Religion united its influence with those of loyalty and love, and the order of knighthood, endowed with all the sanctity and religious awe that attended the priesthood, became an object of ambition to the greatest sovereigns.

Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated.

The word "Chivalry" is derived from the French Cheval, a horse.

It was not till toward the end of the thirteenth century that the prose romances began to appear.

If no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that which helps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station in society, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation.

We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any real people except those to the east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean.

For Mythology is the handmaid of literature; and literature is one of the best allies of virtue and promoters of happiness.