CHAPTER I. LEGENDS RESPECTING THE GODS. Opening of the mythical world. — How the mythes are to be told. — Allegory rarely admissible. — Zeus — foremost in Grecian conception. — The gods — how conceived: human type enlarged. — Past history of the gods fitted on to present conceptions. — Chaos. — GÆa and Uranos. — Uranos disabled. — Kronos and the Titans. — Kronos overreached. — Birth and safety of Zeus and his brethren. — Other deities. — Ambitious schemes of Zeus. — Victory of Zeus and his brethren over Kronos and the Titans. — TyphÔeus. — Dynasty of Zeus. — His offspring. — General distribution of the divine race. — Hesiodic theogony — its authority. — Points of difference between Homer and Hesiod. — Homeric Zeus. — Amplified theogony of Zens. — Hesiodic mythes traceable to KrÊte and Delphi. — Orphic theogony. — Zeus and PhanÊs. — Zagreus. — Comparison of Hesiod and Orpheus. — Influence of foreign religions upon Greece — Especially in regard to the worship of DÊmÊtÊr and Dionysos. — Purification for homicide unknown to Homer. — New and peculiar religious rites. — Circulated by voluntary teachers and promising special blessings. — EpimenidÊs, Sibylla, Bakis. — Principal mysteries of Greece. — Ecstatic rites introduced from Asia 700-500 B. C. — Connected with the worship of Dionysos. — Thracian and Egyptian influence upon Greece. — Encouragement to mystic legends. — Melampus the earliest name as teacher of the Dionysiac rites. — Orphic sect, a variety of the Dionysiac mystics. — Contrast of the mysteries with the Homeric Hymns. — Hymn to Dionysos. — Alteration of the primitive Grecian idea of Dionysos. — Asiatic frenzy grafted on the joviality of the Grecian Dionysia. — Eleusinian mysteries. — Homeric Hymn to DÊmÊtÊr. — Temple of Eleusis, built by order of DÊmÊtÊr for her residence. — DÊmÊtÊr prescribes the mystic ritual of Eleusis. — Homeric Hymn a sacred Eleusinian record, explanatory of the details of divine service. — Importance of the mysteries to the town of Eleusis. — Strong hold of the legend upon Eleusinian feelings. — Differ pages 1-64 CHAPTER II. LEGENDS RELATING TO HEROES AND MEN. Races of men as they appear in the Hesiodic “Works and Days.” — The Golden. — The Silver. — The Brazen. — The Heroic. — The Iron. — Different both from the Theogony and from Homer. — Explanation of this difference. — Ethical vein of sentiment. — Intersected by the mythical. — The “Works and Days,” earliest didactic poem. — First Introduction of dÆmons. — Changes in the idea of dÆmons. — Employed in attacks on the pagan faith. — Functions of the Hesiodic dÆmons. — Personal feeling which pervades the “Works and Days.” — Probable age of the poem. CHAPTER III. LEGEND OF THE IAPETIDS. Iapetids in Hesiod. — PromÊtheus and EpimÊtheus. — Counter-manoeuvring of PromÊtheus and Zeus. — PandÔra. — PandÔra in the Theogony. — General feeling of the poet. — Man wretched, but Zeus not to blame. — Mischiefs arising from women. — Punishment of PromÊtheus. — The PromÊtheus of Æschylus. — Locality in which PromÊtheus was confined. CHAPTER IV. HEROIC LEGENDS. — GENEALOGY OF ARGUS. Structure and purposes of Grecian genealogies. — To connect the Grecian community with their common god. — Lower members of the genealogy historical — higher members non-historical. — The non-historical portion equally believed, and most valued by the Greeks. — Number of such genealogies — pervading every fraction of Greeks. — Argeian genealogy. — Inachus. — PhorÔneus. — Argos PanoptÊs. — IÔ. — Romance of IÔ historicized by Persians and Phoenicians. — Legendary abductions of heroines adapted to the feelings prevalent during the Persian war. — Danaos and the DanaÏdes. — Acrisios and Proetos. — The Proetides cured of frenzy CHAPTER V. DEUKALION, HELLEN, AND SONS OF HELLEN. DeukaliÔn, son of PromÊtheus. — PhthiÔtis: his permanent