To the same stage of thought belongs the conception of human beings changed into trees.
But, in the historic evolution of religion and morality, while changes into stone or rock were considered as punishment, or evidence of divine wrath, those into trees and shrubs were frequently looked upon as rewards, or evidences of divine favor.
A very beautiful and touching form of this conception is seen in such myths as the change of Philemon into the oak, and of Baucis into the linden; of Myrrha into the myrtle; of Melos into the apple-tree; of Attys into the pine; of Adonis into the rose-tree; and in the springing of the vine and grape from the blood of the Titans, the violet from the blood of Attys, and the hyacinth from the blood of Hyacinthus.
Thus it was, during the long ages when mankind saw everywhere miracle and nowhere law, that, in the evolution of religion and morality, striking features in physical geography became connected with the idea of divine retribution.[1]
But, in the natural course of intellectual growth, thinking men began to doubt the historical accuracy of these myths and legends—or, at least, to doubt all save those of the theology in which they happened to be born; and the next step was taken when they began to make comparisons between the myths and legends of different neighborhoods and countries; so came into being the science
- ↑ For the view taken in Greece and Rome of transformations into trees and shrubs, see Bötticher, "Baumcultus der Alten," xix, pp. 2 and 3; also Ovid, "Metamorphoses," passim; also foregoing notes.
457; also Thorpe, "Northern Antiquities"; also Friedrich, passim, especially p. 116 et seq.; also, for a mass of very curious ones, Karl Bartsch, "Sagen, Mãrchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg," vol. i, p 420, et seq.; also Karl Simrock's edition of the "Edda," ninth edition, p. 319; also John Fiske, "Myths and Myth-Makers," pp. 8 and 9. On the universality of such legends and myths, see Ritter's "Erdkunde," xiv, 1098-1122. For Irish examples, see Manz, "Real Encylopädie," art. "Stein"; and for multitudes of examples in Brittany, see Sébillot, "Traditions de la Haute-Bretagne." For the enchanted columns at Saloniki, see latest edition of Murray's "Handbook of Turkey," vol. ii, p. 711. For the legend of the angel changed into stone for neglecting to guard Adam, see Weil, university librarian at Heidelberg, "Biblische Legende der Muselmänner," Frankfort-am-Main, 1845, pp. 37 and 84. For similar transformation legends in Australia and among the American Indians, see Andrew Lang, "Mythology," French translation, pp. 83 and 102; also his "Myth Ritual and Religion," vol. i, pp. 150 et seq., citing numerous examples from J. G. Müller, "Urreligionen," Dorman's "Primitive Superstitions," and "Report of the Bureau of Ethnology" for 1880-'81; and for an African example, see account of the rock at Balon which was once a woman, in Bérenger-Feraud, "Contes populaires de la Sénégambie," chap. viii. For the Weimar legend, see Lewes, "Life of Goethe," Book IV. For the myths which arose about the swindling "Cardiff Giant" in the State of New York, see especially an article by G. A. Stockwell, M. D., in "The Popular Science Monthly" for June, 1878; and for the "Phœnician inscription," given at length with a translation, see the Rev. Alexander McWhorter, in "The Galaxy" for July, 1872. The present writer has in his possession a mass of curious documents regarding this fraud and the myths to which it gave rise, and hopes ere long to prepare a supplement to Dr. Stockwell's valuable paper.
