[183]. Il. β. 559. Mases, an Argive city, is mentioned by Homer in conjunction with Ægina, which island also belonged at that time to Argos. This place, in later ages, was the harbour of the Hermioneans.—Pausan. ii. 36, 83. Cf. Müll. Æginet. p. 85.
[184]. This mountain (which in one place Vibius Sequester converts into a river, p. 19, Cf. Virg. Georg. ii. 487,) was sacred to Bacchos. Serv. ad. Virg. ut sup.—Strabo describes it at length, and Pausanias observes that it was adapted to the chase. On its summit horses were sacrificed to the sun.—Paus. iii. 20. 2. Cf. Oberlin, ad Vib. Sequest. p. 375.
[185]. Coronelli, Mém. Hist. et Géog. du Roy. de la Morée, &c. p. 90. sqq. Poucqueville, Travels in the Morea, p. 87. Chateaubriand, Itinéraire, t. i. pp. 102–118. Cf. Thiersch, Etat Actuel de la Grèce, i. 287, who gives the following romantic glimpse of the Laconian valley:—“Oh! que ce pays était beau, lorsqu’au mois de Mai 1832, nous traversâmes ses ravissantes vallées au milieu des montagnes de la Laconie, et ses villages situés au bord de ruisseaux limpides et entourés d’arbres fruitiers tout en fleurs! Quelle était belle cette terre, lorsque, le soir, revenant des ruines de Sparte à Mistra, nous étions comme baignés de ces parfums qu’exhalent les orangers qui remplissent la plaine, et rafraichis par la brise délicieuse descendue des montagnes majestueuses du Taygète, dont les cimes, encore couvertes de neige, semblaient toucher le ciel parsemé d’étoiles! Nôtre sommeil fut interrompu la nuit par le chant mélodieux d’une troupe de rossignols.”
[186]. Aleman, ap. Athen. i. 57.
[187]. Strab. viii. 6. p. 190. Paus. iii. 21. 6.
[188]. Cf. Sibth. in Walp. Mem. i. 60.
[189]. Strab. ix. i. p. 232.
[190]. Strab. ix. 1. Philoch. Siebel. p. 28.
[191]. Mardonius, in fact, found Attica too hilly for the operations of cavalry:—οὔτε ἱππασίμη ἡ χώρη ἦν ἡ Ἀττική.—Herod. ix. 13.
[192]. See, in Plato’s Critias, t. vii. p. 153. the eulogium of its beauty and fertility. At present “the plain of Attica, if we except the olive-tree, is extremely destitute of wood, and we observed, on our return, the peasants driving home their asses laden with Passerina hirsuta for fuel.”—Sibthorp in Mitchell, Knights, p. 155. But the description by no means applies to the whole country. At the foot of Cithæron there are still forests four hours in length.—Sibth. in Walp. Mem. i. 64.