Part 1

Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive)

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME

THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME:

A Survey of Roman Culture and Civilisation. By J. C. STOBART, M.A. With about 200 Illustrations in Colour, Gravure, Collotype, Half-tone and Line.

TO BE PUBLISHED IN 1912.

_An Illustrated Prospectus will be published in due course._

THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE

THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE

A Survey of Hellenic Culture & Civilisation: by

J. C. Stobart, M.A.

LATE LECTURER IN HISTORY TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

LONDON SIDGWICK & JACKSON LTD. 3 Adam Street, Adelphi 1911

_All rights reserved_

PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN LONDON

PREFACE

With the progress of research, classical scholarship tends more and more towards narrower fields of specialisation. Real students are now like miners working underground each in his own shaft, buried far away from sight or ear-shot of the public, so that they even begin to lose touch with one another. This makes an occasional survey of the whole field of operations not only necessary for interested onlookers, whether they happen to be shareholders or not, but also serviceable to the scholars themselves. The task of furnishing it, however, is not an easy one. No man nowadays can be as fully equipped in archæology, history, and literary criticism as were great writers of general history in the last century like George Grote and Theodor Mommsen. We are driven, therefore, to one of two courses: either to compile encyclopædic works by various writers under slight editorial control, or else to sacrifice detail and attempt in a much less ambitious spirit to present a panorama of the whole territory from an individual point of view. The former plan is constantly producing valuable storehouses of information to be used for purposes of reference. But they tend to grow in bulk and compression, until, like the monumental “Paully-Wissowa,” they are nothing but colossal dictionaries.

The writer who attempts the second plan will, of course, be inviting criticism at a thousand points. He is compelled to deal in large generalisations, and to tread upon innumerable toes with every step he takes. Every fact he chronicles is the subject of a monograph, every opinion he hazards may run counter to somebody’s life-work. He will often have to neglect the latest theory and sometimes he is unaware of the latest discovery. The best that he can hope for is that his archæology may satisfy the historians and his history the archæologists. My only claim to the right of undertaking such a task is that circumstances have so directed my studies that they have been almost equally divided between the three main branches--archæology, history, and literature. I have experienced the extraordinary sense of illumination which one feels on turning from linguistic study to the examination of objective antiquity on the actual soil of the classical countries, and then the added interest with which realities are invested by the literary records of history.

It is by another title that the writer of a book like this makes his appeal to the general reading public. He must feel such a love of Greece and of things Hellenic that he is led by it into missionary enthusiasm. The Greek language has now, probably for ever, lost its place in the curriculum of secondary education for the greater part of our people. Whether this is to be deplored is beyond the question; it is, at any rate, inevitable. But there has always been a genuinely cultivated public to whom Greek was unknown, and it is undoubtedly very much larger in this generation. To them, though Greek is unknown Greece need not be wholly sealed. But their point of view will be different from that of the professional philologist. They will not care for the details of the siege of Platæa merely because Thucydides described it; they will be much less likely to overrate the importance of that narrow strip of time which scholars select out of Greek history as the “classical period.” Greek art will make the strongest appeal to them, and Greek thought, so far as it can be communicated by description. They will be interested in social life and private antiquities rather than in diplomatic intrigues and constitutional subtleties. My object is to present a general and vivid picture of ancient Greek culture. I recognise that the brush and camera will tell of the glory of Greece far more eloquently than I can. My text is intended to explain the pictures by showing the sort of people and the state of mind that produced them. Some history, some politics, some religion and philosophy must be included for that purpose. The result will be a history of Greece with statues and poems taking the place of wars and treaties.

