Argos was founded in the 1856th year before the Christian era; that is,
in the time of Abraham. Its founder was Inachus. Euripides, however,
says, that the city was built by the Cyclops, who came from Syria. After
flourishing for about 550 years, it was united to the crown of Mycenæ.
According to Herodotus, Argos was the most famous of all the states,
comprehended under the general name of Greece. For a long time it was
the most flourishing city in Greece; and this chiefly from its being
enriched by the commerce of Assyria and Egypt. Its early history is
resplendent with illustrious names and shining achievements. Its
inhabitants conceived a hope of obtaining the sovereignty of all
Peloponnesus; but they became at length enfeebled and at last ruined by
intestine divisions.
There are many events exceedingly interesting in the history of Argos;
amongst which, these. A war broke out, in the reign of Theopompus[34],
between the Argives and Lacedemonians, on account of a little country
called Thyrea, that lay upon the confines of the two states, and to
which each of them pretended a right. When the two armies were ready to
engage, it was agreed, in order to spare the effusion of blood, that the
quarrel should be decided by three hundred of the bravest men on both
sides; and that the land in question should become the property of the
victors. To leave the combatants more room to engage, the two armies
retired to some distance. Those generous champions then, who had all
the courage of two mighty armies, boldly advanced towards each other,
and fought with so much resolution and fury, that the whole number,
except three men, two on the side of the Argives, and one on the side of
the Lacedemonians, lay dead on the spot; and only the night parted them.
The two Argives, looking upon themselves as the conquerors, made what
haste they could to Argos to carry the news; the single Lacedemonian,
Othryades by name, instead of retiring, stripped the dead bodies of the
Argives, and carrying their arms into the Lacedemonian camp, continued
in his post. The next day the two armies returned to the field of
battle. Both sides laid equal claim to the victory. The Argives, because
they had more of their champions left alive than the enemy had; the
Lacedemonians, because the two Argives that remained alive had fled;
whereas their single soldier had remained master of the field of battle,
and had carried off the spoils of the enemy: in short, they could not
determine the dispute without coming to another engagement. Then fortune
declared in favour of the Lacedemonians, and the little territory of
Thyrea was the prize of their victory. But Othryades, not able to bear
the thoughts of surviving his brave companions, or of enduring the sight
of Sparta after their death, killed himself on the same field of battle
where they had fought, resolving to have one fate and tomb with them.
At[35] a subsequent period, the inhabitants of Argos despatched
ambassadors to Pyrrhus and Antigonus to entreat them to withdraw their
troops, and not reduce their city into subjection to either of them, but
to allow it to continue in a state of friendship with both. Antigonus
readily consented, and sent his son as a hostage to the Argives.
Pyrrhus, also, promised to retire; but as he offered no security for
the fulfilment of his word, they began to suspect his sincerity; and,
indeed, with sufficient reason: for as soon as night appeared, he
advanced to the walls, and having found a door left open by Aristæus, he
had time to force his Gauls into the city; and so seize it without being
perceived. But when he would have introduced his elephants, he found the
gates too low; which obliged him to cause the towers to be taken down
from their backs, and replaced there when those animals had entered the
city. All this could not be effected amidst the darkness without much
trouble, noise, and confusion, which caused them to be discovered. The
Argives, when they beheld the enemy in the city, fled to the citadel,
and to those places that were most advantageous in their defence, and
sent a deputation to Antigonus, to press his speedy advance to their
assistance. He accordingly marched that moment, and caused his son, with
the other officers, to enter the city at the head of his best troops. In
this very juncture of time, King Areus also arrived at Argos, with a
thousand Cretans, and as many Spartans as were capable of coming. These
troops, when they had all joined each other, charged the Gauls with the
utmost fury, and put them into disorder. Pyrrhus hastened, on his part,
to sustain them; but the darkness and confusion was then so great, that
it was impossible for him to be either obeyed or heard. When day
appeared, he was not a little surprised to see the citadel full of
enemies; and as he then imagined all was lost, he thought of nothing but
a timely retreat. But as he had some apprehension with respect to the
city gates, which were much too narrow, he sent orders to his son,
Helenus, whom he had left without with the greatest part of the army, to
demolish part of the wall, that his troops might have a free passage
out of the city. The person to whom Pyrrhus gave this order in great
haste, having misunderstood his meaning, delivered a quite contrary
message; in consequence of which, Helenus drew out his best infantry,
with all the elephants he had left, and then advanced into the city to
assist his father, who was preparing to retire, the moment the other
entered the place.
