 Preface of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Read by Ed Mead Famous Men of Greece by John H. Herron and A. B. Poland Preface The study of history, like the study of a landscape, should begin with the most conspicuous features. Not until these have been fixed in memory will the lesser features fall into their appropriate places and assume their right proportions. The famous men of ancient and modern times are the mountain peaks of history. It is logical then that the study of history should begin with the biographies of these men. Not only is it logical, it is also pedagogical. Experience has proven that in order to attract and hold the child's attention, each conspicuous feature of history presented to him should have an individual for its center. The child identifies himself with the personage presented. It is not Romulus, or Hercules, or Caesar, or Alexander that the child has in mind when he reads, but himself acting under similar conditions. Prominent educators appreciating these truths have long recognized the value of biography as a preparation for the study of history and have given it an important place in their scheme of studies. The former practice in many elementary schools of beginning the detailed study of American history without any previous knowledge of general history limited the pupil's range of vision, restricted his sympathies, and left him without material for comparisons. Moreover, it denied to him a knowledge of his inheritance from the Greek philosopher, the Roman law giver, the Teutonic lover of freedom. Hence, the recommendation so strongly urged in the report of the Committee of Ten and emphasized also in the report of the Committee of Fifteen that the study of Greek, Roman, and modern European history in the form of biography should precede the study of detailed American history in our elementary schools. The Committee of Ten recommends an eight years course in history beginning with the fifth year in school and continuing to the end of the high school course. The first two years of this course are given wholly to the study of biography and mythology. The Committee of Fifteen recommends that history be taught in all the grades of the elementary school and emphasizes the value of biography and of general history. The series of historical stories to which this volume belongs was prepared in conformity with the foregoing recommendations and with the best practice of leading schools. It has been the aim of the authors to make an interesting story of each man's life and to tell those stories in a style so simple that pupils in the lower grades will read them with pleasure and so dignified that they may be used with profit as textbooks for reading. Teachers who find it impracticable to give to the study of mythology and biography a place of its own in an already overcrowded curriculum usually prefer to correlate history with reading and for this purpose the volumes of this series will be found most desirable. The value of the illustrations can scarcely be overestimated. They will be found to surpass in number and excellence anything heretofore offered in a schoolbook. For the most part they are reproductions of world famous pictures and for that reason the artist's names are generally affixed. End of Preface Chapter 1 of Famous Men of Greece This is the LibriVox Recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Read by Ed Mead Famous Men of Greece by John H. Heron and A. B. Polen Chapter 1 The Gods of Greece 1 In the southern part of Europe is a little country called Greece. It is the home of a nation called the Greeks and the Greeks have lived in it for more than 3,000 years. In olden times they believed that before they came to the land it was the home of the gods and they used to tell wonderful stories of what happened when the gods lived in the country. One of these stories was about a god called Kronos and his children. Kronos was the first king of the gods. He had a wife named Rhea. His mother told him that one of his children would take his kingdom from him. He determined that this should never happen and so he swallowed his children as soon as they were born. His cruelty distressed Rhea very much and when a sixth child was born she made a plan to save its life. She gave Kronos a stone wrapped in baby clothes and this he swallowed. Then Rhea took the child and hid him in a cave. And though the cave was dark he filled it with bright light. So she named him Zeus which means brightness. We call him Jupiter. Jupiter had one of the strangest nurses that a baby ever had. It was a goat. However she took such good care of him that when she died she was changed into a group of stars which shine in the sky to this day. When Jupiter grew up he went to war against his cruel father. Kronos persuaded some giants called Titans to help him in fighting Jupiter. These Titans were so strong that they pulled up hills and mountains and threw them at Jupiter as easily as boys throw snowballs at one another. Jupiter soon saw that he must find some match for the Titans so he asked another family of giants to aid him. They were called Cyclops or round eye because each had only one eye which was round and was in the middle of his forehead. The Cyclops were famous blacksmiths and they made thunder and lightning for Jupiter. So when the Titans hurled mountains Jupiter hurled back bolts of thunder and flashes of lightning. The battle was a terrible one. Jupiter was the victor. After this great battle Jupiter made Kronos bring back to life the children whom he had swallowed. And then he gave to each of his brothers and sisters a part of the kingdom of their wicked father. He made himself the king of the gods and for his own kingdom he took the blue sky. He made his sister Hera whom we call Juno, the goddess of the clouds and queen of all the gods. To his brother Poseidon whom we call Neptune he gave the ocean and he made his brother Hades whom we call Pluto, king of the regions under the earth and sea. He made his sister Demeter whom we call Ceres, queen of the grains, the fruits and the flowers. His sister Hestia whom we call Vesta he made the goddess of fire and gave her charge of the homes and hearthstones of men. 2. When the kingdom of Kronos had been divided the new rulers found a great deal to do. In the depths of the sea Neptune built a palace whose floor was of snow white shells and blood red coral while the walls were of shining mother of pearl. When the waves above his palace were wild Neptune would yoke his brazen hoofed horses to his chariot and standing with his trident or three pronged spear in his hand would drive swiftly over the water. And as the brazen hooves of the horses trampled upon the waves the sea became calm. The underground world of Pluto was a dreary region. It was the home of the dead. Round it flowed a black river called the Styx or Hateful. The only way to cross this river was in a ferry boat rowed by a silent boatman named Charon. At the gateway of the underworld was the terrible watchdog Cerberus or as we spell the name Cerberus. When the old Greeks buried a person they put a coin in his mouth and a barley cake sweetened with honey in his hand. The coin was to pay Charon for taking the spirit across the Styx and the cake was to be thrown to Cerberus so that while he was eating it the spirit might pass unnoticed into the spirit land. No goddess was willing to be Pluto's wife and live in his world of gloom. So he was very lonely. One day he visited the upper world in his chariot drawn by four handsome coal-black steeds. He saw a beautiful maiden named Persephone whom we call Persephone gathering flowers in a meadow. Pluto at once bore her off to his kingdom of darkness and married her. Thus she became the queen of the lower world. This made life much pleasanter for Pluto but it was very hard for Persephone. She loved sunshine and flowers and she grieved for them so much that at last Jupiter took pity upon her and persuaded Pluto to let her come back to the land of light for a part of every year. When she made her yearly visits the flowers that she loved so dearly bloomed for her. The grass grew green and it was spring. When the time came that she must return to Pluto all the flowers drooped and died, the grass turned brown and bleak winter followed. The sisters of Jupiter had a great deal to do in their fair kingdoms. Every spring and summer Ceres caused the different kinds of fruits and grains and flowers to grow. As she could not do all this work alone she had thousands of beautiful maidens called nymphs to help her. There was a wood nymph in every tree to make its leaves green and glossy and to color its blossoms. There was a water nymph in every spring that bubbled out of the hills and one in every stream that flowed through the valleys. The nymphs of the springs and brooks watered the plants and crops of Ceres and made them grow. Vesta was the sister to whom had been given charge of the home and hearthstone. She caused the fires to glow which burned on the hearth and made home cheery and gave warmth to the family and to strangers who came to see them. In every city and town of Greece a fire sacred to Vesta was always kept burning. 3. In his kingdom of the sky Jupiter dwelt in splendor, but he was not always happy. For although Juno, his queen, was lovely in face and form she was more beautiful than good tempered and sometimes she and Jupiter had bitter quarrels. One of the sons of Jupiter was named Hermes or Mercury. He wore golden sandals and carried a wonderful wand. On the heels of the sandals were wings with which he could fly through the air like a bird. Because he could travel so swiftly he became the messenger of the gods. Another son of Jupiter was Hephaestus whom we call Vulcan. He was the god of fire and the friend of workers and metals. He had a great forge under Mount Etna and there he made wonderful things of iron and brass. The round-eyed Cyclops were his blacksmiths. One day Vulcan was rude to his father who to punish him hurled him from heaven. Vulcan fell upon rocks and broke his leg and ever after that was lame. Ares, the terrible god of war whom we call Mars, was another son of Jupiter. He delighted in battle and bloodshed. Apollo and his twin sister Artemis or Diana were also children of Jupiter. They were both beautiful. Apollo's beauty was so great that when we wished to say that a man is handsome in face and form we say he is an Apollo. Apollo and Diana were great favorites with Jupiter who made Apollo the god of the sun and Diana the goddess of the moon. To each he gave a silver bow from which they shot arrows of light. The most wonderful daughter of Jupiter was Athena whom we usually call Minerva. One day the king of the gods had a headache from which he could get no relief so he sent for Vulcan. When the great blacksmith arrived at his father's palace Jupiter said to him, Split open my head with your axe. As soon as Vulcan had done this a maiden goddess clothed in armor sprang from the head of Jupiter. The maiden was Minerva the goddess of wisdom. Four. Most beautiful of all the goddesses was Aphrodite or Venus who sprang from the foam of the sea. She was the goddess of love. Several of the gods wished to marry her. Jupiter decided to matter strangely by giving her to Vulcan the ugliest of all the gods. Venus had a son named Aros or Cupid the god of love. He carried a bow and arrows and if one of his arrows pierced the heart of a mortal that mortal fell in love. There was a fair goddess named Iris who caused the rainbow to brighten dark storm clouds and often bore messages from heaven to men. There were also many other gods and goddesses. Three sisters were known as the Graces. They made mortals gracious and lovable, friendly and pleasant in their ways. There were three other sisters called the Furies. Their forms were draped in black and their hair was twined with serpents. They punished wicked people and gave them no peace as long as they lived. Higher than all gods and goddesses were three weird sisters called the Fates. Not even Jupiter could change the plans of the Fates. Whatever they said must come to pass always happened. Whatever they said should not happen never took place. When a child was born one of the sisters began to spin the thread of its life. The second decided how long the thread should be. The third cut the thread when the moment came for the life to end. After men came to Greece and dwelt there the gods and goddesses withdrew to the faraway peaks of Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and made their home there. End of chapter 1 Chapter 2 of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are on the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Read by Ed Mead Famous Men of Greece by John H. Herron and A. B. Polin Chapter 2 Dukalian and the Flood Upon Olympus there was for every god a shining palace of brass built by Vulcan and the Cyclops and every day the gods gathered in the great banquet hall of Jupiter to feast upon ambrosia and drink nectar from goblets of gold. At the banquets they were served by a lovely maiden named Hebe who was the goddess of youth. While they feasted Apollo played on his lyre and the muses sang. The muses were the nine goddesses of poetry, arts and sciences. Even in our own language playing and singing are called music in memory of them. Sometimes the gods came down from Olympus to visit the men in Greece and taught them what we call the useful arts. Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, showed them how to harness horses and plow the ground. She showed the women how to spin and weave. Ceres, the great earth mother who made the fields fruitful, showed the farmers how to sow wheat and barley. Then, when the grain was ripe, she taught the farmers' wives how to make bread. Vulcan taught the Greeks how to make plows, spades and hose and many other things of iron and brass. When the gods came down now and then from Olympus they found that the early Greeks were very wicked. The kindness of the gods made them no better. So at last Jupiter decided to destroy them by a flood. A certain half-god, half-man named Prometheus, or forethought, warned the Greeks of their danger. The only person that heeded his warning was his own son, Ducalian. With Pira, his wife, Ducalian, got into an ark as soon as the rain began. It rained all over Greece for days and days. The rivers and brooks overflowed. The valleys were filled. The trees disappeared. All but the highest mountains were covered. But Ducalian's ark rode safely. At last the rain ceased. For nine days the ark drifted about on the face of the water. Then it grounded. When the waters had gone down somewhat, Ducalian and Pira found that they were on one of the mountains of Greece called Parnassus. They left their ark and walked down the mountain. Of all the Greeks only these two were left. And among the quiet hills and valleys, near or far, not a living creature was to be seen. The loneliness made them fearful. Scarcely knowing whether they went, they came suddenly upon a deep cleft in the rocks. Out of the cleft dense volumes of steam and gas were pouring. Ducalian, who was braver than his wife, peered into the cleft. And while he did so a wonderful voice came from the depths. It said, cast behind you the bones of your mother. An oracle cried Pira. An oracle it is to Ducalian cried. Long ages before the flood, the gods used sometimes to speak with men and give them advice about things that were going to happen. What they said was called an oracle, a word that means something told by the gods to men. So now Ducalian and Pira felt sure that one of the gods was telling them something. But they wondered what the words, cast behind you the bones of your mother, could mean. After a while Ducalian said, Pira, the earth is our mother. Very true, said she. Then cried Ducalian, the bones of our mother must be the stones of the earth. Both now saw plainly that the oracle meant that they should cast behind them the stones, that they scattered upon the ground. So they went on down the mountain and as they went they picked up stones which they cast behind them. Soon they heard the clatter of many feet behind them and looking back they saw that the stones which Ducalian had thrown had turned into a troop of young men who were following Ducalian while the stones that Pira had thrown had become a band of girls who were following Pira. Ducalian and Pira were no longer lonely and they had plenty to do for they taught the use and maidens the arts of plowing and spinning and weaving that they themselves had learned from the gods before the flood. Stones lay thick on the face of the land and the hills were covered with forest. With the stones walls were made and with timber from the forest roofs and floors were laid and thus houses were built. Farms were then laid out, stone and vines and olive trees planted. Soon the valley below Mount Parnassus was crowded with many people. In time the race of Ducalian and Pira spread from valley to valley up and down the land of Greece. The people called themselves Hellenes because one of the sons of Ducalian was named Helen. Their country, which as you have learned we call Greece, they called Hellas. End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording. LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Read by Ed Mead. Famous Men of Greece by John H. Herron and A. B. Poland. Chapter 3 In a land of Asia named Phoenicia lived King Aginor with his queen. They had four children, three sons and a beautiful daughter named Europa. One morning, as the young people were playing in a meadow near the seashore, a snow-white bull came toward them. Europa and her brothers thought it would be a fine frolic to take a ride on the back of the bull. And the brothers agreed that Europa should have the first ride. In a moment she was on the bull's back and the bull was capering over the meadow. Then suddenly he ran down to the shore and plunged into the sea. For a little while he could be seen swimming through the water with Europa clinging to his horns. Then both disappeared and Europa never saw her brothers or her father or her mother again. Still her fate was not a sad one. At the end of a long ride on the back of the bull she reached that part of the world which to this day is called Europe in her honour. There she married a king and was queen for all the rest of her life. But in her old home there was great distress. Aginor sent his sons to look for her and told them not to return until they had found their sister. Their mother went with them. After a long time the two elder sons gave up the search and settled in a strange land. The mother and the youngest son, Cadmus, wandered on until her death. With her last breath she made him promise to go to Mount Parnassus and ask the oracle where he might find Europa. As soon as she was dead Cadmus made haste to Parnassus. When he arrived at the mountain he found the cleft in the rocks from which long before the oracle had come to Ducalian. Cadmus stood before the stream of gas which poured from it and asked for advice. From the cleft came a deep roaring sound. Then he heard the puzzling words follow the cow and build a city where she lies down. Cadmus saw a cow nibbling tufts of grass by the roadside not far from where he was standing. He decided to follow her and with some companions set out on his unknown journey. For a long time it seemed as though the cow would not lie down at all. But finally she began to double her knees under her as cows do and in a second more she was at rest on the ground. Cadmus and his men decided to camp on the spot for the night. They looked about for some water and found a spring bubbling out from under a rock. Now this was really an enchanted spring. It was guarded by a dragon that had the claws of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the jaws of a serpent. When Cadmus and his men came near the dragon sprang from behind the rock and killed all but Cadmus. Luckily Cadmus had his sword with him and so when the dragon with wide open jaws flew at him he thrust his sword down the fiery throat and into the creature's heart. The monster fell dead and through the air rang the words so the teeth of the dragon owe Cadmus. Though he saw that it would be hard work to break the great teeth out of the dragon's jaws, Cadmus at once said about the task. When it was finished he dug the soil with the point of his sword as best he could and planted half of the monster's teeth. Never had grown such a wonderful crop for every tooth it was planted a warrior armed and eager to fight sprang up. Cadmus gazed in amazement until a voice in the air commanded throw a stone among the warriors. Cadmus obeyed and immediately every warrior drew his sword and attacked one of his companions. The woods rang with the din of the battle. One by one the warriors fell until only five were left. Cadmus now shouted loudly to them be at peace. When they stopped fighting he added building is better than killing and every man of the five immediately repeated the words building is better than killing. Then let us build a city here cried Cadmus for they were standing where the cow had lain down. The warriors agreed and they all set to work to build a city. They called the city Thebes and in later days it became very famous. The land around Thebes was rich and covered with grass so Cadmus and his friends raised cattle but there were many robbers in Greece who often made raids upon the cattle and sold some of the finest animals. For protection against the robbers a wall was built. It was not a wall laid by masons but a magic wall built by a strange musician called Amphion. He struck such sweet music from his lyre that the stones danced about and took their proper places in the wall. When Cadmus was a boy at his father's palace in Phoenicia he and his brothers in the lost Europa had been taught to read and write and now that peace in plenty filled his land he determined to teach his people the arts of reading and writing so the men of Thebes learned their ABCs and Cadmus's school was the first where people were taught to read. But Cadmus was not happy he was condemned to eight years of punishment for killing the dragon. After the punishment was over Jupiter gave him harmony the daughter of Venus for a wife and all the gods came to the wedding feast. One of the wedding presents was a necklace that brought bad luck to anyone who wore it and Harmony had great misfortunes. Bowed with grief he and Cadmus left Thebes and settled in the western part of Greece. Finally Jupiter pitted them in their trouble turned them into serpents and carried them to the realm of the Blessed. End of Chapter 3 Chapter 4 of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org Read by Ed Mead Famous Men of Greece by John H. Heron and A.B. Poland Chapter 4 Perseus 1 In a Grecian Sydney named Argos lived beautiful Denea, the king's daughter and Oracle warned the king that he would be killed by Denea's son. To save his life he ordered Denea and her child, Perseus, to be shut up in a chest and cast a drift on the Mediterranean Sea. For two days and nights the chest floated on the water. At the end of that time it struck against some rocks on the shore of an island called Seraphos. There was a little opening in the side of the chest and peeping through it Denea saw a man coming over the rocks toward her. As soon as he was near enough he threw a fishing net over the chest and drew it ashore. He broke the chest open and let Denea out. Then he told her that she had landed upon an island ruled by his brother Polydectis. His own name was Dictis. He took Denea and her child to his