Greece
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Greece. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a kingdom of southeastern Europe; bounded by Albania, Jugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, the Black, Ægean, Ionian, and Mediterranean Seas; capital, Athens, with a population of about 300,000 (including Piræus). Greece gained greatly in territorial area as a result of the redistribution of territory tory at the Peace Conference in Paris. In addition to the acquisition of Thrace and numerous islands in the Ægean Sea, Greece also assumed the administration of the Smyrna district of Asia Minor, with a proviso that a plebiscite be held at the end of five years to determine whether or not it shall remain permanently in Greek hands. The acquisition of new territories obtained as a result of the war with Turkey, from October 17, 1912, to May 30, 1913, and with Bulgaria, from June 30 to August 10, 1913, gave the country a total area of 41,933 square miles. There were added as a result of the World War, Bulgarian or western Thrace, Macedonia, and the Ægean Islands, with the exception of Imbros, Tenedos and Castellorizzo, which according to the terms of the Peace Treaty are to be returned to Turkey. The population of the added territory is about 2,000,000 and of the old territory about 2,700,000; population of the kingdom about 4,821,300. Topography. - Greece forms the S. extremity of the Balkan peninsula and numerous outlying islands. The coast line is very extensive, being formed by numerous gulfs and bays, of which the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs nearly meet at the Isthmus of Corinth, separating northern Greece from Morea. The surface is very mountainous. In the N. are the Cambunian Mountains, with Mount Olympus (9,754 feet) at the E. extremity. A range called Mount Pindus runs N. and S. parallel to both coasts, with many smaller ranges branching off in all directions. The rivers are small, and as a rule mere mountain torrents, none of them being navigable. Production and Industry. - Greece is mainly an agricultural country, although only about one-fifth of the total area is suitable for cultivation. The deforestation of the country has gone on steadily for years, and this has greatly decreased the area that could profitably be devoted to agriculture. The land is to a large extent in the hands of peasant proprietors, and metayer farmers. Agriculture on the whole is in a backward state. The chief cereals grown are wheat, barley, rye, maize, and mezlin. The total area under cultivation in 1919 was 2,029,000 acres. The favorite crop is currant, the yield of which in 1919 was 145,000 tons. Olives are also of great importance. The production of olive oil in 1918 was 31,702,800 gallons, and the tobacco crop in the same year amounted to 48,699,000 pounds. In 1919 the tobacco crop was 57,198,455 pounds. The yield of wine in 1918 was 10,566,800 gallons, while the nut crop was about 5,000,000 pounds. The principal fruits grown are figs, oranges, mandarins, and in . lemons. Rice is cultivated Macedonia Cheese and other dairy products also form part of the agricultural industry. There were in 1917 2,218 factories, employing 36,124 wage earners, with products valued at 260,363,647 drachmai. (A drachmai equals $0.193.) The production of cotton goods is the leading industry. There were in 1917 128,225 spindles and 16,965 looms. Mineral Production. - There is a considerable variety of mineral deposits which include iron, copper, zinc, lead, silver, manganese, aluminum, antimony, tin, nickel, etc. The laurium district of Thessaly and the Ægean Islands yield and earth. The a large output of ores chief mineral products in 1917 were as follows: iron, 63,364 tons; magnesite, 162,938 tons; salt, alt, 45,560 tons; lead, 36,558 tons; zinc, 14,290 tons. The production of lignite coal in 1917 was 157,956 tons. Commerce. The total imports in 1917 were valued at $39,440,692, compared with a value in 1916 of $77,091,696. The chief articles of import are agricultural products, chemical products, cotton yarns and fabric, paper products and sugar. The exports in 1917 amounted to $21,191,911, compared with $32,852,564 in 1916. The chief exports are agricultural products, metals and minerals, oil and oil substances, and animal prodwith the ucts. The chief United Kingdom, France and Italy. The imports of Greece from the United States for the fiscal year 1920 were valued at $48,707,778, while the exports to the United States amounted to $1,- 953,756. Communication. There are in Greece about 1,400 miles of railway. Prior to the war with Turkey in 1912-13, Greece was completely isolated by land from the rest of Europe, but in 1916 a railroad was completed between Gida on the Saloniki-Monastir line, and Papapuli on the Thessalian frontier, a distance of 56 miles, by which Greece was joined with the European railroads. In 1920 projects for new lines to the extent of 400 miles were under consideration. There are about 17,347 miles of telegraph wire and about 7,002 miles of telephone. Finance. The revenue in 1919 was £45,908,000, and the expenditure £61,- 656,000. The external debt of Greece in December 31, 1919, was £41,916,520. In 1918 the governments of Great Britain, United States, and France agreed to advance to Greece about £30,000,000, the control of which was lodged in 'a financial and military commission. Practically all this sum was loaned to Greece. Education. Education is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 12 years, but the law is not well enforced. The percentage of illiteracy is high. There are about 7,000 primary schools and about 9,000 teachers. For 9,000 secondary education there are about 75 high schools and about 425 middle schools, with about 60,000 pupils. There are agricultural schools, trade schools, and commercial schools. The universities are those of Athens, the National University, and the Capodistria University. The annual appropriation for education is about 10,000,000 drachmai. Government. The government is a constitutional monarchy, the present constitution dating fro from 1864. The executive power is vested in the king and a ministry of 9 departments, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Communication, Education, Economy, Agriculture, Assistance, Finance, and Justice. The legislative authority is vested in a chamber, called the Boulé, consisting of 316 members, elected by universal suffrase for a term of four suff years, and in the Council of State. The Boulé meets annually for a term of not less than three nor more than six months. History. The Greek nation boasts of the highest antiquity, and in the early and mythic period of their history it is almost impossible to separate fable from fact. The Pelasgi were the first inhabitants, succeeded by the Hellenes. suc Having gained the advantage over the Pelasgi, and driven them to the islands, they peopled the continent with their own nation, who were divided into four tribes, viz., Æolians, Dorians, Ionians, and Achaians. The Hellenes spread in different directions over the country, and were soon joined by colonists from Egypt and Phoenicia. The first constitution of Greek cities is beyond the reach of exact history; but it seems THE ACADEMY AT ATHENS that monarchy was the earliest form; and Sicyon is stated to have founded 2000 B. C. Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth, and Argos. Of the mythic or heroic period, the principal events are the siege of Thebes, and the Trojan war, commencing 1198 B. C. The confusion arising from the latter event deprived many kingdoms of their princes, and encouraged the ambition of the Dorian heraclidæ to such an extent that they enslaved or expelled the inhabitants of the Peloponnesus. A fresh impu.se was given thereby to emigration; large bodies of people crossed the Ægean, and colonized the shores of Asia Minor; and as the governments changed with the rulers, the states of Greece now ban to partake of that republican term which afterward their peculiar was characteristic. The civil policy of Sparta and Athens, the growing power of which latter now began to lessen the influence of the other states, military knowledge, the arts of refinement and politics, advanced rapidly, and the quick and sensitive Greeks carried refinement of manners to an extent not yet exceeded in modern times. They had at the same time an extensive commerce with Gaul, Italy, and Sicily. Their enterprise and love of liberty bore them successfully through all the troubles of the Persian war, 469 B. c.; but from the same reasons they became involved in intestine feuds. The Peloponnesian war, which lasted 30 years (ending 404 b. c.), destroyed their union, and paved the way for Philip of Macedon, who (338 B. C.) gained the decisive battle of Cheronæa, and thus became master of Greece. The brilliant conquests of Alexander engaged them for a few years; but their courage was now enervated, and their love of liberty almost extinguished. When the Achaian league proved a vain defense against the kingdom of Macedon, Greece was utterly unable to contend with the arms of Rome; and after a brief contest, ending with the battle of Corinth (146 b. c.), the entire country became an integral portion of the Roman empire. From the Roman conquest in 146 B. c., Greece was held as a dependency of the BYZANTINES (q. v.), the Franks, and the Turks till 1821, when the war of independence began with a revolt in the Danubian provinces. In January, 1822, the first National Assembly met in Epidarus and framed a provisional constitution. In the same year occurred the massacre in Scio, by the Turks, reducing the population from 100,000 to 1,800. The Greek navy was exceedingly successful under the two daring Admirals Miaoulis and Canaris, the latter of whom set fire to the Turkish admiral's flagship in the midst of the night at Tjesme, opposite the island of Chios, and destroyed several other Turkish men-of-war. In 1823 the Greeks captured the Turkish camp at Carpenesion, but in 1826 the Turks captured Missolonghi, its starving garrison having cut its way through the Turkish camp, and besieged Athens, receiving its surrender in June, 1827. About this time England, France, and Russia decided to intervene and sent their fleets, composed of a dozen vessels of each nation, to the port of Navarino, in the W. part of the Morea, to enforce an armistice. The Turkish and Egyptian fleets, composed of about 120 men-of-war, were anchored in that port. The Turks having fired on a boat with a flag of truce, killing a British officer, Oct. 20, 1826, the allied fleet opened fire on the Turko-Egyptian fleet and destroyed it completely, with a fearful loss of life. After this the Sultan became more pliable, and negotiations began among the Great Powers about the final status of Greece, which resulted in the establishment of the Greek kingdom by the treaty of London in 1830. At the close of the war Prince John of Saxony was offered the throne of Greece; on his refusal it was accepted conditionally by Leopold of Saxe-Coburg (later on King of the Belgians), who soon resigned because he insisted on more extended frontiers of the new kingdom. In 1833 Prince Otho, second son of King Ludwig, of Bavaria, was appointed king, and for 10 years the country was under Bavarian rule without a constitution. On Sept. 15, 1843, an insurrection of the garrison of Athens, under General Kallergis, forced the king to grant a constitution, and a National Assembly was convoked to frame one, which was finally adopted March 16, 1844, enacting the establishment of a House of Representatives, called Boulé, whose members were elected by universal suffrage, and a Senate, whose members were selected by the king for life. But this charter, snatched thus by force from the king, was not honestly carried out, and great dissatisfaction ensued. In 1862, while the king and queen were making a tour in the provinces, a rising took place at Athens, a provisional government composed of three members was elected, and the throne was declared vacant. The royal couple returned to Germany. In December following, Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria, was elected king by universal suffrage. He was ineligible on account of being of the house of one of the protecting powers. In 1863 Prince George, second son of King Christian of Denmark, was appointed king by the protecting powers, and accepted by the people. He arrived in Greece in October, 1863. During his reign the development of Greece in every direction has been rapid. In 1897, owing to the massacres by the Turks in the island of Crete, the Greek Government announced its intention to intervene and landed surreptitiously a regiment of regulars. A war between Turkey and Greece followed, in which Greece was defeated in in Thessaly, Thessa and for a whole year that province was occupied by the Turks, but was evacuated finally by the latter on a payment by Greece of a war indemnity of $19,- 000,000. Later Turkey was forced by the Great Powers to evacuate Crete, and Prince George of Greece was installed by them as high commissioner for governing the island. He resigned result of internal in 1906 as a political disputes in the island and M. Zaimis, formerly Greek Premier, was appointed High Commissioner. Greece, in 1908, following the overthrow of Abdul Hamid, Sultan of Turkey, declared for union with Crete. This was not permitted, however, by the Great Powers. A political crisis was narrowly averted over the Cretan question in Greece, where the people disapproved of tho failure of the government to insist on the inclusion of Crete into Greek territory. Following the Balkan War in 1912-1913, Crete was finally ceded to Greece. Greece came into political conflict with Bulgaria and Rumania over the question of Macedonia, and in 1905 diplomatic relations between Greece and Rumania were severed and were not resumed until 1912. 