More commonly known as the "Venus of Milo." The statue was discovered in 1820 A.D. on the island of Melos. It consists of two principal pieces, joined together across the folds of the drapery. Most art critics date this work about 100 B.C. The strong, serene figure of the goddess sets forth the Greek ideal of female loveliness.

The Greeks made their gods and goddesses after themselves. The Olympian divinities are really magnified men and women, subject to all human passions and appetites, but Conceptions possessed of more than human power and endowed of the deities with immortality. They enjoy the banquet, where they feast

Found in an Etruscan grave in 1844 A.D. A black-figured terra cotta vase of about 600 B.C. It is nearly three feet in height and two and one-half feet in diameter. figures on the vase depict scenes from Greek mythology.

The

on nectar and ambrosia; they take part in the struggles of the battle field; they marry and are given in marriage. The gods, morally, were no better than their worshipers. They might be represented as deceitful, dissolute, and cruel, but they could also be regarded as upholders of truth and virtue. Even Homer could say, "Verily the blessed gods love not evil deeds, but they reverence justice and the righteous acts of men." 1

Greek ideas of the other world were dismal to an extreme.

1 Odyssey, xiv, 83-84.

Ideas of the other world

The after-life in Hades was believed to be a shadowy, joyless copy of the earthly existence. In Hades the shade of great Achilles exclaims sorrowfully, "Nay, speak not comfortably to me of death. Rather would I live on earth as the hireling of another,

VVVVVVVV even with a landless man who had

no great livelihood, than bear

sway among all the dead." It
was not until several centuries
after Homer that happier notions
of the future life were taught, or
at least suggested, in the Eleusin-
ian mysteries.2

25. Religious Institutions:
Oracles and Games

The Greeks believed that communications from the gods were

CONSULTING THE ORACLE AT

DELPHI

The oracle of Apollo at Delphi in Phocis enjoyed the utmost veneration. It lay within a deep cave on the rocky side of Mount Parnassus. Out of a chasm rose a volcanic vapor which had a certain intoxicating power. The Pythia, or prophetess of Apollo, sat on a tripod over the steaming cleft and inhaled the gas. The words she uttered in delirium were supposed to come from the god. They were taken down by the attendant priests, written out in verse, and delivered to the suppliants.

The fame of Apollo as the patron of inspiration and prophecy spread throughout Greece and penetrated to foreign lands. Inquiries at Every year thousands of visitors made their way the oracle to Apollo's shrine. Sick men prayed for health, childless men prayed for offspring. Statesmen wished to learn the fate of their political schemes; ambassadors sent by kings

1 Odyssey, xi, 488-491.

See page 227.

and cities sought advice as to weighty matters of peace and war. Above all, colonists came to Delphi in order to obtain directions as to the best country in which to settle. Some of the noblest cities of the Greek world, Cyrene and Byzantium, for example,1 had their sites fixed by Apollo's guidance.

The priests who managed the oracle and its responses were usually able to give good advice to their inquirers, because news of every sort streamed into Delphi. When Character of the priests were doubtful what answer to give, the responses the prophecy of the god was sometimes expressed in such ambiguous fashion that, whatever the outcome, neither Apollo nor his servants could be charged with deceit. For instance, when Croesus, the Lydian king, was about to attack Cyrus, he learned from the oracle that "if he warred with the Persians he would overthrow a mighty empire" 2- but the mighty empire proved to be his own.3

Athletic games were held in different parts of Greece from a remote period. The most famous games were those in honor of Zeus at Olympia in Elis. They took place The Olymevery fourth year, in midsummer.1 A sacred pian games truce was proclaimed for an entire month, in order that the thousands of spectators from every part of Greece might arrive and depart in safety. No one not of Greek blood and no one convicted of crime or of the sin of impiety might participate in the contests. The candidates had also to prove that they were qualified for the severe tests by a long and hard training. Once accepted as competitors, they could not withdraw. The man who shrank back when the hour of trial arrived was considered a coward and was punished with a heavy fine.

The games occupied five days, beginning with the contests in running. There was a short-distance dash The contests

through the length of the stadium, a quarter-mile

race, and also a longer race, probably for two or three miles.

2 Herodotus, i, 53.

3 See page 37.

1 See pages 88, 90. The first recorded celebration occurred in 776 B.C. The four-year period between the games, called an Olympiad, became the Greek unit for determining dates. Events were reckoned as taking place in the first, second, third, or fourth year of a given Olympiad.

Then followed a contest consisting of five events: the long jump, hurling the discus, throwing the javelin, running, and wrestling. It is not known how victory in these five events

THE DISCUS THROWER (DISCOBOLUS)

Lancelotti Palace, Rome Marble copy of the bronze original by Myron, a sculptor of the fifth century B.C. Found in 1781 A.D. on

taken together was decided. In the long jump, weights like dumb-bells were held in the hands, the swing of the weights being used to assist the spring. The discus, which weighed about twelve pounds, was sometimes hurled more than one hundred feet. The javelin was thrown either by the hand alone or with the help of a thong wound about the shaft and held in the fingers. In wrestling, three falls were necessary for a victory. The contestants were free to get their grip as best they could. Other contests included boxing, horse races, and chariot races. Women were apparently excluded from the games, yet they were allowed to enter horses for the races and to set up statues in honor of the victors.

The Olympian festival was pro

the Esquiline Hill, Rome. The stat- foundly religious, because the dis

ue represents a young man, perhaps an athlete at the Olympian games, who is bending forward to hurl the discus. His body is thrown vio

lently to the left with a twisting action that brings every muscle into play.

The victor's
reward

play of manly strength was thought to be a spectacle most pleasing to the gods. The winning athlete received only a wreath of wild olive at Olympia, but at home he enjoyed the gifts and veneration of his fellow-citizens. Poets celebrated his victories in noble odes. Sculptors reproduced his triumphs in stone and bronze. To the end of his days he remained a distinguished man.

There were few Greeks who at least once in their lives did not attend the festival. The crowds that gathered before and after