COLLEGE GREEK COURSE IN ENGLISH.
Articles on Euripides may be found in the following works: Mahaffy’s “Classical Greek Literature;” Blackwell’s “Introduction to the Classics;” “Studies of the Greek Poets,” by J. A. Symonds; Encyclopædia Britannica; “Phœton,” Fraser’s Magazine, vol. xlv, p. 488; “Sea Studies” (J. A. Froude), Fraser’s Magazine, vol. xci, p. 541; “Vindication of Euripides,” National Quarterly, vol. xix, p. 1.
P. 188.—“The Raging Hercules.” One of the most precious remains of Euripides, full of tragic pathos. While Hercules is absent from home, Lycos, tyrant of Thebes, persecutes his father, wife and children. As they are about to be put to death, Hercules returns and a scene of vengeance follows, and Lycos is the one to suffer death.
“Balaustion,” ba-lausˈti-on.
“Sicilian Expedition.” See “Brief History of Greece,” page 31.
P. 191.—“Mistress.” Artemis.
P. 192.—“I-olˈcos.” An ancient town in Thessaly, the place from which the Argonauts set sail.
“Stygian barge.” The Greek’s view of the world entered immediately after death is given in the following quotation from Seemann’s “Classical Mythology:” “It was supposed to be a region in the center of the earth, with several passages to and from the upper world. Through it flowed several rivers—Co-cyˈtus, Pyˌri-phlegˈe-thon, Achˈe-ron and Styx. The last of these encompassed the lower world several times, and could only be crossed by the aid of Charon, the ferryman, who was depicted as a sullen old man with a bristling beard. The Greeks, therefore, used to place an obolus (small copper coin) in the mouths of their dead, in order that the soul might not be turned back by Charon for lack of money. On the farther side of the river the portals were watched by the dreadful hell-hound Cerberus, a three-headed monster, who refused no one entrance, but allowed none to leave the house of Pluto. All souls on reaching the lower world had to appear before the tribunal of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Æacus. Those whose lives had been upright were then permitted to enter Elysium, where they led a life of uninterrupted bliss; while those who on earth had been criminal and wicked were consigned to Tartarus, where they were tormented by the Furies and other evil spirits. Those whose lives had not been distinctly good or bad remained in the Asphodel Meadow, where, as dim shadows, they passed a dull, joyless existence.”
P. 194.—“Koré,” kōˈrā. Persephone or Proserpine, the wife of Pluto.
P. 195.—“Moirai,” moyˈrī.
P. 197.—“Strophe.” In Greek tragedy, in its highest development, there was a group of persons, composed of both sexes, who constituted the chorus. When the actors paused the chorus sung or spoke, accompanied by solemn music, moving from one side of the stage to the other. The time of this movement was adapted to the stanzas, so that one, called the strophe, was given as they passed in one direction, and the next, the antistrophe, as they passed back.
“Daughter of Pelias.” Alcestis.
“Seven-chorded shell.” Tradition tells that the first lyre was made by Mercury, out of the shell of a tortoise, which he caught a few hours after his birth. Lyres were employed in recitations of epic poetry, and consisted of a tortoise shell sounding bottom, from which arose two horns, joined near the top by a transverse piece of wood, to which the upper ends of the strings, usually seven in number, which were stretched perpendicularly from the bottom, were fastened.
“Carnean feast.” One of the great national festivals of Sparta, held in honor of Apollo, who had for a surname Carneus, which was derived by some from Carnus, a son of Jupiter and Latona, and by others from Carnus, a soothsayer.
P. 199.—“Lustral bath.” In their early history the only rite of purification observed by the Greeks was that of ablution in water, but afterward sacrifices and other ceremonies were added. These were used to purify individuals, armies and states, and to secure the blessing of the gods. The word lustral is derived from the Latin verb lustro and signifies to purify by means of propitiatory offerings.
P. 200.—“Othrys.” A range of mountains in Thessaly.
“Pythian’s sake.” Apollo’s sake.
P. 205.—The lines at the top of the page, spoken by Hercules, contain the same sentiment that runs all through “Rubáiyát,” the poem written by Omar Khayyám. Compare the extracts from this book given in the “Talk About Books,” in The Chautauquan for February, 1885, with these stanzas. To further show the similarity in thought, we select one stanza from the poem:
“Waste not your hour, nor in the vain pursuit
Of this and that, endeavor and dispute;
Better be jocund with the fruitful grape
Than sadden after none, or bitter fruit.”
