Edward Berdoe - The Browning Cyclopædia - A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning

And the assembled foe cried, “Reverence Elektra! Let stand Athenai!” and so, as Euripides had saved the Athenian exiles in Syracuse harbour, now he saved Athens herself. But her brave long walls were destroyed, destroyed to sound of flute and lyre, wrecked to the kordax step, and laid in the dust to the mocking laughter of a Comedy-chorus. And so no longer would Balaustion remain to see the shame of the beloved city. “Back to Rhodes!” she cried. “There are no gods, no gods! Glory to God – who saves Euripides!” [The long walls of Athens consisted of the wall to Phalerum on the east, about four miles long, and of the wall to the harbour of Piraeus on the west, about four and a half miles long; between these two, at a short distance from the latter and parallel to it, another wall was erected, thus making two walls leading to the Piraeus, with a narrow passage between them. The entire circuit of the walls was nearly twenty-two miles, of which about five and a half miles belonged to the city, nine and a half to the long walls, and seven miles to Piraeus, Munychia, and Phalerum.]

Plutarch, in his life of Lysander, tells how Euripides saved Athens from destruction and the Athenians from slavery: – “After Lysander had taken from the Athenians all their ships except twelve, and their fortifications were delivered up to him, he entered their city on the sixteenth of the month Munychon (April), the very day they had overthrown the barbarians in the naval fight at Salamis. He presently set himself to change their form of government; and finding that the people resented his proposal, he told them ‘that they had violated the terms of their capitulation, for their walls were still standing after the time fixed for the demolishing of them was passed; and that, since they had broken the first articles, they must expect new ones from the council.’ Some say he really did propose, in the council of the allies, to reduce the Athenians to slavery; and that Erianthis, a Theban officer, gave it as his opinion that the city should be levelled with the ground, and the spot on which it stood turned to pasturage. Afterwards, however, when the general officers met at an entertainment, a musician of Phocis happened to begin a chorus in the Electra of Euripides, the first lines of which are these —

The whole company were greatly moved at this incident, and could not help reflecting how barbarous a thing it would be to raze that noble city, which had produced so many great and illustrious men. Lysander, however, finding the Athenians entirely in his power, collected the musicians of the city, and having joined to them the band belonging to the camp, pulled down the walls, and burned the ships, to the sound of their instruments.”

Notes. [The pages are those of the complete edition, in 16 vols.] – P. 3, Euthukles , the husband of Balaustion, whom she met first at Syracuse. p. 4, Koré , the daughter of Ceres, the same as Proserpine. p. 6, Peiraios , the principal harbour of Athens, with which it was connected by the long walls; “ walls, long double-range Themistoklean ”: after Themistocles, the Athenian general, who planned the fortifications of Athens; Dikast and heliast : the Dikast was the judge ( dike , a suit, was the term for a civil process); the heliasts were jurors, and in the flourishing period of the democracy numbered six thousand. p. 7, Kordax-step , a lascivious comic dance: to perform it off the stage was regarded as a sign of intoxication or profligacy; Propulaia , a court or vestibule of the Acropolis at Athens; Pnux , a place at Athens set apart for holding assemblies: it was built on a rock; Bema , the elevated position occupied by those who addressed the assembly. p. 8, Dionusia , the great festivals of Bacchus, held three times a year, when alone dramatic representations at Athens took place; “ Hermippos to pelt Perikles ”: Hermippos was a poet who accused Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, of impiety; “ Kratinos to