ATHENODORUS. 



13 



Aihenodo- manner, " I haw need of your assistance still longer :" 

 rus - and he kept him for another year. 



> %'"' On his departure he seems to have been invested 

 with some authority over his native country ; for, on 

 his arrival, he took an active part in the government 

 of Tarsus : he reformed abuses, expelled one^Boetus 

 and his partizans, introduced a new code of laws, and 

 obtained from Augustus an exemption from certain 

 taxes which oppressed the inhabitants ; for which 

 service he was honoured by his countrymen with an 

 annual festival. He is said to have died at the age 

 of 82. He wrote concerning the ocean and its tides ; 

 and is thought to have written a history of his own 

 country : but all his works have perished. 



There were several other writers of the same name, 

 particularlv a famous Stoic philosopher, surnamed 



Cordylio. He kept the great library at Pergamus, Athenodo- 

 where he continued till he arrived at a considerable s ' 

 age. Cato the Younger, being in Asia at the head ' 



of his army, wished above all things to have the 

 countenance of this great man ; but fearing that a 

 letter would not answer the purpose, he went to Per- 

 gamus in person, and prevailed, with some difficulty, 

 on the old philosopher to quit his retirement. Cato 

 returned to his camp with an air of triumph on the 

 acquisition of Athenodorus to his party, which he 

 deemed of more consequence than a victory. 



See Strab. 1. xiv. Plut. de fraterno amore; de 

 Apothegm, et in vita Caton. Minoris. Cedrenus, 

 I list or. Comp. p. 172. Diet, de Bayle. Fabr. Bibl. 

 Grcec. 1. iii. c. 15. Brucker's Hist. Philos. by En- 

 field, v. ii. (e) / 



ATHENS, 



Athens. One of the most celebrated cities of Greece, and of 

 ^~^r~' the ancient world. This distinction is derived, not 

 merely from political greatness and military power, 

 but from the arts and sciences, which were indebted 

 to her, either for their origin, or their perfection. 

 Athens, properly, is only the capital of Attica, a 

 description of which will be found under its proper 

 head. But as the name of the city has greatly 

 eclipsed that of the territory to which it is attached, 

 and as the inhabitants have always borne the appella- 

 tion of Athenians, we shall give, under the present 

 head, a sketch of the various fortunes of that renown- 

 ed people. 

 Early his- Concerning the early inhabitants of this country, 

 we are almost wholly destitute of information. De- 

 void of arts and letters, they left no memorials of 

 their existence, or of those rude incidents by which 

 their history may have been diversified. Their con- 

 dition, probably resembled that which we now see in 

 the savages of North and South America. 



Even after Athenian history begins to emerge from 

 this profound obscurity, the events which distinguish 

 it are, for a long time, exceedingly scanty and doubt- 

 ful. It may not be uninteresting, however, to take 

 a rapid . survey, even of these imperfect traditions ; 

 since they throw some light on the origin and pro- 

 gress of the political constitution of Athens, and 

 some also on the invention of the useful arts, the most 

 important of which are, by the uniform voice of his- 

 tory, referred to this period. 

 Reign of The first king of Athens, of whom we have any 



Ogyges. mention, is Ogyges, from whom Attica received the 

 name of Ogygia. He himself, or another of the 

 same name, is supposed also to have reigned over 

 Bceotia. His reign seems to have been distinguished 

 by a variety of religious institutions, by the aid of 

 :ch he probably sought, like most other early le- 

 gislators, to strengthen the ties of civil authority. 

 He founded Eleusis, so famous for the mystic rites 

 which were celebrated there; and it was in his reign 

 that Minerva first became the tutelar deity of Athens. 

 A. C. l'i5C. It ' a aho marked by an inundation, which was pro- 

 ductive of great calamities to Attica. 



During the 300 years which elapsed from this 



Athens. 



period to the reign of Cecrops, the history of Attica 

 is buried in complete obscurity. It is even doubtful 

 whether it was then governed by kings, or was not 

 involved in a state of anarchy. According to the of Cc- 

 most prevailing opinion, Cecrops came about the crops, 

 year 1556 A. C. from Egypt, a country then far sur- 

 passing Greece in opulence and civilization. Either 

 by marrying the daughter of the preceding monarch, 

 or by the favour of the people, he became the so- 

 vereign and legislator of Athens. He enlarged it 

 greatly, converting the former town into a citadel, 

 which ever after retained from him the name of Ce- 

 cropia. He instituted marriage, which had not be- 

 fore been regulated by any fixed laws, and prohibited 

 polygamy. Like other early legislators, he esta- 

 blished a variety of religious ceremonies ; introduced 

 the worship of Ops and Saturn, and augmented that 

 of Jupiter and Minerva. He was succeeded by 

 Cranaus, a wealthy citizen, who is supposed to have 

 married his daughter. Cranaus, however, after a short 

 reign, was driven from the throne by his son-in-law, 

 Amphictyon. He had a son Rharus, by whom Ceres, 

 in her wandering search of her daughter Proserpine, 

 is said to have been received, and, in gratitude, , to 

 have taught his nephew Triptolemus the art of raising 

 grain. Without stopping to enquire into the degree 

 of truth which this relation may possess, we may 

 probably hence infer, that agriculture was, about 

 this period, introduced into Attica. Either Amphic- 

 tyon, or a near relation of his, is understood to have 

 taken the lead in forming that general assembly of 

 Greece, so celebrated under the name of Amphic- 

 tyonic. Amphictyon first dedicated the city to Mi- 

 nerva, and from her gave it the name of Athens. He 

 is said to have introduced and inculcated the practice 

 of diluting wine with water. The invention of wine 

 is referred nearly to this period ; and we may sup- 

 pose its first introduction to have been attended with 

 disorders, which it was the object of this regula- 

 tion to check. Amphictyon, after a reign of ten 

 years, was deposed by Erichthonius, the reputed son of 

 Vulcan. He is said to have been the inventor of 

 horse and chariot races. His successor was Pandion 

 I., celebrated Li fable for the misfortunes of his 



