Mosaics of Grecian History Part 12

--POPE'S Trans.

Similar views are expressed by the lyric poet PINDAR in the following lines:

All whose steadfast virtue thrice Each side the grave unchanged hath stood, Still unseduced, unstained with vice-- They, by Jove's mysterious road, Pa.s.s to Saturn's realm of rest-- Happy isle, that holds the blest; Where sea-born breezes gently blow O'er blooms of gold that round them glow, Which Nature, boon from stream or strand Or goodly tree, profusely showers; Whence pluck they many a fragrant band, And braid their locks with never-fading flowers.

--Trans. by A. MOORE.

There is so much similarity between the mythology of the early Greeks and that of many of the Asiatic nations, that we give place here to the supposed meditations of a Hindu prince and skeptic on the great subject of a future state of existence, as a fitting close of our brief review of the religious beliefs of the ancients. Among the Asiatic nations are to be found accounts of the Creation, and of mult.i.tudes of G.o.ds, good and evil, all quite as p.r.o.nounced as those that are derived from the Grecian myths; and while the wildest and grossest of superst.i.tious fancies have prevailed among the common people, skepticism and atheistic doubt are known to have been nearly universal among the learned.

The poem which we give in this connection, therefore, though professedly a Hindu creation, may be accepted not only as portraying Hindu doubt and despondency, but also as a faithful picture of the anxiety, doubt, and almost utter despair, not only of the ancient Greeks; but of the entire heathen world, concerning the destiny of mankind.

The Hindu skeptic tells us that ever since mankind began their race on this earth they have been seeking for the "signs and steps of a G.o.d;" and that in mystical India, where the deities hover and swarm, and a million shrines stand open, with their myriad idols and, legions of muttering priests, mankind are still groping in darkness; still listening, and as yet vainly hoping for a message that shall tell what the wonders of creation mean, and whither they tend; ever vainly seeking for a refuge from the ills of life, and a rest beyond for the weary and heavy-laden, He turns to the deified heroes of his race, and though long he watches and wors.h.i.+ps for a solution of the mysteries of life, he waits in vain for an answer, for their marble features never relax in response to his prayers and entreaties; and he says, mournfully, "Alas! for the G.o.ds are dumb." The darts of death still fall as surely as ever, hurled by a Power unseen and a hand unknown; and beyond the veil all is obscurity and gloom.

I.

All the world over, I wonder, in lands that I never have trod, Are the people eternally seeking for the signs and steps of a G.o.d?

Westward across the ocean, and northward beyond the snow, Do they all stand gazing, as ever? and what do the wisest know?

II.

Here, in this mystical India, the deities hover and swarm Like the wild bees heard in the tree-tops, or the gusts of a gathering storm; In the air men hear their voices, their feet on the rocks are seen, Yet we all say, "Whence is the message--and what may the wonders mean?"

III.

A million shrines stand open, and ever the censer swings, As they bow to a mystic symbol or the figures of ancient kings; And the incense rises ever, and rises the endless cry Of those who are heavy-laden, and of cowards loath to die.

IV.

For the destiny drives us together like deer in a pa.s.s of the hills: Above is the sky, and around us the sound and the shot that kills.

Pushed by a Power we see not, and struck by a hand unknown, We pray to the trees for shelter, and press our lips to a stone.

V.

The trees wave a shadowy answer, and the rock frowns hollow and grim, And the form and the nod of the demon are caught in the twilight dim; And we look to the sunlight falling afar on the mountain crest-- Is there never a path runs upward to a refuge there and a rest?

VI.

The path--ah, who has shown it, and which is the faithful guide?

The haven--ah, who has known it? for steep is the mountain-side.

For ever the shot strikes surely, and ever the wasted breath Of the praying mult.i.tude rises, whose answer is only death!

VII.

Here are the tombs of my kinsfolk, the first of an ancient name-- Chiefs who were slain on the war-field, and women who died in flame.

They are G.o.ds, these kings of the foretime, they are spirits who guard our race: Ever I watch and wors.h.i.+p--they sit with a marble face.

VIII.

And the myriad idols around me, and the legion of muttering priests-- The revels and rites unholy, the dark, unspeakable feasts-- What have they wrung from the silence? Hath even a Whisper come Of the secret--whence and whither? Alas! for the G.o.ds are dumb.

Getting no light from the religious guides of his own country, he turns to the land where the English--the present rulers of India--dwell, and asks,

IX.

Shall I list to the word of the English, who come from the uttermost sea?

"The secret, hath it been told you? and what is your message to me?

It is naught but the wide-world story, how the earth and the heavens began-- How the G.o.ds are glad and angry, and a deity once was man.

