fables, and the artist Grandville has added a new charm to them, by a
very happy conceit. With infinite wit, he has dressed up the wolves,
foxes, and other animals which figure in the fables, in human attire,
yet so skilfully as to seem natural—thus aiding the imagination, in
conceiving of the actors and speakers in the fables, as performing
their several parts. By the aid of his magical pencil, even trees,
kettles and kegs assume an appearance of life, and seem to justify the
wit and wisdom which they are imagined to utter. The humor of these
designs is inimitable; and thus not only is greater effect given to
the particular fables illustrated, but greater scope, to the fable
generally. We are indebted, in this country, for a most excellent
translation of La Fontaine, with many of Grandville’s designs, to
Professor Wright.
[Illustration]
[Footnote 13: “The frogs, living an easy, free life everywhere among
the lakes and ponds, assembled together one day, in a very tumultuous
manner, and petitioned Jupiter to let them have a king, who might
inspect their morals, and make them live a little honester. Jupiter,
being at that time in pretty good humor, was pleased to laugh heartily
at their ridiculous request; and, throwing a little log down into
the pool, cried, ‘There is a king for you,’ The sudden splash which
this made, by its fall into the water, at first terrified them so
exceedingly, that they were afraid to come near it. But, in a little
time, seeing it remain without moving, they ventured, by degrees, to
approach it; and, at last, finding there was no danger, they leaped
upon it, and, in short, treated it as familiarly as they pleased.
“But not contented with so insipid a king as this was, they sent their
deputies to petition again for another sort of one; for this they
neither did nor could like. Upon that Jupiter sent them a stork, who,
without any ceremony, fell to devouring and eating them up, one after
another, as fast as he could. Then they applied themselves privately to
Mercury, and got him to speak to Jupiter in their behalf, that he would
be so good as to bless them again with another king, or to restore them
to their former state. ‘No,’ says Jove, ‘since it was their own choice,
let the obstinate wretches suffer the punishment due to their folly.’”]
[Illustration]
SOLON.
Solon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, was born at Salamis, 637
B. C. and educated at Athens. His father was one of the descendants of
king Codrus, and, by his mother’s side, he reckoned among his relations
the celebrated Pisistratus. After he had devoted part of his time to
philosophical and political studies, Solon travelled over the greatest
part of Greece; but at his return home he was distressed at beholding
the dissensions among his countrymen.
All now fixed their eyes upon him as a deliverer, and he was
unanimously elected archon. He might have become absolute, but he
refused the dangerous office of king of Athens, and, in the capacity
of lawgiver, he began to make a reform in every department of the
government. The complaints of the poorer citizens found redress; all
debts were remitted, and no one was permitted to seize the person of
his debtor, if he was unable to make payment. After he had established
the most salutary regulations in the state, and bound the Athenians
by a solemn oath that they would faithfully observe his laws for the
space of one hundred years, Solon resigned the office of legislator,
and removed himself from Athens. He visited Egypt, and the court of
Croesus,[14] king of Lydia—celebrated for his wealth, and the vanity
of desiring to be esteemed the happiest of mankind. He here declared
to the monarch that an Athenian, who had always seen his country
flourish—who had virtuous children, and who fell in defence of his
native land, had a happier career than the proudest emperor on the
globe.
After ten years’ absence, Solon returned to Athens; but he had the
mortification to find the greatest part of his regulations disregarded,
through the factious spirit of his countrymen and the usurpation of
Pisistratus. Not to be longer a spectator of the divisions that reigned
in his country, he retired to Cyprus, where he died at the court of
king Philocyprus, in the eightieth year of his age. The laws of Solon
became established in Athens, and their salutary consequences can be
discovered in the length of time they were in force in the republic.
For above four hundred years they flourished in full vigor, and Cicero,
who was himself a witness of their benign influence, passes the highest
encomiums upon the legislator, whose superior wisdom framed such a code
of regulations.
