Grecize, Grecianize

n. To speak the Greek language. Grecque, (grěk,) n. [Fr.] A French coffee-pot. Grecque, (A la,) a. [Fr.) After the Greek manner or fashion. Greece, in New York, a post-township of Monroe county. Greece, a modern kingdom of Europe, and the most celebrated state of antiquity. In its flourishing period, G. comprised the entire S. portion of the E. peninsula of Europe, extending N. to Lat. 42°, including the Ionian Islands, Crete, and the islands of the Archipelago This famous region was originally called Hellas . and received the name of G. from Græcus, Prince of The aly The modern kingdom of G. , though smaller than the ancient country of the same name, comprises the territories of the most celebrated and interesting of the ancient states of G .. together with the islands of Eubœa, the Cyclades. and the two Sporades, and has been considerably enlarged by the annexation of The aly and part of Epirus, ceded by Turkey in 1881 in execution of the treaty of Berlin. Total area (islands included) 25,101 sq. miles.Government. The present constitution of G. , adopted in 1864, vests the whole legislative power in a single chamber of representatives, called the Boulé , whose numbers are elected by universal suffrage; the exeсиtive is vested in the King and his ministers (who are responsible to the Boulé), who are a isted by a Council of State. Finances. The finances of G. are and have long been in a state of great disorder. The revenue, amounting annually to about $18,000,000, is every year inferior to the expenditure, and the public debt steadily increases, amounting in 1890 to $107,305,518; in 1895 to $159,149,403. Continental G. is naturally divided into two principal portions, the N., or Hellas, and the S., or Morea (the ancient Peloponnesus ). These two portions are connected by the Isthmus of Corinth. Politically G. is divided into 16 provinces, or Nomarchies , corresponding to our States, and these in turn are subdivided into Eparchies. Pop. of Greece (1896) about 2,148,000.(Physical Geog.) No country is more remarkable for the irregularity of its shape, its shores, and its surface. Its N. portion, Hellas, stretches W.N.W. to E.S.E. for about 200 miles, gradually decreasing in breadth from A carn an i a to Cape Colonna in Attica. Its S. portion, the Morea, is a peninsula, said to derive its modern name from its supposed resemblance to a mulberry-leaf. It is united N.E. to Hellas by the Isthmus of Corinth. The greatest length of the Morea, N. to S., is about 140 m.; its breadth varies from 60 to 135 m. it comprises about half the area of the newly erected kingdom. The surface of Greece is throughout mountainous, and scarcely any room is left for plains. Such of the latter as exist are principally along the sea-shore, or near the mouths of rivers, or else are mere basins, once forming the beds of mountain lakes, enclosed on all sides by mountains, or communicating with each other only by deep and narrow gorges. Such are the plains of Mantineia, Orc home nos, Stymphalus, Topolias, and Copais. The most extensive tracts of plain country are in W. Hellas, and on the N.W. and N. shores of the Morea. These are also the most productive parts of the country; but other very fertile, though small, plains are scattered through the E. of Greece, as those of Bœotia, E. Phocis, Marathon, and many others, which are still, as anciently, the granaries of the country. The most flourishing cities of antiquity, as Athens, Eleusis, Megara, Corinth, Argos, Sparta, and Thebes, were situated in the midst or on the borders of these plains; and others, as Tripolizza, Leondari, Mistra, Gastouni, Patras, Mis so long hi, Zeitoun, and Livadia, which in modern times have ranked among the principal towns in Greece, have been similarly located. - Mountains . They belong to the Alpine system, being a continuation of the Julian Alps, so remarkable in their whole extent for their numerous grottoes and caverns. The principal chain that of Pindus-runs N.W. to S.E. through the centre of Hellas, as far as the Isthmus of Corinth. On entering Greece, the Pindus chain is supposed to be nearly 7,700 feet in height. It sends off on its W. side some ranges through A carn an i a and Ætolia, and the range of Mount Zagora or Helicon in Bœotia; but its offsets on this side are of very inferior height. The mountains of A carn an i a in general are estimated at only about 1,900 feet in height; and Mount Paleo Vouna, the summit of Helicon, has only 5,738 feet of elevation. On the E. side the branches of Pindus are more lofty; Mount Guiona, the highest point in Greece, and near its N. boundary, is 8,239 feet high; and Katabothra ( Ela ), 7,061 feet. The celebrated Mount Parna us is a part of the central mountain-chain: its principal summit, Liakoura, is 8,068 ft. in height. Mount Elatea ( Cithæron ) is 4,629 ft.; and in Attica, Parnes 4,636, Pen telic us 3,642, and Hymettus ( Trelo - vouni ) 3,370 ft. high. A mountain-chain runs through Eubœa in its whole length nearly parallel to that of Pindus; its highest point, Mount Delphi ( Dir pho us), near its centre, reaches the elevation of 5,725 ft. A chain pa es through the isthmus, and nearly through the Morea E. to W., giving off lateral branches, which reach quite to the extremities of the four S. promontories of the peninsula. The culminating point in this part of Greece is Mount St. Elias ( Taygetos ), in Maina, 7,900 feet high.