[22] i.e. Oeneus. "Il." ix. 535.
[23] Or, "may not be laid to his charge."Theseus[24] single-handed destroyed the enemies of collective Hellas; and in that he greatly enlarged the boundaries of his fatherland, is still to- day the wonder of mankind.[25]
[24] See "Mem." II. i. 14; III. v. 10; cf. Isocr. "Phil." 111; Plut.
"Thes." x. foll.; Diod. iv. 59; Ov. "Met." vii. 433.
[25] Or, "is held in admiration still to-day." See Thuc. ii. 15; Strab. ix. 397.
Hippolytus[26] was honoured by our lady Artemis and with her conversed,[27] and in his latter end, by reason of his sobriety and holiness, was reckoned among the blest.
[26] See the play of Euripides. Paus. i. 22; Diod. iv. 62.
[27] Al. "lived on the lips of men." But cf. Eur. "Hipp." 85, {soi kai xeneimi kai logois s' ameibomai}. See Frazer, "Golden Bough," i. 6, for the Hippolytus-Virbius myth.
Palamedes[28] all his days on earth far outshone those of his own times in wisdom, and when slain unjustly, won from heaven a vengeance such as no other mortal man may boast of.[29] Yet died he not at their hands[30] whom some suppose; else how could the one of them have been accounted all but best, and the other a compeer of the good? No, not they, but base men wrought that deed.
[28] As to Palamedes, son of Nauplius, his genius and treacherous death, see Grote, "H. G." i. 400; "Mem." IV. ii. 33; "Apol." 26; Plat.
"Apol." 41; "Rep." vii. 522; Eur. fr. "Palam."; Ov. "Met."xiii. 56; Paus. x. 31. 1; ii. 20. 3.
[29] For the vengeance see Schol. ad Eur. "Orest." 422; Philostr. "Her." x. Cf. Strab. viii. 6. 2 (368); Leake, "Morea," ii. 358;Baedeker, "Greece," 245.
[30] i.e. Odysseus and Diomed. (S. 11, I confess, strikes me as somewhat in Xenophon's manner.) See "Mem." IV. ii. 33; "Apol." 26.
Menestheus,[31] through diligence and patient care, the outcome of the chase, so far overshot all men in love of toil that even the chiefs of Hellas must confess themselves inferior in the concerns of war save Nestor only; and Nestor, it is said,[32] excelled not but alone might rival him.
[31] For Menestheus, who led the Athenians against Troy, cf. Hom. "Il." ii. 552; iv. 327; Philostr. "Her." ii. 16; Paus. ii. 25. 6; i. 17. 6;Plut. "Thes." 32, 35.
[32] Or, "so runs the tale," e.g. in "The Catalogue." See "Il." ii. l.c.: {Nestor oios erizen}, "Only Nestor rivalled him, for he was the elder by birth" (W. Leaf).
Odysseus and Diomedes[33] were brilliant for many a single deed ofarms, and mainly to these two was due the taking of Troy town.[34]
[33] The two heroes are frequently coupled in Homer, e.g. "Il." v. 519; x. 241, etc.
[34] Or, "were brilliant in single points, and broadly speaking were the cause that Troy was taken." See Hygin. "Fab." 108; Virg. "Aen."ii. 163.
Castor and Polydeuces,[35] by reason of their glorious display of arts obtained from Cheiron, and for the high honour and prestige therefrom derived, are now immortal.
[35] Castor, Polydeuces, s. Pollux--the great twin brethren. See Grote, "H. G." i. 232 foll.
Machaon and Podaleirius[36] were trained in this same lore, and proved themselves adepts in works of skill, in argument and feats of arms.[37]
[36] As to the two sons of Asclepius, Machaon and Podaleirius, the leaders of the Achaeans, see "Il." ii. 728; Schol. ad Pind. "Pyth." iii. 14; Paus. iii. 26; iv. 3; Strab. vi. 4 (284); Diod. iv. 71. 4; Grote, "H.
G." i. 248.
[37] Or, "in crafts, in reasonings, and in deeds of war."Antilochus,[38] in that he died for his father, obtained so great a glory that, in the judgment of Hellas, to him alone belongs the title "philopator," "who loved his father."[39]
[38] Antilochus, son of Nestor, slain by Memnon. "Od." iv. 186 foll.; Pind. "Pyth." vi. 28; Philostr. "Her." iv.; "Icon." ii. 281.
[39] Lit. "to be alone proclaimed Philopator among the Hellenes." Cf. Plat. "Laws," 730 D, "He shall be proclaimed the great and perfect citizen, and bear away the palm of virtue"; and for the epithetsee Eur. "Or." 1605; "I. A." 68.
Aeneas[40] saved the ancestral gods--his father's and his mother's;[41] yea, and his own father also, whereby he bore off a reputation for piety so great that to him alone among all on whom they laid their conquering hand in Troy even the enemy granted not to be despoiled.
[40] As to Aeneas see Poseidon's speech, "Il." xx. 293 foll.; Grote, "H. G." i. 413, 427 foll.
[41] Cf. "Hell." II. iv. 21.
Achilles,[42] lastly, being nursed in this same training, bequeathed to after-days memorials so fair, so ample, that to speak or hear concerning him no man wearies.
[42] "The highest form that floated before Greek imagination was Achilles," Hegel, "Lectures on the Philosophy of History" (Eng. tr. p. 233); and for a beautiful elaboration of that idea, J. A. Symonds, "Greek Poets," 2nd series, ch. ii.
Such, by dint of that paintstaking care derived from Cheiron, these all proved themselves; of whom all good men yet still to-day are lovers and all base men envious. So much so that if throughout the length and breadth of Hellas misfortunes at any time befell city or king, it was they who loosed the knot of them;[43] or if all Hellas found herself confronted with the hosts of the Barbarians in strife and battle, once again it was these who nerved the arms of Hellenes to victory and rendered Hellas unconquered and unconquerable.
[43] Reading {eluonto autous}, or if as L. D., {di autous}, transl. "thanks to them, they were loosed."For my part, then, my advice to the young is, do not despise hunting or the other training of your boyhood, if you desire to grow up to be good men, good not only in war but in all else of which the issue is perfection in thought, word, and deed.
