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Owing to its geographical position Corinth was frequently the
scene of
conference between different Greek states. In 337 B.C. a
general
congress was summoned by Philip for the purpose of obtaining approval
of
his scheme for the invasion of Persia in his new role as the head
of
Greece. The desired assent was given (Sparta alone withholding it),
but
the scheme was never carried out, owing to the assassination of
Philip
by an aggrieved member of his bodyguard. In the midst of
splendid
festivities to celebrate his daughter’s marriage to the King of
Epirus
and the birth of a son to himself by his new wife, the exultant
king,
clothed in white, was about to enter the crowded theatre at the end of
a
solemn procession, in which statues of the twelve great divinities
of
Olympus were followed by an image of himself--when, suddenly, the
fatal
blow was struck that put an end for ever to his hope of
further
conquest. Within two months after the death of his father, Alexander
was
marching with an army through Greece, and at another congress held
in
Corinth he had the same honours voted to him as his father had
received.
The following year (335 B.C.) Alexander was again at Corinth,
seeing
Greece for the last time, although he was only twenty-one years old.
It
was on this occasion that he was so taken with the
amazing
self-sufficiency of the cynical philosopher who had nothing better
to
ask of the young potentate, when he was honoured with a visit, than
to
request him to stand out of his sunshine. “If I were not
Alexander,”
exclaimed the monarch, “I would be Diogenes.”
At a later
time Corinth played a prominent part in connection with the
Achæan League.
The story of the capture of Acro-Corinthus from the
Macedonians by Aratus on
a moonlit night, so graphically told by
Plutarch, is one of the most
interesting passages in any of his
biographies. A hundred years afterwards
(146 B.C.) the forwardness of
Corinth in an attempt to throw off the Roman
yoke led to its complete
destruction and depopulation by the Roman consul, L.
Mummius. In the
next century, however, Julius Cæsar saw the vast capabilities
of the
site, and planted on it a Roman colony, which led to such a
development
of trade that in the first century of the Christian era it was
again one
of the most flourishing cities of Greece.
Of its wealth and
magnificence very slight traces now remain. The most
imposing ruin is that of
a Dorian temple of Apollo, dating from the
sixth or seventh century B.C.
Seven of its columns, with a portion of
the architrave, have braved the storm
for 2600 years and escaped the
hand of the destroyer. These monoliths, about
23½ feet high and fully 5½
feet thick, tapering upwards, form a most
impressive monument. Two other
columns have recently been
discovered
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA AT SUNIUM (CAPE COLONNA)
FROM THE
NORTH
An encampment on the site of the _cella_ of the
Temple.]
below ground by the American School of Archæology, to which we
are also
indebted for the identification of the fountain of Glauke,
already
mentioned, and that of the lower Peirene, with the masonry
surrounding
them. Marble propylæa, leading to the market-place, and a theatre
have
also been uncovered. On the top of Acro-Corinthus there was a temple
of
Aphrodite, with a ritual borrowed from that of the Phœnician
Astarte,
but scarcely any trace of it has been discovered, the remains
being
principally those of fortifications, including some of such a
primitive
and massive construction that the name of Cyclopean may be applied
to
them.
Scarcely anywhere do we find any sign of the “Corinthian”
column, though
the _acanthus_ or thistle, which is said to have suggested
that style of
decoration to Callimachus, may frequently be seen in the bare
and arid
plain which forms the southern part of the isthmus. According
to
Vitruvius, the Latin writer on architecture, the idea occurred
to
Callimachus on seeing the acanthus growing over a basket which had
been
placed by her old nurse on the grave of a young lady who had died on
the
eve of her marriage. In the basket were deposited a number of
little
things which had been dear to the lady in her childhood, and on the
top
the nurse had placed a square flat tile to keep out the rain. When
the
spring came round, a hidden acanthus root put forth its leaves,
which
crept up the sides of the basket and coiled round the corners of
the
tile like volutes; and it was in imitation of the beautiful
appearance
thus presented that Callimachus designed the style of capital
which
afterwards became famous as the Corinthian order.
Northward from
the propylæa the road leads to the harbour of Lechæum,
about a mile and a
half distant, and alongside of it traces of the two
long walls can still be
seen. The harbour is now a lagoon, and that on
the eastern side of the
isthmus at Cenchreæ is also desolate--a state of
things which contrasts sadly
with what might have been seen as early as
700 B.C., when Corinth was famous
for its shipping, and had just built
four triremes (full-deckers, with triple
banks of oars) for the people
of Samos, who had never possessed such ships
before. To many minds,
however, Cenchreæ suggests other thoughts, for it was
there that
Phœbe, the prototype of Christian deaconesses, dwelt, whom St.
Paul
commended to the Christians at Rome as “our sister, which is a
servant
of the church which is at Cenchreæ.” Another thing that reminds us
of
St. Paul is a fragment of marble in the local museum bearing the
letters
... αγωγη εβ ..., the original having evidently been συναγωγη
εβραιων,
recalling the fact mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul
spent
a year and a half in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, in a
house
adjoining the synagogue. At the little railway station of New Corinth
we
had a proof how much more lasting may be the influence of the pen
than
of the sword when we were offered a copy of the New Testament in
Greek,
issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. New Corinth lies to
the
north-west of the ancient city, not very far from the Lechæan
harbour.
