The Spartan Twins Part 11

At the dock they found the boat ready for its return journey across the bay. Nearby was the large black hull of an African ship, bound for Alexandria. Dion pointed to it.

"Suppose we were on that this minute," he said to Daphne, and Daphne covered her eyes and shook with horror at the mere thought of it.

It was nearly night when the three weary wanderers climbed the last hill and turned from the roadway into the path which led to the old farm-house. Lydia was standing in the doorway with Chloe behind her, smiling, and Argos came bounding out to meet them, wagging his tail and barking for joy.

It was a happy party that gathered around the hearth fire that night.

Lydia had prepared a wonderful feast to greet the travelers. There were roast chicken, and sausages too, and goat's milk, and figs. They opened the basket by fire-light, and if all the Christmases of your whole life had been rolled into one, it couldn't have been more wonderful to you than the gifts of Pericles were to Dion and Daphne. There was a soft robe of scarlet for each of them, with golden clasps to fasten it. There were a purse of gold coins and two beautiful parchment books--all written by hand, for of course there were no printed books in those days. There were gifts for their Father and Mother, too, and, best of all, a letter written with Pericles' own hand and addressed to "Euripides the Poet, of Salamis." With it came a note to Melas, saying he might read the letter, as he wished him to know its contents. This was the letter:--

"Pericles the Archon to Euripides the Poet, Greetings.

"The bearers of this letter are friends of mine who have rendered me a great service. By their timely warning I was enabled to foil a plot to make me appear to the public as an enemy of the G.o.ds. As sufficient recompense I commend them to your friendship. No greater service can be rendered Athens than to raise up n.o.ble and patriotic defenders. To this end I commit these children to your guidance, the girl no less than the boy. Give them, I beg, the benefit of your wisdom, since they have proven themselves worthy of such honor, and Athens shall one day thank you for this service."

And so it was that Dion and Daphne, the Spartans, not only mastered the learning of their time, but also became the friends of Pericles the Athenian and of Euripides the Poet, and perhaps now wander with them in the Elysian Fields.

A study period for the working out of the p.r.o.nunciation of the more difficult names and words will be the only preparation for reading _The Spartan Twins_ needed by the average fifth grade cla.s.s. The story can usually be read at sight in the sixth grade.

It will admirably supplement the study of Greek History in these grades.

The essential thing is for the teacher to provide the proper background for the story. The value in the history of the Greeks lies in the lessons of bravery and of love of country that it brings us, and in the inspiration and beauty of the myths, dramas, poems, and orations, the statues and temples that survive to our time. The fundamental aim in its study in the fifth and sixth grades is not so much to store the child's mind with details as to make such impressions as will guide him to a later appreciation of why we remember the Greeks, and what we have learned from them.

In these days of a "new internationalism," the teacher's most immediate duty is to bring her pupils to a realization of what Americanism and democracy mean, and that each is a development from the past. To do this, she should explain that before there were immigrants, there were discoverers and colonists, from Spain, England, and France; and that these countries had their origin in colonies from Rome, herself a colony from Greece. The teacher should explain that the spirit in these ancient cities that inspired colonization, trade, and empire was the inherent and ineradicable desire of men, first, for the opportunity of ruling themselves, and then to establish bonds of union against foreign aggression. Children will then perceive that the ancient Greeks were men quite like ourselves; and that they began the ways of government which we have, and which our forefathers brought to America. So much for what we learned from the Greeks.

As to why we remember them, let the teacher recall the stories already familiar through supplementary reading in literature, the Golden Fleece, Hercules, the Siege of Troy, the Wanderings of Ulysses; let her point out Greek cities which still exist, Athens, Ma.r.s.eilles, Alexandria, Constantinople; let her tell the stories of Marathon, of Leonidas and Thermopylae, and of Salamis; let her show pictures of Athens, the most splendid city of ancient Greece, of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Venus of Milo, the Hermes of Praxiteles, the Discus Thrower, and so on.

This book affords opportunity to contrast the way in which children were brought up in Sparta with the way in which they were brought up in Athens. The ideals of these two city-states also may be contrasted.

Although cities might have separate interests, it should be shown that throughout Greece there were interests in common, of which the people were reminded through the Olympic games.

The teacher is referred to the following volumes for further a.s.sistance in re-creating the atmosphere of ancient Greece:--

Tappan's _The Story of the Greek People_, _Old World Hero Stories_, and _Our European Ancestors_; Hawthorne's _Wonder-Book_ and _Tanglewood Tales_; Peabody's _Old Creek Folk Stories_; Bryant's translation of the _Odyssey_ and of the _Iliad_; Palmer's translation of the _Odyssey_; Hopkinson's _Greek Leaders_; Plutarch's _Alexander the Great_; Marden's _Greece and the aegean Islands_; Hurll's _Greek Sculpture_ and _How to Show Pictures to Children_; _Masterpieces of Greek Literature_.

Like all the other Volumes in the "Twins Series," _The Spartan Twins_ furnishes ample subjects for dramatization. The unique ill.u.s.trations should be of a.s.sistance, and other ill.u.s.trations in most of the books referred to above also will help to show scenery, costumes, furniture, and utensils.

The story will suggest many topics for cla.s.s discussion, and in addition such questions as the following will help the pupils to visualize the Greece of the past:--

1. Why would ancient Greece have been a pleasant country to live in?

2. How would it affect your home town if it were shut off from all others?

3. Judging from the Greek stories, what sort of men did they regard as heroes? What sort of men do we regard as heroes to-day?

4. In the stories of G.o.ds and heroes, are there scenes that would make good pictures?

5. Imagine you are Pericles, and make a speech telling the Athenians why they ought to beautify their city.

6. What could be done to beautify the place in which you live?

7. Which one of the Greeks or their heroes do you regard as the greatest man? Why?

8. What was good and what was not good in the training of the Spartan boys?

9. In what respects was the training of the Athenian boys better?

10. How do the ideas of one child become known to other children? How do the ideas of one country become known to other countries?

11. Had the Greeks good reasons for emigrating?

12. Imagine that you are an ancient Greek and tell why you became a colonist.