home. Years went by and Perseus grew to be a strong and handsome man. Denea was still a beautiful woman and Polydectis fell in love with her. She refused his love and Perseus also was unwilling that he should marry her. Then Polydectis told Perseus that he was about to marry and that he wished to give the head of the gorgon, Medusa, to his bride for a present. Perseus promised to get him the gorgon's head. This pleased Polydectis. He did not want the gorgon's head but he asked for it because he believed that the young man would never return alive if he went in search of it. The gorgons were three horrible sisters who lived on a distant island near the land of the setting sun. Their hair was snakes that hissed at all who came near them. They had wings of gold and claws of brass. Two of them were immortal but the youngest, Medusa, was mortal. Her face was that of a beautiful woman but never free from a frown and whoever looked upon it was turned to stone. When Perseus had made his promise he went out from the palace and sat on the cliffs of Seraphos. While he was gazing at the white-capped sea Mercury, the messenger of the gods, appeared before him and promised help from himself and from Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Minerva would lend her shield. Mercury offered his sword of light and both agreed to guide him to the land of the setting sun where the three grey sisters lived. These sisters would tell him the way to the home of the Hesperides. The Hesperides were beautiful nymphs who had three magic treasures which Perseus must get before he could reach the land of the gorgons. Leaving Seraphos Perseus began his long journey to the land of the setting sun. When he arrived there he found the three grey sisters. They were the strangest beings that he had ever seen. They had among them only one eye and one tooth which they passed in turn from one to another. When Perseus reached their dwelling the door was wide open and so he walked in. He was overjoyed to find the three sisters all taking a nap and one tooth lying beside them and he quickly seized both these treasures. That done he awakened the sisters and inquired of them the way to the home of the Hesperides. At first they refused to tell him but when they found that he had their eye and tooth they quickly told him how to go. He then gave them back the eye and the tooth. It did not take him long to reach the home of the Hesperides. They went to the island in the western ocean. The nymphs had been told by Minerva that he was coming so when he arrived they gave him welcome and agreed to lend him their magic treasures. The distance across the sea to the home of the Gorgons is great said one of the nymphs to Perseus. Take therefore these winged sandals of gold. With them you can fly through the air like an eagle. The Gorgons head said another of the nymphs to get trapped in this magic wallet lest you look upon the terrible face and be turned to stone. To get near the Gorgons added a third. You must wear this cap of darkness so that you may see without being seen. The hero then slung the wallet over his shoulder put the sandals upon his feet and the cap upon his head and vanished. As swift as lightning he crossed the dark waters with the Gorgons. They were all asleep. Without looking at them Perseus held up the shield to Minerva and saw reflected upon it the frowning face of Medusa. With one blow from the sword of Mercury he struck off her head and without looking at it placed it within his wallet. Then he hurried away from the weird place. The other Gorgons awoke at once and followed him in furious haste but as he wore his cap of darkness he could not see him and with his sandal wings he flew so fast that he was soon too far for them to follow. Two As he was flying along the coast of Africa he heard the sound of weeping. He looked down and saw a beautiful girl chained to a rock at the water's edge. Hastening to her he took off his cap of darkness that she might see him and exclaimed Fair Maiden, why are you chained to this rock? Alas! she said I have been offered as a sacrifice to Neptune. You cannot save me however much you want to. Her words made Perseus the more determined to help her. Why is Neptune angry? he asked and who has dared to treat you so cruelly? I am Andromeda daughter of Cepheus in Cassiopeia king and queen of this land replied the maiden My mother boasted that I was more beautiful than any nymph in Neptune's palace. Her pride enraged Neptune so that he raised great storms and sent a terrible monster to devour our people. The priest said that if I were offered to him the rest of the people would be spared. Then with the sword of light Perseus cut the chain which bound Andromeda to the rock. At this moment the monster huge and ugly came plowing through the water. Perseus could not be seen in his cap of darkness and before the creature could harm the maiden its head was cut off by the sword of light. On his swift winged sandals Perseus with Andromeda in his arms now flew to the palace of Cepheus in Cassiopeia. There had been many glad weddings before that of Perseus and Andromeda but none was ever more joyful for he was admired as a wonderful hero and everyone loved the girl who had been willing to give her life to save her people. After the wedding Perseus went back to Seraphos taking Andromeda with him. When he reached the island Polydectes was in his palace feasting and Perseus hastened at once to the banquet hall and said to the king See, I have brought that which you desired. With these words he held up the head of the gorgon. The king and his courtiers looked and were instantly turned to stone. The gorgon's head had now done its work so Perseus carried it to a temple of Minerva and there offered it to the goddess. Ever after she wore it upon her shield and its snaky ringlets and frowning face are to be seen upon her statues. The sword of light was given back to Mercury who also returned the winged sandals, the magic wallet and the cap of darkness asperities. 3 You will remember that Argos was the birthplace of Perseus and to that city he now returned taking Andromeda with him. His grandfather who was still king of Argos remembered the oracle that he should die by the hand of Daenei's son and was much alarmed. But Perseus quieted the fears of the king and the two became very good friends. At one day however Perseus accidentally hit his grandfather with a quaint. The wound caused the old king's death and thus as the Greeks used to say what had been faded came to pass. Perseus was overwhelmed with sorrow. He could not bear to live any longer at Argos and therefore gave his kingdom to a kinsman of his in exchange for the kingdom of Tirans. At Tirans he ruled long and wisely. The gods gave him in Andromeda a glorious place among the stars after their death. Lucifius and Cassiopeia they can still be seen in the skies not far from where the great bear shines. End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leon Meyer Famous Men of Greece by John H. Haran and A. B. Poland Chapter 5 Hercules and His Labour Greatest of all the heroes of Greece was Heracles or Hercules who was born in Thebes the city of Cadmus. His mother was one of the descendants of Perseus and his father was Jupiter. Juno, the queen of the gods, hated Hercules. When he was only a baby in the cradle she sent two large serpents to devour him. He grasped the throat of each serpent with his tiny fingers and choked both to death. When he had grown to manhood he was forced by the will of the gods to become the slave of a hard-hearted cousin of his named Eurystheus who was king of Mycenae. Eurystheus set twelve tasks for Hercules. The first was to kill the Nimean lion. This was a ferocious animal that lived in the forest of Nimea and ate a child or a grown person every two or three days. Its skin was so tough that nothing could pierce it. But Hercules drove the lion before him into a cave and, following boldly, grasped the beast about the neck and choked it to death. That done he stripped off its skin which he ever after wore as a cloak. When the Nimean lion had been killed Eurystheus said to Hercules you must now kill the Hydra that lives in the marsh of Lerna. This Hydra was a nine-headed water serpent whose very breath was poisonous. It was hard to kill the creature because as soon as one head was cut off, two others at once sprang up in its place. This task might have proved too much for Hercules if a friend had not prevented new heads from growing by burning each neck with a fire-brand the instant that Hercules cut off the head. The third of Hercules's tasks was to bring to Eurystheus the stag with golden horns that was sacred to Diana. It lived in southern Greece in the woods of Arcadia. It had brazen feet and could run so fast that Hercules had to chase it for a whole year before he caught it. Now, said Eurystheus you must kill the boar that roams on the slopes of Mount Aramanthus. This creature laid waste the farmers fields of barley and wheat at the foot of the mountain. Hercules captured the brute in a net and killed it. The next command of Eurystheus to Hercules was clean the Ogean stables. The Ogean stables belonged to Ogeus, one of the kings of Greece. As three thousand oxen were kept in them and they had not been cleaned for 30 years they were filthy. Hercules cleaned them in one day. He dug a great ditch as far as the stables and turned into it the waters of two swift rivers. 2 As soon as this was done Eurystheus said you must now kill the birds of Lake Stemphalis. Instead of wings of feathers these birds had wings of arrows which darted out and shot anyone who passed by. Their claws and beaks were of brass and they fed on human flesh. Hercules killed them with poisoned arrows. Still Eurystheus hoped to find some task that might prove too much for the hero so he said bring me the bull of Crete. This bull was a terrible monster that had been sent by Neptune to ravage Crete an island not far from Greece. Hercules set out for Crete at once, conquered the bull, rode on his back across the sea from Crete to Greece then swung the great animal to his own shoulders Eurystheus now said to his wonderful slave tame the man-eating horses of Diomedes, king of Thrace. He fully expected that this task would be fatal to Hercules. But the hero went to the palace of Diomedes and soon discovered a way to tame the savage Steeds. He killed Diomedes and threw his flesh to them when, low, the man-eating beasts became like other horses and gladly ate oats and grass. Eurystheus immediately set a ninth task. My daughter said he once the girdle of the queen of the Amazons get it for her. The Amazons were a nation living upon the shores of the Black Sea. It was the custom for the women to go to battle. Bravest of them all was Queen Hippolyte whom Mars had rewarded for her courage by giving her a beautiful girdle. All Greece had heard of this girdle, and it was no wonder that the daughter of Eurystheus wished to have it. When Hercules reached the country of the Amazons and made known his errand he found that the queen was as generous as she was brave. She said that she would send her girdle as a present to the daughter of Eurystheus. So it looked as though Hercules was to have no trouble with this task. Juno, however, tried to prevent his success. She made herself look like one of the Amazons and went among them, and persuaded them that Hercules wished to carry away their queen. The great quarrel then arose between the hero and the Amazons which ended in a battle. Brave Hippolyte was killed and Hercules then took the girdle and carried it to Eurystheus. 