PRIMITIVE FAITH OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS. 31 sea and land; and numerous monsters of divine origin, including the Harpies, the Gorgons, the Dragon who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, the Centaurs, and many others. But of these, as well as of the numerous demigods or heroes who formed the connecting link between deity and man, it will be unnecessary here to enter into any farther detail. Such was the primitive faith of the ancient Greeks, handed down to Herodotus and his contemporaries by the traditions of their fathers. The mythic relations of the several gods and their descendants, were constantly being sung or recited by successive generations of poets and rhapsodists, in the private banquet or the public festival. In olden times they constituted the entire literature of the people, and were indeed the germ of their after history and philosophy, their theology, and their romance. Each phenomenon of nature was supposed to be the action of some particular divine being; and thus the trees, the rivers, and the mountains, the sun and moon, the earth and sea, and even the blue atmosphere, were not regarded as merely governed by some monarch god, but as being each embodied by some soul-like deity, and, in fact, as being the gods themselves. Contradictions in the several legends were never noticed by a credulous audience, so long as the narrator described nothing which interfered with the orthodox distribution of the attributes of each deity; thus full latitude was given to the inventions of the poet, so long as he did not transfer the shield and ægis of Athena to the love-inspiring Aphrodite, or exchange the thunder of Zeus for the silver bow of Apollo. In process of time, however, as was to be expected, the residence of the gods was removed from the summit of the Thessalian Olympus, and gradually transferred to the blue vault of heaven. The sacred mysteries connected with the individual worship of some of the deities whom we have already named will be noticed hereafter. We shall also have to. mention several modifications which the religious belief of Herodotus subsequently underwent; but for the present we must return to our general narrative, contenting ourselves with this brief summary of the mythological system which was received and implicitly believed by the household of the father of Herodotus. Sufficient also has been brought forward to convince the modern reader that however much we may admire the beautiful creations of the poets of Hellas, and that however bright may be those few scattered rays of truth which flicker about some of the significant mythes which belong to that old religion, yet that it was absolutely necessary that the whole should be swept away before man could comprehend the exalted and spiritual character of the Divine Godhead, receive the inspired works of a Divine Revelation, and embrace that faith in the only true Saviour, by which alone we can obtain a regeneration of the heart and a reconciliation of the soul to the Eternal Father. CHAP. III. HALICARNASSUS (CONTINUED), B. c. 464. HERODOTUS PREPARES FOR A VOYAGE TO IONIA. -FAMILY AFFAIRS. FIRST HERODOTUS was twenty years of age when it was ordained that he should leave his father's house at Halicarnassus, and pay a visit to the two Ionian islands of Samos and Chios. Kinsmen of his father resided in both places. In Chios, which was the farthest off, lived a namesake, who was well known as Herodotus the son of Basilides, and who had taken an important part in the late Persian war. In Samos lived Theodorus, a descendant of the famous Samian artist of the same name. The reader must now be made acquainted with the reasons which induced Lyxes to send his son upon such a voyage. Lyxes was a man of considerable wealth, and of great influence at Halicarnassus; and it had been arranged between the families that Herodotus was to be married to the fair Phædra, a granddaughter of the old queen Artemisia. At the present time, however, Phædra was only eight years old, and Herodotus was not at all sure that he had even seen her. It was therefore necessary, in the first place, that some ten years should elapse before the intended marriage could be celebrated. In the second place, Lyxes had noticed strong evidences of talent in his son, and hoped that his marriage would enable him to take a prominent position in Halicarnassus. At the same time, Halicarnassus was the worst city in Greece for the development of a young man's powers; and we again find it necessary to glance at its peculiar political position. Halicarnassus, as we have already seen, had been excluded from the confederacy, or amphictyony, of Asiatic Dorians, which was connected with the worship of farshooting Apollo in the Dorian sanctuary at Triopium. This political isolation, combined with her geographical position, had rendered her citizens less alive to the national glory of Hellas. Though bound to the other Greeks of both Asia and Europe by the ties of a common descent, a common language, and a common religion, yet their exclusion from the Triopian confederacy rankled in their breasts, and prevented their sympathising in the common cause of Greek independence. They had therefore refused to join in the great Ionian revolt against Darius, in which nearly all the surrounding cities had so eagerly embarked; and indeed they endeavoured to earn a species of political independence by a display of their allegiance to the Persian sway, rather than risk their all in what appeared to be a foolhardy struggle against the overwhelming power of the Great King. Lygdamis, the father of Artemisia, had been the foremost to advise his fellow citizens to exhibit on all occasions a ready obedience to Persia, and thus to obtain those privileges by favour which they could not possibly seize as a right. This moderate policy secured the prosperity of Halicarnassus. The surrounding half Dorian, half Carian cities, both on the Asiatic continent and on the three neighbouring islands of Cos, Calydna, and Nysirus, were formed into a little kingdom, of which Halicarnassus became the capital. The sceptre was awarded to Lygdamis, who was thus permitted to rule the people according to their own laws and institutions, on condition of paying in the re gular tribute to the Persian satrap, and of furnishing such contingencies of men or ships as might thereafter be demanded to meet the exigencies of the Persian empire. Such a state of comparative quietness and security can only be duly estimated if we contemplate the wholesale massacres and confiscations with which the Persians sought to avenge themselves on the participators in the Ionian revolt. Outrages of the most horrible description were practised upon those Ionians, Æolians, and Dorians who had struggled for freedom; whilst peace and prosperity was for a time awarded to the Halicarnassian Dorians, who had patiently borne the yoke of despotism. Lygdamis, however, died shortly afterwards, leaving his sceptre to the husband of his daughter Artemisia. But the new king survived him only a few months, and then left his wife Artemisia and son Pisindelis to the general care of his friend Lyxes. Artemisia was endowed with all the energy and selfpossession of a Spartan heroine. She had the highest esteem for Lyxes, as a friend who had for many years enjoyed the confidence of her deceased father and husband, but she certainly required very little of his assistance or guardianship. She at once proclaimed her intention of carrying on the government as queen until her little son Pisindelis should have attained the age of manhood; and she subsequently conducted the internal affairs of state with so much spirit as to excite the respect and admiration of all her subjects. When Xerxes was preparing for his great expedition against Greece, he demanded 100 ships from the Dorians and Carians, and of these a fair proportion was expected to be supplied by the Halicarnassian kingdom. So sagacious, however, was Artemisia that she contrived to be only required to furnish five vessels; but in order to remove all suspicion of being wanting in zeal, she herself took the command of her little fleet; and she subsequently gave such wise advice in the council of war, |