swear Pheidias robbed a shrine ”: Kratinos was a comic poet of Athens, a contemporary of Aristophanes; Eruxis , the name of a small satirist. (Compare “ The Frogs ” ll. 933-934.) Momos , the god of pleasantry: he satirised the gods; Makaria , one of the characters in the Heraclidæ of Euripides: she devoted herself to death to enable the Athenians to win a victory. p. 9, “ Furies in the Oresteian song ” – Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megæra: they haunted Orestes after he murdered his mother Clytemnestra: “ As the Three ,” etc., the three tragic poets, Æschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Klutaimnestra , wife of Agamemnon and mother of Orestes, Iphigenia, and Electra: she murdered her husband on his return from Troy; Iocasté , Iocasta, wife of Laius and mother of Œdipus; Medeia , daughter of Aetes: when Jason repudiated her she killed their children; Choros : the function of the chorus, represented by its leader, was to act as an ideal public: it might consist of old men and women or maidens; dances and gestures were introduced, to illustrate the drama. p. 10, peplosed and kothorned , robed and buskined. Phrunicos , a tragic poet of Athens: he was heavily fined by the government for exhibiting the sufferings of a kindred people in a drama. (Herod., vi., 21.) “ Milesian smart-place ,” the Persian conquest of Miletus. p. 11, Lenaia , a festival of Bacchus, with poetical contentions, etc.; Baccheion , a temple of Bacchus; Andromedé , rescued from a sea-monster by Perseus; Kresphontes , one of the tragedies of Euripides; Phokis , a country of northern Greece, whence came the husband of Balaustion, who saved Athens by a song from Euripides; Bacchai , a play by Euripides, not acted till after his death. p. 12, Amphitheos , a priest of Ceres at Athens, ridiculed by Aristophanes to annoy Euripides. p. 14, stade , a single course for foot-races at Olympia – about a furlong; diaulos , the double track of the racecourse for the return. p. 15, Hupsipule , queen of Lemnos, who entertained Jason in his voyage to Colchis: “ Phoinissai ” ( The Phœnician Women ), title of one of the plays of Euripides; “ Zethos against Amphion ”: Zethos was a son of Jupiter by Antiope, and brother to Amphion; Macedonian Archelaos , a king of Macedonia who patronised Euripides. p. 16, Phorminx , a harp or guitar; “ Alkaion ,” a play of Euripides; Pentheus , king of Thebes, who refused to acknowledge Bacchus as a god; “ Iphigenia in Aulis ,” a play by Euripides; Mounuchia , a port of Attica between the Piræus and the promontory of Sunium; “ City of Gapers ,” Athens – so called on account of the curiosity of the people; Kopaic eel : the eels of Lake Copais, in Bœotia, were very celebrated, and to this day maintain their reputation. p. 17, Arginousai , three islands near the shores of Asia Minor; Lais , a celebrated courtesan, the mistress of Alcibiades; Leogoras , an Athenian debauchee; Koppa-marked , branded as high bred; choinix , a liquid measure; Mendesian wine : Wine from Mende, a city of Thrace, famous for its wines; Thesmophoria , a women’s festival in honour of Ceres, made sport of by Aristophanes. p. 18, Krateros , probably an imaginary character. Arridaios and Krateues , local poets in royal favour; Protagoras , a Greek atheistic philosopher, banished from Athens, died about 400 B.C.; “ Comic Platon ,” Greek poet, called “the prince of the middle comedy,” flourished 445 B.C.; Archelaos , king of Macedonia. p. 19, “ Lusistraté ” a play by Aristophanes, in which the women demand a peace; Kleon : Cleon was an Athenian tanner and a great popular demagogue, 411 B.C., distinguished afterwards as a general; he was a great enemy of Aristophanes. p. 20, Phuromachos , a military leader; Phaidra , fell in love with Hippolytus, her son-in-law, who refused her love, which proved fatal to him. p. 21, Salabaccho , a performer in Aristophanes’ play, The Lysistrata , acting the part of “Peace”; Aristeides , an Athenian general, surnamed the Just, banished 484 B.C.; Miltiades , the Athenian general who routed the armies of