It is a well-built little town of about 4000 inhabitants, and
was
founded fifty years ago, when the old town was destroyed by
an
earthquake--the third time that such a calamity had happened to
it
during the Christian era. At no great distance are the traces of
the
walls by which the Peloponnesian states at various periods attempted
to
secure themselves against invasion from the north. Some remains
have
also been found of the _diolkos_ or tramway, running across
the
narrowest and lowest part of the isthmus, by which it was customary
to
transport not only the freight of vessels but the vessels
themselves,
while the passengers frequently walked across to the port on the
other
side.
The idea of cutting a canal is said to date as far back as
the reign of
Periander, already mentioned, who was accounted one of the Seven
Wise
Men of Greece. It was entertained by Demetrius Poliorcetes and
Julius
Cæsar, but Nero was the first to make any serious attempt to carry
it
out. “A great multitude of soldiers and prisoners, including
apparently
6000 Jews sent by Vespasian from Judæa, were assembled at the
isthmus,
and operations were begun with much solemnity, apparently about the
end
of 67 A.D. The emperor himself, after chanting hymns in honour of
the
marine deities, set the example by giving a few strokes with a
golden
pickaxe, which the governor of Greece formally handed to him. Then
the
multitude fell to work in earnest, the soldiers turning up the
earth,
and the prisoners hewing at the rocks. A beginning was made on
the
western side of the isthmus, but excavations had been carried for
a
distance of only about four furlongs when they were suddenly
suspended
in consequence of evil tidings which Nero received of conspiracies
at
Rome and disaffection among the armies of the West.”[4]
The modern
canal, which was undertaken by a French Company in 1881, was
completed by a
Greek Company in 1893. To one sailing through it has a
much more striking
appearance than the Suez Canal, owing to the height
of its banks on either
side, for the most part cut out of sandy or
alluvial soil, and rising like
walls to a height of more than 100 feet.
At one point the railway passes over
it at a height of about 170 feet
above the water. The canal is about three
and a half miles long. It
reduces the voyage from the Ionian Islands to
Athens to about half the
distance involved in sailing round Cape Matapan, but
unfortunately it is
too narrow (only about 75 feet wide) to be of much use
for the larger
ships. As a rule it is only the Greek coasting vessels that
take
advantage of it, and there is little or no prospect of its ever
becoming
one of the great highways to the East.
Not far from the
eastern end of the canal is the precinct that was
sacred to Poseidon, where
the Isthmian Games were held every second
year. The stadium can still be
traced, memorable, among other things, as
the scene of the inauguration of
Alexander the Great as the acknowledged
prince of Greece, and of the
proclamation of liberty to the Greeks, one
hundred and forty
years
[Illustration: OFF CAPE MATAPAN, SOUTHERN GREECE
Sketch from
the Messageries steamer _Nerthe_.]
afterwards, by the Roman Consul
Flamininus. A little way south, on a
plateau about 300 feet high, are
extensive remains of a city built out
of the rock, which may have been the
prehistoric city of the isthmus,
referred to by Homer as “wealthy Ephyra.”
Some twenty miles to the
south-west, on the way to Mycenæ, lies the secluded
vale of Nemea, where
games were also celebrated every second year,
consecrated by the
erection of a temple of Zeus, of which a number of
beautiful columns are
still standing, while others lie prostrate on the
ground. It was in this
woody district that the lion which Heracles slew, as
the first of the
Twelve Labours imposed upon him by Eurysthenes, was supposed
to have had
his lair.
CHAPTER VIII
ATHENS AND ITS
ACROPOLIS
Nowhere in Greece, nowhere perhaps in the ancient world,
were the
geographical conditions more favourable to the growth of a
genial,
intelligent, and energetic community than in Athens. The sky was
bright,
the air pure, and the climate temperate. The soil, while not so rich
as
to demoralise the inhabitants or to offer much inducement to an
invader,
yielded its cultivators the means of subsistence in the form of
figs,
olives, corn, and wine. At the same time the city enjoyed the
advantage
of easy communication with other countries both by land and sea,
being
situated on a plain which formed part of the continent of Europe,
and
having on its projecting coast three safe and commodious harbours,
which
gave it facilities for traffic in many different directions. For
the
purpose of defence, its Acropolis, facing the sea a few miles off,
and
backed at a considerable distance by a well-defined mountain
frontier,
provided it with a natural stronghold in case of attack.
The
Acropolis is only one of a number of heights
[Illustration: THE WESTERN
END OF THE ACROPOLIS SEEN FROM BELOW THE PNYX
The position of the
Propylæa, the magnificent gatehouse of Pentelic
marble designed by the
architect Mnesicles, is admirably shown in this
drawing. All the five
doorways, which were closed by doors of bronze,
are seen against the sky.
Immediately to the left is the north wing (the
Pinacotheca); to the right the
bastion surmounted by the little Nike
Temple. High above all rises the
Parthenon. Coming down to the
foreground, we may note, on the right, the
great supporting wall of the
Theatre of Herodes Atticus with the blue
Hymettos behind it; and, to the
left, the pinkish coloured rock of the
Areopagus, with Lycabettos
above.]
rising out of the plain in the
neighbourhood of Athens, including
Lycabettus, Areopagus, Pnyx, and Museum
Hill. Though not nearly so high
as Lycabettus, the Acropolis was better
fitted for defence, as it was
almost inaccessible from all sides except the
west, and had a flat
summit of considerable extent. In itself it is not equal
to the Castle
Rock of “modern Athens,” being only 150 feet high, 1150 long,
and about
500 in breadth. But it is a far more striking object from many
points of
view, partly owing to its position on a rising ground, partly
because it
is crowned with the noble ruins of the Parthenon. Many traces
still
remain of its original fortifications, which were of a
Cyclopean
character, and were attributed to the Pelasgian race. This name,
indeed,
survives in the Pelasgicon (otherwise called Pelargicon), an
elaborate
outwork consisting of a series of terraced battlements with nine
gates
(Enneapylon), of which some remains can still be made out. On
the
eastern side there can also be seen the lower courses of a wall
which
had been built to fill up a depression in the hill.
