No More Learning

Now, the people, having passed the law, were not nice with Pisistratus about the number of his clubmen, but took no notice of it, though he enlisted and kept as many as he would, until he seized the Acropolis. When that was done, and the city in an uproar, Megacles, with all his family, at once fled ; but Solon, though he was now very old, and had none to back him, yet came into the market place and made a speech to the citizens, partly blaming their inadvertency and meanness of spirit, and in part urging and exhorting them not thus tamely to lose their liberty ; and likewise then spoke that memorable saying, that, before, it was an easier task to stop the rising tyranny, but now the greater and more glorious action to destroy it, when it was begun already, and had gathered strength. But all being afraid to side with him, he returned home, and, taking his arms, he brought them out and laid them in the porch before his door,
True, you are singly each a crafty soul, But all together make one empty fool.
I have done my part to maintain my country and my laws," and then he busied himself no more. His friends advising him to fly, he refused, but wrote poems,
If now you suffer, do not blame the Powers, For they are good, and all the fault was ours. All the strongholds you put into his hands, And now his slaves must do what he commands.
And many telling him that the tyrant would take his life for this, and asking what he trusted to, that he ventured to speak so boldly, he replied, "To my old age. "
But Pisistratus, having got the command, so extremely courted Solon, so honored him, obliged him, and sent to see him, that Solon gave him his advice, and approved many of his actions ; for he retained most of Solon's laws, observed them himself, and compelled his friends to obey. And he himself,
with these words : "
and thus reproached the Athenians in them, —
A QUARTET OF GREEK LYRICS. 165
though already absolute ruler, being accused of murder before the Areopagus, came quietly to clear himself ; but his accuser did not appear. And he added other laws, one of which is that the maimed in the wars should be maintained atthe public charge.
Solon lived after Pisistratus seized the government, as Hera- clides Ponticus asserts, a long time; but Phanias the Eresian says not two full years; for Pisistratus began his tyranny when Comias was archon, and Phanias says Solon died under Hegestratus, who succeeded him. The story that his ashes were scattered about the island Salamis is too strange to be easily believed, or be thought anything but a mere fable; and yet it is given, amongst other good authors, by Aristotle, the philosopher.
A QUARTET OF GREEK LYRICS. (Translated by J. A. Symonds. )
Danab to Perseus. By SIMONIDES OF CEOS.
When in the carven chest,
The winds that blew and waves in wild unrest Smote her with fear, she, not with cheeks unwet, Her arms of love round Perseus set,
And said : O child, what grief is mine ! But thou dost slumber, and thy baby breast Is sunk in rest,
Here in the cheerless brass-bound bark, Tossed amid starless night and pitchy dark.
Nor dost thou heed the scudding brine
Of waves that wash above thy curls so deep,
Nor the shrill winds that sweep, —
Lapped in thy purple robe's embrace,
Fair little face !
But if this dread were dreadful too to thee, Then wouldst thou lend thy listening ear to me; Therefore I cry, — Sleep, babe, and sea be still, And slumber our unmeasured ill !
Oh, may some change of fate, sire Zeus, from thee Descend, our woes to end !
But if this prayer, too overbold, offend
Thy justice, yet be merciful to me !
166 A QUARTET OF GREEK LYRICS.
Peace.
By BACCHYLIDE8.
To mortal men Peace giveth these good things : Wealth, and the flowers of honey -throated song ; The flame that springs
On carven altars from fat sheep and kine,
Slain to the gods in heaven ; and, all day long,
Games for glad youths, and flutes, and wreaths, and circling Then in the steely shield swart spiders weave
Their web and dusky woof ;
Rust to the pointed spear and sword doth cleave ;
The brazen trump sounds no alarms ;
Nor is sleep harried from our eyes aloof,
But with sweet rest my bosom warms :
The streets are thronged with lovely men and young,
And hymns in praise of boys like flames to heaven are flung.
Hymn to the Goddesses op Song and Beauty. AUTHOR UNKNOWN.
Muses and Graces ! daughters of high Jove, When erst you left your glorious seats above To bless the bridal of that wondrous pair, Cadmus and Harmonia fair,
Ye chanted forth a divine air : " What is good and fair Shall ever be our care. "
Thus the burden of it rang :
" That shall never be our care Which is neither good nor fair. "
Such were the words your lips immortal sang.
Love's Torrid Midsummeb. By 1BYCUS.
In spring Cydonian apple trees,
Watered by fountains ever flowing
Through crofts unmown of maiden goddesses, And young vines, 'neath the shade
Of shooting tendrils, tranquilly are growing. Meanwhile for me Love never laid
In slumber, like a north wind glowing
With Thracian lightnings, still doth dart Blood-parching madness on my heart,
From Kupris hurtling, stormful, wild, Lording the man as erst the child.
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS. 167
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS. By SCHILLER.
(Translated by Bulwer-Lytton. )
[Johann Chhistoph Friedricu yon Schiller, the famous German poet and dramatist, was born at Marbach, Wttrtemberg, November 10, 1759. He studied law and medicine at Stuttgart, and was appointed surgeon to a Wttrtem berg regiment. Objecting to the restraint imposed upon him by the Duke of Wttrtemberg in consequence of the production of his first play, " The Bobbers " (1782), he left the army and went to Mannheim, Leipsic, Dresden, Jena, and Weimar, where he became the firm friend of Goethe. From 1789 to"1799 Schiller held a professorship at Jena, and during this period published The History of the Thirty Years' War. " He died at Weimar, May 9, 1806, of an affection of the lungs. Besides the works already mentioned, Schiller wrote " The History of the Revolt of the Netherlands " ; the dramas " Mary Stuart," "Maid of Orleans," "Bride of Messina," " William Tell" ; and the trilogy of " Wallenstein. " Among his lyric pieces are : " The Ring of Polycrates," " The Diver," " The Knight of Toggenburg," and " The Song of the Bell. "]
From Rhegium to the Isthmus, long Hallowed to steeds and glorious song, Where, linked awhile in holy peace, — Meet all the sons of martial Greece Wends Ibycus — whose lips the sweet
And ever young Apollo fires ; — The staff supports the wanderer's feet
The God the Poet's soul inspires !
