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diff --git a/old/67552-0.txt b/old/67552-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 253621f..0000000 --- a/old/67552-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,19073 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of the Manners and Customs -of Ancient Greece, Volume I (of III), by James Augustus St. John - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume - I (of III) - -Author: James Augustus St. John - -Release Date: March 3, 2022 [eBook #67552] - -Language: English - -Produced by: KD Weeks, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE MANNERS -AND CUSTOMS OF ANCIENT GREECE, VOLUME I (OF III) *** - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. - -Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are -referenced. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - - - - - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS - - OF - - ANCIENT GREECE. - - ------- - - VOL. I. - - - - - - - - - -------------- - - _Price_ 31_s._ 6_d._ - - -------------- - - - - - NOTICE. - -The Proprietors of CIRCULATING LIBRARIES in all parts of the country are -compelled by the new Copyright Act to discontinue purchasing and lending -out a single copy of a foreign edition of an English work. _The mere -having it in their possession ticketed and marked as a library book_, -exposes them to - - A PENALTY OF TEN POUNDS. - - --- - -Several clauses of the new Copyright Act award severe punishments for -introducing and exposing for sale or hire pirated editions of English -works, both in Great Britain and in the Colonies. The Government -absolutely prohibits the introduction of these nefarious reprints -through the Custom-houses on any pretence whatever. The public should be -made fully and perfectly aware that, in consequence of a Treasury Order -to that effect, even single copies of works so pirated, brought in a -traveller’s baggage, which were formerly admissible, are so no longer, -_unless they be cut, the name written in them, and, moreover, so_ WORN -_and used as to render them unfit for sale_; and that if afterwards they -are found in a Circulating Library, the Proprietor is subject to a -severe penalty. Two clauses of the new Customs’ Act, moreover, exclude -them altogether after the commencement of the next financial year. These -measures will, no doubt, be rigorously enforced both at home and in the -Colonies. - -[Illustration: TOPOGRAPHY OF SPARTA.] - - THE HISTORY - OF THE - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS - OF - ANCIENT GREECE. - - BY J. A. ST. JOHN. - - - - - - - - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - - - - - - - - LONDON: - RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, - =Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.= - 1842. - - - - - - - - - LONDON: - _PRINTED BY S. AND J. BENTLEY, WILSON, AND FLEY,_ - Bangor House, Shoe Lane. - - - - - - - - - DEDICATION. - - --- - - TO BAYLE ST. JOHN. - -I DEDICATE the following work to you, my dear Son, as a token of my -gratitude for the cheerful patience with which you have aided me in -completing it, despite the calamity that overtook me in the midst of my -labours. Whatever may be the fate of the publication it will always -recall to me some of the happiest hours of my life, rendered so chiefly -by beholding the contented serenity with which you subdued the -irksomeness of studies so little suited to your years. At length, -however, you are delivered from lexicographers and scholiasts. The final -page has been written, the last proof read. I escape from a task -commenced before you were born, and you from a four years’ -apprenticeship to the craft and mystery of authorship. All that now -remains is to watch the reception which the fruit of our toil may meet -with in the world. It has been produced and has grown up under very -peculiar circumstances. Whithersoever we have travelled, the wrecks of -Grecian literature have accompanied us, and the studies to which these -pages owe their existence have been pursued under the influence of -almost every climate in Europe. Nay, if I pushed my researches still -further and visited the portion of Africa commonly supposed to have been -the cradle of Hellenic civilisation, it was solely in the hope of -qualifying myself to speak with some degree of confidence on the subject -of those arts which represent to the Modern World so much of the -grandeur and genius of Greece. Here, probably, the action of -pestilential winds, and of the sands and burning glare of the desert -commenced that dimming of the “visual ray,” which, in all likelihood, -will wrap me gradually in complete darkness, and veil for ever from my -sight those forms of the beautiful which have been incarnated, if I may -so speak, in marble. This is a language which neither you nor your -sister can read to me. All that sweet Olympian brood which used to smile -upon me with kindly recognition when I was a solitary wayfarer in lands -not my own, will, as far as I am concerned, be annihilated. Those twelve -mystical transformations of Aphroditè into stone, which may be beheld -all together at Naples, and appeared to me more lovely than its vaunted -bay, or even the sky that hangs enamoured over it, will, I conjecture, -be seen of me no more, or seen obscurely as through a mist. Homer, -however, and Æschylus, with Plato and Thucydides and Demosthenes, will -be able still through the voices of my children—voices more cheerful and -willing than ministered to the old age and blindness of Milton—to -project their beauty into my soul. I will not, therefore, repine; but, -imitating the example of wiser and better men, submit unmurmuringly to -the will of God. Had things been otherwise ordered, I might have -continued these researches. As it is, I take leave of them here. Our -friend, Mr. Keightley, who has visited Italy for the purpose, will -perform for the Romans what I have endeavoured to accomplish for the -Greeks; and his extensive and varied learning, the excellence of his -method, and the pleasing vivacity of his style, will, probably, ensure -for his work a still greater degree of popularity even than that which -his very successful productions already enjoy. - - Believe me, my dear son, - Ever affectionately yours, - J. A. ST. JOHN. - - London, - October 13th, 1842. - - - - - INTRODUCTION. - - -Many moral phenomena appear to baffle the sagacity of statesmen, -because, confiding too implicitly in experience, they omit to widen the -range of their contemplation so as to embrace the whole circle of the -people’s existence whose fortunes and character they desire to -comprehend. To be successful in such an inquiry it is requisite to lay -open, as far as possible, the influence on that people of climate and -geographical position, to break through the husk and shell of customs, -manners, laws, religions, that we may come to the kernel of its moral -nature, to that inner organization, intellectual and physical, of which -the external circumstances of its civil and political life are but so -many fluctuating symbols. - -To accomplish this, however, even in the case of a contemporary nation, -among whom we may behold in full activity all the material movements of -society, is no easy task. But the difficulty must be very much -augmented, when, in addition to the obstacles which necessarily under -the most favourable circumstances beset every avenue to a people’s inner -life, those are added arising out of the distance on the track of time -at which the nation we are considering happens to stand, the scantiness -and contradictory nature of the reports that reach us, and more, -perhaps, than all, the atmosphere of prejudice through which we are apt -to view whatever in any degree differs from our own manners and -institutions. But this consideration, though it should bespeak -indulgence for the unavoidable errors even of the most diligent -investigator, can certainly be no reason for abstaining from all further -investigation. For, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which we -labour, it is still possible to extract from the fragments remaining of -ancient literature materials for reconstructing something more than the -skeleton of antiquity. We can invest the bones with sinews and muscles, -clothe them with flesh and skin, spread over the whole colours that -shall resemble life; and if we cannot steal from heaven celestial fire -to kindle this image of surpassing beauty, that, at least, is the only -thing which exceeds our power. - -In saying this, I merely state my opinion of what is possible, not by -any means what I conceive myself to have effected in the present work. I -am but too sensible of how far the execution falls short of “the ample -proposition that hope made,” when, many years ago, the idea suggested -itself to me at that ardent and flattering season of life in which we -are apt to imagine all things within our reach. But as - - Every action that hath gone before - Whereof we have record, trial did draw - Bias, and thwart; not answering the aim - And that unbodied figure of the thought - That gave ’t surmised shape; - -so, no doubt, in my own case, the realisation will be found to be a very -imperfect embodying of the ideal plan. - -Few subjects, however, abound more in interest or instruction than the -one I have here ventured to treat. The inquiry turns upon the -institutions and moral condition of a people to whose fortunes history -affords no parallel; of a people that, like the cloud no bigger than a -man’s hand, which the servant of the prophet saw from the top of Carmel, -contained within itself the seeds of mightiest and most momentous -events. The Hellenes can never, in fact, by any but the uninformed be -regarded in the same light as ordinary political communities. Their -power, vast and astonishing for the age in which they flourished, arose -entirely out of their national character and the spirit of their -institutions. It was the power of intellect. They were in reality the -sun and soul of the ancient world, and darted far into the darkness -around them those vivifying rays which, reflected from land to land, -have since lighted up the world. - -Athens, the wisest and noblest of Grecian states, - - Mother of arts - And eloquence, - -was the great preceptress of mankind. The spirit of her laws, -transmitted through those of Rome, still pervades the whole civilized -world. Her wisdom and her arts form, in all polished communities, a -principal object of study; and to comprehend and to enjoy them is to be -a gentleman. Sallust, therefore, notwithstanding his genius and -sagacity, took but a commonplace view of national greatness, when he -considered that of Athens to be chiefly based on the splendour shed -around her achievements by historians. Her triumphs, it is true, were -not effected by vast military masses, such as those which many barbarous -nations in different ages have put in motion for the purpose of spoil or -conquest. Athens built her glory on other foundations. She could not, -indeed, lead countless armies into the field, but she knew how, with a -little band, to defeat those who could. In the days of her freedom no -human force could subdue her. To effect this, every man within the -borders of Attica must have been exterminated; for so long as an -Athenian was left, the indomitable spirit of democracy would have -survived in him and sufficed to kindle up fresh contests. - -But the energies of Athens, how great soever, did not, like those of -most other states, develope themselves chiefly in war. It is the -characteristic of barbarians to destroy, but to create nothing. The -delight and glory of the people of Athens consisted, on the contrary, in -the exercise of creative power, in calling into existence new arts, -founding colonies, widening the circle of civilisation, covering the -earth with beautiful structures, sacred and civil; in producing -pictures, statues, vases, and sculptured gems, of conception and -delicacy of workmanship inimitable. Wherever the Athenian set his foot, -the very earth appeared to grow more lovely beneath it. His genius -beautified whatever it touched. His imagination vivified everything. He -spread a rich mythological colouring over land and sea. Gods, at his -bidding, entered the antique oak, sported in the waters of brook and -fountain, scattered themselves in joyous groups over the uplands and -through the umbrageous valleys, and their voices and odoriferous breath -mingled with every breeze that blew. - -In the distant colonies whither he betook himself, when poverty had -relaxed the chain that bound him indissolubly to the Attic soil, a few -years saw a new diminutive Athens springing up. The Pnyx, the Odeion, -the Theatre of Bacchos, the Prytaneion, the Virgin’s Fane, rose on a -diminished scale around him, presenting an image, though faint, of his -earlier home, the loveliest, undoubtedly, and, after Jerusalem, the most -hallowed spot ever inhabited by man. Above all things, he was everywhere -careful to enjoy the blessings of his ancestral institutions, and -listened, as in the mother city, to those popular thunders which, thrice -in every month, rolled from the bema over the assembled crowd, -communicating pleasurable emotions to his mind, and rousing continually -the passion for freedom. - -It were needless to dwell at any considerable length on the naval and -military achievements of the Athenians. The world is still full of the -victories of Marathon, Salamis, and Platæa, and the soil, drenched in -defence of liberty with Attic blood, is to this day sacred in the eyes -of the most phlegmatic. I appeal in proof of this to every man’s daily -experience: for does not the bare mention of any spot where the great -Demos triumphed or suffered some national calamity, make the blood bound -more rapidly and tingle in our veins? Even the grovelling and -worldly-minded, who affect to consider nothing holy but Mammon, can have -fire struck out of their cold natures by the spell of those glorious -syllables; for virtue, and valour, and that religious link which binds -the soul to the spot where a mother’s dust reposes, are found, and will -ever be found, to kindle warm admiration in every heart. And never since -society began did these great qualities develope themselves more visibly -than among the people of Athens. For this reason, who can visit -Syracuse, or the shores of the Hellespont, or the site of Memphis’s -White Castle, without experiencing as he gazes on the scene an -electrical thrill of mental anguish at the recollection of what Athenian -citizens more than two thousand years ago suffered there? Even -Thermopylæ, glorious as it is, scarcely stirs our nature so deeply as -Marathon; for the coarser and more material genius and institutions of -Sparta, the nurse of those heroes who fell at the Gates of Hellas -inspire less of that fervent admiration which the great actions and -great men of Athens awaken in every cultivated mind. - -Of the political institutions which throughout Hellas influenced so -powerfully the developement of the national character, it is not my -design in the present volumes to speak. I confine myself entirely to the -other causes which rendered the ancient Greeks what they were; reserving -the examination of their forms of government for a separate treatise. -The subject here discussed possesses sufficient interest of itself. It -has been my aim to open up as far as possible a prospect into the -domestic economy of a Grecian family, the arts, comforts, conveniences, -regulations affecting the condition of private life, and those customs -and manners which communicated a peculiar character and colour to the -daily intercourse of Greek citizens. For, in all my investigations about -the nature and causes of those ancient institutions which, during so -many ages constituted the glory and the happiness of the most highly -gifted race known to history, I found my attention constantly directed -to the circumstances of their private life, from which, as from a great -fountain, all their public prosperity and grandeur seemed to spring. - -Indeed, the great sources of a nation’s happiness and power must always -lie about the domestic hearth. There or nowhere are sown, and for many -years cherished by culture, all those virtues which bloom afterwards in -public, and form the best ornaments of the commonwealth. Men are -everywhere exactly what their mothers make them. If these are slaves, -narrow-minded, ignorant, unhappy, those in their turn will be so also. -The domestic example, small and obscure though it be, will impress its -image on the state; since that which individually is base and little, -can never by congregating with neighbouring littleness, become great, or -lead to those heroic efforts, those noble self-sacrifices, which elevate -human nature to a sphere in which it appears to touch upon and partake -something of the divine. - -By minutely studying, as far as practicable, those small obscure -sanctuaries of Greek civilisation—the private dwellings of Attica--I -hoped to discover the secret of that moral alchemy by which were formed - - Those dead, but sceptred sovereigns who still rule - Our spirits from their urns. - -In these haunts, little familiar to our imagination, lay concealed the -germs of law, good government, philosophy, the arts, and whatever else -has tended to soften and render beautiful the human clay. That this was -the case is certain; why it should have been so, we may perhaps be -unable satisfactorily to explain; but that is what we shall at least -attempt in the present work, and for this purpose, it will at the first -glance be apparent, that the most elaborate delineation of the political -institutions of Athens must prove altogether insufficient. These were -but one among many powerful causes. The principal lay deeper in a -combination of numerous circumstances:—a peculiarly perfect and -beautiful physical organization; a mind fraught with enthusiasm, force, -flexibility, and unrivalled quickness; a buoyancy of temper which no -calamity could long depress; consequent, probably, upon this, a strong -religious feeling ineradicably seated in the heart; an unerring -perception of the beautiful in art and nature; and lastly, the enjoyment -of a genial climate, and an atmosphere pure, brilliant, and full of -sunshine as their minds. - -Races of men, though not in precisely the same manner as individuals, -yet exhibit, at particular periods of their history, a freshness, a -vigour, a disinterestedness, like that of youth; and, because this state -of feeling may more than once occur in the course of their career, they -seem to spring, like Æson, out of convulsions and apparent dissolution -to a state of perfect rejuvenescence. Calamity and suffering purify -whole communities as they do individuals. In the boiling and commotion -of revolutions the impurities of the national character bubble upwards -and are skimmed away by the iron hand of misfortune. These political -convulsions are, in fact, so many efforts of nature to expel some -disease lurking in the constitution, and which, though the race be -immortal, might, if suffered to remain in the frame, produce a lethargy -worse than death. This truth we should bear constantly in mind; for -among the characteristics of the Athenian constitution, not the least -remarkable are the many efforts it made to right itself, and adapt its -framework to the changing circumstances of the times. - -In the present inquiry we must, as I have already said, discover, if we -can, how much Hellas owed to its climate, to its position on the globe, -and to the physical organization of its inhabitants. It would be absurd -to infer with some writers, that the influence of these circumstances is -imaginary, because Greece seems to remain where it was of old, and the -constitution and temperament of the people to be likewise unchanged. But -this is not the case. Greece no longer occupies in the map of the world -the position it occupied in antiquity. It has been lifted out of the -centre of civilisation, to be cast upon its outskirts, or, which is the -same thing, civilisation has shifted its seat. Nor are the Greeks any -longer what they formerly were, though perhaps by a fortunate -combination of circumstances they might still be rendered so. At present -there is the same difference between them and their ancestors as between -a jar of Falernian, and an empty jar. The clay, indeed, is there, -beautifully moulded, and the purple hue of life is on the cheek; but -tyranny from the battle of Cheronæa, - - “That dishonest victory - Fatal to liberty!” - -until now has been draining out the soul. In the day when Hellas was -itself its children walked in light, in the first beautiful light of the -morning, which long seemed to shine only upon them; and now, perhaps, -after the revolution of a cycle almost equal to the Great Year, they -may, probably, be approaching another dawn. - -Comparing the several states of Greece together, it is customary to -bestow the palm of energy and military valour upon the Spartans, who -made war their sole profession, and passed their lives as it were in the -camp from the cradle to the grave. But, in thus deciding, justice is -scarcely done to the character of Athens; for, if the former excelled in -discipline, to the latter belonged, indisputably, the superiority in -native courage. Trained or not trained they faced whatever enemy -presented himself, and won at least as many laurels from Sparta, on the -ocean, as the Doric State, in all its wars, ever gathered on land. And, -lastly, at Platæa, among which race, among Ionians or Dorians, was most -activity manifested? In whose ranks was found the greatest ardour to -engage? Who bore the first brunt of the Median horse, and broke the -dreaded shock of that vaunted Asiatic chivalry which the Barbarian hoped -would have trampled down with its innumerable hoofs the spirit of -Grecian freedom? This was effected by the Athenians; by those gay and -seemingly effeminate soldiers, who went forth from their beautiful city -curled, perfumed, clad in purple, as to the mimic combats of the -theatre. The spirit of their commonwealth, all splendour without and all -energy within, urged them to the field. Their cry at the approach of the -king was “Freedom or honourable graves!”—such as their countrymen had -ever been wont to repose in. - -In fact, the Athenians, under a free government, had learned what it was -to live—had imbibed from their education the feeling, that if deprived -of such a government, if reduced to bow beneath the yoke of despotism, -to die, if the Apostle’s words may without blame be thus applied, would -be gain. It will readily be conceived that the citizens of such a state -felt an impassioned attachment to their country,—an attachment -unintelligible to persons living under any other form of civil polity. -Athens was the cradle of their freedom and their happiness. There was a -religion in the love they bore it; they had, according to mythical -traditions, which they believed, sprung on that spot from the bosom of -the earth. It stood, therefore to them in the dearest of all relations, -being, to sum up everything holy in one word,—their MOTHER; and they -embodied their profound veneration for the sacred spot in every fond, -every endearing, epithet their matchless language could supply. Even the -gods, in their patriotic partiality, were believed to look on Athens as -the most lovely, no less than the most glorious city on the broad -earth,—an idea which they expressed by representing Poseidon and Athena -contending for the honour of becoming their tutelar divinity. - -To persons so thinking no calamity short of the entire extinction of -their race could appear so intolerable as beholding that sacred city, -with the tombs of their ancestors, the sanctuaries of their gods, the -venerable but immoveable symbols of their faith and mythological -history, delivered over to be trodden down or obliterated with sword and -fire by barbarian slaves, strong only from their countless numbers. Yet -even to this did the love of freedom reconcile the Athenian people. They -abandoned their holy place, and, embarking on board the fleet with their -wives and children, took refuge in Trœzen and Salamis. History has -described in touching language the circumstances of this event, than -which it has nothing more pathetic to record save, peradventure, the -carrying away of Judea and her children into captivity. I will not -disturb its archaic simplicity. No eloquence could heighten its effect. -It goes at once to the heart and rouses our noblest sympathies. “The -embarkation of the people of Athens was a very affecting scene. What -pity, what admiration of the firmness of those men who, sending their -parents and families to a distant place, unmoved with their cries and -embraces, had the fortitude to leave the city and embark for Salamis! -What greatly heightened the distress was the number of citizens whom, on -account of their extreme old age, they were forced to leave behind. And -some emotions of tenderness were due even to the tame domestic animals -which, running to the shore with lamentable howlings, expressed their -affection and regret for the persons by whom they had been fed. One of -these, a dog belonging to Xanthippos, the father of Pericles, unwilling -to be left, is said to have leaped into the sea and to have swam by the -side of the galley till it reached Salamis, where, quite spent with -toil, it immediately died. And they show, to this day, a place called -Cynossema—‘the dog’s grave’—where they tell us it was buried.”[1] - -Footnote 1: - - Plutarch, Life of Themistocles, in Langhorne’s plain and vigorous - translation. - -The Athenian people, on this and similar occasions, were enabled to -resolve and perform boldly from the generous spirit inspired by their -national system of education. Their institutions, also, were eminently -calculated to bring into play the energies of every individual citizen, -and to diffuse in consequence through the whole community a grandeur of -sentiment and an heroic enthusiasm peculiar to free states. At Athens -whoever possessed the means of serving his country could easily, -whatever might be his rank, make those means known, and bring them into -operation. If he were virtuous his virtue was remarked and placed him on -the road to promotion. If genius constituted his title to distinction, -if nature had gifted him with the power to serve the state, the state, -without inquiry whether he were poor or rich, readily availed itself of -his capacity, rewarded him during his life with political honours and -authority, and, after his death, with imperishable glory. If in war he -performed any act of superior conduct or courage, a general’s name was -his reward; if he received wounds that name, or the hope of it, healed -them; if in the achieving of any heroic deed he perished, his country, -he knew, would honour his ashes, watch over his memory, and, with words -powerfully soothing because embodying a nation’s sympathy, dry up the -tears of his parents and beloved children. He knew that his glory, -heightened by matchless masters of eloquence, would flash like lightning -from the bema; that lovely bosoms would beat high at his name; that -hands, the fairest in Greece, would yearly wreath his tomb with -garlands; and that tears would be shed for ever on the spot by the -brave. - -If children remained behind him, the state would become their parent; -every Athenian would share with them his salt; would impart to them -their best inheritance—the feeling of patriotism and an inextinguishable -hatred of tyranny; would repeat to them with unenvious pride the eulogy -of their father, and point daily to the laurels which kept his grave -ever green. The Athenian was taught, from the cradle, to consider death -beautiful when met on the red battle-field in defence of his home. And, -according to the creed of his country, he believed that his spirit would -in such an event be numbered among the objects of public worship. Hence -the sublimity, the thrilling power of that oath in Demosthenes, who, in -swearing by the souls of those that fell at Marathon, accomplished their -apotheosis and placed them among the gods of Athens. - -That such were the habitual feelings of this most gallant and -generous-minded people appears even from the admission of their -bitterest enemies. “They,” observe, in Thucydides, the Corinthian -ambassadors, when urging Sparta into the Peloponnesian war,—"they push -victory to the utmost, and are least of all men dejected by defeat; -exposing their bodies for their country as if they had no interest in -them, yet applying their minds in the public service as if that and -their private interest were one. Disappointment of a proposed -acquisition they consider as a loss of what already belonged to them; -success in any pursuit they esteem only as a step towards farther -advantages; and, defeated in any attempt, they turn immediately to some -new project by which to make themselves amends: insomuch, that, through -their celerity in executing whatever they propose, they seem to have the -peculiar faculty of at the same time hoping and possessing. Thus they -continue ever amid labours and dangers, enjoying nothing through -sedulity to acquire; esteeming that only a time of festival in which -they are prosecuting their projects; and holding rest as a greater evil -than the most laborious business. To sum up their character, it may be -truly said, that they were born neither to enjoy quiet themselves, nor -to suffer others to enjoy it."[2] - -Footnote 2: - - Mitford, History of Greece, iii. 53. - -The feeling that what they fought for was their own, which accounts for -the heroism of Hellenic armies, likewise led, particularly at Athens, to -the beautifying and adorning of the city, and the perfection of public -taste. The people saw among them no palaces devoted to the private -luxuries of a despotic court, where persons maintained at the public -expense learn to look with contempt on the honest hands that support -them. There, whatever was magnificent belonged to the people at large, -no private individuals, during the best ages of the commonwealth, -presuming, how great soever might be their talents or their influence, -to arrogate to themselves more than can be due to individuals, or to -enshrine their perishable bodies in buildings suited only to the worship -of God. Yet, in genuine grandeur, no monarch, with the wealth of half a -world at the disposal of his caprice, ever rivalled the Athenian people. -True taste, the genuine sense of the beautiful and the sublime, will, -while the world endures, refuse to be the subject of a tyrant, or to -inhabit the same city with him; because no patronage, pensions, or -lavish expenditure, can create in one state of society what belongs to -another; and pure taste being nothing more than the cultivated popular -feeling spontaneously expanding, can nowhere exist but in a free state. -A prince may, doubtless, know what pleases him; but the people only can -tell what pleases the people, which nothing certainly will unless it be -produced expressly for them, without the slightest reference to any -other person. - -Such, in the best periods of Grecian history, were the Athenians. Among -them Nature generally was allowed to make herself heard; from the cradle -upwards it was their guide. A pure religion they had not, or pure -morality. Far from it; they barely caught indistinct glimpses of what in -faith and practice is true and beautiful. Nor could it be otherwise; for -the sun had not then risen, and men but felt their way uncertainly and -timidly amid the obscurities of the dawn. Nevertheless, the light -vouchsafed them they did not spurn. According to the best notions then -prevailing, they were of all men the most pious; and though of this -piety much, nay, the greater part, was superstition, yet, doubtless, -God, according to the saying of the Apostle, accounted it unto them for -righteousness, that, having not the law, they were a law unto -themselves. - -The Spartans, on the other hand, were mere monastic soldiers, brave, -indeed, and true as their swords, but ungifted with those loftier and -more exquisite sympathies which properly constitute the beauty of human -character, and are alone the parents of love. Few, perhaps, were all -things within their reach, would choose to be citizens of Sparta; while -no one, for whom the poetry of life has any charms, would hesitate, -after his own country, perhaps, to select Athens for his home. And that -this is no scholastic fancy created by literary preferences is clear -from the practice of antiquity. Every man possessing superior genius, -whether sprung from Ionic or Doric race, betook himself to Athens, as to -the Greece of Greece—the common country of letters, sciences, and arts. -Thither, too, as now to London, fled the oppressed and persecuted of all -lands, and there they found welcome and encouragement. It was the great -asylum, the common city of refuge to all men. Strangers who could be -content with hospitality and generous protection were never driven from -thence. There every man might live as he pleased, think as he pleased, -and utter freely what he thought. The recorded instances of persecution -are barely sufficiently numerous to serve as exceptions to the general -rule; and in Gorgias of Leontium, Polos, Protagoras, Prodicos, Hippias, -“and what the Cynic impudence uttered,” we discover to how great an -extent the spirit of toleration was carried at Athens. It would be -absurd to object the examples of Anaxagoras, Aspasia, and Socrates; for -these were merely instances of the rage of party spirit, from which, -while men continue men, no state will ever be free, and can no more be -imputed to the Athenian people, or to the spirit of their government, -than the execution of Sir Thomas More, or Cranmer, or Fisher, can be -laid to the charge of the English Constitution. - - - - - CONTENTS - OF THE FIRST VOLUME. - - ------- - - BOOK I. - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. Original Inhabitants of Hellas 1 - II. Character of the Greeks 29 - III. Geographical Outline 51 - IV. Capital Cities of Greece—Athens 70 - V. Capital Cities of Greece—Sparta 92 - - - BOOK II. - - EDUCATION. - - I. Theory of Education.—Birth of Children.—Infanticide 107 - II. Birth-feast.—Naming the Child.—Nursery.—Nursery 128 - Tales.—Spartan Festivals - III. Toys, Sports, and Pastimes 144 - IV. Elementary Instruction 164 - V. Exercises of Youth 189 - VI. Hunting and Fowling 206 - VII. Schools of the Philosophers and Sophists 233 - VIII. Education of the Spartans, Cretans, Arcadians,&c. 265 - IX. Influence of the Fine Arts on Education 289 - X. Hellenic Literature 314 - XI. Spirit of the Grecian Religion 349 - - BOOK III. - - WOMEN. - - I. Women in Heroic Ages 369 - II. Women of Doric States 382 - III. Condition of unmarried Women.—Love. 401 - - - - - THE HISTORY - OF THE - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS - OF - ANCIENT GREECE. - - - - - BOOK I. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF HELLAS. - - -The country of the Hellenes, which, in imitation of the Romans, we -denominate Greece, was to its own inhabitants known by the name of -Hellas. But the signification of this term was not fixed, being -sometimes confined to Greece Proper, at others, comprehending likewise -the possessions of the Hellenes in Asia; that is, Hellas within and -beyond the Ægæan, as we now say, India within and beyond the Ganges.[3] -The progress of the name seems to have been as follows: it designated, -originally,[4] a city of Thessaly, built by Hellen son of Deucalion; -next, Phthiotis; the whole of Thessaly; all Greece, with the exception -sometimes of Peloponnesos, sometimes of Macedonia, sometimes,—which is -very remarkable,—of Thessaly itself; sometimes of Epeiros; then all -Greece within the Ægæan; afterwards all countries inhabited by Greeks in -whatever part of the world; and, lastly, it would appear to have been -occasionally employed to signify Athens alone.[5] The most ancient name, -Pelasgia, sprang from the race who first, perhaps, peopled that part of -Europe. - -Footnote 3: - - Paus. v. 21. 10. Palm. Desc. Gr. Ant. p. 32. Exercit. p. 397. - -Footnote 4: - - Il. β. 190. Strab. ix. 5. 297. Tauchnitz. with the authorities quoted - by Palmerius, Græc. Ant. i. 3. - -Footnote 5: - - Fisch. ad Theoph. Char. p. 5. L. Bos. Ant. Gr. Zeun. i. 1. - -Nearly all writers who treat of Grecian history or antiquities, have -ventured more or less upon inquiries respecting the original inhabitants -of the country, some contending that it was peopled by many independent -races, while others content themselves with supposing one primary stock. -To arrive at certainty in such investigations is scarcely to be hoped -for, since, over the whole field, facts have moved in so close a -conjunction with fables, “that the most which remaineth to be seen, is -the show of dark and obscure steps where some part of the truth hath -gone.”[6] It appears, however, to be a fact established, that the -Hellenes were not the first who occupied Greece. They were preceded by a -number of tribes all apparently of Pelasgian origin. But who and what -the Pelasgians were, how and whence they came into the country, and by -what gradations and influences they were ripened into Hellenes, or were -by these expelled from the land, are questions to which no satisfactory -answers have ever been given, but must still be discussed whatever the -result of the investigation may be. - -Footnote 6: - - Hooker, Ecc. Pol. i. p. 95. - -Even the name of this people has opened up an endless labyrinth of -conjecture, at least among the moderns, for the ancients when such -points were to be cleared up, easily removed the difficulty by inventing -a hero or a demigod, with an appellation exactly suited to their -purpose. Thus from Hellen they derived the name of the Hellenes, from -Heracles that of Heracleidæ, from Ion that of the Ionians, and from -Pelasgos, the son sometimes of Zeus, sometimes of Poseidon, sometimes of -Triops or Inachos or Lycaon or Palachthon or of the earth itself,[7] -that of the Pelasgi. An Attic writer, familiar with this question, and -hinting at a part of the theory which I have adopted, imagines the name -of Pelasgi to have been at first bestowed on the race because they -usually made their appearance on the shores of Hellas like migratory -birds in spring.[8] But though conjecture in such matters may amuse, it -is not likely, at this distance of time, to lead to truth. - -Footnote 7: - - Paus. viii. 1. 6; ii. 14. 4; 22. 1. Herod, ii. 56. Æsch. Prom. 859. - Supp. 248. Nieb. Hist. of Rome, i. 24. Apollod. ii. 1. Serv. ad Æn. i. - 628; ii. 83. Sch. Apol. Rhod. i. 580. Tzetz. ad Lyc. 177. 481. Natal. - Com. p. 96. and conf. Palm. Græc. Ant. p. 41. sqq. Exercit. p. 527. - with Buttm. Lexil. p. 155. - -Footnote 8: - - Philochor. Siebel. p. 14. - -The ancients had evidently formed no theory as to whence the Pelasgi -came, but were satisfied with the notion of their autochthoneïty,[9] -which we cannot adopt. It must be acknowledged, however, that we are -little able to trace them with certainty beyond the limits of Greece, -before their arrival in that country. My own opinion is, that when the -migrations began from that vast and lofty table land of Central Asia, -which formed the primitive abode of mankind, and where the mother -language of the Sanskrit, the Greek, and many other dialects was first -spoken, the illustrious race, afterwards known under the name of -Pelasgi, moved westward by the Caspian, along the Caucasian range, -through Armenia and Kourdistân, until they descended into the plains of -Asia Minor. Here we seem to touch upon the obscurest verge of Grecian -fable, for the tradition which sent Argo to Colchis, at the Eastern -extremity of the Black Sea, evidently contemplated the people of the -land as a kindred race, of similar faith, character, and manners. By -what precise channel the stream of population rolled westward, cannot be -determined: but here and there, on the southern shores of the Euxine, we -discover some obscure footsteps of the parents of the Greeks, as they -continued their journeyings towards the land which they were afterwards -to encircle with glory. Moving through Pontos, Paphlagonia, and -Bithynia, they appear everywhere to have made settlements on the coast, -until they reached the narrow stream of the Bosporos, over which they -threw themselves into Europe. - -Footnote 9: - - Marsh. Chron. Sec. ix. p. 130. - -Up to this point we have little whereon to build our conclusions, save -what is supplied by the general theory of ancient migrations, and what -appear to be facts dimly seen within the extreme orbit of mythology. The -ancients themselves seem to have obtained some uncertain glimpses of -links connecting their ancestors with Asiatic Scythia, for there were -those among them who represented the Caucons of Paphlagonia stretching -along the banks of the Parthenios, and between the Maryandinians and the -sea, as a nation of Scythian origin. Now the Caucons were undoubtedly -Pelasgians, as were the Phrygians, the Carians, and the Leleges, who, -united by the ties of blood, flocked to the defence of Troy.[10] In a -much remoter age, the heroes of the traditional Argo were, it is said, -confounded by night at Cyzicos,[11] in Mysia, with the warlike Pelasgi, -even then masters of the sea, and accustomed with their galleys to vex -the coast and plunder the settled inhabitants. I regard the working of -the gold and silver mines on the southern shores of the Euxine, anterior -to the Trojan war, as another proof of the settlement of the Pelasgi in -that part of Asia Minor;[12] and who but they, at a period beyond the -reach of tradition, could have opened those gold mines on the shores of -Thrace, which on his conquest of the country Philip of Macedon found to -have been long ago worked and abandoned by some unknown people?[13] - -Footnote 10: - - Strab. viii. 3. p. 127. - -Footnote 11: - - Apollod. i. 9. 18. The mythology describes the Pelasgi as driven out - of Thessaly by the Æolians, and, under the guidance of Cyzicos, taking - possession of the peninsula of that name previous to the Argonautic - expedition. They fought with the Argonauts, and were afterwards - expelled by the Tyrrhenians, who in their turn were driven out by the - Milesians. Phot. Bib. p. 139. a. 25. Bekk. - -Footnote 12: - - Il. β 857. - -Footnote 13: - - Payne Knight, on the Worship of Priapus, p. 147. - -Be this as it may, it was over the Bosporos and through Thrace that the -Pelasgi seem to have made their earliest approaches towards Greece. The -Thracians themselves were of Pelasgian origin. Thracians inhabited both -sides of the Bosporos; traces of Pelasgian settlements and Pelasgian -names are likewise found on both sides. The stream of knowledge -unquestionably poured through Thrace into Greece; and it is highly -probable that the stream of population had, at a remoter period, flowed -in the same channel. Once in Macedonia, the adventurers would be tempted -southward by the beauty of the climate and country; so that while some -moved up the valley of the Haliacmon, others, perhaps, took possession -of the ridge of Olympos, Ossa and Pelion, where they were known under -the names of Centaurs and Lapithæ.[14] From these lofty ridges they -looked down upon the great lake which in those ages covered the whole -plain of Thessaly, and, following the ramifications of the mountains, -peopled Pelasgian Argos, Phthiotis, and the roots of Œta, while the -lowlands were still under water: thence, too, they crossed over into -Eubœa, where they assumed the names of Macrones[15] and Curetes. This -latter tribe settling at Chalcis,[16] and having been worsted in a -contest for the Lalantian plain, fled across the Euripos, and traversing -the whole of Bœotia, founded a new settlement about Pleuron in Ætolia, -and gave the name of Curetis to the whole country. Hence, also, in -process of time, they were driven by the Ætolians from Pisa in Elis, -upon which they took refuge in Acarnania.[17] - -Footnote 14: - - Λέλεγας γάρ φασι πρότερον αὐτοὺς προσαγωρευομένους, διὰ τὸ ἀποκεντῆσαι - τοὺς ἵππους προσαγορευθῆναι Ἱπποκενταύρους. Sch. Pind. Pyth. ii. 78. - Cf. Schœll. Hist. de la Lit. Grecq. i. 4. seq. - -Footnote 15: - - Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 1024. Cf. Winkel. Hist. de l’Art. i. 317. - -Footnote 16: - - Strab. x. 3. p. 349. - -Footnote 17: - - Strab. x. 3. p. 349. Sch. Pind. Olymp. iii. 19. Pliny, iv. 2. Eustath. - ad Il. β. 637. Certain ancient writers maintained that the Ætolians - were called Curetes by Homer; and at a still earlier period Hyantes, - and the country Hyantis.—Steph. Byzant. _v._ Αἰτωλ. p. 71. a. Palm. G. - Ant. p. 426.—Acarnania itself was formerly called Curetis.—Demet. ap. - Steph. _v._ Ἀθῆν. p. 45. a. Hard. ad Plin. iv. 2. p. 7. - -But the principal tribe, and that which subsequently spread throughout -Greece, after filling with population the valley of the Haliacmon, -traversing the Caulavian range, and descending along the course of the -Aoös, seem on the banks of the Celydnos, to have turned their faces -southward. Following that stream upwards towards its source, they found -themselves in Epeiros, a land abounding with water brooks, with lovely -mountains, and lovelier valleys, and at length settled, and erected -themselves lasting habitations in the sacred neighbourhood of -Dodona,[18] where the first oracle known to the Hellenes flourished -under the protection of the Pelasgian Zeus.[19] - -Footnote 18: - - Strab. vii. 7. p. 124. seq. Hesiod. Frag. 54. et 124. Gœttl.—A second - Dodona is supposed to have existed in Thessaly.—See Thirl. Hist. of - Greece, i. 36.—Cf. Buttm. Diss. de orac. Dodon. Orat. Att. vii. 133. - sqq. - -Footnote 19: - - Il. π. 233. - -Up to this point we have been treading, with little or no light to guide -us, over a soil shifting, unsure, and treacherous; but here we touch -upon comparatively firm ground, while the light of poetry dawns around, -and enables us to direct our footsteps towards the luminous terra firma -of history. - -It must not be denied that much of the foregoing theory is erected on -inference and conjecture. Nevertheless, it rests in part on facts which -an historian ought not to reject. For example, though it be nowhere, -perhaps, distinctly stated that the Thracians were entirely of Pelasgian -origin, we are compelled by various circumstances to believe that such -was the case: first, Samothrace on the coast was undoubtedly peopled by -Pelasgi;[20] secondly, the Macedonians, plainly of the same stock with -the Thracians, are acknowledged to have been Pelasgi;[21] and since the -Illyrians likewise were a kindred people,[22] we have a line of -Pelasgian settlements stretching along the whole northern frontier of -Greece, the Ægæan, the Hellespont, and the Propontis, from the Adriatic -to the Black Sea. The chain of proofs, indeed, is not complete, but -appears and disappears alternately, like the stream of the Alpheios, -though little doubt can be entertained of the existence of the links -which happen to lie out of sight. In nearly every part of Macedonia the -footsteps of the Pelasgi are clearly discernible; at Crestona,[23] on -the Echidoros in Pœonia; in Emathea, and Bottiœa;[24] and looking at the -language of the country, we find it at all times to have been identical -with that of Greece. That the same thing must be predicated of Thrace, -even in the remotest ages, appears indisputably from this, that her -bards, Thamyris and Orpheus traversed the whole of Hellas, and sang -their wisdom to its inhabitants; while Olen coming from Lycia, a -Pelasgian settlement,[25] likewise brought his kindred songs to the same -tolerant and hospitable land. - -Footnote 20: - - Herod. ii. 51. - -Footnote 21: - - Justin. vii. 1. Thucyd. ii. 99. - -Footnote 22: - - Müller, Dor. i. 2. - -Footnote 23: - - Herod, i. 57.—On the situation of this city see Poppo, Proleg. ad - Thucyd. ii. p. 383. - -Footnote 24: - - Justin, vii. 1. Æsch. Supp. p. 261. Cf. Thucyd. iv. 109. - -Footnote 25: - - Diod. v. p. 396. Wesseling. - -But to follow the movements of the Pelasgi through Greece itself, where, -though no chronology of events can be attempted, our views rest on a -stable foundation. Much, however, of our reasoning will be confused or -perhaps unintelligible, if it be not borne in mind that the name of the -Pelasgi, like that of the Tartars or Arabs, was a general appellation -applied to the whole race, while the several tribes bore separate -denominations; as the Chaones,[26] the Dryopes, the Leleges, the -Caucons, the Cranaans, with many others,[27] precisely as among the -Arabs, we find the Ababde, the Mahazi, the Beni Sakker, &c. The -Pelasgian tribe which first made its appearance, and became powerful in -Epeiros, a country not to be separated from Greece, was that of the -Chaones, whose chief seat was Cheimera,[28] at the foot of the Ceraunian -mountains. An obscure scholiast, indeed, denominates them -barbarians;[29] but as from the best authority we know them to have been -Pelasgi, this shows the value of the term in the mouth of the later -writers. Another class,—the Levites, perhaps, of those primitive -people,—settled amid the oak forests which surrounded the lovely lake of -Dodona, where under the name of Selli,[30] they founded the most -celebrated oracle of early antiquity. In their habits they remind us of -the Sanyasis, and other religious anchorites of India, living from views -of penance with unwashed feet, and sleeping on the bare ground. Other -tribes renowned of old in Epeiros, and all Pelasgian,[31] were the -Thesprotians, the Molossians, the Perrhæbians, and the Dolopians, the -last rough mountaineers inhabiting both the eastern and western slopes -of Pindos.[32] - -Footnote 26: - - Steph. Byz. _v._ Χαονία, p. 753. g. - -Footnote 27: - - Hermann, however, (Polit. Ant. p. 14,) imagines that the Caucons, - Leleges, &c. were independent races, though less civilised and - illustrious than the Pelasgi. - -Footnote 28: - - Plin. iv. 1. - -Footnote 29: - - Schol. ad Aristoph. Eq. 78. - -Footnote 30: - - Aristot. Meteorol. i. 14. p. 39.—Il. π. 234. seq. - -Footnote 31: - - Steph. Byz. _v._ Ἔφυρα, p. 367. c. Strab. vii. 7 p. 119. See also - Müll. Dor. i. 6. Plut. Pyrrh. 1.—See the authorities collected by - Niebuhr, i. 26. - -Footnote 32: - - Dolops was the son of Hermes, and dying in the city of Magnesia in - Thessaly, had there a tomb erected by the sea-shore. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. - i. 587. 558. - -When Epeiros had been thus thickly sprinkled with settlements, an -earthquake appears to have produced in the range of Pelion the narrow -precipitous gap, afterwards known as Tempe, by which the waters of the -Thessalian lake discharged themselves into the sea. This happened, we -are told, while one Pelasigos[33] reigned over the mountaineers in the -district of Hæmonia. They were celebrating a great feast, when a certain -slave named Peloros, brought them tidings of what had come to pass, -speaking with admiration of the vast plains which were appearing through -the ebbing waters. In gratitude for the news he communicated, they -caused the man to seat himself at table while both the king and his -attendants, in the joy and fulness of their hearts ministered to him. -This, it is said, was the origin of the Pelorian festival, afterwards, -down to a very late period, celebrated with great pomp and magnificence -in Thessaly, where, for the day, masters changed condition with their -slaves, and became their servants.[34] The same festival in the -Pelasgian settlements of Italy was known down to the latest times, under -the name of Saturnalia. - -Footnote 33: - - Palmer. Exercit. p. 527.—Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 500.—Dion. Hal. i. 3. 1. - -Footnote 34: - - Athen. xiv. 45. - -On the interior of Thessaly becoming thus habitable, the Pelasgian -tribes of Epeiros, beginning to be straitened for room, and feeling -still the original wandering impulse, poured over the heights of Pindos -into the valleys of Histiæotis, and moved eastward along the foot of the -Cambunian mountains, settling every where as they advanced. The tribe -which took this direction bore the name of Perrhæbians, and left traces -of their movements in the great Perrhæbian forest, stretching to the -foot of Olympos, and in the name of the whole district extending from -the Peneios to the northern limits of Thessaly. In this rich and fertile -tract they became powerful, spreading their dominion along the banks of -the Peneios, quite down to the sea. But the Lapithæ rising into -consequence and overcoming the Perrhæbians in battle, reduced a portion -of the tribes under their yoke, while the remainder, enamoured of -independence, retreated inland, again crossed the Pindos, and -established themselves in the upper valley of the Acheloös. About the -same time, perhaps, a fragment of this tribe traversing the whole of -Thessaly crossed over into Eubœa, where they subdued and took possession -of Histiæotis. It was possibly the entrance of these adventurers into -the island, pushing fresh waves of population southward, that caused the -contest for the Lalantian plain, and the emigration of the Curetes to -the continent. - -Other Pelasgian tribes established themselves, and became illustrious in -Thessaly. The Centaurs, for example, a Lelegian clan inhabiting Mount -Pelion, where they were, perhaps, the first tamers of the horse, whence -the fable of their double form. Other sections of the Leleges were also -found in Thessaly,[35] as were also the Dryopes. In this country,[36] -notwithstanding that it must be regarded upon the whole as only the -second stage of the Pelasgians in their migrations southward, we find -more traces of their power and influence than anywhere else in Northern -Greece. Here were two cities, called Larissa; here was Pelasgian -Argos;[37] here, too, was a great district known by the name of -Pelasgiotis, while that of Pelasgia seems to have preceded Thessaly as -the appellation of the whole province.[38] This people, like most -others, seem to have had a number of names, to which they were -peculiarly attached, which we nearly always find reappearing wherever -they formed a settlement. Generally, too, it may be regarded as certain -that the more northern were the most ancient: thus we find Pelagonia in -the kingdom of Macedon and in Thessaly; Larissa[39] on the Peneios; -Larissa Cremaste near the shore. The Dryopes,[40] again, appear first in -Epeiros, not far from Dodona; next we find them in Thessaly, then in -Doris, finally in Peloponnesos; and Strabo is careful to remark that the -last-mentioned were an off-shoot from those in the north. - -Footnote 35: - - Serv. ad. Æn. viii. 725. - -Footnote 36: - - Paus. iv. 36. 1. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. ii. 1239. - -Footnote 37: - - Pliny, iv. 14.—Even Phthiotis itself, one of the earliest cradles of - the Hellenes, is recorded to have been a Pelasgian settlement. Sch. - Apoll. Rhod. i. 14.—Cf. ad. i. 40. 580. - -Footnote 38: - - Sch. Apoll. Rhod. iv. 26.; i. 906. 580. - -Footnote 39: - - Steph. Byzant. _v._ Λάρισσ. p. 511. b, c, d. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 40. - -Footnote 40: - - That the Dryopes were Pelasgi, appears from this:—they received their - national appellation from Dryops, son of Lycaon, (Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. - 1218,) who was himself the son of Pelasgos.—Suid. _v._ Λυκ. Cf. Etym. - Mag. 154, 7. 288, 32. Paus. viii. 2. 1. - -From Thessaly the tide of population rolled southward;[41] different -tribes of Pelasgi, under the name of Leleges, Hyantes, Aones, and -Dryopes taking possession of the mountains and valleys of Doris, Locris, -Phocis, and extending their migrations into the plains of Bœotia. From -thence, across the isthmus, some few straggling hordes appear to have -found their way into Peloponnesos, where, as shepherds, they gradually -diffused themselves over its rich plains. All the Pelasgi in fact appear -like the Arabs and Tartars to have been originally Nomades, different -tribes of whom, as they were tempted by the beauty of particular -regions, quitted their wandering life, as the Arabs have done in Egypt, -Yemen, and elsewhere, and from shepherds became husbandmen. In process -of time, the descendants of the settlers, accustomed to the easy and -luxurious life of cities, learned to look back upon their wandering -ancestors as a wretched and a barbarous race. Indeed, they sometimes -speak of them[42] after their arrival in Peloponnesos as cannibals, -naked, houseless, ignorant of the use of fire, on a level, in short, -with the fiercest and most brutal savages existing in the islands of the -Pacific. But these erroneous ideas evidently arose from the theory of -autochthoneïty which supposes man to have gradually ripened out of a -beast into a man; whereas, the low savages discovered in various parts -of the world, do not represent the original state of mankind, but are -mere instances of extreme degeneracy. In fact, a different set of -traditions also prevailed among the Greeks, which, referring evidently -to the period when their ancestors were Nomades, spoke with rapture and -enthusiasm of their happy and tranquil life, when, following their -flocks from vale to vale and from stream to stream, they fed upon the -spontaneous productions which nature spread before them. On this period -the poets bestowed the name of the Golden Age, and, perhaps, if examined -philosophically, there is no stage in the history of civilisation at -which there is so much to enjoy and so little to suffer, as when the -whole nation are shepherds, and happen to light upon a land where, as -yet too few to inconvenience each other, they can live unmolested by -foreign tribes. - -Footnote 41: - - Just. xiii. 4.—The Epicnemidian Locrians were anciently called - Leleges, and by them the channel of the Cephissos was opened to the - sea.—Pliny, iv. 12. Solin. vii. p. 55. Bipont. Hesiod. Frag. 25. - Gœttl. Strab. vii. 7. p. 115; ix. 1. p. 248. Scymn. Chius, p. - 24.—Phot. Bib. 321. b. - -Footnote 42: - - Mnaseas of Patræ ap. Sch. Pind. Pyth. iv. 104.—Dion. Hal. (Ant. Rom. - i. 31) is one of those writers who considers the Pelasgi miserable - because they were wanderers. Upon this notion Palmerius remarks - judiciously: “Sed si tales migrationes miseræ sunt, miserrimi olim - Galli majores nostri, qui usque in Asiam, post multas errores, armis - victricibus penetrâsse historiæ omnes testantur, et hoc seculo - miserrimi Tartari et Arabes, qui Nomadice vivunt, et sedes identidem - mutantes, non se miseros existimant, et id genus vitæ Attalicis - conditionibus mutare recusarent.”—Græc. Antiq. p. 60. - -It has now been shown how Hellas might have been entirely peopled from -the north; but certain traditions, prevailing from the earliest times, -compel us to admit that some portion, at least, of its population -reached it by a different route; that is, through Asia Minor and the -islands. I have already alluded briefly to the existence of a Pelasgian -tribe in Paphlagonia,[43] that is to say, the Caucons, whose -establishment in this region supplies a link in the chain of proofs by -which we endeavour to connect the Pelasgi with the Scythians of Central -Asia; for the Caucons are admitted to have been of Pelasgian origin, and -an opinion prevailed among the ancients that they were likewise -Scythians.[44] Thus we find that certain Scythians settled in -Paphlagonia, were called Caucons, that the Caucons were Pelasgi, and -that the Pelasgi peopled Greece. The Greeks, therefore, by this account, -traced their origin to Scythia. Circumstances connected with the -geography of Asia Minor and of Hellas, seem to furnish traces of the -route of the Pelasgi westward. It appears to have been among the -primitive articles of their creed, that the deity delighted to abide on -the summits of lofty and even of snowy mountains; and whenever in their -settlements the features of the earth presented any such towering -eminence, they seem to have bestowed on it the name of Olympos, or -Celestial Mansion.[45] Immediately south of the Cauconian settlements, -on the limits of Bithynia and Galacia, we accordingly find a mountain of -this name; again, travelling westward, we have another Mount Olympos, on -the northern confines of Phrygia; a third meets us in the island of -Lesbos;[46] a fourth in Cypros, a fifth in Arcadia,[47] a sixth in Elis, -and a seventh, best known of all, near the cradle of the Hellenes in -Thessaly. In Mysia,[48] the footsteps of the race are numerous; -Pelasgian cities—Placia, Scylace, Cyzicos, Antandros—studded the coast; -inland there was a Larissa;[49] and the lovely-leafed evergreen, which -shaded the slopes and crags of the Trojan Ida, was named the Pelasgian -laurel.[50] Other facts there are connecting the Trojans with the -Pelasgian stock: thus the Caucons, whom we find among their allies in -Homer, are called a Trojan tribe; the language of Troy was evidently a -Pelasgian dialect, closely allied to the Greek,[51] which may likewise -be predicated of the Phrygian, the Lydian, the Carian, the Lycian -extending along the whole western coast of Asia Minor. The gods, -oracles, rites, ceremonies of all these people appear in early times to -have been identical with those of Hellas, and mythology represents the -heroes of both continents as sprung from the same gods. Nay, positive -testimony describes the Pelasgi as a great nation, holding the whole -western coast of Asia Minor, from Mycale to the Hellespont;[52] and -speaks of the Leleges as inhabiting a part of Caria, where their -deserted fortifications, called Lelegia,[53] apparently of Cyclopian -construction, were still found in the time of Strabo,[54] together with -their tombs, probably barrows, resembling those scattered through -Peloponnesos, and called the “Tombs of the Phrygians.”[55] Similar -sepulchral relics of Carian dominion were found and opened by the -Athenians in the purification of Delos.[56] Possibly, too, the tumuli, -existing to this day in Tartary, and occasionally rifled by the -Siberians, mark the original seat of the Pelasgi in Asia; though similar -monuments are found in other parts of the East, as in Nubia, where I -counted a cluster of ten or twelve, and nearly all over Europe. Homer -speaks of one on the plains of Troy, and the Greeks themselves cast up -barrows over their heroes, as Ajax, where - - “Far by the solitary shore he sleeps.” - -Footnote 43: - - According to the reading of Callisthenes, Homer himself fixes their - residence in Paphlagonia.—Cf. Strab. xiii. p. 16. viii. p. 157. Sch. - Hom. Υ. 329.—Unless we adopt this reading we must suppose with the - Scholiast, that they were not separately mentioned in the catalogue, - because Homer confounded them with the Leleges, or because they - arrived late in the war. - -Footnote 44: - - Οἱ μὲν Σκύθας φασὶν, οἱ δὲ τῶν Μακεδόνων τινὰς, οἱ δὲ τῶν Πελασγῶν. - Strab. xiii. p. 16.—To the same tradition alludes the Scholiast: Ἔθνος - Παφλαγονίας, οἱ δὲ Σκυθίας· οἱ δὲ τοὺς λεγομένους Καυνίους εἴπον. Il. - κ. 429. - -Footnote 45: - - In the dialect of the Dryopes, this mountain was known by the name of - Βηλὸς, by which word the Chaldæans denoted the highest circle of the - heavens.—Etym. Mag. 196. 19 seq. - -Footnote 46: - - Plin. v. 39. - -Footnote 47: - - Paus. viii. 38. 2. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 599. Meurs. Cypr. i. 28. p. - 76. Steph. Byzant. _v._ Ὄλυμπ. p. 612. e.—Mention, moreover, is made - of an eighth Olympos in Cilicia. (Sch. Apoll. ut sup.)—A ninth in - Lycia. (Plin. xxi. 7.) - -Footnote 48: - - Phot. Bib. 139. a. 12. 25. Herod. vii. 42. cf. i. 57. Pomp. Mela. i. - 19. - -Footnote 49: - - Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 40. - -Footnote 50: - - Pliny, xv. 39. - -Footnote 51: - - Plato, Cratyl. I. iv. p. 58.—See, likewise, Müller (Dor. i. 9–11), - where, however, too much ingenuity by far is displayed. Another proof - of relationship is supplied by Homer (Il. ρ. 288) who represents - Hippothoös, a Pelasgian, insulting the body of Patroclos.—Strab. xiii. - 3. p. 142.—Niebuhr (i. 28) conjectures that the Trojans were not a - Phrygian, but a Pelasgian tribe; though, in reality, both Phrygians - and Trojans sprang from the same stock. - -Footnote 52: - - Strab. xiii. 3. p. 144. - -Footnote 53: - - Paus. vii. 2. 8. - -Footnote 54: - - W. f. 7. p. 114.—The Carians themselves are said to have lived - habitually amid inaccessible rocks.—Schol. Arist. Av. 292. - -Footnote 55: - - Athen. xiv. 21. - -Footnote 56: - - Thucyd. i. 8. - -Not to omit any material facts, on which my view of Pelasgian history is -founded, I shall proceed to mention in order the principal points on the -Asiatic shore where the footsteps of the Pelasgi appear. We find, then, -that they occupied the greater part of Lydia,[57] and at the time of the -Ionian migration held the citadel of Ephesos. They, too, in conjunction -with the Nymphs were the founders of the temple of Hera at Samos,[58] -and crossing the Mæander they re-appear again at Miletos on the coast of -Caria. Indeed this city[59] was originally, from its inhabitants, called -Lelegeis, though it afterwards was known under a variety of names, as -Pituoussa from the surrounding pine woods, Anactoria, and lastly, -Miletos. A little further southward was another Lelegian settlement at -Pedasos on the Satneios.[60] From a passage in Homer it has been -supposed that the Carians and Lelegians were distinct races, but in -reality the Carians were a Lelegian tribe;[61] that is Pelasgi, who like -the Hellenes in Greece, gradually acquired power and dominion, and -eclipsed their brethren. This they were enabled to do by applying -themselves passionately to the use of arms, a circumstance which at a -later period led them to make a traffic of their valour and hire their -swords to the best bidder. In earlier and better times they achieved -conquests for themselves, and rivalling the Phœnicians in maritime -enterprise and success, reduced under their sway the greater number of -the Ægæan islands,[62] and even some portion of the Hellenic continent -itself.[63] Certain clans of this martial race sought an outlet for -their restless daring by joining the Cilicians[64] in their piratical -enterprises, and probably it was in this character that they first -obtained possession of some of the smaller isles. Positive historical -testimony there seems to be none for fixing the Pelasgi in Cypros,[65] -though we cannot doubt that it was included in their dominions, from the -ruins of Cyclopian fortresses still found there, and the Olympian Mount -already mentioned. In Rhodes, however, and Samos antiquity speaks of -their settlements;[66] they, too, were the earliest inhabitants of -Chios,[67] whence they sent forth a colony to Lesbos,[68] which received -from them the name of Pelasgia. They expelled the Minyans from -Lemnos,[69] which afterwards, through fear of Darius, their king ceded -to the Athenians,[70] and held Imbros[71] and Samothrace[72] in the -north; Scyros, too, was originally named Pelasgia.[73] Andros was -peopled by one[74] of their colonies, and Delos, as we have already -seen, held their bones until they were cast forth by the Athenians. But -it is unnecessary to enumerate each separate point, since we know -generally that all the Ægæan isles were anciently in their -possession,[75] and that even the great island of Crete formed, in -remote ages, a portion of their empire. Here under the names of Curetes, -Corybantes, Telchines and Dactyli,[76] they flourished in the mythical -times, and were the reputed preservers and nurses of the infant Zeus, a -god pre-eminently Pelasgian, so that wherever his worship was found I -regard it as a proof that the Pelasgi had settled there. - -Footnote 57: - - Paus. vii. 2. 8. Steph. Byzant. _v._ Ἀγύλλα, p. 30, d. Ed. Berkel. - -Footnote 58: - - Athen. xv. 12. Thirl. Hist. of Greece, i. 43. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 14. - -Footnote 59: - - Pliny, ii. 31. Steph. de Urb. _v._ Μίλετ. p. 559. b. c. Eustath. in - Dion. Perieg. 825. 456. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 186. - -Footnote 60: - - Il. φ. 86. Cf. Sch. ad κ. 429. - -Footnote 61: - - A glimpse of this fact is obtained from a tradition preserved by - Hecatæos:—Τοὺς δὲ Λέλεγας τινὲς μὲν τοὺς αὐτοὺς Καρσὶν εἰκὰζουσιν. - Strab. vii. 7. p. 114. From other authorities we learn that the - Carians were regarded as Pelasgians.—Habitator incertæ originis. Alii - indigenas, sunt qui Pelasgos, quidam Cretas existimant. Pomp. Mela, i. - 16.—See likewise Barnes ad Eurip. Heracl. 317. But the strongest - testimony is that of Herodotus, i. 171. - -Footnote 62: - - Strabo, xiv. 2. p. 208. Thucyd. i. 8. - -Footnote 63: - - Strabo, viii. 6. p. 204. - -Footnote 64: - - Strab. ap. Palmer. Gr. Ant. i. 10, p. 65. Serv. ad Æn. viii. 725. We - again find these two people united at Troy; but not mentioned in the - catalogue, because their leader had fallen and there were few of them - left to be ranged under Hector. Their leaders were Helicon and his - sons. Their capital city “Thebes with lofty gates” had been sacked by - Achilles. Strab. xiii. 3. p. 141. - -Footnote 65: - - Travels of Ali Bey. - -Footnote 66: - - Phot. Bib. 141. a. - -Footnote 67: - - According, however, to a tradition preserved by Ephoros, the city of - Karides, in this island, was founded by those who escaped with Macar - from the Deluge of Deucalion. Athen. iii. 66. - -Footnote 68: - - Plin. v. 39. - -Footnote 69: - - Paus. vii. 22. - -Footnote 70: - - Suid. _v._ Ἑρμώνιος χάρις. t. i. p. 1044. - -Footnote 71: - - Herm. Pol. Antiq. p. 13. Herod. vi. 138, 140. v. 26. - -Footnote 72: - - Herod. ii. 51. - -Footnote 73: - - Thucyd. i. 98. cum not. Wass. - -Footnote 74: - - Phot. Bib. 139. a. - -Footnote 75: - - Phot. Bib. 141. a. Both the island of Lesbos, and its city Himera were - called Pelasgia. Pliny, v. 39. - -Footnote 76: - - Serv. ad Æn. iii. 131. Strabo, x. 3. Pelasgic remains are still found - in the island. Pashley, Trav. in Crete, i. 152. - -Passing thus from island to island in the very infancy of navigation, -the Pelasgi appear by way of the Sporades and Cycladæ, to have migrated -into Peloponnesos, first landing at Argos. Probably on their arrival -they found there some few inhabitants who by the isthmus had entered and -scattered themselves at leisure over the peninsula. But whether this was -so or not, certain it is that the oldest legends of Hellenic mythology -allude to the peopling of Argos by sea, representing Inachos, its first -ruler, as a son of the ocean.[77] From this chief, whether historical or -fabulous, the principal river of Argos received its appellation, and -members of his family bestowed their names on Argolis first, and -afterwards on the whole of Peloponnesos, which from Apis was denominated -Apia;[78] from Pelasgos, Pelasgia;[79] and from another prince so -called, it received the name of Argos.[80] In this division of Hellas, -which the rays of poetry and mythology unite to render luminous, the -Pelasgi[81] seem early to have struck deep root, and made a rapid -progress in civilisation. Here, accordingly, in historical times were -found the most numerous monuments of their power and grandeur; and here, -in the treasury of Atreus and the walls of Tiryns denominated Cyclopian, -we still may contemplate proofs of their opulence and progress in the -arts. Among them would appear to have existed a class or caste named -Cyclops, addicted extremely to handicrafts, particularly building. These -it was who erected the walls and citadel of Argos,[82] on which they -bestowed the name of Larissa, together with certain labyrinths, said to -have existed in the neighbourhood of Nauplia. Mycenæ appears to have -been the most ancient capital of the country, built while the site of -Argos was yet a marsh,[83] or perhaps under water; then came Tiryns, and -lastly Argos. Other early seats of the Pelasgi were at Epidauros and -Hermione.[84] - -Footnote 77: - - Apollod. ii. 1. Keightley, Mythol. 405. - -Footnote 78: - - Cf. Athen. xiv. 63. - -Footnote 79: - - Tzet. ad Lyc. 177. Plin. iv. 5. Sch. Apoll. Rhod. i. 1024. Nic. - Damasc. in Exc. p. 492. - -Footnote 80: - - Sch. Eurip. Orest. 1245. - -Footnote 81: - - Æsch. Supp. 642. 919. - -Footnote 82: - - Strab. viii. 6. p. 202. Müll. Dor. i. 90. Frag. Incert. Pind. p. 660. - Diss. - -Footnote 83: - - Aristot. Meteorol. i. 14. p. 38. - -Footnote 84: - - Strab. viii. 6. p. 204. - -But the province of Peloponnesos which the Pelasgi most delighted to -consider their home, was the rough, wild, and elevated table land of -Arcadia,[85] resembling on a small scale their original seat in central -Asia; belted round by mountains with many streams and rivers pouring -down their sides: here long shut out from commerce with the rest of -mankind they multiplied in ease and security, and became a great -nation,[86] who, to express the idea of their own extreme antiquity, -professed themselves to be older than the moon.[87] Having lost all -tradition of their arrival in the country, they looked upon themselves -as autochthons, and regarded their mountain-girt land as the great -reservoir of Pelasgian population,[88] whence its colonies like streams, -flowed outwards, and peopled the rest of Hellas; and probably it was -thence that the first emigrants descended into the valley of the -Eurotas, spread themselves through Laconia, and found a mountain on -which they bestowed the holy name of Olympos. In this province one of -the most famous of the Pelasgian tribes, is by some traditions said to -have had its origin; for Lelex,[89] who gave his name to the Leleges, -they fabled to have been an autochthon of Laconia, and down even to the -times of Pausanias an heroum was shown at Sparta erected in honour of -his name. Undoubtedly a mythical legend connected with this hero was -deeply interwoven with the fabulous history of Laconia. His son Eurotas -was the father of Sparta, wife of Lacedæmon, who gave his name to the -country. He had two daughters, Amycla and Eurydice, the latter of whom -became the wife of Acrisios.[90] The Acarnanians, however, had among -them a tradition which made Lelex an autochthon of Leucadia,[91] and the -people of Megara spoke of one Lelex[92] who arrived in their country by -sea from Egypt. - -Footnote 85: - - Which Strabo (viii. 3, 157,) says was the original seat of the - Caucons. - -Footnote 86: - - Sch. Apoll. Rhod. iv. 264. - -Footnote 87: - - Clem. Alex. i. 6. - -Footnote 88: - - Herod. i. 146. Pliny iv. 10. Nic. Damasc. in Exc. p. 494. Paus. viii. - 1. 4. - -Footnote 89: - - Paus. iii. 12. 5.—i. 1. The country, moreover, obtained the name of - Lelegia, iv. i. 1. - -Footnote 90: - - Apollod. iii. 10. 3. - -Footnote 91: - - Strab. vii. 7. p. 115. - -Footnote 92: - - From whom the people were called Leleges. Paus. i. 39. 6. He was said - to be the son of Poseidon and Libya, and his tomb was shown near the - sea-shore, 44. 3. - -To proceed, however, with the traces of the Pelasgi in Peloponnesos. It -has sometimes been supposed that no proof exists of their having held -any part of this peninsula excepting Argos, Achaia and Arcadia;[93] but -erroneously, for we have seen the Leleges, a Pelasgian tribe, in -Laconia; and we find a settlement of the Pelasgi in Messenia. Here also -at Andania flourished the Pelasgian worship of the Dii Kabyri from -Samothrace;[94] colony of Leleges, under Pylos, son of Cleison, settled -at Pylos on the Coryphasian promontory.[95] The Caucons held -Cyparissos;[96] that is both in the interior of Messenia and along the -sea coast we find settlements of the race which peopled the whole -peninsula. Passing northward into Elis, we immediately on crossing the -Neda find Caucons in the Lepreatis,[97] where, probably, in proof that -the tribe originated there, they showed in Strabo’s[98] time the tomb of -Caucon. They had likewise a river Caucon[99] in the north of Elis, and -in short the whole country from the Neda to the Larissos bore anciently -the name of Cauconia.[100] Some, however, maintain that they were found -only at three points on the coast, that is, in the south of -Triphylia,[101] in the north near Dyme, and at Hollow Elis on the -Peneios, which Aristotle considered their chief seat.[102] Nevertheless -Antimachos regarded the Epeians as Caucons,[103] and since these -inhabited the whole western coast from Messenia northward, we must -consider Elis as the principal though not the original seat of this -tribe; for we find them represented as issuing from Arcadia, and we have -already shown that they were settled in Paphlagonia, and were -denominated a Trojan tribe. - -Footnote 93: - - Thirl. Hist. of Greece, i. 38. - -Footnote 94: - - Paus. iv. 1. Müll. Dor. i. 116. - -Footnote 95: - - Paus. iv. 36. i. - -Footnote 96: - - Strab. viii. 3. 156. - -Footnote 97: - - Ibid. viii. 3. 152. - -Footnote 98: - - Ibid. viii. 3. 157. - -Footnote 99: - - Ibid. viii. 3. 151. - -Footnote 100: - - Ibid. viii. 3. 157. - -Footnote 101: - - Ibid. viii. 3. 151. The Caucons, however, mentioned by Athena in the - Odyssey (θ. 366.) were different from those of Triphylia. The - Triphylian Caucons held all the land lying south-east of Pylos on the - way to Lacedæmon. Strab. viii. 3. 157. - -Footnote 102: - - Strab. viii. 3. 157. - -Footnote 103: - - Ibid. - -Turning our faces eastward from the promontory Araxos, we discover along -the coast a chain of Pelasgian settlements founded by Ionians from -Athens.[104] To complete our list of proofs that there was no spot in -all Hellas not possessed by the Pelasgi, we find a prince of that race, -and named Pelasgos, receiving the goddess Demeter at Corinth in the -remotest periods of the mythology.[105] - -Footnote 104: - - Herod. vii. 14. - -Footnote 105: - - Paus. i. 14. 2. - -Thus, then, we have traced this illustrious people under various names -through every region of Greece, save Attica; and there also they were -found, but whether they arrived by land or sea, I profess myself wholly -unable to determine. A modern historian[106] who experienced the same -difficulty, observes, that the Ionians appear to have dropped from -heaven into Attica. Unquestionably we do not know whence they came, and -as their own legends represent them as autochthons[107] we can expect no -aid from tradition. The most probable supposition is, that when the -migratory hordes were pushing southward from Thessaly, some clans, more -fortunate than the rest, traversing the heights of Cithæron soon found -themselves in possession of this unfertile but lovely land, covered in -those ages with forests, diversified by hill and dale, and breathing -perfume from every thicket. The succeeding tide of emigration breaking -against the ridge of Cithæron seems to have turned westward and flowed -into the Peloponnesos, leaving Attica unmolested. Some have regarded its -own barrenness as the rampart which protected it from invasion. But why -may we not suppose that the inhabitants finding themselves thriving and -tranquil, resolved early to fight for their possessions, and hedged -themselves from invasion by courage and arms? be this as it may, Attica -was the first part of Hellas that enjoyed permanent exemption from war, -so that the olive, its principal ornament and riches, became in all -after ages the emblem of peace. Once settled in this country the Pelasgi -were never driven thence,[108] nor did they ever receive any -considerable mixture of foreign settlers. Individuals from time to time -were permitted to take up their abode among them; but, in this favoured -spot, unalloyed by foreign mixture, the Pelasgic genius completely -developed itself, and reached the highest pitch of civilisation known to -the ancient world. - -Footnote 106: - - Müll. Dor. i. 12. - -Footnote 107: - - Sch. Arist. Acharn. 75.—Nubb. 971. - -Footnote 108: - - Herod. i. 56. vii. 161. Lesbon. Protrept. ii. 22. f. Conf. Wessel. ad - Herod. p. 26. - -The earliest name bestowed on the Pelasgian tribe which held Attica was -that of Cranaans;[109] but whether they were so distinguished before -their migration thither, or, which is more probable, derived their -appellation from the rocky nature[110] of their country, does not -appear. Like most of the ancient nations, however, they frequently -changed their name: at first perhaps simply Pelasgi, next Cranaans, then -Cecropidæ and Ionians; afterwards, under the reign of Erechtheus they -obtained from their patron divinity the name of Athenians, by which they -have been known down to the present day. Among the fables of the -mythology we discover traces of several attempts at disputing with the -Aborigines the sovereignty of Attica. Thus Eumolpos, with a colony of -Thracians, is by one tradition said to have obtained possession of the -whole country,[111] while another and more probable legend represents -him as settling with a small band at Eleusis, where his family during -the whole existence of Paganism exercised the office of priests of -Demeter.[112] The Cretans again under Minos sought to obtain a footing -in the country; but the close of the tradition which speaks of this -invasion shows that though disgraceful to Attica it was without any -permanent result. Afterwards, when the unsettled Pelasgi had degenerated -into pirates and freebooters, a powerful band of them appears to have -found its way thither, and obtained a settlement in the immediate -neighbourhood of the capital,[113] on condition, apparently, of -labouring at the erection of walls round the Acropolis. A portion of the -fortifications is said to have been completed by these marauders, and to -have obtained from them the name of the Pelasgian wall. But even these -strangers were not suffered to remain; quarrels arising either about the -land which the Pelasgi had obtained on the slopes of Hymettos, or on -account of violence offered to certain Athenian maidens descending to -the fountain of Callirrhoë for water. The emigrants were expelled and -took refuge in Lemnos. In revenge for what they regarded as an injury, -they carried away a number of Attic virgins who were celebrating the -festival of Artemis at Brauron, which led in after times to the capture -of Lemnos by Miltiades. - -Footnote 109: - - Herod. i. 57. viii. 44. - -Footnote 110: - - Suid. _v._ Κραν. t. i. p. 1518. d. - -Footnote 111: - - Strab. vii. 7. p. 114. - -Footnote 112: - - Palmer. Græc. Antiq. p. 62. - -Footnote 113: - - Paus. ii. 8. 3. Philoch. p. 13. Siebel. Herod. ii. 51. seq. - -It seems to result from the above inquiry that every district in Hellas -was originally peopled by the Pelasgi, which the poets in after ages -expressed by saying that a king of that nation reigned over the whole -country as far northward as the Strymon in Thrace.[114] - -Footnote 114: - - Æschyl. Suppl. 259. sqq. - -We have shown that their dominions extended much further, and included -not Thrace only, beyond the limits of Greece, but a great part likewise -of Asia Minor and nearly every island in the Ægæan. But even these -spacious limits were not wide enough to contain the whole Pelasgian -population; for traversing the Adriatic, they penetrated into Etruria, -and there and elsewhere in Italy, under the name of Tyrrhenians, erected -Cyclopian cities, and deposited the germs of its future -civilisation.[115] Hence the great resemblance which historians and -antiquaries have observed between the Etruscans and the Greeks. Both -were offshoots from the great Pelasgic stem; though the simplicity of -the original race in religion and manners maintained longer its ground -in Italy than under the warmer skies of Greece. In these more western -settlements, however, new tribes sprang up, who in glory eclipsed the -mother race, which they learned to regard with contempt, so that they -bestowed the name of Pelasgi on their slaves. A similar circumstance had -previously occurred in Asia Minor, where the Carians reduced to -servitude such of their brethren as in later times retained the name of -Leleges.[116] - -Footnote 115: - - Gœttl. ad Hes. Theog. 311. 1014. Οἱ Τυρσηνοὶ δὲ, Πελασγοί. Sch. Apoll. - Rhod. 580. The Pelasgi were the founders of Agylla, afterwards Cære in - Etruria. Steph. Byzant. v. Ἀγύλλα, p. 30. d. Plin. iii. 8. Serv. ad - Æn. viii. 479, who also gives another tradition according to which - Agylla was built by Tyrrhenians from Lydia. Cf. Vibius, Sequest. 421, - who says that the Tuscans were Pelasgi. The Poseidoniatæ, a Tuscan - tribe, entirely forgot their original language, the manners of their - country, and all its festivals, save one, in which they assembled to - repeat the ancient names of kings, and recall the remembrance of their - original home. They then separated with groans, cries, and mingling - together their tears.—Athen. xiv. 81. The Bruttii are said to have - been driven out of their country by the Pelasgi (Plin. iii. 8); who - also settled in Lucania and Bruttium (9, 10). Pelasgi came out of - Peloponnesos into Latium, settled on the Sarna, called themselves - Sarrhastes, and built, among others, the town of Nuceria.—Serv. ad Æn. - vii. 738. A different tradition brings them from Attica; another from - Thessaly, because of the many Pelasgian relics found there.—Idem. - viii. 600. Dion. Hal. i. 33. - -Footnote 116: - - Nieb. i. 22. Steph. Byzant. _v._ Χῖος, p. 758. b. Victor. Var. Lect. - i. 10. Athen. vi. 101. - -If now we cast a rapid glance over the sciences and civilisation of the -Pelasgi, we shall probably have acquired as complete an idea of that -ancient people as existing monuments enable us to frame.[117] Tradition -attributed to them the invention of several arts of primary necessity, -as those of building houses and manufacturing clothing, which they did -from the skins of wild boars, the animals first slain by man for food. A -relic of this primitive style of dress remained, we are told, to a very -late age among the rustics of Phocis and Eubœa.[118] Other traditions -will have it that mankind fed on grass and herbs until the Pelasgi -taught them the greater refinement of feeding upon acorns. But leaving -these poetical fancies, we shall find in many genuine monuments and -facts undisputed proofs of the power and knowledge of the Pelasgi. In -the first place, they it was who bequeathed to their Hellenic -descendants some knowledge, though imperfect and obscure, of the true -God.[119] In their minds the recognition of the unity of the Divine -Being formed the basis of theology, and the philosophers of after ages -who reasoned best and thought most correctly rose no higher on these -points than their rude ancestors. - -Footnote 117: - - See Nieb. i. 24. - -Footnote 118: - - Paus. viii. 1. 5. - -Footnote 119: - - Herod. ii. 32. 51. Plato, Tim. t. vii. 22–31. 96. 142. - -But the natural tendency of the human mind to error soon disturbed the -simplicity of their faith; for as the tribes separated, each taking a -different direction, they all in turns learned to consider the God as -their patron, so that speedily there were as many gods as tribes, and -polytheism was created. Thus the Pelasgi, who had at first like the -polished nations of modern times no name for _the gods_, because they -believed in but one, degenerated in the course of time, and invented -that system of divinities and heroes which afterwards prevailed in -Greece. They, too, it was, who in the developement of their superstition -made the first steps towards the arts by setting up rude images of the -powers they worshipped, and to them accordingly the introduction of the -Hermæan statues at Athens is attributed.[120] There was likewise in a -temple of Demeter between mount Eboras and Taygetos, a wooden statue of -Orpheus, supposed to be the workmanship of the Pelasgi.[121] Evidently -too, the worship of Demeter, and of all the rural gods grew up -originally among them, as did likewise the adoration of supreme power -and supreme wisdom in Zeus and Athena.[122] - -Footnote 120: - - Herod. ii. 51. - -Footnote 121: - - Paus. iii. 20. 5. - -Footnote 122: - - We find mention, too, of a Pelasgian Hera, Alex. ab. Alex. p. 321. - Sch. Apol. Rhod. i. 14. - -Usually the Pelasgi are considered as a much wandering people,[123] -though it would be more correct to represent them, like the Anglo-Saxon -race in modern times, as the prolific parents of many settlements, -spreading widely, but taking root wherever they spread. A proof of this -still exists in the vast structures[124] which they reared, whose ruins -are yet found scattered through Asia, Greece, and Italy. These Cyclopian -buildings, palaces, treasuries, fortresses, barrows, were not the works -of nomadic hordes, but of a people attached to the soil and resolute in -defending it. Navigation, likewise, they cultivated, and were among the -earliest nations who possessed a power at sea,[125] which led -necessarily to the study of astronomy, together with the occult science -of the stars.[126] Of their progress in the more ordinary arts of -utility we have very little knowledge, but we find in the Iliad a -Pelasgian woman staining ivory to be used as ornaments of a -war-horse;[127] the invention of the shepherd’s crook was attributed to -them; so likewise was the religious dance called Hyporchema;[128] their -proficiency in music is spoken of;[129] and their pre-eminence in war -was signified by representing them as inventors of the shield.[130] - -Footnote 123: - - Strab. xiii. 3. p. 144. - -Footnote 124: - - Serv. ad Æn. vi. 630. Winkelmann, ii. 557. On the Cyclopian walls of - Crotona. Mus. Cortonen. pl. i. Rom. 1756. - -Footnote 125: - - Palm. Gr. Ant. p. 60. Herm. Pol. Ant. p. 13. - -Footnote 126: - - Palm. Gr. Ant. p. 72. - -Footnote 127: - - δ. 142. Sch. Apol. Rhod. iii. 1323. Natal. Com. 611. - -Footnote 128: - - Phot. Bib. 320. b. - -Footnote 129: - - They were the inventors of the trumpet. Πελασγιὰς ἔβρεμε σάλπιγξ, - Nonn. Dion. 47. 568. Cf. Paus. ii. 21. 3. Gœttl. ad Hes. Theog. 311. - -Footnote 130: - - Serv. ad Æn. ix. 505. - -On the language of the Pelasgi various opinions are entertained. Some, -relying on particular passages in ancient writers, have imagined that it -was very different from the Greek,[131] but although in support of such -an opinion much ingenuity may be exhibited there are circumstances which -compel us to reject it. The Athenians and Arcadians, for example, though -of Pelasgian origin, spoke, and that from the remotest times, the same -language with the rest of the Greeks; and though the Æolic dialect,[132] -the most ancient in Arcadia, or indeed in all Greece, was transformed to -Latin in Italy, we are not on that account to infer that Latin bore a -closer resemblance than the Greek to the mother tongue of both. The -Pelasgian language indeed appears to have been the Hellenic in the -earlier stages of its formation, just as the Pelasgi themselves were -Greeks under another name and in a ruder state of civilisation. Whether -they possessed any knowledge of written characters before[133] the -introduction of the Phœnician we have now no means of ascertaining, the -passages usually brought forward in behalf of such an opinion being of -small authority. To them, however, tradition attributes the introduction -of letters into Latium,[134] and there can be no doubt that the use of -written characters was known in Greece before its inhabitants had ceased -to be called Pelasgi. - -Footnote 131: - - Nieb. i. 23. - -Footnote 132: - - Palm. Gr. Ant. p. 55. - -Footnote 133: - - See, however, the question discussed in Palmerius, Gr. Ant. p. 49. - sqq. Conf. Eustath. ad Il. β. 841. - -Footnote 134: - - Plin. vii. 56. Tacit. Annal. xi. 14. et Rupert ad loc. Hygin. Fab. - 277. p. 336. - -I have now, I imagine, proved that the Pelasgi whencesoever they came, -occupied, under one name or another, the whole continent of Greece and -most of the islands. The Athenians, and consequently the Ionians, are on -all hands acknowledged to have sprung from the Pelasgian stock. It only -remains to be shown that the Dorians also traced their origin to this -people, and we shall be satisfied that the whole of the illustrious -nation, known to history under the name of Greeks, flowed from one and -the same source. The Hellenes, of whom the Dorians were a tribe,[135] -occupied in later times the south of Thessaly, but at a much earlier -period, along with the Selli,[136] dwelt in the mountainous tracts about -Dodona, where they were known under the name of Greeks or -mountaineers,[137] which was the original signification of the term. -This district of Epeiros, it has been shown, was among the very earliest -of the Pelasgian settlements, from which of itself it might be inferred -that the Hellenes were Pelasgi. We are not left to rely in this matter -on mere inference, since Herodotus states distinctly that they were a -fragment of the Pelasgi.[138] - -Footnote 135: - - Serv. ad Æn. ii. 4. - -Footnote 136: - - Aristot. Meteorol. i. 14. p. 39. - -Footnote 137: - - Palm. Gr. Ant. 5. - -Footnote 138: - - I. 58. - -It will be seen that I have hitherto made no allusion to the received -fables about Egyptian and Phœnician colonies.[139] Nevertheless it is -quite possible that on many occasions certain fugitives, both from -Phœnicia and Egypt, may have taken refuge in Greece, and been permitted, -as in after ages, to settle there. These persons, coming from countries -farther advanced in civilisation, would undoubtedly bring along with -them a superior degree of knowledge in many useful arts, which, in -gratitude for their hospitable reception, they would undoubtedly -communicate to the inhabitants. But the most active agent in the -diffusion of civilisation was probably commerce, which, by bringing -neighbouring nations into close contact, by enlarging the sphere of -their experience, and teaching them the advantages to be derived from -peaceful intercourse, has in all ages softened and refined mankind. When -the use of letters began first to prevail in the East is not known, but -it was probably communicated early to the Pelasgi, along with the -materials for writing; and whatever inventions were made on either side -of the Mediterranean passed rapidly from shore to shore, so that the -civilisation of the Egyptians, Phœnicians, and Greeks, advanced -simultaneously, though the beginnings of improvement were undoubtedly -more ancient on the banks of the Nile and among the maritime Arabs than -in Hellas. The amount, however, of eastern influences I conceive was not -great, and as to colonies, properly so called, with the exception of -those already described from Asia Minor, I believe there never were any. - -Footnote 139: - - See Mitford (Hist. of Greece, 81. ff.) who is full of these colonies. - Herod. i. 2. Conf. Thirl. i. 185. Keightley, Hist. of Greece, p. 11. - Müll. Dor. i. 16. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - CHARACTER OF THE GREEKS. - - -Having in the foregoing chapter endeavoured to ascertain by what races -Greece was originally peopled, we shall next speak of the character and -physical organization of its inhabitants. In doing this it may be useful -to consider them in three different stages of their progress: first, in -the heroic and poetical times; secondly, in the historical and -flourishing ages of the Hellenic commonwealth; thirdly, in their corrupt -and degenerate state under the dominion of the Macedonians and Romans. - -The most distinguishing characteristic of the Hellenes, when poetry -first places them before us, is a profound veneration for the divinity -and every thing connected with the service of religion. By the force of -imagination heaven and earth were brought near each other, not so much, -indeed, by elevating the latter, as by bringing down the former within -the sphere of humanity. Gods and men moved together over the earth, -cooperated in bringing about events, keeping up a constant interchange -of beneficence; the god aiding, the mortal repaying his aid with -gratitude;[140] the god guiding, the mortal submitting to be directed, -until, sometimes, as in the case of Odysseus and Athena, the feeling of -grace and favour on the one side, and of veneration and gratitude on the -other, ripened into something like friendship and affection. - -Footnote 140: - - Cf. Plut. Pericl. § 13. - -No man entered on any important enterprise without first consulting the -gods, and throwing himself upon their protection, by sacrifice, -divination, and prayer.[141] They conceived, according to the best -lights afforded them by their rude creed, that although means existed of -warping the judgment, perverting the affections, and vitiating the -decisions of their divinities, yet upon the whole and in the natural -order of things they were just and beneficent, mercifully caring for the -poor and the stranger, the guardians of friendship and hospitality, and -avenging severely the offences committed against their laws. Habitually, -when not provoked to vengeance by impiety or crimes, the gods they -believed were not only beneficent towards mankind, but given among -themselves to cheerfulness and mirth, loving music, songs, and laughter, -feasting jovially together in a joy serene and almost imperturbable, -save when interrupted by solicitude for some favoured mortal. -Philosophy, in more intellectual times, condemned this rude conception -of divine things; but men’s ideas, like their offerings, belong to the -state of society in which they live, and the Greeks of the heroic ages -unquestionably attributed to their gods the qualities most in esteem -among themselves. - -Footnote 141: - - See Man. Moschop. ap Arist. Nubb. 982. - -Next to religion the most prominent feeling in the mind of the early -Greeks was filial piety.[142] Nowhere among men were parents held in -higher honour. The reverence paid to them partook largely of the -religious sentiment. Regarded as the instruments by which God had -communicated the mysterious and sacred gift of life, they were supposed -by their children to be for ever invested with a high degree of sanctity -as ministers and representatives of the Creator. Hence the anxiety -experienced to obtain a father’s blessing and the indescribable dread of -his curse. A peculiar set of divinities, the terrible Erinnyes, all but -implacable and unsparing, were entrusted with the guardianship of a -parent’s rights, and indescribable were the pangs and anguish supposed -to seize upon transgressors. These were the powers who tracked about the -matricides Orestes and Alcmæon, scaring them with spectral terrors and -filling their palaces with the alarms and agonies of Tartaros. On the -other hand, nothing can be more beautiful than the pictures of filial -piety exhibited by the nobler characters of heroic times. The examples -are innumerable, but none is so striking or complete as that of Achilles -towards his father Peleus. Fierce, vehement, stern in the ordinary -relations of life, towards his aged father he is gentle as a child. His -heart yearns to him with a strength of feeling incomprehensible to a -meaner nature. He submits to his sway and authority not from any -apprehension of his power, not even from the fear of offending him, but -from the fulness of his love, from the natural excellence and purity of -his heart. He would erect his valour and the might of his arm into a -rampart round the old man, to protect him from injury and insult; and -even in the cold region of shadows beyond the grave this feeling is -represented as still alive, so that in death, as in life, the uppermost -anxiety of the hero’s soul is for the happiness of his father. Even in -the government of his impetuous passions during his mortal career, in -the choice of the object of his love, Achilles expresses a desire to -render his feelings subordinate to those of his parent, thus verging on -the utmost limits of self-denial and self-control conceivable in a state -of nature. Homer understood his countrymen well when he gave these -qualities to his hero. Without them, he knew that no degree of courage -or wisdom would have sufficed to render him popular, and, therefore, we -find him not only pre-eminent for his piety towards the gods, but at the -same time the most affectionate and dutiful of sons, the warmest, most -disinterested, and unchangeable of friends. - -Footnote 142: - - Respect for old age is still a remarkable feature in the Greek - character. Thiersch. Etat Actuel de la Grèce, i. 292. On the same - trait in their ancestors see Mitf. i. 186. Odyss. ω. 254. Plat. Repub. - vi. p. 6. f. Æsch. cont. Tim. § 7. - -And this leads us to consider another remarkable feature of the Greek -character,—its peculiar aptitude for friendship. No country’s history -and traditions abound with so many examples of this virtue as those of -Greece. In truth, it was there regarded as the most unequivocal mark of -an heroic and generous nature, being wholly inconsistent with anything -base, sordid, or ignoble, and flourishing only in company with virtues -rarest and most difficult of acquisition. Poetry, no doubt, has clad the -friendship of heroic times with a splendour scarcely belonging to real -life, but the experience of history warrants us in making but slight -deductions. Nature in those ages appeared to delight in producing men in -pairs, each suited to be the ornament and solace of the other, -possessing different qualities, imperfect when apart, but complete, -united. Men thus constituted were a sort of moral twins, an extension, -if we may so speak, of unity, the same yet different, bringing two souls -under the yoke of one will, desiring the same, hating the same, -possessing the same, valuing life and the gifts of life only as they -were shared in common, seeking adventures, facing dangers together, -conforming their thoughts, opinions, feelings, each to the other, having -no distinct interest, no distinct hope, but engrafting two lives on the -chances of one man’s fortune, and both perishing by the same blow. - -This feeling has by some been supposed to have owed its strength, in -part at least, to the degraded position of women in society; a subject -on which I shall have more to say hereafter, but may here remark that -such an opinion is wholly incompatible with an impartial interpretation -of the Homeric poems and the older traditions of Greece. Throughout -fabulous times women are the prime movers in all great events; and the -respect which as mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters they received, -though expressed in uncourtly language, was perhaps as great as has ever -been paid them in any age or country. Every distinguished woman in Homer -is the centre of a circle of tender and touching associations. We behold -them beloved by their relatives, honoured by their dependants, enjoying -every decent freedom, every becoming pleasure, with all the influence -and authority appertaining to their sex. Thus Helen, both before and -after her fall, is entire mistress of her house, and treated with all -possible deference and delicacy: so Hecuba, Andromache, Penelope, Arete, -Nausicaa, and Iphigeneia in their respective positions, are held in the -highest esteem, and command as great a share of love from those whose -duty it was to love and honour them, as any other women in history or -fiction. Nor were due respect and tenderness confined to the high and -the noble; for innumerable proofs occur in Homer that even among the -humblest ranks, that delicate self-respect which is shown by respect to -our other self, and may be regarded as the pivot of civilisation, was -already in that age very generally diffused. - -But if the Greeks of heroic times possessed the good qualities we have -attributed to them, they were still more, perhaps, distinguished for -others, which often obliterated the footsteps of their virtues, and -appeared to be the guiding principles of their lives. Chief among these -was their passion for war and violence,[143] which engaged them in -everlasting struggles with their neighbours, developed overmuch their -fierce and destructive qualities, and threw into comparative shade such -of their propensities as were gentler and more humane. War by land, -piracy by sea, filled the whole country with incessant alarms. Commerce -was checked and confined within very narrow channels, both travelling -and navigation being exceedingly unsafe, while bands of marauders -traversed land and sea in quest of rapine and plunder. In some states no -other mode was known of arriving at opulence, and the humbler classes of -society were wholly subsisted by it.[144] The laws of war, too, were -proportionably savage. It was customary either to give no quarter, or to -devote all prisoners taken to servitude; and, accordingly, every petty -state was filled with unfortunate captives, many of them of illustrious -birth and qualities, reduced to the humblest conditions, being compelled -to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. In peace, too, and in -their own homes their warlike habits led frequently to the perpetration -of violence; their passions being strong and unbridled they resented -insults on the spot, and numerous homicides were, in consequence, found -flying from the country whose infant institutions their passions had -sought to overthrow. - -Footnote 143: - - See Thirlwall i. 180. sqq. and Mitford i. 181.—Among the Sauromatæ, in - the time of Hippocrates, even the women mounted on horseback and - fought in battle. They were not allowed to marry until they had slain - three enemies.—De Aër. et. Loc. § 78. A circumstance is related of the - Parthian court, illustrative of the ferocity which prevailed generally - in antiquity. The monarch, it is said, kept a humble friend, whom he - fed like a dog, and whipped till the blood flowed, for the slightest - offence at table, apparently for the amusement of the guests.—Athen. - iv. 38. This trait of barbarism was imitated by the Czar Peter, by - servile historians denominated the Great, who used brutally to - maltreat the princess Galitzin before his whole court.—Mem. of the - Margrav. of Bayreuth, vol. i. p. 34. - -Footnote 144: - - Thucyd. i. 5. - -But in all stages of society it has been ordained by Providence that out -of the wickedness of man some compensating good shall flow: thus, from -the dangers and difficulties surrounding the stranger the virtue of -hospitality[145] sprang up in generous minds. From the distress and -misery of the passionate or accidental slayer of man arose the merciful -rites of expiation, and all the friendly ties which subsisted between -the purifier and the purified. Wanderers driven from their home often -found a better in a foreign land; and thus even the transgressions and -misfortunes of men, by breaking down the narrow enclosures of families -and clans, and connecting persons of distant tribes together by benefits -and gratitude, hastened the progress of refinement and paved the way for -the greatness and glory of succeeding ages. - -Footnote 145: - - Il. ρ. 212. seq. The word ξένος signified, actively and passively, the - host and the guest. The rights of hospitality were hereditary, the - descendants of men being compelled to entertain the descendants of - those with whom their forefathers had contracted hospitable ties. - Πρόξενοι sometimes signified persons who publicly received - ambassadors, as Antenor among the Trojans. Agamemnon had hospitable - ties with the Phrygians, because he came of Phrygian ancestors. Damm. - _v._ ξένος. Sch. Aristoph. Eq. 347. Cf. Virg. Æn. viii. 165. et Serv. - ad loc. Plat. Soph. t. iv. p. 125, where Socrates alludes to a passage - in Homer, in which Zeus is said to be the companion of the wanderer, - observing jocularly that the Eleatic stranger might probably have been - some deity in disguise. Cf. Tomas. Tess. Hosp. c. 23. ap. Gronov. - Thesaur. ix. 266. sqq. It was a proverb at Athens that the doors of - the Prytaneion would keep out no stranger.