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diff --git a/35298-tei/35298-tei.tei b/35298-tei/35298-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7c691b --- /dev/null +++ b/35298-tei/35298-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,19275 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd"> +<TEI.2 lang="en"> + <teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Rambles and Studies in Greece</title> + <author><name reg="Mahaffy, J. P.">J. P. Mahaffy</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date value="2011-02-16">February 16, 2011</date> + <idno type='etext-no'>35298</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere + 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 online at + www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl><author><name reg="Mahaffy, J. P.">J. P. Mahaffy</name></author> + <title>Rambles and Studies in Greece</title> + <imprint><pubPlace>Philadelphia</pubPlace> + <publisher>Henry T. Coates & Co.</publisher> + <date>1900</date></imprint> + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="fr" /> + <language id="en" /> + <language id="el"/> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2011-02-16">February 16, 2011</date> + <respStmt> + <resp>Produced by <name>Juliet Sutherland</name>, + <name>Stefan Cramme</name>, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + at http://www.pgdp.net</resp> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> + </teiHeader> + + <pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .fraktur { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .Greek { font-family: Gentium, 'New Athena Unicode', 'DejaVu Serif', 'Lucida Grande', 'Arial Unicode MS', 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-style: normal} + .ill { margin-left: 2 } + .right { text-align: right } + .small { font-size: 75% } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + head { text-align: center } + lg { margin-left: 2 } + list.nested { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } + figure { text-align: center } + .w100 { } + .w80 { } + .w70 { } + .w60 { } + @media pdf { + .w70 { width: 70%; page-float: 'htp' } + .w100 { width: 100%; page-float: 'htp' } + .w80 { width: 80%; page-float: 'htp' } + .w60 { width: 60%; page-float: 'htp' } + } + </pgStyleSheet> + </pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> +<front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <figure url="images/cover.png" rend="w80"><figDesc>Cover image</figDesc></figure> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgi'/> + +<p rend="text-align: center; page-break-before:always; font-size:large">RAMBLES IN GREECE</p> + +<pb/><anchor id='Pgii'/> +<anchor id="frontis"/><index index="fig" level1="The Acropolis, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Acropolis, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p rend="page-break-before:always"><figure url="images/illus001.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Acropolis, Athens</head><figDesc>The Acropolis, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> + </div> + <titlePage rend="text-align: center; page-break-before: always"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgiii'/> + +<docTitle> + <titlePart><hi rend="font-size: x-large">RAMBLES AND STUDIES</hi><lb/><lb/> + IN<lb/><lb/> + <hi rend="font-size: xx-large">GREECE</hi></titlePart> +</docTitle> +<lb/><lb/> +<byline>BY +<lb/> +<docAuthor><hi rend="font-size: large">J. P. MAHAFFY</hi></docAuthor> +<lb/> + <hi rend="font-size: small">KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE SAVIOUR;<lb/> + AUTHOR OF <q>SOCIAL LIFE IN GREECE;</q> <q>A HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE;</q><lb/> + <q>GREEK LIFE AND THOUGHT FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER;</q><lb/> + <q>THE GREEK WORLD UNDER ROMAN SWAY,</q> ETC.</hi> +</byline> + <lb/> + <titlePart>ILLUSTRATED</titlePart> + <lb/><lb/> +<docImprint><pubPlace>PHILADELPHIA</pubPlace><lb/> + <publisher>HENRY T. COATES & CO.</publisher><lb/> + <date>1900</date></docImprint> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgiv'/> +</titlePage><div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgv'/> +<p rend="text-align: center"> +HUNC LIBRUM<lb/> + <hi rend='fraktur'>Edmundo Wyatt Edgell</hi><lb/> + <hi rend="font-size: small">OB INSIGNEM<lb/> + INTER CASTRA ITINERA OTIA NEGOTIA LITTERARUM AMOREM<lb/> + OLIM DEDICATUM</hi><lb/> + NUNC CARISSIMI AMICI MEMORIAE<lb/> + CONSECRAT AUCTOR +</p> + +<pb/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> + +</div><div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +<index index="toc" level1="Preface"/><index index="pdf" level1="Preface"/> +<head>PREFACE.</head> + +<p> +Few men there are who having once visited Greece +do not contrive to visit it again. And yet when the +returned traveller meets the ordinary friend who asks +him where he has been, the next remark is generally, +<q>Dear me! have you not been there before? How is +it you are so fond of going to Greece?</q> There are +even people who imagine a trip to America far more +interesting, and who at all events look upon a trip +to Spain as the same kind of thing—southern climate, +bad food, dirty inns, and general discomfort, odious +to bear, though pleasant to describe afterward in a +comfortable English home. +</p> + +<p> +This is a very ignorant way of looking at the +matter, for excepting Southern Italy, there is no +country which can compare with Greece in beauty +and interest to the intelligent traveller. It is not +a land for creature comforts, though the climate is +splendid, and though the hotels in Athens are as +good as those in most European towns. It is not a +land for society, though the society at Athens is +excellent, and far easier of access than that of most +European capitals. But if a man is fond of the large +<pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/>effects of natural scenery, he will find in the Southern +Alps and fiords of Greece a variety and a richness +of color which no other part of Europe affords. +If he is fond of the details of natural scenery, flowers, +shrubs, and trees, he will find the wild-flowers and +flowering-trees of Greece more varied than anything +he has yet seen. If he desires to study national +character, and peculiar manners and customs, he +will find in the hardy mountaineers of Greece one of +the most unreformed societies, hardly yet affected by +the great tide of sameness which is invading all +Europe in dress, fabrics, and usages. And yet, in +spite of the folly still talked in England about brigands, +he will find that without troops, or police, or +patrols, or any of those melancholy safeguards which +are now so obtrusive in England and Ireland, life +and property are as secure as they ever were in our +most civilized homes. Let him not know a word of +history, or of art, and he will yet be rewarded by all +this natural enjoyment; perhaps also, if he be a +politician, he may study the unsatisfactory results of +a constitution made to order, and of a system of free +education planted in a nation of no political training, +but of high intelligence. +</p> + +<p> +Need I add that as to Cicero the whole land was +one vast shrine of hallowed memories—<hi rend='italic'>quocunque +incedis, historia est</hi>—so to the man of culture this +splendor of associations has only increased with the +lapse of time and the greater appreciation of human +<pb n='ix'/><anchor id='Pgix'/>perfection. Even were such a land dead to all +further change, and a mere record in its ruins of the +past, I know not that any man of reflection could +satisfy himself with contemplating it. Were he to +revisit the Parthenon, as it stands, every year of his +life, it would always be fresh, it would always be +astonishing. But Greece is a growing country, both +in its youth and in its age. The rapid development +of the nation is altering the face of the country, +establishing new roads and better communications, +improving knowledge among the people, and making +many places accessible which were before beyond +the reach of brief holiday visits. The insecurity +which haunted the Turkish frontier has been pushed +back to the north; new Alps and new monasteries +are brought within the range of Greece. And this +is nothing to what has been done in recovering the +past. Every year there are new excavations made, +new treasures found, new problems in archæology +raised, old ones solved; and so at every visit there +is a whole mass of new matter for the student who +feels he had not yet grasped what was already there. +</p> + +<p> +The traveller who revisits the country now after +a lapse of four or five years will find at Athens the +Schliemann museum set up and in order, where the +unmatched treasures of Mycenæ are now displayed +before his astonished eyes. He will find an Egyptian +museum of extraordinary merit—the gift of a +patriotic merchant of Alexandria—in which there +<pb n='x'/><anchor id='Pgx'/>are two figures—that of a queen, in bronze and +silver, and that of a slave kneading bread, in wood—which +alone would make the reputation of any +collection throughout Europe. In the Parthenon +museum he will find the famous statuette, copied +from Phidias’s Athene, and the recent wonder, +archaic statues on which the brightness of the colors +is not more astonishing than the moulding of the +figures. +</p> + +<p> +And these are only the most salient novelties. It +is indeed plain that were not the new city covering +the site of the old, discoveries at Athens might be +made perhaps every year, which would reform and +enlarge our knowledge of Greek life and history. +</p> + +<p> +But Athens is rapidly becoming a great and rich +city. It already numbers 110,000, without counting +the Peiræus; accordingly, except in digging foundations +for new houses, it is not possible to find room +for any serious excavations. House rent is enormously +high, and building is so urgent that the ordinary +mason receives eight to ten francs per day. +This rapid increase ought to be followed by an equal +increase in the wealth of the surrounding country, +where all the little proprietors ought to turn their +land into market-gardens. I found that either they +could not, or (as I was told) they would not, keep +pace with the increased wants of the city. They +are content with a little, and allow the city to be +supplied—badly and at great cost—from Salonica, +<pb n='xi'/><anchor id='Pgxi'/>Syra, Constantinople, and the islands, while meat +comes in tons from America. How different is the +country round Paris and London! +</p> + +<p> +But this is a digression into vulgar matters, when +I had merely intended to inform the reader what +intellectual novelties he would find in revisiting +Athens. For nothing is more slavish in modern +travel than the inability the student feels, for want +of time in long journeys, or want of control over his +conveyance, to stop and examine something which +strikes him beside his path. And that is the main +reason why Oriental—and as yet Greek—travelling +is the best and most instructive of all. +</p> + +<p> +You can stop your pony or mule, you can turn +aside from the track which is called your road, you +are not compelled to catch a train or a steamer at a +fixed moment. When roads and rails have been +brought into Greece, hundreds of people will go to +see its beauty and its monuments, and will congratulate +themselves that the country is at last accessible. +But the real charm will be gone. There will be no +more riding at dawn through orchards of oranges +and lemons, with the rich fruit lying on the ground, +and the nightingales, that will not end their exuberant +melody, still outsinging from the deep-green +gloom the sounds of opening day. There will be no +more watching the glowing east cross the silver-gray +glitter of dewy meadows; no more wandering along +grassy slopes, where the scarlet anemones, all +<pb n='xii'/><anchor id='Pgxii'/>drenched with the dews of night, are striving to +raise their drooping heads and open their splendid +eyes to meet the rising sun. There will be no more +watching the serpent and the tortoise, the eagle and +the vulture, and all the living things whose ways and +habits animate the sunny solitudes of the south. +The Greek people now talk of going to Europe, and +coming from Europe, justly too, for Greece is still, +as it always was, part of the East. But the day is +coming when enlightened politicians, like Mr. Tricoupi, +will insist on introducing through all the remotest +glens the civilization of Europe, with all its +benefits forsooth, but with all its shocking ugliness, +its stupid hurry, and its slavish uniformity. +</p> + +<p> +I will conclude with a warning to the archæologist, +and one which applies to all amateurs who go to visit +excavations, and cannot see what has been reported +by the actual excavators. As no one is able to see +what the evidences of digging are, except the trained +man, who knows not only archæology, but architecture, +and who has studied the accumulation of soil +in various places and forms, so the observer who +comes to the spot after some years, and expects to +find all the evidences unchanged, commits a blunder +of the gravest kind. As Dr. Dörpfeld, now one of +the highest living authorities on such matters, observed +to me, if you went to Hissarlik expecting to +find there clearly marked the various strata of successive +occupations, you would show that you were +<pb n='xiii'/><anchor id='Pgxiii'/>ignorant of the first elements of practical knowledge. +For in any climate, but especially in these southern +lands, Nature covers up promptly what has been +exposed by man; all sorts of plants spring up along +and across the lines which in the cutting when +freshly made were clear and precise. In a few +years the whole place turns back again into a brake, +or a grassy slope, and the report of the actual diggers +remains the only evidence till the soil is cut +open again in the same way. I saw myself, at +Olympia, important lines disappearing in this way. +Dr. Purgold showed me where the line marking the +embankment of the stadium—it was never surrounded +with any stone seats—was rapidly becoming +effaced, and where the plan of the foundations +was being covered with shrubs and grass. The +day for visiting and verifying the Trojan excavations +is almost gone by. That of all the excavations +will pass away, if they are not carefully kept clear +by some permanent superintendence; and to expect +this of the Greek nation, who know they have endless +more treasures to find in new places, is more +than could reasonably be expected. The proper +safeguard is to do what Dr. Schliemann does, to +have with him not only the Greek ephoros or superintendent—generally +a very competent scholar, and +sometimes not a very friendly witness of foreign +triumphs—but also a first-rate architect, whose joint +observation will correct any hastiness or misprision, +<pb n='xiv'/><anchor id='Pgxiv'/>and so in the mouth of two or more witnesses every +word will be confirmed. +</p> + +<p> +In passing on I cannot but remark how strange +it is that among the many rich men in the world +who profess an interest in archæology, not one can +be found to take up the work as Dr. Schliemann did, +to enrich science with splendid fields of new evidence, +and illustrate art, not only with the naïve efforts of +its infancy, but with forgotten models of perfect and +peerless form. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb"/> + +<p> +This New Edition is framed with a view of still +satisfying the demand for the book as a traveller’s +handbook, somewhat less didactic than the official +guide-books, somewhat also, I hope, more picturesque. +For that purpose I have added a new chapter +on mediæval Greece, as well as many paragraphs +with new information, especially the ride over +Mount Erymanthus, <ref target="Pg343">pp. 343</ref>, <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> I have corrected +many statements which are now antiquated by recent +discoveries, and I have obliterated the traces of +controversy borne by the Second Edition. For the +criticisms on the book are dead, while the book survives. +To me it is very pleasant to know that +many visitors to Greece have found it an agreeable +companion. +</p> + +<dateline rend="text-align: left"><name><hi rend='smallcaps'>Trinity College, Dublin</hi></name>,<lb/> +<date><hi rend='italic'>February, 1892</hi></date>.</dateline> + +</div><div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='xv'/><anchor id='Pgxv'/> +<index index="toc" level1="Contents"/><index index="pdf" level1="Contents"/> +<head>CONTENTS.</head> + <pgIf output="pdf"> + <then><divGen type="toc"/></then> + <else><table rend="tblcolumns:'r lw(55) r'; latexcolumns:'rp{5cm}r'"> + <row> + <cell rend="right"><hi rend="small">CHAP.</hi></cell> + <cell></cell> + <cell rend="right"><hi rend="small">PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">I.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Introduction—First Impressions of the Coast</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg001">1</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">II.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>General Impressions of Athens and Attica</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg030">30</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">III.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Athens—The Museums—The Tombs</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg055">55</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">IV.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Acropolis of Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg089">89</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">V.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Athens—The Theatre of Dionysus—The Areopagus</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg122">122</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">VI.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Excursions in Attica—Colonus—The Harbors—Laurium—Sunium</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg152">152</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">VII.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Excursions in Attica—Pentelicus—Marathon—Daphne—Eleusis</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg184">184</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">VIII.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>From Athens To Thebes—The Passes of Parnes and of Cithæron, Eleutheræ, Platæa</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg215">215</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">IX.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Plain of Orchomenus, Livadia, Chæronea</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg248">248</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">X.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Arachova—Delphi—The Bay of Kirrha</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg274">274</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">XI.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Elis—Olympia and Its Games—The Valley of the Alpheus—Mount Erymanthus—Patras</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg299">299</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">XII.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Arcadia—Andritzena—Bassæ—Megalopolis—Tripolitza</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg351">351</ref></cell> + </row> + <pb n='xvi'/><anchor id='Pgxvi'/> + <row> + <cell rend="right">XIII.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Corinth—Tiryns—Argos—Nauplia—Hydra—Ægina—Epidaurus</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg388">388</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">XIV.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Kynuria—Sparta—Messene</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg435">435</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">XV.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mycenæ and Tiryns</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg456">456</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right">XVI.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mediæval Greece</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg492">492</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right"> </cell> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="right"> </cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="right"></cell> + <cell>INDEX</cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="Pg531">531</ref></cell> + </row> + </table></else> + </pgIf> + +</div><div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='xvii'/><anchor id='Pgxvii'/> +<index index="toc" level1="List of Illustrations"/><index index="pdf" level1="List of Illustrations"/> +<head>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</head> + +<p rend="text-align: center"> +<hi rend="font-size: small">Photogravures by <hi rend='smallcaps'>A. W. Elson & Co.</hi></hi> +</p> + <pgIf output="pdf"> + <then><divGen type="fig"/></then> + <else><table rend="tblcolumns:'lw(50m) r';latexcolumns:'p{5cm}r'"> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell rend="right"><hi rend="small">PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Acropolis, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><hi rend='italic'><ref target="frontis">Frontispiece</ref></hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Along the Coast from the Throne of Xerxes</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill030">30</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Erechtheum from the West, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill036">36</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Tomb from the Via Sacra, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill078">78</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Part of the West Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill110">110</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Theatre of Dionysus, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill122">122</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mars’ Hill, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill140">140</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Peiræus</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill160">160</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Laurium</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill168">168</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Mount Lycabettus, Athens</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill188">188</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Looking Toward the Sea from the Soros, Marathon</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill198">198</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Salamis, from across the Bay</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill206">206</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Temple of Mysteries, Eleusis</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill212">212</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Greek Shepherd, Olympia</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill274">274</ref></cell> + </row> + <pb n='xviii'/><anchor id='Pgxviii'/> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Temple of Apollo, Delphi</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill284">284</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Banks of the Kladeus</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill302">302</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Statue of Niké, by Pæonius</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill306">306</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Kronion Hill, Olympia</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill318">318</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Entrance to the Stadium, Olympia</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill330">330</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Valley of the Alpheus</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill342">342</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Greek Peasant in National Costume</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill380">380</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Temple of Corinth</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill392">392</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Scene near Corinth, the Acro-Corinthus in the distance</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill395">395</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gallery at Tiryns</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill406">406</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Palamedi, Nauplia</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill424">424</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sculptured Lion, Nauplia</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill428">428</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Langada Pass</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill446">446</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Arcadian Gateway, Messene</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill452">452</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Argive Plain</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill458">458</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Lion Gate, Mycenæ</hi></cell> + <cell rend="right"><ref target="ill472">472</ref></cell> + </row> + </table></else> + </pgIf> + +</div></front> +<body rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='1'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<p rend="text-align: center"> +<hi rend="font-size: xx-large">GREECE.</hi> +</p> + <div type="chapter" n="1"> +<index index="toc" level1="I. Introduction—First Impressions of the Coast"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="I. Introduction--First Impressions of the Coast"/> +<head>CHAPTER I.</head> + +<head type="sub">INTRODUCTION—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE COAST.</head> + +<p> +A voyage to Greece does not at first sight seem +a great undertaking. We all go to and fro to Italy +as we used to go to France. A trip to Rome, or +even to Naples, is now an Easter holiday affair. +And is not Greece very close to Italy on the map? +What signifies the narrow sea that divides them? +This is what a man might say who only considered +geography, and did not regard the teaching of +history. For the student of history cannot look +upon these two peninsulas without being struck +with the fact that they are, historically speaking, +turned back to back; that while the face of Italy +is turned westward, and looks towards France and +Spain, and across to us, the face of Greece looks +eastward, towards Asia Minor and towards Egypt. +Every great city in Italy, except Venice, approaches +or borders the Western Sea—Genoa, Pisa, Florence, +Rome, Naples. All the older history of Rome, its +<pb n='2'/><anchor id='Pg002'/>development, its glories, lie on the west of the +Apennines. When you cross them you come to +what is called the back of Italy; and you feel that +in that flat country, and that straight coast-line, you +are separated from its true beauty and charm.<note place="foot">Though this statement is broadly true, it requires some modification. +I should be sorry to be thought insensible to the beauties, +not only of Ravenna, with its mosaics and its pines, but of Ancona, +of the splendid Monte Gargano, of Trani and Bari, and of +the rich gardens and vineyards of Apulia.</note> +Contrariwise, in Greece, the whole weight and dignity +of its history gravitate towards the eastern +coast. All its great cities—Athens, Thebes, Corinth, +Argos, Sparta—are on that side. Their nearest +neighbors were the coast cities of Asia Minor and +of the Cyclades, but the western coasts were to +them harborless and strange. If you pass Cape +Malea, they said, then forget your home. +</p> + +<p> +So it happens that the coasts of Italy and Greece, +which look so near, are outlying and out-of-the way +parts of the countries to which they belong; and if +you want to go straight from real Italy to real +Greece, the longest way is that from Brindisi to +Corfu, for you must still journey across Italy to +Brindisi, and from Corfu to Athens. The shortest +way is to take ship at Naples, and to be carried +round Italy and round Greece, from the centres of +culture on the west of Italy to the centres of culture +(such as they are) on the east of Greece. But this +<pb n='3'/><anchor id='Pg003'/>is no trifling passage. When the ship has left the +coasts of Calabria, and steers into the open sea, you +feel that you have at last left the west of Europe, +and are setting sail for the Eastern Seas. You are, +moreover, in an open sea—the furious Adriatic—in +which I have seen storms which would be creditable +to the Atlantic Ocean, and which at times forbid +even steam navigation. +</p> + +<p> +I may anticipate for a moment here, and say that +even now the face of Athens is turned, as of old, +to the East. Her trade and her communications +are through the Levant. Her chief intercourse is +with Constantinople, and Smyrna, and Syra, and +Alexandria. +</p> + +<p> +This curious parallel between ancient and modern +geographical attitudes in Greece is, no doubt, greatly +due to the now bygone Turkish rule. In addition +to other contrasts, Mohammedan rule and Eastern +jealousy—long unknown in Western Europe—first +jarred upon the traveller when he touched the coasts +of Greece; and this dependency was once really +part of a great Asiatic Empire, where all the interests +and communications gravitated eastward, and +away from the Christian and better civilized West. +The revolution which expelled the Turks was +unable to root out the ideas which their subjects +had learned; and so, in spite of Greek hatred of the +Turk, his influence still lives through Greece in a +thousand ways. +</p> + +<pb n='4'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> + +<p> +For many hours after the coasts of Calabria had +faded into the night, and even after the snowy dome +of Etna was lost to view, our ship steamed through +the open sea, with no land in sight; but we were +told that early in the morning, at the very break of +dawn, the coasts of Greece would be visible. So, +while others slept, I started up at half-past three, +eager to get the earliest possible sight of the land +which still occupies so large a place in our thoughts. +It was a soft gray morning; the sky was covered +with light, broken clouds; the deck was wet with a +passing shower, of which the last drops were still +flying in the air; and before us, some ten miles +away, the coasts and promontories of the Peloponnesus +were reaching southward into the quiet sea. +These long serrated ridges did not look lofty, in +spite of their snow-clad peaks, nor did they look +inhospitable, in spite of their rough outline, but +were all toned in harmonious color—a deep purple +blue, with here and there, on the far Arcadian peaks, +and on the ridge of Mount Taygetus, patches of +pure snow. In contrast to the large sweeps of the +Italian coast, its open seas, its long waves of mountain, +all was here broken, and rugged, and varied. +The sea was studded with rocky islands, and the land +indented with deep, narrow bays. I can never forget +the strong and peculiar impression of that first +sight of Greece; nor can I cease to wonder at the +strange likeness which rose in my mind, and which +<pb n='5'/><anchor id='Pg005'/>made me think of the bays and rocky coasts of +the west and south-west of Ireland. There was +the same cloudy, showery sky, which is so common +there; there was the same serrated outline +of hills, the same richness in promontories, and +rocky islands, and land-locked bays. Nowhere +have I seen a light purple color, except in the wilds +of Kerry and Connemara; and though the general +height of the Greek mountains, as the snow in May +testified, was far greater than that of the Irish +hills, yet on that morning, and in that light, they +looked low and homely, not displaying their grandeur, +or commanding awe and wonder, but rather +attracting the sight by their wonderful grace, +and by their variety and richness of outline and +color. +</p> + +<p> +I stood there, I know not how long—without +guide or map—telling myself the name of each +mountain and promontory, and so filling out the idle +names and outlines of many books with the fresh +reality itself. There was the west coast of Elis, as +far north as the eye could reach—the least interesting +part of the view, as it was of the history, of +Greece; then the richer and more varied outline of +Messene, with its bay, thrice famous at great intervals, +and yet for long ages feeding idly on that +fame; Pylos, Sphacteria, Navarino—each a foremost +name in Hellenic history. Above the bay could be +seen those rich slopes which the Spartans coveted of +<pb n='6'/><anchor id='Pg006'/>old, and which, as I saw them, were covered with +golden corn. The three headlands which give to +the Peloponnesus <q>its plane-leaf form,</q><note place="foot">Cf. Strabo, viii. c. 2, + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἐστι τοίνυν ἡ Πελοπόννησος ἐοικυῖα φύλλῳ πλατάνου τὸ σχῆμα</foreign>.</note> were as +yet lying parallel before us, and their outline confused; +but the great crowd of heights and intersecting +chains, which told at once the Alpine character +of the peninsula, called to mind the other remark of +the geographer, in which he calls it the Acropolis +of Greece. The words of old Herodotus, too, rise +in the mind with new reality, when he talks of the +poor and stony soil of the country as a <q>rugged +nurse of liberty.</q> +</p> + +<p> +For the nearer the ship approaches, the more this +feature comes out; increased, no doubt, greatly in +later days by depopulation and general decay, when +many arable tracts have lain desolate, but still at all +times necessary, when a large proportion of the +country consists of rocky peaks and precipices, +where a goat may graze, but where the eagle builds +secure from the hand of man. The coast, once +teeming with traffic, is now lonely and deserted. A +single sail in the large gulf of Koron, and a few +miserable huts, discernible with a telescope, only +added to the feeling of solitude. It was, indeed, +<q>Greece, but living Greece no more.</q> Even the +pirates, who sheltered in these creeks and moun<pb n='7'/><anchor id='Pg007'/>tains, have abandoned this region, in which there is +nothing now to plunder.<note place="foot">These words were written in 1873. On a later occasion, our +ship was obliged to run into this bay for shelter from a storm, +when we found some cultivation along the coasts, and a village +(Koron), with extensive fortifications above it, said to be Venetian. +The aspect was by no means so desolate as appeared from a passing +view outside the headlands. Coasting steamers now call here +(at Kalamata) every second day.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But as we crossed the mouth of the gulf, the eye +fastened with delight on distant white houses along +the high ground of the eastern side—in other words, +along the mountain slopes which run out into the +promontory of Tainaron; and a telescope soon +brought them into distinctness, and gave us the +first opportunity of discussing modern Greek life. +We stood off the coast of Maina—the home of those +Mainotes whom Byron has made so famous as pirates, +as heroes, as lovers, as murderers; and even +now, when the stirring days of war and of piracy have +passed away, the whole district retains the aspect of +a country in a state of siege or of perpetual danger. +Instead of villages surrounded by peaceful homesteads, +each Mainote house, though standing alone, +was walled in, and in the centre was a high square +tower, in which, according to trustworthy travellers, +the Mainote men used to spend their day watching +their enemies, while only the women and children +ventured out to till the fields. For these fierce +mountaineers were not only perpetually defying the +<pb n='8'/><anchor id='Pg008'/>Turkish power, which was never able to subdue them +thoroughly, but they were all engaged at home with +internecine feuds, of which the origin was often forgotten, +but of which the consequences remained in +the form of vengeance due for the life of a kinsman. +When this was exacted on one side, the obligation +changed to the other; and so for generation after generation +they spent their lives in either seeking or +avoiding vengeance. This more than Corsican <hi rend='italic'>vendetta</hi><note place="foot">Which the reader will find best portrayed in Prosper Mérimée’s +<hi rend='italic'>Colomba</hi>.</note> +was, by a sort of mediæval chivalry, prohibited +to the women and children, who were thus +in perfect safety, while their husbands and fathers +were in daily and deadly danger. +</p> + +<p> +They are considered the purest in blood of all +the Greeks, though it does not appear that their +dialect approaches old Greek nearer than those of +their neighbors; but for beauty of person, and independence +of spirit, they rank first among the inhabitants +of the Peloponnesus, and most certainly they +must have among them a good deal of the old Messenian +blood. Most of the country is barren, but +there are orange woods, which yield the most delicious +fruit—a fruit so large and rich that it makes +all other oranges appear small and tasteless. The +country is now perfectly safe for visitors, and the +people extremely hospitable, though the diet is not +very palatable to the northern traveller. +</p> + +<pb n='9'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> + +<p> +So with talk and anecdote about the Mainotes—for +every one was now upon deck and sight-seeing—we +neared the classic headland of Tainaron, almost +the southern point of Europe, once the site of a +great temple of Poseidon—not preserved to us, like +its sister monument on Sunium—and once, too, the +entry to the regions of the dead. And, as if to remind +us of its most beautiful legend, the dolphins, +which had befriended Arion of old, and carried him +here to land, rose in the calm summer sea, and came +playing round the ship, showing their quaint forms +above the water, and keeping with our course, as it +were an escort into the homely seas and islands of +truer Greece. Strangely enough, in many other +journeys through Greek waters, once again only did +we see these dolphins; and here as elsewhere, the +old legend, I suppose, based itself upon the fact that +this, of all their wide domain, was the favorite resort +of these creatures, with which the poets of old +felt so strong a sympathy. +</p> + +<p> +But, while the dolphins have been occupying our +attention, we have cleared Cape Matapan, and the +deep Gulf of Asine and Gythium—in fact, the Gulf +of Sparta is open to our view. We strained our +eyes to discover the features of <q>hollow Lacedæmon,</q> +and to take in all the outline of this famous +bay, through which so many Spartans had held their +course in the days of their greatness. The site of +Sparta is far from the sea, probably twelve or fifteen +<pb n='10'/><anchor id='Pg010'/>miles; but the place is marked for every spectator, +throughout all the Peloponnesus and its coasts, by +the jagged top of Mount Taygetus, even in June +covered with snow. Through the forests upon its +slopes the young Spartans would hunt all day with +their famous Laconian hounds, and after a rude +supper beguile the evening with stories of their +dangers and their success. But, as might be expected, +of the five villages which made up the +famous city, few vestiges remain. The old port +of Gythium is still a port; but here, too, the +<q>wet ways,</q> and that sea once covered with boats, +which a Greek comic poet has called the <q>ants of +the sea,</q> have been deserted. +</p> + +<p> +We were a motley company on board—Russians, +Greeks, Turks, French, English; and it was not +hard to find pleasant companions and diverting conversation +among them all. I turned to a Turkish +gentleman, who spoke French indifferently. <q>Is it +not,</q> said I, <q>a great pity to see this fair coast so +desolate?</q> <q>A great pity, indeed,</q> said he; <q>but +what can you expect from these Greeks? They are +all pirates and robbers; they are all liars and +knaves. Had the Turks been allowed to hold possession +of the country they would have improved it +and developed its resources; but since the Greeks +became independent everything has gone to ruin. +Roads are broken up, communications abandoned; +<pb n='11'/><anchor id='Pg011'/>the people emigrate and disappear—in fact, nothing +prospers.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Presently, I got beside a Greek gentleman, from +whom I was anxiously picking up the first necessary +phrases and politenesses of modern Greek, and, by +way of amusement, put to him the same question. +I got the answer I expected. <q>Ah!</q> said he, <q>the +Turks, the Turks! When I think how these miscreants +have ruined our beautiful country! How +could a land thrive or prosper under such odious +tyranny?</q> I ventured to suggest that the Turks +were now gone five and forty years, and that it was +high time to see the fruits of recovered liberty in +the Greeks. No, it was still too soon. The Turks +had cut down all the woods, and so ruined the +climate; they had destroyed the cities, broken up +the roads, encouraged the bandits—in fact, they had +left the country in such a state that centuries would +not cure it. +</p> + +<p> +The verdict of Europe is in favor of the Greek +gentleman; but it might have been suggested, had +we been so disposed, that the greatest and the most +hopeless of all these sorrows—the utter depopulation +of the country—is not due to either modern Greeks +or Turks, nor even to the Slav hordes of the Middle +Ages. It was a calamity which came upon Greece +almost suddenly, immediately after the loss of her +independence, and which historians and phys<pb n='12'/><anchor id='Pg012'/>iologists have as yet been only partially able to +explain.<note place="foot">See the remarks of Polybius, who was himself witness of this +great change, quoted in the last chapter of my <hi rend='italic'>Greek Life and +Thought, from Alexander to the Roman Conquest</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Of this very coast upon which we were then gazing, +the geographer Strabo, about the time of Christ, +says, <q>that of old, Lacedæmon had numbered one +hundred cities; in his day there were but ten remaining.</q> +So, then, the sum of the crimes of both +Greeks and Turks may be diminished by one. But +I, perceiving that each of them would have been +extremely indignant at this historical palliation of +the other’s guilt, <q>kept silence, even from good +words.</q> +</p> + +<p> +These dialogues beguiled us till we found ourselves, +almost suddenly, facing the promontory of Malea, +with the island of Cythera (Cerigo) on our right. +The island is little celebrated in history. The +Phœnicians seem, in very old times, to have had a +settlement there for the working of their purple +shell-fishery, for which the coasts of Laconia were +celebrated; and they doubtless founded there the +worship of the Sidonian goddess, who was transformed +by the Greeks into Aphrodite (Venus). +During the Peloponnesian War we hear of the +Athenians using it as a station for their fleet, when +they were ravaging the adjacent coasts. It was, in +fact, used by their naval power as the same sort of +<pb n='13'/><anchor id='Pg013'/>blister (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἐπιτείχισις</foreign>) on Sparta that Dekelea was when +occupied by the Spartans in Attica. +</p> + +<p> +Cape Malea is more famous. It was in olden +days the limit of the homely Greek waters, the bar +to all fair weather and regular winds—a place of +storms and wrecks, and the portal to an inhospitable +open sea; and we can well imagine the delight of +the adventurous trader who had dared to cross the +Western Seas, to gather silver and lead in the mines +of Spain, when he rounded the dreaded Cape, homeward +bound in his heavy-laden ship, and looked +back from the quiet Ægean. The barren and rocky +Cape has its new feature now. On the very extremity +there is a little platform, at some elevation +over the water, and only accessible with great difficulty +from the land by a steep goat-path. Here a +hermit built himself a tiny hut, cultivated his little +plot of corn, and lived out in the lone seas, with no +society but stray passing ships.<note place="foot">We hailed him with a steam whistle in 1886, in vain; so it +may be that he has passed to some newer and more social kind of +life.</note> When Greece was +thickly peopled he might well have been compelled +to seek loneliness here; but now, when in almost any +mountain chain he could find solitude and desolation +enough, it seems as if that poetic instinct which so +often guides the ignorant and unconscious anchorite +had sent him to this spot, which combines, in a +strange way, solitude and publicity, and which ex<pb n='14'/><anchor id='Pg014'/>cites the curiosity, but forbids the intrusion, of every +careless passenger to the East. +</p> + +<p> +So we passed into the Ægean, the real thoroughfare +of the Greeks, the mainstay of their communication—a +sea, and yet not a sea, but the frame of +countless headlands and islands, which are ever in +view to give confidence to the sailor in the smallest +boat. The most striking feature in our view was the +serrated outline of the mountains of Crete, far away +to the S. E. Though the day was gray and cloudy, +the atmosphere was perfectly clear, and allowed us to +see these very distant Alps, on which the snow still +lay in great fields. The chain of Ida brought back +to us the old legends of Minos and his island kingdom, +nor could any safer seat of empire be imagined +for a power coming from the south than this +great long bar of mountains, to which half the +islands of the Ægean could pass a fire signal in times +of war or piracy.<note place="foot">A closer view of Crete disclosed to me the interesting fact +that the island is turned to the north, as regards its history. It is +barred on the south by great walls of rock, with hardly any landing-places, +so that all traffic and culture must have started from +the slopes and bays on the north side, where the Cyclades are its +neighbors.</note> The legends preserved to us of +Minos—the human sacrifices to the Minotaur—the +hostility to Theseus—the identification of Ariadne +with the legends of Bacchus, so eastern and orgiastic +in character—make us feel, with a sort of instinctive +certainty, that the power of Minos was +<pb n='15'/><anchor id='Pg015'/>no Hellenic empire, but one of Phœnicians, from +which, as afterwards from Carthage, they commanded +distant coasts and islands, for the purposes +of trade. They settled, as we know, at Corinth, at +Thebes, and probably at Athens, in the days of their +greatness, but they seem always to have been +strangers and sojourners there, while in Crete they +kept the stronghold of their power. Thucydides +thinks that Minos’s main object was to put down +piracy, and protect commerce; and this is probably +the case, though we are without evidence on the point. +The historian evidently regards this old Cretan +empire as the older model of the Athenian, but +settled in a far more advantageous place, and +not liable to the dangers which proved the ruin +of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +The nearer islands were small, and of no reputation, +but each like a mountain top reaching out of +a submerged valley, stony and bare. Melos was +farther off, but quite distinct—the old scene of +Athenian violence and cruelty, to Thucydides so +impressive, that he dramatizes the incidents, and +passes from cold narrative and set oration to a +dialogue between the oppressors and the oppressed. +Melian starvation was long proverbial among the +Greeks, and there the fashionable and aristocratic +Alcibiades applied the arguments and carried out +the very policy which the tanner Cleon could not +propose without being pilloried by the great histo<pb n='16'/><anchor id='Pg016'/>rian whom he made his foe. This and other islands, +which were always looked upon by the mainland +Greeks with some contempt, have of late days received +special attention from archæologists. It is +said that the present remains of the old Greek type +are now to be found among the islanders—an observation +which I found fully justified by a short sojourn +at Ægina, where the very types of the Parthenon +frieze can be found among the inhabitants, if the +traveller will look for them diligently. The noblest +and most perfect type of Greek beauty has, indeed, +come to us from Melos, but not in real life. It is +the celebrated Venus of Melos—the most pure and +perfect image we know of that goddess, and one +which puts to shame the lower ideals so much +admired in the museums of Italy.<note place="foot">I should except the splendid <hi rend='italic'>Venus victrix</hi>, as she is called, +found at Capua, and now in the Museum of Naples.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Another remark should be made in justice to the +islands, that the groups of Therasia and Santorin, +which lie round the crater of a great active volcano, +have supplied us not only with the oldest forms of +the Greek alphabet in their inscriptions, but with +far the oldest vestiges of inhabitants in any part of +Greece. In these, beneath the lava slopes formed +by a great eruption—an eruption earlier than any +history, except, perhaps, Egyptian—have been found +the dwellings, the implements, and the bones of men +who cannot have lived there much later than 2000 +<pb n='17'/><anchor id='Pg017'/><hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> The arts, as well as the implements, of these +old dwellers in their Stone Age, have shown us how +very ancient Greek forms, and even Greek decorations, +are in the world’s history: and we may yet +from them and from further researches, such as +Schliemann’s, be able to reconstruct the state of +things in Greece before the Greeks came from their +Eastern homes. The special reason why these +inquiries seem to me likely to lead to good result +is this, that what is called neo-barbarism is less likely +to mislead us here than elsewhere. Neo-barbarism +means the occurrence in later times of the manners +and customs which generally mark very old and +primitive times. Some few things of this kind +survive everywhere; thus, in the Irish Island of +Arran, a group of famous <hi rend='italic'>savants</hi> mistook a stone +donkey-shed of two years’ standing for the building +of an extinct race in gray antiquity: as a +matter of fact, the construction had not changed +from the oldest type. But the spread of culture, +and the fulness of population in the good days of +Greece, make it certain that every spot about the +thoroughfares was improved and civilized; and so, +as I have said, there is less chance here than anywhere +of our being deceived into mistaking rudeness +for oldness, and raising a modern savage to the dignity +of a primæval man. +</p> + +<p> +But we must not allow speculations to spoil our +observations, nor waste the precious moments given +<pb n='18'/><anchor id='Pg018'/>us to take in once for all the general outline of the +Greek coasts. While the long string of islands, +from Melos up to the point of Attica, framed in +our view to the right, to the left the great bay of +Argolis opened far into the land, making a sort of +vista into the Peloponnesus, so that the mountains +of Arcadia could be seen far to the west standing +out against the setting sun; for the day was now +clearer—the clouds began to break, and let us feel +touches of the sun’s heat towards evening. As we +passed Hydra, the night began to close about us, +and we were obliged to make out the rest of our +geography with the aid of a rich full moon. +</p> + +<p> +But these Attic waters, if I may so call them, will +be mentioned again and again in the course of our +voyage, and need not now be described in detail. +The reader will, I think, get the clearest notion of +the size of Greece by reflecting upon the time +required to sail round the Peloponnesus in a good +steamer. The ship in which we made the journey—the +<hi rend='italic'>Donnai</hi>, of the French Messagerie Company,—made +about eight miles an hour. Coming within +close range of the coast of Messene, about five +o’clock in the morning, we rounded all the headlands, +and arrived at the Peiræus about eleven +o’clock the same night. So, then, the Peloponnesus +is a small peninsula, but even to an outside view +<q>very large for its size;</q> for the actual climbing +up and down of constant mountains, in any land +<pb n='19'/><anchor id='Pg019'/>journey from place to place, makes the distance in +miles very much greater than the line as the crow +flies. If I said that every ordinary distance, as +measured on the map, is doubled in the journey, +I believe I should be under the mark. +</p> + +<p> +It may be well to add a word here upon the other +route into Greece, that by Brindisi and the Ionian +Islands. It is fully as picturesque, in some respects +more so, for there is no more beautiful bay than the +long fiord leading up to Corinth, which passes Patras, +Vostitza, and Itea, the port of Delphi. The Akrokeraunian +mountains, which are the first point of +the Albanian coast seen by the traveller, are also +very striking, and no one can forget the charms and +beauties of Corfu. I think a market-day in Corfu, +with those royal-looking peasant lads, who come +clothed in sheepskins from the coast, and spend their +day handling knives and revolvers with peculiar +interest at the stalls, is among the most picturesque +sights to be seen in Europe. The lofty mountains +of Ithaca and its greater sister, and then the rich +belt of verdure along the east side of Zante—all +these features make this journey one of surpassing +beauty and interest. Yet notwithstanding all these +advantages, there is not the same excitement in first +approaching semi-Greek or outlying Greek settlements, +and only gradually arriving at the real centres +of historic interest. Such at least was the feeling +(shared by other observers) which I had in approach<pb n='20'/><anchor id='Pg020'/>ing Greece by this more varied route. No traveller, +however, is likely to miss either, as it is obviously +best to enter by one route and depart by the other, +in a voyage not intended to reach beyond Greece. +But from what I have said, it may be seen that I +prefer to enter by the direct route from Naples, and +to leave by the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian +Islands. I trust that ere long arrangements may +be made for permitting travellers who cross the +isthmus to make an excursion to the Akrokorinthus—the +great citadel of Corinth—which they are now +compelled to hurry past, in order to catch the boat +for Athens. +</p> + +<p> +The modern Patras, still a thriving port, is now +the main point of contact between Greece and the +rest of Europe. For, as a railway has now been +opened from Patras to Athens, all the steamers from +Brindisi, Venice, and Trieste put in there, and from +thence the stream of travellers proceeds by the new +line to the capital. The old plan of steaming up the +long fiord to Corinth is abandoned; still more the once +popular route round the Morea, which, if somewhat +slower, at least saved the unshipping at Lechæum, +the drive in omnibuses across the isthmus, and reshipment +at Cenchreæ—all done with much confusion, +and with loss and damage to luggage and temper. +Not that there is no longer confusion. The railway +station at Patras, and that at Athens, are the most +curious bear-gardens in which business ever was +<pb n='21'/><anchor id='Pg021'/>done. The traveller (I speak of the year of our +Lord 1889) is informed that unless he is there an +hour before the time he will not get his luggage +weighed and despatched. And when he comes down +from his comfortable hotel to find out what it all +means, he meets the whole population of the town +in possession of the station. Everybody who has +nothing to do gets in the way of those who have; +everything is full of noise and confusion. +</p> + +<p> +At last the train steams out of the station, and +takes its deliberate way along the coast, through +woods of fir trees, bushes of arbutus and mastic, +and the many flowers which stud the earth. And +here already the traveller, looking out of the +window, can form an idea of the delights of real +Greek travel, by which he must understand mounting +a mule or pony, and making his way along +woody paths, or beside the quiet sea, or up the steep +side of a rocky defile. Every half-hour the train +crosses torrents coming from the mountains, which +in flood times color the sea for some distance with +the brilliant brick-red of the clay they carry with +them from their banks. The peacock blue of the +open sea bounds this red water with a definite line, +and the contrast in the bright sun is something very +startling. Shallow banks of sand also reflect their +pale yellow in many places, so that the brilliancy of +this gulf exceeds anything I had ever seen in sea or +lake. We pass the sites of Ægion, now Vostitza, +<pb n='22'/><anchor id='Pg022'/>once famous as the capital or centre (politically) of +the Achæan League. We pass Sicyon, the home +of Aratus, the great regenerator, the mean destroyer +of that League, as you can still read in Plutarch’s fascinating +life of the man. But these places, like so +many others in Greece, once famous, have now no +trace of their greatness left above ground. The day +may, however, still come when another Schliemann +will unearth the records and fragments of a civilization +distinguished even in Greece for refinement. +Sicyon was a famous school of art. Painting and +sculpture flourished there, and there was a special +school of Sicyon, whose features we can still recognize +in extant copies of the famous statues they produced. +There is a statue known as the Canon Statue, a +model of human proportions, which was the work of +the famous Polycleitus of Sicyon, and which we +know from various imitations preserved at Rome +and elsewhere. But we shall return in due time to +Greek sculpture as a whole, and shall not interrupt +our journey at this moment. +</p> + +<p> +All that we have passed through hitherto may be +classed under the title of <q>first impressions.</q> The +wild northern coast shows us but one inlet, of the +Gulf of Salona, with a little port of Itea at its +mouth. This was the old highway to ascend to the +oracle of Delphi on the snowy Parnassus, which we +shall approach better from the Bœotian side. But +now we strain our eyes to behold the great rock of +<pb n='23'/><anchor id='Pg023'/>Corinth, and to invade this, the first great centre of +Greek life, which closes the long bay at its westernmost +end. +</p> + +<p> +I will add a word upon the form and scope of the +following work. My aim is to bring the living +features of Greece home to the student, by connecting +them, as far as possible, with the facts of older history, +which are so familiar to most of us. I shall also +have a good deal to say about the modern politics of +Greece, and the character of the modern population. +A long and careful survey of the extant literature +of ancient Greece has convinced me that the pictures +usually drawn of the old Greeks are idealized, and +that the real people were of a very different—if you +please, of a much lower—type. I may mention, as +a very remarkable confirmation of my judgment, +that intelligent people at Athens, who had read my +opinions elsewhere set forth upon the subject,<note place="foot">In my <hi rend='italic'>Social Life in Greece, from Homer to Menander</hi>.</note> were +so much struck with the close resemblance of my +pictures of the old Greeks to the present inhabitants, +that they concluded that I must have visited the +country before writing these opinions, and that I +was, in fact, drawing my classical people from the +life of the moderns. If this is not a proof of the +justice of these views, it at least strongly suggests +that they may be true, and is a powerful support in +arguing the matter on the perfectly independent +ground of the inferences from old literature. After +<pb n='24'/><anchor id='Pg024'/>all, national characteristics are very permanent, and +very hard to shake off, and it would seem strange, +indeed, if both these and the Greek language should +have remained almost intact, and yet the race have +either changed, or been saturated with foreign blood. +Foreign invasions and foreign conquests of Greece +were common enough; but here, as elsewhere, the +climate and circumstances which have formed a race +seem to conspire to preserve it, and to absorb foreign +types and features, rather than to permit the extinction +or total change of the older race. +</p> + +<p> +I feel much fortified in my judgment of Greek +character by finding that a very smart, though too +sarcastic, observer, M. E. About, in his well-known +<hi rend='italic'>Grèce contemporaine</hi>, estimates the people very +nearly as I am disposed to estimate the common +people of ancient Greece. He notices, in the +second and succeeding chapters of his book, a +series of features which make this nationality a very +distinct one in Europe. Starting from the question +of national beauty, and holding rightly that the +beauty of the men is greater than that of the women, +he touches on a point which told very deeply upon +all the history of Greek art. At the present day, +the Greek men are much more particular about their +appearance, and more vain of it, than the women. +The most striking beauty among them is that of +young men; and as to the care of figure, as About +well observes, in Greece it is the men who pinch +<pb n='25'/><anchor id='Pg025'/>their waists—a fashion unknown among Greek +women. Along with this handsome appearance, the +people are, without doubt, a very temperate people; +although they make a great deal of strong wine, +they seldom drink much, and are far more critical +about good water than wine. Indeed, in so warm a +climate, wine is disagreeable even to the northern +traveller; and, as Herodotus remarked long ago, +very likely to produce insanity, the rarest form of +disease among the Greeks. In fact, they are not +a passionate race—having at all ages been gifted +with a very bright intellect, and a great reasonableness; +they have an intellectual insight into +things, which is inconsistent with the storms of +wilder passion. +</p> + +<p> +They are, probably, as clever a people as can be +found in the world, and fit for any mental work +whatever. This they have proved, not only by getting +into their hands all the trade of the Eastern +Mediterranean, but by holding their own perfectly +among English merchants in England. As yet they +have not found any encouragement in other directions; +but there can be no doubt that, if settled +among a great people, and weaned from the follies +and jealousies of Greek politics, they would (like +the Jews) outrun many of us, both in politics and in +science. However that may be—and perhaps such +a development requires moral qualities in which +they seem deficient—it is certain that their work<pb n='26'/><anchor id='Pg026'/>men learn trades with extraordinary quickness; +while their young commercial or professional men +acquire languages, and the amount of knowledge +necessary for making money, with the most singular +aptness. But as yet they are stimulated chiefly by +the love of gain. +</p> + +<p> +Besides this, they have great national pride, and, +as M. About remarks, we need never despair of a +people who are at the same time intelligent and +proud. They are very fond of displaying their +knowledge on all points—I noted especially their +pride in exhibiting their acquaintance with old Greek +history and legend. When I asked them whether +they believed the old mythical stories which they +repeated, they seemed afraid of being thought simple +if they confessed that they did, and of injuring the +reputation of their ancestors if they declared they +did not. So they used to preserve a discreet neutrality. +</p> + +<p> +The instinct of liberty appears to me as strong in +the nation now as it ever was. In fact, the people +have never been really enslaved. The eternal refuge +for liberty afforded by the sea and the mountains +has saved them from this fate; and, even +beneath the heavy yoke of the Turks, a large part +of the nation was not subdued, but, in the guise of +bandits and pirates, enjoyed the great privilege for +which their ancestors had contended so earnestly. +The Mainotes, for example, of whom I have just +<pb n='27'/><anchor id='Pg027'/>spoken as occupying the coast of Messene, never +tolerated any resident Turkish magistrate among +them, but <q>handed to a trembling tax-collector a +little purse of gold pieces, hung on the end of a +naked sword.</q><note place="foot">The words are M. About’s.</note> Now, the whole nation is more intensely +and thoroughly democratic than any other in +Europe. They acknowledge no nobility save that +of descent from the chiefs who fought in the war of +liberation; they will allow no distinction of classes; +every common mule-boy is a gentleman (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">κύριος</foreign>), and +fully your equal. He sits in the room at meals, and +joins in the conversation at dinner. They only +tolerate a king because they cannot endure one of +themselves as their superior. This jealousy is, unfortunately, +a mainspring of Greek politics, and +when combined with a dislike of agriculture, as a +stupid and unintellectual occupation, fills all the +country with politicians, merchants, and journalists. +Moreover, they want the spirit of subordination of +their great ancestors, and are often accused of lack +of honesty—a very grave feature, and the greatest +obstacle to progress in all ages. It is better, however, +to let points of character come out gradually +in the course of our studies than to bring them together +into an official portrait. It is impossible to +wander through the country without seeing and +understanding the inhabitants; for the traveller is +<pb n='28'/><anchor id='Pg028'/>in constant contact with them, and they have no +scruple in displaying all their character. +</p> + +<p> +M. About has earned the profound hatred and +contempt of the nation by his picture, and I do not +wonder at it, seeing that the tone in which he writes +is flippant and ill-natured, and seems to betoken +certain private animosities, of which the Greeks tell +numerous anecdotes. +</p> + +<p> +I have no such excuse for being severe or ill-natured, +as I found nothing but kindness and hospitality +everywhere, and sincerely hope that my free +judgments may not hurt any sensitive Greek who +may chance to see them. Even the great Finlay—one +of their best friends—is constantly censured by +them for his writings about Modern Greece. +</p> + +<p> +But, surely, any real lover of Greece must feel +that plain speaking about the faults of the nation is +much wanted. The worship lavished upon them by +Byron and his school has done its good, and can now +only do harm. On the other hand, I must confess +that a longer and more intimate intercourse with the +Greeks of the interior and of the mountains leads a +fair observer to change his earlier estimate, and +think more highly of the nation than at first acquaintance. +Unfortunately, the Greeks known to +most of us are sailors—mongrel villains from the ports +of the Levant, having very little in common with the +bold, honest, independent peasant who lives under +his vine and his fig-tree in the valleys of Arcadia +<pb n='29'/><anchor id='Pg029'/>or of Phocis. It was, no doubt, an intimate knowledge +of the sound core of the nation which inspired +Byron with that enthusiasm which many now think +extravagant and misplaced. But here, as elsewhere, +the folly of a great genius has more truth in +it than the wisdom of his feebler critics. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="2" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='30'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +<index index="toc" level1="II. General Impressions of Athens and Attica"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="II. General Impressions of Athens and Attica"/> +<head>CHAPTER II.</head> + +<head type="sub">GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF ATHENS AND ATTICA.</head> + +<p> +There is probably no more exciting voyage, to +any educated man, than the approach to Athens +from the sea. Every promontory, every island, +every bay, has its history. If he knows the map of +Greece, he needs no guide-book or guide to distract +him; if he does not, he needs little Greek to ask of +any one near him the name of this or that object; +and the mere names are sufficient to stir up all his +classical recollections. But he must make up his +mind not to be shocked at <hi rend='italic'>Ægina</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>Phalerum</hi>, and +even to be told that he is utterly wrong in his way +of pronouncing them. +</p> + +<p> +It was our fortune to come into Greece by night, +with a splendid moon shining upon the summer sea. +The varied outlines of Sunium on the one side, and +Ægina on the other, were very clear, but in the deep +shadows there was mystery enough to feed the burning +impatience to see it all in the light of common +day; and though we had passed Ægina, and had +come over against the rocky Salamis, as yet there +was no sign of Peiræus. Then came the light on +Psyttalea, and they told us that the harbor was right +<pb n='31'/><anchor id='Pg031'/>opposite. Yet we came nearer and nearer, and no +harbor could be seen. The barren rocks of the +coast seemed to form one unbroken line, and nowhere +was there a sign of indentation or of break in the +land. But, suddenly, as we turned from gazing on +Psyttalea, where the flower of the Persian nobles +had once stood in despair, looking upon their fate +gathering about them, the vessel had turned eastward, +and discovered to us the crowded lights and +thronging ships of the famous harbor. Small it +looked, very small, but evidently deep to the water’s +edge, for great ships seemed touching the shore; +and so narrow is the mouth that we almost wondered +how they had made their entrance in safety. +But we saw it some weeks later, with nine men-of-war +towering above all its merchant shipping +and its steamers, and among them crowds of +ferry-boats skimming about in the breeze with their +wing-like sails. Then we found out that, like the +rest of Greece, the Peiræus was far larger than it +looked. +</p><anchor id="ill030"/><index index="fig" level1="Along the Coast from the Throne of Xerxes"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Along the Coast from the Throne of Xerxes]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus050.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Along the Coast from the Throne of Xerxes</head><figDesc>Along the Coast from the Throne of Xerxes</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It differed little, alas! from more vulgar harbors +in the noise and confusion of disembarking; in the +delays of its custom house; in the extortion and +insolence of its boatmen. It is still, as in Plato’s +day, <q>the haunt of sailors, where good manners are +unknown.</q> But when we had escaped the turmoil, +and were seated silently on the way to Athens, +almost along the very road of classical days, all our +<pb n='32'/><anchor id='Pg032'/>classical notions, which had been scared away by +vulgar bargaining and protesting, regained their +sway. We had sailed in through the narrow passage +where almost every great Greek that ever +lived had sometime passed; now we went along the +line, hardly less certain, which had seen all these +great ones going to and fro between the city and the +port. The present road is shaded with great silver +poplars and plane trees, and the moon had set, so that +our approach to Athens was even more mysterious +than our approach to the Peiræus. We were, moreover, +perplexed at our carriage stopping under some +large plane trees, though we had driven but two +miles, and the night was far spent. Our coachman +would listen to no advice or persuasion. We learned +afterwards that every carriage going to and from the +Peiræus stops at this half-way house, that the horses +may drink, and the coachman take <q>Turkish delight</q> +and water. There is no exception made to +this custom, and the traveller is bound to submit. +At last we entered the unpretending ill-built streets +at the west of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +The stillness of the night is a phenomenon hardly +known in that city. No sooner have men and +horses gone to rest than all the dogs and cats of the +town come out to bark and yell about the thoroughfares. +Athens, like all parts of modern Greece, +abounds in dogs. You cannot pass a sailing boat +in the Levant without seeing a dog looking angrily +<pb n='33'/><anchor id='Pg033'/>over the taffrail, and barking at you as you pass. +Every ship in the Peiræus has at least one, often a +great many, on board. I suppose every house in +Athens is provided with one. These creatures +seem to make it their business to prevent silence +and rest all the night long. They were ably +seconded by cats and crowing cocks, as well as by +an occasional wakeful donkey; and both cats and +donkeys seemed to have voices of almost tropical +violence. +</p> + +<p> +So the night wore away under rapidly growing +adverse impressions. How is a man to admire art +and revere antiquity if he is robbed of his repose? +The Greeks sleep so much in the day that they +seem indifferent about nightly disturbances; and, +perhaps, after many years’ habit, even Athenian +caterwauling may fail to rouse the sleeper. But +what chance has the passing traveller? Even the +strongest ejaculations are but a narrow outlet for his +feelings. +</p> + +<p> +In this state of mind, then, I rose at the break of +dawn to see whether the window would afford any +prospect to serve as a requital for angry sleeplessness. +And there, right opposite, stood the rock which of +all rocks in the world’s history has done most +for literature and art—the rock which poets, and +orators, and architects, and historians have ever +glorified, and cannot stay their praise—which is +ever new and ever old, ever fresh in its decay, ever +<pb n='34'/><anchor id='Pg034'/>perfect in its ruin, ever living in its death—the +Acropolis of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +When I saw my dream and longing of many years +fulfilled, the first rays of the rising sun had just +touched the heights, while the town below was still +hid in gloom. Rock, and rampart, and ruined fanes—all +were colored in uniform tints; the lights were +of a deep rich orange, and the shadows of dark +crimson, with the deeper lines of purple. There +was no variety in color between what nature and +what man had set there. No whiteness shone from +the marble, no smoothness showed upon the hewn +and polished blocks; but the whole mass of orange +and crimson stood out together into the pale, pure +Attic air. There it stood, surrounded by lanes and +hovels, still perpetuating the great old contrast in +Greek history, of magnificence and meanness—of +loftiness and lowness—as well in outer life as in inward +motive. And, as it were in illustration of that +art of which it was the most perfect bloom, and +which lasted in perfection but a day of history, I saw +it again and again, in sunlight and in shade, in daylight +and at night, but never again in this perfect +and singular beauty. +</p> + +<p> +If we except the Acropolis, there are only two +striking buildings of classical antiquity within the +modern town of Athens—the Temple of Theseus and +the few standing columns of Hadrian’s great temple +to Zeus. The latter is, indeed, very remarkable. +<pb n='35'/><anchor id='Pg035'/>The pillars stand on a vacant platform, once the site +of the gigantic temple; the Acropolis forms a noble +background; away towards Phalerum stretch undulating +hills which hide the sea; to the left (if we +look from the town), Mount Hymettus raises its +barren slopes; and in the valley, immediately below +the pillars, flows the famous little Ilisus,<note place="foot">I beg to point out to a learned and kindly critic in the +<hi rend='italic'>Athenæum</hi>, who corrected several faults of spelling in the first +edition, that this is the form of the name warranted by inscriptions, +and now to be received by scholars: cf. Wachsmuth’s <hi rend='italic'>Stadt +Athen</hi>, i. p. 49.</note> glorified +for ever by the poetry of Plato, and in its summer-dry +bed the fountain Callirrhoe, from which the +Athenian maidens still draw water as of old—water +the purest and best in the city. It wells out from +under a great limestone rock, all plumed with the +rich <hi rend='italic'>Capillus Veneris</hi>, which seems to find out and +frame with its delicate green every natural spring +in Greece. +</p> + +<p> +But the pillars of the Temple of Zeus, though +very stately and massive, and with their summits +bridged together by huge blocks of architrave, are +still not Athenian, not Attic, not (if I may say so) +genuine Greek work; for the Corinthian capitals, +which are here seen perhaps in their greatest perfection, +cannot be called pure Greek taste. As is +well known, they were hardly ever used, and never +used prominently, till the Græco-Roman stage of +<pb n='36'/><anchor id='Pg036'/>art. The older Greeks seem to have had a fixed +objection to intricate ornamentation in their larger +temples. All the greater temples of Greece and +Greek Italy are of the Doric Order, with its perfectly +plain capital. Groups of figures were admitted +upon the pediments and metopes, because +these groups formed clear and massive designs +visible from a distance. But such intricacies as +those of the Corinthian capital were not approved, +except in small monuments, which were merely +intended for close inspection, and where delicate +ornament gave grace to a building which could not +lay claim to grandeur. Such is clearly the case with +the only purely Greek (as opposed to Græco-Roman) +monument of the Corinthian Order, which is still +standing—the Choragic monument of Lysicrates at +Athens.<note place="foot">This beautiful monument has been so defaced and mutilated +that the photographs of to-day give no idea of its decoration. +The careful drawings and restorations of Stuart and Revett were +made in the last century, when it was still comparatively intact, +and it is through their book alone that we can now estimate the +merits of many of the ancient buildings of Athens. It should be +added that there was a solitary Corinthian capital found in the +temple of Bassæ, which I will describe in another chapter. But +this still affords an unsolved problem. The Philippeion at Olympia +(built by the famous Philip of Macedon) also contained an inner +circle of Corinthian pillars, while the outer circle was Ionic.</note> It was also the case with that beautiful +little temple, or group of temples, known as the +Erechtheum, which, standing beside the great massive +Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, presents +<pb n='37'/><anchor id='Pg037'/>the very contrasts upon which I am insisting. It is +small and essentially graceful, being built in the +Ionic style, with rich ornamentation; while the +Parthenon is massive, and, in spite of much ornamentation, +very severe in its plainer Doric style. +</p><anchor id="ill036"/><index index="fig" level1="The Erechtheum from the West, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Erechtheum from the West, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus058.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Erechtheum from the West, Athens</head> + <figDesc>The Erechtheum from the West, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +But to return to the pillars of Hadrian’s Temple. +They are about fifty-five feet high, by six and a +half feet in diameter, and no Corinthian pillar of +this colossal size would ever have been set up by +the Greeks in their better days. So, then, in spite +of the grandeur of these isolated remains—a grandeur +not destroyed, perhaps even not diminished, by coffee +tables, and inquiring waiters, and military bands, +and a vulgar crowd about their base—to the student +of really Greek art they are not of the highest +interest; nay, they even suggest to him what the +Periclean Greeks would have done had they, with +such resources, completed the great temple due to +the munificence of the Roman Emperor. +</p> + +<p> +Let us turn, in preference, to the Temple of +Theseus, at the opposite extremity of the town, it +too standing upon a clear platform, and striking the +traveller with its symmetry and its completeness, as +he approaches from the Peiræus. It is in every +way a contrast to the temple of which we have just +spoken. It is very small—in fact so small in comparison +with the Parthenon, or the great temple at +Pæstum, that we are disappointed with it; and yet +it is built, not in the richly-decorated Ionic style of +<pb n='38'/><anchor id='Pg038'/>the Erechtheum, but in severe Doric; and though +small and plain, it is very perfect—as perfect as any +such relic that we have. It is many centuries older +than Hadrian’s great temple. It could have been +destroyed with one-tenth of the trouble, and yet it +still stands almost in its perfection. The reason is +simply this. Few of the great classical temples +suffered much from wanton destruction till the +Middle Ages. Now, in the Middle Ages this +temple, as well as the Parthenon, was usurped by +the Greek Church, and turned into a place of +Christian worship. So, then, the little Temple of +Theseus has escaped the ravages which the last few +centuries—worse than all that went before—have +made in the remains of a noble antiquity. To +those who desire to study the effect of the Doric +Order this temple appears to me an admirable specimen. +From its small size and clear position, all its +points are very easily taken in. <q>Such,</q> says Bishop +Wordsworth, <q>is the integrity of its structure, and +the distinctness of its details, that it requires no +description beyond that which a few glances might +supply. Its beauty defies all: its solid yet graceful +form is, indeed, admirable; and the loveliness of +its coloring is such that, from the rich mellow hue +which the marble has now assumed, it looks as if it +had been quarried, not from the bed of a rocky mountain, +but from the golden light of an Athenian sunset.</q> +And in like terms many others have spoken. +</p> + +<pb n='39'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> + +<p> +I have only one reservation to make. The Doric +Order being essentially massive, it seems to me that +this beautiful temple lacks one essential feature of +that order, and therefore, after the first survey, after +a single walk about it, it loses to the traveller who +has seen Pæstum, and who presently cannot fail to +see the Parthenon, that peculiar effect of massiveness—of +almost Egyptian solidity—which is ever +present, and ever imposing, in these huger Doric +temples. It seems as if the Athenians themselves +felt this—that the plain simplicity of its style was +not effective without size—and accordingly decorated +this structure with colors more richly than their +other temples. All the reliefs and raised ornaments +seem to have been painted; other decorations were +added in color on the flat surfaces, so that the whole +temple must have been a mass of rich variegated +hues, of which blue, green, and red are still distinguishable—or +were in Stuart’s time—and in +which bronze and gilding certainly played an important +part. +</p> + +<p> +We are thus brought naturally face to face with +one of the peculiarities of old Greek art most difficult +to realize, and still more to appreciate.<note place="foot">The following remarks on the polychromy of Greek art are +not intended for Professors of Fine Art, to whom, indeed, few +things in this book, if true, can be new, but for the ordinary +reader, who may not have seen it discussed elsewhere.</note> We +can recognize in Egyptian and in Assyrian art the +<pb n='40'/><anchor id='Pg040'/>richness and appropriateness of much coloring. +Modern painters are becoming so alive to this, that +among the most striking pictures in our Royal +Academy in London have been seen, for some years +back, scenes from old Egyptian and Assyrian life, in +which the rich coloring of the architecture has been +quite a prominent feature. +</p> + +<p> +But in Greek art—in the perfect symmetry of the +Greek temple, in the perfect grace of the Greek +statue—we come to think form of such paramount +importance, that we look on the beautiful Parian and +Pentelic marbles as specially suited for the expression +of form apart from color. There is even something +in unity of tone that delights the modern eye. +Thus, though we feel that the old Greek temples +have lost all their original brightness, yet, as I have +myself said, and as I have quoted from Bishop +Wordsworth, the rich mellow hue which tones all +these ruins has to us its peculiar charm. The same +rich yellow brown, almost the color of the Roman +travertine, is one of the most striking features in the +splendid remains which have made Pæstum unique +in all Italy. This color contrasts beautifully with +the blue sky of southern Europe; it lights up with +extraordinary richness in the rising or setting sun. +We can easily conceive that were it proposed to +restore the Attic temples to their pristine whiteness, +we should feel a severe shock, and beg to have these +venerable buildings left in the soberness of their +<pb n='41'/><anchor id='Pg041'/>acquired color. Still more does it shock us to be +told that great sculptors, with Parian marble at +hand, preferred to set up images of the gods in gold +and ivory, or, still worse, with parts of gold and +ivory; and that they thought it right to fill out the +eyes with precious stones, and set gilded wreaths +upon colored hair. +</p> + +<p> +When we first come to realize these things, we +are likely to exclaim against such a jumble, as we +should call it, of painting and architecture—still +worse, of painting and sculpture. Nor is it possible +or reasonable that we should at once submit to such +a revolution in our artistic ideas, and bow without +criticism to these shocking features in Greek art. +But if blind obedience to these our great masters in +the laws of beauty is not to be commended, neither +is an absolute resistance to all argument on the +question to be respected; nor do I acknowledge the +good sense or the good taste of that critic who insists +that nothing can possibly equal the color and texture +of white marble, and that all coloring of such a substance +is the mere remains of barbarism. For, say +what we will, the Greeks were certainly, as a nation, +the best judges of beauty the world has yet seen. +And this is not all. The beauty of which they were +evidently the most fond was beauty of form—harmony +of proportions, symmetry of design. They +always hated the tawdry and the extravagant. As +to their literature, there is no poetry, no oratory, no +<pb n='42'/><anchor id='Pg042'/>history, which is less decorated with the flowers of +rhetoric: it is all pure in design, chaste in detail. +So with their dress; so with their dwellings. We +cannot but feel that, had the effect of painted temples +and statues been tawdry, there is no people on earth +who would have felt it so keenly, and disliked it so +much. There must, then, have been strong reasons +why this bright coloring did not strike their eye as +it would the eye of sober moderns. +</p> + +<p> +To any one who has seen the country, and thought +about the question there, many such reasons present +themselves. In the first place, all through southern +Europe, and more especially in Greece, there is an +amount of bright color in nature, which prevents +almost any artificial coloring from producing a startling +effect. Where all the landscape, the sea, and +the air are exceedingly bright, we find the inhabitants +increasing the brightness of their dress and +houses, as it were to correspond with nature. Thus, +in Italy, they paint their houses green, and pink, +and yellow, and so give to their towns and villas +that rich and warm effect which we miss so keenly +among the gray and sooty streets of northern +Europe. So also in their dress, these people wear +scarlet, and white, and rich blue, not so much in +patterns as in large patches, and a festival in Sicily +or Greece fills the streets with intense color. We +know that the coloring of the old Greek dress was +quite of the same character as that of the modern, +<pb n='43'/><anchor id='Pg043'/>though in design it has completely changed. We +must, therefore, imagine the old Greek crowd before +their temples, or in their market-places, a very white +crowd, with patches of scarlet and various blue; +perhaps altogether white in processions, if we except +scarlet shoe-straps and other such slight relief. One +cannot but feel that a richly colored temple—that +pillars of blue and red—that friezes of gilding, and +other ornament, upon a white marble ground, and in +white marble framing, must have been a splendid +and appropriate background, a genial feature, in +such a sky and with such costume. We must get +accustomed to such combinations—we must dwell +upon them in imagination, or ask our good painters +to restore them for us, and let us look upon them +constantly and calmly. +</p> + +<p> +But I will not seek to persuade; let us merely +state the case fairly, and put the reader in a position +to judge for himself. So much for the painted +architecture. I will but add, the most remarkable +specimen of a richly painted front to which we can +now appeal is also really one of the most beautiful +in Europe—the front of S. Mark’s at Venice. The +rich frescoes and profuse gilding on this splendid +front, of which photographs give a very false idea, +should be studied by all who desire to judge fairly +of this side of Greek taste. +</p> + +<p> +But I must say a word, before passing on, concerning +the statues. No doubt, the painting of +<pb n='44'/><anchor id='Pg044'/>statues, and the use of gold and ivory upon them, +were derived from a rude age, when no images +existed but rude wooden work—at first a mere +block, then roughly altered and reduced to shape, +probably requiring some coloring to produce any +effect whatever. To a public accustomed from +childhood to such painted, and often richly dressed +images, a pure white marble statue must appear +utterly cold and lifeless. So it does to us, when we +have become accustomed to the mellow tints of old +and even weather-stained Greek statues; and it +should be here noticed that this mellow skin-surface +on antique statues is not the mere result of age, but +of an artificial process, whereby they burnt into the +surface a composition of wax and oil, which gave a +yellowish tone to the marble, as well as also that +peculiar surface which so accurately represents the +texture of the human skin. But if we imagine all +the marble surfaces and reliefs in the temple colored +for architectural richness’ sake, we can feel even +more strongly how cold and out-of-place would be +a perfectly colorless statue in the centre of all this +pattern. +</p> + +<p> +I will go further, and say we can point out cases +where coloring greatly heightens the effect and +beauty of sculpture. The first is from the bronzes +found at Herculaneum, now in the museum at +Naples. Though they are not marble, they are +suitable for our purpose, being naturally of a single +<pb n='45'/><anchor id='Pg045'/>dark brown hue, which is indeed even more unfavorable +(we should think) for such treatment. In +some of the finest of these bronzes—especially in +the two young men starting for a race—the eyeballs +are inserted in white, with iris and pupil colored. +Nothing can be conceived more striking and lifelike +than the effect produced. There is in the Varvakion +at Athens a marble mask, found in the Temple of +Æsculapius under the south side of the Acropolis, +probably an <hi rend='italic'>ex voto</hi> offered for a recovery from some +disease of the eyes. This marble face also has its +eyes colored in the most striking and lifelike way, +and is one of the most curious objects found in the +late excavations. +</p> + +<p> +I will add one remarkable modern example—the +monument at Florence to a young Indian prince, +who visited England and this country some years +ago, and died of fever during his homeward voyage. +They have set up to him a richly colored and gilded +baldachin, in the open air, and in a quiet, wooded +park. Under this covering is a life-sized bust of +the prince, in his richest state dress. The whole +bust—the turban, the face, the drapery—all is colored +to the life, and the dress, of course, of the most +gorgeous variety. The turban is chiefly white, +striped with gold, in strong contrast to the mahogany +complexion and raven hair of the actual head; +the robe is gold and green, and covered with ornament. +The general effect is, from the very first +<pb n='46'/><anchor id='Pg046'/>moment, striking and beautiful. The longer it is +studied, the better it appears; and there is hardly a +reasonable spectator who will not confess that, were +we to replace the present bust with a copy of it in +white marble, the beauty and harmony of the monument +would be utterly marred. To those who have +the opportunity of visiting Greece or Italy, I +strongly commend these specimens of colored buildings +and sculpture. When they have seen them, +they will hesitate to condemn what we still hear +called the curiously bad taste of the old Greeks in +their use of color in the plastic arts. +</p> + +<p> +But these archæological discussions are truly +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἐκβολαὶ λόγου</foreign>, digressions—in themselves necessary, +yet only tolerable if they are not too long. I revert +to the general state of the antiquities at Athens, +always reserving the Acropolis for a special chapter. +As I said, the isolated pillars of Hadrian’s Temple +of Zeus, and the so-called Temple of Theseus, are +the only very striking objects.<note place="foot">By the way, the appellation <q>Temple of Theseus</q> is more +than doubtful. The building fronts towards the east. This is +proved by the greater size and more elaborate decoration of the +eastern portal. It is almost certain, according to an old scholion +on Pindar, that the temples of heroes like Theseus faced west, +while those only of the Olympian gods faced the rising sun. The +temple, therefore, was the temple, not of a hero, but of a god. +Probably the Temple of Heracles, worshipped as a <hi rend='italic'>god</hi> at Athens, +which is mentioned in the scholia of Aristophanes as situated in +this part of Athens, is to be identified with the building in question. +But I suppose for years to come we must be content to abide +by the old name of Theseon, which is now too long in general use +to be easily disturbed.</note> There are, of +<pb n='47'/><anchor id='Pg047'/>course, many other buildings, or remains of buildings. +There is the monument of Lysicrates—a +small and very graceful round chamber, adorned +with Corinthian engaged pillars, and with friezes +of the school of Scopas, and intended to carry on its +summit the tripod Lysicrates had gained in a musical +and dramatic contest (334 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>) at Athens. There +is the later Temple of the Winds, as it is called—a +sort of public clock, with sundials and fine reliefs +of the Wind-gods on its outward surfaces, and arrangements +for a water-clock within. There are +two portals, or gateways—one leading into the old +agora, or market-place, the other leading from old +Athens into the Athens of Hadrian. +</p> + +<p> +But all these buildings are either miserably defaced, +or of such late date and decayed taste as to +make them unworthy specimens of pure Greek art. +A single century ago there was much to be seen and +admired which has since disappeared; and even +to-day the majority of the population are careless +as to the treatment of ancient monuments, and sometimes +even mischievous in wantonly defacing them. +Thus, I saw the marble tombs of Ottfried Müller +and Charles Lenormant—tombs which, though modern, +were yet erected at the cost of the nation to +men who were eminent lovers and students of Greek +art—I saw these tombs used as common targets by +<pb n='48'/><anchor id='Pg048'/>the neighborhood, and all peppered with marks of +shot and of bullets. I saw them, too, all but blown +up by workmen blasting for building-stones close +beside them.<note place="foot">I was since informed at Athens that this complaint had not +been without results, and that steps are being taken to prevent +quarrying at random on classical sites.</note> I saw, also, from the Acropolis, a +young gentleman practising with a pistol at a piece +of old carved marble work in the Theatre of Dionysus. +His object seemed to be to chip off a piece +from the edge at every shot. Happily, on this occasion, +our vantage ground enabled us to take the law +into our own hands; and after in vain appealing to +a custodian to interfere, we adopted the tactics of +Apollo at Delphi, and by detaching stones from the +top of our precipice, we put to flight the wretched +barbarian who had come to ravage the treasures of +that most sacred place. +</p> + +<p> +These unhappy examples of the defacing of architectural +monuments,<note place="foot">Even the marble statue set up to the patriot Botzari over the +grave of the heroes of Missolonghi was so mutilated by the inhabitants +that the authorities have removed it from mere shame.</note> which can hardly be removed, +naturally suggest to the traveller in Greece the +kindred question how all the smaller and movable +antiquities that are found should be distributed +so as best to promote the love and knowledge of +art. +</p> + +<p> +On this point it seems to me that we have gone +to one extreme, and the Greeks to the other, and +<pb n='49'/><anchor id='Pg049'/>that neither of us have done our best to make known +what we acknowledge ought to be known as widely +as possible. The tendency in England, at least of +later years, has been to swallow up all lesser and all +private collections in the great national Museum in +London, which has accordingly become so enormous +and so bewildering that no one can profit by it except +the trained specialist, who goes in with his eyes +shut, and will not open them till he has arrived at +the special class of objects he intends to examine. +But to the ordinary public, and even the generally +enlightened public (if such an expression be not a +contradiction in terms), there is nothing so utterly +bewildering, and therefore so unprofitable, as a visit +to the myriad treasures of that great world of curiosities. +</p> + +<p> +In the last century many private persons—many +noblemen of wealth and culture—possessed remarkable +collections of antiquities. These have +mostly been swallowed up by what is called <q>the +nation,</q> and new private collections are very rare +indeed. +</p> + +<p> +In Greece the very opposite course is being now +pursued. By a special law it is forbidden to sell out +of the country, or even to remove from a district, +any antiquities whatever; and in consequence little +museums have been established in every village in +Greece—nay, sometimes even in places where there +is no village, in order that every district may +pos<pb n='50'/><anchor id='Pg050'/>sess its own riches, and become worth a visit from +the traveller and the antiquary. I have seen such +museums at Eleusis, some fifteen miles from Athens, +at Thebes, now an unimportant town, at Livadia, at +Chæronea, at Argos, at Olympia, and even in the +wild plains of Orchomenus, in a little chapel, with +no town within miles.<note place="foot">It is fair to add that an exception has been made for the discoveries +at Mycenæ, which have been almost all brought to +Athens; and that a handsome museum has now been built at +Olympia, and a good road from Pyrgos, which has a railway to +the sea.</note> If I add to this that most of +these museums were mere dark outhouses, only +lighted through the door, the reader will have some +notion what a task it would be to visit and criticise, +with any attempt at completeness, the ever-increasing +remnants of classical Greece. +</p> + +<p> +The traveller is at first disposed to complain that +even the portable antiquities found in various parts +of Greece are not brought to Athens, and gathered +into one vast national museum. Further reflection +shows such a proceeding to be not only impossible, +but highly inexpedient. I will not speak of the +great waste of objects of interest when they are +brought together in such vast masses that the visitor +is rather oppressed than enlightened. Any one who +has gone to the British Museum will know what I +mean. Nor will I give the smallest weight to the +selfish local argument, that compelling visitors to +<pb n='51'/><anchor id='Pg051'/>wander from place to place brings traffic and money +into the country. Until proper roads and clean inns +are established, such an argument is both unfair and +unlikely to produce results worth considering. But +fortunately most of the famous things in Greece are +sites, ruined buildings, forts which cannot be removed +from their place, if at all, without destruction, +and of which the very details cannot be understood +without seeing the place for which they were +intended. Even the Parthenon sculptures in London +would have lost most of their interest, if the +building itself at Athens did not show us their application, +and glorify them with its splendor. He +who sees the gold of Mycenæ at Athens, knows little +of its meaning, if he has not visited the giant forts +where its owners once dwelt and exercised their +sway; and if, as has been done at Olympia, some +patriotic Greek had built a safe museum at Mycenæ +to contain them, they would be more deeply interesting +and instructive than they now are. +</p> + +<p> +In such a town as Athens, on the contrary, it +seems to me that the true solution of the problem +has been attained, though it will probably be shortly +abandoned for a central museum. There are (or +were) at Athens at least six separate museums of +antiquities—one at the University, one called the +Varvakion, one in the Theseum, one, or rather two, +on the Acropolis, one in the Ministry of Public Instruction, +and lastly, the new National Museum, +<pb n='52'/><anchor id='Pg052'/>as it is called, in Patissia Street—devoted to its +special treasures. If these several storehouses were +thoroughly kept,—if the objects were carefully numbered +and catalogued,—I can conceive no better +arrangement for studying separately and in detail +the various monuments, which must always bewilder +and fatigue when crowded together in one vast exhibition. +If the British Museum were in this way +severed into many branches, and the different classes +of objects it contains were placed in separate buildings, +and in different parts of London, I believe +most of us would acquire a far greater knowledge +of what it contains, and hence it would attain a +greater usefulness in educating the nation. To visit +any one of the Athenian museums is a comparatively +short and easy task, where a man can see the +end of his labor before him, and hence will not hesitate +to delay long over such things as are worth a +careful study. +</p> + +<p> +It may be said that all this digression about the +mere placing of monuments is delaying the reader +too long from what he desires to know—something +about the monuments themselves. But this little +book, to copy an expression of Herodotus, particularly +affects digressions. I desire to wander through +the subject exactly in the way which naturally suggests +itself to me. After all, the reflections on a +journey ought to be more valuable than its mere +description. +</p> + +<pb n='53'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> + +<p> +Before passing into Attica and leaving Athens, +something more must, of course, be said of the museums, +then of the newer diggings, and especially +of the splendid tombs found in the Kerameikus. +We will then mount the Acropolis, and wander leisurely +about its marvellous ruins. From it we can +look out upon the general shape and disposition of +Attica, and plan our shorter excursions. +</p> + +<p> +As some of the suggestions in my first edition +have found favor at Athens, I venture to point out +here the great benefit which the Greek archæologists +would confer on all Europe if they would publish an +official guide to Athens, with some moderately complete +account of the immense riches of its museums. +Such a book, which might appear under the sanction +of M. Rousopoulos, or Professor Koumanoudis, +might be promoted either by the Greek Parliament +or the University of Athens. Were it even published +in modern Greek, its sale must be large and +certain; and, by appendices, or new editions, it +could be kept up to the level of the new discoveries. +The catalogues of Kekulé and of Heydemann are +already wholly inadequate, and unless one has the +privilege of knowing personally one of the gentlemen +above named, it is very difficult indeed to +obtain any proper notion of the history, or of the +original sites, of the various objects which excite +curiosity or admiration at every step. Such a book +as I suggest would be hailed by every Hellenist in +<pb n='54'/><anchor id='Pg054'/>Europe as an inestimable boon. But in a land +where the able men are perpetually engaged in making +or observing new discoveries, they will naturally +despise the task of cataloguing what they know. +Hence, I suggest that some promising young scholar +might undertake the book, and have his work revised +by his masters in the sober and practical +school of Athens.<note place="foot">Since this was written there have been published (in German) +two careful catalogues of the sculptures of Athens by V. Sybel and +by Milchhöfer (1881), and there is besides the excellent <hi rend='italic'>Handbook +for Greece</hi> by Dr. Lolling (Bædeker). The new edition of +Murray’s Handbook is very dear and not very satisfactory. There +is a small Greek Catalogue published by Stanford, translated by +Miss Agnes Smith. The Mycenæan antiquities are described in a +separate book by Schliemann, and by Schuchhardt.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='55'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +</div><div type="chapter" n="3" rend="page-break-before: always"> + <index index="toc" level1="III. Athens—The Museums—The Tombs"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="III. Athens--The Museums--The Tombs"/> +<head>CHAPTER III.</head> + +<head type="sub">ATHENS—THE MUSEUMS—THE TOMBS.</head> + +<p> +Nothing is more melancholy and more disappointing +than the first view of the Athenian museums. +Almost every traveller sees them after passing +through Italy, where everything—indeed far too +much—has been done to make the relics of antiquity +perfect and complete. Missing noses, and arms, and +feet have been restored; probable or possible names +have been assigned to every statue; they are set up, +generally, in handsome galleries, with suitable decoration; +the visitor is provided with full descriptive +catalogues. Nothing of all this is found in Greece. +The fragments are merely sorted: many of the +mutilated statues are lying prostrate, and, of course, +in no way restored. Everything is, however, in process +of being arranged. But there is room to apprehend +that in fifty years things will still be found +changing their places, and still in process of being +arranged. It is not fair to complain of these things +in a nation which is fully occupied with its political +and commercial development, and where new classical +remains are constantly added to the museums. +Every nerve is being strained by the Greeks to obtain +<pb n='56'/><anchor id='Pg056'/>their proper rights in the possible break-up of the +Ottoman Empire. Great efforts are, besides, being +made to develop not only the ports, but the manufactures +of the country. The building of new roads +is more vital to the nation than the saving and ordering +of artistic remains. Thus we must trust to +private enterprise and generosity to settle these +things; and these have hitherto not been wanting +among the Greeks. But their resources are small, +and they require help both in money and in sympathy. +So, then, unless foreign influences be continuously +brought to bear,—all the foreign schools +act unselfishly at their own expense,—I fear that +all of us who visit Athens will be doomed to that +first feeling of disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +But I am bound to add that every patient observer +who sets to work in spite of his disappointment, and +examines with honest care these <q>disjecta membra</q> +of Attic art—any one who will replace in imagination +the tips of noses—any one who will stoop over +lying statues, and guess at the context of broken +limbs—such an observer will find his vexation gradually +changing into wonder, and will at last come to +see that all the smoothly-restored Greek work in +Italian museums is not worth a tithe of the shattered +fragments in the real home and citadel of pure art. +This is especially true of the museum on the Acropolis. +It is, however, also true of the other +museums, and more obviously true of the reliefs +<pb n='57'/><anchor id='Pg057'/>upon the tombs. The assistance of an experienced +Athenian antiquary is also required, who knows his +way among the fragments, and who can tell the +history of the discovery, and the theories of the +purport of each. There are a good many men of +ability and learning connected with the University +of Athens, who describe each object in the antiquarian +papers as it is discovered. But when I +asked whether I could buy or subscribe to any +recognized organ for such information, I was told +(as I might have expected) that no single paper or +periodical was so recognized. Clashing interests and +personal friendships determine <hi rend='italic'>where</hi> each discovery +is to be announced; so that often the professedly +archæological journals contain no mention of such +things, while the common daily papers secure the +information. +</p> + +<p> +Here, again, we feel the want of some stronger +government—some despotic assertion of a law of +gravitation to a common centre—to counteract the +strong centrifugal forces acting all through Greek +society. The old <hi rend='italic'>autonomy</hi> of the Greeks—that old +assertion of local independence which was at once +their greatness and their ruin—this strong instinct +has lasted undiminished to the present day. They +seem even now to hate pulling together, as we say. +They seem always ready to assert their individual +rights and claims against those of the community +or the public. The old Greeks had as a safeguard +<pb n='58'/><anchor id='Pg058'/>their divisions into little cities and territories; so +that their passion for autonomy was expended on +their city interests, in which the individual could +forget himself. But as the old Greeks were often +too selfish for this, and asserted their personal +autonomy against their own city, so the modern +Greek, who has not this safety-valve, finds it difficult +to rise to the height of acting in the interests of the +nation at large; and though he converses much and +brilliantly about Hellenic unity, he generally allows +smaller interests to outweigh this splendid general +conception. I will here add a most annoying example +of this particularist feeling, which obtrudes +itself upon every visitor to Athens. The most trying +thing in the streets is the want of shade, and the +consequent glare of the houses and roadway. Yet +along every street there are planted pepper-trees of +graceful growth and of delicious scent. But why +are they all so wretchedly small and bare? Because +each inhabitant chooses to hack away the growing +branches in front of his own door. The Prime +Minister, who deplored this curious Vandalism, said +he was powerless to check it. Until, however, the +Athenians learn to control themselves, and let their +trees grow, Athens will be an ugly and disagreeable +city. +</p> + +<p> +So, then, the Greeks will not even agree to tell +us where we may find a complete list of newly-discovered +antiquities. Nor, indeed, does the Athenian +<pb n='59'/><anchor id='Pg059'/>public care very much, beyond a certain vague +pride, for such things, if we except one peculiar +kind, which has taken among them somewhat the +place of old china among us. There have been +found in many Greek cemeteries—in Megara, in Cyrene, +and of late in great abundance and excellence +at Tanagra, in Bœotia—little figures of terra cotta, +often delicately modelled and richly colored both in +dress and limbs. These figures are ordinarily from +eight to twelve inches high, and represent ladies +both sitting and standing in graceful attitudes, young +men in pastoral life, and other such subjects. I was +informed that some had been found in various places +through Greece, but the main source of them—and +a very rich source—is the Necropolis at Tanagra. +There are several collections of these figures on cup-boards +and in cabinets in private houses at Athens, +all remarkable for the marvellous modernness of +their appearance. The graceful drapery of the +ladies especially is very like modern dress, and +many have on their heads flat round hats, quite +similar in design to the gipsy hats much worn among +ladies of late years. But above all, the hair was +drawn back from the forehead, not at all in what is +considered Greek style, but rather<hi rend='italic'> à + <anchor id="corr059"/><corr sic="l">l’</corr> Eugénie</hi>, as +we used to say when we were young. Many hold +in their hands large fans, like those which we make +of peacocks’ feathers. No conclusive theory has +yet been started, so far as I know, concerning the +<pb n='60'/><anchor id='Pg060'/>object or intention of these figures. So many of +them are female figures, that it seems unlikely they +were portraits of the deceased; and the frequent +occurrence of two figures together, especially one +woman being carried by another, seems almost to +dissuade us from such a theory. They seem to be +the figures called <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Κόραι</foreign> by many old Greeks, which +were used as toys by children, and, perhaps, as +ornaments. The large class of tradesmen who made +them were called <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Κορόπλαθοι</foreign>, and were held in contempt +by real sculptors. Most of them are, indeed, +badly modelled, and evidently the work of ignorant +tradesmen. If it could be shown that they were +only found in the graves of children, it would be a +touching sign of that world-wide feeling among the +human race, to bury with the dead friend whatever +he loved and enjoyed in his life on earth, that he +might not feel lonely in his cold and gloomy grave.