Ου λιθοι, εδε ξυλα, εδε Τεχνη τεκτονων αι πόλεις εισιν, Αλλ' όπε ποτ' αν ωσιν ανδρες, Αυτες σώζειν ειδότες, Ενταυθα τείχη και πολεις. "What constitutes a state? Not high-rais'd battlement or labour'd mound, Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride, Where low-brow'd baseness wafts perfume to pride; No-Men, high-minded men.” Sir W. JONES. 1. 504. Bit the writh'd lip.] Στηριχθεις επι Γης, χειλος οδκσι δακων. 1. 509. Her laws were fram'd.] The general tendency of the laws of Lycurgus to raise the physical at the expense of the moral powers of man, is well understood; and it is unnecessary to multiply on this point the quotations which will immediately occur to the classical reader's recollection. On this subject the vehement invective of Euripides has always pleased me much. He speaks, in the glowing language of poetry, the sentiments of a dignified philosophy, jealous of the noblest attributes and ornaments of man: Γλώσση φρονεντες δ' αλλ' εφευρισκεθ αει; O, by all men detested, Sparta's sons, The treach'rous lie, ye promise and betray.— 1.512. Crush each tender charity.] The apathy, or heroism, as it was called, of Spartan parents upon the death of their children, and the facility with which they sacrificed even the lives of their offspring to the good of their country, have been often celebrated or condemned, according to the temper and disposition of the writer. On a subject so well known, it is not necessary to transcribe quotations. A most remarkable instance of the subserviency of natural affection to political authority, which none but Spartan mothers could have displayed, is related by Xenophon.' We had been advised not to advance to Sparta, as the manners of the people were said to retain their ancient character of rude barbarity. We found the contrary the case. As we approached Mistra, I was struck with a frankness and civility of behaviour in the peasantry, which is not always met with in Greece. We were very comfortably lodged and entertained at the house of a Greek merchant, by name Kafedespolo, and in the course of our evening's conversation, I found that our host was neither ignorant of, nor insensible to, the former achievements of his country. Upon my alluding to the Messenian war,' We Spartans (he exclaimed) destroyed Messene.' 1. 525. Maina.] In that southern part of Laconia which terminates in the promontory Tænarium, is situated the district of Maina. The inhabitants are a wild independent race, not admitting any Turks into their dominions, nor acknowledging any subjection to the Porte. They support themselves by plunder, and infest the neighbouring seas with bands of lawless freebooters. Though they have hitherto succeeded in repelling the efforts which the Turks have made for their subjugation, they are far from enjoying internal peace and tranquillity. Civil dissensions perpetually distract their little state, and they now act on a small scale the very part which more than 2000 years ago their ancestors performed on a larger theatre. Like their forefathers, they are assailed by a powerful external foe, and, like them, they direct against the bosoms of their natural friends and allies, the blow which should be reserved for the oppressors of their country. The spirit of Grecian freedom still lingers amidst the rocks of Maina, but she is encircled with the satellites which always attended her, Faction, Jealousy, and Discord. I regretted much that some circumstances prevented my visiting Maina. The reader will find a short account of its state in Guilletiere, in Pococke, and in a memoir of the late Capt. John Stewart of the Navy, published in the Naval Chronicle for July 1812. 1. 531. Sparta's true progeny.] When Assam-Baba, a famous Turkish corsair, attacked the shores of Maina, a Mainote female displayed an intrepidity not unworthy of a Spartan dame. On the appearance of the corsair, the country was thrown into some confusion, and the old men and women were sent to drive the flocks into the interior, when the following incident took place, which I shall relate in the words of Guilletiere.* "Il survint un jeune garçon au milieu de leur marche, qui s'étant addressé à une de ces femmes qui tenoit un enfant à la mammelle dont elle estoit accouchée depuis trois jours, luy dit que son mary lui envoyoit démander où elle avoit mis son sabre et son fuzil pendant ce tumulte. Dy-luy, repliqua cette femme en colère, qu'il vienne vistement garder ma chévre et tenir mon enfant, je trouveray bien ses armes, et m'en serviray mieux que luy. Là dessus ayant mis son enfant entre les bras d'une vieille qui marchoit auprès d'elle, elle prit sa course vers le rivage et donna l'exemple de la suivre à toutes les autres qui vinrent se mettre à la teste des milices arrivées d'Adrabysta et de Sytré. C'estoit sur le point qu'Assam-Baba alloit envoyer à terre des chalouppes armées en guerre. Les cris menaçeans que ces femmes pousserent 2 Guilletiere, p. 41. au ciel et les marques d'intrépidité qu'elles donnerent, rassurerent le cœur des Magnottes, et Assam-Baba n'osa hazarder le debarquement. La femme qui leur releva ainsi le courage est de la maison des Giracaris, la plus ancienne et la plus considérable du canton." 