Ritchies Fabulae Faciles | Page 2

the study of Nepos or Caesar is begun. Besides, it is easier to
neglect notes than to supply them, and the teacher who prefers to do the
first reading without much attention to the more difficult constructions

will only need to tell his students to disregard certain of my notes--or
all of them.
There are no references to the grammars, but syntax has been given
such treatment as seemed needed to supplement its treatment in the
beginner's book. Teachers will therefore be able to postpone the use of
a formal manual of grammar, if they so desire. Those who wish their
classes to begin the reading of Latin at the earliest possible moment
will find it feasible to use this book as soon as the inflections and the
more elementary principles of syntax have been mastered.
In the vocabulary, the derivation or composition and the original
meaning of words have been indicated wherever these seemed likely to
prove helpful. Principal parts and genitives have been given in such a
way as to prevent misunderstanding, and at the same time emphasize
the composition of the verb or the suffix of the noun: for example,
_abscídó, -cídere, -cídí, -císus; aetás, -tátis_.
The lists of works of English literature and of art in which the myths
are treated are only suggestive. Occasional readings from the one and
exhibitions of representations of the other, either in the form of
photographs or by the stereopticon, will not only stimulate interest in
the Latin text but aid also in creating in the student a taste for literature
and for art.
I planned at first to add some exercises for retranslation, but after
careful consideration it has seemed not worth while. Most teachers will
prefer not to base composition upon the Latin read at this stage, and
those who wish to do so will find it an easy matter to prepare their own
exercises, or can draw upon the copious exercises prepared by Mr.
Ritchie and published separately under the title Imitative Exercises in
Easy Latin Prose.
In the reading of proof I have had generous help from Dr. F.K. Ball of
The Phillips Exeter Academy, Mr. J.C. Flood of St. Mark's School, and
Mr. A.T. Dudley of Noble and Greenough's School, Boston. The
proof-sheets have been used with the beginner's class in this Academy,
and I have thus been able to profit by the criticism of my associate Mr.
G.B. Rogers, and to test the work myself. The assistance of my wife
has greatly lightened the labor of verifying the vocabulary.
JOHN C. KIRTLAND, Jr.
EXETER, N.H., 7 March, 1903.

CONTENTS
THE MYTHS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. THE MYTHS IN ART.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. PERSEUS. HERCULES. THE
ARGONAUTS. ULYSSES. NOTES. VOCABULARY.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THE CARPENTER SHUTTING UP DANAE AND PERSEUS IN
THE ARK AT THE COMMAND OF ACRISIUS (Vase-painting)
HERCULES, NESSUS, AND DEJANIRA (Pompeian Wall-painting)
MEDEA MEDITATING THE MURDER OF HER SONS (Pompeian
Wall-painting) ULYSSES AND CIRCE (Roman Relief)

THE MYTHS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
PERSEUS
Hawthorne, _A Wonder-Book: The Gorgon's Head_. Kingsley, _The
Heroes: Perseus_. Cox, _Tales of Ancient Greece: Medusa, Danae,
Perseus, Andromeda, Akrisios_. Francillon, _Gods and Heroes: The
Adventures of Perseus_. Kingsley, Andromeda. William Morris, _The
Earthly Paradise: The Doom of King Acrisius_. Lewis Morris, _The
Epic of Hades: Andromeda_. Dowden, Andromeda. Shelley, On the
Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci. D. G. Rossetti, Aspecta Medusa.
HERCULES
Hawthorne, _A Wonder-Book: The Three Golden Apples_. Cox,
_Tales of Ancient Greece: The Toils of Herakles_. Francillon, _Gods
and Heroes: The Hero of Heroes_. William Morris, _The Earthly
Paradise: The Golden Apples_. Lewis Morris, _The Epic of Hades:
Deianeira_. Lang's translation of Theocritus, Idyls xxiv, xxv.
THE ARGONAUTS
Apollonius of Rhodes, The Tale of the Argonauts, translated by Way.
D.O.S. Lowell, _Jason's Quest_. Hawthorne, _Tanglewood Tales: The
Golden Fleece_. Kingsley, _The Heroes: The Argonauts_. Cox, _Tales
of Ancient Greece: Phrixos and Helle, Medeia_. Church, _Heroes and
Kings: The Story of the Ship Argo_. Francillon, _Gods and Heroes:
The Golden Fleece_. William Morris, The Life and Death of Jason.
Bayard Taylor, Hylas. John Dyer, The Fleece. Lang's translation of

Theocritus, several of the Idyls.
ULYSSES
Homer, The Odyssey, translated by Bryant (verse), William Morris
(verse), Palmer (prose), Butcher and Lang (prose). Lamb, The
Adventures of Ulysses. Hawthorne, _Tanglewood Tales: Circe's
Palace_. Cox, _Tales of Ancient Greece: The Lotos-Eaters, Odysseus
and Polyphemos, Odysseus and Kirké_. Church, _Stories from Homer:
The Cyclops, The Island of Aeolus, Circé_. Tennyson, _The
Lotos-Eaters_. Matthew Arnold, The Strayed Reveler. Dobson, The
Prayer of the Swine to Circe.

THE MYTHS IN ART
Burne-Jones, Perseus and the Graeae. Caravaggio, Head of Medusa.
Leonardo da Vinci, Head of Medusa. Canova, Perseus. Benvenuto
Cellini, Perseus, and Perseus saving Andromeda. Piero di Cosimo,
Perseus and Andromeda. Charles Antoine Coypel, Perseus and
Andromeda. Domenichino, Perseus and Andromeda. Rubens, Perseus
and Andromeda. Giovanni