- Rivers and Lakes. G. has no navigable rivers, nor would any be worth notice, were it not for the cla ical recollection which attach to every portion of both soil and water of this celebrated country. The As pro Pot am us ( Acheleus ), between Ætolia and A carn an i a, is the largest; the principal remaining ones are the Gavios Mavro-Potamus ( Cephi us of Beotia), which runs into the Lake Topolias, the Hellada ( Sperchius ) Asopo, the A then i an Cephi us and Ili us ; in the Morea, the Rouphia ( Alpheus ), Vasilico ( Eurotos ), Iliaco ( Peneus ), Planizza ( Inachus ), Mavro-nero (the ancient Slyz ), . The principal lake is that of Topolias ( Copais ), in W. Bœotia, said to be 1,000 feet above the sea. There are a few insignificant pools in the Morea, including the Lerneau and Stymphalian lakes so famous in cla ical fable. Marshes are numerous. Nearly the whole N. shore of the Morea, from Corinth to Patras, is low and marshy; and the inhab. of both those towns, as well as of Nauplia, Argos, and Zeitoun, the plain of Marathon, and a portion of that of Athens, suffer, at certain seasons of the y ar, from malaria generated by stagnant pools. The want of navigable rivers in Greece is obviated by the na merous gulfs and inlets of the sea, which indent its coasts on every side, and afford unusual facilities to commerce, while they add to the variety and beauty of the scenery. The principal gulfs or bays are those of Volo, Zeitoun, Egina, or Athens ( Sinus Saronic us ), and Argos or Nauplia on the E.; Kolokythia and Koron on the S.; Arkhadia, Patras, and Arta, on the W.; and the extensive and beautiful Gulf of Corinth, between Hellas and the Morea. Between Euboea and the main-land are the channels of Talanti and Egripo, united by the ancient Euripus . The shores of Greece are mostly abrupt. The chief headlands are, Capes Mautelo in Eubœa, Colonna ( Sunium ), and Skyllo ( Scyllæum ) on the E.; St. Angelo ( Malea ), Matapan ( Tanarum ), and Gallo ( Acri tus Pr.), on the S.; and Klarenza and Skropha on the W. coast. Geology and Mineralogy. The greater portion of the country consists of secondary formations. G., Fig . 1195.- VALE OF TEMPE, (THESSALY.) generally speaking, is a region of compact gray limestone. The shores of the Morea are bordered by tertiary formations, containing an abundance of fo il shells. Volcanic action is clearly traceable, particularly in some of the islands. The whole of G. abounds with caverns and fi ures, whence sulphurous and other mephitic vapors arise, which were taken advantage of in antiquity, at Delphi and elsewhere, for practising religious deceptions. There are numerous hot and cold mineral springs, both saline and sulphurous; but few have yet been analyzed. In some parts the soil is impregnated with nitre; this is especially the case near Corinth and Kalavrita. Marble of various colors, red and green in the Morea, and white at Pen telic us in Attica, porphyry, slate, gypsum, zinc, lead, iron, gold, and silver in small quantities, cobalt, copper, manganese, alum, sulphur, and asphaltum, are among the principal mineral products. It is the opinion of the most competent authorities that the gold, silver, copper, and lead mines of Attica and the islands of Siphnos and Seriphos are far from being exhausted. Iron abounds in Scyros, at Tænarum, and in Euboea, where, also, as well as in Elis, there are abundant seams of coal.