<note place="foot">There is no more pathetic instance than that described by Mr. +Squier (in his admirable work on Peru) of the tomb of a young +girl which he himself discovered, and where he comments on the +various objects laid to rest with the dead: cf. Squier’s <hi rend='italic'>Peru</hi>, p. 80. +There has since been found at Myrina, on the Asiatic coast, a +great store of these clay figures, also in tombs. Some sets of them +were made to represent the sculptures of a pediment, such as that +of the Parthenon, or rather of the east front of the temple of +Olympia.</note> +But it seems unlikely that this limitation can ever +be proved. +</p> + +<p> +There is an equal difficulty as to their age. The +<pb n='61'/><anchor id='Pg061'/>Greeks say that the tombs in which they are found +are not later than the second century <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, and it is, +indeed, hard to conceive at what later period there +was enough wealth and art to produce such often +elegant, and often costly, results. Tanagra and +Thespiæ were, indeed, in Strabo’s day (lib. ix. 2) the +only remaining cities of Bœotia; the rest, he says, +were but ruins and names. But we may be certain +that in that time of universal decay the remaining +towns must have been as poor and insignificant as +they now are. Thus, we seem thrown back into +classical or Alexandrian days for the origin of these +figures, which in their bright coloring—pink and +blue dresses, often gilded fringes, the hair always +fair, so far as I could find—are, indeed, like what +we know of old Greek statuary, but in other respects +surprisingly modern.<note place="foot">If I mistake not, Mr. A. S. Murray seems disposed to date +them about the first century either <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> or <hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi>, thus bringing +them down to about the time of Strabo.</note> If their antiquity can be +strictly demonstrated, it will but show another case +of the versatility of the Greeks in all things relating +to art: how, with the simplest material, and at a +long distance from the great art centres, they produced +a type of exceeding grace and refinement +totally foreign to their great old models, varying in +dress, attitude—in every point of style—from ordinary +Greek sculpture, and anticipating much of the +modern ideals of beauty and elegance. +</p> + +<pb n='62'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> + +<p> +But it is necessary to suspend our judgment, and +wait for further and closer investigation. The +workmen at Tanagra are now forbidden to sell these +objects to private fanciers; and in consequence, +their price has risen so enormously, that those in the +market, if of real elegance and artistic merit, cannot +be obtained for less than from £40 to £60. As +much as 2000 francs has been paid for one, when +they were less common. From this price downward +they can still be bought in Athens, the rude and +badly finished specimens being cheap enough. The +only other method of procuring them, or of procuring +them more cheaply, is to make diligent inquiries +when travelling in the interior, where they may +often be bought from poor people, either at Megara, +Tanagra, or elsewhere, who have chanced to find +them, and are willing enough to part with them after +a certain amount of bargaining. +</p> + +<p> +It is convenient to dispose of this peculiar and +distinct kind of Greek antiquities, because they +seem foreign to the rest, and cannot be brought +under any other head. These figurines have now +found their way into most European museums.<note place="foot">There is already quite a large collection of them in the British +Museum, <hi rend='italic'>e. g.</hi> Vase Room I., case 35, where there are many +of these figures from Tanagra. In Room II. there is a whole case +of them, chiefly from Cyrene, and from Cnidus.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I pass to the public collections at Athens, in +which we find few of these figures, and which +<pb n='63'/><anchor id='Pg063'/>rather contain the usual products of Greek plastic +art—statues, reliefs, as well as pottery, and inscriptions. +As I have said, the statues are in the most +lamentable condition, shattered into fragments, without +any attempt at restoring even such losses as can +be supplied with certainty. What mischief might +be done by such wholesale restoration as was practised +in Italy some fifty years ago, it is hard to say. +But perhaps the reaction against that error has +driven us to an opposite extreme. +</p> + +<p> +There is, indeed, one—a naked athlete, with his +cloak hanging over the left shoulder, and coiled +round the left forearm—which seems almost as good +as any strong male figure which we now possess. +While it has almost exactly the same treatment of +the cloak on the left arm which we see in the celebrated +Hermes of the Vatican,<note place="foot">No. 53, Mus. Pio Clem., in a small room beside the <hi rend='italic'>Apollo Belvedere</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Laocoon</hi>.</note> the proportions of +the figure are nearer the celebrated <hi rend='italic'>Discobolus</hi> (numbered +126, Braccio Nuovo). There are two other +copies at Florence, and one at Naples. These repetitions +point to some very celebrated original, which +the critics consider to be of the older school of Polycletus, +and even imagine may possibly be a copy of +his <hi rend='italic'>Doryphorus</hi>, which was called the <hi rend='italic'>Canon</hi> statue, +or model of the perfect manly form. The Hermes +has too strong a likeness to Lysippus’s <hi rend='italic'>Apoxyomenos</hi> +not to be recognized as of the newer school. What +<pb n='64'/><anchor id='Pg064'/>we have, then, in this Attic statue seems an intermediate +type between the earlier and stronger school +of Polycletus and the more elegant and newer school +of Lysippus in Alexander’s day. +</p> + +<p> +There can, however, be no doubt that it does not +date from the older and severer age of sculpture, of +which Phidias and Polycletus were the highest representatives. +Any one who studies Greek art perceives +how remarkably not only the style of dress +and ornament, but even the proportions of the figure +change, as we come down from generation to generation +in the long line of Greek sculptors. The +friezes of Selinus (now at Palermo), and those of +Ægina (now in Munich), which are among our earliest +classical specimens, are remarkable for short, +thick-set forms. The men are men five feet seven, +or, at most, eight inches high, and their figures are +squat even for that height. In the specimens we +have of the days of Phidias and Polycletus these +proportions are altered. The head of the <hi rend='italic'>Doryphorus</hi>, +if we can depend upon our supposed copies, +is still heavy, and the figure bulky, though taller +in proportion. He looks a man of five feet ten +inches at least. The statue we are just considering +is even taller, and is like the copies we have of +Lysippus’s work, the figure apparently of a man +of six feet high; but his head is not so small, nor +is he so slender and light as this type is usually +found. +</p> + +<pb n='65'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> + +<p> +It is not very easy to give a full account of this +change. There is, of course, one general reason +well known—the art of the Greeks, like almost all +such developments, went through stiffness and clumsiness +into dignity and strength, to which it presently +added that grace which raises strength into +majesty. But in time the seeking after grace becomes +too prominent, and so strength, and with it, +of course, the majesty which requires strength as +well as grace, is gradually lost. Thus we arrive +at a period when the forms are merely elegant or +voluptuous, without any assertion of power. I will +speak of a similar development among female figures +in connection with another subject which will +naturally suggest it. +</p> + +<p> +This can only be made plain by a series of illustrations. +Of course, the difficulty of obtaining +really archaic statues was very great.<note place="foot">There is now an excellent publication of the archaic statues +found in the Acropolis, by Cavvadias (Wilberg, Athens).</note> They were +mostly sacred images of the gods, esteemed venerable +and interesting by the Greeks, but seldom +copied. Happily, the Romans, when they set +themselves to admire and procure Greek statues, +had fits of what we now call pre-Raphaelitism—fits +of admiration for the archaic and devout, even if +ungraceful, in preference to the more perfect forms +of later art. Hence, we find in Italy a number of +<pb n='66'/><anchor id='Pg066'/>statues which, if not really archaic, are at least +<hi rend='italic'>archaistic</hi>, as the critics call it—imitations or copies +of archaic statues. With these we need now no +longer be content. And we may pause a moment +on the question of archaic Greek art, because, apart +from the imitations of the time of Augustus and +Hadrian, we had already some really genuine fragments +in the little museum in the Acropolis—fragments +saved, not from the present Parthenon, but +rather from about the ruins of the older Parthenon. +This temple was destroyed by the Persians, and the +materials were built into the surrounding wall of +the Acropolis by the Athenians, when they began to +strengthen and beautify it at the opening of their +career of dominion and wealth. The stains of fire +are said to be still visible on these drums of pillars +now built into the fortification, and there can be no +doubt of their belonging to the old temple, as it is +well attested.<note place="foot">I endeavored to examine these drums by looking down through +a hole in the wall over them. They seemed to me not fluted, and +rather of the shape of barrels, very thick in the middle, than of +the drums of pillars in temples.</note> But I do not agree with the statement +that these older materials were so used in order +to nurse a perpetual hatred against the Persians in +the minds of the people, who saw daily before them +the evidence of the ancient wrong done to their +temples.<note place="foot">It is asserted somewhere by a Greek author that the temples +burned by the Persians were left in ruins to remind the people of +the wrongs of the hated barbarians. But we have distinct evidence, +in some cases, that this assertion is not true, and besides, +using the materials for other purposes is not the same thing. We +now know that a quantity of mutilated statues were shot as rubbish +into the space between the old Parthenon and the wall, to make a +terrace for the newer and greater building. Here they were found +in the recent excavations.</note> I believe this sentimental twaddle to be +<pb n='67'/><anchor id='Pg067'/>quite foreign to all Greek feeling. The materials +were used in the wall because they were unsuitable +for the newer temples, and because they must otherwise +be greatly in the way on the limited surface of +the Acropolis. +</p> + +<p> +A fair specimen of the old sculptures first found +is a very stiff, and, to us, comical figure, which +has lost its legs, but is otherwise fairly preserved, +and which depicts a male figure with curious conventional +hair, and still more conventional beard, +holding by its four legs a bull or calf, which he is +carrying on his shoulders. The eyes are now hollow, +and were evidently once filled with something different +from the marble of which the statue is made. +The whole pose and style of the work is stiff and +expressionless, and it is one of the most characteristic +remains of the older Attic art still in existence. +</p> + +<p> +Happily there is little doubt what the statue means. +It is the votive offering of the Marathonians, which +Pausanias saw in the Acropolis, and which commemorated +the legend of Theseus having driven the wild +<pb n='68'/><anchor id='Pg068'/>bull, sent against them by Minos, from Marathon to +the Acropolis, where he sacrificed it. Pausanias +does not say how Theseus was represented with the +bull; but it certainly was not a group—such a thing +is clearly beyond the narrow and timid conceptions +of the artists of that day. It being difficult to represent +this hero and bull together except by representing +the man carrying the bull, the artist has +made the animal full grown in type, but as small as +a calf, and has, of course, not attempted any expression +of hostility between the two. The peaceful +look, which merely arises from the inability of the +artist to render expression, has led many good art +critics to call it not a Theseus but a Hermes. Such +being the obscure history of the statue, it is not +difficult to note its characteristics. We see the conventional +treatment of the hair, the curious transparent +garments lying close to the skin, and the very +heavy muscular forms of the arms and body. The +whole figure is stiff and expressionless, and strictly +in what is called the hieratic or old religious style, +as opposed to an ideal or artistic conception. +</p> + +<p> +There are two full-length reliefs—one which I +first saw in a little church near Orchomenus, and a +couple more at Athens in the Theseon—which are +plainly of the same epoch and style of art. The +most complete Athenian one is ascribed as the +stele of Aristion, and as the work of Aristocles,<note place="foot">Aristion is also mentioned among the artists of the period.</note> +<pb n='69'/><anchor id='Pg069'/>doubtless an artist known as contemporary with those +who fought at the battle of Marathon. Thus we +obtain a very good clue to the date at which this +art flourished. There is also the head of a similar +figure, with the hair long and fastened in a knot +behind, and with a discus raised above the shoulder, +so as to look like a nimbus round the head, which is +one of the most interesting objects in the Varvakion. +But of the rest the pedestal only is preserved. Any +impartial observer will see in these figures strong +traces of the influence of Asiatic style. This influence +seems about as certain, and almost as much +disputed, as the Egyptian influences on the Doric +style of architecture. To an unbiassed observer +these influences speak so plainly, that, in the absence +of strict demonstration to the contrary, one feels +bound to admit them—the more so, as we know that +the Greeks, like all other people of genius, were +ever ready and anxious to borrow from others. It +should be often repeated, because it is usually ignored, +that it is a most original gift to know how to borrow; +and that those only who feel wanting in originality +are anxious to assert it. Thus the Romans, who +borrowed without assimilating, are always asserting +their originality; the Greeks, who borrowed more +and better, because they made what they borrowed +their own, never care to do so. The hackneyed +parallel of Shakespeare will occur to all. +</p> + +<p> +Unfortunately, the museums of Athens show us +<pb n='70'/><anchor id='Pg070'/>but few examples of the transition state of art +between this and the perfect work of Phidias’s +school. The Æginetan marbles are less developed +than Phidias’s work; but from the relief of Aristion, +and the Theseus of the Acropolis, to these, is a wide +gulf in artistic feeling. The former is the work of +children shackled by their material, still more by +conventional rules; the latter the work of men. +There is also the well-known Apollo of Thera; +a similar Apollo found at Athens, with very conventional +curls, and now in the National Museum; and +two or three small sitting statues of Athene which, +though very archaic, begin to approach the grace of +artistic sculpture. But Italy is sufficiently rich in +imitations of this very period. There are four very +remarkable statues in a small room of the Villa +Albani, near Rome, which are not photographed, +because the public would, doubtless, think them +bad art, but which, could I procure copies and +reproduce them, would illustrate clearly what I +desire. We have also among the bronzes found +at Pompeii statues precisely of this style, evidently +copies from old Greek originals, and made to satisfy +the pre-Raphaelitism (as I have already called it) +of Italian amateurs. I select a bronze Artemis as +an interesting example of this antiquarian taste in +a later age. The statuette maintains in the face +the very features which we think so comical when +looking at the relief of Aristion, or the women +<pb n='71'/><anchor id='Pg071'/>of the Acropolis. They are, no doubt, softened and +less exaggerated, but still they are there. The so-called +Greek profile is not yet attained. The general +features of the old Greek face in monuments +were a retreating forehead, a peaked nose, slightly +turned up at the end, the mouth drawn in, and the +corners turned up, flat elongated eyes (especially +full in the profiles of reliefs), a prominent angular +chin, lank cheeks, and high ears. These lovely +features can be found on hundreds of vases, because, +vase-making being rather a trade than an art, men +kept close to the old models long after great sculptors +and painters had, like Polygnotus, begun to +depart from the antique stiffness of the countenance.<note place="foot"><q>Vultum ab antiquo rigore variare.</q>—Plin. xxxv. 35.</note> +The Artemis in question has, however, these very +features, which are very clear when we can see her +in profile. But the head-dress and draping are +elaborate, and though formal and somewhat rigid, +not wanting in grace. The pose of the arms is +stiff, and the attitude that of a woman stepping +forward, which is very usual in archaic figures—I +suppose because it enlarged the base of the statue, +and made it stand more firmly in its place. The +absence of any girdle or delaying fold in the +garments is one of the most marked contrasts with +the later draping of such figures. +</p> + +<p> +But now at last we can show the reader how far +the antiquarians of later days were able to imitate +<pb n='72'/><anchor id='Pg072'/>archaic sculpture. Another characteristic archaic +statue was one of the seventeen found in 1885–86 on +the Acropolis,<note place="foot">They have been published in the first part of an excellent work +on the treasures of Athens, reproduced in phototype by Rhomaïdès +Brothers, with an explanatory text by various Athenian scholars.</note> where they had been piled together +with portions of pillars and other stones to extend the +platform for new buildings. The style and the mutilation +of all these statues, which, from their uniform +type, are more probably votive offerings than sacred +images, point to their being the actual statues which +the Persians overthrew when ravaging the Acropolis +(480 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>). They were so broken and spoiled that +the Athenians, when restoring and rebuilding their +temples, determined to use them for rubbish. Thus +we have now a perfectly authentic group of works +showing us the art of the older Athens before the Persian +Wars. They are each made of several pieces +of marble, apparently Parian, dowelled together like +wooden work, and the figure here reproduced has a +bronze pin protruding from the head, apparently to +hold a nimbus or covering of metal. They were all +richly colored, as many traces upon them still show.<note place="foot">I cannot do better than quote the admirable description of M. +Ch. Diehl: <q>C’étaient surtout de nouvelles statues de jeunes femmes, +au mystérieux sourire, à la parure étincelante, de ces idoles fardées +et peintes, bien faites, par leur saveur étrange, pour tenter le pinceau +d’un Gustave Moreau ou la plume d’un Pierre Loti. Comme leurs +sœurs, ces nouvelles venues ont la même attitude et le même +costume, les mêmes coquetteries de parure, le même soin de leur +chevelure, la même expression aussi; pourtant à la série déjà +connue elles out ajouté quelques œuvres exquises, et trois d’entre +elles en particulier méritent d’être signalées. L’une est une +merveille de coloris; sa tunique à large bande rouge, sa chemisette +d’un vert foncé, bordée de pourpre, son manteau orné de méandres +du dessin le plus fin, ses vêtements parsemés de croix rouges ou +vertes, qui se retrouvent sur le diadème de ses cheveux, sont d’un +incomparable éclat. Sous les tons chauds de ces riches couleurs +disposées avec un goût exquis, il semble que le marbre s’anime et +fasse la chair vivante; et un charme étrange émane de cette figure. +Celle-ci (cf. Plate) d’une date plus récente, probablement l’une des +plus jeunes de la série, montre l’effort d’un artiste habile pour créer +une œuvre originale. Dans ces formes élancées, dans cette tête +petite et fine, dans ces bras jetés en avant du corps, on sent la +volonté du maître qui cherche à faire autrement que ses devanciers; +le sourire traditionnel est devenu presque imperceptible, les yeux, +qui souriaient jadis à l’unison des levres, out cessé de se relever +vers les tempes; les joues creuses se remplissent et s’arrondissent; +avec des œuvres de cette sorte, l’archaisme est prêt à finir.... La +troisième enfin est une des œuvres les plus remarquables de l’art +attique. Plus ancienne que la précédente, elle est d’une valeur +artistique bien supérieure. Le modelé en est exquis, et son irréprochable +finesse fait un contraste singulier avec les procédés qui +sentent encore les conventions de l’école. Suivant les traditions de +l’art antique, les yeux sont obliques et bridés, le sourire fait toujours +grimacer les levres; mais dans les yeux le regard n’est plus indifférent +et fixe; il brille d’une lueur de vie et de pensée; le sourire +de ces levres n’est plus sec et dur, il semble avoir une douceur +attendrie. Certes il n’y a dans cette sculpture nul effort pour +chercher des chemins nouveaux; mais parmi les œuvres de l’art +archaïque, parmi celles où le maître a docilement suivi la route +frayée et battue, cette sculpture à l’expression candide et presque +attristée est l’une des plus admirables.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Excursions archéologiques +en Grèce</hi>, p. 104.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='73'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> + +<p> +Let us now leave this archaic art and go to the +street of tombs, where we can find such specimens +as the world can hardly equal, and in such condition +<pb n='74'/><anchor id='Pg074'/>as to be easily intelligible. A good many of these +tombs, and some of them very fine, have lately been +removed to the National Museum, where they are no +doubt safer, and more easily studied and compared, +though there is something lost in not having them +upon their original site, with some at least of their +original surroundings. What I have said of the +museums is, even so, disappointing, as indeed it +should be, if the feelings of the visitor are to be +faithfully reproduced. But I must not fail to add, +before turning to other places, that in inscriptions +these museums are very rich, as well as also in Attic +vases, and lamps, and other articles of great importance +in our estimate of old Greek life. The +professors of the University have been particularly +diligent in deciphering and explaining the inscriptions, +and with the aid of the Germans, who have +collected, and are still collecting, these scattered +documents in a complete publication, we are daily +having new light thrown upon Greek history. Thus +<sic>Kohler</sic> has been able from the recovered Attic +tribute-lists to construct a map of the Athenian +maritime empire with its dependencies, which tells +the student more in five minutes than hours of laborious +reading. The study of vases and lamps is +beyond my present scope; and the former so wide +and complicated a subject, that it cannot be mastered +without long study and trouble.<note place="foot">When I revisited Athens in the spring of 1889, the National +Museum, which is a fine and spacious building, was quite an +orderly museum, and it was easy to see and enjoy the works of art +preserved in it. The archaic things were, moreover (as in the +Acropolis), placed by themselves; so were the tombs, and so were +most of the portrait busts. All that was still wanting was a good +and complete catalogue.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='75'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> + +<p> +I pass, therefore, from the museums to the street +of tombs, which Thucydides tells us to find in the +fairest suburb of the city, as we go out westward +towards the groves of Academe, and before we +turn slightly to the south on our way to the Peiræus. +Thucydides has described with some care +the funeral ceremonies held in this famous place, +and has composed for us a very noble funeral oration, +which he has put in the mouth of Pericles.<note place="foot">These + panegyrics—<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">λόγοι ἐπιτάφιοι</foreign> they were called—were a +favorite exercise of Greek literary men. There are five classical +ones still extant—that mentioned, that in the <hi rend='italic'>Menexenus</hi> of Plato, +that of Hypereides, and those ascribed (justly) to Lysias and +(falsely) to Demosthenes. That of Hypereides, very mutilated as +it is, seems to me the finest next to that of Thucydides. But they +are all built upon the same lines, showing even here that strict +conservatism in every branch of Greek art which never varied, +for variety’s sake, from a type once recognized as really good.</note> +It is with this oration, probably the finest passage +in Thucydides’s great history, in our minds, that +we approach the avenue where the Athenians laid +their dead. We have to pass through the poorest +portion of modern Athens, through wretched +<hi rend='italic'>bazaars</hi> and dirty markets, which abut upon the +main street. Amid all this squalor and poverty, all +this complete denial of art and leisure, there are +<pb n='76'/><anchor id='Pg076'/>still features which faintly echo old Greek life. +There is the bright color of the dresses—the predominance +of white, and red, and blue, of which +the old Athenians were so fond; and there is among +the lowest classes a great deal of that striking beauty +which recalls to us the old statues. More especially +in the form of the head, and in the expression, of +the children, we see types not to be found elsewhere +in Europe, and which, if not derived from classical +Greece, are at all events very beautiful. +</p> + +<p> +We then come on to the railway station, which is, +indeed, in this place, as elsewhere, very offensive. +With its grimy smoke, its shrill sounds, and all its +other hard unloveliness, it is not a meet neighbor +for the tombs of the old Greeks, which are close to +it on all sides. +</p> + +<p> +They lie—as almost all old ruins do—far below +the present level of the ground, and have, therefore, +to be exhumed by careful digging. When this has +been done they are covered with a rude door, to +protect their sculptured face; and when I first saw +them were standing about, without any order or regularity, +close to the spots where they had been found. +</p> + +<p> +A proper estimate of these tombs cannot be attained +without appreciating the feelings with which +the survivors set them up. And we must consider +not only the general attitude of Greek literature on +the all-important question of the state of man after +death, but also the thousands of inscriptions upon +<pb n='77'/><anchor id='Pg077'/>tombs, both with and without sculptured reliefs, if +we will form a sure opinion about the feelings of +the bereaved in these bygone days. +</p> + +<p> +We know from Homer and from Mimnermus that +in the earlier periods, though the Greeks were unable +to shake off a belief in life after death, they could not +conceive that state as anything but a shadowy and +wretched echo of the real life upon earth. It was +a gloomy existence, burdened with the memory of +lost happiness and the longing for lost enjoyment. +To the Homeric Greeks death was a dark unavoidable +fate, without hope and without reward. It is, +indeed, true that we find in Pindar thoughts and aspirations +of a very different kind. We have in the +fragments of his poetry more than one passage asserting +the rewards of the just, and the splendors of +a future life far happier than that which we now +enjoy. But, notwithstanding these noble visions, +such high expectation laid no hold upon the imagination +of the Greek world. The poems of +Pindar, we are told, soon ceased to be popular, and +his visions are but a streak of light amid general +gloom. The kingdom of the dead in Æschylus is +evidently, as in Homer, but a weary echo of this +life, where honor can only be attained by the pious +service of loving kinsfolk, whose duty paid to the +dead affects him in his gloomier state, and raises +him in the esteem of his less-remembered fellows. +Sophocles says nothing to clear away the night; nay +<pb n='78'/><anchor id='Pg078'/>rather his deepest and maturest contemplation regards +death as the worst of ills to the happy man—a +sorry refuge to the miserable. Euripides longs +that there may be no future state; and Plato only +secures the immortality of the soul by severing it +from the person—the man, and all his interests. +</p> + +<p> +It is plain, from this evidence, that the Greeks +must have looked upon the death of those they +loved with unmixed sorrow. It was the final parting, +when all the good and pleasant things are remembered; +when men seek, as it were, to increase +the pang, by clothing the dead in all his sweetest +and dearest presence. But this was not done by +pompous inscriptions, or by a vain enumeration of +all the deceased had performed—inscriptions which, +among us, tell more of the vanity than of the grief +of the survivors. The commonest epitaph was a +simple <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">χαῖρε</foreign>, or farewell; and it is this single word, +so full and deep in its meaning to those who love, +which is pictured in the tomb reliefs. They are +simple parting scenes, expressing the grief of the +survivors, and the great sadness of the sufferer, who +is going to his long home. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, what strikes us forcibly in these remarkable +monuments is the chastened modest expression +of sorrow which they display. There is no +violence, no despair, no extravagance—all is simple +and noble; thus combining purity of art with a far +deeper pathos—a far nobler grief—than that of the +<pb n='79'/><anchor id='Pg079'/>exaggerated paintings and sculptures which seek to +express mourning in later and less cultivated ages.<note place="foot">Roubillac’s monuments in Westminster Abbey, which excited +the admiration of his contemporaries, are the best example I +know of degradation in public taste on this question.</note> +We may defy any art to produce truer or more +poignant pictures of real sorrow—a sorrow, as I +have explained, far deeper and more hopeless than +any Christian sorrow; and yet there is no wringing +of hands, no swooning, no defacing with sackcloth +and ashes.<note place="foot">I did, indeed, see one relief at Athens, in which the relatives +are represented as rushing forward in agony, as it were to delay +the departure of the fainting figure. It is right that this exception +should be noted, as it shows that they understood what +violent grief was, and yet avoided representing it as a rule.</note> Sometimes, indeed, as in the celebrated +tomb of Dexileos, a mere portrait of the dead in +active life was put upon his tomb, and private grief +would not assert itself in presence of the record of +his public services. +</p><anchor id="ill078"/><index index="fig" level1="A Tomb from the Via Sacra, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: A Tomb from the Via Sacra, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus102.jpg" rend="w80"><head>A Tomb from the Via Sacra, Athens</head><figDesc>A Tomb from the Via Sacra, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +I know not that any other remnants of Greek art +bring home to us more plainly one of its eternal and divine +features—or shall I rather say, one of its eternal +and human features?—the greatest, if not the main +feature, which has made it the ever new and ever +lasting lawgiver to men in their efforts to represent +the ideal. +</p> + +<p> +If I am to permit myself any digression whatever, +we cannot do better than conclude this chapter with +some reflections on this subject, and we may +there<pb n='80'/><anchor id='Pg080'/>fore turn, by suggestion of the Athenian tombs, to a +few general remarks on the <hi rend='italic'>reserve</hi> of Greek art—I +mean the reserve in the displaying emotion, in the +portraying of the fierce outbursts of joy or grief; +and again, more generally, the reserve in the exhibiting +of peculiar or personal features, passing interests, +or momentary emotions. +</p> + +<p> +In a philosophy now rather forgotten than extinct, +and which once commanded no small attention, +Adam Smith was led to analyze the indirect effects +of <hi rend='italic'>sympathy</hi>, from which, as a single principle, he +desired to deduce all the rules of ethics. While +straining many points unduly, he must be confessed +to have explained with great justice the +origin of good taste or tact in ordinary life, which +he saw to be the careful watching of the interest of +others in our own affairs, and the feeling that we +must not force upon them what concerns ourselves, +except we are sure to carry with us their active +sympathy. Good breeding, he says, consists in a +delicate perception how far this will go, and in suppressing +those of our feelings which, though they +affect <hi rend='italic'>us</hi> strongly, cannot be expected to affect in +like manner our neighbor, whose sympathy should be +the measure and limit of our outspokenness. There +can be no doubt that whatever other elements come +in, this analysis is true, so far as it goes, and recommends +itself at once to the convictions of any educated +man. The very same principle applies still more +<pb n='81'/><anchor id='Pg081'/>strongly and universally in art. As tragedy is bound +to treat ideal griefs and joys of so large and broad a +kind that every spectator may merge in them his +petty troubles, so ideal sculpture and painting are +only ideal so far as they represent those large and +eternal features in human nature which must always +command the sympathy of every pure human heart. +</p> + +<p> +Let us dispose at once of an apparent exception—the +mediæval pictures of the Passion of Christ, +and the sorrows of the Virgin Mary. Here the +artist allowed himself the most extreme treatment, +because the objects were necessarily the centre of +the very highest sympathy. No expression of the +grief of Christ could be thought exaggerated in the +Middle Ages, because in this very exaggeration lay +the centre point of men’s religion. But when no +such object of universal and all-absorbing sympathy +can be found (and there was none such in pagan +life), then the Greek artist must attain by his treatment +of the object what the Christian artist obtained +by the object itself. Assuming, then, a mastery +over his material, and sufficient power of execution, +the next feature to be looked for in Greek art, and +especially in Greek sculpture, is a certain modesty +and reserve in expression, which will not portray +slight defects in picturing a man, but represent that +eternal or ideal character in him which remains in +our memory when he is gone. Such, for example, +is the famous portrait-statue of Sophocles. +</p> + +<pb n='82'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> + +<p> +Such are also all that great series of ideal figures +which meet us in the galleries of ancient art. They +seldom show us any violent emotion; they are seldom +even in so special an attitude that critics cannot +interpret it in several different ways, or as suitable +to several myths. It is not passing states of feeling, +but the eternal and ideal beauty of human nature, +which Greek sculpture seeks to represent; and for +this reason it has held its sway through all the centuries +which have since gone by. This was the +calm art of Phidias, and Polycletus, and Polygnotus, +in sentiment not differing from the rigid awkwardness +of their predecessors, but in mastery of proportions +and of difficulties attaining the grace in which +the others had failed. To this general law there +are, no doubt, exceptions, and perhaps very brilliant +ones; yet they are exceptions, and even in them, +if we consider them attentively, we can see the universal +features and the points of sympathy for all +mankind. But if the appeal for sympathy is indeed +overstrained, then, however successful in its own +society and its own social atmosphere, the work of +art loses power when offered to another generation. +Thus Euripides, though justly considered in his own +society the most tragic of poets, has for this very +reason ceased to appeal to us as Æschylus still appeals. +For Æschylus kept within the proper bounds +dictated by the reserve of art; Euripides often did +<pb n='83'/><anchor id='Pg083'/>not, and his work, though great and full of genius, +suffered accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +It seems to me that the tombs before us are remarkable +as exemplifying, with the tact of genius, +this true and perfect reserve. They are simple pictures +of the grief of parting—of the recollection of +pleasant days of love and friendship—of the gloom of +the unknown future. But there is no exaggeration, +nor speciality—no individuality, I had almost said—in +the picture. I feel no curiosity to inquire who +these people are—what were their names—even +what was the relationship of the deceased.<note place="foot">I fancy, from the unity of type shown in many of them, that +they may even have been designed by the artist without regard to +the special case, and purchased by the family of the deceased +ready made. The figures upon them do not seem to me personal +likenesses.</note> For I +am perfectly satisfied with an ideal portrait of the +grief of parting—a grief that comes to us all, and +lays bitter hold of us at some season of life; and it +is this universal sorrow—this great common flaw in +our lives—which the Greek artist has brought before +us, and which calls forth our deepest sympathy. +There will be future occasion to come back upon +this all-important feature in connection with the +<hi rend='italic'>action</hi> in Greek sculpture, and even with the draping +of their statues—in all of which the calm and +chaste reserve of the better Greek art contrasts +strangely with the Michael Angelos, and Berninis, +<pb n='84'/><anchor id='Pg084'/>and Canovas, of other days; nay, even with the +Greek sculpture of a no less brilliant but less refined +age. +</p> + +<p> +But, in concluding this digression, I will call attention +to a modern parallel in the portraiture of +grief, and of grief at final parting. This parallel is +not a piece of sculpture, but a poem, perhaps the +most remarkable poem of our generation—the <hi rend='italic'>In +Memoriam</hi> of Lord Tennyson. Though written +from personal feeling, and to commemorate a special +person—Arthur Hallam—whom some of us even +knew, has this poem laid hold of the imagination of +men strongly and lastingly owing to the poet’s +special loss? Certainly not. I do not even think +that this great dirge—this magnificent funeral poem—has +excited in most of us any strong interest in +Arthur Hallam. In fact, any other friend of the +poet’s would have suited the general reader equally +well as the exciting cause of a poem, which we delight +in because it puts into great words the ever-recurring +and permanent features in such grief—those +dark longings about the future; those suggestions +of despair, of discontent with the providence +of the world, of wild speculation about its laws; +those struggles to reconcile our own loss, and that of +the human race, with some larger law of wisdom +and of benevolence. To the poet, of course, his +own particular friend was the great centre point of +the whole. But to us, in reading it, there is a wide +<pb n='85'/><anchor id='Pg085'/>distinction between the personal passages—I mean +those which give family details, and special circumstances +in Hallam’s life, or his intimacy with the +poet—and the purely poetical or artistic passages, +which soar away into a region far above all special +detail, and sing of the great gloom which hangs +over the future, and of the vehement beating of the +human soul against the bars of its prison house, +when one is taken, and another left, not merely at +apparent random, but with apparent injustice and +damage to mankind. Hence, every man in grief +for a lost friend will read the poem to his great comfort, +and will then only see clearly what it means; +and he will find it speak to him specially and particularly, +not in its personal passages, but in its general +features; in its hard metaphysics; in its mystical +theology; in its angry and uncertain ethics. +For even the commonest mind is forced by grief out +of its commonness, and attacks the world-problems, +which at other times it has no power or taste to approach. +</p> + +<p> +By this illustration, then, the distinction between +the universal and the personal features of grief can +be clearly seen; and the reader will admit that, +though it would be most unreasonable to dictate to +the poet, or to imagine that he should have omitted +the stanzas which refer specially to his friend, and +which were to him of vital importance, yet to us it +is no loss to forget that name and those +circum<pb n='86'/><anchor id='Pg086'/>stances, and hold fast to the really eternal (and because +eternal, really artistic) features, in that very +noble symphony—shall I say of half-resolved discords, +or of suspended harmonies, which faith may +reconcile, but which reason can hardly analyze or +understand?<note place="foot">In the <hi rend='italic'>Adonais</hi>, Shelley affords a curious contrast to the somewhat +morbid prominence of the poet in the case before us. The +self-effacement of Shelley has centred all our interest on his lost +friend.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Within a few minutes’ walk of these splendid +records of the dead, the traveller who returns to the +town across the Observatory Hill will find a very +different cemetery. For here he suddenly comes up +to a long cleft in the rock, running parallel with the +road below, and therefore quite invisible from it. +The rising ground towards the city hides it equally +from the Acropolis, and accordingly from all Athens. +This gorge, some two hundred yards long, sixty +wide, and over thirty feet deep, is the notorious +<hi rend='italic'>Barathrum</hi>, the place of execution in old days; the +place where criminals were cast out, and where the +public executioner resided. It has been falsely inferred +by the old scholiasts that the Athenians cast +men alive into the pit. It is not nearly deep +enough now to cause death in this way, and there +seems no reason why its original depth should have +been diminished by any accumulation of rubbish, +such as is common on inhabited sites. <q>Casting +<pb n='87'/><anchor id='Pg087'/>into the Barathrum</q> referred rather to the refusing +the rights of burial to executed criminals—an additional +disgrace, and to the Greeks a grave additional +penalty. Honor among the dead was held to +follow in exact proportion to the continued honors +paid by surviving friends. +</p> + +<p> +Here, then, out of view of all the temples and +hallowed sites of the city, dwelt the public slave, +with his instruments of death, perhaps in a cave or +grotto, still to be seen in the higher wall of the +gorge, and situated close to the point where an old +path leads over the hill towards the city. Plato +speaks of young men turning aside, as they came +from Peiræus, to see the dead lying in charge of +this official; and there must have been times in the +older history of Athens when this cleft in the rock +was a place of carnage and of horror. The gentler +law of later days seems to have felt this outrage on +human feeling, and instead of casting the dead into +the Barathrum, it was merely added to the sentence +that the body should not be buried within the +boundaries of Attica. Yet, though the <hi rend='italic'>Barathrum</hi> +may have been no longer used, the accursed gate +(<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἱερὰ πύλη</foreign>) still led to it from the city, and the old +associations clung about its gloomy seclusion. Even +in the last century, the Turks, whether acting from +instinct, or led by old tradition, still used it as a +place of execution. +</p> + +<p> +In the present day, all traces of this hideous +his<pb n='88'/><anchor id='Pg088'/>tory have long passed away, and I found a little field +of corn waving upon the level ground beneath, +which had once been the <hi rend='italic'>Aceldama</hi> of Athens. +But even now there seemed a certain loneliness and +weirdness about the place—silent and deserted in +the midst of thoroughfares, hidden from the haunts +of men, and hiding them from view by its massive +walls. Nay, as if to bring back the dark memories +of the past, great scarlet poppies stained the ground +in patches as it were with slaughter, and hawks and +ravens were still circling about overhead, as their +ancestors did in the days of blood; attached, I suppose, +by hereditary instinct to this fatal place, <q>for +where the carcase is, there shall the eagles be +gathered together.</q> +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="4" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='89'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +<index index="toc" level1="IV. The Acropolis of Athens"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="IV. The Acropolis of Athens"/> +<head>CHAPTER IV.</head> + +<head type="sub">THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS.</head> + +<p> +I suppose there can be no doubt whatever that +the ruins on the Acropolis of Athens are the most +remarkable in the world. There are ruins far +larger, such as the pyramids, and the remains of +Karnak. There are ruins far more perfectly preserved, +such as the great Temple at Pæstum. +There are ruins more picturesque, such as the ivy-clad +walls of mediæval abbeys beside the rivers in +the rich valleys of England. But there is no ruin, +all the world over, which combines so much striking +beauty, so distinct a type, so vast a volume of history, +so great a pageant of immortal memories. +There is, in fact, no building on earth which can +sustain the burden of such greatness, and so the first +visit to the Acropolis is and must be disappointing. +When the traveller reflects how all the Old World’s +culture culminated in Greece—all Greece in Athens—all +Athens in its Acropolis—all the Acropolis in +the Parthenon—so much crowds upon the mind confusedly +that we look for some enduring monument +whereupon we can fasten our thoughts, and from +which we can pass as from a visible starting-point +<pb n='90'/><anchor id='Pg090'/>into all this history and all this greatness. And at +first we look in vain. The shattered pillars and the +torn pediments will not bear so great a strain: and +the traveller feels forced to admit a sense of disappointment, +sore against his will. He has come a +long journey into the remoter parts of Europe; he +has reached at last what his soul had longed for +many years in vain: and as is wont to be the case +with all great human longings, the truth does not +fulfil his desire. The pang of disappointment is +all the greater when he sees that the tooth of time +and the shock of earthquake have done but little +harm. It is the hand of man—of reckless foe and +ruthless lover—which has robbed him of his hope. +This is the feeling, I am sure, of more than have +confessed it, when they first wound their way +through the fields of great blue aloes, and passed up +through the Propylæa into the presence of the Parthenon. +But to those who have not given way to +these feelings—who have gone again and again and +sat upon the rock, and watched the ruins at every +hour of the day, and in the brightness of a moonlight +night—to those who have dwelt among them, +and meditated upon them with love and awe—there +first come back the remembered glories of Athens’s +greatness, when Olympian Pericles stood upon this +rock with careworn Phidias, and reckless Alcibiades +with Pious Nicias and fervent Demosthenes with +caustic Phocion—when such men peopled the temples +<pb n='91'/><anchor id='Pg091'/>in their worship, and all the fluted pillars and sculptured +friezes were bright with scarlet, and blue, and +gold. And then the glory of remembered history +casts its hue over the war-stained remnants. Every +touch of human hand, every fluting, and drop, and +triglyph, and cornice recalls the master minds which +produced this splendor; and so at last we tear ourselves +from it as from a thing of beauty, which even +now we can never know, and love, and meditate +upon to our hearts’ content. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing is more vexatious than the reflection, +how lately these splendid remains have been reduced +to their present state. The Parthenon, being +used as a Greek church, remained untouched and +perfect all through the Middle Ages. Then it became +a mosque, and the Erechtheum a seraglio, and +in this way survived with little damage till 1687, +when, in the bombardment by the Venetians under +Morosini, a shell dropped into the Parthenon, where +the Turks had their powder stored, and blew out the +whole centre of the building. Eight or nine pillars +at each side have been thrown down, and have left a +large gap, which so severs the front and rear of the +temple, that from the city below they look like the +remains of two different buildings. The great drums +of these pillars are yet lying there, in their order, +just as they fell, and some money and care might +set them all up again in their places; yet there is +not in Greece the patriotism or even the common +<pb n='92'/><anchor id='Pg092'/>sense to enrich the country by this restoration, +matchless in its certainty as well as in its splendor. +</p> + +<p> +But the Venetians were not content with their exploit. +They were, about this time, when they held +possession of most of Greece, emulating the Pisan +taste for Greek sculptures; and the four fine lions +standing at the gate of the arsenal at Venice still +testify to their zeal in carrying home Greek trophies +to adorn their capital. Morosini wished to take +down the sculptures of Phidias from the eastern +pediment, but his workmen attempted it so clumsily +that the figures fell from their place, and were dashed +to pieces on the ground. The Italians also left their +lasting mark on the place by building a high square +tower of wretched patched masonry at the right +side of the entrance gate, which had of late years +become such an eyesore to the better educated public, +that when I was first at Athens there was a subscription +on foot to have it taken down—not only in +order to remove an obtrusive reminiscence of the +invaders, but in the hope of bringing to light some +pillars of the Propylæa built into it, as well as +many inscribed stones, broken off and carried away +from their places as building material. This expectation +has not been verified by the results. The +tower was taken down by the liberality of M. +Schliemann, and there were hardly any inscriptions +or sculptures discovered. +</p> + +<p> +A writer in the <hi rend='italic'>Saturday Review</hi> (No. 1134) +<pb n='93'/><anchor id='Pg093'/>attacks this removal of the Venetian tower, and +my approval of it, as a piece of ignorant and barbarous +pedantry, which from love of the old Greek +work, and its sanctity, desires to destroy the later +history of the place, and efface the monuments of +its fortunes in after ages.<note place="foot">He also supposed that the tower was Frankish, and built long +before the Venetian conquest. But here he was wrong. The stones +inside the tower, when taken down, showed clear traces of gun-powder, +as was clearly shown in a learned refutation of his views, +printed at Athens.</note> This writer, whose personality +is unmistakable, thinks that even the Turkish +additions to the Parthenon should have been left +untouched, so that the student of to-day could +meditate upon all these incongruities, and draw +from them historical lessons. And, assuredly, of all +lessons conveyed, that of a victory over the Turks +would be to this writer the most important and the +most delightful. +</p> + +<p> +If this great man will not silence us with his +authority, but let us argue with him, we might suggest +that there are, no doubt, cases where the interests +of art and of history are conflicting, and where +a restoration of pristine beauty must take away +from the evidences of later history. The real question +is then, whether the gain in art is greater than +the loss in history. In the case of the Parthenon +I think it is, now especially, when records and +drawings of the inferior additions can be secured. +<pb n='94'/><anchor id='Pg094'/>It may be historically important to note the special +work and character of every generation of men; +but surely for the education of the human race in +the laws of beauty, and in general culture, some +ages are worth nothing, and others worth everything; +and I will not admit that this sort of education +is one whit less important than education in the +facts of history. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, artistic restorations are often carried +too far; a certain age may be arbitrarily assumed +as the canon of perfection, and everything else destroyed +to make way for it. There are few ages +which can lay claim to such pre-eminence as the +age of Pericles; yet even in this case, were the +mediæval additions really beautiful, we should, of +course, hesitate to disturb them. But the Venetian +tower, though a picturesque addition to the rock +when seen from a distance, so much so, that I felt +its loss when I saw the Acropolis again, had no +claim to architectural beauty; it was set up in a +place sacred to greater associations, and besides +there was every reasonable prospect that its removal +would subserve historical ends of far more importance +than the Venetian occupation of the Acropolis. +A few inscriptions of the date of Pericles, containing +treaties or other such public matter, would, in +my opinion, have perfectly justified its removal, +even though it did signify a victory of Christians +over Turks. +</p> + +<pb n='95'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> + +<p> +In any case, it seems to me unfair that if every +generation is to express its knowledge by material +results, we should not be permitted to record our conviction +that old Greek art or old Greek history is far +greater and nobler than either Turkish or Venetian +history, and to testify this opinion by making their +monuments give way to it. This is the mark of <hi rend='italic'>our</hi> +generation on the earth. Thus the eighteenth century +was, no doubt, a most important time in the +history even of art, but where noble thirteenth century +churches have been dressed up and loaded with +eighteenth century additions, I cannot think the +historical value of these additions, as evidence of +the taste or the history of their age, counterbalances +their artistic mischievousness, and I sympathize with +the nations who take them away. Of course, this +principle may be overdriven, and has been often +abused. Against such abuses the remarks of the +great critic to whom I refer are a very salutary +protest. But that any barbarous or unsightly deforming +of great artistic monuments is to be protected +on historical grounds—this is a principle of +which neither his genius nor his sneers will convince +me. As for the charge of pedantry, no charge is +more easily made, but no charge is more easily +retorted. +</p> + +<p> +Strangely enough, his theory of the absolute +sanctity of old brick and mortar nearly agrees in +results with the absolute carelessness about such +<pb n='96'/><anchor id='Pg096'/>things, which is the peculiarity of his special enemies, +the Turks. The Turks, according to Dodwell, +who is a most trustworthy witness, never destroyed +the old buildings unless they wanted them for masonry. +He tells us not to believe that the figures +of the remaining pediment were used as targets by +the Turkish soldiers—a statement often made in his +day. However that may be, I have little doubt, +from what I saw myself, that Greek soldiers in the +present day might so use them. But the Turks did +take down some pillars of the Propylæa while Dodwell +was there, for building purposes, an occurrence +which gave that excellent observer the opportunity +of noting the old Greek way of fitting the +drums of the pillars together. He even got into his +possession one of the pieces of cypress wood used +as plugs between the stone masses, and has given a +drawing of it, and explained the method of its use, +in his admirable book.<note place="foot">Other specimens are preserved in the little Turkish house on +the Acropolis, and should be noted by the visitor, who may easily +pass them by.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But the same traveller was also present when a +far more determined and systematic attack was made +upon the remaining ruins of the Parthenon. While +he was travelling in the interior, Lord Elgin had +obtained his famous firman from the Sultan to take +down and remove any antiquities or sculptured +stones he might require, and the infuriated Dodwell +<pb n='97'/><anchor id='Pg097'/>saw a set of ignorant workmen, under equally ignorant +overseers, let loose upon the splendid ruins of +the age of Pericles. He speaks with much good +sense and feeling of this proceeding. He is fully +aware that the world would derive inestimable benefit +from the transplanting of these splendid fragments +to a more accessible place, but he cannot find +language strong enough to express his disgust at the +way in which the thing was done. Incredible as +it may appear, Lord Elgin himself seems not to +have superintended the work, but to have left it to +paid contractors, who undertook the job for a fixed +sum. Little as either Turks or Greeks cared for +the ruins, Dodwell says that a pang of grief was +felt through all Athens at the desecration, and that +the contractors were obliged to bribe workmen with +additional wages to undertake the ungrateful task. +He will not even mention Lord Elgin by name, but +speaks of him with disgust as <q>the person</q> who +defaced the Parthenon. He believes that had this +person been at Athens himself, his underlings could +hardly have behaved in the reckless way they did, +pulling down more than they wanted, and taking no +care to prop up and save the work from which they +had taken the supports. +</p> + +<p> +He especially notices their scandalous proceeding +upon taking up one of the great white marble blocks +which form the floor or stylobate of the temple. +They wanted to see what was underneath, and Dod<pb n='98'/><anchor id='Pg098'/>well, who was there, saw the foundation—a substructure +of Peiræic sandstone. But when they had +finished their inspection they actually left the block +they had removed, without putting it back into its +place. So this beautiful pavement, made merely of +closely-fitting blocks, without any artificial or foreign +joinings, was ripped up, and the work of its destruction +begun. I am happy to add that, though a +considerable rent was then made, most of it is still +intact, and the traveller of to-day may still walk on +the very stones which bore the tread of every great +Athenian. +</p> + +<p> +The question has often been discussed, whether +Lord Elgin was justified in carrying off this pediment, +the metopes, and the friezes, from their place; +and the Greeks of to-day hope confidently that the +day will come when England will restore these treasures +to their place. This is, of course, absurd, and +it may fairly be argued that people who would bombard +their antiquities in a revolution are not fit +custodians of them in the intervals of domestic +quiet. This was my reply to an old Greek gentleman +who assailed the memory of Lord Elgin with +reproaches. I told him that I was credibly informed +the Greeks had themselves bombarded the +Turks in the Acropolis during the war of liberation, +as several great pieces knocked out and starred on +the western front testify. He confessed, to my +amusement, that he had himself been one of the +<pb n='99'/><anchor id='Pg099'/>assailants, and excused the act by the necessities of +war. I replied that, as the country seemed then +(1875) on the verge of a revolution, the sculptures +might at least remain in the British Museum until a +secure government was established. And this is the +general verdict of learned men on the matter. +They are agreed that it was on the whole a gain to +science to remove the figures, but all stigmatize as +barbarous and shameful the reckless way in which +the work was carried out. +</p> + +<p> +I confess I approved of this removal until I came +home from Greece, and went again to see the spoil +in its place in our great Museum. Though there +treated with every care—though shown to the best +advantage, and explained by excellent models of the +whole building, and clear descriptions of their place +on it—notwithstanding all this, the loss that these +wonderful fragments had sustained by being separated +from their place was so terribly manifest—they +looked so unmeaning in an English room, away +from their temple, their country, and their lovely +atmosphere,—that one earnestly wished they had +never been taken from their place, even at the risk +of being made a target by the Greeks or the Turks. +I am convinced, too, that the few who would have +seen them, as intelligent travellers, on their famous +rock, would have gained in quality the advantage +now diffused among many, but weakened and almost +destroyed by the wrench in associations, when the +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/>ornament is severed from its surface, and the decoration +of a temple exhibited apart from the temple +itself. We may admit, then, that it had been better +if Lord Elgin had never taken away these marbles. +Nevertheless, it would be absurd to send them back, +as has recently been advocated (in 1890) by some +ignorant English sentimentalists. But I do think +that the museum on the Acropolis should be provided +with a better set of casts of the figures than +those which are now to be seen there. They look +very wretched, and carelessly prepared. +</p> + +<p> +There are, indeed, preserved in the little museum +on the Acropolis the broken remains of the figures +of the eastern pediment, which Morosini and his +Venetians endeavored to take down, as I have +already told. They are little more than pieces of +drapery, of some use in reconstructing the composition, +but of none in judging the effect of that famous +group. +</p> + +<p> +But we must not yet enter into this little museum, +which is most properly put out of sight, at the lowest +or east corner of the rock, and which we do not +reach till we have passed through all the ruins. As +the traveller stands at the inner gate of the Propylæa, +he notices at once all the perfect features of +the buildings. Over his head are the enormous +architrave-stones of the Propylæa—blocks of white +marble over twenty-two feet long, which span the +gateway from pillar to pillar. Opposite, above him +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/>and a little to the right, is the mighty Parthenon, +not identical in orientation, as the architects have +observed, with the gateway, but varying from it +slightly, so that sun and shade would play upon it at +moments differing from the rest, and thus produce a +perpetual variety of lights. This principle is observed +in the setting of the <anchor id="corr101"/><corr sic="Erectheum">Erechtheum</corr> also. To +the left, and directly over the town, stands that +beautifully decorated little Ionic temple, or combination +of temples, with the stately Caryatids looking +inwards and towards the Parthenon. These two +buildings are the most perfect examples we have of +their respective styles. We see at first sight the +object of the artists who built them. The one is +the embodiment of majesty, the other of grace. +The very ornaments of the Parthenon are large and +massive; those of the Erechtheum for the most +part intricate and delicate. Accordingly, the Parthenon +is in the Doric style, or rather in the Doric +style so refined and adorned as to be properly called +the Attic style. +</p> + +<p> +For the more we study old Athenian art—nay, +even old Athenian character generally—the more +are we convinced that its greatness consists in the +combination of Doric sternness and Ionic grace. +It is hardly a mediation between them; it is the +adoption of the finer elements of both, and the +union of them into a higher harmony. The most +obvious illustration of this is the drama, where the +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/>Ionic element of recitation and the Doric choral +hymn were combined—and let me observe that the +Ionic element was more modified than the Doric. +In the same way Attic architecture used the strength +and majesty of the older style which we see at Corinth +and Pæstum; but relieved it, partly by lighter +proportions, partly by rich decorations, which gave +the nearer observer an additional and different delight, +while from afar the large features were of the +old Doric majesty. Even in the separate decorations, +such as the metopes and friezes, the graceful +women and the long-flowing draperies of the Ionic +school were combined with the muscular nakedness +of the Doric athlete, as represented by Doric +masters. Individual Attic masters worked out +these contrasted types completely, as we may see +by the <hi rend='italic'>Discobolus</hi> of Myron, a contemporary of +Phidias, and the <hi rend='italic'>Apollo Musagetes</hi> of Scopas, who +lived somewhat later.<note place="foot">I speak, of course, of the copies of these famous statues which +are to be seen in the Vatican Museum.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In fact, all Athenian character, in its best days, +combined the versatility, and luxury, and fondness +of pleasure, which marked the Ionian, with the +energy, the public spirit, and the simplicity which +was said to mark the better Doric states. The Parthenon +and Erechtheum express all this in visible +clearness. The Athenians felt that the Ionic elegance +and luxury of style was best suited to a small +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/>building; and so they lavished ornament and color +upon this beautiful little house, but made the Doric +temple the main object of all the sacred height. +</p> + +<p> +It is worth while to consult the professional architects, +like Revett,<note place="foot">The illustrated work of Michaelis is probably the most complete +and critical account both of the plan and the details, which +have often been discussed, and especially with great accuracy by +Mr. Penrose, whose monumental work, the <hi rend='italic'>Principles of Athenian +Architecture</hi>, has recently been republished. Among the many +newer works, I would call special attention to the first volume of +Viollet-le-duc’s <hi rend='italic'>Entretiens sur l’Architecture</hi>, already translated into +English, which is full of most instructing and suggestive observations +on Greek architecture; also to M. E. Bournouf’s <hi rend='italic'>Acropole +d’Athènes</hi>.</note> who have examined these buildings +with a critical eye. Not only were the old +Athenian architects perfect masters of their materials, +of accurate measurement, of precise correspondence, +of all calculations as to strain and +pressure—they even for artistic, as well as for practical +purposes, deviated systematically from accuracy, +in order that the harmony of the building might +profit by this imperceptible discord. They gave +and took, like a tuner tempering the chords of a +musical instrument. The stylobate is not exactly +level, but curved so as to rise four inches in the +centre; the pillars, which themselves swell slightly +in the middle, are not set perpendicularly, but with +a slight incline inwards: and this effect is given in +the Caryatids by making them rest their weight on +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/>the outer foot at each corner, as Viollet-le-duc has +admirably explained. Again, the separation of the +pillars is less at the corners, and gradually increases +as you approach the centre of the building. The +base of the pediment is not a right line, but is +curved downward. It is not my province to go into +minute details on such points, which can only be +adequately discussed by architects. What I have +here to note is, that the old Greek builders had gone +beyond mere mathematical accuracy and regularity. +They knew a higher law than the slavish repetition +of accurate distances or intervals; they had learned +to calculate effects, to allow for optical illusions; +they knew how to sacrifice real for ideal symmetry. +</p> + +<p> +The sculptures of the Parthenon have given rise +to a very considerable literature—so considerable +that the books and treatises upon them now amount +to a respectable library. The example was set by +the architect of the building itself, Ictinus, who wrote +a special treatise on his masterpiece. As is well +known, it was sketched in chalk by the French +painter, Jacques Carrey, a few years before the explosion +of 1687; and though he had but very imperfect +notions of Greek art, and introduced a good +deal of seventeenth century style into the chaste +designs of Phidias, still these drawings, of which +there are copies in the British Museum, are of great +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/>value in helping us to put together the broken and +imperfect fragments which remain.<note place="foot">They will be most readily consulted in the plates of Michaelis’s +<hi rend='italic'>Parthenon</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The sculptured decorations of the building are of +three kinds, or applied in three distinct places. In +the first place, the two triangular <hi rend='italic'>pediments</hi> over the +east and west front were each filled with a group of +statues more than life-size—the one representing +the birth of Athene, and the other her contest with +Poseidon for the patronage of Athens. Some of the +figures from one of these are the great draped headless +women in the centre of the Parthenon room of +the British Museum: other fragments of those +broken by the Venetians are preserved at Athens. +There are, secondly, the <hi rend='italic'>metopes</hi>, or plaques of stone +inserted into the frieze between the triglyphs, and +carved in relief with a single small group on each. +The height of these surfaces does not exceed four +feet. There was, thirdly, a band of reliefs running +all around the external wall at the top of the cella, +inside the surrounding pillars, and opposite to them, +and this is known as the <hi rend='italic'>frieze of the cella</hi>. It consists +of a great Panathenaic procession, starting from +the western front, and proceeding in two divisions +along the parallel north and south walls, till they +meet on the eastern front, which was the proper +front of the temple. Among the Elgin marbles +there are a good many of the metopes, and also of +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/>the pieces of the cella frieze preserved. Several +other pieces of the frieze are preserved at Athens, +and altogether we can reconstruct fully three-fourths +of this magnificent composition. +</p> + +<p> +There seems to me the greatest possible difference +in merit between the metopes and the other two +parts of the ornament. The majority of the metopes +which I have seen represent either a Greek and an +Amazon or a Centaur and Lapith, in violent conflict. +It appeared plainly to me that the main object of +these contorted groups was to break in upon the +squareness and straightness of all the other members +of the Doric frieze and architrave. This is admirably +done, as there is no conceivable design which +more completely breaks the stiff rectangles of the +entablature than the various and violent curves of +wrestling figures. But, otherwise, these groups do +not appear to me very interesting, except so far as +everything in such a place, and the work of such +hands, must be interesting. +</p> + +<p> +It is very different with the others. Of these the +pediment sculptures—which were, of course, the +most important, and which were probably the finest +groups ever designed—are so much destroyed or +mutilated that the effect of the composition is entirely +lost, and we can only admire the matchless +power and grace of the torsos which remain. The +grouping of the figures was limited, and indicated +by the triangular shape of the surface to be deco<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/>rated—standing figures occupying the centre, while +recumbent or stooping figures occupied the ends. +But, as in poetry, where the shackles of rhyme and +metre, which encumber the thoughts of ordinary +writers, are the very source which produces in the +true poet the highest and most precious beauties of +expression; so in sculpture and painting, fixed conditions +seem not to injure, but to enhance and perfect, +the beauty and symmetry attainable in the +highest art. We have apparently in the famous +Niobe group, preserved in Florence, the elements +of a similar composition, perhaps intended to fill +the triangular tympanum of a temple; and even in +these weak Roman copies of a Greek masterpiece +we can see how beautifully the limited space given +to the sculpture determined the beauty and variety +of the figures, and their attitudes. It was in this +genius of grouping that I fancy Phidias chiefly +excelled all his contemporaries: single statues of +Polycletus are said to have been preferred in competitions. +To us the art of the <hi rend='italic'>Discobolus</hi> of Myron +seems fully as great as that of any of the figures of +the Parthenon; but no other artist seems to have +possessed the same architectonic power of adapting +large subjects and processions of figures to their +places as Phidias.<note place="foot">The discovery of the figures from the western pediment of +the temple at Olympia, carved by Alcamenes, a contemporary of +Phidias, will hardly lead us to modify this judgment. For though +they show a great talent in the composition, the defects in execution +are so grave as to lead many critics to suspect that we have +in them the work of mere local artists, certainly not the masterful +hands that adorned the Parthenon.</note> How far he was helped or +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/>advised by Ictinus, or even by Pericles, it is not +easy to say. But I do not fancy that Greek statesmen +in those days studied everything else in the +world besides statecraft, and were known as antiquaries, +and linguists, and <hi rend='italic'>connoisseurs</hi> of china and +paintings, and theologians, and novelists—in fact, +everything under the sun. This many-sidedness, +as they now call it, which the Greeks called <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">πολυπραγμοσύνη</foreign> +and thought to be meddlesomeness, was +not likely to infect Pericles. He was very intimate +with Phidias, and is said to have constantly watched +his work—hardly, I fancy, as an adviser, but rather +as an humble and enthusiastic admirer of an art which +did realize its ideal, while he himself was striving in +vain with rebel forces to attain his object in politics. +</p> + +<p> +The extraordinary power of grouping in the +designs of Phidias is, however, very completely +shown us in the better preserved band of the cella +frieze, along which the splendid Panathenaic procession +winds its triumphal way. Over the eastern +doorway were twelve noble sitting figures on either +side of the officiating priest, presenting the state +robe, or <hi rend='italic'>peplos</hi>, for the vestment of Athene. These +figures are explained as gods by the critics; but +they do not in either beauty or dignity, excel those +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/>of many of the Athenians forming the procession. +A very fine slab, containing three of these figures, +is now to be seen in the little museum in the Acropolis. +This group over the main entrance is the end +and summary of all the procession, and corresponds +with the yearly ceremony in this way, that, as the +state entrance, or Propylæa, led into the Acropolis +at the west end, or rear of the Parthenon, the procession +in all probability separated into two, which +went along both sides of the colonnade, and met +again at the eastern door. Accordingly, over the +western end, or rear, the first preparations of the +procession are being made, which then starts along +the north and south walls; the southern being chiefly +occupied with the cavalcade of the Athenian knights, +the northern with the carrying of sacred vessels +and leading of victims for the sacrifice. The frieze +over the western door is still in its place; but, having +lost its bright coloring, and being in any case +at a great height, and only visible from close underneath, +on account of the pillars and architrave in +front, it produces no effect, and is hardly discernible. +Indeed it evidently was never more than an architectural +ornament, in spite of all its artistic beauty. +</p> + +<p> +The greater number of the pieces carried away by +Lord Elgin seem taken from the equestrian portion, +in which groups of cantering and curveting horses, +and men in the act of mounting, and striving to +curb restive steeds, are brought together with +extra<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/>ordinary effect. We can see plainly how important +a part of Athenian splendor depended upon their +knights, and how true are the hints of Aristophanes +about their social standing and aristocratic +tone. The reins and armor, or at least portions of +it, were laid on in metal, and have accordingly been +long since plundered; nor has any obvious trace +remained of the rich colors with which the whole +was painted. There appears no systematic uniform, +some of the riders being dressed in helmets and +cuirasses, some in felt wide-awakes, and short flying +cloaks. It must remain uncertain whether the +artist did not seek to obtain variety by this deviation +from a fixed dress. There can be no doubt that +Greek art was very bold and free in such matters. +On the other hand, the type of the faces does not +exhibit much variety. At the elevation above the +spectator which this frieze occupied, individual expression +would have been thrown away on figures of +three feet in height: the general dress, and the attitudes, +may have been, when colored, easily discernible. +</p> + +<p> +But I confess that this equestrian procession does +not appear to me so beautiful as the rows of figures on +foot (carrying pitchers and other implements, leading +victims, and playing pipes), which seem to come +from the north wall, and of which the most beautiful +slabs are preserved at Athens. Here we can see +best of all that peculiar stamp which shows the age +of Phidias to have been the most perfect in the whole +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/>of Greek sculpture. This statement will not be +accepted readily by the general public. The Apollo +Belvedere, the Capitoline Venus, the Dying Gladiator—these +are what we have been usually taught to +regard as the greatest wonders of Greek plastic art; +and those who have accustomed themselves to this +realistic and sensuous beauty will not easily see the +greatness and the perfection of the solemn and chaste +art of Phidias. +</p><anchor id="ill110"/><index index="fig" level1="Part of the West Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Part of the West Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus136.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Part of the West Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens</head><figDesc>Part of the West Frieze of the Parthenon, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Nevertheless, it will always be held by men who +have thought long enough on the subject, that the +epoch when Myron and Phidias, Polycletus and +Polygnotus, broke loose from archaic stiffness into +flowing grace was, indeed, the climax of the arts. +There seems a sort of natural law—of slow and +painful origin—of growing development—of sudden +bloom into perfection—of luxury and effeminacy—of +gradual debasement and decay—which affects +almost all the arts as well as most of the growths +of nature. In Greek art particularly this phenomenon +perpetually reappears. There can be little +doubt that the Iliad of Homer was the first and +earliest long creation in poetry, the first attempt, +possibly with the aid of writing, to rise from short +disconnected lays to the greatness of a formal epic. +And despite all its defects of plan, its want of firm +consistency, and its obvious incongruities, this greatest +of all poems has held its place against the more +finished and interesting Odyssey, the more elaborated +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/>Cyclic poems, the more learned Alexandrian epics—in +fact, the first full bloom of the art was by far the +most perfect. It is the same thing with Greek +tragedy. No sooner had the art escaped from the +rude wagon, or stage, or whatever it was, of Thespis, +than we find Æschylus, with imperfect appliances, +with want of experience, with many crudenesses and +defects, a tragic poet never equalled again in Greek +history. Of course the modern critics of his own +country preferred, first Sophocles, and then Euripides—great +poets, as Praxiteles and Lysippus were great +sculptors, and like them, perhaps, greater masters of +human passion and of soul-stirring pathos. But for +all that, Æschylus is <hi rend='italic'>the</hi> tragic poet of the Greeks—the +poet who has reached beyond his age and +nation, and fascinated the greatest men even of our +century, who seek not to turn back upon his great +but not equal rivals. Shelley and Mr. Swinburne +have both made Æschylus their master, and to his +inspiration owe the most splendid of their works. +</p> + +<p> +I will not prosecute these considerations further, +though there may be other examples in the history +of art. But I will say this much concerning the +psychological reasons of so strange a phenomenon. +It may, of course, be assumed that the man who +breaks through the old, stiff conventional style +which has bound his predecessors with its shackles +is necessarily a man of strong and original genius. +Thus, when we are distinctly told of Polygnotus that +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/>he first began to vary the features of the human +face from their archaic stiffness, we have before us +a man of bold originality, who quarrelled with the +tradition of centuries, and probably set against him +all the prejudices and the consciences of the graver +public. But to us, far different features seem prominent. +For in spite of all his boldness, when we +compare him with his forerunners, we are struck +with his modesty and devoutness, as compared with +his successors. There is in him, first, a devoutness +toward his work, an old-fashioned piety, which they +had not; and as art in this shape is almost always +a handmaid of religion, this devoutness is a prominent +feature. Next, there is a certain reticence and +modesty in such a man, which arises partly from the +former feeling, but still more from a conservative +fear of violent change, and a healthy desire to make +his work not merely a contrast to, but a development +of, the older traditions. Then the old draped +goddess of religious days, such as the <hi rend='italic'>Venus Genitrix</hi> +in Florence, made way for the splendid but yet more +human handling which we may see in the Venus of +Melos, now in the Louvre. This half-draped but +yet thoroughly new and chaste conception leads +naturally to the type said to have been first dared +by Praxiteles, who did not disguise the use of very +unworthy human models to produce his famous, or +perhaps infamous ideal, which is best known in the +<hi rend='italic'>Venus de Medici</hi>, but perhaps more perfectly + repre<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/>sented in the Venus of the Capitol. There is, too, in +the earlier artist that limited mastery over materials, +which, like the laws of the poet’s language, only +condenses and intensifies the beauty of his work. +</p> + +<p> +Such reserve, as compared with the later phases +of the art, is nowhere so strongly shown as in the +matter of <hi rend='italic'>expression</hi>. This is, indeed, the rock on +which most arts have ultimately made shipwreck. +When the power over materials and effects becomes +complete, so that the artist can as it were perform +feats of conquest; when at the same time the feeling +has died out that he is treading upon holy ground, +we have splendid achievements in the way of intense +expression, whether physical or mental, of force, of +momentary action, of grief or joy, which are good +and great, but which lead imitators into a false +track, and so ruin the art which they were thought +to perfect. Thus over-reaching itself, art becomes +an anxious striving after display, and, like an +affected and meretricious woman, repels the sounder +natures which had else been attracted by her beauty. +In Greek art especially, as I have already noticed +in discussing the Attic tomb reliefs, this excess of +expression was long and well avoided, and there is +no stronger and more marked feature in its good +epochs than the reserve of which I have spoken. +It is the chief quality which makes the school of +Phidias matchless. There is in it beauty of form, +there is a good deal of action, there is in the frieze +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/>an almost endless variety; but withal there is the +strictest symmetry, the closest adherence to fixed +types, the absence of all attempt at expressing passing +emotion. There is still the flavor of the old +stiff simplicity about the faces, about the folds of +the robes, about the type of the horses; but the +feeling of the artist shines through the archaic +simplicity with much clearer light than it does in +the more ambitious attempts of the later school. +The greatest works of Phidias—his statue of Zeus +at Elis, and his Athene in the Parthenon—are lost +to us; but the ancients are unanimous that for +simple and sustained majesty no succeeding sculptor, +however brilliant, had approached his ideal.<note place="foot">It is very uncertain, perhaps unlikely, that any of the architectural +sculpture we possess was actually finished by Phidias’s own +hand. But there can be no doubt that he directed it, and must +have designed much of it in detail, since the general composition +was certainly his creation.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We may say almost the same of the great temple +which he adorned with his genius. It is just that +perfection of the Doric temple which has escaped +from the somewhat ponderous massiveness and simplicity +of the older architecture, while it sacrificed +no element of majesty to that grace and delicacy +which marks, later and more developed Greek architecture. +On this Acropolis the Athenians determined +to show what architecture could reach in +majesty and what in delicacy. So they set up the +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/>Parthenon in that absolute perfection where strength +and solidity come out enhanced, but in no way overlaid, +with ornament. They also built the Erechtheum, +where they adopted the Ionic Order, and +covered their entablature with bands of small and +delicate tracing, which, with its gilding and coloring, +was a thing to be studied minutely and from the +nearest distance. Though the inner columns of the +Propylæa were Ionic (and they were very large), it +appears that large temples in that Order were not +known in Attica. But for small and graceful buildings +it was commonly used, and of these the Erechtheum +was the most perfect. +</p> + +<p> +In its great days, and even as Pausanias saw it, +the Acropolis was covered with statues, as well as +with shrines. It was not merely an Holy of Holies +in religion; it was also a palace and museum of art. +At every step and turn the traveller met new objects +of interest. There were archaic specimens, chiefly +interesting to the antiquarian and the devotee; there +were the great masterpieces which were the joint +admiration of the artist and the vulgar. Even all +the sides and slopes of the great rock were honeycombed +into sacred grottos, with their altars and +their gods, or studded with votive monuments. All +these lesser things are fallen away and gone; the +sacred caves are filled with rubbish and desecrated +with worse than neglect. The grotto of Pan and +Apollo is difficult of access, and was, when I first +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/>saw it, an object of disgust rather than of interest. +There are left but the remnants of the surrounding +wall, and the ruins of the three principal buildings, +which were the envy and wonder of all the civilized +world. +</p> + +<p> +The walls are particularly well worth studying, +as there are to be found in them specimens of all +kinds of building, beginning from prehistoric times. +There is even plain evidence that the builders of the +age of Pericles were not by any means the best wall +builders; for the masonry of the wall called the +Wall of Themistocles, which is well preserved in +the lowest part of the course along the north slope, +is by far the most beautifully finished work of the +kind which can anywhere be seen: and it seems to +correspond accurately to the lower strata of the +foundations on which the Parthenon was built. The +builders of Pericles’s time added a couple of layers +of stone to raise the site of the temple, and their +work contrasts curiously in its roughness with the +older platform. Any one who will note the evident +admiration of Thucydides for the walls built round +the Peiræus by the men of an earlier generation will +see good reason for this feeling when they examine +these details. +</p> + +<p> +The beautiful little temple of Athena Nike, though +outside the Propylæa—thrust out as it were on a +sort of great bastion high on the right as you enter—must +still be called a part, and a very striking +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/>part, of the Acropolis. It is only of late years that +the site has been cleared of rubbish and modern +stonework, and the temple rebuilt from the original +materials, thus destroying, no doubt, some precious +traces of Turkish occupation which the fastidious +historian may regret, but realizing to us a beautiful +Greek temple of the Ionic Order in some completeness. +The peculiarity of this building, which is +perched upon a platform of stone and commands a +splendid prospect, is, that its tiny peribolus, or +sacred enclosure, was surrounded by a parapet of +stone slabs covered with exquisite reliefs of winged +Victories, in various attitudes. Some of these slabs +are now in the Museum of the Acropolis, and are of +great interest—apparently less severe than the +school of Phidias, and therefore later in date, but +still of the best epoch and of marvellous grace. +The position of this temple also is not parallel with +the Propylæa, but turned slightly outward, so that +the light strikes it at moments when the other building +is not illuminated. At the opposite side is a +very well preserved chamber, and a fine colonnade +at right angles with the gate, which looks like a +guard-room. This is the chamber commonly called +the Pinacotheca, where Pausanias saw pictures of +frescoes by Polygnotus. +</p> + +<p> +Of the two museums on the Acropolis, the principal +one requires little comment and is very easily +seen and appreciated. In an ante-room are the +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/>archaic figures of which I have already spoken, +with the remains taken from about the Parthenon, +together with casts of the Elgin marbles, and many +small and beautiful reliefs, apparently belonging to +votive monuments. There are also two figures of +young men, with the heads and feet lost, which are +of peculiarly beautiful Parian marble, and of very +fine workmanship. But the visitor is very likely +to pass by the little Turkish house, which is well +worth a visit, for here are the cypress plugs from +the pillars of the Parthenon or Propylæa; here are +also splendid specimens of archaic vases, such as are +very hard indeed to find in any other collection. +The large jars from Melos which are here to be +seen have the most striking resemblance in their +decoration to the fragment of a similar vessel, with +a row of armed figures round it, which was found +at Mycenæ, and is now in the Ministry of Public +Instruction. Lastly, there stands in the window a +very delicately worked little Satyr, as the pointed +ears and tail show, but of voluptuous form—rather +of the hermaphrodite type: there is hardly a better +preserved statuette than this anywhere at Athens. +It seemed a pity that such a gem should be hidden +away in so obscure a place; and I hope that by this +time it has been brought into the larger and official +museum. +</p> + +<p> +I will venture to conclude this chapter with a curious +comparison. It was my good fortune, a few +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/>months after I had seen the Acropolis, to visit a +rock in Ireland, which, to my great surprise, bore +many curious analogies to it—I mean the rock of +Cashel. Both were strongholds of religion—honored +and hallowed above all other places in their +respective countries—both were covered with buildings +of various dates, each representing peculiar +ages and styles in art. And as the Greeks, I suppose +for effect’s sake, have varied the posture of +their temples, so that the sun illumines them at different +moments, the old Irish have varied the orientation +of their churches that the sun might rise +directly over against the east window on the anniversary +of the patron saint. There is at Cashel the +great Cathedral—in loftiness and grandeur the Parthenon +of the place; there is the smaller and more +beautiful Cormac’s Chapel, the holiest of all, like +the Erechtheum at Athens. Again, the great sanctuary +upon the Rock of Cashel was surrounded by +a cluster of abbeys about its base, which were +founded there by pious men on account of the greatness +and holiness of the archiepiscopal seat. Of +these, one remains, like the Theseum at Athens, +eclipsed by the splendor of the Acropolis. +</p> + +<p> +The prospect from the Irish sanctuary has, indeed, +endless contrasts to that from the pagan stronghold, +but they are suggestive contrasts, and such as are +not without a certain harmony. The plains around +both are framed by mountains, of which the Irish +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/>are probably the more picturesque; and if the light +upon the Greek hills is the fairest, the native color +of the Irish is infinitely more rich. So, again, the +soil of Attica is light and dusty, whereas the Golden +Vale of Tipperary is among the richest and greenest +in the world. Still, both places were the noblest +homes, each in their own country, of religions which +civilized, humanized, and exalted the human race; +and if the Irish Acropolis is left in dim obscurity +by the historical splendor of the Parthenon, on the +other hand, the gods of the Athenian stronghold +have faded out before the moral greatness of the +faith preached from the Rock of Cashel. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="5" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +<index index="toc" level1="V. Athens—The Theatre of Dionysus—The Areopagus"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="V. Athens--The Theatre of Dionysus--The Areopagus"/> +<head>CHAPTER V.</head> + +<head type="sub">ATHENS—THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS—THE AREOPAGUS.</head> + +<p> +There are few recent excavations about Athens +which have been so productive as those along the +south slope of the Acropolis. In the conflicts and +the wear of ages a vast quantity of earth, and walls, +and fragments of buildings has either been cast, or +has rolled, down this steep descent, so that it was +with a certainty of good results that the Archæological +Society of Athens undertook to clear this side +of the rock of all the accumulated rubbish. Several +precious inscriptions were found, which had +been thrown down from the rock; and in April, +1884, the whole plan of the temple of Æsculapius +had been uncovered, and another step attained in +fixing the much disputed topography of this part of +Athens. +</p> + +<p> +And yet we can hardly call this a beginning. +Some twenty-five years ago, a very extensive and +splendidly successful excavation was made on an adjoining +site, when a party of German archæologists +laid bare the Theatre of Dionysus—the great theatre +in which Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides brought +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/>out their immortal plays before an immortal audience. +There is nothing more delightful than to descend +from the Acropolis, and rest awhile in the +comfortable marble arm-chairs with which the front +row of the circuit is occupied. They are of the +pattern usual with the sitting portrait statues of +the Greeks—very deep, and with a curved back, +which exceeds both in comfort and in grace any +chairs designed by modern workmen.<note place="foot">This very pattern, in mahogany, with cane seats, and adapted, +like all Greek chairs, for loose cushions, was often used in eighteenth +century work, and may still be found in old Irish mansions +furnished at that epoch.</note> Each chair +has the name of a priest inscribed on it, showing +how the theatre among the Greeks corresponded to +our cathedral, and this front row to the stalls of +canons and prebendaries. +</p><anchor id="ill122"/><index index="fig" level1="Theatre of Dionysus, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Theatre of Dionysus, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus150.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Theatre of Dionysus, Athens</head><figDesc>Theatre of Dionysus, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +But unfortunately all this sacerdotal prominence +is probably the work of the later restorers of the +theatre. For after having been first beautified and +adorned with statues by Lycurgus (in Demosthenes’s +time), it was again restored and embellished by +Herodes Atticus, or about his time, so that the theatre, +as we now have it, can only be called the +building of the second or third century after Christ. +The front wall of the stage, which is raised some +feet above the level of the empty pit, is adorned +with a row of very elegant sculptures, amongst +which one—a shaggy old man, in a stooping posture, +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/>represented as coming out from within, and holding +up the stone above him—is particularly striking. +Some Greek is said to have knocked off, by way of +amusement, the heads of most of these figures since +they were discovered, but this I do not know upon +any better authority than ordinary report. The pit +or centre of the theatre is empty, and was never in +Greek days occupied by seats, but a wooden structure +was set up in advance of the stage, and on this +the chorus performed their dances and sang their +odes. But now there is a circuit of upright slabs +of stone close to the front seats, which can hardly +have been an arrangement of the old Greek theatre. +They are generally supposed to have been added +when the building came to be used for contests of +gladiators, which Dion Chrysostom tells us were imported +from Corinth in his day. +</p> + +<p> +All these later additions and details are, I fear, +calculated to detract from the reader’s interest in +this theatre, which I should indeed regret—for +nothing can be more certain than that this is the +veritable stone theatre which was built when the +wooden one broke down, at the great competition of +Æschylus and Pratinas; and though front seats may +have been added, and slight modifications introduced, +the general structure can never have required alteration. +The main body of the curved rows of seats +have no backs, but are so deep as to leave plenty of +room for the feet of the people next above; and I +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/>fancy that in the old times the + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">προεδρία</foreign> or right of +sitting in the front rows was not given to priests, +but to foreign embassies, along with the chief magistrates +of Athens. The cost of admission was two +obols to all the seats of the house not specially reserved, +and such reservation was only for persons +of official rank, and by no means for richer people, +or for a higher entrance money—a thing which +would not have been tolerated, I believe, for an +instant by the Athenian democracy.<note place="foot">I state this because many critics have drawn an opposite inference +from a mistranslation of a passage in Plato (<hi rend='italic'>Apol.</hi> 26, E).</note> When the +state treasury grew full with the tribute of the subject +cities, the citizens had this sum, and at times +even more, distributed to them in order that no one +might be excluded from the annual feast, and so the +whole free population of Athens came together without +expense to worship the gods by enjoying themselves +in this great theatre. +</p> + +<p> +It is indeed very large, though exaggerated statements +have been made about its size. It is generally +stated that the enormous number of thirty +thousand people could fit into it—a statement I think +incredible;<note place="foot">The exact number, according to Papadakis (cf. A. Müller, +<hi rend='italic'><anchor id="corr125"/><corr sic="Bühnenalt">Bühnenalt.</corr></hi>, p. 47), is stated at 27,500. But I am convinced this is +a great exaggeration. I should rather give 15,000 as a liberal +estimate; and this agrees with the measurements made for me +by Dr. Dörpfeld in 1889. This mistake is also due to misunderstanding +a passage in Plato’s <hi rend='italic'>Symposium</hi>, which says that +<q>Agathon, whom 30,000 citizens hear——</q>. It is not said that +they heard him at the same time.</note> and it is not nearly as large as other +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/>theatres I have seen, at Syracuse, at Megalopolis, or +even at Argos. This also is certain, that any one +speaking on the stage, as it now is, can be easily +and distinctly heard by people sitting on the highest +row of seats now visible, which cannot, I fancy, +have been far from the original top of the house. +Such a thing were impossible where thirty thousand +people, or a crowd approaching that number, were +seated. We hear, however, that the old actors had +recourse to various artificial means of increasing the +range of their voices, which shows that in some +theatres the difficulty was felt; and in the extant +plays, <hi rend='italic'>asides</hi> are so rare<note place="foot">Cf. on this point my <hi rend='italic'>History of Greek Literature</hi>, i. p. 345.</note> that it must have been difficult +to give them with effect. +</p> + +<p> +In one respect, however, the voice must have been +more easily heard through the old house than it now +is through the ruins. The back of the stage was +built up with a high wooden structure to represent +fixed scenes, and even a sort of upper story on which +gods and flying figures sometimes appeared—an +arrangement which of course threw the voice forward +into the theatre. There used to be an old +idea, not perhaps yet extinct, that the Greek audiences +had the lovely natural scenery of their country +for their stage decoration, and that they embraced in +one view the characters on the stage, and the coasts +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/>and islands for miles behind them. Nothing can be +more absurd, or more opposed to Greek feeling on +such matters. In the first place, as is well known, +a feeling for the beauty of landscape as such was +almost foreign to the Greeks, who never speak of +the picturesque in their literature without special +relation to the sounds of nature, or to the intelligences +which were believed to pervade and animate +it: a fine view as such had little attraction for them. +In the second place, they came to the theatre to +enjoy poetry, and the poetry of character, of passion, +of the relation of man and his destiny to the +course of Divine Providence and Divine justice—in +short, to assume a frame of mind perfectly inconsistent +with the distractions of landscape. For that +purpose they had their stage, as we now know, filled +in at the back with high painted scenes, which +in earlier days were made of light woodwork and +canvas, to bear easy removal, or change, but which +in most Græco-Roman theatres, like the very perfect +one at Aspendus, or indeed that of Herodes +Atticus close by at Athens, were a solid structure +of at least two stories high, which absolutely excluded +all prospect. +</p> + +<p> +But even had the Athenians not been protected +by this arrangement from outer disturbance, I found +by personal investigation that there was no view for +them to enjoy! Except from the highest tiers, and +therefore from the worst places, the sea and islands +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/>are not visible, and the only view to be obtained, +supposing that houses did not obstruct it, would +have been the dull, somewhat bleak, undulating +hills which stretch between the theatre and Phalerum. +</p> + +<p> +The back scenes of the Greek theatres were +painted as ours are, and at first, I suppose, very +rudely indeed, for we hear particularly of a certain +Agatharchus, who developed the art of scene-painting +by adopting perspective.<note place="foot">Cf. on the details of Greek painting the last chapter of my +<hi rend='italic'>Social Life in Greece</hi>.</note> The other appurtenances +of the Greek theatre were equally rude, or +perhaps I should say equally stiff and conventional, +and removed from any attempt to reproduce ordinary +life—at least this was the case with their tragedy, +their satyric dramas, and their older comedy, which +dealt in masks, in fixed stage dresses, in tragic padding, +and stuffing-out to an unnatural size, in comic +distortions and indecent emblems—in all manner of +conventional ugliness, we should say, handed down +from the first religious origin of these performances, +and maintained with that strict conservatism which +marks the course of all great Greek art. The stage +was long and narrow, the means of changing scenes +cumbrous and not frequently employed; the number +of the actors in tragedy strictly limited—four is +an unusual number, exceptionally employed in the +second <hi rend='italic'>Œdipus</hi> of Sophocles. In fact, we cannot +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/>say that the Greek drama ever became externally +like ours till the comedies of Menander and his +school. These poets, living in an age when serious +interests had decayed, when tragedy had ceased to +be religious, and comedy political, when neither was +looked upon any longer as a great public engine of +instruction or of censure, turned to pictures of social +life, not unlike our genteel comedy; and in this +species of drama we may assert that the Greeks, +except perhaps for masks, imitated the course of +ordinary life. +</p> + +<p> +It is indeed said of Euripides, the real father of +this new comedy, that he brought down the tragic +stage from ideal heroism to the passions and meannesses +of ordinary men; and Sophocles, his rival, +the supposed perfection of an Attic tragedian, is +reputed to have observed that he himself had represented +men as they ought to be, Euripides as they +were. But any honest reader of Euripides will see +at once how far he too is removed from the ordinary +realisms of life. He saw, indeed, that human passion +is the subject, of all others, which will permanently +interest human thought; he felt that the insoluble +problems of Free Will and Fate, of the mercy and +the cruelty of Providence, were too abstract on the +one hand, and too specially Greek on the other; +that, after all, human nature as such is the great +universal field on which any age can reach the +sympathy and the interest of its remotest successors. +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/>But the passions painted by Euripides were no +ordinary passions—they were great and unnatural +crimes, forced upon suffering mortals by the action +of hostile deities; the virtues of Euripides were no +ordinary virtues—they were great heroic self-sacrifices, +and showed the Divine element in our nature, +which no tyranny of circumstances can efface. His +Phædra and Medea on the one hand, his Alcestis +and Iphigenia on the other, were strictly characters +as they ought to be in tragedy, and not as they +commonly are in life; and in outward performance +Euripides did not depart from the conventional stiffness, +from the regular development, from the somewhat +pompous and artificial dress in which tragedy +had been handed down to him by his masters. +</p> + +<p> +They, too, had not despised human nature—how +could they? Both Æschylus and Sophocles were great +painters of human character, as well in its passions as in +its reasonings. But the former had made it accessory, +so to speak, to the great religious lessons which he +taught; the latter had at least affected to do so, or +imagined that he did, while really the labyrinths of +human character had enticed and held him in their +endless maze. Thus, all through Greek tragedy +there was on the one hand a strong element of conventional +stiffness, of adherence to fixed subjects, +and scenes, and masks, and dresses—of adherence +to fixed metres, and regular dialogues, where question +and answer were balanced line for line, and the +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/>cast of characters was as uniform as it is in the +ordinary Italian operas of our own day. But on the +other hand, these tragic poets were great masters of +expression, profound students not only of the great +world problems, but of the problems of human nature, +exquisite masters too of their language, not only in +its dramatic force, but in its lyric sweetness; they +summed up in their day all that was great and +beautiful in Greek poetry, and became the fullest +and ripest fruit of that wonderful tree of the knowledge +of good and evil, which even now makes those +that taste it to be as gods. +</p> + +<p> +Such, then, were the general features of the +tragedy which the Athenian public, and the married +women, including many strangers, assembled to witness +in broad daylight under the Attic sky. They +were not sparing of their time. They ate a good +breakfast before they came. They ate sweetmeats +in the theatre when the acting was bad. Each play +was short, and there was doubtless an interval of +rest. But it is certain that each poet contended +as a rule with four plays against his competitors; +and as there were certainly three of them, there +must have been twelve plays acted; this seems to +exceed the endurance of any public, even allowing +two days for the performance. We are not fully +informed on these points. We do not even know +how Sophocles, who contended with single plays, +managed to compete against Euripides, who +con<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/>tended with sets of four. But we know that the +judges were chosen by lot, and we strongly suspect, +from the records of their decisions, that they often +decided wrongly. We also know that the poets +sought to please the audience by political and +patriotic allusions, and to convey their dislike of +opposed cities or parties by drawing their representatives +in odious colors on the stage. Thus +Euripides is never tired of traducing the Spartans +in the character of Menelaus. Æschylus fights the +battle of the Areopagus in his <hi rend='italic'>Eumenides</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +But besides all this, it seems that tragic poets were +regarded as the proper teachers of morality, and that +the stage among the Greeks occupied somewhat the +place of the modern pulpit. This is the very attitude +which Racine assumes in the Preface to his <hi rend='italic'>Phèdre</hi>. +He suggests that it ought to be considered the best +of his plays, because there is none in which he has +so strictly rewarded virtue and punished vice.