[1814]. Athen. xiii. 87.
[1815]. This was the κισσύβιον, a goblet or cup turned of ivy wood. It was usually rubbed with wax and polished, for the purpose of bringing out the beautiful carving which adorned it. Cf. Etym. Mag. 515. 33.
[1816]. Theocrit. i. 32, sqq.
[1817]. Though even here we detect the presence of hirelings; for Homer observes, that, among the Læstrigons, such shepherds as could do with little sleep received double wages. Odyss. κ. 84, seq.
[1818]. In fact black slaves, from Africa, were sometimes employed as shepherds, at least in Sicily. Theoc. i. 24.
[1819]. John, x. 11, sqq.
[1820]. Isaiah, xl. 11.
[1821]. It has been observed by Gibbon, who had diligently studied the pastoral nations of Asia in their general habits and characteristics, that ambition and the spirit of conquest are powerfully excited by the shepherd’s manner of life. “The thrones of Asia have been repeatedly overturned by the shepherds of the north, and their arms have spread terror and devastation over the most fertile and warlike countries of Europe. On this occasion, as well as on many others, the sober historian is forcibly awakened from a pleasing vision and is compelled with some reluctance to confess, that the pastoral manners which have been adorned with the fairest attributes of peace and innocence are much better adapted to the fierce and cruel habits of a military life.” Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, iv. 348. Hippocrates in his brief but vigorous manner has presented us with a picture of the Scythian shepherd’s life in ancient times, (De Aër. et Loc. § 92, sqq.) and from modern travellers we find that it differed very little from that which they lead at the present day. See the travels of Rubriquis in Hakluyt, i. 101, sqq. See also the notes of Coray on Hippocrates, t. ii. 280, seq.
[1822]. Theocritus describes Daphnis dying for love. Eidyll. i. 135.
[1823]. Hom. Hymn. ad Ven. 54, sqq.