Although
Attica is not much more than half the size of Cornwall, there
was a time when
its inhabitants were divided into many different
communities, practically
independent of each other. The city of Athens
was then confined to the
Acropolis and a small extent of ground in its
immediate neighbourhood on the
south-east. According to tradition it was
Theseus who welded together the
various demes or townships into one
organised community under his single
rule; and in commemoration of this
rare achievement in Greek history the
festival of Synœcia long
continued to be celebrated. Theseus is mentioned
both in the _Iliad_ and
the _Odyssey_, and his two sons fought in the Trojan
war, yet it was not
he but his successor Menestheus who commanded the
Athenian forces in the
war, owing to certain impieties committed by him which
entailed upon him
the loss of his crown. No hero was credited with more
wonderful
performances than Theseus both by land and sea, and even in
the
underground world, though his efforts there were not so successful.
His
most memorable exploit in the eyes of the Athenians was the
destruction
of the Minotaur, a monster with the body of a man and the head of
a
bull, which was kept at Knossus, the capital of the Cretan empire
of
Minos, and to which Athens had to devote a sacrifice of seven youths
and
seven maidens every nine years. When the time came round
Theseus
volunteered to accompany the victims, in order to deliver them; and
with
the help of Ariadne, the king’s daughter, who furnished him with a
clue
to the labyrinth in which the monster was confined and a sword,
he
succeeded in his perilous mission, and brought back his young
companions
safe and sound. He had arranged with his father Ægeus that in that
event
he would hoist a white sail instead of the usual black one;
but
unfortunately he omitted to give the sign, and the aged king, who
was
looking out from the Acropolis, where the temple of Nike now
stands,
being overcome with grief at the apparent failure of his son’s
heroic
undertaking, threw himself down among the rocks and perished.
According
to another version of the story, he was waiting on the shore and
threw
himself into the sea. To commemorate the event embodied in
this
tradition the Athenians were in the habit of sending a ship to
Delos
every year to offer to Apollo a sacrifice of a less distressing
nature.
During the month in which this took place, no public act was
permitted
that was considered to be out of keeping with it, such as the
execution
of a criminal; and it was owing to this that Socrates was so
long
confined in prison after sentence of death had been passed upon
him.
Theseus was believed to have given the Athenians his countenance and
aid
at the battle of Marathon, and a few years afterwards they
were
commanded by the Delphian oracle to bring back his bones from the
island
of Scyros, where he had met a violent death. The injunction was
obeyed
in 469 B.C. by Cimon, the son of Miltiades, who discovered a
gigantic
skeleton, and brought it to Athens amid great rejoicing. It was
then
reinterred in a sanctuary devoted to Theseus’ memory, which is
often
mentioned by subsequent Greek writers, and afforded a refuge within
its
spacious precincts to the poor and oppressed, whether bond or free,
who
felt themselves to be in danger. Unfortunately the historical
references
to this sanctuary, as well as the fact that it was in honour of a
hero,
not of a god, forbid us to identify it with the noble Doric
temple
standing between the Areopagus and the Agora or Market-place, which
is
now commonly known as the Theseum. The probability is that the
latter
building was a temple in honour of Hephæstus or of Hephæstus
and
Athena. It is built of white Pentelic marble, with thirty-four
columns
in all, the sculptures on it being of Parian marble, and is second
only
to the Parthenon in majestic beauty. Traces of the bright red and
blue
colouring, which was used even in the decoration of marble, can
be
distinctly seen; and part of the coffered roof is still in
position,
adorned with painted stars. During the Middle Ages it was turned
into a
church dedicated to St. George, and it is doubtless owing to this
cause
that it still survives in such an excellent state of
preservation.
For centuries before the time of Theseus the Acropolis had
been the seat
of a civilisation not much inferior to that of Mycenæ. Homer
speaks of a
“well-built house of Erectheus” to which Athena used to repair;
and on
the Acropolis, under what is believed to have been the earliest
temple
of Athena, part of the foundations of a palace, apparently similar
in
plan to those of Mycenæ and Tiryns, has been discovered.
The
fortifications, too, are very similar, and there is a long
inner
staircase leading to a postern in the northern wall that corresponds
to
those found in the ancient structures referred to. There is
another
prehistoric name with which tradition connects the primitive history
of
Athens, and on account of which it was sometimes called
Cecropia.
According to some, Cecrops came from Egypt; according to others he
was
autochthonous (as the Athenians claimed to be), and had the
appearance
of being half man and half serpent.
[Illustration: THE
TEMPLE OF THESEUS FROM THE SOUTH-WEST
The mountain dominating the Temple,
to the right (east), is Lycabettos;
the distant mountain to the left is
Pentelikon.]
