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 GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 
 
 i 
 
 
LONDON : 
 GILBERT AND RIVLVGTON, PRINTERS, 
 
 ST. John's square. 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A ^JIISTORIC SKETCH 
 OF ATTIC LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE HON. THOMAS TALBOT. 
 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON. 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
 1881. 
 
i^.^.J'^^ 
 
TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE W. E. G 
 
 LADSTONE, 
 
 PREMIER OF ENGLAND : 
 
 AUTHOR OF "homer" (A WORK OF RARE MERIT), 
 
 AN ACCOMPLISHED SCHOLAR, 
 
 A POWERFUL AND BRILLIANT ORATOR, 
 
 AND ENGLAND'S GREATEST LIVING STATESMAN, 
 
 Cfeis Wotk is ^mtxibfti 
 
 WITH 
 
 PROFOUND SENTIMENTS OF ESTEEM AND ADMIRATION 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory 
 
 I'AGK 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The first Colonization of Greece — Different Theories on this 
 subject — Unsettled state of the first colonies — The land of 
 Attica not subject to the changes of population which pre- 
 vailed in other parts of Greece — Origin of the name Ionia. 
 
 CHAPTER III. " 
 
 The various names by which Greece was known — The origin 
 of those names— Early intercourse between Greece and 
 Egypt 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ><' Geographical position of Greece — The Athenians and 
 Argives contend for the palm of antiquity — First estab- 
 lishment of the city of Athens — Its growth and extent. . 
 
 12 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Division of the Athenians into two classes — Their Charac- 
 teristics ' ^9 
 
 CHAPTER VI. ■ 
 
 Other divisions of the Athenians into classes — Similarity 
 between the Athenians and Egyptians in respect of the 
 classification of the people - 26 
 
VIM 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PACE 
 
 Athens at the time of Cecrops— The people distinguished by 
 Tribes— Astrononucal basis of the Tribal division . . 30 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Early mode of habitation in Greece— Regulation of towns 
 and villages 33 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The forms of government established among the Athenians — 
 Distinction between Oligarchy and Aristocracy — De- 
 mocracy, its true nature and principles — Codrus, the last 
 King of Athens — Pisistratus and his successors . . 36 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Solon, the Founder of the Athenian Commonwealth — His 
 mode of proceeding ; the difficulties he encountered ; 
 and his tinal success 42 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Abrogation of the laws of Draco — New classification of 
 citizens, according to propert) — Wise laws enacted by 
 Solon — Solon absents himself from his country ; and 
 visits Egypt, Cyprus, and Lydia 49 
 
 CHAPTER XII. • ' 
 
 Solon converses with Egyptian priests — Story of the Atlantic 
 Island — Solon's celebrated answers to the questions of 
 Croesus 56 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Pisistratus becomes ruler of Athens — The Lacedemonians 
 assist the Athenians in their struggle for liberty — Pericles, 
 and the Rule of Rascality— The Council of Four Hundred 
 — The Thirty Tyrants — Re-establishment of Athenian 
 liberty — iVntipater j and his successors . . . * 59 
 
Contents. 
 
 ix 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Philip, the King of Macedonia, brings Athens under his 
 sway — He is expelled by the Romans — Invasion of the 
 Goths— Constantine the Great, first Duke of Athens— A 
 story of Love and Romance 65 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The religion of the ancient Greeks— Their twelve principal 
 Gods — The source whence their worship was derived — 
 The Unknown Gods 70 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Jupiter, the principal God of the Athenians — He presided 
 over the laws of hospitality. Apollo, Mercury, Juno, 
 Saturn, Ceres, and other Athenian Divinities . . .74 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Superstitions of the ancients — Comparison of the ancient 
 and modern practices of superstition — The Irish and 
 English peasantry remarkable for their superstitious ob- 
 servances 81 
 
 { 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Vaticination, or prophecy among the Greeks — Necromacy, 
 or the Magic art — Philtra, or love medicines — The pro- 
 phetic circle ; casting of dice ; and other modes of ascer- 
 taining future events 86 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Greek Churches — Their origin and nature — The several 
 classes of persons set apart for the purposes of public 
 worship — The Priests 90 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Public Sacrifices — First fruits and burnt offerings — Mode 
 and manner of offering sacrifices — Homer's description 
 of a sacrifice in honour of Apollo 94 
 
X 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. 
 
 PACE 
 
 Tragedj' and Comedy — Their. rigij\ and derivations — 
 Homer's poems — The festiv i' ' . .cchus — Virgil's de- > 
 
 scr:;jtion of this festival . .... 98 v 
 
 • CHAPTER XXH. 
 
 The earliest writers of comedy and tragedy — Crude state 
 of the drama on its first appearance in Athens — The 
 three great dramatic writers of Athens : ^schylus, 
 Sophocles, and Euripides 102 ./ 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Public contests of the great dramatic poets for the prize of 
 superior excellence — Stage actors, and chorus . . 107 
 
 V CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Old and New Comedy — Excessive love of the Athenians 
 for dramatic shows — Its injurious consequences to the 
 public liberty no 
 
 ' " CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Athenians under the government of laws from the 
 earliest period of their history — The various character of 
 their laws — Solon, their great lawgiver . . . .116 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The written and unwritten laws of the Greeks — The Athe- 
 nian statute laws — Mode of proceeding in the passing of 
 laws 121 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The public meetings of the Athenians — How those meetings 
 were constituted ; and the subjects brought under discus- 
 sion 125 
 
Contents. 
 
 XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 1 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Senate, or Council of Five Hundred— Mode of their 
 election — Their oath of office— The judges chosen from 
 the body of the Senate » . . . . • . .128 
 
 . CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The manner of bringing actions into Court. Mode of pro- 
 cedure in the conduct of cases — Time limited in regard 
 of speeches made by plaintiff and defendant, or counsel 
 in their behalf 134 
 
 • . CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Witnesses ; and the nature of the evidences given — Judicial 
 decisions; their form of deliver}', and character . . 140 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Influences brought to bear on the judges in the formation 
 of their decisions — Judges sometimes corrupt . . . 144 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The Court of the Areopagus — The time of its foundation — 
 The qualifications and character of its judges — Mode of 
 procedure of this Court 146 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 The Court of the Palladium ; and other Courts established 
 in Athens — Their various jurisdictions . . . .153 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Writs or forms of action, issued by the Courts of Athens — 
 Writs were of two kinds, public and private — Of public 
 writs .157 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Private actions, and the various subjects they embraced — 
 Comprehensive character of Grecian law . . .161 
 
xu 
 
 Contents. 
 
 -V' 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 The elements of Grecian greatness — Early civilization of 
 Greece— Her secular and religious culture . . .167 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. "^ 
 
 Greek courtship — Philtres and Love Potions — Forms of 
 betrothal 171 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Marriage ceremonies — Interchange of bridal presents — 
 Song to Hymen — Wedding festivities . . . .176 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 T'me and seasons appointed for marriage among the 
 ancients — The age at which Greek women were deemed 
 marriageable— Dowry, and other conditions of marriage. 1 83 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 \ 
 
 Divorce and its attendant circumstances — The care of the 
 household the peculiar province of Greek women. The 
 solicitude with which the Greeks guarded the purity and 
 honour of their women 1 86 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Customs observed by Greek women before and after child- 
 birth — Sacrifices, purifications, and other practices on 
 those occasions 192 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Great solicitude of the Greeks with respect to the nursing 
 of children— The practice of exposing children — Greek 
 children divided into classes 197 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Greece, the great nursery of youth — Modes of education — 
 Discrimination in the education of the children of the 
 rich and poor ; and other regulations relating to the youth 
 ,of both sexes 202 
 
 i: 
 

 Contents. 
 
 xm 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Attention of Greek children to their parents — Laws of in- 
 heritance — Inheritance by adoption ; and the conditions 
 annexed thereto 209 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. - . 
 
 Reverence for the dead a prominent feature of the Greek 
 character, as well as that of the ancients in general — 
 Ceremonies and observances connected with the burial of 
 the dead 211 
 
 CHAPTER XLV I. 
 
 Homicide, and the punishments consequent upon its per- 
 petration — Similar laws among the Greeks and Israelites 
 with respect to those punishments 216 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 Ancient customs at Wakes and Funerals — Superstitious 
 observances of the Greeks in connexion with the burial 
 of the dead . . 219 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 Ablution of the dead — Funeral dirge — Order of procession 
 at funerals • • . 222 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Mourning for the dead — Various manifestations of sorrow — 
 Similar practices observed by the Greeks and Israelites 
 on occasions of mourning 227 
 
 CHAPTER L. > 
 
 Remarkable resemblance between the Greeks and Irish in 
 their funeral observances, and mourning for the dead . 232 
 
XIV 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cremation, or the burning of the bodies of the dead, 
 practised by the ancients — Ceremonies observed by the 
 Greeks on occasions of this sort 236 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 Tombs, inscriptions, and sacrifices in honour of the dead — 
 Garlands of flowors, and other decorations of the graves of 
 the dead 240 
 
 • CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 Public orations, and funeral feasts in honour of the dead . 247 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 High religious feeling of the Greeks — Temples of the gods 
 regarded as asylums of security for criminals — Privilege 
 of sanctuary 250 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 Offerings and sacrifices to the gods — The three classes of 
 divinities . ^ 256 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. ; '^r 
 
 Oaths and asseverations — Abjurations and the ordeal by 
 tire • • • • • • • • • • •250 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 Convivial habits of the Greeks — Their public entertain- 
 ments — The forms and ceremonies observed at feasts — 
 Resemblance between the Greeks and Romans in their 
 festive ceremonies . 262 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 Food of the Greeks in early times— Introduction of wine — 
 Toasts, or healths— Carousals, or drinking bouts — 
 Wedding, or bridal cakes— Music, dancing, and songs at 
 feasts ' 267 
 
Contents. 
 
 XV 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Grecian hospitality — Ceremonies observed upon the arrival 
 and the departure of strangers . . . . . 274 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Beggary not permitted among the Greeks — Modes of pro- 
 viding for the necessities of the poor . . . .278 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Military organization of the Athenians— Infantry and 
 cavalry — Order of preferment — The Athenian soldiery 
 not paid for their services — Armour, arms, and clothing 
 of the soldiers 280 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 Weapons of attack— Preparations for war — Order of march 
 — Signals of engagement — Treatment of prisoners — 
 Burial of soldiers fallen in battle . . . . 287 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 The spirit and practice of prophecy among the ancients — 
 The several kinds of prophecy — The Greek philosophers' 
 belief in divination — The Oracle of Delphos ; its origin 
 and mode of operation 294 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 The answers of the Oracle at first delivered in verse — Great 
 importance attached to the Oracle — Its corruption in 
 course of time — Opinions of Cicero and Demosthenes — 
 The great wealth of the Oracle — The other chief Oracles 
 of antiquity 
 
 299 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 The interpretation of dreams— How dreams were regarded 
 by the Greeks . . . ^o; 
 
 r/ 
 
XVI 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The art of augury — The position of the augurs in the 
 popular estimation — Compa.rison between ancient and 
 modern superstitions . 310 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI I. 
 
 Extispicina, or the art of foretelling future events by the in- 
 spection of the entrails of animals — Necromancy, hydro- 
 mancy, lithomancy, and other modes of acquiring a know- 
 ledge of futurity . .^14 
 
 . , CHAPTER LXVI II. 
 
 Similarity of Grecian superstitions to those practised by 
 the Irish — Whence arose this similarity . . . .321 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 Superstitious observances in connexion with sneezing, 
 the drawing of lots, and the accidental meeting with 
 various kinds of animals on a journey .... 325 
 
 ■■■'^\-' CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 Paganism and Christianity — Conclusion 
 
 330 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 
 
 ; . CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory. 
 
 Greece, of all parts of the earth, possesses a pre- 
 eminence in the records of antiquity for the grandeur 
 of its intellectual manifestations, and the splendour of 
 its genius. It would appear to have been the chosen 
 seat of the divinity of Mind ; the spot of earth 
 peculiarly set apart for the display of the intel- 
 lectual powers of man ; the region of thought ; the 
 nursery of human genius ; the temple of the human 
 mind. Whatever efforts may have been made by 
 man in the intellectual sphere ; whatever manifesta- 
 tions of genius may have occurred previous to the era 
 of Grecian history, were, as far as we know, but the 
 mere scintillations of a faint and distant meteor in 
 comparison with the gorgeous light emitted from the 
 mid-day sun of the Attic mind. 
 
 Undimmed by the lapse of more than twenty cen- 
 turies, the effusions of the Greek intellect attract our 
 admiration and illustrate our genius to-day. In the 
 fields of Science, and throughout the realms of Art 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 and Imagination, we are directed and controlled by 
 them. They are the rule of our judgments, the in- 
 spiration of our genius, the glory of our intellectual 
 efforts. There must be something incomparably 
 excellent in productions which have preserved the 
 esteem and admiration of mankind, in every clime 
 and every age, and throughout all the changing 
 destinies of civilized naticns, for a period of over two 
 thousand years. And to wharever cycle of years the 
 world may yet extend, this eisteem and admiration 
 will, doubtless, continue undiminished ; for the stamp 
 of Nature, and the seal of imperishable truth, consti- 
 tute the talismanic influence that shall preserve the 
 immortality of those productions. The simplicity and 
 sublimity of the poetic art enshrined in the pages 
 of Homer ; the persuasive power, and captivating 
 brilliancy, and irresistible vigour of high-souled oratory 
 that breathes, and shines, and glows in the speeches 
 of Demosthenes ; the natural ease, and grace, and 
 beauty embodied in the historic narrative of Herodo- 
 tus ; all these shall live eternal in the human mind ; 
 and receive appreciation as long as the loftiest, purest, 
 and most sublime genius shall have power to sway 
 the admiration of mankind. Painting, Statuary, and 
 Architecture ; Philosophy, Law and Religion ; sprang 
 up and flourished side by side with the elder and 
 nobler progeny of the Mu;?es : and the Attic soil 
 became redolent of the highest attributes and noblest 
 creations of the human mind. ^^ ; ; ^- 
 
 The name and story of Athens present an attraction 
 to the educated and refined intellect as j^raceful as it 
 is irresistible; for here it may luxuriate over an 
 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 illimitable field of the fairest, and brightest, and 
 loveliest productions of genius ; and bathe and dis- 
 port itself in the crystal waters of the most refined 
 inspiration. The noble philosophy of Socrates ; the 
 golden wisdom of Solon ; — J:he deep, and clear, and 
 sparkling current of thought that winds along the 
 plain of her history, from the fountain-head of poet, 
 orator, philosopher, and warrior sage, offers the richest 
 and most varied treat to the intellect and the imagina- 
 tion which it is possible for the labours of genius to 
 produce • . 
 
 To inquire into the origin, history, and institutions 
 of a people like this, cannot fail to afford both 
 pleasure and instruction, and to add to the charms 
 inseparable from the investigation of ancient manners 
 and customs, the inspiring interest springing from a 
 renown the most dazzling that has ever encompassed 
 a people. ■ • ^ 
 
 !if . 
 
 .'^7.. J 
 
 B 2 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 The first Colonization of Greece — Different Theories on this 
 subject — Unsettled state of the first colonies — The land of 
 Attica not subject to the chringes of population which pre- 
 vailed in other parts of Greece — Origin of the name Ionia. 
 
 After the failure of the sons of Noah to carry out 
 their design in the construction of the tower of Babel, 
 in the land of Shinar, they, according to the Divine 
 fiat, became wanderers over the face of the earth. To 
 Japhet and his descendants were appropriated the 
 lands lying westward of the scene where God had 
 confounded the language of men as a just punishment 
 for the audacity and impiety of their vain and am- 
 bitious enterprise. The sons of Japhet were four, viz. 
 Gomer, Magog, Madai, and Javan ; the last-named 
 of whom we have good ' eason to believe was the first 
 who colonized Greece ; or at least that part of Greece 
 which afterwards assumed the name of Attica, and in 
 which stood the celebrated city of Athens. Accord- 
 ing to Josephus, in his *' Antiquities,'^ Jonia was the 
 name by which the whole country afterwards called 
 Greece was first known. " From Javan," he says, 
 ** sprang Jonia " (Ionia) " and all the Greeks." The 
 prophet Daniel also refers to Greece under the name 
 of Ionia in two several passages, as, first, " When 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 S 
 
 I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Jonia shall come : " 
 and again, " He shall stir up all against the realm of 
 Jonia." Strabo also bears his testimony to this 
 genealogical view of the case : he says, " Attica was 
 anciently called Jonia and Jas." And this writer 
 further observes, in reference to the nomenclature 
 used by Homer, — " When the poet " (that is, Homer) 
 "says, 'There were the Boeotians and Jaones,' he 
 speaks of the Athenians." The poet .^schylus also 
 uses the word Jaonians ; and his commentator, re- 
 marking upon this word, says, " It is to be understood 
 that the Athenians are termed Jaones" (Javonians) 
 "from one Jaon " (Javan) "who was their king." 
 
 There are some English writers, however, who say 
 that Asia Minor was colonized before Greece ; and 
 that it was after the necessities of a superabundant 
 population had produced further emigration from that 
 part of the world Greece became inhabited. This 
 theory is certainly very plausible ; for it would seem 
 reasonable that the emigration from Babylon 
 would first spread itself along the western coasts of 
 Asia, and then gradually extend itself along the 
 eastern and southern borders of Greece, according to 
 the increase of population, and the consequent de- 
 mand for new abodes. But yet there is nothing 
 absolutely conclusive in this theorv ; for if, as we 
 must suppose, the isles of the Gentiles, and the various 
 countries of the earth which were assigned to the 
 descendants of Noah, " every one according to his 
 tongue," were known to them at the time of this 
 dispersion over the face of the earth, we can have no 
 hesitation in placing Javan and his sons in the im- 
 
..^Mfimm'ii' " ■ ' ■will m iimi»i> " 
 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 mediate possession of the land of Greece after their 
 departure from the plains of Shinar. Be this, however, 
 as it may, there is no doubt that a continual shifting 
 of the inhabitants of Greece took place from the 
 period of its earliest colonization,— some removing 
 voluntarily in search of better and more commodious 
 residences ; and some being driven out from their 
 abodes by stronger and more numerous parties of 
 emigrants. 
 
 Thucydides -favours this view of the case where he 
 says that all Greece was not /Se/Jatw? oUov/jLivt], 
 •' firmly inhabited." 
 
 In consequence of this unfixed and uncertain state 
 of things, it is but just to suppose that there was little 
 or no progress made either in the cultivation and 
 improvement of the soil, or in the pursuit of trade 
 and commerce. Each family deemed it sufficient to 
 provide for their immediate wants, as they knew not 
 how soon they might be compelled, by the presence 
 of a superior force, to abandon their present holdings, 
 and to seek new lands and other spheres of employ- 
 ment. Violent contentions were, however, often 
 carried on in the more fertile parts of the country, 
 between the old possessors of the soil and the wan- 
 dering hordes who endeavoured to supplant them. 
 Thessaly, Boeotia, and a part of the Peloponnesus 
 were frequently the scenes of those fierce encounters ; 
 but the "Attic land," says Thucydides, "in conse- 
 quence of its barrenness or absence of fertility was 
 always occupied by the same men," The necessary 
 result of this undisturbed occupation of the soil was a 
 progressive increase of the population of Attica, and a 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 fixedness of abode which could not but be favourable 
 to the cultivation and improvement of suc^ arts as 
 tiiey had carried with them from the East at the 
 period of their emigration. Accordingly in the lapse 
 of time this part of Greece became populous to over- 
 flowing ; and, like an overcrowded bee-hive, it was com- 
 pelled to send forth its swarms of emigration to seek 
 employment and support in other lands. The 
 direction of this new movement was eastward ; and 
 that part of the coast of Asia Minor, called Jonia, 
 became the possession of these colonies. 
 
 The name, Jonia, was probably given by the 
 colonists to this new settlement in commemoration 
 of their native country, which, as I have observed, 
 was distinguished by the appellation of Jonia, or Jas. 
 Or, it may have been so called, as so ne say, from Jon, 
 the name, probably, of the leader of this emigration, 
 who, according to Euripides, is thought to have been 
 the " founder of Asia." - -• 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■'^ii 
 
 '■^- 
 
8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The various names by which Greece was known — The origin of 
 those names— Early intercourse between Greece and Egypt. 
 
 In process of time the name of Jonia, as applied to 
 Greece, was changed for that of Actaea, a derivative 
 appellation from Actaeon or Actaeus, who was the 
 first king of the country ; although according to some 
 of the ancient writers this name was derived from the 
 word Acta, which in the Greek, as well as in the 
 Latin language, signifies shore: and the fact of 
 Attica being washed on almost all sides by the sea 
 affords sufficient ground for the application of the 
 name. Plautus, referring to the city of Athens, calls 
 jt AthetKEin Acta, ** Athens in Acta," for Athens in 
 Attica. This name was also changed after a season ; 
 apd the country was successively designated by the 
 nam.°s of Cecropia, Cranaee, Atthis, and Attica ; and 
 also Posodonia and Minerva. The name of Cecropia 
 is derived from Cecrops, who having married the 
 daughter of Actaeus, its first king, was invested with 
 the regal power. To him suceeeded Cranaus, from 
 whom it obtained the name of Cranaae. From Atthis, 
 the daughter of this Cranaus, it was called Atthis and 
 Attica. It was called Posodonia from Neptune, and 
 Minerva from Pallas ; these being names appropriated 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 to these imaginary deities respectively. The story of 
 the contest which occurred between these divinities for 
 the guardianship of Athens, though appertaining to 
 the regions of fable, is not unworthy of recital. It is 
 this : — A young olive-tree and a saline spring made 
 their appearance suddenly, and at the same time, in 
 the Acropolis, that is, the upper part of the city, 
 during the reiga of Cecrops. The king, deeming it a 
 prognostic of some extraordinary future event, con- 
 sulted the oracle of Apollo in order to discover the 
 signification of the prodigy ; and he received for 
 answer, that the one signified Neptune and the 
 other Minerva. He then resolved to adopt either 
 divinity as the guardian of the city, according to the 
 preponderance of public opinion ; the men voting on 
 the one side, and the women on the other. It would 
 appear, by the decision arrived at, that the women at 
 that time, in Athens — as they do, perhaps, at the 
 present time in all our cities — outnumbered the men ; 
 for Minerva obtained the victory, and was installed as 
 the presiding deity of Athens. Divesting this story, 
 however, of all mysticism and superstition, the simple 
 meaning of it is this, according to the opinion of Plu- 
 tarch : — The ancient kings, being anxious to turn the 
 attention of their subjects from seafaring and com- 
 mercial pursuits to the cultivation of the soil and the 
 business of husbandry, had recourse to the marvellous 
 and superstitious in order the more effectually to 
 impress upon their feelings and actions the spirit 
 which guided their own policy. Neptune in this 
 story represents the sea and the pursuits incident to 
 it ; and Minerva is put for the arts and the more 
 
10 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 ingenious occupations of life ; for, according to Ovid, 
 she is " Mille Dea openiml' the goddess of a thousand 
 tradec. Following the authority of Justin, we should 
 attribute to Amphictyon this consecration of Athens 
 to the goddess Minerva ; though Herodotus and 
 other writers have it that it was in the time of King 
 Erectheus the name of Athens was given to this city. 
 Of this Erectheus we are told that, in a time of general 
 famine all over the then known world, with the excep- 
 tion of Egypt, he brought corn from this latter country 
 to Athens. He was also the founder of the Eleusinian 
 mysteries. There appears to have been an intimate 
 connexion between Athens and Egypt from the earliest 
 times ; for we find that the Queen of Greece^ as Athens 
 was wont to be called in early days, was supplied 
 with some of her kings by Egypt. Besides Erectheus, 
 there was Cecrops, who came there with a colony ; 
 and Menestheus, whose father was an Egyptian. 
 
 According to the evidence of Diodorus Siculus, it 
 was a received opinion in his time, and before it, that 
 Athens was colonized by Egyptians ; the district of 
 Sais, in Egypt, having been considered as the foun- 
 tain head of the Grecian colony. This opinion as- 
 sumes a plausible aspect from the fact that Sais, in 
 the Egyptian tongue, signifies the same as Athence 
 in the Greek ; and also that the SaitJE, or people of 
 Sais, and the Athenians, had several customs which 
 were common to both. This, however, must be re- 
 garded as one of those ingenious conjectures which 
 are produced by the accidental similarities which are 
 sometimes found between the names of places and 
 the customs and observances of people otherwise dis- 
 
 Sm^ 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 II 
 
 similar. That some of the customs and ceremonies 
 of the Egyptians were imported into Athens by those 
 who arrived there from Egypt there can be no rational 
 doubt ; particularly with regard to those distin- 
 guished and influential persons who secured the 
 regal power in themselves or their descendants. But 
 further than this, there is no strong reason to believe 
 that Egypt had anything to do with giving a name 
 to the city, or with establishing and directing that 
 intellectual and high moral tone in the constitution 
 and habits of the people, from which the name 
 Athense, or Athens, is derived. As I have 
 before observed, Athenae was a name by which 
 the goddess Minerva, or Pallas, was sometimes 
 designated, the word thefia^ in the Chaldaic lan- 
 guage, signifying to study, or learn. This goddess 
 being, therefore, the patroness of learning and the 
 presiding genius of the Arts and Sciences, she was 
 adopted as the guardian of Athens from the time 
 that its inhabitants devoted themselves to the culti- 
 vation of literature and to the study of the Arts and 
 of civil government. Well did this celebrated city 
 maintain the prestige of its proud name ; for it be- 
 came the mart of literature in the middle ages 
 of heathenism ; and the fountain whence the Arts 
 and the refined pursuits of intellectual and moral 
 life drew their inexhaustible supply. It was, to use 
 the language of Isodorus, the " shop of letters." 
 
12 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Geographical position of Greece — The Athenians and Argives 
 contend for the palm of antiquity — First establishment of 
 the city of Athens — Its growth and extent. 
 
 The geographical situation of Greece is somewhat 
 central with regard to the Old World. Aristotle 
 says it is placed in the midst of the whole earth ; in 
 reference no doubt to what was in his time considered 
 the " whole earth!' In the midst of Greece stands 
 Attica, nearly the centre of which is occupied by 
 Athens. It stands upon a high rock or eminence, on 
 the summit of which rises the Cecropia or citadel, so 
 called from Cecrops, one of its earliest rulers. This 
 Cecropia was anciently designated tJie city, by way 
 of pre-eminence, and to intimate that it was the first 
 and greatest city of the world. On this score of 
 antiquity the Athenians and Argives held perpetual 
 contentions. 
 
 From the word aarv, which signifies city, the 
 Athenians called themselves daroi, the citizens, to 
 signify their superiority over all other people. The 
 name darv was, according to Pausanius, changed in 
 his time to that of 7r6\i«?, which is another name for 
 city ; and hence the name Acropolis, or high city, was 
 applied to the citadel on the summit of the hill. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 13 
 
 This is, however, sometimes interpreted arx or castle, 
 a species of structure which was always held sacred 
 to Minerva ; which circumstance explains the allusion 
 of Catullus when he says, " Diva retinens in siitmnis 
 urbibus arces,'' " the goddess who keeps the towers of 
 cities." Little more than two centuries ago this tower 
 or citadel was standing in all its pristine strength ; 
 and, according to the testimony of a witness who 
 vouches for the fact, contained a garrison of no less 
 than 700,000 Janissaries. Upon the top of this tower 
 stood crescents or semi-lunar representations, richly 
 gilt, according to the custom of the Ishmaelites, who 
 paid especial reverence to the moon. Of these lu- 
 nettes or half-moons Favolius thus poetizes, — I give 
 my own version of the Latin distich : 
 
 " Wit?x gilded moons this tower aspiring high, 
 Strikes the far clouds that wander o'er the sky." 
 
 It is asserted, on the authority of an eye-witness, that 
 there grew on the side of the hill on which the Acro- 
 polis stood, a kind of herb, from which glei Tied at a 
 great distance a brilliant and sparkling light during 
 the hours of night ; but upon approaching it there 
 was nothing seen except the flower itself. Around 
 the Acropolis or citadel ran a .strong wall, which was 
 partly erected by the Tuscan brothers who are said 
 to have wandered from their own country, and settled 
 down beneath the protecting shadow of this strong- 
 hold. Their names were Agrolas and Hyperbius ; 
 but they went by the cognomen of Pelargqi, or 
 Storks, " on account of their wandering," as Strabo 
 interprets the term. These brothers are also said to 
 
14 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 have been the first who built brick houses at Athens, 
 the people before their time having lived in caves, or 
 recesses scooped out on the sides of the hill. The 
 part of the encompassing wall erected by the strangers 
 was called after their name, the Pelargicum. 
 
 It was afterwards continued and completed by 
 Cimon, the son of Miltiades. It had but one gate in 
 its entire round, upon which Pericles expended an 
 extravagant amount of treasure in ornamenting it 
 with the Propylmim, or Porch. From this lavish 
 and indefensible expenditure of the public treasure 
 originated a war between the Athenians and their 
 neighbours, the Lacedemonians. It occurred in this 
 way : Pericles, feeling puzzled how to render to the 
 people a satisfactory account of the expenditure in- 
 curred by this work, felt sorely troubled ; and having 
 been asked the cause of his disquietude by his 
 nephew Alcibiades, he answered that it arose from 
 the difficulty which he found in giving up his ac- 
 counts to the people. The nephew then advised him 
 to consider how he might not give them at all. In 
 accordance with this counsel he prepared a pretext 
 to enter into hostilities with his neighbours the Lace- 
 demonians, and thereby escaped the necessity of 
 submitting his accounts to a public audit. I do not 
 know whether in the present age, and with all the 
 advantages of our superior civilization, and Christian 
 morality, there may not be found statesmen and 
 public officers who would involve the people in a 
 war, with a similar view of escaping the public odium 
 and castigation which their maladministration of 
 public affairs and of the public funds demanded at 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 15 
 
 the hands of an outraged and indignant people. Be 
 that, however, as it may, we have in the pages of his- 
 tory a very imposing example of the practice. With- 
 in the precincts of the Acropolis it was not permitted 
 that a dog or a goat should enter : the latter, lest 
 an olive, which it is said had first sprung up there, 
 might receive damage ; the former, for some indefin- 
 able reason. The circumference of the Upper City, 
 or Acropolis, was three-score stadia, that is, seven 
 miles and a half, or about one-fourth the circum- 
 ference of the city of London, allowing that to be 
 thirty miles, which 1 suppose to be about its circuit. 
 Such then was the extent of the celebrated city of 
 Athens. But to this was added, in the course of 
 time, a number of houses below the hill, and extend- 
 ing to the seashore, which formed a town in them- 
 selves, and were called the Lower City ; the two parts 
 forming one body or corporation, and thus distin- 
 guished by the names of to dvco, and to Kazay, or the 
 Upper and Lower City ; and embracing a circuit of 
 two hundred stadia, or twenty-five miles. We are 
 informed that the land lying between the Upper City 
 and the Pyraeus or harbour, which was about five 
 miles distant, was so soft and marshy that the walls 
 connecting the two foundered in several parts ; and 
 that Cimon, the son of Miltiades. to whom I have 
 already alluded, reconstructed them by laying a foun- 
 dation of stones of great weight, and cementing the 
 work with lime ; which had the effect of making the 
 earth so solid that it gave way no more. The work, 
 as history informs us, was undertaken and completed 
 by this public benefactor at his own expense. And 
 
16 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Aj> An example of the ingratitude which characterized 
 ihc manner^ of the time, we learn that after confer- 
 rinij this, as well as various other benefits, upon his 
 feJIow-citizens, he received at their hands the reward 
 of Kmishment and exile. Such black ingratitude as 
 thii^, it is to be presumed, forms no part of the moral 
 or political code which guides the actions of men at 
 ihc present day. Perhaps not ; yet strange things 
 «io sometimes happen under the auspices of the en- 
 lightened governments of the present age of exubeiant 
 civilization. The walls connecting Athens with the 
 Pyni^us were in height about forty cubits ; and they 
 are spoken of by Livy as being among the " inulta 
 xri^-^ndal' the many sights, at Athens. In those walls 
 there were, of course, several gates. According to 
 one authority, they were ten in number ; but we find 
 mention in the classic writers of more. There was the 
 gate called Dipylon or Thriasia, which was esteemed 
 the fairest of all, and was placed in the front of the 
 city ; and was more massive and wider than the rest ; 
 — the name Dipylon indicates its superior size, the 
 term signifying twofold, as it was twice the size of 
 the otlier gates. The next was the Piraicae, near the 
 temple of Chalcodon. " Here," says Plutarch, " were 
 buried some of those who had died in battle with the 
 Amazons in the time of King Theseus. Then there 
 was the gate called Hippades, where, we are told, 
 were deposited the remains of Hyperides, the cele- 
 brated orator, in the mausoleum of his fathers. It is 
 recorded of this distinguished person that, Antipater 
 having put him to the torture in order to compel him 
 to divulge the secrets of his country, he bit off his 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 17 
 
 tongue, to prevent the possibility of a single revela- 
 tion escaping him. There were also Hterai, or Sacred 
 Gates ; and the gates ^geus ; and the gate Melitides. 
 Near this last-mentioned gate was buried Thucydides, 
 the immortal historian of the Peloponnesian war. This 
 bene^ictor of his country became a victim to the 
 strange infatuation of ingratitude which we find exer- 
 cising so fatal an influence over the thoughts and 
 actions of the ancient Greeks ; for he was banished 
 the country ; and after his return from exile was 
 treacherously murdered. Another gate was desig- 
 nated the Ceramicce, and near this were buried many 
 of those Lacedemonians who had perished in the 
 war waged by Thrasybulus against the thirty tyrants. 
 The Diocharai and the Acharnikai were the names 
 of two other gates. The latter is supposed to have 
 been so called from the town of Acharna, towards 
 which it looked. For it may be observed that the 
 ancients named their gates from the towns, or villages, 
 or remarkable places near, or opposite to them : as 
 we find the Romans, for mstance, calling one of their 
 gates the Collatine gate, from Collatia, the name of a 
 bridge in its vicinity. The remaining gates of which 
 we find mention in the classic authors were the 
 Diomcea and the T/wacice ; the former deriving its 
 name from the Diomians, a people of Athens not far 
 from this gate ; and the other probably from Thracia, 
 or Thrace, in the direction of which it may have 
 looked. There is also the Poecile gate, standing near 
 the gallery of paintings, from which it derives its 
 name. Such, then, were the position, extent, and 
 arrangement of that once celebrated city, whose fame 
 
 C 
 
i8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 and glory have encompassed the world, and extended 
 through revolving and eventful ages up to the pre- 
 sent time ; and will likely continue until Time's glass 
 is broken, and the world is no more. Such, then, was 
 the commencement of the Queen city of Greece ; the 
 emporium of learning, the Nurse of the Muses ; of 
 that city of perpetual sunshine, whose lofty citadel 
 looks down on the blue laughing waters of the Medi- 
 terranean, and up amid the clear bright azure of a 
 cloudless sky. Such was Athens, — the " famous," — 
 the " most renowned," — the " happy," — " sacred 
 Athens," as Sophocles loves to call her. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Division of the Athenians into two classes— their Characteristics. 
 
 The Athenians in early times were divided into two 
 classes, a distinction based not upon property or 
 calling, but upon character and morals. They were 
 thus called A t/ienaioi, and A Uikoi ; that is, Athenians, 
 and Attics ; the former being a designation of 
 honour, and the latter of opprobrium. I take it that 
 this distinction was somewhat analogous to that 
 which we of the present day make between the vir- 
 tuous and the immoral, the industrious and the idle, 
 the honest and the knavish ; in short, between good 
 and bad citizens : and that it had no further reference 
 than as it was calculated to hold forth the lives of 
 good men as the true objects of imitation, and those 
 of bad men as deserving of reprobation and abhor- 
 rence. As an exemplification of the practical efifects 
 of this moral distinction, as 1 may term it, the Athe- 
 nians, on one occasion, with the view of appeasing 
 the anger of Neptune at the time of an inundation of 
 the city, inflicted as a punishment upon the women, 
 that they should thereafter be called Attikoi, instead 
 of Athenaioiy or Attics, instead of Athenians ; the 
 opprobrium of which designation being deemed a 
 
 C 2 
 
2d 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 most severe punishment. The anger of Neptune in 
 causing the inundation was supposed to have been 
 produced by his defeat in the contest with Minerva 
 for the guardianship of the city ; and which defeat 
 was effected through the votes of the women. The 
 citizens who went by the name of Attikoi were 
 characterized by such descriptive epithets as these. — 
 " inquisitive babblers; " '* deceitful persons; " " calum- 
 niators ;" " gossiping observers of the lives of stran- 
 gers ;" and so on. It would seem that in the times 
 of which I speak, as well as in our own, the habit of 
 frequenting certain public places, and shops, such as 
 barber's shops, for the purpose of gossiping and kill- 
 ing time, was quite prevalent ; for we find several 
 allusions to this practice, as well as strictu : ' on its 
 vicious and evil tendency, in the ancient writers. 
 Aristophanes makes this reference to it : " They sat 
 in barbers' shops, and talked a great deal of how 
 rich such an one had suddenly become." Another 
 writer says : " Sitting in a chirurgeon's shop — scan- 
 dalous men — they thirst to speak ill by all means." 
 Such were those whom we find described as Treplepyot 
 Tat<f \aXial<iy ovcr-curious babblers. The vttovKoi, 
 or deceitful persons, were those Italianatcd people, 
 as an English writer phrases it, who could smile 
 while they cut the throats of their victims ; men 
 who, according to the character given of them by 
 Theophrastus, could display affability to those whon? 
 they regarded as their enemies, and disguise the 
 hatred of the heart in the praises of the tongue ; who 
 could with seeming sincerity and affection clasp within 
 their arms the persons whose life-blood they meant 
 
 I 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 21 
 
 eptunc in 
 lave been 
 I Minerva 
 ich defeat 
 len. The 
 koi were 
 s these. — 
 ' •* calum- 
 of stran- 
 the times 
 e habit of 
 s, such as 
 f and kill- 
 id sev'eral 
 ' on its 
 t writers. 
 
 ' They sat 
 al of how 
 
 4^f 
 
 Another 
 
 
 op — scan- 
 1 means." 
 
 
 ; Trepiepyoi 
 
 'M 
 
 1 VTTOVXOI, 
 
 
 d people, 
 
 'J 
 
 ild smile 
 
 
 ns ; men 
 
 
 them by 
 
 
 Dse whon? 
 
 
 ^uise the 
 
 
 ^ue ; who 
 
 
 sp within 
 
 . 
 
 sy meant 
 
 
 to shed. They were like the painted sepulchre, fair 
 without, but all rottenness within. 
 
 The Siikophantodcis, or calumniators, were a de- 
 scription of persons very much detested by the Athe- 
 nians. Our English term, sycophant, would seem to 
 have been derived from this Greek term, although the 
 meaning of the Greek word does not exactly corre- 
 spond with that which we understand by the word 
 sycophant. The Sukophantodeis were those who were 
 given to false accusations ; while our term, sycophant, 
 applies only to those who debase themselves by 
 following and flattering the great and powerful from 
 motives of self-interest. At the same time it may be 
 s,aid to involve the idea of misrepresentation, and 
 falsehood ; and this without any overstraining of its 
 meaning : for the man who, from considerations of 
 selfishness, degrades himself by trotting at the heels 
 of men in power, and pandering to their follies, or 
 predilections, never hesitates to distort facts, and to 
 make such a representation of men and their actions 
 as he may deem most in accordance with the prepos- 
 sessions and gratifying to the views and the vanity of 
 his patrons. 
 
 The commentator on Aristophanes, in his explana- 
 tion of the meaning of the word Sukophantodeis, says 
 that according to a public ordinance it was forbidden 
 to carry figs out of Athens ; but that notwithstanding^ 
 this prohibition they used sometimes to be carried 
 out of the city. It was therefore found necessary to 
 station certain persons at the gates for the purpose 
 of watching and discovering those wno violated the 
 law, that they might be brought to justice. The 
 
 ..^■^ 
 
^ i;;- « <. '" — 
 
 ijf.i':;:^J~ 
 
 22 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 3i 
 
 3J 
 
 persons so stationed (whom we might call constables, 
 or city police) were by the Athenians regarded as 
 rogues, from the cunning and deception, and prying 
 disposition which must necessarily form the character 
 of persons so employed : and they were named 
 Sitkophantodeis from their occupation ; the literal 
 meaning of the word being discoverer of figs. It 
 came afterwards, however, to be applied to every 
 cunning and base schemer who obtained his living 
 by becoming a spy upon the actions of others, and 
 promoting evil designs against them ; to every unprin- 
 cipled person, in short, who meddled in the affairs of 
 others ; and who availed themselves of every occasion 
 by which they might profit through their deception and 
 treachery, and by the misfortunes of those whom they 
 had deluded and betrayed. Such was the character, 
 and such were the designs of the Sukophantodeis, or 
 Calumniators of Athens, a race held in deserved 
 abhorrence by the virtuous and honourable portion of 
 the citizens. There are at the present day, perhaps, 
 some worthy representatives of this marked tribe, 
 some lineal descendants of the Figgists, who ply their 
 honourable callmg with no less zeal and industry 
 than their progenitors of glorious memory. With 
 t.ese, however, we have nothing to do here. It is, 
 recorded of Aristotle that having been once asked 
 what he thought of Athens, he replied that it was 
 pankale, that is, all-beautiful ; but added, reciting a 
 verse from Homer's Odyssey, that pears grew ripe 
 after pears, and figs after figs : by which he meant 
 the succession of sycophants, or calumniators, who 
 flourished there. This suggested to Isocrates, the 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 23 
 
 orator, the observation, that Athens was the best 
 place to sojourn in, but the worst to inhabit; its 
 sycophants and nimble-tongued orators rendering a 
 permanent residence there both disagreeable and 
 unsafe. The Athenians, however, were distinguished 
 for their hospitality to strangers ; and always acted 
 on the principle of the maxim which was, likely, an 
 established law with them, that "foreigners should 
 receive no wrong." The Attikoi, or tribes of " bab- 
 blers," " deceivers," and "calumniators," on the con- 
 trary, were ever ready to offer annoyance to strangers, 
 and always on the alert to take them at a disad- 
 vantage. The leading moral characteristics of the 
 Athenians were, magnanimity, generosity, and fidelity. 
 They were bold of spirit, honest, and simple-minded 
 in their dealings ; and truthful in their friendships. 
 From this high moral elevation, however, they in 
 time degenerated, and became remarkable for what 
 Polybius terms avw/AaXiav (j>vae(o<;, an irregularity 
 of disposition. Their early magnanimity degenerated 
 into haughtiness of spirit ; and nothing remained to 
 them of their once lofty and generous nature save 
 this proud spirit, which bore them along amid accu- 
 mulating difficulties and pressing dangers ; and 
 which bade defiance to every ill that threatened them. 
 Their former singleness and simplicity of character 
 abandoned them ; and they became, as Plutarch 
 says, " rashly angry, quickly moved to pity, hasty in 
 the formation of opinion, and impatient of advice 
 and information. "They are ready," he continues, 
 " to give assistance to base and abject peasants ; they 
 are taken with childish and ridiculous toys ; they 
 
24 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 rejoice in their own praises ; they are unmoved with 
 scurrility ; they are fearful, even terrible to their 
 governors ; but they are humane to their enemies." 
 This was a wretched state of moral and political 
 feeling for a people, once distinguished for high- 
 souled bearing and lofty independence of mind and 
 character, to have fallen into. " How much," says 
 Valerius Maximus, " do they deserve to be blamed, 
 who, though they had just laws, yet had most 
 wicked dispositions ; and who preferred the sugges- 
 tions of their unbridled desires to the guidance of 
 their statutes." 
 
 The downward tendency of the Athenians from 
 the lofty pinnacle of virtue and moral grandeur seems 
 to have been decided and rapid ; for in addition to their 
 other deflections from the right line of dignified con- 
 duct and true self-respect, they became remarkable 
 for impudence, insincerity, and perfidy ; and 'Attiko's 
 /SXeVo?, an Athenian look, and Jides Attica, Attic 
 faith, were proverbial terms applied to them both by 
 their own and the Roman writers. The influence of 
 fear, and the apprehension of injury from hostile 
 powers, were often checks to the exercise of their 
 irregular and perfidious conduct : but of their viola- 
 tion of leagues, of their forming combinations with 
 other people against their own allies and confede- 
 rates, and of their shameful disregard of the laws of 
 arms, history speaks in a voice not to be mistaken. 
 Their spirit of revenge, their implacable animosities, 
 their burning and relentless hatred of all foreigners, 
 or barbarians, as they called them, — a hatred engen- 
 dered by their hostility to the Persians ; all this 
 
 
 WsiSU! 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 25 
 
 fierce and ungovernable feeling stamped them as a 
 people that were forging their own ruin, and hasten- 
 ing its consummation. 
 
 Their treatment of foreigners who came amongst 
 them was the same as of those among themselves who 
 had committed murder, for they prohibited them 
 from attending the sacrifices. Their history is surely 
 a warning to all nations. From the most elevated 
 position of moral and intellectual greatness, from 
 the most brilliant prestige, from virtue the most 
 exalted, and a destiny the most splendid, they rolled 
 down by the pressure of their vices into the lowest 
 and most abject condition to which any people could 
 be reduced. Their inordinate self-sufficiency ; their 
 unbridled vanity ; their disregard of truth and 
 honour ; their contempt of the pretensions of other 
 nations and peoples ; their violation of trust, and 
 of the laws of justice and of honour ; their indul- 
 gence in the worst passions, of anger, hatred, and 
 revenge : — all this sapped the foundations of their 
 moral and political greatness ; obscured Lhe lustre 
 of their genius ; destroyed their national prestige ; 
 and precipitated their ruin. 
 
mmmmmmmm'mmim 
 
 mamm 
 
 26 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Other divisions of the Athenians into classes — Similarity 
 between the Athenians and Egyptians in respect of the 
 classification of the people. 
 
 The division of the Athenian people, on the basis of 
 property and grade, was into two classes, eupatridai^ 
 and agroikoi, that is, patricians and plebeians ; or 
 peers and peasants, as in France ; or nobility and 
 commonalty, as in England. There was a third 
 class called geomoroi, or landed proprietors ; but as 
 these did not differ from the peasantry in blood or 
 descent, they held no distinct rank as a class, but 
 were amalgamated with them in the general division. 
 The eupatridai were the descendants of those heroic 
 men who had distincfuished themselves in the service 
 of their country by daring exploits and feats of 
 valour, and whose posterity were ever afterwards 
 held in the highest honour. They were similar in 
 grade and position to what in England and the 
 various countries of Europe are called nobles, or 
 men of high birth. The geomoroi, or landed pro- 
 prietors, were somewhat analogous to what are called 
 yeomen in England ; bat they were the proprietors 
 of the soil which they, cultivated ; and in this respect 
 may generally be regarded as resembling the same 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 27 
 
 class in the republic of America, or in the British 
 North American provinces, and other provinces of 
 England, and also in France and Belgium. The 
 demigouroi, or handicraftsmen, were included in the 
 ranks of the agroikoi, or peasants ; — these were 
 tent-makers, shoemakers, carpenters, masons, and so 
 on. In the time of Solon, however, another classifi- 
 cation of the people took place under the direction 
 of that celebrated lawgiver, which was founded on 
 principles altogether different from those to which 
 I have referred above. The nature and origin of 
 this new classification we learn from the Greek 
 writers to be as follows : — The diacrii, or people 
 who inhabited the upper part of the city ; and the 
 pediceiy who lived in the plain, or middle of the city, 
 ■ between the Acropolis and the sea ; and the paralii^ 
 who dwelt along the sea-shore ; disagreed among 
 themselves as to the form of government that would 
 be best adapted to promote the general interests, and 
 to consolidate the power and resources of the State. 
 The diacrii, or dwellers on the hill, were for a demo- 
 cracy ; the pedicel, or inhabitants of the plain, pre- 
 ferred an oligarchy ; while the paralii, or those who 
 lived on the s°:a-coast, leant to neither side, but re- 
 mained suspended between the two contending 
 parties. Wishing, however, that the dispute should 
 be brought to a peaceable termination, they all 
 agreed to refer the matter to Solon, and to abide by 
 his decision. Accordingly, this wise legislator pro- 
 ceeded to the accomplishment of the task assigned 
 him with his usual prudence, and that clear insight 
 into the nature and disposition of mankind for which 
 
,i*im 
 
 ■M«H 
 
 28 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 he has been so famed. He did not adopt the views 
 of either side, but struck in between them, leaning, 
 however, to the democratic principle. He neither 
 limited the power of the State to the patricians nor 
 plebeians ; but adopted an a'-rangement by which 
 these two great classes might each possess a share in 
 it, and thus conduct the government be ./een them. 
 His plan was this : — he divided the whole people 
 into four classes ; three of which were privileged to 
 hold office in the Commonwealth. The fourth, which 
 was composed of persons who lived in a condition of 
 servility, were excluded from all power and office. The 
 names and qualifications of the classes comprising this 
 new division were, first — the Pentacosiomedimnoi^ who 
 were the possessors of five hundred measures of dry, 
 and the same of wet goods : — this of course indicated 
 the extent of their property in the soil. Secondly, the 
 Eqiiites^ or horsemen ; they were those who were able 
 to keep a horse, and whose property amounted to 
 three hundred measures of wet, and the same of dry 
 goods. These were also known by the name of linroTa 
 T€Xovvre<i, or knights, as we say. Thirdly, the Zeugites, 
 who were such as could make up three hundred mea- 
 sures in all, wet and dry. Fourthly, the Thetai ; these 
 were the persons engaged in servile occupations, and 
 who \ ere permitted no power in the government. 
 It is worthy of remark that this division of the 
 Athenians was somewhat analogous to that which 
 prevailed among the Egyptians. The first rank in 
 this classification of Solon's, which embraced the 
 etipatridce, or patricians, the class who especially 
 cultivated letters, and from whom the priesthood 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 29 
 
 were chosen in Athens, is analogous to the Egyptian 
 priests. And the class of Equites, or knights, which 
 included the geomoroi, or owners of land, corresponds 
 with the class of Egyptian knights, who had lands 
 assigned them on the condition of their supplying 
 men and arms whenever the necessities of war called 
 them into the field. Then there were the Egyptian 
 labourers, or hired men, who resembled the Athenian 
 thetai, or servants. That this resemblance or iden- 
 tity, as we may call it, should have existed with res- 
 pect to the classification of the people of both these 
 countries, is not at all a matter of surprise, when we 
 remember the intimate connexion which existed be- 
 tween them from the earliest times ; a connexion 
 which consisted in Egypt's supplying Athens from 
 time to time with kings, as well as colonies ; and 
 when we further remember that Solon, the architect 
 of this new classification, had travelled into Egypt, as 
 well as other countries, and brought home with him 
 such knowledge of laws and governrrient as he deemed 
 applicable to his own country and conducive to its 
 welfare and hr.ppiness. 
 
- ' Bwms m 
 
 30 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Athens at the time of Cecrops— The people distinguished by 
 Tribes — Astronomical basis of the Tribal division. 
 
 Looking back to the time of Cecrops, a period of 
 more than fifteen centuries anterior to the Christian 
 era, we find that the Athenians were then divided 
 into four classes or tribes, known by the names, 
 respectively, of Cecropians, Antocthonians, Actceans^ 
 and Paralians. These names, with the exception 
 of the first, which was derived from Cecrops, had 
 their derivation from the different localities occupied 
 by the people, such as the upper city or hill, the plain, 
 and the sea-coast. The Actaeans and Paralians, it 
 would appear to one, might be placed under the 
 same head, inasmuch as the position or locality 
 indicated by the terms is nearly the same ; for Actcea 
 means the sea-shore, or that part of the land upon 
 which the waves beat ; while Paralia signifies near 
 the sea, and cannot admit of any wide difference in 
 meaning from the former. In about half a century 
 afterwards these names of tribes were changed, under 
 King Cranaus, into Cranaians, Atthians, Mesogaeans, 
 and Diacrians, indicative chiefly of locality, as in the 
 other instance. Erecthonius again called them after 
 the gods Jupiter, Pallas, Neptune, and Vulcan. In 
 the reign of Ion, another of their kings, they were 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 31 
 
 denominated, after his four sons, Geleontes, ^gico- 
 reis, Argades, and Hopletes. Plutarch, however, says 
 that they were so called from their modes of life ; 
 " the soldiers," he says, " being called Hopletes, the 
 artificers Ergades, the husbandmen Geleontes, and 
 the graziers ^.gicoreis." Clisthenes, in his turn, 
 changed these names, and divided the people into ten 
 tribes, whom he called after certain heroes and 
 demigods, all born in the land except Ajax, whom he 
 included in the number as an ally to the others, as 
 Herodotus expresses it. To these heroes were 
 erected statues near the Council Chamber of the 
 Senate. Their names, as given by Pausanius, were 
 Hippothoon, Antiochus, Ajax, Telamonius, Leo, 
 Erectheus, ^geus, CEneus, Acamas, Cecrops, and 
 Pandion. To these were added two tribes more, called 
 after Antigonus and Demetrius, in gratitude for 
 services they had rendered the Athenians. But the 
 names derived from these two latter worthies were 
 afterwards changed for those of Attalis and Ptole- 
 mais, at the personal request of the Kings Attalus 
 and Ptolemy. So that it appears there were twelve 
 tribes in all. Eustathius says that the motive 
 which suggested, in the first instance, the division of 
 the people into four tribes was to assimilate them 
 with the four quarters of the year. And then the 
 further division of each tribe into three parts was in- 
 tended to represent the twelve months of the year. 
 Each part was again divided into thirty 761/77, or 
 families ; which were intended to represent the days 
 of the year,— three hundred and sixty. The cele- 
 brated riddle of Cleobulus refers to this symbolic dis- 
 tribution of the Athenians. " One father had twelve 
 
!liii 
 
 wmim 
 
 32 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 sons ; and to each son were born thirty daughters ; — 
 each daughter being parti-coloured, or black and 
 white," This last allusion is to the day and night. 
 
 Here we have one of those frequent evidences to be 
 met with in the classic authors, of the fantastic com- 
 mingling, by the ancients, of astronomical science 
 with their political and religious concerns. And we 
 learn from this adaptation of the people, by quar- 
 ters, and twelfths, and thirtieths, to the seasons, 
 months, and days, that the year of the ancient 
 Greeks consisted only of three hundred and sixty 
 days. With respect to the government of these 
 tribes, we find that each was presided over by a ruler 
 who was called PhulobasileuSy or king of the tribe. 
 Each subdivision, or third part of a tribe, too, had its 
 superintendent, who was called Trittuarchos^ or ruler 
 of the third part. We have seen that the second 
 subdivision of the tribes consisted of thirty ^kv% or 
 families, to each Trittus, or third part. But the mem- 
 ber.T of these families must not be regarded as of the 
 same blood, or as having any affinity to each other 
 beyond that which consists in being enrolled in the 
 same body or fraternity. They enjoyed the same 
 privileges, participated in the same immunities, and 
 regarded each other with mutual interest and esteem. 
 According to the regulations of Solon, which were 
 m^de with the view of keeping alive their fraternal 
 feelings and of affording constant vitality to their 
 union, they held periodical festivals for the purpose 
 of entertaining each other. The tribes also held 
 their stated festivals ; as also did the colleges, or 
 learned fraternities. 
 
Greece and the Greeks 
 
 33 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Early mode of habitation in Greece — Regulation of tcwns and 
 
 villages. 
 
 In the first stages of Grecian colonization the country 
 was inhabited, as may naturally be supposed to have 
 been the case with respect to all other countries in 
 their earlier historical periods, in the form of open 
 towns or villages. These were called Koifxai by the 
 Greeks, a name supposed to be the origin of the 
 word " comedy." In their celebration of the god, 
 Apollo Nomius, whom they regarded as the tutelary 
 deity of shepherds and neighbours, they went about 
 from house to house, and village to village, singing 
 and dancing. They had also rude altars erected to 
 this god, upon which the rites of his worship were 
 performed. Hence the word KOfid^eiv, to go about in 
 procession, with the dance and the song, derives its 
 origin from the word which stood for village. But 
 the Athenians, we are informed, called their local 
 groups of early inhabitants not villages, but peoples ; 
 which would seem to intimate a more exalted esti- 
 mate of their position and character. Some of these 
 were governed* by kings, even before the time of 
 Cecrops. About a dozen of these communities, or 
 
 D 
 
ti^^^smsi^mmijm^ IjjtutMtJ}]^ 
 
 34 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 towns, belong to each tribe ; so that there were about 
 one hundred and forty-four in all ; though, according 
 to some authorities, the number was one hundred 
 and seventy-four. They were divided into greater 
 and lesser towns, according to their size. Marathon, 
 whose glory has been transmitted to us through so 
 many ages, as the celebrated neighbourhood where 
 Athenian patriotism and valour struck down the 
 Persian hordes, was ranked among the lesser towns. 
 I shall name here the villages or towns which be- 
 longed to the tribe called Cecropians : — Aivdnc, 
 Daidalidai, Epikidai, Xiipcti\ PttJios^ Supaliptos, Tri- 
 nemeis, Athmonon ox Athnonia, Alai, Aixonides, 
 and Phlua. There were some communities, however, 
 which were not embraced within the tribes ; or, I 
 should rather say, whose particular positions, astotribe, 
 have not been recorded by authors. Agra, Ceramicus, 
 Atalanta, Munychia, Hymettus, Phoron, and Oropus, 
 were some of these. There were about forty of them 
 in all. This division of the people of Athens into 
 tribes, and the arrangement of their towns and vil- 
 lages under the distinctive denomination of the dif- 
 ferent tribes, was greatly calculated to promote the 
 security and welfare of the people. In the adminis- 
 tration of the law, and in securing the ends of jus- 
 tice, it was of the greatest advantage ; for each person 
 was known, not only by his name and calling, but 
 also by his town or village, and the name of his tribe. 
 A description embracing these particulars was 
 always set forth in their writs, as — such i man (his 
 name being stated), the son oi such an one, residing 
 at such a place, and belonging to such a tribe. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 35 
 
 All these villages and towns had temples for the 
 worship of their gody ; for they hud several deities 
 besides Pallas Minerva ; although to her they paid 
 especial honour, as bein^ he adopted patroness and 
 guardian of the City, 
 
 D 2 
 

 3«5 
 
 Greece an^ the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The forms of Government established among the Athenians- 
 Distinction between Oligarchy and Aristocracy — De- 
 mocracy ; its true nature and principles — Codrus, the last 
 King of Athens — Pisistratus, and his successors. 
 
