THE LAND OF HELLAS
The stories of gods and heroes are not pure history. They are myths or
legends which have grown with the ages, until sometimes they are told
as though they were true.
Although the tales I have been telling you of the early days of Greece
are myths, yet the Greeks who lived in later times would often speak of
them as though they had actually happened.
I am going to tell you now, not of gods or heroes, but of the true
deeds of mortal men. And first of all you will wish to hear a little
about the land in which the ancient Greeks lived.
It was named, as you already know, Hellas, while the inhabitants were
called Hellenes.
But Hellas and her people had another name given to them by the Romans,
who called Hellas Graecia, and the Hellenes Graeci, from a tribe that
dwelt in a part of the country known as Epirus. Epirus was not a very
important region, but it was well known to the Romans who dwelt in the
south of Italy. We have altered these Roman names a little and call
Hellas Greece, the Hellenes Greeks.
If you open your atlas at the map of Europe, you will find in the south
the little country of Greece, which although it is so small has yet
flung its influence over all the wide world.
On three sides Greece is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, and the
country is now usually known as the Balkan Peninsula.
Greece is a land of great mountains. Of its loftiest summit; Olympus,
which in ancient days was the abode of the gods, you have already read.
The coast-line is broken up much as is the coast of Scotland, by arms
of the sea which run far inland, so far inland that it is easy to reach
the water from any part of the country.
Close to the shores of Greece lie the islands of the Ægean Sea. In
these islands many Greeks settled, so that they became an important
part of Greece. The Ægean Sea we now call the Archipelago.
In the time of Homer all Greeks were called Achaeans. But in later
days, only those Greeks were called Achaeans who lived in the narrow
strip of land in northern Peloponnesus called Achaea.
The ancient Achaeans dwelt in the valleys, which were cut off from one
another by great spurs of mountains. They were united by an ancient
league, and quarrelled less with one another than did the other peoples
of Greece.
Besides the Achaeans there were three other great races in Greece.
The Dorians came from a little country called Doris, near the famous
Pass of Thermopylae, of which you have still to hear. The Ionians dwelt
on the east side of the Ægean Sea, that is, they lived on the coast of
Asia, while the Æolians were scattered here and there throughout Greece.
All these different tribes were Greeks, and they were proud of their
name, counting all other peoples barbarians, and despising them because
they were not Greeks. Many of them were traders or adventurers from
Asia, and they entered the new country from the north-east, through
Thessaly, and that was not a difficult journey.
Others crossed over from Asia by sea to search for a new home. But
their galleys were rough, uncomfortable vessels, in which there was
little room for the many who embarked. When storms arose they suffered
great misery, huddled closely together on their small and unseaworthy
boats. Fear, too, took hold of them and the horror of death.
So the wanderers were glad when they saw the many little islands that
were studded here and there over the Ægean Sea. Some of these islands,
it is true, were mere rocks, desolate and without water. But there were
others where people had already settled and made a home. On these the
strangers landed to fight with the inhabitants, until, by the help of
the gods, they had conquered and taken possession of them. Here they
feasted, glad of heart that the perils of the sea were now at an end.
In the Heroic Age the kings of the different tribes were believed to
have descended from the gods, and each country or state had its own
king. And so it was when the Heroic Age had passed away. Each tribe or
little nation, living in its own valley or plain, still had its own
separate sovereign, and each soon built for itself a city. The city
might be small, but it was always surrounded by a wall, which was built
for defence. If there was no wall it was not a city but a village,
however large it might be.
In those days kings were not ashamed to work. They were often to be
seen in the fields at harvest time, not looking idly on, but toiling
side by side with their people.
Odysseus, King of Ithaca, is said to have built his own bedroom as well
as his own boats. He claimed too to be a skilful ploughman and reaper.
And still, for many years after the age of Odysseus, kings worked as
hard as he had done.
The queens and princesses were as diligent as the kings. Often they
were to be found, like Penelope, sitting at a loom weaving or working
beautiful embroideries. They even went to the well themselves to fetch
water, and were sometimes to be seen by the riverside, where they
helped to wash the linen of the household.
In battle the king was always on the field, riding before his army in a
war chariot.
When peace reigned he often sat in the market-place to judge his
people. Each suppliant told his own tale and brought his own witnesses.
The elders of the city then gave their judgment of the case, after
which the king, taking his sceptre in his hand, stood up to pronounce
sentence.
But above all else the king was the chief priest of his people,
offering sacrifices for them, while they, with due reverence, looked
upon him as a god.