Amid these conflicting mythical traditions it was generally
agreed that
the last king of Athens was Codrus, who was said to be a
descendant of
Ion, the head of the Ionic branch of the Hellenic race, the
latter name
being derived from Hellen, the grandfather of Ion. When the
Dorians
invaded Attica, after taking possession of the Peloponnesus, they
were
informed by a Pythian oracle that if the life of Codrus were spared
they
would gain possession of the country. Codrus became aware of this,
and
in order to save his country he went out one day in disguise
and
provoked a quarrel with some of the enemy, who put him to death. As
soon
as this became known to the Dorians they abandoned the hope of
conquest,
and contented themselves with annexing Megara. By a strange process
of
reasoning the grateful subjects of the self-sacrificing king
straightway
abolished the monarchy, on the ground that it would be impossible
to
find any one worthy to sit on the throne of so noble a sovereign!
The
name of Codrus was not the only name in the early history of Athens
that
was associated with patriotic self-devotion. Long before, one of
the
three daughters of Cecrops, Agraulos, was said to have leapt from
the
Acropolis as a voluntary sacrifice, when it was declared by the
oracle
that there was no other means of bringing a war which had been
long
going on to a successful issue. Her name was given to a grotto on
the
north, near the spot on which she met her death; and it was there
that
the Athenian youth, when they reached manhood, offered sacrifice
and
swore to be faithful to their country even unto death.
After the
death of Codrus the office of archon was instituted as an
office for life,
tenable by the leading member of the royal family. The
late king’s two sons,
Medon and Neileus, quarrelled about the
succession, and the latter emigrated
with a large portion of the
population to Asia Minor, where he founded the
Ionic Amphictyony of
twelve cities, extending from Miletus to Phocæa. For
about 300 years the
archonship continued to be held for life; but after that
the tenure of
office was changed to ten years, and at a still later period it
became
an annual appointment, and was thrown open to the eupatrids or
nobles.
Ultimately it became a collegiate charge, being held by nine
men
simultaneously, who divided the functions of government among
them.
Towards the end of the seventh century B.C. a legislator came upon
the
scene in the person of Draco, whose name has become a synonym
for
severity, though it would seem that what he did was to codify
existing
laws and customs rather than to introduce new regulations. Even at
an
earlier period laws had been reduced to writing among the
Epizephyrian
Locrians of Italy by Zaleucus at the bidding of the Delphian
oracle, for
the purpose of restoring order in the state. The system adopted
was of
the nature of the _lex talionis_. Severe measures were doubtless
needed,
for it was these Locrians who got the better of the natives by taking
a
mutual oath with them to the effect that the two peoples should
be
allowed to enjoy the land in common, so long as they stood upon
this
earth (such were the terms of the oath) and had heads on
their
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF THESEUS FROM THE NORTH-WEST (MORNING
LIGHT)
This drawing shows very well the seating of the Temple on its
site,
Kolonos Agoraios--the Market Hill.]
shoulders. In order that
they might be able to destroy the validity of
the covenant, they had put
earth into their shoes and concealed heads of
garlic on their shoulders,
believing that as soon as these things were
removed the oath would lose its
binding force. In order to discourage
rash attempts at legislation the same
people enacted that any one
proposing a new law should appear before the
assembly with a rope round
his neck, which was to be immediately tightened if
he failed to get his
proposal adopted!
About this time an attempt was
made by Cylon, a wealthy and
distinguished citizen of Athens, to obtain
supreme power, with the help
of his father-in-law, the ruler of Megara. He
succeeded in taking
possession of the Acropolis, but the citizens rose
against him and
compelled him to flee the country. His followers, who were
left in the
citadel, took refuge in the temple of Athena, but they were
induced to
quit the sanctuary by a promise that their lives would be spared.
As an
additional security, however, they fastened a cord to the image of
the
goddess and kept hold of it as they withdrew from the
Acropolis.
Unfortunately the cord broke before they had gained a place of
safety;
and the citizens, regarding this as a token that Athena had deserted
the
fugitives, attacked and slew them. The outrage was aggravated by
the
fact that some of them were put to death in the sanctuary of
the
Eumenides at the side of the Areopagus. The archon who was
chiefly
responsible for the perfidious and profane slaughter was Megacles,
the
head of the Alcmæonid family, which was in consequence regarded
as
polluted. A pestilence from which the city afterwards suffered
was
popularly attributed to the displeasure of the gods on this account.
In
order to remove the curse the members of the family who were still
alive
were banished, and the bones of those who had since died were dug up
and
transported beyond the frontier. Epimenides, the diviner, was also
sent
for from Crete, and under his direction new sanctuaries were
erected,
and new rites of purification introduced.
There was now a
general feeling that means should be taken to put the
civil and political
affairs of the country on a better footing.
Fortunately a man appeared who
was eminently fitted to do the work of a
reformer. Although belonging to an
illustrious house, Solon was at the
same time possessed of broad sympathies
and democratic views, which he
is supposed to have derived from his
experience as a traveller and his
interest in commercial pursuits. His
patriotism was equal to his wisdom,
and the first thing that won for him the
admiration and affection of his
fellow-citizens was the fearless enthusiasm
with which he appealed to
them to make a fresh attempt to regain Salamis from
the Megarians. The
island had been so completely abandoned by the Athenians
that they had
decreed the penalty of death against any one who should attempt
to
rekindle the war, which had proved disastrous. The success
which
attended Solon in this movement doubtless added to his reputation,
and
disposed the citizens to give a favourable reception to
his
legislative
[Illustration: THE AREOPAGUS AND THE
THESEUM
The craggy mass to the left is the Areopagus (Mars Hill), with
the cleft
of the Eumenides. Behind the Temple of Theseus stretch the famous
olive
groves of Athens, nourished by the water of the subterranean
Kephissus.
