(From the "Monthly Review" for August, 1811.)
That laudable curiosity concerning the remains of classical
antiquity, which has of late years increased among our countrymen, is
in no traveller or author more conspicuous than in Mr. Gell. Whatever
difference of opinion may yet exist with regard to the success of the
several disputants in the famous Trojan controversy[1], or, indeed,
relating to the present author's merits as an inspector of the Troad,
it must universally be acknowledged that any work, which more
forcibly impresses on our imaginations the scenes of heroic action,
and the subjects of immortal song, possesses claims on the attention
of every scholar.
[Footnote 1: We have it from the best authority that the venerable
leader of the Anti-Homeric sect, Jacob Bryant, several years before
his death, expressed regret for his ungrateful attempt to destroy
some of the most pleasing associations of our youthful studies. One
of his last wishes was--"_Trojaque nunc stares," &c._]
Of the two works which now demand our report, we conceive the former
to be by far the most interesting to the reader, as the latter is
indisputably the most serviceable to the traveller. Excepting,
indeed, the running commentary which it contains on a number of
extracts from Pausanias and Strabo, it is, as the title imports, a
mere itinerary of Greece, or rather of Argolis only, in its present
circumstances. This being the case, surely it would have answered
every purpose of utility much better by being printed as a pocket
road-book of that part of the Morea; for a quarto is a very
unmanageable travelling companion. The maps[1] and drawings, we shall
be told, would not permit such an arrangement: but as to the
drawings, they are not in general to be admired as specimens of the
art; and several of them, as we have been assured by eye-witnesses of
the scenes which they describe, do not compensate for their
mediocrity in point of execution, by any extraordinary fidelity of
representation. Others, indeed, are more faithful, according to our
informants. The true reason, however, for this costly mode of
publication is in course to be found in a desire of gratifying the
public passion for large margins, and all the luxury of typography;
and we have before expressed our dissatisfaction with Mr. Gell's
aristocratical mode of communicating a species of knowledge, which
ought to be accessible to a much greater portion of classical
students than can at present acquire it by his means:--but, as such
expostulations are generally useless, we shall be thankful for what
we can obtain, and that in the manner in which Mr. Gell has chosen to
present it.
[Footnote 1: Or, rather, _Map_; for we have only one in the volume,
and that is on too small a scale to give more than a general idea of
the relative position of places. The excuse about a larger map not
folding well is trifling; see, for instance, the author's own map of
Ithaca.]
The former of these volumes, we have observed, is the most attractive
in the closet. It comprehends a very full survey of the far-famed
island which the hero of the Odyssey has immortalized; for we really
are inclined to think that the author has established the identity of
the modern _Theaki_ with the _Ithaca_ of Homer. At all events, if it
be an illusion, it is a very agreeable deception, and is effected by
an ingenious interpretation of the passages in Homer that are
supposed to be descriptive of the scenes which our traveller has
visited. We shall extract some of these adaptations of the ancient
picture to the modern scene, marking the points of resemblance which
appear to be strained and forced, as well as those which are more
easy and natural: but we must first insert some preliminary matter
from the opening chapter.
The following passage conveys a sort of general sketch of the book,
which may give our readers a tolerably adequate notion of its
contents:--
"The present work may adduce, by a simple and correct survey
of the island, coincidences in its geography, in its natural
productions, and moral state, before unnoticed. Some will be
directly pointed out; the fancy or ingenuity of the reader may
be employed in tracing others; the mind familiar with the
imagery of the Odyssey will recognise with satisfaction the
scenes themselves; and this volume is offered to the public,
not entirely without hopes of vindicating the poem of Homer
from the scepticism of those critics who imagine that the
Odyssey is a mere poetical composition, unsupported by
history, and unconnected with the localities of any particular
situation.
"Some have asserted that, in the comparison of places now
existing with the descriptions of Homer, we ought not to
expect coincidence in minute details; yet it seems only by
these that the kingdom of Ulysses, or any other, can be
identified, as, if such as idea be admitted, every small and
rocky island in the Ionian Sea, containing a good port, might,
with equal plausibility, assume the appellation of Ithaca.