<note place="foot">The actual passage is well worth quoting—<q>Au reste, je n’ose +encore ajouter que cette pièce soit en effet la meilleure de mes +tragédies. Je laisse et aux lecteurs et au temps à décider de son +véritable prix. Ce que je puis assurer, c’est que je n’en ai point +fait où la vertu soit plus mise en jour que dans celle-ci; les +moindres fautes y sont sévèrement punies; la seule pensée du +crime y est regardée avec autant d’horreur que le crime même; +les faiblesses de l’amour y passent pour des vraies faiblesses; les +passions n’y sont présentées aux yeux que pour montrer tous les +désordres dont elles sont causes, et le vice y est peint partout avec +des couleurs qui en out fait connaître et haïr la difformité. C’est +là proprement le but que tout homme qui travaille pour le public +se doit proposer; et c’est que les premiers poètes tragiques avaient +en vue sur toute chose. Leur théâtre était une école où la vertu +n’était pas moins bien enseignée que dans les écoles des philosophes.... +Il serait à souhaiter que nos ouvrages fussent aussi +solides et aussi pleins d’utiles instructions que ceux de ces poètes. +Ce serait peut-être un moyen de réconcilier la tragédie avec quantité +de personnes célèbres par leur piété et par leur doctrine, qui l’ont +condamnée dans ces derniers temps, et qui en jugeraient sans doute +plus favorablement, si les auteurs songeaient autant à instruire les +spectateurs qu’à les divertir, et s’ils suivaient en cela la véritable +intention de la tragédie.</q></note> He +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/>alters, in his <hi rend='italic'>Iphigénie</hi>, the Greek argument from +which he copied, because as he tells us (again in the +Preface) it would never do to have so virtuous a +person as Iphigenia sacrificed. This, however, +would not have been a stumbling-block to the +Greek poet, whose capricious and spiteful gods, or +whose deep conviction of the stain of an ancestral +curse, would justify catastrophies which the Christian +poet, with his trust in a benevolent Providence, +could not admit. But, indeed, in most other points +the so-called imitations of the Greek drama by +Racine and his school are anything but imitations. +The main characters and the general outline of the +plot are no doubt borrowed. The elegance and +power of the dialogue are more or less successfully +copied. But the natural and familiar scenes, which +would have been shocking to the court of Louis +XIV.—<q>ces scenes entremêlées de bas comique, et +ces fréquents exemples de mauvais ton et d’une +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/>familiarité choquante,</q> as Barthélémy says—such +characters as the guard in the <hi rend='italic'>Antigone</hi>, the nurse +in the <hi rend='italic'>Choephorœ</hi>, the Phrygian in the <hi rend='italic'>Orestes</hi>, were +carefully expunged. Moreover, love affairs and +court intrigues were everywhere introduced, and +the language was never allowed to descend from its +pomp and grandeur. Most of the French dramatists +were indeed bad Greek scholars,<note place="foot">Racine is here the exception.</note> and knew the plays +from which they copied either through very poor +translations, or through the rhetorical travesties surviving +under the name of Seneca, which were long +thought fully equal to the great and simple originals. +</p> + +<p> +So the French of the seventeenth century, starting +from these half-understood models, and applying +rigidly the laws of tragedy which they had deduced, +with questionable logic, from that very untrustworthy +guide, our text of the <hi rend='italic'>Poetics</hi> of Aristotle, created +a drama which became so unlike what it professed +to imitate, that most good modern French critics +have occupied themselves with showing the contrasts +of old Greek tragedy to that of the modern stage. +They are always praising the <hi rend='italic'>naiveté</hi>, the familiarity, +the irregularity of the old dramatists; they are +always noting touches of common life and of ordinary +motive quite foreign to the dignity of Racine, +and Voltaire, and Alfieri.<note place="foot">Alfieri, though starting with a violent feeling of reaction +against some of the faults of the French drama, was wholly +trained upon it, and only knew the Greek plays through French +versions until very late in life, when most of his works were +already published. I therefore class him unhesitatingly as an +offshoot of that school.</note> They think that the real +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/>parallel is to be found not among them, but in +Shakespeare. Thus their education makes them +emphasize the very qualities which we admit, but +should not cite, as the peculiarities of Greek +tragedy. <hi rend='italic'>We</hi> are rather struck with its conventionalities, +with its strict adherence to fixed form, +with its somewhat stilted diction, and we wonder +how it came to be so great and natural within these +trammels. +</p> + +<p> +Happily the tendency in our own day to reproduce +antiquity faithfully, and not in modern recasting, has +led to the translating, and even to the representing, +of Greek tragedies in their purity, and it does not +require a knowledge of Greek to obtain some real +acquaintance with these great masterpieces. Mr. +and Mrs. Browning, Dean Milman, Mr. Fitzgerald, +Mr. Whitelaw, and many others, have placed faithful +and elegant versions within our reach. But since +I have cautioned the reader not versed in Greek +against adopting Racine’s or Alfieri’s plays as adequate +substitutes, I venture to give the same advice +concerning the more Greek and antique plays of Mr. +Swinburne, which, in spite of their splendor, are +still not really Greek plays, but modern plays based +on Greek models. The relief produced by ordinary +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/>talk from ordinary characters, which has been already +noticed, is greatly wanting in his very lofty, +and perhaps even strained, dialogue. Nor are his +choruses the voice of the vulgar public, combining +high sentiments with practical meanness, but elaborate +and very difficult speculations, which comment +metaphysically on the general problems of the play. +There is nothing better worth reading than the +<hi rend='italic'>Atalanta in Calydon</hi>. The Greek scholar sees +everywhere how thoroughly imbued the author is +with Greek models. But it will not give to the +mere English reader any accurate idea of a real +Greek tragedy. He must go to <hi rend='italic'>Balaustion’s Adventure</hi>, +or <hi rend='italic'>Aristophanes’s Apology</hi>, or some other professed +translation, and follow it line for line, adding +some such general reviews as the <hi rend='italic'>Etudes</hi> of M. Patin. +</p> + +<p> +As for revivals of Greek plays, it seems to me +not likely that they will ever succeed. The French +imitations of Racine laid hold of the public because +they were not imitations. And as for us nowadays, +who are more familiar with the originals, a faithless +reproduction would shock us, while a literal one +would weary us. This at least is the effect which +the <hi rend='italic'>Antigone</hi> produces, even with the modern choruses +of Mendelssohn to relieve the slowness of the +action. But, of course, a reproduction of the old +chorus would be simply impossible. The whole pit +in the theatre of Dionysus seems to have been left +empty. A part somewhat larger than our orchestra +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/>was covered with a raised platform, though still +lower than the stage.<note place="foot">There is now (1891) a controversy raging concerning the height +of the Greek stage and its arrangements, owing to the researches +of Dr. Dörpfeld. I cannot enter upon it here.</note> Upon this the chorus danced +and sang and looked on at the actors, as in the play +within the play in <hi rend='italic'>Hamlet</hi>. Above all, they constantly +prayed to their gods, and this religious side +of the performance has of course no effect upon us.<note place="foot">This was written before the very interesting revivals of Greek +plays which do such honor to Cambridge. Those who had the +privilege of seeing them can judge not only how far a reproduction +was possible, but how far it can succeed, for never will it be +more ably undertaken and carried out.</note> +</p> + +<p> +As to old Attic comedy, it would be even more +impossible to recover it for a modern public. Its +local and political allusions, its broad and coarse +humor, its fantastic dresses, were features which +made it not merely ancient and Greek, but Athenian, +and Athenian of a certain epoch. Without the +Alexandrian scholiasts, who came in time to recover +and note down most of the allusions, these comedies +would be to the Greek scholar of to-day hardly +intelligible. The new Attic comedy, of which Terence +is a copy, is indeed on a modern basis, and may +be faithfully reproduced, if not admired, in our day. +But here, alas! the great originals of Menander, +Philemon, and Diphilus are lost to us, and we must +be content with the Latin accommodations. +</p> + +<p> +But I have delayed too long over these Greek +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/>plays, and must apologize for leading away the +reader from the actual theatre in which he is sitting. +Yet there is hardly a place in Athens which calls +back the mind so strongly to the old days, when all +the crowd came jostling in, and settled down in their +seats, to hear the great novelties of the year from +Sophocles or Euripides. No doubt there were +cliques and cabals and claqueurs, noisy admirers +and cold critics, the supporters of the old, and the +lovers of the new, devotees and skeptics, wondering +foreigners and self-complacent citizens. They little +thought how we should come, not only to sit in the +seats they occupied, but to reverse the judgments +which they pronounced, and correct with sober +temper the errors of prejudice, of passion, and of +pride. +</p> + +<p> +Plato makes Socrates say, in his <hi rend='italic'>Apologia</hi> (<hi rend="italic">pro +vita sua</hi>), that a copy of Anaxagoras could be +bought on the orchestra, when very dear, for a +drachme, that is to say for about 9d. of our money, +which may then have represented our half-crown or +three shillings in value.<note place="foot">The reader who cares to consult the various prices cited in my +<hi rend='italic'>Old Greek Life</hi> will see the grounds for assuming some such change +in the value of money between the fourth century <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> in Greece +and the nineteenth <hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi> in England.</note> The commentators have +made desperate attempts to explain this. Some say +the orchestra was used as a book-stall when plays +were not going on—an assumption justified by no +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/>other hint in Greek literature. Others have far +more absurdly imagined that Plato really meant you +could pay a drachme for the best seat in the theatre, +and read the writings of Anaxagoras in a fashionable +play of Euripides, who was his friend and follower. +Verily a wonderful interpretation! +</p> + +<p> +If the reader will walk with me from the theatre +of Dionysus past the newly excavated site of the +temple of Æsculapius, and past the Roman-Greek +theatre which was erected by Hadrian or Herodes +Atticus, I will show him what Plato meant. Of +course, this later theatre, with its solid Roman back +scenes of masonry, is equally interesting with the +Theatre of Dionysus to the advocates of the unity +of history! But to us who are content to study +Greek Athens, it need not afford any irrelevant delays. +Passing round the approach to the Acropolis, +we come on to a lesser hill, separated from it by a +very short saddle, so that it looks like a sort of outpost +or spur sent out from the rock of the Acropolis. +This is the Areopagus—Mars’ Hill—which we can +ascend in a few minutes. There are marks of old +staircases cut in the rock. There are underneath, +on our left and right, as we go up, deep black caverns, +once the home of the Eumenides. On the flat +top there are still some signs of a rude smoothing +of the stone for seats. Under us, to the north-west, +is the site of the old <hi rend='italic'>agora</hi>, once surrounded with +colonnades, the crowded market-place of all those +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/>who bought and sold and talked. But on the descent +from the Areopagus, and, now at least, not +much higher than the level of the market-place beneath, +there is a small semicircular platform, backed +by the rising rock. This, or some platform close to +it, which may now be hidden by accumulated soil, +was the old <hi rend='italic'>orchestra</hi>, possibly the site of the oldest +theatre, but in historical times a sort of reserved +platform, where the Athenians, who had their town +bristling with statues, allowed no monument to be +erected save the figures of Harmodius and Aristogiton, +which were carried into Persia, replaced by +others, afterwards recovered, and of which we may +have a copy in the two fighting figures, of archaic +character, now in the Museum of Naples. It was +doubtless on this orchestra, just above the bustle and +thoroughfare of the <hi rend='italic'>agora</hi>, that booksellers kept their +stalls, and here it was that the book of <anchor id="corr140"/><corr sic="Anaxgoras">Anaxagoras</corr> +could be bought for a drachme. +</p> + +<p> +Here then was the place where that physical philosophy +was disseminated which first gained a few +advanced thinkers; then, through Euripides, leavened +the drama, once the exponent of ancient piety; +then, through the stage, the Athenian public, till we +arrive at those Stoics and Epicureans who came to +teach philosophy and religion not as a faith, but as a +system, and to spend their time with the rest of the +public in seeking out novelties of creed and of +opinion as mere fashions with which people choose +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/>to dress their minds. And it was on this very Areopagus, +where we are now standing, that these philosophers +of fashion came into contact with the thorough +earnestness, the profound convictions, the red-hot +zeal of the Apostle Paul. The memory of that +great scene still lingers about the place, and every +guide will show you the exact place where the +Apostle stood, and in what direction he addressed his +audience. There are, I believe, even some respectable +commentators, who transfer their own estimate +of S. Paul’s importance to the Athenian public, and +hold that it was before the <hi rend='italic'>court</hi> of the Areopagus +that he was asked to expound his views.<note place="foot">I perceive that M. Renan, who alone of skeptical critics +is persuaded, possibly by the striking picturesqueness of the +scene, to accept it as historical, considers it not impossible that +S. Paul may have been actually brought before the court. He +notices that in later days it assumed a general direction not only +of literature, but of morals, and that any new teacher might fairly +have been summoned before it to expound his views. This does +not seem to me to agree with the ironical and trivial character of +the whole audience, as intimated by the historian. The author of +the work called <hi rend='italic'>Supernatural Religion</hi>, when analyzing, in his third +volume, the Acts of the Apostles, is actually silent on this speech, +though he discusses at great length the speeches of S. Paul which he +thinks composed as parallels to those of S. Peter. Most German +critics look on the passage as introduced by the author, like the +speeches in Thucydides or Tacitus, as a literary ornament, as well as +an exposition of the Apostolic preaching of the early Church. They +also note its many contrasts to the teaching of such documents as +the Epistle to the Romans. I have assumed, as even M. Renan +seems to do, that the Apostle told Timothy, or Luke, or some other +follower, the main purport of this memorable visit, and also the +headings of the speech, which is too unlike his received writings +to be a probable forgery.</note> This is +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/>more than doubtful. The <hi rend='italic'>blases</hi> philosophers, who +probably yawned over their own lectures, hearing of +a new lay preacher, eager to teach and apparently +convinced of the truth of what he said, thought the +novelty too delicious to be neglected, and brought +him forthwith out of the chatter and bustle of the +crowd, probably past the very orchestra where +Anaxagoras’s books had been proselytizing before +him, and where the stiff old heroes of Athenian history +stood, a monument of the escape from political +slavery. It is even possible that the curious knot +of idlers did not bring him higher than this platform, +which might well be called part of Mars’ Hill. But +if they choose to bring him to the top, there was no +hindrance, for the venerable court held its sittings +in the open air, on stone seats; and when not thus +occupied the top of the rock may well have been a +convenient place of retirement for people who did +not want to be disturbed by new acquaintances and +the constant eddies of new gossip in the market-place. +</p><anchor id="ill140"/><index index="fig" level1="Mars’ Hill, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Mars’ Hill, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus170.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Mars’ Hill, Athens</head><figDesc>Mars’ Hill, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It is, however, of far less import to know on what +spot of the Areopagus Paul stood, than to understand +clearly what he said, and how he sought to +conciliate as well as to refute the philosophers who, +no doubt, looked down upon him as an intellectual +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/>inferior. He starts naturally enough from the extraordinary +crowd of votive statues and offerings, for +which Athens was remarkable above all other cities +of Greece. He says, with a touch of irony, that +he finds them very religious indeed,<note place="foot">The fact that the title of Menander’s famous play was +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Δεισιδαίμων</foreign> has escaped the commentators. S. Paul must have +meant <q>rather superstitious,</q> as the A. V. has it.</note> so religious that +he even found an altar to a God professedly <hi rend='italic'>unknown</hi>, +or perhaps unknowable.<note place="foot">Though <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἄγνωστος</foreign> may surely have this meaning, I do not +find it suggested in any of the commentaries on the passage. They +all suppose some superstitious precaution, or else some case of the +real inscription being effaced by time, and supplied in this way. +The expression in Pausanias—the gods called unknown, +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τοῖς ὀνομαζομένοις ἀγνώστοις</foreign>—seems to suggest it as a regular title, and +we know that there were deities whose name was secret, and might +not be pronounced. But in the face of so many better critics I +will not insist upon this interpretation.</note> Probably S. Paul meant to +pass from the latter sense of the word <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἄγνωστος</foreign>, +which was, I fancy, what the inscription meant, to +the former, which gave him an excellent introduction +to his argument. Even the use of the singular +may have been an intentional variation from the +strict text, for Pausanias twice over speaks of altars +to the gods who are called the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἄγνωστοι</foreign> (or mysterious), +but I cannot find any citation of the inscription +in the singular form. However that may be, +our version does not preserve the neatness of S. +Paul’s point: <q>I find an altar,</q> he says, <q>to an unknown +God. Whom then ye unknowingly worship, +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/>Him I announce to you.</q> But then he develops a +conception of the great One God, not at all from +the special Jewish, but from the Stoic point of view. +He was preaching to Epicureans and to Stoics—to +the advocates of prudence as the means, and pleasure +as the end, of a happy life, on the one hand; +on the other, to the advocates of duty, and of life in +harmony with the Providence which governs the +world for good. There could be no doubt to which +side the man of Tarsus must incline. Though the +Stoics of the market-place of Athens might be mere +dilettanti, mere talkers about the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀγαθόν</foreign> and the great +soul of the world, we know that this system of philosophy +produced at Tarsus as well as at Rome the +most splendid constancy, the most heroic endurance—I +had almost said the most Christian benevolence. +It was this stern and earnest theory which attracted +all serious minds in the decay of heathenism. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, S. Paul makes no secret of his +sympathy with its nobler features. He describes +the God whom he preaches as the benevolent Author +of the beauty and fruitfulness of Nature, the great +Benefactor of mankind by His providence, and not +without constant and obtrusive witnesses of His +greatness and His goodness. But he goes much +further, and treads close upon the Stoic pantheism +when he not only asserts, in the words of Aratus, +<anchor id="corr144"/><corr sic="than">that</corr> we are His offspring, but that <q>in Him we live, +and move, and have our being.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> + +<p> +His first conclusion, that the Godhead should not +be worshipped or even imaged in stone or in bronze, +was no doubt quite in accordance with more enlightened +Athenian philosophy. But it was when he +proceeded to preach the Resurrection of the Dead, +that even those who were attracted by him, and +sympathized with him, turned away in contempt. +The Epicureans thought death the end of all things. +The Stoics thought that the human soul, the offspring—nay, +rather an offshoot—of the Divine +world-soul, would be absorbed into its parent +essence. Neither could believe the assertion of +S. Paul. When they first heard him talk of <hi rend='italic'>Jesus</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Anastasis</hi> they thought them some new pair of +Oriental deities. But when they learned that Jesus +was a man ordained by God to judge the world, and +that Anastasis was merely the Anastasis of the dead, +they were greatly disappointed; so some mocked, +and some excused themselves from further listening. +</p> + +<p> +Thus ended, to all appearance ignominiously, the +first heralding of the faith which was to supplant all +the temples and altars and statues with which Athens +had earned its renown as a beautiful city, which was +to overthrow the schools of the sneering philosophers, +and even to remodel all the society and the policy +of the world. And yet, in spite of this great and +decisive triumph of Christianity there was something +curiously prophetic in the contemptuous rejection +of its apostle at Athens. Was it not the +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/>first expression of the feeling which still possesses +the visitor who wanders through its ruins, and which +still dominates the educated world?—the feeling that +while other cities owe to the triumph of Christianity +all their beauty and their interest, Athens has to this +day resisted this influence; and that while the +Christian monuments of Athens would elsewhere +excite no small attention, here they are passed by +as of no import compared with its heathen splendor.<note place="foot"><p>This depends on no mere accident, but on the essential features +of the spiritual side of Greek character, on which I will quote +an admirable passage from Renan’s <hi rend='italic'>S. Paul</hi>:</p> + <p><q rend="post: none">Ce qui caractérisait la religion du Grec autrefois, ce qui la +caractérise encore de nos jours, c’est le manque d’infini, de vague, +d’attendrissement, de mollesse féminine; la profondeur du sentiment +religieux allemand et celtique manque à la race des vrais +Hellènes. La piété du Grec orthodoxe consiste en pratiques et en +signes extérieurs. Les églises orthodoxes, parfois très-élégantes, +n’ont rien des terreurs qu’on ressent dans une église gothique. +En ce christianisme oriental, point de larmes, de prières, de componction +intérieure. Les enterrements y sont presque gais; ils ont +lieu le soir, au soleil couchant, quand les ombres sont déjà longues, +avec des chants à mi-voix et un déploiement de couleurs voyantes. +La gravité fanatique des Latins déplaît à ces races vives, sereines, +légères. L’infirme n’y est pas abattu: il voit doucement venir la +mort; tout sourit autour de lui. Là est le secret de cette gaieté +divine des poëmes homériques et de Platon: le récit de la mort de +Socrate dans le <hi rend='italic'>Phédon</hi> montre à peine une teinte de tristesse. La +vie, c’est donner sa fleur, puis son fruit; quoi de plus? Si, comme +on peut le soutenir, la préoccupation de la mort est le trait le plus +important du christianisme et du sentiment religieux moderne, la +race grecque est la moins religieuse des races. C’est une race +superficielle, prenant la vie comme une chose sans surnaturel ni +arrière-plan. Une telle simplicité de conception tient en grande +partie au climat, à la pureté de l’air, à l’étonnante joie qu’on +respire, mais bien plus encore aux instincts de la race hellénique, +adorablement idéaliste. Un rien, un arbre, une fleur, un lézard, +une tortue, provoquant le souvenir de mille métamorphoses chantées +par les poëtes; un filet d’eau, un petit creux dans le rocher, qu’on +qualifie d’antre des nymphes; un puits avec une tasse sur la margelle, +un pertuis de mer si étroit que les papillons le traversent et +pourtant navigable aux plus grands vaisseaux, comme à Poros; +des orangers, des cyprès dont l’ombre s’étend sur la mer, un petit +bois de pins au milieu des rochers, suffisent en Grèce pour produire +le contentement qu’éveille la beauté. Se promener dans les jardins +pendant la nuit, écouter les cigales, s’asseoir au clair de lune en +jouant de la flûte; aller boire de l’eau dans la montagne, apporter +avec soi un petit pain, un poisson et un lécythe de vin qu’on boit +en chantant; aux fêtes de famille, suspendre une couronne de +feuillage au-dessus de sa porte, aller avec des chapeaux de fleurs; +les jours de fêtes publiques, porter des thyrses garnis de + <anchor id="corr147"/><corr sic="fueillages">feuillages</corr>; +passer des journées à danser, à jouer avec des chèvres apprivoisées—voilà +les plaisirs grecs, plaisirs d’une race pauvre, économe, +éternellement jeune, habitant un pays charmant, trouvant son bien +en elle-même et dans les dons que les dieux lui ont faits. La +pastorale à la façon de Théocrite fut dans les pays helléniques une +vérité; la Grèce se plut toujours à ce petit genre de poésie fin et +aimable, l’un des plus <anchor id="corr147a"/><corr sic="caractèristiques">caractéristiques</corr> de sa littérature, miroir de +sa propre vie, presque partout ailleurs niais et factice. La belle +humeur, la joie de vivre sont les choses grecques par excellence. +Cette race a toujours vingt ans: pour elle, <hi rend='italic'>indulgere genio</hi> n’est pas +la pesante ivresse de l’Anglais, le grossier ébattement du Français; +c’est tout simplement penser que la nature est bonne, qu’on peut +et qu’on doit y céder. Pour le Grec, en effet, la nature est une +conseillère d’élégance, une maîtresse de droiture et de vertu; la +<q>concupiscence,</q> cette idée que la nature nous induit à mal faire, +est un non-sens pour lui. Le goût de la parure qui distingue le +palicare, et qui se montre avec tant d’innocence dans la jeune +Grecque, n’est pas la pompeuse vanité du barbare, la sotte prétention +de la bourgeoise, bouffie de son ridicule orgueil de parvenue; +c’est le sentiment pur et fin de naïfs jouvenceaux, se sentant fils +légitimes des vrais inventeurs de la beauté.</q></p> + <p><q rend="post: none">Une telle race, on le comprend, eût accueilli Jésus par un +sourire. Il était une chose que ces enfants exquis ne pouvaient +nous apprendre: le sérieux profond, l’honnêteté simple, le dévouement +sans gloire, la bonté sans emphase. Socrate est un moraliste +de premier ordre: mais il n’a rien à faire dans l’histoire religieuse. +Le Grec nous paraît toujours un peu sec et sans cœur: il a de +l’esprit, du mouvement, de la subtilité; il n’a rien de rêveur, de +mélancolique. Nous autres, Celtes et Germains, la source de notre +génie, c’est notre cœur. Au fond de nous est comme une fontaine de +fées, une fontaine claire, verte et profonde, où se reflète l’infini. +Chez le Grec, l’amour propre, la vanité se mêlent à tout; le sentiment +vague lui est inconnu; la réflexion sur sa propre destinée lui paraît +fade. Poussée à la caricature, une façon si incomplète d’entendre +la vie donne a l’époque romaine le <hi rend='italic'>græculus esuriens</hi>, grammairien, +artiste, charlatan, acrobate, médecin, amuseur du monde entier, fort +analogue à l’Italien des XVI<hi rend="vertical-align: super; font-size: small">e</hi> et + XVII<hi rend="vertical-align: super; font-size: small">e</hi> siècles: à l’époque byzantine, +le théologien sophiste faisant dégénérer la religion en subtiles disputes; +de nos jours, le Grec moderne, quelquefois vaniteux et +ingrat, le <hi rend='italic'>papas</hi> orthodoxe, avec sa religion égoïste et matérielle. +Malheur à qui s’arrête à cette décadence! Honte à celui qui, +devant le Parthénon, songe à remarquer un ridicule! Il faut le +reconnaître pourtant: la Grèce ne fut jamais sérieusement chrétienne; +elle ne l’est pas encore. Aucune race ne fut moins +romantique, plus dénuée du sentiment chevaleresque de notre +moyen âge. Platon bâtit toute sa théorie de la beauté en se passant +de la femme. Penser à une femme pour s’exciter à faire de grandes +choses! un Grec eût été bien surpris d’un pareil langage; il pensait, lui, aux hommes réunis sur l’<hi rend='italic'>agora</hi>, il pensait à la patrie. +Sous ce rapport, les Latins étaient plus près de nous. La poésie +grecque, incomparable dans les grands genres tels que l’épopée, la +tragédie, la poésie lyrique désintéressée, n’avait pas, ce semble, la +douce note élégiaque de Tibulle, de Virgile, de Lucrèce, note si +bien en harmonie avec nos sentiments, si voisine de ce que nous +aimons.</q></p> + <p><q>La même différence se retrouve entre la piété de saint Bernard, +de saint François d’Assise et celle des saints de l’Église +grecque. Ces belles écoles de Cappadoce, de Syrie, d’Égypte, des +Pères du désert, sont presque des écoles philosophiques. L’hagiographie +populaire des Grecs est plus mythologique que celle des +Latins. La plupart des saints qui figurent dans l’iconostase d’une +maison grecque et devant lesquels brûle une lampe ne sont pas +de grands fondateurs, de grands hommes, comme les saints de +l’Occident; ce sont souvent des êtres fantastiques, d’anciens +dieux transfigurés, ou du moins des combinaisons de personnages +historiques et de mythologie, comme saint Georges. Et cette +admirable église de Sainte-Sophie! c’est un temple arien; le genre +humain tout entier pourrait y faire sa prière. N’ayant pas eu de +pape, d’inquisition, de scolastique, de moyen age barbare, ayant +toujours gardé un levain d’arianisme, la Grèce lâchera plus facilement +qu’aucun autre pays le christianisme surnaturel, à peu près +comme ces Athéniens d’autrefois étaient en même temps, grâce à +une sorte de légèreté, mille fois plus profonde que le sérieux de nos +lourdes races, le plus superstitieux des peuples et le plus voisin du +rationalisme. Les chants populaires grecs sont encore aujourd’hui +pleins d’images et d’idées païennes. À la grande différence de +l’Occident, l’Orient garda durant tout le moyen âge et jusqu’aux +temps modernes de vrais <q>hellénistes,</q> au fond plus païens que +chrétiens, vivants du culte de la vieille patrie grecque et des vieux +auteurs. Ces hellénistes sont, au XV<hi rend="vertical-align: super; font-size: small">e</hi> siècle, les agents de la renaissance +de l’Occident, auquel ils apportent les textes grecs, base de +toute civilization. Le même esprit a présidé et présidera aux destinées +de la Grèce nouvelle. Quand on a bien étudié ce qui fait de +nos jours le fond d’un Hellène cultivé, on voit qu’il y a chez lui +très-peu de christianisme: il est chrétien de forme, comme un +Persan est musulman; mais au fond il est <q>helléniste.</q> Sa religion, +c’est l’adoration de l’ancien génie grec. Il pardonne toute hérésie +au philhellène, a celui qui admire son passé; il est bien moins +disciple de Jésus et de saint Paul que de Plutarque et de Julien.</q></p></note> +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/>There are very old and very beautiful little churches +in Athens, <q>ces délicieuses petites églises byzantines,</q> +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/>as M. Renan calls them. They are very peculiar, +and unlike what one generally sees in Europe. +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/>They strike the observer with their quaintness and +smallness, and he fancies he here sees the tiny model +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/>of that unique and splendid building, the cathedral +of S. Mark at Venice. But yet it is surprising how +little we notice them at Athens. I was even told—I +sincerely hope it was false—that public opinion at +Athens was gravitating toward the total removal of +one, and that the most perfect, of these churches, +which stands in the middle of a main street, and so +breaks the regularity of the modern boulevard! Let +us hope that the man who lashes himself into rage at +the destruction of the Venetian tower may set his +face in time against this real piece of barbarism, if +indeed it ever ventures to assert itself in act.<note place="foot">The reader will find in my last chapter some further information +concerning the remains of mediæval Greece.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I have now concluded a review of the most +important old Greek buildings to be seen about +Athens. To treat them exhaustively would require +a far longer discussion, or special knowledge which +I do not possess; and there are, moreover, smaller +buildings, like the so-called Lantern of Demosthenes, +which is really the Choragic monument of Lysicrates, +and the Temple of the Winds, which are well worth +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/>a visit, but which the traveller can find without a +guide, and study without difficulty. But incompleteness +must be an unavoidable defect in describing +any city in which new discoveries are being +made, I may say, monthly, and when the museums +and excavations of to-day may be any day completely +eclipsed by materials now unknown, or +scattered through the country. Thus, on my second +visit to Athens, I found in the National Bank the +wonderful treasures exhumed by Dr. Schliemann at +Mycenæ, which are in themselves enough to induce +any student of Greek antiquity to revisit the town, +however well he may have examined it in former +years. On my third visit, they were arranged and +catalogued, but we have not yet attained to any certainty +about the race that left them there, and how +remote the antiquity of the tombs. These considerations +tend not only to vindicate the inadequateness +of this review, but perhaps even to justify it in the +eyes of the exacting reader, who may have expected +a more thorough survey. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="6" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VI. Excursions in Attica—Colonus—The Harbors—Laurium—Sunium"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="VI. Excursions in Attica--Colonus--The Harbors--Laurium--Sunium"/> +<head>CHAPTER VI.</head> + +<head type="sub">EXCURSIONS IN ATTICA—COLONUS—THE HARBORS—LAURIUM—SUNIUM.</head> + +<p> +There are two modern towns which, in natural +features, resemble Athens. The irregular ridge of +greater Acropolis and lesser Areopagus remind one +of the castle and the Mönchsberg of Salzburg, one +of the few towns in Europe more beautifully situated +than Athens. The relation of the Acropolis to the +more lofty Lycabettus suggests the castle of Edinburgh +and Arthur’s Seat. But here the advantage +is greatly on the side of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +When you stand on the Acropolis and look round +upon Attica, a great part of its history becomes immediately +unravelled and clear. You see at once +that you are placed in the principal plain of the +country, surrounded with chains of mountains in +such a way that it is easy to understand the old +stories of wars with Eleusis, or with Marathon, or +with any of the outlying valleys. Looking inland +on the north side, as you stand beside the Erechtheum, +you see straight before you, at a distance of +some ten miles, Mount Pentelicus, from which all +the splendid marble was once carried to the rock +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/>around you. This Pentelicus is a sort of intermediate +cross-chain between two main lines which diverge +from either side of it, and gradually widen so +as to form the plain of Athens. The left or north-western +chain is Mount Parnes; the right or eastern +is Mount Hymettus. This latter, however, is only +the inner margin of a large mountainous tract which +spreads all over the rest of South Attica down to +the Cape of Sunium. There are, of course, little +valleys, and two or three villages, one of them the +old deme Brauron, which they now pronounce Vravron. +There is the town of Thorikos, near the +mines of Laurium; there are two modern villages +called Marcopoulos; but on the whole, both in ancient +and modern times, this south-eastern part of +Attica, south of Hymettus, was, with the exception +of Laurium, of little moment. There is a gap +between Pentelicus and Hymettus, nearly due north, +through which the way leads out to Marathon; and +you can see the spot where the bandits surprised +in 1870 the unfortunate gentlemen who fell victims +to the vacillation and incompetence of people in +power at that time. +</p> + +<p> +On the left side of Pentelicus you see the chain +of Parnes, which almost closes with it at a far distance, +and which stretches down all the north-west +side of Attica till it runs into the sea as Mount +Corydallus, opposite to the island of Salamis. In +this long chain of Parnes (which can only be +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/>avoided by going up to the northern coast at Oropus, +and passing into Bœotia close by the sea) there are +three passes or lower points, one far to the north—that +by Dekelea, where the present king has his +country palace, but where of old Alcibiades planted +the Spartan garrison which tormented and ruined +the farmers of Attica. This pass leads you out +to Tanagra in Bœotia. Next to the south, some +miles nearer, is the even more famous pass of Phyle, +from which Thrasybulus and his brave fellows recovered +Athens and its liberty. This pass, when +you reach its summit, looks into the northern point +of the Thriasian plain, and also into the wilder +regions of Cithæron, which border Bœotia. The +third pass, and the lowest—but a few miles beyond +the groves of Academe—is the pass of Daphne, +which was the high road to Eleusis, along which the +sacred processions passed in the times of the Mysteries; +and in this pass you still see the numerous +niches in which native tablets had been set by the +worshippers at a famous temple of Aphrodite. +</p> + +<p> +On this side of Attica also, with the exception of +the Thriasian plain and of Eleusis, there extends +outside Mount Parnes a wild mountainous district, +quite alpine in character, which severs Attica from +Bœotia, not by a single row of mountains, or by a +single pass, but by a succession of glens and defiles +which at once explain to the classical student, when +he sees them, how necessary and fundamental were +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/>the divisions of Greece into its separate districts, +and how completely different in character the inhabitants +of each were sure to be. The way from +Attica into Bœotia was no ordinary high road, nor +even a pass over one mountain, but through a series +of glens and valleys and defiles, at any of which a +hostile army could be stopped, and each of which +severed the country on either side by a difficult obstacle. +This truly alpine nature of Greece is only +felt when we see it, and yet must ever be kept before +the mind in estimating the character and energy of +the race. But let us return to our view from the +Acropolis. +</p> + +<p> +If we turn and look southward, we see a broken +country, with several low hills between us and the +sea—hills tolerably well cultivated, and when I saw +them in May all colored with golden stubbles, for +the corn had just been reaped. But all the plain in +every direction seems dry and dusty; arid, too, and +not rich alluvial soil, like the plains of Bœotia. Then +Thucydides’s words come back to us, when he says +Attica was <q>undisturbed on account of the lightness +of its soil</q> (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀστασίαστος οὖσα διὰ τὸ λεπτόγεων</foreign>), as +early invaders rather looked out for richer pastures. +This reflection, too, of Thucydides applies equally +to the mountains of Attica round Athens, which are +not covered with rich grass and dense shrubs, like +Helicon, like Parnassus, like the glades of Arcadia, +but seem so bare that we wonder where the bees of +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/>Hymettus can find food for their famous honey. It +is only when the traveller ascends the rocky slopes +of the mountain that he finds its rugged surface +carpeted with quantities of little wild flowers, too +insignificant to give the slightest color to the mountain, +but sufficient for the bees, which are still making +their honey as of old. This honey of Hymettus, +which was our daily food at Athens, is now not very +remarkable either for color or flavor. It is very +dark, and not by any means so good as the honey +produced in other parts of Greece—not to say +on the heather hills of Scotland and Ireland. I +tasted honey at Thebes and at Corinth which was +much better, especially that of Corinth made in the +hills toward Cleonæ, where the whole country is +scented with thyme, and where thousands of bees +are buzzing eagerly through the summer air. But +when the old Athenians are found talking so much +about honey, we must not forget that sugar was +unknown to them, and that all their sweetmeats +depended upon honey exclusively. Hence the +culture and use of it assumed an importance not +easily understood among moderns, who are in possession +of the sugar-cane. +</p> + +<p> +But amid all the dusty and bare features of the +view, the eye fastens with delight on one great broad +band of dark green, which, starting from the west +side of Pentelicus, close to Mount Parnes in the +north, sweeps straight down the valley, passing about +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/>two miles to the west of Athens, and reaching to the +Peiræus. This is the plain of the Kephissus, and +these are the famous olive woods which contain with +them the deme Colonus, so celebrated by Sophocles, +and the groves of Academe, at their nearest point to +the city. The dust of Athens, and the bareness of +the plain, make all walks about the town disagreeable, +save either the ascent of Lycabettus, or a +ramble into these olive woods. The River Kephissus, +which waters them, is a respectable, though +narrow river, even in summer often discharging a +good deal of water, but much divided into trenches +and arms, which are very convenient for irrigation.<note place="foot">I have seen it very full in June; I have also seen it almost +dry in April, so that it depends upon the season whether the +traveller will enjoy the coolness of the river, or turn with disappointment +from its stony bed.</note> +So there is a strip of country, fully ten miles long, +and perhaps two wide on the average, which affords +delicious shade and greenness and the song of birds, +instead of hot sunlight and dust and the shrill clamor +of the tettix without. +</p> + +<p> +I have wandered many hours in these delightful +woods listening to the nightingales, which sing all +day in the deep shade and solitude, as it were in a +prolonged twilight, and hearing the plane-tree +whispering to the elm,<note place="foot">On a fine summer’s day, in the meadows about Eton, I was +struck with the truth of this phrase. A light breeze was making +all the poplars shiver beside the great elms, which stood in silence.</note> as Aristophanes has it, and +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/>seeing the white poplar show its silvery leaves in the +breeze, and wondering whether the huge old olive +stems, so like the old pollarded stumps in Windsor +Forest, could be the actual sacred trees, the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">μορίαι</foreign>, +under which the youth of Athens ran their races. +The banks of the Kephissus, too, are lined with +great reeds, and sedgy marsh plants, which stoop +over into its sandy shallows and wave idly in the +current of its stream. The ouzel and the kingfisher +start from under one’s feet, and bright fish move out +lazily from their sunny bay into the deeper pool. +Now and then through a vista the Acropolis shows +itself in a framework of green foliage, nor do I know +any more enchanting view of that great ruin. +</p> + +<p> +All the ground under the dense olive-trees was +covered with standing corn, for here, as in Southern +Italy, the shade of trees seems no hindrance to the +ripening of the ear. But there was here thicker +wood than in Italian corn-fields; on the other hand, +there was not that rich festooning of vines which +spread from tree to tree, and which give a Neapolitan +summer landscape so peculiar a charm. A few +homesteads there were along the roads, and even at +one of the bridges a children’s school, full of those +beautiful fair children whose heads remind one so +strongly of the old Greek statues. But all the +houses were walled in, and many of them seemed +solitary and deserted. The memories of rapine and +violence were still there. I was told, indeed, that +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/>no country in Europe was so secure, and I confess +I found it so myself in my wanderings; but when +we see how every disturbance or war on the frontier +revives again the rumor of brigandage, I +could not help feeling that the desert state of the +land, and the general sense of insecurity, however +irrational in the intervals of peace, was not surprising. +</p> + +<p> +There is no other excursion in the immediate +vicinity of Athens of any like beauty or interest. +The older buildings in the Peiræus are completely +gone. No trace of the docks or the <hi rend='italic'>deigma</hi> remains; +and the splendid walls, built as Thucydides tells us +with cut stone, without mortar or mud, and fastened +with clamps of iron fixed with lead—this splendid +structure has been almost completely destroyed. +We can find, indeed, elsewhere in Attica—at Phyle—still +better at Eleutheræ—specimens of this sort of +building, but at the Peiræus there are only foundations +remaining. Yet it is not really true that the +great wall surrounding the Peiræus has totally disappeared. +Even at the mouth of the harbor single +stones may be seen lying along the rocky edge of +the water, of which the size and the square cutting +prove the use for which they were originally intended. +But if the visitor to the Peiræus will take +the trouble to cross the hill, and walk round the +harbor of Munychia, he will find on the eastern +point of the headland a neat little café, with +com<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/>fortable seats, and with a beautiful view. The sea +coast all round this headland shows the bed of the +surrounding sea wall, hewn in the live rock. The +actual structure is preserved in patches on the western +point of this harbor, where the coast is very +steep; but in the place to which I refer, we can +trace the whole course of the wall a few feet above +the water, cut out in the solid rock. I know no +scanty specimen of Athenian work which gives a +greater idea of the enormous wealth and energy of +the city. The port of Munychia had its own theatre +and temples, and it was here that Pausanias saw the +altar to <hi rend='italic'>the gods called the unknown</hi>. The traces of +the sea wall cease as soon as it reaches the actual +narrow mouth of the little harbor. I do not know +how far toward Phalerum it can be traced, but +when visiting the harbor called Zea<note place="foot">This was the military harbor, at least in the fourth century, +<hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, when the architect Philo built a famous arsenal (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">σκευοθήκη</foreign>) +at its north-east corner, of which the plan and even details have +been reconstructed by Dr. Dörpfeld from an important inscription +recovered in 1881.</note> on another +occasion, I did not observe it. The reader will find +in any ancient atlas, or in any history of Greece, a +map of the harbors of Athens, so that I think it +unnecessary to append one here. +</p> + +<p> +The striking feature in the present Peiræus, which +from the entrance of the harbor is very picturesque, +is undoubtedly the rapid growth and extension of +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/>factories, with English machinery and overseers. +When last there I found fourteen of these establishments, +and their chimneys were becoming quite a +normal feature in Greek landscape. Those which I +visited were working up the cotton and the wool of +the country into calico and other stuffs, which are +unfortunately coming into fashion among the lower +classes, and ousting the old costume. I was informed +that boys were actually forbidden to attend +school in Greek dress, a regulation which astonishes +any one who knows the beauty and dignity of the +national costume. +</p><anchor id="ill160"/><index index="fig" level1="The Peiraeus"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Peiraeus]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus192.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Peiraeus</head><figDesc>The Peiraeus</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +A drive to the open roadstead of Phalerum is more +repaying. Here it is interesting to observe how the +Athenians passed by the nearest sea, and even an +open and clear roadstead, in order to join their city +to the better harbor and more defensible headland of +Peiræus. Phalĕrum, as they now call it, though +they spell it with an <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">η</foreign>, is the favorite bathing-place +of modern Athens, with an open-air theatre, and is +about a mile and a half nearer the city than Peiræus. +The water is shallow, and the beach is of fine sand, +so that for ancient ships, which I suppose drew little +water, it was a convenient landing-place, especially +for the disembarking of troops, who could choose +their place anywhere around a large crescent, and +actually land fighting, if necessary. But the walls +of Athens, the long walls to Peiræus, and its lofty +fortifications, made this roadstead of no use to the +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/>enemy so long as Athens held the command of +the sea, and could send out ships from the secure +little harbors of Zea and Munychia, which are on +the east side and in the centre of the headland of +Peiræus. There was originally a third wall, too, +to the east side of the Phaleric bay, but this seems +to have been early abandoned when the second long +wall, or middle wall, as it was originally called, was +completed. +</p> + +<p> +At the opening of the Peloponnesian war it +appears that the Athenians defended against the +Lacedæmonians, not the two long walls which ran +close together and parallel to Peiræus, but the northern +of these, and the far distant Phaleric wall. It +cannot but strike any observer as extraordinary how +the Athenians should undertake such an enormous +task. Had the enemy attacked anywhere suddenly +and with vigor, it seems hard to understand how +they could have kept him out. According to +Thucydides’s accurate detail,<note place="foot">Thucydides, followed by modern historians, has nevertheless +been inaccurate in his use of the expression <hi rend='italic'>Long Walls</hi>. He +sometimes means the north and Phaleric wall, sometimes the +north and south parallel walls, to the exclusion of the Phaleric +wall. The long walls rebuilt by Conon were the latter pair, and +thus not the same long walls as were finished in 456 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi></note> the wall to Phalerum +was nearly four miles, that to Peiræus four and a +half. There were in addition five miles of city wall, +and nearly three of Peiræus wall. That is to say, +there were about seventeen miles of wall to be +pro<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/>tected. This is not all. The circuit was not closed, +but separated by about a mile of beach between +Peiræus and Phalerum, so that the defenders of the +two extremities could in no way promptly assist +each other. Thucydides tells us that a garrison of +16,000 inferior soldiers, old men, boys, and <hi rend='italic'>metics</hi>, +sufficed to do this work. We are forced to conclude +that not only were the means of attacking walls +curiously incomplete, but even the dash and enterprise +of modern warfare cannot have been understood +by the Greeks. For we never hear of even a +bold attempt on this absurdly straggling fortification, +far less of any successful attempt to force it. +</p> + +<p> +But it is time that we should leave the environs +of Athens,<note place="foot">The reader who desires to see the best poetical picture of +modern Athens should consult the tenth chapter in Mr. Symonds’s +<hi rend='italic'>Sketches in Italy and Greece</hi>—one of the most beautiful productions +of that charming poet in prose.</note> and wander out beyond the borders of +the Athenian plain into the wilder outlying parts +of the land. Attica is, after all, a large country, +if one does not apply railway measures to it. We +think thirty miles by rail very little, but thirty +miles by road is a long distance, and implies +land enough to support a large population and to +maintain many flourishing towns. We can wander +thirty miles from Athens through Attica in several +directions—to Eleutheræ, on the western Bœotian +frontier; to Oropus, on the north; and Sunium, on +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/>the south. Thus it is only when one endeavors to +know Attica minutely that one finds how much there +is to be seen, and how long a time is required to see +it. And fortunately enough there is an expedition, +and that not the least important, where we can avoid +the rough paths and rougher saddles of the country, +and coast in a steamer along a district at all times +obscure in history, and seldom known for anything +except for being the road to Sunium. Strabo gives +a list of the demes along this seaboard,<note place="foot">IX. § I. p. 244 (Tauchn.).</note> and seems +only able to write one fact about them—a line from +an old oracle in the days of the Persian war, which +prophesied that <q>the women of Colias will roast +their corn with oars,</q><note place="foot">He reads, however, + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">φρίξουσι</foreign>, instead of Herodotus’s + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">φρύξουσι</foreign>.</note> alluding to the wrecks driven +on shore here by the northwest wind from Salamis. +Even the numerous little islands along this coast +were in his day, as they now are, perfectly barren. +Yet with all its desolation it is exceedingly picturesque +and varied in outline. +</p> + +<p> +We took ship in the little steamer<note place="foot">There is now a railway from Athens to the mines (1887).</note> belonging to +the Sunium Mining Company, who have built a +village called Ergasteria, between Thorikos and the +promontory, and who were obliging enough to allow +us to sail in the boat intended for their private +traffic. We left the Peiræus on one of those peculiarly +Greek mornings, with a blue sky and very +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/>bright sun, but with an east wind so strong and +clear, so <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">λαμπρός</foreign>, as the old Greeks would say, that +the sea was driven into long white crests, and the +fishing-boats were lying over under their sails. +These fresh and strong winds, which are constantly +blowing in Greece, save the people very much from +the bad effects of a very hot southern climate. +Even when the temperature is high the weather is +seldom sultry; and upon the sea, which intrudes +everywhere, one can always find a cool and refreshing +atmosphere. The Greeks seem not the least to +fear these high winds, which are generally steady +and seldom turn to squalls. The smallest boats are +to be seen scudding along on great journeys from +one island to another—often with a single occupant, +who sits holding the helm with one hand, and the +stern sheet with the other. All the ferry-boats in +the Peiræus are managed in this way, and you +may see their great sails, like sea-gulls’ wings, leaning +over in the gale, and the spray dashing from the +vessel’s prow. We met a few larger vessels coming +up from Syra, but on the whole the sea was well-nigh +as desert as the coast; so much so, that the +faithful dog, which was on board each of those boats, +thought it his serious duty to stand up on the taffrail +and bark at us as a strange and doubtful company. +</p> + +<p> +So, after passing many natural harbors and spacious +bays, many rocky headlands and bluff islands—but +all desert and abandoned by track of man, we +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/>approached the famous cape, from which the white +pillars of the lofty old temple gleamed brilliantly +in the sun. They were the first and only white +marble pillars which I saw in Greece. Elsewhere, +dust and age, if not the hand of man, have colored +that splendid material with a dull golden hue; but +here the sea breeze, while eating away much of the +surface, has not soiled them with its fresh brine, and +so they still remain of the color which they had +when they were set up. We should fain conjecture +that here, at all events, the Greeks had not applied +the usual blue and red to decorate this marvellous +temple; that—for the delight and benefit of the +sailors, who hailed it from afar, as the first sign of +Attica—its brilliant white color was left to it, to +render it a brighter beacon and a clearer object in +twilight and in mist. I will not yet describe it, for +we paid it a special visit, and must speak of it in +greater detail; but even now, when we coasted +round the headland, and looked up to its shining +pillars standing far aloft into the sky, it struck us +with the most intense interest. It was easy, indeed, +to see how Byron’s poetic mind was here inspired +with some of his noblest lines. +</p> + +<p> +When we turned from it seaward, we saw +stretched out in <hi rend='italic'>échelon</hi> that chain of Cyclades, which +are but a prolongation of the headland—Keos, +Kyphnos, Seriphos, Siphnos, and in the far distance, +Melos—Melos, the scene of Athens’s violence and +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/>cruelty, when she filled up, in the mind of the old +historian, the full measure of her iniquity. And as +we turned northward, the long island, or islet, of +Helena, which stretches along the point, like Hydra +off that of Argolis, could not hide from us the +mountain ranges of Eubœa, still touched here and +there with snow. A short run against the wind +brought us to the port of Ergasteria, marked very +strangely in the landscape by the smoke of its +chimneys—the port where the present produce of +the mines of Laurium is prepared and shipped for +Scotland. +</p> + +<p> +Here, at last, we found ourselves again among +men; three thousand operatives, many of them with +families, make quite a busy town of Ergasteria. +And I could not but contrast their bold and independent +looks, rough and savage as they seemed, +with what must have been the appearance of the +droves of slaves who worked the mines in old days. +We were rowed ashore from our steamer by two men +called Aristides and Epaminondas, but I cannot say +that their looks betokened either the justice of the +one or the culture of the other. +</p> + +<p> +We found ourselves when we landed in an awkward +predicament. The last English engineer remaining +in the Mining Company, at whose invitation +we had ventured into this wild district, had suddenly +left, that morning, for Athens. His house was shut +up, and we were left friendless and alone, among +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/>three thousand of these Aristideses and Epaminondases, +whose appearance was, as I have said, anything +but reassuring. We did what was best to meet the +difficulty, and what was not only the best thing to +do, but the only thing, and it turned out very well +indeed. We went to the temporary director of the +mines, a very polished gentleman, with a charming +wife, both of whom spoke French excellently. We +stated our case, and requested hospitality for the +night. Nothing could be more friendly than our +reception. This benevolent man and his wife took +us into their own house, prepared rooms for us, and +promised to let us see all the curiosities of the +country. Thus our misfortune became, in fact, a +very good fortune. The night, however, it must be +confessed, was spent in a very unequal conflict with +mosquitoes—an inconvenience which our good hostess +in vain endeavored to obviate by giving us a +strong-smelling powder to burn in our room, and +shutting all the windows. But had the remedy been +even successful, it is very doubtful whether it was +not worse than the disease. +</p> + +<p> +We started in the morning by a special train—for +the company have a private line from the coast up +to the mines—to ascend the wooded and hilly +country into the region so celebrated of old as one +of the main sources of Athenian wealth. As the +train wound its way round the somewhat steep +ascent, our prospect over the sea and its islands +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/>became larger and more varied. The wild rocks and +forests of southern Eubœa—one of the few districts +in Greece which seem to have been as savage and +deserted in old days as they are now—detached +themselves from the intervening island of Helena. +We were told that wild boars were still to be found +in Eubœa. In the hills about Laurium, hares, which +Xenophon so loved to hunt in his Elean retreat, and +turtle doves, seemed the only game attainable. All +the hills were covered with stunted underwood. +</p><anchor id="ill168"/><index index="fig" level1="Laurium"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Laurium]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus202.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Laurium</head><figDesc>Laurium</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The mines of Laurium appear very suddenly in +Attic history, but from that time onward are a +prominent part of the wealth of the Athenians. +We know that in Solon’s day there was great +scarcity of money, and that he was obliged to depreciate +the value of the coinage—a very violent +and unprecedented measure, never repeated; for, all +through later history, Attic silver was so good that +it circulated at a premium in foreign parts just as +English money does now. Accordingly, in Solon’s +time we hear no mention of this great and almost +inexhaustible source of national wealth. All through +the reign of the Peisistratids there is a like silence. +Suddenly, after the liberation of Athens, we hear of +Themistocles persuading the people to apply the +very large revenue from these mines to the building +of a fleet for the purpose of the war with Ægina.<note place="foot">The earliest allusion to them is a line in Æschylus’s <hi rend='italic'>Persæ</hi>, +where they come in so peculiarly, and without any natural +suggestion, that they must have been in his day a new and surprising +source of wealth. Atossa is inquiring of the chorus about Athens, +and whether it possesses any considerable wealth. The chorus +replies (v. 238): + +<lg> +<l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀργύρου πηγή τις αὐτοῖς ἐστι, θησαυρὸς χθονός.</foreign></l> +</lg> + +This inference of mine, made years ago, is now strongly confirmed +by the recovered <hi rend='italic'>Polity of the Athenians</hi>, which says (chap. xxii.): +<q>In the archonship of Nicodemus [484–3 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>], when the mines +at Maroneia [as he calls them] were discovered (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἐφάνη</foreign>), and there +was a profit of 100 talents from the work, Themistocles,</q> etc.</note> +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/>The so-called Xenophon <hi rend='italic'>On the Attic Revenues</hi>—a +tract which is almost altogether about these mines—asserts +indeed that they had been worked from +remote antiquity; and there can be little doubt that +here, as elsewhere in Greece, the Phœnicians had +been the forerunners of the natives in the art of +mining. Here, as in Thasos, I believe the Phœnicians +had their settlements; and possibly a closer +survey of the great underground passages, which +are still there, may give us some proof by inscriptions +or otherwise. +</p> + +<p> +But what happened after the Semitic traders had +been expelled from Greek waters?—for expelled +they were, though, perhaps, far later from some +remote and unexplored points than we usually +imagine. I suppose that when this took place +Athens was by no means in a condition to think +about prosecuting trade at Sunium. Salamis, which +was far closer and a more obvious possession, was +only conquered in Solon’s day, after a long and +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/>tedious struggle; and I am perfectly certain that +the Athenians could have had no power to hold an +outlying dependency, separated by thirty miles of +the roughest mountain country, when they had not +subdued an island scarcely a mile from the Thriasian +plain and not ten miles from Athens. I take it, +then, that the so-called <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">συνοικισμός</foreign>, or unifying of +Athens, in prehistoric times, by Theseus, or whoever +did it, was not a cementing of all Attica, including +these remote corners, but only of the settlements +about the plains of Attica, Marathon, and +Eleusis; and that the southern end of the peninsula +was not included in the Athens of early days. It was, +in fact, only accessible by a carefully constructed +artificial road, such as we hear of afterward, or by +sea. The Athenians had not either of these means +of access at so early a period. And it is not a little +remarkable that the first mention of their ownership +of the silver mines is associated with the building of +a fleet to contend with Ægina. I have no doubt +that Themistocles’s advice has been preserved without +his reasons for it. He persuaded the Athenians +to surrender their surplus revenue from Laurium, to +build ships against the Æginetans, simply because +they found that without ships the Æginetans would +be practically sole possessors of the mines. They +were far closer to Laurium by sea than Athens was +by land—closer, indeed, in every way—and I am +led to suspect that, in the days before Solon, the +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/>mines may have been secretly worked by Ægina, +and not by Athens. I cannot here enter into my +full reasons, but I fancy that Peisistratus and his +sons—not by conquest, but by some agreement—got +practical possession of the mines, and were, perhaps, +the first to make all Attica really subject to the +power of Athens.<note place="foot">It is possible that in the days of Eretria’s greatness, when she +ruled over a number of the Cyclades, Eretrians may have worked +the mines. These occupants probably preceded the Æginetans. +But the strange thing is, that the mines and their large profits +appear suddenly, and as a novelty, at a particular point of Greek +history.</note> But no sooner are they expelled +than the Æginetans renew their attacks or claims on +Laurium; and it is only the Athenian fleet which +secures to Athens its possession. We hear of proceedings +of Hippias about coinage,<note place="foot">Arist. <hi rend='italic'>Œcon.</hi>, <hi rend='small'>II.</hi> 4.</note> which are +adduced by Aristotle as specimens of injustice, or +sharp practice, and which may have something to +do with the acquisition of the silver mines by his +dynasty. But I must cut short this serious dissertation. +</p> + +<p> +Our special train brought us up slowly round +wooded heights, and through rich green brakes, into +a lonely country, from which glimpses of the sea +could, however, still be seen, and glimpses of blue +islands, between the hills. And so we came to the +settlements of the modern miners. The great Company, +whose guests we were, had been started some +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/>years ago, by French and Italian speculators, and +Professor Anstead had been there as geologist for +some years. But the jealousy of the Greeks, when +they found out that profit was rewarding foreign +enterprise, caused legislation against the Company; +various complications followed, so that at last they +gladly sold their interest to a native Company. In +1887 this Company was still thriving; and I saw in +the harbor a large vessel from Glasgow, which had +come to carry the lead to Scotland, when prepared +in blocks—all the produce being still bought by a +single English firm. +</p> + +<p> +When the Greeks discuss these negotiations about +the mines they put quite a different color on the +affair. They say that the French and Italians desired +to evade fair payment for the ground-rent of +the mines, trusting to the strength of their respective +governments, and the weakness of Greece. The +Company’s policy is described in Greece as an over-reaching, +unscrupulous attempt to make great profits +by sharp bargains with the natives, who did not know +the value of their property. A great number of +obscure details are adduced in favor of their arguments, +and it seemed to me that the Greeks were +really convinced of their truth. In such a matter +it would be unfair to decide without stating both +sides; and I am quite prepared to change my present +conviction that the Greeks were most to blame, +if proper reasons can be assigned. But the +legis<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/>lative Acts passed in their Parliament look very +ugly indeed at first sight. +</p> + +<p> +The principal Laurium Company<note place="foot">Since I visited the place there are actually five companies—two +Greek and three French—established to work the district.</note> never enter the +mines at all, but gather the great mass of scoriæ, +which the old Athenians threw out after smelting +with more imperfect furnaces and less heat than ours. +These scoriæ, which look like stone cinders, have +been so long there that some vegetation has at last +grown over them, and the traveller does not suspect +that all the soil around was raised and altered +by the hand of man. Owing to the power of steam, +and their railway, the present miners carry down +the scoriæ on trucks to the sea-coast, to Ergasteria, +and there smelt them. The old Athenians had their +furnaces in the middle of the mountains, where +many of them are still to be seen. They sought +chiefly for silver, whereas the modern Company +are chiefly in pursuit of lead, and obtain but little +silver from the scoriæ. +</p> + +<p> +In many places you come upon the openings of the +old pits, which went far into the bowels of the mountains, +through miles of underground galleries and +passages. Our engine-driver—an intelligent Frenchman—stopped +the train to show us one of these +entrances, which went down almost straight, with +good steps still remaining, into the earth. He assured +us that the other extremity which was known, +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/>all the passage being open, was some two or three +miles distant, at a spot which he showed us from a +hill. Hearing that inscriptions were found in these +pits, and especially that the name of Nicias had been +discovered there, we were very anxious to descend +and inspect them. This was promised to us, for the +actual pits were in the hands of another Greek +Company, who were searching for new veins of +silver. But when we arrived at the spot the officers +of the Company were unwilling to let us into the +pits. The proper overseer was away—intentionally, +of course. There were no proper candles; there +were no means of obtaining admission: so we were +balked in our inquiry. But we went far enough into +the mouth of one of them to see that these pits were +on a colossal scale, well arched up; and, I suppose, +had we gone far enough, we should have found +the old supports, of which the Athenian law was so +careful. +</p> + +<p> +The quantity of scoriæ thrown out, which seems +now perfectly inexhaustible, is in itself sufficient +evidence of the enormous scale on which the old +mining was carried on. Thus, we do not in the +least wonder at hearing that Nicias had one thousand +slaves working in the mines, and that the profits accruing +to the State from the fines and head-rents of +the mines were very large—on a moderate estimate, +£8000 a year of our money, which meant in those +days a great deal more. +</p> + +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> + +<p> +The author of the tract on <q>Athenian Revenue</q> +says that the riches of the mines were absolutely +unbounded; that only a small part of the silver district +had been worked out, though the digging had +gone on from time immemorial; and that after innumerable +laborers had been employed the mines +always appeared equally rich, so that no limit need +be put on the employment of capital. Still he speaks +of opening a new shaft as a most risky speculation. +His general estimate appears, however, somewhat +exaggerated. The writer confesses that the number +of laborers was in his day diminishing, and the +majority of the proprietors were then beginners; so +that there must have been great interruption of work +during the Peloponnesian War. In the age of Philip +there were loud complaints that the speculations in +mining were unsuccessful; and for obtaining silver, +at all events, no reasonable prospect seems to have +been left. In the first century of our era, Strabo +(ix. i. 23) says that these once celebrated mines were +exhausted,<note place="foot">There is also a quotation in Strabo (iii. 3, § 9), from Demetrius +Phal., implying their activity in the third century <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> Plutarch +(<hi rend='italic'>de defectu or.</hi> 43) speaks of them as having <hi rend='italic'>lately</hi> failed.</note> that new mining did not pay, and thus +people were smelting the poorer ore, and the scoriæ +from which the ancients had imperfectly separated +the metal. He adds that the main product of the +mining district was in his day honey, which was especially +known as smokeless (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀκάπνιστον</foreign>), on +ac<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/>count of its good preparation. This in itself shows +that the mining had decayed, for now all the flowers +in the neighborhood of the smelting are killed by +the black fumes. +</p> + +<p> +Our last mention of the place in olden times is +that of Pausanias (at the end of the second century +<hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi>), who speaks of Laurium, with the addition +that it had once been the seat of the Athenian silver +mines! +</p> + +<p> +There is but one more point suggested by these +mines, which it is not well to pass over when we are +considering the working of them in ancient times. +Nothing is more poisonous than the smoke from lead-mines; +and for this reason the people at Ergasteria +have built a chimney more than a mile long to the +top of a neighboring hill, where the smoke escapes. +Even so, when the wind blows back the smoke, all +the vegetation about the village is at once blighted, +and there is no greater difficulty than to keep a +garden within two or three miles of this chimney. +As the Athenians did not take such precautions, we +are not surprised to hear from them frequent notices of +the unhealthiness of the district, for when there were +many furnaces, and the smoke was not drawn away +by high chimneys, we can hardly conceive life to +have been tolerable. What then must have been the +condition of the gangs of slaves which Nicias and +other respectable and pious Athenians kept in these +mines? Two or three allusions give us a hideous +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/>insight into this great social sore, which has not been +laid bare, because the wild district of Laurium, and +the deep mines under its surface, have concealed the +facts from the ordinary observer. Nicias, we are +told, let out one thousand slaves to Sosias the +Thracian, at an obolus a day each—the lessee +being bound to restore them to him the same <hi rend='italic'>in +number</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The meaning of this frightful contract is only too +plain. The yearly rent paid for each slave was +about half the full price paid for him in the market. +It follows that, if the slave lived for three years, +Nicias made a profit of 50 per cent. on his outlay. +No doubt, some part of this extraordinary bargain +must be explained by the great profits which an +experienced miner could make—a fact supported +by the tract on the Revenues, which cannot date +more than a generation later than the bargain of +Nicias. The lessee, too, was under the additional +risk of the slaves escaping in time of war, when +a hostile army might make a special invasion into +the mountain district for the purpose of inflicting +a blow on this important part of Athenian revenue. +In such cases, it may be presumed that desperate +attempts were made by the slaves to escape, for +although the Athenian slaves generally were the +best treated in Greece, and had many holidays, it +was very different with the gangs employed by the +Thracian taskmaster. We are told that they had +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/>three hundred and sixty working days in the year. +This, together with the poison of the atmosphere, +tells its tale plainly enough. +</p> + +<p> +And yet Nicias, the capitalist who worked this +hideous trade, was the most pious and God-fearing +man at Athens. So high was his reputation for +integrity and religion, that the people insisted on +appointing him again and again to commands for +which he was wholly unfit; and when at last he +ruined the great Athenian army before Syracuse, +and lost his own life, by his extreme devoutness +and his faith in the threats and warnings of the +gods—even then the great sceptical historian, who +cared for none of these things, condones all his +blunders for the sake of his piety and his respectability. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, however, an excursion to Laurium, +interesting as it might be, were absurd without +visiting the far more famous Sunium,—the promontory +which had already struck us so much on our +sea voyage round the point,—the temple which +Byron has again hallowed with his immortal verse, +and Turner with his hardly less immortal pencil. +So we hired horses on our return from the mines, +and set out on a very fine afternoon to ride down +some seven or eight miles from Ergasteria to the +famous promontory. Our route led over rolling +hills, covered with arbutus and stunted firs; along +valleys choked with deep, matted grass; by the +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/>side of the sea, upon the narrow ledge of broken +rocks. Nowhere was there a road, or a vestige of +human habitation, save where the telegraph wire +dipped into the sea, pointing the way to the distant +Syra. It was late in the day, and the sun was +getting low, so we urged our horses to a canter +wherever the ground would permit it. But neither +the heat nor the pace could conquer the indefatigable +esquire who attended us on foot to show us the way, +and hold the horses when we stopped. His speed +and endurance made me think of Phidippides and +his run to Sparta; nor, indeed, do any of the feats +recorded of the old Greeks, either in swimming +or running, appear incredible when we witness the +feats that are being performed almost every day +by modern muscle and endurance. At last, after +a delightful two hours’ roaming through the homely +solitude, we found ourselves at the foot of the last +hill, and over us the shining pillars of the ruined +temple stood out against the sky. +</p> + +<p> +There can be no doubt that the temple of Neptune +on Mount Tænarum must have been quite as fine as +to position, but the earthquakes of Laconia have +made havoc of its treasures, while at Sunium, +though some of the drums in the shafts of the +pillars have been actually displaced several inches +from their fellows above and below, so that the perfect +fitting of the old Athenians has come to look +like the tottering work of a giant child with marble +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/>bricks,—in spite of this, thirteen pillars remain,<note place="foot">Byron, who loved this spot above all others, I think, in +Greece, speaks of sixteen as still standing in his day.</note> +a piece of architrave, and a huge platform of solid +blocks; above all, a site not desecrated by modern +habitations, where we can sit and think of the great +old days, and of the men who set up this noble +monument at the remotest corner of their land. +The Greeks told us that this temple, that at Ægina, +and the Parthenon, are placed exactly at the angles +of a great equilateral triangle, with each side about +twenty-five or thirty miles long. Our maps do not +verify this belief. The distance from Athens to +Sunium appears much longer than either of the +other lines, nor do we find in antiquity any hint +that such a principle was attended to, or that any +peculiar virtue was attached to it. +</p> + +<p> +We found the platform nearly complete, built with +great square blocks of poros-stone, and in some +places very high, though in others scarcely raised +at all, according to the requirements of the ground. +Over it the temple was built, not with the huge +blocks which we see at Corinth and in the Parthenon, +but still of perfectly white marble, and with that beautifully +close fitting, without mortar, rubble, or cement, +which characterizes the best and most perfect epoch +of Greek architecture.<note place="foot">Dr. Dörpfeld has since shown that the marble temple at +Sunium was built on the site of an older temple, with a very +slight but distinct enlargement of the plan. The older temple +was of the ordinary poros-stone found on the site.</note> The stone, too, is the finest +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/>white marble, and, being exposed to no dust on its +lofty site, has alone of all temples kept its original +color—if, indeed, it was originally white, and not +enriched with divers colors. The earthquake, which +has displaced the stones in the middle of the pillars, +has tumbled over many large pieces, which can be +seen from above scattered all down the slope where +they have rolled. But enough still remains for us +to see the plan, and imagine the effect of the whole +structure. It is in the usual simple, grand, Doric +style, but lighter in proportions than the older Attic +temples; and, being meant for distant effect, was +probably not much decorated. Its very site gives +it all the ornament any building could possibly +require. +</p> + +<p> +It was our good fortune to see it in a splendid sunset, +with the sea a sheet of molten gold, and all the +headlands and islands colored with hazy purple. +The mountains of Eubœa, with their promontory of +Geræstus, closed the view upon the north-east; but +far down into the Ægean reached island after island, +as it were striving to prolong a highway to the holy +Delos. The ancient Andros, Tenos, Myconos were +there, but the eye sought in vain for the home of +Apollo’s shrine—the smallest and yet the greatest of +the group. The parallel chain, reaching down from +Sunium itself, was confused into one mass, but +ex<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/>posed to view the distant Melos. Then came a short +space of open sea, due south, which alone prevented +us from imagining ourselves on some fair and quiet +inland lake; and beyond to the south-west we saw +the point of Hydra, the only spot in all Hellas whose +recent fame exceeds the report of ancient days. +The mountains of Argolis lay behind Ægina, and +formed with their Arcadian neighbors a solid background, +till the eye wandered round to the Acropolis +of Corinth, hardly visible in the burning brightness +of the sun’s decline. And all this splendid expanse +of sea and mountain, and bay and cliff, seemed as +utterly deserted as the wildest western coast of Scotland +or Ireland. One or two little white sails, speeding +in his boat some lonely fisherman, made the +solitude, if possible, more speaking and more intense. +There are finer views, more extensive, and +perhaps even more varied, but none more exquisitely +interesting and more melancholy to the student of +Ancient Greece. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="7" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VII. Excursions in Attica—Pentelicus—Marathon—Daphne—Eleusis"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="VII. Excursions in Attica--Pentelicus--Marathon--Daphne--Eleusis"/> +<head>CHAPTER VII.</head> + +<head type="sub">EXCURSIONS IN ATTICA—PENTELICUS—MARATHON—DAPHNE—ELEUSIS.</head> + +<p> +This great loneliness is a feature that strikes the +traveller almost everywhere through the country. +Many centuries of insecurity, and indeed of violence, +have made country life almost impossible; and now +that better times have come, the love and knowledge +of it are gone. The city Athenian no longer +grumbles, as he did in Aristophanes’s day, that an +invasion has driven him in from the rude plenty and +simple luxuries of his farming life, where with his +figs and his olives, his raisins and his heady wine, he +made holiday before his gods, and roasted his thrush +and his chestnuts with his neighbor over the fire. +All this is gone. There remains, indeed, the old +political lounger, the loafer of the market-place, +ever seeking to obtain some shabby maintenance by +sycophancy or by bullying. This type is not hard +to find in modern Athens, but the old sturdy Acharnian, +as well as the rich horse-breeding Alcmæonid, +are things of the past. Even the large profits to be +made by market-gardening will not tempt them to +adopt this industry, and the great city of Athens is +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/>one of the worst supplied and dearest of capitals, +most of its daily requirements in vegetables, fowls, +eggs, etc., coming in by steamers from islands on +the coast of Thessaly. No part of the country of +Attica can be considered even moderately cultivated, +except the Thriasian plain, and the valley of Kephissus, +reaching from near Dekelea to the sea. This +latter plain, with its fine olive-woods reaching down +across Academus to the region of the old long +walls, is fairly covered with corn and grazing cattle, +with plane trees and poplars. But even here many +of the homesteads are deserted; and the country +seats of the Athenians were often left empty for +years, whenever a band of brigands appeared in the +neighboring mountains, and threatened the outlying +houses with blackmail, if not with bloodier violence. +Of late there is a steady improvement. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing can be truer than the admirable description +of Northern Attica given in M. Perrot’s book on +the Attic orators. He is describing Rhamnus, the +home of Antiphon, but his picture is of broader +application.<note place="foot"><p><q rend="post: none">Aujourd’hui tout ce district est presque désert; seuls, quelques +archéologues et quelques artistes affrontent ces gorges pierreuses +et ces scabreux sentiers; on prend alors ce chemin pour +aller de Marathon à Chalcis et revenir à Athènes par Décélie, entre +le Pentélique et Parnès. Ces monuments de Rhamnunte offrent +des traits curieux qui les rendent intéressants pour le voyageur +érudit; mais de plus les ruines mêmes et le site ont assez de beauté +pour dédommager de leur peine ceux qui recherchent surtout le +pittoresque. Je n’oublierai jamais les quelques heures que j’ai +passées là, il y a déjà longtemps, par une radieuse matinée d’avril. +Pendant que nous examinions ce qui restait des anciens sanctuaires +et de leurs défenses, notre guide songeait au déjeuner; il avait +acheté un agneau à l’un de ces pâtres appelés <hi rend='italic'>Vlaques</hi> qui, avec leurs +brebis et leurs chèvres éparses dans les buissons de myrtes et de +lentisques, sont à peu près les seuls habitants de ce canton. Quand +nous revînmes, l’agneau, soutenu sur deux fourches fichées en terre +par un jeune pin sylvestre qui servait de broche, cuisait tout entier +devant un feu clair, et la graisse coulait à grosses gouttes sur les +charbons ardents. Devant notre tapis étendu à l’ombre avait été +préparée une jonchée de verts branchages sur lesquels le succulent +rôti, rapidement découpé par le coutelas d’un berger, laissa bientôt +tomber côtelettes et gigots.</q></p> + <p><q rend="post: none">Ce qui nous fit prolonger là notre halte après que notre appetit +fut satisfait, ce fut la vue magnifique dont on jouissait de la +plate-forme où nous étions établis, dans un coin de l’acropole. A +nos pieds, c’était la mer, veloutée de chatoyante reflets par le soleil, +par la brise, par les nuages qui passaient au ciel. En face de nous +se dressaient les hautes et sévères côtes de l’Eubée, dominés par la +pyramide du Dirphys. Ce fier sommet était encore tout blanc des +neiges de l’hiver; au contraire, si nous nous retournons vers les +gorges qui se creusaient autour de nous dans la montagne, entre +des parois de marbre rougies et comme hâlées par le soleil, c’était +le printemps de la Grèce dans tout son épanouissement et son éclat. +Dans le fond des ravins, là où un peu d’eau filtrait sous les cailloux, +arbres de Judée et cytises mêlaient leurs brillantes couleurs +au tendre feuillage des platanes, et sur les pentes les plus âpres des +milliers de genêts en fleur étincelaient parmi la verdure des genévriers, +des chênes et des oliviers francs.</q></p> + <p><q rend="post: none">Dans l’antiquité, toute cette portion du territoire athénien, +qui faisait partie de ce que l’on appelait la <hi rend='italic'>Diakria</hi> ou le <q>haut +pays,</q> sans avoir de gros villages ni une population aussi dense +que celle des plaines d’Athènes ou d’Eleusis, devait pourtant présenter +un aspect assez diffèrent de celui qu’elle offre aujourd’hui; +je me la représente assez semblable à ce que sont maintenant certains +districts montueux de la Grèce moderne où le désir d’éviter +le contact des Turcs avait rejeté et cantonné les Hellènes: il en +était ainsi du Magne, de la Tzaconie, des environs de Karytena en +Arcadie. Partout là, une industrieuse persévérance a mis à profit +tout ce que pouvaient offrir de ressources le sol et le climat. Sur +des pentes abruptes et presque verticales, de petits murs en pierres +sèches s’efforcent de retenir une mince couche de terre végétale; +malgré ces précautions, les grandes pluies de l’hiver et les vents de +l’été en emportent une partie jusqu’au fond de la vallée, sans +jamais se lasser, hommes, femmes, enfants, travaillent sans relâche +à réparer ces dégâts. Que de fois, admirant la patience de ces +sobres et tenaces montagnards, je les ai suivis des yeux pendant +qu’ils allaient ainsi lentement, le dos courbé sous leurs hottes +pleines, gravissant des sentiers sablonneux ou d’étroits escaliers +taillés à même la roche qui leur renvoyait touts les ardeurs du +soleil! Au bout de quelques années, il n’est pas peut-être une +parcelle du terrain dans chacun de ces petits champs qui n’ait fait +plusieurs fois le voyage, qui n’ait glissé jusqu’au bord du torrent +pour être ensuite ramenée pelletée par pelletée, sur une des terrasses +supérieures. Ces sacrifices sont récompensés. Le long du +ruisseau, là où les côtes s’écartent et laissent entre elles un peu +d’espace, l’eau, soigneusement ménagée, mesurée par heures et +par minutes à chaque propriétaire, court bruyante et claire dans +les rigoles; elle arrose des vergers où croissent, suivant les lieux, +soit l’oranger, le citronnier et le grenadier, soit les arbres de nos +climats tempérés, le pêcher, le pommier et le poirier; à leur ombre +grossissent la fève et l’enorme courge. Plus haut, sur les versants +les moins roides et les moins pierreux, là où la légère charrue inventée +par Triptolème a trouvé assez de place pour tracer le sillon, +l’orge et le seigle verdissent au printemps, et, dans les bonnes +années, profitent pour mûrir des tardifs soleils d’automne. Ce qui +d’ailleurs réussit le mieux dans ces montagnes, ce qui paye +vraiment les habitants de leurs peines, c’est l’olivier, dont les puissantes +racines étreignent le roc et semblent faire corps avec lui; +c’est la vigne, qui, d’étage en étage, grimpe presque jusqu’aux sommets. +A l’un et à l’autre, pour donner une huile et un vin qui +seraient les plus savoureux du monde, s’ils étaient mieux préparés, +il suffit de beaucoup de soleil, d’un peu de terre et de quelques +coups de hoyau qui viennent à propos ameublir le sol et le dégager +des plantes parasites.</q></p> + <p><q>C’est ainsi que dans l’Attique, au temps de sa prospérité, +même les cantons aujourd’hui les plus déserts et les plus stériles +devaient être habités et cultivés. Sur beaucoup de ces croupes où +le roc affleure presque partout, où verdit à peine, aux premiers +jours du printemps, une herbe courte, diaprée d’anémones et de +cistes, qui jaunira dès le mois de mai, il y avait jadis une couche +plus épaisse de terre végétale. Dans les ravins, là où j’ai perdu +plus d’une fois mon chemin en poursuivant la perdrix rouge ou la +bécasse à travers des maquis touffus, on a, pendant bien des siècles, +fait la vendange et la cueillette des olives; c’est ce dont témoignent, +sur les pentes les mieux exposées aux rayons du midi ou du +couchant, des restes de murs et de terrassements que l’on distingue +encore dans l’épaisseur du fourré. Dans les endroits où la culture +était à peu près impossible, des bois de pins, <anchor id="corr188"/><corr sic="aujhourd'hui">aujourd’hui</corr> presque +entièrement détruits, empêchaient la montagne de se dénuder; +dans les clairières et entre les rocs mêmes poussaient la sauge, la +campanule et le thym, toutes ces plantes aromatiques, tous ces +vigoureux arbustes que se plaît à tondre la dent des moutons et des +chèvres.</q></p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> + +<p> +All these remarks are even more strongly exemplified +by the beautiful country which lies between +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/>Pentelicus and Hymettus, and which is now covered +with forest and brushwood. We passed through this +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/>vale one sunny morning on our way to visit Marathon. +There is, indeed, a road for some miles—the +road to the quarries of Pentelicus—but a very different +one from what the Athenians must have had. +It is now a mere broad track, cut by wheels and +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/>hoofs in the sward; and wherever the ruts become +too deep the driver turns aside, and makes a +parallel track for his own convenience. In summer +days, the dust produced by this sort of road is something +beyond description; and the soil being very +red earth, we have an atmosphere which accounts +to some extent for the remarkable color of the old +buildings of Athens. The way, after turning round +the steep Lycabettus, which, like Arthur’s Seat at +Edinburgh, commands the town close by, passes up +the right side of the undulating plain of Attica, with +the stony but variegated slopes of Hymettus upon +the right, and Pentelicus almost straight ahead. As +soon as the suburbs are passed we meet but one or +two country seats, surrounded with dark cypress +and pepper trees; but outside the sombre green is +a tall, dazzling, white wall, which gives a peculiarly +Oriental character to the landscape. There is cultivation +visible when you look to the westward, where +the village of Kephissia lies, among the groves which +accompany the Kephissus on its course; but up +toward Pentelicus, along the track which must once +have been crowded with carts, and heavy teams, and +shouting drivers, when all the blocks of the Parthenon +were being hurried from their quarry to +adorn the Acropolis—along this famous track there +is hardly a sign of culture. Occasionally, a rough +stubble field showed that a little corn had been cut—an +occasional station, with a couple of soldiers, +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/>shows why more had not been sown. The fear of +brigands had paralyzed industry, and even driven +out the scanty rural population. +</p><anchor id="ill188"/><index index="fig" level1="Mount Lycabettus, Athens"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Mount Lycabettus, Athens]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus224.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Mount Lycabettus, Athens</head><figDesc>Mount Lycabettus, Athens</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It strikes me, when speaking of this road, that the +Greek roads cannot have been at all so well constructed +as the Roman, many of which are still to +be seen in England. Though I went upon the track +of many of them, I but once noticed the vestige of +an old Greek road. There are here and there +wretched remains of Turkish roads—rough angular +stones laid down across the hills, in a close irregular +pavement; but of the great builders of the Parthenon +and of Phyle, of Eleutheræ and of Eleusis, +hardly a patch of road-work has, so far as I know, +remained. +</p> + +<p> +There is, indeed, one exception in this very neighborhood, +to which we may now naturally turn. The +traveller who has wondered at the huge blocks of +the Propylæa and the Parthenon, and who has +noticed the exquisite quality of the stone, and the +perfect smoothness which it has preserved to the +present day, will naturally desire to visit the quarry +on Pentelicus from which it was brought. The +marble of Paros is probably the only stone found +superior to it for the purposes of sculpture. It is, +however, harder and of larger grain, so that it must +have been more difficult to work. Experts can tell +the difference between the two marbles, but I confess +that, though M. Rousopoulos endeavored to teach +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/>it to me from specimens in the Acropolis Museum, I +was unable to attain a clear knowledge of the distinction. +The large blocks of Pentelican marble, +however beautiful and fine in grain, seem not unfrequently +to have contained flaws, and possibly the +ascertaining of this defect may of old have been one +of the most difficult duties of the architect. It is +supposed to have been done by sounding the block +with a hammer, a process which the Greeks would +call <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">κωδωνίζειν</foreign>. There are at present, close to the +east front of the Parthenon, several of these rejected +blocks, and the lapse of ages has brought out the +flaw visibly, because damp has had time to penetrate +the stone, and stain its pure whiteness with a dark +seam. But when it came fresh from its native bed, +and was all pure white, I presume the difficulty must +have been considerable. Possibly these blocks on +the Parthenon were injured in their transit, and left +the quarries in sound condition. For in going up +the steep road to these quarries, in more than one +place a similar great block will be found tumbled +aside, and left lying at the very spot where we may +suppose some accident to have happened to crack it. +This road, which in its highest parts has never been +altered, is a steep descent, rudely paved with transverse +courses of stone, like steps in pattern, and may +have had wooden slides laid over it, to bring down +the product of the quarries to the valley. It is well +worth while going up for a night to the fine +monas<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/>tery not far off, where there is ample shade of waving +trees and plenty of falling water, in the midst of +steep slopes wooded with the fir—a cool and quiet +retreat in the fierce heat of summer.<note place="foot"> +<lg> +<l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">πολλαὶ δ’ ἁμὶν ὕπερθε κατὰ κρατὸς δονέοντο</foreign></l> +<l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">αἴγειροι πτελέαι τε· τὸ δ’ ἐγγύθεν ἱερὸν ὕδωρ</foreign></l> +<l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Νυμφᾶν ἐξ ἄντροιο κατειβόμενον κελάρυζε</foreign></l> +<l rend="margin-left:10">—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Theocr.</hi> <hi rend="small">VII.</hi> 135.</l> +</lg></note> From this +place to the quarries is less than an hour’s walk. +The moderns still draw stone from them, but far +below the spots chosen by the ancients; and, of +course, the remains of the old industry are on an +infinitely grander scale. +</p> + +<p> +It is a laborious climb, up a road covered with +small fragments of stone. But at last, beneath a +great face of marble all chipped with the work of +ancient hands, there is a large cool cavern, with +water dripping from the roof into ice-cold pools +below, and besides it a quaint grotto chapel, with +its light still burning, and stone seats around, where +the traveller may rest. This place seems to have +been the main source of the old Athenian buildings. +The high face of the rock above it is chipped, as I +have said, with small and delicate cutting, and hangs +over, as if they had removed it beneath, in order +to bring down the higher pieces more easily. Of +course, they could not, and probably if they could, +would not, have blasted the stone; and, so far as I +know, we are not informed by what process they +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/>managed to loosen and bring down the great blocks +from their sites. The surface of the rock testifies +to the use of some small and delicate chisel. But +whatever the process, they must have had machinery +of which we have lost all record, for no amount of +manual work could possibly have accomplished what +they did in a few years, and accomplished it with +a delicacy which shows complete control of their +materials. The beautifully fitted walls of the +chamber inside the left wing of the Propylæa preserve +an interesting piece of detail on the face of +each square block, which is perfectly fitted to its +fellows; there still remains a rough knob jutting +out from the centre, evidently the handle used for +lifting the stone, and usually removed when all the +building was completely finished. The expenses +of war and the dolors of a long siege caused the +Propylæa to remain unfinished, and so this piece of +construction has survived. +</p> + +<p> +The view from the top of Pentelicus is, of course, +very striking, and those who have no time or inclination +to spend a day at Marathon itself are usually +content with a very fine view of the bay and the +opposite mountains of Eubœa, which can thence be +had. But it is indeed a pity, now that the country +is generally quite safe, that after so long a journey +as that from England to Athens, people should turn +back without completing the additional fifteen miles +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/>which brings them to the site of the great battle +itself. +</p> + +<p> +As we leave the track which leads up to the +monastery above mentioned, the country becomes +gradually covered with shrubs, and then with +stunted trees—generally old fir-trees, all hacked +and carved and wounded for the sake of their resin, +which is so painfully obtrusive in Greek wine. But +in one place there is, by way of change, a picturesque +bridge over a rapid rocky-bedded river, which is +completely hidden with rich flowering oleanders, and +in which we found sundry Attic women, of the +poorer class, washing their clothes. The woods in +this place were wonderfully rich and scented, and +the sound of the turtle doves was heard in the land. +Presently we came upon the thickly wooded corner, +which was pointed out to us as the spot where our +unfortunate countrymen were captured in 1870, and +carried up the slopes of Pentelicus, to be sacrificed +to the blundering of the English Minister or the +Greek Ministry,—I could not decide which,—and +more certainly to their own chivalry; for while all +the captured Greeks escaped during the pursuit, our +English gentlemen would not break their parole. +These men are now held by the better Greeks to +be martyrs for the good of Greece; for this outrage +first forced the Government to take really vigorous +measures for the safety of the country. The whole +band were gradually captured and executed, till at +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/>last Takos, their chief, was caught in Peloponnesus, +three or four years ago, and hanged at Athens. So +it came that I found the country (on all my visits, +’75, ’77, ’84, ’89) apparently as safe as Ireland is +to a traveller, and we required neither escort, nor +arms, nor any precautions whatever. +</p> + +<p> +We had, indeed, a missive from the Greek Prime +Minister, which we presented to the Chief Police +Officer of each town—a gentleman in the usual +scarlet cap and white petticoats, but carrying a great +dog-whip as the sign of his office. This custom, +strange to say, dates from the days of Aristophanes. +But the Prime Minister warned us that, though things +were now safe, there was no permanent security. +Any revolution in the neighborhood (such, for example, +as that in Herzegovina, which at that time had +not yet broken out) might, he said, send over the Turkish +frontier a number of outlaws or other fugitives, +who would support themselves by levying blackmail +on the peasantry, and then on travellers. We were +assured that the Morea, which does not afford an +easy escape into Turkey, has been for years perfectly +secure, and I found it so in several subsequent +journeys. So, then, any traveller desirous of seeing +the Peloponnesus—Sparta, Olympia, Mantinea, +Argos, or even Central Greece—may count on doing +so with safety. Not so the visitor to Tempe and +Mount Pindus.<note place="foot">Since M. Trikoupi’s long and effective administration, + brigandage was so effectually put down that, although there were +plenty of brigands in Mount Olympus close to the frontier, it +was perfectly safe to wander about in Northern Greece up to the +vale of Tempe. Such was the state of things in 1889. Whether +his recent successor will keep as good order remains to be seen.</note> The Professors of the University +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/>with whom I talked were, indeed, of a more sanguine +opinion. They did not anticipate any recurrence +of the danger: they considered Greece one of the +safest and quietest of countries. Moreover, in one +point they all seemed agreed. It was perfectly certain +that the presence of bandits would be at once +known at Athens. Why this was so, I was not +informed, nor whether travellers would be at once +informed also. In any case, either M. Trikoupi or +the British Minister can be perfectly relied upon for +advice in this matter. +</p> + +<p> +So much for the safety of travelling in Greece, +which is suggested by the melancholy fate of Mr. +Vyner and his friends, though that event is now so +long past. But one point more. It is both idle and +foolish to imagine that revolvers and daggers are the +best protection against Greek bandits, should they +reappear. They never attack where they are visible. +The first notice given to the traveller is the sight of +twenty or thirty muzzles pointed at him from the +covert, with a summons to surrender. Except, therefore, +the party be too numerous to be so surrounded +and <hi rend='italic'>visé</hi>, so that some could fight, even were others +shot—except in such a case, arms are only an +addi<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/>tional prize, and a tempting one, for the clephts. It +is, indeed, very seldom that the carrying of arms is +to be recommended to any traveller in any land. +</p> + +<p> +As we ascended the long saddle of country which +lies between Pentelicus and Hymettus, we came +upon a fine olive-wood, with the same enormous +stems which had already excited our wonder in the +groves of Academe. Indeed, some of the stems in +this wood were the largest we had seen, and made +us think that they may have been there since the +days when the olive oil of Attica was one of its most +famous products, and its export was even forbidden. +Even then there were ancient stumps—<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">μορίαι</foreign>, as +they were called—which were sacred, and which no +man who rented or bought the land might remove; +a restriction which seems hard to us, but was not so +in Greece, where corn grows freely in the shade of +trees, and is even habitually planted in orchards. +But at all events, these old, gnarled, hollowed +stumps, with their tufts of branches starting from +the <anchor id="corr197"/><corr sic="pollared">pollarded</corr> trunk, are a really classical feature in +the country, and deserve, therefore, a passing notice. +</p> + +<p> +When we had got well between the mountains a +new scene unfolded itself. We began to see the +famous old Euripus, with the mountains of Eubœa +over against us; and down to the south, behind +Hymettus, till we reach the extremity of Sunium, +stretched a long tract of mountainous and barren +country which never played a prominent part in +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/>history, but where a conical hill was pointed out to +us as the site of the old deme Brauron. It is, +indeed, surprising how little of Attica was ever +celebrated. Close by the most famous city of the +world are reaches of country which are as obscure +to us as the wilds of Arcadia; and we may suspect +that the shepherds who inhabited the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">φελλέα</foreign>, or +rocky pastures in the Attic hills, were not much +superior to those whom we now meet herding their +goats in the same region. +</p> + +<p> +The plain of Marathon, as everybody knows, is a +long crescent-shaped strip of land by the shore, surrounded +by an amphitheatre of hills, which may be +crossed conveniently in three places, but most easily +toward the south-west, along the road which we +travelled, and which leads directly to Athens. +When the Athenians marched through this broad +and easy passage they found that the Persians had +landed at the northern extremity of the plain—I suppose, +because the water was there sufficiently deep +to let them land conveniently. Most of the shore, +as you proceed southward, is lined on the seaboard +by swamps. The Greek army must have marched +northward along the spurs of Pentelicus, and taken +up their position near the north of the plain. There +was evidently much danger that the Persians would +force a passage through the village of Marathon, +farther toward the north-west. Had they done this, +they might have rounded Pentelicus, and descended +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/>the main plain of Attica, from the valley below +Dekelea. Perhaps, however, this pass was then +guarded by an outlying fort, or by some defences +at Marathon itself. The site of the battle is absolutely +fixed by the great mound, upon which was +placed a lion, which has been carried off, no one +knows when or whither. The mound is exactly an +English mile from the steep slope of one of the hills, +and about half a mile from the sea at present; nor +was there, when I saw it, any difficulty in walking +right to the shore, though a river flows out there, +which shows, by its sedgy banks and lofty reeds, a +tendency to create a marshy tract in rainy weather. +But the mound is so placed that, if it marks the +centre of the battle, the Athenians must have faced +nearly north; and if they faced the sea eastward, +as is commonly stated, this mound must mark the +scene of the conflict on their left wing. The mound +is very large—I suppose thirty feet high—altogether +of earth, so far as we could see, and bears traces of +having been frequently ransacked in search of +antiquities. Dr. Schliemann, its latest investigator, +could find nothing there but prehistoric flint weapons. +</p><anchor id="ill198"/><index index="fig" level1="Looking Toward the Sea from the Soros, Marathon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Looking Toward the Sea from the Soros, Marathon]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus236.