—Sch. Aristoph. Ach. 127. - The Lucanians had a law thus expressed: “If a stranger arriving at - sunset ask a lodging of any one, let him who refuses to be his host be - fined for want of hospitality.” The object, I imagine, of the law, - says Ælian (Var. Hist. iv. i.) was at once to avenge the stranger and - Hospitable Zeus. - -It will, from what has been said, be seen that among the elements of the -Greek character passion greatly predominated; but, even from the -earliest times, the existence was apparent of other powerful principles, -by the influence of which the nation was led to emerge rapidly from its -period of barbarism. These were an innate love of magnificence, and a -striking inclination towards all social enjoyments; the former leading -to the cultivation of commerce and industry, the latter communicating an -extraordinary impetus to the natural desire common to mankind for -companionship and society. But in developing these principles nature -pursued in Greece a peculiar route. Instead of establishing a common -centre, towards which the energies of the whole nation might tend, -society was broken up into numerous parts, each forming, when considered -separately, a whole, but united with its neighbours by identity of -origin, language, religion, and national character. - -Philosophers usually seek in geographical position a key to the fact of -the formation of so many separate states as the Hellenic population was -divided into; but the cause was probably of a different kind. Among -every other people, a difficulty has always been experienced in -discovering men capable of conducting public affairs; and, when any such -have arisen, they have easily subdued to their will their less -intellectual and, consequently, less ambitious neighbours. Among the -Greeks the case was wholly different: every province, every district, -nay, every town and village abounded with men endowed with the ability -and passion for governing. These feelings begot the aversion to submit -to the government of others; this aversion engendered strife; and it was -only the accident of a numerical superiority existing in one division of -the country, or of a statesman of extraordinary genius springing up, -that enabled one village to subdue its neighbours for a few miles -around, and thus establish a small political community. - -History rarely penetrates back so far as the period in which this state -of things existed. But we have an example in the annals of Attica, where -the twelve small municipal states, if one may so speak, were, partly by -persuasion, partly by force, brought under the authority of one city, -possessing the advantages of a superior position and wiser and more -enterprising leaders. - -These diminutive polities once formed, many causes concurred to preserve -their integrity, of which the most obvious and powerful was the pride of -race, and, next to this, certain religious feelings and peculiarities, -which stationed gods along the frontier line of states, and rendered it -impious for the worshippers of other divinities to invade or dispossess -them of their lands. Communities having at first been thus isolated, -numerous circumstances arose to make eternal the separation. The ready -invention of the people gave to each state its heroes and heroic -traditions, based, perhaps, on the exploits of border warfare, in which -the ancestors of one community had suffered or inflicted injuries on the -ancestors of another. Poets sprang up who celebrated these deeds in -song, and every assembly, every festival, every merry-making resounded -with the commemoration of deeds as galling to one people as they were -glorious to the other. These prejudices, this cantonal patriotism, this -tribual vanity, if I may coin a new word to express a new idea, -constituted a far more impassable barrier between the diminutive states -of Greece, than either mountains or rivers; though, in process of time, -some few cases occurred in which very small communities were immersed -and lost in greater ones. The heroism, however, with which the smallest -commonwealth struggled to preserve its separate existence, the watchful -jealousy, the undying solicitude, the fierce and sanguinary valour by -which it hedged round its independence, the indescribable agonies of -political extinction, may be seen in the examples of Ægina, Megara, -Platæa, and Messenia. - -In fact the most remarkable peculiarity in the Greek character was a -certain centrifugal force, or abhorrence of centralisation, which -presented insurmountable obstacles to the union of the whole Hellenic -nation under one head. The inhabitants of ancient Italy exhibited on -this point an entirely dissimilar character. Though differing from each -other widely in manners, customs and laws, they still possessed so much -of affinity as enabled them successively to unite themselves with Rome, -and melt into one great people. The causes lay in their moral and -intellectual character: possessing little genius or imagination, but -much good sense, they experienced less keenly the misery of inferiority, -the anguish of defeat, the tortures of submission, and calculated more -coolly the advantages of protection and tranquillity, and all the other -benefits of living under a strong government. Where the masses are but -slightly impregnated with the fire of genius they are naturally disposed -to amalgamation, and form a vast body necessarily subjected to one head. -But where a nation is everywhere pervaded and quickened by genius, where -imagination is an universal attribute, where to soar is as natural as to -breathe, where the principal enjoyment of life is the exercise of power, -where men hunger and thirst more for renown than for their daily bread, -where life itself without these imaginary delights is insipid and -despicable, no force, while the vigour of the national character -continues unbroken, can erect a central government, or achieve extensive -conquests, that is, subject one part of the nation to the sway of the -other. And perhaps it may be found when we shall farther have perfected -the science of government, that in politics as in physics the largest -bodies are not the most valuable, or the most difficult to be shattered. -The diamond resists when the largest rock yields. The true tendency of -civilisation, therefore, is to reduce unwieldy empires into compact -bodies, which the light of education can penetrate and render luminous. -Vast empires are but opaque masses of ignorance. - -From precisely the same causes arose the peculiar notions of the Greeks -on the subject of government; that is, the citizens of each state -applied to one another the principle which regulated the conduct of -communities. Every man experienced an aversion to yield obedience to his -neighbour, every man was ambitious to rule; but, as this was impossible, -it became necessary to invent some means by which public business could -be carried on without offering too much violence to the national -character. Hence the origin of republicanism and the establishment of -commonwealths, in which the sovereignty was acknowledged to reside in -the body of the people, and where such of the citizens as by abilities, -rank, friends, were qualified, might rule in vicarious succession. - -But the various families of the Hellenes were not all equally endowed -with the energy and intellect which belonged to their race; some -possessed more of these qualities, others less, and there were besides -in operation numerous peculiar and local causes which modified the forms -of polity adopted by the various states of Greece. The heavier, the -colder, the more inert naturally chose that form of government which -would least tax their mental faculties, and most completely relieve them -from the care of public affairs, in order the more sedulously to attend -to their own; while the fierier, the busier, more active and buoyant -preferred that political constitution which would afford their energetic -natures most employment, and supply a legitimate outlet for the ardour -and impetuosity of their temperament. Thus, in certain communities there -was a leaning towards monarchy, in others towards oligarchy; in a third -class towards aristocracy; while Athens and some few smaller states -preferred the stir, bustle, and incessant animation of democracy. - -Again these institutions, springing at first out of national -idiosyncrasies, became in their turn among the most active causes which -impressed the stamp of individuality on the population of each separate -state: for the principle which animates a form of government is not a -barren principle, but impregnates, leavens, and vivifies the community -subjected to its influence, and produces an offspring analogous to the -source from which it sprang. Thus, in monarchies the summits of a nation -are rich with verdure and glorious with light; in aristocracies a broad -table-land is fertilized and rendered beautiful; while in commonwealths, -properly so called, the whole surface of society unrolls itself like a -vast plain to the sun, and receives the light and comfort, and -invigorating influence of its beams:—and all these various modifications -of civil polity were at different times and in different parts of the -country beheld in Greece, where they produced their natural fruits. - -Among the principal results of the causes we have enumerated were a high -intellectual cultivation, the profoundest study of philosophy, the most -ardent pursuit of literature, a matchless taste for the beautiful in -nature and in art, an irrepressible enthusiasm in the search after -knowledge of every kind, and, joined with these, as their cause -sometimes, and sometimes as their consequence, an invincible and -limitless craving after fame. And these characteristic qualities of the -people exhibited themselves in various ways. Sometimes, as in Thessaly, -men sought to distinguish themselves by their wealth and the pomp by -which they were surrounded:—sometimes their ruling passion urged them to -pluck, amidst blood and slaughter, the laurels of war, as in Crete and -Sparta, where military discipline was carried to its utmost perfection, -where men lived perpetually encamped around their domestic hearths, -cultivated the habits, preferences, tastes, and feelings of soldiers, -and looked upon dominion as the supreme good:—sometimes religion, with -its rites and pomp and sacrifices, absorbed a whole people, as in Elis, -where the worship of supreme Zeus and the celebration of sacred games -conferred a sanctity upon the land and people which all men of Hellenic -blood respected:—elsewhere mountaineers,[146] of indomitable valour, -hired out their swords to the best bidder, and became, as it were, the -journeymen of war:—elegant pleasures in many cities, and commerce and -magnificence, occupied and depraved the whole community; while -others,[147] of grosser minds and more sordid propensities, passed their -whole lives in indolent gluttony round the festive board, amid crowds of -singers, flute-players, and dancers; or else, like the Delphians, were -ever seen hovering amid the smoke of the altars, whetting their -sacrificial knives or feasting on the savoury victims; and yet the -triumphs of the Thebans proved that even the lowest of the Greeks, when -circumstances led them to cultivate the arts of war, were capable of -planning and executing great designs, and acquiring lasting celebrity. -The arts, however, by which the Greeks rose to greatness,[148] and -became the instructors and everlasting benefactors of mankind, -flourished chiefly at Athens, and in the numerous colonies which she -planted in various parts of Asia and the islands. To men of Ionian race -we owe, in fact, the invention and most successful culture of poetry and -philosophy, and those plastic and mimetic arts which added to the world -of realities another world more beautiful still. If the Greeks borrowed, -as no doubt they did, certain varieties and forms of art and learning -from the barbarians, they immediately so refined and improved them, that -the original inventors would no longer have recognised the works of -their own hands. The glory of giving birth to several of the arts and -sciences belongs to them: they were the inventors of the art of war; -among them alone, in the ancient world, painting and sculpture assumed -their proper dignity; and in politics and statesmanship, and that art of -arts, philosophy, they led the way, and taught mankind the steps by -which to arrive at perfection. - -Footnote 146: - - According to Hippocrates, the inhabitants of lofty mountains, well - watered, are generally hardy and of tall stature, but fierce and - ferocious. In saying this, the philosopher describes the Arcadians - without naming them. De Aër. et Loc. § 120. - -Footnote 147: - - Athen. iv. 74. - -Footnote 148: - - Clem. Alex. Strom. i. p. 355. l. 12. Wink. Hist. de l’Art, i. 316. - -Greece, by the means we have described, was gradually reclaimed from the -state of nature, covered with beautiful cities, harbours, docks, -temples, palaces adorned with infinite variety of works of art, with -sculpture in ivory and gold, with paintings, gems, and vases, which -converted her principal cities into so many museums. Her plains, her -dells, her mountain recesses were studded with sanctuaries and sacred -groves, conferring the external beauty of religion on the whole face of -the country. Public roads, branching from numerous capital cities, -traversed the land in every direction; bridges spanned her rivers, -agriculture covered her hills and plains with harvests, the vine hung in -festoons from tree to tree, the foliage of the olive clothed the -mountain sides, and a belt of beautiful gardens surrounded every city, -town, and village. - -The primary cause of all this amazing activity has, by philosophers, -been sought for in various circumstances of the condition of the Greeks, -in the form of their institutions, in the rivalry of so many small -communities, in the fact of their being inventors, and the consequent -freshness of their pursuits. But although all these circumstances and -many others contributed, as we have shown, to expedite the progress of -the Greeks in civilisation, they were none of them the fountain head, -which lies far beyond our ken. It were in fact as easy to tell why one -star differs from another star in glory, as why one nation or one man -rises in intellect above his fellows. But we are supplied with a link in -the chain which connects the above effects with their cause, by the -physical organisation of the Greeks, who possessed the most perfect -forms in which humanity ever appeared. Their frame exhibiting all the -beauty of which the human body is susceptible, uniting strength with -lightness, dignity and elegance with activity, the utmost robustness of -health with extreme delicacy of contour, the muscles developed by -exercise, and developed over the whole structure alike, suggested the -idea of power and indefatigable energy; the stature, generally above the -middle size, the free and unembarrassed gait, the features[149] full of -beauty, the expression replete with intellect, and the eye flashing with -a consciousness of independence:—all these united conferred upon the -form of the Greek an elevation, a grandeur, a majesty which we still -contemplate with admiration in their sculpture, and denominate the -ideal. Above all things, the form of the Grecian head was most -exquisite, with its smooth, expansive, almost perpendicular forehead and -majestic outline, describing a perfect oval. Generally the complexion -was of a clear olive, the hair and eyes black, the temperament inclined -to melancholy, though numerous instances occurred of sanguine fair -persons with light eyes and chesnut or auburn hair, which the youth -wore, as now, in a profusion of ringlets falling to the shoulders. -Instances likewise occurred among the Greeks of individuals, who, like -our own Chatterton, had eyes of different colours. Thus the poet -Thamyris[150] is said to have had one eye grey, the other black. Nay, -this peculiarity was even remarked among the inferior animals, more -particularly the horses.[151] - -Footnote 149: - - Among the ancient Scythians an extraordinary uniformity of feature was - observable, as also among the Egyptians, (the same is the case at - present,) supposed to proceed, in the one case from the rigour, in the - other from the extreme heat, of the climate. Hippoc. de Aër. et Loc. § - 91. But in every country, the climate being alike for all, the same - effect ought to be produced on the whole population. The similitude is - chiefly to be traced to the absence of all mixture with foreign races; - and the equal indevelopement of the mind. - -Footnote 150: - - Poll. iv. 141. - -Footnote 151: - - Aristot. de Gen. Anim. v. i. - -The characteristic beauty of the nation displayed itself in every stage -of life, only assuming new phases in its progress from the beauty of -infancy to the beauty of old age, inspiring the mingled feelings of love -and admiration; and notwithstanding the effects of time, and -inter-marriage with barbarous races, the same is the case still. For -nowhere in Europe do we meet with infants so lovely, with youths so -soft, so virginal, so beautiful in their incipient manliness, with old -men so grave, stately, and with countenances so magnificent, as among -the living descendants of the Hellenes, whose destiny may yet be, one -day, as enviable as their forms. - -To push our enquiry one step further; it may be questioned, whether the -glorious organisation we have been describing was not itself an effect -of air, climate, and soil.[152] Certain at any rate it is, that the -atmosphere of Greece is clearer, purer, more buoyant and elastic, than -that of any other country in our hemisphere. At night, particularly, -there is a transparency in the air, which appears to impart additional -lustre and magnitude to the stars and moon. Its mountain tops, the -intervening space being, as it were, removed, seem to mingle with the -constellations which cluster in brightness on the edge of the horizon. - -Footnote 152: - - Cf. Hippoc. de Aër. et Loc. § 125, seq. § 23, seq. Casaub. ad Theoph. - Char. p. 94. seq. - -A principal cause of this clearness and pellucidness is the great -prevalence of the north wind,[153] which brings with it few or no -vapours, but gathers together the clouds in heaps and rolls them from -the land towards the Mediterranean. The reason why this wind so often -prevails may be discovered in the geographical configuration of the -country, which is not, like Italy, divided from the rest of the -continent by a range of Alps that might have screened it from the colder -blasts, but lies open like an elevated threshing-floor, to be purged and -winnowed on all sides by the winds, which in many parts are so violent -that no tree can attain to any great height, while the stunted woods -throw all their branches in one direction, and the vines and other -climbing shrubs are laid prostrate along the rocks. These winds, -however, prevail not constantly, but the southern and western breezes, -blowing at intervals, bring along with them the warm atmosphere of Syria -or Egypt, or the cooling freshness of the ocean. Another cause, which -greatly tends to promote the purity of the air, is the lightness, -friability, and dryness of the soil, which, distributed for the most -part in thin layers over ledges of rocks, permits no stagnation of -moisture, but enables the rain that falls to trickle through, collect in -rills and brooks, and find its way rapidly to the sea. The plains and -irregular valleys, which form an exception to this rule, are not -numerous enough, or of sufficient magnitude to affect the general -proposition. There appear, moreover, to be many peculiar properties and -virtues in the soil itself, causing all fruits transplanted thither to -attain to speedy ripeness and superior flavour, while odoriferous plants -and flowers, as the jasmine, the wild thyme, and the rose exhale sweeter -and more delicious fragrance. This is more particularly the case in -Attica, which accordingly produced in antiquity, where due care was -bestowed on gardening and agriculture, the finest fruits and sweetest -honey in the world.[154] - -Footnote 153: - - This wind, wherever it prevails, increases the appetite; and the - Greeks were a hearty-eating people.—Aristot. Probl. xxvi. 45. The wind - Ornithias was often so cold as to strike birds dead on the wing. - Schol. Aristoph. Ach. 842. - -Footnote 154: - - Aristot. Probl. xx. 20. The black myrtle, which is much larger than - the white, grew wild about the hills. (xx. 36.) The southern breezes - were considered highly salutary to the plants of the Thriasian plain. - (xxvi. 18.) - -The same qualities in soil and climate which affect vegetation, likewise -powerfully influence the character and temperament of men and animals. -It is, for example, well known in the Levant, that the Bedouins -inhabiting Arabia Proper and the Eastern Desert degenerate both in -character and physical organisation when transplanted to the Libyan -wastes on the western banks of the Nile. But if particular soil and -situation engender particular diseases; if the air of fens and marshes -blunt the senses and paralyse, to a certain degree, the intellectual -faculties, the converse of the proposition must also hold good; so that -it is conceivable that the light soil and pure air of Greece may have -produced corresponding effects on the bodies and minds of its -inhabitants. The experiment, in fact, is made daily; for strangers -arriving there with the germs of disease in their constitution, are, in -most cases, speedily destroyed by the force of the climate; while the -healthy and vigorous acquire the vivacity, the cheerfulness, the nervous -and impetuous energy of the natives themselves, and, like them, extend -the term of life to its utmost span. Greece, indeed, has always been the -habitation of longevity; its philosophers in antiquity,—its monks, -anchorites, and rural population in modern times, furnishing, perhaps, -more examples of extreme old age than could be found on the same extent -of territory in any other part of the globe. - -Now this excess of vitality, this superabundance of the principle of -life, which constitutes what we intend by physical or moral energy, -almost inevitably produces, among an ill-governed, ill-educated people, -a large harvest of crime, and, accordingly, the modern Greeks have often -been distinguished for audacious villany; the intrepid vigour of their -character, controlled neither by religion nor philosophy, easily -breaking through the restraints of tyranny and unjust laws in the chase -after power or excitement. That Frenchman spoke more truly than he -thought, who said the Greeks were still the same “canaille” as in the -days of Themistocles: for, give them the same laws, the same education, -the same incentives to virtue and to heroism, and they will probably be -again as virtuous, as wise, and as heroic as their illustrious -ancestors. I judge in this way partly from my own experience, for I have -seldom become acquainted with a Greek,—and I have known many,—who has -not improved upon acquaintance, won my esteem, and, in most cases, my -affection, and impressed me with the firm belief that there is no nation -in the varied population of Europe which, if ruled with wisdom and -justice, would exhibit loftier or more exalted qualities. In these views -I am happy to be borne out by the testimony of Monsieur Frederic -Thiersch, whose facilities for studying the modern Greek have been far -more ample than mine, and whose opinions are marked by the cautious -acuteness of the statesman with the depth and originality of the -philosopher. - -In alluding to the causes which pervert the feelings and misdirect the -energies of the existing race, I have touched also at the great source -of crime among their ancestors,—I mean, defective laws and institutions; -for although the Greek character was, in force and excellence, all that -I have said, and more, it, nevertheless, contained other elements than -those I have described, which it now becomes my duty to speak of. From a -very early period there existed in Greece two political parties, -variously denominated in various states, but upholding,—the one, the -doctrine that the many ought to be subjected to the few; the other, that -the few ought to be subjected to the many: in other words, the -oligarchical and democratical parties. From the struggles of these two -factions the internal history of Greece takes its form and colour, as to -them may be traced most of the fearful atrocities, in the shape of -conspiracies, massacres, revolutions, which, instructing while they -shock us, stain the Greek character with indelible blots.[155] Ambitious -men are nowhere scrupulous. To enjoy the delight imparted by the -exercise of power, individuals have in all ages stifled the dictates of -conscience; and where, as in modern Italy and in ancient Greece, -numerous small states border upon each other, sufficiently powerful to -dream of conquest though too weak to achieve it, the number of the -ambitious is of necessity greatly multiplied. In proportion, however, to -the thirst of power in one class was the love of freedom and -independence in the other, so that the process of encroachment and -resistance, of tyranny and rebellion, of usurpation and punishment, was -carried on perpetually,—the oligarchy now predominating, and cutting off -or sending into exile the popular leaders, while the democratic party, -triumphing in its turn, inflicted similar sufferings on its enemies. By -degrees, moreover, there sprang up two renowned states to represent -these opposite principles, and the contests carried on by them assumed -consequently many characteristics of civil war,—its obstinacy, its -bitterness, its revenge. - -Footnote 155: - - See the savage anecdote of Stratocles in Plutarch. Demet. § 12. - -In these struggles seas of blood were shed, and crimes of the darkest -dye perpetrated. Cities, once illustrious and opulent, were razed to the -ground; whole populations put to the sword or reduced to servitude; -fertile plains rendered barren; men most renowned for capacity and -virtue made a prey to treachery or the basest envy; the morals of great -states corrupted, their glory eclipsed, their power undermined, and a -way paved for the inroads of barbarian conquerors who ultimately put a -period to the grandeur of the Hellenes. - -Examples without number might be collected of these horrors. It will be -sufficient to advert briefly to a few, more to remind than to inform the -reader. In the troubles of Corcyra[156] the nobles and the commons -alternately triumphing over each other, carried on with the utmost -ruthlessness the work of extermination with abundant baseness and -perfidy, some portion of which attached to the Athenian generals: the -wrongs and sufferings inflicted by the Spartans on the brave but -unfortunate inhabitants of Messenia, with the annual butchery of the -Helots, the treacherous withdrawal of suppliants from sanctuary, and -their subsequent slaughter,[157] the extermination of the people of -Hysia,[158] the precipitating of neutral merchants into pits,[159] the -betrayal of the cities of Chalcidice and the islands, the massacre in -cold blood of the Platæans, of four thousand Athenians in the -Hellespont,[160] the reduction of innumerable cities to servitude: by -the Athenians, the extermination of the people of Melos,[161] the -slaughter of a thousand Mitylenians, the cruelties at Skione, Ægina, and -Cythera;[162] but beyond these, and beyond all, the fearful excesses of -civil strife at Miletos where the common people called Gergithes having -risen in rebellion against the nobles and defeated them in battle, took -their children and cast them into the cattle stalls where they were -crushed and trampled to death by the infuriated oxen; but the nobles -renewing the contest and obtaining ultimately the victory, seized upon -their enemies,—men, women, children, and covered them with pitch, to -which setting fire they burnt them alive.[163] - -Footnote 156: - - Thucyd. iii. 70. sqq. - -Footnote 157: - - Ælian. Var. Hist. vi. 7. Cf. Eurip. Andr. 445. seq. - -Footnote 158: - - Thucyd. v. 83. - -Footnote 159: - - Thucyd. ii. 67. - -Footnote 160: - - Pausan. ix. 32. 9. - -Footnote 161: - - Thucyd. v. 126; iii. 50. - -Footnote 162: - - Thucyd. v. 32; iv. 57. - -Footnote 163: - - Heracl. Pont. ap. Athen. xii. 26. - -From these glimpses of guilt and suffering, we may learn to what -extremes the Greek was sometimes hurried by passion and the thirst of -power. But propensities so wolfish were not predominant in his -nature.[164] On the contrary, in private life, even the Spartans and the -Dorians generally put off their cruel and severe habits, and relaxed on -all proper occasions into joviality and mirth. In their social -intercourse, in fact, few nations have been more cheerful or addicted to -jokes and pleasantry than the Greeks, and above all the Athenians, whose -hours of leisure were one continued round of gossip, sport, and -laughter.[165] Never in any city were news-mongers, or even -news-forgers, so numerous. In the mouth of young and old no question was -so frequent as, “What is the news?” These were the sounds that -circulated from rank to rank in the assembly of the people before the -orators began their harangues, that were bandied to and fro in the -Agora, that filled by their incessant repetition the shops of barbers -and perfumers.[166] Akin to this itching ear was the passion for show -and magnificence, every man, from highest to lowest, affecting as far as -possible spacious dwellings, superb furniture and costly apparel. Even -the bravest of the brave, the heroes of Marathon, were _petits-maîtres_ -at their toilette, and went forth to the field in purple cloaks, their -hair curled, adorned with golden ornaments, and perfumed with essences. -The study of philosophy itself failed in most cases to subdue this -ostentatious spirit. Plato loved rich carpets and splendid raiment. Even -Aristotle was an exquisite, and Æschines an acknowledged coxcomb. - -Footnote 164: - - Cf. Wink. Hist. de l’Art, i. 320. Thiersch, Etat. Act. de la Grèce, i. - p. 290. sqq; and for their disinterestedness, Pashley, Trav. in Crete, - i. 221. - -Footnote 165: - - Loud laughter was nevertheless considered vulgar among the - Greeks.—Plat. Repub. t. vi. 112. The Athenians were addicted to the - language of shrugging and nodding, κ.τ.λ. To nod upwards was to deny, - downwards to confess. Sch. Aristoph. Ach. 112. - -Footnote 166: - - Aristotle says that the orators of Athens, who governed the people, - passed sometimes the whole of the day seeing mountebanks or jugglers, - or talking with those who had travelled as far as the Phasis or - Borysthenes; and that they never read anything save the Supper of - Philoxenos and that not all.—Athen. i. 10. It was in the opinion of - these persons perhaps, that “a great book was a great evil.”—Id. iii. - 1. - -From several of these weaknesses the Spartans were free. They cared -little for news, still less for dress, and less still for cleanliness; -so that their beautiful long hair and waving beards swarmed with those -autochthonal beasts, for the expulsion of which there was no law in -Sparta. Though neither a knowing nor cleanly race, however, their wit -was bright and piercing. No people uttered pithier or finer sayings, and -their taste both in music and poetry was cultivated and refined. -Probably, therefore, the dining halls and gymnasia and public walks of -Sparta were enlivened by as much mirth as those of any other Grecian -city, where usually cheerfulness was so prevalent, that “to be as merry -as a Greek,” has become a proverb in all countries. - -On the third period of the Greek character it is unnecessary to speak at -any length. Most of their good qualities having departed with their -freedom they degenerated into a dissembling, hypocritical, fawning and -double-dealing race, with little or no respect for truth, without -patriotism, and without genuine valour. The literature, painting, and -sculpture, to which in their period of degradation they gave birth, bore -evident marks of their degeneracy, and tended by the corruption they -diffused to avenge them on their conquerors the Romans; whose minds and -morals they vitiated, and whose career of freedom and glory they cut -short. Through their vices, however, the fame of their more noble and -virtuous ancestors has greatly suffered, for the Romans contemplating -the Greeks they saw before them, and implanting their opinion throughout -the whole civilised world, their false and unjust views have been -bequeathed to posterity; for it is still in a great measure through the -Romans that people study the Greeks. - - - CHAPTER III. - GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE. - - -To render still clearer the point we have been insisting on in the -foregoing chapter, it may be useful to take a rapid survey of the -geography of the country, and enter somewhat more at length into its -peculiar configuration and productions.[167] Considered as a whole, the -most remarkable feature in the aspect of Greece consists in the great -variety of forms which its surface assumes in the territories of the -numerous little states into which the country was anciently divided. Of -these no two resemble each other, whether in physical structure, climate -or productions; so that it may be said that in general the atmosphere of -Greece is mild,[168] but not in every part, for within its narrow -boundaries are found nearly all grades of temperature. The inhabitants -of Elis and the valley of the Eurotas are exposed to a degree of heat -little inferior to that of Egypt, while the settlers about Olympos, -Pindos and Dodona, with the rough goat-herds of Parnassos, Doris and the -Arcadian mountains experience the rigours of an almost Scandinavian -winter. In this extraordinary country the palm tree and the myrtle -flourish within sight of the pine, the larch, and the silver fir of the -north. In several of the islands and on parts of the continent certain -tropical birds, as the peacock and the golden pheasant, have long been -naturalised, while in other districts snipes and woodcocks[169] appear -early; storms of sleet and hail are frequent, and the summits of -mountains are capped with eternal snow.[170] A no very elevated range of -hills separates the marsh miasmata and wit-withering fogs of -Bœotia,[171] the home of gluttony and stupidity, from the bland -transparent cheerful atmosphere and sweet wholesome soil of Attica, -where, as a dwelling-place for man, earth has reached her highest -culminating point of excellence, and where, accordingly, her noblest -fruits, wisdom and beauty, have ripened most kindly. - -Footnote 167: - - Cf. Hermann, Pol. Ant. § 6. Müll. Dor. ii. 425. - -Footnote 168: - - Varro gave the preference to the soil and climate of Italy, where - everything good was produced in perfection. He thought no barley to be - compared with the Campanian, no wheat with the Apulian, no rye with - the Falernian, no oil with the Venafran. The whole country was so - thickly planted with trees that it seemed to be an orchard. Not even - Phrygia itself abounded more in vineyards; nor was Argos so fertile as - parts of Italy, though it was said to produce from ten to fifteen - pipes the juger. De Re Rustica, i. 2. p. 46. b. - -Footnote 169: - - “Woodcocks and snipes, I am informed, visited the neighbourhood of - Attica during the winter in considerable quantities. I heard the - curlew and the red shank cry along the marsh to the right of the - Piræus.” Sibth. in Walp. Mem. i. 76. - -Footnote 170: - - Cramer, Desc. of Greece, i. 8. - -Footnote 171: - - Βοιωτία ὗς. Pind. Olymp. vi. 151. Cram. ii. 200.—Thick and foggy - atmosphere. Hipp. de Aër. § 55. Plat. De Legg. v. t. vii. p. 410. - seq—Cicero observes:—“Etenim licet videre acutiora ingenia et ad - intelligendum acutiora eorum, qui terras incolant eas, in quibus aër - sit purus ac tenuis, quàm illorum, qui utantur crasso cœlo atque - concreto.” De Nat. Deor. ii. 16. “The purple and the grey heron - frequent the marshes of Bœotia.” Sibth. in Walp. Mem. i. 76. - -To proceed, however, with an outline of the country: along the shores, -more especially towards the west, rugged cliffs of great elevation -impend over the deep, and in stormy weather present an appearance highly -desolate and forbidding. But descending the Ionian sea, and doubling -Cape Crio, the south westernmost promontory of Crete, the approach -towards the tropics is felt both in the air and in the landscape. The -nights are beyond description lovely, the stars appear with increased -size and brilliancy,[172] and morning spreads over both land and wave a -beauty but faintly reflected even in poetry. Every rock and headland, -clothed with the double light of mythology and the sun, emerges from the -obscurities of the dawn glittering with dew and fresh as at the -creation. The slopes of the mountains, feathered with hanging woods, -lead the eye upwards to those aspiring peaks, the cradle of many a -Hellenic legend, where snows pale and shining as those of Mont -Blanc,[173] descending on all sides in wavy gradations to meet the -forests, rest for ever, and at the opening and the close of day exhibit -that crimson blush which we observe among the higher Alps. All the -lowlands at their base are meantime covered, perhaps, with heavy mists, -while lighter and more fleecy vapours hang here and there upon the -mountain tops, augmenting their grandeur by allowing the imagination -like a Titan to pile them up as high as it pleases towards heaven. The -coasts of eastern Hellas, including those of Eubœa, along the whole line -of Thessaly to the confines of Macedonia, are bold and rocky, frowning -like the ramparts of freedom upon the slaves of the Asiatic plains. - -Footnote 172: - - I never saw the Pleiades appear so large as on the coast of Messenia. - See Coray, Disc. Prel. ad Hipp. de Aër. et Loc. § 115. - -Footnote 173: - - Even the Cheviot hills are sometimes (as in 1838) covered all the - summer with patches of snow, on which occasions the peasants are said - to pay no rent. _Tyne Mercury_, July 1, 1838. - -Traversed in almost every direction by mountain chains infinitely -ramified and towering in many places to a vast height, Greece has, -likewise, its elevated table-lands, lakes, bogs, morasses, with -extensive open downs and heaths. Lying between the thirty-sixth and -forty-first degrees of north latitude, and excepting on the Illyrian and -Macedonian frontier everywhere surrounded by the sea, it may in many -respects be said to enjoy the most advantageous position on the globe. -From the barbarian countries of Macedonia and Illyria it is divided by a -series of contiguous mountain ridges, which commencing with Olympos, -(covered all the year round with snow, amid which the poet Orpheus[174] -was interred,) and including the Cambunian range, with the lofty peak of -Lacmos, stretches westward across the continent, and terminates in the -stormy Acroceraunian promontory. The most northern provinces of Hellas, -immediately within this boundary and west of the Pindos range, were -Chaonia and Molossia, and towards the east Thessaly—a circular valley of -exceeding fertility, encompassed by chains of lofty mountains. This -province contains the largest and richest plains in Greece; and many of -the names most hallowed by its religious traditions and most renowned in -poetry, belong to Thessaly. Here, in fact, was the supposed cradle of -the Hellenes. From hence sailed the Argo and incomparably the greatest -of all the heroes who fought at Troy - - “—--mixed with auxiliar gods.” - -Footnote 174: - - Paus. ix. 30. 9. Anthol. Græc. vii. 9. Menag. ad Diog. Laert. Proœm. § - 5. Here, too, one of the three Corybantes, when he had been slain by - his brethren, found a grave. Clem. Alex. Protrept. c. xi. t. i. p. 16. - From the blood of this man sprang the herb parsley. - -The geography of Thessaly is remarkable. According to a tradition -already mentioned it was once a mountain-girt lake, the waters of which -augmented by unusual rains burst their stupendous barriers and tore -themselves a way through opposing rocks to the sea. Among the tribes of -northern Hindùstân a similar tradition prevails respecting the formation -of the Vale of Kashmèr; and whether in these cases the voice of fame has -preserved or not an historical truth, such events may be regarded as not -improbable in countries abounding with mountain lakes whose beds lie -considerably above the level of the sea. The lofty ridge which skirts -the shores of the Ægæan, and is said to have been rent in remote -antiquity by the waters of the lake, presents a highly varied aspect to -the approaching mariner. First on sailing northward Pelion comes in -sight: a broad ridge rising from the waves like a huge uncrenalated -wall, and covered in Homeric times with fiercely waving woods. To this -succeeds Ossa, with its steep conical peak, clothed with durable snows -and divided by a narrow dusky gap from Olympos. This gap is Tempe,[175] -whose savage beauties poets and sophists have vied with each other in -describing, though the reality is still finer than their pictures. On -entering the defiles of the mountains a narrow glen hemmed in by -precipitous rocks, bare in some places, in others verdant with hanging -oaks, receives the waters of the Peneios, which, like the Rhone at St. -Maurice and the Nile at Silsilis, in some places fill up the whole -breadth of the pass, leaving scarcely room for a straitened road carried -over rocky ledges. Farther on they diffuse themselves over a broad -pebbly bed, and narrow prospects are opened up through woody vistas into -soft pastural recesses, carpeted with emerald turf, and perfumed with -flowers and shrubs of the richest fragrance. Anon the vale contracts -again, gloomy cliffs frown over the stream and sadden its surface with -their shadows, until at length the whole chain is traversed and the -Peneios precipitates its laughing waters into the Ægæan.[176] Crossing -the great range of Pindos we enter Epeiros,[177] a country anciently -divided into many provinces, and partly inhabited by semi-barbarous -tribes, where on the borders of a lake singularly beautiful and -picturesque stood the fane and oracle of Dodonæan Zeus. Homer, -accustomed to the mild skies of Ionia, speaks of its climate as rude and -severe. But Byron, born among the hungry rocks of Caledonia, and -habituated to the savage features of the north, was smitten with its -wild charms, and thus describes one of the scenes in the neighbourhood -near the sources of the Acheron. - - Monastic Zitza, from thy shady brow, - Thou small but favoured spot of holy ground, - Where’er we gaze,—around, above, below, - What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found! - Rock, river, forest, mountain,—all abound; - And bluest skies that harmonize the whole. - Beneath, the distant torrent’s rushing sound - Tells where the volumed cataract doth roll - Between those hanging rocks which shock yet please the soul. - -Footnote 175: - - Æl. Var. Hist. iii. 1. Holland 291–95. Clarke iv. 290–97. Dodwell, - 109. sqq. Gell. Itiner. of Greece, 280. - -Footnote 176: - - Aristotle accounts for what every traveller will have remarked, the - extreme blueness of this sea, which he contrasts with the whitish - waves of the Pontos Euxeinos. In the latter case, he observes, the - air, thick and whitish, is reflected from the surface of the turbid - waters; while, in the Ægæan, the sea, transparent to a great depth, - reflects the bright rich colour of the sky.—Prob. xxiii. 6. He adds - that the sea is more transparent during the prevalence of the north - wind. - -Footnote 177: - - Though this country be not generally included by geographers within - the limits of Hellas, I have considered it as a part of Greece, - because Homer evidently so thought it. He reckons the Perrhæbi and - Ænianes, and the dwellers about the cold Dodona, among the followers - of Agamemnon, that is classes them among the Greeks.—Il. β. 749–755. - The ancient name of the country is said to have been Æsa.—Etym. Mag. - 39. 19. Cf. Steph. Byzant. _v._ Δωδών. p. 319. d. sqq. - -Clusters of islands clothed with poetical verdure stretch along the -coast thickly indented by diminutive bays and embouchures of rivers. On -a point of the Acarnanian shore[178] in the mouth of the Ambracian gulf, -the Commonwealth of Rome which had foundered so many rival states -suffered final shipwreck, and the shores of avenged Hellas were strewed -with the wrecks of Roman freedom. Ætolia, Doris, Locris, Phocis, in -which was the mystic navel of Gaia,[179] and the deep valley of Bœotia, -divided from each other by mountains or by considerable rivers, minutely -intersected by streams, and broken up into a perpetual succession of -hill and dale, conduct us southward to the Corinthian Gulf and the -borders of Attica. - -Footnote 178: - - Where stood a celebrated Temple of Apollo.—Thucyd. i. 29. - -Footnote 179: - - The “rocky Pytho” afterwards Delphi. Iliad, β. 519. - -Reserving this illustrious division of Hellas, and Megaris which -originally formed a part of it, for the close of our rapid outline, we -enter the Peloponnesos,—a country remarkable both for its physical -configuration, and for the races which anciently inhabited it. Connected -with the continent by the narrow isthmus of Corinth it immediately -expands westward and southward into a peninsula of large dimensions, in -form resembling a ragged plantain leaf or outstretched palm.[180] Like -the northern division of Hellas the Peloponnesos is rough with mountain -chains, and belted round with cliffs. Towards the centre it swells into -a lofty plateau, known to antiquity under the name of Arcadia. Foreign -poets, misapprehending the nature of the country, have described this -province as a succession of soft pastoral scenes.[181] But its real -character is very different, consisting chiefly of an extensive -table-land, supported by vast mountain buttresses, which in some places -tower into peaks of extraordinary elevation. It is broken up into -innumerable valleys and deep glens, overhung with wild precipitous -rocks, clothed with gloomy forests, and buried during a great part of -the year in clouds and snow. The inhabitants were rough and unpromising -as the soil, distinguished like the modern Swiss for no quality but -bravery, which, like them too, they sold with a mercenary recklessness -to the best bidder.[182] Achaia is a slip of sea-coast sloping towards -the north. Elis, a succession of beautiful plains with few eminences -intervening, well watered and renowned for their fine breed of mares. -This, the Holy land of the Hellenes, sacred every rood to Zeus, was to -the Greeks a place of pilgrimage, as Mecca to the Arabs and Palestine to -the Christians of the West. In the Homeric age it was confined within -narrow limits, its sea-coast only extending from Buprasion to the -promontory of Hyrminè, scarcely indeed, so far, as Myrsinos is said to -be its last city towards the north, and Buprasion is mentioned rather as -a separate state. It was divided from Achaia by Mount Scollis, which -Homer calls “the rock Olenia,” and Aleision is the boundary to the -south; consequently, neither Mount Pholöe nor Olympia, nor the Alpheios -was then included in Elis, still less Triphylia. - -Footnote 180: - - Strb. viii. 2. 140. Dion. Perieg. ap. Palm. Gr. Ant. 16. - -Footnote 181: - - Cf. Palm. Gr. Ant. 61. On the climate of Arcadia see Aristot. Problem. - xxvii. 60. He observes that the winds, blowing in from the sea, were - not colder there than in other parts of Greece; but that during calms - the exhalations from the stagnant waters were particularly chill. See - also Hippoc. de Aër. et Loc. § 120. - -Footnote 182: - - Cf. Steph. Byzant. _v._ Ἀρκας. p. 166. b. seq. - -Argolis, on the opposite side of the peninsula, is traversed by a broad -ridge of hills, which, branching off from Mount Cyllene and Parthenion -in Arcadia, abounds in deep ravines and spacious natural caverns. It -contains, however, several plains of much fertility; but, though marshy -and subject to malaria, the neighbourhood of the capital is deficient in -good water. The fame of Argos[183] rests almost wholly on a fabulous -basis: it was great in the infancy of Greece; it took the lead in the -Trojan war; but, with the irruption of the half-barbarous Dorians into -the Peloponnesos, the glory of the old heroic race - - “that fought at Thebes and Ilion,” - -waned visibly, and Argos and its twin city, Mycenæ, sank into -comparative insignificance. - -Footnote 183: - - Il. β. 559. Mases, an Argive city, is mentioned by Homer in - conjunction with Ægina, which island also belonged at that time to - Argos. This place, in later ages, was the harbour of the - Hermioneans.—Pausan. ii. 36, 83. Cf. Müll. Æginet. p. 85. - -Laconia consists of a hollow valley, enclosed between two mountain -chains, proceeding from the great Arcadian barrier, Parnon and Kronios, -and stretching southward to the sea. Down the centre of this vale flows -the Eurotas, whose sources lie above Belemina, among the steep recesses -of Taygetos.[184] Though enlarged by several tributary brooks, it -preserves, until some way below Sparta, the character of a mountain -torrent; but after precipitating itself in a romantic sparkling cascade, -appears for some time to be lost in a morass. Escaping, however, from -the swamp, it flows during the remainder of its course over a firm -gravelly bed to the Laconian gulf. Immediately above Sparta the valley -narrows exceedingly; but, at this point, the hills receding suddenly on -both sides, sweep round a small circular plain, and, a short distance -below the city, again approach, and press upon the bed of the -Eurotas.[185] The site of Sparta, therefore, resembles on a small scale -that of the Egyptian Thebes, which is similarly hemmed round by the -Arabian and Libyan mountains. It follows, too, that the condition of the -atmosphere must to a certain extent be alike in both places; for the -ridges of Taygetos and Thornax rising to a great height, not only -intercept the cooler breezes from the west and north, but, bending -amphitheatrically round the plain, concentrate the sun’s rays, which, -being bare and rocky, they reflect with great force. In summer, -therefore, the heat is intense: in winter, on the other hand, their -great elevation suffices morning and evening to exclude the slanting -beams, thus causing a degree of cold little inferior, perhaps, to what -is felt in the highlands of Arcadia. - -Footnote 184: - - This mountain (which in one place Vibius Sequester converts into a - river, p. 19, Cf. Virg. Georg. ii. 487,) was sacred to Bacchos. Serv. - ad. Virg. ut sup.—Strabo describes it at length, and Pausanias - observes that it was adapted to the chase. On its summit horses were - sacrificed to the sun.—Paus. iii. 20. 2. Cf. Oberlin, ad Vib. Sequest. - p. 375. - -Footnote 185: - - Coronelli, Mém. Hist. et Géog. du Roy. de la Morée, &c. p. 90. sqq. - Poucqueville, Travels in the Morea, p. 87. Chateaubriand, Itinéraire, - t. i. pp. 102–118. Cf. Thiersch, Etat Actuel de la Grèce, i. 287, who - gives the following romantic glimpse of the Laconian valley:—“Oh! que - ce pays était beau, lorsqu’au mois de Mai 1832, nous traversâmes ses - ravissantes vallées au milieu des montagnes de la Laconie, et ses - villages situés au bord de ruisseaux limpides et entourés d’arbres - fruitiers tout en fleurs! Quelle était belle cette terre, lorsque, le - soir, revenant des ruines de Sparte à Mistra, nous étions comme - baignés de ces parfums qu’exhalent les orangers qui remplissent la - plaine, et rafraichis par la brise délicieuse descendue des montagnes - majestueuses du Taygète, dont les cimes, encore couvertes de neige, - semblaient toucher le ciel parsemé d’étoiles! Nôtre sommeil fut - interrompu la nuit par le chant mélodieux d’une troupe de rossignols.” - -But though lofty and bleak, the uplands of Laconia are not incapable of -cultivation, and in many places were anciently covered with forests of -plane trees. Their eastern slopes were likewise clothed with vines, -irrigated, as in Switzerland and Burgundy, by small rills, conducted -through artificial channels from springs high up in the mountains.[186] -The summits of Taygetos are waste and wild; rent and shattered by -frequent earthquakes, lashed by rain-storms, and here and there bored -and undermined by gnawing streams, working their way to the valley, it -presents the aspect of a fragment of nature in its decrepitude. South, -however, of Mount Evoras the country opens into a plain of considerable -fertility, extending eastward towards Mount Zarax and the sea. On the -Messenian frontier, also, are many valleys highly productive. This -portion of Lacedæmon obtained in the time of Augustus the name, given -perhaps in mockery, of the land of the Eleuthero Lacones, or “Free -Laconians.”[187] - -Footnote 186: - - Aleman, ap. Athen. i. 57. - -Footnote 187: - - Strab. viii. 6. p. 190. Paus. iii. 21. 6. - -Protected on the land side by mountains difficult to be traversed, and -presenting towards the sea an inhospitable harbourless coast, Laconia -seems marked out by nature to be the abode of an unsocial people. Like -that of many Swiss cantons, its climate is generally harsh and rude, -vexed by cold winds alternating with burning heats, and appears to -communicate analogous qualities to the minds of its inhabitants, who -have been in all ages remarkable for valour untempered by humanity. In -such a country the nobler arts can never be completely naturalised. The -virus imbibed from nature will find its way into the character, and defy -the influence of culture and of government. - -Messenia presents, in every respect, a contrast to Laconia. Along the -sea-coast, indeed, particularly from Pylos to Cape Aeritas, its -barrenness is complete; neither woods nor thickets, nor any vestige of -verdure being visible upon the red cinder-like precipices beetling over -the sea, or sloping off into grey mountains above. But having passed -this Alpine barrier, we find the land sinking down into rich plains, -which on the banks of the broad Pamisos were anciently, for their -luxuriant fertility,[188] denominated “the Happy.” North, and about the -sources of the Balyra, the Amphitos, and the Neda the scenery grows -highly romantic and picturesque, the eye commanding from almost every -elevated point innumerable narrow meandering glens, each with its -bubbling streamlet circling round green eminences, clothed to their -summits with hanging woods. Messenia, which, as soon inhabited, must -have been wealthy, appears to have been a favourite resort of poets in -remote antiquity. Here the Thracian Thamyris, in a contest, as was -fabled, with the Muses, lost his sight, together with the gift of song; -and in a small rocky island on its coast,—the haunt, when I saw it, of -sea-mews and cormorants,—Sparta received from an Athenian general of -mean abilities one of the most galling defeats recorded in her annals. - -Footnote 188: - - Cf. Sibth. in Walp. Mem. i. 60. - -Returning out of the Peloponnesos by way of the Isthmos, and quitting at -the Laconian rocks the territories of Corinth, we enter the -Megaris,[189] originally, as I have before observed, a part of the -Athenian territories. Attica is a triangular promontory, of small -extent, projecting into the Myrtöan sea, between Argolis and Eubœa. A -mountain chain, of no great elevation, forms, under several names, the -boundary between this country and Bœotia; and Mount Kerata, in later -times, divided it from Megaris. On every other side Attica is washed by -the sea, which, together with nearly all the circumjacent islands, was, -in antiquity, regarded as a part of its empire.[190] This minute -division of Greece, fertile in nothing but great men, is seldom viewed -with any eye to the picturesque. Satisfied that Athens stood there, we -commonly ask no more. Genius has breathed over it a perfume sweeter than -the thyme of its own hills,—has painted it with a beauty surpassing that -of earth,—rendered its atmosphere redolent for ever of human greatness -and human glory,—and cast so dazzling an illusion over its very dust and -ruins, that they appear more beautiful than the richest scenes and most -perfect structures of other lands. - -Footnote 189: - - Strab. ix. i. p. 232. - -Footnote 190: - - Strab. ix. 1. Philoch. Siebel. p. 28. - -Independently, however, of its historical importance, Attica is invested -with numerous charms. Consisting of an endless succession of hill and -dale,[191] with many small plains interspersed; and swelling towards its -northern frontier into considerable mountains, it presents a miniature -of the whole Hellenic land.[192] In antiquity its uplands and ravines -and secluded hollows were clothed with wood,—oaks, white poplars, wild -olive-trees, or melancholy pines. The arbutus, the agnus castus, wild -pear, heath, lentisk, and other flowering shrubs decked its hill-sides -and glens; on the brow of every eminence wild thyme, sweet marjoram, -with many different kinds of odoriferous plants exhaled their fragrance -beneath the foot;[193] while rills of the clearest and sweetest water in -the world, leaped down the rocks, or conducted their sparkling currents -through its romantic and richly cultivated valleys. Southward, among the -mountains of scoriæ of the mining district, springs of silver[194] may -be said to have usurped the place of fountains. The face of the country -is nearly everywhere arid and barren,—the plains are parched,—the -gullies encumbered with loose shingle,—the eminences unpicturesque and -dreary; yet wherever vegetation takes place, the virtue of the Attic -soil displays itself in the production of fragrant flowers, whence the -bee extracts the most delicious honey in the world, superior in quality -to that of Hybla or Hymettos. - -Footnote 191: - - Mardonius, in fact, found Attica too hilly for the operations of - cavalry:—οὔτε ἱππασίμη ἡ χώρη ἦν ἡ Ἀττική.—Herod. ix. 13. - -Footnote 192: - - See, in Plato’s Critias, t. vii. p. 153. the eulogium of its beauty - and fertility. At present “the plain of Attica, if we except the - olive-tree, is extremely destitute of wood, and we observed, on our - return, the peasants driving home their asses laden with Passerina - hirsuta for fuel.”—Sibthorp in Mitchell, Knights, p. 155. But the - description by no means applies to the whole country. At the foot of - Cithæron there are still forests four hours in length.—Sibth. in Walp. - Mem. i. 64. - -Footnote 193: - - This is accounted for by the dryness and purity of the atmosphere; - for, as Pliny remarks, “hortensiorum odoratissima quæ sicca; ut ruta, - mentha, apium, et quæ in siccis nascantur.”—Hist. Nat. xxi. 18. p. 46. - -Footnote 194: - - Ἀργύρου πηγή τις αὐτοῖς ἐστι, βησαυρὸς χθονός.—Æschyl. Pers. 238. In - all countries the waters of mining cantons are bad.—Hippocr. de Aër. - et Loc. § 35. - -Comparative barrenness may, however, upon the whole, be considered as -characteristic of Attica. Indeed, Plato,[195] in a very curious passage, -likens to a body emaciated by sickness the hungry district round the -capital, where the soil has collapsed about the rocks. But from this -innumerable advantages have arisen. The earth being light and porous -permits whatever rain falls immediately to sink and disappear, as in -Provence,[196] which, more than any other part of Europe, resembles -Attica. Hence, except in some few inconsiderable spots,[197] no bogs, no -marshes exist to poison the air with cold effluvia: a ridge of mountains -protects it against the northern blasts: mild breezes from the ocean -prevail in almost all seasons: snow seldom lies above a few hours on the -ground. The atmosphere, accordingly, kept constantly free from terrene -exhalations, is buoyant and sparkling as on the Libyan desert, when, at -noon, every elevated rock appears to be encircled by a luminous -halo.[198] In air so pure the act of breathing is a luxury which -produces a smile of satisfaction on the countenance; the mind performs -its operations with ease and rapidity; and life, everywhere sweet, -appears to have a finer relish than in countries exposed to watery and -unwholesome fogs. It was perfectly philosophical, therefore, in -Plato,[199] to regard Attica as a place designed by nature to bring the -human intellect to the greatest ripeness and perfection, a quality -extended by Aristotle to Greece at large. The same atmospheric -properties were favourable to health and long life, warding off many -disorders common in other parts of the country. - -Footnote 195: - - Critias, t. vii. p. 154. Words. Athens and Attica, 62. - -Footnote 196: - - Coray, Notes sur Hippoc. De Aër. et Loc. § 126. t. ii. p. 403. - -Footnote 197: - - Vide Sch. Aristoph. Lys. 1032. - -Footnote 198: - - Aristid. i. 187. Jebb. Aristophanes appears to speak of the brilliance - of its atmosphere in the following verse (Ran. 155): - - ὅψει τι φῶς κάλλιστον, ὥσπερ ἐνθάδε. - - though Spanheim supposes him to mean the light of the world - generally.—Not. in loc. - -Footnote 199: - - Plat. Tim. t. vii. pp. 12. 15. sqq. Bekk. Aristot. Pol. vii. 6. Cf. - Coray, Disc. Prelim. ad Hippoc. De Aër. et Loc. p. cxxix. sqq. - -A learned and ingenious but fanciful writer[200] considers Peloponnesos -to have been the heart of Greece. Following up this idea, we must -unquestionably pronounce Athens to have been the head, the seat of -thought, the place where its arts and its wisdom ripened. But ere we -touch upon the capital, which cannot be slided over with a cursory -remark, it will be necessary to enter into some little detail respecting -the demi or country towns of Attica,[201] of which in the flourishing -times of the republic there existed upwards of one hundred and -seventy-four. Of these small municipal communities, of which too little -is known, several were places of considerable importance, possessing -their temples, their Agoræ, their theatres, filled with walks and -surrounded by impregnable fortifications. The Athenians regarded Athens, -indeed, as the Hebrews did Jerusalem, in the light of their great and -holy city, the sanctuary of their religion and of their freedom. But -this did not prevent their preferring the calm simplicity of a country -life to the noisier pleasures of the town. Many distinguished families, -accordingly, had houses in these demi, or villas in their vicinity. -Here, also, several of the greatest men of Athens were born: Thucydides -was a native of Halimos,[202] Sophocles of Colonos, Epicurus of -Gargettos, Plato of Ægina, Xenophon of Erchia, Tyrtæos, Harmodios, and -Aristogeiton of Aphidnæ, Antiphon of Rhamnos, and Æschylus of Eleusis. - -Footnote 200: - - Müll. Dor. i. 76. - -Footnote 201: - - See Col. Leake, Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. i. 114–283. - -Footnote 202: - - Poppo, Prolegg. in Thucyd. i. 22. - -In other points of view, also, the towns and villages of Attica -possessed great interest. They long continued to be the seats of the -primitive worship of the country, where the tutelar deities of -particular districts, of earth-born race, were adored with that -affectionate faith and that fervency of devotion which peculiarly belong -to small religious communities. The gods they worshipped appeared almost -to be their fellow citizens, and to exist only for their protection. In -fact, they were the patron saints of the villages. Fabulous legends and -historical traditions combined with religion to shed celebrity over the -Attic demi. There was hardly in the whole land a single inhabited spot -which did not figure in their poetry or in their annals as the scene of -some memorable exploit. Aphidnæ[203] was renowned, for example, as the -place whence the Dioscuri bore away their sister Helen, after her rape -by Theseus, in revenge for which the youthful heroes devastated the -whole district. “Grey Marathon,”[204] as Byron aptly terms it, was -embalmed for ever in Persian blood, and rendered holy by the vast -barrows raised there by the state over the ashes of its fallen warriors. -Rhamnos on the Attic Dardanelles became famous for its statue of -Nemesis, originally of Aphrodite, the work of Diodotos or Agoracritos of -Paros, not unworthy to be compared for size and beauty with the -productions of Pheidias. The irruption of the Peloponnesians conferred a -melancholy celebrity on Deceleia,[205] and Phylæ obtained a place in -history as the stronghold where Thrasybulos gathered together the small -but gallant band which avenged the cause of freedom upon the thirty. Of -Eleusis,[206] it is enough to say that there the ceremonies of -initiation into the mysteries were performed. - -Footnote 203: - - Paus. i. 17. 5. - -Footnote 204: - - Paus. i. 32. 3. sqq. “We observed the long-legged plover near - Marathon; the grey plover and the sand plover on the eastern coast of - Attica.” Sibth. Walp. Mem. i. 76. Chandler, ii. 83. - -Footnote 205: - - Where Sophocles and his ancestors were buried. Chandler, ii. 95. - -Footnote 206: - - Clem. Alex. Protrept. § 2. t. i. p. 16. seq. where he relates the - story of Demeter and Baubo. - -The capital of Megara, like Athens, stood a short distance from the sea; -but was joined by long walls to its harbour Nisæa, protected from the -weather by the Minoan promontory. In sailing thence to the Peiræeus we -pass several islands, none of which, however, are of any magnitude, save -Salamis, in remote antiquity a separate state governed by its own laws. -The old capital, already deserted in the time of Strabo, stood on the -southern coast over against Ægina; but the principal town of later times -was situated on a bay at the root of a tongue of land projecting toward -that part of Attica[207] where Xerxes sat to behold his imperial armada -annihilated by the republicans of Hellas. Salamis was known of old under -various names,—Skiras, Cychræa and Pituoussa, from the Pitus, or pine -tree, by which its rocks and glens were in many places shaded. -Immediately before the engagement in which his navy was destroyed, the -Persian monarch sought to unite Salamis to the continent by a dam two -stadia in length; his project, had it succeeded, would have ruined the -ferrymen of Amphialè, a class of individuals whose operations Solon -judged of sufficient importance to be regulated by a particular article -in his code. Of the smaller islets that form the outworks of the Attic -coast, little need be said, since they were nearly all barren, and -inhabited only by a few legendary traditions. The tomb of Circe was -shown on the larger of the Pharmacoussæ; and the island of Helena, east -of the Samian promontory obtained the reputation of having been the spot -where the faithless queen of Menelaus consummated her guilt.[208] - -Footnote 207: - - On one of the projecting roots of Mount Ægaleus, which anciently, - according to Statius, was well-wooded, and clothed like Hymettos with - thyme.—Theb. xii. 631. Suid. _v._ Μᾶσσον. This mountain produced - likewise an abundance of figs (Theoc. Eidyll. i. 147), which were - considered the best in Attica.—Athen. xiv. 66. Meurs. Rel. Att. c. i. - p. 4. seq. Cf. Leake, Topog. 71. - -Footnote 208: - - Il. γ. 445. where we find its ancient name to have been Kranäe.—Cf. - Eurip. Helen. 1672. Strab. ix. 1. p. 245.—Pausanias (i. 35. 1) has - preserved another tradition representing Helen as landing here on her - return from Troy.—Chandler, ii. 7. - -Ægina belonged to Attica only by conquest; but as when subdued its -subjection was complete and lasting, it must not be altogether omitted -in this glance over the home territories of the Great Demos. Like Attica -itself, the island lying in the Saronic Gulf is of a triangular shape. -By proximity it belongs to the Peloponnesos, being within thirty stadia -of the Methanæan Chersonesos, while to Salamis is a voyage of ninety -stadia, and to the Peiræeus one hundred and twenty. But the sea itself -having been considered a part of Attica, whose flag, like that of -England, streamed for ages triumphantly over its billows, the islands -also which it surrounded fell one by one into the hands of the people, -and this small Doric isle among the rest. A number of diminutive islets, -or rather rocks, cluster round the shores of Ægina, some barren and -treeless, others indued with a certain degree of fertility and verdant -with pine woods. - -The most remarkable objects in Ægina were placed at the angles of the -island. The city and harbour towards the west, on the east looking -towards Attica the temple of Athena, and, near its southern extremity, -“a magnificent conical mountain, which from its grandeur, its form, and -its historical recollections, is the most remarkable among the natural -features of Ægina.”[209] An eminence so lofty and in shape so beautiful -would naturally be an object of much interest in so small an island. The -local superstitions would necessarily cluster round it, as around Ida in -Crete and Olympos in Thessaly. Accordingly on the summit of this -mountain the fables of Ægina represent King Æacos praying, in the name -of the whole Hellenic nation, to Zeus for rain, as the prophet prayed -for the Israelites, and with equal success. Here, therefore, a recent -traveller has with great judgment fixed the site of the Panhellenion, -near the spot where a chapel, dedicated to the prophet Elias, now -stands. In dimensions Ægina, according to Scylax, ranked twelfth among -the isles of Hellas. Strabo attributes to it a circumference of one -hundred and eighty stadia; but Sir William Gell, in his Argolis,[210] -considers its perimeter, not including the fluctuations of the bays and -creeks, to be not less than two hundred and ten stadia, and its square -contents three thousand one hundred and sixty-four stadia, or forty-one -square miles.[211] The interior is rocky, rough, and perforated with -caverns, in which, according to fabulous legends, the Myrmidons resided, -and Chabrias afterwards lay in ambush for the Spartan Gorgopos and his -Æginetan allies.[212] A light thin soil nourishes but sparing vegetation -on the mountains, but several of the small valleys, filled with earth -washed down by rains from the uplands, are rich and fertile, watered by -springs and rivulets, and beautified with groves of imperishable -verdure.[213] - -Footnote 209: - - Wordsworth, Athens and Attica, p. 262. - -Footnote 210: - - Ib. 28. ap. Müll. Æginet. p. 8. - -Footnote 211: - - Cf. Clint. Fast. Hellen. ii. 335. - -Footnote 212: - - Xen. Hellen. v. 1. 11. - -Footnote 213: - - Chandler (ii. 12) speaks of the whole island as covered with trees. - -Much has been written on the extent and population of Attica, respecting -which most of the philosophers of the last generation entertained very -erroneous ideas. An examination of their statements might still, -perhaps, be interesting; but it would lead me far beside the scope of my -present work, and occupy space that can be better filled up. According -to the most careful calculation Attica contained seven hundred and -twenty square miles, or taking into account the island of Salamis seven -hundred and forty-eight. The whole of this extremely limited space -swarmed, however, with population; for even so late[214] as 317 B. C. -after all the calamities which the republic had undergone, Attica still -contained five hundred and twenty-seven thousand six hundred and sixty -persons, or nearly seven hundred and seventy-three to the square mile, a -proportion much higher than is found in the most thickly peopled -counties of England. - -Footnote 214: - - Clint. Fast. Hellen. ii. 386. sqq. Cf. Boeckh, Pub. Econ. of Athens, - i. 44. seq. On the number of the citizens _vide_ Philoch. Siebel, p. - 17. 28. Schol. Vesp. Aristoph. 709. Strab. ix. i. t. ii. p. 234. - Hermann. Pol. Ant. § 18. Bochart, Geog. Sac. i. 286. - -This, however, taking into account the form of government, the -industrious habits, and extreme frugality of the people, is entirely -within the bounds of probability. But in what is related of the -population of Ægina, the calculations current among learned authors are -so extravagant as to exceed all belief. Müller and Boeckh,[215] who on -other occasions, and sometimes very unseasonably affect scepticism, -unhesitatingly admit the account in Athenæus, which attributes four -hundred and seventy thousand slaves to the Æginetans.[216] To these the -former adds a free population of forty thousand, making the whole amount -to upwards of half a million, or twelve thousand four hundred and -fifty-seven to the square mile. Mr. Clinton,[217] clearly perceiving the -absurdity of this calculation, proposes to read seventy thousand, which -will leave a population in the proportion of two thousand six hundred -and eighty-two to the square mile. The passage in Athenæus is no doubt, -as Bochart suspects,[218] corrupt, and this being the case nothing is -left but to determine from analogy the population of Ægina, which, -supposing it equally dense with that of Attica would have amounted to -something more than thirty thousand souls. - -Footnote 215: - - Æginet. 128. Econ. of Athens, i. 55, seq. - -Footnote 216: - - Deipnosoph. vi. 103. Cf. Schol. Pind. Olymp. viii. 30. - -Footnote 217: - - Fast. Hellen. ii. 423. - -Footnote 218: - - Geog. Sac. Pars Prior, l. iv. c. 20, p. 286. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - CAPITAL CITIES OF GREECE.—ATHENS. - - -From these more general considerations, into which it was perhaps -necessary to enter, let us now pass to the picture antiquity has left us -of the principal capitals, confining ourselves chiefly to Athens and -Sparta, which may be regarded as the representatives of all the rest. -The physiognomy of these, like the features of an individual, may in -some respects be considered as a key to the character of the -inhabitants; a remark which, with great truth, may be applied to all -capitals. - -In the structure of the one, external and internal,[219] there was -everywhere visible an effort to embody the principle of beauty, -improving the advantages and overcoming the difficulties of position. In -the other little could be discovered indicative of imaginative power, of -the thirst to create, of the yearning of the mind after the ideal, of -the desire of genius to breathe a soul into stone, to live and obtain a -perpetuity of existence in the works of its own hands, to gaze on its -own beauty reflected on all sides from its own creations as from a -concave mirror. At Athens everything public, everything which had -reference to the united efforts of the people wore an air of grandeur. -The Acropolis inhabited only by the gods appeared worthy to be the -dwelling place of immortal beings: all the poetry of architecture was -there; it seemed to have owed its birth to a concentration of the best -religious spirit of the ancient world, aiming at giving earth a -resemblance to heaven; at peopling it with mute deities, speaking only -through their beauty and surrounding these representatives of the -invisible Olympos with everything most excellent, most valuable, most -cherished among men. At Sparta a spirit of calculating economy entered -into the very worship of the gods. They seemed, in the manner they -lodged and entertained them, to have always had an eye to their common -tables and their black broth. Between the temples of Athens and Sparta -there was, in fact, the same contrast that now exists between St. -Peter’s at Rome and a Calvinistic conventicle. Accordingly, several -ancient writers have vied with each other in heaping encomiums upon -Athens, which they regarded as at once the most glorious and the most -beautiful of cities. Athenæus denominates it the “Museum of Greece;” -Pindar, “the stay of Greece;” Thucydides, in his epigram upon Euripides, -“the Greece of Greece;” and the Pythian Apollo, “the home and place of -council of all Greeks.”[220] By others it was termed “the Opulent;” -though the principal part of its riches consisted in the wise and great -men whom it produced, and whose achievements covered it with glory. In -the same spirit the Arabs call Cairo the “Mother of cities;” and all -nations concentrate more or less upon their capital, their affection and -their pride. - -Footnote 219: - - Dem. Olynth. iii. 9. Palm. Exercit. in Auct. Græc. p. 622. Zander, De - Luxu Athen. c. iii. 5, § 6. - -Footnote 220: - - Athen. v. 12. Soph. Œdip. Col. 107. seq. - -The superior magnificence of Athens appears from this; that it was -always the place to which the Greeks referred when desirous of -magnifying the splendour of their own country, in comparison with what -could be found elsewhere. Thus Dion Chrysostom[221] affirms that Athens -and Corinth in all that constitutes real grandeur surpassed the famous -capitals of Persia, Syria, and Ecbatana, and Babylon, and the metropolis -of Bactriana. Nay, in the opinion of this writer the Kraneion with its -gymnasia, fountains, and shady walks, and the Acropolis with its -Propylæa, antique altars, temples, and population of gods, exceeded in -magnificence the palaces of the Great King, though there was something -exceedingly striking in the site and structure of what may properly be -called the Acropolis of Ecbatana.[222] The city itself was unwalled, but -the citadel, which probably rose in the midst of it, occupied the slopes -of a conical hill, not unlike Mount Tabor, and was girt by seven walls -of different colours and elevation, rising in concentric circles above -each other to the summit. The circumference of the lowest is said to -have equalled that of Athens including the Peiræeus. The colour of this -wall was white; the next being black for the sake of contrast, was -succeeded by one of light purple, which was followed by walls of sky -blue, of scarlet, of silver and of gold. - -Footnote 221: - - Orat. vi. t. i. p. 199. - -Footnote 222: - - Herod. i. 98. Bochart, Geog. Sac. Pars Prior, l. iii. c. 14. p. 222. - Aristot. De Mund. ch. 6. Apuleius, p. 19. - -In mere magnitude the great capitals of the East far exceeded Athens. -The circuit, for example, of Babylon, is said to have been at least four -hundred stadia, while, according to the orator Dion, that of Athens was -in round numbers two hundred stadia, or twenty-five miles. Aristeides -probably adopted the same calculation when he pronounced it to be a -day’s journey in compass. But there is some exaggeration in these -accounts; for, according to Thucydides, the total extent of the walls -did not exceed one hundred and seventy-eight stadia. The area, however, -of the city was not proportioned to the vast range of its -fortifications, consisting of two distinct systems of buildings, the -Astu, or city proper, and the Peiræeus or harbour, connected together by -three walls more than four miles in length. There were other capitals in -the western world equal in dimensions, as Syracuse, one hundred and -eighty stadia in circumference, and Rome, which in the time of Dionysios -of Halicarnassos did not command a larger circuit, though the space -included within the walls was much greater. - -In order, however, to convey a more complete idea of the ancient home of -Democracy and the Arts, we must, as far as possible, open up a view into -the interior of Athens, which, with its harbours, docks, arsenals, its -market-places, bazārs, porticoes, public fountains and gymnasia, -probably formed the noblest spectacle ever presented to the eye by a -cluster of human dwellings. From whatever side approached, whether by -land or by sea, the city appeared to be but one vast group of -magnificence. In sailing up along the shore from the promontory of -Sunium, the polished brazen helmet and shield of the colossal -Athena,[223] standing on the brow of the Acropolis, were beheld from -afar flashing in the sun. On drawing nearer, the Parthenon, the -Propylæa, the temple of Erectheus, with the other marble edifices -crowning the Cecropian rock, glittered above the pinnacles of the lower -city, and the deep green foliage of the encircling plain and olive -groves. Among its principal ornaments in the later ages of the republic -was a remarkable monument in the road to Eleusis,—the tomb of the -hetaira Pythionica, who dying while her beauty still bloomed and her -powers of fascination were unimpaired, the love she had inspired -survived the grave and manifested itself by rearing a costly pile of -marble over her ashes.[224] - -Footnote 223: - - Paus. i. 28. 2. - -Footnote 224: - - Athen. xiii. 67. - -Upon sailing into the Peiræeus,[225] where generally ships from every -quarter of the ancient world lay at anchor, the stranger was immediately -struck by manifestations of the people’s power and predilection for -stateliness and grandeur. The entrance into the port, barely wide enough -to admit a couple of galleys abreast, with their oars in full sweep, lay -between two round towers, in which terminated on either hand the -maritime fortifications of the city. Across the mouth vast chains were -extended in time of war, rendering the Peiræeus a closed port;[226] -arrived within which, the pleased eye wandered over the spacious quays, -wharfs, and long ranges of warehouses extending round the harbour, with -tombs and sepulchral monuments rising here and there in open spaces -between. Among them was a cenotaph in the form of an altar, raised by -the repentant people in memory of Themistocles,[227] the founder of the -naval power of Athens, whose bones however it has sometimes been -supposed were brought thither from Magnesia. The Peiræeus consisted of -three basins, Zea, Aphrodision, which was by far the largest, and -Cantharos. On the western shore were the vast docks and arsenals of the -commonwealth erected by Philon,[228] in which, during peace, all that -portion of the public navy not engaged in protecting its trade in -distant colonies, was drawn up in dry docks, roofed over and surrounded -by massive walls. Towards the centre of the town stood the -Hippodameia,[229] an agora or market place, which appears to have -resembled Covent Garden, with ranges of stalls in the area and -surrounded by dwelling-houses. This building derived its name from -Hippodamos of Miletos, the architect who erected it, and laid out the -whole maritime city in the regular and beautiful style of which he was -the inventor.[230] Here, also, were several other market-places or -bazārs, among which may be reckoned a place[231] resembling the Laura of -Samos, the Sweet Ancon of Sardis, the Street of the Happy at Alexandria, -and the Tuscan Street at Rome, in which fruit, confectionary, with -delicacies and luxuries of every kind were exposed for sale. In these -agora, as now in the bazārs of Cairo, Damascus, and Constantinople, were -beheld, in close juxtaposition, the wines of Spain and Portugal, amber -from the shores of the ocean, the carpets, shawls, and jewels of the -East, fruit and gold from Thasos, ivory and ostrich feathers from -Africa, and beautiful female slaves from Syria, Dardania, and the -southern shores of the Euxine, the Mingrelians and Georgians of the -modern world.[232] Around these singular groups the young men of Athens, -in an almost oriental pomp of costume, might be seen lounging, some -perhaps purchasing, others merely looking on, half in haste to return to -the gymnasium or to the lectures of Socrates. - -Footnote 225: - - Cf. Steph. De Urb. v. Πειραιός. p. 633. G. sqq. - -Footnote 226: - - Leake, Top. of Ath. p. 311. sqq. - -Footnote 227: - - Paus. i. 1, 2. Plut. Them. § 32. Meurs. Pir. c. 3. - -Footnote 228: - - Strab. ix. 1. p. 239. - -Footnote 229: - - Harp. _v._ Ἱπποδ. Xen. Hell. ii. 4. Dem. in Timoth. § 5. Andoc. de - Myst. § 10. - -Footnote 230: - - Arist. Polit. vi. 8. p. 40. 16. vii. 11. p. 199. 25. Hesych. v. Ἱπποδ. - νέμησις. - -Footnote 231: - - Athen. xii. 57, 58. Animad. t. 11. p. 468. Sch. Aristoph. Pac. 98. - -Footnote 232: - - See for the authorities, Book vi. chapters 11 and 12. - -Among the public buildings[233] in the harbour were the Deigma[234] or -Exchange, where the merchants met to transact business, bringing along -with them samples of their goods; the Serangion[235] or public baths; -the superb temples of Zeus and Athena adorned with exquisite pictures -and statues, where in an open court seems to have stood the celebrated -altar erected by Demosthenes[236] in commutation of his fine of thirty -talents; the Long Portico which served as an agora to those living near -the shore;[237] the theatre,[238] and the court of Phreattys[239] on the -beach, where the accused pleaded his cause from a galley lying afloat. -Somewhere in the Peiræeus was an altar to “the unknown Gods,”[240] -which, notwithstanding that the plural form is used, may possibly have -been that to which Saint Paul alludes in his speech to the Athenians on -the hill of Areiopagos. - -Footnote 233: - - Meurs. Pir. c. 4, 5, 6. - -Footnote 234: - - Harpocrat. in v. p. 74. Maussac. Etymol. Mag. 259. 51. Suid. in v. t. - i. p. 665. Xen. Hellen. v. 1. 21. Aristoph. Eq. 975. et Schol. Dem. - adv. Lacrit. § 7. Lys. cont. Tynd. frag. 120. Polyæn. Strat. vi. 2. 2. - -Footnote 235: - - Harpocrat. in v. p. 166. Suid. in v. t. ii. 734 a. Isaeus De Philoct. - Hered. § 6. - -Footnote 236: - - Meurs. Pir. c. 7. - -Footnote 237: - - Paus. i. 13. - -Footnote 238: - - Xen. Hellen. ii. 4. 33. - -Footnote 239: - - Paus. i. 28. 11. - -Footnote 240: - - Paus. i. 1. 4; v. 14. 8. - -Besides the Peiræeus, Athens possessed two other harbours Munychia and -Phaleron, which were enclosed by the same line of fortifications, and in -process of time formed but one city, superior in extent to the Astu -itself. Of these the latter was the most ancient, and from hence -Mnestheus sailed for Troy and Theseus for Crete.[241] The Munychian -promontory,[242] abounding in hollows and artificial excavations, and -connected by a narrow neck of land with the continent, was the strongest -position on the coast, and may be regarded as the key of Athens, since -whoever held possession of it could command the city. In this Demos -stood the Bendideion[243] where shows were exhibited in honour of Bendis -the Thracian Artemis, to behold which Socrates and his friends came down -from the city, when at the house of Cephalos that conversation took -place with Glaucon and Adimantos, out of which arose the Republic of -Plato. This division of the port likewise possessed its theatre,[244] -and here were fought some of those battles with the thirty that -re-established the liberty of the commonwealth. - -Footnote 241: - - Paus. i. 1, 2. - -Footnote 242: - - Strab. ix. 1. t. ii. p. 239. - -Footnote 243: - - Xen. Hellen. ii. 4, 11. - -Footnote 244: - - Thucyd. viii. 93. Lys. in Agorat. § 7. - -Footnote 245: - - Of which there were three. Plat. Gorg. t. iii. p. 22. Wordsworth, - Athens and Attica, p. 187. Dr. Cramer, Desc. of Greece, ii. 346, seq. - understands the long walls to have been but two in number. - -Proceeding inland towards the Astu or city of Athens proper, the -stranger beheld before him a straight street upwards of five miles in -length, extending from the Peiræeus to the foot of the Acropolis, -between walls[245] of immense elevation and thickness, flanked by square -towers at equal distances. Along the summit of these vast piles of -masonry a terrace was carried, commanding superb views of the Saronic -bay and distant coasts of Peloponnesos; and, on the other hand, of the -city relieved against the green slopes of Lycabettos[246]. The space -between the long walls abounded with remarkable monuments. Here were the -tombs of Diopethes, Menander, and Euripides, the temple of Hera, burned -by the Persians, and left in ruins as a memento to revenge, and numerous -cenotaphs and statues of illustrious men. - -Footnote 246: - - Marin. vit. Procl. p. 74. ed. Fabric. - -Spacious and lofty gates admitted you into the Astu, through a belt of -impregnable fortifications: and the appearance of the interior,[247] -though the streets for military purposes were mostly narrow and winding, -and the houses low, projecting over the pavement or concealed by -elevated front-walls, surpassed in all probability the promise of its -distant aspect. The grandeur which peculiarly belonged to the Athenian -democracy was visible at every step. But it would weary the reader to -lead him in succession through all the public places—the Pnyx, the -Agora, the Cerameicos: let us ascend the Acropolis, from whose ramparts -the plan of the whole city will unfold itself before us like a map. - -Footnote 247: - - Boeckh, Pub. Econ. of Athens, i. 88. seq. - -Half the beauty of all civilised countries springs out of their -religion. At Athens nearly everything costly or magnificent belonged to -the Gods; even the Propylæa,[248] apparently a mere secular or military -structure, probably owed its erection in so expensive a style to the -circumstance of its adorning the entrance to the sacred enclosure of -Athena, and the other tutelary divinities of Athens, and spanning the -road by which the pomp of the Panathenaic procession descended and -ascended the mount. Be this as it may, a road[249] which, by running -zigzag up the slope, was rendered practicable for chariots, led from the -lower city to the Acropolis, on the edge of the platform of which stood -the Propylæa, erected by the architect Mnesicles in five years, during -the administration of Pericles. A pile of architecture, similar in name, -is usually found at the entrance of the court of Egyptian temples, and -the Propylæa Luxor and Karnak, with their aspiring obelisks, couchant -sphynxes, and ranges of colossal statues, may be reckoned among the most -chaste and beautiful monuments in the valley of the Nile. The Propylæa -of Athens, richer in design and materials, and executed with a grace and -perfection unknown to the Egyptians, enjoyed in its mere site an immense -advantage over their noblest works which, the pyramids and the great -temple of Koom Ombos excepted, stand on a dead level, while this -occupies the brow of a precipitous rock, visible on every side from -afar. Pillars, architraves, pediments, walls, and roof, were all of -snow-white marble, with mouldings of bright red and blue, and ceilings -of azure bedropped with stars.[250] Externally, on either hand, were -equestrian statues of the sons of Xenophon,[251] placed on lofty square -basements; and, overlooking the whole on the left, stood the colossal -statue of Athena Promachos.[252] - -Footnote 248: - - Suid. in v. t. ii. p. 611. d. Harpocrat. in v. p. 254. Paus. i. 22. 4. - Leake, Topog. p. 177. Wordsworth, Athens and Attica. p. 112. - -Footnote 249: - - Up this road goats were never allowed to ascend (Athen. xiii. 51). - Even crows were said never to alight on the top of the sacred rock; - and Chandler (ii. 61) remarks, that although he frequently saw these - birds flying about the Acropolis, he never observed one on the summit. - “The hooded crow, which retires from England during the summer, is a - constant inhabitant of Attica, and is probably that species noticed by - the ancients under the name of κορώνη. It is the word applied at - present to it by the Greek peasants, who are the best commentators on - the old naturalists.” Sibthorp in Walp. Mem. l. 75. - -Footnote 250: - - Wordsworth, Athens and Attica, p. 114. - -Footnote 251: - - Paus. i. 22. 4. - -Footnote 252: - - Müll. De Phid. Vit. p. 18 seq. - -On entering through the gates of the Propylæa a scene of unparalleled -grandeur and beauty burst upon the eye. No trace of human dwellings -anywhere appeared, but on all sides temples of more or less elevation, -of Pentelic marble, beautiful in design and exquisitely delicate in -execution, sparkled like piles of alabaster in the sun. On the left -stood the Erectheion or fane of Athena Polias; to the right that -matchless edifice known as the Hecatompedon of old, but to later ages as -the Parthenon. Other buildings, all holy to the eye of an Athenian, lay -grouped around these master structures, and in the open spaces between, -in whatever direction the spectators might look, appeared statues, some -remarkable for their dimensions, others for their beauty, and all for -the legendary sanctity which surrounded them. No city of the ancient or -modern world ever rivalled Athens in the riches of art. Our best filled -museums, though teeming with her spoils, are poor collections of -fragments compared with that assemblage of gods and heroes which peopled -the Acropolis, the genuine Olympos of the arts, where all the divinities -of the pagan heaven appeared grouped in immortal youth and beauty round -the Thunderer and his virgin daughter. Many volumes were written in -antiquity on the pictures, statues, and architectural monuments which -thronged the summit of this rock, and though those works have perished, -a long and curious list might still be given of the objects of this kind -which we know to have existed there.[253] It will, however, be -sufficient to glance over a few of the more striking features of the -scene. - -Footnote 253: - - Somewhere in a cavern in the rock of the Acropolis was a slab called - the pillar of infamy, on which were engraved the names of traitors and - other public delinquents. Thrasybulos accused Leodamas of having had - his name on this pillar.—Aristot. Rhet. ii. 23. - -On one side of the entrance stood a chariot drawn by four horses in -bronze, and directly opposite a chapel of Aphrodite, containing a bronze -lioness, with a statue of the goddess herself by Calamis; a little -further the eye rested on Diitrephes, pierced like St. Sebastian with -arrows; two figures of the goddess Health; a youth in bronze, by Lycios, -bearing the Perirrhanterion, or brush for sprinkling holy water; Myron’s -group of Perseus cutting off the head of Medusa, and the three Graces -draped by Socrates,[254] son of Sophroniscos. Advancing past the chapel -of Artemis Brauronia you beheld, amid numerous groups of less striking -monuments, the Attic conception of the Trojan horse; Athena smiting -Marsyas; Heracles strangling the serpents in his cradle; Phrixos -sacrificing the ram; and Theseus, the national hero, slaughtering the -Minotaur in the Cretan labyrinth.[255] Here, too, was an Athena issuing -from the head of Zeus, together with the figure of a bull presented by -the Senate of Areiopagos; and, a little beyond, an embodiment of a very -pious and a very beautiful thought,—a figure of Earth, the mother of -gods and men, praying to the ruler of Olympos for rain. Of Zeus, the -Cloud-Compeller, there were numerous representations by artists of -celebrity; the figure of Apollo, by Pheidias, standing before the -eastern front of the Parthenon, was lighted up by the first rays of the -morning. But the tutelar gods of Attica, Athena and Poseidon, the genii -of political wisdom and maritime power, exhibited as struggling for the -mastery over the Athenian mind, met the eye in various parts of the -Acropolis,—the piety of the people delighting to reproduce with various -attributes the objects of their affectionate adoration. Among these -divinities, the statues of several poets, orators, and generals were -found; Anacreon, Epicharmos, Phormio, Timotheus, Conon, Pericles, and -Isocrates. On drawing near the Parthenon, its sculptured pediments and -metopes, representing legends in the mythology and religious processions -of Athens, excited admiration, and still excite it, by their original -design and matchless workmanship: and, suspended from its highly painted -friezes, and resting on its white marble architraves, were rows of -highly burnished shields of gold.[256] - -Footnote 254: - - Paus. i. 22. 8. - -Footnote 255: - - On the labyrinth at present shown in Crete, see Tournefort, i. 76. - sqq. - -Footnote 256: - - They were votive offerings, and the impressions they made are still - visible upon the marble.—Words. Athens and Attica, 117. Lachares - afterwards, when Athens was besieged by Demetrius, carried them away - with him into Bœotia.—Paus. i. 25. 7. To facilitate his escape, he is - said to have scattered handfuls of golden Darics on the road, which, - tempting the cavalry in pursuit, prevented his capture.—Polyæn. iii. - 7. 1. - -Technical descriptions of buildings, whether religious or civil, would -be out of place in the present work; but a compendious account of the -Erectheion and Parthenon, the two great sanctuaries of the Acropolis, -could not with propriety be omitted. To commence with the former, as the -more ancient and sacred:—this edifice, of irregular design though highly -beautiful, contained three chapels, with the same number of porticoes. -The chapel of Erectheus, entered through a portico of six columns, faced -the east, where stood the altar of supreme Zeus, never stained by blood -or libations of wine. The pavement of this portion of the edifice was -raised eight feet above the level of the other chapels. Here the piety -of Athens had erected altars to Erectheus, Poseidon, Butas, and -Hephaistos, and pictures dedicated by the sacred family of the -Eteobutadæ adorned the walls. In a subterraneous chamber beneath the -floor lay the mortal remains of Ericthonios, a man sprung in a -mysterious manner from the gods. The Erectheion being about twenty-four -feet square, some have imagined it must have been hypæthral, unless the -stone blocks of the roof were supported by pillars. But the ancients -employed slabs of much greater dimensions in building and roofing their -temples; for at the Egyptian quarries of Hajjar Silsilis and Essouan we -observed blocks from forty-two to seventy feet in length and of suitable -proportions, while others equally vast had been removed. Volney, too, as -the reader will remember, found masses of no less magnitude in the walls -of Syrian temples: besides, several obelisks, now on their pedestals, -fall little short of a hundred feet in height. - -Between the Erectheion and the chapel of Athena Polias there was no door -of communication. Having surveyed the former, therefore, the stranger -again issued into the open air, and turning to the left entered the -stately portico leading from the north into the temple of Pandrosos, -where, constructed of Pentelic marble, stood the altar of frankincense. -Passing this, and traversing the Pandrosion, he entered the ancient -sanctuary of Athena, unwindowed and gloomy, whither not even that “dim -religious light” which contends with obscurity in our gothic cathedrals -could find its way. This is the case in many Egyptian temples where the -adyta are totally dark. But sunshine and the splendour of day would ill -have suited the mystic rites here celebrated; for which reason these -sacred recesses were lighted up with lamps, magnificent in form and -materials, that shed a soft pale ray over the worshippers. The -many-branched[257] golden candelabrum of Athena’s sanctuary was -furnished with asbestos wicks, and, according to the temple-wardens, of -sufficient dimensions to contain oil for a whole year. Once lighted, -therefore, it burned with perennial flame, and the smoke was received -and conducted to the roof by a hollow bronze palm tree reversed. - -Footnote 257: - - A conjecture of Müller, Minerv. Pol. v. 25. - -This inextinguishable lamp was kindled and kept burning, through -reverence for that antique image of Athena in wood of olive which -constituted one of the palladia of Attica. In honour, moreover, of this -primitive statue the Panathenaic procession is said to have been -instituted, during which, like the velabrum of the temple of Mekka, the -peplos,[258] whatever this may have been, was dedicated with vast pomp -and ceremony to the service of the goddess. - -Footnote 258: - - Antiquarians have formed many ingenious conjectures; but to me it - appears evidently to have been a female veil, such as Helenos in the - Iliad (σ. 734) commands to be offered to the same goddess of citadels, - by his mother and the other matrons of Troy. - -The principal argument, however, against supposing the peplos to have -been designed for the gold and ivory statue of the Parthenon,—that it -was not needed, is of very little weight. None of the ceremonies -attending its presentation were necessary. The offering was a work of -devotion; and however costly in itself and elaborately adorned, may have -been simply designed to protect the image from dust and the action of -the air. That Pheidias represented the goddess without her peplos, is no -argument that his statue needed none, but the contrary. He may have -omitted it expressly that it might be supplied by the piety of the -state. Besides, the sculptured metopes of the Parthenon, representing -the Panathenaic procession, are themselves a strong argument for -connecting the presentation of the peplos and the other ceremonies of -the festival with that more splendid structure and image rather than -with the Erectheion. As the Athenians supposed the Islands of the -blessed and the dwelling-place of their gods to have been somewhere in -the regions of the west, they were accustomed to pray with their faces -turned in that direction;[259] and so also buried they their dead. For -this reason, desiring to behold the countenance of their divinities -during this religious service, the statues of the gods were generally -set up with their faces eastward; and hence, too, the front of the -temples looked in the same direction. This was the case with the -olive-wood image of Athena Polias; and in the reign of Augustus the -Athenians, rendered more superstitious than ever by their misfortunes, -were vehemently terrified on finding that the goddess had turned her -back upon them,[260] as if preparing to seek her ancient home in the -Atlantic Ocean. But her real presence had forsaken the city long before -the battle of Chæroneia. - -Footnote 259: - - Plut. Sol. § 10. Visconti, Mem. p. 18. Müll. Minerv. Pol. p. 27. - -Footnote 260: - - Dion. Cass. iv. 7. - -But Athena, though the principal, was not the sole inhabitant of her -sanctuary. On one side of the door stood a phallic statue of Hermes, -originally set up by the Pelasgians,[261] and in later ages nearly -concealed by a profusion of myrtle branches. Here, also, in a very -extraordinary inmate were found traces of that animal worship which -extended so widely over the ancient world. In a den constructed for its -use lived a great serpent, considered as the guardian of the temple, and -supposed to be animated by the soul of Ericthonios, who here performed -the part assigned in the fane of Demeter to Cadmos, likewise believed to -have undergone a similar transformation after death. The snake-god of -the Acropolis received its daily sustenance from the priestess of -Athena; and once every month was propitiated with pious offerings of -cakes of the purest honey.[262] Relics of this worship are still found -in Egypt. In a deep chasm, among the wild rocky mountains on the Arabian -side of the Nile, we were shown a fissure in a hermit’s cell, whence a -large reptile of this species is said to issue forth at stated days to -receive the offerings of food brought him by the neighbouring peasants. -This creature, as well as the guardian of the Athenian Temple, is -supposed to possess a human soul, that of the holy Sheikh Haridi. - -Footnote 261: - - Herod. ii. 51. - -Footnote 262: - - Herod. viii. 41. Combe, Terra-cottas of the British Museum, pl. 28. - Petit. Radel, Musée Napol. iv. 33. - -Like most other Hellenic sanctuaries, the chapel of the goddess was a -kind of museum filled with memorials of Athenian victories and other -remarkable objects. Here were shown curious or beautiful specimens of -arms or armour, taken from the enemy; among which were the breast-plate -and scimitar of Masistios,[263] commander of the Median cavalry at the -battle of Platæa. Close beside these warlike memorials, stood a folding -camp-stool, the invention, it was said, and workmanship of Dædalos; the -archetype of all those portable seats borne after the maidens of Attica -by the daughters of aliens in the grand Panathenaic procession. - -Footnote 263: - - Paus. i. 27. 1. The Athenians in the age of this traveller confounded, - it seems, Masistios with Mardonios, nothing very extraordinary several - hundred years after the event referred to. Pausanias speaks of it as a - mistake; Mr. Müller, who is less ceremonious, as a falsehood. Minerv. - Pol. 29. The passion for relics, which led to the preservation of - these objects, existed in all its whimsicality among the ancients. But - they were scarcely so ingenious as the Roman Catholics of the - continent, whose sacred treasures include a number of feathers from - the wings of the angel Gabriel, a small bone of one of the cherubim, - and a few rays of the star by which the wise men of the East were led - to Bethlehem. They have also a small phial, containing some of the - darkness that overspread the land of Egypt. (Cf. Fabric. ad Cod. - Pseud. epigr. v. i. p. 93. t. 11. and Christophori Carmen, ap - Boissonade ad Eunap. p. 277. seq.) In the temples of antiquity relics - nearly as curious were preserved: they had an egg of Leda, possibly, - as Lobeck conjectures, an ostrich’s (Aglaoph. i. 52; Paus. iii. 16. - 1); the teeth of the Erymanthean boar (Paus. viii. 24. 2), whose - spoils were also shown at Tegea (Lucian adv. Indoct. § 13); the teeth - of the Calydonian boar were preserved at Beneventum (Procop. Bell. - Goth. i. 15. 349. c); they had also the sword of Memnon (Paus. iii. 3. - 6); the iron spear of Epeios (Justin. xx. 7), the brazen vessel in - which Pelias was boiled, the arrows of Teucer, the chlamys of - Odysseus, were preserved in the temple of Apollo at Sicyon. (Ampel. - Memor. viii. 68. Beckm. Hist. of Invent. ii. 364. Germ. in Lobeck.) In - the Troad the anvils were shown which Zeus suspended to the heels of - Hera, when he hung her up between heaven and earth (Eustath. p. 15. l. - 30); here, too, anyone might see the cithara of Paris. (Plut. Alex. § - 15.) Like the Catholics, too, they showed the same thing in two or - three places; for example, the hair of Isis might be seen at Koptos - (Etym. Mag. _v._ κόπτος, 522. 12), and at Memphis. (Luc. adv. Ind. § - 13.) The Romans, according to Horace (Carm. ii. 3. 21), possessed the - bronze wash-hand-basin of Sisyphos. A much more extensive list may be - found in Beckmann, Hist. of Inven. ii. 42. seq. _Eng. Tr._ - -Not the least interesting portion of this extraordinary edifice -dedicated to the worship of so many gods and heroes, was the small -chapel of Pandrosos, where Pandora and Thallo were said to have lived, -and where the ashes of Cecrops reposed. Here dwelt the priestess, shut -up for several months with the Ersephoræ. This cella may, therefore, be -said to have belonged not only to Pandrosos, who was one of the earliest -ministers of these rites, but to all who from her received the office. -The building opened on the south into a portico, adorned with Caryatides -instead of columns, and filled with ceremonial and religious -associations. Here grew the Pancuphos, or sacred olive tree, which, -burned by the Persians, shot up a cubit in a single night, and was -thought to be endued with the power of undying vegetation, for, if the -trunk were cut down, new shoots immediately succeeded. Near the sacred -olive was the salt well, called the sea of Erectheus, which Poseidon is -said to have produced by smiting the rock with his trident. In the -hollow of this fountain, during the prevalence of the south wind, a -sound like the murmuring of the waves was supposed to be heard. This -well has not been discovered in modern times; but in another part of the -citadel there existed a spring of brackish water, known by the name of -the Clepsydra, which, about the rising of the dog-star, while the -Etesian winds were blowing, overflowed; but on their cessation again -subsided.[264] - -Footnote 264: - - This fountain was likewise called Empedo.—Sch. Arist. Vesp. 857. I may - here mention, by the way, that most ancient cities were supplied with - water by pipes underground, as Syracuse.—Thucyd. vi. 100. Cf. Sch. - Arist. Achar. 1145. - -We have perhaps too long lingered among the dusky recesses of this -ancient fane, spell-bound by the charms of a beautiful mythology. We -emerge now into the light of history, and approach that matchless -structure erected by Ictinos where the Athenian people offered up their -daily prayers to heaven.[265] The Parthenon occupies the most elevated -platform of the Acropolis, the pavement of its peristyle being on a -level with the capitals of the columns of the Propylæa. It was -constructed entirely of white Pentelic marble,[266] and consisted of a -cella surrounded by a Doric peristyle having eight columns on either -front, and seventeen on the sides. These pillars, thirty-four feet in -height, sprang from a pavement elevated three steps above the rocky -platform, from whence the total height of the building was about -sixty-five feet. The arrangement of the interior like that of the great -temples of Egypt had reference rather to utility and the convenience of -public worship, than to the effect which long ranges of lofty pillars, -extending through unencumbered space, would have produced upon the mind: -for the cella, sixty-two feet in breadth, was divided into two chambers -of unequal size,—the western about forty-four feet in length, the -eastern nearly one hundred. In both these chambers the ceiling was -supported by columns. - -Footnote 265: - - It is worthy of remark that from this temple all persons of Doric race - were excluded. King Cleomenes, therefore, when desirous of obtaining - admission, denied his birth-right, and called himself an - Achæan.—Herod. v. 72. - -Footnote 266: - - The quarries of this mountain, worked to so great an extent by the - ancients, are now filling again with marble which grows - rapidly.—Chandler, ii. 191. Cf. Magius, Var. Lect. t. iv. 182. b. - Gemme Fisica Sotterranea, l. 1. c. ix. § 6. p. 87.—For the manner in - which it is thought to vegetate, see Tournefort, i. pp. 225. 228. sqq. - -Colonel Leake, to whose elaborate work I beg to refer the reader -desirous of entering into minute details, concludes his general -description as follows:—"Such was the simple construction of this -magnificent building, which, by its united excellencies of materials, -design, and decoration was the most perfect ever erected. Its dimensions -of two hundred and twenty-eight feet by a hundred and two, with a height -of sixty-eight feet to the top of the pediment, were sufficiently great -to give an impression of grandeur and sublimity, which was not disturbed -by any obtrusive division of parts, such as is found to diminish the -effect of some larger modern buildings. In the Parthenon, whether viewed -at a small or at a great distance, there was nothing to divert the -spectator’s contemplation from the simplicity and majesty of mass and -outline which forms the first and most remarkable object of admiration -in a Greek temple; and it was not until the eye was satiated with the -contemplation of the entire edifice that the spectator was tempted to -examine the decorations with which this building was so profusely -adorned; for the statues of the pediments the only elevation which was -very conspicuous by its magnitude and position, being enclosed within -frames, which formed an essential part of the design of either front, -had no more obtrusive effect than an ornamental capital has to a single -column."[267] - -Footnote 267: - - Topog. of Athens, pp. 211, 212. See also Chandler, ii. 49. sqq. - -That object of art, whatever its dimensions, is sufficiently great, -which fills the mind with high ideas of grandeur and beauty. There is, -moreover, in mere size, a point, beyond which if we proceed, the eye -will fail to grasp the whole at a glance, and create a feeling of want -of unity; but, in proportion as we fall short of that point will be our -sense of the absence of sublimity. In this predicament, perhaps, the -temples of Greece too generally stood. Considerations of expense, which -in the end affected their habits of thinking, cramped the ideas of the -architects, or forced them to direct their studies towards beauty of -form unconnected with that grandeur which springs out of mass and -elevation. - -Among the barbarous nations of the East, where the whole resources of -the country lay at the disposal of the monarch or of the priestly caste, -as in Hindùstân, Persia, and Egypt, full scope, on the contrary, was -given to the imagination of the architect, who, if his invention were -equal to it, might give his structures the elevation of a mountain and -the spaciousness of a vast city. Hence, the grandeur arising from -magnitude, is, in most cases, found to belong to the sacred edifices of -Egypt;[268] and in some instances a feeling of symmetry, a sense of the -beautiful, appears to have restrained the artist within due bounds, as -in the great temple of Apollinopolis Magna, which, whatever may be the -imperfections of its architectural details, is invested, as a whole, -with an air of genuine magnificence and sublimity. Proceeding from the -contemplation of these to the religious structures of Greece, there -would be found, I imagine, in most minds a slight feeling of -disappointment, and though afterwards, the delight imparted by the -presence of extreme beauty,—a delight serene, soft, and inexpressibly -soothing, may more than compensate for the want of awe and wondering -admiration, their absence will still be felt. - -Footnote 268: - - Of these temples Lucian says: ὅμοιαι ... τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἱεροῖς: κᾀκεῖ - γὰρ, αὐτὸς μὲν ὁ νεὼς κάλλιστός τε καὶ μέγιστος, λίθοις τοῖς - πολυτελέσιν ἠσκημένος, καὶ χρυσῷ, καὶ γραφαῖς διηνθισμὲνος. ἔνδον δὲ - ἢν ζητῆς τὸν βεὸν ἢ πιθηκός ἔστιν, ἢ ἴβις, ἢ τράγος, ἢ αἴλουρος. - Imagin. § 11. - -But to proceed: in rich and elaborate decorations the Parthenon -resembled the temple of Tentyris. Every part of its exterior, where -ornament was admissible, presented to the eye some creation of Hellenic -taste and fancy, figures in high and low relief, grouped in action or -repose, conceived and executed in a style worthy of the prince of the -mimetic art.[269] Many wrecks of these matchless compositions are now -protected from further defacements in the metropolis of Great Britain, -but withal so mutilated and decayed that none but a practised eye can -discern, through the ravages of age, all the sunshine of beauty and -loveliness which beamed from them when fresh from the Pheidian chisel. -One of the greatest works of this artist filled the interior of the -Parthenon with the emanations of its beauty, the statue of Athena in -ivory and gold,[270] which, representing a form distinguished for all -the softness and roundness belonging to womanhood, and a countenance -radiant with the highest intellect, must in some respects have borne -away the palm from the Olympian Zeus; for in the latter, after all, -nothing beyond masculine energy, dignity, majesty could have existed. -These indeed were so blended, so subdued into a glorious and god-like -serenity, that this creation of human genius, like the august being of -which it was a mute type, possessed in a degree the celestial power of -chasing away sadness and sorrow, and shedding benignity and happiness -over all who beheld it.[271] But for men at least, the Zeus must have -lacked some attributes possessed by the Athena. She was in all her -etherial loveliness, a woman still, but without a woman’s weakness, or a -single taint of earth. The Athenians paid the highest possible -compliment to womanhood when they gave wisdom a female form; and the -delicacy of the thought was enhanced by surrounding this mythological -creation with an atmosphere of purity which no other divinity of the -pagan heaven could lay claim to. Nor in beauty did Athena yield even to -Aphrodite herself. Her charms partook indeed of that noble severity -which belongs to virtue; and to intimate that she was rather of heaven -than of earth, her eyes were of the colour of the firmament. Yet this -spiritual elevation above the reach of the passions, only appears to -have enhanced, in the estimation of the Athenians, the splendour of her -personal beauty, which shed its chastening and ennobling influence among -her worshippers like the droppings of a summer cloud. - -Footnote 269: - - Vid. Müll. De Parthenon. Fastig. p. 72, sqq. - -Footnote 270: - - Thucyd. ii. 13. Schol. t. v. p. 375. Bipont. Müll. De Phid. Vit. p. - 22. - -Footnote 271: - - Arrian. Epict. I. 6. p. 27, seq. - -According to Philochoros,[272] this colossus was set up during the -archonship of Theodoros, that is, in the third year of the eighty-fifth -Olympiad. The Athenians, it has been ingeniously conjectured, seized for -the dedication of the statue, on the period of the celebration of the -most gorgeous festival in their calendar, the greater Panathenaia, which -like a kind of jubilee occurred but once in an Olympiad.[273] What -length of time Pheidias employed in finishing this statue we possess no -means of determining; but as the Parthenon itself is supposed not to -have been completed in less than ten years, the artist need not have -been hurried in his work.[274] - -Footnote 272: - - Frag. ed. Siebel. p. 54. Müll. Phid. Vit. § 11. p. 22. - -Footnote 273: - - Boeckh. Corp. Inscrip. p. 182. - -Footnote 274: - - Quatremère de Quincy, Jup. Olymp. p. 222. - -In the temple of Zeus at Olympia and in every sacred structure we -visited in Egypt and Nubia, there was a staircase conducting to the -roof. No positive testimony remains to prove this to have been the case -in the Parthenon, though antiquarians, with much probability, have -supposed it to have been so.[275] Let us therefore assume the fact, and -ascending to the summit of the edifice survey the surrounding scene and -the superb city encircling the rock at our feet. Few landscapes in the -world are more rich or varied, none more deeply interesting. History has -peopled every spot within the circle of vision with spirit-stirring -associations; or if history has passed over any, there has poetry been -busy, building up her legends from the scattered fragments of tradition. -Carrying our eye along the distant edge of the horizon we behold the -promontory of Sunium, Ægina rising out of the Myrtoan sea, Trœzen, the -birth-place of Theseus the national hero, the mountains of Argolis, the -hostile citadel of Corinth, with Phylæ and Deceleia rendered too famous -by the Peloponnesian war. Nearer the shore is “sea-born” Salamis, and -that low headland where the barbarian took his seat to view the battle -in the straits. Yonder at the extremity of the long walls are the ports -of Munychia, Phaleron and Peiræeus; on our left is Hymettos with its bee -swarms and odoriferous slopes;[276] to the right Colonos, the grove of -the terrible Erinnyes, and the chasm in the rock by which the wretched -Œdipus, having reached the end of his career, descended to the infernal -world.[277] Beyond lies Eleusis and the Sacred Way.[278] Yonder in the -midst of groves is the Academy; here is the Cerameicos[279] filled with -the monuments which the republic erected to its heroes, there the -Cynosarges and the Lyceium. The hill of Areiopagos, contiguous to the -rock of the Acropolis, divides the Pnyx from the Agora planted by Conon -with plane trees. Near at hand, encircled by ordinary dwellings, are the -Leocorion, the temple of Theseus, the Odeion, the Stoa Pœcile, and the -Dionysiac theatre, with various other monuments remarkable for their -beauty or historical importance.[280] - -Footnote 275: - - Leake, Topog. p. 215. - -Footnote 276: - - About half a mile from Athens in this direction was a temple of - Artemis (Ἄγρα), on the Ilissos, with an altar to Boreas; where, - according to the fable, the god carried away Orithyia while playing on - the rock with Pharmacia.—Plat. Phæd. i. 7. In consequence of the - alliance thus contracted Boreas always felt a particular friendship - for the Athenians, to whose succour he hastened with his aërial forces - during the Median war.—Herod, vii. 189. - -Footnote 277: - - Antigone, in Sophocles, (Œdip. Col. 14-18) speaks of the towers of - Athens as seen from Colonos, and describes that village, the - birth-place of the poet, as rendered beautiful by the sacred grove of - the Eumenides, consisting of the laurel, the olive, and the vine, in - which a choir of nightingales showered their music on the ear. - -Footnote 278: - - Near this road stood the Hiera Suke. Athen. iii. 6. - -Footnote 279: - - Κεραμεικός, ἀπὸ τοῦ κεραμεύς. Etym. Mag. 504. 16. Cf. Suid. et - Harpocrat. in voce. Paris, in like manner, has given the name of - Tuileries to its principal palaces and gardens, from the tiles - (_tuiles_) which were anciently manufactured on the spot. - -Footnote 280: - - Strab. ix. 1. 239–241. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - CAPITAL CITIES OF GREECE.—SPARTA. - - -From what has been said, the reader will, perhaps, have acquired a -tolerably correct idea of the city of Athens, its splendour and extent. -But the remaining fragments of Hellenic literature do not enable us to -be equally clear or copious in our account of Sparta.