Or, according to a third and
equally plausible notion, he is a hero of ascetic virtues, and
the dawn-maiden is a wicked enchantress, daughter of the
sensual Aphrodite, who vainly endeavours to seduce him. In the
story of Odysseus these various conceptions are blended
together. When enticed by artful women,[105] he yields for a
while to the temptation; but by and by his longing to see
Penelope takes him homeward, albeit with a record which
Penelope might not altogether have liked. Again, though the
Sun, "always roaming with a hungry heart," has seen many
cities and customs of strange men, he is nevertheless confined
to a single path,--a circumstance which seems to have
occasioned much speculation in the primeval mind. Garcilaso de
la Vega relates of a certain Peruvian Inca, who seems to have
been an "infidel" with reference to the orthodox mythology of
his day, that he thought the Sun was not such a mighty god
after all; for if he were, he would wander about the heavens
at random instead of going forever, like a horse in a
treadmill, along the same course. The American Indians
explained this circumstance by myths which told how the Sun
was once caught and tied with a chain which would only let him
swing a little way to one side or the other. The ancient Aryan
developed the nobler myth of the labours of Herakles,
performed in obedience to the bidding of Eurystheus.
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