The mountain range is that of Ægaleos, with the Pass of
Daphni.]
proposals. Among other changes which he introduced was the
abolition of
a cruel law by which insolvent debtors were liable to be
enslaved along
with their families; and in the political sphere he laid the
foundations
of the democratic constitution which was destined to contribute
so
largely to the greatness of Athens. He resisted all temptations to
take
power into his own hands--to the surprise of some, who thought
he
“should have hauled up the net when he had the fish enmeshed in
it.”
Unfortunately his self-denying spirit was not shared by all
his
countrymen, and he had the mortification of seeing his work to a
great
extent frustrated by one of his own friends, Peisistratus by name,
whose
success as a usurper was as much due to guile as to force. Posing as
a
friend of the people he presented himself one day in the
market-place
bleeding from self-inflicted wounds, which he pretended he had
received
at the hands of his political enemies, whereupon one of his
partisans
appealed for a bodyguard of fifty men to protect him, which was
granted.
With their assistance he soon made himself master of the Acropolis,
and,
by a stratagem, deprived the citizens of their arms. Although his
rule
was comparatively mild, and was signalised by some useful
public
enterprises, he was twice driven from the country. After his
second
restoration he held his position for about fourteen years. On his
death
his three sons carried on the government for some years, but at length
a
plot was formed for their assassination by two young men, partly
on
public and partly on private grounds. The plot was not
altogether
successful, two of the despots being untouched. One of the
assassins,
Harmodius, was at once overpowered and put to death, and the
other,
Aristogeiton, also forfeited his life after being subjected to
torture
in the hope that he would betray the names of their accomplices.
The
dynasty became more unpopular than ever, owing to its
increasing
severity, and in a few years the surviving members of it were
driven
into exile. So highly was the conduct of the two tyrannicides,
Harmodius
and Aristogeiton, appreciated that their statues in bronze were
erected
in a prominent place between the Agora and the Acropolis, and for a
long
time it was forbidden to erect any others in the same place. The
statues
were carried off by Xerxes in the next century, but they were
soon
replaced by others of a similar kind; and after the earlier ones
were
recovered, the two groups stood side by side. Another monument of
the
conspiracy was to be seen in the Acropolis in the form of a
tongueless
lioness, representing a woman named _Leæna_, who had been
suspected of
being in the plot, and was put to the torture, without divulging
any
name.
Within a generation afterwards the Athenians’ love of
liberty and their
readiness to die for it was demonstrated on a much grander
scale, in
their resistance of the Persian invader. It is said that the first
time
Darius heard of the Athenians was after the burning of Sardis, in
which
they rendered assistance to the Asiatic Ionians. On their name
being
mentioned to him Darius asked who they were, and, being told, he
shot
an arrow to the sky, and exclaimed, “O Zeus, grant me to revenge
myself
on these Athenians,” at the same time bidding an attendant to repeat
in
his hearing every day at dinner the words, “Remember the Athenians.”
His
generals, Datis and Artaphernes, now landed on the Attic shore
with
about 100,000 men, under the guidance of Hippias, who had
accompanied
his father Peisistratus by the same route to Athens nearly fifty
years
before, when he was returning from exile the second time to
take
possession of the city. But Athens was a very different community
now
from what it was then. It had enjoyed more than twenty years
of
self-government, and its citizens were now united as one man in
the
determination to resist the eastern despot to the uttermost. Seldom
has
a more heroic stand been taken by any nation in defence of
its
liberties. The Persians had hitherto been regarded as invincible,
and
their numerical superiority was overwhelming. But the Athenians did
not
for a moment hesitate. They at once despatched a swift messenger
to
Sparta appealing for assistance, who is said to have accomplished
the
journey of 150 miles in forty-eight hours. But the Spartans were slow
to
move, owing to their superstitious dependence on the full moon,
for
which they had to wait five days. No other Greeks shared in the glory
of
the occasion, except 1000 soldiers from Platæa, whose generous
and
timely succour won the undying gratitude of the Athenians, and
was
annually mentioned at the anniversary services which were
regularly
held to celebrate the victory. Of the ten Athenian generals who
were in
command of the forces it fell to Miltiades to act as chief. If
his
advice had been taken by the Ionians who were left in charge of
the
bridge which they had built over the Danube for Darius shortly
before,
the invasion of Greece would have been averted. The sixty days
during
which Darius had ordered them to preserve the bridge for his return
had
expired, and Darius was beset with difficulties in Scythia, which
would
soon have overwhelmed him; but the Ionian leaders refused to destroy
the
bridge, as Miltiades advised--for the selfish reason that their
tenure
of power in their respective cities depended on Persian support.
Darius
was thus saved, and his cruel conquest of Eretria was the
result--the
prelude, as it seemed, of a like fate for Athens and for all
Greece.
The distance from Athens to Marathon is about 25 miles, by the
road
taken by the troops, which was the same as is followed by the
modern
traveller. The length of the plain is about six miles and its breadth
a
mile and a half, with a marsh at each end. The Persians had
disembarked
and were drawn up in the plain at a considerable distance from
the
shore. The Greeks appear to have taken up a position a little in
front
of the amphitheatre of rocky hills which encloses the plain on the
north
and west. It was the first time the Athenians had ever met the
dreaded
Medes in battle array; but throwing aside all fear they raised
the
war-cry and set off at a run, which was facilitated by the
slight
declivity of the ground, bearing down upon
[Illustration: THE
BATTLE-FIELD OF MARATHON, FROM MOUNT PENTELIKON
The plain of Marathon and
the long spit of Kynosura are well shown; but
the sickle shape of the famous
bay is obscured by the intervening summit
of Mount Agrieliki. Across the blue
gulf of Petali we see the splendid
chain of the Eubœan Mountains.]
the
enemy with such force as to compel them to give way at both wings,
where
their ranks were weakest and those of the Greeks strongest.
