Ilissus

“ Ilissus, a small river of Attica, falling into the sea near the Piræus. There was a temple on its banks sacred to the muses. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 52.
Ilĭthyīa, a goddess, called also Juno Lucina. Some suppose her to be the same as Diana. She presided over the travails of women; and in her temple at Rome, it was usual to carry a small piece of money as an offering. This custom was first established by Servius Tullius, who, by enforcing it, was enabled to know the exact number of the Roman people. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 450.—Homer, Iliad, bk. ”

“ It is a ruin now, and Isis has departed from Egypt, though still under the Power that fashioned it and her: she rules the world, for she is Nature’s self. Of that shrine a certain man, a Greek, Kallikrates by name, was chief priest, chosen for her service by the favour of the goddess, vowed to her eternally and to her alone, by the dreadful oath that might not be broken without punishment as eternal.
“In the flame thou sawest that priest, and here at thy side he stands, re-born, to fulfil his destiny and ours. ”

“ Surely Achilles is mild of temper, or this, son of Atreus, had been thy last wrong-doing!"
Thereupon Ulysses rose up beside him, and spake in wrath: "Peace, babbler; take not the name of kings upon thy lips, nor taunt thy betters. Hearken now to me: if I hear thee speak idle words again as thou hast done this day, I will surely strip from off thee cloak and tunic, and drive thee to the ships with shameful blows." So speaking, he smote him with the sceptre on back and shoulders; and a bloody weal rose up beneath the blow. ”

“ Upon this no one dared speak of revenge, and even the bravest warriors put away their weapons with the resolve never to use them against the man who had right upon his side. Time, by degrees, dulled the hatred even of the fathers of the murdered men. The wisdom, magnanimity, and kindness of Ulysses soon won all hearts and at last converted even his bitterest foes into friends.
Ulysses did not forget the vow which he had made in the kingdom of departed souls, to the gods of Hades, to offer in sacrifice a young ox and, to the spirit of Tiresias, a black ram when he should be at home once more. ”

“ Now all this time the Greeks, shut up within their wall and fighting from their towers, were looking back across the sea, eager to spy the ship of Ulysses, like men wrecked on a desert island, who keep watch every day for a sail afar off, hoping that the seamen will touch at their isle and have pity upon them, and carry them home, so the Greeks kept watch for the ship bearing Neoptolemus. ”

“ Ulysses goes to Laertes—His Father’s Conflict with the Friends of the slain Suitors—Great Sacrifice and Festival in Ithaca
Before dawn, after a few hours of sleep, Ulysses arose and awakened his wife, Telemachus, and the herdsmen. “Come quickly, friends,” said he, “that we may reach my father’s plantation before daylight. Very soon the news of the death of the suitors will spread throughout the island, and the princes whose sons have not returned at night will set out to seek them. If they all unite and lead their people against us, we shall not be able to withstand them. ”

“ Then again the messenger, Argeiphontes, spake to him: "Yea verily, old sire, all this hast thou spoken according to right. But come, tell me this, and declare it truly, whether thou art bearing forth these many treasures and goodly unto some foreign folk, where they may abide for thee in safety, or whether by now ye are all forsaking holy Ilios in fear; so great a warrior, the noblest of all, hath perished, even thy son; for never held he back from warring with the Achaeans." ”

“ After untold suffering, the Greeks landed again upon the Æolian Isle, and Ulysses sought the king, to beseech his aid once more; but this time the god received him coldly, and bade him depart, as his cruelty to Polyphemus had awakened the gods’ wrath.
“‘Hence with thee! Leave our island instantly,
Vilest of living men! It may not be
That I receive or aid as he departs
One who is hated by the blessed gods,—
And thou art hated by the gods. ”

“ O, Ulysses, man of many toils and long wanderings, great glory of the Greeks, come to us and listen to our song. Every one who passes over the sea near our island stays to hear it, and forgets all his labor and all his trouble, and then goes away peaceful and happy. Come and rest, Ulysses, come and rest. We know all the great deeds you have done at Troy, and how you have been tossed by many storms, and suffered many sorrows sailing on the wide sea. ”