It was the intention of Solon to protect the poorer citizens; and by
dividing the whole body of the Athenians into four classes, three of
which were permitted to discharge the most important offices and
magistracies of the state, and the last to give their opinion in the
assemblies, but not have a share in the distinctions and honors of
their superiors; the legislator gave the populace a privilege, which,
though at first small and inconsiderable, soon rendered them masters
of the republic, and of all the affairs of government. He made a
reformation in the Areopagus, increased the authority of the members,
and permitted them yearly to inquire how every citizen maintained
himself, and to punish such as lived in idleness, and were not employed
in some honorable and lucrative profession. He also regulated the
Prytaneum, and fixed the number of its judges to four hundred.
The sanguinary laws of Draco were all cancelled except that against
murder; and the punishment denounced against every offender was
proportioned to his crime; but Solon made no law against parricide
or sacrilege. The former of these crimes, he said, was too horrible
to human nature for a man to be guilty of it, and the latter could
never be committed, because the history of Athens had never furnished
a single instance. Such as had died in the service of their country,
were buried with great pomp, and their families were maintained at
the public expense; but such as had squandered away their estates,
such as refused to bear arms in defence of their country, or paid no
attention to the infirmity and distress of their parents, were branded
with infamy. The laws of marriage were newly regulated; it became an
union of affection and tenderness, and no longer a mercenary contract.
To speak with ill language against the dead, as well as against
the living, was made a crime; for the legislator wished that the
character of his fellow-citizens should be freed from the aspersions of
malevolence and envy. A person that had no children was permitted to
dispose of his estates as he pleased; females were not allowed to be
extravagant in their dress or expenses; licentiousness was punished;
and those accustomed to abandoned society, were deprived of the
privilege of addressing the public assemblies. These celebrated laws
were engraved on several tables; and that they might be better known
and more familiar to the Athenians, they were written in verse.
If we consider the time in which Solon lived, we shall see occasion to
regard him as a man of extraordinary wisdom and virtue. Nearly all the
systems of government around him were despotic. That government should
be instituted and conducted for the benefit of the governed; and that
the people are the proper depositories of power—principles recognised
in his institutions—were truths so deeply hidden from mankind, as to
demand an intellect of the highest order for their discovery.
Nor are his virtues and humanity less conspicuous than his sagacity.
While repealing the bloody code of Draco, he substituted mild and
equitable laws; he shunned the harsh and savage system of Lycurgus,
which sacrificed all the best feelings of the heart, and the most
refined pleasures of life, in order to sustain the martial character
of the state; and while he sought to soften the manners, he strove
to exalt the standard of public and private virtue, not only by his
laws, but by his conversation and example. He was thus, not only
the benefactor of Athens and of Greece, but—as one of the great
instruments of civilization throughout the world, and especially as
one of the leaders in the establishment of free government—mankind at
large owe him a lasting debt of gratitude.
[Illustration]
[Footnote 14: Croesus was the fifth and last of the Mermadæ, who
reigned in Lydia, and during his time he passed for the richest of
mankind. He was the first who made the Greeks of Asia tributary to
the Lydians. His court was the asylum of learning; and Æsop, the
famous fable-writer, among others, lived under his patronage. In a
conversation with Solon, Croesus wished to be thought the happiest of
mankind; but the philosopher apprized him of his mistake, and gave the
preference to poverty and domestic virtue. Croesus undertook a war
against Cyrus, the king of Persia, and marched to meet him with an army
of 420,000 men, and 60,000 horse. After a reign of fourteen years he
was defeated, B. C. 548; his capital was besieged, and he fell into
the conqueror’s hands, who ordered him to be burnt alive. The pile
was already on fire, when Cyrus heard the conquered monarch exclaim,
“Solon! Solon! Solon!” with lamentable energy. He asked him the reason
of his exclamation, and Croesus repeated the conversation he once had
with Solon, on human happiness. Cyrus was moved at the recital; and,
at the recollection of the inconstancy of human affairs, he ordered
Croesus to be taken from the burning pile, and he was afterwards one
of his most intimate friends. The kingdom of Lydia became extinct in
his person, and the power was transferred to Persia. Croesus survived
Cyrus. The manner of his death is unknown. He is celebrated for the
immensely rich presents which he made to the temple of Delphi, from
which he received an obscure and ambiguous oracle, which he interpreted
in his favor, but which was fulfilled in the destruction of his
empire.]
