Persephone of Eleusis: A Romance of Ancient Greece

“First from the Greeks a tuneful shout uprose, Well omened, and with replication loud, Leaped the blithe echo from the rocky shore. Fear seized the Persian host, no longer trick...

“Dim is the scene to that which greets thee here, Prompting to worship, waking rapture’s tear, Yes, rise, fair mount! the bright blue heavens to kiss, Stoop not thy pride, augus...

The sun sank in an unclouded blaze, but with the approach of evening the toilers did not cease. The builders of the pyramids of Egypt could boast no greater zeal than that with...

Platæa lay on the northern slope of beautiful Mt. Cithæron at the foot of which wound the picturesque river Asopus. On this day in midsummer, four hundred and seventy-nine B. C....

Most conspicuous among the few houses left in the city after the departure of the Persians was one that stood at no great distance from the Acropolis. It was a typical home of t...

“... Beyond the Theban plain Stretches to airy distance, till it seems Lifted in air,—green cornfields, olive groves Blue as their heaven, and lakes, and winding rivers.” James...

After the defeat of the Persians at Salamis, Xerxes retreated across the Hellespont to Asia, but Mardonius was not so easily disheartened. With three hundred thousand men he win...

“In gay hostility and barbarous pride, With half mankind embattled at his side, Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey, And starves exhausted regions in his way.” Samuel J...

It was eventide in the Agora. Booths were being closed for the night while merchants and customers were preparing to seek the comfort of their homes. Gradually the streets becam...

Instead of returning immediately to Athens, following the expulsion of the Persians, Zopyrus and his new-found friend, Cimon, turned their faces northward. Tempted by the beauty...

“Thence what the lofty grave tragedians taught In chorus or iambic, teachers best Of moral prudence, with delight received In brief sententious precepts, while they treat Of fat...

“And still from morn till eve I’ve scanned That weary sea from strand to strand, To mark his sail against the spray. In vain! In vain! The morning ray Shows not his bark ’mid al...

“... Far in the east The Aegean twinkles, and its thousand isles Hover in mist, and round the dun horizon Are many floating visions, clouds, or peaks, Tinted with rose!” James G...

After the passage of a few weeks, Zopyrus became convinced of a fact which caused him great concern. It was the growing love for him which Eumetis could ill conceal. An alliance...

“Bacchus, Bacchus! on the panther He swoons,—bound with his own vines! And his Mænads slowly saunter, Head aside, among the pines, While they murmur dreamingly,— ‘Evohe—ah—evohe...

“... How beautiful, Sublimely beautiful, thou hoverest High in the vacant air! Thou seemest uplifted From all of earth, and like an island floating Away in heaven. How pure are...

Days lengthened into weeks, and weeks into months. The fate of Corinna had lost none of its horror, but time had mollified the poignancy of the tragedy. Zopyrus still served as...

“Who at Thermopylæ stood side by side, And fought together and together died, Under earth-barrows now are laid at rest, Their chance thrice glorious, and their fate thrice-blest...

The god Hymen did not have charge of the ceremonies at the home of Pasicles: the goddess Mors officiated in his stead! Corinna was laid away in her eternal rest, and the house a...

“Here where the Persian clarion rung, And where the Spartan sword flashed high, And where the Pæan strains were sung, From year to year swelled on by liberty!” Felicia Hemans.

In compliance with a request from the hero of Salamis, no less a person than Themistocles himself, Zopyrus betook himself to the home of that personage. The two had met frequent...

Scarcely had the words fallen from Cleodice’s lips than there appeared several maidens running, dancing and pirouetting. They seemed to be so many sylvan nymphs effusing the spi...

Artabazus’ steps were directed to the tent of the women. With heavy tread he strode in the panoply of war. At the corner of the tent his foot came in rough contact with a soft o...

A small barge shot out from the shadows of a cliff through the light spray which spumed about its prow as it cut the billows. Its occupants, in addition to the two oarsmen, were...

The sun was scarcely an hour above the horizon when seven skiffs in festive regalia left the harbor of Piræus southward bound. Six of them were filled with youths and maidens be...

Alone in the darkness outside the cave of Pluto, the words of Agne kept ringing in Persephone’s ears:—“Live first! A mother will present the truths more vividly than one who has...

“We climb the ancient steep, which chief and sage Mounted before, through many a changeful age; Where Cimon blessed the gods that Greece was free, And Thrasybulus shouted ‘Victo...

“How terrible is time! his solemn years, The tombs of all our hopes and all our fears, In silent horror roll! the gorgeous throne, The pillared arch, the monumental stone, Melt...

Zopyrus bade Themistocles and Ladice farewell and turned his footsteps absent-mindedly to the house of Pasicles. As it was still early in the afternoon he decided to walk to the...