[281] In fact so -imperfect and confused is the information that has come down to us -respecting it, so vague, unsatisfactory, and in many respects -contradictory are the opinions of modern scholars and travellers, that -after diligently and patiently examining their accounts, and comparing -them with the descriptions of Pausanias, the hints of Xenophon, Livy, -Polybius, and Plutarch, with the casual references of the poets, I am -enabled to offer the following picture only as a series of what appear -to me probable conjectures based upon a few indisputable facts. - -Footnote 281: - - The plan which accompanies the present chapter, based on the - description of Pausanias, agrees in many of the main points with that - given by Mr. Müller in his map of the Peloponnesos. M. Barbie du - Bocage’s Essay on the Topography of Sparta, upon the whole faulty, is, - nevertheless, in my opinion, right with respect to the portion of the - bridge Babyx which Mr. Müller throws over the Tiasa, contrary to all - the reasonable inferences to be derived from history. Colonel Leake’s - plan, given in his travels in the Morea, conveys a different idea of - Spartan topography; but I am unable to reconcile his views with the - account of the city in Pausanias, though I very much regret that the - plan I have adopted should not be recommended by the support of a - writer so learned and so ingenious. - -The reader who has endeavoured to discover anything like order in -Pausanias’ topography of Sparta,[282] will fully comprehend the -difficulty of constructing from his information anything like an -intelligible plan of the city. Nevertheless, by setting out from a fixed -point, by laboriously studying the thread of his narration, by divining -the secret order he seems to follow in enumerating and delineating the -various public buildings of which he speaks, and by comparing his -fragmentary disclosures with the present physiognomy of the site, I have -formed a conception of the features of ancient Sparta which may, -perhaps, be found to bear some resemblance to the original. - -Footnote 282: - - III. 11–20. Cf. Polyb. v. 22. Liv. xxxiv. 26. seq. - -We will suppose ourselves to have passed the Eurotas, and to be standing -on the summit of the loftiest building of the Acropolis, the Alpion for -example, or the temple of Athena Chalciœcos,[283] from which we can -command a view of the whole site of Sparta from the Eurotas, where it -flows between banks shaded with reeds and lofty rose laurels[284] on the -east, to the brisk sparkling stream of the Tiasa, and the roots of the -Taygetos on the west. North and south the eye ranges up and down the -valley,[285] discovering in the latter direction the ancient cities of -Therapne[286] and Amyclæ,[287] celebrated for their poetical and heroic -associations. Beyond the Eurotas eastward, occupying the green and -well-wooded acclivities upwards, from the banks of the stream towards -the barren and red-tinted heights of the Menelaion,[288] lay scattered -the villas of the noble Spartans, filled with costly furniture and every -other token of wealth,[289] while here and there, on all sides, -embosomed in groves or thickets, arose the temples and chapels of the -gods surrounded by a halo of sanctity and communicating peculiar beauty -to the landscape. - -Footnote 283: - - In the precincts of this temple, evidently the strongest place in the - city, the Ætolian mercenaries took refuge after the assassination of - Nabis.—Liv. xxxv. 36. - -Footnote 284: - - Plut. Instit. Lacon. § 10. Chateaubriand, Itin. xi. 110. - Poucqueville’s description of the stream is striking and picturesque: - “The banks,” he says, “are bordered with never-fading laurels, which, - inclining towards each other, form an arch over its waters, and seem - still consecrated to the deities of whom its purity is a just emblem; - while swans, even of a more dazzling whiteness than the snows that - cover the mountain-tops above, are constantly sailing up and down the - stream.”—Travels, p. 84. The Viscount Chateaubriand, however, sought - in vain for these poetical birds, and, therefore, evidently considers - them fabulous. - -Footnote 285: - - Strabo’s brief description of the site deserves to be mentioned: ἔστι - μὲν οὖν ἐν κοιλοτέρῳ χωρίῳ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἔδαφος, καίπερ ἀπολαμβάνον - ὄρη μεταξύ. viii. 5. t. ii. p. 185. - -Footnote 286: - - Xen. Hellen. v. 5. 2. - -Footnote 287: - - At this ancient city Castor and Polydeukes were worshipped not as - heroes but as divinities. Isoc. Encom. Helen. § 27. Cf. Pind. Pyth. - xi. 60, sqq. Nem. x. 56. Dissen supposes these tombs to have been - vaults under ground in the Phœbaion.—Comm. p. 508. - -Footnote 288: - - Steph. de Urb. v. Μενέλαος, p. 551, a. Berkel.—Polyb. v. 22. - -Footnote 289: - - Xen. Hellen. vi. 5. 27. - -Contracting now our circle of vision, and contemplating the distinct -villages or groups of buildings of which the capital of Laconia -anciently consisted,[290] we behold the encampments as it were of the -five tribes, extending in a circle about the Acropolis.[291] The quarter -of the Pitanatæ,[292] commencing about the Issorion and the bridge over -the Tiasa on the west, extended eastward beyond the Hyacinthine -road[293] to the cliffs overhanging the valley of the Eurotas above the -confluence of that river with the Tiasa. Immediately contiguous to the -dwellings of this tribe in the north eastern division of the city, -opposite that cloven island in the Eurotas, which contained the temple -of Artemis, Orthia, and the Goddess of Birth, dwelt the Limnatæ,[294] -who possessed among them the temple erected by the Spartans to Lycurgus. -North again of these, and clustering around that sharp eminence which -constituted as it were a second Acropolis, were the habitations of the -Cynosuræ,[295] whose quarter appears to have extended from the old -bridge over the Eurotas to the temple of Dictynna, and the tombs of the -Euripontid kings on the west. From this point to the Dromos, lying -directly opposite the southern extremity of the Isle of Plane Trees, -formed by the diverging and confluent waters of the Tiasa, lay the -village of the Messoatæ,[296] where were situated the tomb of Alcman, -the fountain Dorcea, and a very beautiful portico overlooking the -Platanistas. The road extending from the Dromos to the Issorion formed -the western limits of the tribe of the Ægidæ,[297] whose quarter -extending inward to the heart of the city, appears to have comprehended -the Acropolis, the Lesche Pœcile, the theatre, with all the other -buildings grouped about the foot of the ancient city. - -Footnote 290: - - Thucyd. i. 10. - -Footnote 291: - - See Müller, Dor. ii. 48. - -Footnote 292: - - Paus. Olymp. vi. 27. Diss. ἡ Πιτάνη φυλή. Hesych. Cf. Herod. iii. 55. - ix. 53. Eurip. Troad. 1101. Thucyd. I. 20. et schol. Plut. de Exil. § - 6. Apophth. Lacon. Miscell. 48. Plin. H. N. iv. 8. Athen. i. 57. Near - this κώμη were the villages of Œnos, Onoglæ and Stathmæ, celebrated - for their wines. - -Footnote 293: - - Athen. iv. 74. - -Footnote 294: - - Strab. viii. 4. p. 184. 5. p. 187. The marshes existing in this - quarter anciently had been drained by the age of Strabo:—ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέν γε - μέρος αὐτοῦ λιμνάζει· τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν ἐλίμαζε τὸ προάστειον, καὶ ἐκάλουν - αὐτὸ Λίμνας· καὶ τὸ τοῦ Διονύσου ἱερὸν ἐν Λίμναις ἐφ᾽ ὑγροῦ βεβήκος - ἐτύγχανε· νῦν δ᾽ ἐπὶ ξηροῦ τὴν ἵδρυσιν ἔχει. 5. p. 185. seq. - -Footnote 295: - - Hesych. in v. Berkel. ad Steph. Byzant. p. 490. Schol. ad Callim. in - Dian. 94. Spanh. Observ. in loc. p. 196. - -Footnote 296: - - Steph de Urb. in v. p. 554. b. who refers to Strabo (viii. 6. p. 187). - The words of the geographer are Μεσόαν δ᾽ οὐ τὴς χώρας εἶναι μέρος, - τῆς Σπάρτης δὲ καθάπερ καὶ τὸ Λιμναῖον. Paus. vii. 20. 8. - -Footnote 297: - - Herod. iv. 149. - -The prospect presented by all these villages, nearly touching each -other, and comprehended within a circle of six Roman miles, was once, no -doubt, in the days of Spartan glory, singularly animated and -picturesque. The face of the ground was broken and diversified, rising -into six hills of unequal elevation, and constituting altogether a small -table-land, in some places terminating in perpendicular cliffs;[298] in -others, shelving away in gentle slopes to meet the meadows on the banks -of the surrounding streams. Over all was diffused the brilliant -light[299] which fills the atmosphere of the south, and paints, as -travellers uniformly confess, even the barren crag and crumbling ruin -with beauty. - -Footnote 298: - - Leake, Trav. in Morea, v. i. p. 154. - -Footnote 299: - - Cf. Chateaub. Itin. i. 112. Similar, also, is the testimony of Mr. - Douglas. “The mixture of the romantic with the rich, which still - diversifies its aspect, and the singularly picturesque form of all its - mountains, do not allow us to wonder that even Virgil should generally - desert his native Italy for the landscape of Greece; whoever has - viewed it in the tints of a Mediterranean spring, will agree with me - in attributing much of the Grecian genius to the influence of scenery - and climate.” Essay, &c. p. 52. - -The structures that occupied the summit of the Acropolis appear to have -been neither numerous nor magnificent. The central pile, around which -all the others were grouped, was the temple of Athena Chalciœcos,[300] -flanked on the north and south by the fanes of Zeus Cosmetas and the -Muses. Behind it rose the temple of Aphrodite Areia, with that of -Artemis Cnagia, and in front various other edifices and statues, -dedicated to Euryleonis, Pausanias, Athena Ophthalmitis, and Ammon. -Somewhere in the neighbourhood of the temenos of Athena stood two -edifices, one called Skenoma and the other Alpion. The relative position -of all these it is now extremely difficult, if not impossible, to -determine. Let us therefore descend into the agora, and having briefly -described the objects which there offered themselves to the eye of the -stranger, endeavour to thread our way through the various streets of -Sparta, pointing out as we go along the most remarkable monuments it -contained. - -Footnote 300: - - Plut. Apophtheg. Lacon. Archid. 6. Lycurg. 7. - -In all Greek cities the point of greatest importance, next to the -citadel, was the market-place, where the body of the citizens assembled -not only to buy and sell, but to transact public business, and perform -many ceremonies of their religion. Thus, in the agora of Sparta, in the -centre of which probably stood an altar, surrounded by the statues of -Apollo, Artemis, Leto, and the soothsayer Hagias who foretold the -victory of Lysander at Ægospotamos, sacred chorusses and processions -were exhibited during the Gymnopædia in honour of Phœbos Apollo, in -consequence of which, a part at least of the place obtained the name of -Choros: here, likewise, was a colossal statue, erected in honour of the -Spartan Demos, with a group representing Hermes bearing the infant -Dionysos in his arms, and a statue of King Polydoros, doubtless set up -in the neighbourhood of his house, Boonetos, lying between the street -Aphetæ and the steep road leading up to the citadel. The edifices by -which the agora was encircled, though in most cases, perhaps, far from -magnificent, when separately considered, presented a grand _coup-d’œil_. -This will be made evident if, placing ourselves near the central altar, -we enumerate and briefly describe them in the order in which they -followed each other in the great circle of the agora. First, beginning -on the right-hand corner of the street Aphetæ we behold the palace of -the Bidiæi, the five magistrates who watched over the education of the -youth; next succeeds that of the Nomophylaces, or guardians of the laws; -then that of the Ephori; and, lastly, the senate-house, standing at the -corner of the street leading to Therapne. Crossing over to the -south-eastern side of the Agora we behold a spacious and stately portico -called the Persian, because erected from the spoils of the Persians. Its -columns of white marble were adorned with bassi relievi representing -Persian warriors, among others Mardonios and Artemisia daughter of -Lygdamis queen of Halicarnassos, who fought in person at the battle of -Salamis. Beyond the road to Amyclæ, we meet with a range of temples to -Gaia, Zeus Agoræos, Athena, Poseidon the Preserver, Apollo, and Hera; -and traversing the western street opening into the Theomelida, and -affording us a glimpse in passing of the tombs of the Agid kings we -arrive at the ancient halls of the Ephori, containing the monuments of -Epimenides and Aphareus. To this edifice succeed the statues of Zeus -Xenios and Athena Xenia. Next follows the temple of the Fates, near -which was the tomb of Orestes lying on the left hand of the road leading -to the sanctuary of Athena Chalciœcos. On the other side stands the -house of King Polydoros, which obtained in after ages the name of -Boonetos because purchased of his widowed queen with a certain number of -oxen. With this terminates the list of the buildings by which the Agora -was encompassed. - -Quitting, now, this central point, we proceed northward through the -street called Aphetæ, and observe on the right hand at a short distance -from each other three temples of Athena Keleuthia, together with the -heroa of Iops, Lelex, and Amphiaraos. On the opposite side apparently, -stood the temenos of Tænarian Poseidon, with a statue of Athena, erected -by the Dorian colonists of Italy. We next arrive at a place called the -Hellenion, probably nothing more than a large open space or square in -which the deputies or ambassadors of foreign states assembled on -extraordinary occasions. Close to this was erected the monument of -Talthybios. A little further on were the altar of Apollo Acreitas, the -Gasepton, a temple of earth, and another altar sacred to Apollo -Maleates. At the end of the street, near the walls of the late city, was -a temple of Dictynna, with the tombs of the kings called Eurypontidæ. - -Returning to the Hellenion, and proceeding eastward up the great public -road leading to the bridge Babyx, you saw the temple of Arsinoë, -daughter of Leucippos, and sister to the wives of Castor and Polydeukes. -Further on, near the Phrouria or Barriers, stood a temple of Artemis; -and advancing a little you came to the monument of the Eleian -soothsayers called Iamidæ, and the temple of Maron and Alpheios, who -were among the bravest of those who fell with Leonidas at Thermopylæ. -Beyond this stood the fane of Zeus Tropæos erected after the reduction -of Amyclæ, when all the ancient inhabitants of Laconia had been brought -under the yoke of the Dorians. Next followed the temple of the Great -Mother and the heroic monuments of Hippolytos and Aulon. On a spot -commanding the bridge stood the temple of Athena Alea. - -Setting out once more from the Agora, and advancing up the street -leading towards the east the first building on the left-hand was called -Skias[301] contiguous to the senate-house: it was of a circular form -with a roof like an umbrella, and erected about seven hundred and sixty -years before Christ, by Theodoros of Samos, inventor of the art of -casting statues in iron. Here the Spartan people held their assemblies -even so late as the age of Pausanias, who relates that the lyre of -Timotheus[302] the Milesian, confiscated as a punishment for his having -added four strings to the seven already in use, was suspended in this -building as a warning to all innovators. Near the Skias was another -circular building erected by Epimenides, containing statues of Olympian -Zeus and Aphrodite. On the other side apparently of the street, in front -of the Skias, were the tombs of Idas and Lynceus, the temple of Kora -Soteira, said to have been built by Orpheus, or Abaris the Hyperboræan, -the tomb of Cynortas and the temple of Castor. Near these were the -statues of Apollo Carneios, and Aphetæos, the latter of which marked the -point whence the suitors of Penelope started in their race for a wife, -running up the street Aphetæ, whence the name. Immediately beyond this -was a square surrounded with porticoes, where all kinds of cheap wares -were anciently sold. Further on stood altars of Zeus, Athena, and the -Dioscuri, all surnamed Amboulioi; opposite which was the hill called -Colona whereon was erected a temple of Dionysos, and close at hand a -temenos sacred to the hero who conducted the god to Sparta. Not far from -the Dionysion was a temple of Zeus Euanemos, giver of gentle breezes; -and immediately to the right the heroon of Pleuron. On the summit of a -hill at a little distance stood a temple of the Argive Hera, together -with the fane erected in honour of Hera Hypercheiria, built by order of -the oracle after the subsiding of an inundation of the Eurotas. In this -edifice was a very ancient wooden statue of Aphrodite Hera. Close to the -road which passed to the right of the hill was a statue of Etymocles -many times victor in the Olympic games. In descending towards the -Eurotas you beheld a wooden statue of Athena Alea, and a little above -the banks a temple of Zeus Plousios. On the further side of the river -were temples of Ares and Asclepios. - -Footnote 301: - - Σκιὰς, τὸ ᾠδεῖον ἐκαλεῖτο τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων κατὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν φωνήν. κ. - τ. λ.—Etym. Mag. 717. 36. seq. - -Footnote 302: - - Cf. Plut. Agis, § 10. - -Once more retracing our steps to the Agora, and quitting it by a street -leading towards the west, the first remarkable object that struck the -eye was the cenotaph of Brasidas, and a little beyond it a spacious and -beautiful theatre of white marble.[303] Directly opposite were the tombs -of Leonidas and Pausanias, and near these a cippus, on which were -engraved the names of the heroes who fell at Thermopylæ, together with -those of their fathers. At this spot games were annually celebrated, in -which none but Spartans were allowed to contend for the prizes. -Discourses were likewise here pronounced in honour of the dead. The -multitudes at these games required a large clear space in which to -congregate, and this I suppose to have been the place called Theomelida, -opening on both sides of the road, and extending as far as the tombs of -the Agid Kings, and the Lesche of the Crotoniatæ. Near this edifice -stood the temple of Asclepios, the tomb of Tænaros, and temples of -Poseidon Hippocourios, and Artemis Ægeinea. Turning back towards the -Lesche, probably round the foot of the Hill of the Issorion,[304] you -observed on the slope of the eminence towards the Tiasa the temple of -Artemis Limnæa the Britomartis of the Cretans, somewhere in the vicinity -of which were temples of Thetis, Chthonian Demeter, and Olympian Zeus. - -Footnote 303: - - This theatre, as Mr. Douglas has observed, is the only remaining - fragment of ancient Sparta, the other ruins still visible on its site, - belonging all to Roman times.—Essay on certain Points of Resemblance - between the Ancient and Modern Greeks, p. 23. - -Footnote 304: - - Ἰσσώριον, ὄρος τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἀφ’ οὗ ἡ Ἄρτεμις Ἰσσωρία.—Steph. Byz. in - v. 426. d. with the note of Berkel. Cf. Hesych. in v. Polyæn. Strat. - ii. 1. 14. Plut. Agesil. § 32. - -Starting from the crossroad at the north-west foot of the Issorion, on -the way to the Dromos, the first edifice which presented itself on the -left was the monument of Eumedes, one of the sons of Hippocoon. A little -further on was a statue of Heracles, and close at hand, near the -entrance to the Dromos, stood the ancient palace of Menelaos, inhabited -in Pausanias’ time by a private individual. Within the Dromos itself -were two gymnasia. This was the most remarkable building in the western -part of the city, from whence branched off many streets, while numerous -public structures clustered round it; to the north, for example, the -temples of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo -Carneios, and Artemis Hegemona: on the east the temple of Asclepios -Agnitas, and a trophy erected by Polydeukes after his victory over -Lynceus. On the west towards the Platanistas were statues of the -Dioscuri Apheterii, and a little further was the heroon of Alcon, near -which stood the temple of Poseidon Domatites, near the bridge leading -over to the island covered with plane trees. On the other hand -apparently of the road a statue was erected to Cynisca, daughter of -Archidamos, the first lady who ran horses at Olympia. - -Along the banks of the Tiasa from the Dromos to a line extending -westward from the temple of Dictynna to the upper bridge leading to the -Platanistas, lay a road adorned with numerous public buildings, among -others a portico, behind which were two remarkable monuments, the heroa -of Alcimos and Enaræphoros. Immediately beyond were the heroa of Dorceus -and Sebros, and the fountain Dorcea flowing between them. The whole of -this little quarter obtained from the latter hero the name of Sebrion. -To the right of the last mentioned heroon was the monument of the poet -Alcman;[305] beyond which lay the temple of Helen, and near it that of -Heracles close to the modern wall. - -Footnote 305: - - Ἀλκμάν, Λάκων ἀπὸ Μεσσόας.—He was an erotic poet said to have been - descended from servile parents.—Suid. i. p. 178. ed. Port. - -Hard by a narrow pathway, striking into the fields from the road leading -eastward from the Dromos, was the temple of Athena Axiopænos, said to -have been erected by Heracles. - -Leaving the Dromos by another road running in a south-easterly direction -through the midst of the quarter of the Ægidæ, we behold, on one hand, -the temples of Athena and Hipposthenes, and directly opposite the -latter, a statue of Ares in chains. At a short distance beyond these was -the Lesche Pœcile, and in front of it, the heroon of Cadmos son of -Agenor, those of two of his descendants, Œolycos and his son Ægeus, and -that of Amphilocos. Farther on lay the temples of Hera Ægophagos, so -called because she-goats were sacrificed to her, and at the foot of the -Acropolis, near the theatre, the temples of Poseidon Genethlios, on -either side of which probably stood an heroon, the one sacred to -Cleodæos son of Hyllos, and the other to Œbalos. - -We must now return to the Lesche Pœcile, and following a road skirting -round the hill of the Acropolis, towards the east-south-east, pass by -the monument of Teleclos, and the most celebrated of all the temples of -Asclepios at Sparta, situated close to the Boonetos. Traversing the -street Aphetæ and proceeding along the road leading to the Limnæ, the -first temple on the left was that of Aphrodite, on a hill, celebrated by -Pausanias for having two stories. The statue of the goddess was here -seated, veiled and fettered. A little beyond was the temple of Hilaeira -and Phœbe wherein were statues of the two goddesses, the countenance of -one of which was painted and adorned by one of the priestesses according -to the later rules of art, but warned by a dream she suffered the other -to remain in its archaic simplicity. Here was preserved an egg adorned -with fillets and suspended from the roof, said to have been brought -forth by Leda. In a building near at hand, certain women wove annually a -tunic for the Apollo of Amyclæ, from which circumstance the edifice -itself obtained the name of Chiton. Next followed the house of the -Tyndaridæ, the heroa of Chilon and Athenæus, and the temple of Lycurgus, -with the tomb of Eucosmos behind it. Near them was the altar of Lathria -and Anaxandra, and directly opposite the monuments of Theopompos and -Eurybiades and Astrabacos. In an island in the marshes were the temple -and altar of Artemis Orthia, and the fane of Eileithyia. - -On the road leading from the Agora to Amyclæ[306] there were few -remarkable monuments. One only, the temple of the Graces, is mentioned -north of the Tiasa, and beyond it the Hippodrome; towards the west the -temple of the Tyndaridæ near the road, and that of Poseidon Gaiouchos -towards the river.[307] - -Footnote 306: - - Οὗ τὸ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν. Strab. viii. 5. t. ii. p. 185. - -Footnote 307: - - Xen. Hellen. vi. 5. 30. - -Let us now consider the proofs on which the above description is based. -Pausanias informs us that the citadel was the highest of the hills of -Sparta. Colonel Leake observes that the eminence found in the quarter -which I have assigned to the Cynosuræ is equal in height to that -immediately behind the theatre; but the former is pointed and appears to -have retained its natural shape, while the summit of the latter has been -levelled for building. Now if its height be still equal, it must have -been considerably greater before the levelling process took place. -Therefore the hill behind the theatre was the Acropolis. Admitting this, -the spacious flat or hollow immediately at its foot on the south-east -side must have been the Agora,[308] for that the Agora was close to the -citadel is clear from history, which represents Lycurgus and king -Charilaos escaping thither from the market-place.[309] Again we know -from Pausanias that it lay a little to the east of the theatre, having -nothing between them but the cenotaph of Brasidas. The position of the -Agora being thus fixed beyond dispute, we arrive with certainty at the -direction of the four great streets that diverge from it; for, first, we -know that the road to the Issorion lay towards the west; the road to -Amyclæ towards the south. The street called Skias terminated at the -extremity of the city between two small hills. These two hills are still -there on the brink of the high ground overlooking the valley of the -Eurotas on the east. This therefore was the direction of the Skias. As -an additional proof, it may be mentioned that the temple of Hera -Hypercheiria was erected in commemoration of the subsiding of an -inundation of the Eurotas, which shows it must have been somewhere -nearly within reach of the waters of that stream. For the street Aphetæ -no direction is left but that towards the north-west or the north-east; -but the latter led to the temple of Artemis Orthia in the Limnæ, the -former to the temple of Dictynna. The street Aphetæ led therefore to the -north-west, no other road being mentioned but that leading from Mount -Thornax over the bridge Babyx, which was not the street called Aphetæ. -Thus we have the direction of every one of the great streets of Sparta -incontrovertibly determined. Proceed we now to establish the position, -with respect to the citadel, of each of the five tribes who occupied as -many quarters of the city. First we learn from Pausanias that the -Pitanatæ inhabited the quarter round the Issorion:[310] from Pindar[311] -and his scholiast that they dwelt likewise near the banks of the -Eurotas. They possessed therefore the whole southern quarter of the -city.[312] As the Limnatæ obtained their name from the marshes near -which they lived, the position of the Limnæ determined by the chain of -reasoning given above, proves them to have occupied the eastern quarter -of the city directly opposite the temple of Artemis Orthia. That the -tribe of the Ægidæ inhabited all that part extending in one direction -from the Issorion to the Dromos, and in the other from the banks of the -Tiasa to the Boonetos, may almost with certainty be inferred from the -circumstance that the tomb of Ægeus, their founder, was situated in this -quarter, close to the Lesche Pœcile. The quarter of the Mesoatæ lay in -the north-west, between the Dromos and the temple of Dictynna; for here -was found the tomb of Alcman who belonged to that tribe. All the rest of -the site being thus occupied, there remains only for the tribe of the -Cynosuræ that part lying between the road to Thornax and the temple of -Dictynna, where accordingly we must suppose them to have lived. - -Footnote 308: - - Plut. Lycurg. § 11. Lacon. Apoph. Lycurg. 7. - -Footnote 309: - - Plut. Lycurg. § 5. - -Footnote 310: - - Polyæn. Stratag. ii. 1. 14. with the notes of Casaub. and Maasvic. - -Footnote 311: - - Olymp. vi. 28. Cf. Spanheim, ad Callim. in Dian. 172. - -Footnote 312: - - Cf. Athen. i. 57. - -With respect to the bridge Babyx, if bridge it really was, it appears -very difficult[313] to believe that it spanned the Tiasa, though we -still find massive ruins of arches in the channel of that stream. There -seems to be much stronger reason for supposing it to have been thrown -over the Eurotas, where the road from the Isthmus traversed it.[314] We -should then understand by the oracle which commanded Lycurgus to -assemble his people between Babyx and Cnacion,[315] that he was to -gather them together anywhere within the precincts of the city. -Accordingly we find in the time of Lycurgus, that the Agora in the -centre of Sparta was the place were the Apellæ[316] were held. This, -too, is evident, by the sense in which the matter was understood by -Plutarch, who, speaking of the victory of the Bœotians over the Spartans -at Tegyra, observes, that by this event it was made manifest that not -the Eurotas, or the space between Babyx and Cnacion alone produced brave -and warlike men.[317] Now it appears to me, that a few meadows without -the city on which assemblies of the people were occasionally convened -could never be said to produce these people. I have therefore supposed -that Babyx was the bridge by which travellers coming from the Isthmus -entered Sparta. - -Footnote 313: - - This, however, is the opinion of Mr. Müller, Dor. ii. 456. - -Footnote 314: - - See the passage in which Xenophon (v. 5. 27), describes the advance of - the Thebans upon Sparta. - -Footnote 315: - - Plut. Lycurg. § 6. - -Footnote 316: - - Gœttl. ad Aristot. Pol. Excurs. i. p. 464. - -Footnote 317: - - Pelop. § 17. - - - - - BOOK II. - EDUCATION. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - THEORY OF EDUCATION.—BIRTH OF CHILDREN.—INFANTICIDE. - - -Whether on education the Greeks thought more wisely than we do or -not,[318] they certainly contemplated the subject from a more elevated -point of view. They regarded it as the matrix in which future -generations are fashioned, and receive that peculiar temperament and -character belonging to the institutions that presided at their birth. -Their theories were so large as to comprehend the whole developement of -individual existence, from the moment when the human germ is quickened -into life until the grave closes the scene, and in many cases looked -still further; for the rites of initiation and a great part of their -ethics had reference to another world. On this account we find their -legislators possessed by extreme solicitude respecting the character of -those teachers into whose hands the souls of the people were to be -placed, to receive the first principles of good or evil, to be -invigorated, raised, and purified by the former, or by the latter to be -perverted, or precipitated down the slopes of vice and effeminacy, by -which nations sink from freedom to servitude. Among them, moreover, it -was never matter of doubt, whether the light of knowledge should be -allowed to stream upon the summits of society only, or be suffered to -descend into its lower depths and visit the cottages of the poor. -Whatever education had to impart was, in most states, imparted to all -the citizens, as far as their leisure or their capacity would permit -them to receive it. The whole object, indeed, of education among the -Greeks was to create good citizens, from which it has by some been -inferred that they confined their views to the delivering of secular -instruction. But this is to take a narrow and ignorant view of the -subject, since religion was not only an element of education but -regarded as of more importance than all its other elements taken -together. For it had not escaped the Hellenic legislators, that in many -circumstances of life man is placed beyond the reach and scrutiny of -laws and public opinion, where he must be free to act according to the -dictates of conscience, which, if not rightly trained, purified, and -rendered clearsighted by religion, will often dictate amiss. It is of -the utmost moment, therefore, that in these retired situations man -should not consider himself placed beyond the range of every eye, and so -be tempted to lay the foundation of habits which, begun in secrecy, may -soon acquire boldness to endure the light and set the laws themselves at -defiance. Accordingly over those retired moments in which man at first -sight appears to commune with himself alone, religion was called in to -teach that there were invisible inspectors, who registered, not only the -evil deeds and evil words they witnessed, but even the evil thoughts and -emotions of the heart, the first impulses to crime in the lowest abysses -of the mind. Consistently with this view of the subject, we discover -everywhere in Greek history and literature traces of an almost -puritanical scrupulousness in whatever appeared to belong to religion, -so that in addressing the Athenians St. Paul himself was induced to -reproach them with the excesses of their devotional spirit, which -degenerated too frequently into superstition. But the original design -with which this spirit was cultivated was wise and good, its intention -being to rescue men from the sway of their inferior passions,—from envy, -from avarice, from selfishness, and to inspire them with faith in their -own natural dignity by representing their actions as of sufficient -importance to excite the notice, provoke the anger, or conciliate the -favour of the immortal gods. This religion, which base and sordid minds -regard as humiliating to humanity, was by Grecian lawgivers and founders -of states contemplated as a kind of holy leaven designed by God himself, -to pervade, quicken, and expand society to its utmost dimensions. - -Footnote 318: - - Dion Chrysostom tells a curious story respecting a blunder of the - Athenians on this subject. Apollo once commanding them, if they - desired to become good citizens, to put whatever was most beautiful in - the ears of their sons, they bored one of the lobes, and inserted a - gold earring, not comprehending the meaning of the God. But this - ornament would better have suited their daughters or the sons of - Lydians or Phrygians; but for the offspring of Greeks, nothing could - have been intended by the God but education and reason, the possessors - of which would probably become good men, and the preservers of their - country.—Orat. xxxii. t. i. p. 653. sqq.—The popular maxim that - knowledge is power may be traced to Plato.—De Rep. v. t. vi. p. 268. - -The question which commands so much attention in modern states, viz. -whether education should be national and uniform, likewise much occupied -the thoughts of ancient statesmen, and it is known that in most cases -they decided in the affirmative. It may however be laid down as an -axiom, that among a phlegmatic and passive-minded people, where the -government has not yet acquired its proper form and developement, the -establishment of a national system of education, complete in all its -parts and extending to the whole body of the citizens, must be -infallibly pernicious. For such as the government is at the commencement -such very nearly will it continue, as was proved by the example of Crete -and Sparta. For the Cretan legislators, arresting the progress of -society at a certain point by the establishment of an iron system of -education, before the popular mind had acquired its full growth and -expansion, dwarfed the Cretan people completely, and by preventing their -keeping pace with their countrymen rendered them in historical times -inferior to all their neighbours. In Sparta, again, the form of polity -given to the state by Lycurgus, wonderful for the age in which it was -framed, obtained perpetuity solely by the operation of his pædonomical -institutions. The imperfection, however, of the system arose from this -circumstance, that the Spartan government was framed too early in the -career of civilisation. Had its lawgiver lived a century or two later, -he would have established his institutions on a broader and more -elevated basis, so that they would have remained longer nearly on a -level with the progressive institutions of neighbouring states. But he -fixed the form of the Spartan commonwealth when the general mind of -Greece had scarcely emerged from barbarism; and as the rigid and -unyielding nature of his laws forbade any great improvement, Sparta -continued to bear about her in the most refined ages of Greece -innumerable marks of the rude period in which she had risen. From this -circumstance flowed many of her crimes and misfortunes. Forbidden to -keep pace with her neighbours in knowledge and refinement, which by -rendering them inventive, enterprising, and experienced, elevated them -to power, she was compelled, in order to maintain her ground, to have -recourse to astuteness, stratagem, and often to perfidy. - -The Spartan system, it is well known, made at first, and for some ages, -little or no use of books. But this, at certain stages of society, was -scarcely an evil;[319] for knowledge can be imparted, virtues implanted -and cherished, and great minds ripened to maturity without their aid. -The teacher, in this case, rendered wise by meditation and experience, -takes the place of a book, and by oral communication, by precept, and by -example, instructs, and disciplines, and moulds his pupil into what he -would have him be. By this process both are benefited. The preceptor’s -mind, kept in constant activity, acquires daily new force and expansion; -and the pupil’s in like manner. In a state, therefore, like that of -Sparta, in the age of Lycurgus, it was possible to acquire all necessary -knowledge without books, of which indeed very few existed. But -afterwards, when the Ionian republics began to be refined and elevated -by philosophy and literature, Sparta, unable to accompany them, fell -into the background: still preserving, however, her warlike habits she -was enabled on many occasions to overawe and subdue them. - -Footnote 319: - - Montagne relates, in his Travels (t. iii. p. 51), an instance of how - the mind may be cultivated, particularly in poetry, by persons - ignorant of the art of reading and writing. His Lucchese - improvisatrice may be regarded as a match for the ancient rhapsodists. - -Among the Athenians,[320] though knowledge was universally diffused, -there existed, properly speaking, no system of national education. The -people, like their state, were in perpetual progress, aiming at -perfection, and sometimes approaching it; but precipitated by the excess -of their intellectual and physical energies into numerous and constantly -recurring errors. While Sparta, as we have seen, remained content with -the wisdom indigenous to her soil, scanty and imperfect as it was, -Athens converted herself into one vast mart, whither every man who had -anything new to communicate hastened eagerly, and found the sure reward -of his ingenuity. Philosophers, sophists, geometricians, astronomers, -artists, musicians, actors, from all parts of Greece and her most -distant colonies, flocked to Athens to obtain from its quick-sighted, -versatile, impartial, and most generous people that approbation which in -the ancient world constituted fame. Therefore, although the laws -regulated the material circumstances of the schools and gymnasia, -prescribed the hours at which they should be opened and closed, and -watched earnestly over the morals both of preceptors and pupils, there -was a constant indraught of fresh science, a perpetually increasing -experience and knowledge of the world, and, consequent thereupon, a -deep-rooted conviction of their superiority over their neighbours, an -impatience of antiquated forms, and an audacious reliance on their own -powers and resources which betrayed them into the most hazardous schemes -of ambition. - -Footnote 320: - - Cf. Plat. De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 1. - -But, by pushing too far their literary and philosophical studies, the -Athenians were induced at length to neglect the cultivation of the arts -of war, which they appeared to regard as a low and servile drudgery. And -this capital error, in spite of all their acquirements and achievements -in eloquence and philosophy,—in spite of their lofty speculation and -“style of gods,” brought their state to a premature dissolution; while -Sparta, with inferior institutions, and ignorance which even the -children at Athens would have laughed at, was enabled much longer to -preserve its existence, from its impassioned application to the use of -arms, aided, perhaps, by a stronger and more secluded position. From -this it appears that of all sciences that of war is the chiefest, since, -where this is cultivated, a nation may maintain its independence without -the aid of any other; whereas the most knowing, refined, and cultivated -men, if they neglect the use of arms, will not be able to stand their -ground against a handful even of barbarians. They mistake, too, who look -upon literature and the sciences as a kind of palladium against -barbarism,[321] for a whole nation may read and write, like the -inhabitants of the Birman empire, without being either civilised or -wise; and may possess the best books and the power to read them, without -being able to profit by the lessons of wisdom they contain, as is proved -by the example of the Greeks and Romans, who perished rather from a -surfeit of knowledge than from any lack of instruction. But it is time, -perhaps, to quit these general speculations, and proceed to develope, as -far as existing monuments will enable us, the several systems of -education which prevailed in the different parts of Greece. - -Footnote 321: - - Notwithstanding that Plato regards knowledge as the medicine of the - soul.—Crit. t. vii. p. 145.—Cf. t. viii. p. 2. seq.—Aristot. Ethic. - vi. 13. - -Among Hellenic legislators the care of children commenced before their -birth. Their mothers were subject while pregnant to the operation of -certain rules; their food and exercises were regulated, and in most -cases the laws, or at least the manners, required them to lead a -sedentary, inactive, and above all a tranquil life.[322] Physicians, -guided by experience, prescribed a somewhat abstemious diet; and wine -was prohibited, or only permitted to be taken with water, which, where -reason is consulted, we find to be the practice at the present day. But -Lycurgus, in the article of exercise, gave birth to, or, at least, -sanctioned, customs wholly different.[323] Even while _enceinte_ his -women were required to be abroad, engaged in their usual athletic -recreations, eating as before and drinking as before. - -Footnote 322: - - Plat. de Legg. l. vii. t. viii. pp. 4. et 11.—During the pregnancy of - women great care was taken not to bring into the house the wood of the - ostrya or carpinus ostrys, the appearance of which was ominous of - difficult births, or even of sudden death. Theoph. Hist. Plant. iii. - 10. 3. - -Footnote 323: - - Xenoph. de Rep. Laced. i. 3. Perizon. ad Ælian. Var. Hist. x. 13. - -On this occasion, too, as on all others, the deep-rooted piety of the -nation displayed itself. Prayers and sacrifices were habitually offered -up by all married persons for children, as afterwards by Christian -ladies to the saints;[324] and these of course were not discontinued, -when it appeared by unequivocal signs that their desires had begun to -receive their fulfilment. What the divinities were whom on these -occasions the Athenian matrons invoked under the name of _Tritopatores_, -it seems difficult to determine. Demon in Suidas[325] supposes them to -be the winds; but Philochoros, the most learned of ancient writers on -the antiquities of Attica, imagined them to be the first three sons of -Helios and Gaia. According to some they were called Cottos or Coros, -Gyges or Gyes, and Briareus; according to others Amalcides, Protocles, -and Protocleon, the watchers and guardians of the wind. There are -authors, moreover, by whom they have been confounded with the Dii Kabyri -of Samothrace. - -Footnote 324: - - Theodoret. iv. 921. - -Footnote 325: - - _v._ Τριτοπ. t. ii. p. 947. b. seq. Cf. Siebel. ad Frag. Philoch. p. - 11. Meurs. Græc. Fer. p. 264. Lect. Att. iii. 1. Vales. in Harpoc. p. - 223. seq. - -During the period of their confinement women were supposed to be under -the protection of Eileithyia. This goddess, who by Olen the Lycian was -considered older than Kronos,[326] had the honour as certain mythical -legends relate, of being the mother of love,[327] though several ancient -authors appear to have confounded her with Pepromene or Fate, others -with Hera, and others again with Artemis or the moon. The traditions of -the mythology respecting this divinity were various. Her worship seems -to have made its first appearance among the Greeks in the island of -Delos, whither she is said to have come from the country of the -Hyperboreans, to lend her aid to Leto, when beneath the palm tree, which -Zeus caused to spring up over her,[328] she gave birth to the gods of -night and day. From that time forward she was held in veneration by the -Delians, who in her honour offered up sacrifices, chaunting the hymns of -Olen, whence we may infer she was a Pelasgian deity. - -Footnote 326: - - Paus. viii. 21. 3. - -Footnote 327: - - Paus. ix. 27. 2. Cf. Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 23. - -Footnote 328: - - Callim. ii. 4. - -From thence her name and worship were diffused through the other islands -and states of Hellas; though the Cretans pretended that she was born at -Amnisos in the Knossian territory, and was a daughter of Hera. The -Athenians, who erected a temple to Eileithyia appeared to favour both -traditions, since of the two statues which were found in her fane the -more ancient was said to have been brought from Delos by Erisicthon, -while the second, dedicated by Phædra, came from Crete. Among the -Athenians, alone, as an indication of the national modesty, the wooden -images of this mysterious divinity were significantly veiled to the -toes.[329] - -Footnote 329: - - Paus. i. 18. 5. Cf. Keightley, Mythol. p. 193. In Arcadia, also, this - goddess was so closely draped that nothing was visible but the - countenance, fingers, and toes.—Paus. vii. 23. 5. - -The simple delicacy of remoter ages required women to be attended, while -becoming mothers, by individuals of their own sex. But the contrary -practice, now general among civilised nations, prevailed early at -Athens, where the study of medicine, in which the accoucheur’s[330] art -is included, was prohibited to women and slaves. The consequences bear -stronger testimony to the refined taste and truly feminine feelings of -the Athenian ladies than a thousand panegyrics. Numbers, rather than -submit to the immodest injunctions of fashion, declined all aid, and -perished in their harems: observing which, and moved strongly by the -desire to preserve the lives of her noble-minded countrywomen, a female -citizen named Agnodice, disguised as a man, acquired a competent -knowledge of the theory and practice of physic in the medical school of -Herophilos; she then confided her secret to the women who universally -determined to avail themselves of her services, and in consequence her -practice became so extensive that the jealousy of the other -practitioners was violently excited. In revenge, therefore, as she still -maintained her disguise, they preferred an accusation against her in the -court of Areiopagos as a general seducer. To clear herself Agnodice made -known her sex, upon which the envious Æsculapians prosecuted her under -the provisions of the old law. In behalf of their benefactress the -principal gentlewomen appeared in court, and mingling the highest -testimony in favour of Agnodice with many bitter reproaches, they not -only obtained her acquittal, but the repeal of the obnoxious law, and -permission for any free woman to become an accoucheuse.[331] - -Footnote 330: - - The duties of an accoucheuse are briefly enumerated by Max. Tyr. - Dissert. xxviii. p. 333. Cf. Pignor. de Serv. 184. - -Footnote 331: - - Hygin. Fab. 274. - -Mention is made by ancient writers of several rude and hardy tribes, -whose women, like those of Hindùstân at the present day, stood in very -little need of the midwife’s aid. Thus Varro,[332] speaking of the rough -shepherdesses of Italy, observes that among the countrywomen of Illyria, -bringing forth children was regarded as a slight matter; for that, -stepping aside from their work in the fields, they would return -presently with an infant in their arms, having first bathed it in some -fountain or running stream, appearing rather to have found, than given -birth to, a child. Nor are the manners of these uncultivated people at -all altered in modern times, as appears from an anecdote related to -Pietro Vittore,[333] by Francesco Sardonati, professor of Latin at -Ragusa, who said that he saw a woman go out empty-handed to a forest for -wood, and return shortly afterwards with a bundle on her head and a -new-born infant in her arms. At Athens, however, where the women were -peculiarly tender and delicate, the young mother remained within doors -full six weeks,[334] when the festival of the fortieth day was -celebrated, after which she went forth, as our ladies do to be churched, -to offer up sacrifices and return thanks in the temple of Artemis or -some other divinity. - -Footnote 332: - - De Re Rust. ii. 10. - -Footnote 333: - - Var. Lect. xxxiv. 2. - -Footnote 334: - - Meurs. Græc. Fer. p. 260. sqq. Censor. de Die Natali. c. 11. - -New-born infants, when designed to be reared, were at Athens and in the -rest of Greece bathed in cold water: at Sparta in wine, with the view of -producing convulsions and death should the child be feeble, whereas, -were its constitution strong and vigorous, it would thus they imagined, -“acquire a greater degree of firmness, and get a temper in proportion, -as Potter[335] expresses it, like steel in the quenching.” -Swaddling-bands[336] also, in use throughout the rest of Greece, were -banished from Sparta, which led the way therefore to that improved -system of infant management advocated by Rousseau, Lacépède and -others,[337] and now generally adopted in this country, though but -partially in France. The ceremonies and customs of the Greeks were a -kind of symbolical language, many times containing important meaning, -and always perhaps indicative of the character and familiar feelings of -the race. Much stress was laid on the thing wherein the infant was -placed upon its entrance into the world. This, among the Athenians, -consisted of a wrapper adorned with an embroidered figure of the -Gorgon’s head, the device represented on the shield of Athena, tutelar -divinity of the state. From the beginning every citizen seemed thus to -be placed under the immediate shelter of that goddess’s ægis which -should be extended over him in peace and in war. In other parts of -Greece the child’s first bed, and too frequently his last, was a -shield.[338] In accordance with this custom we find Alcmena cradling her -twin boys Heracles and Iphicles in Amphytrion’s buckler; and the same -practice prevailed, as might have been expected, at Sparta, where war -constituted to men the sole object of life.[339] Elsewhere other symbols -spoke to the future sense rather than the present of the new citizen. In -agricultural countries the military symbol was replaced by a winnowing -van, not unfrequently of gold or other costly materials;[340] though it -may be doubted whether the word so rendered meant not rather a cradle in -the form of that rustic implement. - -Footnote 335: - - Antiq. ii. 320. - -Footnote 336: - - Coray, ad Hippoc. de Aër. et Loc. ii. 309. - -Footnote 337: - - Even so early as the age of Montaigne the necessity of some change was - felt. “Les liaisons et emmaillottements des enfans ne sont non plus - necessaires.” He then alludes to the practice of the Spartan - nurses.—Essais, ii. 12. However, in certain habits of body, swaddling - is not merely useful, but necessary: as Hippocrates remarks in his - account of the Scythians (de Aër. et Loc. § 101), and as his able - commentator, Coray, confirms by example. _ubi sup._ - -Footnote 338: - - Theoc. Eidyll. xxiv. 4. ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τὰς. Plut. Lacæn. Apophtheg. t. - ii. p. 187. - -Footnote 339: - - Nonn. Dionys. xli. 168. seq. Sch. Thucyd. ii. 39. - -Footnote 340: - - Callim. Hymn. in Jov. 48. - -In another custom, long on these occasions observed, we discern traces -of that serpent-worship which at different epochs diffused itself so -widely over the world. Among opulent and noble families at Athens -new-born children were laid on golden amulets in the form of dragons by -which they were supposed to commemorate Athena’s delivery of -Erichthonios to the care of two guardians of that description.[341] - -Footnote 341: - - Eurip. Ion. 15. sqq.—There were certain amulets, too, called περίαπτα - which superstitious mothers hung about the necks of their children to - defend them from fascination and the evil eye. Pollux, iv. 182. Vict. - in Arist. Ethic. Nicom. p. 42. - -But under certain circumstances, instead of the joy and gladness by -which the noble and the great are greeted on their entrance into the -world, the birth of a child was, as in Thrace,[342] an event fraught -with sorrow and misery. It announced in fact the approach of an enemy, -of one who, if he survived, must snatch from them a portion of what -already would scarcely sustain life. Together with the announcement of -his birth, therefore, came the awful consciousness that war must be made -on him—that he must in short be cast forth, a scape-goat for the sins of -society, not for his own—that his parents who should have cherished him, -whose best solace he should have been, must steel their hearts and close -fast their ears against the voice of nature, and become his -executioners. The poor-laws of Greece, or rather their substitutes for -poor-laws, were exceedingly imperfect, and foundling hospitals had not -been introduced. They got rid of their surplus population, as many -nations still do, by murder; for infanticide, under various forms, has -more or less prevailed in all civilised countries, if the term civilised -can properly be applied to nations among whom crimes so demoralising are -habitually perpetrated. No doubt the sullen reluctance of a father to -imbrue his hands in the blood of his child produced daily many a -heart-rending scene; no doubt the sting of want must have been keenly -felt before the habit of slaughter was confirmed;—but the fashion once -set, children were thrown into an earthen pot and exposed in mountainous -and desert places to perish of cold, or fall a prey to carnivorous -birds[343] or wolves, as coolly as they are murdered by their young and -frail mothers in our own Christian land. - -Footnote 342: - - Sext. Empir. p. 186. - -Footnote 343: - - Vict. (Var. Lect. ii. 3) has an useful chapter on the exposing of - infants, in which he has collected several valuable testimonies. - -Under all circumstances, however, the parents thus criminal are objects -of pity. Misery is blind, and crime is blind. But what shall we say to -those priests of humanity, those sacred and reverend interpreters of -nature,—the philosophers who come forward to sanction and justify the -practice? It would be criminal to disguise the fact, that both Plato and -Aristotle, the great representatives of the wisdom of the Pagan -world,[344] conceived infanticide, under certain circumstances, to be -allowable. Near, therefore, as the former stood to the truths of -Christianity, there was still a cloud between him and them. What he saw, -he saw through a glass darkly. Christ had not then stamped the seal of -divinity upon human nature, had not shed abroad that light by which -alone we discover the true features of crime, no less than the true -features of holiness. Philosophy is beautiful; but with the beauty of -one involuntarily polluted. Religion alone, breathing of heaven, radiant -with light, reflected on its whole form from the face of God, is lovely -altogether without spot or blemish. The Greeks wanting this guide went -astray. They looked at the question of population as coarse -utilitarians,—all but the gross, unintellectual Thebans, who, relying on -the vast fertility of their soil, or led by some better instinct, on -this point soared high above their cultivated neighbours, an example of -how the foolish things of this world, even in the unregenerate state of -nature, may sometimes confound the wise. Among the Tyrrhenians,[345] -likewise, a people of Pelasgian origin, infanticide was unknown, -probably because among them it was accounted no disgrace to be the -parents of illegitimate offspring; indeed the sense of shame could not, -in any case, be very keen among a people whose female slaves served -naked at table, and where even the ladies appeared at public -entertainments in the same state, drinking bumpers and joining freely in -the conversation of the men. - -Footnote 344: - - Plato, de Rep. v. § 9. p. 359. Stallb. Aristot. Pol. vii. 16. Cf. - Lips. Epist. ad Belg. Cent. 1. c. 85. with the work of Gerard Noodt, - entitled “Julius Paulus,” in opp. Lugd. Bat. 1726. pp. 567, seq. 591. - seq. Elmenhorst. ad Minuc. Felic. Octav. 289. ed. Ouzel. - -Footnote 345: - - Athen. xii. 14. - -In the modern world to take the life of an infant is a capital offence, -yet we see with how little fear or ceremony the law is set at nought. It -will, therefore, readily be supposed that in those countries of -antiquity where neither law nor public opinion opposed the practice, but -in some cases winked at, in others enjoined it, the number of -child-murders must have been enormous. Sparta very naturally took the -lead in this guilty course.[346] Here it was not permitted to private -individuals to make away with their offspring stealthily, and with those -marks of shame and compunction inseparable from individual guilt. The -state monopolized the right to Herodise, and by sharing the criminality -among great numbers appeared to silence the objections of conscience. -Fathers were compelled by law to bring their new-born infants to certain -officers, old, grave men,[347] who held their sittings in the Lesche of -their tribe, and after due deliberation determined on the claim of each -child to live or die. By what rules they decided, rude and ignorant of -physiology as they were, it would now be impossible positively to -affirm. Little skill no doubt had they in detecting the latent seeds of -robustness and physical energy, still less those of splendid mental -endowments lurking in the crimson countenance of helpless infancy. They -who might have proved the wise and good of their generation no doubt -often went instead of the mere animal. However, giving orders that the -strong and apparently healthy should be nursed, the weakly and delicate, -often the noblest men, and the bravest soldiers, as witness Lucius -Sulla, were condemned to be cast like so many puppy dogs into the -Apothetæ, a deep cavern at the foot of Mount Taygetos. This den of death -relieved the Spartans from the necessity of erecting workhouses or -enacting poor-laws. The surplus population went into that pit. - -Footnote 346: - - Compare the coolness of Hase. p. 190. Müller. ii. 313. with Lamb. Bos. - p. 212. seq. and the humane remarks of Ubbo Emmius iii. 83. Potter, - too (ii. 326. sqq.), seems to disapprove of the practice. - -Footnote 347: - - Plut. Lycurg. 16. - -To a certain extent, and in a mitigated form, the same practice -prevailed at Athens. Here, however, it was more a matter of custom than -of law, and in this respect differed materially[348] from the practice -of Sparta, that it was left entirely to the father to determine the fate -of his children. Accordingly, the more cold-blooded had recourse to -murder, while the less atrocious exposed them in jars in desert places -to perish, or in the thronged and crowded quarters of the city in the -hope that they might excite in others that compassion, which he, their -father, denied them.[349] And humane individuals were often found who, -like our Squire Allworthy, would sympathise with these deserted -creatures.[350] Numerous examples occur in the comic poets. In these -cases poverty was no doubt the motive, particularly when boys were -exposed; but even wealthy persons, reasoning like the Rajpoots of -northern India, would prefer exposing their daughters, to the care and -expense of educating them to an uncertain destiny. On these occasions -the child was dressed and swaddled more or less carefully, placed in a -large earthen vessel called a chytra,[351]—the same in which soup was -made, and which ought, therefore, to have awakened humane -associations,—and laid at the mouth of some cave without the walls, or -in such situations as I have above described. To this custom allusion is -made in the anecdote of a foundling, who amusing himself by rolling a -chytra before him with his foot, “What! exclaimed some one desirous of -reminding him of his origin, have you the impiety to kick your mother in -the belly?”[352] - -Footnote 348: - - Petit is of the contrary opinion, but his authorities by no means bear - him out.—Legg. Att. lib. ii. tit. 4. p. 144. - -Footnote 349: - - Paulus, ap. Petit. ubi sup. - -Footnote 350: - - On the ceremony of adoption, see Potter ii. 335. Compare Lady - Montague’s Works, iii. 12. - -Footnote 351: - - Sch. Aristoph. Vesp. 289, or sometimes ὄστρακον, Ran. 1221. - -Footnote 352: - - Sch. Aristoph. Thesmoph. 509. - -Sometimes when the object was rather to escape shame than to shun the -expense of education, rings, jewels, or other valuable tokens were -suspended about the child, or put along with it into the chytra.[353] -And in the comic writers these usually assist in bringing about a -discovery. If they fell into the hands of the poor the costly marks of -noble birth, always held in honour by the ignorant and needy, would -perhaps tempt them to preserve and cherish the off-cast, as in the case -of Shakespeare’s Perdita, or in the event of death, would defray the -expenses of their funerals. Sometimes superstition operated on their -minds, urging them into a mock show of sharing their possessions with -the little wretches they abandoned.[354] Thus Sostrata, wife of Chremes, -in the Self-tormentor delivered along with her little daughter to the -person who was to expose it, a ring from her own finger to be left with -the child, that should it die it might not be wholly deprived of all -share of their property. Such also is the behaviour of Creusa in -Euripides; for Hermes, whom the poet introduces unfolding the argument -of the drama, relates that when the young princess laid her new-born son -to perish in the cavern, where he had been conceived, she took off her -costly ornaments and with them decked her devoted boy.[355] - -Footnote 353: - - Vict. Var. Lect. ii. 3. Aristot. Poet. xvi. - -Footnote 354: - - Terent. Heautontim. iv. i. 36 seq. Victor. Var. Lect. ii. 3. Cf. Ter. - Hecyr. iii. 3. 31. sqq. - -Footnote 355: - - Eurip. Ion, 26. seq. Cf. 15. sqq. - -From another part of the same play it may be inferred that children were -often exposed on the steps of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, and nurtured by -the Pythoness.[356] Indeed the priestess, on discovering Ion, who had -been brought thither by Hermes from Attica, concludes at once that some -unfortunate Delphian girl[357] is his mother, and adopts him under that -impression. From the sequel it would appear that such children were the -slaves of the temple, and under the immediate protection of the -god.[358] - -Footnote 356: - - Conf. Hypoth. Ion. - -Footnote 357: - - Δελφίδων τλαίη κόρη. κ. τ. λ. Ion, 44. sqq. - -Footnote 358: - - Ion, 53. sqq. - -In the plain of Eleutheræ, near the temple of Dionysos, is a cavern, and -close beside it a fountain. Here, according to the poets, Antiope -brought forth Zethos and Amphion, twin sons of Zeus, whom, to conceal -her shame, she abandoned where they were born. The infants were -immediately afterwards discovered by a shepherd, who, having bathed them -in the neighbouring spring, took them to his cot, where they were -brought up as his own children.[359] The catastrophe of many an ancient -play was brought about by a discovery of the real characters of persons -who had been exposed in infancy. Thus Œdipus, whose story is too well -known to need repetition, was abandoned on Mount Cithæron. The daughters -of Phineus,[360] of whom nothing else has come down to us, had been cast -forth in infancy and preserved, and were afterwards brought to be put to -death on the same spot; by alluding to which their lives were saved. The -sons,[361] likewise, of Tyro, Peleus and Neleus, were deserted by their -mother, who placed them in a little bark or chest on the banks of the -Enipeus, a circumstance which served afterwards to reveal the parentage -of the twins. The story of Romulus and Remus, who were thus abandoned by -their vestal mother, is familiar to every reader; and from the example -of Moses recorded in the sacred volume, we may infer that the exposing -of children was common in remoter ages in Egypt. Pindar,[362] in -relating the birth of the prophet Iamos, presents us with a poetical -picture of one of these unhappy transactions. Evadne, daughter of -Poseidon by the river-nymph Pitana, dwelling at the court of Æpytos a -king of Arcadia, going forth, like the daughters of the Patriarchs, to -draw water from a fountain, is overtaken by her birth-pangs. - - “Her crimsoned girdle down was flung, - The silver ewer beside her laid, - Amid a tangled thicket, hung - With canopy of brownest shade; - When forth the glorious babe she brought, - His soul instinct with heavenly thought. - Sent by the golden-tressed god, - Near her the Fates indulgent stood, - With Eileithyia mild. - One short sweet pang released the child, - And Iamos sprang forth to light. - A wail she uttered; left him then, - Where on the ground he lay; - When straight two dragons came, - With eyes of azure flame, - By will divine awaked out of their den; - And with the bees’ unharmful venom they - Fed him, and nursled through the night and day. - The king meanwhile had come - From stony Pytho driving, and at home - Did of them all after the boy inquire - Born of Evadne; for, he said, the sire - Was Phœbos, and that he - Should of earth’s prophets wisest be, - And that his generation should not fail. - Not to have seen or heard him they avouched, - Now five days born. But he, on rushes couched, - Was covered up in that wide brambly maze; - His delicate body met - With yellow and empurpled rays - From many a violet: - And hence his mother bade him claim - For ever this undying name.” - -Footnote 359: - - Paus. ii. 6. 4.—Cf. Casaub. Diatrib. in Dion. Chrysost. ii. 469. - -Footnote 360: - - Aristot. Poet. xvi. 8. cum not. Herm. p. 156. - -Footnote 361: - - Arist. Poet. xvi. 3. - -Footnote 362: - - Olymp. vi. 39. sqq. Diss. I give the passage as it is elegantly - translated by Mr. Cary. - -Generally, it would appear, illegitimate children were exposed in the -neighbourhood of the Gymnasium, in the Cynosarges, because, as suggested -by Suidas, Heracles, who was himself a bastard, had a temple there. - -On the subject of infanticide the Thebans,[363] as I have said, -entertained juster sentiments than the rest of their countrymen. By -their institutions it was made a capital crime; but because severe laws -would not furnish the indigent with the means of supporting the children -they were forbidden to kill, they by another enactment provided for -their maintenance. If a poor man found himself unable to support an -addition to his family, he was commanded to bear his children -immediately from the birth, wrapped in swaddling-clothes, to the -magistrates, who disposed of them for a small sum to wealthy people in -want of children or servants: for, according to the Theban laws, they -who undertook the charge of foundlings, if they may be so called, were -entitled to their services in return for their nursing and education. - -Footnote 363: - - Ælian, Var. Hist. ii. 7.—Cf. Phil. Jud. de Legg. Special. p. 543. - -Connected with infanticide is another subject equally important, but of -very difficult treatment; that is practices to destroy the infant before -the birth.[364] In modern nations all such offences are theoretically -visited with very severe punishment by the law, and public opinion so -strongly condemns them that no one solicitous of upholding a respectable -character in society will dare to be their apologist. It was otherwise -in antiquity. The greatest dread of a superabundant population was in -many states felt, and led to customs and acts of a very nefarious -nature; for some classes of which, if not for all, writers of highest -eminence are found to plead. Thus Pliny,[365] commonly a great declaimer -in behalf of virtue, admits that some artificial limit should be put to -female productiveness; and Aristotle, despite his far nobler and more -generous ethics, had on this point no loftier views. The regulations -also of the Cretan Minos—but let them remain in the obscurity which -encompasses his entire code. - -Footnote 364: - - See in Pollux, ii. 7. and iv. 208. a whole vocabulary of terms - connected with this practice. In his note on the former passage, p. - 297. Iungermann refers to the Commentaries of Camerarius, c. 32. Cf. - Comm. in Poll. p. 507. seq. p. 541. et 891. seq. Tim. Lex. Plat. v. - ἐξαμβλοῦν. cum. not. Ruhnken. p. 62. ed. Lond. Plat. Theæt. t. iii. p. - 190. Max. Tyr. xvi. p. 179. Jacob Gensius (Victimæ Humanæ, pt. ii. p. - 247. seq.), enters fully into the question of abortion, which at Rome, - according to Justin, was procured to preserve the shape. The same - practice prevails in Formosa.—Richteren, Voyage de la Compagnie des - Indes, v. p. 70. Compare Lactant. v. p. 278. Phocyl. v. 172. seq. - -Footnote 365: - - Hist. Nat. xxxix. 27. t. viii. p. 404. Franz. Impie satis, as Kühn - observes in his note on Ælian, Var. Hist. ii. 7. Arist. Pol. vii. 15. - 253. Gœttl. Cf. Foës. Œcon. Hippoc. vv. Ἀμβλῶσαι and ἀποφθορά. - -Among the Romans several modern writers appear to suppose the existence -of more humane feelings, for which it would certainly have been -difficult to account. An ancient law attributed to Romulus has misled -them. By this it was enacted that no male child should be exposed; and -that of daughters the first should be permitted to live, while the -others having been brought up till they were three years old, might then -if judged expedient be destroyed.[366] The legislator, it is argued, -knew human nature too well to fear that parents who had preserved their -children three years would after that take away their lives. But infants -exceedingly mutilated or deformed might be killed at once, having first -been shown to five neighbours, and these neighbours, like the overseers -of murder at Lacedæmon, were probably lax in interpreting the law, -which, acknowledging the principle, would easily tolerate variations in -the practice.[367] Be this, however, as it may, child-murder and child -dropping were in imperial times of ordinary occurrence at Rome. There -was in the Herb-market a pillar called the “Milky column,”[368] whither -foundlings were brought to be suckled by public nurses, or to be fed -with milk—for the passage in Festus may be both ways interpreted, and -their numbers would seem to have been considerable. The Christian -writers constantly object the practice of infanticide to the Romans. -“You cast forth your sons,” says Tertullian,[369] “to be picked up and -nourished by the first woman that passes.” And the poor, as Ambrose -remarks, would desert and expose their little ones, and if caught deny -them to be theirs.[370] Others adopted more decisive measures, and -instead of exposing strangled them.[371] Probably, moreover, it was the -atrocious device of legislators to get rid of their superabundant -population that gave rise to the rite of child-sacrificing known to have -prevailed among the Phœnicians, who passed their children through fire -to Moloch; and among their descendants the Carthaginians,[372] who -offered up infants to their gods, as at the present day our own -idolatrous subjects in the East cast forth their first-born infants on -islands at the mouth of the Ganges, to be devoured by the alligators. In -China Christianity has performed for infancy the same humane duty as in -ancient Rome, as many of the converts made by the Jesuits consisted of -foundlings whom they had picked up when cast forth by their parents to -perish in the streets. - -Footnote 366: - - Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. i. 81; ii. 15. - -Footnote 367: - - Seneca, de Irâ, l. i. Apuleius Metam. x. where a husband gives command - for the destruction of his daughter immediately on her birth.—Ap. - Lips. Epist. ad Belgas, Cent. i. p. 818. seq. - -Footnote 368: - - Fest. v. Lactaria Columna. - -Footnote 369: - - Apolog. c. 9. - -Footnote 370: - - Hexæm. l. v. c. 18. - -Footnote 371: - - Arnob. cont. Gent. viii. Lactant. Instit. vi. 20. ap. Lips. Epist. ad - Belg. 819. - -Footnote 372: - - Vid. Festus, v. Puelli.—In Syria children were sacrificed to the - goddess, in like manner with other victims, by being tied up in a sack - and then flung down from the lofty propylæa of her temple, their - parents, in the mean while, overwhelming them with contumely, and - protesting they were not children, but oxen.—Lucian. De Syriâ Deâ, § - 58. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - BIRTH-FEAST—NAMING THE CHILD.—NURSERY—NURSERY - TALES—SPARTAN FESTIVAL. - - -To quit, however, this melancholy topic: while the poor, as we have -seen, were driven by despair to imbrue their hands in the blood of their -offspring, their more wealthy neighbours celebrated the birth of a -child[373] with a succession of banquets and rejoicings. Of these, the -first was held on the fifth day from the birth, when took place the -ceremony called Amphidromia, confounded by some ancient authors with the -festival of the tenth day.[374] On this occasion the accoucheuse or the -nurse, to whose care the child was now definitively consigned,[375] -having purified her hands with water,[376] ran naked[377] with the -infant in her arms, and accompanied by all the other females of the -family, in the same state, round the hearth,[378] which was regarded as -the altar of Hestia, the Vesta of the Romans. By this ceremony the child -was initiated in the rites of religion and placed under the protection -of the fire goddess, probably with the same view that infants are -baptized among us. - -Footnote 373: - - More particularly that of a son.—Casaub. ad Theophr. Char. p. 307. - -Footnote 374: - - Sch. Aristoph. Lysist. 757. - -Footnote 375: - - Etym. Mag. 89. 54. - -Footnote 376: - - Suid. in v. t. i. p. 214. d. - -Footnote 377: - - Hesych. in. v. δρομιάφιον. Meurs. Græc. Fer. p. 20. Brunck, in - Aristoph. Av. 922. - -Footnote 378: - - Harpocrat. in v. Cf. not. Gronov. p. 26. - -Meanwhile the passer-by was informed that a fifth-day feast was -celebrating within, by symbols suspended on the street-door, which, in -case of a boy, consisted in an olive crown; and of a lock of wool, -alluding to her future occupations, when it was a girl.[379] Athenæus, -apropos of cabbage, which was eaten on this occasion, as well as by -ladies “in the straw,”[380] as conducing to create milk, quotes a comic -description of the Amphidromia from a drama of Ephippos, which proves -they were well acquainted with the arts of joviality. - - “How is it - No wreathed garland decks the festive door, - No savoury odour creeps into the nostrils - Since ’tis a birth-feast? Custom, sooth, requires - Slices of rich cheese from the Chersonese, - Toasted and hissing; cabbage too in oil, - Fried brown and crisp, with smothered breast of lamb. - Chaffinches, turtle-doves, and good fat thrushes - Should now be feathered; rows of merry guests - Pick clean the bones of cuttle-fish together, - Gnaw the delicious feet of polypi, - And drink large draughts of scarcely mingled wine.[381]” - -Footnote 379: - - Hesych. ap. Meurs. Græc. Fer. p. 20. - -Footnote 380: - - Potter, ii. 322. - -Footnote 381: - - Athen. ix. 10. Cf. Ludovic. Nonn. De Pisc. Esu. c. 7. p. 28. - -A sacrifice[382] was likewise this day offered up for the life of the -child, probably to the god Amphidromos, first mentioned, and therefore -supposed to have been invented by Æschylus.[383] It has moreover been -imagined that the name was now imposed, and gifts were presented by the -friends and household slaves.[384] - -Footnote 382: - - Cf. Aristoph. Lys. 700. cum not. et schol.—Plaut. Truc. ii. 4. 69. - -Footnote 383: - - Semel. fr. 203. Well. - -Footnote 384: - - Meurs. Gr. Fer. p. 21. - -But it was on the seventh day that the child generally received its -name,[385] amid the festivities of another banquet; though sometimes -this was deferred till the tenth.[386] The reason is supplied by -Aristotle.[387] They delayed the naming thus long, he says, because most -children that perish in extreme infancy die before the seventh day, -which being passed they considered their lives more secure. The eighth -day was chosen by other persons for bestowing the name, and, this -considered the natal day, was solemnized annually as the anniversary of -its birth, on which occasion it was customary for the friends of the -family to assemble together, and present gifts to the child, consisting -sometimes of the polypi and cuttle-fish[388] to be eaten at the feast. -However the tenth day[389] appears to have been very commonly observed. -Thus Euripides:[390] - - “Say, who delighting in a mother’s claim - Mid tenth-day feasts bestowed the ancestral name?” - -Footnote 385: - - Alex. ab Alex. 99. a. - -Footnote 386: - - Harpocrat. _v._ Ἑβδομ. p. 92. Cf. Lomeier, De Lustrat. Vet. Gentil. c. - 27. p. 327. sqq. - -Footnote 387: - - Hist. Anim. vii. 12. Bekk. - -Footnote 388: - - Suid. v. Ἀμφιδ. t. i. p. 214. d. - -Footnote 389: - - Isæus, Pyrrh. Hæred. § 5. Dem. Adv. Bœot. §§ 6, 7. Lys. in Harpocrat. - v. Ἀμφιδρομ. p. 19. - -Footnote 390: - - Ægei. Frag. i. - -Aristophanes, too, on the occasion of naming his Bird-city, which a -hungry poet pretends to have long ago celebrated, introduces -Peisthetæros saying, - - “What! have I not but now the sacrifice - Of the tenth day completed and bestowed - A name as on a child?”[391] - -Footnote 391: - - Aves, 922. seq. - -Connected with this custom, there is a very good anecdote in Polyænos, -from which Meursius[392] infers that there existed among the Greeks -something like the office of sponsor. Jason, tyrant of Pheræ, most of -whose stratagems were played off against members of his own family, had -a brother named Meriones, extremely opulent, but to the last degree -close-fisted, particularly towards him. When at length a son was born to -Jason, he invited to the Nominalia many principal nobles of Thessaly, -and among others his brother Meriones, who was to preside over the -ceremonies. In these he was probably occupied the whole day, during -which, under pretence, apparently, of providing some choice game for his -guests, the tyrant went out for a few hours with his dogs and usual -followers. His real object, however, soon appeared. Making direct for -Pagasæ, where his brother’s castle stood, he stormed the place, and -seizing on Meriones’ treasures, to the amount of twenty talents, -returned in all speed to the banquet. Here, by way of showing his -fraternal consideration, he delegated to his brother the honour of -pouring forth the libations, and bestowing the name, which was the -father’s prerogative. But Meriones receiving from one of the tyrant’s -attendants a hint of what had taken place, called the boy “Porthaon,” or -the “Plunderer.”[393] At Athens the feast and sacrifice took place at -night, with much pomp, and all the glee which such an occasion was -calculated to inspire.[394] - -Footnote 392: - - Græc. Feriat. p. 22. - -Footnote 393: - - Polyæn. Strat. vi. i. 6. - -Footnote 394: - - Suid. v. Δεκάτην ἑστιάσαν, t. i. p. 654. c. d. - -On the bestowing of the name Potter’s information is particularly full. -He is probably right, too, in his conjecture, that in most countries the -principal object of calling together so great a number of friends to -witness this ceremony was to prevent such controversies as might arise -when the child came out into the business of the world. But at Athens -the Act of Registration[395] rendered such witnesses scarcely necessary. -The right of imposing the name belonged, as hinted above, to the father, -who likewise appears to have possessed the power afterwards to alter it -if he thought proper. They were compelled to follow no exact precedent; -but the general rule resembled one apparently observed by nature, which, -neglecting the likeness in the first generation, sometimes reproduces it -with extraordinary fidelity in the second. Thus, the grandson inheriting -often the features, inherited also very generally the name of his -grandfather,[396] and precisely the same rule applied to women; the -granddaughter nearly always receiving her grandmother’s name.[397] Thus, -Andocides, son of Leagoras, bore the name of his grandfather; the father -and son of Miltiades were named Cimon; the father and son of Hipponicos, -Cleinias.[398] The orator Lysias formed an exception to this rule, his -grandfather’s name having been Lysanias.[399] In short, though there -existed no law upon the subject, yet ancient and nearly invariable -custom operated with the force of law.[400] - -Footnote 395: - - Harpocrat. v. Μεῖον, Poll. iii. 53. Schol. ad Aristoph. Ran. 810. - Etym. Mag. 533. 37. Meurs. Lect. Att. iii. 1. - -Footnote 396: - - Palmer, Exercit. p. 754. Sluiter. Lect. Andocid. c. i. - -Footnote 397: - - Isæus de Pyrrh. Hæred. § 5. - -Footnote 398: - - Aristoph. Av. 284. - -Footnote 399: - - Plat. Rep. l. i. t. vi. p. 9. - -Footnote 400: - - Dem. c. Macart. § 17. Taylor, Lect. Lysiac. c. 5. - -The names of children were often in remote antiquity derived from some -circumstance attending their birth, or in the history of their parents. -Sometimes, too, their own deeds, as in the case of modern titles, -procured them a name; or perhaps some misfortune which befell them. -Thus, Marpissa, in Homer, being borne away[401] by Apollo, obtained the -name of Halcyone, because her mother, like the Halcyon, was inconsolable -for the loss of her offspring.[402] Scamandrios, son of Hector, was -denominated Astyanax, because his father was τοῦ ἄστεος ἄναξ, “the -defender of the city;”[403] and Odysseus, metamorphosed by the Romans -into Ulysses, is supposed to have been so called τοῦ ἄστεος ἄναξ διὰ τὸ -ὀδυσσέσθαι τοῦ Αὐτολυκου, from the anger of Autolychos.[404] Again, the -son of Achilles, at first called Pyrrhos, as our second William, Rufus, -from the colour of his hair, afterwards obtained the name of -Neoptolemos, “the youthful warrior,” from his engaging at a very early -age in the siege of Troy. It came, in aftertimes, to be considered -indecorous for persons of humble condition to assume the names of heroic -families. Thus, the low flatterer Callicrates, at the court of Ptolemy -the Third, was thought to be audacious because he bestowed upon his son -and daughter the names of Telegonos and Anticleia, and wore the effigy -of Odysseus in his ring, which appeared to be claiming kindred with that -illustrious chief. In fact, to prevent the profanation of revered names, -the law itself forbade them to be adopted by slaves or females of bad -character,[405] though, in defiance of its enactments, we find there -were hetairæ, who derived their appellation from the sacred games of -Greece, Nemeas, Isthmias, and Pythionica.[406] - -Footnote 401: - - See in Winkel. iii. p. 248, an account of a picture representing this - transaction. - -Footnote 402: - - Il. i. 552. seq. - -Footnote 403: - - Potter, ii. 225. - -Footnote 404: - - Odyss. τ. 406. sqq. - -Footnote 405: - - Athen. xiii. 51. - -Footnote 406: - - Anim. ad Athen. t. xii. p. 170. - -But of this enough: we now proceed to the management and education of -children, beginning with their earliest infancy. In old times the women -of Greece always suckled their own offspring, and for the performance of -this office they were excellently adapted by nature,[407] since they had -no sooner become mothers than their breasts filled so copiously with -milk than it not only flowed through the nipple, but likewise transpired -through the whole bosom. On the little derangements of the system -peculiar to nurses the Greeks entertained many superstitious opinions; -for instance, they conceived those thread-like indurations which -sometimes appear in the breasts to be caused by swallowing hairs, which -afterwards come forth with the milk, on which account the disorder was -called Trichiasis.[408] The nourishment supplied by mothers so robust -and lactiferous was often so rich and abundant as, like over-feeding, to -cause spasms and convulsions, supposed to be most violent when they -happened during the full moon, and began in the back. The usual remedy -among nurses would appear to have been wine, since Aristotle,[409] in -speaking of the disorder, observes that white, particularly if diluted -with water, is less injurious than red, though even from the former he -thought it better to abstain. The administering of aperient medicines -and the absence from everything that could cause flatulence, he -considered the only safe treatment. Nurses, however, sometimes placed -much reliance on the brains of a rabbit.[410] - -Footnote 407: - - When the case happened to be otherwise the remedies recommended by - physicians were numerous, among which was the halimos, a prickly shrub - found growing along the northern shores of Crete.—Dioscor. i. 120. - Tournefort. i. 44. - -Footnote 408: - - Arist. Hist. An. vii. 10. Foës. Œconom. Hippoc. v. Τριχίασις. - -Footnote 409: - - Hist. An. vii. 11. - -Footnote 410: - - Dioscor. ii. 21. - -In Plato’s Republic the nurses were to live apart in a distinct quarter -of the city, and suckle indiscriminately all the children that were to -be preserved; no mother being permitted to know her own child.[411] - -Footnote 411: - - Plat. Rep. v. t. vi. p. 236.—The desire of the philosopher was, that - the people, or the state, should be regarded as the father of the - child. Among our ancestors illegitimate children were denominated - “sons of the people,” which was then thought equivalent to being the - sons of nobody. Hence the following distich:— - - Cui pater est populus, pater est sibi nullus et omnis, - Cui pater est populus, non habet ipse patrem. - - Fortescue, Laud. Legg. - Angl. c. 40. - -Every one must have observed, as well as Plato,[412] that children are -no sooner born than they exhibit unequivocal signs of passion and -anger, in the moderating and directing of which consists the chiefest -difficulty of education. Most men, through the defect of nature or -early discipline, live long before they acquire this mastery, which -many never attain at all. Generally, however, where it is possessed, -much may certainly be attributed to that training which begins at the -birth, so that of all the instruments employed in the[413] forming of -character, the nurse is probably the most important. Of this the -ancients generally appear to have been convinced, and most of all the -Spartans and Athenians. The Lacedæmonian nurses, on whom the force of -discipline had been tried, enjoyed a high reputation throughout -Greece, and were particularly esteemed at Athens.[414] They no doubt -deserved it. To them may be traced the first attempt to dispense with -those swathes and bandages which in other countries confined the -limbs, and impeded the movements of infants, and by their skilful and -enlightened treatment, combined with watchfulness and tender -solicitude, they are said to have preserved their little charges from -those distortions so common among children. But their cares extended -beyond the person. They aimed at forming the manners, regulating the -temper, laying the foundation of virtuous habits, at sowing in short -the seeds, which in after life, might ripen into a manly, frank, and -generous character. In the matter of food, in the regulating of which, -as Locke confesses, there is much difficulty, the Spartan nurses acted -up to the suggestions of the sternest philosophy, accustoming the -children under their charge, to be content with whatever was put -before them, and to endure occasional privations without murmuring. -Over the fear of ghosts too they triumphed. Empusa and the -Mormolukeion, and all those other hideous spectres which childhood -associates with the idea of darkness, yielded to the discipline of the -Spartan nurse.[415] Her charge would remain alone or in the dark, -without terror, and the same stern system, which overcame the first -offspring of superstition, likewise subdued the moral defects of -peevishness, frowardness, and the habit of whining and mewling, which -when indulged in render children a nuisance to all around them. No -wonder therefore, these Doric disciplinarians were everywhere in -request. At Athens it became fashionable among the opulent to employ -them, and Cleinias, as is well known, placed under the care of one of -these she-pædagogues that Alcibiades, whose ambitious character, to be -curbed by no restraints of discipline or philosophy, proved the ruin -of his country and the scourge of Greece.[416] - -Footnote 412: - - Repub. i. 315. Stallb.—On the harshness and severity of nurses, - Teles remarks in that curious picture of human life, which he has - drawn quite in the spirit of the melancholy Jaques. Stob. Floril. - Tit. 98. 72. - -Footnote 413: - - Cf. Cramer de Educ. Puer. ap. Athen. 9. Odyss. β. 361. seq. - Terpstra, Antiq. Homer. 122. seq. - -Footnote 414: - - Plut. Alcib. § 1. - -Footnote 415: - - Or if not, the Spartan legislator had recourse to other expedients - for extirpating these superstitious terrors in after years. It being - customary among the Laconians to drink moderately in the syssitia, - says Plutarch, they went home without a torch, it not being lawful - to make use of a light on these or any other occasions, in order - that they might be accustomed to walk by night and in darkness - boldly, and without fear. Instit. Lacon. § 3. - -Footnote 416: - - Plut. Lycurg. § 16. - -Plato, however, while framing at will an imaginary system, and though -inclined upon the whole to laconise, adheres, in some respects, to the -customs of his country, and ordains that infants be confined by -swaddling bands till two years old. From the mention of this age, it -may be inferred that children commonly did not walk much earlier at -Athens, which is the case in the East, as we may learn from the story -of Ala-ed-deen Abushamet. Plato would also have nurses to be vigorous -and robust women, much inclined to frequent the temples, in order, -probably, to introduce into the minds of their charges early -impressions of religion, and to stroll about the fields and public -gardens until the children could run alone; and even then, and until -they were three years old, he urged the necessity of their being -frequently carried, to prevent crooked legs and malformed ankles. But -because all this might press hard on one nurse, several were employed, -as among ourselves,[417] and a kind of Nursery Governess overlooked -the whole. The Gerula or under-nurse was, in later times, the person -upon whom fell the principal labour of bearing the infant about; but -in remoter ages the Greeks, more particularly their royal and noble -families, employed in this capacity a Baioulos[418] or nurse-father, -who, as in the case of Phœnix, was sometimes himself of illustrious -birth. Cheiron, too, the Pelasgian mountain prince, performed this -sacred office for the son of his friend Peleus. - -Footnote 417: - - Plat. de Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 5. Pignor. de Serv. p. 185. - -Footnote 418: - - Pignor. de Serv. p. 186. seq. - -Our readers, we trust, will not be reluctant to enter a Greek -nursery,[419] where the mother, whatever might be the number of her -assistants, generally suckled her own children. Their cradles were of -various forms, some of which like our own required rocking,[420] while -others were suspended like sailors’ hammocks from the ceiling, and -swung gently to and fro when they desired to pacify the child or lull -it to sleep:[421] as Tithonos is represented in the mythology to have -been suspended in his old age.[422] Other cradles there were in the -shape of little portable baskets wherein they were carried from one -part of the harem to another.[423] It is probable, too, that as in the -East the children of the opulent were rocked in their cradles wrapped -in coverlets of Milesian wool. - -Footnote 419: - - See in Winkelmann, vignette to l. iv. ch. 3. a view of an ancient - nursery, where the mother, the pædagogue, the nurse, &c. are engaged - in the work of education, t. i. p. 414. Cf. Max. Tyr. Diss. iv. p. - 49. Sch. Aristoph. Eq. 713. - -Footnote 420: - - Pignor. de. Serv. p. 186. - -Footnote 421: - - Schweigh. Animadv. in Athen. vi. 74. - -Footnote 422: - - Eudoc. ap. Villois. Anecdot. Græc. t. i. p. 396. Tzetz. ad Lyc. v. - 16. - -Footnote 423: - - Mus. Real. Borbon. t. i. pl. 3. - -Occasionally in Hellas,[424] as everywhere else, the nurse’s milk -would fail, or be scanty, when they had recourse to a very original -contrivance to still the infant’s cries; they dipped a piece of sponge -in honey which was given it to suck.[425] It was probably under -similar circumstances that children were indulged in figs; the Greeks -entertaining an opinion that this fruit greatly contributed to render -them plump and healthy. They had further a superstition that by -rubbing fresh figs upon the eyes of children they would be preserved -from ophthalmia.[426] - -Footnote 424: - - It was even then remarked that sucking children teethe much better - than such as are dry nursed.—Aristot. de Gen. Anim. v. 8. Hist. - Anim. vii. 10. - -Footnote 425: - - Sch. Arist. Acharn. 439. - -Footnote 426: - - Athen. iii. 15. - -The Persians attributed the same preventive power to the petals of the -new-blown rose.[427] When a child was wholly or partly dry-nursed, the -girl who had charge of it would under pretence of cooling its pap, -commonly made of fine flour of spelt,[428] put the spoon into her own -mouth, swallow the best part of the nourishment, and give the refuse -to the infant, a practice attributed by Aristophanes to Cleon, who -swallowed, he says, the best of the good things of the state himself, -and left the residue to the people.[429] - -Footnote 427: - - Geopon. xi. 18. - -Footnote 428: - - Dioscor. ii. 114. - -Footnote 429: - - Equit. 712. Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. p. 326. - -All the world over the singing of the nurse has been proverbial. Music -breathes its sweetest notes around our cradles. The voice of woman -soothes our infancy and our age, and in Greece, where every class of -the community had its song, the nurse naturally vindicated one to -herself.[430] This sweetest of all melodies— - - “Redolent of joy and youth” - -was technically denominated Katabaukalesis, of which scraps and -fragments only, like those of the village song which lingered in the -memory of Rousseau, have come down to us. The first verse of a Roman -nursery air, which still, Pignorius[431] tells us, was sung in his -time by the mothers of Italy, ran thus:— - - “Lalla, Lalla; dorme aut lacte. - Lalla, Lalla; sleep or suck.” - -Footnote 430: - - Ilgen. de Scol. Poes. p. xxvi. Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. p. 204. seq. - -Footnote 431: - - De Serv. p. 186. seq. Cf. Athen. xiv. 10. - -The Sicilian poet, whose pictures of the ancient world are still -so fresh and fragrant, has bequeathed to us a Katabaukalesis of -extreme beauty and brevity which I have here paraphrastically -translated:[432]— - - “Sleep ye, that in my breast have lain, - The slumber sweet and light, - And wake, my glorious twins, again - To glad your mother’s sight. - O happy, happy be your dreams, - And blest your waking be, - When morning’s gold and ruddy beams - Restore your smiles to me.”[433] - -Footnote 432: - - A nurse’s lay prevalent among our own ancestors may not inaptly find - a place here: - - “Now suck, child, and sleep, child, thy mother’s own joy, - Her only sweet comfort to drown all annoy; - For beauty, surpassing the azurèd sky, - I love thee, my darling, as ball of mine eye.” - - D’Israeli, Amenities of - Literature ii. 287. - -Footnote 433: - - Theoc. Eidyll. 24. 7. sqq. - -The philosopher Chrysippos[434] considered it of importance to -regulate the songs of nurses, and Quintilian,[435] with a quaint but -pardonable enthusiasm, would have the boy who is designed to be an -orator placed under the care of a nurse of polished language and -superior mind. He observes,[436] too, that children suckled and -brought up by dumb nurses, will remain themselves dumb, which would -necessarily happen had they no other person with whom to converse. -When the infant was extremely wakeful the soothing influence of the -song was heightened by the aid of little timbrels and rattles hung -with bells. - -Footnote 434: - - Quintil. i. 10. - -Footnote 435: - - Instit. Orat. i. 1. - -Footnote 436: - - Quintil. Inst. Orat. l. x. c. i. Herod. ii. 2. - -A very characteristic anecdote is told of Anacreon apropos of -nurses.[437] A good-humoured wench with a child in her arms happening -one day to be sauntering _more nutricum_, through the Panionion, or -Grand Agora of Ionia, encountered the Teïan poet, who returning from -the Bacchic Olympos, found the streets much too narrow for him, and -went reeling hither and thither as if determined to make the most of -his walk. The nurse, it is to be presumed, felt no inclination to -dispute the passage with him; but Anacreon attracted, perhaps, by her -pretty face, making a timely lurch, sent both her and her charge -spinning off the pavement, at the same time muttering something -disrespectful against “the brat.” Now, for her own part, the girl felt -no resentment against him, for she could see which of the divinities -was to blame; but loving, as a nurse should, her boy, she prayed that -the poet might one day utter many words in praise of him whom he had -so rudely vituperated; which came to pass accordingly, for the infant -was the celebrated Cleobulos, whose beauty the Teïan afterwards -celebrated in many an ode.[438] - -Footnote 437: - - See in the Mus. Cortonens. pl. 35. the figure of a nurse bearing the - infant Bacchos. - -Footnote 438: - - Max. Tyr. Diss. xi. p. 132. - -Traces of the remotest antiquity still linger in the nursery. The word -baby, which we bestow familiarly on an infant, was with little -variation, in use many thousand years ago among the Syrians, in whose -nursery dialect _babia_[439] had the same signification. _Tatta_, too, -_pappa_ and _mamma_[440] were the first words lisped by the children -of Hellas. And from various hints dropped by ancient authors, it seems -clear that the same wild stories and superstitions that still flourish -there haunted the nursery of old. The child was taught to dread Empusa -or Onoskelis or Onoskolon,[441] the monster with one human foot and -one of brass, which dwelt among the shades of night and glided through -dusky chambers and dismal passages to devour “naughty children.” The -fables which filled up this obscure part of Hellenic mythology, were -scarcely less wild than those the Arabs tell about their Marids, their -Efreets, and their Jinn; for Empusa, the phantom minister of -Hecate,[442] could assume every various form of God’s creatures, -appearing sometimes as a bull, or a tree, or an ass, or a stone, or a -fly, or a beautiful woman.[443] Shakspeare, having caught, perhaps, -some glimpse of this superstition, or inventing in a kindred spirit, -attributes a similar power of transformation to his mischievous elf in -the Midsummer Night’s Dream, located on Empusa’s native soil. - - “I’ll follow you, I’ll lead you about, around, - Through bog, through bush, through brake, through briar. - Sometimes a horse I’ll be, sometime a hound, - A hog, a headless bear, sometimes a fire, - And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn, - Like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire at every turn.” - -Footnote 439: - - Phot. Biblioth. 31. l. 11. Menage shrewdly supposes Baby, Babble, - &c. to have been derived from Babel.—D’Israeli, Amenities of - Literature, i. 5. - -Footnote 440: - - Pignor. de Serv. p. 187. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 1365.—Pac. 119. - -Footnote 441: - - Lil. Gyrald. Synt. xii. Hist. Deor. 361 seq. Cf. Lucian. Ver. Hist. - lib. 2 § 46. This spectre was said to glide before the sight of - persons celebrating the rites of initiation, and therefore the - mother of Æschines who performed a part in the rites, and also - appeared to the initiated was, with much bad taste, called Empusa by - Demosthenes.—De Coronâ, § § 41. 79. Adam Littleton in his Cambridge - Dictionary supposes this to have been her real name, which, however, - was Glaucis or Glaucothea. Stock. and Wunderl. ad loc. Cf. Harpoc. - in. v. Sch. Aristoph. Concion. 1056. Ran. 293, 294. ὁρᾲς τὸν - Αἰσχινην ὅς τυμπανιστρίας υἱὸς ἠν. Lucian. Somn. § 12. - -Footnote 442: - - This goddess was also known by the name of Artemis Phosphoros. - Aristoph. Concion. 444 et schol. - -Footnote 443: - - Aristoph. Ran. 293. Epicharm. ap. Nat. Com. p. 854. See also Sch. - Apol. Rhod. iii. 478. iv. 247. - -It was this spectral being that was said to appear to those who -performed the sacrifices to the dead, to men overwhelmed with -misfortune,[444] and travellers in remote and dismal roads; as -happened to the companions of Apollonios of Tyana who, in journeying -on a bright moonlight night, were startled by the appearance of -Empusa, which having stood twice or thrice in their way, suddenly -vanished.[445] To protect themselves against this demon the -superstitious were accustomed to wear about them a piece of jasper, -either set in a ring, or suspended from the neck.[446] - -Footnote 444: - - Meurs. Lect. Att. iii. 17. - -Footnote 445: - - Philost. Vit. Apoll. Tyan. l. ii. c. 2. - -Footnote 446: - - Cf. De Boot, De Lap. p. 251. sqq. on the properties and virtues of - this stone. - -The Lamia, too, fierce and beautiful, the ancestress of our “White -ladies,” and of the Katakhanas or Vampire of the modern Greeks, roamed -through solitary places to terrify, delude, or destroy good folks, big -or little, who might lose their way amid moonlit crags or shores made -white with bones and sea-shells. They loved to relate “around the fire -o’ nights,” how Lamia had once been a beautiful woman caressed and -made the mother of a fair son by Zeus; how Hera through jealousy had -destroyed the boy; and how, thereupon Lamia took to the bush and -devoted her wretched immortality to the destroying of other women’s -children.[447] According to another form of the tradition there were -many Lamiæ, so called from having capacious jaws, inhabiting the -Libyan coast,[448] somewhere about the Great Syrtis, in the midst of -sand hills, rocks, and wastes of irreclaimable aridity. Formed above -like women of surpassing beauty, they terminated below in serpents. -Their voice was like the hissing of an adder, and whatever approached -them they devoured.[449] - -Footnote 447: - - Sch. Aristoph. Vesp. 1035. Philost. Vit. Apoll. Tyan. iv. 25. - -Footnote 448: - - Schol. Aristoph. Vesp. 1035. - -Footnote 449: - - Lil. Gyrald. Hist. Deor. Synt. xv. 447. seq. - -Another race of wild and grotesque spirits were the Kobaloi,[450] -companions of Dionysos, who doubtless subsist still in our woods and -forests under the name of goblins and hobgoblins. Our Elves and Trolls -and Fairies appear likewise to belong to the same brood, though in -these northern latitudes, they have become less mischievous and more -romantic, delighting the eyes of the wayfarers by their frolics and -gambols, instead of devouring him. - - “Fairy elves, - Whose midnight revels, by a forest side, - Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, - Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon - Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth - Wheels her pale course; they on their mirth and dance - Intent, with jocund music charm his ear, - At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.” - -Footnote 450: - - Schol. Aristoph. Plut. 279. - -Though, as we have seen, weak children were unscrupulously sacrificed -at Sparta, they still made offerings to the gods in favour of the -strong. The ceremony took place annually during certain festivals, -denominated Tithenidia,[451] when, in a moment of hospitality, they -not only made merry themselves, but overlooked their xenelasia, and -entertained generously all such strangers as happened to be present. -The banquet given on this occasion was called Kopis, and, in -preparation for it, tents were pitched on the banks of the Tiasa near -the temple of Artemis Corythalis. Within these, beds formed of heaps -of herbs were piled up and covered with carpets. On the day of the -festival the nurses proceeded thither with the male children in their -arms, and, presenting them to the goddess, offered up as victims a -number of sucking pigs. In the feast which ensued loaves baked in an -oven, in lieu of the extemporary cake, were served up to the guests. -Choruses of Corythalistriæ or dancing girls, likewise performed in -honour of the goddess; and in some places persons, called Kyrittoi, in -wooden masks, made sport for the guests.[452] Probably it may have -been on occasions such as this that the nurses, like her in Romeo and -Juliet, gave free vent to their libertine tongues, and indulged in -those appellations which the tolerant literature of antiquity has -preserved.[453] - -Footnote 451: - - Athen. iv. 16. - -Footnote 452: - - Meurs. Græc. Fer. 261. seq. - -Footnote 453: - - Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. 161. - -When children were to be weaned, they spread, as the moderns do, -something bitter over the nipple,[454] that the young republican might -learn early how— - - “Full in the fount of joy’s delicious springs - Some bitter o’er the flower its bubbling venom flings.” - -Footnote 454: - - Athen. vi. 51. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - TOYS, SPORTS, AND PASTIMES. - - -Having described, as far as possible, the management of infants and -young children, it may not be uninteresting to notice briefly their -toys, sports, and pastimes; for, though children have been -substantially the same in all ages and countries, the forms of their -amusements have been infinitely varied, and where they have resembled -each other it is not the less instructive to note that resemblance. -The ancients[455] have, however, bequeathed us but little information -respecting the fragile implements wherewith the happiness of the -nursery was in great part erected. Even respecting the recreations -which succeeded and amused the leisure of boys our materials for -working out a picture are scanty, so that we must content ourselves -with little more than an outline. Nevertheless, though the accounts -they have transmitted to posterity are meagre, they attached much -importance to the subject itself; so that the greatest legislators and -philosophers condescended to make regulations respecting it. Thus -Plato, with a view of generating a profound reverence for ancient -national institutions, forbade even the recreations of boys to be -varied with reckless fickleness; for the habit of innovation once -introduced into the character would ever after continue to influence -it, so that they who in boyhood altered their sports without reason, -would without scruple in manhood extend their daring hands to the laws -and institutions of their country.[456] - -Footnote 455: - - Plato had the utmost faith in the power of education over both mind - and body; but his system embraced much more than is usually - comprehended under the term, even taking charge of the infant before - its birth, and immediately afterwards, in the hope of wisely - regulating its physical developement. As the child grows most during - the first five years, its size in the following twenty being seldom - doubled, most care, he thought, should then be taken that the great - impulses of nature be not counteracted. Much food is then consumed, - with very little exercise; hence the multitude of deaths in infancy - and diseases in after-life, of which the seeds are then sown. For - this reason he would encourage the violent romping and sports of - children, that the excess of nourishment may be got rid of. De Legg. - vii. t. viii. p. 2. seq. - -Footnote 456: - - Plat, de Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 21. seq. - -Amongst the Hellenes the earliest toy consisted, as in most other -countries, of the rattle, said to be the invention of the philosopher -Archytas.[457] To this succeeded balls of many colours,[458] with -little chariots, sometimes purchased at Athens in the fair held during -the feast of Zeus.[459] The common price of a plaything of this kind -would appear to have been an obolos. The children themselves, as -without any authority might with certainty be inferred, employed their -time in erecting walls with sand,[460] in constructing little -houses,[461] in building and carving ships, in cutting carts or -chariots out of leather, in fashioning pomegranate rinds into the -shape of frogs,[462] and in forming with wax a thousand diminutive -images, which pursued afterwards during school hours subjected them -occasionally to severe chastisement.[463] - -Footnote 457: - - Aristot. Polit. viii. 6. 1. - -Footnote 458: - - Dion. Chrysost. Nat. viii. p. 281. - -Footnote 459: - - Aristoph. Nub. 862. sqq. et Schol. Rav. in loc. Cf. Suid. v. Ἁμαξὶς, - t. i. p. 194. b. Pollux, x. 168. - -Footnote 460: - - Damm. v. Ἄθυρμα. - -Footnote 461: - - Lucian. Hermot. § 33. - -Footnote 462: - - Aristoph. Nub. 877. sqq. et Schol. - -Footnote 463: - - Lucian. de Somn. § 2. - -Another amusement which the children of Hellas shared with their -elders was that afforded by puppets,[464] which were probably an -invention of the remotest antiquity. Numerous women appear to have -earned their livelihood by carrying round from village to village -these ludicrous and frolicsome images, which were usually about a -cubit in height, and may be regarded as the legitimate ancestors of -Punch and Judy. By touching a single string, concealed from the -spectators, the operator could put her mute performers in action, -cause them to move every limb in succession, spread forth the hands, -shrug the shoulders, turn round the neck, roll the eyes, and appear to -look at the audience.[465] After this, by other contrivances within -the images, they could be made to go through many humorous evolutions -resembling the movements of the dance. These exhibitors, frequently of -the male sex, were known by the name of Neurospastæ. This art passed, -together with other Grecian inventions, into Italy, where it was -already familiar to the public in the days of Horace, who, in speaking -of princes governed by favourites, compares them to puppets in the -hands of the showman. - - “Tu, mihi qui imperitas, aliis servis miser; atque - Duceris, ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.”[466] - -Footnote 464: - - Buleng. de Theat. l. i. c. 36. sqq. Muret. ad Plat. Rep. p. 645. - Eustath. in Odyss. δ. p. 176. Mount. Not. ad Dem. Olynth. ii. § 5. - Perizon. ad Æl. Var. Hist. viii. 7. See also the article Marionnette - in the Encyclopédie Française; and Caylus, Rec. d’Antiq. t. vi. p. - 287. t. iv. pl. 80. no. i. - -Footnote 465: - - Aristot. de Mund. c. 6. translated by Apuleius, p. 20. Herod. ii. - 48. See Comment. ad Poll. vii. 189. Duport. ad Theophr. Char. p. - 308. This juggler having, for his ill behaviour, been driven from - Athens, flew to Philip, with whom such persons were always in - favour. Dem. Olynth. i. § 7. - -Footnote 466: - - Sat. ii. 7. 81. seq. Plerumque simulacra de ligno facta nervis - moventur.—Vet. Schol. - -A very extraordinary puppet, in the form of a silver skeleton, was, -according to Petronius Arbiter,[467] exhibited at the court of Nero; -for, like the Egyptians, this imperial profligate appears to have been -excited to sensual indulgences by the remembrance of the grave: “Let -us eat and drink,” cried he, “for tomorrow we die.” The skeleton being -placed upon the table, in the midst of the tyrant’s orgies, threw its -limbs strangely about, and bent its form into various attitudes with -wonderful flexibility, which having performed once and again, and then -suddenly ceasing to move, the master of the feast exclaimed, “Alas, -alas! what a mere nothing is man! Like unto this must we all be when -Orcus shall have borne us hence. Therefore let us live while enjoyment -is in our power.” But to return to the children of Hellas. Among the -earliest sports of the Greek boy was whipping the bembyx or top,[468] -which would appear to have been usually practised in those open spaces -occurring at the junction of several roads:— - - “Where three ways meet there boys with tops are found, - That ply the lash and urge them round and round.”[469] - -Sometimes also, as with us, they spun their tops with cord. The -amusement is thus described by Tibullus:[470] - - “Namque agor, ut per plana citus tota verbere turben, - Quem celer assuetâ versitat arte puer.” - -Footnote 467: - - Satyric. p. 80. Helenop. 1610. Wouwer. Anim. p. 418. Erhard. Symbol. - p. 611. Plut. Conv. Sept. Sap. ch. 2.—A story is told of an Ionian - juggler who proceeded to Babylon to perform what he deemed a - wonderful feat before the Great King, and the feat was this: fixing - a long point of steel on a wall, and retiring to a considerable - distance, he threw at it a number of soft round pellets of dough, - with so nice an aim that every one of them was penetrated, the last - pellet driving back the others. Max. Tyr. Diss. xix. p. 225. Anim. - ad Poll. vii. 189. p. 532. - -The hoop, too, so familiar to our own schoolboys, formed one of the -playthings of Hellenic children. It was sometimes made of bronze, -about three feet in diameter,[471] and adorned with little spherical -bells and movable rings, which jingled as it rolled. The instrument -employed to urge - - “the rolling circle’s speed,” - -as Gray expresses it, in his reminiscences of the Eton play-ground, -was crooked at the point, and called a plectron: its exact -representation may any day, in the proper season, be seen in the -streets of London impelling forward the iron hoop of our own children. -The passages of ancient authors, in which mention of the trochos -occurs, appear to have been imperfectly understood before the -discovery of a basso-rilievo, in marble, on the road from Rome to -Tivoli, afterwards removed to the vineyard of the Cardinal Alexander -Albani. On certain engraved gems also, in the cabinet of Stosch, are -several representations of boys playing at hoop, where the trochos in -some cases reaches to the waist, in others to the breast, and where -the child is very small up to the chin. It has been conjectured by -Winkelmann,[472] that a circle represented in one of the paintings of -Herculaneum was no other than an ancient trochos. Rolling the hoop -formed a part of the exercises of the palæstra, which were performed -even by very young children. Thus we find the nurse describing the -sons of Medeia returning from playing at hoop the very day that they -were slain by their mother.