Pyrrhus, as long as the place afforded him a sufficient extent of
ground, appeared with a resolute mien, and frequently faced about and
repulsed those who pursued him; but when he found himself engaged in a
narrow street, which ended at the gate, the confusion, which already was
very great, became infinitely increased by the arrival of the troops his
son brought to his assistance. He frequently called aloud to them to
withdraw, in order to clear the streets, but in vain; for as it was
impossible for his voice to be heard, they still continued to advance;
and to complete the calamity in which they were involved, one of the
largest elephants sank down in the middle of the gate, and filled the
whole extent in such a manner, that the troops could neither advance nor
retire. The confusion occasioned by this accident became then
inextricable.
Pyrrhus observing the disorder of his men, who broke forward and were
driven back, took off the glittering crest, which distinguished his
helmet, and caused him to be known, and then, confiding in the goodness
of his horse, he sprang into the throng of his enemies who pursued him;
and while he was fighting with an air of desperation, one of the adverse
party advanced up to him, and pierced his cuirass with a javelin. The
wound, however, was neither great nor dangerous, and Pyrrhus immediately
turned upon the man from whom he had received it, and who happened to be
only a private soldier, the son of a poor woman at Argos: the mother
beholding the contest from the top of a house, where she stood with
several other women. The moment she saw her son engaged with Pyrrhus,
she almost lost her senses, and chilled with horror at the danger to
which she beheld him exposed. Amidst the impressions of her agony, she
caught up a large tile, and threw it down upon Pyrrhus. The mass fell
directly upon his head, and his helmet being too weak to ward off the
blow, his hands dropped the reins, and he sank down from his horse
without being observed. But he was soon discovered by a soldier, who put
an end to his life, by cutting off his head.
There is another circumstance related of Argos, which it gives us great
pleasure in remarking. When Solon was at the court of Croesus, the
king asked him--"Who, of all those he had seen, was the next in felicity
to Tellus." Solon answered, 'Cleobis and Biton of Argos, two brothers,
who had left behind them a perfect pattern of fraternal affection, and
of the respect due from children to their parents. Upon a solemn
festival, when their mother, a priestess of Juno, was to go to the
temple, the oxen that were to draw her not being ready, the two sons put
themselves to the yoke, and drew their mother's chariot thither, which
was above five miles distant. All the mothers of the place, ravished
with admiration, congratulated the priestess on the piety of her sons.
She, in the transports of her joy and thankfulness, earnestly entreated
the goddess to reward her children with the best thing that Heaven can
give to man. Her prayers were heard. When the sacrifice was over, her
two sons fell asleep in the very temple, and there died in a soft and
peaceful slumber. In honour of their piety, the people of Argos
consecrated statues to them in the temple of Delphos.
"If Athens," says Dr. Clarke, "by arts, by military talents, and by
costly solemnities, became _one of the eyes of Greece_, there was in
the humanity of Argos, and in the good feeling displayed by its
inhabitants, a distinction which comes nearer to the heart. Something
characteristic of the people may be observed even in a name given to one
of their divinities; for they worshipped a 'God of Meekness.' It may be
said, perhaps, of the Argive character, that it was less splendid than
the Athenian, and less rigid than the Lacedæmonian; but it was less
artificial, and the contrast it exhibited, when opposed to the infamous
profligacy of Corinth, where the manners of the people, corrupted by
wealth and luxury, were further vitiated by the great influx of
foreigners, rendered Argos, in the days of her prosperity, one of the
most enviable cities of Greece. The stranger, who visited Athens, might,
indeed, regard, with an eager curiosity, the innumerable trophies every
where suspended of victors in her splendid games; might admire her
extensive porticoes crowded with philosophers; might gaze with wonder at
the productions of her artists; might revere her magnificent temples:
but feelings more affecting were drawn forth in beholding the numerous
monuments of the Argives, destined to perpetuate the memory of
individuals who had rendered themselves illustrious by their virtues."
