Apollonia

“ It shall not be lawful for Philiscus to bring in any other wife but Apollonia, nor to keep a concubine or lover, nor to beget children by another woman in Apollonia’s lifetime, nor to live in another house over which Apollonia is not mistress, nor to eject, or insult, or ill-treat her, nor to alienate any of their property to [247] Apollonia’s disadvantage. If he is shown to be doing any of these things, or does not supply her with necessaries and clothing, and the rest, as has been said, Philiscus shall forfeit forthwith to Apollonia the dowry of 2 talents 4,000 drachmae of copper. ”

“ And I, Apollonia, wife of the aforesaid lord Count, came to keep him company on the twentieth of January 1516 until the said September. ‘Who cannot bear good and ill fate, Will never come to honour great.’ Also, Nor good nor evil lasts for ever here. ”

“ Apollonia, now commonly called Abullionte, though the Greeks still call it by its ancient name, is situated on a small island which is on the east side of Lake Apollonias and is now connected with the mainland by a wooden bridge. If the battle was fought on the river, the women must have gone a considerable distance for their plunder. (Hamilton, Researches, &c. ii. 88, &c.)
[356] Kaltwasser remarks that Livius (37, c. 40) mentions camels as being in the army of Antiochus. The passage of Sallustius must have been in his Roman History. ”

“ In excess they are ambitious to a fault, masterful, overbearing and bullying. With a moderate development we have exceedingly good qualities indicated. Power of leadership, rightful ambition, initiative, and great abilities for hard work.
THE APOLLONIAN.—Taking the men and women of Apollo we have the essential optimists, the Micawbers and Mark Tapleys of life. Allied to their cheery natures is a love of the artistic and the really beautiful. The sculptors, painters, and musicians who make life so pleasant, are very frequently Apollonians. ”

“ Let us now return to Apollonius. After a lapse of fourteen years, he again made his appearance at the house of Stranguilio and Dionysias, in the city of Tharsus: no sooner had the former beheld him, than he strode about like a madman. “Woman,” said he, addressing his wife, “what wilt thou do now? Thou hast said that Apollonius was shipwrecked and dead. Behold, he seeks his daughter; what answer shall we make?” “Foolish man,” returned she, “let us resume our mourning, and have recourse to tears. He will believe that his child died a natural death.” As she said this, Apollonius entered. ”

“ Thence sailing to Pentapolis, the old King Altistrates received them with delight. He lived with his son, and daughter, and grandchild, a whole year in happiness. After that, he died, full of years, bequeathing the kingdom to his son and daughter.
As Apollonius walked one day upon the sea-shore, he recollected the kind-hearted fisherman who succoured him after his shipwreck, and he ordered him to be seized and brought to the palace. The poor fisherman, perceiving himself under the escort of a guard of soldiers, expected nothing less than death. ”

“ I am thy wife, the daughter of King Altistrates; and thou art of Tyre; thou art Apollonius, my husband and Iord. Thou wert the beloved one who instructed me. Thou wert the ship-wrecked man whom I loved with pure and fond regard.” Apollonius awakening at the mention of these well-known circumstances, recollected his long-lost lady. He fell upon her neck, and wept for joy. “Blessed be the Most High, who hath restored me my wife and daughter.” “But where,” said she, “is our daughter?” Presenting Tharsia, he replied, “Behold her.” ”

“ As he spoke this, he beheld a young man opposite, looking earnestly at him. He was a robust, hard-favoured fisherman, clad in a coarse frock. Apollonius, driven by his distresses, humbly besought this man's assistance, even with tears starting from his eyes. "Pity me," said he, "whomsoever thou art; pity a man stripped of all by shipwreck; one, to whom better days have been familiar, and who is descended from no ignoble family. But that you may know whom you succour, understand that I am a prince of Tyre, and that my name is Apollonius. ”

“ Your father is called Apollonius, and your mother's name is Arcestrate, the daughter of king Arcestrates. She died the moment you were born; and Apollonius, adorning her with regal vesture, cast the chest which contained her into the sea. Twenty sestertia of gold were placed beneath her head; and whosoever discovered it, were entreated to give her burial. The ship in which your unhappy father sailed, tossed to and fro by the winds which formed your cradle, at last put into this port, where we were hospitably received by Stranguilio and Dionysias, to whom your sire also recommended me. ”