[473] This amusement has been described -briefly by the Roman poets. Thus Martial:[474]— - - “Garrulus in laxo cur annulus orbe vagatur - Cedat, et argutis obvia turba trochis.” - -Footnote 468: - - Schol. Aristoph. Vesp. 1517. Diog. Laert. i. 4. 8. Cf. Hyde - Nerdilud. p. 259. - -Footnote 469: - - Callim. Ep. i. 9. seq. p. 180. - -Footnote 470: - - I. 5. 3. - -Footnote 471: - - Cf. Caylus, Rec. D’Antiq. t. vi. 318. seq. - -Footnote 472: - - Descr. des Pierres Grav. du Cab. de Stosch. 452. seq. - -Footnote 473: - - Eurip. Mod. 45. et Sch. - -Footnote 474: - - L. xiv. Ep. 169. - -Propertius[475] notices the crooked form of the plectron, or clavis:— - - “Increpat et versi clavis adunca trochi.” - -Horace[476] likewise alludes to the game:— - - “Indoctusque pilæ discive trochive quiescit.” - -This poet clearly informs us that the Romans received the game from -the Greeks:[477]— - - “Ludere doctior, - Seu Græco jubeas trocho, - Seu malis vetita legibus alea.” - -Another less innocent amusement was[478] spinning goldchafers, which -appears to have afforded the Greek urchins the same delight as -tormenting cockchafers does their successors of the north. This -species of beetle making its appearance when the apple-trees were in -bloom, was therefore called _Melolanthe_, or apple-blossom. Having -caught it, and tied a linen thread about its feet, it was let loose, -and the fun was to see it move in spiral lines through the air as it -was twisted by the thread.[479] - -Footnote 475: - - iii. 12. - -Footnote 476: - - Ars Poet. 380. where the ancient scholiast seems doubtful whether - the trochus was a hoop or a top:—“Trochus dicitur turben, qui - flagello percutitur, et in vertiginem rotatur, aut rota quam - currendo pueri scuticâ vel virgâ regunt.” - -Footnote 477: - - Carm. iii. 24. 56. sqq. - -Footnote 478: - - On the games at present practised in Greece, see Dodwell, ii. 37. - sqq.; and Douglas, Essay on certain points of resemblance between - the Anc. and Mod. Greeks, p. 127. sqq. - -Footnote 479: - - Poll. ix. 124. - -It was the practice among the children of Greece, when the sun -happened to be obscured by a cloud, to exclaim, “Ἔξεχ᾽ ὦ φίλ᾽ -ἥλιε!”—“Come forth, beloved sun!” Strattis makes allusion to this -custom in a fragment of his Phœnissæ:— - - “Then the god listened to the shouting boys, - When they exclaimed, ‘Come forth, beloved sun!’”[480] - -It is fortunate that our English boys have no such passion for -sunshine; otherwise, as Phœbos Apollo hides his face for months -together in this blessed climate, we should be in a worse plight than -Dionysos among the frogs of Acheron, when his passion for Euripides -led him to pay a visit to Persephone. In some parts of the country, -however, the children have a rude distich which they frequently bawl -in chorus, when in summer-time their sports are interrupted by a -long-continued shower:— - - “Rain, rain, go to Spain; - Fair weather, come again.” - -Footnote 480: - - Poll. ix. 123. - -The Muïnda was our “Blindman’s-buff,” “Blind Hob,” “Hobble ’em-blind,” -and “Hood-man-blind,” in which, as with us, a boy moved about with his -eyes bandaged, spreading forth his hands, and crying “Beware!” If he -caught any of those who were skipping around him, the captive was -compelled to enact the blind-man in his stead. Another form of the -game was for the seers to hide, and the blind man to grope round till -he found them; the whole probably being a rude representation of -Polyphemos in his cave searching for the Greeks who had blinded him. A -third form was, for the bystanders to strike or touch the blindfolded -boy until he could declare who had touched him, when the person -indicated took his place. To this the Roman soldiers alluded when they -blindfolded our Saviour and smote him, and cried, “Prophesy who struck -thee.”[481] In the Kollabismos,[482] the Capifolèt of the French, one -person covered his eyes with his own hands, the other then gave him a -gentle blow, and the point was, for the blindfolded man to guess with -which hand he had been stricken. The Χαλκὴ Μυῖα,[483] or Brazen Fly, -was a variety of Blindman’s-buff, in which a boy, having his eyes -bound with a fillet, went groping round, calling out, “I am seeking -the Brazen Fly.” His companions replied, “You may seek, but you will -not find it”—at the same time striking him with cords made of the -inner bark of the papyros; and thus they proceeded till one of them -was taken. Apodidraskinda (“hide and seek,” or “whoop and holloa!”) -was played much as it is now. One boy shut his eyes, or they were kept -closed for him by one of his suspicious companions, while the others -went to hide. He then sallied forth in search of the party who lay -concealed, while each of them endeavoured to gain the post of the -seeker; and the first who did this turned him out and took his place. - -Footnote 481: - - This has been observed by Hemsterhuis, ad Poll. t. vi. p. 1173, - where his commentary alone can render the text intelligible.—Cf. - Matthew, xxvi. 68. Mark, xiv. 64. Luke, xxii. 65. - -Footnote 482: - - “Jeu de la main chaude.” Steph. Thes. Ling. Græc. v. Κολλαβισμός. - -Footnote 483: - - Hyde, Hist. Nerdilud. p. 266. - -Another game was the Ephedrismos, in which a stone called the Dioros -was set up at a certain distance, and aimed at with bowls or stones. -The one who missed took the successful player upon his back, and was -compelled to carry him about blindfolded, until he went straight from -the standing-point to the Dioros. This latter part of the game has -been described by several ancient authors, under the appellation of -Encotyle, though they are rightly, by Hesychius,[484] considered as -different parts of the same sport. The variety called Encotyle,—the -“Pick-back” or “Pick-a-back,” of English boys, consisted in one lad’s -placing his hands behind his back, and receiving therein the knees of -his conqueror, who, putting his fingers over the bearer’s eyes, drove -him about at his pleasure. This game was also called the Kubesinda and -Hippas,[485] though, according to the conjecture of Dr. Hyde, the -latter name signified rather our game of “Leap-frog,”—the “mazidha” of -the Persians, in which a number of boys stooped down with the hands -resting on the knees, in a row, the last going over the backs of all -the others, and then standing first. - -Footnote 484: - - In v. Ἐφεδρίζειν. - -Footnote 485: - - Hyde, Hist. Nerdilud. p. 241. - -In the game called Chytrinda, in English[486] “Hot-cockles,” “Selling -of pears,” or “How many plumbs for a penny,” one boy sat on the -ground, and was called the chytra or pot, while his companions, -forming themselves into a ring, ran round, plucking, pinching, or -striking him as they went. If he who enacted the chytra succeeded in -seizing upon one of the buffeters the captive took his place. Possibly -it was during this play that a mischievous foundling, contrary to -rule, poking, as he ran round, the boy in the centre with his foot, -provoked from the latter the sarcastic inquiry, “What! dost thou kick -thy mother in the belly?” alluding to the circumstance of the former -having been exposed in a chytra.[487] Another form of the Chytrinda -required the lad in the centre to move about with a pot on his head, -where he held it with his left hand, while the others struck him, and -cried out, “Who has the pot?” To which he replied, “I Midas,” -endeavouring all the while to reach some one with his foot,—the first -whom he thus touched being compelled to carry round the pot in his -stead.[488] - -Footnote 486: - - Hyde, Hist. Nerdilud. p. 263. - -Footnote 487: - - Sch. Aristoph. Thesm. 509. But see above, p. 122. - -Footnote 488: - - Poll. ix. 114. - -Another game, peculiar to girls, was the Cheli Chelone, or “the -tortoise,” of which I remember no representative among English -pastimes. It somewhat resembled the Chytrinda of the boys. For one -girl sat on the ground and was called the tortoise, while her -companions, running round, inquired “Tor-tortoise what art thou doing -there in the middle?” “Spinning wool,” replied she, “the thread of the -Milesian woof;” “And how, continued they, was thy son engaged when he -perished?” “He sprang from his white steeds into the sea.”[489] If -this was, as the language would intimate, a Dorian play, I should -consider it a practical satire on the habits of the other Hellenic -women, who remained like tortoises at home, carding and spinning, -while their sons engaged in the exercises of the palæstra or the -stadium. Possibly, also, originally the name may have had some -connection with καλλιχέλωνος “beautiful tortoise,” the figure of this -animal having been impressed on the money of the Peloponnesians; in -fact, in a fragment of the Helots of Eupolis, we find the obolos -distinguished by the epithet of καλλιχέλωνος.[490] - -Footnote 489: - - Poll. ix. 125. - -Footnote 490: - - Id. ix. 74. Cf. Suid. v. Καλλικολώνη t. i. p. 1359. c. Meurs. De - Lud. Græc. p. 41. - -The Kynitinda was so called from the verb κυνέω to kiss, as appears -from Crates in his “Games,” a play in which the poet contrived to -introduce an account of this and nearly all the other juvenile -pastimes. The form of the sport being little known, the learned have -sometimes confounded it with a kind of salute called the chytra in -antiquity, and the “Florentine Kiss” in modern Italy, in which the -person kissing took the other by the ears. Giraldi[491] says he -remembers, when a boy, that his father and other friends, when kissing -him, used sometimes to take hold of both his ears, which they called -giving a “Florentine kiss.” He afterwards was surprised to find that -this was a most ancient practice, commemorated both by the Greek and -Latin authors. It obtained its name, as he conjectures, from the -earthen vessel called chytra, which had two handles usually laid hold -of by persons drinking out of it, as is still the practice with -similar utensils in Spain. This writer mentions a present sent from -the peninsula to Leo X, consisting of a great number of chytræ of red -pottery, if we may so call them, of which he himself obtained one. -Crates, as Hemsterhuis[492] ingeniously supposes, introduced a wanton -woman playing at this game among the youths in order that she might -enjoy the kisses of the handsome. - -Footnote 491: - - Opp. ii. p. 880. Theocrit. v. 133. Wart.—Poll. x. 100. - -Footnote 492: - - Comment. ad Poll. t. vi. p. 1180. - -The Epostrakismos[493] was what English boys call “Ducks and Drakes,” -and sometimes, among our ancestors at least, “A duck and a drake and a -white penny cake,” and was played with oyster-shells. Standing on the -shore of the sea at the Peiræeus, for example, they flung the shells -edgeways over the water so that they should strike it and bound -upwards again and again from its surface. The boy whose shell made -most leaps before sinking, won the game. Minucius Felix gives a very -pretty description of this juvenile sport. “Behold, he says, boys -playing in frolicsome rivalry with shells on the sea-shore. The game -consists in picking up from the beach a shell rendered light by the -constant action of the waves, and standing on an even place, and -inclining the body, holding the shell flat between the fingers, and -throwing it with the greatest possible force, so that it may rase the -surface of the sea or skim along while it moves with gentle flow, or -glances over the tops of the waves as they leap up in its track. That -boy is esteemed the victor whose shell performs the longest journey or -makes most leaps before sinking.”[494] - -Footnote 493: - - Poll. ix. 119. - -Footnote 494: - - Seber ad Poll. t. vi. p. 1188. - -The Akinetinda was a contention between boys, in which some one of -them endeavoured to maintain his position unmoved. Good sport must -have been produced by the next game called Schœnophilinda, or “Hiding -the Rope.” In this a number of boys sat down in a circle, one of whom -had a rope concealed about his person, which he endeavoured to drop -secretly beside one of his companions. If he succeeded, the unlucky -wight was started like a hare round the circle, his enemy following -and laying about his shoulders. But on the other hand, if he against -whom the plot was laid detected it, he obtained possession of the rope -and enjoyed the satisfaction of flogging the plotter over the same -course. - -The Basilinda[495] was a game in which one obtained by lot the rank of -king, and the vanquished, whether one or many, became subject to him, -to do whatever he should order. It passed down to the Christians, and -was more especially practised during the feast of the Epiphany. It is -commonly known under the name of Forfeits, and was formerly called -“One penny,” “One penny come after me,” “Questions and commands,” “The -choosing of king and queen on Twelfth night.” In the last-mentioned -sense it is still prevalent in France, where it is customary for -bakers to make a present to the families they serve, of a large cake -in the form of a ring in which a small kidney bean has been concealed. -The cake is cut up, the pieces are distributed to the company, and the -person who gets the bean is king of the feast. This game entered in -Greece likewise into the amusements of grown people, both men and -women, as well as of children, and an anecdote, connected with it, is -told of Phryne, who happened one day to be at a mixed party where it -was played. By chance it fell to her lot to play the queen; upon -which, observing that her female companions were rouged and lilied to -the eyes, she maliciously ordered a basin and towel to be brought in, -and that every woman should wash her face. Conscious of her own native -beauty, she began the operation, and only appeared the fresher and -more lovely. But alas for the others! When the anchusa, psimmuthion, -and phukos had been removed by the water, their freckled and coarse -skins exposed them to general laughter.[496] - -Footnote 495: - - Poll. ix. 110. - -Footnote 496: - - Galen. Protrept. § 10. Kühn. Compare the admirable note of - Hemsterhuis ad Poll. t. vi. p. 1066. seq. - -The Ostrakinda was a game purely juvenile. A knot of boys having drawn -a line on the ground, separated into two parties. A small earthenware -disk or ostrakon, one side black with pitch, the other white, was then -produced, and each party chose a side, white or black. The disk was -then pitched along the line, and the party whose side came up was -accounted victorious, and prepared to pursue while the others turned -round and fled. The boy first caught obtained the name of the ass, and -was compelled to sit down, the game apparently proceeding till all -were thus caught and placed hors de combat. He who threw the ostrakon -cried, “night or day,” the black side being termed _night_, and the -opposite _day_. It was called the “Twirling of the ostrakon.” Plato -alludes to it in the Phædros.[497] - -Footnote 497: - - Poll. ix. 111. seq. Plat. Phæd. t. i. p. 29. seq. Bekk. - -The Dielkustinda, “French and English,” was played chiefly in the -palæstra, and occasionally elsewhere. It consisted simply in two -parties of boys laying hold of each other by the hand, and pulling -till one by one the stronger had drawn over the weaker to their side -of the ground. - -The Phryginda was a game in which, holding a number of smooth and -delicate fragments of pottery between the fingers of the left hand, -they struck them in succession with the right so as apparently to -produce a kind of music.[498] - -Footnote 498: - - Turneb. Advers. xxvii. 33. Poll. ix. 114. Comment. t. vi. p. 1178. - -There was another game called Kyndalismos, played with short batons, -and requiring considerable strength and quickness of eye. A stick -having been fixed up-right in a loose moist soil, the business was to -dislodge it by throwing at it other batons from a distance; whence the -proverb, “Nail is driven out by nail, and baton by baton.”[499] A -person who played at this game was called by some of the Doric poets -Kyndalopactes.[500] A similar game is played in England, in which the -prize is placed upon the top of the upright stick. The player wins -when the prize falls without the hole whence the upright has been -dislodged. - -Footnote 499: - - Vid. Vatic. Append. Proverb. Cent. ii. prov. 12. et Ib. not. And. - Schotto. Kühn ad Poll. t. vi. p. 1190. - -Footnote 500: - - Meursius, Græc. Lud. p. 26. and after him Pfeiffer, Ant. Græc. iv. - p. 120. read κινδαλοπαίκτης, which Hemsterhuis observes is contrary - to the authority of the MSS. - -The game of Ascoliasmos[501] branched off into several varieties, and -afforded the Athenian rustics no small degree of sport. The first and -most simple form consisted in hopping on one foot, sometimes in pairs, -to see which in this way could go furthest. On other occasions the -hopper undertook to overtake certain of his companions who were -allowed the use of both legs. If he could touch one of them he came -off conqueror. This variety of the game appears to have been the -Empusæ ludus of the Romans. “Scotch hoppers,” or “Fox to thy hole,” in -which boys, hopping on one leg, beat one another with gloves or pieces -of leather tied at the end of strings, or knotted handkerchiefs, as in -the _diable boîteux_ of the French. At other times victory depended on -the number of hops, all hopping together and counting their -springs,—the highest of course winning. But the most amusing variety -of the game was that practised during the Dionysiac festival of the -Askolia. Skins filled with wine or inflated with air, and extremely -well oiled, were placed upon the ground, and on these the shoeless -rustics leaped with one leg and endeavoured to maintain a footing, -which they seldom could on account of their slipperiness. However, he -who succeeded carried off the skin of wine as his prize. - -Footnote 501: - - Phurnutus, De Nat. Deorum, c. 30. p. 217. seq. Gale.—Poll. ix. 121. - Sch. Aristoph. Plut. 1130. Kust.—Meurs. Græc. Fer. p. 52; Græc. - Ludibunda, p. 6. - -A game, evidently also of rustics, was the Trygodiphesis, Tantali -ludus, “Bobbing for cherries,” “Bob cherry,” in which something very -nice was thrown into a bowl of wine lees, which the performer, with -his hands behind his back, was to fish up with his lips. The fun was -to see the ludicrous figure he cut with his face daubed and -discoloured by the lees. - -Phitta Maliades, Phitta Meliai, Phitta Rhoiai, “Hasten, nymphs!” may -be regarded as exclamations of encouragement uttered by Dorian girls, -when engaged in a race.[502] - -Footnote 502: - - Poll. ix. 127. with the note of Hemsterhuis. - -Playing at ball was common, and received various names. Episkyros, -Phæninda, Aporraxis and Ourania. The first of these games was also -known by the names of the Ephebike and the Epikoinos. It was played -thus: a number of young men assembling together in a place covered -with sand or dust, drew across it a straight line, which they called -Skyros, and at equal distances, on either side, another line. Then -placing the ball on the Skyros, they divided into two equal parties, -and retreated each to their lines, from which they immediately -afterwards rushed forward to seize the ball. The person who picked it -up, then cast it towards the extreme line of the opposite party, whose -business it was to intercept and throw it back, and they won who by -force or cunning compelled their opponents to overstep the boundary -line. - -Daniel Souter[503] contends that this was the English game of -football, into which perhaps it may, in course of time, have been -converted. This rough and, it must be confessed, somewhat dangerous -sport, originally, in all probability, introduced into this country by -the Romans, may still on Shrove Tuesday be witnessed in certain towns -of South Wales. The balls consist of bulls’ bladders protected by a -thick covering of leather, and blown tight. Six or eight are made -ready for the occasion, every window in the town is shut by break of -day, at which time all the youths of the neighbourhood assemble in the -streets. The ball is then thrown up in front of the town-hall, and the -multitude, dividing into two parts, strive with incredible eagerness -and enthusiasm to overcome their antagonists, each endeavouring to -kick the foot-ball to the other extremity of the town. In the struggle -severe kicks and wounds are given, and many fierce battles take place. -The ball sometimes mounts thirty or forty feet above the tops of the -highest houses and falls far beyond, or goes right over into the -gardens, whither it is immediately followed by a crowd of young men. -The sport is kept up all day, the hungry combatants recruiting their -strength from time to time by copious horns of ale, and an abundant -supply of the nice pancakes which the women sell in baskets at the -corner of every street. To view this sport, thousands of persons -assemble from all the country round, so that to the secluded -population of those districts it is in some sort what the battle in -the Platanistas was to the Spartans, or even what the Isthmian and -Nemean games were to the whole of Greece. - -Footnote 503: - - Palamedes, iii. 4. p. 207. Alex. ab Alex. iii. 21. - -The Phæninda[504] is supposed to have received its name either from -its inventor, Phænides (called Phænestios in Athenæus[505] and the -Etymologicon Magnum), or from the verb Φενακίζειν[506] “to deceive,” -because, making as though they would throw at one person, they -immediately sent it at another, thus deluding the expectation of the -former. It appears at first to have been played with the small ball -called Harpaston, though the game with the large soft one may -afterwards perhaps have also been called Phæninda. The variety named -Aporraxis consisted in throwing the ball with some force against the -ground and repelling it constantly as it rebounded; he who did this -most frequently, winning. In the game called Ourania, the player, -bending back his body, flung up the ball with all his might into the -air; on which there arose a contention among his companions who should -first catch it in its descent, as Homer appears to intimate in his -description of the Phæacian sport. They likewise played at ball in the -modern fashion against a wall, in which the person who kept it up -longest, won, and was called king; the one who lost, obtained the name -of ass, and was constrained by the laws of the game to perform any -task set him by the king.[507] - -Footnote 504: - - Cf. Souter. Palam. iii. 3. p. 201. - -Footnote 505: - - Deipnosoph. i. 26. - -Footnote 506: - - Cf. Schweigh. ad Athen. t. vi. p. 248. seq. - -Footnote 507: - - Poll. ix. 106. - -A game generally played in the gymnasia was the Skaperda. In this a -post was set up with a hole near the top and a rope passed through it. -Two young men then seized each one end of the rope, and turning their -back to the post exerted their utmost strength to draw their -antagonist up the beam. He who raised his opponent highest won. -Sometimes they tried their strength by binding themselves together, -back to back, and pulling different ways. - -The Himanteligmos, “pricking the garter,” in Ireland “pricking the -loop,” was really an ingenious amusement. It consisted in doubling a -thong, and twisting it into numerous labyrinthine folds, which done, -the other party put the end of a peg into the midst in search of the -point of duplication. If he missed the mark the thong unwound without -entangling the peg; but if he dropped it into the right ring his peg -was caught and the game won. Hemsterhuis[508] supposes the Gordian -knot to have been nothing but a variety of the Himanteligmos. He -conjectures that the boys of Abdera were fond of this game, on which -account the sophisms of Democritus were called ἱμαντελικτεαὶ, and -hence probably a sophist, as one who twists words together, to _lash_ -others, was called Himantelicteus. - -Footnote 508: - - Ad Poll. t. vi. p. 1186. sqq. Cf. Plut. Symp. i. 1. - -Another game, not entirely confined to children, was the Chalkismos, -which consisted in twisting round rapidly on a board or table a piece -of money, and placing the point of the finger so dexterously on its -upper edge as to put a stop to its motion without permitting it to -fall. This was a favourite amusement of Phryne the hetaira, as -building houses of cards was of La Belle Stuart.[509] Some of these -sports were peculiar to the female sex,[510] as the Pentalitha, which -is still played by girls in some remote provinces of our island, where -it is called “Dandies.” The whole apparatus of the game consisted in -five astragals—knuckle bones—pebbles, or little balls, which, gathered -up rapidly, were thrown into the air and attempted to be caught in -falling on the back of the hand or between the slightly spread -fingers. If any fell it was allowable to pick them up, provided this -were done with the fingers of the same hand on which the other -astragals rested.[511] The girls of France, according to Bulenger, -still amuse themselves with the Pentalitha, there played with five -little glass balls, which are flung in the air and caught so -dexterously as seldom to fall either on the table or on the ground. I -have never, however, seen it played myself in that country. - -Footnote 509: - - Poll. ix. 118. - -Footnote 510: - - The game of astragals, properly so called, was common to both sexes - (Paus. vi. 24. 7), who saw in Elis one of the Graces, represented - with an astragal in her hand, while her two companions held the one - a rose, the other a branch of myrtle, symbolical of their - relationship to Aphrodite. The poets sometimes transfer these sports - of earth to the Olympian halls, where we find Eros and Ganymede - playing with golden astragals—Cf. Apollon. Rhod. iii. 117. seq. Cf. - Odyss. α. 107. Il. χ. 87. seq. - -Footnote 511: - - Poll. ix. 126. - -The Astragalismos,[512] which by the Romans was denominated talorum or -taxillorum ludus, (by Hyde through the Greek πάσσαλος, derived from -the Hebræo-Punic Assila,) by the Arabs Ka’b or Shezn, by the Persians -Shesh-buzhûl bâzi, by the Turks Depshelìm, (played in their country -both by girls and boys,) by the French Garignon or Osselets, in -English “Cockall.”[513] In the game of astragals the Persians, as is -implied in the name given above, often use six bones while the Greeks -employed only four, which were thrown either on a table or on the -floor. According to Lucian,[514] the huckle bones were sometimes those -of the African gazelle. - -Footnote 512: - - Children, according to Lysander, were to be deceived with astragals, - and men with oaths.—Plut. Lysan. § 8. - -Footnote 513: - - Hyde, Hist. Talor. § 2. t. ii. p. 314. - -Footnote 514: - - Amor. § 16. Theoph. Char. c. 5. See Nixon. Acc. of Antiq. at Hercul. - Phil. Trans. vol. 50. pt. i. p. 88. Hyde. Hist. Talor. p. 137. - -The several sides of the astragal or huckle bone had their character -expressed by numbers, and obtained separate names, which determined -the value of the throw.[515] Thus, the side showing the Monas was -called the Dog, the opposite side Chias, and the throw Chios. In -cockall as in dice there are neither twos nor fives. The highest -number, six, was called the Coan (συνορικὸς or ἑξίτης); the Dog or one -was called the Chian or dog-chance; to which the old proverb alluded -Κῶος πρὸς χῖον, six to one. To have the Dog turn up was to lose, -hence, perhaps, the phrase, “going to the dogs,” that is, playing a -losing game. The throw of eight was denominated Stesichoros, because -the poet’s tomb at Himera consisted of a perfect octagon. Among the -forty who succeeded to the thirty at Athens Euripides was one, and -hence, if the throw of the astragals amounted to forty points, they -bestowed upon it the name of Euripides. All animals in which the -astragal is found have it in the hough or pastern of the hind legs. -The τὸ πρανὲς, the gibbous side or blank, because it counts for -nothing; the τὸ κοῖλον, the hollow side or “put in;” the χῶα, the -tortuous side, "cockall," or “take all,” so called because it wins the -stake; the smooth side τα χῖα, “take half,” because of the money put -in, it wins half. Among the Greeks and Romans the _put in_ was called -trias, the blank tetras, the half-monas, and the cockall hexas.[516] -By the Arabs they are denominated the thief, the lamb, the wezeer, and -the sultan; by the Turks the robber, the ploughman, the kihaya, or the -dog, and the bey; by the Persians the robber, the rustic, the wezeer, -and the schah; by the Armenians the thief, the ploughman, the steward, -and the lord. The number of casts among the Greeks, according to -Eustathius, amounted to thirty-five.[517] Pliny[518] speaks of a work -of Polycletos representing naked boys playing at this game, and the -reader will probably remember the mutilated group in the British -Museum, in which a boy having evidently been beaten at astragals, is -biting in revenge the leg of his conqueror. - -Footnote 515: - - Hyde. Hist. Talor. p. 141. sqq. Poll. ix. 100. - -Footnote 516: - - Arist. Hist. Anim. ii. 2. p. 30. Bekk. - -Footnote 517: - - Meurs. Græc. Lud. p. 7. - -Footnote 518: - - xxxiv. 19. Vid. Calcagnin, Dissert. de Talis. J. Cammer. Comment. de - Utriusque Ling. c. 846. - -To play at Odd or Even[519] was common; so that we find Plato -describing a knot of boys engaged in this game in a corner of the -undressing room of the gymnasium. There was a kind of divination by -astragals, the bones being hidden under the hand, and the one party -guessing whether they were odd or even. The same game was occasionally -played with beans, walnuts, or almonds, or even with money, if we may -credit Aristophanes, who describes certain serving-men playing at Odd -or Even with golden staters.[520] There was a game called Eis -Omillan,[521] in which they drew a circle on the ground, and, standing -at a little distance, pitched the astragals at it; to win consisting -in making them remain within the ring. Another form of the Eis Omillan -was to place a trained quail within a circle, on a table for example, -out of which the point was to drive it by tapping it with the middle -finger. If it reared at the blow, and retreated beyond the line, its -master lost his wager. The play called Tropa[522] was also generally -performed with astragals, which were pitched into a small hole, formed -to receive such things when skilfully thrown. The common acorn, and -fruit of the holm oak, were often substituted for astragals in this -game. The Ephentinda seems to have consisted in pitching an ostrakon -into a circle, so as to cause it to remain there. The Skeptinda -consisted in placing an ostrakon, or a piece of money, on the ground, -and pitching another at it so as to make it turn.[523] - -Footnote 519: - - Hyde, Hist. Nerdilud. p. 261. - -Footnote 520: - - Plut. 817. sqq. Cf. Sch. in loc. - -Footnote 521: - - Suid. et Hesych. in v. Poll. ix. 102. Cf. Meurs. Græc. Ludib. p. 69. - -Footnote 522: - - Cf. Meurs. de Lud. Græc. p. 61. Hesych. v. Τρόπα. - -Footnote 523: - - Poll. ix. 117. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION. - - -In Greece, as everywhere else, education[524] commenced in the -nursery; and though time has very much obscured all remaining traces -of the instruction which the children there received, we are not left -on this point wholly without information. From the very day of his -birth man begins to be acted on by those causes that furnish his mind -with ideas. As his intelligence acquires strength, the five sluices -which let in all that flood of knowledge which afterwards overflows -his mind, appear to be enlarged, and education at first, and for some -time, consists in watching over the nature and quality of the ideas -conveyed inward by those channels. It is difficult to say when actual -instruction commenced: but among the earliest formal attempts at -impressing traditionary knowledge on the infant mind was the -repetition by mothers and nurses of fables and stories, not always, if -Plato may be credited, constructed with a religious or ethical -purpose.[525] They, in fact, introduced into the minds of their -children the legends of the mythology, under the forms of which truths -of the greatest importance, such as Bacon has developed in his “Wisdom -of the Ancients,” lay sometimes concealed, though more frequently, -perhaps, they inculcated no useful lesson, but were the mere sportive -creations of fancy, or if they contained any moral kernel the shell in -which it was cased was too hard for the teeth of the vulgar. Such, for -example, as the legend of Zeus in Hesiod mutilating his father Kronos, -which, in Plato’s opinion, was not to be delivered to the empty-headed -multitude or to untaught children; but, having sacrificed, not a hog, -but the most precious victim, in mysterious secrecy to a few. - -Footnote 524: - - Among the ancient writers on education, of which the greater number - have perished, was Clearchos of Soli, on whom see Voss. de Hist. - Græc. i. Athen. xv. 54. Men. in Diog. Laert. p. 4. b. - -Footnote 525: - - Rep. ii. t. vi. p. 94.—Cf. Adolph. Cramer, 8, 9. - -Wholly different from these, however, were the fables[526] properly so -called, which, invented apparently by Hesiod,[527] (at least his Hawk -and Nightingale is the oldest example extant in Hellenic literature,) -were afterwards sprinkled by the greatest poets, through their -writings, or spontaneously uttered in pressing emergencies to warn -their countrymen against the approaches of tyranny. Archilochos’ Eagle -and Fox[528] was famous throughout antiquity, as was likewise the -Horse and the Stag, related by Stesichoros[529] to the people of -Himera, to put them on their guard against the Machiavellian policy of -Gelon. But the most complete, perhaps, of these ancient compositions -is the fable of the lion, delivered by Eumenes to the Macedonian -generals under his order, when they had been tampered with by -Antigonos, who would have persuaded them to disband.[530] - -Footnote 526: - - Cf. Suid. v. Καὶ τὸ τοῦ λύκου. i. 1427. - -Footnote 527: - - Opp. et. Dies, 202–212. Quintil. v. 2. - -Footnote 528: - - Plat. Rep. l. ii. cap. 8. c. p. 117. Schol. Aristoph. Av. 652. - Philostrat. Imag. i. 3. - -Footnote 529: - - Phot. Bib. 139. b. 8. Hor. Epist. i. 10. Gyraldi, de Poet. Histor. - p. 462. a. sqq. Aristot. Rhet. ii. 20. - -Footnote 530: - - Diod. Sic. l. xix. c. 25. - -“It is said,” observed the Prince, “that once upon a time a lion -falling in love with a young maiden came to make proposals of marriage -to her father. The old man replied that he was quite ready to bestow -on him his daughter upon one condition, namely, that he should pluck -out his teeth and his claws, for that he feared his majesty might upon -the wedding night forget himself and unwittingly destroy the bride. To -these terms the lion consented, and allowed his teeth and claws to be -pulled out, upon which the father seeing he had lost the only things -which rendered him terrible fell upon him with a club and beat him to -death.” The Æsopic fables[531] which Socrates a few days before his -death amused himself by turning into verse,[532] are known to us -solely by comparatively modern imitations, and of those which were -denominated Sybaritic we know nothing[533] beyond the name; for though -one scholiast informs us that the Sybaritic fables brought men upon -the scene, as the Æsopic did animals, another states the direct -contrary. In the earlier and ruder ages of Greece, however, these -compositions were in great repute, as they are still among the people -of the East. To the infancy of nations as of individuals the wisdom -they contain is, in fact, always palatable; for which reason they were -highly esteemed by Martin Luther as particularly adapted to the spirit -of his times. - -Footnote 531: - - Aristoph. Pac. 128. Vesp. 1392, sqq. et Scholia. - -Footnote 532: - - Diog. Laert. ii. 5. 22. - -Doubtless we know too little of how the foundation of the republican -character was laid in the ancient commonwealths; but it was laid by -woman, and for centuries cannot have been laid amiss, as the glorious -superstructure of virtue and patriotism erected upon it fully -demonstrates. On this point we must reject the testimony of Plato’s -academic dream. The historic fields of Marathon, Platæa, Thermopylæ, -and a thousand others confute his fanciful theorising, proving -incontestably that the love of glory and independence could, in the -very polities which lie least esteemed, achieve triumphs unknown to -the subjects of other governments. - -Footnote 533: - - Sch. Aristoph. Av. 471. Sch. Vesp. 1251. - -At seven years[534] old boys were removed from the harem and sent -under the care of a governor to a public school, which, from the story -of Bedreddin Hassan, we find to have been formerly the practice among -the Arabs, even for the sons of distinguished men and Wezeers. “When -seven years had passed over him his grandfather, (Shemseddeen, Wezeer -of the Sultan of Egypt,) committed him to a schoolmaster, whom he -charged to educate him with great care.”[535] - -Footnote 534: - - Aristot. Polit. vii. 15. - -Footnote 535: - - Arabian Nights, i. 286. Lane’s Translation. - -Mischievous no doubt the boys of Hellas were, as boys will everywhere -be, and many pranks would they play in spite of the crabbed old slaves -set over them by their parents; on which account, probably, it is that -Plato considers boys, of all wild beasts the most audacious, plotting, -fierce and intractable.[536] But the urchins now found that it was one -thing to nestle under mamma’s wing at home, and another to delve under -the direction of a didaskalos, and at school-hours, after the bitter -roots of knowledge. For the school-boys of Greece tasted very little -of the sweets of bed after dawn. “They rose with the light,” says -Lucian, “and with pure water washed away the remains of sleep, which -still lingered on their eyelids.”[537] Having breakfasted on bread and -fruit, to which through the allurements of their pædagogues they -sometimes added wine,[538] they sallied forth to the didaskaleion, or -schoolmaster’s lair as the comic poets jocularly termed it,[539] -summer and winter, whether the morning smelt of balm, or was deformed -by sleet or snow, drifting like meal from a sieve down the rocks of -the Acropolis. - -Footnote 536: - - De Legg. vi. t. viii. p. 41. Creuzer. de Civ. Athen. p. 556. - -Footnote 537: - - Amor. § 44. - -Footnote 538: - - Athen. xiii. 61. sqq. - -Footnote 539: - - Poll. iv. 19. - -Aristophanes has left us a picture, dashed off with his usual -grotesque vigour, of a troop of Attic lads marching on a winter’s -morning to school.[540] - - “Now will I sketch the ancient plan of training, - When justice was in vogue and wisdom flourished. - First, modesty restrained the youthful voice - So that no brawl was heard. In order ranged, - The boys from all the neighbourhood appeared, - Marching to school, naked, though down the sky - Tumbled the flaky snow like flour from sieve. - Arrived, and seated wide apart, the master - First taught them how to chaunt Athena’s praise, - ‘Pallas unconquered, stormer of cities!’ or - ‘Shout far resounding’ in the self-same notes - Their fathers learned. And if through mere conceit - Some innovation-hunter strained his throat - With scurril lays mincing and quavering, - Like any Siphnian or Chian fop— - As is too much the fashion since that Phrynis[541] - Brought o’er Ionian airs—quickly the scourge - Rained on his shoulders blows like hail as one - Plotting the Muses’ downfal. In the Palæstra - Custom required them decently to sit, - Decent to rise, smoothing the sandy floor - Lest any traces of their form should linger - Unsightly on the dust. When in the bath - Grave was their manner, their behaviour chaste. - At table, too, no stimulating dishes, - Snatched from their elders, such as fish or anis, - Parsley or radishes or thrushes, roused - The slumbering passions.”[542] - -Footnote 540: - - Cf. Plato, de Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 41. seq. - -Footnote 541: - - For an account of this musician, see Pollux iv. 66. with the notes - of Kühn and Iungermann, t. iv. p. 709. sqq. - -Footnote 542: - - Aristoph. Nub. 961. sqq. Cf. Plaut. Bacchid. iii. 3. - -The object of sending boys to school was twofold: first to cultivate -and harmonise their minds by arts and literature; secondly, so to -occupy them that no time could be allowed for evil thoughts and -habits. On this account, Aristotle enumerating Archytas’ rattle among -the principal toys of children, denominates education the rattle of -boys.[543] In order, too, that its effect might be the more sure and -permanent, no holidays[544], or vacations appear to have been allowed, -while irregularity or lateness of attendance was severely -punished.[545] The theories broached by Montagne, Locke, and others, -that boys are to be kept in order by reason and persuasion were not -anticipated by the Athenians.[546] They believed that to reduce the -stubborn will to obedience, and enforce the wholesome laws of -discipline, masters must be armed with the power of correction, and -accordingly their teachers and gymnasiarchs checked with stripes[547] -the slightest exhibition of stubbornness or indocility.[548] - -Footnote 543: - - Polit. viii. 6. 268. Gœttl. - -Footnote 544: - - Casaub. ap. Theoph. Char. p. 273. - -Footnote 545: - - Plaut. Bacchid. iii. 3. 22. - -Footnote 546: - - Plato, indeed, at one time entertained a similar fancy.—De Rep. t. - vi. p. 385. (Cf. Muret. in Aristot. Ethic. 71.) But, afterwards, in - his old age, adopted the general conviction of mankind, that he who - spares the rod spoils the child.—De Legg. t. viii. p. 12. seq. - Varro, however, who wrote much on education, observes, that - “remotissimum ad discendum formido, ac nimius timor, et omnis - perturbatio animi. Contra delectatio pro telo ad discendum.” Victor. - Var. Lect. l. xv. c. 2. Theodoric, the Gothic king of Italy, had - another reason for sparing the rod in education. The child, he said, - who had trembled at a rod would never dare to look upon a - sword.—Gibbon vii. 19. This Gothic prince was not, therefore, - acquainted with the Spartan system of education. - -Footnote 547: - - Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 959. - -Footnote 548: - - Cf. Cressoll. Theat. Rhet. v. 6. p. 471. seq. - -Nor did their pædagogues[549] or governors behave towards them with -less strictness. These were persons,—slaves for the most part,—who at -Athens as in the rest of Greece, Sparta not excepted, were from the -earliest ages intrusted with the care of boys, and whose ministry -could on no account be dispensed with. By Plato[550] even these -precautions were deemed insufficient. In his ideal state he would have -the pædagogues themselves, as at Sparta, under the strictest -inspection, making it the duty of every citizen to have an eye upon -them, and arming him with the power to correct their delinquencies as -well as those of the boys under their charge. There was to be, -moreover, a general inspector intrusted with authority to punish -neglect, by whichsoever of the parties committed. Upon these points -the views of the Athenians were unquestionably judicious, for since -boys did not amongst them pass at once from the hands of their mothers -and domestic guardianship into those of the state as at Sparta, such -governors were necessary to preserve their manners from defilement and -contamination.[551] Their principal duty consisted in leading the lad -to and from school, in attending him to the theatre, to the public -games, to the forum, and wherever else it was thought fit he should -go.[552] It has been by some conjectured that while the boys continued -under the care of the schoolmaster the governors remained in the -house, or in a building adjoining denominated the pædagogeion, to -await their return; but the inference, drawn chiefly from the name of -the edifice, is erroneous; pædagogeion was employed to signify the -school itself,[553] and we have the testimony of Plato to prove that -the pædagogue having delivered the boy to the didaskalos, usually -returned to his master’s house. - -Footnote 549: - - On these and the other persons engaged in the education of youth, - see Bergmann, ad Isoc. Areop. § 14. - -Footnote 550: - - De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 42. See p. 11 of Cramer’s excellent little - pamphlet, which I have frequently found extremely useful. - -Footnote 551: - - Xenoph. de Rep. Laced. ii. 1. 2. - -Footnote 552: - - Plat. Lysis. t. i. p. 118. De Legg. iv. t. viii. p. 325. De Rep. - iii. t. vi. p. 128. - -Footnote 553: - - Poll. iv. 19. Ulp. ad Demosth. de Cor. § 78. Orat. Att. t. x. p. - 113. Plat. Lysis. t. i. p. 145. - -On the character of these governors[554] antiquity appears to have -transmitted us more satire than information. If we may credit some -writers, it was not merely slaves who were intrusted with the care of -boys, but often the meanest and vilest of slaves,—base in mind, -depraved in manners,—whose guardianship, when they chanced to be -crabbed and morose, could be no other than disgusting to their -charges; and, when inclined to indulgence, most pernicious. Nay, were -they themselves corrupt, what could be of more evil tendency than -their own example? They who take this view of the matter appear to me -illogical and inconsistent.[555] Though aware that these men were -chosen by the parents to preserve their children from bad example, -from the infection of corrupt manners, from the allurements of vicious -companions, these writers persuade themselves that they voluntarily -gave them as companions and guardians men worse than whom could not be -found. It is more reasonable to conclude that when these pædagogues -proved unworthy of the trust reposed in them they were sufficient -masters of hypocrisy to conceal their vices at home, and only revealed -themselves to their young masters gradually as their lessons produced -their evil fruits. Thus, it is clear, that the father whom the comic -writer Plato, in his Fellow Deceiver,[556] introduced reproaching the -pædagogue who had corrupted his son, knew nothing of his evil ways -when he delivered the lad to his keeping. - - “The youth, O wretch, whom I intrusted to thee - Thou hast perverted, teaching him vile habits - Once stranger to his mind; for now he drinks - Even in the morning, which was not his wont.” - -Footnote 554: - - Plut. de Lib. Educ. § 7. The Athenians sought to create a high idea - of this class of persons by annually offering sacrifice to Connidas, - the reputed pædagogue of Theseus.—Plut. Thes. § 4. - -Footnote 555: - - Cram. de Educ. Puer. ap. Athen. p. 12. - -With the greatest reason we may suppose, that of all the domestics in -the family the most staid and sober, the most attached, the most -faithful, were chosen to fulfil this important duty, such as Plautus -describes an honest pædagogue,— - - Eademque erat hæc disciplina olim, cum tu adolescens eras? - Nego tibi hoc annis viginti fuisse primis copiæ, - Digitum longe a pædagogo pedem ut efferres ædibus, - Ante solem exorientem nisi in palæstram veneras, - Gymnasii præfecto haud mediocres pœnas penderes. - Idque ubi obtigerat, hoc etiam ad malum arcessabatur malum - Et discipulus et magister perhibebantur improbi. - Ubi cursu, luctando, hasta, disco, pugillatu, pila, - Saliendo sese exercebant magis, quam, scorto aut saviis: - Ibi suam ætatem extendebant, non in latebrosis locis. - Inde de hippodromo et palæstra ubi revenisses domum, - Cincticulo præcinctus in sella apud magistrum assideres: - Cum librum legeres. Si unam peccavisses syllabam, - Fieret corium tam maculosum quam est nutricis pallium - * * * * * Id equidem ego certo scio. - Nam olim populi prius honorem capiebat suffragio, - Quam magistri desinebat esse dicto obediens.[557] - -Footnote 556: - - Athen. xiii. 61. 63. - -Footnote 557: - - Plaut. Bacchid. Act iii. Sc. 3. - -Lucian, too, speaking of the attendants of youths in the better times -of the republic, describes them as an honourable company who followed -their young masters to the schools, not with combs and looking-glasses -like the attendants of ladies, but with the venerable instruments of -wisdom in their hands, many-leaved tablets or books recording the -glorious deeds of their ancestors, or if proceeding to the music -master bearing, instead of these, the melodious lyre.[558] - -Footnote 558: - - Amor. §. 44. - -In fact the fortunes of war often in those days reduced men of virtue -and ability to the condition of slaves, when they would naturally be -chosen as the governors of youth. Thus we find Diogenes the Cynic -purchased by a rich Corinthian, who intrusted to him the education of -his sons. The account which antiquity has left us of his sale, -reception by his master, and manner of teaching, being extremely -brief, we shall here give it entire. Hermippos[559] who wrote a small -treatise called the Sale of Diogenes, observes that when the -philosopher was exposed in the slave-market and interrogated -respecting his qualifications, he replied that “He could command men;” -and then addressing himself to the herald, bade him inquire whether -there was any one present who wanted a master. Being forbidden to sit -down, he said “This matters nothing, for fish are bought in whatever -way they may lie.” He remarked also, that he wondered that when people -were buying a pot or a dish they examined it on all sides, whereas -when they purchased a man they were contented with simply looking at -him. Afterwards, when he had become the slave of Xeniades, he informed -his owner that he expected the same obedience to be paid to him as men -yield to a pilot or a physician. - -Footnote 559: - - Diog. Laert. Vit. Diog. vi. ii. 4. sqq. with the observation of - Menage, t. ii. p. 138. - -It is further related by Eubulos, who likewise wrote a treatise on -this incident, that Diogenes conducted with the utmost care the -education of the children under his charge. In addition to the -ordinary studies, he taught them to ride, to draw the bow, to use the -sling, and to throw the javelin. In the palæstra, moreover, where, -contrary to the Athenian practice he remained to watch over the boys, -Diogenes would not permit the master of the Gymnasium to exercise them -after the manner of the athletæ; but in those parts only of -gymnastics, which had a tendency to animate them and strengthen their -constitutions. They learned also by heart,[560] under his direction, -numerous sentences from the poets and historians, as well as from his -own writings. It was his practice likewise very greatly to abridge his -explanations in order that they might the more easily be committed to -memory. At home he habituated them to wait on themselves, to be -content with frugal fare, and drink water, from which it may be -inferred that others drank wine. He accustomed them to cut their hair -close, not to be fastidious in dress, and to walk abroad with him -barefoot and without a chiton, silent and with downcast eyes.[561] He -also went out with them to hunt. On their part they took great care of -him, and pleaded his cause with their parents. He therefore grew old -in the family, and they performed for him the rites of sepulture. - -Footnote 560: - - I may say with Herault de Sechelle “Apprendre _par cœur_; ce mot me - plait. Il n’y a guère en effet que le cœur, qui retienne bien, et - qui retienne vîte.”—Voyage à Montbar, &c. p. 77. - -Footnote 561: - - Cf. Luc. Amor. § 44. Καὶ χλανίδα ταῖς ἐπωμίαις περόναις συῤῥάψας ἀπὸ - τῆς πατρῴας ἑστίας ἐξέρχεται κάτω κεκυφὼς, καὶ μηδένα τῶν ἀπαντών - τῶν ἐξ ἐναντίου προσβλέπων. In his exhortation to Demonicos, - Isocrates has thrown together numerous precepts which almost - constitute a code of morals and politeness. They are far superior to - Lord Chesterfield’s even where the Graces only are recommended; and - have the advantage of almost always subjoining the reason to the - rule. - -Now what Diogenes was in the house of Xeniades numerous pædagogues -were doubtless found to be in other parts of Greece. But the majority -it is thought were open to blame; and so they are everywhere, and so -they would be, though taken from the best classes of mankind. That is, -they were men with many failings, far from what could be wished; but -that their character upon the whole was respectable seems to me -demonstrated by the powers delegated to them by the parents. For not -only could they use upon occasion, as we have said, menace and harsh -language,—they were even permitted to have recourse to blows, in order -to preserve their pupils from vices which none would have sooner -taught than they, had their characters been such as is commonly -believed. For example, would they have made a drunkard the guardian of -a boy’s sobriety? a thief the guardian of his honesty? a libertine of -his chastity? a coarse and ribald jester the inculcator of modesty and -purity of language?[562] - -Footnote 562: - - Cf. Dion. Chrysost. ii. p. 261; i. 299. - -At home, of course, the influence and example of the parents surpassed -all other influences, of the mother more especially, who up to their -manhood retained over her sons the greatest authority. Of this a -playful illustration occurs in the Lysis of Plato.[563] Socrates, -interrogating the youth respecting the course of his studies, inquires -archly whether when in the harem he was not as a matter of course -permitted to play with his mother’s wool basket, and loom, and spathe, -and shuttle? - -Footnote 563: - - Opp. t. i. p. 118. The influence of imitation over the gesture, - voice, and thoughts of youth is forcibly pointed out in the - Republic.—t. vi. p. 124. - -“If I touched them,” replied Lysis, laughing, “I should soon feel the -weight of the shuttle upon my fingers.” - -“But,” proceeds the philosopher, “if your mother or father require -anything to be read or written for them, they, probably, prefer your -services to those of any other person?” - -“No doubt.” - -“And in this case, as you have been instructed in reading and -spelling, they allow you to proceed according to your own knowledge. -So likewise, when you play to them on the lyre, they suffer you, as -you please, to relax or tighten the chords, to touch them with the -fingers, or strike them with the plectron,—do they not?” - -“Certainly.” - -From this it would appear that the authority of the parents was equal; -though generally at Athens, as Plato[564] elsewhere complains, greater -reverence was paid to the commands of the mother even than to those of -the father. Indeed to be wanting in respect to her was there deemed -the _ne plus ultra_ of depravity.[565] The father, however, of -necessity took a considerable share in the instruction and moral -training of his son,[566] who at home profited by his conversation, -and, arrived at the proper age, accompanied him abroad.[567] When -reduced to the state of orphanhood the republic took children under -its own protection, not considering it safe to intrust them to the -sole guidance of masters or pædagogues. - -Footnote 564: - - Repub. viii. 5. t. ii. p. 182. Stallb. - -Footnote 565: - - Aristoph. Nub. 1443. Δυοῖν δ᾽ ὀνομάτοιν σεβασμίοιν πᾶσαι τιμαι - μένουσιν, ἐξίσου παρτὶ μητέρα προσκυνούντων.—Luc. Amor. § 19. - -Footnote 566: - - On the force of example and imitation see Plato, de Rep. t. vi. p. - 124. - -Footnote 567: - - Plat. Lach. t. i. p. 269.—Among the public places to which a father - might take his sons the courts of law were not included, though we - find Demosthenes, when a boy, contriving to introduce himself, where - unseen of the judges he might listen to the eloquence of - Callistratos.—Victor. Var. Lect. l. xxx. c. 20. - -Care, too, was taken lest those public schools, established for the -advancement of virtue and morals, should themselves be converted into -nurseries of vice. They were by law[568] forbidden to be opened before -sunrise, and were closed at sunset; nor during the day could any other -men be introduced besides the teachers,[569] though it appears from -some of Plato’s dialogues that this enactment was not very strictly -observed.[570] To prevent habits of brawling, boys were forbidden to -assemble in crowds in the streets on their way to school. Nor were -these laws deemed sufficient; but still further to protect their -morals ten annual magistrates called Sophronistæ, one from each tribe, -were elected by show of hands,[571] whose sole business it was to -watch over the manners of youth. This magistracy, dated as far back as -the age of Solon,[572] and continued in force to the latest time. The -Gymnasiarch, another magistrate,[573] was intrusted with the -superintendence of the Gymnasia, which, like the public games and -festivals, appeared to require peculiar care; and, if we can receive -the testimony of Plautus[574] for the classical ages of the -commonwealth, transgressors received severe chastisement. - -Footnote 568: - - Æsch. cont. Timarch. § 5, 6. - -Footnote 569: - - See Theoph. Char. c. 5. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 180. - -Footnote 570: - - Lysis. t. i. p. 145. Theætet. t. iii. p. 179. - -Footnote 571: - - Etym. Mag. 742. 38. - -Footnote 572: - - Cramer de Educ. Puer. ap. Athen. p. 13. - -Footnote 573: - - Vandale Dissert. pp. 584–727. - -Footnote 574: - - Bacchid. iii. 3. - -It has sometimes been imagined that in Greece separate edifices were -not erected as with us expressly for school-houses, but that both the -didaskalos and the philosopher taught their pupils in fields, gardens -or shady groves.[575] But this was not the common practice, though -many schoolmasters appear to have had no other place wherein to -assemble their pupils than the portico of a temple[576] or some -sheltered corner in the street, where in spite of the din of business -and the throng of passengers the worship of learning was publicly -performed. Here, too, the music-masters frequently gave their lessons, -whether in singing or on the lyre, which practice explains the -anecdote of the musician, who, hearing the crowd applaud one of his -scholars, gave him a box on the ear, observing, “Had you played well -these blockheads would not have praised you.” A custom very similar -prevails in the East, where, in recesses open to the street, we often -see the turbaned schoolmaster with a crowd of little Moslems about -him, tracing letters on their large wooden tablets or engaged in -recitations of the Koran. - -Footnote 575: - - See Coray, Disc. Prelim. sur Hippoc. de Aër. et Loc. § 41. t. i. p. - 46. seq. - -Footnote 576: - - In the Antichita di Ercolano (t. iii. p. 213.) we find a - representation of one of these schools during the infliction of - corporal chastisement. Numerous boys are seated on forms reading, - while a delinquent is horsed on the back of another in the true - Etonian style. One of the carnifices holds his legs, while another - applies the birch to his naked back. Occasionally in Greece we find - that free boys were flogged with a leek in lieu of a birch. Sch. - Aristoph. Ran. 622. Schneid. ad Theoph. Hist. Plant. vii. 4. 10. p. - 574. - -But these were the schools of the humbler classes. For the children of -the noble and the opulent spacious structures were raised, and -furnished with tables, desks,—for that peculiar species of -grammateion[577] which resembled the plate cupboard, can have been -nothing but a desk,—forms, and whatsoever else their studies required. -Mention is made of a school at Chios[578] which contained one hundred -and twenty boys, all of whom save one were killed by the falling in of -the roof. From another tragical story we learn that in Astypalæa,[579] -one of the Cyclades, there was a school which contained sixty boys. -The incidents connected with their death are narrated in the romantic -style of the ancients. Cleomedes, a native of this island, having in -boxing slain Iccos the Epidaurian, was accused of unfairness and -refused the prize, upon which he became mad and returned to his own -country. There, entering into the public school, he approached the -pillar that supported the roof, and like another Sampson seized it in -an access of frenzy, and wresting it from its basis brought down the -whole building upon the children. He himself however escaped, but, -being pursued with stones by the inhabitants, took sanctuary in the -temple of Athena, where he concealed himself in the sacred chest. The -people paying no respect to the holy place still pursued him and -attempted to force open the lid, which he held down with gigantic -strength. At length when the coffer was broken in pieces Cleomedes was -nowhere to be found, dead or alive. Terrified at this prodigy they -sent to consult the oracle of Delphi, by which they were commanded to -pay divine honours to the athlete as the last of the heroes.[580] - -Footnote 577: - - Poll. iv. 18, 19. x. 57. seq. - -Footnote 578: - - Herod. vi. 27. - -Footnote 579: - - Called the Table of the Gods, from its beauty and amenity.—Steph. de - Urb. in v. p. 189. b. - -Footnote 580: - - Paus. vi. 9. 6. seq. Plut. Rom. § 28. - -In the interior of the school there was commonly an oratory[581] -adorned with statues of the Muses, where, probably in a kind of font, -was kept a supply of pure water for the boys. Pretending often, when -they were not, to be thirsty, they would steal in knots to this -oratory, and there amuse themselves by splashing the water over each -other; on which account the legislator ordained that strict watch -should be kept over it. Every morning the forms were spunged,[582] the -schoolroom was cleanly swept, the ink ground ready for use, and all -things were put in order for the business of the day. - -Footnote 581: - - Sch. Æsch. cont. Tim. in Orator. Att. t. xii. p. 376 a. - -Footnote 582: - - Dem. de Cor. § 78. seq. - -The apparatus[583] of an ancient school was somewhat complicated: -there were mathematical instruments, globes, maps, and charts of the -heavens, together with boards whereon to trace geometrical figures, -tablets, large and small, of box-wood, fir, or ivory[584] triangular -in form, some folding with two, and others with many leaves; books too -and paper, skins of parchment, wax for covering the tablets, which, if -we may believe Aristophanes,[585] people sometimes ate when they were -hungry.[586] - -Footnote 583: - - Pollux, iv. 19. Cf. Herod. vii. 239. ii. 21. Sch. Aristoph. Vesp. - 529. - -Footnote 584: - - Poll. i. 234. Lucian. Ner. § 9. Amor. § 44. Antich. di Ercol. t. ii. - p. 55. t. iii. p. 237. - -Footnote 585: - - Poll. x. 58, 59. - -Footnote 586: - - On this subject Isidorus Hispal. vi. 9. has a curious passage: “Ceræ - literarum materies, parvulorum nutrices. Ipsæ dant ingenium pueris - primordia sensus, quarum studium primi Græci tradidisse produntur. - Græci enim et Thusci primum ferro in ceris scripserunt. Postea - Romani jusserunt, ne graphium ferreum quis haberet. Undè et apud - scribas dicebatur, Ceram ferro ne lædito. Postea institutum est, ut - in cerâ ossibus scriberent, sicut indicat Alsa in Satyrâ dicens: - Vertamus vomerem in ceram, mucroneque aremus osseo.” Cf. Pfeiffer, - Antiq. Græc. p. 413. - -To the above were added rulers, reed-pens,[587] pen-cases, pen-knives, -pencils, and last, though not least, the rod which kept them to the -steady use of all these things. - -Footnote 587: - - It was as the instrument of literature that the reed subdued half - the world, though Pliny only celebrates its conquest as an arrow. - “Ac si quis Æthiopas, Ægyptum, Arabas, Indos, Scythas, Bactros, - Sarmatarum tot gentes et Orientis, omniaque Parthorum regna - diligentiùs computet, æqua fermè pars hominum in toto mundo calamis - superata degit.”—Hist. Nat. xvi. 65. - -At Athens these schools were not provided by the state. They were -private speculations, and each master was regulated in his charges by -the reputation he had acquired and the fortunes of his pupils. Some -appear to have been extremely moderate in their demands.[588] - -Footnote 588: - - Which was the case even among the sophists, as we find Proclos - granting a perpetual admission to his lectures for a hundred - drachmæ.—Philost. Vit. Soph. ii. 21. § 3. This he was the better - enabled to do from his carrying on the business of a merchant.—§ 2. - Professors’ charges appear to have been often disputed, as we find - mention, in many authors, of law-suits between them and their - pupils.—Lucian. Icaromenip. § 16. “The wages of industry are just - and honourable, yet Isocrates shed tears at the first receipt of a - stipend.”—Gibbon, vii. 146. - -There was for example a school-master named Hippomachos, upon entering -whose establishment boys were required to pay down a mina, after which -they might remain as long and benefit by his instructions as much as -they pleased. Didaskaloi were not however held in sufficient respect, -though as their scholars were sometimes very numerous,[589] as many -for example as a hundred and twenty, it must often have happened that -they became wealthy. From the life of Homer, attributed to -Herodotus,[590] we glean some few particulars respecting the condition -of a schoolmaster in remoter ages. - -Footnote 589: - - Athen. xiii. 47. - -Footnote 590: - - Vit. Hom. §§ 5. seq. 25. seq. - -Phemios it is there related kept a school at Smyrna, where he taught -boys their letters and all those other parts of education then -comprehended under the term music. His slave Chritheis, the mother of -the poet, spun and wove the wool which Phemios received in payment -from his scholars. She likewise introduced into his house great -elegance and frugality, which so pleased the school-master that it -induced him to marry her. Under this man, according to the tradition -received in Greece, Homer studied, and made so great a proficiency in -knowledge that he was soon enabled to commence instructor himself. He -therefore proceeded to Chios,[591] and opened a school where he -initiated the youth in the beauties of epic poetry, and, performing -his duties with great wisdom, obtained many admirers among the Chians, -became wealthy, and took a wife, by whom he had two sons. - -Footnote 591: - - Speaking of the antiquities of this island Chandler remarks: “The - most curious remain is that which has been named, without reason, - _The School of Homer_. It is on the coast at some distance from the - city, northward, and appears to have been an open temple of Cybele, - formed on the top of a rock. The shape is oval, and in the centre is - the image of the goddess, the head and an arm wanting. She is - represented, as usual, sitting. The chair has a lion carved on each - side, and on the back. The area is bounded by a low rim or seat, and - about five yards over. The whole is hewn out of the mountain, is - rude, indistinct, and probably of the most remote antiquity.” i. 61. - -The earliest task to be performed at school was to gain a knowledge of -the Greek characters, large and small, to spell next, next to read. -Herodes the Sophist experienced much vexation from the stupidity -exhibited in achieving this enterprise by his son Atticus, whose -memory was so sluggish that he could not even recollect the -Christ-cross-row. To overcome this extraordinary dulness he educated -along with him twenty-four little slaves of his own age, upon whom he -bestowed the names of the letters, so that young Atticus might be -compelled to learn his alphabet as he played with his companions, now -calling out for Omicron now for Psi.[592] In teaching the art of -writing their practice nearly resembled our own; the master traced -with what we must call a pencil (γραφὶς), a number of characters on a -tablet, and the pupil following with the pen the guidance of the faint -lines[593] before him, accustomed his fingers to perform the requisite -movements with adroitness.[594] These things were necessarily the -first step in the first class of studies, which were denominated -_music_,[595] and comprehended everything connected with the -developement of the mind; and they were carried to a certain extent -before the second division called gymnastics was commenced. They -reversed the plan commonly adopted among ourselves, for with them -poetry[596] preceded prose, a practice which coöperating with their -susceptible temperament, impressed upon the national mind that -imaginative character for which it was preëminently distinguished. And -the poets in whose works they were first initiated were of all the -most poetical, the authors of lyrical and dithyrambic pieces, -selections from whose verses they committed to memory, thus acquiring -early a rich store of sentences and imagery ready to be adduced in -argument or illustration, to furnish familiar allusions or to be woven -into the texture of their style.[597] - -Footnote 592: - - Philost. Vit. Soph. ii. 10. - -Footnote 593: - - Quint. i. 1. Poll. vii. 128. Aristoph. Thesm. 778. - -Footnote 594: - - Plat. Protag. t. i. p. 181. - -Footnote 595: - - See Plat. de Rep. ii. t. vi. p. 93. seq. Sch. Aristoph. Eq. 188. - seq. - -Footnote 596: - - In the Homeric age men, we are told, received their mental - instruction from the bards, and their physical at the - gymnasium.—Athen. i. 16. - -Footnote 597: - - Cf. Plat. de Rep. t. i. p. 149. Stallb. - -Considerable difference however existed in the practice of different -teachers. Some imagining that by the variety of their acquirements -they would be rendered eloquent, recommended the indiscriminate study -of the poets,[598] whether they wrote in hexameter, in trimeter, or -any other kind of verse, on ludicrous or on serious subjects. Certain -poets there were who like Fenelon and the pretended Ossian, wrote -their works in prose,[599] respecting the use of whose compositions -Plato was in some doubt. - -Footnote 598: - - Cf. Plato de Legg. t. viii. p. 44. sqq. On the style of declamation - used in the Greek and Roman schools, see Schömann, de Comit. p. 187. - -Footnote 599: - - There were likewise poems written in the language of the common - people.—Athen. xiv. 43. - -By other philosophers wandering unrestrained over the vast fields of -literature was condemned. They desired to separate the gold from the -dross, contending that persons accustomed from their infancy to the -loftier and purer inspirations of the muse will regard with contempt -every thing mean or illiberal, whereas they who have learned to -delight in low and vulgar compositions will consider all other -literature tame and insipid. For so great is the force of imitation, -that habits commenced from the earliest years pass into the manners -and character of a man, affecting even his voice and corporeal -developement, nay, modifying the very nature of the thoughts -themselves. - -Among the other branches of knowledge[600] most necessary to be -studied, and to which they applied themselves nearly from the outset, -was arithmetic, without some inkling of which, a man, in Plato’s -opinion, could scarcely be a citizen at all. For, as he observes, -there is no art or science which does not stand in some need of it, -especially the art of war, where many combinations depend entirely on -numbers. And yet Agamemnon in some of the old tragic poets was -represented by Palamedes as wholly ignorant of calculation, so that -possibly, as Socrates jocularly observes, he could not reckon his own -feet.[601] The importance attached to this branch of education, -nowhere more apparent than in the dialogues of Plato, furnishes one -proof that the Athenians were preëminently men of business, who in all -their admiration for the good and beautiful never lost sight of those -things which promote the comfort of life, and enable a man effectually -to perform his ordinary duties. With the same views were geometry and -astronomy pursued. For, in the Republic, Glaucon,[602] who may be -supposed to represent the popular opinion, confesses at once, upon the -mention of geometry, that as it is applicable to the business of war -it would be most useful. He could discover the superiority of the -geometrician[603] over the ignorant man in pitching a camp, in the -taking of places, in contracting or expanding the ranks of an army, -and all those other military movements practised in battles, marches -or sieges. To Plato however this was its least recommendation. He -conceived that in the search after goodness and truth the study of -this science was especially beneficial to the mind, both because it -deals in positive verities, and thus begets a love of them, and -likewise superinduces the habit of seeking them through lengthened -investigation and of being satisfied with nothing less. - -Footnote 600: - - Cf. Plat. de Legg. t. viii. p. 62. where he describes the Egyptian - method of teaching arithmetic by rewards and allurements. Locke, - however, condemned the practice. “He that will give to his son - apples or sugar-plums, or what else of this kind he is most - delighted with, to make him learn his book, does but authorise his - love of pleasure, and cocker up that dangerous propensity, which he - ought by all means to subdue and stifle in him.” Education § 52. - Vid. Plat. de Rep. t. vi. p. 340. seq. Muret. Orat. iv. 43. Sir - Josiah Child has some good remarks on the value of arithmetic as a - branch of education: “It hath been observed in the nature of - arithmetic, that, like other parts of the mathematics, it doth not - only improve the natural faculties, but it inclines those that are - expert in it to thriftiness and good husbandry, and prevents both - husbands and wives in some measure from running out of their - estates, when they have it always ready in their heads what their - expenses do amount to, and how soon by that course their ruin must - overtake them.”—Discourse of Trade, p. 5. - -Footnote 601: - - Plat. de Rep. vii. t. vi. p. 340. sqq. - -Footnote 602: - - Plat. de Rep. t. vi. p. 349. seq. De Legg. t. viii. p. 371. Sch. - Aristoph. Nub. 180. Cf. Cicero de Orat. iii. 32. t. ii. 319. ed. - Lallemand. - -Footnote 603: - - See in Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 181. an anecdote of Thales cutting a new - channel for the river Halys. - -In the study of astronomy[604] itself a coarse and obvious utility was -almost of necessity the first thing aimed at, and even in the age of -Socrates, when philosophical wants were keenly felt in addition to -those of the animal and civil life, there were evidently teachers who -considered it necessary to justify such pursuits, by showing their -bearing on the system of loss and profit. For when Socrates comes in -his ideal scheme of education to touch on this science, Glaucon, the -practical man, at once recognises its usefulness, not only in -husbandry and navigation, but in affairs military. Nor are such fruits -of it to be despised. But philosophy proposes a higher aim, insisting, -in opposition to popular belief, that by means of such pursuits the -soul may be purified, and its powers of discovering truth, overlaid -and nearly extinguished by other studies, rekindled and fanned into -activity like a flame. - -Footnote 604: - - Plat. de Rep. t. vi. p. 357. seq.; de Legg. t. viii. p. 370. Sch. - Aristoph. Nub. 860. 208. - -The importance of music,[605] in the education of the Greeks, is -generally understood. It was employed to effect several purposes. -First, to soothe and mollify the fierceness of the national character, -and prepare the way for the lessons of the poets, which, delivered -amid the sounding of melodious strings, when the soul was rapt and -elevated by harmony, by the excitement of numbers, by the magic of the -sweetest associations, took a firm hold upon the mind, and generally -retained it during life. Secondly, it enabled the citizens gracefully -to perform their part in the amusements of social life, every person -being in his turn called upon at entertainments to sing or play upon -the lyre. Thirdly, it was necessary to enable them to join in the -sacred choruses, rendered frequent by the piety of the state, and for -the due performance in old age of many offices of religion, the -sacerdotal character belonging more or less to all the citizens of -Athens. Fourthly, as much of the learning of a Greek was martial and -designed to fit him for defending his country, he required some -knowledge of music that on the field of battle his voice might -harmoniously mingle with those of his countrymen, in chaunting those -stirring, impetuous, and terrible melodies, called pæans, which -preceded the first shock of fight. - -Footnote 605: - - Vid. Ilgen. de Scol. Poes. xiv.—“Post Persica demum bella musicæ - assidue operatos Græcos dicit. Et præmia diebus festis nonnullis - constituta iis pueris adolescentibusque, qui lyrica carmina Solonis - aliorumque optime cecinissent.”—Creuzer. de Civ. Athen. Omn. Hum. - Par. p. 55. seq. - -For some, or all of these reasons, the science of music began to be -cultivated among the Hellenes, at a period almost beyond the reach -even of tradition. The Bards, whom we behold wandering on the remotest -edge of the fabulous horizon, have invariably harps or lyres in their -hands; and the greatest of the heroes of poetry, the very acme of Epic -excellence, is represented delighting in the performance of music, and -chaunting on the shores of the Hellespont the deeds of former -warriors. In those ages the music of the whole nation possessed -evidently a grave and lofty character; but as that of the Ionians -became afterwards modified by the influence of a softer climate and -imitation of the Asiatic, while the Dorian measure remained nearly -unchanged, the latter is supposed to have possessed originally the -superiority over the former, which in reality it did not. In process -of time, however, the existence of three distinct measures was -recognised, the Dorian, the Æolian, and the Ionian: the first was -grave, masculine, full of energy, and though somewhat monotonous -peculiarly adapted to inspire martial ardour; the last distinguished -by a totally different character, rich, varied, flexible, breathing -softness and pleasure, adorning the hour of peace and murmuring -plaintively through the groves and temples of Aphrodite, Apollo, and -the Muses; while the second, which was fiery, with a mixture of -gaiety, formed the intermediate step between the two measures, -partaking something of the character of each. The Hypermixolydian and -Hyperphrygian, at one time cultivated among the Ionians, were -comparatively recent inventions.[606] - -Footnote 606: - - Athen. xiv. 20. sqq. Cf. Schol. Aristoph. Eq. 984. Clem. Alex. i. 3. - 5. - -The Phrygian measure distinguished for its exciting and enthusiastic -character,[607] was much employed upon the stage, on which account -Agias the poet used to say that the styrax burned on the altar in the -orchestra had a Phrygian smell, because its odours recalled the wild -Phrygian measures there heard. The national instrument of the -Phrygians was the flute, and it is worthy of remark that up to a very -late period flute-players at Athens were usually distinguished by -Phrygian names. Olympos the greatest musician known to the Greeks, was -probably himself a native of Phrygia, since he is said to have been a -pupil of Marsyas. In fact the barbarians of antiquity appear, though -in a somewhat different way, to have made as much use of music as the -Greeks themselves. They chaunted the songs of their bards in going to -battle, sang funeral dirges at tombs, and even caused their -ambassadors when proceeding on a mission to foreign states to be -accompanied by music.[608] No people, however, appear to have carried -their love for music to so preposterous a length as the Tyrrhenians, -who caused their slaves to be flogged to the sound of the flute. - -Footnote 607: - - Luc. Nigrin. § 37. - -Footnote 608: - - Athen. xiv. 24. - -The music of the flute[609] was supposed to be peculiarly delightful -to the gods, so that those who died while its sounds were on their -ears were permitted to taste of the gifts of Aphrodite in Hades, as -Philetæros expresses it in his Flute-lover: - - “O Zeus! how glorious ’tis to die while piercing flutes are near - Pouring their stirring melodies into the faltering ear; - On these alone doth Eros smile within those realms of night, - Where vulgar ghosts in shivering bands, all strangers to delight, - In leaky tub from Styx’s flood the icy waters bear, - Condemned, for woman’s lovely voice, its moaning sounds to hear.” - -Footnote 609: - - On the effect of music on the mind, see Magius, Var. Lect. p. 204 b. - -The teachers of music were divided into two classes: the Citharistæ, -who simply played on the instrument, and the Citharœdi who accompanied -themselves on the cithara with a song.[610] Of these the humble and -poorer taught, as we have already observed, in the corners of the -streets, while the abler and more fortunate opened schools of music or -gave their lessons in the private dwellings of the great. The Cithara, -however, was not anciently in use at Athens, if we may credit the -tradition which attributes to Phrynis its introduction from -Ionia.[611] - -Footnote 610: - - Kühn ad Poll. iv. p. 711. Cf. Plat. de Legg. t. viii. p. 49. - -Footnote 611: - - Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 958; Vesp. 574. - -Damon the great Athenian musician[612] used to observe, that wherever -the mind is susceptible of powerful emotions there will be the song -and the dance, and that wherever men are free and honourable their -amusements will be liberal and decorous, where men are otherwise the -contrary. A very judicious remark was likewise made by Caphesias the -flute-player. Observing one of his pupils striving to produce loud -sounds, he stamped on the ground and said,—"Boy, that is not always -good which is great; but that is great which is good."[613] - -Footnote 612: - - Cf. Plat. Repub. t. vi. p. 133. - -Footnote 613: - - Athen. xiv. 26. - -The power of music in assuaging passion and anger is well illustrated -by an anecdote of Cleinias the Pythagorean philosopher, a man -distinguished for his virtue and gentleness. If at any time he felt -himself moved to wrath, taking up his lyre he would touch the chords -and chaunt thereto some ode, and if any questioned why he did so, he -would reply, “I am in search of serenity.”[614] - -Footnote 614: - - Πραΰνομοι. Cham. Pont. ap. Athen. xiv. 18. - -Like the Hebrews, also, the people of Hellas attributed to music still -more marvellous virtues,[615] conceiving it to be able to cure -diseases both of the mind and body. Thus the sounds of the flute were -supposed to remove epilepsy, and sciatica, and faintness, and fear, -and paroxysms of long-established madness,[616] which will probably -remind the reader of David playing before Saul, when his mind was -troubled. - -Footnote 615: - - Thus demons were expelled by the sound of brass bells.—Magius, Var. - Lect. p. 205. b. - -Footnote 616: - - Athen. xiv. 18. Apollon. ap. Schweigh. Animad. xii. p. 399. on the - story, and bronze votive offerings on the Tænarian promontory of the - musician Arion.—Herod. i. 23. seq. Dion. Chrysost. Orat. xxxvii. p. - 455. Pausan. i. 24. Ælian. de Nat. Animal. xii. 45. - -In the later ages of the commonwealth drawing likewise, and the -elements of art entered into the list of studies pursued by youths, -partly with the view of diffusing a correct taste, and the ability to -appreciate and enjoy the noble productions of the pencil and chisel, -and partly, perhaps, from the mere love of novelty, and the desire -which man always feels to enlarge the circle of his acquirements. -Aristotle,[617] indeed, suggests a much humbler motive, observing that -a knowledge of drawing would enable men to appreciate more accurately -the productions of the useful arts; but this perhaps was said more in -deference to that spirit of utilitarianism then beginning to show -itself than from any conviction of its soundness. - -Footnote 617: - - Polit. viii. 3. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - EXERCISES OF YOUTH. - - -Simultaneously with the above studies,[618] that highly intricate and -artificial system of exercises denominated gymnastics occupied a -considerable portion of the time of youth. Among northern nations the -influence of education is requisite to soften the manners and check -ferocity; but in the south hardihood must in general be the fruit of -discipline, and flourishes only while assiduously cultivated. Thus we -find that the Persians,[619] by acting on the advice of Crœsos, and -teaching the Lydians to become musicians and shopkeepers, uprooted -entirely their martial spirit. In Greece, however, during the -flourishing period of her history there was more danger that the -passion for war should drown all others, than that its influence -should be too feeble. Among the Athenians particularly, that restless -energy of character, so marvellous and so distasteful to the Dorians, -sought vent in dangerous and distant wars and stupendous schemes of -ambition. This characteristic trait is adduced by Plato for the -purpose of suggesting a contrast with the rival race. He had been -dwelling, to his Cretan and Spartan companions, on the exercises -necessary for pregnant women,[620] and observing their astonishment, -he could understand, he said, how it might appear extraordinary to -them, but at Athens his recommendation would be perfectly -intelligible; for there, people were rather too active than otherwise. -The difficulty always was to find becoming employment. Accordingly, -for lack of something better, not merely boys but grown-up men, -comprehending nothing of the _dolce far niente_, employed themselves -in breeding cocks, quails, and other birds for fighting, and the care -of these imposed on them the necessity of much exercise. To be sure, -these cock-fighters, during their professional perambulations, -presented a spectacle infinitely ludicrous. All regard to appearances -was abandoned. With a couple of small cocks[621] in their hands, and -an old one under either arm, they sallied forth, like vagabonds who -had been robbing a henroost, to give their favourite animals air and -gentle exercise, and thus laden often strolled several miles into the -country. - -Footnote 618: - - Cf. Plato, de Rep. t. vi. p. 139, seq. - -Footnote 619: - - Herod. i. 155. Cf. Polyæn. vii. 6. 4. Justin, i. 6. - -Footnote 620: - - De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 3. cf. p. 11. - -Footnote 621: - - Plato, de Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 3. seq.—On the practice of - quail-fighting, see Poll. vii. 16. Comm. p. 237. Büd. Com. Ling. - Græc. p. 615. Paris. Iungermann ad Poll. vii. 136. p. 427, observes - that it was customary to exhibit public quail-fights at Athens. But - Lucian who states this (Anach. § 37), confounds the quail with the - cock-fighting.—Ælian. V. H. ii. 28. Cf. Ludovic. Nonn. de Re Cib. - ii. 22. p. 228. Poliarchos, an Athenian, buried his dogs and cocks - magnificently.—viii. 4. In the same spirit, a French lady erected a - mausoleum to her cat with this epitaph: - - “Ci-gît une chatte jolie, - Sa maîtresse qui n’aima rien - L’aima jusques à la folie. - Pourquoi le dire? On le voit bien.” - - The dog who detected the robber of Asclepios’s temple, received - while he lived the marks of public gratitude, and was maintained - like a hero at the people’s expense.—Ælian. V. H. vii. 14. - -To such a people the gymnasium opened up a source of peculiar delight, -and in the end became a passion prejudicial to the cultivation of the -understanding. But within the bounds of moderation it was prescribed -by philosophers in lieu of physic, and as an antidote against those -pale faces and emaciated frames, too common where intellectual studies -are ardently pursued.[622] It was a law of Solon, that every -Athenian[623] should be able to read and to swim; and the whole spirit -of Attic legislation, leaving the poor to the exercise of industrious -and hardy occupations, tended to create among the opulent and the -noble a taste for field-sports, horsemanship, and every martial and -manly exercise.[624] The difficulty, of course, was to render them -subordinate to mental cultivation, and to blend both so cunningly -together as to produce a beautiful and harmonious system of -discipline, well fitted to ripen and bring to greatest perfection -every power and faculty of body and mind. - -Footnote 622: - - Aristoph. Nub. 185. Plat. Repub. t. vi. p. 146. - -Footnote 623: - - Petit. de Legg. Att. l. ii. tit. iv. p. 162. Æsch. cont. Tim. § 2–4. - -Footnote 624: - - Plat. de Legg. vii. t. viii. 17. seq. - -The practises of the gymnasium may be traced backward to the remotest -antiquity, and probably commenced among the warriors of the heroic -ages,[625] in the peaceful intervals occurring between expeditions, -from the desire to amuse their leisure by mimic representations of -more serious contests. At first, no doubt, the exercises, frequently -performed in honour of the gods,[626] were few and rude; but by the -age of Homer they had assumed an artificial and regular form, and -comprehended nearly all such divisions of the art as prevailed in -later times. Other views than those with which they were instituted, -caused them to be kept up. When reflection awoke, it was perceived -that in these amicable contests men acquired not only force and -agility, a martial bearing, the confidence of strength, beauty, and -lightness of form; but, along with them, that easy cheerfulness into -which robust health naturally blossoms.[627] In fact, so far were the -legislators of Greece from designing by gymnastics to create, as -Montesquieu[628] supposes, a nation of mere athletes and combatants, -that they expressly repudiate the idea, affirming that lightness, -agility, a compactly knit frame, health, but chiefly a well-poised and -vigorous mind, were the object of this part of education. In order the -better to attain this point, Plato in his republic ordains that boys -be completed in their intellectual studies, which in his ideal state -they were to be at the age of sixteen, before they entered the -gymnasium, the exercises of which were to be the companions of simple -music. From converting their citizens into athletes they were -prevented by experience; for it was quickly discovered that those men -who made a profession of gymnastics acquired, indeed, by their diet -and peculiar discipline a huge stature and enormous strength, but were -altogether useless in war, being sleepy, lethargic, prodigious eaters, -incapable of enduring thirst or hunger, and liable to the attacks of -sudden and fatal diseases if they departed in the least degree from -their usual habits and regimen.[629] - -Footnote 625: - - Cf. Athen. i. 16. - -Footnote 626: - - Hom. Hymn. Apoll. 149. - -Footnote 627: - - Plat. Gorg. t. iii. p. 14. - -Footnote 628: - - Esprit des Loix, l. iv. c. 8. - -Footnote 629: - - Cf. Plat. de Rep. t. vi. p. 151.—To express the sweat gained by - exercise or labour, the Greeks used to say ξηρὸς ἱδρὼς, or ‘dry - sweat.’—Phæd. t. i. p. 26. Runners, it was observed, had large legs; - wrestlers small.—Xenoph. Conv. ii. 17. - -Already in the Homeric age, gymnastics, though not as yet so -named, constituted the principal object of education, and many -branches of the art had even then been carried to a high degree of -perfection.[630] The passion for it descended unimpaired to the -Spartans, whose polity, framed solely for the preservation of -national independence and the acquisition of glory in war, -inspired little fondness for mental pursuits, but left the youth -chiefly to the influence of the gymnasia, which gradually created -in them a temper of mind compounded of insensibility and -ferocity,[631] not unlike that of the North American Indians. -This, however, they above all things prized, though as has been -justly observed their exercises could in no sense be considered -among the aids to intellectual cultivation.[632] - -Footnote 630: - - Feith, Antiq. Homer. iv. 6. 304. Cramer. p. 35. - -Footnote 631: - - Plat. de Rep. t. vi. 154. - -Footnote 632: - - Hermann. Polit. Antiq. § 26. n. 2. - -At Athens they came later into vogue, though common in the age of -Solon. When, however, this ardent and enthusiastic people commenced -the study of gymnastics, admiring as they did strength and vigour of -frame, when united with manly beauty, their plastic genius soon -converted it into an art worthy to be enumerated among the studies of -youth. In very early ages they imitated the Spartan custom of -admitting even boys into the gymnasia. But this was soon abandoned, it -being found more profitable first to instruct them in several of the -branches of study above described, and a class of men[633] called -pædotribæ or gymnasts arose, who taught the gymnastic art privately, -in subordination to their other studies, and were regarded as -indispensable in the progress of education.[634] These masters gave -their instructions in the palæstræ,[635] which generally formed a part -of the gymnasia, though not always joined with those edifices, and to -be carefully distinguished from them. It is not known with certainty -at what age boys commenced their gymnastic exercises, though it -appears probable that it was not until their grammatical and musical -studies were completed, that is somewhere perhaps, as Plato counsels, -about the age of sixteen. For it was not judged advisable to engage -them in too many studies at once, since in bodies not yet endowed with -all their strength over-exertion was considered injurious. - -Footnote 633: - - Cf. Æsch. cont. Tim. § 37. Casaub. ad Theophr. Char. p. 200. - -Footnote 634: - - Cramer, p. 36. - -Footnote 635: - - Poll. iii. 149. - -Before we enumerate and explain the several exercises it may be proper -to introduce a description of the gymnasia themselves. Of these -establishments there were many at Athens;[636] though three only, -those of the Academy, Lyceum, and Cynosarges have acquired celebrity. -The site of the first of these gymnasia being low and marshy was in -ancient times infested with malaria, but having been drained by Cimon -and planted with trees it became a favourite promenade and place of -exercise.[637] Here, in walks shaded by the sacred olive, might be -seen young men,[638] with crowns of rushes in flower upon their heads, -enjoying the sweet odour of the smilax and the white poplar, while the -platanos and the elm mingled their murmurs in the breeze of spring. -The meadows of the Academy, according to Aristophanes the grammarian, -were planted with the Apragmosune,[639] a sort of flower so called as -though it smelt of all kind of fragrance and safety like our -Heart’s-ease or flower of the Trinity. This place is supposed to have -derived its name from Ecadamos, a public-spirited man who bequeathed -his property for the purpose of keeping it in order. Around it were -groves of the moriæ sacred to Athena, whence the olive crowns used in -the Panathenaia were taken. The reason why the olive trees as well as -those in the Acropolis were denominated moriæ must be sought for among -the legends of the mythology, where it is related that Halirrothios -son of Poseidon formed the design of felling them because the -patronship of the city had been adjudged to Athena, for the discovery -of this tree. Raising his axe, however, and aiming a blow at the trunk -the implement glanced, and he thus inflicted upon himself a wound -whereof he died.[640] - -Footnote 636: - - There was a gymnasium sacred to Hermes, near the Peiraic - gate.—Leake, Topog. of Attica, p. 124. - -Footnote 637: - - Cf. Xenoph. de Off. Mag. Equit. iii. 14. - -Footnote 638: - - Aristoph. Nub. 1001. - -Footnote 639: - - Sch. ad Aristoph. Nub. 1003. - -Footnote 640: - - Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 992. - -The name of the Lyceum[641] sometimes derived from Lycus, son of -Pandion[642] probably owed its origin to the temenos of Lycian Apollo -there situated. It lay near the banks of the Ilissos, and was adorned -with stately edifices, fountains and groves. Here stood a celebrated -statue of Apollo, in a graceful attitude, as if reposing after toil, -with his bow in the left hand, and the right bent negligently over his -head. The walls, too, were decorated with paintings. In this place -anciently the Polemarch held his court[643] and the forces of the -republic were exercised before they went forth to war.[644] - -Footnote 641: - - Pausan. i. 19. 3. Harpocrat. v. Λύκειον, p. 190. - -Footnote 642: - - Here Aristotle taught (Cic. Acad. Quæst. i. 4.) as he had previously - done at Stagira, where the stone seats and covered walls of his - school remained in the age of Plutarch.—Alexand. § 7. - -Footnote 643: - - Suid. v. Ἄρχων. i. p. 452. c. - -Footnote 644: - - Aristoph. Pac. 355. seq. Suid. v. Λύκειον, t. ii. p. 66. b. Xenoph. - de Off. Magist. Equit. iii. 6. - -Appended to the name of the Cynosarges, or third gymnasium surrounded -with groves[645] was a legend which related that when Diomos was -sacrificing to Hestia, a white dog snatched away a part of the victim -from the altar, and running straightway out of the city deposited it -on the spot where this gymnasium was afterwards erected.[646] Here -were several magnificent and celebrated temples to Alcmena, to Hebe, -to Heracles, and to his companion Iolaos. Its principal patron, -however, was Heracles,[647] who, lying himself under the suspicion of -illegitimacy, came very naturally to be regarded as the protector of -bastards, half citizens, and in general all persons of spurious birth, -who accordingly in remoter ages resorted thither to perform their -exercises. - -Footnote 645: - - Liv. xxxi. 24. - -Footnote 646: - - Suid. v. Κυνόσαργ. t. i. p. 1550. e. - -Footnote 647: - - In the gymnasia, the statue of Eros was generally placed beside - those of this divinity and Hermes.—Athen. xiii. 12. - -Themistocles afterwards, by prevailing upon several of the young -nobility to accompany him to the Cynosarges, obliterated its reproach, -and placed it on the same level with the other gymnasia.[648] Here -anciently stood a court in which causes respecting illegitimacy, false -registry, &c. were tried. But to proceed to the general description. -“The gymnasia were spacious edifices, surrounded by gardens and a -sacred grove. The first entrance was by a square court, two stadia in -circumference, encompassed with porticoes and buildings. On three of -its sides were large halls, provided with seats, in which -philosophers, rhetoricians, and sophists assembled their disciples. On -the fourth were rooms for bathing and other practices of the -gymnasium. The portico facing the south was double, to prevent the -winter rains, driven by the wind, from penetrating into the interior. -From this court you passed into an enclosure, likewise square, shaded -in the middle by plane-trees. A range of colonnades extended round -three of the sides. That which fronted the north had a double row of -columns, to shelter those who walked there in summer from the sun. The -opposite piazza was called Xystos, in the middle of which, and through -its whole length, they contrived a sort of pathway, about twelve feet -wide and nearly two deep, where, sheltered from the weather, and -separated from the spectators ranged along the sides, the young -scholars exercised themselves in wrestling. Beyond the Xystos was a -stadium for foot-races.”[649] - -Footnote 648: - - Plut. Them. § 1. - -Footnote 649: - - Barthel. Trav. of Anach. ii. p. 133. sqq. - -The principal parts of the gymnasium were,—first, the porticoes, -furnished with seats and side-buildings where the youths met to -converse. 2. The Ephebeion,[650] that part of the edifice where the -youth alone exercised. 3. The Apodyterion, or undressing-room.[651] 4. -The Konisterion, or small court in which was kept the haphe, or yellow -kind of sand sprinkled by the wrestlers over their bodies[652] after -being anointed with the ceroma, or oil tempered with wax. An important -part of the baggage of Alexander in his Indian expedition consisted of -this fine sand for the gymnasium. 5. The Palæstra, when considered as -part of the gymnasium,[653] was simply the place set apart for -wrestling: the whole of its area was covered with a deep stratum of -mud. 6. The Sphæristerion,[654]—that part of the gymnasium in which -they played at ball. 7. Aleipterion or Elaiothesion,[655] that part of -the palæstra where the wrestlers anointed themselves with oil. 8. The -area: the great court, and certain spaces in the porticoes, were used -for running, leaping, or pitching the quoit. 9. The Xystoi have been -described above. 10. The Xysta[656] were open walks in which, during -fine weather, the youths exercised themselves in running or any other -suitable recreation. 11. The Balaneia or baths, where in numerous -basins was water of various degrees of temperature, in which the young -men bathed before anointing themselves, or after their exercises. 12. -Behind the Xystos, and running parallel with it, lay the stadium,[657] -which, as its name implies, was usually the eighth part of a mile in -length. It resembled the section of a cylinder, rounded at the ends. -From the area below, where the runners performed their exercises, the -sides, whether of green turf or marble, sloped upwards to a -considerable height, and were covered with seats, rising behind each -other to the top for the accommodation of spectators. - -Footnote 650: - - Vitruv. v. 11. - -Footnote 651: - - Plin. xxv. 13.—Even old men performed their exercises naked.—Plat. - de Rep. t. vi. p. 221. - -Footnote 652: - - Casaub. ad Theoph. Char. p. 172. - -Footnote 653: - - Poll. iii. 149. - -Footnote 654: - - Suet. Vesp. c. 20. with the note of Torrentius, p. 375. - -Footnote 655: - - In the Gymnasium of Asclepios at Smyrna, Heracleides the sophist - erected an anointing-room, containing a fountain or well of oil, and - adorned with a gilded roof.—Philostr. de Vit. Sophist. ii. 26. p. - 613. - -Footnote 656: - - Vitruv. v. 11. Cf. on the Xystoi, Xenoph. Œconom. xi. 15.—Cicero, - Acad. iv. 3; ad Att. l. 8. Of this covered walk Aristeas makes - mention in a fragment of his Orpheus:— - - Ἦν μοὶ παλαίστρα καὶ δρόμος - ξυστὸς πέλας. - Poll. ix. 43. - -Footnote 657: - - Potter, Book i. chap. 8. - -Such were the buildings which Athens appropriated to the exercises of -its youth; and if we consider the conveniences which they contained, -the large spaces they enclosed, and the taste and magnificence which -they exhibited, we shall probably conclude that no country in the -world ever bestowed on the physical training of its citizens so much -enlightened care. - -The first step in gymnastics was to accustom the youth to endure, -naked, the fiercest rays of the sun and the cold of winter, to which -they were exposed during their initiatory exercises.[658] This is -illustrated in a very lively manner by Lucian, where he introduces the -Scythian Anacharsis anxious to escape from the scorching rays of noon -to the shade of the plane-trees; while Solon, who had been educated -according to the Hellenic system, stands without inconvenience -bareheaded in the sun. The step next in order was wrestling, always -regarded as the principal among gymnastic contests, both from its -superior utility and the great art and skill which the proper practice -of it required. To the acquisition of excellence in this exercise the -palæstra and the instructions of the pædotribæ were almost entirely -devoted; while nearly every other branch of gymnastics was performed -in the gymnasium. These, according to Lucian, were divided into two -classes, one of which required for their performance a soft or muddy -area, the other one of sand, or an arena properly so called.[659] In -all these exercises the youth were naked, and had their bodies -anointed with oil. - -Footnote 658: - - Lucian, Amor. § 45. seq. - -Footnote 659: - - Lucian, Anach. § § 1–3. 28. - -To render, however our account of the exercises more complete, it may -be proper to give a separate though brief description of each. The -first or most simple was the Dromos or Course,[660] performed, as has -been above observed, in the area of the stadium, which, in order to -present the greater difficulty to the racers, was deeply covered with -soft and yielding sand. Still further to enhance the labour, the youth -sometimes ran in armour, which admirably prepared them for the -vicissitudes of war, for pursuit after victory, or the rapid movements -of retreat. The high value which the Greeks set upon swiftness may be -learned from the poems of Homer, where likewise are found the most -graphic and brilliant descriptions of the several exercises. Some of -these we shall here introduce from Pope’s version, which in this part -is peculiarly sustained and nervous. Speaking of the race between -Oilean Ajax, Odysseus, and Antilochos, he says:—[661] - - “Ranged in a line the ready racers stand, - Pelides points the barrier with his hand. - All start at once, Oileus led the race; - The next Ulysses, measuring pace with pace, - Behind him diligently close he sped, - As closely following as the mazy thread - The spindle follows, and displays the charms - Of the fair spinster’s breast and moving arms. - Graceful in motion, thus his foe he plies, - And treads each footstep ere the dust can rise; - The glowing breath upon his shoulder plays, - Th’ admiring Greeks loud acclamations raise, - To him they give their wishes, heart, and eyes, - And send their souls before him as he flies. - Now three times turned, in prospect of the goal, - The panting chief to Pallas lifts his soul; - Assist, O Goddess, (thus in thought he prayed,) - And present at his thought descends the maid; - Buoyed by her heavenly force he seems to swim, - And feels a pinion lifting every limb.” - -Footnote 660: - - Accumenes, the friend of Socrates, advised persons to walk on the - high-road in preference to the places of exercise, as being less - fatiguing and more beneficial.—Plat. Phæd. t. i. p. 3. On the - rapidity of public runners see Herod. vi. 106. Cf. on the Pentathlon - West, Dissert. on the Olympic Games, p. 77. They appear to have - acquired so equable and steady a pace that time was measured by - their movements, as distance is by that of caravans in the East. - Thus Dioscorides, ii. 96. gives direction that gall should be boiled - while a person could run three stadia. - -Footnote 661: - - Il. ψ. 754. sqq. Cf. Odyss. η. 119.—As an illustration of the - necessity there was of going through all the various exercises, it - is mentioned by Xenophon that runners had large legs, wrestlers - small ones.—Conviv. ii. 17. - -Next in the natural order, proceeding from the simplest to the most -artificial exercises, was leaping, in which the youth among the Greeks -delighted to excel. In the performance of this exercise they usually -sprang from an artificial elevation (βατὴρ), and descended upon the -soft mould, which, when ploughed up with their heels, was termed -ἐσκαμμένα.[662] The better to poise their bodies and enable them to -bound to a greater distance, they carried in their hands metallic -weights, denominated _halteres_,[663] in the form of a semi disk, -having on their inner faces handles like the thong of a shield, -through which the fingers were passed. Extraordinary feats are related -of these ancient leapers. Chionis the Spartan and Phaÿllos the -Crotonian, being related to have cleared at one bound the space of -fifty-two, or according to others, of fifty-five feet. - -Footnote 662: - - Poll. iii. 151. - -Footnote 663: - - Paus. v. 26. 3; 27. 12. - -With the latter account agrees the inscription on the Crotonian’s -statue: - - “Phaÿllos leaped full five and fifty feet, - The discus flung one hundred wanting five.”[664] - -Footnote 664: - - Eustath. ad Odyss. θ. 128. Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 210. - -Homer briefly describes leaping among the sports of the Phæacians: - - “Amphialos sprang forward with a bound, - Superior in the leap a length of ground.”[665] - -Footnote 665: - - Odyss. θ. 128. - -To this succeeded pitching the quoit, which in the Homeric age would -appear to have been practised with large stones or rude masses of -iron. On ordinary occasions it has been conjectured that one discus -only was used. But Odysseus, desirous of exhibiting his strength to -the Phæacians, converts into a quoit the first block of stone within -his reach.[666] - - “Then striding forward with a furious bound - He wrenched a rocky fragment from the ground, - By far more ponderous and more large by far - Than what Phæacia’s sons discharged in air; - Fierce from his arm the enormous load he flings, - Sonorous through the shaded air it sings; - Couched to the earth, tempestuous as it flies, - The crowd gaze upwards while it cleaves the skies. - Beyond all marks, with many a giddy round, - Down rushing it upturns a hill of ground.” - -Footnote 666: - - Odyss. θ. 186. sqq. Cf. Il. ψ. 836. seq. - -The disk[667] in later times varied greatly both in shape, size, and -materials. Generally it would seem to have been a cycloid, swelling in -the middle and growing thin towards the edges. Sometimes it was -perforated in the centre and hurled forward by a thong, and on other -occasions would appear to have approached the spherical form, when it -was denominated solos.[668] - -Footnote 667: - - Schol. Hom. Il. β. 774. - -Footnote 668: - - Schol. Hom. Il. β. 774. - -Other of these exercises were shooting with the bow at wisps of straw -stuck upon a pole,[669] and darting the javelin, sometimes with the -naked hand and sometimes with a thong wound about the centre of the -weapon. In the stadium at Olympia, the area within which the pentathli -leaped, pitched the quoit, and hurled the javelin, appears to have -been marked out by two parallel trenches: but if these existed -likewise in the gymnasia, they must have been extremely shallow, as we -find in Antiphon[670] a boy meeting with his death by inconsiderately -running across the area while the youths were engaged in this -exercise. Instead of throwing for the furthest, they would seem, from -the expressions of the orator, to have aimed at a mark. - -Footnote 669: - - Lucian. Hermot. § 33. - -Footnote 670: - - Tetral. ii. 1. Cf. Plat. de Legg. t. viii. p. 51. sqq. 142. - -Wrestling[671] consisted of two kinds, the first, called Orthopale, -was that style, still commonly in use, in which the antagonists, -throwing their arms about each other’s body, endeavoured to bring him -to the ground. In the other, called Anaclinopale, the wrestler who -distrusted his own strength but had confidence in his courage and -powers of endurance, voluntarily flung himself upon the ground, -bringing his adversary along with him, and then by pinching, -scratching, biting, and every other species of annoyance, sought to -compel him to yield. - -Footnote 671: - - Cf. Sch. Aristoph. Eq. 569. - -An example of wrestling in both its forms occurs in Homer, where Ajax -Telamon and Odysseus contend in the funeral games for the prize.[672] - - “Amid the ring each nervous rival stands, - Embracing rigid, with implicit hands; - Close locked above, their heads and arms are mixt; - Below their planted feet at distance fixt. - Like two strong rafters which the builder forms - Proof to the wintry winds and howling storms; - Their tops connected, but at wider space - Fixed on the centre stands their solid base. - Now to the grasp each manly body bends, - The humid sweat from every pore descends, - Their bones resound with blows, sides, shoulders, thighs - Swell to each gripe, and bloody tumours rise. - Nor could Ulysses, for his art renowned, - O’erturn the strength of Ajax on the ground; - Nor could the strength of Ajax overthrow - The watchful caution of his artful foe. - While the long strife even tires the lookers-on, - Thus to Ulysses spoke great Telamon: - Or let me lift thee, Chief, or lift thou me, - Prove we our strength and Jove the rest decree. - He said; and straining heaved him off the ground - With matchless strength; that time Ulysses found - The strength t’ evade, and where the nerves combine - His ankle struck: the giant fell supine. - Ulysses following on his bosom lies, - Shouts of applause run rattling through the skies. - Ajax to lift Ulysses next essays; - He barely stirred him but he could not raise. - His knee locked fast the foe’s attempt defied, - And grappling close they tumbled side by side, - Defiled with honourable dust they roll, - Still breathing strife and unsubdued of soul.” - -Footnote 672: - - Il. ψ. 708, sqq. et Heyne ad loc. - -Boxing, which has very properly been called a rough exercise, though -condemned by physicians and philosophers, was still practised in the -gymnasium, sometimes with the naked fist but more frequently with the -cestus, which consisted of a series of thongs, bound round the hand -and arm up to the elbow, or even higher.[673] This exercise, however, -seems to have been little practised, except by those who designed to -become athletæ by profession. Homer has described the combat with the -cestus in its most terrible form.[674] - - “Amid the circle now each champion stands, - And poises high in air his iron hands: - With clashing gauntlets now they firmly close, - Their crackling jaws re-echo to the blows, - And painful sweat from all their members flows. - At length Epeus dealt a weighty blow - Full on the cheek of his unwary foe. - Beneath that ponderous arm’s resistless sway - Down dropped he powerless, and extended lay. - As a large fish, when winds and waters roar, - By some huge billow dashed against the shore, - Lies panting, not less battered with his wound, - The bleeding hero pants upon the ground. - To rear his fallen foe the victor lends - Scornful his hand, and gives him to his friends, - Whose arms support him reeling through the throng, - And dragging his disabled legs along. - Nodding, his head hangs down his shoulders o’er, - His mouth and nostrils pour the clotted gore. - Wrapped round in mist he lies, and lost to thought, - His friends receive the bowl too dearly bought.” - -Footnote 673: - - Theoc. Eidyll. xxii. 3. et 80. Mercurial. de Art. Gymnast. ii. 9. - Virg. Æn. v. 401. sqq. Paus. viii. 40. 3. Poll. ii. 150. Scalig. - Poet. i. 22. p. 92. - -Footnote 674: - - Il. ψ. 684. sqq. - -Among the exercises of the gymnasium which Hippocrates advises to be -practised during winter[675] and bad weather, when it is necessary to -remain under cover, is walking on the tight rope. This feat seems to -have been so great a favourite among the youths of antiquity, that -they applied themselves to it with constant assiduity, and arrived at -length at a degree of skill little inferior to that of our -mountebanks. It seems, in fact, to have been a common practice in the -gymnasium to run upon the tight rope. The Romans, seeking in something -to outdo the Greeks, taught an elephant to perform a similar exploit. - -Footnote 675: - - But Galen cautions youth against useless acquisitions, which he says - are not arts at all: such as πεττευριπτεῖν, throwing the - tali,—walking over a small tight rope,—whirling round without being - giddy, like Myrmecides the Athenian and Callicrates the - Spartan.