Page:History of Greece Vol II.djvu/358

 542 HISTORY OF GREECE. them more than to the other inhabitants of the island. That the Spartans had an original organization, and tendencies common to them with the other Dorians, we may readily concede ; but the Lykurgean constitution impressed upon them a peculiar tendency, which took them out of the general march, and rendered them the least fit of all states to be cited as an example of the class- attributes of Dorism. One of the essential causes, which made the Spartan institutions work ?o impressively upon the Grecian mind, was their perfect singularity, combined with the conspicu- ous ascendency of the state in which they were manifested ; while the Kretan communities, even admitting their partial resemblance (which was chiefly in the institution of the Syssitia, and was alto- gether more in form than in spirit) to Sparta, were too insignifi- cant to attract notice except from speculative observers. It i3 therefore a mistake on the part of O. Muller, to treat Sparta as the type and representative of Dorians generally, and very many of the positions advanced in his History of the Dorians require to be modified when this mistake is pointed out. The first capital fact to notice respecting the institutions ascribed to Lykurgus, is the very early period at which they had their commencement : it seems impossible to place this period later than 825 B. c. We do not find, nor have we a right to expect, trustworthy history in reference to events so early. If we have one foot on historical ground, inasmuch as the institutions them- selves are real, the other foot still floats in the unfaithful re- gion of mythe, when we strive to comprehend the generating causes : the mist yet prevails which hinders us from distinguish- ing between the god and the man. The light in which Lykur- gus appeared, to an intelligent Greek of the fifth century before the Christian era, is so clearly, yet briefly depicted, in the follow- ing passage of Herodotus, that I cannot do better than translate it: " In the very early times (Herodotus observes) the Spartans were among themselves the most lawless of all Greeks, and unap- proachable by foreigners. Their transition to good legal order took place in the following manner. "When Lycurgus, a Spartan of consideration, visited Delphi to consult the oracle, the instant that he entered the sanctuary, the Pythian priestess exclaimed, " Thou art come, Lycurgus, to my fat shrine, beloved by Zeus,