[?nSlST51S151SlElSlSlSl515lSlSl5lEriSriSl5l51SlSlSlS lahlgilaLnlaLilnlnbilnlalahilalabimahtlabila ! IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS m GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS By William Amory Gardner Master at Groton School Boston Little, Brown, and Company 1908 K.-^^ '^o.^ o^ C(ypyrighL 1908, By Little, Brown, and Company. All rights reserved Published AprU, 1908 COLONIAL PRESS Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co, Boston, U.S.A. PREFACE This book is the outcome of a month spent in Greece in the early spring of 1905. From my own experience, I am led to hope that other travellers will find their pleasure in visiting scenes of classic association increased by reading on the spot pas- sages from the ancient poets and story-tellers, which those scenes recall. The following pages contain a number of such passages, connected by a slender thread of narrative. Many of the passages are very famous, and have already been admirably translated. My only excuse for offering new translations of these is that, as the best translation in the world can only partly re- produce the feeling of an original poem, each new translation may possibly contain something which will contribute its mite towards the unattainable total nRfiQ> CONTENTS OHAPTBB PAGE I. Acropolis 1 11. COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY ... 20 III. Eleusis 35 IV. Aegina 60 V. Marathon 77 VI. Corinth 89 VII. Mycenae 107 VIII. The Argolid and Nauplia . . . 132 IX. Delphi 141 X. Parnassus to Thebes .... 165 XI. Olympia 183 XII. The Story of Nausicaa . . . .203 Appendix 223 ILLUSTRATIONS " Ship of the PfliEACiANS," Corcyra . Frontispiece Gorge of the Castalian Spring, Delphi Vignette on Title NOTE ON THE TRANSLATIONS In most of the translations I aim to be as nearly literal as possible. I usually reproduce hexameters by hexameters, and Iambic trimeters by blank verse. It seems quite impossible to reproduce in English the more difficult meters without wide departure from the original words. In such cases I make an attempt either by an occasional rhymed ending, or by a faint echo of the general rhythm, to preserve something of the ancient lyrical spirit. When this has seemed impossible, all that I have attempted is a division of the passages into verses of lengths varying some- what in harmony with those of the original. For the sake of variety, I have done a few passages into English rhymed verse. In these instances the translation is, of course, less literal. The spelling of proper names is not strictly con- sistent. Where a name has become thoroughly anglicized, I use the familiar spelling. The original text of the principal poetical pas- sages is printed in the Appendix. vii IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS CHAPTER I ACROPOLIS The historian, the archaeologist, and the architect have told the world so much about the Acropolis that a detailed account of the buildings would be superfluous in these pages. It is purposed rather to invoke the ancient writers of song and story to repeat to us the legends of the Holy Hill. The Acropolis rises high over the city and is seldom out of the sight or the thoughts of the traveller. One acquires the habit of visiting it nearly every day. As we mount the crowded streets and long stone stairways leading from the lower town on the north, we pause for a moment near the spot once occupied by the Prytaneum, or we search in vain for traces of the Temple of the Dioscuri which must have been somewhere near. We lift the eyes and high above us we see, built into the walls, the drums of the ancient Temple of Athene 1 'i\ : IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS which were utilized in the rebuilding of the Acropolis fortification after the Persian War. Lower down we catch sight of a small opening in the jagged rocks, and after a rough and difficult scramble, the opening enlarges and we find ourselves at the entrance of the grotto of Aglauros. Aglauros was one of the three daughters of Ce- crops, the ancient king of Athens. Her sisters were Herse and Pandrosos. To the care of the three princesses Athene committed the mysterious infant Erichthonius. The child was hidden in a chest which the goddess bade the sisters by no means to open. Pandrosos obeyed the injunction, but Aglauros could not be content. The chest was opened, and behold an infant with a serpent coiled about him. Smitten with terror or with the madness of remorse, the sisters leaped from the cliff and perished. At this very time Athene was busy at the work of fortifying her beloved citadel, and was carrying a small mountain through the air to buttress the northern wall. A crow brought her the news of the opening of the chest, and in her agitation and rage, she dropped the mountain which now domi- nates the town as Lycabettus. The crow, as bearer of ill-tidings, was forbidden thenceforth to light on the Acropolis. Another tale relates that Athene, to punish Aglauros for her curiosity, inspired her with jealousy of her sister Herse, who was loved by the god Hermes. ACROPOLIS In punishment Hermes turned her to stone. Yet another version of the story of Aglauros tells that she leaped from the cliff to save her country, when an oracle had demanded a victim as the price of victory in war. " It was doubtless in connection with this nobler tradition that in after times, when the Youth of Athens reached the age of military service, they received in this cave the shield and spear, and in the name of Aglauros, took the oath of devo- tion to their country. Henceforth " They ^ swear to regard as the boundaries of Attica, *The Wheat, the Barley, the Vine and the OHve; ' being taught to consider as their own all lands that are cultivated and fruitful." When Pisistratus wished to disarm the citizens, that his tyranny might be the more secure, he bade them all bring their weapons to the Anakeion.^ "They came, and his henchmen advancing took away the arms and deposited them in the sacred precinct of Aglauros.'' We enter the cave, and overhead, in the dim light, we can make out a staircase hewn in the rock. Wooden steps doubtless continued this to the floor of the cave in ancient times. It was the staircase of the maidens who, at the yearly festival, carried a mysterious chest down from the Erechtheum Plutarch: Alcib., 15. ' Temple of the Dioscuri a little below the grotto. 4 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS through the cavern to the precinct of Eileithyia in the city below. To the westward of the grotto, another stairway cUmbs the steep rocks the Makrae/ as they were called, and leads to the Pandroseum, thd open platform lying to the west- ward of the Erechtheum and named for the good sister Pandrosos. It is a difficult climb. This is the way ^ by which Herodotus tells us ^ the Per- sians, after many fruitless efforts to capture the Acropolis, at last succeeded in effecting an entrance. They quickly massacred the remnant who stayed behind when the rest of the Athenians had fled to Salamis, and they burned and destroyed every- thing in the Citadel. Yet though they burned the sacred olive planted by Athene herself, lo, within two days, the immortal tree shot up higher than before. We follow a difficult path to the westward along a slightly lower level. In a few minutes we come to a second grotto that of Pan bestowed on the god in gratitude for his assistance at the battle of Marathon. Euripides, who is not sensitive about chronology, tells us how Pan was wont to sit in his cave and pipe for the maidens to dance in the Pandroseum overhead: * Long Rocks. 'Or possibly the above mentioned staircase inside the grotto. ' Herodotus, viii. 53 and 55. ACROPOLIS " Oh ^ thou haunt of the mighty Pan, Rock by the Long CUff cavernous, Where with their feet the sisters three, Aglauros' ^ daughters fair, Oft tread their dances beside the fane Of Pallas, over the verdant lawn, In time to the varied sound of Hymn When thou art piping there; " Oh Pan, within thy cavern grot. Where once of old a maid, A mother too, ah hapless one! Her tender infant laid -7- Offspring of Phoebus as a feast To winged creatures wild. And bloody banquet to the beast She left her helpless child. " Ah dreadful deed! the fruit Of union bitter never have I learned In tapestry embroidered. Nor yet in story told. That happiness to mortal's lot Hath been vouchsafed through offspring god- begot, Now or in days of old." Eurip.: Ion, 492-508. ' The mother of the maidens was also called Aglauros. 6 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS The Western Grotto that of Apollo is less interesting in itself, though lately it has figured in Dr. Dorpfeld's able exposition of controverted topographical problems.^ According to Pausanias, it was here and not in Pan's cave that Apollo begat Ion. The walls are covered with shallow niches for votive offerings similar to those in Aphrodite's sanctuary in the pass of Daphne. We climb a rough staircase only to find our up- ward way blocked by modern masonry. We stoop, however, and enter at the left a low chamber, used at one time as a Christian chapel " Of the Apostles " and adorned with rude Christian paintings. In the centre is the mouth of the cistern called Clepsydra, which supplied the water-clock in the Tower of the Winds in the city below. When, during the war of Independence, the Turks were besieged in the Acropolis, they were in sore straits for want of water. After the citadel was won by the Greeks, Odysseus Andritsos built a wall enclosing the Clepsydra, and the supply was secure.^ The name " Water-Stealer " refers to the frequent fluctuations in the depth of the well. Traces of masonry below the shrine of Apollo mark the beginning of the Pelasgicon. This was an ancient precinct, extending from this point round * See chapter ix, line 1, note. ' Long before this, in the early days of Athens, Cylon and his conspirators suffered from thirst in the same manner. ACROPOLIS the western end of the Acropolis, and along the southern slope nearly to the sanctuary of As- clepios. It was against the law to erect buildings in the enclosure. Just after the Persian War, however, when the Athenians returned from Salamis, they were permitted to hve here temporarily. A little to the northwest there rises a rough rock with a gloomy cavern in its eastern side. To most people it is a disappointment to learn that this barren, uninteresting place is the famous Areopagus, believed by many to be the Hill of Mars,^ where St. Paul stood, and, with the great temples of the Periclean Age full in view, declared to the Athenians that " The Lord who made Heaven and Earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands." A few rough steps lead to the top of the rock, and there are some traces here of the spot where the great Life and Death Tribunal sat. We are told of two stones on which plaintiff and defendant used to stand. The one was called the Stone of Outrage, the other the Stone of Shamelessness. The court was sanctified by the goddess Athene herself, when Orestes was tried here for the murder of his mother. The vote was a tie, and the goddess decreed that forever after a tie should mean ac- quittal. The Plaintiff Furies in their rage and dis- appointment threatened dire consequences to the ^The name Areopagus may not refer to the God Ares. The meaning is perhaps The Hill of the 'Apal, i. e. Curses. 