"The Venetian geographers have in a great degree contributed
to raise those doubts which have existed on the identity of
the modern with the ancient Ithaca, by giving, in their
charts, the name of Val di Compare to the island. That name
is, however, totally unknown in the country, where the isle is
invariably called Ithaca by the upper ranks, and Theaki by the
vulgar. The Venetians have equally corrupted the name of
almost every place in Greece; yet, as the natives of Epactos
or Naupactos never heard of Lepanto, those of Zacynthos of
Zante, or the Athenians of Settines, it would be as unfair to
rob Ithaca of its name, on such authority, as it would be to
assert that no such island existed, because no tolerable
representation of its form can be found in the Venetian
surveys.
"The rare medals of the Island, of which three are represented
in the title-page, might be adduced as a proof that the name
of Ithaca was not lost during the reigns of the Roman
emperors. They have the head of Ulysses, recognised by the
pileum, or pointed cap, while the reverse of one presents the
figure of a cock, the emblem of his vigilance, with the legend
[Greek: ITHAKON]. A few of these medals are preserved in the
cabinets of the curious, and one also, with the cock, found in
the island, is in the possession of Signor Zavo, of Bathi. The
uppermost coin is in the collection of Dr. Hunter; the
second is copied from Newman, and the third is the property of
R.P. Knight, Esq.
"Several inscriptions, which will be hereafter produced, will
tend to the confirmation of the idea that Ithaca was inhabited
about the time when the Romans were masters of Greece; yet
there is every reason to believe that few, if any, of the
present proprietors of the soil are descended from ancestors
who had long resided successively in the island. Even those
who lived, at the time of Ulysses, in Ithaca, seem to have
been on the point of emigrating to Argos, and no chief
remained, after the second in descent from that hero, worthy
of being recorded in history. It appears that the isle has
been twice colonised from Cephalonia in modern times, and I
was informed that a grant had been made by the Venetians,
entitling each settler in Ithaca to as much land as his
circumstances would enable him to cultivate."
Mr. Gell then proceeds to invalidate the authority of previous
writers on the subject of Ithaca. Sir George Wheeler and M. le
Chevalier fall under his severe animadversion; and, indeed, according
to his account, neither of these gentlemen had visited the island,
and the description of the latter is "absolutely too absurd for
refutation." In another place, he speaks of M. le C. "disgracing a
work of such merit by the introduction of such fabrications;" again,
of the inaccuracy of the author's maps; and, lastly, of his inserting
an island at the southern entry of the Channel between Cephalonia and
Ithaca, which has no existence. This observation very nearly
approaches to the use of that monosyllable which Gibbon[1], without
expressing it, so adroitly applied to some assertion of his
antagonist, Mr. Davies. In truth, our traveller's words are rather
bitter towards his brother tourist: but we must conclude that their
justice warrants their severity.
[Footnote 1: See his Vindication of the 15th and 16th chapters of the
_Decline and Fall_, &c.]
In the second chapter, the author describes his landing in Ithaca,
and arrival at the rock Korax and the fountain Arethusa, as he
designates it with sufficient positiveness.--This rock, now known by
the name of Korax, or Koraka Petra, he contends to be the same with
that which Homer mentions as contiguous to the habitation of Eumæus,
the faithful swine-herd of Ulysses.--We shall take the liberty of
adding to our extracts from Mr. Gell some of the passages in Homer to
which he _refers_ only, conceiving this to be the fairest method of
exhibiting the strength or the weakness of his argument. "Ulysses,"
he observes, "came to the extremity of the isle to visit Eumusæ, and
that extremity was the most southern; for Telemachus, coming from
Pylos, touched at the first south-eastern part of Ithaca with the
same intention."
[Greek: Kai tote dê r' Odusêa kakos pothen êgage daimôn
Agrou ep' eschatiên, hothi domata naie subôtês;
Enth' êlthen philos uios Odussêos theioio,
Ek Pulou êmathoenios iôn sun nêi melainê;
Odussei O.
Autar epên prôtên aktên Ithakês aphikêai,
Nêa men es polin otrunai kai panlas hetairous;
Autos de prôtisa subôtên eisaphikesthai,
k.t.l. Odussei O.]
