The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-25 00:00:00

CRETHON.

" His dress was plain and of antiquated fashion. lie
wore a long kiton of white linen, in spite of the example
of Pericles, who had introduced, as more convenient and
manly, the short woollen Doric shirt, using it merely as
an under garment, whereas with Crethon it was his only
robe, except when travelling. It was bordered with a
purple stripe, and had but one sleeve; his left arm was
barr, brawny and muscular as it still was. It was fas-
tened round his loins by a girdle concealed in the over-
lapping of the cloth. Over this kiton was now flung his
himation, or blanket, as he was about to commence a
journey. He wore simple wooden sandals, fastened with
two leathern straps; his hair fell to his shoulders, con-
fined by a small fillet or head-band, and his waving
beard descended low upon his breast.
" As he stood there in the morning light, his eye
bright and keen, his air full of the noble vigour of age,
his countenance clear, with a fresk glow of health upon

it, his whole bearing showing what had been the manly
heartiness of his prime; be looked one of the best of that
class which had raised Athens to her moral and physical
greatness; men who were the forerunners, though not
the authors of art and luxury; great as giant fathers,
living once in themselves, and once again in the glory of
their sons."

ANTIPHON.

" It was more than the dusk evening, it was early
night, when Antiphon sat in his chamber, with all its
professional accompaniments around him, intently stu-
dying an astronomic chart. A small table, on which
was placed a tray filled with fruits, sweetmeats, flowers,
and wine, stood near; and ever at some more difficult
question the student would pause from his labour, and
turn his handsome manly face towards the light, refresh-
ing himself with some of the luxuries beside him. He
was nct one to neglect the physical comforts in intellec-
tual joys; else that ripe and pleasure-losing underlie,
that bright, full, humid eye, those smooth and marked
brows, and that voluptuous gloss' upon his skin, told sad
falsehoods to the physiognomist. His attire too bespoke
the sensuousness and luxury of his character. It was
partly copied from that of the sophist, Georgias of Le-
ontium, who made all Athens, nay all Hellas, ring with
tales of his magnificence and splendour, and of how he
would come to the Olympic games crowned with gold,
and clothed in all the insignia of a monarch. A purple
robe, bordered and starred with gold, reaching midway
to his leg, a saffron coloured scarf, or chlamvs, thrown
negligently over it; his black and scented loc-ks combed
smoothly round his head and fastened with a broad
golden fillet; the sweet essences with which he had per-
fumed his person and his garments; the flowers which
decorated his ears; the massive rings that studth d his
fingers; the large luxury of his couch and chair and
footstools; the wealth and gorgeous elegance Fca t tered
about him, all told to which of the two natures his incli-
nation led him; all evidenced the superiority of the
human over the divine, of earth over spirit. Everything
about him was beautiful. His water-cups were of the
finest porcelain made of the earth of Colias, of the most
graceful forms, and of bright yet harmonious colours;
his chairs and tables, couches and footstools, were of
elaborate workmanship, costly materials, and draperied
with rich Milesian cloths; his pictures were as luscious
as the chaste style of the day admitted his statues
as voluptuous as Ctesilaos and Agoracreitcs could or
dared produce. In all things around him might be seen
that one prevailing feeling of delight in sensuous, visible,
beauty, not because of its idea, but because of its form."
As affording a vivid and picturesque view of Grecian
manners " Amymone" is valuable. It depicts the
ceremonies of the marriage feast, the burial rites, the
symposiums, and the other domestic events of daily
recurrence with the Athenians. It carries us in ima-
gination to the fane of the Delphic Oracle ; to the
Olympic games; to the struggling of the athletes at
the pancratiurn, or boxing with the cestus. It con-
veys us at one moment along the path of the Pans-
thenaic procession, and, at another, initiates us into
the mysteries of the household games—astragals,
artiasmos, cuboi, and cottabos. Now we are jostling
against the hetairai in the opson market, now we
meet the epheboi in the Curameicos, now we listen to
the flute-players in the Odeion, now we hear the
philosophers in the Lyceion, and now, again we V an-
der through the house of the eupatrid—travers-
ing the anthronitis or men's part of the dwelling,
and on through the passage called the inesaulos until
we have penetrated into those apartments
dedicated exclusively to the female portion of every
household. Of the eloquence with which all these
classic materials are grouped together and adorned