“ You ought to live and be glad.” Apollonius, irritated at the girl’s pertinacity, arose and pushed her from him with his foot. She fell and cut her cheek, from which the blood flowed copiously. Terrified at the wound she had received, she burst into tears, and exclaimed, “0 thou eternal Architect of the heavens! look upon my afflictions. Born amid the waves and storms of the ocean, my mother perished in giving life to her daughter. Denied rest even in the grave, she was deposited in a chest, with twenty gold sestertia, and thrown into the sea. ”

“ In Asia Minor he was especially pleased with the temple of Æsculapius at Pergamus; he healed many of the patients there, and gave instruction in the proper methods to adopt in order to procure reliable results by means of the prescriptive dreams.
At Troy, we are told, Apollonius spent a night alone at the tomb of Achilles, in former days one of the spots of greatest popular sanctity in Greece (iv. 11) . Why he did so does not transpire, for the fantastic conversation with the shade of the hero reported by Philostratus (iv. 16) seems to be devoid of any element of likelihood. ”

“ Apollonius, on the contrary, a Greek by birth, had stored his vast intellect with the religious doctrines of the whole world, from India to Spain; his life extended over a century. Like a luminous meteor he traversed the universe, in constant intercourse with kings and the powerful ones of the earth, who venerate and fear him; and if he ever meets with hostility and opposition, he triumphs over it majestically, always stronger than his tyrants, never subject to humiliations, never brought into contact with public executioners. ”

“ Thence Apollonius crosses over to Lesbos (iv. 13) , and subsequently sails for Athens, where he spends some years in Greece (iv. 17-33) visiting the temples of Hellas, reforming their rites and instructing the priests (iv. 24) . We next find him in Crete (iv. 34) , and subsequently at Rome in the time of Nero (iv. 36-46) .
In a.d. 66 Nero issued a decree forbidding any philosopher to remain in Rome, and Apollonius set out for Spain, and landed at Gades, the modern Cadiz; he seems to have stayed in Spain only a short time (iv. 47) ”

“ We are surrounded by the spirits of the departed, although we know it not. Sailing among the islands of the Aegean, he once gratified his disciples by the tale of his having met the shade of Achilles at his tomb in the Troad.2675 Men said that the hero was really dead, and in the old home of the Myrmidons, his worship was forgotten. But Apollonius, in a prayer which he had learnt from the sages on the Ganges, called upon the heroic shade to dispel all doubts by appearing at his call. ”

“ Now if you are a king, as you aver, you should be wiser than I am. Resolve the riddle."
"To prove to you that I am no impostor," said Apollonius, "I will reply. The house which bounds and rebounds, and echoes, is the wave: the mute inhabitant is a fish, which glides along with its residence." Tharsia continued: "I am borne rapidly along by the tall daughter of the grove, which equally incloses an innumerable company. I glide over various paths, and leave no footstep." "When I have answered your questions," said Apollonius, "I will show you much that you know not. ”

“ I have found what I had lost; my child, my only daughter." Hearing his exclamations, the attendants ran in, and with them the prince Athanagoras. They discovered the enraptured king weeping upon his daughter's neck. "See, see," said he, "this is she whom I lamented. Half of my soul! now will I live." Participating in their master's happiness they all wept.
Apollonius now divested himself of his mourning dress, and attired himself in regal habiliments. "Oh, my lord," said his followers, "how much your daughter resembles you. ”

“ Snakes figure largely in the animistic worship of the old race, as typifying the spirits of the dead issuing from the earth. The myth described how Apollo came and conquered this serpent. He built a great temple in this valley of Parnassus, and took the place of Earth, or Themis, as Pythian Apollo, lord of the Delphic oracle.
Apollo is the most virile god on Olympus, as he is the representative god of the most manly race in Hellas, the Dorians. He is the young athlete god. ”

“ Otototoi, Gods, Earth,—
Apollon, Apollon!
CHOROS.
Ill-boding here again the god invokes she
—Nowise empowered in woes to stand by helpful.
KASSANDRA.
Apollon, Apollon,
Guard of the ways, my destroyer!
For thou hast quite, this second time, destroyed me.
CHOROS.
To prophesy she seems of her own evils:
Remains the god-gift to the slave-soul present.
KASSANDRA.
Apollon, Apollon,
Guard of the ways, my destroyer!
Ha, whither hast thou led me? to what roof now?
CHOROS.
To the Atreidai's roof: if this thou know'st not,
I tell it thee, nor this wilt thou call falsehood. ”

