among the many minstrels which this age undoubtedly possessed, Homer alone has survived. We have from him two great epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, with several hymns and epigrams. One mock heroic poem, the Batrachomyomachy (the Battle of the Frogs and Mice), is ascribed to him. From him an Ionian school of minstrels takes its name-the Homeridawho probably constituted, at first, at Chios, a distinct family of rhapsodists, and who preserved the old Homeric and epic style, the spirit and tone of the Homeric verse, Much that is attributed to Homer, may reasonably be assigned to them. The

same may be the case with the epic Cyclus, also ascribed to Homer; which brings us to the Cyclic poets, who began, however, to deviate materially from the Ionian epos, the historical element predominating more and more over the poetical. By Cyclus, we here understand the whole circle of traditions and fables, and not merely the events of the Trojan war. Cyclic poetry comprehended the whole compass of mythology; and we may, therefore, divide it into, 1. a cosmogonical, 2. a genealogical, and 3. a heroic Cyclus; in the latter of which there are two separate periods; 1. of the heroes before, and 2. of those after, the expedition of the Argonauts. To the first class belong the battles of the Titans and giants; to the second, the theogonies and herogonies. To the first period of the third class belong the Europia, several Heracleia and Dionysiacs, several Thebaids, Argonautics, Theseids, Danaids, Amazonica, etc. In the second period, the poetry generally related to the Trojan war. To this belonged the Nostoi, which treated of the return of the heroes from Troy. The earliest of these Cyclic poets appeared about the time of the first Olympiad. A history of the gradual formation of their poetry cannot be given, because we have only very general accounts respecting them. But what we do know justifies us in concluding that between these historic poets and the Ionian school of minstrelsy, something intervened, making, as it were, the transition. And we actually find this in the Baotian-Ascrean school, which arose in European Greece probably about 890 B. C. It derived its name from Ascra in Boeotia, the residence of Hesiod, who stood at its head, and by whom poetry was probably conducted back again from Asia Minor (for he originated from Cuma in Eolia) to Greece. His works, also, were at first preserved by rhapsodists. They were not arranged till a later period, when they were augmented

by foreign additions; so that, in their present form, their authenticity is as doubtful as that of the poems ascribed to Homer. (See Hesiod.) Of the sixteen works attributed to him, there have come down to us the Theogony, the Shield of Hercules (the fragment of a larger poem), and Works and Days, a didactic poem on agriculture, the choice of days, intermixed with moral and prudential maxims, &c. These works, especially those of Homer and Hesiod, which acquired a canonical importance, and constituted, in a certain degree, the foundation of youthful education, gave to the character of the Greeks that particular direction, by which it was afterwards distinguished, and which was most strikingly displayed in their religion; which, for want of the necessary dignity, and especially of a caste of priests, was so indefinite, and therefore so fanciful. The mysticism of the first period was, therefore, for the most part, discarded; and in the later Grecian mythology (for that a new system of divinities had arisen cannot be doubted), nothing was seen but the perfection of human nature. Sensuality thence became the characteristic of the Grecian religion, in which no other morality could subsist but that which teaches the enjoyment of the pleasures of life with prudence. Hitherto poetry had been the only instructress of the Grecian world; and it remained so still, when it took another direction. This happened in the third period, the age of lyric poetry, of apologues and philosophy, with which history gradually acquired a greater certainty. About the beginning of the epoch of the Olympiads (776 B.C.), there ensued a true ebb and flood of constitutions among the small states of Greece. After numerous vicissitudes of power, during which the contending parties persecuted each other for a long time with mutual hatred, repub lics, with democratical constitutions, finally sprung up, which were in some measure united into one whole by national meetings at the sacred games. The spirit prevalent in such a time greatly favored lyric poetry, which now became an art in Greece, and reached the summit of its perfection at the time of the invasion of the. Persians. Next to the gods, who were celebrated at their festivals with hymns, their country, with its heroes, was the leading subject of this branch of poetry, on the character of which external circumstances seem to have exercised no slight influence. The mental energies of the nation were roused by the circumstances of the country; and the numerous wars