[Illustration]
LYCURGUS.
This Spartan lawgiver is supposed to have been born about 900 B. C. He
was the youngest son of king Eunomus, and was entitled to the throne
upon the death of his brother, Polydectes; but he relinquished it in
behalf of his unborn son, and administered the government in his name.
By the wisdom of his measures, he won general esteem; and his noble
disinterestedness raised his glory to a height which awoke envy against
him in the minds of some of the most distinguished Spartans, who now
conspired against him. Partly to escape the danger which threatened
him, and partly to gratify the desire of seeing foreign nations, and
learning their manners, he left Sparta, and travelled in various
countries.
After visiting Crete, and admiring the wise laws of Minos, he went to
Iona. The effeminate and luxurious life of the inhabitants, and the
feebleness of their laws, which formed a striking contrast with the
simplicity and vigor of those of Crete, made a deep impression upon
him. Here, however, he is said to have become acquainted with the poems
of Homer, which he collected and carried to Greece. From hence he is
said to have travelled into Egypt, India, and Spain; but this seems
improbable.
In the meanwhile, the two kings who succeeded him at Sparta, Archelaus
and Charilaus, were esteemed neither by the people nor by the
nobility; and, as there were no laws sufficient to maintain the public
tranquillity, the confusion passed all bounds. In this dangerous
situation, Lycurgus was the only man from whom help and deliverance
could be expected. The people hoped from him protection against
the nobles, and the kings believed that he would put an end to the
disobedience of the people. More than once, ambassadors were sent to
entreat him to come to the assistance of the state.
He long resisted, but at last yielded to the urgent wishes of his
fellow-citizens. At his arrival in Sparta, he found that not only
particular abuses were to be suppressed, but that it would be necessary
to form an entirely new constitution. The confidence which his
personal character, his judgment, and the dangerous situation of the
state, gave him among his fellow-citizens, encouraged him to encounter
all obstacles. The first step which he took, was to add to the kings a
senate of twenty-eight persons, venerable for their age, without whose
consent the former were to undertake nothing. He thus established a
useful balance between the power of the kings and the licentiousness
of the people. The latter at the same time obtained the privilege of
giving their voice in public affairs. They had not, however, properly
speaking, deliberative privileges, but only the limited right of
accepting or rejecting what was proposed by the kings or the senate.
The Spartans conformed in general to the institutions of Lycurgus; but
the equal division of property which he effected, excited among the
rich such violent commotions, that the lawgiver fled to the temple, to
save his life. On the way, he received a blow, which struck out one of
his eyes. He merely turned round, and showed to his pursuers his face
streaming with blood. This sight filled all with shame and repentance;
they implored his pardon, and led him respectfully home. The person who
had done the deed, a young man of rank, and of a fiery character, was
given up to him. Lycurgus pardoned him, and dismissed him, covered with
shame.
After having thus formed a constitution for Sparta, Lycurgus endeavored
to provide for its continuance. He made all the citizens take a
solemn oath that they would change nothing in the laws which he had
introduced, before his return. He then went to Delphi, and asked the
gods whether the new laws were sufficient for the happiness of Sparta.
The answer was, “Sparta will remain the most prosperous of all states
as long as it observes these laws.” He sent this answer to Lacedæmon,
and left his country forever. He died of voluntary starvation, and
ordered his body to be burned, and the ashes scattered in the sea, lest
they should be carried to Sparta, and his countrymen be released from
their oath.
