Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][subsumed]
[merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small]

§ 1. The three peninsulas of Southern Europe. § 2. Position and boun daries of Greece. § 3. Size of the country. § 4. Name. § 5. Northern Greece: Thessaly and Epirus. § 6. Central Greece: its principal divisions and mountains. § 7. Eastern half of Central Greece: Doris, Phocis, Locris, Boeotia, Attica, Megaris. § 8. Western half of Central Greece: Ozolian Locris, Etolia, Acarnania. §9. Peloponnesus: Arcadia. § 10. Achaia, Argolis, Laconia, Messenia, Elis. §11. The Grecian Islands. § 12. Influence of the physical geography of Greece upon the political destinies of the people. § 13. Likewise upon their intellectual character. § 14. Rivers and chief productions. §15. Climate.

§ 1. THREE peninsulas, very different in form, project from the south of Europe into the Mediterranean sea. The most westerly, that of Spain and Portugal, is a quadrangular figure united to the mainland by an isthmus. The central one, that of Italy, is a long tongue of land, down which runs from north to south the back-bone of the Apennines. The most easterly, of which Greece B

forms the southern part, is in the shape of a triangle with its base extending from the top of the Adriatic to the mouths of the river Danube, and having its two sides washed by the sea.

The

§ 2. At the fortieth degree of latitude a chain of mountains called the Cambunian, and continued under the name of Lingon, runs across the peninsula from east to west, and forms the northern boundary of Greece. At a time when the Mediterranean was the great highway of commerce and civilization, no position could be more favorable than that of Greece. Egean sea, which bathes its eastern shores, is studded with numerous islands, inviting the timid mariner from one to the other, and thus establishing an easy communication between Asia and Greece. Towards the south it faces one of the most fertile portions of Africa; and on the west it is divided from Italy by a narrow channel, which in one part is not more than thirty miles in breadth.

§ 3. Greece, which commences at the fortieth degree of latitude, does not extend farther than the thirty-sixth. Its greatest length from Mount Olympus to Cape Tænarum is not more than 250 English miles; its greatest breadth from the western coast of Acarnania to Marathon in Attica is only 180 miles. Its surface is considerably less than that of Portugal. This small area was divided among a number of independent states, many of them containing a territory of only a few square miles, and none of them larger than an English county. But it is not the magnitude of their territory which constitutes the greatness of a people; and the heroism and genius of the Greeks have given an interest to the insignificant spot of earth bearing their name, which the vast empires of Russia and China have never equalled.

§ 4. The name of Greece was never used by the inhabitants of the country. They called their land Hellas, and themselves Hellēnes. It is from the Romans that we have derived the name of Greece; though why the Romans gave it a different appellation from that used by the natives cannot be determined. It is however a well known fact that foreigners frequently call a people by a name different from the one in use among themselves. Thus the nation called Germans by us, bear the appellation of Deutschen among themselves; and the people whom the Romans named Etruscans or Tuscans, were known in their own language by that of Rasena.

The word Hellas signified at first only a small district in Thessaly, the original abode of the Hellenes. From this district the people, and along with them their name, gradually spread over the whole country south of the Cambunian mountains. The rude tribes of Epirus, however, were not reckoned among the Hellenes, and the northern boundary of Hellas proper was a line

« AnteriorContinuar »