Mosaics of Grecian History Part 6

Her darling doves, light-hovering round their Queen, Dipped their red beaks in rills from Hippocrene.

[Footnote: Always Hip-po-cre'ne in prose; but it is allowable to contract it into three syllables in poetry, as in the example above.]

It was here, also--

near this fresh fount, On pleasant Helicon's umbrageous mount--

that occurred the celebrated contest between the nine daughters of Pie'rus, king of E-ma'thi-a (the ancient name of Macedonia), and the nine Muses. It is said that "at the song of the daughters of Pierus the sky became dark, and all nature was put out of harmony; but at that of the Muses the heavens themselves, the stars, the sea, and the rivers stood motionless, and Helicon swelled up with delight, so that its summit reached the sky."

The Muses then, having turned the presumptuous maidens into chattering magpies, first took the name of Pi-er'i-des, from Pieria, their natal region.

9. Attica.--Bordering Boeotia on the south-east was the district of Attica, nearly in the form of a triangle, having two of its sides washed by the sea, and the other--the northern--shut off from the east of Central Greece by the mountain range of Cithaeron on the north-west, and Par'nes on the east. Its other noted mountains were Pentel'icus (sometimes called Mende'li), so celebrated for its quarries of beautiful marble, and Hymet'tus, celebrated for its excellent honey, and the broad belt of flowers at its base, which scented the air with their delicious perfume.

It could boast of its chief city, the favored seat of the G.o.ddess Minerva--

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence--

as surpa.s.sing all other cities in beauty and magnificence, and in the great number of its ill.u.s.trious citizens. Yet the soil of Attica was, on the whole, exceedingly barren, with the exception of a few very fertile spots; but olive groves abounded, and the olive was the most valuable product.

The general sterility of Attica was the great safety of her people in their early history. "It drove them abroad; it filled them with a spirit of activity, which loved to grapple with danger and difficulty; it told them that, if they would maintain themselves in the dignity which became them, they must regard the resources of their own land as nothing, and those of other countries as their own." Added to this, the situation of Attica marked it out in an eminent manner for a commercial country; and it became distinguished beyond all the other states of Greece for its extensive commercial relations, while its climate was deemed the most favorable of all the regions of the civilized world for the physical and intellectual development of man. It was called "a sunny land,"

and, notwithstanding the infertility of its soil, it was full of picturesque beauty. The poet BYRON, in his apostrophe to Greece, makes many striking and beautiful allusions to the Attica of his own time:

Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild; Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields, Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled, And still its honeyed wealth Hymettus yields.

There the blithe bee his fragrant fortress builds, The freeborn wanderer of thy mountain air; Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds, Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare; Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair.

10. Entering now upon the isthmus which leads into Southern Greece, we find the little state of Corinth, with its famous city of the same name, keeping guard over the narrow pa.s.s, with one foot on the Corinthian Gulf and the other on the Saron'ic, thereby commanding both the Ionian and aege'an seas, controlling the commerce that pa.s.sed between them, and holding the keys of Peloponnesus. It was a mountainous and barren region, with the exception of a small plain north-west of the city. Thus situated, Corinth early became the seat of opulence and the arts, which rendered her the ornament of Greece. On a lofty eminence overhanging the city, forming a conspicuous object at a great distance, was her famous citadel--so important as to be styled by Philip of Macedon "the fetters of Greece." Rising abruptly nearly two thousand feet above the surrounding plain, the hill itself, in its natural defences, is the strongest mountain fortress in Europe.

The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock, Have left untouched her h.o.a.ry rock, The key-stone of a land which still, Though fallen, looks proudly on that hill, The landmark to the double tide That purpling rolls on either side, As if their waters chafed to meet, Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.

--BYRON.

The ascent to the citadel, in the days of Corinthian glory, was lined on both sides with temples and altars; but temples and altars are gone, and citadel and city alike are now in ruins.

Antip'ater of Sidon describes the city as a scene of desolation after it had been conquered, plundered, and its walls thrown down by the Romans, 146 B.C. Although the city was partially rebuilt, the description is fully applicable to its present condition. A modern traveller thus describes the site of the ancient city:

The hoa.r.s.e wind sighs around the mouldering walls Of the vast theatre, like the deep roar Of distant waves, or the tumultuous rush Of mult.i.tudes: the lichen creeps along Each yawning crevice, and the wild-flower hangs Its long festoons around each crumbling stone.

The window's arch and ma.s.sive b.u.t.tress glow With time's deep tints, whilst cypress shadows wave On high, and spread a melancholy gloom.

Silent forever is the voice Of Tragedy and Eloquence. In climes Far distant, and beneath a cloudy sky, The echo of their harps is heard; but all The soul-subduing energy is fled.

--HAYGARTH.

11. Adjoining the Corinthian territory on the west, and extending about sixty-five miles along the southern coast of the Corinthian Gulf, was Acha'ia, mountainous in the interior; but its coast region for the most part was level, exposed to inundations, and without a single harbor of any size. Hence the Achae'ans were never famous for maritime enterprise. Of the eleven Achaean cities that formed the celebrated Achaean league, Pal'trae (now Patras') alone survives. Si'cy-on, on the eastern border of Achaia, was at times an independent state.