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Looking Toward the Sea from the Soros, Marathon</head><figDesc>Looking Toward the Sea from the Soros, Marathon</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Like almost every view in Greece, the prospect +from this mound is full of beauty and variety—everywhere +broken outlines, everywhere patches of +blue sea, everywhere silence and solitude. Byron +is so much out of fashion now, and so much more +talked about than read—though even that notice of +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/>him is fast disappearing—that I will venture to +remind the reader of the splendid things he has said +of Greece, and especially of this very plain of +Marathon. He was carried away by his enthusiasm +to fancy a great future possible for the country, and +to believe that its desolation and the low condition +of the inhabitants were simply the result of Turkish +tyranny, and not of many natural causes conspiring +for twenty centuries. He paints the Greek brigand +or pirate as many others have painted the <q>noble +savage,</q> with the omission of all his meaner vices. +But in spite of all these faults, who is there who +has felt as he the affecting aspects of this beautiful +land—the tomb of ancient glory—the home of ancient +wisdom—the mother of science, of art, of +philosophy, of politics—the champion of liberty—the +envy of the Persian and the Roman—the +teacher, even still, of modern Europe? It is surely +a great loss to our generation, and a bad sign of its +culture, that the love of more modern poets has +weaned them from the study of one not less great in +most respects, but far greater in one at least—in that +burning enthusiasm for a national cause, in that red-hot +passion for liberty which, even when misapplied, +or wasted upon unworthy objects, is ever one of the +noblest and most stirring instincts of higher man. +</p> + +<p> +But Byron may well be excused his raving about +the liberty of the Greeks, for truly their old conflict +at Marathon, where a few thousand ill-disciplined men +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/>repulsed a larger number of still worse disciplined +Orientals, without any recondite tactics—perhaps +even without any very extraordinary heroism—how +is it that this conflict has maintained a celebrity +which has not been equalled by any of the great +battles of the world from that day down to our own? +The courage of the Greeks, as I have elsewhere +shown,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Social Life in Greece</hi>, + p. <anchor id="corr201"/><corr sic="23">23.</corr></note> was not of the first order. Herodotus +praises the Athenians in this very battle for being +the first Greeks that dared to look the Persians in +the face. Their generals all through history seem +never to feel sure of victory, and always endeavor to +harangue their soldiers into a fury. Instead of advising +coolness, they especially incite to rage—<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὀργῇ προσμίξωμεν</foreign>, says one of them in Thucydides—as +if any man not in this state would be sure to estimate +the danger fully, and run away. It is, indeed, true +that the ancient battles were hand to hand, and +therefore parallel to our charges of bayonets, which +are said to be very seldom carried out by two opposing +lines, as one of them almost always gives way +before the actual collision takes place. This must +often have occurred in Greek battles, for in one +fought at Amphipolis Brasidas lost seven men; at a +battle at Corinth, mentioned by <anchor id="corr201a"/><corr sic="Xenophen">Xenophon</corr>—an important +battle, too—the slain amounted to eight;<note place="foot">Xen. <hi rend='italic'>Hell.</hi>, iv., 3, § 1. To cite a parallel in modern history: +a writer in the <hi rend='italic'>Pall Mall Gazette</hi> (July 12, 1876) says: <anchor id="corr202b"/><q><corr sic="'">I</corr> witnessed +a battle during the War of Greek Independence. It lasted three +days; the quantity of ammunition expended was enormous, and +the result was one man wounded!</q></note> +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/>and these battles were fought before the days when +whole armies were composed of mercenaries, who +spared one another, as Ordericus Vitalis says, <q>for +the love of God, and out of good feeling for the +fraternity of arms.</q> So, then, the loss of 192 +Athenians, including some distinguished men, was +rather a severe one. As to the loss of the Persians, +I so totally disbelieve the Greek accounts of such +things that it is better to pass it by in silence. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps most readers will be astonished to hear +of the Athenian army as undisciplined, and of the +science of war as undeveloped, in those times. Yet +I firmly believe this was so. The accounts of battles +by almost all the historians are so utterly vague, and +so childishly conventional, that it is evident that +these gentlemen were not only quite ignorant of the +science of war, but could not easily find any one to +explain it to them. We know that the Spartans—the +most admired of all Greek warriors—were chiefly +so admired because they devised the system of subordinating +officers to one another within the same +detachment, like our gradation from colonel to corporal. +Orders were passed down from officer to +officer, instead of being bawled out by a herald to a +whole army. But this superiority of the Spartans, +who were really disciplined, and went into battle +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/>coolly, like brave men, certainly did not extend to +strategy, but was merely a question of better drill. +As soon as any real strategist met them they were +helpless. Thus Iphicrates, when he devised Wellington’s +plan of meeting their attacking column in +line, and using missiles, succeeded against them, +even without firearms: thus Epaminondas, when he +devised Napoleon’s plan of massing troops on a single +point, while keeping his enemy’s line occupied, defeated +them without any considerable struggle. As +for that general’s great battle of Mantinea, the ancient +Rossbach, which seems really to have been +introduced by some complicated strategical movements, +we owe our partial knowledge to the grudging +aid of the soldier Xenophon. But both generals +were in the distant future when the battle of Marathon +was being fought. +</p> + +<p> +Yet what signifies all this criticism? In spite of +all skepticism, in spite of all contempt, the battle of +Marathon, whether badly or well fought, and the +troops at Marathon, whether well or ill trained, will +ever be more famous than any other battle or army, +however important or gigantic its dimensions. Even +in this very war, the battles of Salamis and Platæa +were vastly more important and more hotly contested. +The losses were greater, the results were +more enduring, yet thousands have heard of Marathon +to whom the other names are unknown. So much +for literary ability—so much for the power of talk<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/>ing well about one’s deeds. Marathon was fought by +Athenians; the Athenians eclipsed the other Greeks +as far as the other Greeks eclipsed the rest of the +world, in literary power. This battle became the +literary property of the city, hymned by poet, cited +by orator, told by aged nurse, lisped by stammering +infant; and so it has taken its position, above all +criticism, as one of the great decisive battles which +assured the liberty of the West against Oriental despotism. +</p> + +<p> +The plain in the present day is quite bare of trees, +and, as Colonel Leake observed, appears to have +been so at the time of the battle, from the vague +account of its evolutions. There was a little corn +and a few other crops about the great tumulus; and +along the seashore, whither we went to bathe, there +was a large herd of cows and oxen—a sight not +very usual in Greece. When we rushed into the +shallow blue water, striving to reach swimming +depth, we could not but think of the scene when +Kynægirus and his companions rushed in armed to +stop the embarkation of the Persians. On the +shore, then teeming with ships of war, with transports, +with fighting and flying men, there was now +no sign of life, but ourselves in the water, and the +lazy cattle and their silent herdsmen looking upon +us in wonder; for, though very hot, it was only May, +and the modern Greek never thinks it safe to bathe +till at least the end of June—in this like his Italian +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/>neighbor. There was not a single ship or boat in +the straits; there was no sign of life or of population +on the coast of Eubœa. There was everywhere +that solitude which so much struck Byron, as it +strikes every traveller in Modern Greece. There +was not even the child or beggar, with coins and +pieces of pottery, who is so troublesome about Italian +ruins, and who has even lately appeared at the Parthenon, +the theatre at Argos, and a few other places +in Greece. We asked the herdsman for remnants +of arms or pieces of money: he had seen such +things picked up, but knew nothing of their value. +Lord Byron tells us he was offered the purchase +of the whole plain (six miles by two) for about +£900. It would have been a fine speculation for +an antiquarian: but I am surprised, as he was, +rather at the greatness than at the smallness of +the price. The Greek Government might very +well, even now, grant the fee-simple to any one +who would pay the ordinary taxes on property, +which are not, I was told, very heavy. But still the +jealousy of the nation would not tolerate a foreign +speculator. +</p> + +<p> +I have already spoken (<ref target="Pg154">p. 154</ref>) of the position of +the pass of Daphne, and how it leads the traveller +over the ridge which separates the plain of the +Kephissus from the Thriasian plain. I have also +spoken at length of the country about the Kephissus, +with its olive woods and its nightingales. When we +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/>go through the pass of Daphne—of its monastery I +shall speak in another chapter—a perfectly new +view opens before us. We see under us the Thriasian +plain, well covered with ripening corn and other +crops; we see at the far side of the crescent-shaped +bay the remains of Eleusis. Behind it, and all +round to the right up to where we stand, is an amphitheatre +of hills—the spurs of Mount Parnes, +which from Phyle reach due south down to where +we stand, and due west to the inland of the Thriasian +plain, till they meet and are confounded with +the slopes of Cithæron, which extend for miles away +behind Eleusis. On the sea-side, to our left, lies the +island of Salamis, so near the coast that the sea +seems a calm inland lake, lying tortuously between +the hills. +</p> + +<p> +Many points of Greek history become plain to us +by this view. We see how true was the epithet +<q>rocky Salamis,</q> for the island, though it looks very +insignificant on our maps, contains lofty mountains, +with very bare and rocky sides. The student of +Greek geography in maps should note this feature. +Thus, Ithaca on the map does not suggest the real +Ithaca, which from most points looks like a high +and steep mountain standing out of the sea. We +begin also to see how Salamis was equally <hi rend='italic'>convenient</hi> +(as the Irish say) to both Megara and Attica, if we +consider that Eleusis was strictly a part of Attica. +The harbor of the Peiræus, for example, would be +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/>quite useless if an enemy were watching it from +Salamis. But we also come to see the sense of the +old legend, that Eleusis had originally a separate +king or government from that of Athens, and that +the two cities once carried on war against each other. +The towns are but a few miles apart; but their respective +plains are so distinctly and completely separated +by the pass of Daphne, that not one acre of +the territory of Eleusis can be seen from Athens, +nor of Athens from Eleusis. So also, lastly, we +come to feel how natural is the remark of Thucydides, +that the population of Athens, when the Lacedæmonians +invaded Attica, and came no farther than +the Thriasian plain, did not feel the terrors of a hostile +invasion, as the enemy was not in sight; but +when he crossed the pass, and began to ravage +Acharnæ and the vale of Kephissus, then indeed, +though Eleusis was just as near, and just as much +their own, they felt the reality of the invasion, and +were for the first time deeply dejected. This is a +good example of that combined farness and nearness +which is so characteristic about most neighboring +cities in Greece. +</p><anchor id="ill206"/><index index="fig" level1="Salamis from Across the Bay"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Salamis from Across the Bay]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus246.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Salamis from Across the Bay</head><figDesc>Salamis from Across the Bay</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The wretched modern village of Eleusis is picturesquely +situated near the sea, on the old site, and +there are still to be seen the ruins, not only of the +famous temple of Demeter, but also of the Propylæa, +built apparently in imitation of that of Mnesicles on +the Acropolis at Athens, though the site of both +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/>temple and Propylæa are at Eleusis low, and in no +way striking. +</p> + +<p> +These celebrated ruins are wretchedly defaced. +Not a column or a wall is now standing, and we can +see nothing but vast fragments of pillars and capitals, +and a great pavement, all of white marble, +along which the ancient wheel-tracks are distinctly +visible. There are also underground vaults of small +dimensions, which, the people tell you, were intended +for the Mysteries. We that knew what vast crowds +attended there would not give credence to this ignorant +guess; and indeed we knew from distinct evidence +that the great ceremony took place in a large +building specially constructed for the purpose. The +necessary darkness was obtained by performing the +more solemn rites at night; not by going down beneath +the surface of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek <hi rend='italic'>savants</hi> have at last laid open, and +explained, the whole plan of the temple, which was +built by Ictinus, in Pericles’s time, but apparently +restored after a destructive fire by Roman architects +copying faithfully the ancient style. The excavators +have shown that the shrine had strange peculiarities. +And this is exactly what we should +expect. For although no people adhered more +closely to traditional forms in their architecture, no +people were more ready to modify these forms with +a view to practical requirements. Thus, as a rule, +the cella, or inner chamber of the temple, only +con<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/>tained the statue of the god, and was consequently +small and narrow. In the temple at Eleusis has +been found a great inner chamber about 59 yards +by 54, hewn out of the rock in the rear of the edifice, +and capable of accommodating a large assembly.<note place="foot">So Strabo describes it, <hi rend='small'>IX.</hi> 1, § 12. For further details consult +the <hi rend='italic'>Guide Joanne</hi> for Athens (1888), p. 201.</note> +Here then it seems the initiated—probably +those of the higher degree, <hi rend='italic'>epoptæ</hi> as they were +called—witnessed those services <q>which brought +them peace in this world, and a blessed hope for +the world to come.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The way into the temple was adorned with two +Propylæa—one of the classical period, and by Philo +(311 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>), another set up by a Roman, App. Claudius +Pulcher, in 48 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, after you had passed +through the former. The great temple, raised upon +a natural platform, looks out toward Salamis, and +the narrow line of azure which separates it from the +land. Turning to the left as you stand at the temple +front, the eye wanders over the rich plain of +Eleusis, now dotted over with villages, and colored +(in April) with the rich brown of ploughing and the +splendid green of sprouting wheat. This plain had +multiplied its wealth manifold since I first saw it, +and led us to hope that the peasants were waking +up to the great market which is near them at Athens. +The track of the old sacred way along the Thriasian +plain is often visible, for much of the sea-coast is +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/>marshy, so the road was cut out in many places +along the spurs of the rocky hill of Daphne. The +present road goes between the curious salt-lakes +(Rheitoi) and the shore—salt-lakes full of sea-fish, +and evidently fed by great natural springs, for there +is a perpetual strong outflow to the tideless sea. I +know not whether this natural curiosity has been +explained by the learned. +</p> + +<p> +It is, of course, the celebrated Mysteries—the +<hi rend='italic'>Greater Eleusinia</hi>, as they were called—which give +to the now wretched village of Eleusis, with its +hopeless ruins, so deep an interest. This wonderful +feast, handed down from the remotest antiquity, +maintained its august splendor all through the +greater ages of Greek history, down to the times +of decay and trifling—when everything else in the +country had become mean and contemptible. Even +Cicero, who was of the initiated himself, a man of +wide culture and of a skeptical turn of mind—even +Cicero speaks of it as <hi rend='italic'>the</hi> great product of the culture +of Athens. <q>Much that is excellent and divine,</q> +says he,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>De Legg.</hi>, <hi rend='small'>II.</hi> 14, § 36.</note> <q>does Athens seem to me to have +produced and added to our life, but nothing better +than those Mysteries, by which we are formed and +moulded from a rude and savage life to humanity; +and indeed in the Mysteries we perceive the real +principles of life, and learn not only to live happily, +but to die with a fairer hope.</q> These are the words +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/>of a man writing, as I have said; in the days of the +ruin and prostration of Greece. Can we then wonder +at the enthusiastic language of the Homeric +Hymn,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>in Cer.</hi> v. 480.</note> of Pindar,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Thren.</hi> (frag.)</note> + of Sophocles,<note place="foot"><anchor id="corr211"/><hi rend='italic'><corr sic="Oed.">Œd.</corr> Col.</hi> 1042.</note> of Aristophanes,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Ran.</hi> 455.</note> +of Plato,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Phæd.</hi> cc. 29, 30.</note> of Isocrates,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Paneg.</hi> § 6.</note> + of Chrysippus<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Etym. Mag.</hi>, s. v. <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τελετή</foreign>.</note>? Every +manner of writer—religious poet, worldly poet, skeptical +philosopher, orator—all are of one mind about +this, far the greatest of all the religious festivals of +Greece. +</p> + +<p> +To what did it owe this transcendent character? +It was not because men here worshipped exceptional +gods, for the worship of Demeter and Cora was an +old and widely diffused cult all over Greece: and +there were other Eleusinia in various places. It was +not because the ceremony consisted of mysteries, of +hidden acts and words, which it was impious to +reveal, and which the initiated alone might know. +For the habit of secret worship was practised in +every state, where special clans were charged with +the care of special secret services, which no man +else might know. Nay, even within the ordinary +homes of the Greeks there were these Mysteries. +Neither was it because of the splendor of the temple +and its appointments, which never equalled the +Panathenæa at the Parthenon, or the riches of +Delphi, or Olympia. There is only one reasonable +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/>cause, and it is that upon which all our serious +authorities agree. The doctrine taught in the Mysteries +was a faith which revealed hopeful things +about the world to come; and which—not so much +as a condition, but as a consequence, of this clearer +light, this higher faith—made them better citizens +and better men. This faith was taught them in the +Mysteries through symbols,<note place="foot">There seems no doubt that some of these symbols, derived +from old nature-worship, were very gross, and quite inconsistent +with modern notions of religion. But even these were features +hallowed and ennobled by the spirit of the celebrants, whose +reverence blinded their eyes, while lifting up their hearts.</note> through prayer and +fasting, through wild rejoicings; but, as Aristotle +expressly tells us, it was reached not by intellectual +persuasion, but by a change into a new moral state—in +fact, by being spiritually revived. +</p> + +<p> +Here, then, we have the strangest and most striking +analogy to our religion in the Greek mythology; +for here we have a higher faith publicly taught,—any +man might present himself to be initiated,—and +taught, not in opposition to the popular creed, but +merely by deepening it, and showing to the ordinary +worldling its spiritual power. The belief in the +Goddess Demeter and her daughter, the queen of +the nether world, was, as I have said, common all +over Greece; but even as nowadays we are told that +there may be two kinds of belief of the same truths—one +of the head and another of the heart—just +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/>as the most excellent man of the world, who believes +all the creeds of the Church, is called an unbeliever, +in the higher sense, by our Evangelical Christians; +so the ordinary Greek, though he prayed and offered +at the Temple of Demeter, was held by the initiated +at the Mysteries to be wallowing in the mire of +ignorance, and stumbling in the night of gloom—he +was held to live without real light, and to die without +hope, in wretched despair.<note place="foot">In the fragments of Plutarch’s <hi rend='italic'>De anima</hi> there are some very +striking passages on this subject. <q>After this,</q> he says, evidently +describing some part of the ceremony, <q>there came a great light, +there were shown pure places and meadows, with dances, and all +that was splendid and holy to see and hear, in which he who is +now perfected by <anchor id="corr213"/><corr sic="initation">initiation</corr>, and has obtained freedom and remission, +joins in the devotions, with his head crowned, in the company +of pure and holy men, and beholds from thence the unclean uninitiated +crowd of mortals in deep mire and mist, trodden down +and crowded by each other, but in fear of death, adhering to their +ills through want of faith in the goods beyond. Since from these +you may clearly see that the connection of the soul with the body +is a coercion against nature.</q></note> +</p><anchor id="ill212"/><index index="fig" level1="Temple of Mysteries, Eleusis"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Temple of Mysteries, Eleusis]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus254.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Temple of Mysteries, Eleusis</head><figDesc>Temple of Mysteries, Eleusis</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The very fact that it was not lawful to divulge the +Mystery has prevented the many writers who knew +it from giving us any description by which we might +gain a clear idea of this wonderful rite. We have +hints of various sacred vessels, of various priests +known by special technical names; of dramatic +representations of the rape of Cora, and of the +grief of her mother; of her complaints before Zeus, +and the final reconciliation. We hear of scenes of +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/>darkness and fear, in which the hopeless state of +the unbelievers was portrayed; of light and glory, +to which the convert attained, when at last his eyes +were opened to the knowledge of good and evil. +</p> + +<p> +But all these things are fragmentary glimpses, as +are also the doctrines hinted of the Unity of God, +and of atonement by sacrifice. There remains +nothing clear and certain, but the unanimous verdict +as to the greatness, the majesty, and the awe of the +services, and as to the great spiritual knowledge and +comfort which they conveyed. The consciousness +of guilt was not, indeed, first taught by them, but +was felt generally, and felt very keenly by the +Greek mind. These Mysteries were its Gospel of +reconciliation with the offended gods. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="8" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VIII. From Athens to Thebes—The Passes of Parnes and of Cithæron, Eleutheræ, Platæa"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="VIII. From Athens to Thebes--The Passes of Parnes and of Cithaeron, Eleutherae, Plataea"/> +<head>CHAPTER VIII.</head> + +<head type="sub">FROM ATHENS TO THEBES—THE PASSES OF PARNES AND OF CITHÆRON, ELEUTHERÆ, PLATÆA.</head> + +<p> +No ordinary student, looking at the map of Attica +and Bœotia, can realize the profound and complete +separation between these two countries. Except at +the very northern extremity, where the fortified +town of Oropus guarded an easy boundary, all the +frontier consists not merely of steep mountains, but +of parallel and intersecting ridges and gorges, which +contain indeed a few alpine valleys, such as that of +Œnoe, but which are, as a rule, wild and barren, +easily defensible by a few against many, and totally +unfit for the site of any considerable town, or any +advanced culture. As I before stated, the traveller +can pass through by Dekelea, or he can pass most +directly by Phyle, the fort which Thrasybulus seized +when he desired to reconquer Athens with his democratic +exiles. The historians usually tell us <q>that +he seized <hi rend='italic'>and fortified</hi> Phyle</q>; a statement which +the present aspect of it seems to render very doubtful +indeed. It is quite impossible that the great hill-fort +of the very finest Attic building, which is still +remaining and admired by all, could have been +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/><q>knocked up</q> by Thrasybulus and his exiles. +The careful construction and the enormous extent +of the building compel us to suppose it the work of +a rich state, and of a deliberate plan of fortification. +It seems very unlikely, for these reasons, that it was +built after the days of Thrasybulus, or that so important +a point of attack should have been left unguarded +in the greater days of Athens. I am therefore +convinced that the fort, being built long before, +and being, in fact, one of the well-known fortified +demes through Attica, had been to some extent dismantled, +or allowed to fall into decay, at the end of +the Peloponnesian War, but that its solid structure +made it a matter of very little labor for the exiles +to render it strong and easily defensible. +</p> + +<p> +This is one of the numerous instances in which a +single glance at the locality sets right an historical +statement that has eluded suspicion for ages. The +fort of Phyle, like that of Eleutheræ, of which I +shall speak, and like those of Messene and of Orchomenus, +is built of square blocks of stone, carefully +cut, and laid together without a particle of rubble or +cement, but so well fitted as to be able to resist the +wear of ages better than almost any other building. +I was informed by M. <anchor id="corr216"/><corr sic="Emile">Émile</corr> Burnouf, that in the +case of a fort at Megara, which I did not see, there +are even polygonal blocks, of which the irregular and +varying angles are fitted with such precision that it +is difficult, as in the case of the Parthenon, to detect +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/>the joinings of the stones. The blocks are by no +means so colossal in these buildings as in the great +ruins about Mycenæ; but the fitting is closer, and +the sites on which we find them very lofty, and with +precipitous ascents. This style of building is specially +mentioned by Thucydides (<hi rend='small'>I.</hi> 93) as being employed +in the building of the walls of the Peiræus +in the days of Themistocles, apparently in contrast to +the rude and hurried construction of the city walls. +But he speaks of the great stones being not only cut +square, but fastened with clamps of iron soldered +with lead. I am not aware that any traces of this +are found in the remaining hill-forts. The walls of +the Peiræus have, unfortunately, long since almost +totally disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +The way from Athens to Phyle leads north-west +through the rich fields of the old deme of Acharnæ; +and we wonder at first why they should be so noted +as charcoal-burners. But as we approach Mount +Parnes, we find that the valley is bounded by +tracts of hillside fit for nothing but pine forest. A +vast deal of wooding still remains; it is clear that +these forests were the largest and most convenient +to supply Athens with firewood or charcoal. As +usual, there are many glens and river-courses +through the rugged country through which we +ascend—here and there a village, in one secluded +nook a little monastery, hidden from the world, if +not from its cares. There is the usual Greek +vege<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/>tation beside the path; not perhaps luxuriant to our +Northern eyes, but full of colors of its own—the +glowing anemone, the blood-red poppy, the delicate +cistus on a rocky surface, with foliage rather gray +and silvery than green. The pine-trees sound, as +the breeze sweeps up the valleys, and lavish their +vigorous fragrance through the air. +</p> + +<p> +There is something inexpressibly bracing in this +solitude, if solitude it can be called, where the forest +speaks to the eye and ear, and fills the imagination +with the mystery of its myriad forms. Now and then +too the peculiar cadence of those bells which hardly +varies throughout all the lands of the south, tells +you that a flock of goats, or goat-like sheep, is near, +attended by solemn, silent children, whose eyes seem +to have no expression beyond that of vague wonder +in their gaze. These are the flocks of some village +below, not those of the nomad Vlachs, who bring +with them their tents and dogs, and make gipsy +encampments in the unoccupied country. +</p> + +<p> +At last we see high over us the giant fort of Phyle—set +upon a natural precipice, which defends it +amply for half its circuit. The point of occupation +was well chosen, for while within sight of Athens, +and near enough to afford a sure refuge to those who +could escape by night and fly to the mountain, its +distance (some 15 miles) and the steep and rugged +ascent, made it impossible for weak and aged people +to crowd into it and mar the efficiency of its garrison. +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/>With the increase of his force Thrasybulus began +successful raids into the plain, then a rapid movement +to Peiræus; ultimately, as may be read in all +histories, he accomplished the liberation of his native +city. +</p> + +<p> +We did not pass into Bœotia by the way of Phyle, +preferring to take the longer route through Eleusis. +But no sooner had we left Eleusis than we began to +ascend into the rough country, which is the preface +to the wild mountain passes of Cithæron. It is, +indeed, very difficult to find where one range of +mountains begins and another ends, anywhere +throughout Greece. There is generally one high +peak, which marks a whole chain or system of +mountains, and after which the system is called; +but all closer specification seems lost, on account of +the immense number of ridges and points which +crowd upon the view in all directions. Thus the +chain of Parnes, after throwing out a spur toward +the south, which divides the Athenian and the +Thriasian plains, sweeps round the latter in a sort +of amphitheatre, and joins the system of Cithæron +(Kitheron), which extends almost parallel with +Parnes. A simple look at a good map explains +these things by supplementing mere description. +The only thing which must be specially enforced +is, that all the region where a plain is not expressly +named is made up of broken mountain ridges and +rocky defiles, so that it may fairly be called an +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/>alpine country. A fellow-traveller, who had just +been in Norway, was perpetually struck with its +resemblance to the Norwegian highlands. +</p> + +<p> +I will only mention one other fact which illustrates +the consequent isolation. We have a river Kephissus +in the plain of Athens. As soon as we cross the +pass of Daphne we have another Kephissus in the +Thriasian plain. Within a day’s journey, or nearly +so, we have another Kephissus, losing itself in the +lake Copais, not far from Orchomenus. This repetition +of the same name shows how little intercourse +people have in the country, how little they travel, +and how there is no danger of confusing these identical +names. Such a fact, trifling as it is, illustrates +very powerfully the isolation which the Greek mountains +produce. +</p> + +<p> +There is a good road from Athens to Thebes,—a +very unusual thing in Greece,—and we were able +to drive with four horses, after a fashion which +would have seemed very splendid in old days. But, +strange to say, the old Greek fashion of driving four +horses abreast, two being yoked to the pole, and two +outriggers, or <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">παράσειροι</foreign>, as they were called, has +disappeared from Greece, whereas it still survives in +Southern Italy. On the other hand the Greeks are +more daring drivers than the Italians, being indeed +braver in all respects, and, when a road is to be had, +a very fast pace is generally kept up. +</p> + +<p> +As usual, the country was covered with +brush<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/>wood, and with numbers of old gnarled fir-trees, +which bore everywhere upon their stems the great +wounds of the hatchet, made to extract the resin for +the flavoring of wine. Rare flocks of goats, with +their peculiar, dull, tinkling bells—bells which have +the same make and tone all through Calabria, through +Sicily, and through Greece—were the only sign of +human occupation or of population. But when you +look for houses, there is nothing in the shape of wall +or roof, save an occasional station, where, but a few +years since, soldiers were living, to keep the road +safe from bandits. At last we came upon the camp +of some Vlach shepherds—a thing reminding one +far more of a gipsy camp than anything else—a few +dark-brown skins falling over two upright poles, so +as to form a roof-shaped tent, of which the entrance +looked so absolutely black as to form quite a patch +in the landscape. There is mere room for lying in +these tents by night; and, I suppose, in the summer +weather most of these wild shepherds will not condescend +even to this shelter.<note place="foot">The Greeks always regard these nomads as foreigners in +race, and incapable of any settled or civilized life. They do great +mischief to young trees and fences, which they never respect. Yet +when arrested for doing mischief they are protected by the sympathies +of the Greeks, who hate all coercion, however reasonable.</note> +</p> + +<p> +After some hours’ drive we reached a grassy dell, +shaded by large plane-trees, where a lonely little +public-house—if I may so call it—of this +construc<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/>tion invited us to stop for watering the horses, and +inspecting more closely the owner. There was the +usual supply of such places—red and white wine in +small casks, excellent fresh water, and <hi rend='italic'>lucumia</hi>, or +Turkish delight. Not only had the owner his belt +full of knives and pistols, but there was hanging up +in a sort of rack a most picturesque collection of +swords and guns—all made in Turkish fashion, with +ornamented handles and stocks, and looking as +if they might be more dangerous to the sportsman +than to his game. While we were being served by +this wild-looking man, in this suspicious place—in +fact, it looked like the daily resort of bandits—his +wife, a comely young woman, dressed in the usual +dull blue, red, and white, disappeared through the +back way, and hid herself among the trees. This +fear of being seen by strangers—no doubt caused by +jealousy among men, and, possibly, by an Oriental +tone in the country—is a striking feature through +most parts of Greece. It is said to be a remnant of +the Turkish influence, but seems to me to lie deeper, +and to be even an echo of the old Greek days. The +same feeling is prevalent in most parts of Sicily. In +the towns there you seldom see ladies in the streets; +and in the evenings, except when the play-going +public is returning from the theatre, there are only +men visible. +</p> + +<p> +After leaving this resting-place, about eleven in +the morning, we did not meet a village, or even a +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/>single house till we had crossed Cithæron, after six +in the evening, and descried the modern hamlet of +Platæa on the slopes to our left. But once or twice +through the day a string of four or five mules, with +bright, richly striped rugs over their wooden saddles, +and men dressed still more brightly sitting lady-fashion +on them, were threading their way along the +winding road. The tinkling of the mules’ bells and +the wild Turkish chants of the men were a welcome +break in the uniform stillness of the journey. The +way becomes gradually wilder and steeper, though +often descending to cross a shady valley, which opens +to the right and left, in a long, narrow vista, and +shows blue far-off hills of other mountain chains. +One of these valleys was pointed out to us as Œnoe, +an outlying deme of Attica, fortified in Periclean +days, and which the Peloponnesian army attacked, +as Thucydides tells us, and failed to take, on their +invasion of Attica at the opening of the war. There +are two or three strong square towers in this valley, +close to the road, but not the least like any old +Greek fort, and quite incapable of holding any garrison. +The site is utterly unsuitable, and there +seemed no remains of any walled town. +</p> + +<p> +These facts led me to reflect upon the narrative +of Thucydides, who evidently speaks of Œnoe as +the border fort of Attica, and yet says not a word +about Eleutheræ, which is really the border, the +great fort, and the key to the passes of Cithæron. +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/>The first solution which suggests itself is, that the +modern Greeks have given the wrong names to these +places, and that by Œnoe Thucydides really means +the place now known as Eleutheræ.<note place="foot">Colonel Leake already felt these difficulties, and moves +Eleutheræ a few miles to the south-west. But Œnoe and Eleutheræ +must have been close together, from the allusion in the <hi rend='italic'>Antiope</hi> +of Euripides. Cf. Eurip., frag. 179 (ed. Nauck), and the +passages quoted there.</note> Most decidedly, +if the fort which is now there existed at the opening +of the Peloponnesian War, he cannot possibly have +overlooked it in his military history of the campaign. +And yet it seems certain that we must place the +building of this fort at the epoch of Athens’s greatness, +when Attic influence was paramount in Bœotia, +and when the Athenians could, at their leisure, and +without hindrance, construct this fort, which commands +the passes into Attica, before they diverge +into various valleys, about the region of the so-called +Œnoe. +</p> + +<p> +For, starting from Thebes, the slope of Cithæron +is a single unbroken ascent up to the ridge, through +which, nearly over the village of Platæa, there is a +cut that naturally indicates the pass. But when the +traveller has ascended from Thebes to this point he +finds a steep descent into a mountainous and broken +region, where he must presently choose between a +gorge to the right or to the left, and must wander +about zigzag among mountains, so as to find his way +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/>toward Athens. And although I did not examine +all the passes accurately, it was perfectly obvious +that, as soon as the first defile was left behind, an +invader could find various ways of eluding the defenders +of Attica, and penetrating into the Thriasian +plain, or, by Phyle, into that of Athens. Accordingly, +the Athenians choose a position of remarkable +strength, just inside the last crowning ascent, where +all the ways converge to pass the crest of the mountain +into Platæa. Here a huge rock, interposing +between the mountains on each side, strives, as it +were, to bar the path, which accordingly divides +like a torrent bed, and passes on either side, close +under the walls of the fort which occupies the top +of the rock. From this point the summit of the +pass is about two or three miles distant, and easily +visible, so that an outpost there, commanding a view +of the whole Theban plain, could signal any approach +to the fort with ample notice. +</p> + +<p> +The position of the fort at Phyle, above described, +is very similar. It lies within a mile of the top of +the pass, on the Attic side, within sight of Athens, +and yet near enough to receive the scouts from the +top, and resist all sudden attack. No force could +invade Attica without leaving a large force to besiege +it. +</p> + +<p> +Looking backward into Attica, the whole mountainous +tract of Œnoe is visible; and, though we +cannot now tell the points actually selected, there +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/>is no difficulty in finding several which could easily +pass the signal from Eleutheræ to Daphne, and +thence to Athens. We know that fire signals were +commonly used among the Greeks, and we can here +see an instance where news could be telegraphed +some thirty miles over a very difficult country in a +few moments. Meanwhile, as succors might be +some time in arriving, the fort was of such size and +strength as to hold a large garrison, and stop any +army which could not afford to mask it, by leaving +there a considerable force.<note place="foot">This the Peloponnesians did at Œnoe, according to Thucydides; +perhaps therefore at this very place.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The site was, of course, an old one, and the name +Eleutheræ, if correctly applied to this fort, points +to a time when some mountain tribe maintained its +independence here against the governments on either +side in the plain, whence the place was called the +<q><hi rend='italic'>Free</hi></q> place, or <hi rend='italic'>Liberties</hi> (as we have the term in +Dublin). There is further evidence of this in a +small irregular fort which was erected almost in the +centre of the larger and later enclosure. This older +fort is of polygonal masonry, very inferior to the +other, and has fallen into ruins, while the later walls +and towers are in many places perfect. The outer +wall follows the nature of the position, the principle +being to find everywhere an abrupt descent from +the fortification, so that an assault must be very +difficult. On the north side, where the rock is +pre<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/>cipitous, the wall runs along in a right line; whereas +on the south side, over the modern road, it dips +down the hill, and makes a semicircular sweep, so +as to crown the steepest part of a gentler ascent. +Thus the whole enclosure is of a half-moon shape. +But while the straight wall is almost intact, the +curved side has in many places fallen to pieces. +The building is the most perfect I have ever seen +of the kind, made of square hewn stones, evidently +quarried on the rock itself. The preserved wall is +about 200 yards long, six and a half feet wide, and +apparently not more than ten or twelve feet high; +but, at intervals of twenty-five or thirty yards, there +are seven towers twice as deep as the wall, while +the path along the battlement goes right through +them. Each tower has a doorway on the outside +of it, and close beside this there is also a doorway +in the wall, somewhat larger. These doorways, +made by a huge lintel, about seven and a half feet +long, laid over an aperture in the building, with its +edges very smoothly and carefully cut, are for the +most part absolutely perfect. As I could see no +sign of doorposts or bolts—a feature still noticeable +in all temple gates—it is evident that wooden doors +and door-posts were fitted into these doorways—a +dangerous form of defence, were not the entrances +strongly protected by the towers close beside them +and over them. There were staircases, leading from +the top of the wall outward, beside some of the +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/>towers. The whole fort is of such a size as to hold +not merely a garrison, but also the flocks and herds +of the neighboring shepherds, in case of a sudden +and dangerous invasion; and this, no doubt, was +the primary intention of all the older forts in Greece +and elsewhere.<note place="foot">There was no photograph of this very fine building existing +when I was in Greece. The only drawing of it I have seen is in +the plates of Dodwell’s <hi rend='italic'>Archæological Tour in Greece</hi>—a splendid +book. The fort of Phyle, though smaller, possesses all the features +described in this fort, and shows that they represent a general +type.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The day was, as usual, very hot and fine, and the +hills were of that beautiful purple blue which Sir F. +Leighton so well reproduces in the backgrounds of +his Greek pictures; but a soft breeze brought occasional +clouds across the sun, and varied the landscape +with deeper hues. Above us on each side +were the noble crags of Cithæron, with their gray +rocks and their gnarled fir-trees. Far below, a +bright mountain stream was rushing beside the pass +into Attica; around us were the great walls of the +old Greeks, laid together with that symmetry, that +beauty, and that strength which marks all their +work. The massive towers are now defending a +barren rock; the enclosure which had seen so many +days of war and rapine was lying open and deserted; +the whole population was gone long centuries ago. +There is still <hi rend='italic'>liberty</hi> there, and there is peace—but +the liberty and the peace of solitude. +</p> + +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> + +<p> +A short drive from Eleutheræ brought us to the +top of the pass,<note place="foot">This pass (seized by the Persian cavalry before the battle of +Platæa, in order to stop the Greek provision trains) was called +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τρεῖς κεφαλαί</foreign> by the Thebans, but + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">δρυὸς κεφ.</foreign> by the Athenians (Herod. +<hi rend='small'>IX.</hi> 39)—evidently the same old name diversely interpreted by +diverse <hi rend='italic'>Volks-etymologien</hi>. + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τρεῖς</foreign> and <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">δρυός</foreign> are pronounced almost +alike in modern Greek, probably therefore in old Greek likewise. +But I will not touch the thorny question of old Greek pronunciation.</note> and we suddenly came upon one of +those views in Greece which, when we think of +them, leave us in doubt whether the instruction they +give us, or the delight, is the greater. The whole +plain of Thebes, and, beyond the intervening ridge, +the plain of Orchomenus, with its shining lake, were +spread out before us. The sites of all the famous +towns were easily recognizable. Platæa only was +straight beneath us, on the slopes of the mountain, +and as yet hidden by them. The plan of all Bœotia +unfolded itself with great distinctness—two considerable +plains, separated by a low ridge, and surrounded +on all sides by chains of mountains. On the north +there are the rocky hills which hem in Lake Copais +from the Eubœan strait, and which nature had +pierced before the days of history, aided by Minyan +engineers, whose <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">καταβόθρα</foreign>, as they were called, +were tunnelled drains, which drew water from thousands +of acres of the richest land. On the east, +where we stood, was the gloomy Cithæron—the +home of awful mythical crimes, and of wild +Bac<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/>chanalian orgies, the theme of many a splendid +poem and many a striking tragedy. To the south +lay the pointed peaks of Helicon—a mountain (or +mountain chain) full of sweetness and light, with +many silver streams coursing down its sides to water +the Bœotian plains, and with its dells, the home of +the Muses ever since they inspired the bard of Ascra—the +home, too, of Eros, who long after the reality +of the faith had decayed, was honored in Thespiæ +by the crowds of visitors who went up to see the +famous statue of the god by Praxiteles. This +Helicon separates Bœotia from the southern sea, +but does not close up completely with Cithæron, +leaving way for an army coming from the isthmus, +where Leuctra stood to guard the entrance. Over +against us, on the west, lay, piled against one +another, the dark wild mountains of Phocis, with +the giant Parnassus raising its snow-clad shoulders +above the rest. But, in the far distance, the snowy +Corax of Ætolia stood out in rivalry, and showed +us that Parnassus is but the advanced guard of the +wild alpine country, which even in Greece proved +too rugged a nurse for culture. +</p> + +<p> +We made our descent at full gallop down the +windings of the road—a most risky drive; but the +coachman was daring and impatient, and we felt, in +spite of the danger, that peculiar delight which +accompanies the excitement of going at headlong +pace. We had previously an even more perilous +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/>experience in coming down the steep and tortuous +descent from the Laurium mines to Ergasteria in +the train, where the sharp turns were apparently +full of serious risk. Above our heads were wheeling +great vultures—huge birds, almost black, with +lean, featherless heads—which added to the wildness +of the scene. After this rapid journey we came +upon the site of Platæa, marked by a modern village +of the name, on our left, and below us we saw the +winding Asopus, and the great scene of one of the +most famous of all Greek battles—the battle of +Platæa. This little town is situated much higher +up the mountain than I had thought, and a glance +showed us its invaluable position as an outpost of +Athenian power toward Bœotia. With the top of +the pass within an hour’s walk, the Platæans could, +from their streets, see every movement over the +Theban plain: they could see an invasion from the +south coming up by Leuctra; they could see troops +marching northward toward Tanagra and Œnophyta. +They could even see into the Theban Cadmea, which +lay far below them, and then telegraph from the top +of the pass to Eleutheræ, and from thence to Athens. +We can, therefore, understand at once Platæa’s +importance to Athens, and why the Athenians built +a strong fortified post on their very frontier, within +easy reach of it. +</p> + +<p> +All the site of the great battle is well marked and +well known—the fountain Gargaphia, the so-called +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/>island, and the Asopus, flowing lazily in a deep-cut +sedgy channel, in most places far too deep to ford. +Over our heads were still circling the great black +vultures; but, as we neared the plain, we flashed +a large black-and-white eagle, which we had not +seen in Attica. There is some cultivation between +Platæa and Thebes, but strangely alternating with +wilderness. We were told that the people have +plenty of spare land, and, not caring to labor for +its artificial improvement, till a piece of ground +once, and then let it lie fallow for a season or two. +The natural richness of the Bœotian soil thus supplies +them with ample crops. But we wondered to +think how impossible it seems even in these rich and +favored plains to induce a fuller population. +</p> + +<p> +The question of the depopulation of Greece is +no new one—it is not due to the Slav inroads—it is +not due to Turkish misrule. As soon as the political +liberties of Greece vanished, so that the national +talent found no scope in local government—as soon +as the riches of Asia were opened to Greek enterprise—the +population diminished with wonderful +rapidity. All the later Greek historians and travellers +are agreed about the fact.<note place="foot">Cf. what I have said in relation to Polybius’s account of it in +my <hi rend='italic'>Greek Life and Thought</hi>, pp. 534 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> <q>The whole of +Greece could not put in the field,</q> says one, <q>as +many soldiers as came of old from a single city.</q> +<q>Of all the famous cities of Bœotia,</q> says another, +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/><q>but two—Thespiæ and Tanagra—now remain.</q> +The rest are mostly described as ruins (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἐρείπια</foreign>). +No doubt, every young enterprising fellow went off +to Asia as a soldier or a merchant; and this taste for +emigrating has remained strong in the race till the +present day, when most of the business of Constantinople, +of Smyrna, and of Alexandria is in the hands +of Greeks. But, in addition to this, the race itself +seems at a certain period to have become less prolific; +and this, too, is a remarkable feature lasting to +our own time. In the several hospitable houses in +which I was entertained through the country I +sought in vain for children. The young married +ladies had their mothers to keep them company, and +this was a common habit; the daughter does not +willingly separate from her mother. But, whether +by curious coincidence or not, the absence of children +in these seven or eight houses was very remarkable. +I have been since assured that this was an +accident, and that large families are very common in +Greece. The statistics show a considerable increase +of population of late years.<note place="foot">Cf., for example, the figures in the recent (1891) <hi rend='italic'>Guide +Joanne</hi>, ii. xxxvi.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The evening saw us entering into Thebes—the +town which, beyond all others, retains the smallest +vestiges of antiquity. Even the site of the Cadmea +is not easily distinguishable. Two or three hillocks +in and about the town are all equally insignificant, +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/>and all equally suitable, one should think, for a fortress. +The discovery of the old foundations of the +walls has, however, determined the matter, and +settled the site to be that of the highest part of the +present town. Its strength, which was celebrated, +must have been due nearly altogether to artificial +fortification, for though the old city was in a deeper +valley to the north-west, yet from the other side +there can never have been any ascent steep enough +to be a natural rampart. The old city was, no +doubt, always more renowned for eating and drinking +than for art or architecture,<note place="foot">There was, indeed, a splendid <hi rend='italic'>pleasaunce</hi> built at Thebes by +the Frankish knights, which was completely destroyed by the +grand Catalan company. It is described by their annalist Ramon +Muntaner. The remains of one Frankish tower mark the place.</note> and its momentary +supremacy under Epaminondas was too busy and too +short a season to be employed in such pursuits. But, +besides all this, and besides all the ruin of Alexander’s +fury, the place has been visited several times +with the most destructive earthquakes, from the last +of which (in 1852) it had not recovered when I first +saw it. There were still through the streets houses +torn open, and walls shaken down; there were gaps +made by ruins, and half-restored shops. +</p> + +<p> +The antiquities of Thebes consist of a few inscribed +slabs and fragments which are (as usual) collected +in a dark outhouse, where it is not easy to +make them out. I was not at the trouble of reading +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/>these inscriptions, for in this department the antiquarians +of the University of Athens are really very +zealous and competent, and I doubt whether any inscription +now discovered fails to come into the Greek +papers within a few months. From these they of +course pass into the <hi rend='italic'>Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum</hi>, +a collection daily increasing, and periodically reedited. +I may observe that, not only for manners +and customs, but even for history, these undeniable +and seldom suspicious sources are rapidly becoming +our surest and even fullest authority. +</p> + +<p> +In the opinion of the inhabitants, by far the most +important thing about the town is the tomb of their +Evangelist S. Luke, which is situated in a chapel +close by. The stone is polished and worn with the +feet and lips of pilgrims, and all such homes of long +devotion are in themselves interesting; but the visitor +may well wonder that the Evangelist should +have his tomb established in a place so absolutely +decayed and depopulated as was the region of Thebes, +even in his day. The tombs of the early preachers +and missionaries are more likely to be in the thickest +of thoroughfares, amid the noise and strife of +men. The Evangelist was confused with a later +local saint of the same name.<note place="foot">See his life in Gregorovius’s <hi rend='italic'>Athen</hi>, vol. i. pp. 144 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +Thebes is remarkable for its excellent supply of +water. Apart from the fountain Dirke,<note place="foot">The legend of the name is now fully explained in the + fragments of the <hi rend='italic'>Antiope</hi> published by me in the <hi rend='italic'>Petrie papyri</hi> (Williams +& Norgate, 1891).</note> several +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/>other great springs rise in the higher ground close to +it, and are led by old Greek conduits of marble to +the town. One of these springs was large enough +to allow us to bathe—a most refreshing change after +the long and hot carriage drive, especially in the ice-cold +water, as it came from its deep hiding-place. +We returned at eight in the evening to dine with our +excellent host—a host provided for us by telegraph +from Athens—where we had ample opportunity +of noticing some of the peculiarities of modern +Greek life. +</p> + +<p> +The general elections were at the moment pending. +M. Boulgaris had just <hi rend='italic'>échoue</hi>, as the French +say; and the King, after a crisis in which a rupture +of the Constitution had been expected, decided to +try a constitutional experiment, and called to office +M. Trikoupi, an advanced Radical in those days, +and strongly opposed to the Government. But M. +Trikoupi was a highly educated and reasonable man, +well acquainted with England and English politics, +and apparently anxious to govern by strictly constitutional +means. He has since proved himself, by his +able and vigorous administration, one of the most +remarkable statesmen in Europe, and the main cause +of the progress of his country. His recent defeat +(1890) is therefore to be regarded as a national misfortune. +Our new friend at Thebes was then the +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/>Radical candidate, and was at the very time of our +arrival canvassing his constituency. Every idle fellow +in the town seemed to think it his duty to come +up into his drawing-room, in which we were resting, +and sit down to encourage him and advise him. No +hint that he was engaged in entertaining strangers +had the smallest effect: noisy politics was inflicted +upon us till the welcome announcement of dinner, to +which, for a wonder, his constituents did not follow him. +He told me that though all the country was strongly +in favor of M. Trikoupi, yet he could hardly count +upon a majority with certainty, for he had determined +to let the elections follow their own course, +and not control them with soldiers. In this most +constitutional country, with its freedom, as usual, +closely imitated from England, soldiers stood, at +least up to the summer of 1875, round the booths, +and hustled out any one who did not come to vote +for the Ministerial candidate. M. Trikoupi refused +to take this traditional precaution, and, as the result +showed, lost his sure majority. +</p> + +<p> +But when I was there, and before the actual elections +had taken place, the Radical party were very +confident. They were not only to come in triumphant, +but their first act was to be the prosecution of +the late Prime Minister, M. Boulgaris, for violating +the Constitution, and his condemnation to hard labor, +with confiscation of his property. I used to plead +the poor man’s case earnestly with these hot-headed +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/>politicians, by way of amusement, and was highly +edified by their arguments. The ladies, as usual, +were by far the fiercest, and were ready, like their +goddess of old, to eat the raw flesh of their enemies. +I used to ask them whether it would not be quite +out of taste if Mr. Disraeli, then in power, were to +prosecute Mr. Gladstone for violating the Constitution +in his Irish Church Act, and have him condemned +to hard labor. The cases, they replied, +were quite different. No Englishman could ever +attain, or even understand, the rascality of the late +Greek Minister. Feeling that there might be some +force in this argument, I changed ground, and asked +them were they not afraid that if he were persecuted +in so violent a way he might, instead of occupying +the Opposition benches, betake himself to occupy +the mountain passes, and, by robbing a few English +travellers, so discredit the new Government as to be +worse and more dangerous in opposition than in +power. No, they said, he will not do that; he is +<hi rend='italic'>too rich</hi>. But, said I, if you confiscate his property, +he will be poor. True, they replied; but still he +will not be able to do it: he is <hi rend='italic'>too old</hi>. It seemed +as if the idea that he might be too respectable never +crossed their minds.<note place="foot">I trust none will imagine that I intend the least disrespect to +M. Boulgaris, who was, according to far better authority than that +quoted in the text, an honorable and estimable man. But some of +his Ministers have been since convicted of malpractices concerning +certain archbishoprics, which were bought for money. The trial is +now a matter of history, to which an allusion is sufficient.</note> What was my surprise to +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/>hear within six months that this dreadful culprit had +come into power again at the head of a considerable +majority! +</p> + +<p> +We were afterward informed by a sarcastic observer +that many of the Greek politicians are +paupers, <q>who will not dig, and to beg they are +ashamed;</q> and so they sit about the <hi rend='italic'>cafés</hi> of Athens +on the look-out for one of the 10,000 places which +have been devised for the patronage of the Ministry. +But, as there are some 30,000 expectants, it follows +that the 20,000 disappointed are always at work seeking +to turn out the 10,000. Hence a crisis every +three months; hence a Greek ambassador could +hardly reach his destination before he was recalled; +hence, too, the exodus of all thrifty and hard-working +men to Smyrna, to Alexandria, or to Manchester, +where their energies were not wasted in perpetual +political squabbling. The greatest misconduct with +which a man in office could be charged was the holding +of it for any length of time; the whole public then +join against him, and cry out that it is high time for +him, after so long an innings, to make way for some +one else. It was not till M. Trikoupi established his +ascendency that this ridiculous condition of things +ceased. Whether in office or in opposition, he has a +policy, and retains the confidence of foreign powers. +I had added, in the first edition of this book, some +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/>further observations on the apparent absurdity of +introducing the British Constitution, or some parody +of it, into every new state which is rescued from +barbarism or from despotism. I am not the least disposed +to retract what I then said generally, but it is +common justice to the Greeks to say that later events +are showing them to be among the few nations +where such an experiment may succeed. When the +dangerous crisis of the Turco-Russian war supervened, +instead of rushing to arms, as they were +advised by some fanatical English politicians, they +set about to reform their Ministry; and, feeling the +danger of perpetually changing the men at the helm, +they insisted on the heads of the four principal +parties forming a coalition, under the nominal leadership +of M. Canaris.<note place="foot">Since that time, the chief power has for the most part been in +the hands of M. Trikoupi, an honest patriot. Yet it was the misfortune +of the country to be reduced by M. Delyanni to the verge +of bankruptcy through his absurd war policy against Turkey. It +is probable enough that he did not lead, but was carried along by +this policy, with which all the Athenian <q>Jingoes</q> were possessed.</note> This great political move, one +of the most remarkable of our day, was attempted, +as far as I can make out, owing to the deliberate +pressure of the country, and from a solid interest in +its welfare. Even though temporary in the present +case, it was an earnest that the Greeks are learning +national politics, and that a liberal constitution is not +wasted upon them. There are many far more developed +and important nations in Europe which +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/>would not be capable of such a sacrifice of party +interests and party ambition. +</p> + +<p> +We left Thebes, very glad that we had seen it, +but not very curious to see it again. Its site makes +it obviously the natural capital of the rich plain +around it; and we can also see at once how the +larger and richer plain of Orchomenus is separated +from it by a distinct saddle of rising ground, and +was naturally, in old times, the seat of a separate +power. But the separation between the two districts, +which is not even so steep or well marked as +the easy pass of Daphne between Athens and Eleusis, +makes it also clear that the owners of either +plain would certainly cast the eye of desire upon the +possessions of their neighbors, and so at an early +epoch Orchomenus was subdued. For many reasons +this may have been a disaster to Greece. The +Minyæ of Orchomenus, as people called the old +nobles who settled there in prehistoric days, were +a great and rich society, building forts and treasure-houses, +and celebrated, even in Homer’s day, for +wealth and splendor. +</p> + +<p> +But, perhaps owing to this very luxury, they were +subdued by the inartistic, vulgar Thebans, who, during +centuries of power and importance, never rose to +greatness save through the transcendent genius of +Pindar and of Epaminondas. No real greatness +ever attached to their town. When people came +from a distance to see art in Bœotia, they came to +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/>little Thespiæ, in the southern hills, where the Eros +of Praxiteles was the pride of the citizens. Tanagra, +too, in the terra cottas of which I have spoken (above, +<ref target="Pg059">p. 59</ref>), shows taste and refinement; and we still look +with sympathy upon the strangely modern fashions +of these graceful and elegant figures. At Thebes, +so far as I know, no trace of fine arts has yet been +discovered. The great substructure of the Cadmea, +the solid marble water-pipes of their conduits, a few +inscriptions—that is all. It corroborates what we +find in the middle and new comedy of the Greeks, +that Thebes was a place for eating and drinking, a +place for other coarse material comforts—but no +place for real culture or for art. Even their great +poet, Pindar, a poet in whom most critics find all +the highest qualities of genius—loftiness, daring, +originality—even this great man—no doubt from +the accidents of his age—worked by the job, and +bargained for the payment of his noblest odes. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, even in Pindar, there is something to remind +us of his Theban vulgarity; and it is, therefore, +all the more wonderful, and all the more freely +to be confessed, that in Epaminondas we find not a +single flaw or failing, and that he stands out as far +the noblest of all the great men whom Greece ever +produced. It were possible to maintain that he was +also the greatest, but this is a matter of opinion and +of argument. Certain it is that his influence made +Thebes, for the moment, not only the leader in Greek +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/>politics, but the leader in Greek society. Those of +his friends whom we know seem not only patriots, +but gentlemen—they cultivated with him music and +eloquence, nor did they despise philosophy. So +true is it, that in this wonderful peninsula genius +seemed possible everywhere, and that from the +least cultivated and most vulgar town might arise +a man to make all the world about him admire and +tremble. +</p> + +<p> +I will make but one more remark about this plain +of Bœotia. There is no part of Greece so sadly +famed for all the battles with which its soil was +stained. The ancients called it Mars’s <hi rend='italic'>Orchestra</hi>, or +exercising ground; and even now, when all the old +life is gone, and when not a hovel remains to mark +the site of once well-built towns, we may indeed ask, +why were these towns celebrated? Simply because +in old Greek history their names served to specify +a scene of slaughter, where a campaign, or it may +be an empire, was lost or won, Platæa, Leuctra, +Haliartus, Coronea, Chæronea, Delium, Œnophyta, +Tanagra—these are in history the landmarks of battles, +and, with one exception, landmarks of nothing +more. Thebes is mainly the nurse of the warriors +who fought in these battles, and but little else. So, +then, we cannot compare Bœotia to the rich plains +of Lombardy—they, too, in their clay, ay, and in +our own day, Mars’s Orchestra—for here literature +and art have given fame to cities, while the battles +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/>fought around their walls have been forgotten by the +world. +</p> + +<p> +I confess we saw nothing of the foggy atmosphere +so often brought up against the climate of Bœotia. +And yet it was then, of course, more foggy than it +had been of old, for then the lake Copais was +drained, whereas in 1875 the old tunnels, cut, or +rather enlarged, by the Minyæ, were choked, and +thousands of acres of the richest land covered with +marsh and lake. It was M. Trikoupi who promoted +the plan of a French Company to drain the +lake more completely than even the old <hi rend='italic'>Catabothra</hi> +had done, and, at the cost of less than one million +sterling, to bring into permanent cultivation some +thousands of acres—in fact, the largest and richest +plain in all Greece. I asked him where he meant +to find a population to till it, seeing that the present +land was about ten times more than sufficient for the +inhabitants. He told me that some Greek colonists, +who had settled in the north, under the Turks or +Servians (I forget which), were desirous of returning +to enjoy the sweets of Hellenic liberty. It was proposed +to give them the reclaimed tract. If these +good people will reason from analogy, they will be +slow to trust their fortunes to their old fellow-countrymen. +So long as they are indigent they will be +unmolested—<hi rend='italic'>cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator</hi>—but +as soon as they prosper, or are supposed to prosper, +we might have the affair of Laurium repeated. +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/>The natives might be up in arms against the strangers +who had come to plunder the land of the wealth +intended by nature for others. The Greek Parliament +might be persuaded to make retrospective laws +and restrictions, and probably all the more active +and impatient spirits would leave a country where +prosperity implied persecution, and where people +only awake to the value of their possessions after +they have sold them to others. +</p> + +<p> +What is now happening illustrates the views which +I long since proposed. When the drainage works, +completed in 1887, had uncovered rich tracts, the +Government laid claim to every acre of it, and endeavored +to fence off the old riparian proprietors. +They on their side disputed the new boundaries, +and claimed what the Government professed to +have uncovered. Hence no sale to new owners +is as yet possible. The dispute is still (1891) unsettled. +</p> + +<p> +I think jealousy no accidental feature, but one +specially engrained in the texture of Greek nature +from the earliest times. Nothing can be a more +striking or cogent proof of this than the way in +which Herodotus sets down jealousy as one of the +attributes of the Deity. For the Deities of all +nations being conceptions formed after the analogy +of human nature around them, there can be no +doubt that the honest historian put it down as a +necessary factor in the course and constitution of +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/>nature. We can only understand Greek history +by keeping these things perpetually in mind, and +even now it explains the apparent anomaly, how a +nation so essentially democratic—who recognize no +nobility and no distinctions of rank—can be satisfied +with a king of foreign race. They told me themselves, +over and over again, that the simple reason +was this: no Greek could tolerate another set over +him, so that even such an office as President of a +Greek Republic would be intolerable, if held by one +of themselves. And this same feeling in old times +is the real reason of the deadly hate manifested +against the most moderate and humane despots. +However able, however kindly, however great such +a despot might be; however the state might prosper +under him, one thing in him was intolerable—he had +no natural right to be superior to his fellows, and +yet he was superior. I will not deny the existence +of political enthusiasm, and of real patriotism among +Greek tyrannicides, but I am quite sure that the +universal sympathy of the nation with them was +partly based upon this deep-seated feeling. +</p> + +<p> +It is said that, in another curious respect, the old +and modern Greeks are very similar—I mean the +form which bribery takes in their political struggles. +It has been already observed and discussed by Mr. +Freeman, how, among the old Greeks, it was the +politician who was bribed, and not the constituents; +whereas among us in England the leading politicians +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/>are above suspicion, while the constituents are often +corruptible enough. Our Theban friend told me +that in modern Greece the ancient form of bribery +was still in fashion; and that, except in Hydra and +one other place—probably, if I remember rightly, +Athens—the bribing of constituents was unknown; +while the taking of bribes by Ministers was alleged +not to be very uncommon. A few years ago, men +of sufficient importance to be Cabinet Ministers +were openly brought into court, and indicted for the +sale of three archbishoprics, those of Patras and +Corinth among the number. There is no doubt that +this public charge points to a sort of bribery likely +to take place in any real democracy, when the +men at the head of affairs are not men of great +wealth and noble birth, but often ordinary, or even +needy persons, selected by ballot, or popular vote, +to fill for a very short time a very influential office. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="9" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +<index index="toc" level1="IX. The Plain of Orchomenus, Livádia, Chæronea"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="IX. The Plain of Orchomenus, Livadia, Chaeronea"/> +<head>CHAPTER IX.</head> + +<head type="sub">THE PLAIN OF ORCHOMENUS, LIVÁDIA, CHÆRONEA.</head> + +<p> +The road from Thebes to Lebadea (Livádia) leads +along the foot of Helicon all the way—Helicon, +which, like all celebrated Greek mountains, is not a +summit, but a system of summits, or even a chain. +Looking in the morning from the plain, the contrast +of the dark Cithæron and the gentle sunny Helicon +strikes the traveller again and again. After the +ridge, or saddle, is passed which separates the plain +of Thebes from that of Orchomenus, the richness of +the soil increases, but the land becomes very swampy +and low, for at every half-mile comes a clear silver +river, tumbling from the slopes of Helicon on our +left, crossing the road, and flowing to swell the +waters of Lake Copais—a vast sheet with undefined +edges, half-marsh, half-lake—which for centuries +had no outlet to the sea, and which was only kept +from covering all the plain by evaporation in the +heats of summer. Great fields of sedge and rushes, +giant reeds, and marsh plants unknown in colder +countries, mark each river course as it nears the +lake; and, as might be expected in this lonely fen +country, all manner of insect life and all manner of +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/>amphibia haunt the sites of ancient culture. Innumerable +dragon-flies, of the most brilliant colors, +were flitting about the reeds, and lighting on the +rich blades of grass which lay on the water’s surface; +and now and then a daring frog would charge +boldly at so great a prize, but retire again in fear +when the fierce insect dashed against him in its impetuous +start. Large land tortoises, with their +high-arched shells, yellow and brown, and patterned +like the section of a great honeycomb, went lazily +along the moist banks, and close by the water, which +they could not bear to touch. Their aquatic +cousins, on the other hand, were not solitary in +habit, but lay in lines along the sun-baked mud, and +at the first approach of danger dropped into the +water one after the other with successive flops, looking +for all the world a long row of smooth black +pebbles which had suddenly come to life, like old +Deucalion’s clods, that they might people this solitude. +The sleepy and unmeaning faces of these +tortoises were a great contrast to those of the water-snakes, +which were very like them in form, but +wonderfully keen and lively in expression. They, +too, would glide into the water when so strange a +thing as man came near, but would presently raise +their heads above the surface, and eye with wonder +and suspicion, and in perfect stillness, the approach +of their natural enemy. The Copaic eels, so celebrated +in the Attic comedy as the greatest of all +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/>dainties, are also still to be caught; but the bright +sun and cloudless sky made vain all my attempts to +lure this famous darling of Greek epicures. We +noticed that while the shrill cicada, which frequents +dry places, was not common here, great emerald-green +grasshoppers were flying about spasmodically, +with a sound and weight like that of a small bird. +</p> + +<p> +As we passed along, we were shown the sites of +Haliartus and Coronea—Haliartus, where the cruel +Lysander met his death in a skirmish, and so gave a +place in history to an obscure village—Coronea, +where the Spartans first learned to taste the temper +of the Theban infantry, and where King Agesilaus +well-nigh preceded his great rival to the funeral +pyre. As I said before, all these towns are only +known by battles. Thespiæ has an independent interest, +and so has Ascra. The latter was the residence +of the earliest known Greek poet of whose +personality we can be sure; Thespiæ, with its +highly aristocratic society, which would not let a +shopkeeper walk their place of assembly for ten +years after he had retired from business, was the site +of fair temples and statues, and held its place and +fame long after all the rest of the surrounding cities +had sunk into decay. There are indistinct remains +of surrounding walls about both Haliartus and Coronea, +but surely nothing that would repay the labor +of excavations. All these Bœotian towns were, of +course, fortified, and all of them lay close to the +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/>hills; for the swampy plain was unhealthy, and in +older days the rising lake was said to have swallowed +up towns which had been built close upon its +margin. But the supremacy of Orchomenus in +older, and Thebes in later days, never allowed these +subject towns to attain any importance or any political +significance. +</p> + +<p> +After some hours’ riding, we suddenly came upon +a deep vista in the mountains on our left—such +another vista as there is behind Coronea, but narrower, +and inclosed on both sides with great and +steep mountains. And here we found the cause of +the cultivation of the upper plain—here was the +town of Lebadea (Livádia), famed of old for the +august oracle of Trophonius—in later days the +Turkish capital of the province surrounding. To +this the roads of all the neighborhood converge, +and from this a small force can easily command the +deep gorges and high mountain passes which lead +through Delphi to the port of Kirrha. Even now +there is more life in Livádia than in most Greek +towns. All the wool of the country is brought in +and sold there, and, with the aid of their great +water power, they have a considerable factory, +where the wool is spun and woven into stuff. A +large and beautifully clear river comes down the +gorge above the town—or rather the gorge in which +the town lies—and tumbles in great falls between the +streets and under the houses, which have wooden +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/>balconies, like Swiss châlets, built over the stream. +The whole aspect of the town was not unlike a Swiss +town; indeed, all the features of the upland country +are ever reminding the traveller of his Swiss experience. +</p> + +<p> +But the people are widely different. It was a +great saint’s day, and all the streets were crowded +with people from many miles round. As we noted in +all Greek towns, except Arachova, the women were +not to be seen in any numbers. They do not walk +about the streets except for some special ceremony +or amusement. But no women’s costume is required +to lend brightness to the coloring of the scene; for +here every man had his <hi rend='italic'>fustanella</hi> or kilt of dazzling +white, his gray or puce embroidered waistcoat, his +great white sleeves, and his scarlet skull-cap, with +its blue tassel. Nothing can be imagined brighter +than a dense crowd in this dress. They were all +much excited at the arrival of strangers, and +crowded around us without the least idea or care +about being thought obtrusive. The simple Greek +peasant thinks it his right to make aloud what observations +he chooses upon any stranger, and has +not the smallest idea of the politeness of reticence +on such occasions. +</p> + +<p> +We were received most hospitably by the medical +officer of the district, who had an amiable young +wife, speaking Greek only, and a lively old mother-in-law, +living, as usual, permanently in the house, +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/>to prevent the young lady from being lonely. Like +all the richer Greeks in country parts, they ate +nothing till twelve, when they had a sort of early +dinner called breakfast, and then dined again at +half-past eight in the evening. This arrangement +gave us more than enough time to look about the +town when our day’s ride was over; so we went, +first of all, to see the site of Trophonius’s oracle. +</p> + +<p> +As the gorge becomes narrower, there is, on the +right side, a small cave, from which a sacred stream +flows to join the larger river. Here numerous square +panels cut into the rock to hold votive tablets, now +gone, indicate a sacred place, to which pilgrims came +to offer prayers for aid, and thanksgiving for success. +The actual seat of the oracle is not certain, and is +supposed to be some cave or aperture now covered +by the Turkish fort on the rock immediately above; +but the whole glen, with its beetling sides, its rushing +river, and its cavernous vaulting, seems the very +home and preserve of superstition. We followed +the windings of the defile, jumping from rock to +rock up the river bed, and were soon able to bathe +beyond the observation of all the crowding boys, +who, like the boys of any other town, could not +satisfy their curiosity at strangeness of face and +costume. As we went on for some miles, the +country began to open, and to show us a bleak and +solitary mountain region, where the chains of Helicon +and Parnassus join, and shut out the sea of +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/>Corinth from Bœotia by a great bar some thirty +miles wide. Not a sound could be heard in this +wild loneliness, save the metallic pipe of a water +ouzel by the river, and the scream of hawks about +their nests, far up on the face of the cliffs. +</p> + +<p> +As the evening was closing in we began to retrace +our steps, when we saw in two or three places scarlet +caps over the rocks, and swarthy faces peering down +upon us with signs and shouts. Though nothing +could have been more suspicious in such a country, +I cannot say that we felt the least uneasiness, and +we continued our way without regarding them. +They kept watching us from the heights, and when +at last we descended nearer to the town, they came +and made signs, and spoke very new Greek, to the +effect that they had been out scouring the country +for us, and that they had been very uneasy about +our safety. This was indeed the case; our excellent +Greek companion, who felt responsible to the Greek +Government for our safety, and who had stayed behind +in Livádia to make arrangements, had become +so uneasy that he had sent out the police to scour +the country. So we were brought in with triumph +by a large escort of idlers and officials, and presently +sat down to dinner at the fashionable hour, though in +anything but fashionable dress. The entertainment +would have been as excellent as even the intentions +of our host, had not our attention been foolishly distracted +by bugs walking up the table-cloth. It is, +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/>indeed, but a small and ignoble insect, yet it produces +a wonderful effect upon the mind; for it +inspires the most ordinary man with the gift of +prophecy: it carries him away even from the +pleasures of a fair repast into the hours of night +and mystery, when all his wisdom and all his might +will not save him from the persistent skirmishing +of his irreconcilable foe. +</p> + +<p> +It may be here worth giving a word of encouragement +to the sensitive student whom these hints are +apt to deter from venturing into the wilds of Greece. +In spite of frequent starvation, both for want of food +and for want of eatable food; in spite of frequent +sleeplessness and even severe exercise at night, owing +to the excess of insect population;<note place="foot">This plague seems unavoidable in a southern climate, wherever +the houses, however good, are built of wood, and does not imply +any ungrateful reflection upon my refined and generous hosts. In +the Morea, where houses are built of masonry, even badly-kept +houses are comparatively safe.</note> such is the lightness +and clearness of the air, such the exhilarating +effect of great natural beauty, and of solitary wandering, +free and unshackled, across the wild tracts of +valley, wood, and mountain, that fatigue is an almost +impossible feeling. Eight or ten hours’ riding every +day, which in other country and other air would +have been almost unendurable, was here but the +natural exercise which any ordinary man may conveniently +take. It cannot be denied that the +dis<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/>comforts of Greek travelling are very great, but +with good temper and patience they can all be +borne; and when they are over they form a pleasant +feature in the recollections of a glorious time. Besides, +these discomforts are only the really classical +mode of travelling. Dionysus, in Aristophanes’s +<hi rend='italic'>Frogs</hi>, asks, especially about the inns, the very +questions which we often put to our guide; and if +his slave carried for him not only ordinary baggage, +but also his bed and bedding, so nowadays there +are many khans (inns) where the traveller cannot lie +down—I was going to say to rest—except on his +own rugs. +</p> + +<p> +The next day was occupied in a tour across the +plain to Orchomenus, then to Chæronea, and back +to Livádia in the evening, so as to start from thence +for the passes to Delphi. Our ride was, as it were, +round an isosceles triangle, beginning with the right +base angle, going to Orchomenus north-east as the +vertex, then to Chæronea at the left base angle, and +home again over the high spurs of mountain which +protrude into the plain between the two base angles +of our triangle. For about a mile, as we rode out +of Livádia, a wretched road of little rough paving-stones +tormented us—the remains of Turkish engineering, +when Livádia was their capital. Patches +of this work are still to be found in curious isolation +over the mountains, to the great distress of both +mules and riders; for the stones are very small and +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/>pointed, or, where they have been worn smooth, +exceedingly slippery. But we soon got away into +deep rich meadows upon the low level of the country +adjoining the lake, where we found again the same +infinitely various insect life which I have already +described. A bright merry Greek boy, in full dress +(for it was again a holiday), followed in attendance +on each mule or pony, and nothing could be more +picturesque than the cavalcade, going in Indian file +through the long grass, among the gay wild flowers, +especially when some creek or rivulet made our +course to wind about, and so brought the long line +of figures into more varied grouping. As for the +weather, it was so uniformly splendid that we almost +forgot to notice it. Indeed, strangers justly remark +what large conversation it affords us in Ireland, for +there it is a matter of constant uncertainty, and requires +forethought and conjecture. During my first +journey in Greece, in the months of April, May, and +June, there was nothing to be said, except that we +saw one heavy shower at Athens, and two hours’ +rain in Arcadia, and that the temperature was not +excessively hot. I have had similar experiences in +March and April during three other sojourns in the +country. +</p> + +<p> +In two or three hours we arrived at the site of +old Orchomenus, of late called Scripou, but now +reverting, like all Greek towns, to its original name. +There is a mere hamlet, some dozen houses, at the +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/>place, which is close to the stone bridge built over +the Kephissus—the Bœotian Kephissus—at this +place. This river appears to be the main feeder +of the Copaic lake, coming down, as we saw it, +muddy and cold with snow-water from the heights +of Parnassus. It runs very rapidly, like the Iser at +Munich, and is at Orchomenus about double the size +of that river. Of the so-called treasure-house of +the Minyæ, nothing remains but the stone doorposts +and the huge block lying across them; and even +these are almost imbedded in earth. It was the +most disappointing ruin I had seen in Greece, for it +is always quoted with the treasure-house of Atreus +at Mycenæ as one of the great specimens of prehistoric +building. It is not so interesting in any +sense as the corresponding raths in Ireland. Indeed, +but for Pausanias’s description, it would, I think, +have excited but little attention. +</p> + +<p> +The subsequent excavation of it by Dr. Schliemann +yielded but poor results. The building had +fallen in but a few years ago. A handsome ceiling +pattern, to which a curious parallel was afterward +found at Tiryns, and some pottery, was all that +rewarded the explorer. +</p> + +<p> +On the hill above are the well-preserved remains +of the small Acropolis, of which the stones are so +carefully cut that it looks at first sight modern, then +too good for modern work, but in no case polygonal, +as are the walls of the hill city which it protected. +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/>There is a remarkable tower built on the highest +point of the hill, with a very perfect staircase up to +it. The whole of the work is very like the work +of Eleutheræ, and seems to be of the best period of +Greek wall-building. Nothing surprises the traveller +in Greece more than the number of these splendid +hill-forts, or town-fortresses, which are never noticed +by the historians as anything remarkable—in fact, +the art and the habit of fortifying must have been +so universal that it excited no comment. This +strikes us all the more when so reticent a writer +as Thucydides, who seldom gives us anything but +war or politics, goes out of his way to describe the +wall-building of the Peiræus. He evidently contrasts +it with the hurried and irregular construction +of the city walls, into which even tombstones were +built; but if we did not study the remains still common +in Greece, we might imagine that the use of +square hewn stones, the absence of mortar and rubble, +and the clamping with lead and iron were exceptional, +whereas that sort of building is the most +usual sort in Greece. The walls of the Peiræus +cannot even have been the earliest specimen, for +the great portal at Mycenæ, though somewhat +rougher and more huge in execution, is on the +same principle. The only peculiarity of these walls +may have been their height and width, and upon +that point it is not easy to get any monumental evidence +now. The walls of the Peiræus have +disap<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/>peared completely, though the foundations are still +traceable; others have stood, but perhaps on account +of their lesser height. +</p> + +<p> +In a large and hospitable monastery we found the +well which Pausanias describes as close beside the +shrine of the Graces, and here we partook of breakfast, +attended by our muleteers, who always accompany +their employer into the reception-room of his +host, and look on at meat, ready to attend, and +always joining if possible in the conversation at +table. Some excellent specimens of old Greek pottery +were shown us in the monastery, apparently, +though not ostensibly, for sale, there being a law +prohibiting the sale of antiquities to foreigners, or +for exportation. In their chapel the monks pointed +out to us some fragments of marble pillars, and one +or two inscriptions—in which I was since informed +that I might have found a real live digamma, if I +had carefully examined them. The digamma is +now common enough at Olympia and elsewhere. I +saw it best, along with the <hi rend='italic'>koph</hi>, which is, I suppose, +much rarer, in the splendid bronze plates containing +Locrian inscriptions, which are in the possession of +Mr. Taylor’s heirs at Corfu. These plates have +been ably commented on, with facsimile drawings +of the inscriptions, by a Greek writer, G. N. <sic>Ecnomides</sic> +(Corfu, 1850, and Athens, 1869). +</p> + +<p> +It was on our way up the valley to Chæronea, +along the rapid stream of the Kephissus, that we +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/>came, in a little deserted church, upon one of the +most remarkable extant specimens of a peculiar +epoch in Greek art. As usual, it was set up in the +dark, and we were repeatedly obliged to entreat the +natives to clear the door, through which alone we +could obtain any light to see the work. It is a funeral +<hi rend='italic'>stele</hi>, not unlike the celebrated <hi rend='italic'>stele</hi> and its relief +at Athens, which is inscribed as the <hi rend='italic'>stele</hi> of +Aristion, and dates from the time of the Persian +wars. The work before us was inscribed as the +work of Anxenor the Naxian—an artist otherwise +unknown to us; but the style and finish are very +remarkable, and more perfect than the <hi rend='italic'>stele</hi> of Aristion. +It is a relief carved on an upright slab of gray +Bœotian marble—I should say about four feet in +height—and representing a bearded man wrapped in +a cloak, resting on a long stick propped under his +arm,<note place="foot">Cf. Polygnotus’s picture of Agamemnon (Paus. x. 30, 3), +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">σκήπτρῳ τε ὑπὸ τὴν ἀριστερὰν μασχάλην ἐρειδόμενος</foreign>.</note> with his legs awkwardly crossed, and offering +a large grasshopper to a dog sitting before him. The +hair and beard are conventionally curled, the whole +effect being very like an Assyrian relief; but this is +the case with all the older Greek sculpture, which +may have started in Ionia by an impulse from the far +east. The occurrence of the dog, a feature which +strikes us frequently in the later Attic tombs, supports +what I had long since inferred from stray hints +in Greek literature, that dogs among the old Greeks, +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/>as well as the modern, were held in the highest esteem +as the friends and companions of man. This +curious monument of early Greek art was lying hidden +in an obscure and out-of-the-way corner of Greece; +isolated, too, and with little of antiquarian interest in +its immediate neighborhood.<note place="foot">Since these words were written, M. Holleaux’s researches at +Akræphiæ have not only discovered the inscription containing the +Emperor Nero’s speech to the Greeks, but also many curious remains +from the temple of Apollo Ptoos.</note> On my second visit +(1884), I found a cast of it in the Ministry of Public +Instruction at Athens. On my third I found the +original removed to a prominent place in the National +Museum at Athens, where the traveller may +now study it at his ease. +</p> + +<p> +The great value of these reliefs consists (apart +from their artistic value) in their undoubted genuineness. +For we know that in later days, both in +Greece and Italy, a sort of pre-Raphaelite taste +sprang up among amateurs, who admired and preferred +the stiff awkward groping after nature to the +symmetry and grace of perfect art. Pausanias, for +example, speaks with enthusiasm of these antique +statues and carvings, and generally mentions them +first, as of most importance. Thus, after describing +various archaic works on the Acropolis of Athens, +he adds, <q>But whoever places works made with +artistic skill before those which come under the designation +of archaic, may, if he likes, admire the +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/>following.</q><note place="foot"><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὅστις δὲ τὰ σὺν τέχνῃ πεποιημένα ἐπίπροσθε τίθεται τῶν + ἀρχαιόητα ἡκώτων, καὶ τάδε ἐστιν οἱ θεάσασθαι.</foreign> I. 24. 3.</note> As a natural result, a fashion came in +of imitating them, and we have, especially in Italy, +many statues in this style which seem certainly to +be modern imitations, and not even Greek copies of +old Greek <anchor id="corr263"/><corr sic="originals">originals.</corr> But these imitations are so +well done, and so equalized by lapse of centuries +with the real antiques, that though there are scholars +who profess to distinguish infallibly the <hi rend='italic'>archaistic</hi>, as +they call it, from the archaic, it is sometimes a very +difficult task, and about many of them there is doubt +and debate. +</p> + +<p> +But here at Orchomenus—a country which was so +decayed as to lose almost all its population two centuries +before Christ, where no amateurs of art would +stay, and where Plutarch was, as it were, the last +remains in his town of literature and respectability—here +there is no danger whatever of finding this +spurious work; and thus here, as indeed all through +Greece, archaic work is thoroughly trustworthy. +But the unfortunate law of the land not often violated, +as in this case—which insists upon all these +relics, however isolated, being kept in their place of +finding—is the mightiest obstacle to the study of +this interesting phase of culture, and we must await +the completion of the Hellenic Society’s gallery of +photographs, from which we can make reliable observations. +The Greeks will tell you that the +pres<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/>ervation of antiquities in their original place, first of +all, gives the inhabitants an interest in them, which +might be true but that there are very often no inhabitants: +and next, that it encourages travelling in +the country. This also is true; but surely the making +of decent roads, and the establishing of decent +inns, and easy communications, would do infinitely +more, and are indeed necessary, before the second +stimulus can have its effect. +</p> + +<p> +Not far from this little church and its famous relief, +we came in sight of the Acropolis (called Petrachus) +of Chæronea, and soon arrived at the town, +so celebrated through all antiquity, in spite of its +moderate size. The fort on the rock is, indeed, +very large—perhaps the largest we saw in Greece, +with the exception of that at Corinth; and, as usual +in these buildings, follows the steepest escarpments, +raising the natural precipice by a coping of beautifully +hewn and fitted square stones. The artificial +wall is now not more than four or five feet high; but +even so, there are only two or three places where it +is at all easy to enter the inclosure, which is fully a +mile of straggling outline on the rock. The view +from this fort is very interesting. Commanding all +the plain of the lake Copais, it also gives a view of +the sides of Parnassus, and of the passes into Phocis, +which cannot be seen till the traveller reaches this +point. Above all, it looks out upon the gap of +Elatea, about ten miles north-west, through which +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/>the eye catches glimpses of secluded valleys in +northern Phocis. +</p> + +<p> +This gap is, indeed, the true key of this side of +Bœotia, and is no mere mountain pass, but a narrow +plain, perhaps a mile wide, which must have afforded +an easy transit for an army. But the mountains on +both sides are tolerably steep, and so it was necessary +to have a fortified town, as Elatea was, to keep the +command of the place. As we gazed through the +narrow plain, the famous passage of Demosthenes +came home to us, which begins: <q>It was evening, +and the news came in that Philip had seized, and +was fortifying Elatea.</q> The nearest point of observation +or of control was the rock of Chæronea, +and we may say with certainty that it was from here +the first breathless messenger set out with the terrible +news for Thebes and Athens. This, too, was evidently +the pass through which Agesilaus came on +his return from Asia, and on his way to Coronea, +where his great battle was fought, close by the older +trophy of the Theban victory over Tolmides.<note place="foot">Cf. Plut. <hi rend='italic'>Agesilaus</hi>, chap. xvii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Having surveyed the view, and fatigued ourselves +greatly by our climb in the summer heat, we descended +to the old theatre, cut into the rock where +it ascends from the village—the smallest and steepest +Greek theatre I had ever seen. Open-air buildings +always look small for their size, but most of +those erected by the Greeks and Romans were so +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/>large that nothing could dwarf them. Even the +theatre of such a town as Taormina in Sicily—which +can never have been populous—is, in addition +to its enchanting site, a very majestic structure; +I will not speak of the immense theatres of Megalopolis +and of Syracuse. But this little place at +Chæronea, so steep that the spectators sat immediately +over one another, looked almost amusing when +cut in the solid rock, after the manner of its enormous +brethren. The guide-book says it is one of +the most ancient theatres in Greece—why, I know +not. It seems to me rather to have been made when +the population was diminishing; and any rudeness +which it shows arises more from economy, than want +of experience. +</p> + +<p> +But, small as it is, there are few more interesting +places than the only spot in Chæronea where we can +say with certainty that here Plutarch sat—a man +who, living in an age of decadence, and in a country +village of no importance, has, nevertheless, as much +as any of his countrymen, made his genius felt over +all the world. Apart from the great stores of history +brought together in his <hi rend='italic'>Lives</hi>, which, indeed, +are frequently our only source for the inner life and +spirit of the greatest Greeks of the greatest epochs—the +moral effect of these splendid biographies, +both on poets and politicians through Europe, can +hardly be overrated. From Shakespeare and Alfieri +to the wild savages of the French Revolution, +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/>all kinds of patriots and eager spirits have been +fascinated and excited by these wonderful portraits. +Alfieri even speaks of them as the great discovery +of his life, which he read with tears and with rage. +There is no writer of the Silver Age who gives us +anything like so much valuable information about +early authors, and their general character. More +especially the inner history of Athens in her best +days, the personal features of Pericles, Cimon, +Alcibiades, Nicias, as well as of Themistocles and +of Aristides, would be completely, or almost completely, +lost, if this often despised but invaluable +man had not written for our learning. And he is +still more essentially a good man—a man better and +purer than most Greeks—another Herodotus in fairness +and in honesty. A poor man reputed by his +neighbors <q>a terrible historian,</q> remarked to a +friend of mine, who used to lend him Scott’s novels, +<q>that Scott was a great historian,</q> and being asked +his reason, replied, <q>He makes you to love your +kind.</q> There is a deep significance in this vague +utterance, in which it may be eminently applied to +Plutarch. <q>Here in Chæronea,</q> says Pausanias, +<q>they prepare unguents from the flowers of the +lily and the rose, the narcissus and the iris. These +are balm for the pains of men. Nay, that which is +made of roses, if old wooden images are anointed +with it, saves them, too, from decay.</q> He little +knew how eternally true his words would be, for +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/>though the rose and the iris grow wild and neglected +and yield not now their perfume to soothe the ills of +men, yet from Chæronea comes the eternal balm +of Plutarch’s wisdom, to sustain the oppressed, to +strengthen the patriot, to purify with nobler pity +and terror the dross of human meanness. Nay, +even the crumbling images of his gods arrest their +decay by the spirit of his morals, and revive their +beauty in the sweetness of his simple faith. +</p> + +<p> +There is a rich supply of water, bursting from a +beautiful old Greek fountain, near the theatre—indeed, +the water supply all over this country is +excellent. There is also an old marble throne in +the church, about which they have many legends, +but no history. The costume of the girls, whom we +saw working in small irrigated plots near the houses, +was beautiful beyond that in other Greek towns. +They wore splendid necklaces of gold and silver +coins, which lay like corselets of chain mail on the +neck and breast; and the dull but rich embroidery +of wool on their aprons and bodices was quite beyond +what we could describe, but not beyond our +highest appreciation. +</p> + +<p> +As the day was waning, we were obliged to leave +this most interesting place, and set off again on our +ride home to Lebadea. We had not gone a mile +from the town when we came upon the most pathetic +and striking of all the remains in that country—the +famous lion of Chæronea, which the Thebans set up +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/>to their countrymen who had fallen in the great +battle against Philip of Macedon, in the year 338 +<hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> We had been looking out for this monument, +and on our way to Chæronea, seeing a lofty mound +in the plain, rode up to it eagerly, hoping to find the +lion. But we were disappointed, and were told that +the history of this larger mound was completely unknown. +It evidently commemorates some battle, +and is a mound over the dead, but whether those +slain by Sylla, or those with Tolmides, or those of +some far older conflict, no man can say. It seems, +however, perfectly undisturbed, and grown about +with deep weeds and brushwood, so that a hardy +excavator might find it worth opening, and, perhaps, +coins might tell us of its age. +</p> + +<p> +The mound where we found the lion was much +humbler and smaller; in fact, hardly a mound at all, +but a rising knoll, with its centre hollowed out, and +in the hollow the broken pieces of the famous lion. +It had sunk, we are told, into its mound of earth, +originally intended to raise it above the road beside, +and lay there in perfect safety till the present century, +when four English travellers claim to have +discovered it (June 3, 1818). They tried to get it +removed, and, failing in their efforts, covered up the +pieces carefully.<note place="foot">An account of the discovery, by the only surviving member +of the party, Mr. G. L. Taylor, has been published by Mr. W. S. +Vaux in the <hi rend='italic'>Trans. of the Roy. Soc. of Lit.</hi>, 2nd series, vol. viii. pp. +1, <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi> The latter gentleman called attention to his paper when +the subject was being discussed in the <hi rend='italic'>Academy</hi> in 1877. A very +different story was told to Colonel Mure, and has passed from his +<hi rend='italic'>Travels</hi> into Murray’s <hi rend='italic'>Guide</hi>. The current belief among the +Greeks seems still to be that a Greek patriot called Odysseus, +perceiving the stone protruding from the clay, and, on striking it, +hearing its hollow ring, dug it out and broke it in pieces, imagining +it to be a record of Philip’s victory over Hellenic liberty. +Some ill-natured people added that he hoped to find treasure +within it.</note> Since that time they seem to have +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/>lain undisturbed, and are still in such a state that a +few days’ labor, and a few pounds of expense, would +restore the work. It is of bluish-gray stone—they +call it Bœotian marble or limestone—and is a work +of the highest and purest merit. The lion is of that +Asiatic type which has little or no mane, and seemed +to us couchant or sitting in attitude, with the head +not lowered to the forepaws, but thrown up.<note place="foot">Mr. Taylor and his friends thought it must have stood in the +attitude of the now abolished lion on Northumberland House. +This did not appear so to us; but it is difficult to decide. The +restoration by Siegel in the <hi rend='italic'>Mon. of the Soc. Arch.</hi> of Rome, for +1856, of which Mr. A. S. Murray most kindly sent me a drawing, +makes the posture a <hi rend='italic'>sitting</hi> one, like that of the sitting lion in +front of the Arsenal at Venice. There is a small sitting lion from +Calymnæ, of the same posture, in the Brit. Museum. The Greeks, +when my account was first published in their papers, became fully +alive to the value of this monument, and anxious for its restoration. +There had been a custodian appointed to watch over it, even +when I was there, but he chanced to be absent when we paid our +visit.</note> The +expression of the face is ideally perfect—rage, grief, +and shame are expressed in it, together with that +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/>noble calmness and moderation which characterize +all good Greek art. The object of the monument is +quite plain, without reading the affecting, though +simple, notice of Pausanias: <q>On the approach to +the city,</q> says he, <q>is the tomb of the Bœotians +who fell in the battle with Philip. It has no inscription; +but the image of a lion is placed upon +it as an emblem of the spirit of these men. The +inscription has been omitted—I suppose, because +the gods had willed that their fortune should not be +equal to their valor.</q> So, then, we have here, in +what may fairly be called a <hi rend='italic'>dated</hi> record, one of the +finest specimens of the sepulchral monuments of the +best age of Greece. It is very much to be regretted +that this splendid figure is not put together and +photographed. Nothing would be more instructive +than a comparison with the finest of modern monuments—Thorwaldsen’s +Lion at Lucerne—the work, +too, of the only modern sculptor who can for one +moment be ranked beside the ancient Greeks. But +the lion of Chæronea now owes its existence to the +accident that no neighboring peasant has in old times +lacked stones for a wall, or for a ditch; and when +Greece awoke to a sense of the preciousness of these +things, it might have been gone, or dashed into useless +fragments. +</p> + +<p> +As we saw it, on a splendid afternoon in June, it +lay in perfect repose and oblivion, the fragments +large enough to tell the contour and the style; in +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/>the mouth of the upturned head wild bees were +busy at their work, and the honeycomb was there +between its teeth. The Hebrew story came fresh +upon us, and we longed for the strength which tore +the lion of old, to gather the limbs and heal the rents +of his marble fellow. The lion of Samson was a +riddle to the Philistines which they could not solve; +and so I suppose this lion of Chæronea was a riddle, +too—a deeper riddle to better men—why the patriot +should fall before the despot, and the culture of +Greece before the Cæsarism of Macedonia. Even +within Greece there is no want of remarkable parallels. +This, the last effulgence of the setting sun of +Greek liberty, was commemorated by a lion and a +mound, as the opening struggle at Marathon was +also marked by a lion and a mound. At Marathon +the mound is there and the lion gone—at Chæronea, +the lion is there and the mound gone.