The language of color Author:Matthew Luckiesh Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: MYTHOLOGY "I feed the clouds, the rainbows, and the flowers With their ethereal colors." —Shelley: "Hymn of Apollo." IN order to begin with a comprehen... more »sive view of the subject, the more important sources of information will be briefly reviewed. Chronologically, one of the first sources is found beyond the outskirts of recorded writing, in the more or less vague imaginings of mythology. Tliis subject provides an interesting introduction into the study of the language of color and also glimpses of the impressions that light and color have made upon the intellects of the early peoples. Furthermore, the crystallization of these impressions into the permanent and recognized usage of the present time can be readily witnessed and understood. Colors have played a conspicuous part in mythology. Doubtless the attributes which they are supposed to possess were very real to many but even though it were originally realized that the colors were used symbolically through mere fancy, they have acquired, by continued association and common consent, some degree of signification similar to words. It is impossible to separate the treatments of color in mythology and in symbolism because the use of colors in mythology is largely symbolical. Much of the color has been inserted by artists and writers centuries after the myths had evolved to a more or less stable state. At this point it appears desirable to discriminate between fable and mythology. The former is a story in which characters take part in a plot and no pretense to reality is entertained. It is a narrative in which beings, sometimes irrational or inanimate, are feigned to perform as human beings. Myths are stories of anonymous origin prevalent chiefly among primitive peoples and accepted by them with credulity. Natural phenomena...« less