According to the account of Herodotus(1698) there were at Sicyon, an
ancient seat of the worship of Bacchus, tragic choruses which sung of
Bacchus, and undoubtedly of his sufferings. These choruses however had
even before the age of Cleisthenes (Olymp. 45.) been transferred to
Adrastus, the hero of that city, but they were by that tyrant restored to
their former subject. The date of their restoration is therefore known;
the time of their extension to Adrastus, and consequently of their
foundation, must have been much more remote; this shows the comparatively
late date of the Attic tragedy, which began with Thespis. Now we are also
informed that Epigenes, a very ancient tragedian of Sicyon, was the
sixteenth before Thespis;(1699) thus it appears that the ancients were in
possession of a stock of information, which has been lost to us, that
enabled them to draw up a regular succession of all the intermediate
tragic poets. To this if we add that some of the Peloponnesians, as we are
told by Aristotle,(1700) disputed with the Athenians the invention of
tragedy,(1701) we shall not be inclined to deny the claims of the former,
on the mere ground that their song, being drowned by the louder notes of
the Athenians, was thus early silenced.
But it remains to be decided, whether this Sicyonian tragedy belonged to
the regular drama, or whether it was merely a species of dithyrambic lyric
poetry, the existence of which was first proved some few years ago by a
learned writer of this country.(1702) Of these hypotheses the latter seems
most probable, as the accounts of the Athenians respecting the origin and
progress of their own tragedy can only then be justified, and because it
is distinctly stated that the early tragedy consisted exclusively of
choruses.(1703) But I should conceive that these Bacchanalian songs were
always accompanied by some mimicry; which indeed the nature of that
worship would seem to require; the liveliness of the feelings which it
inspired calling for a personified representation of them; and thus Arion,
who is styled the inventor of the tragic style (τραγικὸς πρόπος), is said
to have introduced satyrs into his choruses.(1704) Arion, although by
birth a Methymnæan, and probably a disciple of Terpander, chiefly lived
and wrote (like his predecessors, mentioned above) in Peloponnesus and
among Dorian nations. It was at Corinth, in the reign of Periander,(1705)
that he first practised a cyclic chorus(1706) in the performance of a
dithyramb,(1707) where he probably took advantage of some local accidents
and rude beginnings, which alone could justify Pindar in considering
Corinth as the native city of the dithyramb.(1708)
Thus the district of Corinth and Sicyon is of considerable importance in
the early history of the drama. Phlius also, where the satirical drama
probably first became a separate variety of the ancient tragedy, was
situate in that part: whence being introduced into Athens, it was brought
into a regular dramatical shape. For Pratinas the Phliasian is truly
called the inventor of this species of the drama;(1709) and although he
contended for the prize with Æschylus at Athens, he nevertheless must have
remained a native of Phlius, as his son and successor Aristeas was a
citizen of that city, and was buried there.(1710) I have nothing to remark
respecting the satyric drama, except that it must have abounded in mimicry
and pantomimic dances, such as were used under the name of _hyporchemes_
in the temples of Apollo.(1711)
9. Having now examined the two species of the drama, comedy and tragedy,
under different heads, we will next consider them under the general name
of _orchestic_ poetry, or poetry accompanied with dancing. For while all
poetry which was necessarily attended with music was called _lyric_, that
which was sung to accompany dances, frequently of large choruses, has been
called the Doric lyric poetry;(1712) to which appellation it appears to be
justly entitled, as in its various forms it always partakes more or less
of the Doric dialect. Hence the terms Doric and Choral poetry may be used
as synonymous, as songs for choral dances were usually composed in the
Doric dialect; and whenever the Doric dialect occurred in regular lyric
odes, these were generally for choral dances.(1713) Thus, for instance,
Pindar, the master of the Dorian lyric poetry, composed scolia; which,
unlike the poems sung at feasts, were accompanied with dances and
contained more of the Doric dialect.(1714) Thus the dithyramb, so long as
it belonged to the Dorian lyric poetry, was always antistrophic, that is,
in a choral form, or one adapted to dancing; but after being new-modelled
by Crexus, Phrynis, and others, it ceased to be acted by cyclic choruses,
and its dialect at the same time underwent a total change. Choruses were
sung in the Doric dialect in the midst of the Attic drama; so peculiarly
did the choral dances seem to belong to the Dorians.(1715)
These facts afford two criterions for ascertaining the character of the
lyric poetry of the Dorians. In the first place, it always bore the stamp
of publicity; as in the formation of choruses the public was in some
manner taken into consideration: secondly, it had some religious
reference; as choruses ever formed part of religious worship. The feeling
therefore expressed by this kind of lyric poetry, though it might more
powerfully affect individuals, should nevertheless be of such a nature as
to interest a whole people; and the subject, even if suggested by other
circumstances, should have a reference to religious notions, and admit of
a mythological treatment.
10. Thus much concerning the character of lyric poetry among the Dorians.
But if we proceed to inquire what gave to this species of poetry the
characteristic mark of the people, the circumstances which first strike
the attention will rather surprise than enlighten us. For, in the first
place, it is plain that no Greek city was wholly without choral poetry;
and that prosodia, pæans, and dithyrambs, as soon as they obtained a
separate existence, spread in a short time over the whole of Greece.
Secondly, among the chief founders and masters of the Dorian lyric poetry,
the smaller number only were Dorians, the others being either of Æolian or
Ionian descent. Thus Terpander, the ancient pæan-singer, Arion, the
inventor of the dithyramb, and Pindar, were Æolians; Ibycus of Rhegium,
Bacchylides, and Simonides of Ceos, were Ionians; and of the more
celebrated poets the only Dorians were Stesichorus of Himera, and Alcman,
by birth a Laconian, though descended from a Lydian family. This last fact
however may be reconciled with the view taken above, by the supposition
that a certain _national style_ had from an early period been established
in the native country of this choral poetry, to which the poets of the
several cities generally conformed; while in other places, being more
thrown on their own resources, they were led to cultivate their talent
with greater freedom. Thus the choral poetry flourished in no part of
Greece so much as at Sparta,(1716) as is proved by the best authorities,
viz. Terpander(1717) and Pindar.(1718) But besides the foreign, though
almost naturalized poets, such as Terpander, Thaletas, Nymphæeus of
Cydonia,(1719) and Simonides,(1720) there were also more native lyric
poets at Sparta than in any other place;(1721) of whom we know by name,
Spendon,(1722) Dionysodotus,(1723) Xenodamus,(1724) and Gitiadas, who sung
the praises of the same deity to whom he built the brazen house.(1725)
Notwithstanding which, there has not been preserved a single fragment of
Spartan lyric poetry, with the exception of Alcman’s; because, as we
showed above, there was a certain uniformity and monotony in their
productions, such as is perceivable in the early works of art, which
prevented any single part from being prominent or distinguished. Something
must also be attributed to the effects of a censorship, either of manners
or of literary works; as the Spartans are said to have banished
Archilochus from their city either on account of his cowardice, or of the
licentiousness of his poems;(1726) while, on the other hand, Tyrtæus was
held in the greatest honour, as animating and encouraging their
youth.(1727) The generality of the use of the lyre at Sparta is proved by
the fondness of the female sex for it.(1728) And besides several instances
of lyric poetesses at Sparta,(1729) we know the names of some at
Argos(1730) and Phlius.(1731) At the Isthmus of Corinth women were even
allowed to strive in the musical contests.(1732) Of the number of lyric
poets known only to their own age and country, we may form some notion
from the circumstance that Pindar, celebrating a native of Ægina,
incidentally mentions two minstrels of the same family, Timocritus and
Euphanes the Theandridæ.(1733) Besides those already named, the following
Doric poets are known to us: Lasus of Hermione, a poet and musician, who
had improved the dithyramb after Arion, and the Æolian style of music
before Pindar; Ariphron of Sicyon, a composer of pæans; Cleobulus of
Rhodes, who was both a philosopher and a lyric poet; and the peculiar
genius of Timocreon, who tuned the Doric lyre against Simonides and
Themistocles, having been roused against the latter by the unjust conduct
of Athens towards the islands.(1734) Later poets we shall pass over.
11. The above statements merely go to establish the _fact_, that the
choral lyric poetry, chiefly and originally belonged to the Dorians. In
what manner this fact is to be _accounted for_, what were the _causes_ of
this phenomenon, can only be explained in a general history of the lyric
poetry of the Greeks, a subject at once the most attractive and most
difficult which remains for the industry of the present age. In the
absence of such an investigation, I may be permitted to offer on that
question a few remarks, which the occasion prevents me from supporting
with a detailed body of evidence.
In the first place then it will, I believe, be safe to give up the notion
that the lyric was regularly and gradually developed from epic poetry. The
epic poetry, beginning at a period when the Achæans were yet in possession
of Peloponnesus,(1735) retaining till the latest times a peculiar dialect,
and continued under its ancient form by Greeks of all races,(1736) does
not show any tendency to produce an offspring so unlike itself; and what
could be more different than the recitation of a single bard and the
religious songs of a chorus? From the time that there were Greeks and a
Greek language there were doubtless songs at processions, both at
festivals and to the temples, as well as during the sacrifice; and these
varying according to the mode of worship and attributes of the god. And in
none were they so early reduced to rule as in the worship of Apollo; to
which, as has been already shown,(1737) the ancient nomes, the pæans, and
hyporchemes, and other varieties of lyric poetry, either in part or
wholly, owed their origin. Now since this worship was originally Doric,
and its chief temples were always in Doric countries, we can see a reason
why in the ceremonial, that is the choral, poetry, the Doric dialect
should have preponderated. Its form was, on the whole, originally a Doric
variety of the epic hexameter; which was the rhythm of the ancient nomes
composed by the minstrels Philammon, Olen, and Chrysothemis.(1738) Their
ancient strains, which were sung and danced to, must have been very
different from the delivery of the Homeric rhapsodists, a sort of
chaunting recitation; for Terpander is said to have first set them, as
well as the laws of Lycurgus,(1739) to a regular tune; whereas these
ancient religious hymns had such tunes from the beginning; while the mode
to which they were set can hardly have been any other than the Doric. The
attempt to vary the rhythm probably began by breaking the dactylic
hexameters into shorter portions, in order to produce new combinations of
less uniform verses, and thus gave rise to the antistrophic form of
metre.(1740) A different origin must, however, as is natural, be assigned
to the anapæstic military songs; nor can we suppose that pæans and
hyporchemes ever followed the laws of hexameters; the pæonian variety must
have been earlier than Alcman, who made use of Cretic hexameters.
Generally indeed Alcman, however early his age, made use of a great
variety of metres; the reason of which probably is, that before his time
Terpander had mixed the Greek and Asiatic music; besides which, Alcman had
doubtless, from his Lydian origin, an inclination to the eastern style of
music; for in this a large portion of his songs, in which the logaœdic
metre prevailed, were evidently composed:(1741) he was also acquainted
with Phrygian melodies.(1742) But the diversity of his metres was only to
express the variety of his muse, which sometimes adored the gods in solemn
choruses (in which, when he danced himself, he implored the
sweetly-singing virgins to be the supports of his age(1743)), now wrote
bridal-hymns and drinking-songs; a sufficient refutation of the notion
that life at Sparta was one unvaried scene of gloominess and melancholy;
in which town these songs continued nevertheless to be popular until the
time of Epaminondas.(1744)
12. If the essence of art consists in investing an idea of the mind with a
sensible and bodily form, and this in a corresponding and satisfactory
manner, we must certainly ascribe great skill in art to the Dorians, for
(as we have before remarked) they delighted more in imitation than in
creation or action. This remark applies to the Greeks in general, and
particularly to the Dorians, as distinguished from later times; hence the
attention of that race to the beauty of form; “Give us what is good and
what is beautiful” was the Spartan prayer.(1745) Whoever had enjoyed the
benefits of the public education, participated in all that was beautiful
in the city,(1746) their whole existence was influenced by a sense of
beauty, which was expressed in the most ancient production of the
people—in their religion.
We may here be permitted to annex a few remarks on the art of sculpture;
and we will curtail them the more, as it does not bear so much upon
national manners as music, which formed a part of the education of the
people, while the former art was consigned to the care of a few. Although
from what we have observed elsewhere, it would be difficult to describe
all in the ancient sculpture that was peculiar to the Doric nation, and
that originated from them, we may still draw some conclusions from what
has been already stated. There was in the Doric character a certain
healthy sensibility, and a delight in the unadorned and unveiled forms of
nature. That this very much favoured and assisted the progress of the
above art is obvious; and that the human form was accurately studied and
understood in the Doric schools of art is shown in those specimens of
their works which have been preserved. The physical beauty of this race,
ennobled and exposed to view by gymnastic(1747) and warlike exercises,
gave a right direction to the study of sculpture; and the prevailing
religion, the worship of Apollo, by the energy of the figure and variety
of the attributes of that god, shows not only the original talent of this
people for sculpture, but it was fitted to lead them by a succession of
compositions to the highest excellence. On the other hand, we may infer
from some of the above remarks, that the Dorians considered the beauty of
art to consist more in proportion, harmony, and regularity, than in a
superabundance of glitter and ornament; and this is exemplified by the
character of Doric architecture. Lastly, hence arises the composure and
evenness of mind which so greatly distinguished the Dorians, who anxiously
preserved the usages of their fathers as much in the art of sculpture as
in music.
Although historical tradition does not extend so far as to prove and
verify this view of the subject, still it agrees with all that is
characteristic of the Dorians. In the first place then, we know that
sculpture was diligently cultivated at an early time in several Doric
cities; first perhaps in Crete, the most ancient abode of Doric
civilisation;(1748) then in Ægina,(1749) Sicyon, Corinth, Argos,(1750) and
Sparta; for that the latter city, particularly at the time of the Persian
war, was distinguished by its active pursuit of the arts, has been
sufficiently proved in a former part of this work.(1751) Sicyon produced
the Apollo of Canachus, of which we have elsewhere endeavoured to give an
idea;(1752) and about the same time the Æginetan artists appear to have
produced those groups of heroes, the fragments of which are the only sure
records which we possess of the peculiarities of that school. For the
information which we receive from Pausanias and others goes no further
than that in Ægina many statues of the most ancient kind were sculptured,
and that a certain hardness of style was preserved there longer than in
Attica. The fragments, however, which remain, attest a liveliness of
conception, and a truth of imitation, which in many points may be called
perfect, and which excite our admiration, and even astonishment. On the
other hand, we may remark in the countenances of the heroes, who evidently
bear a Greek national physiognomy, though rudely and unpleasingly
conceived, that respect for ancient customs which was a fundamental
principle of the early times. That this happened at a time when Athens had
already cast off every shackle, is a strong characteristic trait of the
Dorians. These works, however, possess many other singularities, which
cannot be referred to any peculiar disposition of that race.
Chapter VIII.
§ 1. History and rhetoric little cultivated by the Dorians. § 2.
Apophthegmatic style of expression used by the Dorians. § 3.
Apophthegms of the Seven Sages. § 4. Griphus invented by the
Dorians. § 5. Symbolical language of the Pythagorean philosophy.
1. It has been shown in the preceding chapter that the national and
original poetry of the Doric race was not the epic, but the lyric; which
is occupied rather in expressing inward feelings, than in describing
outward objects. If this predilection may be considered as natural to the
whole race, it will enable us to explain why history neither originated
among, nor was cultivated by the Dorians. For both its progress and
invention we are indebted to the Ionians, who were also the first to
introduce prose-composition in general.(1753) The Dorians, however, did
not always retain this incapacity; for we are told that the Spartans
gladly listened to the sophist Hippias of Elis, speaking of the families
of heroes and men, the settlements by which the cities had in ancient
times been founded, and of ancient events in general.(1754) This naturally
suggests the remark, that the Dorians paid more attention to the events of
the past than of the present time; in which they are greatly opposed to
the Ionians, who from their governments and geographical position were
more thrown into society, and interested themselves more in the passing
affairs of the day. Hence some of the early writers on mythical history
were Dorians, as Acusilaus for example; but the contemporary historians
were almost exclusively Ionians and Athenians;(1755) for Herodotus, who in
his early years had lived for some time at Samos, and after his various
travels wrote his History at Thurii, can hardly be considered as a genuine
Dorian.(1756) Nor would it be difficult to account for the entire
ignorance of the arts of rhetoric and logic in the Doric states (for the
schools of rhetoricians and sophists in Sicily are evidently to be traced
to the peculiar character of those islanders),(1757) or to see why the
perfection of these, both in theory and practice, as well as that of the
regular drama, was left to the Athenians.
