Summary
One of the best-known myths is the tale of the Golden Fleece.
The most famous stories are of the Trojan War, which is told partly in Homer's Iliad and partly in Virgil's Æneid; and of the wanderings of Odysseus, told in Homer's Odyssey.
These are myths, but every myth is founded upon some bit of truth, and, therefore, we may be sure of a few facts about the early history of Greece.
Suggestions For Written Work
Describe the grove and the Golden Fleece.
Sinon tells the Greeks what he plans to do.
Describe the coming of Homer to the house of a chieftain.
How the Early Greeks Lived
As has been said before, we do not know very much about what happened to the Greeks in the early times, what wars they fought or what tribes they overcame. We do know, however, how they lived, how they amused themselves, and what they thought on many subjects; and this is far more interesting.
If you had gone to the home of one of the Greek princes in the early days, you would have come first to a high, thick stone wall, with a strong folding-door. When the door was drawn back and you stepped into the court, a big dog would have sprung out of his kennel to see whether he, as well as his master, thought you ought to be admitted. If the master was an especially wealthy prince he might not have a real dog, but rather the image of one, made of gold or silver.
DOOR OF A HOUSE.
Close to the gates were benches of stone carved and polished, where people might sit and talk. In the farther part of the court were stables for the horses and oxen and carriages, and also places for pigs and geese and sheep. The court was large enough for a garden, and even an orchard of pear, apple, fig, and olive trees. Indeed, the house with its court and heavy wall was almost like a fortified village. There was a fountain, of course; and with plenty of water, with flocks and herds, and the grain that was kept in store, such a place could have endured quite a long siege without being starved out.
ANCIENT GREEK VASE.
The house itself had porticoes and pillars and many rooms. There was a second story; and here was a storeroom where the treasures of the prince were kept. There was no money in it, for the early Greeks did not coin money; they counted the value of things in oxen. A slave was worth from four to twenty oxen, for instance. There was plenty of the precious metals in other forms than money, however, for there were vases, cups, bowls, and other dishes of solid gold and silver. They were of graceful, beautiful shapes, for the Greeks so liked to have everything around them pleasing to the eye that even the coarsest earthen dish often had a border pretty enough for a silver vase; perhaps a dance of fauns was painted on it, or a foot-race, or Jason and his fifty companions setting out on the quest of the golden fleece. In this storeroom there were, too, great wooden chests ornamented with gold and silver and ivory; and in these were kept costly robes and cloaks and carpets and fine linen and woven coverings for the benches and beds. There were bracelets and necklaces of many sorts; and, more precious than all these, there were the swords and spears and knives and bows and arrows with which the prince and his men would protect their treasures if the house was attacked by enemies. The metal used in making weapons was sometimes bronze and sometimes copper; but the copper was hardened in some way that we do not understand.
THE VAPHIO CUPS.
(MASTERPIECES OF EARLY GREEK ART. THEY ARE MADE OF GOLD AND ARE 3 INCHES HIGH.)
The princes who lived in such houses had slaves, some of whom had been captured in war and some stolen away from their homes; but the masters were no more afraid to work with their own hands than the poor people who lived in huts. Homer tells us that the royal Odysseus made his own bedstead; and one of the poet's prettiest stories is of the fair young princess Nausicaä setting out with her maidens and a basket of lunch for the river bank to do the washing of the family, and then playing ball with the maidens as merrily as any girl who was not a princess might have done. It is a pity that we cannot know what was in that picnic basket, full of "all manner of food to the heart's desire," as Homer puts it. There must have been dainties made especially to please the young girls, for at the feasts there seems to have been only the simplest of food, hardly more than bread and meat. The Greeks did not like to be hungry any better than other people; but when they went to a feast, they thought less about the food they were to eat than about the people with whom they should talk.
DESIGN ON ONE OF THE VAPHIO CUPS.
(IT REPRESENTS A WILD BULL HUNT.)
If we could have looked in upon one of their banquets, we should have seen a room full of guests, with servants placing among them little tables only large enough for one person. A chair was put before each table, and the guests took their seats. The servants brought them silver bowls of water, in which they washed their hands. Then great joints were borne in and laid before the carver, who cut the meat into mouthfuls, a very necessary thing to do, for there were no forks in those days, and if people ate at all they had to eat with their fingers. A dish of meat was placed before each guest, and then baskets of bread were passed around. The drink was wine, but often three times as much water as wine was poured into the cup. It was always passed to the oldest first, even if he was only a common man and young princes were among the guests. To drink too much was a disgrace; for to the Greeks a drunken man was a most disgusting object, and there was nothing more insulting than to accuse a man of having ever taken too much wine. The bard was present, of course, and he was always a welcome guest. This is the way Homer describes his reception:—
GREEK GIRLS PLAYING BALL.
"The page drew near, leading the honored bard. The muse had greatly loved him, and had given him good and ill; she took away his eyesight, but gave delightful song. Pontonous placed for him among the feasters a silver-studded chair, backed by a lofty pillar, and hung the tuneful lyre upon its peg above his head, and the page showed him how to reach it with his hands. By him he set a tray and a good table, and placed thereon a cup of wine to drink as need should bid."
A GREEK BARD.
If a stranger appeared and asked for food, he was treated as a friend, and no one questioned who he was or whither he was going, until he had eaten all that he wanted. Even if a man's worst enemy came to his door with an olive branch in his hand, or made his way into the house and knelt at the hearth, he must have food and shelter, and no one was allowed to do him harm.
The children of the early times did not go to school. Why should they when the chief thing for a girl to learn was how to manage the house as her mother did; and the chief thing for a boy to learn was how to do what his father did? Therefore the girl followed her mother about house, learning how it should be cared for, and how to teach slaves to do their work. She must learn to spin and weave, of course, and to sing and dance. The boy, too, was taught singing and dancing; but he must also learn to care for the herds and flocks, to cultivate the land, and to use weapons. There was no need of studying reading or writing, for there was little if any to study. All the arithmetic that was necessary could be learned from counting the flocks. As for history, that consisted of myths and legends, which were no harder to remember than so many fairy tales. Geography, too, must have seemed almost like a fairy tale; for the early Greeks thought the earth was a plain, around which the ocean, a broad river, was ever flowing. Beyond this ocean-stream was darkness, and no one knew what fearful monsters. The sky was two mighty domes, a bright one that was overhead by day, and a dark one that shut down at night: Greek children played games, of course, and some of them were much the same as those played to-day. One was called "Five Pebbles." In this the child tossed up five little pebbles and tried to catch as many as possible on the back of his hand. Those that fell to the ground he might pick up, but in so doing he must not drop the others.