—Protrept. § 9. p. 20. Kühn.—He then speaks very slightingly - of gymnastic exercises. The studies he recommends are: medicine, - rhetoric, music, geometry, arithmetic, dialectics, astronomy, - grammar, and jurisprudence, to which may be added, modelling and - painting.—§ 14. Cf. Foës. Œcon. Hip. p. 366. - -Another branch of gymnastics consisted in the various forms of the -dance, to be ignorant of which was at Athens esteemed a mark of an -illiberal education. To excel in this accomplishment was nearly by all -the Greeks[676] considered absolutely necessary, either as a -preparation for the due performance of the movements and evolutions of -war, sustaining a proper part in the religious choruses, or regulating -the carriage with the requisite grace and decorum in the various -relations of private life. Thus the Cretans, the Spartans, the -Thessalians, and the Bœotians, held this division of gymnastics in -especial honour, chiefly with a view to war, while the Athenians, and -Ionians generally, contemplated it more as a means of developing the -beauty of the form, and conferring ease and elegance on the gait and -gesture. But because in treating of the theatre I design fully to -describe the several varieties of scenic dances, I think it proper to -throw together in that place whatever I may have to say on this -subject.[677] - -Footnote 676: - - Vid. Aristot. de Poet. i. 6. Herm. - -Footnote 677: - - See Book iv. Chapter 8. - -To all these branches of gymnastics the Grecian youth[678] applied -themselves with peculiar eagerness, and on quitting the schools -devoted to them a considerable portion of their time, since they were -regarded both as a preparation for victory in the Olympic and other -games, and as the best possible means for promoting health and -ripening the physical powers. Nor could anything be easily conceived -better suited to the genius of their republics. In the first place, as -I have already observed, the wild and headstrong period of youth was -withdrawn by these agreeable exercises from the desire and thoughts of -evil, while a wholesome feeling of equality was cultivated, and -something like brotherhood engendered in men destined to live and act -together. Besides what could more admirably prepare them for -fulfilling their duties as citizens and more especially for defending -their country, than a system of physical training, which at the same -time brought to perfection their strength, their vigour, and their -manly beauty, and fitted them for the acquisition of that peculiar -species of glory which success in the sacred games conferred? The -acquisition, moreover, of robust health and that vigour of mind which -accompanies it, was a consideration second to none. And it will -readily be conceived that a judicious system of exercises, such as we -have described, would necessarily render men patient of labour, -inaccessible to fear, and be productive at once of graceful habits and -lofty and honourable sentiments. - -Footnote 678: - - Cf. Plat. de Legg. t. viii. p. 97.—The gymnasia in the later ages of - Greece were so little frequented, that their area was sown with - corn. Dion. Chrysos. i. 223. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - HUNTING AND FOWLING. - - -Among the sports and pastimes of the Greeks, which may be considered -as a kind of supplement to gymnastics, we must class first the chase, -which Xenophon vainly hoped might be made to operate as a check on the -luxurious and effeminate habits of his contemporaries.[679] But each -age having its own distinctive characteristic, it profits very little -to aim at engrafting the customs of one period of civilisation upon -another. The world will go its own gait. Chuckfarthing and Pricking -the Loop might as well be recommended to young gentlemen and ladies -dying for love, as hunting to the population of a vain and foppish -city, to whom wild boars and wolves must seem certain death. However, -the country gentlemen, and the agricultural population generally, long -in their own defence continued the practice of the chase, though in -Attica the absence of wild animals, consequent upon a high and careful -cultivation, had reduced it at a very early period to a matter of mere -amusement. - -Footnote 679: - - In the early ages of the world, hunting we are assured led to the - establishment of monarchy by accustoming youth whose brains were in - their sinews to pay implicit obedience to their leaders in the - chase.—Bochart, Geog. Sac. t. i. p. 258. - -But in remoter times, and in those parts of the country where game -always continued to abound, there were never wanting persons who -delighted in the excitement of the chase. Herdsmen, particularly, and -shepherds, considered it part of their occupation.[680] Thus we find -Anchises a young Trojan chief, who inhabited the hill country, making -his lair of bears and lion-skins, the spoils of his own lance.[681] -Sport, of course, it would furnish to bold and reckless young men, as -lion and tiger hunting still does to our countrymen in Northern India; -but from this recreation proceeded in some measure their safety, since -where wild beasts are numerous they not only devastate the -country,[682] trampling down the corn-fields and devouring herds and -flocks, but occasionally, if they chance to find them unarmed, dine -also upon their hunters. Thus the chase of the Calydonian boar, the -tally-ho’s and view-halloes of which still sound fresh in song, was -undertaken by the Ætolians and Curetes, for the purpose of delivering -the rustic population from a pest;[683] and precisely the same motive -urged Alcmena’s boy into the famous conflict with the Nemean -lion,[684] which he brought down with his invincible bow and finished -with his wild olive club. In like manner Theseus, his rival in glory, -slew the Marathonian bull; and delivered the Cretans from another -monster of the same kind.[685] He engaged, too, with a sow of great -size at Crommyon on the confines of Corinthia, and slaughtered the -pig, an achievement of much utility and no little glory. - -Footnote 680: - - Iliad, λ. 547. - -Footnote 681: - - Hom. Hymn in Vener. 160. seq. - -Footnote 682: - - Paus. i. 27. 9. - -Footnote 683: - - Iliad, ι. 547. sqq. - -Footnote 684: - - Theocrit. xxv. 211. sqq. - -Footnote 685: - - Paus. i. 27. 9. sqq. - -The arms and accoutrements of these primitive sportsmen corresponded -with the rough service in which they were engaged. Sometimes, to the -attack of the wild bull or the boar, they went forth with formidable -battle-axes.[686] But when their game was fleet and innocuous a -handful of light javelins and the bow sufficed, as when Odysseus and -his companions beat the country in search of wild goats.[687] In the -Æneid, too, we find the hero doing great execution among a herd of -deer with his bow. Boar-spears also were in use ere the period of the -Trojan war, as Odysseus, who appears to have been excessively addicted -to the chase, is represented going thus armed to the field with the -sons of Autolycos when he was wounded by the hog.[688] With the same -weapon we find Adrastos engaged in the same sport, killing the son of -Crœsos.[689] The chase of the lion, which in Xenophon’s time could -no longer be enjoyed in Greece Proper, required the most daring -courage and the most formidable weapons, spears, javelins, clubs, and -burning torches, with which at last they repelled him at night from -the cattle stalls. Homer, as usual, represents the contest to the -life:[690] - - “He turned to go, as slow retreats the lion from the stalls, - Whom men and dogs assault while round a shower of javelins falls. - They all night watch about their herds, lest he intent on prey - Should bear the flower of all their fields, the fattest bull away. - Onward impetuously he bounds—the hissing javelins fly - From daring hands, while torches send their blaze far up the sky. - He dreads, though fierce, the dazzling flames thick flashing on his - sight, - And hungry still and breathing rage, retires with morning’s light.” - -Footnote 686: - - Iliad, ρ. 520. seq. Feith. Antiq. Hom. iv. c. 2. § 2. - -Footnote 687: - - Odyss. ι. 155. seq. - -Footnote 688: - - Odyss. ι. 465. seq. - -Footnote 689: - - Herod. i. 43. - -Footnote 690: - - Il. ρ. 657. Cf. Aristot. Hist. Anim. ix. 31. Oppian Cyneget. iv. - 131. sqq. - -The existence of wild beasts in a country has by some been enumerated -among the causes of civilisation, and it may, under certain -circumstances, deserve to be so considered, though generally such -modes of accounting for things are exceedingly unphilosophical. -Mitford, who advances it,[691] needed but to cast a glance across the -Mediterranean to dissipate his whole theory, since nowhere are there -more wild beasts or men less civilised than in Africa. Egypt, Chaldæa, -Assyria, the earliest peopled countries, enjoyed few of these helps to -refinement. The reasons of Greek civilisation lay neither in their -country or in the accidents of it, but in the race itself, which, as -one family in a nation is distinguished from its neighbours by -superior genius, was thus distinguished from other races of men. -However, the lion, as we have seen, formerly existed among them, -though never probably in great numbers, and even in the age of -Herodotus was still found in a wild tract of country extending from -the Acheloös in Acarnania to the Nestos in Thrace,[692] where in -fabulous times Olynthos, son of Strymon,[693] is said to have been -slain in a lion hunt. In the age of Dion Chrysostom, however, this -fierce animal was no longer known in Europe.[694] - -Footnote 691: - - Hist. of Greece, i. 16. - -Footnote 692: - - Herod. vii. 125. seq. - -Footnote 693: - - Conon, Dieg. iv. ap. Phot. 131. Rüdig. Prolegg. ad Dem. Olynth. p. - 3. - -Footnote 694: - - Orat. 21. t. i. p. 501. Reiske. - -Dogs, all the world over and from the remotest times, have been man’s -companions in the chase, and Homer, the noblest painter of the ancient -world, has bequeathed us many sketches of the antique hunting breed. -It has above been seen that in company with man they feared not to -attack even the lion. Odysseus’ famous dog Argos was a hound that - - “Never missed in deepest woods the swift game to pursue - If once it glanced before his sight, for every track he knew.[695]” - -Footnote 695: - - Odyss. ρ. 316. seq. - -And again when the same sagacious Nimrod makes his rounds in quest of -“belly timber,” a brace of dogs runs before him “examining the -traces,” while with boar-spear in hand he follows close at their -heels.[696] But already, even in those days, the habit of keeping more -cats than catch mice had got into fashion—that is among the -great—since we find grandees with their κύνες τραπεζῆες or “table -dogs,”[697] valued simply for their beauty. Patroclus maintained nine -of these handsome animals, and Achilles understanding his tastes, cast -two of them into the flames of his funeral pile, that their shades -might sit at his board in the realms below.[698] - -Footnote 696: - - Id. τ. 436. seq. - -Footnote 697: - - Id. ρ. 310. - -Footnote 698: - - Iliad ψ. 173. seq. - -Footnote 699: - - Deipnosoph. i. 22. et 24. - -Fowling too, if we may depend upon Athenæus,[699] entered into the -list of heroic amusements. It is clear, however, that the sportsmen of -those days were arrant poachers, for, not content with attacking their -prey in open fight, they condescended to spread nets for them and set -gins for their feet. But being accomplished bowmen, however, they -could occasionally, when pressed for provisions, fetch down a thrush, -a pigeon, or a dove with an arrow, dexterously as that Jew in -Eusebius[700] who exhibited his marksmanship to demonstrate the -fallacy of augury. For in the funeral games of Patroclus, we find one -of the heroes hitting from a considerable distance a dove which had -been tied by a small cord to the summit of a mast.[701] - -Footnote 700: - - Præp. Evang. l. ix. c. 4. p. 408. d. - -Footnote 701: - - Iliad, ψ. 853. sqq. - -They were given moreover not only to fishing with nets—a practice in -nowise unbecoming a hero when in want of a dinner—but even to angling -with “crooked O’Shaughnessies,”[702] as Homer expresses it; though the -passage in the Iliad, indeed, where a net is mentioned, cannot well be -adduced in corroboration, since it may refer to fowling as well as to -fishing.[703] Certain verses in the Odyssey, however, prove beyond a -doubt that the Greeks had already begun to derive a great part of -their sustenance from the sea;[704] and the Homeric heroes even -understood the value of oysters, which, as appears from the Iliad, -were procured by diving.[705] - -Footnote 702: - - Γναμπτοῖς ἀγκιστροίσιν. Odyss. μ. 331. seq. Ludovic. Nonn. de Re - Cibar. iii. 4. p. 294. Plut. de Solert. Anim. § 24. Cf. Antich. di - Ercol. t. i. tav. 36. p. 191. From an expression of Augustus, if we - can regard it as anything more than a figure of speech, it may be - inferred that to increase the luxury of the sport by converting it - into a species of gambling, people sometimes fished with golden - hooks.—Polyæn. Strat. viii. 24. 6. - -Footnote 703: - - Iliad, γ. 487. seq. Eustath. ad Odyss. χ. 386. - -Footnote 704: - - Odyss. χ. 386. - -Footnote 705: - - Iliad, π. 747. sqq. - -Nevertheless these ancient heroes, though by no means averse as we -have seen to pigeons or oysters, delighted chiefly in the chase of the -larger animals, in which article of taste they agreed with Plato, who -considered all other kinds as unworthy of men. He appears to have -entertained an especial aversion for the Isaac Waltons of the ancient -world, and in his advice to youth earnestly exhorts them to eschew -hooks and fish-traps, which he slily classes with piracy and -house-breaking: and so he does fowling. Nor would his generous -philosophy countenance poaching with nets and gins and snares. His -sportsmen, modelled after the old Homeric type, were to mount their -chargers,[706] and accompanied by their dogs come to close quarters -with their wild foes in open daylight, and subdue them by dint of -personal courage.[707] Precisely similar views prevailed in the heroic -age, when the chiefs and principal men were exercised from boyhood in -the chase, as appears from the examples of Achilles and Odysseus;[708] -of whom the former, according to Pindar, tried his hand at a lion at -the age of six years, ἐξέτης τοπρῶτον. Being swift of foot as those -Arabs of Northern Africa, who, as Leo[709] says, are a match for any -horse, he used without the aid of dogs to overtake and bring down deer -with his javelin, and whatever prey he took he carried to his old -master Cheiron. This passage Mr. Cary has translated in the following -vigorous and elegant manner:— - - “In Philyra’s house a flaxen boy - Achilles oft in rapturous joy - His feats of strength essayed. - Aloof like wind his little javelin flew, - The lion and the brinded boar he slew; - Then homeward to old Cheiron drew - Their panting carcases. - This when six years had fled; - And all the after time - Of his rejoicing prime - It was to Dian and the blue-eyed Maid - A wonder how he brought to ground - The stag without or toils or hound. - So fleet of foot was he.” - -Footnote 706: - - Cf. Poll. Onom. v. 17. - -Footnote 707: - - De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 71. seq.—In his Republic boys were to be - permitted when they could do so with safety to proceed to the field - of battle, and there to approach sufficiently near the scene as to - be able like young hounds to taste, so to speak, of blood.—t. vi. p. - 367. - -Footnote 708: - - Pind. Nem. iii. 43. seq. Diss. Odyss. τ. 429. seq. - -Footnote 709: - - Descrip. Afric. - -Similar manners, if we may confide in Virgil,[710] prevailed among the -old inhabitants of Latium, and Xenophon[711] in his monarchical Utopia -trains the youth in the same habits. - -Footnote 710: - - Æneid, ix. 605. - -Footnote 711: - - Cyneg. ii. 1. - -On hunting,[712] as practised in the civilised ages of Greece, we -possess more ample details, and it is chiefly by the minuter touches -that a picture of this kind can be invested with interest and utility. -Xenophon, an aristocratic country gentleman, who living in a corrupt -age was, as I have said, wisely partial to the nobler manners of the -past, considers the chase as a branch of education.[713] He does not, -however, entertain upon this subject the heroic views of Plato, but, -looking solely to utility, not only describes the physical conditions -and mental qualities of the hunter, but the nets, poles, arms, and -every implement made use of by the ancients in the chase. - -Footnote 712: - - To form a proper idea of the sporting vocabulary of the Greeks, the - reader should consult Julius Pollux, Onomasticon, v. 9.-94. - -Footnote 713: - - Cyneg. ii. 1. - -Not to interfere with the discipline of the schools and the gymnasia, -the youths were exhorted to betake themselves to field-sports about -the age of twenty. Their notions of a sportsman’s costume differed -materially from our own, for instead of decking themselves like our -fox-hunters in scarlet, they selected the soberest and least brilliant -colours both for their cloaks and chitons. The latter were in general -extremely short, reaching merely to the hams, as Artemis is usually -represented in works of art. But the chlamys was long and ample, that -it might be twisted round the left arm in close contest with the -larger animals. Their hunting boots reached to the knee, and were -bound tight round the leg with thongs. Probably also, as in -travelling, they covered their heads with a broad-brimmed hat. - -The apparatus of a Greek sportsman would appear somewhat cumbersome, -and perhaps a little ludicrous to a modern Nimrod. But understanding -their own object they went their own way to work; their arms and -implements, varying with the chase in which they were engaged, -consisted of short swords, hunting knives[714] for the purpose of -cutting down brushwood to stop up openings in the forest, axes for -felling trees, darts furnished with thongs for drawing them back when -they had missed their aim, bows, boar-spears, weapons peculiarly -formidable, nets small and large, some for setting up in the plains, -some for traversing glades or narrow alleys in the woods, and others -shaped like a female head-net, to be placed in small dusky openings, -where being unperceived the game sprang into them as into a sack, -which closed about it by means of a running cord, net-poles, forked -stakes, snares, gins, nooses, and leashes for the dogs.[715] The darts -used on these occasions had ashen or beechen handles, and the nets -were usually manufactured with flax imported from Colchis on the -Phasis, Egypt, Carthage, and Sardinia.[716] Generally, too, they took -along with them the Lagobalon, a short, crooked stick with a knob at -one end, with which they sometimes brought down the hare in its -flight.[717] This practice, common enough among poachers in our -country, is by them denominated _squailing_. - -Footnote 714: - - Poll. v. 19. - -Footnote 715: - - Cf. Grat. Falisc. Cyneg. p. 14. Wase. - -Footnote 716: - - Xen. Cyneg. ii. 3. Grat. Falisc. Cyneg. p. 6. Wase. Pollux, v. 26. - -Footnote 717: - - Spanh. Obs. in Callim. Hymn. in Dian. ii. p. 122. Poll. v. 20.—Hares - are hunted with sticks in South Guinea by the blacks.—Barbot. iii. - 14. - -Without the aid of dogs, however, hunting is a poor sport. The -ancients, therefore, much addicted to this branch of education, paid -great attention to the breed of these animals, of which some were -sought to be rendered celebrated by heroic and fabulous associations. -Thus the Castorides, it was said, sprang[718] from a breed to which -the twin god of Sparta was partial; the Alopecidæ were a cross between -a dog and a she-fox; and a third kind[719] arose from the mingling of -these two races. Among modern sportsmen, there are also good -authorities who prefer harriers with a quarter of the fox-strain.[720] -Other kinds of hounds, as the Menelaides and Harmodian derived their -appellation from the persons who reared them.[721] - -Footnote 718: - - Poll. v. 39. Xen. Cyneg. iii. 1. - -Footnote 719: - - Arist. Hist. Anim. viii. 28. Poll. v. 39. - -Footnote 720: - - Letters on Hunting, p. 60. - -Footnote 721: - - Poll. v. 40. - -But the whole breeds of certain countries[722] were famous, as the -Argive, the Locrian, the Arcadian, the Spanish, the Carian, the -Eretrian; the Celtic or greyhound (not known[723] in more ancient -times); the Psyllian, so called from a city of Achaia; the dog of -Elymæa, a country lying between Bactria and Hyrcania; the Hyrcanian, -which was a cross with the lion; the Laconian, of which the bitch was -more generous,[724] sometimes crossed with the Cretan, which was -itself renowned for its nose, strength and courage,[725] those which -kept watch in the temple of Artemis Dictynna having been reckoned a -match even for bears; the Molossian, less valued for the chase than as -a shepherd’s dog, on account of its great fierceness and power to -contend with wild beasts;[726] the Cyrenaic, a cross with the wolf, -and lastly the Indian, on which the chief reliance was placed in the -chase of the wild boar. This breed, according to Aristotle, was -produced by crossing with the tiger, probably the Cheeta.[727] The -first and second removes were considered too fierce and unmanageable, -and it was not until the third generation that these tiger-mules could -be broken in to the use of the sportsman. Some sought in mythology the -origin of this noble animal; for, according to Nicander, the hounds of -Actæon, recovering their senses after the destruction of their master, -fled across the Euphrates and wandered as far as India. Strange -stories are related of this breed, of which some it is said would -contend with no animal but the lion. Alexander’s dog, which he -purchased in India for a hundred minæ, had twice overcome and slain -the monarch of the forest.[728] - -Footnote 722: - - Arist. de Gen. Anim. v. 2. p. 344. Virg. Georg. iii. 405. See the - enumeration by Gratius, Cyneg. p. 20. seq. - -Footnote 723: - - Arrian, de Venat. c. 2. - -Footnote 724: - - Arist. Hist. Anim. ix. 1. Soph. Ajax, 8. Virg. Georg. iii. 405. - Λάκαιναι σκύλακες, Plat. Parmen. t. ii. p. 7. had long noses. Arist. - de Gen. Anim. v. 2. 344. - -Footnote 725: - - Æl. De Nat. Anim. iii. 2. Pashley, Travels in Crete, i. 33. Hughes, - Travels, &c. i. 489, 501. - -Footnote 726: - - Arist. Hist. Anim. ix. i. - -Footnote 727: - - Arist. Hist. Anim. viii. 28, with the observations of Camus, t. ii. - p. 215. Cf. Scalig. de Subtilitat. x. p. 383. Æl. de Nat. Anim. - viii. i. - -Footnote 728: - - Æl. De Nat. Anim. viii. 1. Poll. Onom. v. 42. seq. - -Let us, therefore, now imagine the hounds exactly what they ought to -be, and observe under what circumstances they were led afield. As in -England, their principal sport was the hare. In winter,[729] it was -observed that puss, from the length of the nights, took a wider -circuit, and therefore afforded the dogs a better chance of detecting -her traces.[730] But when in the morning the ground was covered with -ice or white with hoar-frost, the dogs lost their scent, as also -amidst abundant dews or after heavy rains. The sportsman accordingly -waited till the sun was some way up the sky, and had begun to quicken -the subtile odours communicated to the earth.[731] The west wind,[732] -which covers the heavens with vast clouds and fills the air with -moisture, and the south blowing warm and humid, weaken the scent; but -the north wind fixes and preserves it.[733] By moonlight, too, as the -old sportsmen remark, and the warmth it emits, the scent is affected; -besides that when the moon shines brightly, in their frolicsome and -sportive mood the hares, in the secluded glades of the forest, take -long leaps and bounds over the green sward, leaving wide intervals -between their traces.[734] - -Footnote 729: - - See on the subject of scent, Sport. Mag. Jan. 1840, and compare - Essay on Hunting, p. 1. et seq. - -Footnote 730: - - Cf. Poll. v. 11. Σύμβολα ἐν τετυπωμένα τῇ γῇ. - -Footnote 731: - - The phrase in Pollux is ἀποφέρεται ἀπ᾽ αὔτων (τῶν ἰχνῶν) τὸ πνεῦμα. - v. 12. The author of the Essay on Hunting (p. 15.) enumerating the - several kinds of scent, speaks of them as stronger, sweeter, or more - distinguishable at one time than another; and Pollux makes use of - much the same language: ἄνοσμα, δύσοσμα, εὔοσμα, κ. τ. λ. l. c. - -Footnote 732: - - Arist. Prob. xxvi. 23—Falling stars were regarded as a prognostic of - high winds, 24. Letters on Hunting, p. 106. - -Footnote 733: - - Cf. Xen. Cyneg. viii. 1. - -Footnote 734: - - Xen. Cyneg. v. 4. Poll. v. 67. - -From a remark of Xenophon it appears that at least on one point the -sportsmen of antiquity were less humane than the modern, since they -pursued the chase even in breeding time.[735] They, however, spared -the young in honour of Artemis;[736] the spirit even of false -religion, on this, as on many other occasions, strengthening the -impulses of humanity. - -Footnote 735: - - See also Spanh. Obs. in Callim. t. ii. p. 123. - -Footnote 736: - - Xen. Cyneg. v. 14. Klaus. Com. in Agam. p. 114.—Leverets, properly - λαγίδια, were often in common with the young of all other wild - animals denominated ὀμβρίαι and ὀμβρίκια by the poets.—Poll. v. 15. - -Several causes coöperated to render hares unplentiful on the Hellenic -continent,—the number of sportsmen, of foxes which devoured both them -and their young, and of eagles that delighted in its lofty and almost -inaccessible mountains, and shared its game with the huntsman and the -fox. Homer, in a few picturesque words, describes the war carried on -against puss by this destructive bird.[737] On the islands, whether -inhabited or not, few of these obstacles to their increase existed. -Sportsmen rarely passed over to them, and in such as were sacred to -any of the gods the introduction of dogs was not permitted, so that, -like the pigeons and turtle-doves of Mekka, they multiplied in those -holy haunts prodigiously. - -Footnote 737: - - Il. χ. 308. sqq. - -It was prohibited by the laws of Attica[738] to commit the slightest -trespass during the chase. The sportsman was not allowed to traverse -any ground under cultivation, to disturb the course of running water, -or to invade the sanctity of fountains. The scene of action -accordingly lay among the woods and mountains, the common property of -the republic, or, if not, abandoned by general consent to the use of -the sportsman. Such were, for example, the woodland districts of -Parnes and Cithæron on the borders of Bœotia. Towards these the -huntsman, well shod, plainly and lightly dressed,[739] and with a -stick in his hand, set out about sunrise in winter, in summer before -day.[740] On the road strict silence was observed[741] lest the hare -should take the alarm and to her heels. Having reached the cover, the -dogs were tied separately that they might be let slip the more easily, -the nets were spread in the proper places, the net-guards set, and the -huntsman with his dogs proceeded to start the game, first piously -making a votive offering of the primitiæ to Apollo and Artemis,[742] -divinities of the chase.[743] - -Footnote 738: - - Xen. Cyneg. v. 34. - -Footnote 739: - - Poll. v. 17. - -Footnote 740: - - The pleasure experienced on these occasions is thus enthusiastically - described by Christopher Wase:—"What innocent and natural delights - are they, when he seeth the day breaking forth, those blushes and - roses which poets and writers of romances only paint, but the - huntsman truly courts! When he heareth the chirping of small birds - perched upon their dewy boughs, when he draws in that fragrancy of - the pastures and coolness of the air! How jolly is his spirit when - he suffers it to be imported with the noise of bugle-horns and the - baying of hounds which leap up and play around him!"—Pref. to Tr. of - Gratius, p. 3. - -Footnote 741: - - See, in the Cyropædia, i. 6. 40, an extremely interesting passage on - the chase of the hare.—Cf. Oppian. de Venat. iv. 422. - -Footnote 742: - - Hence the goddess obtained many of the epithets bestowed on her by - the poets, as: ἀγροτέρα, καὶ κυνηγέτις, καὶ φιλόθηρος, καὶ ὀρεία, - ἀπὸ τῶν ὀρῶν· καὶ Ἰδαία, ἀπὸ τῆς Ἴδης, καὶ δίκτυνα, ἀπὸ τῶν δικτύων· - καὶ ἑκηβόλος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑκὰς τὰ θνρία βάλλειν· καὶ πολλὰ ἄλλα ὀνόματα - ἀπὸ θήρας.—Poll. v. 13. - -Footnote 743: - - Xen. Cyneg. vi. 1. seq. Poll. v. 13.—It was customary, moreover, to - nail the head or a foot of the game to some tree in honour of - Artemis.—Sch. Aristoph. Ran. 143. - -And now, exclaims the leader of the Ten Thousand, I behold the hounds, -joyous and full of fire, spring forward in the track of their game. -Eagerly and ardently do they pursue it—they traverse—they run about in -a circle—they advance now in a straight line, now bounding away -obliquely—they plunge into the thickets, across the glades, through -the paths, known or unknown, hurrying one before the other, shaking -their tails, their ears hanging low,[744] their eyes flashing with -fire. Drawing near the game they indicate the fact to their master by -their movements, kindling up into a warlike humour, bounding emulously -forward, scorning all thought of fatigue,—now in a body, now -singly,—till reaching the hiding-place[745] of the hare they spring -towards it all at once. In the midst of shouts and barking the swift -animal glances from her form with the hounds at her heels. The -huntsman, his left hand wrapped in his chlamys, follows staff in hand, -animating his dogs, but avoiding, even if in his power, to head the -game.[746] - -Footnote 744: - - C. Poll. v. 61. - -Footnote 745: - - Οἱ θάμνοι, the technical term for covert. Poll. v. 15. - -Footnote 746: - - Xen. Cyneg. vi. 14–17. - -A singular species of chase, now common in our own rabbit-warrens, -appears to have passed over from Africa to the Balearic Isles, in an -ancient account of which the first mention of it occurs. Those -islands, it is said, were almost entirely exempted from vermin, but, -on the other hand, contained prodigious numbers of rabbits, which -almost destroyed every herb and plant by biting their roots. At -length, however, they discovered a remedy for this evil. They imported -ferrets from Africa, which, having first muzzled them, they let loose -in the rabbit-warrens. Creeping into the holes they scared forth the -inmates, which were caught by the sportsman. Strabo, who relates the -circumstance, calls the ferret a “wild cat.” Pliny, having likewise -described the devastations of the rabbits, speaks of it under the name -of _viverra_, and says it was held in great estimation for its utility -in this chase, which in the seventeenth century was practised in the -island of Procida, where they procured the animal from Sicily, and -denominated it Foretta, whence the English name. The common Italian -appellation was donnola.[747] - -Footnote 747: - - Vict. Var. Lect. xxxi. 20. p. 883. seq. Cf. Plin. Hist. Nat. viii. - 8, cum notis. Strab. iii. 2. p. 231. - -It is clear, however, that in classic times the ferret was unknown in -Greece, otherwise we should never have heard of the proverb of the -Carpathian and his Hare[748] applied to persons who brought evil upon -themselves. Originally, we are told, the Island of Carpathos[749] was, -like Ithaca, entirely destitute of hares; but a pair having been at -length introduced, multiplied so prodigiously that they almost -depopulated the island by devouring the fruits of the earth. A similar -fact is related of the island Porto Santo, near Madeira, for Prince -Henry of Portugal, immediately after its discovery, “sent Bartholomew -Perestrello with seeds to sow and cattle to stock the place; but one -couple of rabbits put in among the rest increased so prodigiously that -all corn and plants being destroyed by them it was found necessary to -unpeople the place.”[750] - -Footnote 748: - - Suid. v. Λαγώς. t. ii. p. 3. - -Footnote 749: - - This island now abounds in cattle and game, particularly quails and - partridges.—Dapper, Descrip. des Iles de l’Archip. p. 173. - -Footnote 750: - - Hist. of Navig. prefixed to Church. Coll. of Voy. and Trav. vol. i. - p. xx. - -A peculiar kind of hare is commemorated by the ancients as found in -Elymœa. It is said to have been little inferior in size to the fox, to -have been elongated and slender in shape, and blackish in colour, with -a long white tip at the end of the tail. It is remarked by the same -writer that the scent left by leverets on the ground is stronger and -more pungent than that of the grown hare, so that the dogs become -furious on getting wind of it.[751] - -Footnote 751: - - Poll. v. 74. - -From the chase of the hare and rabbit we pass on to that of the fawn -and the stag, in which they made use of Indian dogs,[752] animals of -great strength, size, speed, and courage. Fawns[753] were hunted in -spring, the season of their birth. The first step was for the -sportsman to beat up the woods to discover where the deer were -numerous; and having found a proper place he returned thither before -day, armed with javelins, and accompanied by a game-keeper with a pack -of hounds. The dogs were kept in leash afar off, lest they should give -tongue at the sight of the deer. He himself took his station on the -look-out. At break of day[754] the does, with their yellowish and -richly-speckled skins, were seen issuing from the thickets, followed -by their still more delicately-spotted fawns, which they led to the -places[755] where they usually suckled them, while the stags stationed -themselves at a distance, as an advanced guard, to defend them from -all intruders. The graceful creatures then lay down to perform their -matronly office, looking round watchfully the while to observe whether -they were discovered. This pleasing task completed, they, like the -stags, posted themselves in a circle about their fawns to protect -them. Sportsmen have no sentiment. At the very moment when this most -beautiful exhibition of mute affection would have warmed with sympathy -the heart of the philosopher or the poet, the dogs were let loose, -while their master and his companions, armed with javelins, closed -upon the game. The fawn itself, unless chilled and drenched by the -dew—in which case it frisked about—would remain still in its place and -be taken. But on hearing its cries the doe rushed forward to deliver -it, and was smitten down by the javelins or torn to pieces by the -dogs. The chase of the female elephant in Africa exhibits the same -traits of affection in the brute and ferocity in man. In this case the -young will fight for his mother, or the mother for her young till -death. - -Footnote 752: - - Xen. Cyneg. ix. 1. - -Footnote 753: - - The terms by which, in our old hunting vocabulary, the stag was - known at the different periods of his life are as follow:—1. a fawn; - 2. a pricket; 3. a sourell; 4. a soure; 5. a buck of the first head; - 6. a buck. Wase. Pref. to Gratius, p. 12. - -Footnote 754: - - Xen. Cyneg. ix. 3. - -Footnote 755: - - That is on the ὀργάδες or lawns, which, according to Pollux they - chiefly frequented, v. 15. Cf. Schneid. ad Xen. Cyneg. ix. § 1. - -When the fawn had attained any considerable size, and begun to feed -among the herd, the chase of it became more arduous. The fidelity of -instinctive love, opposed to human sagacity, exhibited all its force. -Closing round their young and drawing up in front of them, the stags, -emboldened by affection, trampled the dogs under their feet, -frequently to death, unless the huntsman, dashing into the midst of -them, could succeed in detaching a single animal from the herd. But, -supposing this done, the hounds at first remained far behind the fawn, -which, terrified at finding itself alone, bounded along with -incredible velocity, though, its strength soon failing, it in the end -fell a prey to the hunter. - -The object of the ancients, however, in the chase not being simple -sport, but to obtain possession by the shortest method possible of the -game, they set snares in the narrows of the mountains, around the -meadows, near the streams and freshes, and in the thickets—wherever, -in short, stags could be taken. Pitfalls, too, were dug, as in Africa -for the lion,[756] and most of those stratagems resorted to which the -Nubians and Egyptian Arabs put in practice against the gazelle. It was -in fact common to erect, with rough stones or wood, a sort of skreen, -perhaps semicircular, like those behind which the hunters of the -desert hide, to conceal themselves when lying in wait for the -game.[757] - -Footnote 756: - - Xen. Cyneg. ix. 14. sqq.—Ælian describes another method of taking - these animals not much practised by modern sportsmen; that is to say - by the charms of music, as the Egyptian Psylli captured serpents.—De - Nat. Anim. xii. 46. - -Footnote 757: - - Poll. v. 36. - -For the chase of the wild boar,[758] at once a manly and a useful -sport, somewhat complicated preparations were necessary. In this the -dogs of India, of Crete, of Locris, of Sparta, hunted side by side, -and the sportsman took the field armed with strong nets, javelins, -hunting poles, and snares. The boar-spears of the ancients[759] were -most carefully fashioned, with a broad sharp head and handle of tough -wood. So likewise were their hunting-poles armed with long iron -points, fixed in brazen sockets, with a shaft of service wood. -Footsnares of great strength were set at intervals. This was not the -sport of a solitary hunter. They went out in considerable numbers, and -kept close together, finding still, for lack of fire-arms, no small -difficulty in coping with the foe. On reaching the spot where they -supposed the hog to be ensconced, the dogs were all led carefully in -leash with the exception of one Spartan hound, which was let loose and -accompanied in all his movements. When he appeared to have found the -track, they followed him, and he thus took the lead in the chase. -Numerous signs also directed the movements of the hunter; in soft -places the track, broken branches in thickets, and in forests the -wounds on the bark of trees, given by the boar in sharpening his tusks -as he passed.[760] - -Footnote 758: - - Cf. Aristoph. Vesp. i. 202. seq. Xen. Cyrop. i. 6. 28. - -Footnote 759: - - Xen. Cyneg. x. 3. - -Footnote 760: - - The huntsmen give judgment of the wild boar by the print of his - foot, by his rooting; a wild swine roots deeper than our ordinary - hogs, because its snout is longer, and when he comes into a - corn-field, as the Calydonian boar in Ovid, turns up one continued - furrow, &c.—Wase, Illustrations, V. p. 64. - -Generally the traces were found leading to some sheltered nook, warm -in winter, in summer cool, where the boar made his lair. On -discovering him the dog gave tongue, but the animal in general refused -to rise. The hound was then withdrawn and put in leash with the -others, and every opening, save one, leading to the place, closed with -nets, the upper ends of which were passed over the forks of trees. The -nets were hung so as to belly outwards, and carefully disposed so that -they could be seen through. Bushes cut hastily supported them on -either side, and closed every aperture through which the game could -attempt to force a way. This done the hounds were all slipped, and the -hunters, armed with pikes and spears, entered the netted enclosure. -One of the boldest and most experienced led the dogs; the others -followed at intervals, leaving an ample space between them for the -boar, which if closely hemmed in might have inflicted on his opponents -the fate of Adonis. Presently the hounds sprang all at once upon the -game, which rising in sudden alarm tossed the first it encountered -into the air, and breaking through the pack made away towards the -nets, followed by men and dogs in full cry. On finding the -unaccustomed opposition, he would, if running down hill, plunge right -forward to force his way through; if in a plain he would stand still, -glaring fiercely around. - -The dogs, however, soon closed upon his track, while the hunters -galled him with javelins and stones, approaching closer and closer -till he was driven by his own impetuosity into the nets. Upon this the -most daring of his pursuers drew near, pike in hand, and sought to put -an end to the contest by piercing him in the head. Sometimes, -notwithstanding all they could do, instead of plunging into the toils -he would turn upon them; in which case some dexterous sportsman, armed -with spear or pike, usually presented himself to receive his charge -with one foot advanced, impelling the weapon with the right hand, -directing it with the left. Instead, however, of rushing on at once -the hog would perhaps pause a moment to reconnoitre, when it behoved -his antagonist carefully to mark every movement of his head or glance -of his eye.[761] For in the very moment that a blow was aimed at him, -he would sometimes dash the spear aside with tusk or snout, and the -next moment be upon his enemy, whose only chance of safety now -consisted in throwing himself instantaneously on his face, and holding -fast by whatever he could grasp, since, the tusks of the boar curving -upwards, he found it difficult to gore his enemy thus lying, and -failing to turn him over would in his fury trample on him. A second -hunter now rushed forward to deliver his companion, and usually drew -off the hog by dexterous attacks in flank. The fallen sportsman, -recovering at the same time his feet and his spear, must by the laws -of the chase return to the combat, and could only secure his -reputation by immolating his foe. By this time, indeed, the task had -generally become easier; for, rendered reckless by fury, he would -throw himself impetuously on their pikes, which, but for the -protecting guards at the head, would have gone through him handle and -all. His whole frame now appeared to be kindled with rage, his blood -boiling, his eyes flashing, and his tusks so nearly on fire that if -brought in contact with hair at the moment of death, they would -frizzle it like a red-hot iron.[762] - -Footnote 761: - - Cf. Poll. v. 23. sqq. - -Footnote 762: - - Οὕτω δὲ πολλὴ ἡ δυναμίς ἐστιν αὐτοῦ, ὥστε καὶ, ἃ οὐκ ἂν οἴοιτό τις, - πρόσεστιν αὐτῷ· τεθνεῶτος γὰρ εὐθὺς ἐάν τις ἐπὶ τὸν ὀδόντα ἐπιθῇ - τρίχας, συντρέχουσιν· οὑτως εἰσὶ θερμοὶ· ζῶντι δὲ διάπυροι, ὅταν - ἐρεθίζηται· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τῶν κυνῶν, ἁμαρτάνων τῇ πληγῄ τοῦ σώματος, - ἄκρα τὰ τριχώματα περιεπίμπρα.—Xen. Cyneg. x. 17. Cf. Poll. v. 80. - Oppian. Venat. iii. 379. seq. Scalig. Poët. v. 14. p. 698. - -Of the hunting of the bear[763] the ancients have left us no exact -description. As this animal abounded, however, in most parts of -Greece, where it was extremely troublesome and destructive, -particularly to the fruit-trees, various expedients were hit upon for -taking and destroying it. Sometimes it was pursued as game and brought -down by the bow; but the common method appears to have been to make -use of traps and snares. They dug, for example, a deep trench round -one of those trees in the fruit of which the bear particularly -delighted, and covering it with reeds or brittle branches, they -sprinkled thereon a thin layer of earth, and concealed the whole -apparatus with fresh grass. The bear, proceeding as usual towards the -tree on his thievish errand, broke in the roof of the pit with his -weight, and was caught. Even in the most civilised times this animal -had not been wholly extirpated from Attica,[764] but, as well as the -boar, was found on Mount Parnes. In Laconia also, through the whole -range of Taygetos, it abounded, together with hogs, deer, and wild -goats. Bruin was sacrificed in Achaia to Artemis Laphria. In Thrace -the white bear was found.[765] - -Footnote 763: - - Pausanias mentions the bear as an inhabitant of Pendeli. “About - three years since one was shot in the mountains of Parnassos, and - brought to Aracooa. The lynx, the wild cat, the wild boar, the wild - goat, the stag, the roebuck, the badger, the martin, and squirrel - inhabit the steeper rocks of Parnassos, and the thick pine forests - above Callidia. The rough mountains about Marathon are frequented by - moles, foxes, and jackals; weasels are sometimes taken in the - villages and out-houses; hares are too numerous to be - particularised.” Sibthorp in Walp. Mem. i. 73. - -Footnote 764: - - Paus. i. 32. 1. - -Footnote 765: - - Paus. iii. 20. 4. vii. 18. 13. viii. 17. 3. - -Respecting the habits of the Grecian bear the ancients have left us -some few facts which may be worth repeating. When it comes forth from -the den,[766] where it has passed the winter, it is said to chew bits -of wood, and to feed on snake-weed, wake-robin, or cuckoo-pint (arum -maculatum[767]), which has a purgative power. These operations -performed, its ravenous appetites immediately awake, and it commences -its devastations in the farm-yard, the orchard and the apiary. -Delighting greatly in honey it attacks and overthrows the hives which -it tears to pieces in order to devour the combs, though Pliny[768] -adduces another reason for this fact, exceedingly characteristic of -that writer. He says that the bear, after his winter sleep, finding -his eyes dim and his head heavy, applies to the bees as to skilful -oculists, that in revenge for robbing them of their honey, sting him -angrily about the face, which by letting much blood relieves him at -once from his ophthalmia and his headache. The bear, it is well known, -is omnivorous like man. He accordingly plunders the bean-fields, and -feeds on every kind of pulse. In robbing orchards,[769] too, his -courage and ability are great, being as I have said as complete an -adept as a school-boy in climbing trees, out of which when he has -satisfied himself he descends, like the aforesaid mischievous beast, -feet foremost. When none of the delicacies above enumerated was within -his reach, the bear would feed on ants, crabs, or any kind of vermin, -but preferred of course the flesh of the larger animals, such as the -stag, the wild boar, and the bull. His mode of taking his prey was -curious. Upon the boar and stag he probably dropped from his hiding -place in the trees, but the stratagem by which he usually got the bull -into his power was this.[770] Throwing himself on the ground directly -in his way he provoked the lord of the herd to gore him, upon which, -seizing his horns, and fastening ravenously upon his shoulder, he -brought him to the ground, where he fed upon his carcass at leisure. -When flying from the more terrible face of man, the female usually -drove her young before her, or taking them up in her mouth or on her -back, she would endeavour to escape with them into the trees.[771] - -Footnote 766: - - Aristot. Hist. Anim. ix. 6. viii. 17. vi. 30. Ælian de Nat. Anim. - vi. 3. Cf. Buffon, Hist. Nat. t. viii. p. 27. - -Footnote 767: - - This now we find is the food of swine. “Leaving Pyrgo (in Bœotia), - we advanced along the plain to Eremo Castro; in our road we observed - droves of pigs tearing up the ground for the roots of the - cuckow-pint (arum maculatum) which was called by the swineherds - δρακοντίο.”—Sibth. in Walp. i. 65. - -Footnote 768: - - Nat. Hist. viii. 54. - -Footnote 769: - - Aristot. Hist. Anim. viii. 5. - -Footnote 770: - - Ælian. de Nat. Anim. vi. 6. Aristot. ut sup. - -Footnote 771: - - Aristot. Hist. Anim. ix. 6. Ælian. de Nat. Anim. vi. 6. - -As the lion was not found in Greece in the civilised periods of its -history, the chase of it cannot be said to have formed an Hellenic -amusement.[772] They might, however, by proceeding a little beyond the -borders in their colonies of Thrace and Asia Minor, on Mount Pangæos, -on the Mysian Olympos, and in Syria, enjoy this dangerous pastime if -they desired it. In all those countries, however, both the lion,[773] -the panther, the pard, the lynx, and other animals of this destructive -class had been confined to the mountains, where, as an acute and -experienced observer has remarked, they lose much of their force and -ferocity. The expression made use of by Xenophon proves in fact that -the dread of man had driven them almost into inaccessible fastnesses, -whither they could not be pursued by the hunter, so that they were -chiefly taken in their descent to the lowlands by poisoning, with -aconite,[774] the waters or the baits which they set for them: -sometimes, indeed, when want compelled them into the plains, parties -of hunters on horseback, and armed to the teeth, would assault and -destroy them, not without imminent peril. Pitfalls, too, of ingenious -construction were dug for them, having an earthen pillar in the centre -on which a goat was tied.[775] The encircling moat, like that above -described, destined for the bear, was concealed by a covering of -slender bushes which, breaking under them, they were precipitated to -the bottom and there killed. The wolf, though a sacred animal[776] in -Attica, had by the laws a price set upon his head, at which -Menage[777] wonders, though the Egyptians also slaughtered their -sacred crocodiles, when they exceeded a certain size. - -Footnote 772: - - Xen. Cyneg. xi. 1. - -Footnote 773: - - Pollux (v. 14.) observes that in his time lions were chiefly found - in mountainous tracts as wild boars were in marshes and pardales in - the depths of the woods. - -Footnote 774: - - Xen. Cyneg. xi. 2. Poll. v. 82. Plin. viii. 27. Dioscor. iv. 77. - Foxes were supposed to be killed by baits steeped in the juice of - bitter almonds (Id. i. 176); wolves, panthers, dogs, &c. by - dog’s-bane.—Id. iv. 81. - -Footnote 775: - - Oppian. de Venat. iv. 85. sqq. - -Footnote 776: - - Cf. Hesych. v. Λυκαβ. - -Footnote 777: - - Ad D. Laert. p. 20. b. c. Meurs. Solon, c. 19. - -In the chase of the wild goat the bow, among the mountains of Crete, -was made use of, and so skilful as marksmen were the Cretans[778] that -from the depths of the valleys they would bring down their game from -the pinnacles of the loftiest cliffs.[779] They were fabled to have -been taught the art of hunting by the Curetes, and, practising it -constantly in steep and difficult places, they acquired great -suppleness and agility of body, and were exceedingly swift of -foot.[780] - -Footnote 778: - - The very name of the Cretans has by some been derived from the use - of the bow. Κρῆτες, παρὰ τὸ ἐπὶ κέρασι βιοτεύειν· κυνηγετικοὶ γάρ. - Etym. Mag. 537. 54. See in Homer a description of the bow of - Pandaros where we are told it was made from the horns of a wild - goat.—Il. δ. 105. sqq. - -Footnote 779: - - Ælian. Var. Hist. i. 10. On the cothurnos which these hunters wore, - see Spanheim ad Callim. in Dian. 16. p. 142. sqq. Bœttig. Les - Furies, p. 37. The high half-boot worn by Artemis in the chase is - represented in Mus. Chiaramon. pl. 18. - -Footnote 780: - - Athen. xii. 28. Meurs. Cret. p. 177. - -The Macedonians, too, were both practised and enthusiastic sportsmen, -and delighted in the amusement even whilst engaged in their most -toilsome expeditions. Thus during the campaigns of Alexander in Asia, -we find the generals Leonatos and Menelaos or Philotas[781] carrying -about among their baggage, linen skreens, ten or twelve miles in -length, which during their halts they caused to be stretched round a -given district, where they hunted as in a park. An anecdote is related -strikingly illustrating the high estimation in which the chase was -held at the court and among the nobles of Macedonia, where it was -customary for the son to sit upright on a chair at his father’s table -and not to recline among the guests until he had slain a wild boar out -of the toils. Cassander, son of Antipater, continued, it is said,[782] -up to his thirty-fifth year bolt upright at the regal board, because, -though a brave man and a skilful hunter, fortune had constantly denied -him the pleasure of despatching the hog after the prescribed fashion. - -Footnote 781: - - Athen. xii. 55. Plut. Alex. § 40. See in Wase’s Illustrations, p. - 68. an account of the Polish royal hunts in which, on a smaller - scale, the same practice prevailed. - -Footnote 782: - - Athen. i. 31. - -There is one department of the chase, and that perhaps the most -curious and interesting, which was not practised by the Greeks of -classical times, though it cannot be said to have been unknown to -them; I mean falconry, described by several ancient writers as it was -pursued in India and in Thrace. If I give a short description of it, -therefore, it must be regarded as a digression introduced for the -purpose of completing, as far as possible, the circle of ancient -amusements. Ctesias,[783] who was contemporary with Socrates, and -published his Indian history four hundred years before Christ, seems -to be the oldest writer by whom falconry is mentioned. He tells us -that among the Hindùs hares and foxes were hunted with kites, ravens, -and eagles, and minutely describes the way in which the birds were -broken in. Having been caught while young, they were first taught to -fly at tame hares and foxes in the following manner. The animals with -pieces of flesh tied to them were started in sight of the falcons, -which were immediately let loose and sent in pursuit. When they caught -and brought back the game the flesh was given them as their reward, -and by this bait and allurement they were encouraged to persevere. -When sufficiently trained, they were taken to the mountains and flown -against wild hares and foxes. The passion for falconry is still kept -alive in the East, particularly in Persia, where the shâh-baz, or -royal falcon, is flown against hares and antelopes, occasionally -invested with leathers, which protect him from being torn -asunder.[784] But the most daring and dangerous service in which -falcons have ever been employed is the chase of the wild horse by the -Turcomâns of Khiva on the eastern shores of the Caspian.[785] A more -detailed description of ancient falconry than that given by Ctesias is -found in a work attributed to Aristotle.[786] It is said, observes -this writer, that the youth of Thrace, who were addicted to hunting, -pursued their game by the assistance of hawks. On arriving upon the -ground, the falcon, which had evidently been trained for the purpose, -obeyed the calls of the sportsmen and chased the birds into the -thickets, where they were knocked down with hunting-poles and taken. -Even when the falcons themselves captured the game, they brought it to -the hunters, who as in modern times gave them, as a reward, some -portion of the animal. - -Footnote 783: - - Ap. Ælian. de Nat. Anim. iv. 26. - -Footnote 784: - - Sir John Malcolm’s Sketches of Persia. - -Footnote 785: - - Anthony Jenkinson in Hackluyt, v. i. p. 368. - -Footnote 786: - - De Mirab. Auscult. 128. Beckm. Hist. of Discov. and Inven. i. p. - 321. - -In their fowling they made use of great cruelty:—Pigeons and -turtle-doves were commonly blinded, to be used as decoys, and in this -condition would sometimes live eight years.[787] Partridges were -employed for the same purpose in a different manner. The male bird -having been tamed was put out in the neighbourhood of a covey, upon -which the boldest of the wild birds came forward to fight him, and was -secured with the net. The challenge was usually accepted by every male -bird in the covey until one after another they were all taken. When -the female was employed she drew them successively to the nets by her -call.[788] The first that is deluded is generally the principal cock -in the covey, which the others collecting together seek to drive away. -To elude their pursuit the leader sometimes drew near the decoy in -silence, that he might not have to contend with the other males. Not -unfrequently they would descend and allow themselves at such times to -be caught on the roofs of the houses.[789] - -Footnote 787: - - Arist. Hist. Anim. ix. 8. Xenoph. Cyrop. i. 6. 39. has introduced - many particulars respecting fowling. - -Footnote 788: - - Cf. Xen. Memorab. ii. 1. 4. Their nets were denominated νεφέλαι, - Schol. Aristoph. Av. 194. Cf. Schol. Pac. 1144. The man who watched - the nets bore the name of λινόπτης.—Aristot. ap. id. ibid. - -Footnote 789: - - Athen. ix. 42. - -The Greeks established at Alexandria had, according to Athenæus, who -was a native of Egypt, a kind of chase peculiar to themselves, viz. -that of the horned owl. The sophist of Naucratis has indeed been -suspected of confounding the ὠτὸς with the ὠτὶς, that is, the owl with -the bustard;[790] but it having been in his power to examine what he -relates, I shall lay his account before the reader, who will judge for -himself. This bird, it is said, is found in great numbers in the -desert near Alexandria, (though I myself saw none there,) and is as -much given to mimicry as a monkey. Above all things he is ambitious of -imitating man, and, as far as possible, will do whatever he sees done -by the fowler. Aware of his propensity in this way, these gentlemen, -when desirous of taking an owl, carried along with them into the -desert a thick tenacious glue, with which on coming within eyeshot of -the Otos they affected to anoint their eyes. Then laying down the -glue-pot on the sand they retreated to some hollow for concealment. -Upon this the owl having watchfully observed their movements, -approached, and covering his eyes with the treacherous ointment was -blinded and taken. - -Footnote 790: - - Alexand. Myndius calls it the λαγωδίας in which case it may probably - mean the _Ptarmigan_. - -Another mode of catching this bird also prevailed. It having been -discovered that he was as partial as the Bedouin Arab to the company -of a horse, the fowlers covered themselves with horses’ skins, and in -this disguise approaching the flock were enabled to catch as many as -they pleased. A third method of taking the Otos was one which exposed -the unfortunate bird to the ridicule of the comic poets. The fowlers -setting out upon the chase in pairs, separated at coming in sight of -the game. One of the two then stepped out in front of the game and -commenced a jig, upon which the thoughtless mimic immediately did the -same, beating exact time with his feet, and keeping his eye fixed upon -his wily teacher. While the merry victim was thus engaged, capering, -springing, and pirouetting like a feathered Taglioni, the other -bird-catcher approached from behind and seized him by the neck. - -The same story is related by other writers of the Scops or -mocking-owl, in imitation of whose movements, the ancients had a -celebrated dance.[791] - -Footnote 791: - - Athen. ix. 44. seq. Arist. Hist. Anim. viii. 12 ad fin. - -Quails in certain seasons of the year frequent Greece in vast numbers, -as they do Egypt and Southern Italy.[792] It has been supposed that -the island of Delos received the name of Ortygia from the quails -(ὄρτυγες), which alighted on it in great numbers during their -migration towards the north. They were likewise plentiful in -Phœnicia,[793] where they sacrificed them to Heracles. Numerous -contrivances were resorted to for catching this bird. During pairing -time it was taken as follows: mirrors were set up in the fields with -snares in front of them, and the quail running towards the imaginary -bird was there entrapped. Clearchos of Soli describes a curious mode -of capturing jackdaws. In places frequented by those birds they used, -he says, to lay broad vessels filled to the brim with oil. Presently -the jackdaws, curious and prying in their temper, would alight on the -edges, and, being vastly pleased with the reflection of their own -beauty, would chuckle over it and clap their wings, till becoming -saturated with oil the feathers stuck together and they could no -longer fly. - -Footnote 792: - - They are taken in so great numbers in the island of Capri that they - constitute the chief source of revenue to the bishop of that island. - -Footnote 793: - - Phanodem. l. iii. ap. Ath. ix. 47. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - SCHOOLS OF THE PHILOSOPHERS AND SOPHISTS. - - -Having thus drawn as complete a picture as the plan of our work would -permit, of the physical training of the Greeks in all its branches, -comprehending Gymnastics properly so called, together with those other -exercises which under the name of field-sports were enjoyed rather -than studied under the lead of no master but experience, we now return -to that mental discipline, which for the most part exerted its -influence in the developement of the intellectual faculties at the -same time that the foregoing bodily discipline brought forth all the -energies of the frame. We shall thus have traversed the whole circle -of Hellenic education, when we shall have exhibited the youth passing -through the schools of the philosophers and sophists into the -world.[794] - -Footnote 794: - - Cf. M. Ant. Muret. Orat. vii. p. 70. sqq. - -Their mode of teaching differed very materially from ours. It scarcely -seemed an object with them to devour large quantities of learning, but -going leisurely again and again over the same ground they appeared to -give the lessons they received time to sink like gentle rain into -their minds. Some advantage, too, arose from their method of teaching, -as far as possible, orally. The master was to them instead of a -library. A book has but one set of phrases for all. But the living -teacher, if he found his pupils could not rise to his language, could -lower it to meet them half-way, could be brief or expansive, or -general or minute, as the necessities of the moment required. There -was a familiarity, too, in the relation, scarcely compatible with our -manners. The youth forgot he was learning, and rather supposed himself -to be searching in the company of a friend for truths equally unknown -to both. This appears to have been more particularly the case in their -moral studies,[795] at least in the Socratic schools, where all the -pomp of wisdom was laid aside that it might be the more popular. - -Footnote 795: - - Vid. Ant. Muret. Orat. iv. 43. sqq. - -It has been already remarked that the first lessons in morals were -learned from the poets, whom, in my opinion, Plato wrongs most -egregiously when he arraigns their fables as so many sources of -immorality.[796] He appears, in fact, wilfully to confound them with -those impostors, the purificators and diviners, who furnished the -Popes with the original hint of penitences and indulgencies, and -expiating crimes by proxy. But this is unjust. It is visiting the sins -of low and sensual versifiers upon the divine heads of bards whom -heaven itself had inspired. However this may be, upon the Greeks young -and old no teachers exercised so powerful an influence as the poets, -who, from Homer down to Callistratos,[797] whether in epic or -after-dinner song, wielded the empire of their feelings despotically, -prompting them to actions pregnant with renown. And the avidity with -which their lessons were imbibed, is compared to that of a swarm of -bees alighting (ἐπιπτομένοι)[798] on a bed of spring flowers. In fact, -what Jason of Pheræ said of himself,—that he was devoured by the love -of empire[799]—appears to have been true of the Athenian youth, in -their irrepressible thirst after knowledge. Such of them, at least, as -were εὐφυεῖς καὶ ἱκανοὶ, are said to have hungered fiercely after -philosophy, and that not for any particular part but for the whole. -And Socrates declares that he who while young is fastidious in his -studies, rejecting this, disliking that, before mature reason has -taught him which is useful and which is not, may consider himself what -he pleases, but can never be great in learning or philosophy. To excel -in these it is necessary insatiably to covet every kind of -instruction, and joyfully to enter on the acquisition of it. He says, -indeed, that they resemble sight-seers, greedy of every spectacle; or -musical people, who are led by the ear wherever fiddling and singing -are going forward; except that, with the latter pleasure is the sole -motive, with the former an exalted passion for truth.[800] But what -truths are the object of philosophy? Those which have regard to the -nature and attributes of goodness, from which, as from a fountain, -flow all the usefulness and advantages of virtue. Philosophy in Greece -comprehended religion, and to be religious was to act justly, -benevolently, mercifully towards men, humbly and piously towards God. -To live thus, that is, to be virtuous, they considered it necessary to -possess a knowledge of the whole theory of ethics, since virtue, in -their opinion, is incompatible with ignorance. But man, besides being -a moral being, accountable to God, is a political being, accountable -to the laws of his country. He has duties also to perform towards that -country. To perform these properly he must comprehend the nature of a -state, and the relations subsisting between the state and the -individuals who compose it; that is, he must be acquainted with the -science of politics. Again in all free states, reasoning and -persuasion, not blind will and brute force, are the instruments of -government. The citizen must, therefore, be versed in logic and -eloquence,[801] that he may think correctly and explain clearly and -forcibly to others the convictions which determine his own judgment. -We have thus a cycle of Greek studies with the reasons on which they -were founded. - -Footnote 796: - - Plat. de Rep. ii. t. i. p. 112. sqq. Stallb. Cf. Hardion, Dissert. - sur l’Eloquence, iii. Biblioth. Academ. t. iii. p. 194. p. 210. sqq. - -Footnote 797: - - See Schoel. Hist. de la Lit. Grecq. i. 288. Lowth. Poes. Sacr. Hebr. - p. 12. Leipz. - -Footnote 798: - - Plat. de Rep. ii. t. i. p. 115. Stallb. On the ardent and noble - temperament of Athenian youth, see the note of Valckennaer, ad - Xenoph. Mem. iii. 3. 13. p. 286. Schneid. Cf. Plat. de Rep. v. t. i. - p. 345. - -Footnote 799: - - Aristot. Polit. iii. 4. - -Footnote 800: - - Plat. de Rep. v. t. i. p. 393. seq. Stallb. - -Footnote 801: - - Plat. Gorg. t. iii. p. 27. De Rep. t. vi. p. 358. sqq. Bekk. - -With regard to their religious education, which commenced in the -nursery and was interwoven with every other study, it may be observed -that without it no person at Athens could rise to any eminence, or -command, even in private life, the respect of his fellow-citizens. To -be in favour with them a man must be supposed to stand well with the -gods. They conceived, in fact, that while conscience remained -unstifled, there would be a sense of religion, and that when this -went, probity, for the most part, and honour fled along with it. For -regarding the deity in the light of a parent,—"we are all his -offspring,"—irreligion appeared to them something like a disposition -to parricide, a compound of injustice with the basest and most -atrocious ingratitude. Arrived at this pitch, a man to compass his -ends would scruple at nothing. They, therefore, regarded every symptom -of impiety as a blow aimed at the democracy, of which Zeus was king. -He who tramples on his country’s religion, which is the basis of all -its laws, will infallibly, if it be in his power, trample next on -those laws themselves, and next on his fellow-citizens whom the laws -protect. Hence the terror, the vengeance, and, indeed, the cruelty -arising out of the mutilation of the Hermæ, and the profanation of the -mysteries, and the prosecution which followed, of Alcibiades, -Andocides, and the rest. An attempt had been made to break down that -enclosure of reverential sanctity which surrounded the commonwealth, -and commended it to the protection of heaven. They considered the act -a formal renouncing of the Almighty, and feared,—so imperfect were -their notions,—lest the impiety of the few should redound to the -detriment of the whole. - -The remark is common in the mouths[802] of men that the education of -the people should be conformable to the spirit of their institutions. -But this is a mere truism, and means no more than this,—that men -should not be enjoined one thing by their laws and political -constitution, and another by the habits and maxims taught in youth. -The grand difficulty, however, always has been to make them so to -harmonise in practice that they should be but two parts of the same -system. - -Footnote 802: - - See on this part of the subject Destutt de Tracy. Com. sur l’Esprit - des Loix, p. 25. sqq. - -In monarchies[803] a spirit of exclusion, something like that on which -the system of castes is built, must pervade the whole business of -education. The nobility must have schools to themselves, or, if -wealthy plebeians be suffered to mingle with them, superior honour and -consideration must be yielded to the former. The masters must look up -to them and to their families, not to the people for preferment and -advancement; and the plebeians, though superior in number, must be -weak in influence, and be taught to borrow their tone from the -privileged students. - -Footnote 803: - - In an ill-constituted state, observes Muretus, a good man cannot be - a good citizen, for he will desire to alter the government, which - being bad he cannot respect.—In Aristot. Eth. p. 398. - -In an oligarchy, properly so called, there should be no mingling of -the classes at all. Schools must be established expressly for the -governors, and others for the governed. The basis of education should -be the notion that some men were born for rule and others for -subjection; that the happiness of individuals depends on uninquiring -submission to authority; that their rulers are wise and they unwise; -that all they have to do with the laws is to obey them; and all -teachers must be made to feel that their admission among the great -depends on the faithful advocacy of such notions. - -In free states, again, the contrary course will best promote the ends -of government; the schools must be strictly public, and not merely -theoretically but practically open to all. There should be no -compulsion to attend them, but ignorance of the things there taught -should involve a forfeiture of civil rights as much as being of -unsound mind; for in truth, an ignorant man is not of sound mind, any -more than one unable to use all his limbs is of sound body. Here the -discipline must be very severe. A spirit rigidly puritanical must -pervade the studies and preside over the amusements. Every tendency -irreligious, immoral, ungentlemanly, as unworthy the dignity of -freedom, should be nipped in the bud. The students must be taught to -despise all other distinctions but those of virtue and genius, in -other words the power to serve the community. They should be taught to -contemplate humanity as in other respects wholly on the same level, -with nothing above it but the laws. The teachers must be dependent on -the people alone, and owe their success to their own abilities and -popular manners. And this last in a great measure was the spirit of -Athenian education.[804] - -Footnote 804: - - The advantages of which were so much coveted by foreigners, that - they sent their children in crowds to be educated at Athens.—Æsch. - Epist. Orat. Att. xii. 214. - -The best proof[805] that could be furnished of the excellence of a -system of education would be its rendering a people almost independent -of government, that is swayed more by their habits than by the laws. -This was preëminently the case with the Athenians. They required to be -very little meddled with by their rulers. Instructed in their duties -and the reason which rendered them duties, accustomed from childhood -to perform them, they lived as moral and educated men live still, -independent of the laws. - -Footnote 805: - - A commonwealth, says Plato, once well constituted will proceed like - an ever rolling circle. For by persevering in good training and - instruction, the minds and disposition of the people will be - rendered good, and these again in their turn will improve the system - of training and instruction, and even the race of man itself, as the - breed of other animals, is rendered more excellent by care.—De Rep. - t. vi. p. 173. Cf. Isocrates, Areop. § 14. seq. - -This was the effect. The causes must be sought in their discipline and -studies. I have observed that among them a principal subject of -investigation was the science of politics, that is the science -according to the principles of which states are framed and preserved. -Nor did they, as some do, conduct their studies in that cold manner in -which men investigate matters of mere curiosity, or things they are -never to do more than converse or write about. They studied it as a -profession, as a means of rising to power, and through power to fame, -that is with all the ardour and earnestness of which enthusiastic -youth is capable. Education by this means exerted an influence unknown -under other forms of government. A consciousness that they were -engaged in a sort of sacred contest, of which all Greece was -spectator, pervaded the youth of every rank, and impelled them -irresistibly into that course of studies which promised the greatest -probability of success. Hence, no doubt much of the enthusiasm with -which philosophy was cultivated. It was often not so much the abstract -love of wisdom as a conviction of the political value of that wisdom -which filled the schools of the great men who taught at Athens, -whether they were physiologists, mathematicians, masters of music, of -strategy, or of eloquence. The example of Pericles applying himself to -natural philosophy under Anaxagoras, and deriving thence those streams -of pure and masculine eloquence which overflowed the Pnyx, operated -forcibly on public opinion. By the same arts and studies men hoped to -mount to equal elevation, forgetting that Anaxagoras only watered the -plant spontaneously produced by nature. - -However, the hopes and aspirations I have described filled the schools -first of the philosophers, then of the sophists. And this is the -natural course of things. Few pursue wisdom for its own sake, in order -that it may purify and render holy their own minds. And by this -dispensation of Providence society is a gainer; for, as man is -constituted, no sooner does he possess any mental excellence, any -knowledge or art or experience, which can be rendered available, than -he comes eagerly forward with it to extort praise or reward from the -community by conferring benefits upon it. The examples of reserve in -this matter are few, nor, in fact, are they to be commended who in -this or in any thing else hide their light under a bushel; and -therefore Plato is wrong when he teaches that wise men will as a rule -abstain from intermeddling with state affairs, unless constrained -thereto by fines and menaces. He confesses, indeed, that the worst of -all punishments is to be governed by evil men, and that to avoid this -even philosophers will consent to hold the reins of government.[806] -But where they do not, they are always in free states the masters of -those who do. Their schools were the colleges and universities of the -ancient world, and so long as freedom endured the great object of -their philosophy was to create able citizens and a happy state. On -this account their remains are still instinct with life. Their object -was gradually to ripen human nature into perfection by perfecting its -education and its institutions. They knew how completely a people is -in the power of its teachers for good or for evil, and accordingly, -with some few exceptions, applied themselves to elevate the -conceptions, the moral tone, the feelings of their countrymen, seldom -descending to trifling disquisitions excepting for relaxation in the -intervals of more important inquiries. - -Footnote 806: - - Repub. i. t. vi. p. 42. seq. Bekk. - -The physical sciences,[807] save in the case of their earliest -cultivators, were regarded as simple handmaids to ethics and politics. -Nevertheless, in the study of them much earnestness was exhibited. -For, where knowledge is at all held in honour, men will always be -found sufficiently prone to the palpable and visible. But even these -pursuits assumed a peculiar form in Greece. The genius of the nation, -essentially creative, developed its force and its peculiar energy in -framing systems of physics, explaining the origin of the world, the -birth of the human race, its early fortunes and fabulous history. -Every great philosopher became, like an intellectual sun, the centre -of a system of physics, and his disciples like satellites revolved -around him, receiving and reflecting his light. This, despite of some -inconveniences, was highly favourable to science. It compelled men to -the study of the philosophical art of attack and defence. Each school -became the reviewers and critics of its rivals, sought out their weak -points, studied them profoundly, called up all its acuteness, all its -subtlety, both to assault others and defend itself; and thus, whatever -became of the system, the professors of it carried, as far as might be -towards perfection, their intellectual powers, invested their -reasonings with every grace of which they were susceptible, culled -from the most recondite arts and hidden resources of style and -eloquence. - -Footnote 807: - - Vid. Athen. ii. 18.—That geography entered but very little into - their studies may be inferred from Thucydides, vii. 1. - -But, while this golden currency was circulating through Greece, -enriching its mind and augmenting its chances of independence and -happiness, a race of men sprang up, who brought into use a number of -ingenious and beautiful counters,—I mean the sophists.[808] The -influence of these men in the education of the Greeks has seldom been -correctly appreciated. It has been more common to vituperate than to -study them. They corrupted, we are told, the mind and manners of -youth. But how? No one, as far as I know, has observed that to them is -to be traced the extinction of the republican spirit and the opening -of a way for despotism.[809] That they created the yearning after -innovation I will not affirm; but their epoch constituted a period of -transition from republican to monarchical institutions, and the only -way in which they can be said to have corrupted the youth was by -undermining that love of liberty and of country, the feeling of -disinterestedness on which chiefly a commonwealth must be founded, and -inculcating in lieu thereof a system of ethics more in conformity with -the modifications of civil polity prevalent in modern times. In this -way only did they corrupt and undermine the morals of their country. -But in so far they effected it, and that the more easily, in that -circumstances conspired, about the time they arose, to fling the whole -business of teaching into their hands, insomuch that to be a sophist, -and to teach youth, grew to be synonymous terms.[810] - -Footnote 808: - - Vid. Herod. i. 29. And Cf. Schœll. Hist. de la Lit. Grecq. ii. 134. - Isoc. de Perm. § 26. Muret. in Arist. Ethic. p. 477. Menag. ad Diog. - Laert. p. 5. a. b. &c. - -Footnote 809: - - Hobbes, the great representative of this class of men in modern - times, living under the despotism of the Stuarts, sought to turn the - tables upon the philosophers, and accused them of corrupting the - minds of youth. “As to rebellion, in particular against monarchy, - one of the most frequent causes of it is the reading of the books of - policy and histories of the ancient Greeks and Romans; from which - young men, and all others that are unprovided of the antidote of - solid reason, receiving a strong and delightful impression of the - great exploits of war, achieved by the conductors of their armies, - receive withal a pleasing idea of all they have done besides; and - imagine their great prosperity not to have proceeded from the - emulation of particular men, but from the virtue of their popular - form of government.”—Leviathan, pt. ii. c. 29. vol. iii. p. - 315.—Edition of Sir William Molesworth. - -Footnote 810: - - Poll. iv. 17. - -They were themselves, however, but a corruption of what in its origin -was good, and always continued in the opinion of the undiscerning to -be confounded with the men they aped.[811] Whether we have sophists -among us at the present day, I will not determine; but this is the way -they arose in Greece. It was soon discovered by shrewd and calculating -men, that since philosophy excited much admiration and rendered its -teachers objects of mark and reverence, it might by a little ingenuity -be converted into a source of profit.[812] But by what means?—The -philosophers at the outset were in possession of the popular ear, more -through the sanctity of their lives, of which all could judge, than -through their doctrines, necessarily comprehended in their fullest -extent by few. They despaired, therefore, of the people. There -existed, however, in Greece, and will ever exist in free states, young -men of immeasurable ambition, who, impatient of the restraint of laws, -would gladly cast them off, seize the reins of government, and become -the tyrants of their country. The mere conception of such a design -implies the possession of wealth and powerful friends. Eager for any -help they enthusiastically welcomed all who seemed capable of -promoting their views, and when the sophists appeared, enriched with a -variety of knowledge, specious, eloquent, unscrupulous, they eagerly -threw themselves into their arms, became their pupils, and in -conjunction with them framed the subjugation of Greece. - -Footnote 811: - - Plat. de Rep. t. vi. p. 286. seq. Cf. Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 331. - -Footnote 812: - - That money was the sole object of the sophists is observed by - Isocrates, Hel. Encom. § 4. Elsewhere, with a stroke of sly humour - not usual with him, he says, they would sell anything short of - immortality for three or four minæ.—Cont. Sophist. § 3, p. 576. See - on the whole subject of the Sophists, Hard. Dissert. v. Bibl. Acad. - t. iii. p. 240. sqq. Muret. in Arist. Ethic. p. 533. Cressol. Theat. - Rhet. v. iii. p. 447. - -In tracing this class of men to their origin, we must look back a -great way, and endeavour to detect them, under a variety of forms, -different from that in which they ultimately settled. They arose with -the first philosophers, or the first poet who made self the centre of -his researches, and sought to render the investigation of science a -means of personal aggrandisement. Protagoras describes in Plato the -rise of his own art; where, though a side blow be wrongfully aimed at -poetry itself, the truth of the accusation against a number of poets -cannot be denied. He makes good at the very outset what I have -asserted above. They travelled, he says, over all Greece, alluring the -noblest youths to abandon the company of their friends and -fellow-citizens, to become their pupils, and be guided wholly by their -maxims, the nature of which I shall presently unfold. The feelings -they thus excited, he denominates envy and malevolence, though in -truth it was nothing more than that patriotic and parental jealousy -and hatred experienced by the good when they behold those they love -led astray. The better to escape this hostility, the ancient sophists -adopted various disguises, sometimes enveloping their art in the folds -of poetry as Homer, Hesiod, and Simonides, on other occasions -affecting to be the interpreters of foreign rites and oracles, as -Orpheus and Musæus; while a third class concealed the features of -their art under the less suspected mask of gymnastics, such as Iccos -of Tarentum, and that Herodicos of Silymbria a man of Megarean origin -who in the art of sophistry was second to none of his age. -Occasionally they made their entrance into cities as professors of -music. In this capacity Damon conversed with Pericles, and Agathocles, -an Athenian by birth, diffused through the state the seeds of -sophistry; Pythocleides, too, the Coan, pursued the same course; and -thus a youth, while ostensibly engaged in gaining a proficiency on the -lyre or cithara, was initiated in the mysteries of tyranny, irreligion -and injustice.[813] - -Footnote 813: - - Plat. Protag. t. i. p. 163. seq. Bekk. - -By degrees, however, it was discovered that all disguise might be very -safely laid aside.[814] In fact the object at first aimed at,—to -escape the notice of men in power,—was found impracticable; and as to -the people, against whom all these shafts were directed, it was easy -to delude them, since what their leaders recommended they praised. -Protagoras, accordingly, boldly professed himself a sophist, trusting -for safety to his eloquence, and that growing laxity of manners which -was rapidly undermining the old republican constitution and preparing -the way for a new order of things. His candour was praiseworthy, but -lamentable were the circumstances which rendered it safe. - -Footnote 814: - - At a late period, by a decree of Sophocles, the sophists were driven - out of Attica.—Athen. xiii. 92. Cf. Cressol. Theat. Rhet. i. 12. p. - 87. - -I would not, however, be understood to share the opinions of those, -who can discern nothing but evil in the doctrines of the sophists. On -many points their notions harmonised altogether with those of the -wisest philosophers. Accordingly it was not precisely what they -inculcated, but the principles which regulated their teaching, that -rendered them sophists. They taught with a view to enrich themselves, -which is wholly incompatible with a strict allegiance to truth; since, -with such views, men will always be found to prophesy agreeably in -order that they may effect their purpose. - -This circumstance has not been sufficiently considered by the writers -who undertake their apology. They compare them with the literary men -of modern times, and imagine this comparison a defence. But does it -not rather substantiate the accusation? It is true that, like modern -literary men, they haunted the houses of the great, whom they regarded -as their patrons; that to them, rather than to the people, they looked -for support; that, like them, they worshipped wealth and abhorred -poverty; that their studies, their discourses, their writings, -diffused far and wide through society a taste for arts and elegance; -that they furnished the public in their declamations, satires, novels, -of which they were the inventors, with inexhaustible sources of -amusement:—but what virtue did they inculcate? On whom did they urge -the necessity of sacrificing private to public good? On what occasion -did they dare to stem the torrent of immorality, of impiety, of -unpatriotic maxims, which the base and the selfish were pouring forth -against the old bulwarks of freedom? That among them there were men of -a very high order of genius, it is impossible to deny. Gorgias of -Leontium, from whose name we have borrowed an epithet to express -whatever is most glorious in nature or dazzling and elaborate in art, -Protagoras, Prodicos, Hippias of Elis, Polos of Agrigentum, -Thrasymachos of Chalcedon, have left behind them an imperishable -memory;[815] but so have Busiris and Phalaris and Catiline. They are -remembered for the good they might have done, and the evil they did. - -Footnote 815: - - Muretus considers the word sophist to be synonymous with a teacher - of eloquence: “Sophista, id est, dicendi magister;” and, speaking of - this same Thrasymachos, cites a passage from Cicero which attributes - to him the invention of the rhetorical style. Orat. § 12. Suidas - regards Thrasymachos as the first who made use of the period and the - colon; and supposes him to have been pupil to Plato and Isocrates, - whereas he preceded both.—Muret. Comm. p. 631. seq. - -Since, however, the sophists acted so important a part in the -education of the Greeks, the space I devote to them is clearly their -due: it is necessary to the thorough comprehension of the subject. -Almost from the moment they arose they aimed at a monopoly of the art -of teaching, and the father of the art, properly so called, was -Gorgias. Few names of antiquity, as Geel[816] has well observed, are -better known or more celebrated than that of this distinguished -sophist, among the causes of whose amazing popularity must be reckoned -the number of great men whom he instructed in eloquence, and the -splendid vices of style which his example and precept brought into -vogue. The exact date of his birth is not known:[817] he is, however, -supposed to have been born at Leontium in Sicily, about the -seventy-third Olympiad. His father’s name was Charmantes.[818] Nearly -all the particulars of his early life are unknown, the ancients having -been as much too negligent as we are too lavish of biographical -details. Under whom he studied, with whom he conversed, how much he -owed to others, and how much to his own genius and industry, are -points not easy to be determined, though we cannot adopt the opinion -of Ælian,[819] who sends him to school to Philolaos; or of Diogenes -Laertius, who will have Empedocles to have been his teacher, since the -latter was very little older than himself, and the former much -younger. Empedocles is indeed said to have invented the art of -rhetoric, in which case we might suppose Gorgias to have been his -scholar. But how invented? He may have been the first who sought to -reduce it into an art, or who so called it; but as Aristotle observes, -every man who reasons persuasively is a rhetorician, whether his -eloquence be based on the formal study of the art or not. In -philosophy, indeed, he would seem[820] to have been the disciple of -Empedocles; but in rhetoric they both very probably derived -instruction from Corax and Tisias, who flourished and taught rhetoric -in Sicily about the period of their youth.[821] - -Footnote 816: - - Hist. Sophist. p. 13. - -Footnote 817: - - Clinton, Fast. Hellen. ii. 28. 65. 67. Geel (Hist. Sophist. p. 14) - assumes the seventieth Olympiad as the date of his birth; but as it - seems to result from the text of Pausanias that he was still living - in 380. B.C. this would extend the duration of his life beyond that - assigned to it by any ancient writer. - -Footnote 818: - - Of whom, as Muretus (Comm. p. 631. seq.) observes, no mention occurs - save in Plato de Repub. i. § 2. t. i. p. 8. Stallb. - -Footnote 819: - - Var. Hist. i. 23. Diog. Laert. viii. 58.—Mr. Clinton, however, - adopts the opinion of Diogenes (Fast. Hell. ii. 365); and, to render - it probable, supposes Empedocles to have been a few years older than - his pupil. - -Footnote 820: - - Plat. Men. p. 14. g. - -Footnote 821: - - Cic. Brut. § 12. Geel, Hist. Sophist. p. 15. seq. Sext. Empir. p. - 306. seq. - -These, however, are mere conjectures. He would probably have died in -obscurity, and been forgotten with the kings who reigned _ante -Agamemnona_, had not the misfortunes of his country brought him, in -old age, to the great workshop of Fame. The immediate occasion was -this; the people of Leontium having engaged and been worsted in war by -the Syracusans, sent ambassadors to demand succour of the Athenian -people, and among these the principal speaker was Gorgias. Practised -in a style of oratory new at Athens, indulging in a profusion of -metaphors and other figures bordering on the licences of poetry, he -immediately hurried away captive his hearers, fulfilled the desires of -his fellow citizens, and established for himself a reputation[822] -where all men most desired to possess one. To augment his glory it has -not been unusual to enumerate Pericles and Thucydides among those who -became his scholars. But this embassy took place in the fifth year of -the Peloponnesian war when Pericles had been dead two years. That -Thucydides heard him, however, is not at all improbable, since his -exile did not take place[823] till the eighth year of the war. Among -his admirers are mentioned two other men, whose principles and history -afford the best illustration of what fruit the teaching of the -sophists was likely to produce,—Critias and Alcibiades, whose ability, -courage, and profligacy rendered them the scourges of their country. -It has been with great probability supposed that, having on his return -to Leontium rendered an account of his mission, he quitted Sicily for -ever, for the purpose of becoming a professor of eloquence in Greece. -This is Diodorus’s account, but the Scholiast on Hermogenes supposes -him to have remained at Athens. Whether this was the case or not, he -soon considered one city, however great or celebrated, too confined a -theatre for the display of his merit. He, therefore, adopted the -profession of an itinerant lecturer, with the double view of -gratifying his vanity and filling his purse. And he thoroughly -understood the art of dazzling mankind, for, not supposing it enough -to unfold before his auditors his magazines of tropes and figures, -stored up, like theatrical thunder and lightning, to be introduced at -the proper moment, he had recourse to other dramatic arts for -producing effect, appearing in magnificent attire, flowing purple -robes, embroidered sandals, his fingers sparkling with gold and gems. -But though the oldest of the sophists, he was not the first who -adopted this course. Protagoras, and perhaps others, had previously -commenced their peregrinations, and begun to practise on the credulity -and weakness of the multitude. Among the Athenians they were paid -chiefly with praise; “the solid pudding” was to be sought elsewhere. -And accordingly we find, as Plato sarcastically expresses it, that -upon the advent of the sophists, the Thessalians, usually celebrated -for their full purses and fine horses,[824] grew all at once -remarkable for their love of wisdom, that is, paid the sophists -handsomely, in the hope of thus enticing knowledge to remain among -them. In fact they supposed that wisdom is like a candle and lantern, -by which you may have light,—or a saint’s shirt, by wearing which you -infallibly become holy,—or the lamp of Epictetus, which a rich man -bought at three thousand drachmas, in the hope that it would light him -into the very adyta of philosophy. However this may be, it is very -certain that the Thessalians became the patrons of the sophists, who -disposed in that country of more wisdom and eloquence than in any -other part of Greece, and the principal purchasers of it were of the -rich family of the Aleuadæ, the earliest Mæcenases, I believe, on -record. - -Footnote 822: - - Diod. Sicul. xii. 53. - -Footnote 823: - - I cannot, therefore, see the reason of Geel’s doubt.—Hist. Sophist. - p. 18. Cf. Clint. Fast. Hellen. ii. p. 68. - -Footnote 824: - - Plat. Hip. Maj. t. v. p. 416. - -But the sophists, to their credit be it acknowledged, were no misers. -What they easily gained they spent freely; and not merely so, but in -many instances converted the effects of their personal vanity into -public ornaments of the whole country. Thus Gorgias, enriched by the -spoils of Thessaly, erected at Delphi a golden statue[825] of himself, -which argued a more generous spirit than he would have shown by -setting it afloat in the channels of trade or husbandry or usury, in -the hope of rendering himself a great capitalist. - -Footnote 825: - - Cressol. Theat. Rhet. i. 8. - -Gorgias was long absent from Athens, and visited during his travels -the most considerable cities of Greece. Among other places he came to -Delphi, where from the steps of the altar, probably during the games, -he delivered that oration called the Pythian, in celebration of which -he erected the above-mentioned statue.[826] From thence perhaps,—for -the chronology of his journey is not exactly known,—he proceeded to -Olympia, where he also assisted at the games for the purpose of -exhibiting his oratorical talents in the presence of all Greece, and -reaping as it were in an hour a harvest of glory. This declamation, -delivered during the Peloponnesian war, had at least the -recommendation of being patriotic. Standing in front of the temple of -Zeus, the god of concord and of peace, he earnestly recommended union -and harmony.[827] If war they must have, there were the -barbarians,—let their arms be turned against them. With what success -he spoke, history has informed us; but the satirists of antiquity, -ever naturally addicted to scandal, are careful to remark that this -great advocate of concord and unanimity kept up a civil war in his own -house, where the charms of some beautiful-cheeked θεραπαινίδιον[828] -excited the jealousy of Madame. At the same time the old gentleman, to -adopt the most moderate computation, must have been hard upon -three-score and ten, though some would make him eighty. - -Footnote 826: - - Geel, Hist. Sophist. p. 23. - -Footnote 827: - - They sometimes selected more humble subjects for their panegyric, - for example, the bumble-bee, or salt.—Isocrat. Hel. Encom. § 4. p. - 461. Plutarch, too, speaks of a learned work on salt, which he - considered very edifying.—Sympos. § 5. A French author of the same - class devoted twenty years of his life to a treatise on the - nightingale. Another member of this confraternity is celebrated by - Rousseau:—“On dit qu’un allemand a fait un livre sur un zeste de - citron; j’en aurais fait un sur chaque gramen des prés, sur chaque - mousse des bois, sur chaque lichen qui tapisse les rochers; enfin, - je ne voulais pas laisser un poil d’herbe, pas un atome végétal qui - ne fût amplement décrit.”—Réveries, t. iii. p. 106. On the verbal - trifling of the sophists see Muret. in Aristot. Ethic. p. 79. By Le - Conte, in his Commentary on the Anabasis, Gorgias is transformed - into “a prudent and experienced officer,” because Proxenos is said - to have studied under him.—t. i. p. 246. - -Footnote 828: - - Plut. Conj. Præcept. § 43. whom Geel follows.—Hist. Sophist. p. 25. - But Isocrates, who had been himself a hearer of Gorgias in Thessaly - (Cic. Orat. § 22), relates that he was never married, and had no - children.—De Permut. § 26. 10. Another tradition however speaks of - his son Philip as having been condemned by the Heliasts.—Schol. - Aristoph. Av. 1700. - -Over the latter days of Gorgias[829] hovers the same darkness which -conceals from view the commencement. It is known with no degree of -certainty where he spent the close of his long life or where he died, -though as no account exists of his return to Sicily, it probably was -in Greece. - -Footnote 829: - - See Athen. xii. 71. - -Next to Gorgias in reputation was Protagoras, whose history is still -less known. In the opinion of some writers he was the oldest of the -sophists. Though the date of his birth be later than that of Gorgias, -he preceded him in the profession of the art. He was certainly, I -think, born much earlier than is supposed either by Clinton or by -Geel, who take him to have been almost exactly of Socrates’ age, that -is to have come into the world about 479 B. C. But in this opinion I -cannot concur. It is in direct contradiction with a passage in -Plato[830] who, however careless in matters of chronology, would, I am -persuaded, never push his negligence so far as to make one man say to -another, born in the same year with himself, that he was old enough to -be his father. To me, therefore it appears necessary that we throw -back ten or twelve years the date of his birth. He was ten years, it -is admitted, older than Democritos. The latter, who had made -considerable progress in philosophy when he saw Protagoras in the -capacity of a wood-carrier and undertook to initiate him in his -system, could hardly have been less than seven or eight and twenty, so -that the former was little short of forty. He exercised the profession -of sophist during forty years, and died about 406 B. C. He must -therefore have been born about 484–485 B. C.[831] - -Footnote 830: - - Addressing Socrates, among many others, he says in one place, ἀλλὰ - πότερον ὑμῖν, ὡς πρεσβύτερος νεωτέροις, μῦθον λέγων ἐπιδείξω. κ. τ. - λ.—Protag. i. 170. But this is nothing to what he elsewhere says: - οὐδενὸς ὅτου οὐ πάντων ἂν ὑμῶν καθ᾽ ἡλικίαν πατὴρ εἴην.—Id. p. - 165.—which without extreme absurdity a man could not say to a person - exactly of his own age. Meiners. (Hist. des Arts et des Sciences, - iii. 258), evidently refers to this passage; as does also Hardion. - Dissert. vii. Bib. Acad. iii. 295. Yet it must have wholly escaped - Geel, who (Hist. Sophist. p. 71) says: “Deinde _nescimus_ quomodo - efficiatur e Platonis Protagorâ, sophistam ejusdem nominis _multo_ - majorem fuisse Socrate.” - -Footnote 831: - - Diog. Laert. ix. 55. observes that, according to some writers, he - died, at the age of 90, during a journey.—Geel, p. 81. It is - sufficiently remarkable that most of the Sophists attained to a very - great old age, and the same thing may be said generally of the - philosophers of antiquity. Lord Bacon undertakes to account for the - fact. Having given the palm of long life to hermits and anchorites, - he says: “Next unto this is a life led in good letters, such as was - that of Philosophers, Rhetoricians, Grammarians. This life is also - led in leisure, and in those thoughts which, seeing they are severed - from the affairs of the world, bite not, but rather delight through - their vanity and impertinency: they live also at their pleasure, - spending their time in such things as like them best, and for the - most part in the company of young men, which is ever the most - cheerful.”—History of Life and Death, p. 24. - -But I cannot here pursue the history of the sophists, which no further -belongs to my work than as it is connected with the subject of -education. On their writings, however, and manner of teaching it is -necessary that I should be more explicit. Whether Gorgias first -published or Protagoras is of little moment; both evidently wrote with -the same aim, which was to confound truth and error, right and wrong, -not perhaps through any enmity to truth or to virtue, but from the -sheer vanity of being thought capable of any thing, and the desire of -converting their talents to account. One distinguishing quality of the -class was fertility. They piqued themselves on being able to pour -forth volume after volume, treatise after treatise, speech after -speech. This, indeed, it was that constituted their principal claim to -superiority over the philosophers, a pains-taking race, among whom the -period of intellectual gestation was longer than that of the elephant; -whereas your true sophist, without meditation, study or experience, -astonished his admirers by the copiousness of his invention, by -imagery, gorgeous and glittering, generally stolen from the poets, and -by a piquant air of profoundness and originality, which the art of -seeming to doubt all that other men believe never fails to confer. - -Besides, comprehending enough of human nature to know that whoever -amuses is listened to, whatever atrocities he may utter, they were -careful to invest their doctrine with a light and graceful exterior. -No man ever excelled them at a joke. They in fact managed matters so -that in their hands every thing became a joke, and to overthrow an -antagonist demanded nothing more than to be able to raise a laugh at -his expense; for, all the world over, in the opinion of the vulgar, -whoever is ridiculous is wrong. From calculation, they eschewed the -uphill task of correcting error, or advancing truth, or reforming -manners. To upbraid men for their faults and counsel amendment, is to -incur their enmity. Reformers, prophets, apostles of truth have always -been persecuted, often put to death. The sophists felt no ambition to -be martyrs. Poverty, too, and obscurity, spare diet, a coarse mantle, -and the solitude in which the poor great man walks the world, they -could not away with. To their happiness crowds of admirers, opulence, -costly robes[832] and all the refinements of luxury formed a _sine quâ -non_; and accordingly in the choice of their doctrines they were -guided by one consideration only, viz. how they might amuse mankind, -and reap all the advantages of popularity. - -Footnote 832: - - Herault de Sechelles, who, had he lived, would have excelled Boswell - in biography, describes with singular felicity the passion of that - arch-sophist, Buffon, for the splendours of dress. Even among the - peasants of Montbar, a race of primitive simplicity, the French - Hippias would never appear but in an embroidered suit, curled and - decorated as if at court. He had nicely calculated the effect of - external appearances on the mind; and we must forgive him, since he - shared the weakness with Lord Bacon and Aristotle.—See Voyage à - Montbar, p. 42, seq. - -The eloquence which statesmen employed to recommend their measures, -the sophists applied to fictitious uses, imagining themselves in -impossible circumstances, reversing times, confounding manners, and -attacking or defending men long since dead. In all such cases the -interest would chiefly depend on the novelty or ingenuity of the -thoughts and the subtle artifices of style. Hence the extravagance, -the coldness, the perversion of imagery, the distortion and monkey -tricks of language, for which their manner of compositions became -remarkable. The false position they took up led, in philosophy, to -results equally disastrous. To aim at truth, would have been to throw -themselves into the wake of the philosophers, to share, without -worldly compensation, their dangers, labours, and comparative -insignificance. They struck out, therefore, a new course for -themselves. Taking philosophy as it was, they undertook to dispute on -all and every part of it; to show that for a skilful dialectician -there was no proposition that might not with nearly equal facility be -attacked or defended; that by means of syllogisms or enthymemes, -artfully arranged, darkness may be proved to be light, and light -darkness; that between lying and speaking the truth there is no -difference; that in fact both veracity and falsehood are nonentities, -all our notions being mere arbitrary fictions; and that to beat your -dog and to beat your father is the same thing. - -Of this novel and ingenious style of argumentation,[833] in which -Hudibras was an adept, we are furnished with abundant examples by -Plato, more especially in the Euthydemus, where two old fellows, with -arguments longer than their beards, luxuriate in the felicitous -inventions by which, like another Circe, they are enabled to transform -their hearers into hogs and bulldogs. In humorous extravagance the -dialogue scarcely falls short of an Aristophanic comedy or a Christmas -pantomime. Socrates[834] plays the Clown, Ctesippos the Harlequin, and -the blows dealt upon the magicians in the course of the piece, are -such as, were they fully comprehended, would set all Drury Lane or -Covent Garden in a roar. But the length of the scenes prevents their -transplantation into my pages, and the abridgment of a joke is a very -dull thing. Let us, however, hear by what logic they proved Socrates -to have been a second “man without a navel.” - -Footnote 833: - - Another example may be found in Athen. iii. 54. - -Footnote 834: - - Socrates has been confounded with the Sophists, because he - frequented their company to refute them; but there was between them - the same difference, as between a thief-taker and a thief. - -“Answer me,” cried Dionysidoros. - -“Well then,” replied Socrates, “I answer that Iolaus was the nephew of -Heracles, and, as far as I can see, no nephew of mine. For my brother -Patrocles was not his father, but quite another guess sort of person, -Iphicles the brother of Heracles.” - -“And Patrocles was your brother?” - -“By the mother, not by the father.” - -“Then he was your brother, and not your brother?” - -“By the father’s side he was not,” answered Socrates, “since he was -the son of Charidemos, and I of Sophroniscos.” - -“But Sophroniscos, no less than Charidemos, was a father.” - -“Exactly; the former was my father, the latter Patrocles’.” - -“Then was Charidemos other than a father?” - -“He was other than mine.” - -“Then he was a father, and not a father? But, come, are you the same -thing as a stone?” - -“I fear,” replied Socrates, “I shall appear to be no better in your -hands, though I do not discover the identity.” - -“Well, being other than a stone, you are not a stone; being other than -gold, you are not gold. And must not the same thing happen to -Charidemos? Being something else than a father, he is not a father.” - -“So it seems,” replied the philosopher. - -“And what is true of Charidemos,” replied the younger sophist, “must -be true of Sophroniscos. Being other than a father, he is not a -father: from which, my good friend, it follows that you never had any -father at all![835]” - -Footnote 835: - - Plat. Opp. iii. 444, seq. - -Socrates being thus placed on a level with the first man, his friend -Ctesippos took up the ball, and sent it with so much force into the -face of the sophists, that it somewhat startled them. - -“Come, then,” said he, “is not your own father in precisely the same -circumstances? Is he not different from my father?” - -“Not at all,” answered Euthydemos. - -“What, then, he is the same?” - -“Exactly.” - -“I should be sorry to think so. However, is he my father only, or is -he everybody else’s father?” - -“Everybody’s, of course; for can you imagine him to be a father, and -not a father?” - -“I should have thought so,” answered Ctesippos. - -“What! that gold is not gold, and that a man is not a man?” - -“Not so, friend Euthydemos; but you do not, as the saying is, mingle -flax with flax; and your assertion, that your father is the father of -all men, seems very extraordinary.” - -“But he is, though.” - -“Very good; but is he not only the father of men but of horses and -every other animal?” - -“Of everything!” - -“And your mother, in like manner, is the mother of all things?” - -“Certainly.” - -“Then she is the mother of the sea-hedgehog.” - -“And so is yours!” - -“And you are the full brother of gudgeons, cubs, and sucking-pigs.” - -“So are you!” - -“And your father is a dog.” - -“And yours, too!” - -It was now evident they were in anger, and accordingly Dionysidoros -interposed, and observed jocularly,— - -“Provided you will answer me, Ctesippos, I undertake to make you -confess that your father is just what my brother has said. So, tell -me, have you a dog?” - -“I have, and a snappish cur he is, too.” - -“And has he young ones?” - -“Ay, and they are more snappish than himself.” - -“Well, now, is not the dog their father?” - -“No doubt.” - -“And the dog is yours?” - -“Certainly.” - -“It follows then, if he be a father and yours, that he must be your -father; so that his cubs are your brothers.” - -Before the young man could reply to this compliment the sophist -proceeded: - -“Answer me, Ctesippos, a little longer. Do you ever beat that dog?” - -“That I do,” replied Ctesippos laughing; “and I wish I could -administer the same discipline to you in your turn.” - -“Then you beat your own father!” - -“The beating,” answered the young man, “would be more justly inflicted -on yours, for having knowingly let loose two such sages upon -mankind!”[836] - -Footnote 836: - - Plat. Opp. t. iii. p. 245.—The amusing manner of teaching introduced - by these sophists was sometimes imitated by the philosophers. Thus - Theophrastus, who, before proceeding to his school, used to anoint - himself with oil and perform his exercises, had recourse to - extraordinary drollery for the purpose of charming his pupils, - adapting all his gestures and movements to his discourses; so that - when describing the manners and character of a glutton, he used, - like a comic actor, to thrust out his tongue and lick his - lips.—Athen. i. 38. - -But these, after all, were but laughing sophists, who, though they had -succeeded in confounding and obliterating from their own minds every -trace of difference between right and wrong, fell short of that superb -degree of wickedness at which Polos, Callicles, and Thrasymachos -arrived, at least in speculation. The former were mere babblers, who -corrupted a pupil or two whom bad luck threw in their way. -Thrasymachos flew at higher game. His sophistry was political,[837] -and his aim the destruction of freedom, by extinguishing that sense of -justice on which it must ever be based. The genius of the man was -considerable. He had deep thoughts, and investigated boldly; but his -sympathies having somehow been early perverted, he grew sombre, -fierce, and unsociable, and without the slightest disguise advocated, -like our Hobbes,[838] tyrannical maxims and morals. Money, like the -rest, he of course worshipped. Nay, in the conversation at the house -of Cephalos he even ventures to sneer rudely at Socrates’ poverty; -upon which Glaucon[839] observes:—"Don’t fear to go unpaid for the -instruction you may give him, for we will enter into a subscription on -his behalf."[840] Thrasymachos, however, was still more vain than -avaricious. He thirsted to exhibit his notions in order to enjoy the -satisfaction arising from shocking those who heard him. He maintained -that justice is nothing more than what in any state the rulers think -proper to establish; and that, consequently, the ordinances of a -tyrant are as binding and as just as the laws of a free state, since -by nature all actions are indifferent. - -Footnote 837: - - Cf. Dem. Lacrit. § 10. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 113. - -Footnote 838: - - The modern Thrasymachos is as frank in his hatred of philosophers as - the ancient. He compares their enthusiasm in favour of freedom to - the virus imparted by the bite of a mad dog, imagining that nothing - is so sedulously to be guarded against as liberty. He would, if - possible, have the study of ancient statesmen and historians - prohibited, or at least that care should be taken to counteract - their maxims by the teaching of discreet sophists. “I cannot - imagine,” he says, “how anything can be more prejudicial to a - monarchy than the allowing of such books to be publicly read, - without present applying such correctives of discreet masters, as - are fit to take away their venom; which venom I will not doubt to - compare to the biting of a mad dog, which is a disease the - physicians call _hydrophobia_, or _fear of water_. For, as he that - is so bitten has a continual torment of thirst, and yet abhorreth - water, and is in such an estate, as if the poison endeavoured to - convert him into a dog; so, when a monarchy is once bitten to the - quick, by those democratical writers, that continually snarl at that - estate, it wanteth nothing more than a strong monarch, which, - nevertheless, out of a certain _tyrannophobia_ or fear of being - strongly governed, when they have him, they abhor.”