Part 18 (1/2)

The political affairs of Greece proper during the period we are considering were chiefly comprehended in the fortunes of two confederacies, or leagues, one of which was called the Achaean, and the other the aetolian League. United, these two confederacies might have maintained the political independence of Greece; but that spirit of dissension which we have seen to be the bane of the h.e.l.lenic peoples caused them to become, in the hands of intriguing Rome, weapons first for crus.h.i.+ng Macedonia, and then for grinding each other to pieces. Finally, in the year 146 B.C., the splendid city of Corinth was taken by the Roman army and laid in ashes. This was the last act in the long and varied drama of the political life of ancient Greece. Henceforth it const.i.tuted simply a portion of the Roman Empire.

CONCLUSION.--We have now traced the political fortunes of the h.e.l.lenic race through about seven centuries of authentic history. In succeeding chapters it will be our pleasanter task to trace the more brilliant and worthy fortunes of the artistic and intellectual life of h.e.l.las,--to portray, though necessarily in scanty outline, the achievements of that wonderful genius which enabled her, ”captured, to lead captive her captor.”

CHAPTER XVIII.

GREEK ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING.

THE GREEK SENSE OF BEAUTY.--The Greeks were artists by nature. ”Ugliness gave them pain like a blow.” Everything they made was beautiful. Beauty they placed next to holiness; indeed, they almost or quite made beauty and right the same thing. They are said to have thought it strange that Socrates was good, seeing he was so unprepossessing in appearance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PELASGIAN MASONRY.]

1. ARCHITECTURE.

PELASGIAN ARCHITECTURE.--The term Pelasgian is applied to various structures of ma.s.sive masonry found in different parts of Greece, Italy, and Asia Minor. The origin of these works was a mystery to the earliest h.e.l.lenes, who ascribed them to a race of giants called Cyclops; hence the name Cyclopean that also attaches to them.

These works exhibit three well-defined stages of development. In the earliest and rudest structures the stones are gigantic in size and untouched by the chisel; in the next oldest the stones are worked into irregular polygonal blocks; while in the latest the blocks are cut into rectangular shapes and laid in regular courses. The walls of the old citadels or castles of several Grecian cities exhibit specimens of this primitive architecture (see p. 90).

ORDERS OF ARCHITECTURE.--There are three styles, or orders, of Grecian architecture--the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. They are distinguished from one another chiefly by differences in the proportions and ornamentation of the column.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DORIC CAPITAL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: IONIC CAPITAL.]

The Doric column is without a base, and has a simple and ma.s.sive capital.

At first the Doric temples of the Greeks were almost as ma.s.sive as the Egyptian temples, but later they became more refined.

The Ionic column is characterized by the spiral volutes of the capital.

This form was borrowed from the a.s.syrians, and was princ.i.p.ally employed by the Greeks of Ionia, whence its name.

The Corinthian order is distinguished by its rich capital, formed of acanthus leaves. This type is made up of Egyptian, a.s.syrian, and Grecian elements. The addition of the acanthus leaves is said to have been suggested to the artist Callimachus by the pretty effect of a basket surrounded by the leaves of an acanthus plant, upon which it had accidentally fallen.

The entire structure was made to harmonize with its supporting columns.

The general characteristics of the several orders are well portrayed by the terms we use when we speak of the ”stern” Doric, the ”graceful” Ionic, and the ”ornate” Corinthian.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORINTHIAN CAPITAL.]

TEMPLE OF DIANA AT EPHESUS.--The temple of Diana at Ephesus was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. The original structure was commenced about the beginning of the sixth century B.C., and, according to Pliny, was one hundred and twenty years in process of building. Croesus gave liberally of his wealth to ornament the shrine.

In the year 356 B.C., on the same night, it is said, that Alexander was born, an ambitious youth, named Herostratus, fired the building, simply to immortalize his name. Alexander offered to rebuild the temple, provided that he be allowed to inscribe his name upon it. The Ephesians gracefully declined the proposal by replying that it was not right for one deity to erect a temple to another. Alexander was obliged to content himself with placing within the shrine his own portrait by Apelles--a piece of work which cost $30,000. The value of the gifts to the temple was beyond all calculation: kings and states vied with one another in splendid donations.

Painters and sculptors were eager to have their masterpieces a.s.signed a place within its walls, so that it became a great national gallery of paintings and statuary.

So inviolable was the sanct.i.ty of the temple that at all times, and especially in times of tumult and danger, property and treasures were carried to it as a safe repository. [Footnote: The Grecian temples were, in a certain sense, banks of deposit. They contained special chambers or vaults for the safe-keeping of valuables. The heaps of gold and silver relics discovered by Di Cesnola at Sunium, in the island of Cyprus, were found in the secret subterranean vaults of a great temple. The priests often loaned out on interest the money deposited with them, the revenue from this source being added to that from the leased lands of the temple and from the t.i.thes of war booty, to meet the expenses of the services of the shrine. Usually the temple property in Greece was managed solely by the priests; but the treasure of the Parthenon at Athens formed an exception to this rule. The treasure here belonged to the state, and was controlled and disposed of by the vote of the people. Even the personal property of the G.o.ddess, the gold drapery of the statue (see p. 185), which was worth about $600,000, could be used in case of great need, but it must be replaced in due time, with a fair interest.] But the riches of the sanctuary proved too great a temptation to the Roman emperor Nero. He risked incurring the anger of the great Diana, and robbed the temple of many statues and a vast amount of gold. Later (in 262 A.D.), the barbarian Goths enriched themselves with the spoils of the shrine, and left it a ruin.

THE DELPHIAN TEMPLE.--The first temple erected at Delphi over the spot whence issued the mysterious vapors (see p. 105) was a rude wooden structure. In the year 548 B.C., the temple then standing was destroyed by fire. All the cities and states of h.e.l.las contributed to its rebuilding.

Even the king of Egypt, Amasis, sent a munificent gift. More than half a million of dollars was collected; for the temple was to exceed in magnificence anything the world had yet seen. It will be recalled that the Athenian Alcmaeonidae were the contractors who undertook the rebuilding of the shrine (see p. 122).