장음표시 사용
71쪽
relies, Was a city of Arcadia. Αnd suci, a vicina ge Was suiledio the scene. For Elea, ' says Polybius, far exceeds ali thoother paris of Peloponnesus, both in the number of the inhabitanis, and in the natural riches Whicli are there produced. There are among the people, those Who are so fixed in thoenjoyment of a country lise, and so satisfied with the abundance of Whicli they are possessed, that, in the course even Of tWoor three generations, they are never known to visit the capitat.
regard whicli, by the Constitution of the government, is Shown to those Who are sollied in it Th0 motivo that inclinod thoir Legislators to make such laWs Seems partly to have been, that the province Was itself of very Wide extent; but principallybecauso tho inhabitanis lived in ancient times a Lind of holylila: When their country, on account of the Olympic Games being celebrated in it, Was regarded by the Greetis as sacred and inviolabie, and the peopte ali enjoyed a fuit repose, secure Dom
to the race of Battus the highest success, an Olympian Victo . ' In his tenti, Nemean he exclainis, Pisa contains thohighest rites of Horcules. ': This, beyond doubt, Was deemedihe grandest tournament of the civilised Worid. Os Pisa, as a city, We know litile or nothing. Ιt reposed
72쪽
on the Alpheus,-a city not So much of commerce, as of wealthconsecrated by religion and of trophy bequeathed by valour. Sonoca, in his first Chorus of the Thyestes, SVS,-
Piseas domos turribus inclytas.
- Golido flumine lucidus Alpheus, stadio notus Olympico.
place. It was enclosed by a peristyle of columns, ut bulli after the Dorio rute, it vas not of the elevation of modern inrines ; fixty-eight Det Was iis altitude, ninely-five iis breadth, and two hundred and thirty iis stretch. It Was composed of the Parian Μarble,-While laminae of the samo materiat DomPantelicus couered the roos, an invention claimed sor a Naxian :but there seems nothing Very original in si bing marble. Per-haps, theresere, it Was the mode of binding them that madohim so eminent that statues Were raised to his honour; and is his insertion of them resembled, or in any degree anticipaled, tho roos of Κing, College Chapel, Cambridge, hose Statues Were not UndeserVed. Eagies Supported, perhaps like Cary tides, the pediment; the frieges and architraves Were nobiyombossod with historic reliess. On the summit, there seem toliave been figures human and equestrian: together With chariolsand shiolds. The Propylaeum, With iis union os chasteness and magnificence, filled the binolder With deepmost aWe. The por- tals Were of brass. The Thunderer Was sculptured by Phidias, and it Was called his master-Work. The posture Was Sitting, and the throne Was Wrought os ivory and gold. His conception Wasthat of Homer in tho first book of tho Iliad:
73쪽
right haud was an imago of victory. The lese held a sceptre, composite of ali metals, with the eagle recumbent on it. Thosandals and the robe Were of gold. The body seems to have been principalty carved hom ivory, and Was constantly keptbright by the sacred olis. The measuremenis, it is plainly inti- maled by Pausanias, Were extravagantly described: and wemay bellove that the prince of statuaries Would not greatly exceed the heroic standard, making a due allowance sor thodistance front whicli it is seen. For in considering any of the gigantic statures Which looked froin the Acropolis of Athens, wo must recollect their sirst position, and that we seo them orlancy them as they are on a levet VieW with Ourselves. Thischamber Was the awsul Cella. The Whole templo Was enrichodby a tithe on the spolis of Victory, and troasures soWed intoit Dom tho ends of the earth. Pisa, or Olympia, Was a lito place of sacrifice. There Wasconstant religiolis service. It Was a Hierapolis. Every thing
posed of the aines of the offerings, Whicli, agglutinated by the water of the Alpheus that Was consecrated exclusively for this compost, and miXed With the burni White poplar, Wore laid onit, not only repatring but greatly increasing it. Iis skirt was a
circumseretice of one hundred and tWenty-sive Dei. Thore Wasa circuit above it of thirty-two Det in ascent. There the altariiself was twenty-tWo Det tofiter stili. Victims were consu-
Strangers might offer at any hour. While Iupiter Was the Guardian of the scene, here Was a lavisti exemplification of tho Intercommunity of Worship. Whatever deity condescendod a visit, male or semate, they micti obtain a niche for their imagoand a victim for their altar. There Were SiX principat ones, and two tutelaries Were attached to each. Βωμους εξ διδυμους, is thephraso of Pindar. The sirst article of the peace belWoen tho Lacedaemonians and the Athenians, in the tentii year of tho Peloponnesian War, is, In regard to the common temples,
74쪽
permission is granteis, to ali Who destre it, to sacrifice, to visit,to consuli the oracles, to Send public deputations, in the pre- scribsed fornis of every people, both by land and sea, Without any molestation.' one altar Was inscribed to ali the go is, a common ground of Worship : and as is this was not sussciently