seat. — General deluge. — Salvation of DeukaliÔn and Pyrrha. — Belief in this deluge throughout Greece. — HellÊn and AmphiktyÔn. — Sons of HellÊn: DÔrus, Xuthus, Æolus. — Amphiktyonic assembly. — Common solemnities and games. — Division of Hellas: Æolians, DÔrians, IÔnians. — Large extent of DÔris implied in this genealogy. — This form of the legend harmonizes with the great establishments of the historical DÔrians. — AchÆus — purpose which his name serves in the legend. — Genealogical diversities. CHAPTER VI. THE ÆOLIDS, OR SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF ÆOLUS. Legends of Greece, originally isolated, afterwards thrown into series. — Æolus. — His seven sons and five daughters. — 1. First Æolid line — SalmÔneus, TyrÔ. — Pelias and NÊleus. — PÊrÔ, Bias, and Melampus. — Periklymenos. — Nestor and his exploits. — NÊleids down to Kodrus. — Second Æolid line — KrÊtheus. — AdmÊtus and AlcÊstis. — PÊleus and the wife of Acastus. — Pelias and JasÔn. — JasÔn and MÊdea. — MÊdea at Corinth. — Third Æolid line — Sisyphus. — Corinthian genealogy of EumÊlus. — Coalescence of different legends about MÊdea and Sisyphus. — BellerophÔn. — Fourth Æolid line — Athamas. — Phryxus and HellÊ. — InÔ and PalÆmÔn — Isthmian games. — Local root of the legend of Athamas. — Traces of ancient human sacrifices. — Athamas in the district near Orchomenos. — EteoklÊs — festival of the CharitÊsia. — Foundation and greatness of Orchomenos. — Overthrow by HÊraklÊs and the Thebans. — TrophÔnius and AgamÊdÊs. — Ascalaphos and Ialmenos. — Discrepancies in the Orchomenian genealogy. — Probable inferences as to the ante-historical Orchomenos. — Its early wealth and industry. — Emissaries of the lake KÔpaÏs. — Old Amphiktyony at Kalauria. — Orchomenos and ThebÊs. — AlcyonÊ and KÊyx. — CanacÊ. — The AlÔids. — CalycÊ. — Elis and ÆtÔlia. — Eleian genealogy. — Augeas. — The Molionid brothers. — Variations in the Eleian genealogy. — ÆtÔlian genealogy. — Œneus, Meleager, Tydeus. — Legend of Meleager in Homer. — How altered by the poets after Homer. — AlthÆa and the burning brand. — Grand KalydÔnian boar-hunt. — Atalanta. — Relics of the boar long preserved at Tegea. — Atalanta vanquished in the race by stratagem. — Deianeira. — Death of HÊraklÊs. — Tydeus. — Old age of Œneus. — Discrepant genealogies. THE PELOPIDS. Misfortunes and celebrity of the Pelopids. — Pelops — eponym of PeloponnÊsus. — Deduction of the sceptre of Pelops. — Kingly attributes of the family. — Homeric Pelops. — Lydia, Pisa, etc., post-Homeric additions. — Tantalus. — NiobÊ. — Pelops and Œnomaus, king of Pisa. — Chariot victory of Pelops — his principality at Pisa. — Atreus, ThyestÊs, Chrysippus. — Family horrors among the Pelopids. — AgamemnÔn and Menelaus. — OrestÊs. — The goddess HÊrÊ and MykÊnÆ. — Legendary importance of MykÊnÆ. — Its decline coincident with the rise of Argos and Sparta. — AgamemnÔn and OrestÊs transferred to Sparta. CHAPTER VIII. LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN GENEALOGIES. Lelex — autochthonous in LacÔnia. — Tyndareus and LÊda. — Offspring of LÊda. — 1. CastÔr, Timandra, KlytÆmnÊstra, 2. Pollux, Helen. — CastÔr and Pollux. — Legend of the Attic Dekeleia. — Idas and Lynkeus. — Great functions and power of the Dioskuri. — MessÊnian genealogy. — PeriÊrÊs — Idas and MarpÊssa. CHAPTER IX. ARCADIAN GENEALOGY. Pelasgus. — LykaÔn and his fifty sons. — Legend of LykaÔn — ferocity punished by the gods. — Deep religious faith of Pausanias. — His view of past and present world. — KallistÔ and Arkas. — Azan, Apheidas, Elatus. — Aleus, AugÊ, Telephus. — AncÆus. — Echemus. — Echemus kills Hyllus. — HÊrakleids repelled from PeloponnÊsus. — KorÔnis and AsklÊpius. — Extended worship of AsklÊpius — numerous legends. — MachaÔn and Podaleirius. — Numerous AsklÊpiads, or descendants from AsklÊpius. — Temples