 I COME now to the forms of government which at 
 different periods were established among the Athe- 
 nians. The systems of government known to the 
 ancients were of three kinds ; namely, Tyranny^ or 
 kingly government, Oligarchy , and Democracy. Mon- 
 archy, or Tyranny as the government by a king was 
 commonly designated among the ancients, was the 
 possession and exercise of the executive power of the 
 State by a single individual whose will constituted 
 the law. This form of government answers to what 
 in the present age we call a despotism. The system of 
 rule denominated Oligarchy, or Aristocracy, consisted 
 of the chief power being deposited in the hands of a 
 number of men chosen from the ranks of the wise 
 and good ; such selection, however, being confined 
 to the more wealthy orders of the State. A Demo- 
 cracy is, as the name implies, a government by the 
 people. Of all the examples which men have had, 
 whether in ancient or modern times, of the nature, 
 capability, and efficiency of this form of government. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 37 
 
 that which the great American Republic presents to 
 their contemplation is perhaps the most perfect and 
 illustrious. It is not easy to offer an opinion as to 
 the secret springs which have hitherto produced the 
 great results of the American system, and as to the 
 probability of the uninterrupted progress of the prin- 
 ciples upon which this system is founded ; but judging 
 from ihe ordeals to which it has been subjected from 
 its earliest establishment to the present hour — whether 
 on the embattled plain, or in the intellectual arena of 
 home statesmanship and foreign diplomacy — the con- 
 clusion at least would seem to .be forced upon one, 
 that it has in it a principle of vitality which promises 
 a future no less prosperous and brilliant than has 
 been its past. But, for all this, the clouds that over- 
 rhadow it are charged with danger; and it is not 
 probable that a system of government which is, m its 
 very nature, pregnant with the seeds of dissolution, 
 can resist the stroke of destiny, or continue to flourish 
 on a volcanic foundation. It is yet but in its novi- 
 ciate ; and the fires that slumber within its bosom 
 may explode at any time. But it is idle to specu- 
 late on a subject of this kind. Time and experience, 
 while they unfold defects and dangers, point also to 
 the means of supplying the one and repressing the 
 other. It is on such occasions that the forms of 
 government become changed. 
 
 The distinction between the Oligarchy and the 
 Aristocracy, among the ancients, was this : whereas 
 the latter placed the governing authority in the 
 hands of a body of men distinguished for their 
 wisdom, justice, and goodness ; the former selected, as 
 
38 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the^ depositary of power, only such men as possessed 
 great wealth, without reference to their intellectual 
 or moral qualifications. The nature of man, however, 
 as well as the experience of ages, afford us an in- 
 structive lesson upon this head. The acquisition of 
 uncontrolled authority by any body of men, unless 
 indeed they are men of conspicuous virtue and wis- 
 dom, brings with it the principles of tyrannic rule. 
 An aristocracy is "a despotism in embryo. The first 
 degenerate mc -ement it evinces is in the direction of 
 an Oligarchy — tne virtue of the one becoming ab- 
 sorbed in the gold of the other. Where there is no 
 interposing authority, the resistance of Wisdom to 
 Wealth is but feeble. The Oligarchy by a natural 
 gradation sinks into a Tyranny ; that is, if the people 
 do not anticipate its movement, and cut short its 
 existence by the substitution of their own authority. 
 This latter result is the more probable, since it is the 
 more directly in the order of nature ; for an oppressed 
 people do not seek to place themselves on the eleva- 
 tion of freedom through the medium of a refined discri- 
 mination of the relative qualifications of their tyrants ; 
 but regarding only the source whence their evils flow, 
 they aim at its extinction by the shortest method. 
 
 As the Aristocracy springs from the monarchical, 
 or kingly system, and the Oligarchy from the Aristo- 
 cracy, so the Democracy is the natural offspring of 
 the Oligarchy — the ruling principle thus reverting in 
 a cycle of government to the fountain whence all 
 legitimate power proceeds. The Democracy or Re- 
 public, when rightly understood, contains every ele- 
 ment of political harmony of which, in the nature of 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 39 
 
 things, the theory of government is susceptible. It 
 is the will of the people put into active and systematic 
 operation ; and the tendency of which is to place all 
 citizens in the possession of the same privileges and 
 immunities. It is what Terence styles " equam liber- 
 tatemy The British Constitution is based upon the 
 true democratic principle. I cannot help adverting 
 here to what an old English writer says in treating 
 upon this subject. It is to the effect that the multitude, , 
 from their proneness to insolence and wrong, and 
 from the disposition which they manifest to trample 
 upon the laws, and to make their caprices or passions 
 the rule of their conduct and the basis of all civil 
 government, diverge frequently, and as it were by in- 
 stinct, from the democratic or republican system into 
 what he terms an Ochlocracy^ or the Rule of Rascality. 
 When such occurs, however, the people never fail to 
 become sufferers from their own headlong and reck- 
 less conduct ; the victims of their unrestrained pas- 
 sions and lawless conduct ; and to sink into such a 
 helpless and forlorn condition as to yield their necks 
 to the first tyrant who presents them with a yoke. 
 
 Each of these forms of government was in turn 
 experienced by the Athenians. The monarchical 
 form prevailed for the space of 487 years, and was 
 terminated by the death of Codrus, the last King of 
 Athens. The manner of his death appears as singu- 
 Ur as it is suggestive of the pure and unselfish spirit 
 of patriotism which distinguished the Greeks, as also 
 the Romans, in the periods of their pre-eminence and 
 glory. It occurred in this way : The Athenians were 
 engaged in war with the Dorians ; and it was fore- 
 
P1^ 
 
 40 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 told by the oracle of Apollo that the triumph of the 
 Dorians would be certain unless the Athenian king 
 were killed. Codrus therefore resolved to offer his life 
 as a sacrifice to his country's safety ; and accordingly 
 arraying himself in a servant's attire, in order to dis- 
 guise his person, he threw himself into the midst of 
 the enemy, ard soon met his death. After this the 
 Athenians no longer used the term " king " as applied 
 . to their chief ruler t and this out of reverence to the 
 memory of Codrus. They changed their system of 
 government by the establishment of Judges, whom 
 they called Archons ; whose authority was in no 
 way inferior to that of a king, and whose term of 
 power lasted during their lives. This form continued 
 during the space of 315 years. Then succeeded the 
 decennial modification of this system ; according to 
 which there was but one instead of two Archons ; and 
 the life-tenure was altered into a period of ten years. 
 Of these there were seven ; their united periods of 
 office having spread over the space of seventy years : 
 after which the tenure of office was limited to one 
 year, in consequence of an abuse of power arising 
 from the diminished responsibility inherent in au- 
 thority extending over a long period of time without 
 the corrective influence of popular control. These 
 were called annual magistrates ; and continued to 
 govern Athens until the time of Pisistratus, This 
 celebrated person seized the reins of government by 
 violence, and maintained them during his life, which 
 was a period of thirty years ; and transmitted them 
 to his sons, Hipparchus and Hippias. The manner 
 in which this ambitious adventurer proceeded in the 
 attainment of his object is worthy of a passing 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 41 
 
 notice. There grew up in Athens a sort of faction 
 consisting of persons of servile occupations, and who 
 were disqualified by law from filling any office in the 
 State. This faction was, of course, odious to the 
 various classes of citizens ; who were vigilant in sup- 
 pressing their pretensions and disorderly proceedings. 
 Pisistratus, having an anxious eye to the accomplish- 
 ment of his ambitious designs on the supreme power, 
 and with this view wishing tcf enlist the body of 
 citizens on his side, pretended that he had been as- 
 saulted by this detested faction ; and that his life 
 was in danger from their attempts, unless he received 
 protection from the people. He rushed one day into 
 the streets, having previously lacerated his body with 
 lashes, and also cut the mules which drew his chariot ; 
 and appearing before the people, harangued them 
 upon the violence which he represented had been 
 offered to him ; and entreated their assistance for 
 the protection of his life. A band of chosen citi- 
 zens was consequently assigned to him ; and with 
 these, who were armed with clubs, he put himself at 
 once in possession of the citadel ; and thus became 
 the king, or tyrant of Athens. His son ahd successor, 
 Hipparchus, was slain by Aristogiton and Harmo- 
 dius ; after which, according to the testimony of 
 Herodotus, the Athenians still continued, for the 
 space of four years, in a state of unmitigated slavery. 
 At length the Lacedemonians came to their relief, 
 and restored them to the condition of freemen. We 
 have thus seen that the democratic, or republican 
 system of government, became established among 
 the Athenians after a lapse of 868 years from the 
 time of Cecrops. 
 
 \ 
 
wrrri 
 
 42 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Solon, the Founder of the Athenian Commonwealth — His mode 
 of proceeding ; the difficulties he encountered ; and his 
 tinal success. 
 
 Solon, who was the founder of this new common- 
 wealth, deserves special notice. He flourished about 
 six centuries before our era ; and was one of the 
 most remarkable men of his own or of any other age. 
 He was born of noble parents ; his father is reported 
 to have been a man of moderate fortune and au- 
 thority, and a descendant of Codrus, the last King of 
 Athens ; and his mother to have been cousin-german 
 to the mother of Pisistratus. His father, whose 
 name was Execestides, had by his munificence and 
 liberality greatly diminished his fortune ; which 
 caused Solon, in the spirit of self-reliance and honour- 
 able independence, to devote himself to the pursuits 
 of commerce. This opened to him a career of 
 foreign travel, by which he was enabled to gratify his 
 desire for the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom. 
 His love of iiicellectual acquisition was unbounded; 
 so that even in his old age it had not forsaken him, 
 as is evidenced by that remarkable expression of his, 
 " I grow old in the pursuit of learning." He was not 
 addicted t'-> the love of wealth ; but observed the 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 43 
 
 golden medium^ which is ah'ke remote from super- 
 fluities on the one hand, and sordid penury on the 
 other ; and which is the peculiar sphere of human 
 wisdom and happiness. 
 
 In one of his poet'> effusions (for in his youth he 
 was very much attached to the Muses, and composed 
 verses with great facility and taste), he gives expres- 
 sion to the following sentiments, as rendered into 
 English verse 
 
 Plutarch's 
 
 by the translators of 
 
 Lives :" — 
 
 "The man that boasts of golden stores, 
 Of grain that loads his bending floors, 
 Of fields with fresh'ning herbage green, 
 Where bounding steeds and herds are seen, 
 I call not happier than the swain 
 Whose limbs are sound, whose food is plain, 
 Whose joys a blooming wife endears, • 
 
 Whose hours a smiling offspring cheers.'' 
 
 And again he expresses himself, on the subject of 
 
 riches, in a moie decided manner, in the following 
 
 lines : — 
 
 " The flow of riches, though desired. 
 Life's real goods, if 'veil acquired, 
 Unjustly let me ne jain, 
 Lest vengeance follow in their train." 
 
 With respect to the poetic vein which was one of 
 the most prominent mental characteristics of Solon, 
 Plato says that if he had devoted his attention to the 
 revision and correction of his poems, neither Homer, 
 Hesiod, nor any other of the poets of antiquity would 
 have excelled him, or acquired more fame in that 
 department. He is said to have put his laws into verse 
 in order that they might be the more easily remem- 
 
44 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 bered and transmitted to posterity. From the general 
 tenor of his life and writings, and the nature and 
 spirit of his laws, it is manifest that he was a man of 
 the most eminent virtue, and the kindliest disposi- 
 tion. In this light, too, his fellow-citizens regarded 
 him ; and when social distress and impending ruin 
 roused them to considerations and measures for their 
 safety, to him alone they appealed, as to the arbiter 
 of their destinies. As I have noticed in another place, 
 the Athenians became separated into three distinct 
 parties on the subject of the form of government 
 which might be deemed the best calculated to meet 
 the necessities of their peculiar position. This was a 
 subject long debated amongst them, and to which 
 they recurred again and again ; the inhabitants of 
 the upland and mountainous districts contending for 
 a democracy, in opposition to the dwellers on the 
 plain, whose views were in favour of an oligarchy, 
 and of the dwellers on the sea-coast who were for a 
 mixed form of government. These disputes became 
 at length charged with the most explosive elements 
 of discord, hatred, and disaffection, in consequence of 
 the exactions of the wealthy classes, and the increas- 
 ing distress and miseries of the poor. To such an 
 extent had the derangement of society grown, and so 
 reckless of consequences had the wealthy classes 
 become, that the persons of the poor were made sub- 
 jects of security to wealthy creditors ; or, in other 
 words, poor debtors became the property of their 
 wealthy creditors, to be transferred by sale from 
 h^nd to hand, according to the ordinary modes of 
 speculative traffic. ', 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 45 
 
 Thus the Hectemorii, or Thetes, as these unhappy 
 people were called, were not only taken from their 
 lands, and reduced to the condition of abject slaves 
 in the service of their creditors, but were even sold as. 
 such to foreign purchasers. The whole fabric of 
 society became thus disjointed, and usury and slavery 
 went hand in hand in facile conspiracy against the 
 existence of the State. Parents sold their own child- 
 ren, and fled from the city in order to escape the 
 grinding exactions of their oppressors. Justice, pity, 
 humanity— all the virtues, and the gentle emotions 
 which sway the human heart — seem to have aban- 
 doned the Athenians at this period of their history ; 
 and to have left them a prey to the dark brood of 
 vice and wickedness ; that their destruction, it would 
 seem, might thereby be the more easily secured, and 
 the more quickly precipitated. The natural conse- 
 quence of such a state of things, however, is resistance, 
 resolute, desperate resistance ; and accordingly we 
 find that a combination of the boldest and noblest 
 spirits among the oppressed classes was eventually 
 formed, and an open opposition declared against their 
 oppressors. 
 
 A leader was to be chosen in order to direct this 
 reformatory movement to a salutary conclusion ; and 
 Solon at once became the object of the popular 
 choice. All parties concurred in this selection of 
 a man who was equally remote from the spirit and 
 practice of oppression which characterized the rich, 
 and the feelings of discontent which, from their poverty 
 and necessities, actuated the poor. He accordingly 
 applied himself to the arrangement of the differences 
 
46 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 which were dissolving the framework of society ; 
 'with a view to the restoration of piibUc tran- 
 quiUity, and to the establishment, upon a perma- 
 nent basis, of the future peace and welfare of the 
 commonwealth. He was chosen Archon by the 
 unanimous consent of all parties; and was invested 
 with full authority to arbitrate the existing differences 
 between the rich and poor ; and to frame such laws 
 as he might deem best calculated to promote the 
 general prosperity of the people. The leaders of the 
 contending parties, moreover, were desirous that he 
 should assume the position and title of King ; and 
 earnestly urged him to the adoption of their views : 
 but he resisted their entreaties, and declined the prof- 
 fered honour ; observing that, " absolute monarchy is 
 a fair field, but it has no outlet." Hence it is evident 
 that the confidence of the whole people in the wisdom, 
 justice, and integrity of this remarkable man was of 
 the most unbounded character ; and it is gratifying 
 to find that, from the whole tenor of his conduct as a 
 legislator and reformer, they had no reason to charge 
 themselves with precipitancy or a want of foresight in 
 the judgment they had thus formed. 
 
 The ground of discontent on the part of the multi- 
 tude was the unequal distribution of lands, and the 
 pressure of the debts by which they were forced into 
 slavery or exile. To these subjects, therefore, he 
 turned his attention immediately upon his assumption 
 of the administration. He commenced his labours 
 with great care and circumspection : he made no 
 sweeping radical changes in the existing system ; 
 but advancing with great caution, and feeling his way 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 47 
 
 as he proceeded, he watched the development of his 
 plan, step by step ; and took every necessary precau- 
 tion to secure its full growth and maturity. To use 
 his own expression, he made " force and right con- 
 spire ; " and enforced through fear what he could not 
 effect through persuasion. He first promulgated a 
 decree for the abolition of debts ; so that no creditor 
 was at liberty for the future to seize upon the body 
 of his debtor as security for the payment of his debt. 
 Thus a large number of persons were restored to 
 liberty, who had either been bound in slavery at home, 
 or pined in exile in foreign countries. This step very 
 naturally gave great satisfaction to the poor, while it 
 created displeasure among the rich ; but to the joy 
 on the one side, and the discontent on the other, he 
 set a counterbalance by decreeing that the lands 
 should remain untouched, contrary to the general 
 expectation. By this second step he secured the ap- 
 probation of the rich, but incurred the displeasure of 
 the other class. There occurred upon the occasion 
 of these changes one of those examples of unprin- 
 cipled conduct, and reckless avarice, which reflect so 
 much upon the honour and integrity of human nature, 
 — one of those examples in human conduct which 
 goes, in these our days, by the euphonious name of 
 dodge. He mentioned to two or three of his friends 
 his intention of not altering the tenure and disposition 
 of the lands, while he had resolved upon the cancelling 
 of the debts. These imm.ediately took advantage of 
 the information thus obtained, and borrowed large 
 bums, with which they purchased estates. Thus upon 
 the passing of the decree they were exempt from the 
 
48 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 payment of the sums borrowed, while they held un- 
 disturbed possession of the lands they had purchased. 
 This transaction brought considerable discredit and 
 annoyance upon Solon ; but as soon as he explained 
 the circumstances attending it, and showed that he 
 had no participation in the fr''".d, he was restored to 
 his former position in the public confidence. Those 
 friends of his, however, went ever afterwards by the 
 name of C/irescopidce, or the debt-cutters. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Abrogation of the laws of Draco — New classification of citizens, 
 , according to property — Wise laws enacted by Solon — Solon 
 absents himself from his country ; and visits Egypt, Cyprusj 
 and Lydia. 
 
 The dissatisfaction arising from these preliminary 
 arrangements having passed away, and Solon having 
 by the universal consent assumed full jurisdiction in 
 all matters conected with the public welfare, proceeded 
 to abrogate the laws of Draco ; those laws of which 
 Demades said, that they were written " not with ink, 
 but with blood." These laws he repealed, all save 
 those which related to murder. The great character- 
 istic of those laws was their extreme severity ; for 
 they assigned the same punishment to almost all 
 offences, namely, the punishment of death. So that 
 the man who was convicted of idleness, or of petty 
 theft, was placed in the same category, as to punish- 
 ment, with the murderer. 
 
 Draco's apology for this uniform severity in the 
 punishment of offences, is as remarkable as his ideas 
 of the nature of man and of human society were 
 short-sighted : it is this, that " small offences deserved 
 death ; and he could find nr» greater punishment for 
 the most heinous." The ne:t step taken by Solon, 
 
 E 
 
 I . 
 
50 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 in the promotion of his plan of government, was the 
 classification of the citizens according to property. 
 This classification was fourfold, — the Pentacosime- 
 dimni, or the possessors of a yearly income of 500 
 measures in wet and dry goods ; the Hippoda- 
 telotmteSy whose lands produced 300 measures, and 
 who, as the name imports, were of the equestrian 
 order ; the Zeiigitm^ who had 200 measures ; and the 
 Thetes, or common people, who were disqualified 
 from holding any office in the State ; and whose 
 only privilege was that of voting in the general 
 assemblies of the people. This, however, turned out 
 afterwards to be a privilege of great importance, in- 
 asmuch as almost all public causes were submitted 
 to them for decision ; and there lay an appeal to 
 them in all matters which came under the cognisance 
 of the magistrates. According to another of his 
 enactments, it was competent for any citizen to take 
 up the cause of another, and bring it before one of 
 the public tribunals for adjudication : thus there was 
 established a reciprocity of kindly fueling between 
 the citizens, — a bond of mutual support, which tended 
 to the union and consolidation of the whole com- 
 munity. It was in reference to this law that, upon 
 being asked *' what city was best modelled "i " he 
 answered, " thatj where those who are not injured, are 
 not less ready to prosecute and punish offenders than 
 those who are." His next proceeding was the re-esta- 
 blishment of the Council of the Areopagus ; which he 
 composed of such persons only as had borne the office 
 of Archon. This was an improvement on the former 
 constitution of that body, the composition of which 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 51 
 
 had been restricted to such persons as were most 
 conspicuous for their wealth, influence, and integrity. 
 So that by the alteration effected by Solon, the dignity, 
 character, and reputation of this court was greatly 
 raised. He then established the Council of four hun- 
 dred, one hundred being chosen out of each of the 
 four tribes or classes of the State ; with the view of 
 repressing, as Plutarch says, the growing insolence 
 of the people consequent upon their being discharged 
 from their debts. To this Council all matters were 
 to be submitted previously to their being brought 
 before the general Assembly of the people. Thus 
 were the people checked on either hand ; and a firm 
 barrier interposed between the violence of faction, 
 and that public repose which the unobstructed action 
 of well-digested laws promotes and secures ; for while, 
 on the one side, the Council of four hundred had the 
 right to express their views upon all public matters 
 before any reference could be made to the opinion of the 
 general Assembly ; and the decision thus pronounced 
 by the four great orders of the State afforded, in the 
 generality of cases, a finality to the judgment of the 
 people ; the Council of Areopagus, on the other side, 
 maintained by an absolute authority the supervision 
 and guardianship of the laws. 
 
 One of the other laws promulgated by this great 
 legislator was, that the man who remained neuter in 
 a time of sedition or public disorder should be de- 
 clared infamous. Tims he meant to inculcate the 
 principle that every individual of the community was 
 bound, by virtue of his citizenship, to regard the 
 safely and welfare of the society of which he was a 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 member as an object of personal interest ; and that a 
 dereliction of the duties which such a position implied 
 was tantamount to a forfeiture of the public esteem, 
 and consequently deserved to be punished by the 
 brand of infamy. This law was clearly founded in 
 Truth and Justice ; for no man can be indifferent to' 
 the public weal, or postpone the general interests of 
 the State to his personal concerns without offering 
 violence tojthe^^first and greatest and most vital principle 
 of civil society. He, therefore, who watches the com- 
 motion of parties with a selfish neutrality, and hazards 
 nothing in the common cause ; who awaits the de- 
 claration of victory in favour of one side .or the other 
 before he manifests his resolve ; and who then ranks 
 himself under the banner of the triumphant party, is 
 the worst enemy of truth, and a traitor to the well- 
 being of society. 
 
 Solon was also the founder of that law which pro- 
 hibited men from speaking ill of the dead ; and 
 whence sprang the maxim de mortiiis nihil nisi bomini; 
 a maxim, by the way, which does not appear to be 
 altogether based on the wisest and most moral policy, 
 although there are many considerations to recom- 
 mend it. r 
 
 . On the subject of marriage some of his laws were 
 very peculiar ; as they extended the boundaries of 
 morality beyond the limits which Christian civilization, 
 at least, assigns to them. The law of dowry, however, 
 cannot but be regarded as of wise conception and 
 beneficial tendency ; for it forbade dowries altogether, 
 providing only that the bride should bring with her 
 three suits of clothes, and no more, together with 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 S3 
 
 some household stuff of trifling value, and an earthen 
 pan called phrogeteon^ in which barley was parched. 
 This was to signify that she undertook the business 
 of her hu band's house ; and that she would contribute 
 her labour and services in providing for the support 
 of the household. 
 
 With respect to Wills, he provided that persons 
 who had not children might demise their property to 
 whomsoever they pleased ; the law on this head, 
 before his time, being that the property of such 
 persons should descend to their relations. He, how- 
 ever, guarded against deception and fraud in these 
 cases, by providing that all wills procured by unfair 
 and violent means — such as when the testator laboured 
 under a derangement of mind arising from disease or 
 poison, and when imprisonment, or violence, or the per- 
 suasions of a wife were employed, should be of no avail. 
 
 W^ith a view to the encouragement of industry, and 
 the promotion of manufactures, he ordained that all 
 trades should be accounted honourable ; and that no 
 son should be compelled to maintain his father under 
 any circumstances, unless he had provided him with 
 a trade. Illegitimate sons, however, were excluded 
 from the operation of this law ; for in no case were 
 they obliged to maintain their parents. According 
 to Herodotus, it was considered a crime, under the 
 laws of Solon, to live in idleness ; and the person 
 who was convicted three times of this offence was 
 declared infamous. Diodorus Siculus speaks of this 
 as being a law of Egypt also ; and it is therefore likely 
 that Solon derived it from the Egyptians, with whose 
 laws and learning he was fully acquainted. 
 
 m 
 
54 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 
 Without referring particularly to any more of the 
 laws instituted by chis wise and learned legislator I'or 
 the guidance and control of the Athenian people, it 
 may suffice to observe that they were all designed 
 with an especial regard to the peculiar circumstances 
 of the community, and had no pretension to an uni- 
 formity of system theoretically adapted to all con- 
 ditions of men. They possessed the merit of an 
 adaptation of means to an end ; which is perhaps the 
 essence of all poli*:'.cal wisdom. They were made for 
 the people, for the country, for the time. They were 
 natural, not forced ; suitable, not repellant ; and cal- 
 culated to produce the best effects under the attendant 
 circumstances. 
 
 One hundred years was the period which he assigned 
 to the continuance of those laws ; after which, doubt- 
 less, he hoped that they would have produced a 
 superstructure of social and political greatness, v/hich 
 would have rendered them and the people for \/honi 
 they were designed alike 'mperishable in the memory 
 of men. And so it was. Those laws, when perfected, 
 were inscribed on wooden tablets, and enclosed in 
 cases ; and iii the time of Plutarch there were some 
 remains of those tablets preserved in the Prytanium, 
 or Court of the Judges called Prytanes. It is not to 
 be presumed, however, that p code of laws so new in 
 their nature and application, and so radical in their 
 tendency, should meet with universal approbation. 
 That is not to be expected in any stage of social or 
 political reformation ; nor was it the case in the 
 instance before us. Many faults were found, and 
 much dissatisfaction was expressed, with some of 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 55 
 
 those laws ; while others of them were hailed with 
 high approbation. 
 
 In order to evade the importunities of those who 
 desired an alteration in those particular laws- which 
 happened not to harmonize with their notions, he re- 
 solved upon absenting himself from the country for a 
 period of ten years. Having accordingly obtained 
 permission from the people to absent himself for this 
 space of time, he at once set sail for Egypt. Thence 
 he proceeded to Cyprus ; and afterwards to Lydia, 
 by the invitation of Crcesus, the king of that country. 
 
 »'I». || |M l « |||»lli « | «— 
 
 stw Eg a sz 
 
^1^: 
 
 56 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Solon converses with the Egyptian priests — Story of the Atlantic 
 Island — Solon's celebrated answers to the questions of 
 Croesus. 
 
 During his abode in Egypt, or as he himself ex- 
 presses it in one of his verses, "On the Canopian 
 shore, by Nile's deep mouth," he spent his time agree- 
 ably in conversation with two of the most learned of 
 the Egyptian priests. From these he heard the 
 celebrated story of the Atlantic Island, which he 
 constructed into a poem for the information of his 
 countrymen. Plato afterwards wrote a description 
 of this island from the information contained in this 
 poem. He represented it as an island which lay 
 somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, exceeding in size 
 Asia and Africa taken together, and which became 
 submerged in the course of one day and night. 
 Diodorus Siculus says that it was discovered by the 
 Carthaginians, who prohibited any one from settling 
 in it under the penalty of death. There have been 
 various conjectures as to the locality and identity of 
 this island ; one of which is — and it has been accounted 
 the most probable one — that America was the place 
 indicated; of which the Africans are supposed to 
 have some knowledge in those early days. Another 
 conjecture is, that the Canary Islands afford the best 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 57 
 
 clue to the origin of the story of this mysterious isle. 
 It is represented as abounding in all the luxury and 
 gorgeousness of a rich and varied scenery, an exuber- 
 ant soil, and a climate where the sun delights to revel 
 in all his gayest and most winning moods. Homer's 
 description of the Atlanttdes (Fortunate Islands), 
 or what are now called the Canaries, would seem 
 applicable to this fabled island : — 
 
 " Stern winter smiles on that auspicious clime : 
 The fields are florid with unfading prime. 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow, 
 Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow ; 
 But from the breezy deep the blest inhale 
 The fragrant murmurs of the western gale." 
 
 Solon's celebrated replies to the questions of Croe- 
 sus are deserving of notice as affording evidence of 
 the stern virtue and high-souled patriotism of the 
 Athenian philosopher and reformer. Croesus, after 
 having conducted him through his palace, and exhi- 
 bited to his view the profrsion of wealth and splen- 
 dour with which he was surrounded, put the question to 
 him, " if he had ever beheld a happier man than he }'' 
 "Yes," was the reply, "and that person was one 
 Tellus, a plain but worthy citizen of Athens, who 
 left worthy children after him ; and who, having 
 spent his life in a moderate condition, free from want, 
 died gloriously, fighing for his country." Croesus 
 was little pleased with this answer, and looked upon 
 Solon as a mean and vulgar clown who was inca- 
 pable of appreciating wealth and high dignity. He 
 notwithstanding, asked him again, ** if, aftCi Tellus, 
 he knew any other man in the world that was hap- 
 pier than he } " " Yes," said Solon ; " Cleobis and 
 
f^: 
 
 5« 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Biton, two brothers who we. ; Wi-;).:!' for their love of 
 one another, and their filial .cut towards their 
 mother ; for the oxen not being in icv dingss, they 
 put themselves in the harness, and drew their mother 
 to Juno's temple, amid the blessings of the people. 
 The sacrifice being ended, they drank a cheerful cup 
 with their friends, and then went to rest : but they 
 arose no more, for they died in the course of the 
 night without sorrow or pain, in the midst of so much 
 glory." The vanity of Croesus was still less gratified 
 than before; and he a£Mn asked him, "if he ranked 
 him in the number of happy men ? " Solon, unwilling 
 to offer him unnecessary provocation, but, at the 
 same time, resolute in his adherence to the principles 
 and profession of truth, and the dictates of virtue, re- 
 plied, •• King of Lydia ! as God has given the Greeks 
 a moderate share of other things, so also has He 
 favoured them with a democratic spirit, and a liberal 
 kind of wisdom, which has no taste for the splendours 
 of royalty. BesitJes, the vicissitudes of life permit us 
 not to be elated by any present good fortune, or to 
 admire that state of happiness which is liable to 
 change. Futurity carries for every man many various 
 and uncertain events in its bosom. He therefore 
 whom heaven blesses with success to the last is, in our 
 estimation, the happy man. But the happiness of 
 him who still lives, and has the dangers of life to 
 confront, appears to us no better than chat of a 
 champion before the combat is determined, and while 
 the crown is uncertain." Solon then left the court 
 of CrcEsus ; having produced no other effect, by his 
 philosophy, upon the mind of his entertainer, than 
 that of displeasure and anger. 
 
^tl 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 59 
 
 CHAPTER X[II. 
 
 M 
 
 Pisistratus becomes ruler of Athens — The Lacedemonians assist 
 the Athenians in their struggle for liberty — Pericles, and 
 the Rule of Rascality — The Council of Four Hundred — The 
 Thirty Tyrants — Re-establishment of Athenian liberty — 
 Antipater ; and his successors. 
 
 In the meantime the Athenians, in the absence of 
 their lawgiver, became agitated and dissatisfied ; and 
 the desire of change began to influence their actions. 
 Pisistratus, at the head of the mountain party, was 
 actively preparing the way for a blow at the existing 
 state of things, with a view of securing the concentra- 
 tion of all political power in his own person. In 
 this exigency of the public affairs Solon arrived at 
 Athens, and was received by the people with de- 
 monstrations of unmitigated reverence and regard. 
 His advanced age, however, and the infirmities which 
 attend it, unfitted him for that course of strenuous 
 action and unremitting labour which were, at the 
 time and under the circumstances which surrounded 
 him, essential to the repression of the disorderly am- 
 bition of the heads of the factions, and especially of 
 Pisistratus. and to the preservation of the democracy, as 
 he had established it. He struggled against the tide 
 for a time ; but his efforts became ultimately fruit- 
 
-r ' -sittHumnatspumimim 
 
 Co 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 less : and Pisistratus, having concealed his real design 
 from even the very party who supported him, and 
 whom he merely used as the instrument of his ambi- 
 tion, though he could not disguise himself from the 
 penetrating wisdom of Solon, advanced to the object 
 of his desire ; and by the adoption of the manoeuvre 
 which I have already described in a former chapter, 
 took violent possession of the supreme power. 
 
 Contrary to the general expectation, however, the 
 tyrant continued to pay the utmost deference to the 
 opinions of Solon ; and instead of abrogating his 
 laws, he enforced the greatest part of them upon the 
 observance of the people, by setting, in his own per- 
 son, the example of subordination to their provisions. 
 In a few years, however, after this usurpation. Solon 
 passed away from the cares and tumults of the world ; 
 leaving behind him a memory for wisdom; learning, 
 and goodness, which has now survived a period of 
 between two and three thousand years, and which 
 will, doubtless, be prolonged to the end of time. 
 
 I have thus dwelt, at g"eater length perhaps than 
 may be deemed necessary, upon the history and con- 
 duct of this extraordinary man ; but the circumstances 
 attending his life ; the conspicuous figure which he 
 presents amid the distinguished characters of his age ; 
 the influence which his learning and wisdom exer- 
 cised upon the sentiments, and manners, and policy 
 of his country, an influence which extended even be- 
 yond his time and his country ; these are the con- 
 siderations which justify me in lingering at more than 
 ordinary length upon the name, and character, and 
 achievements of Solon. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 6i 
 
 Pisistratus possessed the supreme power until his 
 death, which occurred in thirty years from the da;e 
 of his usurpation. And then succeeded his sons ; of 
 whom Hipparchus, as I have already observed, was 
 slain by Aristogiton, who took the chief direction of 
 the State. In a few years after this, the Athenians 
 were rescued from slavery through the intervention 
 of the Lacedemonians. It happened afterwards that 
 Pericles, by curtailing the power of the Court of 
 Areopagus, reduced the government to an Ochlo- 
 cracy, or the rule of Rascality ; according to the 
 spirit of which the mere rabble became the predomi- 
 nant authority in the State. Next came the rule of the 
 Council of Four Htmdred ; who upon the defeat of 
 the Athenians in Sicily, succeeded, by the use of de- 
 ception and falsehood, in securing to themselves the 
 good-will of the people, and through that the control 
 of the Government. Their power, however, was of 
 short duration ; for they yielded up their authority 
 into the hands of the people, from fear of Alcibiades ; 
 and withdrew themselves into exile. Lysander having 
 then conquered Athens, at the head of his Lace- 
 demonian forces, established an Oligarchy consisting 
 of thirty principal men. These were they who went 
 under the name of the Thirty Tyrants. The oppres- 
 sions and cruelties v/hich they practised upon the 
 people were of the most grievous and remorseless 
 character ; for though in the commencement of their 
 reign they restricted the punishment of death to per- 
 sons of wicked and depraved lives, yet they afterwards 
 treated the good, and bad with equal severity, being 
 actuated solely by motives of envy or of avarice. To 
 
 ii 
 
69 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 strengthen and secure their ill-used power they 
 created an armed corps consisting of three thousand 
 men ; and forbade all others the use of arms, that 
 their lives might be the more completely at their 
 disposal. The people were at length roused to re- 
 sistance, from the overstrained pressure with which 
 this tyranny bore upon them ; and retiring to the 
 castle of Phyle, on the confines of Athens, with 
 Thrasybulus their leader, they made head against 
 the tyrants ; and succeeded in throwing off the yoke, 
 and re-establishing their liberties. 
 
 For eighty years afterwards they continued in the 
 enjoyment of the freedom they had thus won ; but 
 upon the death of Alexander of Macedon, fate frowned 
 once more upon them. Antipater, the successor of 
 Alexander, vanquished them at the battle of Lamia ; 
 and in the arrangements for peace imposed upon 
 them such conditions as rendered them entirely de- 
 pendent on his power. They were these : that they 
 should submit to be ruled by a few peers, or principal 
 men whose revenues amounted at the least to two 
 thousand drachmas, or about sixty pounds sterling ; 
 that of these the chief should be Demetrius Phalareus ; 
 and that they shoul. receive a garrison into Muny- 
 chia for the suppression of riots, and the establish- 
 ment and preservation of the public tranquillity. 
 
 This state of things continued for the space of 
 four years, at the end of which Antipater died, and 
 Cassander became master of the city. He, however, 
 dealt leniently with the people, for he left them their 
 city, territories, revenues, and everything they had 
 possessed before ; on these sole conditions : that they 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 63 
 
 would become his allies ; that no person whose re- 
 venues did net amount to at least ten minai, or 
 about thirty-two pounds sterling, should be compe- 
 tent tc hold <'iny office in the v. .>.nmonwcalth ; 
 and thai he himself should have the power to nomi- 
 nate whom he pleased to the supreme command of 
 the State. The person whom he appointed to this 
 office was Demetrius Phalareus ; whose administra- 
 tion was conducted with great wisdom and discretion, 
 and contributed largely to the prosperity and lustre 
 of the city, and the general happiness of the people. 
 So much had he ingratiated himself with thecitizens.by 
 his zeal and energy in the promotion of their interests, 
 that there were no less than three hundred statues 
 erected in honour of him. He was the author, it is 
 said, of a treatise.on the Athenian Republic ; but this 
 work has not come down to our times. After a rule 
 of fourteen years, he was displaced by Demetrius, 
 the son of Antigon is, Wi^o was surnamed Poliorcetes ; 
 under whose sway the \thenians returned once more 
 to their ancient laws and customs. In return for the 
 services which this illustrious conqueror had rendered 
 them, they conferred upon him and upon his father 
 the title of King ; and they even went so far in their 
 vile adulation as ♦•o style them- the Gods' Protectors. 
 They also appointed a priest to perform acts of 
 worship to these Gods' Protectors ; after which priest 
 they denominated the year, having first abolished the 
 office and title of Archon, after whose name the year 
 had been formerly called. They also added two 
 tribes more to the ten already existing, which they 
 called after the son and father, Demetrius and Anti- 
 
 i 
 
64 
 
 Greece and the Greeks 
 
 gonus ; thus increasing the Senate from five hundred 
 to six hundred members, each tribe having the privi- 
 lege of supplying fifty. But such was the insta- 
 bility and levity of the Athenian character, that after 
 Cassandra had defeated Phalareu° and his father, 
 they turned round and made common cause with 
 the new victor, prohibiting Demetrius to come near 
 the city. 
 
 > -A 'r. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 65 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Philip, King of Macedonia, brings Athens under his sway — He 
 is expelled by the Romans — Invasion of the Goths — Con- 
 stantine the Great, first Duke of Athens — A story of love 
 and romance. 
 
 Lacharis then became invested with arbitrary- 
 power ; but soon afterwards Demetrius in turn ex- 
 pelled him, and assumed the sovereignty once more. 
 After the death of Demetrius, Antigonus Gonatas 
 succeeded ; who in the nineteenth year of his reign 
 garrisoned the city with soldiers ; but in ten years 
 afterwards removed them again. About this time 
 the Macedonian power began to be felt in Athens ; 
 and Philip, the last but one of the kings of Macedon, 
 held complete sway over it ; until he was expelled 
 by the Romans, who entered into a league with the 
 Athenian people, by which the ancient rights and 
 liberties of the latter were stipulated. This state of 
 things continued uninterrupted until the breaking 
 out of the war between Mithridates and the Romans. 
 From apprehension of the anger of Mithridates, the 
 Athenians were induced to receive his general, Aiche- 
 stratus, within their walls. Sylla, the Roman general, 
 then laid siege to the city, and entered it. And such 
 was the havoc that ensued on this occasion thit, ac- 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 cording to Appian,the streets literally ran with blood. 
 Otherwise, however, the consequences to the citi- 
 zens were not of any very injurious character, for 
 their usual laws and institutions were still maintained, 
 with but very little alteration. The Roman emperor, 
 Julius Caisar, as well as others of the Roman em- 
 perors, held them in high favour, and gave full play 
 to the development of their institutions, and the exer- 
 cise of their political liberties. In the reign of the 
 second Claudius, the successor of Galiienus, the Goths 
 invaded the city ; and left behind them those terrible 
 traces of devastation which was the usual accompani- 
 ment of their barbarous inroads upon the domain of 
 European civilization. The works of art, the records 
 of science, the treasures of literature, were the chief 
 objects of destruction which strewed the blood-stained 
 path of those savage hordes. It was on this occasion 
 that, when they had piled together large masses of 
 books for the purpose of committing them to the 
 flames, they were exhorted, by way of inducing them 
 to forego their unhallowed design, not to proceed in 
 the work of destruction, since their views would be 
 better subserved by saving the books ; inasmuch 
 as " the Greeks spending their time in reading 
 them, might be made more unfit for war." The 
 emperor, Constantine the Great, also held the city in 
 high esteem, and assumed the title of the Grand 
 Duke of Athens. The women of the city were re- 
 garded with a high degree of admiration by the 
 Roman emperors, several of whom selected wives 
 from amongst them ; the daughters of their dukes 
 being especially desired for this purpose. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 67 
 
 The Spaniards are said to have had possession of 
 the city for some time ; and one Rainerius Accia- 
 golus is said to have recovered it from them. It is 
 said that this Rainerius having had no issue by his 
 wife, bequeathed, at his death, Bceotia and Thebes 
 to his illegitimate son, Antonius ; and Athens to the 
 Venetians. But his son soon after drove out the 
 Venetians, and took possession of the city. He was 
 succeeded by one Nerius, as Duke of Athens; who 
 was in his turn succeeded by his brother, Antonius 
 Nerius. It was about this time that Mahom.t, the 
 son of Amurat II., got possession of Athens, whose 
 beauty, splendour, and magnificence became the 
 objects of his deepest admiration. lie continued the 
 usual title of Duke, as the distinctive appellation of 
 the chief magistrate. 
 
 In connexion with the installation of the last per- 
 son who bore this title we have on record one of those 
 stories of love and romance which lie scattered along 
 the pathway of history from its first opening. One 
 Nerius, a different person from either of those I have 
 mentioned above, became invested with the chief 
 authority. After a brief space he died, leaving one 
 son, an infant, heir to his title and authority. Dur- 
 ing the minority of this child, the mother in his right 
 exercised ti,ie ruling power. A certain Venetian 
 nobleman, in the meantime, came to Atheus for the 
 purchase of merchandise. He became acquainted 
 with this woman, and in a short time became en- 
 tangled in the meshes of her love ; or as an old his- 
 torian presents it, " by discour.«^e and flattc / she en- 
 ticed him into her love, promising that she would 
 
 F 2 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
68 
 
 Greece and thl Greeks. 
 
 take him for her husband, and give up the princedom 
 of Athens to him." The only condition which this 
 fair one annexed to the rare boon which she trius 
 presented to the enraptured youth was this, that he 
 should divorce his own wife, and thus yield his un- 
 encumbered neck to the silken bonds of his new 
 lady-love. 
 
 The gentle youth gave word and plight that he 
 would accede to the terms proposed ; and so he hied 
 him to the shores of Venice, high-bounding with 
 ambition, and burning with the sense of the high 
 destiny which awaited him. But to divorce his wife 
 would be a sacrifice too small for the high occasion : 
 he slew her ; pouring forth her blood as an offering of 
 thanksgiving at the shrine of the daughter of the sea- 
 born goddess. He returns tr Athens, ' ^ m.vrried to 
 the princess-mother, and assumes the rein. .; govern- 
 ment. Time flows on ; the Athenians hate him ; 
 he is represented in an unfavourable light at the 
 Court of Mahomet ; and at length, to turn envy and 
 danger aside, he assumes the title and duties of the 
 child's tutor. Some time after this he takes the boy 
 with him, and repairs tc the court of the Mussulman. 
 There he met one Francus Acciojolus who, like him- 
 seF; *vas speculating on honours and high favour, 
 and seeking to he promoted to the dukedom. The 
 emperor inquired about all, and heard all. He lis- 
 tened CO the 3tory of the anuable lady and of the 
 enamourc i V'Uth ; and turned away in high displea- 
 sure frcr.i t'le recital. Francus Acciojolus was in- 
 stalled into l!U' ('Likedom ; and the frail and faithless 
 princess wi..^ committed to close confinement by her 
 
 -.MMOifcMMi 
 
'^yvM* 
 
 high 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 69 
 
 successful opponent, on the island of iMegara ; and 
 some time after put to death. In course of time this 
 same Francus was placed beyond all earthly aspira- 
 tions by one Zogan, the Governor of Peloponnesus, 
 in consequence of intelligence having reached Ma- 
 homet that the Prince of Boeotia was about being in- 
 stalled by the Athenians as their lawful emperor. So 
 Francus Acciojolus was the last Duke of Athens. 
 
r^-t 
 
 70 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Religion of the ancient Greeks — Their twelve principal 
 Gods — The source '.vhence their worship was derived — The 
 Unknown Gods. 
 
 The worship of the ancient Greeks was a sort of 
 Polytheism, consisting in the adoration of a multipli- 
 city of gods. To all the objects of Nature, to all 
 existences, changes, accidents that pervade air, earth, 
 and water, they assigned individual gods. Their re- 
 ligion was one unbroken web of superstition. Among 
 the countless number, however, of those supernatural 
 and presiding spirits, they made a special selection of 
 twelve, whom they Vept in the highest reverence. To 
 these they appCcJcJ on wW occasions of joy, grief, 
 hope, despondenc}' ; under aii circumstances of good 
 or evil fortune ; and confe,ised their particular agency 
 in all the transactions of daily life. The pictures of 
 these twelve gods they k'jpt in a gallery in the Cera- 
 micus ; and had an altar erected to them called 
 ^o)yLto9 Twi' Bcotfica Oeoyv, or altar of the twelve gods. 
 Their ordinary mode of asseveration was in the 
 name of these deities : b}' the tv/elve gods was their 
 common expression of solemn declaration. The 
 names of these gods are familiar to all classical stu- 
 dents : they are Saturn, Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Her- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 71 
 
 cules, Venus, Diana, Bacchus, Minerva, Ceres, Juno, 
 and Pan. 
 
 Of the origin of the religion of the Greeks, it is 
 not easy to speak with confidence, inasmuch as the 
 Greek historians themselves differ in opinion upon 
 this point. Herodotus says that it was derived from 
 the Egyptians ; and this testimony is somewhat cor- 
 roborated by the fact that some of the ancient 
 Egyptian deities were the same in attributes, power, 
 and office as some of those princ pal gods of the 
 Greeks. For instance, the Greciai. deity, Ceres, has 
 her prototype in the goddess Isis of the Eg'' ptians ; 
 and the Grecian Minerva, in the E ^yptiv^n Sais. 
 Plutarch, however, rejects this derivation, and refuses 
 to accept the authority of Herodotus. Aristophanes 
 and Euripides appear to concur in the opinion that 
 the Grecian worship was derived frcm the Thracians, 
 through the medium of Orpheus. The very words 
 used by the Greeks to signify the subjec and act 
 of paying adoration to the gods seem tc point to 
 this derivation :- dprja-KLa and dprjaKeveiv qgnifying 
 worship and to .worship. " Orpheus," says Aristo- 
 phanes, " showed w sacrifices, and to ib>tain hom 
 slaughter." And Eu'-ipidtrs, in reference to the same 
 point says, " Orpheus reveaied the hidden mysteries." 
 Orpheus was himself a Thracian ; and the allusions 
 made to him by the writers I have mentioned, 
 coupled with the Thracian origin of the words em- 
 ployed in expressing devotion and the worship of the 
 gods, would seem to leave no doubt as to the source 
 whence sprang the Grecian form ot worship. Yet, 
 Herodotus, who is the father of history, thinks other- 
 
 m- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 wise, as we have seen ; and points to Egypt as the 
 fountain-/.v;ad of the religion of Greece. 
 
 " Who can decide when doctors disajrree ? " 
 
 But whoever imagined that the worship of the an- 
 cient Greeks was confined to the twelve gods whose 
 names I have given, would mistake the nature of the 
 Grecian Theocracy. This system of superstitious 
 worship embraced what has been called the seven 
 kinds of idolatry. There was FIRST, the worship of 
 the sun ; the neglect of which, according to Plutarch, 
 was punished by death. SECOND, that of Bread, of 
 which the goddess Ceres was the representative deity. 
 Third, that of the Juries, who avenged the commis- 
 sion of crimes. FOURTH, that of the passions and 
 affections, as of love, pity, and so forth: even injury 
 and impudence had their altars and their worship. 
 Fifth, that of the accidents of growth and nourish- 
 ment, of which Axo and Thallo were the presiding 
 deities ; the former being derived from av^dveiv, to 
 increase ; and the latter from 6dX\eiv, to flourish. To 
 these may likewise be added the three sisters, called the 
 Fates, viz., Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos ; and also 
 eifxap/jb^vr), or Necessity, sometimes taken for Death 
 itself Sixth, the worship of the Theogony, that is, 
 the generation, or pedigree of gods, of whom Homer 
 •speaks of not less than t/iree tJioiisand. Seventh, 
 that of the repellers of evils and diseases, as of Her- 
 cules, the destroyer of wild animals, and Esculapius, 
 the god of physic. Besides cU these imaginary 
 superintendents of their life and destinies, they had 
 deities who presided over hospitality and good enter- 
 
 tai 
 
 del 
 In 
 
 of 
 boi 
 im 
 res 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 /3 
 
 tainment to strange gods. " As the Athenians," 
 says Strabo, " love foreigners, so also do they love 
 foreign gods." They had also adventitious, or acci- 
 dental gods, as Orthane, Conisfalus, and Tychon. 
 In short, they peopled the whole universe with gods 
 of various denominations, powers, and avocations, 
 bounding their empire only by the limits of the 
 imagination. When St. Paul preached Jesus, and the 
 resurrection of the dead, they immediately set up 
 'AvdaTaa-i<i, or Resurrection, for a god. But stranger 
 still ; in order that no possible deity might be 
 omitted from their system of worship, they erected 
 altars to what they termed the UNKNOWN GODS. 
 This worship of the unknown gods occurred in conse- 
 quence of Philipedes (whom they had sent as ambas- 
 sador to the Lacedemonians, praying their assistance 
 against the Persians) having seen a vision in which 
 Pan complained that he was neglected whilst other 
 gods were worshipped ; and promised the Athenians 
 his assistance. Having been victorious over the 
 Persians, they forthwith erected a temple and an 
 altar to the Unknown God. Another version of 
 the origin of this new species of worship is, that a 
 plague raged in Athens ; and the people finding no 
 relief from the invocations they had made to all the 
 known deities ; and supposing that some other power 
 had sent the disease, erected a new altar inscribed 
 with the words, " To the gods of Asia, Europe, and 
 Africa ; to the unknown and strange god." 
 
 3 
 
 a#* 
 
74 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 
 Jupiter, the principal God of the Athenians — He presided over 
 the Laws of HospitaUty — Apollo, Mercury, Juno, Saturn, 
 Ceres, and other Athenian Divinities. 
 
 Besides the innumerable gods already referred to, 
 there v. -re other vai cties of deities, such as the city 
 and household gods ; and the demi-gods, or souls of 
 heroes. Of the hoileKa Oeui, or twelve principal 
 gods, Jupiter was the one who was regarded with the 
 highest degree of reverence by the Athenians. They 
 worshipped him under different forms ; attributing to 
 him various powers and influences in the conduct of 
 human affairs. He was their president of law and 
 justice ; their god of supplicants : the governor and 
 director of their councils ; the chief of their societies, 
 as well as of their friendships, and their kindred. 
 He was also their god of thunder ; the overseer of 
 their traffic ; the guardian and protector of their 
 homesteads. He presided over the laws of hospita- 
 lity, and the entertainments to strangers ; which was 
 in their belief a position of the highest and most 
 solemn importance ; for no people set a higher esti- 
 mate than they on the proper reception and enter- 
 tainment of strangers, or received them with greater 
 ceremony. An interchange of the right hand was 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 75 
 
 used as the form of introduction, and as a sign of as- 
 surance of fidelity and security ; then followed the 
 purification, or washing with salt and water Salt 
 was with them the true emblem of hospitality ; so 
 that in any case of neglect of duty in this respect, the 
 usual question was irov aXt? ; " where is the salt ? " The 
 efficacy of salt in the cementing of friendships among 
 the Greeks and Romans, is a matter with which all 
 persons versed in classical literature are acquainted. 
 Cicero says that " Men must eat many measures 
 of salt together before they can become perfect 
 friends." Demosthenes also refers to the potency of 
 salt to the same end. In their sacrifices also the 
 Athenians invoked Jupiter to be witness of their 
 fidelity to the laws of hospitality in the following 
 words: "Let the offence I commit be against Jupiter 
 Xenius " (that is, Jupiter, the patron of hospitality), 
 " if I neglect strangers." Even the posterity of those 
 who had once been received into the hospitality of 
 the Athenians had a claim upon its continuance 
 through the medium of what was called the huckle- 
 bone ; that is, whenever a stranger was departing 
 from Athens, a hip or huckle bone was divided into 
 two parts by his entertainer, one of which was given 
 him as a pledge of continued friendship ; and whenever 
 any of his posterity returned to the city, bringing this 
 half c ^ the bone with him, he was immediately re- 
 ceived into the position of hospitality which his 
 ancestor had formerly enjoyed. The same law 
 applied to the posterity of the other party under 
 similar circumstances. This was called a symbol of 
 friendship and hospitality ; and was often sent by its 
 
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 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 possessor to his acquaintances when they travelled, 
 that they might secure the advantages which it con- 
 ferred. 
 
 Next to Jupiter, Apollo was held in the highest 
 estimation among the Athenian people. He was 
 always invoked in cases of danger under the names 
 of 'ATTorpoTrato? and 'A\6|i«a/f09 ; that is, the repeller 
 of evils. He was one of the first gods whom they 
 worshipped ; whence he was styled FlaTpaJo?. The 
 name llaTptSo?, which signifies progenitor, may have 
 been adopted from the fact that the sun, which is 
 indicated by the term Apollo, is the source of all 
 animal and vegetable life. This god had altars 
 erected to him in the streets, and was even worshipped 
 as the protector of the houses of the citizens, under 
 the name of Svpalof, that is, the door or gate 
 keeper. The name, however, under which he became 
 most celebrated was that of YIoauv, which originated, 
 we are told, in the following manner. The Athenians 
 having, in the time of Theseus, applied to Apollo's 
 oracle at Delphos for assistance against the Amazons, 
 they were told by the god that they must invoke his 
 assistance with the words lo Pcean. The word lo is an 
 abbreviation, by the Greeks, of the word Jehova; and 
 Pecan is derived from the Hebrew word Penoh, which 
 signifies to look ; so that the words lo Pcsan signify 
 Lord, look (upon us). lo Pcean was a song or 
 hymn chanted by the Greeks, invoking Apollo to 
 put an end to a plague, or to turn away present or 
 approaching danger. It is a curious and remarkable 
 circumstance that there was a certain tribe or people 
 of the West Indies, called the Symerons, who, accord- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 71 
 
 was 
 
 ing to the account of Sir Francis Drake, used, when 
 fighting, to dance, leap, and sing Yo Peho. 
 
 Mercury was another favourite god among the 
 Greeks. He presided over trade and commerce ; 
 and is represented as artful, and cunning of speech. 
 His statue was erected in the market-place, and 
 called 'E/3/u% ^krfopalo^. The protection of houses 
 against the assaults of thieves was also confided to 
 him ; and his statue was placed behind the entrance 
 doors, in order to repel the first attempt of evil in- 
 truders. Saturn and V'ulcan were also held in no 
 small favour by the Athenians, as divinities to whose 
 assistance they had frequent recourse. The former 
 had feasts established in his honour called the Kpovia, 
 and also a temple dedicated to his worship. The 
 latter had likewise a temple, in which was one of 
 the Athenian prisons, and where some controversies 
 in law were wont to be decided. The god Neptune 
 was an old patron of the city, and contested the palm 
 of presidency with Minerva ; by whom, however, he 
 was defeated. Mars, Hercules, Castor and Pollux, 
 Harmodius and Aristogiton, and innumerable other 
 gods and demi-gods, had their temples, rites, and 
 offerings in this celebrated Queen of Cities. Minerva, 
 however, was the especial divinity of the Athenians. 
 The celebrated festivals of the Panathencsa were 
 established in her honour ; and the empire of wisdom 
 and learning, of science and of art, became consoli- 
 dated in the hands of her favourite and chosen 
 people. Ceres and Proserpina came next in order of 
 the female deities ; whose rites were entitled the 
 ICleusinian mysteries. These were of two sorts, the 
 
 '';*. 
 