8 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS land, until at last they were appeased by Athene, and induced to take up their abode in a cavern beneath the rock, where they were henceforth to be honoured as Eumenides Reverend Weil- Wishers. The end of the great Trilogy of Aeschy- lus represents the solemn procession which conducts the Eumenides to their new abode. Blessings unbounded are now invoked upon the land, re- versing the former imprecations. Chorus of Eumenides: "Oh * hail, all hail in the blessings of wealth Hail ye people of the town, ye whose dwelling is near Zeus. Loved of the beloved Maid, blest with wisdom now at last High in the esteem of Zeus, since 'neath Pallas' wing ye rest. Athene: "All hail ye as well, but fir^t I must go To show you the place of your future abode. By the sacred torches of these your guides. With sacrifice solemn, your path we attend. Go, haste 'neath the Earth, every evil henceforth To keep from our land, but all blessings to send To our city victorious ever. * Aeschylus: Eum., 949. ACROPOLIS And ye lead the way for these our new guests, Oh Kranaos' sons, ye guards of the State, And be good their intent Of every good thing to the people. Chorus: " Oh hail, all hail again in portion double! All ye dwellers in the land, deities and mortal men Ye who Pallas' city sway, and if ye my dwell- ing place Shall with piety revere, no disaster need ye dread/' Marshals of the Procession: " Go to your homes, ye Mighty Ones, high honoured; Children of Night, by joyful throng attended Keep holy silence, people of the land! 'Neath ancient darkness of the lurking-places Of Earth, with honourable off' rings splendid, Keep holy silence, all ye citizens! " Propitious and kind to our land Come hither, oh reverend train. With torch brightly burning your glad path dis- cerning; Ye people respond to our strain. With shout of rejoicing again. 10 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS " Libation and torchlight attend. For Zeus hath vouchsafed to descend As champion all-seeing, and Fate too, agreeing; Ye people respond to our strain, With shout of rejoicing again." We mount the long flight of steps leading to the citadel, and stop to rest on the platform of the Nik^ Apteros Temple. In the early part of the nineteenth century, there was left of the beautiful little temple not one stone upon another, when Ross discovered its fragments built into a Turkish bastion. Wonderful to relate, little of importance was missing, except a piece of the frieze taken by Lord Elgin to London. The temple was rebuilt in 1835 in almost unimpaired beauty. " Most holy Victory, my life attend Nor weary, crowns bestowing! " ^ " From ^ this place there is a wide view over the sea, and here Aegeus having thrown himself down, as they say, perished. For the ship which carried the youths and maidens to Crete, put to sea with black sails. Now Theseus for he sailed forth with some confidence against the so-called Bull of Minos agreed with his father that he would use * Eurip.: Iph. Aiil. end. ' Pausanias, i. 22. 5. ACROPOLIS 11 white sails, if he should sail homeward victorious over the Bull. But he forgot all this, when he carried off Ariadne. Accordingly Aegeus, when he saw the ship approaching with black sails, sup- posing his son to have perished, hurled himself from the height and was destroyed." The " wide view over the sea '' well deserves its fame. In Plato's Phaedo we learn how the expedition of Theseus influenced the circumstances of the death of Socrates.^ Phaedo. " It chanced that on the day before the trial the wreath had been hung on the stern of the ship which the Athenians are wont to despatch to Delos." Echecrates. " What ship is that? '' Phaedo, " That refers to the vessel as the Athenians say in which once upon a time Theseus carried the * twice seven ' to Crete, and wrought them deliverance and was delivered himself. Now they vowed then to Apollo, as it is said, that if they should be delivered, they would conduct a sacred embassy to Delos each year. And they despatch this embassy yearly in honour of the god from that day even until now. Therefore, when they begin the mission, it is their custom to keep the city pure from defilement during that space and to put no Plato: Phaedo, 58a and b. 12 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS man to death publicly, until the ship come to Delos and return hither again. And this is sometimes a long interval of time, when it happens that winds detain them. And the beginning of the mission is the moment when the priest of Apollo places a wreath on the stern of the ship. And this took place, as I say, the day before the trial. So then a long time elapsed for Socrates in the prison, the time between his trial and his death." Upon the Nike platform once stood the group of the Three Graces by Socrates. The imagination finds it difficult to connect the good old sage with such work, and the archaeologists are incUned to doubt the authorship. It must be remembered, however, that Socrates was the son of a sculptor, and we can find in his sayings hints of a special devotion to the Graces as well as of his practical knowledge of the art of sculpture. tt For^ what without the Graces is by man To be desired? Ever be my lot Beside the Graces cast." " Of ^ waters of Cephisus sharing, Ye who dwell in the land of goodly steeds. ^Theoc: 16. 108. 2 Pindar : 01., xiv. 1-17. ACROPOLIS 13 Oh theme of poet's song, oh Queens Of bright Or cho menus, Ye Graces, guardians of the ancient Minyae, Hear when I pray. " For with you all that is delightsome, All that is sweet, On mortals is bestowed. If one be wise or fair or splendid. " For not without the Graces holy, Even the gods rule dance or festival; But ministers of all in heaven, Their throne they set beside Apollo Pythian, And reverence the glory everlasting Of their Olympian Sire. " Aglaia queenly and Euphrosyne^ Lover of songs, oh hearken! Ye daughters of the mightiest of gods. And thou Thalia who in hymns delightest, This joyful troop beholding Beneath the smile of Fortune As with Ught step it treadeth." The Propylaea seems, next after the Parthenon, to have been the building in which the Athenians took the greatest pride. It is indeed a glorious entrance to the glorious sanctuary. The great 14 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS buildings of the Acropolis have, however, been often described. Let us rather note minor details of our stroll about the citadel, which recall some tale or excite some reflection of interest. We enter the mighty gate, passing the north- west wing which was once adorned with the paint- ings of Polygnotus,^ and the southwest wing, altered and cramped from the original design. The ancient precinct of Artemis Brauronia near by might not be entrenched upon. Just inside the en- trance is the base of a monument which recalls the care and affection bestowed by Pericles on the works undertaken, during his administration, for the adornment of his City. One of the workmen employed on the roof of the Propylaea, fell and was seriously injured. In gratitude for a miracu- lous recovery, the head of the State himself caused a votive offering in honour of Hygeia, the goddess of healing, to be erected on this base. In spring the rock is carpeted with wild flowers, which peep out between the innumerable fragments of masonry and sculpture lying about the whole inclosure. Anemones of all colours, daisies, as- phodels, and certain beautiful pink and yellow * One of the pictures represented Polyxena. A Greek epigram tells us that " The whole story of Troy might be read in her eyes." Protogenes painted for the Propylaea a picture of the Paralos, one of the two State ships of Athens. ACROPOLIS 15 flowers unfamiliar to foreign eyes, spring up where- ever there is enough soil, and supply in some measure the brightness of colouring which must have pervaded the scene in ancient times. To under- stand why the undoubted custom of using colour on the sculptural and architectural details did not strike as vulgar and gaudy this most sensitive of peoples, we must try to recall the brilliant sur- roundings, in the days when the gaily dressed throng advanced in the Panathenaic procession along a road lined on both sides with innumerable votive offerings. All the bright bronze and gilded chariots and shrines are gone, and there remains only the hard rock of the road bed, deeply rutted by the ancient wheels. Naturally then it is not easy for us to realize that a statue or building of unreheved whiteness might have seemed cold and cheerless to the eyes of the festal throngs. As we advance towards the Erechtheum, we pause with interest at the remains of the pedestal on which stood one of the three colossal statues designed by Phidias. This was the Athene Pro machos, cham- pion warrior goddess, less serene and calmly beauti- ful than the gold and ivory maiden of the Parthenon hard by; but dear to the sailor and to the traveller returning from abroad. For " of ^ this Athene the point of the spear and Paus., i. 28. 2. 16 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS the crest of the helmet become visible to those approaching by sea from Sunium." The statue was of bronze from the spoils " of the Medes who landed at Marathon.'