to sort the fishes on the grass. The place where he stood was a
beautiful island in the river, a solitary
spot, uninhabited, and not used for pasturage of cattle, not ever visited
by any
but himself. On a sudden, the fishes, which
had been laid on the grass, began to revive and move their fins as if
they were in the water; and while he looked
on astonished, they one and all moved off to the water, plunged in,
and swam away. He did not know what to make
of this, whether some god had done it or some secret power in
the herbage. "What herb has such a power?"
he exclaimed; and gathering some of it, he tasted it. Scarce had the
juices of the plant reached his palate when
he found himself agitated with a longing desire for the water. He could
no longer restrain himself, but bidding farewell
to earth, he plunged into the stream. The gods of the water received
him graciously, and admitted him to the honour
of their society. They obtained the consent of Oceanus and Tethys,
the sovereigns of the sea, that all that was
mortal in him should be washed away. A hundred rivers poured their
waters over him. Then he lost all sense of
his former nature and all consciousness. When he recovered, he found
himself changed in form and mind. His hair
was sea-green, and trailed behind him on the water; his shoulders grew
broad, and what had been thighs and legs assumed
the form of a fish's tail. The sea-gods complimented him on the
change of his appearance, and he fancied himself
rather a good-looking personage.
One day Glaucus saw the beautiful maiden Scylla,
the favourite of the water-nymphs, rambling on the shore, and
when she had found a sheltered nook, laving
her limbs in the clear water. He fell in love with her, and showing
himself on the surface, spoke to her, saying
such things as he thought most likely to win her to stay; for she turned
to run immediately on the sight of him, and
ran till she had gained a cliff overlooking the sea. Here she stopped and
turned round to see whether it was a god or
a sea animal, and observed with wonder his shape and colour.
Glaucus partly emerging from the water, and
supporting himself against a rock, said, "Maiden, I am no monster,
nor a sea animal, but a god: and neither Proteus
nor Triton ranks higher than I. Once I was a mortal, and followed
the sea for a living; but now I belong wholly
to it." Then he told the story of his metamorphosis, and how he had
been promoted to his present dignity, and
added, "But what avails all this if it fails to move your heart?" He was
going on in this strain, but Scylla turned
and hastened away.
Glaucus was in despair, but it occurred to
him to consult the enchantress Circe. [image:19K] Accordingly he
repaired to her island- the same where afterwards
Ulysses landed, as we shall see in one of our later stories. After
mutual salutations, he said, "Goddess, I entreat
your pity; you alone can relieve the pain I suffer. The power of
herbs I know as well as any one, for it is
to them I owe my change of form. I love Scylla. I am ashamed to tell you
how I have sued and promised to her, and how
scornfully she has treated me. I beseech you to use your
incantations, or potent herbs, if they are
more prevailing, not to cure me of my love,- for that I do not wish,- but
to
make her share it and yield me a like return."
To which Circe replied, for she was not insensible to the attractions
of the sea-green deity, "You had better pursue
a willing object; you are worthy to be sought, instead of having to
seek in vain. Be not diffident, know your
own worth. I protest to you that even I, goddess though I be, and
learned in the virtues of plants and spells,
should not know how to refuse you. If she scorns you scorn her; meet
one who is ready to meet you half way, and
thus make a due return to both at once." To these words Glaucus
replied, "Sooner shall trees grow at the bottom
of the ocean, and sea-weed on the top of the mountains, than I will
cease to love Scylla, and her alone."
The goddess was indignant, but she could not
punish him, neither did she wish to do so, for she liked him too well;
so she turned all her wrath against her rival,
poor Scylla. She took plants of poisonous powers and mixed them
together, with incantations and charms. Then
she passed through the crowd of gambolling beasts, the victims of her
art, and proceeded to the coast of Sicily,
where Scylla lived. There was a little bay on the shore to which Scylla
used to resort, in the heat of the day, to
breathe the air of the sea, and to bathe in its waters. Here the goddess
poured her poisonous mixture, and muttered
over it incantations of mighty power. Scylla came as usual and
plunged into the water up to her waist. What was her horror to
perceive a brood of serpents and barking monsters surrounding
her! At first she could not imagine they were a part of herself,
and tried to run from them, and to drive them away; but as she
ran she carried them with her, and when she tried to touch her
limbs, she found her hands touch only the yawning jaws of
monsters. Scylla remained rooted to the spot. Her temper grew
as ugly as her form, and she took pleasure in devouring hapless
mariners who came within her grasp. Thus she destroyed six of
the companions of Ulysses, and tried to wreck the ships of
AEneas, till at last she was turned into a rock, and as such still
continues to be a terror to mariners.
Keats, in his "Endymion," has given a new version of the ending
of "Glaucus and Scylla." Glaucus consents
to Circe's blandishments, till he by chance is witness to her transactions
with her beasts. Disgusted with her treachery
and cruelty, he tries to escape from her, but is taken and brought
back, when with reproaches she banishes him,
sentencing him to pass a thousand years in decrepitude and pain.
He returns to the sea, and there finds the
body of Scylla, whom the goddess has not transformed but drowned.
Glaucus learns that his destiny is that, if
he passes his thousand years in collecting all the bodies of drowned lovers,
a youth beloved of the gods will appear and
help him. Endymion fulfils this prophecy, and aids in restoring Glaucus
to youth, and Scylla and all the drowned lovers
to life.
The following is Glaucus's account of his feelings
after his "sea-change": |