3. Bring me the oxen of Juryan, Eurystheus now commanded. Juryan was a monster with three bodies. He lived on an island in the western ocean, as the Greeks called the Atlantic Ocean. In the fields of this island grazed Juryan's herd of red oxen guarded by a two-headed dog. At first Hercules did not see how he could reach the island. But the sun-god Apollo came to his aid and said to him, I will lend you the golden bowl in which I sail every night from the land of the western sea to the land of the rising sun. So in the sun's golden bowl Hercules reached the island safely. He slew the two-headed dog then got the whole herd of oxen into the golden bowl and sailed back. For the tenth time Eurystheus was a monster and for the tenth time Eurystheus was amazed. He now commanded Hercules to get me some of the apples of the Hesperides. At the wedding of Jupiter and Juno the grandest that ever took place on Olympus, Ceres, the great earth-mother had given to Juno some branches loaded with golden apples. These branches were afterwards planted and grew into trees upon islands in the western ocean of Eurystheus. The trees and their fruit were in charge of the nymphs called Hesperides who had a terrible dragon to aid them. When Hercules was told to get some of the apples of the Hesperides he was puzzled. At last he went to Atlas who was the father of the Hesperides and begged his help. Atlas lived in Africa opposite Spain. At last the sun, moon, and stars I will get you some of the apples said Atlas in answer to Hercules if you will hold up the sky for me while I am getting them. The bargain was made. Hercules held up the sky while Atlas went and secured three of the golden apples. Then the giant took the sky again on his shoulders and Hercules carried the apples to Eurystheus. The fates allowed Eurystheus to send Hercules upon only one more of his dangerous errands. Go to the gates of the underworld said Eurystheus and bring Cerberus here. Hercules now, if ever had need of aid from the gods. They did not fail him. Mercury, the god who guided the souls of the dead to the unseen world and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom both went with him to the kingdom of Pluto. Pluto said that if Hercules could overpower Cerberus without using any weapon he might take the great watchdog to the world of light. Hercules wrestled with the monster overcame him and dragged him to the palace of Eurystheus. This ended the power of Eurystheus over the hero. Four Hercules had a friend named Admetus, a king in Thessaly who was about to die. The fates had promised that his life should be spared if his father, mother or wife would die for him. When both father and mother refused, Alcestus, his wife gave her life for him. Admetus was crazed with grief at losing her and so Hercules went to Pluto's kingdom, seized Alcestus, and brought her husband. Once Hercules became insane and killed a friend whom he greatly loved. The gods punished him for this with a serious sickness. He asked Apollo to cure him but the god refused and Hercules tried to carry away the tripod on which the priestess of Delphi sat when the god spoke to her. For this he was deprived of his great strength and even as a slave to Amphili, queen of Lydia. She took the Nimean lionskin from him and dressed him as a woman. Then she made him kneel at her feet and spin thread and do a woman's work for three years. After he was again free he did many brave deeds. Once, when journeying with his wife Deonira he reached a river. There was neither bridge nor ferry. Nessus the centaur, half-man, half-horse, who owned that part of the river undertook to carry Deonira across while Hercules waited. When Nessus reached the middle of the river he tried to run away with Deonira but Hercules shot him with one of his poisoned arrows. Nessus, while dying, told Deonira to save some of his blood and use it as a charm to make Hercules love her more. Five Some years after this Deonira became very jealous and the foolish woman sprinkled some drops of the centaur's poison blood upon a robe that Hercules had to wear at a sacrifice. When Hercules put on the robe the poison burned like fire. He tried to pull off the garment but it clung to him and as he pulled it his flesh was torn. Seeing now that his end was near he went to the top of a mountain. There he pulled up some trees by the roots and heaped them together to make his funeral pyre. With his club for a pillow and his lion skin for a cover he lay upon the pyre and soon he ceased to breathe. A friend kindled the pyre and the hero's body was burned to ashes. Then a cloud gleaming as though on fire descended through the air and amid the peeling of thunder the mighty spirit was born to the skies. There Jupiter made him one of the gods and gave him the beautiful goddess Hebe for a wife. End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Famous Men of Greece by John H. Horan and A. B. Poland Chapter 6 Jason and the Golden Fleece In a city of Greece named Ialkus a good man named Aysen was king. His younger brother, Pelius, seized the throne. But Pelius did not enjoy much happiness in his stolen kingdom. He had no fear of Aysen but he was very much afraid that Aysen's son, Jason, then only a boy, might someday take the kingdom from him. So he tried to kill Jason but the child was taken away by night and Pelius never found him. It was said that he was dead. Twenty years passed and though Jason was never seen in Ialkus Pelius was still afraid that he was alive. Finally, to settle the matter he consulted the Oracle of Apollo. He received the answer Beware of the man who wears but one sandal. After that Pelius ordered the watchmen at the city gate to take notice of the feet of every stranger who entered the city. Jason had been all these years in charge of Chiron the centaur who was the most famous teacher in Greece. Jason had heard of the wickedness of his uncle and now that he was a man he was determined to regain his father's kingdom. So one day he set out for Ialkus on the way he came to a wide stream over which there was no bridge. At the same time a feeble old woman came up and wished to cross. The stream was swollen and it looked as if she would be swept away by the current and drowned if she tried to wait across. So Jason took her in his arms and carried her over. She had come down from Olympus to take a journey on Earth without telling anyone who she was because she wished to find out if there was any real kindness among men. She never forgot Jason's courtesy and to her help he owed his success in his career. In crossing the stream he lost one of his sandals and so he reached Ialkus with one foot bare. He cared very little about this but when word was brought to Pelius that a man wearing one sandal had entered the city the king was greatly alarmed. Either I must kill that man Pelius said to himself or he will kill me. He therefore sent a messenger to invite the stranger to the palace and Jason soon stood before him. What would you do? asked Pelius if you had in your power the man who was fated to kill you. I should tell him, answered Jason, bring me the Golden Fleece. Then you shall go, cried Pelius. You have come to take my kingdom from me but not till you bring me that fleece will I yield you my crown. The story of the Golden Fleece is very interesting. Many years before one of the Grecian kings who had a son named Frixus was told by an oracle that Jupiter wished him to offer up his son as a sacrifice. Frixus jumped to the back of the ram his sister, Hella who was standing with him at the altar jumped on behind her brother and the ram immediately ran off with it too. He went so fast that people who saw him thought he had wings. When he came to the Strait which separates Europe from Asia he plunged into the waves and he saw that he had wings. He saw that he had wings and he saw that he had wings. When he came to Asia he plunged into the waves. Poor Hella soon fell off and was drowned and ever after that the Strait was called by the Greeks the Hellespont a word that means the sea of Hella. It is the Strait that is named the Dardanelle on our maps. The ram carried Frixus safely across the Strait and went on until he reached the palace of Aites the king of a country called Colchis the sea. Frixus felt very thankful for having made such a wonderful journey and safety so he offered the ram as a sacrifice to Jupiter and nailed the fleece to a tree that was sacred to Mars. This fleece became one of the wonders of the world and lest it should be stolen a dragon was set to watch it. Many persons tried to get possession of it but most if not all of them lost their lives in the attempt. But he said at once that he would get the fleece. Before setting out on the journey however he went to a place called Dodona to ask the advice of Jupiter for at Dodona there was a wonderful talking oak which told men the advice and commands of Jupiter. As soon as Jason came near the oak the leaves began to rustle and a voice from within the tree said build a fifty-odd ship take his companions the greatest heroes of Greece cut a branch from the talking oak and make it part of the prow of the vessel. All these commands Jason obeyed. The ship was built and a piece of the talking oak was used in making her prow. Jason invited forty-nine of the bravest men of Greece to go on the expedition. He named his ship the Argo and he and his companions are known as the Argonauts or sailors on the Argo. One of them was Orpheus, the greatest musician that ever played or sang in Greece. It was said of him that the trees of a forest once danced in wild delight at his music. This wonderful musician was a very great use on the Argo. The ship was the largest that had ever been built in Greece and it was found too heavy to launch. The strength of all the fifty heroes did not move at an inch. Jason did not know what to do. So he insulted the talking prow which told him that everybody must get on board and that Orpheus must then play his lyre and sing. No sooner was the music heard than the great ship glided easily into the water and soon the famous voyage began. Another companion of Jason was Hercules about whose wonderful labours you have already been told. Then there was Castor and Pollux, twin brothers who did such wonders that after their death the gods took them to heaven where they still shine as stars in the constellation called the Twins. Still another of the Argonauts was a hero named Lyceus which means the Linkside. He was kept on watch all through the Argos voyage because he could see a whole day's trip ahead. After many adventures the Argonauts at last crossed the Black Sea and reached the shores of Colchis. ITs received them in a kind manner but he was not at all pleased when he learned their errant because there was nothing in his kingdom which he prized so much as the Golden Fleece. However when Jason explained the matter ITs said, Very well, you may try to get the fleece if you choose to run the risk but first you must yoke my pair of brazen-footed, fire-breathing bulls and with them plow a field near the grove where the Golden Fleece hangs. Then you must sow the field with some of the teeth of the dragon that Cadmus killed and finally you must fight with the dragon that guards the fleece. ITs felt sure that Jason would lose his life in trying to do all this for many brave men had been burned to death in the streams of fire that the bulls breathed out from their nostrils. King ITs had a daughter named Medea. She was famed for her beauty and her skill as an enchantress. Finally she fell in love with Jason and now came to his aid. Take this ointment, said Medea, and rub it all over your body. Then the flaming breath of the bulls cannot harm you. At midnight I will go with you to the pasture where the creatures feed. That night Jason went with Medea and found the bulls in the pasture. The magic ointment saved him from being burned by their fiery breath. He seized and yoked them without any trouble and very soon the field was plowed and harrowed. Jason sewed the teeth of the dragon and then stood