120 HORSE-BACK RIDING, 



origin from the divine steeds, presented to Zeus by 

 Jupiter himself. 



Such legends are incontrovertible evidence that in 

 those days a fine horse was something extraordinary 

 and of almost priceless value. 



Chariots were introduced into Greece at nearly the 

 same epoch as horses. Cicero, with due respect for 

 immortal powers, attributes their invention to Mi- 

 nerva, ^schylus to Prometheus, Theon, the scholi- 

 ast of Aratus, to a certain Trochilus ; but common 

 opinion, which Virgil follows, assigns the honor to 

 Eruthonius. After Pelops, Amythaon, son of Cre- 

 theus, and cousin-german of Endymion, again af- 

 forded to the Greeks the pleasing and ever-welcome 

 spectacle of Olympic games. After him, Pelias and 

 Meleus celebrated them at their joint expense; then 

 Augeas, and finally Hercules, son of Amphitryon, 

 when he had completed the conquest of Elis. We 

 cannot doubt that at all these celebrations, horse and 

 chariot races bore a prominent part, especially at the 

 last, where we are told that Janus, the Arcadian, 

 gained the prize for horse-racing, and lolaus, the 

 voluntary companion of the labors of Hercules, car- 

 ried off the chariot prize, and was crowned by the 

 hand of Hercules himself, whose mares he had bor- 

 rowed for the occasion. 



According to Pausanias, it was a convenient 

 fashion of those days to borrow horses that had ac- 

 quired a reputation for extraordinary swiftness. 