Soon from the mountain ridges high,
The tower-crowned Corinth greets his eye ; In Neptune's groves of darksome pine,
He treads with shuddering awe divine ; Naught lives around him, save a swarm —
Of Cbanes, that still pursued his way Lured by the South, they wheel and form
In ominous groups their wild array.
And "Hail ! beloved Birds ! " he cried; " My comrades on the ocean tide,
Sure signs of good ye bode to me ;
Our lots alike would seem to be ;
From far, together borne, we greet
A shelter now from toil and danger ;
And may the friendly hearts we meet Preserve from every ill — the Stranger ! "
His step more light, his heart more gay, Along the mid wood winds his way,
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS.
When, where the path the thickets close, Burst sudden forth two ruffian foes ; Now strife to strife, and foot to foot !
Ah ! weary sinks the gentle hand ; The gentle hand that wakes the lute
Has learned no lore that guides the brand.
He calls on men and Gods — in vain ! His cries no blest deliverer gain ;
Feebler and fainter grows the sound, And still the deaf life slumbers round — " In the far land I fall forsaken,
Unwept and unregarded, here ;
By death from caitiff hands o'ertaken,
Nor ev'n one late avenger near ! "
Down to the earth the death stroke bore him — Hark, where the Cranes wheel dismal o'er him 1 He hears, as darkness veils his eyes,
Near, in hoarse croak, their dirgelike cries.
" Ye whose wild wings above me hover, (Since never voice, save yours alone,
Naked and maimed the corpse was found — And, still through many a mangling wound, The sad Corinthian Host could trace
The loved — too well remembered face. "And must I meet thee thus once more ?
Who hoped with wreaths of holy pine, Bright with new fame — the victory "o'er —
The deed can tell) — the hand discover — Avenge ! " — He spoke, and life was gone.
The Singer's temples to entwine !
And loud lamented every guest — Who held the Sea-God's solemn feast As in a single heart prevailing, Throughout all Hellas went the wailing. Wild to the Council Hall they ran —
—
Yet 'mid the throng the Isthmus claims, Lured by the Sea-God's glorious games — The mighty many-nationed throng —
How track the hand that wrought the wrong ?
In thunder rushed the threat'ning Flood <fRevenge shall right the murdered man,
The last atonement — blood for blood ! "
—
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS.
How guess if that dread deed were done, By ruffian hands, or secret foes ? -
He who sees all on earth — the Sun — Alone the gloomy secret knows.
Perchance he treads in careless peace,— Amidst your Sons, assembled Greece Hears with a smile revenge decreed — Gloats with fell joy upon the deed — His steps the avenging gods may mock
Within the very Temple's wall,
Or mingle with the crowds that flock
To yonder solemn scenic halL
Wedged close, and serried, swarms the crowd Beneath the weight the walls are bowed — Thitherwards streaming far, and wide,
Broad Hellas flows in mingled tide —
A tide like that which heaves the deep
When hollow-sounding, shoreward driven ;
On, wave on wave, the thousands sweep Till arching, row on row, to heaven !
The tribes, the nations, who shall name, That guestlike, there assembled came ? — From Theseus' town, from Aulis' strand From Phocis, from the Spartans' land — From Asia's wave-divided clime,
The Isles that gem the jEgaean Sea, To hearken on that Stage Sublime,
The Dark Choir's mournful melody !
True to the awful rites of old,
In long and measured strides, behold The Chorus from the hinder ground, Pace the vast circle's solemn round. So this World's women never strode,
Their race from Mortals ne'er began, Gigantic, from their grim abode,
They tower above the Sons of Man !
Across their loins the dark robe clinging, In fleshless hands the torches swinging, Now to and fro, with dark red glow —
No blood that lives the dead cheeks know !
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS.
Where flow the locks that woo to love On human temples — ghastly dwell
The serpents, coiled the brow above, And the green asps with poison swelL
Thus circling, horrible, within
That space —doth their dark hymn begin, And round the sinner as they go,
Cleave to the heart their words of woe. Dismally wails, the senses chilling,
The hymn — the Furies' solemn song; And froze the very marrow thrilling
As rolled the gloomy sounds along.
" And weal to him — from crime secure — Who keeps his soul as childhood's pure ; Life's path he roves, a wanderer free — We near him not — The Avengers, We! But woe to him for whom we weave
The doom for deeds that shun the light : Fast to the murderer's feet we cleave,
The fearful Daughters of the Night.
"And deems he flight from us can hide him ? Still on dark wings We sail beside him !
The murderer's feet the snare enthralls —
Or soon or late, to earth he falls !
Untiring, hounding on, we go ;
For blood can no remorse atone !
On, ever — to the Shades below, " And there — we grasp him, still our own !
So singing, their slow dance they wreathe, And stillness, like a silent death,
Heavily there lay cold and drear,
As if the Godhead's self were near.
Then, true to those strange rites of old, Pacing the circle's solemn round,
In long and measured strides — behold, They vanish in the hinder ground !
Confused and doubtful — half between The solemn truth and phantom scene, The crowd revere the Power, presiding O'er secret deeps, to justice guiding —
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS.