小 Largely through the effective diplomacy of Venizelos, who for many years was practical political ruler of Greece, the Balkan League was formed in 1912 which successfully prosecuted war against Turkey. The Greek armies performed excellent service in the campaign of this war, especially in the capture of Saloniki. King George, while on a tour of inspection, was assassinated in Saloniki on March 18, 1913, and was succeeded by the Crown Prince Constantine. Grecce received, as a result of this war, all of Thessaly, part of Epirus, and the most valuable portions of Macedonia and Thrace, including Saloniki. She received also also Crete, as noted above. These additions to her territory nearly doubled the area and po population of Greece. The outbreak of the World War in 1914 placed the government of Greece in an especially difficult position. The treaty with Serbia obligated Greece to support the Serbians against any foreign aggression. It was known that Venizelos, the Prime Minister, was in favor of adhering to this treaty when Serbia was attacked by Austria. The King, however, had married a sister of the German Emperor, and his sympathies were strongly with Germany. The Greek Government, at the beginning of the war, assumed a neutral attitude. Bulgaria was negotiating with both ed to th ow her fortunes sides and agreed with the Allies if the territory taken from her as a result of the Second Balkan War should be returned. Venizelos was willing to consider these territorial concessions. The pro-German elements in Greece, however, refused to consider such action. They were furh liny THE PARTHENON ther strengthened by the entrance of Italy into the war on the side of the Entente. For the interests of Italy and Greece clashed in Albania and the islands of the Ægean, and the Greeks believed that some promises had been made to Italy which could be fulfilled only at the cost of Greek ambitions. In January, 1915, the islands of Tenedos and Lemnos were occupied as a base of operations against the Dardanelles. This was done with the consent of Venizelos. This brought the issue sharply to a point in Greece. The general staff declined to support Venizelos, and the King, through the Royal Council, refused to indorse Venizelos' action. He thereupon resigned and was succeeded by Gounaras, who was strongly pro-German. In June, 1915, Venizelos received a popular majority to the National Assembly of 120 seats, and in August the Guonaras Cabinet resigned and the King was obliged to invite Venizelos back into pow- In September the final invasion of er. Serbia by Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian, and German armies began and the Allies wished to send aid through Saloniki. This was done with the consent of Venizelos, who was supported by the National Assembly. The King, however, declared that he could not support this pro-Ally policy and demanded Venizelos' resignation, which was given. He was succeeded by Zaimis and a policy of strict neutrality was again announced. Zaimis was also forced to resign in November as a result of a vote of lack of confidence in the government. The King appointed another of his supporters premier in the person of M. Skouloudis. He at once dissolved the National Assembly, announcing that a general election would be held to indicate the sentiment of the people of Greece. As the soldiers mobilized were not allowed to vote, it would have been impossible to ascertain the will of the people by this method. In the meantime, the Greek authorities, both civil and military, were hampering in every possible way the activities of the Allies, who were preparing to relieve Serbia from the South. On Nov. 19, 1915, French and British warships began a blockade of Greek ports with the object of bringing Greece to terms through economic pressure. The strict embargo established quickly brought the Greek people to the verge of starvation and raised the danger of popular revolution in Athens. Finally the King and the government surrendered, and the Greek army, which had been concentrated around Saloniki, was withdrawn, and the railroad running from Saloniki to the Macedonian front The sympathy of the Greek Government, however, continued to be strictly pro- German, and Venizelos was again in retirement. A general election was held, but the supporters of Venizelos refused to vote. The Bulgarian army on May 26, 1916, crossed the Grecian frontier. The Greek forces offered no resistance and either surrendered to the Bulgarians or retired. It was the belief among the Allied governments that this was the result of a secret agreement between the Greek Premier and Germany. In June, another partial blockade of Greek ports was instituted. This resulted in the partial demobilization of the Greek army. Finally, on June 23, 1916, the Allies demanded complete demobilization, a new cabinet, and the dissolution of the National Assembly. The cabinet resigned and Alexander Zaimis became Prime Minister. The conditions exacted by the Allies were not fully kept. Among the people, Allied sentiment continued to grow, but the government remained firm in its pro-German policy. On Oct. 11, 1916, the Allied warships suddenly seized the larger part of the Greek fleet. This was followed by an attack, on Dec. 2, by Greek soldiers upon French marines stationed at Athens. Venizelos now declared himself in revolt against the King and established himself in Saloniki. The situation remained estranged until during the spring of 1917, on June 12, it was suddenly announced