PREPARATORY GREEK COURSE IN ENGLISH.
P. 95.—“Gorˈgi-as.” (B.C. 487-380.) A Greek rhetorician and sophist. He captivated the Athenian populace by the splendor of his eloquence, and had among his pupils Alcibiades and Æschines.
P. 97.—“Socrates.” The advice given by Socrates, who was very fearful “lest it might be a matter of censure on the part of the state” should Xenophon take part in this expedition, was that he should go to Delphi and consult the oracle of the great god Apollo concerning the undertaking.
P. 98.—“Pæˈan.” One of the names of Apollo; afterward transferred from him to a triumphal song dedicated to him.
P. 100.—“Larissa.” Now Nimroud, and probably (with its excavated palaces) the southern portion of the vast circuit of Nineveh, “Resen” mentioned in Gen. 10-12.
P. 105.—“Brazen Utensils.” They very artfully forebore to molest these, trying in every way possible to lead the Carduchians to look upon them as friendly, so that they, the Greeks, might have a safe passage through the country.
P. 108.—“Centrites.” Now called Bohtan Chai; eastern branch of the Tigris.
Xenophon’s explanation: “For they,” his followers, “all knew that any one might go to him at breakfast, or at dinner, or, if it should be necessary, might rouse him up from sleep to say whatever one might have to say concerning the war.”
P. 112.—“Părˈa-săng.” A Persian measure of length; about four English miles.
P. 115.—The Armenians lived in underground houses then, as they do now, on account of the excessive cold of the winters. The great elevation of the uplands explains the extreme severity of the cold.
P. 119.—“Golden Fleece.” The Argonauts were the earliest heroes of Greek antiquity; they were the first to navigate unknown and dangerous seas. The story is as follows: Jason was ordered by his uncle Pelias, of Thessaly, to bring him the golden fleece of a ram which was nailed to an oak in the grove of Mars, in Colchis, and which was watched by a sleepless dragon. After a voyage full of adventures he and his followers reached the goal of their expedition. Æëtes, king of the country, promised the fleece to Jason on condition that he would perform some difficult and dangerous tasks. Medea, the king’s daughter, fell in love with Jason, and taught him how to overcome the dangers and seize the fleece. Then she fled with him back to Iolcus.
P. 120.—“Pancratium,” pan-crāˈshĭ-um. An athletic contest which combined boxing and wrestling.
P. 121.—“Ulysses.” A Greek hero of the Trojan war. For account of his arrival, “outstretched and asleep,” see “Preparatory Greek Course in English,” page 222, the fifth stanza from the end.
“Cerasus.” Whence our word cherry, which fruit was brought from this region into Italy by Lucullus in 73 B. C.
“Mosynœci.” A people celebrated for their warlike spirit and savage customs. Their houses were built of wood and were of conical form. Their government was very curious; a king chosen by them was strictly guarded in a house higher than the rest, and was maintained at public cost; but as soon as he displeased the people they starved him to death.
P. 128.—“Atrides,” a-triˈdes. The name signifies son or descendant of Atreus, and was bestowed especially upon Agamemnon and Menelaus. Agamemnon is referred to here.
“Keats.” (1795-1821.) An English poet. His chief works were “Endymion,” “Eve of St. Agnes,” and “Hyperion.” He died in Rome.
P. 129.—“Thetis.” The wife of Pelé-us, and mother of Achilles. She dwelt in the depths of the sea, and had the power of assuming any form she pleased. All the gods were invited to be present on the occasion of her marriage to Peleus, except Discord, who avenged herself by throwing into the assembly the apple which was the source of so much misery. Thetis foretold Achilles that his fate was either to gain glory and die early, or to live a long and inglorious life. The hero chose the former, and took part in the Trojan War, from which he knew he was not to return.
“Derby.” (1799-1869.) A distinguished English statesman; for several years a member of Parliament, and among the first and most eloquent orators of the time; was elected Chancellor of Oxford on the death of the Duke of Wellington, and was made Premier after Lord Palmerston. “His version of the ‘Iliad,’” says the Edinburgh Review, “is far more allied to the original, and superior to any that has yet been attempted in the blank verse of our language.”
P. 132.—“Newman.” An English author, born 1805. He was a great traveler, and wrote many works on historical, political, and theological subjects. He was a brother of John Henry Newman, who was converted to Roman Catholic doctrines.
“Worsley.” See “Preparatory Greek Course in English,” page 203.
“Ipsissimus.” His very own self. A strengthened form of the Latin pronoun ipse, meaning himself.
P. 134.—“Quære.” From the Latin word quæ-ro, meaning to question; whence our word query.
P. 136.—“Macedonia’s Madman.” A title given to Alexander the Great, so called because of his fiery, impetuous character.
P. 142.—“Empyrean,” ĕm-py-rēˈan. The highest heaven.
P. 144.—“Ajax.” One of the great chiefs of the Trojan War, second only to Achilles in martial powers. There was another of the same name, and the two were distinguished by adding the words greater or lesser after their names.
“Pelides.” Son of Peleus; Achilles.
“Phthiˈa.” The city in which Achilles resided, situated in the southeastern part of Thessaly. Thessaly now forms part of the Turkish province of Salonika.
P. 147.—“By this sacred scepter.” As the oath was a renunciation of service to Agamemnon, the general-in-chief, Achilles very naturally swears by his scepter, which was the emblem of regal power.
P. 148.—“Centaurs.” A race said to have lived on Mt. Pelion, in Thessaly. They were represented as half horses and half men, perhaps from the fact that hunting on horseback was a national custom. From this very easily the fable might have arisen, just as the Americans, when they first saw a Spaniard on horseback, thought horse and man to be one being.
P. 150.—“Ambrosial.” Divine, immortal.
“Here,” heˈre or heˈra. Juno.
P. 160.—“Achaians.” One of the chief Greek races. As they were the ruling nation in the heroic times, Homer frequently calls the collective Greeks by their name.
“Danaäns.” Another name applied to the Greeks. It was derived from Danaus, one of the earliest settlers in Greece.
P. 161.—“Neologism,” ne-ŏlˈo-gism. The introduction of new words.
P. 164.—“Tydides,” ty-dīˈdes. Son of Tydeus, Diomed.
P. 165.—“Son of Capaneus.” Sthenelus, commander of the Greeks under Diomed, and one of those who afterward were concealed in the wooden horse.
“Well-greaved.” Greaves were armor for the legs, a sort of heavy boots.
P. 166.—“Iris.” The messenger of the gods. She traveled on the rainbow.
P. 167.—“Ichor,” īˈkor. An ethereal fluid that supplied the place of the blood in the veins of the gods.
“Pergamus.” The citadel of Troy.
P. 170.—“Simoïs and Scamander,” simˈo-is, sca-manˈder. Rivers of Troy. “Simoïs,” also name of the river god. The Scamander was sometimes called Xanthus.