Darius, died 489 B.C.; “ A golden tettix in his hair ” (a grasshopper), an Athenian badge of honour worn as indicative that the bearer had “sprung from the soil”; Kleophon , a demagogue of Athens. p. 22, Thesmophoriazousai , a play by Aristophanes satirising women and Euripides, B.C. 411. p. 23, Peiraios , the seaport of Athens; Alkamenes , a statuary who lived 448 B.C., distinguished for his beautiful statues of Venus and Vulcan; Thoukudides (Thucydides), the Greek historian, died at Athens 391 B.C. p. 24, Herakles (Hercules), who had brought Alcestis back to life: the subject of a play by Euripides. p. 25, Eurustheus , king of Argos, who enjoined Hercules the most hazardous undertakings, hoping he would perish in one of them; King Lukos , the son of an elder Lukos said to have been the husband of Dirke; Megara , daughter of Creon, king of Thebes, and wife of Hercules; Thebai — i. e. , of Creon of Thebes; Heracleian House , the house of Hercules. p. 26, Amphitruon , a Theban prince, foster-father of Herakles, i. e. , the husband of Alkmene the mother of Herakles by Zeus; Komoscry , a “Komos” was a revel; Dionusos , Bacchos , Phales , Iacchos (all names of Bacchus): the goat was sacrificed to Bacchus on account of the propensity that animal has to destroy the vine. p. 27, Mnesilochos , the father-in-law of Euripides, a character in the Thesmophoriazousai ; Toxotes , an archer in the same play; Elaphion , leader of the chorus of females or flute-players. p. 30, Helios , the God of the Sun; Pindaros , the greatest lyric poet of Greece, born 552 B.C.; “ Idle cheek band ” refers to a support for the cheeks worn by trumpeters; Cuckoo-apple , the highly poisonous tongue-burning Cuckoo-pint ( Arum maculatum ); Thasian , Thasus, an island in the Ægean Sea famous for its wine; threttanelo and neblaretai , imitative noises; Chrusomelolonthion-Phaps , a dancing girl’s name. p. 31, Artamouxia , a character in the Thesmophoriazousai of Aristophanes; Hermes == Mercury; Goats-breakfast , improper allusions, connected with Bacchus; Archon , a chief magistrate of Athens; “ Three days’ salt fish slice ”: each soldier was required to take with him on the march three days’ rations. p. 32, Archinos , a rhetorician of Athens (Schol. in Aristoph. Ran.); Agurrhios , an Athenian general in B.C. 389: he was a demagogue; “ Bald-head Bard ”: this describes Aristophanes, and the two following words indicate his native place; Kudathenaian , native of the Deme Cydathenê; Pandionid , of the tribe of Pandionis; “ son of Philippos ”: Aristophanes here gives the names of his father and of his birthplace; anapæsts , feet in verse, whereof the first syllables are short and the last long; Phrunichos (see on p. 10); Choirilos , a tragic poet of Athens, who wrote a hundred and fifty tragedies. p. 33, Kratinos , a severe and drunken satirist of Athens, 431 B.C.; “ Willow-wicker-flask ,” i. e. , “Flagon,” the name of a comedy by Kratinos which took the first prize, 423 B.C.; Mendesian , from Mende in Thrace. p. 36, “ Lyric shell or tragic barbiton ,” instruments of music: the barbiton was a lyre; shells were used as the bodies of lyres; Tuphon , a famous giant chained under Mount Etna. p. 38, Sousarion , a Greek poet of Megara, said to have been the inventor of comedy; Chionides , an Athenian poet, by some alleged to have been the inventor of comedy. p. 39, “ Grasshoppers ,” a play of Aristophanes; “ Little-in-the-Fields ,” suburban or village feasts of Bacchus. p. 40, Ameipsias , a comic poet ridiculed by Aristophanes for his insipidity; Salaminian , of Salamis, an island on the coast of Attica. p. 41, Archelaos , king of Macedonia, patron of Euripides. p. 42, Iostephanos (violet-crowned), a title applied to Athens; Dekeleia , a village of Attica north of Athens; Kleonumos , an Athenian often ridiculed by Aristophanes; Melanthios , a tragic poet, a son of Philocles; Parabasis , an address in the old comedy, where the author speaks through the mouth of the chorus; “ The Wasps ,” one of the famous plays of Aristophanes. p. 43, Telekleides , an Athenian comic poet of the