THE GREEK RIDING-HORSE. 99 



in these the wildness or the savageness of 

 the animal is generally brought out, showing 

 itself often in a bloody revenge taken by the 

 steed upon the warrior who has killed his 

 rider, or in absolute refusal on the part of 

 the horse to be mounted by any save his 

 accustomed rider. There is, in fact, nothing 

 to show that the Greek ever made a friend 

 of his horse, least of all that there was ever 

 between them that beautiful relation which 

 is so common between horse and man in 

 Arabian tales. Even the poets, from Homer 

 down, did not appreciate what might be 

 made of it. Witness the answer of Achilles 

 to his horse Xanthus when the noble animal 

 did his best to warn his master: ** Xanthus, 

 why prophesiest thou my death? Nowise 

 behooveth it thee;" and he puts him off 

 with scarcely less harshness than that of 

 Balaam to his ass.^° Xenophon probably 

 comes as near to loving the horse as any 

 Greek ever did, and no modern humanitarian 

 was ever more earnest in urging over and 

 over again the principle of treating horses 

 with kindness. His precept, ''Never deal 

 with the horse when you are in a passion," 