- Climate . Temperate, and for the most part healthy, except in the low and marshy tracts around the shores and lakes, some of which are very unhealthy. The mean temperature, in a country the surface of which is so uneven, must, of course, vary considerably; but the medium temperature of the year in the plains of N Greece may be about 60°, and in those of the S. about 64° 5' Fahr. At Athens the thermometer not unfrequently rises in July above 100° Fahr. Snow falls in the mountains by the middle of Oct., and even in the plains it is occasionally six inches deep; but it never lies long in the latter. The winters at Athens are confined to the first two months of the year. Both spring and autumn are rainy seasons; and in Dec. the rains are generally so heavy that many parts of the country are laid under water; but throughout the whole summer, which may be said to comprise half the year, a shower, or a cloud in the sky, is rare in several parts of the country. - Productions . The more common products of Greek soil in ancient times were wheat, barley, and other cereals; flax, wine, and oil, with fruits of various kinds. The figs of Attica were and still are famed for the excellence of their flavor. Forests once covered many of the hills, and supplied timber for domestic purposes and for ship-building: they are still extensive in some parts. The most important productions of modern G. are those mentioned above, with maize, rice, millet, currants, and silk. Honey is produced in great quantity on Hymettus and in some parts of the Peloponnesus. The mulberry-tree is largely grown for the silk-worm; and on the north and south shores of the Gulf of Corinth, as well as in Arcadia, and the west coast of the Peloponnesus, the Corinthian grape or currant is most extensively cultivated. Vines flourish in almost all parts, but the island of Sant or in po e es the most famous vineyards, with the greatest variety of grapes, and furnishes a wine highly prized by the Ru ians. The olive grows in a wild state over all parts of G.; when ingrafted, it yields an excellent fruit, which the inhabitants pickle in very large quantity, as a staple article of food. The oil of the olive serves to supply light, and is used in cooking and for food, as we employ butter. Cotton, madder, tobacco, and leguminous plants grow in considerable quantity. Fruit-trees are especially fertile; figs and apricots are plentiful and of excellent quality; oranges, citrons, lemons, pomegranates, almonds, water-melons, gourds, and others of le note are widely spread, largely produced, and of excellent quality.- Agri culture. The agricultural implements are still as rude as in the days of the Peloponnesian war, or even of Hesiod; and this, added to the scarcity of ploughing-oxen, ruggedne of the country, general thinne of soil, and difficulty of tillage and irrigation, is enough to damp the ardor of even a more energetic population. The houses of the country-people are in most parts little better than mere hovels, and a large proportion of the arable land is untilled. The modes of tillage are of the most primitive kind; and thus, though nearly half the male population of G. is employed in agricultural labors, they make but slight impre ion on the general aspect of the country, and influence little the amount of exports; in fact, they do not produce as much grain as supplies the wants of the population, and that, too, though a higher yield is given in many parts of G. than in other countries. Much labor, however, is bestowed on the cultivation of the olive, vine, mulberry, and fruit trees. The greater part of the land belongs to the state; rent is paid in kind, and in a certain proportion (one third) to the net produce. Scenery. Travellers in G. generally speak in high terms of its scenery, of which Fig. 1195 may give an idea. It has everywhere the finest views, and is interesting, not le from its natural beauties than its cla ical a ociations, and the ruins of ancient art and splendor scattered everywhere over it. "Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild; Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields, Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled, And still his honied wealth Hymettus yields; There the blithe bee his fragrant fortre builds, The freeborn wanderer of thy mountain air; Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds, Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare; Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair. "Where'er we tread, 'tis haunted, holy ground; No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mould, But one vast realm of wonder spreads around, And all the Muse's tales seem truly told, Till the sense aches with gazing to behold The scenes our earliest dreams have dwelt upon; Each hill and dale, each deepening glen and wold, Defies the power which crushed thy temples gone: Age shakes Athena's tower, but spares gray Marathon." Childe Harold , canto li. Manners and Customs. The following statements embody the valuable testimony of Thiersch as to the habits and state of the people when he visited G. in 1831-32:"There is a pretty marked distinction among the inhabitants of the three great divisions of G. - Greece N. of the Isthmus, the Peloponnesus, and the Islands. The inhabitants of N. Greece have retained a chivalrous and warlike spirit, with a simplicity of manners and mode of life which strongly remind us of the pictures of