RECAPITULATION.
Greece was first occupied by the Pelasgi, but its ancient name is derived from the Hellenes, who early became the predominant race. Many arts were introduced by foreigners, among whom Cecrops and Danans of Egypt, Pelops of Phrygia, and Cadmus of Phœnicia, are most famous in tradition. The Heroic Age was illustrated by the achievements of sons of the gods, the last and greatest of their works being a ten years’ siege of Troy. Greece was governed at this period by many absolute monarchs: kings and nobles, as well as people, led simple and industrious lives. Not only tillage, weaving, and the manufacture of metals, but architecture, sculpture, music, and poetry were cultivated to a high degree. Greek religion was the most refined and beautiful form of Nature-worship. Six gods and six goddesses constituted the Supreme Council of Olympus, and a multitude of inferior divinities peopled the mountains, woods, and waters. Conscience was personified in Nemesis and the Erinnyes. Rites of atonement for sin, ecstatic celebrations, and ascetic brotherhoods were adopted by the Greeks from foreign nations. Of many oracles, the most celebrated was that of Apollo, at Delphi. The Heroic Age ended with a general migration of the tribes of Greece, which resulted in the settlement of the Dorians in the Peloponnesus, and the planting of many Ionian and Æolian colonies on the shores of Asia Minor.