These citations, we think, appear to justify the author in his
attempt to identify the situation of his rock and fountain with the
place of those mentioned by Homer. But let us now follow him in the
closer description of the scene.--After some account of the subjects
in the plate affixed, Mr. Gell remarks: "It is impossible to visit
this sequestered spot without being struck with the recollection of
the Fount of Arethusa and the Rock Korax, which the poet mentions in
the same line, adding, that there the swine eat the _sweet_[1]
acorns, and drank the black water."
[Footnote 1: "_Sweet_ acorns." Does Mr. Gell translate from the
Latin? To avoid similar cause of mistake, [Greek: menoeikea] should
not be rendered _suavem_ but _gratam_, as Barnes has given it.]
[Greek: Dêeis ton ge suessi parêmenon; ai de nemontai
Par Korakos petrê, epi te krênê Arethousê,
Esthousai balanon menoeikea, kai melan hudôr
Pinousai; Odussei N.]
"Having passed some time at the fountain, taken a drawing, and made
the necessary observations on the situation of the place, we
proceeded to an examination of the precipice, climbing over the
terraces above the source, among shady fig-trees, which, however, did
not prevent us from feeling the powerful effects of the mid-day sun.
After a short but fatiguing ascent, we arrived at the rock, which
extends in a vast perpendicular semicircle, beautifully fringed with
trees, facing to the southeast. Under the crag we found two caves of
inconsiderable extent, the entrance of one of which, not difficult of
access, is seen in the view of the fount. They are still the resort
of sheep and goats, and in one of them are small natural receptacles
for the water, covered by a stalagmitic incrustation.
"These caves, being at the extremity of the curve formed by the
precipice, open toward the south, and present us with another
accompaniment of the fount of Arethusa, mentioned by the poet, who
informs us that the swineherd Eumæus left his guests in the house,
whilst he, putting on a thick garment, went to sleep near the herd,
under the hollow of the rock, which sheltered him from the northern
blast. Now we know that the herd fed near the fount; for Minerva
tells Ulysses that he is to go first to Eumæus, whom he should find
with the swine, near the rock Korax and the fount of Arethusa. As the
swine then fed at the fountain, so it is necessary that a cavern
should be found in its vicinity; and this seems to coincide, in
distance and situation, with that of the poem. Near the fount also
was the fold or stathmos of Eumæus; for the goddess informs Ulysses
that he should find his faithful servant at or above the fount.
"Now the hero meets the swineherd close to the fold, which was
consequently very near that source. At the top of the rock, and just
above the spot where the waterfall shoots down the precipice, is at
this day a stagni or pastoral dwelling, which the herdsmen of Ithaca
still inhabit, on account of the water necessary for their cattle.
One of these people walked on the verge of the precipice at the time
of our visit to the place, and seemed so anxious to know how we had
been conveyed to the spot, that his enquiries reminded us of a
question probably not uncommon in the days of Homer, who more than
once represents the Ithacences demanding of strangers what ship had
brought them to the island, it being evident they could not come on
foot. He told us that there was, on the summit where he stood, a
small cistern of water, and a kalybea, or shepherd's hut. There are
also vestiges of ancient habitations, and the place is now called
Amarâthia.
"Convenience, as well as safety, seems to have pointed out the lofty
situation of Amarathia as a fit place for the residence of the
herdsmen of this part of the island from the earliest ages. A small
source of water is a treasure in these climates; and if the
inhabitants of Ithaca now select a rugged and elevated spot, to
secure them from the robbers of the Echinades, it is to be
recollected that the Taphian pirates were not less formidable, even
in the days of Ulysses, and that a residence in a solitary part of
the island, far from the fortress, and close to a celebrated
fountain, must at all times have been dangerous, without some such
security as the rocks of Korax. Indeed, there can be no doubt that
the house of Eumæus was on the top of the precipice; for Ulysses, in
order to evince the truth of his story to the swineherd, desires to
be thrown from the summit if his narration does not prove correct.
"Near the bottom of the precipice is a curious natural gallery, about
seven feet high, which is expressed in the plate. It may be fairly
presumed, from the very remarkable coincidence between this place and
the Homeric account, that this was the scene designated by the poet
as the fountain of Arethusa, and the residence of Eumæus; and,
perhaps, it would be impossible to find another spot which bears, at
this day, so strong a resemblance to a poetic description composed at
a period so very remote. There is no other fountain in this part of
the island, nor any rock which bears the slightest resemblance to the
Korax of Homer.
