Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/99

 FIRST APPEARANCE OF XENOPHON. 77 of effort. And the inspiration now fell, happily for the armj ,pon one in whom a full measure of soldierly strength and courage was combined with the education of an Athenian, a democrat, and a philosopher. It is in true Homeric vein, and in something like Homeric lan- guage, that Xenophon (to whom we owe the whole narrative of the expedition) describes his dream, or the intervention of Oneirus, sent by Zeus, from which this renovating impulse took its rise. 1 Lying mournful and restless, like his comrades, he caught a short repose ; when he dreamt that he heard thunder, and saw the burn- ing thunder-bolt fall upon his paternal house, which became forth- with encircled by flames. Awaking, full of terror, he instantly sprang up ; upon which the dream began to fit on and blend itself with his waking thoughts, and with the cruel realities of his posi- tion. His pious and excited fancy generated a series of shadowy analogies. The dream was sent by Zeus 2 the King, since it was from him that thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect, the sign was auspicious, that a great light had appeared to him from Zeus, hi the midst of peril and suffering. But on the other hand, it was alarming, that the house had appeared to be com- pletely, encircled by flames, preventing all egress, because this seemed to indicate that he would remain confined where he was in the Persian dominions, without being able to overcome the diffi- culties which hedged him in. Yet doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message of Zeus addressed to himself, serving as a stimulus to him to break through the common stupor and take the initiative movement. 3 " Why am I lying here ? Night is advanc- 1 Xen.Anab.iii, 1,4-11. T Hv Se Tig kv ry arpana ZevofyCtv 'A.$rjvata<; of OVTE arpaTiryof, etc. Homer, Iliad, v, 9 T Hv de rif kv TpaeoGL Aap77f, uipveiof, ufii>fj.uv, 'Ipeiig 'H(j>aiaTOto, etc. Compare the description of Zeus sending Oneirus to the sleeping Aga- memnon, at the beginning of the second book of the Iliad. of conciliating him, compare various passages in the Cyropaedia, ii, 4, 19} iii, 3, 21 ; vii, 5, 57. 3 Xen. Anab. iii, 1, 12, 13. Tlspfyofiof (5' ev&ijf dvijyepdri, Kal rb ovap TJJ fifv lupivev aya$6v, 5ri iv novoi? uv KOL Kivdvvoif 0wf [leya IK Aid? ideli e, etc 'Onolov (tsv 6!j kari rd roioiirov ovap I6elv, ejiGTt, OTCOTrett
 * Respecting the value of a sign from Zeus Basileus, and the necessity