P. 206.—“Asclepian train,” as-cleˈpi-an. Train of physicians, who are often called the descendants of Æsculapius, the god of the medical art.
P. 210.—“Gorgon.” A terrible winged woman, who dwelt with her two sisters on the borders of Oceanus, the river that flowed around the ancient world. She was beheaded by Perseus, who accomplished the perilous task by the help of Hermes and Athena.
P. 211.—“Son of Sthenelus,” sthenˈe-lus. Euristheus, who assigned to Hercules his twelve labors.
P. 212.—“Electra.” Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. On the return of Agamemnon from the Trojan war, Clytemnestra and her paramour murdered him. When her young brother, Orestes, had grown to manhood, Electra excited him to avenge the death of Agamemnon, and assisted him in slaying their mother.
P. 213.—“Medea.” The wife of Jason, the Argonautic hero.
“Pieria,” pi-eˈri-a. A narrow strip of country along the southeastern coast of Macedonia.
“Harmonia.” Daughter of Mars and Venus, and wife of Cadmus.
P. 216.—In connection with the chapter on Ar-is-tophˈan-es, the following works may be read: Mahaffy’s “Classical Greek Literature” (readings will be found in this book on all the characters mentioned in “College Greek Course”), “Aristophanes,” National Quarterly, vol. iii, p. 70: Fraser’s Magazine, vol. xii, p. 222.
P. 219.—“Creon.” Cleon is meant, the “leather-seller” who for six years was the most influential man in Athens. He took command of the forces at Sphac-teˈri-a, during the Peloponnesian war, and fulfilled the promise he had boastingly made, that he would capture the Spartans within twenty days if the Athenians would send him against them.
P. 220.—“Tableaux vivants,” tä-blō vē-väⁿᵍ. Living representations, in which persons are grouped as in pictures. We frequently use only the first of these French words.
“Sophˈist.” The Sophists were the leading public teachers in Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries B. C. In its original sense, the word meant a wise man, and as such could properly be applied to Socrates. But in his day, as a class, they were “ostentatious imposters, flattering and duping the rich for the sake of personal gain.”
P. 225.—“Rhea.” The wife of Saturn, and the great goddess of the world.
“Hebrus.” The principal river in Thrace.
P. 226.—Readings on Pindar will be found in Talfourd’s “History of Greek Literature,” National Quarterly, vol. xxxii, p. 203; London Magazine, vol. ii, p. 60.
Readings on Sappho, The Atlantic (T. W. Higginson), vol. xxviii, p. 83; Harper’s Magazine, vol. lvi, p. 177; Appleton’s Magazine, vol. vi, p. 158.
Readings on Simonides, Westminster Review, vol. xxxii, p. 99; Fraser’s Magazine, vol. ii, p. 52.
P. 228.—“Dithyrambics,” dith-y-ramˈbics. Originally songs in honor of Bacchus; later, any poems written in a wild and enthusiastic manner.
“The Ivy-clad Boy.” Bacchus.
“Bromius.” One of the surnames of Bacchus, signifying the shouter.
“Eriboas.” See index of “College Greek Course.”
P. 229.—“Prophet of Nemea’s strand.” Jupiter.
“Orchomenus,” or-komˈe-nus. An ancient and powerful city of Bœotia.
“Minˈyans.” An ancient Greek race, said to have migrated from Thessaly. Their ancestral hero, Minyas, is said to have been a son of Neptune.
P. 230.—“A-glaiˈa,” “Eu-phrosˈy-ne,” “Tha-liˈa.” The names of the Graces.
“A-soˈpi-chus.” See index to “College Greek Course.”
“Cle-o-dāˈmus.” Usually written Cleodæus. A descendant of Hercules, who made an unsuccessful attempt to lead the Heraclidæ back into their own land, the Peloponnesus. Temenus, his grandson, succeeded in the attempt.
“Bellerophon.” A Corinthian, who obtained possession of the winged horse, Pegasus, who rose with him into the air, whence by means of arrows he killed the Chimæra, a fire-breathing monster which had three heads, one that of a lion, one of a dragon, and one of a goat. It had made great havoc in Lycia and the surrounding countries. Afterward he conquered the Solymi, a warlike race inhabiting the mountains of Lycia, and the Amazons, a mythical, warlike race of females.
