Greece. 
First inha- * 
bitants of 
» Greece. 
460 
of which the only history is contained in the poems of 
the Iliad and Odyssey. The third, reaching from the 
death of Homer to the death of Lycurgus, B. C. about 
700; a period of another 100 years, which may be de- 
which 
nominated “ the era of revolutions,” and 
- scarcely any species of history exists. The fourth, reach- 
ing from the time of Lycurgus to the first invasion of 
Greece by Persia, B. C. 490; a period of 210 years, 
which may be termed “ the era of traditionary history,” 
possessing a considerable degree of credibility. 
The second, “the period of authentic history,” ex- 
tends from the first invasion of Greece by the Persians, 
B. C..490, to its final subjugation by the Romans, B. C. 
°146; a period of 341 years, the history of which, lumi- 
> nous and connected beyond that of any other portion of 
’ Pagan antiquity, has been recorded by writers of the 
greatest ability, who were contemporary with the events 
which they relate, and in which many of them bore a 
« distinguished part. These writers were all Greeks, and 
some degree of national partiality may be suspected to 
‘have guided their narrations; but their number, and 
their connection with different states, renders them in 
some measure ‘checks upon one another. This period, 
also, may be subdivided into four portions, distinguish- 
ed rather by political than historical characteristics. 
The first, reaching from the Persian invasion, B.C. 4.90, 
to the commencement of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 
430 ; a period of 60 years, the era of Grecian unanimi- 
ty and triumphs. The second, reaching from the begin- 
ning of the Peloponnesian war, to the accession of Philip 
of Macedon, B. C. 360; a period of 70 years, the era of 
civil wars and intestine commotions among the states 
of Greece. The third, reaching from the accession-of 
Philip to the death of Alexander the Great, B. C. 323; 
a period of 37 years, distinguished by the entire ascen- 
dancy of Greece over Persia, and its own partial subjec- 
tion to the foreign dominion of Macedonia. The fourth 
reaching from the death of Alexander, to the final sub- 
_ jugation of the Grecian states by the Romans, B. C, 146; 
a period of 177 years, during the greater part of which 
.the destinies of Greece were directed by foreign influ- 
ence, and were placed successively under the protection 
of Macedonia, Egypt, and Rome. ; 
The early history of Greece, like that of most other 
countries, is involved in obscurity and fable. Its ori- 
ginal inhabitants, generally considered as the descend- 
ants of Javan, son of Japhet, appear to have led a mi- 
gratory and savage life, sheltering themselves in -caves 
and huts, feeding upon acorns, clothing themselves with 
skins, and gradually associating in small bodies for their 
mutual support against the wild beasts of the woods 
and mountains, by which they were everywhere sur- 
rounded. Many different wandering hordes, of whom 
the Greek writers give no satisfactory account, seem to 
‘have successively overrun the country ; sometimes mix- 
-ing with the ancient inhabitants, and sometimes driving 
them from their possessions. These, in their turn, ex- 
pelled and plundered others ; and a state of petty pira- 
tical warfare characterised the first ages of every Gre- 
cian settlement. These plundering excursions became 
so general, that all the shores, both of the continent and 
the islands, are said to have been deserted, and the 
lands cultivated only at a considerable distance from 
the sea. From this state of barbarism, the inhabitants 
Visited ana Of Greece began to emerge at _an earlier peried than 
civilized by those of any other country in Europe; and this advan- 
fofeigners, tage they seem to have owed entirely to their commu- 
* The chronology of Sir Isaac Newton is here followed. 
GREECE. 
nication with the civilized nations of the East. Its 
islands were visited by the Phenician navigators, who 
introduced the knowledge of the precious metals, A 
people, named Pelasgi, apparently from Asia, extended 
their dominion over all the northern parts of the coun« 
try; and various contemporary colonies from Egypt, 
(of whose migration the cause is not known, but for 
which the supposition of some political revolution may 
easily account, ) appear to have founded the principal 
Grecian states. 
have been occupied, and its inhabitants enslaved. 
some of these adventurers, first attained a considerable 
degree of civilization under Minos, above 1000 years 
before the Christian era;* and became the general 
fountain of legislation and jurisprudence to the other 
settlements. Of these; Sicyon and Argos are consider- 
ed as the most ancient, and as having been founded 
nearly at the same time, about 80 years before the reign 
of Minos, and 1080 before the Christian era. : 
Sicyon, till a very late period, had little influence in ¢: 
the affairs of Greece ; and its early history is as unin- 
teresting as it is uncertain, AXgialeus is mentioned as 
its first 5 Ling but the list of his successors rests on no 
autHority, and is not worthy of being transcribed. | It 
seems to have been soon Caeuae by the neighbourin, 
state of Corinth, which was noted, even in the days of 
Homer, for its commercial wealth. Among its early 
princes are numbered Sisyphus, Glaucus, and Bellero- 
phon, whose exploits present a subject for poetry rather 
than materials for history. But the city of Argos, if not 
actually the oldest in Greece, was the firs 
political eminence; and was founded by Inachus, or 
by his son Phoroneus, who is considered as having 
been the contemporary and brother of A®gialeus, the 
first king of Sicyon. Io, the daughter of one of the 
Argive princes, having been carried away to 
her descendant Danaus, afterwards arriving at Argos, 
claimed the sovereignty, and extending his power over 
the whole of Peloponnesus, the inhabitants (called Pe« 
lasgi before his arrival) received from him the name of 
Danai. - Perseus, one of his descendants, and the first 
Grecian who is celebrated as a warrior, founded the 
city of Mycenz, which became for some time the capi- 
tal of Argolis; but soon afterwards lost its pre-emi- 
nence. Contemporary with Perseus was Pelops, son 
of Tantalus, King of Phrygia, who, being driven from 
his native land A unsuccessful war, came with im- 
mense treasures into Greece; and, being sccompenie 
a band of Achaians from Thessaly, established himse' 
in Laconia. Marrying Hippodameia, daughter of the 
chief of Pisa, he succeeded to the sovereignty of that 
territory ; and, by his numerous family connections, as 
well as able conduct, uired so much influence 
throughout the peninsula, that it derived from him the 
name of Peloponnesus. His daughter Astydameia was 
united in marriage with Sthenelus, the son of Perseus ; 
and their son Eurystheus was the prince so often men- 
tioned in Grecian fable as the rival and persecutor of his 
kinsman Hercules. Pursuing the children and adhe-« 
rents of that deceased hero into Attica, he was slain in 
battle, and succeeded in the sovereignty of Argos by 
his uncle Atreus, who, uniting in his person the claims 
of both the houses of Perseus and Pelops, extended his 
authority over all Peloponnesus,, and transmitted the 
Argian sceptre in its greatest glory to his son or grand- 
son \zamemnon, Lacedemon, or Sparta; concerning 1 r¢¢ 
the origin of which there is no certain memorial, 
The island of Crete, which seems to Cre a 
Cori 
t that acquired Argo 