that Constantine had abdicated in favor of his second son, Alexander. This was the result of an ultimatum presented by the Entente nations. On the following day Constantine embarked on a British warship to Italy, going thence to Switzerland, where he remained in retirement until December, 1920. He was accompanied by members of his family. The hostile attitude of Greece now came to an end. Venizelos returned to Athens and was invited by King Alexander to form a new cabinet. On June 29 the Greek Government severed diplomatic relations with the Central nations and prepared to take part in active hostilities. The Greek army rendered valuable service in the operations which followed in the Balkans. In the person of Venizelos, Greece was one of the most active participants at the Peace Conference, and as a result of his policy Greece was awarded large concessions in Macedonia and Thrace. These are described in an earlier portion of this article. A great peace celebration was held in Athens following the deliberations of the Peace Conference, but propaganda to restore Constantine was turned over to the Allied authorities. to the throne was already under way. On Aug. 12 an attempt was made to assassinate Venizelos in Paris. On Oct. 25 King Alexander died as the result of a bite from a pet monkey. Three days later Parliament proclaimed as King his brother Paul, who was at that time with his father at Lucerne. Paul declined the throne, thereby strengthening the conspiracy to bring back the deposed sovereign. An election was held on Nov. 14 and a special plebiscite on Dec. 5, both of which were strongly in favor of the return of Constantine. Despite the protest of the Allies, he returned and was received triumphantly as King. Greece ratified the Bulgarian, Austrian, and German treaties on Feb. 28, 1920. Turkey refused to abide by the conditions of the Sèvres Treaty, by which Greece was awarded portions of former Turkish territory in Asia Minor. The so-called Turkish Nationalists, under the command of Mustapha Pasha, began a campaign in Asia Minor, and the Greek Government undertook to suppress this. Operations were carried on throughout the latter part of 1920 and in 1921, with little definite results. The Allied Supreme Council met in London in March, 1921, and endeavored to compromise the difficulties between Turkey and Greece.
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)
That magic in its widest sense was native to the imagination and genius of the Greeks is apparent in their theogony and mythology, essentially magical in conception and meaning, in their literature, sculpture and history. The natural features of the country appealed powerfully to the quality of their imagination. Mountains and valleys, mysterious caves and fissures, vapours and springs of volcanic origin; groves, these according to their character, were dedicated to the gods. Parnassus was the abode of the sun-god, Apollo; the lovely vale of Aphaca that of Adonis; the oak-groves of Dodona favoured of Greece Zeus, the gloomy caves with their roar of subterranean waters the Oracle of Trophonius. Innumerable instances of magical wonder-working are found in the stories of their deities and heroes. The power of transformation is shown in a multitude of cases, amongst them those of Bacchus who, by waving a spear, could change the oars of a ship into serpents, the masts into heavy-clustered vines, tigers, lynxes and panthers to appear amidst the waves, and the terrified sailors leaping overboard to take the shape of dolphins; in those wrought by Circe who by her magic wand and enchanted philtre turned her lovers into swine. The serpent-staff of Hermes gave, by its touch, life or death, sleep or waking; Medusa's head turned its beholders into stone; Hermes gave Perseus wings that he might fly and Pluto a helmet which conferred invisibility. Prometheus moulds a man of clay and to give it life steals celestial fire from heaven; Odysseus to peer into the future descends to Hades in search of Tiresias the Soothsayer; Achilles is made invulnerable by the waters of the Styx. Dedicated by immemorial belief, there were places where the visible spirits of the dead might be evoked, Heraclea, Acheron, piaces where men in curiosity, in longing or remorse strove to call back for a fleeting moment those who had passed beyond mortal ken. In the month of March, when the spring blossoms broke through the earth and snowed the trees with white, the Festival of the Flowers was held at Athens, also the Commemoration of the Dead, when their spirits were thought to rise from their graves and wander about the familiar streets, striving to enter the dwellings of man and temples of the gods but shut out therefrom by the magic of branches of whitethorn, or by knotted ropes and pitch. Oracles : Of great antiquity and eminently of Greek character and meaning were the Oracles. For centuries they ministered to that longing deeply implanted in human nature the longing to know the future, and to invoke divine foresight and aid in the direction of human affairs, from those of a private citizen to the multitudinous needs of a great state. Divination and prophecy were therefore the great features of the oracles. This was inspired by various means, by intoxicating fumes natural or artificial, by the drinking of mineral springs, by signs and tokens, by dreams. The most famous Oracles were those at Delphi, Dodona, Epidaurus, and that of Trophonius, but others of renown were scattered over the country. Perhaps one of the earliest was that of Aesculapius son of Apollo, and called the Healer, the Dream-sender because his healing was given through the medium of dreams that came upon the applicant while sleeping in the temple-courts, the famous temple-sleep. This temple, situated at Epidaurus, was surrounded by sacred groves and whole companies of sick persons lingered there in search of lost health and enlightment through divine dreams. Famous beyond all was that of Apollo, the Delphian oracle on the Southern Slopes of Parnassus where kings and princes, heroes and slaves of all countries journeyed to ask the questions as to the future and what it might hold for them. The temple was built above a volcanic chasm, amid a wildness of nature which suggested the presence of the unseen powers. Here the priestess, the Pythia, so named after the serpent Pytho whom Apollo slew, was seated on a tripod placed above the gaseous vapours rising from the chasm. Intoxicated to a state of