Ortygia

“ O resting-place august of Alpheos, Ortygia, scion of famous Syracuse, thou that art a couch of Artemis and a sister of Delos [1] , from thee goeth forth a song of sweet words, to set forth the great glory of whirlwind-footed steeds in honour of Aitnaian Zeus.
For now the car of Chromios, and Nemea, stir me to yoke to his victorious deeds the melody of a triumphal song. And thus by that man's heaven-sped might I lay my foundations in the praise of gods. In good fortune men speak well of one altogether: and of great games the Muse is fain to tell. ”

“ She had in the grove of Altis an altar, together with Alpheus;1565 and there was there a popular legend, that Alpheus had once loved Artemis. Now the settlers that went from this district to Syracuse, in their first expedition, confined themselves to the island of Ortygia. Here they built a temple to the river-goddess Artemis; a sanctuary of so great fame, that Pindar calls the whole island “the seat of Artemis, the river-goddess.1566” There was, however, no river in Ortygia, and therefore Artemis was supposed to regret her beloved Alpheus. ”

“ To-day, as in the beginning, the city is on Ortygia, the houses crowding together behind the old walls like birds on a roost, and you wonder why, when there was such ample space on the shore, the people huddled together so. The streets, moreover, are amazingly shifty. ”

“ There are the Street of Tombs to search for relics—though most likely you will find only a few scattered bones; the Castello Maniaces on the tip of Ortygia, full of Byzantine memories; charming walks to and through the quarries, the famous Latomie; the astonishing catacombs and the Anapo trip. A score of other delightful excursions the visitor can take, providing he is not driven forward by the exigencies of a cut-and-dried itinerary, that wickedest and most specious of all excuses for not seeing enough of a country really to enjoy it! ”

“ In the very next year [683] to the foundation of Naxos, Corinth began her part in the colonization of the island. A body of settlers, under the œkist Archias, landed in the islet Ortygia, farther southward on the eastern coast, expelled the Sikel occupants, and laid the first stone of the mighty Syracuse. Ortygia, two English miles in circumference, was separated from the main island only by a narrow channel, which was bridged over when the city was occupied and enlarged by Gelôn in the 72d Olympiad, if not earlier. ”

“ This ode seems to have been sung before his house in Ortygia, a peninsula on which part of Syracuse was built, and in which was the fountain Arethusa. The legend of Arethusa and Alpheos explains the epithets of Ortygia with which the ode opens. The greater part of the ode is occupied with the story of Herakles, perhaps because Chromios was of the Hyllean tribe and thus traced his descent to Herakles. ”

“ Great city of Syracuse, precinct of warrior Ares, of iron-armed men and steeds the nursing-place divine, to thee I come [1] , bearing from my bright Thebes this song, the tidings of earth-shaking racing of the four-horse car, wherein hath Hieron with his goodly chariot overcome, and decked with far-seen splendour of crowns Ortygia the dwelling-place of Artemis of the river, her by whose help he tamed with soothing hand his colts of spangled rein. ”

“ Syracuse, girt with slopes of flowering orchard-land, lies nobly against the fortified ridge of Epipolæ. But the city itself—richer in history than any other on that crowded soil, and characteristically symbolized by its Greek temple welded into the masonry of a mediæval church—even the thronging associations of the city could not, on a day so prodigal of sunlight, hold us long within its walls. These walls, the boundaries of the Greek Ortygia, have once more become the limits of the shrunken modern town, and crossing the moat beyond them, we found ourselves at once in full country. ”

“ From this point, which was lower down on the slope of Epipolæ than the Athenian circle, they carried their palisade and counter-wall up the slope, in a direction calculated to intersect the intended line of hostile circumvallation southward of the Circle. The nautical population from Ortygia could be employed in this enterprise, since the city was still completely undisturbed by sea, and mistress of the great harbor, the Athenian fleet not having yet moved from Thapsus. ”

“ In the meantime, the sage Archimedes had welcomed Elissa and her followers within his hospitable walls, and a considerable sum of money for her maintenance was at once voted by the Senate under the direction of Hippocrates and Epicydes. Archimedes occupied a palace in the city proper, which was named Achradina, whereas the port whereon Elissa had landed on the previous night abutted on Achradina, and was known as Ortygia or the island. ”