waiting to see what would happen. Soon points of light glistened here and there in the soil. They were the tops of helmets coming up out of the ground and touched by the rays of the rising sun. In no great while where each point of light had appeared stood a full armed warrior. Throw a stone into the midst of the host, commanded Medea and Jason obeyed. The stone struck one warrior, glanced off to another and then to a third. The newborn heroes, not knowing whence the stone had come, became wild with rage and hacked and battered one another with swords and clubs. At last only one was left and he was fatally wounded. Then Jason went back to the palace and told IT's what he had done and said that he was ready to fight the dragon that guarded the fleece. At midnight he went with Medea to the grove in which the fleece hung. The dragon rushed with wide open jaws to devour him, but Medea threw an enchanted potion into the monster's mouth and he sank to the ground in a death-like sleep. Make haste! cried Medea. Take down the fleece in a twinkling Jason had done so. And now, she added, we must start at once for Greece for my father will never carry the fleece from Colchis. Taking Medea with him Jason made all haste to the Argo. When he reached the shore where the ship lay his companions welcomed him heartily and they were filled with delight when they saw the golden fleece. All hurried on board the Argo the sails were hoisted and the ship began her homeward voyage. To get back to Greece the Argonauts had to sail past the Isle of the Sirens. The Sirens were maidens with beautiful faces but cruel hearts. They sat upon dangerous rocks on the shore of their island and sang songs of enchanting sweetness. Sailors who heard them would steer nearer and nearer till their vessels were wrecked on the jagged rocks. The Argonauts escaped this peril through the help of Orpheus. He played his lyre and sang more sweetly than even the Sirens and listening to him Jason and his companions steered their vessel beyond the dangerous rocks. As soon as Jason reached Iulcus again he showed the Golden Fleece to Pellius and then hung it up as a thank offering in the temple of one of the gods. What became of it afterward? Nobody knows. While Jason was getting the Golden Fleece Pellius murdered Isen. In revenge for this Medea made a plot by which Pellius was killed by his own daughters. Then the son of Pellius drove both Jason and Medea from Iulcus. Chapter 7 of This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org Famous Men of Greece by John H. Haran and A.B. Poland Chapter 7 Thesias 1 One of the most violent quarrels that disturbed the life of the gods was between Neptune and Minerva. Kekrops, one of the wisest of the Greeks was founding a city near the finest harbour in Greece. Neptune wished to be the chief god of the city and Minerva also desired the honour. Neptune said that as the city was going to be a great seaport busy with vessels sailing in and sailing out it was only right that he, the god of the ocean should be its guardian. Minerva foresaw that in the days to come the city would care much less about commerce than about art and learning. She therefore thought that she, the goddess of wisdom, should be its guardian. The other gods became very weary of the quarrel and to bring it to an end Jupiter ordered that the one who should offer the more useful gift to the city should become its chief god. Neptune then struck with his trident a rock within the city's bounds and up sprang a war-horse ready for battle. Minerva touched the earth Now groves of olive trees, Jupiter knew well would be far more useful to the people than the finest of war-horses. He therefore decided in favour of Minerva the city became the most famous place in all the world for learning and art and from Athena, the Greek name of the goddess it was called Athens. Two The most noted of the early kings of Athens was Theseus, the son of Igeus who was himself a king of Athens. Theseus was born far away from Athens and was brought up by his mother, Aethra, at the home of her father. Before parting with Aethra at her father's home Igeus placed a sword and a pair of sandals under a heavy stone and said to her, When the child is able to lift that stone let him take the sandals and sword and come to me. Years went by and when Theseus had grown up his mother led him one day to the stone and said to him If you are a man, lift that stone. Theseus lifted it with ease and saw a pair of sandals and a sword. His mother told him that the sandals and the sword had been placed under the stone by his father Igeus who was king of Athens. Put them on and seek him in Athens, she said. He fastened the sword to his girdle and buckled the sandals on his feet. Then he kissed his mother and set out for Athens. He did not go far without an adventure. A robber called the club-bearer attacked him. A struggle followed in which the club-bearer was killed. Then Theseus took the robber's club and ever after that carried it himself. A little farther on he met a robber called Sinus who was known as the pine-bender. It was the pine-bender's sport to pull down pine trees, tie travelers to their tops and let the trees spring back. His victims dangled from the tree-tops until they perished from pain and hunger. When Theseus came along he bent a pine, fastened the pine-bender to it, let the tree spring back and let the robber to suffer the torture that he had inflicted on so many others. Journey still farther the hero reached the dwelling of Procrustes, the stretcher. Procrustes had a bed which he made all travelers fit. If a man's legs were too long Procrustes cut them to the right length. If they were too short he stretched them until they were long enough. Theseus forced Procrustes to lie upon the bed himself and chop the stretcher's legs to the right length. In this manner fighting often and bravely Theseus made his way to Athens. When he reached the city and showed his sword to Aegeus the king knew that the young man must be his son. He was filled with joy and declared Theseus his heir. Three Every year the city of Athens had to send seven young men and seven maidens to Minos, devoured by a terrible creature called the Minotaur. It was kept in a place known as the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth was full of winding paths so puzzling that a person once in could not find his way out. The day that the youths and maidens were to sail to Crete was at hand and Athens was filled with sorrow. Theseus made up his mind that never again should the city have cause for such grief. He determined to kill the Minotaur. Father, he said to Aegeus let me go to Crete as one of the victims. No, no my son, cried Aegeus I could not bear to lose you. Ah, but you will not lose me answered Theseus. Not only shall I return but I will bring back in safety all who go with me. Aegeus at last gave consent and Theseus went as one of the fourteen victims. The ship's sail was black an emblem of mourning. As Theseus bade farewell to his father he said I am taking a white sail with me to hoist when we come back. If the black sail should still be set when the ship comes home you will know that I have failed but I shall not fail. When the black sailed vessel reached the shores of Crete there was a great crowd gathered to see the victims. Among the watchers was Ariadne the lovely daughter of the king of Crete. She was full of pity but Theseus had determined to fight the Minotaur. She made up her mind to help him. She could see that he was very strong and she felt sure that he could kill the monster but she feared that he would starve to death in the labyrinth because he would not be able to find his way out. So when Theseus went into the labyrinth she gave him the end of a ball of thread and said I will stand here at the entrance and let the ball unwind as you go in. When you have killed the Minotaur follow the thread back to me. This took hold of the thread and went boldly into the labyrinth. When he reached the center of it the monster came to attack him. Its weapons were stones. Stone after stone was flung by the monster but each was warded off by Theseus just as a skillful batter wards off a swift ball. At length Theseus was close enough to strike the Minotaur with his sword and the creature fell dead. Guided by the thread Theseus quickly made his way back to the entrance of the labyrinth. There he was joyfully received by Ariadne and the youths and maidens whom he had saved from death. Theseus and Ariadne had fallen in love with each other and when the tribute ship set sail for Greece Ariadne was one of the passengers. On the homeward voyage the ship touched at the island of Naxos. There Theseus had a strange dream. In it he was told by Minerva to leave Ariadne on the island because the fates intended her to be the wife of one of the gods. Accordingly on the island of Naxos he left her and sailed away to Greece. She afterward did become the bride of one of the gods who gave her a golden crown which after her death was changed to a crown of stars that is yet to be seen in the sky on any bright night. On the voyage from the island of Naxos to Athens Theseus was thinking so much of Ariadne that he quite forgot to change the black sail for the white one that his father to do. This was a most unfortunate oversight for it brought death to Theseus and sorrow to Theseus. Day after day while Theseus was away Theseus had sat on a cliff which overlooked the sea hoping to catch sight of the white sail. When at last the ship appeared with its black sail still spread the poor king supposed of course that his son had been devoured by the Minotaur. He threw up his hands in grief and was drowned. From that day to this the sea has been called the Aegean or the Sea of Aegeus. When the ship reached the harbour of Athens Theseus learned of his father's death and bitterly did he mourn that he had forgotten to hoist the white sail. He at once became king and no king ever did more for Athens than he. Yet in spite of his love and labour for the city the Athenians were not grateful. On the journey he remained away for so long that they chose a new king. When at last he came back and found that the people whom he had loved so well had forgotten him he left the city and soon died. The Athenians in later days repented that they had been so ungrateful. They brought his bones to Athens and buried them with great solemnity. Festivals were held in his honour and he was ranked almost with Minerva herself as a guardian of the beautiful city. The stories told that centuries after his death he left the spirit world and helped the Athenians to gain the victory in the greatest battle they ever fought the battle of Marathon of which you will read farther on in this book. End of Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Philippa Jevons Famous Men of Greece by John H. Haran and A. B. Poland Chapter 8 Agamemnon Agamemnon, King of Men The early kings of Mycenae were descendants of Jupiter one of these named Agamemnon was the most powerful king in Greece in his day and hence he was called the King of Men During his reign occurred the famous Trojan War which is supposed to have taken place about twelve hundred years before Christ all the most famous heroes in Greece took part in it the story of the events that brought it on is full of interest A wonderful wedding took place in Greece Palaeus the brave king of Thessaly married the beautiful sea nymph Thetis The wedding feast was held on Mount Pelion near the home of the gods and to show their love for Thetis all the gods came down from Olympus Apollo shot sunbeams through the quivering oak leaves and the floor of the forest was dappled with golden light nymphs had hung garlands of snow-white roses from tree to tree wild vines were covered with blossoms and the air was filled with their