The TJnfathomed and Inscrutable
By whom the web of doom is spun ;
Whose shadows in the deep heart dwell, Whose form is seen not in the sun !
Just then, amidst the highest tier, Breaks forth a voice that starts the ear : "See there — see there, Timotheus; Behold the Cranes of Ibycus ! "
A sudden darkness wraps the sky ;
Above the roofless building hover Dusk, swarming wings ; and heavily
Sweep the slow Cranes — hoarse-murmuring, over!
"Of Ibycus? "—that name so dear
Thrills through the hearts of those who hear ! Like wave on wave in eager seas, — From mouth to mouth the murmur flees
" Of Ibycus, whom we bewail ?
The murdered one ! What mean those words ? Who is the man—knows he the tale ? "
Why link that name with those wild birds ?
Questions on questions louder press — — Like lightning flies the inspiring guess Leaps every heart — "The truth we seize; Your might is here, Eumenides ! — The murderer yields himself confest
Vengeance is near — that voice the token — Ho! —him who yonder spoke, arrest ! — "
And him to whom the words were spoken !
Scarce had the wretch the words let fall, Than fain their sense he would recall.
In vain ; those whitening lips, behold ! The secret have already told.
Into their Judgment Court sublime
The Scene is changed; — their doom is sealed!
Behold the dark unwitnessed Crime, Struck by the lightning that revealed !
172 THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME.
By GEORG EBERS.
(From "An Egyptian Princess. ")
[Georo Moritz Ebebs : German Egyptologist and novelist ; born at Berlin, March 1, 1837. He was educated at GBttingen and Berlin, and lectured for a while at Jena. In 1870 he became professor of Egyptian archaeology at Leipsic, resign ing in 1889 on account of ill health. Besides several important works on Egyp tology, he has published a series of historical novels treating of ancient Egyptian life, which have enjoyed extraordinary popularity not only in Germany but in other countries. The best known are: "An Egyptian Princess," "Uarda," " Homo Sum," " The Sisters," " Serapis," " The Bride of the Nile," and " Cleo patra. " Also popular are : "In the Fire of the Forge," "The Burgomaster's Wife," and "Gred. "]
" Heke Aristomachus interrupted the Athenian, and cried : Enough of praise, friend Phanes. Spartan tongues are awk
ward, but if you need my help, I will answer you with deeds, that will hit the right nail on the head. "
Rhodopis smiled approvingly at the two men. Then she gave her hand to each, and said : " Unfortunately, dear Phanes, your story has shown me that you can no longer remain in this land. I will not reproach you for your folly, but you might have known that you were braving great dangers for small results. A really prudent and courageous man will undertake a bold deed only when the benefit which might accrue to him is greater than the disadvantages. Rashness is just as foolish, though not, perhaps, as reprehensible, as cowardice, for though both may injure a man, the latter alone disgraces him. This time your carelessness nearly cost you your life, a life which is dear to many, and which you ought to preserve for a better end than to fall a victim to folly. We may not try to keep you with us, for we could not help you, and should certainly harm ourselves. This noble Spartan shall in future take your place, and as captain of the Greeks represent our nation at court, protect it from the encroachments of the priests, and try to preserve the king's favor for it. I hold your hand, Aristom achus, and will not let it go, till you promise to act as Phanes did before you, and to protect, as far as it is in your power, even the lowest Greek from the arrogance of the Egyptians ; to resign your post rather than let the most trivial crime against a Greek escape punishment. We are but a few thousands among
I
Olympic Games.
Photogravure from the painting by Otto Knille.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME. 173
as many millions, all hostile to us, but we are great in courage, and must strive to remain strong in unity. Till to-day, the Greeks in Egypt have acted as brothers. One sacrificed him self for all, all for one, and it was this very unity that made us powerful, that will keep us strong in the future. Would that we could give the same unity to our native land and its colo nies ; would that all the races of our home, forgetful of their Dorian, Ionic, or iEolian descent, would content themselves with the name of Greeks, and live together like children of one house, like the sheep of one flock ; then the whole world would not be able to resist us. Hellas would be recognized by all nations as their queen. "
Rhodopis' eyes flashed as she spoke ; the Spartan pressed her hand, impetuously stamped on the floor with his wooden leg, and cried : " By Zeus, no one shall touch a Greek while I can prevent it. But you, Rhodopis, you ought to have been a Spartan. "
" An Athenian," cried Phanes.
" An Ionian," said the Milesian.
" A daughter of a Samian geomore," cried the sculptor.
" But I am more than all this," cried Rhodopis, with enthu
siasm, "Iam a Greek ! "
All were carried away by her words. Even the Syrian and
the Hebrew could not resist the general enthusiasm. The Sybarite alone remained unmoved, and said, with his mouth full : —
" You also deserve to be a Sybarite, for your beef is the best that I have tasted since I left Italy, and your wine of Anthylla tastes just as good as that of Vesuvius and Chios. "
All laughed, but the Spartan looked contemptuously at the Sybarite.
" Hail ! friends," suddenly cried a deep voice through the open window.
" Welcome," answered the chorus of guests, while they wondered who the late arrival was.
They had not long to wait for the stranger ; before the Sybarite had found time carefully to taste another sip of wine, a tall thin man, of about sixty, with a long, well-shaped, intel ligent head, stood beside Rhodopis. It was Callias, son of Phaenippus of Athens.