1. 535. Alpheus.] For the course of the Alpheus I must refer to the note upon Arcadia, p. 252. In my description of it in the text, I have endeavoured to preserve the characteristic features which occurred to my observation, and which have been noticed by the ancient writers of Greece. 1. 545. He sinks engulph'd.] In the isles of the Strophades, on the western coast fo the Peloponnessus, a phænomenon is observed which may have given rise to the fable of the subterraneous course of the Alpheus. Leaves, wood, and other light substances thrown into the Alpheus, rise again (it is said) in one of the rivers or fountains of the Strophades. There is a pretty little poem by Moschus, 'in which the silent progress of love is compared to the secret wanderings of the Alpheus. Ovid's beautiful tale will recur to the recollection of every one; and Lucian's agreeable dialogue will be read with pleasure. Arethusa has now lost all the charms which so wonderfully inspired her lover Alpheus. I saw her at Syracuse; the crystal waters in which she used to bathe her fair limbs are changed into a dirty pool, and the nymphs, her attendants, into a crowd of ragged washerwomen. 1. 548. Mourn for Olympia.] Olympia (now Miracca) was situated on the 'Alpheus. We forded its stream, which is here broad and rapid, flowing through a plain about three quarters of a mile in breadth, its banks adorned 'with plane-trees. The plain is surrounded by low hills, covered with wood, chiefly fir.' The hills are lowest to the west. To the east appears a 'hill of a conical form, and behind it distant mountains. The The space between 'the hills, which form the north and south boundary, is perfectly flat, and 'divided by the Alpheus. There is no wildness in the scenery; it is rich and Mosch. Eid. vii. * See Met. 1. v. and Lucian Dial. Marin. See also a poem in Anthol. iii. p. 146. " Hence Olympia is called Πισας εύδενδρον επ' Αλφεῳ αλσος. Pind. Ol. viii. 1. 12. beautiful. The ruins are very inconsiderable. The foundations of a temple are visible, some of the stones of which are of a very large size. Within the enclosure are scattered pieces of marble sparkling like the Pentelican, and fragments of fluted marble columns. It is probable that they are the remains ' of the temple of Jupiter. To the N. is a small conical hill, and at its base ' on the W. side a small square chamber of brick in ruins, apparently Roman. 'About two or three hundred yards to the W. of this is a small stream, which 'I suppose is the ancient Cladeus, which falls into the Alpheus. It issues 'from a valley surrounded on all sides by woody hills. At a short distance 'from it, on its left bank, and not far from its junction with the Alpheus, Iare the ruins of a building. Olympia is so destroyed that it would be 'difficult to ascertain with accuracy the position of any of its edifices.' Journal. 1. 550. The bruised helm.] After the rains of winter, when the Alpheus has been swollen above its usual height, old pieces of armour are frequently found in its bed and collected by the peasants. At Pyrgo, in the house where I lodged, I saw two helmets which had been discovered in this way. The arts put forth their tender shoots.] In the Poem I have assigned the institution of the public games, as one cause of the excellence which the Greeks attained in the arts, and I think it will be acknowledged to have been a very efficient instrument in exciting and continuing those exertions, which we to this day admire, and vainly endeavour to imitate. The tears of Thucydides upon hearing Herodotus recite his history at the Olympic festival are the best eulogium on the success of the institution, and a criterion of the state of public feeling at that time. Similar instances were no doubt numerous, though we have only this one on record, and the individual may be considered as having expressed the general sentiments of the nation. The young historian gave a pledge for exertion which could only be redeemed by excellence; and though we with Spartan apathy condemn these natural expressions of feeling as feminine and disgraceful, the Grecian assembly judged more wisely, and applauded in the present dejection, the future triumph of the competitor. See Paus, 1. v. c. 10, &c. |