of AsklÊpius — sick persons healed there. CHAPTER X ÆAKUS AND HIS DESCENDANTS. — ÆGINA, SALAMIS, AND PHTHIA. Æakus — son of Zeus and Ægina. — Offspring of Æakus — PÊleus, TelamÔn, PhÔkus. — Prayers of Æakus — procure relief for Greece — PhÔkus killed by PÊleus and TelamÔn. — TelamÔn, banished, goes to Salamis. — PÊleus — goes to Phthia — his marriage with Thetis. — Neoptolemus. — Ajax, his son PhilÆus the eponymous hero of a dÊme in Attica. — Teukrus banished, settles in Cyprus. — Diffusion of the Æakid genealogy. CHAPTER XI. ATTIC LEGENDS AND GENEALOGIES. Erechtheus — autochthonous. — Attic legends — originally from different roots — each dÊme had its own. — Little noticed by the old epic poets. — Kekrops. — Kranaus — PandiÔn. — Daughters of PandiÔn — ProknÊ, Phi CHAPTER XII. KRETAN LEGENDS. — MINOS AND HIS FAMILY. MinÔs and Rhadamanthus, sons of Zeus. — EuropÊ. — PasiphaÊ and the MinÔtaur. — Scylla and Nisus. — Death of Androgeos, and anger of MinÔs against Athens. — Athenian victims for the MinÔtaur. — Self-devotion of ThÊseus — he kills the MinÔtaur. — Athenian commemorative ceremonies. — Family of MinÔs. — MinÔs and DÆdalus — flight of the latter to Sicily. — MinÔs goes to retake him, but is killed. — Semi-KrÊtan settlements elsewhere — connected with this voyage of MinÔs. — Sufferings of the KrÊtans afterwards from the wrath of MinÔs. — Portrait of MinÔs — how varied. — Affinity between KrÊte and Asia Minor. CHAPTER XIII. ARGONAUTIC EXPEDITION. Ship ArgÔ in the Odyssey. — In Hesiod and EumÊlus. — JasÔn and his heroic companions. — LÊmnos. — Adventures at Kyzikus, in Bithynia, etc. — HÊraklÊs and Hylas. — Phineus. — Dangers of the SymplÊgades. — Arrival at Kolchis. — Conditions imposed by ÆÊtÊs as the price of the golden fleece. — Perfidy of ÆÊtÊs — flight of the Argonauts and MÊdea with the fleece. — Pursuit of ÆÊtÊs — the Argonauts saved by MÊdea. — Return of the Argonauts — circuitous and perilous. — Numerous and wide-spread monuments referring to the voyage. — Argonautic legend generally. — Fabulous geography — gradually modified as real geographical knowledge increased. — Transposition of epical localities. — How and when the Argonautic voyage became attached to Kolchis. — ÆÊtÊs and CircÊ. — Return of the Argonauts — different versions. — Continued faith in the voyage — basis of truth determined by Strabo. CHAPTER XIV. LEGENDS OF THEBES. Abundant legends of ThÊbes. — AmphiÔn and Zethus, Homeric founders of Kadmus and BoeÔtus — both distinct legends. — ThÊbes. — How ThÊbes was founded by Kadmus. — Five primitive families at ThÊbes called Sparti. — The four daughters of Kadmus: 1. InÔ; 2. SemelÊ; 3. AutonoÊ and her son ActÆÔn; 4. AgavÊ and her son Pentheus. — He resists the god Dionysus — his miserable end. — Labdakus, AntiopÊ, AmphiÔn, and ZÊthus. — Laius — Œdipus — Legendary celebrity of Œdipus and his family. — The Sphinx. — EteoklÊs and PolynikÊs. — Old epic poems on the sieges of ThÊbes. Curse pronounced by the devoted Oedipus upon his sons. — Novelties introduced by SophoklÊs. — Death of Oedipus — quarrel of EteoklÊs and PolynikÊs for the sceptre. — PolynikÊs retires to Argos — aid given to him by Adrastus. — AmphiarÄus and EriphylÊ. — Seven chiefs of the army against ThÊbes. — Defeat of the ThÊbans in the field — heroic devotion of Menoekus. — Single combat of EteoklÊs and PolynikÊs, in which both perish. — Repulse and destruction of the Argeian chiefs — all except Adrastus — AmphiarÄus is swallowed up in the earth. — KreÔn, king of ThÊbes, forbids the burial of PolynikÊs and the other fallen Argeian chiefs. — Devotion and death of AntigonÊ. — The Athenians interfere to procure the interment of the fallen chiefs. — Second siege of ThÊbes by Adrastus with the Epigoni, or sons of those slain in the first. — Victory of the Epigoni — capture of ThÊbes. — Worship