and conflicts, patriotism, the love of freedom and the hatred of enemies and tyrants, gave birth to the heroic ode. Life, however, was at the same time viewed more on its dark side. Thence there was an intermingling of more sensibility in the elegy, as well as, on the other side, a vigorous reaction, in which the spirit of ridicule gave rise to the iambus (satire). In every thing there was a more powerful impulse towards meditation, investigation and labor for the attainment of a desired condition. The golden age, the gift of the gods, was felt to have departed. Whatever man discovered in future was to be the fruit of his own efforts. This feeling showed that the age of manhood had arrived. Philosophy had become necessary, and attained continually a greater developement. It first spoke in maxims and gnomes, in fables and in dogmatic precepts. Lyric poetry next gave utterance to the feelings excited by the pleasures of earth. Of those who gained a reputation in this way, as well as by the improvement of music and the invention of various forms of lyric poetry, history presents us the names Archilochus of Paros, inventor of the iambus; Tyrtæus of Miletus, author of war songs; Callimachus of Ephesus, inventor of the elegiac measure; Alcman, the Lydian; Arion of Methymna, who perfected the dithyrambus; Terpander of Antissa, inventor of the barbitos (a kind of lyre); the tender Sappho of Mitylene; her countryman Alcæus; Erinna, the contemporary of both; Mimnermus of Colophon, the flute player; Stesichorus of Himera; Ibycus of Rhegium; Anacreon and Simonides of Ceos; Hipponax of Ephesus; Timocreon of Rhodes; Lasus of Hermione; Corinna of Tanagra, the friend and instructress of Pindar. As gnomic writers (see Gnomic), Theognis, Phocylides, Pythagoras, deserve to be named; as a fabulist, Æsop. In the order of time, several belong to the following period, but are properly placed here, on account of their connexion. If we consider the philosophy of this age, we find it to have generally had a practical character. The philosophy of life must precede the philosophy of science. Philosophy must give lessons of wisdom, before it can furnish scientific systems. In this light must we consider the seven wise men of Greece, as they are called (Periander, instead of whom others place Epimenides of Crete or Myon, Pittacus, Thales, Solon, Bias, Chilo and Cleobulus); six of whom acquired their names, not by diving into hidden lore,but by mature experience and the practical wisdom result

ing from it, by their prudence and reflection, their skill in affairs of state, in business and the arts. Their sayings are practical rules, originating in the commerce of life, and frequently only the expression of present feelings. But as knowledge is the foundation of science, further investigations resulted in theoretical philosophy. Thales was the founder of the Ionic philosophy. Here we stand on the most important point of the history of the literary developement of Greece, where poetry ceases to contain every thing worthy of knowledge, to be the only source of instruction. Hitherto she had discharged the office of history, philosophy and religion. Whatever was to be transmitted to posterity, whatever practical wisdom and knowledge was to be imparted, whatever religious feelings were to be inspired, recourse was had to her measured strains, which, from their rhythmical character, left a deeper and stronger impression on the memory. Henceforth it was to be otherwise. Civil life was to have an important influence on language. The public transactions, in which the citizen took a part, compelled him to make the language of common life more suitable for public delivery. This and alphabetical writing, that had now become common in Greece, with the introduction of the Egyptian papyrus, prepared the way for the formation of prose. All this had an essential influence on the condition of science. From epic poetry proceeded, by degrees, history. From the practical wisdom conveyed in verse proceeded an investigating philosophy. Our former singleness of view is thus lost. We must now necessarily turn our attention to different sides, and, in the rest of our sketch, follow out each branch separately. Every thing tended to excite the spirit of inquiry, and a scientific activity was every where awakened. We may therefore call the fourth period, that now ensued, the scientific period. It reaches to the end of Greek literature, but is divided into several epochs, according to the different spirit which predominated, and the superiority which a particular branch acquired at different times. The first epoch extends from Solon to Alexander (594-336 B. C.) In philosophy, a physico-speculative spirit was manifested; for philosophy originated immediately from religion, and all religion rests on the conception of the Divinity, which was not then distinguished from nature. Now, since the conception of religion contained nothing but poetical ideas of the origin of the principal phe