"The stathmos of the good Eumæus appears to have been little
different, either in use or construction, from the stagni and kalybea
of the present day. The poet expressly mentions that other herdsmen
drove their flocks into the city at sunset,--a custom which still
prevails throughout Greece during the winter, and that was the season
in which Ulysses visited Eumæus. Yet Homer accounts for this
deviation from the prevailing custom, by observing that he had
retired from the city to avoid the suitors of Penelope. These
trifling occurrences afford a strong presumption that the Ithaca of
Homer was something more than the creature of his own fancy, as some
have supposed it; for though the grand outline of a fable may be
easily imagined, yet the consistent adaptation of minute incidents to
a long and elaborate falsehood is a task of the most arduous and
complicated nature."
After this long extract, by which we have endeavoured to do justice
to Mr. Gell's argument, we cannot allow room for any farther
quotations of such extent; and we must offer a brief and imperfect
analysis of the remainder of the work.
In the third chapter, the traveller arrives at the capital, and in
the fourth, he describes it in an agreeable manner. We select his
account of the mode of celebrating a Christian festival in the Greek
church:--
"We were present at the celebration of the feast of the
Ascension, when the citizens appeared in their gayest dresses,
and saluted each other in the streets with demonstrations of
pleasure. As we sate at breakfast in the house of Zignor Zavo,
we were suddenly roused by the discharge of a gun, succeeded
by a tremendous crash of pottery, which fell on the tiles,
steps, and pavements, in every direction. The bells of the
numerous churches commenced a most discordant jingle; colours
were hoisted on every mast in the port, and a general shout of
joy announced some great event. Our host informed us that the
feast of the Ascension was annually commemorated in this
manner at Bathi, the populace exclaiming [Greek: anesê o
Chrisos, alêthinos o Theos,] Christ is risen, the true God."
In another passage, he continues this account as follows:--"In the
evening of the festival, the inhabitants danced before their houses;
and at one we saw the figure which is said to have been first used by
the youths and virgins of Delos, at the happy return of Theseus from
the expedition of the Cretan Labyrinth. It has now lost much of that
intricacy which was supposed to allude to the windings of the
habitation of the Minotaur," &c. &c. This is rather too much for even
the inflexible gravity of our censorial muscles. When the author
talks, with all the _reality_ (if we may use the expression) of a
Lempriere, on the stories of the fabulous ages, we cannot refrain
from indulging a momentary smile; nor can we seriously accompany him
in the learned architectural detail by which he endeavours to give
us, from the Odyssey, the ground-plot of the house of Ulysses.--of
which he actually offers a plan in drawing! "showing how the
description of the house of Ulysses in the Odyssey may be supposed to
correspond with the foundations yet visible on the hill of
Aito!"--Oh, Foote! Foote! why are you lost to such inviting subjects
for your ludicrous pencil!--In his account of this celebrated
mansion, Mr. Gell says, one side of the court seems to have been
occupied by the Thalamos, or sleeping apartments of the men, &c. &c.;
and, in confirmation of this hypothesis, he refers to the 10th
Odyssey, line 340. On examining his reference, we read,
[Greek: Es thalamon t ienai, kai sês epibêmenai eunês.]
where Ulysses records an invitation which he received from Circe to
take a part of her bed. How this illustrates the above conjecture, we
are at a loss to divine: but we suppose that some numerical error has
occurred in the reference, as we have detected a trifling mistake or
two of the same nature.
Mr. G. labours hard to identify the cave of Dexia near Bathi (the
capital of the island), with the grotto of the Nymphs described in
the 13th Odyssey. We are disposed to grant that he has succeeded: but
we cannot here enter into the proofs by which he supports his
opinion; and we can only extract one of the concluding sentences of
the chapter, which appears to us candid and judicious:--
"Whatever opinion may be formed as to the identity of the cave
of Dexia with the grotto of the Nymphs, it is fair to state,
that Strabo positively asserts that no such cave as that
described by Homer existed in his time, and that geographer
thought it better to assign a physical change, rather than
ignorance in Homer, to account for a difference which he
imagined to exist between the Ithaca of his time and that of
the poet. But Strabo, who was an uncommonly accurate observer
with respect to countries surveyed by himself, appears to have
been wretchedly misled by his informers on many occasions.
