86 HISTORY OF GREECE. these personal ties, but the savage Cyclops is the only person de- scribed as professedly indifferent to them, and careless of tha sanction of the gods which in Grecian belief accompanied them all. 1 In fact, the tragical horror which pervades the lineage of Athamas or Kadmus, and which attaches to many of the acts of Herakles, of Peleus and Telamon, of Jason and Medea, of Atreus and Thyestes, etc., is founded upon a deep feeling and sympathy with those special obligations, which conspicuous individuals, un- der the temporary stimulus of the maddening Ate, are driven to violate. In such conflict of sentiments, between the obligation generally reverenced and the exceptional deviation in an individ- ual otherwise admired, consists the pathos of the story. These feelings of mutual devotion between kinsmen and companions in arms of generous hospitality to the stranger, and of helping protection to the suppliant, constitute the bright spots in a dark age. We find them very generally prevalent amongst communities essentially rude and barbarous, amongst the ancient Germans as described by Tacitus, the Druses in Lebanon, 2 the Arabian tribes in the desert, and even the North American Indians. 1 Oclyss. ix. 112-275. 2 Tacit. German, c. 21. " Qucmcunque mortalium arccre tecto, nef.is ha- betur : pro fortun& quisque apparatis epulis cxcipit: cum dcfccere qui modo hospes fuerat, monstratur hospitii ct comes, proximam domain non invitati adeunt : ncc interest pari hnmanitate accipiuntur. Notum ignotumque, quantum ad jus hospitii, nemo discernit." Compare Caesar, B. G. vi. 22. See about the Druses and Arabians, Volncy, Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. ii. p. 76, Engl. Transl. ; Niebuhr, Bcschrcibung von Arabien, Copenh. 1772, pp. 46-49. Pomponius Mela describes the ancient Germans in language not inappli- cable to the Homeric. Greeks : " Jus in viribus habent, adeo ut ne latrocinii quidem pudeat: tantum hospitibus boni, mitesque supplicibus." (iii. 3.) " The hospitality of the Indians is well known. It extends even to strangers who take refuge among them. They count it a most sacred duty, irom which no one is exempted. Whoever refuses relief to any one, commits a grievous offence, and not only makes himself detested and abhorred by all, but liable to revenge from the offended person. In their conduct towards their enemies they are cruel aud inexorable, and, when enraged, bent upon nothing but murder and bloodshed. They are, however, remarkable for cor- cealing their passions, and waiting for a convenient opportunity of gratify- ing them. But then their fury knows no bounds. If they cannot satisfy their resentment, they will even call upon their friends and posteiity to da
