XXXIX.
THE SANDAL SEWN BY HISTIAEUS
129
XL.
DARIUS DEMANDS EARTH AND WATER
131
XLI.
THE BATTLE OF MARATHON
134
XLII.
MILTIADES SAILS TO THE ISLAND OF PAROS
137
XLIII.
ARISTIDES IS OSTRACISED
140
XLIV.
THE DREAM OF XERXES
145
XLV.
XERXES ORDERS THE HELLESPONT TO BE SCOURGED
148
XLVI.
‘THE BRAVEST MEN OF ALL HELLAS’
153
XLVII.
THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE
156
XLVIII.
THE BATTLE OF ARTEMISIUM
161
XLIX.
THEMISTOCLES URGES EURYBIADES TO STAY AT SALAMIS
163
L.
THEMISTOCLES TRICKS THE ADMIRALS
167
LI.
THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS
169
LII.
THE BATTLE OF PLATAEA
173
LIII.
THE DELIAN LEAGUE
178
LIV.
THEMISTOCLES DECEIVES THE SPARTANS
182
LV.
THEMISTOCLES IS OSTRACISED
185
LVI.
THE ELOQUENCE OF PERICLES
189
LVII.
PERICLES AND ELPINICE
194
LVIII.
THE CITY OF ATHENS
196
LIX.
GREAT MEN OF ATHENS
200
LX.
THE THEBANS ATTACK THE PLATAEANS
202
LXI.
ATTICA IS INVADED BY THE SPARTANS
205
LXII.
THE LAST WORDS OF PERICLES
207
LXIII.
THE SIEGE OF PLATAEA
210
LXIV.
THE SENTENCE OF DEATH
214
LXV.
BRASIDAS LOSES HIS SHIELD
218
LXVI.
THE SPARTANS SURRENDER
221
LXVII.
BRASIDAS THE SPARTAN
225
LXVIII.
AMPHIPOLIS SURRENDERS TO BRASIDAS
228
LXIX.
ALCIBIADES THE FAVOURITE OF ATHENS
232
LXX.
SOCRATES THE PHILOSOPHER
237
LXXI.
ALCIBIADES PRAISES SOCRATES
240
LXXII.
THE IMAGES OF HERMES ARE DESTROYED
244
LXXIII.
ALCIBIADES ESCAPES TO SPARTA
247
LXXIV.
THE SIEGE OF SYRACUSE
249
LXXV.
THE ATHENIAN ARMY IS DESTROYED
252
LXXVI.
ALCIBIADES RETURNS TO ATHENS
255
LXXVII.
ANTIOCHUS DISOBEYS ALCIBIADES
258
LXXVIII.
THE WALLS OF ATHENS ARE DESTROYED
261
LXXIX.
THE MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND
264
LXXX.
PELOPIDAS AND EPAMINONDAS
269
LXXXI.
THE SEVEN CONSPIRATORS
273
LXXXII.
THE BATTLE OF LEUCTRA
277
LXXXIII.
THE DEATH OF EPAMINONDAS
281
LXXXIV.
THE TWO BROTHERS
286
LXXXV.
TIMOLEON SENDS DIONYSIUS TO CORINTH
289
LXXXVI.
ICETES TRIES TO SLAY TIMOLEON
293
LXXXVII.
THE BATTLE OF CRIMISUS
296
LXXXVIII.
DEMOSTHENES WISHES TO BECOME AN ORATOR
300
LXXXIX.
DEMOSTHENES THE GREATEST ORATOR OF ATHENS
303
XC.
THE SACRED WAR
306
XCI.
ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS
309
XCII.
ALEXANDER AND DIOGENES
312
XCIII.
THE BATTLE OF GRANICUS
315
XCIV.
THE GORDIAN KNOT
318
XCV.
DARIUS GALLOPS FROM THE BATTLEFIELD
321
XCVI.
TYRE IS STORMED BY ALEXANDER
325
XCVII.
THE BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA
328
XCVIII.
ALEXANDER BURNS PERSEPOLIS
331
XCIX.
ALEXANDER SLAYS HIS FOSTER-BROTHER
334
C.
PORUS AND HIS ELEPHANT
338
CI.
ALEXANDER IS WOUNDED
342
CII.
THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER
345
CIII.
DEMOSTHENES IN THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON
349
INDEX
353
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
She changed her into a spider,
Frontispiece
AT PAGE
Sweet, piercing sweet was the music of Pan’s pipe,
6
Demeter rejoiced for her daughter was by her side,
10
The Wind-god sent a gust from the South,
18
For two days and two nights the boat was tossed hither and thither,
20
Often she would stand upon the walls of Troy,
34
‘Yea, verily, thou art Odysseus,’
68
In the earliest times, a simple foot-race was the only event,
96
Solon, the wise lawgiver of Athens,
102
They crashed into the Persian army with tremendous force,
136
Ship dashed against ship, till the Persian dead strewed the deep ‘like flowers,’
170
He stood silent before the king,
188
The figure of the goddess was a colossal one,
196
He became a target for every arrow,
220
He drank the contents as though it were a draught of wine,
238
The multitude saluted him with loud acclamations,
258
He left the assembly, hiding his face in his cloak,
304
He ran toward the horse and seized the bridle,
310
With an effort he looked at them as they passed,
348
THE STORY OF GREECE
CHAPTER I
WONDERLAND
The story of Greece began long, long ago in a strange wonderland of beauty. Woods and winds, fields and rivers, each had a pathway which led upward and onward into the beautiful land. Sometimes indeed no path was needed, for the rivers, woods, and lone hill-sides were themselves the wonderland of which I am going to tell.
In the woods and winds, in the trees and rivers, dwelt the gods and goddesses whom the people of long ago worshipped. It was their presence in the world that made it so great, so wide, so wonderful.
To the Hellenes, for that is the name by which the Greeks called themselves, there were eyes, living eyes in flowers, trees, and water. ‘So crowded full is the air with them,’ wrote one poet who lived in the far-off days, ‘that there is no room to put in the spike of an ear of corn without touching one.’
When the wind blew soft, the Hellenes listened to the whispering of a voice. When it blew rough, and snatched one of the children from their midst, they did not greatly grieve. The child had but gone to be the playmate of the gods.
The springs sparkled clear, for in them dwelt the Naiads or freshwater nymphs, with gifts as great as the river gods, who were ofttimes seen and heard amid the churning, tossing waters.
In the trees dwelt the Dryads, nymphs these of the forest, whom the Hellenes saw but seldom. Shy nymphs were the Dryads, born each one at the birth of a tree, in which she dwelt, fading away when the tree was felled, or when it withered and died.
Their revels were held in some wooded mountain, far from the haunts of men. Were a human footfall heard, the frolics ceased on the instant, while each Dryad sped swift for shelter to the tree of her birth.