CHAP. II. EUROPE. Nestus.1 He also specially mentions that the Sillikyprion, which was cultivated in Aegypt in order to extract the oil, grew spontaneously and in a wild state on the banks of the lakes and rivers of Hellas.2 Sillikyprion Character ple. 995 The inhabitants of Hellas seem to have attracted of the peo- the admiration of the Persians, though the very existence of the nation exasperated their Asiatic pride and aroused their fiercest enmity. Atossa expressed to Darius a wish to engage Lacedaemonian, Argive, Corinthian, and Athenian women as attendant maidens; and when Tritantaechmes heard that the Hellenes contended at the Olympic games for a simple crown of olive, he exclaimed, "Heavens, Mardonius, against what kind of men have you brought us to fight, who contend not for wealth, but for glory?"4 "Hellas," says Demaratus to Xerxes, "has always had poverty as foster-sister, but has acquired virtue by the aid of wisdom and firm laws, and with it she restrains poverty and tyranny. The Hellenes were the only people except the Aegyptians who abstained from all intercourse with women in sacred precincts, and who never entered the temples without a previous purification. They possessed market-places in their several cities, for which Cyrus taunted them as having set apart a place for the purpose of cheating each other." They carried on a considerable trade by sea, especially with Aegypt, and the expression of Herodotus that Samos had appeared to them to be as far off as the Pillars of Heracles," is either only a pettish remark at the delay and hesitation of the Greek fleet in crossing the Aegean to Asia Minor, or else a figure of speech to illustrate the complete cessation of all communication between European and Asiatic Greece during the Persian war. Temples. Markets. Trade. Miscellane ous customs. 8 6 The Hellenes in their calculation of time inserted an intercalary month every third year.10 Religion and science they appear to have imported from foreign countries. Many of their customs had been borrowed from Aegypt, together with the names of EUROPE. the twelve gods, the oracle of Dodona, and art of CHAP. II. divination by victims. The dress and aegis of the statues of Athene were imitated from those of the Libyan women; and the custom of harnessing four chariot-horses abreast was borrowed from the Libyan men. Geometry was brought from Aegypt, where Herodotus believes it originated at the division of the land by Sesostris. The sun-dial and division of the day into twelve parts was learnt from the Babylonians. The shield and helmet again were brought from Aegypt. 2 5 6 writing. The Hellenes wrote from left to right, which dis- Art of tinguished them from the Aegyptians. The art of writing was brought to Hellas by Cadmus and the Phoenicians, and was first learnt by the Ionians, who adopted the letters with some slight alterations, and called them Phoenician or Cadmean. The Ionians also called their books, parchments, because in ancient times, when papyrus was scarce, they wrote on the skins of goats and sheep.' These then are all the facts that can be found in Herodotus bearing upon the general geography of Hellas; it now only remains for us to develope his views respecting the origin of the people who inhabited it. in the his The general history of the races who occupied Obscurities Hellas in the time of Herodotus is involved in a tory of the cloud of legend, and will but little illustrate or ex- people. plain the apparently contradictory statements which account. are to be found in our author. 8 Herodotus's ciently call and peopled Hellas, he says, was anciently called Pelasgia, and Hellas anit is evident that he considered the Pelasgians to ed Pelasgia, have formed its principal inhabitants in primeval by Pelasgitimes. In addition to these, we find mention of the ans and Leleges, afterwards called Carians," the Caucones, 10 the Minyans of the Boeotian Orchomenus," the Minyans of Elis," the Dryopes,13 and some foreign other tribes. EUROPE. settlers, under Cadmus the Phoenician,' Danaus CHAP. II. the Aegyptian,' and Pelops the Phrygian.3 Character of the Pelasgians. Mythical Hellenes. 4 The settlements of these smaller races will be mentioned in the geography of the several states; the Pelasgians require more immediate attention. These people were considered by Herodotus to have originally been a race who never migrated. Their language was barbarous," their deities nameless. Subsequently they appear to have been wandering hordes. Some came from the island of Samothrace to Athens, where they constructed the Pelasgic citadel, and taught several mysteries; but being expelled from thence, they went to Lemnos." Such are the few particulars we can collect. A new and conquering class next appears upon origin of the the stage of Greek history, namely, the warlike Dorians. According to the myth frequently alluded to by Herodotus, Hellen, the son of Deucalion, had three sons-Aeolus, Dorus, and Xuthus. He was the ancestor of the Hellenic race. From Aeolus and Dorus descended the Aeolians and Dorians, and from Achacus and Ion, the sons of Xuthus, and therefore grandsons of Hellen, descended the AchaeDorian ans and Ionians. The original seats of the Hellenes (or at any rate of the Dorians) were in Thessaly. wanderings. 2 vii. 94. 3 vii. 8, 11. 1 v. 57-62. 