Argos was taken, A.D. 1397, by Bajazet. It was then totally deserted,
and its walls destroyed. It was rebuilt by the Venetians, from whom, in
1463, it was taken by the Turks; and after being retaken by the
Venetians, it was again recovered by the Turks in the same year.
"But where is Argos?" inquires La Martine; "a vast naked plain,
intersected with marshes extending in a circular form at the bottom of
the gulf. It is bounded on every side by chains of grey mountains; at
the end of the plain, about two leagues inland, we perceive a mound,
with some fortified walls on its summit, and which protects, by its
shade, a small town in ruins--this is Argos. Close by is the tomb of
Agamemnon."
The antiquities of Argos, once so numerous, may now be comprised within
a very short list. Those seen by Pausanias were the temples of Apollo,
of Fortuna, of Jupiter, and of Minerva; sepulchres and cenotaphs; a
theatre, a forum, a gymnasium, a stadium, a subterranean edifice, &c.,
formed of earth.
Of these now remaining[36], are the ruins of the theatre[37], which was
a remarkable structure, having been entirely an excavation in the rock,
and having the appearance of three theatres instead of one. Opposite to
this are the remains of a large edifice, built entirely of tiles. Above
the theatre are those of the Hieron of Venus, within whose temple was a
statue of the poetess Telesilla, who, at the head of a band of heroines,
repulsed from the walls the enemies of her country, when it was attacked
by the Lacedæmonians. She was represented, says Pausanias, standing upon
a pillar, with the books of her poetry scattered at her feet, in the act
of regarding her helmet, which she was about to put upon her head.
On the sides and lower part of the modern fortress are still seen the
remains of Cyclopian architecture, as ancient as the citadel of Tiryns,
and built in the same style[38].
"This structure," says Dr. Clarke, "is mentioned by Pausanias[39], where
he states that the inhabitants of Mycenæ were unable to demolish the
walls of the Argives, built, like those of Tiryns, by the Cyclops. These
Cyclopian walls, as well as the towers of Argos, are noticed by
Euripides, Polybius, Seneca, Strabo, and Statius. They are also hinted
at by Virgil. At the front of the Acropolis, we found one of the most
curious tell-tale remains, yet discovered among the thirty temples of
pagan priestcraft. It was nothing less than one of the oracular shrines
of Argos, alluded to by Pausanias, laid open to inspection like the toy
a child has broken, in order that he may see the contrivance whereby it
was made to speak. A more interesting sight for modern curiosity can
hardly be conceived to exist among the ruins of any Grecian city. In its
original state, it has been a temple; the farther part from the entrance
where the altar was, being an excavation of the rock, and the front and
roof constructed of baked tiles. The altar yet remains, and part of the
fictile superstructure; but the most remarkable part of the whole is a
secret subterraneous passage, terminating behind the altar, its entrance
being at a considerable distance towards the right of a person facing
the altar, and so cunningly contrived, as to have a small aperture
easily concealed, and level with the surface of the rock. This was
barely large enough to admit the entrance of a single person, who,
having descended in the narrow passage, might creep along until he
arrived immediately behind the centre of the altar; where being hid by
some colossal statue, or other screen, the sound of his voice would
produce a most imposing effect among the humble votaries prostrate
beneath, who were listening in silence upon the floor of the sanctuary."
There was also in Argos a statue of Jupiter, which had three eyes, one
of which was in the middle of the forehead. It is not impossible but
this statue may, one day, be found among the ruins under the soil.
Argos was consecrated to Juno[40]; it was subject to different forms of
government; its people were brave; they cultivated the arts, but
neglected the sciences. Their memory may well be cherished; for they
were, both in precept and in practice, the kindest and most humane of
all the citizens of Greece[41].