“ Then Ilioneus made answer, saying, “Great King, we have not gone astray in our journey, nor have storms driven us out of the way. Of set purpose are we come to this land. For we were driven away by ill-fortune from our country, of which things we doubt not, O King, that thou knowest the certainty. For who is there under [Pg 156] the whole heaven who knoweth not what a storm of destruction came forth from the land of Greece and overthrew the great city of Troy, Europe and Asia setting themselves in arms against each other? And now are we come to ask for a parcel of land whereon we may dwell ”

“ Next followed the main part of the festival, the great procession which escorted Iacchus, the sacred child of the gods, from Athens to Eleusis. In the course of the day the participants in the procession, who often numbered several thousand, assembled at various parts of the city, and were drawn up in order in the Agora{380} and the Kerameikos. The priests and officials, as well as the whole band of Mystae, were decked with myrtle and ivy leaves, and carried ears of corn and agricultural implements in their hands, as well as torches, for they did not reach Eleusis before nightfall. ”

“ In Thuringia and in the Black Forest the stories of the giants are legion, and one of the favourites with the peasants is that about Ilse, the lovely daughter of the giant of the Ilsenstein. She was so charming that far and wide she was known as the Beautiful Princess Ilse, and was wooed by many knights, of whom she preferred the Lord of Westerburg. But her father did not at all approve of her consorting with a mere mortal, and forbade her to see her lover. ”

“ In some cities also, when they celebrate the feast of Isis, in a pompous procession, they carry about vessels of wheat and barley, in memory of the first invention, by the care and industry of this goddess. They say, likewise, that Isis made many laws for the good of human society, whereby men were retrained from lawless force and violence one upon another, out of fear of punishment. And therefore Ceres was called by the ancient Greeks, Themophorus, that is, lawgiver, being the princess that first constituted laws for the better government of her people. ”

“ But in those times shields were very large, and rose at the middle into two peaks with a hollow between them, so that Ithaca, seen far off in the sea, with her two chief mountain peaks, and a cloven valley between them, looked exactly like a shield. The country was so rough that men kept no horses, for, at that time, people drove, standing up in little light chariots with two horses; they never rode, and there was no cavalry in battle: men fought from chariots. When Ulysses, the son of Laertes, King of Ithaca grew up, he never fought from a chariot, for he had none, but always on foot. ”

“ Next came the mighty Theban, Tiresias, bearing a scepter of gold; and he knew him and spake: "Why, son of Laertes, wanderest thou from cheerful day to tread this sorrowful path? What angry gods have led thee, alive, to be companion of the dead? If thou wilt sheathe thy sword I will relate thy future and the high purposes of Heaven towards thee."
Ulysses sheathed his glittering blade, and the seer bent down and drank of the dark blood. Then he foretold all the strange disasters that would threaten and detain Ulysses on his homeward way. ”

“ No reader who is interested in the social life of ancient Greece need find Isaeus dull. If the glimpses of Greek society which he gives us are seldom so gay and picturesque as those which enliven the pages of Lysias, they are certainly not less suggestive. Here, where the innermost relations and central interests of the family are in question, we touch the springs of social life; we are not merely presented with scenic details of dress and furniture, but are enabled in no small degree to conceive the feelings of the actors. ”

“ For nine whole years we were busy, devising the ruin of the enemy, which yet Zeus brought not to pass. And always Ulysses passed the rest in craft, thy father Ulysses, if indeed thou art his son, and verily thy speech is like to his; one would not think that a younger man could be so like to an elder. But listen to my tale. When we had sacked the town, I returned across the sea without delay, leaving behind the others, so that I know not of my own knowledge which of the Greeks was saved and which was lost. But wander not thou, my son, far from home, while strangers devour thy substance. ”