^ In the Odyssey (viii, 80 and 81) the Goddess Athene " came to Marathon and entered the stoutly- built house of Erechtheus." This building " Where ^ first Athene brought to light The shoot of the gray olive A heavenly crown And ornament to briUiant Athens," has lately undergone a good deal of restoration. The work has been well done, and has doubtless preserved from ruin the famous North Porch which has served as a model for so many doorways. The Porch of the " Caryatides " is more beautiful than photographs might lead us to expect, and we recall the pretty modern saying that " These maid- ens in their mournful dignity are thinking of their sister in distant London." It was in or near the Pandroseum, on the western side of the Erechtheum, that the great discovery was made in 1886 of the charming .statues of archaic maidens. These are now in the Acropolis Museum. Eurip.: Tro., 799. ACROPOLIS 17 One grows more and more to admire even love these dear ladies. One has somewhat the feeling about them that one has about the maidens of Botticelli, while to the historian of art they are of inestimable value. South of the Erechtheum may be seen many traces of the Old Temple which stood here before the Persian War. These ruins are of great interest to the archaeologist, but are not easy for a layman to comprehend. We pass gigantic drums of pros- trate columns and at last enter the Parthenon. Even in its wrecked condition the wonderful temple overwhelms the senses, the head, and above all the heart. What it must have been in the days of its glory we cannot attempt to conceive; but though shorn of almost all ornament, and with most of its columns overthrown, it is still the Parthenon. Stand where the great statue stood and look East to Lycabettus,^ over which the morning sun still climbs; or mount the little stairway that leads to the southwestern corner of the roof, and gaze down over the valley of the Ilissus or across the bay to Aegina; or sit on the western steps with the back resting in one of the flutings of a mighty column, looking forth to the far mountains of the Pelopon- nesus, as the sun sinks behind Salamis, and darkness steals across Piraeus and the Attic plain; it is * Light-trodden, according to a now abandoned etymology. 18 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS still overwhelmingly the Parthenon, though London claims the greater part of the frieze and pediment and metopes, and though much of what remains is battered beyond recognition or has perished utterly. The western frieze is beautiful still, and several of the best slabs of the eastern frieze are preserved in the little Acropolis Museum whither we next bend our steps, to spend a happy hour among the queer monsters from the archaic temple, and the fine work of Pisistratid and early Phidian times. As we emerge and stroll along the south wall of the Acropolis, we pass the site of the famous votive offering of Attains, replicas of the chief figures of which are to be found in many of the museums of Europe. To one of these figures is undoubtedly owed the inspiration which produced the " Dying Gaul." We are told that part of this offering was once blown over the wall by a mighty wind, and was found in the theatre of Dionysus below. We descend from the Acropolis and take the path leading to the left along the southern slope. Skirt- ing the top row of seats of the well-preserved Odeum of Herodes Atticus, a pubHc-spirited benefactor of the Roman epoch, who built this monument to the memory of his wife Regilla, one passes a suc- cession of fragmentary remains of old Pelasgic work, and finally reaches the much ruined precinct ACROPOLIS 19 of Asclepios/ where it is still possible to drink a cup of the healing water of Hygeia's fountain. One is glad to rest in the theatre of Dion^us, and dream of the scenes enacted here. Though nearly all the present building dates from a period far later than the days of the Mighty Four, yet here is the very spot where the most intelligent audience in the world met at the festival of the God to witness the great dramatic contests. Here were enacted the woes of the cursed line^of Pelops, and the horrors of the house of Oedipus; here Prometheus made his immortal appeal against the tyranny of the go^: here Alcestis taught the depths of woman's selt- immolating love; and here too, in joyful hours, the hoHday crowd took its delight in the merry squibs flung at their wiseacres and demagogues.^ Above our heads just under the Acropolis walls near the cave of Hagia Speliotissa stand two columns. They are relics of a Choragic victory, and as we turn our steps homeward to the modern city, we pass close to another such memorial, the beautiful little Corinthian monument of Lysicrates. * The precinct of Asclepios is familiar to us in the amusing account in the Plutus of Aristophanes, of the cure performed in this place upon the blind god of wealth. It is a ludicrous medley of charlatan priest, sham patient, gluttonous old woman, thievish servant, and medical hocus-pocus. ' In the days when good-natured Socrates stood up during a performance of the Clouds, to give the spectators a good chance to compare him with his namesake on the stage. CHAPTER II COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY Perhaps most excursions in foreign lands should be made in the company of one or more friends. So much is gained by exchange of ideaS; and so much of the beauty of nature is doubly en- joyable, when one feels that another is sympa- thetically affected, even if no word be spoken. The walk here described, however, should be a solitary one, at least for the first time. Afterwards the scenes may well be revisited and the memory refreshed by expression to a companion of that which at first was all impression. Down the long hill from the northeast corner of the AcropoUs slope to the Dipylon, we take our way through crooked streets and past somewhat be- wildering ruins chiefly of Roman date. We receive a confusion of impressions of Athens Modern, Roman, and Hellenic; Athens Ecclesiastical, Com- mercial, Christian, and Pagan. First we pass the ugly Metropolitan: then a better Byzantine church; then a busy street of shops; an old monastery, a Roman Market Gate, and a portico of distorted COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 21 giants; then the calm Theseum high on the left, the railway station; and at last we reach the ruined City Gate, and the peaceful cemetery of the Outer Ceramicus. We wander slowly among these tombs where sleep the ancient dead, the poor and the rich, the lowly and the great alike. Here we are particu- larly struck with the incredible productivity of Greek Art. Hundreds of the grave monuments of the Ceramicus are without special renown, and yet nearly every one is of great beauty. Most of the masterpieces have been taken to the Museum for shelter from the weather, but enough remain in place to give joy and wonder to the beholder, and send him on his way with high and holy thoughts. Here is the brave young knight who fell at Corinth, for ever striking down the foe beneath his rearing charger; beyond is the great lady, taking her neck- lace from the jewel-case held by her comely maid; near by is the splendid charging bull; the great hound with the upward glance of despair; the grave elder with his wife and sons; and at last the pathetic empty tombs consisting of four simple gray slabs and Ud. This scene of solemnity and beauty is surely a fitting place in which to bid farewell to the city and the works of man, before turning our steps onward to nature and the Attic spring time. It was in the first year of the Peloponnesian War 22 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS that Pericles uttered on this spot the famous funeral- oration preserved for us by Thucydides: " I ^ will begin first with our forefathers. For it is right and seemly on such an occasion, to lay at their feet this tribute of remembrance. For the same stock, ever dweUing in this land, have handed it down free through their virtue by succes- sion of descendants to this day. They are worthy of all praise, and of greater praise still our own sires are deserving. For, after winning in addition to their inheritance, the great dominion we now rule, they transmitted it intact to us not without toil on their part. " But I pass on to the encomium of these men. For I deem it were not idly spoken, and that this mighty throng of citizens and strangers would hear the same with profit." " For we enjoy a poUty which needs not emulate the laws of our neighbours, but which rather serves them as model. . . ." So began the proud oration. Athens, the true democracy of Moderation, the home of Piety, and of all that adorns civiUzed Ufe this was the theme of Pericles, and we can picture to ourselves the great crowd as it departed from the cemetery filled with undying devotion to such a fatherland, and with > Thuc, ii. 36. COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 23 high resolution to face for her sake all that the oncoming days of war and pestilence might have in store. " And ^ more we have provided for the spirit resting places after toil, religious games and services throughout the year, adorned with the grace and beauty our own Hberahty provides, the joy of which day by day makes us forget our sorrows. Through the greatness of our state, all things flow hither from all the world, and it falls to our lot to reap with no more famihar enjoyment the blessings our own land provides than those which come to us from aHen peoples. ... In our education, our sons by toilsome effort from their earliest youth pursue the path of manUness. . . . We love the Beautiful with chastened taste, and pursue Phi- losophy without effeminate weakness. Wealth we enjoy more as furnishing opportunity for deeds, than as occasion for empty boast; and it is no shame to confess poverty " Wherefore also I have dwelt at length on our polity, in order to teach the lesson that for us the struggle is for a far nobler stake than it is for those who share in no such blessings; and also in order to manifest by illustration the praise of those con- cerning whom I now speak. And the chief part of the eulogy has been spoken. For the brave deeds Thuc, ii. 38. 24 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS of these and such as these have adorned the tale of our city which I have told, and not in the case of many Greeks could words and deeds balance thus equally in the scale. . . . And these our dead were such in their lives in wise beseeming such a city. But it behoves the survivors to pray that they may maintain a spirit more fortunate in the event, per- haps, but not a whit less daring towards the foe. . . . For of famous men the whole world is sepulchre; and not only the inscriptions written on their steles at home proclaim their story, but even in aUen lands, the unwritten remembrance of their spirit even more than of their deeds abides in every man. Do you then emulate these men to-day and, holding that Happiness consists in Liberty, and Liberty in Stoutness of Soul, shrink not from the dangers of war. For it is not the wretched who have no hope of good, who should more justly be unsparing of their lives; but those in whose case the opposite lot in life is still in the balance, and in whose fortunes the change will be most tremendous, if in aught they stumble." The road * leads northward for about a mile, until it passes the foot of a bare hill which rises on the right. It is a dreary little hill. Scant grass, gray pebbles, red, muddy soil, no trees. A forlorn and ^ Near this road was the house of Timon, the hater of his kind. This was also the course of the torch race held in honour of Prometheus. COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 25 ugly place. But the view is the recompense. The hill commands a beautiful prospect of the Acropolis- crowned city, the Attic