“ And to be sure Apollonius was greatly pleased with the laws of the Persians, and was an admirer of them, because the Greeks enjoyed the advantage of their courage, and had the very same opinion about the gods which they had. This last was exemplified in the temples which they burnt, and their courage in coming, and almost entirely enslaving the Grecians. However, Apollonius has imitated all the Persian institutions, and that by his offering violence to other men's wives, and gelding his own sons. Now, with us, it is a capital crime, if any one does thus abuse even a brute beast ”

“ Addressing the Tharsians, he inquired, “Did I ever do an injury to any one of you?” “No, my lord,” answered they; “we are ready to die for you. This statue bears record how you preserved us from death.” “Citizens,” returned Apollonius, “I entrusted my daughter to Stranguilio and his wife: they would not restore her.” “Oh, my lord,” cried the unhappy woman, “thou hast read her fate inscribed on the monument.” The king directed his daughter to come forward; and Tharsia, reproaching her, said, “Hail, woman! Tharsia greets thee; Tharsia returned from the grave.” Dionysias trembled ”

“ There is no mention of the nurse Lichorida being taken with Apollonius and his wife on shipboard, of the master of the ship insisting that the corpse should be thrown into the sea, or of the name of the physician, Cerimon. (6) The Pantheon says nothing of the vow of Apollonius in ll. 1301-1306. (7) The name Theophilus is not given. (8) There is no mention of the tomb of Thaise (or Tharsia) being shown to Apollonius. (9) In the Pantheon the punishment of Strangulio and Dionysia precedes the visit to Ephesus, and there is no mention of the dream which caused Apollonius to sail to Ephesus. ”

“ We are rich, and of noble lineage: choose, then, which of us shall be your son-in-law.” “You come,” replied the king, “at an unseasonable time. My daughter is unable to follow her usual pursuits, and for this reason languishes on her bed. But that I may not appear to you unnecessarily to protract your uncertainty, write each of you your names, and the settlement you will make her. She shall examine them, and choose between ye.” The suitors complied, and gave the writings to the king, who read, and sealed, and then despatched Apollonius with them to the lady. ”

“ Damis presses it into service to “explain” the last phrase in Apollonius’ saying about the sages, namely, that they were “possessed of nothing but what all possess”—which, however, appears elsewhere in a changed form, as “possessing nothing, they have the possessions of all men” (iii. 15) .101
On returning to Greece, one of the first shrines Apollonius visited was that of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus (iii. 58) . The greatest external peculiarity of the Paphian worship of Venus was the representation of the goddess by a mysterious stone symbol. ”

“ In any case Apollonius restored the rites to Achilles, and erected a chapel in which he set up the neglected statue of Palamedes.104 The heroes of the Trojan period, then, it would seem, had still some connection with Greece, according to the science of the invisible world into which Apollonius was initiated. And if the Protestant sceptic can make nothing of it, at least the Roman Catholic reader may be induced to suspend his judgment by changing “hero” into “saint.” ”

“ He reappears in Greece, visits Chios and Rhodes, still in the character of a reformer, and lands at Alexandria, having long wished to study Egyptian science, which was so much spoken of at that time, in the very land of its birth. There it was that Vespasian, who was aiming at the supreme power, conferred with him on the art of governing, and that Apollonius incurred the jealous hatred of Euphrates, a man who had been one of his earliest admirers, but who had now become the confidential adviser of Vespasian, wishing him to restore the old Roman commonwealth. ”

“ It is in sooth very needful to thee that thou [8] be on thy guard, because thou art condemned." Then said Apollonius: "Who could condemn me, the Prince of my own nation?" Hellanicus said, "Antiochus the king." Apollonius said, "For what reasons hath he condemned me?" Hellanicus said, "Because thou desiredst to be what the father is." Apollonius said, "I am sorely condemned." Hellanicus said, "Whatever man bringeth thee to him alive, he will receive fifty pounds of gold; he who bringeth thy head will receive a hundred pounds of gold. Therefore I counsel thee to flee, and save thy life." ”