<note place="foot">Since these words were written, the labors of the Greek +archæologists have discovered the great <hi rend='italic'>polyandrion</hi> or common +tomb of the dead, which the lion commemorated. They lay in +rows, many of them with broken bones, showing how they had +received their death-wound, and with them were fragments of +broken weapons. Never have we come closer to an ancient battle, +or discovered more affecting records of a great struggle.</note> But doubtless +the earlier lion was far inferior in expression +and in beauty, and was a small object on so large a +tomb. Later men made the sepulchre itself of less +importance, and the poetic element more prominent; +and perhaps this very fact tells the secret of their +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/>failure, and why the refined sculptor of the lion was +no equal in politics and war to the rude carver of +the relief of the Marathonian warrior. +</p> + +<p> +These and such like thoughts throng the mind of +him who sits beside the solitary tomb; and it may +be said in favor of its remoteness and difficulty of +access, that in solitude there is at least peace and +leisure, and the scattered objects of interest are +scanned with affection and with care. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="10" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> +<index index="toc" level1="X. Arachova—Delphi—The Bay of Kirrha"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="X. Arachova--Delphi--The Bay of Kirrha"/> +<head>CHAPTER X.</head> + +<head type="sub">ARACHOVA—DELPHI—THE BAY OF KIRRHA.</head> + +<p> +The pilgrim who went of old from Athens to the +shrine of Delphi, to consult the august oracle on +some great difficulty in his own life, or some +great danger to his country, saw before him the +giant Parnassus as his goal, as soon as he reached +the passes of Cithæron. For two or three days he +went across Bœotia with this great landmark before +him, but it was not till he reached Lebadea that he +found himself leaving level roads, and entering +defiles, where great cliffs and narrow glens gave to +his mind a tone of superstition and of awe which +ever dwelt around that wild and dangerous country. +Starting from Lebadea, or, by another road, from +Chæronea, he must go about half-way round Parnassus, +from its east to its south-west aspect; and +this can only be done by threading his way along +torrents and precipices, mounting steep ascents, and +descending into wild glens. This journey among +the Alps of Phocis is perhaps the most beautiful in +all Greece—certainly, with the exception of the +journey from Olympia over Mount Erymanthus, +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/>the most beautiful of all the routes known to me +through the highlands. +</p><anchor id="ill274"/><index index="fig" level1="A Greek Shepherd, Olympia"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: A Greek Shepherd, Olympia]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus318.jpg" rend="w100"><head>A Greek Shepherd, Olympia</head><figDesc>A Greek Shepherd, Olympia</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The old priests of Delphi, who were the first +systematic road-builders among the Greeks, had +made a careful way from Thebes into Phocis, for +the use of the pilgrims thronging to their shrine. +It appears that, by way of saving the expense of +paving it all, they laid down or macadamized in +some way a double wheel-track or fixed track, upon +which chariots could run with safety; but we hear +from the oldest times of the unpleasantness of two +vehicles meeting on this road, and of the disputes +that took place as to which of them should turn +aside into the deep mud.<note place="foot">This seems to be implied in the account of the murder of +Laïus by Œdipus, on this very road, as it is described in +Sophocles’s <hi rend='italic'>Œdipus Tyrannus</hi>.</note> We may infer from this +that the lot of pedestrians cannot have been very +pleasant. Now, all these difficulties have vanished +with the road itself. There are nothing but faintly-marked +bridle-paths, often indicated only by the +solitary telegraph wires, which reach over the mountains, +apparently for no purpose whatever; and all +travellers must ride or walk in single file, if they +will not force their way through covert and forest. +</p> + +<p> +These wild mountains do not strike the mind with +the painful feeling of desolation which is produced +by the abandoned plains. At no time can they have +supported a large population, and we may suppose +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/>that they never contained more than scattered +hamlets of shepherds, living, as they now do, in +deep brown hairy tents of hides at night, and +wandering along the glens by day, in charge of +great herds of quaint-looking goats with long beards +and spiral horns. The dull tinkling of their bells, +and the eagle’s yelp, are the only sounds which give +variety to the rushing of the wind through the dark +pines, and the falling of the torrent from the rocks. +It is a country in which the consciousness grows not +of solitude, but of smallness—a land of huge form +and feature, meet dwelling for mysterious god and +gloomy giant, but far too huge for mortal man. +</p> + +<p> +Our way lay, not directly for Delphi, but for the +curious town of Arachova, which is perched on the +summit of precipices some 4000 feet or more above +the level of the sea. We rode from eight in the +morning till the evening twilight to reach this place, +and all the day through scenes which gave us each +moment some new delight and some new astonishment, +but which could only be described by a painter, +not by any pages of writing, however poetical or +picturesque. It is the misfortune of such descriptions +on paper, that the writer alone has the remembered +image clear before him; no reader can grasp +the detail and frame for himself a faithful picture. +</p> + +<p> +We felt that we were approaching Arachova +when we saw the steep slopes above and below our +path planted with vineyards, and here and there +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/>a woman in her gay dress working on the steep +incline, where a stumble would have sent her rolling +many hundreds of feet into some torrent bed. At +one particular spot, where the way turned round a +projecting shoulder, we were struck by seeing at +the same time, to the north, the blue sea under +Eubœa, and, at the south, the Gulf of Corinth +where it nears Delphi—both mere patches among +the mountains, like the little tarns among the Irish +moors, but both great historic waters—old high +roads of commerce and of culture. From any of +the summits such a view from sea to sea would not +be the least remarkable; but it was interesting and +unusual to see it from a mule’s back on one of the +high roads of the country. A moment later, the +houses of Arachova itself attracted all our attention, +lying as they did over against us, and quite near, but +with a great gulf between us and them, which we +were fortunately able to ride round. The town has +a curious, scattered appearance, with interrupted +streets and uncertain plan, owing not only to the +extraordinary nature of the site, but to the fact that +huge boulders, I might say rocks, have been shaken +loose by earthquakes from above, and have come +tumbling into the middle of the town. They crush +a house or two, and stand there in the street. Presently +some one comes and builds a house up against +the side of this rock; others venture in their turn, +and so the town recovers itself, till another +earth<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/>quake makes another rent. Since 1870 these earthquakes +have been very frequent. At first they were +very severe, and ruined almost all the town; but +now they are very slight, and so frequent that we +were assured that they happened at some hour <hi rend='italic'>every +day</hi>. I believe this is practically true, though we, +who arrived in the evening and left early next day, +were not so fortunate as to feel the shock ourselves. +But the whole region of Parnassus shows great scars +and wounds from this awful natural scourge. +</p> + +<p> +Arachova is remarkable as being one of the very +few towns of Greece of any note which is not built +upon a celebrated site. Everywhere the modern +Greek town is a mere survival of the old. I remember +but three exceptions—Arachova, Hydra, and +Tripolitza,<note place="foot">Indeed Tripolitza lies between the ancient sites of Mantinea +and Tegea, and quite close to the latter.</note> and of these the latter two arose from +special and known circumstances. The prosperity +of Arachova is not so easily explicable. In spite of +its wonderful and curious site, the trade of the place +is, for a Greek town, very considerable. The wines +which they make are of the highest repute, though +to us the free use of resin makes them all equally +worthless. Besides, they work beautifully patterned +rugs of divers-colored wool—rugs which are sold at +high prices all over the Greek waters. They are +used in boats, on saddles, on beds—in fact for every +possible rough use. The patterns are stitched on +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/>with wool, and the widths sewn together in the same +way, with effective rudeness. +</p> + +<p> +We had an excellent opportunity of seeing all this +sort of work, as we found the town in some excitement +at an approaching marriage; and we went to +see the bride, whom we found in a spacious room, +with low wooden rafters, in the company of a large +party of her companions, and surrounded on all sides +by her dowry, which consisted, in eastern fashion, +almost altogether of <q>changes of raiment.</q> All +round the room these rich woollen rugs lay in perfect +piles, and from the low ceiling hung in great +numbers her future husband’s white petticoats; for +in that country, as everywhere in Greece, the men +wear the petticoats. The company were all dressed +in full costume—white sleeves, embroidered woollen +aprons, gold and silver coins about the neck, and a +bright red loose belt worn low round the figure. To +complete the picture, each girl had in her left hand +a distaff, swathed about with rich, soft, white wool, +from which her right hand and spindle were deftly +spinning thread, as she walked about the room +admiring the <hi rend='italic'>trousseau</hi>, and joking with us and with +her companions. The beauty of the Arachovite +women is as remarkable as the strength and longevity +of the men, nor do I know any mountaineers +equal to them, except those of some of the valleys +in the Tyrol. But there, as is well known, beauty +is chiefly confined to the men; at Arachova it seemed +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/>fairly distributed. We did not see any one girl of +singular beauty. The average was remarkably high; +and, as might be expected, they were not only very +fair, but of that peculiarly clear complexion, and +vigorous frame, which seem almost always to be +found when a good climate and clear air are combined +with a very high level above the sea. +</p> + +<p> +We saw, moreover, what they called a Pyrrhic +dance, which consisted of a string of people, hand-in-hand, +standing in the form of a spiral, and moving +rhythmically, while the outside member of the train +performed curious and violent gymnastics. The +music consisted in the squealing of a horrible clarionette, +accompanied by the beating of a large drum. +The clarionette-player had a leathern bandage about +his mouth, like that which we see in the ancient +reliefs and pictures of double-flute-players. According +as each principal dancer was fatigued, he +passed off from the end of the spiral line, and stuck +a silver coin between the cap and forehead of the +player. The whole motion was extremely slow +throughout the party—the centre of the coil, which +is often occupied by little children, hardly moving +at all, and paying little attention to the dance. +</p> + +<p> +In general, the Greek music which I heard—dance +music, and occasional shepherds’ songs—was nothing +but a wild and monotonous chant, with two or three +shakes and ornaments on a high note, running down +to a long drone note at the end. They repeat these +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/>phrases, which are not more than three bars long, +over and over again, with some slight variations of +<hi rend='italic'>appoggiatura</hi>. I was told by competent people at +Athens, that all this was not properly Greek, but +Turkish, and that the long slavery of the Greeks +had completely destroyed the traditions of their +ancient music. Though this seemed certainly true +of the music which I heard, I very much doubt that +any ancient feature so general can have completely +disappeared. When there are national songs of a distinctly +Greek character transmitted all through the +Slavish and Turkish periods, it seems odd that they +should be sung altogether to foreign music. Without +more careful investigation I should be slow to +decide upon such a question. Unfortunately, our +specimens of old Greek music are very few, and +probably very insignificant, all the extant works on +music by the ancients being devoted to theoretical +questions, which are very difficult and not very +profitable. To this subject I have devoted a special +discussion in my <hi rend='italic'>Social Life in Greece</hi>, with what +illustration it is now possible to obtain. +</p> + +<p> +The inhabitants wished us to stay with them some +days, which would have given us an opportunity of +witnessing the wedding ceremony, and also of making +excursions to the snowy tops of Mount Parnassus. +But we had had enough of that sort of amusement +in a climb up Mount Ætna, a short time before, and +the five hours’ toiling on the snow in a thick fog was +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/>too fresh in our + <anchor id="corr282"/><corr sic="memory,">memory.</corr> Beside, we were bound +to catch the weekly steamer at Itea, as the port of +Delphi is now called; and eight additional days, or +rather nights, in this country might have been too +much for the wildest enthusiast. For the wooden +houses of Arachova are beyond all other structures +infested with life, and not even the balconies in the +frosty night air were safe from insect invasions. +</p> + +<p> +We therefore started early in the morning, and +kept along the sides of precipices on our way to +the oracle of Delphi. It is not wonderful that the +Arachovites should be famous for superstitions and +legends, and that the inquirers into the remnants of +old Greek beliefs in the present day have found their +richest harvest in this mountain fastness, where there +seems no reason why any belief should ever die out. +More especially the faith in the terrible god of the +dead, Charos, who represents not only the old Charon, +but Pluto also, is here very deep-seated, and many +Arachovite songs and ballads speak of his awful and +relentless visits. Longevity is so usual, and old age +is so hale and green in these Alps, that the death of +the young comes home with far greater force and +pathos here than in unhealthy or immoral societies, +and thus the inroads of Charos are not borne in +sullen silence, but lamented with impatient complaints. +</p> + +<p> +At eleven o’clock we came, in the fierce summer +sun, to the ascent into the <q>rocky Pytho,</q> where +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/>the terraced city of old had once harbored pilgrims +from every corner of the civilized world. The ordinary +histories which we read give us but little idea +of the mighty influence of this place in the age of +its faith. We hear of its being consulted by Crœsus, +or by the Romans, and we appreciate its renown +for sanctity; but until of very late years there was +small account taken of its political and commercial +importance. The date of its first rise is hidden in +remote antiquity. As the story goes, a shepherd, +who fed his flocks here, observed the goats, when +they approached the vaporous cavern, springing +about madly, as if under some strange influence. +He came up to see the place himself, and was immediately +seized with the prophetic frenzy. So the +reputation of the place spread, first around the +neighboring pastoral tribes, and then to a wider +sphere. +</p> + +<p> +This very possible origin, however, does not distinctly +assert what may certainly be inferred—I +mean the existence of some older and ruder worship, +before the worship of Apollo was here established. +Two arguments make this clear. In the +first place, old legends consistently speak of the +arrival of Apollo here; of his conflict with the +powers of earth, under the form of the dragon +Python; of his having undergone purification for +its murder, and having been formally ceded possession +by its older owners. This distinct allusion +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/>to a previous cult, and one even hostile to Apollo, +but ultimately reconciled with him, is sustained by +the fact that Pausanias describes in the Temple of +Apollo itself two old stones—one apparently an +aërolith—which were treated with great respect, +anointed daily with oil, and adorned with garlands +of flowers. One of these was to the Greeks the +centre of the earth (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὀμφαλός</foreign>), and beside it were +two eagles in gold, to remind one of the legend that +Zeus had started two eagles from the ends of the +earth, and that they met at this exact spot midway. +These old and shapeless stories, which occur elsewhere +in Greek temples, point to the older stage +of fetish worship, before the Greeks had risen to +the art of carving a statue, or of worshipping the +unseen deity without a gross material symbol. +</p> + +<p> +The researches of M. A. Lebègue, at Delos, have +given us another instance. He found that the old +shrine of Apollo has been made in imitation of a +cave, and that in the recess of the shrine, made +with large slabs of stone forming a gable over a +natural fissure in the rock, there was an ancient, +rude, sacred stone, on which were remaining the +feet of the statue, which had afterward been added +to give dignity to the improved worship. M. Lebègue’s +work at Delos has been completed and superseded +by M. Homolle. +</p> + +<p> +Homer speaks in the Iliad of the great wealth of +the Pythian shrine; and the Hymn to the Pythian +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/>Apollo implies that its early transformations were +completed. But seeing that the god Apollo, though +originally an Ionian god, as at Delos, was here worshipped +distinctively by the Dorians, we shall not +err if we consider the rise of the oracle to greatness +coincident with the rise and spreading of the Dorians +over Greece—an event to which we can assign no +date, but which, in legend, comes next after the +Trojan War, and seems near the threshold of real +history. The absolute submission of the Spartans, +when they rose to power, confirmed the authority +of the shrine, and so it gradually came to be the +Metropolitan See, so to speak, in the Greek religious +world. It seems that the influence of this +oracle was, in old days, always used in the direction +of good morals and of enlightenment. When +neighboring states were likely to quarrel, the oracle +was often a peacemaker, and even acted as arbitrator—a +course usual in earlier Greek history, and in +which they anticipated the best results of our nineteenth-century +culture. So again, when excessive +population demanded an outlet, the oracle was consulted +as to the proper place, and the proper leader +to be selected; and all the splendid commercial development +of the sixth century <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, though not +produced, was at least sanctioned and promoted, by +the Delphic Oracle. Again, in determining the +worship of other gods and the founding of new +services to great public benefactors, the oracle +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/>seems to have been the acknowledged authority—thus +taking the place of the Vatican in Catholic +Europe, as the source and origin of new dogmas, +and of new worships and formularies. +</p><anchor id="ill284"/><index index="fig" level1="The Temple of Apollo, Delphi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Temple of Apollo, Delphi]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus330.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Temple of Apollo, Delphi</head><figDesc>The Temple of Apollo, Delphi</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +At the same time the treasure-house of the shrine +was the largest and safest of banks, where both individuals +and states might deposit treasure—nay, +even the states seem to have had separate chambers—and +from which they could also borrow money, at +fair interest, in times of war and public distress. +The rock of Delphi was held to be the navel or centre +of the earth’s surface, and certainly in a social +and religious sense this was the case for all the +Greek world. Thus the priests were informed, by +perpetual visitors from all sides, of all the last news—of +the general aspect of politics—of the new developments +of trade—of the latest discoveries in +outlying and barbarous lands—and were accordingly +able, without any genius or supernatural inspiration, +to form their judgments upon wider experience +and better knowledge than anybody else +could command. This advice, which was really +sound and well-considered, was given to people who +took it to be divine, and acted upon it with implicit +faith and zeal. Of course, the result was in general +satisfactory; and so even individuals made use of it +as a sort of high confessional, to which they came +as pilgrims at some important crisis of their life; +and finding by the response that the god seemed to +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/>know all about the affairs of every city, went away +fully satisfied with the divine authority of the oracle. +</p> + +<p> +This great and deserved general reputation was +not affected by occasional rumors of bribed responses +or of dishonest priestesses. Such things must happen +everywhere; but, as Lord Bacon long ago observed, +human nature is more affected by affirmatives +than negatives—that is to say, a few cases of brilliantly +accurate prophecy will outweigh a great +number of cases of doubtful advices or even of +acknowledged corruption. So the power of the +Popes has lasted in some respects undiminished +to the present day, and they are still regarded by +many as infallible, even though historians have published +many dreadful lives of some of them, and +branded them as men of worse than average +morals. +</p> + +<p> +The greatness and the national importance of the +Delphic Oracle lasted from the invasion of the +Dorians down to the Persian War, certainly more +than three centuries; when the part which it took in +the latter struggle gave it a blow from which it +seems never to have recovered. When the invasion +of Xerxes was approaching, the Delphic priests informed +accurately of the immense power of the Persians, +made up their minds that all resistance was +useless, and counselled absolute submission or flight. +According to all human probabilities they were +right, for nothing but a series of blunders could +pos<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/>sibly have checked the Persians. But surely the +god ought to have inspired them to utter patriotic +responses, and thus to save themselves in case of +such a miracle as actually happened. I cannot but +suspect that they hoped to gain the favor of Xerxes, +and remain under him what they had hitherto been, +a wealthy and protected corporation.<note place="foot">This was done by the monks at Athos, when Mahomet II. +was threatening Constantinople. They foresaw his victory, and by +early submission made their own terms, and saved both their liberties +and their property.</note> Perhaps they +even saw too far, and perceived that the success of +the Greeks would bring the Ionic states into prominence; +but we must not credit them with too much. +The result, however, told greatly against them. The +Greeks won, and the Athenians got the lead,—the +Athenians, who very soon developed a secular and +worldly spirit, and who were by no means awed by +responses which had threatened them and weakened +their hands, when their own courage and skill had +brought them deliverance. And we can imagine +even Themistocles, not to speak of Pericles and +Antiphon, looking upon the oracles as little more +than a convenient way of persuading the mob to follow +a policy which it was not able to understand. +The miraculous defeat of the Persians by the god, +who repeated his wonders when the Gauls attacked +his shrine, should be read in Herodotus and in Pausanias. +</p> + +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> + +<p> +It is with some sadness that we turn from the +splendid past of Delphi to its miserable present. +The sacred cleft in the earth, from which rose the +cold vapor that intoxicated the priestess, is blocked +up and lost. As it lay within the shrine of the +temple, it may have been filled by the falling ruins, +or still more completely destroyed by an earthquake. +But, apart from these natural possibilities, we are +told that the Christians, after the oracle was closed +by Theodosius, filled up and effaced the traces +of what they thought a special entrance to hell, +where communications had been held with the Evil +One. +</p> + +<p> +The three great fountains or springs of the town +are still in existence. The first and most striking +of these bursts out from between the Phædriades—two +shining peaks, which stand up one thousand +feet over Delphi, and so close together as to leave +only a dark and mysterious gorge or fissure, not +twenty feet wide, intervening. The aspect of these +twin peaks, so celebrated by the Greek poets, with +their splendid stream, the Castalian fount, bursting +from between them, is indeed grand and startling. +A great square bath is cut in the rock, just at the +mouth of the gorge; but the earthquake of 1870, +which made such havoc of Arachova, has been busy +here also, and has tumbled a huge block into this +bath, thus covering the old work, as well as several +votive niches cut into the rocky wall. This was the +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/>place where arriving pilgrims purified themselves +with hallowed water. +</p> + +<p> +In the great old days the oracle gave responses +on the seventh of each month, and even then only +when the sacrifices were favorable. If the victims +were not perfectly without blemish, they could not +be offered; if they did not tremble all over when +brought to the altar, the day was thought unpropitious. +The inquirers entered the great temple in festal +dress, with olive garlands and <hi rend='italic'>stemmata</hi>, or fillets of +wool, led by the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὅσιοι</foreign>, or sacred guardians of the +temple, who were five of the noblest citizens of +Delphi. The priestesses, on the contrary—there +were three at the same time, who officiated in turn—though +Delphians also, were not frequently of +noble family. When the priestess was placed on the +sacred tripod by the chief interpreter, or <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">προφήτης</foreign>, +over the exhalations, she was seized with frenzy—often +so violent that the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὅσιοι</foreign> were known to have +fled in terror, and she herself to have become insensible, +and to have died. Her ravings in this state +were carefully noted down, and then reduced to +sense, and of old always to verses, by the attendant +priests, who of course interpreted disconnected words +with a special reference to the politics or other circumstances +of the inquirers. +</p> + +<p> +This was done in early days with perfect good +faith. During the decline of religion there were of +course many cases of corruption and of partiality, +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/>and, indeed, the whole style and dignity of the oracle +gradually decayed with the decay of Greece itself. +Presently, when crowds came, and states were extremely +jealous of the right of precedence in inquiring +of the god, it was found expedient to give responses +every day, and this was done to private +individuals, and even for trivial reasons. So also +the priests no longer took the trouble to shape the +responses into verse; and when the Phocians in +the sacred war (355–46 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>) seized the treasures, +and applied to military purposes some ten thousand +talents, the shrine suffered a blow from which it +never recovered. Still, the quantity of splendid +votive offerings which were not convertible into +ready money made it the most interesting place in +Greece, next to Athens and Olympia, for lovers of +the arts: and the statues, tripods, and other curiosities +described there by Pausanias, give a wonderful +picture of the mighty oracle even in its decay.<note place="foot">Cf. also Plutarch’s tract <hi rend='italic'>de Pyth. orac.</hi> for details of <hi rend='italic'>ciceroni</hi> +and visitors in his day.</note> +The greatest sculptors, painters, and architects had +lavished their labor upon the buildings. Though +Nero had carried off five hundred bronze statues, +the traveller estimated the remaining works of art at +three thousand, and yet these seem to have been +almost all statues, and not to have included tripods, +pictures, and other gifts. The Emperor Constantine +brought away (330 <hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi>) a great number to adorn +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/>his capital—more especially the bronze tripod, +formed of three intertwined serpents, with their +heads supporting a golden vessel, which Pausanias, +the Spartan King, had dedicated as the leader of +Greece to commemorate the great victory over Xerxes. +This tripod (which was found standing in its +place at Constantinople by our soldiers in 1852) +contains the list of states according to the account +of Herodotus, who describes its dedication, and who +saw it at Delphi. +</p> + +<p> +When the Emperor Julian, the last great champion +of paganism, desired to consult the oracle on his +way to Persia, in 362 <hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi>, it replied: <q>Tell the +king the fair-wrought dwelling has sunk into the +dust: Phœbus has no longer a shelter or a prophetic +laurel, neither has he a speaking fountain; the fair +water is dried up.</q> Thus did the shrine confess, +even to the ardent and hopeful Julian, that its power +had passed away, and, as it were by a supreme +effort, declared to him the great truth which he refused +to see—that paganism was gone for ever, and +a new faith had arisen for the nations of the Roman +Empire. +</p> + +<p> +About the year 390, Theodosius took the god at +his word, and closed the oracle finally. The temple—with +its cella of 100 feet—with its Doric and Ionic +pillars—with its splendid sculptures upon the pediments—sank +into decay and ruin. The walls and +porticos tumbled down the precipitous cliffs; the +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/>prophetic chasm was filled up by the Christians with +fear and horror; and, as if to foil any attempt to +recover from ruins the site and plan, the modern +Greeks built their miserable hamlet of Castri upon +the spot; so that it is only among the walls and +foundations laid bare by earthquakes that we can +now seek for marble capitals and votive inscriptions. +</p> + +<p> +One or two features are still unchanged. The +three fine springs, to which Delphi doubtless owed +its first selection for human habitation, are still there—Castalia, +of which we have spoken; Cassotis, +which was led artificially into the very shrine of the +god; and Delphussa, which was, I suppose, the +water used for secular purposes by the inhabitants. +The stadium, too, a tiny racecourse high above the +town, in the only place where they could find a +level 150 yards, is still visible; and we see at once +what the importance of games must have been at a +sacred Greek town, when such a thing as a stadium +should be attempted here.<note place="foot">The hippodrome for the chariot races was, however, in the +plain beneath, as Pausanias tells us (x. 37, 4).</note> The earliest competitions +had been in music—that is, in playing the lyre, in +recitation, and probably in the composition of original +poems; but presently the physical contests of +Olympia began to outdo the splendor of Delphi. +Moreover, the Spartans would not compete in minstrelsy, +which they liked and criticised, but left to +professional artists. Accordingly, the priests of +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/>Delphi were too practical a corporation not to widen +the programme of their games, and Pindar has celebrated +the Pythian victors as hardly second to those +at the grand festival of Elis. +</p> + +<p> +There is yet one more element in the varied greatness +of Delphi. It was here that the religious +federation of Greece—the Amphictyony of which we +hear so often—held its meetings alternately with the +meetings at the springs of Thermopylæ. When I +stood high up on the stadium at Delphi, the great +scene described by the orator Æschines came fresh +upon me, when he looked upon the sacred plain of +Krissa, and called all the worshippers of the god to +clear it of the sacrilegious Amphissians, who had +covered it with cattle and growing crops. The +plain, he says, is easily surveyed from the place of +meeting—a statement which shows that the latter +cannot have been in the town of Delphi: for a +great shoulder of the mountain effectually hides the +whole plain from every part of the town. +</p> + +<p> +The Pylæa, or place of assembly, was, however, +outside, and precisely at the other side of this huge +shoulder, so that what Æschines says is true; but it +is not true, as any ordinary student imagines, that +he was standing in Delphi itself. He was, in fact, +completely out of sight of the town, though not a +mile from it. There is no more common error than +this among our mere book scholars—and I daresay +there are not many who realize the existence of this +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/>suburban Pylæa, and its situation close to, but invisible +from, Delphi. It certainly never came home +to me till I began to look for the spot from which +Æschines might have delivered his famous extempore +address. +</p> + +<p> +When we rode round to the real place we found +his words amply verified. Far below us stretched +the plain from Amphissa to Kirrha, at right angles +with the gorge above which Delphi is situated. +The river-courses of the Delphic springs form, in +fact, a regular zigzag. When they tumble from +their great elevation on the rocks into the valley, +they join the Pleistus, running at right angles toward +the west; when this torrent has reached the plain, +it turns again due south, and flows into the sea at +the Gulf of Kirrha. Thus, looking from Pylæa, +you see the upper part of the plain, and the gorge +to the north-west of it, where Amphissa occupies its +place in a position similar to the mouth of the gorge +of Delphi. The southern rocks of the gorge over +against Delphi shut out the sea and the actual bay; +but a large rich tract, covered with olive-woods, and +medlars, and oleanders, stretches out beneath the +eye—verily a plain worth fighting for, and a possession +still more precious, when it commanded the +approach of pilgrims from the sea; for the harbor +duties and tolls of Kirrha were once a large revenue, +and their loss threatened the oracle with poverty. +This levying of tolls on the pilgrims to Delphi +be<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/>came quite a national question in the days of Solon; +it resulted in a great war, led by the Amphictyonic +Council. Kirrha was ruined, and its land dedicated +to the god, in order to protect the approach from +future difficulties. So this great tract was, I suppose, +devoted to pasture, and the priests probably +levied a rent from the people who choose to graze +their cattle on the sacred plain. The Amphissians, +who lived, not at the seaside, but at the mountain +side of the plain, were never accused of robbing or +taxing the pilgrims; but having acquired for many +generations the right of pasture, they advanced to +the idea of tilling their pastures, and were undisturbed +in this privilege till the mischievous orator, +Æschines, for his own purposes, fired the Delphians +with rage, kindled a war, and so brought Philip into +Greece. These are the historical circumstances +which should be called to mind by the traveller, who +rides down the steep descent from Delphi to the +plain, and then turns through the olive-woods to the +high road to Itea, as the port of Delphi is now called. +</p> + +<p> +A few hours brought us to the neighborhood of +the sea. The most curious feature of this valley, as +we saw it, was a long string of camels tied together, +and led by a small and shabby donkey. Our mules +and horses turned with astonishment to examine +these animals, which have survived here only, +though introduced by the Turks into many parts +of Greece. +</p> + +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> + +<p> +The port of Itea is one of the stations at which +the Greek coasting steamers now call, and, accordingly, +the place is growing in importance. If a +day’s delay were allowed, to let tourists ride up to +the old seat of the oracle, and if the service were +better regulated so as to compete in convenience +with the train journey from Patras to Athens, I +suppose no traveller going to Greece would choose +any other route. For he would see all the beautiful +coasts of Acarnania and Ætolia on the one side, and +of Achaia on the other; he could then take Delphi +on his way, and would land again at Corinth. Here +again, a day, or part of a day, should be allowed to +see the splendid Acro-Corinthus, of which more in +another chapter. The traveller might thus reach +Athens with an important part of Greece already +visited, and have more leisure to turn his attention +to the monuments and curiosities of that city and +of Attica. It is worth while to suggest these things, +because most men who go to Greece find, as I did, +that, with some better previous information, they +could have economized both time and money. I +can also advise that the coasting steamer should be +abandoned at Itea, from which the traveller can +easily get horses to Delphi and Arachova, and from +thence to Chæronea, Lebadea, and through Thebes +to Athens. So he would arrive there by a land tour, +which would make him acquainted with all Bœotia. +He might next go by train from Athens to Corinth +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/>(stopping on the way at Megara), and then into the +Peloponnese; going first to Mycenæ and Argos, and +then taking another steamer round to Sparta, and +riding up through Laconia, Arcadia, and Elis, so +as to come out at Patras, or by boat to Zante, where +the steamer homeward would pick him up. Of +course, special excursions through Attica, and to +the islands, are not included in this sketch, as they +can easily be made from Athens. +</p> + +<p> +But surely, no voyage in Greece can be called +complete which does not include a visit to the +famous shrine of Delphi, where the wildness and +ruggedness of nature naturally suggest the powers +of earth and air, that sway our lives unseen—where +the quaking soil and the rent rocks speak a strength +above the strength of mortal man—and where a +great faith, based upon his deepest hopes and fears, +gained a moral empire over all the nation, and exercised +it for centuries, to the purifying and the ennobling +of the Hellenic race. The oracle is long +silent, the priestess forgotten, the temple not only +ruined, but destroyed; and yet the grand responses +of that noble shrine are not forgotten, nor are they +dead. For they have contributed their part and +added their element to the general advancement of +the world, and to the emancipation of man from immorality +and superstition into the true liberty of a +good and enlightened conscience. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="11" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XI. Elis—Olympia and its Games—The Valley of the Alpheus—Mount Erymanthus—Patras"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XI. Elis--Olympia and its Games--The Valley of the Alpheus--Mount Erymanthus--Patras"/> +<head>CHAPTER XI.</head> + +<head type="sub">ELIS—OLYMPIA AND ITS GAMES—THE VALLEY OF THE ALPHEUS—MOUNT ERYMANTHUS—PATRAS.</head> + +<p> +The thousands of visitors, whose ships thronged +the bay of Katakolo every four years in the great +old times, cannot have been fairly impressed with +the beauty of the country at first sight. Most other +approaches to the coast of Greece are far more +striking. For although, on a clear day, the mountains +of Arcadia are plainly visible, and form a fine +background to the view, from the great bar of Erymanthus +on the north, round to the top of Lykæon +far south-west, the foreground has not, and never +had, either the historic interest or the beauty of the +many bays and harbors in other parts of Greece. +Yet I am far from asserting that it is actually wanting +even in this respect. As we saw the bay in a +quiet summer sunset, with placid water reflecting a +sleeping cloud and a few idle sails in its amber glow, +with a wide circle of low hills and tufted shore +bathed in a golden haze, which spread its curtain +of light athwart all the distance, so that the great +snowy comb of Erymanthus alone seemed suspended +by some mystery in the higher blue—the view was +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/>not indeed very Greek, but still it was beautiful, and +no unsuitable dress wherein the land might clothe +itself to welcome the traveller, and foretell him its +sunny silence and its golden mystery. +</p> + +<p> +The carriage-way along the coast passes by sand-hills, +and sandy fields of vines, which were being +tilled when we saw them by kindly but squalid +peasants, some of whom lived in wretched huts of +skins, enclosed with a rough fence. But these were +probably only temporary dwellings, for the thrift and +diligence of the southern Greek seems hardly compatible +with real penury. Mendicancy, except in +the case of little children who do it for the nonce, +seems unknown in the Morea. +</p> + +<p> +A dusty ride of two hours, relieved now and then +for a moment by the intense perfume from the +orange blossoms of gardens fenced with mighty +aloes, brought us to the noisy and stirring town of +Pyrgos.<note place="foot">This journey I since made by rail, in this place a harmless +innovation.</note> We found this town, one of the most +thriving in Greece, quite as noisy as Naples in proportion +to its size, full of dogs barking, donkeys +braying, and various shopkeepers screaming out their +wares—especially frequent where young shrill-voiced +boys were so employed. Nowhere does the ultra-democratic +temper of new Greek social life show +itself more manifestly than in these disturbed streets. +Not only does every member of human society, +how<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/>ever young or ill-disposed, let his voice be heard +without reserve, but it seems to be considered an infraction +upon liberty to silence yelping dogs, braying +donkeys, or any other animal which chooses to disturb +its neighbors. +</p> + +<p> +The whole town, like most others in Greece, even +in the Arcadian highlands, is full of half-built and +just finished houses, showing a rapid increase of +prosperity, or perhaps a return of the population +from country life into the towns which have always +been so congenial to the race. But if the latter be +the fact, there yet seems no slackening in the agriculture +of the country, which in the Morea is strikingly +diligent and laborious, reaching up steep hillsides, +and creeping along precipices, winning from +ungrateful nature every inch of niggard soil.<note place="foot">Cf. the passage quoted from M. Georges Perrot above, <ref target="Pg185">p. 185</ref>.</note> This +is indeed the contrast of northern and southern +Greece. In Bœotia the rich plains of Thebes and +Orchomenos are lying fallow, while all the rugged +mountains of Arcadia are yielding wine and oil. +The Greeks will tell you that it is the result of the +security established by their Government in those +parts of Greece which are not accessible from the +Turkish frontier. They assert that if their present +frontier were not at Thermopylæ but at Tempe, or +even farther north, the rich plains of northern Greece +would not lie idle through fear of the bandits, which +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/>every disturbance excites about the boundaries of +ill-guarded kingdoms. +</p> + +<p> +The carriage road from Pyrgos up to Olympia was +just finished, and it is now possible to drive all the +way from the sea, but we preferred the old method +of travelling on horseback to the terrors of a newly-constructed +Greek thoroughfare. There is, moreover, +in wandering on unpaved thoroughfares, along +meadows, through groves and thickets, and across +mountains, a charm which no dusty carriage road +can ever afford. We soon came upon the banks of +the Alpheus, which we followed as our main index, +though at times we were high above it, and at times +in the meadows at the water-side; at times again +mounting some wooded ridge which had barred the +way of the stream, and forced it to take a wide +circuit from our course, or again crossing the deep +cuttings made by rivulets which come down from +northern Elis to swell the river from mile to mile. +</p> + +<p> +Our path must have been almost the same as was +followed by the crowds which came from the west to +visit the Olympic games in classical days: they +must have ascended along the windings of the river, +and as they came upon each new amphitheatre of +hills, and each new tributary stream, they may have +felt the impatience which we felt that this was not +the sacred <hi rend='italic'>Altis</hi>, and that this was not the famous +confluence of the Kladeus. But the season in which +they travelled—the beginning of July—can never +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/>have shown them the valley in its true beauty. Instead +of a glaring dry bed of gravel, and meadows +parched with heat, we found the Alpheus a broad +and rapid river, which we crossed on horseback with +difficulty; we found the meadows green with sprouting +corn and bright with flowers, and all along the +slopes the trees were bursting into bud and blossom, +and filling the air with the rich scent of spring. +Huge shrubs of arbutus and of mastich closed +around the paths, while over them the Judas tree +and the wild pear covered themselves with purple +and with white, and on every bank great scarlet +anemones opened their wistful eyes in the morning +sun. +</p><anchor id="ill302"/><index index="fig" level1="The Banks of the Kladeus"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Banks of the Kladeus]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus350.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Banks of the Kladeus</head><figDesc>The Banks of the Kladeus</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +When we came to the real Olympia the prospect +was truly disenchanting. However interesting excavations +may be, they are always exceedingly ugly. +Instead of grass and flowers, and pure water, we +found the classic spot defaced with great mounds of +earth, and trodden bare of grass. We found the +Kladeus flowing a turbid drain into the larger river. +We found hundreds of workmen, and wheel-barrows, +and planks, and trenches, instead of solitude and the +song of birds. Thus it was that we found the famous +temple of Zeus. +</p> + +<p> +This temple was in many respects one of the most +celebrated in Greece, especially on account of the +great image of Zeus, which Phidias himself wrought +for it in gold and ivory, and of which Pausanias has +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/>left us a very wonderful description (<hi rend='small'>V. II</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>). It +was carried away to Constantinople, and of course +its precious material precluded all chance of its surviving +through centuries of ignorance and bigotry. +The temple itself, to judge from its appearance, was +somewhat older than the days of Phidias, for it is of +that thickset and massive type which we only find +in the earlier Doric temples, and which rather reminds +us of Pæstum than of Athenian remains. It +was built by a local architect, Libon, and of a very +coarse limestone from the neighborhood, which was +covered with stucco, and painted chiefly white, to +judge from the fragments which remain. But it +seems as if the Eleans had done all they could to +add splendor to the building, whenever their funds +permitted. The tiles of the roof were not of burnt +clay, but of Pentelican marble, the well-known and +beautiful invention of the Naxian Byzes. Moreover, +Phidias and a number of his fellow-workers or subordinates +at Athens, as well as other artists, had +been invited to Olympia, to adorn the temple, and to +them we owe the pediments, probably also the +metopes, and many of the statues, with which all +the sacred enclosure around the edifice was literally +thronged. Subsequent generations added to this +splendor: a gilded figure of Victory, with a gold +shield, was set upon the apex of the gable; gilded +pitchers at the extremities; gilded shields were +fastened all along the architraves by Mummius, +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/>from the spoils of Corinth, and the great statue of +Zeus within still remained, the wonder and the awe +of the ancient world. +</p> + +<p> +But with the fall of paganism and the formal +extinction of the Olympic games (394 <hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi>) the +glories of the temple fell into decay. The great +statue in the shrine was carried away to Byzantium; +many of the votive bronzes and marbles which stood +about the sacred grove were transported to Italy; +and at last a terrible earthquake, apparently in the +fifth century, levelled the whole temple almost with +the ground. The action of this extraordinary earthquake +is still plainly to be traced in the now uncovered +ruins. It upheaved the temple from the centre, +throwing the pillars of all the four sides outward, +where most of them lie with their drums separated, +but still complete in all parts, and only requiring +mechanical power to set them up again. Some preliminary +shakes had caused pieces of the pediment +sculptures to fall out of their place, for they were +found at the foot of the temple steps; but the main +shock threw the remainder to a great distance, and +I saw the work of Alkamenes being unearthed more +than twenty-five yards from its proper site. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of this convulsion, the floor of the temple, +with its marble work, and its still more beautiful +mosaic, is still there, and it seemed doubtful to the +Germans whether there is even a crack now to be +found in it. About the ruins there gathered some +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/>little population, for many fragments were found +built into walls of poor and late construction; but +this work of destruction was fortunately arrested by +a sudden overflow of the Alpheus, caused by the +bursting of one of the mountain lakes about Pheneus. +The river then covered all the little plain of Olympia +with a deep layer of fine sand and of mud. A +thicket of arbutus and mastich sprang from this +fertile soil, and so covered all traces of antiquity, +that when Chandler visited the place 100 years ago, +nothing but a part of the cella wall was over ground, +and this was since removed by neighboring builders. +But the site being certain, it only required the enterprise +of modern research to lay bare the old level so +fortunately hidden by the interposition of nature. +The traveller who now visits Olympia can see the +whole plan and contour of the great temple, with +all its prostrate pillars lying around it. He can +stand on the very spot where once was placed the +unrivalled image—the masterpiece of Phidias’s art. +He can see the old mosaic in colored pebbles, with +its exquisite design, which later taste—probably +Roman—thought well to cover with a marble pavement. +But far above all, he can find in adjoining +sheds<note place="foot">A commodious stone museum has since been built, and the +treasures are doubtless by this time transferred to it. But the +great earthquake of 1885, so near Olympia, makes us tremble for +the safety of any sculpture in a stone building under a solid roof. +How terrible if the house were to fall on the <hi rend='italic'>Hermes</hi>!</note> not only the remains of the famous <hi rend='italic'>Niké</hi> of +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/>Pæonius, which stood on a pedestal close to the +east front, but the greater part of the splendid +pediment sculptures, which will henceforth rank +among the most important relics of Greek art. +These noble compositions have been restored with +tolerable completeness, and now stand next to the +pediments of the Parthenon in conception and in +general design. +</p><anchor id="ill306"/><index index="fig" level1="Statue of Niké, by Paeonius"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Statue of Niké, by Paeonius]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus356.jpg" rend="w80"><head>Statue of Niké, by Paeonius</head><figDesc>Statue of Niké, by Paeonius</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +For even if the restoration were never accomplished, +there is enough in the fragments of the +figures already recovered to show the genius of +both sculptors, but particularly of Alkamenes, the +author of the western pediment. This perfectly +agrees with the note of Pausanias, who adds, in +mentioning this very work, that Alkamenes was +considered in his day an artist second only to +Phidias. +</p> + +<p> +It was objected to me by learned men on the spot, +that the eastern pediment, being the proper front of +the temple, must have been the more important, and +that Pæonius, as we know from an inscription, boasts +that he obtained the executing of it by competition, +thus proving that he was, at least in this case, preferred +to his rivals. But the decided superiority of +Alkamenes’s design leads me to suppose that the +boast of Pæonius only applies to the eastern pediment, +and that probably the western had been already +assigned to Alkamenes. Nor do I agree with the +view that the eastern pediment must have been +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/>artistically the most important. In several Greek +temples—<hi rend='italic'>e. g.</hi>, the Parthenon, the temple at Bassæ, +and in this—the great majority of visitors must +have approached it from the rear, which should +accordingly have been quite the prominent side for +artistic decoration. Let me add that far more action +was permitted in the groups on this side, while over +the entrance the figures were staid and in repose, as +if to harmonize with the awe and silence of the +entering worshippers. Be these things as they may, +the work of Alkamenes is certainly superior to that +which remains to us of Pæonius in the eastern pediment, +and in his figure of winged Victory, which +was, I think, greatly overpraised by the critics who +saw it soon after its discovery.<note place="foot">This judgment of mine has since been confirmed by the +authority of Overbeck. It is indeed very hard to estimate rightly +a new discovery of this kind. I rated the work of Alkamenes, +perhaps, too highly.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The composition of the groups in the pediments +and friezes has been described by Pausanias (<hi rend='small'>V.</hi> 10, +§§ 6–10) in a passage of great interest, which has +given rise to much controversy. The general +impression of Drs. Hirschfeld and Weil, when I +was at Olympia, was against the accuracy of +Pausanias, whom they considered to have blindly +set down whatever the local cicerones told him. +That of Dr. Purgold was in his favor. The traveller +says, however, that the eastern pediment, in which, +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/>as already remarked, it was not usual to represent +violent action, depicted the preparation of the chariot +race between Pelops and Œnomaus. In the centre +was Zeus, whose torso has been recovered, and at the +narrow ends of the field were figures of the Alpheus +and Kladeus, to the right and left of the spectator +respectively. These figures are partly recovered—graceful +young men lying forward on the ground, +and raising their heads to witness the contest. +</p> + +<p> +It is worth pausing for a moment upon this disposition, +which was so usual as to be almost conventional +in the pediments sculptured during the best +epochs of Greek art. In the centre, where the field +was very high, and admitted a colossal figure, it was +usual to place the god whose providence guided the +events around him, and this god was represented +calm and without excitement. Then came the +mythical event grouped on both sides; but at the +ends, where the field narrowed to an angle, it was +usual to represent the calmness or impassiveness of +external nature. This was done in Greek sculpture +not by trees and hills, but by the gods who symbolized +them. So thoroughly was nature personified in +Greek art, that its picturesqueness was altogether +postponed to its living conscious sympathy with +man, and thus to a Greek the proper representation +of the rivers of Olympia was no landscape, but the +graceful forms of the river gods—intelligent and +human, yet calm spectators, as nature is wont to be. +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/>The very same idea is carried out more characteristically +in the pediment of Alkamenes, where, in +spite of the violent conflict of Centaurs and Lapithæ, +the central and extreme figures, as I shall presently +notice, are perfectly unmoved witnesses of lawless +violence. +</p> + +<p> +The arrangement of the rest of the eastern pediment +was evidently quite symmetrical. On Zeus’s +right hand was Œnomaus, his wife Sterope, his +charioteer Myrtilus sitting before the four horses, +and two grooms; on his left, Pelops, Hippodamia, +and a like number of horses and attendants. A +good many pieces of these figures have been found, +sufficient to tempt several art-critics to make conjectural +restorations of the pediment, one of which +is now set up, I believe, in the museum at Berlin. +</p> + +<p> +The western pediment, of which more, and more +striking, fragments are recovered, is more difficult +to restore, because Pausanias is unfortunately not +nearly so precise in describing it, and because, +moreover, he is suspected of a serious blunder about +the central figure. Contrary to the precedent just +mentioned, he says that this central figure is Pirithous, +whose wife is just being carried off by the +Centaurs, and ought therefore to be in violent excitement. +But there had been found, just before we +arrived at Olympia, a colossal head, of the noblest +conception, which seems certainly to belong to the +pediment sculptures, and which must be the head of +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/>this central figure. It is perfectly calm and divine +in expression, and almost forces upon the spectator +the conclusion to which all the best judges lean, that +it must be an Apollo, and that this was the central +figure, while Pirithous was more actively engaged. +There was on each side of this figure a Centaur +carrying off, the one a maiden (I suppose the bride) +and the other a boy, and Kæneus and Theseus at +each side, coming to the rescue. +</p> + +<p> +But on the other figures Pausanias is silent; and +there were certainly two beautiful mountain or river +nymphs at the extremities—lying figures, with a +peculiar head-dress of a thick bandage wrapped all +round the hair—which are among the most perfect +of the figures recovered. It seems also certain that +Pirithous must have been somewhere on the pediment; +and this would suggest another figure to +correspond to him at the other side, for these groups +were always symmetrical. In this case Pausanias +has omitted four figures at least in his description, +and seems to have besides mistaken the largest and +most important of all. The Germans cite in proof +of these strictures his passing remark on the Metopes, +representing the labors of Herakles, on one of which +was (he says) Herakles about to relieve Atlas, +whereas this slab, which has been found, really +represents Herakles carrying the globe, and one of +the Hesperidæ assisting him, while Atlas is bringing +to him the apple. +</p> + +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/> + +<p> +This criticism will seem to most ordinary people +too minute, and I am rather disposed to think well +of Pausanias as an intelligent traveller, though he, +of course, made some mistakes. +</p> + +<p> +But since the above words were written sufficient +time has elapsed not only to bring the excavations to +an end, but to study more carefully the recovered +fragments, and offer a calmer judgment as to their +merits. On the whole, the strong feeling of the best +critics has been one of disappointment. The design +of both pediments still seems to me masterly, especially +that of Alkamenes, but there can be no doubt +that the execution is far below that of the Parthenon +marbles. There are some positive faults—inability +to reproduce drapery (while the nude parts are very +true to nature), and great want of care in other +details. It must be urged in answer that the pediments +were meant to be seen about forty feet from +the ground, and that the painting of the figures +must have brought out the features of the drapery +neglected in the carving. However true this may +be, we can answer at once that the workmen of +Phidias did not produce this kind of work. The +first quality of the Attic school was that conscientiousness +in detail which meets us in every great age +of art. +</p> + +<p> +So serious have these difficulties appeared to some, +that they have actually suspected Pausanias of being +misled, and having falsely attributed the work of +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/>obscure local artists to Alkamenes, and perhaps also +falsely to Pæonius. They say that nothing is more +common with vulgar cicerones than to attribute to +a great master any old work of uncertain origin. +Others, who will not proceed to such extremes, hold +that only the general design was made by the two +sculptors, and its execution handed over to local +artists. This may probably have been the case. +But I am disposed to infer from the overpraised +<hi rend='italic'>Niké</hi>, which certainly is the work of Pæonius, that +he was not an artist of the quality of the great Attic +school.<note place="foot">The student who desires to prosecute this difficult subject +should study Overbeck’s <hi rend='italic'>History of Greek Sculpture</hi>, or the works +of Mr. A. S. Murray, or Mr. Copeland Perry, on the same subject.</note> The whole external work of the temple +seems to represent a stage of art rather earlier and +ruder than the school of Phidias. This is eminently +the case with the Metopes, which can hardly be later +in date than 460 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, or pre-Phidian in time. +</p> + +<p> +Very different is the impression produced by the +greatest and most priceless gem of all the treasures +at Olympia—the Hermes of Praxiteles, which was +actually found on the very spot where it was seen +and described by Pausanias, fallen among the ruins +of the temple which originally protected it. This +exquisite figure, much smaller than life-size, represents +the god Hermes holding the infant Dionysus +on one arm, and showing the child some object now +lost. The right arm and the legs from below the +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/>knees are gone; the right foot with its sandal, an +exquisite piece of work with traces of gold and red, +has been recovered. It is remarkable that the back +of the statue is unfinished, and the child treated +rather as a doll than a human infant; the main +figure, however, now widely known through copies, +is the most perfect remnant of Greek art. The +temple in which the statue was found, the venerable +Heræon, is the most interesting of all the Olympian +buildings in its plan, and has solved for us +many problems in Greek architecture. The acute +researches of Dr. Dörpfeld have shown that the +walls were not of stone, but of sun-dried bricks, +and that the surrounding pillars had gradually replaced +older wooden pillars, one of which was still +there when Pausanias saw the building. The successive +stone pillars and their capitals were of the +same order, Doric, but varied in measurements and +profile according to the taste of the day. So then +this ancient building showed, like our English cathedrals, +the work of successive centuries in its restoration. +The roof and architrave were evidently of +wood, for all trace of these members has vanished; +but we learn from remains of the old <q>treasuries</q> +described by Pausanias that in very old times wood +and mud bricks were faced with colored terra cotta, +moulded to the required form, and that this ornament +was still used after stone had replaced bricks +and mud as the material of the walls and architrave. +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/>These curious details, and many others, have been +the main result of the architectural inquiries made +by the Germans into the archaic buildings at Olympia; +but it would be tedious to the reader of this +book were I to turn aside to discuss technical details. +He will find them all put with great clearness, and +indeed with elegance, in Bötticher’s <hi rend='italic'>Olympia</hi>. The +complete results of the excavations are now to be +found in the official work issued by the German +Government on the explorations. +</p> + +<p> +Unfortunately, there only remains one very realistic +head of a boxer from a large class of monuments +at Olympia, that of the portrait statues of +victors at the games, of which one was even attributed +to Phidias, and several to Alkamenes, in Pausanias’s +time. All these were votive statues, set up +by victors at the games, or victors in war, and in +the early times were not portraits strictly speaking, +but ideal figures. Later on they became more realistic, +and were made in the likeness of the offerer, a +privilege said at one time only to have been accorded +to those who had won thrice at Olympia. +</p> + +<p> +The commemoration of gymnastic victories by +these statues seems to have completely supplanted +the older fashion of triumphal odes, which in Pindar’s +day were so prized, and so dearly bought from +lyric poets. When these odes first came to be composed, +sculpture was still struggling with the difficulties +of human expression, and there was no one +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/>who would not feel the great artistic superiority of +Pindar’s verse to the cold stiffness of the archaic +reliefs of the same epoch, which attempt portraiture. +The portrait of Aristion by Aristokles, the similar +relief by Anxenor the Naxian, and the relief of the +discus thrower, are sufficient examples of what sculptured +portraits were in comparison with the rich +music of Simonides and Pindar. But while lyric +poetry passed into the higher service of tragedy, or +degenerated into the extravagance of the later +dithyramb, sculpture grew into such exquisite perfection, +and was of its very nature so enduring and +manifest, that the Olympic victor <sic>choose</sic> it as the +surest avenue to immortal fame. And so it was up +to Pausanias’s day, when every traveller could study +the records of the games at Olympia, or even admire +the most perfect of the statues in the palaces of +Roman Emperors, whither they were transferred. +</p> + +<p> +But the day came when the poets were avenged +upon the sculptors. Olympia sank under general +decay and sudden catastrophe. Earthquakes and +barbarians ravaged its treasury, and while Pindar +was being preserved in manuscript, until his resurrection +in the days of printing, the invasion of the +Kladeus saved the scanty remains in the <hi rend='italic'>Altis</hi> from +destruction only by covering them with oblivion. +Now, in the day of its resurrection, pedestal after +pedestal with its votive inscription has been unearthed, +but, except the <hi rend='italic'>Niké</hi> of Pæonius, no actual +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/>votive statue had been recovered when I saw the +excavations, after two years of labor. +</p> + +<p> +The river Alpheus, which has done such excellent +work in its inundations, does not confine itself +to concealing antiquities, but sometimes discovers +them. Its rapid course eats away the alluvial bank +which the waters have deposited ages ago, and thus +encroaches upon old tombs, from which various relics +are washed down in its turbid stream. The famous +helmet dedicated by Hiero, son of Deinomenes, was +discovered in the river in this way; and there is +also in the Ministry of Public Instruction a large +circular band of bronze, <hi rend='italic'>riveted</hi> together where the +ends meet, with very archaic zigzag and linear patterns, +which was found in the same way some twenty +years ago, and which seems to me of great interest, +as exhibiting a kind of workmanship akin to the +decorations in the Schliemann treasure of Mycenæ. +There is also a rude red earthen pot in the Turkish +house on the Acropolis at Athens, which is decorated +with the same kind of lines. It is very important +to point out these resemblances to travellers, +for there is such endless detail in Greek antiquities, +and so little has yet been classified, that every observation +may be of use to future students, even +though it may merely serve as a hint for closer +research. +</p> + +<p> +The Stadium and Hippodrome, which lie farther +away from the river, and right under the conical +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/>hill called Kronion, have not yet, I believe, been +completely investigated; but they may no doubt +offer us some new and interesting evidences on the +management of the famous Olympian games. +</p> + +<p> +These games were not at all what most people +imagine them to be. I will, therefore, delay the +reader with some details concerning this most interesting +side of old Greek life. +</p> + +<p> +The establishment of games at Olympia was +assigned by the poets to mythical ages, and not +only is there a book of the Iliad devoted to funeral +games, but in Pindar’s eleventh Olympic Ode this +particular establishment is made coeval with the +labors of Herakles. Whether such evidence is +indeed conclusive may fairly be doubted. The +twenty-third book of the Iliad, which shows traces +of being a later portion of the poem, describes contests +widely differing from those at Olympia, and +the mythical founders enumerated by Pausanias +(v. 7) are so various and inconsistent that we can +see how obscure the question appeared to Greek +archæologists, even did we not find at the end of +the enumeration the following significant hint:—<q>But +after Oxylus—for Oxylus, too, established +the contest—after his reign it fell out of use till +the Olympiad of Iphitus,</q> that is to say, till the +first Ol., which is dated 776 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, Oxylus being +the companion of the Herakleidæ, who obtained +Elis for his portion. Pausanias adds that when +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/>Iphitus renewed the contest, men had forgotten the +old arrangements, and only <hi rend='italic'>gradually came to remember +them</hi>, and whenever they recollected any special +competition they added it to the games. This is +the excellent man’s theory to account for the gradual +addition of long races, of wrestling, discus +throwing, boxing, and chariot racing, to the original +sprint race of about 200 yards, which was at +first the only known competition. +</p><anchor id="ill318"/><index index="fig" level1="Kronion Hill, Olympia"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Kronion Hill, Olympia]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus370.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Kronion Hill, Olympia</head><figDesc>Kronion Hill, Olympia</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The facts seem to me rather to point to the late +growth of games in Greece, which may possibly +have begun as a local feast at Olympia in the eighth +century, but which only rose to importance during +the reign of the despots throughout Greece, when +the aristocrats were prevented from murdering one +another, and compelled to adopt more peaceful pursuits.<note place="foot">The fact that some of these public meetings are associated +with the fall of tyrants does not, I think, disprove what is here +advanced.</note> +It was in the end of the seventh and opening +of the sixth centuries that the Pythian, Nemean, +and Isthmian games show by their successive establishments +the rapid spread of the fashion, and a vast +number of local contests diffused through every district +in Greece the taste and the training for such +competitions.<note place="foot">I have not room here to give in full my reasons for rejecting +the earlier part of the Olympic register, as being the manufacture +of Hippias of Elis, later than 400 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> But the reader who is +curious on the subject may either consult my article in the <hi rend='italic'>Journal + of Hellenic Studies</hi> for 1881, or the appendix to my <hi rend='italic'>Problems in +Greek History</hi> (1892). He will then see that there is no direct +evidence whatever for any early list, and that the antiquarian +Pausanias, in his hunt after ancient monuments at Olympia, +could find nothing earlier than the so-called 33d Olympiad. Plutarch, +moreover, in the opening of his <hi rend='italic'>Life of Numa</hi>, tells us +plainly that the list was the manufacture of Hippias, <hi rend='italic'>and based +on no trustworthy evidence</hi>. To accept the list, therefore, in the face +of these objections, is to exhibit culpable credulity.</note> These games lasted all through + clas<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/>sical Greek history—the Olympian even down to +later times, for they were not abolished till nearly +1200 years (Ol. 294) had elapsed since their alleged +foundation. But the day of their real greatness was +gone long before. Cicero indignantly repudiates +the report that he had gone to see such games, just +as a pious earl, within our memory, repudiated the +report that he had attended the prize-fight between +Sayers and Heenan. The good generals of earlier +centuries, such as Alexander the Great and Philopœmen, +set their faces against athletics as bad training +for soldiers. Nay, even earlier, the Spartans, +though they could contend with success in the <hi rend='italic'>pentathlon</hi>, +when they choose, did not countenance the +fiercer competitions, as engendering bad feeling between +rivals, and, what was worse, compelling a +man to declare himself vanquished, and feel disgraced. +The Athenians also, as soon as the sophists +reformed education, began to rate intellectual wrestling +as far superior to any bodily exercise. Thus +the supremacy of Athens and Sparta over the other +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/>Greek cities in the fifth century marked, in my +opinion, the real turning-point in the Greek estimate +of athletics, and the fact that the great odes +of Pindar sing the glories of no Spartan, and only +twice, very briefly, those of Athenians, seems to +indicate that even then men began to think of more +serious rivalries and more exciting spectacles than +the festive meetings at Olympia. In the very next +generation the poets had drifted away from them, +and Euripides despises rather than admires them. +The historians take little notice of them. +</p> + +<p> +Two circumstances only tended strongly to keep +them up. In the first place, musical competitions +(which had always been a part of the Pythian) and +poetical rivalries were added to the sports, which +were also made the occasion of mercantile business, +of social meetings, and not seldom of political agitation. +The wise responses of the Delphic oracle +were not a little indebted to the information gathered +from all parts of the Hellenic world at the +games, some important celebration of which, whether +at Nemea, the Isthmus, or the greater meetings, +occurred every year. +</p> + +<p> +Secondly, if the art of poetry soon devoted itself +to the higher objects of tragedy, and created for +itself the conflict which it celebrated, the art of +sculpture became so closely connected with athletics +as to give them an æsthetic importance of the highest +kind all through Greek history. The ancient +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/>habit of setting up ideal statues of victors, which +were made special likenesses if the subject was specially +distinguished, supplied the Greeks with a +series of historical monuments and a series of physical +types not elsewhere to be matched, and thus +perhaps the most interesting part of Pausanias’s +invaluable guide-book to Greece is his collection of +notes (lib. vi., 1–20) on various statues set up in +this way at Olympia, of which he mentions about +two hundred, though he only professes to make a +selection, and though several of the finest had already +been carried off by Roman emperors. +</p> + +<p> +These things kept alive the athletic meetings in +Greece, and even preserved for them some celebrity. +The sacred truce proclaimed during the national +games was of inestimable convenience in times of +long and bitter hostilities, and doubtless enabled +friends to meet who had else been separated for +life.<note place="foot">So also under the early Roman Empire the exiles on the +barren islands of the Ægean seem to have been allowed this indulgence. +Cf. the curious passage from Plutarch I have quoted and +explained in my <hi rend='italic'>Greek World under Roman Sway</hi>, p. 261.</note> But the Panathenaic festivals were better +exponents of fourth century taste in Greece. There +music and the drama predominated. Professional +displays became equally admired as a pastime and +despised as a profession; and I have no doubt that +the athlete who spent his life going about from one +contest to another in search of gymnastic triumphs +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/>was held in like contempt by Brasidas and by Cleon, +by Xenophon and by Agesilaus. +</p> + +<p> +In the days of Solon things had been very different. +He appointed a reward of 500 drachmas, +then a very large sum, for victors at Olympia, 100 +for those at the Isthmus, and for the others in proportion. +Pindar sings as if, to the aristocrats of Ægina, +or the tyrants of Sicily, no higher earthly prizes were +attainable. But we must not transfer these evidences—the +habit or the echo of the sixth century <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>—to +the days of political and educated Greece, when +public opinion altered very considerably on the advantage +and value of physical competition. This +being once understood, I will proceed to a short +analysis of the sports, and will attempt to criticise +the methods adopted by the old Greeks to obtain the +highest physical condition, the nature of the competitions +they established, and the results which they +appear to have attained. +</p> + +<p> +The Greeks of Europe seem always to have been +aware that physical exercise was of the greatest importance +for health, and consequently for mental +vigor, and the earliest notices we have of education +include careful bodily training. Apart from the +games of children, which were much the same as +ours, there was not only <hi rend='italic'>orchestic</hi> or rhythmical dancing +in graceful figures, in which girls took part, and +which corresponded to what are now vulgarly called +<hi rend='italic'>callisthenics</hi>, but also gymnastics, in which boys were +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/>trained to those exercises which they afterward +practised as men. In addition to the <hi rend='italic'>palæstras</hi>, +which were kept for the benefit of boys as a matter +of private speculation in Athens, and probably in +other towns, regular <hi rend='italic'>gymnasia</hi> were established by +the civic authorities, and put under strict supervision +as state institutions to prevent either idleness or immorality.<note place="foot">The very stringent laws quoted by Æschines <hi rend='italic'>in Timarchum</hi> +may possibly be spurious, since we know from other allusions that +they were not enforced. But more probably they existed as a +dead letter, which could be revived if occasion required.</note> +In these gymnasia, where young men +came in the afternoon, stripped, oiled themselves, +and then got a coat of dust or fine sand over the +skin, running, wrestling, boxing, jumping, and +throwing with the dart were commonly practised. +</p> + +<p> +This sort of physical training I conceive to have +grown up with the growth of towns, and with the +abandonment of hunting and marauding, owing to +the increase of culture. Among the aristocrats of +epical days, as well as among the Spartans, who +lived a village life, surrounded by forest and mountain, +I presume field sports must have been quite the +leading amusement; nor ought competitions in a +gymnasium to be compared for one moment to this +far higher and more varied recreation. The contrast +still subsists among us, and our fox-hunting, +salmon-fishing, grouse-shooting country gentleman +has the same inestimable advantage over the city +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/>athlete, whose special training for a particular event +has a necessary tendency to lower him into a professional. +There is even a danger of some fine +exercises, which seemed common ground for both, +such as boating and cricket, being vulgarized by +the invasion of this professional spirit, which implies +such attention to the body as to exclude higher pursuits, +and which rewards by special victories, and by +public applause rather than by the intrinsic pleasure +of sport for its own sake. Thus the Spartans not +only objected to boxing and the pankration, in which +the defeated competitor might have to ask for mercy; +they even for general purposes preferred field-sports, +for which they had ample opportunities, to any +special competitions in the strength of particular +muscles. But in such places as Athens and its +neighborhood, where close cultivation had caused all +wild country and all game to disappear, it was necessary +to supply the place of country sport by the +training of the gymnasium. This sort of exercise +naturally led to contests, so that for our purpose we +need not separate <hi rend='italic'>gymnastic</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>agonistic</hi>, but may +use the details preserved about the latter to tell us +how the Greeks practised the former. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt that the pursuit of high muscular +condition was early associated with that of +health, and that hygiene and physical training were +soon discovered to be closely allied. Thus Herodicus, +a trainer, who was also an invalid, was said to +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/>have discovered from his own case the method of +treating disease by careful diet and regimen, and to +have thus contributed to the advancement of Greek +medicine. Pausanias also mentions (vi. 3, 9) the +case of a certain Hysmon, an Elean, who, when a +boy, had rheumatism in his limbs, and on this +account practised for the pentathlon, that he might +become a healthy and sound man. His training +made him not only sound, but a celebrated victor. +</p> + +<p> +It would be very interesting to know in detail +what rules the Greeks prescribed for this purpose. +Pausanias tells us (vi. 7, 9) that a certain Dromeus, +who won ten victories in long races at various +games (about Ol. 74, 485 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>), was the first who +thought of eating meat in his training, for that up +to that time the diet of athletes had been cheese +from wicker baskets (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἐκ τῶν ταλάρων</foreign>).<note place="foot">The modern Greeks make their cheese for keeping, even now, +in wicker baskets, and distinguish it from <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">χλωρὸς τύρος</foreign>, which now +means cream cheese, and which they carry to market in woollen +bags. There was a special market for it in Athens in Aristophanes’s +day, but not in woollen bags; for, as Mr. Pickering (of +Shrewsbury School) pointed out to me, the cream cheese of Aristophanes’s +day was kept in wicker work. I gladly here acknowledge +this correction of the note in my former edition.</note> It must be +remembered that meat diet was not common among +the Greeks, who, like most southern people, lived +rather upon fish, fruit, and vegetables, so that the +meat dinners of Bœotia were censured as heavy and +rather disgusting. However, the discovery of +<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/>Dromeus was adopted by Greek athletes ever after, +and we hear of their compulsory meals of large +quantities of meat, and their consequent sleepiness +and sluggishness in ordinary life, in such a way as +to make us believe that the Greeks had missed the +real secret of training, and actually thought that the +more strong nutriment a man could take, the stronger +he would become. The quantity eaten by athletes +is universally spoken of as far exceeding the quantity +eaten by ordinary men, not to speak of its heavier +quality. +</p> + +<p> +The suspicion that, in consequence, Greek athletic +performances were not in speed greater than, if even +equal to, our own, is however hard to verify, as we +are without any information as to the time in which +their running feats were performed. They had no +watches, or nice measures of short moments of time, +and always ran races merely to see who would win, +not to see in how short a time a given distance +could be done. Nevertheless, as the course was +over soft sand, and as the vases picture them rushing +along in spread-eagle fashion, with their arms +like the sails of a windmill—in order to aid the +motion of their bodies, as the Germans explain (after +Philostratos)—nay, as we even hear of their having +started shouting, if we can believe such a thing, +their time performances in running must have been +decidedly poor.<note place="foot">I should, however, call attention to an exceptional vase in the +little Turkish house on the Acropolis, probably of late date, in +which a runner is represented with his elbows back and hands +closed, and near his sides, in very good form.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/> + +<p> +In the Olympic games the running, which had +originally been the only competition, always came +first. The distance was once up the course, and +seems to have been about 200 yards. After the +year 720 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> (?) races of double the course, and +long races of about 3000 yards were added;<note place="foot">Pausanias is responsible for the date, which he probably copied +from Hippias of Elis. It is noted as a special wonder that the +same man should win the sprint and long races at Olympia, which +shows that the latter must have been mainly a test of staying +power. The Spartan Ladas died at the winning-post, and this +endurance was thought rather a wonderful feat, but of course his +death may have resulted from bad training, or from heart disease.</note> races +in armor were a later addition, and came at the end +of the sports. It is remarkable that among all these +varieties hurdle races were unknown, though the +long jump was assigned a special place, and thought +very important. We have several extraordinary +anecdotes of endurance in running long journeys +cited throughout Greek history, and even now the +modern inhabitants are remarkable for this quality. +I have seen a young man keep up with a horse +ridden at a good pace across rough country for many +miles, and have been told that the Greek postmen +are quite wonderful for their speed and lasting. But +this is compatible with very poor performances at +prize meetings. +</p> + +<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/> + +<p> +There were short races for boys at Olympia of +half the course. Eighteen years was beyond the +limit of age for competing, as a story in Pausanias +implies, and a boy who won at the age of twelve +was thought wonderfully young. The same authority +tells us of a man who won the sprint race at four +successive meetings, thus keeping up his pace for +sixteen years—a remarkable case. There seems to +have been no second prize in any of the historical +games, a natural consequence of the abolition of +material rewards.<note place="foot"><q>Know ye not,</q> says St. Paul, <q>that all run, and <hi rend='italic'>one</hi> receiveth +the crown?</q>—a quite different condition of things from +that of the Iliad, where every competitor, like the boys at a private +school, comes off with a prize.</note> There was, naturally, a good +deal of chance in the course of the contest, and +Pausanias evidently knew cases where the winner +was not the best man. For example, the races were +run in heats of four, and if there was an odd man +over, the owner of the last lot drawn could sit down +till the winners of the heats were declared, and then +run against them without any previous fatigue. The +limitation of each heat to four competitors arose, I +fancy, from their not wearing colors (or even clothes), +and so not being easily distinguishable. They were +accordingly walked into the arena through an underground +passage in the raised side of the stadium, +and the name and country of each proclaimed in +order by a herald. This practice is accurately +<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/>copied in the present Olympic games held at Athens +every four years. +</p> + +<p> +The next event was the wrestling match, which is +out of fashion at our prize meetings, though still a +favorite sport in many country districts. There is a +very ample terminology for the various tricks and +devices in this contest, and they have been explained +with much absurdity by scholiasts, both ancient and +modern. It seems that it was not always enough to +throw your adversary,<note place="foot">Possibly this special sort of wrestling has been confused with +the <hi rend='italic'>pankration</hi>, from which it can have differed but little, if it +indeed subsisted permanently as a distinct form of wrestling.</note> but that an important part +of the sport was the getting uppermost on the +ground; and in no case was a man declared beaten +till he was thrown three times, and was actually laid +on his back. It is not worth while enumerating the +various technical terms, but it may be observed that +a good deal of what we should call foul play was +tolerated. There was no kicking, such as there +used to be in wrestling matches in Ireland, because +there were no boots, but Pausanias mentions (vi. 4, +3) a man who did not know how to wrestle, but defeated +his opponents by breaking their fingers. We +shall return to this point when speaking of the <hi rend='italic'>pankration</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +When the wrestling was over there followed the +throwing of the discus and the dart, and the long +leap, but in what order is uncertain; for I cannot +<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/>accept as evidence the pentameter line of Simonides, +which enumerates the games of the pentathlon, seeing +that it would be impossible to vary them from the +order he gives without great metrical difficulties. +Our only safe guide is, I think, the date of the +origin of each kind of competition, as it was plainly +the habit of the Greeks to place the new event next +after those already established. The sole exception +to this is in the establishing of contests for boys, +which seem always to have come immediately before +the corresponding competition for men. But +we are only told that both wrestling and the contest +of five events (pentathlon) dated from the 18th Ol. +(710 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>), and are not informed in what order each +was appointed.<note place="foot">The single competitions in running and wrestling were distinct +from those in the pentathlon, and rewarded by separate crowns.</note> +</p><anchor id="ill330"/><index index="fig" level1="Entrance to the Stadium, Olympia"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Entrance to the Stadium, Olympia]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus384.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Entrance to the Stadium, Olympia</head><figDesc>Entrance to the Stadium, Olympia</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The discus-throwing was mainly to test distance, +but the dart-throwing to strike a mark. The discus +was either of stone or of metal, and was very heavy. +I infer from the attitude of Myron’s discobolus, as +seen in our copies, that it was thrown without a preliminary +run, and rather hurled standing. This contest +is to be compared with our hammer-throwing, +or putting of weights. We are, however, without +any accurate information either as to the average +weight of the discus, or the average distance which +a good man could throw it. There is, indeed, one +ancient specimen extant, which was found at Ægina, +<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/>and is now preserved among the bronze antiquities +at Munich. It is about eight inches in diameter, +and something under four pounds in weight. But +there seem to have been three sizes of discus, according +as they were intended for boys, for grown +youths (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀγένειοι</foreign>), or for men, and it is not certain to +which class this discus belongs. Philostratos mentions +one hundred cubits as a fine throw, but in such +a way as to make it doubtful whether he is not talking +at random and in round numbers. Similarly, +we have no details concerning the javelin contest. +But I suspect that here, if anywhere, the Greeks +could do what we cannot; for the savages of to-day, +who use spears, can throw them with a force and +accuracy which is to us quite surprising. It is reported +by trustworthy travellers that a Kaffir who +comes suddenly on game will put a spear right into +an antelope at ten or twelve yards’ distance by an +underhand chuck, without taking time to raise his +arm. This is beyond the ability of any English +athlete, however trained. +</p> + +<p> +The question of the long jump is more interesting, +as it still forms a part of our contests. It is not certain +whether the old Greeks practised the running jump, +or the high jump, for we never hear of a preliminary +start, or of any difficulty about <q>breaking trig,</q> as +people now call it. Furthermore, an extant epigram +on a celebrated athlete, Phayllus of Kroton, asserts +that he jumped clean over the prepared ground (which +<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/>was broken with a spade) on to the hard ground +beyond—a distance of forty-nine feet. We cannot, +of course, though some German professors believe +it, credit this feat, if it were a single long jump, yet +we can find no trace of anything like a hop, step, and +jump, so that it seems wonderful how such an absurdity +should be gravely repeated in an epigram. +But the exploit became proverbial, and to leap +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὑπὲρ τὰ σκάμματα</foreign> (beyond the digging) was a constantly +repeated phrase. +</p> + +<p> +The length of Phayllus’s leap would be even more +incredible if the competition was in a standing jump, +and yet the figures of athletes on vases which I have +seen strongly favor this supposition. They are represented +not as running, but as standing and swinging +the dumb-bells or <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἁλτῆρες</foreign> (jumpers), which were +always used by the older Greeks, as assisting them +materially in increasing their distance. I can imagine +this being the case in a standing jump where a +man rose with the forward swing of the weights, but +in a running jump the carrying of the weights must +surely impede rather than assist him. I know that +Irish peasants, who take off very heavy boots to +jump, often carry one in each hand, and throw them +backward violently as they rise from the ground; +but this principle is not admitted so far as I know, +by any scientific authority, as of the slightest assistance. +</p> + +<p> +We hear of no vaulting or jumping with a pole, +<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/>so that in fact the leap seems an isolated contest, and +of little interest except as determining one of the +events of the pentathlon, in which a man must win +three in order to be declared victor. This pentathlon, +as comprising gentlemanly exercise without +much brutality, was especially patronized by the +Spartans. It was attempted for boys, but immediately +abandoned, the strain being thought excessive for +growing constitutions. +</p> + +<p> +There remain the two severest and most objectionable +sports—boxing and the pankration. The +former came first (Ol. 23), the other test of strength +not being admitted till Ol. 33 (650 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>). But one +special occasion is mentioned when a champion, who +was competing in both, persuaded the judges to +change the order, that he might not have to contend +against a specially famous antagonist when already +wounded and bruised. For boxing was, even from +Homeric times, a very dangerous and bloody amusement, +in which the vanquished were always severely +punished. The Greeks were not content with naked +fists, but always used a special apparatus, called +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἱμάντες</foreign>, which consisted at first of a weight carried +in the hand, and fastened by thongs of hide round +the hand and wrist. But this ancient cestus came +to be called the gentle kind (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">μειλίχαι</foreign>) when a later +and more brutal invention introduced <q>sharp thongs +on the wrist,</q> and probably increased the weight of +the instrument. The successful boxer in the Iliad +<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/>(Epeius) confesses that he is a bad warrior, though +he is the acknowledged champion in his own line; +but evidently this sport was not highly esteemed in +epic days. In historical times it seems to have been +more favored. There was no doubt a great deal of +skill required for it, but I think the body of the evidence +goes to prove that the Greeks did not box on +sound principles, and that any prominent member +of the P. R. with his naked fists would have easily +settled any armed champion of Olympian fame. +Here are my reasons: +</p> + +<p> +The principle of increasing the weight of the fist +as much as possible is only to be explained by the +habit of dealing swinging or downward strokes, and +is incompatible with the true method of striking +straight home quickly, and giving weight to the +stroke by sending the whole body with it. In Vergil’s +description a boxer is even described getting up on +tip-toe to strike his adversary on the top of the head—a +ridiculous manœuvre, which must make his instant +ruin certain, if his opponent knew the first +elements of the art. That this downward stroke +was used appears also from the anecdote in Pausanias, +where a father seeing his son, who was +ploughing, drive in the share which had fallen out +with strokes of his fist, without a hammer, immediately +entered him for the boys’ boxing match at +Olympia. The lad got roughly handled from want +of skill, and seemed likely to lose, when the father +<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/>called out: <q>Boy, give him the plough stroke!</q> and +so encouraged him that he forthwith knocked his +adversary out of time. +</p> + +<p> +It is almost conclusive as to the swinging stroke +that throughout antiquity a boxer was not known as +a man with his nose broken, but as a man <hi rend='italic'>with his +ears crushed</hi>. Vergil even speaks of their receiving +blows on the back. Against all this there are only +two pieces of evidence—one of them incredible—in +favor of the straight home stroke. In the fight +between Pollux and Amykos, described by Theocritus +(<hi rend='italic'>Idyll</hi> 22), Pollux strikes his man on the left +temple, <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">καὶ ἐπέμπεσεν ὤμῳ</foreign>, which may mean, <q>and +follows up the stroke from the shoulder.</q> But this +is doubtful. The other is the story of Pausanias +(viii. 40, 3), that when Kreugas and Damoxenos +boxed till evening, and neither could hit the other, +they at last agreed to receive stroke about, and after +Kreugas had dealt Damoxenos one on the head, the +latter told him to hold up his hand,<note place="foot">This is the moment chosen by Canova in his celebrated representation +of these boxers in the Vatican, a fact of which I was +ignorant till it was pointed out to me, in correcting an error I had +made about them, by Mr. M’D. Campbell, of Glasgow.</note> and then drove +his fingers right into Kreugas, beneath the ribs, and +pulled out his entrails. Kreugas of course died on +the spot, but was crowned as victor, on the ground +that Damoxenos had broken his agreement of striking +<hi rend='italic'>one</hi> blow in turn, by striking him with five + sep<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/>arate fingers! But this curious decision was only +one of many in which a boxing competitor was disqualified +for having fought with the intention of +maiming his antagonist. +</p> + +<p> +Little need be added about the pankration, which +combined boxing and wrestling, and permitted every +sort of physical violence except biting. In this contest +a mere fall did not end the affair, as might happen +in wrestling, but the conflict was always continued +on the ground, and often ended in one of the +combatants being actually choked, or having his +fingers and toes broken. One man, Arrachion, at +the last gasp, broke his adversary’s toe, and made +him give in, at the moment he was himself dying +of strangulation. Such contests were not to the +credit either of the humanity or of the good taste +of the Greeks, and would not be tolerated even in +the lowest of our prize rings. +</p> + +<p> +I will conclude this sketch by giving some account +of the general management of the prize meetings. +</p> + +<p> +There was no want of excitement and of circumstance +about them. In the case of the four great +meetings there was even a public truce proclaimed, +and the competitors and visitors were guaranteed +a safe journey to visit them and to return to their +homes. The umpires at the Olympic games were +chosen ten months before at Elis, and seem to have +numbered one for each clan, varying through Greek +history from two to twelve, but finally fixed at ten. +<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/>They were called both here and at the other great +games <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Ἑλλανοδίκαι</foreign>, judges of the Hellenes, in +recognition of their national character. Three +superintended the pentathlon, three the horse races, +and the rest the other games. They had to reside +together in a public building, and undergo strict +training in all the details of their business, in +which they were assisted by heralds, trumpeters, +stewards, etc. Their office was looked upon as of +much dignity and importance. +</p> + +<p> +When the great day came, they sat in purple +robes in the semicircular end of the racecourse—a +piece of splendor which the modern Greeks imitate +by dressing the judges of the new Olympic games +in full evening dress and white kid gloves. The +effect even now with neatly-clothed candidates is +striking enough; what must it have been when +a row of judges in purple looked on solemnly at +a pair of men dressed in oil and dust—<hi rend='italic'>i. e.</hi>, in mud—wrestling +or rolling upon the ground? The crowd +cheered and shouted as it now does. Pausanias +mentions a number of cases where competitors were +disqualified for unfairness, and in most of them the +man’s city took up the quarrel, which became quite +a public matter; but at the games the decision was +final, nor do we hear of a case where it was afterward +reversed.<note place="foot">The first case of cheating was said to have taken place in the +98th Ol. (388 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>), when the Thessalian Eupolos was convicted of +bribing the three boxers opposed to him, one of whom had won at +the previous meeting. Such crimes were commemorated by bronze +figures of Zeus (called <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Ζᾶνες</foreign> at Elis), which were of the value of +the fines inflicted, and had inscriptions warning all athletes of the +dangers and the disgrace of cheating.</note> They were also obliged to exact +<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/>beforehand from each candidate an oath that he was +of pure Hellenic parentage, that he had not taken, +or would not take, any unfair advantage, and that +he had spent ten months in strict training. This +last rule I do not believe. It is absurd in itself, and +is contradicted by such anecdotes as that of the +sturdy plough-boy quoted above, and still more +directly by the remark of Philostratos (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Γυμν.</foreign> 38), +who ridicules any inquiry into the morals or training +of an athlete by the judges. Its only meaning could +have been to exclude random candidates, if the +number was excessive, and in later times some such +regulation may have subsisted, but I do not accept +it for the good classical days. There is the case of +a boy being rejected for looking too young and +weak, and winning in the next Olympiad among +the men, But in another instance the competitor +disqualified (for unfairness) went mad with disappointment. +Aristotle notes that it was the rarest +possible occurrence for a boy champion to turn out +successful among the full-grown athletes, but Pausanias +seems to contradict him, a fair number of cases +being cited among the selection which he makes. +</p> + +<p> +There is yet one unpleasant feature to be noted, +<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/>which has disappeared from our sports. Several +allusions make it plain that the vanquished, even +vanquished boys, were regarded as fit subjects for +jibe and ridicule, and that they sneaked home by +lanes and backways. When the most ideal account +which we have of the games gives us this information, +we cannot hesitate to accept it as probably +a prominent feature, which is, moreover, thoroughly +consistent with the character of the old Greeks as +I conceive it.<note place="foot">The reader will find some illustrations of it in my <hi rend='italic'>Social +Greece</hi>, 6th edition, p. 96.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The general conclusion to which all these details +lead us is this, that with all the care and with all the +pomp expended on Greek athletic meetings, despite +the exaggerated fame attained by victors, and the +solid rewards both of money and of privileges accorded +them by their grateful country, the results attained +physically seem to have been inferior to those of +English athletes. There was, moreover, an element +of brutality in them, which is very shocking to modern +notions: and not all the ideal splendor of Pindar’s +praises, or of Pythagoras’s art, can raise the Greek +pankratiast as an athlete much above the level of +a modern prize-fighter. But, nevertheless, by the +aid of their monumental statues, their splendid lyric +poetry, and the many literary and musical contests +which were combined with the gymnastic, the Greeks +contrived, as usual, to raise very common things to +<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/>a great national manifestation of culture which we +cannot hope to equal. +</p> + +<p> +For common they were, and very human, in the +strictest sense. Dry-as-dust scholars would have +us believe that the odes of Pindar give a complete +picture of these games; as if all the booths about +the course had not been filled with idlers, pleasure-mongers, +and the scum of Greek society! Tumbling, +thimble-rigging, and fortune-telling, along with +love-making and trading, made Olympia a scene +not unlike the Derby. When the drinking parties +of young men began in the evening, there may even +have been a <hi rend='italic'>soupçon</hi> of Donnybrook Fair about it, +but that the committee of management were probably +strict in their discipline. From the Isthmian +games the successful athletes, with their training +over, retired, as most athletes do, to the relaxation +afforded by city amusements. One can imagine +how amply Corinth provided for the outburst of +liberty after the long and arduous subjection of +physical training. +</p> + +<p> +But all these things are perhaps justly forgotten, +and it is ungrateful to revive them from oblivion. +The dust and dross of human conflict, the blood and +the gall, the pain and the revenge—all this was laid +aside like the athlete’s dress, and could not hide the +glory of his naked strength and his iron endurance. +The idleness and vanity of human admiration have +vanished with the motley crowd, and have left us +<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/>free to study the deeper beauty of human vigor +with the sculptor, and the spiritual secrets of its +hereditary origin with the poet. Thus Greek gymnastic, +with all its defects—perhaps even with its +absurdities—has done what has never been even +the dream of its modern sister; it stimulated the +greatest artists and the highest intellects in society, +and through them ennobled and purified public taste +and public morals. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb"/> + +<p> +When we left Olympia, and began to ascend the +course of the Alpheus, the valley narrowed to the +broad bed of the stream. The way leads now along +the shady slopes high over the river, now down in +the sandy flats left bare in the summer season. +There are curious zones of vegetation distinctly +marked along the course of the valley. On the +river bank, and in the little islands formed by the +stream, are laurels, myrtles, and great plane-trees. +On the steep and rocky slopes are thick coverts of +mastich, arbutus, dwarf-holly, and other evergreens +which love to clasp the rocks with their roots; and +they are all knit together by great creeping plants, +the wild vine, the convolvulus, and many that are +new and nameless to the northern stranger. On +the heights, rearing their great tops against the +sky, are huge pine-trees, isolated and still tattered +with the winter storms. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Ces adieux à l’Elide,</q> adds M. Beulé, <q>laissent +<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/>une pure et vive impression. Rarement la nature +se trouve en si parfaite harmonie avec les souvenirs. +On dirait un théâtre éternel, toujours prêt pour les +joies pacifiques, toujours paré pour les fêtes, et qui, +depuis dix-huit siècles, attend ses acteurs qui ont +disparu.</q> +</p><anchor id="ill342"/><index index="fig" level1="The Valley of the Alpheus"/> + <pgIf output="txt"><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Valley of the Alpheus]</p> + </then> + <else> + <p><figure url="images/illus398.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Valley of the Alpheus</head><figDesc>The Valley of the Alpheus</figDesc></figure></p> + </else></pgIf> +<p> +</p> +<p> +Travellers going from Olympia northward either +go round by carriage through Elis to Patras—a drive +of two days—or by Kalavryta to Megaspilion, and +thence to Vostitza, thus avoiding the great Alps of +Olonos (as Erymanthus is now called) and Chelmos, +which are among the highest and most picturesque +in Greece. After my last visit to Olympia (1884) +I was so tantalized by the perpetual view of the +snowy crest of Olonos, that I determined to attempt +a new route, not known to any of the guide-books,<note place="foot">It has been since inserted from my notes in the English translation +of Bædeker’s <hi rend='italic'>Greece</hi>.