12. South of Achaia was the central region of Arcadia, surrounded by a ring of mountains, and completely encompa.s.sed by the other states of the Peloponnesus. Next to Laconia it was the largest of the ancient divisions of Greece, and the most picturesque and beautiful portion (not unlike Switzerland in its mountain character), and without either seaports or navigable rivers. It was inhabited by a people simple in their habits and manners, noted for their fondness for music and dancing, their hospitality, and pastoral customs. With the poets Arcadia was a land of peace, of simple pleasures, and untroubled quiet; and it was natural that the pipe-playing Pan should first appear here, where musical shepherds led their flocks along the woody vales of impetuous streams.

13. Ar'golis, east of Arcadia, was mostly a rocky peninsula lying between the Saron'ic and Argol'ic gulfs. It was in great part a barren region, with the exception of the plain adjoining its capital city, Argos, and in early times was divided into a number of small but independent kingdoms, that afterward became republics.

The whole region is rich in historic a.s.sociations of the Heroic Age. Here was Tir'yns, whose ma.s.sive walls were built by the one-eyed Cy'clops, and whence Hercules departed at the commencement of his twelve labors. Here, also, was the Lernae'an Lake, where the hero slew the many-headed hydra; Ne'mea, the haunt of the lion slain by Hercules, and the seat of the celebrated Ne'mean games; and Myce'nae, the royal city of Agamemnon, who commanded the Greeks in the Trojan War--now known, only by its ruins and its legends of by-gone ages.

And still have legends marked the lonely spot Where low the dust of Agamemnon lies; And shades of kings and leaders unforgot, Hovering around, to fancy's vision rise.

--HEMANS.

14. At the south-eastern extremity of the Peloponnesus was Laconia, the fertile portions of which consisted mostly of a long, narrow valley, shut in on three sides by the mountain ranges of Ta-yg'etus on the west and Parnon on the north and east, and open only on the south to the sea. Through this valley flows the river Euro'tas, on whose banks, about twenty miles from the sea, stood the capital city, Lacedae'mon, or Sparta, which was unwalled and unfortified during its most flourishing period, as the Spartans held that the real defence of a town consists solely in the valor of its citizens.

The sea-coast of Laconia was lined with towns, and furnished with numerous ports and commodious harbors. While Sparta was equaled by few other Greek cities in the magnificence of its temples and statues, the private houses, and even the palace of the king, were always simple and unadorned.

15. West of Laconia was Messe'nia, the south-western division of Greece, a mountainous country, but with many fertile intervening valleys, the whole renowned for the mildness and salubrity of its climate. Its princ.i.p.al river, the Pami'sus, rising in the mountains of Arcadia, flows southward to the Messenian Gulf through a beautiful plain, the lower portion of which was so celebrated for its fertility that it was called Maca'ria, or "the blessed;"

and even to this day it is covered with plantations of the vine, the fig, and the mulberry, and is "as rich in cultivation as can be well imagined."

16. One district more--that of E'lis, north of Messenia and west of Arcadia, and embracing the western slopes of the Achaian and Arcadian mountains--makes up the complement of the ancient Peloponnesian states. Though hilly and mountainous, like Messenia, it had many valleys and hill-sides of great fertility. The river Alphe'us, which the poets have made the most celebrated of the rivers of Greece, flows westward through Elis to the Ionian Sea, and on its banks was Olympia, the renowned seat of the Olympian games. Here, also, was the sacred grove of olive and plane trees, within which were temples, monuments, and statues, erected in honor of G.o.ds, heroes, and conquerors. In the very midst stood the great temple of Jupiter, which contained the colossal gold and ivory statue of the G.o.d, the masterpiece of the sculptor Phidias. Hence, by the common law of Greece Elis was deemed a sacred territory, and its cities were unwalled, as they were thought to be sufficiently protected by the sanct.i.ty of the country; and it was only when the ancient faith began to give way that the sacred character of Elis was disregarded.

17. The Isles of Greece.--

The Isles of Greece! the Isles of Greece!

Where burning Sappho loved and sung-- Where grew the arts of war and peace, Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!

Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all except their sun is set.

--BYRON.

The main-land of Greece was deeply indented by gulfs and almost land-locked bays, and the sh.o.r.es were lined with numerous islands, which were occupied by the Grecian race. Beginning our survey of these in the northern aege'an, we find, off the coast of Thessaly, the Island of Lemnos, which is fabled as the spot on which the fire-G.o.d Vulcan--the Lucifer of heathen mythology--fell, after being hurled down from Olympus. Under a volcano of the island be established his workshop, and there forged the thunder-bolts of Jupiter and the arms of the G.o.ds and of G.o.dlike heroes.