2. But instead of the pointed and logical reasoning, and the fervid
declamation of the Athenians, the Doric race had a peculiar manner of
expressing itself, viz. by apophthegms, and sententious and concise
sayings. The object appears to have been, to convey as much meaning in as
few words as possible, and to allude to, rather than express, the thoughts
of the speaker. A habit of mind which might fit its possessor for such a
mode of speaking, would best be generated by long and unbroken _silence_;
which was enjoined to his scholars by Pythagoras, and by Sparta enforced
on all youths during their education:(1758) it being intended that their
thoughts should gain force and intensity by compression.(1759) Hence the
great brevity of speech,(1760) which was the characteristic of all the
genuine Dorians, especially of the Spartans,(1761) Cretans,(1762) and
Argives,(1763) forming a remarkable contrast with the copious and headlong
torrent of eloquence which distinguished the Athenians. The antiquity of
this characteristic of the Spartans is proved by the fact of Homer’s
attributing it to Menelaus,
When Atreus’ son harangued the list’ning train,
Just was his sense, and his expression plain,
His words succinct, yet full, without a fault;
He spoke no more than just the thing he ought.(1764)
In which lines the poet evidently transfers the peculiarity of the Doric
Laconians to the earlier inhabitants of that country.(1765) In adopting
this mode of expression, the Dorians may be conceived, in the first place,
to have wished to avoid all ornament of speech, and to have contented
themselves with the simplest manner of conveying their thoughts; as
Stesimbrotus the Thasian opposes to the adroit and eloquent Athenian the
openness and simplicity of the Peloponnesian, who was plain and unadorned,
but of an honest and guileless disposition.(1766) Or, secondly, it was
intended to have double force by the contrast of the richness of the
thought, with the slight expense of words. Probably, however, both these
motives had their weight; though the latter perhaps predominated. In a
dialogue of Plato,(1767) Socrates says, half in joke and half in earnest,
that “_of all the philosophical systems in Greece, that established in
Crete and Lacedæmon was the most ancient and copious, and there the
sophists were most numerous; but they concealed their skill, and pretended
to be ignorant. And hence, on conversing with the meanest Lacedæmonian, at
first indeed he would appear awkward in his language, but when he
perceived the drift of the conversation, he would throw in, like a
dexterous lancer, some short and nervous remark, so as to make the other
look no better than a child. Nor in these cities is such a manner of
speaking confined to the men, but it extends also to women._”
That in this concise manner of speaking there was a kind of wit and
epigrammatic point, may be easily seen from various examples; but it
cannot be traced to the principles which we have just laid down. Sometimes
it arises from the simplicity of the Doric manners, as contrasted with the
more polished customs of other nations; of which kind is the answer of the
Spartan, who, taking a fish to be cooked, and being asked where the
cheese, oil, and vinegar were, replied, “If I had all these things, I
should not have bought a fish.”(1768) Or it is a moral elevation, viewed
from which, things appear in a different light; thus the saying of
Dieneces, that “if the Persians darkened the air with their arrows, they
should fight in the shade.” Sometimes it is an ironical expression of
bitterness and censure, which gains force by being concealed under a
semblance of praise; as in the judgment of the Laconian on Athens, where
every kind of trade and industry was tolerated, “Everything is beautiful
there.”(1769) Or it is the combination of various ridiculous ideas into
one expression, as in the witty saying of a husband who found his wife,
whom he detested, in the arms of an adulterer; “Unhappy man, who forced
you to do this?”(1770)
At Sparta, however, an energetic, striking, and figurative mode of
speaking must have been generally in use; which may be perceived in the
style of all the Spartans who are mentioned by Herodotus.(1771) And this,
I have no doubt, was one of the most ancient customs of the Doric race. In
Crete it had been retained, according to the testimony of Sosicrates, a
Cretan author, in the town of Phæstus, in which place the boys were early
practised in joking; and the apophthegms of Phæstus were celebrated over
the whole island.(1772) In Sparta too this peculiar mode of expression was
implanted in boys; the youths (ἔφηβοι) proposing them questions, to which
they were to give ready and pointed answers;(1773) and they were taught to
impart a peculiar sharpness and also brilliancy to their sayings.(1774)
Later in life this tendency was fostered and confirmed by the many
occasions on which the public manners prescribed ridicule as a means of
improvement:(1775) at the festival of the Gymnopædia in particular, full
vent seems to have been allowed to wit and merriment.(1776) In common
life, laughter and ridicule were not unfrequent at the public
tables;(1777) to be able to endure ridicule was considered the mark of a
Lacedæmonian spirit; yet any person who took it ill might ask his
antagonist to desist, who was then forced to comply.(1778) In early times,
similar customs existed in other places besides Sparta; thus the suitors
of Agariste, in the house of Cleisthenes the tyrant of Sicyon, contended
after the meal in musical skill and conversation,(1779) with which we
might perhaps compare the passage in the Hymn to Mercury, where it is said
that _youths at table attack one another in mutual jests_,(1780) and the
practice among the ancient Germans, of jesting with freedom at table,
alluded to in a verse of the Niebelungen Lied.(1781) But this primitive
custom having been retained longer in Sparta than elsewhere, it struck all
foreigners as a peculiarity, of which the antique polish was sometimes
rather offensive. Still, if we justly estimate the manners of that city,
they do not deserve the name of needless austerity and strictness; it was
the only Greek state in which a statue was erected to Laughter:(1782) in
late times even Agesilaus(1783) and Cleomenes III.(1784) amidst all the
changes of their life, cheered their companions with wit and playfulness.
3. This national mode of expression had likewise a considerable effect on
the progress of literature in Greece. Plato properly calls the Seven
Sages, imitators and scholars of the Lacedæmonian system, and points out
the resemblance between their sayings and the Laconian method of
expression.(1785) Of these, three, or, if we reckon both Myson and
Periander, four, were of Doric descent, and Cheilon was a Spartan;(1786)
there were also perhaps at the same time others of the same character, as
Aristodemus the Argive.(1787) The sayings attributed to these sages were
not so much the discoveries of particular individuals, as the indications
of the general opinion of their contemporaries. And hence the Pythian
Apollo, directed by the national ideas of the Dorians, particularly
countenanced their philosophers, to whose sententious mode of expression
his own oracles bore a certain resemblance.(1788) It appears also that the
Amphictyons caused some of their apophthegms to be inscribed on the temple
of Delphi;(1789) and the story of the enumeration of the Seven Sages by
the oracle, although fabulously embellished, is founded on a real
fact.(1790)
4. Since in this apophthegmatic and concise style of speaking the object
was not to express the meaning in a clear and intelligible manner, it was
only one step further altogether to conceal it. Hence the _griphus_ or
riddle was invented by the Dorians, and, as well as the epigram, was much
improved by Cleobulus the Rhodian,(1791) and his daughter
Cleobulina.(1792) It was also a favourite amusement with the
Spartans,(1793) and in the ancient times of Greece was generally a common
pastime.(1794)
5. This leads us to speak of the symbolical maxims of the Pythagoreans,
which might be called riddles, if they had been proposed as such, and not
put in that form merely to make them more striking and impressive. So
attached indeed do these philosophers appear to have been to the
symbolical method of expression, that not only their language, but even
their actions acquired a symbolical character.(1795) The system of
Pythagoras has by modern writers been correctly considered as the Doric
philosophy: yet it is singular that it should have originated with a
native of the Ionic Samos. It should, however, be remembered, that the
family of Pythagoras, which seems to have lived with other Samians in the
island of Samothrace, among the Tyrrhenians,(1796) originally came from
Phlius in Peloponnesus,(1797) and always kept up a certain degree of
communication with that city;(1798) and again, that although Pythagoras
doubtless brought with him to Croton the form of his philosophy, its
subsequent expansion and growth were in great part owing to the character
of the Dorians and Doric Achæans, among whom he lived. Its connexion with
the chief branch of the Doric religion, the worship of Apollo,(1799) and
his temple at Delphi,(1800) has been already pointed out; and it has been
shown that the political institution of his league was founded on Doric
principles.(1801) Other points of resemblance are the universal education
of the female followers of Pythagoras, such as Theano, Phintys, and
Arignote,(1802) the employment of music to appease passion, the public
tables, the use of silence as a means of education, &c. It appears also,
that the philosophers of this school always found a welcome reception at
Sparta, as well as those whose character was somewhat similar, as the
enthusiastic and religious sages, Abaris,(1803) Epimenides,(1804) and
Pherecydes;(1805) Anaximander(1806) likewise and Anaximenes(1807) lived
for some time in that city, and lastly, in the lists of the Pythagorean
philosophers (which are not _entirely_ devoid of credit), there are,
besides Italian Greeks, generally Lacedæmonians, Argives, Sicyonians,
Phliasians, and sometimes women of Sparta, Argos, and Phlius.(1808) And
this is a fresh confirmation of the position, which we have frequently
maintained, that up to the time of the Persian war all mental excellence,
so far from being banished from Sparta, flourished there in the utmost
perfection.
Chapter IX.
§ 1. Difference between the life of the Dorians and Ionians.
Domestic habits of the Spartans. § 2. Opinions of the Dorians
respecting a future life. § 3. General character of the Dorians. §
4. Its varieties. § 5. Character of the Spartans. § 6. Character
of the Cretans, Argives, Rhodians, Corinthians, Corcyræans,
Syracusans, Sicyonians, Phliasians, Megarians, Byzantians,
Æginetans, Cyrenæans, Crotoniats, Tarentines, Messenians, and
Delphians.
1. After Anacharsis the Scythian had visited the different states of
Greece, and lived among them all, he is reported to have said, that “all
wanted leisure and tranquillity for wisdom, except the Lacedæmonians, for
that these were the only persons with whom it was possible to hold a
rational conversation.”(1809) The life of all the other Greeks had
doubtless appeared to him as a restless and unquiet existence, as a
constant struggle and effort without any object. In addition to the love
of ease, which belonged to the original constitution of the Dorians, there
was a further cause for this mode of life, viz. the entire exemption from
necessary labour which the Spartans enjoyed, their wants being supplied by
the dependent and industrious classes.(1810) Several writers have dwelt on
the tedium and listlessness of such an existence; but the Spartans
considered an immunity from labour an immunity from pain, and as
constituting entire liberty.(1811) But, it may be asked, what was there to
occupy the Spartan men from morning to night?(1812) In the first place,
the gymnastic, military, and musical exercises; then the chase, which with
men advanced in life was a substitute for other exercises;(1813) besides
which, there was the management of public affairs, in which they might
take an active part, together with the religious ceremonies, sacrifices,
and choruses; and much time was also consumed in the places of public
resort, or λέσχαι. Every small community had its _lesche_;(1814) and here
the old men sat together in winter round the blazing fire, while the
respect for old age gave an agreeable turn to the conversation. At Athens,
too, these small societies or clubs were once in great vogue; but a
democracy likes a large mass, and hates all divisions; and accordingly in
later times the public porticoes and open market were generally attended,
where every Athenian appeared once in the day. At Sparta, the youths were
forbidden to enter the market-place;(1815) as well as the pylæa,(1816)
which was in other Doric towns besides Delphi(1817) a place for buying and
selling.(1818)
2. Having now so fully investigated the manners and daily occupations of
the Dorians, it would be interesting to know what were their opinions on
death, or on the existence of a future state; but on these points there is
no information to be gleaned from ancient writers. Nor can much more be
said on their funeral ceremonies, if indeed they had any rites peculiar
and universally belonging to the whole race. At Tarentum, the dead were,
according to an ancient oracle, called the _majority_ (οἱ πλείονες);(1819)
they were buried within the walls, each family having in their house
tombstones, with the names of the deceased, where funeral sacrifices were
performed;(1820) at Sparta, it was doubtless the ancient custom to bury
the dead in the city, and in the neighbourhood of the temples.(1821)
Monuments, with the names of the dead, were only erected to those who had
fallen in battle,(1822) and many other honours were also paid them.(1823)
The sacrifice to Demeter, on the twelfth day after death, evidently
denotes the reception of the soul in the infernal regions; the Argives
likewise sacrificed on the 30th day to Hermes, as conductor of the souls
of the dead;(1824) in the same manner that the Athenians called the dead
Δημητριακοὶ, _i.e._ returned to their mother earth. There was however a
considerable difference between the Athenian and Doric modes of burying;
for the former laid the body with the head to the west, the latter, at
least the Megarians, to the east.(1825)
3. It now remains for us to collect into one point of view all that has
been said in different parts of this work on the character of the Doric
race, so as to furnish a complete and accurate idea of their nature and
peculiarities. That this cannot be done in a few words is evident; but
that it can be done _at all_, I consider equally clear; and by no means
agree with those who deny that a whole nation, like an individual, can
have one character; an error which is perhaps best refuted by
consideration of the different tribes of Greece. And thus the word
_Dorian_ conveyed to the ancient Greeks a clear and definite, though
indeed a complex idea.(1826)
The first feature in the character of the Dorians which we shall notice is
one that has been pointed out in several places,(1827) viz. their
endeavour to produce uniformity and unity in a numerous body. Every
individual was to remain within those limits which were prescribed by the
regulation of the whole body.(1828) Thus in the Doric form of government
no individual was allowed to strive after personal independence, nor any
class or order to move from its appointed place. The privileges of the
aristocracy, and the subjection of the inferior orders, were maintained
with greater strictness than in other tribes,(1829) and greater importance
was attached to obedience, in whatever form, than to the assertion of
individual freedom. The government, the army, and the public education,
were managed on a most complicated, but most regular succession and
alternation of commanding and obeying.(1830) Every one was to obey in his
own place. All the smaller associations were also regulated on the same
principle: always we find gradation of power, and never independent
equality.(1831) But it was not sufficient that this system should be
complete and perfect within; it was to be fortified without. The Dorians
had little inclination to admit the customs of others, and a strong desire
to disconnect themselves with foreigners.(1832) Hence in later times the
blunt and harsh deportment of those Dorians who most scrupulously adhered
to their national habits.(1833) This independence and seclusion would
however sometimes be turned into hostility; and hence the _military_ turn
of the Dorians, which may also be traced in the development of the worship
of Apollo.(1834) A calm and steady courage was the natural quality of the
Dorian.(1835) As they were not ready to receive, neither were they to
communicate outward impressions; and this, neither as individuals, nor as
a body. Hence both in their poetry and prose, the narrative is often
concealed by expressions of the feeling, and tinged with the colour of the
mind.(1836) They endeavoured always to condense and concentrate their
thoughts, which was the cause of the great brevity and obscurity of their
language.(1837) Their desire of disconnecting themselves with the things
and persons around them, naturally produced a love for past times; and
hence their great attachment to the usages and manners of their ancestors,
and to ancient institutions.(1838) The attention of the Doric race was
turned to the past rather than to the future.(1839) And thus it came to
pass that the Dorians preserved most rigidly, and represented most truly,
the customs of the ancient Greeks.(1840) Their advances were constant, not
sudden; and all their changes imperceptible. With the desire to attain
uniformity, their love for _measure_ and _proportion_ was also combined.
Their works of art are distinguished by this attention to singleness of
effect, and everything discordant or useless was pruned off with an
unsparing hand.(1841) Their moral system also prescribed the observance of
the proper mean; and it was in this that the temperance (σωφροσύνη) which
so distinguished them consisted.(1842) One great object of the worship of
Apollo was to maintain the even balance of the mind, and to remove
everything that might disquiet the thoughts, rouse the mind to passion, or
dim its purity and brightness.(1843) The Doric nature required an equal
and regular harmony, and preserving that character in all its parts.(1844)
Dissonances, even if they combined into harmony, were not suited to the
taste of that nation. The national tunes were doubtless not of a soft or
pleasing melody; the general accent of the language had the character of
command or dictation, not of question or entreaty. The Dorians were
contented with themselves, with the powers to whom they owed their
existence and happiness; and therefore they never complained. They looked
not to future, but to present existence. To preserve this, and to preserve
it in enjoyment, was their highest object. Everything beyond this boundary
was mist and darkness, and everything dark they supposed the Deity to
hate.(1845) They lived in themselves, and for themselves.(1846) Hence man
was the chief and almost only object which attracted their attention. The
same feelings may also be perceived in their religion, which was always
unconnected with the worship of any natural object, and originated from
their own reflection and conceptions.(1847) And to the same source may
perhaps be traced their aversion to mechanical and agricultural
labour.(1848) In short, the whole race bears generally the stamp and
character of the _male sex_; the desire of assistance and connexion, of
novelty and of curiosity, the characteristics of the female sex, being
directly opposed to the nature of the Dorians, which bears the mark of
independence and subdued strength.