4 The Carians or Leleges occupied the islands off the western coast of Asia Minor, but were expelled by the Dorians. The Caucones were in southern Elis, but subsequently were driven out by the Minyans from Lemnos. The Minyans of Orchomenus accompanied the great Ionian migration from Attica. The Minyans of Lemnos were driven out by some Pelasgians, and after a sojourn in Laconica, migrated to southern Elis and drove out the Caucones. The references to these particulars are already given above. 5 i. e. distinct from the Hellenic, i. 57. 6 ii. 51, 52. 7 vi. 137-140. 8 Modern scholars have indulged in some ingenious speculations on the origin of these names. According to them, the Hellenes means the warriors" (compare the name of their god, 'Aπów); the Dorians, (Δωριείς) are σε Highlanders," from da and opog; the Aeolians (Aioλɛīc) are "the mixed men," a name which arose when the Dorians first descended from their mountains in the north of Thessaly, and incorporated themselves with the Pelasgi of the Thessalian plains. So, again, the Ionians ("Ives) are the "men of the coast," (Hiovia,) called, also, Alytaλes, "Beach-men," and the 'Axatoi are "Sea-men." Compare Kenrick, Phil. Mus. ii. 367; Müller, Dor. ii. 6, 6; Donaldson, G. G. p. 2. from thence the Dorians removed to the southern EUROPE. territory of Doris, and at length passed over to the CHAP. II. Peloponnesus under the guidance of the Heracleids, Invasion of or descendants of Heracles.' This celebrated inva- the Peloponnesus by sion forms the great epoch in the early history of the HeraGreece; the settlements they effected will be de- cleids. scribed in the chapter on the Peloponnesus. 2 unknown. Aeolians considered The history of the three other Hellenic races, the Achacans Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians, is more intricate ins and contradictory. Herodotus describes the Aeo- and Ionians lians and Ionians as Pelasgians; and the Achae- as Pelasans are not described at all excepting as conquerors of the Ionian Pelasgians. It is impossible to reconcile these statements with the mythical account of the relationship of the four races. 3 gians. times, inha lenes. In the time of Herodotus nearly all the inhabit- In historical ants of Hellas were called Hellenes, and all were bitants all considered to be bound together by the ties of blood, called Helof language, and of religion. Whilst the Pelasgians, who spoke a different language, were fast disappearing from the scene," the Hellenes from a small beginning increased to a multitude of nations, chiefly by a union with other tribes; and they appear to have retained the language they used when they first became a people." Thus then, having briefly reviewed the general geography of Greece, and history of its inhabitants, we shall proceed to treat of the various states under the two great divisions of Southern Greece, or the Peloponnesus, and Northern Greece up to the Cambunian range. 1 i. 56, 57. 3 vii. 94. 2 vii. 95. Comp. also the sect. in chap. iv. on Attica. • i. 58. D EUROPE. CHAPTER III. SOUTHERN GREECE, OR PELOPONNESUS. Division of the Peloponnesus into nine districts.-Herodotus's account of the Peloponnesian races.-Settlements of the races prior to the Dorian invasion.-Settlements in the time of Herodotus.-I. ARCADIA, general description.-Herodotus's account.-Topography: Tegea, Mantinea, Orchomenus, Phigalea, Trapezus, Paeos, Dipaea, Nonacris, Mount Parthenion, Stymphalian lake.-II. ARGOLIS, general description.-Herodotus's account. Topography: Argos, Epidaurus, Hermione, Troezene, Pogon, Mycenae, Tiryns, Nauplia, Orneae, River Erasinus, Grove of Argos.-III. CORINTHIA, general description.-Origin of its commercial importance.-Herodotus's account.-City of Corinth.-Petra.-The isthmus. IV. SICYONIA, general description.-Herodotus's account: her enmity against Argos. Expulsion of the Argive hero Adrastus. Changes in the name of the Sicyonian tribes.-V. PHLIASIA.-Phlius. -VI. ACHAIA, general description.-Herodotus's account.-Topography: Pellene, Aegira, Aegae, Crathis, Bura, Aegium, Rhypes, Patrae, Pharae, Olenus, Dyma, Tritaea.-VII. ELIS, general description.-Herodotus's account.-Aetolians, Caucones, Minyac.-Elean seers.-No mules bred in Elis.-Topography: Elis, Pisa, Olympia.-Minyan cities : Phrixae, Nudium, Epium, Macistus, Lepreum, Pyrgus.-VIII. MESSENIA, general description. - History. -Herodotus's account.- Topography: Pylus, Asine, Steny clerus, Ithome.-IX. LACONICA, general description. -History.-Herodotus's account.-Description of the Laconians.— Rights and privileges of their kings, in war; in peace; at public sacrifices, feasts, and games; right of appointing the proxeni and pythii; daily allowance of food; keepers of the oracles; commissioners of the highways; entitled to a seat in the council of twenty-eight.-Manners and customs of the people: burial of kings; hereditary professions; miscellaneous.-Topography: Sparta, Therapne, Pitane, Cardamyle, the Aegeidae, Mount Thornax, Mount Taygetus, Cape Taenarum, Cape Malea. THE PELOPONNESUS is usually divided into nine CHAP. III. districts, viz. Arcadia in the centre; Argolis, CorDivision of inthia, Sicyonia, and Phliasia on the east; Achaia on the north; Elis on the west; and Messenia and Laconica on the south; but the Messenians having been conquered by the Laconians, the two latter districts were generally considered to be included in the same territory. The relative position of the Peloponnesus into nine districts. these nine districts on the map was as follows: |