the heroic age. The soil here is generally cultivated by Bulgarians, Albanians, and Wall a chi ans. In E. Greece, Parna us, with its natural bulwarks, is the only place where the Hellenic race has maintained itself; in the mountainous parts of W. Greece there are also some remnants of Hellenic stock. In these parts the language is spoken with more purity than elsewhere. The population of the Peloponnesus consists nearly of the same races as that of N. Greece; but the Peloponnesians are more ignorant and le honest than the inhabitants of Hellas. The Albanians occupy Argolis and a part of the ancient Triphylia. Among the rest of the inhabit ants, who all speak Greek, there are considerable social differences. The population of the town is of a mixed character, as in N. Greece, where there is an active and intelligent body of proprietors, merchants, and artisans in the towns, and among them some of Greek stock. The Mai notes form a separate cla of the population. They are generally called Mai notes from the name of one of their districts; but their true name, which they have never lost, is Spartans. They occupy the lofty and sterile mountains between the gulfs of Laconia and Me enia, the representatives of a race driven from the sunny valley of the Eurotas to the bleak and inhospitable tracts of Taygetos, though the plains which are spread out below them are no longer held by a conqueror, and the fertile lands lie uncultivated for want of laborers. In the islands there is a singular mixture of Albanians and Greeks. The Albanians of Hydra and Spezzia have long been known as active traders and excellent mariners. The Hydriotes made great sacrifices for the cause of independence in the late war; the Spezziotes, more prudent and calculating, increased IMG:content-0429.png:[graphic] IMG:content-0430.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0431.jpg:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0432.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0433.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0434.png:[ocr errors] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia IMG:content-0436.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0437.png:[ocr errors] Drepanos FOF Aspra IMG:content-0438.png:[ocr errors] Spaldes Oropo F The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia their wealth and their merchant-navy. The island of Syra, which has long been the centre of an active commerce, now contains the remnant of the population of Ipsara and Chios. The Ipsariots are an active and handsome race, and skilful seamen; the Chiots, following the habits of their ancestors, are fond of staying at home and attending to their shops and mercantile speculations. They ama wealth; but they employ it in founding establishments of public utility, and in the education of their children. In Tinos, the peasants, who are also the proprietors, cultivate the vine and the fig even amidst the most barren rocks; in Syra, Sant or in, and at Naxos, they are the tenants of a miserable race of nobility, whose origin is traced to the time of the crusades, and who still retain the Latin creed of their ancestors. Besides these, there are various bodies of Suliotes, of people from the heights of Olympus, Candiotes, many Greek families from Asia Minor, Fanariotes, and others, who have emigrated or been driven by circumstances within the limits of the new kingdom. The Ipsariots are those who are supposed to have the least intermixture of foreign blood. They have the fine and characteristic Greek physiognomy, as preserved in the marbles of Phidias and other ancient sculptors; they are ingenious, loquacious, lively to exce , active, enterprising, vaporing, and disputatious. The modern Greeks are generally rather above the middle height, and well shaped; they have the face oval, features regular and expre ive, eyes large, dark, and animated, eyebrows arched, hair long and dark, and complexion olive colored. The islanders are commonly darker, and of a stronger make than the rest; but the Greeks are all active, hardy, brave, and capable of enduring long privations. Generally speaking, the women of the islands and of Hellas (Fig. 1196) are much handsomer than those of the Morea. The character of the Greeks while under Turkish rule was thus summed up by Mr. Hope: -( An as tas i us , i. 78-80.) The complexion of the modern Greek may receive a different cast from different surrounding objects; the core is still the same as in the days of Pericles. Credulity, versatility, Fig . 