</note> +and cross over the mountain, as directly as I could, +from Olympia to Patras. It was easy for me to +carry out this plan, being accompanied by a young +Greek antiquarian, M. Castroménos, and by Dr. +Purgold from Olympia, who had travelled through +most of Greece, but was as anxious as I was to try +this new route. +</p> + +<p> +So we started on a beautiful spring morning, up +the valley of the Kladeos, with all the trees bursting +into leaf and blossom, and the birds singing their +hymns of delight. The way was wooded, and led +<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/>up through narrow and steep, but not difficult glens, +until, on a far higher level, we came in three or +four hours to the village of Lala, once an important +Turkish fort. Here was a higher plain, from which +we began to see the plan of that vast complex of +mountains which form the boundaries of the Old +Elis, Achaia, and Arcadia, and which have so often +been the scenes of difficult campaigns. From Lala, +where we breakfasted, we crossed a sudden deep +valley, and found ourselves, on regaining the higher +level, in a vast oak forest, unlike anything I had yet +seen in Greece. The trees had been undisturbed +for centuries, and the forest was even avoided in +summer by the natives, on account of the many poisonous +snakes which hid in the deep layers of dead +leaves. In that high country the oaks were just +turning pink with their new buds, and not a green +leaf was to be seen, so we could trust to the winter +sleep of the snakes, while we turned aside again and +again from our path, to the great perplexity of the +muleteers, to dig up wood anemones of all colors, +pale blue, pink, deep crimson, scarlet, snowy-white, +which showed brilliantly on the brown oak-leaf +carpet. +</p> + +<p> +We spent at least two hours in riding through this +forest, and then we rose higher and higher, passing +along the upper edge of deep glens, with rushing +streams far beneath us. The most beautiful point +was one from which we looked down a vast straight +<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/>glen of some fifteen miles, almost as deep as a cañon, +with the silvery Erymanthus river pursuing its +furious course so directly as to be clearly visible +all the way. But though ascending the river from +this point, where its course comes suddenly round a +corner, the upper country was no longer wooded, +but bleak, like most of the Alpine Arcadia, a country +of dire winters and great hardship to the population, +who till an unwilling soil on the steep slopes of giant +precipices. +</p> + +<p> +We were much tempted to turn up another tortuous +glen to the hidden nest of Divri, where the +Greeks found refuge from Turkish prosecution in +the great war—a place so concealed, and so difficult +of access, that an armed force has never penetrated +there. But the uncertainties of our route were too +many to admit of these episodes, so we hurried on +to reach the Kahn of Tripotamo in the evening—a +resting-place which suggested to us strongly the inn +where St. John is reported to have slept in the +apocryphal <hi rend='italic'>Acts</hi> of his life. Being very tired with +preaching and travelling, he found it so impossible +to share the room with the bugs, that he besought +them in touching language to allow him to sleep; +practically in virtue of his apostolic authority, he +ordered them out of the house. They all obeyed, +but when in the morning the apostle and his companions +found them waiting patiently outside the +door, he was so moved by their consideration for +<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/>him, that he permitted them to return and infest the +house. +</p> + +<p> +Nor were the bugs perhaps the worst. Being +awakened by a crunching noise in the night, I perceived +that a party of cats had come in to finish our +supper for us, and when startled by a flying boot, +they made our beds and bodies the stepping stones +for a leap to the rafters, and out through a large +hole in the roof. By and by I was aroused by the +splashing of cold water in my face, and found that a +heavy shower had come on, and was pouring through +the cats’ passage. So I put up my umbrella in bed +till the shower was over—the only time I felt rain +during the whole of that voyage. I notice that Miss +Agnes Smith, who travelled through these parts in +May, 1883, and had very similar experiences at Tripotamo, +was wet through almost every day. We +did not see more than two showers, and were moreover +so fortunate as to have perfectly calm days +whenever we were crossing high passes, though in +general the breeze was so strong as to be almost +stormy in the valleys. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning we followed the river up to the +neighboring site of Psophis, so picturesquely described +by Polybius in his account of Philip V., and +his campaigns in Elis and Triphylia.<note place="foot">Polybius, iv. 70.</note> This town, +regarded as the frontier-town of Elis, Arcadia, and +Achaia, would well repay an enterprising excavator. +<pb n='347'/><anchor id='Pg347'/>The description of Polybius can be verified without +difficulty, and ruins are still visible. We found out +from a solitary traveller that our way turned to the +north, up one of the affluents of the Erymanthus, +and so we ascended in company with this worthy +man to a village (Lechouri) under the highest precipices +of Olonos. He was full of the curiosity of a +Greek peasant—Who were we, where did we come +from, were we married, had we children, how many, +what was our income, was it from land, was it paid +by the State, could we be dismissed by the Government, +were we going to write about Greece, what +would we say, etc., etc.? Such was the conversation +to which we submitted for the sake of his +guidance. But at last it seemed as if our way was +actually at an end, and we had come into an impassable +<hi rend='italic'>cul-de-sac</hi>. Perpendicular walls of rock +surrounded us on all sides except where we had +entered by constantly fording the stream, or skirting +along its edge. Was it possible that the curiosity of +our fellow-traveller had betrayed him into leading us +up this valley to the village whither he himself was +bound? We sought anxiously for the answer, when +he showed us a narrow strip of dark pine-trees coming +down from above, in form like a little torrent, and +so reaching with a narrow thread of green to the +head of the valley. This was our pass, the pine-trees +with their roots and stems made a zigzag path +up the almost perpendicular wall possible, and so we +<pb n='348'/><anchor id='Pg348'/>wended our way up with infinite turnings, walking +or rather climbing for safety’s sake, and to rest the +laboring mules. Often as I had before attempted +steep ascents with horses in Greece, I never saw +anything so astonishing as this. +</p> + +<p> +When we had reached the top we found ourselves +on a narrow saddle, with snowy heights close to us +on both sides, the highest ridge of Olonos facing us +a few miles away, and a great pine forest reaching +down on the northern side, whither our descent was +to lead us. About us were still great patches of +snow, and in them were blowing the crocus and the +cyclamen, with deep blue scilla. Far away to the +south reached, in a great panorama, the mountains +of Arcadia, and even beyond them the highest +tops of Messene and Laconia were plainly visible. +The air was clear, the day was perfectly fine and +calm. To the north the chain of Erymanthus still +hid from us the far distance. For a long time, while +our muleteers slept and the mules and ponies rested, +we sat wondering at the great view. The barometer +indicated that we were at a height of about 5500 +feet. The freshness and purity of the atmosphere +was such that no thought of hunger and fatigue +could mar our perfect enjoyment. In the evening, +descending through gloomy pines and dazzling snow, +we reached the village of Hagios Vlasos, where the +song of countless nightingales beguiled the hours of +the night, for here too sleep was not easily obtained. +</p> + +<pb n='349'/><anchor id='Pg349'/> + +<p> +The journey from this point to Patras, which we +accomplished in twelve hours, is not so interesting, +and the traveller who tries it now had better telegraph +for a carriage to meet him as far as possible +on the way. By this time a good road is finished +for many miles, and the tedium and heat of the +plain, as you approach Patras, are very trying. +But with this help, I think no journey in all Greece +so well worth attempting, and of course it can be +accomplished in either direction. +</p> + +<p> +Patras is indeed an excellent place for a starting-point. +Apart from the route just described, you can +go by boat to Vostitza, and thence to Megaspilion. +There are, moreover, splendid alpine ascents to be +made for those who like such work, to the summits +of Chelmos and Olonos (Erymanthus), and this is +best done from Patras. Moreover, Patras is itself a +most lovely place, commanding a noble view of the +coast and mountains of Ætolia across the narrow +fiord, as well as of the Ionian islands to the N. W. +Right opposite is the ever-interesting site of Missolonghi. +Last, and perhaps not least, there is at +Patras a most respectable inn, indeed I should call +it a hotel,<note place="foot">By this time (1891) there are probably three or four rivals, +which the traveller will see noted in his guide-book, provided he +does not depend on the <hi rend='italic'>Guide Joanne</hi>, which neglects to give such +information. The house to which I allude in the text is the +Hotel S. George.</note> where the traveller who has spent ten +<pb n='350'/><anchor id='Pg350'/>days of rough outing in Peloponnesus will find a +haven of rest and comfort. From here steamers +will carry him to Athens round the coast, or home +to Italy. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="12" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='351'/><anchor id='Pg351'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XII. Arcadia—Andritzena—Bassæ—Megalopolis—Tripolitza"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XII. Arcadia--Andritzena--Bassae--Megalopolis--Tripolitza"/> +<head>CHAPTER XII.</head> + +<head type="sub">ARCADIA—ANDRITZENA—BASSÆ—MEGALOPOLIS—TRIPOLITZA.</head> + +<p> +There is no name in Greece which raises in the +mind of the ordinary reader more pleasing and more +definite ideas than the name Arcadia. It has become +indissolubly connected with the charms of pastoral +ease and rural simplicity. The sound of the +shepherd’s pipe and the maiden’s laughter, the rustling +of shady trees, the murmuring of gentle fountains, +the bleating of lambs and the lowing of oxen—these +are the images of peace and plenty which +the poets have gathered about that ideal retreat. +There are none more historically false, more unfounded +in the real nature and aspect of the country, +and more opposed to the sentiment of the ancients. +Rugged mountains and gloomy defiles, a +harsh and wintry climate, a poor and barren soil, +tilled with infinite patience; a home that exiled its +children to seek bread at the risk of their blood, a +climate more opposed to intelligence and to culture +than even Bœotian fogs, a safe retreat of bears and +wolves—this is the Arcadia of old Greek history. +Politically it has no weight whatever till the days +<pb n='352'/><anchor id='Pg352'/>of Epaminondas, and the foundation of Megalopolis. +Intellectually, its rise is even later, and it takes no +national part in the great march of literature from +Homer to Menander.<note place="foot">This is not contradicted by the fact of there being isolated +Arcadian poets, such as Echembrotus and Aristarchus, distinguished +in foreign schools of art.</note> It was only famed for the +marketable valor of its hardy mountaineers, of whom +the Tegeans had held their own even against the +power of Sparta, and obtained an honorable place in +her army. It was also noted for rude and primitive +cults, of which later men praised the simplicity and +homely piety—at times also, the stern gloominess, +which did not turn from the offering of human +blood. +</p> + +<p> +I must remind the reader that rural beauty among +the ancients, as well as among the Renaissance visions +of an imaginary Arcadia as a rustic paradise, +by no means included the wild picturesqueness +which we admire in beetling cliffs and raging torrents. +These were inhospitable and savage to the +Greeks. It was the gentle slope, the rich pasture, +the placid river framed in deep foliage—it was, +in fact, landscape-scenery like the valleys of the +Thames, or about the gray abbeys of Yorkshire, +which satisfied their notion of perfect landscape; +and in this the men of the Renaissance were perfectly +agreed with them. +</p> + +<p> +How, then, did the false notion of our Arcadia +<pb n='353'/><anchor id='Pg353'/>spring up in modern Europe? How is it that even +our daily papers assume this sense, and know it to +be intelligible to the most vulgar public? The history +of the change from the historical to the poetical +conception is very curious, and worth the trouble of +explaining, especially as we find it assumed in many +books, but accounted for in none. +</p> + +<p> +It appears that from the oldest days the worship +of Pan had its home in Arcadia, particularly about +Mount Mænalus, and that it was already ancient +when it was brought to Athens at the time of the +Persian Wars. The extant Hymn to Pan, among +the Homeric Hymns, which may have been composed +shortly after that date, is very remarkable +for its idyllic and picturesque tone, and shows that +with this worship of Pan were early associated those +trains of nymphs and rustic gods, with their piping +and dance, which inspired Praxiteles’s inimitable +Faun. These images are even transferred by Euripides +to the Acropolis, where he describes the +daughters of Aglauros dancing on the sward, while +Pan is playing his pipe in the grotto underneath +(<hi rend='italic'>Ion</hi>, vv. 492, <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>). Such facts seem to show a +gentle and poetical element in the stern and gloomy +mountaineers, who lived, like the Swiss of our day, +in a perpetual struggle with nature, and were all +their lives harassed with toil and saddened with +thankless fatigue. This conclusion is sustained by +the evidence of a far later witness, Polybius, who +<pb n='354'/><anchor id='Pg354'/>in his fourth book mentions the strictness with which +the Arcadians insisted upon an education in music, +as necessary to soften the harshness and wildness of +their life. He even maintains that the savagery of +one town (Kynætha) was caused by a neglect of this +salutary precaution. So it happens that, although +Theocritus lays his pastoral scenes in the uplands +of Sicily, and the later pastoral romances, such as +the exquisite <hi rend='italic'>Daphnis and Chloe</hi>, are particularly +associated with the voluptuous Lesbos, Vergil, in +several of his <hi rend='italic'>Eclogues</hi>, makes allusion to the musical +talent of Arcadian shepherds, and in his tenth +brings the unhappy Gallus into direct relation to +Arcadia in connection with the worship of Pan on +Mænalus. But this prominent feature in Vergil—borrowed, +I suppose, from some Greek poet, though +I know not from whom—bore no immediate fruit. +His Roman imitators, Calpurnius and Nemesianus, +make no mention of Arcadia, and if they had, their +works were not unearthed till the year 1534, when +the poetical Arcadia had been already, as I shall +show, created. There seems no hint of the idea in +early Italian poetry;<note place="foot">The <hi rend='italic'>Eclogues</hi> of Petrarch are modelled upon those of Vergil +to the exclusion of the most characteristic features borrowed by +the latter from Theocritus.</note> for according to the histories +of mediæval literature, the pastoral romance did not +originate until the very end of the fourteenth century, +with the Portuguese Ribeyro, and he lays all +<pb n='355'/><anchor id='Pg355'/>the scenes of his idylls not in a foreign country, but +in Portugal, his own home. Thus we reach the year +1500 without any trace of a poetical Arcadia. But +at that very time it was being created by the single +work of a single man. The celebrated Jacopo Sannazaro, +known by the title of Actius Sincerus in the +affected society of literary Naples, exiled himself +from that city in consequence of a deep and unrequited +passion. He lay concealed for a long time, +it is said, in the wilds of France, possibly in Egypt, +but certainly not in Greece, and immortalized his +grief in a pastoral medley of prose description and +idyllic complaint called <hi rend='italic'>Arcadia</hi>,<note place="foot"><p>The following extract from the first prose piece of the book +will show how absolutely imaginary is his Arcadia, with its impossible +combination of trees, and its absence of winter:—</p> + <p><q>Giace nella sommità di Partenio, non umile monte della pastorale +Arcadia, un dilettevole piano, di ampiezza non molto spazioso, +peroche il sito del luogo non consente, ma di minuta e +verdissima erbetta sì ripieno, che, se le lascive pecorelle con gli +avidi morsi non vi pasceresso, vi si potrebbe d’ogni tempo ritrovare +verdura. Ove, se io non m’inganno, son forse dodici o quindici +alberi di tanto strana ed eccessiva bellezza, che chiunque le vedesse, +giudicherebbe che la maestra natura vi si fosse con sommo +diletto studiata in formarli. Li quali alquanto distanti, ed in +ordine non artificioso disposti, con la loro rarità la naturale bellezza +del luogo oltra misura annobiliscono. Quivi senza nodo +veruno si vede il dritissimo abete, nato a sostenere i pericoli del +mare; e con più aperti rami la robusta quercia, e l’alto frassino, +e lo amenissimo platano vi si distendano, con le loro ombre non +picciola parte del bello e copioso prato occupando; ed evvi con +più breve fronda l’albero, di che Ercole coronare si solea, nel cui +pedale le misere figliuole di Climene furono trasformate: ed in un +de’ lati si scerne il noderoso castagno, il fronzuto bosco, e con puntate +foglie lo eccelso pino carico di durissimi frutti; nell’ altro +l’ombroso faggio, la incorruttibile tiglia, il fragile tamarisco, insieme +con la orientale palma, dolci ed onorato premio dei vincitori. +Ma fra tutti nel mezzo, presso un chiaro fonte, sorge verso +il cielo un dritto cipresso,</q> etc., etc. The work is, moreover, full +of direct imitations of Vergil, not, I fancy, of Theocritus also, as +the Italian commentators suppose, for that poet was not adequately +printed till 1495, which must have been very near the date of the +actual composition of the <hi rend='italic'>Arcadia</hi>.</p></note> and suggested, I +<pb n='356'/><anchor id='Pg356'/>believe, by the Gallus of Vergil. Though the +learned and classical author despised this work in +comparison with his heroic poem on the Conception +of the Virgin Mary, the public of the day thought +differently. Appearing in 1502, the <hi rend='italic'>Arcadia</hi> of +Sannazaro went through sixty editions during the +century, and so this single book created that imaginary +home of innocence and grace which has ever +since been attached to the name. Its occurrence +henceforward is so frequent as to require no further +illustration in this place. +</p> + +<p> +But let us turn from this poetical and imaginary +country to the real land—from Arcádia to Arcadía, +as it is called by the real inhabitants. As everybody +knows, this Arcadia is the alpine centre of the +Morea, bristling with mountain chains, which reach +their highest points in the great bar of Erymanthus, +to the N. W., in the lonely peak of <q>Cyllene hoar,</q> +to the N. E., in the less conspicuous, but far more +sacred Lykæon, to the S. W., and finally, in the +ser<pb n='357'/><anchor id='Pg357'/>rated Taygetus to the S. E. These four are the angles, +as it were, of a quadrilateral enclosing Arcadia. Yet +these are but the greatest among chains of great +mountains, which seem to traverse the country in +all directions, and are not easily distinguished, or +separated into any connected system.<note place="foot">It is worth noting that the Arcadian vision in the <hi rend='italic'>Shepherd of +Hermas</hi>, describing a scene of twelve mountains of varied and contrasted +aspect, though intended for an allegorical purpose, is really +faithful to nature, and suggests that the author knew something of +the country he describes.</note> They are +nevertheless interrupted, as we found, by two fine +oval plains—both stretching north and south, both +surrounded with a beautiful panorama of mountains, +and both, of course, the seats of the old culture, such +as it was in Arcadia. That which is southerly and +westerly, and from which the rivers still flow into the +Alpheus and the western sea,<note place="foot">Pausanias places the source of the Alpheus higher up, and +close to Tegea in the eastern plain.</note> is guarded at its south +end by Megalopolis. That which is more east, which +is higher in level, and separated from the former by +the bleak bar of Mænalus, is the plain of Mantinea +and Tegea, now represented by the important town +of Tripolitza. These two parallel plains give some +plan and system to the confusion of mountains which +cover the ordinary maps of Arcadia. +</p> + +<p> +The passage from Elis into Arcadia is nowhere +marked by any natural boundary. You ride up the +valley of the Alpheus, crossing constantly the +<pb n='358'/><anchor id='Pg358'/>streams, great and small, which come flowing into +it from the spurs of Erymanthus, from northern +Arcadia, and the adjoining highlands of Elis. The +stream called Erymanthus, which is the old boundary, +though called a <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">λάβρος ποταμὸς</foreign> by Polybius, +does not strike the traveller here as it does higher +up in its course, and the only other confluent water +worth mentioning is the Ladon, which meets the +Alpheus at some hours’ ride above Olympia, but +which counted of old as a river of Arcadia. This +Ladon seems to have specially struck Pausanias with +its beauty, as he returns to it several times; and +later observers, such as M. Beulé, have corroborated +him, saying that on the banks of this river you may +indeed find the features of the poetical Arcadia—grassy +slopes and great shady trees, without the defiles +and precipices so common in the inner country. +The Ladon and its valley in fact, though in Arcadia, +partake of the character of the neighboring Elis: it +is the outer boundary of the real Alps. The Alpheus, +on the contrary, which is a broad, peaceful +stream when it passes into tamer country, comes +through the wildest part of central Arcadia; and if +you follow its course upward, will lead you first past +the ancient site of Heræa, a few miles above the +Ladon, and then through rugged and savage mountains, +till you at last ascend to the valley of Megalopolis, +round which it winds in a great curve. We +did not follow this route, nor did we ascend the +<pb n='359'/><anchor id='Pg359'/>valley of the Ladon, in spite of its reputed beauties. +For we were bound for Andritzena, a ride of eleven +hours from Olympia, which lay to the S. E., and +within easy distance of the temple of Bassæ. We +therefore forded the Alpheus, just above the confluence +of the Ladon, where the two rivers form a +great delta of sand, and the stream is broad and +comparatively shallow. The banks were clothed +with brushwood, and above it with a green forest, +along the grassy margin of which scarlet anemones +were scattered like our primroses among the stems +of the trees, and varied with their brightness the +mosses and hoary lichen. From this point onward +we began to cross narrow defiles, and climb up steeps +which seemed impossible to any horse or mule. We +entered secluded mountain valleys, where the inhabitants +appeared to live apart from all the world, and +looked with wonder upon the sudden stranger. We +rested beside tumbling rivers, rushing from great +wooded mountain sides, which stood up beside us +like walls of waving green. The snow had disappeared +from these wild valleys but a few weeks, +and yet even the later trees were already clothed +with that yellow and russet brown which is not only +the faded remnant, but also the forerunner, of the +summer green. And down by the river’s side the +gray fig trees were putting forth great tufts at the +end of every branch, while the pear trees were +showering their snowy blossoms upon the stream. +<pb n='360'/><anchor id='Pg360'/>But in one respect, all this lonely solitude showed a +marked contrast to the wilds of northern Greece. +Every inch of available ground was cultivated; all +the steep hill sides were terraced in ridges with infinite +labor; the ravages of the winter’s torrent were +being actively repaired. There was indeed in some +sense a solitude. No idlers or wanderers were to be +seen on the way. But the careful cultivation of all +the country showed that there was not only population, +but a thrifty and careful population. All the +villages seemed encumbered with the remains of recent +building; for almost all the houses were new, +or erected within very few years. The whole of +this alpine district seemed happy and prosperous. +This, say the Greeks, is the result of its remoteness +from the Turkish frontier, its almost insular position—in +fact, of its being under undisturbed Hellenic +rule. No bandit has been heard of in Arcadia since +the year 1847. Life and property are, I should +think, more secure than in any part of England. +Morals are remarkably pure. If all Greece were +occupied in this way by a contented and industrious +peasantry, undisturbed by ambition from within or +violence from without, the kingdom must soon become +rich and prosperous. It was not uncommon to +find in these valleys two or three secluded homesteads, +miles from any village. This is the surest +sign both of outward security and of inward thrift, +when people cut themselves off from society for the +<pb n='361'/><anchor id='Pg361'/>sake of ample room and good return for their industry. +Late in the evening we entered the steep +streets of the irregular but considerable town of +Andritzena. +</p> + +<p> +We experienced in this place some of the rudeness +of Greek travel. As the party was too large +to be accommodated in a private house, we sought +the shelter of a <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ξενοδοχεῖον</foreign>, as it is still called—an +inn with no chairs, no beds, one tiny table, and +about two spoons and forks. We were in fact +lodged within four bare walls, with a balcony outside +the room, and slept upon rugs laid on the floor. +The people were very civil and honest—in this +a great contrast to the inn at Tripolitza, of which +I shall speak in due time—and were, moreover, considerably +inconvenienced by our arrival during the +Passion Week of the Greek Church, when there is +hardly anything eaten. There was no meat, of +course, in the town. But this was not all. No +form of milk, cheese, or curds, is allowed during +this fast. The people live on black bread, olives, +and hard-boiled eggs. They are wholly given up +to their processions and services; they are ready +to think of nothing else. Thus we came not only +to a place scantily supplied, but at the scantiest +moment of the year. This is a fact of great importance +to travellers in Greece, and one not mentioned, +I think, in the guide-books. Without making careful +provision beforehand by telegraph, no one should +<pb n='362'/><anchor id='Pg362'/>venture into the highlands of Greece during this very +Holy Week, and it should be remembered that it +does not coincide with the Passion or Holy Week of +the Latin Church. It was just ten days later on +this occasion; so that, after having suffered some +hardships from this unforeseen cause in remote parts +of Italy, we travelled into the same difficulty in +Greece. But I must say that a Greek fast is a +very different thing from the mild and human fasting +of the Roman Catholic Church. We should have +been well-nigh starved had I not appealed, as was +my wont, to the physician, <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὁ κύριος ἴατρος</foreign>, of the +town, a very amiable and cultivated man, and really +educated in the most philosophical views of modern +medicine. He was well acquainted, for example, +with the clinical practice of the Dublin school, as +exemplified in the works of Graves and Stokes. It +seems to me, from a comparison of many instances, +that in this matter of medicine, as indeed generally, +the Greeks show remarkable intelligence and enterprise +as compared with the nations around them. +They study in the great centres of European thought. +They know the more important languages in which +this science can be pursued. A traveller taken ill +in the remote valleys of Arcadia would receive far +safer and better treatment than would be his lot in +most parts of Italy. +</p> + +<p> +The gentleman to whom I appealed in this case +did all he could to save us from starvation. He +<pb n='363'/><anchor id='Pg363'/>procured for us excellent fresh curds. He obtained +us the promise of meat from the mountains. He +came to visit us, and tell us what we required to know +of the neighborhood. Thus we were able to spend +the earlier portion of the night in comparative comfort. +But, as might have been expected, when the +hour for sleep had arrived our real difficulties began. +I was protected by a bottle of spirits of camphor, +with which my rugs and person were sufficiently +scented to make me an object of aversion to my +assailants. But the rest of the party were not so +fortunate. It was, in fact, rather an agreeable +diversion, when we were roused, or rather, perhaps, +distracted, shortly after midnight, by piercing yells +from a number of children, who seemed to be slowly +approaching our street. +</p> + +<p> +On looking out a very curious scene presented +itself. All the little children were coming in slow +procession, each with a candle in its hand, and shouting +<hi rend='italic'>Kyrie Eleison</hi> at the top of its voice. After the +children came the women and the older men (I fancy +many of the younger men were absent), also with +candles, and in the midst a sort of small bier, with +an image of the dead Christ laid out upon it, decked +with tinsel and flowers, and surrounded with lights. +Along with it came priests in their robes, singing in +gruff bass some sort of Litany. The whole procession +adjourned to the church of the town, where the +women went to a separate gallery, the men gathered +<pb n='364'/><anchor id='Pg364'/>in the body of the building, and a guard of soldiers +with fixed bayonets stood around the bier of their +Christ. Though the congregation seemed very +devout, and many of them in tears at the sufferings +of their Saviour, they nevertheless all turned round +to look at the strangers who chanced to witness their +devotions. To those who come from without, and +from a different cult, and see the service of a strange +nation in a strange tongue, the mesquin externals +are the first striking point, and we wonder how deep +devotion and true piety can exist along with what +is apparently mean and even grotesque. And yet +it is in these poor and shabby services, it is with +this neglect or insouciance of detail, that purer +faith and better morals are found than in the gorgeous +pageants and stately ceremonies of metropolitan +cathedrals. +</p> + +<p> +We rose in the morning eager to start on our +three hours’ ride to Bassæ, where Ictinus had built +his famous but inaccessible temple to Apollo the +Helper. The temple is very usually called the +temple of Phigalía, and its friezes are called Phigalian, +I think, in the British Museum. This is so +far true that it was built for and managed by the +people of Phigalía. But the town was a considerable +distance off,—according to Pausanias forty +stadia, or about five miles,—and he tells us they +built the temple at a place called Bassæ (the glades), +near the summit of Mount Kotilion. Accordingly, +<pb n='365'/><anchor id='Pg365'/>it ought to be consistently called the temple at or +of Bassæ. +</p> + +<p> +The morning, as is not unusual in these Alps, was +lowering and gloomy, and as we and our patient +mules climbed up a steep ascent out of the town, +the rain began to fall in great threatening drops. +But we would not be daunted. The way led among +gaunt and naked mountain sides, and often up the +bed of winter torrents. The lateness of the spring, +for the snow was now hardly gone, added to the +gloom; the summer shrubs and the summer grass +were not yet green, and the country retained most +of its wintry bleakness. Now and then there met +us in the solitude a shepherd coming from the mountains, +covered in his white woollen cowl, and with +a lamb of the same soft dull color upon his shoulders. +It was the day of preparation for the Easter feast, +and the lamb was being brought by this picturesque +shepherd, not to the fold, but to the slaughter. Yet +there was a strange and fascinating suggestion in the +serious face surrounded by its symphony of white, +in the wilderness around, in the helpless patience of +the animal, all framed in a background of gray mist, +and dripping with abundant rain. As we wound our +way through the mountains we came to glens of +richer color and friendlier aspect. The sound of +merry boys and baying dogs reached up to us from +below as we skirted far up along the steep sides, +still seeking a higher and higher level. Here the +<pb n='366'/><anchor id='Pg366'/>primrose and violet took the place of the scarlet and +the purple anemone, and cheered us with the sight +of northern flowers, and with the fairest produce of +a northern spring. +</p> + +<p> +At last we attained a weird country, in which the +ground was bare, save where some sheltered and +sunny spot showed bunches of very tall violets, +hanging over in tufts, rare purple anemones, and +here and there a great full iris; yet these patches +were so exceptional as to make a strong contrast +with the brown soil. But the main features were +single oak-trees with pollarded tops and gnarled +branches, which stood about all over these lofty +slopes, and gave them a melancholy and dilapidated +aspect. They showed no mark of spring, no shoot +or budding leaf, but the russet brown rags of last +year’s clothing hung here and there upon the +branches. These wintry signs, the gloomy mist, +and the insisting rain gave us the feeling of chill +October. And yet the weird oaks, with their +branches tortured as it were by storm and frost—these +crippled limbs, which looked as if the pains of +age and disease had laid hold of the sad tenants of +this alpine desert—were colored with their own +peculiar loveliness. All the stems were clothed +with delicate silver-gray lichen, save where great +patches of velvety, pale green moss spread a warm +mantle about them. This beautiful contrast of gray +and yellow-green may be seen upon many of our +<pb n='367'/><anchor id='Pg367'/>own oak-trees in the winter, and makes these the +most richly colored of all the leafless stems in our +frosty landscape. But here there were added among +the branches huge tufts of mistletoe, brighter and +yellower than the moss, yet of the same grassy hue, +though of different texture. And there were trees so +clothed with this foreign splendor that they looked like +some quaint species of great evergreen. It seemed +as if the summer’s foliage must have really impaired +the character and the beauty of this curious forest. +</p> + +<p> +At last we crossed a long flat summit, and began +to descend, when we presently came upon the temple +from the north, facing us on a lower part of the lofty +ridge. As we approached, the mist began to clear +away, and the sun shone out upon the scene, while +the clouds rolled back toward the east, and gradually +disclosed to us the splendid prospect which the sanctuary +commands. All the southern Peloponnesus +lay before us. We could see the western sea, and +the gulf of Koron to the south; but the long ridge +of Taygetus and the mountains of Malea hid from +us the eastern seas. The rich slopes of Messene, +and the rugged highlands of northern Laconia and +of Arcadia, filled up the nearer view. There still +remained here and there a cloud which made a blot +in the picture, and marred the completeness of the +landscape. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing can be stranger than the remains of a +beautiful temple in this alpine solitude. Greek life +<pb n='368'/><anchor id='Pg368'/>is a sort of protest for cities and plains and human +culture, against picturesque Alps and romantic +scenery. Yet here we have a building of the +purest age and type set up far from the cities and +haunts of men, and in the midst of such a scene as +might be chosen by the most romantic and sentimental +modern. It was dedicated to Apollo the +Helper, for his deliverance of the country from the +same plague which devastated Athens at the opening +of the Peloponnesian War,<note place="foot">This is what Pausanias says, though modern scholars seem +very doubtful about it.</note> and was built by the +greatest architect of the day, Ictinus, the builder of +the Parthenon. +</p> + +<p> +It was reputed in Pausanias’s day the most beautiful +temple in Peloponnesus, next to that of Athene +Alea at Tegea. Even its roof was of marble tiles, +and the cutting of the limestone soffits of the ceiling +is still so sharp and clear, that specimens have been +brought to Athens, as the most perfect of the kind. +The friezes, discovered years ago (1812), and quite +close to the surface, by Mr. Cockerell and his friends, +were carried away, and are now one of the greatest +ornaments of the British Museum. Any one who +desires to know every detail of the building, and see +its general effect when restored, must consult Cockerell’s +elaborate work on this and the temple of +Ægina. It affords many problems to the architect. +Each of the pillars within the cella was engaged or +<pb n='369'/><anchor id='Pg369'/>attached to the wall, by joinings at right angles with +it, the first pair only reaching forward toward the +spectator as he entered. The temple faces north, +contrary to the usual habit of the Greeks. In the +very centre was found a Corinthian capital—another +anomaly in a Doric temple, and at the epoch of +Periclean art. In Mr. Cockerell’s restoration of the +interior, this capital is fitted to a solitary pillar in +the centre of the cella, and close to the statue of the +god, which apparently faced sideways, and looked +toward the rising sun. It is a more popular theory +that it was set up much later, with some votive +tripod upon it, and that it does not belong to the +original structure. The frieze in this temple was +not along the outside wall of the cella, but inside, +and over the pillars, as the narrow side aisle (if +I may so call it) between the pillars and cella +wall was broken by the joining of the former, +five at each side, with the latter. I cannot but +fancy that this transference of the friezes to the +inner side of the wall was caused by the feeling +that the Parthenon friezes, upon which such great +labor and such exquisite taste had been lavished, +were after all very badly seen, being <q>skied</q> into +a place not worthy of them. Any one who will look +up at the remaining band on the west front of the +Parthenon from the foot of the pillars beneath will, +I think, agree with me. At <anchor id="corr369"/><corr sic="Basse">Bassæ</corr> there are many +peculiarities in the Ionic capitals, and in the +orna<pb n='370'/><anchor id='Pg370'/>mentation of this second monument of Ictinus’s +genius, which have occupied the architects, but on +which I will not here insist.<note place="foot">Several details, such as the unusual length in proportion to +the breadth, the engaged pillars inside the cella, and the forms of +the capitals, have now been explained as deliberate archaicisms on +the part of Ictinus, who here copied far older forms. The curious +Ionic, and even the Corinthian, capitals, may point back to old +Asianic, or Assyrian, models, and the proportions of the cella with +its engaged pillars have their prototype or parallel in the curious +old <hi rend='italic'>Heræon</hi> (cf. <ref target="Pg304">p. 304</ref>) found at Olympia. This seems to me a +very happy solution of the difficulties, and shows us Ictinus in a +new light. Another specimen of his art, with unexpected features, +may be the newly unearthed Hall of the Mysteries at Eleusis, +already described, if indeed this be his work, and not a late copy +of it.</note> The general effect is +one of smallness, as compared with the Parthenon; +of lightness and grace, as compared with the temple +at Olympia, the Doric pillars being here somewhat +more slender than those of the Parthenon, though +the other proportions are not unlike. The style of +the frieze has been commented upon in all our histories +of Greek art. The effect produced is, moreover, +that of lateness, as compared with the Athenian +sculptures; there is more exaggerated action, +flying drapery and contorted limbs, and altogether a +conscious striving to give a strong effect. But the execution, +which was probably entrusted to native artists +under Attic direction, is inferior to good Attic work, +and in some cases positively faulty. Unfortunately, +this part of the temple is in London, not at Bassæ. +</p> + +<pb n='371'/><anchor id='Pg371'/> + +<p> +The ruin, as we saw it, was very striking and unlike +any other we had visited in Greece. It is built +of the limestone which crops up all over the mountain +plateau on which it stands; and, as the sun +shone upon it after recent rain, was of a delicate +bluish-gray color, so like the surface of the ground +in tone that it almost seemed to have grown out of +the rock, as its natural product. The pillars are +indeed by no means monoliths, but set together of +short drums, of which the inner row are but the +rounded ends of long blocks which reach back to +the cella wall. But as the grain of the stone runs +across the pillars they have become curiously +wrinkled with age, so that the artificial joinings are +lost among the wavy transverse lines, which make +us imagine the pillars sunk with years and fatigue, +and weary of standing in this wild and gloomy +solitude. There is a great oak-tree, such as I have +already described, close beside the temple, and the +coloring of its stem forms a curious contrast to the +no less beautiful shading of the time-worn pillars. +Their ground being a pale bluish-gray, the lichens +which invade the stone have varied the fluted surface +with silver, with bright orange, and still more +with a delicate rose madder. Even under a mid-day +sun these rich colors were very wonderful, but what +must they be at sunset? +</p> + +<p> +There is something touching in the unconscious +efforts of Nature to fill up the breaks and heal the +<pb n='372'/><anchor id='Pg372'/>rents which time and desolation have made in human +work. If a gap occurs in the serried ranks of city +buildings by sudden accident or natural decay, the +site is forthwith concealed with hideous boarding; +upon which, presently, staring portraits of latest +clown or merriest mountebank mock as it were the +ruin within, and advertise their idle mirth—an uglier +fringe around the ugly stains of fire or the heaps +of formless masonry. How different is the hand of +Nature! Whether in the northern abbey or in the +southern fane, no sooner are the monuments of +human patience and human pride abandoned and +forgotten, than Nature takes them into her gentle +care, covers them with ivy, with lichen, and with +moss, plants her shrubs about them, and sows them +with countless flowers. And thus, when a later age +repents the ingratitude of its forerunners, and turns +with new piety to atone for generations of forgetfulness, +Nature’s mantle has concealed from harm much +that had else been destroyed, and covered the remainder +with such beauty that we can hardly conceive +these triumphs of human art more lovely in +their old perfection than in their modern solitude +and decay. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb"/> + +<p> +The way from Andritzena to Megalopolis leads +down from the rugged frontiers of Arcadia and +Messene, till we reach the fine rolling plain which +has Karytena at its northern, and Megalopolis near +<pb n='373'/><anchor id='Pg373'/>its southern, extremity. Our guides were in high +spirits, and kept singing in turn a quaint love song, +which, after the usual timeless flourishes and shakes +at the opening, ended in the following phrase, +which their constant repetition stamped upon my +memory: +</p> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Music]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/music429.png" rend="w80"><figDesc>music</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The way was at first steep and difficult—we were +still in the land of the violet and primrose. But after +an hour’s ride we came into a forest which already +showed summer signs; and here we found again the +anemone, the purple and white cistus, among shrubs +of mastich and arbutus. Here, too, we found the +cyclamen, which is such a favorite in the green-houses +and gardens of England. We passed a few +miles to the south of Karytena, with its wonderful, +and apparently impregnable Frankish fortress perched +like an eagle’s nest on the top of a huge cliff, from +which there must be a splendid outlook not only down +the valley of Megalopolis, but into the northern +passes from Achaia, and the mountains of Elis. I +can conceive no military post more important to the +Arcadian plain, and yet it seems to have attained +no celebrity in ancient history. From this fortress +to the southern end of the plain, where the passes +lead to Sparta and to northern Messene, there lies +extended a very rich vein of country about +twenty-<pb n='374'/><anchor id='Pg374'/>five miles long, and ten or twelve broad, with some +undulation, but practically a plain, well irrigated +with rapid rivers, and waving with deep grass and +green wheat. There are flourishing villages scattered +along the slopes of the mountains, and all the +district seems thoroughly tilled, except the region +south of the town, where forests of olives give a +wilder tone to the landscape. +</p> + +<p> +I confess I had not understood the history of the +celebrated foundation of Megalopolis, until I came +to study the features of this plain. Here, as elsewhere, +personal acquaintance with the geography +of the country is the necessary condition of a living +knowledge of its history. As is well known, immediately +after the battle of Leuctra the Arcadians +proceeded to build this metropolis, as a safeguard +or makeweight against the neighboring power of +Sparta. Pausanias, who is very full and instructive +on the founding of the city, tells us that the founders +came from the chief towns of Arcadia—Tegea, +Mantinea, Kleitor, and Mænalus. But these cities +had no intention of merging themselves in the new +capital. In fact, Mantinea and Tegea were in themselves +fully as important a check on Sparta in their +own valley, and were absolutely necessary to hold +the passes northward to Argos, which lay in that +direction. But the nation insisted upon all the +village populations in and around the western plain +(which hitherto had possessed no leading city) +amal<pb n='375'/><anchor id='Pg375'/>gamating into Megalopolis, and deserting their ancient +homes. Many obeyed; Pausanias enumerates +about forty of them. Those who refused were exiled, +or even massacred by the enraged majority. +Thus there arose suddenly the <hi rend='italic'>great city</hi>, the latest +foundation of a city in Classical Greece. But in +his account it seems to me that Pausanias has omitted +to take sufficient note of the leading spirit of +all the movement—the Theban Epaminondas. No +doubt, the traveller’s Arcadian informants were too +thoroughly blinded by national vanity to give him +the real account, if indeed, they knew it themselves. +They represented it as the spontaneous movement +of the nation, and even stated it to have been done +in imitation of Argos, which in older times, when in +almost daily danger of Spartan war, had abolished +all the townships through Argolis, and thus increased +its power and consolidated its population. +</p> + +<p> +But the advice and support of Epaminondas, +which made him the real founder, point to another +model. The traveller who comes, after he has seen +northern Greece, into the plain of Megalopolis, is at +once struck with its extraordinary likeness to that +of Thebes. There is the same circuit of mountains, +the same undulation in the plain, the same abundance +of water, the same attractive sites on the slopes +for the settlements of men. It was not then Argos, +with its far remote and not very successful centralization, +but Thebes, which was the real model; and +<pb n='376'/><anchor id='Pg376'/>the idea was brought out into actuality not by Arcadian +but by Theban statesmanship. Any Theban +who had visited the plain could not but have this +policy suggested to him by the memory of his own +home. But here Epaminondas seems to have concealed +his influence, and carried out his policy +through Arcadian agents, merely sending 1000 +Thebans, under Pammenes, to secure his allies +against hostile disturbances, whereas he proceeded +to the foundation of Messene in person, and with +great circumstance, as the dreams and oracles, the +discussions about the site, and the pomp at the ceremony +amply show, even in the cold narrative of +Pausanias. But Megalopolis, though a great and +brilliant experiment, was not a lasting success. It +was laid out on too large a scale, and in after years +became rather a great wilderness than a great city.<note place="foot">The same must have been the case with Messene, which was +laid out likewise by Epaminondas on an absurdly large scale, as +the remains of the great walls still show. They seem intended to +enclose a whole parish, and not a city. But of these I shall speak +again, <ref target="Pg452">p. 452</ref>.</note> +It was full of splendid buildings—the theatre, even +now, is one of the most gigantic in Greece. But +the violences of its foundation, which tore from +their homes and household gods many citizens of +ancient and hallowed sites, were never forgotten. +It was long a leading city in politics, but never +became a favorite residence, and fell early into +<pb n='377'/><anchor id='Pg377'/>decay. <q>Although,</q> says Pausanias (8. 33), <q>the +<hi rend='italic'>great city</hi> was founded with all zeal by the Arcadians, +and with the brightest expectations on the +part of the Greeks, I am not astonished that it has +lost all its elegance and ancient splendor, and most +of it is now ruined, for I know that Providence is +pleased to work perpetual change, and that all +things alike, both strong and weak, whether coming +into life or passing into nothingness, are changed +by a Fortune which controls them with an iron necessity. +Thus Mycenæ, Nineveh, and the Bœotian +Thebes are for the most part completely deserted and +destroyed, but the name of Thebes has descended to +the mere acropolis and very few inhabitants. Others, +formerly of extraordinary wealth, the Egyptian +Thebes and the Minyan Orchomenus and Delos, +the common mart of the Greeks, are some of them +inferior in wealth to that of a private man of not +the richest class; while Delos, being deprived of the +charge of the Oracle by the Athenians who settled +there, is, as regards Delians, depopulated. At Babylon +the temple of Belus remains, but of this Babylon, +once the greatest city under the sun, there is +nothing left but the wall, as there is of Tiryns in +Argolis. These the Deity has reduced to naught. +But the city of Alexander in Egypt, and of Seleucus +on the Orontes, built the other day, have risen +to such greatness and prosperity, because Fortune +favors them.... Thus the affairs of men have +<pb n='378'/><anchor id='Pg378'/>their seasons, and are by no means permanent.</q> +These words of Pausanias have but increased in +force with the lapse of centuries. The whole ancient +capital of the Arcadians has well-nigh disappeared. +The theatre, cut out from the deep earthen +river bank, and faced along the wings with massive +masonry, is still visible, though overgrown with +shrubs; and the English school of Athens is now +prosecuting its exploration (1892). +</p> + +<p> +The ancient town lay on both sides of the river +Helisson, which is a broad and silvery stream, but +not difficult to ford, as we saw it in spring, and Pausanias +mentions important public buildings on both +banks. Now there seems nothing but a mound, +called the tomb of Philopœmen, on the north side, +with a few scanty foundations. On the south side +the stylobate of at least one temple is still almost on +the level of the soil, and myriads of fragments of +baked clay tell us that this material was largely +used in the walls of a city where a rich alluvial +soil afforded a very scanty supply of stone—a difficulty +rare in Greece. The modern town lies a +mile to the south of the river, and quite clear of the +old site, so that excavations can be made without +considerable cost, and with good hope of results. +But the absence of any really archaic monument has, +till recently, damped the ardor of the archæologists. +</p> + +<p> +The aspect of the present Megalopolis is very +pleasing. Its streets are wide and clean, though +<pb n='379'/><anchor id='Pg379'/>for the most part grown over with grass, and a +single dark green cypress takes, as it were, the +place of a spire among the flat roofs. We found +the town in holiday, and the inhabitants—at least +the men—in splendid attire. For the women of the +Morea have, alas! abandoned their national costume, +and appear in tawdry and ill-made dresses. Even +the men who have travelled adopt the style of third-rate +Frenchmen or Germans, and go about in tall +hats, with a dirty gray plaid wrapped about their +shoulders. To see these shoddy-looking persons +among a crowd of splendid young men in Palikar +dress, with the erect carriage and kingly mien +which that very tight costume produces, is like +seeing a miserable street cur among a pack of fox-hounds. +And yet we were informed that, for political +reasons, and in order to draw the Greeks from +their isolation into European habits, the national +dress is now forbidden in the schools! +</p> + +<p> +We were welcomed with excellent hospitality in +the town, and received by a fine old gentleman, +whose sons, two splendid youths in full costume, attended +us in person. Being people of moderate +means, they allowed us, with a truer friendliness than +that of more ostentatious hosts, to pay for the most +of the materials we required, which they got for us +of the best quality, at the lowest price, and cooked +and prepared them for us in the house. We inquired +of the father what prospects were open to his +hand<pb n='380'/><anchor id='Pg380'/>some sons, who seemed born to be soldiers—the +ornaments of a royal pageant in peace, the stay of +panic in battle. He complained that there was no +scope for their energies. Of course, tilling of the +soil could never satisfy them. One of them was secretary +to the <hi rend='italic'>Demarchus</hi>, on some miserable salary. +He had gone as far as Alexandria to seek his fortune, +but had come home again, with the tastes and +without the wealth of a rich townsman. So they +are fretting away their life in idleness. I fear that +such cases are but too common in the country towns +of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +The people brought us to see many pieces of +funeral slabs, of marble pillars, and of short and late +inscriptions built into house walls. They also sold +us good coins of Philip of Macedon at a moderate +price. The systematic digging about the old site +undertaken by the English school will probably bring +to light many important remains.<note place="foot">The results hitherto attained are still uncertain, owing to an +active controversy between Dr. Dörpfeld and the English explorers, +which has not yet (1892) been settled. I forbear entering +upon it here.</note> There is a carriage +road from Megalopolis to Argos, but the portion +inside the town was then only just finished, so we +preferred riding as far as Tripoli. Travellers now +landing at Argos will find it quite practicable to +drive from the coast to this central plain of Arcadia, +and then begin their riding. There is now, alas! a +<pb n='381'/><anchor id='Pg381'/>railway from Argos to Tripoli in progress. By this +means even ladies can easily cross the Morea. Two +days’ driving to Megalopolis, two days’ riding to Olympia, +and an easy day’s drive and train to Katakalo, +would be the absolute time required for the transit. +But the difficulty is still to find a comfortable night’s +lodging between the first and second day’s ride, both +of them long and fatiguing journeys. Andritzena is +too near Megalopolis, and not to be recommended +without introductions. But there is probably some +village on another route which would afford a half-way +house. From Tripoli and from Megalopolis, +which command their respective plains, excursions +could be made to Mantinea, to Sparta, and best of +all to Kalamata, where a coasting steamer calls frequently. +</p><anchor id="ill380"/><index index="fig" level1="A Greek Peasant in National Costume"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: A Greek Peasant in National Costume]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus438.jpg" rend="w80"><head>A Greek Peasant in National Costume</head><figDesc>A Greek Peasant in National Costume</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +As we rode up the slopes of Mount Mænalus, +which separates the plain of Tegea from that of +Megalopolis, we often turned to admire the splendid +view beneath, and count the numerous villages now +as of old under the headship of the <hi rend='italic'>great town</hi>. The +most striking feature was doubtless the snowy ridge +of Taygetus, which reaches southward, and showed +us the course of the Eurotas on its eastern side, +along which a twelve hours’ ride brings the traveller +to Sparta. The country into which we passed was +wild and barren in the extreme, and, like most so-called +mountains in Greece, consisted of a series of +parallel and of intersecting ridges, with short valleys +<pb n='382'/><anchor id='Pg382'/>or high plateaus between them. This journey, perhaps +the bleakest in all Peloponnesus, until it approaches +the plain of Tegea, is through Mount +Mænalus, the ancestral seat of the worship of Pan, +and therefore more than any other tract of Arcadia +endowed with pastoral richness and beauty by the +poets. There may be more fertile tracts farther +north in these mountains. There may in ancient +times have been forest or verdure where all is now +bare. But in the present day there is no bleaker +and more barren tract than these slopes and summits +of Mænalus, which are wholly different from the +richly wooded and well carpeted mountains through +which we had passed on the way from Elis. Even +the asphodel, which covers all the barer and stonier +tracts with its fields of bloom, was here scarce and +poor. Dull tortoises, and quick-glancing hoopoes, +with their beautiful head-dresses, were the only tenants +of this solitude. There was here and there a +spring of delicious water where we stopped. At one +of them the best of our ponies, an unusually spirited +animal, escaped up the mountain, with one of our +royal-looking young friends, who had accompanied +us in full costume, for want of other amusement, in +hot pursuit of him. We thought the chase utterly +hopeless, as the pony knew his way perfectly, and +would not let any one approach him on the bare hillsides; +so we consolidated our baggage, and left them +to their fate. But about two hours afterward the +<pb n='383'/><anchor id='Pg383'/>young Greek came galloping after us on the pony, +which he had caught—he had accomplished the +apparently impossible feat. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after a very hot and stony ride, with less +color and less beauty than we had ever yet found in +Greece, we descended into the great valley of Tripoli, +formerly held by Tegea at the south, and Mantinea +at the north. The modern town lies between +the ancient sites, but nearer to Tegea, which is not +an hour’s ride distant. The old Tripolis, of which +the villages were absorbed by Megalopolis, is placed +by the geographers in quite another part of Arcadia, +near Gortyn, and due north of the western plain. +The vicissitudes of the modern town are well known; +its importance under the Turks, its terrible destruction +by the Egyptians in the War of Liberation;<note place="foot">It is usually forgotten in recent accounts that this sacking of +the town was no more than a retribution for the hideous massacre +of the whole Turkish population, including women and children, +in cold blood, by the insurgent Greeks. The details may be had +in General Gordon’s <hi rend='italic'>Memoirs</hi> or in Finlay’s <hi rend='italic'>History</hi>.</note> +even now, though not a house is more than fifty +years old, it is one of the largest and most important +towns in the Morea. +</p> + +<p> +The whole place was in holiday, it being the +Greek Easter Day, and hundreds of men in full +costume crowded the large square in the middle of +the town. There is a considerable manufacture of +what are commonly called Turkey carpets, and of +<pb n='384'/><anchor id='Pg384'/>silk; but the carpets have of late years lost all the +beauty and harmony of color for which they were +so justly admired, and are now copied from the +worst Bavarian work—tawdry and vulgar in the extreme. +They are sold by weight, and are not dear, +but they were so exceedingly ugly that we could not +buy them. This decadence of taste is strange when +compared with the woollen work of Arachova. If +the colors of the Arachovite rugs were transferred +to the carpets of Tripoli, nothing could be more +effective, or more likely to attract English buyers. +I could not learn that any passing travellers save +some Germans, are now ever tempted to carry them +home. +</p> + +<p> +It is my disagreeable duty to state that while the +inn at Tripoli was no better than other country inns +in Arcadia, and full of noise and disturbance, the +innkeeper, a gentleman in magnificent costume, with +a crimson vest and gaiters, covered with rich embroidery, +also turned out a disgraceful villain, in fact +quite up to the mark of the innkeepers of whom +Plato in his day complained. We had no comforts, +we had bad food, we had the locks of our baggage +strained, not indeed by thieves, but by curious +neighbors, who wished to see the contents; we had +dinner, a night’s lodging, and breakfast, for which +the host charged us, a party of four and a servant, +118 francs. And be it remembered that the wine of +the country, which we drank, is cheaper than ale in +<pb n='385'/><anchor id='Pg385'/>England. We appealed at once to the magistrate, a +very polite and reasonable man, who cut it down to +84 francs, still an exorbitant sum, and one which our +friend quietly pocketed without further remonstrance. +It is therefore advisable either to go with introductions, +which we had (but our party was too large for +private hospitality), or to stipulate beforehand concerning +prices. I mention such conduct as exceptional—we +met it only here, at Sparta, and at +Nauplia; but I fear Tripoli is not an honest district. +A coat and rug which were dropped accidentally +from a mule were picked up by the next wayfarer, +who carried them off, though we had passed him but +a few hundred yards, and there could be no doubt +as to the owners. Our guides knew his village, +and our property was telegraphed for, but never +reappeared. +</p> + +<p> +The site of Tegea, where there is now a considerable +village, is more interesting, being quite +close to the passes which lead to Sparta, and surrounded +by a panorama of rocky mountains. The +morning was cloudy, and lights and shades were +coursing alternately over the view. There were no +trees, but the surface of the rocks took splendid +changing hues—gray, pink, and deep purple—while +the rich soil beneath alternated between brilliant +green and ruddy brown. As the plain of Megalopolis +reminded me of that of Thebes, so this plain +of Tegea, though infinitely richer in soil, yet had +<pb n='386'/><anchor id='Pg386'/>many features singularly like that of Attica, especially +its bareness, and the splendid colors of its barren +mountains. But the climate is very different at +this great height above the sea; the nights, and even +the mornings and evenings, were still chilly, and the +crops are still green when the harvest has begun in +Attica. There are a good many remains, especially +of the necropolis of Tegea, to be found scattered +through the modern village, chiefly in the walls of +new houses. One of these reliefs contained a very +good representation of a feast—two men and two +women, the latter sitting, and alternately with the +men; the whole work seemed delicate, and of a good +epoch. These and other remains, especially an excellent +relief of a lion, are now gathered into the +little museum of the village of Piali, which occupies +part of the ancient site. The circuit of the ancient +walls and the site and plan of the great temple of +Athena Alea have also recently been determined. +The temple, rebuilt by Scopas about 395 <hi rend="small">B. C.</hi>, had +Corinthian as well as Ionic capitals, though externally +Doric in character. Some remarkable remains +of the pediment, especially a boar’s head, are now in +the Museum at Athens. +</p> + +<p> +The way to Argos is a good carriage road through +the passes of Mount Parthenion, and is not unlike +the bleak ride through Mænalus, though there is a +great deal more tillage, and in some places the hillsides +are terraced with cultivation. It was in this +<pb n='387'/><anchor id='Pg387'/>mountain that the god Pan met the celebrated runner +Phidippides, who was carrying his despatch about +the Persian invasion from Athens to Sparta, and told +him he would come and help the Athenians at Marathon. +This Mount Parthenion, bleak and bare like +Mount Mænalus, and yet like it peculiarly sacred to +Pan, <q>affords tortoises most suitable for the making +of lyres, which the men who inhabit the mountains +are afraid to catch, nor do they allow strangers to +catch them, for they think them sacred to Pan.</q> +We saw these tortoises, both in Mænalus and Parthenion, +yet to us suggestive not of harmony but of +discord. Two of them were engaged in mortal combat +by the road side. They were rushing at each +other, and battering the edges of their shells together, +apparently in the attempt to overturn each other. +After a long and even conflict, one of them fled, +pursued by the other at full speed, indeed far +quicker than could be imagined. We watched the +battle till we were tired, and left the pursuer and +the pursued in the excitement of their deadly struggle. +The traveller who goes by the new railroad +over this ground will never see sights like this. +</p> + +<p> +These were the principal adventures of our tour +across Arcadia. The following night we rested in +real luxury at the house of our old guest-friend, +Dr. Papalexopoulos, whose open mansion had received +us two years before, on our first visit to +Argos. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="13" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='388'/><anchor id='Pg388'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XIII. Corinth—Tiryns—Argos—Nauplia—Ægina—Epidaurus"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XIII. Corinth--Tiryns--Argos--Nauplia--Aegina--Epidaurus"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIII.</head> + +<head type="sub">CORINTH—TIRYNS—ARGOS—NAUPLIA—HYDRA—ÆGINA—EPIDAURUS.</head> + +<p> +The Gulf of Corinth is a very beautiful and narrow +fiord, with chains of mountains on either side, through +the gaps of which you can see far into the Morea +on one side, and into northern Greece on the other. +But the bays or harbors on either coast are few, and +so there was no city able to wrest the commerce of +these waters from old Corinth, which held the keys +by land of the whole Peloponnesus, and commanded +the passage from sea to sea. It is, indeed, wonderful +how Corinth did not acquire and maintain the +first position in Greece. It may, perhaps, have +done so in the days of Periander, and we hear at +various times of inventions and discoveries in +Corinth, which show that, commercially and artistically, +it was among the leading cities of Greece. +But, whenever the relations of the various powers +become clear, as in the Persian or Peloponnesian +Wars, we find Corinth always at the head of the +second-rate states, and never among the first. This +is possibly to be accounted for by the predominance +<pb n='389'/><anchor id='Pg389'/>of trade interests, which are the source of such material +prosperity that men are completely engrossed +with it, and will not devote time and labor to politics, +or stake their fortunes for the defence of principle. +Thus it seems as if the Corinthians had been the +shopkeepers of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +But as soon as the greater powers of Greece decayed +and fell away, we find Corinth immediately +taking the highest position in wealth, and even in +importance. The capture of Corinth, in 146 <hi rend="small">B. C.</hi>, +marks the Roman conquest of all Greece, and the +art-treasures carried to Rome seem to have been as +great and various as those which even Athens could +have produced. Its commercial position was at once +assumed by Delos. No sooner had Julius Cæsar +restored and rebuilt the ruined city than it sprang +at once again into importance,<note place="foot">Strabo mentions that the new settlers, coming upon old tombs +in the digging for new foundations, found there quantities of graceful +pottery, which was sold to Romans, and became the fashion +there. Hence it was diligently sought and sold under the title +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">νεκροκορίνθια</foreign>. We may be sure that every ancient tomb was rifled +in this way.</note> while Delos decayed; +and among the societies addressed in the Epistles of +St. Paul, none seems to have lived in greater wealth +or luxury. It was, in fact, well-nigh impossible that +Corinth should die. Nature had marked out her site +as one of the great thoroughfares of the old world; +and it was not till after centuries of blighting misrule +by the wretched Turks that she sank into the +<pb n='390'/><anchor id='Pg390'/>hopeless decay from which not even another Julius +Cæsar could rescue her.<note place="foot">On the foundation of the new Greek kingdom, it was seriously +debated whether Corinth should not be the capital; but the constant +prevalence of fever in the district, together with sentimental +reasons, determined the selection of Athens in preference.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These were our reflections as we passed up the +gulf on a splendid summer evening, the mountains +of Arcadia showing on their snowy tops a deep rose +color in the setting sun. And passing by Ægion +and Sikyon, we came to anchor at the harbor of +Lechæum. There was a public conveyance which +took the traveller across the isthmus to Kenchreæ, +where a steamboat was in readiness to bring him +to Athens. But with the usual absurdity of such +services, no time was allowed for visiting Corinth +and its Acropolis.<note place="foot">Even the new railway has not altered this. The journey up +and down the bay in a coasting steamer is still well worth undertaking.</note> We, however, stayed for the +night in the boat, and started in the morning for our +ride into the Peloponnesus. This arrangement was +then necessary, as the port of Lechæum did not +afford the traveller even the luxury of a decent +meal. The Greek steamers are, besides, of considerable +interest to any observant person. They +seem always full of passengers with their dogs, and +as the various classes mix indiscriminately on deck, +all sorts of manners, costume, and culture can be +easily compared. +</p> + +<pb n='391'/><anchor id='Pg391'/> + +<p> +The fondness of the Greeks for driving a bargain +is often to be noticed. Thus, a Greek gentleman on +this boat, perceiving that we were strangers in pursuit +of art and antiquities, produced two very fine gold +coins of Philip and Alexander, which he offered for +£5. That of Philip was particularly beautiful—a +very perfect Greek head in profile, crowned with +laurel, and on the reverse a chariot and four, with +the legend, <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Φίλιππος</foreign>. Not being a very expert judge +of coins, and supposing that he had asked more than +the value, I offered him £2: 10s. for this one, which +was considerably the larger; but he would not take +any abatement. He evidently was not anxious to +sell them, but merely took his chance of getting a +good price, and investing it again at better interest. +Seeing that the coin seemed but little heavier than +our sovereign, and is not uncommon in collections, +I fancy the price he asked was excessive. The +Athenian shops, which are notorious for their prices +to strangers, had similar coins, for which about £4 +was asked. On this, and a thousand other points, +the traveller should be instructed by some competent +person before he sets out. Genuine antiquities seem +to me so common in Greece, that imitations are +hardly worth manufacturing. Even with a much +greater market, the country can supply for generations +an endless store of real remains of ancient +Greece. But, nevertheless, the prices of these +things are already very high. The ordinary tourist +<pb n='392'/><anchor id='Pg392'/>does not infest these shores, so that the only seekers +after them are enthusiasts, who will not hesitate to +give even fancy prices for what they like. +</p> + +<p> +The form of the country, as you ascend from +Lechæum to Corinth, is very marked and peculiar. +At some distance from the flat shore the road leads +up through a steep pass of little height, which is +cut through a long ridge of rock, almost like a wall, +and over which lies a higher plateau of land. The +same feature is again repeated a mile inland, as the +traveller approaches the site of ancient Corinth. +These plateaus, though not lofty, are well marked, +and perfectly distinct, the passes from one up to the +next being quite sufficient to form a strong place of +defence against an attacking force. How far these +rocky parapets reach I did not examine. Behind the +highest plateau rises the great cliff on which the +citadel was built. But even from the site of the +old city it is easy to obtain a commanding view of +the isthmus, of the two seas, and of the Achæan +coast up to Sikyon. +</p> + +<p> +The traveller who expects to find any sufficient +traces of the city of Periander and of Timoleon, +and, I may say, of St. Paul, will be grievously disappointed. +In the middle of the wretched straggling +modern village there stand up seven enormous +rough stone pillars of the Doric Order, evidently +of the oldest and heaviest type; and these +are the only visible relic of the ancient city, looking +<pb n='393'/><anchor id='Pg393'/>altogether out of place, and almost as if they had +come there by mistake. These pillars, though insufficient +to admit of our reconstructing the temple, +are in themselves profoundly interesting. Their +shaft up to the capital is of one block, about twenty-one +feet high and six feet in diameter. It is to be +observed that over these gigantic monoliths the +architrave, in which other Greek temples show the +largest blocks, is not in one piece, but two, and +made of beams laid together longitudinally.<note place="foot">M. Viollet-le-duc, in his <hi rend='italic'>Entretiens sur l’Architecture</hi>, vol. i. p. +45, explains the reason of this. Apart from the greater facility of +raising smaller blocks, most limestones are subject to flaws, which +are disclosed only by strain. Hence it was much safer to support +the entablature on two separate beams, one of which might sustain, +at least temporarily, the building, in case the other should +crack.</note> The +length of the shafts (up to the neck of the capital) +measures about four times their diameter, on the +photograph which I possess; I do not suppose that +any other Doric pillar known to us is so stout and +short. The material is said almost universally to be +limestone, but if my eyes served me aright, it was +a very porous and now rough sandstone, not the +least like the bluish limestone in which the lions of +the gate of Mycenæ are carved. The pillars are +said to have been covered with stucco, and were +of course painted. Perhaps even the figures of the +pediment were modelled in clay, as we are told was +the case in the oldest Corinthian temples, when first +<pb n='394'/><anchor id='Pg394'/>the fashion came in of thus ornamenting an otherwise +flat and unsightly surface. The great temple of +Pæstum—which is, probably, the next oldest, and +certainly the finest extant specimen of the early +Doric style—has no figures in the pediment, and +seems never to have had them, unless, indeed, they +were painted in fresco on the stucco, with which it +was probably covered. Those who have seen the +temple at Pæstum are, perhaps, the only visitors +who will be able to frame to themselves an image +of the very similar structure at Corinth, which +Turks and earthquakes have reduced to seven columns. +There must have been in it the same simplicity, +the same almost Egyptian massiveness, and +yet the same unity of plan and purpose which excludes +all idea of clumsiness or disproportion. +</p><anchor id="ill392"/><index index="fig" level1="Temple of Corinth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Temple of Corinth]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus452.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Temple of Corinth</head><figDesc>Temple of Corinth</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The longer one studies the Greek orders of architecture, +the more the conviction grows that the +Doric is of all the noblest and the most natural. +When lightened and perfected by the Athenians of +Pericles’s time, it becomes simply unapproachable; +but even in older and ruder forms it seems to me +vastly superior to either of the more florid orders. +All the massive temples of Roman times were built +in the very ornate Corinthian, which may almost be +called the Græco-Roman, style; but, notwithstanding +their majesty and beauty, they are not to be +compared with the severer and more religious tone +of the Doric remains. I may add that the titles by +<pb n='395'/><anchor id='Pg395'/>which the orders are distinguished seem ill-chosen +and without meaning, except, perhaps, that the Ionic +was most commonly used, and probably invented, in +Asia Minor. The earliest specimens of the Corinthian +Order are at Epidaurus, Olympia, and Phigalia;<note place="foot">Cf. <ref target="Pg370">pp. 370</ref> + and <ref target="Pg433">433</ref>.</note> +the most perfect of the Doric is at Athens, +while Ionic temples are found everywhere. But it +is idle now to attempt to change such definite and +well-sanctioned names. +</p><anchor id="ill395"/><index index="fig" level1="Scene near Corinth, the Acro-Corinthus in the Distance"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Scene near Corinth, the Acro-Corinthus in the Distance]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus456.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Scene near Corinth, the Acro-Corinthus in the Distance</head> + <figDesc>Scene near Corinth, the Acro-Corinthus in the Distance</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Straight over the site of the town is the great +rock known as the Acro-Corinthus. A winding +path leads up on the south-west side to the Turkish +drawbridge and gate, which are now deserted and +open; nor is there a single guard or soldier to watch +a spot once the coveted prize of contending empires. +In the days of the Achæan League it was called one +of the fetters of Greece, and indeed it requires no +military experience to see the extraordinary importance +of the place. Strabo speaks of the Peloponnesus +as the Acropolis of Greece—Corinth may +fairly be called the Acropolis of the Peloponnesus. +It runs out boldly from the surging mountain-chains +of the peninsula, like an outpost or sentry, guarding +all approach from the north. In days when news +was transmitted by fire signals, we can imagine how +all the southern country must have depended on the +watch upon the rock of Corinth. It is separated by +a wide plain of land, ending in the isthmus, from +<pb n='396'/><anchor id='Pg396'/>the Geranean Mountains, which come from the north +and belong to a different system. +</p> + +<p> +Next to the view from the heights of Parnassus, +I suppose the view from this citadel is held the +finest in Greece.<note place="foot">Strabo, who had apparently travelled but little through +Greece, speaks with admiration of this view, which he had evidently +seen. The fortress of Karytena is some twenty or thirty +feet higher in situation and far more picturesque from below, but +is too much surrounded by other high mountains to admit of a +prospect like that from the Acro-Corinthus.</note> I speak here of the large and +diverse views to be obtained from mountain heights. +To me, personally, such a view as that from the +promontory of Sunium, or, above all, from the harbor +of Nauplia, exceeds in beauty and interest any +bird’s-eye prospect. Any one who looks at the map +of Greece will see how the Acro-Corinthus commands +coasts, islands, and bays. The day was too +hazy when we stood there to let us measure the real +limits of the view, and I cannot say how far the eye +may reach in a suitable atmosphere. But a host of +islands, the southern coasts of Attica and Bœotia, +the Acropolis of Athens, Salamis and Ægina, Helicon +and Parnassus, and endless Ætolian peaks were +visible in one direction; while, as we turned round, +all the waving reaches of Arcadia and Argolis, down +to the approaches toward Mantinea and Karytena, +lay stretched out before us. The plain of Argos, +and the sea at that side, are hidden by the +moun<pb n='397'/><anchor id='Pg397'/>tains.<note place="foot">See also <hi rend='italic'>Guide Joanne</hi>, ii. p. 197.</note> But without going into detail, this much +may be said, that if a man wants to realize the features +of these coasts, which he has long studied on +maps, half an hour’s walk about the top of this rock +will give him a geographical insight which months +of reading could not attain. +</p> + +<p> +The surface is very large, at least half a mile each +way, and is covered inside the bounding wall with +the remains of a considerable Turkish town, now in +ruins and totally deserted, but evidently of no small +importance in the days of the War of Liberation. +The building of this town was a great misfortune to +antiquarians, for every available remnant of old +Greek work was used as material for the modern +houses. At all parts of the walls may be seen white +marble fragments of pillars and architraves, and I +have no doubt that a careful dilapidation of the modern +abandoned houses would amply repay the outlay. +There are several pits for saving rain-water, and +some shallow underground passages of which we +could not make out the purpose. The pits or tanks +must have been merely intended to save trouble, for +about the middle of the plateau, which sinks considerably +toward the south, we were brought to a +passage into the ground, which led by a rapid descent +to the famous well of Pirene, the water of +which was so perfectly clear that we walked into it +on going down the steps, as there was actually no +<pb n='398'/><anchor id='Pg398'/>water-line visible. It was twelve or fourteen feet +deep, and perhaps twenty-five feet long, so far as we +could make it out in the twilight underground. The +structure of marble over the fountain is the only +piece of old Greek work we could find on the rock. +It consists of three supports, like pillars, made of +several blocks, and over them a sort of architrave. +Then there is a gap in the building, and from the +large number of fragments of marble lying at the +bottom of the well we concluded that the frieze and +cornice had fallen out. The pediment, or rather its +upper outline, is still in its place, clear of the architrave, +and built into the rock so as to remain without +its supporting cornice. +</p> + +<p> +There are numerous inscriptions as you descend, +which I did not copy, because I was informed they +had already been published, though I have not since +been able to find them; but they are, of course, to +be found in some of the Greek archæological newspapers. +They appeared to me at the time to be +either hopelessly illegible, or suspiciously clear. +This great well, springing up near the top of a +barren rock, is very curious, especially as we could +see no outlet.<note place="foot">This is just what Strabo says (viii. 6, § 21): + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἔκρυσιν μὲν οὐκ ἔχουσαν μεστὴν δ’ ἀεὶ διαυγοῦς καὶ ποτίμου ὕδατος</foreign>, and Corinth was +one of the few Greek places he visited.</note> The water was deep under the surface, +and there was no sign of welling up or of outflow +anywhere; but to make sure of this would have +<pb n='399'/><anchor id='Pg399'/>required a long and careful ride round the whole +ridge. Our guide-book spoke of rushing streams +and waterfalls tumbling down the rock, which we +searched for in vain, and which may have been +caused by a winter rainfall without any connection +with the fountain.<note place="foot">So also learned men speak about the amphitheatre. Herzberg +(ii. 253) says: <q>Seine Ruine steht noch heute.</q> Cf. also Friedländer, +ii. 383, but I could not find it.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Isthmus, which is really some three or four +miles north of Corinth, was of old famous for the Isthmian +games, as well as for the noted <hi rend='italic'>diolkos</hi>, or road +for dragging ships across. The games were founded +about 586 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, when a strong suspicion had arisen +throughout Greece concerning the fairness of the +Elean awards at Olympia, and for a long time Eleans +were excluded. In later days the games became +very famous, the Argives or Cleonæans laying claim +to celebrate them. It was at these games that Philip +V. heard of the great defeat of the Romans by Hannibal, +and resolved to enter into that colossal quarrel +which brought the Romans into Macedonia. The +site of the stadium, and of the temple of Isthmian +Poseidon, and of the fortified sanctuary, were excavated +and mapped out by M. Monceaux in 1883. A +plan and details are to be found in the French <hi rend='italic'>Guide +Joanne</hi>.<note place="foot">Part ii. p. 198, <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (1891).</note> Close by I saw in 1889 the interrupted +work of the canal which was at last to connect the +<pb n='400'/><anchor id='Pg400'/>eastern and western gulfs, and which when well-nigh +completed found its funds dissipated by the terrible +crash of the Credit Mobilier in Paris, and now awaits +another enterprise. The idea is old and often discussed, +like that of the Isthmus of Suez. The +Emperor Nero actually began the work, and the +engineers of to-day resumed the cutting at the very +spot where his workmen left off. +</p> + +<p> +But if this very expensive work might have been +of great service when sailing-ships feared to round +the notorious Cape of Malea, and when there was +great trade from the Adriatic to the ports of Thessaly +and Macedonia, surely all these advantages are +now superseded. Steamers coming from the Straits +of Messina would pay nothing to take the route of the +Isthmus in preference to rounding the Morea, and +the main line of traffic is no longer to the Northern +Levant, but to Alexandria. Even goods despatched +from Trieste or Venice may now be landed at Patras, +and sent on by rail to Athens; so that the canal will +now only serve the smallest fraction of the Levantine +trade; and even then, if the charges be at all adequate +to the labor, will be avoided by circumnavigation. +Amid the promotion of many useful schemes +of traffic, this undertaking seems to me to stand out +by its want of common sense. Indeed, had it been +really important at any date, we may be sure +that the Hellenistic Sovrans or Roman capitalists +would have carried it out. But in classical days +<pb n='401'/><anchor id='Pg401'/>their smaller ships seem to have been dragged +across upon movable rollers by slaves without much +difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +But we had already delayed too long upon this +citadel, where we would have willingly spent a day +or two at greater leisure. Our guide urged us to +start on our long ride, which was not to terminate +till we reached the town of Argos, some thirty miles +over the mountains.<note place="foot">The reader who performs this journey by train may consider +whether what here follows is not an older and better way.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The country into which we passed was very different +from any we had yet seen, and still it was +intensely Greek. All the hills and valleys showed +a very white, chalky soil, which actually glittered +like snow where it was not covered with verdure or +trees. Road, as usual, there was none; but all these +hills and ravines, chequered with snowy white, were +clothed with shining arbutus trees, and shrubs resembling +dwarf holly. The purple and the white +cistus, which is so readily mistaken for a wild rose,<note place="foot"><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">πολλὸς δὲ καὶ ὡς ῥόδα κίσθος ἐπανθεῖ</foreign>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Theocr.</hi> v. 131.</note> +were already out of blow, and showed but a rare +blossom. Here and there was a plain or valley with +great fields of thyme about the arbutus, and there +were herds of goats wandering through the shrubs, +and innumerable bees gathering honey from the +thyme. The scene was precisely such as Theocritus +describes in the uplands of Sicily; but in all +<pb n='402'/><anchor id='Pg402'/>our rides through that delightful island<note place="foot">There is a tract of sea-coast on the east side of Italy, about +halfway between Ancona and Monte Gargano, which has this +Theocritean character to perfection. Even the railway passenger +can appreciate the curious contrast it affords to the splendid +orchards and gardens about Bari, which are still farther south.</note> we had +never found the thyme and arbutus, the goats and +bees, in such truly Theocritean perfection. We +listened in vain for the shepherd’s pipe, and sought +in vain for some Thyrsis beguiling his time with the +oaten reed. It was almost noontide—noon, the hour +of awe and mystery to the olden shepherd, when +Pan slept his mid-day sleep,<note place="foot"><lg> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">οὐ θέμις, ὦ ποιμήν, τὸ μεσημβρινόν, οὐ θέμις ἆμμιν</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">συρίσδεν. τὸν Πᾶνα δεδοίκαμες· ἦ γὰρ ἀπ’ ἄγρας</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τανίκα κεκμηὼς ἀμπαύεται, ἐστι γὰρ πικρός,</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">καὶ οἱ ἀεὶ ὁριμεῖα χολὰ ποτὶ ῥινὶ κάθηται.</foreign>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Theocr.</hi> i. 15.</l></lg></note> and the wanton satyr +was abroad, prowling for adventure through the +silent woods; so that, in pagan days, we might have +been afraid of the companionship of melody. But +now the silence was not from dread of Pan’s displeasure, +but that the sun’s fiercer heat had warned +the shepherds to depart to the snowy heights of +Cyllene, where they dwell all the summer in alpine +huts, and feed their flocks on the upland pastures, +which are covered with snow till late in the spring. +</p> + +<p> +They had left behind them a single comrade, with +his wife and little children, to protect the weak and +the lame till their return. We found this family +settled in their winter quarters, which consisted of a +<pb n='403'/><anchor id='Pg403'/>square enclosure of thorns + <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">θρίγκος ἀχέρδου</foreign>, built +up with stones, round a very old spreading olive-tree. +At the foot of the tree were pots and pans, +and other household goods, with some skins and +rude rugs lying on the ground. There was no +attempt at a roof or hut of any kind, though, of +course, it might be set up in a moment, as we had +seen in the defiles of Parnassus, with skins hung +over three sticks—two uprights, and the third joining +their tops, so as to form a ridge. +</p> + +<p> +To make the scene Homeric,<note place="foot"><lg> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τοὺς μὴν ὄγε λάεσσιν ἀπὸ χθονὸς ὅσσον ἀείρων</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">γευγέμην ἄψ ὀπίσω δειδίσσετο, τρηχὺ δὲ φωνῇ</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἠπείλει μάλα πᾶσιν, ἐρητύσασκε δ’ ὑλαγμοῦ,</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">χαίρων ἐν φρησὶν ᾖσιν, ὁθούνεκεν αὔλιν ἔρυντο.</foreign></l> +<l rend="margin-left: 8"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Theocr.</hi> xxv. 73, and cf. <hi rend='italic'>Odyss.</hi> xiv. 29 <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></l></lg></note> as well as Theocritean, +two large and very savage dogs rushed out +upon us at our approach, but the shepherd hurried +out after them, and drove them off by pelting them +vigorously with stones. <q>Surely,</q> he said, turning +to us breathlessly from his exertions, <q>you had met, +O strangers! with some mischief, if I had not been +here.</q> The dogs disappeared, in deep anger, into +the thicket, and, though we stayed at the place for +some time, never reappeared to threaten or to pursue +us on our departure. We talked as best we could +to the gentle shepherdess, one of whose children had +a fearfully scalded hand, for which we suggested +remedies to her occult and wonderful, though at +<pb n='404'/><anchor id='Pg404'/>home so trite as to be despised by the wise. She +gave us in return great bowls of heated milk, which +was being made into cheese, and into various kinds +of curds, which are the very best produce of the +country. They would take no money for their +hospitality, but did not object to our giving the +children coins to play with—to them, I am sure, a +great curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +Most of our journey was not, however, through +pastures and plains, but up and down steep ravines, +where riding was so difficult and dangerous that we +were often content to dismount and lead our horses. +Every hour or two brought us to a fountain springing +from a rock, and over it generally a great +spreading fig-tree, while the water was framed in +on both sides with a perfect turf of maiden-hair +fern. The only considerable valley which we saw +was that of Cleonæ, which we passed some miles on +our left, and about which there was a great deal of +golden corn, and many shady plane-trees. Indeed, +the corn was so plentiful that we saw asses grazing +in it quite contentedly, without any interference from +thrifty farmers. We had seen a very similar sight +in Sicily, where the enormous deep-brown Sicilian +oxen, with their forward-pointing horns, were +stretching their huge forms in fields of half-ripe +wheat, which covered all the plain without fence +or division. There, too, it seemed as if this was +the cheapest grazing, and as if it were unprofitable +<pb n='405'/><anchor id='Pg405'/>labor to drive the cattle to some untilled pasture. +As for the treading-out of corn, I saw it done at +Argos by a string of seven horses abreast, with two +young foals at the outside, galloping round a small +circular threshing-floor in the open field, upon which +the ripe sheaves had been laid in radiating order. I +have no doubt that a special observer of farming +operations would find many interesting survivals +both in Greece and the Two Sicilies. +</p> + +<p> +Toward evening, after many hours of travel, we +turned aside on our way down the plain of Argos, +to see the famous ruins of Mycenæ. But we will +now pass them by, as the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann, +and a second visit to the ruins after his excavations, +have opened up so many questions, that +a separate chapter must be devoted to them. +</p> + +<p> +The fortress of Tiryns, which I have already +mentioned, and which we visited next day, may +fitly be commented on before approaching the +younger, or at least more artistically finished, +Mycenæ. It stands several miles nearer to the +sea, in the centre of the great plain of Argos, and +upon the only hillock which there affords any natural +scope for fortification. Instead of the square, or at +least hewn, well-fitted blocks of Mycenæ, we have +here the older style of rude masses piled together as +best they would fit, the interstices being filled up +with smaller fragments, and, as we now know, faced +with mortar. This is essentially Cyclopean +build<pb n='406'/><anchor id='Pg406'/>ing.<note place="foot">Pausanias speaks of Mycenæ and Tiryns as of like structure, +which is not true. He often refers with wonder to these walls, and +reflects upon the care with which Greek historians had described +foreign curiosities like the Pyramids, while equally wonderful +things in Greece were left unnoticed. Thus, he says that no pair +of mules could stir from its place the smallest of the blocks in the +walls of Tiryns. Cf. ii. 25, 8; and ix. 36, 5.</note> There is a smaller castle of rectangular shape, +on the southern and highest part of the oblong hillock, +the whole of which is surrounded by a lower +wall, which takes in both this and the northern +longer part of the ridge. It looked, in fact, like a +hill-fort, with a large enclosure for cattle around it. +</p> + +<p> +Just below the north-east angle of the inner fort, +and where the lower circuit is about to leave it, +there is an entrance, with a massive projection of +huge stones, looking like a square tower, on its +right side, so as to defend it from attack. The +most remarkable feature in the walls are the covered +galleries, constructed within them at the south-east +angle. The whole thickness of the wall is often +over twenty feet, and in the centre a rude arched +way is made—or rather, I believe, two parallel +ways; but the inner gallery has fallen in, and is +almost untraceable—and this merely by piling +together the great stones so as to leave an opening, +which narrows at the top in the form of a +Gothic arch. Within the passage there are five +niches in the outer side, made of rude arches, in +the same way as the main passage. The length of +<pb n='407'/><anchor id='Pg407'/>the gallery I measured, and found it twenty-five +yards, at the end of which it is regularly walled up, +so that it evidently did not run all the way round. +The niches are now no longer open, but seem to +have been once windows, or at least to have had +some look-out points into the hill country. +</p><anchor id="ill406"/><index index="fig" level1="Gallery at Tiryns"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Gallery at Tiryns]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus470.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Gallery at Tiryns</head><figDesc>Gallery at Tiryns</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It is remarkable that, although the walls are made +of perfectly rude stones, the builders have managed +to use so many smooth surfaces looking outward, +that the face of the wall seems quite clean and well-built.<note place="foot">The same effect is observable in Staigue Fort, in the county +of Kerry, and has led some people to imagine that its stones were +rudely fashioned. Cf. the splendid photographs of this Irish +Tiryns in Lord Dunraven’s <hi rend='italic'>Notes on Irish Architecture</hi>.</note> +At the south-east corner of the higher and +inner level we found a large block of red granite, +quite different from the rough gray stone of the +building, with its surface square and smooth, and +all the four sides neatly bevelled, like the portal +stones at the treasury of Atreus. I found two other +similar blocks close by, which were likewise cut +smooth on the surface, and afterward, in company +with Dr. Schliemann, a large Doric capital. The +intention of these stones we could not guess, but +they show that some ornament, and some more finished +work, must have once existed in or near the +inner building. Though both the main entrances +have massive towers of stone raised on their right, +there is a small postern at the opposite or west side, +<pb n='408'/><anchor id='Pg408'/>not more than four feet wide, which has no defences +whatever, and is a mere hole in the wall. +</p> + +<p> +The whole ruin was covered in summer with thistles, +such as English people can hardly imagine. +The needles at the points of the leaves are fully an +inch long, extremely fine and strong, and sharper +than any two-edged sword. No clothes except a +leather dress can resist them. They pierce everywhere +with the most stinging pain, and make antiquarian +research in this famous spot a veritable +martyrdom, which can only be supported by a very +burning love for knowledge, or the sure hope of +future fame. The rough masses of stone are so +loose that one’s footing is insecure, and when the +traveller loses his balance, and falls among the thistles, +he will wish that he had gone to Jericho instead, +or even fallen among thieves on the way. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the aspect of Tiryns when I visited it +in the years 1875 and in 1877. In 1884 I went +there again with Dr. Schliemann, who was uncovering +the palace on the height. The results of his +discoveries are so important that I shall review +them in another chapter. +</p> + +<p> +We rode down from Mycenæ to Argos late in the +evening, along the broad and limpid stream of the +river Inachus, which made us wonder at the old epic +epithet, <hi rend='italic'>very thirsty</hi>, given to this celebrated plain.<note place="foot"><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">πολυδίψιον</foreign>. + A fragment of Hesiod (quoted by Eustathius in +<hi rend='italic'>Il.</hi>, p. 350) notes this epithet, in order to account for its being no +longer true, +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Ἄργος ἄνυδρον ἔον Δαναὸς ποίησεν ἔνυδρον</foreign>. Strabo +(viii. p. 256) explains it by confining the epithet to the town of +Argos, which Homer certainly did not, and by admitting that +the country was well watered. Pausanias (ii. 15, 5) says that all +the rivers ran dry, except in rainy weather, which is seldom true +now.</note> +<pb n='409'/><anchor id='Pg409'/>Though the night was getting dark, we could see +and smell great fields of wild rose-red oleander, +blooming along the river banks, very like the rhododendrons +of our demesnes. And, though not a +bird was to be heard, the tettix, so dear to the old +Greeks, and so often the theme of their poets, was +making the land echo with its myriad chirping. +Aristophanes speaks of it as crying out with mad +love of the noonday sun.<note place="foot"><lg> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀλλ’ ἀνθηρῶν λειμώνων, φύλλων τ’ ἐν κόλποις ναίω,</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἡνίκ’ ἄν ὁ θεσπέσιος ὀξὺ μέλος ἀχέτας</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">θάλπεσι μεσημβρινοῖς ἡλιομανὴς βοᾷ.</foreign> (<hi rend='italic'>Aves</hi>, 1092–8.)</l></lg> +The little-known lines in the <hi rend='italic'>Shield of Hercules</hi> are also worth +quoting (393, <hi rend='italic'>sqq.</hi>):— +<lg><l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἦμος δὲ χλοερῷ κυανόπτερος, ἠχέτα τέττιξ,</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ὄζῳ ἐφεζόενος, θέρας ἀνθρώποισιν ἀείδειν</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἄρχεται, ᾧ τε πόσις καὶ βρῶσις θῆλυς ἐέρση,</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">καί τε πανημέριός τε καὶ ἐῷος χέει αὐδὴν</foreign></l> + <l><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἴδει ἐν αἰνοτάτῳ, ὁπότε χρόα Σείριος ἄζει.</foreign></l></lg></note> We found it no less eager +and busy in late twilight, and far into the night. +I can quite understand how the old Greek, who +hated silence, and hated solitude still more, loved +this little creature, which kept him company even +in the time of sleep, and gave him all the feelings +of cheerfulness and homeliness which we northerns, +<pb n='410'/><anchor id='Pg410'/>in our wretched climate, must seek from the cricket +at the fireside. +</p> + +<p> +At ten o’clock we rode into the curious dark +streets of Argos, and, after some difficulty, were +shown to the residence of M. Papalexopoulos, who +volunteered to be our host—a medical man of education +and ability, who, in spite of a very recent +family bereavement, opened his house to the stranger, +and entertained us with what may well be called in +that country real splendor. I may notice that he +alone, of all the country residents whom we met, +gave us wine not drenched with resin—a very +choice and remarkable red wine, for which the plain +of Argos is justly celebrated. In this comfortable +house we slept, I may say, in solitary grandeur, and +awoke in high spirits, without loss or damage, to +visit the wonders of this old centre of legend and +of history. +</p> + +<p> +It is very easy to see why all the Greek myths +have placed the earliest empires, the earliest arts, +and the earliest conquests, in the plains of Argolis. +They speak, too, of this particular plain having the +benefit of foreign settlers and of foreign skill. If +we imagine, as we must do, the older knowledge of +the East coming up by way of Cyprus and Crete +into Greek waters, there can be no doubt that the +first exploring mariners, reaching the barren island +of Cerigo, and the rocky shore of Laconia, would +feel their way up this rugged and inhospitable coast, +<pb n='411'/><anchor id='Pg411'/>till they suddenly came in sight of the deep bay of +Argolis, stretching far into the land, with a broad +plain and alluvial soil beyond its deepest recess. +Here, first, they would find a suitable landing-place, +and a country fit for tillage; and here, accordingly, +we should expect to find, as we actually do, the +oldest relics of habitation, beyond the huts of +wandering shepherds or of savages. So the legend +tells us that Cyclopes came from Lycia to King +Prœtus of Argos, or rather of the Argive plain, and +built him the giant fort of Tiryns.<note place="foot">These Cyclopes, cunning builders, and even workers in metal, +are to be carefully distinguished from the rude and savage Cyclopes +represented in Homer’s <hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi> as infesting Thrinacria, in the +western seas.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This was evidently the oldest great settlement. +Then, by some change of fortune, it seems that +Mycenæ grew in importance, not impossibly because +of the unhealthy site of Tiryns, where the surroundings +are now low and marshy, and were, probably, +even more so in those days. But the epoch of +Mycenæ’s greatness also passed away in historical +times; and the third city in this plain came forward +as its ruler—Argos, built under the huge Larissa, or +hill-fort, which springs out from the surrounding +mountains, and stands like an outpost over the city.<note place="foot">In the days of the composition of the <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi> we see the power +and greatness of Mycenæ distinctly expressed by the power of +Agamemnon, who appears to rule over all the district and many +islands. Yet the great hero, Diomedes, is made the sovereign of +Argos and Tiryns in his immediate neighborhood. This difficulty +has made some critics suppose that all the acts of Diomedes were +foisted in by some of the Argive reciters of the <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>. Without +adopting this theory, which seems to me extravagant, I would suggest +that, in the poet’s day, Argos was rapidly growing into first-rate +importance, while all the older legends attested the greatness +of Mycenæ. Thus the poet, who was obliged to put together the +materials given him by divers older and shorter poems, was under +the difficulty of harmonizing the fresher legends about Argos with +the older about Mycenæ.</note> +<pb n='412'/><anchor id='Pg412'/>Even now it is still an important town, and maintains, +in the midst of its smiling and well-cultivated +plain, a certain air of brightness and prosperity +which is seldom to be seen elsewhere through the +country. +</p> + +<p> +We went first to visit the old theatre, certainly +the most beautifully situated,<note place="foot">I prefer this view even to that from the theatre of Taormina +in Sicily, which is so justly celebrated, and which many people +think the finest in Europe.</note> and one of the largest +I had ever seen. It is far finer than even that of +Syracuse, and whoever has seen this latter will know +what such a statement implies. If the Greek theatre +at Syracuse has a view of the great harbor and the +coast around, this view can only have been made +interesting by crowded shipping and flitting sails, for +the whole incline of the country is very gradual, +and not even the fort of Ortygia presents any bold +or striking outline. +</p> + +<p> +The Argive theatre was built to hold an enormous +audience. We counted sixty-six tiers of seats, in +<pb n='413'/><anchor id='Pg413'/>four divisions—thus differing from the description +of Colonel Leake, which we had before us at the +time. As he observes, there may be more seats +still covered with rubbish at the bottom—indeed +this, like all the rest of Argos, ought to yield a rich +harvest to the antiquarian, being still almost virgin +soil, and never yet ransacked with any care. From +the higher seats of the theatre of Argos, which rise +much steeper than those of Syracuse, there is a most +enchanting prospect to the right, over a splendid rich +plain, covered, when we first saw it, with the brilliant +emerald-green of young vines and tobacco plants, +varied with the darker hue of plane-trees and +cypresses. After the wilderness through which we +had passed this prospect was intensely delightful. +Straight before us, and to the left, was the deep blue +bay of Argolis, with the white fortifications of Nauplia +crowning its picturesque Acropolis. All around us, +in every other direction, was a perfect amphitheatre +of lofty mountains. This bay is, for its size, the +most beautiful I ever saw, and the opinion which we +then formed was strengthened by a sunset view of it +from the other side—from Nauplia—which was, if +possible, even finer, and combined all the elements +which are conceivable in a perfect landscape. Near +the theatre there is a remnant of Cyclopean building, +apparently the angle of a wall, made of huge uncut +blocks, like those at Tiryns. There are said to be +some similar substructures on the Larissa, which is, +<pb n='414'/><anchor id='Pg414'/>however, itself a mediæval ruin, and therefore, to +us, of slight interest. +</p> + +<p> +All the children about brought us coins, of every +possible date and description, but were themselves +more interesting than their coins. For here, in +southern Greece, in a very hot climate, in a level +plain, every second child is fair, with blue eyes, and +looks like a transplanted northern, and not like the +offspring of a southern race. After the deep brown +Italian children, which strike the traveller by their +southernness all the way from Venice to Reggio, +nothing is more curious than these fairer children, +under a sunnier and hotter sky; and it reminds the +student at once how, even in Homer, yellow hair +and a fair complexion is noted as belonging to the +King of Sparta. This type seems to me common +wherever there has not arisen a mixed population, +such as that of Athens or Syra, and where the +inhabitants appear to live as they have done for +centuries. Fallmerayer’s cleverness and undoubted +learning persuaded many people, and led many more +to suspect, that the old Greek race was completely +gone, and that the present people were a mixture of +Turks, Albanians, and Slavs. To this many answers +suggest themselves,—to me, above all things, the +strange and accurate resemblances in character between +ancient and modern Greeks,—resemblances +which permeate all their life and habits. +</p> + +<p> +But this is a kind of evidence not easily stated in +<pb n='415'/><anchor id='Pg415'/>a brief form, and consists after all of a large number +of minute details. The real refutation of Fallmerayer’s +theory consists in exposing the alleged evidence +upon which it rests. He puts forth with great +confidence citations from MS. authorities at Athens, +which have not been verified; nay, he is even proved +to have been the dupe of some clever forgeries. A +careful examination of the scanty allusions to the +state of Greece during the time of its supposed +<hi rend='italic'>Slavisation</hi>, and the evidences obtained from the +lives of the Greek saints who belong to this epoch, +have proved to demonstration that the country was +never wholly occupied by foreigners, or deserted by +its old population. The researches of Ross, Ellissen, +and lastly of Hopf,<note place="foot">Cf. his exhaustive article on the Mediæval History of Greece, +in Ersch and Gruber’s <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopædia</hi>, vol. lxxxv., and more especially +his refutation of Fallmerayer’s theory, pp. 100–19.</note> have really set the matter +at rest; but, unfortunately, English students will for +some time to come be misled by the evident leaning +of Finlay toward the Slav hypothesis. As has been +fairly remarked by later critics, Finlay did not test +the documents cited by Fallmerayer; and until this +was done, the case seemed conclusive enough for +the total devastation of Greece during four hundred +years, and its occupation by a new population. But +all this is now relegated to the sphere of fable. +There is, of course, a large admixture of Slavs +and Albanians in the country; the constant +inva<pb n='416'/><anchor id='Pg416'/>sions and partial conquests for several centuries +could not but introduce it. Still, Greece has remained +Greek in the main, and the foreigners have +not been able to hold their own against the stronger +nationality of the true Hellenes. +</p> + +<p> +Another weighty argument seems to me to be +from language.