The late visitor was one of the wealthiest exiles of Athens, who had twice bought the property of Pisistratus from the
174 THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME.
state, and twice lost it when the despot returned ; he looked at his friends with bright, keen eyes, and cried, after he had exchanged friendly greetings with all : —
" If you are not very grateful for my presence to-day, I shall declare that all gratitude has vanished from the world. "
" We have long expected you," interrupted one of the Mile sians. " You are the first to bring us news of the result of the Olympic games. "
" And we could not wish for a better messenger than the former victor," added Rhodopis.
"Sit down," cried Phanes, full of impatience; "tell us briefly and concisely what you know, friend Callias. "
"Directly, countrymen," answered Callias; "it is some time since I left Olympia, and embarked at Cenchreae on a Samian fifty-oared ship, the best vessel that was ever built. I am not surprised that no Greek has reached Naucratis before me, for we encountered frightful storms, and would scarcely have escaped with our lives, if these Samian boats, with their fat stomachs, thin beaks, and fish tails, were not so splendidly built and manned. Who knows whither the other homeward- bound travelers may have been driven ; we were able to take refuge in the harbor of Samos, and to depart again after sixteen days.
" When we entered the Nile early this morning, I at once took boat and was speeded on my way by Boreas, who wished to show that he still loved his old Callias, so that a few minutes ago I saw the most hospitable of houses ;
I saw the open windows illuminated, and hesitated as to whether or no I should enter ; but I could not resist your charms, Rhodopis, and besides I should have been suffocated by all the untold news, which I bear with me, if I had not landed, in order to enjoy a slice of meat and a glass of wine, while I tell events of which you do not dream. "
Callias sank down comfortably on a couch, and before he began his meal handed Rhodopis a splendid golden bracelet in the shape of a serpent, which he had bought at a high price, in the workshop of that very Theodoras who sat at table with him".
That is for you," he said, turning to his delighted hostess. "But I have something still better for you, friend Phanes. Guess who won the prize in the race with the quadriga ? "
" An Athenian ? " asked Phanes, with glowing cheeks, for
I saw the flag fly,
THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME. 175
was not every Olympic victory a triumph for the whole com munity to which the victor belonged, and was not the Olympic olive branch the highest honor and greatest happiness which could fall to the lot of a Greek, or even to a whole Greek race?
" Well guessed, Phanes," cried the messenger of joy. " An Athenian has won the first prize of all, and what is more, it is your cousin Cimon, son of Cypselos, and brother of that Mil- tiades who, nine Olympiads ago, gained the same honor for us ; this year he was victorious for the second time with the very horses which obtained him the prize at the last festival. Truly, the Philffidae obscure more and more the fame of the Alcmaeon- idae. Does the fame "of your family make you proud and happy, friend Phanes ?
Phanes had risen in great joy ; he seemed suddenly to have increased in stature.
Full of intense pride, he gave his hand to the messenger of victory, who embraced his countryman, and continued : —
" We may indeed feel proud and happy, Phanes, and you may rejoice above all ; for after the judges had unanimously awarded the prize to Cimon, he bade the heralds proclaim the despot Pisistratus as the owner of the splendid horses, and therefore as victor. Pisistratus at once announced that your family might now return to Athens, and so the long-wished-for hour of return has come to you at last. "
At these words the glow of pleasure faded from the face of the officer, and the conscious pride of his glances changed to
anger, as he cried : —
" I am to rejoice, foolish Callias !
I could rather
I think that a descendant of Ajax is capable of ignominiously
laying his well-merited fame at the feet of a tyrant. I am to return? I swear by Athene, by Father Zeus, and Apollo, that I will rather starve in exile, than turn my steps towards home while Pisistratus tyrannizes over my native land. I am free as the eagle in the clouds, now that I have left the service of Amasis, but I would rather be the hungry slave of a peasant, in a strange land, than at home, the first servant of Pisistratus. The power in Athens belongs to us, the nobles, but Cimon, when he laid his wreath at the feet of Pisistratus, kissed the scepter of the tyrant, and stamped himself with the seal of slavery. I will tell Cimon that to me, to Phanes, the favor of the despot is of little consequence. I will remain an exile till
weep
when
176 THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME.
my country is free, and nobles and people again govern them selves and dictate their own laws. Phanes will not do homage to the oppressor, though a thousand Cimons, though each of the Alcmaeonidae, though the whole of your race, Callias, the wealthy Daduchis, throw themselves at Pisistratus' feet. "
He surveyed the assembly with flaming eyes, and old Callias, too, looked at the guests with pride. It was as if he wished to say to each one : " See, my friends, such are the men my glorious home produces. " —
Then he again took Phanes' hand, and said :
" My friend, the oppressor is as hateful to me as to you ; but I cannot close my eyes to the fact that as long as Pisistratus lives, tyranny cannot be destroyed. His allies, Lygadamus of Naxos, and Polycrates of Samos, are powerful, but the wisdom and moderation of Pisistratus are more dangerous for our free dom. I saw with terror, during my late stay in Hellas, that the people of Athens love the oppressor like a father. In spite of his power, he leaves the spirit of Solon's constitution unal tered. He adorns the town with most beautiful works of art. The new temple of Zeus, which is being built of marble, by Callaeschrus, Antistates, and Porinus, whom you know, Theo- dorus, is to surpass all buildings which the Greeks have ever erected. He knows how to attract artists and poets of every description to Athens ; he has Homer's songs written down, and the sayings of Musaeus of Onomacritus are collected by his orders. He is having new streets built, and introduces new festivals; trade flourishes under his rule, and in spite of the heavy taxes imposed on the people, their prosperity seems not to diminish but to increase. But what is the people?
