ULYSSEUS AND NAUSICAA
(SHOWING THE HAPPY OUTDOOR LIFE OF THE GREEKS.)
The Greeks enjoyed life, and looked upon death as putting an end to all their joys. They believed that they would live forever, but they did not expect to be happy in the after life. Great heroes, to be sure, were borne to a beautiful place called the Elysian Fields, which lay far to the west, close beside the ocean-stream. Homer said of it, "No snow is here, no winter long, no rain; but the loud-blowing breezes of the west the Ocean-stream sends up to bring men to coolness." There the heroes went on with whatever they had liked best to do on earth, and there they enjoyed all sorts of pleasures; but no such happiness was in store for common men. They expected to be sent to a sad and gloomy place called Hades. There they would remember the light of the sun and long to see it again; they would remember their homes and friends, but almost as if they were dreaming. Nothing would seem real, and all things would be dull and cheerless. They would wander about like shadows in the dismal twilight forever, with nothing to enjoy and nothing to hope for.
As the Greeks did not expect any happiness after death, they were all the more eager to have as much as possible while they lived. They thought the gods had power to give them whatever hey wanted, provided the Fates did not forbid; therefore they worshiped them in order to win favors for themselves. They did not often think of the gods as being better than men, but only as being more powerful. Parents did not say to their children, "Zeus is good, and therefore you must try to be like him"; they said, "Zeus can give you what you want, and so you must offer up a sacrifice to him." They believed that one god had the power to give safe returns from journeys; another, recovery from illness; another, victory over enemies; and therefore they prayed to the one whom they thought most likely to grant the special favor that they wished.
HADES, RULER OF THE LOWER WORLD.
How to please the gods, and so get what they wanted, was an important matter. The Greeks who lived at the time when Homer is thought to have sung used to talk together of the golden days when the gods walked about among men, doing them harm sometimes, to be sure, but often helping and advising them. They no longer expected to meet gods and goddesses when they were walking about in the forests, and to learn their commands and feelings they watched for signs and tokens. If a sacrifice was offered to Zeus, the falling of a thunderbolt meant that he was pleased and would grant the prayer. A sudden tempest showed that he was angry. Birds that flew far up in the air were supposed to have learned the secrets of the gods, and therefore their movements were closely watched.
GREEK WORSHIP
(THE PROCESSION IS APPROACHING THE STATUE OF A GOD)
There was a surer way, however, of learning the will of the gods, and that was by going to an oracle, or place chosen by them to make their will known. There were many oracles in Greece, usually situated in wild, gloomy spots, in the depths of a forest or among the most jagged rocks and precipices. The oldest oracle was that of Zeus, in the narrow valley of Dodona in Epirus. Whoever wished to consult it first made gifts to the priests. They offered up sacrifices, and then listened to hear what answer would come. The only sounds heard were the cooing of doves, the rustling of the breeze among the leaves of the sacred oaks, and the murmuring of the spring at their foot; but the priests claims that they could understand these sounds and interpret them. No question was too important to be carried to Dodona, and non was too trivial. Heracles himself was said to have gone to ask when his labors would be at an end; and one troubled house-holder went to inquire whether his vanished coverlets and pillows were lost or had been stolen.
The most famous oracle was that of Apollo, at Delphi in Phocis. Here was a deep cleft in the rocks of Mount Parnassus, and from a fissure rose a stupefying vapor. The priestess was placed on a tripod over this fissure, and soon the gas made her half unconscious. Then the priests noted all her mutterings, and interpreted them for the one who had come to consult the oracle.
THE VALE OF DELPHI.
These priests must have contrived to know a good deal about what was going on in the world, for their replies were exceedingly keen and shrewd. They were especially skillful in so framing their the oracle answers that they could be read with opposite meanings; and if the event did not result as the questioner expected, they could say that it was his own fault for not reading the answer aright. For instance, King Crœsus of Lydia asked, "If I invade Persia, shall I succeed?" The answer was, "If you invade Persia, you will overthrow a mighty empire"; and so he did, but it was his own, and not the Persian, as he had expected. The question was once asked, "Is there any man who is wiser than Socrates?" and the answer was "No." When the philosopher heard of this, he said. "The oracle is right. None of us know what is truly good and honorable; but I see my ignorance, while they do not see theirs; therefore I am wiser than they."
Wherever there was an oracle, there a temple was built. Suppliants always gave generously to these temples, and therefore they became very rich, especially that at Delphi. All Greeks looked upon the oracles as sacred, and lest some harm should come to the temples with their masses of treasure, groups of cities began to unite that they might protect them if need should arise. These unions were called amphictyonies, or "groups of neighbors." The Delphic amphictyony was, as one would expect, the strongest of all. This was made up of twelve tribes, all of whom dwelt north of the Isthmus of Corinth. They agreed to protect the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and to punish whoever might attempt to steal its treasures. They also took care of the roads that led to the shrine; and if any one ventured to annoy the suppliants who were on their way to it, he had the whole Delphic amphictyony to reckon with. In spite of this union, the tribes expected to make war upon one another if they chose; but they agreed that when they fought, they would not destroy one another's towns or try to cut them off from running water; and even this was a vast improvement on the usual way of fighting in those times, when it was thought fair to get the better of an enemy in any way possible.
AN ANCIENT GREEK TEMPLE, RESTORED
The amphictyonies did much to make the Greeks feel that they were of one race, and that even if they did quarrel, they all belonged to the same family. This feeling was strengthened by their speaking the same language. A third bond that united them more closely with one another than with the "barbarians" was the "games," in which Greeks alone were allowed to contend. Even in Homer's time, and no one knows how much earlier, the Greeks believed that the gods liked to watch athletic contests; and, therefore, at any large festival in honor of a god the races were as important as the sacrifices. Four of these festivals became famous, and the one held at Olympia in honor of Zeus was the most renowned of all. In later times, as will be seen farther on, many different kinds of contests were practiced; but the foot-race was always the chief event, and in earlier days it was the only one. In 776 B.C. the Greeks began to record the names of the victors. This date marks the end of the legendary times and the beginning of the real history of Greece.