And so he gathers around him the mantle of doubt and despondency; he asks if life is, after all, but a dream and delusion, while ever and ever is forced upon him that other question, "Where shall the dreamer awake?"

X.

I had thought, "Perchance in the cities where the rulers of India dwell, Whose orders flash from the far land, who girdle the earth with a spell, They have fathomed the depths we float on, or measured the unknown main--"

Sadly they turn from the venture, and say that the quest is vain.

XI.

Is life, then, a dream and delusion? and where shall the dreamer awake?

Is the world seen like shadows on water? and what if the mirror break?

Shall it pa.s.s as a camp that is struck, as a tent that is gathered and gone From the sands that were lamp-lit at eve, and at morning are level and lone?

XII.

Is there naught in the heaven above, whence the hail and the levin are hurled, But the wind that is swept around us by the rush of the rolling world-- The wind that shall scatter my ashes, and bear me to silence and sleep, With the dirge and the sounds of lamenting, and voices of women who weep?

--The Cornhill Magazine.

What a commentary on all this doubt and despondency are the meditations of the Christian, who, "sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust," approaches his grave

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams!

--BRYANT.

II. THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS OF GREECE.

The earliest reliable information that we possess of the country called Greece represents it in the possession of a number of rude tribes, of which the Pelas'gians were the most numerous and powerful, and probably the most ancient. Of the early character of the Pelasgians, and of the degree of civilization to which they had attained before the reputed founding of Argos, we have unsatisfactory and conflicting accounts. On the one hand, they are represented as no better than the rudest barbarians, dwelling in caves, subsisting on reptiles, herbs, and wild fruits, and strangers to the simplest arts of civilized life. Other and more reliable traditions, however, attribute to them a knowledge of agriculture, and some little acquaintance with navigation; while there is a strong probability that they were the authors of those huge structures commonly called Cyclopean, remains of which are still visible in many parts of Greece and Italy, and on the western coast of Asia Minor.

Argos, the capital of Ar'golis, is generally considered the most ancient city of Greece; and its reputed founding by In'achus, a son of the G.o.d O-ce'a.n.u.s, 1856 years before the Christian era, is usually a.s.signed as the period of the commencement of Grecian history. But the ma.s.sive Cyclopean walls of Argos evidently show the Pelasgic origin of the place, in opposition to the traditionary Phoenician origin of Inachus, whose very existence is quite problematical. Indeed, although many of the traditions of the Greeks point to a contrary conclusion, the accounts usually given of early foreign settlers in Greece, who planted colonies there, founded dynasties, built cities, and introduced a knowledge of the arts unknown to the ruder natives, must be taken with a great degree of abatement. The civilization of the Greeks and the development of their language bear all the marks of home growth, and probably were little affected by foreign influence. Still, many of these traditions are exceedingly interesting, and have attained great celebrity. One of the most celebrated is that which describes the founding of Athens, one of the renowned Grecian cities.

THE FOUNDING OF ATHENS.

Ce'crops, an Egyptian, is said to have led a colony from the Delta to Greece, about the year 1556 B.C. Two years later he proceeded to Attica, which had been desolated by a deluge a century before, and there he is said to have founded, on the Cecropian rock--the Acrop'olis--a city which, under the following circ.u.mstances, he called Athens, in honor of the Grecian G.o.ddess Athe'na, whom the Romans called Minerva.

It is an ancient Attic legend that about this time the G.o.ds had begun to choose favorite spots among the dwellings of man for their own residence; and whatever city a G.o.d chose, he gave to that city protection, and there that particular deity was wors.h.i.+pped with special homage. Now, it happened that both Neptune and Minerva contended for the supremacy over this new city founded by Cecrops; and Cecrops was greatly troubled by the contest, as he knew not to which deity to render homage. So Jove summoned a council of the G.o.ds, and they decided that the supremacy should be given to the one who should confer the greatest gift upon the favored city. The story of the contest is told by PROFESSOR BLACKIE in the following verses.

Mercury, the messenger of the G.o.ds, being sent to Cecrops, thus announces to him the decision of the Council:

"On the peaks of Olympus, the bright snowy-crested, The G.o.ds are a.s.sembled in council to-day, The wrath of Pos-ei'don, the mighty broad-breasted, 'Gainst Pallas, the spear-shaking maid, to allay.

And thus they decree--that Poseidon offended And Pallas shall bring forth a gift to the place: On the hill of Erech'theus the strife shall be ended, When she with her spear, and the G.o.d with his mace, Shall strike the quick rock; and the G.o.ds shall deliver The sentence as Justice shall order; and thou Shalt see thy loved city established forever, With Jove for a judge, and the Styx for a vow."