mountains, the oUve groves of the Cephisian Plain, the road winding up the pass of Daphne, Salamis, Aegina, and the glorious sea. To the north the Plain of Attica is defended by the range of Mount Parnes. The clouds float over our heads from the mountain towards the city as they did in days of old to alight on the stage of the theatre of Dionysus. " Let * us rise to view Clouds ever floating, Of nature unstable, Shining with dew. From our Father Ocean groaning deep To tree-clad mountain-summits steep, Where our far-gazing watch O'er the sacred soil. Moist with its fruitage. We still maintain. And we hear the murmurs Of holy rivers. And the roar of the heavy-thundering main. " For the eye of Ether unwearied gleams, Bright with its marble-dazzling beams. > Aristoph.: Clouds, 275 ff. 26 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS " But cast we aside our wrapping of storms, And gaze over Earth With eye far-seeing. Clad in our native immortal forms. " Virgins Rain-bearing, Let us go to the radiant Country of Pallas, Of Heroes daring. Of Cecrops the lovely land to behoid, Of the awful sacred rites untold. Where the mystic shrine .._ With service pious Is opened wide; And gifts most rare, And high-roofed fanes With images holy, And the pomp of the blessed ones are there. " And service and festival fair-crowned In every season still abound. " And the Bacchic mirth as the Spring ad- vances. And the heavy murmuring Music of flutes, And the joy of the sweet-resounding dances." COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 27 Colonus itself is incredible. For this desolate hill is the one of which Sophocles sang. In his old age the poet was accused of imbecility, and, instead of making a defence, he read before his judges the famous ode in praise of his birthplace, thereby- giving proof that his fires were burning undimmed. " To ^ the fairest spot in the land, oh guest, Of steeds of goodly training. Thou art come, to Colonus the gleaming- white. Where the nightingale, loud complaining, " With wail incessant doth fill the grove, In the verdant coppice hidden. Where the ivy dark is her haunting-place, f And the shrine of the god, forbidden " To mortal footstep the leafy shrine With myriad fruitage teeming, Unshaken by breath of wildest storm, Unscorched by the sunlight gleaming. " There the reveller-god, Dionysus, oft In the midst of his nymphs attendant His nurses divine doth lead the dance, And with heavenly dew resplendent, iSoph.: Oed., Col., 668 fif. 28 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS " Narcissus, of mightiest Goddess- Pair The chaplet in ancient story, Its lovely clusters each passing day Unfoldeth in constant glory. " And golden gleameth the crocus bright, Nor ever the Springs unsleeping Which feed the streams of Cephisus fail, In their task through the meadows creeping. " But still unstinted from day to day O'er the land's broad bosom streaming. The river poureth its stainless flood With swiftest foison teeming. " Nor the holy band of the Muses nine, As they ply their mystic dancing, Nor Aphrodite the golden-reined Avoid the spot entrancing." It was at this blessed place that weary Oedipus heard the voice which bade him rest at last from his long sorrow, and here the exile found peace. Messenger: " But ^ when he came to where the path descends, With brazen pavement rooted in the earth He stayed at one of many parted ways, ^ Soph.: Oed., Col., 1590 fif. COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 29 Near to a hollow, where Pirithoiis And Theseus made their ever-faithful league. Halting 'twixt this and the Thorician Rock, Beside the Hollow Sloe and stony vault. He sat him down, and loosed his squalid robes. And, calUng to his daughters, bade them fetch Baths and Ubations from some running stream. But they their sire's behest fulfiUing, cHmbed Verdant Demeter's hill of prospect wide. And in brief time the water fetched, and washed, And with fresh garments clothed him, as is wont. And when the task was done to his content. And naught remained undone that he desired, Zeus of the nether world loud thundered they, The maidens, shuddered when they heard, and wept. And, falling at their father's knees, they spared Nor rendings of the breast, nor wailings long. But straightway he, hearing the bitter cry. Folding his arms about them, spake to them: 'Children, ye have this day no father more. For lo, my time hath all run out, and ye No more shall ply your toilsome ministry. Hard task I know, my children, but one word Alone redeems the whole of this your toil. For dearer love from no man have ye had Than from your father, and, of this bereft. Ye now must pass the remnant of your lives.' With words like these, and mutual embrace Sobbing, they wept together till they reached 30 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS An end of wailing, and their crying ceased. A silence fell, when suddenly a Voice Of one who summoned him, the hair of all Erect with terror stood, for sudden fright. The god had called him, called and called again: ' Oedipus, Oedipus, wherefore Ungerest In thy departure? Long hast thou delayed.' Then he, well knowing 'twas the god who called. Bade summon Theseus, ruler of the land. And when he came, ' Oh dearest life,' he said, * Give me thy hand in pledge of lasting faith To these my daughters ye to him and vow Ne'er to forsake them willingly, but aye Vouchsafe such boon as thy kind purpose will.' But he, as gentle knight, without delay Promised by oath to do his guest's command. And when he promised, straightway Oedipus Stroking with feeble hand his daughters, spake: * Oh children, it beseems the noble heart To bear this grief, depart then from this place, Nor seek to hear or see what heaven forbids. But go with speed, let only Theseus bide, The Sovereign, to behold what comes to pass.' These words he ul^tered, as we all could hear, And, with a copious flow of tears, the maids With loud lament were led away, but when, Brief time elapsing, we returned, we saw The man no longer present, but the king Shading his eyes, with hand before his face, COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 31 As if some dreadful vision had appeared, And one no man could bear to look upon. After a little then in no long time We see him do obeisance to the Earth, And to Divine Olympus, in one prayer. But by what fate the stranger perished, none Of men, save Theseus only, could reveal. For 'twas no fire-bearing bolt from God That ended him, no blast from Ocean driven. But either Heaven-sent guide conducted him. Or Earth's foundation gaped with kind intent, And took him to the world below unharmed. For, not with groaning, nor disease, nor pain, The man departed; but of human kind The most to be revered, and if my words To some seem madness I shall make no plea To be beUeved of those who deem me mad." The distance is not great from Colonus to the bridge which crosses the Cephisus at the pretty village of Golocythu, whence one can return to Athens by tram. It is far preferable, however, to turn aside and wander along the river-bank, beneath the famous olives, till the Sacred Way is reached, and the cypresses guide one cityward. This is the precinct of Academus, and here we hold communion with Plato and his band of intelligent, high-souled Athenian Youth. When Plato was sojourning at the court of 32 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Dion ysiu s, Tyrant of Syracuse, the liberality of his views once enraged the despot to such an extent that he caused the philosopher to be seized and sold into slavery. He was ransomed by a friend at an unusually high price, and on his return to Athens, the city offered to reimburse the friend. The offer was refused, and the city then voted to use the money in purchasing the plot of ground destined to be immortalized under the name of the Academy. The plot of ground was already famous. When the Dioscuri came to Attica to rescue their sister Helen whom Theseus had carried off an old man, named Academus, revealed to them her place of concealment. Whenever, therefore, in later times the Spartans invaded Attica, they spared his farm the later Academy in gratitude for the informa- tion. The Tyrant Hipparchus founded here the famous open air gymnasium wherein the youth of Athens might ^ descend to the Academy and run races beneath the Moriae ^ " crowned with white reed, amid temperate companions, smelling of smilax and of leisure and of the leaf-shedding poplar, rejoicing in the season of spring, when the plane tree whispers to the elm.'* As one walks beside the Cephisus in the shade of ^ Aristoph.: Clouds, 1005 ff. ' These were sacred olive trees, offshoots of the tree planted on the Acropolis by Athene. They belonged to the nation, and were under the care of the court of the Areopagus. COLONUS AND THE ACADEMY 33 the olives, one seems to hear the words of Plato, as he reasoned with his youthful friends, concerning J ustic e, Courage, Temperance, and Immortality. " And ^ thus, oh Glaucon, was the mystic tale preserved and perished not; and it will save us too if we obey it, and we shall safely pass the stream of Lethe and keep our souls unstained. But if we follow that which I counsel, and believe the soul immortal and able to bear all woe and all weal, we shall ever cleave to the upward road^ and practise Justice with understanding. '^ The air was sweet with the early spring flowers. Far in front rose the Acropolis fortress sharp cut in the transparent air against the dark background of Hymettus. " Happy ^ iadays of old Erechtheus' sons; Children of blessed gods were they. Glorious wisdom's fruit they ever reaped From fatherland inviolate. " Ever they proudly trod through clearest ether, Where once Harmonia, golden-haired. Brought forth the Holy Nine, The Muses of Pieria. * Plato: Republic, end. ' Described in the vision. Eurip.:^edea, 824 fif. 34 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS " They sing the Cyprian Goddess how she drew Streams from Cephisus flowing-fair, And sent to breathe forth o'er the land Swift-blowing, moderate breezes of the winds. " And as she casts upon her locks Garlands of roses odorous. On Mortals she bestows Loves that abide with Wisdom, furthering All deeds of goodness ever." CHAPTER III ELEUSIS We made the journey to Eleusis by train. The line runs by a circuitous way to the northward of Aegaleos which separates the Thriasian Plain from the rest of Attica. It was a bright morning of early spring and the fruit trees were in full bloom. The finest orchards were in the township of Achar- nae, the sufferings of whose inhabitants in the Peloponnesian War are immortalized by Aristoph- anes. Phyle, with its memories of Thrasybulus, the Lib- erator, was not far to our right, and we could see near the top of the mountain pass the remains of a rough stone wall running north and south. This