of Adrastus at SikyÔn — how abrogated by KleisthenÊs. — AlkmÆÔn — his matricide and punishment. — Fatal necklace of EriphylÊ. CHAPTER XV. LEGEND OF TROY. Great extent and variety of the tale of Troy. — Dardanus, son of Zeus. — Ilus, founder of Ilium. — Walls of Ilium built by PoseidÔn. — Capture of Ilium by HÊraklÊs. — Priam and his offspring. — Paris — his judgment on the three goddesses. — Carries off Helen from Sparta. — Expedition of the Greeks to recover her. — Heroes from all parts of Greece combined under AgamemnÔn. — Achilles and Odysseus. — The Grecian host mistakes Teuthrania for Troy — Telephus. — Detention of the Greeks at Aulis — Agamemnon and Iphigeneia. — First success of the Greeks on landing near Troy. — BrisÊis awarded to Achilles. — PalamÊdÊs — his genius, and treacherous death. — Epic chronology — historicized. — Period of the Homeric Iliad. — HectÔr killed by Achilles. — New allies of Troy — Penthesileia. — MemnÔn — killed by Achilles. — Death of Achilles. — Funeral games celebrated in honor of him. — Quarrel about his panoply. — Odysseus prevails and Ajax kills himself. — PhiloktÊtÊs and Neoptolemus. — Capture of the Palladium. — The wooden horse. — Destruction of Troy. — Distribution of the captives among the victors. — Helen restored to Menelaus — lives in dignity at Sparta — passes to a happy immortality. — Blindness and cure of the poet Stesichorus — alteration of the legend about Helen. — Egyptian tale about Helen — tendency to historicize. — Return of the Greeks from Troy. — Their sufferings — anger of the gods. — Wanderings of the heroes in all directions. — Memorials of them throughout the Grecian world. — Odysseus — his final adventures and death. — Æneas and his descendants. — Different stories about Æneas. — ÆneadÆ at SkÊpsis. — Ubiquity of Æneas. — AntenÔr. — Tale of Troy — its magnitude and discrepancies. — Trojan war — essentially legendary — its importance as an item in Grecian national faith. — Basis of history for it — possible, and nothing more. — Historicizing innovations — Dio Chrysostom. — Historical Ilium. — Generally received and visited as the town of Priam. — Respect shown to it by Alexander. — Successors of Alexander — foundation of Alexandreia TrÔas. — The Romans — treat Ilium with marked respect. — Mythical legitimacy of Ilium — first called in question by DÊmÊtrius of SkÊpsis and HestiÆa. — Supposed Old Ilium, or real Troy, distinguished from New Ilium. — Strabo alone believes in Old Ilium as the real Troy — other authors continue in the old faith — the CHAPTER XVI. GRECIAN MYTHES, AS UNDERSTOOD, FELT, AND INTERPRETED BY THE GREEKS THEMSELVES. The mythes formed the entire mental stock of the early Greeks. — State of mind out of which they arose. — Tendency to universal personification. — Absence of positive knowledge — supplied by personifying faith. — Multitude and variety of quasi-human personages. — What we read as poetical fancies, were to the Greeks serious realities. — The gods and heroes — their chief agency cast back into the past, and embodied in the mythes. — Marked and manifold types of the Homeric gods. — Stimulus which they afforded to the mythopoeic faculty. — Easy faith in popular and plausible stories. — Poets — receive their matter from the divine inspiration of the Muse. — Meaning of the word mythe — original — altered. — Matter of actual history — uninteresting to early Greeks. — Mythical faith and religious point of view — paramount in the Homeric age. — Gradual development of the scientific point of view — its opposition to the religious. — Mythopoeic age — anterior to this dissent. — Expansive force of Grecian intellect. — Transition towards positive and present fact. — The poet becomes the organ of present time instead of past. — Iambic, elegiac, and lyric poets. — Influence of the opening of Egypt to