Instead of
pursuing the fugitives the victorious wings supported their
own centre by
attacking the enemy from the flanks and rear, putting them
into confusion and
causing a panic. The whole Persian host was soon in
full flight to their
ships, but in their ignorance of the country many
of them were caught in the
marshes and never reached the shore.
According to Herodotus more than 6000 of
them lost their lives.
Comparatively few prisoners were taken, as the
attempts of the Greeks to
capture or burn the ships were attended with little
success; but rich
spoils, in the form of tents and other equipments, fell
into their
hands. As the fleet was sailing away towards Cape Sunium a
flashing
shield was seen on a height above the plain, which was supposed to
be a
traitorous signal given to the Persians to sail round to Athens and
take
possession of the city in the absence of its defenders. Miltiades
was
equal to the occasion. By dint of the most strenuous exertions he
and
his troops reached Athens before the enemy could carry out his plan,
and
the fleet soon set sail for the Cyclades. Next day the Athenians
went
out again, to bury their dead comrades--192 in number--and erected
a
tumulus over them, which may still be seen, along with a separate
mound
for the Platæans, and one for the slaves who had served as unarmed
or
half-armed attendants. Ten columns were afterwards set up, bearing
the
names of the dead, according to their several tribes, with a
special
monument to Miltiades; and Pausanias, who lived 600 years
later,
mentions having read the names. It would scarcely be possible
to
over-estimate the importance of the battle of Marathon in Greek
history.
It virtually saved the country from being overrun by oriental
barbarism,
and gave the world a signal proof for all time that the
military
strength of a people depends more on their animating spirit than
on
their numbers, and that it is possible for a comparatively small
nation
to preserve its independence if its citizens be united and resolute
in
devotion to the common cause. The event must have made an
enormous
impression, when even such an illustrious poet as Æschylus regarded
it
as the greatest honour of his life that he had fought at Marathon,
and
left directions that that fact, and no other, should be recorded on
his
tomb.
Ten years later the same peril reappeared in a still more
threatening
form, and again the men of Athens covered themselves with glory.
It
might have been expected that when Xerxes and his immense
host
approached the city they would have prepared for a siege. But
the
numbers of the enemy were so immense that, if they had remained
within
the walls, it would only have been a question of time when they
would
have had to surrender. In their distress they appealed to the
Delphian
oracle for advice, but the first response was of a most
depressing
nature. They were told to quit their “wheel-shaped city” and flee
to the
ends of the earth. A second appeal, which they made in the form
of
suppliants, elicited the assurance that when everything else in the
land
of Cecrops was taken, Zeus would grant to Athena the preservation of
a
wooden wall to be a sure defence to the Athenians and their
children.
Under the astute guidance of Themistocles they came to the
conclusion
that it was their ships that were referred to. A few of them,
however,
mostly too old or too poor to have much prospect of a welcome
elsewhere,
put a different construction on the oracle, and took refuge in
the
Acropolis, strengthening its defences by the erection of
wooden
palisades. They succeeded in holding the fortress for a time, in
spite
of the arrows with burning tow attached which the Persians poured
in
upon them from their position on the Areopagus. The assailants found
it
impossible to force their way up against the great stones which
were
rolled down upon them from the western entrance, and it was not
till
they discovered a secret ascent on the north side of the rock that
they
got the better of the defenders by taking them unawares, and
became
masters of the fortress. A remorseless work of destruction then
ensued,
involving the temples and other buildings on the Acropolis in the
same
fate as had befallen, or was soon to befall, the best of the houses
in
the city, and its walls. It seemed to the Athenians a terrible
calamity
at the time, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise, for it led
to
the restoration of the city on a scale of grandeur unknown before,
and
made the Acropolis one of the wonders of the world. The
naval
operations, also, to which they were obliged to have recourse,
crowned
as these were by the glorious victory at Salamis, opened their eyes
to
the possibility of a great naval empire, and led them to turn to
account
the advantages to be derived from their harbours at the Piræus, by
not
only equipping them with docks but also fortifying them and
connecting
them with Athens by means of the long walls, completed in the
next
generation by Pericles.
Most of the Athenians had taken refuge in
the adjoining island of
Salamis (the ancient home of Ajax), partly owing to
an allusion to it in
the second Delphian oracle. “Divine Salamis,” it was
said, “would
destroy many sons of women”; and this, Themistocles held, could
only
refer to a slaughter of the enemy. Although almost all the powers
in
southern Greece were acting in concert with Athens in resisting
Xerxes,
the Peloponnesians were disposed to fall back on their line of
defence
at the isthmus of Corinth; and it was with the greatest difficulty
that
Themistocles prevailed on them to take part in the engagement
at
Salamis. When it seemed that nothing else would serve his purpose
he
sent a secret message to Xerxes, as if he were turning traitor to
his
country, urging him to prevent the escape of the Greeks when he had
them
at his mercy. The ruse succeeded. During the night the
Persians
stationed ships at the two ends of the straits to prevent the egress
of
the Greeks, and also landed a body of men on the small island
of
Psyttaleia, at the south-eastern outlet, in case the enemy
should
[Illustration: THE SEAWARD END OF THE PLAIN OF ATTICA LOOKING
TOWARDS
SALAMIS
The view is bounded to the left by the foot of the
Acropolis, with part
of Beule’s gate; below, to the right of this, we
overlook the whole of
the ancient Assembly Place of the Athenian people (the
Pnyx), with its
retaining wall of colossal masonry below, and its
scarped-rock boundary
and _bēma_ above. Farther away the famous olive groves,
following the
course of the Kephissus, stretch along the plain.]
