Jupiter and Juno
One of the sons of Jupiterwas named Hermes or Mercury. He wore golden sandals and carried a wonderful wand. On the heels of the sandals were wings with which he could fly through the air like a bird. Because he could travel so swiftly he became the messenger of the gods.
Another son of Jupiter was Hephaestus whom we call Vulcan. He was the god of fire and the friend of workers in meals. He had a great forge under Mount Aetna and there he made wonderful things of iron and brass. The round eyed Cyclops were his blacksmiths. One day Vulcan was rude to his 16 father who to punish him hurled him from heaven. Vulcan fell upon rocks and broke his leg and ever after that was lame.
Ares the terrible god of war whom we call Mars was another son of Jupiter. He delighted in battle and bloodshed.
Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, or Diana, were also children of Jupiter. Apollo and Diana were great favorites with Jupiter, who made Apollo 17 the god of the sun, and Diana the goddess of the moon. To each he gave a silver bow, from which they shot arrows of light.
The most wonderful daughter of Jupiter was Athene, whom we usually call Minerva. One day the king of the gods had a headache from which he could get no relief so he sent for Vulcan. When the great blacksmith arrived at his father's palace Jupiter said to him Split open my head with your axe.As soon as Vulcan had done this, a maiden goddess, clothed in armor, sprang from the head of Jupiter. The maiden was Minerva the goddess of wisdom. When Jupiter became god and king of the whole world, he made his two brothers, Neptune and Pluto, kings under him. He made Neptune god and king of the sea: Pluto he made god and king of Hades. Hades was a world underground, in the middle of the earth, where men and women go and live when they die. The next thing that Jupiter did was to marry Juno. Their wedding was the grandest and most wonderful that ever was seen. Invitations were sent out to all the gods and nymphs. The nymphs were a sort of fairies�some of them waited upon the goddesses; some of them lived in rivers, brooks, and trees. All of them came to the wedding, except one nymph named Chelone.
She refused to come: and, besides that, she laughed at the whole thing. When they told her that Jupiter was going to marry Juno, she laughed so loud that Jupiter himself could hear her. I don't know why she thought it so ridiculous, but I can guess pretty well. I expect she knew Juno's bad temper better than Jupiter did, and how Jupiter was just the sort of husband to spoil any wife's temper. But Jupiter was very fond of Juno just then, and he did not like to be laughed at on his wedding day. So he had Chelone turned into a tortoise, so that she might never be able to laugh again. Nobody ever heard a tortoise laugh, nor ever will.
Jupiter and Juno set up their palace in the sky, just over the top of Mount Olympus, a high mountain in the north of Greece. And very soon, I am sorry to say, his quarrels with Juno began�so that, after all, poor Chelone had been right in not thinking much of the grand wedding. He always kept her for his Queen; but he cared for a great many Titanesses and nymphs much more than he did for her, and married more of them than anybody can reckon, one after another. This made Juno very angry, and they used to quarrel terribly. But something was going to happen which was almost as bad as quarreling, and which must have made Jupiter envy the peace and comfort of old Saturn, who had become only an earthly king.
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