fragrance but while the muses were singing their sweetest songs a golden apple suddenly fell among the gods and goddesses it had been thrown by the goddess of discord who was angry because she had not been asked to the wedding Mercury who of course was among the guests picked up the apple and read to the wedding party the words written upon it let the most beautiful have me Juno, Minerva and Venus each claimed that the apple was hers and the quarrel of the goddesses ended only when Jupiter said to them go with Mercury over the sea to Mount Ida and let Paris the shepherd decide the matter at once the goddesses led by Mercury sped through the air to Mount Ida to find Paris Paris was the son of Priam the king of a rich and powerful city called Troy which was opposite Greece on the shore of the Aegean sea his mother dreamed that he would one day set Troy on fire and so as soon as he was born King Priam ordered one of his shepherds to carry the infant to snow-capped Mount Ida near Troy and there leave it to die of cold and hunger five days after leaving the child the shepherd found it still alive this made him think that the gods did not wish it to die so he carried it home to his wife who brought it up as her own child Paris thought himself only a shepherd's boy attended King Priam's herds while they grazed on the slopes of Mount Ida on the date of the wedding upon Mount Pelion as he sat watching the flock Mercury and his three companions suddenly appeared before him the goddesses were all so lovely that when they asked Paris to say which was the most beautiful he was greatly perplexed each tried to persuade him to decide in her favour Juno promised to make him the greatest of kings Minerva said that she would make him the wisest of men and Venus declared that she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife he awarded the apple to Venus but by doing so he greatly offended Minerva and Juno not long after this Paris went to Troy and took part in some games that were held at the court of Priam these games were wrestling and running races and the unknown shepherd carried off many prizes it was soon found out who he really was and Priam heartily welcomed him home meantime Venus had not forgotten her promise she advised Paris to sail to Greece where he would find the most beautiful woman in the world this was Helen the wife of Menelaus King of Sparta with the help of Venus won the heart of Helen and took her away with him to Troy when Menelaus found that his wife had been stolen he sent a message to the kings of all the states of Greece and asked them to help him to regain Helen and punish Paris now thirty or more of the kings had wished to marry Helen before she had chosen a husband and all had sworn to aid the one chosen if any one should ever try to take her away so as soon as they received the message of Menelaus in accord with their oath these kings began to make ready for war against the Trojans meanwhile Agamemnon who was a brother of Menelaus was already busily preparing for war his woodsmen were cutting yew trees from which to make bows and gathering reeds for arrows his smiths were making swords and spearheads and javelins in his shipyards building ships the roads were alive with countrymen bringing in loads of wheat, barley, bacon and olives to store in the vessels at last one hundred black ships were ready and Agamemnon set sail a place named Aulis had been selected where the Greeks were to meet twelve hundred ships assembled there and Agamemnon was chosen commander in chief just as the ships were about to start for Troy a terrible storm came up Agamemnon felt sure that one of the gods must be angry with the Greeks and so he consulted a wonderful soothsayer named Calcas Diana is angry great king said Calcas but not with the Greeks thou only has defended her thou has slain a deer in the forest and boasted that thou has greater skill in the chase than Diana herself never oh king he added can the storm be lulled until thou has offered thy daughter Iphigenia as a sacrifice on the altar of Diana Agamemnon was heartbroken but he felt that the will of Diana must be done so he sent a messenger to the mother of Iphigenia to say that Achilles a Greek prince wished to marry the girl and that she must come to Aulis at once this was only a device to get Iphigenia to Aulis however when she reached Aulis and heard the truth from her father the girl behaved nobly my father she said if my death will help the Greeks I am ready to die her words sent a thrill through all the host and 90,000 brave men sorrowed Achilles and Ajax sternest of warriors wept and Agamemnon was wild with grief while the girl was lying upon the altar and the priestess of Diana was standing near the goddess watching from Olympus was moved to Pity and just as the father had lifted his sword to slay the girl a cloud as bright as shining snow appeared above him the steps from the cloud lifted the girl from the altar and carried her through the air to one of her temples where she made her a priestess on the altar lay a white fawn which was sacrificed instead of Iphigenia and now the fairest winds blew the sails of the Grecian ships were set and the fleet sailed swiftly to Troy and the siege of that city began and of chapter 8 chapter 9 of famous men of Greece this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org famous men of Greece by John H. Haran and A. B. Poland chapter 9 Achilles bravest of all the Greeks who went to fight the Trojans was Achilles he was the son of Palaeus and the beautiful sea nymph Thetis at whose marriage feast the goddess of discord had thrown the golden apple among the guests Thetis herself could never die and when Achilles was born she determined to make him also immortal with the child in her arms she went down to the gloomy kingdom of Hades you will remember that a dark river called the Styx flowed round the underworld if a mortal were dipped into the Styx no sword or arrow or other weapon could injure him Thetis held Achilles by the heel and dipped him into the water in her haste to get out of the underworld she forgot to dip in the heel by which he had held the child so in that heel and only there Achilles could be wounded when Thetis heard that the Greeks were going to fight the Trojans she was greatly distressed that if her son went to war he would certainly lose his life she dressed him as a girl and took him to Scyros a faraway island of Greece and left him there in the palace of the king Lycomides now Kalkes had foretold that Troy could never be taken without the help of Achilles so the Greek princes were determined that he should go with them a grecian chief called Ulysses the crafty learned where he was hidden one day a peddler appeared at the gate of the palace in Scyros bringing all sorts of beautiful things for sale the princesses were wild with delight as the peddler showed one thing after another suddenly the blast of a war trumpet rang through the air away ran all the girls save one that one seized a shield and a spear which were among the peddler's wares and stood instantly ready for battle then the peddler who was Ulysses found Achilles so he told the young man that all the princes of the Greeks were preparing for war against Troy Achilles was eager to go with them and so in spite of all that Thedas had done her son sailed to Troy with the other Greek princes for nine years he was the champion of the Greeks in the tenth year of the war a great misfortune befell the Greeks they had taken captive two beautiful maidens one of whom had been given as a slave to Achilles the other to Agamemnon now it happened that Agamemnon's slave was the daughter of Crises a priest of the sun god Apollo the loss of his daughter was a great grief to Crises and he prayed to Apollo for vengeance in answer Apollo drew his silver bow and shot arrows which brought a terrible pestilence into the camp of the Greeks the tents were soon filled with the dead and the dying the soothsayer Calcas told the Greeks why Apollo had punished them and the girl was sent back to her father the god was satisfied and his arrows stopped bringing the plague but Agamemnon now took the other maiden from Achilles and this made the son of Thedas so angry that he declared he would help the Greeks no more for days and days he stayed in his tent or sat by the seashore and told his wrongs to his mother then the Trojans learning that Achilles was not fighting Thedas came out through the gates of their city and drove the Greeks from the field Hector, a son of Priam followed them to their ships some of the Trojans took lighted torches and tried to burn the Greek fleet one ship caught fire just then however they rushed to the shore a warrior who looked so like Achilles that the Trojans fled from the ships to the gates of their city the unknown warrior was not Achilles but Patroclus a friend who had put on Achilles' armour the Trojans had mistaken him for the great hero even Hector fled before him but Apollo, who fought on the side of the Trojans at last shot forth from his silver bow an arrow which struck Patroclus and he fell to the earth Hector then slew him and carried off the armour of Achilles as his prize when Achilles learned that his friend had been slain he forgot his wrongs and rushed from his tent shouting the war cry of the Greeks he had neither shield nor spear yet the Trojans fled at the sound of his voice and the ships intense of the Greeks were saved the body of Patroclus was then carried into the tent of Achilles and the hero wept for his friend as he sat mourning his mother, Thetis, rose from her home in the sea and came to comfort him she then went to Vulcan the great blacksmith who, you remember made all things of iron bronze for the gods and said Good Vulcan, make for my son such a suit of armour as never mortal has worn soon the forges of Aitna were glowing the Cyclops's anvils were ringing and a suit of armour fit for a god was made in this armour Achilles made terrible havoc among the Trojans he scattered them as a wolf might scatter a flock of sheep he killed Hector at last he brought the body to his chariot and dragged it three times round the tomb of Patroclus Paris avenged the death of Hector by wounding Achilles in the heel from the wound the great hero died hundreds of Trojans had been killed by the Greeks but the walls of Troy still stood and not one grecian warrior had entered the gates Troy was kept safe in a wonderful way in the city was an image which the Trojans believed had come down from heaven it was called the Palladium from Pallas another name of Athena so long as the Palladium stood in its place Troy could never be captured at length crafty Ulysses with the help of another Greek warrior named Diomedes got possession of the Palladium one night the two climbed the walls of Troy went to the temple where the Palladium was kept and carried the image away when they returned to the grecian camp Ulysses advised the Greeks to build a huge wooden horse when it was finished it was filled with armed men and left standing before the walls of the city then the grecian army burned their tents and sailed away as if they were going home but really they only went a short distance and hid behind an island not far from the Trojan coast one crafty Greek named Sinon had been left behind he told the Trojans that the wooden horse would protect their city just as the Palladium had done so very foolishly they drew the horse within the walls when night came Sinon released the armed men from the horse and signaled to the Greek fleet with a flaming torch in a very short time the ships were all back and the Greek soldiers again were swarming before the walls of Troy the city gates were opened by Sinon and his companions and in poured the Greeks by thousands they slaughtered the sleeping Trojans sacked the palace of Priam and burned the city