Lives of Alcyone

FORTY-SEVENTH LIFE 273
Chart LXVII a
Greece (Birth of Orion) 499 B.C.
1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th
prominent disciple of Pythagoras. Apollo early gained a reputation for his poems, and was invited to Athens by Hipparchus. There he established
himself in a splendid house on one of the hills looking across at the Acropolis, and there were born his sons Sirius and Erato. When
Hipparchus died he removed himself to Thessaly, but still retained his house at Athens, and returned to it before the invasion of Greece by
the Persians. Some of his finest poems describe the events of that war, and it is said that he surpassed even Aeschylus in his elegy upon those
who fell at Marathon, and that he won no less than fifty six prizes in poetical contests. Later he left the Athenian house to his sons, and spent
the last ten years of his life at the Court of Hiero of Syracuse, where he died inn 468 B.C.
There are points of interest in the lives of his sons Sirius and Erato, whose names in this birth were Kleomenes and Agathocles. They were
deeply attached to each other, and grew up together joyously, spending much time in the practice of gymnastics, running, leaping, wrestling
and throwing the quoit. Their studies, however, were by no means neglected; the boys were thoroughly interested in them, and took a keen
delight in learning. They took up history (not always very exact, by the way) and mythology; they read about the Trojan War, and got much
excited over it, making up mimic battles and playing the part of all the heroes in turn.
The religious education given seems to have consisted chiefly of maxims, which were to be learnt by heart; no one seriously believed the strange
stories about the Gods, but they were regarded as fairy tales with a symbolical meaning which only those who were initiated into the
Mysteries could thoroughly comprehend. The boys were placed under the protection of Pallas Athene, and were taught to call upon her when
in danger or difficulty. She was rightly regarded as a real person--the tutelary spirit of that noble race. They believed in a future life and in
inexorable justice, but were quite happy about it all, and had no fear of death. Unquestionably the facts which bulked most largely in their boyish
lives were the public games; these and the training for them were the supreme interests of their existence.
Their family was in good circumstances, and they had good opportunities. The most important event in their boyhood--important in view of
its after results--was that a relation offered to take them for a voyage in a ship of which he was part owner. It was a trading voyage among
the Greek islands and over to the Asiatic shore, and with the leisurely methods of those days it occupied about a year, during which they
visited many places, and saw not only much beautiful scenery but many temples adorned with exquisite sculpture.
Among other islands they called at Samos, where they came into touch with the great philosopher Pythagoras, who then a man of advanced
age, and near his death. Some historians have thought that this sage perished when his school at Crotona was wrecked by popular prejudice;
others, recoginsing that he survived that catastrophe, believe that he died much later at Metapontum. But neither of these ideas is correct; wh
en quite old, he left his school in Magna Graecia, and returned to his patrimony in Samos to end his days where he had begun them, and so
it happened that our young travellers had the great privilege of seeing him in the course of their voyage.
His principal desciple at that time was Erato's uncle Kleineas(now the Master Djwal Kul); and Kleineas (whom we know as Uranus the elder
brother of Apollo) was exceedingly kind to the young wanderers, and patiently answered all their eager questions, explaining to them the
system of the Pythagorean philosophy. They were at once most strongly attracted towards the teaching expounded to them, and were anxious
to join the school. Kleineas told them that a branch of it would presently be opened in Athens, and meantime he gave them much instruction
in ethics, in the doctrine of reincarnation and the mystery of numbers. All too soon their vessel was ready for sea (it had fortunately required
refitting) and they had regretfully to take leave of Pythagoras and Kleineas. To their great and awed delight, when they called to bid
him adieu, the aged philosopher blessed them, and said with marked emphasis: "Palin sunestathesomtha --we shall meet again." Within a
a year or two they heard of his death, and so they often wondered in what sense he could have meant those words; but when in this present
incarnation, one of those brothers had for the first time the privilege of meeting the Master K.H. the latter recalled to his memory that scene
of long ago, and said: "Did I not tell you that we should meet again?"
Soon after the death of Pythagorous, Uranus fulfilled his promise to come and set on foot a school of the philosophy took a high place in the
thought of the time. It was however a troublous time, by no means ideal for the study of those higher problems. The difficulties with Persia
were just commencing, and the air was full of uneasiness. At last came the Persian invasion, culminating in the celebrated battle of Marathon
in which both the brothers took part, as they did also ten years later in the great naval engagement of Salamis. Later still, the brothers thought
it their duty to go and assist the Greek colonies in Asia Minor against the Persians; they were present also at the battle of Plataea, so that
there was a great deal of fighting before they could really settle down.
Another result, however, had followed upon that faateful voyage which changed for them so many things. The many beautiful sculptures which
they had seen in the course of their travels had aroused in Erato the latent artistic faculty, and with his brother's fullest approval he had
resolved to devote his life to the pursuit of art in that form. Not that he ever neglected the philosophical side of life; he was initiated into the
Mysteries of Elensis, and gave much time to their study, especially to the doctrine of karma, or readjustment, as it was then called. Except
for the management of the family estate, Sirius gave the whole of his life to philosophy, while Erato divided his between philosophy and art.
He produced some excellent statues, usually attaching to them the assumed name of Kalamis. One of the most important was an Apollo in
Bronze, which must have been nearly fifty feet in height. It was executed as a commission for one of the cities on the Black Sea; but some
centuries later it was removed to Rome. Another Apollo was perhaps even more celebrated, though it was only life-size; it was erected in
the Kerameikos, from some fancied power of warding off pestilence which was attributed to it. This statue was largely copied by pupils, and
one such copy is now in the British Museum, where it is called the Apollo of the Omphalos. It is much injured, and it seems that various