"That Strabo had never visited this country is evident, not
only from his inaccurate account of it, but from his citation
of Appollodorus and Scepsius, whose relations are in direct
opposition to each other on the subject of Ithaca, as will be
demonstrated on a future opportunity."
We must, however, observe that "demonstration" is a strong term.--In
his description of the Leucadian Promontory (of which we have a
pleasing representation in the plate), the author remarks that it is
"celebrated for the _leap_ of Sappho, and the _death_ of Artemisia."
From this variety in the expression, a reader would hardly conceive
that both the ladies perished in the same manner: in fact, the
sentence is as proper as it would be to talk of the decapitation of
Russell, and the death of Sidney. The view from this promontory
includes the island of Corfu; and the name suggests to Mr. Gell the
following note, which, though rather irrelevant, is of a curious
nature, and we therefore conclude our citations by transcribing it:--
"It has been generally supposed that Corfu, or Corcyra, was
the Phæacia of Homer; but Sir Henry Englefield thinks the
position of that island inconsistent with the voyage of
Ulysses as described in the Odyssey. That gentleman has also
observed a number of such remarkable coincidences between the
courts of Alcinous and Solomon, that they may be thought
curious and interesting. Homer was familiar with the names of
Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt; and, as he lived about the time of
Solomon, it would not have been extraordinary if he had
introduced some account of the magnificence of that prince
into his poem. As Solomon was famous for wisdom, so the name
of Alcinous signifies strength of knowledge; as the gardens of
Solomon were celebrated, so are those of Alcinous (Od.
7.112.); as the kingdom of Solomon was distinguished by twelve
tribes under twelve princes (1 Kings, ch. 4.), so that of
Alcinous (Od. 8. 390.) was ruled by an equal number; as the
throne of Solomon was supported by lions of gold (1 Kings, ch.
10.), so that of Alcinous was placed on dogs of silver and
gold (Od, 7. 91.); as the fleets of Solomon were famous, so
were those of Alcinous. It is perhaps worthy of remark, that
Neptune sate on the mountains of the SOLYMI, as he returned
from Æthiopia to Ægæ, while he raised the tempest which threw
Ulysses on the coast of Phæacia; and that the Solymi of
Pamphylia are very considerably distant from the route.--The
suspicious character, also, which Nausicaa attributes to her
countryman agrees precisely with that which the Greeks and
Romans gave of the Jews."
The seventh chapter contains a description of the Monastery of
Kathara, and several adjacent places. The eighth, among other
curiosities, fixes on an imaginary site for the Farm of Laertes: but
this is the agony of conjecture indeed!--and the ninth chapter
mentions another Monastery, and a rock still called the School of
Homer. Some sepulchral inscriptions of a very simple nature are
included.--The tenth and last chapter brings us round to the Port of
Schoenus, near Bathi; after we have completed, seemingly in a very
minute and accurate manner, the tour of the island.
We can certainly recommend a perusal of this volume to every lover of
classical scene and story. If we may indulge the pleasing belief that
Homer sang of a real kingdom, and that Ulysses governed it, though we
discern many feeble links in Mr. Gell's chain of evidence, we are on
the whole induced to fancy that this is the Ithaca of the bard and of
the monarch. At all events, Mr. Gell has enabled every future
traveller to form a clearer judgment on the question than he could
have established without such a "Vade-mecum to Ithaca," or a "Have
with you, to the House of Ulysses," as the present. With Homer in his
pocket, and Gell on his sumpter-horse or mule, the Odyssean tourist
may now make a very classical and delightful excursion; and we doubt
not that the advantages accruing to the Ithacences, from the
increased number of travellers who will visit them in consequence of
Mr. Gell's account of their country, will induce them to confer on
that gentleman any heraldic honours which they may have to bestow,
should he ever look in upon them again.--_Baron Bathi _ would be a
pretty title:--
"_Hoc_ Ithacus _velit, et magno mercentur Atridæ_."--Virgil.
For ourselves, we confess that all our old Grecian feelings would be
alive on approaching the fountain of Melainudros, where, as the
tradition runs, or as the priests relate, Homer was restored to
sight.