frenzy, her mouth foaming, wild torrents of words fell from her lips, and these were shaped into coherence and meaning by the attendant priests and given to the waiting questioner standing before the altar crowned with laurel, the symbol of sleep and dreams and sacred to Apollo. Priests and priestesses were also crowned with these leaves, and they were burned as incense; before the Pythias chamber hung a falling screen of laurel branches while at the festival of the Septerion every ninth year a bower of laurel was erected in the forecourt of the temple. One writer has left strange details such as the rule that the sacred fire within the temple must only be fed with firwood; and, though a woman was chosen as the medium of the prophetic utterance yet no woman might question the oracle. The Oracle of the Pelasgic Zeus at Dodona, the oldest of all, answered by signs rather than inspired speech, the rustling of the leaves in the sacred groves, by means of lots and the falling of water, by the wind-moved clanging of brazen-bowls, two hollow columns standing side by side. The three priestesses, Peliades, meaning doves, were given titles signifying the Diviner of the future; the friend of man, Virtue: the virgin-ruler of man, Chastity. For two thousand years this oracle existed, from the time when it was consulted by those heroes of the ancient myths, struggling in the toils of Fate, Hercules, Achilles, Ulysses and Aeneas, down to the latest vestiges of Greek nationality. The Oracle of Trophonius was also of great renown. Here there were numerous caverns filled with misty vapours and troubled by the noise of hidden waters far beneath. In this mysterious gloom the supplicants slept sometimes for nights and days, coming forth in a somnambulic state from which they were aroused and questioned by the attendant priests. Frightful visions were generally recounted, accompanied by a terrible melancholy, so that it passed into a proverb regarding a sorrowful man "He has been in the cave of Trophonius." Thus it may be seen that magic in the sense of secret revelations, miraculous cures and prophetic gifts, of abnormal powers, had always existed for the Greeks, the oracles were a purely natural human way of communing with their gods upon earth. But magic in the lower sense of sorcery was unknown till Asiatic and Egyptian influences were introduced. The native conception of Fate as inexorable and inescapable for gods, kings and slaves alike was inimical to the spontaneous growth of a form of magic which had for its primary aim a certain command of the destinities of man. Good and evil and the perpetual strife between these two principles, the belief in demonology, these were foreign to the Greek mind, they were imported. It is said that to the Pythagorean school may be traced the first mention of good and evil demons and not till after the Persian War was there a word in the Greek language for magic. As these foreign beliefs were thus gradually introduced and assimilated they were ascribed to the native deities, gradually becoming incorporated with the ancient histories and rites. After the invasion by the Persians, Thessaly, where their stay was of lengthy duration, became famous for its sorceresses and their practices which embraced a wide thanmaturgical field, from calling down the moon to brewing magical herbs for love or death, so much so that Apuleius in his romance, The Golden Ass, says, that when in Thessaly he was in the place "where, by common report of the world, sorcery and enchantments were most frequent. I viewed the situation of the place in which I was, nor was there anything I saw that I believed to be the same thing which it appeared to be. Insomuch that the very stones in the street I thought were men bewitched and turned into that figure, and the birds I heard chirping, the trees without the walls, and the running waters, were changed from human creatures into the appearances they were. persuaded myself that the statues and buildings could move; that the oxen and other brute beasts could speak and tell strange tidings; that I should hear and see oracles from heaven conveyed in the beams of the Sun." I Sorceresses. - Homer tells the tale of Circe the enchantress, with her magic philtres and magic songs but makes no mention of Medea , the arch-sorceress of later times. Round her name the later beliefs clustered, to her were attributed Greece all the evil arts, she became the witch par excellence, her infamy increasing from age to age. The same may be said of Hecate , the moon-goddess, at first sharer with Zeus of the heavenly powers, but later become an ominous shape of gloom, ruler and lover of the night and darkness, of the world of phantoms and ghouls. Like the Furies she wielded the whip and cord; she was followed by hell hounds, by writhing serpents, by lamiæ, strygæ and empusæ, figures of terror and loathing. She presided over the dark mysteries of birth and death; she was worshipped at night in the flare of torches. She was the three-headed Hecate of the cross-roads where little round cakes or a lizard mask set about with candles were offered to her in propitiation, that none of the phantom mob might cross the threshold of man. Love-magic and death-magic, the usual forms of sorcery became common in Greece as elsewhere. Love philtres and charms were eagerly sought, the most innocent being bitten apples and enchanted garlands. Means of protection against the evil eye became a necessity for tales of bewitchment were spread abroad, and of misfortune and death being brought upon the innocent and unwary by means of a waxen figure moulded in their image and tortured by the sorceress. In tombs and secret places leaden tablets were buried inscribed with the names of foes and victims, pierced through with a nail in order to bring disaster and death upon them. At this time it became law that none who practised sorcery might participate in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and at Athens, a Samian Sorceress, Theoris, was cast to the flames. Orphic Magic. -The introduction of Egyptian influences were due generally to the agency of Orpheus and Pythagoras, who, while in Egypt, had been initiated into the mysteries. The story of Orpheus shows him as pre-eminently the wonder-worker, but one of beneficence and beauty. To men of his time everything was enchantment and prodigy. By the irresistible power of his music he constrained the rocks, trees and animals to follow him, at his behest storms