A Smaller History of Greece | Page 6

was descended Agamemnon, who led the
Grecian host against Troy.
The tale of the Phoenician colony, conducted by Cadmus, and which
founded Thebes in Boeotia, rests upon a different basis. Whether there
was such a person as the Phoenician Cadmus, and whether he built the
town called Cadmea, which afterwards became the citadel of Thebes,
as the ancient legends relate, cannot be determined; but it is certain that
the Greeks were indebted to the Phoenicians for the art of writing; for
both the names and the forms of the letters in the Greek alphabet are
evidently derived from the Phoenician. With this exception the Oriental
strangers left no permanent traces of their settlements in Greece; and
the population of the country continued to be essentially Grecian,
uncontaminated by any foreign elements.
The age of the heroes, from the first appearance of the Hellenes in
Thessaly to the return of the Greeks from Troy, was supposed to be a
period of about two hundred years. These heroes were believed to be a
noble race of beings, possessing a superhuman though not a divine
nature, and superior to ordinary men in strength of body and greatness
of soul.
Among the heroes three stand conspicuously forth: Hercules, the
national hero of Greece; Theseus, the hero of Attica; and Minos, king
of Crete, the principal founder of Grecian law and civilization.
Hercules was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Alcmena; but the jealous
anger of Hera (Juno) raised up against him an opponent and a master in
the person of Eurystheus at whose bidding the greatest of all heroes
was to achieve those wonderful labours which filled the whole world
with his fame. In these are realized, on a magnificent scale, the two

great objects of ancient heroism, the destruction of physical and moral
evil, and the acquisition of wealth and power. Such, for instance, are
the labours in which he destroys the terrible Nemean lion and Lernean
hydra, carries off the girdle of Ares from Hippolyte, queen of the
Amazons, and seizes the golden apples of the Hesperides, guarded by a
hundred-headed dragon.
Theseus was a son of AEgeus, king of Athens, and of AEthra, daughter
of Pittheus, king of Troezen. Among his many memorable
achievements the most famous was his deliverance of Athens from the
frightful tribute imposed upon it by Minos for the murder of his son.
This consisted of seven youths and seven maidens whom the Athenians
were compelled to send every nine years to Crete, there to be devoured
by the Minotaur, a monster with a human body and a bull's head, which
Minos kept concealed in an inextricable labyrinth. The third ship was
already on the point of sailing with its cargo of innocent victims, when
Theseus offered to go with them, hoping to put an end for ever to the
horrible tribute. Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, became enamoured of
the hero, and having supplied him with a clue to trace the windings of
the labyrinth, Theseus succeeded in killing the monster, and in tracking
his way out of the mazy lair. Theseus, on his return, became king of
Attica, and proceeded to lay the foundations of the future greatness of
the country. He united into one political body the twelve independent
states into which Cecrops had divided Attica, and made Athens the
capital of the new kingdom. He then divided the citizens into three
classes, namely, EUPATRIDAE, or nobles; GEOMORI, or
husbandmen; and DEMIURGI, or artisans.
Minos, king of Crete, whose history is connected with that of Theseus,
appears, like him, the representative of an historical and civil state of
life. Minos is said to have received the laws of Crete immediately from
Zeus; and traditions uniformly present him as king of the sea.
Possessing a numerous fleet, he reduced the surrounding islands,
especially the Cyclades, under his dominion, and cleared the sea of
pirates.
The voyage of the Argonauts and the Trojan war were the most
memorable enterprises undertaken by collective bodies of heroes.
The Argonauts derived their name from the Argo, a ship built For the
adventurers by Jason, under the superintendence of Athena (Minerva).

They embarked in the harbour of Iolcus in Thessaly for the purpose of
obtaining the golden fleece which was preserved in AEa in Colchis, on
the eastern shores of the Black Sea, under the guardianship of a
sleepless dragon. The most renowned heroes of the age took part in the
expedition. Among them were Hercules and Theseus, as well as the
principal leaders in the Trojan war; but Jason is the central figure and
the real hero of the enterprise. Upon arriving at AEa, after many
adventures, king AEtes promised to deliver to Jason the golden fleece,
provided he yoked two fire-breathing oxen with brazen feet, and
performed other wonderful deeds.