Of the Grecian islands proper, the largest is Euboe'a, a long and narrow island lying east of Central Greece, from which it is separated by the narrow channel of the Euri'pus, or Euboe'an Sea. South-east of Euboea are the Cyc'la-des, [Footnote: From the Greek word kuklos, a circle.] a large group that kept guard around the sacred Island of Delos, which is said to have risen unexpectedly out of the sea. The Spor'a-des [Footnote: From the Greek word speiro, to sow; scattered, like seed, so numerous were they. Hence our word spore.] were another group, scattered over the sea farther east, toward the coast of Asia Minor. The large islands of Crete and Rhodes were south-east of these groups. In the Saron'ic Gulf, between Attica and Ar'golis, were the islands of Sal'amis and aegi'na, the former the scene of the great naval conflict between the Greeks on the one side and the Persians, under Xerxes, on the other, and the latter long the maritime rival of Athens.

Cyth'era, now Cer'igo, an island of great importance to the Spartans, was separated by a narrow channel from the southern extremity of Laconia. It was on the coast of this island that the G.o.ddess Venus is fabled to have first appeared to mortals as she arose out of the foam of the sea, having a beautifully enameled sh.e.l.l for her chariot, drawn by dolphins, as some paintings represent; but others picture her as borne on a shining seahorse.

She was first called Cyth-er-e'a, from the name of the island.

The nymphs of ocean, of the land, and the streams, the fishes and monsters of the deep, and the birds of heaven, with rapturous delight greeted her coming, and did homage to the beauty of the Queen of Love. The following fine description of the scene, truly Grecian in spirit, is by a modern poet:

Uprisen from the sea when Cytherea, Shining in primal beauty, paled the day, The wondering waters hushed, They yearned in sighs That shook the world--tumultuously heaved To a great throne of azure laced with light And canopied in foam to grace their queen.

Shrieking for joy came O-ce-an'i-des, And swift Ner-e'i-des rushed from afar, Or clove the waters by. Came eager-eyed Even shy Na-i'a-des from inland streams, With wild cries headlong darting through the waves; And Dryads from the sh.o.r.e stretched their long arms, While, hoa.r.s.ely sounding, heard was Triton's sh.e.l.l; Shoutings uncouth, bewildered sounds, And innumerable splashing feet Of monsters gambolling around their G.o.d, Forth shining on a sea-horse, fierce and finned.

Some bestrode fishes glinting dusky gold, Or angry crimson, or chill silver bright; Others jerked fast on their own scanty tails; And sea-birds, screaming upward either side, Wove a vast arch above the Queen of Love, Who, gazing on this mult.i.tudinous Homaging to her beauty, laughed. She laughed The soft, delicious laughter that makes mad; Low warblings in the throat, that clinch man's life Tighter than prison bars.

--THOMAS WOOLNER.

Off the coast of Elis were the two small islands called the Stroph'a-des, noted as the place of habitation of those fabled winged monsters, the Harpies. Here aene'as landed in his flight from the ruins of Troy, but no pleasant greetings met him there.

"At length I land upon the Strophades, Safe from the dangers of the stormy seas.

Those isles are compa.s.sed by th' Ionian main, The dire abode where the foul Harpies reign: Monsters more fierce offended Heaven ne'er sent From h.e.l.l's abyss for human punishment.

We spread the tables on the greensward ground; We feed with hunger, and the bowls go round; When from the mountain-tops, with hideous cry And clattering wings, the hungry Harpies fly: They s.n.a.t.c.h the meat, defiling all they find, And, parting, leave a loathsome stench behind."

--VIRGIL'S aeneid, B. III.

North of the Strophades, along the western coast of Greece, were the six Ionian islands known in Grecian history as Paxos, Zacyn'thus, Cephalo'nia, Ith'aca (the native island of Ulysses), Leu'cas (or Leuca'dia), and Corcy'ra (now Corfu), which latter island Homer calls Phaea'cia, and where he places the fabled gardens of Alcin'o-us. It was King Alcinous who kindly entertained Ulysses in his island home when the latter was shipwrecked on his coast.

He is highly praised in Grecian legends for his love of agriculture; and his gardens, so beautifully described by Homer, have afforded a favorite theme for poets of succeeding ages. HOMER'S description is as follows:

Close to the gates a s.p.a.cious garden lies, From storms defended and inclement skies; Four acres was the allotted s.p.a.ce of ground, Fenced with a green enclosure all around; Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould, And reddening apples ripen here to gold.

Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows; With deeper red the full pomegranate glows; The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear, And verdant olives flourish round the year.

The balmy spirit of the western gale Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail; Each dropping pear a following pear supplies; On apples apples, figs on figs arise: The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.

Here ordered vines in equal ranks appear, With all the united labors of the year; Some to unload the fertile branches run, Some dry the blackening cl.u.s.ters in the sun, Others to tread the liquid harvest join, The groaning presses foam with floods of wine.

Here are the vines in early flower descried, Here grapes discolored on the sunny side, And there in Autumn's richest purple dyed.

Beds of all various herbs, forever green, In beauteous order terminate the scene.

Two plenteous fountains the whole prospect crowned: This through the garden leads its streams around, Visits each plant, and waters all the ground; While that in pipes beneath the palace flows, And thence its current on the town bestows.

To various use their various streams they bring; The people one, and one supplies the king.

--Odyssey, B. VII. POPE'S Trans.