Though the patriotism of Lycurgus appears to have been of the most
exalted nature, his institutions were exceedingly barbarous, in many
respects. He cherished no such thing as family ties, but required
everything to yield to the good of the state. The children did not
belong to the parents; feeble children were destroyed; meals were all
taken in common; unmarried men were punished. Thus the private liberty
of the people was taken away, and they were made slaves, in their daily
habits, thoughts and feelings, to that power which was called the
state. The design of the lawgiver seemed to be to rear up a nation of
soldiers—not for conquest, but for defence. He would not permit Sparta
to be encircled with walls, preferring that its defence should depend
on the arms of the citizens. The men were wholly trained for martial
life. Sensibility to suffering, and the fear of death, were treated
with contempt. Victory or death, in battle, was their highest glory;
cowardice was attended with the most deadly shame.
The difference between the institutions of Lycurgus and those of Solon,
may be seen in their results. The Spartans became a stern and haughty
nation of soldiers; but they have left nothing behind but their story,
to instruct mankind; while the Athenians, exalted by the genial breath
of liberty, continue to this very hour to be the admiration of the
world, for their literature, their arts, and their institutions.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
HOMER.
The Iliad is often spoken of as the greatest production of the human
mind; yet it has been seriously questioned whether such a person
as Homer ever lived! This paradox is to be explained by admitting,
that, although the Iliad is a wonderful performance for the time and
circumstances of its composition, still, it is by no means entitled to
the supremacy which scholastic fondness assigns to it; and that the
doubts thrown upon its authorship are but the mists engendered in the
arena of hypercriticism.
By Homer, we mean the author of the Iliad, whatever may have been his
true name. The period at which he flourished is matter of doubt, but
it is fixed by the Arundelian Marbles,[15] at 907 B. C., which is
probably not far from the true date. A great many tales are handed
down to us, in relation to him, which are mere fictions. The only well
established facts, in his life, are that he was a native of Asiatic
Greece, and a wandering poet, or rhapsodist, who went about the country
reciting his compositions, according to the custom of those times. The
story of his being blind is without authority.
Such are the meagre facts which can be gathered amid the obscurity of
that remote age in which Homer lived. There is something painful in
this barrenness,—and we almost feel that the critics, in exploding the
fond fictions which antiquity has woven around the name of the great
poet, have performed an ungracious office. They have indeed dissipated
fables, but they have left us little but darkness or vacuity in their
place. Such is the yearning of the mind, in respect to those who have
excited its emotions, and created an interest in the bosom, that it
will cherish even the admitted portraitures of fiction and fancy,
rather than content itself with the blank canvass of nothingness. The
heart, as well as nature, abhors a vacuum.
The fictitious history of Homer—which, however, is of some antiquity,
and has passed current for centuries—is briefly as follows. His mother
was named Critheis: she was married to Mæon, king of Smyrna, and gave
birth to a child, on or near the banks of the river Meles, from which
circumstance he was called Meles genes. The mother soon died, and he
was brought up and educated under the care of Mæon. The name of Homer
was afterwards given to him, on account of his becoming blind.
The legends proceed in general to state that Homer himself became a
schoolmaster and poet of great celebrity, at Smyrna, and remained
there till Mentes, a foreign merchant, induced him to travel. That the
author of the Iliad and Odyssey must have travelled pretty extensively
for those times, is unquestionable; for besides the accurate knowledge
of Greece which these works display, it is clear that the poet had a
familiar acquaintance with the islands both in the Ægean and the Ionian
seas, the coasts of Asia Minor, Crete, Cyprus, and Egypt—which still
bear the names he gave them—and possessed also distinct information
with respect to Lybia, Æthiopia, Phoenicia, Caria and Phrygia.
In his travels, as the legends say, Homer visited Ithaca, and there
became subject to a disease in his eyes, which afterwards terminated in
total blindness. From this island he is said to have gone to Italy, and
even to Spain; but there is no sign, in either of the two poems, of his
possessing any definite knowledge westward of the Ionian sea. Wherever
he went, Homer recited his verses, which were universally admired,
except at Smyrna, where he was a prophet in his own country. At Phocæa,
a schoolmaster, of the name of Thestorides, obtained from Homer a copy
of his poetry, and then sailed to Chios, and there recited these verses
as his own. Homer went soon after to the same place, and was rescued
by Glaucus, a goatherd, from the attack of his dogs, and brought by
him to Bolissus, a town in Chios, where he resided a long time, in the
possession of wealth and a splendid reputation.