A com mon herd that flies, like a moth, towards everything that glit ters ; though it scorches its wings, it still flutters round the candle while it burns. Let Pisistratus' torch be extinguished, Phanes, and I swear to you, the changeable crowd will greet the new light, the returning nobles, as eagerly as it greeted the tyrant but a short time ago. Give me your hand again, true son of Ajax ; but, my friends, I have still much to tell you. Cimon, as I said, won the chariot race, and gave his olive branch to Pisistratus. I never saw four more splendid horses. Arcesilaus of Cyrene, Cleosthenes of Epidamnus, Aster of Sybaris, Hecataeus of Miletus, and many others, sent beautiful horses to Olympia. Altogether the games were unusually bril liant this year. All Greece sent representatives, Rhoda, the
THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME. 177
Ardeate town in distant Iberia, wealthy Tartessus, Sinope, in the far east, on the shores of the Pontus, in short, every race which boasts of Greek origin was well represented. The Sybarites sent messengers to the festival, whose appearance was simply dazzling, the Spartans simple men, with the beauty of Achilles and the stature of Hercules ; the Athenians distin guished themselves by supple limbs and graceful movements ; the Crotonians were led by Milo, the strongest man of human origin ; the Samians and Milesians vied with the Corinthians and Mitylenians in splendor and magnificence. The flower of the youth of Greece was assembled there, and many beautiful maidens, chiefly from Sparta, sat beside men of every rank and nation ; they had come to Olympia to encourage the men by their applause. The market was on the other side of the Alphaeus, and there you could see merchants from all parts of the world. Greeks, Carchedonians, Lydians, Phrygians, and bargaining Phoenicians from Palestine concluded important affairs, and exposed their wares in tents and booths. Why should I describe to you the surging crowds, the resounding choruses, the smoking hecatombs, the gay dresses, the valuable chariots and horses, the confusion of many tongues, the joyous cries of old friends who met again after years of separation, the splendor of the ambassadors sent to the festival, the swarms of spectators and merchants, the excitement as to the result of the games, the splendid spectacle presented by the crowded audience, the endless delight whenever a victory was decided, the solemn presentation of the branch which a boy of Elis, both of whose parents must still be living, cut with a golden knife from the sacred olive tree, in the Altis, which Hercules himself planted many centuries ago? Why should I describe the never-ending shouts of joy which thundered through the Stadium when Milo of Crotona appeared and bore the bronze statue of himself by Dameas through the Stadium to the Altis without stumbling? A giant would have been bowed to the ground by the weight of metal, but Milo carried it as a Lacedaemonian nurse carries a little boy. The finest wreaths after Cimon's were won by two Spartan brothers, Lysander and Maro, sons of a banished noble, Aristomachus. Maro was victor in the running match. Lysander, to the delight of all present, challenged Milo, the irresistible victor of Pisa, and the Pythian and Isthmian games, to a wrestling
match. Milo was taller and stronger than the Spartan, whose VOL. in. — 12
178 THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME.
figure resembled Apollo's, and whose great youth proved that he had scarcely outgrown the Paedanomos.
" The youth and the man stood opposite each other in their nude beauty, glistening with golden oil, like a panther and a Hon preparing for combat. Young Lysander raised his hands before the first attack, adjured the gods, and cried, 'For my father, my honor, and Sparta's fame ! ' The Crotonian gave the youth a condescending smile, like that of a dainty eater before he begins to open the shell of a langusta.
" Now the wrestling began. For a long while neither could take hold of the other. The Crotonian tried with his powerful, almost irresistible, arms to seize his adversary, who eluded the terrible grasp of the athlete's clawlike hands. The struggle for the embrace lasted long, and the immense audience looked on, silent and breathless. Not a sound was heard, save the panting of the combatants, and the singing of the birds in the Altis. At last — at last, with the most beautiful move ment I ever saw, the youth was able to clasp his adversary. For a long while Milo exerted himself in vain to free himself from the firm hold of the youth. The perspiration caused by the terrible contest amply watered the sand of the Stadium.
" The excitement of the spectators increased more and more, the silence became deeper and deeper, the encouraging cries grew rarer, the groans of the two combatants waxed more and more audible. At last the youth's strength gave way. An encouraging cry from thousands of throats cheered him on ; he collected his strength with a superhuman effort, and tried to throw himself again on his adversary, but the Crotonian had noticed his momentary exhaustion, and pressed the youth in an irresistible embrace. A stream of black blood gushed from the beautiful lips of the youth, who sank lifeless to the earth from the wearied arms of the giant. Democedes, the most celebrated physician of our days, you Samians must have seen him at Poly- crates' court, hurried up, but no art could help the happy youth, for he was dead.
" Milo was obliged to resign the wreath, and the fame of the youth will resound through all Greece. Truly, I would rather be dead like Lysander, son of Aristomachus, than live like Callias, to know an inactive old age in a strange land. All Greece, represented by its best men, accompanied the body of the beautiful youth to the funeral pyre, and his statue is to be
THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME. 179
placed in the Altis, beside those of Milo of Croton, and Praxid- amas of iEgina.
" Finally, the heralds proclaimed the award of the judges. ' Sparta shall receive a victor's wreath for the dead man, for it was not Milo but death who conquered noble Lysander, and he who goes forth unconquered after a two hours' struggle with the strongest of the Greeks, is well deserving of the olive branch. '"
Callias was silent for a minute. In the excitement of describing these events, more precious than aught else to the Greek heart, he had paid no attention to those present, but had stared straight before him while the images of the combatants passed before his mind's eye. Now he looked round, and saw, to his surprise, that the gray-haired man with the wooden leg, who had already attracted his attention, although he did not know him, had hidden his face in his hands, and was shedding scalding tears.
Rhodopis stood on his right, Phanes on his left, and every one looked at the Spartan as though he were the hero of the story.