1196. A MODERN GREEK GIRL, and the thirst for distinction, from the earliest periods formed, still form, and ever will form, the basis of the Greek character. When patriotism, public spirit, and preëminence in arts, science, literature, and warfare, were the road to distinction, the Greeks shone the first of patriots, of heroes, of painters, of poets, and of philosophers. Now that craft and subtlety, adulation and intrigue, are the only paths to greatne , the same Greeks are what you see them.' The Albanians are of a much more serious and pensive disposition than the Greeks; and it has been remarked that they may be considered to bear the same relation to the latter that the Doric did to the Ionic population in ancient times. The language of the modern Greeks (for the Albanian is of Illyrian origin) is called Romaic . It has a greater similarity to the ancient Greek than the Italian to the Latin; but many of the alterations from the ancient tongues which distinguish both the modern languages are analogous. Many of the popular customs of the Greeks bear the impre of antiquity; various superstitious observances are kept up; and even the ordinary amusements of the people are the same which were popular in ancient times. The far-famed Romaica , for instance, the theme of so many travellers, is obviously the same as the Cretan or Dædali an dance; and another modern dance, the Albanatico , is supposed to resemble the Pyrrhic dance of the ancients." - Manuf . Unimportant, and almost wholly domestic. - Commerce. The Greeks have particularly distinguished themselves by the spirit and succe with which they have engaged in nautical and mercantile enterprises. Their commerce, next to their freedom, was the grand source of the prosperity of Athens, Corinth, and other Greek cities of antiquity. And in this respect the modern Greeks have been no unsucce ful imitators of their illustrious progenitors. The great articles of export from Greece consist of currants, silk, figs, wool, olive-oil, valonia, wine, sponge, wax, and tobacco; the principal imports being manufactured cotton and woollen goods, corn, with a great variety of subordinate articles, principally from England, France. and Germany.- Education is free to aii, from the humblest school to the university; hence an unusual number of Greeks make their way into the learned profe ions, and an extensive educational machinery is nece ary to supply the demand for knowledge. The schools are divided into communal, or elementary, and Hellenic, in the latter of which ancient Greek is taught together with other branches. Above these are various technical schools, and the University of Athens. History . The Greek nation boasts of the L ghest antiquity; and in the early and mythic period of their history it is almost impo ible to separate fable from fact. The Pelasgi were the first inhabitants, succeeded by the Hellenes. Having gained the advantage over the Pelasgi, and driven them to the islands, they peopled the continent with their own nation, who were divided into four tribes, viz., Æolians, Dorians, Ionians, and Achaians. The Hellenes spread in different directions over the country, and were soon joined by colonists from Egypt and Phoenicia. The first constitution of Greek cities is beyond the reach of exact history; but it seems that monarchy was the earliest form; and Sicyon is stated to have founded (в. с. 2000) Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth, and Argos. Of the mythic or heroic period, the principal events are the siege of Thebes, and the Trojan war, commencing 1198 в. с. The confusion arising from the latter event deprived many kingdoms of their princes, and encouraged the ambition of the Dorian heraclidæ to such an extent that they expelled the inhabitants of the Peloponnesus. A fresh impulse was given to emigration; large bodies of people cro ed the Ægean, and colonized the shores of Asia Minor; and as the governments changed with the rulers, the states of Greece now began to partake of that republican form which was afterwards their peculiar characteristic. The civil policy of Sparta and Athens, the growing power of which latter now began to le en the influence of the other states, military knowledge, the arts of refinement and politics, advanced rapidly, and the quick and sensitive Greeks carried refinement of manners to an extent not yet exceeded in modern times. They had at the same time an extensive commerce with Gaul, Italy, and Sicily. Their enterprise and love of liberty bore them succe fully through all the troubles of the Persian war (B. c. 469); but from the same reasons they became involved in intestine feuds. The Peloponnesian war, which lasted 30 years (ending B. c. 404), destroyed their union, and paved the way for Philip of Macedon, who (B. c. 338) gained the decisive battle of Cheronæa, and thus became master of Greece. The brilliant conquests of Alexander engaged them for a few years; but their courage was now