PREFACE.

n this little book the attempt has been to trace Greek History so as to be intelligible to young children. In fact, it will generally be found that classical history is remembered at an earlier age than modern history, probably because the events are simple, and there was something childlike in the nature of all the ancient Greeks. I would begin a child’s reading with the History of England, as that which requires to be known best; but from this I should think it better to pass to the History of Greece, and that of Rome (which is in course of preparation), both because of their giving some idea of the course of time, and bringing Scripture history into connection with that of the world, and because little boys ought not to begin their classical studies without some idea of their bearing. I have begun with a few of the Greek myths, which are absolutely necessary to the understanding of both the history and of art. As to the names, the ordinary reading of them has been most frequently adopted, and the common Latin titles of the gods and goddesses have been used, because these, by long use, have really come to be their English names, and English literature at least will be better understood by calling the king of Olympus Jupiter, than by becoming familiar with him first as Zeus.

CHARLOTTE M. YONGE.

CONTENTS.

chap. page

I. Olympus 11

II. Light and Dark 18

III. The Peopling of Greece 26

IV. The Hero Perseus 35

V. The Labours of Hercules 42

VI. The Argonauts 51

VII. The Success of the Argonauts 59

VIII. The Choice of Paris 68

IX. The Siege of Troy 76

X. The Wanderings of Ulysses 84

XI. The Doom of the Atrides 94

XII. After the Heroic Age 102

XIII. Lycurgus and the Laws of Sparta. b.c. 884–668 110

XIV. Solon and the Laws of Athens. b.c. 594–546 118

XV. Pisistratus and his Sons. b.c. 558–499 126

XVI. The Battle of Marathon. b.c. 490 134

XVII. The Expedition of Xerxes. b.c. 480 142

XVIII. The Battle of Platæa. b.c. 479–460 151

XIX. The Age of Pericles. b.c. 464–429 159

XX. The Expedition to Sicily. b.c. 415–413 167

XXI. The Shore of the Goat’s River. b.c. 406–402 174

XXII. The Retreat of the Ten Thousand. b.c. 402–399 181

XXIII. The Death of Socrates. b.c. 399 189

XXIV. The Supremacy of Sparta. b.c. 396 196

XXV. The Two Theban Friends. b.c. 387–362 203

XXVI. Philip of Macedon. b.c. 364 210

XXVII. The Youth of Alexander. b.c. 356–334 217

XXVIII. The Expedition to Persia. b.c. 334 224

XXIX. Alexander’s Eastern Conquests. b.c. 331–328 231

XXX. The End of Alexander. b.c. 328 238

XXXI. The Last Struggles of Athens. b.c. 334–311 245

XXXII. The Four New Kingdoms. b.c. 311–287 252

XXXIII. Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. b.c. 287 258

XXXIV. Aratus and the Achaian League. b.c. 267 265

XXXV. Agis and the Revival of Sparta. b.c. 244–236 272

XXXVI. Cleomenes and the Fall of Sparta. b.c. 236–222 279

XXXVII. Philopœmen, the Last of the Greeks. b.c. 236–184 286

XXXVIII. The Fall of Greece. b.c. 189–146 293

XXXIX. The Gospel in Greece. b.c. 146–a.d. 60 300

XL. Under the Roman Empire 308

XLI. The Frank Conquest. 1201–1446 315

XLII. The Turkish Conquest. 1453–1670 322

XLIII. The Venetian Conquest and Loss. 1684–1796 328

XLIV. The War of Independence. 1815 334

XLV. The Kingdom of Greece. 1822–1875 340

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

page

Mount Olympus 11

Head of Jupiter 14

Supposed Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius in Ægina 19

Head of Pallas 21

Triptolemus 23

Mars and Victory 25

Mount Parnassus 27

The World according to the Greeks 30

Perseus and Andromeda 38

Cyclopean Wall 41

Scene in the Arachnæan Mountains near Argos 44

Building the Argo 53

Corinth 62

Plains of Troy 69

Greek Ships 73

Achilles binding his Armour on Patroclus 78

Sepulchral Mound, known as the Tomb of Ajax 80

Laocöon 82

Funeral Feast 83

Ulysses tied to the Mast 89

Port of Ithaca 91

Plain of Sparta, with Mount Taygetus 97

Greek Interior 106

Greek Robe 107

Male Costume 108

Gate of Mycenæ 119

Shores of the Persian Gulf 129

View in the Vicinity of Athens 141

Pass of Thermopylæ 145

Salamis 148

Persian Soldier 152

Tombs at Platæa 153

The Acropolis, Athens 162

Propylæa, Athens 163

The Academic Grove, Athens 168

Athens 180

Babylon 182

Greek Armour 188

Socrates 190

Plato 193

View on the Eurotas in Laconia 202

Thessalonica 209

Demosthenes 212

Diana of Ephesus 218

Alexander 222

Bacchanals 223

Alexander the Great 225

Second Temple of Diana at Ephesus 227

Princes of Persia 234

Supposed Walls of Babylon 242

Site of Susa, ancient Metropolis of Persia 244

Gate of Hadrian in Athens 247

Macedonian Soldier 255

Delphi and the Castalian Fount 262

Corinth 267

View looking across Isthmus of Corinth 269

Ruins of a Temple at Corinth 271

Temple of Neptune 285

Crowning the Victor in the Isthmian Games 290

Livadia, the ancient Mideia in Argolis 292

Sappho 295

Lessina, the ancient Eleusis, on the Gulf of Corinth 297

View from Corinth 301

Parthenon and Erectheum 304

Distant View of Parnassus 307

Plains of Philippi 309

Obelisk of Theodosius, Constantinople 313

An Amphitheatre 314

Promontory of Actium 318

Mount Helicon 321

Cathedral of St. Sophia 323

Temple of Minerva, on the Promontory of Sunium 330

Ancyra, Galatia 332

The Acropolis, Restored 337

The Isles of Greece 344

Plain of Marathon 346