was built by the Athenians as a defence against the Spartans in the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. The train began to go faster and faster, and rushed down through a region of barren rocks and dwarf pines into the pleasant Thriasian Plain. The Plain was covered with olive groves, and carpeted with anemones of every colour. This 36 36 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS region must have been indeed tempting to the ravages of King Archidamus in the first years of the war, when the Spartan miUtary operations began each spring with the destruction of the crops of this the most fertile plain of Attica; and naturally it is fertile; for the Rarian fields near the town of Eleusis were sown with corn under the direction of the Great Earth Mother herself. We sped through the plain and approached the shore. The Bay of Salamis was like a mirror. It is here practically a lake, with narrow passages east and west past the spur of Aegaleos on one side and the cape from which rises the hill of the Kerata ^ on the other. Salamis appeared to be of entirely different shape from that with which we had be- come familiar looking from the Athenian Acropolis or from Aegina. The island really stretches nearly as far from east to west as from north to south, and is much larger than one would suppose. From Athens, one mentally pictures it as terminating opposite Piraeus, and the view of it as one emerges into the Thriasian Plain is a beautiful surprise. The sharp mountain tops were reflected in the glassy waters of the Bay, and the picturesque fishing boats from the island with their lateen sails added a touch of life to the somewhat lonely scene. At the western end of the plain, where it is * The name of " The Horns " is well chosen. ELEUSIS 37 limited by the bay and the Kerata, was our goal Eleusis. Eleusis received its name from the Advent of the mighty Goddesses. It was the birthplace of Aeschy- lus and the home of the Sacred Mysteries which played such a wonderful part in the spiritual life of the Athenians from the earliest times down to the sad epoch when all the glory had departed from Greece. Cicero/, himself an Initiate, could still say of them that:-" In the Mysteries, we per- ceive the real principles of Ufe, and learn not only to live happily, but to die with a fairer hope." Long after Christianity began to make its way, the rites of Eleusis survived; and it was not till 395 a. d. that the splendid buildings were thrown down, at the prompting, it is said, of the fanatical monks in the army of Alaric. The orator Aristides bewails the fury which destroyed the shrines. " They alone still stood as a memorial of the old glory and dignity, for Athens and for all Greece." Pindar ^ says of them: " Blessed is he who, after beholding them. Beneath the Earth departeth. For he knoweth the end of Life; Knoweth too its God-given beginning." Cicero: De Leg., ii. 14. 36. 'Pindar: Thren., 8. 38 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Sophocles: ^ " Would I might be By the gleaming shore, - Where the Queenly Ones do cherish The holy mysteries for men; Concerning which a golden key Is laid on lips of ministering Eumolpidae." Aristophanes:^ " Advance ye now Through the Goddesses' sacred circle, Through the flowery grove in mirthful sport. Ye who have share in the heaven-loved feast; And I with these maids and matrons go, Where they vigil keep in the Goddesses' honour, To carry my holy torch." " Let ^ us go to the flowery meads O'ergrown with roses fair, Keeping our mirthful fashion Of dances beauteous; By the blessed Fates ordained. For to us alone is the light of the sun propitious, To us who the Mysteries have learned. And a righteous life have led. Toward citizen and stranger. Soph.: Oed. Col. 1049. 'Aristoph.: Frogs, 440. 'Aristoph.: Frogs, 324. ELEUSIS 39 " lacchus, oh thou most honoured, here dwelling on thy throne. lacchus, oh lacchus! Come join the dance, o'er this meadow, join The holy revelling band. Shaking on thy head the fruitful crown of myrtle; Treading with valiant step The unbridled sportive measure, Which hath full portion of the Graces, The pure, the sacred dance of the holy Mystae. Awake, for he cometh bearing in his hand the blazing torches! lacchus, oh lacchus! Fire-bringing star of our rite nocturnal. The old men's Umbs begin to dance. And off they cast the cares and weary days Of lengthy years; By influence of the holy service; But thou with blazing torch lead forth Over the soft-flowering field, The blessed band of dancing youth." The Propylaea and the great hall of the Mysteries are sadly ruined, but of much interest to the archae- ologist. The great hall was partly the work of Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon, and the blue Hmestone known as the Eleusinian was used largely in its construction. We climbed the hill on 40 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS which stood the citadel used as a refuge in the Revolution of 403 b. c, and on the way down we visited the little museum of local antiquities. The collection is small but good. The same is true of the museums of many small towns in Greece, and perhaps one enjoys a visit to such a museum more than to one of the fatiguing and bewildering treasu- ries of the great cities of the world. We lunched in the grotto of Pluto, where it is thought that a representation used to be given of the Resurrec- tion of Proserpine from the world' below. Here we rested for an hour and read the beautiful Homeric hymn: ^ " Fair-haired Demeter to sing I begin most reverend goddess; Her and her daughter fair-ankled, whom once the dread ruler of Hades Rapt and deep-thundering Zeus, far-seeing, had granted permission Far from gold-sworded Demeter, the goddess of harvests resplendent, While with her comrades she played, the deep- bosomed daughters of Ocean, Gathering flowers, the rose, and the crocus, and violets lovely Over the meadows soft, the hyacinths too and the iris, * Homeric Hymn, Dem., 1. ff. ELEUSIS 41 With the narcissus which Gaea, as snare for the flower-faced maiden, Planted by counsel of Zeus, the Many-receiver to favour. Wondrously radiant it bloomed, a miracle to the beholders; Both unto mortal men and unto the blessed im- mortals. Out from its root there grew a hundred blossoming faces. Sweetest odour it breathed, and all the wide heaven above it. All the Earth laughed with delight, and the billows salt of the Ocean, , She in delighted amaze her arms stretched forth for the plaything Lo, before her the Earth yawned wide, and opened a chasm, Straight through the Nysian Plain, and forth from it Lord Polydegmon Dashed with his coursers immortal, the many- named scion of Cronos, Seizing the maid unwilling, away in his chariot golden Bore her In piercing shriek of terror her voice she uplifted, CaUing on Father Cronides, most high of the gods, most holy. A 42 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS But of immortals none to the cry of Pers ep hone hearkened; ^ Nay, nor of mortal men, nor even the rich-fruited olives. Only Persaeus' daughter in Ught-hearted idleness playing, y Hecate radiant-stoled, the wild cry heard from her grotto. Hehos heard it as well, Hyperion's glorious off- spring. Heard the girl caUing her father Cronides, but he far-abiding. Far from the concourse of men in his prayer- thronged temple was sitting. Offerings holy and fair from mankind mortal re- ceiving. Sore then against her will, by permission of Zeus he conveyed her. He her own father's brother. Dictator, Receiver of many. Far with his coursers immortal, the many-named scion of Cronos. While then the maiden divine the earth and the firmament starry Still could discern, and still the fish-teeming current of Ocean, Still see the rays of the Sun, and hope her reverend mother ELEUSIS 43 1 (^ Once more to greet, and the troops of the deities ever existing, So long her heart was beguiled with hope, though broken with anguish. So long the peaks of the hills, and the depths of ocean reechoed Loud her immortal cry and her reverend mother heard her. Then sharp anguish clutched her heart and with quivering fingers Wildly she tore the veil which covered her tresses ambrosial. Quickly o'er both her shoulders she flung a mantle of sable; Then like a bird sped forth in her search over earth- and ocean. Yet to reveal the truth no god and no mortal con- sented, Nor from the omens of birds true messenger came with the tidings. Nine days then over Earth, with blazing torches to guide her Held in her hands, in her quest the queenly Deo had wandered. Ne'er in her grief she consented to taste the im- mortal ambrosia, Ne'er the sweet draught of the nectar; nor suffered the waters to bathe her. 44 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Now when the tenth bright dawn at last came to visit the goddess, ^ Hecate, holding her torch, came to meet her and thus spake tidings: ' Queenly Demeter, who bringest the seasons with splendid abundance. Who of the heavenly gods, or who of mankind can have wronged thee. Stealing Perse^jhone fair, and grieving thy spirit beloved? Lo, I have heard her cry, although with mine eyes I beheld not Who it might be; so I come to tell the story un- erring/ Thus did Hecate speak, but the daughter of fair- haired Rhea Answered her not a word, but swiftly, with her as companion. Darted in search and high in her hand the torches upHfted. Hehos first they sought, the watchman of gods and of mortals,: And, by his chariot standing, the goddess divine made question: * HeUos, show me compassion, a goddess divine, if I ever Either by word or deed thy heart and thy mind may have gladdened. ELEUSIS 45 Lo the sweet blossom I bore, the maiden of beauty enchanting, Hers was the voice of lament I heard through the waste of the Ether, As of one ravished away, although with mine eyes I beheld not. But, for that thou with thy rays from aloft in the heavenly Ether, All upon Earth and Sea beneath thee ever be- holdest. Tell me the truth of my child, if anywhere thou hast perceived her. Who by compulsion hath snatched her unwilling away from her mother? Who of the gods immortal, or who of mankind hath essayed it? ' Thus spake Demeter and he, Hyperion's son made answer; * Daughter of fair-haired Rhea, Demeter, oh Sov- ereign Lady, This shalt thou know, for greatly I reverence thee and I pity. When I behold thee grieving for loss of thy daughter fair-ankled. None of gods else, 'tis Zeus Cloud-Gatherer only is guilty. To his own brother, to Hades, he granted the maiden, to call her 46 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Fair-blooming bride henceforth; but he, to the regions of darkness, Far to his misty realm, bore the maid in his chariot, shrieking/ " The sun god strives to comfort Demeter by dwell- ing on the glory of a marriage with the great god of the world below; but Demeter