B.C. 700-500.] ORIGIN OF GRECIAN ART. 377 each was first designed; and both must be judged by this standard of fitness. What was the source of imitative art among the Greeks, and how far their first efforts may have been influenced by Egyptian or other models, is too wide and difficult a question to be discussed in the present work; nor shall we attempt to trace those steps of progress, which belong to the special history of art. We can only glance at the state of art at this epoch, as an evidence of the intellectual state of Hellas, and an essential element of Hellenic life and strength. In Greece, as in every other nation, the fine arts had their origin in religion. Their first productions were the temples and statues of the gods; their next, the tombs and monuments of great men and memorable events. These became works of architecture and sculpture, while cities and houses were still only buildings, in the lower sense of mere utility. Colour was used to enrich form before painting arose as an imitative art. Thus architecture preceded sculpture, and sculpture painting; and the two latter arts were but the handmaids of the former. At the epoch of the Persian Wars, sculpture and painting were both in a state of transition from the archaic stiffness which marks, not only the imperfect skill of the earlier artists, but the fetters imposed on them by tradition. But the rapid development of both arts before the middle of the next century proves how much had been done to prepare the way for Phidias and Polygnotus. From the beginning of the sixth century, schools of statuary flourished in several Grecian cities; usually in families, which had handed down the traditions of the art from the old carvers of wooden statues of the gods, who are represented by the mythic names of Dædalus in Attica and Smilis in Ægina. About the same time artists among the Asiatic Greeks, especially in Chios and Samos, began to employ the mechanical processes of metal working, such as casting, soldering or welding, chasing and embossing. Of the progress made in the last-named art the great bowl dedicated by Croesus is an example; while the ring of Polycrates proves the skill attained in gem-engraving. It would be absurd to doubt that these artists had learnt much from that earlier Asiatic art, the fruits of which we have seen in the sculptures and engraved seal-rings of the Babylonian and Assyrian kings. An impulse was given to the art about the middle of the The writer may be permitted to refer to the articles on art and artists in Dr. Sinith's Dictionaries, as furnishing a general guide to the subject. sixth century B.C. by the erection of the statues of victors in the games. The ancient Greek works in metal have perished, with comparatively few exceptions, but of their sculpture we have remains dating from the mythical age, to which belong the rude but bold lions rampant carved over the gates of Mycena. The archaic sculptures of the temple at Selinus, in Sicily, belong to the beginning of the sixth century. A most decided advance in the imitation of natural forms is shown in the figures in the pediment of the temple of Ægina, casts of which may be seen in the British Museum. The Eginetan school of sculpture was at its acmé during the last half of the sixth century. Greek architecture may be said to have attained its perfection, in all the essentials of form, at the epoch of the Persian Wars. The prevailing order was the majestic Doric, splendid specimens of which are seen in the two magnificent temples at Pæstum and in the less perfect temple of Jove Panhellenius, in the island of Ægina. The comparison of the larger and older temple of Pæstum with the Parthenon at Athens is the most instructive commentary on the progress made between the middle of the sixth and of the fifth centuries. The great Doric temples of Hera, at Samos, built about B.C. 600, and of Apollo at Delphi, rebuilt after the fire of B.C. 548, have entirely perished. The Doric seems to have been the true native Hellenic order. The graceful Ionic had its origin in Asia; and it is most interesting to find its characteristic ornament, the capital with its double volute, several times repeated among the Assyrian monuments.* Like the Doric, it was perfected at Athens in the time of Pericles. The chief early example of the style in Ionia itself was the immense temple of Artemis at Ephesus, begun about B.C. 600, and reckoned one of the wonders of the world. The temple standing at Ephesus in the Roman age was a still more splendid edifice, erected by contributions from all the states of Asia Minor, after the former temple had been burnt by the maniac Herostratus on the birthnight of Alexander the Great (B.C. 356). The third order of Greek architecture, the beautiful Corinthian, dates from the latter part of the fifth century B.C.; but the earliest known example, the choragic monument of Lysicrates, is still a century later (B.C. 335). This order is often regarded as only a modification of the Ionic. No new order of classic architecture has since been invented; nor have these ever been modified without injury, as in the Roman Layard: Nineveh and Babylon, pp 119, 444, 648. B.C. 600-500.] GREEK PAINTING. 379 Doric, and its variety the Tuscan, and in the Composite, which is a hybrid between the Ionic and Corinthian. It needed those other original elements, which were supplied by the Arabian and Gothic races, to form new styles at all worthy to be placed in competition with the Greek. Of Greek painting the earliest remains are the vases of Corinth,. the city which shares with Sicyon the fame of being the earliest seat of the art (about B.C. 600). They are in the stiff archaic style, and the figures are mere outlines in profile or silhouettes. The earliest painter of eminence was Cimon, of Cleonæ in Argolis, who was contemporary with Pisistratus. He is said to have invented the art of foreshortening the figure, and to have been the first who indicated the muscles and veins, and gave drapery its natural folds. About the same time the art must have made considerable progress in Ionia; for there were paintings among the goods which the Phocæans carried with them when they left their city (B.c. 544). Near the close of the same century we hear of a picture representing the passage of the Hellespont by Darius. This work was preserved in the Heræum at Samos, the chief seat of the art after the Persian conquest of Ionia. The moral effect of all these great political and intellectual movements, especially upon the Athenians, are summed up in the words of Herodotus :-" Liberty and Equality of civic rights are brave spirit-stirring things; and they who, while under the yoke of a despot, had been no better men of war than any of their neighbours, as soon as they were free, became the foremost men of all; for each felt that, in fighting for a free commonwealth, he fought for himself, and, whatever he took in hand, he was zealous to do the work thoroughly."