nomena of nature, that is, of the divinities, the most ancient philosophy was, of necessity, natural philosophy, in which the human mind sought to analyze more thoroughly the phenomena previously observed, to explain them more satisfactorily, and to comprehend them in one whole. From the want of sufficient experimental acquaintance with nature, it was to be expected that the imagination would frequently interfere in the work of the understanding and reason. From this cause, these philosophical inquiries are interwoven with poetical images. This was the form of the Ionic philosophy, whose author was Thales; the Italian, whose founder was Pythagoras, and the older and later Eleatic. To the Ionic school, which sought after a material origin to the world, belonged Pherecydes, Anaximan der, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Diogenes of Apollonia, Anaxarchus and Archelaus of Miletus. The principal disciples of the Pythagorean philosophy, which referred the organization of the world to number and measure, were Alcmæon, Timæus of Locris, Ocellus Lucanus, Epicharmus, Thenges, Archytas, Philolaus and Eudoxus. To the older Eleatic school, which held the idea of a pure existence, belonged Xenophanes, Parmenides; to the later, Zeno, Melissus and Diagoras. With this is connected the atomic school of Leucippus and Democritus, and the dualist, Empedocles. On the other hand, Heraclitus stands alone in his theory of the eternal flow of things. Till near the 90th Olympiad, the philosophers and their scholars were dispersed through all the Greek cities. About this time, Athens became their principal place of residence, which contributed not a little to breathe another spirit into philosophy, the Sophists becoming the teachers. Gorgias of Leontium in Sicily, who joined the Eleatics, Protagoras of Abdera, Hippias of Elis, Prodicus of Cos, Trasimacus and Tisias are the most celebrated whose names have reached us. Their name designates them as men of science; and they were, in fact, the encyclopædists of their times, who collected the ideas and sentiments of the former ages, and enriched them with their own. They were particularly distinguished in rhetoric and politics, two sciences so highly important in democratic forms of government; but, not contented with this, they also professed the natural sciences, mathematics, the theory of the fine arts, and philosophy. In the last, it does not seem to have been their object to arrive at truth, but only to make a plausible argu

ment; and for this end were formed sophistics and eristics, or the art of reasoning, which was afterwards called dialectics; in which their object was to prove every thing they wished. For this they invented those fallacies, still called, from them, sophistries, and sought to lead their opponents astray by various means. That this must needs be detrimental to true philosophy is evident. So much the more fortunate was it that, in this very age, Socrates appeared, who was not only a strenuous antagonist of these Sophists, but opened a new career to philosophy itself. It has been justly said of him, that he brought down philosophy from heaven to earth, for he gave it again a practical direction, differing, however, from the former, since the object was no longer merely to string together experiments, but philosophers began to investigate the nature and relations of man, the object and best regulation of his life; and reflection was turned principally to psychology and morals, instead of physics and metaphysics. Socrates had many scholars, some of whom committed his ideas to writing in his manner-Cebes, Eschines, Xenophon; others, deviating more or less from his ideas and his manner, were founders of philosophical schools of their own. The four following schools proceeded from that of Socrates : 1. the Cyrenaic, whose founder was Aristippus of Cyrene (see Aristippus); 2. the Megaric, Elian and Eretrian, under Euclid, Phædon and Menedemus; 3. the academic, whose founder was Plato; and 4. the Cynic, whose founder was Antisthenes. Plato (q. v.) was unquestionably the most comprehensive and splendid genius. With the philosophical knowledge of the former Greek philosophers, he combined that of the Egyptian priests, and the eloquence of the Sophists. A fondness for the supernatural, a delicate moral sense, a fine, acute and profound understanding, reign in his productions, which are adorned with all the graces of expression, and are enlivened by a rich imagination. By his poetic talent, the philosophical dialogue of Socrates was presented under a truly dramatic form. While philosophy was making such important progress, history rapidly approached perfection. In the period of 550-500 B. C., traditions were first committed to writing in prose, and Cadmus, Dionysius and Hecatæus of Miletus, Acusilaus the Argive, Hellanicus of Mitylene and Pherecydes of Scyros are among the oldest historical writers. After them appeared Herodotus (q. v.), the Homer of history. His example kindled Thucydi