We now come to the "Grecian Patterson," or "Cary," which Mr. Gell has
begun to publish; and really he has carried the epic rule of
concealing the person of the author to as great a length as either of
the above-mentioned heroes of itinerary writ. We hear nothing of his
"hair-breadth 'scapes" by sea or land; and we do not even know, for
the greater part of his journey through Argolis, whether he relates
what he has seen or what he has heard. Prom other parts of the book,
we find the former to be the case: but, though there have been
tourists and "strangers" in other countries, who have kindly
permitted their readers to learn rather too much of their sweet
selves, yet it is possible to carry delicacy, or cautious silence, or
whatever it may be called, to the contrary extreme. We think that Mr.
Gell has fallen into this error, so opposite to that of his numerous
brethren. It is offensive, indeed, to be told what a man has eaten
for dinner, or how pathetic he was on certain occasions; but we like
to know that there is a being yet living who describes the scenes to
which he introduces us; and that it is not a mere translation from
Strabo or Pausanias which we are reading, or a commentary on those
authors. This reflection leads us to the concluding remark in Mr.
Gell's preface (by much the most interesting part of his book) to his
Itinerary of Greece, in which he thus expresses himself:--
"The confusion of the modern with the ancient names of places
in this volume is absolutely unavoidable; they are, however,
mentioned in such a manner, that the reader will soon be
accustomed to the indiscriminate use of them. The necessity of
applying the ancient appellations to the different routes,
will be evident from the total ignorance of the public on the
subject of the modern names, which, having never appeared in
print, are only known to the few individuals who have visited
the country.
"What could appear less intelligible to the reader, or less
useful to the traveller, than a route from Chione and Zaracca
to Kutchukmadi, from thence to Krabata to Schoenochorio, and
by the mills of Peali, while every one is in some degree
acquainted with the names of Stymphalus, Nemea, Mycenæ,
Lyrceia, Lerna, and Tegea?"
Although this may be very true inasmuch as it relates to the reader,
yet to the traveller we must observe, in opposition to Mr. Gell, that
nothing can be less useful than the designation of his route
according to the ancient names. We might as well, and with as much
chance of arriving at the place of our destination, talk to a
Hounslow post-boy about making haste to _Augusta_, as apply to our
Turkish guide in modern Greece for a direction to Stymphalus, Nemea,
Mycenæ, &c. &c. This is neither more nor less than classical
affectation; and it renders Mr. Gell's book of much more confined use
than it would otherwise have been:--but we have some other and more
important remarks to make on his general directions to Grecian
tourists; and we beg leave to assure our readers that they are
derived from travellers who have lately visited Greece. In the first
place, Mr. Gell is absolutely incautious enough to recommend an
interference on the part of English travellers with the Minister at
the Porte, in behalf of the Greeks. "The folly of such neglect (page
16. preface,) in many instances, where the emancipation of a district
might often be obtained by the present of a snuff-box or a watch, at
Constantinople, _and without the smallest danger of exciting the
jealousy of such a court as that of Turkey,_ will be acknowledged
when we are no longer able to rectify the error." We have every
reason to believe, on the contrary, that the folly of half a dozen
travellers, taking this advice, might bring us into a war. "Never
interfere with any thing of the kind," is a much sounder and more
political suggestion to all English travellers in Greece.
Mr. Gell apologises for the introduction of "his panoramic designs,"
as he calls them, on the score of the great difficulty of giving any
tolerable idea of the face of a country in writing, and the ease with
which a very accurate knowledge of it may be acquired by maps and
panoramic designs. We are informed that this is not the case with
many of these designs. The small scale of the single map we have
already censured; and we have hinted that some of the drawings are
not remarkable for correct resemblance of their originals. The two
nearer views of the Gate of the Lions at Mycenæ are indeed good
likenesses of their subject, and the first of them is unusually well
executed; but the general view of Mycenæ is not more than tolerable
in any respect; and the prospect of Larissa, &c. is barely equal to
the former. The view _from_ this last place is also indifferent; and
we are positively assured that there are no windows at Nauplia which
look like a box of dominos,--the idea suggested by Mr. Gell's plate.