78 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 greater and the lesser ; the former in honour of 
 Ceres, and the latter of Proserpina. Whosoever re- 
 vealed these mysterious rites were punishable by death; 
 and none save the initiated were admitted to a par- 
 ticipation in them. Bacchus, the son of Ceres, and 
 the presiding divinity of the wine cup, ha:d also a 
 temple dedicated to his worship in Athens ; as had 
 Venus, the goddess of love, on whose altar offerings 
 and sacrifices were constantly made. The Eumenides, 
 or Furies, called the venerable goddesses, were first 
 adored by Orestes after he had escaped judgment in 
 the Court of the Areopagus, where he was tried for the 
 murder of his mother, Clytemnestra. These divini- 
 ties were propitiated by drink-offerings, without wine, 
 which were made at midnight. They were the only 
 divinities, with the exception of Bacchus, whose rites 
 were performed in the night-time. The manner of 
 offering was as follows : — The worshipper, having first 
 purified his hands by washing, drew water from a 
 running fountain ; and filling three cups with water 
 and honey, and covering their mouths with the wool 
 of a young sheep, h«- turned himself towards the 
 east, and poured out a portion of the contents of two 
 and the whole of the third cup ; then planting three 
 times nine branches of olive with both his hands on 
 the place where he poured out his libations, he pro- 
 nounced his intended supplications. 
 
 HecEre, who was a sort of threefold goddess, ruling 
 in heaven under the semblance of the moon, on earth 
 as Diana, and in the lower regions under the name 
 of Hecate, had sacrifices offered to her in triviis, 
 or at the meeting of three roads. At every new 
 
 mtm 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 79 
 
 moon the wealthier classes of the people made offer- 
 ings to her at cross-roads, placing bread and other 
 food there for the use of the poor. 
 
 The rites performed in honour of the goddess Juno 
 partook of a pompous and imposing character ; the 
 celebrants appearing in long flowing garments, with 
 their hair sweeping in loose masses down the neck 
 and shoulders, and their movements slow, solemn and 
 erect. Hence the Roman expres.sion Jtinonem inccdere, 
 to walk like Juno, implies a majestic and dignified 
 bearing. 
 
 The ceremony of worship in honour of Prometheus, 
 whom they esteemed as the person who stole the vital 
 spark from heaven for the creation of the first man, 
 was performed by a torch-dance, in which the persons 
 engaged ran up and down with lighted torches, or 
 burning lamps. 
 
 The number of statues erected to commemorate 
 their gods was immense. They had some before 
 their doors which they called 0fol avOrjXioi, that 
 is, gods exposed to the sun. There were others 
 called Hermcz MercuriaUs, which were sacred to the 
 god Mercury. The form and construction of these 
 were different at different times ; but the usual form 
 was that of a head and neck placed on the top of a 
 square pillar, called Truncus Hermes. They were 
 also called dyvtai, or limbless. The lower parts were 
 inscribed with verses commemorative of the virtuous 
 deeds of distinguished men. There was a public gal- 
 lery in Athens containing a great number of these 
 Mercurial statues, which, from that circumstance, was 
 called 'Epfx6)v aTod, the gallery of the statues of 
 
8o 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Mercury. These were covered with inscriptions ex- 
 pressive of the exploits and glorious deeds of men of 
 renown. Besides those statues they had their full- 
 sized and perfectly formed gods. They stood erect, 
 with their hands lifted upwards, to indicate that they 
 were more disposed to receive than to grant favours. 
 It is to this supposed disposition on their part that 
 Aristophanes alludes where he says, " Even the 
 gods you shall know by their hands and statues. 
 P'or when we pray them to give us some good thing, 
 they stand with their hands upward, as if they would 
 not give any thing, but rather iakc something." 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 8i 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Superstition of the Ancients— Comparison of ancient and modern 
 practices of superstition — The Irish and English peasantry 
 remarkable for their superstitious observances. 
 
 Having said thus much about the gods, and the re- 
 ligious ceremonies of the Athenians, we now come to 
 theirsuperstitionsproperlyso called, and their doctrines 
 and practices of vaticination, or prophecy. Supersti- 
 tion, which may not inaccurately be defined an excess 
 of religious feeling and belief, has prevailed more or 
 less in all countries and ages of the world ; every 
 nation having its own distinctive peculiarities in 
 this respect ; while all seem to possess some funda- 
 mental points in common, though varied in some 
 immaterial circumstances. The Athenians were 
 excessively addicted to this sort of belief, and guided 
 by its influence in all the relations of life. It is 
 curious to trace some of their practices in this respect, 
 and to compare them with those which in modern 
 times have prevailed in the different countries of 
 Europe ; and which even in the present day are pre- 
 valent amongst the ignorant and uneducated of our own 
 Saxon and Celtic people. Purification after fright- 
 ful dreams was a prevailing practice in Athens ; and 
 something similar to this may be found among na- 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 tions at the present time. I know that it is a very 
 common belief with certain classes in Irelanvd, and 
 with their descendants in America, that dreams are 
 prophetic of events either happening at the moment 
 of the nightly vision, or about to happen soon after- 
 wards. Hence, after awaking from a dream portend- 
 ing anything fearful or horrible, they cross them- 
 selves with the right hand, sprinkling themselves at 
 the same time with holy water, and praying that they 
 might be protected against all evils. The wearing of 
 rings as a protection or charm against witchcraft was 
 also a general practice among the Athenians. This, 
 too, is a custom of the present time, but under 
 various modifications. Another curious custom 
 amongst them was spitting into their bosom three 
 times whenever they saw a madman, or a person 
 affected with epilepsy. In Ireland, among the unedu- 
 cated country people, the fasting spittle, as it is called, 
 that is the saliva formed before food has been taken 
 in the morning, is considered a cure in some parti- 
 cular diseases ; and in England spitting out at the 
 mention of the name of the devil is a common prac- 
 tice among the ignorant classes. I have myself seen 
 in parts of Ireland old women coming to the bedside 
 of sick persons, and spittting three times into their 
 faces, saying at the same time, in the Irish language, 
 " a blessed drop en you in the name of the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost." I am not quite sure whether 
 this was done without reference to the disease under 
 which the patient laboured, or whether it was confined 
 to some particular ailment ; but I am inclined to the 
 former view : for this ceremony is not confined to 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 83 
 
 3een 
 
 sick people ; it is sometimes extended to those in 
 health. I remember well, when a boy, that I was 
 often saluted in this way by old nurses and cronies of 
 the family when meeting me on the road-side. They 
 would walk over to me ; fold me in their arms ; im- 
 press a kiss upon my cheek ; a" d then spitting, or 
 rather pretending to spit (for there was no saliva), 
 into my face, would pronounce the words of benedic- 
 tion I have mentioned. We have reason to believe, 
 from the observations of some of the Greek writers, 
 that this superstitious custom among the people of 
 Athens was meant to indicate a defiance of evil 
 spirits, and such would appear to be its import 
 among the peasantry of England and Ireland in the 
 modifications of the practice to which I have alluded. 
 Washing the head with water as often as a person 
 went into the streets was another of the Athenian 
 superstitions ; and anointing or pouring oil over 
 stones was another. We find in the Book of 
 Genesis that Jacob, when journeying to Padan Aram, 
 took the stone in Bethel, which he had used as his 
 pillow, and, setting it up, poured oil on the top of it. 
 Our ceremonials of dedication are somewhat analo- 
 gous to the anointing of stones among the Greeks. 
 The crowing of hens ; the entrance of a black dog 
 into a house ; the appearance of a serpent ; a cat or 
 weasel crossing one's path ; a mouse eating into one's 
 salt-bag ; — all these were subjects of superstitious 
 import among the people of Athens. To-day, if an 
 Irish peasant were setting out on a journey, and 
 a weasel or black cat crossed his path, or -a magpie 
 met him on the wayside, he would immediately mark 
 
 G« 
 
84 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 himself with the sign of the cross, and retrace his 
 steps. The crowing of a hen, too, and the entrance of 
 a black dog, have their due weight in his superstitious 
 imaginings ; and as for rats and mice eating into 
 the salt-bag, or otherwise making unusual inroads on 
 his eatables or wearables, but particularly the latter, 
 there could be no doubt in his mind of the approaching 
 calamity which such a state of things prognosticated : 
 and in this respect honest John Bull is equally de- 
 cided in his belief. It was an opinion entertained 
 by the ancients that sacred persons were defiled by 
 the sight of the dead ; and hence such persons always 
 avoided funeral rites, for fear of pollution. Diana is 
 represented by Euripides as saying that it was not 
 lawful for her to behold Hippolitus as he was dying. 
 The observance of lucky and unlucky days was a 
 prevalent superstition among the ancient Greeks, as 
 it is among some jeople in our own day. Friday is 
 • with us an unlucky day, among the days of the week; 
 as are also some other days in the year in reference 
 to particular undertakings and employments. 
 
 Eclipses of the sun and moon were subjects o.^ 
 wonder among the ancients, they not being able to 
 account for the causes of those phenomena. For 
 facilitating delivery in child-birth the Greeks were 
 accustomed to employ certain medicines, and also 
 enchanted stones ; and we learn that at Darieh, in 
 America, the women used a certain herb for the same 
 purpose. In the matter of sneezing, it was regarded 
 as of much consequence by the people of Athens that 
 it should be done over the right shoulder and the 
 tight side. I do not know that in our day people 
 pay much attention to this point ; but it is certain 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 85 
 
 that a sturdy Hibernian would deetn it any thing but 
 K'cky if he did not accompany his sternutation with 
 a ' God bless us." Sudden storms of snow or hail 
 wee objects of superstitious observation to the 
 ancients. It was also one of their customs to cut off 
 their hair, and sacrifice it to rivers. In Ireland it is a 
 custom among the peasantry, whenever they cut off 
 their hair, to gather it up in a ball, and stick it into a 
 hole in a wall, or under the thatch of the cabin ; for 
 they believe that on the day of judgment they will 
 have to collect together ;i'^ the hair they had ever lost, 
 and have it with them n the next world. They 
 would no more burn it t1 chey would thrust their 
 heads into the fire. 
 
 With the Athenians the night of the owl was an 
 object of very serious attention : yXav^ cTrraTat, the owl 
 hath fled, was an announcement of good luck. At 
 the battle of Salamis they renewed their flagging 
 courage upon seeing an owl ; and then charged home 
 upon the barbarian foe, and put him to flight. Ever 
 afterwards they held the owl in special veneration, as 
 a symbol of victory ; and drew omens from its 
 flight. 
 
 -^sculapius was worshipped by them as the god of 
 medicine ; and it was a common practice with those 
 who laboured under any bodily or mental infirmity 
 to sleep in the temple of this god, in the hope that 
 he would inform them' of some remedy : in requital 
 of which they were accustomed to offer him a cock 
 in sacrifice. So great was their veneration for ^scu- 
 lapius that they, as we are informed, inflicted capital 
 punishment upon one Atarbes who, in a fit of delirium, 
 had killed a sparrow consecrated to this deity. 
 
86 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CKAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Vaticination, or prophesy among the Greeks — Necromancy, or 
 the Niagic Art — Philtra, or love medicines— The pro- 
 phetic circle ; casting of dice ; and other modes of ascer- 
 taining future events. 
 
 There were several forms of vaticination, or prophecy, 
 among the ancients. The interpretation of dreams 
 was one of these, .^schylus represents Prometheus 
 as claiming the honour of being the first who intro- 
 duced this art among men. Hecuba, the mother of 
 Paris, who was the cause of the destruction of the 
 renowned city of Troy, had dreamt, when pregnant of 
 him, that she should bring forth a firebrand. And 
 Atossa, the mother of Xerxes, the Persian king 
 who was overthrown by the Greeks, dreamt, some 
 time before the fall of her son, that she saw him 
 striving to yoke a barbarian and a Greek woman ; 
 one of whom slew him. The Greeks believed that 
 dreams were sent by some deity to acquaint men 
 with coming events. There was another form of 
 vaticination called UlcoviarLKov, or prophesying by 
 birds, which was performed by observing the relative 
 position of birds in their flight with respect to the 
 observer ; whether it was before or behind him ; to 
 his right or to his left side. , 
 
GreI'XE and TiiK Greeks. 
 
 87 
 
 The foretelling of events by the colour and condition 
 of the liver or entrails of animals was another form of 
 divination amopg the ancients. This was called 
 I'lTraTiKuv by the Greeks, and Hxtispicium by the 
 Latins or Romans. The Greeks also drew prog- 
 nostics from various accidental circumstances ; as 
 when meeting persons on the road, they drew omens 
 from the peculiar nature of the burden which they 
 carried, or the things which they had about them. 
 They also predicted some event from seeing a mouse, 
 cat, or serpent in the house; also from the act of 
 sneezing, as I have already observed. Vv^hen the 
 oil-cruse ran dry, they peered into futurity »by means 
 of honey, wine, and water. All these things we gather 
 from the allusions in the works of their historians and 
 dramatic writers. 
 
 Palmistry was another mode of divination practised 
 amongst them. This they called Cheiroskopoutikon. 
 By the length of the hand, and the lines on the palm, 
 they judged of events connected with house-keeping, 
 marriage, and offspring. A further species of divina- 
 tion was effected by the shaking of certain parts of 
 the body ; as of the shoulder, the upper part of the 
 leg, and of the right eye. This was called Palmistikon. 
 
 Another form was that called Engastrinmthia ; 
 according to which the prophetic announcement was 
 made from the regions of the bowels. This is sup- 
 posed to have been the mode whereby the Witch of 
 Endor performed her incantations. Eurycles is 
 thought to have been the first who practised it 
 amongst the Athenians ; hence the name of Eury- 
 clitae was given to those who were skilled in this 
 
88 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 -node of prophecy. They also practised the mode of 
 ». -uiring knowledge of future events through the 
 me iium of the dead. This was called Nekiwmanteia ; 
 1 Mm which our word " necromancy " is derived. Ac- 
 cording to this mode they were accustomed, after 
 solemn sacrifices, to call up the souls of deceased 
 persons, and obtain from them such information as 
 they desired with respect to the future. This was 
 called Mageia, or the magic . ' ; and was divided 
 into the black and white, according to the character of 
 the spirits invoked — whether they were the souls of 
 good or wicked persons. 
 
 The Medes and Persians were acquainted with the 
 meaning of the word mageia^ for they called their 
 philosophers magi; but we cannot say that they 
 invested the word with the same meaning as the 
 Greeks. The Athenians also dealt in philtra, or love 
 medicine. This was done by bewitching, or pro- 
 ducing a spell over something, and then giving it to 
 be eaten by the person who was to be moved to love. 
 It is said that this medicament had power over 
 swine. They had various other tricks of super- 
 stition ; one of which was performed with a pair of 
 shears and a sieve, and another with a hatchet and a 
 piece of wood. In the latter case the hatchet was 
 laid flat on the wood, and then, after the necessary 
 process of incantation had been proceeded with, the 
 hatchet turned round of its own free agency. This 
 bears a resemblance to the trick of the key and 
 Bible in our own day. The casting of dice, for the 
 purpose of ascertaining the number of wives, children, 
 and other benefits which they were to have, was also 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 89 
 
 a favourite practice with them : this was called 
 Astragallomaiiteia. They had another trick called 
 Ornithomanteia, according to which they formed a 
 circle, and dividing it into twenty-four parts, made a 
 letter on each part, on which they placed a grain of 
 corn ; then bringing in a cock, they observed the 
 letters from which he picked up the grains in succes- 
 sion ; and from this they discovered the names of their 
 successors, or husbands, or wives, and so on. Dis- 
 covering what was to happen by opening a book of 
 Homer, and selecting a verse from the right or left 
 page, was another mode of prophecy in much vogue 
 amongst them : this they called StoicJiiomanteia. 
 The death of Socrates was divined in this way, by the 
 occurrence of that verse of Homer which refers to the 
 arrival of Achilles within three days at Thessaly. 
 They regarded poems as prophecies, and poets as 
 prophets. The Romans, too, had a custom some- 
 what similar to this, for in the same manner as the 
 Greeks consulted the verses of Homer in private 
 affairs, the Romans had recourse to those of the 
 SiL/'!ine Oracles in public matters. They had 
 various other superstitious tricks and practices, which 
 it would be tedious and unprofitable to enumerate. 
 
90 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Greek Churches — Their origin and nature — the several classes 
 of persons set apart for the purposes of public worship — • 
 The Priests. 
 
 The churches of the ancient Greeks were of two 
 classes : the one class were dedicated to the gods, 
 especially so called ; the other to the demi-gods, or 
 inferior set of divinities. It is said that the origin of 
 churches or temples among them is to be ascribed to 
 their veneration for the dead, over whom, and in 
 whose honour, they erected those edifices ; which 
 were afterwards devoted to the purposes of propitia- 
 tory sacrifices and religious ceremonies. Cecrops, 
 one of the first kings of Athens, was buried in the 
 Acropolis ; and Erecthonius, another of their kings, 
 in the temple of Minerva. The church was divided 
 into two parts, the sacred and the profane ; the 
 former for the accommodation of the priests, and the 
 latter for that of the laity. Casaubon says that a 
 font of holy water was placed at the door, and that 
 the people sprinkled themselves with it as they 
 entered the church ; but other authorities say that 
 this font was kept at the entrance of the adytum, into 
 which the priests alone were permitted to go. The 
 scholiast of Sophocles, in describing the several parts 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 91 
 
 of the church, says that the altar was called /Sw/uo?, 
 and the place where it stood vao^ ; and that the 
 place where stood the idol or image of the god whom 
 they worshipped was called yifivo'i. At first this idol 
 was but a rude block ; but it was afterwards shaped 
 into the figure of a man, and called ySpera?, from its 
 resemblance to the human shape. At the setting up 
 of this idol a woman decked in a purple garment 
 brought upon her head a pot of boiled pulse, as beans, 
 peas, and so forth ; which were afterwards offered up 
 as first fruits in acknowledgment of the dependence of 
 the people on the favour of the divinity. There was 
 also a treasury attached to the temple, or rather con- 
 stituting the upper part of it, which was intended not 
 only for the preservation of the property belonging to 
 the church itself, but also for that of persons wishing to 
 transfer any portion of their wealth there for its better 
 security. Xenophon is represented as having done 
 this in the temple of Diana in Ephesus. The Greek 
 were remarkably attentive to the cleanness and 
 decency of their churches, and surrounding grounds ; 
 and punished with great severity, even in some 
 instances with death, any persons found offending in 
 this respect. They even granted privilege of sanctu- 
 ary to their churches ; so that any persons who fled to 
 them could not be arrested or taken away thence 
 without an offence against religion. The first asylum 
 of this kind among the ancients is said to have been 
 in Athens, and erected by the Heraclidae. The 
 ofiicers connected with the sacrifices of the temple 
 and the ceremonials of religion were of various kinds, 
 each having his peculiar province assigned him in 
 
92 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the general business of the public worship. One 
 class of these wer? called 7rapdcri.Toi ; a term from which 
 perhaps our word " parasite " is derived, though with a 
 far different signification. The word, as used amongst 
 us, carries with it an opprobrious meaning. Edotx 
 parasitHs are words used by Terence ; and they con- 
 vey our idea, which is that of hungry shark, or smell- 
 feast. The Greek parasites, however, were not 
 regarded in this ignominious and hateful light ; on 
 the contrary, they were held in great esteem. Their 
 duty was to collect the revenues of the Church from 
 such lands as were set apart for its support. And in 
 this respect the Greeks made most ample provision 
 for the maintenance of their Church establishment. 
 The persons who were set apart for the purpose of 
 slaying and offering up the victim in sacrifice were 
 called KTjpvKefi, To these great honour was wont to 
 be paid, as they were looked upon as the persons who 
 first taught men to boil their food, such as the flesh of 
 sheep and oxen, which before had been used in a raw 
 state. It is said that they derived their name from 
 /epeiTToi-ov, which signifies better, because they selected 
 the better or more tender part of the victim for their 
 own use. During the performance of the divine rites 
 they craved the silence of the people with the words 
 \aSiv a(j)€aL^, " let the people retire." There was an- 
 other order of sacred officers called MvaraycoyoL, or 
 'lepocfxivrai, whose province it was to initiate into the 
 society of the zealous such as had a desire to enter 
 into it. Those who became members of this society 
 were not permitted to see their Bible for twelve months 
 after their initiation. Moses has been represented as 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 93 
 
 an Hierophantes among the Israelites ; for it was his 
 business to initiate and instruct them in their sacred 
 duties. The order of Ilvp<p6pot were those whose 
 business it was to light the fire upon the altars. 
 Their persons were held sacred on all occasions of 
 danger and war. The expression, ovSe 'nvp^6po<;, " not 
 even the lighters of the altar-fires," on occasions of 
 great and indiscriminate calamity, expressed the 
 sacredness with which the character of those who 
 lighted the fires upon the altar was regarded by the 
 ancients. There was another order called the 'lepoTrotoi, 
 or Priests of the great Mysteries, who were ten in 
 number. And another called the NecD/copot, whose duty 
 it was to keep the place of worship clean, and in decent 
 and good condition. But the order of 'lepet? was 
 the highest and most important of all. They were 
 the priests who continually waited on the gods, and 
 who offered prayers at the sacrifices. Their fees of 
 ofiice were of a rather curious kind ; for Aristophanes 
 informs us that they consisted of the trotters and 
 skins of the animals slain for the sacrifice ; while the 
 tongues fell to the lot of t|ie KijpvKCfi, or Cryers. 
 ' Besides these, however, they had the oblations which 
 the worshippers laid upon the table of the temple. 
 . It was an indispensable condition that those who 
 offered themselves for this office of priesthood should 
 be of sound body and constitution ; so that upon 
 presenting themselves they were asked whether they 
 were whole in every member. There was likewise an 
 order of female priests among the ancient Greeks ; 
 similar, it has been supposed, to that of the vestal 
 nuns among the old Romans. 
 
94 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Public Sacrifices — First fruits, and burnt offerings — Mode and 
 manner of offering Sacrifices — Homer's description of a 
 sacrifice in honoui of ^ .polio. 
 
 The sacrifices of the ancients are represented as 
 taking place at the end of the harvest in each year ; 
 this being the i>eason when people were disengaged 
 from their more pressing labours, and at liberty to 
 indulge in mirth and jollification. They then offered 
 their first fruits to the gods in acknowledgment of 
 the blessings they had received through their divine 
 beneficence. In the early periods of Grecian history, 
 and up to the time of Draco, the offerings to the gods 
 consisted of the fruits of the earth ; but in Solon's 
 time, and before it, burnt offerings came into practice. 
 Those who took part in the sacrifices were obliged to 
 go through a process of purification some days pre- 
 vious to the solemnization of them. Tibullus says, 
 " Discedite ab aris quos tulit hesterna gaudia nocte 
 Venus : " whence it may be inferred that all sexual 
 intercourse was forbidden for some time before the 
 commencement of the sacrifices, as an indispensable 
 condition to a participation in them. Being thus 
 prepared, they assembled around the altar, having with 
 them a basket in which was deposited a knife (covered 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 95 
 
 with flour and salt) with which they slew the victim. 
 They then performed the ceremony of purifying the 
 altar ; moving around it, with the right hand towards 
 it. This lustration consisted of meal sprinkled with 
 holy water. This water was called Xep^t^/r; in 
 which they quenched a brand taken from the fire. 
 They besprinkled those who were present with it, for 
 the purpose of cleansing or purifying them, and 
 thereby rendering them worthy of a participation, by 
 their presence, in the august ceremony about to be 
 celebrated. They next cast some of the flour upon 
 them ; and then proceeded by crying aloud, ti? rjjSe ; 
 " who is here .-* " to which they answered, ttoWoI 
 KayaOol, " many and good." They then prayed. The 
 sacrifice prepared by the Greeks upon the restoration 
 of the daughter of Chryses, as related by Homer, 
 affords a .specimen of the mode and manner of pro- 
 ceeding on such occasions : — 
 
 Then near the altar of the darting king 
 Disposed in rank their hecatomb they bring ; 
 With water purify their hands, and take 
 The sacred offering of the salted cake. 
 While thus with arms devoutly raised in air 
 And solemn voice the priest directs his prayer, 
 God of the silver bow, thy ear incline, 
 . Whose power encircles ClUa the divine ; 
 Whose sacred eye thy Tenedos surveys, 
 And gilds fair Chrysa with distinguish'd rays ! 
 If, fired to vengeance at thy priest's request, 
 * Thy diretul darts inflict the raging pest. 
 Once more attend, avert the wasteful woe. 
 And smile propitious, and unbend thy bow. 
 
 The description of the sacrifice is given so fully an 
 
96 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 minutely by the great father of poetry, that I cannot 
 resist the temptation of quoting it at length. I give 
 it in the words of Pope's translation : — 
 
 So Chryses prayed ; Apollo heard his prayer : 
 And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare ; 
 Between their horns the salted barley threw, 
 And with their heads to heaven the victims slew. 
 The limbs they sever from th' enclosing hide ; 
 The thighs, selected to the gods, divide ; 
 On these in double cauls involved with art 
 The choicest morsels lay from every part. 
 The priest himself before his altar stands, 
 And burns the offering with his holy hands, 
 Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire ; 
 The youth with instruments surround the fire ; 
 The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails drest, 
 Th' assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest : 
 Then spread the tables, the repast prepare ; 
 Each takes his seat, and each receives his share. 
 When now the rage of hunger was reprcst. 
 With pure libations they C0i!clude the feast : 
 The youths with wine the copious goblets crown'd, 
 And pleased dispensed the flowing bowls around. 
 With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends, 
 The paeans lengthen'd till the sun descends ; 
 The Greeks, restored, the grateful notes prolong ; 
 Apollo listens, and approves the song. 
 
 The sacrificing priests were accustomed to cry 
 aloud at the commencement of the sacrifice, eu;(;w/te^a, 
 " let us pray." At the conclusion of the prayer 
 the victim was slain, with the " head to heaven," as 
 the poet expresses it. But this position of the head 
 occurred only when the sacrifice was made to the 
 superior gods. When made to the heroes, or demi- 
 gods, the necK was bent downwards. After this the 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 97 
 
 whole proceeding, as recorded by Homer, was gone 
 through, and the sacrifice thus consummated. The 
 conclusion of the sacrifice was usually marked by 
 shameful excesses. Gluttony, drunkenness, and vo- 
 luptuous indulgences of every kind were practised ; 
 and thus the awful celebration of public worship 
 became the occasion and the spur to the grossest 
 indecency and profligacy of conduct. 
 
 « 
 
98 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Tragedy and Comedy—Their origin and derivations— Homer's 
 poems— The Festival of Bacchus— Virgil's description of 
 this festival. 
 
 The origin of tragedy and comedy, as to the mode 
 and manner of representing by composition the 
 habits and manners of men, is by the common consent 
 of ancient writers atributed to Homer, the immortal 
 author of the Hiad and the Odyssey. The peculiar 
 characteristics of the various scenes in each of these 
 wonderful compositions most fitly represent the 
 nature and qualities of the tragic and the comic Muse. 
 The conciseness and striking effect with which the 
 grave and awful events of the Iliad are set forth, may 
 be said to constitute the very essence of tragedy ; 
 while the lighter, freer, and less condensed treatment 
 of the varying and diversified scenes of the Odyssey 
 forms an apt illustration of the spirit and genius of 
 comic representation. That Homer's treatment of 
 his subjects in both his great works suggested to later 
 writers the manner in which the graver and lighter 
 scenes of life should be embodied forth in words, 
 should not admit of a doubt. In fact, the Iliad is 
 nothing more or less than a continued series of 
 tragedies written in the closest, most concise, and 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 99 
 
 most impressive manner. The language, the senti- 
 ments, and the positions of the actors in the various 
 scenes are all perfect. Life in its most striking and 
 forcible combinations ; in the energy and vehemence 
 of its passions ; and in the variety of its most affecting 
 and attractive positions, is reflected with a precision 
 and an adherence to truth and nature unsurpassed, if 
 not unequalled, in any productions with which genius 
 has since delighted and enlightened the world. It is 
 the general belief that these great works of the father 
 of poetry were originally separate and distinct 
 tragedies and comedies ; and that it was only in after 
 ages they were collected and arranged in the order 
 and connexion in which we now possess . them. 
 Whether they were ever acted on anything like a 
 stage in the time of Homer, or at any time afterv/ards, 
 we have no means of ascertaining ; but there is reason 
 to believe that they were recited or sung before public 
 audiences. In the age of Homer, and for centuries 
 afterwards, there was nothing at all resembling the 
 stage of the present day ; but yet there were public 
 recitations of poems, and a sort of rude, unpolished, 
 and grotesque acting on occasions of public festivities, 
 and of periodical meetings for purposes of mirth and 
 jollity. On such occasions it may be presumed that 
 Homer, and after him, those who had committed his 
 strains to memory, or who imitated them by rude 
 efforts of their own, entertained the people by poetic 
 recitations. We are told that the word " comedy " is 
 derived from kco/xo^, a revel or merry-making, because 
 this kind of strain was recited or sung at the festival 
 of Bacchus, the god of the wine cup. Others, again, 
 
 H 2 
 
 - \ 
 
 K- 
 
100 
 
 Greicce and the Greeks. 
 
 think that it is derived from the word Kw^a, which 
 signifies sleep ; and that it arose from the custom of 
 the husbandmen of the Attic nation running at night 
 into the streets whenever they suffered injury from 
 marauders, and crying out aloud that despite of gods 
 and laws such and such persons committed outrages. 
 By this mode of procedure the offenders were brought 
 to justice, and the injured parties redressed. Again, 
 it is supposed to derive its origin from the word Ktlano, 
 a street, because whenever the Athenians wished to 
 expose the evil practices and dishonest life of any 
 citizen, they went into the streets and public highways, 
 and proclaimed his vices, and laid bare h»s whole life. 
 This derivation is the most probable ; but even the 
 other conjectures tend to show the nature and stylo 
 of comic composition at this early stage of the dra- 
 matic art. Donatus, in his Treatise on Tragedy and 
 Comedy, says, in reference to this last-named custom, 
 " Gay and merry they came from all quarters into the 
 streets and cross-ways, and there published the life 
 of each person, giving at the same time his name." 
 
 The festival of Bacchus was kept in the spring 
 of the year by the husbandmen, and then it was that 
 those satiric and comic strains first beaan to be sun^r 
 in the fields. At this festival, we are told, it was 
 an established custom with them to fill a goat's skin 
 with wine, and pour oil on the outside of it, and then 
 to hop with one leg upon it ; which, from the frequent 
 falls they received, was a subject of great merriment 
 to them. The goat was the usual victim in the 
 sacrifices to Bacchus, that animal being an especial 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 iji 
 
 enemy to the vine. The Roman poet, Virgil, in his 
 second Georgia, thus alludes to this custom : — 
 
 For this the malefactor goat was laid 
 
 On Bacchus' altar, and his forfeit paid. 
 
 At Athens thus old Comedy began, 
 
 When roimd the streets the reeling actors ran, 
 
 In country villages and crossing ways, 
 
 Contending for the prizes of their plays ; 
 
 And glad with Bacchus, on the grassy soil 
 
 Leap'd o'er the skins of goats besmear'd with oil. 
 
 Thus Roman youth, derived from ruin'd Troy, 
 
 In rude Saturnian rhymes express their joy ; 
 
 With taunts and laughter loud their audience please, 
 
 Deform'd with vizards cut from barks of trees : 
 
 In jolly hymns they praise the god of wine, 
 
 Whose earthen images adorn the pine. 
 
 And there are hung on high in honour of the vine : 
 
 \ madness so devout the vineyard fills : 
 
 in hollow valleys, and on rising hills, 
 
 On whate'er side he turns his honest face. 
 
 And dances in the wind, tT\ose fields are in his grace. 
 
 To Bacchus therefore let us turn our lays, 
 
 And in our mother tongue resound his praise. 
 
 Thin cakes in chargers, and a guilty goat, 
 
 Dragg'd by the horns be to his altars brought ; 
 
 Whose offer'd entrails shall his crime reproach, 
 
 And drip their fatness from the hazel broach. 
 
102 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The earliest writers of comedy and tragedy — Crude state of the 
 drama on its first appearance in Athens— The three great 
 dramatic writers of Athens, iE^chylus, Sor^ljocles, and 
 Eurjpides. 
 
 The first writer of comedies of whom any account 
 has reached us was Susarion, and of his works, what- 
 ever they might have been, only a few scattered 
 verses, of little or no merit, have come down to us. 
 The poetic art must have been in a very rude and im- 
 perfect state in his time, and the representation of 
 plays must have been of the simplest and most 
 inartificial character. After him appeared Thespis, 
 who was the first composer of tragedies. The subject 
 of hi.s earliest essay was the conduct of Alcestis 
 saving her husband from death by substituting her 
 own life for his. The high and valorous achieve- 
 ments of kings and warriors and great men ; their 
 toils, sufferings, and reverses, constituted the staple 
 subjects of the tragic Muse. No poor or common 
 person was ever introduced into the domain of tragedy. 
 Hence Socrates is represented to have observed to 
 Antistines, whsn he saw the great and powerful put 
 to death under the reign of the Thirty Tyrants, " Do 
 you not regret that we have performed no great 
 exploit in our lives } " Horace calls tragedies lachry- 
 
Greeck and the Greeks. 
 
 103 
 
 mosa poemata, mournful poems, in allusion to the mis- 
 fortunes, sorrows, and death which constitute their 
 subject-matter. Solon, the Athenian legislator, for- 
 bade Thespis to act his tragedies, because they were 
 only fruitless lying. And Horace, alluding to the 
 origin and mode of exhibiting tragedies, says, " Thespis 
 is said to have invented that species of the poetic art 
 called tragedy, which had been unknown before his 
 time, and to have carried his poems about in waggons, 
 which were sung and acted by persons whose faces 
 were anointed with the lees of wine.'' That the 
 earliest poets sung and acted their own productions 
 there cannot be the least doubt. The term viroKpvrri'i 
 is used indiscriminately by the Greek writers to 
 signify either a poet or an actor. The scene of those 
 ancient representations, as alluded to by Horace, was 
 a waggon, which was drawn in the procession of the 
 festival of Bacchus. In the front of the procession 
 on those occasions there was carried a pot or vessel 
 filled with wine, and a vine twig ; this was followed 
 by a person leading a goat ; then came another carry- 
 ing a basket of figs, and last of all the Phallus. At 
 the extremity of the procession came the waggon, with 
 the poets, who dealt their satires around upon the 
 crowd, as well as upon each other. From this practice 
 of the poets came the Greek proverbs, " to speak 
 as if from the waggon,'^ " to abuse as if from the 
 waggon." Their faces on those occasions were smeared 
 with oil, or with the lees of wine, and sometimes con- 
 cealed with a mask or vizard worn over a woollen cap. 
 The term " tragedy " is derived from Tpd^o<i, a goat, 
 and a)8rj, a song, the reward of the poet and singer 
 
104 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 being a goat, which we must presume to have been 
 of considerable value in those early times ; at least of 
 much greater value than in our day ; for such a re- 
 ward at the present time would be but little calculated 
 to rouse the faculties of our poets, or to call forth 
 the musical talents of our singers. Horace, in allusion 
 to this custom, says, " Carmine qui tragico vilem certa- 
 vit ob hircum," he who contested in tragic song for the 
 reward of a despicable goat. In their festivals in honour 
 of the gods, therefore, and especially of the god Bacchus, 
 the ancient Greeks exhibited the earliest specimens 
 of what they called satire and comedy ; little indeed 
 resembling the same species of composition which 
 prevailed among them in later days, or that which 
 has been produced in modern times. Their composi- 
 tions of this kind were in fact but a string of rude, 
 canting jests ; and their acting but uncouth and fan- 
 tastic evolutions, low grimace, mimic tricks, and vile 
 jugglery. In these absurd exhibitions, too, they were 
 animated by a sort of rude music, to which they beat 
 time ; and this was the origin of what was afterwards 
 known as the chorus in their more regular plays. In 
 this first stage of their dramatic performances the 
 distinction between tragedy and comedy appears to 
 have been unknown to them, for their most serious 
 representations were mixed up with rude mockery 
 and licentious petulance. Upon the introduction of 
 the pure tragedy, however, they excluded from their 
 performances the rude buffoonery of the Satyrs. But 
 the audience being rather oppressed than amused by 
 the solemn and awful gravity of the unrelieved tragic 
 scenes, the introduction of something amusing was, 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 105 
 
 after a time, deemed necessary ; and accordingly the 
 chorus of Satyrs was again brought in by Thespis. 
 Horace refers to this circumstance in the following 
 words : " The poet who first contended in tragic verse 
 for the paltry prize of a goat, also soon after exposed 
 to view wild Satyrs naked, and attempted to mix up 
 jocularity with tragic gravity, because the spectator, 
 enjoying the festive occasion, and excited with wine 
 and licentious freedom, was to be amused with attrac- 
 tive shows and agreeable novelty." Thespis introduced 
 but one actor on the stage, who relieved the chorus ; 
 but iEschylus added another, and Sophocles a third. 
 The tragedies of these two celebrated writers, as well 
 as those of Euripides, were the crowning achievements 
 of the Greek stage. These three poets may be re- 
 garded as the princes of tragic poetry, ^schylus 
 invested the stage with elegance and grace, and in- 
 troduced a decorous regularity and scenic propriety 
 where disorder and confusion had reigned before. 
 He is said to be the first who taught the painting of 
 the scenes, v.-hich was afterwards brought to perfec- 
 tion by Sophocles. Before the time of Sophocles, the 
 poet was the actor ; but he changed this custom in 
 consequence of the badness of his voice, which pre- 
 vented him from giving due effect to his own produc- 
 tions. He also introduced the custom of actors and 
 dancers wearing white shoes, increased the number 
 of the dancers from twelve to fifteen, and adapted his 
 tragedies to the capacities of the actors. Euripides 
 added still further improvements to the ancient 
 drama. It was he who first set forth the argument 
 of the fable at the commencement of the tragedy. 
 
io6 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 These were the three great tragic poets who elevated 
 the Greek drama to a position of importance unknown 
 at any previous period of history, and who made the 
 stage an institution of greater weight and influence 
 on the moral, political, and social condition of the 
 people than any other which they possessed. They 
 were, in fact, the great teachers . of the people, the 
 directors of the public morality, the promoters of 
 wisdom, the advocates of justice, the apostles of 
 liberty. And well was the spirit of their lofty mission 
 exemplified in the answer of the poet who had been 
 interrupted in the theatre, when he exclaimed," I have 
 come here to teach you, and not to be taught by \'ou." 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 107 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Public contests of the great dramatic poets for the prize of 
 superior excellence — Stage actors, and chorus. 
 
 At stated periods of the j'^ear, and at the celebration 
 of certain public festivals, these great dramatic writers 
 exhibited their poems to the people, in order to con- 
 test between them the prize of superior excellence, 
 competent judges being appointed for that purpose. 
 Plutarch gives an account of one of these contests. 
 After the people had taken their places in the theatre, 
 ten judges were chosen, consisting of Cimon, the 
 celebrated Athenian general, and nine of his captains ; 
 the Archon, or Chief Magistrate, was usually the per- 
 son who selected the judges, but on this occasion 
 Aphepsion, who was Archon, deferred the selection 
 to Cimon. The accustomed sacrifice having been 
 offered, the judges were sworn ; who proceeded to 
 declare the victory in favour of Sophocles. iEschylus 
 was so affected by his defeat on this occasion, and 
 by one who was much his junior (for Sophocles was 
 but a young man then), that he retired to Sicily, 
 where he shortly afterwards died, and was buried at 
 Gelas. From this account it would appear that the 
 judges on those occasions were ten in number ; but 
 in the contest between comedians, the number was 
 
io8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 but five. And whereas there was no interference on 
 the part of the people with the judges in the case of 
 tragedians, it was not so with respect to the writers 
 of comedy : for when that comedy of Aristophanes, 
 called the " Clouds," was undergoing the ordeal of 
 the judges, the people were so much pleased with 
 it that they forestalled the judicial decision, and, 
 applauding the poet, proclaimed him conqueror. 
 
 There were three ranks of merit assigned to the 
 competitors on these occasions — the first, the second, 
 and the third ; but in the case referred to, Aristophanes, 
 by the united voices of the people, had the first rank 
 assigned to him. But yet great danger attended this 
 poetic rencontre ; for if the recitation of a poem had 
 failed to please the people, the author was pelted 
 with stones, or hissed and hooted out of the theatre. 
 Aristophanes alludes to these casualties where he 
 says, ovK e^aXkero, he was not pelted. We some- 
 times witness demonstrations similar to these latter 
 in our modern theatres ; but they are of rare oc- 
 currence, and never attended with any danger either 
 to author or actor. The time of exhibition, as it has 
 been already observed, was during the celebration of 
 public festivals ; that is, on those days devoted to 
 the festivities in honour of Bacchus and of Minerva. 
 On these occasions the poet often presented as many 
 as four poems, the fourth being generally a satirical 
 poem. Casaubon says, " It was the custom of the 
 Greek tragic poets at Athens to present sometimes 
 one poem, and sometimes more." In the scenic re- 
 presentation of those plays the chief stress of the 
 action fell upon the chorus. These numbered twenty- 
 four in comedy, and fifty in tragedy. They were 
 
 arr£ 
 
 the 
 
 ro\^ 
 
 tra^ 
 
 of 
 
 ala 
 
 In 
 
 lav\ 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 109 
 
 arranged in rows, called in Greek, StoicJwi, four being 
 the number of rows in comedy, with six men in each 
 row. iEschylus, upon the representation of his 
 tragedy called Euntenides, increased the usual number 
 of the chorus so much that the people became 
 alarmed, and children and women actually fainted. 
 In consequence of which the number was reduced by 
 law, and limited to fifteen. They sometimes entered 
 upon the stage by files of three, which was called 
 Kara ^vya TraooSo? ; and sometimes in ranks of five, 
 which was called Kara o-Toi;;^oi;?. When one entered 
 alone, it was called KaO* eva. The interlocutors were • 
 rarely more than three, but sometimes a fourth spoke ; 
 and som.etimes the chorus supplied the place of a 
 fourth actor. Their movements on the stage v/ere 
 either strop/mi, or anti-strophai ; that is, they turned 
 from the right hand to the left, or the contrary. The 
 epode was when they stood still, which was at the end 
 of the acts. 
 
 We have already noticed the great improvements 
 which the three great tragic poets of Athens, ^schylus, 
 Sophocles, and Euripides, effected in the drama. So 
 immense indeed was the influence which their writinsfs 
 produced upon their countrymen, that in sorrow, in 
 suffering, and in exile, they afforded them their greatest 
 consolation. We are told by Plutarch that after the 
 defeat of the Athenians in Sicily, some of them used 
 to repeat verses out of the works of Euripides, and 
 feel comforted. There were statues cf brass erected 
 to them in Athens, in order that their memory might 
 be kept alive among the people, and their genius held 
 forth as a stimulus, and a guide to the Athenian 
 youth. 
 
no 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Old and New Comedy — Excessive love of the Athenians 
 for dramatic shows — Its injurious consequences to the public 
 liberty. 
 
 The enactment of comedies became very popular 
 among the Athenians after the tragic Muse had, by 
 the perfection which it achieved, created in the public 
 mind a taste and admiration for scenic displays. 
 " The old comedy," says Horace, " succeeded to these 
 (the tragedies), not without much praise." The men- 
 tion here made by the Roman poet of the old comedy 
 implies a division of this species of representation 
 into the old and the new. The first division, or the 
 old comedy, was of a very simple and unpretending 
 character in point of composition, and consisted 
 merely of a burlesque representation of manners and 
 actions. There was no acting, properly speaking ; 
 but the chorus went around the altar, dancing and 
 singing rude and unpolished verses. Susarion was 
 the inventor of this kind of exhibition ; but it was 
 improved by Cratinus, who brought npon the stage a 
 system of representation more in accordance with the 
 usages of the tragic drama, and which held forth the 
 vices and the follies of the time to the ridicule and 
 indignation of the public. Under the Democracy it 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Ill 
 
 was permitted as lawful to lash the corruptions and 
 dishonest practices of public officers, and the vicious 
 habits and dissolute lives of private citizens, through 
 the medium of the stage. The actors appeared under 
 the names and personal appearance of those whom 
 they desired to hold forth to ridicule and hatred ; 
 and thus the moral effect of this form of amusement 
 and instruction was very powerful in checking the 
 excesses of private citizens, and correcting the corrupt 
 and wicked practices of men entrusted with the ad- 
 ministration of public offices. When, however, the 
 reign of Democracy had given way to that of Oligarchy, 
 the license of the stage was immediately repressed ; 
 and we are informed that Eupolis, who wrote the 
 comedy entitled " Baptae," was cast into the sea and 
 drowned, for having thus offended against the pergonal 
 feelings and dignity of individuals. A law was even 
 passed forbidding the use of real names in the re- 
 presentations of comedy ; and thus the castigation of 
 vice, ceasing to be personal, expanded into a general 
 application. A still greater restriction of the pro- 
 vince of the satire took place when the growing 
 power of Alexander of Macedon began to impress 
 itself upon the feelings and apprehensions of the 
 Greek nations. The arguments of the plays then 
 underwent an entire alteration ; and instead oi" scenes 
 descriptive of the vices and foibles of foreign peoples, 
 and of the peculiarities and crimes of individuals in 
 power and high station, the stage presented nothing 
 but vague recitals from old poems, and pointless 
 fables selected from worthless fragments of distorted 
 history. And this it is which they designated by the 
 
112 
 
 Gkeece and the Greeks. 
 
 name of the New Comedy. To ridicule low and 
 mean persons, to indulge in jibe and banter at their 
 expense ; while every allusion to the weaknesses and 
 follies and vices of the great and the powerful was 
 carefully avoided ; this became the idle and fruitless 
 occupation of the now depressed and trembling 
 comic Muse. Between the Athenians and Romans 
 there existed a wide disparity of opinion as to the 
 propriety of appearing on the stage in the character 
 of an actor. The former regarded the profession of 
 an actor in an honourable light, while the latter 
 deemed it disgraceful. " To apnear upon the stage," 
 says ^milius Probus, " and to stand before the gaze 
 of the populace, was among them " (the Greeks) '* con- 
 sidered no disgrace ; which, however, among us " (the 
 Romans) " is esteemed unbecoming, humiliating, and 
 dishonourable." The stage was erected in the open 
 air, and constructed of wood in the form of a scaffold- 
 ing. There were no stone or brick buildings devoted 
 to the exhibition of plays among the ancients. Those 
 wooden structures were erected in the market-place, 
 and furnished with scats for the accommodation of 
 spectators. It would seem that at first the seats 
 were given gratuitously ; but for the purpose of pre- 
 venting disorder and confusion, and of establishing 
 a proper decorum among the spectators, it was 
 enacted by the Senate that the sum of two oboli 
 should be paid for each seat. The Attic obolus was 
 something more than a penny. Some writers say 
 the price was a drachma, which was about seven pence. 
 The name theatron was given to the stage from the 
 circumstance of providing seats for the use of the 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 113 
 
 spectators, dea being the Greek word for seat. In 
 consequence of this tax upon the seats of the theatre, 
 which, though it appears small to us, was nevertheless 
 of considerable amount at that time in Greece, the 
 poor were unable to participate in these dramatic 
 amusements ; whereupon Pericles, who was ambitious 
 of popularity, procured a law to be passed whereby 
 each person was to receive two oboli, the price of a 
 seat, out of the revenue of the city. So much im- 
 portance was attached to this privilege by the people, 
 that when afterwards Apollodorus attempted to 
 modify the law by providing that in cases of war and 
 public danger these sums should be converted to 
 military purposes, he was resisted ; and Eubulus, 
 another seeker of popular favour, carried a law render- 
 ing it a capital offence for any person to imitate the 
 conduct of Apollodorus by endeavouring to deprive 
 the people of this privilege. Demosthenes, we find, 
 was disposed to the views of Apollodorus ; but seeing 
 the intensity of the popular feeling on the subject, he 
 wisely desisted from pressing his views. It is said 
 that the Athenians spent as much money in theatrical 
 amusements as they did in defending and securing 
 the independence and liberty of Greece. This ex- 
 cessive love of the drama, which, when restricted 
 within moderate bounds, is one of the most exquisite 
 sources of intellectual and moral enjoyment, conduces, 
 when excessively and indiscriminately indulged, not 
 only to a lavish waste of time and means, but to an 
 obtuseness of the perceptive and moral faculties de- 
 structive alike of the highest enjoyment, and of that 
 sensitiveness to the grand and beautiful in art, the 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 promotion of which constitutes the chief value of 
 dramatic representations. As over-indulj^^ence in the 
 luxuries of the table is injurious to the health of the 
 body, and leads to debility and decay ; so the moral 
 and intellectual powers may be overstrained, weakened, 
 and impaired by unlimited or excessive indulgence 
 in the heterogeneous representations of the theatre. 
 Selection, discrimination, and moderation, are essential 
 elements in the condition necessary to (lerive essential 
 benefit and pure pleasure from the performances of 
 the stage. But this condition cannot be made avail- 
 able without a sound and liberal education, and the 
 acquisition of that taste in the higher departments 
 of the dramatic and histrionic arts which such an 
 education alone can give. This licentiousness in the 
 pursuit of the ani.^sements of the theatre indulged in 
 by the Athenians, contributed doubtless to their 
 growing incapacity in the cause of their liberties, and 
 to their final subjection to the Macedonian yoke. 
 To this as a main cause, Justin, the Roman historian, 
 attributes that catastrophe. Talking of Epaminondas, 
 he says : " After his removal from among them, whom 
 they were accustomed to emulate, falling into sloth 
 and indolence, they poured out the public revenues, 
 not as heretofore on their fleet and army, but on 
 festivities and theatrical entertainments ; and they 
 resorted to the theatres with the most distinguished 
 actors and poets, repairing more frequently to the 
 stage than to the camp, and esteeming versifiers and 
 orators more than the commanders of armies. Then 
 the public taxes wherewith soldiers and sailors were 
 wont to be supported, began to be divided with the 
 
Grekck and tiik Gkkkks. 
 
 115 
 
 city populace. Under which circumstances it came 
 to pays that, while the Greeks remained idle and in- 
 active, the Macedonian name, hitherto contemptible 
 and obscure, rose into distinction." 
 
 The stage of the ancient Greeks may properly be 
 regarded in the light of an appendage to their re- 
 ligious ceremonies ; it was in fact from the commence- 
 ment part and parcel of the religious ceremonial in 
 honour of the god Bacchus, whose altar stood on one 
 side of the stage. So that between the devotions and 
 sacrifices which they paid to their multitudinous gods, 
 and their attendance upon the representations of the 
 drama which constituted so large a portion of their 
 religious observances, the spirit and energy of the 
 Athenian people must have been greatly reduced 
 from that standard of efficiency so necessary to the 
 defence of their country and its liberties against the 
 unceasing efibrts of a powerful and ambitious foe. 
 
 I 2 
 
ii6 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Athenians under the government of laws from the earliest 
 period of their history — The various character of their 
 laws — Solon their great Lawgiver. 
 
 :■: 
 
 That the Athenians were governed by laws from the 
 earliest times, the writers of antiquity afford abun- 
 dant evidence. In the reign of Theseus laws were 
 established among them ; and Plutarch informs us 
 that when this monarch formed a confederation of the 
 Attic people, constituting them into a democracy, he 
 gave them the making of th'^^ *r own laws, reserving 
 only to himself the power of making war, and direct- 
 ing 'the military operations of the Commonwealth ; 
 and also the guardianship of the laws. It was the 
 custom of the ancients in remote times, before the 
 introduction of letters, and of the art of writing, to 
 commit their laws to memory, and sing them, lest 
 they should fall into disuse and be forgotten. Such, 
 Aristotle informs us, was the custom in his time 
 among the Agathyrsi, a people who lived in the 
 neighbourhood of the Scythians. This custom, too, 
 prevailed among the Irish of former times, a people of 
 whose very high antiquity the most conclusive evi- 
 dence is afforded in the writings of the most trust- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 117 
 
 worthy inquirers in the field of national genealogies, 
 both ancient and modern. 
 
 The name given to the laws of the Greeks was 
 voixoL, which, as Cicero intimates, was derived from 
 the word vefiw, to distribute, because Jus suiim 
 cnique tribuebatur, every person had justice done him, 
 or distributed to him through their medium. The 
 rules of music, with reference to the keeping of time 
 in singing and playing, were afterwards called voybot, 
 that is, the laws of just distribution of sounds. 
 
 We are further informed that their various mea- 
 sures or songs, such as the Lydian, Hypolidian, Doric, 
 Hypodoric, Phrygian, Hypophrygian, Ionic, and so 
 on, were distinguished by letters of the alphabet. 
 The laws of Draco are distinguished amongst ancient 
 ordinances for their indiscriminate severity. They 
 were called decrixoi, which, according to Ulpian, 
 means "legal precepts for the making of laws." 
 Aristotle, however, calls them vofiot, and says of 
 them, that they were not worth remembering except 
 for their severity. Herodotus calls them the laws 
 not of a man, but of a dragon ; in allusion to' their 
 savage barbarity ; and Demades says, they were 
 written not with ink but with blood. The punish- 
 ments inflicted hy those laws were of the severest 
 kind, and with scarcely a distinction as to the nature 
 of the offences punished. Death was assigned as the 
 penalty in almost every case. Idleness, theft, sacri- 
 lege, and murder ranked in the same category, and 
 were alike punished by death. Solon, the great law- 
 giver of the Athenians, swept away the entire code 
 of Draco, with the exception of the laws affecting 
 
ii8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 murder. He shaped his laws in accordance with 
 what he conceived to be the general good ; neither 
 infringing upon the just and rational rights of the 
 higher classes, nor depressing the energies of the 
 poor by contracting the scope of their legitimate in- 
 fluence, or depriving them of that weight in the social 
 scale which was their natural inheritance. He steered 
 fairly between the two opposing interests, and made 
 the one lean upon the other for the mutual support 
 of both, and the general benefit of the Commonwealth. 
 Demosthenes bears testimony to the solicitude evinced 
 by his laws for the power, security, and aggrandize- 
 ment of the republic. Juvenal styles him "just;" 
 and Aristophanes designates him (f)i\6Sr]fjLov, 
 lover of the people. Independently of the learning 
 and wisdom which he had acquired by incessant 
 study at home, he fitted himself for his great work of 
 national legislation by travelling into foreign coun- 
 tries, and furnishing himself with all the knowledge 
 they could afford. Egypt seems to have been the 
 chief centre of all the wisdom and learning of the 
 time ; and thither he went to converse with its priests 
 and eminent men, and store his mind with their 
 various knowledge ; and most especially that which 
 related to government and laws. *' Aided by the 
 judgment of the Egyptian priests," says a Roman 
 writer, " he gave, through laws framed with just 
 moderation, its greater stability to Roman juris- 
 prudence." 
 
 Among the advantages of which his intercourse with 
 the wise and learned of Egypt enabled him to avail 
 himself, reference may be made to two laws which he 
 
'.^il 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 119 
 
 I 
 
 had brought thence, and which may be regarded as 
 constituting the corner-stones of his new social fabric. 
 These were, first — The custom of stated returns of 
 the names and occupations of the people, which were 
 made to the governors of provinces or jurisdictions ; 
 whereby if it should have appeared that any lived 
 by fraudulent pursuits, or misrepresented their mode 
 of living, they were liable to severe punishment, even 
 to the penalty of death : second — The person of 
 a debtor should not be made answerable for his 
 debt. That both these measures were in a high de- 
 gree calculated to promote the prosperity and inde- 
 pendence of the State cannot be questioned, when we 
 reflect on the evils which necessarily spring from 
 idleness and fraud on the one hand, and from the 
 suspension of industrious energy and exertion, which 
 imprisonment for debt produces, on the other. 
 
 In the one case the fruits of honest exertion 
 are wrenched by fraudulent idleness from the hands 
 that should hold them ; and in the other the field of 
 common industry is deprived of a portion of the 
 labour which should be engaged in its cultivation. 
 In both cases the Commonwealth suffers, for the end 
 and aim of a mutual brotherhood is defeated. This 
 combination of the laws of Solon with the reserved 
 portion of the laws of Draco, was called the Athenian 
 Civil Law, according to Justinian, who in his Insti- 
 tutes says, "jus quidem civile ex unaquaque civitate 
 appellatur, veluti Atheniensium," that is, the civil 
 law is called after the name of each particular State, 
 as that of the Athenians is called the Athenian 
 Civil Law. They were engraven on tablets of wood, 
 
120 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 called a^ou6<i, and preserved in the Acropolis ; from 
 which copies of them were afterwards transferred to 
 the Prytaneum by Phialtes, where even in the time of 
 Plutarch some of them were to be seen. They were 
 written in alternate lines from left to right, and right 
 to left ; not according to our mode of always begin- 
 ning a line at the left hand, and ending at the 
 right. 
 
 V ,; 
 
 V 
 
 s 
 
 r 
 
 << 
 
.Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The written and unwritten laws of the Greeks — The Athenian 
 statute laws — Mode of proceeding in the passing of laws. 
 