—Leviathan, Pt. - ii. c. 29. iii. 315. Count Capo D’Istrias, if he was ignorant of the - language of ancient Greece, appears at least to have understood - something of the spirit of ancient philosophy, for, designing to - establish a tyranny, he prohibited the reading of Plato in the - public schools. He may possibly have learned his maxims of - government from Hobbes, as well as that the master of the academy - deserved his hatred.—Thiersch. Etat. Act. de la Grèce, ii. 121. - -Footnote 839: - - Plat. Rep. i. § 11. t. i. p. 41. Stallb. - -Footnote 840: - - Ἔρανος. Cf. Sympos. t. iv. p. 379. Bekk. - -It was, in fact, a part of the sophistical doctrine, to maintain in -politics, what Hobbes afterwards advocated, the right of the -stronger:— - - —--"The good old rule, the simple plan, - That they should take who have the power, - And they should keep who can." - -But because there is in every man’s heart a rooted prejudice in favour -of justice, they were fain to argue that all governors, in as far as -they deserved the name, would ordain what was best for themselves, and -that, whatever it might be, was just:[841] a very satisfactory -doctrine, which has never grown wholly out of fashion. They laughed to -scorn, as persons who required nurses to look after them and wipe -their noses,[842] whomsoever they found entertaining the notion that -governments were instituted for the good of the governed. - -Footnote 841: - - Upon this point Father Paul observes:—"We must reduce under the - title of justice everything that may contribute to the service of - the state; for the prince has no greater justice than to preserve to - himself the quality of prince, and, in order to this, to keep his - subjects in a dutiful subjection to his authority."—Max. of the Gov. - of Venice, chap. i. § 1. - -Footnote 842: - - Plat. Rep. t. vi. p. 34. - -Their staple comparison was always a flock or a herd. What shepherd, -they inquired, ever looked after his flock for their benefit, and not -for his own use? In like manner magistrates, who, as is proper, hold -the chief place in cities, look on the public exactly as if they are -so many sheep or oxen, and think of nothing, night or day, but how -they may derive most advantage from them. Justice, therefore, is what -promotes the interests of the governors, though it may be loss to the -governed. The man, esteemed just and pious and holy by the -philosopher, was merely, in their opinion, a fool. Whenever anything -is to be gained he gets less than any man, and when anything is to be -done for the community he does more. He is always ready with his purse -whenever anything is to be paid; always out of the way when gain is -afloat. The unjust man, on the contrary, knows what he is about. He -pays and does as little as possible for the public, and takes from it -all he can. The former renders himself disagreeable to his friends and -domestics, by refusing to commit any unjust action on their behalf. -The latter, on the other hand, unscrupulous in acquisition, is able to -oblige many by his wealth if he happens to require their services. -Thus even in private life and small matters injustice is to be -preferred; but when it operates on a grand scale, plunders whole -cities, and usurps over them supreme authority, it reaches the acme of -felicity, is saluted by the name of prince, and becomes an object of -envy to all mankind. - -Nor did they pause even here. It was not enough to show the happiness -of vice as vice; they undertook to prove that vice is virtue and -virtue vice, which may be considered as their magnum opus. They went -to work boldly, but, like the fox of Archilochos,[843] always kept -something of their figure concealed, that, if any necessity arose, -they might be able to retreat by treating their whole chain of -argumentation as a mere rhetorical exercise. “You appear to be in -earnest,” observed Socrates on one occasion. “What does it signify to -you whether I am in earnest or not,” replied the sophist, “if you -cannot refute what I advance?” With this prudent reserve, they taught -that injustice is a powerful and beautiful principle, reckoning it -among the virtues, and attributing to it all the characteristics -usually attributed to justice.[844] Pascal, in developing the morals -of the Jesuits, describes their principles exactly. They patronised -even cutting purses, providing the operator had the ingenuity to -conceal his performance. No doubt, in thus arguing, they did violence -to their secret convictions, and might, by an able dialectician, be -made to feel, though never to acknowledge, the deformity of their -doctrines, as Thrasymachos, driven up in a corner by the logic of -Socrates, blushes and is chap-fallen;[845] but as sophistry was their -occupation, the misery and degradation was, that, convinced or not -convinced, they must still sing the old song. It is evident, in fact, -that, like many sophists of other days, they were bold with the lips -while the heart within trembled. The light of conscience could not be -wholly quenched. They conceived the gods to be armed with power and -disposed to exert it, not only against evil doers but against evil -speakers also. Pressed upon this point, whether the bad be not -obnoxious and the good agreeable to the deities, Thrasymachos would -not deny it. And why? Lest he should render himself hateful to them, -ἴνα μὴ τοῖς δὲ ἀπέχθωμαι. So that in the worst times of paganism, -religion, how corrupt soever, failed not to preserve some influence -over men’s minds, to save them from the bestial recklessness into -which they seemed desirous to plunge.[846] - -Footnote 843: - - Plat. Rep. t. vi. p. 72. Bekk. - -Footnote 844: - - Id. i. t. vi. p. 44. seq. - -Footnote 845: - - Plat. de Rep. vi. 49. i. 76. Stallb. Cf. Vict. Var. Lect. iii. v. - -Footnote 846: - - Plat. Rep. t. vi. p. 52. - -Nevertheless, the sophists on many points did but methodise, condense -and embody in florid language the maxims and modes of thinking current -in corrupt ages among the vulgar. Their doctrines were but an echo of -what was heard in the ecclesiæ, in the law courts, in the theatres, -and in the camps. It would have been to little purpose, therefore, to -have silenced them, unless, at the same time, the above schools could -have been purified, wherein young and old, men and women, imbibed the -opinions, maxims, prejudices, which constituted the system of the -sophists.[847] And Plato, who observes this, supplies us, in doing so, -with a fresh proof that women frequented the theatre. In one of these -four places, he says, they were corrupted: but they were not soldiers, -and, therefore, not in the camp; they were not dicasts, and, -therefore, not in the law courts; they were neither orators nor -voters, and, therefore, not in the ecclesiæ. The evil doctrines they -imbibed, therefore, must have been imbibed at the theatre.[848] Here, -too, the youth, disciplined and principled in better things by his -philosophical teachers, received a new education which overthrew the -former. Deeds and words, condemned by his teachers, he often found to -be greeted here with rapturous applause, re-echoed by rocks and walls; -while hisses, sneers, or vociferous vituperation would, perhaps, be -showered on things he had been taught most to revere. In his feelings, -therefore, and internal convictions a revolution was soon effected. He -grew ashamed of the notions implanted in him at school. Every -lingering sentiment of honour seemed to him an unfortunate prejudice -despised by men of the world, and he hastened to shift his notions as -a clown does his dress to prepare for admittance into fashionable -company. - -Footnote 847: - - Id. vi. 290. - -Footnote 848: - - Plat. Rep. vi. t. vi. p. 289. Cf. Athen. ii. 54. - -The sophists, skilled in the study of mankind, soon discovered, that -to please and ultimately to rule the ignorant, it was necessary to -humour their failings, and, in appearance at least, to adopt their -opinions. In a commonwealth, governed by wholesome principles, great -men obtain influence, not by resembling the majority but by -differing from them. They are popular by the authority of their -virtues. They are reverenced with the reverence due to a father from -his child, who confides in him from long experience in his love and -implicit faith in his honour, and will submit to be rebuked and -chastised, and determined by him in his actions from the conviction -that his superior wisdom and probity and affection entitle him to -rule. But the sophists, and their political disciples, despaired of -thus governing the people. In their manners there was none of the -dignity, in their minds none of the wisdom, in their resolutions -none of that inflexible firmness arising from consciousness of -right, which neither threats nor clamour can subdue. They regarded -the populace as a huge beast, whose ways and temper they must study, -whose passions and desires they must know how to raise and how to -satisfy; by what arts they might safely enter his den, stroke his -terrible paws, or mount, if they thought proper, on his back and -direct his irresistible might against their enemies. And this they -esteemed as wisdom, and upon those who excelled in it they bestowed -the name of statesmen and philosophers.[849] Among the arts by which -this influence was acquired were flattery and boasting; by the -former they disposed people to listen, by the latter they sought to -justify them for listening, by dwelling on the wonders they could -perform. If they might be believed, they could convert fools into -wise men, which philosophers regarded in the light of a miracle. -This disposition τὸ θρασὺ καὶ τὸ ἰταμὸν,[850] as Basilius expresses -it, is admirably painted by Plato in the character of Thrasymachos. -And the contrast afforded by Socrates makes good, as Muretus -observes, the wise remark of Thucydides ὅτι ἀμαθία μὲν θάρσος, -φρόνησις δ᾽ ὄκνον φέρει. - -Footnote 849: - - Plat. de Rep. vi. 293. - -Footnote 850: - - Plat. de Rep. vi. 333. Cf. Muret. Adnot. in Repub. p. 667, seq. 677, - seq. - -Such, however, as they were, the reputation of the sophists spread far -and wide. Even among the barbarians of Asia a desire was felt to have -the ear tickled by their eloquence, as we may gather from the letter -of Amytocrates, an Indian king, to Antiochos, requesting him to ship -off for India as soon as possible, some boiled wine, dried figs, and a -sophist, observing that he would very willingly pay the price of him. -But Antiochos, either loth to part with so useful a servant of the -monarchy, or out of pity for the Indians, whom he suspected to be -already sufficiently tormented, replied, that as for boiled wine and -figs he might be supplied to his heart’s content, but that with -respect to sophists the law prohibited their exportation.[851] He had -all the while, however, without knowing it, abundant specimens of the -race in his own realms, where the Brahmins have, time out of mind, -cultivated and thriven by the same arts, and maintained the same -opinions, as conferred celebrity on the followers of Gorgias and -Protagoras. Their practices, indeed, as well as those of the Yoghis, -are in India modified by the state of society and public opinion. The -wonder which among the Greeks was excited by the advocacy of monstrous -doctrines, on the banks of the Ganges, arises out of physical pranks. -The Greek sophist tortured his mind, the Indian tortures his body for -the edification of the public, but the result is the same; the -practitioners thus contrive to subsist in idleness on the earnings of -the industrious and credulous. - -Footnote 851: - - Athen. xiv. 67. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - EDUCATION OF THE SPARTANS, CRETANS, - ARCADIANS, ETC. - - -A different picture is presented to us by the education of the -Spartans,[852] which, almost perfect in its kind, aimed chiefly at -unfolding the powers of the body. Mental acquirements in the states of -Doric origin were few, and the object even of these seems to have been -rather connected with the developement of the animal than the -spiritual nature of man, though they were not utterly destitute of all -those arts and accomplishments which embellish a life of peace. Little -stress, however, can be laid on the elaborate divisions of youth into -numerous classes, the intention of which is not stated. There can, -nevertheless, be no doubt that much art, reflection and wisdom was -exhibited in the forming of the system whose object was the creation -of a military character, and through this the enjoyment of the -hegemonia or lead in the public affairs of Greece, an honour which -Sparta attained to and held during many years.[853] - -Footnote 852: - - See Müll. Dor. ii. 313, sqq. Cf. Pfeiff. Ant. ii. 57. p. 370. - -Footnote 853: - - To destroy the power of Sparta the Achæans could imagine no better - means than to change their system of education.—Plut. Vit. Philop. § - 16. Paus. vii. 8. 5. The Mityleneans, too, desirous of breaking the - military spirit of certain of their allies, forbade them to give the - least instruction to their children.—Ælian, V. H. vii. 15. With the - same view the Emperor Julian closed the public schools against the - Christians.—Gibbon, iv. 111. Among our ancestors, too, when a blow - was meditated against Dissenters, no measure more severe could be - devised than to deprive them of education.—Lord John Russell, Hist. - of Eur. i. 273. - -A modern writer has correctly remarked that by permitting the state to -decide on the lives of infants, the institutions of Lycurgus -recognised the authority of the community to regulate, how it pleased, -the education they were to receive. The authority of parents over -their children was thus all but annihilated, for, although the -recognition and feeling of relationship continued after the state had -undertaken the training of youth, their influence was exceedingly -weakened, a circumstance to which may be attributed the seeming -heroism of the Spartan women, who could stoically bear the death of -their sons because they had been in a great measure estranged from -them. - -As, however, the institutions of Lycurgus differed in all things else -from those of other Grecian legislators, it is not surprising they -should also differ on the subject of education. But it may greatly be -doubted whether we altogether comprehend his system. The accounts -transmitted to us are in many points contradictory, and it may in -general be remarked that on no subject whatever do modern ideas differ -so much from those prevalent in antiquity, as on the subject of -education. Plutarch and Xenophon, or rather the sophist who assumed -his name, two of the authors on whom in this discussion most reliance -is usually placed, were prejudiced and credulous, and often, to speak -frankly, extremely ignorant. Both were unwilling, even if they -possessed the power, to criticise the system, and yet by modern -writers their opinions have generally without scruple been adopted. -Xenophon himself, as well as the sophist who here apes him, was in -predilections a Spartan, and as strongly disposed to satirise and -underrate the institutions of his own country as to exaggerate the -merits of the Laconian. Even were the trifling essay on the -Lacedæmonian republic proved to be his, we should yet lay little -stress upon its testimony, unless when corroborated by the evidence of -other and better writers. - -Elsewhere in Greece,—observes the author of this tract,[854] whoever -he was,—persons, the most solicitous respecting the education of their -children, placed over them at the first dawn of intellectual -developement, pædagogues, who at the outset undertook their -instruction, and afterwards conducted them to the schools where -letters, music, and gymnastics were taught. In this respect, however, -as a modern writer has shown, the institutions of Sparta were in no -degree superior, since Helots were there the instructors of young -children; and, on this account, he rejects the story of Plutarch,[855] -that they were compelled to intoxicate themselves, to exhibit to the -youths a practical proof of the deformity of drunkenness.[856] It was -contrary, he says, to common sense. But as common sense had very -little to do with any part of the system, this is a poor argument, and -will not weigh against positive testimony. - -Footnote 854: - - Rep. Lac. ii. 1. Cf. Pfeiff. Ant. p. 370. - -Footnote 855: - - Lycurg. 28. Müll. Dor. ii. 39. Commonly, also, the nurses of the - kings were Helots.—Plut. Ages. § 3. - -Footnote 856: - - Plut. Inst. Lac. § 29. - -Another evil which the Pseudo-Xenophon discovers in the common -Hellenic plan of training,[857] was that lads were indulged with the -use of shoes, and rendered effeminate by frequent changes of clean -linen, while their appetite, generally keen in boyhood,[858] was -suffered to be the measure of what they ate. Lycurgus, he remarks, -managed all these things differently. Instead of remaining under the -superintendence of their parents, and frequenting what schools and -masters they might judge proper, boys at Sparta passed under a sort of -camp discipline regulated by the laws and intrusted to the -guardianship of a particular magistrate, whom they denominated a -Pædonomos. This part of the system Xenophon[859] prefers to the -Athenian practice of intrusting youth to the care of servile -pædagogues. The Pædonomos, however, resembled in many respects the -Athenian Gymnasiarch, and, so far as I can perceive, possessed no -superiority over him, except that his authority extended beyond school -hours. He was, indeed, a kind of despot, vested with the power to call -the boys together when he pleased, and inflict chastisement, at his -own discretion, on any whom he detected exhibiting the least symptom -of effeminacy. To enable him to carry his resolutions instantly into -effect he marched about the town like an executioner, attended by men -having whips, who at his nod seized the boy delinquent and subjected -him at once to the torture. Thus possessing the power of enforcing -obedience, a great show at least of reverence attended him. - -Footnote 857: - - De Rep. Laced. ii. 5. Cf. Plut. Lycurg. § 17. - -Footnote 858: - - And keen it must needs have been before they could have relished - their black broth, with a dose of which Dionysios once made an - experiment upon his stomach. Having put a spoonful of the compound - into his mouth, he instantly spat it out again, declaring that he - could not swallow it, for it was the filthiest stuff he had ever - tasted; upon which his Spartan cook remarked, “You should have first - bathed in the Eurotas.”—Plut. Inst. Lac. § 2. - -Footnote 859: - - De Rep. Lac. ii. 2. Lycurg. § 17. Cf. Hesych. v. Παιδονόμος. - -The privilege of sharing the paternal cares of the Pædonomos was not -rigidly confined to the sons of Spartans (πολιτικοὶ παῖδες);[860] the -Mothaces also, Spartans of half blood, and even strangers might share -it. Who the Mothaces were it is extremely difficult to determine. Some -contend that they were slaves brought up in the family.[861] But -Athenæus, and Phylarchos whom he quotes, state most distinctly that -they were free, ἐλεύθεροι μέν εἰσί. In order to remove the -unfavourable impression made on mankind by the accounts transmitted to -us of Spartan slavery, it has been pretended that they, as well as the -Neodamodes, were Helots. Of the Neodamodes, however, the very author -on whom reliance is placed asserts the contrary. They were originally -slaves indeed, he says, but different from the Helots, ἑτέρους ὄντας -τῶν εἱλώτων. With respect to the Mothaces,[862] notwithstanding the -testimony of Hesychius and other grammarians, it seems clear that they -were the sons of free though poor Laconians, who, desirous of -obtaining for them the rights of Spartans, sent them to be the -companions of such youthful citizens as would consent to receive them. -It is moreover added that the youth, according to their means, chose -one, two, or more of these companions; which shows that although the -right of controlling the studies of its children was vested in the -state, the expenses, in whole or in part, devolved upon the parents. - -Footnote 860: - - Athen. vi. 102. - -Footnote 861: - - Müll. ii. 314. - -Footnote 862: - - Harpocrat. v. Μόθωνες. - -The Mothaces, or Mothones as they are sometimes called, were identical -with the σύντροφοι:[863] but the τρόφιμοι were such youthful -strangers—for example, the sons of Xenophon[864] and Phocion—as, by -submitting to the severities of Spartan discipline, acquired the -freedom of the city, the privilege of aspiring to political -distinction, and, according to some writers, even a share of the land. -This, if true, would render credible the statement of the philosopher -Teles,[865] who affirms that even Helots, by the means above -described, could rise to the rank of Spartans; while they who in this -point disobeyed the laws, were they even the children of kings, sank -to the condition of Helots, and of course forfeited their estates, -otherwise there would have been no land to bestow on the military -neophytes. Three of the most remarkable men in Spartan story, -Lysander, Gylippos, and Callicratidas were Mothaces, whose fathers -were obscure.[866] It will be seen that we have here the original of -that system of education sketched by Xenophon in his Persian Utopia, -and designed to recommend monarchy to his countrymen, as that of Sir -Thomas More was framed for the contrary purpose. - -Footnote 863: - - De Rep. Lac. iii. 3. 3. Schneid. - -Footnote 864: - - Diog. Laert. ii. c. vi. § 10. Xen. Hellen. v. 3. 9. Plut. Ages. § 6. - -Footnote 865: - - Ap. Stob. Florileg. 40. 8. Gaisf. Cf. Plut. Inst. Lac. § 21, 22. - Athen. vi. 103. Müll. Dor. ii. 315. note p.—In Xenophon’s Persian - Utopia such citizens as were too poor to maintain their children at - school lost the benefits of public training; but, according to law, - the advantages of the Spartan system were open to all.—Arist. Polit. - iv. 9. - -Footnote 866: - - Ælian, Var. Hist. xii. 43. - -According to the laws of Lycurgus the heir-apparent to the throne was -exempted from the necessity of mixing with his fellow-citizens in the -public schools, though the younger members of the royal family -occupied the same level with other boys.[867] That this was an unwise -regulation, however, will be at once evident, since no man stands so -much in need of severe discipline as a prince, who in spite of -correction is too apt to be guided by his unbridled passions. Fact, -too, bears out this view, for two of the noblest sovereigns of Sparta, -Leonidas and Agesilaos, had been subjected, while boys,[868] to the -correction of their teachers. - -It has been already remarked that the spirit of Spartan education was -severe. It was, in fact, precisely the same as that which, in the last -generation, pervaded the discipline of the Seneka and Mohawk Indians, -and produced those numerous examples of patience, fortitude, and -magnanimity, together with that force, agility and suppleness of body -so greatly admired and, perhaps, envied by civilised nations. It was -this stern and martial system that constituted the secret model, -according to which Locke fashioned his plan of youthful training, -designed rather to produce a sound mind in a sound body than to -shatter and enervate the latter by the piling up in the brain of -miscellaneous and often useless knowledge. But in his attempts at -hardening the frame and rendering it invulnerable to the stings of -suffering, our countryman did not dare to go the lengths of the -Spartan legislator, who in this, at least, exhibited superior wisdom, -that he did not consider the chastisement of stripes to have any -tendency towards creating a base and servile habit of mind.[869] - -Footnote 867: - - Plut. Ages. § i. - -Footnote 868: - - Müll. Dor. ii. 315. - -Footnote 869: - - On the democratic tendency of Spartan discipline see Bœckh. in Plat. - Min. 181. sqq. Isocrat. Areop. § 14–16. - -Consistently with the general aim of his institutions, Lycurgus, -instead of ordaining, like Locke, that his alumni should wear leaky -shoes, dispensed with the incumbrance altogether. And, certainly, in a -soldier, the habit of trampling with the naked foot on ice and snow -and the sharpest rocks, is worthy of acquisition. - -Institutions are generally based on the actual circumstances of -society. Lycurgus legislated for a people to whom it was important to -be able easily to climb steeps, or descend them with a sure foot, to -spring forward also, to run, to bend, and perform innumerable acts of -personal dexterity. He, therefore, commenced with boyhood the -inculcating of those habits and exercises which their manhood would -imperatively require of them. - -It has been seen that for change of linen an especial aversion was -entertained at Sparta. Children were, therefore, taught to be content -with one clean shirt per annum, at the termination of which period it -was probably as well peopled as the Emperor Julian’s beard, -particularly as, during all that time, it was considered low and -unfashionable to bathe or make use of the ordinary ointments, an -indulgence permitted to them but for a few days in the course of the -year. All this time, however, they might more properly, perhaps, be -said to be shirtless, since the himation only was left them, the -chiton being taken away.[870] They were compelled also, as incipient -soldiers, to lie hard on pallet beds, made with the tops of reeds -collected, perfunctorily, without the help of the knife or dagger, -from the banks of the Eurotas. To this, as an especial indulgence, -they were in winter permitted to add a quantity of thistle-down, which -material was supposed to contain much warmth.[871] - -Footnote 870: - - Plut. Lycurg. § 17. Inst. Lac. § 5. Xen. de Rep. Lac. ii. 4. - -Footnote 871: - - Plut. Inst. Lac. § 10. - -The initiation into these accomplishments commenced at the age of -twelve. At the same time, acting upon the Galenian maxim, that “a fat -stomach makes a lean wit,” the boys were reduced to short commons, the -Bouagor, or leader of the juvenile troop, being instructed to pinch -them as closely as possible on that score, in order that when the -chances of war should reduce them to the necessity of subsisting on -famine rations, they might be prepared without murmuring to submit to -it. Persons so educated, moreover, would be little delicate in the -choice of provisions. Anything, from a sea hedgehog to a snail, would -suit their stomachs; and it would be hard indeed if war could ever -place them in circumstances where such food as they were accustomed to -might not be found. Health, too, and light spirits, as Lycurgus well -understood, are the offspring of an abstemious diet. The spare -warrior, clean-limbed and agile, would leap round the man puffed out -and bloated with overfeeding, and, therefore, to be fat was at Sparta -an offence punishable at law.[872] However, not to be too hard on the -young gentlemen, it was always permitted, when hunger grew -troublesome, to have recourse to what, for want of a fitter name, we -must call stealing.[873] - -Footnote 872: - - Ælian. V. H. xiv. 7. Plut. Inst. Lac. § 13. Athen. xii. 74.—Apropos - of this subject, the ancients have left us a very curious anecdote. - Dionysios, son of Clearchos, the first tyrant of Heraclea, having - succeeded to the government of his country, became insensibly so - corpulent by his daily excess and extreme niceness in the choice of - his viands, that he was nearly suffocated by the enormous mass of - his fat. Every time he fell into a deep slumber it was feared he - would never wake again; and, to rouse him from his lethargy, the - physicians were often compelled to thrust long, sharp needles into - his body until they reached the quick, upon which he would again - exhibit signs of animation. Of this prodigious obesity his majesty - was so much ashamed, however, that, when transacting business or - giving audience to strangers, he would ensconce himself behind a - large trunk, so that no part of him was visible but his face. Yet, - in spite of this infirmity, he lived fifty-five years and reigned - thirty-three; and, to the honour of corpulence be it remarked, that - no tyrant ever before exhibited so much mildness and moderation.—Id. - xii. 72. - -Footnote 873: - - Xen. Rep. Lac. ii. 6.—This writer observes, that what might be - filched was determined by law.—Anab. iv. 6. 14. And Plutarch - explains, that they might take as much food as they could.—Inst. - Lac. § 12. - -In modern times it would be thought a poor compliment to any system of -education to represent it as an admirable method for rendering a man -an accomplished thief. But the Spartan sophists, whose wisdom Plato, -in a jocular mood, so greatly extols, held a different theory. They -did not undertake the teaching of morals, but such habits as became a -soldier, among which thieving always maintains a distinguished place. -Xenophon, however, is careful to guard us against the supposition that -this habit of appropriation arose from want. The object of the -legislator was, without the incurring of moral guilt, to nourish all -the useful habits commonly found in a thief,—as, the power to watch by -night, to wear the mask of honesty by day, craftily to lay snares, and -even to set spies upon the individual to be plundered. To men designed -to spend their lives in war such qualities are, doubtless, of the -highest importance, since they enable them to procure provisions and -overreach the enemy.[874] To this practice Xenophon alludes in the -Anabasis, where the army is placed in circumstances of much -difficulty. “I understand,” he says to Cheirisophos, “that among you -Lacedæmonians the habit of stealing is carefully cultivated from -childhood; and that, so far from being disgraceful, it is considered a -necessary accomplishment, so long as you keep within the bounds -prescribed by law. When detected, however, it is equally lawful to be -scourged.”[875] - -Footnote 874: - - Xen. de Rep. Lac. ii. 7. - -Footnote 875: - - Anab. iv. vi. 14. - -Were they scourged, then, for stealing? Not at all, but simply for -being caught; and Xenophon is right in remarking, that, in all human -arts, they who unskilfully perform what they undertake are punished, -and so should a bungling thief.[876] The passage immediately following -is mutilated or inextricably corrupt,[877] but, from an attentive -examination, it would appear that the boys detected on these occasions -were selected to be flogged[878] during the festival of Artemis -Orthia, or Orthosia, whose altar was thus annually smeared with human -blood. This impartial superstition extended its empire over all ranks -and conditions of men, servile or free, from the beggar to the prince; -for here, we are told, Helots had sometimes the honour to be scourged -in company perhaps with a scion of the Eurypontid or Agid kings. At -Alea, in Arcadia, women, by the command of an oracle, were subjected -to the same discipline. “Here,” says Pausanias,[879] “during the -festival of Dionysos women, by command of an oracle, were flogged like -the youth of Sparta at the altar of Artemis Orthia.” - -Footnote 876: - - De Rep. Lac. ii. 8. - -Footnote 877: - - Schneid. in Xen. de Rep. Lac. ii. 9. - -Footnote 878: - - Sometimes to death.—Plut. Inst. Lac. § 39. Vit. Aristid. § 17. - Pausan. iii. 16. 6. Sext. Empir. Pyrrh. Hypot. iii. 24. p. 153. c. - Spanheim ad Callim. in Dian. 174. The Scholiast on Pindar derives - this name of Artemis from Mount Orthion or Orthosion in - Arcadia.—Olymp. iii. 54. Cf. Lycoph. 1330. with the Schol. of - Tzetzes. Schol. Plat. de Legg. p. 224. Ruhnk. - -Footnote 879: - - Arcad. viii. 23. 1. Meurs. (Græc. Fer. p. 256,) understands _sese - flagellabant_. - -The above ordinance of Lycurgus led in the next instance to the -hybernation of the youth upon the mountains:[880] to inure them still -further to hardships, and, practically to teach them the art of -providing for themselves, they were sent forth with a roving -commission to prowl about the highlands and less frequented parts of -Laconia, armed for self-protection, and that they might be able to -bring down their game. At first, perhaps, they confined themselves -within the limits prescribed by law. But almost of necessity they -would become involved in quarrels with the Helots, by plundering whose -farms and villages they chiefly subsisted. The Helots would sometimes -resist and sometimes resent their incursions. Ill blood would be -engendered. Hot and fiery youths, abandoned to their own guidance, -would easily discover excuses for cruelty and revenge. From quarrels -they would proceed to blows—from blows to assassination; and beaten, -perhaps, by day, they would fall suddenly on the defenceless peasants -in the dead of night, and butcher whole hamlets to avenge an affront -offered to them perhaps by an individual. Thus, out of a custom -blameless enough in its origin, grew the terrible institution of the -Crypteia,[881] or annual massacre of the Helots, denied by some modern -writers, but too well authenticated, and too much in keeping with the -Spartan character and general policy, to allow of our indulging in any -scepticism on the point. - -Footnote 880: - - The Platonic Scholiast confounds this practice with the Crypteia, so - called, he says, because the youth were compelled to conceal - themselves while they subsisted on plunder. Ἀπολύοντες γὰρ ἕκαστον - γυμνὸν, προσέταττον ἐνιαυτὸν ὅλον ἔξω ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι πλανᾶσθαι, καὶ - τρέφειν ἑαυτὸν διὰ κλοπῆς, καὶ τῶν τοιούτων, οὕτω δὲ ὥστε μηδενὶ - κατάδηλον γενέσθαι· διὸ καὶ κρύπτεια ὠνόμασται· ἐκολάζοντο γὰρ οἱ - ὅπου δήποτε ὀφθέντες.—Ad Legg. p. 225. Ruhnk. - -Footnote 881: - - For a fuller account of this institution see Book V. Chapter VIII. - -But, in addition to the above, there were other branches of education -taught at Sparta,—that is gymnastics and music. Writers, desirous of -enhancing the mental acquisitions of the Dorians, adhere somewhat too -strictly to the meaning often affixed by the Greeks to the word -_music_, which they employed to signify literature. But Xenophon, in -his treatise on the Lacedæmonian Commonwealth, appears invariably to -use it in its limited and modern signification. - -To gymnastics the Dorians, upon the whole an unintellectual people, -were naturally much addicted,—far too much according to ancient -writers; but here again their modern historian steps in to their -defence. He will have it, that it was in later times that they became -philogymnasts, and quotes Dion Chrysostom as if he was the principal -witness. Plato, to be sure, is referred to as a parasitical authority, -and so is Aristotle;[882] but then the latter only says, that their -constant violent exercises rendered them brutal, in which the -historian appears to discover no harm. “This want of moderation, -however, though it occurred in later times, is never perceivable in -the maxims and ideas of the Dorians, who in this, as in several other -cases, know how to set bounds to youthful ardour, and check its -pernicious effects.”[883] This, it appears to me, is the language of -an apologist. If they had such knowledge, how culpable must they have -been not to check it in the matter of the Crypteia? - -Footnote 882: - - Polit. viii. 3. 3.—To this may be added the testimony of Plato, who - evidently, without naming them, means to describe the Spartans, - where he speaks of a people wholly given up to the study of bodily - exercises, and by that means becoming brutal and ferocious.—De Rep. - t. vi. p. 154. - -Footnote 883: - - Dorians, ii. 319. seq. - -It may be observed, however, that though they devoted to gymnastics -too much of their leisure, the fault lay in them, not in the system of -exercises, which was in itself one of extreme beauty and simplicity. -Its object,—which it was excellently calculated to attain,—was not to -create athletæ but soldiers, not gigantic strength, but an elastic, -agile, beautiful frame, adapted for all the movements of war. Boxing, -accordingly, and the pancration[884] were banished from their -gymnasia, a regulation evincing at the same time their wisdom and -their taste; the former being the most barbarous and useless, the -latter the most unseemly portion of gymnastics, often exhibiting the -antagonists rolling and struggling, like savages or animals devoid of -reason, on the ground. - -Footnote 884: - - Ταῦτα μόνα μὴ κωλύσαντος ἀγωνίζεσθαι τοὺς πολίτας, ἐν οἷς χεὶρ οὺκ - ἀνατείνεται.—Plut. Lycurg. § 19. The exercises, in which the - admission of being vanquished was made by holding up the hand, are - elsewhere named:—Πυγμὴν δὲ καὶ παγκράτιον ἀγωνίζεσθαι ἐκώλυσεν, ἵνα - μηδὲ παίζοντες ἀπαυδᾷν ἐθίζωνται.—Reg. Apophtheg. Lycurg. 4. - Apophtheg. Lacon. Lycurg. 23. - -As the ancient idea of education included every thing employed to -develope the powers of body or mind, we must regard in this light the -military games peculiar to the Spartans and Cretans.[885] Among the -former the youth, having sacrificed to Ares in a temple at Therapne, -passed over into an island dyked round and called Platanistas, where, -dividing off into separate parties, they engaged in a contest which -wanted nothing but arms to render it a genuine battle. A learned -historian, seldom sparing of words, avoids describing this interesting -scene; and wherefore?—Because a faithful description of it must convey -a striking idea of Spartan ferocity. “They exerted” says he, “every -means in their power to obtain the victory.”—Exactly; but what were -those means? “Adolescentium greges Lacedæmone vidimus ipsi indibili -contentione certantes, pugnis, calcibus, unguibus, morsu denique; quum -exanimarentur priusquam se victos faterentur.[886]” Yet were these -battles carried on under the eyes of magistrates, the five Bidiæi[887] -appointed to superintend these exercises as well as those performed -elsewhere. The little island where they fought was a spot of great -natural beauty, encircled by a sheet of clear water, and approached on -all sides through thick and lofty groves of platane trees. A bridge -thrown over the canal led to the island on both sides, and on the one -stood a statue of Heracles, on the other of Lycurgus. This battle was -reckoned among the institutions of the latter, and under the -protection probably of the former. The preliminaries to the fight were -as follow. They first sacrificed in the Phœbaion which stands without -the city, not far from Therapne. Here each of the two divisions of the -youth offered up a dog’s whelp to Ares, the bravest of domestic -animals, sacred in their opinion to the bravest of the Gods. No other -Grecian people sacrificed the dog excepting the Colophonians, who -offered up a black bitch to Hecate. In both cities the sacrifice was -performed by night. After the ceremony two tame boars were brought -forward, one by each party, which they compelled to fight; and they -whose brute champion proved superior, thence augured that victory -awaited them in the Platanistas. On the following day, a little before -noon, they entered by the bridges into the island, one party by one -bridge, the other by the other. But the choice was not left to them, -having been determined on the preceding night by lot. Being arrived, -they faced each other, and commenced the battle, striking with the -fist, kicking, leaping on each other, tearing one another with their -teeth, and gouging after the most approved Kentucky fashion. Thus they -struggled, man to man, urging forward together and thrusting each -other into the water.[888] From these words, as well as from the -testimony of Cicero cited above, it is clear the combat was conducted -with no other arms than those furnished by nature, though Lucian, -misemploying the verb ὁπλομάχειν,[889] would lead us to a different -conclusion. But this kind of battle is always enumerated among the -gymnastic exercises or contests; and what necessity would there have -been to have recourse to fists, feet, teeth, and nails, had they been -permitted the use of arms? Fatigued with this violent exertion they -betook themselves for a short time to repose, refreshed by which they -resumed their exercises, dancing in most intricate measures to the -sound of the pipe.[890] Akin in spirit to the contests in the -Platanistas were the ever-recurring battles fought by the young men -with the three hundred followers of the Hippagretæ; three inferior -magistrates appointed by the Ephori, who selected each one hundred -followers from among the healthiest and bravest of the youthful -population. Against this chosen band all the other young men of the -city were bound by custom to make war; and, but that they could be -parted by any citizen who might happen to be passing by, it is -probable that these fierce boxing matches would often have terminated -fatally. - -Footnote 885: - - Müll. ii. 26. - -Footnote 886: - - Cic. Tusc. Disput. v. 27. - -Footnote 887: - - Paus. iii. 11. 2. - -Footnote 888: - - Paus. iii. 14. 8. sqq. - -Footnote 889: - - Anachars. § 38. - -Footnote 890: - - Cf. Ubb. Emm. Antiq. Græc. iii. 89. sqq. - -Similar customs prevailed in Crete, where, as in most other parts of -Greece, the business of education appears to have commenced at the age -of seven years, when the cake called Promachos was given to the boys, -because, as it has been conjectured, they were thenceforward to be -trained for fighting. Up to the age of seventeen they were denominated -Apageli, since they were not until then admitted into those Agelæ[891] -or bands, in which they thenceforward performed their exercises. Here, -as in Sparta, the greatest possible care was taken to extirpate from -the character every germ of effeminacy. They ate whatever food was -given them squatting on the ground, not being permitted to join their -elders at the board, and went abroad in all weathers clad in a single -garment, like the boys of Sparta during their hibernation. However, -the youth of the several Agelæ, armed with stones, and iron weapons, -marching to the sound of flutes, and assailing each other, converted -their exercises into something very like real warfare. Our -cudgel-playing, single-stick, &c. are pastimes of the same -description; and boxing now nearly exploded, can plead classical -precedent. They were habituated, says Ephoros, to labours and arms, -and taught to despise both heat and cold, rough roads and cliffs, and -the blows they received in the gymnasium and their mock battles. The -use of the bow formed part of their education, as well as the armed -dance, at first taught by the Curetes, and afterwards named the -Pyrrhic; so that a warlike spirit breathed through the whole system of -their education.[892] - -Footnote 891: - - Ἀγέλη for the boys, συσσίτιον for the men.—Strab. x. 4. p. 379. - Müll. (Dor. ii. 326.) uses both indiscriminately. - -Footnote 892: - - Strab. x. 4. p. 380. seq.—This agrees with what Plato relates of the - Cretan polity.—De Legg. t. vii. p. 260. t. viii. p. 86. - -With all these facts before him, though many of them he has -suppressed, the historian of the Doric race, in direct contradiction -to Plato and Aristotle, contends naïvely that it would be erroneous to -conclude that the aim of bodily exercise among the Dorians was war, or -that in their result they rendered the youth either brutal or -ferocious. Their object, in his opinion, was to obtain something like -ideal beauty of form, strength, and health, which, he says, they -accordingly attained, being, about B. C. 540, the healthiest of the -Greeks and most renowned for beautiful men and women. But Xenophon -whom, on the subject of health he quotes, does not authorise his -superlative:—"It would not be easy," are his words, “to find healthier -or more active men.”[893] Again, the language of Herodotus by no means -bears him out. He, indeed, affirms that Callicrates, a Spartan, was -the handsomest man in the army at Platæa, but says nothing of the -Spartans being handsomer than the other Greeks; but rather the -contrary. He was not merely the handsomest man among his countrymen, -but, which he evidently considered more remarkable, among all the -other Greeks.[894] - -Footnote 893: - - De Rep. Lac. v. 9.—At a later period the reputation of being the - handsomest men in Greece was enjoyed by certain young men of - Athens.—Æschin. cont. Tim. § 31. - -Footnote 894: - - Herod. ix. 72. - -Not, however, to insist on such points as these, let us proceed to -examine the intellectual cultivation of the Dorians.[895] That the art -of writing never flourished very generally at Sparta appears to be on -all hands admitted, though we can by no means doubt that among them -numerous individuals possessing this accomplishment might always be -found. Thus, in the old story of the combat of the three hundred -Spartans and Argives, it is related that Othryades, the sole survivor -of the Laconian band, having remained last on the field of battle, -erected a trophy and wrote upon it with his blood Λακεδαιμόνιοι κατ᾽ -Ἀργείων, immediately after which he died of his wounds.[896] -Generally, however, no great stress was laid on a knowledge of the art -of writing, which, in the opinion of some authors, was of -comparatively little value where the people were taught to chant their -laws as well as their songs. Similar customs and regulations prevailed -on this head in Crete, where, nevertheless, letters appear to have -been viewed with a more favourable eye.[897] In addition to their body -of legal poetry, which was probably less voluminous than a metrical -version of the statutes at large, the youth were taught to sing hymns -in honour of the gods and the praises of illustrious men.[898] In -music, too, they were permitted to make some proficiency, though -generally, we are told, it was their ambition to excel rather in the -regularity of their manners than in the extent of their acquirements. - -Footnote 895: - - Cf. Ælian. Var. Hist. xii. 50. - -Footnote 896: - - Stob. Florileg. vii. 67. - -Footnote 897: - - Plut. Inst. Lac. § 14. seq.—The Spartans sacrificed to the muses - before going to battle in order that they might perform something - worthy of notice by them.—Id. § 16. It is remarked of king Cleomenes - that he studied philosophy under Sphæros the Borysthenite who was - likewise permitted to impart his system to the other youth.—Id. - Cleom. § 2.—Cf. Diog. Laert. vii. 6. - -Footnote 898: - - In later times learning grew to be more highly valued. Thus it was - ordained by law that the youth should assemble annually in the Hall - of the Ephori to hear the work of Dicæarchos on the constitution of - their country read to them.—Suid. v. Δικαίαρχ. t. i. p. 730. d. - -With respect to the Spartans it is probable, though the testimony of -ancient writers be sufficiently contradictory, that no great stress -was laid even on the ability to read; for, while Plutarch[899] -conceives this art to have been among their ordinary acquirements, -Isocrates, a grave and more competent authority, is decidedly of the -opposite opinion.[900] - -Footnote 899: - - Inst. Lac. § 4. Lycurg. § 16. - -Footnote 900: - - Panathen. § 83. Τοσοῦτον ἀπολελειμμένοι τῆς κοινῆς παιδείας καὶ - φιλοσοφίας εἰσιν ὥστ᾽ οὐδὲ γράμματα μανθάνουσιν. - -Ælian,[901] too, coming in the rear of Plutarch, observes that the -Lacedæmonians were ignorant of mental culture (μουσικῆς) meaning -evidently as Perizonius has already observed, not “music” as Kühn -would translate it, (for in this they were learned,) but a knowledge -of poetry and eloquence.[902] - -Footnote 901: - - Var. Hist. xii. 50. - -Footnote 902: - - So again in Ælian. Var. Hist. iv. 15. Gelo, king of Syracuse, an - illiterate person is termed ἄμουσος. - -That the Spartans were noted for their indifference to literature, is -well known. Even Xenophon, their apologist, instituting a comparison -between their system of education and that prevailing among the other -Greeks, observes that the latter sent their boys to school that they -might learn their letters, music, and the exercises of the palæstra, -while the former placed them under the care of a grave man who might -punish them if slothful and inactive, and inculcate great modesty and -obedience in lieu of the usual accomplishments. Plato also, in the -Greater Hippias,[903] having observed that their laws were averse from -the reception of foreign learning, adds immediately after that the -majority of them were even ignorant of arithmetic. In another -place,[904] indeed, the philosopher appears to hold a different -language, and is literally understood by Perizonius. But the reader -who examines the passage attentively, will probably agree with me in -considering it nothing more than one of those profoundly ironical -strokes in which, above all writers, he abounds. He in fact remarks, -what in another sense may have been very true, that no countries were -more fertile in sophists than Crete and Lacedæmon, but that they -dissembled their wisdom and feigned ignorance, lest they should appear -to excel all their countrymen in sapience, of which in reality there -was very little danger. He observes, however, no less ironically, that -those rude and unrhetorical nations were of all men most philosophical -and eloquent, and that it had long been understood by a great many -that to _laconise_, or act the Spartan, was rather to be a philosopher -than a diligent student of gymnastics. Perizonius,[905] indeed, -conceives that all this is to be understood of natural sound sense, -applied to morals and those brief and pithy sayings or λογοὶ, which -constituted the science of laconics. - -Footnote 903: - - T. v. p. 418. - -Footnote 904: - - Protag. t. i. p. 209. - -Footnote 905: - - Not. ad Ælian. xii. 50.—From an ironical passage of Plato we - may likewise infer that they were able genealogists and - story-tellers.—Hipp. Maj. t. v. p. 419. - -But, after all, there never was, as Cicero observes, a single orator -among the Spartans; nor could it be otherwise, since all the arts -which beget and foster eloquence, and, more important still, every -political institution which favours it, were unknown in their state. -Nay, so far did they push their aversion for the oratorical art, that -if any citizen of Sparta acquired, in his experience abroad, the skill -artificially to wield a syllogism or a trope, he was subjected to -punishment,[906] while rhetoricians were expelled the city.[907] -Ignorance, therefore, of whatever learned nations prize, was their -chief boast. To them the sublime speculations of the Academy, and the -logic, sharp and irresistible, of the Lyceum, were equally strangers; -yet their discipline, and the habits of youth, imparted to them what -in modern jargon is termed a kind of practical “philosophy.” They -understood the great art, at least among them, how to command their -passions; as Maximus Tyrius[908] relates of Agesilaos who, though -educated in no school of philosophy, was nevertheless not a slave to -love, which therefore the sophist infers could not be a matter of -great difficulty. However there were limitations to their aversions -for learning. They opened in their state an asylum for those antique -teachers of mankind, the poets,[909] proscribed by Plato, and were in -this respect so superior in good taste to that philosopher, that they -at length, in imitation of the Great Preceptors of Greece, instituted -public recitations of Homer. And this, Maximus Tyrius adduces as a -proof that many well-constituted states had existed in which Homer was -not publicly studied, for he could not mean that he was once entirely -unknown at Sparta.[910] - -Footnote 906: - - The laws of Sparta were in this respect, as in many others, merely - imitations of those of Crete.—Sext. Empir. adv. Mathemat. l. ii. p. - 68. Plutarch having remarked that they did learn to read, adds—τῶν - δὲ ἄλλων παιδευμάτων ξενηλασίαν ἐποιοῦτο, οὐ μᾶλλον ἀνθρώπων ἢ - λόγων.—Instit. Lac. § 4. - -Footnote 907: - - Cressol. Theat. Rhet. i. 12. p. 88. - -Footnote 908: - - Dissert. ix. p. 118. - -Footnote 909: - - Cf. Athen. xiv. 33. - -Footnote 910: - - Dissert. vii. p. 91. - -Into the character of the Greeks, generally, there entered an element -but faintly discernible in the moral composition of modern nations, I -mean a most exquisite and exalted sensibility, which rendered them to -the last degree susceptible, and liable to be swayed irresistibly for -good or for evil by poetry and music. And this characteristic -distinguished in some degree the Doric as well as the Ionic race. They -could be excited, past belief, by the agency of sound. Music, -therefore, with us at least a mere source of enjoyment, among them was -invested with a moral character, and employed in education as a -powerful means of harmonising, purifying, ennobling the principles and -the affections of the heart. For this reason the government, which in -Greece was in reality a Committee of Public Safety,[911] watched over -the music no less sedulously than over the morals of the people, which -it powerfully influenced. It must, nevertheless, be confessed that -many ancient authors are little philosophical in relating or reasoning -upon the effects of music. They often confound consequences with -causes. Thus, in the example which certain authors undoubtingly adduce -of the Sicilian Dorians,[912] whose morals we are told were corrupted -by their fiddlesticks, they omit to inquire whether it was not rather -the natural and necessary degeneracy of a wealthy people, which -corrupted the music. This is my interpretation. For, in the history of -the ancient Sicilians, I can discover causes enough of lax and -imperfect morals, without calling in the aid of lyre or cithara. But -some writers on this point have an easy faith. They suppose that the -strict domestic discipline of Sparta “would hardly have been -preserved”[913] without the old-fashioned music. - -Footnote 911: - - Plut. Inst. Lac. § 17. - -Footnote 912: - - Max. Tyr. iv. p. 54. Cic. de Legg. ii. 15.—Cicero, though apt in - most cases to defer to the opinion of Plato, hangs back here. He - does not, indeed, consider it a matter of indifference what songs - are sung, or what airs prevail in a state; but neither does he - credit the inferences drawn too subtilely by the great philosopher - from his musical theory. - -Footnote 913: - - Dorians. ii. 340. - -In whatever way we decide on the metaphysics of the matter, certain it -is that in old times music was an universal accomplishment in most -parts of Greece; but this was when it was little more than the -chanting of savages, in which, however ignorant, any one may join. -Exactly in proportion as it rose into an art its cultivators -diminished in number, until, when a high degree of perfection had been -attained, it was abandoned almost wholly to professional musicians. -The Athenians had been commanded by the Pythian oracle to chant -chorically in the streets, a divine service in honour of Bacchos.[914] -At Sparta similar performances took place during the gymnopædia, when -choruses of naked men and boys, with crowns of palm leaves on their -heads, proceeded through the streets singing the songs of Thaletas and -Alcman and the pæans of Dionysidotos.[915] Mr. Müller, who loves to -complete or round off the accounts he finds in ancient authors, says -that, _doubtless_, a large portion of the inhabitants of the city took -part in these exhibitions. Perhaps they did, but we have no authority -for such a supposition. The place in the agora which contained statues -of Apollo, Artemis and Leto, was called _Choros_,[916] because there -the Ephebi danced in choruses in honour of Apollo. On these occasions -unwarlike persons were sometimes thrust into the least honourable -places,[917] while bachelors were excluded; so that, as Schneider has -well remarked, cowardice was less dishonourable than celibacy. But it -does not at all appear that the Spartans themselves were ever good -musicians, though they were not incapable of relishing good -music;[918] and hence the foreign musicians who flocked thither found -a welcome reception. The developement of the warlike constitution of -the state threw the favourable side of their discipline into the -shade.[919] - -Footnote 914: - - Demosth. in Mid. § 15. - -Footnote 915: - - Athen. xv. 22. - -Footnote 916: - - Paus. iii. 11. 9.—Müller, ii. 341., supposes the whole agora may - have been thus denominated. - -Footnote 917: - - Xen. de Rep. Lac. ix. 5. Plut. Lycurg. § 15. - -Footnote 918: - - Aristot. Pol. viii. 5. - -Footnote 919: - - Cf. Müll. Dor. ii. 342. - -The Arcadians, likewise, made great use of music in their system of -education, and, though otherwise a rude race, continued to practise it -up to the age of thirty. Among them alone, in fact, were children -accustomed from infancy to sing, in certain measures, hymns and poems, -in which they celebrated the praises of the gods and heroes of their -country. After this, observes Polybius,[920] they learned the _nomoi_ -of Timotheus and Philoxenos, and every year during the Dionysia formed -choruses in the theatre, where they danced to the sound of the flute. -Here boys contended with antagonists of their own age, and the young -men with those more advanced towards their prime. During the whole of -their lives they frequented these public assemblies, where they -instructed each other by their songs, and not by means of foreign -actors. With respect to other branches of education they considered it -no disgrace to profess themselves ignorant; but not to know how to -sing would, in Arcadia, have been a mark of extreme vulgarity. They -habituated themselves to walk with gravity to the sound of the flute, -and, having been thus instructed at the expense of the state, -proceeded once a year in public procession to the theatre. Their -ancestors introduced these customs, not with any view to pleasure, or -that they might grow rich by the exercise of their talents, but in -order to soften the austerity of character which their cold and murky -atmosphere would otherwise have engendered. For the character of -nations is invariably analogous to the air they breathe, and it is the -geographical position of races which determines alone their temper of -mind and the colour and configuration of their bodies. - -Footnote 920: - - iv. 20. 7. Athen. xiv. 21. seq. - -Besides what has already been said of the Arcadians, it may be added, -that it was customary among them for the men and women to unite in -chanting certain odes, and to offer up sacrifices in common. There -were also dances in which the youth of both sexes joined, and their -object was to create and diffuse humane and gentle manners. - -But the same habits were not prevalent throughout the whole country. -The Kynæthes made no progress in these humanising arts, and as they -dwelt in the rudest districts of Arcadia, and breathed the crudest -air, their ferocity became proverbial; they addicted themselves to -strife and contention, and degenerated into the fiercest and most -untameable savages in Greece. In fact, obtaining possession of several -cities, they shed so much blood that the whole nation was roused, and -at length united in expelling them the land. Even after their -departure the Mantinæans thought it necessary to purify the soil by -sacrifices, expiations, and the leading of victims round the whole -boundary line. - -Dancing very naturally constituted a separate branch of education at -Sparta as in Crete. In both places the execution of the Pyrrhic -appears to have been regarded as a necessary accomplishment, the -youths, from the age of fifteen or earlier, having been taught to -perform it in arms.[921] It was or is—for the Pyrrhic still lingers in -Greece, - - “Ye have the Pyrrhic dance as yet—” - -an exhibition purely military. The dancers, accoutred with spear and -shield, went gracefully and vigorously through a number of movements, -wheeling, advancing, giving blows or shunning them, as in real -action.[922] In other parts of Greece, however, the Pyrrhic quickly -degenerated in character, becoming little better than a wild dance of -Bacchanals.[923] It has been rightly observed that at Sparta “the -chief object of the Gymnopædia was to represent gymnastic exercises -and dancing in intimate union, and, indeed, the latter only as the -accomplishment and end of the former.”[924] One of the dances, -resembling the Anapale, partook of a Bacchanalian character.”[925] The -youth, also, when skilled in these exercises, danced in rows behind -each other to the music of flutes, both military and choral dances, at -the same time, repeating an invitation in verse to Aphrodite and Eros -to join them, and an exhortation to each other.[926] - -Footnote 921: - - Athen. xiv. 29.—The armed dance was in particular favour with - Plato.—De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 17. Boys danced in armour during - the Panathenaia at Athens.—Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 935. - -Footnote 922: - - Plat. de Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 54. - -Footnote 923: - - Athen. xiv. 29. - -Footnote 924: - - Müll. Dor. ii. 351. - -Footnote 925: - - Creuz. Com. Herod. i. 230. - -Footnote 926: - - Lucian de Saltat. § 10. seq. - -It will be seen from the above details that the object of education at -Sparta was rather the formation of habits and the disciplining of the -mind to act in exact conformity with the laws, than to develope to -their fullest extent the intellectual powers of individuals. They -desired to amalgamate the whole energies of the people into one mass, -upon the supposition that being thus impelled in any particular -direction they would prove irresistible. No account was made of -private happiness. Everything seems to have been devised for the -effecting of national purposes, though from the known laws of the -human mind even the restraint and tyrannical interference of such a -system would with time be reconciled to the feelings and contribute to -individual content. But very much of what renders life sweet, was -sacrificed. Letters and arts, that subordinate creation, that world -within a world which the beneficence of Providence has permitted man -to call into existence, were at Sparta unknown. They enjoyed little or -nothing of that refined delight which arises from multiplying the -almost conscious fruits of the soul, from sending winged thoughts -abroad to move, enchant, electrify millions, from deifying truth and -confounding error, from ascending to the greatest heights of -mortality, and diffusing from thence a light and a glory to warm and -illuminate and gladden the human race for ever. This greater felicity -was reserved for the education of Athens, which must, therefore, in -all enlightened times, bear away the palm of excellence and utility. - -CHAPTER IX. - -INFLUENCE OF THE FINE ARTS ON EDUCATION. - -It behoves us now to quit the circle of studies, which, taken -together, are commonly supposed to constitute the whole of education, -and consider the influence exercised by other elements on the minds of -the Hellenic youth. Even in these days we speak intelligibly and -correctly of that experience which young men gain on their first -entrance into life, from travel and fashionable society, as of a -particular stage in their education, it being during that period that -they learn to estimate the value of their school acquirements, how -advantageously to conceal or display them according to circumstances, -and to bend the neck, perchance, of their lofty theories and sublime -speculations to the yoke of the world. But in Greece this was more -palpably the case; for, though escaped from the formal rule of -preceptors and pædagogues, the youth had still to master several -departments of study, either by their own independent exertions or -under the guidance of judicious friends: I mean those infinitely -varied creations of art and literature, which, as they are in harmony -with them or otherwise, confirm or subvert the principles and -discipline of the schools. - -Thoroughly to comprehend, therefore, the nature and extent of that -sway which the state and its institutions directly or indirectly -exerted over the minds of the citizens, it is necessary briefly to -inquire into the character of the plastic and mimetic arts which found -encouragement in the Grecian commonwealths, and afterwards to examine -for a moment the stores of thought and sentiment and passion, and -piety and virtue, which the literature and religion of Greece laid -open to the contemplation of those who were entering upon the career -of life. We shall begin with the arts, as they were the inculcators of -the principle of the beautiful, advance next to literature, the -teacher of wisdom and patriotism, concluding with religion, which -opened up to their view a prospect, though dim, of heaven, and -directed their footsteps thitherward. - -It is certain that, to the generality, the vast superiority of the -Greeks in the arts, which like an universal language need no -translation, is more palpable and apparent than their superiority in -literature; though Demosthenes be in reality as much above any orator, -Thucydides above any historian, Plato above any philosopher, Homer -above any epic poet, Milton perhaps excepted, who has since written, -as Pheidias, or Polycletos, or Praxiteles rose above any sculptor of -the north. Nor can we account for this any more than we can explain -why Shakespeare was superior to Ford or Massinger. Nature infused more -genius into their souls. They loved or rather worshiped the beautiful. -It breathed within and around them: their minds were pregnant with it, -and, when they brought forth, beauty was their offspring. Thus -Aristophanes[927] insinuates, that even the gods borrowed much of -their majesty and splendour from the human mind, when he says, that -heaven-born peace derived her loveliness from some relationship to -Pheidias. - -Footnote 927: - - Pac. 614. seq. - -Religion, in one sense, may be called the parent of the fine arts; but -it would perhaps be more philosophical to consider religion and the -arts as twin sisters, both sprung from that yearning after the ideal -which constituted the most marked feature in the Hellenic mind. We -must carry back our investigations very far, if we would discover them -radiant with loveliness in their cradle; but when they issued thence -it was to shed light over the earth, a light derived from the skies. -For man does not originate his ideas of the beautiful, which fall like -images from heaven on the speculum of his mind; he gives back but what -he receives. The conception of beauty is an inspiration, a thing which -does not come when called upon; or rather, shining on all, it is lost -on the dull and opaque fancy, and is reflected only from the luminous -and bright. - -Man needs companionship always, and the creative and imaginative make -to themselves companions of their own ideas, and clothe them in -material forms to render the illusion more complete. There is an -impassioned intercourse between the soul and its offspring. We love -nothing like that which has sprung from ourselves, and in this we are -truly the image of God, who saw all things that he had made, and, -behold, they were very good. And he loved his creation; and from him -we inherit, as his children, the love we bear to our creations. Hence -the enthusiasm for art, hence the power and the inspiration of poetry. -They are not things of earth. They are the seeds of immortality -ripening prematurely here below; and therefore we should love them. -They are the warrant, the proof that we are of God; that we are born -to exercise an irresistible sway over the elements; that our thrones -are building elsewhere; that in the passion for whatever is spiritual -we exhibit instinctively indubitable tokens that spirits we are, and -in a spiritual world only can find our home. - -It does not belong to this work to attempt a history of Grecian art, -which in a certain sense has been already written. My object, if I can -accomplish it, is to describe the spirit by which that art was created -and sustained, and this I should do triumphantly if love were -synonymous with power; for never, since the fabled artist hung -enamoured over the marble he had fashioned, did any man’s imagination -cleave more earnestly to the spirit that presided over Grecian art, -not the plastic merely but every form of it, from the epic in poetry -and sculpture down to the signet ring and the drinking song. But the -thing is an ample apology for the enthusiasm. There, if anywhere, we -discover the culminating point of human intellect and human -genius;—there - - “The vision and the faculty divine” - -meet us at every step. Even the fragments of her literature and her -art are gathered up and treasured in all civilised countries, as if -the fate of our race were mystically bound up in them. And so it is: -for when we cease to love the beautiful, of which they are the most -perfect realisation we know, our own race of glory and greatness will -have been run: we shall be close on the verge, nay, within the pale of -barbarism. - -Socrates used to say, that whatever we know we can explain; but not so -always with what we feel. There is in the ideal of beauty, which -formed the vivifying principle of Greek art, a certain subtile and -fugitive delicacy, a certain nameless grace, a certain volatile and -fleeting essence, which defy definition, and, rejecting the aid of -language, persist in presenting themselves naked to the mind. And by -the mind only, and only, moreover, by the inspired mind, can they be -discerned. - -It was in the attempt, however, to chain this spirit, and to imprison -it in durable forms, that all the poetry and arts of Greece consisted. -They beheld within them a world of loveliness, of living forms which -knocked at the golden door of fancy, and demanded their dismissal from -the spiritual to the material universe. All their studies were but how -to dress these celestial habitants in fitting habiliments to go abroad -in; and their lives were often spent in the throes of creatures big -with immortal beauty. It is a privilege to the world to converse with -minds of such a nature. It is ennobling to approach them. Their -energy, their vivifying power continues ever active, ever operating, -and if high art be ever to flourish and command, not admiration, but -love in England, it can only be by kindling here the lamp removed from -Greece, but essentially Greek, that is, essentially beautiful. - -The proof that religion issued with art from the same womb in Greece, -and was not its parent, is supplied by every other country. There is -religion elsewhere, while nowhere is there art like that of the -Greeks. But religion had nevertheless much to do with the forms in -which the creative faculty there developed itself, as it invariably -has with whatever is great or beautiful among men. The persuasion -arose in them that the inhabitants of Olympos could be represented by -material forms, and as they found their own reverence for the divine -being represented, augment in proportion to the beauty or grandeur of -its image, the conclusion was natural that the deity himself would be -pleased by the same rule, so that their piety was their first and most -powerful incentive to excellence. They hoped to recommend themselves -to the gods, as they did to their countrymen, by the greatness of -their workmanship; and veneration from without, and piety from within, -united in urging them forward. And this, with the poet equally as with -the artist, inflamed the desire to excel. - -There are, as has already been observed,[928] three periods in the -history of art: 1st. that, in which the necessary is sought; 2ndly, -that in which the study of the beautiful is pursued; and 3dly, the -period of superfluity and extravagance. But in some countries men -appear to pass from the first to the third, without traversing the -second. Thus, in Egypt, Persia, Etruria, in Germany, Holland, France, -England[929] the wild, the grotesque, the terrible have been aimed at, -seldom the beautiful. Even in Italy, where in modern times art has -taken firmest root and most luxuriantly flourished, the object sought -to be attained has lain on a lower level. Among the northern nations -the grotesque variously disguised or modified is the spirit of art; -among the Italians it is voluptuousness, among the Greeks the -beautiful. Hence no Greek statue of the flourishing period of art is -indecent.[930] Naked it may be, but like the nakedness of infancy, it -is chaste as a mother’s love. Our thoughts are instantly carried away -by it to the regions of poetry; the soft influence of the ideal -descends like dew upon our fancy; we are elevated above the region of -the passions to heights where all is sunny and calm and pure. The -beautiful is chaste as an icicle, yet warm as love. It breathes in -Raffaelle’s virgins which we regard as some “bright particular star,” -things to inspire a holy affection, a love not akin to earth. Yet this -beauty is not distanced from us by its severity: no! but by its -intense innocence, by its unsullied purity, by its inexpressible -concentration and mingling up of maternity and girlhood. It was this -beauty that Milton sought in his Comus to express, when he represents -chastity as its own guard. And this is preëminently the spirit -breathing through Grecian art. In the Artemis, in the Athena, nay, -even in Aphrodite or Leda, or an orgiastic Bacchante, the overruling -sense of beauty, after the first flutter of sensation, hurries the -imagination far beyond all considerations of sex or passion. The root -of all the pleasures we feel, seems to be hidden under the load of -three thousand years, not because the things are old, but because they -are the material representatives of a period when the foot of the -beautiful rested on the earth. - -Footnote 928: - - By Winkelmann, Hist. de l’Art, i. 2. - -Footnote 929: - - It is remarked by Winkelmann that Rubens painted the figures of - Flemings after many years’ residence in Italy.—i. 60. The Greek grew - up from infancy in the presence of the beauty he afterwards - represented: his mother, his sisters, his father, and all around - him. What he saw constituted the basis of what he painted or - sculptured. In most modern nations the school models of our youth - are Greek; but their home models, and which are to them models from - the cradle, are of a different style. Hence they are under two sets - of influences, the one neutralising the other, and producing that - coldness which the mock classical exhibits. This may, perhaps, be - one cause of the slow progress of art among us. - -Footnote 930: - - Plato, jocularly perhaps, bestows the same praise on Egyptian art, - and Muretus seriously adopts his notions: “Meritoque Ægyptios - commendat Plato, apud quos et pictorum et musicorum licentia legibus - coërcebatur, quod permagni interesse judicarent, ut adolescentes à - teneris annis honestis picturis, et honestis cantibus - assuefierent.”—In Aristot. Ethic. p. 249. But perhaps Plato had not - looked very narrowly into the sacred sculptures of Egypt which in - reality abound with images offensive to decency. - -No doubt we come prepared to regard them with eyes coloured, and a -fancy haunted by the beauties of Grecian literature. Possibly, it is -under the spell of Homeric verse that our eyes grow humid with delight -at the aspect of Aphrodite, that we behold divinity in Zeus or Phœbos -Apollo; but this only proves that the fragments of Hellenic -civilisation throw a light upon each other, and are parts of one great -whole. Perhaps, too, no man ever enjoyed the sculpture of Greece as he -should, unless conversant with her poetry—the right hand of her art. -In this we find the first seeds and increments of those ideas, which -were afterwards transplanted and bore fruit in another field. We -discover, therefore, but half the subject when we see only the -sculpture. It is unknown to us whether the artist has fulfilled the -conditions into which he entered, by undertaking to clothe in marble, -thoughts already invested with the forms of language. Hence the little -sympathy between Hellenic art and the people generally of modern -nations. The figures they behold are dumb to them. To a Greek, on the -contrary, or to a man with a Greek’s soul, a thousand sweet -reminiscences, a thousand legends, a thousand dim but cherished -associations appear clustering round them. Every time they flash upon -him, he lives his youth over again. The briery nook, the dewy lanes, -the dim religious forests, the pebbly or wave-fretted shore, where the -poetry of Greece first opened its eyes upon him in boyhood, sweep in -procession over his fancy. He starts to see the hamadryad or the faun -or the mountain nymph, before him but one remove from life; to him art -speaks not merely in an intelligible, but in an impassioned tongue. He -comprehends all the mysteries she has to reveal, and loves her because -in a land as it were of foreigners they can converse with each other, -and speak of the past and the future. - -It is scarcely philosophical to regard poetry, sculpture, and -painting, as the offspring of pleasure, though pleasure in some sense -be as necessary to man as food. Man possesses creative and imitative -faculties, and must, at certain stages of society, employ them. The -moment his merely animal wants are provided for, he begins to feel -that he has others which demand no less imperiously their -gratification. First, he desires to clothe with material forms the -things he worships, and hence the first-born of art are gods. At the -outset, indeed, (and this is a strong argument against their having -borrowed their arts from the East,)[931] the Greeks were content with -setting up rude stones, as symbols rather than representations of -their divinities; then followed the head upon a rude pillar; then, the -indications of the sex; next, the round thighs began to swell out of -the stone; to these succeeded legs and feet; and, lastly, arms and -hands completed the figure. Dædalos, a mythological personage, is -supposed to have been the first who carried the art to this point of -improvement. His figures were of wood, and already executed with -considerable skill, though they would have been despised in the days -of Socrates.[932] - -Footnote 931: - - See Winkel. t. i. p. 7.—Pollux gives a list of the names under which - the representations of the gods were classed.—i. 7. - -Footnote 932: - - Plat. de Repub. t. vi. p. 354. Cf. Hipp. Maj. t. v. p. - 410.—Winkelmann slightly misinterprets the sense of Plato.—Hist. de - l’Art, t. i. p. 12. - -For some ages, perhaps, a stiff, unanimated manner, not unlike the -Egyptian, prevailed; but the impulse, once given, went on increasing -in strength. One improvement imperceptibly followed another. Artists, -together with their experience, acquired professional learning, the -results of which soon became visible in their productions. Movement -and variety of position succeeded. But though knowledge of art was -enlarged and strict rules laid down, there still remained a hard, -square massiveness in the style, resembling what we find in modern -sculpture as improved by Michael Angelo. And this manner became the -type of the Æginetan school, which expressed the character of the -Doric mind, powerful but rude, harmonious but heavy, wanting in grace, -wanting in elegance, and aiming rather at effect than beauty.[933] - -Footnote 933: - - Cf. Winkelmann, t. i. p. 22. - -Numerous causes, however, concurred in ripening the principle of art -in Greece,—the climate, the form of government, the happy taste of the -people, and, lastly, the high respect which was there paid to artists. -Nor is it at all paradoxical to affirm, that moral causes concurred -powerfully with physical, in begetting that radiant beauty of -countenance which distinguished the nation. The consciousness of -freedom and independence produces satisfaction in the mind; the -serenity thus originated communicates itself to the features; thence -arise harmony and dignity of aspect and mien; these are so many -elements of beauty, and such feelings long indulged would operate -powerfully on the countenance, and, seconded by the tranquillising -influences of external nature, end by creating symmetry and -proportion, which, joined with intellect, are beauty. Artists in such -a country, besides that they must themselves involuntarily be -impressed with a veneration for it, would soon discover the reverence -paid to beauty and the value set upon accurate representations of it. - -Of the high estimation in which beauty was held innumerable proofs -exist in Greek literature. At Ægion in Achaia, the priest of Zeus was -chosen for the splendour of his personal charms, to determine which a -sort of contest was instituted. This office he held till his beard -began to appear, when the honour passed to the youth then judged to -excel[934] in the perfection of his form. So, also, at Tanagra, the -youth selected to bear the lamb round the walls in honour of Hermes -was supposed to be the first for beauty in the city.[935] Of the -involuntary power of beauty history has recorded various instances. -Phrynè, accused of impiety and on the point of being condemned, -obtained her acquittal through the hardihood of her advocate, who -bared her bosom before the judges. Another example is said to have -been afforded by Corinna, sole poetess of Tanagra, who, contending -with Pindar for the prize of verse, obtained the victory more by her -beauty, (she being the loveliest woman of her time,) and the sweetness -of the Æolic dialect in which she wrote, than by the greatness of her -genius.[936] - -Footnote 934: - - Paus. vii. 24. 4. - -Footnote 935: - - Id. ix. 22. 1. - -Footnote 936: - - Id. ix. 22. 3. - -In another instance heroic honours were paid to a man after death for -the beauty of his person.[937] This happened at Egestum in Sicily, -where Philippos, a native of Crotona, obtained this distinction, which -Herodotus observes never fell to any other man’s lot before.[938] - -Footnote 937: - - Euripides, speaking of course as a poet, pronounces beauty to be - worthy of supreme power. But many ancient nations were seriously of - this mind, and chose the finest person among them to be their king: - which was the practice of those Ethiopians called the - Immortals.—Athen. xiii. 20. If by Ethiopians be meant the people now - known under the name of Nubians, I am sure they had very good reason - to encourage beauty, than which there is, at this day, nothing more - rare in their country. - -Footnote 938: - - V. 47. - -It was to its artists that Greece delegated, at least in some -instances, the privilege of deciding on the rival pretensions of the -fair and beautiful. They were permitted to select from the loveliest -women of the land models for their female divinities, and at other -times made their mistresses the representatives of goddesses. Pains -were taken, by filling their apartments with beautiful statues, to -impress upon the imagination of pregnant women the perfect forms of -gods and heroes, as of Nireus, Narcissos, Hyacinthos, Castor and -Polydeukes, Bacchos and Apollo.[939] This was at Sparta. In other -parts of the Peloponnesos a species of Olympic contest for the prize -of beauty took place, instituted, it is said, by Cypselos, an ancient -king of Arcadia. Having founded a city in the plain on the banks of -the Alpheios, in which he fixed a colony of Parrhasians, he dedicated -a temple and altar, and instituted a festival in honour of Eleusinian -Demeter, during which the women of the neighbourhood disputed with -each other the prize, and received from some circumstance connected -with the contest the name of Chrysophoræ. The first woman who won was -Herodice, wife of the founder Cypselos. This institution flourished -upwards of fourteen hundred years, having been established in the time -of the Heracleidæ, and still existing in the age of Athenæus.[940] - -Footnote 939: - - Opian. Cyneg. i. 357. sqq. - -Footnote 940: - - Deipnosoph. xiii. 90. Eustath. ad Il. τ. 282. relates briefly the - same facts, concluding with the very words made use of by Athenæus. - Palmerius, who, in his remarks on Diogenes Laertius quotes them, - immediately adds: “quæ non dubito Eustathiun ab aliquo auctore - antiquo accepisse.”—Exercit. in Auct. Græc. p. 448. In which - conjecture he was right; and that ancient author was Nicias in his - history of Arcadia. - -A similar practice prevailed in the islands of Tenedos and Lesbos, -where likewise the ebullitions of vanity were concealed beneath the -veil of religion. The exhibition took place in the temple of Hera, to -whom, as the goddess of marriage, beauty should be dear. Priapos, -however, was in some places supposed to be the deity who awarded the -prize of loveliness in the Callisteia, on which account Niconoë, a -Bacchante perhaps, dedicated to him her fawn-skin and golden -ewer.[941] But the ladies were not singular in these displays. For -among the Eleians, who had as favourable an opinion of themselves as -Oliver Goldsmith, a similar show took place, and the pretensions of -the male candidates were as carefully sifted as if they had been to -take academical honours on their figures. And honours in fact they did -take. They were presented with a complete suit of armour, which the -winner consecrated with extraordinary pomp and rejoicing in the temple -of Athena, whither he was led garlanded with fillets by his triumphant -friends. According to Myrsilos, he was likewise decorated with a -myrtle crown.[942] - -Footnote 941: - - Schol. ad Il. ι. 129. Cf. Meurs. Gr. Fer. p. 177. Hedyl. in Anth. - Gr. vi. 292. Athen. xiii. 90. - -Footnote 942: - - Athen. xiii. 90. - -In some places, not named by historians, a contest was instituted -which, though unconnected with the arts, we will intreat the reader’s -permission to introduce here, for its extraordinary nature. This was a -contest in prudence and good housewifery, in which certain barbarian -nations followed the example. And, to show that character and mental -qualifications were properly esteemed by the Greeks, it is added by -Theophrastos[943] that it is these that render beauty beautiful, and -that without them it is apt to degenerate into wantonness. Winkelmann, -who has noticed several of these facts, is betrayed into some errors. -He speaks of an Apollo of Philesia[944] at whose festival a prize was -bestowed on the youth who excelled in kissing. The contest took place -under the inspection of a judge, he supposes, at Megara. Meursius, -though under the name of Diocleia he notices the Megarean festival, -overlooks the writer who gives the fullest account of it;—I mean the -scholiast on Theocritus, who observes that Diocles was an Athenian -exile who took refuge at Megara. In a battle in which he was engaged, -he fought side by side with a friend, whose life he saved at the -expense of his own. He was interred by the Megareans, who instituted -an annual festival in his honour, where the youth who excelled his -companions was crowned and led in triumph to the arms of his -mother.[945] - -Footnote 943: - - Ap. Athen. xiii. 90. - -Footnote 944: - - Lutat. ad Stat. Theb. viii. 178. Cf. Barth. iii. 828. Hist. de - l’Art, i. 319. Carlo Fea with a simplicity rare in an Italian, - remarks upon this: “Il est question ici de baise-mains!” The Apollo - intended is Apollo Philesias, whose statue was sculptured in - Æginetic marble by Canachos.—Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 19. 14. - -Footnote 945: - - Sch. in Theocrit. xii. 28. - -The exercises, discipline, and moral notions of the Greeks had -doubtless much effect on their form; for in the decline of their -states, when despotism had succeeded to freedom, and vice to virtue, -beauty became exceedingly rare. Cotta, in the De Naturâ Deorum, -observes that he found few handsome youths at Athens, where in the age -of Demosthenes the most beautiful in Greece flourished;[946] and Dion -Chrysostom observes that in his time there were scarcely any that -could be so considered.[947] - -Footnote 946: - - Æschin. cont. Tim. § 31. - -Footnote 947: - - Orat. 21. t. 1. p. 500. sqq. Reiske. - -If we come now to the other causes which account for the progress of -the arts in Greece, we shall find the principal of these to have been -the high consideration and esteem[948] in which artists were held. -Riches, no doubt, obtained credit there as elsewhere, but not to the -exclusion of other recommendations as in modern Europe, or at least in -England. Winkelmann scarcely comprehends the irony of Socrates, -however, when he supposes him seriously to mean that artists alone -were wise; though, since the sage had himself been a sculptor, he had -some reason to think well of them. It is, nevertheless, perfectly true -that men of this profession might become legislators or generals, or -even behold a statue erected to them beside those of Miltiades and -Themistocles, or among the gods themselves.[949] The historian of art -observes with pride that Xenophilos and Straton were permitted at -Argos to place their own statues, even in a sitting posture, near -those of Asclepios and Hygeia.[950] Cheirisophos, who sculptured the -Apollo at Tegea, dedicated in the same fane a statue of himself in -marble, which was erected close to his great work.[951] The figure of -Alcamenes occupied a place among the bassi-rilievi on the temple of -Demeter at Eleusis. Parrhasios and Silanion shared the reverence paid -to their picture of Theseus; and Pheidias affixed his name to his -Olympian Zeus, the nearest approach perhaps which the arts have ever -made to perfection.[952] - -Footnote 948: - - At the same time the earnings of inferior sculptors were small.—Luc. - Somm. § 9. - -Footnote 949: - - Cf. Plut. Thes. § 4. - -Footnote 950: - - Pausan. ii. 23. 4. - -Footnote 951: - - Pausan. viii. 53. 8. - -Footnote 952: - - Id. v. 10. Wink. iv. 1. § 12. p. 332. - -If the satisfaction of beholding a whole nation, I might say a whole -world, smitten with delight and wonder at his performance, would repay -an artist for years of toil and study, Pheidias had his reward. And -not to the narrow circle of his life was this admiration confined; for -six hundred years after his death pilgrims from all parts of the -civilised world flocked to Olympia[953] to behold his matchless -performance; for to die without having partaken of this enjoyment was -considered a misfortune. But neither praise, nor encouragement, nor -honour, nor gain will suffice to bring the arts to perfection. To -ensure this, the nation to which the arts address themselves must -comprehend their language. For, if the people be incapable of deciding -when an artist has succeeded and when he has failed, it is very -certain that he will seldom succeed at all. Men soon find the -uselessness of producing what no one around them can appreciate. Even -in the matter of virtue and vice, few will soar very high in countries -where a low standard of morals prevails generally; and, in the arts, -no one will devote himself to the creation of forms which he knows -will be dumb to the public eye. - -Footnote 953: - - Εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν μὲν ἀποδημεῖτε ἵν᾽ εἰδῆτε τὸ ἔργον τοῦ Φειδίου· - καὶ ἀτύχημα ἕκαστος ὕμων οἴεται, τὸ ἀνιστόρητον τούτον - ἀποθανεῖν.—Arrian. Com. in Epict. l. i. p. 27. - -In Greece every condition required to ripen the genius of an artist -existed. He knew that his reputation and fortune would depend on the -caprice of no particular individual or class of individuals. He -perceived among his countrymen at large the knowledge, the taste, and -the enthusiasm which just decisions in art demand, and laboured -fearlessly for them, not doubting that he should obtain the reward his -genius merited. There were public exhibitions, as among us, both at -Corinth and at Delphi;[954] but, instead of converting them into a -sordid traffic, the whole world was invited to behold their -performances, and judges were appointed to decide upon the merits of -the exhibitors. Instances no doubt there were of artists showing their -performances for money: at least the memory of one example has come -down to us. Zeuxis of Heraclea, having finished his picture of Helen, -opened an exhibition and fixed a certain admission price, by which he -cleared a large sum of money; but to mark their disapprobation of such -conduct, his contemporaries bestowed on his picture the name of the -courtesan.[955] - -Footnote 954: - - Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxv. 35. - -Footnote 955: - - Ælian, Var. Hist. iv. 12. Cf. Meurs. ad Lycoph. Cassand. 131. p. - 1189. and Val. Max. iii. 7. - -In the public exhibitions they appear to have looked solely to merit, -and not to have allowed themselves to be dazzled by great names; for -when Panænos, brother of Pheidias, entered the lists, neither his own -reputation, nor that of the illustrious sculptor, could obtain for him -the preference over Timagoras, who was allowed to have excelled. A -like spirit prevailed among the judges of Olympia, whither artists -sometimes brought their pictures during the games to delight assembled -nations, and reap a harvest of joy and glory in a day. Thus when Ætion -appeared with his “Marriage of Alexander and Roxana,” before the -Hellanodicos Proxenides,[956] he not only obtained the credit due to -his genius, but that magistrate, more emphatically to express his -admiration, bestowed on him the hand of his daughter. And Lucian, who -had seen the picture in Italy, has left a description of it which -justifies the enthusiasm of Proxenides. - -Footnote 956: - - Lucian. Herod. § 4. - -I have already in a former chapter accounted in some measure for the -diffusion of a correct taste among the great body of the people. It -formed with them an indispensable branch of study. The arts of design -were cultivated by the philosopher, the politician, in short, by every -one who claimed to be considered a gentleman.[957] Nay, gentlewomen -also enjoyed these advantages, and instances are recorded of their -arriving at professional excellence and celebrity; for example, -Timarete,[958] daughter of the younger Micon, an Athenian, and Helen -an Alexandrian Greek, who painted the “Battle of the Issos,” -afterwards consecrated in the temple of Peace.[959] It was in the -nature of things, that artists moving in such a moral atmosphere -should partake largely of the national grandeur of sentiment, and look -rather to the perpetuation of their name than to any sordid -considerations of gain, above which they were elevated by the form -which the national gratitude assumed. For we may be sure that what is -related of the great historian of Halicarnassos was, to a certain -extent, true of great artists. Men pointed at him, we are told, as he -moved through the public assemblies, exclaiming, “That is he! That is -the man who has celebrated our victories over the Barbarians!” - -Footnote 957: - - Diog. Laert. iii. 5.—Aristot. Pol. viii. 3. - -Footnote 958: - - Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxv. 35. - -Footnote 959: - - Phot. Bib. p. 149. - -Winkelmann, who understood human nature no less than the arts, -enumerates similar facts among the causes why art flourished in -Greece;[960] and though sometimes mistaken, as in so large a work was -to be expected, his reasoning generally, and his illustrations, -deserve that every lover of art should be familiar with his writings. - -Footnote 960: - - Hist. de l’Art, l. iv. c. 1. § 13. - -This distinguished historian, however, is not sufficiently guarded in -his expressions, when he contends that the productions of art were -consecrated solely to the deity or to public utility; for, though they -were principally directed to these ends, many individuals possessed -collections in their houses,[961] which were by no means the humble -dwellings he supposes. However the public constituted the great patron -of art, and uniting in itself natural aptitude, acquired knowledge, -and an inherent leaning towards grandeur, communicated to those who -laboured to gratify it corresponding taste and elevation. In many -cases the whole population of a city identified its own glory with -that of some celebrated picture or statue within its walls. Olympia, -though peopled by works of art of surpassing excellence, still looked -upon the Pheidian Zeus[962] as the apex of its glory; and even Athens, -where probably more objects of art were crowded together than in any -other city of the world, the colossal statue of Athena stood -preëminently the ornament of the Acropolis. In one respect we have -begun to imitate the Greeks, who often erected by general subscription -the statue of a divinity, or of some Athletæ victorious in the sacred -games. Some minor cities are solely remembered for the works of art -they contained: for example, that of Aliphera which owed its celebrity -entirely to its statue of Athena in bronze, the work of Hecatodoros -and Sostratos.[963] - -Footnote 961: - - Galen, Protrept. § 8. t. i. p. 19. - -Footnote 962: - - On the interior of this statue inhabited by rats and mice. See Luc. - Som. seu. Gall. § 24. - -Footnote 963: - - Polyb. iv. 340. d. Winkel. iv. 1. 15. The Eros of Thespiæ, also, and - the Aphrodite of Cnidos, were famous. Luc. Amor. § 11. seq. - -Winkelmann supposes that both sculpture and painting arrived earlier -at a certain degree of perfection than architecture, and, assuming the -fact, proceeds philosophically to account for it. But his theory -itself, on this point, appears to be erroneous. In Egypt, at least, -where the mind would necessarily be guided by the same laws as in -Greece, it is certain that while sculpture and painting never escaped -from the swaddling bands of infancy, architecture advanced to a very -high degree of perfection. The force of necessity, which leads to the -creation of architecture, communicates a far more lasting impulse than -the instinct of imitation. Men must everywhere build to protect -themselves from the fury of the elements; and the first step thus -made, and leisure supervening, that sense of proportion and symmetry -and arrangement, which is almost an instinct, would soon lead to the -contemplation of the ideal and the creation of architecture as an art. -Sculpture sprang later into existence, and still later painting; but -like the children of one family,—of whom some are older, others -younger,—all the arts flourish nearly together, and nearly together -decay. Nevertheless we may subdivide this period into minuter cycles, -when we shall find that architecture and sculpture reached almost like -twins their acme together, while, like a younger sister, painting -attained its greatest beauty when the former two had fallen something -from their perfection. Thus, the Zeus of Pheidias and the Hera of -Polycletos, two of the most celebrated statues of antiquity, already -existed, while Hellenic painting exhibited no knowledge of -chiaro-scuro and was wholly destitute of harmony. - -Apollodoros and after him Zeuxis, master and disciple,[964] who -flourished about the ninetieth Olympiad, were the first who rendered -themselves remarkable for a knowledge of light and shade.[965] But, -arrived at this pitch, the beauty of the art began to be felt, picture -galleries were commenced in various temples,[966] and, a new world of -forms and colours disclosing itself to the imagination, the versatile -Greeks transferred to it a large share of the admiration hitherto -monopolised by sculpture. Painting, in fact, speaks a more popular -language. It tells a story, while sculpture can but embody a thought -or fix an incident. Its accessories realise events more completely. -The Apollo, in sculpture, has bent his bow and discharged his -arrow—the remainder of the action the imagination must shape for -itself. Painting gives us the whole scene teeming with life,—the -writhing dragon, the rocks, the woods, the mountain, the sky, with all -the illusions spread before the eye by many-coloured light. Sculpture -furnishes the nucleus of glorious associations, but ’tis we that must -group them into sublime beauty. It asks more knowledge, more fancy, -more in short of every element of genius in its admirers than does -painting. Hence the latter will always number, and justly, more -partisans. In most persons a preference for sculpture would be mere -affectation. It cannot equally please the many. - -Footnote 964: - - Winkel. iv. 1. 16. - -Footnote 965: - - Quintil. xii. 10. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxv. 36. - -Footnote 966: - - In the Stoa of Dionysos, at Rhodes, there was a picture gallery - filled with historical and mythic pieces.—Luc. Amor. § 8. Similar - exhibitions appear to have existed at Cnidos, in the portico of - Sostratos.—§ 11. Works of art, sacred to the gods, were likewise - treasured up at home.—§ 16. In some temples, we learn, even - pictures of immoral tendency, by Parrhasios and others, were - admitted.—Lobeck, Aglaopham. p. 606. Aristotle takes from this - circumstance occasion to sneer at the religion of paganism which - patronised such excesses.—Polit. vii. 15. p. 255. Gœttl. - -However, in proportion as the public became more enlightened, and, to -justify its admiration and enthusiasm, imposed harder conditions on -artists, the latter enlarged the circle of their studies, which -gradually expanded until it embraced a certain portion of metaphysics, -the science of form and colours, with that art of grouping and -arrangement which constitutes a species of narrative in painting. A -complete exposition of their studies would be the best manual which -could be put into the hands of contemporary artists, and at the same -time would furnish the best explanation of their seemingly -inexplicable superiority. But such an exposition would be out of place -here. My object is simply to hint at what may be done, not to attempt -it myself; and to show, that if the Greek nation afforded -encouragement to its artists, it was because those artists met their -countrymen more than half way, and laboured to deserve encouragement. - -There existed in Greece a philosophy of art, that is, a perfect theory -of what its object is, and of all the means by which that object may -be accomplished. Now the object of art is delight, a delight which -aggrandises and ennobles the mind, and such delight is only to be -obtained through the contemplation of the beautiful. This conviction -established, the studies of the Greek artist were directed to the -discovery of the elements of the beautiful, not such as it exists in -the original types of the intellectual world (which he abandoned to -the philosopher), but such as we find it in material developements of -the ideal, and chiefly in the forms of our own species. - -Their researches, conducted in a philosophical spirit, by degrees -taught them that perfect beauty, like perfect happiness, consists in -absolute serenity and repose. Thus, the heavens are beautiful when in -the noon of a summer’s day their blue depths are unstained by a cloud, -and not a breath is heard among the trees. Thus, the ocean is -beautiful when the most perfect calm broods upon it, and has smoothed -down every ripple and converted it into a mirror for reflecting the -cerulean purity of the sky. And this is what the poets signify when -they represent Aphrodite, the very soul of beauty and of love, -springing up from the level and glittering surface of such a sea. In -the same state the human countenance is most beautiful, when every -feature in the most perfect equilibrium breathes of calm, joy, and -serenity, and by the force of sympathy converts all who approach it -into so many mirrors reflecting its absolute bliss. This is the secret -of that beauty which exists in Grecian sculpture. - -It was a maxim of Greek philosophy, that the magnanimous man is -seldom, under any circumstances, disturbed. In action, therefore, he -would exhibit the same tranquil countenance as when at rest. Thus, -Socrates at Potidæa, at Delion, in the Prison of the Eleven about to -quaff the hemlock, would in looks be much the same. And this -self-command, observable in one great man, art attributed generally to -the gods and heroes, who, in whatever actions they might be engaged, -would still retain a self-possessed and serene aspect. Hence, even the -battle-pieces of the Greeks are beautiful. Men fight and die, but -under the guidance of duty. We behold none of those demoniacal -passions, nothing of that animal ferocity, or of that succumbing to -pain which convert so many modern pictures into slaughter-house -representations. We feel that the actors contemplated death only as -the distributor of imperishable glory,—that imagination had coloured -everything around them with its rainbow tints,—that by anticipation -they enjoyed the panegyric which would be pronounced over them in the -hearing of all they loved,—the monument which would be raised over -their ashes,—the deathless reward which would be bestowed on their -patriotism and valour in the historic page. To men, so feeling and so -thinking, where was the sting of death? They could compress eternity -into a moment, and grasp all future time, and live through it by the -irresistible force of imagination. - -To be able to represent such forms and features, it was necessary to -study simultaneously the conceptions of the poets, and the progressive -developement of the human figure from infancy to age. From this study -resulted a body of experience, the fruit of innumerable comparisons, -out of which sprang that gradually corrected and improved and elevated -conception of the human figure which is denominated _the ideal_. -Instances, isolated from the great body of artistic study, have crept -into ordinary books, and been thereby invested with an air of -vulgarity. But this will not hinder the philosopher or the artist from -including them in his scheme of study and converting them into germs -of utility. In this part of their progress religion stepped in to the -aid of the artist. The several goddesses represented each a style of -women of whom they might be considered the original type. Aphrodite, -for example, represented the impassioned and tender,[967] naturally -parasites of man and too often frail; Hera, the chaste matron, -dignified, authoritative, energetic, but inclined to violence and -self-will; Artemis, reserved, modest, retiring, like a nun, was the -prototype of unspotted maidenhood, revered for its own purity; Athena, -perfect in intellect as in form, uniting the loveliness of Aphrodite, -the majesty of Hera, the delicacy and chastity of Artemis with the -wisdom of Zeus, constituted properly the ideal of womanhood, loftier -than Eve before the fall and such as it can exist only in the -imagination. - -Footnote 967: - - An ancient author has the following expression: οὐκοῦν τὸ θῆλυ, κᾄν - λίθινον ᾖ, φιλεῖται· τί δ᾽ εἴ τις ἔμψυχον εἶδε τοιοῦτον κάλλος;—Luc. - Amor. § 17. - - Something very like which is found in Byron: - - “There, too, the Goddess _loves in stone_, and fills - The air around with beauty.” - -In search, however, of female forms to represent these ideal originals -artists travelled through the whole of Greece, gathering up as they -went those fragments of beauty which, when united, were to approach -perfection. They resembled Isis in search of the limbs of Osiris. -Sometimes, as at Crotona and Agrigentum, parents did not scruple to -expose their daughters naked to their eyes, that from them they might -fashion that loveliness which was to represent to their senses the -divine being they worshiped. But this excess of superstition was rare. -In general the Hetairæ, their mistresses and companions, served for -the models after which the soft divinities of Greece were moulded: - - “If Queensberry to strip there’s no compelling, - ’Tis from a handmaid we must take a Helen.” - -Thus Phryne, idealised by art, became Aphrodite, Anadyomene in the -hands of Apelles, or Aphrodite of Cnidos in those of Praxiteles. - -Childhood obtained its representative in Eros the god of love. Thus, -from infancy upwards, even to old age, the human form in all its -phases became the object of study to the Greek artist, not to be -servilely copied, but to be idealised, to be clothed with poetry, to -be divested of everything mean, gross, unspiritual, and embalmed in -eternal beauty. And their success is proved by this, that, even with -their works before them, modern artists have never been able -satisfactorily to imitate their excellences. Of this Winkelmann[968] -mentions some examples which have not come under my own notice. -“Although the best modern artists,” he says, “have striven to imitate -exactly the celebrated Medusa of the Strozzi cabinet at Rome, which, -nevertheless, is not a countenance of the highest beauty, an -experienced antiquary will always be able to distinguish the original -from the copy.” The same thing is true, he says, with respect to the -Pallas of Aspasios, engraved by Natter and others. But this is -perfectly intelligible. The original artist, working after his own -ideas and comprehending thoroughly his own object, would impart to his -creations a flexibility, a grace, a freedom, not to be reached by one -whose type existed out of his own mind. For even in literature it is -thus—language, malleable, expansive, obedient to control in the hands -of the original writer, who breathes into it his own ideas and -requires it only to drape them, becomes a stiff unmanageable mass with -the imitator like a corpse put in motion by galvanism. - -Footnote 968: - - Hist. de l’Art, iv. 2. 23. - -To be conversant with the arts of Greece, is to move among a race of -gods endued with eternal youth. In the goddesses the small neck, the -undeveloped bosom convey the idea of virgin innocence. The nipple -shrinking inward retreats from the eye. Over the visage a radiance -indescribable appears to play; the form, whether draped or undraped, -suggests the idea of divine unfleeting existence—of the poetry of life -and love—such as youth dreams of in its purest aspirations. For the -gods our feelings are in a slight degree different. Zeus, invested -with the majesty of Olympos, in the fulness of manhood, powerful, -beautiful, sublime, awakens in us a mingling of reverence and love, as -towards a father. Apollo towers like an elder brother above our heads. -Hades, Poseidon, Ares are powers whom we do not love. Mighty they -were, but strangers whom our sympathies do not cling to. But Dionysos, -with his vine garland and beautiful face of friendship, with Eros and -Heracles and the heroic twins and Hephæstos and Seilenos, and the -Fauns, with every haunter of grove, or spring, or mountain seem -familiar all and formed to inspire and repay affection. They are -spirits of joy every one of them. They have lived from boyhood in our -dreams, they have constituted one principal link in binding us to the -past, one principal argument in favour of Grecian genius: and who can -do otherwise than love them? Nay, in some measure, when we consider -their manifold escapes from time and barbarism, they appear to us as -Othello to Desdemona—we “love _them_ for the dangers they have -passed,”—and it asks no faith in miracles to persuade us that they -“love _us_ that we do pity them.” - -Winkelmann, who on so many questions connected with art has put -forward opinions highly just and philosophical, appears to have fallen -short of his wonted acumen in the theory he had formed of the beauty -of the goddesses. His language in fact descends to puerility where he -says:—"Since on the subject of female beauty there are few -observations to be made, it may be concluded that the study of it is -less complicated and far easier for the artist. Nature itself appears -to experience less difficulty in the formation of women than of men, -_if it be true_ that there are born fewer boys than girls."[969] Since -the direct contrary is true, this imaginary difficulty of Nature (not -to hazard a more sacred word) may be dismissed with contempt; but the -remark by which it is ushered in requires to be confuted. Artists are -well aware, and Winkelmann himself admits, that the beau ideal of -heroic beauty (that for example of Achilles or of Theseus) is merely -the blending of feminine loveliness with masculine power, so as to -leave it undetermined, from the countenance, to which sex it belongs. -And still the beauty of the Grecian youth, where they are beautiful, -consists in a near approach to that of the female, so near indeed that -they might be easily mistaken for women. If, therefore, the beauty of -men when highest and most perfect, consists chiefly in what it borrows -from that of woman, the latter necessarily constitutes the apex of -human beauty; and the artist whom this conviction guides in his -creations, will be the first to rival the great masters of antiquity. -Another observation which it is strange to find in the Historian of -Art, is that artists draped their female figures because of the little -difficulty there is in imitating the naked form. But was it the -extreme facility of representing paternal grief that led Timanthes to -veil the face of his Agamemnon? In draping their goddesses and -heroines, artists were guided by other reasons, of which the principal -was their desire to conform to the ideas of the poets and to popular -belief. - -Footnote 969: - - Hist. de l’Art, iv. 2. 67. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - HELLENIC LITERATURE. - - -From the arts the transition is natural to the literature[970] of -Greece, which in the historical period necessarily constituted the -principal agent in ripening and stamping their peculiar character upon -the fruits of education among the people. Literature is in fact the -school-mistress of nations. In it so long as it remains entire, we may -contemplate the whole character, intellectual and moral, of the race -out of whose passions, yearnings, tastes, and energies it may be said -to be fashioned. And this, true of all literature, is especially -applicable to that of Greece, which more than any other bears the -impress of nationality. Every idea, every image, every maxim, every -reflection seems to emanate from one source. Nothing is foreign. -Neither the inspiration, nor the spirit which regulated it and moulded -it into beauty, borrowed a single impulse from anything existing -beyond the circle of Hellenic thought. Greece supplied at once the -matrix and the materials, the active power and that delicate sense of -beauty and perfection which presided over its organisation and -rendered it the delight of mankind. - -Footnote 970: - - Speaking of the influence of literature on education Plato remarks, - that persons accustomed from their infancy to the loftier and purer - inspirations of the muse will regard with contempt everything mean - or illiberal; whereas they who have always been familiar with low - and vulgar compositions will look upon all other literature as tame - and insipid.