seek
a refuge in what proved to be their own tomb. In the morning the
two fleets
confronted each other, the Greek vessels lying under the
crescent-shaped
coast of the island of Salamis, to the number of more
than 300, while the
Persian ships, about three times as numerous, took
up their position along
the Attic coast. Behind the latter their army
was drawn up near the shore to
enjoy a sight of the expected victory,
while Xerxes himself, for the same
purpose, occupied a rising ground,
which is still known as Xerxes’ Seat,
sitting on a silver-footed throne,
which was captured by the enemy and
afterwards exhibited on the
Acropolis. On this occasion the courage was not
all on the part of the
Greeks, for they were very cautious for a while, and
many of the
Persians and their Phœnician and Ionic allies fought bravely.
But
partly owing to the want of concert among the invaders, and
the
unwieldiness of their immense fleet in the narrow waters, which soon
led
to confusion, and partly to the superior naval skill of the Greeks,
the
great king had the mortification of beholding the destruction of
about
200 of his ships of war and the capture or flight of many more,
while
the Greeks escaped with the loss of forty ships. Xerxes was
so
completely unmanned by the unexpected defeat, and so afraid that
the
bridge over the Hellespont might be destroyed before he got across,
that
he immediately took his departure. But in quitting Europe he sent
back
his general Mardonius with 300,000 men to effect the conquest of
Greece.
Attica was again ravaged, and the destruction of Athens was
rendered
still more complete. Tempting overtures were made to the Athenians
by
the Persian general for their submission, and great alarm was felt
in
Sparta and elsewhere lest these overtures should be accepted. But
the
Athenians did not for a moment entertain them. “Tell Mardonius,”
was
their memorable answer, “that as long as the sun shall continue in
his
present path, we will never contract alliance with Xerxes: we
will
encounter him in our own defence, putting our trust in the aid of
those
gods and heroes to whom he has shown no reverence, and whose houses
and
statues he has burned.” Their faith was soon justified by the victory
of
the allied forces at Platæa and the naval success which was achieved
the
same day at Mycale. All fears of Persian conquest were dispelled;
and
the Athenians returned from their temporary exile, to devote
themselves
to the restoration of their city with a spirit and an energy
which
betokened the great future in store for them.
Beyond Salamis,
about twenty miles south from Piræus, lies the island of
Ægina, one of the
many interesting features in the view from the
Acropolis. It was revered as
the ancient seat of Æacus, the grandfather
of Achilles and Ajax, who was
accounted in his day to be the most pious
of mankind. In historical times it
was inhabited chiefly by a Dorian
colony from Epidaurus. Up to the time of
the Persian invasion Corinth
was its only rival in Greece as a naval and
commercial centre; but it
played an ignoble part in complying with Darius’
demands for earth and
water when Athens and Sparta received the insulting
message with such
indignation as to put the Persian envoys to death. On the
approach of
Xerxes the Æginetans had endeavoured to redeem their character
by
joining in the preparations for resistance; and in the battle of
Salamis
they had taken such a distinguished part as to be awarded the
first
prize for valour, the second prize going to the Athenians. On
that
occasion two prizes were also given for the greatest skill and
wisdom;
and it illustrates the self-esteem and love of honour of which
the
Greeks seem to have had more than an ordinary share, that when the
votes
were examined it was found that each of the leaders had put down his
own
name for the first prize, and that of Themistocles for the
second!
Pericles described Ægina as the “eyesore of the Piræus,” and the
history
of the relations between the two powers for many years after the
battle
of Salamis, as well as for a few years before it, amply justifies
the
observation. After many fierce struggles Ægina was reduced
to
subjection, its fleets confiscated, and its fortifications destroyed.
On
the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war the Athenians, in order to
guard
against the possibility of the island being used by the enemy,
expelled
its inhabitants, who found a refuge in Thyrea, which was placed at
their
disposal by the Spartans. Even there, however, they were not left
in
peace. For in the eighth year of the war the place was attacked
and
captured by the Athenians, and the inhabitants were taken to
Athens,
where they were put to death as prisoners of war. According
to
Herodotus the sad reverses which thus befell the Æginetans were due
to
an impiety of which they had been guilty many years before. The
solitary
survivor of a band of conspirators had fled for refuge to the temple
of
Demeter and succeeded in laying hold of the handle of the door before
he
was overtaken. His pursuers did not dare to slay him while he was
thus
in contact with the sanctuary, but in order to sever his connection
with
it and deprive him of the protection of the goddess, they cut off
his
arm at the wrist and then killed him, leaving the hand still
grasping
the handle, where it long remained. With this we may compare the
conduct
of the Spartans when Pausanias, the commander at Platæa, was called
to
account for the treasonable designs into which, in his
overweening
pride, he had entered with Persia. He took refuge in the temple
of
Athena _Chalciœcus_, on learning that a confidential slave had
betrayed
him. The ephors immediately built up the doors and took off the
roof, keeping
watch over the refugee, and carrying him out at the last
moment, that the
sacred precinct might not be polluted by his death.