stone. Sand and diast Were not removed, but indoeil added, that whilo the racer had Jess risk of sali, ho might have moro dim-culty of progress. Hercules obtained the credit os measuring the ground. Aulus Gellius says, that Plutarch remarks withwhat skill and acuteness Pythagoras reasoned in discovering undascertaining the superior height and sige of Hercules. - Foras it is Woll known that Hercules had measured with his Det the space of the stadium at Pisa, and that the longili os itwas fix hundred of his steps, and that the other stadia in
Greece, asterwards introduced, consisted also of six hundred paces, though someWhat Shorter,-he dreW this obvious conclusion : that according to the rules of proportion, the eXaci mea-sure of the Dot of Hercules as much exceeded those of othermen, as the Olympic studium Was longer than the rest. Tal ing,
theresere, the fige of the foot of Hercules, and adding to itfuch a tali ness of body as the regular symmetry of ali the other limbs domanded, ho inferred that Hercules us much surpassedother men in stature as the Olympic Stadium exceeded those which were nominalty os similar extent.' It is in this story, that wo find the probabie occasion os the proverb, Ex pede Herculem. Still after ali, froin the best eviden ce it was onlysix hundred and Dur feet in iis tength. The Hippodrome Wassix hundrod and Dur feet in breadth, and was twelve hundredand eight Det long.-There are tWo allusions in the opening of
Lycophron s Cassandra Whicli illustrate the manner of the stari, and some peculiar associations of the course. The Leeper of the Prison says to Priam, Eγω δ' ακραν ζαλζιδα μηρινθουσχασας,κ. r. λ. I noW, RS though the eX treme barrier Were sinking
75쪽
by a corii, en ter the prophetess' course of mystic Words, just asthe fleet courser spurias the repressing bound .r We have herethe very picture of the manner in Whicli the impatient racersWere Set loose, and signalled for their career. In a sew followinglines, there is an allusion to the ρε rocks of Cronus whence thecourser speeils,V with the additional information that there Wasthe tonat, of ρε the earth-born Ischenus. ' He was the reputed son of Μercvry and Hiersea. Arad it is rema rhablo that tho sepulchre of Endymion Was placed as the starting-poliat for therunning man, While that of Ischenus Was for the running horse.
This horo is reported to have devoted himself sor the Eloans in alamine. And since these Games, as We shali find quickly, had much to do with the state of the chronology, and that chrono-logy Was regulated by the lunar cycle, the tale of the shepherdking of Alount Latmos Wooed by Diana Was, perhaps, biat anaoid, a mythos, to describe his celestiat observations, while his
guidunco to the athletae. The dolphin is in honour of Neptune: the eugle, of Iupiter. To Pausanias,' concerning what was callod the Taraxippus, Ι must wholly refer you. I know notWhat he means. The horSes Were, he relates, exceedingly frightened Whenever they approached a particular monument at theond of the course, inhabited by sonte evit influence in the shapsos ogre or in the form os speti. I inould thin k tho suddon rising, and violent fluitering, of the mechanicat ea gle, might
cause Harm in any horse. But Something marVellous WasWanted, and theresore a supernat agency is adduced.
To avoid repetition, it may now be considered at what time this Festivat was held. Poor ovid noted his exilo by tho
interval betWeen these celebrations. In his letter to Brutus Dom Pontus, ' he sigiis, με quinquennis Olympias.'' Polybius remarks,: These then are the most Strihing evenis that Were
76쪽
includod in the Olympiad besore mentioned, and in the courseos four years complete, Whicli is to be considered the propertorni os an Olympiad. It enters the fifth year, but is onlyjust the revolution of the four. Theresore it was called TΠρα- ταετηρις. It commenCed on the sirst fuli moon astor tho summer solstice. The monili WaS the Hecatombaeon, our July. As this necessitates the Variation os many days, it Was not aperfeci period and demanded intercalations. It was indoed tho Lustrum, in period as Weli as in piacular sacrifice. It lasted
commence besore the ninth of July, nor later than the fixilios AuguSt. Next to the Stadium in interest, Was the Altis, the sacredgrove. It was laved by the river Cladeius. It was entered by a path called the Pompic, because the sacrificiat processions passed that Way. The Prytanaeum, an abode of legislation and of festivity, contrasted itself with the Verdure of the Scene.
tored lavishly. They must be rectioned by many hundreds. Pausanias wearies by his garrulous mention and criticism of somany. WE may infer that as Works of uri they Were magnificent. Where the workshop of Phidias yet stood, nothingdesectivo in truth and grace could have lined iis head. Whata picture is presented to the mind, in the assemblage of morothan Dur hundred full-lingili figures of go is and victorf,-Ofpurest marble, of noblest Symmetry, each look an attribute, each pori a history, leaming froin the green leas of tho Wood, and Diled by the deep-blue sky l What nobis Walks of sculptured border, What vistas os columned scenet And temples rose up in every direction. And some of them must have been maSSive as they were elegant. Dodweli found in Eloasome frustra of the Doric ordor, the flutings thirteen inches Wide, and the diameter of the whole pillar seven Det three inches. These dimensions considerably exceed those of the Parthenon and tho olympelon at Athens.