 The Lacedemonians, unlike the Athenians, had no 
 written laws ; but were governed by custom, or pre- 
 scriptive usage. Thus the laws of the Greeks gene- 
 rally were divided into the written and the unwritten. 
 " A laAv," says a certain writer, " is a written custom ; 
 and custom is an unwritten law." So that custom 
 among one portion of the Greeks was held as invio- 
 lable as the written law among another portion ; the 
 difference between the two consisting in the liability 
 of the one to be, in the progress of time, diverted 
 from its original significance, and thus weakened in 
 its application ; while the other remained immovable 
 and intact in its letter. But besides these written 
 laws of the Athenians, they had other laws called 
 yfrrj^Lo-fxaTa, decrees ; answerable to our modern 
 statute laws, and holding the same relation to the 
 common or civil law. The psephismata, or decrees, 
 were of two sorts, as regarded their duration and force. 
 The first were those which were passed by the Senate 
 without a convocation of the people, and which were 
 but of one year's duration. These were called irpo- 
 ^ovXevfiaTa, decrees of the Senate ; and were similar 
 
122 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 to the edicts of the Roman Praetors, whose duration 
 was also only for one year. The second class of decrees 
 were those to which the people's consent was asked 
 and given ; and these extended beyond twelve 
 months. The manner of proceeding in the enact- 
 ment of decrees was this: The Senate sat in consul- 
 tation on the propriety and necessity of adopting any 
 particular neasure. This measure was then written 
 on certain tablets by officers called the Prytanes ; fol- 
 lowed by an announcement that the people were to 
 assemble at a certain hour on a certain day for the pur- 
 pose of taking it into consideration. This exposition of 
 the measure was called Trpojfjafifia. The people hav- 
 ing accordingly assembled, and being, as was the 
 custom, purified, the proposed decree was read, and 
 either sanctioned or annulled by the popular voice. 
 There was also an annual inspection of the laws, for 
 the purpose of repealing such as might be deemed 
 unnecessary or inapplicable to the circumstances of 
 the times, and of enacting others, if deemed neces- 
 sary. This took place on the eleventh day of July 
 every year. After the crier, according to usage, had 
 offered up prayers in the Assembly, the laws were 
 read over in due order ; those relating to the Senate 
 taking precedency, then those concerning the 
 Commonwealth, and lastly the laws concerning the 
 Archons or chief magistrates. Then it was asked if 
 the laws touching the Senate were sufficient ; and so 
 with respect to the other two branches. Should it 
 be found expedient to abrogate any of the laws, such 
 laws were passed over until the last of the three 
 days of Convocation, when the Prytanes, appointed 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 123 
 
 for the revising of the laws, were to take them into 
 consideration, they having been informed of the 
 matter by the Proedroi, or presidents of the Assem- 
 bly. There were five persons then chosen from 
 amongst the people whose business it was to promote 
 the abrogation of the specified laws. Tho. Noniothetcs, 
 or legislators chosen out of the Council of Five Hun- 
 dred, then met, and after hearing the five advocates 
 chosen by the people, decided either for or against 
 the abrogation. Whenever any person wished to 
 introduce a new law, he should first write it on a 
 tablet ; which was to be hung up to the public view 
 in a certain conspicuous position some days before 
 the legislative sessions, so that all the citizens might 
 have an opportunity of reading it, and be prepared 
 to vote for or against it when it was brought forward. 
 The proposer of a new law was also bound to see 
 that it was not in contravention to any existing one ; 
 and if so, that the existing law should be repealed : 
 he was bound to this under the liability of coming 
 within the scope of a writ termed Trapavofiia^ <ypa^ri<;, 
 or transgression of the laws. This might happen 
 not only v/hen a law was introduced contrary to an 
 existing one, but also when the law proposed was 
 deemed contrary to the welfare of the State. In the 
 latter case, however, the author was not liable to 
 punishment unless objection was taken to his law 
 within twelve months after its passing. On one such 
 occasion we are told a senator was put to death. 
 This method of securing the adoption of good laws 
 was not unlike that which prevailed, among the 
 Locrians, where the person who came forward to pro- 
 
124 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 pose a new law had a halter around his neck, so that 
 in the event of the law not meeting the approbation 
 of the people, he was immediately placed in the 
 hands of the hangman. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 1^5 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The public meetings of the Athenians. — How those meetings 
 were constituted ; and the subjects brought under discus- 
 sion. 
 
 The public meetings of the Athenians, called 
 Comitia by the Romans, were held four times in the 
 course of every thirty-five days. They were convoked 
 by the Prytanes, who were chief magistrates selected 
 for this purpose out of the Council of Five Hundred. 
 The first of these meetings was held for the -nrpose 
 of inspecting the conduct of magistrates, and of con- 
 firming them in their offices, or dismissing them, ac- 
 cording as they incurred the pleasure or displeasure 
 of the people. Other subjects of public interest were 
 also discussed by this meeting, such as those relating 
 to the confiscation of property, and to the manage- 
 ment of hereditary possessions. In the second meet- 
 ing matters of both public and private concern were 
 discussed. In the third, audience was given to 
 ambassadors, who were first obliged to deliver their 
 letters to the Prytanes. And the fourth was appointed 
 for the consideration of matters connected with 
 religion and the service of the gods. These meetings 
 were held respectively on the eleventh, twentieth, 
 thirtieth, and thirty-third of the Prytanea, that is, of 
 
126 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the period of thirty-five days, daring which the Pry- 
 tanes ruled in rotation. These meetings were deno- 
 minated Kup'ai 'EfCKXijaiai, regular or fixed meetings, 
 to distinguish them from SvytcXiiToi, which were 
 casual meetings called together on suddpn emer- 
 gencies, such as the apprehension of war. We are 
 informed by some of their poets and orators that 
 great difficulty was sometimes experienced in getting 
 the people to attend those public meetings ; that they 
 frequently disregarded the announcement of the crier, 
 who, according to custom, passed along the streets 
 summoning them to the meeting, and that force had 
 to be resorted to in order to secure their attendance. 
 One stratagem used for this purpose was to barricade 
 all the streets except the one leading to the place of 
 meeting, so as to prevent the people from moving in 
 any direction save the one to which they were invited. 
 Another was to pa-s a rope dyed with red clay 
 across the market-place, with a man at each end 
 hauling it along, and thus driving the people before 
 them. Whoever got marked with the red paint or 
 clay was subjected to a fine as a punishment for his 
 disobedience to the call of the crier. The wares and 
 merchandise exposed for sale in the market-place 
 were also removed on such occasions, in order that 
 the attention of the people might not be distracted 
 from attendance at the meetings. If thunder and 
 lightning, or a storm of any kind, or symptoms of an 
 earthquake, or any unusual or fearful phenomena, 
 occurred on the day of meeting, or when it was 
 assembled, an adjournment to the next day imme- 
 diately took place. When th-sy met, however, and 
 
Greece and the Gkkeks. 
 
 127 
 
 the Senate was ready to sit, a sacrifice was offered at 
 the entrance to the Council Hall, by a man appointed 
 to that duty. This was called Eisitcria, and was an 
 act of purification, whereby the Senate and people 
 were made fit to enter upon their sacred functions. 
 As soon as the Senators were seated, the crier made 
 a prayer for the welfare of the people, and invoked 
 a curse upon any one who should attempt to deceive 
 either the people or the Senate. He then cried 
 aloud, Tt'<? uyopeveiv /SovXerai; " who desires to speak ?" 
 One of the senators then rose from his seat, and 
 delivered his opinions upon the particular points to 
 be discussed ; after which the other senators spoke 
 in order. Then any person present might offer his 
 opinions. It sometimes happened, however, that the 
 Senate would debate among themselves without the 
 intervention of the people, who on such occasions 
 were excluded. The place of meeting stood upon a 
 rock, and was thence called Petra. Those who at- 
 tended the meetings were allowed pay, as Demos- 
 thenes informs us, that they might not suffer any 
 damage from devoting a portion of their time to 
 the public service. 
 
128 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 The Senate, or Council of Five Hundred. — Mode of their elec- 
 tion. — Their oath of office.— The Judges, chosen from the 
 body of the Senate. 
 
 Previous to the establishment of the Senate, or 
 Council of Five Hundred, there was appointed, under 
 the direction of Solon, a similar body of men, to sit in 
 judgment on certain offenders against the Common- 
 wealth. This, however, was not a fixed or permanent 
 body, but was chosen temporarily, and consisted of 
 three hundred men, selected for their wisdom and 
 worth. 
 
 The great Council, which consisted at first of four 
 hundred, that is, one hundred from each of the four 
 tribes, was formed at a subsequent period. Their 
 duty was to superintend the affairs of the Common- 
 wealth, and to see that no public measure should be 
 adopted without deep consideration and a due re- 
 gard to the interests of the State. This body was 
 afterwards, in the time of Clisthenes, that is, more 
 than eighty years from its first establishment, aug- 
 mented to the number of five hundred, by a new 
 division of the people into ten tribes, from each of 
 which fifty elders or senators were chosen. Aristotle 
 distinguishes this body as 17 /Jieyia-Trj Kvpia 7rdvTQ>v, the 
 
Grkkce and TiiK Grkj:ks. 
 
 129 
 
 greatest Council of all. Any person under thirty years 
 of age was not competent to become a member of the 
 body, nor indeed to take a leading part in any public 
 business. We find in Demosthenes the form of oath 
 taken by tiie senators upon their admission into 
 office. It is as follows : — " I will pronounce judgment 
 according to the laws and decrees of the people of 
 Athens, and of the Council of Five Hundred. I will 
 not consent to become a tyrant myself, nor to pro- 
 mote the establishment of an Oligarchy. Neither 
 will I give' my sanction to any who would dissolve 
 the Democracy of Athens by proposition or decree. I 
 will not abolish personal proprietorship, or permit a 
 division of the Athenian land or houses. I will not 
 cause exiled men to be recalled, or such as are con- 
 demned. I will not drive from the city any person 
 who has not offended against the laws and statutes of 
 the Athenians and Council or Senate of Five Hun- 
 dred, neither myself, nor will I permit any one else to 
 do it. I will not appoint a magistrate who has not 
 given an account of his former office, whether that 
 was one of the nine Archons, or of the agents for the 
 administration of sacred things, or of those chosen on 
 the same day with the Archons, namely, ambassadors 
 and assistants. Neither shall the same man be ap- 
 pointed to the same office twice, or to two in one 
 year. 1 will not accept of gifts for judgments, neither 
 directly myself, nor through any other person privately 
 by fraud and deceit. I am not under thirty years 
 old. I will treat both parties, plaintiff and defendant, 
 alike. I will pronounce judgment with, impartiality 
 upon the subject brought before me. I swear by 
 
 s 
 
130 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Jupiter, Neptune, Ceres." An asseveration of fidelity 
 to the terms of the oath was made in these words, 
 " If I violate any of these, let myself and my house 
 perish ; but if I keep them faithfully, according to 
 the import of my oath, let us be happy and prosper- 
 ous." There was another oath which they also took, 
 of which some portions have come down to us ; such 
 as " To ratify the laws of Solon ; to give counsel for 
 the greatest advantage of the peopi : to advise ac- 
 cording to the laws : not to commit to prison any 
 Athenian who should give three sureties of equal 
 amount ; except for treason, or conspiracy for the 
 overthrow of the democratic government ; or buying 
 custom ; or collecting public monies and not paying 
 them into the treasury : to sit in the order assigned 
 .^hem by lot : and not to permit any person, except 
 such a? were banished, to be accused or imprisoned 
 for Vv'hat was passed." This last declaration was 
 added after the expulsion of the thirty tyrants ; when 
 Thrasylus, with a view to the restoration of tranquil- 
 lity, and to the establishment of .mutual confidence 
 and security among the citizens, had it adopted as 
 a pledge of amnesty. The authority of the Senate 
 extended to all subjects affecting the interests and 
 welfare of the State — war and peace ; the imposition 
 and abrogation of taxes ; the passing of laws affect- 
 ing civil, military, internal and external concerns ; the 
 superintendence and direction of municipal and re- 
 ligious affairs ; the collection and appropriation of the 
 public revenues : in short, all matters similar to those 
 embraced within the functions of constitutional par- 
 liaments at the present time, came under their autho- 
 
i 
 
 Greece and the Greeks 
 
 IM 
 
 rity and control. They were, as Demosthenes terms 
 it, KvptoL ^^^(fxov, the lords of public opinion. Their 
 tenure of office was not during life, but only annual. 
 Their mode of election was by ballot. Some time 
 before the beginning of the month Hecatombeon, 
 that is, before the eighth day of July in each year, 
 the chief of each of the four tribes took down in writ- 
 ing the names of all the members of the tribe quali- 
 fied to fill the office of senator. These were put into 
 a vessel ; and into another were put one hundred white 
 beans together with a quantity of black ones. A 
 name and bean were then 'drawn out at the same 
 time, until all the white beans appeared ; the names 
 corresponding to which were those of the senators- 
 elect for that year. After the division of the people 
 into ten tribes, however, the number which each tribe 
 was privileged to choose was only fifty ; and conse- 
 quently only the same number of white beans was 
 put into the vessel. We find that it was formerly a 
 custom among the people of the Republic of Venice 
 to elect young noblemen under the age of twenty- 
 five years to the rights of citizenship, pretty much 
 after the same fashion. It was observed on the 
 fourth day of December in each year ; when the 
 names of the young men were put into a vessel, which 
 was placed before the Prince and his Council ; in 
 another vessel \/ere put a corresponding number of 
 little balls, the one-fifth part of which were washed 
 with gold, and the remainder with silver. The names 
 which corresponded with the gilt balls when drawn, 
 were those of the successful parties. I have said that 
 the competition took place between young noblemen 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 under the age of twenty-five years, because at that age 
 they were all admissible by law to the rights of citizens. 
 I may observe here, as I have already observed in 
 a previous chapter, that the number of tribes into 
 which the Athenian people were divided was not 
 always limited to ten ; for in the lapse of time two 
 more tribes were added, making the entire number 
 twelve, and the number of the Council six hun- 
 dred. 
 
 Out of this body of senators were selected the 
 various judges ; but only such as were over sixty 
 years of age. Now, though the trial of causes affect- 
 ing both the State and individuals was within the 
 province of the Senate and people, yet in very import- 
 ant and difficult matters where they could not come 
 to an agreement, an appeal lay to the judges, whose 
 decision was final. For they not only delivered judg- 
 ment according to law ; but where the law was uncer- 
 tain, or had taken no cognizance of particular offences, 
 they substituted their own opinions, which had the 
 weight and binding efficacy of law ; for, according to 
 Aristotle, their office was Kvpiov Kpiveiv, decisive in 
 judgment. Five judges were selected out of every 
 tribe ; that is, fifty out of all, or the one-tenth of the 
 entire body of senators ; and these were to officiate in 
 turn, according to lot, in the ten tribunals or law 
 courts. The different courts weie denoted by the 
 first ten letters of the alphabet painted in red over the 
 door; and the judges were assigned their respective 
 tribunals according to the letters they drew by lot. 
 The accounts which the classic writers give us of the 
 pay of the judges are certainly curious ; one writer 
 
■ ii M i lU ii»ii MW iii J-Ju M 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 133 
 
 says that it was only an obolus, or about one penny 
 farthing a day ; which, he says, was in time increased 
 to three oboli, or about fourpence per day : this sum 
 being paid at the close of each day, upon the judge 
 presenting his wand or staff of office to the public 
 officer whose duty it was to pay him. 
 
134 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTFR XXIX. 
 
 The manner of bringing actions into Court. — Mode of procedure 
 in the conduct of cases.— Time limited in regard of speeches 
 made by plaintiff and defendant, or counsel in their behalf. 
 
 The manner of proceeding of parties seeking* redress 
 in the courts of law would appear to be of a tedious 
 and unsatisfactory character. 
 
 The party first applied to a magistrate (whose 
 office it was to report to the Court), giving him a 
 statement of his case in writing, briefly in these words 
 — " ! accuse such a person (giving the name) and cite 
 him to the Court by such a person (naming the com- 
 plainant himself, or some person who was to act for 
 him).*' The magistrate then inquired of the com- 
 plainant if he had any witnesses, and if he would go 
 on to a prosecution of the matter : and if answered in 
 the affirmative, he gave authority to have the defen- 
 dant summoned to appear. This was accordingly done, 
 either by the plaintiff himself, or by a bailiff acting 
 in his behalf. If the defendant was able to produce 
 two acceptable sureties he was dismissed, to appear at 
 a stated time. But sometimes a day was appointed 
 for trial by both parties — it might be within a week 
 or more of the citation ; and then if the defendant 
 did not appear in person he was subject to what was 
 
 
GREliCE AND THE GREEKS. 
 
 135 
 
 called a writ of refusal to come in and answer. The 
 consequences of this writ might, however, be av«)ided 
 by suing for what was termed a /u-17 ovaa in ten days 
 after the issuing of the writ of refusal to plead. The ft>; 
 ovaa reversed the sentence arising from the absence 
 of the defendant, who was condemned indicia causa, 
 or without being heard ; and the case was thus placed 
 on its original footing. The defendant was then 
 bound to plead within two months ; otherwise the 
 original sentence of the Court was to be ra' "fied. It is 
 well to observe here that he who brought another to 
 court under a false accusation was liable to punish- 
 ment under what was termed ylrevSoK\r]<Tla<s BUrj, or 
 writ of false action. But to come to the matter under 
 our immediate consideration : as soon as the parties 
 commence to plead, the plaintiff draws up his charges 
 together with the substance of the defendant's answer, 
 which he puts into court. We are informed that the 
 origin of this form of pleading is to be found in the 
 fact, that it was usual in Athens for wicked and evil- 
 minded men to make charges out of a spirit of malice 
 and envy ; and therefore it was deemed expedient, 
 as well as just, that the defendant should be made 
 acquainted with the number and nature of the charges 
 that were to be urged against him, in order that he 
 might be in a position to prove their falsity, or justify 
 nis conduct by sufficient evidence. And further to 
 obviate the evils arising from false impeachments, a 
 law was enacted imposing a penalty of 1000 drachmas 
 upon an accuser who had not a fifth part of the voices 
 of the judges with him ; and also punishing with a 
 certain amount of fine the defendant who was unable 
 
^^^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 to prove the statements set forth in his defence ; 
 which fine was increased fourfold if not paid at the 
 time specified by the Court, and if unable to pay, he 
 was to be punished by imprisonment. After the 
 answer of the defendant was put in, which was by the 
 Greeks termed dvTiypa(pn, proofs were also put in on 
 the other side, together with the copy of an oath made 
 by the plaintiff, consisting of the words jaXrjdq kut}]- 
 'yopijcreiv, that he would make a just accusation ; and 
 of another made by the defendant in the words toXtjO)) 
 uTToko'yrfa acrdatf that he would make a just defence. 
 
 This practice of counter-affidavits was termed aiiti^ 
 mosia. AH these documents were put into a box, to 
 be used according as occasio'i required. 
 
 These preliminaries having been arranged, the 
 parties were admitted into court, the plaintiff being 
 first asked if he would follow up the suit, and if he 
 had sufficient testimony, or, if it was a capital cause, 
 whether he required any witness who could not then 
 be present. 
 
 Should there have been anything wanting neces- 
 sary to promote the suit, an adjournment of the trial 
 took place, upon oath by the plaintiff to the effect 
 that for the present he could not go on with it, but that 
 he would certainly do so at another time. There were 
 various causes, independent of the absence of necessary 
 witnesses, which would be deemed sufficient for the 
 postponement of a trial, such as indisposition, death of 
 friends or of relatives, or urgent business of any kind 
 connected with the security of the family, person, or 
 property of the party. When, however, all things 
 were ready, the parties appeared before the Court, and 
 
Greece and the Greeks 
 
 137 
 
 the case was proceeded with ; the judges first swearing 
 that they would pronounce sentence according to the 
 laws, and where the laws were deficient, according to 
 conscience and equity ; and that indoing so they would 
 kfep within the subjects under investigation. This 
 oath would seem to have been taken at the altar from 
 which they brought the small stones or pebbles with 
 which they delivered their opinions ; as Plutarch says, 
 i/ttJ^oj/ airo ^cofiov (f>eiJovre'i, bringing the sentence- 
 stone from the altar. 
 
 They then returned to their seats, which were 
 covered with mats, called psiatha. This word psiatJia 
 cannot fail to attract the attention of an Irishman, or 
 of any person acquainted with the Irish or Gaelic 
 language ; for it must at once remind him of a word 
 in that language similar to, if not identical with it, 
 and signifying the same thing. The peasantry of 
 Ireland make (or at least used to make) very general 
 use of a sort of chair or seat made of straw, and some- 
 times of hay, which they call siastha. 
 
 Now this word is in sense the same as the Greek 
 one, and in sound and orthography nearly the same ; 
 the only essential difference being the addition of the 
 letter s to the first syllable of the Irish word. This 
 identity (for I must call it so), and between words, too, 
 expressive of such a peculiar article of domestic use, 
 is entitled to far deeper consideration, and carries with 
 it a much wider significance, than the accidental coin- 
 cidence of words and sounds in different languages 
 would always justify or suggest. 
 
 But all this is foreign to our present purpose. The 
 judges having taken their seats on the bench, and the 
 
1^.8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 crier having ordered all persons not having immediate 
 business in court to withdraw behind the bar, in the 
 words fMerdaTrjre e^to, the indictment, which was called 
 enkhna, was read by the crier. We find, in Plutarch's 
 account of the early days of Demosthenes, that when 
 he was desirous of hearing the celebrated orator, 
 Callistratus, plead before the judges in the case of Oro- 
 pus, he entreated his preceptor to bring him where he 
 could gratify his curiosity ; and that his preceptor, 
 being acquainted with the officers who guarded the 
 doors, procured him, through them, a place where he 
 might hear without being seen. It was also customary 
 for the crier, as soon as the judges took their seats, to 
 cry out, Et rt? dvpacacv r)XiaaTT](^, ela-iro), " If any judge 
 be outside, let him enter." This was in consequence of 
 the established usage of not admitting any judge after 
 the commencement of trial. After the reading of the 
 indictment thecrier handed up to the Court the written 
 charges against the defendant, with the various circum- 
 stances in which they were involved, and the estimated 
 damages which were sought to be recovered. Of these 
 the judges took down the heads in writing, in order 
 that the parties should be kept within the precise 
 points in debate. 
 
 The accuser or plaintiff then proceeded to address 
 the Court from a platform or pulpit on the left of the 
 bench, urging his various charges against the defen- 
 dant in a set speech, which was usually prepared for 
 him by one of the Attic orators. He was limited as 
 to time in his delivery of this speech, the length of 
 which was to be measured by the running out of the 
 KXeyjrvBpa, which was a vessel containing a certain 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 139 
 
 \ 
 
 quantity of water, with a hole at the lower extremity 
 through which the water poured out : time being 
 measured by this instrument in the same way as by 
 our sand cr hour glass. An officer was appointed to 
 superintend this vessel, that is, to pour the water into 
 it, and give an equal measure to plaintiff and de ^nd- 
 ant. As soon as the water had nm out, which cir- 
 cumstance was announced by the i'^vhwp, or super- 
 intendent, the speaker had to stop. Great economy 
 was therefore observed in the management of the 
 speech ; and whenever it became necessary to recite a 
 law, it was allowable to stop the flowing of the water, 
 so that the space permitted to the argument should 
 not be infringed upon by the recital of laws adduced 
 in support of it. If the speaker, however, should have 
 finished his argument before the vessel was exhausted, 
 he might permit any person else to speak for the 
 remainder of the time ; otherwise he directed the crier 
 to empty it out. From this practice of measuring 
 the time of speaking, it became a common observation 
 to say, 77/309 rfj K>.e->^vhpa, or, as we would say, " speak- 
 ing by the clock." 
 
140 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Witnesses ; and the nature of the evidence given — Judicial 
 decisions ; their form of deHvery, and character. 
 
 As soon as the accuser had concluded his discourse, 
 the defendant, who sat on the opposite or rif^ht side of 
 the bench, and who was closely intent upon the charges 
 urged against him, rose ; and from a similar platform 
 or pulpit to that of the accuser, addressed himself to 
 his answer ; the KXeyfrvBpa, or water vessel, having in 
 the meantime, been replenished and set in motion. 
 The defence was confined to a direct rebuttal of the 
 charges made, which was to be done by the weight 
 of probabilities, the deductions of reasoning, or the 
 testimony cf witnesses. It is proper that I should 
 here observe that it was optional with the parties to 
 retain paid advocates, if they were so inclined : these 
 were called a-vi'rjyopovi. Witnesses were examined on 
 both sides in the course of the trial ; who, after having 
 delivered the.', testimony, went in succession to the 
 altar, and swore in confirmation of the truth of their 
 statements. Cicero informs us of a most interesting 
 instance of the high estimation in which upright 
 conduct and a virtuous life were held among the 
 Greeks. It occurred in the case of Xenocrates, who, 
 having on a certain occasion delivered his testimony 
 
Greece and the GreetsS. 
 
 141 
 
 in court, was advancing towards the altar to make 
 the usual oath, when the judges all cried out that he 
 should not swear, his honourable and upright character 
 being to them a stronger proof of the truth of his 
 statements than any appeal to religion. When 
 Pericles was asked by his friend to swear to some- 
 thing which was not true, he replied that he was his 
 friend as far as conscience, honesty, and truth per- 
 mitted ; but no farther. Hence arose a saying 
 common amongst the Greeks, aypi /3(ofM6v (fiiXof elpi, 
 " I am your friend as far as thi. altar." It would seem 
 that when the witnesses were called on for their tes- 
 timony, the person they were to testify for was wont 
 to touch the top of their ears, in order to revive their 
 attention, and recall their memory to the facts to 
 which they were expected to attest. This was also 
 a Roman custom, as we find in Horace and Virgil. 
 Pliny says that the region of memory lies in the depth 
 of the ear, and that therefore it was touched in order 
 to procure its testimony. If a witness swore t( that 
 which was not true, he was indicted under a writ of 
 false testimony, called yjrevBo/jiaprvpiuyv ; and the per- 
 son suborning a witness was subject to a writ of 
 KaKOTC'x^vi''^', a fraudulent procuration of evidence. 
 Hearsay evidence was not admissible in the Athe- 
 nian courts, unless the person from whom the infor- 
 mation had been received were dead ; in which case 
 it was allowable. The evidence of persons deprived 
 of the freedom of the city, who were called drifjioi, 
 degraded persons ; or of slaves ; or of any man in 
 his own cause; was not admissible.- The form of 
 evidence was twofold, that is, oral and written. In 
 
143 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the latter case— that is, when the evidence was given 
 in writing — the witness was liable to an action of 
 attachment by the person against whom he witnessed, 
 if his statements were not true. 
 
 Well, both parties having been heard through 
 themselves and their witnesses, the crier ordered, 
 That such of the judges as were satisfied that the 
 accused party was guilty, should cast in the black 
 stone ; but such as were of a contrary opinion, the 
 white stone. Thus, in expressing their individual 
 opinions, the judges were not called upon to do so in 
 words, but merely by dropping a black or white 
 pebble into a box or vessel, according as they were 
 for the condemnation or acquittal of the prisoner, or 
 party accused ; the black stone signifying condemna- 
 tion, and the white one acquittal. To this custom 
 Ovid alludes in the verses,- - 
 
 Mos erat antiquis niveis atrisque lapillis : 
 His damnare reos, illis absolvere culpa. 
 
 It frequently happened that some of the judges, 
 either from indifference or a desire to favour the 
 accused, delayed to put in his pebble or ball of brass 
 (for brass balls were in the progress of time substituted 
 for the pebbles or stone balls), and then the crier, who 
 went round with the vessels, would exclaim : Ti? 
 d\frr'](fiia-TO'i, avtardOw, " Whosoever has not voted, let 
 him rise." Whereupon such as had not already voted 
 then rose and dropped in their balls. The counting 
 of the balls next followed ; and if the white outnum- 
 bered the black, the accused was acquitted, or vice 
 versA. If the party accused were found guilty, the 
 accuser or plaintifif wrote down the damages for which 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 1.43 
 
 the defendant was liable ; for it was customaiy with 
 litigant parties, previously to their going to trial, to 
 enter into an agreement, by which certain conditions 
 were specified in relation to the compensation to be 
 made by the defeated party. In trials for capital 
 offences two sentences or judgments were delivered : 
 first, as to the guilt or innocence of the party ; and 
 second, in the case of guilt, as to the punishment to 
 be awarded. But if the first sentence happened to be 
 one of acquittal, the party acquitted was permitted to 
 fine himself ; which, if not done adequately, or to the 
 satisfaction of the Court, the judges themselves made 
 an addition to the penalty. It appears that in cases 
 of a capital charge, if the prisoner was acquit; :d of 
 the actual crime — that is, was not deemed deserving of 
 death — he was nevertheless liable to a punishment by 
 fine, which it was left to himself to impose under the 
 condition I have mentioned. 
 
 In the account which has come down to us of the 
 trial of Socrates, we learn that there was a majority 
 of 280 votes against him in the first decision, or 
 judgment, that is, the sentence pronounced with 
 respect to his guilt or innocence ; and in the second 
 judgment, or the sentence regarding the punishment, 
 the majority rose to 361. This sentence, as all clas- 
 sical readers are aware, was that he should die by 
 being compelled to drink a decoction of hemlock. 
 
 When the numbers of white and black balls were 
 the same, that is, when the judges were equally 
 divided, the prisoner was acquitted ; but a majority of 
 one would be decisive at either side. Thus we find 
 that Cimon, the son of Miltiades, escaped conviction 
 on a capital charge by only three balls. 
 
l-^fWi 
 
 mii^m^i^mmm 
 
 144 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Influences brought to bear on the Judges in the formation of 
 their decisions — Judges sometimes corrupt. 
 
 In pleading it was usual with the prisoner to have 
 recourse to every means within his power, with the 
 view of swaying the decisions of the judges. He 
 appealed to their humanity and clemency ; he 
 recalled to their memory his own deeds, and those of 
 his ancestors in defence of the liberties of Greece : 
 he exposed to them the wounds he had received in 
 battle, and detailed the various fields in which he 
 had distinguished himself; and the numerous trophies 
 which he had aided to win : he referred to the estima- 
 tion in which his country had hitherto held him ; and 
 implored them to balance his present error by the 
 weight of his former worth. Even he brought his 
 aged parents to plead for him by their silent tears 
 and caresses, or by their tremulous and supplicating 
 voices. From scenes like these the judges were 
 sometimes affected even to tears ; and we find Aris- 
 tophanes sneeringly alluding to one of them, whom 
 he represents on a certain occasion as " drowning his 
 sentence in tears." These exhibitions on the part of 
 the accused were accompanied with the usual effects 
 on the minds and feelings of the judges ; that is, they 
 sometimes softened them to mercy ; and sometimes, 
 on the contrary, they only incited them to indigna- 
 
''■h',fy'-''W^7^^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 145 
 
 tion ; for they were frequently resorted to by persons 
 of the most indefensible character, and from the 
 most transparent motives of deception. But, as I 
 have said, they were sometimes effective in awakening 
 the sympathy of the judges ; for we find that when 
 iEschylus, the tragic poet, was on his trial in conse- 
 quence of having introduced into one of his plays 
 some scenes which were deemed of impious tendency, 
 his brother Amynias came into court, and held up 
 his arm, destitute of the hand which he had lost in 
 the battle of Salamis : this appeal had its intended 
 effect, for the judges, recalling to mind the merits of 
 Amynias, admitted their weight in the opposing scale 
 against the brother's offence, and dismissed the poet. 
 Still the classic writers afford us abundant evidence 
 of the partiality and the unworthy considerations which 
 often influenced the proceedings and decisions of 
 those Courts : " They decided," says Xenophon, " not 
 so much for the cause of justice, as for their own 
 private interests." 
 
 The prolongation of suits, and the delay of justice, 
 appear also to have been subjects of complaint among 
 the ancient Greeks. In short, the propensities of 
 human nature, good and bad, especially its ruling 
 principle of self-interest, are as apparent in the con- 
 duct and proceedings of our brothers of former and 
 remote times as they are at the present day among 
 ourselves. The civilization of modern ages has 
 doubtless effected great and important changes for 
 the amelioration of man's condition, and the advance- 
 ment of his higher faculties ; but the original bent of 
 his nature is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The Court of the Areopagus — The lime of its foundation — The 
 quahfications and character of its Judges — Mode of pro- 
 cedure of this Court. 
 
 The principal, or Supreme Court in Athens was the 
 Areopagus, which stood upon the hill on which the 
 AcropoHs was built. The name Areopagus was 
 given to this court from the circumstance of the 
 height on which it was erected having been dedicated 
 to Mars, the god af war : "Apr]<i being the name of 
 that god in the Greek tongue, and •rrdyo<t the name for 
 hill. Areopagus, then, means literally the hill of Mars. 
 There was a superstitious belief among the Athe- 
 nians that the god Mars had been tried upon this hill 
 by the twelve gods of Greece, for the murder of the 
 son of Neptune. "A/oeto"? 6)(^6o<i is the name given to it 
 by Euripides ; which, however, signifies the same 
 thing, ox^Qii being another name for hill or mound. 
 It was usual with the ancients to consecrate elevated 
 grounds to their deities, and to erect thereon the 
 statues of those deities ; thus we find that Neptune, 
 Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Pan, had each their hills in 
 Athens, which were designated by their names. 
 Neptune's hill was called Iloo-etSwi'o? irdyo'i ; Saturn's, 
 Kpovov trdyo^i ; Mercury's, 'Ep/nov irdyo'; ; and so of 
 tne rest. The derivation of the Areopagus, or hill of 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 147 
 
 Mars, is made by some writers differently from that 
 which I have given ; for instance, iEschylus says that 
 it was so called from the circumstance of the Amazons 
 having offered sacrifices to Mars upon it, on the 
 occasion of their attacking Tlieseus ; and another 
 writer ascribes its name to the bloodshed caused by 
 the execution of criminals tried and convicted there. 
 These opinions, however, are of little consequence ; 
 it is only necessary for us to know that it was called 
 Areopagus because it stood upon the hill dedicated 
 to Mars, without puzzling the mind as to when or 
 why the hill was so dedicated. This court, as I 
 have said, was the supreme judicial tribunal of the 
 Athenians ; in the integrity of which they had th. 
 utmost confidence ; and from whose decisions there 
 was no appeal. Of its exact administration of the 
 law and of justice ; of its vigilance in the detection 
 and punishment of crime ; of its zeal, honesty, and 
 ability in the discharge of its high functions ; of its 
 wisdom and incorruptible integrity, various ancient 
 writers speak in the most decided and unqualified 
 terms. The precise period at which it was first 
 established we have no accurate means of ascertain- 
 ing, as the Greek writers themselves are at variance 
 on this point. Plutarch informs us that Solon was 
 its original founder ; and Cicero, the Roman orator 
 and writer, gives us the same information. Others, 
 however, are of opinion that it had been in exist- 
 ence before the time of Solon ; and that he merely 
 enlarged its jurisdiction, and increased its weight 
 and influence by the infusion of greater wisdom 
 experience, learning, and wealth into its composition. 
 
 L 2 
 
 •■>.. 
 
148 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Indeed Plutarch himself would seem to warrant this 
 opinion where he speaks of the eighth law of the 
 thirteenth tabk' ; that code drawn up by Solon for the 
 government of Athens, in which it is provided that 
 they who had lost their liberties should have them 
 restored to them again, unless they had been condemned 
 for murder, or robbery^ or an attempt to usurp the 
 government, by the Areopagites. Ephetce, or the kings 
 in the Prytaneum. Plutarch disposes of the difficulty 
 here presented, by saying : " This shows that before 
 Solon was chief magistrate, and proclaimed his laws, 
 the Council of Areopagus was in existence ; for, who 
 could have been condemned in the Court of Areopagus 
 before the time of Solon, if he himself was the first who 
 had established it ? Unless, perhaps, there be some 
 obscurity or deficiency in the text, and the meaning 
 be, that such as have been convicted of crimes that are 
 now cognizable by the Areopagites, Ephetae, and 
 Prytanes, shall continue excluded, while others are 
 restored to noncur," On the whole, I am inclined 
 to the opinio 1 thit the Court of the Areopagites was 
 not originally founded by Solon, but only remodelled, 
 and brought to a higher state of respectability and 
 efficiency by his judgment and wisdom. The mem- 
 bers of this body were alike distinguished for wisdom 
 and the purity of their lives ; in fact, none were 
 admissible except such as were exalted above their 
 fellow-citizens in wisdom and virtue, as well as in 
 point of family and wealth ; for they consisted only of 
 those who had borne the office of Archon or chief 
 magistrate. Of the exact number of which the body 
 consisted we have no reliable account. Some say it 
 
 / 
 
H II |.H,„HL1J.JIIJ ' ,.. 
 
 Greece and the Gri.eks. 
 
 140 
 
 rrant this 
 
 w of tlie 
 
 3n for the 
 
 Ided that 
 
 ive them 
 
 onderniicd 
 
 usurp the 
 
 the kings 
 
 difficulty 
 
 lat before 
 
 his laws, 
 
 for, who 
 
 reopagus 
 
 first who 
 
 be some 
 
 meaning 
 
 s that are 
 
 itae, and 
 
 hers are 
 
 inclined 
 
 jites was 
 
 lodelled, 
 
 lity and 
 
 le mem- 
 
 wisdom 
 
 me were 
 
 >ve their 
 
 11 as in 
 
 i only of 
 
 or chief 
 
 he body 
 
 IP say it 
 
 was but nine ; others, fifty-one, which is the more 
 probable. They continued in office for life, unless 
 convicted of some great offence. Their authority ex- 
 tended to every crime and misdemeanour committed 
 in the State ; for they were the supreme guardians 
 and vindicators of the laws. They even inquired 
 into the private lives of the citizens ; and put a 
 check upon idleness, licentiousness, and all evil and 
 immoral practices. We have a curious instance, 
 given us by Demosthens, of the manner in which the 
 Athenians sometimes indulged their vicious propensi- 
 ties ; it is of a man who went to a surgeon to get an 
 incision in his head, in order that he might go to the 
 Court of the Areopagites and lodge an action for 
 battery against a person whom he disliked, and thus 
 get him banished from Athens. To show the estima- 
 tion in which this Court was held, not only by the 
 Greeks themselves, but also by the Romans, it is 
 only necessary to refer to the observation of Cicero 
 on this subject: "If anyone," he says, "should be 
 of opinion that the Attic Republic can be well 
 governed without the Council of the Areopagites, 
 he might as well believe that the world may be 
 governed without the providence of the gods." It 
 was by their advice and influence that the Greeks 
 rose in defence of their liberties when the Medes and 
 Persians carried war into their territones ; and it was 
 by their liberality and exertions that the Athenian 
 fleet was equipped and manned at a time when the 
 public treasury was empty. Their zeal and public 
 spirit in the cause of their country, coupled with the 
 pervading influence of their wisdom and private worth, 
 
'50 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 
 which was still enhanced by the weight and splen- 
 dour of their titles and honours won by their long 
 public services, gave a vigour id impetus to the 
 patriotism of the people which nothing could resist. 
 All offences, too, committed against religion and the 
 gods, and the sacred mysteries came within the sphere 
 of their jurisdiction ; for they were alike the overseers 
 and defenders of the temporal and spiritual concerns of 
 ihe Commonwealth. The mode of procedure in this 
 Court of the Areopagus was as follows : — After the 
 commission of a felony the accuser or appellant pre- 
 ferred his indictment to one of the nine Archons, who 
 was called the BacrtXeu?, or king. This magistrate 
 gave audience to both parties, the accuser and defen- 
 dant, three times, that is, once a month for three 
 months, they debating before him the matter at issue. 
 In the fourth month he brought the accusation before 
 the Court of the Areopagus ; and divesting himself 
 of the crown, which he usually wore by virtue of his 
 office, he took his place among the judges. The 
 Court was held at night, and in the dark, in order, as 
 we are told, that the judges might not be influenced 
 by sympathy with the feelings of the speakers, but 
 only by the substantial matters urged upon their 
 attention. For it was not permitted to advocates in 
 this court to have recourse to rhetorical artifice of 
 any kind for the purpose of moving the judges to 
 compassion. Aristotle calls this mode of address 
 " speaking beside the matter." As soon as the parties 
 made their appearance in court, they were sworn, 
 standing in a certain position ; the nature of the oath 
 being, that if the party taking it did not declare that 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 151 
 
 which was true, he wished that his family, himself, 
 and his posterity might be extirpated. If, however, 
 either party committed perjury, he was not punished 
 for it, inasmuch as it was a general belief among the 
 ancients that perjury was specially avenged by the 
 gods. Each party was then placed upon two silver 
 stones called respectively \/^o? v^peooi;, the stone of 
 injury, and XlOof dvatria^;, the stone of innocence. The 
 complainant then put three questions to the accused ; 
 first, as to whether he was guilty or not guilty? second 
 (supposing the answer to the first question to be in 
 the negative), for what reason he had committed the 
 crime ? and third, who were his accomplices ? The 
 proceedings having gone thus far, the i^tjyrjTai, or 
 lawyers, arose to plead for the defendant ; for we find 
 that on important occasions, and when matters of 
 difficult handling were to be treated, paid advocates 
 were resorted to by the accused. The business of 
 the i^rjyrfral, or pleaders, was, in a case of murder for 
 instance, to justify the act, under the approbation of 
 certain laws which under certain specified circum- 
 stances rendered murder no crime. The aim of the 
 advocate, therefore, was to prove that the murder 
 charged against the defendant was committed avv 
 BUrj, justly. If a man in defence of his property, or 
 goods, caused the death of the aggressor, he was 
 regarded as innocent under the Athenian laws. This 
 is the law, at the present day, in all the civilized parts 
 of the world. At the conclusion of the pleading the 
 sentence of the Court was delivered ; not viva voce, 
 but by secret signs, or marks, soniething in the 
 manner of the Roman judges ; who, when the 
 
s^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 sentence was one of condemnation, wrote the letter 
 C ; when of acquittal, the letter A ; and when doubt- 
 ful, the two letters N L ; the initials respectively of 
 t;.. words condemno, absolvOy non liicet. If the sen- 
 tence was one of condemnation, its execution took 
 place immediately, except in cases where delay 
 became necessary for the protection of innocence ; 
 as in case of a woman enceinte, whose life was 
 spared until after the birth of the child. This, too, is 
 the custom of the present day. History records a 
 curious instance of this kind, that is, of deferring the 
 execution of a criminal, lest innocence might suffer. 
 It is related that when Dolabella was proconsul of 
 Asia, a married woman of the isle of Smyrna had 
 been brought before him under the charge of having 
 murdered her husband and son, who had deprived 
 her of a promising youth whom she had by a former 
 husband. Dolabella referred the matter to the judges 
 of the Areopagus, who decided that the woman and her 
 accuser should appear before the Court in about a hun- 
 dred years thence, when the matter should be finally 
 determined. The design of this judgment was to 
 show that the Court was unwilling either to acquit or 
 condemn the criminal under the circumstances, so 
 scrupulous and conscientious did they feel in the 
 discharge of the awful and solemn duties with which 
 the State had entrusted them. Their periods of 
 sitting were tri-monthly, that is, they sat three several 
 days in each month ; when all causes of vital import- 
 ance connected with the general welfare of the Com- 
 monwealth were, as has been already said, committed 
 to their decision. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 153 
 
 had 
 
 ^1 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 The Court of the Palladium, nd other courts established in 
 Athens — Their vacuus jurisdictions. 
 
 There was another court, distinct from any I have 
 mentioned, established in Athens, called the Court of 
 the Palladium. This was for the trial of murders 
 committed by mistake or by accident. The origin of 
 this court we find to be this. When Diomedes, after 
 the siege of Troy, wa^ returning with his followers to 
 Argos, he arrived at a port of Athens called Phalerum ; 
 and here, supposing that they had touched at an 
 enemy's country, they landed and commenced to 
 make booty. The Athenians, under the conduct of 
 Demophon, attacked and slew several of them, whose 
 bodies were left unburied. Having afterwards dis- 
 covered that they were Greeks, which was proved by 
 their having with them the Palladium or image of 
 Minerva, they consulted the oracle, and according to 
 its direction they buried the bodies, and consecrated 
 the place to the goddess Minerva, and established a 
 court there. Demop^ on is said to have been the first 
 who was tried in this court, for having killed with his 
 horse an Athenian, just after his returning from the 
 slaughter of the Argives. It being only for accidental 
 murder that trials were had in this court, the punish- 
 
154 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 ment was but temporary exile, and not aet<f)vyi'a, 
 as in wilful felony. It was also customary with the 
 accused in such cases to pay a sum of money to the 
 relatives of the murdered person, in order to avoid 
 the penalty of exile ; but in case of its being refused, 
 they were obliged to leave the city for a period of 
 twelve months, at the end of which they were per- 
 mitted to return. This money was called by the 
 Greeks ttoiptj, that is, blood-money. If the injured 
 man previously to his death, or his relatives after- 
 wards, forgave his murderer, no punishment ensued. 
 It was the custom, that when an offender of this kind 
 was going into exile, he went to the house of an 
 acquaintance in order to undergo the ceremony of 
 purification or cleansing from his guilt. In the course 
 of this ceremony sacrifice was also offered, as Demos- 
 thenes informs us. The mode of procedure of this 
 court was pretty much the same as that followed in the 
 other courts of Athens, already referred to ; namely, 
 the parties first made oath, then addressed the judges 
 in turn, after which sentence was given. 
 
 Another court was established at Delphinium, where 
 stood a temple dedicated to the god Apollo, and the 
 goddess Diana. This court was devoted to the hear- 
 ing of cases of murder where the accused party con- 
 fessed the crime, but pleaded justification. The 
 Athenians, as has been said before, justified murder 
 committed under certain circumstances, as in defence 
 of one's property, or of the honour of his wife, mother, 
 daughter, and so forth. Theseus was the first who was 
 tried here for the murder of certain thieves and rebels. 
 Before this trial of Theseus any person committing 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 155 
 
 murder under any circumstances was compelled to 
 fly from the country, or be tried and suffer death. 
 
 The Prytanium was another tribunal in which inani- 
 mate things only were brought under judicial investiga- 
 tion. If a man came by his death by a blow from a 
 stone, or a piece of wood, or iron, or any other thing, 
 the sentence of the Court was passed upon it ; and 
 care was taken by its chief officers that the convicted 
 object should be cast out from the Athenian territory. 
 
 The Phreattus was another court, which stood in 
 the Pyraeus, and where a particular class of felons 
 were tried, namely, such as had fled from their own 
 country for wilful murder, and who during their exile 
 had been guilty of a similar crime. The form of 
 trial in these cases was of a curious character. The 
 judges assembled en phreattoi, that is, on the sea 
 coast ; and the accused approached the shore in a 
 boat, without, however, landing or even casting 
 anchor, or mooring his boat ; if he were found guilty, 
 due punishment was inflicted upon him, which, ac- 
 cording to some writers, consisted of his being driven 
 out to sea, and exposed to the mercy of the winds 
 and waves ; if he were not found guilty, he was 
 acquitted of the offence for which he had been tried ; 
 while the former crime which had caused his exile 
 remained untouched. The first person of whom 
 mention is made as having been tri':^d in this court 
 was Teucer, for the death of Aja> . He was acquitted. 
 It would appear from a passage in Aristotle that 
 strangers who had fled for murder appealed to this 
 court, with the view of being restored to thei' own 
 country. 
 
156 
 
 Greece and hie Greeks. 
 
 Besides these criminal courts there were courts for 
 the trial of civil causes ; such as the Heliaia, or 
 Senate of Five Hundred, already described ; the 
 Parabuston, whose jurisdiction was limited to sums 
 not exceeding one drachma, and which stood in an 
 obscure part of the city ; the Trigonon, so called 
 from its shape, which was that of a triangle ; the 
 Batrachioim, and Phoinikioiin, so called from the 
 respective colours painted on the entrance posts of 
 each, and several others : making altogether ten 
 courts ; that is, five of criminal and five of civil 
 jurisdiction. But besides this extensive apparatus 
 provided for the redress of wrongs, and the arrange- 
 ment of differences between man and man, there was 
 a court of arbitration ; that is to say, it was com- 
 petent for parties litigant to refer their disputes to 
 arbitrators appointed by each ; and by whose decision 
 they bound themselves to abide, even as the custom 
 is among ourselves. 
 
Gref.cu: and the Greeks. 
 
 15: 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Writs, or forms of action issued by the Courts of Athens — 
 Writs were of two kinds, public and private — Of public 
 writs. 
 
 From what has been said, it will be at once seen 
 that from the foundation of our own civil and 
 criminal jurisprudence, and of that of the civilized 
 world, the spirit, if not the precise form of the ad- 
 ministration of justice, has been followed to the pre- 
 sent day. The writs or forms of accusation issued by 
 the Athenian courts were of two kinds, public and 
 private. Of public writs there were various kinds ; 
 all of which were termed KarTjyoplai, which means 
 simpl)' charges or accusations. The writ called 
 ypcKJ)!] involved a general charge of trespass against 
 the law, that is, when any offence was committed 
 against the law, the ypa<f>i] was issued ; and the 
 person against whom it was issued was said to be 
 served with a writ. It is supposed to be t' ;: same 
 as that which in this country is called a writ ' right. 
 Another description of writ was the Oaa:s, which 
 was issued in cases of peculation of any kind, such 
 as converting the public taxes to one's private use. 
 Cases of this description were brought before the 
 Archon, with the names of the accuser and accused, 
 
158 
 
 Greece and the Grleks. 
 
 and the fine to be levied in the event of conviction, 
 which was to be paid to the party injured. But 
 should the informer, or party complaining, not obtain, 
 upon the hearing of the case, a fifth part of the votes 
 of the judges, he was himself compelled to pay a 
 sixth part of the fine set down. This is called by 
 Demosthenes eVw/SeXia. The writ in such cases con- 
 tained also the names of the witnesses present at the 
 time when the act of peculation was committed. In 
 general the writ of <E>ao-t«f was employed for the 
 purpose of redressing any private injuries, and answers 
 to the Latin term delaiio. Among the Romans the 
 fourth part of the fine or forfeit was allotted to the 
 informer, who on that account was called quadi'itplator. 
 The writ of "Ei'Se/^i^ was that which was taken out 
 against persons who were indebted to the City 
 Treasury, and who at the same time bore office, which 
 was contrary to the Athenian law. There is, however, 
 a difference of opinion among the Greek writers as 
 to the true application of th-s writ : some referring it 
 to all cases of wrong committed in the discharge of 
 public affairs ; while others speak of it as being 
 brought against persons who were disfranchised. 
 The writ of ^ kirar^oi'yi] was for the purpose of bringing 
 before the magistrate a man who was taken in the 
 fact. This writ was made returnable not to any 
 particular magistrate, but to such as had special 
 jurisdiction over the particular offence committed ; so 
 that it was sometimes brought to the Archon, some- 
 times to the Thesmothetai, and sometimes to others. 
 Under this writ it was not usual for the accuser to 
 bring the magistrate to the house or place where the 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 159 
 
 offending party lay concealed in order to his arrest. 
 This would occur either when the accuser was in- 
 fluenced by fear of personal danger in the attempt 
 to make the arrest, or when the party to be arrested 
 was suspected to be about leaving the city, or from 
 some other reasonable cause. A writ of ^AvBpoXt'jylnov 
 was that which was issued in cases of murder, when 
 the offender was concealed by a friend who refused 
 to give him up to the relations of the murdered 
 person ; this form of writ was then issued to compel 
 the surrender of the guilty party, or otherwise to 
 arrest any three persons belonging^ to the house in 
 which he was concealed, who were to be answerable 
 for his crime. An unjust entrance into any house 
 for this purpose was, however, punishable by the 
 laws. The Ela-wyjeXia was an unwritten form of 
 accusation provided for high State offences, such as 
 an attempt to undermine the Commonwealth, to 
 excite to sedition, to betray a garrison, or an army, 
 or a fleet. The informer in this instance was not 
 punishable by fine or otherwise if he did not make 
 good his charge, as under other forms of writ This, 
 it should be observed, was originally the case ; but 
 afterwards, in consequence of persons being liable to 
 charges of this kind from malicious motives, the in- 
 former was made punishable by a fine of one thousand 
 drachmas if he had not a fifth part of the votes of the 
 judges with him ; but he was not deprived of his 
 privileges as a citizen. This form of accusation, as 
 has been observed, was not written, that is, the crime 
 charged was not set forth in writing ; it was merely 
 made by wOi'd of mouth. The Senate took cognizance 
 
i6o 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 of accusations of this kind ; and the punishment, if 
 the offence was trivial, was a fire ; but if heinous, 
 imprisonment. Such were the forms of public actions, 
 or, as the Greeks called them, Karrjyopiai. 
 
iment, if 
 heinous, 
 actions, 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 i6i 
 
 ■mi 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Private actions ; and tlie various subjects they embraced— 
 Comprehensive character of Grecian law. 
 
 Private actions were called At/cat, and, like the 
 others, were of different kinds. There was the 'ASt/c/a?, 
 which was an action against the person who gave the 
 first blow in a row or scuffle. Although the law 
 allowed no fixed sum of money for damages in such 
 cases, yet the complainant was permitted to set down 
 whatever amount he thought proper, the judges con- 
 trolling the sum according to the circumstances of 
 the case. There was also a form of private action 
 called KuT'q'yopia, which was for offensive or reproach- 
 ful words, such as giving the lie, and so forth. This 
 was doubtless for the prevention of quarrelling, for 
 offensive words lead to blows. The form of action 
 designated B\,a/8»;?, was for the redress of injury done 
 to the property or private interests of individuals, 
 such as to turn water upon a maii's land ; to refuse 
 to pay m ney when due, or to give it to a third party ; 
 to promise to give testimony in a suit, and yet to be 
 absent at the time of trial, thereby causing the loss 
 of the suit, and so on. The action of TJ apa/caTaOfiKJ} 
 relat-^d to pawnbrokers and usurers ; and that of 
 'Attottoai ./ to divorces, which would appear to have 
 
 M 
 
,<*. •'>■"* 
 
 1 62 
 
 Grekce and the Greeks. 
 
 been of frequent occurrence among the Athenians. 
 The Ka«a>o-t? was an action for ill-treatment of 
 parents ; that is, this form of action was brought by 
 parents against their children for not relieving them 
 when oppressed by poverty ; also by wives against 
 their husbands, and pupils against their tutors. KXavt] 
 was the name of the action for theft ; which, if com- 
 mitted by night was punishable by death ; but not 
 so if committed by day. The action %/3eoi;<? was 
 for extortion, according to an Athenian law which 
 provided against overcharges for goods or money. 
 Solon had once permitted that any person might 
 make the best use of his money, which he called 
 a-rdcTL/xov apyvpiou ; but this unlimited permission to 
 gain was afterwards restricted. The action 'Evfi/SoXaloDv 
 BiKij WH'^ for the violation of the terms of a bargain. The 
 Swt^'yt'c -rrapa^daeax;, or violation of articles, was when 
 agreements for the division of inheritances between 
 man and man, or of commercial intercourse between 
 city and city, were broken. Of the latter kind was 
 the stipulation of commercial reciprocity between the 
 Carthaginians and Romans. These agreements were 
 generally confirmed by oath made by each to the 
 other. The 'EinBtKaa-ia was when daughters inherited 
 property from their parents, and their relatives dis- 
 puted as to who were nearest in blood to them, in 
 order to be united with them in marriage. Hence 
 a young voman to whom an hcritance had fallen 
 was termed iTl8iKo<;, that is, disputed. There was a 
 form of action relating to the letting of houses. It 
 was taken against the guardians of orphans who 
 neglected to let, or obtain sufficient rent for the 
 
 I 
 
 ,i#^'' 
 
#>\ 
 
 '. .^M 
 
 M^*ad^ ■,:■*' 
 
 W5n;.^„"'^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 163 
 
 houst. z left for the education and support of orphans. 
 It was usual in Athens to place a notice over the 
 doors of houses that were to be let ; such as, " This 
 house is to be let," as is the custom with us to-day. 
 Another form of action had relation to frauds com- 
 mitted by guardians upon orphans given to their 
 charge by dying parents. It was the custom in 
 ancient times for parents, when drawing towards the 
 end of life, to deliver their children into the hands 
 of some person in whom they had confidence, and to 
 entreat them to watch over them with tenderness, 
 and to supply them with whatever they might want. 
 But among the Athenians the practice was to no- 
 minate the guardians in the wills ; and if they i '^.der- 
 took the charge, they were bound under pe "^alr' vc 
 perform the duties of it faithfully and honesth vVe 
 find that Demosthenes sued his guardian for {i.-u-^lu- 
 lent conduct in the discharge of his duties. But if 
 this action of iirnpoirrj, as it as called, was noc 
 taken within five years after the ward became of age, 
 the guardir.n was exempt from all punishment. 
 There was also a specific form of action, which was 
 taken by a master against his slave whom he had 
 made free, when such manumitted slave neglected 
 his duty. Demosthenes says, that it was in the nature 
 of slaves when possessed of their freedom not only 
 to act with ingratitude towards those who had given 
 them their freedom, but even to entertain feelings of 
 hatred for them, as being t '. persons who were 
 especially cognisant of their former servitude. An 
 act was therefore passed, whereby a freed man who 
 was convicted of ingratitude should be again reduced 
 
 M 2 
 
t 
 
 mm 
 
 !l 
 
 ■.4 
 
 
 164 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 to a state of bondage. The Romans had a similar 
 law, and this punishment they called maxijna capitis 
 diminution the greatest diminution of liberty. Valerius 
 Maximus, in referring to this law among the Greeks, 
 says, " What a memorable law is that of the /\thenians, 
 by which a freedman convicted of ingratitude by his 
 master, is divested of the privilege of freedom." 
 There was a form of action for the recovery of the 
 interest of her dowry, by a wife who had been put 
 away by her husband. It was the custom among the 
 Greeks, when a man put away his wife, to return her 
 dowry ; or, if he neglected this he was obliged to pay 
 a monthly sum for her support in the proportion of 
 nine oboli to every pound ; thi j was called the revenue 
 of her dowry. There were forms of action in reference 
 to rent due on a house, and on land. There was also 
 a form of action by which a claim of right was made 
 to the house or land. The defendant, notwiths+^and- 
 ing his being served with these writs, could hold 
 possession of the house or land ; but upon his being 
 cast upon a trial called k^ovKt]^, he was compelled to 
 give up possession. 
 