—De Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 30. - -In characterising this literature many singular notions have been -broached. We have been told that its spirit is exclusively masculine, -which means, of course, that while it abounds with strength and -energy, with sublimity of speculation and impassioned and impetuous -impulses, it is wanting in that sweetness, delicacy, grace, and -tenderness which confer on the intellectual offspring of some modern -nations a feminine aspect. Grecian literature, however, is neither -masculine nor feminine, but androgynous like the son of Aphrodite and -Hermes. There is no excellence of thought or language, of which, even -in its present fragmentary state, it does not offer us some example. -There is a predominance, doubtless, of stern grandeur and colossal -elevation of thought; but, beside these, we discover frequently -modifications of light and airy beauty, infantine purity of sentiment, -ease, grace, felicitous negligence, and a dreamy luxury of speculation -not to be outdone by the most subtile and fanciful literature -existing. If there be a deficiency of any thing, it is of -spirituality. The imagination of the Greeks confined itself too -rigidly perhaps to this “bank and shoal of time.” Not being able to -lift the veil which curtains the realms beyond the grave, it busied -itself too little about those things with which the disembodied soul -must converse for ever. In most Greek writers there is a visible -reluctance to walk amid the forms of Hades. Their fancy will not be -conducted beyond the limits of the visible universe, but shudders, -rears and reverts its eyes towards the light where alone it finds firm -footing for speculation. But on the other hand if it refuse to quit -this earthly scene of existence, how glorious is the flood of sunshine -and splendour which it pours over it! It is in these walks of -literature that we discover truly the freshness and the loveliness of -morning. The very clouds that hover over the landscape only add to its -majesty, by diversifying the prospect and introducing those shadows -and contrasts which the mind delights everywhere to discover. - -Poets,[971] it is constantly repeated, commence in every country the -mental movement which evolves civilisation out of the chaos of -barbarism; but it remains a mystery how and by what they themselves -are moved. There may possibly be something more than a figure of -speech in the old affirmation that they were inspired of heaven. Their -imagination towered to so great a height that it was kindled by the -lamps of the firmament, and may be regarded as that fabled Prometheus -who applied the flame of science to the human clay. I do not therefore -see what objection can be urged against our maintaining the old -doctrine that poets partook and partake still, when their minds are -pure, of a divine impulse—that to the infant nations of the earth they -were teachers commissioned from on high. - -Footnote 971: - - Cf. Lil. Gyrald. Opp. t. ii. p. 2. “Nihil traditum videbis in - religionibus et mysteriis, nihil in theologiâ et philosophiâ - aliisque bonis artibus à principio fuisse sine poeticâ, ita ut hoc - verè me tibi dicturum existimem, ex omnibus disciplinis unam hanc - divinam extitisse, quasi totius vitæ magistram.” - -The condition of the mind in those early ages when poets were the only -oracles, it is difficult for men surfeited with the luxuries of a -prolific literature to comprehend. Among the Arabs of the desert we -may still perhaps discover something similar. Deprived of books, but -enjoying much leisure, they eagerly treasure up in their memories the -moral distich, the apologue, the tale which instructs while it -delights, and thus mentally furnished with a few weapons they are -often wiser in deliberation, more persuasive in discourse, more ready -in action than persons of education in civilised countries, whose -intellectual armoury is so full that in the moment of danger they know -not what weapon to choose. Poets, among such a race and under such -circumstances, feel that they have a high mission to fulfil; their -endeavours are not by polished rhythmical trifles to amuse a few rich -and noble persons, but to clothe in befitting language and marry to -immortal verse those great central truths, upon which the whole system -of the future world of civilisation must revolve. We find them always -curiously adapting their revelations to the times. First, the great -fundamental truths of religion, the basis of the social structure, are -infused into the public mind. Next the rudiments of politics and -legislation, the precepts of agriculture, the leading rules of the -useful arts, the observances of civil life, and the first faint -whispers of the passions and affections are treasured up in their -lays. Then, growing bolder by degrees, they aim at subduing the whole -empire of knowledge, and impetuously, with numerous charms and -allurements, hurry mankind forward in a sort of orgiastic rapture to -the very threshold of philosophy. - -Among the earliest names in the literary traditions of Hellas are -those of Olen, Pamphos, Musæos and Orpheus,[972] who, for their -wisdom, are said to be sprung from the gods. They were sacred bards, -whose genius obtained for them an ascendency over the minds of their -countrymen. Yet all they attempted, perhaps, was to teach the doctrine -of prayer, thanksgiving, sacrifice, which, being afterwards -misunderstood, caused them to be confounded with those impostors and -incantation-mongers, who, in more recent times, granted absolutions -and sold indulgences both to individuals and states, with a hardihood -worthy of Giovanni di Medici. Musæos, older probably than Orpheus, -though sometimes regarded as his disciple, is said by certain -traditions to have been a teacher of ethics, who delivered a body of -moral precepts in four thousand verses. His country is unknown,—for he -is now represented as an Athenian, now as a Thracian,—but his name and -the name of Orpheus and Eumolpos are associated with the expiations, -orgies, mysteries, celebrated during many ages in honour of Demeter -and Dionysos.[973] We must rest content, however, with very imperfect -notions of what they were, for, in looking back at these great men, -whom we behold on the edge of the horizon, enlarged like the sun at -its setting by misty exhalations, but by the same means rendered dim -and obscure, we can form no just idea of their character. - -Footnote 972: - - Plato de Repub. t. ii. p. 113. seq. Stallb.—De Legg. t. vii. p. 243. - Bek. Athen. i. 24. Paus. ix. 27. 2. Diog. Laert. Proœm. iv. 5. - -Footnote 973: - - Muret. in Plat. Rep. p. 699. seq. Cf. Lil. Gyrald. ii. 5. Wolf. - Proleg. in Homer. p. 51. - -These, however, and such as these, were the men who fabricated the -first link in that chain of thought and beauty, which, stretching over -the gulf of time and fastened to the skies, still holds up the nations -of the earth from sinking into barbarism. Literature is degraded when -contemplated as an art or as an amusement. It is a paradise, into -which the best fruits of the soul, when arrived at their greatest -maturity and beauty, are transplanted to bloom in immortal freshness -and fragrance. It is the garner wherein the seeds of religion, virtue, -morals, national greatness and individual happiness are preserved for -the use of humanity. It is a gallery, where the likenesses of all the -great and noble souls who have shed light and glory on the earth, are -treasured up as the heirloom and palladium of the human race. It is -impossible, therefore, for any but the most sordid minds to look back -towards the venerable fathers of literature without a deep thrill of -filial reverence and love, conjoined with the generous impulse and -yearning desire to enlarge and add fresh brightness to the halo which -encircles their names. They were not, what since too many have been, -the instruments and panders to the pleasures of worldlings. Conscious -of the holy mission wherewith, according to their creed, the father of -gods and men had intrusted them, they stood forward as the apostles of -truth, encircled by the majesty which a sense of divine inspiration -must impart. They felt a harmony within their souls which, in -manifesting itself, sought the aid of harmonious language; and hence -the precepts of wisdom, distilling from their lips like honey from the -honeycomb, moulded themselves naturally into verse, at whose sound the -fountains of the great deep of knowledge were broken up, and the -windows of heaven opened, and a deluge of philosophy and science and -intellectual delight poured forth upon the amazed world. - -In what age or province of Greece arose the first minister of this -poetical revelation, it is not now possible to decide. The art of -writing, however, which the Egyptian king regarded as the enemy of -memory, had not passed the Ægæan. The songs men heard were wafted on -the wings of music from tongue to tongue, and, by degrees, the -professors of this marvellous art, by which the wisdom and the glory -of the past were embalmed in the sweets of verse, embodied themselves -into a distinct order called Aoidoi or Singers.[974] The life of these -men in the remote ages of antiquity is little known to us. Wanderers, -however, for the most part they were, in some respects not unlike the -Jongleurs and Troubadours of the middle ages, though occupying a -higher station and guided by a higher aim. Their first and ostensible -object was, doubtless, to delight; but it is of great importance to -inspire men with a delight in lofty and ennobling conceptions,—to -withdraw them for a moment from pursuits sordid or brutalising or -unmanly, to the contemplation of heroic acts,—of honour, of -patriotism, of friendship,—of the great and solid advantages accruing -from peace and commerce, and the experience of travel and adversity. - -Footnote 974: - - Cf. Wolf. Proleg. in Hom. p. 73. 93. sqq. - -What were the rewards they obtained it is easy to conjecture. They -consisted, principally, in the rays of joy reflected back upon them by -a thousand happy countenances at once. Gain they neither would nor -could regard. He who renders multitudes wise and happy must be happy -and wise himself; and wisdom scorns to measure its gifts against gold. -The truly wise and great man, therefore, if fortune have originally -befriended him, will shower his benefactions, as God his rain, -liberally and without distinction upon all; and if necessity compel -him to receive some return, his moderation will content itself with -the least possible amount. Embraced within the circle of refinement -which they themselves had created, however, they gradually became -secularised, though we must be careful to distinguish them from their -successors of a later age. The prodigious admiration which they and -their songs excited may be learned from those passages in Homer where -Phemios and Demodocos are introduced, and from that animated dialogue -of Plato, in which the rhapsodist Ion describes his office and his -audience. It has been justly remarked, that if this man, a mere actor, -could hurry into whatever channel he pleased the affections of a whole -theatre, melt them into tears, fire them with indignation, or clothe -their countenances with the smiles of joy, much more would the poets -themselves work upon their passions by an art far nearer nature. - -Care must, no doubt, be taken not to confound the Rhapsodists with the -Aoidoi who preceded them, though it be certain that the manners and -condition of the later race may serve to throw considerable light on -those of the earlier. Both have recently much occupied the attention -of the learned; and Wolff in particular deserves credit for his -defence of the Rhapsodists, into which, however, he was chiefly led by -the requirements of his celebrated theory. They were certainly, at -first, a remarkable order of men, whom it would be injurious to -confound with their frivolous representatives in the age of Plato and -Xenophon. Nevertheless, the above distinguished scholar is perhaps -inclined to exaggerate their merits, since to them, in his opinion, we -owe it that the great Homeric poems have come down to us. But this is -taking for granted the matter in dispute between him and his -opponents, who maintain that the author of the Iliad and Odyssey -possessed both the knowledge and the materials for writing. He, with -reason however, assumes that both theatrical and oratorical action -found a way opened for them by the rhapsodic art, though its -professors were neither actors nor orators, but men exercising an -office connected with a peculiar state of society, and no longer -existing in modern times. - -It has often been supposed, grounding the opinion on a false -interpretation of the word _rhapsodist_, that the members of this -fraternity were mere compilers or patchers up of poems from fragments -pilfered out of various authors. And, to augment the absurdity, the -practice of a recent age has been attributed to remote antiquity, -when, as some imagine, the great rhapsodists like a modern lecturer, -carried about with them pictures of the subject they were upon, and -pointed out to the audience with a stick[975] the various characters -or incidents they might be describing. Another error much insisted on -by Wolff, is the supposition that the Homeric poems alone were chanted -by the older Rhapsodists, which no doubt is contrary to the testimony -of antiquity and to common sense. For, as might naturally be -concluded, not only the songs of Hesiod[976] and the whole epic race -were thus publicly sung, but those likewise of the lyric and iambic -poets, and the very laws of the state when the legislator happened to -have composed them in verse. It must nevertheless be remarked, (though -of this Wolff takes no notice,) that so much did recitations of -Homer’s works predominate over all others, that Rhapsodists and -Homerists were often regarded as synonymous terms;[977] and even in -later ages, when at any rate the art of writing was not unknown, -Demetrius Phalereus introduced upon the stage a class of reciters, -who, down to the days of Athenæus, enjoyed the name of Homerists. -Still, as I have observed above, the works of other good poets were at -times recited, as Hesiod, Archilochos, Mimnermos, and Phocylides. Nay, -the Rhapsodist Mnasion, as Lysanias relates, used to recite the -Iambics of Simonides; Cleomenes, the Purifications of Empedocles, and -Hegesius the comedian, the Histories of Herodotus; that is, some -portions of them I presume. Certain authors delivered their own -productions in this way,[978] as Xenophanes, who composed both epics, -elegies and iambics.[979] - -Footnote 975: - - Anim. ad Athen. xii. p. 371. Cf. Suid. v. Ῥαψῳδοί. t. ii. p. 678. - Etym. Mag. 703. 32. Aristoph. Concionat. 674. - -Footnote 976: - - Ῥαψῳδὸν δὲ, καλῶς Ἰλίαδα καὶ Ὀδυσσεῖαν ἢ τι τῶν Ἡσωδείων διατιθέντα, - τάχ᾽ ἂν ἡμεῖς οἱ γέροντες ἥδιστα ἀκούσαντες νικᾷν ἂν φαῖμεν - πάμπολο.—Plat. de Legg. ii. t. vii. p. 243. Bekk. Again: Ἅμα δὲ - ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι ἔν τε ἄλλοις ποιηταῖς διατρίβειν πολλοῖς κᾀγαθοῖς - καὶ δὴ καὶ μάλιστα ἐν Ὁμήρῳ, κ. τ. λ. Ion. Plat. Opp. t. ii. p. 172. - -Footnote 977: - - Ὅτι δ᾽ ἐκαλοῦντο οἱ ῥαψῳδοὶ καὶ Ὁμηρισταὶ Ἀριστοκλῆς εἴρηκε, κ. τ. - λ.—Athen. xiv. 12. - -Footnote 978: - - Athen. xiv. 12. - -Footnote 979: - - Diog. Laert. ix. 18. - -It has with reason been observed that although the name of the -rhapsodic art would seem to have been invented posterior to Homer, the -thing itself existed long before, and was held in greater honour than -at any subsequent period. In fact, the poets of those times were -themselves Rhapsodists, and for many ages the only ones, if it be true -that Hesiod[980] was the first who reduced the chanting of other men’s -poems into an art. Afterwards, from the age of Terpander the Lesbian -(Olymp. 34) down to Cynæthos of Chios (Olymp. 69) supposed to have -been the author of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, and a man of -distinguished genius, the Rhapsodists sometimes chanted the poems of -others, sometimes their own, and occasionally perhaps interpolated new -verses into the golden relics of the past, as our modern actors often -foist their one-legged jokes into the stage text of Shakespeare. There -appears, however, to be no foundation for the notion, that nearly -every one of these chanters was likewise a clever poet, which no -ancient writer, I believe, asserts, and which the assertions of fifty -would not render credible, though the probability is, that of those -numerous rhapsodists some were themselves poets, and others desirous, -without the genius, of being thought such; so that it is quite as -likely that their vanity frequently laid claim to the works of others, -where detection could be escaped, as that others were suffered to rob -them of their just fame. - -Footnote 980: - - Ῥαψωδῆσαι φησὶ πρῶτον τὸν Ἡσιοδὸν Νικοκλῆς.—Schol. Pind. Nem. ii. 1. - Cf. Dissen. ad loc. Wolf. Proleg. p. 96. sqq. - -They who contend for the flourishing of the system of castes in -Greece, would probably maintain that the Rhapsodists constituted from -the first _a clan_, as the Homeridæ are said to have been in -Chios.[981] Among the few arts which commanded the undivided time and -study of numerous professors in those ages, that of the Aoidos or -Poet, was certainly one, and that, too, the most honoured and revered. -Doubtless their characters were pure and noble, to overcome the envy -which superior abilities usually inspire. For whether at home or -abroad, in their native cities no less than in the public assemblies, -and at the festive boards of kings, they were regarded as dear to gods -and venerable to men. The Rhapsodists likewise enjoyed the same -estimation and led the same kind of life until other studies and other -manners, with that most debasing of all passions, the love of gain, -brought contempt on their profession and pursuits.[982] - -Footnote 981: - - Schol. Pind. Nem. ii. 1. Etym. Mag. 623. 50. - -Footnote 982: - - Payne Knight, Proleg. in Hom. § 13. 28. - -In the Homeric poems themselves we discover abundant proofs of the -high honour in which the professors of the poetical art were held by -their countrymen. They fulfilled in Greece[983] the office performed -among the Hebrews by the Schools of the Prophets,[984] or the solitary -possessors of the vaticinatory power who revealed to their countrymen -the will of heaven, and taught by what practices it might be -propitiated. Some institution of this kind probably existed, as I have -already observed, from the very dawn of civilisation which it -principally created. Most princes, like Agamemnon, Alcinoüs and -Odysseus, retained in their palaces a man at once their chaplain and -their laureate, who, when guests foreign or domestic assembled at -their board, might administer instruction and delight, by chanting the -praises of the gods, the exploits or greatness of their ancestors, or -even by delivering precepts in morals or the useful arts. To a poet, -also, as to the holiest of guardians, kings entrusted the care of -their wives and families,[985] when departing on distant expeditions; -and so great was the veneration paid to their character, that we find -Clytemnæstra banishing the poet before she dares to become the -paramour of Ægisthos. - -Footnote 983: - - Athen. i. 16. - -Footnote 984: - - Cf. Sigon. de Rep. Hebræorum v. 9. Godwin, Moses et Aaron, i. 6. - -Footnote 985: - - But the δόμων προφῆται in Æschylus (Agam. 377 Klausen,) were - household prophets, who not only disclosed the secrets of the future - and interpreted dreams, but acted also the part of counsellors in - present emergencies, and treasured up the records of the past. - Apollo is called the Prophet of Zeus, because he receives oracles - from him.—Eum. 19. 618. So Amphiaraos is denominated a great - prophet.—Sept. c. Theb. 611. - - See the comment of Klausen, Agam. p. 143. seq.-Notice of the - household interpreters of dreams δόμων ὀνειρόμαντες and again κριταὶ - τῶν ὀνειράτων (Choep. 36. 39), is found in several parts of - Æschylus, who loved to furnish traits of these old superstitions. In - the Persians we find Atossa speaking of the τῶν ἐνυπνίων κριτὴς - (226) as a person of supernatural powers. - -But those men of great original genius whose fame spread rapidly, -and who probably found superior enjoyment in the independence of a -wandering life, not content with the patronage of a single prince, -or the admiration of a single people, moved perpetually from land to -land, enhancing at once their glory and experience. We in fact -discover in Homer, Pindar, and other original poets proofs that the -flowers from which they collected the honey of their melodies grew -not all on one spot. Odysseus was a type of the bard who sang his -adventures, and looking still further back we find the Thracian -Thamyris, whom the Muses were said to have punished for his vanity, -penetrating into the obscurest parts of Peloponnesos, protected by -the sanctity of his character and the reverence due to his -profession.[986] - -With respect to Homer, both ancient tradition and the form and spirit -of his poems, require us to consider him in this light, though there -is no ground for supposing him with Payne Knight to have celebrated -the different heroes of Greece for the purpose of ingratiating himself -with their descendants. - -Footnote 986: - - Iliad β. 590. sqq. Payne Knight, Proleg. § 74. - -Those writers who imagine the works of Homer to have been composed -fortuitously by a club of poets, all actuated by a blind instinct to -produce a number of parts which, when completed, should fit as well -together as the several members of a statue, are necessarily desirous -to establish two points: first, that the Aoidoi recited their works -from memory, and that because, secondly, the art of writing was -unknown. By far too much ingenuity has already been expended on this -question to allow it to be any longer tempting from its novelty. Wolff -and Heyne have obtained all the credit they sought by their visionary -hypothesis, and the echoes of their scepticism are not yet silenced in -the academies and universities. The argument, derived from the -practice of the Rhapsodists, of repeating from memory, is attended by -two inconveniences: first, it cannot be shown that the order arose -before the art of writing was common; second, these recitations were -equally made from memory, not only in the age of Pericles, but down to -the latest period of their flourishing. It may, therefore, without the -slightest risk to the argument, be granted the academic sceptics that -the Rhapsodists recited from memory, even when we know with certainty -that they learned the poems from written copies. - -To render more credible the notion that the art of writing in the age -of Homer was not yet known, great stress is laid on the powers of -memory in certain individuals, though from these nothing can in -reality be inferred, except, that when necessary, men can certainly -remember a great deal. It matters little, however, for my present -purpose, whether the Iliad and Odyssey were written by one man or by a -hundred; the grandeur of the poetry remains, and to it as a great -fountain-head may be traced several principal streams of Hellenic -civilisation. - -Plato, indeed, who laboured so assiduously in enlarging the empire and -corroborating the powers of the human understanding, at times -maintained the fancy that little benefit had been conferred on Greece -by her bard. He observes, but in a manner so ironical that it is -difficult to determine his meaning, that if Homer and Hesiod had -possessed the gift of improving their contemporaries in virtue they -would never have been suffered to wander about chanting their poems. -People, he thinks, would have constrained them by benefits to remain -with them, or, not succeeding in this, would have quitted their homes -to attend their footsteps, as in his age many did in the case of the -sophists.[987] - -Footnote 987: - - De Rep. x. 4. t. ii. 318. Stallb. - -At the same time he admits the general opinion to have been that Homer -was the great preceptor of Hellas, who taught the sciences of politics -and ethics, together with the whole discipline and economy of human -life.[988] Perhaps, notwithstanding his great wisdom and his genius, -he looked upon the question from a wrong point of view, regarding -poetry as the rival rather than the precursor of philosophy. The -mission of the former had, however, in his time been in a great -measure accomplished, as far, I mean, as concerned positive teaching; -and he did not consider that as civilisation advances and materialises -nations the curb of poetry is the more required to check their -downward tendencies, and direct their head towards the skies. The -object of poetry is to keep alive in the human breast the love of -whatever is noble and beautiful, to dazzle the worldling from the -worship of gold by showing him something more glorious than anything -that gold can purchase, to accomplish the apotheosis of pure -affection, of virtue, of disinterestedness, of great passions, of -patriotism,—and in Homer all this is effected with a spontaneous -energy, which like the ocean appears equal to bear the whole weight of -humanity clothed with all its attributes upon its breast. - -Footnote 988: - - De Rep. x. 7. t. ii. 336. - -Greece has no poet worthy to be compared with our Shakespeare and our -Milton but Homer, who possesses some advantages over them both. -Shakespeare, buoyant and full of life as was his spirit, felt -evidently the waves of his imagination lapse at times from about him -and leave his mind stranded and bare on the shores of the immeasurable -universe. Melancholy creeps over him, like a black vapour, concealing -the Titanian head wont to tower above the region of the clouds. Even -over Milton’s soul, serene in its fiery brightness as it usually is, I -think I discover something which at times obscures his faith in -himself and human nature, and produces a flagging of the fancy. But in -Homer this never appears. Cheerfully and joyously he pursues his -course with eternal sunshine on his brow, and a heart beating full and -true, as if the life of all the world were within him. There is no end -of his vitality. He seems as if he could never grow old. His strength -is inexhaustible. Equal to whatever may happen, he nowhere seems to be -hurried by his subject, or compelled to strain a nerve to accomplish -what he desires. In himself he appears happy as a god, and only to -sympathise in human suffering from the boundlessness of his charity. -He comes forth as the sun in the morning, full of brightness, showing -all the tears that sprinkle the earth and drying them too, but -shedding none. We call him old, though in reality he is all -youthfulness and love. Every function of life goes on harmoniously in -his frame. He enjoys whatever nature brings within the circle of his -experience. He drinks in with rapture the freshness of dawn,—basks -smilingly in the blaze of noon,—welcomes the stillness of evening—the -solemn grandeur of night. Sleep, too, has for him inexpressible -charms, and on the pleasures we taste among its bowers he has bestowed -every grateful, every endearing epithet. Milton is far more spiritual, -and careers in a course nearer the stars. Shakespeare, in his -metaphysical subtlety and yearning to pierce beyond the grave, -suggests stranger thoughts, and calls up a wilder world of fancies. -But Homer, as if admitted behind the veil, never doubts for a moment. -Habitually, too, his thoughts are of action, of man as he is, of the -virtue of the citizen, of the soldier, of the husband, of the father, -of the son, of the wife. He loved the world and all that it contains. -His eye could detect beauty where the atrabilious sceptic beholds -nothing but deformity. - -Hence the universal fame and admiration of his writings. For, wherever -a well-spring of delight exists, the world will discover it and have -recourse to it for ever. The tragic poets who took up his mantle -differed widely from him both in temper and character. The experiment -of civilisation had been tried, and been the cause of less happiness -than at the outset it seemed to promise. A spirit of dissatisfaction -had consequently grown up in society, which, shaken by convulsions -within and assaulted from without by storms, appeared to be fast -resolving into its original elements. Upon the minds of the tragic -poets there accordingly fell a gloomy shadow. They looked backwards -and around them, and were saddened by the view of terrible pictures -which the dark pencil of Fate was constantly filling up. The -inexplicable influence of events upon the inner organisation of man -had caused them too, and their contemporaries equally, to delight in -gloom, in slaughter, in revenge, in exhibitions of suffering, -analogous in many cases to what they beheld their countrymen inflict -upon each other. - -Observe the creations of Æschylus:[989] in them, pregnant all with -Miltonic haughtiness, energy, grandeur, we already discover symptoms -of profound discontent with the character of actual existence and an -invincible yearning towards the past. He seemed desirous to haunt the -imaginations of his contemporaries with gigantic phantoms, quarried -out of the wrecks of a vanished ethical system, in which such -greatness found congeniality and sympathy. His ideas seemed to clothe -themselves spontaneously in language of massive structure, like a -Cyclopean wall, such as before or since no man ever used. He projected -himself by the force of meditation into the heroic spheres, conversed -there with mighty shades, acquired among them stern principles of -action, of thought, of belief, of composition; and with these he -sought to inspire the men of his own time. His object seems less to -delight than to overawe, to persuade than to command. His ideas move -along the highest arch of imagination which spans the universe from -pole to pole, or rise out of a sea of darkness which they illuminate -for a moment like lightning flashes in their passage. - -Footnote 989: - - The plays of this poet, like those of Shakespeare, were, in - succeeding ages, altered for the stage—Quint. Instit. Orat. x. 1. - The orator, Lycurgus, procured a decree, ordering the tragedies of - the three poets to be copied, and statues to be erected in their - honour.—Plut. Vit. x. Orat. - -All Æschylus’s more marked characters come before us invested with -marvellous attributes, and their voices awake a thrilling mysterious -echo in the depths of the soul. Prometheus, for example,—who or what -in poetry is like him? Some features of resemblance he may have to the -Satan of “Paradise Lost,” but only in his indomitable energy, in his -unconquerable will; in all other respects he stands differenced from -that “archangel ruined” by qualities the most remarkable. Towards -mankind he appears in the relation of supreme love. For their sake -alone he braves the anger of Zeus, who, in the tempest of vengeance -which he pours upon the naked form of this beneficent god, is -presented to the mind as a tyrannical oppressor. Again, in the -Erinnyes, what mysterious phantoms does he conjure up! The whole -scene, where black and blood-dripping they rise before the fancy in -the shrine of Delphi, is, beyond imagination, awe-inspiring and -sublime. Like Orestes himself, the fancy is haunted, as we read, by an -uneasy consciousness of their presence. They appear like the summits -of the infernal world, thrust up visibly into the world of reality. -They are frightful dreams endued with form and vitality, and walking -abroad to scare us even while waking. Never did faith in visionary -beings equal in strength the faith which he constrains us to have in -these his creations. The scent of blood fills the nostrils as we read. -We pant,—we shudder,—we expect to hear their footsteps on the carpet -behind us. Nevertheless the effect of Æschylus’ poetry is not, like -Byron’s, to humiliate or depress. On the contrary, it imparts to us -its energy as we read. It fills,—it expands,—it aggrandises,—it -elevates the mind. - -Sophocles presents us with a wholly different type of genius. His -conceptions, without being gigantic, are still great, and have a -richness and roundness something like the form of woman. To him, as to -Raffaelle, the world appeared pregnant on all sides with beauty. Yet, -there was a vein of pensiveness in his fancy which, running through -all his works, imparts to them a witchery independent of the amount of -intellect displayed. He never, like Æschylus, transports us into the -dim twilight of mythology amidst the nodding ruins of systems and -creeds. However antique may be the subject which he treats, his -invention gives it completeness, and he brings it out fresh, glossy, -distinct, and beautiful as the creations of to-day. Æschylus carries -us back to the past, Sophocles brings the past forward to us. By a -vigorous exertion of genius he breathes life into things dead; melts -away from about them by his warm touch the hoar of antiquity; fills up -the outline; freshens the colours; converts them into contemporary -existencies. All his sympathies, healthy and true, cling to the things -around him: the religion, the form of polity, the climate, the soil of -Attica, invested with the beauty which they assumed in his plastic -vision, satisfied his desires. What he found not in realities he -bestowed upon them. He idealised his contemporaries. His poetry is -sunny as the Ægæan in spring, and a breeze as healthful and refreshing -breathes over it. Like the nightingale, whose music he loved, it comes -to us full of forgotten harmonies, re-awakening all the associations, -all the delights, all the hopes and aspirations of youth. Sweet and -musical, and replete with tenderness, are his marvellous chorusses. -They burst upon the heart like the first note of the cuckoo[990] in -the depths of a forest, curling round the mossy trunks of the -meditative old trees upon the ear. - -Footnote 990: - - In Greece heard early in the spring.—Sibthorp, in Walp. Mem. i. 75. - -And then his female characters, in which above all things he excels. -Not Imogen herself, whose breath like violets perfumes the page of -Shakespeare, rises before us a more exquisite vision than Antigone, in -her maiden purity, her unfathomable tenderness, her holy affection, -filial and fraternal. Even Œdipos, supported and led into the light by -such a daughter, appears glorious as a god, his involuntary stains -worked off by years of suffering, his reverend old age garlanded by -calamity, wreathed with the tendrils and snowy blossoms of a -daughter’s love. And Tecmessa, does she not seem to be Desdemona -ripened into a mother? There is no poet who has pourtrayed a wife of -more unmingled gentleness, or who has better sounded the depths of a -mother’s heart. Her affection expands like an atmosphere round the boy -Eurysaces, menaced at once by treacherous enemies and by his father’s -madness, and casts a pure and bright ray over the sea of blood and -stormy passion and guilt that floats around her. His Dejanira, -likewise, is a character of great beauty; but in the Clytemnæstra and -Electra, in the Chrysothemis and Ismene, he has been less successful. -Among his male characters Œdipos is the masterpiece. Compounded of -ungovernable passion, a powerful will, a resolution invincible by -suffering, extreme in love or hate, he stands before us in heroic -grandeur, and like the sun’s orb dilates as he descends beneath the -horizon. Next to him in originality and beauty are Neoptolemos and -Teucer, youths of the greatest nobleness of soul, who contrast -strikingly with his fox-like Odysseus and the mean-souled imperial -brothers. - -To Sophocles succeeds Euripides,[991] whose genius inspired Milton -with the deepest admiration, as it had before inspired Aristotle. -Resembling Sophocles as little as the latter resembles Æschylus, he is -more deeply imbued than either with the tragic spirit, interprets more -unerringly the language of passion and the heart, and unlocks more -surely the hidden springs of pity. In him, however, poetry is less an -instinct than an art. His intellect, lofty, powerful, penetrating, -ranged through the most untrodden paths of nature and philosophy, -grasped at all learning, at all experience, enriched itself with -prodigious stores of reflections, observations, imagery, over which it -possessed the most perfect mastery, to render them subservient to the -purposes of the drama. Other poets learned in effects, may exhibit -action with no less truth and skill; Euripides dares to unveil causes, -to give the wherefore and the why of actions, to descend into the -abysses of the mind and lay bare the curious mechanism, and, so to -say, central fires which produce and ripen our resolutions and our -demeanour. - -Footnote 991: - - This writer, like most of his poetical contemporaries, used - constantly to wear a tablet and stylus suspended to his - dress.—Athen. xiii. 45. The use in fact of memorandum books was - common.—Sch. Aristoph. Vesp. 529. - -Without the stern grandeur or the rich physical imagery of his -predecessors, he could more surely touch the feelings and create an -intense interest in the story of his tragedies. No man, moreover, has -given birth to nobler sentiments. A moral beauty broods over his -scenes; he elevates,—he enlarges,—he purifies the affections. Truths -of greatest importance make themselves wings of melody in his verse, -and fly across the gulf of two thousand years from him to us. Above -all things, he may almost be said to have discovered the inexhaustible -mine of love, whence he drew the gold that fashioned the divine image -of Alcestis, the noblest mixture of earth’s mould that ever bore the -name of woman. It is true this image is but dimly beheld. Perhaps no -genius, not even Shakespeare’s, could have filled up the outline of -unearthly beauty which Euripides dared to draw. It embodies all the -imagination ever conceived of love. Pure as the celestial Artemis, -impassioned to perfect disinterestedness, all devotion as a wife, all -tenderness as a mother,—content to die, yet jealous of posthumous -love,—sacrificing everything for her husband’s life, yet haunted by -the fear that death might snap the golden links of affection, she -issues forth like a celestial vision to take her farewell of the sun. -Euripides might well be proud of this creation. Not Andromache, not -Nausicaa, not even the far-famed consort of Odysseus can exceed in -truth and beauty his conception of Alcestis. Yet this is the poet whom -Aristophanes had the bad taste to overwhelm with unceasing ridicule, -and whom numerous critics, borrowing their canons from him, have -rashly pronounced languid and insipid. - -Moving on a level below this is the character of Electra in the -Orestes. In the Alcestis we have rather the results than the -developement of inexpressible love, which - - “raised a mortal to the skies.” - -But Electra’s affection unfolds itself before us. There she watches -beside her brother’s bed, contending with the inexpiable guilt of -matricide, sharing his remorse but comforting him, herself oppressed, -yet courageously bearing up for his sake against the worst - - “ills that flesh is heir to.” - -With the most supreme delicacy is Polyxena conceived; and generally, -whatever may be said of Euripides’ aversion for the sex, it may be -affirmed that no poet has more ably or more nobly painted the female -character. - -Passing next to comedy, of which Aristophanes must be regarded as the -representative, we have a department of literature peculiar to Greece, -for its comedy resembles that of no other country. It has never, -perhaps, been fairly characterised. They who take part with the poet -against the philosopher exaggerate his merits: the admirers of -Socrates, in revenge for the unjust death of that great man, generally -undervalue them. Let us endeavour to be just. Aristophanes was a poet -of vast genius, quick to perceive, and powerful to paint the -imperfections, vices, follies, weaknesses, miseries of man in society. -He was greedy, too, of reputation, in the acquisition of which he -spared neither men nor institutions. The youthful, the gay, the -thoughtless, reckoning laughter and amusement among the real wants of -life, (as to the weak and frivolous perhaps they are,) he undertook to -build his fame on easing the human character of those moral excrements -which pass off in grinning and mirth. There is, in fact, a load of -small malignity and mischief in most mental constitutions, which, if -not expelled, might obstruct the healthful play of the faculties. -Mirth is the form it assumes in its exit, and comedy is one of the -means provided by Nature for promoting its discharge. - -Aristophanes, who comprehended at least this part of philosophy, found -an abundant harvest of follies in his fellow-citizens. He saw, too, -that of all men they possessed the most inexhaustible good-nature,—to -forgive if they could not profit by the satire which was directed -against themselves. No one could complain of them on this score. Their -risible muscles were at every man’s service who could coin a joke, or -make faces, or draw a caricature or enact one. Athens was, in fact, -the home of laughter: it was the weak side of the national character; -and never, since merry-making was invented, did a more skilful -manufacturer of this autochthonal production exist than Aristophanes. -He could make round things square, or straight crooked; he could -invest the noblest and most sacred things with burlesque and ridicule; -he could convert patriotism into a laughable weakness, genius into -puerility, virtue into a farce. He knew how to make the brave man (as -Lamachos) seem a mere gasconader; the man of genius (as Euripides) a -dealer in rhythmical jingles; the possessor of highest wisdom and most -unsullied integrity a babbling impostor and a thief. Such were his -prodigious powers. Another excellence he had, not unakin to the -former; he could, when it suited his purpose, place the most nefarious -vices on the same level with very harmless foibles, so that both -should appear equally laughable or equally odious. - -But the Athenians must have been a base people had these been the -qualities which rendered him popular. They were not: on the contrary, -they formed the great drawback on his reputation. His attack on -Socrates caused the first cast of the Clouds to be hooted off the -stage. But great and crying as were his delinquencies against morals -and philosophy, his genius triumphed, and he became popular in spite -of them; and in spite of them he has continued to be a favourite among -scholars down to the present day. No mean amount of creative power -could have achieved a triumph like this. He possessed, in fact, the -quality, whatever it be, which confers vitality on the offspring of -the mind. Each of his plays, however extravagant its conceptions, -however improbable the plot or wild the scene or fantastic the -characters, still developes a distinct cycle of existences into which -the breath of everlasting life has been breathed. To every individual -whom he brings upon the stage has been assigned a distinct type of -character, a marked individuality, a moral and intellectual -physiognomy as peculiar to himself as his mask. No man exhibits -greater variety in a small compass. When he is working out a character -every word tells, and his ease is infinite. Nothing appears to have -proceeded from him in a hurry. Like the wind, which now rises in -gusts, now sinks to a whisper, but never suggests the idea of -weakness, Aristophanes may trifle, but always because he desires to -trifle. - -Moreover, however barren the subject may be, however rugged, bleak, -intractable, he pours over it the dews of poetry, and clothes it -magically with flowers and verdure. Look at the comedies of the Frogs -and the Birds. By whom but Aristophanes could they have been rendered -tolerable? And yet what marvellous effects grow out of them in his -hands! How completely is the imagination detached from the common -everyday world, and sent drifting down the dreamy intoxicating streams -of poetry! Not in the island of Prospero or Philoctetes, not in the -savage-encircled nest of Robinson Crusoe, not in the most visionary -vale that opens before us its serene bosom in the Arabian Nights, do -we breathe more at large, or more fresh and wholesome air, than among -the fogs and fens of Acheron, or the eternal forests of the Hoopoo -king. - -With an art, in which Shakespeare was no mean proficient, he opens up -a more culpable source of interest in the frequent satire of vices, -condemned as commonly as they are practised. He unveils the mysteries -of iniquity with a fearless and by no means an unreluctant hand. No -abyss of wickedness was too dark for his daring muse. He ventured -fearlessly upon themes which few since or before have touched on, -despising contemporary envy and vindictiveness and the stern -condemnation of posterity. To be plain, he evidently shared in the -worst corruptions of his age, and, like many other satirists, availed -himself joyfully of the mask of satire as an apology for entertaining -his own imagination with the description of them. No one with the -least clearsightedness or candour can fail to perceive and acknowledge -the depraved moral character of this comic writer. Only less filthy -than Rabelais, his fancy runs riot among the moral jakes and common -sewers of the world, over which, by consummate art and the matchless -magic of his style, he contrives unhappily to cast a kind of delusive -halo, and to breathe a fragrance which should never be found but where -virtue is. - -Upon the subject of his attack on Socrates his defenders must grant -one of two things—that he libelled him ignorantly, or that he -exhibited a degree of wickedness capable, under other circumstances, -of rising to the enormity of Judas Iscariot. Socrates, both for genius -and for virtue, stands at the head of the pagan world. He whom Plato -admired must have stood on a higher level than Plato,—that is, have -occupied the apex of mere humanity: and in that position we find him -in the Gorgias, the Republic, the Euthyphron, and the Phædon. Many -charlatans, since the days of Aristophanes, have endeavoured to puff -upward at him the smoke of their ignorance or their envy; and from -those who tread the mire with them have for a moment hidden the all -but divine serenity that smiles on humankind from that lofty and -immovable basis where the homage of a world has placed him; but the -next breeze has cleared away the stinking vapours, and left both him -and them where they were,—the one on the highest, the others on the -lowest step of the ladder which connects human nature with the skies. - -Upon the dramatic poets whose fragments only remain, it is in this -place unnecessary to dwell. I therefore pass to the historians and -orators, who, no less vividly than her poets, reflect the genius of -Greece. The first age of prose composition, there as elsewhere, -exhibited the natural characteristics of dawning art—indecisiveness -and timidity. Herodotus, properly speaking, was her earliest -historian, and even he still walks within the gigantic shadow of epic -fable which stretched far over the civilised and cultivated ages of -Greece, as doth that of Memnon at dawn over the Theban plains. His -character as a writer is very remarkable. He narrates like a prophet. -His language everywhere bears the impress and image of the -supernatural world wrought into its very substance. He had formed to -himself a poetical standard of human character and human action, which -accordingly in his work develope themselves in poetical forms. Long -and profound meditation had spread out the past before him like a map, -on which he could trace every fluctuation in the stream of events with -something like the skill of a diviner. Men, past or present, may be -interpreted by meditation, if we comprehend the science of human -nature. Herodotus understood much of this science. Indeed his chief -greatness lies in his wisdom. - -Ordinary readers, who are always wiser than their dead instructors, -discovering him to be frankly superstitious, to have faith in oracles, -in dreams, in prodigies, to chronicle many trivial actions, many -trivial remarks, feel or affect for him a species of contempt. But -they know very little of what is contained in that vast treasury of -epic events. Little do they suspect with how many great statesmen, -generals and heroic kings the eloquent Halicarnassian could render -them familiar. In his pages alone, perhaps, do we view in his true -proportions that man of men, Themistocles, who overtops by a head and -shoulders all the other statesmen of the ancient world. There, too, -may we best discover the character of his contemporaries, those -extraordinary personages who connect the heroic with the historical -period, and constitute the steps by which we descend from the heights -of mythos and fable to the stern level of realities. Such an epoch -required an historian of peculiar character. In him were to be united -the power to comprehend poetical motives to action, and the solemn -eloquence fittingly to describe deeds springing from such a source. -Both were found in Herodotus. He beheld Providence leading man as it -were into the light from the wilderness of mythological times, still -invested with many of his heroic habits and his forehead beaming with -visionary splendours, but prepared to doff them one by one, and in -their stead to substitute the iron theory and practice of -civilisation. - -Thucydides, a few years only younger than Herodotus, found himself -placed in the midst of events the most extraordinary, produced by a -system of civilisation prematurely decaying. Greece had not been -suffered to grow wise and great according to the laws which usually -regulate the ripening of states. She had been scorched into -fruit-bearing by the fiery conflicts of the Median war; and her -strength thus brought into play, and found to be great beyond -calculation, was immediately by ambitious statesmen seized upon, -parcelled out into lots which were directed against each other, and -thus exhausted in petty struggles. In Greece we have an example of a -state whose energies, turned inwards, corroded themselves by -concentration; affording a contrast with Rome whose energies, worked -outward and were gradually weakened and lost by expansion. The genius -of the people begot corresponding historians. Rome, had its -perspicuous ornate, diffuse, haughty and sublime Livy; Athens her -Thucydides full of poetry indeed, and haughtier and more sublime, but -condensed as an oracle, and as an oracle obscure. - -Few have measured the greatness of this man. Ordinary critics missing -the ostentatious display of what is termed philosophy, appear to -imagine that Thucydides is not a philosophical historian, reserving -this praise for Gibbon, Hume, or Voltaire. But each of these great -writers would have contemned the praise of such persons. Thucydides in -historical writing stands above rivalry or comparison. The political -atmosphere in which he lived, dusky with thunderclouds and continual -storms, his eye could penetrate through, and discover all the very -extraordinary figures that moved beneath it. Calmly, from heights of -speculation never trodden before, he contemplated the various groups -of generals and statesmen dispersed over his horizon, pierced through -every disguise into their characters, detected their motives, -unravelled their plots, gave their secret maxims a tongue, weighed and -described their actions with an impartial sagacity which among -historians belongs to him alone. In this consists his philosophy. The -society, whose developement he studied, was torn by two antagonist -principles—aristocracy and democracy, whose struggles, undying in free -states, were then more fierce than at any other period in the history -of the world. To enable his countrymen and posterity to comprehend the -whole chain of events, he opened up a long vista into the past, to the -point at which those adversaries appeared upon the scene, and threw a -broad light upon all their movements down to the time when Providence -removed him from his post. His conception of an historian’s duty, -somewhat different from that now entertained, was adopted by all -antiquity, in which every succeeding writer bore testimony to his -superiority by imitating him. He thought it not enough to narrate and -describe, but, throwing open the council chamber and stilling the -tumultuous agora, he brings the living statesman or demagogue upon the -stage, developing in our hearing his views, his conceptions of -surrounding circumstances and characters, his projects, his means for -accomplishing them. That the speeches found in his history were -actually in that form delivered, I will by no means affirm. He -probably obtained but the substance from report, and himself clothed -it in those vivid expressions which two thousand years have not -stripped of their freshness. Nevertheless, the more trifling the -amount of what he owed to the relations of others, the greater must -appear his genius, his unerring sense of fitness, his dramatic power -of projecting himself successively into a whole gallery of characters, -and truly interpreting the opinions, maxims, feelings of each; for no -one pretends that he has ever misrepresented a single individual. And -if those speeches be examined on the score of eloquence, whether of -thought or language, it will I think be found, that in almost every -excellence they may rank with those of Demosthenes. In each a peculiar -economy is observed in the management of the arguments, in the -sentiments, in the opinions, in the logical tone, in the -manifestations of individuality which diffuse themselves over the -whole and give a colour to it. - -The defects—for such there are—resolve themselves into a certain -magisterial air, indicating a consciousness of superiority, sure, more -or less, to offend in all cases, and a certain imperspicuity of style -arising principally from the loose manner in which the drapery of -language is flung over his ideas, which is chiefly observable in the -orations, his narrative for the most part being free from this -imperfection. Besides, whatever be the series of facts he relates, -their importance appears to be enhanced by his manner of handling -them. He casts aside, as unworthy both of himself and the reader, -whatever is of inferior moment. These, in fact, the mere chaff of -human affairs, only cling round the grain of action to conceal it, and -must be blown aside by the reader if the historian neglect to do it. - -The circumstances of the times conferred upon his subject all the -interest and the gloom of tragedy. But it thus suited him the better. -His genius delighted in terrible pictures: battles, plagues, -earthquakes, general massacres, the storming of cities, the -annihilation of great armies. His fancy vividly realised all,—the -plague-tumbril rumbling, choked with dead, towards the sepulchral -suburbs,—the streets of Corcyra streaming alternately with democratic -and aristocratic blood,—the expected slaughter of Mitylene,—the -reality at Melos,—two thousand Helots cut off by the perfidy of -Sparta,—the butchery at Platæa,—at Skione,—in Sicily! Through all -these scenes we are precipitated forward, shuddering, compassionating, -detesting by turns. But we are neither overwhelmed nor inspired with -disgust for human nature. Our sympathies cling closer and closer to -the historian, who spares no villany, gratifies no malice, tramples on -no noble principle, succumbs to no temptation of partiality. Faithful -to his trust he deals forth truth to all, to none the slightest -flattery. Not even for his country will he lie. It was she, in fact, -with her heroic ethics and grandeur of sentiment, that had taught him -his high principles, and he repaid her by recording all her errors, -all her wrongs, all her imperfections: in which he acted like a great -and a wise man. He would have sacrificed for her his life,—he would -not sacrifice his conscience. - -To him succeeds Xenophon, a writer whom it is difficult to -characterise. There was in the temper of his mind something -parasitical, which led him to lean on others for support,—on Socrates, -on Cyrus, on Agesilaos. Incapable of acting in a republic the part of -a good citizen, he would have been that rare thing—a virtuous -courtier. From this the tone of his writings may be conjectured. -Almost everywhere we discover a degree of gentleness, sweetness, -modesty, which steals imperceptibly into the heart, and creates the -impression that he was a man highly amiable and upright. His piety, -likewise, causes itself to be felt. He never mentions the gods but -with due reverence, exhibits a strong reliance upon Providence, and, -according to his best apprehensions, justifies its ways to men with -earnest solicitude. The style of his composition, necessarily -harmonising with the qualities of his mind, is full of suavity, -polished elegance, gentlemanliness, bonhomie, the very characteristics -of a popular writer. Readers of moderate understanding can everywhere -perceive his drift, can accompany him without feeling out of breath. -He is communicative, sensible, rational, indulges in no cloudy -flights, never dives out of sight in the ocean of speculation. - -Xenophon, however, misunderstood himself when he conceived that it was -for him to continue the history of Thucydides. It was as if Andrea del -Sarto had undertaken to complete a picture left in parts unfinished by -Michael Angelo. He had neither the penetrating sagacity necessary to -comprehend the internal plan of the picture, the vivifying energy to -preserve the intense tragedy of the action, nor the colours to -harmonise with what he found painted. Still, considered by himself, he -has great merits. Several scenes in his history, the trial, for -example, of the generals, the death of Theramenes, the battles on the -Hellespont, exhibit a force of conception and a scope and flexibility -of style uncommon in any literature; and the Anabasis, without -comparison his greatest work, reads like a chronicle of the most -chivalrous knight-errantry. The attempt, however flagitious on the -part of Cyrus, had the merit of extreme boldness. It was the model -expedition which disclosed the secret of Asia to Alexander, and showed -with how little danger its vast empires might be shattered to pieces. -Xenophon who, young and adventurous, accompanied the Persian prince -and the heroic mercenaries in his pay, contemplated with delight the -physical aspect of the East, its luxurious population, its roving -tribes, with the triumphs of his disciplined and warlike countrymen -over innumerable barbarian hosts. This we discover from the interest -and animation of his narrative, in which stern realities exceed in -grandeur and wildness the creations of romance. But it is equally -clear that he did not fully comprehend the moral of the scene. For, -otherwise, he could never, with these facts before him, have -endeavoured by his Cyropædia, to recommend to his countrymen those -institutions which rendered Persia, with all its wealth, a constant -prey to the small republics of Greece. - -Of the other writings of Xenophon little need be said: they are the -parsley and the rue of Greek literature, bordering and adorning its -entrance, and therefore beheld of all. But most of these have their -beauty. Even in the hunting treatise, amid the breeding of dogs, and -nets, and knives, and boar-spears, and the slaughter of animals, we -catch glimpses of better things,—of glades where the hare frolics by -moonlight, and grassy uplands, dewy and fragrant, where does, poetical -as she of Rylstone, lead forth their fawns at break of day. The -treatises on the states of Athens and Sparta have, I trust, been -falsely attributed to this able and accomplished writer. They are -contemptible productions, conceived in the spirit of a servile -flatterer of the Dorians, and of a satirist, equally servile and -stupid, of the greater and infinitely more intellectual Ionic race. - -I pass over the historians known to us only by a few scanty fragments, -that I may at once come to the orators, the peculiar ornament and -pride of Greece, whose greatest statesmen were equally great as -speakers, more especially at Athens, where, as an art, eloquence was -most assiduously cultivated, and achieved its greatest triumphs. -Tradition attributes to Themistocles, to Pericles, to Alcibiades -consummate skill in guiding the currents of human sympathy, and a -sense of their glory lingered on the high places of society like -sunshine on the Alps long after they had quitted the world. But as -they did not augment the stores of their country’s literature, we can -have nothing to speak of them here. The orators whose fragments time -has been unable to destroy are however sufficient, if not to satiate -our thirst of admiration, at least to show, by the grandeur of their -proportions, how great and glorious Attic eloquence, when entire, must -have been. More than any other department of literature it is the -growth of patience and toil. A man may be born with the instincts of -eloquence,—fancy, constitutional fire, vehemence,—but unless these -instincts be broken in and trained by consummate art, nature will in -vain have bestowed her gifts. These truths were early understood at -Athens. It was perceived that without eloquence political distinction -was unattainable, and therefore all who aspired to - - “wield at will that fierce democracy,” - -subjected themselves to a course of laborious study, to which our more -phlegmatic natures would not submit. - -The results we may, in part, still contemplate in that body of -Athenian oratory, which to the author and the statesman is in itself a -library. Every legitimate form of eloquence is there beheld. In -Antiphon and Andocides it appears in rough simplicity, employing -contrivance and art, but employing them awkwardly. Lysias makes -considerable advances beyond them, clothes his style with grace, -constructs his narrative with extraordinary skill, and moves the -passions by considerable pathos. Isocrates it is common with the -moderns, who echo one another, to underrate: their delicate ears, -offended by his too nicely balanced periods, his antitheses, his -monotonous cadences, refuse to relish that stately harmony, and -majestic flow of language, which recommend the thoughts of this “old -man eloquent,” whose greatest panegyric is pronounced by Plato[992] in -the Phædros. In Isæos we have an argumentative, able pleader; in -Deinarchos a vigorous accuser; in Demades the power of splendid -improvisation; in Lycurgus noble sentiments clothed in poetical -language, haughty patriotism, the rough virtues of a stoic; in -Æschines an union of magnificent style, thoughts full of weight, -admirable arrangement, warmth, vivacity, wit. Yet Demosthenes soars -far above Æschines,—far above all. On him nature had bestowed every -quality which constitutes an ingredient of eloquence,—originality, -love of labour, a clear head, a warm heart, a judgment all but -unerring, with an impetuous vehemence perfectly irresistible. - -Footnote 992: - - Opp. t. i. p. 105. seq.—He is said to have received a thousand - drachmas for each of his pupils.—Dem. cont. Lacrit. § 11. - -A very extraordinary impression is created by the study of this -writer. He seems never to put forth all his strength. You see him, -indeed, bear down every thing before him, overwhelming the arguments -and the gold of Philip, crushing his rivals, annihilating his enemies; -but the persuasion rests with you that he could have done more. You -discover amid the waves and foam of his terrible eloquence indications -that that vast ocean had never been stirred to the bottom, that -occasion had never called forth all its latent powers of destruction. -He measures himself with his antagonist, and is secure of victory. He -presents a front bristling with the deadliest points of logic, like -the spears of the Macedonian phalanx, and wherever he moves he is -invincible. Nevertheless he appears to advance nothing for the sake of -effect, to be in search of none of the beauties of style, but rather -to avoid them. He is neither draped, nor painted, nor adorned; but a -naked colossus whose sublimity springs from the perfection and -greatness of its proportions. - -Other orators persuade, Demosthenes enforces conviction. They who -listen to him have no choice,—they must believe. Without offending the -reader’s pride, he makes him ashamed to hesitate. He reminds one of -the Nile at the cataracts, where, confined by rocks within too narrow -limits, it pours resistlestly along, swelling, deep, with scattered -whirlpools and foam scarcely visible on its vast surface, seemingly -calm at a short distance, but, to those who look near, agitated, -angry, full of unstemmable currents and boiling motion. He had -profoundly studied human nature, chiefly, of course, as it developes -itself in free states, and, better than any man, knew by what motives -it may, in spite of corruption and degeneracy, be impelled to -strenuous action, though but for a brief space. His language, flashing -through the moral gloom around him, called forth bright reflections -from whatever was brilliant or polished, and kindled the fragments of -patriotic emotions into a flame. If genius could regenerate, could -pour the blood of youth into the veins of age, could substitute -loftiness of sentiment, heroic daring, disinterested love of country, -religious faith, spirituality, for sensual self-indulgence, for sordid -avarice, for a base distrust in Providence, Demosthenes had renewed -the youth of Athens. The spirit of the old democratic constitution -breathes through all his periods. He stands upon the last defence of -the republican world, when all else had been carried, the -representative of a noble but perished race, fighting gallantly, -though in vain, to preserve that fragment sacred from the foot of the -spoiler. The passion and the power of democracy seem concentrated in -him. He unites in his character all the richest gifts of nature under -the guidance of the most consummate art, and, doubtless, Hume was -right when he said that, of all human productions, his works approach -the nearest to perfection. - -Beyond this point it is irksome to proceed in our view of Grecian -literature, which, after the battle of Cheronæa, was overshadowed by -despotism and dwindled gradually into insignificance. Not that genius -wholly and suddenly disappeared. The soil of Hellenic intellect was -not entirely exhausted, but the fruit it bore was comparatively -insipid. A courtly stamp was set upon every thing. Men no longer -obeyed their genuine impulses. It was dangerous generally, and always -profitless to be frank and manly. Instead of addressing themselves to -the healthy natural sympathies of the people, writers servilely -laboured by conceit and flattery to wring reluctant patronage from -princes. The spirit of affectation, accordingly, for the first time -made its appearance. Men tortured their ingenuity to invent smart -things. Enthusiasm and passion and earnestness, characteristics all of -popular writers, are never fashionable among courtiers, who consider -sincerity vulgar, and hypocrisy a virtue. In the later Greek writers, -therefore, who all wrote for some court or other, we discover the -usual frigidity and extravagance which invariably deform the -literature of such states. Along with these faults, others also are -found far more pernicious: the inculcation of selfishness, gross -sensuality, base maxims, a depraved taste. Man in the savage state is -a garden in which noxious weeds and the most beautiful flowers and -useful plants grow together; civilised and free, he is the same garden -cleared, as far as possible, of its weeds; but, when verging a second -time into barbarism, the weeds again become luxuriant, and entirely -choke or conceal the flowers. And thus too it is in literature. In the -literatures of Greece, Rome, and modern Italy we can now contemplate -the complete process; in our own, a part only, how great a part—it is -not here my business to inquire. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - SPIRIT OF THE GRECIAN RELIGION. - - -Whether the Greeks received their earliest system of philosophy from -the East, as is commonly believed, or themselves invented it, as to me -seems most probable, there can I think be little doubt that once -engaged in philosophical speculations they exhibited in the pursuit a -degree of boldness and originality, a patience of research, a power of -combination rarely if ever equalled in succeeding times. For some -ages, it is true, from the days of Thales down to those of Socrates -(B. C. 600 to B. C. 450) physical investigations and researches -chiefly occupied the philosophers of Greece. They conceived it to be -within the power of man to discover the nature of the principal -elements which compose the world, and the law’s that regulated its -formation.[993] The origin likewise of the human race, of which -nothing is yet known but that which has been revealed, naturally -awakened their curiosity and led to many theories wild and fantastic -in the extreme. - -Footnote 993: - - Cf. Diog. Laert. Pr. iii. 4. Ἀρχαῖος μὲν οὖν τις λόγος καὶ πάτριος - ἐστὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, ὡς ἐκ θεοῦ τὰ πάντα, καὶ διὰ θεοῦ ἡμῖν - συνέστηκεν.—Aristot. de Mund. c. 6. In c. 7. we have a curious list - of the various epithets of Zeus, whose name the Pseudo-Aristotle - conceives to signify the root of all existence: ὡς κᾄν εἰ λέγοιμεν, - δἰ ὅν ζῶμεν. This thought St. Paul expresses by the well-known - words—"in whom we live and move and have our being." The author of - the Treatise De Mundo then quotes from the Orphic fragments a - passage, the doctrine of which strongly resembles the Pantheism of - Pope: - - Ζεὺς πρῶτος γένετα, Ζεὺς ὕστατος ἀρχικέραυνος· - Ζεὺς κεφαλὴ, Ζεὺς μέσσα· Διὸς δ᾽ ἐκ πάντα τέτυκται· - Ζεὺς πυθμὴν γαίης τε καὶ οὐρανοῦ ἀστερόεντος· - Ζεὺς ἄρσην γένετο, Ζεὺς ἄμβροτος ἔπλετο, νύμφη· - Ζεὺς πνοιὴ πάντων, Ζεὺς ἀκαμάτου πυρὸς ὁρμή· - Ζεὺς πόντου ῥίζα· Ζεὺς ἥλιος, ἠδὲ σελήνη· - Ζεὺς βασιλεὺς· Ζεὺς ἀρχὸς ἁπάντων ἀρχικέραυνος· - Πάντας γὰρ κρύψας αὖτις φάος ἐς πολυγηθὲς - Ἐξ ἱερῆς κραδίης ἀνενέγκατο μέρμερα ῥέζων. - - Cf. Orphic. fragm. 6. p. 138. - -Into any consideration of these it is not my design to enter; but the -Greeks had another philosophy, which, resting on the basis of -theology, comprehended religion, morals, and politics, and may be -regarded as the instrument, the soul, and the measure of their -civilisation. It seems to be a truth frequently overlooked, that man -is civilised exactly in proportion as he is religious; at least this -was the case in Greece, where the highest developement of the national -mind concurred in Socrates and Plato with the utmost developement of -the religious instinct, and began immediately to decline in Aristotle -and his successors, arriving at the lowest degradation among the -grovelling sophists of the lower empire. This division of philosophy -occupied among the Greeks the place, which in modern times is assigned -to religion,[994] that is, it was their guide through this life, and -their preparation for a better. It may, indeed, be regarded as the -spiritual part of paganism, teaching man his duties, and explaining -the grounds and motives which should lead to their performance. - -Footnote 994: - - “Do good to all,” an evangelical precept (Plat. Rep. i. § 9. p. 33. - Stallb.), forming part of that philosophy which taught the Greeks - what was honourable and what base, what just and what unjust, what - was above all things to be desired and what avoided, how they were - to demean themselves towards the gods, towards their parents, their - elders, the laws, strangers, magistrates, friends, wives, children, - slaves: to wit, that they were to reverence the gods, honour their - parents, respect their elders, obey the laws, love their friends, be - affectionate to their wives, solicitous for their children, - compassionate towards their slaves.—Plut. de Educ. Puer. § 10. - -There is one article of faith without which no religion can of course -exist—the belief in God. Devoid of this, it may be doubted whether an -individual or a nation ought not rather to be classed among the -inferior animals than among men. It is superfluous, therefore, to say -that the Greeks, preëminently endowed with the highest attributes of -humanity, were a religious people, and held firmly all the doctrines -which entitle a people to such an appellation. From their ancestors, -the Pelasgi,[995] they inherited a pure and lofty theism, which seems -to have always continued to be the religion of the more enlightened; -while among the mass of the people, this central truth of religion was -gradually surrounded by a constantly expanding atmosphere of fable, -which obscured its brightness, and in a great measure concealed its -form. Mr. Mitford, whose acute and philosophical mind clearly -discerned this verity, also seems to have understood the cause. “A -firm belief both in the existence of the Deity, and in the duty of -communication with him, appears to have prevailed universally in the -early ages. But religion was then the common care of all men, a -sacerdotal order was unknown.”[996] - -Footnote 995: - - Herod. ii. 52. - -Footnote 996: - - History of Greece, i. 97. Dioscorides in Athenæus observes that no - sacrifice is so acceptable to the gods as that which is offered up - by members of a family living in unison.—i. 15. In the earliest ages - of the world the first-born of every family was esteemed a - prophet.—Godwin, Moses et Aaron, i. 6. 2. - -The institution of an order of priests, however effected, almost -necessarily corrupted the simple truths of religion, but it is -unphilosophical in the highest degree to consider those ancient -priests as impostors on this account, or to speak of their propagation -of error as craft. Meditating, in seclusion and solitude, on the few -truths which had come down to them by tradition or been discovered by -reason, they soon bewildered their own wits, and wandered into -superstition.[997] As was too natural, they conceived that the -Divinity must be desirous of giving them signs, marking what was to be -done and what avoided. The mistake of concomitance for causation, -often made in more learned and refined ages, would confirm them in -this view. They would, for example, find that in the order of time the -flight of certain birds over their heads, the appearance of a serpent -in their path, the apparition of certain objects in a dream, was -followed by certain misfortunes; while other apparitions were -succeeded by contrary events. Out of these observations the science of -augury, divination, &c. arose. Yet the inventors were not therefore -impostors, but rather, in their intentions, benefactors of mankind; -and to be respected accordingly. - -Footnote 997: - - Plato, Crit. t. vii. 146. - -The generation of polytheism is to be in like manner explained. It was -an abuse of the inductive method of philosophy. Men perceived, as soon -as they began to observe nature and draw inferences from what they -beheld, that the sun and moon[998] exert extraordinary influence, -beneficial or hurtful, upon mankind and the world they inhabit; and -the supposition was neither unnatural nor absurd that those glorious -bodies, by whose rising and setting, by whose approximation or -retreat, they were in turn affected with gladness or melancholy, with -comfort or discomfort, with good or evil, must be themselves possessed -of intelligence as well as power, or at least be inhabited and -directed by beings on whom they bestowed the name of gods. The air, -too, “which bloweth where it listeth while thou canst not tell whence -it cometh or whither it goeth,” sweeping around them invisibly, and -appearing only in its effects, soon obtained the rank of a deity,[999] -as did the ocean which appears to be alive in all its extent, and the -earth on whose inexhaustible bounty we subsist. - -Footnote 998: - - Plat. de Legg. t. viii. p. 182. - -Footnote 999: - - The air was Zeus.—Lycoph. Cassand. 80. Meurs. Comm. p. 1179. To some - particular state of which the ancients alluded when they spoke of - Kronos seeking to devour his children and swallowing stones instead - of them. For the teeth of time which produce no effect on the air - appear to devour whatever is composed of the element of earth. - Mythologists, however, have generally omitted to remark that the - stones which Kronos mistook for his children were not ordinary - blocks of basalt or granite but rather so many statues of children - endued, _pro tempore_, with life.—Ἔτι δέ, φησὶν, ἐπενόησε θεὸς - Οὐρανὸς βαιτύλια, λίθοις ἐμψύχοις μηχανησάμενος.—Sanchon. ap. Euseb. - Præp. Evang. l. i. c. 10. p. 37. - -Out of these elements the sacerdotal families of Greece framed its -religion, which, however, is by no means to be considered a system of -materialism. They conceived every portion of nature to be animated by -its particular soul, just as they believed the whole, as a whole, to -have one universal soul, the source of all the others. Their mythology -was based on unity. At every step backwards we find the number of gods -diminish, till at length we arrive at the Great One, surrounded by the -unfathomable splendours of eternity. This is the θεὸς ὁ θεῶν Ζεὺς, of -whom Plato[1000] and Aristotle constantly speak when they employ the -expression τὸ δαιμόνιον.[1001] Philosophy, indeed, considered it to be -its chiefest task to deliver men from their multitudinous errors -respecting the nature of God, and of our duties towards Him; so that, -in their speculative notions, very little difference from our own can -be detected. Above all men, Plato sought to elevate the sphere of -philosophy. In his works, in truth, it moves frequently within the -confines of theology, and seldom quits them except for the purpose of -infusing spirituality into politics and morals. - -Footnote 1000: - - Crit. t. vii. p. 173. - -Footnote 1001: - - Poll. i. 5. - -This great man, whose profound veneration for the Deity equalled, -perhaps, that of Newton himself, conceived that human happiness -consists wholly in the knowledge of God, concerning whose character -and attributes he was anxious that no unworthy ideas should be -entertained. His doctrine was, “that we should ever describe God such -as he is.” But, as Muretus has well observed, this was requiring too -much of human nature, for, most assuredly, we should never speak of -God if we waited to discover language befitting His majesty. “For the -mind of man is incapable of comprehending the essence of God; the -nature of God is known to God alone; he alone perfectly understands -himself, and in himself all things. The mind of man waxes dim, -beholding that stupendous light whose brightness excels all other -lights; and, in proportion as it endeavours more daringly to soar, is -it conscious of falling below its great aim.”[1002] The Egyptians -expressed the same conviction in the celebrated epigraph on the base -of the veiled statue of Neith at Saïs: “I am whatever has been, is, or -shall be, and no mortal has drawn aside my veil.” To the same purpose -was the saying of Simonides to Hiero, “that the more he contemplated -the Divine Nature the less he appeared to comprehend it.” And -Socrates, in the Philebos of Plato, observes that he shuddered as -often as the Great Name was to be pronounced lest he should bestow -upon it some unworthy epithet. - -Footnote 1002: - - Muret. ad Plat. Rep. p. 726. - -It would appear, indeed, that the idea which the theologians of Greece -had formed of the Almighty was very nearly the same as our own; -though, in compliance with popular prejudices, they often made use of -the plural for the singular. Goodness, power, and knowledge were his -characteristics, which in substance are the same as the types of the -theologians of modern times—goodness, immutability, truth,—goodness -leading the van in both cases, and the remaining conditions answering -perfectly to each other. For in supreme power and supreme wisdom must -be immutability and truth, since the Almighty can do all he wills and -must ever will what is right.[1003] In accordance with these views, -the spiritual philosophy of Greece maintained that the Deity is the -source of no evil, though traces of a far different theory are here -and there discoverable among the poets. Thus, speaking of the -calamities arising from the anger of Achilles, Homer says - - Διὸς δ᾽ ἐτελείετο βουλή. - -And, again— - - Ζεὺς δ᾽ ἀρετὴν ἄνδρασιν ὀφέλλει τε, μινύθει τε - Ὅππως κεν ἐθέλησιν.[1004] - -Footnote 1003: - - Muret. ad Plat. Rep. p. 727. - -Footnote 1004: - - Iliad, υ. 242. seq. - -So, again, the two vases in the palace of Zeus, out of which he -distributed good and evil to mankind.[1005] Hesiod also introduces -Zeus, boasting that instead of fire he will give men a curse:— - - Τοῖς δ᾽ ἐγὼ ἀντὶ πυρὸς δώσω κακόν - -But in all ages men lay their misfortunes at the door of Providence. -However, though the notions men entertain of God be ever so just, -their conduct will not be thereby influenced, or a religion, properly -speaking, created, unless several other truths be equally believed. It -must be established not only that the maker of the universe still -regards his workmanship, and will punish all those who seek to -disorder the machine, by entailing remorse upon transgression, but -that man is not a fugitive being, who can escape out of the hands of -God by shrinking into annihilation, but a creature who, in accordance -with his will, must run the vast circle of eternity, co-lasting with -God himself.[1006] This is the great keystone of religion: without -this, men will believe that even the Almighty can have no hold upon -them; that they die, and their accountability ceases. The doctrine of -immortality, however, has everywhere opened the skies to man, and set -him upon the discovery of the steps leading thither, and, at the same -time, has checked his daring, and poisoned his guilty pleasures. - -Footnote 1005: - - Iliad, ω. 527. seq. Cf. Muret. p. 737. - -Footnote 1006: - - Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 95. - -From the remotest ages the immortality of the soul constituted a -leading dogma in the religion of Greece, and was necessarily -accompanied by the persuasion, that to the good that immortality would -bring happiness, and to the evil the contrary.[1007] Homer is full of -this, and the fables, wherein the enemies of God, parricides, -murderers, the perpetrators of impiety and wrong, are, after death, -banished to the depths of Tartarus, while various degrees of glory and -happiness, not altogether unlike what is sublimely shadowed forth by -St. Paul, are attributed to the good. That part, for example, of -Heracles, which is divine, ascends to Heaven: Achilles enjoys the -everlasting serenity of the Islands of the Blessed; and, generally, -every virtuous man who rightly performed his duty ascended to the -mansion prepared for him in the stars, there to live for ever in -happiness.[1008] They taught, moreover, that the spirit of man is of -heavenly birth: without this we had lived as so many animals. But God -bestowed upon us an immortal soul, to watch as a guardian angel over -the body, and placed it in the loftiest part of our frame, to teach us -to look upward, and remember our birth,—that men are not creatures of -clay but children of God and heirs of immortality.[1009] - -Footnote 1007: - - Among the people of the East we even discover traces of the doctrine - of the resurrection:—Καὶ ἀναβιώσεσθαι, κατὰ τοὺς Μάγους, φησὶ - (Θεόπομποσ) τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἔσεσθαι ἀθανάτους.—Diog. Laert. Pr. - vi. 9. - -Footnote 1008: - - Plato, Tim. Opp. vii. 45. Cf. p. 97.—Is there not some allusion in - the following passage to the scriptural account of the creation of - man before woman? Ὡς γάρ ποτε ἐξ ἀνδρῶν γυναῖκες καὶ τἄλλα θηρία - γενήσοίντο ἠπίσταντο οἱ ξυνιστάντες ἡμᾶς.—Tim. Opp. t. vii. p. 111. - -Footnote 1009: - - Plato, Tim. Opp. t. vii. p. 137. - -It will not, however, surprise those who comprehend the constitution -of human nature, to find that the Greeks, deprived as they were of -revelation, were not content with the simple dogma of immortality, -rendered happy or otherwise by rewards and punishments, but imagined a -return of the soul to earth, and its passage through a long succession -of bodies, until the stains,[1010] contracted during its first -sojourn, had been obliterated: properly, therefore, their Hell was a -kind of Purgatory, and, no doubt, suggested the original idea of that -intermediate place to the Church of Rome. The religious part of the -pagan world, those especially who went through the ceremonies of -expiation and initiatory rites, firmly believed that bad men met in -the realms of Hades with a just retribution for their crimes, and were -again launched into the career of life, that they might receive from -others that which they had done unto them.[1011] Though even in those -days there were not wanting persons who affected to possess the power -of absolution, nay, of granting for a moderate sum of money -indulgences and licences to sin. These ragged impostors, of course, -patronised only rich sinners, over whose heads vengeance might be -hanging for crimes committed either by themselves or their ancestors, -(since the Greeks also believed that the sins of the parents are -visited upon the children to the third and fourth generations,[1012]) -professing to be masters of arts and incantations by which the gods -were compelled to grant their prayers. - -Footnote 1010: - - Even among the ancient Christians this doctrine was not wholly - exploded. Origen believed it:—Λέγει δὲ καὶ ἄλλα παραλογώτατα· καὶ - δυσσεβείας πλήρη μετεμψυχώσείς τε γὰρ ληρωδεὶ καὶ ἐμψύχους τοὺς - ἀστέρας καὶ ἑτέρα τούτοις παραπλησία.—Phot. Bib. p. 3. seq. - -Footnote 1011: - - Plato de Legg. ix. Opp. viii. 152. seq. Cf. 172. seq. 191. seq. De - Rep. i. Opp. vi. 9. sqq. - -Footnote 1012: - - De Rep. ii. 7. t. i. p. 112. sqq. Stallb.—The belief that children - suffered for the crimes of their parents, which widely pervaded the - pagan world, is nowhere more clearly stated than by Plato:—Γὰρ ἐν - Αἵδου δίκην δώσομεν ὧν ἂν ἐνθαδε ἀδικήσωμεν, ἢ αὐτσὶ ἢ παῖδες - παῖδων.—Id. c. 8. p. 119. - -But while the vulgar and the superstitious were thus deluded, they who -possessed superior education and superior minds, united, with a belief -in the future, a more cheerful faith in the justice and beneficence of -the Deity. They discovered, even by the light of reason, that human -nature has been perverted from its original perfection,—that an evil -principle has been introduced into our inmost essence,—that in our -sinful state we are at enmity with God and all goodness,—and must by -prayers and sacrifices be purified and reconciled to him ere we can -taste of happiness. On the subject of prayer the wiser Greeks -entertained notions not wholly unbecoming a Christian.[1013] They well -enough understood, that it is not to be considered as an importuning -of God for wealth or fame or wisdom, or, as ignorant persons suppose, -an impious desire that He would for our sakes depart from his eternal -purposes; but merely the nourishing in our minds of a profound -veneration for the Almighty, a trust in his Providence and wisdom, an -habitual disclosure voluntarily made of our inmost thoughts and -desires, which must be known to him whether we will or not. Hence the -great philosopher of antiquity[1014] simply prayed for those things -which it might please God to send, and that if he asked for anything -wrong it might be denied him. - -Footnote 1013: - - Cf. Mitford, Hist. of Greece, i. 115. 8vo. - -Footnote 1014: - - Xen. Mem. i. 3. 2. Cf. Plut. Inst. Lac. § 26. - -It is no doubt true, as Mr. Mitford[1015] has observed, that the Gods -in Homer are sometimes introduced favouring the perpetrators of -injustice. But this is in contradiction to the general tone of the -Greek religion; according to the tenets of which, every injured person -had his Erinnyes who avenged whatever wrongs or violence he might -suffer. Nay, even animals were comprised within the protecting circle -of this beneficent superstition; and the God Pan was intrusted with -the punishment of excesses perpetrated against them,[1016] - - “When vultures that, with grief exceeding measure, - Lament their heart’s lost treasure, - And o’er their empty nest, in torturing woe, - Pass to and fro, - Borne on their oarlike wings, - Missing the task that brings - Joy with it, send their piercing wail on high, - Apollo, Pan, or Zeus hearing the cry, - Charges th’ Erinnyes, though late, - The penalty decreed by Fate - To visit on the spoilers far or nigh.” - -Footnote 1015: - - Hist. of Greece, i. 108. - -Footnote 1016: - - Æsch. Agam. 55. sqq. with the commentary of Klausen. p. 104.—There - occurs in the Scriptures a like sentiment, “He who stilleth the - young ravens, when they cry.” So also the Mahomedan tradition, that - in the midst of a battle-field, where two mighty hosts were engaged, - God preserved from the hoofs of the chargers, and from the feet of - men, the lapwing’s nest. - -Another doctrine, which we might scarcely expect to discover in -paganism, constituted, nevertheless, a part of the Greek religion,—I -mean the power of penitence. In all cases, indeed, this would not -avail. The laws of nature (πεπρωμένη, fate) would have their course -whatever might be the conduct or disposition of man; but in all other -cases, tears[1017] shed in secret, solemn acts of religion, and deep -contrition were supposed to appease the anger of Heaven. Besides, when -afflictions fell upon men, they were not necessarily regarded as -evils; for by suffering, the soul, they thought, is purified, -chastened, endued with wisdom,— - - “Sweet are the uses of adversity;” - -and, hence, of those trials which ignorance regards as evils, most, if -not all, are but so many dispensations of mercy, designed to work off -the dross of sin, and restore the spirit to its original -brightness.[1018] By these means, likewise, transgressors were -believed to make some atonement for their crimes. Remembrance haunted -them even in sleep. Their miseries rose up before them, compassed them -round, and urged them by invisible stripes into her track, “whose ways -are ways of pleasantness, and all whose paths are peace.” - -Footnote 1017: - - Πηγὴ δακρύων—Soph. Trach. 852. Antig. 802. A Scriptural expression, - “O that mine eyes were a _fountain of tears_.” Æsch. Agam. 68. sqq. - Eumen. 900. Suppl. 1040. - -Footnote 1018: - - Æsch. Agam. 160. sqq.—Klaus. Com. p. 120. Hence the proverb, - παθήματα μαθήματα.—Blomfield. - -But over the impenitent wicked vengeance for ever impended; nor could -wealth or rank purchase impunity, as the bare-footed friars and -ass-mounters of the time were fain to persuade the credulous and -weak-minded. Long withheld, the anger of the Gods descended at length -in showers, utterly extirpating the evil-doers.[1019] Thus perished -Paris, the violator of marriage and of hospitable rites; thus -Clytemnæstra and Ægisthos, adulterers and murderers; thus the whole -house of [OE]dipos, involved in an unutterable cycle of misery and -crime. The interval, moreover, between the commission of guilt and its -final punishment, was given up to the Erinnyes,[1020] those dire and -mysterious powers of vengeance, whose breathless chace after crime is -pourtrayed with so much sublimity by Sophocles. These divinities, -starting into instant birth, whenever blood was unlawfully shed, -walked perpetually beside the murderer to his grave,—to him alone -visible, to him alone audible. - -Footnote 1019: - - Pind. Pyth. iii. 11. Æsch. Agam. 342. sqq. Klausen. Com. p. 140. - -Footnote 1020: - - Cf. Æsch. Eum. 859. seq.—Schol. ad Æsch. Tim. Orat. Att. t. 12. p. - 384. - -The gross and carnal-minded contrived, indeed, in the case of lesser -transgressions, to remain blind to this deformity, while youth and -health and prosperity cast their illusions over their path. But age in -this matter sharpened their sight. On drawing near the brink of the -grave, the vices, hitherto so blythe and comely, appeared to grow more -shrivelled and hideous and unlovely than their own impure -countenances, and they would then fain have parted company with them. -But, no! Having been comrades of their own choosing, Zeus chained them -to their side to the last, unless repentance severed the link; and -their fearful howlings, night and day, broke their repose, harrowed up -their feelings, augmented tenfold their terrors, while sweat and -tears, and agonising shrieks burst from them even in their dreams. The -wicked, therefore, in the deepest darkness of paganism, were not left -wholly to the error of their ways. But God reserved himself a witness -in their hearts, and set up a light by which they might rightly, if -they chose, direct their footsteps. It is true that the cardinal -verities of religion were then but very imperfectly perceived, that, -to get at them at all, men had to break through the shells of many -fables, and that, when found, they must be for the most part enjoyed -in secret, far from the din of ambition. Not, indeed, that the people -refused their sympathy to virtue,—public opinion is never so far -corrupted,—but that in the world there has always existed a strong -current bearing men far from the track of duty and holiness. - -There was, no doubt, some degree of fanaticism mixed up with all this. -The priesthood, an order of men much calumniated, but without whom -society would be worse by far than it is, found it necessary to allure -men into the bosom of their church by imposing ceremonies, by -sacrifices, and by the mysterious disclosure of certain truths in the -performance of certain rites. It will be seen that I allude to the -mysteries. On the occasion of initiation, as if to intimate that men -cannot be virtuous or religious by proxy, each individual became his -own priest and sacrificed[1021] for himself. But in what initiation -itself consisted, no man knows. Antiquity has revealed nothing, and -nothing can we discover. The hypotheses of scholars are, therefore, so -many dreams, and a mere waste of ingenuity; for, if they should by -chance hit the mark, there exist no means of proving that they have -done so. But of this we are sure, that a persuasion was widely spread -that a blissful immortality awaited the initiated. A greater degree of -holiness was supposed to attach to them,—there was a spell shed around -their persons,—in situations of danger they experienced less of the -fear of death. In storms, for example, at sea, when the ship seemed -about to sink—"Have you been initiated?" was the question men asked -each other. Still, among philosophers, the wisest and best sometimes -neglected this popular consummation of a pious life. Socrates belonged -not to this communion, a circumstance which rendered it more easy to -fasten upon him the charge of impiety, in those days more atrocious -than now, since, to be esteemed inimical to the gods, was the surest -way to make enemies of men. Further than this, it is not necessary -that I enter into the gentile faith, which only incidentally, as it -affected morals, belongs to my subject. - -Footnote 1021: - - Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 712. - -But there exists in all countries a minor cycle of superstitions, -which, more strongly perhaps than anything paints the peculiarities of -the national character. In the north, as we know, this indigenous -belief has survived all changes in the public creed, and will subsist -to the last, lingering among our woods, our ruins, our moonlit -meadows, our churchyards, by our firesides. Fairies, witches, ghosts, -goblins can by no advances in civilisation be put to flight. They sail -in our steamers on the ocean, ride at quickest speed along the -railroads, go to bed with the first lady in the land, and even nestle -beneath the statesman’s vest.[1022] With us these aërial beings, or -spectres of crime, too commonly assume an aspect grotesque or -devilish, but they nevertheless keep alive in the popular mind the -spirit of romance and poetry, one of the never-failing handmaids of -religion. Mythology rarely penetrates down to these primitive -superstitions, which, however, constitute the basis of the whole -science, and in Greece assumed, in many cases, forms of beauty -analogous to its loftier and more poetic fables. - -Footnote 1022: - - See, for example, Lord Castlereagh’s vision of the fire-devil in Mr. - Lockhart’s Life of Sir Walter Scott. - -The place occupied in our own popular mythology by the -“light-sandalled fays,” was in Greece filled by the Hamadryads and -Nymphs.[1023] No wood or grove or solitary tree, no fountain or rill -in moss-grown cell or rustic cavern, existed without its co-existent -divinity, female generally, and instinct with beauty and beneficence. -These creatures, the Jinn and Jinneh of the Arabs, extended their -dominion over all minor streams, and sported, in the softness and -stillness of night, athwart the billows silvered by the moon; but the -deities of great rivers, as the Acheloös, the Peneios, and others, -were male. Being only a few degrees raised above humanity, they were -often enamoured of mortals, to whom they appeared arrayed in -loveliness, amid the glimmering forests, at dawn or twilight, or when - - “overhead the moon - Wheels her pale course.” - -Footnote 1023: - - The same superstitions, a little modified, are still found in many - parts of Greece. “The religious feelings of the Cretan, in the - nineteenth century, differ very little, if at all, from those - entertained for the Naïads by his heathen ancestors.”—Pashley, Trav. - in Crete, i. 89. - -It was not always, however, that the love of a nymph proved a -blessing. There were occasions when, having for a moment revealed -their superhuman charms to some shepherd in his romantic solitude, or -to some poet worshiping the muses alone, beside the inspiring mount or -spring, they again capriciously withdrew, and left him vision-smitten -to pine or, perchance, to die. - -Nor were the Greeks wholly devoid of belief in evil spirits, for the -demon Alastor,[1024] which was a deification of the principle that -incites to crime and afterwards brings vengeance, can in no way be -regarded as good. Typhon, too, with the Giants and Titans, had at -least a predominance of evil in their character, but these are treated -of at length by the mythologists. Several superstitions, commonly -supposed to be wholly Oriental, were current in Greece, such as that -men had the power by using certain spells to quit their mortal forms -and roam disembodied through the earth. By magic rings, too, and -helmets they might be rendered invisible, and, thus protected, enter -into the secret chambers of kings, pollute their wives, and rifle -their treasures.[1025] Means, moreover, they had, confounded in those -ages with supernatural power, of charming poisonous serpents, as to -this day is done by the subjects of our Eastern empire, and the -snake-catchers of Egypt; and though it be now known that opium -constitutes no small portion of this charm, the people generally, both -in the East and West, conceive other influences to be employed than -those of legitimate art. - -Footnote 1024: - - Cf. Poppo, Proleg. in Thucyd. i. 14. Xenarchos observes that the - home perishes when conflicting fortunes attach to the master, and - into which the Alastor creeps: - - φθίνει δόμος - ἀσυντάτοισι δεσποτῶν κεχρημένος - τύχαις, ἀλάστωρ τ᾽ εἰσπέπαικε. - - Ap. Athen. ii. 64. seq. See also Æsch. Choeph. 119. Eumen. 560. 802. - with Klausen. Æsch. Theolog. i. 9. 56. seq. et ad Agam. p. 119. The - Egyptians had their Babys or Typhon, a god of evil.—Athen. xv. 25. - -Footnote 1025: - - Plat. Rep. ii. § 3. Stallb. - -There was not in later times, perhaps, that boundless faith in spells -and transformations still subsisting in the East. But in the earlier -ages, and in the gloomy mountain recesses of Arcadia, events equally -strange were supposed to have happened. Thus Lycaon having sacrificed -an infant to Zeus Lycæos, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar, -immediately became a wolf;[1026] and it was reported that any one who -performed this dreadful sacrifice, and afterwards by accident tasted -of the human entrails, when mingled with those of other victims, -forthwith underwent the same transformation.[1027] Thus we find the -gloomy legend of the Breton forests existing in the heart of the -Peloponnesos, where there can, I fear, be little doubt, that human -victims were habitually offered up. Another ancient superstition, -which found its way into Italy, was, that a person first seen by a -wolf lost his voice, whereas if the man obtained the prior glimpse of -the animal no evil ensued.[1028] - -Footnote 1026: - - Paus. viii. 2, 3. Cf. Plat. Rep. viii. 16. Stallb. - -Footnote 1027: - - Plat. Rep. viii. 16. t. ii. p. 223. Stallb. Cf. Bœckh in Platon. - Minoem. p. 55. seq. - -Footnote 1028: - - Muret. ad Plat. Rep. i. p. 670. where, with much ingenuity, he - detects an allusion to this superstition in a hasty glance of the - philosopher.—Plin. Hist. Nat. viii. 34. Schol. ad Theocr. xiv. 21. - Virg. Ecl. ix. 53. Donat. in Ter. Adelph. iv. 1. 21. et Stallb. ad - Plat. Rep. i. 37. - -The belief in ghosts, coeval no doubt with man, flourished especially -among the Greeks. Hesiod entertained peculiar notions on this subject, -which some suppose to have been borrowed from the East, that is, he -believed that the good men of former times became, at their decease, -guardian spirits, and were entrusted[1029] with the care of future -races. Plato adopts these ghosts, and gives them admission into his -Republic, where they perform an important part and receive peculiar -honours.[1030] When they appeared, as sometimes they would, by day, -their visages were pale and their forms unsubstantial like the -creations of a dream.[1031] But, as among us, they chiefly affected -the night for their gambols, and in Arcadia particularly, would appear -to honest people returning home late in cross-roads, and such places -whence they were not to be dislodged but by being pelted apparently by -pellets made from bread crumb, on which men had wiped their fingers, -carefully preserved for this purpose by the good folks about -Phigaleia.[1032] - -Footnote 1029: - - Hes. Opp. et Dies, 121. seq. where see Goettling. - -Footnote 1030: - - De Rep. v. 15. t. i. 377. seq. The Magi, among whom supernatural - sights and powers were most familiar, maintained that the Gods - occasionally appeared to them, and that the atmosphere is filled - with spectral shadows, which, floating about like mists or - exhalations, are visible to the sharpsighted.—Diog. Laert. Pr. vi. - 9. A similar belief prevailed among the early anchorites. “It was - their firm persuasion, that the air which they breathed was peopled - with invisible enemies; with innumerable dæmons who watched every - occasion and assumed every form, to terrify, and, above all, to - tempt, their unguarded virtue.”—Gibbon, vi. 263. - -Footnote 1031: - - Æsch. Agam. 68.—Klaus. Com. p. 108. - -Footnote 1032: - - Athen. iv. 31. - -The most remarkable prank played by any ancient ghosts, however, with -whose history I am acquainted, did not take place in Greece, but in -the Campagna di Roma, where, after a bloody battle between the Romans -and the Huns, in which all but the generals and their staff bit the -dust, two spectral armies, the ghosts of the fallen warriors, appeared -upon the field to enact the contest over again. During three whole -days did these valiant souls of heroes, as the Homeric phrase is, -carry on the struggle; and the historian who relates the fact, is -careful to observe that they did not fall short of living soldiers, -either in fire or courage. People saw them distinctly charge each -other, and heard the clash of their arms. Similar exhibitions were to -be seen in different parts of the ancient world. In the great plain of -Sogda,[1033] for example, spectral armies of mighty courage but -voiceless, were in the constant habit of engaging in mortal combat at -the break of day. Caria likewise possessed a favourite haunt of these -warlike phantoms. But here the apparition was only occasional, and all -its evolutions were performed in the air, which was the case in -England, as we have been assured by very old people, before the -breaking-out of the American war. Another fray of ghosts took place -every summer in Sicily on the plain of the Four Towers, but in this -case the whole business was carried on at noon, to the no small -annoyance of Pan who usually takes his siesta at that hour,—that is, -if they were as noisy in their battles as the Campanian -spectres.[1034] - -Footnote 1033: - - Which had once been a lake.—Vit. Isidor. ap. Phot. Bib. p. 839. - -Footnote 1034: - - Phot. Bib. p. 339. - -Like the Roman Catholics, the Greeks had great faith in miraculous -images, holy wells, &c. and their descendants still maintain the same -creed. Near the Church of Haghia Parthenoë in Crete, is a most copious -fountain deriving its name from the same holy and miracle-working -virgins to whom the church is dedicated, and who also preside over the -waters. “The worship of the headless body of Molos has also its -parallel in modern times.”[1035] As the Cretan Christians for many -years reverenced the head of Titus, though deprived of its body, so -their heathen ancestors used annually to honour by a religious -festival the body of Molos, the well-known father of Meriones, though -deprived of its head. The legend, told to explain the ancient ceremony -in which the headless statue of a man thus exhibited, was that “after -Molos got possession of a nymph’s person without having first obtained -her consent, his body was found, but his head had disappeared.”[1036] -An image of the Virgin travelled by water from Constantinople to -Greece, where it was shortly after seen standing up in the waves near -Mount Athos. Similar legends obtained of old. Near Biennos in -Crete,[1037] “has been dug up the bones and skulls of giants, many of -whom were eight or ten times the size of common men.”[1038] - -Footnote 1035: - - Pashley, Travels in Crete, i. 88. - -Footnote 1036: - - Pashley, Travels in Crete, i. 177.—Plut. de Orac. Def. - -Footnote 1037: - - Herod. iv. 33.—Pashley, Travels in Crete, i. 192. - -Footnote 1038: - - Pashley, i. 278. - -Of the various modes of penetrating into the future,[1039] prevalent -among the people, I may mention some few. Prophetesses are frequently -spoken of in Scripture, and in the Acts of the Apostles[1040] is given -an account of a young female slave who brought her master large sums -of money by this trade, which was that of a gipsy. Others there were -who, like many among the Orientals, professed to understand the -language of birds. A slave, said to possess this knowledge, is -celebrated, by Porphyry, and was probably from the East.[1041] One -sort of divination was practised by pouring drops of oil into a vessel -and looking on it, when they pretended to behold a representation of -what was to take place. This in Egypt is still practised, merely -substituting ink for oil, and a great many travellers appear to -believe in it. Soldiers going to war were especially liable to fall -into this kind of foolery.[1042] - -Footnote 1039: - - See Max. Tyr. Diss. iii. p. 31–38. - -Footnote 1040: - - C. xvi. v. 16. sqq. - -Footnote 1041: - - De Abstinentiâ, iii. Cf. Cedren. Michael, Compotat. εἰσὶ γὰρ τίνες - οἱ ἐν ἐλαίῳ ὁρίοντες μαντεύονται.—Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 1093. - -Footnote 1042: - - Οἱ γὰρ ἐπὶ πόλεμον ἐξιόντες ἐπητήρουν τὰς διοσημείας.—Schol. - Aristoph. Acharn. 1106. - -The use of holy water on entering temples is of great antiquity. This -custom was called περίῤῥανσις, and the act was performed with the -branch of the fortunate olive.[1043] There stood at the door of the -temple a capacious lustral font, whose contents had been rendered holy -by extinguishing[1044] therein a lighted brand from the altar; thence -water was sprinkled on themselves, by worshipers or by the officiating -priest. A similar apparatus stood at the entrance to the Agora, to -purify the orators, &c. going to the public assembly. It was likewise -placed at the door of private houses, wherein there was a corpse, that -every one might purify himself on going out.[1045] Superstitious -persons usually walked about with a laurel leaf in their mouth, or -occasionally bearing a staff of laurel, there being a preserving power -in that sacred shrub: hence arose the proverb δαφνίκην φορῶ -βακτήριαν,—"I carry a laurel staff," when a man would say, I have no -fear. Persons not thus protected it is to be presumed were terrified -if a weasel or dog crossed their path; and the omen could only be -averted by casting three stones at it, the number three being -exceedingly agreeable to the gods. Certain fruits would not burst on -the tree if three stones were cast into the same hole with the seed -when the tree was planted. Two brothers walking on the way conceived -it ominous of evil if they happened to be parted by a stone. On every -trifling occasion altars and chapels were erected to the gods, -particularly by women; no house or street was free from them. For -example, if a snake crept into the house through the eaves, forthwith -an altar was erected. At places where three roads met, stones were set -up, to be worshiped by travellers, who anointed them with oil. If a -mouse nibbled a hole in a corn-sack, they would fly to the portent -interpreter, and inquire what they should do,—"Get it mended," was -sometimes the honest reply. Horrid dreams[1046] might be expiated, and -their evil effects be averted, by telling them to the rising sun. When -the candles spit, it was a sign of rain.[1047] During thunder and -lightning they made the noise called _Poppysma_,[1048] which it was -hoped might avert the danger. On board ship sailors entertained the -idea, that to carry a corpse would be the cause of shipwreck, as -happened to the vessel which was bearing to Eubœa the bones of -Pelops.[1049] The sailors of the Mediterranean, for this reason, will -refuse to receive mummies on board. - -Footnote 1043: - - Ramo felicis olivæ.—Virgil. Æn. vi. 230. - -Footnote 1044: - - Athen. ix. 76. - -Footnote 1045: - - Casaub. ad Theophr. Char. p. 287. Eurip. Alcest. 99. - -Footnote 1046: - - Cf. Plut. Alcib. § 39. - -Footnote 1047: - - Casaub. ad Theophr. Char. p. 300. - -Footnote 1048: - - Sch. Aristoph. Vesp. 260. 262. 626. - -Footnote 1049: - - Pausan. v. 13. 4. Palm. Exerc. in Auct. Græc. d. 398. - - - - - BOOK III. - WOMEN. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - WOMEN IN THE HEROIC AGES. - - -There is no question connected with Grecian manners more difficult -than that which concerns the character and condition of women.[1050] -On so many points did they differ in this matter from us, that, unless -we can conceive ourselves to be in the wrong, the condemnation of the -whole Hellenic theory of female rights and interests and influence -must, as a matter of course, ensue. I do not say that, after all, this -is not the conclusion we should come to. Reason may possibly be on our -side; but certainly it appears to me, that too little pains has -hitherto been taken to arrive at the truth; and as it is a -consideration by no means unimportant, I have bestowed on it more than -ordinary attention in the hope of letting in additional light, however -little, on this obscure and unheeded department of antiquities. - -Footnote 1050: - - Describing the approach to the temple of Aphrodite, Lucian says: - εὐθὺς ἡμῖν ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τεμένους Ἀφροδίσιοι προσέπνευσαν - αὖραι.—Amor. § 12. These gentle airs should breathe into the style - and language of the author who treats of the women of Greece; but, - in my own case, research I fear and the effects of fifty-two degrees - of north latitude will prevent this consummation so devoutly to be - wished. - -In form the Greek woman was so perfect as to be still taken as the -type of her sex. Her beauty, from whatever cause, bordered closely -upon the ideal, or rather was that which, because now only found in -works of art, we denominate the ideal. But our conceptions of form -never transcend what is found in Nature. She bounds our ideas by a -circle over which we cannot step. The sculptors of Greece represented -nothing but what they saw,[1051] and even when the cunning of their -hand was most felicitous, even when loveliness and grace and all the -poetry of womanhood appeared to breathe from their marbles, the -inferiority of their imitations to the creations of God, in properties -belonging to form, in mere contour, in the grouping and developement -of features, must have sufficed to impress even upon Pheidias, that -high priest of art, the conviction of how childish it were to dream of -rising above nature. The beauty of Greece was, indeed, a creature of -earth, but suggested aspirations beyond it. Every feature in the -countenance uttered impassioned language, was rife with tenderness, -instinct with love. The pulses of the heart, warm and rapid, seemed to -possess ready interpreters in the eye. But, radiant over all, the -imagination shed its poetic splendour, communicating a dignity, an -elevation, a manifestation of soul, which lent to passion all the -moral purity and enduring force that belong to love, when love is -least tainted with unspiritual and ignoble selfishness. - -Footnote 1051: - - On the beauty of the modern Greek women I can speak from my own - observation; but most travellers are of the same opinion, and Mr. - Douglas, in particular, gives the following testimony in their - favour: “Though the delicacy of her form is not long able to sustain - the heat of the climate and the immoderate use of the warm bath, I - can scarcely trust myself to describe the beauty of a young Greek - when arriving at the age which the ancients have so gracefully - personified as the Χρυσοστέφανος Ἥβη. Were we to form our ideas of - Grecian women from the wives of Albanian peasants we should be - strangely deceived; but the islands of Andro, Tino, and, above all, - that of Crete, contain forms upon which the chisel of Praxiteles - would not have been misemployed.”