des to emulation, and his eight books of the history of the Peloponnesian war make him the first philosophical historian, and a model for all his successors. If his conciseness sometimes renders Thucydides obscure, in Xenophon, on the contrary, there prevails the greatest perspicuity; and he became the model of quiet, unostentatious historical writing. These three historians are the most distinguished of this period, in which we must, moreover, mention Ctesias, Philistus, Theopompus, Euphorus, who, however, abandoned the genuine style of historical narration for a rhetorical affectation. An entirely new species of poetry was created in this period. From the thanksgiving festivals, which the country people solemnized after the vintage, in honor of the giver of joys, with wild songs and comic dances, arose, especially in Attica, the drama. By degrees, variety and a degree of art were given to the songs of the chorus, or dithyrambics, at the sacrifice of the goat, which, in the process of time, became more serious, while an intermediate speaker related popular fables, and the chorus varied the eternal praises of Bacchus by moral reflections, as the narration prompted. Their reward, if they gave satisfaction, was a goat. Sportive dances were introduced, mingled with waggish pranks, and every thing to excite laughter. These games of the feast of the vintage were soon repeated on other days. Solon's contemporary, Thespis, who smeared his actors, like vintagers, with lees of wine, exhibited at the cross ways or in the villages, on movable stages, stories sometimes serious with solemn choruses, sometimes laughable with dances, in which satyrs and other ridiculous characters excited laughter. Their representations were called tragedies (Tpaywdia), that is, songs of the sacrifice of the goat, or Tovywdiai, songs of the vintage; comedies, festive dances and satirical actions (drama satyricum). These sports were finally exhibited, with much more splendor, on the stages of the towns, and acquired a more and more distinct character, by their peculiar tone and morality. Instead of an intermediate speaker, who related his story extemporaneously, Æschylus first substituted actors, who repeated their parts by rote; and he was thus the actual creator of the dramatic art, which was soon carried to perfection; tragedy by Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides; comedy by Cratinus, Eupolis, Crates, but especially by Aristophanes. Under the government of the thirty tyrants, the freedom, which comedy had possessed, of holding

up living characters to ridicule, was restricted, and the middle comedy was thus gradually formed, in which the chorus was abolished, and, with delineations of general character, characteristic masks were also introduced. In this, Aristophanes and Alexis were distinguished. The mimes of Sophron of Syracuse, dramatic dialogues in rhythmical prose, formed a distinct species, in connexion with which stands the Sicilian comedy of Epicharmus. In the order of time, several gnomic and lyric writers belong to this period. Several philosophers appeared as didactic poets-Xenophanes, Parmenides, Empedocles; as epic poets, Pisander and Panyasis were famous for their Heraclea, and Antimachus for his Thebaid. The epic soon became more and more historical, and lost its beautiful poetic aspect. With poetry, her severer sister, eloquence, also flourished in this period, which republican constitutions rendered necessary, and which the Greek character speedily elevated to the rank of a fine art. Antiphon, Gorgias, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates, Isæus, Demosthenes, Æschines, were highly appreciated as masters of this art, for which schools were actually established. We still possess the admired masterpieces of several of these orators. How near rhetoric was then to triumphing over poetry, is manifested in Euripides, and there is no question that it had a considerable influence on Plato and Thucydides. Mathematics was now cultivated, and geography served to illustrate history. Astronomy is indebted to the Ionic school, arithmetic to the Italian, and geometry to the academic school for many discoveries. As mathematicians, Theodorus of Cyrene, Meton, Euctemon, Archytas of Tarentum, Eudoxus of Cnidus, were celebrated. Geography was, particularly, enriched by voyages of discovery, which were occasioned by commerce; and, in this view, Hanno's voyage on the western coast of Africa, the Periplus of Scylax, a description of the coasts of the Mediterranean, and the discoveries of Pythias of Massilia in the north-west of Europe, deserve mention. The study of nature was likewise pursued by the philosophers; but the healing art, hitherto practised by the Asclepiades in the temples, constituted a distinct science, and Hippocrates became the creator of scientific medicine. The following period is usually called the Alexandrine, and might be characterized as the systematizing or critical period. Atheus did not, indeed, cease to sustain its ancient reputation; but Alexandria was, in reality,

