Story of the Greek and the Roman People
- Автор: Tappan Eva March
- Год: 1910
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: История
Электронная книга - «Story of the Greek and the Roman People». Краткое содержание книги:
Story of the Greek People
Story of the Roman People
Pericles became the chief man at Athens.
Walls were built from Athens to Piræus.
Several states revolted against Athens.
The Peace of Pericles was made, but Athens had to give up what she had gained in the Peloponnesus.
Suggestions For Written Work
An account of the division of the spoils of the battle of Salamis.
One of the Spartans tells how Themistocles deceived them about the Athenian walls.
Aristides tells a friend about his plan for forming the Delian League.
The Age of Pericles
Pericles still hoped that the time would come when Greece would be ruled by Athens, although he believed that Sparta's jealousy would some day lead to war. Meanwhile there would be peace between the two states for some years, and he set to work to make his city both beautiful and powerful. The government had come more and more into the hands of the people, until now there was no office to which the poorest man might not be elected. In order that such a man might be able to leave his work to serve the state, Pericles brought it about that those who held the various offices should be paid, and also those who served in the army or navy, or as jurymen. There were several thousand of these jurymen, and all but the gravest offenses were judged by them. Sometimes hundreds of jurors sat on a single case. So it came about that for one service or another many thousand Athenians were receiving money from the state. The general assembly agreed to all these changes. They could not help seeing that Pericles was working, not for his own glory, but for that of his city; and he was so reasonable and could state his reasons so clearly, that the people fell in with whatever he proposed. He had more power than any king ever possessed; but this was not because the people were afraid of him, but because he was so skillful in war, so wise in peace, and, above all, so thoroughly unselfish. Of course he had enemies, but the greater part of the Athenians looked upon him as the ideal Greek.
BUILDING A TEMPLE.
Pericles was not only a good soldier and statesman, but he was a lover of what was beautiful. All the Greeks, indeed, loved beauty; they loved it as people love fresh air and sunshine. To have ugly things around them made them uncomfortable; they felt stifled and gloomy.
PARTHANON, RESTORED.
Long before this they had had beautiful buildings and statues, for there had been great artists in Greece for many years; but Pericles planned to cover the Acropolis with a group of temples that should be the masterpieces of Grecian architecture. The noblest of them all was the Parthenon, a magnificent structure of the purest white marble, sacred to Athene. It had marble columns around it, for the Greeks could not imagine a great temple without columns. There were three kinds to choose from. First, there was the Corinthian, which looks as if the top of the column were surrounded with a cluster of marble leaves most exquisitely carved; and, indeed, it is said that this style really was suggested to the artist by some one's dropping a basket into a cluster of acanthus leaves. The second was the Ionic, whose top, or capital, is carved into two coils, a little like snail-shells. And, third, there was the Doric, which has a plain, solid capital. The Doric always looks simple and strong; and this was what Pericles chose for the Parthenon.
SELECTION OF THE PARTHENON FRIEZE.
Within was a statue of Athene, thirty-nine feet high. This was made of ivory, the drapery was were probably made of jewels. In one hand was a statue of Victory, and in the other a spear and a shield. Beside Athene coiled a serpent, representing Wisdom. Within the row of columns was a frieze, or band of sculpture, running around the building. This showed the famous procession that formed once in four years and marched to the temple of the goddess to present a costly robe for her statue. There was color, too, about the temple, blue and red and yellow, and also gold; but the tints were delicate and were used with the most perfect skill. This temple was built nearly twenty four hundred years ago. Hundreds of handsome structures have been reared since then; but even in the ruins of the Parthenon artists are constantly discovering some new beauty. They find, for instance, that in many places where later builders have used straight lines, the Parthenon has curves. They find that, if the columns had been a little thicker or a little higher, they would not have seemed so perfect. They find that the outer columns are not quite perpendicular, but slant inward. No one could discover this without the most careful measurements; but the slant, small as it is, helped to make the temple so graceful and firm and harmonious that, when it was completed, it looked as if it was the one building in all the world that had a right to be in that place.
ERECHTHEUM, RESTORED.
The other buildings on the Acropolis were worthy to stand near the Parthenon. There was the Erechtheum, sacred to Athene and Poseidon, and within its bounds the sacred olive tree and the salt spring were still to be seen. There were wide marble steps leading up to the Acropolis; there were porticoes and colonnades; and there were porches whose roofs were upheld by strong and graceful caryatids. Out under the clear blue sky stood another statue of Athene even larger than the one in the Parthenon. This was made of the Persian bronze captured at Marathon.
The artist to whom the glory of the Acropolis is due was Phidias. Before him sculptors had made lifelike statues of people; Myron, for instance, had made a discus-thrower so true to life that one almost wonders why the discus does not fly from his hand; but artists had felt that statues of gods ought not to be very different from the stiff, formal figures that had represented them in earlier times. Phidias broke away from this notion. He made his gods like human beings, but more grand and majestic than any person. One of his most famous works was the Zeus of Olympia, so wonderful a statue that when a man died who had never been to Olympia, the Greeks used to say, "That man was truly unfortunate, for he died without seeing the Olympian Zeus." Phidias was so anxious to do his best that, when people came to see his work, he used to stand just out of sight and listen to every word that even the humblest of them might say in criticism. Then, whenever he thought any one had discovered a fault, however small, he did not rest until he had corrected it.
A CARYATID
(FROM THE ERECHTHEUM)
Pericles also built the Odeum, a great music hall, and he improved the theatre of Dionysus. In Greece, a theatre was not a covered building. It consisted of rows upon rows of stone seats rising up the side of a hill, and circling about a level space where the plays were acted. A theatre was generally large enough to hold all the people of the city in which it stood. Some of the plays presented stories of the lives of the gods or noble deeds of the early Greeks. These were called tragedies. They were usually serious and dignified and sad, but often they contained tender and beautiful verses. People came away from such plays feeling more inclined to honor the gods, or to be as brave and patriotic as their forefathers. Comedies were also acted. They were light and merry, and often full of jests about the men and actions of the day. The tragedies were so good teachers of religion and history and patriotism, and the comedies were of such value in setting people to thinking about what was going on around them, that Pericles wished even the poorest citizens to see them. Therefore it was ordered that the state should pay the admittance fee.
THEATRE OF DIONYSUS, RESTORED.
Plays were acted only twice a year; but at each festival there were enough of them to make up for the six months' waiting. Three poets were allowed to present four plays each. After the plays had all been acted, a committee chosen by the demes voted to which poet the state prize should be given. Thirteen times it was voted to a man who was soldier as well as writer, and had fought bravely at Marathon and Salamis and Platæa. This was the poet Æschylus. His tragedies were exceedingly fine, but so grave and serious that, after some years, the people became a little tired of them and voted the prize to a handsome young poet named Sophocles, because his characters were not quite so serious and formal, and seemed more like real people. He could not only write plays but recite them, and this talent stood him in good stead in his old age. One of his sons became alarmed lest the father should give away his property to a favorite grandchild. The great dramatist was called into court, that the judges might see whether his intellect was so enfeebled that he did not realize what he was doing. Instead of making any reply, Sophocles recited a passage from one of his plays; and he did it so nobly that no one could fancy him weak in mind. The judges rebuked the greedy son and sent him away. The third great tragic poet was Euripides. He is said to have taken his name from the battle of the Euripus, which was fought not long before he was born. He seemed to understand people even better than Sophocles, and he loved nature. It gave him real pleasure to write about the ocean, the rivers, clouds, rocks, vines, and birds.