This volume is fortunate in the moment of its appearance, for it is now possible for the first time to illustrate the prehistoric culture of Greece in a worthy manner, and to attempt, at any rate, to link it up historically with the classical periods. Both the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and the British Museum have recently added to their collections magnificent and faithful models of the artistic treasures of Crete and Mycenæ. These I have been allowed to reproduce in colour (Plates 5 and 7) by kind permission of Sir A. J. Evans. I must also acknowledge my obligation to the Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., U.S.A., for permission to reproduce photographs of the lately discovered reliefs from the “Ludovisi Throne,” which have not as yet been adequately reproduced anywhere (Plate 32); to the Committee of the British School at Athens, through the kind offices of the Secretary, Mr. John Penoyre, for permission to use many of the illustrations of Cretan objects that have appeared in their _Annual_; to Mr. John Murray, for the use of the block representing the “Cupbearer Fresco” (Plate 6) and the illustration on p. 27 from Schliemann’s “Tiryns”; to the Cambridge University Press for a similar accommodation in respect of the illustration (p. 37) from Professor Ridgeway’s “Early Age of Greece”; and to M. Ernest Leroux, of Paris, for courteously permitting a reproduction to be made from a plate in MM. Reinach and Hamdy Bey’s sumptuous work, “Une Nécropole Royale à Sidon.” The authorities of the Greek and Roman and of the Coin and Medal Departments of the British Museum have also allowed many subjects to be reproduced; while I have gratefully to record the fact that the task of illustrating this book has been materially lightened by the co-operation of Messrs. W. A. Mansell & Co. I must thank Mr. Robert Whitelaw and his publishers, Messrs. Longmans, for permission to quote from the former’s translation of Sophocles, and finally I must acknowledge my debt to Mr. Arnold Gomme for much assistance in the correction of the proofs of this book.

J. C. S.

CONTENTS

PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii

INTRODUCTION

HELLENISM : THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE 1

CHAP. I. ÆGEAN CIVILISATION

A NEW CHAPTER IN HISTORY : CRETE, THE DOORSTEP OF EUROPE : PROGRESS OF ÆGEAN CULTURE : THE MAINLAND PALACES, MYCENÆ AND TIRYNS : THE MAKERS OF ÆGEAN ART 12

II. THE HEROIC AGE

THE NORTHERN INVADERS : HOMER AND THE ACHÆANS : THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES : KINGS AND GODS : ART OF THE EPIC PERIOD : THE HERO’S HOME : HESIOD’S WORLD 35

III. THE AGES OF TRANSITION

THE COMING OF APOLLO : ATHLETICS : SPARTA : PALLAS ATHENE : TYRANNY AND CULTURE : IONIA : THE WEST 65

IV. THE GRAND CENTURY

THE RISE OF ATHENS : PHEIDIAS : ICTINUS AND THE TEMPLE-BUILDERS : TRAGEDY AND COMEDY : AIDŌS 132

V. THE FOURTH CENTURY

ATHENS : SPARTA AND THEBES : FOURTH-CENTURY CULTURE : SCULPTURE : THE OTHER ARTS : LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY 194

VI. THE MACEDONIAN WORLD

ALEXANDER AND HIS WORK : ALEXANDER IN ART : ALEXANDRIA : ATHENS AND HER PHILOSOPHERS 237

VII. EPILOGUE 260

GLOSSARY 267

BIBLIOGRAPHY 270

INDEX 275

NOTE

_The cameo on the front cover of this volume is from a jasper intaglio, at Vienna, of the bust of Athena Parthenos, signed by Aspasios._

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES

HEAD AND BUST OF THE APHRODITE OF MELOS _Frontispiece_

Engraved by Emery Walker from a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the original in the Louvre, Paris. _See_ p. 251.

TO FACE PAGE

BOY VICTOR. BRONZE, FIFTH CENTURY B.C. 160

Engraved by Emery Walker from a photograph by Bruckmann of the original in the Glyptothek, Munich. _See_ p. 160

VASE PLATE (IN COLOUR) 112

CORINTHIAN VASE (FIG. 1) British Museum, Second Vase Room, Case 8, A 1375

RED-FIGURED VASE (FIG. 2) British Museum, Third Vase Room, Case 17, E 453

BLACK-FIGURED VASE (FIG. 3) British Museum, Second Vase Room, Case I, B 134

WHITE POLYCHROME VASE (FIG. 4) British Museum, Third Vase Room, Case F, D 60

PLATE

1 THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS (FIG. 1) 6

From a photograph

THE CITADEL OF CORINTH (FIG. 2)

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. In the foreground are the columns of the oldest temple in Greece

2 OLYMPIA: VALLEY OF THE ALPHEUS 8

From a photograph by Alinari. A specimen of Greek scenery in one of the few well-watered plains

3 THE VALE OF TEMPE 10

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. The famous pass at which a vain attempt was made to repel the Persian invasion of 480 B.C.

