218 MANNERS OF THE TURKS. pitality. The opportunity of cultivating such an acquaintance, and of gaining thereby a more intimate knowledge of the domestic habits and manners of the Turkish nobles, was not to be rejected. By far the greatest part of the population of Nauplia consists of Mahometans: the seraglio is beautifully situated, like many other houses of the rich inhabitants, which are environed by gardens and orangeries and decorated with fine galleries for ornament and use: there as on a raised terrace, open to the breeze and defended from the sun, the indolent Moslem sits cross-legged upon his sofa, with his amber-headed pipe, sipping his coffee, and inhaling the fumes of his highly-scented tobacco. He casts no thought upon the rich scenes of historic interest which lie extended before him: he recalls not the past, nor anticipates the future, but seizing the enjoyments of the present hour, resigns himself to his destiny: to him the amusements, the pursuits, the intellectual pleasures of more civilized nations would be as intolerable as the manacles of slavery: he is fond of power because it ministers to his sensualities, he is careless of fame because those sensualities re-act upon and enervate the mind. Having bade adieu to the benevolent pasha we retraced our way through Nauplia without experiencing any of that insolence and rudeness which is generally attributed to its inhabitants: we observed a very large proportion of black slaves amidst the populace, both within and without the city. As we skirted for a short distance the head of the gulf, the Argive plain lay stretched before us like the Coilon of a noble theatre, fairly illustrating the expressions of the poets* who frequently describe it by that term. Its works of art indeed are laid level with the ground, but its natural features retain that imposing beauty which so early attracted emigrators from the east, and still enchants all people but its barbarian possessors: Larissa with its crowned heights, had from hence a striking and picturesque • Tò koïλov "Apyos Bàs puyàs, &c. Ed. Col. 378. CURIOUS INCIDENT IN THE STREET OF ARGOS. 219 effect. We proceeded leisurely, in order to enjoy this delightful prospect, till we came within the environs of Argos: it then became necessary to push our horses into a gallop, for the Turks in all parts of the city were firing off their pistols and muskets, like madmen, in their entravagant joy at the expiration of the odious Ramazan. The new moon had appeared, and it seemed as if all were stricken by her inAluence. We heard several balls whistle over our heads, and thinking it possible that some of them might perchance be carrying a ticket* from fate against our Christian skulls, we made all haste to secure ourselves from the reach of such unpleasant messengers. Having checked our steeds at the entrance of the town, we were marching slowly up the main street of Argos towards our lodging, when behold an ass met us carrying a large load of faggots on his back. Well knowing the unbending nature of this beast, we readily turned aside and allowed him the middle path: not so the tchocodar; a Moslem give way to an ass! he would as soon have thought of doing so to a Greek : degradation was in the very idea! But the ass, on his part, determining not to give way to a Moslem, they naturally met in contact, and Mahomet encountered the shock of faggots. This did not concern the animal, who pursued his way with great composure, and was considered as beneath his adversary's resentment. But upon his unfortunate master, who had loitered a little behind, the full storm of the Turk's indignation fell: with his white sceptre, that had known neither bark nor leaves since it had been cut upon the mountains †, he smote the Ghiaour upon the head till the blood ran in streams down. his face. The wretched Greek dared not utter a complaint-nay he was obliged to stifle his very cries; the least sign of displeasure at such * The Mahometans believe that every ball is ticketed by fate and many of them are quite careless in exposing themselves to a volley of musketry. † Νὰι μὰ τόδε σκῆπτρον τὸ μὲν ἔ ποτε φύλλα και ὄζες Il. a. 234. uncivil treatment would have drawn the enraged Turk's ataghan from its sheath or his pistol from his belt. Could the poorest Englishman, who is discontented with his lot, have seen this, he would have blessed Providence for the land in which he was born! It may be right to observe that the ass did not eventually escape the operations of even-handed Justice. The blows of the Turk were transferred to him, with interest, through the medium of his master; who as soon as he got to a convenient distance from our party, gave free scope to his outcries and exclamations: these he accompanied with resounding blows upon the back of the original offender, who raising his unmusical voice to the highest pitch, ran off followed by the Greek singing in concert till they got within range of the Mahometan musket shots: these possibly quieted the affray. This evening we paid a visit of ceremony to the vaivode. His serai was extremely mean, dirty, and ill-furnished. The master was a fine-looking man, but vulgar in his manners, like one who had been raised from a low rank in life. He was the first Turk whom we had yet known that avowed himself attached to the French interests: we found it impossible to persuade him that Bonaparte had met with any disasters either in Spain or Russia. Upon our return home we sent him a very handsome present, which he received, and afterwards commissioned his secretary, a cunning Greek, to visit us and procure from our generosity a brace of pistols: these advances however we thought proper to repel. Next day three tatar couriers passing through Argos engaged all the post-horses, and obliged us to confine our researches to the place of our residence. In company therefore with Mr. Parker I again ascended the citadel of Larissa*, and being provided with a * Pausanias says that Larissa received its name from a daughter of Pelasgus. There never was such a person as Pelasgus: but thus it is with the ancient Greek writers; whenever they want a name It may appear an exfor any place they find a nymph or a hero, a man or a god; it is all the same. traordinary assertion, but I believe that no nation ever existed so ignorant of the real circumstances of INVESTIGATION OF ARGOS. 