4. This description of the Doric character, to which many other features
might be added, is sufficient for our present purpose; and will serve to
prove that the worship of Apollo, the ancient constitution of Crete and
that of Lycurgus, the manners, arts, and literature of the Dorians, were
the productions of one and the same national individual. To what extent
this character was influenced by external circumstances cannot be
ascertained; but though its features were impressed by nature, they might
not in all places have been developed, and would have been lost without
the fostering assistance of an inland and mountainous region. The country
is to a nation what the body is to the soul: it may influence it
partially, and assist its growth and increase; but it cannot give strength
and impulse, or imprint that original mark of the Deity which is set upon
our minds.
But outward circumstances, such as locality, form of government,
geographical position, and foreign intercourse, had in the several states
a different effect on the Doric character, unequally developing its
various features, by confirming some, repressing others, and some wholly
obliterating. We shall thus be enabled to separate the particular
character of each state from the ideal character of the whole race, and
also to explain their deviations, particularly in a political and
practical point of view.
5. The Dorians of SPARTA were influenced by their geographical position,
which, with the exception of that of the Arcadians, was more inland than
that of any people in Peloponnesus; as well as by their supremacy, which
they at first asserted with ease and dignity, and afterwards maintained by
the devotion of all their forces to that one object. The independence and
seclusion so desired by the Dorians were at Sparta most conspicuous, and
thus the original spirit of the Doric race, and its ancient customs, were
most rigidly, and sometimes even in trifles,(1849) there preserved; though
it was the mummy rather than the living body of the ancient institutions.
This deterioration, however, did not manifest itself till later times; for
(as we have more than once remarked) at an early period the mode of life
at Sparta was diversified, cheerful, and by no means unattractive. At that
time Sparta was the centre and metropolis of Greece. This love of
seclusion took a singular turn in the reserve, and in the short and
sententious mode of expression, practised by the Laconians. Indeed their
silence was carried to a pitch which exceeded the bounds of intentional
concealment. Even the artfulness of the Spartans is after the Persian war
often mentioned with blame; and it is said to have been impossible to
guess their intention.(1850) Sometimes indeed the deception was founded on
patriotic principles, as in the answer of the ambassador, who being asked
in whose name he came, replied, “In the name of the state, if we succeed;
if we fail, in our own.” Demostratus the son of Phæax said with great
truth that the Spartans were better as members of a state, the Athenians
as members of private society;(1851) the latter indeed were more left to
their individual care and exertions, whilst the former were guided by
national custom. Hence when they once deserted this guide, they deviated
not partially, but wholly and widely from the right path.
Yet the history of the Peloponnesian war and of the period immediately
following, being that part of the history of Greece which is clearest to
our view, presents several distinguished and genuine Lacedæmonians, who
may be divided into two distinct classes. Of these the first is marked by
a cunning and artful disposition, combined with great vigour of mind, and
a patriotism sometimes attended with contempt of other Greeks. Such was
Lysander,(1852) a powerful revolutionist; who, concentrating in his own
person the efforts of numerous oligarchical clubs and factions, by the
strict consistency of his principles, and by his art in carrying them into
effect, for some time swayed the destinies of Greece; until Agesilaus,
whom he had himself improvidently raised to the throne, restored in place
of his usurped power the legitimate authority of the Heraclide dynasty;
this doubtless suggested to Lysander the idea of overthrowing the royal
authority, and helped to bring on that deep melancholy which preyed upon
his strong mind during his latter years.(1853) Similar in character to
Lysander was Dercylidas, a man of extraordinary practical talent; who by
his artfulness (which, however, was accompanied by uprightness of mind)
obtained the nickname of Sisyphus.(1854) But Sparta had at the same time
men of a contrary disposition, in whom, as Plutarch says of Callicratidas,
the simple and genuine Doric manners of ancient times were alive and in
vigour.(1855) This Callicratidas had at the very beginning of his career
to contend with his partisans of Lysander, and resolutely resisted his
club or association,(1856) being also directly opposed to them in
disposition. He deplored the necessity which compelled him to beg for
subsidies from the Persians; dealt uprightly and honestly with the allies;
disdained all power and authority which did not emanate from the state;
refused to do anything by private connexions or influence, and showed
himself everywhere humane, magnanimous, and heroic; in short, he was a
faultless hero, unless perhaps we should blame him for his too hasty
self-immolation at the battle of Arginusæ.(1857) We can easily understand
how the Greeks of Asia should have admired the virtues and greatness of
the youthful hero, like the beauty of an heroic statue,(1858) but were at
the same time more pleased with the proceedings of Lysander, as being
better suited to the times. In Brasidas we admire chiefly the manner in
which the same elevation of mind was combined with a particular skill in
controlling and availing itself of the circumstances of the times; but we
must hurry on to Pedaritus the son of Teleutia, who is an instance that
all the harmosts of Sparta did not yield to the many temptations of their
situation.(1859) But a more singular character was Lichas, the son of
Arcesilaus, of whom we will give a slight sketch. He was chiefly
distinguished by his liberality: whence by means of great banquets at the
Gymnopædia,(1860) and by his victories in the chariot race at
Olympia,(1861) he increased the fame of his city; by his boldness, which
was even shown in his conduct at Olympia, at a time when the Spartans were
excluded from the contests;(1862) but which was still more conspicuous in
his truly Spartan declaration to the satrap Tissaphernes;(1863) and,
lastly, by his policy in endeavouring to prevent the premature aggression
of the Ionians against the Persians.(1864)
6. The flourishing age of CRETE, in manners as well as in power, is
anterior to the historical period; and the early corruption of her ancient
institutions was accompanied with universal barbarism and degeneracy. Of
her maritime sovereignty of the mythical age nothing but piracy remained;
the different states were not combined under the supremacy of a single
city; and, even in the reign of Alcamenes, Sparta attempted to settle the
mutual dissensions of those very cities(1865) which it had a century
before taken for the models of its own constitution. The Cretans did not,
however, confine their quarrelsome disposition to domestic feuds; but they
began in early times to hire themselves as mercenaries to foreign states,
which was certainly one cause of the internal corruption that made this
once illustrious island act so ignoble a part in the history of Greece. If
the verse of Epimenides (cited by St. Paul(1866)) is genuine, that prophet
so early as about 600 B.C. accused his countrymen of being habitual liars,
evil beasts, and indolent gluttons. Yet some particular cities (among
which we may especially mention the Spartan town of Lyctus) retained with
their ancient institutions the noble and pure customs of better
times.(1867)
We have already more than once had occasion to explain how about the time
of the Persian war ARGOS, by the changes in its constitution, and the
direction of its policy, succeeded in obliterating almost every trace of
the Doric character:(1868) but one revolution only led to another, and
none produced a stable and healthy state of affairs. Argos indeed only
adopted the worst part of the republican institutions of Athens; for their
better parts could not be naturalized in a people of a race and nature
totally different.(1869)
But that RHODES preserved to the latest period of Grecian independence
many features of the Doric character we have already remarked.(1870) Still
this island had, particularly in the time of Artemisia the Second, adopted
many Asiatic customs; which, when mixed with those of a Greek origin,
formed a peculiar compound; of which the Rhodian oratory, painting,(1871)
and sculpture, should be considered as the products. The latter art had
flourished there from ancient times; but later it took a particular turn
towards the colossal, the imposing, and the grand style. The Laocoon and
the Toro Farnese are in the number of its finest productions.(1872) Its
manners are described by the saying that Rhodes was the _town of wooers_.
There was also another proverb, that the Rhodians were “white Cyrenæans;”
their luxury forming the point of resemblance, and their colour the
difference.(1873)
The character of CORINTH likewise, in the time of the Peloponnesian war,
was made up of rather discordant elements; for while there were still
considerable remains of the Doric disposition, and its political conduct
was some time guided by the principles of that race, there was also, the
consequence of its situation and trade,(1874) a great bias to splendour
and magnificence, which showed itself in the Corinthian order; but which,
when abandoned by the graces and refinements of luxury, soon degenerated
into debauchery and vice.(1875)
The character of CORCYRA we have attempted to delineate above.(1876)
SYRACUSE, though highly distinguished for its loyalty and affection to its
mother-state, necessarily deviated widely from the character of Corinth.
For while in the narrow and rocky territory of Corinth the crops were with
difficulty extorted from the soil,(1877) in the colony, a large and
fertile district, which was either held by the Syracusans, or was
tributary to them, furnished to an over-peopled city a plentiful supply of
provisions without foreign importation.(1878) In addition to this
abundance, the early preponderance of democracy, and still more the
levity, cunning, and address which were natural to the people of Sicily,
tended to modify, or partly to destroy, the original Doric character. The
Syracusans were, according to Thucydides, among all the adversaries of the
Athenians in the Peloponnesian war, most like them in their customs and
disposition.(1879) It is ever to be lamented that such remarkable talents,
as showed themselves among the Syracusans between the 70th and 90th
Olympiads, should have been without a regulating and guiding judgment:
their most frequent error both in the state and army being a want of
order(1880); and their knowledge of this defect was the reason why they so
frequently threw themselves blindly into the arms of single
individuals.(1881)
The vicinity of Corinth had undoubtedly a great influence on SICYON; yet
that city, though it had a navy, was nevertheless without any considerable
foreign trade or colonies. The restraints and monotony of life were
undoubtedly less than at Sparta,(1882) but there was greater severity of
manners than at Corinth. Sicyon was one of the earliest cradles of the
arts and literature of the Dorians,(1883) and enjoyed a high distinction
among the cities of Peloponnesus.(1884)
PHLIUS, having no communication with the sea, was destitute of all
resources except its fertile valley; but this sufficed to give it
considerable importance and power.(1885) The loyalty and bravery of its
inhabitants(1886) deserved the partiality with which Xenophon has written
the most distinguished period of its history.(1887)
MEGARA was unfortunately hemmed in between powerful neighbours; and on
account of the scanty produce of its stony and mountainous, though well
cultivated(1888) land, and the consequent deficiency of provisions, it was
wholly dependent on the Athenian market, whither the Megarians were
accustomed to carry their manufactures(1889) and some few raw materials.
The weakness of this state had early an influence on the manners and
morals of the people; the tears and mirth of the Megarians were turned
into ridicule by their Athenian neighbours,(1890) who (according to the
saying) would “rather be the ram than the son of a Megarian.” And at last
the oracle itself declared them an insignificant and worthless people.
Nor could the mother-city have derived much assistance from BYZANTIUM, had
there even been a closer connexion between them than was actually the
case; as this important colony was, for the most part, in distressed
circumstances, and after the introduction of democracy involved in
domestic confusion. We have reasons to consider the account of the mode of
life at Byzantium above quoted from Theopompus(1891) as correct; though
that historian is accused of too great a fondness for censure. Damon
likewise relates, that the Byzantians were so addicted to the pleasures of
the table, that the citizens took up their regular abode in the numerous
public houses of the city, and let their houses with their wives to
strangers. The sound of the flute put them immediately into a merry
movement; but they fled from that of a trumpet: and a general had no other
means of keeping them on the ramparts during a close siege, than by
causing the public houses and cook-shops to be removed thither.(1892)
Byzantium was full of foreign and native merchants, seamen, and
fishermen,(1893) whom the excellent wine of that city, supplied by Maronea
and other regions, seldom permitted to return sober to their ships.(1894)
The state of the government may be judged from the reply of a Byzantine
demagogue, who being asked what the law enjoined, replied, “Whatever I
please.”(1895)
ÆGINA, on the other hand, lost its fame only with its political existence.
Its situation near the great commercial road, which had taken this course
chiefly in consequence of the danger of doubling the promontory of Malea,
the renown of its mythical history, and the peculiar vigour of the
inhabitants, had carried their activity to such a height, as to give their
island an importance in the history of Greece which will ever be
remarkable.
Though at Rhodes the amalgamation of the different nations produced an
uniform and consistent whole, this does not seem to have been the case at
CYRENE, which was corrupted by Ægyptian and Libyan influence. We have only
to notice the character of Pheretime, who from a Doric lady became an
eastern sultana. It is remarkable that another Doric female, viz.
Artemisia (whose father was of Halicarnassus, her mother of Crete(1896)),
obtained a similar situation. In the mother-country, however, there is
after the fabulous times hardly any instance of women being at the head
either of Doric or other cities.(1897)
We have already spoken as much as our object required of the Doric town of
CROTON(1898) in Italy; and several times touched on the decay of the Doric
discipline and manners at TARENTUM. Their climate, which was very
different from that of Greece,(1899) and the manners of the native tribes,
must have had a very considerable share in changing the characters of
these two cities; as the Tarentines did not subjugate only and slaughter
the inhabitants (like the Carbinates), but received them within the limits
of their large city, and gave them the rights of citizenship, by which
means those words which we call Roman, but which were probably common to
all the Siculians,(1900) were introduced into the Tarentine dialect.
In the MESSENIAN state, as restored by Epaminondas, the ancient national
manners were (according to Pausanias(1901)) still retained; and the
dialect remained up to the time of that author the purest Doric that was
spoken in Peloponnesus. The reason of this either was, that the Helots who
remained in the country, and doubtless formed the larger part of the new
nation, had obtained the Doric character, or that the exiles had during
their long banishment really preserved their ancient language, as we know
to have been the case with the Naupactians in more ancient times.(1902)
This the Messenians, who dwelt among the Euesperitæ of Libya, might have
done, as they resided among Dorians; but it was less easy for the
Messenians of Sicily,(1903) and wholly impossible for those of Rhegium. In
the people of Rhegium in general there appears to have been little of the
Doric character;(1904) nor probably in real truth among the later
Messenians, however they might have endeavoured to bring back the ancient
times.
Since we have frequently considered DELPHI as belonging to the number of
the Doric cities, on a supposition that it was the seat of an ancient
Doric nobility (although the people was chiefly formed of naturalized
slaves of the temple), we have finally to observe on the character of the
Delphians, that their early degeneracy (which even Æsop is said to have
strongly reproved) is a phenomenon which has frequently taken place among
the people residing in the immediate neighbourhood of national
sanctuaries. The number and variety of strangers flocking together; the
continual fumes of the altars, from which the natives were fed without
labour or expense;(1905) the crowds of the market, in which jugglers and
impostors of all kinds earned their subsistence,(1906) and the large
donatives which Crœsus, with other monarchs and wealthy men, had
distributed among the Delphians, necessarily produced a lazy, ignorant,
superstitious, and sensual people; and cast a shade over the few traces of
a nobler character, which can be discovered in the events of earlier
times.
APPENDICES.
Appendix V. On the Doric Dialect.