4 ASSYRIAN RELIEF: KING ASSURNASIRPAL (NINTH CENTURY B.C.) 18

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of Slab 36 in the Nimroud Gallery, British Museum. An example of stylistic Oriental art at its highest. _See_ p. 19

5 FAIENCE FROM THE TEMPLE REPOSITORY OF THE SECOND PALACE, CNOSSOS, CRETE 22

SNAKE GODDESS (FIG. 1). _See_ p. 34

WILD GOAT AND YOUNG (FIG. 2)

Painted from the facsimiles in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, by Diana R. Wilson, by special permission. _See_ p. 22. According to Greek mythology Zeus was suckled by a she-goat in Crete

6 THE “CUPBEARER” FRESCO 24

From an article by Sir A. J. Evans in the _Monthly Review_, March, 1901; by kind permission of Mr. John Murray. _See_ pp. 25 and 32

7 BULL’S HEAD. LIFE-SIZE RELIEF IN PAINTED STUCCO. CNOSSOS, CRETE 26

Painted from the facsimile in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, by Diana R. Wilson, by special permission. _See_ p. 25. The bull is a very frequent subject of artistic representation at Cnossos, where bullfighting seems to have been in vogue

8 THE LION GATE, MYCENÆ 30

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. Showing the sculpture and masonry of prehistoric Greece. _See_ p. 29

9 VAPHIO CUPS 32

Collotype plate, from the facsimiles in the British Museum, First Vase Room, Case B. Two gold cups found on Spartan territory. The design is in relief beaten up from the back. One shows the trapping of wild cattle, the other tame cattle going to pasture. The vessels are about the size of the modern teacup. _See_ p. 30

10 INLAID DAGGER-BLADES 34

Collotype plate, from the electrotypes in the British Museum, as Plate 9. They show the dress and weapons of Ægean folk. All but the blade is a restoration. _See_ p. 30

11 WARRIOR VASE, BLACK STEATITE (FIG. 1) 38

These vases were originally covered with gold-leaf. The subjects have not yet been completely explained. Probably the whole vase deals with athletic combats: running and leaping on the top zone, bullfighting on the second, and boxing on the third and fourth

FRAGMENT OF SILVER VASE (FIG. 2)

Collotype plate, from the facsimiles in the British Museum, as Plate 9. _See_ p. 38. The subject is the siege of a city. We observe that here, as in the previous illustrations, the warriors are represented as almost naked. They fight with slings and arrows and protect themselves with huge shields of wicker

12 THE “FRANÇOIS” VASE 42

Collotype plate, from a photograph by Alinari. _See_ pp. 43 and 57. A masterpiece of the earlier Attic school of vase-painting. It is signed by Ergotimus and Klitias, sixth century B.C. The scenes are mythological

13 HERMES KRIOPHOROS (THE LAMB-CARRIER) 66

From a terra-cotta relief, British Museum, Terra-cotta Room, Case C, B 486. A fine example of archaic relief-work, showing Hermes as the Arcadian shepherd’s god

14 PANORAMA OF DELPHI 68

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 69

15 “APOLLO” FROM ORCHOMENUS 70

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens, of the original in the National Museum. _See_ pp. 69 and 70

16 “APOLLO” OF TENEA 72

Collotype plate, from a photograph by Hanfstaengl of the original at Munich

17 THE “STRANGFORD APOLLO” 74

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the original in the Archaic Room, British Museum. These three figures may indicate the progress of early Greek sculpture in expressing the human figure. There is little ground for calling these figures “Apollo.” They may equally well be human athletes