<note place="foot">A great authority, whose opinion I deeply respect—Prof. +Sayce—goes so far as to say that language is by itself no proof of +race, but only of social contact. I will not venture to deny that +there are instances where this is so, and where invading strangers +have adopted the language of the vanquished, though quite foreign +to them. But surely this is the exception, and not the rule, and +there is a <hi rend='italic'>primâ facie</hi> probability in favor of a well-preserved language +indicating a well-preserved race.</note> There is really very little difference +between the language of Plato and that of the +present Greeks. There is, of course, development +and decay, there are changes of idiom and corruptions +of form, there are a good many Slav names, +but the language is essentially the same. The +present Greek will read the old classics with the +same trouble with which our peasants could read +Chaucer. It is, in fact, most remarkable, assuming +that they are the same people, how their language +has not changed more. Had the invaders +during the Middle Ages really become the main +body of the population, how is it that they abandoned +their own tongue, and adopted that of the +Greeks? Surely there must be at least a fusion of +different tongues, if the population were +consider<pb n='417'/><anchor id='Pg417'/>ably leavened. There are still Albanian districts +in Greece. They are to be found even in Attica, +and close to Athens. But these populations are +still tolerably distinct from the Greeks; their language +is quite different, and unintelligible to Greeks +who have not learned it. +</p> + +<p> +Again, the Greek language is not one which +spread itself easily among foreigners, nor did it +give rise to a number of daughter languages, like +the Latin. In many Hellenic colonies, barbarians +learned to speak Greek with the Greeks, and to +adopt their language at the time; but in all these +cases, when the Greek influence vanished the +Greek language decayed, and finally made way for +the old tongue which it had temporarily displaced. +Thus the evidence of history seems to suggest that +no foreigners were ever really able to make that +subtle tongue their own; and even now we can feel +the force of what Aristotle says—that however well +a stranger might speak, you could recognize him at +once by his use of the particles. +</p> + +<p> +These considerations seem to me conclusive that, +whatever admixtures may have taken place, the +main body of the people are what their language +declares them to be, essentially Greeks. Any careful +observer will not fail to see through the wilder +parts of the Morea types and forms equal to those +which inspired the old artists. There are still among +the shepherd boys splendid lads who would adorn a +<pb n='418'/><anchor id='Pg418'/>Greek gymnasium, or excite the praise of all Greece +at the Olympian games. There are still maidens +fit to carry the sacred basket of Athene. Above +all, there are still many old men fit to be chosen for +their stalwart beauty to act as <hi rend='italic'>thallophori</hi> in the +Panathenaic procession. +</p> + +<p> +These thoughts often struck us as we went through +the narrow and crowded streets of Argos, in search +of the peculiar produce of the place—raw silks, rich-colored +carpets and rugs, and ornamental shoes in +dull red <q>morocco</q> leather. +</p> + +<p> +We were taken to see the little museum of the +town—then a very small one, with a single inscription, +and eight or ten pieces of sculpture. But the +inscription, which is published, is exceedingly clear +and legible, and the fragments of sculpture are all +both peculiar and excellent. There is a female head +of great beauty, about half life-size, and from the +best, or certainly a very good, period of Greek art, +which has the curious peculiarity of one eye being +larger than the other. It is not merely the eyeball, +but the whole setting of the eye, which is slightly +enlarged, nor does it injure the general effect. The +gentlemen who showed this head to me, and who +were all very enthusiastic about it, had indeed not +noticed this feature, but recognized it at once when +pointed out to them. Beside this trunkless head is +a headless trunk of equal beauty—a female figure +without arms, and draped with exquisite grace, in a +<pb n='419'/><anchor id='Pg419'/>manner closely resembling the famous Venus of +Melos. The figure has one foot slightly raised, and +set upon a duck, as is quite plain from the general +form of the bird, though the webbed feet are much +worn away, and the head gone. M. Émile Burnouf +told me that this attribute of a duck would determine +it to be either Athene or Artemis. If so, +the general style of the figure, which is very young +and slight, speaks in favor of its being an Artemis. +I trust photographs of this excellent statue may soon +be made, and that it may become known to art students +in Europe. +</p> + +<p> +We also noticed a relief larger than life, on a +square block of white marble, of the head of Medusa. +The face is calm and expressionless, exactly the reverse +of Lionardo da Vinci’s matchless painting, but +archaic in character, and of good and clear workmanship. +The head-dress, which has been finished +only on the right side, is very peculiar, and consists +of large scales starting from the forehead, and separating +into two plaits, which become serpents’ +bodies, and descend in curves as low as the chin, +then turning upward and outward again, till they +end in well-formed serpents’ heads. The left serpent +is carved out perfectly in relief, but not covered +with scales. +</p> + +<p> +I was unable to obtain any trustworthy account +of the finding of these marbles, but they were all +fresh discoveries, especially the Medusa head, which +<pb n='420'/><anchor id='Pg420'/>had been only lately brought to the museum, when +we were first at Argos. Future visitors will find this +valuable collection much increased; and here in this +important town it is advisable that there should be a +local museum. +</p> + +<p> +If we look at Dorian art, as contrasted with +Ionian, there can be no doubt that the earliest centre +was Corinth in the Peloponnesus, to which various +discoveries in art are specially ascribed. In architecture, +there were many leading ideas, such as the +setting up of clay figures in the tympanum of their +temples, and the use of panels or soffits, as they +were called, in ceilings, which came first from Corinth. +But when we descend to better-known times, +there are three other Dorian states which quite +eclipse Corinth, I suppose because the trading instinct, +as is sometimes the case, crushed out or +weakened her enthusiasm for art. These states are +Ægina, Sikyon, and Argos. Sikyon rose to greatness +under the gentle and enlightened despotism of +Orthagoras and his family, of whom it was noticed +that they retained their sovereignty longer than any +other dynasty of despots in Greece. Ægina seems +to have disputed the lead with Corinth as a commercial +mart, from the days of Pheidon, whose coinage +of money was always said to have been first practised +at Ægina.<note place="foot">This fact strengthens my conviction that at an early period +Ægina worked the silver-mines of Laurium.</note> The prominence of Ægina in +<pb n='421'/><anchor id='Pg421'/>Pindar’s Epinikian Odes shows not only how eagerly +men practised athletics, and loved renown there, but +how well able they were to pay for expensive monuments +of their fame. Their position in the Persian +war, among the bravest of the Greeks, corroborates +the former part of my statement; the request of an +Ionian Greek lady, captured in the train of Mardonius, +to be transported to Ægina, adds evidence +for the second, as it shows that, to a person of this +description, Ægina was the field for a rich harvest, +and we wonder how its reputation can have +been greater in this respect than that of Corinth.<note place="foot">Cf. Pindar’s frag. for the Corinthian <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἑταίραι</foreign>.</note> +But, a short time after, the rise of the Athenian +naval power crushed the greatness of Ægina, and it +sank into insignificance, and was absorbed into the +Attic power. +</p> + +<p> +Thus Sikyon and Argos remained, and it was precisely +these two towns which produced a special +school of art, of which Polycletus was the most distinguished +representative. Dorian sculpture had +originally started with figures of athletes, which +were dedicated at the temples, and were a sort of +collateral monument to the odes of poets—more +durable, no doubt, in the minds of the offerers, but, +as time has shown, perishable and gone, while the +winged words of the poet have not lost even the first +bloom of their freshness. However, in contrast to +the flowing robes and delicately-chiselled features of +<pb n='422'/><anchor id='Pg422'/>the Ionic school, the Dorians reproduced the naked +human figure with great accuracy; while in the face +they adhered to a stiff simplicity, regardless of individual +features, and still more regardless of any expression +save that of a vacant smile. This type, +found in its most perfect development in the Æginetan +marbles, was what lay before Polycletus, when +he rose to greatness. He was the contemporary and +rival of Phidias, and is said to have defeated him in +a competition for the temple of Hera at Samos, +where two or three of the greatest sculptors modelled +a wounded Amazon, and Polycletus was adjudged +the first place. There is some probability that one +of the Amazons now in the Vatican is a copy of this +famous work; and, in spite of a clumsily-restored +head and arms, we can see in this figure the great +simplicity and truth of the artist in treating a rather +ungrateful subject—that of a very powerful and +muscular woman. +</p> + +<p> +The Argive school, owing to its traditions, affected +single figures much more than groups; and this, no +doubt, was the main contrast between Polycletus +and Phidias—that, however superior the Argive +might be in a single figure, the genius of the Athenian +was beyond all comparison in using sculpture +for groups and processions as an adjunct to architecture. +But there was also in the sitting statue of +Zeus, at Olympia, a certain majesty which seems +not to have been equalled by any other known +sculp<pb n='423'/><anchor id='Pg423'/>tor. The Attic artist who appears, however, to have +been much nearer to Polycletus in style was Myron, +whose <hi rend='italic'>Discobolus</hi> has reached us in some splendid +copies, and who seems to have had all the Dorian +taste for representing single athletic figures with +more life and more daring action about them than +was attempted by Polycletus.<note place="foot">The bronze cow of Myron seems also to have been a wonderfully +admired work, to judge from the crowd of epigrams written +upon it, which still survive.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Herodotus notices somewhere that, at a certain +period, the Argives were the most renowned in +Greece for music. It is most unfortunate that our +knowledge of this branch of Greek art is so fragmentary +that we are wholly unable to tell in what +the Argive proficiency consisted. We are never +told that the Doric scale was there invented; but, +very possibly, they may have taken the lead among +their brethren in this direction also, for it is well +known that the Spartans, though excellent judges, +depended altogether upon foreigners to make music +for them, and thought it not gentlemanly to do more +than criticise. +</p> + +<p> +The drive from Argos to Nauplia leads by Tiryns, +then by a great marsh, which is most luxuriously +covered with green and with various flowers, and +then along a good road all the way into the important +and stirring town of Nauplia. This place, +which was one of the oldest settlements, as is proved +<pb n='424'/><anchor id='Pg424'/>by Pelasgic walls and tombs high up on the overhanging +cliffs, was always through history known as +the port of Argos, and is so still, though it rose +under the Turks to the dignity of capital of the +whole province of Greece. The citadel has at all +times been considered almost impregnable. The +situation of the town is exceptionally beautiful, even +for a Greek town; and the sunset behind the +Arcadian mountains, seen from Nauplia, with the +gulf in the foreground, is a view which no man can +ever forget. +</p> + +<p> +A coasting steamer, which goes right round all the +Peloponnesus, took us up with a great company, +which was hurrying to Athens for the elections, and +carried us round the coast of Argolis, stopping at the +several ports on the way. This method of seeing +either Greece or Italy is highly to be commended, +and it is a great pity that so many people adhere +strictly to the quickest and most obvious route, so +missing many of the really characteristic features in +the country which they desire to study. Thus the +Italian coasting steamers, which go up from Messina +by Naples to Genoa, touch at many not insignificant +places (such as Gaeta), which no ordinary tourist +ever sees, and which are nevertheless among the +most beautiful in all the country. The same may +be said of the sail from Nauplia to Athens, which +leads you to Spezza, Hydra, or Idra, as they now +<pb n='425'/><anchor id='Pg425'/>call it, to Poros and to Ægina, all very curious and +interesting places to visit. +</p><anchor id="ill424"/><index index="fig" level1="The Palamedi, Nauplia"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Palamedi, Nauplia]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus490.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Palamedi, Nauplia</head><figDesc>The Palamedi, Nauplia</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The island of Hydra was, in old days, a mere +barren rock, scarcely inhabited, and would probably +never have changed its reputation but for a pirate +settlement in a very curious little harbor, with +a very narrow entrance, which faces the main +shore of Argolis. As you sail along the straight +coast line, there seems no break or indentation, +when suddenly, as if by magic, the rocky shore +opens for about twenty yards, at a spot marked by +several caves in the face of the cliff, and lets you +see into a circular harbor of very small dimensions, +with an amphitheatre of rich and well-built houses +rising up all round the bay. Though the water is +very deep, there is actually no room for a large fleet, +and there seems not a yard of level ground, except +where terraces have been artificially made. High +rocks on both sides of the narrow entrance hide all +prospect of the town, except from the point directly +opposite the entrance. +</p> + +<p> +The Hydriotes, who were rich merchants, and, I +suppose, successful pirates in the Turkish days, were +never enslaved, but kept their liberty and their +wealth by paying a tribute to the Porte. They +developed a trading power which reminds one +strongly of the old Greek cities; and so faithful +were they to one another that it was an ordinary +habit for citizens to entrust all their savings to a +<pb n='426'/><anchor id='Pg426'/>captain starting for a distant port, to be laid out by +him to the best advantage. It is said that they were +never defrauded of their profits. The Turks may, +perhaps, have thought that by gentle treatment they +would secure the fidelity of the Hydriotes, whose +wealth and power depended much on Turkish protection; +but they were greatly mistaken. There +was, indeed, some hesitation among the islanders, +when the War of Liberation broke out, what part +they should take; for during the great Napoleonic +wars the Hydriotes, sailing under the neutral flag of +Turkey, had made enormous profits by carrying trade +among the belligerents. They lived in great luxury. +With the peace of 1815, and the reopening of the +French and other ports to English ships, these +profits disappeared, and the extravagant hopes of +the Hydriotes ended in bankruptcy. This was +probably a main cause of their patriotism. However, +by far the most brilliant feats in the war were +those performed by the Hydriote sailors, who remind +one very much of the Zealanders in the wars of +Holland against the Spanish power. Whether their +bravery has been exaggerated is hard to say: this, +at all events, is clear, that they earned the respect and +admiration of the whole nation, nor is there any nobility +so recognized in Greek society as descent from +the Hydriote chiefs who fought for the Liberation. +</p> + +<p> +With the rise of the nation the wealth and importance +of Hydra has strangely decayed. +Prob<pb n='427'/><anchor id='Pg427'/>ably the Peiræus, with its vast advantages, has +naturally regained its former predominance, now +that every part of the coast and every port are +equally free. Still, the general style and way of +living at Hydra reminds one of old times; and if +the island itself be sterile, the rich slopes of the +opposite coast, covered with great groves of lemon-trees, +are owned by the wealthy descendants of the +old merchants. +</p> + +<p> +The neighboring island of Spezza, where the +steamer waits, and a crowd of picturesque people +come out in quaint boats to give and take cargo, +has a history very parallel to that of Hydra. It is +to be noted that the population of both islands is +rather Albanian than Greek. A few hours brings +the steamer past Poros and through narrow passages +among islands to Ægina, as they now call it. We +have here an island whose history is precisely the +reverse of that of Hydra. The great days of +Ægina (as I mentioned above) were in very old +times, from the age of Pheidon of Argos, in the +seventh century <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, up to the rise of Athens’s +democracy and navy, when this splendid centre of +literature, art, and commerce was absorbed in the +greater Athenian empire. +</p> + +<p> +There is at present a considerable town on the +coast, and some cultivation on the hills; but the +whole aspect of the island is very rocky and barren, +and as it can hardly ever have been otherwise, we +<pb n='428'/><anchor id='Pg428'/>feel at once that the early greatness of Ægina was, +like that of Hydra in the last century, a purely +commercial greatness. The people are very hospitable +and interesting. Nowhere in Greece did I +see more apparent remains of the purest Greek +type. Our hostess, in particular, was worthy to +take her place in the Parthenon frieze, and among +the children playing on the quay there were faces +of marvellous beauty. +</p> + +<p> +With enterprise and diligence, a trading nation or +city may readily become great in a small island or +barren coast, and no phenomenon in history proves +this more strongly than the vast empire of the +Phœnicians, who seem never to have owned more +than a bare tract of a few miles about Tyre and +Sidon. They were, in fact, a great people without +a country. The Venetians similarly raised an +empire on a salt marsh, and at one time owned +many important possessions on Greek coasts and +islands, without <q>any visible means of subsistence,</q> +as they say in the police courts. In the same way, +Pericles thought nothing of the possession of Attica, +provided the Athenians could hold their city walls +and their harbors. He knew that with a maritime +supremacy they must necessarily be lords of so vast +a stretch of coasts and islands that the barren hills +of Attica might be completely left out of account. +</p> + +<p> +There is yet another and a very interesting way +from Nauplia to Ægina, which may be strongly +<pb n='429'/><anchor id='Pg429'/>recommended to the traveller who does not arrive +in due time to catch the weekly steamer. Horses +can be hired at Nauplia, which can perform, in about +seven hours, the journey to the little village of Epidauros +(now pronounced <hi rend='italic'>Epídavros</hi>). Here a boat +can be obtained, which, with a fair wind, can reach +Ægina in three, and the Peiræus in about six hours. +But, like all boating expeditions, this trip is uncertain, +and may be thwarted by either calm or storm. +</p><anchor id="ill428"/><index index="fig" level1="Sculptured Lion, Nauplia"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Sculptured Lion, Nauplia]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus496.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Sculptured Lion, Nauplia</head><figDesc>Sculptured Lion, Nauplia</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +We left Nauplia on a very fine morning, while the +shepherds from the country were going through the +streets, shouting <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">γάλα</foreign>, and serving out their milk +from skins, of which they held the neck in one hand, +and loosened their hold slightly to pour it into the +vessel brought to them by the customer. These +picturesque people—men, women, and children—seem +to drive an active trade, and yet are not, I +believe, to be found in the streets of any other +Greek town. +</p> + +<p> +The way through the Argolic country is rough +and stony, not unlike in character to the ride from +Corinth to Mycenæ, but more barren, and for the +most part less picturesque. On some of the hilltops +are old ruins, with fine remains of masonry, apparently +old Greek work. The last two or three hours +of the journey are, however, particularly beautiful, +as the path goes along the course of a rich glen, in +which a tumbling river hurries toward the sea. +This glen is full of verdure and of trees. We saw +<pb n='430'/><anchor id='Pg430'/>it in the richest moment of a southern spring, when +all the trees were bursting into leaf, or decked with +varied bloom. It was the home, too, of thrushes, +and many other singing birds, which filled the air +with music—as it were a rich variation upon the +monotonous sound of the murmuring river. There +is no sweeter concert than this in nature, no union +of sight and sound which fills the heart of the +stranger in such a solitude with deeper gladness. +I know no fitter exodus from the beautiful Morea—a +farewell journey which will dwell upon the +memory, and banish from the mind all thoughts of +discomfort and fatigue. +</p> + +<p> +In the picturesque little land-locked bay of Epidavros +there was a good-sized fishing-boat riding at +anchor, which we immediately chartered to convey +us to Athens. The skipper took some time to +gather a crew, and to obtain the necessary papers +from the local authorities, but after some pressure +on our part we got under weigh with a fair wind, +and ran out of the harbor into the broad rock-studded +sheet of water which separates Argolis +from Ægina, and from the more distant coast of +Attica. There is no more delightful or truly Greek +mode of travelling than to run through islands and +under rocky coasts in these boats, which are roomy +and comfortable, and, being decked, afford fair shelter +from shower or spray. But presently the wind +began to increase from the north-west, and our +<pb n='431'/><anchor id='Pg431'/>skipper to hesitate whether it were safe to continue +the journey. He proposed to run into the +harbor of Ægina for the night. We acquiesced +without demur, and went at a great pace to our +new destination. But no sooner had we come into +the harbor, and cast anchor, so that the boat lay +steady with her head to the wind, than another +somewhat larger boat which came sailing in after +us ran right into her amidships. The shock started +up all my companions, who were lying asleep in the +bottom of the boat, and the situation looked rather +desperate, for we were in the middle of a large +harbor, a long way from land. It was night, and +blowing hard, and all our crew betook themselves +to weeping and praying, while the other boat did +her best to sheer off and leave us to our fate. +However, some of us climbed into her by the bow-sprit, +which lay across our deck, while others got +up the baggage, and proceeded to examine at what +pace the water was coming in. A boat from the +shore came out in time to take us off safely, but +when we had landed our skipper gravely proposed +that we should pay for the boat, as she was injured +in our service! Of course, we laughed him to scorn, +and having found at Ægina a steam-launch belonging +to Captain Miaoulis, then Minister of Marine, +we went in search of him, and besought him to take +us next day to the Peiræus. The excellent man +not only granted our request, but entertained us on +<pb n='432'/><anchor id='Pg432'/>the way with the most interesting anecdotes of his +stay in England as a boy, when he came with his +father to seek assistance from our country during +the War of Liberation. Thus we came into the +Peiræus, not as shipwrecked outcasts, but under the +protection of one of the most gallant and distinguished +officers of the Greek navy. +</p> + +<p> +A great point of interest among newly-discovered +sites is the great temple and theatre of Epidaurus, +which I did not visit, on account of an epidemic of +small-pox—<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">εὐφλογία</foreign> they call it, euphemistically. +The very journey to this place is worth making, +on account of its intensely characteristic features. +You start from Athens in a coasting steamer full +of natives, who carry with them their food and beds, +and camp on deck where it pleases them, regardless +of class. You see all the homeliness of ordinary +life obtruded upon you without seeking it, instead +of intruding upon others to find it; and you can +study not only the country, but the people, at great +leisure. But the ever-varying beauty of the scene +leaves little time for other studies. The boat passes +along Ægina, and rounds the promontory of Kalauria—the +death-scene of Demosthenes—into the land-locked +bay of Poros, where lay the old Trœzen and +Hermione along the fruitful shore, surrounded by an +amphitheatre of lofty mountains. The sea is like a +fair inland lake, studded with white sails, and framed +with the rich green of vines and figs and growing +<pb n='433'/><anchor id='Pg433'/>corn. Even the rows of tall solemn cypresses can +suggest no gloom in such a landscape. From here +it is but a short ride to the famous temple of Æsculapius, +though most people go from Nauplia, as I +once did in former years, before the discoveries were +made which now attract the student. +</p> + +<p> +The excavations of the Greek archæological +society have laid bare at least three principal buildings +in connection with the famous spot; the old +temple of the god, the theatre, and the famous <hi rend='italic'>tholos</hi>, +a circular building, in which those who had been +healed of diseases set up votive tablets. The extraordinary +size and splendor of the theatre—Pausanias +says it was far the finest in Greece—rather contrasts +with the dimensions of the temple, and suggests +that most of the patients who came were able +to enjoy themselves, or else that many people came +for pleasure, and not on serious business. The remains +discovered are particularly valuable for the +good preservation of the stage, but of this I can +only speak at second hand. So also the circular +building, which was erected under the supervision +of the famous Polycletus, the great Argive sculptor, +a rival of Phidias, has many peculiar features, and +shows in one more instance that what earlier art +critics assumed as modern was based on older classical +models. Circular buildings supported on pillars +were thought rather Græco-Roman than Greek, but +here we see that, like the builders of the Odeon of +<pb n='434'/><anchor id='Pg434'/>Pericles, of the later Philippeion at Olympia, so the +Epidaurians had this form before them from early +days. Inside the outer row of Doric pillars was a +second circle of pillars, apparently Ionic as to proportions +and fluting, but the capitals were Corinthian, +so that this feature also in architecture has a venerable +antiquity, and was not Græco-Roman, as was +once supposed. For a long time the so-called +Lantern of Demosthenes, built for Lysicrates at +Athens in 335 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, when Alexander was leading his +army into Asia, was considered the oldest, and perhaps +the only pure Greek example of the Corinthian +capital. People began to hesitate when a solitary +specimen was found in the famous temple of Bassæ, +where it could hardly have been imported in later +days. Now the evidence is completed, and in this +respect the historians of art are correcting the rash +generalization of their predecessors. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="14" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='435'/><anchor id='Pg435'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XIV. Kynuria—Sparta—Messene"/><index index="pdf" level1="XIV. Kynuria--Sparta--Messene"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIV.</head> + +<head type="sub">KYNURIA—SPARTA—MESSENE.</head> + +<p> +Whatever other excursions a traveller may make +in the Morea, he ought not to omit a trip to Sparta, +which has so often been the centre of power, and is +still one of the chief centres of attraction in Greece. +And yet many reasons conspire to make this famous +place less visited than the rest of the country. It is +distinctly out of the way from the present starting-points +of travel. To reach it from Athens, or even +from Patras or Corinth, requires several days, and it +is not remarkable for any of those architectural remains +which are more attractive to the modern +inquirer than anything else in a historic country. +</p> + +<p> +Of the various routes we choose (in 1884) that +from Nauplia by Astros, as we had been the guests +for some days of the hospitable Dr. Schliemann, who +was prosecuting his now famous researches at Tiryns. +So we rose one morning with the indefatigable doctor +before dawn,<note place="foot">Cf. the account of his habits in his work, <hi rend='italic'>Tiryns</hi>, cap. I.</note> and took a boat to bring us down +the coast to Astros. The morning was perfectly fair +and calm, and the great mountain chains of the coast +were mirrored in the opal sea, as we passed the +pic<pb n='436'/><anchor id='Pg436'/>turesque rocky fort which stands close to Nauplia +in the bay, the residence of the public executioner. +The beauty of the Gulf of Argos never seemed +more perfect than in the freshness of the morning, +with the rising sun illuminating the lofty coasts. +Our progress was at first by the slow labor of the oar, +but as the morning advanced there came down a +fresh west wind from the mountains, which at intervals +filled our lateen sail almost too well, and sent +us flying along upon our way. In three hours we +rounded a headland, and found ourselves in the pretty +little bay of Astros. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, the whole population came down to see +us. They were apparently as idle, and as ready to +be amused, as the inhabitants of an Irish village. +But they are sadly wanting in fun. You seldom +hear them make a joke or laugh, and their curiosity +is itself curious from this aspect. After a good deal +of bargaining we agreed for a set of mules and +ponies to bring us all the way round the Morea, to +Corinth if necessary, though ultimately we were glad +to leave them at Kyparissia, at the opposite side of +Peloponnesus, and pursue our way by sea. The +bargain was eight drachmas per day for each animal; +a native, or very experienced traveller, could +have got them for five to six drachmas. +</p> + +<p> +Our way led us up a river course, as usual +through fine olive-trees and fields of corn, studded +with scarlet anemones, till after a mile or two we +<pb n='437'/><anchor id='Pg437'/>began to ascend from the level of the coast to the +altitudes of the central plateau, or rather mountain +system, of the Morea. Here the flora of the coast +gave way to fields of sperge, hyacinths, irises, and +star of Bethlehem. Every inch of ascent gave us +a more splendid and extended view back over coasts +and islands. The giant tops of the inner country +showed themselves still covered with snow. We +were in that district so little known in ancient history, +which was so long a bone of contention between +Argos and Sparta, whose boundaries seem never to +have been fixed by any national landmark. When +we had reached the top of the rim of inland Alps, +we ascended and descended various steeps, and +rounded many glens, reaching in the end the village +of Hagios Petros, which we had seen before us +for a long time, while we descended one precipice +and mounted another to attain our goal. It was +amusing to see our <hi rend='italic'>agogiatæ</hi> or muleteers pulling out +fragments of mirror, and arranging their toilette, +such as it was, before encountering the criticism of +the Hagiopetrans. One of these men was indeed a +handsome soldierly youth, who walked all day with +us for a week over the roughest country, in miserable +shoes, and yet without apparent fatigue. +</p> + +<p> +Another, a great stout man with a beard, excused +himself for not being married by saying he was <hi rend='italic'>too +little</hi> (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">εἶναι μικρός</foreign>), and so we learned that as they +are all expected to marry, and do marry, twenty-five +<pb n='438'/><anchor id='Pg438'/>is considered the earliest proper age. One would +almost think they had preserved some echo of Aristotle’s +views, which make thirty years the best age +for marriage—thirty years! when most of us are +already so old as to have lost interest in these great +pleasures. +</p> + +<p> +At Hagios Petros we were hospitably received by +the demarch, a venerable old man with a white +beard, who was a physician, unfortunately also a +politician, and who insisted on making a thousand +inquiries about Mr. Gladstone and Prince Bismarck, +while we were starving and longing for dinner. +Some fish, which the muleteers had providently +bought at Astros and brought with them, formed the +best part of the entertainment, if we except the +magnificent creature, adorned in all his petticoats +and colors and knives, who came in to see us before +dinner, and kissed our hands with wonderful dignity, +but who turned out to be the waiter at the +table. We asked the demarch how he had procured +himself so stately a servant, and he said he was the +clerk in his office. It occurred to us, when we +watched the grace and dignity of every movement +in this royal-looking person, how great an effect +splendid costume seems to have on manners. It +was but a few days since that I had gone to a very +fashionable evening party at a handsome palace in +Athens, and had been amused at the extraordinary +awkwardness with which various very learned +men<pb n='439'/><anchor id='Pg439'/>—professors, archæologists, men of independent +means—had entered the room. The circle was, +I may add, chiefly German. Here was a man, +ignorant, acting as a servant and yet a king in +demeanor. But how could you expect a German +professor in his miserable Frankish dress to assume +the dignity of a Greek in palicar costume, in forty +yards of petticoat, his waist squeezed with female +relentlessness, with his ruby jacket and gaiters, his +daggers and pistols at his belt. After all, manners +are hardly attainable, as a rule, without costume. +</p> + +<p> +We were accommodated as well as the worthy +demarch could manage for the night. As a special +favor I was put to sleep into his dispensary, a little +chamber full of galley-pots, pestles, and labelled +bottles of antiquated appearance, and dreamt in +turns of the study of Faust and of the apothecary’s +shop in Mantua, which we see upon the stage. +</p> + +<p> +Early in the morning we climbed up a steep +ascent to attain the high plateau, very bleak and +bare, which is believed by the people to have been +the scene of the conflict of Othryades and his men +with the Argive 300. A particular spot is still +called <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">στοὺς φονευμένους</foreign>, <hi rend='italic'>the place of the slain</hi>. +The high plain, about 3500 feet above the sea, +was all peopled with country-folk coming to a +market at Hagios Petros, and we had ample opportunity +of admiring both the fine manly appearance +and the excellent manners of this hardy and free +<pb n='440'/><anchor id='Pg440'/>peasantry. The complex of mountains in which +they live is the chain of Parnon, which ultimately +extends from Thyreatis through Kynuria down to +Cape Malea, but not without many breaks and +crossings. The heights of Parnon (now called +Malevo) still hid from us the farther Alps of the +inner country. +</p> + +<p> +After a ride of an hour or two we descended to +the village of Arachova, much smaller and poorer +than its namesake in Phocis (above, <ref target="Pg274">p. 274)</ref>, and +thence to the valley of a stream called Phonissa, +the murderess, from its dangerous floods, but at the +moment a pleasant and shallow brook. Down its +narrow bed we went for hours, crossing and recrossing +it, or riding along its banks, with all the verdure +gradually increasing with the change of climate and +of shelter, till at last a turn in the river brought us +suddenly in sight of the brilliant serrated crest of +Taygetus, glittering with its snow in the sunshine. +Then we knew our proper landmark, and felt that +we were indeed approaching Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +But we still had a long way to ride down our +river till we reached its confluence with the Eurotas, +near to which we stopped at a solitary khan, from +which it is an easy ride to visit the remains of Sellasia. +During the remaining three hours we descended +the banks of the Eurotas, with the country +gradually growing richer, and the stream so deep +that it could no longer be forded. There is a quaint +<pb n='441'/><anchor id='Pg441'/>high mediæval bridge at the head of the vale of +Sparta. On a hot summer’s afternoon, about five +o’clock, we rode, dusty and tired, into Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +The town was in holiday, and athletic sports were +going on in commemoration of the establishment of +Greek liberty. Crowds of fine tall men were in the +very wide regular streets, and in the evening this +new town vindicated its ancient title of <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">εὐρύχορος</foreign>. +But the very first glance at the surroundings of the +place was sufficient to correct in my mind a very +widespread error, which we all obtain from reading +the books of people who have never studied history +on the spot. We imagine to ourselves the Spartans +as hardy mountaineers, living in a rude alpine country, +with sterile soil, the rude nurse of liberty. +They may have been such when they arrived in +prehistoric times from the mountains of Phocis, +but a very short residence in Laconia must have +changed them very much. The vale of Sparta is +the richest and most fertile in Peloponnesus. The +bounding chains of mountains are separated by a +stretch, some twenty miles wide, of undulating hills +and slopes, all now covered with vineyards, orange +and lemon orchards, and comfortable homesteads or +villages. The great chain on the west limits the +vale by a definite line, but toward the east the hills +that run toward Malea rise very gradually and with +many delays beyond the arable ground. The old +Spartans therefore settled in the richest and best +<pb n='442'/><anchor id='Pg442'/>country available, and must from the very outset of +their career have had better food, better climate, and +hence much more luxury than their neighbors. +</p> + +<p> +We are led to the same conclusion by the art-remains +which are now coming to light, and which +are being collected in the well-built local museum of +the town. They show us that there was an archaic +school of sculpture, which produced votive and +funeral reliefs, and therefore that the old Spartans +were by no means so opposed to art as they have +been represented in the histories. The poetry of +Alkman, with its social and moral freedom, its +suggestions of luxury and good living, shows what +kind of literature the Spartan rulers thought fit to +import and encourage in the city of Lycurgus. The +whole sketch of Spartan society which we read in +Plutarch’s <hi rend='italic'>Life</hi> and other late authorities seems +rather to smack of imaginary reconstruction on +Doric principles than of historical reality. Contrasts +there were, no doubt, between Dorians and Ionians, +nay, even between Sparta and Tarentine or Argive +Dorians; but still Sparta was a rich and luxurious +society, as is confessed on all hands where there is +any mention of the ladies and their homes. We +might as well infer from the rudeness of the dormitories +in the College at Winchester, or from the +simplicity of an English man-of-war’s mess, that our +nation consisted of rude mountaineers living in the +sternest simplicity. +</p> + +<pb n='443'/><anchor id='Pg443'/> + +<p> +But if I continue to write in this way I shall have +all the pedants down upon me. Let us return to the +Sparta of to-day. We lodged at a very bad and dear +inn, and our host’s candid excuse for his exorbitant +prices was the fact that he very seldom had strangers +to rob, and so must plunder those that came without +stint. His formula was perhaps a little more decent, +but he hardly sought to disguise the plain truth. +When we sought our beds, we found that a very +noisy party had established themselves below to +celebrate the Feast of the Liberation, with supper, +speeches, and midnight revelry. +</p> + +<p> +So, as usual, there was little possibility of sleep. +Moreover, I knew that we had a very long day’s +journey before us to Kalamata, so I rose before the +sun and before my companions, to make preparations +and to rouse the muleteers. +</p> + +<p> +On opening my window, I felt that I had attained +one of the strange moments of life which can never +be forgotten. The air was preternaturally clear and +cold, and the sky beginning to glow faintly with the +coming day. Straight before me, so close that it +almost seemed within reach of voice, the giant +Taygetus, which rises straight from the plain, stood +up into the sky, its black and purple gradually +brightening into crimson, and the cold blue-white +of its snow warming into rose. There was a great +feeling of peace and silence, and yet a vast diffusion +of sound. From the whole plain, with all its +home<pb n='444'/><anchor id='Pg444'/>steads and villages, myriads of cocks were proclaiming +the advent of the dawn. I had never thought +there were so many cocks in all the world. The +ever-succeeding voices of these countless thousands +kept up one continual wave of sound, such as I suppose +could not be equalled anywhere else; and yet +for all that, as I have said, there was a feeling of +silence, a sense that no other living thing was +abroad, an absolute stillness in the air, a deep sleep +over the rest of nature. +</p> + +<p> +How long I stood there, and forgot my hurry, I +know not, but starting up at last as the sun struck +the mountain, I went down, and found below stairs +another curious contrast. All over the coffee-room +(if I may so dignify it) were the disordered remains +of a disorderly revel, ashes and stains and fragments +in disgusting confusion; and among them a solitary +figure was mumbling prayers in the gloom to the +image of a saint with a faint lamp burning before it. +In the midst of the wrecks of dissipation was the +earnestness of devotion, prayer in the place of +ribaldry; perhaps, too, dead formalism in the place +of coarse but real enjoyment. +</p> + +<p> +We left for Mistra before six in the morning, so +escaping some of the parting inspection which the +whole town was ready to bestow upon us. The way +led us past many orchards, where oranges and lemons +were growing in the richest profusion on great trees, +as large as the cherry-trees in the Alps. The +<pb n='445'/><anchor id='Pg445'/>branches were bending with their load, and there +was fruit tumbled into the grass, and studding the +ground in careless plenty with its ruddy and pale +gold. In these orchards, with their deep green +masses of foliage, the nightingales sing all day, and +we heard them out-carolling the homelier sounds of +awakening husbandry. During all the many rides I +have taken through Greece, no valley ever struck +me with the sense of peace and wealth so much as +that of Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +After an hour or so we reached the picturesque +town of Mistra, now nearly deserted, but all through +the Middle Ages the capital of the district, nestled +under the shelter of the great fortress of the Villehardouins, +the family of the famous chronicler. Separated +by a deep gorge (or <hi rend='italic'>langada</hi>) with its torrent +from the loftier mountain, this picturesque rock with +its fortress contains the most remarkable mediæval +remains, Latin, Greek, Venetian, Turkish, in all the +Morea. Villehardouins and Paleologi made it their +seat of power, and filled it with churches and palaces, +to which I shall return when we speak of mediæval +Greece. An earthquake about fifty years ago destroyed +many of the houses, and the population +then founded the new Sparta, with its wide, regular +streets, on the site of the old classical city. This +resettlement is not so serious a hindrance to archæology +as the rebuilding of Athens, for we know that +in the days of its real greatness Sparta was a mere +<pb n='446'/><anchor id='Pg446'/>aggregate of villages, and the walls and theatre +which are still visible must have been built in late +Greek or Roman times. The so-called tomb of +Leonidas, a square chamber built with huge blocks +of ashlar masonry, of which three courses remain, +appears like building of the best period, but its history +is wholly unknown. +</p> + +<p> +We reached in another hour the steep village of +Trypi, at the very mouth of the great pass through +Taygetus—a beautiful site, with houses and forest +trees standing one above the other on the precipitous +steep; and below, the torrent rushing into the +plain to join the Eurotas. It is from this village +that we ought to have started at dawn, and where +we should have spent the previous night, for even +from here it takes eleven full hours to reach Kalamata +on the Gulf of Messene. The traveller should +send on his ponies, or take them to Mistra and +thence to Trypi on the previous afternoon. The +lodging there is probably not much worse than at +Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +From this point we entered at once into the great +Langada pass, the most splendid defile in Greece—the +only way from Sparta into Messene for a distance +of thirty miles north and south. It is indeed possible +to scale the mountain at a few other points, but +only by regular alpine climbing, whereas this is a +regular highway; and along it strings of mules, +not without trouble, make their passage daily, when +<pb n='447'/><anchor id='Pg447'/>the snow does not lie, from Sparta and from Kalamata. +</p><anchor id="ill446"/><index index="fig" level1="Langada Pass"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Langada Pass]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus516.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Langada Pass</head><figDesc>Langada Pass</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Nothing can exceed the picturesqueness and +beauty of this pass, and nothing was stranger +than the contrast between its two steeps. That +which faced south was covered with green and with +spring flowers—pale anemones, irises, orchids, violets, +and, where a stream trickled down, with primroses—a +marsh plant in this country. All these +were growing among great boulders and cliffs, +whereas on the opposite side the whole face was +bleak and barren, the rocks being striated with rich +yellow and red veins. I suppose in hot summer +these aspects are reversed. High above us, as it +were, looking down from the summits, were great +forests of fir-trees—a gloomy setting to a grandiose +and savage landscape. The day was, as usual, calm +and perfectly fine, with a few white clouds relieving +the deep blue of the sky. As we were threading +our way among the rocks of the river-course we +were alarmed by large stones tumbling from above, +and threatening to crush us. Our guides raised all +the echoes with their shouts, to warn any unconscious +disturber of this solitude that there were +human beings beneath, but on closer survey we +found that our possible assassins were only goats +clambering along the precipice in search of food, +and disturbing loose boulders as they went. +</p> + +<p> +Farther on we met other herds of these quaint +<pb n='448'/><anchor id='Pg448'/>creatures generally tended by a pair of solitary children, +who seemed to belong to no human kin, but, +like birds or flowers, to be the natural denizens of +these wilds. They seemed not to talk or play; we +never heard them sing, but passed them sitting in +curious vague listlessness, with no wonder, no curiosity, +in their deep solemn eyes. There, all the day +long, they heard no sound but the falling water, the +tinkling of their flocks, and the great whisper of the +forest pines when the breeze touched them on its +way down the pass. They took little heed of us as +we passed, and seemed to have sunk from active +beings into mere passive mirrors of the external +nature around them. The men with us, on the other +hand, were constantly singing and talking. They +were all in a strange country which they had never +seen; a serious man with a gun slung around his +shoulder was our guide from Trypi, and so at last we +reached the top of the pass, about four thousand feet +high, marked by a little chapel to St. Elias, and once +by a stone pillar stating the boundary between Sparta +and Messene. It was then up this pass, and among +these forests, that the young Spartans had steeled +themselves by hunting the wolf and the bear in +peace, and by raids and surprises in days of war. +</p> + +<p> +The descent was longer and more varied; sometimes +through well cultivated olive yards, mulberries, +and thriving villages, sometimes along giant slopes, +where a high wind would have made our progress +<pb n='449'/><anchor id='Pg449'/>very difficult. Gradually the views opened and extended, +and in the evening we could see down to the +coast of Messene, and the sea far away. But we +did not reach Kalamata till long after nightfall, and +rested gladly in a less uncomfortable inn than we had +yet found in the journey. +</p> + +<p> +The town is a cheery and pleasant little place, +with remains of a large mediæval castle occupied by +Franks, Venetians, Turks, which was the first seat +of the Villehardouins, and from which they founded +their second fort at Mistra. The river Nedon here +runs into the sea, and there is a sort of open roadstead +for ships, where steamers call almost daily, and +a good deal of coasting trade (silk, currants, etc.) +goes on. The only notable feature in the architecture +is the pretty bell tower of the church, of a type +which I afterward saw in other parts of Messenia, +but which is not usual in these late Byzantine +buildings. +</p> + +<p> +As there was nothing to delay us here, we left +next morning for the convent of Vourkano, from +which we were to visit Mount Ithome, and the famous +ruins of Epaminondas’s second great foundation +in Peloponnesus—the revived Messene. The +plain (called <hi rend='italic'>Macaria</hi> or Felix from its fertility) +through which we rode was indeed both rich and +prosperous, but swampy in some places and very +dusty in others. There seemed to be active cultivation +of mulberries, figs, olives, lemons, almonds, +<pb n='450'/><anchor id='Pg450'/>currant-grapes, with cactus hedges and plenty of +cattle. There were numerous little pot-houses along +the road, where mastich and lucumia were sold, as +well as dried fruit and oranges. If the Nedon was +broad and shallow, we found the Pamisos narrow and +deep, so that it could only be crossed by a bridge. +A few hours brought us to the ascent of Mount +Ithome, on a high shoulder of which is situated the +famous and hospitable convent of Vourkano (or +Voulkano). +</p> + +<p> +The building, very picturesquely situated high on +the side of Mount Ithome, commands a long slope +covered with brushwood and wild-flowers, the ideal +spot for a botanist, as many rills of water run down +the descent and produce an abundant and various +vegetation. There is not a sod of soil which does +not contain bulbs and roots of flowers. Below +stretches the valley of Stenyclarus, so famous in the +old annals of Messene. It was studded with groves +of orange and lemon, olive and date, mulberry and +fig. The whole of this country has an aspect far +more southern and subtropical than any part of +Laconia. +</p> + +<p> +The monks treated us with great kindness, even +pressing us to sit down to dinner before any ablutions +had been thought of, and while we were still +covered with the dust of a very hot and stormy +journey along high roads. The plan of the building, +which is not old, having been moved down from +<pb n='451'/><anchor id='Pg451'/>the summit in the last century, is that of a court +closed with a gateway, with covered corridors +above looking into the court, and a very tawdry +chapel occupying its centre. It seemed a large and +well-to-do establishment, a sort of Greek Monte +Cassino in appearance; and with the same stir of +country people and passing visitors about it. Far +above us, on the summit of Mount Ithome—the site +of human sacrifices to Zeus Ithomates in days of +trouble—we saw a chapel on the highest top, 2500 +feet over the sea. Here they told us that a solitary +anchorite spent his life, praying and doing service +at his altar, far above the sounds of human life. +We made inquiry concerning the history of this +saint, who was once a wealthy Athenian citizen, +with a wife and family. His wife was dead, and +his sons settled in the world, so he resolved to +devote the rest of his years to the service of God +apart from the ways of men. Once a fortnight only +he descended to the convent, and brought up the +necessary food. On his lonely watch he had no +company but timid hares, travelling quail, and an +occasional eagle, that came and sat by him without +fear, perhaps in wonder at this curious and silent +friend. The monks below had often urged him to +catch these creatures for their benefit, but he refused +to profane their lofty asylum. So he sits, looking out +from his watch upon sunshine and rain, upon hot calm +and wild storm, with the whole Peloponnesus extended +<pb n='452'/><anchor id='Pg452'/>beneath his eyes. He sees from afar the works and +ways of men, and the world that he has left for ever. +Is it not strange that still upon the same height men +offer to their God these human sacrifices, changed +indeed in appearance, but in real substance the +same? +</p> + +<p> +The main excursion from the monastery is over +the saddle of the mountain westward, and through +the <q>Laconian gate</q> down into the valley beneath, +to see the remains of Epaminondas’s great foundation, +the new Messene. There are still faint traces +of a small theatre and some other buildings, but of +the walls and gates enough to tell us pretty clearly +how men built fortifications in those days. The +circuit of the walls included the fort on the summit, +and enclosed a large tract of country, so much that +it would be impossible for any garrison to defend it, +and accordingly we hear of the city being taken by +sudden assault more than once. The plan is very +splendid, but seems to us rather ostentatious than +serious for a new foundation liable to attacks from +Sparta. The walls were, however, beautifully built, +with towers at intervals, and gates for sallies. The +best extant gate is called the Arcadian, and consisted +of an outer and inner pair of folding-doors, +enclosing a large round chamber for the watch. +The size of the doorposts and lintels is gigantic, and +shows that there was neither time nor labor spared +to make Messene a stately settlement. There was +<pb n='453'/><anchor id='Pg453'/>almost enough land enclosed within the walls to feed +the inhabitants of the houses, for their number never +became very great. If Megalopolis, a far more successful +foundation, was far too large for its population, +how much more must this have been the case +with Messene? In military architecture, however, +we have no other specimen of old Hellenic work +equal to it, except perhaps Eleutheræ, which resembles +it in style strongly, though the enclosure +is quite small in comparison. +</p><anchor id="ill452"/><index index="fig" level1="Arcadian Gateway, Messene"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Arcadian Gateway, Messene]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus524.jpg" rend="w100"><head>Arcadian Gateway, Messene</head><figDesc>Arcadian Gateway, Messene</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +We could have gone up from Messene by a very +long day’s ride to Bassæ, and so to Olympia, but we +had had enough of riding and preferred to make a +short day to the sea at Kyparissia, and thence by +steamer to Katakolo, from which rail and road to +Olympia are quite easy. So we left the convent in +the morning and descended into the valley, to turn +north and then north-east, along the river courses +which mark the mule-tracks through the wild +country. We crossed a strange bridge over the +junction of two rivers made of three arches meeting +in the centre, and of which the substructure were +certainly old Greek building. We then passed +through bleak tracts of uncultivated land, perhaps +the most signal case of insufficient population we +had seen in Greece. All these waste fields were +covered with great masses of asphodel, through +which rare herds of swine were feeding, and the +sight of these fields suggested to me that by the +<pb n='454'/><anchor id='Pg454'/><q>meadow of asphodel</q> in Homer is not meant a +pleasant garden, or desirable country, but merely a +dull waste in which there is nothing done, and no +sign of human labor or human happiness. Had +there been night or gloom over this stony tract, with +its tall straggling plants and pale flowers, one could +easily imagine it the place which the dead hero inhabited +when he told his friend that the vilest menial +on earth was happier than he. +</p> + +<p> +After some hours the mountains began to approach +on either side, and we reached a country wonderful +in its contrast. Great green slopes reached up from +us far away into the hills, studded with great single +forest trees, and among them huge shrubs of arbutus +and mastich, trimmed and rounded as if for ornament. +It was like a splendid park, kept by an English +magnate. The regularity of shape in the shrubs +arises, no doubt, from the constant cropping of the +young shoots all round by herds of goats, which we +met here and there in this beautiful solitude. The +river bank where we rode was clothed with oleander, +prickly pear, and other flowering shrubs which I +could not name. +</p> + +<p> +At last woods of ancient olives, with great gnarled +stems, told us that we were nearing some important +settlement, and the pleasant town of Kyparissia +came in view—now, alas! a heap of ruins since the +recent earthquake. Here we took leave of our +ponies, mules, and human followers; but the pathos +<pb n='455'/><anchor id='Pg455'/>of parting with these intimate companions of many +days was somewhat marred by the divergence of +their notions and ours as to their pay. Yet these +differences, when settled, did not prevent them from +giving us an affectionate farewell. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="15" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='456'/><anchor id='Pg456'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XV. Mycenæ and Tiryns"/><index index="pdf" level1="XV. Mycenae and Tiryns"/> +<head>CHAPTER XV.</head> + +<head type="sub">MYCENÆ AND TIRYNS.</head> + +<p> +I have set apart a chapter for Mycenæ and +Tiryns, because the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann +there have raised so many new problems, and have +so largely increased public curiosity about them, +that a book of travels in Greece cannot venture to +avoid the subject; even long before Dr. Schliemann’s +day, the learned and deliberate travellers +who visited the Morea, and wrote their great books, +found ample scope for description, and large room +for erudite discussion. It is a curious thing to add, +but strictly true, that all the new facts brought out +by the late excavations have, as yet, contributed but +little to our knowledge about the actual history of +the country, and that almost every word of what was +summed up from all existing sources twenty years +ago, by Ernst Curtius, can still be read with far +more profit than the rash speculations which appear +almost weekly in the periodical press. +</p> + +<p> +It is impossible to approach Mycenæ from any +side without being struck with the picturesqueness +of the site. If you come down over the mountains +from Corinth, as soon as you reach the head of the +<pb n='457'/><anchor id='Pg457'/>valley of the Inachus, which is the plain of Argos, +you turn aside to the left, or east, into a secluded +corner—<q>a recess of the horse-feeding Argos,</q> as +Homer calls it, and then you find on the edge of +the valley, and where the hills begin to rise one +behind the other, the village of Charváti. When +you ascend from this place, you find that the lofty +Mount Elias is separated from the plain by two +nearly parallel waves of land, which are indeed +joined at the northern end by a curving saddle, +but elsewhere are divided by deep gorges. The +loftier and shorter wave forms the rocky citadel of +Mycenæ—the Argion, as it was once called. The +lower and longer was part of the outer city, which +occupied both this hill and the gorge under the +Argion. As you walk along the lower hill, you find +the Treasure-house of Atreus, as it is called, built +into the side which faces the Acropolis. But there +are other ruined treasuries on the outer slope, and +the newly-opened one is just at the joining saddle, +where the way winds round to lead you up the +greater hill to the giant gate with the Lion portal. +If we represent the high levels under the image of +a fishing-hook, with the shank placed downward +(south), and the point lying to the right (east), then +the Great Treasury is at that spot in the shank +which is exactly opposite the point, and faces it. +The point and barb are the Acropolis. The New +Treasury is just at the turn of the hook, facing +in<pb n='458'/><anchor id='Pg458'/>ward (to the south). This will give a rough idea +of the site. It is not necessary to enter into details, +when so many maps and plans are now in circulation. +But I would especially refer to the admirable +illustrations in Schliemann’s <hi rend='italic'>Mycenæ</hi>, where all these +matters are made perfectly plain and easy. +</p> + +<p> +When we first visited the place it was in the +afternoon of a splendid summer’s day; the fields +were yellow and white with stubbles or with dust, +and the deep gray shadow of a passing cloud was +the only variety in the color of the upper plain. +For here there are now no trees, the corn had been +reaped, and the land asserted its character as <hi rend='italic'>very +thirsty</hi> Argos. But as we ascended to higher +ground, the groves and plantations of the lower +plain came in sight, the splendid blue of the bay +began to frame the picture, and the setting sun cast +deeper shadow and richer color over all the view. +Down at the river-bed great oleanders were spreading +their sheets of bloom, like the rhododendrons in +our climate, but they were too distant to form a +feature in the prospect. +</p> + +<p> +I saw the valley of Argos again in spring, in our +<q>roaring moon of daffodil and crocus;</q> it was the +time of growing corn, of scarlet anemone and purple +cistus, but there too of high winds and glancing +shadows. Then all the plain was either brilliant +green with growing wheat, or ruddy brown with +recent tillage; there were clouds about the +moun<pb n='459'/><anchor id='Pg459'/>tains, and changing colors in the sky, and a feeling +of freshness and life very different from the golden +haze and dreamy calmness of a southern June. +</p><anchor id="ill458"/><index index="fig" level1="The Argive Plain"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: The Argive Plain]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus532.jpg" rend="w100"><head>The Argive Plain</head><figDesc>The Argive Plain</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +I can hardly say which of these seasons was the +more beautiful, but I shall always associate the summer +scene with the charm of a first visit to this +famous spot, and still more with the venerable and +undisturbed aspect of the ruins before they had been +profaned by modern research. It is, I suppose, +ungrateful to complain of these things, and we must +admit that great discoveries outbalance the æsthetic +damage done to an ancient ruin by digging unsightly +holes and piling mounds of earth about it; but who +can contemplate without sorrow the covering of the +finest piece of the Cyclopean wall at Mycenæ with +the rubbish taken away from over the tombs? Who +will not regret the fig-tree which spread its shade +over the portal of the House of Atreus? This fig-tree +is still to be seen in the older photographs, and +is in the woodcut of the entrance given in Dr. Schliemann’s +book, but the visitor of to-day will look for +it in vain. On the other hand, the opening at the +top, which had been there since the beginning of +this century, but which was closed when I first +visited the chamber, had been again uncovered, and +so it was much easier to examine the inner arrangement +of the building. +</p> + +<p> +I am not sure that this wonderful structure was +visited or described by any traveller from the days +<pb n='460'/><anchor id='Pg460'/>of Pausanias till after the year 1800. At least I +can find no description from any former traveller +quoted in the many accurate accounts which the +present century has produced. Chandler, in 1776, +intended to visit Mycenæ, but accidentally missed +the spot on his way from Argos to Corinth—a thing +more likely to happen then, when there was a good +deal of wooding in the upper part of the plain. But +Clarke, Dodwell, and Gell all visited and described +the place between 1800 and 1806, and the latter +two published accurate drawings of both the portal +and the inner view, which was possible owing to +the aperture made at the summit. +</p> + +<p> +About the same time Lord Elgin had turned his +attention to the Treasury, and had made excavations +about the place, finding several fragments of very +old engraved basalt and limestone, which had been +employed to ornament the entrance. Some of these +fragments are now in the British Museum. But, +though both Clarke and Leake allude to <q>Lord +Elgin’s excavators,</q> they do not specify what was +performed, or in what condition the place had been +before their researches. There is no published account +of this interesting point, which is probably to +be solved by the still unpublished journals said to be +in the possession of the present Earl.<note place="foot">I have made special inquiries for these, but without any result. +They seem to be lost.</note> This much +is, however, certain, that the chamber was not first +<pb n='461'/><anchor id='Pg461'/>entered at this time; for Dr. Clarke speaks of its +appearance as that of a place open for centuries. +We know that systematic rifling of ancient tombs +took place at the close of the classical epoch;<note place="foot">Cf. <ref target="Pg389">p. 389</ref>, and the outrages of the Galatian mercenaries under +Philip V. of Macedon.</note> we +can imagine it repeated in every age of disorder or +barbarism; and the accounts we hear of the Genoese +plundering the great mounds of the Crimea show +that even these civilized and artistic Italians thought +it no desecration to obtain gold and jewels from unnamed, +long-forgotten sepulchres. It seems, therefore, +impossible to say at what epoch—probably even +before Pausanias—this chamber was opened. The +story in Dr. Schliemann’s book,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Mycenæ</hi>, p. 49.</note> which he quotes +from a Greek newspaper, and which attributes the +plundering of it to Veli Pasha, in 1810, is positively +groundless, and in direct contradiction to the irrefragable +evidence I have above adduced. The Pasha +may have probed the now ruined chambers on the +outer side of the hill; but the account of what he +found is so mythical that the whole story may be +rejected as undeserving of credit. +</p> + +<p> +I need not attempt a fresh description of the +Great Treasury, in the face of such ample and +accurate reports as those I have indicated. It is in +no sense a rude building, or one of a helpless and barbarous +age, but, on the contrary, the product of +<pb n='462'/><anchor id='Pg462'/>enormous appliances, and of a perfect knowledge +of all the mechanical requirements for any building, +if we except the application of the arch. The +stones are hewn square, or curved to form the circular +dome within with admirable exactness. Above +the enormous lintel-stone, nearly twenty-seven feet +long, and which is doubly grooved, by way of ornament, +all along its edge over the doorway, there is +now a triangular window or aperture, which was certainly +filled with some artistic carving like the +analogous space over the lintel in the gate of the +Acropolis. Shortly after Lord Elgin had cleared +the entrance, Gell and Dodwell found various pieces +of green and red marble carved with geometrical +patterns, some of which are reproduced in Dodwell’s +book. Gell also found some fragments in a neighboring +chapel, and others are said to be built into a +wall at Nauplia. There are supposed to have been +short columns standing on each side in front of the +gate, with some ornament surmounting them; but +this seems to me to rest on doubtful evidence, and +on theoretical reconstruction. Dr. Schliemann, however, +asserts them to have been found at the entrance +of the second treasury which Mrs. Schliemann excavated, +though his account is somewhat vague +(<hi rend='italic'>Mycenæ</hi>, p. 140). There is the strongest architectural +reason for the triangular aperture over the +door, as it diminishes the enormous weight to be +borne by the lintel; and here, no doubt, some +orna<pb n='463'/><anchor id='Pg463'/>ment very like the lions on the citadel gate may +have been applied. +</p> + +<p> +The extreme darkness of the chamber during our +first visit prevented me from discovering, even with +the aid of torches, the nail-marks which all the +earlier travellers found there, and which are now +again easily to be seen. So also the outer lintel-stone +is not by any means the largest, but is far +exceeded by the inner, which lies next to it, and +which reaches on each side of the entrance a long +way round the chamber, its inner surface being +curved to suit the form of the wall. Along this +curve it is twenty-nine feet long; it is, moreover, +seventeen feet broad, and nearly four feet thick, +weighing about one hundred and twenty-four +tons! +</p> + +<p> +When we first entered by the light of torches, we +found ourselves in the great cone-shaped chamber, +which, strange to say, reminded me of the Pantheon +at Rome more than any other building I know, and +is, nevertheless, built on a very different principle. +The stones are not, indeed, pushed forward one +above the other, as in ruder stone roofs through +Ireland; but each of them, which is on the other +surfaces cut perfectly square, has its inner face +curved so that the upper end comes out several +inches above the lower. So each stone carries on +the conical plan, having its lower line fitting closely +to the upper line of the one beneath, and the +<pb n='464'/><anchor id='Pg464'/>whole dome ends with a great flat stone laid on the +top.<note place="foot">According to Pausanias, the treasury of Minyas was differently +built; for the top stone of its flat dome was the keystone +(<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἁρμονία</foreign>) of the whole. This is not true. The stone roofs in +Ireland seem to me far more curious in construction, for two +reasons: first, because the stones used are so very small; and +secondly, because there can be, of course, no pressure on a roof +like the pressure brought to bear on a subterranean chamber from +above.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Dodwell still found copper nails of some inches in +length, which he supposed to have been used to +fasten on thin plates of shining metal; but I was +at first unable to see even the holes in the roof, +which other travellers had believed to be the places +where the nails were inserted. However, without +being provided with magnesium wire, it was then +impossible to light the chamber sufficiently for a +positive decision on this point. A comparatively +small side chamber is hollowed out in the rock and +earth, without any stone casing or ornament whatever, +but with a similar triangular aperture over its +doorway. Schliemann tells us he dug two trenches +in this chamber, and that, besides finding some +hewn pieces of limestone, he found in the middle a +circular depression (apparently of stone), twenty-one +inches deep, and about one yard in diameter, +which he compares to a large wash-bowl. Any one +who has visited New Grange will be struck with the +likeness of this description to the large stone saucers +<pb n='465'/><anchor id='Pg465'/>which are still to be seen there, and of which I shall +speak presently. +</p> + +<p> +There has been much controversy about the use to +which this building was applied, and we cannot now +attempt to change the name, even if we could prove +its absurdity. Pausanias, who saw Mycenæ in the +second century <hi rend='small'>A. D.</hi>, found it in much the same state +as we do, and was no better informed than we, +though he tells us the popular belief that this and +its fellows were treasure-houses like that of the +Minyæ at Orchomenus, which was very much +greater, and was, in his opinion, one of the most +wonderful things in all Greece. But it does not +seem to me that his opinion, which, indeed, is +not very clear, need in the least shackle our judgments. +</p> + +<p> +The majority of scholars incline to the theory that +it is a tomb. In the first place, there are three other +similar buildings quite close to it, which Pausanias +mentions as the treasure-houses of the sons of +Atreus, but their number makes it most unlikely +that any of them could be for treasure. Surely +such a house could only be owned by the reigning +king, and there is no reason why his successor +should make himself a new vault for this purpose. +In the next place, these buildings were all underground +and dark, and exactly such as would be +selected for tombs. Thirdly, they are not situated +within the enclosure of the citadel of Mycenæ, but +<pb n='466'/><anchor id='Pg466'/>are outside it, and probably outside the original town +altogether—a thing quite inconceivable if they were +meant for treasure, but most reasonable, and according +to analogy, if they were used as tombs. This, +too, would of course explain the plurality of them—different +kings having built them, just like the +pyramids of Chufu, Safra, and Menkerah, and many +others, along the plain of Memphis in Egypt. It is +even quite easy and natural to explain on this +hypothesis how they came to be thought treasure-houses. +It is known that the sepulchral tumuli of +similar construction in other places, and possibly +built by kindred people, contained much treasure, +left there by way of honor to the deceased. +Herodotus describes this in Scythian tombs, some +of which have been opened of late, and have +verified his assertions.<note place="foot">Cf. Macpherson’s <hi rend='italic'>Antiquities of Kertch</hi>.</note> The lavish expense at +Patroclus’s funeral, in the Iliad, shows the prevalence +of similar notions among early Greeks, who +held, down to Æschylus’s day, that the importance +of a man among the dead was in proportion to the +circumstance with which his tomb was treated by +the living. It may, therefore, be assumed as certain +that these strongholds of the dead, if they were +such, were filled with many precious things in gold +and other metals, intended as parting gifts in honor +of the king who was laid to rest. Long after the +devastation of Mycenæ, I suppose that these tombs +<pb n='467'/><anchor id='Pg467'/>were opened in search of treasure, and not in vain; +and so nothing was said about the skeleton tenant, +while rumors went abroad of the rich treasure-trove +within the giant portal. Thus, then, the tradition +would spring up and grow, that the building was the +treasure-house of some old legendary king. +</p> + +<p> +These antiquarian considerations have led us away +from the actual survey of the old vault, for ruin it +cannot be called. The simplicity and massiveness +of its structure have defied age and violence, and, +except for the shattered ornaments and a few pieces +over the inner side of the window, not a stone +appears ever to have been moved from its place. +Standing at the entrance, you look out upon the +scattered masonry of the walls of Mycenæ, on the +hillock over against you. Close beyond this is a +dark and solemn chain of mountains. The view is +narrow and confined, and faces the north, so that, +for most of the day, the gate is dark and in shadow. +We can conceive no fitter place for the burial of a +king, within sight of his citadel, in the heart of a +deep natural hillock, with a great solemn portal +symbolizing the resistless strength of the barrier +which he had passed into an unknown land. But +one more remark seems necessary. This treasure-house +is by no means a Hellenic building in its +features. It has the same perfection of construction +which can be seen at Eleutheræ, or any other Greek +fort, but still the really analogous buildings are to be +<pb n='468'/><anchor id='Pg468'/>found in far distant lands—in the raths of Ireland +and the barrows of the Crimea. +</p> + +<p> +I have had the opportunity of comparing the +structure and effect of the great sepulchral monuments +in the county of Meath, in Ireland. Two of +these, Dowth and New Grange, are opened, and can +be entered almost as easily as the treasury of +Atreus. They lie close to the rich valley of the +Boyne, in that part of the country which was +pointed out by nature as the earliest seat of wealth +and culture. Dowth is the ruder and less ornamented, +and therefore not improbably the older, but +is less suited for the present comparison than the +greater and more ornate New Grange. +</p> + +<p> +This splendid tomb is not a whit less remarkable, +or less colossal in its construction, than those at +Mycenæ, but differs in many details. It was not +hollowed out in a hillside, but was built of great +upright stones, with flat slabs laid over them, and +then covered with a mound of earth. An enormous +circle of giant boulders stands round the foot of the +mound. Instead of passing through a short entrance +into a great vaulted chamber, there is a long narrow +corridor, which leads to a much smaller, but still +very lofty room, nearly twenty feet high. Three +recesses in the walls of this latter each contain a +large round saucer, so to speak, made of single +stone, in which the remains of the dead seem to +have been laid. This saucer is very shallow, and +<pb n='469'/><anchor id='Pg469'/>not more than four feet in diameter. The great +stones with which the chamber and passage are constructed +are not hewn or shaped, and so far the +building is rather comparable with that of Tiryns +than that of Mycenæ. But all over the faces of the +stones are endless spiral and zigzag ornaments, even +covering built-in surfaces, and thus invisible, so that +this decoration must have been applied to the slabs +prior to the building. On the outside stones, both +under and above the entry, there is a well-executed +carving of more finished geometrical designs. +</p> + +<p> +Putting aside minor details, it may be said that +while both monuments show an equal display of +human strength, and an equal contempt for human +toil, which were lavished upon them without stint, +the Greek building shows far greater finish of +design and neatness of execution, together with +greater simplicity. The stones are all carefully hewn +and fitted, but not carved or decorated. The triangular +carved block over the lintel, and the supposed +metal plates on the interior, were both foreign +to the original structure. On the contrary, while +the Irish tomb is a far greater feature in the landscape—a +landmark in the district—the great stones +within are not fitted together, or hewn into shape, +and yet they are covered with patterns and designs +strangely similar to the carvings found by Dodwell +and Dr. Schliemann at the Argive tombs. Thus the +Irish builders, with far greater rudeness, show a +<pb n='470'/><anchor id='Pg470'/>greater taste for ornament. They care less for +design and symmetry—more for beauty of detail. +The Greek essay naturally culminates in the severe +symmetry of the Doric Temple—the Irish in the +glorious intricacy of the illuminations of the <hi rend='italic'>Book of +Kells</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The second treasury lately excavated by Mrs. +Schliemann has been disappointing in its results. +Though it seems not to have been disturbed for +ages, it had evidently been once rifled, for nothing +save a few fragments of pottery were found within. +Its entrance is much loftier than that of the house +of Atreus, but the general building is inferior, the +stones are far smaller and by no means so well +fitted, and it produces altogether the impression of +being either a much earlier and ruder attempt, or a +poor and feeble imitation. Though Dr. Schliemann +asserts the former, I am disposed to suspect the +latter to be the case. +</p> + +<p> +A great deal of what was said about the tomb of +Agamemnon, as the common people, with truer instinct, +call the supposed treasure-house, may be repeated +about the fortifications of Mycenæ. It is the +work of builders who know perfectly how to deal +with their materials—who can hew and fit great +blocks of stone with perfect ease; nay, who prefer, +for the sake of massive effect, to make their doorway +with such enormous blocks as even modern +science would find it difficult to handle. The +sculpt<pb n='471'/><anchor id='Pg471'/>ure over the gate fortunately remains almost entire. +The two lions, standing up at a small pillar, were +looking out fiercely at the stranger. The heads are +gone, having probably, as Dr. Schliemann first observed, +been made of bronze, and riveted to the +stone. The rest of the sculpture is intact, and is +of a strangely <anchor id="corr471"/><corr sic="haraldic">heraldic</corr> character. It is a piece of +bluish limestone,<note place="foot"><p>There has been strange diversity of opinion about the nature +of this stone. Dodwell and Leake call it basalt. Moreover, Dodwell +thought it greenish. Some one else thinks it yellowish. The +French expedition and Curtius call it limestone. Dr. Schliemann +says it is the same breccia as the rest of the gate. It is in the face +of these opinions that I persist in the statement that it is bluish, +and limestone.</p> + <p>It is owing to this note that it was again critically examined by +Mr. Tuckett, who published his result in the <hi rend='italic'>Architect</hi> of 19th +January, 1879, and who had fragments of the stone analyzed, +which justified my observation. He also notes that several observers +erred as to the shape of the central pillar, which does not +diminish in bulk downward.</p></note> which must have been brought +from a long distance, quite different from the rough +breccia of the rest of the gate. The lintel-stone is +not nearly so vast as that of the treasure-house: it +is only fifteen feet long, but is somewhat thicker, +and also much deeper, going back the full depth of +the gateway. Still it must weigh a good many tons; +and it puzzles us to think how it can have been put +into its place with the appliances then in vogue. +The joint use of square and polygonal masonry is +very curious. Standing within the gate, one side is +<pb n='472'/><anchor id='Pg472'/>of square-hewn stones, the other of irregular, though +well-fitted, blocks. On the left side, looking into the +gate, there is a gap of one block in the wall, which +looks very like a window,<note place="foot">This, I perceive, is Dr. Schliemann’s opinion also. He was +the first to show that along the entrance-wall the fine building with +square blocks was only a facing laid on irregular building with +small stones. This points clearly to two successive stages in the +work.</note> as it is not probable that +a single stone was taken, or fell out of its place afterward, +without disturbing the rest. What makes it, +perhaps, more possible that this window is intentional, +is the position of the gate, which is not in +the middle of the walled causeway, as you enter, +but to the right side. +</p> + +<p> +When you go in, and climb up the hill of the +Acropolis, you find various other portions of Cyclopean +walls which belonged to the old palace, in plan +very similar to that of Tiryns. But the outer wall +goes all round the hill where it is steepest, sometimes +right along a precipice, and everywhere offering an +almost insurmountable obstacle to an ancient assailant. +On the east side, facing the steep mountain, +which is separated from it by a deep gorge, is a +postern gate, consisting merely of three stones, but +these so massive, and so beautifully hewn and fitted, +as to be a structure hardly less striking than the +lion gate. At about half the depth of these huge +blocks there is a regular groove cut down both sides +and along the top, in order to hold the door. +</p> + +<pb n='473'/><anchor id='Pg473'/> + +<p> +The whole summit of the great rock is now stony +and bare, but not so bare that I could not gather +scarlet anemones, which found scanty sustenance +here and there in tiny patches of grass, and gladdened +the gray color of the native rock and the +primeval walls. The view from the summit, when +first I saw it, was one of singular solitude and peace; +not a stone seemed to have been disturbed for ages; +not a human creature, or even a browsing goat, was +visible, and the traveller might sketch or scrutinize +any part of the fortress without fear of intrusion, far +less of molestation. When I again reached the site, +in the spring of 1877, a great change had taken +place. Dr. Schliemann had attacked the ruins, and +had made his world-renowned excavations inside +and about the lion gate. To the gate itself this +was a very great gain. All the encumbering earth +and stones have been removed, so that we can now +admire the full proportions of the mighty portal. +He discovered a tiny porter’s lodge inside it. He +denied the existence of the wheel-tracks which we +and others fancied we had seen there on our former +visit. +</p><anchor id="ill472"/><index index="fig" level1="Lion Gate, Mycenae"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: Lion Gate, Mycenae]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus548.jpg" rend="w80"><head>Lion Gate, Mycenae</head><figDesc>Lion Gate, Mycenae</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +But proceeding from the gate to the lower side, +where the hill slopes down rapidly, and where the +great irregular Cyclopean wall trends away to the +right, Dr. Schliemann found a deep accumulation +of soil. This was, of course, the chief place on an +otherwise bare rock where excavations promised +<pb n='474'/><anchor id='Pg474'/>large results. And the result was beyond the wildest +anticipations. The whole account of what he +has done is long before the public in his very splendid +book, of which the illustrations are quite an +epoch in the history of ornament, and in spite of +their great antiquity will suggest to our modern +jewellers many an exquisite pattern. The sum of +what he found is this:— +</p> + +<p> +He first found in this area a double circuit of thin +upright slabs, joined together closely, and joined +across the top with flat slabs mortised into them, the +whole circuit being like a covered way, about three +feet high. Into the enclosed circle a way leads +from the lion gate; and what I noted particularly +was this, that the whole circle, which was over +thirty yards in diameter, was separated from the +higher ground by a very miserable bounding wall, +which, though quite concealed before the excavations, +and therefore certainly very old, looked for +all the world like some Turkish piece of masonry. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as this stone circle was discovered, it was +suggested that old Greek <hi rend='italic'>agoras</hi> were round, that +they were often in the citadel at the king’s gate, and +that people were sometimes buried in them. Dr. +Schliemann at once baptized the place as the agora +of Mycenæ. It was a circle with only one free +access, and that from the gate; it had tombstones +standing in the midst of it, and there were the +charred remains of sacrifices about them. The +<pb n='475'/><anchor id='Pg475'/>number of bodies already exhumed beneath preclude +their being all founders or heroes of the city. +These and other indications were enough to disprove +clearly that the circle was an agora, but that it was +rather a place of sepulture, enclosed, as such places +always were, with a fence, which seems made in +imitation of a palisade of wood. +</p> + +<p> +Inside this circuit of stone slabs were found—apparently +at the same depth, but on this Dr. +Schliemann is not explicit—very curious and very +archaic carved slabs, with rude hunting scenes of +warriors in very uncomfortable chariots, and varied +spiral ornaments filling up the vacant spaces. These +sculptures are unlike any Hellenic work, properly +so called, and point back to a very remote period, +and probably to the introduction of a foreign art +among the rude inhabitants of early Greece. +Deeper down were found more tombstones, all +manner of archaic pottery, arrow-heads, and buttons +of bone; there was also found some rude construction +of hewn stones, which may have served as +an altar or a tomb. +</p> + +<p> +Yet further down, twenty-one feet deep, and close +to the rock, were lying together a number of skeletons, +which seemed to have been hastily or carelessly +buried; but in the rock itself, in rudely hewn +chambers, were found fifteen bodies buried with a +splendor seldom equalled in the history of the world. +These people were not buried like Greeks. They +<pb n='476'/><anchor id='Pg476'/>were not laid in rock chambers, like the Scythian +kings. They were sunk in graves under the earth, +which were large enough to receive them, had they +not been filled up round the bottom with rudely-built +walls, or pieces of stone, so as to reduce the area, +but to create perhaps some ventilation for the fire +which had partly burnt the bodies where they were +found. Thus the splendidly-attired and jewelled +corpses, some of them with masks and breastplates +of gold, were, so to speak, jammed down by the +earth and stones above them into a very narrow +space; but there appears to have been some arrangement +for protecting them and their treasure from +complete confusion with the soil which settled down +over them. This, if the account of the excavation +be accurate, seems the most peculiar feature in the +burial of these great personages, but finds a parallel +in the curious tombs of Hallstadt, which afford many +analogies to Mycenæ.<note place="foot">These analogies are brought out by Mr. A. S. Murray, in the +<hi rend='italic'>Academy</hi>, No. 29. Cf. also Dörpfeld in <hi rend='italic'>Schuchhardt</hi>, p. 161.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Schliemann boldly announced in the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi>, +and the public believed him, that he had found Agamemnon, +and his companions, who were murdered +when they returned from the siege of Troy. The +burial is indeed quite different from any such ceremony +described in the Homeric poems. The number +of fifteen is not to be accounted for by any of +the legends. There is no reason to think all the +<pb n='477'/><anchor id='Pg477'/>tombs have been discovered; one, or at least part +of the treasure belonging to it, was since found outside +the circle. Another was afterward found by +M. Stamatakes. Æschylus, our oldest and best +authority, places the tomb of Agamemnon, not at +Mycenæ, but at Argos. They all agree that he was +buried with contempt and dishonor. The result was, +that when the public came to hear the Agamemnon +theory disproved, it was disposed to take another +leap in the dark, and to look upon the whole discovery +as suspicious, and as possibly something +mediæval. +</p> + +<p> +Such an inference would be as absurd as to accept +the hypothesis of Dr. Schliemann. The tombs are +undoubtedly very ancient, certainly far more ancient +than the supposed date of Homer, or even of Agamemnon. +The treasures which have been carried +to Athens, and which I saw and handled at +the National Bank, are not only really valuable +masses of gold, but have a good deal of beauty +of workmanship, both in design and decoration. +Though the masks are very ugly and barbarous, +and though there is in general no power shown of +moulding any animal figure, there are very beautiful +cups and jugs, there are most elegant geometrical +ornaments—zigzags, spirals, and the like—and there +are even imitations of animals of much artistic +merit. The celebrated silver bull’s head, with golden +horns, is a piece of work which would not disgrace +<pb n='478'/><anchor id='Pg478'/>a goldsmith of our day; and this may be said of +many of the ornaments. Any one who knows the +Irish gold ornaments in the Academy Museum in +Dublin perceives a wonderful family likeness in the +old Irish spirals and decorations, yet not more than +might occur among two separate nations working +with the same materials under similar conditions. +But I feel convinced that the best things in the tombs +at Mycenæ were not made by native artists, but imported, +probably from Syria and Egypt. This seems +proved even by the various materials which have +been employed—ivory, alabaster, amber; in one +case even an ostrich egg. So we shall, perhaps, in +the end come back upon the despised legends of +Cadmus and Danaus, and find that they told us truly +of an old cultured race coming from the South and +the East to humanize the barbarous progenitors of +the Greeks. +</p> + +<p> +I can now add important corroborations of these +general conclusions from the researches made since +the appearance of my earlier editions. I then said +that the discoveries were too fresh and dazzling to +admit of safe theories concerning their origin. By +way of illustration I need only allude to those <hi rend='italic'>savants</hi> +(they will hereafter be obliged to me for omitting +their names) who imagined that all the Mycenæan +tombs were not archaic at all, but the work of +northern barbarians who occupied Greece during the +disasters of the later Roman Empire! Serious +re<pb n='479'/><anchor id='Pg479'/>searches, however, have at last brought us considerable +light. In the first place Helbig, in an important +work comparing the treasures of Mycenæ with the +allusions to art, arms, and manufactures in the Homeric +poems, came to the negative conclusion that +these two civilizations were distinct—that the Homeric +poets cannot have had before them the palace +of Mycenæ which owned the Schliemann treasures. +As there is no room in Greek history for such a +civilization posterior to the Homeric poems, it follows +that the latter must describe a civilization considerably +later than that we have found at Mycenæ. +Placing the Homeric poems in the eighth century +<hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> we shall be led to about 1000 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> as the latest +possible date for the splendors of Mycenæ. But +this negative conclusion has been well-nigh demonstrated +by the positive results of the various recent +researches in Egypt. Not only has the Egypt Exploration +Society examined carefully the sites of +Naucratis and Daphne, thus disclosing to us what +Greek art and manufacture could produce in the +sixth and seventh centuries <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> (665–565 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>), +but Mr. Flinders Petrie has enriched our knowledge +by his wonderful discoveries of Egyptian art on +several sites, and of many epochs, fairly determinable +by the reigning dynasties. He has recently +(1890) examined the Mycenæan and other pre-historic +treasures collected at Athens, by the light of +his rich Egyptian experience, and has given a +sum<pb n='480'/><anchor id='Pg480'/>mary of the results in two short articles in the +<hi rend='italic'>Journal of Hellenic Studies</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +He finds that the materials and their treatment, +such as blue glass, even in its decomposition, alabaster, +rock-crystal, hollowed and painted within, +dome-head rivets attaching handles of gold cups, +ostrich eggs with handles attached, ties made for +ornament in porcelain, are all to be found in Egyptian +tombs varying from 1400 to 1100 in date. His +analysis leads him to give the dates for the tombs +I.-IV. at Mycenæ as 1200–1100 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> That an +earlier date is improbable is shown by the negative +evidence that none of the purely geometrical false-necked +vases occur, such as are the general product +of 1400–1200 in Egyptian deposits. But as several +isolated articles are of older types, as in particular +the lions over the gate are quite similar to a gilt +wooden lion he found of about 1450 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> in date, +the Mycenæan civilization probably extended over a +considerable period. He even finds proof of decadence +in grave IV. as compared with the rest, and +so comes to the conclusion, which I am disposed to +question, that the tombs within the circle at Mycenæ +(shaft-tombs) are later and worse interments made +by the same people who had already built the more +majestic and costly bee-hive tombs. Instead therefore +of upholding a Phrygian origin, Mr. Petrie +asserts an Egyptian origin for both Mycenæan and +parallel Phrygian designs. The spiral pattern in its +<pb n='481'/><anchor id='Pg481'/>various forms, the rosettes, the keyfret, the palmetto, +are all used in very early Egyptian decoration. +The inlaid daggers of Mycenæ have long been recognized +as inspired by Egypt; <anchor id="corr481"/><corr sic="(quote)">but</corr> we must note +that it is native work and not merely an imported +article. The attitude of the figures and of the lions, +and the form of the cat, are such as no Egyptian +would have executed. To make such things in +Greece implies a far higher culture than merely to +import them. The same remark applies to the +glazed pottery; the style of some is not Egyptian, +so that here the Mycenæans were capable of elaborate +technical work, and imitated, rather than +imported from Egypt.... The familiarity with +Egypt is further proved by the lotus pattern on the +dagger-blade, by the cat on the dagger, and the cats +on the gold foil ornaments, since the cat was then +unknown in Greece. That the general range of the +civilization was that of Africa, is indicated by the +frequent use of the palm (not then known in Greece) +as a decoration, and by the very scanty clothing of +the male figures, indicating that dress was not a +necessity of climate. On the other hand this culture +reached out to the north of Europe. The silver-headed +reindeer or elk, found in grave IV., can only +be the result of northern intercourse. The amber +so commonly used comes from the Baltic. And we +see in Celtic ornament the obvious reproduction of +the decorations of Mycenæ, as Mr. Arthur Evans +<pb n='482'/><anchor id='Pg482'/>has shown. Not only is the spiral decoration indistinguishable,<note place="foot">This is not true of Irish designs, which I compared carefully +with the Mycenæan, and failed to find any identity, though many +close resemblances.</note> +but also the taste for elaborately embossed +diadems and breastplates of gold is peculiar +to the Mycenæan and Celtic cultures. The great +period of Mycenæ seems therefore to date 1300–1100 +<hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>, with occasional traditional links with +Egypt as far back as 1500 or 1600 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +Such is an abstract of Mr. Petrie’s estimate.<note place="foot">It agrees with that of Schuchhardt (in <hi rend='italic'>Schliemann’s Excavations</hi>, +1891), and of Busolt in the new edition of his Greek history, +1892.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I will only here point out, in addition, the remarkable +unity of style between the ornaments +found at a depth of twenty-five feet in the tombs, +the sculptured tombstones twelve or fourteen feet +over them, and the lions on the gate of the citadel. +It is, indeed, only a general uniformity, but it corroborates +Mr. Petrie’s inference that there was more +than mere importing; there was home manufacture. +But still among the small gold ornaments in the +tombs were found several pairs of animals placed +opposite each other in this strictly <hi rend='italic'>heraldic</hi> fashion, +and even on the engraved gems this symmetry is +curiously frequent. It seems, then, that the art of +Mycenæ had not changed when its early history +came to a close, and its inhabitants were forced to +<pb n='483'/><anchor id='Pg483'/>abandon the fortress and submit to the now Doric +Argos. +</p> + +<p> +We are, indeed, told expressly by Pausanias and +Diodorus that this event did not take place till after +the Persian wars, when old Hellenic art was already +well defined, and was beginning to make rapid progress. +But this express statement, which I saw +reason to question since my former remarks on the +subject in this book, I am now determined to reject, +in the face of the inconsistencies of these historians, +the silence of all the contemporaries of the alleged +conquest, and the exclusively archaic remains which +Dr. Schliemann has unearthed. Mycenæ, along +with Tiryns, Midea, and the other towns of the +plain, was incorporated into Argos at a far earlier +date, and not posterior to the brilliant rule of Pheidon. +So it comes that historical Greece is silent +about the ancient capital of the Pelopids, and the +poets transfer all its glories to Argos. Once, indeed, +the name did appear on the national records. The +offerings to the gods at Olympia, and at Delphi, +after the victory over the Persians, recorded that a +few patriots—460 in all—from Mycenæ and from +Tiryns had joined the Greeks at Platæa, while the +remainder of the Argives preserved a base and cowardly +neutrality. The Mycenæans were very few in +number; sixty are mentioned in connection with +Thermopylæ by Herodotus. They were probably +exiles through Greece, who had preserved their +<pb n='484'/><anchor id='Pg484'/>traditions and their descent, and gloried in exposing +and insulting Argive Medism. The Tirynthian 400 +may even have been the remnant of the slave population, +which Herodotus tells us seized the citadel +of Tiryns, when driven out from Argos twenty +years before, and who lived there for some years. +In the crisis of Platæa the Greeks were not dainty +or critical, and they may have readily conceded the +title of Tirynthian to these doubtful citizens, out of +hatred and disgust at the neutrality of Argos. However +these things may be, the mention of Mycenæans +and Tirynthians on this solitary occasion +afforded an obvious warrant to Diodorus for his +date of the destruction of Mycenæ. But I am +convinced that his authority, and that of Pausanias, +who follows him, must be deliberately rejected. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand, the origin of Mycenæ, and its +greatness as a royal residence, must be thrown back +into a far deeper antiquity than any one had yet +imagined. If Agamemnon and his house represent +Hellenic princes, of the type of Homer’s knowledge +and acquaintance, they must have arisen after some +older, and apparently different dynasties had ruled +and had buried their dead at Mycenæ.<note place="foot">This theory of mine, stated in my first edition, is strongly +supported by Dr. Adler in his preface to Schliemann’s <hi rend='italic'>Tiryns</hi> +(1885).</note> But it is +also possible that the Homeric bards, describing +professedly the acts of a past age, imposed their +<pb n='485'/><anchor id='Pg485'/>new manners, and their own culture, upon the +Pelopids, whom they only knew by vague tradition, +and that thus their drawing is false; while the +chiefs they glorify were the ancient pre-Hellenic +rulers of the country. This latter supposition is so +shocking a heresy against <q>Homer</q> that I will not +venture to expand it, and will leave the reader to +add any conjectures he chooses to those which I have +already hazarded in too great number. +</p> + +<p> +When the splendid findings of Dr. Schliemann +are taken out of their bandboxes in the Bank of +Athens, and arranged in the National Museum;<note place="foot">This has all been done, and alas! many of the gold cups have +been polished by the barbarous zeal of the curators, so destroying +the exquisite red bloom which made them so remarkable.</note> +when the diligence of Greek archæologists investigates +thoroughly the remainder of the site at Mycenæ, +which is not nearly exhausted; when new +accidents (such as the discoveries at Sparta and +Vaphio) and new researches enlarge these treasures +perhaps a thousand-fold, there will be formed at +Athens a museum of pre-historic art which will not +have its equal in the world (except at Cairo), and +which will introduce us to an epoch of culture which +we hardly yet suspected, when writing and coinage +were unknown, when the Greeks had not reached +unto their name, or possibly their language, but +when, nevertheless, considerable commerce existed, +when wonderful skill had already been attained in +<pb n='486'/><anchor id='Pg486'/>arts and manufactures, and when men had even +accumulated considerable wealth and splendor in +well-established centres of power. +</p> + +<p> +The further investigation of the remains of Mycenæ, +with the additional evidence derived from the +ruins of Tiryns, presently to be described, have led +Dr. Adler to explain Mycenæ as the record of a +double foundation, first by a race who built rubble +masonry, and buried their dead in narrow rock-tombs +or graves, piling on the bodies their arms and +ornaments; secondly, after some considerable interval, +by a race who built splendid ashlar masonry, +with well-cut blocks, and who constructed great +beehive tombs, where the dead could lie with ample +room in royal state. The second race enlarged, +rebuilt, and refaced the old fortifications, added the +present lion gate, and built the so-called treasure-houses. +For convenience’ sake he calls them, according +to the old legends, Perseids and Pelopids +respectively. Hence the tombs which Dr. Schliemann +found were really far older than any one had +at first supposed, and if the record of Homer points +distinctly to the Pelopids, then the gold and jewels +of a far earlier people were hidden deep underground +in the foundation of Agamemnon’s fortress, +merely marked by a sacred circle of stones and some +archaic gravestones. +</p> + +<p> +To which of these stages of building do the ruins +of Tiryns belong? Apparently to the earlier, though +<pb n='487'/><anchor id='Pg487'/>here, again, the size of the stones used is far greater +than those in the first Mycenæ, and it is now certain +that the beginnings of artificial shaping are discernible +in them. Since the second edition of this book +the walls have been uncovered and examined by +Dr. Schliemann, with the valuable advice and assistance +of Dr. Dörpfeld, so that I may conclude this +chapter with a brief summary of the results they +have attained. +</p> + +<p> +The upper part of the rock of Tiryns, which consisted +of two plateaus or levels, was known to contain +remains of building by the shafts which Dr. +Schliemann had already sunk there in former years. +But now a very different method of excavating was +adopted—that of uncovering the surface in layers, +so that successive strata of debris might be clearly +distinguished. This exceedingly slow and laborious +process, which I saw going on for days at Tiryns +with very little result, brought out in the end the +whole plan of a palace, with its gates, floors, parting +walls, and pillar bases, so that in the admirable +drawing to be seen in the book called <hi rend='italic'>Tiryns</hi>, Dr. +Dörpfeld has given us the first clear view of an old +Greek, or perhaps even pre-Hellenic, palace. The +partial agreement with the plan of the palaces of +Troy, and of Mycenæ, since discovered, and the +adoption in Hellenic temples of the plan of entrance, +here several times repeated—two pillars between +<pb n='488'/><anchor id='Pg488'/>antæ—show that the palace at Tiryns was not exceptional, +but typical. +</p> + +<p> +All the gates leading up into this palace are still +distinctly marked by the threshold or door-sill, a +great stone, lying in its place, with grooves inserted +for the pivots of the doors, which were of wood, but +had their pivots shod with bronze, as was proved by +the actual remains. These doors divided a double +porch, entered either way between two pillars of +wood, standing upon stone bases still in their place, +and flanked by antæ, which were below of stone +and above of wood dowelled into the stone piers. +All the upper structure of the gates, and, indeed, of +all the palace, seems to have been of wood. There +are clear signs of a great conflagration, in which +the palace perished. This implies the existence +of ample fuel, and while the ashes, mud-bricks, etc., +remain, no trace of architrave, or pillar, or roof has +been found. There are gates of similar design leading +into the courts and principal chamber of the +palace, the floors of which are covered with a careful +lime concrete marked with line patterns, and so +sloped as to afford easy drainage into a vent leading +to pipes of terra cotta, which carried off water. The +same careful arrangements are observed in the bath-room, +with a floor of one great stone, twelve feet by +nine, which is likewise pierced to carry off water. +The remains of a terra cotta tub were found there, +and the walls of the room were panelled with wood, +<pb n='489'/><anchor id='Pg489'/>set into the raised edge of the floor-stone by dowels +sunk in the stone. No recent discovery is more +interesting than this. +</p> + +<p> +Of the walls little remains but the foundations, +and here and there a couple of feet of mud-bricks, +with signs of beams let into them, which added to +the conflagration. But enough remains to show +that the walls of the better rooms were richly covered +with ornament. There is a fresco of a bull +still preserved, and reproduced in Dr. Schliemann’s +book; and there was also found a very remarkable +frieze ornament in rosettes and brooch patterns, +made of blue glass paste (supposed to be Homer’s +<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">κύανος</foreign>) and alabaster. This valuable relic shows +remarkable analogies in design to other prehistoric +ornaments found in Greece. +</p> + +<p> +The size of the main hall, or men’s apartment, is +very large, the floor covering about 120 square +yards, and the parallel room in the palace at Troy +was consequently taken to be the cella of a temple. +But there seems no doubt that the great room at +Tiryns, with a hearth in the middle and four pillar +bases near it, supporting, perhaps, a higher roof, +with a clerestory, was the main reception room of +the palace; a smaller room of similar construction, +not connected with the former, save by a circuitous +route through passages, seems to have been the +ladies’ drawing-room. +</p> + +<pb n='490'/><anchor id='Pg490'/> + +<p> +If I were to attempt any full description of this +wonderful place I should be obliged to copy out a +great part of the fifth chapter in Dr. Schliemann’s +book, in which Dr. Dörpfeld has set down very +modestly, but very completely, the results of his +own acuteness and research. Many things which +are now plain enough were perfect riddles till he +found the true solution, and the acuteness with +which he has utilized the smallest hints, as well +as the caution of his conclusions, make this work +of his a very model of scientific induction. +</p> + +<p> +He says, rightly enough, that a minute description +is necessary, because a very few years will cover up +much of the evidence which he had plainly before +him. The concrete floors, the remains of mud-brick +walls, the plan of the various rooms, will be choked +up with grass and weeds, unless they are kept +covered and cleared. The rain, which has long +since washed all traces of mortar out of the walls, +will wash away far more now that the site is opened, +and so the future archæologist will find that the book +<hi rend='italic'>Tiryns</hi> will tell him much that the actual Tiryns cannot +show him. +</p> + +<p> +The lower platform on the rock is not yet touched, +and here perhaps digging will discover to us the +remains of a temple, from which one very archaic +Doric capital and an antefix have found their way to +the higher rock. There are traces, too, of the great +<pb n='491'/><anchor id='Pg491'/>fort being the second building on the site, over an +older and not yet clearly determined palace. +</p> + +<p> +Two things are plain from these discoveries, and +I dwell on them with satisfaction, because they corroborate +old opinions of mine, put forth long before +the principal evidence was forthcoming. First, the +general use of wood for pillars and architraves, so +showing how naturally the stone temple imitated the +older wooden buildings. Secondly, the archaic or +ante-Hellenic character of all that was found at +Tiryns, with the solitary exception of the architectural +fragments, which certainly have no building +to correspond to them where they were found. +Thus my hypothesis, which holds that Tiryns, as +well as Mycenæ, was destroyed at least as early as +Pheidon’s time (660 <hi rend='small'>B. C.