“ But we want the sun to turn not at a point in the heavens, but in the neighbourhood of Syra and Ortygia, and to do so here in a way that he does not do elsewhere. The simplest way of attaining this end will be to suppose that the writer of the Odyssey was adopting a form of speech which we often use on a railway journey, when we say that the sun has turned and is coming in at the other window—meaning that the line has taken a sharp turn, and that we are going in a new direction. ”

“ This deep digging, however, which reached the sand of the original marsh, released much ground water and resulted in the permanent flooding of the site.
The history of the Artemision, as far as it can be inferred from the remains, is as follows. (1) There was no temple on the plain previous to the Ionian occupation, the primeval seat of the nature-goddess having been in the southern hills, at Ortygia (near mod. Arvalia) . Towards the end of the 8th century B.C. a small shrine came into existence on the plain. ”

“ Ostia, the port of Rome) , though sometimes joined by long walls, as at Athens.
7 in exitu = at their outlet, i.e. the narrow channel between Ortygia (= Insula) and the mainland which connected the two harbours.
9 disiuncta = separated from the rest (dis—) .
12 Insula, i.e. Ortygia, the only part now inhabited.
14 Hieronis regis, King of Syracuse, 270-216 B.C., distinguished by his military ability and the wise policy of his reign. ”

“ The subterranean passage of the Alpheus in the upper part of its course (confirmed by modern explorers) , and the freshness of the water of Arethusa in spite of its proximity to the sea, led to the belief that it was the outlet of the river. Further, according to Strabo (vi. p. 270) , during the sacrifice of oxen at Olympia the waters of Arethusa were disturbed, and a cup thrown into the Alpheus would reappear in Ortygia. In Virgil (Ecl. x. 1) Arethusa is addressed as a divinity of poetical inspiration, like one of the Muses, who were themselves originally nymphs of springs. ”

“ There is a place in Arcadia, (the ancients called it Pheneos,) 36 suspicious for the twofold nature of its water. Stand in dread of it at night; if drunk of in the night time, it is injurious; in the daytime, it is drunk of without any ill effects. So lakes and rivers have, some, one property, and some another. There was a time when Ortygia37 was floating on the waves, 530 xv. 337-366. now it is fixed. The Argo dreaded the Symplegades tossed by the assaults of the waves dashing against them; they now stand immoveable, and resist the attacks of the winds. ”

“ Don Alberto Altieri at once came forward to take care of her, and nine-tenths of the Roman ladies present immediately asked of their attendant gentlemen who the handsome young woman in straw-coloured silk might be, whose hair had 'quite the Venetian tinge,' and whom 'dear Don Alberto seemed to know so well.' The result was that the occasion was Ortensia's first real appearance in Roman society ”

“ But when Orestes heard this, he brake in, “Where is this Iphigenia? Hath the dead come back among the living?”
[Pg 148] “Thou seest her in me. But interrupt me not. 'I bid thee fetch me before I die to Argos from a strange land, taking me from the altar that is red with the blood of strangers, whereat I serve.' And if Orestes ask by what means I am alive, thou shalt say that Artemis put a hind in my stead, and that the priest, thinking that he smote me with the knife, slew the beast, and that the goddess brought me to this land.” ”

“ Ortensia saw the big vein swelling ominously in the middle of the white forehead, the tightening of the lips, and the unconscious movement of the fingers that closed upon an imaginary sword-hilt; she saw all this and was pleased, as every woman is when the man she loves is roused and wants to fight for her. But Ortensia did not mean that there should be any bloodshed, and she soothed her husband and made him promise that he would only watch over her more jealously than ever, and make it impossible for Don Alberto ever to be left alone with her again. ”

“ Ortensia understood that she had told the truth, and that the mere thought of physical pain almost drove her mad.
'I will take you with me to Naples,' Ortensia said. [331] 'You will be safe there. I am sorry for you; but how can I trust a woman who is so easily frightened?'
'Easily!' groaned Pina. 'You do not know what it is!'
But she took her mistress's hand and kissed it gratefully, with many tearful blessings.
'I must confess something else,' she said presently, 'though it is Cucurullo's business as well as mine. ”