18 HEAD OF APOLLO, FROM THE WESTERN PEDIMENT, OLYMPIA 76

Collotype plate, from a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens, of the marble at Olympia. _See_ p. 70

19 THE “DISCOBOLUS” OF MYRON (FIG. 1) 80

From a photograph by Anderson of a cast from the original in a private collection at Rome. The copy in the British Museum (drawn on p. 80) has the head reversed. _See_ p. 81

THE “DIADUMENUS” OF POLYCLEITUS (FIG. 2)

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. He is binding the victor’s garland round his forehead. This is, perhaps, the best of several copies made from the famous original, but it is much restored and probably not a very faithful copy

20 THE “DORYPHORUS” OF POLYCLEITUS (FIG. 1) 82

From a photograph by Brogi

THE “APOXYOMENUS” (FIG. 2)

From a photograph by Alinari. _See_ p. 81. The recent discovery of the Agias (Pl. 51) has proved that this is not, as was formerly supposed, a true example of the work of Lysippus

21 CHARIOTEER: BRONZE 84

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of a cast from the original at Delphi. _See_ p. 81

22 VIEW OF MODERN SPARTA, WITH MOUNT TAYGETUS 86

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 87

23 RUNNING GIRL 90

Collotype plate, from a photograph by Anderson. Represents a competitor in the girls’ foot-race which took place at Olympia in honour of Hera. The original must have been in bronze, but this marble copy reproduces its archaic character. _See_ p. 83

24 ATHENA PROMACHOS, FROM A PANATHENAIC AMPHORA 94

Drawn from Vase B 140 in the Second Vase Room, British Museum (Case I). _See_ pp. 95 and 112

25 DEMETER, PERSEPHONE, AND TRIPTOLEMUS (ELEUSINIAN RELIEF) 98

From a photograph by the English Photo Co. of the original marble relief at Athens. _See_ p. 98

26 ATHENA POLIAS 102

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens, of the original bronze statuette in the Acropolis Museum. _See_ p. 102

27 CORINTHIAN VASES 104

Collotype plate, from a photograph of the originals in the British Museum, Second Vase Room, Case 8, A 1430, and Case 16, B 29. The style of these vases may be distinguished by the purple tones of the colouring and the Oriental character of the designs. _See_ Vase Plate, Fig. 1, and p. 105

28 OLD TEMPLE AT CORINTH 108

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 107

29 STELE OF ARISTION (FIG. 1) 114

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens, of the original in the National Museum. _See_ p. 114

HARMODIUS (FIG. 2)

From a photograph by Alinari of the original in the Naples Museum. _See_ p. 116

30 SCULPTURED COLUMN FROM THE OLD TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS (FIG. 1) 122

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the original in the British Museum. It was dedicated, as the inscription shows, by King Crœsus. _See_ p. 123

30 RELIEF FROM THE HARPY TOMB: NORTH SIDE (FIG. 2) 122

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the original in the Archaic Room, British Museum. In the centre, a warrior yielding up his armour to Pluto. On the right and left, Fates (“Harpies”) carrying off the souls of the dead. In the right corner, a woman mourning. _See_ p. 123

31 RELIEFS FROM THE “LUDOVISI THRONE” 124

From photographs by Alinari of the originals at Rome. _See_ p. 124

32 RELIEFS FROM THE “LUDOVISI THRONE” 126

Collotype plate, from photographs of the originals in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., U.S.A., by kind permission of the Director. _See_ p. 125

33 THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON AT PÆSTO 128

From a photograph. _See_ p. 128

34 METOPES FROM THE TEMPLE OF HERA AT SELINUS 130

PERSEUS AND GORGON (FIG. 1)

HERA AND ZEUS (FIG. 2)

From photographs by Alinari of the originals, now in the Palermo Museum. _See_ p. 130

35 EARLY COINS OF SICILY AND MAGNA GRÆCIA 132

Photographed from casts in the British Museum. _See_ p. 131

CASE I, SECTION C.