77쪽
Ιt must be supposed that there Was Something enthusiasticatly Lindred to theso games in the Elean character, that theyinould so long heep their holii upon it. The people seemed tolive for them. They assected the wholo cast of their manners and est lishments. It was the liope of youth and the remembrance of age. We, there re, learn hom Plutarciss Lycurgus, that whilo tho Athenians were best adapted to conduci mysteries and pageanis, the Eleans Were best suiled to direct the agonistic
What cannot be urged more Strongly than neceSSary is, that tho Olympic Tethmos Was strictly religious. It began andondod with hecatombs of sacrifice. The Theocloos Was the greathigh priest. The Vestal fire ever buriit. Certain repreSentativesor deputies Were commissioneii, according to Plutarch, ' under the name of Theori, to bear froni the disserent citios victinis forthis solemnity. Iupiter Olympius Was the object of supreme homage. From the spolis of Plataea, the Lacedaemonians erected an image of him, ten cubiis high. Antiochus devoted an eXquisite curtain to hi de the god, it boing of Assyrian Woof and Phenician purple. So in the tenti, Olympian Odo of Pindar, We read, - All the temple refounded, during the sumptuousseaStS, according to a pratseWorthy custom. And noW followingitiose earlier institutions, taking a characteristic Song of resplendent victory, let us Worinip Iupiter, Who, With infinite poWer,peias the thura der, and wields tho bolt whicli quivors in his halid, and the whole fury of the scorching, crashing, elementS.VThis mixture of religion with tho struggles and onseis of the
the tenili Nemean, Pindar presenis the prayer of Thelaios to Iupiter, While ho intimates that his ambition is, after havinggained other reWards, to Win the Olympic prige: O Father, Tholaios liath cherishod an in Ward purpose Which he cannot reveat. Every issiae of our actions is With Theel Not with an unanxious heari, as though too confident in himself,-he seelis
78쪽
Tho fallure os Teucer in tho competition of shooting With thoarroW, and the Success of Μeriones, are attributed to the un- stiri ven state of the sirst, and to the pious VoWs of the second. Aster solemn prayers and oblatioris to Iupiter Olympius, the exercises began. Their order of succession is dotabiful. We must not trusi to the enumeration os scholiasis, Who Would sacrifice any thing to a heXameter or pentameter :
wrostling. ' Some of the Latin editors give unother arrangement: Jaculum, discus, curSUS, Saltus, lucta.' These constitutod tho Pontathlon. Tho Pedestrian race, hoWeVer, Was the principat one. ItalWays gave iis record and fame to the Olympiad. Wo seem tohavo litile notion of the fleetness and endurance Whicli practice gave. The Hemerodrome, or meSSenger, Often performed prodigios. Pheidippides Wallied one hundred and si y miles, DomAthens to Sparta, three miles an hour for sisty hours. Plinysays,' that Pheldippides Was surpassed by Anystis, a Lacedaemonian, and by Philonides, the colarier of Alexander, both of Whom ran in one day a hundred and fifty miles Doni Elisto Sycion. In Plutarch is the touching narrative of Euchidas. Tho oraclo having decided that ali tho altar fres of Greeceshould be extinguished hecause tho Barbarians had polluted them, and that a virgin flame should bo brought froni Delphi, he ran Dom Plataea hither, and returned besore sunset, havingaccomptisted his task of the hundred and twenty-sive miles. Just able to saluto tho citi gens; ho nil and immediately expired. The course of the Dot-racer being abolit the eighth of a mile, there Was the greatest dissiculty in iis being so Ahori, becauseit must have been a rusti, with a fuli spring of the muscies,
79쪽
demanded at once and Dot acquired by going. Crescit eundo. Yot there Was littio trial of sustained vigour. The doubie race, the Diaulus, was therofore added; and after that the Dolichus,
distanco. The inscription os Pindar in the tentii Pythian, is to
Dartins may be considered as the third athletic sport. This does not refer to the fight of the arroW froin the bow, but of tho javel in froni the hand. It Was, probably, an instrument sonaeWhat belWeen the pilum of the Roman legions, and the sitast. Xenophon, in relating the ad varice of Thrasybulus hom Phyle, describes the dispositions of his troops. First tho
80쪽
scribed by Brondstead, in the Transactions of the Royal Society
with oil besore they ontered the lisis.' Lycophron, in his Cassandra, spealis of games celebrated by the Argonauis Dear tho African Syrtes, where, though they had Washed in the sea, thooit with whicli thoy were anointed remained on the Stiore, norcould be Washed away by rain or snow. This is suffcientlyhyperbolical: the following is as comic. The Chorus, in the
Knights of Aristophanes, resolve to unoint the SauSage-Vender,as though a Wrestier against Cleon besore the Senato, With thelat of his oWn sau sages. This practice must haVe giVen great
capable os fastening their seigures more tenacioiasty. 'Le ins was the fifth of these efforis. Extraordinaryagility here might be expected froin the other conteSis, undisom the muscular po ver of those Who were malched in them. But we have nothing authentic. Amphialos sprung further than anu of his competitors, but we know not hoW far that was.