and now after ten long years of fighting Menelaus recovered his beautiful Helen then he and the rest of the Greeks set sail for their native land many of the Trojans were carried away into slavery by their Greek conquerors Andromache, the beautiful wife of Hector was given to the son of Achilles who took her home to his palace a captive Eulises King of the island of Itaca had been very unwilling to go to the Trojan war because there was a prophecy that if he went he would not return for twenty years so he pretended that he was mad Joachim and Nox and a horse together he would plow the seashore and sow the sand with salt One of the chiefs suspected that all this was a trick and to test Eulises placed the king's infant son Telemachus in front of the plow Eulises at once turned the plows to one side and thus showed that he was not mad He now had no excuse for staying at home and had to go to the war with the other chiefs All through the siege of Troy he was of great value to the Greeks and after the death of Achilles this splendid armor of their hero was given to Eulises As soon as Troy had fallen he set sail on his homeward voyage If the winds had been fair he might have reached Itaca in a month but the story is that it took him ten years He had hardly begun his voyage when his fleet was caught in a storm and his ships were blown to the land of the Lothos Eaters The Lothos was a plant that made those who waited forget their homes and friends forever Two of Eulises sailors went on shore for only a few minutes and having tasted this curious food became so anxious to stay with the Lothos Eaters that they had to be dragged back on board their ship After leaving the land of the Lothos Eaters the fleet sailed to another shore The sailors saw the mouth of a cavern and near it large flocks of sheep and goats Eulises, with Tyveld his man went examining the cavern and someone lived there They carried with them a skinful of old wine to give to the king of the island if they should happen to meet him They entered the cave and saw pens for sheep and goats They also found several baskets of cheese It was planned that somebody lived in the place so Eulises decided to wait for the owner and buy some of the cheese from him Meanwhile, he and the sailors helped themselves to what they wanted Just as the sun was setting the bleeding of sheep and goats was heard and looking through the mouth of the cave the Greeks saw the owner of the place coming toward them He was one of the race of giants called Cyclops who, you remember, forged lightning and thunder for Jupiter to use in the battles with Cranus On his back the Cyclops carried a bundle of firewood Before him went a great flock of sheep and goats There was a shelter for him and his flock When the giant had driven the sheep and goats inside he followed them in and closed the entrance with a huge stone Soon he set about milking the goats As he milked, he muttered the thieves as stolen some of his cheeses When the milking was over he lighted a fire on the Florida cave and set down to a supper of cheese and milk The fire lit up the corners of the cave The Greeks had hidden themselves and the Cyclops soon saw them Who are you? he growled and what business have you here? Nobo sir replied Ulysses We are Greeks from the island of Itaca With the rest of our nation we have fought against Troy for ten years At last the city has fallen and now we are sailing homeward A storm blew us to your island and we landed to look for food In the name of the blessed gods we ask you to give us something to eat and let us go on our way I care nothing for gods wrote the Cyclops But as for men let me show you how much I like them With that he seized two of the Greeks and ate them up devouring even their bones The other Greeks looked down in terror Soon after his supper he went to sleep and Ulysses and his companions would have lost no time in killing him if it had not been for the great stone that blocked the door of the cave All the Greeks together could not move it and so they let the Cyclops live because in the morning he would roll the stone away Next morning after devouring two more of the Greeks he did move the stone but he put it back as soon as he had driven out his flock and the Greeks were again shut up In the evening after the Cyclops had returned and had stopped upon two more Greeks Ulysses thought of his old wine and asked the giant to taste it Taste it he did and then quickly drained three cups What's your name? asked the Cyclops No man answered Ulysses Very well no man you shall be the last that I will meet and with that the giant laid down in a stupor Ulysses had sharpened the trunk of an olive tree that the Cyclops used for a walking cane and he now held the sharp end in the fire until it glowed Then with the help of four of its men he rammed the red hot point into the giant's eye The monster roared so loudly that he awakened the other giants who lived in the caves nearby and they came running to ask who had hurt their companion No man had seen him screaming the Cyclops No man has put out my eye His friends of course understood him to mean that no one had hurt him They thought that he had had a terrible nightmare from eating roast cheese and so they went back to their caves Ulysses now hit on a plan to get his friends and himself safely out of the cave He bound the big long fleeced rams together three abreast and fastened the Greek under each middle ram so that every man was completely covered with fleas He himself managed to cling to a ram that was the largest of the herd When the flock was passing out of the cave the Cyclops thought that perhaps the Greeks would try to ride out on the backs of the shipping goats So he carefully felt the back of each animal as he went through the door but he did not feel the Greeks and they all got out safely Ulysses then untied his comrades and they ran quickly to their ships driving before them some of the ship of the Cyclops When men and ship were onboard the vessels Ulysses cried out Goodbye Cyclops What think you are now the gods They sent me to punish you for your cruelty No man is not my name I am Ulysses, Ithaca's king At this the Cyclops picked up great rocks and threw them at the ship of Ulysses The vessel however was not struck and Ulysses and his men sailed on their way Part 2 The next land reached was an island on which Ulysses, the god of the winds had his home Ulysses treated Ulysses very kindly The west wind which could carry the ships to Ithaca in nine days the god left three all the others he tied up in a stout leather bag which he gave to the hero Ulysses For some time everything went well One day however while Ulysses slept his crew untied the wind bag hoping to find money in it As soon as the wind were set free they blew the ships back to the island of Ulysses who drove them off because they thought the gods were angry with them The flip nets reached an island where there were cannibals of great size and strength They broke up all the ships except the one that Ulysses himself commanded and then feasted on the sailors Ulysses made his cape on a single ship with those of his men that were left He soon arrived at another island on which at some distance from the shore he saw a marble palace in the middle of a grove He sent 22 men under the charge of his thirsty captain Uryllacus to ask for food When Uryllacus reached the palace he was met by a troop of lions, tigers and wolves who kept it about and fend upon him and his men as so many playful puppies might do This but Uryllacus on his guard He made up his mind at once that the palace was the home of a wizard or a witch At the palace gate he inquired Who dwells here? We are strangers seeking food Welcome replied a voice from within Welcome to the palace of the sun god's daughter The best that is here shall be yours The voice was that of an enchantress called Cersei It was a delight to change men into brutes the lions, tigers and wolves that had met Uryllacus were really men who had once sat at her table and drunk her enchanted wine Uryllacus refused to it but the men who went with him were aglutinous sad They ate greedily and drank deeply When the feast was at its height Cersei touched them with her wand enchanted them into hawks Uryllacus returned to the ship and told what had happened Ulysses then hastened to Cersei's palace On the way, Mercury met him and walked with him some distance As they passed through a wood they got plucked some flowers of a plant called Moly and gave them to Ulysses Smell them said Mercury while Cersei is talking to you and especially when you drink her enchanted wine When he reached the palace the hero was welcomed as his comrades had been Cersei herself put a golden cup full of wine into his hand Ulysses took the cup and drained it taking care all the while to smell the Moly that Mercury had given him in the wood When the cup was empty the enchantress tapped the hero with her wand and said Now turn to a pig and join your granting companions Unchanged, however Ulysses drew his sword and cried Weakened enchantress you have no power over me the gods have sent me here to punish you and you shall die I will undo what I have done if you will spare me she cried So Ulysses followed her to the sky where she touched the swine one by one with her magic wand As it was touched he was changed back to a man Next the troop of lions, tigers and wolves were touched and they too were quickly changed back to men The other Greeks were then called from the ships and Cersei gave them a feast After this Ulysses remained on their island for a whole year When alas he was going to sail the enchantress gave him some good advice On the homeward way he and his men would have to play and on the way he and his men would have to pass close to the Isle of the Sirens as the Argonauts had done long before them To sail by the Sirens Isle safely set Cersei that the men filled their ears with wax and lashed her to the mast when the ship draws near to the Isle Ulysses and his men then left Cicis Island As they drew near to the Sirens Isle Ulysses made the sailors fill their ears with wax to the mast As they rode past the Sirens with music came over the waters Lose me Ulysses cried to the sailors Lose me I must go nearer that music but the sailors rolled on They could hear neither him nor the song of the Sirens Slaves cried Ulysses Lose me but the sailors rolled on The music grew fainter and fainter Alas it died away and the vessel was out of danger Then the men took the wax from their ears and losed the cords that bound their chief Part 3 After passing the Sirens Isle Ulysses had to sail through a dangerous strait now known as the Strait of Messina In a rocky cave on one side of it dwelt a monster called Scylla that had six heads and six mouths Each mouth could take in a whole man at once Near the other side of the strait was Caribdis a wheelpool that sucked down all ships that came near it Ulysses saw that he could not escape both these dangers and so to avoid Caribdis he steered close to Scylla He ordered his men to roll as fast as they could past the monster's cave and that ship fairly spun through the water but Scylla was also quick darting out all her heads at once she seared six of the crew While she was devouring them the ship sped past her and Ulysses with the rest of his men escaped The hero now wished to continue his voyage without stopping but his comrades were so tired that he agreed to land for the night on the coast of Sicily so they pulled the ship up the sandy shore and soon all were fast asleep In the morning a storm was howling about them It would have been a certain shipwreck to put to sea The storm raged for a whole month and even crafty Ulysses did not know what to do Most of all their provisions began to fail so the sailors made out their minds to kill some of the famous fat