1. SILVER DIDRACHM OF NAXOS, No. 31

_Obverse_: Head of Dionysus crowned with ivy. _Reverse_: Bunch of grapes and inscription

2. SILVER DIDRACHM OF TARENTUM, No. 7

_Reverse_: Archaic head, ? Taras. _Obverse_: Taras (the city’s hero) riding a dolphin, cockle-shell and inscription

3. SILVER TETRADRACHM OF CATANA, No. 25

_Reverse_: Winged Victory holding a wreath. _Obverse_: River-god as a bull with man’s head, a fish below and a water-bird above

4. SILVER TETRADRACHM OF SYRACUSE, No. 35

_Reverse_: Head of Arethusa surrounded with dolphins. _Obverse_: Four-horse chariot with Victory above

36 THE PLAIN OF MARATHON 134

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 134

37 THE BAY OF SALAMIS 138

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 138

38 PERICLES 140

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the original in the British Museum, after Cresilas. _See_ p. 142

39 PEDIMENTAL FIGURES FROM THE TEMPLE OF APHAIA AT ÆGINA 142

From photographs by Bruckmann of the originals at Munich. _See_ p. 147

40 SCULPTURES OF THE EASTERN PEDIMENT OF THE PARTHENON 146

From photographs by Mansell & Co. of the originals in the Elgin Room, British Museum. _See_ p. 151

41 PORTIONS OF THE EAST FRIEZE OF THE PARTHENON 148

Figures referenced, 30-48 in the British Museum. _See_ p. 154

42 PORTIONS OF THE WEST FRIEZE OF THE PARTHENON 150

Figures referenced, 2-3, 16-19, and 28-30 in the British Museum. From photographs by Mansell & Co. of the originals and casts in the British Museum. (Some of the marbles are still _in situ_ at Athens.) _See_ p. 155

43 THE “STRANGFORD” SHIELD (FIG. 1) 152

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the marble copy in the British Museum. The old Greek striking down an Amazon is said to be a portrait of Pheidias by himself. _See_ p. 156

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ACROPOLIS (FIG. 2)

From a drawing by R. Bohn in the British Museum. _See_ p. 163

44 THE LEMNIAN ATHENA 154

Collotype plate, from a photograph by Tamme of the marble at Dresden, completed by Furtwängler from the head at Bologna. _See_ P. 157

45 HEAD OF THE LEMNIAN ATHENA 156

Collotype plate, from a photograph by Alinari of the marble at Bologna. _See_ p. 158

46 STATUE OF MARSYAS, AFTER MYRON 158

From a photograph by Mansell & Co. of the original bronze in the British Museum, after Myron. _See_ p. 159

47 THE VICTORY OF PÆONIUS (FIG. 1) 162

From a photograph of the original at Olympia

THE “SPINARIO” (FIG. 2)

From a photograph of the original at Florence. _See_ p. 161

48 THE PARTHENON: MODERN VIEW FROM NORTH-WEST 164

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 163

49 THE TEMPLE OF NIKÈ APTEROS (THE WINGLESS VICTORY) (FIG. 1) 166

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 164

49 THE CARYATID PORCH OF THE ERECHTHEUM (FIG. 2) 166

From a photograph. _See_ p. 166

50 THE “THESEUM,” ATHENS 168

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. Really a temple of Hephæstus. _See_ p. 167

51 THE “AGIAS” OF LYSIPPUS 170

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. A marble statue recently discovered at Delphi. It can be identified as a contemporary replica of a bronze by Lysippus, and is our only certain evidence of his style. _See_ pp. 169 and 218

52 THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO AT PHIGALEIA [BASSÆ] 172

From a photograph by the English Photo Co., Athens. _See_ p. 169

53 PORTIONS OF THE PHIGALEIAN FRIEZE 174

From photographs by Mansell & Co. of the originals, now in the British Museum (Phigaleian Room). _See_ p. 170

54 THEATRE AT EPIDAURUS 176