* * Herodotus V. 87, as quoted by Sir E. S. Creasy (Fifteen Decisive Battles, p. 30), who compares the sentiment with the beautiful lines in Barbour's Bruce:— "Ah, Fredome is a noble thing: Fredome makes man to haiff lyking. He lives at ease, that freely lives.” See also the admirable conclusion of the 31st Chapter of Mr. Grote's History of Greece. CHAPTER XIII. THE PERSIAN WARS, FROM THE IONIAN REVOLT TO THE BATTLES OF THE EURYMEDON. B.C. 500-466. Preserves alike its bounds and boundless fame, The camp, the host, the fight, the conqueror's career, "The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow; Mountains above, Earth's, Ocean's plain below; Death in the front, Destruction in the rear!"—BYRON. CAUSES OF THE IONIAN REVOLT-MILTIADES AND HISTLEUS -AFFAIR OF NAXOS-REVOLT OF ARISTAGORAS-AID SOUGHT FROM SPARTA AND ATHENS-SARDIS BURNT BY THE IONIANS AND ATHENIANS-DEFEAT OF THE IONIANS AND CAPTURE OF MILETUSHIPPIAS AT THE PERSIAN COURT- FAILURE OF THE EXPEDITION UNDER MARDONIUS -HIS CONQUEST OF MACEDONIA-PREPARATIONS OF DARIUS-ATHENS AND SPARTA ALONE REFUSE EARTH AND WATER-EXPEDITION UNDER DATIS AND ARTAPHERNESCONQUEST OF THE ISLANDS-PREPARATIONS AT ATHENS BATTLE OF MARATHON - FATE OF MILTIADES-THE EGINETAN WAR-FOUNDATION OF THE MARITIME POWER OF ATHENS THEMISTOCLES AND ARISTIDES-XERXES PREPARES A THIRD INVASIONPROGRESS OF THE EXPEDITION-THERMOPYLE-LEONIDAS AND THE THREE HUNDRED SPARTANS-EVENTS PRECEDING THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS-DEFEAT OF THE PERSIAN FLEET-RETREAT OF XERXES-BATTLE OF HIMERA IN SICILY ON THE SAME DAYMARDONIUS IN BOTIA-BATTLES OF PLATEA AND MYCALE-AFFAIRS OF THEBESLIBERATION OF THE ISLANDS, THRACE, AND MACEDONIA-THE WAR TRANSFERRED TO ASIA-CAPTURE OF SESTOS-THE LEADERSHIP TRANSFERRED FROM SPARTA TO ATHENS -TREASON AND DEATH OF PAUSANIAS-OSTRACISM OF THEMISTOCLES-CIMON AND PERICLES-CAMPAIGNS OF CIMON ON THE ASIATIC COAST-DOUBLE VICTORY OF THE EURYMEDON-UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN OF THE ATHENIANS IN EGYPT. WHEN Darius the son of Hystaspes invaded the land of the Scythians, under the pretext of punishing their inroad upon Western Asia, the tyrants of the chief cities of the Hellespont and Ionia followed in his train. As their power was maintained by his support, he reposed in them the greatest confidence. On plunging into the wilds of Scythia, he entrusted to their charge the bridge of boats by which he had crossed the Danube. If he did not return within sixty days, they might conclude that the expedition had perished, and consult their own safety. The sixty days had expired, when a body of Scythians brought the news that Darius was in full retreat. They urged the Greeks to break the B.C. 502.] CAUSES OF THE IONIAN REVOLT. 381 bridge, and so to ensure the destruction of the Persian army and the recovery of their own freedom. Among the Grecian chieftains was Miltiades, the tyrant of the Chersonese. He belonged to a noble family at Athens, and was the second owner of his deathless name. The first Miltiades, the son of Cypselus, had been induced by an oracle, and by the desire to escape from the tyranny of Pisistratus, to lead a colony to the Thracian Chersonese. He established his authority over the whole peninsula, and built a wall across its narrow isthmus. Himself childless, he had a half brother, Cimon, whose two sons were Stesagoras and Miltiades. Stesagoras succeeded his uncle, but on his death the tyranny was in danger of overthrow. The young Miltiades was sent from Athens by Pisistratus to secure the inheritance. By a stratagem he seized and imprisoned the popular leaders, raised a force of mercenaries, and gained the friendship of the neighbouring Thracians by marrying the daughter of their king Olorus. Such was the early career of the man who inflicted the first decisive defeat on the power of Persia. He held his power in the Chersonese without that support from Darius by which the Ionian tyrants were upheld, and he had nothing to lose by the course his patriotism dictated. His proposal to break the bridge was approved by the other despots, till Histiæus, the tyrant of Miletus, reminded them that such a blow to the Persian power would recoil upon themselves. To get rid of the Scythians, and perhaps to keep the final decision in their own hands, the wily Ionians adopted the course of severing the further end of the bridge. It was night when the Persian army reached the river, and found no traces of the boats. Thereupon Darius ordered a loud-voiced Egyptian to stand upon the bank and call Histiæus, the Milesian, who at the first summons brought forward the fleet to restore the bridge. By this means Histiæus obtained all the credit of saving Darius and his army. We have seen how he was rewarded, and how he again lost the royal favour.† Darius returned to Susa, leaving the western provinces in profound peace under the government of his brother Artaphernes. A trifling incident lighted the flame of rebellion. One of those political conflicts, which we have seen occurring throughout Greece, broke out in Naxos, an island of the Cyclades (B.c. 502). * The district so often mentioned in Greek history by this name is the long and narrow peninsula which forms the north side of the Hellespont (Dardanelles). "Chersonesus means an island attached to the mainland. + Chap. x., p. 293. |