cattle belonging to Apollo that were kept upon the island Ulysses had been warned not to kill the animals and ordered his men to leave them alone One day however when he was away his crew killed some of the cattle They lit a fire and were roasting several nice pieces of beef when suddenly all started back in terror The pieces of beef flowed as though they were leaving and the skins of this loaded oxen got up and began to switch their tails and toss their horns and gallop up and down the shore The moment the tempest slowed the men dragged their ship down the shore and pushed off as far as they could They were not far out at sea when suddenly blackness covered the sky and the dreadful squall blew up The ship went to pieces and all the men were drowned except Ulysses who was washed up on the shore of a lonely island The island was the home of the Senev Calypso She treated the ship wrecked hero most kindly and became so fond of him that she kept him with her seven years and promised to make him immortal if he would stay with her always But Ulysses longed for home so at last Calypso led him to the other side of the island and there he saw forests of stately pine trees With the keen bronze axe he soon fell twenty trunks With this he built a raft and bidding farewell to Calypso he set out on his homeward voyage Soon a storm arose Heavy waves dashed over the raft and broke it to pieces The hero clung to unlock and drift on it two days and two nights The wind then lulled and Ulysses seen land near swam to the shore Cold and tired he gathered dry leaves lay down upon them and soon fell asleep He slept all night and all the next morning At noon Nausica the daughter of the king of the island went to the shore with her maidens The talking and laughing awakened Ulysses and the princes on hearing the tale of his shipwreck took him home to her father's palace Here he was royally welcomed and the very next day a ship was made ready and he was sent home to Ithaca When a dawn the ship reached Ithaca Ulysses was so fast asleep that the crew carried him out of the vessel wrapped in a rug on which he was leaping and laid him upon the sandy shore without waking him When he awoke he did not know where he was But the goddess Minerva appeared and told him that he was on his own island of Ithaca and that Penalope, his wife loved him as much as ever Then he climbed the rocky heights of the island and went to the cottage of his swine herd We invited him in Without telling the swine herd who he was he stayed at the cottage that night Next morning there appeared at the swine herd's home Ulysses's son Telemachus who had just come back for a long search for his father Ulysses made himself known to his son and they talked over all that had happened while Ulysses had been so far away More than a hundred men from Ithaca and the neighboring owls had come to Ulysses' palace hoping to marry Penalope For months and years they had stayed at her palace fishing and drinking at her expense and demanding that she marry one of them She told them that she could not wear and she had finished the shroud for her father-in-law who was old and likely to die She had spent years in making the shroud and even yet it was not finished For every night she hadn't done what she had woven during the day The suitors at last discovered the trick that Penalope was playing and refused to be put off any longer They insisted that she must choose one of them for her husband It was while they were doing this that Ulysses reached home He planned a way to punish the suitors He first sent Telemachus to the palace alone to see his mother Then, dressed as a beggar Ulysses followed with the swine herd When he came to the palace gate in rags and tatters no one imagined who he was but his old dog Argo knew him and licked his hand The swine herd led the way into the banquet hall and a few places behind him a beggar leaning upon a staff The swine herd kindly gave him a seat and invited him to eat and drink of the good cheer on the table Hardly had Ulysses seated himself when jasses and insults were heaped upon him by the suitors He wrung the heart of Telemachus to see his father so badly used in his own palace but he kept his temper and waited Not long after Ulysses' arrival Penalope entered the banquet hall She did not know that her husband had returned but me never had told her what to do So she stood beside one of the columns that upheld the roof of the hall and said Here, all who are in this hall of Ulysses you wish to take the place of my husband I bring to you his bowl Whoever among you can bend and string it and with it shoot an arrow through twelve rings him will I wed and him will I follow from this fair home Then the suitors one by one hotly tried to string the bowl and one by one they utterly failed to bend it Ulysses then demanded that he too might try to bend the bowl Amidst nears and laughter he was at length allowed to do so As easily as his skillful player stretches a cord from side to side of the harp so without any effort he stringed the bowl and forthwith through each and all of the twelve rings an arrow winged its way It was followed by another which struck the chief men among the suitors dead Telemachus and two faithful men who had already locked the doors of the hall now lent their aid to Ulysses Arrows flew, swords flashed and clubs resong until all the suitors who had tried to steal his wife and kingdom from Ulysses lay dead on the floor on the banquet hall Penelope's joy was great when she learned that the beggar was her husband and Ulysses is delighted finding that she still loved him made all his weary wanderings seem like a dream End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of Famous Men of Greece This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Christine Famous Men of Greece by John H. Harn and A. B. Poland Chapter 11 Lycurgus About 80 years after the Trojan War the descendants of Hercules with a large band of followers invaded the Peloponnesus or a thousand parts of Greece where Agamemnon and Menelaus had once lived They captured Sparta and made it their capital and after that called themselves Spartans The Spartans made slaves of people who were already living in the country and called them helots or captives The conquerors divided the land among themselves and made the helots work their farms After about 300 years had passed it seems that some of the Spartans had grown rich while others had lost their land and slaves and become poor The Spartans who had lost their property were not willing to work like the slaves and sometimes when they had no bread for their children bands of them marched through the streets of Sparta broke into the houses of the rich and took whatever they could lay their hands on During one of these riots one of the two kings for the Spartans always had two kings with equal power went out of his palace to stop it He tried to persuade the people to go quietly home but they paid no attention to him and a watcher in the crowd rushed up and stabbed him The murdered king left two sons The elder became king but soon died The younger was one of the wisest and best men that ever lived in Greece His name was Lycorgos and after his brother's death everyone wished him to become king But an infant child of the late king was the rightful heir and Lycorgos refused to be anything more than regent For a while he ruled in the young king's name but some people accused him of wishing to make himself king So he gave up the regency and went travelling He visited many lands and studied their plans of government After being absent several years he came back to Sparta There he found that the rich were richer and the poor were poorer and more unhappy than when he went away Everyone turned to him as the only man from whom help could come He persuaded the people to let him make new laws for Sparta The first change that he made was to give every Spartan a vote There was a senate of thirty which might propose laws but all the citizens were called together to pass or reject them Next he persuaded the rich people to divide their land fairly among all the citizens So now no one had more than he needed but everyone had a farm large enough to rise wheat or barley or live a while in wine for his family for a year No Spartan was permitted to work or to engage in any trade but the slaves were divided so that every Spartan had slaves to work for him Besides the Spartans and the slaves there was another class of men living on the lands of Sparta who were not slaves like the hellots and yet not citizens like the Spartans These men were farmers, traders and mechanics They had to pay taxes and fight when caught upon but neither they nor hellots had anything to say about the government There were about ten thousand pure Spartans and about one hundred and forty thousand in the two lower classes So you will see that the political power in Sparta was in the hands of a very few men Their government was what we call an oligarchy which means a government by the few 2. Le Corbus did not wish the Spartans to become traders and grow rich and it is said that he ordered their money to be made of iron This iron money was worthless outside of Sparta so the traders of other countries would not take it in payment for their goods and sold nothing to Spartans In those days soldiers fought chiefly with swords and spears therefore no matter how brave men were they had to have physical strength to win a victory Le Corbus made laws that the men and boys of Sparta should be trained in running, boxing, wrestling, throwing quotes hurling javelins and shooting with balls and arrows The girls had nearly the same training The feeble and deformed were thought by Le Corbus to be useless Infants were therefore examined and those that were weak or deformed were not allowed to live A strong well-formed infant was handed back to its parents with the order bring up this child for Sparta Boys remained at home until they were 7 years old then they were taken in charge by the state to be trained The clothing given them was scanty They went about with their heads and feet bare and slept on hard beds or even on floors with rushes instead of mattress To ditch the boys' temperance helots were sometimes purposely made drunk Thus the boys saw how foolish men became when they drink too much One lesson that every Spartan boy had to learn was to endure pain without flinching Another was that in battle a man might die but must not surrender When the young Spartan was leaving home for the feud of battle his mother would hand him his shield and say come back with this or upon this Likorgos was opposed to all expensive ways of living He thought that luxury was a waste of money and made men weak and effeminate He made a law that the men should not take their meals at home but in a public dining hall and there only the simplest kind of food was said before them bread, cheese, olive oil and a kind of black broth that was probably made of black beans Figs and grapes served for dessert It is said that some rich people were very angry because they had to eat at the public tables and that one young man stoned Likorgos A great change came over the Spartans after they had adopted the new laws and ways of living Instead of being a nation of idlers they became so strong and brave that when there was talk of building a wall around the city Likorgos said, Spartan citizens are her walls When Likorgos saw what improvement had been made he told the people that he was going on a long journey He made them promise that they would not change his laws until he returned He never returned When the Spartans felt sure that he was dead they built a temple in his owner and worshiped him as a god He left Sparta about 825 BC and his laws were not changed for several hundred years They made Sparta the greatest military state in Greece