We must not, however, be too severe on these picturesque bagatelles,
which, probably, were very hasty sketches; and the circumstances of
weather, &c. may have occasioned some difference in the appearance of
the same objects to different spectators. We shall therefore return
to Mr. Gell's preface; endeavouring to set him right in his
directions to travellers, where we think that he is erroneous, and
adding what appears to have been omitted. In his first sentence, he
makes an assertion which is by no means correct. He says, "_We_ are
at present as ignorant of Greece, as of the interior of Africa."
Surely not quite so ignorant; or several of our Grecian _Mungo Parks_
have travelled in vain, and some very sumptuous works have been
published to no purpose! As we proceed, we find the author observing
that "Athens is _now_ the most polished city of Greece," when we
believe it to be the most barbarous, even to a proverb--
[Greek: O Athêna, protê chora,
Ti gaidarous trepheis tora[1]?]
[Footnote 1: We write these lines from the _recitation_ of the
travellers to whom we have alluded; but we cannot vouch for the
correctness of the Romaic.]
is a couplet of reproach _now_ applied to this once famous city;
whose inhabitants seem little worthy of the inspiring call which was
addressed to them within these twenty years, by the celebrated
Riga:--
[Greek: Deute paides tôn Ellênôn--k.t.l.]
Iannina, the capital of Epirus, and the seat of Ali Pacha's
government, _is_ in truth deserving of the honours which Mr. Gell has
improperly bestowed on degraded Athens. As to the correctness of the
remark concerning the fashion of wearing the hair cropped in
_Molossia,_ as Mr. Gell informs us, our authorities cannot depose:
but why will he use the classical term of Eleuthero-Lacones, when
that people are so much better known by their modern name of
Mainotes? "The court of the Pacha of Tripolizza" is said "to realise
the splendid visions of the Arabian Nights." This is true with regard
to the _court_: but surely the traveller ought to have added that the
city and palace are most miserable, and form an extraordinary
contrast to the splendour of the court.--Mr. Gell mentions _gold_
mines in Greece: he should have specified their situation, as it
certainly is not universally known. When, also, he remarks that "the
first article of necessity _in Greece_ is a firman, or order from the
Sultan, permitting the traveller to pass unmolested," we are much
misinformed if he be right. On the contrary, we believe this to be
almost the only part of the Turkish dominions in which a firman is
not necessary; since the passport of the Pacha is absolute within his
territory (according to Mr. G.'s own admission), and much more
effectual than a firman.--"Money," he remarks, "is easily procured at
Salonica, or Patrass, where the English have Consuls." It is much
better procured, we understand, from the Turkish governors, who never
charge discount. The Consuls for the English are not of the most
magnanimous order of Greeks, and far from being so liberal, generally
speaking; although there are, in course, some exceptions, and Strune
of Patrass has been more honourably mentioned.--After having observed
that "horses seem the best mode of conveyance in Greece," Mr. Gell
proceeds: "Some travellers would prefer an English saddle; but a
saddle of this sort is always objected to by the owner of the horse,
_and not without reason_" &c. This, we learn, is far from being the
case; and, indeed, for a very simple reason, an English saddle must
seem to be preferable to one of the country, because it is much
lighter. When, too, Mr. Gell calls the _postilion_ "Menzilgi," he
mistakes him for his betters: _Serrugees_ are postilions; _Mensilgis_
are postmasters.--Our traveller was fortunate in his Turks, who are
hired to walk by the side of the baggage-horses. They "are certain,"
he says, "of performing their engagement without grumbling." We
apprehend that this is by no means certain:--but Mr. Gell is
perfectly right in preferring a Turk to a Greek for this purpose; and
in his general recommendation to take a Janissary on the tour: who,
we may add, should be suffered to act as he pleases, since nothing is
to be done by gentle means, or even by offers of money, at the places
of accommodation. A courier, to be sent on before to the place at
which the traveller intends to sleep, is indispensable to comfort:
but no tourist should be misled by the author's advice to suffer the
Greeks to gratify their curiosity, in permitting them to remain for
some time about him on his arrival at an inn. They should be removed
as soon as possible; for, as to the remark that "no stranger would
think of intruding when a room is pre-occupied," our informants were
not so well convinced of that fact.
Though we have made the above exceptions to the accuracy of Mr.