age of Pericles; Murtilos , a comic poet; Hermippos , a poet, an elder contemporary of Aristophanes; Eupolis : is coupled with Aristophanes as a chief representative of the old comedy (born 446 B.C.); Kratinos , a contemporary comic poet, who died a few years after Aristophanes began to write for the stage; Mullos and Euetes , comic poets of Athens; Megara , a small country of Greece, p. 44, Morucheides , an archon of Athens, in whose time it was ordered that no one should be ridiculed on the stage by name; Sourakosios , an Athenian lawyer ridiculed by the poets for his garrulity; Tragic Trilogy , a series of three dramas, which, though complete each in itself, bear a certain relation to each other, and form one historical and poetical picture — e. g. , the three plays of the Oresteia , the Agamemnon , the Choëphoræ , and the Eumenides by Æschylus. p. 45, “ The Birds ,” the title of one of Aristophanes’ plays. p. 46, Triphales , a three-plumed helmet-wearer; Trilophos , a three-crested helmet-wearer; Tettix (the grasshopper), a sign of honour worn as a golden ornament; “ Autochthon-brood ”: the Athenians so called themselves, boasting that they were as old as the country they inhabited; Taügetan , a mountain near Sparta. p. 47, Ruppapai , a sailor’s cry; Mitulené , the capital of Lesbos, a famous seat of learning, and the birthplace of many great men; Oidipous , son of Laius, king of Thebes, and Jocasta: he murdered his own father; Phaidra , who fell in love with her son Hippolytus; Augé , the mother of Telephus by Hercules; Kanaké , a daughter of Æolus, who bore a child to her brother Macareus; antistrophé , a part of the Greek choral ode. p. 48, Aigina , an island opposite Athens. p. 49, Prutaneion , the large hall at Athens where the magistrates feasted with those who had rendered great services to the country; Ariphrades , a person ridiculed by Aristophanes for his filthiness; Karkinos and his sons were Athenian dancers: supposed here to have been performing in a play of Ameipsias. p. 50, Parachoregema , the subordinate chorus; Aristullos , an infamous poet; “ Bald Bard’s hetairai ,” Aristophanes’ female companions. p. 51, Murrhiné and Akalanthis , chorus girls representing “good-humour” and “indulgence”; Kailligenia , a name of Ceres: here it means her festival celebrated by the woman chorus of the Thesmophoriaxousai ; Lusandros == Lysander, a celebrated Spartan general; Euboia , a large island in the Ægean Sea; “ The Great King’s Eye ,” the nickname of the Persian ambassador in the play of The Acharnians ; Kompolakuthes , a puffed-up braggadocio. p. 52, Strattis , a comic poet; klepsudra , a water clock; Sphettian vinegar == vinegar from the village of Sphettus; silphion , a herb by some called masterwort, by some benzoin, by others pellitory; Kleonclapper , i. e. , a scourge of Cleon; Agathon , an Athenian poet, very lady-like in appearance, a character in The Women’s Festival of Aristophanes; “ Babaiax! ” interjection of admiration. p. 54, “ Told him in a dream ” (see Cicero, Divinatione , xxv); Euphorion , a son of Æschylus, who published four of his father’s plays after his death, and defeated Euripides with one of them; Trugaios , a character in the comedy of Peace : he is a distressed Athenian who soars to the sky on a beetle’s back; Philonides , a Greek comic poet of Athens; Simonides , a celebrated poet of Cos, 529 B.C.: he was the first poet who wrote for money: he bore the character of an avaricious man; Kallistratos , a comic poet, rival of Aristophanes; Asklepios == Æsculapius; Iophon , a son of Sophocles, who tried to make out that his father was an imbecile. p. 58, Maketis , capital of Macedonia; Pentelikos , a mountain of Attica, celebrated for its marble. p. 60, Lamachos : the “Great Captain” of the day was the brave son of Xenophanes, killed before Syracuse B.C. 414: satirised by Aristophanes in The Acharnians ; Pisthetairos , a character in Aristophanes’ Birds ; Strepsiades , a character in The Clouds of Aristophanes; Ariphrades (see under p. 49). p. 63, “ Nikias, ninny-like ,” the Athenian general who