The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C. — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The book of the ancient Greeks: An introduction to the history and civilization of Greece from the coming of the Greeks to the conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C.
John Stuart Mill · en
Adventurous spirits have always turned towards the West, and it was
westwards across the Mediterranean that the civilization we have
inherited slowly advanced. The early Mediterranean civilization is
sometimes given the general name of Aegean, because its great centres
were in the Aegean Sea and on the adjoining mainland. The largest
island in the Aegean is Crete, and the form of civilization developed
there is called Cretan or Minoan, from the name of one of the
legendary sea-kings of Crete, whilst that which spread on the
mainland is called Mycenaean from the great stronghold where dwelt
the lords of Mycenae.
{6}
CHAPTER II
CRETE
The long narrow island of Crete lies at what might be called the
entrance to the Aegean Sea. This sea is dotted with islands which
form stepping stones from the mainland of Europe to the coast of Asia
Minor. Crete turns her face to these islands and her back to Egypt,
and the Egyptians, who did not travel very much themselves, called
the inhabitants the "Great Men of Keftiu," Keftiu meaning _people at
the back of_. They were the men who dwelt beyond what was familiar
to the Egyptians.
The Aegean world is a very beautiful one. The Islands rise out of
the sea like jewels sparkling in the sunshine. It is a world
associated with spring, of "fresh new grass and dewey lotus, and
crocus and hyacinth,"[1] a land where the gods were born, one rich in
legend and myth and fairy tale, and, most wonderful of all, a world
where fairy tales have come true. In 1876 a telegram from an
archaeologist flashed through the world, saying he had found the tomb
of wide-ruling Agamemnon, King of Men and Tamer of Horses; and later
on, in Crete, traces were {7} found of the Labyrinth where Theseus
killed the Minotaur. The spade of the archaeologist brought these
things into the light, and a world which had hitherto seemed dim and
shadowy and unreal suddenly came out into the sunshine.
I. LEGENDS OF CRETE
There is a land called Crete in the midst of the wine-dark sea, a
fair land and a rich, begirt with water, and therein are many men
innumerable and ninety cities.[2]