Historical Miniatures Part 8

She threw herself on the dead child, and kissed him.

"Beware of the dead!" said Pericles, and seized her arm; "he died of the pestilence."

"My life has been a lingering death; a quick one is preferable to me."

Then she noticed Aspasia, and, rising, said with quiet dignity, "Tell your friend to go."

"She goes, and I follow her."

"That is right! For now, my Pericles, the last tie between us is dissolved! Farewell!"

"Farewell, my wife!"

And, turning to Aspasia, he said, "Give me your hand, my spouse."

"Here it is."

The mourning mother lingered: "We shall all meet again some day, shall we not? And then as friends--you, she, and he who is gone before to prepare a dwelling for the hearts which are separated by the narrow laws of life."

Pericles and Socrates wandered in the avenue of plane-trees below the Hemicyklion, and conversed together.

"Phidias has been acquitted of theft, but re-arrested on the charge of blaspheming the G.o.ds of the State."

"Arrested? Phidias!"

"They say that he has represented me and himself in Athene's shield."

"That is the mob's doing, which hates all greatness! Anaxagoras banished because he was too wise; Aristides banished because he was too just; Themistocles, Pausanias.... What did you do, Pericles, when you gave the people power?"

"What was lawful and right. I fall certainly by my own sword, but honourably. I go about and am dying piecemeal, like Athens. Did we know that we adorned our statues for a funeral procession? that we were weaving our own shrouds? that the choruses of our tragedies were dirges?"

"Athens is dying--yes! But of what?"

"Of Sparta."

"What is Sparta?"

"Sparta is Heracles; the club, the lion-skin, brute-strength. We Athenians are the sons of Theseus, ranged against the Heraclidae, Dorians, and Ionians. Athens dies by Sparta's hand, but h.e.l.las dies by her own."

"I believe the G.o.ds have forsaken us."

"I believe so too, but the Divine lives."

"There comes Nicias, the messenger of misfortune." It was Nicias; and when he read the question in the faces and glances of the two, he answered, without waiting to be asked: "From the Agora!"

"What is the news from the Agora?"

"The a.s.sembly seeks help from the Macedonians."

"Why not from the Persians? Good! then the end is near. Do they seek help from the enemy? From the barbarian, the Macedonian, who lies above us like a lion on a hill. Go, Nicias, and say, 'Pericles is dying.'

And ask them to choose the worthiest as his successor! Not the most unworthy! Go, Nicias, but go quickly."

"I go," said Nicias, "but for a physician."

And he went.

"No physician can cure me!" answered Pericles; but in a weak voice, as though he spoke to himself. He took his old seat in the Hemicyklion.

When he had rested a while, he made Socrates a sign to come near, for he did not wish to raise his voice.

"Socrates, my friend," he began, "this is the farewell of a dying man.

You were the wisest, but take it not ill if I say, 'Be not too wise'; seek not the unattainable, and confuse not men's minds with subtleties; do not make the simple complicated. You wish to see things with both eyes, but he who shoots with the bow, must close one eye; otherwise he sees his mark doubled. You are not a Sophist, but may easily appear so; you are not a libertine, but you go about with such; you hate your city and your country, and rightly; but you should love them to the death, for that is your duty; you despise the people, but you should be sorry for them. I have not admired the people, but I have given them laws and justice; therefore I die!

"Good-night, Socrates! Now it is dark before my eyes. You shall close them, and give me the garland. Now I go to sleep. When I awake, _if_ I awake, then I am on the other side, and then I will send you a greeting, if the G.o.ds allow it. Good-night."

"Pericles is dead. Hear it, Athenians, and weep as I do!"

The people streamed thither, but they did not weep. They only wondered what would now happen, and felt almost glad of a change.

Cleon the tanner stood in the orator's pulpit in the Pnyx. Among his most attentive hearers were Alcibiades, Anytos, and Nicias. Cleon said: "Pericles is dead, and Pericles is buried; now you know it. Let him rest in peace with his merits and faults, for the enemy is in Sphacteria, and we must have a commander; Pericles' shadow will not serve for that. Here below sit two adventurers, fine gentlemen both; one is called Nicias, because he never has conquered; the other Alcibiades, and we know his conquests--goblets and girls. On the other hand, we do not know his character, but you will some day know him, Athenians, and he will show his incisors himself. Such and such and such a one have been proposed for commander--oddly enough all fine gentlemen, and all grandees, of course. Athens, which has abjured all kings and their like, must now fight with royal Sparta, and must, faithful to its traditions, appear in the field under a man of the people on whom you can rely. We need no Pericles who commissions statues and builds temples to Fame and Glory; Athens has enough of such gewgaws. But now we must have a man who understands the art of war, who has a heart in his breast and a head on his shoulders. Whom do you wish for, men of Athens?"

Alcibiades sprang up like a young lion, and went straight to the point.

"Men of Athens, I propose Cleon the tanner, not because he is a tanner, for that is something different. At any rate the army may be compared to an ox-skin, and Cleon to a knife; but Cleon has other qualities, especially those of a commander. His last campaign against Pericles and Phidias closed with a triumph for him. He has displayed a courage which never failed, and an intelligence which pa.s.sed all mortal comprehension.

His strategy was certainly not that of a lion, but he conquered, and that is the chief point. I propose Cleon as leader of the campaign."

Now it so fell out that this patent irony was still too subtle for the mob, who took it seriously. Alcibiades also had a certain influence with them because of his relationship to Pericles, and they listened to him readily. Accordingly the whole a.s.sembly called out for Cleon, and he was elected.

But Cleon had never dreamt of the honour of being commander, and he was prudent enough not to endeavour to climb beyond his capacity. Therefore he protested against the election, shouting and swearing by all the G.o.ds.

Alcibiades, however, seized the opportunity by the forelock, and, perceiving that the election of Cleon meant his death, he mounted an empty rostrum and spoke with emphasis: "Cleon jests, and Cleon is modest; he does not himself know what sort of a commander he is, for he has not proved himself; but I know who he is; I insist upon his election; I demand that he fulfil his duty as a citizen; and I summon him before the Areopagus if he shirks it when the fatherland is in danger." "Cleon is elected!" cried the people.

But Cleon continued to protest, "I do not know the difference between a hoplite and a peltast; [Footnote: a heavy-armed and a light-armed soldier.] I can neither carry a lance nor sit upon a horse."

But Alcibiades shouted him down. "He can do everything; guide the State and criticise art; carry on law-suits and watch Sophists; he can discuss the highest subjects with Socrates; in a word, he possesses all the public virtues and all the private vices."

Now the people laughed, but Cleon did not budge.

"Athenians!" said Alcibiades in conclusion, "the people have spoken, and there is no appeal. Cleon is elected, and Sparta is done for!"

The a.s.sembly broke up. Only Cleon remained behind with his friend Anytos. "Anytos!" he said. "I am lost!"

"Very probable!" answered Anytos.

But Alcibiades went off with Nicias: "Now Cleon is as dead as a dog.

Then comes my turn," he said.