the leading city. From this cause, the spirit of Grecian literature necessarily took another turn; and it is evident, that the use of an immense library must necessarily have made erudition triumph over the former free action of mind, which, however, could not be immediately suppressed. In philosophy, Plato's acute and learned disciple, Aristotle, appeared as the founder of the Peripatetic school, which gained distinction by enlarging the territory of philosophy, and by its spirit of system. He separated logic and rhetoric, ethics and politics, physics and metaphysics (to which last science he gave its name), and applied philosophy to several branches of knowledge; thereby producing economics, pedagogics, poetics, physiognomics. He invented the philosophical syllogism, and gave philosophy the form which it preserved for centuries. His disciple Theophrastus followed his steps, in the investigation of philosophy and natural history. But the more dogmatic was the philosophy of Aristotle, the more caution was requisite to the philosophical inquirer, and the spirit of doubt was salutary. This was particularly exhibited in the system of scepticism which originated with Pyrrho of Elis. A similar spirit, at least, subsisted in the middle and new academies, of which Arcesilaus and Carneades were the founders. The Socratic school put forth new branches in the Stoic school, founded by Zeno of Citium in Cyprus, and the Epicurean, of which Epicurus of Gargettus in Attica was the founder. Mathematics and astronomy made great progress in the schools at Alexandria, Rhodes and Pergamus. And to whom are the names of Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes and Hipparchus unknown? The expeditions and achievements of Alexander furnished abundant matter to history; but, on the whole, it gained in extent, not in value, since a taste for the wonderful had now become prevalent. The more gratifying, therefore, is the appearance of Polybius of Megalopolis, about the end of this period, who is to be regarded as the author of true historical description, by which universal history acquired a philosophical spirit and a worthy object. Geography, which Eratosthenes made a science, and Hipparchus united more closely with mathematics, was enriched in various ways. To the knowledge of countries and nations much was added by the accounts of Nearchus and Agatharchides, and to chronology by the Parian chronicles. With respect to poetry, many remarkable changes occurred. In Athens, the middle

comedy gave place, not without the intervention of political causes, to the new, which approaches to the modern drama, as it took the moral nature of man for the subject of its representations. Among the 32 poets of this class, Menander, Philemon and Diphylus were eminent. From the mime proceeded the idyl, in which branch of poetry, after the period of Stesichorus, Asclepiades, etc., Theocritus, Bion and Moschus were particularly celebrated. The other kinds of poetry did not remain uncultivated; but all these labors, as well as the criticisms on poetry and the fine arts, point to Alexandria; and we shall therefore pass them over in this place. At the end of this period, Greece ceased to be independent, and Rome, the queen of empires, established her dominion over it. (See the continuation of this subject, under the articles Alexandrian School, and Roman Literature.)

Greece, Revolution of Modern. (For the history of Greece under the Eastern empire, see Byzantine Empire; and for the period from the downfall of this empire to the late revolution, see Turkey, and Venice.)

For centuries, the name of Greece possessed a melancholy celebrity in the political history of Europe. In the primitive seat of European civilization, amid the noblest ruins of the ancient world, one people has preserved its existence through the wild tempests of Asiatic conquerors, and has recently contended with the enemies of Christianity and civilization, like a shipwrecked mariner with the waves, for life and freedom, whilst Christian Europe beheld the death-struggle, for seven years, without coming to any resolution which posterity will consider as due from this age. From the year 1821, Europe saw the Greeks asserting a national existence; but she considered this as the effort of despair, and, from day to day, expected to see the last sparks of Grecian life extinguished. She therefore withheld, for years, the assistance that was prayed for. Europe did not see, in the oppressors of this people, a powerful state, resting on firm foundations, but rather expected every day the dissolution of this hollow mass of seraglio slaves and janizaries. The jealous policy, both of the neighboring and distant powers, had thus far supported the falling state, and therefore a contest, strange as it was terrible, was prolonged before our eyes, between a state and a people, both of whom stood equally near destruction. The Sublime Porte appeared so little in a condition to conquer the Greeks, that it