arose or abated. He was the necromancer, who by his golden music overcame the powers of darkness, and descending to the world of shades, found his beloved Eurydice, and but for the fatal and disobedient look into her face ere they gained the upper air would have brought her back to the living world. Jealous women tore him limb from limb, and his head floating down the waters of the Hebrus was cast on the rocky shores of Lesbos where, still retaining the power of speech, it uttered oracles, the guidance of which people from all parts sought, even those of Babylon. He was said to have instructed the Greeks in medicine and magic, and for long afterwards remedies, magical formulæ, incantations and charms were engraved upon Orphean. tablets and the power of healing was ascribed to the Orphean Hymns. Pythagoras, Philosopher and geometrician, to the populace a magician, indefatigable in the pursuit of knowledge, wielded an immense influence on the thought of his time. After his return from Egypt he founded a school where to those who had previously undergone severe and drastic discipline he communicated his wide and varied knowledge. He was also credited with miraculous powers such as being visible at the same hour in places far apart as Italy and Sicily; of taming a bear by whispering in its ear; of calling an eagle from its flight to alight on his wrist. Mysteries. Among the greatest features of religious life were the mysteries held at periodic intervals in connection with the different deities, such as the Samothracian, the Bacchic and most famous of all, the Eleusinian. Their origin is to be traced mostly to a pre-historic nature-worship and vegetation-magic. All these mysteries had three trials or baptisms by water, fire and air, and three specially sacred emblems, the phallus, egg and serpent, generative emblems sacred in all secret rites. The Samothracian centred round four mysterious deities, Axieros the mother, her children Axiocersos, male, Axiocersa, female, from whom sprang Casindos the originator of the universe. The festival probably symbolized the creation of the world, also the harvest and its growth. Connected with this was the worship of Cybele, goddess of the earth, of the cities and fields. Her priests, the Corybantes, dwelt in a cave where they held their ceremonies, including a wild and orgiastic weapon-dance, accompanied by the incessant shaking of heads and clanging of swords upon shields. The cult of Bacchus was said by some to have been carried into Greece from Egypt by Melampus. He is the god of the vine and vegetation, and his mysteries typified the growth of the vine and the vintage; the winter sleep of all plant life and its renewal in spring. Women were his chief attendants, the Bacchantes, who, clashing cymbals and uttering wild cries in invocation of their god, became possessed by ungovernable fury and homicidal mania. Greatest of all in their relation to Hellenic life were the Eleusinian Mysteries. These were the paramountinterest and function of the state religion exerting the widest, strongest influence on people of all classes. The rites were secret and their details are practically unknown, but they undoubtedly symbolised the myth of Demeter, corn-goddess, and were held in spring and September. Prior to initiation a long period of purification and preparation was enforced, during which the higher meaning of the myth was inculcated, the original meaning having become exalted by the genius of the Greeks into an intimate allegory of the soul of man, its birth, life and death, its descent into Hades and subsequent release therefrom. After this there came the central point of the mysteries, the viewing of certain holy and secret symbols; next, a crowning with garlands, signifying the happiness which arises from friendship with the divine. The festival also embodied a scenic representation of the Story of Demeter; the rape of Persephone, the sorrow of the mother, her complaints before Zeus, the final reconciliation. Women played a great part in this, the reason being that as they themselves "produce," so by sympathetic magic their influence was conveyed to the corn, as when crying aloud for rain they looked upward to the skies, then down to the earth with cries of "Conceive!" These priestesses were crowned with poppies and corn, symbolical attributes of the deity they implored. (See article Mysteries.) Divination. Besides the priests and priestesses attached to the different temples there was an order of men called interpreters whose business it was to read futurity by various means such as the flight of birds and entrails of victims. These men often accompanied the armies in order to predict the success or failure of operations during warfare and thus avert the possibility of mistakes in the campaign: they fomented or repressed revolutions in state and government by their predictions. The most celebrated interpreters were those of Elis, where in two or three families this peculiar gift or knowledge was handed down from father to son for generations. But there were others who were authorised by the state-men who traded on the credulity of the rich and poor, women of the lowest dregs of humanity, who professed to read the future in natural and unnatural phenomena, in eclipses, in thunder, in dreams, in unexpected sight of certain animals, in convulsive movement of eyelids, tingling of the ears, in sneezing, in a few words casually dropped by a passer-by. In the literature and philosophies of Greece magic in all its forms is found as theme for imagination, discussion and belief. In the hands of the tragic poets, sorceresses such as Circe and Medea become figures of terror and death, embodiments of evil. Pythagoras left no writings but on his theories were founded those of Empedocles and Plato. Greece In the verses of Empedocles he teaches the theory of re. incarnation, he himself remembering previous existences wherein he was a boy, a girl, a plant, fish and bird. He also claimed to teach the secrets of miraculous medicine, of the re-animation of old age, of bringing rain, storm, or sunshine, of recalling the dead. Aristides the Greek orator gives exhaustive accounts of the many dreams he experienced during sleep in the temples and the cures prescribed therein. Socrates tells of his attendant spirit or genius who warned him, and others through his agency, of impending danger, also foretelling futurity. Xenophon, treating of divination by dreams, maintains that in sleep the human soul reveals her divine nature, and being freed from trammels of the body gazes into futurity. Plato, while inveighing against sorcery, took the popular superstitions relating to magic, demons and spirits and by his genius purified and raised them, using them as a basis for a spiritual and magical theory of things, unsurpassed for intellectual beauty. On his teaching was founded the school of Neo-Platonists who were among the most fervid defenders of magic. Aristotle states that prediction is a purely natural quality of the imagination, while Plutarch in his writings, wherein much may be found on magic and dreams, gives an exhaustive account or the somnambulic states of the oracular priestess, Pythia, attributing them to possession by the divinity. K.N.