 'E|ouA.7;<f was also the name of a writ of executiiBi 
 against a person who had lost his cause in court, and 
 was fined a thousand drachmas, which he was to pay 
 on a day fixed, neglecting which this writ was issued, 
 under which entry was made upon his lands and 
 possessions. This form of action was also used for 
 other purposes of a somewhat similar nature. 
 
 The action of confirmation of right was that by 
 which, if any one bargained for the purchase of any 
 article of merchandise, and another questioned the 
 
 |. 
 
 V^^' 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 165 
 
 right of the seller to dispose of it, it was competent 
 for him to oblige the seller to prove this right ; other- 
 wise the seller was liable to this form of action. It 
 was also customary with the Athenians to give 
 " earnest " for what they bought ; which was a secu- 
 rity that the thing purchased was to be made over to 
 the purchaser. But the usual practice was to pay 
 the full price down. There was another form of action 
 taken by the relatives of a person dying without 
 issue, in order to ascertain the ne irest relative by 
 blood for the purpose of secui ,ng the inheritance. 
 There were several forms of writ connected with this 
 subject, V lich it is unnecessar . to recount. The 
 writ calle\l 'KTrpoardaiov, which was against strangers 
 who neglected to provide themselves with patrons ; 
 for the law compelled 11 strangers arri\ ing in Athens 
 to put themselves under the protection of a patron ; 
 otherwise they were liable to prosecution as dan- 
 gerous characters ; and if convicted, their goods were 
 confiscated to the treasury of the city. 
 
 Thert were forms of actions against judges who 
 had taken bribes, and the persons who had given 
 them The writ, or action of 'Ap7ia?, was that which 
 was ta!<en against idlers, who, if convicted, were 
 deprived of the privile^r'^M of the city. Solon 
 amended this law, .vhich U 1 been made by Draco, 
 and made the loss of privilege consequent only upon 
 the third conviction Of the other various forms 
 and causes of action which prevailed among the 
 Greeks it would be tedious as well as unprofitable to 
 enter into the detail. It is only necessary to say 
 that every possible relation of man to man, and of 
 
il 
 
 1 66 
 
 Greece and tfie Greeks. 
 
 individuals to the State, was provided for by enact- 
 ments of law and modes of procedure, in order to 
 insure the rights and liberties of the people in their 
 private and public capacities, and to promote the 
 general welfare of the Commonwealth. Whether it was 
 as regarded «'». state of peace or of warfare, internal or 
 external relations, family altercations, the rights of 
 citizenship, or private interests, all were provided for 
 with a discriminating foresight which prevented the 
 possibility of disorder by anticipating every circum- 
 stance which, in the management of human affairs, 
 might tend to create it. As the laws of a people afford 
 the best index to their social condition, and to the 
 degree of civiliz.it^ion z* which ^-l.ey have arrived, we 
 cannot contemplate those of the ancient Athenians 
 without feelings of highest admiration for the lofty 
 position in the domain of civilization which they had 
 attained at an early period of their history. 
 
 >!*. 
 
Greece and the Gkeeks. 
 
 167 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The elements of Grecian greatness — Early civilization of Greece 
 — Her secular and religious culture. 
 
 We have seen the large space which this won- 
 derful people devoted to the exercise of religious 
 rites, and the worship of their gods ; we have seen 
 them strive with wondrous effort to penetrate the 
 regions of an impalpable world without other aid 
 than that which a strong and ardent imagination 
 afforded them ; and again we behold them, in the 
 various phases of their daily life, exhibiting the quali- 
 ties and characteristics of a people imbued with the 
 most sterling virtue, enlightened with the brightest 
 intelligence, and aiming at the loftiest destiny within 
 the reach of humanity. This is not a picture of the 
 fancy. The li^ht which through nearly thirty cen- 
 turies has passed down to our time, and which has 
 preserved its splendours undiminished and unequalled 
 through that passage of years, can be no igiiis fatuus, 
 no deceptive illumination, no fantasy of the imagina- 
 tion. The poetic fire which burned in the brain of 
 Homer ; the philosophy wh ich flowed from the lips 
 of Socrates and of Plato ; the eloquence which glowed 
 on the tongue of Demosthenes ; the inspiration which 
 Hghted on the pencil of Apelles, and the chisel of 
 
1 68 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Praxiteles ; — these are evidences of a j^enius and 
 culture which place the Grecian name on the loftiest 
 pedestal of human glory. If Grecian philosophy had 
 disappeared in the wave of time ; if Grecian poetry 
 had been but the wonder of an age, and had, like 
 the play of a rocket, maintained but a temporary 
 splendour ; if Grecian eloquence had only warmed 
 and fascinated the age in which it flourished, and was 
 not informed with that ever-living spirit which is of 
 all time ; if the chisel of the statuary and the pencil 
 of the painter were but the commonplace implements 
 of a day, and not the medium of an inspiration as 
 brilliant as it was imperishable ; then indeed might 
 the glory of Greece be regarded as a passing meteor, 
 and her fame but as the fleeting form of a midnight 
 vision. It is wise, as it is interesting, therefore, to 
 inquire into the causes which conspired to create this 
 transcendent splendour, this immortality of fame 
 which rests on the name of Greece : whence came the 
 impulse which bade her spring forward in the path 
 of glory, and outstrip all competition in the career of 
 fame. In the minute details into which I have 
 hitherto entered in the course of these pages on her 
 history, internal polity, social regulations, customs, 
 superstitions, and laws, I have had for aim the de- 
 velopment of those principles which constituted the 
 materials of her greatness and renown. I have not 
 spoken of her wars, becau c I do not regard them as 
 forming any part of that undercuirent of events 
 which contributed to her substantial merits. They 
 were but the result of her inherent virtues ; the 
 evidence, so to speak, of that course of training 
 
 1 t^^^i 
 
Grkece and tiik Gkekks. 
 
 169 
 
 which formed and constituted her essential character. 
 The Persian invasion did not create, because it 
 could not create, the powers and the influences which 
 called up Grecian valour in defence of Grecian liber- 
 ties : it was only an occasion for summoning them 
 into action in a new field ; and for displaying their 
 strength in the battle plain, as it had been displayed 
 before in the field of domestic and social polity. If 
 Education had not reared her throne on the Attic 
 soil, Patriotism would have had no temple for her 
 worship. 
 
 The savage would have defended his hut and the 
 ofifspring of his blood against external as well as 
 internal assault ; but the savage would not have 
 fought in the spirit of the Athenian ; his resistance 
 would not have been guided by the same exalted 
 motives, or persevered in with the same undying 
 enthusiasm. Education, exalted and spiritualized by 
 the infusion of the religious sentiment, gave to the 
 patriotism of the Greeks that proud elevation and 
 sublime endurance to which no efforts of a barbarous 
 people could ever attain. If Homer gave immorta- 
 lity to Grecian prowess in the battle plain of Phrygia, 
 it was not the passage of arms on that field of war 
 that inspired the genius of the immortal bard. If the 
 Macedonian invasion fired the eloquence of Demos- 
 thenes, and caused the thunders of that eloquence to 
 resound through successive centuries, fixing the 
 attention of mankind up to the present hour, and 
 bidding fair to transmit its reverberations to the last 
 period of time, it was not the war of Philip, it was not 
 the rush of invading hordes that produced the ele- 
 
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r 
 
 o 
 
 '^^/^ Mr 
 
I/O 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 ments of which that eloquence was composed. No ; 
 the sublime spirit of both poet and orator sprang 
 from a loftier, a purer region ; a region where educa- 
 tion at once unfolded and invigorated the powers and 
 faculties of the mind and soul, assisted by a religion 
 of the most imposing and inspiriting character. A 
 strange system of worship did this religion involve, no 
 doubt ; but in raising the mind to the contemplation of 
 a higher, a more glorified world, it enlarged and re- 
 fined the intellect ; it awakened the heart to a com- 
 munion with beings of a superior order ; and created 
 that enthusiasm of glory which despised the common- 
 place pursuits of this life unless hallowed by the 
 glory reflected from the life to come. 
 
 , il 
 
 j f H i g-j. - JL i — i mM m 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 171 
 
 ■M 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Greek Courtship- 
 
 -Philtres, ard Love Potions — Forms of 
 betrothal. 
 
 The ancient Greeks practised various ceremonies in 
 courtship and love-making, and dealt extensively in 
 charms, and philtrations or love-drinks. They ob- 
 served various signs, too, as indicative of love, or the 
 contrary. The manner of untying the garland at a 
 feast, and the tinkling of the ear, were carefully noted 
 as certain evidences connected with the feeling of 
 love. In order to ascertain whether the person be- 
 loved entertained a corresponding feeling the lover 
 took some kind of leaf, and placing it on the fore- 
 finger and thumb of the left hand, struck it with the 
 right ; if it emitted a sound, it was considered a good 
 omen ; but otherwise it was regarded as unfavour- 
 able. It was also a common practice at their feasts 
 to try their luck in this respect by the cross-beam 
 and brass statue. It was done in this way : they 
 fastened a stick upright in the ground, and placed 
 another horizontally across it, with a pair of scales ; 
 beneath each scale was a bowl of water, and a brass gilt 
 statue called Manes. Those who were desirous of 
 ascertaining to which of them some particular female 
 was disposed to give her affections, took each a 
 
172 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 brazen goblet filled with wine, and standing at some 
 distance from the balance drank a portion of the wine, 
 and turning suddenly around flung the remainder 
 into one of the scales. Whichever of them performed 
 this feat with the greatest dexterity so as to cause 
 the scale to descend and strike the head of the 
 statue, sprinkling it at the same time with a portion 
 of the wine, was deemed the successful competitor ; 
 and he had accordingly his Kord^tov, or cake, the 
 usual reward of victory in such cases, awarded to him. 
 The liquor was sometimes merely flung on the 
 ground, and if it made a loud plash it was considered 
 a successful omen, as in the case of the leaf. Much 
 advantage was attributed to the obtaining possession 
 of something belonging to the young woman : but the 
 skilful operation of the eyes was deemed of unsur- 
 passinj^ efficacy. They were called 6vpai r^<? '«f"ux'7*>» 
 the doors of the soul. 
 
 Lucian says that the sight is the first step in 
 Cupid's ladder of love ; " the eye," he says, " kindles 
 love." But the artillery of the eyes could not be 
 brought into play unless the parties came into 
 juxta-position ; q.nd accordingly we find that it was 
 the custom in those times, as well as in our own, 
 for t^e young man to visit the fair object, whose 
 affections he wished to win, at the house of her 
 parents. It was the peculiar ofiice of the daughter to 
 attend t j the duties of hospitality, and to place the 
 wine-cup before the stranger. The old couple having 
 drunk, the young woman put the cup to her lips, and 
 passed it to the stranger ; who, observing the side at 
 which she had touched it, took care to press it to his 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 173 
 
 lips at the same side. TJiis they called the " missive 
 kiss." 
 
 During all this time the eye is kept in play ; and 
 the adventurous youth is calculating his success by 
 its oscillations. The tongue is next brought into 
 requisition ; and touching tales of other days, and 
 songs high-flavoured with sentiment, are told and 
 sung. He next presses her hand, and communicates 
 his feelings through that sensitive medium ; and re- 
 ceives or judges of hers in turn. Philtres and incan- 
 tations played their part, too, in this business of love- 
 making ; and we find that the iiry^, a kind of spar- 
 row, occupied no mean position in the important 
 work, its tongue being used for the purpose of creat- 
 ing the tender affection in the bosom of the fair 
 one. It was wrapped, with the paring of her nails, 
 around her ring ; and was considered to be of infal- 
 lible efficacy. This bird was also sometimes tied to 
 a wheel which was to whirl round, while an incanta- 
 tion was pronounced. In short, the charms used 
 among the ancients for the purposes of love were of 
 an almost endless variety. To some of us these 
 practices may appear extremely nonsensical ; but 
 they are certainly not more so than the similar prac- 
 tices which have prevailed more or less in every age 
 and every country, eVen to the present day. The 
 women of Thessaly were noted among the ancients 
 for the pic*'-tice and preparation of love potions, as 
 were also those of Egypt. Those potions were made 
 of the juice of certain herbs ; and their effect was 
 sometimes injurious to the persons to whom they 
 were administered, even so much so as to produce in- 
 
174 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 sanity. But in such cases there were also counter- 
 charms employed, which had the effect of nullifying 
 the evil consequences of the potion. 
 
 The tender and solicitous attachment of the 
 young Athenian women to their lovers, when their 
 affections were once enlisted, is a subject of frequent 
 remark with the ancient writers. They sent them 
 frequent tokens of their attachment, such as garlands 
 and roses, and writings breathing the fondest endear- 
 ment. They also presented them with different kinds 
 of birds, and most especially the dove. Their names 
 were even pronounced with tenderness, and written 
 on every wall and tree. The men, too, had their 
 sweethearts' names always on their lips ; and inscribed 
 their names even on the leaves of trees, as Callimachus 
 
 has it. 
 
 Let on the leaves so many letters lie 
 As my Cydippe fair may signify. 
 
 Lucian, in reference to a love-sick swain whose fair 
 idol was Cnidia Venus, says, " There was not a wall 
 which was not engraven with her name, nor the bark 
 of a tree which did not proclaim, O Venus fair ! " 
 We are told that Apollo himself had recourse to a 
 similar alleviation of his love-sickness ; he even in- 
 scribed his sighs upon the leaves of a flower, — At ! At ! 
 fios habet inscriptuni, "Alas ! Aias ! are the words in- 
 scribed on the flower." As soon as the lovers were 
 engaged to be married, the young man, in the presence 
 of witnesses, promised to be true and faithful to his 
 betrothed after marriage ; while the parent or guar- 
 dian of the young woman, acting in her behalf, pro- 
 mised for her, or bestowed her upon him. Some- 
 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 175 
 
 times they both went into the temple, and mutually 
 pledged themselves by the solemn sanction of an 
 oath ;— the young man, that he would love her sin- 
 cerely ; and the young woman, that she would rever- 
 ence and obey him. We are informed that it was 
 customary among the Galatians on similar occasions 
 to pledge their truth in a cup, called th.QncQ poailmn cort' 
 jugii, the marriage-cup ; and among the Macedo- 
 nians to divide a loaf with a sword, and to take each 
 one half. 
 
"■UK 
 
 IHM 
 
 176 
 
 Grekce and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Marriage ceremonies — Interchange of bridal presents — Song to 
 Hymen — Wedding festivities. 
 
 All things having been thus far arranged according 
 to custom, the marriage ceremony was next gone 
 through. The parents of the betrothed led her into 
 the temple of Minerva, as if to pay a last visit to the 
 virgin goddess on her withdrawing herself from her 
 service. A heifer calf that had never known the 
 yoke was next offered in sacrifice to the goddess 
 Diana, together with a lock of the young woman's 
 hair. Then Venus and the Graces were to be pro- 
 pitiated by sacrifices ; as was also Juno, who was 
 supposed to be the protectress of young brides, as 
 well as of mothers. The Fates, too, were not to be 
 passed over in this general work of propitiation, but 
 were to be sacrificed to, that they might not cut 
 short the thread of life, but extend it to the utmost 
 limit. Among the v/hole group of divinities, however, 
 the one held in most especial reverence was Juno. 
 Her name was ever on the tongues of lovers, and 
 most fondly appealed to at the time of their union in 
 marriage. 
 
 " My Juno ! " and " My Jupiter ! " were constant and 
 favourite appellations, and terms of endearment be- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 ^n 
 
 tween lovers. Bridal and marriage gifts were also 
 interchanged between the parties. The gifts called 
 r^afirfKia were those sent by the bride to the public 
 directors of feasts for the purpose of being admitted 
 into the tribe of her husband. The gifts called eSm 
 were those given by either party at tlie time of the 
 nuptials, or during the period of courtship. The wife 
 also bestowed a garment upon the husband known 
 by the name of eSj/tov yt'^tav. It was indeed a 
 common rij«5tom in ancient times for persons be- 
 trothed to make similar presents. We find it recorded 
 in Genesis (chapter xxv.) that the servant of Abraham, 
 when he had discovered her who was to be the wife of 
 his master's son, Isaac, presented her with presents, 
 " gold, ear-rings, and bracelets ; " and also with 
 "vessels of silver and gold ; " and with "garments." 
 Those gifts given by the Athenian bride to her hus- 
 band were called <^epvai And this recalls a word 
 of frequent use among the peasantry of Ireland, 
 namely, the word phern or fairin, which signifies a 
 gift or present given upon certain festive occasions. 
 This coincidence of expression and similarity of 
 meaning in the languages and customs of nations so 
 remote and distinct as the ancient Greeks and Irish 
 are calculated to awaken some curious speculative 
 inquiries. Those coincidences are very frequent 
 and such as cannot be ascribed to mere accident. 
 Uron the arrival of the bride at the house of her 
 husband, she underwent at his hands and those of 
 her friends the ceremony of unveiling. This cere- 
 mony took place on the third day after her marriage. 
 Previously to that the betrothed should appear always 
 
 N 
 
i;8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 covered in the presence of her husband. This veil 
 was called eavos, and was similar to that worn by 
 Rebecca when she first met with Isaac on her 
 approach to the house of his father. The reason 
 assigned for this custom is that the modesty indi- 
 cated by the veiling of the face was calculated to 
 increase the admiration and affection of the husband 
 for his wife. She was conveyed to her husband's 
 house in a carriage, the driver carrying a torch in his 
 hand, amid the chanting of bridal songs. When 
 the carriage arrived at the bridegroom's door the 
 axle-tree was immediately broken and burnt, to 
 signify that the bride was to remain there, and never 
 to leave it. The bridesman generally sat in the 
 carriage by the side of the bridegroom, or rode in 
 another carriage beside that of the bride, it being his 
 duty to lead her home to the house of her husband. 
 If she happened to be the bridegroom's second wife, 
 it was invariably the custom for the bridesman to 
 perform this office of le'?,ding hpr home ; for the hus- 
 band himself in such case would be ashamed to be 
 present, as it was considered discreditable to a maii 
 to marry a second time. She was also accompanied 
 by her bridesmaid, whose duty it was to take off her 
 veil, and perform for her such other offices as were 
 deemed necessary. Ker bridal adornments consisted 
 of jewels and precious stones ; and her bed was 
 decorated with similar ornaments. Her wedding- 
 dress was of purple cloth bespangled with gold. 
 This description of course applies to the wealthy 
 classes, for, as amongst ourselves, poor people had 
 poor weddings. Upon her arrival at the house of 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 179 
 
 her husband she found the door and doorposts hung 
 with garlands. This custom of decorating the house 
 with garlands was also prevalent among the Romans ; 
 but the Christians, according to TertulHan, con- 
 demned the practice. This garland was composed, 
 among the Greeks, of the plant atja-anov, sesame or 
 watermint ; but o^ verbane among the Romans ; and 
 of asparagus among the Boeotians. The marriage- 
 cake was also made of the fruit of the ^^same plant. 
 Among the Romans it was customary to comb the 
 hair of the bride with a spi ir : and this custom, 
 according to some, was likewise pt-ovalent among the 
 Greeks, It originated from tl^ eling of the sub- 
 jection which the wife owed to tii 'lusband ; or from 
 the desire that the male issue of their marriage 
 should become brave men, the spear being the 
 emblem of bravery in men. When the bride was 
 about to depart from her father's house, .she was 
 lifted over the threshold, to indicate that it was by 
 force she was withdrawn from the paternal roof: 
 hence the expression used among the Romans, 
 ducere nxorein, to lead a wife, which was employed 
 to convey the idea of a man's getting married. 
 
 The casting of figs and sweetmeats upon the head 
 of the bride by the young people, when she entered her 
 husband's house, was also a common ceremony among 
 the Greeks. Then followed the nuptial sacrifice ; 
 which was deemed essential for the- completion of the 
 marriage. In cutting up the victim, it was made an 
 indispensable point of observance to throw the gall 
 behind the altar ; which was intended to indicate that 
 no bitterness or discord should exist between the 
 
 N 2 
 
 .i 
 
:mffmmmm 
 
 180 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 married couple, but that their lives should be marked 
 by a sweetness of disposition and the absence of all 
 rancorous feelinjjs. Jupiter and Juno were the 
 divinities to whom their prayers were especially 
 directed in this nuptial sacrifice, as it was upon 
 these they reposed their hopes of a happy and 
 prosperous life, and of a blooming offspring. Any 
 interruption given to the parties during these cere- 
 monies /as deemed highly irreverent, so much so 
 that any claim upon the husband or wife, especially 
 the latter, could not then be executed without great 
 profanation ; nor indeed was the least incivility of any 
 kind permissible on such occasions. This is evidenced 
 by the story relating to Callicles, who, having been 
 accused of bribery to the Court of the Areopagus, and 
 officers having been despatched for the purpose of 
 apprehending him and bringing him before the Court 
 to answer to the charge, was not put under arrest in 
 consequence of his being found engaged in the nuptial 
 sacrifice. The officers seeing the garlands upon the 
 door, and being told that the sacrifice was being 
 offered, returned to the Court, who were satisfied with 
 the reason given for deferring the arrest. Indeed the 
 Greeksweremostdelicatelyscrupulousaboutall matters 
 connected with husband and wife. We are informed 
 that during their wars with Philip of Macedon, when 
 some letters of his were intercepted, and were in course 
 of being read in the court, one, addressed to his wife 
 Olympia, was not allowed to be opened, but was sent 
 back to him with the seal unbroken. They deemed 
 nothing more inexcusable or more opposed to just and 
 honourable feeling than any interference with the 
 
GkEtCIi AND THE GkKKKS. 
 
 l8l 
 
 secrets of married people ; nor was any consideration 
 of sufficient weii^ht with them to justify the violation 
 of this noble and honourable principle. The sacrifice 
 having been performed, the bridal banquet followed ; 
 and the Genius of married life was propitiated with 
 flowing bowls and songs. The cake was carried 
 around in a basket by a boy crowned with a garland 
 of thorns, and bearing acorn boughs, and singing as 
 he went, " They have avoided evil, and met with a 
 better fate." Then was chanted the song to Hymen, 
 the presiding deity of marriage, 'T/Jktjv, w "Tfiivaie, 
 S) "Tfjir]v, " Hymen, O nuptial Hymen, O Hymen." 
 This song to Hymen, or one similar to it, was also a 
 part of the marriage ceremony of the Romans, Talas- 
 sius being by them substituted for Hymen. When the 
 bride was conducted to her chamber, a sieve was also 
 carried there with hei, and a pestle was hung at the 
 door ; which were intended to signify that she was 
 thenceforth expected to assist her husband in the 
 management of his domestic affairs, and to be ready 
 to put her hand to any kind of labour. When the 
 husband entered the chamber he divided a quince 
 apple with the wife, which they both ate : this, says 
 Plutarch, was an indication of the sweetness and 
 harmony which at first should characterize their 
 conversation. Should a chough or crow, however, 
 send forth its harsh notes even at this moment, it 
 was deemed a bad omen, and the bridal pair 
 separated for that time. But to prevent this mis- 
 chance boys were sent around the house to scare 
 away this bird, crying, "The virgin diives away the 
 crow." After the eating of the quince apple, the 
 
i82 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Vide took a hot bath, the water being brought from 
 tl 2 Callirrhoe well, which was a spring rema.!cable 
 . or the clearness and purity of its water. The 
 jride's mother then took off the lace or tie which 
 bound her daughter's hair, and wrapping it around 
 one of the torches which she carried, had it con- 
 sumed in the flame, while she bound up the hair 
 with a new lace. After *' '« the iirLdaXd/xioUi or 
 marriage song, was sung by boys and girls outside 
 the chamber door, with great noise and merriment. 
 The next day the wedding festivities were renewed, 
 and gifts, consisting of suits of clothes, and various 
 articles of household necessity, were presented to the 
 bride. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 183 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Times and seasons appointed for marriage among the ancients 
 — The age at which Greek women were deemed marriage- 
 able — Dowry, and other conditions of marriage. 
 
 The period of the year deemed most propitious by 
 the Greeks for the celebration of marriages was the 
 first month of winter. Not that they regarded it as 
 absolutely improper to marry in any other season, or 
 month ; but like almost every other people, both 
 ancient and modern, they thought it right to devote 
 one particular part of the year for this purpose, 
 although they were not restricted to this, but might 
 marry at any other time. The custom of the Per- 
 sians, however, was different in this respect, for the 
 Spring was the season appropriated by them for this 
 purpose. Among the Romans there was one month 
 only in the whole year which they looked upon as 
 unpropitious for marriages ; and that was the month 
 of May. But the Greeks had no prejudice of this sort, 
 their only care being, besides that of observing the 
 first month of the winter, that the marriage should 
 take place at the full of the moon, and in the latter 
 part of the day. 
 
 The Greeks were entirely averse to forming matri- 
 monial alliances with strangers ; and they had accord- 
 
 1 
 
1 84 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 ingly a law wliich provided that, if a stranger entered 
 into marriage with a Greek woman, both his goods 
 and himself were sold, and the third part of what they 
 brought was to be given to the informer. The age 
 at which it was competent for a man to become a 
 husband was thirty-five ; and this was fixed by law. 
 Aristotle says it was thirty-seven ; and Hesiod 
 observes that a little more or less was of no con- 
 sequence. The woman, if an heiress, or an only 
 daughter, could be married only to her nearest of kin. 
 If there were two or more suitors standing in the same 
 relation to her, then the question was referred for de- 
 cision to one of the chief magistrates. It was for- 
 bidden a man to marry a second wife while the first 
 was still living with him. The law on this subject 
 rendered the man so acting aTt/i,o<?, that is, degraded 
 and disqualified for places of honour. The age at 
 which women were considered marriageable among 
 the Greeks was that of twenty-six, though they fre- 
 quently married at an earlier age. Aristotle con- 
 sidered that they might marry at eighteen, though he 
 was in favour of a more advanced age ; while Hesiod 
 thought sixteen a proper matrimonial age. It was 
 necessary that the wife should be a free woman in 
 order to entitle her to the rights of a matron ; other- 
 wise, she was held as «t^j/o<?, not ya/xer'q, that is, 
 chattel, not a wife. If she were a stranger, she would 
 be compelled to pay a fine of one thousand drachmas 
 to the city. Although it was not permitted at a later 
 period, yet we find that at the time of Socrates it was 
 not unusual for the husband to take a second consort 
 hito his household. Socrates himself is reported to 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 185 
 
 have done this ; and from various instances given of 
 it by some of the most popular of the ancient writers, 
 it is evident that the practice was pretty general. It 
 was also permitted to marry half-sisters, not by the 
 mother's, but by the father's side, .^milius Probus 
 mentions the marriage of Cymon to his sister Elpinice, 
 and says, 71am Atheniensibus licet eodem patre natas 
 uxores ducere, " for it is lawful among the Athenians 
 for a man to marry his sister by the father's side," 
 
 Still, there is sufficient reason to believe that this 
 was not a common practice ; but that, on the contrary, 
 it was looked upon by the Greeks as a barbarous 
 custom. It was also necessary that the wife should 
 have been legitimately born, in order to entitle her to 
 the rights and dignity of a matron. No woman with- 
 out dowry or marriage portion was regarded with 
 favour by the Athenians. She should be either an 
 heiress, and therefore entitled to the whole estate of 
 her parents, or the possessor of some property derived 
 from her parents, in case she had a brother. It was 
 therefore deemed disparaging to a man to take for his 
 wife a woman who had neither of these qualifications ; 
 and in order to remove the stigma which a marriage 
 with such a person carried with it, it was usual with 
 the husband to have a marriage contract prepared, 
 signed, and witnessed, by which he made over to his 
 wife some house or land in exchange for her pre- 
 tended dowry. 
 
 I 
 
1 86 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Divorce, and its attendant circumstances — The care of the 
 household the peculiar province of the Greek women — The 
 solicitude with which the Greeks guarded the purity and 
 honour of their women. 
 
 Divorce was looked upon by the Greeks as highly 
 improper ; yet, it sometimes happened that a husband 
 and a wife did separate at the option of either. When 
 the separation was sought for and effected by the 
 husband, it was not considered in so heinous a light 
 as when proceeding from the wife. In the latter case 
 it was held in the utmost abhorrence. 
 
 We have seen that it was looked upon as disgraceful 
 in a man to marry again, even after the death of his 
 first wife ; but should he have married after putting 
 away his wife, he was regarded with the utmost con- 
 tempt. In consequence of the severity with which the 
 old established usage in these cases pressed upon the 
 wife, an enactment was passed by which she was re- 
 lieved from much of the hardship which had formerly 
 attended her condition. If she could prove before 
 certain judges, appointed by the Archon for that pur- 
 pose, that she had strong justifiable grounds for de- 
 manding a separation, then she was not only favoured 
 by a bill of divorce, but was entitled to have her dowry 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 187 
 
 e of the 
 len— The 
 Jrity and 
 
 highly 
 usband 
 
 When 
 by the 
 a h'ght 
 er case 
 
 raceful 
 of his 
 utting 
 it con- 
 ch the 
 )n the 
 as re- 
 medy 
 >efore 
 pur- 
 r de- 
 •ured 
 Dwry 
 
 paid to her, or a monthly maintenance as long as that 
 should be withheld from her. The Greek wives were 
 intolerant of servile occupations ; that is, they could 
 not endure such employments as they deemed un- 
 worthy of their natural sphere of exertion. The 
 management of the household and of domestic affairs 
 was considered by them as their legitimate province. 
 And as the husband was never expected to concern 
 himself with inside-door business, so the wife felt that 
 she should not be called upon to take part in any 
 work outside the house. Yet we find that it was not 
 an unusual thing with the Greek women to take part 
 in out-of-door work ; which, however, they made the 
 subject of bitter repining. Carrying water on the 
 head was a part of the labour they were compelled 
 to undergo, as it was also that of the Roman women. 
 This custom a nong the women of the present time, 
 in some countries at least, seems to have been minutely 
 copied from the ancients ; for at present, as in former 
 times, they carry the pitcher, or vessel, filled with 
 water, on the top of the head, the hair being gathered 
 up, and twisted in circular folds beneath it. I have 
 often seen a woman balance in this way a large vessel 
 filled to the brim with water, and walk steadily along 
 with her arms akimbo, or folded over her breast. 
 
 The position of the Greek wife, however, and her 
 exemption from servile occupations, depended very 
 much upon the dower or fortune which she brought 
 to her husband ; for we find Hermione, in Euripides, 
 reproach Andromache with her want of fortune, and 
 the condition in which she was thus necessarily placed : 
 " My father," she says, " supplied me with many gifts, 
 
 I 
 
i8S 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 that having been free of my hand, I might be free of 
 my tongue too ; but you who brought nothing here 
 with you must go out of doors." 
 
 But the care and management of the household 
 affairs, as I have said, was the peculiar province of the 
 Greek matrons. To busy themselves with all matters 
 connected v;ith the internal order and arrangement of 
 the house was deemed by them not only necessary, 
 but even honourable. The carding and spinning of 
 wool and weaving it intc cloth were operations to 
 which they seem to have been especially favourable, 
 and in which they occupied a large portion of their 
 time. The Romat: matrons, too, were partial to this 
 description of labour, and, like the Greek women, were 
 capable of executing fabrics of exquisite taste and 
 workmanship. 
 
 We find that Creusa, the daughter of Erectheus, 
 king of Athens, and Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, a 
 Grecian prince, were expert hands at the loom ; and 
 that they regarded the employment of weaving as 
 becoming their station. Now, we are not to take 
 these domestic operations of the matrons of ancient 
 times in the light of mere fanciful employments, or to 
 imagine that they occupied themselves merely on 
 works of an ornamental natureforthe purpose of adorn- 
 ing their persons, and setting off their charms to win the 
 admiration of the other sex, or gratify any feeling of 
 vanity. On the contrary, their productions were of a sub- 
 stantial kind, and partook rather of the useful than the 
 decorative ; for they wove and made their children's 
 clothes, and such articles of domestic use as came 
 within the sphere of a provident and careful housewife. 
 
 L 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 189 
 
 The jealousy with which the ancient Greeks guarded 
 their wives and daughters from contact with the ex- 
 ternal world is a remarkable feature in their social 
 and moral habits. The matrons, as well as the un- 
 married women, had their separate apartments, where 
 they passed their time in those employments referred 
 to, or in such quiet and unostentatious amusements as 
 were suitable to their age, and necessary for their 
 health. We find in the works of their poets rather 
 curious instances of severity in this respect. In fact, 
 it was not permitted them to go abroad except on 
 rare occasions, and then they were to be attended by 
 their maids, and decorated with all the ornaments 
 which, according to established usage, appertained to 
 female dress. Whenever they violated these regula- 
 tions they were subjected to a fine at the instance 
 of certain officers whose business it was to attend to 
 this. This regulation, with the fine attendant upon 
 its violation, was expressed in writing upon a tree in 
 the Ceramiciis. To go outside the door of the house 
 unaccompanied and unadorned, or even to look out at 
 the door or at a window, was considered among them a 
 violation of female propriety. The private apartment 
 of the women was up two stories high, so that they 
 might be deprived of easy access to the outer world, 
 and prevented from communication with any save those 
 immediately connected with the household. Indeed 
 such was the importance which the ancients attached 
 to the purity of the female character, and to the in- 
 violability of family honour, that there was nothing 
 more abhorrent to their sense of moral dignity and 
 self-respect than the contact which tended to destroy 
 
 1 
 
190 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 or weaken the virtuous sensibilities of their women. 
 They felt that any deviation from the right path, in 
 this respect, was but the commencement of a down- 
 ward career, whose ultimate result would be the de- 
 struction of the individual, and the obscuration of the 
 family name. With a solicitude, therefore, only 
 equalled by the magnitude of the object, they laid 
 down such principles, and thereby encouraged such 
 feelings, as they believed best calculated to secure the 
 end aimed at. Yet, notwithstanding all this precau- 
 tion on the part of the ancients for the preservation 
 o;' the family honour, and the prolongation of a race 
 of pure blood and untainted lineage, mischances some- 
 times occurred ; and the line of untainted succession was 
 occasionally broken. One of the striking instances of 
 this which their writers have presented to our notice 
 occurs in the seduction of Helen, the royal consort 
 of Menelaus, whence flowed that train of ills so 
 richly and copiously depicted in the pages of 
 Homer. The prominence in this, as in so many 
 cases of a similar kind, given by those writers to 
 the violation of matronly virtue and maiden chas- 
 tity, offers the most unerring clue to the feelings 
 and manners, the moral principles and laws of 
 honour, which characterized the age and country of 
 which they are recorded. " Solon," says Plutarch, 
 " made arrangements for the journeys of women, 
 and for their mournings and sacrifices ; and en- 
 deavoured to keep them clear of all irregularity 
 and excess. They were forbidden to go out of 
 town with more than three dresses ; the provisions 
 which they carr id with them were not to exceed 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 191 
 
 in value the sum of one obolus (one penny farthing) ; 
 and their ba'^kxt was not to be more than one cubit 
 (a ^oot and a half) high ; and in the night they were 
 not to travel except in a carriage, with a torch 
 carried before them." Whosoever by word or entice- 
 ment attempted to corrupt the honour of a woman, 
 or to destroy her virtue, was punished in the most 
 severe manner ; he might be even stoned to death 
 with impunity by the person who detected him in 
 the commission of so heinous an offence. And the 
 woman who listened to the voice of seduction, and 
 permitted the loss of her honour, was ever afterward 
 debarred from all the privileges of her sex. She was 
 not suffered to enter the temples of the gods ; nor 
 was she allowed to make her appearance anywhere 
 in the usual dress and ornaments of other women 
 whose virtue was not impugned. Or if she should 
 appear in such dress and ornaments, it was lawful for 
 any person to take them from her and tear them. If 
 she happened to be a married woman, her husband 
 was not permitted to live with her, under pain of being 
 declared arifio^, that is, a degraded person disqualified 
 from filling any office in the city. 
 
192 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Customs observed by Greek women before and after child-birth 
 — Sacrifices, purifications, and other practices on those 
 occasions. 
 
 Before the birth of their children the Greek women 
 p.iid especial devotion to the goddess Diana : they 
 sacrificed to her, and invoked her assistance under 
 thQ naime o( Ei/c'it/iuia [ixdeli/, to come). The Roman 
 women, too, worshipped this goddess under similar 
 circumstances, and under the name of Egeria, and 
 sometimes of Facilina. 
 
 The names thus given to this deity arose from the 
 various duties that she was expected to perform, as 
 well as from the different attributes which were 
 ascribed to her. So the Greeks called her not only 
 Eileitluiiay but also Prothuraia, Okulocheia, Genethlios, 
 and so on ; all expressive of her readiness to assist 
 at the delivery of children. Besides the sacrifices 
 offered to this goddess, there were others made to 
 the Tritopateres, or three fathers, whoever they were. 
 The husbands also had sacrifices to make, and devo- 
 tions to pay to the Nymphs on those occasions. The 
 women were forbidden to visit the temples for forty 
 days before child-birth ; and not afterwards until 
 they had undergone the ceremony of purification. It 
 
Greece and -i^tIe Greeks. 
 
 193 
 
 was their custom, during travail, to carry palm- 
 branches in their hands, for they attributed great 
 virtue to the palm-tree as being the emblem of victory. 
 The Roman women, however, appear to have car- 
 ried their superstitious rites and observances much 
 farther ; for there were various sprites and super- 
 natural beings about whose influence they were par- 
 ticularly solicitous ; so much so, indeed, that at the 
 moment of their child-birth they had three men placed 
 outside their chamber door, one with an axe, another 
 with a broom, and the third with a pestle, for the 
 purpose of beating and sweeping away those frightful 
 hobgoblins. Upon the birth of a male child great 
 joy was diffused throughout the domestic circle ; for 
 they looked upon male children as the foundation 
 and pillars of a family. The children when born were 
 dipped in water by the Athenians, but in wine by 
 the Spartans ; this latter practice taking its rise from 
 the belief that the children would be thereby im- 
 proved in strength. They were then anointed with 
 oil, and wrapped in a cloth which had been woven by 
 the mother before the marriage. If the child hap- 
 pened to be born when the State was engaged in a 
 war, he was placed, not in a cradle, but upon a shield, 
 which was regarded as an omen of fortitude ; but if 
 it were a season of peace, he was put upon a fan or 
 sieve, whicl. indicated peace and plenty. When five 
 days old he was carried about the hearth or fire- 
 place, the person who can'ied him exhibiting haste, as 
 if it was intended to lose no time in introducing him 
 to the Lares, or gods of the household. The house 
 was then decorated with garlands, and the relatives of 
 
 O 
 
 fj 
 
194 
 
 Greece Aisd the Greeks. 
 
 the family poured in their birth-gifts — ^evidXiai 
 86arei<{, as they were called — preparatory to the naming- 
 feast, or feast held for the purpose of celebrating the 
 occasion of giving a name to the infant. The presents 
 thus sent consisted principally of polypodes and 
 cuttle-fish. By polypodes is meant any animal or 
 vegetable with many feet or roots. These were 
 intended, I presume, to represent the f«!ture progress 
 and ramifications of the family. Doves, thrushes, 
 and coleworts with oil, and toasted pieces of Cherso- 
 nese cheese, were favourite dishes, we are told, on 
 those festive occasions. According to Aristotle's 
 account, the naming feast alluded to was kept on the 
 seventh day after the child was born. This was 
 esteemed a trying day ; that is, a child that lived and 
 continued in health up to the seventh day after its 
 birth was considered out of danger and likely to do 
 well. Aristophanes differs from Aristotle as to the 
 precise day on which the naming feast was held, the 
 lormer fixing it as the tenth day after the birth of the 
 child ; and this would appear to be founded in truth, 
 inasmuch as the day of the feast was called SeKarr], 
 that is, the tenth, by the Greeks. The Romans 
 celebrated a similar day under the designation of 
 Nomenalia. 
 
 The name usually selected for the eldest son was 
 that of the grandfather, although it was competent 
 for the father to choose any name he pleased for any 
 of his children. New names were often assumed by 
 the young people themselves when they grew up to 
 man's or woman's state ; or they sometimes changed 
 their first names, and lock others. The possessors 
 
 , 
 
GkliECE AND THE GREEKS. 
 
 •95 
 
 of slaves always gave them whatever names they 
 pleased, without regard to those by which they were 
 known before. Such names were derived either from 
 country, colour, so some characteristic quality ; or 
 sometimes from the day on which they were pur- 
 chased. Among the Romans, when a slave obtained 
 his freedom he obtained a new name, which was 
 chosen by himself; hence the taking of a new name 
 was, among them, a sign of freedom. It was also 
 usual for persons adopted into another family to take 
 the name of such family ; as it was with kings to 
 assume a new name upon their accession to the 
 throne : a custom also prevalent among the Persians. 
 The ancients were also tenaciously observant of the 
 rite of purification after child-birth ; so much so, that 
 until this rite was performed the mother was not per- 
 mitted to go among the people, but was looked upon 
 as a miasma, or source of infection. No one would 
 enter her house while she lay unpurified ; or if any 
 happened to do so from accident, they immediately 
 afterwards performed an ablution, as if they had been 
 in contact with an infected body. The day set apart 
 for this rite of purification is supposed to have been the 
 tenth day after the birth ; that is, the day on which 
 the feast in honour of the naming of the infant was 
 held. After this she was to offer sacrifice to Diana 
 as an act of thanksgiving or gratitude for the bless- 
 ings she had thus received at the hands of that 
 goddess ; and the husband also was to sacrifice to 
 the Nymphs in acknowledgment of their favour for 
 having bestowed upon him the blessings oi" a good wife 
 and a hopeful offspring. As before child-birth it was 
 
 O 2 
 
196 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 not allowed the woman to go into public places for 
 forty days, so after it she was compelled to remain 
 in-doors for the same period. During this time her 
 food consisted chiefly of colewort. 
 
 Grea 
 
rs for 
 main 
 J her 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 197 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Great solicitude of the Greeks with respect to the nursing 
 of children — The p'.actice of exposing children— Greek 
 children divided into classes. 
 
 The nursing of children was attended to with peculiar 
 care by the Greeks. The nurses were obliged to go 
 out frequently in the open air, and move about with 
 their charge in the public walks and streets, carrying 
 a pot of honey and a sponge with them, for the pur- 
 pose of soothing the child with it, if it should become 
 restless or uneasy. It was especially required that 
 the nurse should keep herself clean and neat in her 
 person and attire. The Spartan women were con- 
 sidered the best nurses, and were generally employed 
 in that capacity by the Athenians. It would seem, 
 however, that the women of Athens did not look 
 upon the occupation of a nurse as being respectable ; 
 but, on the contrary, held it in the light of a degrada- 
 tion. This arose from the feeling of pride which was 
 so characteristic of the Athenian women. We find 
 instances in the Greek writers in which the circum- 
 stance of having been once employed in the capacity 
 of nurse was objected as a disparagement to women ; 
 and in which those women apologized for the degra- 
 dation of the employment by pleading necessity ; 
 
198 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 or complained of it by attributing it to compulsion. 
 When the nurses meant to soothe or calm a child, 
 they either kept crying out with a soft and prolonged 
 voice, lala, lala ; or they sung a low and mellow 
 chant which they called nainia. 
 
 Theocritus gives one of these lulling chants: — 
 
 Sleep, my baby, a sweet and refreshing sleep ; 
 
 Sleep, my little soul, two little brothers, sound children ; 
 
 Go ye to happy sleep, and arise refresh'd. 
 
 If the child happened to die in its infancy, or before 
 it cut its teeth, it was buried without funeral sacrifice 
 or ceremony ; nor was it deemed an occasion for sorrow 
 or mourning. Plutarch alludes to this custom, where, 
 advising a mother not to mourn for the death of her 
 child, he says, " There was no funeral ceremony at his 
 interment" The practice of exposing children, that 
 is, of placing them without the care of the parents 
 and family, and committing them to chance, was very 
 common among the ancients. This was resorted to 
 in cases of bodily deformity. In the instance of 
 Moses, however, it was not in consequence of any 
 defect in his members that he was so exposed — for 
 we read that he was a " goodly child " — but in order 
 to elude the vigilance of Pharaoh. Among the Athe- 
 nians it was altogether the act of the parents, who 
 were not compelled to it by any compulsory enact- 
 ment or supervision of the state : but not so among 
 the Spartans, who had a committee appointed for the 
 purpose of examining every child, and ascertaining 
 whether it was of perfect form or not. The places 
 where children were thus exposed were commonly the 
 
 I 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 199 
 
 borders or banks of lakes and rivers, as happened in 
 the case of Moses ; and also of Romulus and Remus, 
 the Roman brothers, who we* e exposed by their uncle 
 ^milius for the purpose of securing to himself and his 
 offspring the sovereignty of Rome. They were some- 
 times also thrown into drains and pits. The Spartans 
 had a pit of this kind at Taygetus, into which were 
 cast all children who had been pronounced defective 
 in body. They were occasionally exposed in woods 
 and places of solitude ; and in some instances thrown 
 into the sea. When the child was exposed on the 
 dryland, it was wrapped up in a swaddling-cloth, and 
 put into an earthen pan or pot ; but if committed to the 
 sea, or launched into a lake or river, it was put into a 
 basket made of oziers or bulrushes, made close with a 
 coating of slime and pitch. Such is the description 
 of the vessel into which Moses was put when exposed 
 on the " river's brink." " And when she could hide 
 him no longer, she took a basket made of bulrushes, 
 and daubed it with slime and pitch ; and put the 
 little babe therein, and laid him in the sedges by the 
 river's brink " (Exod. ii. 3). It was the custom, how- 
 ever, on such occasions to decorate the child with 
 various valuable ornaments, such as gold rings and 
 jewels, and also with garlands. This may have been 
 intended as a mournful commemoration of the child, 
 as a sort of funercd obsequies, such as they employed 
 in cases of death ; or its object might have been to 
 provide for the support of the child in the event of 
 its being found and taken in charge by any other 
 person ; or, if found dead, that the charges of burial 
 might be defrayed by these means. To this Terence 
 
200 
 
 Grkece akd the Greeks. 
 
 alludes where he say, si moveretiir, ne expers partis 
 csset de nostris bcnis^ so that if he died he should not 
 be in want of a part of our goods. 
 
 These were called irai'^via, playthings, and con- 
 sisted sometimes of bottles, bells, and such other toys ; 
 which were fastened around the neck. They some- 
 times had letters or other marks upon them by which 
 the child might be known in the event of its being 
 preserved. In fact it very frequently happened that 
 children were exposed, not for the purpose of being 
 destroyed, which could be but rarely the case, but 
 either with the view of escaping detection, as in the 
 case of Moses, or of concealing the birth of an illegiti- 
 mate child. For when a child not born in wedlock 
 was thus put away, the mother's offence, and the 
 child's illegitimacy were alike concealed from public 
 notice. We have many instances of some of the 
 most distinguished and celebrated men of antiquity 
 having been born and exposed in this way. The 
 custom, however, was not universally approved by 
 the ancients, for we learn that the people of Thebes 
 deemed it advisable to put an end to it by passing a 
 law for that purpose. The Romans also passed a 
 similar law, and provided that no child which had 
 been exposed should be made free of the city. The 
 practice of removing children from one country to 
 another for the sake of safety and protection was also 
 frequent among the Greeks. Of this we find an 
 instance in Orestes, who was concealed in Phocis to 
 protect him against the rage of .^gysthus ; and 
 Sophocles, referring to this, describes him as having 
 passed a " youth of concealment." 
 
 Gl 
 
 of 
 
 w| 
 
 be 
 
 of 
 
 i 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 201 
 
 Children were divided into four classes among the 
 Greeks, according to the social position and relation 
 of the parents ; and their education was directed 
 with reference to the particular class to which each 
 belonged. The son of a married free woman was called 
 yvrjaio^, or Wayevrjf;, and belonged to the first class. 
 Of the second class was he who was born of a foreign 
 woman, or of a woman not married to the father of 
 the child ; and he was called vodo';. If this father 
 were a private man, the child was not admitted as of 
 the family, nor allowed to bear the family name ; but 
 if he were a prince, or a person in power, the child 
 was held as nobly born, and consequently entitled to 
 all the advantages belonging to such a condition. In 
 the former case the child had no right of inheritance, 
 and was entitled only to what was called ra voOeia, 
 that is, the portion of illegitimacy, which was a small 
 sum of money. We find that Abraham gave some 
 such portion to his children who were not born of his 
 wife Sara: " And Abraham gave all his possessions 
 to Isaac. And to the children of the concubines he 
 gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, 
 while he yet lived, to the east country." (Gen. xxv. 6.) 
 
 The third class embraced all those whose parent- 
 age v/as unknown, at least, as far as the father was 
 concerned. These were called ctkotioi. And the 
 fourth class consisted of such as had been born in 
 wedlock, but whose mothers were pregnant at the 
 time of their marriage. There were besides these 
 four classes, other children who belonged to neither, 
 such as adopted children, the children of freedmen, 
 and the grandchildren of freedmen. 
 
202 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Greece, the great nursery of youth — Modes of education — Dis- 
 crimination in the education of the children of the rich and 
 poor ; and other regulations relating to the youth of both 
 sexes. 
 
 The writers of antiquity are generally agreed in dis- 
 tinguishing Greece, and more particularly the district 
 of Attica, as the best nursery of youth. Euripides 
 calls it KovpoTp6(f)o<;, the trainer of youth, by way of 
 pre-eminence ; and Suidas represents Erecthonius, • 
 the exposed child of Vulcan, as offering sacrifice to 
 fyrj Kovporp6j>o<;, the youth-training land, in acknow- 
 ledgment of the advantage he derived from having 
 been brought up in that country ; and as erecting an 
 altar to her, and passing a law that all who offered 
 sacrifices should do so first to her. In the system of 
 education pursued by the Greeks, the first aim was to 
 provide for the bodily health of the children, and then 
 for their mental improvement. They were early 
 taught how to swim, and to exercise their bodily 
 faculties ; and being thus strengthened, they were 
 supplied with intellectual food. The description and 
 extent of the knowledge with which they were supplied 
 were governed by the position and circumstances in 
 which they were born. For instance, if the father 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 203 
 
 were a poor man, the education of the child was shaped 
 with a view of acquiring a trade ; but if rich and 
 powerful, the field of instruction became enlarged ; 
 and philosophy, music, gymnastic exercises, hunting 
 and the like, were deemed the necessary acquisitions 
 of the sons of such a man. 
 
 Plutarch informs us that if the education of a son 
 were neglected by his father, and that he was not 
 brought up to any trade, it was not incumbent on him 
 to support the father in old age and poverty ; which he 
 was otherwise bound to do according to the law. 
 The affection of the Greek children for their parents, 
 but more especially for the mother, is a subject ob- 
 served upon by the ancient writers. Whenever a 
 child became addicted to any particular fault, and 
 every other means resorted to for his I'eformation had 
 failed, if a mother but exposed her bosom to him 
 in deprecation of his offence, his feelings were at once 
 affected, and his conduct underwent an immediate 
 change. Corporal chastisement, however, was very 
 frequently inflicted both by father and mother ; this 
 was done by tying the culprit to a post, and lashing 
 him with a whip. 
 
 Before the time of Solon, the father's power over 
 his son was permitted to be carried even to the length 
 of disposing of him as a chattel. This monstrous 
 power was, however, abridged by the law of Solon, 
 which restricted it to cases in which the son was taken 
 in the commission of the heinous crime of adultery. 
 It was at all times competent for the father to disin- 
 herit his son whenever any sufificient cause led him to 
 the adoption of such a step. But before it could be 
 
204 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 effected, the grounds on which its necessity rested 
 should be first submitted to the consideration of the 
 judges, and be approved by them. After that the 
 Kt]pv^, or crier, went about proclaiming, " Suc/i a 
 person has denied that such a person is any longer his 
 son." He might, however, be again taken in by th • 
 father, and reinstated in his former position as a mem- 
 ber of the family ; after which it was not competent 
 for the father to disinherit him. When the boys 
 arrived at the age of between three and seven years, 
 they were taken by their fathers to the (f>pdrop€fi, or 
 members of the tribes to which rhe parents respec- 
 tively belonged, and registered each according to his 
 tribe. But before this registration took place it was 
 incumbent on the father to swear that the child was 
 his ; and still, notwithstanding such oath, the chiefs 
 of the tribe had the privilege of bringing the matter 
 into question, and compelling a reference to the 
 judges. There was a time set apart for this enrol- 
 ment into the tribes ; but it generally took place on 
 the third day of the feast called dtrarovpia, which was 
 held by the fathers of families, or heads of tribes. The 
 third day of this festival was called Kovp^ovrU^ that is, 
 the hair-cutting day, because on that day it was the 
 custom to cut off the hair of the boys for the first time 
 and consecrate it to some god. The hair thus cut off 
 was called dper-Typiov TrXovafxov, or nursing hair ; as 
 that cut on the occasion of a funeral was designated 
 irev6riTr)pio<i, or mourning hair. This custom of con- 
 secrating the hair of the Greek youth to one of their 
 gods, was similar to that which prevailed among the 
 Nazarites, as we learn in the Book of Numbers, of the 
 
 C 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 205 
 
 Old Testament: "All the time of his separation no 
 razor shall pass over his head until the day be fulfilled 
 of his consecration to the Lord. He shall be holy, 
 and shall let the hair of his head grow." The hair 
 which the Greeks thus consecrated to their gods they 
 called KOfif)^ dirapxii, or first fruits of the hair. Sue- 
 tonius informs us that Nero put the first fruits of 
 his beard into a golden box adorned with precious 
 stones, and placed it in the Capitol. And Theseus, 
 king of Athens, is said to have consecrated his hair 
 to the god Apollo in the island of Delos. Euripides 
 makes Bacchus exclaim, when Pentheus threatened to 
 cut off a lock of his hair : " The sacred lock, I nourish 
 it for the god." Children who were born of noble 
 blood were wont to be brought to Delphos for the 
 purpose of consecrating the hair to Apollo ; but. all 
 others made the offering to any god they pleased. 
 The same custom existed among the Romans ; and 
 to which Martial alludes in the verse : Hos tibi, 
 Phoebe, vovet totos a vertice crines, " To thee, Apollo, 
 he devotes all his hair from the crown of his head." 
 Statins makes mention of iEsculapius, the god of 
 medicine, as one of the gods to whom a hair offering 
 was made by the ancients : " And he sent his dainty 
 locks to Pergamus, as a sacred offering to the god." 
 This is said in reference to one who had sent his hair 
 to >Esculapius at Pergamus, made up in a box adorned 
 with precious stones. It is a custom in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, upon the initiation of nuns into the 
 sacred order, to have the hair all cut off from their 
 heads, as it was in ancient times with respect to the 
 vestal virgins. The latter, however, had their locks 
 
206 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 hung upon a tree, which was set apart for that purpose ; 
 while the fornner make no exhibition of the last 
 vestiges of worldly vanity in this way. At the age of 
 eighteen the youth of Greece were enrolled among 
 the €<f)ij^oi, that is, j/oung men ; and were then con- 
 sidered capable of bearing arms, and defending the 
 state equally against external aggression and disorder 
 from within. They were, however, first examined by 
 officers chosen for that duty, and if they were not 
 found sound in limb and constitution they were not 
 admitted. But after having successfully passed the 
 examination they were taken into the temple of 
 Argulus, where they took an oath of fidelity to the 
 gods and the country. This ceremony also took 
 place on the third day of the feast uiruTovpia, that is, 
 on the Kovpeovrls, or hair-cutting day, when a portion 
 of the hair was also cut off, and consecrated to the 
 rivers of the country ; not, as in the former case, to 
 Apollo, or any other of the gods. We find Paul ob- 
 serving this rite at Cenchrea : *' But Paul, when he had 
 stayed yet many days, taking his leave of the brethren, 
 sailed thence into Syria (and with him Priscillr, and 
 Aquila), having shorn his head in Cenchrea. For he 
 had avow" (Acts xviii. 1 8). Again, we learn that 
 when Paul had come to Jerusalem, the ancients of 
 the people thus addressed him : " Do therefore this 
 that we say to thee. We have four men who have a 
 vow on them. Take these and sanctify thyself with 
 them ; and bestow on them that they may shave their 
 heads ; and all will know that the things which they 
 have heard of thee are false ; but that thou thyself 
 also walkest kecpinr; the law" (Acts xxi. 2^, 24). 
 
GUELCE AND THE GREEKS. 
 
 207 
 
 According to the law of the Nazarites the hair cut ofif 
 was thrown into the fire : '• Then shall the hair of 
 the consecration of the Nazarite be shaved off before 
 the door of the tabernacle of the covenant ; and he 
 shall take his hair, and lay it upon the fire, which is 
 under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings." (Num. vi. 
 18.) It is necessary to observe that previously to 
 the cutting of the hair, upon the admission of young 
 men into the ranks of the e^/;y9ot among the Greeks, 
 it was usual to perform a ceremony called ra olvi- 
 (rrepia ; that is, they took a vessel of wine, and conse- 
 crating it to Hercules, they drank a health to all 
 present. 
 