According to Herodotus, Homer died at Io, on his way to Athens, and
was buried near the sea-shore. Proclus says he died in consequence of
falling over a stone. Plutarch tells a different story. He preserves
two responses of an oracle to the poet, in both of which he was
cautioned to beware of the young men’s riddle; and relates that the
poet, being on a voyage to Thebes, to attend a musical or poetical
contest at the feast of Saturn, in that city, landed in the island
of Io, and, whilst sitting on a rock by the sea-shore, observed some
young fishermen in a boat. Homer asked them if they had anything, and
the young wags, who, having had no sport, had been diligently catching
and killing as many as they could, of certain personal companions of a
race not even yet extinct, answered,—“As many as we caught, we left;
as many as we could not catch, we carry with us.” The catastrophe of
this absurd story is, that Homer, being utterly unable to guess the
riddle, broke his heart, out of pure vexation; and the inhabitants of
the island buried him with great magnificence, and placed the following
inscription on his tomb:—
Here Homer, the divine in earthly bed,
Poet of Heroes, rests his sacred head.
The general theory in regard to the poems of Homer, is that they were
composed and recited by him, to the people living upon the islands and
the main land along the coasts of Asia Minor. At that time books were
unknown, and it is a question whether even the art of writing was then
practised. Homer, therefore, published his poems in the only way he
could do it—by oral delivery. Whether his verses were sung, or only
recited, we cannot determine; but there is no doubt that he obtained
both fame and maintenance by his performances.
So deep was the impression made by the poet, that his verses were
learned by heart, and preserved in the memories of succeeding
rhapsodists and minstrels. His reputation was diffused over all Greece;
and Lycurgus, who had heard of his compositions, is supposed to have
taken pains, during his travels, to have them written down, and to have
brought them in a collected form to Greece. They were, however, still
in fragments, and the task of arranging and uniting them was performed
by Pisistratus, with the help of the poets of his time. In this way,
they received nearly the form they now possess; the division of each of
the two epics into twenty-four books, corresponding with the letters
of the Greek alphabet, being the work of the Alexandrian critics,
some centuries after. It must be remembered, however, that although
the poems of Homer were thus committed to writing in the time of
Pisistratus, they continued to be recited by the rhapsodists, who were
much favored in Greece, and in this way alone, for several centuries,
were popularly known. It is probable that in these recitations, there
was a good deal of dramatic action, and that they possessed something
of the interest which belongs to theatrical representation.
The vicissitudes to which Homer’s reputation and influence have been
subject, deserve notice. From the arrangement of the Iliad and Odyssey,
in the time of the Pisistratidæ, to the promulgation of Christianity,
the love and reverence with which the name of Homer was regarded, went
on constantly increasing, till at last public games were instituted in
his honor, statues dedicated, temples erected, and sacrifices offered
to him, as a divinity. There were such temples at Smyrna, Chios, and
Alexandria; and, according to Ælian, the Argives sacrificed to, and
invoked the names and presence of, Apollo and Homer together.
But about the beginning of the second century of the Christian era,
when the struggle between the old and the new religions was warm
and active, the tide turned. Heathenism, says Pope, was then to be
destroyed, and Homer appeared to be the father of those fictions which
were at once the belief of the Pagan religion, and the objections of
Christianity against it. He became, therefore, deeply involved in the
question, not with that honor which had hitherto attended him, but as
a criminal, who had drawn the world into folly. These times, however,
are past, and Homer stands on the summit of the ancient Parnassus, the
boast and glory of Greece, and the wonder and admiration of mankind.
The Iliad, with the exception of the Pentateuch and some others of the
books of the Old Testament, is the most ancient composition known. It
is interesting not only as a splendid poem, but also on account of the
light it throws upon the history and manners of the remote ages in
which it was written. We are struck with the similarity of the customs
of the Asiatic Greeks to those of the Hebrews, as set forth in the
Bible; and also with the fact that the Jupiter of Homer rises to that
unchecked omnipotence assigned to Jehovah.