Gell's information, we are most ready to do justice to the general
utility of his directions, and can certainly concede the praise which
he is desirous of obtaining,--namely, "of having facilitated the
researches of future travellers, by affording that local information
which it was before impossible to obtain." This book, indeed, is
absolutely necessary to any person who wishes to explore the Morea
advantageously; and we hope that Mr. Gell will continue his Itinerary
over that and over every other part of Greece. He allows that his
volume "is only calculated to become a book of reference, and not of
general entertainment:" but we do not see any reason against the
compatibility of both objects in a survey of the most celebrated
country of the ancient world. To that country, we trust, the
attention not only of our travellers, but of our legislators, will
hereafter be directed. The greatest caution will, indeed, be
required, as we have premised, in touching on so delicate a subject
as the amelioration of the possessions of an ally: but the field for
the exercise of political sagacity is wide and inviting in this
portion of the globe; and Mr. Gell, and all other writers who
interest us, however remotely, in its extraordinary _capabilities_,
deserve well of the British empire. We shall conclude by an extract
from the author's work: which, even if it fails of exciting that
general interest which we hope most earnestly it may attract, towards
its important subject, cannot, as he justly observes, "be entirely
uninteresting to the scholar;" since it is a work "which gives him a
faithful description of the remains of cities, the very existence of
which was doubtful, as they perished before the æra of authentic
history." The subjoined quotation is a good specimen of the author's
minuteness of research as a topographer; and we trust that the credit
which must accrue to him from the present performance will ensure the
completion of his Itinerary:--
"The inaccuracies of the maps of Anacharsis are in many
respects very glaring. The situation of Phlius is marked by
Strabo as surrounded by the territories of Sicyon, Argos,
Cleonæ, and Stymphalus. Mr. Hawkins observed, that Phlius, the
ruins of which still exist near Agios Giorgios, lies in a
direct line between Cleonæ and Stymphalus, and another from
Sicyon to Argos; so that Strabo was correct in saying that it
lay between those four towns; yet we see Phlius, in the map of
Argolis by M. Barbie du Bocage, placed ten miles to the north
of Stymphalus, contradicting both history and fact. D'Anville
is guilty of the same error.
"M. du Bocage places a town named Phlius, and by him Phlionte,
on the point of land which forms the port of Drepano: there
are not at present any ruins there. The maps of D'Anville are
generally more correct than any others where
ancient geography is concerned. A mistake occurs on the
subject of Tiryns, and a place named by him Vathia, but of
which nothing can be understood. It is possible that Vathi, or
the profound valley, may be a name sometimes used for the
valley of Barbitsa, and that the place named by D'Anville
Claustra may be the outlet of that valley called Kleisoura,
which has a corresponding signification.
"The city of Tiryns is also placed in two different positions,
once by its Greek name, and again as Tirynthus. The mistake
between the islands of Sphæria and Calaura has been noticed in
page 135. The Pontinus, which D'Anville represents as a river,
and the Erasinus are equally ill placed in his map. There was
a place called Creopolis, somewhere toward Cynouria; but its
situation is not easily fixed. The ports called Bucephalium
and Piræus seem to have been nothing more than little bays in
the country between Corinth and Epidaurus. The town called
Athenæ, in Cynouria, by Pausanias, is called Anthena by
_Thucydides_, book 5. 41.
"In general, the map of D'Anville will be found more accurate
than those which have been published since his time; indeed
the mistakes of that geographer are in general such as could
not be avoided without visiting the country. Two errors of
D'Anville may be mentioned, lest the opportunity of publishing
the itinerary of Arcadia should never occur. The first is,
that the rivers Malætas and Mylaon, near Methydrium, are
represented as running toward the south, whereas they flow
northwards to the Ladon; and the second is, that the Aroanius,
which falls into the Erymanthus at Psophis, is represented as
flowing from the lake of Pheneos; a mistake which arises from
the ignorance of the ancients themselves who have written on
the subject. The fact is that the Ladon receives the waters of
the lakes of Orchomenos and Pheneos: but the Aroanius rises at
a spot not two hours distant from Psophis."
In furtherance of our principal object in this critique, we have only
to add a wish that some of our Grecian tourists, among the fresh
articles of information concerning Greece which they have lately
imported, would turn their minds to the language of the country. So
strikingly similar to the ancient Greek is the modern Romaic as a
written language, and so dissimilar in sound, that even a few general
rules concerning pronunciation would be of most extensive use.