P. 232.—“Typhon.” A monster who wished to acquire the sovereignty of gods and men, but who was subdued, after a fearful struggle, by Jupiter, and confined in a Cicilian cave. He begot the winds.
P. 233.—“Phalˈa-ris,” B. C. 570. A cruel and inhuman tyrant of Agrigentum, who was put to death in a sudden outbreak of popular fury. He is said to have burned alive the victims of his cruelty, in a large brazen bull.
P. 240.—“A-donˈis.” A beautiful youth beloved by Venus. He died from a wound which he received from a wild boar. The grief of the goddess was so great that the gods of the lower world allowed Adonis to return to the earth for six months every year. In this myth the death of the youth every year probably represents winter, and his return, summer.
“Cypris” and “Cyth-e-reˈa.” Venus.
P. 241.—“Arethusa.” The nymph of the famous fountain of Arethusa, on the island of Ortygia.
P. 242.—“Meles.” A small stream in Ionia, on the bank of which Homer is said to have been born.
“Pegassean fountain.” The inspiring well of the muses on Mt. Helicon, said to have been formed from a kick given by Pegasus. It is sometimes called the Hippocrene.
“Daughter of Tyndarus.” Helen of Troy.
“Son of Thetis.” Achilles.
“Eros.” Cupid.
“Al-ciˈdes.” Hercules.
“Orpheus.” See C. L. S. C. Notes in The Chautauquan for November, 1884. Eurydice is the wife of Orpheus, instead of Proserpine, as there stated.
P. 244.—“Daphnis.” A Sicilian hero, son of Mercury, and a nymph. A Naiad fell in love with him and made him swear he would never love another. But he met and loved a princess, and the Naiad smote him with blindness. He besought his father for help, and the latter removed him to the abode of the gods, and caused a fountain to gush forth on the spot whence he was taken up.
“Thirsis.” A herdsman who laments the death of Daphnis.
“Priapus.” Son of Bacchus. One of the divinities presiding over agricultural pursuits.
P. 245.—“Gălˈin-gale.” A rush-like, or grass-like plant, often called sedge.
“Ly-caˈon’s son.” Pandarus. One of the commanders in the Trojan war.
P. 246.—“Cicala,” si-cāˈlä. Usually written cicada. The locust.
P. 247.—“Dilettanteism,” dil-et-tanˈte-ism. Admiration of the fine arts.
P. 251.—“Golˈgi.” A Sicyonian colony, inhabiting a town of the same name in Cypris.
“Idalium.” A town of Cypris.
P. 253.—For supplementary reading on Demosthenes see Talfourd’s “History of Greek Literature;” The North American Review, vol. xxii, p. 34; New York Review, vol. ix, p. 1; National Review, vol. xii, p. 99.
P. 255.—“Ignatius Loyola,” ig-naˈsheus loi-oˈla. (1491-1556.) A Spaniard; the founder of the Society of Jesus. He served as page in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and later engaged in the wars against the French and the Moors. He was severely wounded in battle, and was made lame. His thoughts were then turned toward a religious life. Long fasts and scourgings often brought him near to death. He attended the University of Paris, where he took the master’s degree at the age of forty-three. Afterward he gathered a few followers about him as the nucleus for his society, which in a short time became so famous.
P. 270.—“Margites.” A poem ascribed to Homer, which holds up to ridicule a man who pretended to know many things, and knew nothing well.
P. 275.—“Milo.” A Roman of daring and unscrupulous character. He was impeached for bribery and for interfering with the freedom of elections, and Cicero undertook his defense.
P. 278.—“Cyrcilus.” The stoning of this man and his family occurred when the Athenians, under Themistocles, retreated from their city to Salamis, after learning that Thermopylæ was in the possession of the Persians.
P. 281.—“Laocoön.” While the Trojans were debating whether they should receive the wooden horse into the city, Laocoön, a priest, rushed forward and warned them not to do it, and struck his spear into its side. As a punishment, Minerva sent two monstrous serpents, which crushed him and his two sons to death.
P. 282.—“Bema.” A raised place, from which an orator addressed public assemblies.