1. The ancient grammarians divided the Greek language into four distinct
branches—the Doric, Ionic, Attic, and Æolic; the latter including all
dialects not comprised under the other three heads, because only one
branch of it, the Lesbian, was the written language of one species of
poetry: and yet this latter division must unquestionably have contained
different species less connected with each other than with some branches
of the other three dialects. It is, however, pretty well agreed that the
several Æolic dialects together contained more remains of the primitive
Grecian or (if we will so call it) Pelasgic language, than either the
Doric, Ionic, or Attic; and that at the same time many forms of the latter
were preserved with great fidelity in the Latin tongue; partly because the
life of the Italian husbandmen bore a nearer resemblance to that of the
ancient Greeks than that of the later Greeks themselves, and because
neither their literature, nor any fastidious sense of euphony and rhythm,
induced them to soften and refine their language. But of the more polished
dialects, that of Homer, though differing in many points, yet in others
doubtless closely resembled the original language, which must once have
been spoken from Thessaly to Peloponnesus, and was variously metamorphosed
in the Doric, Ionic, and Attic dialects. Thus, for example, the genitive
case of the second declension, in the ancient form, was ΟΙΟ, which was
preserved in the Thessalian dialect,(1907) perhaps also in the
Bœotian,(1908) and in Latin I or EI is also perceivable; whilst in the
Doric Ω and the Attic ΟΥ this vowel was entirely lost. The nominative of
masculines of the first declension in Α belongs to the Latin, Homeric,
Dryopian, Thessalian, Bœotian, Macedonian, and Elean dialects. In the
Doric it was probably of rare occurrence, and more accidental.(1909) The
Æolic dialect, which was spoken in Bœotia, likewise contains remarkable
traces of an ancient Pelasgic language, and has striking coincidences with
the Latin: thus in the ancient Bœotian inscriptions the dative of the
first declension ends in ΑΕ. Gradually, however, it departed from this
language, as the diphthongs ΑΙ and ΟΙ, which anciently were written ΑΕ and
ΟΕ, were changed into Η and Υ: and thus almost all the vowels and
diphthongs received a new form. On the other hand, we must be cautious of
supposing the Latin to be the ancient form, in cases where a transmutation
of letters has already taken place. The following is a remarkable example
to this effect. ΟΠΩ, from whence “the eye,” ὄππα in the Æolic
dialect,(1910) ὄφθος in the Elean,(1911) ὄπτιλος in the Spartan. In other
dialect, ὄκκος, hence ὄκταλλος in the Bœotian, in the Latin _oculus_,
where Π and Κ bear the same relation to each other as in the words πέτυρες
(Æolic) _quatuor_, πέμπτος, _quintus_, ποῖ, _quo_, πόθι, _alicubi_.
Moreover the Latin has a very large number of words derived from the
Campanian and Doric Greeks, which must be distinguished from the primitive
Greek dialect.
2. These remarks are merely premised in order to point out the authorities
upon which all investigations into the form of the most ancient language
of the Greeks should be founded. We have already intimated our dissent
from those who, in opposition to Pausanias,(1912) suppose the Doric to
have been the native dialect of Peloponnesus, not only disallowing the
claim of the Dorians to its introduction, but even denying that they were
the first to adopt it. This supposition would leave us without any means
of explaining how the dialect of the Dorians of Peloponnesus agreed in so
many peculiar idioms with that of their fellow-countrymen in Crete, the
close and general connexion between the two being of an earlier date than
the Doric invasion of Peloponnesus. The ancient Peloponnesian dialect was
certainly that language which may be recognized in the Latin and in Homer,
many of the peculiarities of which occur indeed, but many of the most
essential are not found, in the Doric dialect. This latter dialect was,
however, very widely diffused over that peninsula by the preponderance of
the Dorians, being not merely adopted by the Helots (who even at Naupactus
spoke Doric), the Orneatæ,(1913) the Laconian Periœci, and the Attic
inhabitants of Colonides;(1914) but even by the independent Arcadians,
who, according to Strabo, used indeed the Æolic dialect, but were
generally supposed to adopt the Doric (δωρίζειν), as also did
Philopœmen.(1915) Unfortunately we have little information respecting the
dialect of the Arcadians, our chief guide being the names of their towns,
in which several Dorisms occur; as, for instance, Καφυαὶ (from Κηφεὺς),
Νᾶσοι, Ἀνεμῶσα (ἀνεμόεσσα), and some anomalous forms, such as Λαδοκέα for
Λαοδικέα, Θελποῦσα for Τιλφοῦσσα, Dor. Τιλφῶσσα, Κραρεῶτις, a tribe of
Tegea, for Κλαρεῶτις.(1916) The Eleans, on the other hand, spoke nearly
pure Doric; which is shown indeed by their use of the digamma,(1917) by
their broad accent, and the Ω in the genitive case; but chiefly by the
frequent use of Ρ, which, besides the ΤΟΙΡ, ΤΙΡ in the well-known treaty
of the Eleans,(1918) is also proved by the Elean forms δίκαρ (for δίκας or
δικαστὴς), οὗτορ, ἵππορ and similar forms, whence the Eleans were called
βαρβαρόφωνοι.(1919) Moreover, the Apollo Θέρμιος of the Eleans was the
same as Apollo Θέσμιος, in Attic Greek.(1920) Eretria was founded by
Eleans in conjunction with other Greeks, whence the frequent use of the Ρ
in that town;(1921) and from this city the neighbouring Chalcideans also
adopted it;(1922) whilst among the Carystians another peculiarity of the
Spartan Elean dialect prevailed, in the change of Θ into Σ.(1923) The
Eretrians, however, received from the Eleans another peculiarity of the
pure Doric, viz. the use of the aspirate in the place of Σ; and imparted
it to the Oropians, their neighbours, and sometimes their subjects, on the
other side of the strait.(1924) Thus it is evident that the dialect of the
Eleans was very similar, nay, almost akin, to the Spartan. Now it is very
improbable that this strict observance of the Doric dialect should have
been learnt by mere intercourse, since on no side were they in immediate
contact with Dorians. It is much more probable that the Ætolians, who
conquered Elis, used, from their vicinity to the Dorians, the same
dialect: that they spoke Doric in later times, is proved by the testimony
of ancient authors and monuments extant;(1925) and the same was also the
language of the inhabitants of the ancient Epirus Proper.(1926) It seems,
therefore, that this dialect was formed in the northern and mountainous
districts of Greece, particularly in the vicinity of mount Pindus, from
whence the Dorians brought it in their migration to the more southern
parts of the country, where they were in consequence commonly regarded as
the race with whom it first originated.
3. To determine with any degree of precision how much climate and the
nature of the soil contributed to the formation of this dialect, would be
a matter of extreme difficulty; although the comparison of the
corresponding dialects of different languages with the various localities
in which each was formed may lead to several interesting observations.
There can be no doubt that a mountain life is favourable to the formation
of the pure, broad, and long vowels, such as Α and Ω; as also that a
residence in the lowlands and on the coast produces rather modifications
of the long vowels(1927) and short syllables. It should, however, be borne
in mind, that the influence of these causes upon language was in full
operation at one period only, when the organs generally evinced greater
pliancy in adapting themselves to the various peculiarities of situation.
In later times, Doric was spoken in maritime towns, as low German is now
in mountains and highlands. We must likewise remember, that not only the
country, but also the people, bore a distinct national character, the
influence of which upon their language must have been full as great as of
the former. The hypothesis that the ancient dialects were determined more
by internal than external influence, more by the nature of the men than
the influence of place, is confirmed by a remarkable passage of
Jamblichus,(1928) who had probably derived this sentiment from the schools
of the early Pythagoreans: he pronounces the Doric dialect to be the most
ancient and best, comparing it, on account of the sounding vowels with
which it abounded, to the enharmonic style of music, as he does the Ionic
and Æolic dialects to the chromatic style. The only meaning of this remark
can be, that the long vowels Α and Ω were pronounced in as clear and
marked a manner (particularly when, as was often the case, they were
circumflexed) as a bar separated by a double bar in the tetrachord strung
to the enharmonic pitch, so much used for music of the Doric style.(1929)
Otherwise a manly character is always attributed to the Doric
dialect:(1930) its fitness for solemn occasions and simple expression is
shown by the literary remains which have come down to us.
4. It cannot be expected that we should here enter into a minute
examination of all the peculiarities of the Doric dialect: the following
brief remarks will, it is hoped, be received as an attempt rather to set
forth the most remarkable features of the spoken language, than to explain
the niceties of the polished style used in writing and poetry. The
frequent use of Α prevailed indeed partially in the ancient dialect, and
in most cases the use of Η originated in the Ionic, which in this respect
bore nearly the same relation to the ancient Greek as the English language
does to the German.(1931) The broad pronunciation (πλατειασμὸς) of the
Dorians frequently, however, exceeded that of the ancient language, as may
be seen from the Latin. Thus φαγὸς, _fagus_—φάμα, _fama_—μᾶλον,
_malum_—ἀρχᾶς, _terras_ (genit.) κᾶρυξ, (_caduceus_), and the like, are
clearly the genuine ancient forms. On the other hand, the change from Α to
Η in the temporal augment existed in the most ancient Greek, as is evident
from _ago_, _ēgi_, _ἦγον_, _capio_, _cēpi_, &c. The Doric dialect,
however, here also used Α in the place of Η. I am not aware whether
another change very nearly coinciding with the latter has ever been
noticed, viz. the frequent use of the short Α for Η, especially in the
enclitics, as κᾶ (which however is long) for κε or ἂν, a form common to
all the Dorians, and in the same manner γα for γε,(1932) κα for the
correlative τε in τόκα, πόκα, ὅκα in Sophron, Theocritus, and others, to
which corresponds θα in πρόσθα, ἐξύπισθα (Alcman), ἔμπροσθα, ἄνωθα.(1933)
The same change is also observable in ἅτερος for ἕτερος, τράφω for
τρέπω,(1934) Αρταμις(1935) for Αρτεμις, τάως, παραιτέρω, in the Cretan
dialect,(1936) τάμνω in the Heraclean Tables and elsewhere, σκιαρὸς,
φρασὶν, in Pindar; and innumerable examples of a similar kind. Η, either
as a contraction of ΕΕ, or a lengthening of Ε, occurs in many instances in
the place of ΕΙ in the other dialects (the reverse took place among the
Bœotians), as in ποίη, πλήων, μήων,(1937) ὄρηος, Λύκηος (Alcman), κοσμῆν,
κατοικῆν (Theocritus, and the Byzantine Decree in Demosthenes(1938)),
δήρας for δείρας in the treaty of the Latians in Crete,(1939) χῆρες in
Cretan, and also used by Alcman, κῆνος or τῆνος in Alcman and others;
πεπόνθης, ἀπολώλη Theocritus and the Heraclean tables: and thus in
contractions from ΑΕΙ, Η has frequently preponderated over Α, as in the
pure Doric form ὁρῆν,(1940) ἡ καρδία παδῆ Sophron;(1941) although it must
also be allowed that the diphthong ΑΕ was contracted into Η, as in ὅρη,
&c. ἦραι for ἆραι,(1942) and ἐνίκη for ἐνίκαε in a Laconian inscription in
Leake’s Morea, vol. III. Inscript. n. 71.:(1943) to which instances we
should probably add the following cases of crasis, κἠν, κἠπὶ, κἠκ. The
reverse of this, which we find in the words πει in Sophron,(1944) and ὅπει
in a Corcyrean inscription(1945) for πῆ and ὄπη, is a remarkable variety.
The Dorians, consistently with their love for the pure and long Α, were
equally partial to the Ω. This letter frequently forms the original sound,
as in the accusative case Ἀργείως, _Argivos_; and hence the abbreviated
form θεὸς for θεὼς in Cretan and Coan(1946) inscriptions, and in
Theocritus, was probably formed by an elision of the characteristic vowel,
as δεσποτᾶς in the first declension. We frequently also find use made of
the vowel Ω as a prolongation of Ο, instead of the common form ΟΥ,
produced by the elision of consonants: thus in the form of the participle
feminine in ωσα, used in Crete and Peloponnesus, and also in the Heraclean
Tables, whilst the softer form in οισα, where οι was also derived from οντ
(as in the third person plural ναίοισιν, and in the masculine participle
τύψαις), was perhaps peculiar to Sicily. Ο also, when followed by Ε,
overpowers the latter letter, and is changed into Ω, as for instance in
Κοιλῶσσα (a mountain near Phlius), λωτρὸν, ὑπνῶν for ὑπνόεν, Laconian
forms in Aristophanes, παμῶχος, and similar words in the Heraclean Tables;
though whether this is the case when the Ε precedes the Ο is doubtful, for
in εὐορκῶσι and similar forms in Cretan inscriptions, it is ΕΩ, not ΕΟ,
which is contracted into Ω. In this case ΕΟ is generally contracted into
ΕΥ, or it is changed into ΙΟ, as ΕΩ into ΙΩ; thus μογίομες, λυχνοφορίοντες
in the Lysistrata of Aristophanes (according to the old reading), ἐπαινιῶ,
ὀμιώμεθα ib., ανιοχιων for ἡνιοχέων in the Laconian inscription in Leake,
No. 71. with which compare ἐμμενιῶ in the oath of the Latians, πραξίομεν
in the decree of the Istionians, and παμωχιῶ in the Heraclean
Tables.(1947) In the above cases there is no reason for assuming any other
changes, than from ΕΟ into ΙΟ and ΕΩ into ΙΩ, as the Dorians appear to
have been very unwilling to tolerate Ε with Ο; the short Ι, however,
before the lengthened Ο must have been particularly suited to their ears.
The long Α in Ἀλκμὰν, Ἀτρείδα, Ἀγησίλας, πρᾶτος was without doubt a thick
sound between Α and Ο, for which there was no distinct character. The
Spartan dialect frequently has ΟΥ for Υ (which change regularly occurs in
the Bœotian dialect), as δίφουρα for γέφυρα (Hesychius in v.), φούἱξ for
φυσίγξ (Valck. ad Adoniaz, p. 276.), μουσίδδω for μυθίζω (ibid. p. 279.),
φούαξιρ (vol. I. p. 384. note f.), μοῦκορ for μυχὸς (Koen p. 343.),
καμπούληρ, a species of olive-tree (in Hesychius), derived, I believe,
from κάμπτων ὕλην, κάρουα for κάρυα (Hesych. in v.); οὐδραίνει,
περικαθαίρει according to Hesych. for ὑδραίνει, τούνη for σὺ (Hesych.),
ἀπεσσούα for ἀπεσύν in the letter of Hippocrates (compare Coray ad Plut.
Alcib. 28.). ΟΙ for Υ is only found in Ποίθιοι, according to Photius.
5. The consonants in the Doric dialect were in some cases so brought
together as to give the words a roughness which was avoided in other
dialects, and consequently it possessed more of that ancient fulness of
consonants which was preserved with greater fidelity in the Latin language
than in the Greek; partly from the neglect of that law, which was so
constantly observed by all the dialects of the Greek, that every word
should end either with a vowel or semi-vowel. The Doric has at least the
ancient form of the participle τιθὲνς (Lat. _ns_, in ancient Gothic
_ants_), which is quoted as a Cretan and Argive form;(1948) and the
preposition ἐνς for _in_ with the accusative (_into_), which in other
dialects was changed into εἰς; but in the Doric it became, by the omission
of the final Σ, ἐν in the sense of _into_, as in Crete and in
Pindar,(1949) although Cretan inscriptions of considerable antiquity have
εἰς, which appears to have been the usual Laconian form. Thus also the
Cretans and Argives formed the future in σπένσω, merely throwing out δ, as
a τ is properly omitted in τιθένς.(1950) The Rhegians adopted the same
usage from the Messenians.(1951) It is clear that the organs of the
ancient Doric race were better fitted for this rough pronunciation than
the more delicate ones of the other Greeks, who even changed the Roman
_Hortensius_ into Ὁρτήσιος. The same remark may be applied to the word
μάκαρς in Alcman (fragm. 66.), and some similar forms.
Another more striking characteristic of the Doric dialect is the aversion
to Σ, the σὰν κίβδαλον; hence the Doric lyric poets, Lasus and others,
wrote poems without that letter; a practice in direct contradiction with
the partiality shown by the Ionians for that sound. To this principle may
be traced various other peculiarities: first, the interchange of Σ and Τ,
which, however, is on the whole merely a relic of the original dialect, as
in the adjectives ἐνιαύτιος and πλούτιος,(1952) in τὺ or τοὺ, _tu_, in
τέσσαρες, _quatuor_, in the third persons δίδωτι, φατὶ, which still retain
this form in Sanscrit (while in the Latin and German languages T is always
the last letter of this third person). Also in the name of Neptune the
Doric was doubtless the original form, having the same root as πόντος,
ποταμός; the original form was Ποτίδας (in Epicharmus and Sophron(1953)),
and the Megarian in Aristophanes says Ποτείδας; so also the Corinthians;
and hence their colony Ποτειδαία,(1954) Ποτειδᾶν (from Ποτειδάων) was the
Spartan and the Rhodian form.(1955) It is singular that in some cases the
Dorians also used Σ for Τ, as σᾶτες for τῆτες,(1956) corresponding to
which we find σάμερον in Pindar, Theocritus, and the Tarentine dialect (a
word, according to Hesychius, synonymous with νῦν); the σὰ for τὰ of the
Megarians, and this latter for τίνα is the same change.(1957) It was this
aversion to Σ, noticed above, which led the Spartans in the double
consonants ΣΤ, ΣΚ, ΣΠ, to reject the Σ and double the other consonant;
hence the Laconian forms κτίτταρ for κτίστης, ἐττὰν for ἐς τὰν, ἀμπίτταρ
for ἀμφιστὰς,(1958) ἀκκὸρ for ἀσκὸς.(1959) Valckenær lays down the
following rule: “_literam_ Σ _Lacones in sequentem consonantem non
liquidam mutant_;” and of this change he finds traces in the Tarentine
dialect, to which we may add, that Hecate, according to Hesychius, was
there called ἄφραττος, _i.e._ ἄφραστος. The most interesting example of
this change in the Spartan dialect is the form ἄττασι for ἀνάστηθι
(derived from ΑΝΤΤΑΣΙ), in which word more than three Laconisms are
discernible. With this point is immediately connected the change of Ζ,
_i.e._ ΣΔ into ΔΔ, for instance in verbs in ζω, _Laconice_—δδω, many
instances of which occur in the Lysistrata and Acharneans of Aristophanes.
