Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/520

 488 HISTORY OF GREECE. nor were actually, distinguishable. Composed of such materials, and animated bj the electric spark of genius, the mythical an- tiquities of Greece formed a whole at once trustworthy and captivating to the faith and feelings of the people ; but neither trustworthy nor captivating, when we sever it from these sub- jective conditions, and expose its naked elements to the scrutiny of an objective criticism. Moreover, the separate portions of Grecian mythical foretime ought to be considered with reference to that aggregate of which they form a part : to detach the divine from the heroic legends, or some one of the heroic legends from the remainder, as if there were an essential and generic difference between them, is to present the whole under an erroneous point of view. The mythes of Troy and Thebes are no more to be handled objectively, with a view to detect an historical base, than those of Zeus in Krete, of Apollo and Artemis in Delos, of Hermes, or of Prometheus. To single out the Siege of Troy from the other mythes, as if it were entitled to preeminence as an ascertained historical and chronological event, is a proceeding which destroys the true character and coherence of the mythical world : we only transfer the story (as has been remarked in the preceding chapter) from a class with which it is connected by every tie both of common origin and fraternal affinity, to another with which it has no relationship, except such as violent and gratuitous criticism may enforce. By drawing this marked distinction between the mythical and the historical world, between matter appropriate only for sub- jective history, and matter in which objective evidence is attain- able, we shall only carry out to its proper length the just and well-known position long ago laid down by Varro. That learned man recognized three distinguishable periods in the time pre- ceding his own age ; " First, the time from the beginning of mankind down to the first deluge ; a time wholly unknown. Sec- ondly, the period from the first deluge down to the first Olympiad, which is called the mythical period, because many fabulous things are recounted in it. Thirdly, the time from the first Olympiad down to ourselves, which is called the historical period, because the things done in it are comprised in true histories." 1 Varro ap. Censorin. de Die Natal i ; Varronis Fragm. p. 219, ed. Scali- ger, 1623. " Varro tria discrimina temporum csse trartit. Primum ab hont-