 At the expiration of two years from the date of 
 admission into the €<f>r]^oi, that is, at the age of 
 twenty, they were admitted into the ranks of man- 
 hood, and thus became entitled, sui juris, to the ad- 
 ministration of property or estate. Their names were 
 then registered in the book of registry, called Ae^iapj^i- 
 Kov AevHQjfia by the Demarchus, an officer whose 
 duty it was to attend to this registration. This book 
 was so called because it contained the names of young 
 men who had entered upon their inheritance (Xeft? 
 apx<o) ; and was on that account esteemed by them as 
 a white or beautiful book (Xeu/vo?). The names of 
 the young women were never entered in any book or 
 registry until they were married, when they became 
 of the tribe of their husbands. It has been already 
 observed that the son was bound by law to support 
 his father when he became old or unable to support 
 himself, unless the son was either a v60o<i, that is, an 
 illegitimate child, or had not been brought up to a 
 
208 
 
 Grei'XE and the Greeks. 
 
 trade by his father ; in cither of these cases there was 
 no obligation on the son to support his father. The 
 neglect of this filial duty was looked upon with great 
 abhorrence by the Greeks ; and the person found 
 guilty of such neglect was, after trial and conviction, 
 subjected to that most degrading and disgraceful 
 punishment, total exclusion from society. He was 
 also obliged to pay a fine. But this duty was not 
 confined to parents only ; it extended to :my person 
 who had brought up or educated him. To be snatched 
 away from life before being able to repay this debt 
 was deemed a most grievous calamity by those who 
 owed it. Homer alludes to this feeling in the Iliad 
 (4th book) : " Cut away in early life, he was prevented 
 from paying to his dear father the expenses of his 
 education." 
 
Grekce and the Greeks 
 
 209 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Attention of Greek children to their parents — Laws of inhe- 
 ritance—Inheritance by adoption ; and the conditions 
 annexed thereto. 
 
 The attention of children to their parents was indeed 
 of the most exemplary kind ; so much so that any 
 neglect of those duties which it was deemed incumbent 
 on them to discharge towards the authors of their 
 being, was, in their own estimation, attended with ill 
 success in life. It* was an invariable practice with 
 daughters to wash and anoint with oil the feet of 
 their fathers, upon returning from a journey. And 
 not only this ; but to show the extent of duty and 
 devotion to which they felt themselves bound, they 
 were even wont to kiss their feet after having thus 
 washed and anointed them. Aristophanes makes 
 mention of this custom in his Medea, thus : " And 
 first his daughter washed his feet, and anointed thern, 
 and stooping forward kissed them." It was also the 
 duty of a son to defray the expenses necessary for the 
 decent burial of his father : a duty which was no more 
 to be neglected than that of supporting him in his old 
 age. If a man had no children, it was competent for 
 him to adopt one to whom he might leave his estate. 
 This adoption was effected by will, signed and sealed 
 in presence of a magistrate. The person so adopted 
 
 P 
 
 »i 
 
210 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 was then made free of the city, and registered among 
 the tribe of him by whom he was adopted. Before 
 Solon's time it was not allowed to bequeath an estate 
 to any but those who were of the kindred of the 
 testator ; but according to his laws it might be con- 
 veyed to any person whatever, provided that the 
 testator had no son of his own, and was of sound 
 mind at the time he had made his will, and that he 
 was not under restraint, or otherwise reduced by force 
 or violence to the course he had adopted. If he were 
 a stranger, any will which he might have made would 
 be inoperative and void ; for in such case his estate 
 was confiscated to the public treasury. Neither could 
 a person who had been adopted by another make a 
 vill in favour of any one he pleased ; for the law pro- 
 vioed that the estate of such a person should descend 
 to the nearest of kin of him who had adopted him. 
 If the testator had more than one son, they were to 
 be laofioipot that is, equal sharers of the estate ; but 
 if he had no son or daughter, ar 1 died intestate, it 
 went to the next male relative of the family. If he 
 had a daughter, she would become sole heiress, that is 
 i7rLK\r)po<i, as the Greeks called her ; and she should be 
 married to the next of kin, who was thus to become 
 sole heir by virtue of the marriage. 
 
 A woman or boy was incompetent to devise any- 
 thing by will beyond a certain measure of barley, 
 called fieBLfivov KpiBri<;, or its value in money. In 
 all cases of inheritance the party claiming had to set 
 forth his claim before the city magistrate, so that if 
 any opposition were made to it, the case was to be 
 decided before the judges. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 211 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 everence for the dead a prominent feature of the Greek 
 character, as well as of that of the ancients in general — 
 Ceremonies and observances connected with the burial of 
 the dead. 
 
 Respect for the dead, and a religious solicitude for 
 their interment, was among the chief characteristics of 
 the ancients. To allow a dead body to remain over 
 ground and uncovered with earth was deemed by 
 them a sacrilege which incurred the highest displea- 
 sure of the gods. Justice to the dead was in their 
 estimation of no less obligation than that which was 
 due to the immortal gods themselves, as well as to 
 living men. The very places of sepulture were called 
 the temples of the dead, and the rites performed for 
 the deceased were designated by the expression to, 
 vofiiva, the ceremonies of justice. 
 
 It was therefore an established custom, sanctioned 
 by law among the Greeks, that when any one chanced 
 to come upon a dead body, he was bound under 
 penalty to cast some earth upon it three times, and 
 place a turf over it. The same custom prevailed 
 among the Romans, to which Quintilian refers where 
 he says : " We place earth over the dead bodies of per- 
 sons unknown ; and no haste should cause us to pass 
 by any such body without performing this duty of 
 
 P 2 
 
212 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 reverence for the dead." Another writer says that, 
 ** They who saw a dead body, and did not throw dust 
 upon it, were deemed accursed." They thought that 
 the divinities residing in the lower regions were 
 anxious in an especial manner that this duty should 
 be performed, and that its omission was attended with 
 their peculiar vengeance. They deemed no impreca- 
 tion more severe than wishing that any person after 
 death might not be covered with earth ; and we meet 
 with many instances of the feeling manifested on this 
 head by the prince and warrior, as well as by the 
 humble, in the pages of ancient writers. Nothing 
 created more anxiety in the breasts of the Greeks, as 
 well as of the people of antiquity in general, than the 
 idea that they might die without the rites of sepul- 
 ture being performed for them ; hence we find it to 
 have been a common practice among them, that when 
 any one was about putting out to sea, and became 
 apprehensive of shipwreck, he tied around some part 
 of his body a sum of money or something of value, 
 so that whoever should find him would be compen- 
 sated for the trouble and expense of burying him. 
 
 It was also an universal feeling that the sooner the 
 burial service to the dead was performed, the more 
 pleased would be the spirit, or ma7ics of the departed. 
 
 But there was another source of unbpppincso, wiiicn 
 rnn«;c<-^d VT. thc pcison dying in a foreign country ; 
 and whenever this occurred it was usual with the 
 friends of the deceased, in order to appease and give 
 comfort to the departed spirit, to call upon his name 
 three times. Thus Pindar tells us that when Phryxus 
 was dying at Colchis, he requested his friend Pclias 
 to see that this office should be performed for him. 
 
 \ 
 
■W IULJIJI-J'^'UW,. 
 
 •im.-'j^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 213 
 
 And Homer relates that Ulysses, after having lost 
 some of his companions among the Cicones, took 
 care "to call upon each of them three times." 
 Theocritus mentions Hylas as having been thus in- 
 voked three times ; although Virgil, referring to the 
 same circumstance, represents the invocation as having 
 been made only twice : " The sailors sent up such a 
 shout at the fountain where he was buried, that the 
 whole shore resounded with Hylas, Hylas." Although, 
 no doubt, it was gratifying to the feelings of the living 
 as well as of him who was about to die in a foreign 
 land, to believe that the body might, by means of 
 such invocation, be mysteriously conducted to its 
 native land, yet it is not to be supposed that this was 
 an universal creed with the Greeks. The idea was 
 accompanied with a sort of vague but yet consolatory 
 impression that the thing desired would be accom- 
 plished by the prescribed ceremony, on the principle 
 that the " wish is father to the thought ;" but that it 
 was really believed by the higher and more intelligent 
 classes of the people would be a gratuitous assertion, 
 notwithstanding that they accommodated themselves 
 and paid due attention to the popular usage. It was 
 a very general custom among the ancients to erect 
 monuments to the dead, which the Greeks termed 
 K€v6Ta(f)ia ; so that, although the bodies were buri'^d 
 far away, and in strange lands, yet the memory of the 
 dead was kept alive by graves and monumental 
 structures consecrated to, and inscribed with, their 
 names. Virgil, in the ^Eneid, represents ^Eneas as 
 having erected such a monument, on the Rhaetian shore, 
 to the memory of his father, who had died far away 
 from the place : Tumultim Rh<2tio in littore inanem 
 
:i4 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 constitui, " I constructed an empty tomb on the 
 Rhaetian shore/' The followers of the philosopher 
 Pythagoras were wont to erect some such monu- 
 ment to those of their own sect who had swerved from 
 their system of philosophy, for they looked upon 
 them as though they were dead. 
 
 It is reported to have been a custom among the 
 Athenians, that when a man committed suicide, they 
 cut off the hand with which he had perpetrated the 
 act, and buried it away in a separate place from the 
 body. It was intended by this, perhaps, that the hand, 
 having been stained with guilt, was unworthy of par- 
 ticipating in the funeral honours paid to the body. 
 Among ourselves it is usual to exclude suicides from 
 consecrated ground — a practice which would imply a 
 more rational abhorrence of the crime of self-destruc- 
 tion than that of the Athenians ; for we thus stamp the 
 entire relics of the suicide with degradation, not alone 
 the particular member with which the foul and wicked 
 act was perpetrated. It was also a point of great 
 importance with them to die in a becoming manner, 
 or to fall gracefully, as they termed it. The women 
 especially were most solicitous as to this ; as they 
 considered it highly indecorous to have any part of 
 them, not proper to be seen, exposed to view as they 
 were dying. The depriving a man of life by violent 
 means was looked upon in various lights by the 
 Greeks : if the act were done in what was esteemed as 
 a good cause, it was not deemed offensive to the gods ; 
 and in such case the perpetrator, after washing his 
 h ands, as was the custom, held up the sword or weapon 
 with which he had committed the murder towards 
 the sun, with the blood still reeking upon it, as if to 
 
 i s 
 
 T 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 215 
 
 signify that he had no apprehension of gods or men, 
 as to the justice and propriety of the act. If, however, 
 the deed had been committed without the sanction of 
 a sufficient, or rather, a virtuous motive, then instead 
 of displaying the weapon in triumph, he wiped away 
 the blood in the hair of the murdered man, and re- 
 turned it to the sheath. But if the victim were one of 
 his own kindred, he believed that the blood could 
 never be wholly wiped off, and that it was necessary 
 to have recourse to spells and charms in order to keep 
 away the avenging Furies. With this view he cut off the 
 extremities of the members of the murdered man, 
 and binding theni together, wore them under his arm- 
 pits. These were called aKpcorijpia. In cases of mur- 
 der by treachery, the dxpaTijpia were worn around the 
 neck instead of under the armpits ; and the murderer, 
 taking some of the blood of his victim, spat three 
 times into his mouth. The object of thus wearing o n 
 the person a part of the body of the victim, was to 
 prevent the Furies, or the ghost of the deceased, from 
 injuring them ; their belief being that the murderer 
 would be spared for the sake of that which he bore 
 about him. This custom was prevalent also amon g 
 the Romans ; and Virgil, in the ifineid, makes referen ce 
 to it when describing, in the person of .^neas, the 
 lacerated condition of Deiphobus in the nether 
 regions : — 
 
 Here Priam's son, Deiphobus he found, 
 
 Whose face and limbs were one continued wound ; 
 
 Dishonest with lopp'd arms the youth appears 
 
 Spoil'd of his nose, and shorten'd of his ears. 
 
 He scarcely knew him, striving to disown 
 
 His blotted form, and blushing to be known. 
 
2l6 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 Homicide, and i.iC punishments consequent upon its perpetra- 
 ion — Similar laws among the Greeks and Israelites with 
 respect to those punishments. 
 
 We find that the custom of cuttinj^ ofif the extremities 
 of the limbs of enemies was prevalent among the 
 Israelites. In the book of Judges it is said : " And 
 Adonibezec fled ; and they pursued after him and 
 took him, and cut off his fingers and toes. And 
 Adonibezec said : Seventy kings, having their fingers 
 and toes cut off, gathered up the leavings of the meat 
 under my table: as I have done, so hath God 
 requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem , 
 and he died there.'* In cases of homicide, that is, 
 whenever a man killed another by accident, or without 
 intent to murder, he was obliged to fly from his 
 country for a brief period, and place himself under the 
 protection of some person possessing power and 
 authority, who could not refuse to receive him in such 
 a case. He was there to expiate his offence, and 
 purify himself from the stain of guilt which it had 
 brought upon him. While undergoing this ordeal of 
 purification he was placed by the hearth, which was 
 deemed a place sacred and holy. If the victim in this 
 case happened to be one of the kindred of the per- 
 
 ^ 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 217 
 
 I 
 
 
 petrator, then his period of exile was to continue for 
 twelve months. If he appeared in the place where he 
 had committed the crime, before the expiration of his 
 term of exile, he was shunned by everybody who 
 knew him ; he was not permitted to participate in the 
 public sacrifices ; nor was any one allowed to receive 
 him into their houses, or even to speak to him, he 
 being considered as an unholy thing, and unworthy 
 the name of man. A similar custom was established 
 among the Israelites, as we find in the Book of Josue : 
 "And the Lord spoke to Josue, saying: Speak to 
 the children of Israel, and say to them, Appoint 
 cities of refuge of which I spoke to you by the hand 
 of Moses, that whosoever shall kill a person unawares 
 may flee to them, and may escape the wrath of the 
 kinsman who is the avenger of blood. And when he 
 shall flee to one of these cities, he shall stand before 
 the gate of the city, rxnd shall speak to the ancients of 
 that city such things as prove him innocent, and so 
 shall they receive him, and give him a place to dwell in. 
 And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they , 
 s^all not deliver him into his hands, because he slew 
 his neighbour unawares, and is not proved to have 
 been his enemy two or three days before. And he 
 shall dwell in that city, till he stand before judgment 
 to give an account of his fact, and till the de?.th of the 
 high-priest who shall be at that time : then shall the 
 manslayer return, and go into his own city and house 
 from whence he fled." It was a custom with the 
 people of Thessaly, in cases of accidental murder, to 
 drag the murderer around the grave of his victim, 
 and thus impress him with a sense of the abhorrence 
 
2l8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 with which they regarded his crime. Whatever 
 the distinctions might have been with which the 
 crime of murder was looked upon by the ancients, 
 it is evident that they all held it in deserved 
 and unqualified detestation, and that the murderer 
 under every shade of circumstance incurred their 
 indignation and hatred. 
 
er 
 he 
 ts, 
 ed 
 er 
 :ir 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 2ip 
 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 Ancient customs at Wakes and Funerals — Superstitious obser- 
 vances of the Greeks in connection with the burial of the 
 dead. 
 
 To die in a foreign land, or away from their parents 
 and kindred, was considered among the ancients in 
 the light of a great calamity j and to be deprived of 
 the consolation of knowing at their last hour that 
 their eyes would be closed after death by the hands 
 of parents or of relatives was a misfortune which no 
 consideration could compensate. At the moh.'^nt 
 when the soul was departing from the body,, it was a 
 custom among the Greeks to commence a great noise 
 by the ringing of brazen vessels or of bells ; and 
 among the Romans to set up a loud cry, exclamatiOy 
 as it was termed ; and this, in both cases, with the 
 view of recalling the departing spirit, believing that it 
 had not yet taken leave of the body, and was but 
 hovering between the confines of life and eternity. 
 As soon, however, as it was ascertained that the spirit 
 had fled, the lids were drawn close over the eyes by 
 the parents or kindred, as I have said, if they 
 happened to be living, and the deceased in his native 
 country and among his own. Then the face was 
 covered over with a cloth, an office which was also 
 assigned to the family according the degree of 
 
220 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 kindred, as was every duty that custom had prescribed 
 for the dead. The body was afterwards extended 
 and covered with a shroud. It need scarcely be 
 observed that the performance of all those offices for 
 the dead was always assigned to the female kindred ; 
 for instance, the wife performed them for the husband, 
 the daughter for the father or mother, the sister for 
 the brother, and so on, according to the degree of 
 relationship. It is worthy of remark that this custom 
 connected with the duties to the dying and the dead 
 among the ancient Greeks, resembles in nearly every 
 particular that which has existed up to the present day 
 in Ireland. The cry at the house of death — which, 
 however, rather resembles the Roman exclamatio — the 
 closing of the eyes, the stretching and shrouding of 
 the body — and all this, too, by the parents and nearest 
 kindred — these are duties which the Irish people 
 never fail to perform to the dying and the dead. To 
 treat a dead body otherwise than as a sacred object 
 was, among the Greeks, considered as a fearful 
 offence : yet to touch a corpse was looked upon as 
 an act of pollution, and the person who had been thus 
 defiled could not touch anything holy until he had 
 performed an ablution. The graves of the dead were 
 also regarded as sacred, and any improper interference 
 with them was deemed a desecration. When the body 
 was about being removed for interment, it was usual 
 to place a piece of money in his mouth, which was 
 intended as the fare for Charon, the ferryman, who 
 was to convey him across the river Styx. This piece of 
 coin was called SavaKt}, that is, the dead money. A 
 piece of pudding or of cheese was also placed upon 
 
GrI'Ece and the Greeks. 
 
 221 
 
 
 the corpse, or in the coffin, for the purpose of propi- 
 tiating Cerberus, the dog with three heads which 
 guarded the entrance to the nether world. This 
 bribery mess, as it may be called, was usually 
 composed of flour mixed with honey, and thence 
 called melittoitta. I cannot positively say that any 
 exactly similar custom to this has ever been observed 
 by the Irish peasantry ; although I am aware that a 
 notion has partially prevailed among them, that when 
 on their way to the other world they ought to have 
 a piece of money placed upon them to defray their 
 travelling expenses. I myself knew an Irishman, one 
 Tom Knight, in the Island of Newfoundland, who 
 appeared to be impressed with this superstitious 
 belief. He was an honest, simple-minded man, who 
 had spent his early manhood in the naval service of 
 England, and who had afterwards removed, with his 
 wife and family, to Newfoundland. He lived in a 
 retired spot in the woods, on the margin of a large 
 tract of marsh-land, and cultivated a small patch of 
 ground, by means of which he si'pported his family. 
 He was very poor, and yet he was fond of meeting a 
 friend, and taking a social glass with him. However, 
 at an advanced age he \vas seized by death, and 
 calling his wife to his bedside, he told her that he was 
 going to die ; and then laid it as an obligation upon 
 her that she should put a quarter or half-dollar in his 
 cofiin, so that he might be able to take some refresh- 
 ment, until he got over the marshes at any rate. Poor 
 Tom ! I knew him well ; and I know also that nis 
 old woman, as he used to call his wife, obeyed his 
 last injunction, and believed in its necessity. 
 
222 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 Ablution of the dead — Funeral dirge — Order of procession at 
 
 Funerals. 
 
 To embowel and wash the bodies of the dead was a 
 custom which prevailed among the Greeks, as among 
 the people of antiquity generally. In Athens, if the 
 deceased had been a free man, that is, if he had 
 possessed the freedom of the city, his body was 
 embowelled, and washed in warm water, put into a tub 
 or vessel which was kept in a temple for this purpose. 
 This ablution was called Xovrpov iravva-rarov, or last 
 washing, of which we find an example in Holy Writ 
 in the person of Tabitha : " And it came to pass in 
 those days, that she was sick and died. Whom when 
 they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber." 
 (Acts ix. 37.) 
 
 This ceremony was often performed by the parties 
 themselves while living : for we find in Plato that 
 Socrates, preparing for death, thought it well to 
 perform the death ablution for himself, and thus 
 spare the women the trouble of it. And when 
 Alcestis, according to Euripides, was about to die 
 for her husband, she washed herself in " river- water." 
 And the same author, in reference to Iphigenia, 
 represents her in her dream as washing one of the 
 
 
Grkece and the Greeks. 
 
 223 
 
 
 pillars of the house, fancying it to be the body of her 
 dead son. This ceremony of ablution was the peculiar 
 province of the women ; but in their absence, and 
 when necessity demanded it, it might be performed 
 by men. Galen refers to the case of Theaganes, who 
 had been waslied by the Cynics, because he had 
 neither wife nor children to do it for him. After the 
 ablution had been performed, it was the custom to 
 anoint Jie body, and pour ambrosia upon the head 
 and Tace, after which it was wrapped in a fine 
 garment, which had been woven in the life-time of the 
 deceased, either by the wife, in the case of a husband, 
 or by some other friend, for the purpose. The hands 
 were then tied together, and also the feet, with bands 
 of cloth, which had been in like manner provided 
 beforehand for the purpose. We find reference made 
 to this custom in the Sacred Writings: "And presently 
 he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and 
 hands with winding bands, and his face was bound 
 about with a napkin. Jesus said to them : Loose him, 
 and let him go." After the body had been thus 
 wrapped in the shroud or winding sheet, which 
 among the Greeks was of a white colour, though the 
 Romans adopted black, it was next ornamented with 
 garlands, which were intended as a symbol of victory 
 — the victory gained over the ills and calamities of 
 life. It was then placed upon the ground, with the 
 feet turned towards the door ; which was intended to 
 imply that the deceased was never again to enter into 
 the house. It was then taken up and laid upon a 
 couch adorned with herbs and flowers, and especially 
 with branches of the olive-tree, which was especially 
 
224 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 devoted to a commemoration of victory. The couch, 
 thus adorned, was then placed near the door, that the 
 body might be ready to be borne away to its last 
 resting-place when the appointed hour arrived. From 
 the time that it was laid out until its final removal 
 there stood by the door a large earthen vessel filled 
 with water brought from another house, in which the 
 persons going in and out were to wash t' emselves. 
 This ablution by the people attending a wake was 
 called \ovea6aL uiro vsKpov, a washing from the 
 pollution of the dead : for it was a point of belief 
 among the ancients that a house in which lay a dead 
 body was polluted, and that a process of purification 
 was necessary for all who entered the house, as well 
 as for the house itself. The Israelites followed the 
 same practice-, as we find in the Sacred Writings : 
 *' He that washeth himself after touching the dead, if 
 he toucheth him again, what doth his washing tivail ? " 
 (Eccles. xxxiv. 30.) And again : " He that toucheth 
 the corpse of a man, and is therefore unclean seven 
 days, shall be sprinkled with this water on the third 
 day, and on the seventh, and so shall be cleansed. If 
 he were not sprinkled on the third day, he cannot be 
 cleansed on the seventh. Every one that toucheth 
 the corpse of a man, and is not sprinkled with this 
 mixture, shall profane the tabernacle of the Lord, 
 and shall perish out of Israel : because he was not 
 sprinkled with the water of expiation, he shall be 
 unclean, and his uncleanness shall remain upon him." 
 (Num. xix. II, 12,) On the day following that on 
 which the body was laid out in the manner we have 
 seen, at early dawn it was borne away on men's 
 
►T^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 225 
 
 
 shoulders to the grave. The Greeks were averse to 
 being buried at night, which they lool<ed upon in the 
 light of a degradation or a calamity. " You shall be 
 ignominiously buried in the night, and not in the 
 day/' says Cassandra, the prophetess, to Talthybius, 
 in the spirit and language of a threat. If the death 
 of the person had been occasioned by violent means, 
 it was usual with the relatives and friends of the 
 deceased to carry arms, such as spears and swords, 
 at the funeral, and also to be clad in armour. As the 
 corpse was in the act of removal from the house, the 
 praises and virtues of the deceased were proclaimed 
 aloud, and his soul recommended to the care and 
 protection of the gods of the nether world ; expressions 
 of sorrow for his departure from the bosom of his 
 friends, and of grief for his loss, were also sent forth ; 
 and every demonstration of woe and heart-rending 
 affliction, mingled with invocations of the gods for 
 the repose and happiness of the departed spirit, was 
 exhibited at this sorrowful moment of final separation. 
 Those who attended the funeral either walked or rode 
 in a carriage ; and if the deceased happened to be a 
 person of consequence, they were all clad in white 
 garments and decorated with garlands of flowers. 
 According to the order of procession the men preceded 
 the corpse in a grave and stately manner, and the 
 women came behind covered with a veil called ireTfKov, 
 and uttering cries and lamentations. The women, 
 however, should be either relatives of the deceased, 
 or of an age prescribed by usage for attendance at 
 funerals, which was not under sixty years. Of these 
 some were employed in singing or directing the 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 funeral dirge, and are called by Homer 0pi)i'a>v €^ap')(pi, 
 that is, the leaders of the funeral songs. We find 
 a reference to this custom also in the Sacred Writings: 
 " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, 
 Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, and 
 let them come ; and send to them that are wise 
 women, and let them make haste : Let them hasten 
 and take up a lamentation for us ; let our eyes shed 
 tears, and our eyelids run down with water." (Jeremiah 
 ix. 17.) The persons attending the funeral bore also 
 in their hands certain gifts or relics, called Koafioi, 
 which were intended either for the dead, or the gods 
 who were supposed to preside over the dead, and 
 take charge of them in the other world. This custom 
 may have prototyped in some measure that which 
 prevails to some extent in our own day, of bringing 
 flowers and placing them upon the graves of young 
 persons. However, the ancient Greeks made a 
 distinction between the honours paid to the dead, 
 according to the age of the deceased, the greater 
 honours being paid to the more advanced in years. 
 
 II 
 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 227 
 
 
 II 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Mourning for the dead — Various manifestations of sorrow— 
 Similar practices observed by the Greeks and Israelites on 
 occasions of mourning. 
 
 The cutting of the hair, or rather the shaving it off 
 close to the head, was a sign of mourning among the 
 ancients. Lysias, as reported by Aristotle in his 
 Rhetorics, says in his speech for the men of Corinth 
 who had died at Salamis when fighting against the 
 Persians, " It would have been a deserved tribute of 
 respect if all Greece had been shorn of her hair at 
 the burial of those who had died at Salamis." There 
 was a town in Cappadocia, called Comona, from 
 coma, the hair, in commemoration of the hair of 
 mourning which had been cut off in that place by 
 Orestes and Iphigenia. We find evidence of the same 
 practice in the Book of Job ; and also in the prophet 
 Jeremiah : " Cut off thy hair, and cast it away ; and 
 take up a lamentation on high ; for the Lord hath 
 rejected, and forsaken the generation of His wrath." 
 (Jeremiah vii. 29.) Job, upon hearing of the death 
 of his children, rent his garments, and shaved his 
 head : " Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, 
 and, ha' ng shaven his head, fell down upon the 
 ground and worshipped." (Job i. 20.) 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Bui v/e have also, abundc t evidence to show that 
 the practice of cutting off tiit hair among the ancients 
 was not alone a sign of mourning, but likewise of 
 rejoicing. Whether there was any distinction in the 
 manner in which this process was effected, that is, 
 whether in the one case it was a shaving of the head, 
 and in the other a mere cutti 5 off of the locks of the 
 hair, it is difficult to say ; but the presumption is that 
 such was the distinction. We find that Joseph, when 
 he had come out of prison, cut off his hair, not for grief, 
 but for joy ; and the Romans, whenever they designed 
 to excite pity, as in cases of trial in the presence 
 of judges, were accustomed to let their hair grow 
 long. Aspice, says Ovid, demissos lugentis more capil- 
 los ; " See his hair hanging down like that of a man in 
 mourning." 
 
 The Greeks too, let their hair grow long on occa- 
 sions of sadness and dejection, as they cut it short 
 on occasions of joy. Plutarch says that women 
 manifested grief by cutting off their hair, and men 
 by allowing it to grow long. It sometimes happened, 
 however, that women, under the influence of sorrow, 
 permitted their hair to gr a^, but took no care to 
 have it neatly arranged, allowing it to fall in disorder 
 around their neck and shoulders. Capillus passus^ 
 says Terence, prolixus circinn caput, rejectiis neg- 
 ligenter ; " The hair was dishevelled, long, and negli- 
 gently thrown around the head." It is evident from 
 all this that there was no prescribed usage among the 
 ancients in this respect, and that they acted accord- 
 ing to individual taste or caprice, but always adopt- 
 ' e one course or the other ; that is, either 
 
 ■ 
 
 ing 
 
i» uum «r»« jm i >4:o -g 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 229 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 allowing the hair to grow long and untrimmed, or 
 shaving it off altogether, when under the influence of 
 sorrow and dejection ; or trimming it with care and 
 an eye to propriety and elegance when under the 
 contrary influence of joy and exaltation of spirits. 
 However, on occasions of mourning it was deemed 
 essential to use the strongest manifestations of self- 
 negation, and to exhibit by external act the grief and 
 afiiiction under which they laboured. Upon ill occa- 
 sions of calamity the near relations of the party who 
 had met with the misfortune were wont to deny 
 themselves the use of wine as being too exhilarating 
 a beverage, and to confine themselves to a drink 
 made of barley, called oK^ltov kvkcwv. Like the 
 Israelites they tore their clothes and hair ; they smote 
 their breasts and thighs ; cut their hair, and dis- 
 figured their faces, throwing dust and ashes upon 
 their heads ; and raised loud lamentations, repeating 
 in prolonged accents the interjectional word e\ e, e, e 
 From this e is derived the Greek word 6X6709, and 
 hence our word elegy^ a funeral song. The Romans 
 borrowed a portion of their practice, in the manifes- 
 tation of woe, from that which was followed by the 
 Greeks ; for we find that they too were in the habit of 
 throwing dust upon the headand face, — 
 
 Pulvere canitiem genitor, vultusque seniles 
 Foedat humi fn^os, 
 
 "And the aged sire begrimes his gray hairs with dust, 
 while his face rests upon the ground." 
 
 So excessive were the Greeks, and more particu- 
 larly their women, in the indulgence of those external 
 
230 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 inflictions proceeding from a sense of woe, that it be- 
 came necessary for Solon to pass a law to restrain 
 the practice within moderate limits. Cicero cites this 
 law, thus : Mulieres genas ne radtmto, neve lessum 
 fimeris ergo habento, " Let not the women, therefore, 
 tear their cheeks, nor keep uf. the funeral wail." Ac- 
 cording to Euripides, it was the custom, as soon 
 as the corpse was carried outside the house, for 
 every one of the mourners to cut off a lock of the 
 hair ; and as the funeral procession moved along to 
 the place of burial, all kept their heads and faces 
 closely covered. We find examples of this practice, 
 of covering the head as a sign of mourning, in Holy 
 Writ : " And Mordecai returned to the palace gate ; 
 and Haman made haste to go to his house, mourning 
 and having his head covered." (Esther vi. 12.) And 
 again : " The great ones sent their inferiors to the 
 water ; they came to draw, they found no water, 
 they carried back their vessels empty ; they were 
 confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads." 
 (Jer. xiv. 3.) To place the hand upon the head was 
 also a sign of mourning among them ; as to lay the 
 head upon the hand is with us. 'EttI 7^ Kparl x^/aa? 
 eOr/Kap, says Helen, in Euripides, in reference to the 
 Trojans, " They placed their hands upon their heads." 
 As the funeral procession advanced, the utmost order 
 and regularity were observed ; all was grave, solemn, 
 and impressive ; not a sound was heard save the 
 deep, swelling, and melancholy dirge of the mourn- 
 ing women, until they came to the grave. 
 
 Then each cut off the TrXoKa/Mov, or lock of hair, 
 and laid it on the grave, or cast it into the fire. This 
 
 1: 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 231 
 
 
 was the irivdc/j.o's Kovpa, or mourning lock ; or as it 
 is usually called by the Greek writers, dtrapxai t^? 
 /eo/Lt»79, the first-fruits of the hair. During the time 
 of mourning, which was limited to the period of 
 eleven days, the women were not allowed to wear 
 jewellery ; and the use of fire and candle light was 
 prohibited. If it were a case of public calamity, then 
 were all the places of public resort and amusement 
 closed up, and also the baths, shops, and temples. 
 There was a particular gate in Athens, called the 
 burial gate, because it led to the common burial- 
 place ; and it was through this that the bodies of 
 the dead were generally carried. There were two 
 burial-places, or KcpafieiKoi, as they were called, in 
 Athens, one inside and the other outside the city ; 
 the former was for those who died on the field of battle 
 in defence of the honour and liberties of their country, 
 and the latter for the general public. 
 
 It was the custom in early antiquity to bury kings 
 and princes at the foot of a hill ; at least such would 
 appear to be the natural inference from the observa- 
 tions of some of the ancient writers on this head ; but 
 all others were buried in ordinary graves or caves. 
 
232 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 Remarkable resemblance between the Greeks and Irish in their 
 funeral observances, and mourning for the dead. 
 
 Pausing here, and looking back at the general 
 characteristics which marked the manners of the an- 
 cient Greeks in relation to the dead, and to their pro- 
 ceedings at wakes and funerals, we cannot fail to 
 observe the similarity which those bear to the man- 
 ners and customs of some of the nations of Europe, 
 even at the present day. But for myself, I am here 
 especially reminded of some of the time-honoured 
 practices and ceremonies of the Irish people with 
 respect to their treatment of the dead. Among the 
 Irish the custom of purification, that is, of washing 
 the corpse, of closing the mouth and eyes, and ex- 
 tending the limbs, and tying them with bands, has 
 been observed from the most remote times up to the 
 present day. The decent arrangement of the couch 
 on which the corpse is placed, and the decorations 
 with which both are set forth ; as well as the practice 
 of turning the feet of the corpse towards the door at 
 the time of removal from the house ; and the purifi- 
 cation or washing of the corpse ; are observances as 
 prevalent amongthe Irish Roman Catholics to-day, at 
 least in some districts of Ireland, as they were among 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 233 
 
 ' , 
 
 the Greeks more than twenty centuries ago. Wail- 
 ing for the dead, too, or Coi7iey as the Irish call it, is 
 another remarkable point of similarity between the 
 usages of the two nations. Not only do the imme- 
 diate relatives of the deceased in Ireland raise ihe 
 wail of lamentation around the corpse while lying in 
 the house, and during its progress to the burial-place, 
 but a hired mourner is employed to lead the chorus 
 and to dilate upon the virtues and high qualities of 
 the departed all the time. As with the Greeks, so 
 it is the usage among the Irish to have this chorus of 
 singers composed of women ; and the readiness and 
 facility with which the leader or hired mourner gives 
 forth her extemporaneous verses in praise of the 
 departed is a subject calculated to astonish any one 
 not acquainted with the poetic vein which so pecu- 
 liarly characterizes the Irish mind. This leader is 
 not necessarily a hired woman ; if any relative of the 
 deceased happens to be distinguished for this faculty 
 of extemporaneous verse-making, she assumes this 
 duty ; but in general it is assigned to a woman hired 
 for the purpose, for she being unconnected with the 
 deceased, and consequently uninfluenced by real 
 sorrow, is supposed to be more capable of doing jus- 
 tice to the task she has undertaken. A man some- 
 times discharges this office when there is found one 
 who has the desired faculty, and who has devoted 
 himself to this profession ; for it is, or at least was, in 
 some measure, a profession. Those were not edu- 
 cated persons ; on ihe contrary, they were remark- 
 able for a total absence of education. I knew a 
 woman of this class who resided in the neighbourhood 
 
234 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 
 to which I belonged. She supported herself and 
 daughter partly by the fruits of her funeral singing, 
 or Cointechaun, as it is called, and partly by begging. 
 She was a small, but thick-set and fresh-looking old 
 woman ; and always wore a coarse blue cloak, with 
 the hood generally drawn over her head and face. 
 Beneath this, her head was covered by a neat white 
 cap, with a pinched muslin border, and a red or parti- 
 coloured silk kerchief tied over it. The cloak as well 
 as the garments beneath it were very short, so that 
 a pair of stout legs covered with coarse black stockings 
 and terminated with a pair of stout, well-greased 
 brogues, were visible to about midway between the 
 knee and ancle. Her face was, as I have said, fresh- 
 looking ; it was of an oval shape ; and was lighted 
 with a pair of gray keen eyes, that kept constantly 
 moving in their orbits. A rather stoutish nose, some- 
 what elevated about the middle ; a well-cut mouth 
 with clenched lips, and a long chin, constituted the 
 remaining features of her face entitled to notice. I 
 often, when a small boy, me*- her on the road which 
 led to the little village nqar which her humble cabin 
 was situated ; when she would take me by the hand, 
 and invoke ten thousand blessings on what she was 
 pleased to call h ,: " darlin' boy." Whenever I had a 
 few pence in my pocket I would hand them out to 
 her, and ask her to sing a comtechaun for me. She 
 would clutch the money, and eyeing it with an 
 aflfectionate curiosity, place it in her bosom ; then 
 half closing her eyes, and swaying her body from 
 side to side, she would commence a dirge in the 
 Irish language expressive of the admiration and 
 
I 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 235 
 
 respect which she entertained for myself and all 
 the members of my family ; and of the high 
 and commanding qualities which her imagination 
 suggested as being peculiarly our own. There 
 was an extraordinary flow, and softness, and rich 
 melody in her accents ; and the modulation of her 
 voice was governed in a most remarkable manner by 
 the tenor of the ideas to which she gave utterance : 
 it was sometimes brisk, forcible, and clear ; sometimes 
 slow, soft, and tremulous ; and then again it rose 
 into a wild harmonius swell, from which it gradually 
 descended with a vibrating cadence until it died away 
 into a low, sonorous murmur, like an expiring wind 
 amid a grove of willows. Poor old Moll '.—her name 
 was Moll Connelly ; how my heart rejoiced whenever 
 I saw her round, squat, cosy figure, of a summer's 
 evening, moving calmly and slowly along the moun- 
 tain road that led to her little cabin at the mouth of 
 the glen, with the declining sun throwing its rusy 
 beams over her sedate features, and exhibiting her 
 compact form in well-defined outline against the 
 white blooming crest of the hawthorn hedge. She 
 had long sustained lier character as the best cointechaim 
 woman of the parish ; and full of years and honours 
 she at length sank into the grave ; and had the dirge 
 and the wail, which her poor old spirit had loved so 
 well, chanted over her by her only child, a daughter ; 
 on whose shoulders, however, the fates had not 
 decreed that her mantle should fall. 
 
236 
 
 Greecl: and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 Cremation, or the burning of the bodies of the dead, practised 
 by the ancients — Ceremonies observed by the Greeks on 
 occasions of this sort. 
 
 It was the custom of the ancients to burn the bodies 
 of the dead, and to consign their ashes to an urn. 
 This was especially the case among the Greeks and 
 Romans ; but the Persians followed a different prac- 
 tice, for they esteemed it a profanation to consume 
 their dead with fire. It is thought that the word 
 rvfi^of, tomb, was derived from this observance with 
 respect to the bodies of the dead, rv<f>€iv, signifying 
 to burn. 
 
 The Romans, according to Quintilian, believed that 
 the souls of the dead were purified by fire : " The soul, 
 when freed from its mortal members and purified by 
 fire, sought its abode among the stars." As to the 
 Greeks, although they sometimes buried the bodies 
 of their dead in the earth, yet this was esteemed a 
 mark of infamy, or at least of some inferiority or 
 degradation, in the persons whose remains were thus 
 treated. 
 
 Infants, for instance, were not deemed worthy of 
 cremation ; and their bodies were consequently in- 
 terred in the earth ; and so it was with suicides, and 
 

 Grkece and the Greeks. 
 
 237 
 
 with such as were killed by li^^htnitifr ; tho latter, 
 according to custom, being generally buried in the 
 spot where they fell. Traitors were also subjected to 
 the same degradation, their bodies being deemed un- 
 worthy the honour of cremation. The origin of this 
 custom among the Greeks is ascribed to Hercules, 
 who having bound himself by oath to one Lycimnius 
 that he would bring back his son Argius safe to 
 him, if he would allow him to accompany him to 
 the war with Laomedon, fulfilled the obligation by 
 bringing back his bones, the youth having been 
 killed in battle. The religious belief on which the 
 practice became afterwards founded was, that the 
 soul being relieved from the heterogeneous materials 
 by which in life it was surrounded, and of every 
 stain produced by such polluting contact, which 
 effect could only be produced by fire, it arose more 
 buoyantly to its own sphere, and became fitted for 
 the communion of the immortal gods. Thus they 
 were believed to have been re-born or created over 
 again by fire. The Sophists, or wise-men of India, 
 observed this rite with respect to the dead ; and we 
 find them asking Alexander, as the highest favour he 
 could grant them, to permit them to burn themselves, 
 that they might thereby secure the immortality which 
 they sought. The ancients were not only impressed 
 with the necessity of this mode of disposing of their 
 dead, as it gave lightness and purity to the soul ; but 
 they also viewed it as a graceful and dignified exit 
 out of this world, inasmuch as the soul thus purified 
 mounted upward in a chariot of fire, leaving all that 
 was impure behind it on earth, and bearing only its 
 

 238 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 stainless beauty and revived splendour back to the 
 mansions of the immortals. / 
 
 The funeral pyre, or 7ru/oa,as the Greeks called it, was 
 a pile of wood erected to a convenient height, on the 
 top of which the dead body was placed ; after which 
 the wood was set on fire. Homer, in the description 
 of the funeral pyre of Hector, says, " They placed the 
 body on the top of the pyre, and then cast in the 
 fire." The wood of which the pyre was composed was 
 either oak, or olive, or pine, as we find it mentioned 
 in the pages of the Greek writers ; but whether 
 any peculiar consideration directed the choice in 
 the wood to be used it is not easy to say ; although 
 it is by no means unlikely that youth and age, con- 
 dition in life, and personal qualities, may have had 
 something to do with it. Those who had died by 
 shipwreck had their funeral pyre constructed of the 
 timbers of the wreck. During the time of burning 
 the mourners stood around the fire, and invoked the 
 v/inds to blow, that the body might be the more 
 quickly consumed. A strong breeze springing up at 
 the time of the cremation was looked upon as a good 
 omen. The itrjpv^, or bellman, was in attendance all 
 the time, for the purpose of preventing any one from 
 touching the bones of the dead. When the body was 
 burnt all to the bones, the nearest relation of the 
 deceased, who was present, threw red wine upon the 
 fire in order to quench it, and then the ashes were 
 swept together into a heap. The bones were next 
 taken out and washed in water, which was brought 
 in vessels by the women employed in such rites ; 
 after which they were anointed with ointments, and 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 239 
 
 with the fat of a sow ; and then wrapped up in fine 
 linen, and placed in a coffin. This coffin was most 
 cmmonly made of the wood of the cedar-tree, and was 
 therefore sometimes called KeBpo^. We find that it 
 was the custom to have the husband and wife buried 
 in the same grave, but it rarely happened that the 
 bones of two bodies were placed in the same coffin ; 
 although Pausanias informs us that the Megarensians 
 often put the bones of as many as four bodies in one 
 coffin. The bones thus preserved were called Xet'i^am, 
 or relics, because /e/i by the fire (XetTro) — Xeliretv, to 
 leave). He who happened to die and to be burnt in 
 a foreign land, had his bones or ashes conveyed home 
 in a coffin ; and during this progress homeward the 
 coffin was exhibited and decorated with garlands at 
 every town and village on the route. In reference to 
 this custom Ovid says, — 
 
 Ossa tamen facito pan'o referuntur in urna 
 Sic ego non etiam mortuus exul ero. 
 
 "Take heed that my bones be brought home in a 
 little urn, and that thus I shall not be an exile in 
 death." 
 
 When they came to cross-roads in this journey 
 homeward, it was usual with the kindred of the 
 deceased to keep a feast, in honour of the gods who 
 were supposed to preside over cross-roads. Upon its 
 arrival at its destination it was placed in the sepulchre 
 of the family, and invoked three times, according to 
 the custom to which I have already referred. 
 
240 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 Tombs, inscriptions, and sacrifices in honour of the dead — 
 Garlands of flowers, and other decorations of the graves of 
 the dead. 
 
 
 The ancients very much affected tombs and monu- 
 mental inscriptions ; and they were wont, as is the 
 custom in our own day, to select a place of burial 
 before their death, which they appropriated to them- 
 selves by marking it wl!:h a black stone. When the 
 body or the ashes of the dead were interred, the 
 mound or tomb was raised above them, which was 
 costly or otherwise according to the quality of the 
 deceased. Upon this mound was inscribed the name 
 and qualities of the party ; which inscription was 
 called yvcopia-fia, or epitaph. The Spartan soldiers, as 
 Justin informs us, were accustomed to tie a small 
 piece of writing around their wrists, in order to inti- 
 mate to those who should find them, if they had fallen 
 in the field of battle, who and of what condition they 
 were, that their bodies might thereby be honoured 
 with a suitable tomb and epitaph. After the earth 
 was thrown upon the grave, the sacrifice was offered, 
 and an invocation made that the earth might press 
 lightly upon the deceased. The Chorus in Euripides 
 exclaims, in reference to Alcestis, " May the earth rest 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 241 
 
 light over you, woman." The Romans practised a 
 similar invocation, and Sit tibi terra levis, " May the 
 earth be light upon you," was pronounced over the 
 graves of their dead with the same intensity of feeling 
 as was indicated by the similar invocation of the 
 Greeks. 
 
 This form of expression is indeed common among 
 ourselves as a part of the phraseology used in con- 
 nexion with our pious aspirations for the ease and 
 repose of the dead. In sacrificing to the gods of the 
 nether world, as in the case of the dead, the custom 
 was to cut out a trench or ditch for the altar, upon 
 which the victim was offered. This victim was either 
 a barren cow or a black sheep ; the meaning intended 
 thereby being that the dead should not have any 
 beast as an offering which was capable of producing 
 life ; and that the colour most agreeable to the gods 
 below was black, or that which approached as near 
 as possible to darkness. The hair which grew on the 
 forehead of the victim was plucked out and offered at 
 the same time ; as was also the hair of the mourners, 
 of which mention has been already made. But the 
 offering of hair was not confined even to this, for the 
 hair on the forehead of living animals was also cut off 
 and offered with 'the rest. Of this custom Herodotus 
 gives an instance in the proceeding of Mardonius and 
 his army at the funeral of Masistius ; as there are 
 many instances of the same kind given by others of 
 the Greek writers. 
 
 Besides the sacrifice there were also drink-offerings, 
 or '\oa\, as they were called, consisting of wine, milk, 
 and honey. Those who officiated in this part of the 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 ceremony went around the grave pouring out the 
 libation, and addre^^sing speeches to the deceased, and 
 also prayers and iKvocations to the gods and the 
 ghosts of the dead to be propitious to the soul of the 
 deceased. This libation was also poured on the top 
 of the grave, the celebrant standing thereon. In 
 Euripides we find the words of the speech or invoca- 
 tion addressed to the soul of Achilles on the occasion 
 of his funeral obsequies : " O son of Peleus, thou, my 
 father, accept my libations, these propitiatory offer- 
 ings of the dead." Of course these offerings, as well 
 as all the other rites performed in honour of the dead, 
 were made, as noticed before, by the kindred of the 
 deceased. The deep devotion cmd solemn feeling 
 which characterize the manners of the ancient Greeks 
 in their ceremonies as connected with the dead, can- 
 not fail to impress us with the fulness and extent of 
 their religious principles, and the grandeur of their 
 conceptions as to a fature state. Their creed was not 
 a cold and sterile belief in a mere existence beyond 
 the present scene, uninfluenced by considerations of 
 its joys or terrors ; no, but it was one that glowed in- 
 all the ardour of an enthusiasm that lifted up the mind 
 to a contemplation of the mystery of existence, and 
 wafted the soul high amid the splendours and the 
 glories of a boundless future. Their religion was that 
 of the heart ; it was warm, ardent, enthusiastic ; it 
 held communion with the immortal occupants of eter- 
 nity ; and while, in its temporal aspect, it rested 
 upon this earth as the scene of its predestined 
 strifes and struggles, it reposed its brow upon the 
 golden throne of an immortal destiny, an imperiijnable 
 
vBsssmsi 
 
 ssesSH 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 243 
 
 futurity. This religion of the Greeks was truly the 
 nursery of the Muses ; it was here surely the poet 
 found his purest inspiration, and the orator his highest 
 conceptions of eloquence. 
 
 It has been already stated that it was the custom of 
 the Greeks to bedeck the grave with garlands, and to 
 cast flowers, herbs, and green branches upon it. The 
 herb parsley was in especial use for this purpose ; 
 and we read that when Timoleon was marching to 
 fight the Carthaginians, he met mules laden with this 
 herb, whereupon his soldiers, taking the alarm which 
 the event inspired, being aware of the use to which 
 this herb was applied, refused to advance upon the 
 enemy. But he removed the disheartening impression 
 from their minds by representing to them that parsley 
 was as much a sign of victory as of death, inasmuch 
 as it symbolized the triumph which the good man 
 achieves over the world, and its trials and cares. In 
 fact this custom of the Greeks originated in the feeling 
 of triumph ; in that sense of victory which the liberated 
 spirit of the dead has won over the tyranny of the 
 world ; and as in their athletic and other exercises it 
 was their wont to crown the victor with flowers and 
 green boughs, so in the last and greatest victory, that 
 which is accomplished over the world itself, the same 
 indications of triumph were adopted, and the garland 
 crown became a sign and a symbol. 1 he Romans 
 celebrated the obsequies of the dead in the manner of 
 the Greeks ; and strewed their graves with leaves and 
 flowers, and branches, in the same spirit of symbolic 
 significance. Ad sepulchrum ferunt frondes, says 
 Varro ; "they bring leaves to strew upon the graves.". 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 This custom has descended to us from the ancients, 
 and we retain it to the present day, lore especially 
 with reference to the graves of younj^ virgins. Gar- 
 lands of flowers, natural and artificial, evergreens, and 
 sweet-smelling herbs, are decorations which meet and 
 delight the eye in the places of the dead in most coun- 
 tries of Europe and America at the present d?.y. No 
 cMS^-om can be more indicative than this of man's 
 spiritual supremacy over the material and grovelling 
 propensities of human nature, or afford more cheering 
 evidence of the living principle of faith which regards 
 this world as a mere probationary resting-place, 
 whence the soul passes through paths of grace, and 
 love, and holiness to the glorious realms of eternal 
 life. It is a custom at once retrospective and pro- 
 spective in its suggestions ; it not only brings the past 
 atid present forcibly to our view, with all their attendant 
 toils, and cares, and vanit" ^s, and unstable nature, but it 
 also projects our minds and hearts into the future realms 
 of light, and hope, and life imperishable. It keeps the 
 memory of the dead alive and fresh in our bosoms, 
 while it couples with it a still brighter and holier 
 memory — that of the immortal soul living in a world 
 that shall never pass away. It calls us out of our- 
 selves and beyond ourselves, to the contemplation of 
 our true life, of our first beginning, of our last end ; 
 and is to us a constant, but yet sweet monitor of 
 the perishable nature of iall worldly ties and interests, 
 and of the joy, and bliss, and permanence, which are 
 the characteristics of God's kingdom. No custom 
 could be better calculated than this to revive in us 
 those solemn thoughts which speak and breathe of 
 
|iV«B«ni*Tm^MBRV^JU... 
 
 ?95r? 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 245 
 
 our origin and future destiny, and which opens to us 
 a vista through which the soul, as it were, glances into 
 those scenes of eternity for which it was created, and 
 into which it must shortly pass, whether for an im- 
 mortality of happiness or an immortality of woe. 
 
 To decorate the graves of deceased relatives and 
 friends with flowers and evergreens, and to strew over 
 them and around them fragrant herbs and leaves, was 
 a practice that could only originate in the most lively 
 sentiments of holy faith in a future existence. It was 
 an act on which the spirit of the living manifested its 
 impulsive tendency towards that of the dead, and its 
 aspiration to mingle its pure essence with that of the 
 free and disengaged spirit that had flung the mortal 
 coil from around it. It was surely a practice that tended 
 to purify and elevate the soul, and to lead it into con- 
 tact and close alliance with its Omnipotent Creator. 
 It drew the mind and heart away from terrestrial 
 interests and contemplation, and wrapt the soul in a 
 transport of mingled hope, and joy, and melancholy, 
 which gave it at once a loftiness of thought and a 
 dignity of suffering, which enabled it to regard the 
 future state with an unwavering purpose, and to look 
 upon the present as a passing scene where there is 
 nothing firm, certain, or lasting. This concentra- 
 tion of attention and devotion, which marks the 
 Grecian custom of burial, is certainly the most striking 
 evidence that could be given of the source whence 
 sprang that elasticity and brilliancy of mind, and 
 depth and richness of feeling, which characterize the 
 wonderful productions which have given immortality 
 to that extraordinary people. None but a people far 
 
246 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 • ""alted above the grovelling feelings and practices of 
 li, i.iere animal life could invest the works of the intel- 
 lect . 1 h a character of enduring vitality, or give such 
 an impulse to the world of mind as to fashion it to 
 their own views, and laws, and principles, and direct 
 it in the path of their own glory. The impress of 
 Greece is stamped upon the mind of the world to-day, 
 and it is but fair to presume that so shall it be to the 
 end of time. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 247 
 
 CHAPTER LHI. 
 
 Public orations, and funeral fea: in honour of the dead. 
 
 It was a custom among the Greeks to erect a pillar 
 at or near the grave, and sometimes an image either of 
 the party deceased, or of some person, or animal, or 
 thing, intended to represent him. We learn that the 
 image at the grave of Diogenes was that of a dog, he 
 having been a Cynic philosopher, and his life having 
 been spent in carping objections against the ways of the 
 world ; while that of Isocrates was a syren, which was 
 considered a suitable representation of the winning 
 eloquence of the orator. A funeral oration in praise of 
 the deceased was also pronounced at the grave — 
 a custom which has reached to our time. If the 
 deceased had died in battle, this oration was pro- 
 nounced by a person appointed by the magistrate for 
 that purpose, and who was generally a near relative 
 of the deceased ; and it was repeated once every year 
 afterward. Cicero speaks of the custom in these 
 words : " It is the custom among the Athenians to 
 honour by a public ordtion, in the presence of an 
 assembly, those who have been slain in battle ; a custom 
 so much in favour, that it becomes necessary to repeat 
 it on the same day in every year." It is said that 
 this custom originated with Pericles, who pronounced 
 
248 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 an oration upon those who had fallen in the Pclopon- 
 nesian war. There were plays also enacted upon 
 those occasions, called funeral plays, as well as feasts 
 in honour of the dead. After the mourners had 
 returned home from the funeral, they commenced a 
 lustration, or a purifying of the house, as well as of 
 themselves ; which was done by burning brimstone, 
 and sprinkling with water, and passing through fire. 
 After this was held the funeral feast, at which they 
 wore garlands and white dresses, and which was 
 renewed at the expiration of nine days afterward, and 
 again at the expiration of thirty days or a month, when 
 a sacrifice was offered to the god Mercury, that he 
 might lead the soul of the departed to the regions of the 
 blest. It was afterwards renewed once a year, and 
 called v€Kv<Tia, or the feast of the dead, as the annual 
 feast in honour of the birth-day was called yeviaia, or 
 birth-feast. Throughout all these ceremonies in 
 honour of the dead there was no person permitted 
 to participate in them who was an enemy to the 
 deceased ; nor was such a person even allowed to 
 go near the grave. So Sophocles represents Ulysses 
 as having been forbidden to approach the grave of 
 Ajax ; and Cicero says that such was the sanctity 
 ascribed to the rites performed for the dead, that even 
 a stranger was not suffered to have any thing to do 
 with them, lest he might be an enemy. If the 
 deceased left a wife and children behind him, they 
 were immediately committed to the protection of the 
 Archon, or chief magistrate, who, in the case of the 
 wife, was to take care that she should not imprudently 
 contract a second marriage ; and with respect to the 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 249 
 
 children, that a suitable tutor should be provided for 
 them, such a person as was not of kin to the deceased, 
 or was at least so far removed that the succession of 
 the inheritance should not fall to him in the event of 
 the death of the child or children. The tutor was 
 what was called iraihoiv Kvpio<s, that is, he had not 
 only the charge of the education of the children, but 
 was invested with full authority to manage and trans- 
 act all affairs connected with their interests, until they 
 arrived at the age of twenty years. They were then 
 competent, according to law, to take in hand the 
 ■ management of their own affairs, without hindrance 
 or restraint. 
 
250 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 f 
 
 High religious feeling of the Greeks — Temples of the gods, 
 regarded as asylums of security for criminals— Privilege of 
 sanctuary. 
 