There is no evidence of the same change occurring in verbs whose
characteristic is Γ; although the Dorians were induced by analogy and a
partiality to the letter Ξ to introduce the termination ξω, where the
characteristic letter was not Γ but Δ, which is evident by the formation
of the substantive καθίππαξις (as should be read in Hesychius for
καθίπταξις), δεικηλίκτας, &c.(1960) Even in the Laconian dialect, however,
the soft sound of ΣΔ is used instead of ΔΔ, as ἀγίσδεο, μελισδόμενος,
τράπεσδα in Alcman, and in the pretended apophthegm of Lycurgus, ἂν πτωχοὶ
μένητε καὶ μὴ μέσδω (_i.e._ μείζω) ἅτερος θατέρω ἐράῃ κτῆμεν.(1961) It
would however be erroneous to suppose, with regard to the mode in which
this transition was effected, that the sound of Ζ, when already formed,
passed into ΔΔ or ΣΔ. The ancient dialect appears to have had a separate
Δ, pronounced with a peculiar compression of the mouth; the Dorians in
several cases, agreeing with the Ionians, added the Σ, and formed either
Ζ, where the sounds were more combined, or ΣΔ. In other cases the Dorians
merely gave additional force to the Δ. With the Æolians there was scarce
any distinction between the harsh and the common Δ, as in Δεὺς for Ζεὺς,
δυγὸς for ζυγὸς &c.; in the same manner Ζεὺς in the Latin became _Deus_,
ῥίζα _radix_, ὄζω _odor_,(1962) and hence the long Ζ was wanting in that
language; but the peculiarity of the original sounds of this consonant is
evident from the circumstance that the Latins substituted for it I; for
example in _jugum_ from ζυγὸς, _major_ from μείζων, &c.; in like manner
the Æolic dialect interchanged δια and ζα, καρζὰ, καρδία.(1963) The change
of the last letters of verbs ending in -σσω into -ζω in the Tarentine
dialect, instead of ττω like the other Dorians, as ἀνάζω for ἀνάσσω, is
quite peculiar to that town.(1964)
6. Another mode of avoiding the sound of Σ was to omit it altogether. This
suppression was made at an early date in the third person plural, which
consequently retained a nearer resemblance to the original form in the
Doric than in the Ionico-Attic dialect, in which the preservation of Σ
soon caused the ΝΤ to be dropped. Examples of this, as πεινῶντι,
ἀποδίδωντι, κεχάναντι, αἰνέοντι (_bhavanti_, in Sanscrit, corresponding to
the ancient high German _ant_; the Bœotians wrote -ωνθι, -ανθι) are found
in all the Doric inscriptions; yet Alcman uses the termination -ουσι as
well as the ancient form. Sometimes this elision of σ lengthened the
preceding vowel, as in Πηρεφονεία Lacon. for Περσεφονεία, according to
Hesychius, with which we may compare πῆριξ for πέρδιξ in the Cretan
dialect (ibid.); also πρειγεύτας, πρείγιστος, πρειγηία in Cretan
inscriptions for πρεσβεύτης, &c.; the Argives also used Γ for Β in
πέργεις. (See Hesychius.) Concerning the omission of Σ before Φ, _e.g._,
φὶν for σφὶν, in the Laconic dialect, see Koen p. 254.; the Syracusans
changed the place of the Σ, and converted ΣΦΙΝ into ΦΣΙΝ, _i.e._ ψίν. This
aversion to Σ also appeared in the substitution of the aspirate for this
consonant, in which change the pure Doric dialect is directly at variance
with the Latin, in which the aspirate was often replaced by Σ, for
example, ἅλς, _sal_, ἡμι, _semi_, ὕλϜη, sylva,(1965) &c. The Laconians, on
the other hand, used μῶἁ, instead of μῶσα, and on the same principle
μωἱκὰ, _music_, as also in the participles κλεῶἁ, ἐκλιπῶἁ, &c, to which we
may add ὅρμαὁν for ὅρμησον, as in Aristophanes; also ποιῆἁς, πᾶἁ, βίὡρ for
ἵσως,(1966) βουὅα for βουσόα;(1967) the same usage also prevailed among
the Argives, as we learn from Dercyllus, among the Eretrians, who borrowed
it from the Eleans, and also among the Pamphylians; with whom several
Argive and Rhodian peculiarities of dialect appear to have been
preserved.(1968) Lastly, with this aversion to Σ is connected the
rhotacismus, which we have already observed in the Spartan and Elean
dialect, and of which the interpreters of the decree against
Timotheus,(1969) particularly Casaubon, have collected many examples. Of
these I will only cite ἐπιγελαστὴρ, _the mocker_; καλλίαρ, _an ape_
(Hesych. in vv. comp. Boeckh Exp. Pind. Pyth. II. p. 251); κιλλακτὴρ, _an
ass-driver_ (Pollux VII. 13. 56.); σάριρ, _a palm-branch_ (Hesych.); τίρ,
τίς, (ib. and in the Elean Rhetra), παλαιὸρ (Aristoph. Lys. 988.), σιὸρ
θεὸς, πὸρ ποῦς, νέκυρ νέκυς, βόμβυρ _a kind of flute_ (Hesych. in vv.).
Whether in the oblique cases Σ could always be changed into Ρ is
uncertain, since, besides the Elean Rhetra, no genuine monument, and only
a few and obscure glosses, afford any information on the point. However,
ἀμ᾽ ἀρκᾶρ for ἀπ᾽ ἀρχᾶς (according to Koen’s conjecture ad Gregor. p.
283.) is an instance, as also the Cretan τέορ for σοῦ (Hesych.), where the
pronoun is declined, as ἐμοῦς, ἐμέος, ἐμεῦς in Epicharmus.(1970) We may
observe that generally the Latin is in this respect very different from
the pure Doric; though it resembles it in some words. Thus the Laconian
ἀκτὴρ is the Latin _actor_, and in _gubernator_ we see the Doric form
κυβερνατὴρ, and so in other instances.(1971)
7. Notwithstanding this _fuga sibili_—this aversion to the Σ—to which
almost all the changes mentioned in the last two sections may be
traced—yet the Doric dialects always retained in the first person plural
the final Σ from the ancient language (as is proved by the Latin
-_mus_);(1972) and Laconians, Megarians, and Doric Sicilians said ἥκομες,
ἀπορέομες, &c. It does not appear that in the Doric dialect any original
consonant passed into Σ, except Θ; and this change probably arose from a
desire to soften the harsh sound of the aspirate. Instances of this
Laconism in Alcman (Ἀσᾶναι, ἔσηκε, σάλλεν, σαλασσομέδοισαν), in the
Lysistrata (ἤνσε, ἔλση, σιγεῖν, μουσίδδειν, &c.), and the grammarians
(_e.g._ σὶνκασεύδει, κασαίρηὁν, for καθαίρησον, according to Koen,
κασαρεύειν, according to Valckenær) are well known, and particularly σεῖος
ἀνήρ; comp. Valckenær, p. 277, sqq. who has treated this point with great
ability. Also in Hesychius, συμβουαδεῖ, ὑπερμαχεῖ (for συμβοηθεῖ) we
should probably write συμβουασεῖ (otherwise Hemsterhuis), and κασελατίσαι,
καθίσαι, ibid. is from ἕλλα, ἕλα, κάθεδρα, _sella_; whence ἑλατίζειν,
καθελατίζειν, _sedere facio_. In this respect the colonists of Sparta at
Tarentum did not follow the idiom of their mother city; as they said
θυλακίζειν, not συλακίζειν, _to beg_:(1973) the Rhodians also retained the
original Θ in ἐρυθίβη (Strabo XIII. p. 613. Eustath. ad Il. α. 34.): in
Cretan this change only occurs in σεῖναι for θεῖναι in Hesychius, and in
σίος in the treaty of the Olontians: for Corinth may be cited Σίσυφος for
Θεόσοφος, according to Phavorinus, p. 403. Dindorf; for Sicyon perhaps
σειρὸν, θέριστρον, Hesych. and also στίαι for θριαὶ, Schol. Apoll. R.h.
II. 1172. That the Eleans were acquainted with this variety has been shown
above.
8. In general the Dorians had less inclination to aspirated consonants
than the other tribes of Greece, and therefore in many respects their
dialect remained nearer to the primitive language. Thus the Lacedæmonians
and Cretans said ἀμπὶ for ἀμφὶ (Koen ad Greg. p. 344), the latter in the
derivative ἀμπέτιξ, the former in ἀμπέσαι, (above, p. 332, note f.
[Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote to “orthography,” starting “For
instance, ΜΟΥΣΩ.”]) in ἀμπίτταρ (p. 35, note a. [Transcriber’s Note: This
is the footnote to “ἀμπίτταρες,” starting “I. q. ἀμφιστάντες.”]) ἀμπίθυρον
in Hesychius; ἀμφαρμένη, δίκελλα, Hesych. _utrinque aptata_, makes an
exception. So also the Thessalians called the river Ἀμφίρρυσος, Ἀμβίρρυσος
(Schol. Apoll. Rh. I. 51); and the same, according to the general rule
(vol. I. p. 3, note g.), must be Macedonian and Latin. Some instances of Κ
for Χ in the Cretan, Laconian, and Sicilian dialect, see in Koen p. 340,
sqq.; Pindar’s δέκεσθαι is probably also Doric, as well as in the
Heraclean Tables. According to Hesychius in εὔπλουτον, the Dorians called
the baskets in which the οὐλοχύται were carried ὀλβακήια, where ὀλβὰ is
οὐλὴ, and the termination -κήια is probably formed from χέω, unless (as is
probable) we should correct -χήια here and in the word ὀλβάχιον, where
Deinolochus (the Sicilian) is quoted as authority. (Compare Suidas in
δερβιστήρ.) The aspirate by itself is absent from the words ἀγέομαι,(1974)
ἀγησίχορος and the names Ἆγις, Ἀγήσανδρος, Ἀγησίπολις, and Ἀγησίλαος (Ion.
Ἡγησίλεως); originally perhaps all these names had the digamma, as Βαγὸς,
a general _Lacon._ in Hesychius. The aspirate was also neglected by the
Lacedæmonians in the pronoun ἀμὲς, ἀμῶν;(1975) as well as by the Cretans,
as is evident from the words ΠΟΡΤΑΜΕ, _i.e._ πορτὶ ἀμὲ, in an inscription
(Chishull, p. 115. 10.), and by the Dorians. In the word ἰάλλω likewise
the lene breathing is Doric, as is shown by ἀπιάλλειν in Thucyd. V. 77:
and the Syracusan name Ἐπιάλης (Demetrius περὶ Ἑρμηνείας, § 157. Eustath.
ad Il. ε᾽. p. 571. Rom.). On the other hand the digamma was retained
nearly as much among the Lacedæmonians and other Dorians, as by most of
the Æolians; among the Dorians, however, it generally assumed the form of
Β. See Etymol. M. p. 308. 26. Gudian. p. 104. 12. I will only cite a few
examples. The Laconian word for “splendour” was βέλα, Ϝέλα (Hesychius),
_i.e._ ἕλη, whence by the prefix α, signifying an union or number, the
word ἀβελιος (ΑϜΕΛΙΟΣ) was formed, literally “a collection or mass of
brightness;” the Cretan and Pamphylian name for the sun (Hesychius;
compare Hemsterhuis ad Hesych. in θάβακον).(1976) The Greek or Æolic word
for the “ear” was αὖας, in Latin _auris_, in Doric ὦϜας (like καππώτας for
καταπαύτης), whence the Laconian word ἐξωβάδια (_i.e._ ἐξωϜάτια) ἐνώτια,
in Hesychius. In ὠατωθήσω, ἀκούσομαι, Doric according to Photius, the
digamma is lost, as well as in the Tarentine contraction ἆτα, Hesychius.
From the root ΔΑΙϜΩ, _to burn_, are derived the Laconian forms δάβει,
καύεται (vulg. κάθηται, otherwise Hemsterhuis), ἐκδάβη, ἐκαύθε; δάβελος,
δαλὸς in Hesychius; also τῦρ δάϜιον in Alcman, fragm. 76. ed. Welcker. In
Crete also we find the forms ἀβηδὼν for ἀηδὼν, βαλικιώτης for ἡλικιώτης,
βαίκα for αἴκα or ἐὰν (Hesychius and Koen ad Greg. p. 251.); according to
the same grammarian the Cretans called their shields λαῖβαι, _i.e._ LÆVÆ,
_the left_; thus by a reverse analogy the Greeks said παρ᾽ ἀσπίδα for “to
the left.” The Laconian word for “the dawn,” was ΑϜΩΣ (also retained in
μιργάβωρ, λυκόφως, Hesych. _i.e._ μισγ-άϜως), among the other Greeks ΗΩΣ:
and as from the latter form the name of the east-wind εὖρος was derived
(answering to ζέφυρος, ὃς ἐκ ζόφου πνεῖ), so from the Doric ἄϜως came the
word αὖρα, which had in this dialect the peculiar sense of “morning;”
hence ἐναύρω πρωῒ, Κρῆτες, and ἀβὼ, Λάκωνες, Hesychius. At Argos the
digamma occurs in ὤβεα for ᾠὰ (_ova_) Hesych.; at Hermione a double
digamma in βεῦδος for ἕδος, ἄγαλμα, Etymol. M. p. 195. 52.; at Syracuse in
ἔβασον for ἔασον, which was also a Laconian form, ib. p. 308. 26. Hesych.
9. If we except the changes of the vowels, semivowels, and aspirates,
there are not many others peculiar to the Doric dialect, since the _mediæ_
and _tenues_ were seldom inverted, and not often letters which are not
cognate. It is worthy of remark that the Dorians frequently changed both Β
and Γ into Δ, the former in δέλτον, _good_, compared with βέλτιον, and
ὀδελὸς for ὀβελός;(1977) the latter in δᾶ for γᾶ, δένος for γένος, δίφουρα
for γέφυρα in Laconian, δεῦκος for γλυκὺς in Ætolian, which likewise was
preserved in the Latin _dulcis_.(1978) I should also remark that πέδα for
μετὰ is pure Doric, as is proved by Alcman ap. Athen. X. p. 416 A. the
Laconian word πέδευρα, ὕτερον, in Hesychius, πεδάϜοικοι for μέτοικοι in an
Argive inscription (Boeckh. No. 14.), and the Corcyræan inscription in
Mustoxidi, tom. II. p. 70. (as it appears.)
The Doric dialect is also marked by a strong tendency to the omission of
letters both in composition and flexion. In composition the prepositions
κατὰ, ἀνὰ, ποτὶ become monosyllables by the suppression of the last vowel:
and even with the first syllable short in καβαίνων, Alcman. fragm. 34.
κάπετον, Pindar. Olymp. VIII. 48. compare Hesychius in κάβλημα and κάβασι.
The Venus ἀμβολογήρα of Sparta (Pausan. III. 18. 1.) has been already
explained from ἀναβάλλειν τὸ γῆρας, as also Ζεὺς καππώτας (ib. III. 22.
1.) as Ζεὺς καταπαύτης. Κάκκη, κάθευδε, _Laconice_ in Hesychius, shortened
by apocope from κάκκησι, _i.e._ κατάκειθι, as ἔμβη for ἔμβησι in Aristoph.