Both cases are curious
illustrations of the way in which men will try at
times to evade their
religious obligations without giving up their form
of godliness. The divine
anger in the case of the Spartans was only
appeased by the dedication of two
bronze statues to Athena in obedience
to the Delphian oracle.
On the
break-up of the Athenian empire, after the battle of Ægospotami,
a remnant of
the former Dorian
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA ON THE ISLAND OF
ÆGINA
The Temple, which is magnificently situated on the top of one of
the
hills near Mount Elias, in the southern part of the island,
looks
eastward towards Cape Colonna, over the blue waters of the Saronic
Gulf.
The coast seen above the sea is part of the west coast of Attica
running
down to Sunium. The drawing includes five out of the six columns of
the
east front of the Temple, and five out of the twelve columns of
the
north side, also two columns of the _pronaos_, together with
the
architraves. These columns are of limestone, still partly covered
with
their marble stucco.]
inhabitants of Ægina was brought back by
the Spartans, and the Athenian
settlers were expelled. But in spite of the
occasional success of their
naval strategy, by which they took the Piræus
once or twice completely
by surprise, the Æginetans never recovered any
considerable degree of
their former prosperity.
At the present day the
chief attraction which Ægina has to offer to the
traveller, over and above
the pleasant sail from the Piræus, with its
interesting points of view, is a
Doric temple of the sixth century or
even earlier, standing in solitary
grandeur, on the summit of a hill
which commands a beautiful view of the
plain of Attica on the north and
the Argolic peninsula on the west. It was
once thought to be the temple
of Zeus described by Pausanias, but latterly it
has been identified as
the temple of Athena mentioned by Herodotus. Within
the last few years,
however, a new theory has been put forth by Professor
Furtwangler, who
holds it to be the temple of Aphæa mentioned by Pausanias, a
goddess
nearly related to Artemis as a protector of women. In any case
the
twenty columns still standing form an imposing monument, and are
well
worthy of a visit, though the sculptures on the pediments are no
longer
to be seen, having been purchased by the King of Bavaria and
deposited
in the museum at Munich.
CHAPTER
IX
ATHENS AND ITS GODDESS
Among the influences which
contributed to the greatness and glory of
Athens the worship of the goddess
Athena must be assigned a principal
place. In her fully developed character
she represented the highest
ideal of the Greek mind, and formed the noblest
figure in the Greek
pantheon. She may be described as the impersonation of
wisdom, courage,
and energy--equally powerful as the patron goddess of the
arts of peace
and of the exploits of war. The mythical account of her birth,
which
represented her as sprung from the head of Zeus after he had
swallowed
her mother _Metis_ (“Counsel”), betokened her affinity with the
highest
faculties of the supreme Ruler; and in harmony with this is the
etherial
nature which was commonly ascribed to her by Homer and other
early
writers. Her home was supposed to be in the upper regions, the
ether
being regarded as her proper element. Hence the clearness and
brightness
which were commonly attributed to her, as well as the keen,
rapid,
energetic character by which she was also
distinguished.
[Illustration: VISTA OF THE NORTHERN PERISTYLE OF THE
PARTHENON, LOOKING
WESTWARD
Out of the seventeen columns of the
northern peristyle the remains of
fourteen, more or less perfect, may be
counted on the right. Six of
them, which have stood unmoved for more than
twenty-two centuries, are
distinguished by their splendid colour, almost
matching in this respect
the second column of the west front, which is also
visible. The remains
of the north _cella_ wall are seen to the left. The two
drums of columns
in shadow in the foreground reflect the pure blue of the
early morning
sky. Over their tops may be seen part of the Propylæa, and the
mountains
of Daphni and Megara.]
Athena appears to have been
worshipped as a powerful and beneficent
deity in many places, but it was at
Athens that the more intellectual
aspects of her nature were brought into the
greatest prominence. How she
came to be so closely associated with Athens as
to give her name to the
city (previously known as “Cecropia”) is a question
that is not easily
answered. According to the Attic mythology it was the
result of a
contest between her and Poseidon for local supremacy. In support
of his
claim Poseidon is said to have struck with his trident the rocky
summit
of the Acropolis, the result being that a salt-water spring
appeared,
from which there emerged a horse (supposed to be sacred to Poseidon
from
its resemblance to a rushing wave); and this gift the lord of the
ocean
set before the assembled jury of the gods as a token of the
benefits
which he had to confer. Athena then caused an olive-tree to spring
up as
the symbol of her beneficence, which secured from Zeus _Polieus_
a
judgment in her favour. Perhaps the story may have had its origin in
the
gradual retreat of the sea from the Attic plains; but there is
evidently
a reference in it to the comparative value of land and water
interests,
the former being represented by Athena, and the latter by
Poseidon. In
their early days the Athenians had no idea of the importance of
the sea
as the destined scene of their naval supremacy; and of all the
products
of their country the olive was no doubt the most indispensable to
them.
For its cultivation some knowledge was required, and perhaps also
the
nature of its oil, with which the lamps were fed, may have helped
to
make the olive an appropriate emblem of the brilliant goddess. The
whole
history of Athens, from the rude beginnings of her civilisation till
the
age of her imperial glory, may be seen reflected, after a
symbolic
fashion, in the gradual transition of her worship from the wooden
image
of Athena _Polias_, which was said to have fallen from heaven, to
the
magnificent statue of gold and ivory which Pheidias made for
the
Parthenon; and one of the most interesting studies in art is to be
found
in tracing the successive stages through which the majestic
virgin-goddess was evolved. |
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