Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/132

 100 HISTORY OF GREECE. no notice, its import is both intelligible and comprehensive. Il expounds and symbolizes the first fraternal aggregation of Hel- lenic men, together with their territorial distribution and the in- stitutions which they collectively venerated. There were two great holding-points in common for every sec- tion of Greeks. One was the Amphiktyonic assembly, which met half-yearly, alternately at Delphi and at Thermopylae ; ori- ginally and chiefly for common religious purposes, but indirectly and occasionally embracing political and social objects along with them. The other was, the public festivals or games, of which the Olympic came first in importance ; next, the Pythian, Ne- mean and Isthmian, institutions which combined religious so- lemnities with recreative effusion and hearty sympathies, in a man- ner so imposing and so unparalleled. Amphiktyon represents the first of these institutions, and Aethlius the second. As the Am- phiktyonic assembly was always especially connected with Ther- mopylas and Thessally, Amphiktyon is made the son of the Thes- salian Deukalion ; but as the Olympic festival was nowise locally Connected with Deukalion, Aethlius is represented as having Zeus for his father, and as touching Deukalion only through the mater- nal line. It will be seen presently, that the only matter predi- cated respecting Aethlius is, that he settled in the territory of Elis, and begat Endymien : this brings him into local contact with ',he Olympic games, and his function is then ended. Having thus got Hellas as an aggregate with its main cement- ing forces, we march on to its subdivision into parts, through JEolus, Dorus and Xuthus, the three sons of Hellen ; * a distribu* tion which is far from being exhaustive : nevertheless, the gene- alogists whom Apollodorus follows recognize no more than three sons. The genealogy is essentially post-Homeric ; for Homer knows Hellas and the Hellenes only in connection with a portion of 1 How literally and implicitly even the ablest Greeks believed in epony- mous persons, such as Hellen and Ion, as the real progenitors of the races called after him, may be seen by this, that Aristotle gives this common do cent as the definition of yevos (Metaphysic. iv. p. 118, Brandis) : Tevof ^.Eyerat, rb /J.EV rd 6e, aft ov av uai irpurov Kivrjaavrof tlf rd elvat. OVTU yap "kiyovrai ol fj.lv, *E/l^.j?vff rd ytvof, oi (5e, "Iwvcf ry, ol ttv no"EAA^vor, ol de unb 'luvof, elvai npinrov