—Essay, &c. p. 159. - -I despair, however, of representing by words what neither Pheidias nor -Polycletos could represent in marble or ivory. The women of Greece -were neither large nor tall. The whole figure, graceful but not -slender, left the imagination nothing to desire. It was satisfied with -what was before it. Limbs exquisitely moulded,[1052] round, smooth, -tapering, a _torso_ undulating upwards in the richest curves to the -neck, a bosom somewhat inclined to fulness, but in configuration -perfect, features in which the utmost delicacy was blended with -whatever is noblest and most dignified in expression. Both blue eyes -and black[1053] were found in Greece, but the latter most commonly. -Even Aphrodite, spite of her auburn hair, comes before us in the Iliad -with large black eyes, beaming with humid fire. No goddess but the -Attic virgin has the cold blue eye of the North, becoming her maidenly -character, reserved, firm, affectionate, with a dash of shrewishness. -The nose was straight and admirably proportioned, without anything of -that breadth which in the works of inferior sculptors creates an idea -of Amazonian fierceness. Beauty itself had shaped the mouth and chin, -and basked and sported in them. In these, above all, the Grecian woman -excelled the barbarians. Other features they might have resembling -hers, but seldom that Attic mouth, that dimpled, oval, richly-rounded -chin, which imprinted the crowning characteristic of womanhood upon -her face, and stamped her mistress of man and of the world. - -Footnote 1052: - - Cf. Winkelmann, iv. 4. 44. - -Footnote 1053: - - Plat. Repub. iv. t. vi. p. 167.—That black eyes were most common - among the Greeks may be inferred from this, that, in describing the - parts of the eye, they called the iris τὸ μέλαν, which is sometimes - of one colour, and sometimes of another.—Arist. Hist. Anim. I. viii. - 2. He observes, further on, that some persons had black eyes, others - deep blue, others gray, others of the colour of goats.—§4. Other - animals have eyes of one colour, except the horse, which has - sometimes one blue eye. Eyes moderate in size and neither sunken nor - projecting were esteemed the best.—§. 5. Large eyes, likewise, were - greatly admired. Hence Hera is called βοῶπις by Homer. Aristœnetos, - describing his Laïs, says: ὀφθαλμοὶ μεγάλοι τε καὶ διαυγεῖς καὶ - καθαρῷ φωτὶ διαλάμποντες.—Scheffer ad Æl. Hist. Var. xii. 1. With - respect to the colour of the hair see Winkelmann, iv. 4. 38. It was, - of course, considered a great beauty to have it long, and, - therefore, Helen, in honour of Clytemnæstra, cut off the points - only.—Eurip. Orest. 128. seq. - -A creature thus fashioned and gifted with an intellect which, if less -robust and comprehensive, is equally active with that of man and still -more flexible, could scarcely be degraded into a domestic drudge and -slave, and in Greece was not.[1054] Already, in the heroic ages, women -occupied a commanding position in society, somewhat less honourable -than is their due, but, in many respects, higher and more to be envied -than was appropriated to them in the ignorant and corrupt times of -chivalry which the Homeric period has been thought greatly to -resemble. In those days, though fashion required more reserve in the -female character than is consistent with the spirit of modern manners, -persons of different sexes could meet and converse together without -scandal. Gentlewomen of the highest rank went abroad under their own -guidance. On the arrival of a foreign ship upon the shore we find an -Argive princess descending without any male protector to cheapen -articles of dress and trinkets, which however, as the event proved, -was not without danger, for both she herself and a number of her maids -were carried away captives by the perfidious strangers.[1055] - -Footnote 1054: - - On the respect paid to women, see Demosth. in Ev. et Mnes. § 11. - -Footnote 1055: - - Herodot. i. 1. - -Homer abounds with proofs both of the liberty women enjoyed and the -high estimation in which they were held. They were quite as much as is -consistent with prudence and delicacy the companions of men.[1056] And -in more than one particular, as in the bathing[1057] and perfuming of -distinguished male guests, the manners of those times allowed of or -rather enjoined familiarities greater than the customs of any -civilised modern nations permit. Ladies lived at large with their -husbands and families in the more frequented parts of the house, dined -and drank wine with them, rode or walked out in their company, or, -attended by a female servant, and were, in fact, in the modern sense -of the word, mistresses of the house and everything it contained. - -Footnote 1056: - - Athen. i. 18. - -Footnote 1057: - - Describing the beauty of Hippodameia, daughter of Anchises, Homer - says, she excelled all the maidens of her age in beauty, skill in - female accomplishments, and endowments of the mind, for which reason - Alcathoos, the noblest man in Troy, chose her to be his wife.—Iliad, - ε. 480. sqq. He must necessarily, therefore, have enjoyed - opportunities of studying her character. Another illustration of the - freedom of heroic female manners is furnished by the author of the - Little Iliad, who relates that, when Aias and Odysseus were - contending for the armour of Achilles, the Greeks, by the advice of - Nestor, sent certain scouts to listen beneath the battlements of - Troy to the conversation of the virgins who, in the cool of the - evening, it may be presumed, were wont to walk upon the ramparts and - converse frankly of the exploits of their illustrious enemies.—Sch. - Aristoph. Equit. 1051. Cf. Il. ζ. 239. - -When the husband happened to be absent it was not, indeed, considered -delicate, if the mansion was filled with youthful and petulant guests, -for the wife to be seen much among them,[1058] though it still appears -to have been incumbent upon married ladies to exercise the rites of -hospitality, which sometimes, as in the case of Helen, opened the way -to intrigue and elopement. A similar event, veiled in mythological -obscurity, shipwrecked the virtue of Alcmena.[1059] Clytemnæstra, too, -and Ægialeia the wife of Diomede, fell before the temptations afforded -by the absence of their lords,[1060] while Penelope surrounded with -youthful suitors, assailed by reports of her husband’s death, -alternately soothed and menaced, remained true to her vows and became -to all ages the pattern of conjugal fidelity. - -Footnote 1058: - - Hom. Odyss. α. 330. sqq. - -Footnote 1059: - - Apollod. ii. 4. 8. - -Footnote 1060: - - Ovid. Ibis. 349. seq. Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 384. 1093. - -The examples are many of the facility of their intercourse with -strangers. Sthenobœa wife of Prœtos, king of Argos, must have enjoyed -numerous occasions of being alone with Bellerophon before she could, -like the wife of Potiphar, have tried his honour and forfeited her -own.[1061] Helen after her return to Sparta, banquets and associates -freely with strangers at the table of her husband, where, by her -conversation and remarks, we discover how quick and penetrating the -understanding of women was in those ages supposed to be. Nothing could -be further from the mind of those heroic warriors than the idea of -regarding woman merely as an object of desire, or as a household -drudge.[1062] If she receives praise for her beauty, or industrious -habits, still more is she celebrated for her mental endowments, for -her wisdom, for her maternal love. Where in fiction or in life shall -we find a lady more gentle, more graceful, more accomplished, more -gifted with every charm of womanhood than Helen, who, nevertheless, -falls a prey to seduction! Where more feminine tenderness, or truer -love than in Andromache? Where more matronly sweetness and dignity -than in the Phæacian Arete; more unblameable vivacity, blithe -unreserve, greater sensibility, united with the noblest maiden -modesty, self command and proud consciousness of virtue, than in that -loveliest of poetical creations her daughter Nausicaa. - -Footnote 1061: - - Apollod. ii. 3. 7. Sch. Aristoph. Ran. 1041. - -Footnote 1062: - - Hesiod suggests a luxurious picture of female life in the heroic - ages.—Opp. et Dies. 519. seq. - -Homer himself felt all the charm of this exquisite creation and -lingered over it with the fondness of a parent. She is the very flower -of the heroic age. In the rapid glimpse afforded us of her life, we -discover what the condition and occupations of a noble virgin were in -those primitive times, a felicitous mixture of splendour and -simplicity, approaching nature in the rough energy of the passions, -with feelings healthy and vigorous and happy in the utter absence of -sickly sentimentality. Though daughter to a king Nausicaa does not -disdain to care for the family wardrobe. Her nuptial day is not far -distant, and, agreeably to the nature of her sex in all ages, she is -desirous that her dress should on that occasion appear to the best -advantage, but to her father modestly feigns to think principally of -her brothers.[1063] Alcinoos aware of the feint, smiles inwardly while -he approves of her solicitude. With his ready permission she piles the -garments on the royal car drawn by mules, and then, mounting the seat -whip in hand, departs for the distant rivulet accompanied by her -maids. Of these girls, the poet says, two, clothed by the graces with -loveliness, used to sleep in the Princess’s chamber one on either side -the door. - -On reaching the secluded spot, the umbrageous embouchure of a mountain -brook where they usually performed their lowly task, it was their -first care to unharness the mules, which were turned loose to graze on -the shore. Their labours occupy them but a portion of the morning, and -these concluded, they dine sumptuously enough, in some shady nook -overlooking the stream, on wine and viands brought along with them -from the palace. To remove every idea of sordid toil and fatigue Homer -is careful to represent them full of life and animal spirits, bounding -sportively along the meadows, having first bathed and lubricated their -limbs with fragrant oils. The game which engages them while their -robes and veils are drying on the pebbly beach received in later ages -the name of Phæninda,[1063] and consisted in throwing a ball -unexpectedly from one individual to another of a large party scattered -over a field. As it was uncertain to whom the person in possession of -the ball would cast it, every one was on the watch, and much of the -sport arose from the eagerness of each to catch it. - -Footnote 1063: - - See Book II. v2-Chapter III. - -In this game the princess takes part, laughing and singing with the -rest, and it is a clumsy throw of hers which sends the ball into the -river that excites the loud exclamation from her maids which awakens -Odysseus. Her conversation with the hero thereupon ensuing suggests a -high notion of female education at the period. The maids of honour -terrified at his strange and grotesque appearance, unclothed, and -deformed with ooze and mud, take to flight, but Nausicaa relying on -the respect due to her father maintains her ground. Odysseus -reverencing her youth and beauty prefers his petition from a distance. -She grants far more than he seeks, and with many indications of female -gentleness mingles so much self-possession, forethought, compassion -for misfortune, consideration of what is due to her own character, and -confidence in the generosity and unsuspicious goodness of her parents, -that we are constrained to suppose the existence of much instruction, -mental training, and knowledge of the world. And if such -qualifications had not at that time been found in women, Homer had -much too keen a sense of propriety to have hazarded his reputation and -his bread by supposing their prevalence in his poems.[1064] - -Footnote 1064: - - Clytemnæstra, again, in Æschylus exhibits considerable knowledge of - geography, which she could only have acquired from conversation with - travellers or from the songs of the poets.—Agamemn. 287. sqq. - -How the women of the heroic times received their instruction it is not -difficult to comprehend, though there has come down to us very little -positive information on the subject. The poets, those prophetic -teachers of the infancy of humanity, had already commenced their -revelations of the good and beautiful. Wandering from town to town, -under the immediate direction of Providence, they scattered far and -near the seeds of civilisation. Their songs were in every mouth: both -youths and maidens imbibed the wisdom they contained, and with their -sprightly strains, as in the case of Nausicaa, enlivened their lighter -moments when alone, or delighted the noble and numerous guests at -their fathers’ board. Homer, indeed, nowhere introduces a lady singing -at an entertainment, excepting in Olympos, where the Muses represent -the sex; but Æschylus, a poet profoundly versed in antiquity, speaks -of Iphigenia as performing this sweet office in her father’s -hall.[1065] The daughter of Alcinoos, however, shares in the -amusements and instruction supplied by the bard during the -entertainment described by Homer, and converses freely with their -illustrious guest.[1066] - -Footnote 1065: - - And Theocritus enumerates among the accomplishments of Helen, that - she could sing and play upon the cithara.—Eidyll. xviii. 35. sqq. et - Kiesling ad Theocrit. Cf. Æneid. vi. 647. - -Footnote 1066: - - Odyss. θ. 457. sqq. - -Footnote 1067: - - Apophthegms, Old and New, § 278. - -We have above seen that women in those ages were not creatures of mere -luxury or show. Possessing considerable physical power and energy, and -much skill in the elegant and useful arts of life, they were deterred -by no false pride or ignorant prejudices from converting their -capacity to the use of their families. The magnificence of their -attire, their costly ornaments, or the consciousness of the highest -personal beauty, nowise interfered with their thrifty habits; and Lord -Bacon[1067] tells a very good anecdote to show that the same in former -days was the case in England. There was a lady of the West country, he -says, who gave great entertainments at her house to most of the -gallant gentlemen of her neighbourhood, among whom Sir Walter Raleigh -was one. This lady, though otherwise a stately dame, was a notable -good housewife, and in the morning betimes she called to one of her -maids that looked to the swine, and asked, “Is the piggy served?” Sir -Walter’s chamber being near the lady’s, he heard this homely inquiry. -A little before dinner the lady came down in great state to the -drawing-room, which was full of gentlemen, and as soon as Sir Walter -Raleigh saw her, “Madam,” says he, “is the piggy served?” To which the -lady replied, “You know best whether you have had your breakfast.” - -An Homeric princess resembled this stately dame of the West, in -thinking nothing beneath her which could contribute to the comfort or -elegant adornment of those she loved. The employments of women in -those ages, however, included some things which, in the present state -of the useful arts, would seldom fall to their share, and among these -were the labours of the loom, to excel in which was evidently -considered one of their chiefest accomplishments and most necessary -duties.[1068] In this occupation they took refuge from anxiety and -sorrow; to this we find Hector with rough tenderness urging his -beloved wife to have recourse, when her affection would withdraw him -from his post;[1069] and Telemachus, in a tone somewhat too -authoritative, recommends, in the Odyssey, the same course to his -mother:[1070] and in the Eastern world the same tastes and habits -continued to prevail down to a very late age. When Sisygambis, the -captive Persian queen, was presented, however, by Alexander with -purple and wool, she sank into an agony of grief and tears: they -reminded her of happier days. But the conqueror, misunderstanding her -feelings, and desirous to remove the notion that he was imposing any -servile task, observed:—"This garment, mother, which you see me wear, -is not merely the gift but the work also of my sisters."[1071] Similar -presents passed between near relations in Persia; for in Herodotus we -find Amestris, the queen of Xerxes, conferring upon her husband, as a -gift of price, a richly variegated and ample pelisse, which the -labours of her own fair hands had rendered valuable.[1072] Augustus, -too, even when all simplicity of manners had expired with the -republic, affected still to bring up the females of his family upon -the antique model, and wore no garments but such as were manufactured -in his own house.[1073] - -Footnote 1068: - - Alexand. ab Alexand. iv. 8. - -Footnote 1069: - - Iliad, ζ. 491. - -Footnote 1070: - - Odyss. α. 357. - -Footnote 1071: - - Q. Curt. v. 2. 18. - -Footnote 1072: - - Herod. ix. 188. - -Footnote 1073: - - Suet. in Vit. § 64. Conf. Feith. Antiq. Homer. iv. 34. - -To return: constant practice and the delight which familiar and -voluntary labour inspires, had already in the heroic ages, enabled the -Grecian ladies to throw much splendour and richness of invention into -their fabrics. The desire also, perhaps, of excelling in works of this -kind the ladies of Sidon, communicated an additional impulse to their -industry. At all events, Homer makes it abundantly clear that they -understood how to employ with singular felicity the arts of design, -and to represent in colours brilliant and varied, cities, landscapes, -human figures, and all the complicated movements of war.[1074] We -must, no doubt, allow something for the poet’s own skill in painting; -but, after every reasonable deduction, enough will remain still to -prove that at the period of the Trojan war Greece had made remarkable -progress in every art which tends to ameliorate and embellish human -life. - -Footnote 1074: - - In northern Greece and Macedonia women could depict such scenes from - the life, since they learned the use of arms, and engaged personally - in war.—Athen. xiii. 10. Tradition relates that Queen Matilda and - her maids wrought the tapestry of Bayeux, representing the conquest - of England by her husband. - -Carding, also, and spinning entered into the list of their -occupations. Even Helen though frail as fair, is laborious as a -Penelope, plying her shuttle or her golden distaff, and surrounded -habitually by a troop of she-manufacturers.[1075] Arete, queen of -Phæacia, is likewise depicted sitting at the fire, distaff in hand, -encircled by her maids;[1076] and the wife of Odysseus, famed for her -household virtues, is seen in the Odyssey at her own door spinning the -purple thread.[1077] The work-baskets of the ladies of that period, if -we can rely on a poet’s word, were such as more modern dames might -envy, formed of beaten gold and chased with figures richly wrought, -and grouped with infinite taste and judgment.[1078] In these their -balls of purple were deposited when spun, though probably reed baskets -or osier work contented the ambition of ladies less aspiring than -Europa. - -Footnote 1075: - - Iliad, ζ. 491.—Odyss. δ. 131.—Theocrit. Eidyll. xviii. 32. sqq. - -Footnote 1076: - - Odyss. ζ. 491. 38.—Feith by mistake introduces the name of Nausicaa - instead of that of her mother.—Ant. Hom. iv. 3. 2. - -Footnote 1077: - - Odyss. υ. 97. - -Footnote 1078: - - Mosch. Eidyll. ii. 37. seq. - -Women also, but chiefly slaves, performed in those primitive times all -the operations of the kitchen. They even in the great establishment of -Alcinoos work at the mill, as they do also in the palace of Odysseus, -where guided perhaps by the nature of the climate we find the young -women preferring for this operation the cool of the night.[1079] Even -in later ages, when juster ideas of what is due to the sex prevailed, -this severe toil sometimes devolved upon female slaves, though in -general it was the males, and of these the most worthless, who worked -the mills, regarded at length almost in the light of correctional -establishments.[1080] But the making of bread was very properly -appropriated to women almost throughout the East. The Egyptians, -indeed, an effeminate and servile people, very early, as we learn from -Genesis, confounded the offices of the sex; but among the Lydians, -even in the palace of Crœsos, we meet with a female baker,[1081] and -the Persian armies carried along with them women to bake their bread -in their longest and most dangerous expeditions.[1082] In Greece to -preside over the oven, was up to a very late period the prerogative of -the fair. One hundred and ten women had the honour of being locked up -with the handful of warriors who during three years baffled the whole -force of the Peloponnesos from the glorious walls of Platæa,[1083] and -in the primitive ages of Macedonia the queen herself prepared the -bread distributed among the royal shepherds.[1084] - -Footnote 1079: - - Odyss. η. 103. seq.—ο. 107. - -Footnote 1080: - - Theoph. Char. c. v. - -Footnote 1081: - - Herod. i. 51. - -Footnote 1082: - - Herod. vii. 187. - -Footnote 1083: - - Thucyd. ii. 78. - -Footnote 1084: - - Herod. viii. 139. - -The Sacred Scriptures have rendered familiar and reconciled to us the -simplicity of patriarchal manners. To behold the daughter of Bethuel -or of Laban coming forth to draw water for her flock, does not strike -us as at all out of keeping with the opulence or dignity of her -father, or with her own feminine delicacy; and we know that at this -present day the wealthiest Bedouin Sheikh of the desert, though lord -of a thousand camels, discovers nothing in his daughter’s condition -which should relieve her from this healthful employment. Similar -notions prevailed among the Greeks of the Heroic Age. For though in -many cases slave-maidens[1085] are found engaged in drawing water from -the springs, virgins of noble birth, nay the daughters themselves of -kings, descend to the fountain with their urns, mingling there with -female captives and young women of inferior rank. Thus, for example, -the princess of the Lestrygons in Homer goes forth with her -water-jar[1086] to the well, and even among the Athenians, where -refinement of manners first sprang up, and civilisation made most -rapid strides, the daughters of the citizens in early times used to -descend to the fountain of Callirrhoe to draw water.[1087] But the -task was commonly allotted to female captives and other slaves. -Euryclea, Odysseus’ house-keeper, sends a troop of girls on this -errand with orders to be quick in their movements, and Hector, in his -deep fear for Andromache, already in apprehension beholds her toiling -at the fountains of Argos.[1088] - -Footnote 1085: - - Eurip. Electr. 107. 309. sqq. - -Footnote 1086: - - Odyss. κ. 105. - -Footnote 1087: - - Herod. vi. 137—The historian uses the name of Enneacrounos given to - the fountain by the tyrants. A similar practice is noticed by - Arrian.—Anab. Alexand. ii. 3 - -Footnote 1088: - - Odyss. φ. 153. seq.—Iliad. ζ. 59. seq. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - WOMEN OF DORIC STATES. - - -The women of Sparta were even in Greece remarkable for their personal -beauty. Their education and exercises promoting their health and -physical energies, aided, at the same time, the natural developement -of the frame, with all its inherent symmetry and proportion. It is -probable, however, that the charms of Helen may have led on this point -to some misapprehension; but Helen belonged to the old heroic race, -with which the Dorians of Sparta had nothing in common, that is, like -so many other women celebrated by the poets of after times for their -beauty, was an Achæan. Still, lovely they were, well-formed, brilliant -of complexion, with features of much regularity, and eyes into which -exuberant health infused a sparkling brightness irresistibly pleasing. -But it would require to be peculiarly constituted to pronounce them -the most beautiful women in all Greece.[1089] They were what in modern -phrase would be termed fine women, but exceeding considerably what we -deem true feminine proportions, being, in fact, a sort of female -grenadiers, robust, vigorous, bull-stranglers, as Lysistrata[1090] -somewhat ironically expresses it, their beauty was rather that of men, -than of women. Some among the Greeks preferred, it is true, ladies of -this large growth. Thus, we find Xenophon, in the Anabasis, expressing -his apprehension that should his countrymen become acquainted with the -fine tall women of Persia, they would, like the Lotos-eaters, forget -the way to their country and their home.[1091] But this was a taste -which never became general. The beauty which excited most admiration, -where beauty constituted the noblest object of literature and art, was -a kind totally different in character, exquisitely feminine, gentle, -soft, retiring, modest, instinct with grace and delicacy, the parasite -of the moral creation, clinging round man for support, but imparting -more than it receives. - -Footnote 1089: - - See Müll. Dor. ii. 296. - -Footnote 1090: - - Ὧ φιλτάτη Λάκαινα, χαῖρε. - οἷον τὸ κάλλος, γλυκυτάτη, σοῦ φαίνεται. - ὡς δ᾽ εὐχροεῖς, ὡς δὲ σφριγᾷ τὸ σῶμά σου, - κἂν ταῦρον ἄγχοις. - - Which may be thus translated: - - Beloved Laconian, welcome! - How glorious is thy beauty, love! how ruddy - The tint of thy complexion! Vigour and health - So brace thy frame that thou a bull couldst throttle. - - Aristoph. Lysist. 78 sqq. - -Footnote 1091: - - Anab. iii. 2. 25.—Ἀλλὰ γὰρ δέδοικα μὴ, ἂν ἅπαξ μάθωμεν ἀργοὶ ζῇν, - καὶ ἐν ἀφθόνοις βιοτεύειν, καὶ Μήδῶν δὲ καὶ Περσῶν καλαῖς καὶ - μεγάλαις γυναιξὶ καὶ παρθένοις ὁμιλεῖν, μὴ, ὣσπερ οἱ λωτοφάγοι, - ἐπιλαθώμεθα τῆς οἴκαδε ὁδοῦ.—And again, in the Cyropædia, Araspes - praises Panthea for her majestic size. It appears from Homer that - when Athena was desirous of making Penelope appear more lovely than - ordinary, she added to her height.—Odyss. σ. 194. - -Such beauty, however, would have been inconsistent with the aim of -Lycurgus. Like a well-known modern despot, this great legislator aimed -solely at creating a nation of grenadiers, and to effect this, both -the education, laws, and manners of Sparta received a military -impress. Everything there breathed of the camp. The girls from their -tenderest years, instead of being instructed as in other communities -to entwine all their feelings round the domestic hearth, and expect -their chiefest happiness at home, were systematically undomesticated, -brought incessantly into contact with men, initiated in immoral -habits, subversive of the female character,[1092] and taught to -consider themselves designed to be the wives of the state rather than -of individuals. Nature, the legislator was aware, has implanted the -principles of love and modesty deep in the female heart; in general -also, to eradicate one, is to root up the other; and both in the sense -in which we contemplate them, being inimical to the purpose which his -constitution was intended to promote, he sought to subvert the power -of love by obliterating from the female mind every trace of maidenly -modesty. - -Footnote 1092: - - Athen. xiii. 79.—Even Plutarch denominates the system of discipline - observed by the Spartan women ἀναπεπταμένη καὶ ἄθηλυς,—"lax and - unfeminine,"—and confesses that it afforded the poets an - inexhaustible fund for ridicule. Ibycos, for example, called them - φαινομηρίδες: and Euripides ἀνδρομανεῖς. Their education, in fact, - rendered them coarse and domineering, “bold and mannish;” - θρασύτεραι, and ἀνδριοδεῖς, are the words of Plutarch, who observes - that they desired not only to rule by violence at home, but even - audaciously to meddle with public affairs.—Compar. Lycurg. cum Num. - § 3. - -The power of political institutions over the feelings of the heart, -over manners, over habits, over conscience, and opinions, was never so -strikingly exemplified as at Sparta. Whatever the legislator -determined to be good was good.[1093] Example, affection, nature -pleaded in vain. An iron system, strong as fate, encircled the whole -scope of life, repressing every aspiration tending above the point -prescribed, guiding every wish into a given channel, curbing every -passion inconsistent in its full developement with the views of the -legislator. Aristotle, indeed, maintains that while the men of Sparta -conformed to the design of the constitution, the women refused to bend -their neck to the yoke, and persisted in the enjoyment of a freedom -constantly degenerating into licentiousness.[1094] He probably, -however, supposes the existence in Lycurgus of a moral purpose, far -loftier than he really aimed at. The virtues of a camp—and Sparta was -nothing else—are never too rigid, nor must we look among female -camp-followers for much of that delicacy, reserve, self-control, or -keen sense of what is just and upright, of which none judge more -accurately than well educated women. Doubtless the Doric lawgiver -cherished no other design than to promote the happiness of his -countrymen. It would be unjust to suppose otherwise. But how far the -regulations by which he sought to effect this purpose were calculated -to ensure success, is what we have to inquire. - -Footnote 1093: - - Philosophers, also, were found in antiquity as in modern times, who - theoretically maintained this doctrine. Thus Archelaos contended, - καὶ τὸ δίκαιον εἶναι καὶ τὸ αἰσχρὸν οὐ φύσει, ἀλλὰ νόμῳ.—Diog. - Laert. ii. 4. 3. Here we discover the fundamental maxim upon which - the whole system of Hobbes was constructed. - -Footnote 1094: - - Polit. ii. 9. - -It may at once be observed that Lycurgus’s system of female education -was the furthest possible removed from common place. He contemplated -both the sexes in nearly the same point of view. Their form he saw; -and in many points their character, their affections, their virtues, -their vices, bear a close resemblance; and in his conception, -perfection would be attained, if all such discriminating marks as -nature has set up could be removed, and every quality of what he -considered the superior sex transferred to the inferior. Much -misapprehension appears to exist on this point. Writers pretend that -among the Dorians the female character stood in high estimation, while -the reverse they suppose to have been the case in Ionic States. But -the Dorians betrayed their contempt for women as they came from the -hands of nature, by endeavouring to convert them into men; their -neighbours the reverse, by contenting themselves with their purely -feminine qualities, which among people of Ionic race were cultivated -and improved, perhaps, as far as was consistent with domestic -happiness. - -In the harems of the East the whip is of great service in -maintaining order, and the same, it is evident, was the case at -Sparta. Both youths and virgins from their tenderest years were -subjected to a severe discipline; regular floggers, as at our own -great schools, always attended the inspectors of public instruction; -and in this the system was wise, that habits were more regarded than -acquisitions.[1095] But of the habits cherished by the Spartan -system we cannot always approve. Like the boys, the virgins -frequented the gymnasia, where, naked as at their birth, they -exercised themselves in wrestling, running, pitching the quoit, and -throwing the javelin.[1096] To these accomplishments, others, -according to a Roman poet, still less feminine were added. They -contended, he says, in the ring with men, bound the cestus on their -clenched fists, and boxed their future husbands like so many -prize-fighters. No wonder that the partners of such women were -henpecked. Horsemanship, the sword exercise, and the rough sports of -the chase, affected by women of similar character in our own -country, completed the circle of female studies,[1097] and rendered -the Spartan maids something more than a match for their worse -halves, whether after marriage or before.[1098] - -Footnote 1095: - - Jamblich. vit. Pythag. xi. 5. 6.—Müller. Dor. ii. 317. - -Footnote 1096: - - Plut. Lycurg. §. 14. Compare the remarks of Ubbo Emmius who adopts, - however, too implicitly the notions of Plutarch.—iii. 22. seq. - -Footnote 1097: - - Propert. iii. 12. p. 261. iv. 13. p. 88. Jacob.—Cicero, after - quoting certain verses from an old poet, describing the exercises of - the female Spartans, adds in his own words: “ergo his laboriosis - excercitationibus et dolor intercurrit nonnumquam; impelluntur, - ponuntur, abjiciuntur, cadunt: et ipse labor quasi callum quoddam - obducit dolori.” Tuscul. Quæst. ii. 36.—In remoter ages we find - women celebrated for their skill in hunting, and there were those - who in later times sought to recommend this taste to their - countrywomen:—Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ὅσοι ἄνδρες κυνηγεσίων ἡράσθησαν, - ἐγένοντο ἀγαθοὶ ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες, αἷς ἔδωκεν ἡ θεὸς ταῦτα - Ἄρτεμις, Ἀταλάντη, καὶ Πρόκρις, καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλη. Xen. de Venat. - xiii. 18. 345. Schneid. Cf. Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 209. 215. Spanh. - -Footnote 1098: - - Alluding to the political power of women at Sparta, Aristotle - inquires: what signifies it whether women govern or men be governed - by women? Polit. ii. 9. - -Some pains have in our own days been taken to pare away the -roughnesses, and obliterate the peculiar features of the Doric -educational institutions, in order to bring them into greater -uniformity with modern notions. There is no probability, we are told, -that either youths or men were permitted to be present at the -extraordinary exhibition of the female gymnasia.[1099] But whence is -this inference derived? From the delicacy of Spartan manners in other -respects? And are we in fact reduced on this curious point to depend -on inferences and probabilities? On the contrary, we are informed by -antiquity that besides the personal advantages of health and vigour, -derived to the women themselves, the legislator contemplated others -little less important, the promotion of marriage and the recreation of -all the useful portion of the citizens. For while the married men and -youths intent on connubial happiness, enjoyed the free entry to these -gymnasia,[1100] those sullen egotists called bachelors were very -properly excluded. The former had some property in the young ladies, -who were their daughters, sisters, or future spouses, but persons -avowedly indifferent to the seductive influence of female charms could -have no business there. - -Footnote 1099: - - Müll. Dor. ii. 333. - -Footnote 1100: - - Plut. Lycurg. § 14. 15. Müller, with the amusing partiality of an - apologist, overlooks the passage, and introduces Plutarch affirming - “that they only witnessed the processions and dances of the young - (wo)men.” Note K. Dor. ii. p. 328. Here though _men_ be the printed - word in the English translation women must be clearly meant. Even - so, however, the assertion is unfounded, since we find that even - strangers were admitted:—ἐπαινεῖται δὲ καὶ τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν τὸ ἔθος τὸ - γυμνοῦν τὰς παρθένους τοῖς ξένοις. Athen. xiii. 20. The islanders of - Chios would appear to have imitated this laudable practice, since - the sophist speaks of it as a most pleasant spectacle to behold the - youths and virgins wrestling together in the public place of - exercise. Ibid. - -Admitting, therefore, that when the Spartan virgins[1101] performed in -the gymnasia, for we must consider their exercises partly in the light -of scenic exhibitions, the whole city, bachelors excepted, could be -present, it remains to be seen what other accomplishments they could -display for the public entertainment. Singing and dancing it has been -shown were practised publicly by ladies of rank in the heroic ages, -and this feature of ancient manners was preserved at Sparta, where not -youths and maidens only, but even the grave and aged joined, during -several great festivals, in the dance and the song.[1102] But we must -beware how we apply to these performances the ideas suggested by those -of modern times, or the gay and graceful movements of Ionian women. To -dance at Sparta required great physical force.[1103] The maidens, -unencumbered by dress, bounded aloft like an Anatole or a Taglioni, -but instead of twirling round with one foot on earth, and the other -suspended at right angles in air, the supreme merit of her performance -consisted in slapping the back part of the body with her heel for the -greatest possible number of times in succession.[1104] In this feat, -which resembles strongly a Caribbee or Iroquois accomplishment, whole -troops of men and women often united; an exhibition which with the -shouts of laughter arising from the bystanders, the grins of the -girls, and the wilful mistakes of young men who might send their feet -in the wrong direction, must convey a curious idea of Spartan gravity. -Such, however, was the celebrated dance called _Bibasis_,[1105] upon -the frequent execution of which a Laconian girl prided herself no less -than a modern lady on her activity in the indecent waltz. - -Footnote 1101: - - Cf. Plato. De Legg. t. viii. p. 85. - -Footnote 1102: - - Plut. Lycurg. §. 21. - -Footnote 1103: - - As now among the Galaxidiotes. Dodwell. i. 133. seq. - -Footnote 1104: - - Aristoph. Lysistr. 82. - -Footnote 1105: - - Pollux. iv. 102. - -But the other dances in which the Spartan maidens excelled were -numerous. Among them was the _Dipodia_[1106] of which the nature is -not exactly known, but it was accompanied by music and song and -apparently consisted of a series of orgiastic movements, like those -of the Bacchantes when, inspired by wine, they bounded fawnlike with -dishevelled hair along the mountains.[1107] On other occasions their -movements were designed to express certain passions of the mind, -sometimes, as in the _Calabis_,[1108] highly wanton and licentious, -though the latitudinarian spirit of paganism contrived to admit them -among the religious ceremonies, and that too in honour of Artemis. -Another of these lewd dances performed in the worship of Apollo and -his sister, and accompanied by songs, conceived no doubt in the same -spirit, was the _Bryallicha_[1109], which the historian of the Doric -race finds some difficulty to reconcile with the worship of Apollo, -as if their deity had been himself free from the inherent vices of -the Olympian dynasts. There was another dance called the -_Deicelistic_[1110], a kind of rude pantomime intermingled with -songs supposed to have been performed by unmarried women[1111]. - -Footnote 1106: - - Scaliger’s idea of the dance is peculiar: Erat et διποδία, in quâ - junctis pedibus labore plurimo et conatu picas imitabantur. Poet. i. - 18. p. 69. - -Footnote 1107: - - Aristoph. Lysistr. 1303. sqq. - -Footnote 1108: - - Athen. xiv. 29. - -Footnote 1109: - - Poll. iv. 104. Hesych. v. Βρυδαλίχα. - -Footnote 1110: - - Etym. Mag. 260. 42. - -Footnote 1111: - - Müll. Dor. ii. 335. - -To these dances may be added the _Hyporchematic_, which was executed -by a chorus, while singing, for which reason Bacchylides says, “This -is not the work of slowness or inactivity.” By Pindar it is described -as a dance performed by Spartan girls; but in fact both young men and -women united in the Hyporchema, and as this dance is said to have -resembled or been identical with the Cordax[1112], it will assist us -in forming a notion of female delicacy at Sparta, where young women -could execute publicly in company with the other sex a dance scarcely -less indelicate than the fandango or bolero[1113]. - -Footnote 1112: - - Cf. Nonn. Dionys. xix. 265. sqq. Etym. Mag. 712. 53. 635. 2. Scalig. - Poet. i. 18. Poll. iv. 99. - -Footnote 1113: - - Athen. xiv. 30. - -From such an education and such habits tastes essentially -unfeminine would naturally spring. Accordingly we find Laconian -ladies of the first rank,—Cynisca daughter of king Archidamos, for -example,—attending to the breed of horses, and sending chariots to -contend at the Olympic games. Nor was her masculine ambition -condemned by the Greeks. A statue of the lady herself, together -with her chariot, and charioteer, existed among other Olympian -monuments in the age of Pausanias. Afterwards many other women, -but chiefly among the half barbarous Macedonians, followed the -example of Cynisca and Euryleonis another Spartan dame who had -been honoured with a statue at Olympia for the success of her -chariot at the games.[1114] - -Footnote 1114: - - Pausan. iii. 15. 1. 17. 6. Cf. Vandal. Dissert. vii. p. 562. seq. - -In strict keeping with the rough manners and masculine bearing of -these ladies was the habit of swearing,[1115] to which in common with -most other Greek women they were grievously addicted. At Athens, -however, gentlewomen swore by Demeter, Persephone and Agraulos,[1116] -an oath by divinities of their own sex[1117] being considered more -suitable to female lips; but the viragos of Sparta spiced their -conversation with oaths by Castor and Polydeukes. According, moreover, -to the poet whose testimony is commonly adduced against the Athenian -ladies, the women of Sparta drank[1118] as well as swore, and we know -from authority altogether indisputable, that in the age of Socrates -their licentiousness had already become universally notorious in -Greece.[1119] A scholar, and a diligent inquirer, whose merits are too -often overlooked, observes very justly that it was probably the -austerity, or more properly the pedantry of Lycurgus’s institutions -that gave rise to the notion that chastity was a common virtue at -Sparta.[1120] It was supposed because occasionally subjected to -violent exercise, that they must necessarily be temperate in their -pleasures. But we might _à priori_ have inferred the contrary, and the -uniform testimony of antiquity proves it. Their wantonness and -licentiousness knew no bounds. Even during the ages immediately -succeeding the establishment of their constitution, that is at the -time of the Messenian wars, to preserve for any length of time their -chastity while their husbands were absent in the field was beyond -their power, and substitutes were selected and sent home to become the -husbands of the whole female population.[1121] - -Footnote 1115: - - Aristoph. Lysistr. 81. sqq. - -Footnote 1116: - - Sch. Aristoph. Thesmophor. 533. - -Footnote 1117: - - But men we find likewise swore—Κατὰ ταῖν θεαῖν καὶ τῆς - Πολιάδος..—Lucian. Diall. Hetair. vii. 1. - -Footnote 1118: - - Aristoph. Lysistr. 198. seq. - -Footnote 1119: - - Plat. de Legg. i. t. vii. p. 201. Bekk. - -Footnote 1120: - - Goguet. Orig. des Loix. t. v. p. 429. - -Footnote 1121: - - Dion. Chrysostom. Orat. i. 278. Justin. iii. 4. - -But for this ungovernable sway of temperament the institutions of the -state were chiefly to blame.[1122] We have seen by the whole tenor of -their education, modesty and virtue were sapped and undermined; no -merit, it was visible, attached to them in the eye of the law; and -shrewdly gifted as they were with good sense, they must quickly have -discovered that marriage was a mere unmeaning ceremony, and that -provided they gave good citizens to the state it would be of little -consequence who might be their fathers.[1123] The ceremonies attending -that lax union which for lack of a better term we must call marriage, -resembled closely those which have been found to prevail among other -savages in very distant parts of the world. - -Footnote 1122: - - Plut. Compar. Lycurg. cum. Num. § 3. Aristot. Polit. ii. 9. who - observes:—ζῶσι ἀκολαστῶς πρὸς ἅπασαν ἀκολασίαν καὶ τρυφερῶς.—Hermann - in his Political Antiquities § 27, reasoning consistently with these - ancient authorities, observes that the system of Lycurgus “gradually - effaced every characteristic of female excellence from the Spartan - women.” - -Footnote 1123: - - βουλόμενος γὰρ ὁ νομοθέτης ὡς πλείστους εἴναι τοὺς Σπαρτιάτας, - προάγεται τοὺς πολίτας ὄτι πλείστους ποιεῖσθαι παῖδας· ἔστι γὰρ - αὐτοῖς νόμος τὸν μὲν γεννήσαντα τρεῖς υἱοὺς ἄφρουρον εἶναι, τὸν δὲ - τέτταρας ἀτελή πάντων.—Arist. Polit. ii. 9. Cf. Ælian. Var. Hist. - vi. 6, who substitutes the number five for four. - -Having gone through the ceremony of betrothment,[1124] in which the -bride’s interest was represented by her father or brother, the lover -chose some fitting occasion to seize and carry her away from amongst -her companions. She was then received into the house of the -bridesmaid, where her hair was cut short and her dress exchanged for -that of a young man, after which custom directed that she should be -left reclining on a pallet bed, in a dark chamber, alone. Thither the -bridegroom repaired by stealth, and, afterwards, with equal secresy, -returned to his companions, among whom he continued for some time to -live as if no change in his condition had taken place. During this -period, therefore, their union must be regarded rather as a -clandestine intercourse than a marriage, since the husband continued, -as at first, to steal secretly into the company of his wife and to -effect his escape with equal care, it being considered disreputable -for them to be seen together. Even the children springing from this -connexion have been supposed to have ranked as bastards; but of this -there is no sufficient proof. - -Footnote 1124: - - Cf. Xen. de Rep. Lac. i. 6. Plut. Lycurg. § 15.—Ubbo Emmius. Descr. - Reip. Lacon. p. 96. seq. - -A different account is given by other authors of the marriage ceremony -at Sparta, but, if properly examined, both relations may very well be -reconciled. The above, in fact, appears to have been the ordinary mode -when young women of property who had dowries[1125] to bestow upon -their husbands, were to be disposed of. But the portionless girls, -excepting, perhaps, the more beautiful, finding some difficulty in -providing themselves with helpmates, a contrivance was hit upon by the -legislator, calculated to give a fair chance to all. The unmarried -damsels of the city, thus circumstanced, were shut up in the dark, in -a spacious edifice,[1126] into which the young unmarried men were -introduced to scramble for wives, the understanding being, that each -was to remain content with the maiden he happened to seize upon. And -it would appear that the awards of chance were, in most cases, -satisfactory, since we read of no one but Lysander who abandoned the -wife he had thus chosen. He, however, having been presented, by -fortune, with a maiden of homely features, immediately deserted her -for one more beautiful. The bad example thus set was not without its -evil consequences, for the men who married his daughters put them away -in like manner after his death.[1127] But, in both cases, fines for -contumacy were exacted by the Ephori. According to the laws of Sparta, -men were likewise fined for leading a life of celibacy,[1128] for -marrying late, or for marrying unsuitably. Thus, king Archidamos was -fined for selecting a little woman to be his queen, as if there was -something regal in loftiness of stature.[1129] - -Footnote 1125: - - According to Justin, indeed, the Spartan legislator abolished the - usage of dowries: Virgines sine dote nubere jussit, ut uxores - eligerentur, non pecuniæ; severiusque matrimonia sua viri - coërcerent, cum nullis dotis frœnis tenerentur, iii. 3. But - Aristotle, who had deeply studied the polity of Sparta, gives a very - different account:—ἔστι δὲ καὶ τῶν γυναικῶν σχεδὸν τῆς πάσης χώρας - τῶν πέντε μερῶν τὰ δύο, τῶν τ᾽ ἐπικλήρων πολλῶν γινομένων, καὶ διὰ - τὸ προῖκας διδόναι μεγάλας.—Polit. ii. 9. - -Footnote 1126: - - Athen. xiii. 2. - -Footnote 1127: - - Plut. Lysand. § 30. - -Footnote 1128: - - Athen. xiii. 1. - -Footnote 1129: - - Plut. Agis, § 2. Athen. xiii. 20. It was not without reason, - perhaps, that the Ephori interfered with the marriages of their - kings, since royalty has everywhere been capricious. But these - honest magistrates were sometimes tyrannical in their ordinances and - behaviour. Thus, when Anaxandrides married his niece for love, - because she had no children he was compelled by them to take a - second wife. When the first wife was confined they, fearing - imposition, or feigning incredulity, sat about her bed.—Herod. v. - 39–41. - -On almost every point connected with Spartan marriages the accounts -transmitted to us are contradictory. Thus, we are by some told, as has -been seen above, that the union of the bride and bridegroom took place -secretly, and remained for some time almost unknown. Nevertheless, -there are not wanting those who speak of public ceremonies which took -place on the occasion, as for example Sosibios,[1130] who informs us, -that the cake, called cribanos, shaped like the female breast, was -eaten at that repast which the Lacedæmonian women gave in honour of a -betrothed maiden when her youthful companions assembled in chorus to -chaunt her praises. At Argos, another Doric state, it was customary -before the bride joined her husband for her to send him, as a present, -the cake called creion, which his friends were invited to partake of -with honey. It was baked upon the coals as cakes are still in the -East. - -Footnote 1130: - - Athen. xiv. 54. - -When at Sparta the state had recognised the marriage, by permitting -cohabitation, no man could call his wife his own. Any person might -legally claim the favour of borrowing her for a certain time, in -order, if he did not choose to be burdened with a wife, to have a -family by her while she remained in the house of her lord. An elderly -man was sure to have his connubial privileges invaded in this way, and -the most able and philosophical advocates of Lycurgus’s institutions -inform us that the Spartan ladies highly approved of all these -arrangements. Yet, famous and learned authors undertake to break a -lance for the chastity of the Spartan dames, and maintain with -infinite complacency that adultery was unknown among them. The truth -is that the Spartan laws recognised no such offence.[1131] It was -legal, common, of every day occurrence, though, from many -circumstances, it would appear, that such Lacedæmonians as travelled -into other parts of Greece, and learned in what light manners and -morals so lax were by them viewed, blushed for their country’s -institutions, and, in defence of them, put in practice those arts of -delusion and hypocrisy which constituted so distinguished a part of -their education. - -Footnote 1131: - - Xenoph. de Rep. Laced. i. 7. 8. 9. - -Much has been said of the stern virtue and patriotism of the Spartan -women, and high praise has been bestowed on the callous indifference -which they sometimes exhibited on learning the death of their -sons;[1132] but English mothers, who have given birth to sons as brave -as ever fought or bled for Sparta, will, I think, agree with me in -rating very low their boasted stoicism, which, if properly analysed, -might prove to be nothing more than a coarse and unnatural apathy. The -reader of the Greek Anthologia will here remember her who meeting her -son a fugitive among the flying from a victorious enemy, inflicted on -him with her own hands the death he sought to shun. Had Nature, which -is but the voice of God indistinctly heard, anything to do with virtue -such as that? Supposing the youth to have been a coward, which the -fact of his flying before the enemy by no means proves, was it for the -hands that had nursed him to become his executioners? A mother, -deserving of the name, would no doubt have sorrowed not to find her -boy numbered among the brave, but her maternal heart would not the -less have yearned towards the unhappy youth; she would have fled with -him into obscurity, and uttered her mild reproaches and shed her tears -there. - -Footnote 1132: - - Cic. Tusc. Quæst. i. 49. - -As often happens, however, these female stoics who were so lavish of -the blood of their children, displayed no readiness to set them the -example of making light of death when the fortunes of war afforded -them an occasion of putting their heroic maxims in practice; for when -the Theban army[1133] burst forth from the depths of the Menelaion, -and swept down the valley of the Eurotas like a torrent, wasting -everything before them with fire and sword, the women of Sparta, who -had never before seen the smoke of an enemy’s camp, lost in a moment -their presence of mind, and, instead of encouraging their sons and -husbands calmly to rely upon their valour, ran to and fro through the -streets, filling the air with their effeminate wailings, and -distracting and impeding the movements of their natural protectors. -Very different from this was the conduct of the female citizens of -Argos. For when Cleomenes and Demaratos, after having defeated the -Argive army, approached the city in the expectation of being able to -take it by storm, the poetess Telesilla armed her countrywomen, who, -hastening to the defence of the walls, repulsed the Lacedæmonian -kings, and preserved the state. In commemoration of this event a -festival was annually celebrated, in which the ladies appeared in male -attire while the men concealed their heads beneath the female -veil.[1134] - -Footnote 1133: - - Aristot. Polit. ii. 9. Xenoph. Hellen. vi. v. 27. It should be - remarked, however, that on a future occasion, when Sparta was - besieged by King Pyrrhus, the female disciples of Lycurgus behaved - with more fortitude and energy; for when it was debated in the - senate whether they should not convey their wives and children to - Crete, and then, deriving courage from despair, determine to conquer - or perish on the spot, Archidamia, daughter of the king, entered - their assembly sword in hand, opposed their resolution, saying, it - behoved the women of Sparta to live and die with their husbands. The - female population was, in consequence, suffered to remain; and by - digging with the men in the trenches, sharpening the arms, and - attending on the wounded, so strongly excited the courage of the - Spartans, that they at length succeeded in repulsing the Macedonians - from their city. Cf. Plut. Pyrrh. § 27.—Polyæn. Stratagem. vii. 49. - -Footnote 1134: - - Plut. de Mulier. Virtut. t. ii. p. 195. Polyæn. Stratagem. viii. 33. - -Again, when the Thebans broke into Platæa during the night, the women, -instead of delivering themselves up pusillanimously to fear, joined -the men in defence of the city, casting stones and tiles from the -housetops upon the enemy. Yet when defeated and flying for their -lives, it was one of these same women who, with the characteristic -humanity of her sex, supplied them with a hatchet to cut their way -through the gates.[1135] - -Footnote 1135: - - Thucyd. ii. 4. - -But the most remarkable instance of self-devotion furnished by women -in the whole history of Greece was, perhaps, that which is related of -the Phocian ladies,[1136] who, when their countrymen, under the -command of Diophantos, were about to engage with the Thessalians in a -battle which it was felt must finally determine the destiny of Phocis, -strenuously, with the concurrence of their children, exhorted him to -persevere in the design he had formed, of causing them to be consumed -by fire should the battle be lost. Examples of this terrible expedient -for preserving the honour of women occur but too frequently in the -history of India, where it is termed performing _johur_; and the -Romans, in their Spanish wars, witnessed a similar act of -self-sacrifice at Numantia. - -Footnote 1136: - - Plut. de Mulier. Virtut. t. ii. p. 192. - -It should, nevertheless, by no means be concealed that the annals of -Sparta also contain some brilliant examples of female heroism, of -which the most striking, perhaps, is that furnished by the wife of -Panteus and her companions after the death of Cleomenes at Alexandria. -“When the report of his death,” says Plutarch,[1137] “had spread over -the city, Cratesiclea, though a woman of superior fortitude, sank -under the weight of the calamity; she embraced the children of -Cleomenes, and wept over them. The elder of them, disengaging himself -from her arms, got unsuspected to the top of the house, and threw -himself down headlong. He was not killed, however, though much hurt; -and when they took him up he loudly expressed his grief and -indignation that they would not suffer him to destroy himself. Ptolemy -was no sooner informed of these things than he ordered the body of -Cleomenes to be flayed, and nailed to a cross, and his children to be -put to death, together with his mother and the women her companions. -Among these was the wife of Panteus, a woman of great beauty and most -majestic presence. They had been but lately married, and their -misfortune overtook them amid the first transports of love. When her -husband went with Cleomenes from Sparta, she was desirous of -accompanying him, but was prevented by her parents, who kept her in -close custody. Soon afterwards, however, she provided herself with a -horse and a little money, and making her escape by night, rode at full -speed to Tænaros, and there embarked on board a ship bound for Egypt. -She reached her husband safely, and readily and cheerfully shared with -him in all the inconveniences of a foreign residence. When the -soldiers came to take Cratesiclea to the scaffold, she led her by the -hand, assisted in bearing her robe,[1138] and desired her to exert all -her courage, though she was far from being afraid of death, and -desired no other favour than that she might die before her children. -But when they arrived at the place of execution the children suffered -before her eyes; and then Cratesiclea was despatched, uttering in her -extreme distress only these words: ‘Oh! my children! whither are you -gone?’ - -“The wife of Panteus, who was tall and strong, girt her robe about her -and in a silent and composed manner paid the last offices to each -woman that lay dead, winding up the bodies as well as her present -circumstances would admit. Last of all she prepared herself for the -poniard by letting down her robe about her and adjusting it in such a -manner as to need no assistance after death, then, calling the -executioner to do his office, and permitting no other person to -approach her, she fell like a heroine. In death she retained all the -decorum which she had preserved in life, and the decency which had -been so sacred with this excellent woman still remained about her. -Thus in this bloody tragedy in which the women contended to the last -for the prize of courage with the men, Lacedæmon evinced that it is -impossible for fortune to conquer virtue.” - -Footnote 1137: - - Cleomen. § 38. I have here made use of the translation of Langhorne, - because it would be no easy matter to furnish a better. - -Footnote 1138: - - Πέπλος. - -Another brief narrative given by the same historian exhibits in the -most touching manner, the tenderness and self-devotion of a Spartan -woman. Cleombrotos, in conjunction with other conspirators, had -dethroned king Leonidas his father-in-law and possessed himself of the -crown. Events afterwards restored the old man to his kingdom, upon -which burning with resentment he hurried to take vengeance on his -son-in-law. "Chelonis, the daughter of Leonidas, had looked upon the -injury done to her father as done to herself, and when Cleombrotos -robbed him of the crown she left him in order to console her father in -his misfortune. As long as he remained in sanctuary she stayed with -him, and when he fled, sympathising with his sorrow, and full of -resentment against Cleombrotos, she attended him in his flight. But -when the fortunes of her father changed she changed too. She joined -her husband as a suppliant, and was found sitting by him with great -marks of tenderness, and her two children one on each side at her -feet. The whole company were much struck at the sight, and could not -refrain from tears when they considered her goodness of heart and -uncommon strength of affection. - -"Chelonis, then, pointing to her mourning habit and her dishevelled -hair thus addressed Leonidas. ‘It was not my dear father compassion -for Cleombrotos which put me in this habit and gave me this look of -misery. My sorrows took their date with your misfortune and your -banishment, and have ever since remained my familiar companions. Now -you have conquered your enemies and are again king of Sparta should I -still retain these ensigns of affliction or assume festival and royal -ornaments, while the husband of my youth whom you yourself bestowed -upon me falls a victim to your vengeance? If his own submission, if -the tears of his wife and children cannot propitiate you he must -suffer a severer punishment for his offences than even you require, he -must see his beloved wife die before him. For how can I live and -support the sight of my own sex, after both my husband and my father -have refused to hearken to my supplications, when it appears that both -as a wife and a daughter I am born to be miserable with my family. If -this poor man had any plausible reasons for what he did I invalidated -them all by forsaking him to follow you. But you furnish him with a -sufficient apology for his misbehaviour by showing that a crown is so -bright and desirable an object that a son-in-law must be slain and a -daughter totally disregarded when it is in question.’ - -“Chelonis, after this supplication, rested her cheek upon her -husband’s head, and with an eye dim and languid through sorrow looked -round on the spectators; Leonidas consulted his friends upon the -point, and then commanded Cleombrotos to rise and go into exile, but -he desired Chelonis to stay and not to forsake so affectionate a -father who had kindly granted her husband’s life. Chelonis, however, -would not be persuaded. When her husband had risen from the ground she -put one child into his arms and took the other herself, and after -having paid due homage at the altar where they had taken sanctuary -went with him into banishment. So that had not Cleombrotos been -corrupted by the love of false glory he must have thought exile with -such a woman a greater happiness than a kingdom without her.”[1139] - -Footnote 1139: - - Plut. Agis §§ 17. 18. Moore in his Lalla Rookh has expressed the - same idea. - - Fly to the desert, fly with me, - Our Arab tents are rude for thee; - But ah! the choice what heart can doubt, - Of tents with love or thrones without? - - - - - CHAPTER III. - CONDITION OF UNMARRIED WOMEN.—LOVE. - - -The condition of an Athenian lady it is far more important and, in -proportion, more difficult to describe. Extremely erroneous -impressions appear to exist on the subject, several writers of -eminence having adopted the theory that they lived in total seclusion, -and were little less ignorant and degraded than Oriental women are -commonly supposed to be. My own opinion is somewhat different. After -very patiently investigating the matter, the conclusions at which I -have arrived are as follow:— - -In delineating a picture of this kind, positive testimonies are -unquestionably required; but I appeal to the impartial reader, whether -very great, I had almost said the greatest weight, should not, after -all, be attributed to that conviction which grows up, gradually and -silently, in the mind, during a long and habitual intercourse with the -subject. In this way, new authorities are formed, for to have examined -minutely and attentively what others have written, to have weighed -authorities and scrupulously sifted their several pretensions, may be -allowed to entitle a man, if anything can, to express an opinion of -his own. - -The notion appears to prevail extensively, even among writers not -otherwise ill-informed, that women occupied, among the Ionians -generally, and more especially among the Athenians, a very mean -position, were neglected and despised, and, consequently, exerted -little or no influence on manners, morals, literature, or public -affairs. With what design this error has been propagated it is not -difficult to comprehend. But to pervert history for party purposes is, -after all, an useless undertaking, since the facts always remain, and -it is never too late to rescue truth from the fangs of sophistry. - -That the women of Athens were in the condition for which nature -designed them, I will not affirm; a little more converse with the -world might have improved their understandings, they might have been -rendered more pleasing companions; but what they gained as social, -they would probably have lost as domestic beings. No woman was ever -rendered better as a wife or as a mother by that indiscriminate -enjoyment of society, which, it is supposed, the gentlewomen of Athens -lost so much by being deprived of. - -To form, however, a correct conception of their station, and the -happiness within their reach, we must take into consideration several -circumstances peculiar to ancient society. In those times something -very different was understood by the word education from the meaning -now attached to it. It signified rather the disciplining of the mind -to certain habits than the imparting of different kinds of knowledge. -It was the culture of the intellectual powers, and the sowing of the -seed, rather than the transplanting of notions, half-grown, from one -mind to another. More care was bestowed on the building up, than on -the furnishing, of the mind. There was by far less acquisition, less -accomplishment than in modern times; but the faculties were more -surely impregnated, quickened sooner, and ripened into more vigorous -maturity. Hence, among the ancients, there were few dreamers, either -men or women. Exquisitely alive to all the peculiarities of their -situation, they were, in the best sense of the word, a poetical -people, gifted, indeed, with imagination, but possessing, too, the -power to rein it in, to shape its course, and, on most occasions, to -render it subservient to the dictates of judgment. - -Of the management of infancy I have already spoken. At the age of -seven the sexes were separated, the girls still remaining in the -nursery, while governors, kept expressly for the purpose, conducted -the boys to the public schools.[1140] Too little is known of the -material circumstances attending the mental and bodily training of the -girls, or at what age they were taught to read and write. Much, -however, in those ages was communicated orally. Their mothers imparted -to them whatever notions they possessed of religion, performed in -their presence several sacrifices and other pious rites, and gradually -prepared them for officiating in their turn at their country’s -altars.[1141] In a certain sense, therefore, every Athenian woman was -a priestess, and though their piety was imperfect and their faith -corrupt, it will still be admitted that important benefits must have -been derived from imbuing the youthful mind with some principles of -religion. - -Footnote 1140: - - From a passage in Terence (Phorm. i. 2. 30. sqq.) Perizonius - concludes that even girls were sent to school. But he applies to - Athenian maidens of free birth what in the Roman poet is related of - a servile music girl: Ea serviebat lenoni impurissimo.—(Not. ad - Ælian. Hist. Var. iii. 21.) It appears, however, from this passage, - as Kuhn has already observed, that there existed public schools for - girls at Athens, whatever might be the condition of the persons who - frequented them. In Lambert Bos’s Antiquitates, (Pars. iv. c. 5. p. - 216,) the error of Perizonius is repeated; that is, in the note; - for, according to the text, the Attic virgins were closely confined - to the house. - -Footnote 1141: - - Πολλὰς ἑορτὰς αἱ γυναῖκες ἔξω τῶν δημοτελῶν ἦγον ἰδία - συνερχόμεναι.—Sch. Aristoph. Lysist. i. In Homer we find the Trojan - women performing sacrifice to Athena—Il. ζ. 277. 310, just as the - Athenian matrons did on the Acropolis.—Aristoph. Lysistr. 179. - -The performance of these pious duties commenced very early. -Immediately on attaining the age of five years, they might be called -on to officiate, clothed in saffron robes,[1142] in the rites of -Artemis Brauronia, when a she-goat was sacrificed to the goddess, -while professed rhapsodists chaunted select passages from the Iliad. -Here they were initiated in the mysteries of their national -piety,[1143] accompanied by all the charms of music, and of a style -of declaiming no less impressive than that of the theatre. At this -festival, celebrated every five years, all the ceremonies were -performed by virgins, none of whom could be above ten years -old;[1144] we must, therefore, infer that they underwent much -previous training, and were instructed carefully respecting the -object of the rites. Another religious festival at which youthful -virgins only officiated, was the Arrhephoria, celebrated in honour -of Athena or Herse. The ceremonies performed on this occasion appear -to have required something more of preparation, since it was -necessary that the youthful sacrificers should, at least, be seven -years old and not exceed eleven. Four, selected for their noble -birth and training, presided, and other two were chosen to weave the -sacred peplos, while engaged in which they resided in the -Sphæresterion, on the rock of the Acropolis, habited in white -garments with ornaments of gold.[1145] The bread which they eat -during their seclusion was called Anastatos.[1146] - -Footnote 1142: - - Suid. v. ἄρκτος. t. i. p. 425. c.—Sch. Aristoph. Lysistr. - 645.—Meurs. Græc. Fer. lib. ii. p. 67.—During the dances performed - in honour of this goddess, the women commonly played on brazen - castanets.—Athen. xiv. 39. - -Footnote 1143: - - As Plato in his Republic appropriates to each sex a separate class - of songs, it may be inferred that both in Athens and elsewhere in - Greece, men and women habitually sung the same lays.—De. Legg. vii. - t. viii. p. 30. - -Footnote 1144: - - Pollux. viii. 107.—Cf. Herod. vi. 138. Women practised various - dances, to perform which with skill constituted a branch of their - accomplishments. One of these dances was called the Apokinos, or - Mactrismos, of which Cratinos made mention in his Nemesis, - Cephisodoros in his Amazons, and Aristophanes in his Centaurs. These - dances, however, appear to have been a particular class, and - obtained the name of Marctypiæ. Athen. xiv. 26. - -Footnote 1145: - - Etym. Mag. 149, 13. sqq.—Suid. v. Ἁῤῥηνηφ. t. i. p. 222. c. - Ἀῤῥηφορια—ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἀῤῥητα ἐν κίσταις ἔφερον τῇ θεῷ ὡι παρθένοι. - idem. t. i. p. 423. c. et v. χαλκεῖα t. ii. p. 110 d. Harpocrat. v. - ἀῤῥηφόρειν. p. 48 Maussac.—Aristoph. Lysistr. 643. et. schol.—Lys. - Mun. Accept. Apollog. §. 1.—Plut. Vit. Dec. Orat. iv. t. v. p. - 145.—Cf. Sch. Aristoph. Acharn. 241. In several religious - processions the women except the canephori, followed not the - pageant, but looked upon it from the housetop. - -Footnote 1146: - - Athen. iii. 80. - -I own it is not a little remarkable, that in proving the women of -Athens to have received what in our times are regarded as the humblest -elements of education, we should be compelled to rely on indirect -evidence, or on mere inferences, or, indeed, that the point should -require proof at all.[1147] This fact itself is decisive of their -comparative seclusion. Had they mingled much in society, more -occasions would have occurred of dwelling on their acquirements, and -in dramatic compositions of representing them delivering opinions, and -exhibiting tastes and preferences, obviously incompatible with an -uncultivated intellect. But, though the difficulty of the investigator -be augmented by the paucity and indistinct manner of the witnesses, we -are still not left entirely without ground for coming to a decision, -and if writers have, hitherto, so far as I know, overlooked some of -the principal testimonies, that must be regarded only as an additional -cause for bringing them forward now.[1148] - -Footnote 1147: - - Muretus has brought forward several passages to prove that learned - women bore but an indifferent character in antiquity.—Var. Lect. - viii. 21. The Hetairæ of course were taught to read. Of this we have - abundant proof: τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν τοίχων γεγγραμμένα ἐν τῷ κεραμεικῷ - ἀναγνοθὶ, ὅπου κατεστηλίτευται ὑμῶν τὰ ὀνομάτα—says the jealous - lover to Melitta in Lucian.—Diall. Hetair. iv. 2. Nay even the - servant maid of this Hetaira Acis is able to read; for desirous to - ascertain whether there was any thing in the report of her lover, - Melitta sends forth the girl to examine the walls, who discovers and - reads the words “Melitta loves Hermotimos,” &c. which written there - in jest by some wag had proved the cause of her lover’s jealousy and - the quarrel that ensued. - -Footnote 1148: - - Cf. Telet. ap. Stob. Florileg. Tit. 108. 83. Gaisf. - -A report current in antiquity, and preserved by Marcellinus in his -Life of Thucydides,[1149] represents the daughter of that great -historian as the continuator of her father’s work, and as, in fact, -the author of the whole eighth book. The biographer does not, indeed, -receive the legend, but in rejecting it his assigned reasons are not -that in the days of Thucydides Athenian ladies were not taught to -read, and were, therefore, incapable of any species of literary -exertion, but that the portion in question of the history bears -evident marks of the same lofty and masculine mind to which we owe the -rest, and no-wise resembles the productions of a woman. Had -Marcellinus known the art of writing to have formed no part of an -Athenian lady’s education, that could have been the proper reason to -assign for his doubt. He might, under such circumstances, have -ridiculed the folly of such a supposition. But no such objection -occurred to him. He knew well that they could and did write, and had, -therefore, recourse to the proper argument for establishing his point. - -Footnote 1149: - - P. xxi. For Plato’s views on the education of women, see De Legg. t. - viii. p. 36.—Cf. Xen. Conviv. ii. 9, 10. - -Again, in that fragment of the oration of Lysias which he wrote for -the children of Diodotos, an Athenian woman of rank is introduced -defending, under very distressful circumstances, the rights of her -children against her own father. Diodotos, it seems, had married his -niece, and by her had several children. He was at length required by -the commonwealth to proceed on a military expedition, during which he -fell under the walls of Ephesos. Diogeiton, father of his wife, having -been appointed guardian of the children, endeavours to defraud them of -their property, and their mother, calling in the aid of impartial -arbiters, pleads before them her children’s cause, and the orator, -addressing one of the tribunals of Athens, does not hesitate to put in -her mouth language worthy of a rhetorician. This, however, I am aware, -cannot be regarded as a proof. But, in the course of her speech she -discloses a circumstance which must be so considered. During the -period of her stay in her fathers house, the old man removed from one -street to another, and in the confusion a small memorandum book, -dropped from among his papers, was picked up by one of the children -and brought to their mother.[1150] It happened to contain the account -of the money her husband had left on departing for the army; this she -reads,[1151] and thus discovers the state in which the affairs of the -family had been left on the departure of her husband. - -Footnote 1150: - - Lys. Cont. Diog. § 5. By τοὺς παῖδας: Reiske, however, understands - the servants of Diogeiton, though these would have been more likely - to carry the book to their master. - -Footnote 1151: - - See also in Demosthenes the account of a wife and husband examining - a will.—Adv. Spud. § 8. - -Another proof that writing formed one of the accomplishments of women -occurs in Xenophon. Ischomachos is laying open the road to domestic -happiness and wealth. He enters, as elsewhere will be shown, into a -variety of interesting details, and among other things, discusses the -character and duties of a housekeeper; for in Greece the principal -care of the household was always committed to women. Thus, going back -to the Heroic ages, we find Euryclea the housekeeper of -Odysseus,[1152] and Hector’s palace in Troy is also placed under the -care of a woman.[1153] In the Cretan states, moreover, even the public -tables had female inspectors,[1154] and at Athens, where domestic -economy was so much better understood than in the rest of Greece, -women necessarily obtained the government of the household,[1155] -which men would have certainly managed more imperfectly. But in -well-regulated families, the supreme control of everything rested with -the wife, whom Xenophon[1156] represents engaging with her husband in -taking a list of all the moveables in the house, and this afterwards -remains in her hands as a check upon the housekeeper, which, had she -not known how to read, it would not have been. Besides, she is spoken -of as aiding in writing the catalogue, and displays throughout the -dialogue so much ability and knowledge that it would not surprise us -to find her discoursing with Socrates on household affairs. There is, -moreover, a remark of Plato[1157] subversive at the same time of -another error on this same subject, which exhibits women exercising -their judgment in literary matters. Children, he says, may find comedy -more agreeable, but educated women, youths, and the majority indeed of -mankind, will prefer tragedy. Here we find the opinion corroborated -that both the comic and tragic theatres were open to them, otherwise -it could not have been known which they would prefer. But of this more -elsewhere. - -Footnote 1152: - - Odyss. α. 428. β. 345, 361. - -Footnote 1153: - - Iliad. ζ. 381. 390. - -Footnote 1154: - - Athen. iv. 22. - -Footnote 1155: - - In the household of Pericles, however, we find mention made of a - steward, and learn that the regulation of affairs was taken out of - the hands of the women.—Plut. Pericl. § 16. - -Footnote 1156: - - Œconom. ix. 10. p. 57, Schneid. Similar business habits prevailed - among our neighbours, the Dutch, while they enjoyed the advantages - of republican institutions. Among the causes of their prosperity Sir - Josiah Child enumerates, “the education of their children, as well - daughters as sons, all which, be they of never so great quality or - estate, they always take care to bring up to write perfect good - hands, and to have the full knowledge and use of arithmetic and - merchants’ accounts, the well understanding and practice whereof, - doth strangely infuse into most that are the owners of that quality, - of either sex, not only an ability for commerce of all kinds, but a - strong aptitude, love and delight in it; and in regard the women are - as knowing therein as the men, it doth encourage their husbands to - hold on in their trades to their dying days. Knowing the capacity of - their wives to get in their estates and carry on their trades after - their deaths; whereas if a merchant in England arrive at any - considerable estate, he commonly withdraws his estate from trade, - before he comes near the confines of old age, reckoning that if God - should call him out of the world while the main of his estate is - engaged abroad in trade, he must lose one third of it, through the - inexperience and inaptness of his wife to such affairs, and so it - usually falls out.”—Discourse of Trade, p. 4. - -Footnote 1157: - - De Legg. l. ii. t. vii. p. 243. Bekk.—Ἐὰν δέ γ᾿ οἱ μείζους παῖδες, - τὸν τὰς κωμῳδίας· τραγωδίαν δὲ αἵ τε πεπαιδευμέναι τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ - τὰ νέα μειράκια καὶ σχεδὸν ἴσως τὸ πλῆθος πάντων. - -In all countries, a great part of a woman’s education takes place -after marriage. But at Athens, where they entered so early[1158] into -the connubial state, marriage itself must be reckoned among the -principal causes of their mental developement. They came into the -hands of their husbands unformed, but pliable and docile. The little -they had been taught seemed rather designed to fit them to receive his -instructions than to dispense with them.[1159] Their seclusion from -the world preserved their character unfixed and impressionable. They -passed from the nursery, as it were, to the bridal chamber, timid, -unworldly, unsophisticated, and the husband, if he desired it, might -fashion their mind and opinions as he pleased. In the women of Athens -we, accordingly, observe the most remarkable contrast to the Spartans. -Their influence, in effect greater, perhaps, acted invisibly, warming -and impelling the ruder masculine clay, but without humbling their -lords or exposing them to the ridicule of living under petticoat -government. Yet in Themistocles we have an example of the sway they -exercised. Fondling one day his infant son he observed, sportively, -but with that ambitious consciousness of power ever present to the -mind of a Greek—"This little fellow is the most influential person I -know." His friends inquired his meaning—"Why, replied Themistocles, he -completely governs his mother, while she governs me, and I the whole -of Greece."[1160] - -Footnote 1158: - - The Roman ladies entered still earlier into the married state; at - the age of twelve, says Plutarch, or under. Parall. Num. et Lycurg. - § 4. - -Footnote 1159: - - Xenoph. Œconom. vii. 5. 6. sqq. - -Footnote 1160: - - Plut. Themist. § 18. - -The steps by which an Athenian girl might arrive at so envied a -position are not unworthy our attention. From the age of fifteen she -might look to become the mistress of a family; and it is probable that -the maxim of Cleobulos,[1161] that women should approach their -nuptials young in years but old in understanding, often governed their -conduct. Love no doubt was not the only matchmaker at Athens.[1162] In -general the heart, as in modern times, followed in the train of -prudential calculation. But this arose, not so much from any -impracticability[1163] of obtaining interviews, as from the habitual -preference for gold, which, in all ages, has been found to actuate the -conduct of the majority. To this day, in every country in Europe, -marriage in the upper classes is too frequently a matter of mere -bargain and sale, in which the feelings remain altogether unconsulted. -And it was the same at Athens, though to suppose with Müller that -interest was always the sole motive would be palpably to embrace an -error, alike uncountenanced by history and philosophy. - -Footnote 1161: - - Diog. Laert. i. 6. 4. - -Footnote 1162: - - In Greece, as everywhere else, portionless girls had few admirers. - Diog. Laert. v. 4. 1. - -Footnote 1163: - - Examples occur in the comic poets, of men choosing for themselves. - Thus in Terence a young man declines the lady offered him by his - father, and proposes to marry the mistress of his choice, to which - both parents agree. Heautontimor. v. 5. sub. fin. - -When it is said that virgins in all Ionic states led an extremely -secluded life, we are not thence to conclude that no opportunity of -beholding, or even conversing with them, was enjoyed by men.[1164] It -has already been seen that from the age of five years various -ceremonies of their ancestral religion[1165] led females into the -street, that they walked leisurely, arrayed with every resource of art -and magnificence, in frequent processions to the temples, and it is -known that numerous private occasions, such as funerals, marriages, -&c., exposed them to the indiscriminate gaze of the public. Thus, we -have in Terence a youth who from beholding a young lady with face -uncovered and dishevelled hair lamenting at her mother’s funeral, -falls desperately in love;[1166] and the wife in Lysias, whose frailty -led to the murder of Eratosthenes,[1167] was first seen and admired -under similar circumstances. Excuses, in fact, were never wanting to -be in public, and occasions unknown to us were clearly afforded men -for becoming acquainted with the temper and character of their future -spouses, since we find Socrates conversing with men well acquainted -with their country’s manners, jocularly feigning to have chosen -Xantippe for her fierce, untameable spirit.[1168] - -Footnote 1164: - - Athen. xiii. 29. - -Footnote 1165: - - The religious rites in which the women of Athens officiated were - numerous and important: 1. The orgiastic ceremonies in honour of Pan - were performed with shouts and clamour, it not being permitted to - approach that divinity in silence.—Sch. Aristoph. Lysistr. 2. They - celebrated sacred rites in honour of Aphrodite Colias, id. ibid. 3. - Another divinity, in whose honour they congregated together, was - Ginesyllis a goddess in the train of Aphrodite, who obtained the - name ἀπὸ τῆς γενέσεως τῶν παίδων. id. ibid. Cf. Luc. Amor. § 42. 4. - The part they took in the orgies of Dionysos is well known. 5. They, - too, were the principal actors in the festival of Adonis. Plut. - Alcib. § 18. and to mention no more they may strictly be said to - have constituted the principal attraction of the Panathenaic - procession. - -Footnote 1166: - - Phorm. 2. 2. 40. sqq. - -Footnote 1167: - - Lys. De Cæd. Eratosth. § 2. - -Footnote 1168: - - Diog. Laert. ii. 5. 18. - -It has been supposed by many distinguished scholars, that, at -Athens,[1169] the theatre—that great bazaar of female beauty in modern -states—was closed against the women, at least the comic theatre. One -principal ground of this opinion is the coarse and licentious -character of the old comedy which, with its broad humour, political -satire, and reckless disregard of decency, appears fitted for men -only, and those not the most refined. But there are strange -contradictions in human nature. The very religion of Greece teemed -with indecency. Phallic statues crowded the temples and the public -streets. Phallic emblems entered into many of the sacred ceremonies at -which women, even in their maiden condition, assisted, and the poems -chaunted at sacrifices, where they associated in every rite, were, in -many parts, broader than an Utopian legislator would consider -permissible. Besides, to prove the nullity of this objection, we need -only note the history of our own stage. English women refused not, -when they were in fashion, to behold, under the protection of a -mask,[1170] the comedies of Massinger, Wycherly, Beaumont and -Fletcher. They still read, and, on the stage, admire, Shakespeare, and -from these the interval is not wide to Aristophanes, the lewdest and -most shameless of ancient comic writers.[1171] And, further, it should -never be forgotten, that their perverted religion flung its protecting -wing over the stage. Plays exhibited during the festivals of Bacchos -were, like our old mysteries and moralities, strictly sacred shows, -and, consistently, women could no more have been excluded from them -than from the other exhibitions connected with public worship. - -Footnote 1169: - - To prove the presence of the women at the theatre among the other - Greeks, ample testimonies might be collected. Thus, when in Æolis, a - certain Alexander exhibited dramatic performances, the people - flocked thither from all the neighbouring towns and villages, upon - which he surrounded the theatre with soldiers, made prisoners both - men, women, and children, and only released them on payment of a - large ransom.—Polyæn. Stratagem. vi. 10. - -Footnote 1170: - - To this Pope alludes: - - “And not a mask went unimproved away.” - - See also Swift, Tale of a Tub, § ix. - -Footnote 1171: - - On the coarseness of the German theatre, in the eighteenth century, - frequented by the empress and the first ladies of the court, see - Lady Montague’s Letters, ix. - -As on many other points, however, the positive and direct testimonies -to be adduced in proof of the position I maintain are scanty, and of -modern authorities nearly all are against me. Still, truth is not -immediately to be deserted because there happens to be much difficulty -in defending it. It will be time enough to run when we have exhausted -all our resources. An unknown writer, but still a Greek,[1172] relates -that, during the acting of the Eumenides, that awe-inspiring and -terrible drama of Æschylus, the sight of the furies rushing -tumultuously, like dogs of hell, upon the stage, with their frightful -masks and blood-dripping hands, shed so deep a terror over the -theatre, that children were thrown into fits, and pregnant women -seized with premature birth-pangs. This, if admitted, would be -evidence decisive as regards the tragic stage. But, because it is -impossible to elude its force, modern critics boldly assume the -privilege to treat the whole passage contemptuously, opposing scorn -when they have no counterproof to oppose. Such a mode of arguing, -however, by whomsoever pursued, must clearly bear upon the face of it -the mark of sophistry, for in that way there is no position which -might not be overthrown or established. - -Footnote 1172: - - Τινες δὲ φάσιν, ἐν τῇ ἐπιδείξει τῶν Εὐμενίδων σποράδην εἰσαγαγόντα - τὸν χορὸν, τοσοῦτον ἐκπλῆξαι τὸν δῆμον, ὥστε τὰ μὲν νήπια ἐκψύξαι, - τὰ δὲ ἔμβρυα ἐξαμβλωθῆναι.—Vit. Æschyl. p. 6. - -But our anonymous authority has not been left to encounter the attacks -of the critics and historians alone. Other ancient authors, though -their corroborative testimonies have, hitherto, been generally -overlooked, furnish incidental hints and revelations which, duly -weighed, will, I make no doubt, be admitted to amount to positive -proof. Describing the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, Strabo observes, -that so vast were its dimensions, that during the celebration of the -mysteries, it would contain the whole multitude usually assembled at -the theatre.[1173] Now, in the mysteries, we know that the Athenians -of both sexes, and of all ages above childhood, were present, so that, -if men only had been admitted to the theatre, it need not have been -half the size of the Eleusinian temple, and, consequently, would have -furnished the geographer with no proper subject of comparison. Again, -in the passage quoted above, from Plato, the presence of women at both -the tragic and comic theatres is indubitably presumed, since, to judge -of both these kinds of exhibitions, it was necessary either to see -them, or to read the plays. If they read the plays there could be no -reason for restraining them from the theatre, since, whatever they -contained of objectionable matter would thus be equally placed within -their reach. It is to be presumed, therefore, even from this passage, -that the theatre was free to women. - -Footnote 1173: - - Ὄχλον θέατρου δέξασθαι δυνάμενον.—Strab. ix. i. p. 238.—We have in - Pollux, ii. 56. and iv. 121., θεάτρια “a spectatress,” and - συνθεάτρια “a fellow spectatress,” a word used by Aristophanes, and, - doubtless, applied to women forming part of a theatrical audience. - -But the philosopher is elsewhere more explicit. Treating in his -Dialogue on Laws expressly of tragic poetry, and speaking always in -reference to his imaginary state, he respectfully and with many -flattering compliments proscribes this branch of the mimetic arts, -not, however, without assigning his reasons. Assuming for the moment -the part of leader of the legislative chorus, he informs the -tragedians, that “we, also, in our way, are poets, and aim at -producing a perfect representation of human life. You must regard us, -therefore, as your rivals, and believe that we labour at the -composition of a drama, which it is within the competence of perfect -law only to achieve. You must not, accordingly imagine, that, as -jealous rivals, we shall readily admit you into our city to pitch your -tents in our agora, and, through the voice of loud-mouthed, actors to -imbue our wives and children and countrymen with manners the very -opposite to ours.”[1174] Now, what point, or, indeed, what sense would -there be in this, if in the commonwealths actually existing dramatic -poets had always been prohibited from addressing themselves to the -women? Would it not have been just such another novelty as an -ingenious philosopher of our days would hit upon, were he in a state -of his own invention, to propose, as a great improvement on existing -customs, that women should go to church? - -Footnote 1174: - - Plat. de Legg. vii. t. viii. p. 59. Bekk. Compare with this the song - of the φαλλοφόρος..—Athen. xiv. 16. - - Σοὶ, Βάκχε, τάνδε μοῦσαν αγλαΐζομεν, - Ἁπλοῦν ῥυθμὸν χεόντες αἰόλῳ μέλει, - Καὶ μὰν, ἀπαρθένευτον. κ. τ. λ. - - His songs and his acting were, no doubt, little suited to the taste - of a virgin; but if virgins had never frequented the theatre, and - the comic theatre, too, where would have been the necessity for any - such remark? - -This, therefore, were there no other proof, would, to me, appear -convincing; but a still stronger remains. It is well known that the -theatre was, among the ancients, parcelled out into several divisions, -some more, some less honourable; and of these one whole division, by -the decree of Sphyromachos, was appropriated to the female citizens, -who would appear previously to have sat indiscriminately among the men -and female strangers. To the latter the upper ranges of seats would -appear to have been appropriated.[1175] On this point, therefore, the -opinion received among the generality of writers is erroneous. Women -were not debarred the amusement or instruction of the theatre,[1176] -which, for good or for evil, influenced their education, and rendered -their minds subservient or otherwise to the designs of the legislator -and the welfare of the state. - -Footnote 1175: - - Aristoph. Eccles. 22. et Schol. - - Ἐνταῦθα περὶ τὴν ἐσχάτην δεῖ κερκίδα - Ὑμᾶς καθιζούσας βεωρεῖν ὡς ξένας. - Alexis, ap. Poll. ix. 44. - -Footnote 1176: - - An anecdote related by Plutarch, would of itself, in my opinion, - suffice to prove the presence of women at the theatre, as well as - that Athenian ladies habitually went abroad attended by a single - maid-servant. For on one occasion, when an actor who played the part - of a queen would have refused to appear upon the stage unless - furnished with a splendid costume and a large suite of attendants, - Melanthios, the manager, pushed him on the boards, saying, “Don’t - you see the wife of Phocion constantly going abroad attended by but - one maid? And wouldst thou affect superior pomp and corrupt our - wives?” It is evident that the pride of this actor could not have - exercised any evil influence on the women had they not been present - to witness his ostentation. We must necessarily infer, therefore, - that they were, and that they joined the theatre in the thunders of - applause with which it received the observation of Melanthios, who - had spoken so loud as to be heard by the whole audience.—Plut. Phoc. - § 19. The passage of Alexis had not escaped Casaubon, who, in his - notes on Theophrastus’ Characters, p. 165, has discussed the point - with his usual learning and ability. A passage in the - Thesmophoriazusæ of Aristophanes, seems however, but only seems, to - make against this opinion. There a woman says that when men returned - from seeing a play of Euripides, a “Woman-hater,” they used to - search the house in quest of lovers; but when Euripides’ plays were - acted they might be supposed to remain at home from pique. - -From all which it will be apparent that the sexes enjoyed at Athens -abundant occasions of meeting; and in the other Ionian states similar -customs and similar manners prevailed. For this we are reduced to rely -on no obscure scholiast or grammarian. Thucydides himself, describing -the second purification of Delos by the Athenians, and the institution -of the Delian games, observes, that from very remote times the people -of Ionia and the neighbouring islands had been accustomed to come with -their wives and children to the sacred festivals there celebrated in -honour of Apollo. On these occasions gymnastic exercises and musical -contests took place; and of the chorusses who chaunted the praises of -the god some were female. The whole of the ceremonies are described in -the Homeric hymns to the tutelar divinity, where the poet very -animatedly recapitulates the principal features of the games. - - To thee, O Phœbos! most the Delian isle - Gives cordial joy, excites the pleasing smile, - When gay Ionians flock around thy fane, - Men, women, children,—a resplendent train: - Where flowing garments sweep the sacred pile,— - Where youthful concourse gladdens all the isle,— - Where champions fight,—where dancers beat the ground,— - Where cheerful music echoes all around, - Thy feast to honour, and thy praise to sound.[1177] - -Footnote 1177: - - Thucyd. iii. 104. The version is Dr. Smith’s. Cf. Hom. Hymn. in - Apoll. 146. sqq. - -Footnote 1178: - - I have, as the reader will perceive, adopted the verse proposed by - Barnes:— - - Δηλιάδες δὲ τε κοῦραι Ἀπόλλωνος θεράπαιναι. - - Though Ernesti is perhaps right in supposing no addition necessary. - See his note on v. 165. Franke, in his recent edition of the Hymns, - has, with Ernesti, rejected the verse. - -The great historian who quotes this hymn, and unhesitatingly -attributes it to Homer, brings forward to prove the occurrence of -musical contests another passage, in which, as he observes, the poet -speaks of himself:— - - But now, Apollo, with thy sister fair, - Smile as the lingering bard prefers his prayer; - And ye, O Delian nymphs,[1178] who guard the fane - Of Phœbos, listen to my parting strain; - Should some lone stranger, when my lay no more - Floats on the breezes of the sacred shore, - Demand who best, with soul-entrancing song, - Earned blithe your praise, and bore your hearts along? - Then answer with a warm approving smile— - “The blind old man of Chios’ rocky isle.”[1179] - -Footnote 1179: - - Of these verses (Hymn. in Apol. v. 165. 172) I give my own - translation, the last line excepted, which Byron had somewhere done - ready to my hand. - -And down to the period of the Peloponnesian war similar games and -sacred rites were performed at Ephesos, at which the Ionians with -their wives and children were usually present. - -The Doric historian, to whom all these circumstances must be -familiarly known, makes, however, no account of them, but consistently -with his theory, if not with facts, remembers no well-authenticated -instance in the annals of Attica of a person’s marrying for love. What -he would admit to be well authenticated it were difficult to say. He -rejects, whenever his particular notions seem to require it, the -testimonies both of Herodotus and Thucydides, so that for a narrative -resting on the authority of Polyænus, Plutarch, and Valerius Maximus, -we can expect no quarter. Nevertheless, as these writers are at least -faithful in their delineations of manners, the following romantic -incident may be hazarded even on their authority. Thrasymedes, an -Athenian youth, entertaining a strong passion for the daughter of the -tyrant Peisistratos, had the hardihood one day as she walked in a -religious procession to kiss her openly in the street. Her brothers, -young men of a fiery temper, regarded the act as an affront almost -inexpiable, and were apparently preparing to take vengeance on the -offender, when the old prince allayed their anger by observing,—"If we -punish men for loving us, how shall we conduct ourselves towards our -enemies?" Escaping thus, Thrasymedes still cherished his love. He -therefore determined on carrying away the lady by force; and gaining -over a number of his associates, he seized the occasion of a sacrifice -on the sea-shore in which the maiden was officiating, and rushing, -attended by his followers with drawn swords, through the crowd, he -succeeded in conveying her to a boat, and set sail for Ægina. -Unfortunately, however, for his design, Hippias, eldest son of -Peisistratos, happened at this moment to be cruising in the bay on the -lookout for pirates, and perceiving a bark putting hastily out to sea, -he bore down upon it, took the young men prisoners, and conducted them -together with his sister back to Athens. Thrasymedes and his -companions being brought before the tyrant, abated not a jot of their -courage, but bade him, in determining their punishment, use his own -discretion, since from the moment they resolved on the enterprise they -had made light, they said, of life. Peisistratos, tyrant though he -was, regarded their loftiness of soul with admiration, freely bestowed -his daughter on Thrasymedes, and won them to his interest by -gentleness and friendship. In this, says Polyænus, acting the part of -a good father and a popular citizen rather than of a tyrant.[1180] - -Footnote 1180: - - Polyæn. Strat. v. 14. Meurs. Peisist. vi. p. 46. seq. Plutarch. in - Apophthegm. Peisist. § 3. who calls the young man Thrasybulos. - Valer. Max. v. 1. - -But supposing no instances remained on record, who can doubt that the -heart prompted, and the hand followed its promptings, at Athens as -elsewhere? Its walls, its columns, every plane-tree in the Academy, -the Cerameicos, and other public walks, glowed with the language of -the passions, and the names of virgins beloved for their beauty. There -was, no doubt, some want of delicacy in this; but the manners of the -Athenians, though they presented no insuperable bar to so much of -intercourse as might serve to enkindle affection,[1181] opposed, -nevertheless, that facility of communication which at Sparta existed, -and in our own country is common. However, had the beloved been -incapable of reading, to what purpose should her name, coupled with -endearing epithets, have illuminated the bark of the smilax, or the -marble skreens of the gymnasia? It was traced there in order that her -bright eyes might peruse it, and learn who of all the youth of Athens, -had singled her forth from the world to be the object of his love. -Lucian, in his sarcastic humour, represents a mad lover of the goddess -Aphrodite carving every tree and end of wall with her name.[1182] From -a fragment of Callimachos it would seem too as if men had sometimes -written the beloved syllables on the leaves of trees;[1183] which may -well have been, since in our own days we have seen the English people -inscribing in letters of gold the name of their youthful queen on -leaves of laurel. Euripides, who lost no opportunity of venting his -aversion for the sex, introduces one of his characters protesting that -his opinion of women would not be bettered though every pine in Mount -Ida were covered with their names.[1184] - -Footnote 1181: - - Schol. in Aristoph. Acharn. 144. Vesp. 98. Young men in love would - appear to have played at dice, with fortune, to discover whether - they should be successful or otherwise. Luc. Amor. § 16. Speaking of - Ameipsias’ Sphendone, or Jewelled Ring, Hemsterhuis observes:—“Nomen - habere potuerit hæc comedia ab annulo mutui amoris signo, atque - arrha, cujus in palâ fuerit insculpta, quod haud apud antiquos - insolens, amoris figura, quæque vario ut modo per aliorum manus - vagata.” ad Poll. ix. 96. t. vi. p. 1123. - -Footnote 1182: - - Amor. § 16. Τοῖχος ἄπας ἐχαράσσετο, καὶ πᾶς μαλακοῦ δένδρου φλοιὸς - Ἀφροδίτην καλὴν ἐκήρυσσεν. - -Footnote 1183: - - Callim. Frag. xxv. p. 241. Spanh.—Theoc. Epithal. Hell. 48. - -Footnote 1184: - - Ap. Eustath. Iliad, ζ. 490. Potter, Archæol. ii. 244. - -Another mode of declaring love, not quite unknown in modern times, was -to clothe the language of the heart in verse. Poets, we are told, -often disguised their own feelings by attributing them to the actors -in a feigned narrative, which they would compose as an offering to the -object of their attachment who, it is very obvious, to appreciate such -a gift, must have been able to read it.[1185] They had likewise -another fashion, particularly Greek, of making known their sentiments, -which was to suspend garlands of flowers, or perform sacrifice before -the door where the person possessing their heart resided.[1186] -Sometimes they repaired to the spot and poured forth libations of wine -as at the entrance of a temple, a practice alluded to by the Scholiast -on Aristophanes, who relates that a number of Thessalian gentlemen -being in love with Laïs,[1187] betrayed their passion by publicly -sprinkling her doors with wine. Among the symptoms which disclosed the -condition of the feelings, a garland loosely thrown upon the head was -one.[1188] Women suffered their secret to escape them by being -discovered wreathing garlands for their hair.[1189] - -Footnote 1185: - - Philostrat. Epist. xx. p. 921. Hermann. Com. in Arist. Poet. p. 87. - -Footnote 1186: - - Athen. xv. 9. - -Footnote 1187: - - Cf. Naïs according to Harpocrat. in v. p. 203. Sch. Aristoph. Plat. - 179. Cf. Athen. xiii. 51. - -Footnote 1188: - - Athen. xv. 9. - -Footnote 1189: - - Aristoph. Thesmoph. 400. - -But in whatever way the existence of passion was externally -manifested, a more interesting question is the modification which the -passion[1190] itself underwent in the Greek mind.[1191] Numerous -circumstances concur to mislead our judgment on this subject. In the -first place, the writers who sprang up like fungi amid the corruption -and profligacy which attended the decay of Hellenic society, standing -nearer to us, obstruct our view. Among them a coarse unhealthy craving -after excitement led to nefarious perversions of sentiment, and to -countenance their own excesses they threw back their vile polluting -shadows upon the loftier and brighter moral station of their -forefathers. Even so early as the age of Æschylus this culpable -practice began to prevail, for this great poet scrupled not to -attribute to Achilles vices, which, in the Homeric period, were -evidently unknown.[1192] - -Footnote 1190: - - Σὲ δέσποινα τῶν ὑπὲρ σοῦ λόγων, Ἀφροδίτη, σὲ βοηθὸν αἱ ἐμαὶ δεήσεις - καλοῦσιν. Luc. Amor. § 19. - -Footnote 1191: - - See the whole question treated with peculiar ability by Maximus - Tyrius viii. 105. sqq. Homer, in the opinion of this writer, - exhibits especial felicity in his description of love, from the - cool, timid dawn of passion to its fervid noon, pourtraying its - operations, the age at which it is experienced, its forms, its - feelings, chaste or unchaste. See too Lycophron Cassand. 104. with - the commentary of Meursius, p. 1184. 1186. sqq. - -Footnote 1192: - - The friendship of Achilles for Patroclos is celebrated by Maximus - Tyrius, viii. 106. Cf. Luc. Amor. 20. - -But rightly to comprehend the spirit of an age, we must by no means -confide in the interpretation of the succeeding, or even in any one -class of contemporary writers. Least of all, in the authors of comedy, -who seldom paint men as they are, but run into exaggeration and -caricature for the sake of effect. To the imaginative, spiritual, -impassioned must we have recourse, if we would learn what the -impassioned, spiritual and imaginative felt, and to such only in any -age or country, is love, in the poetical sense of the word, familiar -or indeed intelligible. - -In the apprehension of several modern writers, love among the Greeks, -was not merely based upon physical elements, as it must everywhere be, -but included little or nothing else.[1193] It had there, they suppose, -none of these romantic features, nothing of that heroic self-devotion -or lofty intercommunion of soul with soul, which among northern -nations, more particularly in fiction, characterises this powerful and -mysterious principle, which binds together in indissoluble union -individuals of different sexes, and renders throughout life the -contentment and happiness of the one, dependent on the well-being of -the other. - -Footnote 1193: - - Maximus Tyrius has, on the origin of love, a very beautiful passage. - “Its well-spring is the beauty of the soul gleaming upward through - the body. And as flowers seen under water appear still more - brilliant and exquisite than they are, so mental excellence seems to - manifest additional splendour when invested with corporeal - loveliness.” ix. 113. Euripides, whatever he may have written in his - old age, was once an enthusiastic panegyrist of love, of which he - has left a brilliant description. Athen. xiii. 11. In the gymnasia - the statue of Eros was placed beside those of Hermes and - Hercules—eloquence and strength. Love festivals Ἐρωτίδια were - celebrated by the Thespians. Athen. xiii. 12. Before entering battle - the Cretans and Spartans sacrificed to Eros, Id. xiii. 12. Alexis - imitates Plato in describing this passion. Eros had two bows, the - one of the graces producing happiness, the other engendering - violence and wrong. Id. xiii. 14. On the power of love see § 74. - Cleisophos of Selymbria fell in love at Samos with a statue of - Parian marble. § 84. - -But I can discover in the Greeks nothing which, on this point, can -distinguish them from other civilised races, except, perhaps, that -there was in their love, more of earnestness and reality and less of -dreaminess and fantastic affectation, than might be brought home to -several modern nations. Their fables, however, and their poetry teem -with ideas and examples of the loftiest and purest love, such love, -I mean, as is natural to mankind, as harmonises with the structure -of their minds, and the object and tendency of their passions, -growing like the oak out of earth, but springing upward and rearing -its majestic stature and beautiful foliage towards heaven. Thus -Odysseus in Homer prefers the sunshine of a wife’s affection to -immortality[1194] and the smiles of a sensual goddess. Hæmon with a -tenderness carried to excess, spurns the blandishment of empire, -nay, the very laws of duty and nature, that he may cling to the form -of Antigone[1195] and join her in the grave. And Alcestis, rising -above them all, quits in youth and health and beauty - - “The warm precincts of the cheerful day,” - -that she may preserve the existence of one beloved still more than -life.[1196] - -Footnote 1194: - - Καὶ τὴν Πηνελόπην ἄλλως Ὀδυσσεὺς ὁρᾷ, ἄλλως ὁ Εὐρύμαχος.—Max. Tyr. - ix. 115. - -Footnote 1195: - - Soph. Antig. 635. sqq.—Καὶ ἐν εὐτυχίαις συνευτύχει καὶ ἀποθανόντι - συναποθνήσκει, Max. Tyr. ix. 116. We discover the same idea in our - own marriage ceremony, where husband and wife are said to be joined - together, “for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness - and in health.” - -Footnote 1196: - - Even Lucian could discover that there was something holy in love. - Κοινὸν οὖν ἀμφοτέρῳ γένει πόθον ἐγκερασαμένη, συνέζευξεν ἄλληλοις - θεσμὸν ἀνάγκης ὅσιον. Amor. § 19. - -Nay, to prove the elevated conceptions of love that prevailed in -earlier Greece, we find a personification of this passion reckoned -among the most ancient gods of its mythology. Altars were erected, -festivals instituted, sacrifices offered up to it, as to a power, in -its origin and nature divine.[1197] It breathed the breath of life -into their poetry, it was supposed to elicit music and verse from the -coldest human clay, like the sun’s rays from the fabulous Memnon—it -allied itself in its energies with freedom—to love, in the imagination -of a Greek, was to cease to be a slave,[1198]—it emancipated and -rendered noble whomsoever it inspired,—it floated winged through the -air, and descended even in dreams[1199] upon the mind of men or women, -revealing to sight the forms of persons unknown, annihilating -distance, trampling over rank, confounding together gods and men by -its irresistible force.[1200] Much of the beauty of their fables is -concealed from us by the atmosphere of triteness and familiarity with -which our injudicious education invests them. Every puling sonneteer -babbles of Eros. And Aphrodite, a creature of the imagination brighter -and lovelier than her own star, has been rendered more common in -modern verse, than the most celebrated of her priestesses in ancient -Corinth. But the poets of Greece possessed the art of clothing their -gods in colours warm as life, varied as the rainbow; and as to Love, -never was his influence more delicately shadowed forth than by him who -introduces Endymion slumbering with unclosed lids on Mount Latmos, -that the divinity of sleep might enjoy the brightness of his -eyes![1201] - -Footnote 1197: - - See too in Stobæus, the addresses of a bereaved husband to - philosophy—ὦ φιλοσοφία, τυραννίκά σου τὰ επιτάγματα· λεγεις φίλει· - κᾄν ἀποβάλῃ τις, λέγεις, μὴ λύπου. 34. Cf. Senec. Epist. 99. - Scheffer, ad Ælian. 27. p. 471. - -Footnote 1198: - - Max. Tyr. x. 119. This author observes that the love depicted by the - tragedians was a piece of ill-regulated passion rarely leading to - happiness. Id. 123. 124. Cf. Luc. Amor. § 37. - -Footnote 1199: - - Ἐξ ὀνείρων ἐραστης. Max. Tyr. x. 126. - -Footnote 1200: - - See the invocation to Love in Lucian: σὺ γὰρ ἐξ ἀφανοῦς καὶ - κεχυμένης ἀμορφίας τὸ πᾶν ἐμόρφωσας. κ. τ. λ. Amor. § 32. - -Footnote 1201: - - This thought occurs in a fragment of Licymnios - - Ὕπνος δὲ χαίρων ὀμμάτων - αὐγαῖς, ἀναπεπταμένοις ὄσσοις, - ἐκοίμιζεν κούρον. - - Athen. xiii. 17. - - - - - - - - - =END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.= - - - - - - - - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, - Bangor House, Shoe Lane. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -The printer employed the cursive forms of beta (ϐ) and theta (ϑ), -sometimes in the same passage with the standard β and θ. These have -been replaced with the standard forms. - -Minor punctation errors and inconsistencies in the footnote apparatus -have been corrected with no further mention here. - -Those errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been -corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line -in the original. Corrections within notes are denote with ‘n’ and the -original note number. - - 6.n1 Steph. Byzant. _v._ [Ἀ/Α]ἰτωλ. p. 71. Replaced. - a. - 23.24 not wide enough to contain[.] the whole Removed. - 49.14 that were band[i]ed to and fro Inserted. - 49.21 _petits-ma[í/î]tres_ Replaced. - 54.34 like a huge uncrenalated _sic_: uncrenelated - 68.14 but Sir Willia[n/m] Gell Replaced. - 78.4 couchant s[y/p]hynxes Replaced. - 155.35 like those of Hindùs[s]tân Removed. - 166.29 the love of glory and independ[a/e]nce Replaced. - 170.4 and where[-e]ver else it was thought fit Removed. - 174.n1 Cf. Dion. Ch[r]ysost. Inserted. - 176.6 to the latest times[,/.] Replaced. - 178.n7 aremus osseo.[”] Added. - 178.n8 calamis superata degit.[”] Added. - 186.26 its moaning sounds to hear.[”] Added. - 213.30 by heroic and fabulous associa[a]tions. Removed. - 222.n2 as the Calydo[do]nian boar in Ovid Removed. - 225.32 from his ophthalmia and his headach[e] Added. - 234.32 εὐφυεῖς καὶ [ἰ/ἱ]κανοὶ Breathing corrected. - 288.1 Bacchanalian character.[”] Added. - 343.33 had the merit of extreme boldness[.] Added. - 263.29 [ὄ/ὅ]τι ἀμαθία μὲν θάρσος Breathing corrected. - 347.4 full of unstem[m]able currents Added. - 359.15 By these means, likewise, Inserted. - tran[s]gressors - 360.8 in the case of lesser tran[s]gressions Inserted. - 361.32 which only incidena[ta/at]lly Transposed. - 371.n2 ὀφθαλμο[ι\ὶ] μεγάλοι τε καὶ διαυγεῖς Replaced. - 357.37 it is a clumsy throw of her[’]s Removed. - 379.16 the list of their occupations[,/.] Replaced. - 391.32 τρεῖς υ[ἰ/ἱ]οὺς ἄφρουρον Breathing corrected. - 393.14 regal in loftiness[s] of stature. Removed. - 409.7 decisive of their comparative Added. - seclusion[.] - 418.n2 per aliorum manus vagata.[”] Added. - 423.n1_1 συν[εζεἠ/έζευ]ξεν Replaced. - 423.n1_2 ἄλληλοις θεσμὸν ἀνάγκ[ὴ/η]ς ὅσιον. 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