refuses to listen, and, departing from the haunts of the gods, she roams in disguise throughout the cities and haunts of men. At last she reaches Eleusis, the home of King Celeos. " Then by the wayside sat, her heart nigh breaking with anguish. Near to the well of the Maids, where the townsfolk came for their water, Sat in the shade, and above her there grew a fair bower of olive Like to an ancient dame who has passed the season of bearing, Henceforth far from the gifts of Lover-of-wreaths Aphrodite. Such are the nurses of sons of kings, who administer justice, Such, through the echoing halls of their palaces, house-keepers stately. Her then beheld the daughters of Celeos, son of Eleusis, ELEUSIS 47 Coming to fetch the water fair-streaming, that so they might bear it, Bear it in buckets of bronze to the house of their father beloved. Goddesses four as it were, fair maidenhood's flower possessing, Callidic6 and Cleisidic^ and Demo the lovely, CalUtho^ as well, the eldest of all the sisters." The ladies fail to recognize the goddess, but address her with courtesy, bidding her welcome to the palace. She answers with a fictitious tale to the effect that she has wandered hither in flight from a band of pirates who carried her from Crete. Her name is Dos, and she would gladly take service in the palace as nurse or sempstress. Callidic6 answers with a brief account of the royal house, and proposes to run home and suggest to her mother, Metaneira, that the stranger be employed as nurse for their baby brother. " Thus spake the maid. The goddess assented, so quickly their vessels Filled with the sparkHng water, they bare to the palace, exulting. Quickly the house of their father they reached, and straight to the mother All they had heard and beheld they related. She, without pausing. 48 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Bade them return and summon the stranger at wages unstinted. They, as the youthful deer and heifers in season of Spring-time Over the meadows leap, with pasture their hunger contenting, So did the girls, upholding the skirts of their dresses enchanting, Dart down the hollow path and round them the hair on their shoulders Tossed as they ran, resembUng the golden bloom of the crocus." The goddess follows them to the palace, where she is courteously received. She sits silent and sorrowful, till at last the jests of the maid lambe provoke a smile. The child Demophoon is given into her charge, and thrives " hke a divinity," though it receives no mortal food. Demeter anoints it with ambrosia, and at night buries it in the ashes of the hearth. One night she is surprised by Me- taneira, who shrieks and protests. The goddess in disgust declares that the process of rendering the child immortal has been interrupted; but she consents to promise him all earthly blessings, because he has slept in the arms of the mighty goddess whom she now confesses herself to be. Meanwhile the poor child is lying neglected on the floor. ELEUSIS 49 " Then ^ was the pitiful cry of the infant heard by the sisters. Down from their well-spread couches they leaped, and one of the maidens, Taking the babe in her arms, did soothe it to rest in her bosom. Kindled a fire a second, and, forth from the sweet- scented chamber. Hastened on delicate feet a third in quest of her mother. Gathered about him they bathed him, and coaxed him all helplessly gasping. Ah, but the heart of the child refused to be won by their petting, Far less skilful the nurses who tended him now and caressed him! '' In the morning the king gave instructions to build a temple as commanded by the goddess. Therein she dwelled a whole year far from the blessed gods, " pining with longing for her slim- waisted daughter." A dreadful famine visited the earth, until Zeus, in apprehension lest the race of men perish utterly, sent Iris to Eleusis to entreat the goddess to come forth from her seclusion. Demeter remained obdurate, and at last Hermes was despatched to Hades. Permission was granted Proserpine to return to her mother; but Pluto Line 284. 50 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS craftily induced her to eat a few seeds of pome- granate, " that she might not remain all her days beside the reverend dark-robed Demeter." " Then ^ she mounted the car, and beside her the Slayer of Argus, Seizing the reins and the goad, sped forth from the palace of Hades. On dashed the coursers eager, and quickly the journey accomplished. Nor could the sea, nor waters of rivers, nor grass- covered valley. Stay the rush of the horses immortal, nor rocks of the mountains. Over them all in their flight they cut the deep air as they hastened. Halting at last where she, Demeter, their coming awaited, Seated in front of her temple all sweet with the odour of incense. When she beheld her daughter, she dashed like a Maenad to meet her. As it had been a Maenad o'er mountain dark with the forest. But when Persephone saw the beauteous eyes of her mother, Down from the chariot leaping, she ran, and with tender embraces Line 377. ELEUSIS 51 Fell on her neck; but the goddess, while yet her arms were about her, Boded some crafty deceit, and terribly fell she to trembling All the endearments were checked, and quickly her daughter she questioned: ' Child, hast thou tasted of food in the region below abiding? Speak, nor the truth conceal, that we both may know it together. So mayest thou forsake the loathed kingdom of Hades Dwelling with me and thy father the cloud-wrapped offspring of Cronos, Henceforth held in esteem of all the blessed Im- mortals. But if it prove thou hast eaten, to earth's dread caverns returning, All the third part of the year henceforth thou art doomed to abide there. Dwelling by me for the rest, and among the other Immortals. Then, when the Earth shall bloom with sweet- smelling flowers of Spring-time, Forth from the misty gloom of the regions of dark- ness infernal, Once more a marvel mighty, thou risest to men and Immortals/ " 52 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Proserpine confesses that her husband has con- strained her to eat of the pomegranate, and de- scribes the event of her carrying off. Mother and daughter converse a long time with mutual satis- faction, and Zeus requests Rhea to descend to the Rarian Plain, and to ratify in his name the compact by which Demeter is to return to the converse of the gods, and to enjoy the society of her daughter for eight months in the year. Rhea c^arries the mes- sage, and Demeter consents. '' Quickly ^ she caused to spring the fruits of the deep-soiled pastures, All the broad Earth was covered with leaves and blossoming flowers. Then to Triptolemus King, and Diodes smiter of horses, Mighty Eumolpus as well, and to Celeos, Lord of the people. Showed she the doing of rites, and the mystical orgies' performance. Mysteries holy no mortal may violate, mysteries secret None may divulge the awe of the gods the speaker constraineth. Blessed is he who hath seen, oh blessed of Earth- dwelling mortals! line 471. ELEUSIS 53 He who the rites knoweth not, who hath missed them, shall destiny never Bless with his fellows but lost he abides in the gloom and the darkness/' We saw the well of Callichorus Fair Dances whence the daughters of King Celeos were wont to draw water, and where they met the Awful Dame as she sat wearied and comfortless. Here, before temples and halls existed for the formal celebration of the rites, they danced and sang in honour of the goddess: " He 1 shall see. Beside the fountain of CaUichorus, The torch that witnesseth the holy eikad ^ By night his vigil keeping. When too the star-eyed ether of Zeus Joineth in the sacred dance, Danceth too the moon, And Nereus' fifty daughters. Who weaving their steps through Ocean's halls And eddyings of rivers ever-flowing. With their dances celebrate The gold-crowned maid And the holy mother dread." *Eurip.: Ion, 1075. 'The 20th Boedromion, the night of the march from Athens. 54 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS It was now time to return to Athens, so we mounted our wheels and proceeded along the Sacred Way. Clouds had gathered, and the placid waters of the bay on our right had become ruffled by a rising wind, which made progress slow as we swept round the curve where the road bends at the Rheitoi to enter the pass of Daphne. The Rheitoi are large pools of salt water, the fish of which were reserved exclusivel} for the Priests of the Goddesses. The ancients fancied that these lakes derived their waters from the Euboean straits, through a channel flowing under Attica. The Rheitoi formerly marked the boundary between the domains of Athens and those of Eleusis when the latter was an independent state; and near by was the monument of Eumolpus, ancestor of the priestly family of Eleusis. Eumolpus came from Thrace. He was the son of Poseidon and Chione the snow and grand- son of Boreas, the North Wind, and of Oreithyia her who rushes madly over the mountains. After the fight between Eumolpus and Erechtheus, King of Athens, Eleusis became subject to the greater city, while Eumolpus obtained the office of high priest of the Mysteries. Such is the story told by Pausanias. ApoUodorus says Eumolpus was slain; for the oracle revealed to Erechtheus that he would be victorious if he would sacrifice his daughter. He slew the youngest, Chthonia, whereupon her ELEUSIS 55 sisters slew themselves. A fragment from the lost Erechtheus of Euripides gives the words in which Praxithea, wife of Erechtheus, devotes her child to death. " In stout-hearted wise, not unworthy of her city and of being daughter of Cephisus." " But ^ I will give my daughter dear to death. And many things I ponder first the State. A better one than this no man can find. Where, first, the people come not from abroad, But from the soil we spring, while other states, Founded as if by random fall of dice. Are filled with immigrants from divers lands. Now he who goes from one State to another Like some ill-fitting joint in carpentry In name's a citizen, but in deed not so. And then 'tis for this end we children bear, That we may guard our land and altars safe. . . . Now if at home instead of sheaf of girls, A male crop flourished, and the blaze of war Assailed the State, should I not send them forth To war, because forsooth I feared for them? . . . But when a mother's tears speed forth her sons, They oft make soft the hearts attuned for fight. I hate those women who prefer mere life For their own children, rather than the Right; So counsel ill and more, when men in war Fall amid many, they a common tomb Eurip.: Frag., 362. 