The quick Athenian saw at once that the old man was closely related to one of the Olympic victors ; but when he heard that Aristomachus was the father of those two glorious Spartan brothers, whose beautiful forms still haunted him like visions from the world of the gods, he looked with envious admiration on the sobbing old man, and his clear eyes filled with tears, which he did not try to keep back. In those days men wept whenever they hoped that the solace of tears would relieve them. In anger, in great joy, in every affliction, we find strong heroes weeping, while, on the other hand, the Spartan boy would let himself be severely scourged, even to death, at the altar of Artemis Orthia, in order to gain the praise of the men.
For a time all the guests remained silent and respected the old man's emotion. At length Jeshua, the Israelite, who had abstained from all food which was prepared in Greek fashion, broke the silence and said in broken Greek : —
" Weep your fill, Spartan. I know what it is to lose a son. Was I not forced, eleven years ago, to lay a beautiful boy in the grave in a strange land, by the waters of Babylon where my people pined in captivity? If my beautiful child had lived but one year longer, he would have died at home, and we could have laid him in the grave of his fathers. But Cyrus the
180 THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME.
Persian, may Jehovah bless his descendants, freed us a year too late and I must grieve doubly for my beloved child, because his grave is dug in the land of Israel's foes. Is anything more terrible than to see our children, our best treasures, sink in the grave before us ? Adonai have mercy on me ; to lose such an excellent child as your son, just when he had become a famous man, must be the greatest of griefs. "
The Spartan removed his hands from his stern face and said, smiling amidst his tears : " You are mistaken, Phoeni cian, I weep with joy and I would gladly have lost my second son, had he died like Lysander. "
The Israelite, horrified at this statement, which seemed wicked and unnatural to him, contented himself with shaking his head in disapproval ; the Greeks overwhelmed the old man, whom they all envied, with congratulations. Intense joy seemed to have made Aristomachus many years younger, and he said to Rhodopis : " Truly, friend, your house is a blessed one for me ; this is the second gift I have received from the gods since I entered it. " "
" And what was the first ?
"A favorable oracle. "
"You forget the third gift," cried Phanes. "The gods
permitted you to become acquainted with Rhodopis to-day. But what about the oracle ? "
" May I tell our friends ? " asked the Delphian.
Aristomachus nodded consent, and Phryxus again read the answer of the oracle : —
" When from the snow-clad heights descend the men in their armor, Down to the shores of the winding stream which waters the valley, Then the delaying boat shall conduct you unto the meadows Where the peace of home is to the wanderer given.
When from the snow-clad heights descend the men in their armor, Then what the judging five have long refused shall be granted. "
Scarcely had Phryxus read the last word, when Callias, the Athenian, rose gracefully from his seat and cried : " The fourth gift, the fourth gift of the gods, you shall also receive from me in this house. Know, then, that I kept my strangest tidings till last. The Persians are coming to Egypt. "
All the guests sprang from their seats except the Sybarite, and Callias could scarcely answer all their questions.
asked the matron.
" Patience, patience, friends," he cried at last ; " let me tell
THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN PISISTRATUS' TIME. 181
everything in order, else I shall never finish. It is not an army, as you think, Phanes, but an embassy from Cambyses, the present king of powerful Persia, which is on its way hither. I heard at Samos that they have already reached Miletus. They will arrive here in a few days. Relations of the king, and even old Croesus of Lydia, are with them. We shall see rare splendor. No one knows the reason of their coming, but it is thought that King Cambyses will propose an alliance to Amasis ; it is even said that the king wishes to woo the daughter of the Pharaohs. "
" An alliance," said Phanes, with an incredulous shrug ; "the Persians already rule half the world. All the chief pow ers of Asia bow to their scepter. Only Egypt and our Greece have remained safe from the conqueror. "
" You forget golden India, and the great nomadic races of Asia," returned Callias. "You also forget that an empire which consists of seventy races, possessing different languages and customs, always bears in it the seeds of rebellion, and must be on its guard against foreign wars, lest some of the provinces seize the favorable moment for revolt when the main body of the army is absent. Ask the Milesians whether they would keep quiet, if they heard that the chief forces of their oppressor
had been defeated in battle. "
Theopompus, the Milesian merchant, interrupted him and
cried eagerly, "If the Persians are defeated in war, they will be attacked by a hundred foes, and my countrymen will not be the last to rise against the weakened tyrant. "
" Whatever the intentions of the Persians may be," contin ued"Callias, " I maintain that they will be here in three days. " And so your oracle will be fulfilled, happy Aristomachus,"
cried Rhodopis. "The horsemen from the mountains can be none other than the Persians. When they reach the shores of the Nile, the five ephors will have changed their minds and you, the father of two Olympic victors, will be recalled. Fill the goblets again, Cnacias. Let us drink the last cup to the manes of famous Lysander, and then, though unwillingly, I must warn you of the approach of day. The host who loves his guests rises from table when the joy reaches its climax. The pleasant memory of this untroubled evening will soon bring you back to this house, whereas you would be less willing to return if you were forced to think of the hours of depression which followed your enjoyment. "
182 MAXIMS OF THEOGNIS.
All the guests agreed with Rhodopis, and Ibycus praised the festive and pleasurable excitement of the evening and called her a true disciple of Pythagoras. Every one prepared for depar ture ; even the Sybarite, who, to drown the emotion which an noyed him, had drunk immoderately, raised himself from his comfortable position with the help of his slaves who had been summoned, and muttered something about violated hospitality.