Lys. 1303. In conjugation the Dorians frequently shortened the ancient
longer forms by apocope, and not, like the other cases, by contraction; as
in the infinitives δόμεν for δόμεμαι, εἶμεν or ἦμεν for ἤμμενκι, &c. the
uncontracted form being seldom used, as ἤμεναι Aristoph. Ach. 775.,
ἀλεξέμεναι, Thucyd. V. 77., or the contracted, as σκιρωθῆναι in Sophron.
ap. Etym. M. p. 717, ext. and in Alcman. fragm. 23, Welcker is probably
right in changing χαρῆθαι into χαρῆναι. Also the shortened third persons
of the aorists, διέγνον in the Heraclean Tables, ἔδον (Corp. Inscript. No.
1511.), ἀνέθεν (ib. No. 29.), διελέγεν in the decree of the Oaxians,
διελέγην in that of the Istronians; as well as the infinitives in εν and
the second persons in ες, for ειν and εις, and many other similar changes.
The forms εἴμειν, γεγόνειν are not merely Agrigentine; the former also
occurs in an inscription (probably of Rhodes) in Chandler, p. 14. No. 38:
the Sicilian adverbs τῶ, τουτῶ (τουτῶ θάμεθα Sophron. fragm. 34. Mus.
Crit. vol. II. p. 347.) for πόθεν, τουτόθεν, also come under this head.
Ammonius adds πῦς for πόσε and ποῖ for πόθε.
10. With regard to the differences of syntax, we may remark that the
article was much used by the Dorians; as is evident from several passages
in the Spartan choruses in the Lysistrata of Aristophanes.(1979) It may be
also observed that the article occurs very frequently in all the early
monuments of Doric nations;(1980) and that in the Doric poetry,
particularly of Alcman, it was first introduced into the literature of
Greece: the earlier language having been quite destitute of it. Hence
perhaps it may be inferred that it was the Dorians who introduced the
general use of the article; which would afford some idea of the changes
which the Greek language experienced in consequence of the revolution
caused by the Doric invasion.
Every dialect has peculiar words; but it is remarkable when these are
radical forms, expressing very common ideas, and when they are quite
foreign to the other dialects of the same language. This at least is true
of the Laconian word χάος, χάϊος, ἀχαῖος, “good” (Aristoph. Lys. 90, 1157.
Hesychius in ἀχαία, where Heinsius would without reason omit the α,
Theocrit. VII. 4.), of κόος, “large” (Etymol. M. p. 396. 29.), which words
stand quite isolated in the common language: also λῆν, “to wish” (Koen. p.
252. Maittaire p. 278.), and μάω, “I think,” “I seek,” are pure Doric
forms; the latter a Laconian and Sicilian word, see Toup Emend, in Suid.
vol. I. p. 462. Meineke Euphorion. p. 162.(1981)
11. As yet we have considered the Doric dialect in general, as spoken by
the whole race, only marking out the Laconian as its purest variety; we
will now annex a brief list of those shades of difference which can be
perceived in the language of the several states. The broad peculiarities
of the Doric dialect of _Laconia_ are partly known from the remains of
Alcman (who however avoided in his poetry such harsh forms as μῶἁ for
μῶσα, λιπῶἁ for λιπῶσα or λιποῖσα, and never uses Σ for Ρ, &c.); and more
fully from the Spartans in the Lysistrata. On comparing these with the
Spartan and Argive treaty in Thucydides V. 77., there is indeed a general
agreement; yet in this document the contractions ἀναιροῦντας,
πεντηκονταέτη, δοκῇ, πόλει (but πολίεσι and αὐτοπόλιες), also ἐρίζοι and
δικάζεσθαι, together with ως in the accusative of the substantives, but
ους of the adjectives, can hardly be considered as pure Doric; nor is
there any instance of the change of Σ into the aspirate, and Σ for Θ only
in the word σιῶ. With regard to the indiscriminate use of Ω and ΟΥ our
copies of Thucydides are not much authority: for these two sounds were not
distinguished in the writing of the time, being both expressed by Ο; and
it is probable that some forms have been modified either by Thucydides or
his copyists, or both. On the whole, however, it is probable that the
popular dialect of Peloponnesus, which is preserved in all its harshness
in the famous treaty of the Eleans, was about the time of the
Peloponnesian war softened down in public documents and treaties. Thus in
a Lacedæmonian inscription of later date, we still find the ancient forms
στατερας, αιγιναιος, αργυριο, Ϝικατι, δαρικος οκτακατιος, from a
restoration, but also χιλιους δαρ[ικους], Corp. Inscript. No. 1511. In the
Spartan decree preserved by Plutarch in his Life of Lysander c. 14., we
should probably write, ταῦτα ΚΑ δρῶντες τὰν εἰράναν ἔχοιτε, ἃ χρὴ ΔΟΝΤΕΣ
καὶ τὼς φυγάδας ἀνέντες. περὶ τᾶν ναῶν τῶ πλήθεος ὁκοῖόν τι ΚΑΤΗΝΕΙ
δοκέοι, ταῦτα ποιέετε, as has been partly emended by Haitinger Act. Monac.
vol. III. p. 311. In the time of Pyrrhus much of the ancient peculiarity
of the dialect was still in existence, although in the following saying
all the forms are not those of the ancient Laconian language, αἂ μὲν ἔσσι
τύ γε θεὸς, οὐδὲν μὴ πάθωμεν, οὐ γὰρ, ἀδικεῦμεν; αἂ δ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, ἔσεται
καὶ τεῦ κάρρων ἄλλος, Plutarch. Pyrrh. 26. The remains of it in the
decrees of the Eleutherolacones and Spartans in the time of the emperors
are less considerable. That the _Messenians_ retained the ancient idiom,
from ancient recollections, or perhaps from affectation, was remarked
above, p. 414, note c. [Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote to
“Messenians of Sicily,” starting “The coins.”] The _Argive_ dialect has
been more than once observed to agree with the Cretan, a correspondence
which may be even traced in unimportant particulars; thus the name of the
Argive βαλλαχράδαι (above, p. 355. note n [Transcriber’s Note: There is no
such footnote on that page.]), was derived from ἀχρὰς, which Hermonax ap.
Schol. Nicand. Ther. 512. calls a Cretan, and Hesychius a Laconian word.
The grammarians likewise particularly remark that in the Argive dialect Ι
was frequently changed into Ν, as in μέντον for μέντοι (Argive and Cretan,
Maittaire p. 255), αἰὲν, ἔννατος (Etymol. M. p. 402, 2.) φαεννὸς (see
Boeckh Not. crit. ad Pind. Olymp. I. 6.); the Sicilians in many cases made
the contrary change—the Rhegini, however, the same as the Argives (Etymol.
M. p. 135, 45. Gud. 73, 44.); which peculiarity they had evidently
borrowed from the Messenians. Dercyllus wrote in the ancient Argive
dialect; see Etymol. M. p. 391, 20. above, p. 385, note c. [Transcriber’s
Note: This is the footnote to “Ionians and Athenians,” starting “This is
only true.”] The _Cretan_ has a singularity which does not appear to have
been observed in any other dialect of Greece, viz. of changing λ before a
consonant and after ε or α into υ (analogous to the French forms _aumóne_,
_haubergeon_, &c. from the German _Almosen_, _Halsberge_, &c.); thus αὖσος
for ἄλσος, αὖμα for ἅλμα, likewise αὐκυόνα, αὔκαν; θεύγεσθαι and εὐθεῖν
for θέλγεσθαι and ἐλθεῖν, according to Hesychius, Koen. p. 354. The
Ætolian word δεῦκος also shows the same formation, as it comes from the
ancient root δέλκυς, _dulcis_. There is an analogous change in the Cretan
forms Πραῖσος from Πρῖανσος, and γεροίταν, πάππον (Hesych.) _i.e._ for
γέροντας from γέρων, and directly the reverse of that observed above in
the termination of the participles τιθὲνς, &c. where the Cretans retained
the ancient form τιθὲνς, which other Greeks softened into τιθεὶς, &c. The
Cretan βέντιον for βέλτιον is paralleled by the Sicilian forms ἦνθον and
φίντατος. The words peculiar to the Cretan town Polyrrhenia, such as
σέρτης “a crane,” ἅμαλλα “a partridge,” κόμβα “a crow,” (see also
Hesychius in κάρα and λάττα) are probably remains of an ancient Cydonian
language, having no affinity with the Greek. See Hoeck’s Kreta, vol. I. p.
146, note b. In the Cretan inscriptions of the beginning of the second
century before Christ, the ancient dialect is still preserved in some
words, but not regularly and constantly; peculiarities such as αὖσος no
longer appear: and if they were found in a writer named Cypselas, he must
have been of a much earlier date (Joann. Gramm. ad calc. H. Steph. Thes.
Gr. p. 13.). Some peculiarities of the Doric dialect of _Corinth_ and
_Sicyon_ have been noticed above; in general, however, we know little of
these dialects; but of the _Megarian_ we are better informed by means of
the Acharneans of Aristophanes, and this probably gives a tolerably
correct notion of the Doric of Peloponnesus, except Sparta. The Dryopians
of _Hermione_ also spoke Doric; at least an Hermionean inscription
contains such Dorisms as ἐπιδαμῶντι, ποττὰν πόλιν, τοὺς δὲ λαΐναν δόμεν
στάλαν, Boeckh No. 1193. and see others cited vol. I. p. 399, note y. The
_Rhodians_ still spoke Doric in the time of Tiberius (Sueton. Tiber. 56.),
and indeed, as Aristides de Conc. boasts, in great purity (see Meurs.
Rhod. II. 3.). Inscriptions of _Cos_ (in Spon), _Calymna_ (Chandler.
Inscript. p. 21. No. 58.), _Astypalæa_, and _Anaphæ_ (in Villoison’s
papers) are written in a Doric style, common in such monuments. The same
was also adopted by the _Æginetans_ after their re-establishment; see the
inscription in Æginetica, p. 136, and the remarks on it in p. 160. Among
the inscriptions of _Corcyra_, collected by Mustoxidi, a series might be
arranged according to the greater and less traces of the Doric dialect;
the large one in Boeckh’s Staatshaushaltung, vol. II. p. 400. contains
several peculiarities, as, _e.g._ the imperative δόντω. In a _Theræan_
inscription, containing the will of a certain Epicteta (Boeckh, No.
2448.), several pure Dorisms occur, as _e.g._ the accusative plural in ος,
the infinitives ἀγαγὲν, θύεν, (Eustathius ad Od. τ᾽. p. 706. 49. quotes
λέγες for λέγεις as Theræan); at the same time several peculiar forms,
such as ἐστάκεια, συναγαγόχεια; and upon the whole there is little archaic
in the language. But the _Byzantine_ dialect was in the time of Philip, as
we know from the decree in Demosthenes, rich in Dorisms: not so many occur
in the more recent inscription in Chandler Inscript. App. p. 95. No. 10.
How much of the language of the surrounding nations had been introduced
into the _Cyrenæan_ dialect cannot be determined: according to Hesychius
βρίκος was the Cyrenæan word for “ass;” which resembles the Spanish word
_borrico_; _both_ probably were derived from Africans. All that we know of
the _Tarentine_ dialect appears to have been taken from the Phlyaces of
Rhinthon, who lived in the time of Ptolemy the First; although very
different from the ancient Laconian dialect, it has many
peculiarities:(1982) but besides the vulgar language of Tarentum there was
also spoken a polished (Attic) dialect, which was alone used in public
transactions. See Dionys. Hal. Exc. p. 2239. ed. Reiske. With regard to
the exchange of words with the neighbouring Italian nations (above, p.
413, note z [Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote to “the Siculians,”
starting “_E.g._ besides.”]), it is sometimes doubtful which party
borrowed from the other. Thus Alcman uses πόλτος for _puls_; are we to
suppose that this word was so early brought over from Italy? Κάρκαρον is
used for “prison” by Sophron, for “stall” by Rhinthon: it is the same word
as the Latin _carcer_; but possibly _both_ are derived from the Laconian
word γέργυρα in Alcman. That the Italian _Heracleans_ should have
preserved the ancient language and writing to the fifth century after the
building of Rome so faithfully as the famous Heraclean Tables show us, is
very remarkable. At _Syracuse_ the dialect was nearly the same as that in
which Epicharmus and Sophron wrote: the laws of Diocles too were probably
drawn up in this dialect, but the circumstance of their requiring an
interpreter in the time of Timoleon is a proof of the rapid preponderance
of the Attic language in this city (B. III. ch. 9. § 7.). The language of
Sophron is also nearer to the common dialect, and less strictly Doric than
that spoken in Peloponnesus in his time; _e.g._, he always says τοὺς and
not τώς. On the spreading of the Doric dialect in Sicily see Castelli
Proleg. p. 25. We have not as yet touched on the _Delphic_ dialect, the
strong Doric character of which is proved by an inscription (Boeckh No.
1690.) in which ὀδελοὶ and τέτορες occur, and still more, as I believe, by
a monument of Olymp. 100. 1, which has futures such as ὀρκεξέω &c., the
infinitives ἀπογράψεν, φέρεν, and θύεν, αἴκα for ἐὰν, πάντεσσι,
ἱερομναμόνεσσι, διακάτιοι, ἐπικοσμήσωντι, ἐν for ἐς _adverbialiter_,
καττὰν, ἐνιαύτιος, πέμπωντι, ποττὸν (Boeckh No. 1688.). Besides this, all
the prose oracles given at Delphi were doubtless written in Doric; as
_e.g._ that in Demosth. in Mid. p. 531, and in Macart. p. 1072, that in
Thuc. V. 16. (—ἀργυρέᾳ εὐλάκᾳ εὐλάξειν, is, according to the scholiast, a
Laconian expression), and the oracle quoted in vol. I. p. 199. note p, ποῖ
τὺ λαβὼν καὶ ποῖ τὺ καθίξων καὶ ποῖ τὺ οἴκησιν (here the sense requires
ἀσφαλέως ἕξεις, ἐρωτᾷς, κελεύω...) ἁλιέα τε κεκλῆσθαι, which, however, was
probably written in hexameters, since the epic oracles sometimes show
traces of Dorisms (Herod. IV. 155, 157; compare that given to the
Lacedæmonians, ἁ φιλοχρηματία &c.). Plutarch (Pyth. Orac. 24. p. 289.)
quotes from ancient oracles the expression πυρίκαοι (_i.e._ πυρκέοι, as
the Delphians themselves were called, vol. I. p. 254. note b), ὀρεάνας for
ἄνδρας,(1983) ὀρεμπότας for ποτάμους; likewise κραταίπους (Schol. Pind.
Olymp. XIII. 114.) is probably from an oracle: from the Dorisms of the
vulgar dialect we have Γυγάδας for the treasure of Gyges, Herod. I. 14, a
half-adjective form in -ας, which occurs frequently in Doric, and ἅρμα for
ἀρμὴ, “love,” Plutarch Amator, 23. The name of the month Βύσιος (ap.
Plutarch Quæst. Gr. 9. and in Delphian inscriptions) was derived by some
from Φύσιος, as being a spring-month; it is, however, far more probable
that this sacred oracular month received its name from Pytho, as Πύθιος.
In that case the change of θ into σ corresponds with the Laconian dialect;
but that of π into β is peculiar to the Delphians, among whom, according
to Plutarch, it also occurred in βικρὸς for πικρὸς, and other words. A
newly discovered honorary decree of Delphi (Ross, Inscript. Græc. ined.
Fasc. I. No. 57.) points to a closer affinity of the Delphian and Ætolian
dialects. We find in it the datives ἀγώνοις, ἐντυγχανόντοις, and therefore
the same metaplasm of declination as among the Ætolians, to whom the
grammarians attribute such forms as γερόντοις, παθημάτοις. The _Phoceans_
appear from the inscriptions to have spoken an Æolic dialect, nearly akin
to the Doric. A remarkable peculiarity, which occurs in inscriptions both
of Steiris and Daulis, in the territory of the Phoceans, is that the
radical vowel of τίθημι and ἵημι remains unlengthened in the active and
passive perfect; as in ἀνατεθέκαντι, ἀνατεθεμένους, ἀφεμένα for
ἀνατεθείνασι, ἀνατεθειμένους, ἀφειμένη.
Appendix VI. Chronological Tables.
1. An attempt to ascertain the precise date of mythical events would at
the present time be considered unreasonable, nor would it be better to
arrange them according to generations. It must however be allowed that the
mutual dependence of events recorded by mythology can be proved, and by
this means, to a certain degree, their succession may be satisfactorily
traced. We shall give a specimen from the work before us.