ruined Athens at Syracuse – was very superstitious. p. 64, Hermai , statues of Mercury in the streets of Athens: we have one in the British Museum. p. 67, Sophroniskos , was the father of Socrates. p. 75, Kephisophon , a friend of Euripides, said to have afforded him literary assistance. p. 79, Palaistra , the boy’s school for physical culture. p. 82, San , the letter S, used as a horse-brand. p. 81, Aias == Ajax. p. 82, Pisthetairos , an enterprising Athenian in the comedy of the Birds . p. 83, “ Rocky-ones ” == Athenians; Peparethian , famous wine of Peparethus, on the coast of Macedonia. p. 85, Promachos , a defender or champion, name of a statue: the bronze statue of Athene Promachos is here referred to, which was erected from the spoils taken at Marathon, and stood between the Propylæa and the Erechtheum: the proportions of this statue were so gigantic that the gleaming point of the lance and the crest of the helmet were visible to seamen on approaching the Piræus from Sunium (Seyffert, Dict. Class. Ant. ); Oresteia , the trilogy or three tragedies of Æschylus – the Agamemnon , the Choëphoræ , and the Eumenides . p. 86, Kimon , son of Miltiades: he was a famous Athenian general, and was banished by the Boulé , or council of state; Prodikos , a Sophist put to death by the Athenians about 396 B.C., satirised by Aristophanes. p. 87, Kottabos , a kind of game in which liquid is thrown up so as to make a loud noise in falling: it was variously played ( see Seyffert’s Dict. Class. Ant. , p. 165); Choes , an Athenian festival; Theoros , a comic poet of infamous character. p. 88, Brilesian , Brilessus, a mountain of Attica. p. 89, “ Plataian help ,” prompt assistance: the Platæans furnished a thousand soldiers to help the Athenians at Marathon; Saperdion , a term of endearment; Empousa , a hobgoblin or horrible sceptre: “Apollonius of Tyana saw in a desert near the Indus an empousa or ghûl taking many forms” ( Philostratus , ii., 4); Kimberic , name of a species of vestment. p. 93, “ Kuthereia’s self ,” a surname of Venus. p. 94, plethron square , 100 square feet; chiton , the chief and indispensible article of female dress, or an undergarment worn by both sexes. p. 95, Ion , a tragic poet of Chios; Iophon , son of Sophocles, a poor poet; Aristullos , an infamous poet. p. 98, Cloudcuckooburg , in Aristophanes’ play The Birds these animals are persuaded to build a city in the air, so as to cut off the gods from men; Tereus , a king of Thrace, who offered violence to his sister-in-law Philomela; Hoopoe triple-crest : Tereus was said to have been changed into a hoopoe ( The Birds ); Palaistra tool , i. e. , one highly developed; Amphiktuon , a council of the wisest and best men of Greece; Phrixos , son of Athamas, king of Thebes, persecuted by his stepmother was fabled to have taken flight to Colchis on a ram. p. 99, Priapos , the god of orchards, gardens, and licentiousness; Phales Iacchos , indecent figure of Bacchus. p. 102, Kallikratidas , a Spartan who routed the Athenian fleet about 400 B.C.; Theramenes , an Athenian philosopher and general of the time of Alcibiades. p. 103, chaunoprockt , a catamite. p. 113, Aristonumos , a comic poet, contemporary with Aristophanes; Ameipsias , a comic poet satirised by Aristophanes; Sannurion , a comic poet of Athens: Neblaretai! Rattei! exclamations of joy. p. 117, Sousarion , a Greek poet of Megara, who introduced comedy at Athens on a movable stage, 562 B.C.: he was unfriendly to the ladies. p. 118, Lemnians , The Hours , Female Playhouse , etc., these are all lost plays of Aristophanes. p. 119, Kassiterides , “the tin islands”: the Scilly Islands, Land’s End, and Lizard Point. p. 121, “ Your games ”: Olympian , in honour of Zeus at Olympia; Pythian , held near Delphi; Isthmian , held in the Isthmus of Corinth; Nemeian , celebrated in the valley of Nemea. p. 126, Phoibos , name of Apollo or the sun; Kunthia == Cynthia, a surname of Diana, from Mount Cynthus, where she was born. p. 128, skiadeion , the umbel or umbrella-like head of plants like fennel or anise – hence a parasol or