When Rhodopis held out her hand to him on bidding him farewell, he cried, overcome by the wine : " By Hercules, Rho dopis, you turn us out-doors as if we were importunate credit ors. I am not used to leaving the table as long as I can stand, and still less used to being shown the door like a parasite. "
"Do you not understand, you immoderate drinker ? " began Rhodopis, trying to excuse herself and smiling ; but Philoinus, who in his present mood was irritated by this retort, laughed scornfully and cried, staggering to the door : " You call me an immoderate drinker : well, I call you an insolent slave. By Dionysus, it is easy to see what you were in your
Farewell, slave of Iadmon and Xanthus, freed slave of Charaxus. "
He had not finished, when the Spartan threw himself on him, gave him a violent blow with his fist, and carried the unconscious man, like a child, to the boat which with his slaves awaited him at the gate of the garden.
MAXIMS OF THEOGNIS.
(About 540 b. c. )
Not even Zeus pleases everybody, either when he rains or when he holds up.
From the good you will learn good : if you mix with the bad you will lose what sense you have.
Do not tell everything, even to a friend.
When you undertake great affairs, confide in but few.
Do not caress me in words, and keep your mind and heart
elsewhere. Either love me sincerely, or disown and hate me. Never love a mean man ; he will not rescue you from calam
ity nor share what he has with you. To do good to the base is like sowing the sea. The mean are never satisfied : one slip cancels all former benefits. Comrades in feasting are plenty ; not in serious matters.
youth.
MAXIMS OF THEOGNIS. 183
Do not brag in public : no one knows what a night and a day may bring forth.
A man borne down by poverty can say or do nothing he likes : his tongue is tied. [" It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright. "]
Wealth mixes the breed. [Nobles and plebeians intermarry where wealth is present. ]
Conform your temper to that of each friend. Be like the polypus, which looks like the rock it has twisted its arms around. [All things to all men. ]
The mean are not wholly mean from birth, but from associa tion with the mean. They learn bad actions, backbiting, and insolence from believing what the others say.
Among the mad I am very mad ; among the just I am justest of all.
Give a mean man wealth, still he cannot keep his mean ness in.
Do not give up a friend from belief in every slander.
If one should be wroth at all his friends' faults, there would be no friendship.
Beguile your enemy with good words ; but when you have him in your power, take vengeance on him.
Of all things on earth, not to be born is best ; but if born, one should die as soon as possible.
The mean man has no spirit either in weal or woe.
Be it mine to have moderate wealth, but bestow my enemies' riches on my friends.
It is easier to make a mean man out of a noble one than a noble out of a mean.
Fullness destroys more men than famine.
It is disgraceful for a drunken man to be among sober ones, and disgraceful for a sober man to remain among drunken ones. [This is sometimes translated, " It is disgraceful to be drunk
where others are sober, and disgraceful to be sober where others
are drunk. "]
No man lives unblamed. He is best off whom most people
care nothing about.
Economy is best ; for no one wails even for the dead unless
property has been left behind.
There are two evils in doing good to a mean man : you will
be stripped of your goods, and get no thanks.
Drink when other men drink ; but when you are troubled,
let no man know it.
184 OLIGARCHY AND DESPOTISM IN GREECE.
OLIGARCHY AND DESPOTISM IN GREECE. By GEORGE GROTE.
[George Grote, the greatest modern historian of ancient Greece, perhaps the greatest man altogether who ever wrote history, was of mingled German, Huguenot French, Irish, and English blood; born in Kent, 1794; died in Lon don, 1871. Educated till sixteen at the Charterhouse School in London, he then entered his father's banking house, still using all his leisure time for study. A massive scholar, thinker, and logician, he was also (what even for his works of pure scholarship was of the first value) a practical and experienced man of affairs. He worked hard for Parliamentary reform, and was member of Parlia ment 1832-1841 ; strove annually to introduce voting by ballot, and was a great humanist with a deep sympathy for the " dim common millions. " This ardent democratic feeling was the genesis of his immortal " History of Greece " (twelve volumes, 1846-1856), which no progress in archaeological discovery will ever supersede. In 1865 he brought out his " Plato " ; after his death his unfinished " Aristotle " and two volumes of minor writings were published, and his widow wrote a biography. In his later years he was president of University College and vice-chancellor of London University (unsectarian). ]
The monarchical institutions and monarchical tendencies prevalent throughout mediaeval and modern Europe have been both generated and perpetuated by causes peculiar to those societies ; whilst in the Hellenic societies such causes had no place : the primitive sentiment entertained toward the heroic king died out, passing first into indifference, next — after experience of the despots — into determined antipathy.
To an historian like Mr. Mitford, full of English ideas re specting government, this anti-monarchical feeling appears of the nature of insanity, and the Grecian communities like mad men without a keeper : while the greatest of all benefactors is the hereditary king who conquers them from without, the sec ond best is the home despot, who seizes the acropolis and puts his fellow-citizens under coercion. There cannot be a more cer tain way of misinterpreting and distorting Grecian phenomena than to read them in this spirit, which reverses the maxims both of prudence and morality current in the ancient world. The hatred of kings as it stood among the Greeks (whatever may be thought about a similar feeling now) was a preeminent vir tue, flowing directly from the noblest and wisest part of their nature. It was a consequence of their deep conviction of the necessity of universal legal restraint ; it was a direct expression of that regulated sociality which required the control of indi
OLIGARCHY AND DESPOTISM IN GREECE. 185
vidual passion from every one without exception, and most of all from him to whom power was confided. The conception which the Greeks formed of an unresponsible one, or of a king who could do no wrong, may be expressed in the pregnant words of Herodotus, " He subverts the customs of the country ; he violates women ; he puts men to death without trial. " No other conception of the probable tendencies of kingship was justified either by a general knowledge of human nature, or by political experience as it stood from Solon downward ; no other feeling than abhorrence could be entertained for the character so con ceived ; no other than a man of unprincipled ambition would ever seek to invest himself with it.