The Dorians in Hestiæotis. Worship of Apollo at Tempe b. I. ch. 1. b. II.
ch. 1.
The Dorians at war with the Lapithæ. Taking of Œchalia, b. I. ch. 1. § 7.
b. II. ch. 2. § 1.
The Dorians in Crete. Worship of Apollo at Cnosus, b. I. ch. 1. § 9. b.
II. ch. 1. § 5.
Teucrian Pelagones (Encheleans) in the north of Thessaly, b. I. ch. 1. §
10.
Dorians at the foot of Œta and Parnassus. Worship of Apollo at Lycorea and
Pytho, b. I. ch. 2. b. II. ch. 1. § 8.
The Dorians in alliance with the Trachinians and Ætolians, b. I. ch. 2. §
5.
Taking of Ephyra in Thesprotia. Origin of the Geryonia, b. II. ch. 2. § 3.
War with the Dryopians and transportation of this nation to Pytho, b. I.
ch. 2. § 4. b. II. ch. 3. § 3.
Cretan sovereignty of the sea; Cretans in Crisa, Lycia and the Troad, b.
II. ch. 1. § 6. ch. 2. § 2, 3.
Worship of Apollo in Bœotia; origin of the Theban traditions respecting
Hercules, b. II. ch. 3. § 2. ch. 2. § 7.
Introduction of the mythology of Hercules into Attica by the Ionians.
Institution of the Pythian Theoriæ, b. II. ch. 3. § 14.
Cretans in Megara and Attica. Connection of the religious worship of
Athens with that of Crete, Delos, and Naxos, ibid.
Cretan fortress of Miletus in Caria; temples at Didymi and Claros, ibid. §
6.
Union of the Dorians and Ætolians, b. I. ch. 3. § 9.
Thessalians and Thesprotians in Pelasgic Argos, Orchomenos, p. 476.
The expelled Magnetes become subjects of the Pythian Apollo, b. II. ch. 3.
§ 4.
The Bœotians found a new Arne in Bœotia, Orchomenos, ubi sup.
Cadmean Ephyræans and Ægidæ in Athens and Amyclæ, ibid.
Partial emigration of the Dorians from the Tetrapolis, b. I. ch. 3.
Emigration of the Ænianes from the Inachus to the district of Œeta, b. I.
ch. 2. § 6.
2. In reckoning from the migration of the Heraclidæ downwards, we follow
the Alexandrine chronology, of which it should be observed, that our
materials only enable us to restore it to its original state, not to
examine its correctness. That it was chiefly founded upon original records
and monuments preserved in Peloponnesus, which gave even the years of the
kings, has been shown above, b. I. ch. 7. § 3. The dates which Syncellus
has preserved from Eusebius, Eusebius from Diodorus, and Diodorus from
Apollodorus, could not have been calculated merely by generations; and
Larcher’s criticism and rejection of the Alexandrine Chronologists may
perhaps be found as groundless as they are presumptuous.
[Transcriber’s Note: Entries beginning with a number are the year in
B.C..]
1104. Migration of the Dorians into Peloponnesus, 80 years after the fall
of Troy,(1984) 328 years before the first Olympiad.(1985)
Temenus in Argos, Aristodemus in Sparta, Cresphontes in Messenia, Oxylus
the Ætolian in Elis, Cypselus at Basilis. Resistance of the Achæans in
Amyclæ. The Nelidæ go from Pylos to Athens.
Birth of Eurysthenes and Procles, and death of Aristodemus king of Sparta.
Theras protector of the twin-brothers.(1986)
1074. 30. Eurysthenes and Procles governors of Sparta. Aletes reduces
Corinth.(1987) Ceisus the son of Temenus reigns at Argos, Phalces at
Sicyon, Agæus at Trœzen (b. I. ch. 5. § 4.), Deiphontes at Epidaurus,
Triacon in Ægina, Thersander at Cleonæ (b. I. ch. 5. § 4. b. III. ch. 6. §
10.), Laias the Cypselid, in Arcadia. Pityreus the Ionian goes from
Epidaurus to Athens.
1072. 32. Theras colonises Thera with Minyæ and Ægidæ from the district of
Amyclæ.
Corinthian Dorians conquer Megara.
Æpytus, son of Cresphontes, re-established in Messenia.
1051. 53. The Thessalian Magnetes found Magnesia in Asia Minor.(1988)
Advance of the Dorians in the direction of Attica.
Medon, son of Ceisus, at Argos, b. III. ch. 6. § 10. Althæmenes, son of
Ceisus, goes to Crete. Amyclæan Laconians settle in Melos and Gortyna.
Migration of the Argives and Epidaurians to Rhodes and Cos, of the
Trœzenians to Halicarnassus.
1040. 60. Migration of the Ionians to Asia. Procles, son of Pityreus of
Epidaurus, goes to Samos with carvers in wood from Ægina.(1989) The
Phliasians, driven out by Rhegnidas the son of Phalces, withdraw to Samos
and Clazomenæ, b. I. ch. 5. § 3.
1038. 68. Ixion king of Corinth.
1033. 71. Soüs, the Proclid, at Sparta.(1990)
1032. 72. Agis the Eurysthenid.(1991)
Achæans from Laconia colonise Patræ.
1031. 73. Echestratus the Agid.
1006. 100*.(1992) Eurypon the Proclid. Echestratus and Eurypon subdue
Cynuria, b. I. ch. 7. § 15.
1000. 106. Agelas at Corinth.
996. 108. Labotas the Agid.
978. 126. Prytanis the Eurypontid.
963. 143. Prumnis at Corinth.
959. 145. Doryssus the Agid.
929. 175. Polydectes (Eunomus) the Eurypontid.
* Megara separates itself from Corinth, b. I. ch. 5. § 10.
930. 174. Agesilaus the Agid.
926. 178. Bacchis at Corinth.
924. 180*. Pompus the Cypselid in Arcadia supports the commerce of the
Æginetans.
917. 187. Rhodes enjoys the sovereignty of the sea (Eusebius).
891. 213. Agelas at Corinth.
886. 218. Archelaus the Agid.
884. 220. Polydectes dies. Birth of Charilaus. Lycurgus regent.
Lycurgus, in conjunction with Iphitus the Elean and Cleosthenes, the son
of Cleonicus of Pisa, arranges the Olympic games.(1993)
Lycurgus gives laws to Sparta.
861. 243. Eudemus at Corinth.
854. 250. Charilaus, the Eurypontid, king of Sparta. In this office he
with Archelaus conquers Ægys (b. I. ch. 5. § 18.), lays waste the
territory of Argos (ib. ch. 7. § 14.), and is defeated by the Tegeates
(ib. § 12.). Polymestor, the Cypselid, in Arcadia.
836. 268. Aristomedes at Corinth.(1994)
826. 278. Teleclus the Agid. He conquers Amyclæ, Pharis, and Geronthræ, b.
I. ch. 5. § 13, and destroys Nedon, ib. ch. 7. § 10.
824. 280. [Nicander the Eurypontid, according to Eusebius.]
810. 294. Nicander the Eurypontid (according to Sosibius(1995)). He
ravages the territory of Argos, in alliance with Asine, ib. § 14.
801. 303. Agemon the Bacchiad.
786. 318. Alcamenes the Agid. He conquers Helos(1996) and defeats the
Argives. Charmides, the son of Euthys, is sent to quiet the troubles of
Crete. [Theopompus the Eurysthenid, according to Eusebius.]
785. 319. Alexander at Corinth.
776. 328. Corœbus obtains the prize at the Olympic games at the full moon
(according to the original institution), on the 13th or 14th day of the
first Olympic month (Apollonius), if the Ennaëteris began with this
Olympiad; of the second month (Parthenius), if the Olympiad fell in the
middle of the period. The month began with the new moon after the summer
solstice, on the 8th of July (according to De Lalande, see _l’Art de
vérifier les Dates_, tom. III. p. 170.) 776. B.C. the distribution of the
prizes therefore took place the 21st or 22nd of July.
3. Reckoning according to Olympiads.
[Transcriber’s Note: Entries begining with two numbers are, first, the
year in B.C., then the Olympiad.]
776. 1. _Corœbus of Elis._
774. 3. Metapontum founded by Achæans and Crissæans according to Eusebius,
book II. ch. 3. § 7.
* Eratus, king of Argos, expels the Asinæans from their town, b. I. ch. 7,
§ 14. above, p. 112. note g. [Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote to
“Persian war,” starting “Herod. VII. 149.”]
772. 2. _Antimachus of Elis._
1. Theopompus the Eurypontid according to Sosibius.
768. 3. _Androcles of Messenia._
Cinæthon the epic poet of Laconia flourishes, according to Eusebius.
* Pheidon, prince of Argos, attempts to conquer Corinth.
764. 4. _Polychares of Messenia._
4. Telestas at Corinth.
760. 5. _Æschines of Elis._
2. The Chalcidians erect an altar to Apollo Archegetas in Sicily (b. II.
ch. 3. § 7.) and, together with some Naxians, found Naxos.
3. Archias at Corinth founds Syracuse,(1997) Chersicrates Corcyra (b. I.
ch. 6. § 8.). Eumelus, also a Bacchiad, who composed an ode (προσόδιον)
for the Messenians, to be sung at the procession to Delos, and had
contended at the Ithomæa, lives with Archias at Syracuse. Phintas the
Æpytid reigns in Messenia.
4. Ephors in Sparta (Euseb.).
Croton founded by Myscellus (the Heraclid) and some Achæans, and Locri
shortly after (according to Strabo, with whom Pausanias nearly agrees with
respect to time).
756. 6. _Œbotas of Dyme._
4. The Chalcidians found Leontini. Lamis the Megarian lands and founds
Trotilus.
752. 7. _Daicles the Messenian_, the first conqueror in the ἀγὼν
στεφανίτης, b. IV. ch. 5. § 5.
3. Death of Alcamenes,(1998) succeeded by Polydorus the Agid. Polydorus
and Theopompus limit the power of the popular assembly, b. III. ch. 5. §
8.
4. Automenes at Corinth.
748. 8. _Anticles the Messenian._ Pheidon the Argive president of the
games with the Pisatans. Metal wares and silver coins at Ægina.
1. Yearly Prytanes at Corinth.
744. 9. _Xenocles the Messenian._
1. The Androclidæ, banished from Messenia, fly to Sparta. Euphaes, son of
Antiochus, the Æpytid, king of Messenia.
2. Beginning of the first Messenian war, according to Pausanias and
Eusebius.
740. 10. _Dotadas the Messenian._
1. [Death of Theopompus the Eurypontid,(1999) according to Eusebius.]
736. 11. _Leochares the Messenian._
732. 12. _Oxythemis of Coronea._
728. 13. _Diocles of Corinth_, the favourite of Philolaus the Bacchiad,
legislator of Thebes.
1. Hyblean Megara founded, vol. I. p. 135. note r.
724. 14. _Dasmon of Corinth._ _Hypenus of Pisa_ the first conqueror in the
δίαυλος.
1. The Spartans reduce Ithome, and finish the first Messenian war. The
Dryopes build a new Asine, the Androclidæ receive Hyamia from Sparta.
Messenians at Rhegium, b. I. ch. 7. § 11.
720. 15. _Orsippus of Megara_ is the first who runs naked in the stadium,
and _Acanthus the Lacedæmonian_ in the δίαυλος, see above, p. 272. note a.
[Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote to “naked to the goal,” starting
“According to Plato.”]
War of Megara against Corinth, b. I. ch. 5. § 10.
The war between the Spartans and Argives respecting the possession of
Cynuria breaks out afresh, b. I. ch. 7. § 16.
716. 16. _Pythagoras the Laconian._
4. Gela founded by Rhodians and Cretans.(2000)
* Theopompus dies (Euseb.), succeeded by Zeuxidamus the Eurypontid.
712. 17. _Polus of Epidaurus._
1. Megara founded by Astacus (according to Memnon; Olymp. 17. 3. according
to Hieron. Scal.; Olymp. 18. 2. Cod. Arm.), b. I. ch. 6. § 9.
3. Croton founded according to Dion. Halicar. and Eusebius, Cod. Arm.
(Olymp. 18. 1. according to Euseb. Cod. Arm. Olymp. 19. 2. according to
Scaliger.)
* Polydorus killed by Polemarchus;(2001) succeeded by Eurycrates the Agid.
708. 18. _Tellis of Sicyon._ Eurybatus, the Laconian, first conqueror in
the wrestling match: Lampis the Laconian in the Pentathlon.
1. The Partheniæ at Tarentum, Eusebius.
4. * Ameinocles, the Corinthian, builds the Samian triremes (Thucyd.).
704. 19. _Menon of Megara._
700. 20. _Atheradas of Laconia._
696. 21. _Pantacles of Athens._
692. 22. _Pantacles_ a second time.
688. 23. _Icarius of Hyperesia._ Onomastus of Smyrna the first conqueror
in the pugilistic contest.
1. Acræ and Enna founded from Syracuse.(2002)
4. [Commencement of the second Messenian war, according to Pausanias; but,
according to Corsini, Fast. Att. II. 1. p. 37. this date should be altered
to Olymp. 24. 4.]
Anaxander the Agid, Anaxidamus the Eurypontid, kings of Sparta.
684. 24. _Cleoptolemus the Laconian._
2. Locri founded, according to Eusebius (Ol. 26. 4. Cod. Arm.) above, b.
I. ch. 6. § 12.
680. 25. _Thalpis the Laconian._ Pagondas of Thebes the first conqueror in
the chariot race.
676. 26. _Callisthenes the Laconian._
The Pisatans render themselves independent of Elis (Strabo).
2. Megara founds Chalcedon, b. I. ch. 6. § 9.
The musical contests at the Carnea are first introduced (Africanus and
Sosibius, above, p. 324. note e [Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote
to “commencing with Terpander,” starting “According to the important.”]),
and Terpander is victorious as a harp-player. The same musician is four
times victorious in the musical contests at Pytho, at that time still
celebrated every nine years; from about Olymp. 27. to Olymp. 33. Doric,
Phrygian, and Lydian styles of music.
Orthagoras, tyrant of Sicyon.(2003)
672. 27. _Eurybates of Athens._
4. Victory of the Argives over the Spartans at Hysiæ, b. I. ch. 7. § 16.
* Megalostrata, b. IV. ch. 7. § 10.
668. 28. _Chionis the Laconian_ (Corsini Fast. Hell. II. 1. pag. 44.). The
Pisatans preside at the games, whilst Elis is at war with Dyme (Euseb.).
1. Syracuse founds Casmenæ.
End of the second Messenian war, according to Pausanias. Aristomenes goes
to Damagetus the Eratid, prince of Ialysus; the Lacedæmonians give Mothone
to the expelled Nauplians. Damocratidas king of Argos (above, p. 112. note
g [Transcriber’s Note: This is the footnote to “Persian war,” starting
“Herod. VII. 149.”]).
4. Gymnopædia at Sparta (Euseb.).
* Sea-fight between the Corinthians and Corcyræans.(2004)
664. 29. _Chionis_ for the second time.
660. 30. _Chionis_ for the third time. [The Pisatans, according to
Eusebius, celebrate this and the twenty-two following Olympiads.]
1. Zaleucus legislator of Locri (Euseb.).
2. Phigalia captured by Sparta, b. I. ch. 7. § 12.
3. Byzantium founded from Megara, b. I. ch. 6. § 9.
Cypselus expels the Bacchiadæ from Corinth,(2005) and becomes king.
* Second Messenian war (b. I. ch. 7. § 10.). Pantaleon, tyrant of Pisa,
Aristocrates of Trapezus, king of Orchomenus (vol. I. p. 185 note t).
Tyrtæus of Aphidna at Sparta.
656. 31. _Chionis_ for the fourth time.
652. 32. _Cratinus the Megarian_, (above, p. 272. note a [Transcriber’s
Note: This is the footnote to “naked to the goal,” starting “According to
Plato.”]).
4. Himera founded by Chalcidians and Syracusans (Diod. XIII. 62.).
* Eurycratidas (Eurycrates II.) the Agid, Archidamus the Eurypontid.
648. 33. _Gyges the Laconian._ Lygdamis of Syracuse is the first conqueror
in the Pancratium, Crauxidas the Crannonian victorious κέλητι. Myron, son
of Andreas, tyrant of Sicyon, in the quadriga, b. I. ch. 8. § 2.