umbrella; Huperbolos , an Athenian demagogue. p. 129, Theoria , festival at Athens in honour of Apollo – character in The Peace ; Opôra , a character in The Peace . p. 133, “ Philokleon turns Bdelukleon ,” an admirer of Cleon, turned detester of Cleon: character in Aristophanes’ comedy The Wasps . p. 135, Logeion , the stage where the actors perform – properly “the speaking place.” p. 137, Lamia-shape , as of the monsters with face of a woman and body of a serpent; Kukloboros , roaring – a noise as of the torrent of the river in Attica of that name; Platon == Plato. p. 140, Konnos , the play of Ameipsias which beat the Clouds of Aristophanes in the award of the judges; Moruchides , a magistrate of Athens, in whose time it was decided that no one should be ridiculed on the stage by name; Euthumenes , Argurrhios , Surakosios , Kinesias , Athenian rulers who endeavoured to restrain the gross attacks of the comic poets. p. 141, Acharnes , Aristophanes’ play The Acharnians : it is the most ancient specimen of comedy which has reached us. p. 143, Poseidon , the Sea == Neptune. p. 144, Triballos , a vulgar deity. p. 145, Kolonos , an eminence near Athens; stulos , a style or pen to write with on wax tablets; psalterion , a musical instrument like a harp, a psaltery. p. 146, Pentheus , king of Thebes, who resisted the worship of Bacchus, and was driven mad by the god and torn to pieces by his own mother and her two sisters in their Bacchic frenzy. p. 147, Herakles == Hercules; Argive Amphitruon , son of Alkaios and husband of Alcmene; Alkaios , father of Amphitruon and grandfather of Hercules; Perseus , son of Jupiter and Danae; Thebai , capital of Bœotia, founded by Cadmus; Sown-ones , the armed men who rose from the dragons’ teeth sown by Cadmus; Ares , Greek name of Mars; Kadmos , founder of Bœotian Thebes; Kreon , king of Thebes, father of Megara slain by Lukos; Menoikeus , father of the Kreon above referred to. p. 148, Kuklopian city : Argos, according to Euripides, was built by the seven Cyclopes: “These were architects who attended Prœtus when he returned out of Asia; among other works with which they adorned Greece were the walls of Mycenæ and Tiryns, which were built of unhewn stones, so large that two mules yoked could not move the smallest of them” (Potter); Argos , an ancient city, capital of Argolis in Peloponnesus; Elektruon , a son of Perseus; Heré == Juno; Tainaros , a promontory of Laconia, where was the cavern whence Hercules dragged Cerberus; Dirké , wife of the Theban prince Lukos; Amphion : “His skill in music was so great that the very stones were said to have been wrought upon by his lyre, and of themselves to have built the walls of Thebes” — Carey ( see Abt Vogler); Zethos , brother of Amphion; Euboia , the largest island in the Ægean Sea, now Negroponte. p. 149, Minuai , the Argonauts, companions of Jason. p. 150, Taphian town , Taphiæ, islands in the Ionian Sea. p. 153, peplos , a robe. p. 154, Hellas == Greece; Nemeian monster , the lion slain by Hercules. p. 156, Kentaur race , a people of Thessaly represented as half men and half horses; Pholoé , a mountain in Arcadia; Dirphus , a mountain of Eubœa which Hercules laid waste; Abantid : Abantis was an ancient name of Eubœa. p. 158, Parnasos , a mountain of Phocis. p. 165, Peneios , a river of Thessaly; Mount Pelion , a celebrated mountain of Thessaly; Homole , a mountain of Thessaly; Oinoé == Œne, a small town of Argolis; Diomede , a king of Thrace who fed his horses on human flesh, and was himself destroyed by Hercules. p. 166, Hebros , the principal river of Thrace; Mukenaian tyrant , Eurystheus, king of Mycenæ; Amauros , Amaurus, a river of Thessaly near the foot of Pelion; Kuknos , a son of Mars by Pelopea, killed by Hercules; Amphanaia , a Dorian city; Hesperian , west, towards Spain; Maiotis , Lake Mæotis, i. e. , the Sea of Azof. p. 167, Lernaian snake , the hydra slain by Hercules, who then drained the marsh of Lerna; Erutheia , an island near Cadiz, where Hercules drove the oxen of Geryon. p. 169, Pelasgia == Greece; Daidalos , mythical personage, father