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a kingdom of modern Europe. It occupies the southern part of the Balkan peninsula and a number of adjacent islands. The southwestern portion is a peninsula, known as the Peloponnesus. It is connected with the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. In proportion to its area, Greece has a greater extent of seacoast than any other country of Europe. There are granitic rocks in the northern portion, but the greater part of the country is composed of hills of limestone. In places this limestone has been changed into exquisite marble. There are mines of iron, zinc, copper, lead, and silver. Coal of the variety known as lignite is mined. Salt, gypsum, sulphur, pumice, and an excellent quality of emery are exported. CLIMATE. There is considerable diversity of climate. The upland regions have long, cold winters and hot summers. Districts near the sea have a milder and a more even climate. The soil of Greece, being composed of crumbling limestone, is fertile. Rain is lacking in the summer time. The country was once covered with forests but they have long since disappeared. Vales once described in literature as delightful shady glens are now rocky runs open to the glare of the sun. At a certain height above the sea level, oak groves set in. Over 8,000 tons of acorn cups are collected annually for use in tanning. Like those of Switzerland, the mountains of Greece, especially Mt. Hymettus, are noted for honey, figs, olives, and wine. PRODUCTS. Grapes thrive. The chief export crop is the small grape, which, when dried, produces the peculiar raisin known in commerce as a currant, from the city of Corinth, whence it was chiefly exported. Over $1,000,000 worth of currants are sent abroad each year. Among other exports are sponges, fish, butter, hides, olive oil, olives, soap, dynamite, powder, yarn, woolen and cotton cloth, silk, leather, thread, and glass. In the northeastern district, known as Thessaly, there are fertile plains producing about 7,000,000 bushels of wheat annually. The chief domestic animals are cattle, sheep, and goats. The coin of commerce is the drachma (plural drachmae). It is equivalent in value to the franc, being worth about nineteen cents, or, roughly speaking, five to the dollar. CIVILIZATION. The Greeks were the most celebrated people of antiquity. Their civilization was later than that developed in the valleys of the Nile and of the Euphrates, but it preceded that of Rome. The origin of the Greeks is wrapped in obscurity. The early ruling element is believed to have been a people of German or Teutonic origin, who came down from the north, overthrew the cities of the native population, and made the early inhabitants serfs or helots, as they were known. The Greeks called themselves Hellenes and the territory they occupied Hellas. They called outsiders barbarians or babblers; that is to say, people whose language could not be understood. The term Hellas included not only the peninsula now known as Greece, but adjacent parts of Asia Minor . For the prehistoric period of Greece, the reader is referred to the articles on the legends of TROY and the GOLDEN FLEECE , and to ARGONAUTS, MYCENAE, ACHILLES, HERUCLES, HOMER, ILIAD and ODYSSEY. EARLY HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT. Greek history begins to emerge from the mists about 1,000 B. C. The Greeks were never a nation in the modern sense of the word. There were four divisions, the Aeolians, Dorians, Achaeans, and Ionians. The chief city of the Dorians was Sparta, that of the Ionians, Athens. These divisions or races, as they were sometimes called, were subdivided into petty states. The state consisted of a city and its surrounding territory. The agricultural land belonged to owners who resided in the cities. Cultivation was carried on chiefly by helots. When a city became overpopulated, the inhabitants swarmed like bees from a hive and established a new and independent city. In this way Greek civilization spread eastward over the isles of the Aegean, along the shores of the Bosporus, and the Black Sea , and along the coast of Asia Minor. Southern Italy and Sicily were occupied by Greek colonies. Tarentum and Syracuse were Greek cities. In spite of petty dissensions and local wars innumerable the Greek cities or states were held together by several influences. First of all were the surrounding barbarians, against whom it was necessary to unite for common defense. Then, too, they spoke the same language and listened to recitations of the same literature. They had a common religion and similar customs of worship. They consulted the same oracles and contested in the same games. Last of all, they listened for many centuries to the decrees of the Amphictyonic Council, a body without an army or a war chest, but whose decisions were enforced by public opinion. The leading states were Sparta and Athens. The Spartans, who represented the Dorians, were a moderate, conservative state of warriors, under an aristocratic form of government. They lived in a fertile valley. The citizens were largely agriculturists. Their laws were severe. They lived plainly. The citizens of Athens were Ionians. They dwelt near the sea and engaged in shipping. They were a commercial, stirring, progressive, artistic sort of people. They replaced their aristocratic rulers or tyrants, as they were called, by a democratic form of government. RELIGION. All Greeks shared a common form of religious belief. They had a plurality of deities, each having his own province. Zeus, or Jupiter, as he was known to the Romans, was the father of gods and of men. He was the god of the sky. Hera, or Juno, the sister and wife of Zeus, was queen of