 I HAVE spoken of the religion of the Greeks as 
 pervading all their thoughts, sentiments, and feelings 
 in the various relations of life, and as influencing 
 their conduct throughout every phase of their existence. 
 The keen and wakeful conception which was ever 
 present to their minds of the omnipresence and 
 superintendence of their numerous divinities, and of 
 the providence by which these presided over and 
 regulated the government of the world, gave to their 
 religion that vivacity of feeling and intensity of moral 
 sensibility which form the most striking features in 
 their character as a nation. They not only believed 
 that there was a future state where the rewards of 
 exquisite happiness were provided for the just, and 
 punishments adapted and proportioned to their crimes 
 awarded to the wicked ; but they anticipated the 
 future by their belief in the special providential 
 regulations, as to rewards and punishments, provided 
 for by their gods in the present state. In short, it 
 was their creed that every act of transgression against 
 the laws of the gods was avenged in this life ; and 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 251 
 
 
 that there was thus a special as well as a general and 
 all-pervading providence, which affected not only the 
 guilty ^''t even those who permitted the guilt to go 
 unpunisned. The sacred ness, however, with which 
 they regarded the special interference of the gods in 
 the affairs of this world was such that what they 
 otherwise deemed a crime deserving of immediate 
 and present punishment became obliterated, as it 
 were, or at least withdrawn for the moment from the 
 category of crime, as soon as the interposition of the 
 gods m behalf of the criminal bec.une manifest. 
 Thus we find that, when an offender of any kind 
 sought protection in the temples of the gods, all 
 human law became suspended, and the person of the 
 culprit became inviolable. This was the case also to 
 a certain extent, even as regarded the intercession 
 of men ; for, if a slave who had been ill-treated by 
 his master sought the protection of men, his person 
 became sacred, and he could not be dragged away 
 from the asylum into which he had entered. But to 
 force an entrance into the temples of the gods which 
 had been set apart for the protection of the fugitives, 
 to violate the sanctity of those aavXoi, as they were 
 termed, by forcing from their sacred portals the un- 
 happy wretches who had sought shelter there, wa'' an 
 offence of no ordinary magnitude ; an offence v ; '^h 
 was punishable by the ostracism or exilement of ihe 
 party committing it. Euripides represents Polydorus, 
 who contemplated this protection against his enemies, 
 exclaiming, " The altars of the gods are near me." If 
 a criminal were convicted by the law, and the sentence 
 of death even pronounced against him, his escape to 
 
252 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the altar afforded him safety, and the person who 
 dared to drag him forth, and to lay violent hands 
 upon him while thus beneath the sacred JEg'is of the 
 gods, was esteemed guilty of his blood. There were 
 six temples in Athens which possessed this privilege 
 of sanctuary, namely, the temple of Misericordia, that 
 of Minerva, that of the Eumenides, that of Munichia, 
 and the two temples of Theseus, one of which stood 
 inside and the other outside of the city walls. It is said 
 that the temple of Misericordia was the first that was 
 ever erected for this purpose, and that it was the work 
 of the grandsons of Hercules, who wished to protect 
 themselves against their enemies : " After Hercules 
 had left the earth," says Servius, " his grandchildren, 
 fearing the treachery of those whom their grandfather 
 had made to suffer, were the first who established an 
 asylum, that is, a temple of mercy, in Athens, whence 
 no one could be forced away." 
 
 This institution of privilege of sanctuary became 
 afterwards common among the nations of the earth, 
 and was continued down even to a comparatively 
 recent period, when the change of manners and the 
 varying light of philosophy exhibited it as inadequate 
 to the preservation of social order and the moral 
 necessities of mankind. 
 
 According to the laws, however, which regulated 
 the observances of this institMtion among the Greeks, 
 it was permitted that the refugee might be forced out 
 of the temple by means of fire : that is, a fire might 
 be lighted at any aperture of the temple which 
 presented itself for the purpose, and thus the culprit 
 compelled by the smoke and heat to leave the asylum. 
 
 r 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 253 
 
 But this expulsion was not regarded in a favourable 
 light by the people, and was not therefore often 
 resorted to. No crime was deemed so heinous as to 
 justify the violation of the right of sanctuary ; for we 
 read that, when the followers of Cylon had plundered 
 the temple of Minerva, and were afterwards arrested 
 at the altar and murdered, the perpetrators of this 
 deed of blood were thenceforth held in detestation by 
 the people, and branded with the name of aknripioi, 
 that is, sacrilegious scoundrels, as we should express 
 it. In seeking the protection of the sanctuary, it was 
 usual with supplicants to appear with garlands tied 
 round their necks, or green boughs in their hands. 
 These boughs were either of the olive or laurel-tree, 
 and were interspersed with wreaths of wool, and 
 called elpea-Lwvai,, or wreathed laurel-boughs. The 
 Romans followed the same practice ; for we find 
 Virgil alluding to it in these words, Jamqiie oratores 
 aderant ex tcrbe Latina velati ramis olece veniamque 
 rcgantes, " And now the supplicants came from the 
 Latin city covered with olive-branches, and asking 
 pardon." 
 
 The people of Rhodes observed the same custom, 
 according to the testimony of Livy. The reason 
 assigned for the use of the laurel and olive on 
 those occasions is, that these trees are not subject 
 to decay, and are therefore suggestive of purity, 
 sacredness, and inviolability ; and, furthermore, that 
 the laurel is an emblem of victory or success, and the 
 olive of peace and benevolence. With these boughs 
 the supplicants, in pressing their suit for an asylum, 
 touched, in cases of doubt, the knees of the man whose 
 
 i 
 ! 
 
254 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 protection they sought, or of the statue of the god to 
 whose temple they had recourse ; but where they felt 
 inspired with hope of a kind reception, they touched 
 the hands of the objects of their solicitation ; and 
 where confidence of security possessed their minds, 
 the chin and cheeks were the parts they touched. 
 Such, at least, are the accounts with which some of the 
 Greek writers furnish us. 
 
 When supplication was made to men of high quality, 
 it was usual for the supplicant to stoop down and kiss 
 his feet ; an instance of which we find in the case of 
 an appeal to Cyrus, as related by Xenophon : " They 
 kissed the hands and feet of Cyrus." In casej of 
 exile and escape from danger, the refugee always 
 made for the hearth of the person from whom he 
 sought protection, iiiu! there crouched within the 
 shelter of the Pcnatc , or household gods. In this 
 position he felt himself secure from all danger, for it 
 would be deemed an act of sacrilege to lay violent 
 hands upon him while thus within the sacred precincts 
 of the hearth, or to drag him from the shielding 
 arms of its gods. Nihil sanctius^ says Cicero, nihil 
 omni religione imuiilius^ qiiam domus ujiiusciijusque 
 civiiim. Hie arce stint, hie foei, hie dii penateSy hie 
 saercj religionis cercmonicc eontinentiir ; hoc per- 
 fugium est ita sancimn omnibus, tit inde arripi nemineni 
 fas sit ; " There is nothing more sacred, nothing more 
 secure by every principle of religion, than the house 
 of every citizen. Here is the altar, here the hearth, 
 here are the household gods ; and here are kept tiiC 
 sacred ceremonies of religion : this is to all a place 
 of refuge so holy that it is unlawful to force any one 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 255 
 
 by violence from it." When offenders fled to the 
 temples of the gods for protection, they took with 
 them garlands, with which they crowned the altars, 
 and then prayed that theii safety might be ensured. 
 In like manner supplicants implored tor aid or assist- 
 ance in cases of distress or affliction. When invoking 
 the favour of the gods, their custom was to raise the 
 arms towards heaven, and let the hands drop down- 
 ward, resting upon the wrist. 
 
 There was kept in the temple a register, for the 
 purpose of recording the different cases in which 
 parties succeeded in obtaining their requests ; and 
 which was kept by the priest of the temple, the 
 parties either making the entry themselves, or testify- 
 ing to its correctness. 
 
■.^^m^-j"": 
 
 
 «. 
 
 I r, 
 
 2^6 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 Offerings and sacrifices to the gods — Tht- 
 
 Divinities. 
 
 three classes of 
 
 The offerings to the gods were of two kinds, that is, 
 free-will offerings, or such as were made in fulfilment 
 of vows ; and obligatory offerings, or such as they were 
 commanded by the oracle to make on special occasions. 
 Their gods were divided into three classes ; namely, 
 those under the ground, those on the ground, 
 and those ibov^ the ground ; or, as they were 
 called, vTro'xBopioiy x^ovioi, and ovpdvioi; and their 
 altars and modes of sacrifice and offering were 
 arranged in accordance with this distinction. The 
 altpr erected to the subterranean gods was made in 
 a hoUov/ or ditch, and called ia-xapa; that to the 
 celestial gods was raised on a mound of earth, and 
 called I3(ofio<s ; while the terrestrial gods had altars of 
 a construction similar to that of the subterranean 
 deities. The Romans observed the same distinction 
 as to their gods and altars, and ara and altare were 
 the names which they assigned respectively to the 
 altars of the subterranean and celestial gods ; the one 
 being derived from uro, arare, to plough, because it 
 was ploughed or scooped out in the earth, and the 
 other from alius, lofty, because it was raised above 
 
 .Mli^ 
 
■"^^fl.- 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 257 
 
 the earti,. The form of the /3ro//6s^ or celestial altar 
 of the Greeks, was a square, an oblong, or a circle, but 
 generally the last. The circle was a figure of which 
 they seem to have been particularly fond, for their 
 market-places, theatres, and even tables, were all of a 
 circular form. The material of which the altar was 
 composed was either earth, stone, or wuod ; if the 
 first, it was always mixed or tempered with blood. 
 They were usually erected on mountains or elevated 
 places, as being thereby considered nearer to the 
 celestial or Olympian gods ; those consecrated to 
 the terrestrial and subterranean divinities being, oh 
 the contrary, established in valleys or low grounds, 
 from a similar motive of propinquity. The time <^f 
 sacrifice was either the morning or the evening ; thf^ 
 former when the celestial gods and heroes were to »p 
 worshipped, and the latter when any other divinity m as 
 the object of adoration. The subjects of sacrifice were 
 either living creatures, such as bul' ;, goats, sows, and 
 rams ; or inanimate things, such as corn and fJowr ; or 
 liquids, such as wine, honey, and milk. Although the 
 opinions of some of the ancient philosophers were 
 against the shedding of blord for the purposes of 
 sacrifice, yet the general feeling of antiquity was in 
 favour of the grand offering of a whole-burnt sacrifice, 
 consisting of a bull, ram, sow, and goat. 
 
 % 
 
258 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 Oaths and asseverations — Abjurations and the ordeal by fire. 
 
 The mode of fortifying declarations, or giving 
 assurance of the fidelity of promises and engagements 
 among the deeks, in other words, their system of 
 oath-taking and swearing, was two-fold. There was, 
 first, the great oath, or /^eya? opKo<i, which was that 
 of men swearing by the gods, or of gods swearing by 
 the Stygian Lake ; and second, the small oath, fxl/cpo^ 
 6pKo<i, which was when they swore by some creature, 
 such as a dog, a goose, a ram, or the like, or by some- 
 thing inanimate, as the ground on which they stood, 
 the nets which they were in the act of using, or any 
 thing oi the same kind. The fieya<t opKo% or great 
 oath, is represented as having been invented by 
 Jupiter, the father of the gods, and prescribed by 
 him to be taken by the rest of the gods at the time 
 he was aided by Styx and his sons in repelling the 
 invasion of the Titans, who attempted to dethrone 
 him. The belief in connexion with this oath was 
 that if any of the gods violated it, he was punished in 
 the lower regions for nine thousand years. It was 
 usual on the part of mortals to accompany the oath 
 with an imprecation of evil to some person or thing 
 which they held dear to them ; as in the case of 
 
 J 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 250 
 
 by fire. 
 
 giving 
 ements 
 stem of 
 ire was, 
 as that 
 ring by 
 
 I, fllKpOt 
 
 reature, 
 
 / some- 
 
 y stood, 
 
 or any 
 
 r great 
 
 ted by 
 
 ibed by 
 
 le time 
 
 ing the 
 
 ethrone 
 
 ith was 
 
 ished in 
 
 It was 
 
 he oath 
 
 3r thing 
 
 case of 
 
 Telemachus. in Homer, where he swears by Jupiter 
 ai:d the sorrows of his father. This was to give 
 greater corroboration to the truth, by showing that, if 
 they violated their oaths, they were willing not only 
 to bear the due punishment themselves, but also to 
 involve their nearest and dearest relatives and friends 
 in the consequences of their offence. 
 
 The oath taken by women was by Juno, and my Lady 
 Diana. Although the oath usually taken by men, as 
 being of the greatest weight, and being tha especial!}' 
 presc; bed by Solon, was the adjurati m byjpitcr; 
 yet they were accustomed to swear by 'ic other gods, 
 or by heroes nho had lately fallen in battle, as 
 Demosthe.ies swore by toi)? tu MapaOuivL, those who 
 fell in the battle of Marathon. They sometimes 
 swore by t/te gods, not s}^>ccifying any o. them, 
 and sometimes by the twelve gods ; as the Spartans 
 did b) the two gods, Castor and Pollux. T^cy very 
 frequently adapted their oaths to the particular 
 business abou; which they were employed at the 
 time of taking it ; as in the market-place they swore 
 by Mercury ht being the presiding deity of traffic. 
 To swear b> an oath was also common among them, 
 as /u.a Tov opuoif, by my oath. 
 
 In taking an oath, that is, the /li«'>«? 6pKo<;, or great 
 ©ath, the gods are represented < lifting up their 
 nands, but men as placinrr thei* hands upon the 
 altar ; whereas, in talcing tne small oath, which was 
 the oath of one man to another, to seal a promise or 
 bargain, the party so taking it placed his hand on the 
 hand of the other party. The solemn oaths taken by 
 the gods were generally attended with sacrifice, that is, 
 
 S 2 
 
 m 
 
26o 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 of a ram, boar, and goat, the three being immolated 
 together, or three of either. 
 
 The pig was a favourite subject of sacrifice among 
 the Greel<s, ar> well as the Romans ; for it was believed 
 that the hrst sacrifice ever oTered among them was 
 that of a sow, and that the Fatii'^r of the Gods was 
 nursed by a sow. Unlike the custom at all other 
 sacrifices, the flesh was not eaten in that of a pig, 
 but was buried in the earth. 
 
 In acts of abjuration and purging of crimes it was 
 usual with the parties to creep upon their hands 
 through the fire, or to hold a red-hot iron in their 
 hands, being persuaded that their innocence of the 
 crime attributed to them v/ould operate as a charm 
 against the effects of those instruments of torture. 
 This reminds us of the ordeal by fire which was so 
 prevalent in England, as well as in other countries of 
 Europe, in former times. We read of Emma, the 
 mother of Edward the Confessor, walking blindfold 
 through red-hot ploughshares, in order to purge herself 
 of the charge of adultery ; and also of Kunigund, the 
 wife of the emperor Henry the Second, taking'a red- 
 hot iron in her hand, with the same object ; both escap- 
 ing, as we are told, unhurt. It was also customary 
 among the Athenians, on such occasions, to take a piece 
 or bar of iron, and throw it into the sea, declaring at 
 the same time that they would keep their oath as long 
 as the sea kept the iron without floating. They 
 .sometimes wrote the oath on a piece of paper, and 
 threw it into the water ; if it floated, it was a sign 
 that the oath taken was true ; but if it sank, t'^e party 
 taking the oath v/as punished, as having sworn falsely. 
 
tm^tm 
 
 Greece and the Gkkeks. 
 
 261 
 
 imolated 
 
 :e amon<^ 
 1 believed 
 hern was 
 jrods was 
 all other 
 3f a pig, 
 
 ^s it was 
 ir hands 
 I in their 
 :e of the 
 
 a charm 
 torture, 
 h was so 
 .mtries of 
 ima, the 
 blindfold 
 le herself 
 jund, the 
 ig'a red- 
 th escap- 
 istomary 
 :e a piece 
 
 laring at 
 h as long 
 They 
 iper, and 
 s a sign 
 :Ii.e party 
 n falsely. 
 
 A strict and conscientious observer of an oath was 
 esteemed a religions man among the Greeks, and was 
 indicated by that epithet ; so much so, indeed, that a 
 religious man and a keeper of an oath meant the same 
 thing, evopKofi and €va€l3es being two terms expressive 
 of one idea. But a man of very great wickedness 
 was indicated by the contrary idea, that of an oath- 
 breaker, eV/op/vo? ; or, as we would express it, perjurer. 
 Common swearers and oath-breakers were held in 
 great abhorrence by the Athenians ; so much so, 
 that there was an established belief among them that 
 the Furies made periodical visits, five days only 
 intervening between them, for the purpose of punish- 
 ing such base and wicked persons. 
 
 Hi 
 
262 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 Convivial habits of the Greeks — Their pubUc entertainments — 
 The forms and ceremonies observed at feasts — Resem- 
 blance between the Greeks and Romans in their festive 
 ceremonies. 
 
 It was a common saying among the ancients that 
 when an Athenian was dying he stretched out his hand 
 {A tiicus moriens porrigit maimm), to indicate the spirit 
 of hospitality which governed his life. To be as merry 
 as a Greek was another mode of expression of the 
 same quality. 
 
 When Demosthenes was going into exile the 
 Athenians flocked around him, and attended him a 
 part of the way, each bestowing upon him some gift 
 or present by which to express their love and admira- 
 tion of him, and the benevolent and generous feelings 
 by which they were actuated ; whereupon, partinp: 
 from them, he said, " How can I bear to leave such a 
 city where even enemies are such as you cannot find 
 friends elsewhere." The Athenians indeed were 
 remarkable for their cheerfil and convivial habits. 
 They loved eating and drinking for the sike of the 
 social feelings which were produced thereby, and the 
 gay and merry conversations which were wont to 
 enliven the festive board. Like most people whose 
 taste is formed on a similar model, they delighted in 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 263 
 
 
 the propagation of idle reports, and in the dissemi- 
 nation of scandal. They loved to hear and report 
 every kind of news, and to adapt it, to the circum- 
 stances of the passing hour, without troubling them- 
 selves as to its truth or falsehood. The Baths, 
 Smithies, Porches or public Halls, Perfumers' shops, 
 and Barbers' shops, were the usual places of resort, 
 where scandals of every kind were wont to be retailed. 
 The better classes frequented the baths and public 
 halls, and the others the shops just mentioned. U 
 was a common saying among them when they in- 
 tended to express the idea of a vague or unfounded 
 tale, that it was only KovpiKT} \a\id barbers' talk 
 The philosophers, or learned men, however, held 
 their social meetings, which were of a different kind ; 
 for they conversed on high subjects, and discussed 
 topics of commanding interest. Their places of 
 resort were consecrated to the god Apollo, and were 
 frequented in the day time. 
 
 The set meals among the Greeks were at first held 
 but once a day, as among the Romans, and that in the 
 evening ; but afterwards, it is thought, they held as 
 many as four such meals in the course of the day ; 
 namely, breakfast, dinner, evening meal, and supper. 
 At the time appointed for each meal a bell was rung 
 in the market-place ; whence came the saying among 
 them, in reference to lovers of good fare, /coiSwvo? o^ewf 
 dKovvre<i, to have sharp ears for the bell. The 
 Greeks appear to have been much given to that 
 description of entertainment which was made up by 
 the contributions of the individuals who wished to 
 join in it. It was such another form of conviviality 
 
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264 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 as that which prevails among us at the present day, 
 called a subscription party. Each put in a certain 
 pledge, generally a ring, to the Master of Ceremonies, 
 or the person appointed to provide the entertainment ; 
 so that if he neglected paying his allotted portion of 
 the expense, or did not come to the feast, the ring 
 {(rvfi,8o\r}) might be sold for that purpose. This 
 kind of entertainment was designated by the name 
 of €pavo<;. Another description of entertainment was 
 that called elXairivr], which was more costly in its 
 circumstances, and was probably for the better 
 classes of citizens. The Athenian entertainments 
 differed from those of the Romans in this important 
 respect, that while the women were participators in 
 the feasts of the latter, they were forbidden to be 
 present at those of the former, except a few who 
 accompanied their near relatives. The company at 
 those entertainments was limited, thirty being the 
 greatest number allowed, according to custom. There 
 were certain officers appointed to preside over the 
 feast, and to see that this regulation should not be 
 infringed. There was also an officer appointed, called 
 oii/oTTT^?, whose business it was to attend to the dis- 
 tribution of the wine, and to see if any person became 
 a<ra)T09 (intemperate), in which case he was to be 
 handed over to the Areopagus for punishment. The 
 profession of a cook was held in high honour among 
 the Greeks ; which appears evident enough from the 
 fact, that the knowledge of physics, geometry, and 
 astronomy was deemed an essential portion of the 
 acquirements of that profession. 
 
 When the Greeks arrived at a place of entertain- 
 
 i- 
 
^WW" 
 
 Greece and the Greeks, 
 
 >65 
 
 r\ 
 
 ment it was usual with them to salute each other, the 
 form of which, as in all other cases of salutation, was 
 either by kissing or embracing. They kissed either 
 the eyes, the forehead, the neck, or shoulder ; or 
 sometimes they merely kissed the hand, and then 
 embraced the body. The former was the mode of 
 salutation prevalent among the Jews. The word 
 used in salutation was rifiie (worthy man, or worthy 
 sir). The period intervening between the arrival of 
 the guests and the commenceraent of the feast was 
 occupied by them in admiring and praising the furni- 
 ture, ornaments, and accommodations of the house. 
 After some time the cook handed the bill of fare, or 
 ypafifiariBiov, as it was called, to the Master of 
 Ceremonies, who was called SenrvoKkrjTto'i ; and pre- 
 sently the feast commenced. In some cases, that is, 
 on occasions of particular festivities, when a greater 
 scope of enjoyment and high revelry was expected, a 
 ySoo-tXev?, or king, was selected by lot to preside over 
 the entertainment ; and to him was given full and 
 absolute control over the entire proceedings, that is, 
 as to the ceremonies to be observed, and the extent 
 of carousing to be indulged in. During the whole 
 time of the feast frankincense and myrrh were kept 
 burning on the hearth, both for the gratification of 
 the olfactory nerves ofthe guests, and as a propitiatory 
 offering to the gods, to whom the choicest morsel of 
 each dish was also first presented. Before the guests 
 sat down they crowned their heads with garlands, 
 which were usually made of myrtle boughs. 
 
 The Romans observed the same custom, according 
 to Horace, Nunc decei ant viridi caput impedire 
 
266 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 inyrtOy " Now it is proper to bind the head with green 
 myrtle." It was also usual both with the Greeks and 
 Romans to anoint the head before the commence- 
 ment of a feast — habent unctcB mollia serta comes, '* soft 
 garlands rest on the anointed hair " — and to wash 
 both before and after meal. The object of wash- 
 ing, anointing, and wearing garlands upon the head 
 was to counteract the effects of the wine, by keeping 
 the skin cool, and opening its pores for the escape of 
 the heat and fumes arising from the indulgence of 
 the feast. Their posture at table was not that of 
 sitting, as with us, but of lying or reclining, as was 
 practised by the Romans afterwards in imitation of 
 them. They did not use seats or benches at table, 
 but beds called icXivai^ such as those used by tne 
 Romans called lecti; and near these were yjruidoi, or 
 mats, with bed-clothes ; so that whenever they felt 
 so disposed, they might compose themselves to sleep. 
 Those reclining beds were covered either with the 
 skins of animals or with tapestry, the latter being used 
 by the better sort of peoj^le. In this recumbent posture 
 they rested upon their elbows, with their feet placed 
 upon a footstool. The table was supported on three 
 legs, and thence called xptTrou?, or tripod ; and upon it 
 was placed what was called oX/ito?, which was a sort of 
 cup, in imitation of that which stood upon the 
 oracular table at Delphos, and which might be put 
 on and taken oft' as they pleased. This they appear 
 to have treated with great reverence, as while it stood 
 upon the table all profanation of discourse was strictly 
 and religiously forbidden. •• - 
 
mm 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 267 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 Food of the Greeks in early times — Introduction of wine — 
 Toasts or healths — Carousals, or drinking bouts — Wedding 
 or bridal cakes — Music, dancing, and songs at feasts. 
 
 In veryremote times the Greeks, we are told, lived upon 
 the fruit of the oak and beech trees, that is, masts 
 and acorns ; in allusion to which Aulus Gellius says, 
 Quoniam cibus victusque antiquissimus quenius capi 
 solitus sit, " as their most ancient food was taken from 
 the oak-tree." Of cereal food, that made of barley 
 was first brought into use. The mode by which, at 
 the commencement, they converted corn into food 
 when mills were unknown, was to roast or parch it 
 on the fire, and then to pound it into a dough. This 
 mode of preparation was also in use among the 
 Israelites, for we read that when David had come to 
 the camp they " brought him beds and tapestr)', and 
 earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, 
 and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and fried 
 pulse." (2 Kings xvii. 28.) The Greeks never used 
 the brains of an animal for food ; against this they 
 had a most decided aversion, for they regarded it as a 
 sort of desecration which none but men afflicted with 
 insanity could be guilty of As the source and 
 
268 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 centre of life and sense, it was, in their estimation, a 
 violation of the first law of nature, to use, for the 
 gratification of any of the senses, that from which 
 they all proceeded, and without which they could not 
 exist. 
 
 But the entrails of animals was a favourite and 
 dainty dish with them, and one to which epicures 
 particularly inclined. Their dishes and platters were 
 made either of wood or brass ; the former being 
 those used by the inferior classes, and tue latter by 
 the better description of people ; and each person 
 was supplied with his portion of food in the place 
 where he reclined. The drink used during the repast 
 was wine and water. A curious story^ is told by 
 Athenaeus as to the origin of this mixed drink ; it 
 is this : After Bacchus had brought the vine from 
 the shores of the Red Sea into Greece, and when he 
 first converted the grape into liquid, the people 
 flocked to his vineyard and indulged in copious 
 draughts ; when they became intoxicated, and ran 
 about like madmen. In the meantime a shower of 
 rain came on, and the wine in the cups that had been 
 left by the first drinkers became mingled with the rain- 
 water, so that those who afterward came and drank 
 of it experienced no intoxicating or maddening in- 
 fluence from the draught. Hence arose the custom 
 of using the KCKpaa-fievov, or mixed wine, at table. 
 The drinking of toasts, or healths, was also usual at 
 repasts ; the first being that to Jupiter (Zey? 2ft)T>;'p), 
 as being the source and creator of rain, of which the 
 favourite drink was compounded. On occasions of 
 the celebration of a victory the leading toast was 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 269 
 
 Zev<i 'OXu/xTTio? (Olympian Jupiter) ; but at a wedding 
 it was '^palo<i ydfio<i (the beautiful bride). 
 
 Immediately after the meal, or, as we express it, 
 after the removal of the cloth, the pure wine was 
 brought in ; and then commenced the carousal. The 
 great bowl, or crater, was filled, and the (TVfiiro<TLdpyri<i, 
 or Master of the Feast, gave the health of the good 
 Genius in whose honour the celebration was made ; 
 or of Bacchus, the god of wine. This toast of the 
 good Genius was given and received with a sort of 
 religious solemnity ; and 'H Bai/xwv djadi, " O good 
 Genius," was repeated in the spirit of an invocation. 
 The last health that was drunk, which was at bed- 
 time, was that to Mercury ; which was intended as an 
 offering for the procuration of a refreshing sleep, and 
 of pleasant dreams. 
 
 The ua-Ko^, or bottle which contained the wine, was 
 made of the skin of a male swine ; and was thence 
 called /cttTrpo?, or wild boar ; as the wine itself was 
 called alua (blood), and the pouring of the wine 
 (7(f)dyia (slaughter). When one toasted the health of 
 another, it was called (^iXdreaia kvXi^ (the cup of 
 friendship), and the act itself Ee^i(tia-i<i, that is, pledg- 
 ing. This is analogous to the .phraseology used in 
 the present day on similar occasions. When the 
 master, or giver of the entertainment, if a man of high 
 condition, drank to his favourite friend, he handed 
 him the cup to keep ; but if he^drank to one whom he 
 loved, that is to his ipw/xdva, or 0t\&), he drank part of 
 the cup himself, and threw the rest upon the ground. 
 The Greeks, we find, indulged in what we sometimes 
 call drinking bouts, that is, they drank for a wager. 
 
270 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 This trial of strength in wine-bibbing was usually 
 enteied into after supper ; and he who was the con- 
 queror in it, that is, he who was able to keep himself 
 waking until morning, was rewarded with a cake 
 made of flour and honey, called irupafiov*:. In the 
 course of this contest it was usual to have riddles 
 proposed ; and whoever was not able to solve them 
 was compelled to drink off his cup. In this way the 
 most acute in intellect were generally the victors, 
 because they were not obliged to drink so much as 
 the others, and consequently were able to keep awake 
 for a longer time. The cups out of which they drank 
 were first made out of the horns of a bull, and were 
 thence called Kepara, but afterward of the ivy wood, 
 and called Tcorripia Ktcraiva. 
 
 To spit, or cough, or speak loudly at table, was 
 considered indecent, and not to be tolerated ; although, 
 strange to say, it would appear that the higher orders, 
 or gentlemen, were not only permitted these practices, 
 but were even regarded as entitled to manifest their 
 superiority in this way. But to pare the nails at table 
 was entirely prohibited as an offence against all 
 propriety and gentlemanly conduct. We are told 
 that at table each person had his footboy, or iraU, as 
 he was termed, to whom he conveyed, generally in a 
 secret manner, such choice bits and dainties as he 
 wished to have carried home for him. This, however, 
 was not looked upon as a creditable act, except at 
 public feasts ; and, therefore, it was done in as secret 
 a manner as possible. At public feasts, indeed, there 
 was no discredit attached to the thing, and conse- 
 quently it was openly practised. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 271 
 
 It is necessary to observe that it was an established 
 custom among the Greeks, at their public feasts, to 
 send to their absent friends a part of the choicest 
 dishes ; uuc in a clandestine manner, but openly, and 
 as a matter of course. This was especially the case 
 at feasts accompanying a sacrifice, and also at wedding 
 feasts. In this latter instance the custom was ana- 
 logous to that which prevails at the present time 
 among ourselves, of sending a part of the bridal cake 
 to absent relatives and friends. 
 
 Plutarch mentions an instance of this kind in which 
 Antigonus, king of Corinth, sent a part of the feast of 
 sacrifice to Aratus ; and Aristophanes alludes to the 
 custom at wedding feasts : — " Some bridegroom has 
 sent you a part of the wedding feast." The Jews 
 followed the same practice, as we learn from the 
 Sacred Writings : — " Now the day came, and Elcana 
 offered sacrifice, and gave to Phenenna, his wife, and 
 to all her sons and daughters portions." (i Kings i. 
 4.) And again, " And he said to them : Go, eat 
 fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to 
 them, that have not prepared for themselves ; because 
 it is the holy day cT the Lord, and be not sad ; for 
 the joy of the Lord is our strength." (2 Esdras viii. 
 10.) After the substantial part of the feast was 
 disposed of, the dessert followed, which consisted of 
 fruit of all sorts, and different kinds of cakes ; this 
 portion of the feast was called /xeraBopTria. Then 
 ensued music and dancing, which Homer calls avaSt}- 
 fiara SaLTr]<i, the crowning of the feast ; and these were 
 interspersed with gay songs and stories. Their songs 
 were generally in praise of heroes, as were those of 
 
272 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 t 
 
 the Romans. The song of Harmodius was an especial 
 favourite with them, and was generally sung first at 
 the feasts. They also had songs in praise of virtue, 
 and in condemnation of cowardice. Timocreon, the 
 Rhodean poet, composed one against riches, beginning 
 with 'n TU(/>\€ n\oi/re, " O blind Pluto ! " They had other 
 songs called oKoXia, which were sung in snatches or 
 rhapsodies by several members of the company ; the 
 first singer taking a myrtle rod, and commencing a 
 passage in any of the poets, as in ^Eschylus, or Euri- 
 pides, or Simonides, and continuing as long as he 
 pleased. After he had concluded he handed the 
 myrtle rod to any person he chose in the company, 
 who was to resume from the place where the first had 
 left off ; and so on until several had taken a part, and 
 the performance was concluded. He whom the com- 
 pany pronounced victorious in the contest received 
 the oBeiov, or reward of song, which was a cup, or 
 some such thing. Where the song was taken from 
 Homer, the singer held not a myrtle, but a laurel 
 bough in his hand ; and the reward of victory was a 
 lamb. In this case the song was called dvoSo^, not 
 (TKoKtov. The harp was an instrument much in requi- 
 sition among the Greeks ; and at their feasts it was 
 handed round from one to another, each holding a 
 bough of myrtle or laurel in his hand while he played 
 upon it. They sometimes even enacted comedies at 
 their feasts, when those of Menander were selected. 
 But while thus indulging in the gratification of the 
 senses, and promoting by every means within their 
 power the joyous flow of their spirits, they occasionally 
 reverted, by artificial representation, to the uncertain 
 
 f 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 "^n 
 
 and fleeting condition of life and all worldly enjoy- 
 ments. To this end they were wont to play at a sort 
 of toy so constructed that whenever it was shaken or 
 thrown on the table it presented a new face or 
 appearance. 
 
 These machines were called arofiara, or faces. 
 These changing appearances were intended to recall 
 to their minds the mutability of all human things, 
 and the consequent necessity of looking forward to, 
 and preparing for, another world. The Egyptians bad 
 a custom of a similar nature at tluir feasts, which was 
 intended, as it frequently happen with respect to 
 that of the Greeks, to stimulal banqueters to 
 
 increased sensual indulgence ; from tiic reasoning that 
 as life is a transitory existence, it becomes the duty 
 of all, as it is founded in true wisdom, to enjoy the 
 passing hours without reserve. The custom of the 
 Egyptians, in this respect, was to bring in the image 
 of a dead man reclining in a cofifin, while an attendant 
 cried aloud, " Eat and drink, for to-morrow ye shall 
 die." 
 
274 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 Grecian hospitality — Ceremonies observed upon the arrival and 
 the departure of strangers. 
 
 As we have observed before, the virtue of hospitality 
 was especially cherished among the Greeks. In fact, 
 scarcely was any crime looked upon by them u ith a 
 greater degree of abhorrence and detestation than that 
 of treating strangers with unkindness and incivility. 
 He who did wrong to a stranger was esteemed a 
 wicked and an ungodly person. The father of the 
 gods himself they called Zei;? feVto?, that is, Jupiter 
 the Patron of strangers. There were many tales 
 current amongst them tending to show the will of 
 Jupiter in this respect. Among the rest was one in 
 reference to some of the inhabitants of Cyprus having 
 been turned into bullocks because they had been 
 guilty of inhospitable treatment to strangers ; and 
 that of Baucis and Philemon, the Phrygians, who had 
 hospitably received Jupiter, while the rest of the 
 inhabitants had refused him entertainment ; the god 
 thereupon causing an earthquake to hurl down the 
 houses of the other inhabitants, while he saved that 
 of his entertainers, and converted it into a temple. 
 But there were express laws in Athens which pro- 
 hibited inhospitable treatment to strangers. Aris- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 275 
 
 tippus, through the information communicated to him 
 by Socrates on this point of hospitality, removed to 
 Athens, and settled there. Lest any wrong should 
 be done to strangers without the knowledge of the 
 authorities, there were public officers, called irpoaTtiTai, 
 especially appointed to attend to the duty of enforcing 
 their kind and hospitable reception ; and others called 
 TTpo^evoi, whose duty it was to receive and entertain 
 them. In the houses of the better and more comfort- 
 able classes were kept a table and a chamber for the 
 especial use of strangers. The people of Sparta, or 
 Lacedaemon, however, are represented as not being 
 of the same hospitable character as the Athenians ; 
 and as having only certain days on which they 
 admitted strangers at all ; and whom they treated 
 with deception ; yet Plato speaks in the highest terms 
 of praise of their social regulations. This circum- 
 stance, as a writer upon the subject observes, would 
 induce one to believe that the treatment here spoken 
 of was not directed against strangers as such, but 
 against barbarians and foes. 
 
 To guests who were friends, or who had letters or 
 symbols of introduction from friends, the Greeks were 
 in a peculiar degree attentive, so much so indeed that 
 they could never entertain the least unfavourable 
 suspicion of them. We have a remarkable instance 
 of this in Plutarch, where Dio is reported to have 
 been murdered by his guest Callippus, in consequence 
 of his unwillingness to believe that he could receive 
 injury from a person whom he was entertaining with 
 kindness and civility in his house, though he had been 
 forewarned of the intended treachery of his guest ; 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 " i^ing," says Plutarch, " ashamed to try to escape 
 ^ 11 person who was not only his friend, but even 
 'ue^t." When a stranger arrived as a guest at 
 iwC house of an Athenian citizen, there were certain 
 formalities used in the reception of him. First the 
 host received him at the door ; and both standing 
 upon the threshold, they mutually p'-Hp-ed their faith 
 to each other, — confirmabant quod unns non deciperet 
 alium. They then entered the house, where the 
 stranger was invited to drink a cup of wine, tJie 
 stranger's cupy as it was called ; and all this took 
 place even before the name of the stranger was asked ; 
 " as though," says Athenseus, " honour was to be 
 paid to him as being a stranger, and not because he 
 was of any particular condition." Salt was next pro- 
 duced and offered to him ; as if to signify that their 
 friendship was to be kept pure and sweet. As a mark 
 of respect the daughters of the house were to attend 
 upon him during his stay, and even to bring water 
 and wash his feet with their own hands. He was 
 assigned apartments in a detached part of the house 
 for his own use, and also <i seiiarate table at meals. 
 He was also provided with a place at the public 
 exhibitions. It was also a custom among the ancients, 
 that a stranger when arriving in a place should pay 
 due devotion to its presiding genius, and even offer 
 sacrifice with that intention. The moment he put his 
 foot upon the soil, he stooped down, and kissed it ; as 
 Ovid represents Cadmus to have done upon his land- 
 ing in Greece : " Cadmus returned thanks, and kissed 
 the strange ground, and saluted the unknown moun- 
 tains and fields.'' He also attended to the religious 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 277 
 
 ceremonies of the place, and to the established wor- 
 ship of the gods, as long as he remained ; and upon 
 his departure, as soon as he came to the extremity 
 of the land, and was at the point of leaving it, he took 
 his leave of the genius of the country, by stooping 
 down and kissing the soil, as he had done upon hi . 
 first entrance. Presents, or pledges of friendship, were 
 also given him by his entertainer at his departure ; 
 and sometimes, if necessary, he was supplied with 
 money to defray his travelling expenses. There was 
 also in Athens a public house of entertainment, where 
 strangers who had no introduction to private families, 
 or who were otherwise refused private hospitality, 
 might have recourse. Murderers were the only 
 persons that were refused all hospitality. 
 
 
278 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Beggary not permitted among the Greeks — Modes of providing 
 for the necessities jt the poor. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that beggary was wholly 
 unknown in Athens ; and indeed this might be said 
 with respect to Gi eece in general. It was not that 
 poverty had no existence among them, for we read 
 that provision was made to meet the necessities of the 
 poor ; but this was effected in such a manner as to 
 prevent the sense of degradation, and consequent 
 debasement of spirit which actual alms-seeking and 
 whining beggary are sure to beget. In fact, the 
 Athenians felt on this point a jealousy of the honour 
 of the city, and looked upon the practice of begging 
 as not only debasing in itself, but also as calculated 
 to reflect disgrace on the national honour. To pro- 
 vide, therefore, for the wants of the poor, there was 
 a common treasury kept in each division or ward of 
 the city ; and from this the necessities of the poor 
 were relieved, as well as ransom provided for captives. 
 Into this treasury each person poured his contribution 
 once every month. But, besides this common fund, 
 the poor had other sources of relief; for it was cus- 
 tomary with the wealthier classes to give a public 
 feast at every new moon for the benefit of the poor. 
 
 Tl 
 
 as 
 re 
 oc 
 
 CO 
 
 B 
 
 P« 
 
 si 
 
 m 
 se 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 279 
 
 This feast was composed of coarse fare, but was such 
 as afforded comfortable nourishment to such as were 
 really in want of food. In fact, it was such as gave 
 occasion to some of the Greek writers to say that the 
 condition of the poor was better than that of the rich. 
 But independently of the care thus evinced for the 
 poor to supply their animal wants, there was a provi- 
 sion made for their moral and intellectual improve- 
 ment, according to which they were supplied with 
 seats or places at the theatres and public exhibitions. 
 
 
 
28o 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 , 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Military organization of the Athenians — Infantry and cavalry — 
 Order of preferment — The Athenian soldiery not paid for 
 their services — Armour, arms, and clothing of the soldiers. 
 
 The military organization of the Athenians was of a 
 very simple, but, at the same time, very effective 
 description. Every young man^ except such as 
 were excluded on account of their condition of servi- 
 tude, was enrolled in a sort of city militia at the age 
 of eighteen years. He was then said to be iv tow 'rrepi- 
 TToXot?, that is, a member of the city guard. The 
 duties which devolved upon him in this capacity 
 were simply to keep watch and ward over the city ; 
 that is, some were appointed as sentinels in various 
 parts of the city, and others were stationed in the 
 forts for the purpose of defence. They were also 
 employed in the construction of works connected 
 with the fortifications within the city. After having 
 spent the period of one year in this employment, 
 they were drafted to places without the city, where 
 they performed the duties of external guards. This 
 was called the first degree of preferment ; and as a 
 symbol of it, they were invested with a spear, a shield, 
 and a cloak. In this capacity they remained for one 
 year more ; at the expiration of which they became 
 
^.,<...ivMiM ngiWM 
 
 , JuiH i^pm^p 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 «8f 
 
 
 qualified for general service. For it is necessary to 
 observe that during these :wo first years of military 
 discipline they could not be compelled to fight 
 beyond the precincts or liberties of the city; but 
 afterward they were liable to be sent on foreign 
 service. At the expiration of this term of two years 
 they had their names enrolled in a sort of regimental 
 register, where in addition to their proper names they 
 received another indicative of the position which they 
 had thus attained ; and their date of service com- 
 menced from this period. Besides those who were 
 excluded, as I have said, from all military service, 
 such as persons bound in servitude who were never 
 called out except on occasions of great emergency, 
 and even then with a great degree of caution, there 
 were some who we a exempt by virtue of their em- 
 ployments, such as collectors of tribute or duty, and 
 the priests of the god Bacchus. The general of the 
 army was called 7ro\€fiap-)i^o<s ; and he it was who upon 
 occasions of emergency enrolled the bondsmen or 
 slaves. They were then enlisted by the officer next 
 in command, whether of the horse or foot, according 
 to the department for which the levy was required. 
 The foot soldiers were divided into three sections, 
 distinguished by the arms offensive and defensive 
 which they carried, as well as by their armour. The 
 heavy- armed infantry, or ^apvrdrr) 07r\i<n<i, as they 
 were called, wore heavy armour, and long spears, 
 with broad shields. The light-armed, or i/rtXot', wore 
 no armour, or, at least, but very little, and were 
 armed with darts, arrows, and slings, the stones for 
 which they carried upon them. The third section 
 
282 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 were called ireXraaTai, and were distinguished from 
 the others by their light armour, and the short spears 
 and narrow shields which they carried. The cavalry 
 were a very able and powerful corps. No one was 
 admitted into it except such as were of independent 
 fortune, and of a sound and healthy constitution. 
 Before being enrolled they were subjected to an exami- 
 nation by the Senate of Five Hundred ; as were also 
 their horses, lest they should be unfit to bear the 
 clatter and noise of warlike en^^agements. In order 
 to try the fitness of the horses in this respect they 
 made a great noise with an instrument which they 
 called the k(oB(ov, which was a sort of trumpet. The 
 cavalry was divided into two classes or divisions; the 
 one called Bifidxaipai, ana the other iirrrayayyoL The 
 former were so called because they fought both on 
 horseback and afoot, having a boy with them for the 
 purpose of holding the horse when they alighted to 
 engage on foot — it is said that Alexander, the Mace- 
 donian conqueror, was the first who invented this 
 style of fighting ; — the latter, that is the Itnraymyoi, had 
 their designation from the circumstance of having 
 two horses, one of which they led, while they fought 
 on the other. 
 
 The style of display observed by the cavalry was 
 extremely gorgeous and pompous ; they frequently 
 entered the city in the maimer of a triumph, drawn 
 in carriages, and arrayed in purple or scarlet robes. 
 The strength of the cavalry was regulated by the 
 census ; that is, it bore a certain proportion to the 
 number of inhabitants ; but the ordinary proportion 
 was twenty-four to every tribe, which, counting twelve 
 
 t 
 
 / 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 283 
 
 ' 
 
 tribes as the highest number into which the people 
 had been ever divided, would give a force of two hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight men. It has been observed 
 that this arm of the military service was composed 
 of men of independent fortune ; the same observa- 
 tion, to a certain extent, may be applied to the foot 
 soldiers, inasmuch as they defrayed all their own 
 expenses when they went to war. They deemed it 
 a matter of disgrace to take pay for their services in 
 the defence and protection of their country and its 
 liberties ; and those who did so were called mer- 
 cenarieSf and held in no esteem. The armour worn 
 by the Greek soldiers consisted of a helmet and a 
 coat of mail, with a shield fastened on the left arm. 
 The metal first used in the construction of armour 
 was brass j and it is said that the inhabitants of the 
 island of Lemnos were the first who made it — Vul- 
 can being considered their first, or at least their 
 greatest, worker in this department. " They worked in 
 brass," says Hesiod, " for they had not yet discovered 
 the better metal, iron." The most conspicuous part 
 if the helmet was the crest, which was composed 
 either of the hair of a horse's tail, or of feathers ; and 
 was either double or treble, according to the rank 
 and quality of the person. It was called 7U>^o<iy and 
 is said to have been invented by the Carians ; and 
 thence called Kapt/co? \6<})o<;, or Carian crest. The 
 treble crest was worn by those who by their exploits 
 had won the distinction of a hero. This was even 
 sometimes fourfold. The projecting part of the hel- 
 met, or penthouse, was denominated ro yeca-aov. Of 
 the coats of mail there were three different kinds; 
 
 :; i 
 
284 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 one, which was called aSifxa, extended only from the 
 navel to the knees ; another only covered half the 
 breast, and was thence called r}fiidfi)pd'<iov, — this was 
 the kind which the soldiers of Alexander of Macedon 
 are reported to have worn ; the third was called 
 0(opa^, and extended from th^ shoulder to the navel, 
 thereby covering to delnv, the divine part, or heart, 
 and deriving its name from this circumstance. 
 
 The Ocopa^ was made of leather ; and consisted 
 either of one piece, or of different pieces connected 
 with chains, or plates of iron. 
 
 The coat of mail worp by the Romans was made of 
 the same material. Of shields there were several 
 kinds, both as to the substance of which they were 
 composed, and the shape or ibrm which they bore. 
 They were sometimes made of ozier twigs interlaced 
 or woven into each other, and thence called Ireai, and 
 sometimes of solid wood. But the general construction 
 was of ox-hide or leather, which was doubled or trebled, 
 and sometimes made even tenfold. The shield of 
 Ajax is reported to have been composed of seven 
 pieces of leather laid one over the other, and thence 
 called by Ovid septemplex clypeus, the sevenfold 
 shield ; and that of Achilles of ten. This latter was 
 covered with a sheet of brass, as was the case in other 
 instances ; wherefore Euripides calls it 'xaXKovcoTo^ 
 a(77ri9, the brazen shield. The form of the shield was 
 either round or square, or sometimes oblong. They 
 expended a great deal of labour and ingeruity in its 
 construction ; it was covered with a variety of figures 
 and ornaments, end had a perforated rim through 
 which they might see the enemy. It had a handle by 
 
^^r 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 -,^^•5 
 
 which it was h' M ; and there was an embossment in 
 the centre, the better to repel the weapons which 
 reached it. The Carians are supposed to have been 
 the inventors of this, as well as of the crest of the 
 helmet ; and it was a custom among them to bury a 
 shield and crest with every corpse, in commemoration 
 of the invention. The figures or arms painted on the 
 shield were of different kinds, according to the rank 
 and quality of the bearer ; that of Ulysses, for 
 instance, was a dolphin ; and of Idomeneus a cock. 
 But an eagle was the common figure represented on 
 the shields of the ancient heroes. Besides these there 
 were verses written beneath them, descriptive of the 
 achievements, and in praise of the valour and prowess 
 of the bearer. Such, we find from Pausanias,, were on 
 the shield of Idomeneus. The case or covering in 
 which the shield was enclosed was called aw^iia. 
 There were certain superstitious notions connected 
 with the shield in the minds of the ancients. If it 
 happened to strike them on the knee, the omen was 
 regarded as favourable ; but the contrary if they 
 chanced to strike it with their spear. We arc in- 
 formed that the great shield of Jupiter iEgiochus, or 
 the yEgis, as it was called, was covered with the skin 
 of the goat Amaltheea, which had nursed him. He 
 is said to have presented it to Minerva, who engraved 
 upon it the head of Medusa, which used to turn the 
 beholder into stone. In times of peace it was the 
 custom to hang up the shields, as well as all 
 other warlike arms, in the temple ; and as regards 
 the shield, it was deprived of its handle when thus 
 hung up ; so that in the event of an insurrection of 
 
286 
 
 Grkkce and the Greeks. 
 
 the people it could not be used. The usual colour of 
 the clothes and arms of the ancient Greeks was a deep 
 red ; the reason for which is supposed to have been 
 that they might not, in the event of being wounded, 
 be able to distinguish their blood, and thereby be- 
 come disheartened ; and also that the enemy might 
 not be able to discover whether they were wounded 
 or not. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 287 
 
 of 
 sep 
 een 
 ed, 
 be- 
 
 rht 
 
 ed 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 * 
 
 Weapons of attack — Preparations for war — Order of ,'march — 
 Signals of engagements — Treatment of prisoners — Burial 
 of soldiers fallen in battle. 
 
 Every man when marching to war was furnished 
 with an ozier basket with a long neck, called yvXiov, 
 for the purpose of carrying their provisions in it. The 
 ordinary provisions were olives, cheese, and onions, of 
 which they usually carried a three days' allowance. 
 In early times the usual weapon of attack was the 
 club, called by Homer (jxiXar/^ ; but in after-time the 
 spear became the favourite weapon. It is even re- 
 ported that they paid divine honour to this weapon, 
 and hung it in the temple among the statues of the 
 gods. At all events it is certain that they held it in 
 the highest esteem. Eustathius describes it as an 
 iion with a sharp- point, resembling a snake, and 
 thence called o-aOpo? ; and having a hollow head into 
 which the spear, properly so called, was inserted. 
 When not in use it was enclosed in a wooden case, 
 and put up by a pillar of the house, according to the 
 testimonies of Homer and Virgil. The former thus 
 alludes to it : "He placed the spear which he carried 
 against the high pillar." Homer uses the word 
 e7;;^t-i/ra\\69, spear-brandisher, to signify a soldier, 
 
 
288 
 
 Grelce and the Greeks. 
 
 because it was a custom with the Greek soldiers to 
 shake or braiidish the spear before using it. They 
 also used the bow and arrow at a later period ; and 
 made the string of the former of horse-hair. The 
 sword, too, was one of their offensive weapons ; and 
 this they hung at their sides by a leathern belt. This 
 belt, too, we arc informed, passed over the Lhoulder, 
 and was connected with the thong or string by which 
 the shield was held suspended from the side. The 
 Greeks were not accustomed to rush hastily into war ; 
 on the contrary, they regarded the necessity of war- 
 like proceedinf^ rather as an evil to be avoided by 
 all rational and honourable means. In consequence 
 of this feeling the science of diplomacy was culti- 
 vated among them ; and in the reception which they 
 gave to ambassadors they observed the utmost 
 regard to gravity of conduct and propriety of speech. 
 They received ambassadors in a temple, and there 
 gave them audience ; and the entertainments given in 
 honour of them were held in the IVytaneum, or temple 
 of justice. The ensign, or emblem of authority borne 
 by Greek ambassadors, was a wand encircled with 
 snakes, called KtjpvKLov. An ambassador's pay was 
 two drachmai a day, that is, about a shilling of our 
 money. If warlike negotiations did not terminate 
 satisfactorily, it was usual to announce the commence- 
 ment of hostilities by proclamation. Nothing was 
 done secretly or in the dark, for they abhorred taking 
 any undue advantage of an enemy. Everything was 
 done openly, and in a fair, straightforward manner. 
 The manner of making proclamation of war was by 
 despatching a messenger to the boundary-line of the 
 
i p n f 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 289 
 
 enemy's country, for the purpose of hurling a spear 
 over it, or letting loose a lamb into the borders. This 
 act of hostility took place after all necessary prepara- 
 tions had been made for the campaign, and imme- 
 diately preceding the opening of actual hostilities. 
 Before they commenced to march, however, they made 
 various preparations with the view of ensuring success. 
 They ofifered sacrifices to the gods, and consulted the 
 old oracles and prophecies relating to the fortune and 
 destinies of the city ; applied to the soothsayers and 
 prophets ; and made their vows of offering to some 
 particular god in the event of a successful issue. They 
 were careful, too, to select a favourable time for the 
 march, for they were impressed with superstitious 
 notions as to lucky and unlucky days for the com- 
 mencement of a warlike expedition. The seventh 
 day of the month was that which the Athenians 
 regarded as the most propitious for this purpose, 
 although the Lacedemonians believed that it would 
 not be lucky to march before the time of full moon. 
 
 The day of new moon was that appointed for the 
 election of commanders. In the order of march it 
 was the custom for the general to keep on the right 
 wing ; and raw recruits were disposed in the least 
 dangerous positions, for the purpose of preventing 
 disorder arising in consequence of their inexperience 
 in the field. Whenever a river was to be crossed in 
 the line of march, a sacrifice was first offered on the 
 bank before the troops were allowed to pass over. 
 Before they joined battle they were wont to slay a 
 victim for sacrifice ; and having examined the gall for 
 an omen, they lighted torches made of dry wood, and 
 
 U 
 
 
290 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 A 
 
 sent them by the torch-bearers, who flung them down 
 between the opposing armies. This was intended as 
 the signal for battle. Those torch-bearers were held 
 inviolable in their persons, for they were supposed to 
 be under the particular protection of Mars, the god of 
 war. This form of signal was also made upon the 
 approach of an enemy ; if he made his appearance 
 by day, a smoke was raised from the towers or strong- 
 holds ; but if by night, the torches were lighted. This 
 was also the signal used on the approach of friends ; 
 with this distinction, however, that in the case of an 
 enemy the torches were brandished and tossed about, 
 while in that of friends they were kept lighting stead- 
 ily. In the process of time, however, the torches gave 
 way to trumpets, of which the Tyrrhenians are said to 
 have been the inventors. When two contending 
 armies met, and were about to join battle, a long blast 
 from the trumpet announced the circumstance. There 
 is also reason to believe that at one period of Grecian 
 history the signal of battle was made by the clashing 
 of shields. Among the various modes of conveying 
 intelligence of the favourable or unfavourable results 
 of a battle, there was one of a rather curious descrip- 
 tion. It was this : two sticks were prepared of equal 
 size and length ; one of these the general of the army 
 brought along with him, and the other was left with 
 friends at home. Whenever a message was to be sent 
 from one side or the other, a piece of parchment was 
 rolled round one of these sticks, and the message 
 written upon it, and thus it was conveyed to its desti- 
 nation. If it happened to be intercepted no informa- 
 tion could be obtained by it, inasmuch as the writing 
 

 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 291 
 
 would convey no meaning unless wrapped round the 
 corresponding stick. The Lacedemonians are said to 
 have been the first who fell upon this mode of com- 
 munication, and from them it was said to have been 
 imitated by the Athenians. In the meantime the 
 people at home were wont to assemble on the high- 
 ways and offer sacrifices for the success of their friends ; 
 and if they received any news while thus engaged, they 
 immediately made it known to all, if favourable ; but 
 if otherwise, it was kept back. 
 
 The messenger of good news was, upon his delivery 
 of it, crowned with garlands, and received with a species 
 of triumph. If any person fled from the battle, or 
 betrayed the post assigned him, he was put to death. 
 But he who was exempt from bearing arms, and 
 therefore refused to fight, or who from cowardice was 
 unable to fight, or who left his rank and threw down 
 his arms, was handed over to the proper officers, 
 called HeliastcE, who were empowered to inflict such 
 punishment upon him as they might think proper. 
 And such persons were not permitted to go into the 
 temples until justice was satisfied. Prisoners of war 
 were never allowed to be put to death. Those who 
 happened to be wounded in battle were allowed a 
 pension of two oboli a day, an obolus being equal to 
 about three halfpence ; but before they received this 
 pension they were to undergo an examination before 
 the Council of Five Hundred, in order to have it 
 shown that they were what was called aZvvaroiy that 
 is, that they were not in possession of an estate equal 
 in value to three mines, which was something less than 
 eight pounds. 
 
 U 2 
 
 ' I 
 
 
« m « <m,<w v 
 
 ■■'R'; 
 
 292 
 
 Greece and the Creeks. 
 