of Icarus; Oichalia , a town of Laconia, destroyed by Hercules. p. 177, Ismenos , a river of Bœotia flowing through Thebes. p. 180, Orgies , festivals of Bacchus; Chthonia , a surname of Ceres; Hermion , a town of Argolis where Ceres had a famous temple; Theseus , king of Athens, conqueror of the Minotaur. p. 182, Aitna == Etna. p. 183, Mnemosuné , the mother of the Muses; Bromios , a surname of Bacchus; Delian girls , of Delos, one of the Cyclades islands; Latona , mother of Apollo and Diana. p. 188, Acherontian harbour : Acheron was one of the rivers of hell. p. 189, Asopiad sisters , daughters of the god of the river Asopus; Puthios , surname of the Delphian Apollo; Helikonian muses : Mount Helicon, in Bœotia, was sacred to Apollo and the Muses. p. 190, Plouton == Pluto, god of hell; Paian , name of Apollo, the healer; Iris , the swift-footed messenger of the gods. p. 193, Keres , the daughters of Night and personified necessity of Death. p. 194, Otototoi , woe! alas! p. 195, Tariaros == Hades; Pallas , i. e. , Minerva. p. 198, Niso’s city , port town of Megara; Isthmos , the isthmus of Corinth. p. 201, Argolis , a country of Peloponnesus, now Romania; Danaos , son of Belus, king of Egypt: he had fifty daughters, who murdered the fifty sons of Egyptus; Prokné , daughter of Pandion, king of Athens, wife of Tereus, king of Thrace. p. 202, Itus , son of Prokné. p. 206, Taphioi , the Taphians, who made war against Electryon, and killed all his sons; Erinues == the Furies. p. 213, Erechtheidai’s town == Athens. p. 215, Hundredheaded Hydra , a dreadful monster slain by Hercules. p. 216, Phlegruia , a place of Macedonia, where Hercules defeated the giants. p. 234, Iostephanos , violet-crowned, a name of Athens. p. 235, Thamuris , an ancient Thracian bard; Poikilé , a celebrated portico of Athens, adorned with pictures of gods and benefactors; Rhesus was king of Thrace and ally of the Trojans; Blind Bard == Thamuris. p. 236, Eurutos , a king of Œchalia, who offered his daughter to a better shot than himself: Hercules won, but was denied the prize; Dorion , a town of Messenia, where Thamyris challenged the Muses to a trial of skill; Balura , a river of Peloponnesus. p. 241, Dekeleia , a village of Attica north of Athens, celebrated in the Peloponnesian war; spinks , chaffinches. p. 242, Amphion , son of Jupiter and inventor of Music: he built the walls of Thebes to the sound of his lyre. p. 245, Castalian dew , the fountain of Castalia, near Phocis, at the foot of Parnassus. p. 247, Pheidippides , the celebrated runner, a character also in The Clouds . p. 248, Aigispoiamoi , Ægospotamos was the river where the Athenians were defeated by Lysander, B.C. 405; Elaphebolion month , stag-hunting time, when the poetical contests took place; Lusandros , the celebrated Spartan general Lysander; triremes , galleys with three banks of oars one above another. p. 249, Bakis-prophecy , Bacis was a famous soothsayer of Bœotia. p. 253, Elektra , daughter of Agamemnon, king of Argos; Orestes , brother of Elektra, who saved his life. p. 254, Klutaimnestra , murdered her husband Agamemnon. p. 255, Kommos , a great wailing; eleleleleu , a loud crying; Lakonians , the Lacedæmonians == the Spartans. p. 258, Young Philemon , a Greek comic poet; there was an old Philemon, contemporary with Menander. – Mr. Fotheringham, in his “Studies in the Poetry of Robert Browning,” says: “Browning’s preference for Euripides among Greek dramatists, and his defence of that poet in the person of Balaustion against Aristophanes, shows how distinctly he has considered the principles raised by the later drama of Greece, and how deliberately he prefers Euripidean art and aims to Aristophanic naturalism. He likes the human and ethical standpoint, the serious and truth-loving spirit of the tragic rather than the pure Hellenism of the comic poet; while the Apology suggests a broader spirit and a larger view, an art that unites the realism of the one with the higher interests of the other – delight in and free study of the world with ideal aims and spiritual truth” (p. 356).