4. Terpander’s musical legislation at Sparta.
644. 34. _Stomas of Athens._ Pantaleon, son of Omphalion, tyrant of Pisa,
president of the games, b. I. ch. 7. § 11.
640. 35. _Sphærus the Laconian._ Cylon of Athens victorious in the
δίαυλος.
3. Beginning of the second Messenian war according to Diodorus and
Eusebius. Compare Justin, cited vol. I. p. 161. note o.
The Theræans found the first settlement in Libya on the island of Platea.
Orchomenos, p. 344. Chionis, the conqueror at Olympia, among the
adventurers.
* Procles tyrant of Epidaurus, Aristodemus king of Orchomenus, vol. I. p.
185. note s.
636. 36. _Phrynon of Athens._
632. 37. _Eurycleidas the Laconian._ Hipposthenes the Laconian first
conqueror in the boys’ wrestling match, Polyneites of Elis in the stadium
as a boy.
Founding of Cyrene. Reign of Battus I. Peisander, the epic poet of Rhodes.
628. 38. _Olynthus the Laconian._ Eutelidas the Laconian victorious in the
boys’ pentathlon.
1. Pammilus of Megara on the Isthmus, with some Sicilian Megarians, founds
Selinus, b. I. ch. 6. § 10. (Olymp. 32. 2. according to Diodorus.)
Periander, tyrant of Corinth, vol. I. p. 185. note s.
2. Corinthians and Corcyræans found Epidamnus, b. I. ch. 6. § 8.
* Gorgus, son of Cypselus, tyrant of Ambracia, ibid. b. III. ch. 9. § 6.
* Thaletas, the Elyrian musician, in Sparta, b. IV. ch. 6. § 3.
624. 79. _Rhipsolcus the Laconian._
2. Camarina founded by the Syracusans.(2006)
620. 40. _Olyntheus the Laconian_, for the second time.
* Theagenes, tyrant of Megara, b. I. ch. 8. § 4. Arion of Methymna, in
Peloponnesus.
616. 41. _Cleondas of Thebes._ Philotas of Sybaris, first conqueror in the
boxing match of the boys.
612. 42. _Lycotas the Laconian._
1. Cylon, son-in-law of Theagenes, aims at the tyranny of Athens, Corsini
Fast. Att. II. 1. p. 64.
Alcman, lyric poet at Sparta, above, p. 328. note q. [Transcriber’s Note:
This is the footnote to “earlier than Polymnestus,” starting “Polymnestus
wrote.”]
608. 43. _Cleon of Epidaurus._
2. Phrynon of Athens, the conqueror at Olympia, and Pittacus of Mytilene,
contend for the possession of Sigeum. (Euseb.)
* Periander decides the subject of dispute, vol. I. p. 191. note s.
4. The inhabitants of Gela found Agrigentum.(2007)
604. 44. _Gelon the Laconian._
* Agasicles, the Eurypontid, at Sparta.
Solon conquers Salamis from the Megarians.
600. 45. _Anticrates of Epidaurus._
* Cleisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon, at war with Argos, vol. I. p. 179. note
k.
Pheidon II. king of Argos, above, p. 112. note g. [Transcriber’s Note:
This is the footnote to “Persian war,” starting “Herod. VII. 149.”]
596. 46. _Chrysamaxus the Laconian._
The Megarians reconquer Salamis and Nisæa, b. I. ch. 8. § 8.
Epimenides in Athens, according to Diogenes Laertius.
* Leon the Agid at Sparta unsuccessful in a war against Tegea.
592. 47. _Eurycles the Laconian._
3. The Amphictyons under Eurylochus the Aleuad, and Cleisthenes of Sicyon,
conquer Cirrha, and institute prizes for the gymnastic contest at Pytho.
Gylidas Archon (Prytanis) at Delphi, b. I. ch. 8. § 2.
Nebrus and Chrysus the Asclepiadæ of Cos.
Sacadas, the Argive flute-player, victorious in this and the two following
Pythian games. Hierax, also an Argive flute-player, probably his
contemporary, b. IV. ch. 6. § 8. Second epoch of music at Sparta, b. IV.
ch. 6. § 3.
Arcesilaus I. king of Cyrene.
588. 48. _Glaucias of Croton._
4. Death of Periander, b. I. ch. 8. § 3.
Damophon, son of Pantaleon, tyrant of Pisa, makes war upon Elis.
584. 49. _Lycinus of Croton._ Cleisthenes of Sicyon victorious in the
chariot race; he invites the suitors of his daughter Agariste.(2008)
2. Megacles, son of Alcmæon, marries Agariste.
3. Second Pythian games, first ἀγὼν στεφανίτης. Diodorus Archon (Prytanis)
at Delphi. Cleisthenes victorious with the quadriga.(2009)
The Cypselidæ expelled from Corinth, b. I. ch. 8. § 3.
Restoration of the Isthmian games, according to Solinus.
* Lacedes king of Argos, b. III. ch. 6. § 10.
580. 50. _Epitelidas the Laconian._
Lipara peopled from Cnidos, b. I. ch. 6.
* Periander, tyrant of Ambracia, banished, b. III. ch. 9. § 6.
Conquest of Orneæ by Argos, b. I. ch. 7. ad fin.
Pyrrhus, son of Pantaleon, tyrant of Pisa, at war with Elis. The
victorious Eleans destroy Pisa, Scillus, Macistus, Dyspontium, and extend
their dominion towards Triphylia.(2010)
Dipœnus and Scyllis the Cretan descendants of Dædalus, in Peloponnesus.
Cleobulus, son of Evagoras, a Heraclide, governor of Lindus, a lyric poet
and seer.(2011) Riddles of Cleobulina, b. IV. ch. 8. § 4.
576. 51. _Eratosthenes of Croton._
3. Pythocritus of Sicyon victorious in flute-playing at this and the five
following Pythiads, b. IV. ch. 6. § 5.
The family of the tyrants banished from Sicyon, b. I. ch. 8. § 2.
Battus II. king of Cyrene. Enlargement of the Cyrenæan territory.
* Susarion of Tripodiscus, a comic poet in the Attic Icaria. (Marm. Par.)
572. 52. _Agis of Elis._
568. 53. _Agnon of Peparethus._
2. Argos conquers Nemea, and celebrates the first winter festival of the
Nemean games noticed by chronologists.
3. Eugammon, the epic poet, in Cyrene. (Euseb.)
4. Phalaris of Astypalæa, tyrant of Agrigentum, (Euseb. Hieron; Olymp. 52.
3. Cod. Arm.) b. III. ch. 9. § 8.
4. Stesichorus, the lyric poet of Himera flourishes.
564. 54. _Hippostratus of Croton._
Æsop of Cotyæ, pursuant to the sentence of the court of the temple at
Delphi, is precipitated from the Phædriadian rocks of Hyampeia. (Suidas.)
* Anaxandridas the Agid.
560. 55. _Hippostratus_ for the second time.
2. Death of Stesichorus, Euseb. according to Suidas, Olymp. 56.
* Meltas, son of Lacedes, king of Argos, deposed. The family of the
Heraclides expires,(2012) and Ægon, of another family, obtains the royal
dignity, b. III. ch. 6. § 7.
556. 56. _Phœdrus of Pharsalus._
1. Cheilon Ephor at Lacedæmon, (above, p. 115. note g. [Transcriber’s
Note: This is the footnote to “and Xenophon,” starting “De Rep. Lac. 8.
3.”])
3. Camarina destroyed by the Syracusans.
552. 57. _Ladromus the Laconian._
3. Phalaris overthrown by Telemachus the Emmenide. Orchomenos, p. 338.
Alcmanes becomes king of Agrigentum.
* _Ariston the Eurypontid._
548. 58. _Diognetus of Croton._
1. The temple at Pytho burnt, (Pausan. Euseb.) The Amphictyons appoint the
Alcmæonidæ to rebuild it: Spintharus the Corinthian is the architect.
The Spartans find the bones of Orestes, (Solinus I. 90.) and defeat the
Tegeates, b. I. ch. 7. § 12.
* Battle of the 300 at Thyrea.(2013)
544. 59. _Archilochus of Corcyra._ Praxidamas of Ægina conquers in the
boxing match, and dedicates the first statue of a wrestler at Olympia. The
Æginetan school of brass-founders begins to flourish (Callon);
contemporary we find the Spartan artists Dorycleidas, Dontas, Chartas,
Syadras, Gitiadas, &c.
540. 60. _Apellæus of Elis._
* Victory of the Megarians and Argives over Corinth.(2014) vol. I. p. 98,
note h.
Pythagoras at Croton. Aristocleia, Pythian priestess. Leo tyrant of
Phlius.
536. 61. _Agatharchus of Corcyra._
532. 62. _Eryxias of Chalcis._ Milo of Croton victorious in wrestling,
perhaps the first of his six victories.
528. 63. _Parmenides of Camarina._ (This town was however at this time in
ruins.)
* Naval expedition of the Peloponnesians against Polycrates of Samos, b.
I. ch. 8. § 5.
524. 64. _Evander the Thessalian._
Cleomenes the Agid. Dorieus goes to Libya. The great victory of Cleomenes
over Argos, (according to Pausanias, see b. I. ch. 8. § 6; but comp. b.
III. ch. 4. § 2.)
520. 65. _Acochas_ (read _Anochus_) _of Tarentum_. Demaretus of Heræa the
first conqueror as a heavy-armed runner (_Hoplitodromeus_); Eutelidas and
Chrysothemis the Argives make statues of him and his son Theopompus.
1. Cleomenes refers the Platæans to Athens, (vol. I. p. 190, note b, B. I.
ch. 9. § 5.)
2. The Æginetans colonize Cydonia.
Dorieus goes to Sicily, and founds Heraclea, but falls in a battle against
the Carthaginians and Egestæans. Euryleon of Sparta succeeds Peithagoras
on the throne of Selinus.(2015)
* The ancient constitution of Sicyon restored, b. I. ch. 8. § 5.
516. 66. _Ischyrus of Himera._ Cleosthenes of Epidamnus conquers in the
chariot race. Ageladas of Argos makes a statue of the latter and Anochus,
victorious in Olymp. 65.
Aristophylidas tyrant of Tarentum, b. I. ch. 8. § 15.
512. 67. _Phanas of Pellene._
1. Pretended maritime sovereignty of the Lacedæmonians. Eusebius.
3. Cleomenes expels the Peisistratidæ from Athens. (Thuc. VI. 59.)
Lygdamis of Naxos is deposed at the same time, b. I. ch. 8. § 5.(2016)
The Crotoniats under Milo defeat the Sybarites, and destroy Sybaris.
Dissension at Croton respecting the division of the territory.
* Demaratus the Eurypontid.
508. 68. _Ischomachus of Croton._
1. Cleomenes expels Cleisthenes and supports the aristocracy of Athens;
Isagoras archon. Insurrection at Athens, and recall of Cleisthenes.
3. Third expedition of Cleomenes against Athens; dispute with Demaratus.
4. Cleandrus tyrant at Gela, b. III. ch. 9. § 8.
League of Ægina and Thebes against Athens.
504. 69. _Ischomachus_ for the second time.
1. Ionia revolts.
Overthrow of the Pythagorean league, b. III. ch. 9. § 15.
Cleinias tyrant of Croton. Dion. Hal. Exc. p. 2358. ed. Reiske.
500. 70. _Nicias of Opus._ Thersias the Thessalian the first conqueror
with the ἀπήνη.
1. Pratinas of Phlius, a satyric poet at Athens.
2. Death of Pythagoras, according to Eusebius. Cod. Arm.
3. Conquest of Miletus (according to Petavius, Olymp. 71. 2.; according to
Corsini), compare Thucyd. IV. 102. with Herod. V. 126.
Hippocrates tyrant of Gela, b. III. ch. 9. § 8.
4. The Samians, at the invitation of Anaxilaus, tyrant of Rhegium, conquer
Zancle. Sythes of Zancle goes to Persia, and receives the sovereignty of
Cos from the king, vol. I. p. 187. note a. b. III. ch. 9. § 2.
The Byzantians found Mesambria.(2017)
Lasus of Hermione flourishes as a lyric poet.
496. 71. _Tisicrates of Croton._ Patæcus of Dyme first conquers in the
κάλπη; the elder Empedocles, son of Exænetus of Agrigentum, κέλητι.
4. The Æginetans give earth and water to Darius.
* The Geomori expelled from Syracuse, b. III. ch. 9. § 7.
Anaxilaus, tyrant of Rhegium, subdues Zancle, and changes its name to
Messana.(2018)
492. 72. _Tisicrates of Croton_ for the second time.
1. * Hippocrates of Gela defeats the Syracusans on the river Helorus, and
restores Camarina.
Cleomenes, king of Sparta, at Ægina.
Leotychidas king in the room of Demaratus; Cleomenes with him in Ægina a
second time.
2. Gelon, tyrant of Gela.
Cleomenes banished from Sparta; returns, and dies raving mad; succeeded by
Leonidas.
Demaratus goes, after the Gymnopædia, in the beginning of summer, to
Persia.
War between Ægina and Athens.
3. Battle of Marathon.
The Spartans arrive at Athens on the 19th of Metageitnion (Carneius),
immediately after the battle.
4. Panyasis of Rhodes, the epic poet. (Euseb.)(2019)
488. 73. _Astylus of Croton._ Gelon victorious in the chariot race: Hieron
κέλητι.
1. Theron tyrant of Agrigentum.
4. Gelon takes Syracuse, b. III. ch. 9. § 7.(2020)
* Cadmus, son of Sythes, tyrant of Cos, returns to Messana, accompanied by
Epicharmus.
Artemisia, daughter of Lygdamis, takes Cos, and reigns at Halicarnassus,
Nisyrus, and Calydna.(2021)
Canachus, brass-founder of Sicyon, flourishes.
484. 74. _Astylus as a Syracusan._
1. Herodotus born, according to Pamphila.
Gelon destroys Camarina, Herod. VII. 156. Schol. Pind. Ol. V. 19.
2. Gelon conquers Megara, (vol. I. p. 135 note r.) and strengthens
Syracuse with the population of the ruined cities. On this occasion
Epicharmus, who had formerly lived at Megara, appears to have come to
Syracuse.
Theognis, the elegiac poet, still composes at an advanced age.
4. From the beginning of the year to summer, Xerxes’ march from Sardis to
Thermopylæ. Formation of a Grecian confederacy. Embassy of the Greeks to
Gelon. (See Appendix IV.)
480. 75. _Astylus as a Syracusan_ for the second time.
1. Battle of Thermopylæ at the same time with the Olympic festival.
Pleistarchus the Agid, Cleombrotus his πρόδικος.
After the Carnean festival, the Spartans, with the rest of the
Peloponnesians, encamp at the Isthmus.
Battle of Salamis on the 20th of Boëdromion.
Gelon and Theron defeat the Carthaginians on the Himeras.
Cleombrotus leads the army back from the Isthmus after the eclipse of the
sun (2d Octob.), and dies not long after, Herod. IX. 10.
Pausanias succeeds as regent, and with Euryanax(2022) the Agid advances to
meet Mardonius in the month Thargelion or Scirophorion.
2. Battles of Platæa and Mycale (in Metageitnion(2023)). Pausanias’s Greek
confederacy. Surrender of Thebes.
Chrysis priestess of Juno at Argos.
3. Hieron at Syracuse.
* Pausanias in the north of Greece.
4. Hieron defends Locri against Anaxilaus, b. IV. ch. 7. § 4.
Pausanias, on his return, brings the bones of Leonidas to Sparta.(2024)
Timocreon of Rhodes a lyric and comic poet.
476. 76. _Scamander of Mytilene._ Theron victorious in the chariot race.
1. Death of Anaxilaus. Pausanias commander of the Greeks in Cyprus.
3. Great victory of the Iapygians over Tarentum, b. III. ch. 9. § 15.
Victory of Hieron over the Etruscans at Cuma, and at the Pythian games in
the chariot race.
* Pausanias takes Byzantium.
4. Death of Theron. Thrasydæus expelled from Syracuse, b. III. ch. 9. § 8.
472. 77. _Dates of Argos._ Hieron victorious κέλητι.
2. The population of Elis collected into one town. Diodor. XI. 54. Strabo
VIII. 336. B. III. ch. 4. § 8.