 The children of such as were killed in battle received 
 a maintenance out of the public treasury, until they 
 arrived at the age oftwenty-one years, when they were 
 furnished with a iravoTrXia, or suit of armour, to put 
 them in mind that they were to emulate the valour 
 and patriotism of their fathers, and to defend their 
 country against its enemies. They were also honoured 
 with the front seats at public exhibitions. Those who 
 were slain in the battle-field and buried there, as 
 happened at Marathon, were laid upon their shields, 
 as the most appropriate coffins, and thus interred. 
 The burial ceremony on such occasions was this : the 
 surviving companions of the deceaLjd marched in full 
 equipage three times around the funeral pyre, brand- 
 ishing their arms, and throwing their swords, or belts, 
 or one or other of their accoutrements, into the fire 
 with him. Kut when they were buried at home, the 
 treasury supplied all the attendant expenses of a 
 public funeral ; and all the bodies were deposited 
 at the same time in the Ceramicus, or public burial- 
 ground. For three days before burial, the bones of 
 the deceased were laid up in tents ; and on the 
 burial day each tribe brought a coffin made of cypress 
 wood, and depositing therein the remains of their 
 deceased friends, they placed it in the grave, and 
 erected a pillar, with an inscription, near it. A 
 funeral oration was then pronounced over the whole. 
 Those who had distinguished themselves in the 
 battle, and survived it, were permitted to have their 
 coat of arms painted upon their shields, and were 
 honoured by the title of Cecropidce, or citizens of the 
 true old blood. In order to retain the memory of 
 
tiirym 
 
 IWWTT" 
 
 Nn«> 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 293 
 
 eceived 
 
 ;il they 
 
 ey were 
 
 , to put 
 
 valour 
 
 d their 
 
 )noured 
 
 ose who 
 
 lere, as 
 
 shields, 
 
 nterred. 
 
 bis : the 
 
 d in full 
 
 , brand- 
 
 or belts, 
 
 the fire 
 
 ome, the 
 
 ;es of a 
 
 eposited 
 
 c burial- 
 
 Dones of 
 
 on the 
 
 " cypress 
 
 of their 
 
 ive, and 
 
 - it. A 
 
 e whole. 
 
 in the 
 
 Lve their 
 
 nd were 
 
 IS of the 
 
 mory of 
 
 victories, it was usual with the Greeks to erect pillars 
 of brass, or stone, or wood, which were called triumphal 
 pillars. Similar memorials were erected by the 
 Romans, and called triumphal arches. Upon the 
 triumphal pillar was engraved an inscription expres- 
 sive of the cause of the war, and the manner in which 
 the victory was won. This inscription was called 
 eirlripafifxa. In after-time, however, the custom of 
 erecting trophies was abandoned ; and instead thereof 
 they either built altars, such as we are told Alexander 
 did upon the hill Amanas, or erected statues to Jupiter 
 tropaios, in acknowledgment to the god for causing 
 the enemy to turn their backs. Similar statues were 
 erected by the Romans to Jupiter stator, for causing 
 their soldiers to maintain their ground, and not give 
 way to the enemy. The spoils taken from the enemy, 
 which were called cKvka when taken from the dead, 
 and Xa<j>vpa from the living, were dedicated to the 
 gods, and sometimes sent to the temple at Delphos. 
 But the arms which they took from the enemy they 
 either hung up in the temples or in their houses, with 
 the arms which they had themselves used. 
 
294 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 The spirit and practice of prophecy among the ancients — The 
 several kinds of prophecy — The Greek philosophers' belief 
 in divination — The Oracle of Delphos ; iis origin, and 
 mode of operation. 
 
 The spirit of divination or prophecy prevailed to a 
 very extraordinary extent among the ancients. There 
 were persons especially set apart among the Israelites 
 and heathen nations for this sublime vocation. As 
 the former had their prophets, so had the latter their 
 seers ana men cunning in the ways cf providence. 
 The Persians gloried in their Magiy the Assyrians in 
 their Chaldcei^ the Indians in their Gtimnosophoi, the 
 Sicilians in their Galliotcz, and the Romans in their 
 Hetrusci and Aruspices. Those people were held in 
 high honour, and deemed worthy of the position and 
 Honours of royalty. In point of fact, it was necessary 
 to a Persian king to be skilled in the prophetic art ; 
 and we find that some of the Grecian kings were sooth- 
 sayers also. Amphilochus and Mopsus, who were 
 kingsof Argos, had no small celebrity for their skill 
 in augury. The celebrated prophet and prophetess, 
 Helenus and Cassandra, were the children of a king. 
 This kind of cunning was deemed of essential impor- 
 tance in a physician ; and we therefore find that 
 jEschylus uses the words tarpo?, a physician, and yi^dv- 
 
.y 
 
 •mmm' 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 295 
 
 
 
 Tt9, a prophet, indiscriminately, to signify a man skilled 
 in the medical art. The ancient authors make mention 
 of several persons who were equally distinguished in 
 both departments of knowledge. The philosophers 
 gave credit to the science of divination. The Platonic 
 or Socratic sect of philosophers had full belief in its 
 truth and efficacy ; and so had the Peripatetics, at the 
 head of whom was Aristotle. Zeno and his followers, 
 the Stoics, were faithful adherents to its mysterious 
 revealings ; as were also Pythagoras and his sect, with 
 this exception, that they withheld credit from that 
 branch of the art called extispicina, or divination by 
 the entrails of animals. In short, of all the philosophic 
 sects, the only one that set their face entirely against 
 it were the Epicureans, or followers of Epicurus. The 
 divination of the ancients was distinguished into two 
 parts ; one was that delivered by the gods through 
 the oracle ; the other, that pronounced through the 
 lips of men. The former had the name of 'Xpvo'/J'S'i, the 
 latter of fiavreia. The divination by men, or fiavTeiUf 
 was divided into two k ids, namely, the artificial and 
 the natural. What was meant by the artificial was that 
 description of prophetic skill which arises from expe- 
 rience and observation, whereas the natural was that 
 which comes of itself, as it were by divine inspiration. 
 This latter was more properly called the prophetic 
 faculty, or /jluvtiki] ; and exhibited itself by a sort of 
 frenzied movement of the mind. This prophetic fury 
 is represented by the prophet Isaiah as a punishment 
 inflicted by God upon those who dared to invade His 
 divine province by assuming to themselves the power 
 of prophecy : " Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and 
 
296 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 
 thy maker from the womb : I am the Lord that make 
 all things, that alone stretch out the heavens, that 
 establish the earth, and there is none with Me. 
 That make void the tokens of diviners, and make the 
 soothsayers mad. That turn the wise backward, and 
 that make their knowledge foolish." (Isa. xliv. 25.) 
 The prophecies of dying men, and the prophetic 
 visions given by dreams, belong to that department 
 of the art distinguished by the motu furenti, or frenzied 
 movement of the mind. Cicero informs us of one 
 Rhodius, who on his death-bed had foretold the death 
 of six young men of the same age in the order in 
 which it occurred. The most celebrated oracles of 
 Greece were those of Pythius Apollo, Demonaeus, and 
 Jupiter Ammon. The Pythian oracle was by far the 
 most distinguished, and is said to have been so called 
 from irvdoiVy a serpent, because a serpent was killed 
 by Apollo in the place where the oracle was afterward 
 established ; or, as some say, from Pythis, the son of 
 Delphus, and grandson of Apollo. The place of this 
 oracle was called Delphos, and is represented as being 
 in the middle of Greece ; wherefore it was called 
 6/j.(f)a\6<i, or the navel. It was even thought that this 
 place formed the middle point of the world ; and the 
 belief existed, as to the mode in which this knowledge 
 was ascertained, that Jupiter having let fly two eagles, 
 or two swans, from the opposite extremities of the 
 world, they met at this point. Tellus is represented 
 by some as having been the first who established this 
 oracle, and Themis by others. 
 
 The story of its first establishment, as told by 
 Diodorus, is very curious. The ground about where 
 
 
 "•*.--•-■ 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 297 
 
 it stood was originally a common, which was browsed 
 generally by goats. One day some of these animals 
 happening to come near a cave which had a small 
 opening on the top, they looked in, and immediately 
 commenced leaping and uttering strange sounds. 
 The herd, whose name was Coretas, upon seeing the 
 goats thus agitated, ran to the spot ; but he had no 
 sooner stood at the mouth or opening of the cave 
 than he became influenced in the same manner as 
 the goats, and began to utter prophecies. When this 
 report got abroad, several persons, moved by curiosity, 
 went to see the place where such strange events 
 occurred, and were upon their arrival there afifected 
 even as the goat-herd. Some even fell dead as soon 
 as they breathed the air from the cavern. After this 
 a tripod or three-legged stool was placed upon the 
 opening, and a young woman was consecrated as a 
 priestess, and called Pythian whose office it was to 
 stand upon this stool, whenever application was made 
 by any person in reference to futurity, and to announce 
 the answer of the oracle, having first arranged it in 
 verse. 
 
 Isaiah alludes to the mutterings of the pythoness 
 on such occasions when he says, " And when they shall 
 say to you : Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who 
 mutter in their enchantments : should not the people 
 seek of their God for the living of the dead." 
 (Isa. viii. 19.) And again: "Thou shalt be brought 
 down, thou shalt speak out of the earth, and thy 
 speech shall be heard out of the ground : and thy voice 
 shall be from the earth, like that of the python, and 
 out of the ground thy speech shall mutter." (Isa. 
 
 ! i 
 
298 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 xxix. 4.) The manner in which the pythoness went 
 through the ceremony of divination was this : she sat 
 upon the tripod for a brief space of time, during 
 which she was supposed to become filled with inspira- 
 tion ; she then exhibited frantic gestures, tore her 
 hair, scratched her flesh, and ran about, muttering 
 and foaming at the mouth. The name of the first 
 young woman who was consecrated to this office was 
 Phenomene, as we are told ; but the common name 
 gi\'en to them all was Pythia. In the beginning 
 they were all young virgins ; but after a time women 
 who had arrived at the age of fifty years were 
 preferred for the office. Before they sat upon the 
 tripod or stool, they bathed their bodies, and more 
 especially their hair, in the Castilian fountain ; and 
 then, upon taking their seat, they shook the laurel- 
 tree which grew near the cave, and sometimes plucked 
 some of the leaves and began chewing them. 
 
^m 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 299 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 The answers of the Oracle at first delivered in verse — Great 
 importance attached to the Oracle — Its corruption in course 
 of time — Opinion of Cicero and Demosthenes — The great 
 wealth of the Oracle — The other chief Oracles of Antiquity. 
 
 It is said that the first person who came to consult 
 the oracle was one Parnassus ; whence the mountain 
 and neighbourhood around it derived their name. 
 The tripod, as has been said, was a three-legged 
 stool, or rather, a round table supported by three legs. 
 From this the Pythia, or prophetess, delivered the re ■ 
 sponse of the god, which was usually so arranged as to 
 admit of a great deal of ambiguity. This was doubt- 
 less unavoidable, as it was necessary that the delusion 
 should be maintained by allowing a safety-valve for 
 the escape of stubborn facts. The form of verse was 
 therefore employed, as more convenient for the 
 purposes of mystery. The measure of the verse was 
 generally hexameter or heroic. Plutarch says that it 
 was believed in his day, that there were poets kept 
 purposely in the neighbourhood of the oracle, in order 
 to wrap up the responses in the garb of verse. 
 
 In later times, however, verse was abandoned, and 
 prose became the vehicle of divination. Nothing 
 could exceed the importance which the Greeks 
 
300 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 attached to the oracular prophecies. They placed 
 far more reliance upon them than upon any other 
 form of divination, because they knew that men, from 
 one motive or another, were liable to disguise the 
 truth, and feign v/hat was false, when they acted as 
 the exponents of future events through the inspection 
 of the entrails of animals, the flight of birds, or other 
 modes of divination. It therefore happened that, 
 when no c<-hcr prophetic announcement would prevail, 
 the oracle was resorted to, as that which was least 
 fallible. When soldiers were to be acted upon on the 
 approach of battle, and the strongest inducement 
 was to be devised to urge them on, the oracle was 
 applied to. Nothing was deemed decisive but this ; 
 and its pronouncements were not to be questioned. 
 And yet deception was as likely to be practised in 
 this as in any other form of divination ; for it was only 
 necessary to bribe the woman who held the office of 
 Pythoness, in order to obtain from the oracle what- 
 ever response was considered desirable. And this, 
 according to the evidence of the ancient writers, was 
 frequently done. Cicero's opinion, to be sure, would 
 seem to have been very exalted with respect to the 
 infallible character of the Delphic oracle, for he says : 
 " That oracle at Delphos could never have been so 
 renowned and illustrious, nor enriched with so many 
 gifts from kings and people of all countries, if every 
 age had not proved the truth of those divinations." 
 That is certainly a strong manifestation of what 
 Cicero thought and believed on this subject. He 
 says, however, as a sort of qualification of this opinion, 
 that " such did not long continue to be the case," 
 
mm 
 
 laced 
 other 
 from 
 the 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 301 
 
 thereby insinuating that corruption had crept in, and 
 the truth became perverted. Demosthenes insinuated 
 the same charge long before the time of Cicero, and 
 pointed to the gold of Philip of Macedon as the 
 source whence flowed the influence which perverted 
 the integrity of the oracle. But even before the age 
 of Demosthenes charges of corruption were made 
 against the oracle ; for instance, CUsthenes is said to 
 have bribed the Pythoness on one occasion ; that is, 
 with the view of influencing the people of Lacedemon 
 to assist the Athenians to get rid of the Tyranny. 
 But without going farther into such instances of 
 corruption, the astonishment is that such universal 
 credence should have been given to this scheme of 
 prophecy for so long a period. Men's minds would 
 seem to have been completely moulded to a belief in 
 its infallible efficacy. It was a fixed, unwavering 
 belief ; a centre of faith around which the thoughts, 
 the hopes, the actions of men revolved, and to which 
 they were kept in adhesion by the general apparent 
 agreement between the prophecy and the event. It 
 was indeed, to say the least, a most extraordinary 
 scheme of delusion ; extraordinary, not alone for the 
 universal faith which its predictions had acquired, but 
 also for the lengthened period over which it maintained 
 its hold on the popular credulity ; and this, too, in 
 spite of the duplicity which accompanied its announce- 
 ments, and the fallacy in which they so often 
 resulted. 
 
 The wealth which was accumulated in the temple 
 erected for the purposes of this oracle at Delphos was 
 immense almost beyond belief. But some idea may 
 
302 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 be formed of it by the reflection that nearly all the 
 kings and people of the then known world contributed 
 to its treasury. The words Aphetorice opes, by which 
 its treasures were called, became a common expression 
 to indicate boundless wealth. As we use the expres- 
 sion el dorado to-day, to signify a mine of wealth, so, 
 in those times, Aphetorice opes was employed to 
 express the same idea. There were four or five 
 different temples erected at this place at various times, 
 that is, in succession. The first is said to have been 
 constructed of laurel boughs procured in the plain of 
 Tempe. The next was built by one Pteras, probably 
 of similar material, though the ancient writers say of 
 wax and feathers ; a figurative expression, no doubt, 
 taken from the similarity oetween the name of the 
 builder and irrepov, a feather or wing. The third was 
 constructed of brass ; this is said to have been 
 destroyed by an earthquake. The fourth was of 
 stone, and was destroyed by fire in the beginning of 
 the fifth Olympiad, that is, shortly before the founda- 
 tion of Rome, or between seven and eight centuries an- 
 terior to the Christian era. The next was built by the 
 Amphictionic Council with the treasures of the temple ; 
 this was erected in a steep place, and had but one nar- 
 row entrance, over which were engraved the cele- 
 brated letters E. I. Whenever the Athenians required 
 the aid of Apollo, either in difficult undertakings, or 
 when afflicted or threatened with disease or sickness, 
 they resorted to the temple with their offerings, and 
 received from the oracle the necessary instructions 
 for their guidance. There were also extraordinary 
 embassies sometimes sent to conciliate the favour 
 of the god, when certain ceremonies were employed. 
 
GREt:CE AND THE GREEKS, 
 
 303 
 
 
 such as those observed on occasion of the annual 
 visit to the island of Delos. The particular period of 
 time at which the Delphic oracle was suppressed is 
 not known. It is said by some that Alexander the 
 Great was the person who put an end to it ; which, 
 however, cannot be true, inasmuch as it was in vogue 
 after his time. The opinion of Plutarch is, that it 
 ceased when people became wise enough to understand 
 the absurdity of it, and to learn that it was a mere 
 fraudulent institution, devised for the purpose of 
 extracting money from them. However, after the 
 institution had fallen into contempt and disuse at 
 Delphos, it was established among the Scythians of 
 the North ; and one Abaris, a Scythian, is reported to 
 have written a book giving an account of its intro- 
 duction, and containing the oracles which had been 
 delivered there. It is said that the Athenians had 
 recourse to it even still ; and that on one occasion, 
 whilst a plague was raging throughout Greece, they 
 received advice from the oracle in Scythia to offer 
 vows and prayers for the cessation of the evil. 
 
 The oracle of Jupiter Hammon was situated in that 
 part of Africa inhabited by the Garamantes — a region 
 of almost intolerable heat. This is thought to have 
 been at first but a school established for the educa- 
 tion of the children and descendants of Ham, and to 
 have been afterward converted, by the power and 
 influence of his sable majesty, into an institution for 
 the delivery of oracles. 
 
 The Dodonian Oracle was established in Epirus in 
 Thessaly, and is supposed to have been the first of 
 the kind ever known. It is known by the name of the 
 Dodonian Oracle, from the circumstance of the city of 
 
 f 
 
304 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 Dodona having been built near the place where the 
 temple stood. The story of its establishment is a 
 curious one, and is simply this : that two doves flew 
 across the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt, and one of 
 them, having pitched upon a beech-tree in Epirus, 
 began to utter human sounds and to give instruction 
 to the people : and, among other things, she advised 
 them to build a temple on the spot. Deucalion followed 
 this advice, when he had arrived there in his ship 
 after the subsidence of the great deluge ; and also built 
 the city of Dodona. It is necessary to observe here 
 that the ancient Greeks had a tradition that the earth 
 was submerged by a great flood, which occurred in 
 the reign of Deucalion, king of Thessaly. Whether 
 this tradition had any reference to the deluge in 
 Noah's time, or whether it was an event entirely 
 distinct in the minds of the an-'°nt Greeks, it is 
 difficult to ascertain. Certain it is, however, that it 
 makes a great figure in the fabuij us history of the 
 ancients. The construction which most writers on 
 Grecian antiquities put upon this story of the doves is, 
 that they were women who had been trained in the 
 delusions of prophecy in that most fertile region of 
 mystery and superstition, ancient Egypt ; and that 
 they were carried by the Phoenicians, who were in 
 those times the greatest cultivators of commerce, into 
 their own country, and afterwards into Thessaly. 
 It would seem that, in the language of the people of 
 Thessaly, the word TreXem or TreXeia?, which signifies a 
 dove, was also used to signify a prophetess, and an 
 old woman. The invention, therefore, of the story of 
 the doves is easily accounted for from this circum- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 305 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 The interpretation of dreams — How dreams were regarded by 
 
 the Greeks. 
 
 The art of interpreting dreams was made much of 
 among the ancient Greeks. . They wrote a great 
 number of books on the subject, and were evidently- 
 impressed with the idea that dreams were emanations 
 of the gods directing mortals in the conduct of sub- 
 lunary matters. 
 
 Plutarch says that there was a Treatise on 
 Dreams found among the books of Mithridates ; and 
 we are told that Artemon Milesius wrote twenty- 
 two books on the same subject. There is preserved 
 in the Greek a copy of eighty verses on the significa- 
 tion of certain signs or objects in dreams. But the 
 dreams on which they chiefly relied, as being of a 
 prophetic character, were such as occurred in the 
 morning. There are varioi:s conjectures as to who 
 was the first person who regarded dreams in a pro- 
 phetic light, and became an interpreter of them. 
 Some, on the authority of Pliny, think that it was 
 Amphyctyon, the son of Deucalion ; some again, that 
 it was Phjlo-Judaeus. Some ascribe the origin of the 
 art to Abraham ; and some again to Joseph. Pau- 
 sanias speaks of Amphiaraus as the first who turned 
 
 X 
 
3o6 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 his attention to this subject, and says that he was 
 deified for his skill in the art. The people of Hybla 
 in Sicily were much celebrated on this account ; as 
 were also those who lived near the Gades, or Straits 
 of Gibraltar. And in all countries where the art was 
 practised old doating women were the greatest pro- 
 ficients, and received the largest amount of atten- 
 tion. 
 
 It was not an unusual thing with them, when they 
 looked for a dream prophetic of the future, to sacrifice 
 a ram to Amphiaraus, and sleep upon the fleece. 
 Ovium sub node silently says Virgil, alluding to the 
 practice, pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit. 
 In purifications, too, a similar practice was observed ; 
 for instance, in the Eleusinian sacrifices, they took 
 the skins of the beasts that had been sacrificed to 
 Jupiter, and placed them under their feet. The use 
 of skins and fleeces, in short, was very general 
 amongst the ancients for the purposes of superstitious 
 ceremony, as well as of symbolic representation. In 
 mourning they were indispensable ; as also in mar- 
 riages, when the bride used a fleece as a cushion, to 
 show her disposition to be industrious in the domestic 
 arts of carding and spinning. The Scythians fol- 
 lowed a very curious custom, in this respect, for when 
 any among them suffered injury or wrong, he would 
 take an ox and sacrifice it ; and having cut up the 
 flesh and boiled it, he would place himself upon the 
 hide with his hands behind his back. His friends 
 would then assemble ; and every one of them would 
 take a piece of the flesh, and planting his foot upon 
 the skin, would promise him assistance, either in men 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 307 
 
 nt 
 
 or arms, to avenge his cause, and redress his injury. 
 This was looked upon in the light of a solemn and 
 binding engagement, which was not to be violated. 
 But on the subject of dreams, it was a common 
 custom with the Athenians to sleep in the temples, 
 with laurel wreaths around their heads, after having 
 sacrificed to Brizo, the goddess of dreamers. 
 
 And the Spartans had men purposely employed to 
 sleep in the temple of Pasithia in order to obtain 
 dreams. In cases of sickness it was usual with them 
 to sleep in the temple of iEsculapius, the god of 
 medicine, in order to dream of a cure ; a proceeding 
 which was also followed in Egypt, in the temple of 
 Serapis. But in order to give due effect to all this 
 business, there were certain preparations made, and 
 ceremonies observed ; as, for instance, to abstain from 
 food for a day, and from wine for three days preced- 
 ing the night when the dream was to be sought. It 
 was considered bad to eat raw.fruit before a dream ; 
 but ripe fruit was calculated to produce truthful 
 visions. Fish was not esteemed proper food for such 
 purposes; and Plutarch says that the head of a 
 polypus was as disagreeable to the visionary sense 
 as it was pleasant to that of the taste. It was essen- 
 tial, too, that the colour of the clothes in which the 
 dreamer was wrapped should be white, if he desired 
 to have clear, well-defined, and satisfactory visions ; 
 and, as has been already observed, the favourable 
 time for their approach was either a little before or 
 a little after daylight. It does not appear that it 
 formed any part of their somniology, as of ours, for 
 young people to put a piece of bride-cake under their 
 
 X 2 
 
3o8 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 heads at night in order to dream of the person who 
 was to be their future wife or husband ; though their 
 extravagance in this department of divination went, 
 in other respects, far beyond such modern practice. 
 
 It is necessary to state that with the view of accom- 
 modating the different kinds of dreams, they devised 
 two separate passages for their approach ; the door of 
 one being made of ivory, and that of the other of 
 horn. Through the former passed all the false and 
 deceitful visions, and through the latter the true and 
 faithful ones ; the whole fraternity of dreams being 
 thus arranged into two classes, like the virtues and 
 vices of the moral code. 
 
 It was the general belief, with respect to the nature 
 and birth of dreams, that they all proceeded from the 
 earth : " the earth is the mother of dreams." And 
 they traced the cause in this way — food springs from 
 the earth ; sleep comes from food ; and from sleep 
 proceed dreams. They were divided into several 
 classes, according to the various circumstances by 
 which they were surrounded ; but the grand divisions 
 were two, namely, the aWrjyopitcoi, and OetoprjiiariKol, 
 the former were those which appeared under a dis- 
 guise, that is, presented one appearance while they 
 indicated another. For instance, suppose a person 
 dreamt that one of his arms was made of gold ; such 
 a dream was not to be taken as literally true, but as 
 indicative of the coming of great wealth. The other 
 division were those dreams which came without dis- 
 guise, presenting themselves to the mind exactly as 
 they were. Somnus, the god of sleep, was supposed to 
 have three attendants, for the purpose of supplying him 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 309 
 
 3n who 
 
 h their 
 
 n went, 
 
 )ractice. 
 
 accom- 
 
 devised 
 
 door of 
 
 Dther of 
 
 se and 
 
 rue and 
 
 being 
 
 jes and 
 
 nature 
 rom the 
 And 
 gs from 
 n sleep 
 
 several 
 ices by 
 ivisions 
 fiariKol, 
 r a dis- 
 le they 
 
 person 
 I ; such 
 , but as 
 e other 
 ut dis- 
 ctly as 
 osed to 
 nghim 
 
 with the dreams which he called for. These servants, 
 whose names were Morpheus, Phobetor or Icolos, and 
 Phantasos, had particular and distinct provinces as- 
 signed them. Morpheus was employed whe»: the 
 dream to be used was relating to men ; Phobetor, or 
 Icolos as he was denominated by the gods, was in 
 attendance when the dream had reference to beasts ; 
 and Phantasos was called for when the vision was of 
 inanimate things. It was usual, after a dream, for 
 the person dreaming to go, after rising in the morn- 
 ing, to the goddess Vesta, or to one of the household 
 gods, and inform them of it. Sometimes it was 
 Apollo, or Jupiter, or some ether of the principal 
 gods, who was to be referred to in this way. It was 
 also customary to offer up prayers in the morning, 
 and to take a cold bath, with the view of averting 
 any impending evil. This would seem to be the 
 only rational part of the whole system, as it mani- 
 fested a more philosophic idea of the cause and nature 
 of dreams, than anything else to be found in their 
 observances as connected with them. 
 
 ^■4 
 
310 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 The art of augury — the position of the augurs in the popular 
 estimation — Comparison between ancient and modem 
 superstitions. 
 
 The art of divination among the ancients was espe- 
 cially divided into two branches ; namely, that which 
 was based on the flight of birds, and that which 
 related to the inspection of the entrails of animals. 
 The former, which is called augury, was practised 
 very generally ; and it is said that the people of 
 Phrygia, of Arabia, and of Sicily, were distinguished 
 for their superior skill in it. The Lacedemonians, 
 too, made great use of it ; and their kings always 
 kept an augur in their service, for the purpose of being 
 assisted by his counsel. Pliny says that this art was 
 invented by one Car ; whence the name Caria, a 
 district in Asia Minor. Chalchas was a celebrated 
 augur, and proved very useful to the Greeks at the 
 Trojan war, by instructing them with respect to the 
 will of the gods on several trying occasions ; and 
 by foretelling the length of time which would be 
 expended by them before the Trojan walls. This he 
 was enabled to tell by the number of sparrows killed 
 in their nest by a serpent : the number was ten, and 
 accordingly the war, he predicted, was to last ten 
 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 311 
 
 popular 
 modern 
 
 years. This great augur, or prophet, is reported to 
 have died of grief after a contest of art with one 
 Mopsus, another augur, who defeated him. The 
 point contested between them is said to have been as 
 to the number of figs on a certain fig-tree ; which 
 Chalchas was unable to tell, while Mopsus, by hitting 
 on the exact number, won the victory. The dress or 
 robe worn by the Greek augurs was white, while 
 that of the Roman augurs was scarlet or purple. In 
 observing the flight of birds the Greek augurs always 
 looked towards the north ; but the Roman towards 
 the south ; and thus the right side with the one, 
 and the left with the other, was accounted the 
 lucky side in the process of divination ; it being, in 
 fact, the east in both instances. 
 
 ' The unlucky birds were either those which did not 
 fly, or which alighted in a lower position, or at a dif- 
 ferent point from what was usual. Also birds with 
 long talons were accounted unlucky. Crows, doves, 
 eagles, and owls, were the birds principally observed 
 in the art of augury. It was believed that the 
 augurs were capable of understanding the language 
 pf those birds ; and that in order to obtain this 
 faculty they had only to get themselves licked by a 
 snake. Helenus and Cassandra, so celebrated in 
 connexion with the Trojan war, are reported to have 
 been thus qualified for the exercise of the prophetic 
 art. But we find, notwithstanding the extent to 
 which this absurdity or deception was carried by the 
 ancients, that little or no credit was given to it by 
 persons of strong mi»'us and intelligence; for we 
 find that Homer '"^vresents Hector as scouting one of 
 
 
312 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the augurs from him, and turning his pretensions 
 into ridicule. The fact appears to have been that 
 the ignorant and superstitious of those times, as of all 
 times, even to the present day, gave encouragement to 
 impostors of every description, by the weakness and 
 credulity of their minds, which caused them to fall 
 into every absurdity which was placed in their way, 
 and more especially if it was connected in any way 
 with supernatural phenomena and the agency of the 
 gods. The very circumstances of their religious be- 
 lief, the multiplicity of their gods, their constant acts 
 and ceremonies of worship, and the universal network 
 of superstition which encompassed them, exposed 
 them to the assaults of every artful and designing 
 impostor, and made them a safe and easy prey to his 
 fraud and villany. This is then case even at the 
 present day ; and however surprised we may feel at 
 the extreme folly and senselessness of some of the 
 practices of the ancients, and however we may ex- 
 press our astonishment that a people so gifted and so 
 illustrious for greatness of mind and extent of know- 
 ledge as were the ancient Greeks, should neverthe- 
 less exhibit such a low standard of sense and reason ; 
 yet, a little reflection will prove to us that our own 
 practices and superstitions scarcely qualify us as 
 judges in this matter. We need only look back a 
 century or two to mark the strange features which 
 Europe presented in its moral and intellectual 
 phases ; and though we are exempt to-day from the 
 follies and absurdities connected with superstitious 
 belief which disfigure those past periods in our his- 
 tory, yet we cannot boast, even at the present period 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 313 
 
 tensions 
 :en that 
 as of all 
 iment to 
 ess and 
 to fall 
 ir way, 
 my way 
 y of the 
 ous be- 
 ant acts 
 letwork 
 xposed 
 signing 
 y to his 
 at the 
 feel at 
 of the 
 ay ex- 
 and so 
 know- 
 '^erthe- 
 2ason ; 
 r own 
 us as 
 ack a 
 which 
 actual 
 tn the 
 itious 
 r his- 
 eriod 
 
 of almost universal enlightenment, an exemption from 
 follies and weaknesses, absurdities and superstitious 
 prejudices, as unreasonable and ludicrous as those 
 which the pages of ancient Grecian history present to 
 our contemplation. We do not employ the same im- 
 posing machinery of superstition which characterized 
 the belief and practice of the ancients ; but we have 
 our good and bad dreams, our omens, our symbols, 
 our tokens, our lucky and unlucky days, our religious 
 imaginings, our fantastic inspirations, our prophecies, 
 our visible and invisible spirits, our rappings and 
 apparitions ; in short, we are encompassed with a 
 spiritual world as multifarious, if not as specious, as 
 that of Greece in her best and palmiest days of super- 
 stition. And it would be impossible to write the 
 history of the present age, or of any portion of it, 
 without interweaving in every page the superstitious 
 delusions which characterize its manners. But all 
 this is independent of the high-wrought civilization 
 which surrounds us ; as was the superstition of the 
 ancients independent of the intellectual splendour in 
 which they were invested. 
 
314 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 Extispicina, or the art of foretelling future events by the inspec- 
 tion of the entrails of animals — Necromancy, hydromancy, 
 lithomancy, and other modes of acquiring a knowledge of 
 futurity. 
 
 The second great branch of divination was that which 
 was performed by the inspection of the entrails of 
 beasts, called, Extispicina or A ruspicina, which was in 
 most general use. Elis in Greece, and Caria in Asia 
 Minor, were the principal places where it was 
 cultivated. 
 
 Tiresias was one of the most celebrated proficients 
 in this art, and it was believed that his great slcill 
 and knowledge in this department were communicated 
 to him by Jupiter, in order to recompense hira for 
 the deprivation of his sight. The ceremony of 
 divination by Extispicina was called lepoffKoirid, that 
 is, the inspection of sacred things. 
 
 The whole business consisted in observing the 
 motions, appearances, and circumstances attending 
 the victim, when brought to the slaughter, and in 
 attending to the form and appearance of the entrails, 
 when exposed to view, but more especially of the 
 liver. All those circumstances and appearances were 
 called ar}fi€ta, or signs ; and upon them was founded 
 the knowledge of future events. If the animal to be 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 315 
 
 experimented upon exhibited an unwillingness to be 
 brought to the slaughter, or if it broke the bonds and 
 escaped by the way, or avoided the blow, or struggled 
 against its fate, or refused to give its blood, or kepi: kick- 
 ing and beating the ground for a long time — all these 
 things were deemed unfavourable signs ; while the 
 contrary were looked upon as good omens. The 
 animals anciently devoted to this purpose were sheep, 
 calves and goats, and sometimes sows, and even dogs. 
 The people of the island of Cyprus are reported to 
 have employed sows, and the Jamidae, dogs. When 
 examining the liver, which was the chief object of 
 inspection, they divided their examination into two 
 parts : first, the concave part was examined for the 
 purpose of obtaining information relative to them- 
 selves and their friends ; and then the gibbous or 
 convex part was examined for what concerned their 
 enemies. If the parts appeared over dry, or that 
 a ligature grew between them, or if there was no 
 lobe, these were considered bad signs. The heart 
 became the next .'bject of examination. If this 
 happened to be small, or if it palpitated much, the 
 signs were unfavourable. But if fat appeared in any 
 part of the entrails, or if plaits or foldings exhibited 
 themselves, they were regarded as good signs. After 
 this examination the victim was burnt, and the fire 
 employed for this purpose was of a peculiar kind. At 
 Athens it was lighted with a torch, which was kept 
 always burning in the temple of Minerva, and 
 attended by virgins devoted to the service, such as 
 those called Vestal Virgins at Rome. At Delphos, 
 where the Oracle was established, there were certain 
 
 
3i6 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 officers called irvpKvol, whose business it was to super- 
 intend the burning of the victims ; and those kept a 
 fire constantly in readiness for the purpose, which was 
 made of a peculiar kind of fuei, ignited by the sun's 
 beams. This was the case in almost every place 
 where those ceremonies were used. In Egypt they 
 kept a fire of this kind which was called the Seraphim; 
 and in Persia another called the Orimasda. While 
 the victim was undergoing the process of burning, 
 the flame arising from the fire became an object of 
 particular attention and examination. If it spired 
 upward without making a noise, the sign was regarded 
 as favourable ; as was also its continuing until the 
 victim was consumed. Several other observances 
 took place during the cremation, with the view of 
 ascertaining what was favourable or otherwise ; such 
 as taking some of the pitch off the torches, and 
 throwing it into the fire, and thereby establishing good 
 omens from its rising up into one bright flame, or the 
 contrary, if otherwise. They also took notice of the 
 gall as it burned ; and of the ashes, after the victim 
 was consumed ; and of the smoke, its colour, and 
 smell ; and drew omens, favourable or unfavourable, 
 from all. They also threw frankincense and poppies 
 into the flames in order to mark the appearances they 
 should produce. Besides these species of divination, 
 there were innumerable others ; among the chief of 
 which was that called veKpofiavreia, or necromancy, 
 which was performed through the instrumentality of 
 dead bodies. The people of Thessaly were very 
 expert at this mode of divination, using only some 
 bone or artery of a dead body in their process ; but 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 317 
 
 ■|^ 
 
 others made use of the whole body, and poured hot 
 blood into it in order to recall its spirit, and obtain 
 from it such information as they required. It was, 
 ' owever, essential to success in this latter speculation, 
 hat the party so questioning the deceased should 
 have deserved well of him, otherwise no information 
 whatever could be expected. When Periander, as 
 Herodotus i' .orrns us, employed this ordeal in order 
 to receive intelligence from his wife, Melissa, she 
 refused answering him, because he had not treated 
 her as he ought. Another species of divination was 
 by water, and was called vhpo^avrela. There were 
 several modes according to which this was effected ; 
 such as by drinking the water of a fountain, and 
 thereby becoming moved with the spirit of prophecy ; 
 or by casting various things into the water, and 
 watching whether they should sink or float, as in the 
 well of I no they were wont to throw in cakes. Again, 
 by observing reflections or images in the water : the 
 well of A-poUo in Achaia was celebrated for this 
 practice. The dipping of a glass in the water, and 
 observing how a sick person was reflected in it, was 
 another mode of this prophecy by water. It was also 
 a common practice to throw three stones into the 
 water, and to draw conclusions from the manner of 
 their descent, observing the circles they made as they 
 sank. In these experiments wineor oil was sometimes 
 used instead of water. There was another mode of 
 divination distinct from these, called Xidofiavreia, or 
 divination by the loadstone, which was believed to 
 speak like a child when washed in spring water. By 
 this mode Helenus is reported to have foretold the 
 
 
3'? 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 destruction of Troy. There was also a mystic art 
 employed for the discovery of thieves, or of things 
 stolen, which was called KoaKivofiavreta. This was 
 effected by means of a sieve suspended by a thread, 
 which was supposed to turn round at the mention of 
 the name of the thief. There were various other 
 modes of divination which it would be tedious as well 
 as useless to dwell upon ; such as those performed 
 with Gyges' ring, with eggs, with barley, with a 
 burning candle, and so on. 
 
 But besides the knowledge thus derived, or pretended 
 to be derived, from the observation of animate and in- 
 animate things, there was another kind of prophetic 
 iiitimatJon drawn from words spoken, which were 
 called ^ijfxai. These words or voices were sometimes 
 heard in the air, as it was believed, and delivered 
 in a supernatural way, and sometimes they were 
 enunciated by men. Pythagorei, says Cicero, non 
 solum voces deorum observarunt, sed etiam hominum ; 
 " The Pythagoreans observed not only the voices of 
 gods, but also those of men." Words or speeches 
 which boded evil were called Bvacfyi^fiai, and these 
 they were always solicitous to avoid, especially on 
 occasions of sacrifice or religious ceremonies. For 
 instance, instead of using the word Sea-fiwri^piop, a 
 prison, on such occasions, they would use the word 
 otKrffjMf a house ; instead of epippw, the Furies, 
 they would use ey/w€i/t8e9, or aefival deai, the vener- 
 able goddesses ; and so with other words of a simi- 
 lar character, which they called ill-omened words. 
 Suetonius wrote a book on this subject, with the title 
 of *' De vocibus male ominatis," of ill-omened words. 
 
mmm I ' |i"' y >« wi w^ w m ii* ^ ww " ep* m » , ^ 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 319 
 
 In the commencement of any work or undertaking 
 they were careful to make use of good words and 
 expressions, as ^fo?, Oeof, " the god, the god ;" and 
 ea-raifiev eiJ, " may we be well," or " may it be well 
 with us." There were also certain words and names 
 of persons, from which they drew good omens, when 
 spoken before them ; as when Julus said, Mensas 
 etiam consumimus^ "we have consumed the meal," as 
 related by Virgil, the father of the youth immediately 
 laid hold of the expression as a favourable omen ; 
 and one which indicated the termination of their 
 labours. And we are told that Leotychides, when 
 he asked a person from Samos to assist him against 
 the Persians, and was told by this person that his 
 name was Hegesistratus, said at once that he accepted 
 the name as a good omen. When a bad omen in 
 expression occurred, they were wont to retort it back 
 upon the person who uttered it, with the words ei? 
 K€^a\r)v aoi, " let it fall back upon thine own head." 
 A similar mode of denouncing evil was common to 
 the Egyptians, and also to the Israelites. Sometimes 
 when evil expressions of this sort happened to be 
 used, when they were engaged at any work, they 
 would alter the plan or style of the work, and 
 commence to do it in another way, or they would 
 begin it anew. In Euripides mention is made of 
 a person who, hearing an ill-omened expression as he 
 was in the act of drinking, dashed the liquor on the 
 ground, and called for another cup. There were 
 other omens observed among them, such as marks or 
 moles on different parts of the body; palpitations 
 of the heart, tremblings in the eyes, noise in the ears. 
 
 ! i 
 
320 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 and such like. A noise in the right ear, or a tremor 
 in the right eye, were accounted good omens; but 
 occurring in the left ear and left eye, they were con- 
 sidered bad omens. There were books written also 
 on these omens, such as that of Melampus, the 
 celebrated interpreter of omens to Ptolemy Phila- 
 delphus. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 321 
 
 tremor 
 s; but 
 e con- 
 :n also 
 IS, the 
 Phila- 
 
 CHAPTER LXVIII. 
 
 Similarity of Grecian superstitions to those practised by the 
 Irish — Whence arose this similarity ? 
 
 But amid all these indications of the future, amonp^ 
 these multifarious signs of the will of Fate, that of 
 sneezing held a most important place. So much 
 indeed did the ancient Greeks seem to rely upon it 
 as a herald of good or evil, as an infallible monitor of 
 coming events, that they elevated it to the position 
 and dignity of a god. Hence it happened that it 
 was forbidden to eat the brain of any animal, because 
 they deemed it the seat and source of sneezing. 
 Whenever any person chanced to sneeze, it was an 
 invariable observance to say Zeu? aaxTov, " God bless 
 us ;" the great father of the gods, Jupiter him- 
 self, being thus appealed to for his divine inter- 
 ference to protect them against any approaching 
 evil which might thus be indicated by the act of 
 sternutation. 
 
 We cannot pass over this custom without observing 
 upon the identity of feeling or of practice which, in 
 this respect, as in many others, exists between the 
 Irish, even at the present day, and the Greeks of 
 antiquity. Any one who is at all familiar with the 
 manners and customs of the Irish people, especially 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 the peasantry, must know that the act of sneezing is 
 regarded by them with a superstitious feeling ; and 
 ihe invocation, ** God bless us," when one sneezes, is 
 as common among them as Zey? trcocrov, was among 
 the Greeks. 
 
 I dwell on this point, not om any importance 
 that I attach to it per se, but to show the vitality 
 of those superstitious practices that have descended 
 to us from the most remote times ; and to indicate 
 the wide-spreading and connecting chain of manners 
 and customs by which people even the most re- 
 mote in time and space are often found to be united 
 together. Such similarity, or rather identity, in the 
 manners and practices of two different nations, if it 
 does not — and it is not necessary that it should — 
 prove a common origin, at least shows an intercom- 
 munication, either direct or indirect, between them at 
 a very remote period. But this is not the only 
 instance which points to the existence of an inter- 
 course between the Greeks and the Irish ; I have 
 already glanced at others in the course of these 
 observations ; and had I no' felt that it would be 
 inconsistent with the nature of the work in hand, I 
 might have traced out in almost every department 
 of Grecian customs and observances, particularly in 
 that relating to religious and superstitious rites and 
 ceremonies, such points of agreement with those of 
 the ancient and modern Irish as could not fail to be 
 both amusing and instructive. That the Irish re- 
 tained their ancient customs and manners through 
 every change of time and circumstance by which the 
 rest of Europe had been affected, is known to every 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 323 
 
 eezing is 
 ng ; and 
 leezes, is 
 s among 
 
 poftance 
 i vitality 
 escended 
 
 indicate 
 manners 
 most re- 
 3e united 
 ty, in the 
 ions, if it 
 should — 
 ntercom- 
 1 them at 
 the only 
 an inter- 
 ; I have 
 
 of these 
 vould be 
 1 hand, I 
 partment 
 :ularly in 
 rites and 
 . those of 
 fail to be 
 Irish re- 
 1 through 
 A'hich the 
 
 to every 
 
 student of Irish history ; and amid the crash of 
 dynasties and empires which followed in the track 
 of the Roman eagle, Ireland remained unscathed ; 
 the structure of her social and religious systems 
 therefore remained whole and entire throughout the 
 period which saw the other nations of the civilized 
 world bent to the influence of the Roman power, 
 their manners changed, their customs modified, and 
 their social polity and religious systems either swep 
 awc»y altogether, or so altered as to meet the neces- 
 sities of the new civilization. If commercial or other 
 intercourse had ever existed between the ancient 
 Greeks and Irish, either directly or indirectly — and 
 this is not the place to discuss so speculative a sub- 
 ject — then it is plain that any customs, or manners, 
 or modes of speech which the Greeks introduced into 
 Ireland must have taken undisturbed root in the soil, 
 and propagated themselves throughout every age of 
 its pagan history. They would thus have amalga- 
 mated with the social and religious principles which 
 had existed in the land before their introduction, and 
 so have continued through the course of time, ad- 
 vancing or veering with the general destinies of the 
 nation. 
 
 When, at the commencement of the Christian 
 period of her history, Ireland underwent the changes 
 in manners and customs consequent upon the es- 
 tablishment of a new religious creed, it is certain that 
 those changes were not such as to obliterate her 
 former practices and superstitions ; on the contrary, 
 the old manners and customs were to a certain extent 
 retained, and made subservient to the necessities and 
 
 Y 2 
 
 I 
 
324 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 » 
 
 demands of the new creed, the motive and intention 
 alone being changed. If the people were forbidden 
 to say, " Jupiter bless us," or " Baal bless us," they 
 were allowed and taught to say " God bless us." If 
 they were not permitted to light their fires upon hill 
 and mountain in honour of Grynaeus Apollo, they 
 were allowed to do so in commemoration of some 
 event in their Christian history, as in honour of St. 
 John. 
 
 Thus the practices and customs of the Chris- 
 tian religion were not calculated to uproot the my- 
 thology of the pagan which had occupied the ground 
 before it ; that is, as to customs, superstitions, mystic 
 rites, and such practices as interfered not with the 
 truth and principles of the Christian faith. So far 
 indeed was the Christian creed from producing such 
 an effect, that it rather gave a scope to the vague and 
 mystic ideas which floated around the domain of 
 paganism ; for if gods and goddesses were abrogated, 
 saints and angels were supplied in abundance, and 
 the mind was as much wrapped in the mystic un- 
 certainty and indefiniteness of the one as of the 
 other. 
 
 The thoughts and sentiments were wafted in the 
 same aerial boat, whether they turned to the vague 
 and mist-covered shore where the deities of heathenism 
 or paganism reared their cloud-capped temples, or 
 to the equally undefined and impenetrable region 
 where the Seraphim and the Cherubim poured song 
 and incense around the throne of the Eternal One. 
 Hence if the customs and manners of ancient Greece 
 had ever, by any mode of communication, transferred 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 325 
 
 ntention 
 Drbiddcn 
 us," they 
 us." If 
 upon hill 
 llo, they 
 of some 
 ir of St. 
 
 themselves, in part or in whole, to the shores of 
 ancient Hibernia, there they were likely to remain 
 and germinate ; for no blast of revolution had ever 
 swept over its fair surface ; while the whirlwind of 
 invasion and of national contention disturbed and 
 unsettled, or laid desolate, every other portion of the 
 then civilized world. 
 
 1 Chris- 
 the my- 
 
 2 ground 
 s, mystic 
 with the 
 
 So far 
 ing such 
 igue and 
 )main of 
 )rogated, 
 nee, and 
 >^stic un- 
 > of the 
 
 d in the 
 he vague 
 athenism 
 nples, or 
 e region 
 red song 
 •nal One. 
 it Greece 
 ansfcrred 
 
;26 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 Superstitious observances in connexion with sneezing, the draw- 
 ing of lots, and the accidental meeting with various kinds 
 of animals on a journey. 
 
 To return to the superstitious practices of ancient 
 Greece. We have seen that sneezing was looked 
 upon by them as a prognostic of good or evil fortune. 
 The time, and the side, such as left or right, were care- 
 fully observed with respect to the ominous import of 
 sneezing. If a person happened to sneeze in the 
 afternoon, it was regarded as a good sign ; but it" in 
 the morning, very bad. If one chanced to sneeze at 
 table, when the things were being removed, it was a 
 bad omen ; and so it was if a sneeze came from a per- 
 son sitting at the left hand ; but if the person on the 
 right hand chanced to sneeze, it was a good omen. 
 Socrates, the most celebrated philosopher of Greece, 
 had an unflinching faith in the divinity of sneezing, 
 for he esteemed it as a sort of demon or guardian 
 angel which accompanied men, and notified them of 
 approaching good or evil. And Aristotle regarded 
 the subject in so serious a light as to introduce its 
 discussion into his works. A sneeze from the right- 
 hand side was sufficient to raise the valour of soldiers 
 in the battle-field ; as it was, when coming from the 
 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 327 
 
 left, to depress them. We read that, upon this prin- 
 ciple, one Euphrantides encouraged the soldiers of 
 Themistocles to fight, when he heard a sneeze on the 
 right hand ; and that Xenophon was raised to the 
 position of a general because a sneeze was heard on 
 his right hand while he was making a speech. 
 Several other instances are given in the Greek 
 writings of the stress with which the act of sneezing 
 was regarded in those ancient times. 
 
 In after-time, however, it lost a good deal of its 
 superstitious importance, at least among the more 
 enlightened classes ; for we find that Timotheus 
 turned the thing into ridicule when he was reminded 
 that one of his soldiers sneezed on the left, as he 
 (Timotheus) was in the act of going on shipboard. 
 The captain of the ship advised him not to go on 
 board, as the omen was unlucky ; but Timotheus 
 burst into a fit of laughter, exclaiming, " What omen 
 can it be if among so many men one of them should 
 sneeze V It is scarce necessary to observe that the 
 Romans were also observers of this superstitious 
 practice. We find Cicero mentioning it, among other 
 observances of a similar character, — Pedis offensio 
 7tobis, et corrigics abruption et stermitamenta eriint 
 observanda, " the tripping of the foot, the bursting of 
 the shoe-tie, and sneezing must be noticed by us." 
 Accidental occurrences at sacrifices a d feasts, as 
 well as in going abroad, and returning home, were 
 also matters of superstitious observance among the 
 ancient Greeks and Romans. A piece of a cake or 
 of anything else offered in sacrifice was taken home 
 by them for good luck. If in the course of the 
 
 
328 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 sacrifice the priest let anything drop from his hand, it 
 was regarded as a bad omen. At a feast it was 
 looked upon as a lucky omen to crown the cup with 
 a garland, because, as a Greek writer puts it, the circle, 
 which the garland represented, is the most perfect of 
 all figures, and is capable of containing the most of 
 any figure of equal surface. The entrance of a 
 strange black dog ; the spilling of wine by another 
 while one was drinking ; the creaking of a table ; a 
 sudden pause in the conversation while a person was 
 in the act of drinking ; were all considered bad 
 omens. In putting on the clothes at rising in the 
 morning, care was taken that the right side should 
 be first attended to ; for if it happened that the left 
 leg or foot was first supplied with the stocking or 
 .shoe, it was looked upon as a bad omen. In going 
 abroad they felt solicitous as to the sort of living 
 things which crossed their way, for good or ill luck 
 loomed ahead according to the character and nature 
 of these things. Books were written even upon these ; 
 and the events to be expected from their appearance 
 were laid down in due form. If a hare crossed the 
 traveller's path, or a snake lay in the way .so as to 
 cause fellow-travellers to divide and pass on either .side, 
 or if a female of the canine race with her whelps 
 chanced to be on the road ; these were all evil sights, 
 and prognosticated bad fortune. 
 
 He who happened to meet a black mare on his way, 
 or a eunuch, or an ape, was bound to be immediately 
 on his guard ; and, to avert the omened evil, he must 
 take heed to stand off at a distance oi forty feet. The 
 weasel, too, was an ill-omened creature, and by all 
 
means to be avoided in the way ; particularly if the 
 person so encountered liad business to the courts of 
 justice ; for in that case he must wait for another day. 
 There were even temples and altars for this purpose, 
 which were consecrated to Apollo Spondius. At 
 Thebes, there were altars erected for the purpose of 
 divining by omens ; antl at Smyrna there stood a 
 temple for this purpose, where the person who applied 
 whispered into the ear of the idol which was estab- 
 lished for this object ; and then stoppinj^ up his own 
 ears, in order to exclude all sounds while in the temple, 
 he passed out ; and the first voice which he then heard 
 was to be interpreted as that of the oracle. The cast- 
 ing or drawing of lots was also a very general practice 
 among the Greeks ; not alone for purposes of super- 
 stition, but also in connexion with arrangements of a 
 practical nature, such as is prevalent on various occa- 
 sions at the present time. In courts of justice, as has 
 been already seen, the lot or ballot was used in giving 
 judgment ; and in the gymnastic exercises, where the 
 persons engaged were to be matched, as in wrestling, 
 lots were drawn for the purpose. Where several per- 
 sons were condemned to death by process of law, and 
 when the sentence was that they were to die on dif- 
 ferent days, lots were drawn to determine who was to 
 die first, and who second, and so on ; it being con- 
 sideied an advantage to have the execution postponed, 
 as it often happened that the judgment of the court 
 was reversed, or rather a pardon granted. But lots, 
 as connected with the operations of fate, were drawn 
 generally in the temple. For this purpose there was 
 a table kept in the temple, with lots or dice ; the 
 
330 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 object of the ceremony being to ascertain whether any 
 particular prophecy was to come to pass, or not. If 
 any number, predetermined or agreed upon, should 
 come up, then the prophecy was to be fulfilled ; but 
 otherwise not. There were other lots which were un- 
 connected with the temple, and might be drawn any- 
 whe. J ; of these there was one kind which consisted of 
 a number of slips of paper or wood, with different in- 
 scriptions ; he who drew one of these was to have some 
 object in his mind at the same time, that is, he was to 
 wish for something, or think of something which he 
 was desirous should come to pass ; if then the inscrip- 
 tion on the lot drawn corresponded with the thing 
 thought of, it was accounted a sound prophecy, and 
 the event was put down as a thing certain. The 
 Egyptians are supposed to have been the originators 
 of this species of divination. 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 331 
 
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 Paganism and Christianity — Conclusion. 
 
 Consulting the Fates through the medium of the 
 poets was another form of prophetic inquiry common 
 among the Greeks and Romans. This was done by- 
 opening one of the works of the poets, and choosing 
 a verse at random ; which was to be interpreted in 
 accordance with the relation which its meaning bore 
 to the circumstances of the inquirer. 
 
 Of this description of divination was that called 
 the Homeric lots among the Greeks, and the Vir- 
 gilian lots among the Romans. Even in Christian 
 times such a mode of prophesying was resorted to 
 through the medium of the Bible. In our own day 
 we know that turning the key in the Bible is very 
 often practised. 
 
 However, those days of shadowy superstition 
 may be said to have passed away ; and though we 
 may still in hours of idle amusement revert to 
 some of the mystic practices of other times, yet we 
 are conscious of the futility which surrounds them ; 
 and feel that we are guided by a truer and steadier light 
 than that by whose uncertain and deceitful flickering 
 the ancients were directed in their daily life. Our spirit, 
 like theirs, Vv^anders sometimes away in the regions 
 
 '1 'I 
 
332 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 of the mysterious and the unknown ; but the mist of 
 religious doubt and superstition which hung around 
 their pathway, and obscured the lineaments of Truth, 
 has been for us swept away by the glorious light of 
 Revelation. 
 
 We no longer tremble, like our brethren of 
 the olden time, on the precipice of a dark and 
 wavering faith ; but move fearlessly on in the serene 
 and radiant atmosphere of a creed which knows no 
 power, no influence save that which flows direct from 
 the Providence of God. But yet, as has been already 
 observed, the aberrations of thought and feeling which 
 marked the state and condition of antiquity still 
 survive among us in all the old countries of Europe, 
 as well as in those formed in recent times by the 
 spirit of emigration. 
 
 It has been shown that the introduction of 
 Christianity into Ireland had not the effect of 
 eradicating those practices which had sprung from 
 the institutions of paganism ; nor indeed did it par- 
 ticularly seek to do so ; its object being not so 
 much the abolition of all pagan customs as of the 
 system of belief upon which they were founded. 
 The doctrines which constituted the system were 
 abolished ; but the ritual observances and practices 
 by which they were attended, and which constituted 
 the daily life of the people, and were incorporated, 
 as it were, with their very existence ; these were, 
 in great part, permitted to be retained, but applied 
 to the objects and purposes of the new system of 
 faith. 
 
 And hence proceeds that remarkable similarity 
 
 
 i- 
 
Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 333 
 
 which we find to exist between the superstitious 
 customs and practices of ancient and modern times ; 
 and particularly with reference, as it has been made a 
 point to prove, to ancient Greece, and ancient as well 
 as modern Ireland. At weddings, christenings, and 
 funerals ; at sacrifices and public festivities ; at all 
 those meetings and assemblies where the national 
 characteristics of a people are moulded and exhibited, 
 and their private manners brought prominently to 
 view ; the customs, usages, and habits of the ancient 
 Greeks bear a most striking similarity to those 
 which, down to a comparatively recent date, and 
 even in some cases down to the present time, have 
 prevailed in Ireland. 
 
 The scop° of this work does not admit of the in- 
 troduction of matter connected with the modern 
 history of Greece ; but yet it may be permitted to 
 observe that recent events have shown that Europe 
 is not forgetful of the debt which she owes to the 
 nursing-mother of her early life. From ancient 
 Greece, as from a living fountain, emanated all those 
 arts and sciences which formed the basis of Europe's 
 earliest civilization ; and whose influence must con- 
 tinue to be felt as long as the world lasts. 
 
 Of England it must, with honest pride, be said that 
 she was not forgetful of the high duty which she, as well 
 as the rest of the civilized world, owed to the memory 
 of the glorious Old Land, when, in the hour of trial, 
 she interposed her resistless arm between the modern 
 kingdom of Greece and her semi-barbarous assailants; 
 and thus protected the rising liberties of the young 
 nation. And there can be no room for doubt that 
 
 
334 
 
 Greece and the Greeks. 
 
 England will always use her power and prestige in 
 promoting the extension and consolidation of a king- 
 dom in whose advancement and prosperity the 
 civilized world must ever feel a deep *and lasting 
 interest 
 
 THE END. 
 
Tiw»- i < « m»i, » i »ii u I ii in, ! ,, . »ii w i>iii iii |» > ijv n il 
 
 Jtige in 
 a ki'n;^"- 
 ty the 
 lasting 
 
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