Our larger political experience has taught us to modify this opinion, by showing that under the conditions of monarchy in the best governments of modern Europe the enormities de scribed by Herodotus do not take place ; and that it is possible, by means of representative constitutions acting under a certain force of manners, customs, and historical recollection, to obviate many of the mischiefs likely to flow from proclaiming the duty of peremptory obedience to an hereditary and unresponsible king, who cannot be changed without extra-constitutional force. But such larger observation was not open to Aristotle, the wisest as well as the most cautious of ancient theorists ; nor if it had been open, could he have applied with assurance its lessons to the governments of the single cities of Greece. The theory of a constitutional king, especially, as it exists in England, would have appeared to him impracticable : to establish a king who will reign without governing ; in whose name all government is carried on, yet whose personal will is in practice of little or no effect ; exempt from all responsibility, without making use
of the exemption ; receiving from every one unmeasured dem onstrations of homage, which are never translated into act ex cept within the bounds of a known law ; surrounded with all the paraphernalia of power, yet acting as a passive instrument in the hands of ministers marked out for his choice by indica tions which he is not at liberty to resist.
This remarkable combination of the fiction of superhuman grandeur and license with the reality of an invisible strait- waistcoat, is what an Englishman has in his mind when he speaks of a constitutional king. The events of our history have brought it to pass in England, amid an aristocracy the most powerful that the world has yet seen ; but we have still to learn
186 OLIGARCHY AND DESPOTISM IN GREECE.
whether it can be made to exist elsewhere, or whether the oc currence of a single king, at once able, aggressive, and resolute, may not suffice to break it up. To Aristotle, certainly, it could not have appeared otherwise than unintelligible and impracti cable ; not likely even in a single case, but altogether incon ceivable as a permanent system, and with all the diversities of temper inherent in the successive members of an hereditary dynasty. When the Greeks thought of a man exempt from legal responsibility, they conceived him as really and truly such, in deed as well as in name, with a defenseless community ex posed to his oppressions ; and their fear and hatred of him was measured by their reverence for a government of equal law and free speech, with the ascendency of which their whole hopes of security were associated —in the democracy of Athens more perhaps than in any other portion of Greece. And this feeling, as it was one of the best in the Greek mind, so it was also one of the most widely spread — a point of unanimity highly valu able amid so many points of dissension. We cannot construe or criticise it by reference to the feelings of modern Europe, still less to the very peculiar feelings of England, respecting kingship.
When we try to explain the course of Grecian affairs, not from the circumstances of other societies, but from those of the Greeks themselves, we shall see good reason for the discon tinuance as well as for the dislike of kingship. Had the Greek mind been as stationary and unimproving as that of the Ori entals, the discontent with individual kings might have led to no other change than the deposition of a bad king in favor of one who promised to be better, without ever extending the views of the people to any higher conception than that of a personal government. But the Greek mind was of a progres sive character, capable of conceiving and gradually of realizing amended social combinations. Moreover, it is in the nature of
things that any government — regal, oligarchical, or democrati- cal — which comprises only a single city is far less stable than if it embraced a wider surface and a larger population. When that semi-religious and mechanical submission, which made up for the personal deficiencies of the heroic king, became too feeble to serve as a working principle, the petty prince was in too close contact with his people, and too humbly furnished out in every way, to get up a prestige or delusion of any other kind. He had no means of overawing their imaginations by
OLIGARCHY AND DESPOTISM IN GREECE. 187
that combination of pomp, seclusion, and mystery which He rodotus and Xenophon so well appreciate among the artifices of kingcraft. As there was no new feeling upon which a perpetual chief could rest his power, so there was nothing in the circumstances of the community which rendered the main tenance of such a dignity necessary for visible and effective union. In a single city, and a small circumjacent com munity, collective deliberation and general rules, with tempo rary and responsible magistrates, were practicable without difficulty.
To maintain an unresponsible king, and then to contrive accompaniments which shall extract from him the benefits of responsible government, is in reality a highly complicated sys tem, though, as has been remarked, we have become familiar with it in modern Europe. The more simple and obvious change is, to substitute one or more temporary and responsible magistrates in place of the king himself. Such was the course which affairs took in Greece. The inferior chiefs, who had originally served as council to the king, found it possible to supersede him, and to alternate the functions of administration among themselves ; retaining probably the occasional convoca tion of the general assembly, as it had existed before, and with as little practical efficacy. Such was in substance the charac ter of that mutation which occurred generally throughout the Grecian states, with the exception of Sparta : kingship was abolished, and an oligarchy took its place — a council deliberat ing" collectively, deciding general matters by the majority of voices, and selecting some individuals of their own body as temporary and accountable administrators. It was always an oligarchy which arose on the defeasance of the heroic kingdom. The age of democratical movement was yet far distant ; and the condition of the people — the general body of freemen — was not immediately altered, either for better or worse, by the revo lution. The small number of privileged persons, among whom the kingly attributes were distributed and put in rotation, were those nearest in rank to the king himself ; perhaps members of the same large gens with him, and pretending to a common divine and heroic descent. As far as we can make out, this change seems to have taken place in the natural course of events and without violence. Sometimes the kingly lineage died out and was not replaced ; sometimes, on the death of a king, his son and successor was acknowledged only as archon
188 OLIGARCHY AND DESPOTISM IN GREECE.
— or perhaps set aside altogether to make room for a Prytanis or president out of the men of rank around.