56 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS And glory shared attain, while her, my child, Dying alone, alone the State shall crown, And me and her two sisters she shall save. What of all this is not a precious boon? Her who is no wise mine, save by mere birth, I sacrifice for fatherland; for if The city fall, what portion will remain To me of offspring? Thus my duty done, Others may rule, but I shall save ohe State. And this whereof the greatest share to all In common is no man, with my consent, Our ancient laws ancestral shall o'erthrow. Nor, for the OUve and the Gorgon gold. The Trident stand upon our fortress, crowned By King Eumolpus and the Thracian horde, And Pallas nowhere held in reverence . . . Oh Country, would that all who in thee live. Might love thee e'en as I; then should we dwell In safety, and no harm should'st thou endure! " Swinburne's Erechtheus * contains a paraphrase of this fragment of Euripides. His beautiful poem is one of the most essentially Euripidean plays in existence. Through the whole speech of Praxithea, we hear an echo of the conflict for the land of Attica between Athene and Poseidon, as it is depicted on the western pediment of the Par- thenon. ^ 495 ff . ELEUSIS 57 As the road began to rise at the entrance of the pass of Daphne, we dismounted and turned to look westward for a parting view of the bay and plain. Far in the distance we could see the long ridge of legend-haunted Cithaeron, and south of it, the rounded mass of Geraneia. Our thoughts turned to the solemn hour when, after the Athenians took refuge in Salamis, and the Attic land was ravaged, Dicaeus and Demaratus, Athenian and Spartan exiles high in honour at the Persian court, found themselves " In ^ the Thriasian Plain, when they beheld a cloud of dust moving from Eleusis, as it were of three myriads of men. And they won- dered at the dust-cloud, from what men it rose; when straightway they heard a voice, and the voice seemed to them to be that of the mystic lacchus. Now Demaratus was unskilled in the rites which are celebrated at Eleusis and asked Dicaeus what this sound might be. Dicaeus replied: ' Oh Demaratus, it is not possible but that some mischief is in store for the army of the king. For this is clear that, now that Attica is deserted, this which makes the sound is something divine advancing from Eleusis, to take vengeance in behalf of the Athenians and their allies. And if the cloud light on the Pelopon- nesus, there is danger at hand for the king and his army on the land; but if it turn to the ships in Salamis, the king will be in danger of losing his naval * Herod, viii. 5. 58 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS host. And the Athenians keep this festival yearly in honour of the Mother and the Maid, and he who wills, of the Athenians or of other Greeks, is initiated. And the sound thou hearest is the lacchic cry they raise at the festival.' To this Demaratus answered: * Be silent, and tell this tale to no man else. For if these words be carried to the king, thou shalt surely lose thy head, and I shall not be able to save thee, nor any other of mankind. But keep silence, and the gods will provide for the army.' Such was his advice, and from the dust and the voice arose a cloud which floated toward Salamis to the host of the Greeks. So they learned that the army of Xerxes was destined to perish." As we climbed the pass, we noticed the deep ruts worn in the rocky Sacred Way by the wheels of centuries. On the left is the ancient sanctuary of Aphrodite with its innumerable niches for votive offerings. We could fancy the processions pouring through the pass, the light of their torches " all night long " reflected from the rocks on either side. At last we reached the monastery and church at the top of the pass, and remounted for the long descent to the olive-planted plain of the Cephisus. Athens burst upon our view illuminated by a west- ern sun, and after a descent of more than a mile, we reached level ground and the famous crossing of the Cephisus. This was the scene of the " Gephy- rismoi " or Bridge-jokes which formed a feature ELEUSIS 59 of the sacred processions, recalling the jests of the maid Iamb6 which first evoked smiles from the broken-hearted mother. From the bridge to Athens, the way led us past the Botanical Gardens, and we entered the city near the Dipylon. CHAPTER IV AEGINA On a bright morning in early March, we em- barked at the Piraeus on the small steamer Argo for her first trip of the season. A stiff Norther was blowing, and the snow-white clouds, sailing across the blue of the sky, were repeated in the white caps of the still bluer sea. The little steamer sailed out of the quiet harbour, past the headland of Munychia, and soon was in the tumbling sea of the Saronic Gulf. As she " ran over the billows accomplishing her course,'^ the three mountains which curtain the Attic Plain receded, and the Peloponnesian shore grew more and more distinct. Across our bow passed a tossing brig bound seaward with all her sails set and filled by the blasts which swept down from Parnes. Here and there tiny fishing boats could be seen with gunwales awash, their crews often consisting only of an old man and a boy. Salamis lay to our right, its central mountain rising sharply in the background, while its coast stretched low, hard, and utterly barren. As the Island dropped astern, we read the account 60 AEGINA 61 of the battle of Salamis from the Persians of Aeschy- lus: Messenger: ^ " The Gods preserve the goddess Pallas' town." Atossa: " Then is the Athenians' city still un- spoiled? " Messenger: " For so her men live, safe her walls abide." Atossa: " But how began the conflict of the ships? Who first adventured, was it Greeks, the fray, Or, boasting of his myriad ships, my son? " Messenger: " Mistress, the spring of all this misery Was some Avenger or some angry God. For, from the Athenian host a Greek arrived. And to thy son. King Xerxes, tidings spake: To wit, that if night's blackness should arrive. The Greeks would stay not, but upon their decks Leaping in panic, seek their Uves to save By secret flight, one here, one there afar. Now Xerxes heard, yet, marking not the trick Of Greek informer, nor ill-will of Heaven, To all his captains proclamation makes: When HeUos lighting with his rays the Earth Shall cease, and gloom the Ether's temple hold, To range the throng of ships in triple lines To guard all exits and the seaward paths; 1 Aeschylus: Pers., 349 ff. 62 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Others he bade round Ajax' Isle to wheel; For if the Grecians should escape their doom By finding hidden loophole for their ships, Beheading was to all the stern decree. So much he spake with heart too much at ease. For naught of Heaven's decree he understood. But they, in order due and discipUne, Made ready supper, and each sailor skilled Looked to his oars, his tholes, and all his gear. But when the light of sun had passed away And night approached, each master of the oar, Each warder of the tackle took his post, And rank to rank of warships cried the word. And as to each the post had been assigned. They sailed, and all night long the captains kept Manoeuvring the entire naval host. And night advanced, nor yet a Grecian ship Had anywhere attempted secret flight. But when Aurora, with her coursers white. Held all the Earth, fair-shining to behold. An echoing shout first sounded from the Greeks Like song of joy, and, at the instant, loud The answer echoed from the Island Cliff, And dread on all the host barbaric fell. Their hopes frustrated, Not as if for flight The Grecians hymned their holy paean then. But as to battle roused with courage stout; And all the coast blazed with the cry of trump. Then straightway with the clash of dashing oar, AEGINA 63 They smote the watery brine at order given, , And swiftly all were plainly in our view. The right at first led on in line of war In goodly order, then the fleet entire Followed, and at the moment one might hear A mighty cry: ' Oh sons of Greeks, advance! Deliver your ancestral soil, your sons And wives set free, and shrines of tribal gods, And tombs of forefathers! The Stake your All! ' From our side too, the roar of Persian tongue Leaped in response; and now delay was past. And straightway ship 'gainst ship her brazen beak Dashed and a Hellene prow the shock began. And from a Punic ship the figurehead Broke off entire, and then, one here, one there Her stem directed ^ Now the Persian host At first withstood, but soon the throng was pressed In narrow strait, and mutual aid was naught. But, by their own bronze-armoured beaks assailed. The fine complete of oarage swift was crushed. In circle round, the Grecian ships their blows Not heedlessly inflicted, till the hulls Overturned, concealed the reddened sea beneath. Covered with wreck of ships and blood of men. The shores around and reefs with corpses piled. Then, in disordered flight each ship was rowed, So many as were left of Persian host. But they, as 'twere some tunny shoal, the foe With spUntered oars and wreckage fragments smote. 64 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS And tore to shreds the wretches, while their groans And shriekings covered all the briny sea, Till night's dark eye concealed the horrid scene. But, to recount to thee the sum of woe I could not, if I spake for ten full days. For know this well, that on a single day, Never so vast a host of mortals died." The Argo was by this time approaching the cliffs of Aegina, and she soon rounded the black spire of rock which rises from a ledge running out into the sea at the northeastern corner of the island. This is doubtless one of the many reefs planted by King Aeacus as a protection against pirates, as we are told by Pausanias. The black spire is all that is left of the mound built at his father's bidding by Telamon, that he might stand thereon and plead defence for his part in the murder of Phocus.