</hi>), and not after the Persian +wars, receives corroboration which will amount to +positive proof in any mind open to evidence on the +point. +</p> + +</div><div type="chapter" n="16" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='492'/><anchor id='Pg492'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XVI. Mediæval Greece"/><index index="pdf" level1="XVI. Mediaeval Greece"/> +<head>CHAPTER XVI.</head> + +<head type="sub">MEDIÆVAL GREECE.</head> + +<p> +When I first went to Greece, nearly twenty years +ago, the few travellers one met in the country never +thought of studying its mediæval remains. We +were in search of classical art, we passed by Byzantine +churches or Frankish towers with contemptuous +ignorance. Mr. Finlay’s great book, indeed, was +already written; but those who knew German and +were bold enough to attack the eight volumes which +Ersch and Gruber’s <hi rend='italic'>Encyclopædia</hi> devote to the +article on Greece, had been taught by Hopf’s <hi rend='italic'>Essay +on Mediæval Greece</hi> to fathom what depths dulness +could attain. Whether the author, or the odious +paper, and type in its double columns, contributed +to this result, was of little consequence. The subject +itself seemed dreary beyond description. All +the various peoples who invaded, swayed, ravaged, +colonized the country in the Dark Ages, seemed +but undistinguishable hordes of barbarians, of +whom we knew nothing, about whom we cared +nothing, beyond a general hatred of them, as those +who had broken up and destroyed the splendid +temples and fair statues that are now the world’s +desire. Even the very thorough and learned +<pb n='493'/><anchor id='Pg493'/>scholars, who produced <hi rend='italic'>Bædeker’s Greece</hi>, a very +few years ago, never thought of putting in any +information whatever, beyond their chronological +table, upon the many centuries which intervened +between the close of paganism and the recent regeneration +of the country. The contempt for Byzantine +work in the East was in our early days like +the contempt of Renaissance work in the West. +We were all Classical or Gothic in taste. +</p> + +<p> +Now a great reaction is setting in. Instead of the +dreadful Hopf, we have the fascinating Gregorovius, +whose <hi rend='italic'>Mediæval Athens</hi> clothes even dry details with +the hue of fancy; the sober <hi rend='italic'>Murray’s Guide</hi> includes +Mt. Athos and its wonders as part of its task. +Recent travellers, and the students at the Foreign +Schools of Athens, tell us of curious churches and +their frescoes, and now Mr. Schultz, of the British +school, has undertaken to reproduce them with his +pencil. Following the example of Pullen, whose +pictures have secured for posterity some record of +the churches of Salonica, so often threatened by fire, +he will perpetuate the remnants of an architecture +and an art which were rapidly perishing from +neglect. When I was first at Athens men were +seriously discussing the propriety of razing to the +ground the most striking of all the Byzantine +churches at Athens, because it stood in the thoroughfare +which led from the palace to the railway +station! Historians tell us the dreadful fact, that +<pb n='494'/><anchor id='Pg494'/>over seventy of these delicately quaint buildings +were destroyed when the new cathedral, a vulgar +and senseless compromise in style, was constructed. +A few more years of Vandalism in Greece, a few +more terrible fires at Salonica and at Athos, and the +world had lost its best records of a very curious and +distinctive civilization. +</p> + +<p> +There are indeed no mean traces of this art in +Adriatic Italy; the exarchate at Ravenna, the eastern +traffic of Venice, have shown their influence on +Italian art and architecture. The splendid mosaics +of Ravenna, nay, even the seven domes of S. +Antonio at Verona, the frescoes of the Giotto +Chapel at Padua, above all, the great cathedral at +Venice, are all strongly colored—those of Ravenna +even produced—by Byzantine art. Yet most travellers +who visit S. Mark’s at Venice have never seen +a Byzantine church, and do not feel its Eastern +parentage; still fewer visit the splendid basilica of +Parenzo, which is a still more unmistakable example. +But to those who have turned aside from +Olympia and Parthenon to study the early Christian +remains in Greece, all this art of Eastern Italy will +acquire a new interest and a deeper meaning. +</p> + +<p> +These are the reasons which have tempted me to +say a few words on this side of Greek travel. I do +not pretend to speak as an authority; I only desire +to stimulate a nascent interest which will presently +make what I say seem simple and antiquated. But +<pb n='495'/><anchor id='Pg495'/>as yet even high authorities are very much in the +dark about these things. What would a student of +Gothic architecture say to a discussion whether an +extant building belonged to the fourth century or +the eleventh? and yet such divergent views are still +maintained concerning the origin of the Athenian +churches. +</p> + +<p> +Let us begin with the best and quaintest, the so-called +<hi rend='italic'>Old Cathedral</hi>, which was fortunately allowed to +stand beside its ugly and pretentious successor. The +first thing which strikes us is the exceeding smallness +of the dimensions, it is like one of the little chapels +you find in Glendalough and elsewhere in Ireland. +I do not know whether the Greeks contemplated a +congregation kneeling in the open air, as was the +case around these chapels in Ireland, but such edifices +were certainly intended in the first instance as +holy places for sacerdotal celebrations, not as houses +of prayer for the people. I was told on Mt. Athos +that it was not the practice of the Greek church to +celebrate more than one service in any one Church +daily. Hence the monks, who are making prayer +continually, have twenty or thirty chapels within +the precincts of each monastery. Perhaps a similar +motive may have led to the construction of a great +number of smaller churches at Athens, where +seventy have already been destroyed, and at +Salonica, where remains of them are still being +frequently discovered. Perhaps, also, that desire +<pb n='496'/><anchor id='Pg496'/>to consecrate to the religion of Christ the hallowed +places of the heathen, which turned the Parthenon +and the temple of Theseus into churches, also +prompted the Byzantine bishops to set up chapels +upon smaller heathen sanctuaries, where no stately +temple existed, and mere consecration would have +left no patent symbol of Christian occupation. +</p> + +<p> +But if this Cathedral is small, it has the proper +beauty of minute art; it is covered with rich +decoration. All its surfaces show carved fragments +not only of classical, but of earlier Byzantine work—friezes, +reliefs, inscriptions, capitals—all so disposed +with a general correspondence or symmetry +as to produce the effect of a real design. Moreover, +this foreign ornament is set in a building strictly +Byzantine in form, with its rich doorway, its tiny +windows with their high semicircular arches supported +on delicate capitals, and toned by the centuries of +Attic dust to that rich gold brown which has turned +the Parthenon from marble almost to ruddy gold. +Never was there greater harmony and unity attained +by the most deliberate patch-work. In the earlier +works on Byzantine art, this church was confidently +assigned to the sixth century. Buchon found upon +it the arms of La Roche and of Villehardouin, so +that he assigned it to the thirteenth. The character +of the other buildings of these knights makes me +doubt that they and their friends could have constructed +such a church—the Western monks then +<pb n='497'/><anchor id='Pg497'/>built Latin churches in Greece—and I suppose that +the arms, which I could not find, were only carved +by the Franks upon the existing building. But I will +not therefore subscribe to the sixth-century theory. +</p> + +<p> +Of the remaining churches three only, the Kapnikarea, +the Virgin of the Monastery, and S. Theodore, +are worth studying, as specimens of the typical +form of such buildings. The main plan is a square, +surmounted by a cupola supported on four pillars, +with a corridor or porch on the West side, and three +polygonal apses on the East. Lesser cupolas often +surround the central dome. The height and slenderness +of this central dome is probably the clearest +sign of comparative lateness in these buildings, +which used to be attributed to the fourth and fifth +centuries, but are now degraded to the eleventh. +The earliest form is no doubt that of the massive +S. George’s at Salonica—a huge Rotunda covered +with a flat dome, not unlike the Pantheon at Rome, +with nothing but richly ornamented niches, and a +splendid mosaic ceiling in the dome, to give relief to +a very plain design. The successive complications +and refinements added to this simple structure may +be studied even in the later churches of Salonica. +</p> + +<p> +The traveller who has whetted his taste for this +peculiar form of mediæval art, and desires to study +it further, will find within reach of Athens two +monasteries well worth a visit, that of the Phæneromené +on Salamis, a very fair specimen of an +un<pb n='498'/><anchor id='Pg498'/>disturbed Greek monastery, and that of Daphne, +which may be ranked with the ruins of Mistra as +showing clear traces of the conflict of East and +West, of Latin with Greek Christianity. This +sanctuary, with its now decaying walls, succeeded +as usual to a pagan shrine with hardly altered name. +The Saints, still pictured in black and gold upon the +walls, and worshipped upon their festivals, have +become fantastic and unreal beings, well enough +adapted to that mixture of superstition and nationalism +which is the body of the Greek religion, and, +despite a purer creed, not very far removed from the +religious instincts of the old Hellenic race. Five +or six wretched monks still occupy the dilapidated +building, vegetating in sleepy idleness; they do +nothing but repeat daily their accustomed prayers, +and receive dues for allowing the people of the +neighboring hamlets to kiss, once or twice a year, +a dreadful-looking S. Elias, painted olive-brown on a +gold background, or to light the nightly lamp at the +wayside shrine of a saint black with smoke. +</p> + +<p> +The structure as we now see it is chiefly the work +of the Cistercians who accompanied Otho de la +Roche from Champagne to his dukedom of Athens, +and was established round a far older Byzantine +church and monastery. Like all mediæval convents, +it is fortified, and the whole settlement, courts +and gardens included, is surrounded by a crenelated +wall, originally about thirty feet high. +</p> + +<pb n='499'/><anchor id='Pg499'/> + +<p> +There are occasional towers in the wall, and +remains of arches supporting a passage of sufficient +altitude for the defenders to look over the battlements. +The old church in the centre of the court +has had a narthex or nave added in Gothic style by +the Benedictines, and here again are battlements, +from which the monks could send down stones or +boiling liquid upon assailants who penetrated the +outer walls. Three sides of the court are surrounded +by buildings; beneath, there are massive arcades of +stone for the kitchen, store-rooms, and refectory; +above, wooden galleries which supplied the monks +with their cells. Most of this is now in ruins, occupied +in part by peasants and their sheep. But the +church, both in its external simplicity and its internal +grandeur, is remarkable for the splendid decoration +of its walls with mosaics, which, alas! have +been allowed to decay as much from the indolence +of the Greeks as the intolerance of the Turks. In +fact, while some care and regard for classical remains +have gradually been instilled into the minds +of the inhabitants—of course, money value is an +easily understood test—the respect for their splendid +mediæval remains has only gained Western +intellects within the last two or three years, so that +we may expect another generation to elapse before +this new kind of interest will be disseminated among +the possessors of so great a bequest from the Middle +Ages. +</p> + +<pb n='500'/><anchor id='Pg500'/> + +<p> +The interior of the church at Daphne is a melancholy +example. From the effects of damp the +mortar has loosened, and great patches of the precious +mosaic have fallen to the ground. You can +pick up handfulls of glazed and gilded fragments, of +which the rich surfaces were composed. Here and +there a Turkish bullet has defaced a solemn Saint, +while the fires lit by soldiers in days of war, and +by shepherds in time of peace, have, in many places, +blackened the roof beyond recognition. Within the +central cupola a gigantic head of Christ on gold +ground is still visible, or was so when I saw the +place in 1889; but the whole roof was in danger +of falling, and the Greek Government, at the instigation +of Dr. Dörpfeld, had undertaken to stay +the progress of decay, and so the building was filled +with scaffolding. This, however, enabled us to +mount close to the figures, which in the short and +high building are seen with difficulty from the +ground, and so we distinguished clearly round the +base of the cupola the twelve Apostles, in the bay +arches the prophets, in the transepts the Annunciation, +the Nativity, the Baptism, and the Transfiguration +of Christ—all according to the strict models +laid down for such ornaments by the Greek Church. +The drawings are indeed stiff and grotesque, but the +gloom and mystery of the building hide all imperfections, +and give to these imposing figures in black +and gold a certain majesty, which must have been +<pb n='501'/><anchor id='Pg501'/>felt tenfold by simple worshippers not trained in +habits of æsthetic criticism. +</p> + +<p> +We have, unfortunately, no records of the history +of these convents, as in the case of many Western +abbeys, and the old chronicles of wars and pestilences +seldom mention this quiet life. We should +fain, says M. Henri Belle, have followed the fortunes +of these monks who left some fair abbey in +Burgundy to catechise schismatics in this distant +land, and bring their preaching to aid the sword of +the Crusaders; but these Crusaders were generally +intent on changing their cross for a crown, and were +therefore not at all likely to favor the rigid proselytism +of the Cistercians. It is very interesting to +know that Innocent III., that great pope, who from +the outset disapproved of the violent overthrow of +the Christian Empire of the East, was the first to +recommend, both to the conquerors and their clergy, +such moderation as might serve to bring back the +schismatic Greeks to the Roman fold. There are +still extant several of his letters to the abbeys of +the Morea, and to this abbey of the duchy of Athens, +showing that even his authority and zeal in this +matter were unable to restrain the bigotry of the +Latin monks. There were frequent quarrels, too, +between these monks of Daphne and their Duke, +and frequent appeals to the sovran pontiff to regulate +the relations between the civil authority, which +claimed the right of suzerain, and the religious +<pb n='502'/><anchor id='Pg502'/>orders, which claimed absolute independence and +immunity from all feudal obligations. Still, in spite +of all disputes, the abbey was the last resting-place +of the Frankish Dukes of Athens, and in a vault +beneath the narthex were found several of their +rude stone coffins, without inscription or ornament. +One only has carved upon it the arms of the second +Guy de la Roche, third Duke of Athens—two entwined +serpents surmounted with two fleurs-de-lis. +Guy II., says the chronicle, behaved as a gallant +lord, beloved of all, and attained great renown in +every kingdom. He sleeps here, not in the darkness +of oblivion, but obscured by greater monuments +of the greater dead. Yet I cannot but dally over +this interesting piece of mediæval history, the more +so as it explains the strange title of Theseus, Duke +of Athens, in Shakespeare’s immortal <hi rend='italic'>Midsummer +Night’s Dream</hi>, as well as the curious fact, at least +to classical readers, that the poet should have chosen +mediæval Athens as a court of gracious manners, +and suitable for the background of his fairy drama. +</p> + +<p> +Neglecting geography, I shall carry the reader +next to the very analogous ruins of Mistra, where, +however, it was rather the Greek that supplanted +the Latin, than the Latin the Greek ecclesiastic. +</p> + +<p> +When the Franks invaded Greece a very remarkable +family, the Villehardouins, seized a part of the +Morea, and presently built Mistra, above Sparta; it +was adorned with fair Gothic churches and palaces, +<pb n='503'/><anchor id='Pg503'/>and surmounted by a fortress. Sixty years after +the conquest, William Villehardouin was captured +by a new Byzantine emperor Palæologus, who was +recovering his dominion. The Frank was obliged +to cede for his ransom the forts of Mistra and +Monemvasia, which from that time were strongholds +of the Byzantine power till the conquest of the +Turks. Still the Villehardouins long kept hold of +Kalamata and other forts; and to the pen of one of +the family, Geoffrey, we owe the famous old chronicle +<hi rend='italic'>La Conquête de Constantinople</hi>, which is unique +in its importance both as a specimen of old French +and a piece of mediæval history. +</p> + +<p> +The architecture of Mistra, begun at a noble epoch +by the Latins, was taken up by the Byzantine +Greeks, so that we have both styles combined in +curious relics of the now deserted stronghold. For, +since 1850, when an earthquake shook down many +houses, the population wandered to the revived +Sparta, which is now a thriving town. But as the +old Sparta in its greatest days was only a collection +of shabby villages, showing no outward sign of its +importance, so the new and vulgar Sparta has no +attractions (save the lovely orange and lemon +orchards round it) in comparison with the mediæval +Mistra. The houses are piled one above another till +you reach the summit crowned by the citadel which, +itself a mountain, is severed from the higher mountains +at its back by a deep gorge with a tumbling +<pb n='504'/><anchor id='Pg504'/>river. <q>The whole town is now nothing but ruined +palaces, churches, and houses. You wander up +rudely-paved streets rising zigzag, and pass beneath +arches on which are carved the escutcheons of +French knights. You enter courts overgrown with +grass, but full of memories of the Crusaders. It is +the very home of the Middle Ages. Passing through +these streets, now the resort of lizards and serpents, +you come upon Frankish tombs, among others that +of Theodora Tocco, wife of the Emperor Constantine +Palæologus, who died in 1430. The Panagia +is the only church well preserved—a Latin basilica, +with a portico in the form of an Italian loggia, and +a Byzantine tower added to it. This building is +highly ornamented with delicate carving, and its +walls are in alternate courses of brick and stone, +while the gates, columns, and floor are of marble. +The interior is adorned with Byzantine frescoes of +scenes from the Old Testament. Higher up is the +metropolitan church, built by the Greeks as soon as +William Villehardouin had surrendered the fort in +1263. This great church is not so beautiful as that +already described, but has many peculiarities of no +less interest. The palace of the Frank princes was +probably at the wide place on a higher level, where +the ruined walls show the remains of many Gothic +windows. The citadel was first rehandled by the +Greek Palæologi, then by the Turks, then by the +Venetians, who in their turn seized this mediæval +<pb n='505'/><anchor id='Pg505'/><q>Fetter of Greece.</q> And now all the traces of all +these conquerors are lying together confused in +silence and decay. The heat of the sun in these +narrow and stony streets, with their high walls, is +intense. But you cannot but pause when you find +in turn old Greek carving, Byzantine dedications, +Roman inscriptions, Frankish devices, emblazoned +on the walls. The Turkish baths alone are intact, +and have resisted both weather and earthquake. But +the churches occupy the chief place still, dropping +now and then a stone, as it were a monumental tear +for their glorious past; the Greek Cross, the Latin +Cross, the Crescent, have all ruled there in their +turn. Even a pair of ruined minarets remain to +show the traces of that slavery to which the people +were subject for four hundred years.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The occupation of the Frankish knights had not +found an adequate historian, since old Villehardouin, +till Gregorovius wrote his <hi rend='italic'>Mediæval Athens</hi>. The +traveller still sees throughout Greece frequent traces +of this short domination, but all of one sort—the +ruins of castles which the knights had built to overawe +their subjects, and of which Mistra was perhaps +the most important. The same invaders built the +great towers at Kalamata, and most picturesque of +all is the keep over the town of Karytena in +Arcadia, the stronghold of Hugo de Bruyères. But +the Frankish devices which adorned these castles +have been mostly torn down by the Turks, or +re<pb n='506'/><anchor id='Pg506'/>placed by the Venetian lion, according as new +invaders turned the fortifications of their predecessors +to their own uses. Nor are any of these castles +to be compared in size or splendor with those of +northern Europe. The most famous of them, the +palace at Thebes, was so completely destroyed by +the Catalans, that all vestige of it has disappeared, +and we owe our knowledge of it to the description of +the Catalan annalist, Ramon Muntaner, who tells of +the ravages of his fellows not without some stings +of his æsthetic conscience. +</p> + +<p> +But let us pass from these complex ruins, which +speak the conflict of the East and West, to the +peculiar quiet homes of the Greek monk, who +spends his time not in works of charity, not in +labors of erudition, not in the toil of education, like +his western brother, but simply in performing an +arduous and exacting ritual, in praying, or rather +in repeating prayers, so many hours in the day, in +observing fasts and vigils, above all in maintaining +the strict creed which has given the title of orthodox +to his Church. These resting-places (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">μόνη</foreign> is the +suggestive word) are of course settled in quiet +regions, in the mountains, upon the islands, so that +we cannot expect them near a stirring capital like +Athens. Yet in the gorge of the defile which leads +up to Phyle there is a little <hi rend='italic'>skete</hi> (the house of +<hi rend='italic'>ascetics</hi>) lonely and wild in site; and by the sea on +Salamis, nearly over against Megara, the traveller +<pb n='507'/><anchor id='Pg507'/>will find a small but very characteristic specimen of +the Greek monastery, the <hi rend='italic'>Panagia Phæneromené</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +There he will see the tiny cells, and the library, +almost as small as any of them, at the top of dark +stairs, and containing some twenty volumes; he will +be received by the Hegoumenos with mastic and +jam, and then with coffee, and strive to satisfy the +simple curiosity of the old men, who seem so +anxious to hear about the world, and yet have +turned away their eyes from seeing it. Above all, +he will find in the midst of the enclosure a little +model Byzantine Church, built with the greatest +neatness, of narrow bricks, in which string courses +and crosses are introduced by an altered setting of +the bricks. Here too he will see the curious practice, +which led to marble imitations at Venice, of ornamenting +the walls by building in green and blue +pottery—apparently old Rhodian ware, for it is not +now to be found in use. It is a simpler form of the +decoration already described in the Cathedral of +Athens, that of ornamenting a wall with foreign +objects symmetrically disposed, and no one who sees +it will say that it is inartistic. Within are the usual +ornaments of the Byzantine Church, but not in +mosaic; for all the walls are covered with frescoes +by a monk of the early eighteenth century, a genius +in his way, though following strictly the traditions +of the school of Athos. The traveller who ascends +the pulpit will thence see himself surrounded by very +<pb n='508'/><anchor id='Pg508'/>strange pictures—over the west door, as is prescribed, +the Last Judgment, with the sins of men +being weighed in a huge balance, and devils underneath +trying to pull down the fatal scale. The condemned +are escorted by demons to an enormous +mouth breathing out flames—the mouth of hell. +Beatitudes and tortures supply the top and bottom +of the composition. Even more quaint is the miracle +of the swine of the Gadarenes running down a steep +place into the sea. They are drowning in the waves, +and on the head or back of each is a little black +devil trying to save himself from sinking. Similar +creatures are escaping from the statues of heathen +gods which tumble from the walls as the infant Jesus +passes by on his flight to Egypt. This points to the +belief that the statues of heathen gods were inhabited +by an evil spirit, and so far actually bodies with +souls within them! +</p> + +<p> +These few details are sufficient to tempt the reader +to visit this monastery, which is far better worth +seeing than the beautifully situated and hospitable +Vourkano described elsewhere in this work. I have +no space to speak of Megaspilion, for this book must +be kept within handy limits, and can never aspire to +even approximate completeness. So also will I here +pass by with a mere mention the eyries of Meteora +in Thessaly, perched upon strange pinnacles of rock, +like S. Simeon upon his pillar. The approach to, +and descent from, these monasteries in a swinging +<pb n='509'/><anchor id='Pg509'/>net is indeed a strange adventure to undergo, and +more painfully unpleasant than most such adventures, +but at the top there is little of interest. The hoards +of precious MSS. which Curzon describes in his delightful +volume, over which the monks quarrelled +when he offered gold, and would not sell them because +none would allow his brother to enjoy the +money—these splendid illuminated books have either +been cozened away by antiquarians, or are gathered +in the University Library at Athens. They are +there in their right place. I understand the peaks +of Meteora, when the present occupants die out, are +to receive not holy men, but criminals, who are to +suffer their solitary confinement not in dungeons beneath +the earth, but far above the haunts of men. +</p> + +<p> +But all these monastic settlements pale into insignificance +when we turn to Mount Athos, the real +Holy of Holies of the Greek Church, which is indeed +far from the kingdom of Greece, and therefore +beyond the scope of this work, and yet a chapter on +the mediævalism of Eastern Europe can hardly be +written without some consideration of this strange +promontory, in its beauty surpassing all description, +in its history unique both for early progress and for +subsequent unchangeableness, in its daily life a faithful +mirror of long past centuries, even as its buildings +are now mediæval castles inhabited by mediæval +men. I will here set down the impressions, from a +visit made in 1889, not merely of the art, but of the +<pb n='510'/><anchor id='Pg510'/>life of this, the most distinctive as well as the largest +example of Greek monasticism. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Velificatus Athos</hi> is an expression which has a +meaning even now, though a very different one +from that implied by Juvenal. The satirist would +not believe that Xerxes turned it into an island, +though the remains of the canal are plainly visible +to the present day. But now the incompetence of +the Turkish Government has turned Athos, for English +travellers, into an island, for it may only be approached +by sea. If you attempt to ride there from +Salonica or Cavalla, you are at once warned that you +do so at your own risk; that the tariff now fixed by +a joint commission of Turks, dragomans, and bandits +for the release of an English captive is £15,000; +that you will have to pay that sum yourself, etc. etc. +This is enough to drive any respectable and responsible +person from the enterprise of the land journey, +and so he must wait for the rare and irregular +chances of boat or steamer traffic. It was my good +fortune to find one of H. M.’s ships going that way +from Salonica, and with a captain gracious enough +to drop me on the headland, or rather to throw me +up on it, for we landed in a heavy sea, with considerable +risk and danger, and the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">τρικυμία</foreign>, as they +classically call it, lasted all day, and raged around +the Holy Mountain. Yet this adventurous way of +landing under the great western cliffs of the promontory, +with the monasteries of S. Paul, Gregory, +<pb n='511'/><anchor id='Pg511'/>and Dionysius, each on their several peaks, looking +down upon us from a dizzy height through the +stormy mists, was doubtless far the most picturesque +introduction we could have had to the long-promised +land. +</p> + +<p> +For this had been many years my desire, not only +to see the strangest and most perfect relic now extant +of mediæval superstition, but to find, if possible, +in the early MSS. which throng the libraries of that +famous retreat some cousin, if not some uncle or +aunt of the great illuminated MSS. which are the +glory of the early Irish Church. The other travellers +who have reached this place have done so by +arriving at some legitimate port on the tamer eastern +side; the latest, Mr. Riley,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Athos, or the Mountain of the Monks.</hi> By Athelstan Riley. +Longmans, 1887. This is the newest and best book on the subject.</note> by landing at the +gentlest and most humane spot of all, the bay of +Vatopédi. We, on the contrary, crept into a little +boat-harbor under the strictest, the most primitive, +and far the most beautiful of the western eagles’ +nests, whither English pickles, tinned lobster, and +caviare have not yet penetrated. We were doing a +very informal and unceremonious thing, for we were +invading the outlying settlements, to demand shelter +and hospitality, whereas we should have first of all +proceeded to the capital, Karyes, to present pompous +letters of introduction from Papas, Prime Ministers, +Patriarchs, and to receive equally elaborate +<pb n='512'/><anchor id='Pg512'/>missives from the central committee, asking the +several monasteries to entertain us. +</p> + +<p> +But we took the place by storm, not by regular +siege. We showed our letters, when we climbed up +to Dionysiu, as they call it, and prayed them to +forestall the hospitality which they would doubtless +show us, if we returned with official sanction. The +good monks were equal to the occasion; they waived +ceremony, though ceremony lords it in these conservative +establishments, and every violation of it +is called a <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">προσβολή</foreign>, probably the greatest sin that a +monk can commit. At every step of our route this +obstacle stood before us, and had we attempted to +force our way past it, no doubt our dumb mules +would have spoken, and reproved our madness. +Yet when they had before them all the missives +which were to be read at Karyes next day, to be followed +up by a letter addressed to themselves, they +actually antedated their hospitality and made us feel +at home and happy. +</p> + +<p> +Nowhere have I seen more perfect and graceful +hospitality in spirit, nowhere a more genuine attempt +to feed the hungry and shelter the outcast, even +though the means and materials of doing so were +often very inadequate to Western notions. But let +me first notice the extant comforts. We always had +ample room in special strangers’ apartments, which +occupy the highest and most picturesque place in +every monastery. We always had clean beds to +<pb n='513'/><anchor id='Pg513'/>sleep in, nor were we disturbed by any unbidden +bedfellows, these creatures having (as we were told) +made it a rule of etiquette never to appear or molest +any one till after Pascha, the Feast of the Resurrection. +The feast was peculiarly late this year, and +the weather perfect summer; still the insects carefully +avoided any such <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">προσβολή</foreign> toward us as to +violate their Lenten fast. In addition to undisturbed +nights—a great boon to weary travellers—we +had always good black bread, and fresh every +day; we had also excellent Turkish coffee, and +fortunately most wholesome, for the ceremony of the +place requires you to drink it whenever you enter, +and whenever you leave, any domicile whatever. +Seven or eight times a day did we partake of this +luxury and without damage to digestion or nerves. +There was also sound red wine, and plenty of it, +varying according to the makers, but mostly good, +and only in one case slightly resinated. There were +also excellent hazel-nuts, often served hot, roast in a +pan, and very palatable. +</p> + +<p> +What else was there good? There was jam of +many kinds, all good, though unfortunately served +neat, and to be eaten in spoonfuls, without any +bread, till at last we committed the <hi rend='italic'>prosvolé</hi> of asking +to have it brought back when there was bread +on the table. There were also eggs in abundance, +just imported to be ready for Easter, and therefore +fresh, and served <hi rend='italic'>au plat</hi>. Nor had we anywhere +<pb n='514'/><anchor id='Pg514'/>to make the complaint so pathetic in Mr. Riley’s +book, that the oil or butter used in cooking was +rancid. This is the advantage of going in spring, +or rather one of the many advantages, that both oil +and butter (the latter is of course rare) were quite +unobjectionable. +</p> + +<p> +When I say that butter was rare and eggs imported, +I assume that the reader knows of the +singularity of Athos, which consists in the absence +of the greatest feature of human life—woman, and +all inferior imitations of her in the animal world. +Not a cow, not a goat, not a hen, not a cat, of that +sex! And this for centuries! Three thousand +monks, kept up by importation, three thousand +laborers or servants, imported likewise, but no home +production of animals—that is considered odious and +impious. And when, in this remote nook of extreme +conservatism, this one refuge from the snares and +wiles of Eve, a Russian monk seriously proposed to +us the propriety of admitting the other sex, we felt +a shock as of an earthquake, and began to understand +the current feeling that the Russians were +pushing their influence at Athos, in order to transform +the Holy Mountain into a den of political +thieves. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing is more curious than to study the effects, +upon a large society, of the total exclusion of the +female sex. It is commonly thought that men by +themselves must grow rude and savage; that it is +<pb n='515'/><anchor id='Pg515'/>to women we owe all the graces and refinements of +social intercourse. Nothing can be further from the +truth. I venture to say that in all the world there is +not so perfectly polite and orderly a society as that +of Athos. As regards hospitality and gracious manners, +the monks and their servants put to shame the +most polished Western people. Disorder, tumult, +confusion, seem impossible in this land of peace. +If they have differences, and squabble about rights +of property, these things are referred to law courts, +and determined by argument of advocates, not by +disputing and high words among the claimants. +While life and property is still unsafe on the mainland, +and on the sister peninsulas of Cassandra and +Longos, Athos has been for centuries as secure as +any county in England. So far, then, all the evidence +is in favor of the restriction. Many of the +monks, being carried to the peninsula in early youth, +have completely forgotten what a woman is like, +except for the brown smoky pictures of the <hi rend='italic'>Panagia</hi> +with her infant in all the churches, which the strict +iconography of the orthodox Church has made as +unlovely and non-human as it is possible for a picture +to be. So far, so well. +</p> + +<p> +But if the monks imagined they could simply expunge +the other sex from their life without any but +the obvious consequences, they were mistaken. +What strikes the traveller is not the rudeness, the +untidyness, the discomfort of a purely male society, +<pb n='516'/><anchor id='Pg516'/>it is rather its dulness and depression. Some of the +older monks were indeed jolly enough; they drank +their wine, and cracked their jokes freely. But the +novices who attended at table, the men and boys +who had come from the mainland to work as servants, +muleteers, laborers, seemed all suffering under +a permanent silence and sadness. The town of +Karyes is the most sombre and gloomy place I ever +saw. There are no laughing groups, no singing, no +games among the boys. Every one looked serious, +solemn, listless, vacant, as the case might be, but +devoid of keenness and interest in life. At first one +might suspect that the monks were hard taskmasters, +ruling their servants as slaves; but this is not the +real solution. It is that the main source of interest +and cause of quarrel in all these animals, human and +other, does not exist. For the dulness was not confined +to the young monks or the laity; it had invaded +even the lower animals. The tom-cats, which +were there in crowds, passed one another in moody +silence along the roofs. They seemed permanently +dumb. And if the cocks had not lost their voice, +and crowed frequently in the small hours of the +morning, their note seemed to me a wail, not a +challenge—the clear though unconscious expression +of a great want in their lives. +</p> + +<p> +How different were the notes of the nightingales, +the pigeons, the jays, whose wings emancipate them +from monkish restrictions; and whose music fills with +<pb n='517'/><anchor id='Pg517'/>life all the enchanting glens, brakes, and forests in +this earthly Paradise! +</p> + +<p> +For if an exquisite situation in the midst of historic +splendor, a marvellous variety of outline and +climate, and a vegetation rich and undisturbed beyond +comparison, can make a modern Eden possible, +it is here. Nature might be imagined gradually improving +in her work when she framed the three +peninsulas of the Chalcidice. The westernmost, +the old Pallene, once the site of the historic Olynthus, +is broad and flat, with no recommendation +but its fertility; the second, Sithonia, makes some +attempt at being picturesque, having an outline of +gently serrated hills, which rise, perhaps, to one +thousand feet, and are dotted with woods. Anywhere +else, Sithonia may take some rank, but within +sight of the mighty Olympus, and beside the giant +Athos, it remains obscure and without a history. +Athos runs out into the Ægean, with its outermost +cone standing six thousand five hundred feet out of +the sea, and as such is (I believe) far the most striking +headland in Europe. You may see higher Alps, +but from a height, and with intervening heights to +lessen the effect; you may see higher Carpathians, +but from the dull plain of land in Hungary. Here +you can enjoy the full splendor of the peak from the +sea, from the fringe of white breakers round the +base up to the pale-gray, snow-streaked dome, which +reaches beyond torrent and forest into heaven. +<pb n='518'/><anchor id='Pg518'/>Within two or three hours you can ascend from +gardens of oranges and lemons, figs and olives, +through woods of arbutus, myrtle, cytisus, heath, +and carpets of forget-me-not, anemone, iris, orchid, +to the climate of primroses and violets, and to the +stunted birch and gnarled fir which skirt the regions +of perpetual snow. Moreover, the gradually-increasing +ridge which forms the backbone of the +peninsula is seamed on both sides with constant +glens and ravines, in each of which tumbling water +gives movement to the view, and life to the vegetation +which, even where it hides in its rich luxuriance +the course of the stream, cannot hush the sounding +voice. Here the nightingale sings all the day long, +and the fair shrubs grow, unmolested by those herds +of wandering goats, which are the real locusts of the +wild lands of southern Europe. +</p> + +<p> +Each side of the main ridge has its peculiarities +of vegetation, that facing north-east being gentler in +aspect, and showing brakes of Mediterranean heath +ten or fifteen feet high, through which mule paths +are cut as through a forest. The coast facing south-west +is far sterner, wilder, and more precipitous, +but enjoys a temperature almost tropical; for there +the plants and fruits of southern Greece flourish +without stint. +</p> + +<p> +The site of the western monasteries is generally +on a precipitous rock at the mouth of one of the +ravines, and commands a view up the glen to the +<pb n='519'/><anchor id='Pg519'/>great summit of the mountain. To pass from any +one of these monasteries to the next, you must either +clamber down a precipice to the sea, and pass round +in a boat commanded by a skipper-monk, or you +must mount the mules provided, and ride round the +folds and seams of the precipices, on paths incredibly +dangerous of aspect, and yet incredibly free +from any real disasters. When you come to a torrent +you must descend by zigzag winding <anchor id="corr519"/><corr sic="still">till</corr> you +reach a practicable ford near the sea-level, and cross +it at the foot of some sounding fall. But the next +projecting shoulder stands straight out of the sea, +and you must climb again a similar break-neck ascent, +till you reach a path along the edge of the +dizzy cliff, where you pass with one foot in the air, +over the sea one thousand feet beneath, while the +other is nudged now and then by the wall of the +rock within, so that the cautious mule chooses the +outer ledge of the road, since a loss of balance means +strictly a loss of life. It was a constant regret to us +that none of the party could sketch the beautiful +scenes which were perpetually before us, or even +photograph them. But the efforts of photographers +hitherto have been very disappointing. There are +indeed pictures of most of the monasteries, taken at +the instigation of the Russians, but all so wretchedly +inadequate, so carefully taken from the wrong point, +that we deliberately avoided accepting them, or +carrying them home. Mr. Riley too, a man of taste +<pb n='520'/><anchor id='Pg520'/>and feeling, had essayed the thing with leisure and +experience in his art, and yet the cuts taken from +the photographs, which are published in his book, +are also hopelessly inadequate. When, for example, +approaching from the north, we suddenly came in +view of Simópetra—standing close to us, across a +yawning chasm, with the sea roaring one thousand +feet beneath, high in the air on its huge, lonely crag, +holding on to the land by a mere viaduct, and behind +it the great rocks and gorges and forests framed +by the snowy dome of Athos in the far background—we +felt that the world can produce no finer scene, +and that the most riotous artistic imagination, such +as Gustave Doré’s, would be tamed in its presence +by the inability of human pencil to exceed it.<note place="foot">The very few travellers who have seen this, the most picturesque +of all European buildings, must have heard with a painful +shock that it was burned down in the spring of 1891.</note> The +plan of this monastery and its smaller brothers (I +was going to call them sisters!) is that of a strong, +square keep, rising straight from the sheer cliffs, +with but a single bridge of rock leading landward, +and when the wall has been carried to a height far +more than sufficient against any attack save modern +artillery, they begin to throw round it stories of balconies, +stayed out from the wall by very light wooden +beams, each balcony sheltered by that above, till a +deep-pitched roof overhangs the whole. The topmost +and outermost corner of these balconies is +<pb n='521'/><anchor id='Pg521'/>always the guest-chamber or chambers, and from +this lofty nook you not only look out upon the sea +and land, but between the chinks of the floor of +boards you see into air under your feet, and reflect +that if a storm swept round the cliff your frail tenement +might be crushed like a house of cards, and +wander into the sea far beneath. To me, at least, +it was impossible to walk round these balconies +without an occasional shudder, and yet we could not +hear that the slender supports had ever given way, +or that any of the monks had ever been launched +into the air. On the divans running round these +aerial guest-chambers are beautiful rugs from +Smyrna and Bulgaria, the ancient gifts of pilgrims +and of peasants, which were thrust aside in the rich +and vulgar Russian establishments for the gaudy +products of modern Constantinople and Athens, +while the older and simpler monasteries were content +with their soft and mellow colors. The wealth of +Athos in these rugs is very great. There were constantly +on the mules under us saddle-cloths which +would be the glory of an æsthetic drawing-room. +</p> + +<p> +But it is high time for us to take a closer view of +the inside of these curious castles, some of which, +Vatopédi, Ivíron, Lavra, are almost towns surrounded +by great fortifications, and which possess +not only large properties, outlying farms, dependencies, +but within them a whole population of +monks and their retainers. Let us first speak of +<pb n='522'/><anchor id='Pg522'/>the treasures accumulated within them, relics of +ancient art and industry in the way of books, pictures, +and work in precious metals. The reader will +doubtless appreciate that the estimate of some of +these things depends largely on the taste and education +of the visitor. Mr. Riley thinks it of importance, +in his excellent work, to enumerate the exact +number of chapels contained in, or attached to, each +monastery, whereas to me the exact number, and the +name of the patron saint, seems about the last detail +with which I should trouble my readers. So also +some sentimental travellers enumerate with care the +alleged relics, and Mr. Riley lets it be seen plainly +not only that he is disposed to believe in their +genuineness, but that, if proven, it is of the highest +religious importance. Seeing the gross ignorance +of the monks on all really important matters of history +on the real date and foundation of their several +monasteries, the ascription of a relic to some companion +of our Lord, or some worthy of the first four +centuries, seems to me ridiculous. +</p> + +<p> +With this preamble I turn first to the books. +Every convent we visited had a library containing +MSS. The larger had in addition many printed +books; in one, for example, which was not rich +(Esphigménu), we found a fine bound set of Migne’s +<q>Fathers.</q> The library room was generally a +mere closet with very little light, and there was no +sign that anybody ever read there. The contents +<pb n='523'/><anchor id='Pg523'/>indeed consisted of ecclesiastical books, prayer-books, +lesson-books, rituals noted for chanting, of +which they had working copies in their churches. +Still they are so careless concerning the teachings +of their old service books that they have completely +lost the meaning of the old musical notation, which +appears in dots and commas (generally red) over +their older texts, and they now follow a new tradition +with a new notation. When one has seen some +hundreds of these Gospels, and extracts from the +Gospels, ranging over several centuries, some +written in gold characters on the title-page, with +conventional pictures of the Evangelists on gold +ground, one begins to wonder what could have possessed +the good monks to occupy themselves with +doing over and over again what had been done hundreds +of times, and lay before them in multitudes of +adequate copies. I suppose the nature of their +religious worship suggests the true answer. As +they count it religion to repeat over and over again +prayers and lessons all through their nights of vigil +and their days of somnolence, so they must have +thought it acceptable to God, and a meritorious +work, to keep copying out, in a fair hand, Gospels +that nobody would read and that nobody would disturb +for centuries on dusty shelves. +</p> + +<p> +In the twelve libraries I examined I did not find +more than half a dozen secular books, and these of +late date, and copies of well-known texts. There +<pb n='524'/><anchor id='Pg524'/>may of course be some stray treasures still concealed +in nooks and corners, though a good scholar, +Mr. Lambros of Athens, has spent much labor in +classifying and cataloguing these MSS. But I saw +chests here and there in out-of-the-way lumber rooms, +with a few books lying in them, and believe that in +this way something valuable may still be concealed. +In general the monks were friendly and ready to +show their books, or at least their perfect manners +made them appear so; but in one monastery (Stavronikíta) +they were clearly anxious that none of +these treasures should be studied. They had not +only tossed together all their MSS. which had been +recently set in order by Mr. Lambros, but had torn +off the labels with which he had numbered them, +without any attempt, or I believe intention, of replacing +them with new ones. +</p> + +<p> +As I am not now addressing learned readers, I need +not go into details about the particular books which +interested me. My main object had been to find, if +possible, at Mount Athos some analogy, some parallel, +to the splendid school of ornamentation which has +left us the <hi rend='italic'>Book of Kells</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Lindisfarne Gospels</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>St. Chad’s Gospel</hi> at Lichfield, and other such +masterpieces of Irish illumination. I have always +thought it likely that some early Byzantine missionary +found his way to Ireland, and gave the first +impulse to a local school of art. That there is a +family likeness between early Irish and Byzantine +<pb n='525'/><anchor id='Pg525'/>work seems to me undeniable. I can hardly say +whether I was disappointed or not to find that, as far +as Athos went, the Irish school was perfectly independent, +and there was no early book which even +remotely suggested the marvellous designs of the +<hi rend='italic'>Book of Kells</hi>. The emblems of the Evangelists +seemed unknown there before the eleventh century. +There was ample use of gilding, and a good knowledge +of colors. In one or two we found a dozen +kinds of birds adequately portrayed in colors—the +peacock, pheasant, red-legged partridge, stork, etc., +being at once recognizable. But all the capitals +were upon the same design, all the bands of ornament +were little more than blue diaper on gold +ground. There were a good many books in slanting +uncials, probably seventh to ninth century; an +occasional page or fragment of earlier date, but +nothing that we could see of value for solving the +difficulties of a Scripture text. Careful and beautiful +handwritings on splendid vellum of the succeeding +centuries were there in countless abundance. +They are valuable as specimens of handwriting and +as nothing else. In many of the libraries the monk +in charge was quite intelligent about the dates of the +MSS., and was able to read the often perplexing +colophon in which the century and <hi rend='italic'>indiction</hi> were +recorded. But the number of dated MSS. was, +alas! very small. +</p> + +<p> +I now turn to the <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">κειμήλια</foreign> or treasures in precious +<pb n='526'/><anchor id='Pg526'/>metals and gems, which have often been described +and belauded by travellers. Each visitor sees something +to admire which the rest pass over in silence, +or else he is shown something not noticed by the +rest. So the reader must consult first, Curzon, then +Mr. Tozer, then Didron, then Mr. Riley, and even +after that there remain many things to be noted by +fresh observers. The fact is that the majority of +these reliquaries, pictures, and ornaments of the +screen are tawdry and vulgar, either made or renewed +lately, and in bad taste. It is only here and +there that a splendid old piece of work strikes one +with its strange contrast. Far the most interesting +of all the illustrations given by Mr. Riley is that of +the nave of one of the Churches, which are all +(except the old Church of Karyes) built on exactly +the same plan, with small variations as to the lighting, +or the outer narthex, or the dimensions. An +architect would find these variations highly interesting; +to the amateur there seems in them a great +sameness. But among the uniform, or nearly uniform, +features is a huge candelabrum, not the central +one hung from the middle of the dome, but +one which encircles it, hung by brass chains from +the inner edges of the dome, consisting of twelve +(sometimes only ten) straight bands of open-worked +brass, of excellent design, joined with hinges, which +are set in double eagles (the Byzantine emblem), +so that they form large decagons or duodecagons, +<pb n='527'/><anchor id='Pg527'/>in the upper edge of which candles are set all +round. The design and work of these candelabra +appeared to me old. But the monks affirmed that +they were now made in Karyes. This I did not +believe, and in any case my suspicions as to the +antiquity of the design were confirmed by one I +found in St. Paul’s (Agio Pavlo), which bears on one +of the double eagles an inscription that the Hegoumenos +had restored and beautified the church in +1850. But this eagle joined brass bands on which +was a clear German inscription stating that they +were made in Dresden in the year 1660. +</p> + +<p> +By far the finest embroideries in silk were at the +rich convent of Iviron, and indeed the main church +there has many features worthy of note. The floor +is of elaborate old mosaic, with an inscription of +George the Founder, which the monks refer to the +tenth century. There are quaint Rhodian plaques, +both set in the outer wall, and also laid like carpets, +with a border of fine design on the walls of the transept +domes. Beside them are remarkable old Byzantine +capitals designed of rams’ heads. But the +great piece of embroidery is a <foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">πόδια</foreign> (or apron of the +Panagia). The ground is gold and green silk, on +which portraits of the three imperial founders are +worked, their crowns of pearls, their dresses of +white silk, their beards of brown silk, and their faces +painted most delicately in colors upon silk. Never +in my life have I seen any embroidery so perfect and +<pb n='528'/><anchor id='Pg528'/>so precious. There were also occasional old crosses +of great excellence, but to describe them here would +be tedious and useless, unless it be to stimulate the +reader to go out and see them for himself; nor can I +recommend this, if he be not a well-introduced +traveller, ready to rough it and to meet with good +temper many obstacles. Travelling in Turkey, +where time has no value, and where restrictions +upon liberty are both arbitrary and unjustly applied, +is a matter of great patience. +</p> + +<p> +What shall we say of the services which go on +most of the day and night in these monastic churches, +and which seemed to Messrs. Riley and Owen so +interesting and so in harmony with the Church of +England, that they were never tired of regretting +the separation of Anglican from Greek Christianity, +and hoping for a union or reunion between +them? Mr. Owen went so far as to celebrate the +Eucharist after the Anglican ritual in one or two +of these churches before a crowd of monks, who +could not understand his words, far less the spirit +with which our Church approaches the Holy +Table. +</p> + +<p> +Yet here are large companies of men, who have +given up the world to live on hard fare and strict rule, +spending days and nights in the service of God, and +resigning the ordinary pleasures and distractions of the +world. Surely here there must be some strong impulse, +some living faith which sways so many lives. And yet +<pb n='529'/><anchor id='Pg529'/>after long and anxious searching for some spiritual life, +after hours spent in watching the prayers and austerities +of the monks, we could not but come to the +conclusion that here was no real religion; that it was +a mountain, if not a valley, <q>full of dry bones, and, +behold, they were very dry.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is of course very hazardous for a stranger to +assert a negative; there may be, even in this cold +and barren ritual, some real breath of spiritual life, +and some examples of men who serve God in spirit +and in truth. But the general impression, as compared +with that of any Western religion—Roman +Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian—is not favorable. +Very possibly no Western man will ever be in real +sympathy with Orientals in spiritual matters, and +Orientals these monks are in the strictest sense. +They put a stress upon orthodoxy as such, which to +most of us is incomprehensible. They regard idleness +as not inconsistent with the highest and holiest +life. They consider the particular kind of food +which they eat of far more religious importance +than to avoid excess in eating and drinking. How +can we judge such people by our standards? To +them it seems to be religion to sit in a stall all night, +perhaps keeping their eyes open, but in a vague +trance, thinking of nothing, and not following one +word that is said, while they ignore teaching, preaching, +active charity, education of the young, as not +worthy of the anchorite and the recluse. To us the +<pb n='530'/><anchor id='Pg530'/><foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">ἀγρυπνία</foreign> which we attended seemed the most absolute +misconception of the service of God; to the +monks this was the very acme of piety. +</p> + +<p> +I have spoken unreservedly of these things, as I +learned that these gentle and hospitable souls were +impossible to please in one respect—they think all +criticism of their life most rude and unjust. They +complained to me bitterly of Mr. Riley’s book, which +they had learned to know from extracts published in +Greek papers, and yet could there be a more generous +and sympathetic account than his? If, then, I +must in any case (though I deeply regret it) incur +their resentment, it is better to do so for a candid +judgment, than to endeavor to escape it by writing +a mere panegyric, which would mislead the reader +without satisfying the monks. Indeed, in one point +I could not even satisfy myself. No panegyric could +adequately describe their courteous and unstinted +hospitality. +</p> + +</div> +</body> + <back> + <div type="index" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='531'/><anchor id='Pg531'/> + <index index="toc" level1="Index"/><index index="pdf" level1="Index"/> + <head>INDEX.</head> + +<list> +<item>About, M. E., <ref target="Pg024">24</ref>, <ref target="Pg028">28</ref>.</item> + +<item>Acro-Corinthus, <ref target="Pg395">395</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> + +<item>Acropolis of Athens, +<list rend="nested"><item>first view of, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>, <ref target="Pg089">89</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>bombarded by Venetians, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>;</item> +<item>by Turks, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>;</item> +<item>works on, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref>;</item> +<item>excavations about, <ref target="Pg122">122</ref>, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref>;</item> +<item>the view from, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Adler, Dr., his theory concerning Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg486">486</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Ægina, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>, <ref target="Pg428">428</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Æschines, <ref target="Pg294">294</ref>, <ref target="Pg324">324</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Æschylus, <ref target="Pg082">82</ref>, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Æsculapius, temple of, at Athens, <ref target="Pg139">139</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Agatharchus, scene-painter, <ref target="Pg128">128</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Air, lightness and clearness of, <ref target="Pg255">255</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Alfieri, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +<anchor id="corr531"/><corr sic="Alkamenes">Alkamenes,</corr> <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref>, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Alpheus, the, <ref target="Pg302">302</ref>, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref>, <ref target="Pg342">342</ref>, <ref target="Pg357">357</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Alpine character of Greece, <anchor id="corr531a"/><corr sic="154"><ref target="Pg154">154</ref>.</corr> +</item> + +<item> +Altis, the, at Olympia, <ref target="Pg302">302</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Anaxagoras, <ref target="Pg138">138</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Apollo, temple of,<list rend="nested"> + <item>at Delphi, <ref target="Pg283">283</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>at Bassæ, <ref target="Pg264">264</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> +</list></item> + +<item>Arachova, +<list rend="nested"><item> in Phocis, <ref target="Pg276">276</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>in Kynuria, <ref target="Pg440">440</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item>Arcadia, <ref target="Pg351">351</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +<list rend="nested"><item>the ideal, <ref target="Pg352">352</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>description of, <ref target="Pg358">358</ref>, <ref target="Pg382">382</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Areopagus, the, <ref target="Pg139">139</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Argion, <ref target="Pg457">457</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Argos, <ref target="Pg410">410</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Aristion, stele of, <ref target="Pg068">68</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Aristophanes, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>. +</item> + +<item><anchor id="indexart"/>Art, Greek, +<list rend="nested"><item> reserve of, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref> <anchor id="corr531b"/><hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi><corr sic=";">,</corr> <ref target="Pg113">113</ref>, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref>;</item> +<item>progress of, <ref target="Pg110">110</ref>–<ref target="Pg112">112</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Aspendus, theatre of, <ref target="Pg127">127</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Assyrian features in old Greek art, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Astros, <ref target="Pg436">436</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Athena Nike, temple of, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Athens, +<list rend="nested"><item>faces eastward, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>;</item> +<item>museums of, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref>, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>ancient synœkismos of, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref>;</item> +<item>Byzantine art in, <ref target="Pg496">496</ref>;</item> +<item>dukes of, <ref target="Pg502">502</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Athletics, Greek, <anchor id="corr531c"/><ref target="Pg321">321</ref>–<ref target="Pg324">324</ref><corr sic=";">,</corr> <ref target="Pg340">340</ref>–<ref target="Pg342">342</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Attica, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Barathrum, the, <ref target="Pg086">86</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Bassæ, <ref target="Pg364">364</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Bath-room, archaic, at Tiryns, <ref target="Pg487">487</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Beulé, M., quoted, <ref target="Pg342">342</ref>, <ref target="Pg358">358</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Boating, <ref target="Pg430">430</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Bœotia, <ref target="Pg229">229</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Book of Kells, <ref target="Pg470">470</ref>, <ref target="Pg524">524</ref>, <ref target="Pg525">525</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Bournouf, M. E., <ref target="Pg103">103</ref>, <ref target="Pg419">419</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Boxing, <ref target="Pg334">334</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Brauron, <ref target="Pg153">153</ref>, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Brigands, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref>, <ref target="Pg194">194</ref>–<ref target="Pg197">197</ref>, <ref target="Pg200">200</ref>, <ref target="Pg360">360</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +British Museum, <ref target="Pg099">99</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Bruyères, Hugo de, <ref target="Pg505">505</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Bugs, <ref target="Pg254">254</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Bull, fresco of, <ref target="Pg489">489</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Byron, Lord, <ref target="Pg029">29</ref>, <ref target="Pg200">200</ref>, <ref target="Pg205">205</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Byzantine architecture and art in Greece, <ref target="Pg494">494</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target="Pg496">496</ref>, <ref target="Pg507">507</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Camels, <ref target="Pg296">296</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Canaris, M., <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Canon statue, the, <ref target="Pg063">63</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Canova, <ref target="Pg336">336</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Caryatids on Erechtheum, <ref target="Pg101">101</ref>, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cashel, rock of, <ref target="Pg120">120</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Castalian fount, <ref target="Pg289">289</ref>, <ref target="Pg293">293</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Castroménos, M., <ref target="Pg343">343</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cella frieze, of Parthenon, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Cerigo, <ref target="Pg012">12</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Chæronea, <ref target="Pg264">264</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Charos, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cheese, used in training, <ref target="Pg326">326</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Christ, +<list rend="nested"><item> the Passion of, <ref target="Pg081">81</ref>;</item> +<item>in Arcadia, <ref target="Pg363">363</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<pb n='532'/><anchor id='Pg532'/> + +<item>Christian antiquities of Athens, <ref target="Pg145">145</ref>.</item> + +<item> +<anchor id="indexcicada"/>Cicada (Tettix), <ref target="Pg409">409</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cicero, <ref target="Pg210">210</ref>, <ref target="Pg320">320</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cithæron, Mount, <ref target="Pg219">219</ref>, <ref target="Pg223">223</ref>, <ref target="Pg229">229</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Clarke, Dr., <ref target="Pg460">460</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cleonæ, <ref target="Pg404">404</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cockerell, Mr., <ref target="Pg368">368</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cocks at Sparta, <ref target="Pg444">444</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Coins, <ref target="Pg391">391</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Comedy, Greek, <ref target="Pg137">137</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>at Cambridge, <ref target="Pg137">137</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Constantine, the Emperor, <ref target="Pg291">291</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Convent Libraries, <ref target="Pg522">522</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>metals and gems, <ref target="Pg526">526</ref>;</item> +<item>embroideries, <ref target="Pg527">527</ref>;</item> +<item><anchor id="corr532"/><corr sic="plagues">plaques</corr>, <ref target="Pg527">527</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +<anchor id="corr532a"/><corr sic="Copias">Copais</corr>, Lake, <ref target="Pg248">248</ref>, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Corinth, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref>, <ref target="Pg392">392</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Corinthian order, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg369">369</ref>, <ref target="Pg434">434</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Coronea, <ref target="Pg250">250</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Costume, <ref target="Pg268">268</ref>, <ref target="Pg279">279</ref>, <ref target="Pg379">379</ref>, <ref target="Pg437">437</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Crete, <ref target="Pg014">14</ref>, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Curzon, M., <ref target="Pg509">509</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cyclades, <ref target="Pg014">14</ref>, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref>, <ref target="Pg182">182</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Cyclopean walls, <ref target="Pg472">472</ref>, <ref target="Pg473">473</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item>Daphne, +<list rend="nested"><item> pass of, <ref target="Pg205">205</ref>;</item> +<item>church at, <ref target="Pg500">500</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Delphi, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Dionysus (<hi rend='italic'>see</hi> <ref target="indextheatre">Theatre</ref>). +</item> + +<item> +Divri, <ref target="Pg345">345</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Dodwell, quoted, <ref target="Pg096">96</ref>, <ref target="Pg228">228</ref>, <ref target="Pg464">464</ref>, <ref target="Pg471">471</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Dogs, <ref target="Pg032">32</ref>, <ref target="Pg301">301</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>on tombs, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Dorians, <ref target="Pg442">442</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Dorian states and their art, <ref target="Pg420">420</ref>–<ref target="Pg423">423</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Doric order, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref>, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>, <ref target="Pg304">304</ref>, <ref target="Pg407">407</ref>, <ref target="Pg474">474</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Dörpfeld, Dr., <ref target="Pg314">314</ref>, <ref target="Pg487">487</ref>, <ref target="Pg490">490</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Dramatic competitions, <anchor id="corr532b"/><corr sic="131"><ref target="Pg131">131</ref>.</corr> +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Eagles, <ref target="Pg232">232</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Earthquakes, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref>, <ref target="Pg289">289</ref>, <ref target="Pg305">305</ref>, <ref target="Pg454">454</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Easter, <ref target="Pg361">361</ref>, <ref target="Pg383">383</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Elatea, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Eleusinia, the, <ref target="Pg210">210</ref>–<ref target="Pg214">214</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Eleusis, <ref target="Pg207">207</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Eleutheræ, <ref target="Pg223">223</ref>–<ref target="Pg229">229</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Elgin, Lord, <ref target="Pg097">97</ref>, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref>, <ref target="Pg460">460</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Elis, <ref target="Pg299">299</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Entrances, plan of, in Greek palaces, <ref target="Pg487">487</ref>–<ref target="Pg489">489</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Epaminondas, <ref target="Pg241">241</ref>, <ref target="Pg242">242</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Epicureans, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref>, <ref target="Pg145">145</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Epidauros, <ref target="Pg429">429</ref>, <ref target="Pg432">432</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Erechtheum, the, <ref target="Pg101">101</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Ergasteria, mines of, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item>Erymanthus, +<list rend="nested"><item> Mount, <ref target="Pg343">343</ref>;</item> +<item>river, <ref target="Pg345">345</ref>, <ref target="Pg347">347</ref>, <ref target="Pg358">358</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Euripides, his art, <ref target="Pg129">129</ref>, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>, <ref target="Pg321">321</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Eurotas, the, <ref target="Pg440">440</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Events, the, at Olympic games, <ref target="Pg331">331</ref>–<ref target="Pg333">333</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Expression in art, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Fallmerayer, <ref target="Pg415">415</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Forts +<list rend="nested"><item>at Phyle, <ref target="Pg215">215</ref>;</item> +<item>Eleutheræ, <ref target="Pg226">226</ref>;</item> +<item>Karytena, <ref target="Pg373">373</ref>;</item> +<item>Staigue, Kerry, a comparison, <ref target="Pg407">407</ref>;</item> +<item>Tiryns, <ref target="Pg405">405</ref>;</item> +<item>Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg457">457</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item>Freeman, Prof., +<list rend="nested"><item> on restorations, <ref target="Pg093">93</ref>;</item> +<item>criticised, <ref target="Pg093">93</ref>, + <anchor id="corr532c"/><corr sic="246"><ref target="Pg246">246</ref>.</corr></item> +</list></item> + +<item> +French tragedy, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Frieze +<list rend="nested"><item>of Parthenon, <ref target="Pg105">105</ref>;</item> +<item>at Tiryns, <ref target="Pg489">489</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Funeral orations, <ref target="Pg075">75</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Games, the Olympic, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Glendalough, chapels in, <ref target="Pg495">495</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Gods, the unknown, <ref target="Pg143">143</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Gold cups, polishing of, <ref target="Pg485">485</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Greece, +<list rend="nested"><item> faces eastward, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>;</item> +<item>routes to, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>–<ref target="Pg020">20</ref>;</item> +<item>first aspect of, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref>;</item> +<item>depopulation of, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>, <ref target="Pg232">232</ref>;</item> +<item>permanence of inhabitants, <ref target="Pg024">24</ref>, <ref target="Pg414">414</ref>–<ref target="Pg419">419</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item>Greek art, +<list rend="nested"><item> polychromatic, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref>–<ref target="Pg046">46</ref>;</item> +<item>notions of death, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>–<ref target="Pg079">79</ref> (cf. <ref target="indexart">Art</ref>);</item> +<item>travel, <ref target="Pg494">494</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item>Greeks, +<list rend="nested"><item> character of, <ref target="Pg021">21</ref>, <ref target="Pg146">146</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> (note) <ref target="Pg360">360</ref>;</item> +<item>courage of, <ref target="Pg201">201</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Guide-books for Greece, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Gregorovius, Mr., <ref target="Pg493">493</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Hadrian’s temple of Zeus at Athens, <ref target="Pg034">34</ref>–<ref target="Pg037">37</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Hagios Petros, <ref target="Pg438">438</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Handbooks for Greece, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref>, <ref target="Pg054">54</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Helicon, <ref target="Pg248">248</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Helmet of Hiero, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Heræon, the, at Olympia, <ref target="Pg314">314</ref>, <ref target="Pg371">371</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Heraldic ornaments, <ref target="Pg482">482</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Hermes +<list rend="nested"><item> of Vatican, <ref target="Pg063">63</ref>;</item> +<item>archaic at Athens, <ref target="Pg068">68</ref>;</item> +<item>of Praxiteles, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Herodotus, <ref target="Pg423">423</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Hesiod, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Homer, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>, <ref target="Pg284">284</ref>, <ref target="Pg403">403</ref>, <ref target="Pg409">409</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Honey +<list rend="nested"><item> of Hymettus, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref>;</item> +<item>of Laurium, <ref target="Pg176">176</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Hopf, <ref target="Pg415">415</ref>. +</item> + +<pb n='533'/><anchor id='Pg533'/> +<item>Hydra, the island of, <ref target="Pg183">183</ref>, + <anchor id="corr533"/><corr sic="425 427"><ref target="Pg425">425</ref>–<ref target="Pg427">427</ref></corr>.</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Ictinus, <ref target="Pg364">364</ref>, <ref target="Pg370">370</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Iliad, the, <ref target="Pg284">284</ref>, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref>, <ref target="Pg334">334</ref>, <ref target="Pg411">411</ref>, <ref target="Pg466">466</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Inns, <ref target="Pg361">361</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Ionic order, <ref target="Pg116">116</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Ireland, resembles Greece in various natural features, and in its art, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg017">17</ref>, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref>, <ref target="Pg407">407</ref>, <ref target="Pg464">464</ref>, <ref target="Pg468">468</ref>–<ref target="Pg470">470</ref>, <ref target="Pg478">478</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Italy, faces westward, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Itea, <ref target="Pg297">297</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Ithome, Mount, <ref target="Pg449">449</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Iviron, Monastery, <ref target="Pg527">527</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Jealousy, Greek, <ref target="Pg245">245</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Julian, the Emperor, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Julius Cæsar, <ref target="Pg390">390</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Kalamata, <ref target="Pg449">449</ref>, <anchor id="corr533a"/><ref target="Pg505">505</ref><corr sic="(missing)">.</corr> +</item> + +<item> +Karytena, <ref target="Pg372">372</ref>, <ref target="Pg505">505</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Katakolo, <ref target="Pg299">299</ref>, <ref target="Pg381">381</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Kephissus, the, +<list rend="nested"><item> near Athens, <ref target="Pg157">157</ref>;</item> +<item>in Thriasian plain, <ref target="Pg219">219</ref>;</item> +<item>at Orchomenus, <ref target="Pg257">257</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Kirrha, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Kladeos, the, <ref target="Pg302">302</ref> + <anchor id="corr533b"/><hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi><corr sic=";">,</corr> <ref target="Pg343">343</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Koron, Gulf of, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Krissa, <ref target="Pg294">294</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Kynætha, <ref target="Pg354">354</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Kynuria, <ref target="Pg435">435</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Ladon, the, <ref target="Pg358">358</ref>, <ref target="Pg359">359</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Lala, <ref target="Pg344">344</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Lambros, Mr., <ref target="Pg524">524</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Langada Pass, <ref target="Pg446">446</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Laurium, <ref target="Pg169">169</ref>–<ref target="Pg172">172</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>its mining companies, <ref target="Pg173">173</ref>–<ref target="Pg179">179</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Lechæum, <ref target="Pg390">390</ref>–<ref target="Pg392">392</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Lechouri, village of, <ref target="Pg347">347</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Legends, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref>, <ref target="Pg411">411</ref>, <ref target="Pg478">478</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Lion +<list rend="nested"><item> of Marathon, <ref target="Pg199">199</ref>;</item> +<item>of Chæronea, <ref target="Pg268">268</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>of the Arsenal, Venice, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref>;</item> +<item>of Lucerne, <ref target="Pg271">271</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Lionardo da Vinci, <ref target="Pg419">419</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Lion-gate at Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg471">471</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Livádia, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Locrian inscriptions, <ref target="Pg260">260</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Lycabettus, <ref target="Pg189">189</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Lysicrates, monument of, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg047">47</ref>, <ref target="Pg150">150</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Mænalus, Mount, <ref target="Pg381">381</ref>, <ref target="Pg387">387</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Maina, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Malea promontory, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>hermit of, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Marathon, <ref target="Pg153">153</ref>, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref>, <ref target="Pg199">199</ref>, <ref target="Pg203">203</ref>, <ref target="Pg204">204</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Marble, <list rend="nested"><item>Greek, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref>;</item> + <item>Pentelican, <ref target="Pg190">190</ref>, <ref target="Pg304">304</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Mars’ Orchestra, <ref target="Pg243">243</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Mediæval Greece, <ref target="Pg492">492</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Medicine in Greece, <ref target="Pg362">362</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Medusa, <ref target="Pg419">419</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Megalopolis, <ref target="Pg374">374</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Melos, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>Venus of, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Messene, walls and gates of, <ref target="Pg452">452</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Messenia, <ref target="Pg449">449</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Meteora Monastery, <ref target="Pg528">528</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Michaelis, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Mistra, <ref target="Pg445">445</ref>, <ref target="Pg503">503</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Monasteries, +<list rend="nested"><item> Scripou (Orchomenus), <ref target="Pg260">260</ref>;</item> +<item>Vourkano, <ref target="Pg450">450</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Morea (<hi rend='italic'>see</hi> <ref target="indexpeloponnesus">Peloponnesus</ref>). +</item> + +<item> +Mount Athos, <ref target="Pg509">509</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Munychia, <ref target="Pg160">160</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Murray, Mr. A. S., <ref target="Pg061">61</ref>, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref>, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref>, <ref target="Pg476">476</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Museums, +<list rend="nested"><item> subdivision of, <ref target="Pg050">50</ref>–<ref target="Pg054">54</ref>, <ref target="Pg151">151</ref>;</item> +<item>of Athens, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target="Pg074">74</ref>;</item> +<item>of Acropolis, <ref target="Pg118">118</ref>;</item> +<item>of Olympia, <ref target="Pg306">306</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Music, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref>–<ref target="Pg282">282</ref>; + <list rend="nested"><item>in Arcadia, <ref target="Pg353">353</ref>, <ref target="Pg372">372</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg456">456</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Myron, <ref target="Pg423">423</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Mysteries, the Eleusinian, <ref target="Pg210">210</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Naples, museum of, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Natural beauty, exhilarating effect of, <ref target="Pg255">255</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Nauplia, <ref target="Pg423">423</ref>, <ref target="Pg429">429</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +New Grange, <ref target="Pg464">464</ref>, <ref target="Pg468">468</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Nicias, a slave-owner, <ref target="Pg177">177</ref>, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Nike of Pæonius, <ref target="Pg306">306</ref>, <ref target="Pg316">316</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Oaks, <ref target="Pg344">344</ref>, <ref target="Pg366">366</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Œnoe, <ref target="Pg224">224</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Old Cathedral, Athens, <ref target="Pg495">495</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Olive-trees, in Attica, <ref target="Pg158">158</ref>, <ref target="Pg197">197</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Olonos, Mount, <ref target="Pg343">343</ref>, <ref target="Pg347">347</ref>, <ref target="Pg348">348</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Olympia, <ref target="Pg303">303</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Olympiads, the, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Oracle, Delphic, <ref target="Pg285">285</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Orchestra, the, <ref target="Pg140">140</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Orchomenus, <ref target="Pg257">257</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Ornamentation of temples, <ref target="Pg105">105</ref>, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Ostrich egg, at Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg478">478</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Owen, Mr., <ref target="Pg528">528</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<pb n='534'/><anchor id='Pg534'/> +<item>Pæonius, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref>, <ref target="Pg316">316</ref>.</item> + +<item> +Pæstum, temple of, <ref target="Pg394">394</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pan, <ref target="Pg353">353</ref>, <ref target="Pg387">387</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Panagia Phæneromené, Monastery of, <ref target="Pg497">497</ref>, <ref target="Pg507">507</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Panathenaic procession, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pankration, the, <ref target="Pg329">329</ref>, <ref target="Pg337">337</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Papalexopoulos, Dr., <ref target="Pg387">387</ref>, <ref target="Pg410">410</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Parnassus, Mount, <ref target="Pg274">274</ref>, <ref target="Pg281">281</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Parnes, Mount, <ref target="Pg154">154</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Parthenon, +<list rend="nested"><item> the older burnt, <ref target="Pg066">66</ref>;</item> +<item>account of, <ref target="Pg090">90</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>sketched by Carrey, <ref target="Pg104">104</ref>;</item> +<item>decorations of, <ref target="Pg105">105</ref>, <ref target="Pg369">369</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Paul, S., at Athens, <ref target="Pg141">141</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target="Pg389">389</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +<anchor id="corr534"/><corr sic="Pausanius">Pausanias</corr>, King, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pausanias quoted, <ref target="Pg263">263</ref>, <ref target="Pg284">284</ref>, <ref target="Pg291">291</ref>, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref>, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref>, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref>, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref>, <ref target="Pg328">328</ref>, <ref target="Pg329">329</ref>, <ref target="Pg368">368</ref>, <ref target="Pg377">377</ref>, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>, <ref target="Pg464">464</ref>, <ref target="Pg465">465</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Pediments, +<list rend="nested"><item>of Parthenon, <ref target="Pg105">105</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>of temple at Olympia, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Peiræus (Piræus), <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>, <ref target="Pg032">32</ref>, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref>–<ref target="Pg161">161</ref>, <ref target="Pg206">206</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +<anchor id="indexpeloponnesus"/>Peloponnesus, the, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Penrose, Mr., <ref target="Pg102">102</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pentathlon, <ref target="Pg320">320</ref>, <ref target="Pg331">331</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pentelicus, Mount, quarries of, <ref target="Pg190">190</ref>–<ref target="Pg193">193</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Perrot, M. G., quoted, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref>–<ref target="Pg189">189</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Perseids and Pelopids, <ref target="Pg486">486</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Petrachus, the fort of Chæronea, <ref target="Pg264">264</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phædriades, the, <ref target="Pg289">289</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phalerum, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phayllus, <ref target="Pg333">333</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phidias, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>, <ref target="Pg115">115</ref>, <ref target="Pg303">303</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phigalia, <ref target="Pg364">364</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phocians, the, <ref target="Pg291">291</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phocis, <ref target="Pg274">274</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Phœnicians, in Greece, <ref target="Pg012">12</ref>, <ref target="Pg170">170</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Phyle, pass of, <ref target="Pg215">215</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pickering, Mr., <ref target="Pg326">326</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pindar, <ref target="Pg242">242</ref>, <ref target="Pg294">294</ref>, <ref target="Pg316">316</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pirene, fountain of, <ref target="Pg397">397</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Platæa, <ref target="Pg223">223</ref>, <ref target="Pg231">231</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Plato, <ref target="Pg138">138</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Plutarch, quoted, <ref target="Pg213">213</ref>, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Politics, modern Greek, <ref target="Pg236">236</ref>–<ref target="Pg240">240</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Polyandrion, at Chæronea, <ref target="Pg272">272</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Polybius, <ref target="Pg346">346</ref>, <ref target="Pg353">353</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Polychromy, Greek, <ref target="Pg039">39</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Pompeii, statues from, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Praxiteles, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>his Hermes, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref>;</item> +<item>his Faun, <ref target="Pg353">353</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item>Propylæa +<list rend="nested"><item>at Athens, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>;</item> +<item>at Eleusis, <ref target="Pg208">208</ref>, <ref target="Pg209">209</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Psophis, <ref target="Pg346">346</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Psyttalea, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pullen, Mr., <ref target="Pg493">493</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pylæa, the, <ref target="Pg294">294</ref>, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pyramids, <ref target="Pg465">465</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pyrgos, <ref target="Pg300">300</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pyrrhic dance, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Pythian games, <ref target="Pg285">285</ref>, <ref target="Pg310">310</ref>, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Racine, his estimate of tragedy, <ref target="Pg132">132</ref>–<ref target="Pg134">134</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Rain, <ref target="Pg346">346</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Renan, quoted, <ref target="Pg141">141</ref>, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Rhamnus, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Riley, Mr., <ref target="Pg519">519</ref>, <ref target="Pg522">522</ref>, <ref target="Pg526">526</ref>, <ref target="Pg528">528</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Roads, Greek, <ref target="Pg190">190</ref>, <ref target="Pg220">220</ref>, <ref target="Pg256">256</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Routes, through Greece, <ref target="Pg296">296</ref>, <ref target="Pg343">343</ref>, <ref target="Pg349">349</ref>, <ref target="Pg380">380</ref>, <ref target="Pg396">396</ref>, <ref target="Pg424">424</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Salamis, <ref target="Pg207">207</ref>, <ref target="Pg209">209</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Salonica churches, <ref target="Pg497">497</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Salzburg, compared to Athens, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sannazaro, Jacopo, <ref target="Pg355">355</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sayce, Prof., <ref target="Pg416">416</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Schliemann, Dr. H., +<list rend="nested"><item>his <anchor id="corr534a"/><corr sic="Mycenæn">Mycenæan</corr> treasure, + <anchor id="corr534b"/><corr sic="151,;"><ref target="Pg151">151</ref>;</corr></item> +<item>at Nauplia, <ref target="Pg435">435</ref>;</item> +<item>excavations at Orchomenus, <ref target="Pg258">258</ref>;</item> +<item>Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg458">458</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>, <ref target="Pg464">464</ref>, <ref target="Pg473">473</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Schultz, Mr., <ref target="Pg493">493</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sepulchral monuments, county Meath, compared, <ref target="Pg468">468</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Scott, Sir Walter, <ref target="Pg267">267</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sculpture, in relation to other arts, <ref target="Pg316">316</ref>, <ref target="Pg321">321</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Shelley, <ref target="Pg086">86</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Shepherd children, <ref target="Pg448">448</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sicily, <ref target="Pg063">63</ref>, <ref target="Pg404">404</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Smith, Adam, his theory of sympathy, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Socrates, <ref target="Pg138">138</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sophocles, <ref target="Pg130">130</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sorrow, its expression in art, <ref target="Pg083">83</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sparta, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> + +<item> +Spartans, <ref target="Pg320">320</ref>, <ref target="Pg325">325</ref>, <ref target="Pg441">441</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Squier, Mr., <ref target="Pg060">60</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Stadium, at Delphi, <ref target="Pg293">293</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Stage, the Greek, <ref target="Pg128">128</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Statues, +<list rend="nested"><item>various types of, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>;</item> +<item>votive, <ref target="Pg315">315</ref>;</item> +<item>archaic, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref>–<ref target="Pg070">70</ref>, <ref target="Pg071">71</ref>, <ref target="Pg072">72</ref>;</item> +<item>at Argos, <ref target="Pg418">418</ref>;</item> +<item>archaistic, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<pb n='535'/><anchor id='Pg535'/> +<item>Stele, +<list rend="nested"> + <item>of Aristion, <ref target="Pg068">68</ref>;</item> + <item>of Alxenor, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref>.</item></list></item> + +<item> +Stoics, at Athens, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Strabo, <ref target="Pg389">389</ref>, <ref target="Pg396">396</ref>, <ref target="Pg408">408</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Sunium, temple of, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref>, <ref target="Pg179">179</ref>–<ref target="Pg181">181</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Swinburne, Mr., his Greek plays, <ref target="Pg135">135</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Tactics, old Greek, <ref target="Pg203">203</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tainaron, promontory of, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tanagra, figurines of, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>–<ref target="Pg062">62</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Taygetus, <ref target="Pg443">443</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tegea, <ref target="Pg385">385</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Temple of the Winds (Athens), <ref target="Pg047">47</ref>, <ref target="Pg150">150</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tennyson, his <hi rend='italic'>In Memoriam</hi> criticised, <ref target="Pg084">84</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tettix, the (<hi rend='italic'>see</hi> <ref target="indexcicada">Cicada</ref>). +</item> + +<item><anchor id="indextheatre"/>Theatre of Dionysus at Athens, <ref target="Pg122">122</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +<list rend="nested"><item>size of, <ref target="Pg125">125</ref>;</item> +<item>at Argos, <ref target="Pg413">413</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Thebans, character of, <ref target="Pg241">241</ref>–<ref target="Pg243">243</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Thebes, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref>–<ref target="Pg237">237</ref>, <ref target="Pg241">241</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Theocritus, quoted, <ref target="Pg192">192</ref>, <ref target="Pg336">336</ref>, <ref target="Pg353">353</ref>, <ref target="Pg402">402</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Theodosius, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Therasia (Thera), prehistoric discoveries at, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Theseus, temple of, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref>, <ref target="Pg038">38</ref>, <ref target="Pg046">46</ref>, <ref target="Pg047">47</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Thespiæ, <ref target="Pg242">242</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Thucydides, quoted, <ref target="Pg207">207</ref>, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Thyreatis, <ref target="Pg440">440</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Tiryns, <ref target="Pg405">405</ref> <anchor id="corr535"/><hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi><corr sic=";">,</corr> <ref target="Pg487">487</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>; +<list rend="nested"><item>destruction of, <ref target="Pg484">484</ref>, <ref target="Pg490">490</ref>, <ref target="Pg491">491</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Tomb of S. Luke, <ref target="Pg235">235</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Tombs, +<list rend="nested"><item>defaced, <ref target="Pg047">47</ref>, <ref target="Pg048">48</ref>;</item> +<item>the Attic, <ref target="Pg074">74</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>at Mycenæ, <ref target="Pg474">474</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> +</list></item> + +<item>Treasury +<list rend="nested"><item>of Minyæ, <ref target="Pg258">258</ref>, <ref target="Pg464">464</ref>;</item> +<item>of Atreus, <ref target="Pg457">457</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi></item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Trikoupi, M., <ref target="Pg237">237</ref>, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>, <ref target="Pg244">244</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tripod of Delphi, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tripolitza, <ref target="Pg278">278</ref>, <ref target="Pg381">381</ref>, <ref target="Pg384">384</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Tripotamo, <ref target="Pg345">345</ref>, <ref target="Pg346">346</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Trophonius, oracle of, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Trypi, <ref target="Pg446">446</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Turks, in Greece, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref>, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref>, <ref target="Pg281">281</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi> +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Umpires, at Olympia, <ref target="Pg337">337</ref>, <ref target="Pg338">338</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item>Vegetation, +<list rend="nested"><item>in Arcadia, <ref target="Pg366">366</ref>, <ref target="Pg367">367</ref>;</item> +<item>Argolis, <ref target="Pg401">401</ref>, <ref target="Pg429">429</ref>, <ref target="Pg458">458</ref>;</item> +<item>Kynuria, <ref target="Pg436">436</ref>;</item> +<item>Laconia, <ref target="Pg444">444</ref>, <ref target="Pg447">447</ref>;</item> +<item>Messenia, <ref target="Pg453">453</ref>, <ref target="Pg454">454</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Venetian tower at Athens, <ref target="Pg093">93</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Venetians, +<list rend="nested"><item>bombard the Acropolis, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>;</item> +<item>destroy sculptures, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>.</item> +</list></item> + +<item> +Venus, various types of, <ref target="Pg113">113</ref>, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Vergil, quoted, <ref target="Pg335">335</ref>, <ref target="Pg354">354</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Villehardouins, the, <ref target="Pg445">445</ref>, <ref target="Pg503">503</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Viollet-le-duc, M., <ref target="Pg393">393</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Vourkano, monastery of, <ref target="Pg449">449</ref>, <ref target="Pg508">508</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item>Walls, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref>, <ref target="Pg162">162</ref>; +<list rend="nested"><item>Peiræic, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref>.</item></list> +</item> + +<item> +Wedding scene, <ref target="Pg279">279</ref>. +</item> + +<item> +Wood, use of, in archaic buildings, <ref target="Pg491">491</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Xenophon, cited, <ref target="Pg201">201</ref>. +</item> +</list><list> +<item> +Zea, harbor, <ref target="Pg160">160</ref>, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref>. +</item> + +<item>Zeus, +<list rend="nested"><item>temple of, at Athens, <ref target="Pg046">46</ref>;</item> +<item>temple and statue of, at Olympia, <ref target="Pg303">303</ref> <hi rend='italic'>sq.</hi>;</item> +<item>bronze figures of (<foreign rend="Greek" lang="el">Ζᾶνες</foreign>), <ref target="Pg338">338</ref>.</item> +</list> +</item> +</list> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"><index index="fig" level1="Map: Greece and the Ægean Sea"/> + <pgIf output="txt"> + <then><p rend="ill">[Map: Greece and the Ægean Sea]</p></then> + <else> + <pgIf output="pdf"><then><p><figure url="images/map.jpg" rend="w100"> + <head>Greece and the Ægean Sea</head> + <figDesc>Map: Greece and the Ægean Sea</figDesc></figure></p></then> + <else><p><figure url="images/map-thumb.jpg"> + <head><xref url="images/map.jpg">Greece and the Ægean Sea</xref></head> + <figDesc>Map: Greece and the Ægean Sea</figDesc></figure></p></else> + </pgIf> + </else> + </pgIf> + </div> + <div> + <pgIf output="pdf"> + <then/> + <else> + <div id="footnotes" rend="page-break-before: right"> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + </else> + </pgIf> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before:right; x-class: boxed"> + <index index="pdf" level1="Transcriber's Note"/><index index="toc" level1="Transcriber’s Note"/> + <head>Transcriber’s Note</head> + + <p>The illustrations in the original volume were printed on separate, not paginated plates. +The captions were printed on the reverse side of the plates.</p> + + <p>The following changes have been made to the text:</p> + <list> + +<item><ref target="corr059">page 59</ref>, apostrophe added in <q>à l’ Eugénie</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr101">page 101</ref>, <q>Erectheum</q> changed to <q>Erechtheum</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr125">page 125</ref>, period added after <q>Bühnenalt</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr140">page 140</ref>, <q>Anaxgoras</q> changed to <q>Anaxagoras</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr144">page 144</ref>, <q>than</q> changed to <q>that</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr147">page 147</ref>, <q>fueillages</q> changed to <q>feuillages</q>, +<q>caractèristiques</q> to <ref target="corr147a"><q>caractéristiques</q></ref></item> +<item><ref target="corr188">page 188</ref>, <q>aujhourd'hui</q> changed to <q>aujourd’hui</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr197">page 197</ref>, <q>pollared</q> changed to <q>pollarded</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr201">page 201</ref>, period added after <q>23</q>, +<q>Xenophen</q> changed to <ref target="corr201a"><q>Xenophon</q></ref>, +single quote changed to double quote before <ref target="corr202b"><q>I witnessed</q></ref></item> +<item><ref target="corr211">page 211</ref>, <q>Oed.</q> changed to <q>Œd.</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr213">page 213</ref>, <q>initation</q> changed to <q>initiation</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr216">page 216</ref>, <q>Emile</q> changed to <q>Émile</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr263">page 263</ref>, period added after <q>originals</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr282">page 282</ref>, comma changed to period after <q>memory</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr369">page 369</ref>, <q>Basse</q> changed to <q>Bassæ</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr471">page 471</ref>, <q>haraldic</q> changed to <q>heraldic</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr481">page 481</ref>, quote removed before <q>but</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr519">page 519</ref>, <q>still</q> changed to <q>till</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr531">page 531</ref>, comma added after <q>Alkamenes</q>, +period added after <ref target="corr531a"><q>154</q></ref>, +semicolon changed to comma after <ref target="corr531b"><q><hi rend="italic">sq.</hi></q></ref> +and <ref target="corr531c"><q>321–324</q></ref></item> +<item><ref target="corr532">page 532</ref>, <q>plagues</q> changed to <q>plaques</q>, +<q>Copias</q> changed to <ref target="corr532a"><q>Copais</q></ref>, +period added after <ref target="corr532b"><q>131</q></ref> and <ref target="corr532c"><q>246</q></ref></item> +<item><ref target="corr533">page 533</ref>, dash added between <q>425</q> and <q>427</q>, +period added after <ref target="corr533a"><q>505</q></ref>, +semicolon changed to comma after <ref target="corr533b"><q><hi rend="italic">sq.</hi></q></ref></item> +<item><ref target="corr534">page 534</ref>, <q>Pausanius</q> changed to <q>Pausanias</q>, +<q>Mycenæn</q> changed to <ref target="corr534a"><q>Mycenæan</q></ref>, +<q>151,;</q> changed to <ref target="corr534b"><q>151;</q></ref></item> +<item><ref target="corr535">page 535</ref>, semicolon changed to comma after first <q><hi rend="italic">sq.</hi></q></item> + + </list> + <p>Variations in hyphenation (e.g. <q>prehistoric</q>, <q>pre-historic</q>; + <q>halfway</q>, <q>half-way</q>)<!--, capitalisation + (<q>inscription</q>, <q>Inscription</q>) and spelling (<q>under world</q>, <q>underworld</q>; + <q>mediaeval</q>, <q>medieval</q>; <q>praetorian</q>, <q>pretorian</q>)--> have not been changed. + Neither have variant spellings in the captions to the plates and in the index.</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter"/> + </div> + </back> + </text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/35298-tei/images/cover.png b/35298-tei/images/cover.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..811578a --- /dev/null +++ b/35298-tei/images/cover.png diff --git a/35298-tei/images/illus001.jpg b/35298-tei/images/illus001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..674157d --- /dev/null +++ b/35298-tei/images/illus001.jpg diff --git a/35298-tei/images/illus050.jpg b/35298-tei/images/illus050.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40b189a --- /dev/null +++ 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