enervated, and their love of liberty almost extinguished. When the Achaian league proved a vain defence against the kingdom of Macedon, Greece was utterly unable to contend with the arms of Rome; and after a brief contest, ending with the battle of Corinth (146 B. c.), the entire country became an integral portion of the Roman empire. Literature and the arts, long on the decline, were finally destroyed by Just in i an, who closed the school of Athens. In 600, Alaric the Goth invaded the country, followed by Genseric and Zaber-Khan in the 6th and 7th, and by the Normans in the 11th century. After the Latin conquest of Constantinople (1204), Greece was divided into feudal princi palities, and governed by various Norman, Venetian, and Frankish nobles, until 1261, when the entire country, except Athens and Nauplia, were reunited to the Greek empire under Michael Paleologus. Invaded by the Turks in 1438, it was finally conquered by them in 1481; but the Venetians not feeling disposed to allow the new masters quiet po e ion, the country was, during the subsequent two centuries, the scene of bloody wars, ended only by the treaty of Pa arovitz, which secured Greece to the Turks. Except the single province of Maina, the whole country remained under their sway till 1821, when a hetairia was formed, and Ypsilanti proclaimed that Greece had thrown off the yoke of Turkey. The revolution broke out in Greece and Wall a chia simultaneously, continuing with various succe , much bloodshed, and many atrocities, until the interference of the European powers and the battle of Navarino (1827) insured the independence of the country, unwillingly accorded by the Sublime Porte (1829). The provisional government, established during the revolution, was not succe ful in securing the confidence of the people, and the chief, Count Capo d'Istria, was a a inated (1831). The allied powers had already determined to erect Greece into a monarchy; and the crown was finally conferred on Otho, a younger son of the King of Bavaria, who was proclaimed in 1832. In 1862, a revolution forced him to leave the country. He was deposed by the National A embly, and George, the second son of the King of Denmark, was elected (by the Boulé) King of Greece, March 18, 1863. He married Olga, daughter of the Grand Duke Const an tine, of Ru ia, Oct. 17, 1867. The Crown Prince Const an tine, born Aug. 2, 1868, received the title of Duke of Sparta. Of historical events since that date, one of the most interesting was the revival of the ancient Olympic games in 1896, the ancient stadion being restored for the purpose, and athletes from the countries of Western Europe and the U. S. taking part. Several prizes were gained by American athletes, R. Garret, of Princeton College, winning from the Greek champion the prizes for throwing the discus and putting the weight. During 1896 a rebellion against Turkish rule broke out in the island of Crete, in which volunteers from Greece took part, though the government discouraged this movement, and sought to preserve neutrality. A strong popular sentiment in favor of Cretan independence, however, broke out in Greece; and in the early months of 1897 the government was obliged to take an active part in the insurrection, a Greek regiment being sent to Crete in spite of the efforts of the powers of Europe to prevent. Greek and Turkish armies also gathered on the frontiers of the two countries, a body of volunteer Greeks invaded Turkish territory, and in reprisal the Turkish army cro ed the frontier, attacked the Greek army, drove it back in a rapid succe ion of defeats, and occupied The aly. The government of Greece had been obliged by a vigorous popular movement to take this course, and sent its armies into the field in a state of very imperfect discipline and poorly provided with munitions of war. The Turks, on the contrary, were ably led and in an excellent state of organization, the result being that the personal valor of the Greeks served them poorly in the absence of discipline and generalship. The demoralization of the defeated Greek army became so great that an occupation of Athens by the victorious Turks was imminent. At this critical juncture the powers of Europe intervened, obliged Greece to withdraw her troops from Crete, induced Turkey to consent to an armistice, and made earnest efforts to effect a settlement. Turkey demanded The aly, which her armies occupied, and a large indemnity in money. The former the powers refused to grant, demanding that she should accept the former frontier, but agreed to an indemnity within the power of Greece to meet. At the time of this writing the matter of the evacuation of The aly seems virtually settled by reluctant and sullen acquiescence on the part of Turkey.