the sky. Appollo, the sun god, was the deity of wisdom, poetry, and medicine. Athene, or Minerva, was the counterpart of Apollo. She was the goddess of wisdom. Poseidon, or Neptune, was the god of the sea. Hephaestus, or Vulcan, was the god of fire. Hermes, or Mercury, was the god of the wind. He was the swiftest messenger of the deities--the god to whom thieves looked for protection, and the promoter of commerce. Artemis, or Diana, was the goddess of the moon and of hunting; Aphrodite, or Venus, the goddess of love; Demeter, or Ceres, the goddess of the earth who gave bountiful crops. Hestia, or Vesta, was the goddess of the home or the hearth. Mt. Olympus was the home or the gods. Separate articles may be found on each of these deities. Literature is full of allusions to them. MYTHOLOGY. The mythology of the Greeks is the most wonderful of all mythologies. Every stream, spring, fountain, cave, precipice, grove, flower, constellation, the sunset, the dawn, the north wind, the south wind, the zephyr, had its myth or legend. See Aeolus ; Etna ; Arethusa ; Atlantis ; Aurora ; Cassiopeia ; Cerberus ; Delphi ; Echo ; Endymion ; Eros ; Fates ; Flora ; Helicon; Hesiod ; Morpheus ; Muses ; Narcissus ; Olympus ; Pandora ; Titans , etc. ART AND SCIENCE. The Greeks were unacquainted with modern science, but in certain departments of learning it has been considered that they have not been surpassed. The Hebrews gave the world the Hebrew religion. Rome bequeathed the science of lawmaking and of government. In literature, sculpture, and architecture, Greek models are still unsurpassed. To obviate reduplication, the reader who is interested in architecture and sculpture is referred to articles on ATHENS; SPARTA; CORINTH; LAOCOON; COLOSSUS; CARYATIDES; ELGIN; EPHESUS; PHIDIAS; TEMPLE; THEATER; ACROPOLIS. Apelles was the chief painter. The history of Greece is that of its various cities, for which the reader may consult separate articles. The most glorious period of Greek history is that of the Persian Wars. See Darius ; Xerxes ; Marathon ; Salamis ; Thermopolae; Pericles ; Themistocles ; Piraeus ; Aristides ; Epaminondas , etc. GREEK SUPREMACY. For a time Athens was the greatest power in the world. Taking advantage of local jealousies between the large cities, which culminated in the battle of Chaeronea, 338 B. C., Philip, king of Macedon, a district only half Greek, succeeded in forcing himself into the Amphictyonic Council. Although opposed heroically by Demosthenes, the orator, he placed himself at the head of Greek affairs. His son, Alexander the Great, followed up his father's success and made himself master of the Greek world and converted Greece into a province of an empire. Under Alexander and his successors the empire of the Greeks was extended from Italy to Central Asia and the shores of the Indus. See Alexander ; Philip ; Phalanx ; Alexandria The political supremacy of Greece was of comparatively short duration. As soon as the Romans had brought the Punic Wars to a successful close they turned their attention to the Greeks. Greece proper became a part of the Roman empire, 146 B. C. When the Roman empire was divided Greece fell, of course, into the eastern half. In fact, Constantinople was an ancient Grecian colony. See Constantine DECLINE. During the early centuries of Roman and eastern or Byzantine supremacy, the Greeks were the most intellectual people in Europe. Learned Greeks with their parchment, pens, and inkhorns were in demand the eastern world over. In 1460 Greece was conquered by the Turks. With the exception of a short interval, when a portion of the country was ceded to the Venetians, it remained under Turkish control until 1830. So far as its native home was concerned, Greek civilization was seemingly destroyed. Commerce died. Towns and cities fell into decay. Temples and marketplaces fell into ruins. The sites of prosperous cities became buried beneath drifting sands. The olive groves were neglected; agriculture languished; herds and fields were at the mercy of the invader; the people became half brigand. After various unsuccessful attempts, the Greeks, aided by outside money and sympathizers, among whom was Lord Byron, regained their independence. An independent monarchy was set up in 1832. MODERN GREECE. The modern Greeks speak a language differing little from that of the ancients. Although during the centuries they have become mixed somewhat with outside races, they are still a well formed, athletic people among whom corpulency is unknown. They are proud of the history of their race. Under the protection of England, France, and Russia, they have set up a stable government, suppressed brigands, made agriculture and grazing safe, reclothed their hills with olive groves, reopened mines, built railroads and telegraph lines, established a postal system and a system of public education. Greece now does a business amounting to $30,000,000 a year with other countries. The total area is about 25,014 square miles. The population at the beginning of the twentieth century was not far from 2,500,000, or a trifle over ninety-seven people to the square mile. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from reliable sources: Land area, square miles 25,014 Population 2,631,952 Athens 167,479 Piraeus 71,505 Corfu 27,397 Larissa 18,000 Hermopolis 17,773 Zante 13,580 Emigration to the United States , 1906 20,000 Nomes (counties) 26 Members of legislative assembly 235 Salary of king $2,500,000 Annual expenditure $25,000,000 Soldiers 50,000 National revenue $26,000,000 Bonded indebtedness $142,500,000 Acres under cultivation 5,500,000 Agricultural Products-- Wheat, bushels 7,000,000 Olive oil, gallons 3,500,000 Wine, gallons 2,250,000 Silk cocoons, value $500,000 Acorn cups, pounds 12,000,000 Tobacco, pounds 4,000,000 Currants, pounds 300,000,000 Exports $13,000,000 Coal mined, tons 11,000 Iron ore, tons 860,000 Zinc ore, tons 30,000 Emery, tons 10,000 Lead, tons 14,000 Domestic Animals-- Horses 100,000 Asses 141,000 Mules 89,000 Cattle 406,000 Sheep 4,568,000 Goats 3,339,000 Swine 80,000 Ships 1,374 Miles of canal 4 Miles of railway 845 Miles of highway 3,000 Teachers in public schools 4,346 Boys enrolled 163,000 Girls enrolled 47,570 Number postoffices 706 Letters (1906) 16,000,000 2026 Editor's Note: Greece was about to double: the Balkan Wars (1912–13) — three years from this entry — won it Salonika and Crete's union, redrawing the map these volumes print. See Balkan Wars . (Ed: BR 2026-06-06)