^ We dropped anchor in the little bay of Hagia Marina, and landed by rowboat. The clearness of the blue-green water and the purity of the white sandy bottom are remarkable even for the Aegean. The island was named of old Oenone, the Island of the Vine, and the gnarled bushes, with no signs as yet of their verdure, covered every field and slope. The later name of Aegina points to Theban invasion. Aegina was the daughter of Asopus, god of the Boeotian river, and witness of the mighty battle of * See below. AEGINA 65 Plataea, which finished on land the work begun on sea by Salamis. The River God married Metope her of the fair forehead and begat two sons and twenty daughters. Zeus loved and carried off the fairest of these, Aegina/ and when the father sought her sorrowing, the mighty god drove him back by the thunderbolt to his native banks,^ and bore Aegina across the Saronic Gulf to Oenone. The island has borne since that time the name of the nymph, for she became the mother of Aeacus the Just, and ancestress of the mighty hne from which Achilles sprang. The goddess Hera took vengeance for the loves of Zeus and Aegina upon the inhabitants of the place. Ovid describes the pestilence which depopulated the island in language which reminds us of Thucydides, Boccaccio and Defoe. Aeacus in despair prayed to Panhellenian Zeus of the great temple on the mountain: " ' Oh ^ Jupiter,' I prayed, ' if fables be not false which say thou didst embrace Aegina, daughter of Asopus, and if thou takest not shame, mighty father, to be called my parent; then give me * Pausanias (ii. 5) tells us that it was the wicked Sisyphus of Corinth who revealed to Asopus his daughter's fate, in return for the gift of the fountain of Pirene on Acrocorinthus, sup- plied by the waters of the river. He pays in Tartarus the heavy penalty for the revelation. * Where coal abounds to this day. Ov.: Metam., vii. 253 ff. 66 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS back my people, or hide me too in the grave.' Zeus gave a token by lightning-flash with thunder follow- ing * I accept/ I cried, * and be this a happy sign of thy intentions! I take as pledge the omen thou givest me.' Hard by there chanced to stand an oak, with far-spreading branches. Sacred to Jove it was, and sprung from Dodonaean seed. On this I beheld corn-gathering ants in long array carrying in tiny mouths enormous burdens and keeping their straight path upon the wrinkled bark. I noted the vast number and exclaimed: ' So many citizens give me, oh mighty father, and fill my empty walls.' The tall oak quivered, and uttered a sound from its branches which were shaken though by no breeze. My Hmbs stiffened with quaking fear, and my hair stood erect. Yet gave I kisses to the Earth and to the tree trunk. I dared not say I hoped; but hope I did, and cherished in my heart my longings. Night fell, and sleep possessed my limbs with sorrow worn. Lo, before mine eyes that same oak seemed to stand, those branches, and it carried creatures on the branches in number as before, and in Uke manner it seemed to shake and scatter upon the field be- neath the grain-laden throng. When suddenly, lo, they grew, and became ever taller and taller to look upon, and lifted themselves from the ground and stood with form erect. They cast off their tiny size and many feet and dark hue, and clothed their limbs in shape of men. My slumber left me, and my AEGINA 67 waking thoughts rejected the vision I had seen. I cried in anguish that there was no help in heaven. When lo, a great sound arose in the halls. I seemed to hear men's voices long unwonted. But while I fancied this too must be dreaming, lo Telamon rushed in and cried, * Oh father, thou shalt see things too great for hope or credence. Come forth! ' I came, and just such men as I had seemed to see in my dream, just such in rank I saw and recog- nized.'' The new population were called Myrmidons* and retained in subsequent days the habits of gal- lant industry of their ancestors. Aeacus became so famous for the efficacy of his prayers that once when Greece was afflicted by famine, the oracle at Delphi declared that deliverance might be obtained if Aeacus would offer prayer in behalf of the land: " And ^ when Aeacus prayed, Greece was freed from her fruitlessness, and after his death he was honoured in the realm of Pluto and he guards the keys of Hades." Donkeys met us at the landing rock, and for half an hour, the rugged path wound under the pines up the hillside spangled with anemones flowers of the wind indeed. At the top of the hill stands the old Doric temple of Aphaea.^ Aphaea was a nymph of * Mtipfif)^, ant. ApoUod., iii. 12. 6. 10. ' Athene has of late been dethroned by the archaeologists. 68 IN GREEICE WITH THE CLASSICS Artemis-Dictynna, and used to dwell in Crete Shunning the love of Minos, she fled for nine long months through mountain, forest, and morass, and at last in despair, leaped from a crag into the sea. A fisherman named Andromedes rescued her in his net,^ and carried her in his skiff to Aegina. He too offered the cold nymph his love, and once more the flight began from this new pursuer. At last she vanished in the sacred grove whi^h crowns the temple hill, and from her disappearance^ comes her name Aphaea. We lunched among the ruins of the temple. Noon was upon the Aegean, and the " brilUant wind " blew from the shore with the vigour of a New England Norther. The air was so clear that far Belbina could be plainly seen. Landward lay the smiUng fields and olive groves, the scattered farmhouses, and the pine-clothed hills of Aeacus' ancient king- dom. Aeacus left his throne to judge the spirits in the world below, assessor of Minos and Rhadamanthus, so righteous had been his peaceful sway in this happy island. But righteousness and peace soon fled from the hills and valleys. The strife of brethren brought about the first migration. Peleus and Telamon, sons of Aeacus, were worsted in the sports by their brother, Phocus; and plotting his death * SLktvov. * &av^% iyivero. AEGINA together, they cast lots to see who should be the fratricide. Telamon, at the discus-throwing, hurled his quoit at Phocus with fatal aim, and with his guilty brother hid the body in the forest. But the deed became known, and the just king banished his unworthy sons. Telamon fled to Salamis where the childless king, Kychreus, was ruling a desolate island. For a dreadful serpent was ravaging the fields and destroying the folk. Telamon slew the monster, and received the throne as his inheritance. He prayed to Zeus for a male child, and lo, an eagle appeared to him as a sign from heaven. When the boy was born he was named Aias. For Aietos signifies Eagle, and Aias is none other than the mighty Ajax of the Trojan story. But Aegina remained without a king for ever, for the sons of the murdered Phocus fled to Parnassus, and bestowed their father's name upon the land of Phocis.^ The centuries witnessed the incessant strife against the great city across the Gulf, until this " eyesore," as the proud Athenians named it, fell at last and its inhabitants were altogether driven out. Yet these early Aeginetans had been men of no mean stock. The pottery they fashioned was used in Italy and Egypt, and in the Euxine towns. Their coins passed current in the markets of the world, the talent of Aegina long continuing to be known more widely than even the Solonic talent * Pausanias, ii. 29. 70 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS of Athens/ and it was Aegina's fleet that earned the prize for valour in the fight at Salamis. When evil days came to the conquering state, and the power of Athens fell at Aegos Potami, some scanty remnant of the Aeginetan race returned to the ancestral island; but the old glory never returned, and through the ages which history leaves hidden in darkness from our eyes, the mingled stock seems gradually to have been reduced to the handful who inhabit the island to-day. Aegina was a favourite theme with Pindar: " Land ^ of the long oars, fatherland, Aegina Judgment throne where sitting Themis, the Pre- server By the side of Zeus the guardian of Strangers, More than all mankind is honoured with observance. For a matter weighty, many ways inclining Rightly to adjudge, and not with false proportion. Is a problem hard to overthrow by wrestling. " But of immortals some ordinance Hath stabUshed this sea-fenced land, Pillar divine to support Strangers of every clime. Nor may the years in their flight Weary maintaining this law." ^ Ephoms, quoted by Strabo, says the Aeginetans were the first who used stamped coinage. ' Pindar: Olymp., viii. 20. AEGINA 71 " Not * from the Graces far Hath fallen the lot of the Isle, City of Justice and Right, Sharing the glorious fame Of the deeds of Aeacus' line. " Perfect her glory from olden time Oft is she sung victorious In struggles of heroes she nursed. Highest in contests swift, In mortal men no less Shineth her fame." " Broad ^ are from every side the ways For chroniclers, the glorious Isle to praise. For by the mighty deeds they showed, On her the Aeacids bestowed Surpassing other lands, a fame And over Earth and far beyond the Sea is spread their name." " No ^ maker of images I To build enduring forms On bases immovable standing But oh my song, on every bark. In every ship, sweet song, Pindar: Pyth., viii. 21. ^ Pindar: Nem., vi. 51. ' Pindar: Nem., i. ff. 72 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS Go from Aegina, tidings spreading, How Lampon's son, Pytheas of broad strength. The crown of the Pancration won In games Nemean. " While yet his cheek showed not The tender summer, of the wine-bud mother. With glory hath he crowned ^ The warrior heroes, sprung From Cronos and from Zeus, And from the golden Nereids The line of Aeacus. " His mother city he hath glorified. Dear soil of guests, Which once they prayed might be Renowned for men and ships; As standing near the shrine of Hellene Zeus, They spread their hands aloft, Endais' ^ sons right famous, and the might Of Phocus princely." The temple has been shorn of its chief glory the Pediment sculptures which are the pride of the Munich Glyptothek. We used to Hke to be told to note the proud smile on the lips of the Greeks as they met death, the stern joy in their eyes as * Wife of Aeacus. AEGINA 73 they faced the foe. This was before the world had learnt so much about archaic sculpture and the work of the predecessors of Phidias. Yet perhaps the fancy was not wholly untrue. However that may be, we cherished the old thought as we looked up at the gray architraves now robbed of their crowns. The columns stand high and clear in the brilliant sunshine, and we strolled among them, placing ourselves to get vistas now of Argolis, now of Geraneia, Cithaeron, Parnes, and at last of Athens with the golden Acropolis, and Pentelicus rising behind, with Hymettus and its foothills east and south to Sunium. These lesser ruined temples of Greece offer little perhaps of grandeur or of architectural splendour to the eye. It is to the heart they speak, and that most surely they do every one of them. They are so truthful, so sincere. The effect is produced with so little effort of elaboration. The Colonnade, the Fore-house, the Cella, the Rear-house, that is all. Every trace of ornament has disappeared, and all colour save the glow of pink and gold and gray which time has bestowed instead of man's devices. And the temples are nobly placed. They look forth from headland or from hill-top, over island-studded gulf or fertile inland plain, simple and serene. We filled our lungs with the wholesome cold March air, and descended with clean hearts and minds to the landing place once more. The Argo 74 IN GREECE WITH THE CLASSICS got up steam, and round the headland met the waves which by this time had become boisterous. She plunged valiantly into them, but we saw that it was going to be slow work to reach a point where the influence of the windward shore would give relief. " 'Et^ ic^eX' "Apyovs fir] hixxTTTdaBai