221 copy of Sir William Gell's admirable Itinerary of Argolis we amused ourselves with surveying every object of interest in the plain and comparing it with his most faithful delineation. The remains of temples which once adorned this commanding rock have been swept away by the hand of time, nor is there a single trace of Jupiter's Larissæan shrine upon its summit, unless it be a very curious antique inscription, half buried in the wall of the fortress, which I tried to decypher, but in vain, as the sun was shining full upon the stone: without much difficulty however we discovered the theatre; about sixty rows of seats cut in the solid rock mark indelibly the site of this ancient monument: it is on the south side of the hill, and commands a noble prospect. At a little distance from it, higher up the rock, appeared a small Greek chapel: it has been made an invariable rule with the later Greeks to select the site of some Pagan temple, if possible, for the foundation of their Christian churches or chapels, and in these sacred edifices the traveller is rarely disappointed in his search for architectural remains, mutilated sculpture, and inscribed tablets. To this little chapel I ascended, for it appeared to occupy the site where Pausanias fixes that temple of Venus, before which stood the their own history as the Greeks: though they derived their language, their mythology, and their civil institutions from the orientals, yet an absurd pride of referring their origin to the remotest antiquity, and a desire of being considered autochthones, urged them to an emulation of each other in confounding all the events of their early ages and rejecting that assistance which nothing but a knowledge of eastern history could have given them. Diodorus Siculus says that the Samothracians had a peculiar language of their own in their sacred rites, and Jamblichus asserts that the language of the mysteries was not that of Greece but of Egypt and Assyria, accusing those of folly who said that barbarous words had no inherent signification. Our learned mythologist Mr. Faber derives the name of Larissa from Lares-ai, the land of the Lares or Solar Cabiri, Lar being a contraction from El-ar, the Solar Deity. No name was more common in Greece than this of Larissa; Strabo mentions ten places so called in one passage, and Stephanus Byzantinus eleven. The most celebrated was that on the Peneus in Thessaly, the most ancient this of Argos. Strabo observes (vol. i. p. 630) that the Larissa of Thessaly was also called Pelasgia (ἡ δὲ ἀυτὴ μὲν Πελασγία λεγομένη και Λάρισσα). If Pausanias had said the place was named by the Pelasgi, instead of a daughter of Pelasgus, he would probably have been much nearer to the truth. Phoroneus first collected settlers here, and the Cyclopes afterwards fortified his citadel. Thus Juno observes to Jupiter: 222 STATUE AND HISTORY OF TELESILLA. statue of Telesilla, a heroine pre-eminent amongst the great and glorious characters of antiquity: in this elevated situation she stood upon the Larissaan rock, in full view of the citizens; a helmet in her hand, and at her feet the volumes of her soul-inspiring poetry, like a guardian genius, looking down upon a city which her talents had adorned and her valour saved! Venerated be the spot, as long as the page of history shall brighten with her name *! Argos was reduced to the brink of destruction by the Spartans under Cleomenes: these enemies having destroyed the flower of the Argive youth in battle or by treachery, advanced to attack the city in its defenceless state. All hope appeared extinct and despair took possession of its people, when safety arose from a quarter where it was least expected. The young, beautiful, and accomplished Telesilla, casting away the terror natural to her sex and taking down the sacred armour from the temples of the gods, clothed herself in complete panoply, and animating the Argive women to follow this spirited example, led them out against the victorious army, to triumph or to die for honour and for liberty. They met the invaders and fought with the intrepidity of veterans. In the midst of the conflict a sudden sense of shame spread, like a panic fear, through the Lacedemonian cohorts. The disgrace appeared equal either in victory or defeat the very idea was overwhelming-they retreated from the field, and this little band of heroines, more glorious than that of Leonidas, returned triumphantly to Argos. The virtue of patriotism is always animating: but when its pure and brilliant flame glows in a female breast, in a shrine adorned by beauty and dignified by genius, it enraptures the soul, it demands the admiration of all ages, and it consecrates to imperishable fame the place where it shone and the * Ἡ Σπαρτιάταις ἀνθωπλισμένη Τελεσιλλα, δι ̓ ἣν ἐν Lucian. Amores. §. 30. |