Grecian commerce, B. C. 660. — Progress — historical, geographical, social — from that period to B. C. 500. — Altered standard of judgment, ethical and intellectual. — Commencement of physical science — ThalÊs, XenophanÊs, Pythagoras. — Impersonal nature conceived as an object of study. — Opposition between scientific method and the religious feeling of the multitude. — How dealt with by different philosophers. — SocratÊs. — HippocratÊs. — Anaxagoras. — Contrasted with Grecian religious belief. — Treatment of SocratÊs by the Athenians. — Scission between the superior men and the multitude — important in reference to the mythes. — The mythes accommodated to a new tone of feeling and judgment. — The poets and logographers. — Pindar. — Tragic poets. — Æschylus and SophoklÊs. — Tendencies of Æschylus in regard to the old legends. — He maintains undiminished the grandeur of the mythical world. — EuripidÊs — accused of vulgarizing the mythical heroes, and of introducing exaggerated pathos, refinement, and rhetoric. — The logographers — PherekydÊs, etc. — HekatÆus — the mythes rationalized. — The historians — Herodotus. — Earnest piety of Herodotus — his mystic reserve. — His views of the mythical world. — His deference for Egypt and Egyptian statements. — His general faith in the mythical heroes and eponyms — yet combined with scepticism as to matters of fact — His remarks upon the miraculous foundation of the oracle at DÔdÔna. — His remarks upon Melampus and his prophetic powers. — His remarks upon the Thessalian legend of TempÊ. — Allegorical interpretation of the mythes — more and more esteemed and applied. — Divine legends allegorized. — Heroic legends historicized. — Limits to this interpreting process. — Distinction between gods and dÆmons — altered and widened by EmpedoclÊs. — Admission of dÆmons as partially evil beings — effect of such admission. — Semi-historical inter CHAPTER XVII. THE GRECIAN MYTHICAL VEIN COMPARED WITH THAT OF MODERN EUROPE. ????? — Sage — an universal manifestation of the human mind. — Analogy of the Germans and Celts with the Greeks. — Differences between them. — Grecian poetry matchless. — Grecian progress self-operated. — German progress brought about by violent influences from without. — Operation of the Roman civilization and of Christianity upon the primitive German mythes. — Alteration in the mythical genealogies — Odin and the other gods degraded into men. — Grecian Paganism — what would have been the case, if it had been supplanted by Christianity in 500 B. C. — Saxo Grammaticus and Snorro Sturleson contrasted with PherekydÊs and Hellanikus. — Mythopoeic tendencies in modern Europe still subsisting, but forced into a new channel: 1. Saintly ideal; 2. Chivalrous ideal. — Legends of the Saints — their analogy with the Homeric theology. — Chivalrous ideal — Romances of Charlemagne and Arthur. — Accepted as realities of the fore-time. — Teutonic and Scandinavian epic — its analogy with the Grecian. — Heroic character and self-expanding subject common to both. — Points of distinction between the two — epic of the Middle Ages neither stood so completely alone, nor was so closely interwoven with religion, as the Grecian. — History of England — how conceived down to the seventeenth century — began with Brute the Trojan. — Earnest and tenacious faith manifested in the defence of this early history. — Judgment of Milton. — Standard of historical evidence — raised in regard to England — not raised in regard to Greece. — Milton’s way of dealing with the British fabulous history objectionable. — Two ways open of dealing with the Grecian mythes: 1, to omit them; or, 2, to recount them as mythes. — Reasons for preferring the latter. — Triple partition of past time by Varro. HISTORY OF GREECE. PART I. |
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