“ Then Odysseus bade Eurycleia go tell Penelope that her lord had returned and awaited her in the hall.
The queen lay on her bed fast asleep when the old nurse broke into her room, and, all tremulous with joy, told her that Odysseus had come and slain the suitors. Too good were the tidings for Penelope to believe.
‘Dear nurse,’ she cried, ‘be not so foolish. Why dost thou mock my sorrow? It may be that one of the gods hath slain the suitors, but Odysseus himself hath perished in a strange land.’
‘Nay, I mock thee not, dear child,’ answered Eurycleia. ”

“ It was Pythagoras who first recognized the wench.
"Thunder and lightning," he exclaimed, "'tis the Papist!"
"Which Papist?" queried Diogenes.
"Yes, gentle sirs," said the woman piteously, "you rescued me nobly this evening from that awful, howling mob. My father and I were able to go to midnight mass in peace. May God reward you all. But," she added naïvely, "'twas no good preventing those horrid men from killing us, if we are to die from cold and hunger under the bridge of the canal." ”

“ When Ortensia had hurriedly left the room her intention had been to prevent any immediate trouble, but not to hide what had happened from her husband for more than a day or two. She was even more angry [320] with Pina than with Don Alberto himself, for she could not but believe that the nurse had taken a bribe to admit him, and had then acted as if her mistress were in love with him, or at least willing to receive him alone in a toilet that could only imply great intimacy. ”

“ If the manners of Oriana were eminently attractive, if found to be the most accomplished, Rosilia bore from her the palm of beauty. If, of a quick and clear intellect, Oriana, as if from intuitive knowledge, seized upon and comprehended a subject,—Rosilia, given to reflection, thought and contemplation, possessed a judgment less liable to err, more interiorly cultivated and refined. If less dazzling in conversation than her sister, she interested more. If Oriana charmed by her vivacity and sparkled by her wit, Rosilia touched and penetrated the heart by the sweet serenity of her deportment. ”

“ England seems to cry out to be walked upon, and Orth, like others of the transplanted, experienced to the full the country's gift of foot-restlessness and mental calm. Calm flees, however, when the ego is rampant, and to-day, as upon others too recent, Orth's soul was as restless as his feet. He had walked for two hours when he entered the wood of his neighbor's estate, a domain seldom honored by him, as it, too, had been bought by an American--a flighty hunting widow, who displeased the fastidious taste of the author. ”

“ No other woman in the world, I think, would stand so aloof from her husband who, after so much toil and so many trials, has come back after twenty years to his own hearth. Is there no place for me here, and must I again sleep in the stranger's bed?'
Said Penelope, 'In no stranger's bed wilt thou lie, my lord. Come, Eurycleia. Set up for him his own bedstead outside his bed-chamber.'
Then Odysseus said to her, speaking in anger: 'How comes it that my bed can be moved to this place and that? Not a bed of that kind was the bed I built for myself. Knowest thou not how I built my bed? ”

“ I shall be far happier if you never let me be out of your sight an hour—far more happy, and altogether safe!'
'But I cannot take you up into the organ loft when I sing, or conduct music in church! You cannot go with me behind the lattice of the Sistine choir! On Saint John's Eve, for instance, at the Lateran, I shall have to be at least two hours with the singers and musicians. Who will take care of you?'
[325] 'Surely,' objected Ortensia, 'you can trust your own man. Let him stand beside me while I sit on the pedestal of the pillar nearest to the organ, where you can see me. ”

“ They sit in the club chatting, and nowadays the doctor we have here runs with them, Dr. Ortigosa, who is half mad. He will be in soon. Then you will see a type. He is a very bad-tempered man, and is always looking for an excuse to quarrel. But above all, he is an enemy of religion. He never says Good-bye, but Salutations or Farewell. In the same way, he doesn’t say Holy Week, but Clerical Week. His great pleasure is to find a temperament of a fibre like his own; then his eyes flash and he begins to swear. And if he is hit, he stands for it. ”

“ His heart beat like a scared bird's and his head was whirling.
'Where is my husband?' cried Ortensia in wild anxiety. 'Something has happened to him, and you are afraid to tell me! For heaven's sake——'
It had never been in Trombin's nature to be rough with a woman. In the two or three cases in which he had been concerned in 'removing' a lady, obnoxious to her husband or relations, he had been accused by his companion of being soft-hearted; but while Ortensia was speaking he was in such a state of rapt adoration that he quite forgot to listen to what she said ”