“ Who knows what monster of the deep hath swallowed him or upon what shore his bones are bleaching. It is ten years since Troy was destroyed, and since then we have watched and waited for him daily, and I most of all. For know, that the old man who stands before thee here, dignified by sorrow, is Laertes, father of the noble Ulysses. His mother died of a broken heart, but to me the gods have denied this boon.”
“Worthy king,” replied Ulysses, “weep no more. The gods have rejoicing in store for thee. Living thou shalt behold thy son.” ”

“ Right glad were Ulysses and Diomede to behold him, and Ulysses told Neoptolemus who they were, and why they came, and implored him to take pity on the Greeks and help them.
'My friend is Diomede, Prince of Argos,' said Ulysses, 'and I am Ulysses of Ithaca. Come with us, and we Greeks will give you countless gifts, and I myself will present you with the armour of your father, such as it is not lawful for any other mortal man to wear, seeing that it is golden, and wrought by the hands of a God. ”

“ The Isiac worship had conquered the Greek world before it became a power in Italy. In the fourth century B.C. traders from the Nile had their temple of Isis at the Peiraeus;2876 in the third century the worship had been admitted within the walls of Athens.2877 About the same time the goddess had found a [pg 561] home at Ceos, and Delos, at Smyrna and Halicarnassus, and on the coasts of Thrace.2878 She was a familiar deity at Orchomenus and Chaeronea for generations before Plutarch found in her legends a congenial field for the exposition of his concordat between philosophy and myth. ”

“ All agreed to the king’s proposal, and the youth brought a brazen sword with a silver hilt and scabbard of ivory as his offering. He approached Ulysses abashed, and with eyes cast down addressed him. “Be not angry, oh stranger. Let the winds scatter the offensive words which I have spoken. May the gods grant thee a speedy return to thy house and thy people, after thy long wanderings.”
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“My dear fellow,” answered Ulysses, “mayest thou also enjoy the favor of the gods. And mayest thou never regret the gift which thou hast offered me.” ”

“ Ulysses in the course of his life saw many rich countries, and great cities of men, but, wherever he was, his heart was always in the little isle of Ithaca, where he had learned how to row, and how to sail a boat, and how to shoot with bow and arrow, and to hunt boars and stags, and manage his hounds. ”

“ The impression felt in our days by the non-initiated is of the same nature as that felt in former times by those who were not initiated in the mysteries enacted at Eleusis in honour of Ceres. But the mysteries of Eleusis interested the whole of Greece, and whoever had attained some eminence in the society of those days had an ardent wish to take a part in those mysterious ceremonies, while Freemasonry, in the midst of many men of the highest merit, reckons a crowd of scoundrels whom no society ought to acknowledge, because they are the refuse of mankind as far as morality is concerned. ”

“ Then Tiresias, who bore a golden sceptre, came and lapped of the offering, and immediately he knew Ulysses, and began to prophesy: he denounced woe to Ulysses—woe, woe, and many sufferings—through the anger of Neptune for the putting out of the eye of the sea-god's son. Yet there was safety after suffering, if they could abstain from slaughtering the oxen of the Sun after they landed in the Triangular island. For Ulysses, the gods had destined him from a king to become a beggar, and to perish by his own guests, unless he slew those who knew him not. ”

“ He then commanded that all the gods who had any knowledge of magical spells should come to him, and when they came, Isis, the great lady of spells, the destroyer of diseases, and the reviver of the dead, came with them. Turning to Rā she said, “What hath happened, O divine Father?” and in answer the god told her that a serpent had bitten him, that he was hotter than fire and colder than water, that his limbs quaked, and that he was losing the power of sight. Then Isis said to him with guile, “Divine Father, tell me thy name, for he who uttereth his own name shall live.” ”

“ Verily, I ween, thou hopest in thy heart, glorious Achilles, on this day to sack the city of the lordly Trojans. Thou fool! in sooth many be the woes that shall yet be wrought because of her. Within her are we, many men and valiant, that in front of our dear parents and wives and sons guard Ilios; nay, it is thou that shalt here meet thy doom, for all thou art so dread and so bold a man of war. ”